the king sternly told them, that their petition was so
void of foundation, and conceived in such disrespectful terms, that he
felt convinced the petitioners did not seriously imagine that its prayer
could be complied with.

CONTINENTAL POLITICS.

While the cabinets of Petersburg, Vienna, and Berlin were occupied in
dismembering Poland, and aggrandizing their dominions at the expense
of that ill-fated country, France was making preparations to send a
powerful fleet into the Baltic. This was evidently the forerunner of
some ulterior design, although D'Aigullon, the prime minister of France,
endeavoured to keep those designs from the public view. He was, however,
unable to elude the vigilance, or to baffle the penetration of the
British cabinet. After expatiating on the ambition of Russia, as well
as the ties of honour and interest by which France was bound to
assist Sweden, D'Aigullon was informed by Lord Stormont, the British
ambassador, that, if France sent her ships into the Baltic, they would
be followed by a British fleet. The presence of two fleets, he said,
would have no more effect than a neutrality, and that, however the
British cabinet might desire peace between England and France, it was
impossible to foresee the consequences that might arise from accidental
collision. This had some effect, for the squadron at Brest was
countermanded; but soon after the French minister, in hopes of eluding
observation, gave orders for the equipment of an armament at Toulon,
under pretence of exercising the sailors of France in naval tactics.
Discovering this, the British cabinet made vigorous demonstrations of
resistance. The English ambassador was directed to declare that the
objections made against a fleet of France occupying the Baltic, applied
equally to the Mediterranean, and a memorial was presented to the French
minister, accompanied by a demand that it should be laid before the
king, and council. This was sufficient: the armament was countermanded
and the sailors discharged.

IRISH AFFAIRS.

The spirit of disaffection was still rife in Ireland. The Earl of
Harcourt having been appointed to the government, was at first received
with great joy, but he soon found that his popularity was not sufficient
to ensure obedience to the dictates of the British cabinet, or to
repress the overflowings of human passion. The White Boys, and the
Hearts of Steel, still exhibited a turbulent spirit, which nothing could
al