That I had heard he was in very bad Circumstances; that he was under a necessity of a Fortune to support his Interest with the Owners of the Ship he Commanded: That his own Part was not paid for, and if it was not paid quickly, his Owners would put him out of the Ship, and his Chief Mate was likely to Command it, who offer'd to buy that Part which the Captain had promis'd to take.

I added, for I was heartily piqu'd at the Rogue, as I call'd him, that I had heard a Rumour too, that he had a Wife alive at Plymouth, and another in the West Indies, a thing which they all knew was not very uncommon for such kind of Gentlemen.

This work'd as we both desir'd it, for presently the young Lady at the next Door, who had a Father and Mother that Govern'd both her, and her Fortune, was shut up, and her Father forbid him the House: Also in one Place more the Woman had the Courage, however strange it was, to say No; and he could try no where but he was Reproached with his Pride, and that he pretended not to give the Women leave to enquire into his Character, and the like.

By this time he began to be sensible of his mistake; and seeing all the Women on that side the Water alarm'd, he went over to Ratcliff, and got access to some of the Ladies there; but tho' the young Women there too, were according to the Fate of the Day, pretty willing to be ask'd, yet such was his ill luck, that his Character follow'd him over the Water; so that tho' he might have had Wives enough, yet it did not happen among the Women that had good Fortunes, which was what he wanted.

But this was not all; she very ingeniously manag'd another thing her self, for she got a young Gentleman, who was a Relation, to come and visit her two or three times a Week in a very fine Chariot and good Liveries, and her two Agents and I also, presently spread a Report all over, that this Gentleman came to Court her; that he was a Gentleman of a Thousand Pounds a Year, and that he was fallen in Love with her, and that she was going to her Aunt's in the City, because it was inconvenient for the Gentleman to come to her with his Coach to Rotherbith, the Streets being so narrow and difficult.

This took immediately, the Captain was laugh'd at in all Companies, and was ready to hang himself; he tried all the ways possible to come at her again, and wrote the most passionate Letters to her in the World, and in short, by great Application, obtained leave to wait on her again, as he said, only to clear his Reputation.

At this meeting she had her full Revenge of him; for she told him, she wonder'd what he took her to be, that she should admit any man to a Treaty of so much Consequence, as that of Marriage, without enquiring into his Circumstances; that if he thought she was to be huff'd into Wedlock, and that she was in the same Circumstances which her Neighbours might be in, viz. to take up with the first good Christian that came, he was mistaken; that in a word his Character was really bad, or he was very ill beholden to his Neighbours; and that unless he could clear up some Points, in which she had justly been prejudiced, she had no more to say to him, but give him the Satisfaction of knowing, that she was not afraid to say NO, either to him, or any Man else.

With that she told him what she had heard, or rather rais'd herself by my Means, of his Character; his not having paid for the Part he pretended to own of the Ship he Commanded; of the Resolution of his Owners to put him out of the Command, and to put his Mate in his stead; and of the Scandal rais'd on his Morals; his having been reproach'd with such and such Women, and his having a Wife at Plymouth, and another in the West-Indies, and the like; and she ask'd him whether she had not good Reason, if these things were not clear'd up, to refuse him and to insist upon having Satisfaction in Points so significant as they were?

He was so confounded at her Discourse, that he could not answer a Word, and she began to believe that all was true, by his Disorder, tho' she knew that she had been the Raiser of these Reports herself.

After some time he recovered a little, and from that time was the most humble, modest, and importunate Man alive in is Courtship.

She ask'd him if he thought she was so at her last Shift, that she could or ought to bear such Treatment, and if he did not see that she did not want those who thought it worth their while to come farther to her than he did, meaning the Gentleman whom she had brought to visit her by way of sham.

She brought him by these Tricks to submit to all possible Measures to satisfy her, as well of his Circumstances, as of his Behaviour. He brought her undeniable Evidence of his having paid for his part of the Ship; he brought her Certificates from his Owners, that the Report of their intending to remove him from the Command of the Ship, was false and groundless; in short, he was quite the reverse of what he was before.

