The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-20 00:00:00

ARTICLE .OF FOOD

forwarded to all parts, on receipt of penny postage stamps or P. 0.0.
(preferred). send full and plain direction, county, and near. st sta-
tion.—Address THOS. LETTIS, jun.. Fish Curer, Gt. Yarmouth.
" This is the third season Mr. Lettts has supplied us with Yar-
mouth bloaters, and we find the quality excellent.—T. Brashowe,
house steward. Blenheim Palace.— Oct. 20, 1854."
" Mr. Lettis,—As soon as you semi out your genuine bloaters, I
shall b, glad to have a supply as usual ; those I had last year gave
great satisfaction.— A. F. Courroux, Ambassador's Court, St. James's
Palace.—Oct. 1, 1835."

LIIR. lIPNRY DRUMMOND, M.P., AT THE
CEgRTSEY AGRICUI TURAL MEETING.

Y esterday the annual meeting of the Chertsey Agri-
cultural Association, established for the encouragement
of deserving farm servants and agricultural labourers,
was held'in the town of Chertsey. The proceedings, as
usual on all such occasions, consisted of a ploughing
match and a public dinner afterwards. The ploughing
took place in fields belonging to the Rev. J. C. Clark
and Mr.. J.. Bailey. in the immediate vicinity of the
town, and the day being sin4ularly fine for this season
of the year, a considerable number of people were at-
tracted to the spot. Prizes to the amount of between
201. and 301. in the aggregate were afterwards distri-
buted among the successful competitors.
The dinner, with, which the business of the day was
appropriately wound up, was held at the Town-hall at 3
o'clock ' • and among the gentlemen present were Mr.
Henry Drummond, who acted as chairman, and Mr.
Locke King, two of the members for the county ; Mr.
Robert Gosling, the late high sheriff; Colonel Sumner,
Mr. J. J. Briscoe, and Mr. NV. K. Hesseltine. The
labourers also dined at the Bell Tavern. The cloth
being removed,
Mr. DRUMMOND. in proposing "The Queen," said—
We are apt sometimes to forget that it is our duty to
drink to the Sovereign, whoever that Sovereign may be;
but, owing to the great virtues which surround the pre•
sent Sovereign—we are in so much admiration of her
virtues as a wife and a mother, that those things which
are but the accessories, and which make the ornament,
are ready sometimes mistaken for our loyalty itself.
The toast was drunk with acclamation. _ _

Mr. DRUMUOND then gave "Prince All ert, the Prince
of Wales, and the rest of the Royal family," and in
doing so said the royal family was nothing more nor less
than like the family of any farmer now hearing him ;
and he should like to know what any one in that room
would say if an impertineut neighbour, on learning that
a young man had fallen in love with his (the farmer's)
daughter, were to turn round and remark that it was a
very improper marriage. (" Hear, hear," and a lauk„h.)
Would he not instantly tell such a meddler to hold his
tongue, and mind his own business ? He (Mr. Drum-
mond) asked simply that the same degree of forbearance
should be evinced towards the domestic affairs of the
royal family as a man in the position of a farmer had a
right to claim. Because Mr. Walter, Mr. Delane, and
Mr. Dasant said that a female member of the royal
family was not to marry such and such a person, was
that a reason why the marriage should not take place ?
He (Mr. Drummond) said it was a most abominable act
of interference ; and if they (the meeting) would not
suffer such meddling by strangers with their affairs, upon
the same principle they ought not to allow it in the
affairs of others. (Hear, hear.)
The toast of "The Bishop Clergy of the Diocese" fol-
lowed, to which the Rev. Mr. JENNINGS briefly re-
sponded.
Mr. DRUMMOND said the next toast upon their list
was "The Army and Navy, and those of our Allies ;"
and it was very well in those postprandial speeches and
cheers to profess great regard for the army and navy ;
but if that was the case, how Caine it that they .(the
public) encouraged all the calumnies and slanders that
were spoken and published against them ? Lord Raglan
was the victim last year of the most scandalous false-
hoods. He did not say wilful falsehoods, because the
persons who uttered them could not know the facts—
but they were nevertheless falsehoods ; and when Sir
John M'Neill was sent out to the Crimea he made no
secret in telling the whole truth, as it really was,
and justified Lore Raglan in every single particular
for which he was blamed during the last year. They
allowed these calumnies to go on without inquiry,
and they ran away propagating them abroad, and
then they wondered that the people on the Conti-
nent had no great heart to join them in the war.
He happened to be a short time in Germany during
the present autumn, and one day he dined at a
table d'hote, at which the company were mostly Ger-
mans, and all more 'or less acquainted with the
English language. An English gentleman came hi, and
began to talk very big about the war. He asked, among
other things, why we did not bombard Odessa The
reason, he said, was, that Mr. Sidney Herbert had sent
out orders not to bombard Odessa, and assigning as a
reason that he had some private property there. He
(Mr. Drummond), addressing the gentleman in question,
said he would no doubt be happy to hear so gross a ca-
lumny as that contradicted. He himself, he added, had
seen with his own eyes a despatch written by Admiral
Dundas to Admiral Hamelin, begging to be allowed to
go and bombard Odessa. Hamelin referred the matter
to General Canrobert, who refused to allow them to en-
ter upon the enterprise ; and Mr. Sidney Herbert had
no more to do with the fleet not going to bombard
Odessa than any gentleman in that room. The very
same course was now being pursued with regard to Gene-
ral Simpson. What would they think of five or six
general officers sitting down and dictating to the Attor-
ney-General, Sir FrederickThesiger, and men like them,
how they should conduct a Chancery suit? On the
same principle, what could so many tenth-rate lawyers
in this country know about military tactics, or how to
conduct a great military campaign ? And yet these
were the men who had been leading the country by the
nose all along. (" Hear, hear," and a laugh.) He said,
if our generals and army fought our battles with Russia
in a distant part of the globe, it was our duty to fight
their battles at home, and to see that the calumnies to
which ho had referred received no credence at our
hands. (Hear.)
Colonel SUMNER briefly acknowledged the compliment
paid to the army and navy.
Mr. R. GOSLING then gave The Members for the
County."
Mr. LOCKE KING, M.P., in responding to the toast,
said it was a matter of great congratulation to him, see-
ing that he had long taken a very active par:, in the
repeal of certain laws which were detrimental