ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 48, 28 March 1874, Page 8

ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN CHRISTCHURCH.

(From the ' Lyttelton Times ') COMMEMORATIVE BANQUETS. T;he festival of the Patron Saint of Ireland was commemoiated in .Christchurch by Irishmen of all shades of opinion and others yesterday, aud the proceedings were marked by a warmth of good-feeling I which contrasted favorably with any previous demonstration »f the ! lind, causing everything to' pass off with decided eclat. Two public i dinners were held— one at the Forester' Hall, and the other, under | Ihe auspices of the Hibernian Australasian Catholic Benefit Society, and took place in the Barbadoes street Schoolroom. THE DINNER AT THE FOEESTBRS* HAIi. The dinner at the Foresters' Hall may, without doubt, be classed j amongst the most successful of such gatherings that have yet occurred | in Christchurch, the only regret being that the seating accommodatim \ ■was not more extensive. The committee had workad zealously, ani | ■with such judicious effect that the demaud for tickets was* far in ] excess sf the supply. The hall was crowded almost to inconvenience } about one hundred and forty sitting down. The same care which characterised the preliminary arrangements was extended to the preparation of the hall for the dinner, and the result was exceedingly good: The -walls being low render the task of decorating the hall at any time a work of difficulty, but this was never more successfully overcome than on the present occasion. The tables were liberally furnished, flowers and brilliant lighting being provided. The tout ensemhle was very rich and imposing. The chair was occupied by Mr C. C. Bowen, R. 11., wb.3 was supported on his right by His Honor Air Justice Gresson, Mr W. Reeves, JE H.R., the Hon. Col. Brett, Mr Ormsby, M.P.C., and on his It ft by iiia Honor the Superintendent, Mr. Maude (Secretary for Public

Works), His Worship the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr M. B. Hart) Mr J. W. White (Crown Prosecutor), Timaru. ' The vice-chairs were filled by His Honor the Deputy-Superinten-dent (Mr R. J. S. Hartnan). Mr W. Montgomery (President of the Provincial Executive), and Mr T. I. Joynt (Provincial Solicitor.) Mr Harman was supported on his right by Mr George Gordon (Town Clerk), and on his left by Mr E. S. Wilcocks (.Registrar of tha Supreme Court.) Mr Montgomery was supported on his right by Mr J. M. Smith and on his left by Mr. C. A. Prichard. ' Mr Joynt was supported on his right by Mr A. C. CottrelL solicitor, and on his left by Mr William Watson. The usual l?yal toasts were drunk. in responding to the toast "The Army, Navy, and Volunteers," the Hon. Col- Brett (who was loudly cheered) responded in a handsome speech, in which he bore testimony to the services rendered by Irish regimeuts to the British Empire. Mr W. Wilson, in the course of proposing the toast of His Honor the Superintendent, remarked :— And now, gentlemen, if you ask why did I, as a Scotchman, undertake to propose this very important toast in the midst of a meeting of Irishmen, I will tell you that I spent five of the very happiest years of my life at Parsonstown, in the Kino's County, in Ireland, in the service ef the late Earl of Rosse, as his land steward and gardener, a nobleman who enjoyed for several years the proud position of President of the Royal Society of England," and one whose name will ever be honorably associated with the advancement of astronomical and mechanical science. His Honor the Superintendent was loudly cheered on risin<» to respond. His Honor, in resuonding to the toast, paid a m>h compliment to Mr James Edward PitzGerald for the services he had rendered to the province in days gone by. (Loud cheers.) Mr C. C. Bowen, R.M., on rising to propose the toast of the evening, was received with immense cheering. He said : I have now to propose the tonst of the evening — " Our Native Land." In a company like this, I am not going to dilate upon the ordinary sentiments which are suggested by such a theme. It will be far better to leave undisturbed by such common-places the tender recollections that arise at the mention of our early homes ; and while bearing testimony to the inspiring effect which such memories leave, we ought to brace ourselves to consider how far we may still rejoice that we have not lost o"ur couutry, although far from the land of our birth. (Cheers.) What we have lost— what old associations have been broken up what traditional memoiies have waned away in the fierce eagerness of colonial life we know too well. But it is good for us to consiler, too, what we have gained, and how far we may enjoy the advantages of a new country without losing those which were our birthright