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[1]. Lavenham is a very pretty village, with splendid church, lying between Sudbury and Whelnethan, whilst Bury St. Edmunds is the second town in Suffolk.

[2]. Memoirs of Richard Cumberland, 1806.

[3]. Elsewhere Arthur Young mentions a severe flogging ‘very properly’ administered by his father for an act of cruelty, adding, ‘It was the only time that I ever received any correction at his hands, yet he was a remarkably passionate man.’

[4]. Robert Sutton, physician and inoculist, 1757, Dict. of Biography, Sampson Low. Dr. Guy’s Public Health has the following: ‘The Suttons were noted for their success in inoculation, but Dr. Gregory gives more credit to diet and exposure to air than to the antimonial and mercurial medicines they extolled.’

[5]. Hero of The Beaux’ Stratagem, G. Farquhar.

[6]. Till the last generation it was the fashion to brew one’s own beer in Suffolk.

[7]. ‘The buildings and yards necessary for the business of a farm.’—Webster.

[8]. Nicholas Saunderson, D.D., author of the Elements of Algebra, in ten books, 1740.

[9]. The Mitchell Election, a petition brought by Lord Orwell and Colonel Wedderburn against undue election and return for borough of Mitchell, in Cornwall. See Commons’ Journals, xxii., xxiv. and xxxii.

[10]. The Duke of Cumberland.

[11]. M. de Miripoix, then French Ambassador at St. James’s.

[12]. Dr. Charles Burney, author of the History of Music, father of Madame d’Arblay.

[13]. The following notes are taken from a small memorandum-book appended to memorials:—

‘1761. July 23.—Leak in full (meaning debts), 5l. 5s.

Sept. 22.—Coronation.

” 28.—To Court.

Oct. 9.—Blackheath; cards.

Dec. —To London with Ed. Allen.

” 31.—Debts 62l.

(My) History of the War published.’

[14]. Dr. Kenrick, critic of the Monthly Review, attacked Dr. Johnson, who said, ‘I do not think myself bound by Kenrick’s rules.’

[15]. Joseph and Mary Collier; the first, author of a History of England.

[16]. Gesner Solomon, born at Zurich, 1730.

[17]. The Jealous Wife.

[18]. The Alchemist.

[19]. The Provoked Wife.

[20]. The Man of Mode.

[21]. The Rehearsal.

[22]. Love Makes a Man.

[23]. The Wonder.

[24]. The Suspicious Husband.

[25]. The Beaux’ Stratagem.

[26]. She Stoops to Conquer.

This last play seems to have been first acted in 1773. See Brewer’s Reader’s Handbook.

[27]. ‘The coarse pot-house valour of Sir John Brute, Garrick’s famous part, is finely contrasted with the fine lady airs and affectation of his wife.’—Chambers’s English Literature.

[28]. ‘All the domestic business will be taken from my wife’s hands, I shall[I shall] shall make the tea, comb the dogs, and dress the children myself.’—Fribble, in Miss in her Teens (Garrick).

[29]. Mrs. Young was sister to Fanny Burney’s stepmother. The marriage proved unhappy from the beginning.

[30]. See his work, Les Intérêts de la France mal entendus, Henri, Comte de Boulainvilliers, voluminous author on French history, 1658-1722.

[31]. Rev. W. Harte, poet, writer on rural affairs, historian, 1700-1774. Dr. Johnson much commended Harte as a scholar and a man of the most companionable talents he had ever known. He said the defects in his history (Gustavus Adolphus) arose not from imbecility, but from foppery. His Essays on Husbandry is an elegant, erudite, and valuable work (Lowndes).

[32]. The accompanying letter is included in Arthur Young’s correspondence of this year, and is given, although not addressed to himself.

[33]. Duhamel du Monceau, botanist and agronome, contributor to the Encyclopédie, 1700-1781.

[34]. Patulle. A French writer on agriculture.

[35]. Here is an illustration. The Suffolk husbandman’s afternoon collation is invariably called ‘beaver.’ In Nares’ Glossary we find, ‘Bever, from the Sp. and It.: an intermediate refreshment between breakfast and dinner.’ ‘Without any prejudice to their bevers, drinkings, and suppers.’—B. and Fletcher, ‘The Woman Hater.’

[36]. ‘A child’s game, in which pins are pushed alternately.’—Webster.

[37]. Included in A Farmer’s Letters.

[38]. ‘We were married more than two years.’ [Note by A. Y.]

[39]. ‘The Mashamshire Molly,’ afterwards Countess of Harcourt.

[40]. It must be remembered that turnips were a comparative novelty at this date, not being cultivated as food for cattle till the latter part of the last century.

[41]. Nicolo Piccini, 1728-1800, composer of the opera Zénobie, &c.

