The Daily Telegraph - 1882-12-02

Year
1882
Month
12
Day
2
Article Title
THE CENTENNIAL
The Conversazione in Berryman’s Hall
Author
<Anonymous>
Page Number
n/a
Article Type
Language
Article Contents
Berry’s Hall, with the decorations in flags, etc., prepared for the bal of the St. Andres’s Society, was last evening, devoted to the Conversazione. There was a fair attendance, a spirited meeting, and a good start made in the interest of the Centennial. On motion of the Mayor, the chief Justice took the chair, and made a short and felicitous speech, the purport of which was that the proposed Centenary celebration should be placed on a broad basis, and engaged in by the people of the country, whether of Loyalist descent or not. It was lately brought to his notice that by a resolution adopted at a public meeting the Bench and Bar were asked to take steps in aid of the Centennial and a memorial window had been suggested, to be placed in the Centennial Hall. Had he learned this fact sooner he would have taken steps to test the opinion of his brethren on the Bench, as he supposed the Attorney General, as leader of the Bar, would do in the case of the Bar. For himself, he was favorable to the idea and would be glad to aid it in any way. (Applause). Judge Skinner followed, speaking at length, and effectively in aid of a worthy Centennial celebration, which he believed could be had when the people took it up in earnest. It was asked who was to lead, and what form the proposed memorial should take. These questions would soon be settled, and the work go on. Why should it not? Was it because our country was not worthy of such a celebration? The country was a good one, but even if there were others that were better, it would remain true that it was the people who made a country what it was. Look at England, so insignificant looking on the map, yet her people, in some way, had more or less affected the people of every other nation. Lately England put forth only her right arm to quell a rebellion in Egypt, and it was done, while nations wondered. Look at Scotland and her rugged fields and mountains, and yet in what department or in what land were not her people celebrated? Look at Ireland: also a small country and one which for a thousand years had suffered disadvantages, and yet how many heroes she had produced. Look at Holland, which had to wrest her soil from the sea, and which yet had played a great part in the history of European freedom and commerce. Would the sons of the Loyalists and the people of this country generally fail to show a similar spirit? It would be as absurd to say that the descendants of the Loyalists alone should join in the celebration, as that only the descendants of the first settlers in the United States should participate in a Fourth of July celebration. Judge Skinner went on to point out that the people who did not do honor to the memory of their ancestors would themselves be the losers thereby. When the young people saw that the men of other lands did honor to the deeds of their forefathers, they would despise those who failed to do so. The Chinese worshipped their ancestors; but we were in danger of going to an opposite extreme. It could not be the want of money that would prevent us from doing so. There was probably a sum of $50,000 spent in the late election contests in this country. (Oh! Oh! and laughter.) He thought Mr. Boyd would bear him out in that. (More laughter.) The people go their blood up and wanted “to save the country,” and they put forth efforts of that king every four or five years, and always could find the money when they wanted it. He would be ashamed of them if they did not do justice to their centenary. The ladies had gone into it and we must stand by them? His friend, Mr. Lawrence, had lately shown him quite a thick book, and what was it all about? It was a record of the efforts of the ladies in erecting or completing Bunker Hill monument. That monument stirred up the patriotism of the country, and even if it should perish, the oration which Daniel Webster pronounced when it was inaugurated would never be forgotten. In the case of all great men, and men of genius, it was love of country that enabled them to excel; it was as true of Michael Angelo as of Nelson. Had the founders of this country been obliged to shed their blood in doing so, the patriotic fervor of their descendants would now be at fever heat, but the value of their inheritance was none the less that it had been peaceably acquired and that such was our belief we must now show to the world. (Cheers). Dr. Coleman then gave a capital reading, namely, Tennyson’s Ode to Wellington, which was followed by a song from Miss Guthrie, which was very heartily applauded. After a short intermission, Mr. Silas Alward was called for from the chair, who introduced his speech with some pleasant anecdotes, and gave himself away completely by deserting his learned brother Kerr in the monument question. He explained his course by referring to the fact that when Disraeli had occasion to touch on the origin of man, whether descended from an ape or an angel, that statesman declared that he was on the side of the angels; in going over to the ladies, he (the speaker), was on the sides of the angels. (Applause.) Mr. Alward referred to the tales of a grandfather, who had been in the revolution, which were among his earliest recollections, and how they stirred his patriotism; how another ancestor of his drew some lots in the early settlement of St. John, and he recalled the objection that those ancestors were mistaken, and that, if they had not done to, he as, one of their descendants, might now be a large owner of real estate and hold a seat in Congress, but he did not look at material results. He honored them for acting on their views of right. There were three great immigrations of the English race. The first was that which took place when the Britons came over to England, the second when the Pilgrim Fathers founded, what was not the United States, and the third when the Loyalists came to Canada. The first emigration had developed the most powerful nation in the world; the second peopled a land which had now 50,000,000 of people, and whose possibilities were boundless; the third had helped to found Canada, a country of vast extent, of a climate second to none, and which ere another century passed would have from twenty to thirty millions of people. Surely the people of such a country would not fail to do honor to their ancestors. The spirit which inspired Thermopylae, which animated Curtius as he leaped into the chasm to save Rome; the spirit which raised the arch of Titus and the pillar of Trojan was not wanting here; it would show itself in this Centennial movement. (Cheers.) Miss Bowden gave a piano solo in her masterly style. She was encored and responded. Miss Coholan gave a song, which evoked a furor of applause, and Mr. Porter made a further agreeable contribution to the musical programme in the shape of a song. The Hon. John Boyd’s name was next on the programme for a reading. He first, however, made a speech, in which he humorously criticized some of the remarks of Judge Skinner and Mr. Alward, telling some capital stories, and warmly speaking in favor of the present movement. He then referred, in touching terms, to the loss of the Cedar Grove, and in particular to the loss of Capt. Fritz, who had fallen a martyr to the endeavor to establish a St. John Steamship line, and to the sad fate of Miss Fairall. The circumstances had suggested to him the lines written on the death of Capt. Strong, of Liverpool, who perished with his steamer, the Cyprian, his fate calling forth a touching poem from Punch. This poem, Mr. Boyd read in a very sympathetic manner and put copies of it on sale in the hall. His speech and anecdotes and reading were heartily applauded. Miss Devine, in her fine style, then played a selection on the piano and Mrs. Armstrong and Mr. Robinson gave their promised duet with much effect. Judge Skinner took the sense of the meeting on the following resolution, which was seconded by Dr. Botsford:- Resolved, That a committee of gentlemen be appointed for the purpose of assisting the ladies who have inaugurated the present movement, in the form of a Joint Centennial Association, and that such Association shall have full power to arrange the form in which the memory of the Loyalists and the Centennial of the Province shall be perpetuated and celebrated. The resolution was adopted, and on motion the following committee named for the object stated in, the resolution:- The Chief Justice, The Mayor J. W. Lawrence, The Attorney General, Dr. Botsford, S. T. King, T. W. Daniel, Dr. Travers, Gilbert Murdock, J. Murray Kay. The Chief Justice having been moved out of the chair, and the Mayor being called thereto, a hearty vote of thanks was tendered to His Honor, for his kindness in presiding, to which he made a most cordial reply, stating how much pleasure he had in helping the ladies in this movement. (Applause.) The Conversazione was brought to a close by singing the National Anthem. We should have stated that in the periods of intermission, on the programme, the refreshment tables were well patronized, and that the ladies surpassed themselves in their attentions to their guests. There was a sale of cake, etc., at the close, in which Judge Skinner proved himself a very clever auctioneer.