in the old. (Loud cheers.) lam especially glad to be here tonight in an assemblage which represents every phase of opinion in the old country— (hear, hear) — because such a gathering is a proof that all of us have learned something through the larger education which changes of life and scene must bring. (Cheers.) How happy it would be for our countrymen at home if their minds could be for a time weaned from brooding on traditions of ancient feuds and ancient wrongs, and bent on the practical improvement of their country ! (Intense cheers.) It is wonderful how small and petty some of the causes of strife appear when they are looked at from a new point of view, and with a larger prospect spread before our eves. Although we are far away from our native land, we have not lost our ancient citizenship — (cheers) — and wo are, perhaps, more ready, from our experience, than we were before, to | realise the privileges of belonging to a great empire. (Renewed cheers.) Patriotism— real patriotism — is a noble and soul-inspiring virtue, but it may be, and has been, narrowed into a very ignoble prejudice. Englishmen, Scotchmen, Irishmen, who have never seen anything of other lands besides their own are too apt to consider it patriotic to despise all outside their own borders ; even to despise— or pretend to despise their own fellow-countrymen who happen to live in distant parts of the great Empire. It was such narrow patriotism as this that made the glory of Greece so short-lived, notwithstanding the brilliant — the immortal genius of one of its jealous little states. It wa9 a larger and nobler patriotism that made Rome mistress of the world, and enabled her to stamp the impress of her slower but more ?ohd genius on every country then known. To come to our own day, it was a large* and nobler patriotism that led the various States of America, differing as they do in history, in origin, and in interests, to sacrifice everything else in the la^e war for the maintenance of unity. (Cheeis). Nor is such patriotism inconsistent with the most intense ' love for the special native land to which, each person may belong, for a ; wholesame pride in the native land is best shown by a generous rivalry i with those born in the other parts of the Queen's Dominions. (Hear, I hear, and cheers.) Have Irishmen any reason to be ashamed of the part they have taken in the building up of the British Empire ? Have they any reason to complain that they are unabb to obtain a fair share in its struggles— in its victories— in its honours ? What ] need is there to multiply examples ? We cannot but remember that j at the great crisis in the fate of England aud of Europe, the most | eloquent voice in the British Parliament was that of Edmund Burie. i (Cheers.) And that on the day big with the fate of Europe — t ie day | that " shook the spoiler down," a Wellesley commanded the arxies of I England. (Cheers.) And now when the value of the dependencies and , colonies of Great Britain is beginniug to be understood at last, who are the men representing the sovereign power? It is but yesterday that Great Britain and her colonies were mourning the death of that 1 high-spirited Irish statesman, Lord Mayo, who wielded so ably as I Viceroy the sceptre of the Great Indian Empire. Who are to-day the ■ j Governors of the greatest Colonies ? I think it may be said that the ■ i first colonies in rank are Canada, Victoria, and New South Wales. ! ! Well, the Governor-Geneial of Canada is Lord Dufferin — he is an j Irishman. (Cheers.) The Governor of Victoria w Sir George Bovwn ■ — he is an Irishman. (Renewed cheers.) The Governor of N?w , South Wales is Sir Hercules Robinson, and" he is an Irishman, too. i , (Great cheering.) In a settlement like Canterbury, whose founders * I we.-c led by a Godley aud a FitzGrerald, it is unnecessary to dwell upon

the earnest part taken bj Irishmen in the work of colonisation. Looking back, it may be from time to time with a melancholy yearning for the old associations, yet never losing heart, we understand that though the colonising generation must ever have two homes — that of its birth and that of its adoption— the duty of every man is first of all to the country in which his lot is cast. (Cheers.) It would be a poor tribute to the land of our birth to show ourselves useless in the land of our adoption. (Hear, hear, and continued cheers.) From century to century people of different nationalities have met in Ireland, but their descendants a*e all now Irishmen and Irishwomen, bo, different nationalities are meeting now in New Zealand, and their descendants will all be New Zealanders. (Cheers.) Let us take care what blood is now infused into the growing nation, and that only the noble races may, so far as we can help it, be the progenitors of the future New Zealanders. (Renewed cheers ) As Irishmen, without losing their love of native land, are members of the great British Empire, co may our children, while loving the land of their birth, never be narrowed by insular prejudices or by the petty conceits naturally engendered in a small estate. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Let us hope that, fortunate as ourselves, our children and our children's children, may be citizens of a world-wide Empire — and that more fortunate than us, they may be able, without leaving their father's home, to toast their native land. (Loud and prolonged cheering ) Tue toast was drunk amid the utmost enthusiasm. His Honor the Deputy-Superintendent (Mr R. J. S. Harman) in the course of proposing the toast of " The Patron Saint of Ireland," said lie thought there could be no doubt whatever that St. Patrick was in his time a great coloniser. His influence was etill pervading the Irish people. (Loud cheers.) He thought that warm-heartedness was a characteristic of Irishmen and Irishwomen — (cheers) — and he was glad to see so large an assemblage present on this occasion to celebrate the national anniversary of their country. His Honor Mr Justice Gresson was received with long and prolonged cheers on rising to propose the next toast. Hie Honor said — Mr Chairman and Gentlemen, — The toast which has been entrusted to me is, " Irishmen at home and abroad." The subject is so fruitful, and I am so conscious of my inability to handle it as it deserves, that I am almost tempted for the first time in my life to regret that I am an Irishman. I shall not enter upon the troubled sea of Irish politics, but shall content myself with showing, as I think I shall be able to do, that Ireland, notwithstanding the many disadvantages under which she has labored, from the poverty and discomfort of the larger portion of her inhabitants, as well as from other causes, has produced her fair proportion of distinguished men — (loud cheers) — and that not only in one particular line — as generals, for instance — but also of statesmen, scholars, orators, lawyers, painters, and authors. (Renewed cheers.) Even in the higher branches of science — astronomy, for example — we have Lord Rosse, Sir Wm. Hamilton, and others who have made themselvea renowned. (Cheers) Foremost amongst generals we of course claim the Duke of Wellington, " the vanquisher of the vanquisher of the world ;" and with him his gallant companions in anna, Sir Fredk. Ponsonby/who did such good service at Waterloo, and Sir W.Napier, the author of " The Peninsular War ;" Lord Gough, the hero of Moodkee, Ferozesha, (it is a hard word to pronounce — laughter) — Sobraon, and Googerat, who thrice received the thanks of both houses of Parliament for his services in China and India— besides many others too numerous to mention (Cheers.) Of statesmen and scholars, who more eminent than Edmund Burke and Lord Wellesley. The latter, in the judgment of Dr Goodall, the well-known master of Eton, a better Greek scholar than even the famous Porson. (Cheers ) We ako claim with pride the Lawrences, those distinguished brothers to whom India owes co much at the most critical times of her history, one of whom, the Governor- General of India, was succeeded by another Irishman, the late lamented Lord Mayo. (Cheers ) Canada also owes to Ireland her present most popular Governor, Lord Dufferin. (Renewed cheering.) We are rich in orators. Besides Edmund Burke, whose surpassing eloquence outshone even the brilliant speakers of his day, we have Grattan, Curran, Sheridan, Lord Plunkett (the only speaker whom Lord Broughan feared), Richard Lalor Shiel, O'Connell, and many ot'sers; and we now have the Bishop of Peterborough, who justly ranks among the greatest of our living orators. (Cheers.) It would be tedious to enumerate the many distinguished lawyers whom our country has produced, from the Right Honourable William Saurin, Attorney- General for Ireland ia the early part of the present century, down to Lord Cairns, the present Lord High Chancellor of England. It must be confessed that our poets are few in number, and not the most eminent. Although it has been often said that " Poets are born, not made," and although no amount of education will make a poet without the poetic inspiration, yet we find that our greatest poets — Shakespeare, Milton, Byron, and Tennyson — were men of high culture, who had availed themselves of all the advantages of education which England possessed, and in which, alas ! Ireland has always been deficient. (Hear, hear ) But there are passages of exquisite beauty in the poetry of Moore and Goldsmith, and what can be more perfect than the well known ode of Charles Wolfe on the death of Sir Johu