s flung from his pony, fell on his head; and instantly expired.

* * * * *

The fluctuations of the public mind on the subject of the peace, have
lately influenced the stock market to a considerable degree. The
insolence of the First Consul to our ambassador, Lord Whitworth,
naturally produces an expectation of war. Early this morning, a man,
calling himself a messenger from the Foreign Office, delivered a letter
at the Mansion-house, and which he said had been sent from Lord
Hawkesbury, and which was to be given to his lordship without delay. The
letter was in these words:--"Lord Hawkesbury presents his compliments to
the Lord Mayor, and has the honour to acquaint his lordship, that the
negotiation between this country and the French republic is brought to
an amicable conclusion. Signed, Downing Street, eight o'clock, May 5,
1803."

The Lord Mayor, with a precipitancy that argued but little for the
prudence of the chief magistrate, had this letter posted up in front of
the Mansion-house. The effect on the Stock Exchange was immediate; and
consols rose eight per cent, from 63 to 71. The delusion, however, was
brief; and the intelligence of the rise had no sooner reached Downing
Street in its turn, than a messenger was dispatched to undeceive the
city, and the city-marshal was employed to read the contradiction in the
streets. The confusion in the Stock Exchange was now excessive; but the
committee adopted the only remedy in their power. They ordered the Stock
Exchange to be shut, and came to a resolution, that all bargains made in
the morning should be null and void. Immediately after, another attempt
of the same kind was made; and the Lord Mayor was requested by the
people of the Stock Exchange to inquire into its reality from the
government. The inquiry was answered by Mr Addington, of course denying
it altogether, and finishing with this rebuke to civic credulity:--"I
feel it my duty distinctly to caution your lordship against receiving
impressions of the description alluded to, through any unauthorized
channel of information." The funds immediately fell to 63 once more.

And yet it remains a delicate question, whether any committee can have
the power of declaring the bargains null and void. Of course, where the
inventors of the fraud have been parties, they have no right to gain by
their own fraud; but where individuals, wholly unacquainted with the
fraud, have gained, there seems n