[42]. Samuel Whitbread, son of a great brewer, distinguished in Parliamentary life as a vigorous assailant of Pitt; committed suicide 1815.

[43]. Entry in memorandum-book of this year: ‘The year’s receipts, 1,167l.’

[44]. Sic in author’s MS.; ‘translated’ would seem to be the word.

[45]. In a memorandum-book occurs the following entry: ‘1771.—Receipts, 697l.; expenses, 360l.—I know not how.’

[46]. Estimated population of England and Wales in 1770, 7,428,000.—Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates.

[47]. The first census was taken in 1801.

[48]. 1740-1821. The friend and editor of Gibbon.

[49]. Founded 1754, mainly owing to the efforts of Mr. Shipley and Lord Folkestone.

[50]. This evidently depended on the Society of Arts.

[51]. King’s waiter. I have not been able to discover the precise nature of this sinecure.

[52]. ‘Mr. Young is not well, and appears almost overcome with the horrors of his situation; in fact, he is almost destitute. This is a dreadful trial for him, yet I am persuaded he will find some means of extricating himself from his distress—at least, if genius, spirit, and enterprise can prevail.’—Early Diaries of Fanny Burney.

[53]. Dr. Alexander Hunter, died 1809, editor of Evelyn’s Sylva, and author of Georgical Essays, ‘an able and esteemed work’ (Lowndes).

[54]. Appears to have been brother to the Hon. Robert Arbuthnot, third son of John, Viscount Arbuthnot, whose death is recorded in the Annual Register of 1801.

[55]. First Marquis of Lansdowne; took part in Lord Chatham’s Ministry.

[56]. This use of the word as respectworthy is noticeable.

[57]. Whisky: a light carriage built for rapid motion.—Webster.

[58]. Edward Wakefield, An Account of Ireland: Political and Stastical. 1812.

[59]. Entries in memorandum-book ‘the year’s receipts, 1,145l. Wrote Alcon and Flavia, a poem.’

[60]. This curious arrangement seems to have been faithfully kept, as will be seen later on.

[61]. Wear: sea-term, to bring a ship on.—Bailey’s Dictionary.

[62]. In memorandum-book occurs this note: ‘Correspondence with Wight printed in his reports.’ This seems to be Alexander Wight, author of ‘An Enquiry into the Rise and Progress of Parliament, chiefly in Scotland.’

[63]. Henry Home, a Scotch judge, better known by the title of Lord Kames, author of several legal and other works, among them ‘Introduction to the Art of Thinking.’ Died 1782.

[64]. Corn bounty in Ireland, 1780. This was granted by the Irish Parliament. The Lord Lieutenant, in his speech at the close of the session, said: ‘Ample bounties on the export of your corn, your linen, and your sail-cloth have been granted.’ See Annual Register, 1780, p. 338.

[65]. Beat: participial adjective.—Webster.

[66]. Stetch: as much land as lies between one farm and another.—Prov. Eng., Halliwell.

[67]. Lewis Roberts, The Merchant’s Map of Commerce, London, 1638. ‘The first systematic writer upon trade in the English language’ (Lowndes).

[68]. Had this sentence appeared in print anterior to Macaulay’s famous passage, the latter might have been deemed a plagiarism.

[69]. Hugh Boyd, a writer whose real name was Macaulay, author of two political tracts now forgotten. Died at Madras in 1791, having dissipated his wife’s fortune and his own.

[70]. Alex. Wedderburn, Earl of Rosslyn, Baron Loughborough. In 1778 Attorney-General; in 1793 succeeded Lord Thurlow to the Chancellorship. Died 1805.

[71]. Richard Watson, a celebrated prelate. In 1796 he published an answer to Paine’s Age of Reason. He was left an estate worth 24,000l. by a Mr. Luther, an entire stranger to him, author of many theological works and memoirs of himself. Died 1816.

[72]. Died in 1804. There is a notice of this writer in Watts’ Bibliotheca Britannica.

[73]. Irish Linen Board, established 1711; the Board abolished 1828. We do not learn upon what business Mr. Arbuthnot had gone to France.

[74]. That Arthur Young’s society was equally agreeable to the other sex Fanny Burney tells us. In the gossipy, ecstatic journal of her girlhood she writes: ‘Last night, whilst Hetty, Susey, and myself were at tea, that lively, charming, spirited Mr. Young entered the room. Oh, how glad we were to see him!’

[75]. A Suffolk squire, ardent Whig, and of considerable literary attainments. At his expense was published Bloomfield’s Farmer’s Boy.

