1 Q 8 „ '!> O N 
of turbulence. And a meeting of the livery was held, at 
the London-Tavern, on the a( 5 th of May, in which it was 
refolv.d, that the above-mentioned declaration “is a no¬ 
ble vindication of the character of a great and refpeftable 
body of men, who have been among the foremoft in de¬ 
fence of true conftitutional freedom:” and the refolution 
concluded by approving the conduct of the lord-mayor, 
the cenfure againft whom was declared to be unmerited, 
and highly indecent. 
The circumftance of a peer, the earl of Lauderdale, be¬ 
coming a candidate for the office of the riff, greatly excited 
the attention of the public; he had joined the oppofition- 
ifts ; and his failure rnanifelted the ftrength of the court- 
party. 
Now began again a courfe of fucceffes and of naval vic¬ 
tories over our enemy. The 19th of December was ap¬ 
pointed to be held as a day of thankfgiving, for the three 
great naval victories atchieved by lords Howe, St. Vincent, 
and Duncan; on which occafion their majelties attended 
divine ferviceat St. Paul’scathedral. The proceflion,on this 
day, began with two colours taken from the French, three 
from the Spaniards, and four from the Dutch, labelled 
“June 1794,” “February 1797,” and “October 1797.” 
They were carried on artillery-waggons; each let followed 
by a party of lieutenants of the navy, who had ferved in the 
feverai engagements in which they were won. After thefe 
came a large detachment of marines, with mulic playing 5 
and then the following admirals, in carriages: Lord Dun¬ 
can, Sir C. Thompfon, Sir R. Onflow, Sir A. Gardner, 
Sir T. Pafley, Sir R. Curtis, Sir Horatio (afterwards Lord) 
Nelfon, Lord II. Seymour, Caldwell, Waldegrave, Hamil¬ 
ton, Goodall, Young, Lindfay, Gambier, Bazeley, and 
Captain Sir H. Trollope. The naval part of the proceflion 
was followed by the two houfes of parliament, the royal 
family, and then their majelties, in a fimiiar manner to 
the proceflion on the king’s recovery. Lord Nelfon, in 
friendly converlhtion with Mr. Pitt, flood under the dome, 
on the very (pot where the remains of the former have Alice 
been deposited ;—two of the greatelt men that ever graced 
a century and the nation that gave them birth. 
A few days after, John Wilkes, efq. a man who had 
alfo made much noife, but in a different way, died, and 
was fucceeded by the very refpedtabls officer who is at 
this moment chamberlain of the city. Mr. Clarke was op- 
pofed by fir Watkin Lewis, w ho declined w hen he found 
the numbers of the poll to be 393 to 48. 
In the year 1798 began the very ufeful meafure of 
arming the citizens and teaching them the ufe of arms. 
In conlequence of a conference the lord-mayor had had 
with the duke of York, and a letter he had received 
from the fecretary of flute, in relation to forming armed 
aflbcintions in the leveral wards of the city, a court of 
common-council was held, on the 19th of April, to take 
the propofed meafure into confideration, which met with 
general approbation ; and, after a converfation of fome 
length, on the means of carrying it into effebl, it was 
agreed to requeft the lord-mayor to convene his brethren, 
the aldermen, for the purpofe of lubmitting the plan to 
them. When they met, they came to an unanimous re- 
folution, to call meetings of the inhabitant houfehol.lers 
in each ward ; which was done on the ill of May. The 
propofitions were the fame in each ward; viz. for the in¬ 
habitant boufeholders, that were able men, to learn the 
ufe of arms; thofe not capable of bearing arms to be ap¬ 
pointed fpecial conltables; to be commanded by thtir own 
aldermen ; to choole a committee, to form regulations, 
and recommend officers ; and, in cafe of need, to be united 
into one body, under the direction of the lord-ma)or and 
court of aldermen. Thefe propofitions were unani- 
moully adopted. While thefe meafures were purfued 
in the city, parochial and diltridi meetings were ger e al in 
every part of the metropolis; and a volunteer foie was 
Ihortly efiabliflied, which relieved government from much 
care, and enabled it to make a much more advantageous 
difpofition of the regulars, in cafe of neceffityt 
DON. 
