tinguished Officers to whom they were voted in the late War! The Speeches of Mr. Abbot, on those occasions, may justly be considered as perfect models in that species of eloquence.
It is a source of great comfort to the Editor of these Volumes, to think that, though at a very advanced age, he has been blessed with health and spirits sufficient to permit him to attend to this Republication. And he has the satisfaction to reflect, and to express his hopes, that, when he shall be removed from this World, he shall be thought not to have lived in vain; but to have employed his studies and leisure hours, in putting together a Work, which he trusts may be of public utility; and which may, in however inferior a degree, contribute to the support and preservation of our justly admired, and most excellent Constitution.
Cotton Garden,
January 1818.
