| Description | The journal begins in July 1816, and continues from the previous volume (RAS/1/1). The entries cover a period when Slaney was staying at his Shropshire residence, and include details of his attendance at Shrewsbury Assizes on 7 August and at a meeting in Shrewsbury to 'assist the poor out of employment', 7 October. He mentions attending further meetings to assist the poor and unemployed, and this is a prominent theme in the volume. He also includes occasional comments on local current affairs, details of his studying and reading matter, and his daily activities.
He records some plans for the future, including his decision not to 'continue the pursuit of the law', but instead to remain in Shropshire until the end of 1817 and continue learning Italian until his tour to Italy. He also intended to produce an essay 'on the best means of employing the poor, to be offered to the Board of Agriculture', and in the longer term to pursue the duties of a country gentleman and 'that part of the law that may be useful to a magistrate'. 'Political economy seems to me the study most useful in practical result'. |