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mezzies, and the valour so wel known and so justly dreaded by our foes. Then will Britain triumphanty surmount every danger, and mew to the Carnicus Dent and u ngriet Summ, that BRITAIN STILL IS MISTREs OF THE SEAS, and that her Handen We are her impregnál a busNT KI. AN ENGLISHMAN.

Nical Carmicie.

PEOPLE

OF THE

BRITISH ISLES! LET none affect to despise the idea that WE SHALL SHORTLY BE INVADED. Our foe has pledged himself to it. He is at this moment disen

gaged from every Continental enemy→→ he is supported, he exists only by warfare and plunder. Our Naval Victories have sufficiently taught him to despair of ever withstanding us on the Watery Element, and consequently the only possibility of any success rests in conveying his Land Forces on our Shores; and that that is by no means impracticable, is the opinion of the first Military Characters.

Let us therefore make known to Frenchmen that whatever difference in Political Opinions may arise among ourselves, that when our beloved Country is menaced by Invasion, we WILL

AND HAVE RESOLVED ONE AND ALL,

to defend with bravery and vigor its honour, freedom, and independence. "Death is the worst, a fate which all must try, But for our Country 'tis a bliss to die. The gallant man, tho' slain in fight he be, Yet leaves his Children safe, his Country

free,

Entails a debt on all the grateful state,

His own brave friends shall glory in his fate; His wife live honor'd, all his race succeed, And late posterity enjoy the deed."

But let us pause, and contemplate for a moment what we have to defend.

We have to defend from brutal vialaten the Berish Far, whose unrival left beauty so far in protecting them, will add proporzonany other misery. We have to defend, and transmit unand our children, those Rights and Literes fr which our Ancestors have so cien biert, from time to time, and even sacrificed their lives to preserve.

We have to defend and to maintain, such ginous privileges as erectively no other nation on the earth can boast of possessing. We have a MAGNA CHARTA anda FAZE PRESS; but above all, our glorious and invaluable Constitution, the admiration and the wonder of the world.

What ardour will not the first consideration alone inspire in the breasts of our Brinsh Youths? What hitherto unheard of prodigies of valour, what feats of Courage may we not expect, in A CAUSE, SO TRULY GRAND--SO TRULY JUST.

Rely on fate, whose out-stretch'd hand Shall still preserve thee from the hostile steel, For scenes of future bliss.-Think on the day

When with a victor's emulation swoln, Thine arms shall clasp a mistress' throbbing breast,

When tears of joy shall grace thy mother's

eye,

And raptrous smiles, to view a conquering

son,

Play on her aged brow! O think—
And let the contemplation chear thy heart.”

It is hoped and trusted therefore, that every individual, in proportion to his means, will imitate the glorious example of the Merchants and others of the City of London:

"Those generous traders who alike sustain Their nation's glory on th' obedient main, And bounteous raise Affliction's drooping pain "

A VOLUNTEER.

DE

DECLARATION

OF THE

berties---to defend the dearest hopes of our children---to maintain the unspotted

Merchants, Bankers, Traders, glory which we have inherited froin our

AND OTHER

INHABITANTS OF LONDON

AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD.

AT a very numerous meeting of Me,

chants, Bankers, Traders, and other Inhabitants of London and its neighbourhood, held on the Royal Exchange this day, July the 26th, 1803, in consequence of public advertisement,

The following Declaration was proposed, and UNANIMOUSLY resolved upon :

"WE the Merchants, Bankers, Traders, and other inhabitants of London and its neighbourhood, deem it our bounden duty, at the present momentuous period, to make public our unanimous determination to stand or fall with our King and Country.

"The independence and existence of the British Empire---the safety, the liberty, the life of every man in the Kingdom are at stake. The events perhaps of a few months, certainly of a few years, are to determine whether we and our children are to continue freemen and members of the most flourishing community in the world, or whether we are to be the slaves of our most implacable enemies---themselves the slaves of a foreign Usurper?

"We look on this great crisis without dismay. We have the most firm reliance on the spirit and virtue of the people of this country. We believe that there exists a firmer as well as nobler courage than any which rapine can inspire; and we cannot entertain such gloomy and unworthy apprehensions of the moral order of the world, as to think that so admirable a quality can be the exclusive attribute of freebooters or slaves. We fight for our laws and li

ancestors---to guard from outrage and shame those whom nature has entrusted to our protection---to preserve the honour and existence of the country that gave us birth.

"We fight for that constitution and system of society, which is at once the noblest monument and the firmest buř wark of civilization !---We fight to preserve the whole earth from the barbarous yoke of military despotism !---We fight for the independence of all nations, even of those who are the most indifferent to our fate, or the most blindly jealous of our prosperity!

