Jnly 15, 1875. ) 



JOURNAL OP HORTICUIjTDRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



43 



same kind in this conntry. If any of your oorrespondenta 

 know of one having more perhaps tliey will communicate the 

 fact in the Journal. — K. Maitland, The Gardens, Pendri/ffrij/i. 



KOYAL HORTIOULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



July 8th. 



A SPECIAL General Meetiag of tlie Pellowa of this Society was 

 held last Thursday afternoon in the Council room, South Ken- 

 sington, Viscount Bury in the chair. The Meeting was con- 

 vened by the Council of the Society in accordance with the 

 following; requisition, which was signed by more than twelve 

 Fellows: — " We, the undersigned Fellows of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society, respectfully request the Council of the said 

 Society to summon a General Meeting of the Fellows with as 

 little delay as possible to consider the conduct of Lord Bury, 

 Sir Contts Lindsay, and Messrs. Bonamy Dobree and Burnley 

 Hume in reference to the non-completion of their resignations, 

 and other matters that it may be deemed necessary to introduce 

 to the notice of the Meeting under the head of acts and doings 

 of the above-mentioned gentlemen during and in connection 

 with their membership of the Council, and also for the purpose 

 of conferring with the Council as to the steps that should be 

 taken to extricate the Society from the difficulties under which 

 it is placed from the obstructive position assumed by Lord Bury, 

 Sir Coutts Lindsay, and Messrs. Bonamy Dobree and Burnley 

 Home in the non-completion of their resignations." 



The Meeting on Thursday was very largely attended. Amongst 

 the members of Council present were Admiral Hornby, Dr. 

 Denny, Dr. Hogg (Secretary), Mr. W. B. Kellock, Mr. B. Hume, 

 Mr. Bonamy Dobree, Mr. Webb, Mr. Haaghton, Mr. H. Little. 

 Amongst the general body of the Fellows were Lord Alfred 

 Churchill, Sir Alfred Slade, Bart., Mr. W. A. Lindsay, Dr. 

 Masters, Mr. Chetwynd, Mr. Pownall, Mr. Shirley Hibberd, 

 Mr. Ball, Mr. H. J. Veitoh, Mr. Quilter, Mr. S. H. Godson, Mr. 

 Godson, jun., Mr. Peter Barr, Mr.Liggins, Mr. Noble, Mr. Wills, 

 Mr. Turner, Mr. Brag?, Mr. Deal, Mr. Murray, Mr. Guedalla, 

 Capt. Mackenzie, Mr. Pinches, &c. 



The Chairman said : The Assistant Secretary will read the 

 notice calling the Meeting. 



Mr. Davenport, Assistant Secretary, then read the notice. 



The Chairman. — Is it yoar pleasure that the minutes of the 

 last meeting be taken as read? 



Several Fellows. — Let us take them as read. 



Mr. S. H. Godson. — How can you take these minutes as read 

 when this is a special Meeting? I object to their being taken 

 as read, and I move that they be read [bear, hear]. 



Mr. Pinches seconded the motion, wtiich was carried. 



The Assistant Secbetaby was reading the minutes of last 

 meeting when 



Mr. Bragg, of Birmingham, said he protested against the 

 reading of the minutes, that being a special Meeting called for 

 a special purpose [hear, hearj. 



The Chairman. — I am of opinion that the minutes ought not 

 to be read, and I think we had better proceed to the business of 

 the Meeting. This Meeting has been convened by the Secretary 

 " to consider the conduct of Lord Bary, Sir Coutts Lindsay, and 

 Messrs. Bonamy Dobree and Bnrnley Hume, in reference to 

 the non-completion of their resignations, and other matters 

 that it may be deemed necessary to introduce to the notice of 

 the Meeting under the head of acts and doings of the above- 

 named gentlemen." Well, I am sure we shall listen patiently, 

 and I hope with profit, to the accusation which it appears is 

 about to be brought against myself and my friends ; and of 

 course I will reserve to myself, and my friends will reserve to 

 themselves, the right of making some reply if we fancy any- 

 thing said against us in this room should be commented upon. 

 At the outset I may say I have been informed that a letter of 

 mine which appeared in the Times has given some pain to my 



former colleagues. Several members of the Council [here 



there were cries of " question " and some interruption]. I was 

 simply going to make an explanation which I thought would be 

 acceptable to these gentlemen [hear, hear]. It seemed tome 

 that it was the Council of which I was a member which had 

 formulated the act of accusation, but I beg to say that explana- 

 tions have been offered to me which have removed that impres- 

 sion from my mind. The Council did not promote this Meeting, 

 they did not write the notice, and are no more responsible for it 

 than in being obliged to call the Meeting in accordance with the 

 requisition. I must say that when I saw the name of Dr. Hogg 

 to it I thonght the Council were responsible for it, but I do not 

 assume their responsibility, and am therefore perfectly ready to 

 accept the explanation that they were acting in their ministerial 

 capacity. I should have been sorry if it was my own colleagues 

 who called it, and I am glad it was not. Having listened to all 

 the accusations that may be brought against us, I think a very 

 Jew words will bring the whole matter straight before you. 



