The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-11 00:00:00

few would over be opened at all. Ent there is
limit to the margin allowable in such case, and that
limit the Birmingham authorities hove very ;argely
exceeded. We are told, indeed, that of the £40,000
which the Park was to cost, not £lO,OOO had ever
been raised, so that Birmingham got the credit of a
liberality which had never been exercised, while the
presence of Royalty itself was invoked to lend a
splendour to the counterfeit. This is going a great
deal too far. The promoters of Aston Park were
under no obligations to do as they did; but if they
chose to express this solicitude for the welfare of
their poorer fellow-townsmen, and to present the
people of Birmingham with a public Park for their
recreation and enjoyment, they were bound to pro-
vide the price of the gift before they appropriated
its credit, and, above all, before they solicited the
Queen to become the donor of the prize.
POST..—Tbere is no claw; in the country that has
held its own against a crowd of adverse circum-
stances so bravely and successfully as that which
has this week been exhibiting some of the results of
itsindustry and perseverance in the Agricultural
Hall at Islington. The British farmer has bad to
meet difficulties that he of all men was the least
prepared to encounter, and he has not only over-
come them, but has renewed his strength in the
struggle. For a while his heart failed him, and he
felt as if he was too old to begin life again on a new
system. But better and more hopeful thoughts
prevailed, and, in bracing himself to the needful
exertion, he awoke for the first time to a full aPPr!"
pension of his natural ability and his proper P°Bl-
tion. Like Sydney Smith, who said he hardly
knew a turnip from a carrot when he set about
tilling his own glebe, the farmer brought himself to
study the whole art and science of cultivation, and,
laying aside old ideas and old implements, adopted
every mechanical invention for economising labour
andimproving the land. He saw that he must
keep abreast of the age in which his lot was case
and he mended his pace and conformed to the c°lll-
mon requirements of progress. He called upon his
energy, and, as a good steed answers to the tighten-
ing rein, it came in time to carry him over the
difficulty; and now competition has long ceased to
be a terror in his way, and he even rejoices In
rivalry which has established his superiority as an
agriculturist and elevated his character as a ra.a:
Still. there are some who, more witty than vo'n'i
persist. in amusing themselves at the expeoseii-i.
the British farmer, and the cattle show espeelli,'l,',
is made a target for their spent ridicule. For
most part it is evident that these humorous critic,"
are laughing in the dark. They talk about estl'e,
as they talk about Rosa Bonheur's painting%
and though they can relish a prize sirloin when /„
is cooked and served up to them, as to its prodoe
tion they admit frankly enough that they are In
the hands of the graziers and the butchers. 13Lil'
underlying all this affected indifference, there re•
mains the solid fact that we are as a nation Paril,,l
cular about our food. Even those who eat hastily'
in moments snatched from business, appreciate
juicy steak or a tender chop. The precuriog of gol
and wholesome meat is, indeed, a matter of genTo
concern, and if but few of us look minutely into t""
process by which it is obtained, we are all 10t.%
rested in the result. We have to pay a high Prier
for prime joints, and we expect them to answd
their description. Besides, so much has been 01,1 r
of late about diseased cattle, and the necessity
veterinary inspection, that what was used tube
a question of taste and luxury had become one. °II
health and safety. The importation of foreign,
cattle has been attended with very disastrous e
ti
sequences. The free trade in live stock has 1:1,0
worse than a failure, for it has cost us
through the disease it has introduced, than can. eh
reckoned in the present market price of meat, Whicre
is also to be charged to its account—and a 1130811-r
which was recommended for the benefit of the P°°d
has actually been the means of placing animal f° i 8
out of their reach. There is now, therefore! t
special reason for encouraging home productiorhy
and if art and science are fostered and promoted s
exhibitions, and if the blood and breed of hore4
are maintained by race meetings, it seems, to 8.7,
the least of it, unreasonable to undervalue a Chrinsai
mss cattle show, including as it does an ann" ,
gathering of persons from every part of the kino
dom who are engaged in what is, after allt,„t•
primary and fundamental occupation of the
lish people. As regards this year's show, it e,
considered to have been quite up to the avers%
There has been no falling off either in quality or. l
form—and if there has been no newreature, nothil3;e
claiming prominent and marked recognition, no
traordinary instance of merit, it has not been owl,r)bt's
to any want of interest in the competition. v
Smithfield Ciub, too, is in a flourishing conditio
having a handsome cash surplus in reserve, an
with the means of increasing the premiums it offers
—and, with a new and popularised constitutlori"
there is every reason to expect that its future Pro,
ceedings will sustain the confidence the agriculta
nista as a body place in the justice of its decisions'
and warrant the public support which has bees
largely extended to it. There are interests this
country cannot afford to neglect, and that whle4
has been represented at Islington is one, and ter
chief of them. Every other interest is more;
less subject to external influences—but this, 11 of
the nation of which it is the staff, is independent
all foreign control.