The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-01 00:00:00

THE ROYAL ACADEMY.

The Sdth annual exhibition of the Royal Academy of
Arts was inaugurated on Saturday by the usual banquet.
The rooms were thrown open at two o'clock to the
guests, and several Cabinet Ministers and personages of
high distinction availed themselves of the opportunity
thus afforded to inspect at leisure the pictures contained
in the exhibition.
Sir CHARLES LOCK EASTLAKE, the President of the
[loyal Academy, took the chair about half-past six.
Among the distinguished guests we observed—the Lord
Chancellor, the President of the Council, Lord J. Rus-
sell, Viscount Palmerston, the Duke of Newcastle, the
Earl of Clarendon, Viscount Hardinge, the Marquis of
Bath, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the President of
the Board of Trade, Mr. Sidney Herbert, the Bishop of
London, the Bishop of Oxford, the Bishop of St. David's,
Mr. Disraeli, M.P., Sir J. Pakington, M.P., Mr. S.
Walpole, M.P., Earl Grey, Sir G. Grey, M.P., the
Marquis of Clanricarde, Viscount Canning, the Earl of
Jersey, Lord Campbell, the Lord Chief Baron, the
Master of the Rolls, the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-
General, Lord Ashburton, Mr. J. Baring, the Governor
of the Bank of England, the Earl of Cawdor, the Hon.
Justice Coleridge, Mr. C. Dickens, Lord Elcho, Sir H.
Ellis, Mr. J. Forster, the Earl of Ffard.wicke, Mr. B.
Hawes, Mr. R. S. Holford, Lord Lyttleton, Lord Lon-
desborough, Mr. Labouchere, M.P., Mr. Layard, M.P.,
the Lord I.llayof, Mr. M. Milnes, M.P., Lord North-
wick, Lord Overstone, Professor Owen, Lord Shelborne,
Lord Stanley, Sir G. Staunton, Sir It. H. Inglis, Mr.
F. Peel, &c. The rest of the guests consisted of the
professors, fellows, and associates of the Royal Academy.
Altogether about 140 sat down to dinner, which was
provided by Messrs. Willis, of the Thatched House

