Being ruined by the inconstancy and unkindness of a lover, I hope a true
and plain relation of my misfortunes may be of use and warning to
credulous maids, never to put too much trust in deceitful men.
A gentleman in the neighbourhood[28] had two mistresses, another and
myself;[29] and he pretended honourable love to us both. Our three houses
stood pretty near one another; his was parted from mine by a river,[30]
and from my rival's by an old broken wall.[31] But before I enter into the
particulars of this gentleman's hard usage of me, I will give a very just
and impartial character of my rival and myself.
As to her person, she is tall and lean, and very ill-shaped; she has bad
features, and a worse complexion. As to her other qualifies, she has no
reputation either for honesty, truth, or manners, and it is no wonder,
considering what her education has been. To sum up all, she is poor and
beggarly, and gets a sorry maintenance by pilfering wherever she comes.
As for this gentleman, who is now so fond of her, she still bears him an
invincible hatred; reviles him to his face, and rails at him in all
companies. Her house is frequented by a company of rogues and thieves, and
pickpockets, whom she encourages to rob his hen-roosts, steal his corn and
cattle, and do him all manner of mischief.[32] She has been known to come
at the head of these rascals, and beat her lover until he was sore from
head to foot, and then force him to pay for the trouble she was at. Once,
attended with a crew of ragamuffins, she broke into his house, turned all
things topsy-turvey, and then set it on fire. At the same time she told so
many lies among his servants that it set them all by the ears, and his
poor steward[33] was knocked on the head; for which I think, and so does
all the country, that she ought to be answerable. To conclude her
character: she is of a different religion, being a Presbyterian of the
most rank and violent kind, and consequently having an inveterate hatred
to the Church; yet I am sure I have been always told, that in marriage
there ought to be a union of minds as well as of persons.
I will now give my own character, and shall do it in few words, and with
modesty and truth. I was reckoned to be as handsome as any in our
neighbourhood, until I became pale and thin with grief and ill-usage. I am
still fair enough, and have, I think, no very ill features about me. They
that see me now will hardly allow me ever to have had any great share of
beauty; for, besides being so much altered, I go always mobbed and in an
undress, as well out of neglect, as indeed for want of clothes to appear
in. I might add to all this, that I was born to a good estate, although it
now turns to little account under the oppressions I endure, and has been
the true cause of all my misfortunes.
Some years ago, this gentleman, taking a fancy either to my person or
fortune, made his addresses to me: which, being then young and foolish, I
too readily admitted. When he had once got possession, he began to play
the usual part of a too fortunate lover, affecting on all occasions to
show his authority, and to act like a conqueror. First, he found fault
with the government of my family, which, I grant was none of the best,
consisting of ignorant, illiterate creatures, for at that time I knew but
little of the world. In compliance to him, therefore, I agreed to fall
into his ways and methods of living; I consented that his steward should
govern my house, and have liberty to employ an understeward,[34] who
should receive his directions. My lover proceeded farther, turned away
several old servants and tenants, and supplying me with others from his
own house. These grew so domineering and unreasonable, that there was no
quiet, and I heard of nothing but perpetual quarrels, which, although I
could not possibly help, yet my lover laid all the blame and punishment
upon me; and upon every falling out still turned away more of my people,
and supplied me in their stead with a number of fellows and dependents of
his own, whom he had no other way to provide for. Overcome by love, and to
avoid noise and contention, I yielded to all his usurpations, and finding
it in vain to resist, I thought it my best policy to make my court to my
new servants, and draw them to my interests; I fed them from my own table
with the best I had, put my new tenants on the choice parts of my land,
and treated them all so kindly that they began to love me as well as their
master. In process of time, all my old servants were gone, and I had not
a creature about me, nor above one or two tenants, but what were of his
choosing; yet I had the good luck, by gentle usage, to bring over the
greatest part of them to my side. When my lover observed this, he began to
alter his language; and to those who inquired about me, he would answer
that I was an old dependent upon his family, whom he had placed on some
concerns of his own; and he began to use me accordingly, neglecting, by
degrees, all common civility in his behaviour. I shall never forget the
speech he made me one morning, which he delivered with all the gravity in
the world. He put me in mind of the vast obligations I lay under to him in
sending me so many of his people for my own good, and to teach me manners:
that it had cost him ten times more than I was worth to maintain me; that
it had been much better for him if I had been burnt, or sunk to the bottom
of the sea; that it was reasonable I should strain myself as far as I was
able to reimburse him some of his charges; that from henceforward he
expected his word should be a law to me in all things; that I must
maintain a parish-watch against thieves and robbers, and give salaries to
an overseer, a constable, and others, all of his own choosing whom he
would send from time to time to be spies upon me; that, to enable me the
better in supporting these expenses, my tenants should be obliged to carry
all their goods across the river to his own town-market, and pay toll on
