"Mother does not see it, but he is no longer the same man. Oh,
Edward, I sometimes think he's even growing childish."
The fear was a well-founded one. Before the case was tried, Mr.
Clifford was generally regarded, among those who knew him intimately,
as little better than an imbecile; and so rapid was the progress of
his infirmity, that when the judgment was given, as it was, against
him, he was wholly unable to understand or fear its import. His own
sense of guilt had anticipated its effects, and his intense vanity
was saved from public shame only by the substitution of public pity.
The decree of the court gave all that was asked; and the handsome
competence of the Cliffords was exchanged for a miserable pittance,
which enabled the family to live only in the very humblest manner.
It will readily be conjectured, from what I have stated in respect
to myself, that mine was not the disposition to seek revenge, or
find cause for exultation in these deplorable events. I had no
hostility against my unhappy uncle; I should have scorned myself if
I had. If such a feeling ever filled my bosom, it would have been
most effectually disarmed by the sight of the wretched old man,
a grinning, gibbering idict, half-dancing and half-shivering from
the cold, over the remnants of a miserable and scant fire in the
severest evening in November. It was when the affair was all over;
when the property of the family was all in the hands of the sheriff;
when the mischievous counsel of such a person as Jonathan Perkins,
Esquire could do no more harm even to so foolish a person as my
uncle's wife; and when his presence, naturally enough withdrawn
from a family from which he could derive no further profit, and
which he had helped to ruin, was no longer likely to offend mine by
meeting him there--that I proceeded to renew my direct intercourse
with the unfortunate people whom I was not suffered to save.
The reader is not to suppose that I had kept myself entirely aloof
from the family until these disasters had happened. I sought Julia
when occasion offered, and, though she refused it, tendered my
services and my means whenever they might be hestowed with hope of
good. And now, when all was over, and I met her at the door, and
she sank upon my bosom, and wept in my embrace, still less than
ever was I disposed to show to her mother the natural triumph of a
sagacity which had shown itself at the expense of hers. I forgot,
in the first glance of my uncle, all his folly and unkindness. He
was now a shadow, and the mental wreck was one of the most deplorable,
as it was one of the most rapid and complete, that could be imagined.
In less than seven months, a strong man--strong in health--strong,
as supposed, in intellect--singularly acute in his dealings among
tradesmen--regarded by them as one of the most shrewd in
the fraternity--vain of his parts, of his family, and of his
fortune--solicitous of display, and constant in its indulgence!--that
such a man should be stricken down to imbecility and idiotism--a
meagre skeleton in form--pale, puny, timid--crouching by
the fireplace--grinning with stealthy looks, momently cast around
him--and playing--his most constant employment--with the bellows
strings that hung beside him, or the little kitten, that, delighted
with new consideration, had learned to take her place constantly
at his feet! What a wreck!