WHAT HAVE WE TO FIGHT FOR? 151 would be in as low and fallen a state, as during the darkest periods of Papal superstition. Soldiers would be substituted for priests; and the bayonet usurp the old dominion of the crucifix. Mankind, always more disposed to blame others than themselves, would then look back to the inglorious sub mission of a people, to whom they had before looked up for encouragement and protection, as, next to France, the cause of the general ruin: or, if they revived from their apathy and slavery, hold us up as a warning to others; putting our history into the hands of their youth, and pointing to our fate, as the natural and merited consequence of the most flagrant abuse of the choicest gifts of Providence to a people -numbers and wealth, strength and liberty. In this unprecedented state of public affairs, the people of Great Britain must not hesitate to do themselves that justice. which their situation demands. This country is, at present, the last retreat of the liberty of Europe. It is the citadel of the civilization and order of all nations. It must be defended against the universal robber, for our own sakes, and for all nations. We are the Army of Reserve, in the cause of national independence, freedom of discussion, and public right. We must go to battle, exclaiming, Liberty, Britain, and the World! against despotism, ambition, and France. We have, though the reserve, the post of honour; for we alone are left on the field, to fight the battle of civil society. The interests of millions unborn are bound up in the issue of this great quarrel. It must be speedily decided: we must shrink from no perils by sea or by land. We are acting a part in the greatest public drama ever represented. We are placed on an exalted stage. We have for spectators all the kings, governors, and people of Europe. Never was any public spectacle so august, and so awful. They are not looking at us for their amusement; but in the true spirit, and for the true object of the drama-for their instruction. The subject resembles one of ancient times. You have heard of Leonidas, the Greek, and of the narrow pass called Thermopylae, which he defended against an immense host of Persian invaders; and that, in defending that pass, he defended the whole country. We are in a similar situation now. We are now defending Europe. Before us we have a countless host of armed and disciplined plunderers and murderers. Behind us, and in our keeping, we have a greater treasure than all the rights and liberties of ancient Greece: we have the freedom, the honour, the laws, the morality, of Europe, perhaps of all mankind, We must play our parts well, when so much depends upon us; or we are, one and all, ruined, past redemption. It is not by putting on fine clothes, and strutting across the proscenium, that we shall obtain applause. We must not merely appear heroes and conquerors; we must be heroes, and become conquerors. The reward of our success is glor rious beyond measure. Not temporary approbation, not filthy lucre, not a petty suspension of dangerous rivalry, No! It comprehends every thing that can be worth having— PRAISE, PROFIT, SECURITY! For all are contained in the glorious recompense and prize that awaits the successful exertions of the preservers of the civil, political, and moral order of the world! The Speech of Queen ELIZABETH, on the Invasion of England by the Spanish "Invincible Armada." DURING the immediate prospect of a most tremendous invasion of England, by the mighty forces of PHILIP II. that haughty Spanish monarch (an invasion which all Europe. regarded as the forerunner of our national destruction), the magnanimous ELIZABETH appeared on horseback among her troops in the camp at Tilbury, and made the following ad+ dress; by means of which she nobly animated the British lines, and proved herself worthy of the admiration that her heroism and prudence had universally inspired : 66 MY LOVING people, "We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not desire to live, to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself, that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and, therefore, I am come amongst you at this time, not as for my recreation or sport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart of a king, and a king of England too; and think foul scorn, that Parına or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realms; to which, rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms; I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your you JOHN BULL'S CALL TO THE SAILORS. 