A dinner was given to Father Lavelle, parish priest of
Partry and Fenian sympathizer, in the Rotundo, at Dublin, on Wednes- day evening. The diners appeared to be almost avowedly sedi- tious. Instead of " The Queen " and the other usual toasts being given, " The Pope," " The Romish Hierarchy," " Our Native Land," and " Our Exiled Patriots " were substituted. Mr. Lavelle, who is coldly treated by the Catholic hierarchy for his political proceedings, made a very seditious and rather silly speech. He believed "that meeting, like the mustard seed, would vegetate into a mighty tree, that would overspread the whole country." Father Lavelle was referring, we suppose, to the seed whose growth is likened to the growth of the Kingdom of Heaven, and it was certainly bold to liken a Fenian conspiracy to the Kingdom of Heaven. He said the existing Irish Administration could be compared only to those of Marat and Robespierre in France. He openly and violently advocated the " independence " of Ireland, and her enfranchisement from her present slavery. No attempt was made to interfere with the dinner or the speaker.
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