The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-20 00:00:00

prosperity of that rural manufacture which converts
the raw material of our beechen woods into the
convenient form of chairs for the accommodation,

not only of England, but even of the colonies and
of foreign parts. lam glad to say we are indebted
for that satisfactory result to another and not less

efficient cause, and that is the highly improved
husbandry of this district and parish. It is to the
skilful rotation of crops, it is to the various and
often costly manner in which our lands are now
dressed, and the great bead of stock that is now
maintained on the farms of this parish, that the

result of the population being well employed, and
being employed at high and satisfactory wages, are
mainly or at least equally to be ascribed, and these
are very satisfactory results. There is another cir-
cumstance of our rural life in this parish in which
I think we may find congratulation, and it refers to
a subject which I have more than once brought
under your consideration—that is the dwellings of

,hose to whom we are peculiarly indebted for the

tabour which cultivates our fields and gathers in our

crops. lam glad to say there has been going on
for some time a coutinuous improvement in the re-

sidences of the peasantry, of the labourers on the
soil of this parish. Some time ago I mentioned this

subject, and, indeed, more than once I have dwelt
upon it in your presence. These are legitimate and
proper occasions on which we ought to touch upon
such subjects. lam much in favour of building new
cottages for the labouring population, but at the
same time I know it is a process which can only be
very gradually carried out. I will not enter into
any controversy on this subject, because this is not
a moment for controversy, further than to repeat
what I have often said, that those take a limited
and too contracted view of the case who, in build-
ing cottages for the labouring population, look
only to the immediate return in the shape of rent.
There is an immediate return far more valuable than
rent, which is to be acquired by giving the labour-
ing population dwellings which conduce to their
health, to their strength, and to their happiness.
(Hear, hear.) But I would make this remark, be-
cause it is one essentially practical and applicable
to this parish, that you may do a great deal to im-
prove the dwellings and to increase the comfort of
the labouring classes without absolutely building
new cottages ; you may improve those that exist.
I believe that there are three things which a labourer
in the Chiltern-hills most desires. The first is a
porch, the second an oven, and the third a tank.
(Hear, hear, and laughter.) I have for some time
been extremely anxious that every labouring man
on my estate should have these three sources of com-
fort and happiness—a porch, an oven, and a tank.
I am very glad to say that the example I set is
spreading, and I hope when we hold our next " har-
vest home" we shall find that the custom of providing
the three things I have named is meeting with gene-
ral adoption. (Hear, hear.) Whether I look to our
harvest, whether I look to the general condition of
those who have mainly assisted in its in-gathering,
I think I can congratulate the proprietors and the
cultivators, the farmers, the occupiers, and the
labourers of this parish on its general prosperity.
I am sure from what I have seen this morning I am
addressing a society that, in the possession of these
great advantages, is deeply grateful to the Giver of
all Goodness, to whom we are indebted for these
blessings. I trust that the prosperity of Hughenden
may long continue. It is founded on sound princi-
ples, and under the blessing of Providence it ought
at least to be superior to most of the vicissitudes
that interfere with human occupation. lam sin-
cerely obliged to you for drinking my health on an
occasion like the present. Your kind feelings I
greatly appreciate, and your good opinion will al-
ways be my best reward. I thank you heartily.
(Cheers.)
The right hon. gentleman had only just resumed
his seat when a village maiden stepped up and pre-
sented him with a cereal doll-shaped figure.
Whether it were effigy, fetish, or idol, or only a
sample of the harvest on which he had been speak-
ing, seemed a general puzzle. Its head was of oats,
its arms were barley, and its feet were wheat ; and
somewhat of a feminine character wa3 imparted by
a dress of blue paper. For the satisfaction of the
curious and uninitiated,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER added—l
was for a moment a little daunted. I feared that
one of the most ancient customs in England had
been forgotten on this occasion. I hold in my hand
a representation of the goddess Ceres. For centuries
this figure, dressed up in robes of similar magnifi-
cence—(a laugh)—has been brought forward on
these occasions as representing that golden harvest
for which in this parish we are deeply grateful.
This reminds me—indeed, my mind was already full
of the subject—of those who are, perhaps, more in-
terested in the success of the harvest than even other
classes intimately connected with it. We are in this
parish favoured, I believe, with a body of farmers
who, take them altogether, equal, I believe—per-
haps more than equal—those of any parish in the
county. It is not merely that they are skilful far-
mers, and that they bring to the cultivation of the
soil a knowledge of its character, and all those arti-
ficial adjuncts which develope its qualities, but they
are men who are sensible of their social duties as
farmers, as great tillers of the soil. They look upon
their occupation as being one not directly of a com-
mercial character. They remember and do fulfil
their duties towards those who are dependent upon
them. Indeed, I have always found that the skilful
farmer is a man who most appreciates the good
qualities of the person labouring under him, and
knows the value of a good character. Such a per-
son is always found to be the best master. I must
congratulate the farmers of Hughenden upon their
great success and prosperity this y ear ; I propose
that we drink " the healths of the Farmers of the
Parish," and I trust that they may have many
happy returns of seasons like the present.
The toast was drunk, and was responded to by
Mr. COATES. He said that if they did not spend
their capital in that part of the country they would
get no return, although they were blessed with some
prolific land. With regard to wheat, barley, and
oats, they were favoured this year with a fair, aver-
age crop, and he certainly considered that they were
better off in that respect than farmers were on
many of the wet soils.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then pro-
posed that they should drink the health of another
order of the agricultural hierarchy, not inferior in
importance or utility to those whose healths had
been drunk. It was " the Health of those to whom
they were indebted for the in-gathering of the
crops, and for the preceding processes of culture."
So far as he could form an opinion of his neigh-
bours, and he was happy to say that when at Hug-
henden he lived much among them, the labouring
class in the parish was one of which the parish
might be proud. They were skilful husbandmen,
they were moral, they were influenced, generally
speaking, by a great sense of duty. In proposing
the health of the labourers he woull connect the
toast with the name of one who had long worked
on his estate, and who in his own person combined
many of the best qualities of the English husband-
man. This was Hatt, who worked for Mr. James
Leigh, and who was a model of what a skilful, in-
dependent, and excellent husbandman ought to be.
The toast having been drunk, Hatt rose to
respond. Ile was a hale old man, and a good speci-
men of an agricultural labourer. But speaking
was evidently not his forte. In disjointed frag-
lanpepnrtesn
ioaf
isnenn toe
fu ctehsesl lee expressedn
nhsi s
da n kusi,e and
dhliys
an
associations of classes in them. He also referred to
the morning's discourse, and concluded by invoking
a general blessing. Somehow he seemed to suggest
more than he said by his unaffected earnestness of
manner, and he sat down amid cheers.
The Rev. C.W. CLUBBE proposed " the Health of
Mrs. Disraeli," who had many claims on their re-
spect and regard, sympathised with the amusements
of their rural fete, and was the great promoter of the
mirth, fun, and jollity which were essential elements
of the proper celebration of a " harvest home."
The compliment was acknowledged by the Rev.

C. LLOYD.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER proposed
" the Visitors," and also the healths of the gentle-
men who superintended the details of the celebra-
tion, and then announced that the remainder of the
afternoon would be devoted to that agreeable re-