Granted, then, that
the three most serious losses which a man can suffer are those affecting
money, health and reputation. Loss of money is far the worst, then comes
ill-health, and then loss of reputation; loss of reputation is a bad
third, for, if a man keeps health and money unimpaired, it will be
generally found that his loss of reputation is due to breaches of parvenu
conventions only, and not to violations of those older, better
established canons whose authority is unquestionable. In this case a man
may grow a new reputation as easily as a lobster grows a new claw, or, if
he have health and money, may thrive in great peace of mind without any
reputation at all. The only chance for a man who has lost his money is
that he shall still be young enough to stand uprooting and transplanting
without more than temporary derangement, and this I believed my godson
still to be.
By the prison rules he might receive and send a letter after he had been
in gaol three months, and might also receive one visit from a friend.
When he received my letter, he at once asked me to come and see him,
which of course I did. I found him very much changed, and still so
feeble, that the exertion of coming from the infirmary to the cell in
which I was allowed to see him, and the agitation of seeing me were too
much for him.
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