50 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



sent to that part of the world where their^'services were most 

 required in the interests of the conutry (cheers). With these 

 remarks he begged to give, with three times three, " The 

 Health of his Grace the Duke of Richmond, the Preaideut of 

 the Club, and a winner of the gold medal" (cheers). 

 The toast was drunk with enthusiasm. 

 Song by Mr. Shoubrldge — "The Yeomen of England." 

 Lord William Lennox said, on rising in obedience to 

 a call from the chair, he must claim the indulgence of the 

 assembly, as he was not prepared when he came there to 

 take part in the proceedings of the evening. He had come 

 in the expectation that his brother would be there ; and it 

 was not till after entering the room that he learnt that he 

 was detained on duty. The diffidence which he always felt 

 on rising to address a public assembly was increased on 

 that occasion by the feeling that he stood there alone, pro- 

 bably, in perfect ignorance of land and cattle, and of 

 anything appertaining to agriculture. They were all aware 

 that a younger son of a noble family did not inherit a very 

 .arge portion of the broad acres of his ancestors ; they were 

 probably aware that his share of the soil generally con- 

 sisted of the mignonette-pots outside his window, and his 

 live-stock of a half-starved pointer (laughter). It was not 

 necessary, however, either to own land or to breed stock in 

 order to understand the benefit conferred on the country by 

 a society which aimed at securing good and cheap food for 

 our rapidly-increasing population (Hear, hear). Having 

 explained the position in which he stood, he now begged to 

 thank them, on behalf of his brother, for the kind manner in 

 which they had drunk his health. In early life his brother 

 entered, along with six of his brothers, the profession of 

 the army. He saw service under the Duke of Wellington ; 

 and perhaps what he had most reason to be proud of in his 

 military career was the fact recorded by Napier, that he 

 left the staff of Wellington to do duty as a regimental 

 officer of the line (Hear, hear). Those times were now 

 long past ; but his conduct with regard to the militia was 

 such that he might fitly be compared to an old warhorse, 

 who, on hearing the sound of bugle or trumpet, immediately 

 manifested a determination to live or die in active service 

 (cheers). As an illustration of thatsort of feeling, he migl.t 

 mention that about Christmas last year, his regiment being at 

 Brighton, he left a comfortable home to dine with the officers ; 

 and when he got there he found only an ensign and an orderly 

 officer, all the rest having gone away Christmasing 

 (laughter). That showed how much his heart was wrapped 

 lip in his regiment. He (Lord W. Lennox) trusted that 

 under the new state of things no difficulty would ever be 

 experienced in obtaining recruits for the array. As long as 

 a portion of the money nominally paid to the men was de- 

 ducted on various pretences, it was natural to suppose that 

 there would be a scarcity of recruits ; but now that the recruit 

 knew exactly what he was receive, and so much encourage- 

 ment was given to the soldier, he thought tliey might expect 

 to see the ranks of the army not only filled, but comprising a 

 better class of men than formerly entered the service. To re- 

 turn to his brother. He was quite sure that nothing but a 

 regard for military duty would have prevented him from oc- 

 cupying the chair. He believed he was at Dover, where his 

 militia regiment was stationed ; and that the cause of his ab- 

 sence was a 'little unpleasantness between that regiment and 

 a regiment from Ireland, which he was desirous of removing. 

 He should tell him of the manner in which his health had 

 been drunk, and he was sure he would be gratified at receiving 

 the information. Might he long be spared to preside ovei 

 that excellent institution, and to promote as far as he could, 

 in public and in private, the interests of the agriculturists of 

 this country ! (Cheers). 



Lord Fevers HAM said the duty had devolved upon him 

 of proposing the next toast, and it was one which he was sure 

 every gentleman in that room would receive with the warmest 

 feelings of gratitude, being the health of his noble friend Lord 

 Bernera, who had so ably and efficiently discharged the impor- 

 tant duties of the chair that evening, in the absence— in the 

 unavoidable absence, as they had just been informed— of the 

 President of the Club, the Duke of Richmond. In proposing 

 that toast, it would be superfluous in him to detain them by 

 offering any observations of eulogium or commendation. His 

 noble friend was well known to the agricultural community as 

 a practical farmer. He had long devoted a large portion of his 

 time and attention to agriculture ; he had made it his study, 



and he was at all times ready to impart information to those 

 who consulted him ou subjects of importance. His noble 

 friend was, as they were aware, not only a practical agricul- 

 turist, but also a successful exhibitor of stock ( Hear, hear). 

