But the moral man had been wrecked before, or this could not have

been. It was only because of his guilt--of its exposure rather--that

he sunk. In striving to shake off the oppressive burden, he shook

off the intellect which had been compelled chiefly to endure it.

The sense of shame, the conviction of loss, and, possibly, other

causes of conscience which lay yet deeper--for the progeny of crime

is most frequently a litter as numerous as a whelp's puppies--helped

to crush the mind which was neither strong enough to resist temptation

at first, nor to bear exposure at last. I turned away with a tear,

which I could not suppress, from the wretched spectacle. But I could

have borne with more patience to behold this ruin, than to subdue

the rising reproach which I felt as I turned to encounter Mrs.

Clifford.

This weak woman, still weak, received me coldly, and I could see

in her looks that she regarded me as one whom it was natural to

suppose would feel some exultation at beholding their downfall.

I saw this, but determined to say nothing, in the attempt to undo

these impressions. I knew that time was the best teacher in all

such matters, and resolved that my deportment should gradually make

her wiser on the subject of that nature which she had so frequently

abused, and which, I well knew, she could never understand. But

this hope I soon discovered to be unavailing. Her disaster had

only soured, not subdued her; and, with the natural tendency of

the vulgar mind, she seemed to regard me as the person to whom she

should ascribe all her misfortunes. As, to her narrow intellect,

it seemed natural that I should exult in the accomplishment of my

predictions, so it was a process equally natural that she should

couple me with their occurrence; and, indeed, I was too nearly

connected with the event, through the medium of my unconscious

father, not to feel some portion of the affliction on his account

also; though neither his memory nor my reputation suffered from

the development of the affair in the community where we lived.

Mrs. Clifford did not openly, or in words, betray the feelings

which were striving in her soul; but the general restraint which

she put upon herself in my presence, the acerbity of her tone,

manner, and language, to poor Julia, and the unvaried querulousness

of her remarks, were sufficient to apprize me of the spite which

she would have willingly bestowed upon myself, had she any tolerable

occasion for doing so. A few weeks served still further to humble

the conceit and insolence of the unfortunate woman. The affair

turned out much more seriously than I expected. A sudden fall in

the value of real and personal estate, just about the time when

the sheriff's sale took place, rendered necessary a second levy,

which swept the miserable remnant of Mr. Clifford's fortune, leaving

nothing to my uncle but a small estate which had been secured by

settlement to Mrs. Clifford and her daughter, and which the sheriff

could not legally lay hands on.




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