Mr. J. E. Pe.\bson of Chilwell, near Nottingham. — I have come 

 a distance of 120 miles to be present at this Meeting. That to 

 some people may not be a matter of importance, but to a busi- 



ness man like myself it is, I assure you, a matter of importance 

 [hear, hear]. I have never seen anything to surprise me more 

 than to witness your Lordship occupying the chair to-day. I 

 thought you resigned your position as Chairman of the Council. 

 You received a vote of thanks, and wo of course thought you 

 were gone [laughter and "no, no "]. 

 A Fellow. — I say to that " Certainly not " [hear, hear]. 

 Mr. Pearson. — I am only giving my own opinion. You had 

 resigned, and others of the Council had reBi;„'ned, and I beg 

 leave to say if I am wrong I shall be glad to be corrected. The 

 fact is. Lord Bury'a carriage stops the way; and does Lord 

 Bury think after publicly giving up his office that he is entitled 

 to take that chair again ? In any case the general impression 

 in the country is that for some reason or other it was advisable 

 that Lord Bury should vacate that chair, and that some other 

 individual should take it. If Lord Bury thinks he is still Chair- 

 man after having given up his office of Chairman, I feel that is 

 carrying matters rather too far. 



Mr. S. H. Godson. — Unless this gentleman concludes with a 

 motion I object to him saying anything farther on this subject 

 [interruption], 



Mr. Bateman. — I am sorry to anticipate the speech of that 

 gentleman. I signed the requisition in no spirit of animosity to 

 any honourable gentlemen, but with a view to put an end to 

 what was likely to bring about an inevitable crisis [hear, hear]. 

 I thought you were going to speak of the circumstances under 

 which your resignations were brought about, and I thought you 

 were about to explain the circumstances under which those 

 resignations were not completed. I do not know what explana- 

 tion you have to offer, but I know a long-looked-for crisis is 

 coming on which, in the interests of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society, ought to be prevented [cheers]. I am a very old 

 Fellow of the Society, having joined it nearly fifty years ago 

 when crisis No. 1 was brought on thirty years ago by great ex- 

 penditure. It was freed from that crisis by my late lamented 

 friend Dr. Lindley, and from that time the Society had for a 

 period of twenty-five years uninterrupted success and prosperity. 

 But old feeders of the Society fell off, and from competition and 

 other causes they got into financial crisis No. 2. They got out 

 of their difficulties then by the action of the late lamented 

 Prince Consort, who was unfortunately taken away from them 

 too soon, as no sooner had the nuptials been celebrated than the 

 Prince was taken away from them. After him there arose a 

 cruel king, who seized the position, kept them in terrorem, and 

 made them utterly powerless. And with such skill — though not 

 one of us was responsible for the position of the Society no 

 more than the youngest Fellow now in the room — with so much 

 skill, I say, were these things manipulated, that one concession 

 after another was extorted from us. It was perfectly natural 

 that under the circumstances the local Fellows should take 

 alarm, and I trust that by this time they have become disen- 

 chanted with the idea that they had only to try in order to be- 

 come masters of the situation. We know we are now in the 

 agony of a great crisis, and the question is. What are we to do ? 

 I should like the past to be forgotten, and although I may not 

 agree with the Council, still I give them credit for what they 

 have done [hear, hear]. What is the state of our Society in 

 regard to our connection with the Royal Commissioners ? I am 

 sure our Society has lost ground with the public and with horti- 

 culturists, and that with the Commissioners it has also lost 

 ground. We all know and must feel that we have lost ground 

 as to horticulture, and I do think the interests of horticulture 

 have suffered most seriously, my lord, under your administra- 

 tion [loud cheers]. Nothing is more depressing than a walk 

 through your gardens. Tou have nothing before you but the 

 evidences of blighted hopes and neglected opportunities [hear 

 and laughter]. We actually find reeds springing up in the gar- 

 dens, and, of course, I need not speak of the destitution which 

 distinguishes the shows of the Society. Well, now, how much 

 easier it is to destroy than to create [hear, hear]. The Wed- 

 nesday meetings were inaugurated at a great expenditure of time 

 and trouble, and nothing now is so painful as to witness our 

 Wednesday meetings when we compare them with our former 

 Wednesday meetings [applause]. And under these circum- 

 stances I ask these gentlemen who are now come upon the 

 Council, and those of the Council who remain upon it, to come 

 forward and prevent this crisis. I beg to say it is our boundeu 

 duty to give to the Council now the confidence those retiring 

 have forfeited [hear, hear]. 



The Chairman. — The Meeting seems to be under a great mis- 

 apprehension, and that is that my three friends and myself do 

 not intend to resign. That is, I must say, a very great mistake. 

 There is my resignation, and there are the resignations of my 

 three friends [loud cheers, amid which the noble lord handed 

 the written resignations to the Hon. Secretary]. We are met 

 here to-day to explain why we did not resign before [a laugh]. 



A Fellow. — Well, then, as you say that, why did you not 

 resign before ? [cheers.] 



The CHAiRMiN. — When you are done your talk I will tell you 

 [cries of " oh " and some laughter]. 



