“Indignant as you will be, Russell, at all you hear of me, you cannot be more shocked than I am myself. I do not write to palliate or apologize--my conduct admits of no defence--I shall attempt none, private or public--I have written to my lawyer to give directions that no sort of defence shall be set up on my part, when the affair comes into Doctors’ Commons--as it shortly will; for I understand that poor Wharton has commenced a prosecution. As to damages he has only to name them--any thing within the compass of my fortune he may command. Would to God that money could make him amends! But he is too generous, too noble a fellow--profligate as he is in some things, how incapable would he be of acting as basely as I have done! There is not, perhaps, at this moment, a human being who has so high an opinion of the man I have injured as I have myself:--he did not love his wife--but that is no excuse for me--his honour is as much wounded as if I had robbed him of her during the time he loved her most fondly:--he once doted upon her, and would have loved her again, when he was tired of his gallantries; and they might then have lived together as happily as ever, if I had not been--. What was I?--What am I?--Not a villain--or I should glory in what I have done--but the weakest of human beings--and how true it is, Russell, that ‘all wickedness is weakness!’ “I understand that W----, wherever he goes, calls me a coward, as well as a scoundrel; and says that I have kept out of the way to avoid fighting him. He is mistaken. It is true, I had the utmost dread of having his life to answer for--and nothing should have provoked me to fire upon him;--but I had determined how to act--I would have met him, and have stood his fire. I should not be sorry, at present, to be put out of the world; and would rather fall by his hand than by any other. But since this is out of the question, and that things have taken another turn, I have only to live, as long as it shall please God, a life of remorse--and, at least, to try to make the unfortunate woman who has thrown herself upon my protection as happy as I can.