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

delay. The LARD MAYOR, not dottbzing the trtith
of the idtelligence, communi:ated the news imme-
diately to the Stock Etcl►ange and to Lwro's,
and ohiet-cd the following Bulletin to be posted up
at the 11.insion-house:—

M 1,/' Sp l'lnj
66 Lo" ploviriseitar LAN this mortt,tg, infor•nrl the
!Attu) MAvitt, that the N rtnatinn with t.ie Frz..ch Re
➢atAie es brouAlat to all anti,:uble conclucion."

This joyful intelligence spread through the City
with &leer: is rapidity. Pleasure beamed in every
eye, and mantled upon every countenance, with
the exception of a few discontented political critics,
teho not doubting the substance of the story, in
the prefe,undnees of their sagacity, never sespeaed
the hoax, ae-1 feared only that the national honour
and interests might be compromised in the terms.
Amidst the general joy and exultation, several of
the principal monied men flew to the Maesion-
house, to enquire into the particulars of this intel-
ligence, which was not onl unexpeaed, but con-
trary to the speenlations of some of them, and to
the general tone of the must recent accomits from
France. The letter being shewn to Mr. A. Geer.
that gentleman declared an opinion, that it
was not Lord lIA WKESBURY's hand-writing. We be-
lieve also, that it is not customary for Government to
send its communications, upon such important occa-
sions, except by special and well knowa messengers ;
whereas, the present communication was made by an
unaccredited stranger, who delivered the letter at
the side door, as it were by stealth, and did not, as
is the usual mode, come to the front gate and send
in the letter to the por‘er in waiting, to be by him
transmitted by the confidential servants of the place
to the Lo an MA Y 0 R. The form of the letter was
not exaetly officiel, and differs from the precedents
used upon similar occasions, and the phrase " ir,
and the French Republic," could only be account-
ed for, if the letter were genuine, by supposing
that the word Country or Government was, in :Ile
hurry ef writing, kft out after the word "stir," and
that it should have run thus—" between th's country
and thene ncli it opitblic."—Struck,on relic& on,w ith
these inaccuracies and informalities, but influenced
principal y by the opinion of Mr. GOLDS:VD. the
LORD MA von wrote a letter to Coveniment, stating
the circumstance, and dispatched it by a gentleman
ht his confidence. In the mean time the glad tidings
had diffused itself over the West-end of the Town,
and, having reached the eats of Government, the
Under Secretary of Sta e was sent into the City to
contradict the report, and pronounce the letter an
impudent forgery. The following notice was also
sent w those quarters which, as places of the most
public resort, were the most likely to give the cen-
tradidion a quick and extensive circulation, and also
to the Editors of the Evening Newspapers, with a
view to counteraa the ettc a both in town and
country :

T o tbe EDITOR of tbe
Trelsury, May a, 1803—One &deck.

4' SIR,

" I have to aeonaisit wm, that the !lies age which w.4s
flippose4.l to have been sent this miwning from FlAwlaw
posy t.. the Limo 114alroit, suting, that the Neg ,eiations
win, Fiance had terminated iimcably, tray a tabricatioa, an4l
1111ta11y deNtuLts ul truth.

I am, Sit,
Yom., moat obwrhoilt humble servant,
J. SAkGINT."

Soon after twelve o'clock, the Loan MAYOR
received intelli.::ence to this effea : Upon which he
immediately sent one of the City MARSRALL's,
with a copy of the oontradiCtion to the Stock Ex-
change, and ordered the copy of the forgery to be
torn down from the front of the Mansion-house,
where it had been posted up immediately after its
receipt. The discovery of the fraud, did not how.
crer come in time to prev:nt its effeets to a most
enormous extent, both in relation to the change
in the Funds, and the quantity of business trans-
acl:d. The three per cent. consols, which had
left off on the preceding day at opened at 6:),
and were at 71 at twelve o'clock, when the accoant
of the forgery reached the Change. And here
again, we had a proof of the extraordinary temper
wf the public mind. With all this damning proof,
communicated through the LORD Mayo s, the
Stocks, after a &scent to tip), aaually attempted
to rally, and did recover a little fin- a while
after the first panic. The contr.rdittion, how-
ever, soon became irresistible, and the Funds
LumLlod before it through the intermediate grada-
tions, down to o. This was their state at one
o'clock, at whica time the panic, confusion, and
alarm were so great, they would have certainly
fallen still lower, had it not been thought advisable
to) clear the market and shut up the Exchange, in-
s:ead et waiting for the usual hour. A termination

be;ng thus put to the opration of the fraud and its
rer.roa..Riv.: aid upon the market, the next obje,ft
was to remedy the evil as far as the evil is suscepti-
ble of cure; and, accordingly, a general meeting
of the gentlemen of the Stock Exchange, was
immediately held, at which it was agreed, that
all bargains done before half after twelve o'clock,
at which time the discovery of the forgery was
known oa'i.lasge, should be deemed null and void.
—This rem•Jj is, we believe, the best that could he
dcvisebl, but *e regret that it is not canpletely ade.