The interest that Holgrave shows in Clifford is questionable, as Hawthorne writes, for he seems to take an instrumental interest in Clifford that is not yet discernible. Holgrave observes Clifford as the means to some end that the author has not yet revealed. Clifford was the most inveterate of conservatives. All antique fashions were dear to him. One afternoon a scissor-grinder stops by Pyncheon Street in front of the arched window.
Children come running with their mothers' scissors for sharpening.
The disagreeable sound annoys everyone but Clifford, who listens with rapturous delight, for the sound had a brisk life and was a reminder of the past. Clifford would lament that there were no stagecoaches nowadays. Only those things that Clifford found beautiful did not need the association of the past. Often Italian boys with barrel-organs would be on Pyncheon Street. They would grind the organs and out would pop little figures, such as a scholar with his book, a miser with his gold, and two lovers kissing.