Thus I convinced her, that if the Men made their Advantage of our Sex in the Affair of Marriage, upon the Supposition of there being such a Choice to be had, and of the Women being so easy, it was only owing to this, that the Women wanted Courage to maintain their Ground, and that according to my Lord Rochester

 

»A Woman's ne'er so ruin'd but she can

Revenge herself on her Undoer, Man.«

 

After these things this young Lady plaid her part so well, that tho' she resolv'd to have him, and that indeed having him was the main bent of her Design, yet she made his obtaining her to be TO HIM the most difficult thing in the World; and this she did, not by a haughty reserv'd Carriage, but by a just Policy, playing back upon him his own Game; for as he pretended by a kind of lofty Carriage, to place himself above the occasion of a Character, she broke with him upon that Subject, and at the same time that she made him submit to all possible enquiry after his Affairs, she apparently shut the Door against his looking into her own.

It was enough to him to obtain her for a Wife, as to what she had, she told him plainly, that as he knew her Circumstances, it was but just she should know his; and tho' at the same time he had only known her Circumstances by common Fame, yet he had made so many Protestations of his Passion for her, that he could ask no more but her Hand to his grand Request, and the like ramble according to the Custom of Lovers: In short, he left himself no room to ask any more Questions about her Estate, and she took the Advantage of it; for she placed part of her Fortune so in Trustees, without letting him know anything of it, that it was quite out of his Reach, and made him be very well contented with the rest.

It is true she was pretty well besides, that is to say, she had about 1400l. in Money, which she gave him, and the other, after some time, she brought to light, as a Perquisite to herself, which he was to accept as a mighty Favour, seeing, though it was not to be his, it might ease him in the Article of her Particular Expences; and I must add, that by this Conduct, the Gentleman himself became not only more humble in his Applications to her to obtain her, but also was much the more an obliging Husband when he had her: I cannot but remind the Ladies how much they place themselves below the common Station of a Wife, which if I may be allow'd not to be Partial, is low enough already; I say, they place themselves below their common Station, and prepare their own Mortifications, by their submitting so to be insulted by the Men before-hand, which I confess I see no Necessity of.

This Relation may serve therefore to let the Ladies see, that the Advantage is not so much on the other Side, as the Men think it is; and that tho' it may be true, the Men have but too much Choice among us; and that some Women may be found, who will Dishonour themselves, be Cheap, and too Easy to come at; yet if they will have Women worth having, they may find them as uncomeatable as ever; and that those that are otherwise have often such Deficiencies, when had, as rather recommend the Ladies that are difficult, than encourage the Men to go on with their easy Courtship, and exped Wives equally valuable that will come at first Call.

Nothing is more certain, than that the Ladies always gain of the Men, by keeping their Ground, and letting their pretended Lovers see they can Resent being slighted, and that they are not afraid of saying NO. They insult us mightily, with telling us of the Number of Women; that the Wars and the Sea, and Trade, and other Incidents have carried the Men so much away, that there is no Proportion between the Numbers of the Sexes; but I am far from granting that the Number of the Women is so great, or the Number of the Men so small; but if they will have me tell the Truth, the Disadvantage of the Women is a terrible Scandal upon the Men, and it lies here only; Namely, that the Age is so wicked, and the Sex so Debauch'd, that in short the Number of such Men, as an honest Woman ought to meddle with, is small indeed; and it is but here and there that a Man is to be found who is fit for an honest Woman to venture upon.

But the Consequence even of that too amounts to no more than this; that Women ought to be the more Nice; for how do we know the just Character of the Man that makes the Offer? To say that the Woman should be the more easy on this Occasion, is to say, we should be the forwarder to venture, because of the greatness of the Danger, which is very absurd.

On the contrary, the Women have ten Thousand times the more Reason to be wary, and backward, by how much the hazard of being betray'd is the greater, and would the Ladies act the wary Part, they would discover every Cheat that offer'd; for, in short, the Lives of very few Men now-a-Days will bear a Character; and if the Ladies do but make a little Enquiry, they would soon be able to distinguish the Men, and deliver themselves: As for Women that do not think their own Safety worth their own Thought, that impatient of their present State run into Matrimony, as a Horse rushes into the Battle; I can say nothing to them but this, that they are a Sort of Ladies that are to be pray'd for among the rest of distemper'd People, and they look like People that venture their Estates in a Lottery where there is a Hundred Thousand Blanks to one Prize.

