For the purposes of the promoters of the proposed change in the leadership of the politicians of the City, to which reference has been made, " an Advertisement" was posted at the Coffee-house, in Wall-street, a noted place of resort for Shipmasters and Merchants, reciting "the late extraordinary and very alarming advices " from England ; " and " inviting the Merchants to *' meet at the house of Mr. Samuel Francis, on Mon- " day evening, May 16, in order to consult on meaajfbrded a much larger profit; and a disturbance of that line of trade was not, therefore, desirable.

2 They were received on Thursday, May 12, by the Samson, Captain Couper, the latest ship from London.

s " Extracts from private letters from London, dated April land 8, to li persons in New York and Philadelphia" printed on the backs of copies of the Boston Port Bill, and circulated, in broadside form, in New York, May 14, 1774.

WESTCHESTEK COUNTY.

" sures proper to be pursued on the present critical "and important occasion." 1

It will be seen that no others than " the Merchants " of the City were invited to attend the proposed Caucus, at Sam. Francis's Long-room ; '' and that the published purpose was only " to consult on measures proper to " be pursued on the present critical and important "occasion," in neither of which features of the " Ad- '' vertisement," prima facie, can it be reasonably said that any stretch of authority had been attempted by those who had called the proposed Caucus -- surely, it will not be said there might not be consultations, among Merchants as well as among other classes of the citizeus, on any subject whatever, especially on subjects in which they were especially interested, without interference from any other class ; and it will hardly be pretended by any one, that, in the instance now under consideration, the Merchants of the City were not peculiarly interested in the subjects of " the " late extraordinary and very alarming advices from " England ; " that they might not properly " consult," among themselves, " on measures proper to be pur- " sued on the present critical and important occa- " sion ; " that, for the purpose of such a " consultation," they might not invite whomsoever they pleased, to meet at a place and time designated, without consulting with any other persons or asking permission from any others ; and that such a Caucus, thus invited, might not be had, without any interfe-