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SIR,

CCORDING to the practice of several past years, I herewith transmit you an account of the dead-weights of the twenty-two animals for which premiums were lately awarded, at the Smithfield Club cattle-shew, in Goswellstreet, by three experienced graziers appointed as judges of the shew, viz. Mr. Edward Auger, of Imberholme farm, near East Grinstead, Sussex; Mr. Richard Goord, of Milton, near Sittingborne, Kent; and Mr. George Watkinson, of Woodhouse, near Loughborough, Leicestershire. Since my last communica

tion on this subject, his Grace the Duke of Bedford, the absent president of the club, liberally signified his wish, by a letter from Spain, to offer annually five extra premiums of plate, and as many gold medals, (of the value together of one hundred and twenty-five guineas,) to the feeders and breeders of the best oxen, sheep, and pigs, exhibited at the Christmas shew; and which Bedfordean premiums were awarded by the gentlemen above-mentioned, as in the following account.

The same twenty-five premiums, amounting to three hundred and thirtyfive guineas, as last year, (including his Grace's,) have been offered for the shew on the 15th of December next; and in order to encourage as wide a competi tion as possible, it has been determined, that more than one premium shall not in future be awarded for any animal, except the best young grass-fed ox, in class vi. should happen to exceed in perfection the animals which are allowed oil-cake, in any of the preceding classes.

See an account of the prizes tor 1813 vol. xxxvii. p. 217.

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Mr. James King's 4-year old Durham Ox, fed on grass, hay, and mangel-wurzel

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86

361

191

49

81

42

21

$5

37

208

104

521

27

46

41

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Mr. Robert Masters' 4-year old) Scotch Ox, fed on grass, hay, and turnips

Mr. John Westcar's 6-year old Durham Cow, that has borne 3 calves, fed on grass, hay, Swedish turnips, and oil-cakes

Mr. John Westcar, the Bedfordean premium, for his 5-year old Hercford Ox, fed on grass, hay, Swedish turnips, and gil-cakes Mr. Robt. Masters, the Bedfordean premium, for his 3-year and 8. months old Salopshire Ox, fed on grass, hay, and turnips

805 120

1097 213

1807

972 100

*This Ox also gained another premium from the Club; and Bedfordean gold medals were awarded to Thomas Jefferies and Thomas Beache, as breeders.

PRIZE

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123

2

Mr. John Wilkinson's three 22-
months old new Leicester
wethers, fed on grass, hay, and
гаре
Mr. Thomas Moore's three 32-
months old new Leicester
wethers, fed on grass and tur-
nips

Mr. John Ellman's, jun. three

32-months old South down wethers, fed on grass, hay, and turnips

These sheep also gained a Bedfordean premium.

Ibid, and also a Bedfordean gold medal to the breeder; and one was awarded to Mr. Thomas Moore.

129

161 16

142

15

16

131

151

169

454

1484

164

15

1514

17

148

154

566

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And a Bedfordean gold medal was awarded to Messrs. J. and W. Weller, breeders.

In order, as fully as possible, to accomplish the important object of making known the breeders of the animals best adapted for the fat cattle markets, it has been determined, that no animals shall be shewn without their certificates mention the Christian and Sir-names, and residences of the breeders, and as much of the pedigrees of the animals as can be readily obtained; except of Scotch, Welsh, or Irish beasts, purchased

of cattle dealers. The certificates must

be delivered at my house, on or before the 9th of December. The printed Bills, stating fully every condition of the next shew, with blank forms for the certifi cates, &c. are left for distribution, as usual, with Mr. Mitchell, draper, No. 7, Cloth Fair, Smithfield Market; and at

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P.S. I beg to mention, for the informa tion of your agricultural readers, that, from the very numerous documents, similar to the above, collected and preserved by the Smithfield Club, and from many others preserved at his Majesty's victualling-office has drawn extensive and very accurate at Deptford, &c. &c. Mr. Layton Cooke from; which, from having given the liveaverages, and constructed tables there weight of a fat beast, sheep, or pig, shews by inspection its weight of meat, fat, &c.; and these tables, with many other things useful to farmers, may be seen and pur chased at the Agricultural Repository above-mentioned. MEMOIR

F2

MEMOIRS AND REMAINS OF EMINENT PERSONS.

