In the mean time, his father dying, was succeeded
by his elder brother, a fox-hunter and a sot, who neglected his
affairs, insulted and oppressed his servants, and in a few years
had well nigh ruined the estate, when he was happily carried off
by a fever, the immediate consequence of a debauch. Charles, with
the approbation of his wife, immediately determined to quit
business, and retire into the country, although this resolution
was strenuously and zealously opposed by every individual, whom
he consulted on the subject. Those who had tried the experiment,
assured him that he could not pretend to breathe in the country
for less than the double of what his estate produced; that, in
order to be upon the footing of a gentleman, he would be obliged
to keep horses, hounds, carriages, with a suitable number of
servants, and maintain an elegant table for the entertainment of
his neighbours; that farming was a mystery, known only to those
who had been bred up to it from the cradle, the success of it
depending not only upon skill and industry, but also upon such
attention and oeconomy as no gentleman could be supposed to give
or practise; accordingly, every attempt made by gentlemen
miscarried, and not a few had been ruined by their prosecution of
agriculture -- Nay, they affirmed that he would find it cheaper to
buy hay and oats for his cattle, and to go to market for poultry,
eggs, kitchen herbs, and roots, and every the most inconsiderable
article of house-keeping, than to have those articles produced on
his own ground.
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