à l'agonie, and it was not imagined he could outlive the day. His majeity, however, lingered till near noon the following day, when he expired, as fincerely lamented by all his fubjects as he had conftantly lived beloved and refpected by them, during a reign of upwards of 22 years. This melancholy event has plunged all the royal family into the deepest affliction. The prince of Piedmont, his fon, who fucceeds him, is 45 years of age, being born 1751; and married, 1775, to Marie Adelaide, fifter of Louis XVI. king of France, whose brothers, the count of Provence and the count D'Artois, married his two fifters.

4th.

NOVEMBER.

Tuesday laft, in Lincoln'sinn-hall, the lord chancellor, after hearing the exceptions to it argued, confirmed the mafter's report in the Downing caufe. The mafter has reported, that the prefent annual value of the eftates devifed to the college amounts to 4500l. This preliminary point being at length obtained, after a conteft of many years, an application will immediately be made to the crown, to grant a charter for the incorporation of Downing college, in the university of Cambridge. When the house of com5th. mons was on the point of rifing to-day, a man in the front of the gallery held forth a paper to the house, and exclaimed in a loud voice, "treafon! treafon! I wish to denounce treafon to the house, whatever may be the confequences to myself." The speaker immediately ordered the gallery to be clear

ed, and the man, whose name is faid to be Matthews, was taken into cuftody by the meffengers; but upon its evidently appearing that he was infane, he was inftantly difcharged.

An awful and fingular hail-ftorm occurred in Norwich. Two very vivid flashes of lightning illumined the southern and northern hemifpheres, fucceeded by heavy peals of thunder, while the hail, which fell profufely, appeared impregnated with fire.

8th.

Bofton. Information being given upon oath, to the magiftrates at Bofton, that preparations were making in fome of the neighbouring villages to obftruct, by force, the deputy-lieutenants, in the execution of the militia-laws on the following days, expreffes were immediately dispatched to Joshua Scrope, efq. captain commandant of the South Holland fquadron of loyal Lincolnshire gentletlemen, and yeomen cavalry, and to Thomas Wilfon, efq. captain of the Spalding troop, to request their affiftance in repelling any unlawful force, and in maintaining the public peace. Although the commanding officers received this meffage very late in the evening, and many of the volunteers in their respective troops live at a great distance from each other, yet fuch was the zeal and alertnefs difplayed in colle&ting them, that they arrived at Boston on Wednesday morning about 10 o'clock. A few minutes afterwards the rioters entered the town in a large body, blowing horns, and armed with ftaves, having forced into their company a great number of fervants and labourers in husbandry: but, feeing the cavalry drawn up in the market-place in military order, they

were

were deterred from committing any act of violence whatever. The bufinefs of the day (which was to receive and examine the lifts of perfons liable to serve in the prefent militia) then proceeded, and was completed, amidst the most perfect tranquillity; the volunteers, headed by their respective officers, parading the town during the greatest part of the day. Happily no violent measures were at all neceffary, and no harm was done to any perfon. The cool and refolute conduct of the troops cannot be spoken of in too high terms of commendation.

The lord mayor's day was 9th. obferved with the ufual form. The proceffion by water was nearly the fame as ufual; but that by land much lefs fplendid. Among the company who dined at Guildhall were many of prime diftinction; the duke of York, prince Erneft, the prince of Orange, the lord chan cellor, and almost all the great officers of state, many foreign ambaffadors and general officers, Mr. Fox, &c. &c. The Tunisian ambaffador, by his own defire, was prefent, but did not dine in the hall. He drank coffee and smoked tobacco, in a room by himself, while the company were at dinner. A terrible affray happen10th. ed this night at the Sun public-houfe in Cow Crofs, Smithfield. A riot in the house the night before having greatly disturbed the neighbourhood, the conftables ordered the house to be cleared of the company, which confifted of a club of disorderly perfons, who regularly met there. The fellows, expecting they would not be fuffered to ftay to their ufual hour, had provided themselves with bludgeops and other offenfive weapons,

with which, on the officers demanding entrance, they fallied out, knocking down and ill-treating every one who came in their way. Seven perfons were taken to St. Bartholomew's hofpital; one of whom, a beadle, is fince dead of his wounds. Three of the ring-leaders were next day committed to Clerkenwell bridewell for examination.

The following letter was 30th. this day tranfmitted to all the admirals and captains, whofe names were mentioned in the Gazette by earl Howe, as having fignalized themselves in the action of the ift of June, 1794, accompanying the medal which has been prefented to them.

