Chapter II: Part 2

I have the greatest admiration for engine drivers, particularly those on the Great Western Railway, on which line I travel most. I have often wondered at the admirable manner in which they stop and start their trains. Mr. Gladstone once said that he could understand the mind of a great historian like Gibbon, or of a great poet, like Milton, Byron, or Wordsworth, but that he could not understand the formation of the mind of a man who wrote poems and plays like Shakespeare. Personally, I cannot understand the mind of an engine driver on an express train. I have been myself, in some very disagreeable positions, and have had some very nasty half minutes. Not very long ago I found myself underneath my horse in a muddy ditch and the half minutes I spent in waiting for a friendly hand to drag me out, and in wondering whether assistance would come before I was suffocated, were very unpleasant ones. Only a fortnight ago, too, a gentleman was driving me in a light vehicle down a narrow roadway when we saw a runaway horse attached to a lorry galloping towards us. It seemed as if there was nothing for it but for us to be knocked into the proverbial cocked-hat. However, our vehicle was drawn very close to the side and the runaway just cleared us. I can understand, too, the feeling of a man driving four horses when they run away with him, because that has happened to myself; or the feeling of a Newport cabman when his horse runs away. But I cannot understand the feeling of sustained courage on the part of a driver of an express engine with his train going at 60 miles an hour through the darkness of the night, perhaps in a storm of snow or sleet. To use a pretty strong expression, it must be like "hell with the lid off." Those who travel on railways ought to think more of the responsibilities which rest on railway employees.

_Railwaymen's Dinner,
April 21st, 1908._

TEMPERANCE "IN ALL THINGS."

When I talk of temperance I mean temperance not only in drink, but in all things. There is temperance in eating, and temperance in life. In the present case there are three sections--the temperance people, the Sunday closing people, and the total abstinence people. I cannot see how the question of religion can enter into party politics. I have known many Tories who were habitual drunkards, and there are many Radicals who take a great deal more than they can carry. There is always a difficulty in drawing the line between the enthusiast and the fanatic. Enthusiastic gentlemen generally get what they require. Fanatics, on the other hand, by the way they advocate their principles, turn people away.

_Opening of the new Temperance Hall, Newport,
May 2nd, 1889._

I believe that if the medical men of the country published their opinions concerning the cases which come under their notice, it would be a revelation to the general public how great a proportion of illness is due in one way or another to alcoholic drink. I cannot, however, help noticing that a great improvement and advance has taken place in the cause of temperance. A good many years ago, when there was going to be a great family festival--a wedding or something of that sort--one of the family retainers was asked if he was going to be there. "Of course," was his reply, "and won't I just get drunk." That seemed to be the prevailing idea of enjoyment--to get drunk. But that attitude has been changed.

_Band of Hope Festival, Newport,
May 3rd, 1900._

I have no doubt there are several in the hall who, like myself, are not total abstainers, but we are all one in our endeavour to promote temperance generally. To those who cannot be temperate, we advise total abstinence. There is nothing, I am sure, so fruitful of good as the advocacy of temperance amongst children. When children are taught to advocate a particular cause they do it more effectively than older people. But we are sometimes apt to become too much imbued with one particular idea, and it is never well to be too much of a bore to those around us. A little child was asked not long ago what she knew about King John and Runnymede. She had evidently been a worker in the temperance cause, and replied, "Oh, yes; he's the man they got down to Runnymede and made him swear to take the pledge." She had forgotten about Magna Charta, and thought of only one kind of pledge. There is nothing that disturbs the general happiness and comfort so much as the action of those who persist in going into a public house when they need not do so, and coming out and making themselves disagreeable to their neighbours. I only hope that some of the younger portion of you will live to enjoy a Bank Holiday without seeing a single drunken person.

_Band of Hope Union, Newport,
May 29th, 1901._

TOTAL ABSTINENCE.

There is a rule in the Boys' Brigade according to which you are supposed to be abstainers from drink. I need not say what a good thing that is. You will all be very much better for being abstainers. You will save a great deal of money, and probably keep your health up better. I wish I had been a total abstainer in my youth. I should have saved a great deal of money.

_Boys' Brigade Inspection, Newport,
April 19th, 1894._

AN ANGELIC VISION.

There is a phrase about "the happiness of the greatest number." It is an expressive phrase, but different people have different opinions of happiness. I was hunting in the Midland Counties and I asked, "Where is Tom?" The answer was, "He's retired, he's living the life of a hangel; he's a-heating, and a-drinking and a-cussing, and a-swearing all day long." That may not be your idea of the life of an angel, if it was my friend's idea.

_The Tredegar Show,
December 18th, 1872._

CHATS TO AND ABOUT CABBIES.

I have had many rides in the cabs of Newport, and have always found the cabbies very good drivers, prepared to go the pace according to the fare they expected at the end of the journey.

_Cabmen's Dinner, Newport,
November 8th, 1889._

I wish you had chosen some other Patron Saint than Guy Fawkes, for Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the House of Lords, and on each anniversary you try to blow me up on my way to Tredegar House. Some persons may think that one Conservative Peer more or less does not matter, but I prefer that the experiment of blowing up should be tried upon the body of a Radical Peer.

