LETTER II.

MY LORD,

Pall-Mall, 14th Oct. 1801.

BEFORE I say any thing about the more distant, though inevitable, effects of the Treaty, which you have signed, I think it necessary to take some no→ tice of those effects, which the bare knowledge of its existence has already produced, and brought home to our doors..

Nor

It requires no very great degree of penetration to discover, that your Lordship would gladly draw a veil over the scandalous occurrences of the last seven days, particularly those of Saturday. should I have much objection to follow your exam. ple, were I not well persuaded, that every attempt to disguise our situation will only tend to accelerate the consummation of our ruin.

From the moment that it was resolved (for what reasons you and Mr. ADDINGTON, and Mr. PITT best can tell) to make Peace, every one at all connected or acquainted with the press, could perceive the uncommon pains that had been taken to prepare the public for a favourable reception of whatever

terms

terms BUONAPARTE might be prevailed on to grant, and to give a Ministerial direction to the popular applause, which it was easy to foresee would be excited by any Peace, however injurious and dishonourable to the country. When, therefore, it was perceived, that the signing of the Preliminaries occasioned what the most servile of all the ' servile echoes of the Treasury was pleased to term, the "tumult of exultation and delirium of joy," it was fondly imagined, in the regions of Whitehall, that the measure had completely answered its purpose; that the Ministers would now be supported by the unanimous voice of the nation, and would be immoveably fixed in the enjoyment of their places, an object which some people are ill-natured or ignorant enough to regard as not the least important of the Treaty.

Leaving this uncharitable suspicion to be, removed by a continuation of that disinterestedness, which has hitherto so strongly marked the character of the present Administration, I shall now proceed to lay before your Lordship, a narrative of facts, which will clearly convince you, that no part of the admiration and gratitude, inspired by the Peace, falls to the lot of you and your Colleagues.

On

On Friday last (the 9th of October), the Rati fication of the Preliminary Treaty was brought to Dover, by CITIZEN LAURISTON. The people of Dover, like those of other places, had, previously to the arrival of this man, expressed their joy at the return of Peace, without passing, however, any commendations on those who had made it; but, the moment this Citizen set his foot on shore, the moment this harbinger of happiness arrived from the land of liberty, where the holy right of insurrection had been exercised with such memorable success, the whole nation seemed to be drunk with delight. The CITIZEN was drawn through all the towns from Dover to London, by the two-legged beasts inha biting those towns. Notwithstanding this interruption, he arrived here time enough in the evening to have waited on your Lordship; but he very prudently deferred his visit till the next morning, when a fresh set of Citizens stood ready to serve him in the capacity of horses or asses, of which he did them the honour very graciously to accept. Being seated in the coach with Citizen OTTO, and another person, of whom I shall speak hereafter, the beasts drew him down Bond-street, down St. James'sstreet, to the front of the KING's Palace, where

they

they stopped and gave him the cheer of triumph. They next drew him along Pall-Mall to the Prince of WALES's Palace, where they repeated their plaudits. Your Lordship must remember his triumphal entry into your Office in Downing-street, and, I believe, very few are disposed to envy you your feelings on the occasion. He was next drawn to the Admiralty, where it is hard to conceive what business he could have, unless it were to witness the humiliation of England, on the very spot, whence had issued the orders for the humiliation of France. Lord St. VINCENT gave him a very polite reception, and, giving the appellation of "gentlemen" to the wretches who were dragging the carriage, requested them to be "careful of the strangers, and not "overturn them;" to which a fellow amongst the crowd replied: "Never "Never you trouble your head, "about that; take care we don't overturn somebody "else." He was drawn to the Horse-Guards, through which the soldiers, participating, I suppose, in the feelings of all around them, suffered the carriage to enter the Park, and to pass on to St. James's through the Mall, a road exclusively appropriated to the carriages of the ROYAL FAMILY. I purposely omit a description of the CITIZEN's visit to the Duke

Duke of YORK, and of the reception given to him by his ROYAL HIGHNESS, sincerely wishing that I could hide them for ever from the knowledge of the world.

When the CITIZEN arrived at his lodgings, the brutes who had drawn him, and those who had followed his triumphal car, pressed round the door, to see and to salute him. Those who came within reach of him, kissed his hands, his jacket, his pantaloons, and his boots; those who were not able to get at any part of his precious person, went on their knees and kissed the stones he had walked upon; while others were obliged to content themselves with slobbering the coach and the poor unfortunate horses, who, when they passed my door, seemed ashamed to accompany the beasts that had usurped their office.

The act of taking off the horses and drawing a man's carriage, is nothing new in the history of popular phrenzy; but, for Englishmen to bestow this highest mark of admiration and love on a Frenchman, is something new; and it clearly indicates such a change in the sentiments and affections. of the people, as must fill every reflecting mind with the most serious apprehension. Those who cannot

bear