THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



99 



and graceful, addiess from tha chair; and as the aaaembly 

 responded generally with three times three, there was not much 

 time left for observations ou purely agricultural matters 

 Having at length cleared his list of his eight introductory 

 toasts, in which the health of Mr. Adeane, " landlord of the 

 soil," was included. 



The Chairman said : Gentlemen, I now come to toast 

 No. 9. I have now reached the crowning point of my work, 

 but I hope not the extreme limits of your patient indulgence; 

 for this— I speak it advisedly— is the toast of the evening. I 

 fear all those that will follow will fall comparatively flat, stale, 

 and unprofitable upon your ears. I except, of course, that of 

 " Mrs. Webb and the Ladies," with whom of course everything 

 will revive again (cheers and laughter). I am, I confess, ex- 

 tremely puzzled to know how I shall place this toast before 

 you in a new form. Our Vice-President, so far as age is con- 

 cerned, is young in years. Look at the beautiful russet which 

 now mantles his manly cheek — look at his blue eye, how 

 bright it is, and how illustrative of a happy and contented 

 mind ! If I was not afraid of shocking your ears, I might say 

 he seems to me to be as strong and lusty as his best tup 

 (laughter). I might also say, that to me he is a painfully old 

 subject (laughter), and that I don't wetl know how I am to say 

 anything new of him. There, gentlemen, he sits — 



" One, chief, in gracious dignity enthroned. 

 Shines o'er tlie rest— the pastoral queen — and rays 

 Her smiles, sweet-beaming, on her shepherd king; 

 While the glad circle round them yield their souls 

 To festive mirth and wit that knows no gall." 



(loud cheers). Gentlemen, before I bring this toast to a con- 

 clusion, I beg permission to justify myself against a charge in- 

 curred at the last meeting, which had the authority of some 

 public journal which undertook to report its proceedings. 

 The charge was, that in the ten or twelve speeches which I de- 

 livered I did not make one single allusion to agriculture. 

 Gentlemen, in spite of that journal, I feel that I am guilty of 

 the same omission to-day, and that I am open and liable to 

 the same amount of censure. My perceptions are, however, so 

 dull, that after the most diligent inquiry how best to supply 

 this omission, and to couple with the toast already given the 

 subject of agriculture generally, I am utterly unable to find 

 one single spot in which I could dibble a word in respect to it 

 (laughter). Gentleeen, it may be said that I might make a 

 convenient place for myself — that I might select the coming 

 toast of the " Royal Agricultural Society," and thus enter 

 upon the question of agriculture in detail. This maybe true ; 

 and if true, then am I culpable. But how should I perform 

 my work ? Let us see : I might pick other men's brains. I 

 might read a great deal upon the subject, and I might, like 

 some other lecturers, understand very little about it, and yet 

 give you the benefit of ray reading (laughter). You might 

 think me very diligent if I did this, but certainly I was not 

 a farmer. Every sensible man would think that 1 might have 

 occupied myself more advantageously, that I had not improved 

 myself, and certainly that I had not conveyed one single prac- 

 tical idea to practical farmers. There is another mode of doing 

 it, I might transfer myself from the sheepfold to the farm- 

 yard, and place myself among the geese (laughter). I am not 

 prepared to say that it would not be a most appropriate place ; 

 for if I proceeded to an essay upon agriculture, I might cer- 

 tainly be deemed to be worthy of a ducking (laughter). I 

 might also transfer myself from the geese to the swine; and 

 if I did, I am satisfied that you could but come to the conclu- 

 sion that I was the greatest bore (boar) that ever grunted 

 (loud laughter). Now, gentlemen, I don't think that such a 

 course as that would answer any useful or practical purpose. 

 My excellent friend has invited me to preside at his festive 



assembly. lie has preferred me to this seat of honour— for 

 such I consider it — and I must be permitted to fill the office 

 as I best may, according to my own notion of those duties 

 which are inseparable from it. What are those duties but to 

 maintain his guests in the best possible humour ? But, gen- 

 tlemen, although I cannot find room for a discussion upon 

 agriculture, I can give an opinion upon its merits, and of its 

 value as an accessory to the greatness of this country. Lest I 

 should fall short of the dignity and importance of the subject, 

 I will adopt language adorned by the fire of poetic imagina- 

 tion, but retaining all the majestic sublimity of Demosthenic 

 prose. Thomson, in his poem or Summer, gives a descrip- 

 tion of a hot summer's day — rather, I should say, a parallel 

 one to the present. He sums up the value of the peaceful pur- 

 suits of agriculture in the following magnificent and stirring 

 words : — 



" A simple scene 1 Yet hence Britannia sees 

 Her solid grandeur rise : hence she commands 

 Th' exalted stores of every brighter clime— 

 The treasures of the sun, without his rage. 

 Hence fervent all with culture, toil, and arts 

 Wide glows her land : her dreadful thunder hence 

 Rides o'er the waves sublime * ♦ » * • 

 Hence rules the circling deep, and awes the world." 



(cheers). Gentlemen, that is my opinion : I subscribe to it 

 heartily; and although I cannot now present you with a lec- 

 ture upon agriculture, at least I show, by the adoption of these 

 sentiments, that I am not unmindful of its value. Are we 

 changed for the worse since Thomson wrote ? No. When 

 Thomson wrote there was no Jouas Webb, no meeting of this 

 kind, no gathering of many provinces and countries — Farthians, 

 Medes, and Elamites ; and if our host had lived in Thom- 

 son's time, he v/ould probably have been the centre of that 

 poet's thought. Thomson might have thought, as we do, 

 that Britannia had lost nothing by adding the name of Jonas 

 Webb among her children — nay, more, that he was worthy of 

 a place in his immortal verse, for his gigantic contributions to 

 his country's wealth (cheers). Gentlemen, I give you the 

 " Health of Jonas Webb," and I will add, in the words of 

 David, who sent his messengers to Nabal, the man of Maon 

 (who was also a great man in sheep at the time of sheep- 

 shearing), " peace be to him, and to all his house, and to all 

 that he hath." (The toast was drunk with three times three). 



Mr, Jonas Webb, in returning thanks, said : Mr. 

 Chairman and gentlemen, in rising to acknowledge the 

 compliment you have kindly paid me, I beg you will ac- 

 cept my most sincere thanks. I am afraid our Chairman 

 can hardly hear what I say, and I hardly know myself 

 what it is about (laughter) ; but it is a great gratification 

 to me to have my health drunk by so respectable a com- 

 pany as the present, and I assure you I am not unmindful 

 of the great kindness I have so often received. One or two 

 gentlemen said to me yesterday, " You cannot always 

 make more money every year ; and how can you reply as 

 usual to the toast of your health ?''"' I am, however, grati- 

 fied by the success of the day, and the liberality shown 

 towards me. Our Chairman, in proposing the Lord. 

 Lieutenant of the county, expected to have got over the 

 duty of formally returning thanks for him by a little 

 " dodge ;" and I am glad to tell you that, notwithstanding 

 that I have had very good success in the field, a good many 

 of my friends have become purchasers since dinner. I think 

 they are trying a kind of " dodge" on me now (laughter) ; 

 and I am very much obliged to them for all the " dodges"' 

 they give mo. I thank you most sincerely ; and I trust 

 every gentleman who has honoured me with his attendance 

 here to-day, will come again next year. Mr. Webb 

 shortly afterwards proposed the health of the Chairman. 



