the honour to submit to your consideration. Gentlemen, it will not be necessary for me to press upon you what I am sensible you are all thoroughly acquainted with, the importance of the present occasion, the magnitude of the cause in which we are engaged, and that the honour, the independ-. ence, and even the very existence of this country depend upon the exertions we shall now determine to make(Applauses.) I need scarcely inform you that the enemy is at your doors; a daring, haughty, and imperious enemy, to whose insatiable desire of universal empire, the freedom and independence of this happy land presents the only obstacle; an enemy that has spread ruin and desolation over all the countries which he has overrun; an enemy, who is at this moment eagerly panting, burning with impatience, to extend his rapacity and des potism to this happy country, to act over again the same scenes of pillage, violence, and oppression, which preceded the final subjugation of most of the countries on the continent of Europe. Should our inveterate foes succeed in their designs, what, let me ask you, would be the consequences? We should see our wives and daughters violated in our presence, and become the witnesses of our own shame and dishonour; we should see our properties plundered and destroyed, to gratify the rapacity of the ferocious invaders; we should see our dearest friends assassinated publicly in the streets, and the country deluged with the blood of its best and most valuable inhabitants-(Loud applauses.) When Constantinople and Rome, the two greatest cities the world had ever seen, were sacked, the one by the Saracens, the other by barbarians issuing from the North, history records that their nobles were found lulled in indolence and security, their merchants employed in their concerns of trade, the money-changers coolly calculating the extent of their gain, and all the inhabitants exercising their respective occupations, unconscious, or seemingly unconscious, of the ruin that awaited them. A false security left them unprepared for the ferocious assaults of their barbarous invaders, and a want of timely and suitable exertion involved these two cities, the proudest and most powerful the world had ever beheld, in terrible and frightful destruction. Had their inhabitants, instead of indulging in apathy and ease, contributed some part of their property for the security and protection of the remainder; had they, instead of trusting to mercenary troops for their defence, instead of employing others to do that which it was their own duty and interest to perform; had they, I say, come forward bravely themselves for the protection of their lives, their properties, and their country, they might have escaped the calamities which befell.

DECLARATION OF THE CITY OF London.

17 them, and their cities have still, perhaps, continued in possession of their former splendour and greatness-(Very enthu siastic applauses.) Gentlemen, there never has been an instance of a country that had made any vigorous or patriotic efforts for its defence, becoming the prey of a foreign power. All we want is to be unanimous, and then we may safely bid defiance, not only to the attempts of France, but to the hostile efforts of the world united-(Reiterated plaudits.) I feel, however, that I should deceive you if I were to say there was no danger. Our inveterate foe is determined to employ every possible mean of accomplishing our destruction. But should that period ever arrive, when an invading enemy could dictate terms on British ground, I am determined that my children and myself shall perish in the foremost ranks, rather than survive the infamy and disgrace of our country-(Loud and repeated huzzas.) With a powerful and imperious enemy at our gates, we can look with confidence for security and inde pendence to a bold, general, and unanimous spirit of exertion and resistance alone; and with such a spirit we have nothing to fear-(Applause.) Gentlemen, I trust we must all feel the necessity of such a spirit and unanimity, unless we are dis posed to become the slaves of those who are themselves the vilest of slaves, the slaves of a foreign usurper-(Repeated huzzas.) Our heads, our hearts, our hands, our talents, our properties, should all be employed in a cause which is that of freedom against slavery, of independence against oppression, of honour against infamy, and of civilization against barbarism -(Applause.) We must determine to meet the danger in person, if it should be necessary, and to lay down our lives for the protection of every thing dear to us. Is it to be supposed, that a ferocious banditti, animated with the hopes of plunder, and allured by the prospect of booty, to fight the battles of ambition, shall be prodigal of life, and set perils at defiance; and that courage, the noblest quality of man, shall have no place in the breast-of whom? of Britons, engaged in the defence of all that is desirable in society, all that is valuable in life, domestic security and public independence?-(Repeated applauses.) It is not to be supposed; and Britons will on this, as on every other occasion, be found to prefer death with honour to a life of infamy. Gentlemen, the enemy have already calculated the wealth which, should they succeed in their designs, they expect to find in the pockets of individuals, and in the coffers of the state. But how miserably will they be disappointed if they should succeed! for our wealth lies not in gold or silver, but in the skill, the talents, and industry, in the enterprise and honour, in the heads and the hearts of the VOL. I. N° 1.

B

people-(Loud applauses.) These are the sources of our wealth; in these, and these alone, it consists; and I trust they will be found to afford us full and adequate means of security and defence. Gentlemen, I shall not trespass longer on your attention, unaccustomed as I am to speak in public, or before so numerous a meeting. I am confident that before we part we shall come to an unanimous resolution to stand or fall with our King and constitution-(Loud applause.) The ambitious views of our enemy are now evident, and I have no hesitation to add, that we should give up every other object, till we can say that we have put the country without the reach of danger. For myself, I shall be ready to meet the enemy in person, if necessity should require it; and if we all are actuated by such a disposition, what doubt can exist of the issue of such a contest? May the God of our fathers avert the necessity! but if it should be his will that it should arrive, may he inspire into the hearts of our countrymen that bravery for which our ancestors were famed, and animate them to deeds worthy of the cause they support, and of men determined to stand or fall with their King and constitution, resolved to conquer or die!" (Enthusiastic applauses.)

Mr. Forster said, that he felt himself very unexpectedly called upon to address them upon this occasion; but in a cause like the present, little preparation was necessary. After the very pathetic address of their worthy Chairman, little remained for him to say. He begged leave only to remind them, that on French ground England had often been victorious. If, on the plains of Cressy, of Poictiers, and of Agincourt, England had been triumphant, were we to droop when fighting upon our own native soil? that our exertions in favour of our country would be unsuccessful?-Mr. Forster then proposed to the meeting to adopt a very well written Declaration of their sentiments. The Declaration was then read by Mr. Dalmeida, of the Eaft India House; in substance it strongly resembled Mr. Bosanquet's speech. The reading of it was often interrupted by plaudits; and the question of adopting it being put, all hands and hats were held up for it with loud huzzas, while no hand was held up against it. Then followed loud clappings of hands, expressive of joy at the unanimity.

Mr. Forster congratulated the meeting upon the great unanimity which it had displayed; and declared, that, actuated by this principle, there was no power on earth of whom we need be afraid.

The Declaration was ordered to be published and distributed. The Gentlemen who called the meeting, together with Mr. Forster, were appointed a Committee to carry the

DECLARATION OF THE CITY OF LONDON.

19

Resolutions into effect. The thanks of the meeting were voted to the Chairman.

A more numerous or respectable assembly never was before witnessed in this country. The Exchange was nearly full; to the eye, from the hustings, it seemed quite crowded in every part about four or five thousand persons were present, comprehending the great body of the commercial men of the metropolis.

DECLARATION.

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

The independence and existence of the British empirethe fafety, 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 liberties—to defend the dearest hopes of our children-to maintain the unspotted glory which we have inherited from our ancestors to guard from outrage and shame those whom Nature has intrusted 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 firmest bulwark 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 that 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-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 oppress

ed nations.

For the attainment of these great ends, it is necessary that we should not only be an unanimous, but a zealous, an ardent and unconquerable people-that 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 languor 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 perforni-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 resources of the kingdom-that we will be ready with our services of every sort, and on every occasion, 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 forefathers, and which we are determined to transmit to our posterity..

JACOB BOSANQUET.