The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-15 00:00:00

'The annual meeting of the Oxfordshire and Ban-
bury Agricultural Association was celebrated this
day at Banbury. In the afternoon a dinner was
held in the Town•hall. Col. North, M.P., presided,
and was supported by the Right Hon. J. W. Hen-
ley, M.P., Lord Leigh, Mr. J. H. Langston, M.P.,
the Hon. W. Fiennes, Col. Cartwright, M.P., Mr.
J. J. Henley, the Mayor of Banbury, and a large
number of the gentry and farmers of the district.
The usual loyal toasts having been given,
Mr. CARTWRIGHT proposed " The Health of the
Members for the comities of Oxford, South Northamp-
tonshire, and South Warwickshire." He trusted
that the right hon. gentleman who had honoured
them with his presence that day, notwithstanding
that politics were rigidly excluded at the meeting,
would be enabled to favour them, at any rate, with
his experience at Cherbourg and his opinion of the
character and importance of the works there. Since
the last meeting of the society the right hon. gen-
tleman had been appointed President of the Board
of Trade, and he (Mr. Cartwright) was satisfied the
country generally would feel that he was the right
man in the right place. (Cheers.)
The toast having been drunk with loud cheers,

Mr. HENLEY, M.P., rose to respond. After thank-
ing the meeting for the cordiality with which
they had received the toast he proceeded, to say—
My hon. colleague in the chair has warned us to be
short in what we have to say. I hope I am not in.
`fEc habit of -trespassing very long upon your pa-
tience on these occasions, and I can assure you that
I shall not occupy any considerable portion of your
time now, for I know you have a good rule in con-
nection with this society, which requires that we
should not trespass upon what arc called political
subjects, viz., those subjects on which differences of
opinion are likely to arise. At the same time there
are some subjects on which no difference of opinion
can arise, and which I may be excused for alluding
to for a moment, whether they be of a domestic or a
general political character. (Cheers.) I think, in
the first place, that I may congratulate the country
on its general state of prosperity. (Cheers.) Upon
former occasions, when I have had the honour of
addressing you here, I have said that we were un-
fortunately placed in the position. of having empty
workhouses and full gaols. lam glad, however, to
be enabled to say to-day that we have both empty
workhouses and empty gaols. (Cheers.) I was glad
to find, on returning home last week, that the whole
number then in the gaol was 82 or 83, which is
much lower than for many years. (Cheers.) Such a
circumstance must afford matter for sincere congra-
tulation to all of us, for we all know that crime is
generally produced 'by the pressure of the times ;
and the absence of crime leads us to the conclusion
that our humble brethren arc well employed, and
have the means of comfortable subsistence. (Cheers.)
There are many -subjects of public interest upon
which we can also mutually congratulate ourselves.
Our prospects in India, where there is scarcely a man
among us who has not some relative or friend about
whom he is anxious, are much more cheering than
they were when we met on a similar occasion 12
months ago. Our women have, at least, been all
removed to a place of safety, and, so far as I can
judge from the accounts which we receive from
the disturbed districts in that distant coun-
try, there is every reason to believe that
things are growing daily better and that the trouble
is fast subsiding. (Hear.) It is also a matter of eon-
giatulation to us that the war with China, how-
ever it may have been begun, has terminated. A
war with 300,000,000 people at that vast distance
must always have necessitated the maintenance of
a large naval force at a considerable distance from
this country. Ido not intend to say a word about
Cherbourg, notwithstanding the appeal of my hon.
friend, Mr. Cartwright, for the simple reason that
I was not there ; but with every disposition to be-
lieve in the good intentions of our neighbours and
the good feeling which it is the mutual interest of
both countries to maintain towards each other, I
honestly confess that I think it is a great relief to
every Englishman to find that about a fourth part
of the naval forces of the country, which has
hitherto been occupied some 15,000 or 16,000 miles
away, will, in consequence of the treaty with
China, be enabled to return, and, at all events, if
not altogether discharged, be engaged in cruising
isearer home, ready for any emergency. (Hear.)