MEMOIRS Of FERDINAND SMYTH STUART, M.D. MAJOR in the BRITISH ARMY, and GRANDSON of the DUKE of MONMOUTH.

IT

T is in vain that philosophy affects to despise all prejudices." Her most devoted disciples must entertain many from habit or inadvertency, and cherish others for their own sake, and for the pleasure they afford. Thus it is, in regard to illustrious descent. We may despise the ostentatious display of the pride of ancestry, and we may not adinit this species of distinction as a substitute for virtue, or an apology for vice; yet there exists in the descendants of famous ancestors, a charm which fas cinates, which commands respect, and which always excites the warmest sympathy when they are assailed by any of the calamities of ordinary life.

The public at large, and the sternest lover of republicanism, will therefore participate in one common feeling, on hearing the recent unhappy fate of one of the nearest descendants of the royal house of Stuart; and the occasion will justify a revival of certain historical particulars which have either been forgot ten, or till now have been buried in the records of the family.

Dr. Ferdinand Smyth Stuart, the immediate object of this biography, was killed on the 20th of December last, in Bloomsbury-square, by the unfortunate circumstance of the carriage of a Mrs. KELLY, daughter of Mr. Dolland, in St. Paul's Church Yard, suddenly turning the corner of Southamptonstreet; when, being unable to escape in time, he was knocked down by the pole, and trampled on by the horses. He was carried alive to his residence, in Vernon Place, adjoining; but, in spite of every care, he expired on the 28th, leaving an amiable, but destitute, widow, two sons and a daughter.

No event could have been more ill timed in the fate of this family. After buffeting with fortune in every part of the world, Dr. S. Stuart had determined, in this his 67th year, to avail himself of his experience and connections, by attempting to establish himself as a physician in the metropolis; and, so lately as the latter part of the previous Novemher, had entered on his establishment in Vernon Place: just as he was beginning to be recognised by his friends, he met bis death by this dismal catastrophe.

He was the only surviving son of Co

lonel Wentworth Smyth, who was the son of James Duke of Monmouth, by Henrietta Maria Wentworth, Baroness of Nettlested, and grand-daughter of Thomas Earl of Cleveland. All our historians agree, that, before his execution, the Duke of Monmouth was refused the sacrament, by Drs. Tennison and Hooper, unless he confessed the sin and adultery in which he lived with Lady Wentworth,-his wife, the Countess of Buccleugh, being still alive. Dr. Smyth Stuart's papers inform us, that the Duke alledged that his first marriage was forced on him by his father, at the age of fifteen, before he was capable of making a proper choice; and that, having been married to Lady Wentworth, in his mature age, he considered her as his lawful wife before God and man. Be this as it may, Lady Wentworth, after the duke's execution, retired to her country seat, where she pined for nine months; and, dying of a broken heart, was buried at Teddington, in Bedfordshire.

Her infant son, then but two years old, and, as illegitimate, deprived of all inheritance, was conveyed to Paris by Colonel Smyth, an adherent of the Duke of Monmouth, who educated him, and left him his fortune. He afterwards engaged in the cause of the Stuart family, in 1715; and, concealing himself in the Highlands, continued to reside in Scotland. But engaging in the second attempt, in 1745, he was, a few years afterwards, being then in his 72d year, way-laid on a bridge, by three men of the royal army, in the hope of reward; when, in the struggle, he and two of them fell over the battlements into the river, and were all drowned!

His son, Ferdinand, the subject of this biography, was then only in his sixth year, and an orphan; his mother, a great grand-daughter of the same Duke of Monmouth, by Eleanor, daughter of Sir Robert Needham, having died three years before. This double affinity to the Stuart race, was probably the cause of the striking likeness which the late Dr. S. Stuart bore to all the portraits of Charles II, which indeed he might have adopted for his own. Nor will it dimi. nish the interest of this narrative, when it is remarked, that his daughter, now in her seventeenth year, bears an exact similitude to all the portraits of Mary Queen of Scots, when of the same age. His eldest son, now in his ninth year,

18

.1815.]

