FIFTY YEARS OF A SHOWMAN'S LIFE 



I should not be doing justice to the kindly 

 feeling of my good Oxfordshire friends were I 

 to leave unrecorded the final incident of my associa- 

 tion with them. At the annual dinner of the 

 Oxfordshire Society, following my relinquishment 

 of the secretaryship, I received, at the hands of 

 the late Earl of Jersey, acting on behalf of the 

 members, an illuminated address, accompanied 

 by a most generous monetary presentation. The 

 value to me of such a recognition was greatly 

 enhanced by the medium through which it reached 

 me. While Lord Jersey was distinguished in the 

 world of Imperial politics, winning, as Governor 

 of New South Wales, and in other capacities over- 

 seas, golden opinions, as well as in that of Agri- 

 culture, he was absolutely idolized by those in 

 whose midst he lived, as the most perfect embodi- 

 ment of those qualities which dignify humanity 

 and ennoble life. In the days when, as I have 

 narrated, I was struggling amid difficulties to 

 justify the trust reposed in me, I owed more than 

 I can say to his kindly sympathy and encourage- 

 ment ; a help in times of stress and strain, which 

 can only be properly estimated by those who, in the 

 hour of need, have found it. He was very much 

 my agricultural godfather, always ready to go 

 bail for me, and to promise and vow anything on 

 my behalf. 



During my showman's career, I have had good 

 reason to be grateful for many sunny memories, 

 and not the least of these is the recollection, which 

 will ever remain with me, of that demonstration 

 of human kindness that gave me so golden a send- 

 off to the West. 



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