TO Caleb d' Anvers, Eſq

I HAVE the Happiness to be Tenant to Sir George Engliſh, and there is not one among them who has a more hearty Affection for him and his whole Family, than I have. When this Estate (which he now enjoys, and which, Hea⯑ven grant, he and his may long enjoy) was firſt left to him, by the general Attorn⯑ment of the Tenants, and the Conſent and Act of brave Sir William, his An⯑ceſtor, [2] I had the pleaſure, as a Witneſs and a Tenant, to ſign the Inſtrument my ſelf: I ſaw good Sir William ratify it, I be⯑held him ſoon after expire, and could diſcern a pleaſing Satisfaction in his Fea⯑tures, riſing from the Comfort he received in having finiſhed what he believed muſt make his Tenants the happieſt and moſt eaſy of any People in our whole County. You will forgive me, Sir, that I thus dwell on the Praiſe of my good old Maſter Sir William: He was a Man who loved his whole Species, who had a ge⯑neral Benevolence to Mankind; he did not think any Man was born for himſelf alone, nor could he bear to ſee any of his neighbouring Landlords uſe their Te⯑nants ill, or rack them too high; and more than once he has engaged himſelf in ex⯑penſive Law-ſuits, to deliver them from the Hands of the Oppreſſor. Mr. Lyn, of whom I now complain to you, Sir, was one of the Tenants; and tho' his lit⯑tle Copy-hold was then not much in re⯑pair, and a little incumbered with Debts, however it has been ſince improved, he [3] profeſſed himſelf very zealous, as well as the reſt of us, in the Intereſt of our Land⯑lord, and continued ſo ſome Years: But Time proves every thing; and a very lit⯑tle while after he was appointed Steward to our old Maſter, he began to ſhew himſelf; and tho' the Affairs of Sir George grew every day worſe and worſe under his Management, the Affairs of Mr. Lyn grew better and better every day. He began to look plump and round; his little Farm was clear of all Incum⯑brances; his Family, his Friends, his Relations, his Acquaintance, all grew plump likewiſe, and flouriſhed under his Influence: He had indeed been very libe⯑ral to them, not out of his own Money, but his Maſter's; He put them into all the Employments he could find in the ſeveral Manors, and very frequently, when there was no Employment rea⯑dy, or open, or unenjoy'd by any Re⯑lation, Friend, or Dependent of his, he was ready to erect an Office, and to give it a Name and an Appointment out of his Maſter's Rents, without any Con⯑ſideration [4] how much his Maſter was in debt, how detrimental it muſt prove to his Eſtate, or how ungrateful it was to the Tenants, who ſaw, and murmured to ſee, that their Farms were racked to the higheſt, to ſupport the Family, and other Self-Interests of Mr. Lyn. Well, Sir, our Steward grew rich, he grew am⯑bitious and vain, and haughty, and humorous; and now took it into his Head, that he was as accompliſh'd a Gentleman even as Sir George himſelf, and would needs be ſtiled his Compa⯑nion: He dreſs'd himſelf up in Blue, and uſed to ſtrut about in Pearl Co⯑lour Stockings, a Silk Doublet, and a Cap and Feather, and fancy'd he had enrolled himſelf among Heroes and Gods, ſo hard it is for a Man in Proſperity to check the Folly of a vain Mind; ſome time before this whim of bedecking himſelf in Taffaty and Blue, he had a Fancy to appear in Red; and accordingly one Morning with a very ſolemn and grave Counte⯑nance, he told ſeveral of his Intimate [...] [5] that now he was grown rich, he was reſol⯑ved to devote himſelf to the Service of Religion, as a Knight-Errant; that he would reſcue Virgins, protect Orphans, deſtroy Giants, and do every thing praiſe-worthy, and becoming the great Office of true Chivalry; he exhorted his Friends likewiſe, who were very honeſt Men, and meant well, to do the ſame, and told them their Habiliments ought to be all a⯑like. viz. Red Taffaty, Spurs, Feathers, Caps, Faulchions, &c. So ſaid, ſo done, they dreſs'd themſelves, they ſwore on the Evangeliſts to be good and true Knights, they march'd in an affected Stage-ſtrut round the Town, and made a Shew in their whimſical Dreſſes that ſet all the Pariſh in a Gape. Now one wou'd imagine that Mr. Lyn was about to make amends for all his Miſmanagement, and that the World, as it had been the worſe for him, would be the better too: But this was only a Joke it ſeems; for as ſoon as ever he had perſuad⯑ed his Companions to this, on a ſudden he whipt off his Red Taffaty Doublet, and put on a blue one, as I have ſaid, and [6] called himſelf his Maſter's Fellow, to the great Surprize of every one. But theſe Frolicks, you will ſay, might only take Birth from the jocund Levities of a Head a little giddy with Proſperity, the plaiſom Gaities, the dulce deſipere of a Heart ſwol⯑len with Joy and Power. We will go on then to conſider him only in his Character of Steward.

