The daily press. (Cincinnati [Ohio) 1859-1859, 1859-04-07
From Chambers Journal
THE UNHIRED, SERVANT.
tooNTINUED.1

to one of the rowing chiefs of Denmark, said
to have won lands from tho Norfolk Saxons,
turned Christian, and built priory some time
in the ninth century. That priory, with all its
lands, his descendants got back at the Reform
alton, OF which they were jealous supporters,
made it their house, and went on enlarging
hall and estate, getting rich by marriages, and
keeping clear of public difficulties, till about
the year 1745, when the young squire, Rich
ard, being the last of the mail line, not only
turned Catholic, but got so deeply involved
with the Pretender that he was obliged to take
refuge on the continent. The sentence of at
tainder for high treason was passed against
him and his pOsterity and the Yarmouth fam
lily, having some influence with the govern
ment, came into possession next of kin.
They were distant relations of the Hartwells,
and greatly impoverished at the time. The
then Lord Yarmouth and Squire Richard had
been college companions at Oxford. The
former was far-sighted, keen and cunning; the
latter was weak, vain and credulous and the
story went that young Hartwell's conversion
IN religion and politics had been more than
abetted by his crafty companion, who thus OBJ
taincd his hall and lands. The Yarmouths had
kept them for almost half century. The
willy lord had been duly succeeded by his son
and grandson. Squire Richards claim had
been also transmitted By bis marriage with
French lady, distantly related to the House OF
Turenne. He left daughter, who, in her
turn, married a Scotch gentleman, one of she
Frasers, with whom she returned to Britain,
where daughter was borh to them. Mrs.
Fraser was a woman of uncommon spirit as
became her maternal descent With the help
of certain papers left by her father, and the
aid of her husbands relations, she commenced
q suit to reverse the attainder, and recover the
estate for her child. Parliament was petitioned,
the ministers were dealt with, the law-lords
were engaged, and there was every probability
of success, when the young Lord Yarmouth,
who had just reached his majority, and was
said to bear a strong resemblance to his grand
father, proposed to settle the business by mar
ryins the heiress of the Hartwells, and thus
uniting forever the rival claims. Their we'd
ding was celebrated with great splendor and
rejoicing. Miss Fraser was just seventeen,
beautiful and accomplished; but two years
after her marriage, she eloped with an obscure
adventurer who called himself Captain Fitz-
William; and all that was ever heard of her af-
terward was, that she had died in great pow
erty in the old city of Padua, where the Cap
tain left her. Lord Yarmouth's marriage was,
of course, dissolved by act of Parliament, after
bringing an action, and being duly awarded
damages. He formed more advantageous
alliance with ducal house, and had a son and
heir to succeed him; but his second lady and
he had separated by mutual consent, his son
was borrowing money from Jews on post-obits,
and none of the family had slept two nights at
Fenham Hall for twenty years.
Nothing could induce Mrs. Fairbrother to
attempt any explanation of the latter fact, be-
yond decided shake of her head. At that
point she always returned to the Hartwell line,
with whose sins and sorrows the gardeners
lady seemed particularly well acquainted.
There was a younger brother who had pushed
his elde- into the lake as they played beside it,
and ran hofn. to tell that he was heir. There
was a squire who had killed his Jew creditor,
buried BIN IN the lark, and never had rest
with his hounds tearing up the grave. There
was lady who had given her squire cause of
jealousy with handsome cousin; the pair
were believed to have eloped from enrove-
tide merry making; the squire n ent ABROAD
leaving his heirs and lands to the are OF d
faithful steward, and died fighting in th.' Low
Countries; but years after, two skeletons We
found locked up in deep and long-disuseo
wine-cellar. Moreover, strain of wild and
violent insanity had come down their genera
tions, whether from the rowing Dane or with
the Fenham priory and lands, Mrs. Fair
brother could not certify; but there was q
strong room in the northern wing of the hall
with grated windows and an IRON bound door,
where she insisted that three and twenty heirs,
heiresses, and owners of the Hartwell domains,
closed their lives under the care of keepers.
The Fenham villagers supplemented this
chronicle with Mrs. Fairbrother's own antece-
dents. Curious enough, they all entertained
the very same dislike to her which she exhib-
tied for the owners of the hall. Their inva-
riable account was, that the gardeners wife
knew all about poor Lady Yarmouth, as they
called the unlucky first Countess, for she was
her maid at the time, and had been we'll paid
by my lord, or somebody. Ralph Fairbrother
got three hundred pounds and that fine place
by marrying her, though he had been wild in
his youth, run away to sea, and come back as
poor as a church mouse. Notwithstanding
these "reminiscences of his early days and doings,
Ralph's sway over them was almost boundless
They were altogether set of country laborers-
the only trades people being the landlord of the
ale-house, who was also chandler and draper to
the entire village, and an old tailor and his
wife, who did all the needle-work. 1 can not
saw whether or not the schoolmaster's travels
have now extended to Fenham; but at the time
of my story a more uncultivated, uncivil and
ill-mannered set of cottagers were not to bt
found in the eastern counties. Neither day mol
Sunday school had ever been within theil
bounds, to my knowledge. Nobody but the
before mentioned landlord could either write OF
read and his skill in those useful arts was rather
limited. The parish church was six miles dis
tant. It's incumbent and his curate agreed thai
they could do no good in Fenham, and there
was probably some truth in that opinion. Be-
sides ignorance and more than common stu
pldlty, the lnnaDltanB WereJ one ana ALL anl-
mated with spirit of blunt and vulgar inde-
pendence, which made all dealings with them
disagreeable, and all attempts at improvement
fruitless. Every family had cottage and q
field or so, on which they existed in a savage
slovenly manner-man and woman half idle
when they were not employed about the hall
and as Ralph could get no laborers but them
selves, he and they carried on kind of inter
mitting warfare, always grumbling at eact
other, and often breaking out into open hos
tility.
My mother and had sad time of it, en-.
deavoring to get a maid-of-all-work among
them. Whatever servants had been at the
hall, they were all discharged and gone before
our arrival The apartments assigned us were
situated in the northern wing, which, under
the Yarmouth domination, had been mostly
appropriated to domestic purposes. They CON
sisted of six neat though queerly shaped rooms
opening on short corridor, which had side
entrance from what was called the evergreen
shrubbery, grove of box, laurel, and holly
growing up almost to the windows. Ny
mothers parlor, with my bedroom and her
opening from it, was on one side; on the other
our kitchen, with rooms for stores and ser
uaut.--tha xuhala tahl