153 virtues in the field. I know already, by your forwardness, that have deserved rewards and crowns; and we do assure you, on the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean time, my lieutenant-general (the Earl of Leicester) shall be in my stead; than whom never prince commanded a more noble and worthy subject; not doubting by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people." Of this vast armament, our readers will scarcely need to be informed, that not one half returned to Spain; and so dispirited and amazed were they at the desperate valour of the English, and at the tempestuous violence of the ocean which God commanded to disperse the enemy, that PHILIP is said to have fallen on his knees in gratitude to Providence for having mercifully prevented their total annihilation! John Bull's Call to the Sailors. A new Song, by JOHN COURTENAY, Esq. M. P. Chorus. Then let the ocean be their grave, How oft has our fleet spread with terror their coast, While our soldiers victorious have routed her host, Cho. Then let, &c. Britannia now calls on her true hearts of oak, Who danger and death still disdain; And dare vanquish'd Frenchmen her vengeance provoke, Cho. Then let, &c. The genius of Britain, with bright piercing eye, Cho. Then let, &c. When Philip array'd his Armada of Spain, Our Queen the proud tyrant withstood; Dispatch'd her brave sailors to watch o'er the main, And dy'd the old ocean with blood. Cho. Then let, &c. In La Hogue's glorious log-book your Russell still shines, Where invasion was baffled with shame; While trembling with terror, though hid in their lines, The French saw their ships all in flame. Cho. Then let, &c. In the annals of conquest that mark George's day, The lightning of Hawke shone at Quiberon Bay, Cho. Then let, &c. We've St. Vincent and Nelson, the dread of our foes, By conquest renown'd, for by merit they rose, Cho. Then let, &c, Britannia shall flourish, exultingly smile, Fam'd for valour and beauty's sweet charms; Cho. Then let, &c. The Alarum Bell.-N° II. [Continued from p. 134.] THE three following circumstances will enable our countrymen to judge of the atrocity of French republicans and of "that stupendous monument of human wisdom" (as Mr. Fox called it), the French revolution.-Christians, mark well the period, Christmas 1793! 1. Fouche (lately, very lately, police-minister to Buonaparte) thus wrote on Christmas-day 1793, to the Convention: Let us exercise justice after the example of nature, let us avenge ourselves like a people, let us strike like the thunderbolt, and let even the ashes of our enemies disappear from the soil of liberty! Let the perfidious and ferocious English be attacked from every side, let the whole republic form a volcano to pour devouring lava upon them; may the infamous island which produced these monsters, who no longer belong to humanity, be for ever buried under the wayes of the ocean! Farewell, my friend! Tears of joy stream from THE ALARUM BELL. 155 my eyes, they deluge my soul; for we have only one way of celebrating victory-We send this evening two hundred and thirteen royalists to be shot!" 2. This letter was written from Lyons, where thousands of the inhabitants of all descriptions, rich and poor, were ordered into the public squares, and massacred by grape-shot from the cannon's mouth, or taken out of the city, hundreds at a time, women as well as men, tied to trees, shot to death, stabbed, or else knocked on the head. The associate to Fouche, in the superintendence of this horrid transaction, was Collot d'Herbois, a wretched stage-player, and representative of the French nation in the Convention; he was banished to Guyana, and is since dead. Fouche is at this moment one of Buonaparte's Senators, and enjoys a salary of more than one thousand pounds per annum. He was promoted from being minister of police to the senate! Before the revolution he was a monk.-(It would be impossible to describe the scenes of carnage practised at Lyons by these monsters, and which were related in the National Convention, and heard with approbation. We select only the following, as a specimen: Madam Lauras, hearing that her husband was condemned, went, accompanied by her ten children, and threw herself on her knees before the ferocious Collot d'Herbois. She followed her beloved husband to the place of execution, surrounded with her weeping offspring. On seeing him fall, her cries, and the wildness of her looks, but too plainly foretold her approaching end. She was seized with the pains of a premature childbirth, and was carried home to her house, where a commissary soon after arrived, drove her from her bed, and her house, from the door of which she fell dead into the street.) 3. The following is an extract of one of Fouche's and Collot d'Herbois' mutual letters to the Convention : "From a conviction that this infamous city contains no one that is innocent, we are guarded against the tears of repentance; nothing can disarm our severity. The mode of demolishing is too slow, the republican impatience demands more speedy execution. The explosion of the mine, and the devouring activity of fire alone can express the omnipotence of the people their will is not to be checked as that of tyrants; it must have the same effect as thunder."-(Lyons contained a population of more than 130,000 souls at the time the senator of Buonaparte, Fouche, and his colleague the stage-player, wrote this humane letter.-It should not be forgotten that Collot d'Herbois was never liked at Lyons as a player, he was continually hissed: hence his animosity to that city.) |