302 
In Memoriam. 
always at work, seeking out what was best and most profitable 
for his much-loved pursuit. He was ever anxious to promote 
the social and moral welfare of his labourers, and he spared 
neither labour nor expense in providing them with comfortable 
homes, as the first foundation of their prosperity and well-being. 
In Parliament he was not one of the so-called '* farmers' friends," 
who are either leaders or followers of every cry that, from 
time to time, is raised ; but he had the courage to stand out 
boldly against what he thought were imaginary grievances, and, 
notably in the case of the Corn Laws, to hold very different 
opinions from those which were entertained by most agricul- 
turists of the day. When the repeal of those laws became 
inevitable, the proposition he made to his tenants was emi- 
nently characteristic of Mr. Holland as a landlord — it was, 
that their future rents should vary with the price of wheat: 
this was eagerly accepted by the tenants, and for two years 
had the effect of reducing the rents 20 per cent. ; but, under 
the same arrangement, the rents in 1853 increased 10 per cent., 
and then Mr. Holland volunteered to recur to the old fixed 
rents. Many more instances might be given of fthe liberal 
spirit which characterized all his dealings with his tenants ; 
but it was not for this alone that he was esteemed — it was the 
genial kindly spirit that actuated him in all his intercourse 
with them which made him so revered and loved ; and they 
all felt, and still feel, that the strongest tie between them and 
their landlord was that he was their sincere friend. 
The technical education of the farmer was with him a life- 
long cherished pursuit. The College at Cirencester owes to him 
an everlasting debt, and the good which it has done and is now 
doing is the result of his resolution and self-denial. He did not 
limit his ideas of the duties of the Royal Agricultural Society to 
its annual exhibition of stock and implements, but was anxious, 
by its means, to raise and improve the technical education of 
the English agriculturist ; and with a steady undeviating pur- 
pose he held on to this up to the last Council Meeting which 
he attended. It was at this Meeting he announced* the first 
results of the scheme offering scholarships to boys at our public 
schools who should pass a satisfactory examination in elementary 
agricultural subjects, and to which he had alluded in his address 
to the boys of the Bedfordshire Middle-Class Public School last 
year. He then said, " To study agriculture you must have 
practical work, and the difficulty is to get pupils to afford the 
time for practical education in agriculture. The only way in 
which this is to be met, and effectually met, is by our Society 
giTing scholarships for the purpose of supporting, to a certain 
extent, those who are intended for an agricultural life hereafter, 
