Sir Frederick Leighton, in proposing "The Health of the Queen," said that, "as members of the Royal Academy, we acclaim in this toast the head and immediate patron of this institution—a patron whose patronage has been for forty years not formal merely, but whose interest in its well-being has constantly shown and still shows itself in acts of gracious and enlightened generosity and high examples of support, a generosity and support the fruits of which were but a few weeks ago again magnificently evident on our walls. Deep gratitude, therefore, mingles with loyalty in the toast which I have now the honour to propose—'The Health of Her Majesty the Queen.'"
The President said of the Prince of Wales, that "his absence for a time had not been caused by any diminution of the interest which he has ever evinced in this Academy and in the arts which are its care, but, on the two last occasions at least, by the performance of self-imposed and onerous duties in which the furtherance of English Art had no small share. Those who had the honour to co-operate with His Royal Highness in the work to which I allude—and not a few are seated at this table—know by experience with what steadfast zeal and devotion and with what inexhaustible kindness in his dealings with all he carried it out; but no one, perhaps, so well as myself knows how desirous the Prince of Wales has been throughout that English Art should receive at the International Exhibition that recognition and honour which in his view it deserved, and which in the event was measured out to it by the opinion of Europe." The Princess of Wales, as all knew, co-operated with never-failing grace with the Prince in fulfilling the duties of their high station. As to the other members of the Royal Family, "all had grown up in the love of arts, and several of them practise one or other of those arts with enthusiasm and with marked success. I give 'The Prince and Princess of Wales, and the rest of the Royal Family.'"
The Prince, in responding, said:—
"Sir Frederick Leighton, your Royal Highnesses, my Lords, and Gentlemen,—I am very grateful for the excessively kind manner in which this toast has been proposed and received by this large and distinguished company. As the President, Sir Frederick Leighton, has said, it is four years since I last had the advantage of being present at your annual celebration. It was a matter of great regret to me that so long a time should elapse, but it has given me great pleasure to come here to-night and take part in your proceedings. During those four years events have occurred in the history of the Royal Academy which have awakened deep regret. The members of the Royal Academy—I may say all who sit at these tables—feel that they lost a friend in the death of Sir Francis Grant, who so long presided with so much geniality and kindness at these anniversaries. But of the Academy, as of Royalty, it may be said, 'Le Roi est mort! Vive le Roi!' The President is dead; another President is elected. Sir Frederick Leighton is an old friend of mine—a friend of upwards of twenty years' standing. I congratulate him most cordially and sincerely on the high office he now holds. I may also congratulate the Royal Academy on having such a man to preside over their meetings.
"I have to return my thanks, and those of my colleagues, to Sir F. Leighton for the able assistance he has rendered during the recent International Exhibition in Paris. Your President was unanimously elected chairman of the Section of Fine Arts, and he presided over a jury of at least forty members, and I think we have every reason to congratulate ourselves on the results.
"Let me now congratulate you, Sir Frederick, and the Royal Academy generally, on the magnificent Exhibition which we see before us this evening. I have not yet had sufficient time to enable me to speak to its merits, but I hope on some future occasion to have the opportunity of going over it more carefully. I thank you again for the kind way in which my health and that of the Princess of Wales have been proposed and for the very warm reception you have given me."
The Duke of Cambridge, in responding for the Army, referred to wars now being carried on in different parts of the world. He also spoke with praise of two pictures in this year's Exhibition by Miss Thompson. Mr. W. H. Smith spoke for the Navy. Lord Beaconsfield responded for Her Majesty's Ministers, Mr. Froude for Literature, the Lord Chief Justice for the Guests, and the Lord Mayor for the Corporation of London. The Lord Chief Justice (Sir Alexander Cockburn) gave an eloquent description of the chief works of Sir Frederick Leighton, beginning with the "Procession of Cimabue," nearly a quarter of a century ago, from which men felt that "a new genius had arisen who was to add to the lustre and renown of British Art." Sir Frederick Leighton, in his concluding speech, paid a generous tribute to the memory of Sir Francis Grant, and also of Mr. E. M. Ward, in whom the Academy had lost "one of the few artists who made the history of our country a constant subject for study."
1880.
At the annual banquet in 1880, the President, Sir Frederick Leighton, paid to the Prince of Wales a handsome compliment when he said: "Sir, of the graces by which your Royal Highness has won and firmly retains the affectionate attachment of Englishmen, none has operated more strongly than the width of your sympathies; for there is no honourable sphere in which Englishmen move, no path of life in which they tread, wherein your Royal Highness has not, at some time, by graceful word or deed, evinced an enlightened interest." Coming from Sir Frederick Leighton, this was not the mere language of flattery.
In replying, the Prince, after expressing his sincerest thanks, said:—
"Year by year the members of my family and myself receive invitations to take part in the proceedings at this anniversary banquet. You can therefore well understand that I find some difficulty in replying to the toast. At the same time I can assure the President and the members of the Academy that, though year by year we visit these exhibitions and take part at these banquets, the interest we take in them does not in any way diminish. I may be allowed to congratulate him and his colleagues on the very great success of this Exhibition. I had the opportunity two or three days ago of going through these rooms, and, though I do not profess to be in any way an art critic, I am quite sure they have no reason to fear any criticism upon the works of art which adorn these walls.
"I have been charged by my brothers, who generally take part in this day's proceedings, to express their great regret that they have not been able to be present. My brother, the Duke of Edinburgh, has been for the last five or six weeks absent on duty in Ireland, where he is employed on an important and, I trust, useful mission, not only as Admiral Superintendent of the Naval Reserve, but in doing what he can to relieve the distress which exists in Ireland. He has lately had the opportunity of taking the supplies for distribution on the West Coast from that gallant ship the Constitution, sent over by our American cousins, so nobly and generously, to afford relief to their distressed brethren in Ireland. In a letter I received from him two days ago he says the distress still exists, and both food and clothing are much wanted; in many instances the corn is not yet sown. I will not touch more upon this topic, and I should not have mentioned it had I not been particularly requested to do so."