"My Lord, (or Sir),

"The king having been pleafed to order a certain number of gold medals to be struck, in commemoration of the victory obtained by his Majefty's fleet under the command of earl Howe, over that of the enemy, in the actions of the 28th and 9th of May, and ist of June, 1794, I am commanded by his majefty to present to your lordhip one of the medals above-mentioned; and to fignify his majesty's pleasure that you fhould wear it when in your uniform, in the manner defcribed by the directions which (together with the medal and ribband belonging to it) I have the honour to tranfinit to you. I am alfo commanded by his majesty to acquaint your lordship, that, had it been poffible for all the officers on whom his majefty is pleased to confer this mark of his approbation, to attend perfonally in London, his majefty would have prefented the medal to each of them in perfon; but that being, from various caufes, at this

manner.

time impoffible, his majefty, in order to obviate all further delay, has therefore been pleased to direct them to be forwarded in this Allow me to exprefs the great fatisfaction I feel in being made the channel of communicating to your lordship, fo diftinguifhed a mark of his majefty's approbation. I have the honour to be, my lord, (or fir),

Your lordship's moft obedient humble fervant, "SPENCER." Admiralty, 30th Nov. 1796.

[The admirals to wear the medal fufpended by a ribband round their necks. The captains to wear the medals fufpended to a ribband, but faftened through the third and fourth button hole, on the left fide. The colour of the ribband blue and white.] In lord Grenville's grounds 30th. at Dropmore, Bucks, fome labourers, in digging for a fifhpond, have found a great number of oaks buried in the earth, twelve or fourteen feet deep; they are uncommonly large, fome of them fifty feet long, and the greater part perfectly found. They were all laid clofe together, and nearly in one direction. If they have been depofited there by fome great inundation, which is the general conjecture, it is rather fingular; for the place where they have been found is by far the higheft fpot in Buckinghamshire.

DIED, 17.-Catharine II. emprefs of all the Ruffias. She had been indifpofed feveral days previous to the 16th, but on the morning of that day was very chearful, and took her coffee as ufual to breakfast. She afterwards went to the water clofet, where the already had been twice in the courfe of the

morning, and as the stayed an unufual time, her attendants became extremely alarmed. At length one of her pages went to the door to liften, and not hearing the leaft motion, called one of her principal female attendants, who opened the door, and found the empress extended on her back, with her feet towards the door, in an apoplectic fit. Medical affiftance was inftantly fent for; but three quarters of an hour elapfed before her chief phyfician, Dr Rogerfon, arrived. She was then bled twice, and appeared to be much relieved, but never spoke afterwards. She remained in this ftate till the following evening The pulfation of the heart was perceptible till nine o'clock; but a quarter before ten the phyficians pronounced her dead. When opened, two ftones were found in the gall-bladder, one of which weighed an ounce, and the other half an ounce, Ruffian weight, which is one third lefs than the English weight. The emprefs was daughter of Chriftian Auguftus, prince of Anhalt Zerbst, born May 2, 1729, married, Sept. 1, 1745, to Peter III. grandfon of Peter the Great, who being deposed July 9, 1762, fhe was proclaimed fole emprefs of all the Ruffias. In 1768, the established a new code of laws through her dominions; and the fame year fhe fubmitted to the hazard of inoculation for the benefit of her dominions, where it was unknown; and the experiment, under Baron Dimfdale, fucceeded perfectly, and was commemorated by an annual thanksgiving. The firft war in which the engaged was with the Turks in 1769, which continued five years; and, July 21, 1774, peace was figned, whereby

the

the Crimea was declared independent of the Porte, a large tract of country between the Bog and the Dnieper, was ceded to Ruffia, befides feveral islands reftored, with free navigation in all the Turkish feas, including the paffage of the Dardanelles, privileges granted to the moft favoured nations, and ftipulations in favour of the inhabitants of Moldavia and Wallachia. In 1782, the concluded a commercial treaty with Portugal, and, in 1783, with the Danes; and, 1782, founded the order of Wladimir. In 1783, fhe opened a communication with both Indies. In 1784, the granted free trade to the coafts of the Euxine fea, and took a journey to the Crimea. In 1787, the endeavoured to establish an EaftIndia trade, ordered the geography of her empire to be explored; eftablished three new univerfities 1786; and, among other exertions in fayour of the arts, purchased the Houghton collection of pictures 1779, and Mr. Lyde Brown's collection of antique ftatues. War was again declared with the Porte 1787. She had an interview with the emperor of Germany at Cherfon, and with the king of Poland at Kiow, the fame year: the former joined her in the war with the Turks. In 1788, war was declared against Sweden; and the Ruffian troops entered Poland by force, and demanded quarters and forage. In this war her Imperial majefty poffeffed herself of Oczakow, with the flaughter of only 12,000 men. The war between Ruffia and the Porte ftill continuing, Great Britain, whose mediation had been rejected by the former, began to arm in 1791, in defence of the latter. Peace was at length figned that year between

