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Gavres, govenor of the princefs's court. The princefs of France exceeded the general expectation on this occafion. Her beauty, her fenfibility, her grace, her affability, and eafy deportment, excited at once furprize and admiration. She faid the most flattering things to field marthals Lafey, Clarfait, Colloredo, and Pelegrini, and to count Trautmansdorff. The French emigrants were prefented to her royal highness by the marquis de Gallo, the Neapolitan ambaffador. They were fix in number: the duke de Guiche, captain of the guards to Louis XVI. who diftinguished himself on the 5th of October, 1780; the marquis de Riviere, the Blondel of his master; count de Gourci; count de Merci; the marquis de la Vaupaliere, and M. D'Afchepar. Amongst the other French and foreigners, who were acknowledged by the princefs, were the duke of Richelieu, count de Ferfen, the chevalier Mayer, fo well known for his literary productions; the bithop of Nanci, alike celebrated for his virtues and his talents; the duchefs de Guiche, who shed tears; the countefs de Vauban, and the countefs d'Oudenarde. The prefence of these faithful and unfortunate nobles contributed not a little to render the fcene peculiarly interefting.

DIED.-In his 84th year, Abbé Raynal. He walked to Paris a week before his death; got a cold, which was followed by a catarrh, and kept his bed fome days. On the day of his deceafe he got up, fhaved and dreffed himself. At fix in the evening he went to bed; heard a news-paper read, and made fome critical obfervations upon the operations announced in the paper.

At ten o'clock he died. The juftice of the peace of the section des champs Elysées did not chufe to bury him until he had afked the Government whether it was intended to pay him any funeral honours. He was employed, juft before his death, upon a new edition of his philofophical hiftory, and had prefented an addrefs to the directory to obtain from the agents of the republic in foreign countries the documents, of which he stood in need, relative to the commerce of different nations, to the Eaft India companies, and fome other objects of his work. The directory immediately complied with his requeft, and fent the neceffary orders to the French ambassadors in Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, and Italy. It is known that the abbé had among his manufcripts, a hiftory of the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in four volumes; but it is rumoured that, under the reign of Robespierre, he burnt part of his papers.

17. At the Hague, Peter Paulus, prefident of the firft national convention there, and one of the principal authors of the revolution in Holland. In him his country lofes one of its moft zealous defenders, the patriotic party their chief fupport, the convention its head, and marine its ableft director. He has fallen a facrifice to his exerertions as prefident. His death has produced the fame fenfations at the Hague as the death of Mirabeau did at Paris. The greatest honours have been paid to the firft prefident of the Batavian convention; and a decree of that affembly declares that he never ceased to deferve well of his country; which decree, written on vellum, the convention

convention has refolved to prefent to his widow; and to give her, at the fame time, the national fcarf with which he was decorated at the opening of the convention.

At his houfe in Norton-ftreet, fir William Chambers, knight of the polar ftar, furveyor-general of his majefty's board of works, treafurer of the royal academy,, and fellow of the royal and antiquarian focieties. A further account of this architect shall be giyen under the head of characters.

2d.

APRIL.

The intimation of the firft performance of a piece afcribed to the pen of Shakspeare produced this night the effect which might naturally have been expected in a metropolis filled with his admirers. At four o'clock the doors of the theatre were befieged; and, a few minutes after they were opened, the pit was crowded folely with gentlemen. Before fix not a place was to be found in the boxes, and the paffages were filled. The play of Vortigern was announced for representation as the production of our immortal bard, but the tale of its long concealment and happy recovery was not heard without fufpicion; which his votaries withed to heighten into immediate incredulity. The town, however, retained its candour; and, we believe, the predominant fentiment in the audience, on this evening, was a with to welcome with rapture the recovered offspring of their beloved Shakspeare. A play was, therefore, performed, founded in fome degree on the hiftorical account of the ambition of Vorti

