My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

MY SCHOOL LIFE AT HERTFORD 37jumping over streams, and cutting fantastic walkingsticksout of the woods ; but nothing afterwardsseemed to make up for the quiet hours spent withmy brother in the delightful privacy of the loft.It was during our residence at this house near theOld Cross that, I think, my father enjoyed his lifemore than anywhere else at Hertford. Not only hadhe a small piece of garden and the fine grape-vinealready mentioned, but there was a roomy brew-housewith a large copper, which enabled him to brew abarrel of beer as well as make elder wine and grapewine,bottle gooseberries, and oth^r such work as hetook great pleasure in doing. When here also, Ithink, he hired a small garden about half a mile off,where he could grow vegetables and small fruit, andwhere he spent a few hours of every fine day. Andthese various occupations were an additional sourceof interest and instruction to us boys. It was here,however, that our elder sister died of consumption inthe year 1832, a little before she attained her twentysecondyear. This was a severe loss to my father andmother, though I was not of an age to feel it much.In the year 1834, a misfortune occurred that stillfurther reduced the family income. Mr. Wilson, whohad married my mother's only sister, was one of theexecutors of her father's will, and as he was a lawyer(the other executor being a clergyman), and his ownwife and her sister were the only legatees, he naturallyhad the sole management of the property. Owing toa series of events with which we were only veryimperfectly acquainted, he became bankrupt in thisyear, and his own wife and large family were at oncereduced from a condition of comfort and even affluenceto poverty almost as great as our own. But wechildren also suffered, for legacies of £100 each to