About thirty Irishmen gathered at the Club on the evening of the 17th, to do honor to their patron Saint, and spent a capital ening under the presidency of Mr. J. I.
The dinner was held in the small room on the right of the hall, which was simply decorated! for the occasion with flags and shillelaghs, There hung on the wall the traditional shillelagh presented by Saint Andrew to Saint Patrick on the occasion of the first dinner in the latter's honor and there also was a huge Penang lawyer imported specially for the occasion—about which opinions only differed as to whether it were six or seven feet in length, and whether the Irishman existed in these degenorate days who could wield such a mighty weapon with effect. 'There was oven, we believe, a sprig of genuine Shamrock' in the room; but it was too precious to be exposed, and trefoil had to be chiefly relied on, making no bad substitute, as a table decoration.
Several guests lind been others Captain Whyte of H. M. 8. and Mr. Rerguseou, the President of the Saint Andrew's Society for the current year, Altogether about 40 sat down to table, under the presidency of Mr. J. I. Miller, supported by Mr. R. H. Boyce as Vice-Chairmav, and Mr. Kingsmill and Dr. Jamieson as Croupiers.
The usual toasts wore proposed with, perhaps, more than the usual eloquence, and honored with fully the usual fervour. We need only add that the punch (brewed by the Vice-Chairman) was excellent, and that songs were plentiful and appropriate, to affirm that the evening was most pleasantly spent, and to account for its being prolonged well into the next day. Indeed, it was past midnight before the toast list was ended, and we hear rumours of a continuous stream of punch and eloquence having been kept up till past 2, Directly after dinner, The Cuatmatax rose to propose the first toast—"The Queen." It was always satisfactory to be able to combine pleasure with duty; and they would all agree that he could very satisfactorily do so in proposing the health of Her Majesty. he toast had been so often proposed, and was always so well received along her true and loyal subjects, that it needed no more words from him to recommend it. He called on them to drink to the Queen.
The Carman had next to propose the health of His Royal Highness the Earl of Dublin. The Earl was at present the only Irish peer of royal blood; but very probably before this time twelve-months their Saint's godson would add another to the list. Whenever the Earl of Dublin had visited their shores he had been received with "Cead mille Fealtha," and whenever any other of the Royal Family came, they were equally welcome. Without further preface he gave them the Earl of Dublin, The Cuarratay then rose to propose the toast of the evening—'* The Day we Celebrate"—our National Saint's Day. I am not, he said, about to give you an elnborato history either of the Saint or of the festival. All of you, my fellow-countrymen, arg too well aware who St. Patrick was, what ho did, and how the day is celebrated in our own country, to need any account of it at my hands; and Tam sure our guests will feel obliged for the omission. If anything were needed to prove St. Patrick's worth, I need only refer to the spirited controversy that exists as to the land of his birth, England, Wales, Scotland, and France all claim the honor. I need only say we know he came from the County Antrim, (Cheers and laughter.) But wherever he may have come from, it shows how highly he was reputed, that there should be so many claimants for the'honor of being considered his birthplace, You all know what he did for us, temporally and spiritually; how he beautified and adorned Ireland with monasteries and other buildings, and how he introduced Christianity. It is also well known how he saved us from frogs, sarpints, and all other deadly beasts. But one thing might not be so generally known—namely, that he invented potheen, (cheers), and that alone should bring him down to posterity with all honour. Now, gentlemen, some people think such ele: rations as the present are out of dat That may be their opinion; it is not mine, and I should be sorry that it were. think such meetings do a great deal of good. Surely it is a good thing once a year to meet together and remind each other of our native Iand—the land of our birth, the land w IL love 80 well—Pint Pride of the cart Pint fam of the tea; calling up all our best thoughts and feelings—the fresher thoughts of younger days, before care had entered our hearts or wrinkled our brows. Surely it is a good thing to meet together once year in this distant land, and remind each other of the old folks at home—who, I am sure, are just now thinking of us. '(Applause.) Our brother Scots, who are well and worthily represented here to-night (turning to Mr, Fergusson), think so and do" so, and can therefore sympathize heartily with us when we meet to celebrate the national festival of our own land. Tt has been a subject of remark, and I have often thought it over,' why
(Cries of "They haven't one," cheers Bnglishmen never patronize thais' Saint and laughter.) "Often, when talking to an Englishman, I have heard he didn't know when his festival took place. Now, at some cost of time and trouble, T have found-out that St. George's Day falls on the 23rd April. (A voice—Not the Ist) No, not the Ist; and I hope they will now follow the example set them by Irish, Scots and Americans. On occa sions like the present we are allowed a certain license in the way of self-glorification, 1 will not detain you, however, by venturing on this ground. I leave it to the speakers who will come after me. I will say, however, that Ireland can hield her own, whether in Art, or War, or Song. Within our own recollection, we can boast Irishmen who, as statesmen, gene als and authors, have nobly upheld their
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.