both sides, and then sell them at half value. But because we were a nasty
sort of people, and that he could not endure to touch anything that we had
a hand in, and, likewise, because he wanted work to employ his own folks,
therefore we must send all our goods to his market just in their
naturals--the milk immediately from the cow, without making into cheese or
butter; the corn in the ear; the grass as it was mowed; the wool as it
comes from the sheep's back; and bring the fruit upon the branch, that he
might not be obliged to eat it after our filthy hands: that if a tenant
carried but a piece of bread and cheese to eat by the way, or an inch of
worsted to mend his stockings, he should forfeit his whole parcel: and
because a parcel of rogues usually plied on the river between us, who
often robbed my tenants of their goods and boats, he ordered a waterman of
his to guard them, whose manner was to be out of the way till the poor
wretches were plundered, then to overtake the thieves, and seize all as
lawful prize to his master and himself. It would be endless to repeat a
hundred other hardships he has put upon me; but it is a general rule, that
whenever he imagines the smallest advantage will redound to one of his
footboys by any new oppression of me and my whole family and estate, he
never disputeth it a moment. All this has rendered me so very
insignificant and contemptible at home, that some servants, to whom I pay
the greatest wages, and many tenants, who have the most beneficial leases,
are gone over to live with him, yet I am bound to continue their wages and
pay their rents; by which means one-third of my income is spent on his
estate, and above another third by his tolls and markets: and my poor
tenants are so sunk and impoverished, that instead of maintaining me
suitably to my quality, they can hardly find me clothes to keep me warm,
or provide the common necessaries of life for themselves.
Matters being in this posture between me and my lover, I received
intelligence that he had been for some time making very pressing overtures
of marriage to my rival, until there happened to be some misunderstandings
between them. She gave him ill words, and threatened to break off all
commerce with him. He, on the other side, having either acquired courage
by his triumphs over me, or supposing her to be as tame a fool as I,
thought at first to carry it with a high hand, but hearing at the same
time that she had thought of making some private proposals to join with me
against him, and doubting, with very good reason, that I would readily
accept them, he seemed very much disconcerted.[35] This, I thought, was a
proper occasion to show some great example of generosity and love; and so,
without farther consideration, I sent him word, that hearing there was
likely to be a quarrel betwixt him and my rival, notwithstanding all that
had passed, and without binding him to any conditions in my own favour, I
would stand by him against her and all the world, while I had a penny in
my purse, or a petticoat to pawn. This message was subscribed by all my
chief tenants, and proved so powerful, that my rival immediately grew more
tractable upon it. The result of which was, that there is now a treaty of
marriage concluded between them,[36] the wedding clothes are bought, and
nothing remains but to perform the ceremony, which is put off for some
days, because they design it to be a public wedding. And to reward my
love, constancy, and generosity, he has bestowed on me the office of being
sempstress to his grooms and footmen, which I am forced to accept or
starve.[37] Yet, in the midst of this my situation, I cannot but have some
pity for this deluded man.
For my part, I think, and so does all the country, too, that the man is
possessed; at least none of us are able to imagine what he can possibly
see in her, unless she has bewitched him, or given him some powder.
I am sure I never sought this alliance, and you can bear me witness that I
might have had other matches; nay if I were lightly disposed, I could
still perhaps have offers, that some, who hold their heads higher, would
be glad to accept. But alas! I never had any such wicked thought; all I
now desire is, only to enjoy a little quiet, to be free from the
persecutions of this unreasonable man, and that he will let me manage my
own little fortune to the best advantage; for which I will undertake to
pay him a considerable pension every year, much more considerable than
what he now gets by his oppressions; for he must needs find himself a
loser at last, when he has drained me and my tenants so dry, that we shall
not have a penny for him or ourselves. There is one imposition of his I
had almost forgot, which I think unsufferable, and will appeal to you, or
any reasonable person, whether it be so or not. I told you before, that by
an old compact we agreed to have the same steward; at which time I
consented likewise to regulate my family and estate by the same method
with him, which he then showed me written down in form, and I approved
of. Now, the turn he thinks fit to give this compact of ours is very
extraordinary; for he pretends, that whatever orders he shall think fit to
prescribe for the future in his family, he may, if he will, compel mine to
observe them without asking my advice, or hearing my reasons.
So that I must not make a lease without his consent, or give any
directions for the well-governing of my family, but what he countermands
whenever he pleases. This leaves me at such confusion and uncertainty,
that my servants know not when to obey me; and my tenants, although many
of them be very well-inclined, seem quite at a loss.
But I am too tedious upon this melancholy subject, which however I hope
you will forgive, since the happiness of my whole life depends upon it. I
desire you will think awhile, and give your best advice what measures I
shall take with prudence, justice, courage, and honour, to protect my
liberty and fortune against the hardships and severities I lie under from
that unkind, inconstant man.