Mr. LYN was no ſooner got into the Stewardſhip, but he with very great Aſ⯑ſurance told his Maſter, that none of his Tenants had any hearty Affection for him, but himſelf and his Sons, his Brother Townly and his Sons, with their Rela⯑tions and Intimates; that if it were not for his and their Management, Sir George would not be able to make any thing of the Eſtate. And Iſaac Tombrel, a Re⯑lation to a Relation of Mr. Lyn's by Marriage, had the Aſſurance to affirm be⯑fore young Squire Engliſh, Sir George's eldeſt Son, at Dinner at the Manſion Houſe in Leiceſterſhire, that the Preſer⯑vation of Sir George's whole Eſtate [7] was owing to Mr. Lyn; for which, and other unmannerly and indecent Expreſ⯑ſions, he was rebuked, diſgraced, and ſent back into Norfolk. Indeed Mr. Lyn uſed frequently in publick to applaud himſelf for his good Management of the Eſtate, and to pronounce himſelf with great Authority, the only Man in Eng⯑land who knew how to keep a Rental. He went farther, and frequently declared that was it not for him, and his great Art and Skill, the Tenants would not pay their Rents, that they would forget all Reſpect and Duty to Sir George, or join with Squire Welſh in the Law-ſuit againſt him. Tho' Squire Welſh and his Law-ſuit and Prenten⯑ſions were very low and deſpiſed, and al⯑moſt forgot by every body; yet Mr. Lyn always endeavour'd to make his court to his Maſter, by aſſuring him, that ſeve⯑ral of his Tenants, thoſe I mean who held the largeſt Farms, and whoſe Hearts were always with Sir George, were ſecretly Fa⯑vourers of the Pretenſions of Mr. Wel⯑ſh; this, Sir, indeed appears to me one of Mr. [8] Lyn's greateſt Iniquities, as I think a Pick-thank in a Family is moſt odious Character. But he was reſolved to ſupport his Power at the Expence of every thing; and now finding himſelf, as he imagin'd, at leaſt in Truſt and Confidence with his Maſter, (which we his poor Tenants hope is not real⯑ly the Caſe) he raiſed his Creſt, and threw out his natural Bronze. And as Inſolence is ever the Mark of a little Mind, tho' conſcious to himſelf of more Crimes than any Man but himſelf can diſcover, he ſlighted his Superiors and deſpiſed his Op⯑ponents. The Pariſh-Officers, the Aſſeſ⯑ſors and Collectors of the Land-Tax, the Conſtables, Portreve, and Jurymen, were all his Creatures, Relations, Dependents or Subdependents, ſuch whoſe Corrup⯑tion and Conſciences he could depend up⯑on. Thus furniſhed, thus guarded and ſupported, he ventur'd on, he levy'd Mo⯑ney upon the Tenants on the moſt ridicu⯑lous Pretence: an old Bridge was to be re⯑paired, a new one to be built, the Pariſh wanted a Set of Bells, a new Pair of Stocks muſt be provided; he made them [9] contribute to the keeping ſeveral Packs of Hounds; and ſometimes Maſter Lyn wou'd demand a round Sum of Money for private Uſes, and ſuch as were by no means proper to be known to the Te⯑nants.

SIR George has a Park where his Te⯑nants have Time out of Mind been per⯑mitted to recreate and refreſh at leiſure Hours, as often as they pleaſed; and thro' this Park many of them are oblig'd to paſs every Day to their Grounds; Mr. Lyn, who valued himſelf on his Genius for raiſing Money, order'd his own Man to ſtand before the Park-Gate, and levy a Penny for the Paſſage of every Man, when Buſineſs or Diverſions oblig'd him to paſs that way; and this too under the Pretence of ſetting up a pair of Gates only, tho' the Money levy'd would new pale the whole Park. And this I mention only to ſhew you how ready he is at Undertakings of this kind.

