the time, very appropriately fitted up, the walls covered with green foliage, and from the evergreens peeped forth m a n y samples of bunting. T h e lighting consisted of some lamps, and " hundreds of wax tapers," and here and there were framed portraits of the most puissant Saint, whilst over the Chair smiled a full-length figure of the Queen. T h e only drawback (and no small one) to the thorough enjoyment of the occasion was that several of the company got prematurely more than " half seas over," a contretemps good-naturedly attributed to the potency of the fluids. T h e Chair was taken by the Mayor (Mr. W . Nicholson) with right hand supporters in Dr. Greeves and M r . B. Heape, and on the left Messrs. J. D. Pinnock and W . Hull, whilst Mr. George Kirk acted as Vice. Over seven hundred individuals were accommodated in some way or other, and there can be no doubt that such full stowage led to m u c h of the confusion that followed. There was an excellent band in attendance, a great acquisition, and they had no idle time of it. At the conclusion of the dinner Non Nobis Domine was sung, the company standing. A n agreeable variation was m a d e in the toasting in consequence of the creation of the n e w colony by the inclusion for the first time of " His Excellency the Governor of Victoria," after which the band played the " Victoria March," and a Mr. Hobson and others followed with the glee of " Chough and Crow." M r . George Kirk proposed " Our A r m y and Navy," which was drunk in a " three times three," the band striking up " Rule Britannia," the amateurs giving alternate verses, with the company^ chorussing, hiccupping, and applauding. M r . W . K . Bull (appropriately named for the purpose) in a lengthy address proposed " Old England, Our Native Land," which was drowned in bumpers "nine times nine," to which Mr. Hobson sang " O l d England for Ever." Dr. Greeves, in his accustomed happy style, introduced the toast of "Victoria," and Mr. Francis Bryant was sponsor for the " Commercial, Pastoral, and Agricultural Interests." (Mining was not then dreamed of.) Mr. J. Mason, in proposing " T h e Mayor and Corporation," " felt assured that the blessings of Separation would never have been attained—at least the boon would have been procrastinated to an indefinite period—but for the Corporation." T h e toast was received with "three times three," " amidst combined cheers and hisses." It was replied to by Cr. Richard Heales. Mr. W . TJ. Tripp proposed " Absent Friends," in which he was occasionally tripped up by drunken interjections from several of the company. M r . J. A. Marsden invoked a compliment for the sons of Saints Patrick and Andrew in his accustomed pleasantry of manner. M r . Isaac Hinds did battle for the "Ladies of Victoria," but the only passage of his oration that could be heard was a loud and emphatic declaration "that they could not be surpassed for their beauty, affability, and 'interesting' appearance in any part of the world." T h e band played " I would like to marry," which was "ayed" by scores of the Saint worshippers in loud tipsy merriment, and then followed by a glee of " Here's a Health to All G o o d Lasses." M r . Lightfood, a theatrical scene painter, mounting a chair, and in a voice as if rushing through a speaking trumpet, proposed the memory of Shakspeare—"the great Magician of the North, the great Bard of Avon," and indulged in the following gushing rhetorical flourish:—"The n a m e of Shakspeare like the lustre of a candle, sheds a brilliant light around it, when held in the hands of an infant, as if borne in the outstretched arms of a giant—Soul of the A g e ! T h e applause, delight, and wonder of the stage—is the divine Shakspeare; he has shed happiness and delight around ten thousand fire-sides.—Ever fresh, ever n e w ; and w e read him for the twentieth time with the same pleasure that w e welcome the return of the summer sun, which affords us the same amount of warmth in our old age, as it did when w e m a d e a puddle around the p u m p in the days of our boyhood." This was too strong a dose of the sublime andridiculousfor the company n o w " liquified" into something akin to an inebriated rabble, and the Shaksperian panegyrist was so beleagured with screeching and yelling from Bacchanalian throats, that he was obliged to give up with only a twentieth part of a studiously prepared oration delivered. It was before the appearances of public gas-lights, and as the confusion became general, candles, glasses, and bottles were getting knocked over. So to spare St. George the anachronism of a monster holocaust on his anniversary, the Chair was vacated, and through the exertions of those w h o retained sufficient wits for the purpose, the revelry was terminated, and the place cleared, luckily without accident, but only after an expenditure of m u c h patient good humour, persuasion, and perseverance.
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