[76]. Frederick Hervey, Episcopal Earl of Bristol. The Annual Register for 1803 has the following: ‘His love of art and science was only surpassed by love of his country and generosity to the unfortunate of every country. He was a great traveller, and there is not a country of Europe in which the distressed have not obtained his succour. He was among the leaders of Irish patriots during the American War, and a member of the Convention of Volunteer Delegates in 1782. He was on this occasion escorted from Derry to Dublin by volunteer cavalry, receiving military honours at every town. He died at Albano, Rome, surrounded by artists whose talents his judgment had directed and whose wants his liberality had supplied.’

[77]. By an irony of fate, Arthur Young, who had found farm after farm in his own hands a disaster, was now by general acceptance the first European authority on agriculture.

[78]. The History and Antiquities of Hawstead and Hardwicke, in Suffolk. The second edition appeared in 1813, with notes by Sir T. Gery-Cullum.

[79]. Author of many antiquarian treatises.

[80]. Sold by auction in December 1896.

[81]. Richard Valpy, D.D., 1754-1836, distinguished scholar, voluminous writer on educational works, and author of the famous Greek and Latin grammars.

[82]. This Bill to disable Revenue officers from voting in Parliamentary elections was introduced April 16, 1782, and read a third time on the 25th; read a third time in the House of Lords by 34 Contents to 18 Non-contents. See. Hansard.

[83]. ‘My lovely Bobbin’—christened Martha Ann—the adored child whose loss at the age of fourteen was the great sorrow of Arthur Young’s life. The pet name of ‘Bobbin’ originated in that of ‘Robin,’ which the child gave herself but could not pronounce.

[84]. Dr. J. Symonds, Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, was LL.D., and wrote a book, Hints and Observations on Scripture.

[85]. The Bishop misquotes from memory. The quotation is from Horace, Ep. Bk. I. iii. 21; agis should be audes.

[86]. Published 1703, giving an account of the trial of Charles I., of Montrose, &c.

[87]. Died in great poverty, 1808, and was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral.

[88]. The society of Arts, Adelphi.

[89]. This apparently refers to Barry’s report of the Royal Academy.

[90]. The friend of Louis XVI., who summoned courage to announce the fall of the Bastille. ‘It is a revolt?’ said the King. ‘Sire,’ replied the Duke, ‘it is a revolution.’ This amiable and well-intentioned man leaned towards a constitutional monarchy; finding this hopeless, he emigrated, returning after exile to Liancourt (Seine and Oise), ending his days among a community he had raised morally and materially. Died 1827.

[91]. His brother must not be wholly judged from Madame Roland’s portrait, penned in prison. The ‘Queen of the Gironde’ no more than her fellow-partisans was free from political animus. It is true that Lazowski threw himself into the very heart of Sans-culottisme, and that his funeral oration (1792) was pronounced by Robespierre. His alleged share in the September massacres requires stronger evidence than that of his bitterest enemies at bay.

[92]. ‘That part of a horse’s foot between the toe and heel, being the side of the coffin.’—Farrier’s Dict.

[93]. This project developed into one much more formidable than the writer at this period conceived, namely, that monumental history—or, rather, encyclopædia—of agriculture never destined to see the light. For three-quarters of a century the ten folio volumes of manuscript garnished the library of Bradfield Hall, perhaps once in twenty years to be taken down by some curious guest. What was to have been Arthur Young’s crowning achievement and legacy to future ages is, fortunately, not wholly lost to posterity. The ten volumes are now housed in the MS. department of the British Museum.

[94]. Bradfield Hall was sold on the death of Arthur Young’s last descendant, the late Arthur Young, Esq., in 1896.

[95]. Proverb, ‘The pot calls the kettle black.’—Bailey’s Dict.

[96]. The Peace of Westphalia.

[97]. George Rose, President of the Board of Trade. Died 1818.

[98]. This measure is referred to on page 137.

[99]. Arthur Young’s fishing parties are described in Fanny Burney’s Camilla.

[100]. Founded 1785.

[101]. Robert Bakewell, died 1795, a celebrated grazier. It was wittily remarked that ‘his animals were too dear for anyone to buy, and too fat for anyone to eat.’

[102]. ‘Turnip Townshend,’ ancestor of the Lord Townshend here named, was celebrated in the famous lines—

‘Why of two brothers, rich and restless, one

Ploughs, burns, manures, and toils from sun to sun;

The other slights for women, sports, and wines,

All Townshend’s turnips and all Grosvenor’s mines.’

Pope’s 6th translation of Horace.

[103]. This seems to refer to Mr. Pitt’s resolutions upon the commercial intercourse between England and Ireland. The debate thereon began February 22, 1785. See. Hansard.

[104]. How different would be the list of a labouring man’s ‘necessaries’ in these days!

[105]. Arthur Young’s only son, born 1769.

[106]. Express, n., a messenger sent on a special errand.—Webster.

[107]. Published in the Annals.

