The Lord Mayor, with true civic hospitality, invited the Prince of Wales, the officers of the Society, and all who had taken any part in the ceremony to luncheon at the Mansion House. On the health of the Prince and the Princess of Wales being proposed, the Prince acknowledged the compliment in the following words:--
"I am, indeed, deeply touched and gratified by the toast which has just been proposed by the Lord Mayor, and by the very kind and feeling manner in which you have drunk to the health of the Princess and myself. It is to me a source of sincere gratification to receive again the hospitality of the Chief Magistrate of the City. I can never forget, nor can the Princess ever forget, the manner in which she was received on her first entry into London; and although she is not here to-day--a fact which I most deeply regret--I can bear testimony that she has never forgotten, and never will forget, the reception given to her three years ago. The occasion which has brought me here to-day has given me sincere gratification. I shall be happy on all occasions to do any thing that may tend, as the Lord Bishop of Winchester said this morning, 'to alleviate the sufferings of man.' But I feel sure that the work I have been enabled to perform, small as it may be, will bear testimony to the great good done to the poorer classes by a Society which has existed for so many years. Sincerely I thank you for the opportunity you have given me in coming forward on this interesting occasion, and I shall always be happy to render every assistance in my power to an institution which is calculated to render such important benefits to the world. I return my best thanks for the greeting I received this morning at the ceremony, and also for the kind manner in which I have been received on this occasion."
Her Majesty the Queen signified her interest in the proceedings of the day by sending £100 to the Building Fund, and £100 was also contributed by the Prince of Wales.
The Bible Society has, since its establishment in 1804, issued about 113 millions of Bibles, Testaments, or portions thereof. Its issues yearly are now about four million copies. The full income in 1887 amounted to £116,761; and the sum received for Scriptures sold was £104,880. The Society has aided the translation of the Bible into 280 languages or dialects.