Public Dinner to Mr. Jeremiah Smith
A Dinner at Rye. The occasion for a grand banquet at Rye on the 9th of August was a singular one, and not only is it worthy of being described for its singularity, but also for the fact that a considerable number of Hastings people sympathised with the object and were present both as partakers and sight-seers. As in one sense the said dinner was a political demonstration, and in another an enthusiastic display of personal regard for one who had been the victim of adverse circumstances, it will be necessary to explain that Mr. Jeremiah Smith, a great hop-grower, whilst Mayor of Rye, was tried at the Central Criminal Court on the 9th of March on a charge of perjury alleged to have been committed before a Committee of the House of Commons in the matter of the election petition against the return of Mr. Mackinnon. The names of the parties who instituted the prosecution did not appear during the whole of the investigation. The defendant was attended by a large party of his friends from Rye, Hastings, Winchelsea, Tenterden and other places. He was pronounced guilty, and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment in Newgate. The prosecution was attributed to private revenge, and the trial evoked great excitement. And as Mr. Smith was greatly respected, much sympathy was shewn on his behalf, even among many of his townsmen who professed political views opposed to his own. Happily, however, for Mr. Smith, only a little more than a third of his sentence was carried out; for, on the 27th of July he was liberated by order of the Home Secretary. The return of Mr. Smith to his home after his incarceration, on the 9th of August was of such a nature as to be remembered for many years by those who witnessed it. The enthusiasm, not only of the inhabitants of Rye, but also of those who had entered the town from other places was most intense. At mid-day the entire space from the market-place to the railway station was lined with about 4000 persons. The station gateway was dressed with evergreens and on each side was an emblazoned shield, one with the City arms and the other with the arms of the port of Rye. The shipping in the harbour had a profusion of flags, and the whole town was decorated in various ways. A triumphal arch was erected at the approach to the station, and a handsome flag was stretched across the street opposite the Mayor’s residence, and decorations appeared on the Town Hall. To meet Mr. Smith, the Mayor, mace bearers and Corporation, headed by Brett’s Hastings and St. Leonard Brass Band, proceeded to the station, and took position on the platform, where also were Mr. Smith’s workmen, uniformly dressed in white round-frocks, with blue rosettes. When the train with a decorated engine arrived, Mr. Smith stepped from a carriage amidst deafening applause. He was accompanied by several friends, the whole party carrying bunches of hops, the principal insignia of Mr. Smith’s business. So enthusiastic were the people that in their -