On the 4th of Oftober, the Hon. Capt. Capel waited 
on the lord-mayor, with the l'word of the French admiral, 
M. Blanquet, which was furrendered in the naval action 
at the Nile, and intended by fir Horatio Nelfon as a pre- 
fient to the city of London, accompanied by the following 
letter. 
Vanguard., Mouth of the Nile, Aug. 8. 
“ My Lord, Having the honour of being a freeman of the 
city of London, I take the liberty of fending to your lord- 
fliip the fword of the commanding French admiral (M. 
Blanquet), who furvived after the battle of the iff, off 
the Nile; and requeft that the city of London will honour 
me with the acceptance of it, as a remembrance that Bri¬ 
tannia ftill rules the waves; which, that (lie may ever do, 
is the fervent prayer of your lordlhip’s molt obedient fer- 
vant, H. Nelson.” 
This letter and the fword were laid before a court of 
common-council on the 10th, who referred it to a com¬ 
mittee, to confider the bell manner of difpofing of the 
fword, and report to the next court. It was then unani- 
moully refolved to addrefs his majefty on the glorious vic¬ 
tory over the French, off the Nile, on the ill of Augufl, 
by his majefty’s fleet, under the command of Sir Horatio, 
now Baron Nelfon, of the Nile ; which was prefented on 
the 24th, and very gracioufly received. The report from 
the committee was laid before the court, on the 16th, and 
unanimoufly agreed to. .It was, that they had come to 
the following refolution, “That the fword, delivered up 
to our gallant hero, lord Nelfon, by the French admiral, M. 
Blanquet, be put up in the molt confpicuous place in the 
common-council chamber, with the following infeription, 
engraved on a marble tablet: The fword of Mon f. Blan¬ 
quet, the commanding French admiral, in the glorious 
engagement of the Nile, on the ill of Aitgull, 1798; pre¬ 
fented to the court by the Right Hon. Rear-admiral Lord 
Nelfon.” The lord-mayor was then requelted to commu¬ 
nicate to lord Nelfon the high fenfe which the court en¬ 
tertain of this invaluableprelent. After which, the thanks 
of the court, with a lword of two hundred guineas value, 
were voted to lord Nellon ; and alfo the thanks of the 
court to captain Berry, the captains, officers, and feamen, 
for their important fervices ; and the freedom of the city 
was voted to captain Berry, to be prefented in a box of 
one hundred guineas value. At a court of common- 
council, held on the 23d of January, 1799, the lord-mayor 
produced a letter from the Hon. Mrs. Darner, offering her 
fervices to execute, and prefent to the court, a bull of 
lord Nelfon, either in bronze or marble; which were ac¬ 
cepted, and the thanks of the court unanimoufly voted 
for her liberal propofal. 
The anniversary of his majefty’s birth-day difplayed this 
year a l'pedlacle rather new in this country, and unknown 
in others; a grand review of fixty-fix corps of volunteers, 
who, from motives of the purelt patriotilhi, had formed 
themfelves into military aflociations, in order to maintain 
the independence of their native country. It took place 
in Hyde-park, and the adtual amount was 8,989 men in 
uniform ; and the crowd aflembled on the occafion was 
eftimated at no lefs than a hundred and fifty thoufand, 
although the weather was very unfavourable. 
A dreadful fire broke out in the King’s-bench prifom 
in the evening of the 13th of July, which raged with fuch 
fury, that between eighty and a hundred of the prilbners 1 ’ 
rooms were deftroyed before it was extinguiftied. 
The increaflng price of provifions made it again necefi- 
fary to attend to the wants of the induftrious poor. A 
meeting was therefore held at the London Tavern, on the 
6th of December, to take into confideration the means of 
giving them affiltance during this preflufe; when it was 
agreed to open a fubficription fimiiar to that in 1795, from 
the application of which fuch advantages had been de¬ 
rived at a comparatively fmall expenie. While the li¬ 
berality of the affluent was thus exercifed, the wifdoin of 
government was employed in feeking remedies for the 
evil, and the means of preventing its extenfion. With 
this 