_Cabmen's Dinner, Newport,
Nov 5th, 1896._

There are very odd traditions about cabmen, and I am certain that sometimes they are not deserved. I have been told it is something of a tradition that it is the pride of a cabman to be able to whistle louder, to hit his horse harder, and to tell a bigger lie than anybody else. I believe that to be absolutely untrue, though some of you may know better than I do. One of you is supposed to have nearly upset a wedding. That was a dreadful thing to do. The bride and bridegroom were both at the Altar and just about to have the knot tied nicely. The clergyman began to deliver his address, but the bridegroom appeared to be in a great hurry, and said to the clergyman, "Look here, cut it short, guv'nor! I've got the cab by the hour." That was rather natural on the part of the bridegroom but the clergyman became very angry, and very nearly threw up the case....

Cabmen are limited in the language they may use. Judge Huddleston, when a barrister, was defending a client against a cabman, who had been using very bad language. The advocacy of Huddleston won the case. The next day the cabman called upon him and said: "Look here, Mr. Huddleston, you told me yesterday that I must not call people so and so. What are your charges for telling me what I can call anyone without getting into trouble?" Mr. Huddleston named his fee, cabby paid the money, and inquired what names he might call a man with impunity. Mr. Huddleston referred to his law books, and replied: "This is what you may call a man without being had up for libel or defamation of character. You may call him a villain, a scoundrel, a blackguard, and a thief, always supposing you don't accuse him of having stolen anything." The cabby took up his hat and said: "Look here, Mr. Huddleston, I call you a thief, a blackguard, a scoundrel and a villain; not that I mean to say you ever stole anything. Good morning." So you know now exactly what you can call a man if you do not like the fare he gives you. At the same time, I do not believe you would say such things.

Then, again, a cabman is always supposed to be a driving encyclopedia. When Newport cabmen are driving along Caerleon Road or Chepstow Road, credulous individuals ask them the name of every house and place they pass, what it means and what it is. Strangers want to know, and you must tell them something. There is an extraordinary tradition about a cabman driving along a road, when a lady fare asked him what "that mountain was with the tump on the top." "But what is the tump for?" persisted the lady. "Oh, that's where Lord Tredegar buried his charger; he made that mound himself," was the reply. Such stories are very interesting and amusing, but they spoil history, and that is why I think we are indebted to cabmen for the extraordinary traditions that go about the country.

_Cabmen's Dinner, Newport,
November 5th, 1898._

Cabmen have traditionally bad characters, and are supposed to possess a vocabulary which is not taught in the Intermediate Schools. They are also supposed to have a special method of calculating distances and coin. All those ideas are exploded like nursery rhymes, such as "Whittington and his Cat." Cabmen are well looked after. There is the Excise Officer and the Cruelty to Animals Society, and, if these are not enough, there is the Watch Committee.

_Cabmen's Dinner, Newport,
November 6th, 1899._

You have to compete with tramcars, motor cars, and all kinds of horrible conveyances. Having been interested in nursery rhymes since I was very young, I have been looking through some children's books during the last few days to see what is provided for the children of these days, and I came across the following lines in a book for children:--

The hansom takes you quickest,
The growler keeps you dry,
But the top of the 'bus
Is the place for us
To see the coves go by.

I advise you not to give that little book to your children, as it will induce them to ride on the top of a 'bus instead of taking a cab.

_Cabmen's Dinner, Newport,
November 8th, 1902._

I have never been able to find out exactly why the cabmen's dinner is fixed for Guy Fawkes' Day. I have looked up Guy Fawkes' pedigree, and I cannot find that he ever drove a growler or even a hansom cab. Then I thought it might have something to do with Inkerman Day, which is all upset nowadays, as you know. Inkerman was always called a soldiers' battle, because it was so foggy that the generals could not see what they were doing. I have an idea that it must have been a cabmen's battle, and that it was cabmen who fought at Inkerman or commanded at Inkerman. Speaking of cabmen, I think that they are like Lord Rosebery's Dukes--poor, but honest. This is not an epoch-making dinner; it is not even a record dinner. "Epoch-making" and "record-making" are terms which are frequently used now-a-days, and I wish people would give them a rest for a time. I remember a young gentleman who came into a fortune and very soon got through it because his company was very indifferent, he being very fond of racecourses and other iniquities of that sort. He went through the Bankruptcy Court, and when asked how he accounted for getting rid of his fortune so quickly, he replied, "Fast women and slow horses." Now I think cabmen would probably make a profit out of fast women and slow horses. One of you will take a very fine lady to Caerleon Racecourse next week, and, having a slow horse, will take two hours to do the journey, and charge a two hours' price. But I always like this society for one particular reason, namely, it has no small societies belonging to it. There is no Cabmen's Football Club to write and ask you for a subscription. So far as I know, there is no cabmen's band, or other small institutions of which we have so many in every other circle of society. There is no cabmen's congress, and no cabmen's conferences and that is a great merit in the society, because I know that when I have done one thing, I have done all that I shall be required to do.

