out of the Redmond mission, the St. Patrick Society was guilty of as gross a breach of plighted public faith as has ever been perpetrated in this or any other colony. I write so advisedly, and seized of facts to enable a just determination of the issue, possessed by few, if any, other persons n o w living. T o revert to m y narrative. Slowly, but persistently, the members n o w under prudent guidance worked their way through m a n y a storm of opposition from open foes, and the covert danger of false friends, their next purpose being the raising of funds for the erection of a suitable building, so that the Saint should be feted in a house of his own, and the Society's business divorced from a licensed tavern. T h e President, Vice-President, and Secretary, as a deputation, interviewed the Provincial Superintendent (Latrobe) to recommend the granting of a Government site for a Hall, but though there was a profusion of courtesy and good wishes, a way could not be seen to comply with the request.
THE FIRST HIBERNIAN FESTIVAL
Held in Port Phillip came off on the evening of the 29th September (Michaelmas Day) 1845. It was held at the Builders' Arms, to which there was annexed at the Eastern side a long room running length-ways about a dozen feet off the line of street. T h e affair was a marked success, and the occasion very enjoyable. M r . O'Shanassy as President, was Chairman, and the principal guest was Mr. Henry M o o r (the then Mayor). A n elaborate list of toasts was disposed of with m u c h cordiality, and capital speeches were delivered by the Chairman, the Mayor, Messrs. John Stephen, E. Finn, A. H . Hart, and Dr. W . H . Campbell. T h e St. Patrick's D a y procession of 1846 was an immense improvement on its predecessors, numerically, pictorially, and in other respects. T h e versatile J. P. Fawkner, w h o would be " in" and " o u t " with the Irish half-a-dozen times a year, was so Milesianly inclined that he asked permission to "walk" on the occasion. This could not be conceded, yet the applicant would not be baulked ; so donning a prodigious green cockade and rosette he trotted along as an outsider abreast with the President O'Shanassy, and such a " J o h n " and "Johnny" as this pair were never seen so footing it together on any other public occasion. "Little J o h n " soon after quarrelled with "Big Jack " and loudly rued the folly that thrust him into a " wearing of the green." A few days after, the Society co-operated with the associated public bodies in laying the foundation stones of Prince's Bridge and the Melbourne Hospital, and formed an interesting feature in the ceremonials. T h e Saint's anniversary dinner was also about one of the most satisfactory ever held in the colony. T h e landlord of the Builders' Arms had erected a spacious tent or marquee on a line with Little Collins Street, capable of accommodating several hundred persons, and this temporary refectory had not a seat unoccupied, as there were 300 persons present, including the Rev. P. B. Geoghegan, Messrs. Edward Curr, E d m u n d Westby, J. P. Fawkner, and Dr. Greeves. Letters were read from the Mayor (Dr. Palmer) and others, excusing their absence. T h e post-prandial speechifying was never surpassed in Melbourne, for the addresses of O'Shanassy, Geoghegan, Curr, and Greeves possessed exceptional merit. T h e Father Matthew Society Band was in good form there; the oratory was pleasantly relieved by occasional songs; and it is on record that on this solitary occasion " Johnny" Fawkner performed as an amateur public vocalist—a feat which, ten years after, he emphatically denied in print. A sovereign or a shilling had a m u c h larger money value then than now, and although for its population Melbourne was generous to a degree, Societies (such as the one I a m writing of) had m u c h difficulty in raising funds; and it required m u c h stiff shouldering to the wheel before the disciples of St. Patrick found themselves in a position to c o m m e n c e their projected edifice. They were fortunate in purchasing a piece of land in West Bourke Street for three guineas per foot, where St. Patrick's Hall n o w stands. Amongst the most liberal of their early benefactors were persons of other nationalities—English, Scotch, and French. Superintendent Latrobe sent a donation, as did also Governor Sir Charles Fitzroy, Judge A'Beckett, and several of the Port-Phillipian members of the N e w South Wales Legislature. M r . Henry Moor, an Englishman, was a willing supporter both
