The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-10-11 00:00:00

THE RADICAL FEED AT HALIFAX.

By those who were there, and by those who were not,
O'Rourkes noble feast will ne're be forgot.

HALIFAX, Ttmsosv.—Neither will the Abyssinian banquet
of the radiclas, which was held here last night at the theatre
It only wanted " blue fire" and " a little tail" to make it a com-
plete Pandemonium. Yet, let us " give the devil his due."—
Bad as " the boys" were, they were a shade less bad than their
brothers the whigs. Although they were about double the
number of brawlers present, there were not many more than
half the somber of drunkards ; but as every why has its where-
fore, in strict justice we are bound to .add, it was because the
price of the ticket did not allow such a qaantity of drink per
head, or rather per stomach. Like their co-peers the whigs,
they dined at diver pot-houses in the town, and found them-
selves at are union on the boards of the playhouse. Shade of
Sbakespear, what a horde of raggamuffin murderers of language
—what a troop of clippers of the King's English ! But to begin
with the beginning. Feargus made a triumphal entry into the
town on the morning of Monday, in an open hackney, drawn
by " four-greys" (like a mail coach ) He was accompanied by
three " fools" of the town. Thousands of the unwashed and
unemployed Sallied out to meet him, and it might be termed "
proud day" for him and Ireland, if one half of the crowd was
not prostitutes, and the other half thieves and idlers. When
the dinner people had gorged themselves with carron (the
dinner and wine were only 3s. 6d. each), an adjournment took
place to the theatre. Michael Stocks, jun. a son of Old Stocks,
presided, and never was there such a wooden representative
of that appellation. He talked for a few minutes of the pros-
pects of his party, and spoke tench of laying his hand upon his
heart, (his glass to his mouth,) which was a litt'e of a mis-
take. He then prattled of the House of Lords, and said it
would be all as well to " introduce democracy into its consti-
tution •" mentioned the sympathies of the people (whereat
each fellow drank a bumper, twice filled, sad cheered to his
heart's content,) and concluded by expressing his satisfaction
that the radicals had determined to die hard. (Great emzzling
and grunting in their drink.) What a laughable young (?)
man is E Protheroe, jun., Esq. He was (the fool !) content
to play second fiddle to Fergus O'Connor, an Irish adventurer.
Was that English or gentlemanly ? if the unfortunate young
man (we suppose we must call him so, as he patronizes the
ladies, and toasts them on all occasions,) if, we say, the unfor-
tunate young man had a spark of right independent feeling he
would have seen all the radicals in Europe " ten fathoms deep"
before he degraded himself by " breaking their breed," after
the scene at the Piece-ball on Friday night. But other things
as well us poverty—mis-directed ambition, for instance-;-makes
us acquainted with strange bedfellows—(l mean no pun)—as
it was, he was " all things to all men"—promisilig everything
—Fergus was Fergus. Need I say any more ? You who re-
collect his senatorial career understand all that is meant to be
conveyed ; but others may not be so mindful of his peculiar
power and glory. If ever there was a realization of the terms
" red•bot, rampant, absurdity,' his oratory exhibited it—pro
public') bone.
A Mr. Coolly, one of the Thomson:, one of the Hills, a Mr.
Tetley, and divers others, " honourable men"—" we all are
honourable"—formed the dramatis persona. The thing went
off without any accident.