_Cabmen's Dinner,
November 5th, 1909._

TALKS TO LICENSED VICTUALLERS.

Although the devil is not as black as he is painted, I hope neither I nor any other gentleman present bears any resemblance to his Satanic Majesty. The Scythians, it is reported, first debated things when drunk, and then whilst sober, and perhaps at the end of this gathering I may be able to form a better opinion of the members of the Newport Corporation.

_Mayor's Banquet, Newport
March 18th, 1886._

A few months ago, in the silly season, "The Times" had about a couple of columns of letters from people discussing the uses and abuses of drink. I read the letters carefully, and came to the conclusion that there was a lot to be said on both sides. An octogenarian of 83 wrote to say that his eyesight, hearing, and teeth were all sound, and that he had not tasted spirituous liquors in his life. Shortly after, another octogenarian of 84, in addition to claiming the healthy condition of the previous writer, spoke of intending matrimony. He, however, said his memory was not so good as it was, but, so far as he could recollect, he had never been to bed sober in his life. After reading the first letter, I thought it was a "clincher," and went to bed without my usual brandy and soda, saying there would be no more licensed victuallers' dinners for me. When, however, I read the second letter, I changed my mind about the dinner. It has been said that life is not all beer and skittles, but it is a good thing to have something to drive away the depression which occasionally visits every one who has arrived at manhood.

_Licensed Victuallers' Dinner, Cardiff,
March 15th, 1892._

In the old days barons drank strong ale. The barons would have their liquor strong, and local veto at that time would have meant loss of licensed victuallers' heads. Some people may wonder why I so persistently attend the Licensed Victuallers' Association meetings--for I do attend regularly. I will tell you why, in a few words, if you will not tell anybody else. There is a clause in the family settlements that compels me to do it. I endeavour to act up to those settlements.

_Licensed Victuallers' Dinner, Newport,
March 9th, 1892._

I am not surprised that Members of Parliament are rather shy of going to licensed victuallers' dinners. They have to be very careful of what they say. Words, it has been said, are given to conceal thoughts. After dinner, sometimes, thoughts get the mastery of words, and Members of Parliament have to think a good deal of the future. They have to ponder over the teetotal vote, and they have to be very careful that they do not offend the licensed victuallers. The difference as regards the members of the House of Lords is this--they do not worry themselves about the teetotal vote, and they do not care a _darn_ for the licensed victuallers.

A certain number of people think they can arrange everything satisfactorily upon an arithmetical principle. The latest fad is "one man one vote." If you do not take care it will be one man one glass. I would like to know how that could be arranged on arithmetical principles satisfactorily. There are a few other burning questions which I have never yet seen satisfactorily answered. One is 'What is Home Rule?' and the other is 'Have you used Pear's Soap?' Until we can find satisfactory answers to these, I think that legislation in regard to licensed victuallers will be quiet for a bit. I have never considered it necessary to apologise for dining with licensed victuallers. If there are any who think that in dining with that company I am stepping down from a pedestal on which I ought to remain, all I can do is to answer them in the beautiful motto of the Order of the Garter, "Honi soit qui mal y pense."

_Licensed Victuallers' Dinner, Cardiff,
February 28th, 1891._

CAKES AND ALE.

For my own part, I cannot see how the country could get on without Licensed Victuallers. Some years ago when a Frenchman wanted to describe an English country gentleman, he said he was one of those who, whenever he had nothing to do, suggested to those about him that they should go out and kill something.

There is a type of politician who, whenever he has nothing to do, says "Let us go and abolish something." If this type had its way it would abolish the Lord Mayor's Show and Barnum's White Elephant. I do not think the country would be one whit happier if a time arrived when there were no more cakes and ale.

_Licensed Victuallers' Dinner,
January 29th, 1884._

THE GREAT LAND TYRANT.

I am now like the old man of the sea--someone you ought to get rid of. I am a great land tyrant. If you want a bit of land you can't get it. If you want a piece for a recreation ground you can't get it. If you want a piece for a Church you can't get it. If you want a piece for a school you can't get it. If you want a place for any other amusement or for athletic grounds you can't get it. Why? Because it belongs to Lord Tredegar. So if you treat me like Jonah, and throw me overboard, perhaps it would be much better for you.

_Conservative Association Meeting, Newport.
August 24th, 1910._

TWO LORD TREDEGARS.

It appears to me sometimes that there are two Lord Tredegars.... Most of you have been children at some time or other, and so most of you, I am happy to think, are acquainted with nursery rhymes. There is one which, probably, a great many of you have heard of. It is about an old lady with a basket who was going to market. She laid down on a bank and went to sleep, and a pedlar passing by, for some reason or other, cut her petticoats considerably above her knees. When she awoke the first thing she said was, "Surely, this is not I." And sometimes, when he awoke in the morning, and saw what was said about Lord Tredegar, he was inclined to make the same remark, "Surely, this is not I." When I read of a Lord Tredegar who is trying to reap what he has not sown, who binds his tenants down to covenants which do not exist, and who exacts the uttermost farthing from his miserable tenants, I think sometimes there must be two Lord Tredegars.