[108]. Dr. Egan, Royal Park Academy.

[109]. The writer’s memory is at fault here. His correspondence with Dr. Priestley is dated 1783. The letters, however, are given here, as otherwise they would not be intelligible.

[110]. Mr. Magellan. This gentleman, often mentioned in A. Y.’s correspondence as descendant of the great Portuguese discoverer, seems to have attained some proficiency—even eminence—in science.

[111]. Secretary to the Society of Arts.

[112]. An old Suffolk family. Captain Plampin, mentioned in the French travels, is noticed in the new Dictionary of National Biography.

[113]. M. Lazowski’s broken English is given as we find it.

[114]. Catalonia.

[115]. It has been found impossible to include this letter from want of space.

[116]. A sort of plough for sowing grain in drills.

[117]. A chance or passing boat.

[118]. As Arthur Young’s letters, with trifling excisions, are incorporated into the famous travels, I do not give them here. His anxiety about Bobbin is ever apparent. ‘Give Bobbin a kiss for me. God send her well,’ he writes to his eldest daughter Mary; and, in another letter, ‘Remember me to your mother, and tell Bobbin I never forget her.’ ‘The Robin,’ or Bobbin, was now five years old.

[119]. Statist, political and agricultural writer; born 1754, died 1835. Sat in Parliament for several constituencies, and took an active part in political and scientific movements; was also a voluminous writer.

[120]. The Prince and Princess de Polignac, after receiving countless honours, privileges, and substantial favours from Louis XVI. and the Queen, were among the first to desert them. The present head of this ancient house married a daughter of Mr. Singer, inventor of the sewing-machine.

[121]. A Bill prohibiting the exportation of wool passed the House of Commons, May 15, 1788.

[122]. President of the Royal Society, and supporter of the cause of agriculture and science; died 1810.

[123]. ‘Then came the Oude case, that lasted no less than twenty-one days, and ended by a speech from Sheridan on which great labour and pains had been bestowed. This speech had been looked forward to as rivalling the great Begum speech of the same orator’ (Knight). Is not A. Y. here thinking of the great Begum speech of an earlier session?

[124]. The author of Sandford and Merton died 1789 from the kick of a colt, which he had refused to have broken in on account of the cruelty usually involved in the process.

[125]. Died 1809. One of the most active members of the Royal Humane Society; fell a victim to his devotion in attending the sick and wounded Austrian soldiers on the field of Wagram.

[126]. See vol. x. of the Annals of Agriculture.

[127]. Sic.

[128]. Written about 1816.

[129]. Wild chicory or succory, used by the French as a winter salad, and in the adulteration of coffee.

[130]. Refers (see below) to a work by Baron Huthhausen on the servitude of the Silesian peasantry.

[131]. For this article see Annals of Agriculture, vol. ix. p. 479.

[132]. Son of a Protestant pastor of Nîmes, member of the Constituent Assembly; guillotined 1784. See Letters of Helen Maria Williams.

[133]. His country by adoption; Lazowski was a Pole.

[134]. Abbot.

[135]. ‘January 30, 1790. To Bradfield, and here terminate, I hope, my travels.’—Travels in France, Bohn’s Library.

[136]. This letter is interesting as written by the last representative of that unhappy country in England. We read in Knight’s History of England, vol. v., that, on the reassembling of Parliament after the partition of Poland no allusion whatever was made in the House of Commons to that event. The final partition treaty was signed in 1795 by Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

[137]. The passage occurs in the small memorandum-book from which I have occasionally quoted particulars of yearly[of yearly] expenses, &c.

[138]. Vol. xv. 1791, My Own Memoirs.

[139]. These letters were sold by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Co., London, December 1896.

[140]. Louis d’or at this time worth 24 francs.—Littré.

[141]. The well-known Colonel George Hanger, afterwards fourth Lord Coleraine. ‘He served in the Army during the American War, and was afterwards a distinguished character in high society. Wrote his Life, Adventures, and Opinions.’—Annual Register, 1824.

[142]. See on this subject Gibbon’s Rome, vol. xi. ch. lxi.

[143]. Th. Ruggles, author of a History of the Poor, reprinted afterwards from the Annals of Agriculture. Many passages were omitted, in accordance with the wishes of Pitt.—Lowndes.

[144]. Dr. Burney’s daughter, Madame d’Arblay.

[145]. Arthur Young’s daughter Elizabeth, the first wife of Rev. Samuel Hoole.

[146]. Th. Mace, author of Music’s Monument.

[147]. T. Playford, author of Music’s Delight, &c., 1668, 1676.

[148]. C. Simpson, author of The Division Viol, 1687.

[149]. See the Travels in France, Bohn’s Library, p. 335 et seq., for the views therein set forth.