Memoirs of Ferdinand Smyth Stuart, M.D.

is like that portrait of Charles II. where he is painted with a Newfoundland dog of his own height; and, doubtless, as he grows, his resemblance to the character itics of his family, will increase.

The subject of this memoir received, however, amid the Grampian hills, a liberal education, and learnt English, as a foreign tongue, with Latin and French, in a country where four-fifths of the inhabitants speak Gaelic or Erse, and call the tongue of the Low-lands, Sass nach, or Saxon. In due time, he was removed to Aberdeen; and, having en tered on the profession of a physician, he attended the lectures of Dr. Gregory, whom he always described "as a bles. sing sent from Heaven to serve mankind, and as an honour to human nature!" His first experiment in this profession was as surgeon to a Greenland-man, to which he was stimulated by a passion to see the polar regions, and he was in that respect highly gratified.

A fondness for travelling induced him to make a voyage to America, where the spirit of adventure led him to pass a considerable time among the Indians, in the back settlements; but he finally settled in Maryland, becoming a considerable proprietor of lands in Virginia, and occupying one of the delightful seats on the picturesque banks of the Potowmac. Here he combined the occupation of a cultivator, with that of a physician, when the commencement of the disputes between the colonies and the mother country rendered it necessary for every man to declare himself on one side or the other. As the republican, or liberty, party were in truth the descendants of the very families who had been driven from England by the intolerance of the Stuarts, and as Dr. S. Stuart inherited the political errors and prejudices of his family, which he che rished to the last day of his life, he be came a staunch supporter of the preten sions of the mother country, and so bitter in his hatred of the modern roundheads, that his residence soon became unpleasant and dangerous.

Hence, abandoning his profession and the arts of peace, we find him in 1774 a captain in the Western Virginia troops, when he particularly distinguished him. self in a severe action against the Indians; and, on the rebellion, as he always called it, breaking out, he openly attached himself to the British government, in a province where for three counties around him there was scarcely another loyalist. He was, in consequence, soon marked out

37

for public vengeance, and compelled to abandon his home, his fortune, and his family, in October, 1775. After encouutering many dangers, the nearest British post being 320 miles from his residence, he joined the British army; and, being appointed a captain in the Queen's Royal Regiment of Rangers, was ordered on a most important and perilous expedition; but, after conducting the enterprise in perfect safety, nearly four hundred miles, on the day after he relinquished the charge, he was taken prisoner, and ri gidly confined.

On the 30th of December, he escaped from a guard of 50 men, at the peril of his life, and travelled three hundred miles on foot, over the Alleganey mountain, the most inaccessible and extensive in the world, in an extremely rigorous winter, almost destitute of clothes and food, and encountered a series of dangers and hardships scarcely to be paralleled. He was however recaptured when nearly out of danger, and dragged seven hundred miles, bound with cords, and delivered up a prisoner at Philadelphia. Here he suffered captivity, during eighteen months, and subsisted only on bread and water, in dungeons, and in irons. Being ordered to be taken after the Congress, which had fled from Philadelphia to Bal timore, he was compelled to march one hundred and fifty miles in irons, forced on with bayonets, and covered with blood, occasioned by the irons and broken blisters. Unable to march any further, by the wounds and lacerations of the irons, he was thrown into the hold of a privateer, upon pig-iron and stones, the ballast of the vessel, where he was kept, without food and clothes, for three days and nights, in the snow that was falling fast through the hatches, and still in irons. At length, however, having again effected his escape, and having a fourth time undergone great hardships and dangers almost incredible, in passing down the great bay of Chesapeak, two hundred miles by water, and more than three hundred by land, through a hostile country, where he was well known, and while a high reward was offered for securing him, he got safe on board the Preston, then 21 miles out at sea, where he had been tossed about in a storm all night in a canoe. During these very hazardous escapes, he was, of course, under the necessity of expending considerable sums of money; but so ardent was his loyalty and zeal, that, on his arrival at New York, he declined accepting a very handsome gratuity, in money, from Sir