[10] HOWEVER, notwithſtanding all the Diſcouragements that the Tenants lay under, they might have thriven even under the Stewardſhip of Mr. Lyn, if he had not with the utmoſt Art and Application laboured to prevent it. The two greateſt and known Enemies to Induſtry and Trade, are Luxury and Gaming: theſe he careful⯑ly encouraged; and in order to this, he in⯑vited the Tenants to a large Gaming-table which had been erected indeed in another Robinocracy, in the very middle of the Market-Place. To this Gaming-table the Tenants, when they had diſpoſed of their Wooll, their Corn, &c. all hurry'd; and as there is in moſt Men a Luſt after inordi⯑dinate Gain, many of them play'd, and every Day left behind them the Labours of their Induſtry. But Mr. Lyn, ever pro⯑vident for himſelf, took care that this ſhould turn to his Advantage; for (tho' he never appeared there himſelf) he always employ'd a few faithful Confidents to play for him, and allow'd them to ſhare in ſome Parts of the Spoil. It was always his Method when [11] he play'd thus by Deputy, to uſe loaded Dice, either high or low as he fancy'd; and when ſome of the Tenants, who by dear Experience were now grown very peery, obſerv'd Mr. Lyn's Dice in play, they would very artfully, as they imagin'd, ſet their Dice accordingly; that is, if they ob⯑ſerved Mr. Lyn uſed high Dice, they ſet expecting them to run high, and ſo low, when they ſaw his Dice run low; but when the Stakes were deep enough to invite Mr. Lyn's Acceptance, they were always invi⯑ſibly changed upon them; and he was by this ingenious Artifice Maſter of Part of the Property of the Tenants. And as of⯑ten as he pleaſed, by this he amaſſed Wealth, by this means the Manufactures of our Country are very much hurt, and our Trade decreaſes. This is at preſent the Caſe un⯑der our moſt righteous Steward; and they tell me, there is nothing he delights in at this Hour, ſo much as Gaming by Proxy, and Fox-Hunting.

TO Caleb d' Anvers, Eſq The HISTORY of the NORFOLK STEWARD.
PART II. Containing a farther Account of Mr. Lyn's Management; and alſo of his Method of Stating and Ballancing Accounts.

I Believe my laſt hath convinc'd you that Mr. Lyn's management of Sir George's Domeſtick Affairs, was full as extraordina⯑ry as that of his Lawſuits with his Neigh⯑bours. But perhaps you will wonder that [14] he ſhould be ſuffer'd to go on ſo long in theſe Practices; that he hath not been con⯑ſtantly preſented every Court-day for ſo ma⯑ny repeated Miſdoings; or that even all the Tenants of the Mannor do not unanimouſly make it their requeſt to Sir George (whoſe Ears are always open to their Complaints) that he would be pleaſed to remove a Stew⯑ard whoſe Mananagement is generally diſ⯑liked and complained of by all the Tenants. But your Surprize will vaniſh when you recollect what I have told you in both my former Letters; that all the Prime Officers both of the Pariſh and the Mannor, as well as moſt of the Jurymen, were his own Re⯑lations or Creatures; that a great number of the principal Tenants were bribed into his In⯑tereſt, and that many others, who had ho⯑neſt Intentions, were afraid to oppoſe a Man, who had it in his Power to raiſe their Rent, diſtrain their Goods, or turn them out of their Farms at Pleaſure, by repreſenting them as bad Tenants or Enemies to their Landlord; tho' theſe very People were the beſt affect⯑ed [15] to their Landlord, tho' they paid their Rents punctually, and had no other deme⯑rit, but that they faithfully adhered to what they conceived to be the true Intereſt of Sir George. In ſhort, it is the peculiar Character of Mr. Lyn, That when he took up a Prejudice, however unreaſonable, a⯑gainſt any of the Tenants, he always made it a POINT (as he call'd it) to ruin them with Sir George, and ſtuck at nothing to compaſs his End.

YET notwithſtanding all this Power, and this extravagant Uſe of it, there are many Perſons of conſiderable Intereſt and Figure in the Mannor, who have conſtant⯑ly oppoſed him in all theſe Proceedings, and have, at preſent, the Pleaſure to ſee a gene⯑ral Spirit of Reſentment riſing againſt him. The Number of his Opponents increaſes dai⯑ly; whilſt many, ſome even of thoſe, who are obliged to act with him, are frequently heard to murmur againſt his Proceed⯑ings, in publick as well as private; and others who eat his Bread, as he is inſo⯑lently [I6] pleaſed to call it, Sir George's Bread, the Tenants Bread he means, hang down their Heads; and conſcious of their Crime in not oppoſing his Meaſures, plead guilty to the Charge againſt him in their Silence.

