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had two or three letters from you at the most, and those very short ones. Therefore if you judge me harshly, I shall find you guilty on the same charge; if you don't want me to do so, you will have to be lenient with me. But no more about correspondence; I am not afraid of failing to give you your fill of letters, especially if you show a proper appreciation of my efforts in that line.

² I have grieved at your long absence from among us, because I have not been able to enjoy your most agreeable society, but at the same time I rejoice that while absent you have attained all your objects with the greatest honour to yourself, and that in all your affairs fortune has answered my prayers. There is a little piece of advice which my extraordinary affection for you compels me to offer you. So much is expected of your courage, or, it may be of your capacity, that I do not hesitate to beg and beseech you to return to us in such a frame of mind^[1] as to be able to uphold and justify all the expectations you have excited. And while it is true that no forgetfulness will ever efface the memory of what you have done for me, I beg you to remember that, whatever enhancements of fortune or honour may accrue to you in the future, you could never have secured them, had you not in the old days of your boyhood hearkened to the advice given you in all sincerity and affection by myself. And that is why your feelings towards me should be such, that, burdened as I am with the increasing weight of years, I should find repose in your love and in your youth.