The True Life of Betty Ireland | Page 4

be boring Holes in the Dikes, and endangered the
Overflowing of all the Land they had gained. If ever these wretched
People shewed any thing that looked like Gratitude, it was to the
Family of their Engineers; and this young Man improved it to his own
Advantage, and that of Blanch, whom he acknowledged the Preserver
of the Fen-men, who deserved Preservation on no other Account than

to make them Pack-horses and Carriers. They were, indeed, a middle
Species between Men and Brutes, and chiefly compounded of the latter.
But this young Adventurer had got the Ascendant over them, and, as we
ordinarily say of vicious Horses, had made the D----l come out of them.
He ringed them by the Nose, and bled them with the Spur, and so
throughly broke them (for he was a special Horseman) that they never
kicked or plunged when he was in the Saddle; but, as the Nature of
Beasts is, became the fonder of him the rougher he handled them.
When he understood that Blanch and her Sister were so hampered and
Tyrannically treated by the Steward, he came to their Assistance,
supplied them with Money, which he raised from the Fen-men, and
fairly set them free from his Oppression and Rapine, reversed his
Grants, cancelled his sham Leases, restored Possessions, Leets and
Manor-Courts, made up Fences for the Tenants, and so strongly
secured their Copyholds, that there is no likelihood they will ever be
ousted or much disturbed again. And, to crown all the Services he had
done the two Sisters, he recommended them, before he parted, to the
Care of a neighbouring Lord, a Cousin of his own, and a right honest
Man, who proved a Father to them and their People, defended their
Rights, and secured their Properties.
And yet Blanch could never rightly like the Fen-man, as she called him,
though he had done so much for her. She could not comport herself
with his Manners and his Humour, hated the Servants he brought with
him, complained they were too costly to her, though she kept them
sparingly, and even quarrelled (so exceptious are Women) to the Cut of
their Cloaths, and the Colour of their Liveries.
But Betty Ireland had more Gratitude than her Sister, adored him while
he stayed with her, and to this Day remembers him as her great
Deliverer, the Protector of her Life, and the Founder of her Fortune.
She, indeed, had double Obligations, as her Condition was more
helpless than her Sister's, and she had more severely felt the Tyranny of
the Steward, who, because she could not so readily complain of him,
had first
stripped her of all she had, and then sold her to Bondage. But
both Sisters ought surely to reflect, that all the Happiness, and all the

Security they have since enjoyed, has been owing to the Friendships he
procured them, when he put them under the Protection of his Cousins;
and that he has effectually banished the Stewards thereby, who would
doubtless otherwise be meddling with their Affairs, and use them worse
than ever they did before, as coming in without Leave, they would act
without Controul.
But maugre all these Considerations, Blanch was glad when he left her,
and ready to leap out of her Skin for joy. She thought of nothing but
Diversions, spent her Time and Money in visiting and dressing,
ransacked the Globe to set off her Person, and, it must be owned, she
never looked handsomer in her Life. Wherever she went, she was
adored as an Angel, surrounded by admiring Throngs, and Thousands
hanging on her Look.
But all this was empty Pageantry and too expensive Glory. She ran
herself in Debt to uphold this Appearance, mortgaged her Estate, and
bartered her Stock, for the vain Applause of flattering Knaves, and
scoundrel Tradesmen. It was Time to pull in, and keep a Hank in the
Hand. She saw her Folly, and doffed her Gear. It was better go plain
than run in Debt for Finery; and enough she had to do to pay the Debts
she had contracted in her Fit of Vanity.
Betty all the while was minding Business at home, and her Affairs
prospered amain. Her Tenants became industrious, and her Estate
improved; yet she never thought herself sufficiently secure till she got
under the new Protection her Deliverer had provided. Her Situation is
particular. She has a strange Mixture of People on her Estate, who are
always at Daggers drawing with one another, and a mighty Hindrance
to her Business. They are Whites, Blacks, and Black and White. The
Whites only are allowed to be Land-holders; but the last, by hiding half
the Face when they converse with her, pass for Whites, and make good
their Titles. The first are dreadfully