64 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



of Castleacre, Mr. Quartley, Mr. C. Stokes, Mr. Wil- 

 more, Mr, Giblett, Mr. E. W. Bennett, Mr. Corbet, 

 Mr. H. Smith, Mr. H. Waters, Mr. J. Ford, &c. 



After the usual loyal toasts, 



The Chairman said there were certain periods when 

 particular toasts had a peculiar interest attaching to them, 

 and he felt that to be the case then with regard to the toast 

 which he had risen to propose, namely, the health of 

 the brave defenders of our country. It would be 

 useless and presvmptuous for him to enter into details 

 in reference to the gaUant deeds performed by the army 

 and navy in past times. Those deeds, or at least many 

 of the principal ones, were engraved on the minds of 

 every Englishman ; he was confident that the hearts of 

 the British soldier and British sailor were as true, and 

 their hands as strong, as they were proved to be at 

 various periods of the country's history. It was thought 

 by some persons that needless fears had of late been ex- 

 cited in this country, but he felt that the surest way of 

 preserving peace was to take care to be prepared for 

 war. One reason why this toast excited special 

 interest at the present time was, that there was 

 now being added to the regular forces an old constitu- 

 tional force, which he well remembered having seen in 

 his boyhood, when, as in this day, hundreds and thou- 

 sands of persons cheerfully and readilj enrolled them- 

 selves as volunteers. He need not tell those whom he 

 was addressing that volunteer rifle corps were now being 

 established in all parts of the kingdom, forming a most 

 valuable auxiliary to the regular army. lie hoped to 

 see a much greater extension of this force. He had in- 

 deed no fear that the illustrious man who presided over 

 the destinies of France would, of his own free will, ever 

 invade this country ; but he was, like others, to a certain 

 extent the creature of circumstances, and when they 

 knew that he had a standing army of from 500,000 to 

 700,000 men flushed with recent victory, and when 

 they knew also that there existed among military men in 

 France, if not among a large portion of the French 

 people, a strong desire for the wiping off of what was 

 supposed to be a stain on the national honour — though 

 at the same time there was no doubt a vast number of 

 persons in that country connected with agriculture and 

 commerce, who felt that nothing could be so suicidal, on 

 the part of France, as her entering into a war with this 

 country — none of them could help feeling that the 

 country ought to be in such a position that it would not 

 be at all dependent upon the will, the caprice, or the 

 forbearance of any individual or nation on the Conti- 

 nent. Therefore it was that he rejoiced to witness a 

 revival of the spirit which in his youth animated every 

 breast when invasion was threatened. He hoped to see 

 rifle corps established in all directions ; and in the pre- 

 sence of those who represented on that occasion the 

 farmer's of England, he must say that it was to such 

 persons, in a great degree, to their sturdy hearts and 

 their strong arms, that the country must look for its 

 protection, and that if a foreign army dared to land on 

 the shores of this country, though it might inflict an 

 immense amount of mischief at the outset, yet it would 

 in the end be repelled if not entirely destroyed. 

 Having made these remarks he would give the toast of 

 " The Army and Navy." He knew not whether 

 there was any gentleman present connected with the 

 latter service ; but he thought that in the absence of 

 their noble President the Duke of Richmond, who had 

 devoted himself to the army, he could not do anything 

 more grateful to the feelings of the company than the 

 coupling of the toast with the name of his Grace's 

 brother, Lord William Lennox (cheers). 



Lord W. Lennox, in responding to the toast, said 

 he was no longer a member of the army ; but having 

 passed the greater portion of his life in it, he flit great 



interest in all its movements. There never was a period 

 in the history of this country when there was such a 

 martial feeling in the community in general as prevailed 

 at present, and he was convinced that that fet!ing did 

 not arise from any desire for the extension of the British 

 empire, but solely from a determination to resist any 

 attempt at invasion. He did not himself share in the 

 panic of the Liverpool merchants ; nor did he believe 

 that if the Emperor Napoleon had any desire to pay a 

 hostile visit to this country he would throw aside the 

 extreme cautiousness of character which might have 

 led him to reply to the gentlemen at Liverpool 

 It was difficult to conceive anything more ridi- 

 culous than the letter which elicited the Emperor's 

 answer, supposing that letter was not, as it was said to 

 have been, a hoax. He was quite sure that the present 

 sovereign of France would not wage war against this 

 country, unless it were for the purpose of saving his 

 dynasty ; though that would, after all, be short-sighted 

 policy, as it would probably lead to the destruction of 

 his own power. Many persons spoke as if the Emperor 

 had already crushed our fleet, silenced our gunboats, 

 and landed his forces — as if our army had retreated, 

 our riflemen had proved inefficient, our artillerymen 

 were asleep, and the French were already in London ; 

 but he belived that so long as the people of this country 

 maintained their present attitude there would be no 

 danger of invasion. No one ought to desire to see the 

 present martial spirit allayed ; for the best way of pre- 

 serving peace was to take care to be prepared for war 

 (cheers). 



The Chairman then proposed " Success to the 

 Smithfield Club." It was, he said, now rather more 

 than thirty years since he first became a member of 

 that club. Since that period he had attended most of 

 its meetings, he had watched with great interest its 

 progress ; and, notwithstanding the cavils which he had 

 heard with regard to its proceedings, he did not hesitate 

 to say that the club had conferred great benefit on the 

 country (cheers). It had been the means of exciting 

 great emulation among the breeders of cattle ; it had 

 been instrumental in producing the animals which 

 would provide the greatest quantity of food for the 

 people, at the smallest cost. It was established rather 

 more than sixty years ago, being founded in the year 

 1798. The number of members was at first very small. 

 For many years the show was held, as many present 

 must remember, in an inconvenient place in Goswell- 

 street. About twenty years ago it was removed to 

 Baker-street. At that period, the proprietor of the 

 show-yard in Baker-street gave them ^£300 a year for 

 holding their show there ; and he thought he might 

 justly congratulate the members on the fact that in one 

 respect at least the club was unique, seeing that, instead 

 of paying for their accommodation, they were paid 

 for accepting it. For some years they had received 

 the sum he had mentioned — £300 per annum ; 

 they now received £700. The non-members of the 

 society who showed live stock paid about £115 per 

 annum, the implement department yielded £740, the 

 steam-engine exhibitors contributed £50, they had a 

 dividend arising from Government stock of £56, and 

 the annual subscribers paid £235. There were 364 

 members. The number of entries of new stock this 

 year — including pens of three, five, and so on — was 

 365 ; and they had distributed in prizes for cattle £950, 

 and in medals £l40, making, in round numbers, a 

 total of £1,100. He dare say all present were aware 

 that steps were being taken to secure better accommo- 

 dation for the exhibition of cattle, that being a matter 

 of absolute necessity ; and he hoped they would termi- 

 nate in a satisfactory change. Two years hence, pro- 

 bably, better accommodation would be provided, both 