No Man of common Sense will value a Woman the less for not giving up herself at the first Attack, or for not accepting his Proposal without enquiring into his Person or Character; on the contrary, he must think her the weakest of all Creatures, as the Rate of Men now goes: In short, he must have a very contemptible Opinion of her Capacities, that having but one Cast for her Life, shall cast that Life away at once, and make Matrimony like Death, be a Leap in the Dark.

I would fain have the Conduct of my Sex a little regulated in this Particular, which is the same thing in which of all the Parts of Life, I think at this time we suffer most in: 'Tis nothing but lack of Courage, the fear of not being married at all, and of that frightful State of Life, call'd an old Maid. This, I say, is the Woman's Snare; but would the Ladies once but get above that Fear, and manage rightly, they would more certainly avoid it by standing their Ground, in a Case so absolutely necessary to their Felicity, than by exposing themselves as they do; and if they did not marry so soon, they would make themselves amends by marrying safer; she is always married too soon, who gets a bad Husband, and she is never married too late, who gets a good one: In a Word, there is no Woman, Deformity, or lost Reputation excepted, but if she manages well, may be married safely one time or other; but if she precipitates herself, it is ten Thousand to one but she is undone.

But I come now to my own Case, in which there was at this time no little Nicety. The Circumstances I was in, made the Offer of a good Husband, the most necessary thing in the World to me; but I found soon that to be made Cheap and Easy, was not the way: It soon began to be found that the Widow had no Fortune, and to say this, was to say all that was Ill of me: Being well Bred, Handsome, Witty, Modest, and Agreeable; all which I had allow'd to my Character, whether justly, or no, is not to the Purpose: I say, all these would not do without the Dross. In short, the Widow they said had no Money!

I resolv'd therefore that it was necessary to change my Station, and make a new Appearance in some other Place, and even to pass by another Name if I found Occasion.

I communicated my Thoughts to my Intimate Friend the Captain's Lady, who I had so faithfully served in her Case with the Captain; and who was as ready to serve me in the same kind as I could desire: I made no scruple to lay my Circumstances open to her, my Stock was but low, for I had made but about 540l. at the Close of my last Affair, and I had wasted some of that: However, I had about 460l. left, a great many very rich Cloaths, a Gold Watch, and some Jewels, tho' of no extraordinary Value, and about 30l. or 40l. left in Linnen not dispos'd of.

My Dear and Faithful Friend, the Captain's Wife, was so sensible of the Service I had done her in the Affair above, that she was not only a steddy Friend to me, but knowing my Circumstances, she frequently made me Presents as Money came into her Hands; such as fully amounted to a Maintainance; so that I spent none of my own; and at last she made this unhappy Proposal to me, viz. that as we had observ'd, as above, how the Men made no scruple to set themselves out as Persons meriting a Woman of Fortune of their own; it was but just to deal with them in their own way, and if it was possible to deceive the Deceiver.

The Captain's Lady, in short, put this Project into my Head, and told me if I would be rul'd by her I should certainly get a Husband of Fortune, without leaving him any room to Reproach me with want of my own: I told her that I would give up my self wholly to her Directions, and that I would have neither Tongue to speak, or Feet to step in that Affair, but as she should direct me; depending that she would Extricate me out of every Difficulty that she brought me into, which she said she would answer for.

The first Step she put me upon, was to call her Cousin, and go to a Relation's House of hers in the Country, where she directed me; and where she brought her Husband to visit me, and calling me Cousin, she work'd Matters so about, that her Husband and she together invited me most passionately to come to Town and live with them, for they now liv'd in a quite different Place from where they were before. In the next Place she tells her Husband that I had at least 1500l. Fortune, and that I was like to have a great deal more.