William

William Howe, the British commander in chief. He afterwards did duty in the Loyal American Regiment, as a captain, and in the 42d, or Royal Highland regi ment. Besides forty-five men in the Loyal American regiment, he raised a corps of one hundred and eighty-five chosen men, out of Clifton, Chambers, and Allen's regiments, at a very great expense. From that time he commanded his corps, as captain_commandant, in the most active service, until he was attached, by his own choice, with all his men, to the Queen's Rangers.

He used to relate, that, during this period he refused high and flattering commissions from the Americans; that before he left his house, he defended it against a superior force, till one of his servants was killed, and himself dan gerously wounded; that, while he was in the hands of the enemy, he prevented numbers of British prisoners from enter ing into the American army; that he has zarded his life in saving Detroit and Upper Canada from falling into the hands of the enemy; that, during his escape, he, by his advice and influence, preserved many loyalists from utter destruction, to the number of one thousand families; and that, in the Danbury expedition, with only ten men, he repulsed and drove back with fixed bayonets above one hun dred of the enemy, who greatly harassed the rear of the British army, leaving pineteen dead on the field.-That, at the capture of Philadelphia, he discovered eighteen serviceable pieces of cannon concealed in the Delaware; that with a small detachment covering the wood. cutters near Derby, being attacked by six times hisforce, he repulsed thein, and killed more of the enemy than his detachment consisted of; that he was particularly distinguished at the action of Edgehill, against a great superiority of the very best troops of the enemy (Mor. gan's riflemen), pursuing them to the abattis of Washington's camp; that with only two men he went into the country beyond a considerable force of the enemy, at noon-day, and captured a very active partizan officer. That on the 1st of May, 1778, in the battle of the Crooked Billet, he totally routed nine hundred of the enemy, with only sixtyfive officers and men of the Queen's Rangers, leaving two hundred dead in the field, and taking sixty-seven prisoners, with their waggons, baggage, &c. That, at Croswick's Creek, upon Captain Stephenson being shot by his side,

he, with eighty men, attacked the ene my, consisting of two thousand five hundred, with six pieces of cannon, drove them from the bridge which they had fortified, and secured the safe passage of the British army. That, at the battle of Freehold, the regiment being only three hundred and forty strong, having alone, and unsupported, sustained the attacks of five thousand of the enemy, under General Lee, during two hours; and commanding eighty men, as a forlorn hope, he was ordered to sustain the attack of the whole column of the enemy, in order to cover and secure the retreat of the rest of the detachment; but, after a long and severe conflict, in a narrow pass, in which he posted his men, he repulsed the enemy. And that in the evening of the same memorable day, being again detached with two com panies under his command, to cover the retreat of some troops in danger of being cut off by a very superior force, after performing that service, he, by an ambuscade, killed five and captured twentyseven of the enemy.

Such was part of the summary of his services in this inglorious and disastrous contest-in a cause which he thought meritorious, and which was thought by tens of thousands, besides him, to be in the laudable defence of their "King and country;" though it is now universally felt, that the Americans were fighting in defence of their dearest privileges as freemen. On such a subject, the errors of a Stuart may, however, be forgiven more than that of any other man!

His services have been recounted, but his reward became matter of calculation before commissioners and powers, whom he was unlikely to conciliate by flattering, or even by courtly deference. At first 3001. per annum was granted him, but his claims for 65,000 acres of land, monies advanced, and various losses, exceeding 200,000l.; and, being insisted on by a man who from principle and habit despised the low-born insolence of office, he never was able to obtain any compensation, and even the pension at first paid him was withdrawn. The commissioners appointed to investigate the claims of the loyalists, were at once judges and jurors, and there was no appeal from their decision; it is not therefore to be wondered that their conduct towards one, who, being disgusted with their proceedings, made no secret of his contempt, was harsh and unyielding.

Dr. Stuart afterwards presented

petition

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