Note 172 — Chapter XLVII

A letter from the Rev. Canon Charles Evans tells us of an incident which took place within the Senate House. “I was present in the Senate House and stationed close to the platform on which Sir Harry was conversing with the Duke of Wellington, as we were waiting for the arrival of the Queen and Prince Albert, from whom I was to have the honour of receiving the Senior Chancellor’s Medal. The undergraduates were loudly cheering the Duke, when laying his hand on Sir Harry’s shoulder, he said, ‘No, no, this is the man you ought to cheer; here is the hero of the day.’ Sir Harry Smith burst into tears and said, ‘I little thought I should live to hear such kind words as these from my old chief.’ I distinctly heard every word.”