[150]. All the public charges on 4,000 acres amounted only to 14l.

[151]. His daughter Sarah, the writer of several ingenious and interesting works.—A. Y.

[152]. By Act of Parliament, 1793.

[153]. This recantation of Arthur Young’s former democratic utterances was published in June 1793.

[154]. Marquis de Castries and Maréchal of France. Joined the émigrés on the Revolution, and served in Condé’s army.

[155]. Village Politics, by Will Chip, 1793; price 2d.

[156]. William Coxe, 1747-1828, author of Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark, &c. &c.

[157]. Evidently an allusion to some work of the writer.

[158]. Career, general course of action or procedure.—Webster.

[159]. This appears to have been the place lately known as the Thatched House Club, St. James’s Street, Piccadilly.

[160]. 1715-1804. Author of numerous works on speculative history, in one of which he denied the existence of Troy.

[161]. Probably an allusion to A. Y.’s habit of air baths.

[162]. Prefer, to set forth, propose.—Webster.

[163]. Israel Mauduit, son of a Dissenting minister; at first the same, afterwards merchant; published Considerations on the German War, 1760, &c. &c. See Chalmers’ Biog. Dict.

[164]. No note is to be found among papers concerning this visit.

[165]. Enclosure Bill. ‘At the Revolution of 1688 more than half the kingdom was believed to consist of moorland, forest, and fen, and vast commons and wastes covered the greater part of England north of the Humber. But the numerous Enclosure Bills which began with the reign of George II., and especially marked that of his successor, changed the whole face of the country. Ten thousand square miles of untilled land have been [? had been] added, under their operation, to the area of cultivation.’—Green’s History of the English People.

[166]. Abolished (saving the rights of the then holders of office) in 1812. 52 Geo. III. c. xi.

[167]. Now fourteen years old.

[168]. This passage has been crossed out with a pencil, but is given as showing the régime of young ladies’ schools a hundred years ago. In another note occurs the sentence, ‘Brought my dear little girl from Camden House to London.’ Presumably Camden Town is meant, at that time being less than suburban.

[169]. The county belle, Betsey Plampin, married some years before to Mr. Orbell Oakes.

[170]. Lady Mary Hervey, the beautiful daughter of the Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Derry. Her portrait, by Gainsborough, was on show at Agnew’s in 1896.

[171]. Some medical questions the child wishes put to her London doctor are here omitted.

[172]. John Jortin, D.D., born 1696, died 1770. His numerous theological and historical works have been frequently reprinted.

[173]. Henry More, D.D., born 1614, died 1687. In 1640 published Psycho-Zoia; or, the Life of the Soul. His philosophical and theological works have been reprinted.

[174]. Th. Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury, born 1693, died 1768.

[175]. Samuel Ogden, D.D., born 1716, died 1778.

[176]. Adam Littleton, D.D., born 1627, died 1674.

[177]. Samuel Clarke, D.D., born 1675, died 1729. The piece alluded to was the first Boyle Lecture. Of his works Dr. Johnson remarked, ‘I should recommend Dr. Clarke’s works were he orthodox.’

[178]. John Conybeare, D.D., born 1691, died 1755. ‘A great champion of revelation.’

[179]. Plymer; in Redgrave’s Dictionary of Artists written ‘Plimer.’ Two brothers therein mentioned, Andrew and Nathaniel, both miniature painters and exhibitors at the R.A.; born 1763, died 1837; born 1767, died 1822.

[180]. Practical View of the Prevailing System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Ranks in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity. Published 1797, and frequently reprinted.

[181]. Th. Scott—the friend of Cowper—born 1747, died 1821, chaplain to the Lock Hospital.

[182]. Th. Newton, born 1704, died 1782; edited Paradise Lost.

[183]. Alluding to the movement suggested by A. Y., and ultimately carried out, of forming regiments of volunteer cavalry, in view of the menacing attitude of France.

[184]. Carnot, the ‘organiser of victory,’ grandfather of the late lamented President of the French Republic. Almost alone of the Senate, Carnot refused to sanction the coup d’état of Napoleon, 1799.

[185]. J. F. Ostervald, Swiss Protestant divine, born 1683, died 1747. All his works have been translated into English.

[186]. These ‘Observations,’ above referred to, are inserted in vol. xxix Annals of Agriculture.

[187]. Assessed taxes. On December 4, 1797, Mr. Pitt introduced a Bill for trebling the amount of assessed taxes. This was again debated in the House of Commons in January 1798, and finally passed. See Hansard’s Parliamentary History.

[188]. In a memorandum-book of the preceding year occur the following entries: ‘Receipts, 901l.; debts, Dec. 31, 986l.’ Debts seem to have been a burden throughout A. Y.’s long life.

