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ACCOUNTS of this nature may perhaps be of more consequence to gentlemen,yeomen, farmers, and others, than all I have wrote before: For if a gentleman orfarmer runs out and gets into a ruinous condition for want of knowledge, inspection,and careful management of his affairs both at home and abroad, he may thus be deprivedof the means to live happy. And I am well assured that many gentlemen, yeomen, farmers,and others, have run out their income, merely by their servants carelessness andpilfering, and too often by the thefts of ill neighbours: Wherefore I have thoughtit necessary to publish the following accounts of thievery, for examples, that othersmay learn to avoid falling into the like misfortunes.

  How two Threshers stole much Corn from their Master.--AMan living near me, coming into the possession of a little farm of twenty poundsa year ready sowed with grain to his hand, after harvest employed two threshers tothresh out his corn, believing they would not wrong him, as he paid them well fortheir work, but it otherwise happened; for as the owner followed the farrier's businessat four miles distance from the farm, these threshers lived at discretion, and therefore,being very great rogues, took the advantage of their master's absence, and carriedseveral bushels of his wheat to the mill to grind for flower, besides what they conveyedaway for raising ready money; for the farrier believed they stole in all forty orfifty bushels of wheat, and several of pease, and for furnishing themselves withmeat they stole mutton; upon which one was taken up, and sent to Hertfordgaol in January 1748-9, where he died, before the assizes, of the gaol distemper;the other confessed he stole only two bushels of the wheat, but for want of otherevidence, and for the sake of his large family, that must have fell on the parishif he had been hanged or transported, he was not prosecuted. Now this farrier wasbrought up from his cradle in the country, was near fifty years of age, and accountedas sharp a man in his way as most is, yet proved a mere ignoramus in the managementof a farm.

  How a villainous Servant of a Farmer, by a falseKey he got, had free Access for a long Time to his Master's strong Beer Cellar.--Thisfellow was servant to Mr. Linny, a famous farmer at Beckwood, tenantto that late generous worthy gentleman Sir Thomas Seabright, Memberof Parliament for Hertfordshire, where, after he had been some time, he gotpossession of the key of his master's strong beer cellar, long enough to take itsimpression in clay, and have it match'd at an ironmonger's in Dunstable; andbeing (as he thought) thus compleatly furnished, he put the original key in the wayof being found by his dame. After this he took his opportunity of trying his newkey, which was a little twisted, and every way like the old true one, except itsbeing too short in the hollow: However, to cure this, he made use of a gimlet, andbored so long till he made it do, and then he had free access when he thought fitto fll his belly with any of the liquors he found in the cellar; for this tenantkept a good house; and thus this villain went on till he went into another farmer'sservice near his former master, yet was not deprived of having a belly-full of Mr.Linny's strong beer once a week, for when a new servant came into his place,he quickly got acquainted with him, telling him how he had gone on, and that if hewould every Sunday give him liberty, he would give him his key. This was agreedto, and both of them every Sunday got into the cellar, and there drank attheir pleasure for almost another year, till at last the master and mistress miss'dso much of their liquors, that they mistrusted a bite; upon which the mistress lock'dherself into the cellar, and by waiting catch'd the present servant, who confess'dthe other, and who for fear of prosecution left the country for some time, till heheard his master would pardon him, if he would come and make an ingenious discoveryof the whole matter, which he did in the manner I have related it.--Persons oughtto take particular care of this piece of villainy, for it is too commonly practised:I knew two fellows in our parish that did the same, and reigned in their roguerya considerable time, by which and other misfortunes their master sold his estateof forty pounds a year, and became poor.

  How a Taylor undertook a Farm who knew nothing ofit, and how he was robbed.--This man lives about four miles from Gaddesden,and wanting hay I sold him some the 8th of April, 1749, when he told me, Thathaving marry'd a wife, and got a house and land, he was desirous to take a littlefarm near him: This he did, and kept, I think, four horses; but being ignorant inmany branches of the farming business, among other discourse he said to a friendof his, He could not tell when a labourer had done his day's work. Oh, says his friend,they will soon make you know that, and something else. And so they did, for one hecatch'd stealing his bacon, by cutting a piece off as it hung up in the kitchen.Another stole this or that thing, which he detected them in; however, by being thusbit to his loss, he took courage, look'd out sharp, and now makes a tolerable goodfarmer.

  A Gentleman of a considerable Estate run out byhis Servants holding a Correspondence with bad Neighbours.--This gentleman comingto an estate of above a thousand a year, at a young age, left his servants to managehis domestick affairs; who managed so, that he run out considerably, though in asingle life; till at last his eyes were opened, and he perceived how the loss happen'd,which was by his servants holding a correspondence with vile neighbours, for in orderto please them, they pilfer'd from their master those things which brought him undergreat losses; but on discovering their villainy, he forbid any of his family so muchas to talk with a neighbour. If they did, he or she was to be directly turn'd away.And his prohibition (as he lived in a lone house at some distance from others) hadso good an effect, that he recover'd his losses, and is now a very rich gentleman,living, northward, about a hundred miles from London.

