The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 12, 1864.

The Members for Oxfordshire on Agricul-
tural Affairs.

TIIAM E, Friday.

The annuli gathering of the members and friends
of the name Agricultural and Horticultural So-
cieties took place yesterday afternoon. The at-
tendance was very large and the show remarkably
good.
In the evening a large party dined together at
the Spread Eagle. Captain Wykeham presided;
and among the company we observed Colonel
North, M.P., Col. Pane, M.P., Mr T. T. Bernard,
M.P., Mr Hugh Hammersley, Mr T. Hobhouse,
Mr T. Taylor, Mr J. Fletcher, Mr A. C. Brown,
Mr J. Round, the Rev. J. Ashurst, and several
other influential residents in the district.

Th 6 toasts of " The Queen," " The Pi ince and
Princess of Wales and the rest of the Royal
Family," were given and drunk with all the
honours.

The CHAIRMAN then proposed " The Army,
Navy, and Volunteers," coupling with the toast the
name of Colonel North.

Colonel NORTH, M.P., who was received with
loud cheering, briefly responded to the toast. He
said he believed that the army and navy were never
in a more efficient state than they were at the pre-
sent moment, and was fully convinced that they
were ready to perform services with the same gal-
lantry which they had always hitherto evinced.
(Cheers.) With regard to the Volunteers, he was
happy to say that they did great credit to the coun-
try, and was proud at being at the head of the bat•
talion for the county. (Cheers.) The best possible
feeling existed among all the services, and the only
rivalry was which should best perform their services
to their Sovereign and their country. (Loud
cheering.)
The next toast was the "Bishop and Clergy of
the Diocese," coupled with the name of the Rev. J.
Ashurst.

The Rev. J. ASHURST, in acknowledging the
toast, observed that in an agricultural district every•
one must feel peculiarly interested in the prosperity
of agriculture. When the land was well tilled
and brought to a high state of perfection it was
advantageous to the landlord, profitable to the
tenant, and beneficial to the labourer in providing
him with remunerative employment. Societies of
this description tended greatly to the promotion of
the welfare of agriculture, and deserved the support
of the clergy as much as that of any other portion
of the community. Horticultural societies, by pro-
moting the cultivation of flowers, had a most bene-
ficial effect on the good taste and the morals of the
community, and the only drawback on the present
occasion to the calm enjoyment of the beautiful ex-
hibition of the day was the noise outside and the
obotruction caused by the shows and stalls at the
entranco to the show ground. (Hear.)

The CHAIRMAN then rose to propose " The Health
of the Members for the County," expressing his
deep regret at the absence of their old friend and
neighbour, Mr Henley, which was caused by the
painful bereavement which he had suffered, and in
which he was sure everyone present most sincerely
sympathised. (Hear.) They were, however, honoured
with the presence of their gallant friends Col. North
and Col. Fane, and he tru3ted they would continue
to be so honoured for many years to come, for the
presence of county members always gave additional
weight and importance to such gathering,. (Cheers.)
He hoped the conduct of their representatives during
the past session had given general satisfaction to
their constituents. No gentlemen could have acted
more fairly and honestly, They had been present
at all the important divisions which had taken place
and had conscientiously done their duty towards
the county of Oxford and the country in general.
(Cheers.) He trusted that Col. North and Col. Fane
would long retain their seats, and be spared to at-
tend these meetings, and that before long they
would again have the pleasure of seeing their old
and tried friend Mc Henley among them. The toast
was drunk with three timed three and " one cheer
more."

Colonel NORTH, M.P., after expressing his deep
regret at the cause of the absence of his right hon.
colleague (Mr Henley), assured his friends around
hire that, although he resided at a different end of
the county, he *lad aiWttyti felt especial pleoeute 1,1
attending the annual gatherings at Thame, and cer-
tainly on no former occasion had he seen a better
show of produce. (Cheers.) With regard to his Par-
liamentary duties, he could only say, in common
wtih every member of the House of Commons, that
whatever might be his political opinions, he endea •
voured to discharge his duties honestly and con-
scientiously. (Hear, hear.) Of course, no member
could expect to satisfy everybody. Hon, members
were returned to represent certain political opinions,
and those constituents. who did not coincide in such
opinions must naturally feel dissatisfied with their
votes. But if hon. members did their duty in an
honest and straightforward manner the people would
do them the justice to believe that their motives
ware pure and conscientious. (Hear.) So long as ho
had the honour orf epresenting the county of Oxford
it would always be his utmost endeavour to serve his
constituents faithfully and honestly. (Cheers.)
Colonel FANE, M.P., in returning thanks, ex-
pressed the satisfaction which he always felt on
meeting his friends on occasions like the present,
particularly as county members had such few oppora
tunities of addressing their constituents. He had not
the chance of addressing them so frequently as his
gallant friend (Col. North), but it was gratifying to
him to experience the cordial reception which was
always given to him, He always endeavoured to act
honestly and uprightly. Whatever his politics
might be and whatever opinions he might express
before the electors, he could assure them they would
always find him at his post whenever it was neces-
sary for him to be there. (Cheers.) He had listened
with great attention to the remarks of his rev. friend
(Mr Ashurst), and regretted that a larger num-
ber of the clergymen did not attend such gatherings.
He could not Bay that he entirely agreed in all the
remarks which had fallen from his rev. friend rela-
tive to the noise outside the show ground, causing
an interruption to the proceedings, and the exhibi-
tions outside obstructing the access of the visitors
to the beautiful field where the flowers had been
exhibited. Now, he was accompanied by two ladies
and two young children, and did not experience the
slightest difficulty in obtaining access to the show
ground. (Hear, hear.) So far from feeling any
annoyance on that account, he had great pleasure
in paying 4d. for a look into one of the peep shows.
(Laughter.) There were other exhibitions which
he had no doubt wore well worth seeing, and if time
had allowed he should have been glad to go the
round of the whole fair, and take a peep at them
all. (Continued laughter.) He had no doubt
whatever that those persons who were not able to
obtain tickets for the show ground were very well
satisfied with paying a small sum for a shot at the
bull's eye. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) His rev.
friend was a highly conscientious man and much
respected, but he might be mistaken with regard to
the amusements in which the multitude participated.
(Hear, hear.) He did not think that such amuse.
ments detracted from the interest attached to agris
cultural societies. Quite the contrary. He believed
that if one half the booths were removed, and the
penny peep shows and other little amusements of a
similar description were put down, a great deal of
the interest and excitement caused by agricultural
and horticultural societies would be done away with.
(Hear.) When a county member was called upon to
return thanks, and political matters were excluded,
he thought it was his duty to make such suggestions
us he believed would prannoto the welfare of such
societies, (Hear.) Ile had not had an opportunity
of seeing the ploughing, and regretted that he had
not been able to ascel titin the opinions of many
of the farmers with respect to the use of machi-
nery. From the conversation which he hal recently
hal with some farmers in another locality on thet
:iutiject ho believed that their opinions coincided in
a great degree with that of Mr. Henley, that, after
all the benefits derived from machinery, there was
nothing like the old plough. Ho had no prejudice
against steam-ploughing, but did not think it could
be carried oil with sufficient economy to he beneficial
to the farmer. He believed that Mr. Taylor's engine
nad cost something like 1.:1,(0.), and cost him £3OO
a year in working. lle now understood from Mr.
Taylor tli7,t he.worked the machine about 100 dsys