which the fwine of his glorious predeceffor rolled and gambolled, I will venture to promise you, that the diluted principles, upon which I have ever acted, should pervade the whole of my administration, and make it as glorious to my Country as they have proved themfelves honourable to me. In whatever fituation, howéver, I am, whether in Government or Oppofition, my politics, Gentlemen, thall be always lukewarm. The flame of patriotifm fhall never glow in my breaft above 80 degrees, or 90 at the moft. Gentle as the team which curls over the furface of the King's Bath, (a bath, Gentlemen, in which I have always delighted!) my ideas fhall rife in clouds of mift and congenial fogs, diffolving into gentle fhowers of dribbling eloquence, like those which, formed by the vapour of your facred Springs, mizzle nine months of the year over your loyal and refpectable City. "Believe me, Gentlemen, with the most tepid fentiments of admiration and respect, your molt devoted and obedient Servant, Sept. 13: "C-ST-GH." THE DIPLOMATIC TURTLE, [From the British Prefs.] MR. Bafilico, fine on Monday, purchased a lively turtle, which he means to carry to Paris, for which city he was, yesterday, under orders with difpatches. As the Meffengers employed in the negotiation have plumed themfelves upon the velocity of their movements, and none more than Mr. Bafilico, it is evident, that he would not incumber himself with fo unwieldy a fellow-traveller, unless under the preffure of fome urgent neceffity, and for fome important purpose: but what the specific purpofe may be, was the fubject of endlef inquiry and fpeculation. Mr. M, the celebrated man-midwife, is of opinion, that that it is intended as a prefent for Madame Bonaparte, who is in a longing condition for turtle, not having ate of any fince the left the West Indies. A very eminent bull, however, of the Stock Exchange, fuf pects, that it is not a turtle-fish, but a turtle-dove, and, therefore, ought to be confidered as the harbinger of peace. We have heard it strongly contefted, that the turtle, being entirely covered and protected by a natural armour, is an image of our fea-encircled ifles,' and may be adduced as argument, from analogy, to expose the weakness of Bonaparte's threat of invasion. A certain fchoolmafter, who is alfo a Serjeant in a Volunteer Corps, has adduced a claffic anecdote in favour of this fpeculation.-The turtle, or tortoise, he fays, was a form into which the Roman legions used to throw themselves, by bending down, and covering themselves with their bucklers, giving to the mafs the appearance of the back of a turtle, which is covered with fhell. This manœuvre was practifed by the troops when under the walls of a town, to protect them from arrows, and other means of annoyance, fhot down from the walls. He thinks, then, that the turtle may be wanted to enable the Earl of Lauderdale to lay clofe fiege to the Cabinet of St. Cloud. It has been reported, in another quarter, that the French being in a flarving condition, the turtle is intended to difpofe them to peace, by thewing what they may expect, if they confent to become friends with us; and it is fhrewdly fufpected, that Mr. Bafilico alfo carries over with him a peck loaf, that the Parifians may have a fample of our loaves as well as of our fishes. King Jofeph, we admit, lately complained that the Englith practifed this ftratagem to bring the Calabrians. over to their fide; and, as the loaves and fishes have been in all ages famous peace-makers, and curers of quarrels, the thing is plaufible enough. We flatter. ourselves, however, that we can fet all anxiety and fpeculation speculation at reft, and give a fatisfactory elucidation of the mystery. We do not fpeak lightly upon this important fubject. Our information comes from an authentic and unquestionable Tource. The reader will recollect, that the Moniteur, in an article inferted in the British Prefs, on the 22d laft, ftated, that the negotiation was nearly brought to maturity, when it was replunged in the labyrinth of cafuiftry and chicane. Some of the pretenders to the confidence of Government have endeavoured to explain this language of the Moniteur, by reference to difficulties arifing out of M. D'Oubril's treaty ; but nothing can be more abfurd than their mode of reasoning. The fact is this: when Lord Lauderdale firft met the French negotiator at Paris, the latter requested a breast and a wing of Turkey; but this, and every other dainty which he afked, were refufed, and, instead of them, Lord Lauderdale was for cramming him with Scotch kail and croudie, wafhed down with plentiful libations of falt water, upon the virtues of which, and the English tar, he defcanted at large.