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

might
sleeping look
on the eve of his execution. Turning to those domesticbe
l.uponng f r ot
re her
rm son,and a
dignifiedyou n g emigrantfeatures
lei er o
landscapes, in which our artists excelled, we might
reminded of the indolent way in which we sometimes
rtehni s i
nc
ioguhntt country.
..
Allowlounged i amwtaoy
say,
yd,a
too,y in
at
hsaeta -hciosalsetgtaol wbnr eitnh
which represented the interior
knowledge that there was toomofucah
jutrruytrh ioonmt,heinpiwcitiuierhe
the jury were debating. (A
laugh.) He begged to be
(Cheers.)
allowed to propose " The Health of the President and
members of the Royal Academy."
The PRESIDENT—On the part of the members of the
Royal Academy and my
own, I thank you for the com-
Piment with which we have been honoured. The favour-
at le judgment that has been pronounced by his lordship
on the present exhibition will, I think, be ratified by the
Public. It has not been usual, and for very sufficient
reasons, for the chairman on these occasions to invite
attention to any particular work, however remarkable,
and in deference to this customary reserve, I will con-
fine my observations to the general character of the
works displayed. The fact especially apparent in the
present exhibition of a great diversity of styles in
the works of art may be regarded as presenting one
of the most salutary indications in our school, since it
is directly opposed to a justly stigmatised routine, while
it is sufficiently free from lawlessness and undue caprice.
(Hear, hear.) As great painters have arisen in former
times, often at first exciting censure by their novel
aspirations, but gradually compelling an admiring assent
to their now canonised productions, we have been taught
their excellence, as yet unknown, may still remain to be
developed ; and it therefore becomes the duty both of the
teachers and promoters of art to lay no exaggerated
stress upon received types, but keeping the criterion of
nature and the conditions of representation in view, to
permit invention and practice to be as unfettered as
possible. (Cheers.) Within the limits which the essen-
tial elements of the fine arts sufficiently define is to be
found a variety of forms of art, each having its peculiar
excellence. Within these limits, and amid that variety,
taste need not and cannot be stationary, but like a pen-
dulum whose oscillations are narrowly circumscribed,
may be suffered freely to vibrate. (Hear, hear.) I
need not remind those whom I have the honour to
address, that in art as in letters, every age still aiming
at excellence, seems instinctively to oppose the taste
of the immediately preceding period, while the new
direction is in general mysteriously adapted to new
mental requirements or to new outward wants. (Hear,
hear.) The general tendency of art now appears to be
towards the real, the individual, and the definite—
a tendency which, as regards its higher capabilities, if
less fitted to kindle the imagination, may edify and in-
struct, and may touch the chords of the purest feeling ;
while, in its practical results, it is sure to enrich its do-
main with new wealth gathered from inexhaustible
nature. (Hear, hear.) On that account I venture to
think that such a direction is well calculated to influence
satisfactorily the material uses to which the fine arts are
now beginning to be more generally applied. Again
thanking you, I beg to propose the health of another
distinguished guest—" The Chancellorof the Exchequer."
(Cheers.) To speak of the refinement in taste of one
who holds a prominent place among those to whom the
government of this country is entrusted, will, I hope, be
understood, as on other occasions of the kind, to befit
the place and the occasion rather than adequately the
individual. That respect which it becomes us to express
we offer, trusting that the claims of the arts of peace will
not be forgotten during the vigorous prosecution of a
just war. (Loud cheers.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—Mr. President,
my lords, and gentlemen—Every person, however dis-
tinguished his station, or however great his fame, may
be well content with the honour which he has received in
his life, if he have been happy enough to have his health
proposed and so accepted in such an assembly as this.
In selecting me for such an honour, your president has
gone far beyond either what is due to my official posi-
tion or my personal qualities. If you will allow me to
strike the truth, I should say that I understand the pro-
posal of the chairman as much more than a compliment
either to the individual or to the office. It was a de-
scription of parable, the meaning of which I take to be,
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is considered to be
the symbol of the pecuniary resources of the country
—(cheers and laughter)—and that the funds of a great
nation ought to he liberally dispensed for every civi-
lising purpose, and not least for the purposes of the
fine arts. (Cheers.) If I have been selected as the
symbol of this truth, I am glad to be the vehicle of
conveying or illustrating a truth at once so obvious and
so just that it is acknowledged by all my colleagues, and
acknowledged (though upon this you may, perhaps, be
more sceptical) even by me. (Cheers and laughter.) Mr.
President, the position of public affairs is, as you have
told us, not altogether fa courable. The calls upon the pub-
lic purse for other and ruder purposes are heavy, and are
not likely soon to diminish. At the same time I join
with you in the hope that while this great nation
braces itself up for great sacrifices for the purposes of
carrying on the war upon which it has entered, it will not
' condescend to the narrow economy of stopping up all
the channels through which such fertilising influences
have been dispensed, and by means of which have flou-
rished education and the fine arts. (Cheers.) The scene
around us, on which so much has been said, inspires and
ratifies such a sentiment. It will be impossible for those
who have been honoured with the hospitable invitation
of this great corporation first to come and see the Bri-
tish talent exhibited upon these walls, and then to feel
that there ought to be a niggardly application of the
public resources to those purposes to which I have ad-
verted. I congratulate you and your brethren upon the
complete testimony which this exhibition presents of the
vigorous, thriving, and growing position of the elevating
pursuit in which you and they enjoy so high a place,
which is not only able, as has been said by the Lord
Chancellor, to transport us to other and far distant lands,
but which also so powerfully reflects upon these walls
those characteristics both of nature and of men, as they
are developed in England, which have been impressed so
strongly on British art. I will not further detain you.
