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:—
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 shallI 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—
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 yearlyof 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.