Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/211

 enjoyable as the companionship of well-loved friends could make it. It was a very great pleasure—though "it makes me feel very old," he said—to meet again, as Governor of New South Wales, Sir Gerald Strickland, whose friendship stretched back to the days when His Excellency was an undergraduate at Cambridge.

Throughout his life H. H. preserved a feeling of gratitude to Australia, which found a reflection in the warm welcome he gave to all Australians visiting England.

He had a passionate belief in the future of Australia and the vigorous manhood that was inherent in her sons. At this hour, when the heroic deeds of the Australian contingent at the Dardanelles are thrilling every English heart, it is interesting to quote a passage from a speech H. H. made at Canterbury over twenty years ago:

"There is no cause to apprehend that England will ever be sullied by the foot of an invader, but one of our earliest Australian poets has indicated Australia as the refuge of Britannia, with her shattered trident, in such a case.