 The gold medal had just been presented to him in that capa- 

 city ; and perhaps he (Lord Feversham) might be allowed to 

 observe, that his own county — York — had partly contri- 

 buted to his noble friend's success on that occasion, inasmuch 

 as his beautiful sheep were descended from a flock belonging 

 to a gentleman who resided in his (Lord Feversham's) neigh- 

 bourhood. They were aware that his uoble friend now filled 

 the important office of President of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society. He was confident that in presiding over the proceed- 

 ings of that great institution he would always manifest ability, 

 fairness, and judgment ; and that whenever any suggestions 

 were made in'the couucil with a view to improvement, however 

 humble might be the person that made t'nem, they would be 

 listened to patiently, and receive due consideration. He might 

 add, that it was the opinion of some eminent members of 

 that society that there was still room for improvement ; and 

 he hoped that if any observations were made in relation to 

 that suaject at the meeting to be held on the following Friday, 

 his noble friend would receive them with that courtesy for 

 which, no less than by his firmness, he had always been dis- 

 tinguished. He had no doubt that his noble friend would 

 retire from office with a reputation for ability inferior to that 

 of none of his predecessors. He would now propose that they 

 should drink, "Lord Berners, and Success to the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society of England." 



The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm. 



The Chairman said his noble friend and school-fellow Lord 

 Feversham had imposed upon him one of the most difficult tasks 

 he had ever been called upon to perform. He had mentioned his 

 name in so many different points of view, that he hardly knew 

 where to begin or where to end, and therefore he thought he 

 had better discard all the compliments which had been paid to 

 him. and once for all thank the company, as he did most 

 heartily and sincerely, for the honour which they had done hiro, 

 by the manner in which they had received the toast. There 

 could not, in his opinion, be a higher compliment paid to auy 

 man than by his name being well received by the farmers of 

 England. From his earliest youth he had beeu in the habit 

 of meeting the cultivators of the soil in every part of the 

 country. It was from that great patron of agriculture Mr. 

 Coke, of Holkham, afterwards Lord Leicester, that he received 

 his first instructions in agriculture, and from that time to the 

 present he had constantly met with the greatest kindness at 

 the hands of English farmers. His name had been coupled with 

 that of the Royal Agricultural Society, of which he had the 

 honour that year to be the president. He could only say that 

 it would afford him the greatest gratification to see the meet- 

 ing at Chester rival, if it did cot exceed, as he expected it 

 would, all the preceding meetings of the society (cheers). 

 He could assure his noble friend that he was not mistaken in 

 supposing that he would be prepared to listen attentively to 

 any suggestions that might be made for the improvement of 

 the society, and especially would this be the case if they pro- 

 ceeded from practical farmers. It was by the union of science 

 with practice that the couucil aimed at carrying out the ob- 

 jects of the society — objects of national importance, and of a 

 similar nature to those of the Smithfield Club. That day the 

 council had agreed to their report, and it might not be unin- 

 teresting to some present to hear a little about their pro- 

 ceedings. It appeared that during the last year they had 

 gained an accession of 150 members, and that the total number 

 was now .5,218. There was one subject which the society had 

 taken up, for their conduct with regard to which he thought 

 the farmers of England ought to feel especially grateful to 

 them. When it was reported that a terrible plague was pre- 

 vailing among cattle iu Austria, Prussia, and other continental 

 countries, the Royal Agricultural Society, acting iu conjunction 

 with the Highland Society of Scotland, and the corresponding 

 society in Ireland, took up the matter, and sent over Professor 

 Simonds to ascertain the causes of the prevailing disease. 

 The Professor had since made his report, and he trusted it 

 would shortly appear in the society's Journal (cheers). He 

 might also mention that at the Salisbury Meeting the visitors 

 exceeded by 2,000 the number that attended on any former 

 occasion (Hear, hear). At the Chester Meeting, the prizes 

 would exceed in amount those that had ever before been 

 offered by auy local society ; he believed the amount would be 



