eee “ - Nene . ee een creel A A L -_— — — of frente continually increase. Atheneus describes an|acted by the notable Beau Brummell! in his latter days.|so that the Central Society should not have a larger entertainment given by an ancient Gelic prince to his| The beau lived to be old and paralytic, his fortune was ee eeea eens eacenstonerer eer THE EXAMINER. proportion than any Branch Society. “7th—That for keeping up a more intimate connex- whole people, and all strangers who chose to attend :|considerably diminished, and those of his former friends ion between the Central and the Branch Societies, itlasted for a whole year, according to that author, and the bill of fare consumed, he states, was such as would astonish the world. A feast among the ancient Britons or their wea!th. many by which his rule was, distinguished ; but finding on the morning of the third, leaving orders with his| vals and Holidays—in a succeeding article. or rivals whom he had not survived had forgotten him when no longer seen to reign over dinners, and legislate in ballrooms; but the ruling passion was still with Beau appears, by the following description, to have been a| Brummell, and in the long winter evenings he was ac- very different affair from the annual banquet at Apsley |customed to indulge it with make-believe dinner-parties House, or even a great political dinner, not to mention|in the fashion of other days, every little of which was the Lord Mayor’s display. The dishes in which the|as exactly imitated as his most faithful memory could meat was served up where either of wood, earthenware,|command; and there the old man sat, in his solitary or a kind of baskets made of osiers. The guests sat in{room, pouring forth the ancient strain of compliment acircle upon the ground: a low table or stool was set and salutation. ‘My dear duchess, I have been dying before each person, with a portion of the meat allotted|tosee youthis fortnight! ‘ Almost late, my lord; it is to him upon it. In this distribution they never neglect-| Lady Charlotte or the poet should account for it? And so ed to set the largest and best pieces before those who|he went on, addressing beauties, ministers, and littera- were most distingnished for their rank, their exploits,|tewis, long dead, and mostly forgotten, as one after an- other they were announced, according to his directions, There is a tradition in lreland regarding a Celtit|by the footman, who used to shudder years afterwards chief, whose pride and generosity are said to have been|at the recollection of his own terrified expectations, as equally remarkable. He had made a feast, the last of every name sounded through the lonely house. In short, many and curious have been the varieties. his funds utterly inadequate to go beyond the second|and accompaniments of feasts; but with the last-men- day, and less than three being considered niggardly in|tioned specimen we conclude for the present, proposing his land and times, he contrived a hunt for the company |to return to the second division of our subject—Festi- servants to burn the castle in their absence, ss the only possible apology for abridging the festivities. The leg- with all his family, went to seek their fortune on the continent, whence none of them ever returned. CH WALLER. end adds—his command was executed, and the chief,|_-_—_ CHARLOTTETOWN, JANUARY 1, 1849. Dryden’s well-known poem, ‘ Alexander’s Feast’, re-/ PLAN OF A NEW AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. cords a similar, but far more deplorable event—the burning of a great city, the ancient capital of Persia, which was fired by Alexander and his officers in the frenzy of intoxication, at a feast held within its walls. Passing to pleasanter though ruder scenes of the festal order in the extreme north: a feast usually takes place on any part of the Greenland coast where a whale hap- pens to be stranded, the fare being furnished by the great fish. The young men of whatever tribe has des- patched or discovered, it—for freshness is by no neans & requisite to Greenland cheer-—assemble and construct along low house of snow, there being no scarcity of auch building materials. A circular hole in the end, generally facing the south, is left for the entrance of the company ; the interior is eovered with skins till not a particle of the snow is visible, and heated with large earthen lamps, in which. all manner of oily matter is kept constantly burning. Then, the viands, prepared tions, lowing outline of a Constitution for the proposed Socie- ties, from whieh our readers will derive a clearer idea of their means of promoting the object in view, than we can give in @ summary :— Royal Society is placed. We observed in the Gazette of Tuesday last a Letter addressed to His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, sig ned by seven or eight gentlemen, in which it is pro- posed to