Bodies of Marines, drawn from Portsmouth and from Chatham, chiefly formed from those who had so often contributed to the Naval victories of the State, in union with their brethren the Seamen, were allotted for the protection of these trophies which their valour had conquered, and what moved along towards the spot, where all were to pour forth their solemn thanksgivings. Their Majesties were greeted on the way by thousands of their affectionate subjects, and the Prime Minister of the day, who had presided over the Councils of his Country with such ability during its unexampled difficulties, was received with that unconstrained applause, which attested that Englishmen knew how to appreciate his transcendent virtues.
FOOTNOTE:
[4] They take precedence next to Knights of the Bath, and are creations exclusively granted to military men, who have performed any feats of valour. They are always understood to take place on the field of battle, for though Sir William Erskine was invested with the order by his present Majesty, in Hyde Park, for his bravery in the battle of Emsdorff, at the head of the 15th Light Dragoons, still he was not acknowledged as such in this country.
[CHAP. XLIII.]
Twenty thousand Marines constituted the force of 1798.
No occurrences worthy of particular remark happened this year either in Asia or America; but few opportunities presented to signalize our Navy, and these were of an inferior rate, while the diminished territory of our enemies in both, left but a limited range for further conquest.
The possession of Port-au-Prince, and its dependencies in the island of St. Domingo was relinquished, after a struggle truly honourable to our soldiery and squadrons; but in which the loss of many lives, and an immense expenditure, were unhappily involved.
It is to the shores of the Mediterranean and the coasts of Africa, the eye is called to witness scenes of insatiable ambition, but of unrivalled glory.