_Tredegar Show,
November 24th, 1888._

THE TRIALS OF BENEFACTORS.

The other day a friend of mine was in much the same position as I am to-night. He owned a large estate in the neighbourhood, and he was asked to preside at a meeting of the candidate who was going to come forward. I asked him afterwards if the meeting was successful. "Oh, yes," he replied, "it was fairly successful, but they began to find out my failures and shortcomings." I said, "What have they found out about you?" The reply was, "I have lately started a store in the village, so that the agricultural labourers might have their beef and groceries at cost price. I thought that was rather a good thing to do, but it was far from a good thing in the opinion of my opponents. All the butchers and grocers declared they would make it very hot for me." I am in a somewhat similar position, and I told my friend so. "What have you done?" asked my friend, and I replied, "I have given a public park to the Newport people." "What has that to do with it?" "Well," said I, "they make out that it has increased the rates."

_Conservative Meeting, Newport,
February 2nd, 1894._

WHAT IS A PHILANTHROPIST?

There are moments in a man's life when there is a contest between the lip and the eye, whether we should smile or cry. I am sure you would not like to see me cry just now, but there is a certain amount of sentiment in an affair of this sort. For a person in my position it is rather trying. I feel very much like the little boy you all knew in your nursery stories. The boy had a pie, and "he put in his thumb and pulled out a plum and said 'What a good boy am I.'" That is what I feel now. I suppose I should feel like a philanthropist. You probably all know what a philanthropist is. A philanthropist is an old gentleman, probably with a bald head, and he tries to make his conscience think he is doing good all the while he is having his pocket picked.

_In reply to a vote of thanks._

"A SPLENDID FELLOW."

It has been wisely said that there is nothing a man will not believe in his own favour. Well, after the way you praise me I believe I am a splendid fellow altogether. But one's name is not always spoken of with that reverence with which a lord's name ought to be mentioned. Still, I suppose there is such a thing as ignorance among men about those who do not live in the same station as themselves, and I always put it down to that. Some day or other they may come to find out that what they say against Lord Tredegar is not all true.

_St. Mellons' Show,
September 29th, 1909._

NATURALLY A CONSERVATIVE.

You will not wonder that I am in a graver mood than is usual on these occasions. For more than 30 years my lamented father occupied this chair, and I believe he was present on every occasion of this kind. In that time, the show has been raised from a very small one to be one of the most important in the country. My father has left me, amongst other possessions, an hereditary trust in the shape of this Agricultural Show. If I have given any hope that I shall fill the position as my father filled it, I shall feel very much flattered. It is not my intention to make great changes. There is no way of showing disrespect more than in making great changes, turning everything topsy-turvey, as if we knew everything better than those who went before us. I am naturally Conservative, and come of a Conservative family. I intend to keep to what was good of my late father. I have inherited a great trust in this show, and I hope that in future it will be seen that the show has not lost its prestige, its popularity or its utility.

_Tredegar Show,
December 15th, 1875._

POLITICS ON THE BRAIN.

Everybody now has got politics on the brain. We dream of politics and we almost drink politics--at least, we have been drinking politics to-night. So far as I am concerned, I should like, Rip Van Winkle-like, to go to sleep for the next two months and wake up to find the general election over; only then I should like to wake up to find it had gone the right way.

_Farmers' Dinner, Bassaleg,
October 13th, 1885._

THE UNRULY HOUND.

It is wrong to introduce politics at this dinner, and, in fact, I have no great liking for politics on any occasion, though I do at times have a little to do with them. And I have a little way of my own. I have a most unruly hound in my pack, which I call "Radical," and I lick him whenever I have the opportunity. It does the hound good, and at the same time eases my own mind. Though I have no great love of politics, I think this is a time, if ever, a member of Parliament should feel inclined to speak. There is one subject which must be in everybody's mind, and for the consideration of which everyone must brace himself in the next session--that is "tenant's right." That is a question in which every agriculturist must take a deep interest; and for myself I think meetings of this sort much more likely to promote a goodly feeling between landlord and tenant than the provisions of any Act of Parliament.

_Tredegar Show,
December 14th, 1889._

THE WHOO WHOOPS.

I thank you for the way the toast of my health has been received; but I do not quite see the propriety of "whoo whoops" at the end. That is an expression that sportsmen use only when they are about to kill something; I do not see its applicability in the present case. I hope that you do not mean all you have expressed.

_Tredegar Show,
December 13th, 1871._

M.P.'S AS BADGERS.

During the intervals of pigeon pie and boiled beef, I have had the pleasure of a few minutes' conversation with Mr. Cordes, and from that conversation I have come to the conclusion that a Member of Parliament holds the same position to the human race that a badger does to the animal race. Some people think that the only earthly purpose for which a badger can have been created was that of being baited, and I have an idea that some persons seem to imagine that a member of Parliament was created for nothing but that we might bait him. But on this occasion we have been brought together not to bait Mr. Cordes, but to fete him.

_Conservative Banquet, Newport,
January 20th, 1876._

THE HONOUR OF BEING M.P.

