WhenIleftthePresidencyIfinishedsevenandahalfyearsofadministration，duringwhichnotoneshothadbeenfiredagainstaforeignfoe。Wewereatabsolutepeace，andtherewasnonationintheworldwithwhomawarcloudthreatened，nonationintheworldwhomwehadwronged，orfromwhomwehadanythingtofear。Thecruiseofthebattlefleetwasnottheleastofthecauseswhichensuredsopeacefulanoutlook。
Whenthefleetreturnedafteritssixteenmonths’voyagearoundtheworldIwentdowntoHamptonRoadstogreetit。ThedaywasWashington’sBirthday，February22，1907。Literallyontheminutethehomingbattlecraftcameintoview。OntheflagshipoftheAdmiralI
spoketotheofficersandenlistedmen，asfollows：
“AdmiralSperry，OfficersandMenoftheBattleFleet：
“Overayearhaspassedsinceyousteamedoutofthisharbor，andovertheworld’srim，andthismorningtheheartsofallwhosawyouthrilledwithprideasthehullsofthemightywarshipsliftedabovethehorizon。YouhavebeenintheNorthernandtheSouthernHemispheres；fourtimesyouhavecrossedtheline；youhavesteamedthroughallthegreatoceans；youhavetouchedthecoastofeverycontinent。Everyourgeneralcoursehasbeenwestward；