and mother and daughter devised for the husband a salve for his limbs which gave him much relief , but could not restore the feeling altogether , and it is thought that he shall soon be as helpless as his father , who is afflicted with the same malady , and though his mind is sharp and he can direct the affairs of his plantation , he is rumored to lie helpless in a splendid bed with negroes to feed him and clean him as if he were a child .