"The toast I have now to offer to you is also one of those which are always given, and which are always heartily received at gatherings like the present. It is that of 'The Army and the Navy.' I find some difficulty on this occasion in proposing that toast, because when I look around me and see the Commander-in-Chief, the greater portion of the Head Quarters' Staff, and so many distinguished generals and officers, I feel it would be very presumptuous on my part were I to dilate on the subject. I think Englishmen have every reason to be proud of possessing such an Army and Navy as ours. Of course we don't pretend that they are perfection, but I am sure that every endeavour is used year after year to make our land and sea forces as efficient as possible for our defence and for the maintenance of peace both in this country and in our vast possessions abroad. In connection with the Army, it gives me the greatest pleasure to propose the health of my illustrious relative, the Commander-in-Chief. It would ill become me to make those remarks in his presence which it would afford me sincere satisfaction to offer were he absent; but I am sure that you, as brother officers, know the great interest the Commander-in-Chief takes in the Army, and I know you will drink his health most cordially on this occasion. I am not able to couple any name with the Navy, for the very sufficient reason that there is no naval officer present to respond to it. I regret that our gallant sea forces are not represented, but the toast will not on that account, I am sure, be less cordially received."
The Duke of Cambridge, who was loudly cheered, said: "I personally am much gratified by the kind reception which has been given to my name in conjunction with this toast. His Royal Highness, with a modesty which is delightful in one in his position, has expressed diffidence in proposing it; but there is no ground for such diffidence on his part, for there is no officer in the Army that I know of who takes a more lively interest in the efficiency of the service, even in its every detail, or who, whenever the opportunity offers, shows a greater aptitude than does His Royal Highness. He has proved a most worthy spokesman for the Army on this and on many other occasions, and I am sure officers of the Army are always flattered and gratified when His Royal Highness has the opportunity of speaking of them as he has done this evening. I feel particular interest in being present here, and I beg to express to His Royal Highness, who has many and constant duties to attend to, my thanks and those of my mother, who is, unfortunately, in a very suffering state, for having, on the mere expression of a wish on her part, at once consented to preside on this occasion. I beg also to thank you for the compliment which you have paid me and my family by your attendance, for I cannot forget that this institution was originally founded in memory of my father, who had many opportunities of showing the deep interest he took in the charitable institutions of the country. On that account many of his friends were anxious that some testimonial should be established to his memory, and instead of a statue I am happy to think, as I am sure he would have been glad to know, that it took the form of the useful and necessary institution we have met here to assist. But for its aid the recipients of its benefits would have to drag out a miserable existence either in the workhouse or under even still worse circumstances. We must all feel gratified that these old women are, thanks to the benevolence of yourselves and the public, enabled to pass their last days in the comparative comfort that they find in the Asylum at Kingston. As head of the Army, I may say that a higher compliment could not possibly have been paid to it than to establish an institution such as this, and I am gratified to think that the support it has received leads us to the hope that it is now established on a solid and valuable foundation. I beg again to thank you, in the name of the Army, and to say that the service feels the deepest interest in the prosperity of the Asylum."
The Prince of Wales next rose and said;—
"It is now my pleasing duty to bring before you the toast of the evening, 'Prosperity to the Royal Cambridge Asylum for Soldiers' Widows.' When I see how I am surrounded and how large a gathering is present, I feel sure I shall not call on you in vain in the interest of those whom we are concerned in benefiting on this occasion. As my illustrious relative has mentioned to you, this institution was established as a memorial to his illustrious father, the late Duke of Cambridge. The object was to provide a home for the widows of privates and non-commissioned officers of the Army. No such institution previously existed, and it is still the only one of its kind in the country. In it the widows are provided with a furnished room and an allowance of 6s. a week, besides a grant of 2s. 6d. per month for coals. While the expenditure is great, exceeding £2000, the funded income, including £50 a year, called the Princess Mary Fund for Nurses, amounts to little over £500 a year. It was originally intended to have, if possible, 130 inmates, but at the present moment there are only 57, for there is no room for more, and our great object is to make the institution a success by increasing the numbers. On philanthropic grounds alone it is almost unnecessary to say a word as to its excellence. But when one thinks of the soldier, who has not only to expose his life in battle, but to run the risk of sickness and disease in a variety of different climates, away from home, often leaving his wife for many years behind him, it is impossible not to see that it must be a comfort to him, especially if ill or dying, to think there is an institution where his wife, if he succumbs, has a chance of being provided for. Among soldiers there can be but one feeling on this subject, and I am sure that on this occasion I shall not appeal to those who are present in vain.
"I regret very much that one who has taken a deep interest in this institution—its chairman, Sir Edward Cust—is not here on this occasion, and I fear on account of illness. But it is some gratification to be able to read to you an extract from a letter of his, dated the 1st of March, to Colonel Stewart, the secretary, in which he says—"I think I intimated to you last year that I should make a disposition by my will of all my copyright and interest in my military histories for the benefit of the Asylum. As I am unable to support the Prince of Wales in the chair, may I beg the favour of His Royal Highness making this donation in my name as evidence of my sympathy for the institution?" Those who are present know so thoroughly well all the merits of the institution that it would be unnecessary for me to make a lengthened speech. I will therefore wind up by once more asking you to do all in your power to assist in accomplishing the great object we have in view of extending the building so as to accommodate more widows. With the toast which I have given you, I beg, in the absence of Sir E. Cust, to couple the name of Colonel Liddell."
Colonel Liddell, who responded, said it was the desire to provide accommodation for one widow from each regiment in the service, which, of course, as there were only fifty-seven inmates, left a great deal still to be done.
The Prince of Wales: "I have now to propose a toast which, I am sure, of all those I have given none will have been received with greater cordiality, for it is that of the 'Lady Patron.' You all, I know, wish as sincerely as I do that her health—which is not good just at present—may be restored, and that she may be among us for some years yet to come. One of the reasons why this institution has prospered so much, and why so many are here to-night, is the regard which is felt for the kind and good lady who is its president. It is not surprising that she should take a deep interest in an asylum intended indirectly for the benefit of soldiers, seeing that her husband was a soldier and that her son is a soldier."
The toast having been cordially drunk, was responded to by the Duke of Cambridge, who then proposed "The Health of the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs," thanking them for the liberality with which they had subscribed to the funds of the Asylum. The total amount of the subscriptions received was announced by the Prince of Wales to be £1635 17s. 10d.
The present number of inmates (1888) is sixty-nine. The receipts of the previous year were £2700; the invested funds nearly £23,000. The festival dinner is triennial, but additional sums have been obtained by military fêtes and other ways. In 1872 the Prince and Princess of Wales were present at a grand military concert in the Royal Albert Hall, when Madame Titiens and other artists volunteered their assistance, and many of the proprietors placed their boxes and stalls at the disposal of the Duke of Edinburgh, who was Chairman of the Committee for carrying out the arrangements. We trust that the Duke of Cambridge may be gratified by witnessing a large increase of the numbers benefited by an institution in which he takes so zealous and kindly interest.