A deep and lasting impression, however, had been made upon the public
mind, and Sir Arthur Tyrrell was no longer visited or noticed by the
gentry of the county, whose attentions he had hitherto received. He
accordingly affected to despise those courtesies which he no longer
enjoyed, and shunned even that society which he might have commanded.
This is all that I need recapitulate of my uncle's history, and I now
recur to my own.
Although my father had never, within my recollection, visited, or
been visited by my uncle, each being of unsocial, procrastinating,
and indolent habits, and their respective residences being very far
apart--the one lying in the county of Galway, the other in that
of Cork--he was strongly attached to his brother, and evinced his
affection by an active correspondence, and by deeply and proudly
resenting that neglect which had branded Sir Arthur as unfit to mix in
society.
When I was about eighteen years of age, my father, whose health had
been gradually declining, died, leaving me in heart wretched
and desolate, and, owing to his habitual seclusion, with few
acquaintances, and almost no friends. The provisions of his will were
curious, and when I was sufficiently come to myself to listen to, or
comprehend them, surprised me not a little: all his vast property was
left to me, and to the heirs of my body, for ever; and, in default
of such heirs, it was to go after my death to my uncle, Sir Arthur,
without any entail.
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