gern, the ufurper of Britain; his murder of Conftantius; his alliance with the Saxons; and his paffion for Rowena, the daughter of the Saxon chief. The events are warped into a refemblance to those of Macbeth, Richard III. &c. with the inadvertency of a copyift, who was more intent on imitating the language than the genius of Shakfpeare. The characters are fuch as would not have been drawn by that aftonishing writer in the exercife of his ufual faculties. He is remarkable in feldom borrowing from himfelf. The play is deftitute of all thofe gigantic metaphors, and bold allufions, which, approaching the limits of poffibility, attonith and alarm our imaginations into a fympathy with his fublime conceptions. The language, though evidently an imitation, is infinitely beneath the original, which poffeffes an aptitude, a facility, and harmony, which has never been furpaffed. The audience betrayed fymptoms of impatience early in the reprefentation; but, finding its tafte infulted by bloated terms, which heightened the general infipidity, its reafon puzzled by difcordant images, falfe ornaments, and abortive efforts to elevate and aftonith; pronounced its fentence of condemnation, at the conclufion of the play; and we have no doubt that Vortigern, if it be published, will rank in character, though not in merit, with the perverted and furpring labours of the unfortunate Chatterton.

This moft grofs and impudent impofition had, however, its fupporters, as the following atteftation, drawn up by the rev. Dr. Parr, fhews.

We whofe names are hereunto fubfcribed,

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the poor.

The trial of admiral Corn7th. wallis, for difobedience of orders in not proceeding to the Weft Indies purfuant to the inftructions of the admiralty board, commenced on board the Orion at Portsmouth, at eight o'clock in the morning. The charges were three in number. The fubfiance of them is as follows: ift, That admiral Cornwallis, after having failed from England for the West Indies, and proceeded a confiderable way on his voyage, did return contrary to the orders he had received, zdly, That

not having a fufficient regard to the importance of the fituation of a commander in chief, he omitted to thift his flag on board of fome other fhip after the Royal Sovereign had been difabled, in order to proceed, as he ought to have done, to the place of his deftination; but that, instead of doing fo, he gave his inftructions and the command of the convoy to another officer. And, 3dly, That after his return he disobeyed another order of the board of admiralty, by not hoifting his flag on board the Aftrea frigate, and proceeding to the West Indies, as he had been ordered by their lordships.

The evidence having been gone through, the trial closed at one o'clock, when the court pronounced the following fentence:

"The court having heard the evidence in fupport of the charges exhibited against the honourable William Cornwallis, vice-admiral of the red; and having heard his defence, and the evidence in his behalf, and having maturely weighed and confidered the fame, were of opinion,

"That with refped to the two firft charges, of his returning without leave, after having been ordered to proceed to Barbadoes, and of his difobeying the orders he had received, mifconduct was imputable to him, for not having thifted his flag on board the Mars or Minotaur, and proceeded in either of them to the Weft Indies; but, in confideration of other circumfiances, the court acquitted him of any difobedience in his conduct on that occafion.

"With respect to the third charge, of his having, after his return, difobeyed the orders of the

board

board of admiralty, in not going out to the Weft Indies in the Aftrea frigate, the court were of opinion that the charge was not proved, and therefore acquitted admiral Cornwallis upon that charge." 10th.

Early this morning, the wife of Mr. Sawyer, a boatbuilder, near the Bishop's-walk, Lambeth, was difcovered in her bed-room, with her brains dafhed out, and stabbed in a moft fhocking manner. This horrid deed is fuppofed to have been accomplish ed by fome diabolical villains, who entered the back part of the houfe leading to the river, and, meeting with refiftance to their fchemes of plunder, perpetrated the hellith deed. The murderers efcaped without creating the leaft alarm. It is a circumftance particularly remarkable, that, although the hufband of the murdered woman was in the house the whole time, he declares he neither heard nor faw any thing of the tranfaction.

This morning little be11th. fore 12, three malefactors were executed at Kenningtoncommon: a brush-maker, for a riot in St. George's fields, a young man for theep-ftealing, and a man for houfe-breaking.

Letters from Smyrna unfortunately advise us of the conflagration of 4000 warehoufes, entirely belonging to Ottoman merchants, the value of which is eftimated at four millions of piaftres.

