G 
King  Edward  VII. 
elected  him.  He  then  gave  a sketch  of  his  connection  with 
the  “ Royal,”  and  recalled  the  various  shows  at  which  he 
had  been  present.  He  concluded  by  hoping  that  the  next 
year's  show,  though  not  to  be  held  in  such  a “ charmingly 
picturesque  Showyard  as  Maidstone,  might  in  other  respects 
be  equally  satisfactory  and  equally  agreeable.”'  (Cheers). 
Then  there  comes  another  interval  of  some  eighteen  months, 
during  which  the  Prince  attended  some  of  the  meetings  of 
the  Council,  but  during  which  no  event  of  special  interest 
occurred.  On  February  7,  1900,  however,  when  he  took 
the  chair  at  the  monthly  meeting,  he  spoke  at  length  on 
the  Duke  of  Westminster’s  death.  He  recalled  especially 
the  fact  referred  to  above,  that  it  was  to  him  and  to  Sir 
Walter  Gilbey  that  the  Society  owed  the  possession  of  the 
house  in  which  they  were  meeting.  He  paid  a high  tribute 
to  the  late  Duke’s  character. 
On  June  19,  when  the  Prince  as  President  was  in  the 
chair  at  the  General  Meeting  held  in  the  Showyard  at  York, 
the  Right  Hon.  Walter  Long,  M.P.,  Minister  for  Agriculture, 
proposed  “ that  the  grateful  thanks  of  the  Society  be  dutifully 
tendered  to  H.R.H.  the  Prince  of  Wales,  K.G.,  for  his  services 
as  President  during  the  past  year,”  and  referred  to  the  attack 
made  on  the  Prince  by  the  miscreant  Sipido  in  Belgium.  His 
Royal  Highness,  in  reply,  made  a long  speech  in  which  he 
referred  to  his  constant  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  Society 
of  which  he  had  then  been  a member  for  thirty-six  years.  He 
said  he  had  had  a splendid  view  of  the  Show,  which  he  hoped 
to  re-visit  on  the  next  day  but  one.  After  referring  to  his 
firm  belief  in  the  fact  that  much  of  the  progress  to  be  observed 
in  British  Agriculture  was  due  to  the  “ Royal,”  he  ended  by 
“ thanking  his  colleagues  on  the  Council,  and  the  various 
officers  of  the  Society,  as  well  as  the  members  generally, 
for  their  valuable  support  ” during  his  year  of  office,  and 
by  saying  how  grateful  the  Royal  Family  and  he  himself 
were  to  the  agriculturists  of  England  for  the  loyal  attachment 
to  the  Throne  which  had  always  characterised  them. 
When  the  lamented  death  of  Queen  Victoria  occurred, 
the  President  (Earl  Cawdor)  and  the  Council,  as  representing 
the  Society  generally,  sent  an  address  of  condolence  to  His 
Majesty  King  Edward  VII.,  and  asked  the  favour  of  his 
continued  patronage  in  the  future.  The  address  ended  with 
a prayer  for  His  Majesty’s  long  tenure  of  the  exalted  position 
to  which  he  had  been  called.  This  loyal  address  was,  in  due 
course,  acknowledged  by  the  Secretary  of  State  at  the  King’s 
command. 
At  the  monthly  Council  on  April  3,  1901,  the  President 
announced  that  in  answer  to  the  humble  petition  which  had 
