heirs, it was to go after my death to my
uncle, Sir Arthur, without any entail.

At the same time, the will appointed
him my guardian, desiring that I might be
received within his house, and reside with
his family, and under his care, during the
term of my minority; and in consideration
of the increased expense consequent upon
such an arrangement, a handsome annuity
was allotted to him during the term of my
proposed residence.

The object of this last provision I at
once understood: my father desired, by
making it the direct, apparent interest of
Sir Arthur that I should die without
issue, while at the same time he placed me
wholly in his power, to prove to the world
how great and unshaken was his
confidence in his brother's innocence and
honour, and also to afford him an
opportunity of showing that this mark of
confidence was not unworthily bestowed.

It was a strange, perhaps an idle
scheme; but as I had been always brought
up in the habit of considering my uncle as
a deeply-injured man, and had been taught,
almost as a part of my religion, to regard