Advice was received at the

21ft. admiralty, brought by lieut. Crifpe, of the Telemachus cutter, of the capture of the enterprifing fir Sidney Smith, commander of his majefty's fhip Diamond, on the coaft of France. Having, on the 18th inftant, boarded and taken a

lugger privateer, belonging to the enemy, in Havre-de-Grace harbour, by the boats of his fquadron, then on a reconnoitring expedition, and the tide making ftrong into the harbour, fhe was driven above the French forts, who, the next morning, the 19th,difcovering, at break of day, the Ingger in tow by a ftring of Englifh boats, immediately made the fignal of alarm, which collected together feveral gun-boats, and other armed veffels, that attacked the lugger and Britifh boats; when, after an obstinate refiftance of two hours, fir Sidney had the mortification of being obliged to furrender himself prifoner of war, with about fixteen of his people, and three officers with him in the lugger. The Diamond frigate is fafe, but could afford her commander no affiftance, there not being a breath of wind during the whole of this unfortunate tranfaction: we are happy to add, that only four British feamen were killed, and one officer and fix feamen flightly wounded. The feamen were immediately thrown into prifon on their landing; and fir Sidney underwent a long examination before the French commandant, after which he was ordered to be conveyed, under a ftrong efcort, to Paris. The following were amongst the officers captured with fir Sidney Smith: Meirs. W. Moory, R. Kenyon, and R. Barrow: one of these was wounded. When the officers on board the Diamond heard of the difafter which had befallen their gallant commander, they fent a flag of truce into Havre, to enquire whether he was wounded, and entreating that he might be treated with kindness. The governor re

turned

turned for anfwer, that fir Sidney was well, and that he fhould be treated with the utmoft humanity and attention. The French, it appears, warped out another lugger of fuperior force against that captured by fir Sidney Smith in Havre-deGrace harbour, with which they engaged him, for a confiderable time, with fo much heavier metal, that rendered all his refiftance ineffectual, and therefore compelled him to ftrike.

Two of the officers belong14th. ing to Bow-street arrived in town from Liverpool with Henry Wefton, who is charged with committing divers forgeries on the bank of England to the amount of 17000l. He had got to Liverpool, and fent his luggage on board the Hector, bound for St. Vincent's in the West Indies, which fhip had got down to a place called the Gut, about feven miles below Liverpool, and was to have failed the next morning. The officers found him in bed at Bates's hotel, with a brace of loaded piftols by his fide. On their road to town, Wefton found means to conceal a cafe-knife in his pantaloons, and on changing chaises at the King's-Head, Hounflow, he requested to go to the privy, where he cut his own throat, but mifling one of the arteries, did not effect his purpose.

This night the counting 25th. houfe of Mr. Mingay, of Smithfield (who in the interim was fpeaking to a friend in the back room on the fame floor) was broke open, and a bag of gold, containing 1200 guineas, which had been placed in readiness to fend to his banker's in the morning, was taken clear off.

In confequence of a pub 30th. lication addreffed by lord Malden to the inhabitants of the borough of Leominster, the duke of Norfolk, accompanied by capt. Wombwell, of the firft West York regiment of militia, and lord Malden, accompanied by capt. Taylor, aid de camp to his royal highness the duke of York, met on Saturday evening in a field beyond Paddington. The parties having taken their ground, and the word being given by one of the feconds, they fired without effect. The feconds then thought proper to offer their interference, and, in confequence of a converfation which paffed while the parties were on the ground, a reconciliation was effected.

In an act now before the house of commons, for the further fupport and maintenance of curates within the church of England, the preamble recites the act of the 12th of queen Ann, by which every rector or vicar is enjoined to pay to each curate a fum not exceeding 501. and not less than 201. a year. It flates, that this allowance is now become infufficient for the maintenance of a curate. The bill therefore enacts, that the bifhop or ordinary fhall have power to allow the curate a fum not exceeding feventy-five pounds a year, with the ufe of the rectory or vicaragehoufe, where the rector does not refide four months in the year, or 151. in lieu thereof.

DIED-19th. In Doctors Com mons, George Harris, D. C. L. fon of Dr. John Harris, bishop of Landaff, chancellor of the diocefes of Durham, Hereford, and Landaff, and commiflary of Effex, Herts,

and

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