of the fact; when
he found his table cleared for the last time both of servants and
guests; when he traversed the various apartments of his mansion, and
observed all stripped, destroyed, and echoing only to the sounds of his
own footsteps; when, in fine, he discovered that he was again alone in
the world, without any portion of that wealth which he had so sadly
abused, and with many new and vicious tastes which he had no longer the
means to gratify; bitter, indeed, were his lamentations, shocking his
fits of anger. These over, and they lasted long, long days, he seriously
examined the state of his affairs. With the exception of the clothes
upon his back, and a little change in his pocket, he possessed
absolutely nothing, so effectually had his kind friends and faithful
servants stripped him of his means: it was, therefore, with no enviable
feelings he left the house, his house no longer, to seek a shelter for
his head, and a crust to appease his hunger.

He carefully avoided all his former resorts, and directed his steps to
those parts of the town where poverty and vice were accustomed to
assemble, strong in their numbers and their misery. Among them he now
strove to bury his griefs and acquire consolation; but, alas, it was at
the cost of every hope of virtue which might yet lurk in his nature!
Characters like Bruin's, that are ever more apt to imitate the evil than
the good which is around them, can only acquire some fresh stain from
every contact with the wicked; and thus our bear sunk lower and lower in
the scale of beasts, till many even of his new associates at last shrunk
from him.

Some months after Bruin's being turned out of his splendid home there
was a great fair held, just without the town of Caneville; and, as is
usual in such cases, the lowest orders of the population assembled
there. The Hon. Miss Greyhound, who had been a prey to feelings of a
very mixed nature since her interrupted interview with Bruin, had joined
a party of fashionables in an unusually long walk, and on their return
to the city by a different route they came upon the fair. They stopped
on a rising ground at some little distance to view the sports; then
observing a group with a tall ungainly figure in the centre, a little to
the right, they drew nearer to observe the proceedings. The great beast
in the centre had his back to them, so they could not observe his
features; but they saw that his clothes were ragged, his whole
appearance