THE FARMKR'R MAGAZINE, 



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days— the men who ovrned the laud which they cultlTated— 

 and the lubititutiou for them of those who merely cultivated 

 what belonged to another (Hear, hear). The land wai now 

 almoit universally cultivated by those who were mere vicarioui 

 possessors of it, and not real owners. The position of a 

 tenant was, to a certain extent, that of a hireling ; the pro- 

 duce of the time and money which he invested in the improve, 

 ment of the soil were more or less at the mercy of another 

 person ; and let gentlemen who were familiar with the ordi- 

 nary course of business in that city say what it must be to 

 invest capital and feel that it was not uuder your own control 

 (Hear, hear). He wsa far from saying that that which was 

 one of the great characteristics of the people of this country^ 

 namely, a love of justice, did not influence the conduct of 

 landlords ; he was far from denying that, generally speaking, 

 the landlords of England were disposed to do their duty. 

 But he should certainly be glad to see the soil of England 

 more widely distributed, and capable of being purchased with 

 a little greater facility. He should like to see many a farmer 

 owning his 100, 200, or 300 acres, so that he vi^ould not be 

 entirely subject to the will of another (Hear, hear). As, how- 

 ever, that was not the case, and there did not seem to be much 

 prospect of its being the case at present, let them endeavour 

 all the more, as far as possible, to prevent the evils of poverty 

 and misfortune from overwhelming those who nobly did their 

 duty in the cultivation of the soil, as was proved by the gene- 

 ral condition of the soil of this country as compared with that 

 of any other country in the world. Let them endeavour to 

 prevent the widow and children of the farmer from suffering 

 too severely by losses and changes which they perhaps did 

 nothing to produce ; and even in cases in which there was 

 some cause for blame, let them not be too ready to assume the 

 office of censor, or attempt to connect, with great nicety, the 

 punishment and the offence. As regarded the position of the 

 society, he was happy to say that in the month of October, in 

 the present year, it would be enabled to grant annuities to 

 fifteen decayed farmers and five farmers' widows, to which, he 

 hoped, would be added provision for a number of orphans 

 (Cheers). He had too much regard for the patience of the 

 audience to enlarge on the claims of the Society ; but at the 

 same time he had too heavy a sense of the responsibility that 

 rested upon him not to endeavour to impress on them a sense 

 of the value and necessity of such an institution (cheers). He 

 was cheered by the presence of such large numbers, and by 

 the recollection that the greatest works of that kind had small 

 beginnings (Hear, hear). As he had before said, he did not 

 believe Mr. Mecbi would fail to obtain the support of the 

 great body of the landowners of England in carrying out his 

 benevolent object (cheers). Such persons would, he felt con- 

 vinced, give the aid of their countenance and their money to 

 so excellent a work. Everything connected with agriculture 

 was slow, but he hoped to see the stream of liberality proceed- 

 ing steadily and strongly ; and he felt morally certain that the 

 institution which they were met that evening convivially to 

 inaugurate, would progress from year to year, and ultimately 

 become in some degree commensurate with the vast extent 

 and importance of the body for whose benefit it was designed 

 (loud cheers). He concluded by proposing " Success to the 

 Agricultural Benevolent Institution." The toast having been 

 drunk with great cordiality. 



The Secretary, Mr. C. Shaw, then read a list of subscrip- 

 tions and donations, which amounted to upwards of £4,000 

 In doing so, he observed that, should the same success attend 

 the society for the next ten years, they would have received 

 a fund amounting to £40,000. Deducting 25 per cent, from 

 that sum, for working and other expenses, there would remain 



€30,000, which, at thitee pei oeut., would give them an aunutl 

 income of about £900, and thereby provide annuities of £80 

 each for thirty decayed farmers or their widows. 



Mr. Alexander Wood proposed " The Chairman.*' He 

 said it was through what might be termed accidental circum- 

 stances that he became connected with that institution. He 

 happened to be connected with a well-known institution for 

 the training and education of poor Welsh children, of which 

 his friend Mr. Shaw was the secretary, besides being the 

 secretary of the Agricultural Benevolent Institution—a fact 

 which would convince any one who was acquainted with the 

 Welsh charity that he was a valuable officer, and an ac 

 cession to this new institution. Such was his respect 

 for that gentleman, in consequence of the mode in which he 

 had seen him discharge his duties, that he always regarded a 

 request from him as a command ; and it was at his solicitation 

 that he became one of the vice-presidents of that institution. 

 He deeply deplored the absence of his Grace the Duke of 

 Richmond, not merely because there was in the list of the 

 British peerage no one who had added more lustre to it than 

 the noble Duke, but also because there was no one in the 

 country who could have presided more efficiently or more ap- 

 propriately on such an occasion than the nobleman in whom 

 they were all delighted to recognize the President of the So- 

 ciety (cheers). Nothing, he was sure, but severe indisposi- 

 tion would have prevented his Grace from takint: the chair ; 

 and deeply did he deplore the cause of his absence. At the 

 same time, as a commoner of the realm, he was glad to see a 

 noble volunteer in his Grace's place ; and it was with un- 

 feigned satisfaction that he proposed the health of their actual 

 Chairman (cheers). It was well kno#n that the Chairman 

 had of late years devoted a great deal of time to the study of 

 agriculture ; and he was sure they were all deeply indebted 

 to him for the manner iu which he had advocated the claims 

 of a class with whom he was so closely connected (cheers). 



After a cordial response to the toast. 



The Chairman briefly returned thanks, expressing the 

 pleasure which he had felt in rendering any services of which 

 he was capable in favour of so excellent an institution. 



Mr. Alderman Mechi proposed " His Grace the Duke of 

 Richmond." He said he was afraid that he could hardly do 

 justice to his feelings in proposing that toast, because he 

 was convinced that if there was one man who would, more 

 than any other, be proud and delighted to find that charity 

 prospering, that man was the noljle Duke, whose health he 

 had risen to propose. (Cheers.) Fortunately for the 

 institution, he had had the honour to receive an in- 

 vitation to visit his Grace's estate in the north, and 

 presuming on tlieir prior acquaintance, he wrote to 

 his Grace to ask for an interview. This was granted, and 

 he then asked his Grace to become the president of a charity 

 which was about to be inaugurated in connection with the 

 agriculture of England, adding that one reason why he made 

 that entreaty was that the farmers of England had the great- 

 est confidence in his Grace. The noble Duke, after making 

 requisite inquiries, said he approved of the plan, and would 

 do what was requested. He afterwards observed to his 

 Grace that nothing effectual could be done for a charity 

 without a dinner, and begged him to preside at the first 

 public dinner of the institution, and that request also was 

 most kindly acceded to. It was a source of deep pain and 

 regret to him (Mr. Mechi) that his Grace could not fulfil 

 that promise. Everyone who knew the Duke of Richmond 

 knew that what he promised he intended (cheers), and he 

 was convinced that nothing but severe indisposition conld 

 have led to his abseoce that evening. (Renewed cheers.) 



