that he had recourse to the most dreadful imprecations; and on
his bare knees implored that Heaven would renounce him if ever he
should forget or forgive the barbarity of his sire.

The injuries which this unhappy mother received from her removal in
such circumstances, and the want of necessaries where she lodged,
together with her grief and anxiety of mind, soon threw her into
a languishing disorder, which put an end to her life. My father,
who loved her tenderly, was so affected with her death that he
remained six weeks deprived of his senses; during which time, the
people where he lodged carried the infant to the old man who relented
so far, on hearing the melancholy story of his daughter-in-law's
death, and the deplorable condition of his son, as to send the
child to nurse, and he ordered my father to be carried home to his
house, where he soon recovered the use of his reason.

Whether this hardhearted judge felt any remorse for his cruel
treatment of his son and daughter, or (which is more probable)
was afraid his character would suffer in the neighbourhood, he
professed great sorrow for his conduct to my father, whose delirium
was succeeded by a profound melancholy and reserve. At length he
disappeared, and, notwithstanding all imaginable inquiry, could
not be heard of; a circumstance which confirmed most people in the
opinion of his having made away with himself in a fit of despair.
How I understood the particulars of my birth will appear in the
course of these memoirs.