The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-14 00:00:00

IRELAND,

DUBLIN, Sept. 12.
The Belfast festivities in honour of the visit of
,he Channel fleet terminated yesterday evening.

At 3 o'clock the officers sat down to a dejeuner,

provided for them in the Town-hall by the mem-
bers of the corporation. Admiral Dacres was un-

able to attend, owing to official business, but
about GO of the officers of the squadron accepted
the invitation of the Mayor. Among the other

guests were Colonel O'Connor, CM., the Rev. Dr.
Henry, President of the Queen's College, and a num-
ber of other gentlemen occupying official positions
in the town. Mr. John Lytle, Mayor of Belfast,

presided, and the vice.chairs were filled by three
aldermen of the corporation. The toasts of " The
Queen," "The Prince and Princess of Wales," and
" The Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland" having been re-

ceived with due honours and much warmth of loyal

and patriotic feeling, the Mayor proposed "The
Army and Navy," introducing the toast, as he had

done the others, with appropriate remarks that eli-
cited the applause of the company. Colonel O'Con-
nor, CB., responded on the part of the Army, and
Captain Skinner on behalf of the Navy. The Mayor
then proposed "Admiral Dacres and the Officers of
the Squadron." He had learned that the Admirs.l

becanaa a sailor when he was only 11 years old, that
lie had advanced in his profession gradually till he

had attained almost the height of his ambition, and
they all wished that, having devoted his life to the

profession, he might end by having attained its
highest point. It is scarcely necessary to say that

he toast was received with enthusiasm. Lieutenant

P. 11. Colomb responded for Admiral Dacres, and
Lieutenant Sir Lsmbton Lorraine on behalf of the
officers. Col. O'Connor then asked permission to pro-

pose "The Mayor, and Prosperity to the Town of
Belfast." The gallant gentleman said he had been
absent from his native country 35 years, and it
afforded him great gratification in returning to it to
be at ono of the first public dinners in Belfast.

"Rambling through the world," he said, "as a sol.

dier of fortune--the world mine oyster, which I
opened with my sword, and a very difficult opening
it was--I heard in many places of Belfast, but I was
not aware of the great success of the city and the
vast progress it bad made till I returned home."
He concluded with "A cheer for the Ladies
of Belfast." The Mayor returned thanks, and re-
marked that their guests had that day but a meagre
exhibition of what Belfast was doing. It stood pre-
eminent in Ireland as a manufacturing place, and
there were few towns of its size in the United King-

dom that could compare with it. Its exports are
about £10,000,000 per annum, and its imports be-
tween £3,000,000 and £4,000,000. They could
easily see where the balance of profit lay. Lord
Beresford, midshipman, in the Defence, having been
called on to reply on the part of the ladies, said if
he had been a little older he could have done much
better. The Mayor, after praising the kindness and
courtesy of the officers to the crowds of visitors to
the squadron while iu the Lough, gave " Our next
merry meeting," and the company separated.
The pleasure of the day was followed by a fatal
accident to one of the officers, which caused much
painful feeling in the town as well as in the fleet.
No one enjoyed the festivities more heartily than
Lieut: Clarence Gardiner, one of the officers on board
the flagship Edgar. He was returning with his
brother officers from the dejeuner by the Northern
Counties Railway, travelling in a first-class car-
riage. At Duncrue, ens of the intermediate stations,
he got out on the roof for the purpose of smoking a
cigar. On the arrival of the train at Carrickfergus
he was missed. Search was made, and the body was
found on the line, quite dead, and shockingly dis-
figured. The wheels of at least one carriage must
have passed over his head, which was crushed into
a shapeless mass ; the ground was bespattered with
his brains, and the fingers of one of his hands were
cut clean' off. Deceased was quite a young man,
and though but a short time in the service, he had
won the esteem and regard of his brother officers,
and of all others with whom he came in contact.
His remains were removed to the waiting room of
the Carrickfergus station, where an inquest was
held to-day. The Northern Wady says :
" We feel assured that this most melancholy acci-
dent, by which a gallant young officer of only 30
years of ago has lost his life during a period of
pleasure and festivity,
will be regarded with uni-
versal regret in Belfast. It is peculiarly painful
under present circumstances, and, we know, will
excite a feeling of general sympathy and sorrow.
It is deeply to be deplored that so dreadful a catas-
trophe should have marred the brightness of the
squadron's visit to Belfast Lough.”
A letter has been received by the Lord Mayor of
Dublin, in reply to an invitation to the Rear-Ad-
miral and the fleet to visit Dublin Bay, in which it
is stated that the squadron will remain at Liverpool
at least a week, and then, weather permitting, the
squadron, on leaving the Mersey, will visit Dublin
Bay. The letter concludes as follows :
" While most sincerely and heartily appreciating
your kind intentions as to the reception of the squad-
ron, I do not think it would be advisable for you to
make any arrangements that would be liable to al-
teration in the event of my being obliged to make
achange in the destination of the ships under my
cammaud in consequence of the very variable
weather at this advanced season of the year."
Great dissatisfaction has been expressed here that
the Lord Mayor of Dahlia has not been earlier in
the field, and that through the tardiness and apathy
of the corporation the metropolis has been deprived
of a visit from the Channel fleet, which Londonderry
and Belfast have enjoyed, Owing to the greater
public spirit of their civic authorities.
The physicians of the Archbishop issued the fol-
lowing bulletin this morning There is au in-
crease of bad symptoms in the leg."
The Lord Mayor, with Professor Kavanagh and
Mr. Knight, the acting emigration agent for the