It was enough to tell her Husband this, there needed nothing on my Side; I was but to sit still and wait the Event, for it presently went all over the Neighbourhood that the young Widow at Captain–'s was a Fortune, that she had at least 1500l., and perhaps a great deal more, and that the Captain said so, and if the Captain was ask'd at any time about me, he made no scruple to affirm it, tho' he knew not one Word of the Matter, other than that his Wife had told him so; and in this he thought no Harm, for he really believ'd it to be so. With the Reputation of this Fortune, I presently found my self bless'd with Admirers enough, and that I had my Choice of Men, as they said they were, which by the way confirms what I was saying before: This being my Case, I who had a subtil Game to Play, had nothing now to do but to single out from them all, the properest Man that might be for my Purpose; that is to say, the Man who was most likely to depend upon the hear say of Fortune, and not enquire too far into the Particulars; and unless I did this, I did nothing, for my Case would not bear much Enquiry.

I pick'd out my Man without much Difficulty, by the Judgment I made of his way of courting me: I had let him run on with his Protestations that he lov'd me above all the World; that if I would make him happy, that was enough; all which I knew was upon Supposition that I was very Rich, tho' I never told him a Word of it my self.

This was my Man, but I was to try him to the Bottom, and indeed in that consisted my Safety, for if he baulked, I knew I was undone, as surely as he was undone if he took me; and if I did not make some scruple about his Fortune, it was the way to lead him to raise some about mine; and first therefore, I pretended on all Occasions to doubt his Sincerity, and told him, perhaps he only courted me for my Fortune; he stop'd my Mouth in that Part, with the Thunder of his Protestations as above, but still I pretended to doubt.

One morning he pulls off his Diamond Ring, and writes upon the Glass of the Sash in my Chamber this Line,

You I love, and you alone.

I read it and ask'd him to lend me the Ring, with which I wrote under it thus,

And so in Love says every one.

He takes his Ring again, and writes another Line thus,

Virtue alone is an Estate.

I borrowed it again and I wrote under it,

But Money's Virtue, Gold is Fate.

He colour'd as red as Fire to see me turn so quick upon him, and in a kind of Rage told me he would Conquer me, and wrote again thus,

I scorn your Gold, and yet I Love.

I ventur'd all upon the last cast of Poetry, as you'll see, for I wrote boldly under his last.

I'm Poor: Let's see how kind you'll prove.

This was a sad Truth to me, whether he believ'd me or no I could not tell; I supposed then that he did not. However he flew to me, took me in his Arms, and kissing me very eagerly, and with the greatest Passion imaginable, he held me fast till he call'd for a Pen and Ink, and told me, he could not wait the tedious writing on a Glass, but pulling out a piece of Paper, he began and wrote again,

Be mine with all your Poverty.

I took his Pen, and follow'd immediately thus,

Yet secretly you hope I Lye.

He told me that was unkind, because it was not just, and that I put him upon contradicting me, which did not consist with good Manners, and therefore since I had insensibly drawn him into this Poetical scribble, he beg'd I would not oblige him to break it off, so he writes again,

Let Love alone be our Debate.

I wrote again,

She loves enough that does not hate.

This he took for a favour, and so laid down the Cudgels, that is to say, the Pen, I say, he took it for a Favour, and a mighty one it was, if he had known all: However, he took it as I meant it, that is, to let him think I was inclin'd to go on with him, as indeed I had Reason to do, for he was the best humour'd merry sort of a Fellow that I ever met with; and I often reflected how doubly criminal it was to deceive such a Man; but that Necessity, which press'd me to a Settlement suitable to my Condition, was my Authority for it, and certainly his Affection to me, and the Goodness of his Temper, however they might argue against using him ill, yet they strongly argued to me, that he would better take the Disappointment, than some fiery temper'd Wretch, who might have nothing to recommend him but those Passions which would serve only to make a Woman miserable.

Besides, though I had jested with him (as he suppos'd it) so often about my Poverty, yet when he found it to be true, he had fore closed all manner of Objection, seeing, whether he was in jest or in earnest, he had declar'd he took me without any Regard to my Portion, and, whether I was in jest or in earnest, I had declar'd my self to be very Poor, so that, in a Word, I had him fast both ways; and tho' he might say afterwards he was cheated, yet he could never say that I had cheated him.