It is a great honour still, I am sure, to be a member of the British House of Commons. Lord Rosebery, when he was chairman of the London County Council, in a speech that he made--and I dare say many of you have been interested in some of Lord Rosebery's speeches because he has a fund of humour, and very often one is not quite certain whether he is in earnest or in jest--once said that the position of a town councillor is much more important than that of a member of Parliament. It is quite possible that an individual member of a County Council or a Town Council may be more important as an individual than a member of the House of Commons, but his vote can only mainly affect the locality, whilst the action of a member of the House of Commons may not only affect the whole of Great Britain, but the whole of the British Empire. So I venture to think the position of a Member of Parliament is a little more important than that of a member of a Town Council or a County Council.

_Monmouthshire County Council,
February 2nd, 1910._

NELSON'S SAYING.

There still exists in the bosoms of our public men the feeling which animated Lord Nelson before the battle of the Nile, when he said, "To-morrow I shall have either a peerage or Westminster Abbey."

_Press Dinner, Cardiff,
May 9th, 1891._

THE DISADVANTAGES OF THE PEERAGE.

There are advantages and disadvantages in belonging to the House of Lords. The peers are deprived of the right which other citizens have of standing on the hustings and receiving eggs that are not fit for breakfast and cats that have not received honourable interment. But they have the privilege of British citizens of being roundly abused by those whose talents lay in that direction.

_Associated Chambers of Commerce,
Newport, Sept. 21st, 1892._

SWEEPS AS PEERS.

A certain gentleman who certainly thinks that the constitution of the country could be reorganised and set straight at once by a magazine article, says that if the House of Lords rejects the Home Rule Bill there is a very simple way to remedy the affair. Mr. Gladstone will then, he states, collect 70 sweeps and make them peers so as to gain a majority. Whether the gentleman intended to insult the sweeps or to insult the House of Lords I do not know. I am acquainted with some sweeps. I have always looked upon sweeps in the same way as I look upon licensed victuallers. They are a body of men who are carrying on a very difficult profession with credit to themselves and advantage to the country. Moreover, the sweeps with whom I am acquainted are most of them Tories, and I shall not be surprised if as soon as those 70 sweeps are collected and made peers, and have washed their faces and put on their coronets and robes, they do immediately range themselves on the Opposition side of the House, and do, as most new Gladstonian peers do, vote Conservative directly they are created.

_Newport Licensed Victuallers' Dinner,
February 23rd, 1893._

YOU CANNOT PLEASE EVERYBODY.

I have no doubt that if the House of Lords were to pass by a large majority the disestablishment of the Welsh Church in the next Session, the Welsh party would say the hereditary principle was the only one to be depended upon. On the other hand, if the Lords were to pass by a large majority a Local Veto Bill, I have no doubt the Licensed Victuallers would at once go in for the abolition of the House of Lords.

_Cardiff Licensed Victuallers' Dinner,
March 28th, 1894._

I am not a landlord myself, but I have strong opinions about the right of property, which I hope, in future legislation, will always be considered. If ever I become a landlord, I hope the interest which I have always felt in the welfare of my respected father's tenants will lead them to suppose that I shall never become such a ruffian as some people would make landlords out to be.

_Monmouthshire Chamber of Agriculture,
February 25th, 1874._

I confess I was much comforted in reading one of those amiable, kind and Christian-like speeches for the total suppression of landlords. I looked into the dictionary for the meaning of the word "landlord," and I found it was "a keeper of a public-house." When I read that, my soul was comforted.

_Newport Licensed Victuallers' Dinner,
January 30th, 1880._

I have always taken great interest in those who live on my property, it does not matter whether on agricultural land or in the bowels of the earth. A great landowner does not rest on a bed of roses. The loss to a landowner who only owns a small agricultural property, in days of agricultural depression when tenants cannot pay their rent, generally means a few hundred pounds and the reducing of all his expenses. But when it comes to great commercial interests, to owning the land on which our great ironworks, great tinworks, and collieries are situated, and when those interests are depressed, it means not a loss of a few hundreds, but the wiping off of several thousands. And it means occupying themselves night and day in ascertaining how they can help to still carry on those great interests which have employed so many hands, and which are so necessary for the welfare of the population of the district.... A great ironmaster, Mr. Carnegie, who found it to his best interest to carry on his great works in America, has enunciated a sentiment which appeals to me, to the effect that it is the business of every rich man to die poor. Sometimes I feel that will probably be my fate if I go on as I am doing. However, I shall be poor in good company.

_Presentation to Lord Tredegar of Miners' Lamp
and Silver Medal at Risca Eisteddfod,
October 5th, 1896._

Considerable difficulties attach to the position of a man who happens to own land round a large and increasing town. So many demands are placed before him. There are demands for building sites and for open spaces and public parks. It is difficult, when the land is limited in area, to satisfy all requirements. I hope, in a short time, however, to be enabled to make a present to the town of Newport of a public park, one which will not cost much in laying out for use.