Moore ? Recurring, for a moment, to Goldsmith, although perhaps the present generation may not appreciate the merits of the " Vicar of Wakefield," its popularity, to use the words of Lord Macaulay, " has lasted, and will last, as long as our language." (Cheers.) Amongst authors we must not pass over Dean Swift, although a melancholy instance of misdirected genius and wasted powers. The success of Charles Lever and Lover, in their different lines, is undoubted. (Hear, hear.) What I have «aid as to the culture necessary to make a finished poet, npplies in some degree to the art of painting. But notwithstanding the disadvantages under which Ireland has laboured, she numbers among her sons some distinguished painters — Sir Martin Archer Shee for example, the President of the Royal Academy, Mulready and Maclise. In divinity we claim several men eminent for their learning, of whom I need only mention Archbishop Usher and Magee, author of the well known work upon the atonement. I might, mention McClintock, McClure and others who have made a name for themselves by their exploits at

sea ; but I feel that I have already trespassed on your indulgence. I cannot, however, conclude without mentioning the names of John Robert Godley and James Edward FitzGerald, of whose well-directed enthusiasm, ability, integrity, and devotion to the public service we are now reaping the fruits in the prosperity of this province. (Loud cheers.) Would that Mr FitzGerald were here this evening to charm us by his eloquence on a theme so congenial. (Renewed cheers.) Gentlemen, it only remains for me to thank you for the patience with which you have listened to me, and to aßk you to drink with all the honours the 'toast " Irishmen at home and abroad " (Loud and protracted cheers ) The toast was drunk with intense enthusiasm. Mr George Gordon (Town Clerk) was called upon to propose the toast of " The Daughters of Erin," which he was sure would be received with the greatest acclammation. He could not propose the toast without quoting the opinion of Mr S. C. Hall, who said that Irishwomen were the most faithful women to be found in any country ; that they were the bost children, the best wives, the best mothers that he had ever met with in his travels, and it was well known that Mr Hall bad travelled through all parts of Ireland, and was therefore no mean authority on the snbject on which he had written. The toast was drunk amid loud cheers. Mr Ft W. Thiel was received with cheers on rising to propose the next toast. Ho said that the toast which he was delegated to propose was one which they, as Irishmen, could not but cordially endorse, as however long they might have been away from the country of their birth, a desire for the prosperity of their native land must always be prominent in their hearts. (Cheers ) In spite of a bad harvest, a financial crisis in America, and other drawbacks, the prosperity of their country was steadily, if slowly on the increase. (Hear, hear.) During the last year the linen manufacturers of the North had had a hard battle to fight, but they had stood their ground, and were now in course of recovery from a great commercial depression. (Cheers.) A steady stream of immigration continued to carry off the surplus population to countries where a more profitable employment for its labor and energy could be obtained, and it was a matter for regret that owing to the great distance between the two countries, New Zealand had up to the present time participated so little in the influx, but it was to be hoped that wilh free passages, good ships, and a careful attention to the comfort of the passengers, we might soon obtain a fair share of the best class of Irish labor. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) The shipping trade of Belfast, Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Limerick, &c, was increasing year by year. Railways were being rapidly pushed forward, aid a system of central termini adopted — in fact, things generally evinced prosperity. (Cheers.) Still there v/as much to be done, much misery to be alleviated before Ireland could be considered prosperous, and the greatest difficulty to overcome was the reconciliation of religious differences. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) That difficulty, let us hope, was daily becoming less ; in fact, he felt sure it was when he saw around him that evening men of all religious denominations met together to do honor to the memory cf their Patron Saint — men who he felt certain would all heartily join with him in drinking the toast he now proposed — " Prosperity to Ireland." (Loud cheers.) The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm. Mr T. I. Joyiit, Provincial Solicitor, was received with loud cheera on rising to propose the next toast. He said : Mr Chairman and gentlemen, I have been a3ked by those gentlemen who have had the direction of the affairs of this meeting to propose the toast of " Irish Authors." If I had been in a position to consult my own feelings jn this matter, I should unhesitatingly have declined the task. Not, let me assure you, from any want of sympathy with the subject or any failure of appreciation of the honor conferred on me, but because — and I say it with regret— l have been for a good many years past prevented by circumstances from pursuiug the study of the national literature of Ireland, and therefore I felt, and do now feel, that a toast of this character ought to have been placed in the hands of some one more fitted by habit of reading and thinking, and by natural ability, to do justice to it and to the subject of it. For, sir, the toast which I am commisioned to submit for the acceptance of ithis meeting is without any doubt the toast — the major toa9t of the programme. I assert — without any desire to abate one particle of the honor, love, and affection that we owe to and feel for our Queen, our native land, and our fellow couutrywomen and fellow countrymen — that the great intellects who raised up by their genuis the beautiful structure of our national literature, and who exhibited to an admiring world the charms of that land and all that was attractive and lovely in the characteristics of its people — that these are the true glory of that laud and the true crown of that people — (cheers) —and that the honor and affection that we owe to them, and feel for them, is greater and deeper and more enduring than any other earthly sentiment. (Loud cheers.) Sir, Ilia heart of an Irishman— and by that expression I intend to embrace an Irishwoman, too— (laughter)— is peculiarly impressible, and as a general thing it retains and treasures up in its recesses the memory of benefits conferred, and a warm sense of grateful love for the benefactor, and Irish nuthors— her bards, her orators, her historians, her novelists, and her sculptors, and pjinters, have conferred on Ireland a boon and a blessing that Irishmen will never forget, and for which they will be grateful so long as the nationality of Ireland exists. (Loud cheers). Sir, I think that on an occasion like the present it would not be desirable or acceptable to you that I should enter into a dissertation on the literary merits of Irish authors, or that I should sketch the history of the rise and establishment of the literature of our country. To do sj effectually, it would be necessary to deal with a language in which, unhappily, I am not a scholar, and with institutions and a civilisation thit have to a great extent vanished — and of which the traces an.l relics that have come to our hands are neither numerous nor authentic ; but it is impossible to speak or to think of our national literature without feeling impelled .to sing the praises of a host of men whose names crowd upon the memory, and the brilliancy of whose genius, and the fervor of whose love for their native land have enshrined them in the breast of every true Irishman — (Prolonged oheers)— and I cannot, jn the fulness of my national pride on this occasion, refraia

from snatching a ray of lustre to illuminate my speech by the mention of a few of the names that; have made Ireland and her literature illustrious. Sir, who is there amongst us who does not share with me in a feeling of pride at being associated by ties of country with such a man as Edmund Burke, the mighty orator, to whose genius such a critic ss Macaulay paid this tribute, that " in amplitude ot comprehension and richness of imagination, he was superior to every orator — ancient of modern ;" or with that other highiy-gifted orator and poet ? the friend and colleague of Burke -Richard Brinsley Sheridan — " The orator, dramatist, minstrel, who ran Through each niodt* of the lyre, and was master of all 1 ." or those other famous- men, with godlike apprehension and tongues of angels— bucli as were Sir Henry ©rattan, Curran, Sheil, Flood, Plunkett, and others ; the fervor and richness of whose eloquence was only surpassed by their marvellous and unchangeable love for their native land ? (Great cheering.) Then, sip, when we turn to Ireland's Bards, what a company, we meet, and what strains of melody delight our sense f Who is there whose ear has not been charmed, almost to rapture, by the exquisite music of Moore? (Loud cheers) Of him I speak first, because he stands first, not only among the minstrels of Ireland, but among all modern lyric poets. (Hear, hear.) His heart was, to adopt a metaphor of a poet of a kindred country, " like a nest of singing birds." He was the very soul of harmony. Sir, when I tat down last