and taught them to know that the day of battle was always a day of victory ! That moral and enduring fortitude, which in perilous times, when gloom and doubt had beset ordinary minds, stood, nevertheless unshaken! And that ascendancy of character, which uniting the energies of jealous and rival nation, enabled you to wield, at will, the fates and fortunes of mighty empires!
" For the repeated thanks and grants bestowed upon you by this house, in gratitude for your many and eminent services, you have thought fit, this day, to offer us your acknowledgments. But this nation well knows that it is still largely your debtor. It owes to you the proud satisfaction, that amidst the constellation of illustrious warriors who have lately visited this country, we could present to them a leader of our own, to whom all, by common acclamation, conceded the pre-eminence! And when the will of Heaven, and the common destinies of our nature, shall Have swept away the present generation, you will have left your great name, an imperishable monument, exciting others to like deeds of glory, and serving at once to adorn, defend, and perpetuate the existence of this country amongst the rising nations of the earth.
" It now remains only, that we congratulate your grace upon the high and important mission on which you are about to proceed; and we doubt not that the same splendid talents, so conspicuous in war, will maintain with equal authority, firmness, and temper, our national honour and interest in peace."