_Mayoral Dinner, Newport,
December 22nd, 1891._

It may possibly happen that if the order to which I belong is swept away, I may become a candidate for municipal honours, and perhaps aspire to the civic chair. At present, however, I have my own responsibilities, for I am deeply troubled with what I may term the four R's--Rates, Roads, Royalties, and Rents.

_Mayor's Banquet,
March 18th, 1886._

KEEP US STILL OUR SHORTHORNS.

A gentleman who was very fond of writing poetry wrote a couple of lines which might be quoted against him although he has long since joined the majority. He wrote:--

Let laws and learning, art and commerce die,
But keep us still our old nobility.

The last line can be altered as you like, and you can put anything you like for laws and learning, I would say buffaloes or anything else, but keep our shorthorns. In breeding shorthorns a pedigree of a long line of ancestors is indispensable. Mr. Stratton and myself have tried to work on those lines by breeding the nobility of shorthorns.

_Stock Sale at the Duffryn, Newport,
October 7th, 1909._

INTEREST IN DAIRYING.

My thoughts are at the moment running on ground rents, royalties and wayleaves, so if I wander from the subject I hope you will forgive me. I cannot regard the subject of dairying without thinking how we would have stood now supposing we had taken up the question as we ought to have done twenty years ago. We would not now be taking a back seat with the foreigners. But I always now find great difficulty in obtaining entrance to the dairy competitions, if I go there casually. Whether it is the attractions of the pretty dairymaids inside, or the coolness of the atmosphere, there is certainly very great interest taken in the competitions and that is satisfactory.

_Monmouthshire Dairy School Prize Distribution,
November 5th, 1895._

WHERE ALL CLASSES MEET.

Of all meetings which take place in the course of a year, there are none attended with such universal good as an agricultural meeting, because here all classes can meet, whereas in nearly all other meetings the attendances are of a sectional character. For instance, race meetings--many people think them wrong and never attend them. Then there are Church Extension and Missionary Meetings--a great many do not like to attend them. But as to agricultural meetings, everybody seems to like to attend them, from the clergy to the racing man, the mechanic, the agricultural labourer, and the meetings must, therefore, promote a deal of harmony among classes. An agricultural meeting is much more effective than the proceedings of Messrs. Bright and Cobden, who are going about preaching a war of classes.

_Tredegar Show,
December 15th, 1863._

WHERE THE AGRICULTURIST SHOULD STUDY.

Some excursionists were going around the house of either Wordsworth or Tennyson--I forget which--and asked a servant where was her master's study. She replied, "Here is my master's study, but he studies in the fields." That is the lesson to be learnt in respect to agriculture.

_Agricultural Exhibition, Newport,
December 2nd, 1910._

A BLUE BOTTLE AND A BIRD.

I hope you won't do what I did last time. It was a day very different from this. It was very hot. I saw an animal in the ring that I did not care the least about, and just then a great blue-bottle settled on my nose. The consequence was that I bought the worst animal at a very high price.

_Stock Sale at the Duffryn, Newport,
October 7th, 1909._

A LIMIT EVEN TO SCIENCE.

In regard to scientific agriculture, I am not sure whether we are not rather overdoing things; but there is no doubt that, notwithstanding all the science we have, we have never succeeded in making a cow have more than one calf in a year, or a sheep more than two lambs. That goes to prove that there is a limit even to science in agriculture, and it reminds me of the saying, "You may pitchfork Nature out of existence, but she is sure to come back to you."

_Bassaleg Show,
October 11th, 1910._

AN EYE FOR A GOOD PAIR OF HORSES.

Some men have an eye for one thing and some for another, but I think if I have a weakness it is to fancy that I have an eye for a good pair of horses, and for a straight line. When I see a line I can judge if it has been ploughed straight, and then I can judge whether the ploughman has had too much. Of course, that sort of thing never happens at a ploughing match, but still it is as well to be on the look-out.

_Farmers' Association, Bassaleg,
October 17th, 1876._

AS CATTLE DEALER.

Just before I came to the meeting I had put into my hand a small--a very small--paper in which I am described as a cattle-dealer. But I am not at all ashamed of that.

_Newport Conservative Meeting,
April 5th, 1888._

THE BEST FARMER.

It was the late Lord Beaconsfield, I believe, who said that the best educated farmer known spent all his life in the open air, and never read a book. There is a great deal of truth in that, and although science may aid farmers, observation and experience in the proper treatment of land and crops will do much more.

_Tredegar Show,
December 26th, 1890._

FOX-HUNTING AND DIPLOMACY.

Many people imagine that to be a Master of Foxhounds you have only to get a horse--but besides the matter of pounds, shillings and pence, you have to create an interest amongst the farmers over whose land you hunt, and whose sheep, pigs and lambs you frighten. One, therefore, has to use a certain amount of diplomacy.

_Gelligaer Steeplechases,
April 12th, 1910._

Nothing tends to brush away the cobwebs so much as a bracing run with the hounds. Fox hunting is an admirable sport, and my neighbours shall enjoy it as long as there is a fox to be found on my estate.

_At Tredegar House,
October 30th, 1884._

AT AN ATHLETIC CLUB DINNER.