[189]. A. O’Connor, concerned with others in an address to the Directory France; tried for treason at Maidstone, 1798; found not guilty. See Annual Register, 1798.

[190]. These dinners to poor children were given in memory of Bobbin.

[191]. Née Betsy Plampin.

[192]. Referring to a long letter from the great Wilberforce on ‘Original Sin.’

[193]. The Letters of Maria Josepha Holroyd give an amusing account of the events here described.

[194]. On November 4, 1794, Souvarow took Warsaw, when 8,000 soldiers and 12,000 men, women, and children were massacred in cold blood. See L’histoire générale de Lavisse et Rambaud, vol. viii. p. 358. It is to be hoped that Dr. Burney was in ignorance of this.

[195]. Note by A. Y. at close of year’s diary: ‘In the summer,’ in consequence of much conversation with Lord Carrington on the importance of enclosures, I proposed to him that I should take a tour expressly for the purpose of ascertaining what the effect had really been in practice. He approved of the idea, and desired me to execute it; and, in regard to the expense, I told him that if he would allow 100l., I would expend it in travelling, and report to him the country travelled and the enclosures examined, and then he might extend or not the undertaking at his pleasure. He approved the plan, and I accordingly employed twenty weeks on the journey.’

[196]. In the Annals of Agriculture, vol. xxxv. p. 432, occurs the following: ‘If a farming traveller comes to Kimbolton, and forgets its mistress, may his sheep rot and crops blight! A young duchess, ever in the country, loving it, and free from a wish for London—a character that, if I was to give my pen scope, it would run wild on such a subject.’

[197]. Full accounts of these tours are given in the Annals of Agriculture.

[198]. These letters are inserted in the Annals of Agriculture, vol. xxxv. p. 459.

[199]. Lord Sheffield published Remarks on the Deficiency of Grain 1799-1800, and Observations on the Exportation of Wool from Great Britain to Ireland. 1800.

[200]. The Elements of Agriculture.

[201]. Mrs. Oakes, née Betsy Plampin.

[202]. A Collection of Theological Tracts, by the Bishop of Llandaff, 6 vols.

[203]. This seems to have been an anticipation of table-turning.

[204]. Samuel Horsley, born 1733, died 1806, Bishop of St. Asaph’s, St. David’s, and Rochester; celebrated for his controversy with Dr. Priestley.

[205]. The Anti-Jacobin, or Weekly Examiner, was started by Canning, J. H. Frere, and others; the editor was W. Gifford. It ran from November 20, 1797, to July 9, 1798.

[206]. I print this as written, but can find no allusion in works of reference to the circumstance mentioned.

[207]. C. de l’Héritier, born 1746, died 1800; botanist, and member of the Académie des Sciences.

[208]. Cornelia Knight, author of Dinarbas, a continuation of Rasselas, 1790, and other works.

[209]. Celebrated French geologist. Accompanied Napoleon to Egypt; on his return was taken prisoner and confined at Messina by the King of Sicily; on peace being made with Naples was liberated.

[210]. Robert Smith, son of a banker at Nottingham; M.P. for that town from 1770 to 1796; supporter and friend of Pitt; raised to the Irish peerage in 1796, to the English peerage in 1797.

[211]. Mrs. Orbell Oakes, the beautiful Betty Plampin of former flirtations, is ‘the friend’ henceforth constantly alluded to.

[212]. Isaac Milner, 1751-1820, son of a poor weaver (brother of the no less remarkable Joseph Milner), Dean of Carlisle, and Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge.

[213]. John Russell, sixth Duke, ‘the great Duke of Bedford,’ who did so much for agriculture, and in 1830 rebuilt Covent Garden Market at a cost of 40,000l. Died 1839.

[214]. J. Overton, officer in the Excise; made telescopes, and had a private press, where he printed books, mostly theological. Died 1838. See Annual Register for that year.

[215]. L. W. Otto, Count of Morlay, was a German diplomatist in the French service, and lived 1752-1817. See Didot, Biographie Universelle.

[216]. This was not, perhaps, impossible. See the following note from the Daily News Paris correspondent three or four years ago:

‘An account of Napoleon I.’s visit to Breda in 1810 is now appearing, for the first time, in the Débats, and is deeply interesting. It will be seen that Napoleon I. at the zenith of his power was on the point of becoming a Protestant.

