The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-01 00:00:00

Banquet at the Royal Academy,

On Saturday the anniversary dinner of the Royal
Academy took place at the Rooms in Trafalgar-
square, when a distinguished company assembled,
on the invitation of the President and Council, at
once to share their sumptuous hospitality and to
enjoy the opportunity of inspecting the beautiful
works of art which constitute the Exhibition opened
to the public this day.
Among the company were his Royal Highness
the Duke of Cambridge, the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, the Archbishop of York, the Archbishop of
Dublin, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Oxford,
the Bishop of St. David's, the Lord President of the
Council, the Secretary of State for the Home Depart..
ment, the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Secre-
tary of State for War, the Secretary of State for the
Colonial Department, the Secretary of State for
India, the Lord Steward, the Lord Chamberlain, the
Duke of Devonshire, the Duke of Rutland, the Duke
of Cleveland, the Duke of Argyll, the Marquis of
Salisbury, Earl Grey, the Earl of Clarendon, Earl
Stanhope, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Shaftes-
bury, Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe, the Earl of
Warwick, Lord Taunton, Viscount Torrington,
Lord Chelmsford, Earl Somers, Lord St. Leonard's,
Lord Ravensworth, Viscount Strangford, Lord
Stanley of Alderley, the First Commissioner of
Woods and Buildings, Lord Stanley, Mr. Wal-
pole, Lord Houghton, the Privy Purse, Viscount
Bury, Lord Monteagle, Mr. Lowe, M.P., the Chief
Justice of the Queen's Bench, the Lord Chief
Brron, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, the
Master of the Rolls, Sir Charles Lyell, the Lord
Mayor, the Earl of Meath, Dean Milman, Dean
Stanley, Sir J. Nkington, the Master of the Horse,
Mr. Grote, the Attorney-General, Sir H. Cairns,
the Solicitor-General, Lord Naas, Lord Robert

Cecil, Lord John Manners, Sir E. Cust, Sir G. Back,
Sir J. Tennant, Mr. Beresford Hope, Mr. Chichester
Fortescue, the President of the Royal Society, the
President of the College of Physicians, Professor
Owen, the President of the College of Surgeons, the
Chairman of the Board of Customs, Mr. Tite, M.P.,
Mr. Thomas Baring, M.P., Professor Partridge, Sir
R. Alcock, Dr. Liddell, Mr. A. Trollope, Mr. Gre-
gory, Mr. Wilkie Collins, Mr. Anthony Froude,
Mr. R. Browning, Mr. John Forster, Mr. C. Dickens,
Mr. Pender, Mr. Arthur Mills, Mr. Henry Seymour,
Mr. T. Jas. Caird, Colonel Clifton, Equerry to his
Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, the Field
Officer in Brigade Waiting, &c.
There was a full attendance of Academicians and
Associates.

Sir Charles Eastlake, President of the Royal
Academy, occupied the chair.

The dinner services were supplied by Messrs.
Willis, of St. James's-street.

The Bishop of Oxford, honorary chaplain, said
grace.