He pursued me close after this, and, as I saw there was no need to fear losing him, I play'd the indifferent Part with him longer than Prudence might otherwise have dictated to me: But I consider'd how much this Caution and Indifference would give me the Advantage over him, when I should come to own my Circumstances to him; and I managed it the more warily, because I found he infer'd from thence, that I had either the more Money, or the more Judgment, and would not venture at all.

I took the freedom one Day to tell him, that it was true I had receiv'd the Compliment of a Lover from him, namely, that he would take me without enquiring into my Fortune, and I would make him a suitable Return in this, viz. that I would make as little enquiry into his as consisted with Reason, but I hoped he would allow me to ask some Questions, which he should answer or not as he thought fit; one of these Questions related to our manner of Living, and the Place where, because I had heard he had a great Plantation in Virginia, and I told him I did not care to be Transported.

He began from this Discourse to let me Voluntarily into all his Affairs, and to tell me in a frank open way, all his Circumstances, by which I found he was very well to pass in the World; but that great part of his Estate consisted of three Plantations, which he had in Virginia, which brought him in a very good Income of about 300l. a year; but that if he was to live upon them, would bring him in four times as much; very well, thought I, you shall carry me thither then as soon as you please, tho' I won't tell you so before hand.

I jested with him about the Figure he would make in Virginia; but found he would do any thing I desired, so I turn'd my Tale; I told him I had good Reason not to desire to go there to live, because if his Plantations were worth so much there, I had not a Fortune suitable to a Gentleman of 1200l. a Year, as he said his Estate would be.

He reply'd he did not ask what my Fortune was, he had told me from the beginning he would not, and he would be as good as his Word; but whatever it was, he assured me he would never desire me to go to Virginia with him, or go thither himself without me, unless I made it my Choice.

All this, you may be sure, was as I wish'd, and indeed nothing could have happen'd more perfectly agreeable; I carried it on as far as this with a sort of Indifferency, that he often wonder'd at, and I mention it the rather to intimate again to the Ladies that nothing but want of Courage for such an Indifferency makes our Sex so cheap, and prepares them to be ill us'd as they are; would they venture the Loss of a pretending Fop now and then, who carries it high upon the point of his own Merit, they would certainly be slighted less, and courted more; had I discovered really what my great Fortune was, and that in all I had not full 500l. when he expected 1500., yet I hook'd him so fast, and play'd him so long, that I was satisfied he would have had me in my worst Circumstances; and indeed it was less a Surprize to him when he learnt the Truth, than it would have been, because having not the least Blame to lay on me, who had carried it with an Air of Indifference to the last, he could not say one Word, except that indeed he thought it had been more, but that, if it had been less, he did not repent his Bargain; only that he should not be able to maintain me so well as he intended.

In short, we were married, and very happily married on my side, I assure you, as to the Man; for he was the best humour'd Man that ever Woman had, but his Circumstances were not so good as I imagined, as on the other hand he had not better'd himself so much as he expected.

When we were married, I was shrewdly put to it to bring him that little Stock I had, and to let him see it was no more; but there was a Necessity for it, so I took my Opportunity one Day when we were alone, to enter in to a short Dialogue with him about it. My Dear, said I, we have been married a Fortnight, is it not time to let you know whether you have got a Wife with something or with nothing? Your own time for that, my Dear, says he; I am satisfied I have got the Wife I love; I have not troubled you much, says he, with my Enquiry after it.

That's true, said I, but I have a great Difficulty about it, which I scarce know how to manage. What's that my Dear? says he. Why, says I, 'tis a little hard upon me, and 'tis harder upon you; I am told that Captain – (meaning my Friend's Husband), has told you I had a great deal more than ever I pretended to have, and I am sure I never employ'd him so to do.

Well, says he, Captain – may have told me so, but what then, if you have not so much, that may lye at his Door, but you never told me what you had, so I have no Reason to blame you if you have nothing at all.