‘The Emperor, after receiving several Deputies, went up to the Catholic Vicar, who had written a speech, and proceeded to read it. The Emperor, without replying, asked where were the Protestant ministers. Then M. Ten Oever, in his robes, followed by the entire Protestant clergy, was presented by the Prince de Wagram, and read an address. The Emperor remarked with satisfaction that the Protestant ministers wore their robes. Then, turning to the Roman Catholic clergy, he asked, “How is it that you are not wearing your frocks? What! I come to a Department [Holland had been annexed to France] where the majority are Catholics, who were formerly oppressed, and who have received more liberty from the King, my brother, and myself, and your first act is to show me disrespect! I have always found my Protestants faithful subjects. I have six thousand at Paris and eight hundred thousand in my empire, and I have no cause for complaint against a single one. Fools that you are! If the Concordat had not been accepted by the Pope, I should have turned Protestant, and thirty million Frenchmen would have followed my example. [The italics are my own.] You have calumniated Protestants, representing them as men teaching principles contrary to the rights of sovereigns. I have no better subjects. They serve in my palace in Paris. It was not Luther, nor Calvin, but the German princes who declined to submit to your fanatical yoke. The English were quite right to part company with you. You would like to set up scaffolds and stakes, but I will prevent you. All authority comes from God.”’

[217]. D. Bogue, D.D., On the Divine Authority of the New Testament, 1801.

[218]. Bishop of Cloyne, Alciphron; or, the Minute Philosopher, 1732.

[219]. C. Leslie, died 1722, author of The Rehearsals: Tracts against the Deists and Socinians, 4 vols.

[220]. Voyage en Amérique, 2 vols. 1800. It seems that the French émigrés, after being most hospitably treated in England, showed little return in the way of graciousness. See Letters of Maria Josepha Holroyd; also the Jerningham Letters.

[221]. Ambrose Marie Arnault, French economist, 1750-1812. See Vapereau.

[222]. See Chap. IV. ‘Ireland,’ for this curious bargain, by which A. Y., instead of a sum total of 700l., in 1776 was to receive 72l. per annum!

[223]. Mrs. Oakes.

[224]. This recalls Goethe’s line, ‘Der Augenblick ist Ewigkeit.’[Ewigkeit.’]

[225]. Ch. Simeon, 1759-1836, an eminent divine of the Evangelical school. His works, consisting of 2,536 sermons, &c., were published in twenty-one volumes in 1832.

[226]. Orbell Oakes, husband of ‘my friend,’ the beautiful Betsy.

[227]. J. Townsend, 1740-1816, English divine, and author of A Journey through Spain, 2nd edit. 1792.

[228]. John Owen, D.D., 1616-1683, the great Nonconformist divine who accompanied Cromwell to Scotland. In 1817 A. Y. published Oweniana (or selections from his works).

[229]. John Flavel, Nonconformist divine, 1627-1662, author of numerous works.

[230]. By Walter Marshall, 1692; frequently reprinted.

[231]. Joseph Skinner, Present State of Peru, 1805.

[232]. ‘There is now with us a Mr. Van Couver, of Vancouver’s Island, who would entertain you very much. He is making an agricultural tour in Sussex.’—Letters of Maria Josepha Holroyd, p. 326.

[233]. Nicholas Vansittart, Lord Bexley, sometime Governor of Bengal of great financial reputation.

[234]. W. Marshall, 1778-1817, a voluminous writer on agriculture, Minutes of Agriculture, &c. &c.

[235]. Evidently alluding to Sir Nathaniel Wraxall, a voluminous writer in France, whose works are now forgotten.

[236]. J. Blackadder, lieut.-colonel, afterwards minister, died in prison 1685.

[237]. ‘Cock’s foot grass, considered valuable as a pasture grass in light soils.’—Loudon.

[238]. See Hansard.

[239]. ‘No cards, because cards are employed in gaming; no assemblies, because many dissipated persons pass their lives in assemblies. Carry this but a little further, and we must say—no wine, because of drunkenness; no meat, because of gluttony; no use, that there may be no abuse.’—Sydney Smith on Hannah More.

[240]. Voyages and Travels in India, Ceylon, &c., 1809.

[241]. A pathetic interest attaches to this sentence. Here A. Y.’s fine hold handwriting (of late rather painting in black ink) ceases. A few desperate splashes, and we seem to see the pen despairingly cast aside and the journalising handed over to his secretary.

[242]. Still addressed to Jane Young.

[243]. Written from London.

[244]. This is explained in a letter from Mary Young to her brother Arthur, dated March 27; no year added, but evidently written in 1811. The Duke of Grafton died March 14, 1811. ‘It seems that the poor patient was very intractable, and that the operator said, “Indeed, sir, if you are not more patient I must leave you.”... Mr. Wilberforce, with the best wishes imaginable, called [after the couching], and was shown up to his bedroom; and the very first words he said were, “So we have lost the poor Duke of Grafton!” then began and continued in his mild, soft manner a most pathetic dissertation on the duke’s pious resignation, &c. &c., till your father burst into tears, which was, Phipps (the oculist) vowed, the worst thing possible, and which anyone knew in his lamentable state of inflammation was destruction. It flung him back, being only a week after the operation. Oh, Ar., as I greatly believe he will be entirely blind, do try to come to him.’

