“His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and the rest of the Royal Family.”
In doing so, I am impelled to refer to one Member of that family who is at present engaged in the discharge of arduous duties in the East. He is the only one whom both his position and his age permitted to offer his services on this occasion, and I rejoice at his having done so, as a proof that the Members of the Royal Family are at all times ready to serve—ay! and, if necessary, to bleed for their country.
3.
“The Army and Navy.”
The toast which I have now to propose to you—“The Army and Navy of Great Britain”—will be drunk by you with peculiar emotions at this time, as your eyes are turned towards these Services, your hearts beat for them, and with their success the welfare and the honour of the country are so intimately bound up.
They will do their duty as they have always done, and may the Almighty bless their efforts!
What is asked to be achieved by them in this instance is a task of inordinate difficulty, not only from the nature and climate of the country in which they are fighting, but also from the peculiarity of the enemy to whom they are opposed, as it may so happen that the Army may meet a foe of ten times its number, whilst the Fleet may find it impossible to meet one at all.
All these difficulties, however, may be considered as compensated by the goodness of our cause, “the vindication of the public law of Europe,” and the fact that we have fighting by our side a Power, the military prowess and vigour of which we have hitherto chiefly known from the severity of long and anxious contests. If there be a contest between us now, it will be one of emulation, and not of enmity.
“The Army and Navy of Great Britain, and the Health of the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Hardinge, and the Right Honourable Sir James Graham, Bart.”