from a gold fnuff-box, on which there was a very beautiful reprefentation of Venus rifing from the fea. On the filver box there were fimply the initials G. R. Thefe letters gave occafion to a very interefting dif cuffion, fome contending that G. R. fignified George Rex. After a very animated debate, which lafted full two hours, it was determined that an appeal should be made to the owner of the box, in order to ascertain precifely the meaning of thefe myfterious letters. The gentleman, whofe name we could not learn, though we employed full three hours to difcover it, calmly faid, that G. R. fignified Good Rappee, which was his favourite fnuff. The Duke of Clarence had firings in his fhoes, not buckles, as erroneously reported. Mr. Sheridan faid, that the Port he drank was excellent, and therefore that he fhould decline the Madeira. This difcrimination was generally admired. The night paffed with great feftivity; and when the company thought that it was time to break up they went to bed.

The weather proving dull on Friday morning, many perfons thought it better to breakfast at home. Hyfon tea feemed to be the general favourite. Many perfons drank their tea without milk, others without fugar, and some had a flight mixture of brandy in it.

Half-boots and whole-boots are much the fashion at this place, and those who wear neither are generally obferved to be in fhoes, except indeed in the morning, when many perfons have appeared in a very flippery way. I fhall endeavour, during the feason, to tranfinit you more particulars refpecting the fashionable move ments of this place; and you may rely on the truth as well as importance of my intelligence..

PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE.

[From the British Prefs.]

SEVERAL conjectures having been made in the fpeculating world, and particularly at the Stock Exchange, refpecting the bafis of a Preliminary Peace between this country and France, we have great pleafure in laying the following authentic copy before the public, by whom it will be read with intereft. Of its authenticity there can be little doubt, as it was tranf mitted to us from Hamburgh by our Private Corre Spondent, a gentleman of great veracity, who, impreffed with an idea of its importance, fent it, at the peril of his life, in utter contempt of French fpies and informers, and of an order of Bonaparte's Minister, Bourienne, published at the Exchange in that city, to shoot, ftrangle, and put to the torture, any man who should publish faid Preliminaries, or directly or indirectly notice the fame, until three months after the conclufion of a Definitive Treaty of Peace between France and England.

EUROPE being but a fmall portion compared with the whole world, the various political changes, revolutions, divifions, and diftribution of territory, effe&ed by His Majefty the Emperor and King of the French, are to be confidered as matter of infignificance.

The

new Kings of Holland, Naples, Wirtemberg, Bavaria, &c. are therefore to be acknowledged, without any equivalent. Wirtemberg is indeed rather a. favour conferred upon Great Britain, the new Queen being the ci-devant Princefs Royal of England, eldest daughter of His Britannic Majefty.

The trident of Neptune being the fceptre of the world, and His Royal and Imperial Majefty the Emperor and King of the French having a great defire to wield the fame, His Britannic Majefty is required to furrender it into his hands, the fame to be enjoyed by

him

him in full fovereignty, and disposable at his will and pleasure.

His Royal and Imperial Majefty, the Emperor and King of the French, in that spirit of truth, candour, and loyalty, which diftinguishes his character, does not attempt to conceal the value and importance of faid trident and fceptre. Fearing, therefore, that fome conceffion may be demanded as the price of it, he fubmits the following confiderations:

The naval fuperiority of England has been long a great fource of envy and jealousy to all the world. By furrendering it, therefore, a bar hitherto in the way of univerfal love and fraternity, will be completely done away, and the caufe of many cruel and fanguinary wars will have ceafed to exist.

His Majefty Napoleon, in affociating his federative fystem, as well as in the extenfion of what has been denominated the integrity of France, has always had in view the fimilarity of manners, habits, tempers, and difpofitions of the parties, as the natural and fundamental grounds of confolidation and connexion; and His Royal and Imperial Majefty, reviewing the folidity and steadinefs of the English people, has always confidered the ocean an integral and natural part of the French nation, in all ages renowned for its fickleness, perfidy, danger, and uncertainty.

His Royal and Imperial Majefty, Napoleon the Firft, has alfo long feen that the ocean is under the influence and almoft at the entire difpofal of the winds. and the tides, infomuch fo, that it cannot even lay any juft claim to freedom and independence; the government of the ocean, therefore, as hitherto exercifed by England, can only be, confidered an imperium in imperia -a ftate of things abhorred by every wife, liberal, and enlightened legiflator.

It is alfo to be observed, that thefe winds, and tides, and waves, which exercife fuch uncontrolled dominion

over the Ocean, are the natural allies of a revolutionary government, and harmonize, in a peculiar degree, with the fickleness, perfidy, and levity of the French character. The Ocean, therefore, will be quite at home under the fole and exclufive fovereignty of the Emperor of the French.

The Emperor of the French, however, conformably with the admiffion above mentioned, allows, that by furrendering the fovereignty of the Ocean, under all thefe circumftances, England gives up fomething. Anxious, therefore, not to be outdone in generofity, he fubmits that the English Government, by acceding to a juft, durable, and honourable peace, upon this exprefs condition, will obtain the following advantages, all of them of the first magnitude:

All beats, the bona fide property of British fishermen, fishing for fmelts, whitings, and flounders, upon the river Thames, within the jurifdiction of the Lord Mayor of London, fhall be refpected by the fhips and cruifers of His Imperial Majefty and King, Napoleon. the First, provided faid boats be regularly chartered, and fhall not contain a number of hands that may give just cause of alarm to the Great Nation, viz. one British feaman, and two boys under fourteen years of age.

The Bay of Concale, and feveral ports of the coast of France and Holland, not being able to fatten an oyfter, England fhall, notwithstanding faid furrender of the fovereignty of the Ocean, enjoy a free and unlimited trade, inasmuch as the oyster dredgers of Whitftable, Feverfham, Colchefter, and Milton, fhall be at liberty to refort to the faid places, on the coaft of France and Holland, for brood oysters, paying double the value of the fame, and to tranfport the fame to their oyfter-beds, with liberty for the fubjects of His Imperial and Royal Majefty of France to repurchase the

fame,

fame, when fattened, at the current price of the Billingfgate market.

In return for thefe extraordinary conceffions, His Imperial and Royal Majefty expects that England fhall permit him to cut and carve the Ocean, as he has carved and cut the Continent of Europe, without. interference, limitation, or control. To the extent of his revolutions and changes in that element, fo much more fufceptible of revolution and change than the land, His Royal and Imperial Majefty will not pledge himself; but he thinks the following, being reasonable and moderate, will meet with no oppofition: His Royal and Imperial Majefty accordingly propofes to enter into a treaty of alliance, offenfive and defenfive, with Aufier, Eurus, Boreas, Zephyrus, and all the other winds that blow from every point of the compafs, ftipulating that they fhall not overfet his new throne, but affift His Majefty with all their revolutionary force and influence in the government of the Ocean.

The great Weftern or Atlantic Ocean is called the Pacific Ocean, but how improperly, the battles of St. Vincent and Trafalgar, independent of many other fanguinary conflicts, can teftify. His Royal and Imperial Majesty of France has therefore refolved upon a new partition of the feveral oceans and feas, conformable with their nature, and adapted to the actual state of things.

It is therefore his gracious intention to parcel out faid oceans and feas into various kingdoms, principalities, and dukedoms, forming a federative fyftem under the wing of the Imperial Eagle of France, and governed by the relatives and favourite Generals of His Majefty Napoleon the First. The present Governors, Boreas, Eurus, Aufter, &c. His Royal and Imperial Majefty proposes to indemnify, by granting them places in the councils of the Ottoman Porte, in the Cabinet

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