Tavern.
The cloth having been removed, and "For_ these and
all Thy mercies given" having been sung by Mr. Hobbs
and a party of vocalists.
The PRESIDENT gave the usual loyal toasts, after
which the "Army and Navy" were given and responded
to by Lord Hardinere and Lord Hardwicke.
The latter in the course of his remarks said he could
not walk along the streets but he was asked by some or
other whether he had heard anything of the Baltic or
the Black Sea fleet. The public mind was exceedingly
anxious as to the state of affairs in these two seas. He
knew nothing about the operations intended to be un-
dertaken ; those who did sat opposite to him, and her
Majesty's ministers were able to give them every infor-
mation. (A laugh.) But although he knew nothing
about what was intended to be done, there were cer-
tain great principles which he wished the public to us-
derstand, and which if they were duly recognised, were
calculated to alleviate their anxiety. In the first place,
ships were intended to fight with ships, and ships which
were wood and iron, were not intended to fight with
stone walls. (Hear, ax.) He advised the public to
think of the double danger to which we were exposed
from every other species of naval warfare except that of
ship meeting !tip in fair contest. If this principle were
adhered to, he had no fear that our naval supremacy
would be endangered ; and he did not think it was
about to be departed from, because if it were, we
should no doubt have a large reserve force at home.
But if our ships were to engage stone walls, then the
public mind ought to be directed to meet disaster
and risk, because, although no one would have any ap-
prehension for the result if ships met ships, yet
there was a risk of disaster if anything else were tried,
which no power but that of the Almighty could pre-
vent. It might no doubt be said that there were two
great instances on record—Copenhagen and Algiers—
which proved that ships might engage stone walls with
success. But he thought an opposite lesson ought to
be drawn from these instances. In both cases it was
what was called "touch and go," and were on both oc-
casions as nearly beaten as our ships ever were. With
regard to the bombardment of Algiers, he believed that
if the guns had been in the hands of any but the Alge-
rines, very few of our ships would have returned. By
negotiation and management that engagement was
brought to a successful termination ; but, as instances
of the success with which ships were able to engage stone
walls, he had always felt that great risks were run on
both occasions, and that the attempt had nearly lost us
our fleets. He wished the public to apply the lesson to
the Baltic and the Black Sea ; and as we had no reserve
force at home, he did not believe that any such risks
would now be incurred. Unless, therefore, the Russian
came out of port, the present campaign would probably
pass without any serious act of warfare. He had every
confidence in the judicious conduct of our commanders,
in the zeal and gallantry of our officers, and in the exis-
tence of the same honest and determined fighting ma-
terial on the part of our seamen. (Cheers.) Such great
operations as those to which we had adverted were not
likely to be undertaken without the orders and com-
mands of the Government at home, and great actions
of this kind, differing from fair naval warfare, would,
he hoped, be avoided by commanders intrusted, not only
with the safety of their ships and crews, but with the
safety and independence of this happy land.
The next toast was "The Health of the Foreign
Ministers," responded to by Lord Clarendon. After
some complimentary sentences, he said :—I rejoice to
see that of two great specimens of art now before me
one, an excellent portrait of the Emperor of the French,
is by an English artist ; and another, a portrait of an
English nobleman, is by a French artist, and that both
are worthy to be placed side by side with that chef
d'teuvre in the centre, the portrait of Lord J. Russell.
(Cheers.) The original of that picture of the Emperor
is fond of British artists, and I know that he looks for-
ward with infinite satisfaction to the competition by
English artists in the Exhibition which is to opened
next year in Paris. He ardently hopes that they will
contribute to that exhibition, and he has expressed a
confident expectation that great benefit will ensue, both
to French and Engish artists, from that competition.
The PRESIDENT next gave " the health of the noble-
men and gentlemen who have this day honoured the
academy with their presence." It has been remarked
that there are two direct modes in which art may be
promoted. One, which is indispensable, is by the en-
couragement of living talent ; the other is by the acqui-
sition from abroad of the master works of former periods
• as models of excellence. With regard to the latter
mode, the time has been when one placed in the position
I have the honour to occupy might have felt some diffi-
culty in recommending it at a time when inferior produc-
tions by inferior masters have been valued and sought for,
and when struggling genius at home has been neglected—
.
when the works of such painters as Luca Giordano were
esteemed and those of Wilson were disregarded. It is a
happiness to acknowledge that both mistakes are now
corrected, and that the encouragement extended to living
votaries of art is liberal and comprehensive. (Hear.)
The purchase by collectors of the works of the old mas-
ters is in general judicious and discriminating, and, on
no ground therefore can exception now be taken to that
course. Every professor must feel it to be his interest
to uphold whatever really raises the standard of excel-
lence, while, as regards the connoisseur, the same study
by which he learns to discriminate excellence from mere
names also enables him to do justice to contemporary
merit. (Hear.) It may appear to matter little what
classes of the art-loving community may have a predilec-
tion for one department or the other, especially since
both kinds of amateurs are abundant, and since many
combine both forms of amateurship. I will only observe
that the noble ardour which our merchants and menu-
lecturers evince in encouraging living and native talent
is calculated to communicate an impulse to a still
widening circle, to familiarise the greatest number with
its results, and to interest more warmly the people at
large. In fact, art, with its material appliances and
its humanising influences, is already evidently and un-
mistakeably making its way to the people—(cheers)—
and, while this desirable consummation is taking place,
it is for us to remember that in our darker periods—and
I speak not of very remote periods—the flame was kept
alive chiefly by means of the cultivated taste of the no-
bility and gentry of this country, and the present move-
ment may be strictly said to have originated with
them. And, whatever may be the future destiny of art,
we feel and know that stimulus of their approbation can
never be superfluous. (Cheers.) Gentlemen of the
Royal Academy, I give you the health of the Lord Chan-
cellor and the noblemen and gentlemen who have
honoured us with their presence.
The LORD CHANCELLOP. said, that if there were any
duty which he might be called upon to discharge for
which he felt himself ill qualified, it was that of return-
ing thanks on such an occasion on behalf of the distin-
guished company who surrounded him, There were
among those who had the honour of being the visitors
of the Royal Academy many who were the patrons of
domestic artists, and who had also contributed to the
walls of the British Institution specimens of merit of the
ancient masters. With none of these was he connected,
and from others would therefore more appropriately
have come the thanks which the visitors owed for the
reception they had met with and the unbounded feelings
of satisfaction with which they had gazed upon the walls
around them.
,(Hear.) It had long been the custom of
the youth of this nation to visit the cabinets and collec-
tions in which the works of the great masters of for-
mer days were to be found. It used to be thought a
proof of great knowledge and taste to depreciate the moderns in comparison•
vri with ancient masters ; but
this fashion
walls would still further away,
and a glance at these
impression. Lie liwofuuirther remove so unfounded an
d not pretend to say, that, in
the opinion of
would rival those of artists,the the Vatican productions around them
or those upon the walls
of the Pitti Palace ; but leattikan,
Tittabne asked whether the con-
temporaries of Raphael
reducedriai
nptin
the Guido, w oror k
santyheoyf
now
great masters, could harrvielop
saw ? (Hear, hear.)
3 of the Vatican and
the Pitti Palace were the collected works of different
ages, and not, like these, the production of a sinele year.
(Cheers.) Looking at the matter in this point'of view
son with the
most palmy days of
our artists need not shrink from a corapearre was no to to
art. It was said
among the British public for anything but portrait:.
God forbid that the taste for portraits should cease
amongst us, for it showed the strength of our domestic
affections, and that we loved to look upon the features
of those who were dear to us. The use of portraits was
well described by one whom he might call a savage. The
Prince Le 800, when his portrait was taken, was asked
whether he understood the object of it. He replied—.
"Oh yes ; me understand it well. This Le 800 die ;
that Le 800 live I" (Hear, hear.) This was a com-
mentary upon portrait painting the most appropriate
that could be made. But portrait painting was not
all. Most admirable was that art which could bring
Italian skies within English walls, and which could
make us feel, in walking round these rooms, as if we
were transported to the mountains of Switzerland or
the Pyrenees, and which enabled us to see Italian
and Spanish scenes without moving from the centre
of Charing-cross. (A laugh.) He believed that there
was not a country in Europe which could produce better
specimens in the higher walks of art, or whose historical
artists could rival or compete with the works upon these
walls. (Hear.) In looking round the rooms we might
n, k3r into the feelings' of the widow who was part-
is.,