ful subjects of this great and opulent city, must
have made a deep impression on every heart, must have strongly rooted
the feelings of loyalty with which Britons naturally regard their
sovereign; and, if I may judge of others by myself, must have awed all
emotions save those of fervent hope and prayer, that the reign of our
now youthful Queen may be long and peaceful, and that her greatest
glories may be connected with the universal education of her subjects,
the diffusion of the most comprehensive principles of benevolence,
charity, and love--principles which shall unite all in a desire to
accomplish the proud wish that England may possess and exercise the
great prerogative of teaching other nations how to live. What we have
seen is a proof, in my opinion, that we are fairly on our way to the
full completion of the wish: for do not the recent events demonstrate
to us, and will they not demonstrate far beyond the precincts of our
city, that the purest freedom, and the warmest attachment to religion,
may co-exist, and may safely co-exist, with the forms of monarchy and
with feelings of affection to the sovereign, especially when that
sovereign evinces the dispositions which we all recognise in our
amiable, youthful, and illustrious Queen? Let, then, other countries
boast of natural advantages, denied perhaps to ours, let our pride be
in our civil advantages, in the security of our person and property,
under a system of law and government which, whatever be its
defects--and what is perfect on earth?--is at least as near to
perfection as any government that has existed, or does now exist. But
I am carried away by my feelings from the main object I had in view in
rising to address you. That object was to tender you my thanks, warm
from the heart, for the honour you have conferred on myself and
colleague. I can sincerely say that the kindness of our
fellow-citizens is a full reward for the performance of our duties,
and will be a full inducement to devote ourselves cheerfully to the
service of those who, unasked, have placed us in a position of so much
trust and honour. We feel satisfied that in the performance of our
duties we shall not betray the trust reposed in us, nor tarnish the
honour of the Corporation. No; it will be our pride and pleasure to
enhance the dignity of our office, in order that the distinction it
confers may be more and more an object of laudable ambition to the
most worthy and opulent of our fellow-cit