Sir Frederick Leighton had no particular subject before his mind,
and was therefore less ornately eloquent than usual, producing no sentence quite on a level with his description of "the blue riot of the rolling hills." He made, however, a most felicitous allusion to the decease of Mr. Bright, whose name it was a little difficult to bring into a speech on Art. "But from among our guests also a constant welcome pre- sence will henceforth be missed—the presence of a man only the other day lost to his country, and over whose grave—rare spectacle—the tears of friends and of opponents have mingled in reverent consent. The praise of John Bright does not belong to me ; it has been worthily spoken by fitter lips than mine, and in more fitting season. Yet I could not refrain from some passing allusion to one who will be our guest no more—to the upright, much-loved man in whom seemed embodied the simple, fearless honesty which English- men are wont to honour—to the orator in whose compelling eloquence the graces of the poets were shed over a prophet's fervour." That is fine criticism, embodied in lofty words.
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