I thank you for my own personal share in the toast you
have drunk, however small it may be, and I beg to as-
sure you of my cordial sympathy with the sentiments
that have been expressed by your president. (Cheers.)
The PRESIDENT—It will be remembered by those now
present, that on a former occasion—the year before last
—the then Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Disraeli)
invited a noble lord (Lord J. Russell) to co-operate with
him in any judicious scheme that might be devised for
promoting the fine arts in this country. (Loud cheers.)
Without alluding in any way to politics, I may mention
that the relative position of the noble earl and the right
hon. gentleman have been since that period changed, and
I beg to express a hope that such change in their relative
position will induce no alteration in the sentiments they
expressed relative to the productions of the fine arts.
(Cheers.) It is remarkable that on the occasion to
which I refer, it was observed by Lord Derby that the
right hon. gentleman appeared in this room in two plaees.
It happened that a very striking portrait of the right
hon. gentleman adorned these walls. (Hear,) I might
make the same remark now with regard to the noble
lord, for it happens that a very fine portrait of Lord John
Russell is opposite to me—(cheers)—and I could almost
fancy in looking at it that I am addressing his lord-
ship himself. (Hear.) Still referring to the hope that
the distinguished originals of these fine portraits have not
altered their opinions on the subject that interests us, I beg
to give the health of Lord J. Russell and of Mr. Disraeli.
Lord J. RUSSELL—I rise to answer for my part in the
toast that your president has proposed, and permit me to
say, that though no change has taken place in the senti-
ments that I then professed towards the right hon. gent!e-
man whose name has been coupled with my own, and
although political opposition has never produced between
us the slightest personal ill-will, while, on the contrary,
I shall always be glad to see eminent talent like his re-
ceive that meed of approbation and support which it
ought to receive in a free country like our own, yet you
will permit me to observe that, as far as politics are con-
cerned, you, sir, certainly have produced a some-
what violent contrast. (Laughter.) I miss entirely
those tender tints which are so remarkably character.
istic of your president—(continued laughter)— in his pic-
tures which reflect so well the delicacy and feeling and
refinement of mind that belong to him. (Hear.) But
he has departed very far from his own style of colouring
on this occasion—and has produced the most violent
contrasts—(laughter)—somewhat in the style of the pic-
tures exhibited in the early years of the Royal Academy,
when it was not unfrequent for distinguished artists on
the last days before the opening of the exhibition, to
throw in some violent reds or tawdry yellows in order
to make their pictures seen and remarked by the crowd.
You must, therefore, excuse me, while I pay, as I am
bound to pay, every sort of respect to the gentleman
whose name is coupled with my own, I must still say
that with regard to our political opinions that harmony
which ought to distinguish your president as a painter has
hardly been maintained. (Laughter.) In one respect,
however, there has been a point of agreement between
myself and the right hon. gentleman. Both of us have j
had the honour of having our resemblance painted by a j
distinguished artist, and we have become the illustra-
tions of anecdote mentioned by the Lord Chancellor.
Instead of the Lee 800 that dies, we shall leave behind
us the Lee 800 that will never die. We have bot hof
us had the good fortune to have our resemblances
painted with very great success by a man whose talent
I honour, and whose friendship I have the happiness
to enjoy. (Cheers.) I am glad to avail myself of this
opportunity to pay this eminent artist the tribute of
my regard and gratitude for the honour that has been
done to me, and in that sentiment I sympathise, and
certainly agree with the right hon. gentleman. (Cheers.)
Mr. DISRAELI—Mr. President, my Lords, and Gen-
tlemen—l have on several occasions had the opportu-
nity, through your kindness, of entering these cham-
bers on this anniversary, and have always been struck
with the triumphs of art and the triumphs of design
and colouring, but I was not aware that rhetoric would
achieve in those rooms triumphs as singular ; because,
your president has achieved a wonderful feat of ora-
tory in the toast he has proposed for your accept-
ance and approbation. I was glad to anticipate that
the noble lord would have answered for me, for I know
from experience the great difficulty of following the
noble lord. (Loud laughter.) I did, therefore, flat-
ter myself that this once I might count upon being
exempted from
eondfulfillingsi so arduous a task. I hope
yitelssi -itlhl
at not I bred.
he
onoeurreedd an affectation if I assure
in
asso-
ciated with a celebrated
atrit,eisht.aavnindg
arniyamnoanms
states-
man. It must have been
moment when the president hazarded
of a genial
e
(A laugh.) But lam not entitled to suchi a uchdatinuc't'iioonn,
and I am reminded of the Persianfable thath when
a piece cf clay was asked how he happened
so fragrant a perfume, he replied he had had theegiloael
fortune of living in the vicinity of roses. (A laugh.) -The
president has connected my career with the noble lord's
and the distinguished artist who has sent him down to
posterity, and has made me remembered for a short
time. lam obliged to the noble lord for the compli-
mentary terms in which he has referred to me this