The Sun.
London, England, 1822-09-07 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BELFAST NEWS-LETTER.

Sin—lt is with much satisfaction I have read the declara.;
tion of the Stewards for conducting the dinner given to the
Marquis of Donegan in this day's Commercial Chronicle; and
regarding as I do the honour and character of this town and
neighbourhood, I am anxious to remove the aspersions that have
been cast on both, in consequence of the disgraceful circum-
stances which took place upon that occasion. In support of
your just and candid publication of Friday last, I beg to re-
mark that the following facts absolutely did take place :—At
an early hour the Marquis of Donegall rose and said, " he had
permission from the Chair to give a toast," and begged that
the glasses might be filled, which having been done, his Lord:-
ship said, " Gentlemen, I beg to give you the memory.of my
friend and countryman, the late Marquis of Londonderry."—
The Chairman repeated the toast, which, he observed, was to
be drank in solemn silence. It was so, in the part of the room'
where I was, and as far as came within my observation-, with-
out noise, disapprobation, or observation of any kind, in the'
usual and accustomed manner, the company standing ; and
when they had sat down, and not until then, a person rose and
said, -" Mr. Chairman ! Mr. Chairman !" frequently. Being
interrupted, he then got on his seat with one foot on the table.
—the more he persevered the greater was the opposition to Ilea
bins, and, after considerable tumult, he was obliged to sit down.
The Chairman called him to order several times in voitin,and at
length went to him. Mr. Greg soon returned to his place, and
proceeded with his routine of toasts.
In this statement I can be supported by the tegthriony. of a
great number of Gentlemen who had an equal opportunity of
knowing the facts. I was in a situation which fully enabled
me to see what took place. It was evident that the sense of
the company was strongly adverse to this unekampleki and un-
becoming interruption. The few who supported it sufficiently
identified themselves; however, it produced an irritation that
spoiled the conviviality of the evening, which, I have no doubt,
would otherwise have terminated as it commenced—in joy and
unanimity.
I feel warranted in this expression, because when that great
man, the Marquis of Londonderry, was in Ireland in the year
IMO, he was magnificently and deservedly entertained in this
town by a great:portion of the same individuals who were pre-
sent at the entertainment on Wednesday last, and by many
others; he was enthusiastically received, and he met the ap-
plause and approbation be so fully merited, by his talents and
acquirements as a public man, and by his intrinsic worth in
private life ; and I should be glad to 'know what he has done
since that period to forfeit the character he had then acquired.
Was it by his valuable support of the Marriage Act ? Further,
the health of this Noble Lord was uniformly drank upon pub-
lic occasions here, and that of several of his family, with mark-
ed approbation. And again, his noble brother, the present
Marquis, was some- time ago splendidly entertained by this
town. It is remarkable, Sir, that a similar uproar never took
place here before. Why ? because the individual who pro-
duced the uproar never before (to my knnwledge) had a similar
opportunity of exciting one at such .a dinner in Belfast.—This
individual has now had such an opportunity—it may probably
be the last : either our festive entertainments Must cease, or
such persons must be prevented from attending them.
The great and distinguished compliment intended to be so
justly paid to the Noble Guest by so many Gentlemen of high
distinction, and by the respectable merchants'of this-great town,
was interrupted by this stranger, supported by a very few per-
sons, in -What appeared to me a premeditated insult, but which
I cannot allow to attach to, or in any ways affect, one of the
most respectable and numerous assemblages of Gentlemen 'that
ever took place in this town. '
I remain,. Sir, your obedienthumble Servant, •
TliosLas VERNER,
September 2. Swiereign of Belfast.

TO TiIE,EDITOR OE THE BELFAST. NEWS-LETTER.

Sift—l *as one of those inhabitants of Belfast who witnessed
their town and townsmen dishonoured and degraded on a recent
occasion, by the unwarrantable presumption of a single indi-
vidual; a stranger, that seems-determined to introduce the torch
of dikord among us, in eVerY form and on every occasion ;, in
the hburs devoted to conviviality and harmony, as well as in
the defiled pages of his licentious . .
In the case alluded to, we find him insolently breaking
through every rule of decorum, by invading the rights oflos-
pitality, insulting and bearding the Very-Nobleman to whom
the entertainment was giVen. Not content with the mischief
of thaiou'r, he now, foiled in his incessant slando-s of the dead
_has the audacity to deny the evidence of every Man's senses,
who beheld him deposed from his Charlatan eleyntion, after
distorting every muscle in the fruitless, attempt to be heard.
He insinuates that, so far frdm being directed against him-
self, the very groans, hisses, reviling and execrations of the
assembly, indignant at his misconduct, were excited by
a toast given by our honoured guest as a tribute of .4ratitude to
the memory of his friend. In giving it, his Lordship abstain-

(-dy The following is a list of the Stewards appointed on this
occasion. We believe that three of these Gentlemen were not
in the habit of attending :—John S: Ferguson; 'William Cairn,
Colonel Coulson; George Bristow, Narcissus Batt, James A.
Farrel, John Younghusband, John M'Cance, - Andreiv-Alex-
ander, Thomas L. Stewart, Tennent; Hugh
moat, Robert Getty, John Sinclair; W.E. Reilly, E. J.
Agnew' ,W. Wallace Legg, Cunningham Gregg, C. M. Skin-
, ner, Johu Agnew, Rev. A. C. Macartney. ,