night to think over the subject upon wLich I was to speak this evening, I felt a strong desire to cull from the thousand beauties of Moore just one flower of poesy, and to rehearse it to you [ as the highest encomium which I could pass on the poet ; but after I had spent a long time in attempting to make a selection I grew quite bewildered, and feeling myself quite unable to decide upon the most beautiful, I abandoned the project. It is sufficient for me to Bay that both as a true poet and a true patriot Irishmen glory in the name of Thomas Moore. Clustering round this " bright particular star" are the lesser lights of Irish poetry — lesser, but each one brilliant and beautiful, and each one turning toward Ireland with a look of tender affection that hallows its ray. (Cheers ) Of these I have only time ! to mention the names of a few, as I fear my time is well nigh spent, but the names alone of Gerald Griffin, Clarence Mangao, John Banim, Samuel Fergusson, Father Prout, Callanan, M'Carthy, Walsh, and Thomas Davis, are sufficient to awaken in our bosoms feelings of an affectionate regard. (Prolonged cheering.) I cannot conclude without a brief reference to our national novelists. It need be but brief, because they and their writings are in the hearts and on the lips of everyone who appreciates tender and heart-touching pathos, light and phyful humor and affection for mother country. Among this class of authors we proudly name Gerald Griffin and John B.mim, of whom I have already spoken ; also William Carleton, whose numerous works, as exponents of Irish Character in a large and interesting class — I mean her peasantry — stand altogether unrivalled. (Cheers.) There are also Croly, Mrs Norton, Samuel Lover, and a large number of others, and greatest of all — greatest in his brilliancy and raciness of humor, in his marvellous power of dialogue, in his felicity of description, and in apparently inexhaustible resources — I need hardly say that I speak of oui' lately departed nnd widely-lamented Charles Lover. (Loud cheers.) I think, sir, that his "Confessions of Harry Lorrequer" alone, like the " Pickwick Papers" of Dickens, would have been sufficient to immortalise him. (Renewed cheers.) Sir, I must now draw to a conclusion. I feel that I have but feebly performed my task, but I cau truly say that what in n c i 3 wanting in power is move than made up iv the desire to do full justice to my subject. (Immense cheering.) But there is a characteristic of Irish authors as v class that I feel that I must, in conclusion, point to. It is this, tlut almost without exception their writings, whether prose or terse, are untainted by coarseness and licentiousness ; they shrink from vulgar — I might almost say fashionable profanity — and they everywhere exhibit a veneration for tilings sacred, which has grown iuto a national characteristic. (Cheers ) Sir, with feelings of pride and pleasure, I beg to propose the toast of " Irish Authors." (Immense cheers) The toast was drunk in the most enthusiastic manner Mr Montgomery who was loudly cheered ou risiug, said: Mr Chairman and gentlemen, — I have the houor to propose '' The Land of our aloption." (Cheers) I need hardly say that this is, in other words, wishing the success and prosperity of (lie community of which we form a part ; for though met here to-night to commemorate the national festhity of Ireland, yet we do not take, or wish to take, any posit im apart fiom our fellow colonists, or have any interests as Irishmen which are not enliiely m union with the rest of her Majesty's subjects. (Cheers.) We are thoroughly loyal to our Queen. (Cheers ) Anxious for the maintenance ot the power and prestige of Kngland that her beneficent influence over increasing millions may be perpetuated, desirous of securing individual and political freedom, and of faupporting at all times constituted authority in the maintenance of law and order, (cheers.) Ido not attach any particular value to the lact of a man having been born in a particular locality. The main thing to be consideied is, " what has the man done.," and if Ins '• hfo is in the liyht" I coi.&idev him a first-rate- colonist. (Cheers.) In thrs land ot our adoption we have groat privileges and responsibilities. We sue the eaily colonists of what is now a dependency of the Mother Country, but which may one da/ be a nation numbering many millions, and the future of the laud w ill be shaped, to a very considerable extent, by the peoplo new living in it. (Choers.) There never was a Lmd better adapted to the development of a race of superior peoplo The soil and climate are ail that couid be desired. The resouices v: the. country are very great — capable of supporting many millions — anc wo have aU the advantages of a close and intimate connection with the greatest nation the world lias 3d seen. (Cheert.) We nmy look hope iully to the great future to which these islands are sure to attain, anc 111 no way can we render more efficient aid to the advancement of oui adopted land than by cordially co-operating with all classes of He: Majesty's subjects, no matter what land may have giTen them birth Mr Jas. Grey, in proposing " The Chairman," said tlie result 0 \\ic patriotic labors of the Committee was the present large assemblage

