The Express.
London, England, 1867-03-18 00:00:00

BENEVOLENT SOCIETY VI ST. PATRICK.

The 8-lth animal them r th chlrity ,i; place
tat evening at ; am Duke of CAN,
sait..r: in the chair. The Trir.ce of Wales had promised
to preside, and much disappointment was felt when it was
known in the afternoon that be was prevented from ful-
filling hiA engagement. The cause of I.e. •L+ruoe ♦tested
by tb.• Lluke of ntisibrikte to be ti, ...zeta death of tl:e
Princess of Wake's grAtultuother. Ti.o usual elaborate

IMII.ICaI arrAt•••• at; Mere :.y luati!agtl:l of

the festival. size band of Vic. JreS.'s.;:iThi;;sis7islayed
daring the dinner, nail intriel„aed a selection of
Moon,s Irish melodies arranged tea the occasion by Mr.
Gedfraa, the conductor. Between the speeches choice
Irish song. were sung by a numb.. of artistes, who in-
cluded Mi. Palmer, Mi. Ellen Lysie. 31untem Smith,
Mr. Ch Henry, Mr. E. Gray. Mi... C. Hersey, aral
Mies. K. Gordon. Amongst the ~aces. who numbered
about Val, were the Earl of Cork, lain Vane, Lord Duf.
feriu, Earl of Darnley, Earl of Illaitrey, Earl of
Longford, Loral Annesley, Lord 11. a :anon, Sir H. Bruce,
M.l'.. the Right lion, 11, 1.. Cony, M.P., vie W. Tyrone
Poe at, Colonel Cole. M.P., Mr. f vit. irne, M.P., the
Bishop of Limerick, Sir J. Prior, S:r ./. Power, DLY.. Ala
Admiral Seymour, M.P.
A '-mini of honour from the Lre. 'on Irish Volunteers
re wedrawn tip outside to receive the Duke of Cambridge.
The Ciau AN, in giving the health of the Queen, ex-
plained why the Prince of `Vales war not present, and said
he was authorised to express the Prince's
sleep regret at
the unfortunate circumstance. With respect to the toast,
it was not necessary to make many rents! ka. They bail
heard of the great disloyalty exiating in a certain portion
of the world which should he nameless, but he (the chair-
man) believed the spirit of the population of the sister
island was all loyal as that of any other portion of her
Majesty's dominions. (Cheers.) Ile had had the celesta-
tage of lie; ng for niany consecutive years in Ireland, and
believed if the people of that country were left to theta•
selves—(load ename)—they were remarkably loyal and
devoted to their sovereign. (Cheers.) Of course, in a
mixed meeting of this sort politics moat not he introduced ;
still he might eay certain unpleaaint and disagreeable
events had recently arisen. But he was Pure they slid not
interfere with the devoted loyalty of the Irish people, and
be believed that if a poll of the Irisca people was taken it
would be fully shown that such was the case. (Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN, in proposing "The Health of the
Prince and Princess of Wales and the rest of the Royal
family," re ail a letter from Genera! Knollya enclosing from
the Prince of Walesa cheque for 100 guineas, and stating—
" It is with ai nee -e feelings of regret an.' ilimappointment that
the Prince has been so unexpectedly prevented taking the
chair himself and advocating the interests of a society so
dear to the friends and so product,ve of benefit to the
children of Ireland." (Cheers.) The expression here
given utterance to, and the large sulaeription sent by the
Princ,, showed that though absent in pertain he waspresent
in spirit. (Hear, hear.) There was an additional interest
attached to the toast from the fact that the health of the
Princess of Wales bad not been of that character which all
resent would desire. (Hear, hear.) He regretted that
her health for some time past had been such as to cause a
veil deal of concern, but he trusted we might ere long
here the happiest* of eongratul ting ourselves on her
royal highnesses entire recovery. (Cheers.) He was sure
that a strong feeling had existed in the minds of all
classes of the public respecting the illness of her royal
bighness--(hear, bear)--and the consciousness of such a
feeling existing throughout the country proved a great
source of gratification to the members of the royal family
generally. (cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN, in proposing "The Army, Navy, and
Volunteena" said there were a great many Irishmen in the
fernier service, and it was well known what brave and
gallant soldiers they made. It had been lately avid that
some of the troops could not, perlaips, be relied on, but
they had well proved their loyalty. True, there had been
no great occasion for testing their loyalty, but there bad
been an opportunity on a small scale, and be meat say
that he hail not heard of • singlecause of complaint against
any soldier in her Majesty's service. He felt bound to
add, that the constabulary and police of Ireland had shown
great bravery, and were deserving of the greatest credit.
(Cheers.) Depend upon it, these men hail been placed
is situations of the greatest difficulty, and no
doubt strenuous efforts had been made to make
them disloyal. (Hear, hear.) But they had neither
been disloyal, nor had they even neglected their duty.
(Cheers.) It was only right that he 'should thus testify to
their admirable spirit. He had said that in the army
there was a large number of Irishmen, and he would now
add there were no finer cse braver soldiers in the world.
(Cheers.) lie could not say whether there were many Irish.
men in the navy, but he had not the slightest doubt that
if such was the case they were equally "brave with their
caisfrcita in the anny. With respect to the services, these
were days in which the public were much concerned with
the effimency of the army and navy. (A laugh.) The
lively controversy that was going on as to what the ser-
vices ought to do and be, was really quite overwhelming.
It was ildticult iii the extreme to know what to do, for
while sonic urged the paramount importance of increased
efficiency, others with equal energy protested against
increased expenditure. Hence it was one of the most
difficult things in tho world to know what to do.
(A. laugh.) Everybody had an idea of bit own, and if a
man's views were not carried out he was dissatisfied ;
while if they were, 60, 70, or 100 came to express their
loud dissatisfaction because their particular plans were
not adopted. His own opinion was. that we were
in the happy petition of having gone neither too fast nor
too slow. That at least was the OM with the army, and
the gentleman who was to respond for the navy would, no
doubt, say how far it was applicable to that service. He
might just mention, in concluding, that he was convinced
of the wisdom of converting the Enfield' into Spiders, and
be could state that within a year the whole army would be
put in possession of breech-loading rifles at a very small
cast. No doubt some would find fault with the change,
but it had his entire approval. (Cheers.) His royal high-
ness concluded by paying a high complinient to the London
Irish Rides, and thanking them in the name of the Prince
of Wales for forming a guard of honour.
Colonel Saneetrr responded for the army.
Mr. C6RKY responded for the navy. In doing so be said
be was the first Irishman who had held the office of First
Lord of the Admiralty, and he hoped the sample would
snit. (Laughter.)
Captain O'CoNaana. returned thanks for the volunteer*,
and was particularly cheered when he said the volunteers
would always be ready to face foes at home as well as those
from abroad.