"In so glorious a cause---in the defence of these dear and sacred objects; we trust the God of our Fathers will inspire us with a valour which will be more than equal to the daring ferocity of those who are lured, by the hope of plunder, to fight the battles of ambition.

"His Majesty is about to call upon his people to arm in their own defence. We trust, and we believe that he will not call on them in vain---that the freemen of this land, going forth in the righteous cause of their country, under the blessing of Almighty God, will inflict the most signal chastisement on those who have dared to threaten our destruction---a chastisement, of which the memory will long guard the shores of this Island, and which may not only vindicate the honour, and establish the safety of the British empire, but may also, to the latest posterity, serve as an example to strike terror into tyrants, and to give courage and hope to insulted and oppressed nations.

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"For the attainment of these great ends, it is necessary that we should not only be an unanimous, but a zealous, an ardent, an unconquerable people--that

we

we should consider the public safety as the chief interest of every individual--that every man should deem the sacrifice of his fortune and his life to his country as nothing more than his duty ---that no man should murmur at any exertions or privations which this awful crisis may impose upon him---that we should regard faintness or langour in the common cause as the basest treachery--that we should go into the field with an unshaken resolution to conquer or to die---and that we should look upon nothing as a calamity compared with the subjugation of our country.

"We have most sacred duties to perform---we have most invaluable blessings to preserve---we have to gain glory and safety, or to incur indelible disgrace, and to fall into irretrievable ruin. Upon our efforts will depend the triumph of liberty over despotism---of national independence over projects of universal empire---and, finally, of civilization itself over barbarism.

"At such a moment we deem it our duty solemnly to bind ourselves to each other, and to our countrymen, in the most sacred manner, that we will employ all our exertions to rouse the spirit, and to assist the ressources of the kingdom---that we will be ready with our services of every sort, and on every oceasion, in its defence---and that we will rather perish together, than live to see the Honour of the British Name tarnished, or that noble inheritance of greatness, glory, and liberty destroyed, which has descended to us from our fore fathers, and which we are determined to transmit to our posterity."

JACOB BOSANQUET,
Chairman.

The ASSEMBLY that voted the above patriotic Declaration, consisted of between four and five thousand of the most opulent and respectable of the

mercantile interest, who filled the area of the Royal-Exchange, while those more immediately instrumental in forwarding the Meeting, occupied a temporary booth, erected within the walk upon the East side.

The reading of the declaration was preceded by the following manly and energetic address, delivered by Mr. Bosanquet, who had been called to the chair amidst the loudest peals of approbation :

"Gentlemen, when I look round, and behold these walls, which have so often witnessed the honour and good faith of the mercantile interest of the British empire; when I look round, and see this representation of persons under whom the country has been made almost the emporium of the world; Gentlemen, when I look round, and see myself surrounded by those among whom I have lived, and with whom I was born, I flatter myself, that what I shall have the honour of proposing to you this day, will meet your unanimous approbation, because I know the honour, the independence, and, above all, the spirit of those among whom I have lived; and that their honour, independence, spirit, and integrity, have carried the British name from pole to pole. Gentlemen, it is almost needless for me, on the present occasion, to state what I believe you all know, that an enemy, a proud and imperious enemy, are at your doors; an enemy who thinks that nothing stands between them and universal dominion, except this country; an enemy who pant to act over in this country those scenes you have seen realized in every country to which their arms and power. have reached. They are now burning with impatience to extend their ravages to this happy land; and, should they succeed, you would see those scenes

again transacted which have spread bravo!" exclaimed the whole assemdesolation wherever their foree has pre-bly.) Gentlemen, it would be wrong,

vailed; you would see your wives and daughters violated, and put to shame before your eyes; you would see your dearest friends assassinated in the public streets, your altars profaned, and the land polluted with rapine, violence, slaughter, and blood. (An instantaneous burst of applause.). Many exclaimed---" Never will we live to see that day!"

