hair, the Prince referred to his being accompanied by
his son in a very different place from the Academy of Art.

"You, sir" (addressing the President), "have kindly alluded to
our late visit to Ireland. I can only assure you that, if that
visit was a labour at all, it was a labour of love. We had for a
long time past looked forward to a fitting opportunity for once
more visiting Ireland, and we were glad to avail ourselves of
the opportunity recently afforded us. I was sure that on going
there we should meet with a kind and hearty reception, and such
was the case with very few exceptions. We received as kind and
loyal a reception as it could be the good fortune of any one to
meet with. You, sir, have touched upon a subject of interest to
us. My son and I had the opportunity of visiting, although the
time allowed us was too short to do all that we could have
wished to do, those districts of the town of Dublin in which the
houses, although they might have picturesqueness, were certainly
not calculated to promote the happiness and welfare of their
inhabitants. This reminds me that I have had the honour of
serving for upwards of a year on the Commission which has for
its object the improvement of the dwellings of the poorer
classes of this country. I will not anticipate our first report,
which will be shortly issued. I will only say before sitting
down that not only has it been to me a sincere pleasure and
satisfaction to have aided so important and valuable a work, but
I have had the advantage of working with some of the most
distinguished of my countrymen, some of whom are here to-night."

The Duke of Cambridge made touching reference to the death of General
Gordon. "I feel that the remarks of the President call for a sympathetic
sentiment on my part and that of the Army. The allusion to General
Gordon is one that touches the heart of every English soldier, from
myself down to the youngest soldier of us all. I can only deplore the
fact that he is no longer among us, and that his brilliant career is now
over."

_1888._

At the banquet of 1888, the President, Sir Frederick Leighton, after the
toast of "The Queen," in proposing "The Prince and Princess of Wales and
the rest of the Royal Family," referred to this year being the "Silver
Wedding," and also alluded to the anxiety then darkening the home of
"the Princess Royal