office of firft lord of the treafury.

Sir Francis Dashwood has likewife refigned his office of chancellor of the Exchequer.

9th.

Some recruits, confined in the Savoy for the East India fervice, rofe upon the centinels, wrefted their arms from them, and made themselves mafters of the keys; but the guards in the barracks being alarmed, another fray enfued, in which three of the recruits were fhot dead, fome others mortally wounded, and one of the foldiers had his hand fo fhattered that it was forced to be cut off. The propriety and juftice of confining men in this manner for any fervice, except his majefty's, has been matter of much difpute, however favoured by the coroner's inqueft upon this melancholy occafion."

11th.

The countess of Yarmouth fet out for Hanover, there to spend the remainder of her days. The collection at the anniverfary fermon and feaft of the London hofpital, amounted to 1960l. His majefly went to the 12th. houfe of peers, and gave the royal affent to the following bills, viz.

+1

The bill for granting to his majefty 2.000,coo out of the finking fund, and for applying certain fums remaining in the Exchequer for the fervice of the prefent year. The bill for raifing 1.300,000l. by loans on Exchequer bills.

And also to several bills to inclofe lands and repair roads.

Several of the French flat-bottomed boats have lately been in the ports of England, in order to carry home French prifoners; and perhaps, too, with an intent to try

their fe. They are of a very uncom mon conftruction, above a hundred feet long, twenty-eight wide, draw less than four feet water, and are rigged ketch-like.

It is faid the ballance due to our government, from France, on account of the maintenance, &c. of their prifoners, amounts to upwards of 1,200,000l. fterling; and that the reafon why the French court left them a burthen upon us, was, that they confidered all the captures, made by us by way of reprifal before the war was actually declared, as illegal, and, confequently, as a fufficient fund for the fupport of their prifoners. What value the French might have fet on these captures, we know not. They produced about 700,000l. which his majesty has been gra ciously pleased to give up towards leffening the burthens of his people.

The university of Cambridge prefented their ad- 13th. drefs on the peace to his majesty.

At the quarter feffions at Maidftone, two men, upwards of feventy years each, who had for fome time been in Town Malling workhoufe, were tried for an affault with intent to commit a rape on a young girl of eight years of age; and fentenced to fuffer two years imprisonment in the common gaol, and to pay a fine of one fhilling each.

The feffions ended at the Old Bailey, when two for 15th. ftealing malt from a lighter in the Thames; one for fhooting at a perfon on the highway; one for ftealing a filver tankard out of a public houfe; one for robbing a man of a quantity of ifing-glafs at his own door; a woman for decoy

ing another out of her lodgings, under pretence of providing for her, and then ftripping them of all the furniture; and one for forgery; received fentence of death; which three of them foon after fuffered: a fourth, whose death warrant had been figned, was afterwards refpited on condition of permiting his leg to be cut off, and a new fliptic tried upon it; but he died before the trial could be made.

The perfon caft for forgery, and executed pursuant to his fentence, was John Rice, a ftock-broker, who having fome years ago received the South-fea ftock of a lady in the country, amounting to feveral thousand pounds, under a forged letter of attorney, contrived to keep the fraud concealed from her, by conftantly remitting to her the intereft of her money till Christmas laft, when finding that fhe was coming up to London, he precipitately abfconded, leaving with his wife 4500 1. out of 5000 1. that ftill remained, but without letting her know the true caufe of his flight. She, defirous of joining him, foon after embarked at Harwich for Holland; but being driven back from the Dutch coaft returned to London, where the perfons fent in queft of her husband apprehended her. On her being brought before the lord mayor,

The

gave up all the cafh and notes left her by her husband, and answered the questions put to her with fo much candour, that the governors of the South-fea company, who took the lofs to themfelves, generoufly fettled a handsome penfion upon her for life. However, the place to which her husband had retired, ftill remained a fecret, till the attorney, in whofe hands he had left

his.affairs, receiving a letter from him by an exprefs, took both letter and meffenger to the lord mayor, to avoid being involved in his client's guilt. Then it appeared, that he had taken up his refidence at Cambray, in Flanders, upon which his majesty was pleafed to give directions to his ambaffador at Paris, to folicit his being given up. This was readily granted, notwithstanding the oppofition made by the inhabitants of Cambray, who are faid to enjoy fome peculiar privileges in fuch cafes, and even, as it appeared by the event, without any ftipulations in favour of the delinquent.