The boys and girls from. the schools in Stamford-street,
BlackfriArs, here marched round the room, and returned
laden with dessert forced upon them by the guests. The
children were about 400 in number, and Moked healthy and
happy. During the day they had enjoyed their annual
treat. The schools are not so full as on previous years,
but their efficiency and the health of the children have
not abareiL -

The Elf .111t11 N next proposed the toast of the evening.
In the course of his speech he said—l think it is a very
judicious arrangement to introduce into the room pre-
vious to the proposition of the toast I now intend submit-
ting to you the children of the institution, inasmuch as it
kings before our notice the little ones for whose benefit
I am anxious to influence your charity, and on
whose behalf I ask your liberal subscriptions and
support. I think it needs little comment on my part to
induce you to bestow liberal donations on this
charity, and it is not necessary for me to may
much regarding the deservings of an institution whose
great object is the prosperity in life of the 400 children
we see before us to-night. If by subscribing liberally to
this institution we secure such • result we ought to be
satisfied that the object which the friends of the charity
have in view is very praiseworthy. As to the appreciation
in which the charity is held, I might refer to the fact that
from its commencement it was presided over by an illus-
trious relative of mine, the Duke of Kent, and it has
since received the approval of other members of the royal
family. (cheers.) I therefore may presume that the in-
stitution has been approved of by the highest of the land.
lam happy to see that the society has not fallen off in
the way of general support, and that so many gentlemen
of different opinions should be banded together
in aid sf so good a cause. It would be diffi-
cult to manage religious instruction in an insti-
tution where children of so many religious persuasions
partake of the benefits of the charity ; but I understand
that it has been attempted to devote a particular day for
the religions instruction of the particular religions in
which the parents of these children wish them to be edu-
cated. (Hear, hear.) This ought the more to recommend
the institution to the sympathy and support of all reli-
gious denominations and all classes of society. (Hear.) I
trust that public support and approval of the institution
will continue, so that these four hundred children may
have the means of support and that their number may le
greatly but prudently increased. I have nothing to add
to what I have said respecting the merits of the charity,
but ask you to drink " Success to the Benevolent Society
of St. Patrick." (Loud cheers.)
An announcement was here made by Mr. J. K. Km°,
jun. (the secretary), that the subscriptions banded in
amounted to I,2ool.—the largest sum collected at any
annual festival for many years.
The CHAIIMAN, in proposing the "Health of the Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland," said that in circumstances of great
difficulty and smbarassment his excellency bad discharged
the duties of his position with tact, judgment, prompti-
tude, and decision ; and the Irish executive generally had
conducted the duties entrusted to them in a highly credit-
able manner. He hoped that Ireland would not be made
a political arena, which was the conic of any country ; but
rather that, as the condition of the country improved, the
happiness and prosperity of the people would be propor-
tionately established. (Cheers.)
- .

Lonl CLAUD liAnturoe, M.P., responded to the toast
on behalf of Lb brother, the 3lanmis of Abercorn. Thu
noble lord dwelt at some length on the present condition
of Ireland, but his remarks could not be 11,a:A at the end
of the room.

The CHAIRMAN, in responsa to the tout of his health.
proposed by Lord Cork, said he must again refer to the
present unhappycondition of Ireland. It was to him a matter
of the greatest astonishment that • country having such
material natural advantages, and with a population of
such lightneu of heart and vivacity of spirit. should not
prosper. Some years ago he Mai present when her
Majesty visited the Irish people, and on that occasion,
as well as on many previong ones, the people behaved in
the most loyal manner, and accorded to her Majesty the