  How a Yeoman's Maid-Servant pilfered her Master'sFlower, Bacon, Cheese, &c. and exchanged them for Gin.--A yeoman inHertfordshire, whose landed estate is about sixty pounds a year, kept a maid-servantthat so loved gin, as to carry now and then some of her master's bacon, flower, orcheese, to an adjacent shop where they sold gin, where she would drink till somewhatintoxicated; and as her mistress was an indolent sort of woman, she perceived notthe maid's wickedness, for a long time, for when she got a little tipsey, she toldher mistress she was seized with a pain in her stomach, was pity'd, and thus frequentlyobtained leave to go to bed sooner than ordinary; till at last her wickedness appearedpalpable, and she was discharged, leaving a score of five shillings at the gin-shopunpaid.--I could record many more such villainies, but my room will not allow it.

  The Character of that great Oeconomist ScroopEgerton, late Duke of Bridgewater.--This nobleman was certainlypossess'd of many fine qualities, particularly that of temperance in eating and drinking,and in many other branches of living. He was (I believe) never known to be intoxicatedwith liquor, for he and his Duchess seldom or ever exceeded a pint or a quart bottleof wine at dinner. His breakfast was a mess of water gruel, and as he always rosebetimes, while in the country, when he had eaten it he would ride or walk out tillten, and then come home to a tea-breakfast with his Duchess and daughters. His supperwas tarts, hasty pudding, pancake, or other light food, in refusal of flesh; buthe generally eat as hearty a dinner as any man, having extraordinary plenty of allmanner of dainty provisions, and two men cooks to dress them. His exercise was walkingamongst his many workmen, with whom he was so delighted, that he seemed never betterpleased, than when he was giving them orders and seeing them work in the best plantedpark in England, in his many inclosed felds, woods and garden. And so extremelyfond was this gentleman of a country life, that he would every now and then takea trip, even in winter, down to his seat at Ashridge from London; andnotwithstanding the fatigue of his journey, I have seen him, the same day, walk througha great shower of rain to a considerable distance in his great coat, to view a new-madepond or other novelty. His number of cart, race, and other horses was one hundredand fifty at least; his red and fallow deer, above one thousand; his menial servantsof all sorts, about sixty; and his day labourers, thirty: And although he kept alarge pack of the finest fleetest hounds in the country, yet he would latterly seldomgo with them; but on the contrary has been heard to say, he wish'd in his youth hehad minded them less, and the improvement of his estate more. However, he prettywell redeemed his lost time, for he planted much, and seldom felled a tree, unlessat a very great age indeed. His houshold and other parts of his œconomy were attendedwith a very close inspection, particularly that of his servants accompts; his housekeepingwas exercised in plenty, yet with frugality; and there was always enough of everything that was good; his corn-felds furnished his house with bread, malt, oatmeal,&c. and he sold much grain besides, at Hempstead market; his cowssupplied milk, cream, and butter, but his cheese he bought: He was such an admirerof the Lady-finger natural grass, that grew in his meadows, that he would now andthen recommend its excellent virtues to others; his oxen, sheep, lambs, and calveshe generally fatted in his own grounds, and commonly killed an ox every week or fortnight,besides smaller meat, giving large quantities of it every week to the adjacent poorpeople, to the making of their families hearts glad. His London house he also,in winter, supplied now and then with mutton, lamb, veal, venison, bacon, pork, pigs,fowls, eggs, and flower; likewise with fruit and other garden-ware, strong beer,wood, charcoal, pond and river fish, to the furnishing his table with wholesome pleasantviands, and to the saving of much expence; for which purpose the Duke had a waggonor cart every week loaded, almost throughout the winter, with these provisions. Hisservants had one of the mildest masters upon earth, seldom, if ever, being in a passionwith any of them, nor did he ever turn any of them off, without a very capital offenceindeed; and when superannuated, they were sure of a comfortable subsistence duringthe remainder of their life. He delivered some of his low meadows from inundationsof water, by causing Great-Gaddesden river to run round instead of passingthrough it, as formerly. He seldom denied a neighbour a favour, an instance of whichis my own case, by his giving me leave to remove a barn of three bay from off hiscopyhold land, to my freehold land. He made many fine purchaces of landed estates,and yet left behind him ('tis said) a prodigious quantity of ready money, besidesa most bulky yearly income. He died in January 1744-5, at his Londonhouse, greatly lamented by his relations, friends, servants, and particularly bythe poor, after complaining (the day before his death) he was not well at his stomach;however, he seemed pretty well next morning, and eat his breakfast as usual; butin the afternoon lay on the bed, to take a nap, having a cord given him in his handto ring when he waked; but lying longer than ordinary, without hearing of him, hisDuchess, with another person or two, went to his bedside and found him dead, withthe bell-string in his hand, and without the least ruffling of the bedcloaths; sothat it is thought he went away in his sleep: However, he was directly blooded inthe jugular vein, which bled pretty well; yet he was thought by the doctors to havedied about an hour before, at the age of about sixty-two. He was a constant churchman,a loving husband to his excellent Duchess, a most affectionate father, and a truefriend to all he profess'd himself so.