The governors of the South-fea company have taken measures to prevent fuch frauds for the future, by fome new regulations in regard to the letters of attorney neceffary for doing business with them.

Dagoe, caft for stripping her lodgings, &c. was a remarkably ftrong and mafculine woman, and an old offender. She once ftabbed a man in Newgate, who was evidence against her. At the place of execution, getting her hands loofe, fhe ftruggled with the executioner, gave him fuch a blow on the breast, as almost beat him down, and then difpofed of her hat, cloaths and cardinal in despite of him.

another of fix oars for their attendants; befides a great number of other barges belonging to the nobility and gentry, who accompanied the proceflion.

They landed about three o'clock at the Tower, from whence they proceeded in the following order through the Minories, Leadenhallftreet, Cornhill, Cheapfide, Ludgate-ftreet, Fleet-ftreet, and along the Strand to Somerset-houfe, where they were entertained at the king's expence, till their audience of his majefty.

Four king's under-marshalmen on horfeback.

City marhal on horfeback. Mafter of the ceremonies afiiftant, in a coach and fix. Thirty-eight footmen, two and two, on foot.

Eight gentlemen of the bedchambers, belonging to the ambaffadors, on horseback, two and two. House steward alone, on horseback. Eight pages on horfeback, two and

two.

Master of the horse, alone. Ten muficians on horseback, two and two. Kettle drum.

Second mafter of the horse, alone. King's ftate coach, with the ambaffadors, the earl of Guildford and master of the ceremonies; fix horfes. King's fecond coach, with the two fecretaries to the ambaffy, fix horfes. To!

Six gentlemen of the privy cham ber, in the next royal coaches. The queen, princess of Wales, duke of York, princefs Augufta, duke of Cumberland, and princefs Amelia's coaches, with fix horfes each.

The ambaffadors grand ftate coach, with eight horfes, empty. The fecond coach empty, with fix

horses.

The third coach with two Venetian noblemen with fix horses. The peers coaches and fix. All the dreffes of the perfons attending this proceffion, both on the water as well as at land, were extremely grand.

On the 21ft their excellencies were conducted in great state from Somerset-houfe to St. James, where they were received by the guards on duty, under arms. They were then conducted to the little council chamber by the earl of Suffex, and Sir Charles Cotterel Dormer, mafter of the ceremonies, and were received, at the guard chamber door by the lord vifcount Falmouth, captain of the yeomen of the guard; at the drawing room door by the earl of Litchfield, captain of the band of penfioners; and at the door of the great council chamber, where his majefty gave them audience, by the duke of Marlborough, lord chamberlain. His excellency M. Morofini addreffed his majesty in Italian, and his majefty replied in. English, after which their excellencies retired, and then had audiences of the queen in the fame manner; after which they were re-conducted, in the fame ftate as thay came, to their houfe in Great Ormond-street.

The day following their excellencies went in the fame manner to the princess dowager of Wales, princess Augufta and duke of York, and on the 23d to the duke of Cumberland and princess Amelia. His majefty went to the house of peers, and after 3

19th.

giving

giving the royal affent to the following bills, made a moft gracious fpeech, and prorogued the parliament:

The bill for preventing fmuggling.

The bill to encourage the making indigo in the plantations. The bill to amend an act of Henry VIII. intituled, filk works.

The bill to prevent fraudulent votes at county elections.

The bill for the importation of damaged Irish butter into the port of Liverpool for the ufe of the woollen manufactories.

The bill for lighting, cleanfing, and paving the streets of Westminster.

The bill for rebuilding the town of Wareham.

And to several private bills, and bills to inclofe lands and repair roads, &c.

Alvife Mocenigo, procurator of St. Mark, was elected Doge of Venice, and next morning crowned with the ufual ceremonies.

20th.

His excellency Charles Nicholas Alexander d'Oultremont was elected bishop of Liege. His excellency had 31 votes, and prince Clement of Saxony, the other candidate, but 13; notwithstanding which an appeal was made to the pope in favour of the latter; but his holiness, on the report of a congregation appointed for that purpofe, confirmed the election of the former.

