The Sun.
London, England, 1828-08-19 00:00:00

WHE DINNER.

In the evening upwards of two hundred gentlemen
dined together in the Corporation Hall—the Right
Hon. Sir George F. Hill, Bart., M.P. in the Chair.
At the President's table we observed Mr. Dawson,
M.P., Sir Hugh Stewart, Bart., Sir R. Ferguson,
Bart., The High Sheriff of the county, Mr. Barre
Beresford, Mr. Connolly Gage, and others -of the
leading interests of the county of Londonderry and
the neighbouring counties. The gallery was fitted
up for the reception of ladies, and was crowded to
excess. . _ _

After the usual loyal and political toasts had been
drunk,
W. L. CONYNGIIAM, Esq., the High Sheriff of
the county proposed " The health of Sir George
Hill."
. Sir G. H-rm—Gentlemen, many a time and oft
have I received a similar compliment from the Citi-
zens of Derry, but permit me to say, that on no one
occasion has it been so highly flattering to me as at
the present moment, when the country has arrived
at so peculiar, I may say alarming, a crisis.—
(Cheers.)—When I see what the objects of these
men are who agitate the country—when I see that
one of their objects is to separate this from the
sister country—when I see that another object is
radical reform, or in other words to upset the Con-
stitution as at present established, why then, Gentle-
men, I say, when I see these things, I think it only
necessary to repeat to you that to the end of my life
I shall endeavour to resist their efforts.—(Loud
eheers)—Their next object is a spoliation of the
Church property. That scheme likewise demands
my utter contempt. I now come -to the means by
which they hope to accomplish these objects.
The first is the illegal oppression of his Majesty's
subjects, in extorting from them the Popish Rent.
The next is the organization of the Roman Catholic
population, terrible and menacing as it has been
truly described. Gentlemen, the organi*tion has
been carried to such an extent as almost to warrant
the Popish Leaders in boasting that they possess the
Government of the country in their own hands.—
The next means by which they hope to carry their
object is, by establishing an armed association in the
country, whilst at the same time they seek to have
the yeomanry of Iseland, to whose exertions its very
existence is indebted, deprived of their arms.—
They have had the audacity to institute an order,
which they have dignified with the title of "Li-
berators"—and not content with threatening us
with invasion abroad, they tell us that if three hun-
dred gentlemen presume to congregate in this room
to drink the " Glorious Memory," and celebrate

the anniversary of the day which secured us a
Protestant Constitution, they will march a horde
of their dupes, consisting of one hundred and fifty
thousand men, from the South of Ireland, to
deprive us of our properties, and annihilate the
Protestant population of Uliter. (Cries of let them
come, let them come.) It is a matter of triumph
to the Agitators, that they have severed the tie.by
which the country gentlelnan and squire were bound
to his tenantry, and they have transferred, in point
of fact, the representation, Qf the country to the
Priesthood, and a few contemptible miscreants, who
wield the power they have assumed with the greatest
despotism. Gentlemen, the next means which the
Popish Association have adopted to secure our an-
nihilation, is by having directed a mission from their
body to invade our hitherto peaceable county. It is
avowed by one of those missionaries, that he is the
representative of the Association, the delegate, in
fact of the Roman Catholic Parliament. I pro-
nounce this to be in direct violation of the law, and
coming within the operation of the Convention Act;
and, if I get the facts stated on oath, I will forth-
with issue a warrant against him, and Ivitisout con-
sulting any of the authorities of the country, I
pledge myself to put him, on my own responsibility,
in a situation where he will be debarred from doing
further mischief, at all events, until he shall be set

at liberty by a verdict of his countrymen.--(Cheers.)
—lt is, gentlemen, a grief to me, that the Roman
Catholic Body, which I wish well, should be governed
by a set of miscreants such as I have described.
Gentlemen, I have sat in Parliament as the repre-
sentative of Derry for thirty-six years, and I am not
conscious of having ever in that period done a
single act that could tend in the slightest degree to
compromise the feelings of the Protestant citizens of
Derry. If a moment should come when a prolsabi-
lity arises of setting this questiox at rest, I shall at-
tend with the greatest alacrity to any advice you
may deem it necessary to give me upon the subject;
I do wish this question were set at rest, but for my
Part I despair of it while the present aspect of affairs
continues unaltered.—(Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN—The next toast I have to give
you is, that of " The health of my Friend and your
Representative, George Robert Dawson. (Chests.)
His opinions upon all subjects may not, it is true,
exactly coincide with those of every person who
hears me; but, though a shade of difference may
exist, I must be permitted to say that, neither in
Great Britain or Ireland, can any man be found
more anxious to contribnte to the general interests
of the country, never in any instance forgetting his
friends. The toast was then proposed from the
chair, and drunk amidst loud cheering.
Mr. DAwsos then rose and. spoke as follows :
Sir George Hill and Gentlemen,--Afters the lapse of
near a century and a half, it has pleased the inha-
bitants of this enlightened and wealthy city to erect
a splendid testimonial in commemoration of the
valour, the fortitude, the unparallelled patience,
under sufferings of every description, and the suc-
cess of their forefathers in the defence of their city
against a foreign foe and a domestic enemy, in sup-
port of their religion, their property, and their liber-
ties. If there were any topics calculated to rouse
the feelings of the heart, if any impulse were wanting
to animate the emotions of a manly breast, where
can we find a more noble incentive for any true
patriot than in claiming his sympathy for men who
risked their lives, and encountered all the horrors of
a lingering death, amid plague, pestilence, and
famine, in support of their religion, their country,and
their liberty (Loud cheers.) What words are
more heart-stirring, or penetrate more deeply into
the human breast than the triumphal song in cele-
bration of the warriors who have defended our
altars, our homes, and our country. (Cheers-.)—
To be dead to such emotions, is to confess that we
deserve not to have illustrious ancestors, is to refuse
our tribute of admiration to the valour of our fore-
fathers, is to teach our own children that virtue and
merit are unworthy of imitation. It has been said
by Dr. Johnson, who'well knew the character of the
human heart, that lie did not envy the man whose
piety did not grow warm amid the ruins of lona, and
whose patriotism did not glow on the plains of Mara-
thon. Sir, I agree iv this noble sentiment—my
heart thrills with responsive concurrence in this natu-
ral effusion of a pious and a generous sp rit. lam
sure that every man in this room is animated with
the same feeling, and it is in obedience to this irre-
sistible appeal that I am present at this festival to
commemorate the valour of the defenders of this
city- (Cheers.) Gentlemen, I have said that we