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Sir Patrick’s steward was a shrewd man, and took every advantage of his master’s weakness. He would persuade Sir Patrick to give away leases to his friends, to let the land for short terms, and to prefer tenants that would pay him in kind rather than in money. Thus the estate ran into confusion, and the tenants grew insolent, and the rack-rents were let more and more, until the very name of Rackrent came to signify a species of folly and profusion.