The entering into a war with 300,000;000 people
at such a distance was a serious responsibility, and
no human being could have foreseen when such a
war would be terminated. Fortunately we have
now reason to believe that it is ended, and that
circumstance alone is a matter of mutual congratu-
lation for all of us. (Cheers.) Perhaps it would not
be becoming in me, in the office which I have now
the honour to fill as a servant of the Crown, to
touch upon any general polities, nor would it be in
accordance with the rules of this society. Never-
theless, there are some questions upon which we
don't disagree, on which I may possibly be excused
if I say a few words. At many of the meetings
which have lately taken place in various parts of
the country there has been a considerable quantity
of loose talk by- what I might almost term loose
fish—(laughter)—in reference to the Government.
Persons who are now occupying similar positions
to that which. I have the honour to fill, have been
subjected to somewhat coarse remarks. Some have
abused us for being Conservatives, and others have
abused us because they say we are Liberals.
(Laughter.) Now, lam old enough to remember
when the name " Conservative" first came up, for
unfortunately I am not a young man. I believe,
however, that three points which were then raised,
and the defenders of which were called Conserva-
tives, are now scarcely known. At any rate they
have long ceased to be attacked. Those three points
were, first, an indiscriminate attack upon the Irish
church ; secondly, a demand for church property
to be put into secular pockets ; and, thirdly, the
independence of the House of Lords. Those were
the three points on which the Conservatives stood.
Two of them were attacked furiously for many
years, but now all of them have died away. I cer-
tainly don't see why we should be abused for being
Conservatives and for not going whooping and
hallooing about these matters when nobody makes
any attack upon them. I do not think we have
any right to be abused because we have stood still
solely because those parties who were opposed to
us have given up attacking the questions which
originally constituted Conservatism. If similar
questions should ever be raised again I do not think
that the Conservative party will be found wanting
in their defence. (Cheers.) With regard to the
future, I am sorry that I cannot pretend to say
anything at all. You know very well that the Go-
vernment are in this position. The parties who
made the Reform Bill have chosen for the last six
or seven years to find fault with their own work.
(Hear, hear.) Mind you, it was no work of the
Conservatives. (Laughter and cheers.) It was no
child of ours, and, therefore, we have nothing to sgy
to it ; but the parties who constructed it have been
themselves the very men who have amused them-
selves for the last six or seven years in singing out
all over the country that it must be altered. (Hear,
hear.) In fact, they have dirtied their own nest to
such a degree that they have felt most uncomfort-
able in it. (Laughter.) They have never attempted
to mend it themselves, nevertheless they still say
that it wants mending. The cry has now gone on
for some years. As I said before, the Reform Bill
was no child of ours ; but, at the same time, if
there is any possibility of our mending it so as to
satisfy all parties, I see no reason why we should
not make the attempt. (Hear, hear.) I hope I have
not trespassed on the rules of the society in what I
think, as a
have said. (Cheers.) I don't public man,
appearing before many of my constituents, that it
would have been fair for me to Say less. I can only
say that so long as I have the honour of being in a
position to serve the county I shall be most happy
to do all in my power to promote your interests,
and to do my duty according to the best light that
God gives me. Hitherto I have always experienced
a kind reception from all my friends in this county
and neighbourhood, and I have no doubt that so
long as I hold the same course and " keep the dish
even" I shall be similarly received. The right hon.
gentleman resumed his seat amid loud cheers.
a
Colonel NORTH, M.P.,nd Col. CARTWRIGHT,
M.P., also responded.
Mr. B. BROWN proposed the health of the mem-
bers for the city of Oxford and the borough of
y.
Mr. LANGSTON' M.P., responded. -He said his
right hon. friend Mr. Henley had told them in re-
ference to the Reform Bill that. the Whigs had
so dirtied their nest that they found it impossible to
remain in it, and that the hon. gentlemen who had
succeeded them in the possession of the nest were
also so dissatisfied with it that they were deter-
mined at length to make an alteration. He was
extremely happy to hear that a Conservative Go-
vernment were really disposed to try their hands in
giving the country a better Reform Bill than that
which had been passed under the auspices of the
Whigs. Being a sincere Reformer at heart, he
was most anxious to see reform carried out to
the 'fullest poOible extent_so_lon-g as it* fully