The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-25 00:00:00

THE SOCIETY OF ARTS.

The Society of Arts gave a dinner last night in the cen-
tral dining-room at the Exhibition building, which was one
of unusual ceiat. All the Foreign and Colonial Commis-
sioners, and a large number of the distinguished strangers
now visiting the Exhibition were invited, and most of them
were present. Mr. Gladstone took the chair, and among
the most notable of the English guests were Lord Lyttel-
ton, Lord Harris, Vice-Chancellor Wood, the Solicitor_
General, Sir W. Mike, and others. After the hesdths of
the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and the Royal Family had
been drunk,
The CHAIRMAN proposed " Prosperity to the Society of
Arts." After tracing the history of the society from its
foundation, 108 years ago, and pointing out the benefits
which it had conferred on the arts, industry, and commerce
of the country during its career, Mr. Gladstone said that
duly to appreciate its performances we must not look only
at the harvest which was now being gathered, but we must
go back to the day when the seed was sown—perhaps in
wintry weather, and with little encouragement for the
results which were to be obtained. The period in
which the society was formed was of marked stagna-
tion in most things pertaining to art and indus-
try, and we who now contemplate the immense
development which had since taken place, and
who locked with confidence to the future progress which
was to be achieved, ought not to forget what were the
earlier difficulties through which the society had passed.
(Hear, hear.) Passing from the earlier history of the
societ3 to its present position, Mr. Gladstone next alluded
to the loss which it had sustained in the death of the
Prince Consort, who, as its President, had been so
long and intimately connected with all its transac-
tions. It was within the bosom of this society that the
Prince had happily matured that great and fertile idea,
destined to take its place among the great discoveries of the
present century, of bringing together the members of the
various families of mankind by means of those great ex-
hibitions of the different objects of their arts and industries.
When first the Prince Consort was called on to stand up in
public and explain the object with which the Exhibition of
1851 was undertaken, be said it was to become a point from
whence all future progress was to be measured—a point at
which all past progress could bo compared, and to afford
an opportunity to all the nations of the civilised world to
estimate their comparative merits and defects; to discover
what each of them could teach anl what each had to learn,
so as to enable each nation to develope still further its pe-
culiar excellence and to remedy its shortcomings. (Hear,
hear.) That the Exhibition of 1851 had served the
purpose was proved by the magnificent collection now
aft ered under that roof. This Exhibition of 1862 showed
how far the Prince Consort was justified in saying that
the first Exhibition would be a point from which all
future progress would be measured or stimulated, and
it contained within itsufficient evidence of progress to
warrant the conviction not only that an immense advance
had been made by the industry of civilisation in (he limited
period of 11 years, but also that still further advance would
yet be made from the impetus which had been given from
the comparison instituted in 1651. (Hear, hear.) It was not
too much to say that these great International Exhibitions
were established now as institutions nut only of this coun-
try but of the civilised world, and with the foundation of
these institutions will be established for all time to come
the illustrious name of the Prince Consort, which on that
ground made sure of its immortality. (Cheers.) But those
who recognised that title to immortality ought to bear in
mind the humble but true and faithful partner of the Prince
Consort's labours. The Society of Arts, over which he pre-
sided, was his partner either in the conception or develop-
ment -of that idea, and it was entitled to the second place
and to no small share of the honour of that great cohnacveept
con-.
To have had a share in so great a work, andf toole
great
tributed to the gathering
h
spectacle which some sixty or
seventoge*tYwthousand
attempts People
had
aadt
come that day to visit, dispensed
m
of the
laboured culogium. Another
recommendation the education of
society was the efforts it had in
°which we were at one time
which we were beginning to
very, ywmo rukcihn gb
echl
ns sdehsa—u
da t
tha,nasthEins.glishmen, no point could
It needed only a visit
for instance, to see what advantage
mheaolfe
greatergrea t advances.importance
to the French
generation Court,
of working men derived from the
the actual tgproraitions of art. There might be seen
what when the idea of aiming at trueeell
the union of utility and beauty in the pro-
ductsof
f industry were part. the
existence ofylf:
patrimony of every man
en he sucked them in, as it were, with his mother's
milk,h and when they shaped the tendencies of his mind
from his birth, and influenced the muscles of his hand
excellenceo effect
in
from the first moment that he began to work. The right
hon. gentleman concluded, amid loud cheers, by calling
on the company to drink prosperity to a society which
had done so much to promote undertakings which would
teach the nations of the world to know one another, and to
accelerate the arrival of the time when peace would remain
among men, and the arts of strife and discord be no more
learnt.

PHILLIPS, Sir T. the vice-president, returned thanks,
and concluded by proposing " The health of the Foreign
Visitors."
MICIIEL CHEVALIER, who was very loudly cheered
on rising, returned thanks on behalf of the foreign visitors,
who, he said, had been universally delighted with the wel-
come they had received here, and who had not failed to
learn many valuable lessons from what they had seen in
this country.
The CHAIRMAN next proposed "The Health of the Royal
Commissioners of 1862," in returning thanks for which Sir
WENTwoRTH D ILKE said that,whatever mistakes the Com-
missioners might have fallen into, they had, at least, pro-
duced an Exhibition with which, after all his experience IA
ia
1851, he was confident there had never been anythng Been
at all comparable. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL nt prreo:
posed " The Colonies," for which General WAsTat:l,'The
,:umed thanks; and Mr. PAKINGTON acknowledg:L,
_D.
I InsrLtutions in Union," proposed byVice-Chaneeli o ou

SHIPPING-THIS DA

-----1.--
LONDON, June 25.
and this day at noon—North.
and fine weather, but rather
Easterly ; moderate breeze,
for
cloudy.
,—ArTiVed-•-Celltll.-
SUNDERLAND, June •
23 ---Wind S.W.—Sailed—Lilian,
for Rio Janeiro.
... •14 'Wind
N.W.— Sailed—Betty,
NEWPORT, rune . •
Monte Video.
Juno 24.—Wind N.W
B"t"' York for Liverpool.
rion, from New _
__ w
.N.W.—Arrived—Union,
D.,,,,DuE, June 23 —Wind b. .—Sailed—Retriever, for
'Quebec.
Buierroi., June 24.—Wind W
from St. John' 0, N.B.

(By SUBMARINE AND MAGNETIC TELEGRAIW
GRAVESEND, Wednesday Morning.
Arrived, June 21—Orient, from Sadusthorn ; Yelvan,
from Barbadoes; Scandium-lan, •
from Sannesund ; Madonne
del Carmine, from Gallipoli; Christian, from Jamaica;
Seine and Tamise, from Paris.
Arrived, June 25—Sehralbe, from Bremen.
Sailed—lberia, steamer, for Oporto ; Lord J. r Calais R,..urp3,11:
fo
steamer, for Dunkirk ; Sir E. Banks, steamer,
Phoebe, steamer, for Bermuda.
Morning.
DEAL, WednendaYs
_en ;
t Con-
Passed—Roneau, from London, for Stlil3accinau, from
stance, from London, for Barbados Robert , 4,
the north, for the west ; Clara, of 1
in
f'ioriiitby,e west,
Shields, for Exeter,
for the north ; Nlarcella, schooner, r