“I sincerely say that I do take a great interest in all that is connected with agriculture. I may call myself a colleague of many of you present as a farmer on a small scale, and I only hope that I may never have occasion to be a pensioner of this institution. It is impossible, I think, for any British gentleman to live at his country place without taking an interest in agriculture, and in all those things which concern the farmers of this great country. The very backbone of the country, the best recruits of the Army and Navy, come from the agricultural districts. We know that our commercial and agricultural interests depend upon the valour and efficiency of our land and sea forces.”
On this occasion the King added a toast which had been most ungallantly omitted from the list--that of “The Ladies,” and in proposing it he said:--
“We have been honoured on this occasion by fair ladies, and I think it would be very wrong if we were to separate without cordially drinking their health. We see especially how much the comfort, well-being, prosperity, and happiness of farmers and agriculturists depend upon a kind wife to cheer them by the fireside at the end of their day’s work, and to lighten by female influence the load of difficulties.”
Though naturally His Majesty will now be unable to devote so much time to the interests of agriculture as he did when Prince of Wales, yet he has no intention of giving up the breeding of stock. It is understood that Her late Majesty bequeathed to him the magnificent herds of shorthorns, Jerseys, Devons, and Herefords established by the late Prince Consort at Windsor on the Shaw and Flemish farms which he started there. Prince Albert, indeed, revived the interest of the Royal Family in agriculture, which had lapsed since the death of “Farmer George.” Queen Victoria also had some very good stock on the home farm at Osborne, while at Abergeldie Mains Her Majesty kept a magnificent herd of pure-bred Aberdeen-Angus cattle. These, without doubt, her successor will keep up.
To those who study the King’s personal nature and character, no apartment at Sandringham can be more interesting than the library, or rather that section of the libraries, for there are three, which is specially appropriated to His Majesty. The fittings are those of the cabins used by the King on board the _Serapis_ during his voyage to and from India. The blotting-books and the tables and chairs are all covered in dark blue or green leather, and on each the Prince of Wales’s feathers and monogram are stamped in gold. A glance at the shelves shows what are the King’s literary tastes and preferences. He is evidently intensely interested in the history of his own country, especially what may be called the history of our own time. Several shelves are entirely devoted to works dealing with the Indian Mutiny, including the official reports, memoirs, histories, and even novels. The King always buys every new work connected with the public or private administration of his Eastern Empire. Special attention has also evidently been paid to the Crimean War, and there is a rich collection of Colonial histories and documents. But most of the standard works of reference are to be found in the first library, a fine apartment, often used as a writing-room and reading-room by visitors.
