The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-19 00:00:00

, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 19, 1864,

Farewell Soiree to Mr, George Thompson,

At Eldley's Hotel, on Saturday evening, a farewell
soiree, held under the auspices of the Emancipation So-

ciety, was given to Mr. George Thompson, who will sail
for the United ,States on Saturday next. There was a

very numerous attendance. Mr. William Evans, chairman
of the society, presided on the occasion.
The CHAIRMAN having opened the proceedings,
Mr. W. W. CRESSON, the hon. secretary, read the fol.
lowing letter :
FROM MR. BRIGHT, M.P.

Rochdale, Jan. 14.
Dear Sir,—I cannot be in London on Saturday, and can-

not therefore be present at the proposed farewell meeting
to Mr. Thompson. I should like to shako him by the hand
and to give him my good wishes before he sails for the

United States.

I remember his visit to this town, 30 years ago, on his
mission on behalf of the slave in the English colonies. I
remember his speech, and the effect it produced upon me.

I have heard as many speeches as most men since then, in
and out of Parliament; but I have never since heard a

speech so moving in its eloquence and so grand in its
object as that which he delivered in this town. I have

always considered Mr, Thompson as the real liberator of
the slaves in the English colonies; for without his cora-

mending eloquence, made irresistible by the blessedness of
his cause, I do not think all the other agencies tnen at
work would have produced their freedom.
And now, 30 years later, Mr. Thompson will have the
opportunity of seeing with his own eyes the process of libe-
ration in America—not a peaceable process as ours was,
because with us slaves were comparatively few, and the
power of the slaveowners small, but liberation through the
process of a desperate war, intended by the slaveowners to
make slavery perpetual. Whilst he will grieve over the
calamities of the war he will look through them to the esta-
blishment of freedom over the whole of the North American
continent, and he may see in the not distant future the
abolition of slavery in Cuba and in Brazil, for I am per-
suaded that when the United States are free from slavery
as England is, the united opinion of the two nations will
do much to destroy the evil in every professing Christian
country,
I have not spoken of Mr. Thompson's labours in other
causes besides that of the destruction of slavery ; they are
known to most of those who will be with you on Saturday
evening. 1 can say honestly,
and I say it with pleasure,
that during the last 30 years there has been no movement
on behalf of any good cause, and there has been no victory
in this country to freedom and the people, in which he has
not borne an honourable part.

I wish i;:i;aii-success in everything to which ho may
devote himself, and that he may witness more and more
the growth and the fruit of the great principles which he has
done so much to impress upon the minds of men. Re-
gretting much that I cannot be with you.—l are, very truly
yours, (Signed) JOHN BRIGHT.

F. W. Chesson, Esq.
Letters from several other gentlemen of distinction, ex-
pressing regret that they could not be present, were also read
to the meeting.
The address to Mr. Thompson was as follows :
To GEORGE THOMPSON, ESQ,

You have twice visited the United States in the service
of negro emancipation—a cause dear to freedom and philan-
thropy. On your fist visit, nearly 30 years ago, you were
attended by the admiration and good wishes of a vast majo-
rity of your countrymen, rejoicing in that great triumph of
justice and humanity—the abolition of British colonial
slavery—which your ardent eloquence had immensel} aided.
At the time of your second visit, 15 years later, you were
the representative in the House of Commons of ono of the
largest of English constituencies--a dignity conferred upon
you with unexampled enthusiasm in recognition of your
labours for every form of freedom and progress. You have
since received abundant evidence that the heart of your old
constituents and of the British people is faithful to the
principle of universal freedom—faithful to the claims of the
negro to be regarded as a man and a brother—faithful to
the champions of his cause—and faithful to the Govern-
ment that has dared to incur the utmost perils which can
threaten a commonwealth, rather than abandon the enslaved
to perpetual bondage and degradation. Now, on the eve of
your third voyage in the track of the Pilgrim Fathers, we
bid you God speed to the great and goodly land which they
opened up to the adventures and hopes of humanity—we
bid you God speed as a fellowlabourer beloved and honoured
—and we charge you with a messaga of friendship, congra-
tulation, and encouragement to our brethren of the Ameri-
can Republic.
" It is as members and friends of the London Emancipa-

