In the course of his
infancy, his father having often changed his place of residence,
the child was put under the instructions of a great many different
schoolmasters, so that he was perfectly well known in a great
many different parts of the kingdom; and his mother seized all
opportunities, which were but rare, on account of his father's orders
to the contrary, of seeing and giving him proofs of her maternal
tenderness, until she set out for England, after having been long
in a declining state of health, by a paralytical disorder; upon the
consequence of which, such dependence was placed by her inconsiderate
husband, who was by this time reduced to extreme poverty, that he
actually married a woman whom he had long kept as a mistress. This
creature no sooner understood that Lady A-- was departed from Ireland,
than she openly avowed her marriage, and went about publicly with
Lord A--, visiting his acquaintances in the character of his wife.
"From this era may be dated the beginning of Mr. A--'s misfortune.
This artful woman, who had formerly treated the child with an
appearance of fondness, in order to ingratiate herself with the
father, now looking upon herself as sufficiently established in
the family, thought it was high time to alter her behaviour with
regard to the unfortunate boy; and accordingly, for obvious reasons,
employed a thousand artifices to alienate the heart of the weak
father from his unhappy offspring.
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