The musical arrangements were under the direc-
tion of Mr. John Foster, assisted by Messrs. W.
Coward, Montem Smith, Walker and Lawler.
The usual loyal toasts having been duly honoured,
The PRESIDENT said,—We are, on this occasion,
honoured with the presence of some of the highest
dignitaries of the Church. I take the opportunity
of expressing our sense of that honour and our_ap-
preciation of the sanction which, on this and other
occasions, the presence of most reverend and right
reverend prelates has conferred on the cultivation of
the fine arts. (Cheers.) I trust that those arts will
always be so practised as to be consistent with the
best interests of society, and conducive to that im-
provement which is sometimes no less promoted by the
influence of general education than by direct instruc-
tion. I beg to propose the health of those dignitaries
of the Church who on this occasion honour the Aca-
demy with their presence. I may add that striking
portraits of two right reverend prelates present, the
Bishops of London and of Oxford, adorn thesewalls.
(Cheers.) I beg to connect the toast with the name
of the Archbishop of York. (Cheers.)
The Archbishop of York—Sir Charles Eastlake,
I have pleasure in fulfilling the duty which you have
laid on me, with the concurrence of my most reve-
rend brother on your left, that of returning thanks
for your kind welcome of the representatives of the
Church who are present on this occasion. It is im-
possible that ministers of religion can fail to take
an interest in artists and their works. We are
teachers—artists are teachers too. (Cheers.) Per-
haps our teachings are sometimes found too direct
and too urgent—nay, even sometimes they are thought
too long. The beautiful works upon these walls,
scattered as they soon will be through many homes,
will continue to teach with a certain silent eloquence
which can be put aside at will, but which will make
itself felt again and again. Records of heroic deeds,
the resemblance of the great and good, even the
presentations of natural scenes, calm, pure, and
healthful, will serve for generation after generation
to stir up the flagging spirit or to recall it from its
aberrations to a truer state. I remember a dramatic
sketch by one whom I must call one of the greatest
of our modern poets—Robert Browning—of which
the motive is that men immersed in various scenes
of passion, selfishness, or cupidity, are suddenly
awakened by the innocent voice of a young peasant
girl, making a holiday, and singing thoughtlessly as
she passes them by accident some little song that
gives expression to her joy. The touch of nature
awakens them from their dream of wicked passion,
conscience resumes her work, and the evil spirit de-
parts. So shall it be with works such as I see around
me, and minds in many moods, resting by chance
upon some noble face or on some natural scene,
shall be called back from their dreams of de-
sire, or hate, or covetousness, and find them-
selves restored and refreshed by the mute voice of
the artist, and the passion, potent and yet false,
shall be driven away by the voice of truth. (Cheers.)
How, then, can we help, we who are teachers of re-
ligion and morality, being interested in another
form of teaching, such as you who are artists ex-
hibit here to-night ? (Cheers.) How can we help
being thankful that art, which might be powerful to
debase and corrupt and effeminate the people, does
SO much to raise and ennoble them ? This is the
ground on which we are present here, and on which
we take so much interest in this valuable institution
that art as it is practised here is one of the prin-
cipal means by which the mind of the nation may
be instructed and its character trained and raised.
I sincerely thank you for the honour you have done
us, and for the pleasure we have derived from the
works gathered within these walls. (Cheers.)

The PRESIDENT—The toast which I have now to
invite you to honour is " The Army and Navy and
the Volunteers." No customary tribute on public
and festive occasions can be more appropriate or
more sincere than that offered to the services which
are the Subject of the present toast. Even those
devoted to peaceful studies, who, as zealous Volten-
teers, are comprehended in the toast, reserve to
themselves their citizen right of joining in cordial
and grateful acknowledgments to the army and
navy. It has sometimes been said that the com-
mercial and even the pleasure-seeking habits of our
countrymen, by rendering them familiar with the
excitements and the perils of the sea, have tended to
keel alive and quicken their sympathies for the
ct mariners of England." On land the Volunteer
may be said to constitute a similar or rather a closer
element of union ; for, from the practical knowledge
which he acquires of many military duties and re-
sponsibilities, he takes a deeper interest in the
career of the professional soldier, appreciates his
exertions, can comprehend his privations, and re-
joices with a more intelligent participation in his
success. (Cheers.) In proposing the toast " The
Army and Navy and the Volunteers," I beg to
connect with the army the name of his Royal
Highness the Commander-in-Chief, with the navy
that of the First Lord of the Admiralty, and with
the Volunteers that of Viscount Bury. (Cheers.)

His-. Royal Highness the Duke of CAMBRIDGE—.
Sir Charles Eastlake, my Lords, and Gentlemen,—
I rise to respond to the toast for the army, and in
doing so I only express the sentiments of my pro-
fession when I say that we are at all times highly
gratified in being remembered at the social board by
our fellow-countrymen. It has been our good for-
tune on previous occasions, as I think I have before
observed in this room, to supply subjects for the
delineation of the artist, and I apprehend that the
lack of such representations in the present Exhibi-
tion is a proof that the public feeling is absorbed by
more peaceful, and in many respects more agreeable,