The old boy stands resolutely before the throne, which he is ready to defend with his huge oak cudgel carved with a bulldog’s head, and, whilst nourishing himself on a tankard of ale, tells his informant his opinion of his intelligence in the words of the second verse:-- John Bull as he sat in his old Easy Chair, An Alarmist came to him, and said in his Ear, ‘A Corsican Thief has just slipt from his quarters, And is coming to Ravish your Wives and your Daughters!’ ‘Let him come, and be D--d!’ thus roar’d out John Bull, ‘With my Crab-stick assured I will fracture his Scull, Or I’ll squeeze y^e vile reptile twixt my Finger and Thumb, Make him stink like a Bug, if he dares to presume.’ ‘They say a full Thousand of Flat bottomed Boats, Each a Hundred and Fifty have, Warriors of Note; All fully determin’d to feast on your Lands, So I fear you will find full enough on your hands.’ John smiling arose, upright as a post, ‘I’ve a Million of Friends bravely guarding my Coast, And my old Ally, Neptune, will give them a dowsing, And prevent the mean rascals to come here a lousing.’ I know not from what source the statistics relative to the strength of the French flotilla, contained in the subjoined broadsheet, are taken. It purports to be an extract from a French letter:-- CITIZENS OF ENGLAND YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT BONAPARTE WILL NOT ATTEMPT INVASION: _Read the following detailed Account of his Preparations, and ask yourselves whether those who tell you so, are your Friends or your Enemies._ ‘The Alertness of our People, employed in the several Yards along the Coasts, never had a parallel. I reckon 11,000 Ship-Carpenters, and their necessary Assistants, Labourers, &c., employed here, and at _Calais_, _Dunkirk_, and _Ostend_, besides those at Work on the Boats preparing at _Ghent_, _Bruges_, and _Antwerp_. ‘At _Boulogne_, we have 36 Gun Boats ready, each carrying three heavy Pieces of Ordnance, Two fore, and One aft; besides 152 of what are called _Flat Bottomed_ Boats; but they are now generally _rounded below_, and _keeled_. In three Weeks Time, we expect to have as many more in a State of perfect Readiness. ‘At _Calais_, several of the _Floating Batteries_, that opposed LORD NELSON, when he attacked Boulogne, are now fitting up, and about seventy boats that will carry 150 Men each. ‘At _Dunkirk_, and the adjacent Canals, there are 47 _Gun boats ready_, with remarkable heavy Ordnance; and not less than 220 Boats for carrying men. They count upon being able to send 400 of these vessels (great and small) to Sea, in less than Three Weeks. ‘At _Ostend_, the _Gun Boats_, _Floating Batteries_, and _Vessels for carrying Soldiers_, that are now, and will be, completed during the present month, amount to 487. They work here during the Whole of the Moonlight nights.