in ■which all classes of their countrymen, all shades of religious and political opinion were fully represented. (Loud cheers.) Of the present re-union, it could be said with truth that it partook of a truly national character- (■hear, hear) —because it wa9 inaugurated on the principles of pure nationality. Here, for the first time on co large a scale, Irishmen met togetlver as men hailing from one common Fatherland, without r«ga*d to the religious i>r political sentiments of each other, but animated with an unanimous desire to evince to their fel-low-countrymen at home and in other parts of the world that neither the lapse of year*, no* the inteivention of sixteen thousand miles of ocean was sufficient to diminish, even by the minutest panicle, their feelings of affectionate regard for their native land. Disunion and religious animosity had been the curse of Ireland, but he was glad to think that at home prejudices of this nature are gradually dying out. There was no reason whatever why religious animosity among Irishmen should be perpetuated in New Zealand. Irishmen at home and in all parts of the world should arrive at a true appreciation of the duty they owed to their country and each other, and discharge that duty to the best of their ability. There should be no disunion amongst them, no party strife ©r factious discord ; but, on the contrary, all should bo animated by the one noble and patriotic aspiration — that of seeing '"' Ireland, as it ought to be, great, glorious, ami free,. First flower of the earth, aud fiist gem of the sea." (Loud cheers). There was- no doubt, from the success of this banquet, that in future St. Patrick's Day would not bo allowed to pass by without being celebrated in a manner becoming to all truly patriotic Irishmen and good citizens in another land. (Hear and cheers.) Iv view of this, it was his intention to endeavour to establish a St. Patrick's Society, which would be open to all Irishmen, and he trusted that those gentlemen of influence whom they saw around them that evening would give the project their countenance and co-oporutiou. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Songs and piano-forte music were given between the speeches during the evening, and the company broke up exuetly ab midnight, after expressing their delight at the evening's proceedings-, aud giving three hearty cheers for the chairman, who received quite an ovation on> leaving the hall. THE H.A G B. CEIXBUATIOIf. Tlie dinner ab the Burbadoes street schoolroom, was' attended by about one hundred, persons. Ihe inttrior of the building had beeu decorated with flags, greenery, and flowers, which gave it an attractive appearance. Over the chairman's seat an English Ensign with tho harp of Ireland worked upon it was displayed, with the flag of the H.A.C.B. Society, on which were the words " Cead Mille Failthe " underneath. Mr R. J. Loughnan presided, and he was supported onhis right by the Rev Father Chervier aud Mr Tnuffe, president of the Society, while on the left he was supported by the Revs Fathers Ecuyer and Francis. The vice-chairs were occupied by Messrs Bowerman, C. Walsh, I. B. Sheath, McGruiuness, E O'Connor. The dinner was provided by Mr W. Priston, of the Borough Hotel, aud the catering was highly creditable to him. Tho toasts- honoured during the evening were " The health and prosperity of Our Sovereign Pon1 tiff," proposed by the chairman, responded to by the Rev Father | Ecuyer ; " The Queen and Royal Family ; " " His Honor the Superintendent and the Provincial Council ; " " The immortal memory of St. Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland," responded to by the Rev Father Chervier ; " Our Native Land, and Irishmen all ove: the globe," responded to by Mi- C. Walsh; "Health and success ot our school committees," responded to by Mr Bowerman ; " Tho Chief President and Executive Directory of the H.A.C.B. S ; " "The officers and' j brothers of the H.A.C.B. S. throughout the colonies, more particularly the Dunediu Branch ; " "Success and prosperity to the New Zbalani>' Tablet;" " Tho Ladies, particularly the daughters- of Erin;" end " The Chairman." The speeches were pleasantly interspersed with songs and recitations, and altogether a very pleasant evening was spent.