you ask of me that I should
not grant?

You don't know what a
torpedo you put into Col. Benton's
pocket. A slenderer man might
be blown up by it. It contains
a passage about the young man
who ran away with his daughter
which (on the unlikely hypothesis that
he read it) I hope his political
predilections will pardon at the
plea of his paternal pride. I
didn't mean to alliterate when
I began.