MY RELATIVES AND ANCESTORS 13 



These last fifteen years of his life were a period of great 

 trouble and anxiety, his affairs becoming more and more in- 

 volved, till at last the family became almost wholly dependent 

 on my mother's small marriage settlement of less than a hun- 

 dred a year, supplemented by his taking a few pupils and by 

 a small salary which he received as librarian to a subscription 

 library. While at Hoddesdon my sister Fanny got up a small 

 boarding-school for young ladies in a roomy, old-fashioned 

 house with a large garden, where my father passed the last 

 few years of his life in comparative freedom from worry about 

 money matters, because these had reached such a pitch that 

 nothing worse was to be expected. 



During the latter part of the time we lived at Hertford his 

 troubles were great. He appears to have allowed a solicitor 

 and friend whom he trusted to realize what remained of his 

 property and invest it in ground-rents which would bring in a 

 larger income, and at the same time be perfectly secure. For 

 a few years the income from this property was duly paid him, 

 then it was partially and afterwards wholly stopped. It ap- 

 peared that the solicitor himself engaged in a large building 

 speculation in London, which was certain to be ultimately of 

 great value, but which he had not capital enough to complete. 

 He therefore had to raise money, and did so by using funds en- 

 trusted to him for other purposes, among them my father's 

 small capital, in the absolute belief that it was quite as safe an 

 investment as the ground-rents in which it was supposed to be 

 invested. But, unfortunately, other creditors pressed upon 

 him, and he was obliged to sacrifice the whole of the building 

 estate at almost a nominal price. Out of the wreck of the so- 

 licitor's fortune my father obtained a small portion of the 

 money due, with promises to pay all at some future time ; and 

 I recollect his having frequently to go to London by coach to 

 interview the solicitor, and try to get some security for future 

 payment. Among the property thus lost were some leg- 

 acies from my mother's relations to her children, and the 

 whole affair got into the hands of the lawyers, from whom 

 small amounts were periodically received which helped to pro- 

 vide us with bare necessaries. 



