The Express.
London, England, 1867-05-06 00:00:00

BANQUET AT THE ROYAL AC,' DEil Y.

The anniversary banquet of the Royal Academy
previous to the public opening of the exhibition to-day
took place on Saturday afternoon, when a diatitguished
oompany Resembled in honour of the occasion. T:.e eater-
tainment took place in the East Room.
Sir natters GRANT, president of the Royal Academy, •
presided, and among those present were hi; Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales, Prince Ed ward of Sue
Weimar, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Teck, the
Lord Chancellor, the Lord President, the Fist Lord
of the Treasury, the Secretaries of State for
the Home, Foreign, Colonial, War, and Julie De-
partments, First Lord of the Admiralty, the Speaker, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, the First Commissioner of
Works, the Chief Justice of the Queen's Beuch, the
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Lord Chief Baron,
the Muter of the Rolls, the Archbishops of Canterbury
and York, the Bishop of London, Earl of Carnarvon, Earl
of Clarendon, Lord Cairns, Lord Cranworth. Mr. J. D.
Coleridge, Right Hon. K Cardwell, Right Hon. W. Cow-
per, Earl Grey, KA Granville, Lord kit Leonardo, the
Earl of Malmesbury, Earl Russell, Marquis of Salisbury,
Earl of Shaftesbury, Dean Stanley, the Bishop of Oxford,
Dean Milman, Earl Stanhope, and Mr: A. H. Lay ard.
The health of the Queen having been given, the Pre-
sident proposed " The Health of the Prince and Princess
of Wales, and the other members of the royal family."
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wawa, who revising
to acknowledge the toast was loudly appkaded, said—Sir
Francis Grant, your royal highness, my lords, nil gentle-
men, I beg to tender you my warmest thanks for the very
kind manner in which you have proposed and received the
health of the Princessof Wales and myself. (Cheers.) I
feel sure she will be deeply gratified forth. kind words you
have this evening uttered—(cheers)—and I am glad to say
that, although she has for very nearly two months been
kept to her room by a long and tedious illness, she is new
progniesing towards recovery. (Loud and continued sheer-
ing.) I know I can have no more pleasing announcement
to make to her royal highness than to tell heed- the' very
kind feeling which has always been exhibited to her since
her first coming to this country. (Loud cheers.) I beg,
alio, Sir Francis, to thank you for the verykind manner in
which yen have alluded to the interest I take with reiprd.
to science and art. I need not tell you that Ido takeenele
an interest. (Cheers.) If I may say so, I take the same
interest which my parents have always taken, &Rhod' I
may not have the same experience or knowledge ;AEI, I
hope I shall always tread in their footsteps in that
(Cheers.) am flattered, Sir Francis, by your
that I have shown an appreciation of art' in beernabill
uor of a work by so celebrated an artist as Sir Ed
r. I think it would be impossible to isa at thl
table any one who would not feel the same appendidilen' ei
so admirable a work of art. (Cheers.) I ailiabsi,the
picture under somewhat peculiar circumstances. It •
been painted for a private person, who was kind enough
to give it up to me. (Cheers.) Sir Edwin Land u&, al-
though he has been before the public for many years as a
painter, has within the last two months achieved great die-,
Unction ass sculptor—(loud cheers)—and hasproduced one
of the finest monuments of art that exist in this country.
(Cheers.) He kept tut perhaps some time in waiting for his
lions—(a laugh)—but the result has certainly been a nest,
magnificent one. (Cheers.) With reference to the exhibi-
tion now before us, I think I may my that for =ay y
we have not seen a finer exhibition. (Cheers.) The
of Grant, Watts, Milian', and others I need not parasite-
lu rs. lu. (Chee) Last year we had to mourn the lased
Sir C. Eastlake, and now we have to lament the de
from among us of another Royal Academician, M • r
to the vivid truthfulness of whose pictures from S
life I myself, from having been inSpain, can amply testify.'
(Cheers.) I beg, my lords and gentlemen, again to thank
you for the kind manner in which you have proposed and
received my health, and the still kinder manner in which,
you have resolved the health of the Princess of Wales.,
(Loud end continued cheers.)
After " The Army, the Navy, and the Volunteers" had
been proposed, his Royal Highness the Prince el WALES.
with great promptitude, said—l am a volunteer, Sr
Francis. I will return thanks for the volunteers. (Load
cheers.)
The Duke of CAMBRIDGE replied for the army, and the
Right Hon. H. T. L. CORRY, First Lord of the Admiralty,
on the part the navy.
His al Highness the Prince of WALES, in acknow-
leilgleg toast on behalf of the Valeateers, aidarks
honorary colonel of Reverel volunteer regiment.,s I have
bren connected with the movement for a considerable
period. No parson takes more interest in it than I do—
(cheers) I think we must all acknowledge the zeal
displayed by the volunteers, which, sine* they came for-
ward, has never in the slightest degree diminished.