the two rival powers, the Porte making large ceffions of territory to the emprefs; and between Ruffia and Sweden 1791. After the attack of the Thuilleries, and depofition of Louis XVI. on 10th Aug. 1792, the emprefs recalled her ambaffador from France, and ordered the French ambaffador to quit her capital in eight days. Whatever be the moral character of this great princefs, the always exerted the moft furprizing talents and abilities: Ruffia has been exalted to a pitch of grandeur and cultivation which Peter the Great can only be faid to have begun. Her rapid progrefs from weakness and barbarifm to civilization and a mighty ftate, with dominions extended by every effort of political fkill and artifice, has been moft aftonishing. Providence, whose ways are beyond the reach of human reafon or conjecture, permitted Catharine II to make this ufe of her ufurped dominion, and to anticipate, by the removal of a weak confort, by means unwarranted by every principle of justice and humanity, that most important of all revolutions in the hiftory of human kind, the civilization of fo large a portion of the human race, and the cultivation of the wildest and most untrodden defarts. For whom of her fucceffors it may be referved to annihilate the Ottoman power is not for us to fay. Her only fon and fucceffor to the crown, Paul Petrowitz, was born Oct. 1, 1754, married Q&. 1, 1776, to the princefs Sophia Dorothea of Wirtemberg Stutgard, who, after her converfion to the Greek religion, took the name of Maria Federowna, and by whom he has three children.

When

When the empress was taken ill, the prefent emperor was at Gatchina, a country palace, about 28 English miles from St. Peterfburg. He reached the capital about eight in the evening; and, immediately after his mother's deceafe, was proclaimed before the palace in the ufual form; and the whole court, which was there affembled in anxious expectation from the morning of the emprefs's accident to the moment of her death, immediately took the oath of allegiance to the new fovereign, as did alfo the four regiments of guards; and every thing paffed with the greatest order and tranquillity. At the George inn, North20th. ampton, on his journey from Buxton to London, that refpectable veteran of the bar, Edward Bearcroft, efq. M. P. for Saltafh, chief-juftice for Chefter, and a king's counfel; whofe memory will be long and fincerely refpected by all who had the honour of his friendship, or enjoyed the pleasure of his fociety.

Mr. Bearcroft was an example of industry and perfeverance at the bar. Many years he had hardly practice enough to fupport him with the fevereft economy, and thought of relinquishing the law in defpair; but, in time, his good fenfe and knowledge of the law excited confidence, and, till his hearing was affected, he was one of the most fuccefsful of its profeffors, particularly in cafes were legal opinions were requifite.

DECEMBER. This day the tide in every jd. part of the Thames was very high. In Tooley-ftreet the inha

bitants were taken out in boats; and a large quantity of foreign wheat, upon the ground floors of the warehoufes, was much damaged.

5th.

The following mode of raifing the loan of 18 millions was propofed and recommended by the bank directors on Wednesday laft. One million was fubfcribed by the bank in their corporate capacity, and four hundred thousand pounds by the directors individually; and before the clofe of the books the first day, five millions were fubfcribed by different merchants and others. At ten o'clock this morning the parlour doors at the bank were opened, before which time the lobby was crowded. Numbers could not get near the books at all; while others, to teftify their zeal, called to the perfons at the books then figning, to put down their names for them, as they were fearful of being fhut out. At about twenty minutes paft eleven, the fubícription was declared to be completely full, and hundreds in the room were reluctantly obliged to go away. By the poft innumerable orders came from the country for fubfcriptions to be put down, fcarcely one of which could be executed. And long after the fubfcription was clofed, perfons continued coming, and were obliged to depart difappointed. It is a curious fact, and well worth ftating, that the fubfcription completely filled in fifteen hours and twenty minutes: Two hours on Thurfday, fix ditto on Friday, fix ditto on Saturday, and one ditto and twenty minutes on Monday-fifteen hours, twenty minutes.

The duke of Bridgewater ac tually