That is so just, said I, and so generous, that it makes my having but a little a double Affliction to me.

The less you have my Dear, says he, the worse for us both; but I hope your Affliction is not caus'd for fear I should be unkind to you, for want of a Portion; No, no, if you have nothing tell me plainly, I may perhaps tell the Captain he has cheated me, but I can never say you have, for did not you give it under your Hand that you was Poor, and so I ought to expect you to be.

Well, said I, my Dear, I am glad I have not been concern'd in deceiving you before Marriage, if I deceive you since, 'tis ne'er the worse; that I am Poor, 'tis too true, but not so Poor as to have nothing neither; so I pull'd out some Bank Bills, and gave him about a Hundred and Sixty Pounds; there is something my Dear, says I, and not quite all neither.

I had brought him so near to expecting nothing, by what I had said before, that the Money, tho' the Sum was small in it self, was doubly welcome; he own'd it was more than he look'd for, and that he did not question by my Discourse to him, but that my fine Cloaths, Gold Watch, and a Diamond Ring or two, had been all my Fortune.

I let him please himself with that 160l. two or three Days, and then having been abroad that Day, and as if I had been to fetch it, I brought him a Hundred Pounds more home in Gold, and told him there was a little more Portion for him; and in Short, in about a Week more, I brought him 180l. more, and about 60l. in Linnen, which I made him believe I had been obliged to take with the 100l. which I gave him in Gold, as a Composition for a Debt of 600l., being little more than five Shillings in the Pound, and over-valued too.

And now, my Dear, says I to him, I am very sorry to tell you, that I have given you my whole Fortune; I added, that if the Person who had my 600l. had not abus'd me, I had been worth a Thousand Pound to him, but that as it was, I had been faithful, and reserv'd nothing to my self, but if it had been more he should have had it.

He was so obliged by the Manner, and so pleas'd with the Sum, for he had been in a terrible Fright least it had been nothing at all, that he accepted it very thankfully: And thus I got over the Fraud of passing for a Fortune without Money, and cheating a Man into Marrying me on pretence of it; which, by the way, I take to be one of the most dangerous Steps a Woman can take, and in which she runs the most hazzards of being ill used afterwards.

My Husband, to give him his due, was a Man of infinite good Nature, but he was no Fool; and finding his Income not suited to the manner of Living which he had intended, if I had brought him what he expected, and being under a Disappointment in his return of his Plantations in Virginia, he discovered many times his Inclination of going over to Virginia, to live upon his own; and often would be magnifying the way of living there, how Cheap, how Plentiful, how Pleasant, and the like.

I began presently to understand his meaning, and I took him up very plainly one Morning, and told him that I did so; that I found his Estate turn'd to no Account at this Distance, compar'd to what it would do if he liv'd upon the Spot, and that I found he had a mind to go and live there; that I was sensible he had been disappointed in a Wife, and that finding his Expectations not answer'd that way, I could do no less, to make him amends, than tell him, that I was very willing to go to Virginia with him and live there.

He said a Thousand kind things to me upon the Subject of my making such a Proposal to him: He told me that tho' he was disappointed in his Expectations of a Fortune, he was not disappointed in a Wife, and that I was all to him that a Wife could be, but that this Offer was so kind, that it was more than he could express.

To bring the Story short, we agreed to go; he told me, that he had a very good House there well furnish'd, that his Mother liv'd in it, and one Sister, which was all the Relations he had; that as soon as he came there, they would remove to another House which was her own for Life, and his after her Decease; so that I should have all the House to my self; and I found it all exactly as he said.

We put on board the Ship, which we went in, a large quantity of good Furniture for our House, with Stores of Linnen and other Necessaries, and a good Cargoe for Sale, and away we went.

To give an Account of the manner of our Voyage, which was long and full of Dangers, is out of my way, I kept no Journal, neither did my Husband; all that I can say is, that after a terrible Passage, frighted twice with dreadful Storms, and once with what was still more terrible, I mean a Pyrate, who came on board and took away almost all our Provisions; and, which would have been beyond all to me, they had once taken my Husband, but by Intreaties were prevail'd with to leave him: I say, after all these terrible Things, we arriv'd in York River in Virginia, and coming to our Plantation, we were received with all the Tenderness and Affection (by my Husband's Mother) that could be express'd.

