The last toast reminds me of a neglect of duty.

Unaccustomed to a public duty of this kind, errors in conducting the ceremonial of it may be excused, and omissions pardoned.

Perhaps I have made one or two omissions in the course of the evening for which I trust you will grant me your pardon and indulgence.

One thing in particular I have omitted, and I would now wish to make amends for it by a libation of reverence and respect to the memory of SHAKESPEARE.

He was a man of universal genius, and from a period soon after his own era to the present day he has been universally idolized.