on Society we offer you these words of temporary farewell,

Associated together at a crisis in the history of both cum
tries—organised for the special purpose of informing the
British public, and of comforting with their sympathy our
Ameriau kinsmen—we owe more to you than to any man of
our number. With unwearied zeal, with unfailing eloquence,
with a perect knowledge of the great theme, with unequal-
led powers of instruction and persuasion—you have toiled
with us and with kindred associations at a sacrifice of health
and co!nfort which demands our cordial gratitude. We are
glad to be able to spars you—as we could not have done 12
months since. Then there was widespread error as to the is-
sues involved in the civil war, which we knew to be the death
struggle of the slave power. Though not for s moment did
the heart of tb e British people hesitate between the negro and
his master, there was much hesitation to believe the Go-
vernment and loyal people of the United States engaged in
a war of emancipation. Happily it is so no longer. Events
have proved stronger than the strongest prejudices and
doubts. But among those events we rank high the speeches
by which acts of legislation and of war have been inter-
preted. Words are deeds, when bravely spoken in the right
cause at the right moment. Such words have been yeurs•
They have been sharp to convince and strong to move. They
have greatly helped to set the heart and mind of England,
wholly and firmly, on the side of the Free States fighting
for freedom—on the side of Abraham Lincoln, the first Pre-
sident of the American Republic who has ruled in the spirit
of the American Declaration, ' All men are by nature free
and equal.'
" Tell him, we pray you, that the people of England
honour him for the wisdom, the courage, and the constancy
he has displayed, that they thank the God who raised him
up to deliver an oppressed people aad to purify a polluted
commonwealth. 'l'ell Mr. Seward and the statesmen of the
Republic that England will honour them in proportion as
they are faithful to the proclamation of freedom. Tell the
Sumners and Greelys to preach by tongue and pen conti-
nually that England will be the firm friend of America
through whatever misunderstanding or estrangement may
arise. Above all, tell Garrison and Philipps _the New
England Abolitionists—the old guard of the emancipation
army—that the mother country holds their services in the
warmest remembrance as the very worthiest offspring of our
common ancestry. These messages you will bo free to speak.
At your first going to America, even Boston refused you a
hearing. At your second, New York was unprepared to re-
ceive you. Now, Washington itself will give you a welcome.
The Republic will hail you as a faithful friend. We confide
yo u to its keeping. We pray God to guard you by His pro-
vidence. We shall look for your return bearing the trophies
of happy victory in a holy war—the glad tidings that the
Union has been restored, slavery utterly abolished, peace
and freedom ruling securely over all the vast domain which
oppression tried to wrest by civil war from the possession or
the hopes of civilised mankind. In the hope that you will
return thus rewarded for the labour and the
perils of your
anti-slavery career, we bid you affectionate farewell."
Mr. H. VINCENT, in an eloquent speech,
moved the
adoption of the address.
M. VICTOR SCuutLCHElt,Under Minister of Marine in the
Provisional Government of 1848,and the statesman by whom
the Act of Emancipation in the French colonies was ori-
ginated and carried out, seconded the motion, which was
supported by the Hon. F. H. Morse, the American Consul
in London; Mr. M. D. Conway, of Virginia; and the Rev.
Sella Martin, formerly a slave in Kentucky.
The address having been unanimously adopted,
Mr. G. THOMPSON replied at considerable length, and
expressed the pleasure with which he was about to return
to the United States to witness the altered state of things in
that country ; and he hoped that as ho was present when
revolution was in its cradle born, or rather when the aboli-
tioinciplo was first inaugurated, he might be privileged
to see that principle triumphant and slavery overthrown
while he was there. (Cheers.)
Addresses having been delivered by the Rev. Dr. MASSIE
and Mr. MASON JONES, the proceedings terminated with a
vote of thanks to the chairman.

WILD FOWL IN THE FIRM—The frost has
driven immense flocks of ducks, divers, widgeons
curlews, and golden plovers up the Firtb, and during the'
past fortnight numbers have been shot in the neighbourhood
of Inverness. On clear nights it is no uncommon thing to
find about a dozen guns at the Longman alone. On Satur-
day, in consequence of ice, Kessock Foray was extremely
difficult to navigate, and many poor birds, tamed by the
intense cold, mounted these icy rafts, and suffered them
selves to float about in the tideway, until they fell an easy
prey. Seagulls appear to suffer greatly from the frost. On
Saturday they might have been taken with the hand along
the banks of the river. They sat immovable for hours
together, but no sooner did the thaw of Sunday set in than
they all departed inland in search of food. On Monday
afternoon there was only one gull to be seen at the shore,
in spite of the hundreds that were there two days previously.
We understand there is a flock of solan geese near Rose-
naarkie, but that it is next to an impossibility to got within
gunshot.—lnverness Courier.

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