The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-04 00:00:00

Banquet at the Royal Academy,

On Saturday evening the President and Council of the
Royal Academy gave their anniversary entertainment to a
distinguished assemblage at their rooms in Trafalgar •square
The presence of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales
gave great interest to the celebration. The company began
to arrive soon after two o'clock, and spent the interval till
dinner was announced in admiring the gems of British art
which adorn the walls and form the exhibition for the year
of the Royal Academy.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, attended by
Lieut,-General Knollys and Colonel Teesdale ; his Royal
Highness Prince Louis of Hesse, attended by Captain Wes-
terweller and Colonel Du Plat ; and his Royal Highness
the Duke of Cambridge, attended by Colonel Macdonald,
arrived at 20 minutes past six, and were received by Sir
C. Eastlake, the President of the Royal Academy, who con-
ducted their Royal Highnesses to their seats at the banquet
in the East-room, where covers were laid for 170 guests.
Sir C. Eastlake presided, having on his right his Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales, his Royal Highness Prince
Louis of Hesse, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord
President of the Council, the First Lord of the Treasury,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State
for the Foreign Department, the Earl de Grey and Ripon,
the Secretary of State for India, the First Lord of the
Admiralty, the Lord Chamberlain, the Lord Steward, the
Speaker of the House of Commons ; and on the left his
Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, the Archbishop
of York, the Duke of Rutland, the Dake of Buckingham,
the Marquis of Salisbury, the Marquis of Bristol, the
Marquis of Normanby, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of
Shaftesbury, Lord Stanley, Earl Grey, Earl Powis,
Lord Chelmsford, Earl of Carnarvon, Lord St. Leonards,
Earl of Cardigan, Earl Stanhope, Earl Grosvenor, Lord
Monteagle, Lord Ravensworth, Sir J. Pakington, Mr.
Disraeli, and Mr. Walpole. On the other side of the Pre-
sident's table sat the Bishop of Oxford, Earl of Clarendon,
the Duke of Newcastle, the Bishop of London, Lord Over-
stone. Lord Stanley of Alderley, Earl Somers, the Master
of the Rolls, the President of the Board of Trade, the Sec-
retary for the Home Department, the Master of the Horse,
the Right Hon. Edward Cardwell, and the Right Hon.
William Cowper. Among the other distinguished guests
were—Lieutenant-General Knollys, the Right Hon. Robt.
Lowe, Viscount Newport, the Governor of the Bank of
England, Colonel Macdonald, the Right Hon. the Lord
Mayor, the President of the Royal Society, the Chief Jus-
tice of the Queen's Bench, the Lord Chief Baron, the Chair-
man of the Board of Customs, the Attorney-General, Major
Teesdale, Mr. T. Baring, Mr. R. Monckton. Milnes, the
Rev. Dr. Whewell, Mr. U. Grote, Lord R. Cecil, Mr. G.
Hardy, Lord Delamere, Lord De Tabley, Mr. W. Stirling,
Sir John Lawrence, Lord Alfred Hervey, Capt. Wester-
weller, Col. Du Plat, Sir R. I. Murchison, Professor Owen,
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Lord Elcho, Mr. A. 11.
Layard, Hon. A. Kinnaird, Viscount Bury, the Field Officer
of Brigade in Waiting, Lord John Manners, Sir Hugh
Cairns, Sir David Dundas, Lord Taunton, Lord Hardinge,
Sir John Ramsden, Mr. W. 11. Gregory, Mr. Ponder, Mr.
C. Babbage, Mr. J. Kelk, Mr. J. T. Caird, Mr. A. W.
Kinglake, Sir Charles Lyell, Mr. Danby Seymour, Mr. J.
Haliburton, President of the College of Physicians, Presi-
dent of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Sir H.
Holland, Hon. R. Curzon, Mr. Alderman Salomons, the
Solicitor-General, Mr. Thackeray, &c.
There was a very full attendance of members of the
Academy.
The PRESIDENT, in rising to propose the first toast, said—
May it please
your Royal Highnesses, my Lord, and Gen-
tlemen, I have the honour ttohpergorpacosieoutos ypaoture 'n'TehfetHhiesaltho
her Majesty the Queen ,
insti-
tution, the gracious promoter of those arts which can con-
tribute to confer refinement on nations, and add a lustre to
the throne, which can dignify the enjoyments of prosperity,
and harmonise with the earthly consolations of adversity;
and which in their more special uses—in recalling the form
and features of the great and good,land in illustrating their
eminent qualities—can subdue the farce of sorrow by re-
kindling the admiration of departed excellence. (Cheers.)
It is gratifying to know that by the offerings of the people
and of their representatives means are provided for the
erection of a suitable national memorial to his late Royal
Highness the Prince Consort. (Cheers.) This tribute of
sineure and universal respect will, we trust, add to those
sources of consolation which still surround her Majesty, and
of which not the least is the devoted and affectionate loyalty
of her subjects. (Loud cheers.)
The toast was drunk with all the honours.
The
PRESIDENT, in (proposing the next toast, said—
When the distinguished guests of the Royal Academy, on
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toa countryrterinbduethrea
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toon, pro-
pose
Royal Highness the
Prince Consort. But now that his Royal Highness's quali-
ties and character, in all their importance and distinctness,
are superseding the affecting personal reminiscences which
were at first so absorbing, that tribute may be consistently
and respectfully offered ; and, if so, nowhere more fitly than
in an institution especially connected with the Fine
Arts,
which:he especially encouraged—(cheers)—or more worthily
than on an occasion when the enlightened promoters of art
honour its professors with their presence. (Cheers.) The
toast which I have the honour to propose, and which will be
drunk in silence, is " The Memory of the great and good
Prince Consort."
Drunk in silence.
The PRESIDENT—The toast which I have now the honour