(Cheers.) I hope their services will not be required even
defeneively, but it is pleasing to know that their ranks are
very little thinned, and that they are always ready to do
their duty whenever it may be demanded of them.
(Cheers.) We have seen not only our own coantrymen
approve the service, but we were peculiarly gratified by the
notice taken of them last year by the King of the Bel-
gians. (Cheers.) I am sure I need not add that if
the Belgian volunteers pay us a return visit this summer,
we shall give them a not less cordial reception. (Cheers.)
I return you, on the part of the volunteers, our best
thanks for the toast. (Loud cheers.)
The PRISIDENT next proposed ' The Health of her
Majesty's Ministers."
The Earl of DERBY, in rising to acknowledge the compli-
ment, was received with much cheering.
The Loan CHANCELLOR replied for " the Gen its," and
gave in return " The increasing and permanent prosperity
of the Royal Academy, and the health of its distinguished
president," to which the PRISIDEIrr returned thas, and
expressed the gratitude of the Royal Academy fed the
site granted to them on the Burlington estate. " The
House of Commons " was the next toast.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, on rising to re-
spond, was received with enthusiasm. The right hon.
gentleman said—Mr. President, you have reminded us
that the tout you have just proposed is an unusual one
in this room ; and, indeed, although I have now for many
years had the honour of being present at this classic
festival—for I look upon this room as the Mecca of
society, and that being here is • social pilgrimage
which it is equally the duty sad delight of us to
fulfil—this is the first occasion on which I can re-
member "The House of Commons" being given from
your chair. (Cheers.) I can venture to answer for the
House of Commons that they will feel greatly honoured.
It is not always that the House of Commons, and espe-
cially on some recent occasions, ia mentionel in such a
spirit—(a laugh)—and, therefore, it may feel it equally
compl mentary and consolatory. I have sometimes
thought there was some similarity in the position of the
two institutions—the House of Commons and the Royal
Academy. They are both ancient institutions. They have
both in their time been very much criticised—(cheers and
a laugh)—they have both been occasionally reformed.
(Loud cheers and laughter.) But, notwithstanding these
comments and these changes, they both still remain, and
may fairly be described as among the most flourirhiug and
popular institutions of the country. (Loud cheers.) The
relations between the House of Commons and the Royal
Academy are of an ancient and interesting date ; and when
the Academy was first established one of its most dig-
nified offices was conferred on the most illustrious member
of the House of Commons —Mr. Burke. (Cheer.) The
first picture of the House of Commons was painted by a
memberof parliament, Sir James Thornhill, aid is said to
contain the finest portrait of Sir Robert Walpole. This re-
minds me of another painting of the same suhjc .t which
adorned these walls two years ago, by an illustrious artist,
to whom his Royal Highness has so feelingly alluded.
I cannot without some emotion recall the scene
that picture represented, and its painter. Zhe then
leader of the House of Commons was there pcurtraied
with remarkable liveliness and expression. He has once
left us, but he left us in the fulness of age, and after haves:
fulfilled a noble and spirited career. (Cheers.) But the
great painter who commemorated him has also le I t us, and
comparatively young, and when England, and even Europe.
was only maturing to the recognition of his genies.
he been spared tons he would have covered the wile of our
galleries with works of enduring beauty and lasting fame.
(Loud cheers.) There are same of his works on these walls
at this moment, and it is impossible to eXill inn them
without a sentiment of tender interest. Fos my part
I believe that intellectual creation, have in them a
sort of spiritual affinity with their creators that never
ceases ; so I hope that they may whisper to him
in the Elysian fields where he may be wandering at
this moment our recollections of affection mid admira-
tion. (Cheers.) He was a rare artist, and had il.pped his
pencil in the splendour of Andalusian skies. (Cheers.)
The president has reminded me of the peculiar position in
which the Academy is now placed in conaequenee of the
change in its habitation, which is now impending. I did
not very precisely collect the particular points to which he
wished to draw my attention. (A laugh.) There is
nothing in my capacity as a member of parliament that
I should not be happy to consider, and, if possible,
accomplish for the comfort and Convenient,: of the
Royal Academy. (Cheers.) But in another capacity,
as Chancellor of the Exchequer, I would pi .isurne to
ay that I should prefer on the whole to transact
business before dinner. (Load cheers and I iughter.)
In offering you the thanks of the House of Commons for
the honour which you have done it, I think I may say
that there has never been in that body a want of feeling
for the fine arts. They may not express it in the MADDOX' ,
of exclusive coteries of dilettanti. They are a popular
amenably, and express their views in a somewhat rough
and popular manner. Rut when the opportunity has
offered of purchasing valuable collections and rats works