The Sun.
London, England, 1852-07-17 00:00:00

people who made great works. Those great works, indeed, !
were, as we have been, told—
" Imperial wonders wrought by nations spoiled
and though we cannot, perhaps. surpass them in literature,
or in the tine age, yet I think we may blast that we have
surpassed them in our public works. - (Hear, hear.) limy
could boast of nothing to compare with the railroads which
multiply the communications of this country; and those
railroads, instead of being the work of " nations spoil.d,"
are the works of individuals who, I trust, have not been
spoiled - (Laughter)—but will be ample gainers by their in-
vestments. —(Cheers and laughter.) Now, gentlemen, the
Romans also were great agriculturists, and I believe they
drew great supplies of grain from this 'Bland. But to them
was closed that wonderful book of knowledge which the
scientific investigations of the present day have opened to
you in that masterious science of chemistry, which to them
was au unknown book; and if ever there were a case in
which it was true that " knowledge is power," that maxim
is peculiarly true in reference to the aids which chemistry
affords to agriculture. My Noble Friend has alluded to the
question of guano, and he has mentioned what is per-
fectly true, that when I held an office which would have
enabled me, if it had been possible, to assist the farmer
with regard to guano, my endeavours proved fruitless. In
fact, the Peruvians were not more disposed to let us put a
price on their guano than the British farmer would be dis-
posed to put a price upon his corn.--(Great laughter.) But,
gentlemen, I cannot but think than the progress of chemical
science, and the appdcath n of that science to practical agri-
culture, may lead you to something which will render you
less anxious and solicitous about this same guano, and that
instead of sending to the other. ecd of the world for more
manure for our fields, we shall find something nearly, if not
quite, as good within a few hundred yards of our dwellings.—
@leer, hear.) No a, gentlemen. 'have heard a definition of
dirt. I have heard it sail that dirt is.nothing but a thing
in a wrong place.—(Hear, and latighter.) Now, the dirt of
our towns precisely corresponds with that definition
CHear.) The dirt of our towns ought to be upon our fields,
and if there could be such a reciprocal community of interest
between the country and the towns—that the country
should purify the towns, and the towns should fertilise
the country (Laughter)—l am much disposed to think
the British farmer would care less than he does,
though he still might care something, about Peruvian
guano.—(Hear, hear, and cheers) Now, we all acknowledge
that there are certain laws of nature, and that those who
violate those laws invariably suffer for it. Well, it is a law
of nature that nothing is destroyed. Matter is decomposed,
but only. for the purpose of again assuming some new form,
useful for the purposes of the human race. But we neglect
that law.—( Hear.) We allow all decomposed substances in
towns 'to pollute the atmosphere; to ruin the health, to pro-
duce premature misery, to be pestilent to life, and destructive
of existence. Well, gentlemen, if, instead of that, there
could be .a system devised by which these substances, which
are noxious where they now are, could be transferred so as to
fertilise. the adjoining districts, I am persuaded that not-only
would the health of the town popislations be thereby greatly
improved, but the finances of the agricultural population
would derive consider able benefit from the change. You all
know, gentlemen—all who have attended to the subject and
read recent publications must know—that for an expenditure
Per acre far less than that which • produces one manuring of
Peruvian guano, you may establish permanent arrangements,
by which, bringing from the towns ferti iring liquids, you
would improve your property, and a permanent improve-
ment would be made in the land at a far less expense than is
now required to produce a single crop.—(Hear, Lear.) I
therefore recommend you, gentlemen, to ponder the maxim
that" knowledge is power;" and, as the diffusion of the
most uselul kind of knowledge is one of the main objects for
which the Royal Agricultural Society was established, I am
persuaded it will tend mainly and most efficiently to the ad-
vancement of the interest and the poWer of the agricultural
class of the country.;—(Cheers.) Now, gentlemen, there is
only one'other topic to which I shall take the liberty of ad-
verting; and it is a topic which has already been alluded to
by my respected friend the representative of the kingdom of
Prussia: • I remember to have read in a book published by a
foreigner, who visited this country at a period when Parlia-
ment had been dissolved, an account of the dreadful disorders
of an English election. Here we are,, gentlemen, in the
midst of au English election—(Hear, hear) —and I would ask
any man who should have dropped from a balloon and found
himself in the showyard, and thence have come to this meet-
ing, wh.ether he could have supposed it possible that there
was any topic of discussion or difference•existing among the
people of, England.—( Hear; and cheers.) It is our good
English' rule, gentlemen, for • men •to shake hands before
they fight— (Cheers and laughter) —and if they have no
malice in their hearts they shake hands after the fight is
over.—(Renewed laughter.) But, gentlemen, we are
shaking.. hands in .the midst of the fight—(Cheers and
laughter) —for during the elections—aye, and during the
elections for the couulies, which, for reasons that I shall not
dilate upon, naturally excite a peculiar interest among those
who have turned their attention to agricultural pursuits—
(Cheers and laughter)—in the midst of the county elections,
which take place all over England in the course of this week,
here you have assembled men of all parties, differing upon
every possible subject, and I would defy any man who came
as a stranger among you to find any difference whatever, ex-
cept as to the merit of some particular machine, or as to the
over fatness or indifferent breeding of some animal avaich has
been exhibited.—(Cheers and laughter.) Well, I say this
Agricultural
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animosities, and can meet upon comymon lande neutral grounds
as brethren and as mutual friends, with but their
country and no interest but that of the nation.—P
Mr. NEAL, the senior chief officer of Leweas(r,ttjyt;bri9eeftryst.)—reelr
re-
turned thanks.
Lord BERNERS proposed, " The stewards of the yard and
judges of be show."