1830.] Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 359 



In 1 806, Lord Harrington was dispatched the Queen rarely, if ever, had a private 



to Berlin, with the view of arranging a party at Buckingham House, at which Lord 



treaty with the King of Prussia an object and Lady Harrington were not present, 



in which the Earl of Harrowby had previ- With reference to dress, appointments, 



ously been unsuccessful, and which was and the general economy of a regiment, the 



again defeated by Buonaparte's memorable Earl of Harrington was considered to stand 



victory on the plain of Austerlitz. unrivalled ; the regulation sword, first 



In 1807, Lord Harrington was, for a adopted in the Coldstream Guards, and 



time, Commander-in-chief in Ireland. His afterwards in the army generally, was intro- 



next appointment was, 1812, to be Gover- duced by his Lordship ; and, in military 



nor and Constable of Windsor Castle. affairs generally, his late Royal Highness, 



The Earl of Harrington was many years the Commander-in-chief, is said to have 



a member of His Majesty's Privy Council, paid extraordinary deference to his opinion. 



He was a great favourite with the late and Lord Harrington died at Brighton, on 



the present King, the Duke of York, and, the 15th of September, and was succeeded 



indeed, with all the members of the Royal in his titles and estates by his eldest son, 



Family. His Countess was equally a fa- Charles, Viscount Petersham, a Colonel in 



vourite with the late Queen Charlotte, to the Army, &c. 

 whom she was lady of the bedchamber ; and 



MONTHLY AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



i 



THE frost being succeeded by a general thaw in the first week of the current month, 

 agricultural operations, so long suspended, were universally resumed ; and the lands have 

 been since worked into a proper state for the reception of the earliest seed process, namely, 

 for beans, peas, and oats. Upon the forwardest lands, these seeds are already in the 

 ground, on others, much ploughing remaining undone, those crops will necessarily be 

 backward. During the month of January, scarcely a plough was stirring, until the two 

 or three last days, and then in very few places. With regard to working the lands, how- 

 ever, for the seed furrow, there does not appear a deficiency to that degree which might 

 have been expected in times like the present ; the great misfortune, and it must tell 

 heavily in future produce, is the universal and smothering mass of weed vegetation which 

 the ordinary mode of culture can never eradicate from the soil. The wheats, winter tares, 

 clovers, and turnips, have been variously affected by the frost. Upon warm and sheltered 

 soils, there seems little cause of complaint, particularly of the early sown wheats, great 

 part of which exhibit a healthy appearance ; but on lands of a less fortunate description, 

 and where the cover and protection of snow came too late, the corn, its seeds just bursting 

 out to vegetation, and grasses, are lamentably cut up, and the remaining turnips, of a very 

 poor crop, clung and withered, and rendered of very little use as cattle food. The naked 

 frost has yet been of the greatest service in clearing the land of slug and grub, of which 

 two mild winters had occasioned a multitudinous increase. 



From Scotland, our accounts report a more favourable state of the lands and of the pro- 

 gress of their husbandry, most satisfactorily joined with an almost absence of complaint 

 on the painful topic of agricultural distress and want of employment for the labourers. 

 Rents are generally higher in the- North than in the South, and far more frequently con- 

 tracted for as corn rents, that is to say, regulated by the price of wheat. A considerable 

 breadth of ploughing, to our surprise, seems to have been performed in the North, during 

 the last month, and their seed business is, in general, more forward than with us in the 

 South, whilst their corn and seeds are stated to have received little injury from the frost, 

 excepting in a few exposed situations, where they appear to be destroyed to a considerable 

 extent. Their turnips are nearly exhausted, and potatoes, from the constant demand for the 

 London market, being too dear for the use of stall-feeding, their resource seems to subsist in 

 the great quantity of stained and inferior barley, which also contributes to keep down the 

 price of fodder, although now so greatly reduced in quantity. The last year's wheat in 

 Scotland is now estimated at half an average crop, and, probably, it has been more held 

 for a market there, than in the South, on the speculation of a considerable improvement in 

 price, before the next harvest. Great quantities of barley, it is stated, reached the markets, 

 as a provision for the Candlemas rents. The fairs and markets for store-stock are over- 

 loaded, as with us, with the exception of milch cows, which find a ready sale, as do fat 

 cattle and sheep. Welfare, bonny Scotland ! the Tweed makes a magical distinction, as 

 well as a local division, much in favour of his northern border, in various respects. 



From a few quarters, we have somewhat more favourable accounts of the state of the 

 markets for store stock, but, generally, no improvement can yet be boasted : the same with 

 respect to wool, of which far less expectation can be reasonably entertained. The fall of 

 lambs has been successful, and the weather more favourable than for the earliest dropped. 

 The short crop of turnips, and the damage received from the frost, will, by and by, be 

 severely felt by this stock, fodder being so nearly exhausted. Sheep, for market, are said 

 to have done very poorly on the present crop of turnips, to which, no doubt, their exposure 



