Public Meeting
Held at the Catholic Chapel, Bakery-hill, Wednesday, October 25th.


After a good deal of pretty intelligible talk about the 'helpless Armenian,'
the trooper Lord, and our respected priest; Thomas Kennedy, pouncing on
the thing of the day proposed:--

"That it is the opinion of this meeting that the conduct of Mr. Commissioner
Johnson towards the Rev. Mr. Smyth has been calculated to awaken the highest
feeling of indignation on the part of his devoted flock: and to call upon
the government to institute an inquiry into his (gold-lace) character,
and to desire to have him at once removed from Ballaarat."

Carried unanimously.

The priest was requested to address the meeting.

Father Patricius Smyth, a native of Mayo, looks some thirty-five years old,
and belongs to the unadulterated Irish caste--half-curled hair, not abundant,
anxious semicircular forehead, keen and fiery eyes, altogether a lively
interesting head. He is a Latin and Celtic scholar; and that excuses him
for his moderate proficiency in modern languages. He was educated at Maynooth,
the eye-sore of Sabbatarians, and therefore believes it incontestable
that the authority conferred on him by the Bishop must needs be derived
from God; because the Bishop had been consecrated by the Pope, who--inasmuch
as a second branch of the Prince of the Apostles never was heard of at the time
of St. Augustin--is the successor of St. Peter, the corner stone on which
OUR LORD did build the Christian church, and our Lord's warrant is written
in St. John, chapter xiv, 24: 'Sermo quem auditis non est meus,