Let me now use the privilege which your President has allowed me to enjoy, in proposing to you, as a toast, “Prosperity to the Royal Agricultural Society.” To its exhibitions, the means of comparison which they have afforded, and the emulation which they have stimulated, we owe to a great extent the progress which British agriculture has made of late. To this Society belongs the honour to have been one of the first to appreciate the value of such exhibitions, and to have from the beginning liberally and fearlessly admitted all competitors without restriction.
I drink, “Prosperity to the Royal Agricultural Society.”
AT THE
BANQUET AT THE TRINITY HOUSE.
[JUNE 4th, 1853.]
1.
Wherever Englishmen meet at a public dinner they make it their pride to take no proceedings without first drinking to the health of “The Queen.” The Corporation of the Trinity House yield in feelings of loyalty to none of Her Majesty’s subjects.—Gentlemen!
“The Queen!”
2.
The toast I have now to propose to you is that of the Royal Family.
It is a blessing attending the monarchical institutions of this country, that the domestic relations and the domestic happiness of the sovereign are inseparable from the relations and happiness of the people at large. In the progress of the Royal Family through life is reflected, as it were, the progress of the generation to which they belong, and out of the common sympathy felt for them arises an additional bond of union amongst the people themselves. I have often been deeply touched by the many proofs of kindness, and, I may say, almost parental affection, with which the Prince of Wales and the rest of our young family have been welcomed on their earliest appearance. May God grant that they may some day repay that affection, and make themselves worthy of it by fulfilling the expectations which the country so fondly cherishes!