We liv'd here all together, my Mother-in-law, at my Entreaty, continuing in the House, for she was too kind a Mother to be parted with; my Husband likewise continued the same at first, and I thought my self the happiest Creature alive; when an odd and surprizing Event put an end to all that Felicity in a Moment, and rendred my Condition the most uncomfortable in the World.

My Mother was a mighty chearful good humour'd old Woman, I may call her so, for her Son was above Thirty; I say, she was very pleasant good Company, and us'd to entertain me in Particular, with abundance of Stories to divert me, as well of the Country we were in, as of the People.

Among the rest, she often told me how the greatest part of the Inhabitants of that Colony came thither in very indifferent Circumstances from England; that, generally speaking, they were of two Sorts; either (1.) such as were brought over by Masters of Ships to be sold as Servants; or, (2.) such as are Transported after having been found guilty of Crimes punishable with Death.

When they come here, says she, we make no difference, the Planters buy them, and they work together in the Field till their time is out; when 'tis expir'd, said she, they have Encouragement given them to Plant for themselves; for they have a certain Number of Acres of Land allotted them by the Country, and they go to work to clear and cure the Land, and then to Plant it with Tobacco and Corn for their own Use; and as the Merchants will trust them with Tools, and Necessaries, upon the Credit of their Crop before it is grown, so they again Plant every Year a little more than the Year before, and so buy whatever they want with the Crop that is before them. Hence Child, says she, many a Newgate-Bird becomes a great Man, and we have, continued she, several Justices of the Peace, Officers of the train'd Bands, and Magistrates of the Towns they live in, that have been burnt in the Hand.

She was going on with that part of the Story, when her own part in it interrupted her, and with a great deal of good humour'd Confidence she told me, she was one of the second sort of Inhabitants herself; that she came away openly, having venture'd too far in a Particular Case, so that she was become a Criminal, and here's the Mark of it Child, says she, and shewed me a very fine white Arm and Hand, but branded in the in-side of the Hand, as in such Cases it must be.

This Story was very moving to me, but my Mother (smiling) said, you need not think such a thing strange, Daughter, for some of the best Men in the Country are burnt in the Hand, and they are not asham'd to own it; there's Major–, says she, he was an Eminent Pick pocket; there's Justice Ba–r, was a Shoplifter, and both of them were burnt in the Hand, and I could name you several such as they are.

We had frequent Discourses of this kind, and abundance of Instances she gave me of the like; after some time as she was telling some Stories of one that was Transported but a few Weeks ago, I began in an intimate kind of way, to ask her to tell me something of her own Story, which she did with the utmost Plainness and Sincerity; how she had fallen into very ill Company in London in her young Days, occasion'd by her Mother sending her frequently to carry Victuals to a Kinswoman of hers who was a Prisoner in Newgate, in a miserable starving Condition, who was afterwards Condemn'd to dye, but having got Respite by pleading her Belly, perish'd afterwards in the Prison.

Here my Mother-in-Law ran out in a long account of the wicked Practices in that dreadful Place, and child, says my Mother, perhaps you may know little of it, or it may be have heard nothing about it; but depend upon it, says she, we all know here, that there are more Thieves and Rogues made by that one Prison of Newgate, than by all the Clubs and Societies of Villains in the Nation; 'tis that cursed Place, says my Mother, that half Peoples this Colony.

Here she went on with her own Story so long, and in so Particular a Manner, that I began to be very uneasy, but coming to one Particular that requir'd telling her Name, I thought I should have sunk down in the Place; she perceiv'd I was out of order, and ask'd me if I was not well, and what ail'd me? I told her I was so affected with the melancholly Story she had told, that it had overcome me, and I beg'd of her to talk no more of it: Why my Dear, says she very kindly, what need these things trouble you? These Passages were long before your time, and they give me no Trouble at all now, nay, I look back on them with a Particular Satisfaction, as they have been a Means to bring me to this Place.