[245]. ‘Citrine ointment: a mercurial ointment, the unguentum hydrargyri nitralis.’—Webster.

[246]. A selection from the writings of Baxter, by A. Y.

[247]. This lady afterwards became assistant secretary to A. Y.

[248]. This must be a mistake of the French secretary. Surely Baring is intended.

[249]. A selection from the works of J. Owen, D.D., by A. Y.

[250]. A. F. Baron de, 1762-1851, celebrated agriculturist and member of the Institut.

[251]. Sir Walter Scott and other historians of Napoleon refer to a vague rumour that in 1814 and 1815 the Allied Powers had a secret design to remove Napoleon from Elba to St. Helena. He affected to believe the rumour, and frequently mentioned it.

Transcriber’s Note

In the Table of Contents, the page for Chapter I was missing and has been supplied. The page given for Chapter III was ‘4’ and has been replaced by the correct page 44.

The Index has frequent references to footnotes, mentioning the page and number on those pages. Since all footnotes have been renumbered sequentially, for uniqueness, across the text, the Index references have been modified to reflect the new numbers.

On p. 223, Young includes a memorandum from August 21, opening with a quotation mark which is never closed. Judging from the tone of the memorandum, it is likely that it closes at the end of a long paragraph on p. 224 (see below).

Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.

[32.23][I ]shall make the teaAdded.
[58.13]were the numbers ascertained.[’]Removed.
[187.30]quoted particulars o[f] yearly expensesRestored.
[211.11]‘Last night, intead of readingInserted.
[213.13]on the p[oli/la]ce of corn and capital employedProbable.
[224.22]secretaryship of the Board.[’]Added.
[284.26]dwells upon the present.[’]Added.
[306]the study of polite letters[.]Added.
[315.27]the same answer was [r]eturnedRestored.
[381.16]I have taken places[.]Added.
[393.31]‘Der Augenblick ist Ewigkeit.[’]Added.
[459.12]general anxiety and app[r]ehensionInserted.

Transcription of Manuscript Letter after p. 188

The following is a transcription of a letter from Arthur Young to his wife Mary. There are several place names that resist transcription in indicated with bracketed dashes.

No 82

Besançon July 27. 89

Dear Mary

I expected a Lr here, but was disappointed How comes yt: I hope not to be so at Dijon.

I think I wrote you fro Strasbourg: the day after at yt place 20,000 mob pillaged the Hotel d. Ville a house 3 times as big as the Angel & almost tore it in pieces: It was well furnished, but all turn’d out of windows in sight of 6 Regim.ts who could not or w’d not do anything to save it. From yt time to this moment all has been riot in every place I have been at. I spent a day at Schelestad with the Ct. de la Rochefoucauld who was very civil & obliging but on ye qui vive for populace who are every where in motion At one place I was near being knocked on the head for want of a Tiers etat Cockade; and at another saved by self being an englishn. by explaining how ye Tiers etat pd no taxes but the Seigneurs all in England; proposing to them to do the same in France, they relished this, and believed yt I was not a Seigneur, but an honest fellow.

In this country worse & worse—they are burning and plundering chateaus, & hunt down the Seigneurs like wild beasts—some have been shot, others hanged, and hundreds driven out of the Country & ruined. You see by ye papers I suppose that the King is at Versailles bereft of Guards power, family & all but claps and huzzas: the Queen shut up at St Cyr; the Count d’Artois gone to Spain it is said but first to [————]; and all the Queen’s friends fled the Kingdom to escape halters. Never was such a revolution known or heard off. The towns are every where arming the tiers etat, so it will very soon be too late for the nobility to stir in their defence.

Pray tell Hyde to take Care that the acre in Grav P.field yt is to be inclosed be well dunged & sowed with cabbage seed I ordered fro [——] thro Bess—witht fail by the 20th. august in fine order. Write me how the Cabbages are, fro a little bed in [——] past Round garden; How does Cooper go on? I desire that Arthur may lose no time at home, but take Mr Symonds directions when to go to C. I have not had a Lr from him of 11 months; I suppose because I expressly desired one once a fortnight: But nothing surprizes me that come fro him; Eton has I hope has done so much for his head that it leaves nothing for his heart—God send it may prove so; & yt I have not impoverished myself for nothing.

Give my dear Bobbin a Kiss for me & tell her I shall write her a Lr next.

Adieu Yr affectt AY

Remr me to yr Mother

Say nothing to Arth. abt writing; I had much rather have no Lr than such as those hints bring: observe this:

Miss Young

Bradfield Hall

Bury

Suffolk

Angleterre