84 Biographical Account of [Aus. 
vexations, which at first had given him uneasiness. The prospect 
gradually brightened ; and during the latter part of his life his con- 
cerns were brought into better order, and appear to have been 
attended with a reasonable degree of success. . 
But whether these agricultural undertakings were profitable or 
not, they doubtless contributed in several important respects to his 
comfort and happiness. They were conducive to his health, by 
affording additional motives for exercise in the open air, and ‘or 
those long journies on horseback which his constitution required, 
and which were thus rendered less irksome. ‘They furnished his 
mind with a perpetual supply of that steady, equable occupation, 
which forms so essential an ingredient in human happiness, but 
which possibly he would not have provided for himself from any 
other source. What was scarcely less important, these pursuits 
were the accidental occasion of his reviving a connection with one 
of his early friends, formed originally at Cambridge, but which 
distance of place and other circumstances had interrupted for many 
years. The intercourse between them was renewed soon after Mr. 
Tennant became established at the Somersetshire farm, which was 
not far from his friend’s residence ; and it was productive of great 
happiness to both parties. Mr. Tennant found in his friend’s family 
those congenial tastes and opinions, which form the strongest bond 
of union ; and during the remainder of his life he invariably ex- 
perienced from them all that affectionate regard, which the greatest 
personal esteem, united with a sincere admiration of his talents, 
could inspire. With these friends, whenever he had leisure and 
inclination, he found a constant home ; and it is highly probable 
that some of his happiest hours were passed in their hospitable 
mansion. 
The change in his habits, occasioned by his agricultural engage- 
ments, was not equally favourable to his scientific pursuits. His 
spirits were often exhausted, and his mind fatigued and oppressed, 
by the attention which he thought it necessary to bestow upon the 
correspondence with his agents, the examination of his farming 
accounts, and other details equally tedious and minute; and it is. 
impossible to reflect upon the time thus consumed, without lament- 
ing that it was not employed for purposes more beneficial to man- 
kind, and more worthy of his genius and understanding. 
It appears, however, from various notes and memoranda which 
are found among his papers, that from the time when he first be- 
came engaged in agricultural pursuits, he was very industrious in 
procuring information from the best works upon farming, and that 
he made various practical remarks during his journies, and collected 
many accurate and circumstantial details relative to the modes of 
cultivation adopted in difierent parts of England. In the course of 
these inquiries, he had discovered that there were two kinds of lime- 
stone known in the midland counties of England, one of which 
differed from common lime-stone in yielding a lime injurious to 
vegetation, He explained the cause of this difference in a paper 
a 
