The Express.
London, England, 1851-07-19 00:00:00

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF

ENGLAND.

On Thursday the greater portion of the stock that
had been brought forward for exhibition was removed from
the show-yard, and the remainder in the course of yester-
day morning. The concluding business of the show was
transacted at a meeting of the members in the Guildhall, at
which, however, very tow attended. The chair was taken
by the Duke of Richmond, the president of tho society, and
thanks were unanimously and cordially voted to the Mayor
and Corporation of Windsor, and to the local committee ;of
the district, for the efficient aid they had afforded in the
arrangements;
,and to the Duke of Richmond for his
services to the society, both during the period of the show
and throughout his year of office. These formal proceed-
ings terminated the society's business at Windsor, and with
it, we may add, terminated the presidentship of his grace
the Duke of Richmond ; his successor in that honourable
office being the Earl of Dude.
The number of visitors to the show yard on Tuesday was
3,000, who paid ds. each for admission; on Wednesday,
, when the charge was lowered to 2s. 6d., the visitors
amounted to 11,500 ; and on Thursday, the last day of the
show, when the price of admission was reduced to Is., the
numbers were 18,000. The numbers do not equal the
visitors that have attended some of the more purely pro-
vincial meetings; but the proceeds received from the visits
amount to more than on any former occasion, as the charges
were higher this sear than they have hitherto been. he
dinner to the labourers took place yesterday, when the
Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Downshire, Colonel
Challoner, Mr. Hudson, the secretary, and several others
of the officials of the society, postponed their return to town
at considerable inconvenience to themselves, that they
might dine with the labourers.
To prevent all occasion for invidious complaint as to the
selection of persons who were to be honoured with an invita-
ti'members on the local committee, among whom the leading
were the lion. Alex. Leslie Melville, Captain Bulkeley, J.
I G. Bedborough, Esq., Henry Darville, Esq., L. Hare, Esq.,
de. determined to place the tickets in the hands of the
i che
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surrounding villages, with the simple instructions that they
were to be given to the pour and industrious labourers of
their respective congregations, whether they were connected
with agriculture or with trade. The result of these ar-
rangements was as interesting an assemblage as was perhaps
ever before collected together. Upwards of 1,900 tickets were
issued, and, judging from the crowded state of the hall, not
ft* of theni appeared to have been unused. The guests con-
sisted of persons of all ages and of both sexes—all of them
Idean and neat in their appearance, every face beaming with
happiness and radiant with smiles. They were of a class
above the very lowest grade of labour, es was evidenced
by their Ming almost all in holiday attire; the women
were dressed in plain but clean cotton gowns, and
there was scartely a smock-frock to be seen amongst the
men. Their behaviour throughout was, upon the whole,
most orderly ; their patience was a little tried at the outset
by being kept waiting fur the arrival of some of the more
distinguished guests—they bore it well; and their hilarity,
though loudly expressed, never surpassed the bounds of
decency and good order; so it was during the time that the
Sew speeches were delivered. As may be supposed, of the
two duties of an audience, the cheering was much better
end more heartily performed than the listening; but there
was no speaker with a voice loud enough to be heard all over
the great hall who was not sure of being attentively listened
to ; and even with regard to the feeblest, it may be stated
that the conduct of the audience would bear a favourable
comparison with that of their employers—the tenant-farmers
—on the previous Wednesday. When the proceedings were
over, no one seemed inebriated—no one showed a disposition
to protract his stay at the dinner-table, but all retired at
once, hilariously but orderly, to the show-yard adjoining,
where the younger portion of the guests amused them.
selves with various sports on the green sward ; alter which
tea was served to those who wished it, and the festivities
were quietly brought to an end. From an early period
great eagerness was evinced by the respectable inhabitants
of Windsor to be present and witness the proceeding, and
the two platforms which on Wednesday contained the friends
of the chairman and the vice ehairman, were appropriated
for their reception. About five hundred ladies and gentle•
men were crowded together upon these platforms, the
greater part of whom were °blitzed to stand the whole time
the dinner lasted, but who appeared to be too deeply inte-
rested in the scene before them to feel any inconvenience
on that account. There were others who took a more
active part in the proceedings. The expense of providing
hired waiters for the dinners would have added considerably
to the expense of the arrangements. This was obviated in
a great measure by putting down on the tables at once all
the provisions, consisting of cold beef, mutton, lamb, plum
pudding, dm., and leaving the guests to help themselves.
Still some superintendence was necessary and this duty
was undertaken by the clergy and seven lof the respecta-
ble inhabitants of Windsor, so that it was no uncommon
sight to see a canon of Windsor, or a master of Finn College,
rom
e
cannot
table
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iedbls several o
exercise
occasad. ionally
fit.:t parochialeraa,ieei assisting
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all classes, and the kindly feelings evoked on this occasion
labouring poor of Windsor and the neiir,
their superiors. htourbood towards
The dinner was appointed for out o'clock, but some de-
lay was occasioned by the arrangam
eat of the tables and
it was not till nearly two o'clock de st the Mayor of Wind-
sor entered the room and took eb e chair. Ile was accom-
panied panied by the Duke of Richuterw-j, the Marquis of Down-
shire, the lion. Alexander Loeb e Melville, Professor Sewell
of Oxford, Admiral Sir Rare rid Jervis, Colonel Challoner,
Captain Bulkeley, Mr. J. Bedborough, Rev. Isaac Goa- •
smt, Mr. Henry Dazville, 31,r. Hudson, dc. de., who took
seats on his right end left. The entrance of these distin-
guished visitors was haalw.l with loud and repeated cheers.
Grace was chaunted by the boys of Trinity Church choir,
alter which the 2,000
seats in the body of the hall fell to
with heart)* Seed-wilt , and the viands, ample as they were,
' disappeared under G,eir vigorous and repeated assaults.
The healths of 'net Majesty and of the Royal Family
were responded to with the utmost enthusiasm, after which
Mr. LZSLII NILLVILLE proposed " The Duke of Rich-'
mond, and sue cells to the Royal Agricultural Society of
England," which was received with loud cheers.
The Duke of Moutons:l returned thanks, andproposed as
atbß • OM% " roe Industrious Classes to whom, he would
dawv..esome larresgely and dapjy.l:iiduelted.ess he had What
g,
skilful., honest, and trustworthyknow how men to culvate them ?
(Cheers.) And he should like to heir labourers I
wen: to he clothed, if it were not for the mechanics of the
eQUntrY; and in times of war he wanted to know whence
came the strength of their fleets and armies, but from the
industrial classes of the country ? (Cheers.) He had had
the good fortune to serve in the late war, and it was there
he 'had the first opportunity of becoming acquainted with
the real character of the English labourer, and he believed
that character was much formed b the atheletic amuse- I
molts that took place in England more than in any
other country in the world, fur he had ter'ainly seen
English soldiers persevere under difficulties that no other
army in the world could be brought to encounter.
(Cheers) He bad often seen them threw themselves in
front of the officers at the risk of their lives, to save their
officers from being wounded. (Loud eiteen.) Therefore, when