How careful he was to observe the scope and effects of parliamentary speaking appears from a letter which he wrote many years later.
Agriculture has always been a particularly fine training-ground for statesmen.

To persons who do not watch it closely, it may seem monotonous.

In reality, while the sum of the conditions of one year tally closely with those of another, the daily changes and variations create a variety which must be constantly watched and provided for.

A sudden freshet and unseasonable access of heat or cold, a scourge of hail, a drought, a murrain among the cattle, call for ingenuity and for resourcefulness; and for courage, a higher moral quality.

Constant comradeship with Nature seems to beget placidity and quiet assurance.
From using the great natural forces which bring to pass crops and the seasons, they seem to work in and through him also.