Both Commanders, upon the Manilla expedition, very meritedly received the public thanks of their Country, and the honorable marks of a Sovereign's gratitude.
Immense captures were made at sea, and repeated were the occasions which displayed the British naval character during this year, so fertile in momentous events.
Amongst these may be reckoned the Hermione, worth one million sterling, the treasure of which enriched the crews of two sloops of war, and was carried in proud triumph through the streets of London, the very hour in which the Heir Apparent to the British Throne was ushered into the world. A Marine shared upwards of 500l. from this capture.
The enemy, discomfited in every quarter, were not ashamed to own their weakness, and they were the first to sue for peace.
A few short months had alienated or destroyed a great portion of the Spanish Navy, had given a deep wound to their Commerce, which would have been most sensibly felt under a continuance of hostilities, and had convinced Europe and the World, that the resources of Britain could only be estimated amidst accumulating dangers, and that her native spirit could only be known amidst increasing difficulties.
During the whole of this memorable war, the Marine Soldier not only shared in the everlasting glory of our Fleets, but carried with him, through all the mingled destinies of his profession, a steady discipline, combined with a well-regulated valour. Excepting the drawn battle off Minorca, not a naval action was fought in which he did not bear a part, and there were but few of our widely-extended conquests that do not, in their detail, recognize his name.
The preliminaries of a peace, which are not my business to discuss, upon the 3d of November, and ratified in February of the following year, closed the military services of the Marine Corps for a long period, until they were again drawn forth into action by an enlightened patron, who had marked their conduct, and who resolved to avail himself of their animated zeal and spirit, upon the earliest emergency that his Country required them.