"'Often when I had revolted against certain iniquitous facts or acts of cruel oppression, the very intensity of my anger had given me almost superhuman power to defend the weak and chastise the oppressor. For instance, one day when I found three ruffians attacking a poor defenceless woman, I nearly killed all three of them, though in my normal condition I could not have coped successfully with any one of them single-handed.
"'But alas! my child, on continuing this inexorable study of myself, I was also obliged to admit that I had not always had just cause for my anger, by any means, for not unfrequently the slightest contradiction infuriated me almost to madness. Your poor mother's death was a terrible example of this idiosyncrasy on my part.
"'After this long and careful examination of myself, I summed up the result as follows:
"'Anger is a passion of such intensity in me, that it increases my mental and physical powers a hundred-fold. In other words, it is a force.
"'When this force is brought into action by generous motives, it leads to acts of which I have every reason to be proud.
"'When, on the contrary, it is brought into action by unworthy motives, it causes me to commit culpable or even criminal acts, which I shall never cease to regret.
"'Anger has been the cause of my ruin and of my despair. It killed my wife. Now, anger shall be my salvation and the salvation of my daughter.
"'These words may seem incomprehensible to you, my child, but listen.
"'In my position of magistrate, my proneness to anger and violence was most prejudicial to me. It caused people to regard me with derision, even with contempt, and destroyed every prospect of my advancement in my judicial career. In other words, my mind, character, and temperament did not harmonise with my functions.
"'It was consequently advisable for me to adopt a profession in which the vice, or rather, the radical force of my nature could be utilised to the best advantage of myself and of others.