386 
this country and the French repub- 
lic, is brought to an amicable con- 
clusion. 
“ Downing Street, 
6¢ Hight o’ Clock, May 5, 1803.” 
Printed notices were then posted 
round the Custom-house, declaring 
the embargo to be taken off ships 
Jaden with saltpetre, &c. And, in 
consequence of this delusion, the 
funds experienced an immediate rise 
from 633 to 71}. <A real treasury 
messenger, however, was soon dis- 
patched to announce the falsity of 
the news; on which the genuine 
communication was read in the pub- 
lic street by the city marshall. The 
confusion which then prevailed was 
beyond all description. The stock- 
exchange was immediately shut, and 
the committee came to a resolution, 
‘* That all bargains made in the 
morning should be null and. void.” 
The consequence of the detection of 
the artifice was a rapid fall of the 
funds from 71 to 63. 
7th. A similar imposition was at- 
tempted to be practised on the pub- 
lic credulity, through the medium 
of ¢ The Times ;” a morning paper, 
notoriously in the interests of go- 
vernment, in which appeared a pa- 
ragraph, stating: the amicable termi- 
nation of all differences with ¥ rance. 
The commiitee for managing the 
stock-exchange, however, in order 
to guard against imposition, would 
not allow the doors to be opened, 
until the truth of the report could 
be officially ascertained. At their 
instance, the lord mayor addressed 
a note to lord Hawkesbury, soli- 
citing information, and stating the 
occasion of his application. To 
this note the chancellor of the ex- 
chequer returned the following an- 
swer: 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 
1803. 
‘¢ My lord, 
‘¢ As lord Hawkesbury is not at 
the foreign office, IL have opened 
your lordship’s note, conformably to 
the wish expressed through your 
messenger. If any information had 
been received by government, which 
could, possibly, be the subject of a 
public communication, your lord- 
ship may be assured that such com- 
munication would not have been 
withheld. I feel it, however, my 
duty distinctly to caution your lord- 
ship against receiving impressions of 
the description alluded to, through 
any unauthorized channel of infor- 
mation. 
‘¢ J haye the honor to be, &c. 
‘¢ Henry Addington,” 
“ Downing-Street, 
6¢ Saturday Noon.” 
An extract of this letter was 
posted up at the Mansion-house, 
and exhibited at Lloyd’s, &c. and 
the stock-exchange was open soon 
after 12 o’clock. 
The stock-exchange committee 
have reported, that no person be- 
longing to their connexion appears 
to have been implicated in the late 
fraudulent transactions. 
This evening, as Mr. Walker, of 
Hampton-wick, was returning home 
in a one-horse chaise, the horse took 
fright, and ran violently against a 
gate. Mr. W. was thrown out with 
such force as to fraéture his skull, 
and when taken up, was entirely 
without signs of life. 
9th. A fire, occasioned by singeing 
a horse’s ears in the stable, broke 
out at the Spread Kagle inn, near 
the episcopal palace, Buckden, near 
Huntingdon, which spread. with ra- 
pidity in every direction, and con- 
sumed 13 tenements, and property 
to the amount of 2000]. A collec- 
tion 
