"It is now my duty, as your Chairman, to call upon you to drink the toast of 'Prosperity to the British Orphan Asylum.' I am satisfied you will do so most heartily, when I see around me so numerous an assembly prepared to do honour to the occasion, and to assist us in our work. I feel some diffidence in proposing this toast in the presence of so many who know far better than I do the excellence of this institution, and understand its working. At the same time it gives me the greatest pleasure to propose the toast, and to be here this evening advocating so excellent a cause. It is always a pleasure to advocate the cause of charity, and there is no other appeal that comes so home to the hearts of all classes of the community.
"I have a special interest in this Asylum. It is now nearly eleven years since the Princess and myself visited and inaugurated the present building near Slough; and when I pass by Slough, as I frequently have to do in the course of the year, it always gives me pleasure to look at that building, and to think how many children are here provided for and educated. It is now very nearly half a century since this institution was founded, and it is different from all others in this respect, that children of parents who were once in prosperous circumstances are there educated. In it there are children of officers of the Army, of the legal, medical, and naval professions, and the proof of its usefulness is that after they have grown up they frequently write letters to the managers of the Asylum expressing their gratitude for the excellence of the practical education they have received, and which has been so profitable to them in their different avocations.
"To show how prosperous this Asylum is, I may state that in January last it contained within four of 200 children. You will perhaps ask, if this institution is in so prosperous a condition, why have this dinner? Why call so many people together? And why am I to ask you, in as civil a manner as I possibly can, to subscribe towards its support? My answer is, that the net income of the Asylum is £3000 a year, but that the increase in prices of all the necessaries of life is so enormous, that to meet the deficiency that exists as much as £1500 has been sold out of their funds; and I feel that in order to make that deficiency good, I shall not call upon you this evening in vain. There are points which I might bring before your notice, but I think that on this occasion brevity is best, for you all know what a good institution it is, and I am sure you will drink with me 'Prosperity to the Institution,' and try to make it still more prosperous for the future. I beg to couple with the toast the health of the treasurer, the directors, the hon. secretaries, and medical officers of the institution."
The subscriptions announced during the evening amounted to upwards of £2400.
BANQUET TO SIR GARNET WOLSELEY.
March 31st, 1874.
The Lord Mayor of London, as chief magistrate of the City, has always been ready to honour men distinguished for naval and military service rendered to the country. A grand State Banquet was given on the 31st of March, 1874, to Lord Wolseley, then Major-General Sir Garnet Wolseley, on his return to England after the triumphant Ashantee Expedition. The dinner was served in the Egyptian Hall at the Mansion House. Covers were laid for 260 guests, among whom were His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Prince Arthur, and the Duke of Cambridge. All the officers of the Staff, and others who had taken part in the Expedition, with many eminent persons in civic or official life, were present.
The Lord Mayor, having given the usual loyal toasts, the Prince of Wales rose to respond to that of the Royal Family, saying:—
"My Lord Mayor, your Royal Highness, my Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen,—I beg to tender you my very warmest thanks for the kind way in which the Lord Mayor proposed this toast, and for the cordial manner in which the company now assembled have received it. This is not the first time I have had the honour of an invitation to be present at the Mansion House and receive the hospitality of the Lord Mayor of the City of London. But I can assure him that however much pleased I may have been to be present on former occasions, on no occasion did it afford me greater pleasure to be here than on this evening, when he has given a banquet to welcome back those gallant officers who have so lately returned from the Gold Coast to England. The gallant officers and men of that Expedition had the opportunity yesterday of seeing the Queen, and the Queen had the opportunity of seeing them, and of expressing her approval of everything that has occurred. Yesterday afternoon, also, both Houses of Parliament unanimously accorded a vote of thanks for the manner in which that difficult though short campaign was conducted. This evening, again, the Lord Mayor takes the opportunity of welcoming those gentlemen who are here as the representatives of the troops that formed that Expedition, in the hospitable manner which is so well known in this Hall. On a question of this kind it would be unbecoming in me and out of place to make any remarks with regard to that Expedition which has been so successfully closed. But I cannot sit down without taking the opportunity of saying how much I rejoice—if I may say so as a soldier and a comrade of those I see around me—that this Expedition has ended in so successful a manner. English officers and English troops have kept up their reputation. They have not only displayed great courage—that they have done on all occasions—but they displayed extraordinary endurance, owing to the fearful climate and country they had to contend with. I am glad to have the opportunity of welcoming home the gallant General on my right, and congratulating him on the great success of his expedition. Once more I thank you for the honour you have done me in drinking my health, and on the part of the members of my family, for the kind way in which you have spoken of them."
In responding to the toast of "The Army and Navy," the Duke of Cambridge referred to the review of the troops of the Expedition on the previous day, at Windsor, before the Queen. "The distinguished officer who conducted this war knew the task he undertook, and how to undertake it; and he was well backed by the officers and men placed at his disposal." The speech of Sir Garnet Wolseley was admirable in tone and feeling, and with clear soldier-like statement of the chief events and results of the Expedition. He thus concluded: "The military world has learnt many military lessons in recent years, but the most valuable to us as a nation that has been taught us by the Abyssinian and Ashantee Wars is that when you have to appoint an English General to command any military undertaking it is necessary to trust him; to supply him with all he asks for; and, above all things, to avoid the error of severing the military command from the diplomacy necessarily connected with the operations. I have no hesitation in saying that had my operations been encumbered by the presence with me of a Civil Governor, or of an Ambassador authorised to give me orders, I do not think I should ever have reached Coomassie. Upon my arrival at Cape Coast Castle, at the beginning of last October, I found it in a state of siege. A large Ashantee army threatened both it and Elmina; a panic and demoralisation had seized upon all classes; the people from the surrounding districts had flooded into the towns on the Coast, where they soon suffered from disease, owing to their crowded condition; trade had almost ceased altogether, and a large proportion of the people depended upon the Government for their support. When I left Cape Coast Castle, at the beginning of this month, I left there a prosperous population, enjoying the blessings of peace and the mercantile advantages attendant thereon. I found upon my arrival on the Coast the prestige of England at its lowest ebb, but before I departed, I left our military fame firmly established on a secure base, consequent on the victories so gallantly won by the troops under my command. My Lord Mayor, I have to thank you most sincerely for the manner in which you have alluded to me personally and to my military services, and I have to thank you, in the name of all ranks composing the expeditionary force, for the warm reception and the noble hospitality you have accorded to us this evening."