THE Freemen of the Town, where Sir George lives himſelf, are heartily, almoſt univerſally, incenſed againſt him, on divers Accounts; particularly for having introdu⯑ced ſeveral New Cuſtoms amongſt them; for always interpoſing his Authority in their Elections of Pariſh-Officers; for making them pay more for their Fewel than the reſt of the Tenants; for refuſing to read a Letter written in their behalf, on this Ac⯑count, and replying with an inſolent Air, That he did not care a F—t for the whole Town.

GREAT Numbers of poor Tradeſ⯑men, who ſupplied the late Sir George with Neceſſaries, are ready to ſtarve for want of the Money, he died in arrear to them on that Account; which is the more extraordinary, becauſe Sir George had always a ſufficient Income to keep [17] a noble Houfe, and pay every body, as indeed he ſeem'd always inclinable to do; from whence they conclude, That Mr. Lyn embezzled great Sums himſelf, and ſquandered away others, for his own Va⯑nity and Grandeur, amongſt a worſe kind of TRADESMEN than they are. Nay, what adds to the Provocation is, That Mr. Lyn will not ſatisfy them whe⯑ther they ſhall ever be paid or not.

THE neighbouring Country Gentlemen complain of him for engroſſing the Game, and forbidding them to hunt, or ride in Sir George's PARKS, as they uſed to do.

THE Clergy charging him with recom⯑mending Men of ſlow Parts for Preferment in the Church to old Sir George, when any Livings fell; of which there was a great Number, during his Life and the Steward⯑ſhip of Mr. Lyn.

THE Yeomanry grumble for want of Money, the Manufacturers for want of Buſineſs, and the poor Labourers for want of Bread; and all impute their Misfortunes, I [18] think, after what has been ſaid, not very unjuſtly, to Mr. Lyn, by engaging old Sir George in a needleſs, expenſive and chimerical Law-ſuit, and thereby preventing the uſual Circulation of Money in Commerce, by di⯑verting it into other Channels.

IN ſhort, all Ranks of Men (except a few particular Creatures of his own) ſeem to have their reſpective Complaints againſt him, and unite in their Wiſhes for a new Steward.

NAY, we have a current Report about the Country, that our preſent Landlord (who is a Gentleman of great Penetration, and applies himſelf very much to Buſineſs) hath been, for ſome time, of the ſame Opi⯑nion with his Tenants; and altho it may not be convenient to diſcharge him at preſent, at leaſt till his Accounts, which are in the ut⯑moſt Confuſion, are audited and ſettled, yet it is certain that he hath already clipt his Wings, and ſo ſhort too, that he is unable to take his former Flights.

THIS hath a little ſunk his Creſt, and ſoften'd his Behaviour to his Fellow-Tenants, [19] tho' he ſtill endeavours to keep up his uſual Spirit of Defiance; but we can eaſily ob⯑ſerve, from the frequent Tremulation of his Voice, the faultring of his Accents, his Loſs of Temper and Confuſion in his Sentences, that he is inwardly very much chagrined and di⯑ſturb'd.

YOU may remember, I told you, in my firſt, that Sir George's Eſtate (when he came to it) was charged with an heavy Debt: And that when Mr. Lyn was call'd upon to give an Account of the great Sums of Money, which had paſſed thro' his Hands, he always refuſed to do it, and endeavoured to make a Jeſt of thoſe who demanded it. But at length, the general Clamour obliged him to conſent to ſome Examination; upon which it appears, even by his own Account, that his Maſter's Eſtate is ſo far from being the better for his Management, according to his former re⯑peated Declarations, that it is ſeveral hundred Pounds more in debt, than it was before he came into the Stewardſhip, notwithſtanding the great Sums which ought to have been yearly applied towards paying it off.

[20] BUT his manner of ſtating Accounts is ſo very extraordinary, that I believe you will think it worth relating.

