he event,
has not suggested anything to wish changed. Fortunate, indeed, was it
for the reputation of this country that the delicate task fell to the
lot of an officer possessed of such inherent vigour of character, and
one so familiar with the practical exercise of his own resources, that
difficulties which might have staggered ordinary minds vanished before
his.

In so extensive a service as the Navy, accident might perhaps
occasionally produce such men as have been named above; but it is very
material to observe, that unless there existed, as a permanent body, a
large class in the Navy, who follow the pursuits alluded to from taste
as well as from motives of public spirit, and from whose ranks
selections can be made with confidence at moments of need, such
opportunities as those above alluded to might often be allowed to pass
unprofitably. It is, moreover, important to recollect, that it is in
these matters as in everything else where there is a great demand, and
consequently a great supply, there will from time to time start up a
master spirit, such as that of my lamented friend, the late Captain
Henry Foster, to claim, even in the very outset of his career, the
cheerful homage of all the rest. So far from the profession envying
his early success, or being disturbed at his pre-eminent renown, they
felt that his well-earned honours only shed lustre on themselves.

It is also very pleasing to observe the reciprocal feeling which
belongs on such occasions to all rightly constituted minds. When
Captain Foster, in 1828, then only lieutenant, received the Copley
medal, the highest scientific honour in the gift of the Royal Society,
it never occurred to him merely to hang it at his breast in solitary
dignity, or to chuckle presumptuously at his own particular good
fortune. So far from this, he thought only of the service; and
proceeding straight to the Admiralty, he showed the medal, and
declared modestly, but firmly, to their lordships, that he considered
the honour only nominally bestowed upon himself, but essentially
conferred upon the naval profession at large. This generous and manly
appeal could not fail to make its due impression; and within the same
hour, his commission, as commander, was signed, his appointment to a
ship ordered, and a voyage of scientific research carved out for him.
But I need not add how bitter a grief it is to those who were
personally acquainted with this rising young officer, to think that