The National or St. Patrick's Day Banquet held by the
Irish Nationalists at the Hotel Cecil on Tuesday proved a somewhat stormy affair. Mr. John Redmond, who presided, described the war as "brutal and cruel," and said that they were nearer a great development of the Irish question than many people supposed. His congratulatory references to the reunion of the Irish party proved unfortunately premature, for Mr. Blake—who recently declared that he would take arms to repel any Irish-American invasion of Canada—was denied a hearing, and the mere mention by Mr. McHugh, M.P. of the name of Mr. William O'Brien gave rise to a free fight, only quelled by the humiliating intervention of the police. The report of the proceedings reads like a prose version of the "rows and the ructions of Lannigan's Ball," in which, as in the banquet at the Hotel Cecil, a leading part was played by a gentleman of the name of McHugh.
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