The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1804-10-17 00:00:00

GUILDHALL.

Yesterday a Court of Aldermen was held at
Guildhall, prlsent, the Lord Mayor, Lord Mayor
Eleft, fourteen Aldermen, and all the City Officers.

The C art, after examining the Meaiweighers'
Reports, ordered the price of bread to continue as
last week, viz. at I 21d. the quartern loaf wheaten,
and 101 d. hnnsehold.

The rev,- Ald-rman. Claudius Stephen Hunter,
Esq. was sver ri, into office as Alderman of Bassi-
shaw Ward, in the room of Robert Clark, Esq. re-
signeJ, and took his seat accordingly.
The Court. agreeably to annual custom, eleaed
the following persons searchers and sealer of lea-
ther, for the year ensuing, six. William Cowling,
John Clark, Jonathan Robson, William Hunt,
Thomas Philip Payne, and Joseph Lan don.
Some appeals were beard by counsel against the
rates or assessments made under the Mt of Parlia-
ment for the Relief of certain Incumbents of Liv-
ings, which were confirmed, and others adjourned
until the next Conn.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BRITISH PRESS.

s,.

I read your Paper, not merely for information
and instruition, but 23 a literary SNIUTIBIVIi• You
may judge then of the regret I experienced in pe-
rmits{ a paragraph in your Paper of Saturday, cal-
culalcd to depress and restrain the exerc;se of. that
ivdieidael bentrorkurs, which constitutes the Wawa
glory' of Great Britain.
The ciicuenstances a•tending the infamous depre-
dations of a man who, from es park evidence, ap-
rears to have subsisted for many years by fabricat-
ing the most atrocious lies to deceive the philan-
thrtpic t have furnished the writer of the paragraph
alluded with a specious retest for decrying the
exercise of henevolencc—that virtue which aggran-
dises humanity, and makes it approach to the simili-
tude of the Deity.
_ . . .

To deted thi Jesuitical finesse with which this
Philippic is replete, is a duty due to society. The
writer very gravely ob•ervcs, " that such modes
of obtaining money from the credulous, have been
praltised with success for near a Century past"—
Wonderful discovery! he might have added fur
many centuries, for men of the same des-ription
have for ages past defranded the community.—
Wbat argument does the writer wish to snake us.•
of ? What system of logic does he adopt? There
are impostors and hypocrites in religion : Ergo, Re-
ligion is an impostor. There Are men who deceive
the credulous by fislitiolis representations of distress:
E• 210, Charity is to be exploded. Though
there ever have been, and still are wretches, who,
nnder the mask of religion. make it a cloak for
every crime; Religion remains the same amiable
and beautiful system it ever was. Though nefa-
rious praZtices have been made use of to extort
money from the philanthropic ; Charity is yet N the
bond of perfeaion," the for ►irsife of the Deity
the virtue that opens the gates of Paradise to its
votAries ; " that covers a multitude of sins ;" th it
soothes the hours of pain and anguish, and strews
the tomb a ith flowers.

It is well known that in this great metropolis there
are a vast multitude of meritorious and worthy per-
sons struggling with the pangs of poverty ; liter4ry
men, whose pen is devoted to the service of their
God, their King, and their Country ; persons of va-
rious and diversified situations in life, who, from a
fatality cif circumstances, and the extreme degrees: of
prori,er)f, hwea cl iim, and a claim which heaven
sane:ions, upon the opulent and humane. The in-
sidious remark, as to " arksriumg menlu•ants" i.
flagrantly unjust; for of ninety-nine out of a bun.
dred of such advertisements, referenees are alwa. s
given as to the person soliciting, and respeCtishle
persons appointed to rec-ive the donations.
Ctiapier I,t. BxervoLus.

Veiterdav the brigade of Life Guards morello.'
to Wimbledon Cornmon, where they hod a grand
review in brigade, under the command of General
dr: Earl of I IA KR 11414 T Old, atsiord by his Staff.

Rear-Admiral Pititir has been for some days
past at Swansea, minutely iiispeiting the Sea Fen-
cibles, impress service, Ste. nith the conduit of
which departments he was pleased to express himself
perfcaly satisfied.
Oa Monday se'nnight Rear-Admiral THOR% an.
not ca arrived in Gloucester trom Y.irniuuth. The
Admiral has been constrained, by the st4te of his
health, to relinquish, for the present. the command
of the blockading squadron of the 'reset—a station
which lse has reserved with unremitting auiduity
for a period of more than eleven month..