-The Frenchman declared that he could not ftomach fuch fare, that it was not palatable, that he could not digeft it, that it made him fick, that it gave him the gripes. This being the report at Paris, Mr. Bafilico, on his vifit to the city, on Monday, very naturally and innocently communicated it to a certain Alderman, who, being very defirous of a Speedy peace and foon, advised Mr. Bafilico, on his return to Paris, to take with him a fine turtle, than which, he knew, from experience, nothing could be more palatable; and with a full affurance, that calipah and calipee were much more eafy of digeftion than Scotch kail and croudie. Sept. 10. MORE MORE ABOUT THE DIPLOMATIC TURTLE. [From the fame.] THE delay which took place in Mr. Bafilico's departure for Paris, it is faid, damped very much the fpirits of his travelling companion the Diplomatic Turtle. If, as a grave London Alderman would fy, "I am ready to eat you, I am ready to devour you with joy," what muft not the Diplomatic Turtle have expected from the gay and hungry beaux of Paris, who never heard the green fat of a turtle mentioned, without changing to all the colours of the rainbow? The travellers, however, had not reached Sittingbourne, when Mr. Bafilico began to fufpect the fidelity and foundness of his companion. When he provided himfelf, in London city, with this fupplemental negotiator, in aid of Lord Lauderdale, he felt that he was competent to negotiate upon the bafis of the ftatus ante, or the uti poffidetis; but as to the ftatus ante, by the time they thould reach Paris, Mr. Bafilico's olfactory nerves informed him, M. Talleyrand would turn up his princely nofe at it; and as to the uti poffidetis, no Polenius, or other fishmonger in that city, would give fixpence for the purchase. Fearing, therefore, that his companion, instead of being palatable, might prove offenfive to Lord Lauderdale's antagonists, and, inftead of fuiting their taste, might turn their stomach, Mr. Bafilico determined, at Sittingbourne, to fend his companion to "that bourne from whence no traveller returns.' It is feared, however, that as the Diplomatic Turtle has been rejected by Mr. Bafilico, as mufty, ftale, and unprofitable, Lord Lauderdale will be content with the new order of things, and not infift that France, fhall difgorge all the nice meals which the has devoured in her revolutionary mania; an effect, which the turtle might, with the affiftance of the present suitry season, be very competent to produce. THE THE PACIFIC TURTLE. [From the General Evening Poft.] Paris, Sept. [I am fo puzzled with the French Calendar that I cannot tell the day of the month.] MR. EDITOR, AS a SI know, that, like most authors, you have the civic propenfity of being anxious with respect to the health of my family, and particularly of myself, for a reason that I fhall prefently state, I have the pleafure to inform you that as I fet out from London " fine lively Turtle," fo I arrived in excellent condition at Paris; though from having had plenty of liquor both in my voyage from the Weft Indies and in the faid city, I found myfelf devilish dry on my journey. My travelling companion, charged to the very mouth with affairs of ftate, was all the way as mute as a fifb, which I take to be a mark of great difcretion; for a man that can hold his own peace, is a proper person to affist in making peace for others; but this is neither here nor there: whether any peace that I shall affift at the making of will hold? whether the people will digeft it whether it will be well feafoned? whether too many cooks will not pail the foup? are queftions which I am not prepared to anfwer. I am, it is faid, intended to be one of the principal ingredients in the compofition; and as fome of my family were sent to make war at the Helder, I am fent to make peace at Paris; be it fo. To return to my journey: we flew with the rapidity of a balloon. When we came to Dover, I had like to have been taken prifoner by the landlord of the ****, who had a great dinner to celebrate the heroifm of the British troops in Calabria, and wished to place me at the head of the table. At Calais, 1 thought Ducrocq, my host of the Lion d'Argent, would have eat me up, he |