Gratefull To Providence: The Diary and Accounts of Matthew Flinders: II. 1785-1802

This volume completes the edition of the diary and account books of Matthew Flinders, surgeon and apothecary of Donington in south Lincolnshire. His son, another Matthew, who later won renown as the first circumnavigator of Australia, appears here as a schoolboy, choosing not to follow his father as an apothecary but pursuing instead a career at sea.
The diary records the social life of Donington - magical deceptions at the Bull and the visit of a theatre company - and the joys and sorrows of family life. Flinders's success in business led to investments in land and government securities, yet his fear of poverty was never far away and his wish to sell up and retire was never realised.
The war with France is a recurring theme, both in the ever-increasing taxes imposed to pay for it, and in the local patriotism evoked by Nelson's victory at the Nile, and that of the 'Glorious First of June' in which the young Matthew took part. The king's recovery from madness in 1789 was celebrated by the illumination of the whole town, while at Christmas 1792 Flinders joined his neighbours in burning an effigy of the hated radical, Thomas Paine.