ambition or caprice. There can be no war nowadays between civilized
nations, nor any peace that is not hollow and delusive, unless sustained
and backed up by the sentiment of the people who are parties to it.
[Cheers.] Before nations can quarrel, their inhabitants must first
become hostile. Then a cause of quarrel is not far to seek. The men of
our race are not likely to become hostile until they begin to
misunderstand each other. [Cheers.] There are no dragon's teeth so
prolific as mutual misunderstandings. It is in the great and constantly
increasing intercourse between England and America, in its
reciprocities, and its amenities, that the security against
misunderstanding must be found. While that continues, they cannot be
otherwise than friendly. Unlucky incidents may sometimes happen;
interests may conflict; mistakes may be made on one side or on the
other, and sharp words may occasionally be spoken by unguarded or
ignorant tongues. The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make
anything. [Cheers and laughter.] The nation that comes to be without
fault will have reached the millennium, and will have little further
concern with the storm-swept geography of this imperfect world. But
these things are all ephemeral; they do not touch the great heart of
either people; they float for a moment on the surface and in the wind,
and then they disappear and are gone--"in the deep bosom of the ocean
buried."

I do not know, sir, who may be my successor, but I venture to assure you
that he will be an American gentleman, fit by character and capacity to
be the medium of communication between our countries; and an American
gentleman, when you come to know him, generally turns out to be a not
very distant kinsman of an English gentleman. [Cheers.] I need not
bespeak for him a kindly reception. I know he will receive it for his
country's sake and his own. ["Hear! Hear!"]