The Sun.
London, England, 1806-03-18 00:00:00

ST. PATRICK's Di4Y.

ME Anniversary of the Benevolent Society--of St.
Patrck was yesterday celebrated at the' Grown and
An,thor, in the Strand, with unusual splendour.—
Up yards of 500 of the Patrons and Friends of this
1.e.-al-)le Institution sat down to dinner; and, from
the previous arrangements, all -inconvenience and
coufusion were avoided. - .• Dinner was announced at
half-past six o'clock, when
Hi, Royal Highness the DUKE -of SussEx took
the Chair.

After dinner,

The King—the Queen, and Royal Family—and the. Prince
Of Waleg,

were seyerallY drank with enthuSiastio applause.
After this last toast—the Earl of -BES33OIIOUpiI
rose, and in.a most iinpressive and animated speech
addressed the l*eting ; he said he had the honour
to -atleticl five Meetings previous to the.present one,
and be felt he shouidhe. wanting to himself and to
the Assembly-in duty, jibe did mot pay that respea
-to the .benificence of His Royal-Highness the Prince
ef Wales, who'had so long continued his ;bounty to.
'this Society. He concfratulated,the ?Meeting on the
happy and fortunate change in. His Majesty's Coun7
oils ; a change which, :he observed, united :all the
splendid talents, • integrity, and honour of the.
Country.
Iln..following Toasts were thin given, and drank
ith great applause :
The T)ul;c ofYoik and die A rriay.
The Duke of-Clarence and the Navy. •
The of Rent, the Patron of the Society.
The: Inmcs,itil Aieinory of Lord Nelson.
The children of-the:charity, consistino- of 70 girls
and upwards of 100 ooys, then peranTbulated the
room, according to annual custom. 'The.girls were"
dressed in green, and the Voys 'in blue, with green
A:apes. They looked very Well.—=The
Benevolent society of st. Patrick .
was then drank, with.. three times three.—Then.
• The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,' his Grace the Duke of
Bedford,

. with three times three:
• Viscount DUNCANNoN then read a letter from his
Grace to his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex,-
expressing his regret al. not being able' to attend the
meeting, and inclosing a donation of tool. •
. The Earl of MorstA observed, that-the bounty of
the Royal -.Family had -excited an emulation in the
breasts of others, and. from the liberality and foster-
ing care of His.Roval.Highness. the Prince of Wale's,
be cuuceivtd him to be :an Irishman. He thought
him so, as the charaderitic of an Irishman was a
generous warmth of soul. He appealed to the whole ;
course of .the Prince's past life, whiCh • had infuSed
that spirit of:benevolence into all his brothers; •and,
'like the sun, his influence shone pn no limited spot,
but pervaded all things. He concluded by propos-
ing the health. of His Royal Highness the Duke of
Sussex. ,
His }loyal Highness the DUKE of SUSSEX rose;
and after a panegyric upon the present Admini-
stration, declared that. the fullness of his heart des
prived him 'of speech. He congratulated the So,
ciety•upon the change: of Minstry; and declared; he
felt himself an Irishman in every respedt but that
of not having been born in that Country. He btsg-
ged leave to quote -a circumstance 'which- occurred
in his travels. When in Rome, he 'wentleevisit an
Irish Convent, and .was asked, Writ he an Irish Man ?
having answered " No," he Was conduced to a
spot where they had a&ually got some Irish mould,
lie, was made to stand upon it ; and they 'swore by
he stood upon - Irish groUnd.- From that pe-'
• riod he always hoped to be looked-upon as an Irish-
man. His Royal Highness, in conclusion, proposed
'to give the Earl of Moira, as a man attached, to •his
Isling and Constitution, and worthyof a blessing for
his services. •
The Earl of Moran expressed his thanks for• the
'liondur conferred upon him: 'The interests of- this
• - Country formed the first' principles of 'his political
life. It bad been said that they' had Met without
party•prejutices, and should not proceed to any
party discusSion. . He hoped, that whatever their
approbation of the- new Administration
,might be,
the old one would not be wholly cOndemned.' If
they had incurred 'Warne, lie wished to drawn veil
of oblivion 'over it. The English Constitistion had
certainly been made sore from past sufferings ; but
when the Irish were called upon they were willing'
to make every sacrifice ; they ivere capable of it ;
. there was no. magnanimity in this ; 'they were pos-
sessed of a true dignity of soul.; and it was only'to
call it forth in an extremity to insure forgiveness for
the past. All Ireland would look to these meetings. •
He therefore entreated that no party matter might
he agitated,'&k that, like. RoMe-, their little native
soil might be suffered to grow into , maturity ; and
while these Countries were united- it was impos-sible
for any foe to prevail against them. He rejoiced in
• the temper of the present evening, which was the
object of promoting charity to a great nneniser- of
His Majesty's Subjeetss and by a well-exercised benes
volence to secure to the worldso many objets to be
useful 'members of society.
This speech drew down thunders of applause.
The Secretars.l then announced the collet:lion, of
the day, which, toßeaTes with'the_various donations
from the Royal Family, and several of the first'No-
bility and Gentry in the Kingdom, amounted to '
near 20061. '
About 'eleven o'clock his
,RoYal Highness the
Duke of Sussex retired,,.acCompanied by the Earl
of Besborough, Lord Dun Cannon, Mr. Sheridan, arid
'several other Noblemen and Gentlemen. •
Mr. THOMAS SHER6A.N. Was then' called to the
Chair, and the evening terminated in the 'utmost har-
mony and good humour.
Among the numerous Noblemen and Gentlemen '
present, we ob.s.ervedsbesides the Chairman—
The Earl of Pesborough, Earl Mouninoriis, Lord Duncan-
non, the Earl of Moira; Messrs: David, Robert, and John
Latonche, the Knight of Kerry, Right Hon. Richard' B. :Cheridan, Hon. C. Bradshaw, Hon. A.. Dillon, Pemberton I
Rudd, Esq. &c. &c.

A General Court Martial is sitting at Colchester
Barracks, for the investigation of charges preferred
against an Officer of the West Kent Militia, by Capt.
BEST of that Regiment. •