form a new Agricultural Society, on what is believed to be a broader basis than that on which the It is contemplated to have Branch Societies at Princetown, Cascumpeque, Souris, and Georgetown, all of which to be under the controul of the Society in Charlottetown—that the Government is to have the power of appointing a Secretary and Treasurer for each Society—and that the Legislature is to advance to the Central Society a sum of money equal in atnount to what may be raised by subscrip- We extract from the Letter referred to the fol- each Branch Society should be entitled to appoint one of its Members to act as a Director of the Central So- ciety, such Directors to be in addition to those elected by the Central Society, and that the Central Society should have the power of appointing Visitors, whose duty it should be, at certain periods, to visit the Branch Societies, inspect their Accounts, ascertain their wants, and report’on the state of their affairs, and use their endeavours to stimulate the people to support the So- cieties, and thereby increase their usefulness,” We have no wish to offer the least discouragement to the formation of the proposed Societies. We have at all times, we believe, manifested the most ardent de- sire to promote the agricultural interests of the Colony, and, as a public journalist, we wil! still assist, to the ut- most of our power, in the achievement of any plan having this interest in view. But the question does, and must arise, Has the Royal Agricultural Society failed te carry out the object of its establishment? or, is a new Society likely to effect more than it has yet achieved > Ifthe new Society go into operation, the old must be- come powerless at once, or gradually dwindle into is- significance. The old Society has, we believe, more than 150 Subscribers, with funds to nearly the amount expected to be raised by the new one; and it is quite reasonable to suppose that the Legislature would make as large an appropriation in favour of the present Socie- ty, as it would on behalf of any other that could be esta- blished to supercede it. With the limited means at its disposal, and the small assistance it has hitherto receiv- ed from the Legislature—most of the grants of public money being in the shape of Joans—it must be confess- ed that the Royal Agricultural Society has given con- siderable encouragement to the farming interest, by im- proving Stock, introducing new and improved imple- ments of husbandry, and in exciting competition, by means of their Ploughing Matches, Grain and Cattle Shows. The only striking feature which, it appeare, would distinguish the proposed Society from the existing one, is, that artieles imported wou!d be sold to the Branch Societies at cost prices, whereas the Royal Society charges ten per cent. on the cost prices ; and this was found necessary to provide for the incidental expen- ses ofthe Society. But if the House of Assembly could be induced to give to it the same extent of support as it is thought would be obtained for the proposed Society — and we think the chances in favour of the former in this respect are as great as they would be for the latter— Branch Soeieties could be formed and supplied without by the active hands of the ladies, and consisting of all , ee wv Sock ofthe. whale and on cide iii dial nv ohn. Ist—That a Central Society be established in Char-. the additional charge of 10 per cent. But we forget— be: union aaainiaiel inlined inca a lottetown, to be ee ee ea Presi- there are other important benefits to be gained, in the > conve y €& » are arranged on. the centre! dent, seven Directors, and a Secretary and Treasurer:) , ' ' ‘arabe ’ : A w of the floor in Esquimaux fasbion—the solids in the|that snch Central Society be incorporated by Act of is - rng ee oe - - ae kee isiddle, and the oil, accompanied with stronger liquids,| Assembly, with all necessary powers to make Bye Society: _ Se ee ee " cine. oo ; \Laws, &c. The office of Secretary and Treasurer to sal (supposing £500 to come out of the public chest, a if such can be procured from any trading whaler, set a ° % ac il. | ae ; - , be in the appointment of the Governor and, Counci ) supposition, we fear, not likely to be realized for some round in coarse earthen vessels by way of liquor. All b lly elected by the subscribers. | . tt ' Dr at the ethers: tahoe ehanany elected Sy the emery Fj, Years at least), which would be about 4d: to each inha- being ready, the invjtations are immediately given by |The accounts of the Society’s expenditure, with a ee she ld b Wy h a bia the young men, who run for that purpose from family |report of their proceedings, to be annually laid before: itant, “snort ee ee : a ge- Soar oe the Executive, in the same way as other Public Ac-'neral want and distress be entirely unknown”!! The i family. They are as speedily accepted ; and when, he 13 wt ;, —_ q P ; Ae ‘counts, and to be subject to the like andit. ‘Royal Society certainly could not hope of bringing all the guests haye arrived, the entrance hole is closed; «9,)_ "1, | subscription of Five Shillings. : : oe 2nd--That an annual subscription ive Shilling a thas : “a abont this halcyon state of things—it was not designe ‘ with a strong barricade made of driftwood, to. keep,out|should constitute the person subscribing, a Member. | d f l - Provid d | | the polar bears; but within, the revelry continues with) That each annual Subscriber, of not less than Five to avert the decrees of an all-wise Providence, and save | 4 4 oe) 36 ‘ z ‘ ip 2 3 Tea 7 | t i t. a little intermission, till the whale is entirely eaten up, |! ounds per annum, should be eligible to be elected the potatoe plant from disease, and the wheat from rus git git . || President. That each annual Subscriber of not less) But if the gentlemen who have siened the letter to His and the snow house, in spite of the external cold, begins| nan One Pound perannum, should be eligible to be ,, ie pe It away from ite ee , ° Excellency think that so much good can be accom- melt away from its numerous inhabitants. | elected a Director. ed ‘The feasts of former times have furnished some of the Poe. rood banquet described in Scott’s ‘ Marmion,’ and that| in the opening scene of the ‘Lord of. the Isles,’ will Oc-| ' . ° ° . “ 3rd—That the Central Society should, on being or- plished, why do they not combine energetically with most striking subjects for modern poetry. The Holy-|22"!zed, proceed to establish five Braneh Societies,viz: the old Society—participate in its management, and de- one at Georgetown, and one at Souris ; that such Branc Societies should each consist of a President, Vice Pre-| ‘ness in the heart of it, as fatal to its efficiency as the cur to every reader. Mrs, Hemans, in her ‘Kaiser’s|sident, and Secretary and Treasurer, the last officer to, Murrain 1s to the usefulness of the potatoe | Feast,’ has epitomised the Story ofa German. emperor, | who, having warred with his only brother for years, and| be appointed by the Governor and Council, the others to be elected. i “4th-—That each angual Subscriber to any Branch’! AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT aT Last.—In the Islander's : at length succeeded in dispossessing him of the throne, | Society, of not less than ‘I'wenty Shillings, should be editorial of Friday week there were two admissioss | was informed of his death in exile and poverty, and pre- eligible to be elected President or Vice President of| Which we forgot to notice in replying to that sgngncien oF } sented with hjs orphan children in.the midst of a splen-|such Branch Society; and each annual Subscriber of last No. It commenced with saying that THE hxami- jnot less than Five Shillings, should be eligible to be! vex of the 11th ult. was the “reflection of his Satanic did banquet, The old and much diversified legend of a| : “lite Fi , “t ° ‘electeda Direetor of such Society. is - , eat win Webs spectral and uninvited guest appearing to claim. broken| «5:h--That each Branch Society should have the Majesty at large,” and in the next sen ' 7. aig: op : Prato promises, or announce retribution, at the banquet where} management of its own affairs, but should be compelled told that it was the second edition of “the veritable : successftt! treachery or injustice held the hiehest place ‘at regular periods to account to the Central Society, Palladium.” Itis easy enough to account for the fee!- - °° “9 } a a ‘ : : ; : ae is familiar to the poets of Europe, and contains a sounder|*"™4 that the Central Society should have the power of ing which prompted the allusion to “his Satanic Ma jesty:” the Islander editor felt, and justly, that Tux |control over them, in preventing an improper applica-| Ty i se renerally attributed ¢ a 4 moral than those generally attributed tothe rude and su ltion.of their fands. e . . 2 . . . . ' ’ | , 7 >)” witt perstitious times in which it had its origin. Spectres! “ 6th—That it should be-the duty of the Central So- Examiner of the 11th ult. “ played the very devil niay still appear at life’s feasts, though not of the kind ciety to. make importations of Seeds, Stock, &c., re- Sir Donald and the Oligarchy. roramon in old stories, that made the lights burn blue ’ ; g By a sort of contrast, hese reflections recall a singular} ° ° ° . . . | yersion of the Barmecide’s teast, said to have been en- We confess that we quired by all the Societies, who should be supplied are wickedly enough inclined to give the Islander edi- rom the Central Society’s Warehouse at cost price. | That all Live Stock imported or purchased, should be} tor—whoever that occult genius is—further reason to : ; . t " - : ? r i we equally divided’ between the different Branch Societies, make the allusion above cited, for we assure him we