1 82 LIFE OF MYTTON. 



the above view of his case, and I thought it my duty 

 to take some precautions. The first stej^ was to inter- 

 rogate his valet as to what instrument he had in his 

 possession by which he could put an end to what, it 

 he ever suffered himself to take a clear and sober view 

 of it, must have been a barren and cheerless exist- 

 ence ; and the next to inform his friends of my fears. 

 Barring his mother, his uncle, Mr. Owen of Wood- 

 house, near Shrewsubry (one of his guardians), was 

 his nearest relation ; to whom I stated my apprehen- 

 sions that his nephew would either go mad, or die, 

 and very shortly too, and wished for his advice as to 

 how I should act in case my suspicions should prove 

 well grounded. His answer, as regarded myself, was 

 kind, and that of a crentleman ; but as concerned his 

 nephew it was conclusive. He had never, he said, 

 taken his advice in any one instance, therefore he 

 declined offerino- it on the occasion on which I sousfht 

 it ; and muchsoever as he lamented the ruin that had 

 befallen him, it was a consolation to him to reflect 

 that he had not in the smallest degree contributed to 

 it. (This letter is dated November 25, 1831, just 

 twenty days after his nephew's arrival at Calais.) 



It may be easily imagined that the arrival of my 

 old friend at Calais, in the state in which he then 