"Gentlemen, when Rome and Constantinople, the two greatest cities the world ever saw, were sacked, the one by the Saracens, and the other by the Barbarians from the North, it is reported, that, though every thing abroad bore the appearance of war, every thing within retained the semblance of peace, tranquillity, and quiet. It is said, the Merchants were seen as usual in their public walks, attending to their affairs, and that the money-changers were calculating their speculations with the indifference of perfect security. What was the consequence? They lost the whole of that wealth, in the accumulaItion of which their hearts and souls were concentrated; whereas, had they but sacrificed a part of what they possessed, and had they gone out themselves to meet the enemy, instead of trusting to others whom they had hired to defend them, Rome and Constantinople might have remained to this day what England is---the protectors of themselves and other countries from unjust violence and oppression. For want of their own exertions they fell; two of the greatest cities the world ever saw flourish, perished. God send their fate may never be our's! (Five thousand Britons repeated the words.) But God send, if it is to be so, that I and my children may perish in the first ranks, and not live to witness the ruin and desolation that will ensue! ("Bravo

at a time like this, to deceive you. You have a numerous, bold, hardy, and determined enemy at your doors; and, if ever they should reach this country, there remains nothing for you but to conquer or die! (Bursts of British enthusiasm.) What! can I believe it of Britons, that you would be content to be the slaves of those who are them→ selves the vilest slaves? ("Never! never!" resounded from all parts.). Coun trymen, it is in your power to be safe; you have only to exert yourselves, and it is impossible you should fall; for the history of the world does not produce an example of a free and determined nation ever having been conquered. You would ask me, what should be done? I say, let us join in an unanimous determination, if necessary, to conquer or to die; and, when that has been done, let each man go to his proper place, and endeavour, with hand, head, and heart, to support the public cause. What! shall a proud, lawless banditti---men who are fighting for plunder and for gain---shall they be prodigal of their lives and fortunes, and shall Britons, who have every thing to save and defend, shew cowardice, where they ought to shew the most determined resolution? But, Gentlemen, if dur enemies were to reach this country, though they might fill the land with ruin and desolation, great would be their disappointment. They would expect to find the riches of the country in the pockets of the individuals, and in the coffers of the State; but it is not there our riches reside: they reside in the heads, the hearts, the commerce, and the industry of the people, and in the protection afforded thein by the Laws, Constitution, and Government, of this happy Land. (Loyal and patriotic acclamations.)

Gentlemen,

Gentlemen, I am unwilling to trespass too long on the present occasion, (Hear! hear!) and particularly as I am unused to speaking before so numerous an assembly; but I hope and trust that before we part, we shall all unite in an unanimous declaration to stand or fall with our Country and our King. (Every voice gave assent to the proposition.) I hope when that has been done, we shall determine to throw off all other cares except those for the defence of our country; that we shall also determine to consider as public enemies, those who would divide and turn our attention to other objects; in short, that we shall consider ourselves as having done nothing till we have placed our country out of the reach of danger. All I can urge upon this momentous occasion, I dare say you will feel from the bottom of your hearts. I am persuaded you have even anticipated what I have stated; I have only to add, that I shall be ready to appear the foremost of the ranks, resolved to stand or fall in the glorious cause of my country. I will not intrude further upon your time; I presume that such a declaration will be read to you, as will be consonant to your feelings, and meet with your warmest approbation." Incessant applause for some minutes succeeded this patriotic speech.,

Substance of the animated SPEECH delivered by Mr. J. MINTOSH, who presided at a Meeting of LOYAL NORTH BRITONS, held for the purpose of addressing his Majesty, and forming a CORPS OF VOLUNTEERS, at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, on the 8th.of August.

IN addressing the Meeting, Mr. M'Intosh, explained the object which induced the call to which so numerous

and respectable an assemblage had been pleased to attend. He assured them; that though no man more highly esteemed than he did the country in which he resided, the country in which he drew his first breath naturally claimed his first regard and in the present dangers of the empire he could feel nothing more honourable than to fight its battles among a regiment of Scotchmen (applauses). The avowed object of the meeting, he observed to be an Address to his Majesty; but as doubts existed in the minds of many respectable men, as to the propriety of an armed body deliberating upon measures of this nature, it was thought adviseable to abandon that purpose. That abandonment, however, could not have the effect of rendering the loyalty of the assembly less known---nor their resolution less strenuous. It was yet for them to decide whether the address should be altogether given up. As to his own opinion, he confessed that it was not favourable to the idea of an addressPassing from this point, the learned Gentleman proceeded to enforce the necessity of union at this awful crisis, the circumstances of which naturally led all good men to decry any tendency to discord---and to encourage every disposition to unanimity. This

was the cause which common reason would prescribe, and which he felt it his strongest duty to recommend, particularly at this period. When about to leave this kingdom, to repair to å distant part of the empire, in the service of his country, the call upon his feelings was particularly urgent to make a serious appeal to his countrymen, and with all the solemnity of a death-bed declaration, to exhort them to activity and union, and while about to quit the theatre of action, to seek the consolatory assurance that his countrymen were actuated

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