I may well be gratified and flattered at the honour you have done me in inviting me to attend your festival on this occasion. Long before I had the honour of holding a commission in the corps of Guards, I had every reason to respect that corps on account of their display of every military quality as soldiers, in every situation in which they could be placed. I have had the good fortune to see them in the presence of the enemy—in situations of difficulty under every possible circumstance, and on every such occasion they have conducted themselves with distinction, and have displayed every quality which could be expected from the best class of soldiers. Among these, the least distinguished have not been the Coldstream Guards. I see many around me whose conduct I have had occasion to applaud under every variety of circumstance—in the field, in cantonments, and in quarters. Gentlemen, I know also it is impossible to see troops equal to the efficiency of the Guards. The recollections of the bicentenary celebration were still vividly in the minds of the Coldstream, when the Regiment was plunged into mourning by the death of their veteran Colonel (July 8, 1850), who, appointed in September, 1805, was the oldest soldier in the corps, and “the Father of the Coldstreamers,” as he himself delighted to be called. H.R.H. Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge, was born in 1774, and was the seventh and youngest surviving son of George III. He saw active service in Flanders,—where he was twice wounded—in 1793, under his brother the Duke of York and Marshal Freytag, and again in the two subsequent years. Later, he was given appointments in Hanover, and was Governor there until the death of William IV., when the Duke of Cumberland became Sovereign of that State, and when the kingdom was finally separated from the Crown of England. The funeral took place at Kew on the 16th, and it was attended by both Battalions, each of which furnished a Guard of Honour, the 2nd Battalion at Cambridge House, Piccadilly, and the 1st Battalion at Kew. On the 25th the following Regimental Order was issued:— The Commanding Officer is desired by H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge to express to the Officers, Non-commissioned officers, and privates, his thanks, and those of the Duchess of Cambridge and family, for the feeling manner in which they conducted themselves at Kew, on the occasion of the funeral of His late Royal Highness. Shortly afterwards (August 15th), the Colonelcy of the Regiment was bestowed by Her Majesty upon General the Earl of Strafford, G.C.B. (late of the Third Guards), and better known in the Coldstream as Sir John Byng, the gallant commander of the 2nd Guards Brigade during the campaign of 1815, and (when Sir G. Cooke was wounded) of the Guards Division at Waterloo.