A rule for an information was granted by the court of King's Bench, against the publishers and the fuppofed printers of the papers called the North Briton, and the Political Controverfy, for publishing the North Briton of the 19th

of March; and on the 30th of this month the publisher, fuppofed printers, and Mr. Wilkes the fuppofed author of that paper, were taken into cuftody by the meffengers of state. The reader will find a fummary account of the fubfe.. quent proceedings relating to Mr. Wilkes, in the Appendix to this part of our work.

At the anniversary meet27th. ing of the governors of the fmall pox hofpital, the collection amounted to 900 1.

At the Affizes at Worcester, one criminal was capitally convicted; but reprieved; at Winchester three; at Reading one, but reprieved ; at Oxford three; at Nottingham, a girl of fixteen, for the murder of an infant of two years old, whom the ftrangled for crying. She was fufpected of the murder of two more children in the fame manner; but it is probable there were fome grounds for believing her an ideot, for instead of being executed next day, as the law directs, fhe was refpited for three weeks, but then executed; at Huntingdon one, for murder, who was executed; at Cambridge one; at York one, for murder, who was executed, and two for leffer crimes, who were reprieved; at Chelmfford eight; two of them for murder, who were executed; at Aylefbury one, but reprieved; at Gloucefter, one for murder, who was executed; at Hertford eight, amongst whom was the noted Harrow, who faid he was the famous flying highwayman, for burglary; four of them were executed; at Exeter five at Chefter, a woman for poifoning her husband, after twenty years cohabitation, by giv

[F] 4

ing

ing him arfenic; fhe was fentenced' to be burnt the third day after conviction, but her fentence was refpited by the judge till the twentythird, on which day fhe was executed at Bury, a woman for the fame crime, her agent, and another conyict; at Shrewsbury one, but reprieved; at Stafford three, one of them for murder; at Derby one; at Kingston two; at Thetford three; at Lancaster two; for Cornwall one, but reprieved; Salisbury and Kent, Warwick and Taunton, were maiden affizes.

Its

M. Meffener, an eminent 29th. aftronomer at Paris, difcovered from the royal obfervatory of the marine at the Hotel de Clugny, at 48 min. after two in the morning, to the east of Paris, at the height of about twelve degrees above the horizon, a globe of fire, with a long tail like that of a rocket. apparent diameter was about a third of that of the moon; and its colour a bright red. The moon, which was then above the horizon, effaced a great part of the brightness of this meteor, which, in a dark night, would have given a confiderable light to the atmosphere. This globe feemed to fall perpendicularly, and in its fall employed about feconds. The sky was at this time almoft entirely overcast, the wind at fouth-eaft, and the barometer at the height of 27 inches 6 lines.

40

cil of the city of Exeter were prefented to the court of common council at guildhall for the oppofition the city of London had made against the cyder act; and a petition was then unanimously agreed to, to be prefented to parliament for a repeal thereof.

The fociety for encouraging arts and manufactures, having confidered of how great fervice it will be to the kingdom, to acquire the art of making falt - petre, have renewed their premium of 2001. to the first works that fhall make 10,000lb. weight of falt-petre in England.

Infcription on the monument of the late admiral Vernon, lately opened in Westminster-abbey. As a memorial of his own gratitudeAnd of the virtue of his benefactor, This monument was erected by his nephew,

FRANCIS lord ORWELL, in the year 1763.

Sacred to the memory
of

EDWARD VERNON,
Admiral of the white fquadron
of the British fleet:

He was the fecond fon of James Vernon, Who was fecretary of ftate to king

William the IIId.

And whofe abilities and integrity

were equally confpicuous. In his youth he ferved under the admirals Shovel and Rooke:

By their example he learned to conquer; by his own merit he rofe to command. In the war with Spain of MDCCXXXIX

he took the fort of Porto Bello with fix fhips; A force which was thought unequal to the attempt:

For this he received He fubdued Chagre, and at Carthagena, The thanks of both houses of parliament. conquered as far as naval force could carry victory. After thefe fervices he retired,

He