Mr. Lyn hath always boaſted, that the Family-Debt was very much diminiſhed within theſe ten or eleven Years paſt, and de⯑fied his Enemies to prove the contrary. Now, in order to ſee whether this was true or not, it was propoſed, firſt, to ſtate the Debt, as it ſtood eleven Years ago, is all its Branches. Then to deduct from it the ſe⯑veral yearly Sums, which have, or ought to have been paid out of a certain ſtrong Box, where the Savings from the Rents, after the Expences of the Family were paid, were conſtantly laid up, to diſcharge part of the Mortgage upon the Eſtate, as it was appoint⯑ed to do ſince that time; and afterwards to compute the whole Debt, of every kind, which the Family owes at preſent. It was agreed, I think, that the Debt, eleven Years ago, amounted to about 51000 l. The ſtrong Box was ſaid to have produced, ſince that time, about 7000 l. which reduces the Debt (had no farther Debt been incurred, as the Phraſe in vogue is) to 44000; and, in what⯑ever [21] degree the preſent Debt ſhould appear to be leſs than that Sum, ſo much, and no more, ought to be allowed to be really diminiſhed, ſince that Time, by the Management of Mr. Lyn; ſince he could not pretend to arrogate to himſelf the Merit of paying any Sums, which would have paid themſelves had he let them alone.

THIS ſeem'd to be a fair Propoſal, as it was generally eſteemed; but fair as it was, Mr. Lyn demurred to it. At firſt, indeed, he crack'd, bluſter'd, and defy'd, as uſual; at length, with much Difficulty, he agreed to give in ſome Account. Accordingly he gave in his own State of the Account; and a Day was appointed for the Enquiry; when that came, he made a conſiderable Alteration in his own Account. And having after⯑wards acknowledged that he had quite forgot ſeveral other considerable Sums of the Debt contracted, he run his uſual Circle; he aſ⯑ſerted, affirmed, deny'd, was poſitive, was every thing but intelligible; he talk'd in ſhort till he had not only made himſelf but many of his Hearers giddy. There is not, perhaps, ſo great a Maſter in Europe of the [22] grand Art of Bambouſle as Mr. Lyn: The Debt (ſaid he) is incurred, but not increa⯑ſed; there are real Debts and nominal Debts; there are real nominal Debts, and nominal real Debts; there were real Debts and per⯑ſonal Debts, which the Family muſt pay; there are Debts never-ſtated tho 'incurred, and Debts which tho' incurred and ſtated, might never be paid; ſo that upon the whole you ſee I have paid off a conſiderable part of the Mortgage upon Sir George's Eſtate: But when he was told, that tho' it was true that part of the Norfolk Mortgage was paid off, yet Sir George was really now as much in debt as before, becauſe Mr. Lyn, to per⯑form this mighty Deed, had borrow'd juſt as much upon Sir George's Eſtate in Leiceſter⯑ſhire, as he had paid off in Norfolk, ſo that the Ballance continued as before; he broke into a loud Laugh, and told the Tenants they knew nothing of Accounts, nor the diffe⯑rence between a Debt incurred and a Debt increaſed.

BY the Help of theſe Diſtinctions, and this Jumble of Sophiſtries, he ſtruck off one Article of above three thouſand Pounds, which [23] he aſſerted to be a very good Bargain to the Family; another of almoſt two thouſand, becauſe it was owing to very bad Manage⯑ment; and a third of one thouſand, for no o⯑ther Reaſon, that I could hear, than that he did not know how to juſtify the contracting of it, or in what manner to provide for its Payment.

HE had alſo the Modeſty to place ano⯑ther conſiderable Sum amongſt the Debts diſ⯑charged, within that Time; which ought really to have been placed amongſt thoſe in⯑curred.

IT is likewiſe worth obſerving, that Mr. Lyn had previouſly taken care to puzzle and perplex the Accounts as much as poſſible, in order to ſecure himſelf from Detection, by chopping and changing the Securities into different Hands; borrowing of one to pay off another; turning Intereſt into Principal, and Principal into Intereſt; with a thouſand other Arts and Stratagems of the ſame kind; ſo that he had a manifeſt Advantage over Thoſe who were not in the Secret.

[24] NAY, what is ſtill more extraordinary, he ſtated his Account of Debts contracted to Chriſtmas laſt only; whereas he calculated the Sum of Debts diſcharged to Lady-day next; a Method of ſtating and ballancing Accounts, which was never before practiſed or heard of in theſe Parts!

AND yet after all theſe Fineſſes and Fal⯑lacies, and arbitrary Poſtulata, the preſent Family-Debt evidently appear'd to be, juſt as it was eleven Years ago, fifty one thouſand Pounds, or thereabouts.

THO' it is generally believed here, that this Affair will not redound much to the Credit of Mr. Lyn; yet it muſt be con⯑feſſed, that his Arithmetical Capacity is really admirable, and that he hath proved him⯑ſelf, beyond all Contradiction, to be a complete Maſter of Addition, as well as Subſtraction.

To be continued as the Steward goes on.