When I came into the room I expected to find one half of the company on crutches and the other half in splints. I am not at all certain that I am the proper man to be President of this club, because I think that the President of an athletic club should measure at least 48 inches round the chest, and ought to have biceps of 18 inches, and scale at least 14 stone 7 lbs. I am afraid all the dumb bells in the world would not get me up to that. I am what might be called an old fossil, though I cannot boast of the garrulity of old age, and therefore I will not tell you that when I played football I was always kicking the ball out of the ground into the river; or that when I played cricket I always drove the ball into the river. Those are facts well known in Newport.

_First Annual Dinner of the Newport Athletic Club,
April 19th, 1890._

HUNTING.

I am always delighted to see any member of the Corporation at the meet of my hounds. If they came out horrid Radicals they would go back half Tories.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin," and there is nothing like a meet in the open country for setting things right between friends and neighbours.

_Mayor's Banquet, Newport,
January 15th, 1884._

A clever satirist has said that nature made the horse and hounds and threw in the fox as a connecting link. In my opinion, fox-hounds and hunting are the connecting links between the landlord and the tenant farmer.

I have made many pleasant acquaintances lately in my hunting expeditions, and I hope we shall always remain on the most amicable terms. But some have astonished me with their argument. Said one, "Beg pardon, Major, I have lost such a sight of poultry." "Dear me," I said. "Yes, we lost forty ducks the other night." "Oh, the devil!" I exclaimed. "No, not the devil," said the farmer, "but the fox." I asked the farmer how he managed to count so many. "Well," was the reply, "I had four ducks sitting on ten eggs each; and that made forty." Well, the Chamber of Agriculture has not yet settled the knotty point of "compensation for unexhausted improvements." However, the argument ended in our parting very good friends, as, said the farmer, "I and my landlord have been friends hitherto, and as I hope we shall continue to be."

TWO UNPROFITABLE HONOURS.

I have the honour to hold two offices which, if I did not enjoy the friendship of the farmers, would be very thorny ones. One of them is that of being a member of Parliament for an agricultural county. You will agree with me that, in such a position, if I were not on good terms with the farmer, I would often be on a bed of thorns.

The other office I hold is that of master of a pack of hounds. I think also if I were not on good terms with the farmer that would not be a very pleasant position. I do not know that there is any similarity between the two offices, except that neither of them has any salary. I hope and trust that it will be a very long time before the country will be unable to find men willing to do the duties in either capacity without being paid for them.

_Tredegar Show,
December 19th, 1865._

THE HAPPY FARMER.

A great many people fancy that the farmer lives in a beautiful cottage, with vines climbing over it, that the cows give milk without any milking, that the earth yields forth her fruits spontaneously, and that the farmer has nothing to do but sit still and get rich.

_Tredegar Show,
December 16th, 1875._

EQUINE EXPRESSIONS.

Our great orators, whenever they want to be more expressive than usual, make use of phrases savouring of horses and carriages. When the Grand Old Man came into power, it was said he would have an awkward team to manage. Again, when a great division was expected some time ago, and there were doubts as to which way two gentlemen would go, it was said that Mr. Fowler had kicked over the traces and that Mr. Saunders would jib. Equine expressions are quite in the fashion.

_May Horse Show Dinner,
May 4th, 1893._

KINDNESS TO ANIMALS.

My experience of life is that a man who loves horses is a good member of society. A man who is kind to his horses is kind to everyone else. I belong to a Four-in-hand Club, two of the leading members, Lord Onslow and Lord Carrington, being close personal friends of mine. A relative of Lord Onslow once wrote:

"What can Tommy Onslow do
He can drive a coach and two;
Can Tommy Onslow do no more
Yes, he can drive a coach and four."

Yet Lord Onslow and Lord Carrington are something more than splendid whips; they are highly successful governors of British Dependencies.

_May Day Horse Show Dinner,
March 2nd, 1889._

TALKS ON EDUCATION.

I have been delighted to hand so many prizes to lady pupil teachers, and I recall the philosopher who once said, "All that is necessary is that a girl should have the morals of an angel, the manners of a kitten, and the mind of a flea." But after this distribution one cannot go away with the impression that the female mind is only the mind of a flea.

_Pupil Teachers' Prize Distribution,
January 16th, 1903._

We have been informed, to-night of different foreign educational systems, the German, the French, and the American, which we are generally told in this country we ought to copy. In the French system there is too much centralization. Every teacher, whether at a university or at a small elementary school, is simply a Government Official. The German system is a splendid one, but it is all subsidized by Government. The English Government is not generous enough to do that for English Schools, so we can hardly hope to copy the German system. Then there is the American system. That is also certainly splendid, but unfortunately we have no great millionaires in England who will help us to copy the American system. It has been said that when an Englishman becomes a millionaire, and he feels that he is nearing his end, he thinks--to use a sporting expression--that it is time to "hedge for a future state." Then he builds a Church. The American millionaire founds a university, or leaves large sums of money for a training college, and I think he is right.

