The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-09 00:00:00

What nation of antiquity thought of a choice ox or
lamb but for sacrifice ? There was no science of
breeds, no theory of races. Dr. Darwin has not a
peg for his argument among the ancient prize cattle.
Even our ingenious continental neighbours, or that
inventive and creative American off-shoot of our
own ,people, never dreamed of pitting kine, sheepd,
pigs, and poultry against one another in a gran
national exhibition until England had been long
before them with the masterly example. All praise
to the British farmer for his start in this most use-
ful and most honourable enterprise and
Amidst the various acts of modern progress this IS,
especially our own. Italy, France, Germany', an
the United States have had their sons of ecience.--"
their metaphysicans and experimental philosophers,
but it was allotted to England alone to produce the
domestic animals as witnesses of their practice.'
genius and solid ambition. How the Devons speal‘
career..
to the skill and care of their owners ! The Herefords,
the short-horns the long-horns, the Norfolks, the
Suffolks, the Scotch, the Irish, the W
beasts as they are—all discourse most excellen.
bucolics. Theocritus, Virgil, and Tasso are °nil,
poor sentimentalists compared with the substantit!!
poetry of the Smithfield Cattle Club. But how shniL,
we describe the ovine innocents—the truly
scene in the exhibition ? The amiable fat wethers'
whether among the Leicesters, or the Cotswolds,
coins, Soutbdowns, Hampshire, Wiltshires, Shle
shires,Oxfords,or white faced mountains! These Wa
charming idylls of their own, and each pen is quit
an eclogue. It may appear hard to be poetic 0 ,
pigs, but that animal has before now been associathe:
with a whistle ; he is said to see the wind, and os,
only learned animal our travelling showmen c,1,1
produce is unquestionably the erudite and perennii.
pastoral
Toby. We may well suppose that there is
ment, and even a certain distinction, in this spen.oo
when we see the Countess of Chesterfield only tto
proud to carry off her ten-pound prize, and eveno 0
fr
smile gratification at a "highly commended?
the grave lips of the judges for those model Pel6dc, cry
which industrious housemaids might well 13',60.
for pure white bolsters. Then the late Prince Cop,
sort was eminent among his other great quelities, d
his cultivation of this useful English anime,"Z t
we must felicitate Major-Gen. Hood on the °eh—ill
care which he bestows on the serious charge and
has devolved upon him, though the silver rnen!'„--inoti
the odd pounds he carries away in this exhieh" as
constitute some regard for the infinite labour he
evidently bestowed on the proportions and obesll
of his Windsor prodigies. We are gravely told tbt'o,
the Prince of Wales is not represented in this °Pot
sition, but a hint is ingeniously thrown out that a
only the heir to the Throne but his Royal 109°0°05;
one day take a pride in being among the fotr:B-re
prizeh. olders of the Is'ington Cattle Show. al
a King-loving people, and why not the regal
patronage descend to the sources of that s-11 n
and wholesome flesh which goes so far to ter!
out a nation of sturdy and stalwart Englishinend
The present show is a credit to the energy got
enterprise of the Smithfield Club, but it cen,o
be described as an indication of progress ices is
breed and feeding of cattle. We know tn,„ max
here as elsewhere in the domains of '-`,".„00
exertion, an Ultima Thule—a degree of Petiech.ave
which cannot be transcended. But this we of
riot reached. The judges even comPll'ilvis
a sad falling off in the quality of specimens'
ought to be noted, and, where possible, correctt4i6
Our agricultural competitors must not halt inalli,t
meritorious and highly beneficial direction. 1 ded
attention, skill, and energies are now more nee fist
than ever. Unless, indeed, public report is one /for
fable, the amount of diseased meat consumedef I
food is truly formidable. Cautious grazing, e6„rnelir-
and cleanly conveyance, competent veterinary e"„Jro.
vision, as well as the strict pursuit of health,' r-cil
pagation, can only restrain and diminish an
the
which strikes at the well-being and staminn,°` the
entire population. We are all interested le, 010
Cattle Show just at this peculiar time. The atrr.oei
demonstrate what fine specimens ought to be. gill
constitute the proper standard. Our buyers 7ore
each take their lesson from what they see heiol;,
them. Perhaps here and there an energetic cool;'
or even a fair young matron or thrifty damsel, 00d
improve their knowledge of the essentials of a goo
dinner by compassing the points of the I°',. are
sheep, and the pig, as they stand before them, n; the
accurately described. At present we are all raises
mercy of the butchers, and history nowhere Pre to
this order of men for their tender consciences clr
delicateLchoice.