Betty IRELAND.
It is agreed on all Hands, that Betty Ireland was a younger Daughter by a second Venter; let, at first, to run wild in the Woods, cloathed with Skins and fed with Acorns; till a famous Hunter took her in his Toils, and, liking her Countenance, gave her to a Son of his, a Lad, to bring up. The Girl was born to a good Estate, but ill tenanted, and run to waste. Her Farms neither meared or bounded, her Rents never paid, as she had no certain Tenants, and had little more to claim than a Pepper-corn Acknowledgment. She had no Relation to manage her Demesnes, and could hardly be said to be possessed of any thing.
In this Condition the young Sportsman found her, was fond of her at first, and resolved to marry her; and happy had it been both for him and her, if he had kept his Resolution, and performed the Contract. But he hankered after his elder Brother's Estate, and, on his Death, suddenly got the Tenants to attorn to him, and basely dispossessed his Nephew. But instead of an Estate, he got nothing but a Law-suit, lived in Broils, and dyed a Beggar. Whereas had he quitted all Pretensions at home, married Betty and minded her Concerns, he had soon been in a Condition not to envy his Brother; and, perhaps, had left a second Family little inferior in Greatness to the first.
This was the only Chance ever Betty had to make a separate Fortune, set up for herself, and be independent of her Sister. She was ever after beholden to her for maintaining her Rights, settling her Affairs, and bringing her Tenants to Reason.
Neither Betty or her Sister were yet of Age, but the Younger far from it, and continued under such Guardians, as the Elder recommended, and had chosen for herself. It was natural to think they should chiefly be employed in ordering the Affairs of Blanch, and be less attentive to benefit the other. Accordingly, from time to time, they sent Proxies, to let Leases, keep her Courts, and force Possession, where the Tenants held over. Little, however, was done for Betty, though they put her Sister to great Charges; nor did she thrive in the World to any Purpose, 'till she came under the Care of a good orderly Gentlewoman, who was also Guardian to Blanch, a notable Manager, and very affectionate to her Wards, understood their Business to a hair, and was never to be imposed on or over-reached. Every thing she put her hand to prospered, and every thing against her miscarried.
When she first looked into Betty's Affairs, she found them in a manner desperate; her small Revenues had been embezzled by Agents, Farms set to insolvent Tenants, double Leases made out, huge Fines taken in Hand and sunk in their own Pockets. She was preyed upon by Vagabonds and Outlaws; and, to compleat her Misfortunes, a Foreign Count fell in love with her, an odious Monster and braggadocio Huffer. He swore bitterly no one else should have her, and to support his Claim, brought in his Pocket, a pretended Licence from the Spiritual Court, and a Pack of outlandish Goths along with him, to take Possession of her Freehold, and break down her Gates. But her Sister generously came in to her Assistance, repelled Force by Force, and rescued her from a Tyrant Ravisher, built Houses for herself, and Fences for the Tenants, and left some of her own People with her to instruct them in Trades and Husbandry.
She was then, it might be thought, in a Way of making herself respected, both by her own and her Sister's Tenants, and not stand in need of any more Supplies from them; and if the good Woman, her guardian, had lived to bring Matters to any Kind of Establishment, Things had been better. But she unfortunately died, more, however, to her Sister's Disadvantage than hers; for the Guardian had chalked out a Track of Proceeding for Betty, which she could hardly miss to follow. The Elder, however, was inconsolable for the Loss of her Guardian, and resolved, for the future, to manage her Concerns by the Assistance of a Steward, a Sort of a Cousin to her Guardian deceased, but no way allied to her, in Worth or Understanding. He minded nothing but Hunting and Puppet-shews, Feasts and Revels; and though the uncomeliest of an ill-favoured Race, spent his Lady's Money in adorning his own Person, instead of fencing her Grounds. He was laughed at by one half of the Neighbours, and despised and gulled by the other. In a Word, he was every Way unfit for the Charge.
His Son succeeded to the Place; he was a grave-looking, orderly young Man, main religious, and skilled in the Customs of the Manor. Both the Sisters had great Hopes their Affairs would thrive under his Management. Betty's, indeed, went on well for a while; but, in the End, both of them had Cause to complain, and curse the Day they had bethought them of employing a Steward in their Concerns. He was not so great a Fool as his Father; yet nothing he put his Hand to succeeded. He was bubbled by every Neighbour he dealt with, and choused by every Tenant he trusted. His Word could never be relied on, as he had always some quibble to evade it. His Wife made him hated by the Tenants; and for a finishing Stroke to his undoing, and compleat the Ruin of his Wards, he pretended the Steward had a Right to hold Courts without Juries, and by his own Authority levy Money for Repairs. The Tenants would not endure this Invasion on their Rights, but stoutly opposed it; and, after a hard Struggle, got the better, turned him out of the Stewardship, and some of them finding him one Day at a why-not, tied him to a Rope, and hanged him in a Frolick.
