The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-18 00:00:00

THE O'CONNELL BANQUET.

FROM THE PROVINCIAL ''aNOURNALS,

The dinuer_l9. D. O'Connell, Esg.u,9n
ing, at Covent-garden -Thiaire,. wastie. most eztrti•
-
orifinary manifestation -of -Ftblie 'feeling and sym-
pathy that has ever beenexhibited in this country.
Thousands upon thousands assembled; not to impart
laurels to the brow of the conqueror, fresh from the
toils of triumph and victory on the battle-field; not to
applaud the statesman who, with unselfish policy, had,
like a true patriot, succeeded in establishing-measures
conducive to the welfare of the country ; but to hail
with enthusiasm the man who, for .his " constant and
consistent advocacy of the rights and privileges of Irish-
men," has been branded with the character and position
of a convicted conspirator." Brarded, did we say ?
Not so—the mad-administration of justice may have en-
deavoured to make him appear so ; and packed juries,
misdirected by prejudices and the charges of partial
judges, may return verdicts of guilty, but the voice of
the united nation is stronger than these, and made that
a mark of honour, which was intended to be a brand of
disgrace.—Dover Chronicle.
The great dinner to Mr. O'Connell, in Covent-garden
Theatre, on Weinesday last, respecting which the note
of preparation was sounded immediately after the con-
viction of that gentleman, is the most stirring local event
.of the last fortnight. It was a great demonstration,
the company numbering upwards of 1,100. The Earl
of Shrewsbury, forgetting the feud between him and the
guest of the night, threw himself into the van, and
warmly expressed his admiration of, and his sympathy
for, the foremost man of his own religious faith. Both
Houses of Parliament were fairly represented at the
dinner—the Commons liberally so.— Willmer and Smith's
European Times.

The enthusiastic reception accorded to Mr. O'Connell
at the grand banquet in Covent-gardent Theatre, on
Tuesday evening, must have been gall and wormwood to
his persecutors. Never was " convicted conspirator," so
honoured before. His faults—his follies—his inflamma-
tory appeals to the passions of the Irish people—his
abuse ot " the Saxon"—his coarse denunciation of the
Whigs—were all forgotten, or merged in admiration for
his unwearied and consistent advocacy of the rights and
privileges of his countrymen. He was looked upon as a
political martyr—as the victim of a judge-made law—as
a powerful opponent whom Ministers sought to crush by
means abhorrent to English notions of justice and fair
play.—Lancaster Mardian.

- Mr. O'Connell was entertained at a magnificent ban-
quet in Covent-garden Theatre, on Tuesday night, when
1,150 persons sat down to evince their sympathy with
the great Liberator. We learn from the private letter of
a friend in London that—" On the first utterance of Mr.
O'Connell's name by the Chairman, a singular scenetook place, as if by magic. Each of the 1,150 persons
who dined was supplied with a napkin, and, as if by one
impulse, they were waived over the heads of the entire
mass. The tiers of boxes, crammed with ladies in full
dress, took the cue, and the interior of the huge build-
ing was one flutter of white. Mr. O'Connell told me
this morning that he had never seen anything to equal
it, and added, in his own peculiar heartfelt way, ' Oh,
wasn't it beautiful !' "—Carlisle Journal.

The dinner given to Daniel O'Connell, Esq., M.P., to
show the sympathy of Englishmen with Irishmen, and
the admiration entertained in this country for the con •
scant advocate of the rights and privileges of Irishmen
for more than forty years, took place at Covent-garden
Theatre on Tuesday night. In order to accommodate
the immense number of gentlemen who were desirous of
showing their respect to Mr. O'Connell, the Committee had
made arrangements for enlarging the area of the theatre
to its utmost possible extent, but the additional room thus
afforded was found to be insufficient, and many hundreds
were disappointed. The same thing occurred with regard
to the box and gallery tickets. They were all disposed of
some days since ; and we have heard of high premiums
being offered to those who were fortunate enough to
possess one, to endeavour to induce them to dispose of
it. The doors were opened at half-past five, and the
theatre was filled in a very few minutes, but so admira-
ble were the arrangements, that there was not the least
crowding or confusion. Every person admitted had the'
number of his place marked for his ticket, and was imme-
diately conducted to his place. About 1,080 persons sat
down to dinner, and there were 180 waiters to attend
upon them. At half-past five the band entered the
orchestra and commenced playing, and they continued
performing a series of popular airs until six o'clock,
when a flourish of trumpets announced the approach of
Mr. O'Connell, the Chairman, and the other distin-
guished guests. All present rose, the ladies in the boxes
waived their handkerchiefs, and were most enthusiastic
in their greetings of the Liberator. The gentlemen
cheered most rapturously, and even the reception with
which Mr. O'Connell was greeted at the meeting of the
Anti-Corn-law League in; this theatre, three weeks
since, was less warm than the reception with which he
was greeted this evening.—Somerset County Gazette.

HAND-LOOM

WEAVERS.

The following is a copy of the answer of the Board of
Trade to the memorial of the hand-loom weavers of this
City, agreed to at a public meeting-of that body:—
" Office of Committee of Privy Council for Trade,

" Whitehall, Feb. 26, 1844.
" Sir,—l am directed by the Lords of the Committee
of Privy Council for Trade to state to you, with refer-
ence to the memorial of the hand-loom weavers of the
borough of Carlisle and its vicinity, transmitted by you
in your letter of the 31st ult., that my Lords have given
to the memorial that attentive consideration to which its
grave and painful importance, and its very proper tone,
so justly entitle it.
_ _

z; Ali Lords entertain no doubt that the distressed
condition of the hand-loom weavers at Carlisle is only
too correctly represented, and it is with the most un-
feigned regret that they learn that the earnings of those
engaged in this branch of labour hava.been reduced to an
amount far below what is necessary for their proper
support.

l''My Lords, however, are well aware that the evils of
which the memorialists so feelingly and temperatelycom-
plain are quite beyond the reach of Legislative remedy ;
and that any attempt to fix either a minimum or uniform
rates of wages, or to prevent competition, would only tend
to deteriorate, rather than improve, their present condition.
"My Lords, therefore, conceive that it would be a
most serious breach of their public duty, if, from a feel-.
mg of sympathy with the memorialists, my Lords should
be induced to institute inquiries, which, although excit-
ing temporary hopes, would inevitably end in disappoint-
ment, and thus aggravate that distress which my Lords
would most earnestly desire (were it possible) to remove.
" I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
" JOHN G. SHAW LEFEVRE.
" Mr. J. Mackenzie."

In the principles here laid down we fully concur ; but
a Legislature and a Government which take upon them-
selves to fix the price of food have no right to say they
cannot fix the amount of wages, The one would be
quite as rational as the other.— rlisle Journal.