The Council then discussed Newport from an historical standpoint. Its richness as a field for the Society’s work was dwelt upon. Many distinguished men of Irish blood who lived there were recalled,—Dean Berkeley, the famous Kilkenny scholar; the Rev. Marmaduke Brown, at one time pastor of old Trinity church; Capt. Wilkinson, a founder of the Newport Artillery; Commodore Perry, son of an Irish mother, who so splendidly defeated the British on Lake Erie, and his brother, Matthew Perry, to both of whom monuments now stand in Newport. It was also recalled that at the outbreak of the Revolution a member of the Boston Charitable Irish Society, Colonel Knox, later a general, went to Newport and planned fortifications for the place; that many men of Irish lineage came with our French allies to Newport, including Colonel, the Count Dillon; Lieutenant-Colonel Dillon, his kinsman; McCarty, an officer of the French battleship _Le Conquerant_; Lynch, aide-de-camp to the Chevalier de Chastellux, and many others. After the transaction of routine business the Council adjourned to meet at Elizabeth, N. J., on the occasion of the launching of the torpedo boat _O’Brien_. In the evening, after the meeting of the Council, dinner was partaken of at the Aquidneck, there being present some twenty-five gentlemen, including members of the Society and prominent Newport residents who had been invited to attend. Hon. Charles E. Gorman, of Providence, R. I., presided and grace was said by Rev. Louis J. Deady, of Newport. In addition to these there were present: Hon. Patrick J. Boyle, mayor of Newport (who is also a member of the Society); Hon. John C. Linehan, Concord, N. H.; Thomas Hamilton Murray, Woonsocket, R. I.; J. Stacy Brown, city solicitor of Newport; Martin Fay, Boston, Mass.; Patrick J. McCarthy, Providence, R. I.; Pardon S. Kaull, chief of police, Newport; Dennis H. Tierney, Waterbury, Conn.; Henry S. Tierney, Waterbury, Conn.; Edmund O’Keefe, New Bedford, Mass.; M. E. Hennessy, Boston, Mass., and the following, all of Newport: Eugene C. O’Neill, Alderman J. E. O’Neill, Rev. W. A. Doran, Rev. Philip Cronan, Rev. Fr. Reddy, Frank F. Nolan, Philip F. Conroy, Patrick Nolan, Dr. McElroy, M. A. McCormack, Alexander O’Hanley, William Sullivan and Michael Driscoll. The after-dinner exercises included an address of welcome by his Honor, Mayor Boyle; a paper by Thomas Hamilton Murray, on “The Battle of Rhode Island, 1778,” and addresses by Hon. Charles E. Gorman, Hon. John C. Linehan, Rev. Louis J. Deady, Dennis H. Tierney, Patrick J. McCarthy, J. Stacy Brown and Edmund O’Keefe. An original letter written by Gen. John Sullivan in 1778, while in command of the Rhode Island department, was read and exhibited. The letter is the property of George E. Briggs, of New Bedford, Mass., and a vote of thanks was extended Mr. Briggs for his kindness in loaning the letter to the meeting.