The Office of a Steward was now abolished for a Time, and the elder Sister resolved to take her Affairs entirely into her own Hands, and have neither Steward or Guardian for the future. The Condition, indeed, of both was deplorable. There had been nothing during the late Quarrel, but Riot and Plunder, Rents unpaid, and Soldiers quartered at Discretion; so that, in order to retrieve their Affairs, it seemed necessary to put things on a new Footing, and trust none but themselves to manage them. But whatever they intended mattered but little.
Among the Soldiers quartered on them was a bustling Knave, who from a Corporal had come to be a Captain. He was bold as a Lion, and crafty as a Fox. He had cajoled his Soldiers to stand by him; and pretending Compassion for the Sisters, offered, or rather forced himself, to be their Guardian. They only complied because they could not help it; and he took more rule over them, than ever Steward or Guardian had done before him.
He seemed, indeed, to mend Matters in the Beginning, but, in reality, did unrepairable Damage to Blanch, though considerable Services to Betty. The Neighbours all around thought they were thriving apace, and began to envy their Greatness. The Reason of which was, that he always took care to have the Girls well dressed, especially when they went a visiting, and sent Word before-hand (for he was d----d proud) that all the World should Cap to them as they passed along. He stinted them in every thing else, but spent all he could rap and run to make them fine. Betty was bashful, and kept pretty much at home; but when Blanch went abroad, she made a flaming Appearance, held up her Head among the Highest, and insulted the Proudest with her Braveries.
But all the while Things were but uncomfortable at home, though she made such a tearing Figure when abroad. Nothing to be had for Farms, by reason the Soldiers put in and out as they pleased. No Leets or Manor Courts were minded. No taxing for Repairs and Bounds, but the Soldiers taxed for Contingencies as much Money as they could hear any one had. So that the Tenants found themselves in a worse Pickle than ever they had been under the Management of a Steward. They longed for Courts and Inquests, and to have every thing set on the old Bottom again.
They heard of a poor Boy, a Son of the late Steward's, who had run away from the Lands the Time his Father was hanged, and was now grown up to Years of Discretion. As he had bit a good while on the Bridle, they thought he might be tamed, more careful than his Father, and do them more Justice and Kindness. They brought him home in a Hurry; and, as it's natural to run from one Extreme to another, were sure they were all made when they got him into the Stewardship.
It must be owned, he was a pleasant, good-humoured Fellow as ever broke Bread, civilly behaved, and by no means wanted Capacity for the Business. But he was idle to a Degree, followed W----ng and Horse-racing; and provided he could borrow Money enough from the Tenants, or get Presents from the Neighbours, to treat his Wenches and buy them Top-knots, never heeded how Accounts were settled, how he held the Courts, or how he paid the Servants. Farm-houses went to decay, and Strangers forestalled the Markets. Few People, however, could find in their Heart to hate him. They had a Love for him, though he was daily undoing them: For it was always their Humour to like a boon Companion; and instead of crossing his Prodigality, they followed his Example, wh----ed it away from the highest to the lowest, revelled and caroused for dear Blood, and were never better pleased than when the last Penny was a going. It became a Fashion to be Bankrupt; to be Rich, was to lose all Credit; and to be Just, was the Mark of a Scoundrel.
But though the elder Sister was well-nigh undone by him, he did a good Turn by Betty, and sent one of his Cousins to take care of her Concerns, who had a good Farm of his own under her, and was well-beloved over the whole Estate. He kept Leet and Court-Baron, presented Vagabonds at the Sessions, and gave Rewards for apprehending Out-laws. He set the Tenants to Work, lived constantly among them, and looked himself into every thing. Betty began to thrive, and was less expensive to her Sister, who had wasted huge Sums to keep her Head above Water. She stuck to Business, and prospered mainly, 'till the Steward's Brother got himself into the Place, who played H----ll with every thing, and brought the two Sisters to the Brink of Ruin.
He was rash, senseless, obstinate, and ill-minded; none of the Neighbours would deal with him, or the Tenants trust him, as there was no believing one Word he said, or promise that he made; for he had taken an Oath when he was young never to speak Truth. He began his Vagaries by putting the Curate in the Stocks, for refusing to teach a new Catechism of his own Invention. He entered into a Plot to secure the Elder Sister in the House of Correction, and make her do Penance in the Church, under Pretence of Carnal Conversation. He agreed to sell Betty to a Cousin of his, a great Lord in the Neighbourhood, who longed to have her for a Waiting-woman to his Wife. So the Tenants made short Work with him, rose one and all, and sent him a-packing to his Cousin, where he was fain to be a Serving-man, since he could not send Betty to be a Serving-maid.
Both the Sisters took an Oath never more to have a Steward again, and to abolish the very Name from among them, with a reserve to his Daughters, who had married abroad, and were good sort of Women, in their Way.
