INTRODUCTION xxvii 



iiig wool and making ropes, and lie was also the 

 author of many improvements in the arts, manu- 

 factures and agriculture. In 1803 he was given 

 the silver medal of the Society of Arts, for the 

 invention of a three-furrow plough, and in 1805 he 

 received the gold medal of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture for an '' Essay on Manures." 



In 1793 Edmund removed to London, but in 

 1800 he accepted the position of domestic chaplain 

 to the Duke of Bedford, who gave him the man- 

 agement of an experimental farm at AVoburn. In 

 1806 the Universitv of Oxford conferred on him 

 the degrees of B. D. and D. D. 



On June 10, 1809, Parliament voted him the 

 sum of ten thousand pounds sterling in considera- 

 tion of '' the good service he had rendered the 

 pu))lic by his inventions of weaving, and as some 

 recompense for the losses he had sustained in 

 bringing to perfection the inventions by which the 

 country had materially benefited." With part of 

 this money, which made him independent, he 

 bought a small farm at Hollander, between Seven- 

 oaks and Tunbridge in Kent. He died on Octo- 

 ber 30, 1823. 



Of the fifth son, Charles, history has recorded 

 ))Ui little. When a lieutenant on board the 

 *' Argo " ho distinguished himself on the African 

 coast by taking the Dutch fort of Commenda, for 

 which he received the thanks of the African Com- 

 pany. He refused, however, notwillistandiug his 

 own scanty means, to take bis share of Hie ]irize- 

 moncy, amounting to about a thousand pounds, 



