The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-05-06 00:00:00

qu the to its ohjenn Jo the rim place, we do not see
aow it can apply to bargains fur Money ; and coo-
s, ipiently all real purchases for money must stand
good, unless the parts shall be found privy to the
forgery. Sccieeile, al! thoir who have made gam-
bling bargains, influenced tosalde by the report, or
in confidence upon the conJusi of their. friends
and neighbours, may conceive theMselves aggrieve,'
by the annulling of their bargains, fir as to them
the foundation is Nei:illy fair, as in the cese of any
other of the nen:emus false reports which daily in-
fluence the Funds.—lf, however, it has the eel of
restraining the rage for gambling at the Stock Ex-
change, which is the disgra.Ce of the country, the
public will have reason to rejoice in the remedy,
however they may lament the possibility, that the
guilty party may escape its application.—With a
view also to discover the authors of this foul trans-
aetion, a reward of 50001. has been offered by the
gentlemen of the Stock Exchange, with the addi-
tion of 5001. by the- Lorin Meao a. The most
stria enquiry will also be made inoi the early sales
of the day, the charanlms of the parties, and all the
circumstances under which they were min'e. No
diligence, zeal, and energy will be wanting to
trace the source of the fraud, and a confident hope
is entertaiiwd, that enquiry will prove successful.
The sensation produced by the discovery of the
fraud at the \Vest-end of the town, was very diffe-
rent from that felt in the city. In the neighbour-
hood of the Thenge, it was all anxiety and disap-
pointment, and every passenger presented a dismal
countenance. The pielure in the \Vest-end of the
town was the reversn There the people might be
seen laughing at the credulity of their friends in the
East, and expressing their astonishment at the su-
CCS3 of the imposture. In the great mass of the
d'eappointed, there were several who blamed the
LORD MAYOR, and considered his conduil as pre-
cipitate. The person who delivered the letter, was
booted and spurred, and had every appearance of a
man just arrived oT a journey. Great stress was
laid upon these 'circumstances, as not corresponding
with the description of a Mel3enger employed only
bxsten Loud 1-I.y.s•KsL;tuity's of and the Man-
sion-house. Among other circumstances which
should have also excited his suspicion, it was
argcd, that the Minister having promised to make
the earlieet possible communication upon the sub-
ject to Parliament; his Lordship had no right to
expert that it would be broken in that way. It was
hence inferred, that he had not exercised a sound
judgment upon the occasion, nor displayed a degree
of caution proportionate to the magnitude of the
subjea. An impartial consideration of all the feels
will not lead to so harsh a censure. His Lordship
was not at home when the person, who represented
himself as a Messenger belonging to the Foreign Of-
fice, delivered the letter. He had, therefore, no
opportunity of a personal interrogation. Besides,
the seal was a genuine impression, it being found,
upon examination, to have been taken from a true
official letter, and transferred to the cover of the
fabricated note. The word " ThowleJtvry," written
• above, on the inside ; and on the outside, in the
usual form, was found also to be a tolerable good
imitation of his Lordship's hand-writing. It is also
to be considered, that the public mind was wouqd
up to the highest pitch of expenation, that the com-
bustibles were all prepared, the train laid, and an ex-
plosion every moment expe&ed to take place. If then
his Lordship,in a novel situation, and inexperienced as
he must be in the forms of diplomatic intercourse,
was rot sufficiently alive to a slight departure from
them on thepresent occasion ; if partakingof the public
sentiment he gave an casy credence to a contmani.
cation whith could, if true, relieve the general anxi-
cty if, as a good subica, he was transported beyond
the limits of a cold and calculating caution in a case
which announced a great benefit to his country, the
truth of which no good teen would wish to question,
and v hich enlisted upon its side the best feelings of
the heart; if, we say under such circumstances, be
yielded to surprise,. and became the dupe for the
moment of a deep and well planned artifice, we do
not think we can fairly find fault with hint, without,
at the same time, finding fault with those loyal, pa-
triotnr., and benevolent feelings, which may have fa-
cilitated the delusion, feelings which do honour to
the man, and entitle him to the regard of his fel-
low-citizens.

We had received Pali:. Journals in the morning,
and could not help comparing one remarkable cir-
cumstance in them, with the cements of the forged
letter. At the last Consular Levee, the Ambassa-
dors of ali the Courts of Europe were present, ex-
cepting Lord WiturwoitTu. In common times
this might happen without hoeing any way singular
but at such a moment as the present, the absence
of our Minister from the Levee was remark-
able ; and comparing it with the general tenor
of the private letters from Paris, seemed to
threaten something very different from Peace.—
Indeed, so general was the teport of his Lordship's
return, a bookseller in Piccadilly, gifted no
doubt with mond s ht, positively stated on Wednes-
day that his Lordship had actually left Paris on the
preceding night. Had this been stated as a mete