_Technical School Prize Distribution, Newport,
December 3rd, 1902._

Sir William Preece has said that there were five new elements discovered within the last century. There were others undiscovered, and it only remained for some student to discover one of them to make himself famous, and, like Xenophon, return to find his name writ large on the walls of his native town. A celebrated poet once declared--

"You can live without stars;
You can live without books,
But civilized man
Cannot live without cooks."

Some people may be able to live without books and only with cooks. But without science and books we should not have had our Empire. Books and science help us to keep up the Empire. It is for these reasons that I do what I can to encourage technical and scientific education.

_School of Science and Art Prize Distribution,
December 4th, 1901._

You can be quite certain that no hooligan ever attended an art school. The intelligence and refinement of manners brought about by the study of sculpture, painting, and architecture have more to do with the stopping of drunkenness than any other teaching you could think of.... The charm of these art schools for me lies in the fact that we are always expecting something great, just as a fisherman at a little brook, where he has never caught anything much larger than his little finger, is always expecting to hook some big monster. In these art schools I am always expecting some great artist or sculptor turned out--somebody from Newport Schools--not only a credit to himself but to any town, somebody who will become a second Millais or a great sculptor.

Newport has improved a good deal of late years, and I am sure the study of painting and architecture has had much to do with it. In looking over some old papers in the Tredegar archives the other day, I came across a description by two people who passed from Cardiff through Newport about 100 years ago. They said: "We went over a nasty, muddy river, on an old rotten wooden bridge, shocking to look at and dangerous to pass over. On the whole this is a nasty old town."

_School of Science and Art Prize Distribution,
December 5th, 1900._

Sir John Gorst has made reference to the indisposition of the territorial aristocracy to encourage high intellectual attainment. I think "territorial aristocracy" is rather an undefinable term, and perhaps school children will be asked what it is. I do not think that those who own land are as a class opposed to high intellectual attainment. The County Councils to some extent are representative of territorial aristocracy, and 41 of the 49 County Councils of England and Wales have agreed to spend the whole of the Government grant in education. That is a sign that the territorial aristocracy are not averse to intellectual attainment.

Perhaps Colonel Wallis will ask some of the children in the school what the meaning of "territorial aristocracy" is. I read that when a child was asked what the meaning of the word Yankee was, the reply was that it was an animal bred in Yorkshire.

_Opening of the School Board Offices, Newport,
March 11th, 1898._

Victor Hugo once said that the opening of a school means the closing of a prison. That is very true, regarded as an aphorism, and I wish it were true in reality, because there would not be any prisons left in England.

_Opening of Intermediate Schools,
October 29th, 1896._

I am pleased that technical schools are taking such a firm hold in the town. I feel more and more that the teaching of art is doing a great deal of good. There is a great improvement in the tastes of the people, shown by the architectural beauty of their residences and in decorations generally.

I was very much surprised a short time ago at reading a strong article by "Ouida"--whose novels I have read with a great deal of interest--on the ugliness of our modern life. She certainly took a very pessimistic view of the matter and seemed to look only at the workaday part of the world--at the making of railways, the knocking down of old houses, and the riding of bicycles. I do not see that those things come under the title of art. One of the objects of instruction at the art schools is to induce students to create ideas of their own. At the same time I do not think you could do much better than study the old masters, than whose works I do not see anything better amongst modern productions. The great silver racing cups given away now, worth from L300 to L500, do not compare with the handiwork of Italian and Venetian silver workers. I have some pieces of plate in the great cellar under Tredegar House which I do not think it possible to improve upon.

_School of Science and Art Prize Distribution, Newport,
January 24th, 1896._

One or two little incidents in my own experience lately shew the value of studying some particular trade or science or some form of art. Only the other day I met a young lady at a country house. Before I had seen her a few minutes she remarked: "I suppose you don't remember me, Lord Tredegar?" If I had been young and gallant, it would have been natural for me to have replied: "Such a face as yours I am not in the least likely to forget." But I thought I was too old for that, and merely said that I did not remember at the moment having met her previously. The young lady then informed me that she had received a prize at my hands at a great school, and that in handing her the prize I had remarked, "You have well earned the prize, and it is a branch of art that, if continued, will prove very useful in after life." That branch of art had enabled her to take the position she then occupied.

The other incident was that of a young man who had been left by his parents very poor. He had the greatest difficulty in getting anything at all to do, because he had never made himself proficient in any particular trade or science. I agree with the man who said one should know something about everything and everything about something.

_School of Science and Art Prize Distribution, Newport,
December 17th, 1894._

It has been well said, I forget by whom, but I think it was Dr. Johnson, that you can do anything with a Scotsman, if you catch him young. I think you can say just the same of the Welshman or the Monmouthshire man.

_Newport Intermediate Boys' School,
November 4th, 1910._

One day I accompanied a young lady to her carriage on leaving a public function at which I had officiated. The band struck up a martial air, and I stepped actively to the time of the music. Remarking to the young lady that the martial air appealed to an old soldier, she said, "Why, Lord Tredegar, were you ever in the Army?" That is the reason why I think we should have memorials and why I shall be very glad to have this picture in my house.

_On the occasion of the presentation of a Portrait of his
Lordship's Statue in Cathays Park, Cardiff,
September 19th, 1909._