The theatre, scenes, &c. are in excellent condition. Mr. Whitfield Junr. (now in London) with other artists, made the necessary repairs at the comInencement of last season.

An impartial

Plymouth, Dec. 14, 1802.

OBSERVER.

We have inserted this article the more readily, since, from the attempt to disguise the hand-writing, apparent in the former communication, the motives of the writer, whoever he be, are at least somewhat suspicious. The parties accused in this letter, we trust, are superior to so dishonourable an artifice, and will have the liberty of vindicating themselves from the charge.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

Tuesday, Nov, 23.-At a quarter before three his Majesty came to the House of Peers, with the ceremonies usual upon such occasions. The Usher of the Black Rod summoned the attendance of the Gentemen of the House of Commons, who immediately came below the bar, with the Speaker at their head. To the Lords and Commons assembled, his Majesty then addressed from the Throne the following most gracious speech:

"My Lords and Gentlemen,

"It is highly gratifying to Me to resort to your advice and assistance after the opportunity which has been recently afforded of collecting the sense of My people,

"The internal prosperity of the Country has realized Our most, sanguine hopes. We have experienced the bounty of Divine Providence in the produce of an abundant Harvest; the state of the Manufactures, Commerce, and Revenue of My United Kingdom is flourishing beyond example; and the loyalty and attachment which are manifested to My Person and Government afford the strongest indications of the just sense that is entertained of the numerous blessings enjoyed under the protection of Our happy Constitution,

"In My intercourse with Foreign Powers I have been actuated by a sincere disposition for the maintenance of Peace; it is nevertheless impossible for Me to lose sight of that established and wise system of policy by which the interests of other States are connected with our own; and I cannot, therefore, be indifferent, to any material change in their relative condition and strength. My conduct will be invariably regulated by a due consideration of the actual situation of Europe, and by a watchful solicitude for the permanent welfare of My people. You will, I am persuaded, agree with Me in thinking that it is incumbent upon Us to

adopt those means of security which are best calculated to afford the prospect of preserving to My subjects the blessings of peace.

"Gentlemen of the House of Commons,

"I have ordered the estimates for the ensuing year to be laid before you; and I rely on your zeal and liberality in providing for the various branches of the public service, which, it is a great satisfaction to Me to think, may be fully accomplished without any considerable addition to the burthens of My people. "" My Lords and Gentlemen,

"I contemplate, with the utmost satisfaction, the great and increasing benefits produced by that important measure which has united the interests, and consolidated the resources of Great Britain and Ireland, The improvement and extension of these advantages will be objects of your unremitting care and attention. The trade and commerce of My subjects, so essential to the support of public credit, and of our maritime strength, will, I am persuaded, receive from you every possible encouragement; and you will readily lend your assistance in affording to mercantile transactions in every part of My United Kingdom, all the facility and accommodation that may be consistent with the security of the public revenue.

"To uphold the honour of the country, to encourage its industry, to improve its resources, and to maintain the true principles of the Constitution in Church and State, are the great and leading duties which you are called upon to discharge. In the performance of them, you may be assured of My uniform and cordial support; it being my most earnest wish to cultivate a perfect harmony and confidence between Me and My Parliament, and to promote to the utmost the welfare of My faithful subjects, whose interests and happiness I shall ever consider as inseparable from My own."

DOMESTIC EVENTS.

Citizen Coquebert has lately communicated to the Philomatic Society of Paris, a very simple process for taking a copy of a recent manuscript. The process is the more interesting, as it requires neither machine nor preparation, and may be employed in any situation. It consists in putting a little sugar into common writing ink, and with this the writing is executed upon common paper, sized as usual: when a copy is required, unsized paper taken, and lightly moistened with a sponge. The wet paper is then applied to the writing, and a flat-iron (such as is used by the laundresses) of a moderate heat, being lightly passed over the unsized paper, the copy is immediately produced.

BALLOONS. Citizen Olivari, a physician from Paris, arrived at Orleans, on the 11th ult. with the intention of making an aërostatic voyage, on the Mongol-, fier principle. He made two unsuccessful attempts to inflate his balloon, but on the 25th be essayed a third time. Having attached to his balloon a wicker basket, he put into it different combustible articles, for the purpose of keeping up the fire in the chaffing dish,, which was placed between the boat and the balloon. He then ascended, after assuring the Administrative Authorities present, that no danger need be apprehended on his account. He rose with such rapidity, that he disap

peared in three minutes. About an hour afterwards, the Mayor of Fleury, which is a league distant from the place of ascent, was informed by a labourer, that a man had fallen from the air, near the spot where he worked. This intelligence was immediately communicated to the Mayor of Orleans, who repaired directly thither, and discovered the body of Citizen Olivari. In the neighbour hood were found some particles of the basket. It is supposed that the fire consumed the sole support of the unfortunate Aëronaut. Some sparks from the chaffing dish, no doubt, fell among the too combustible materials that were employed, and made Olivari the victim of his imprudence, or rather of his inexperience.

In the comparison of the expence of carriage by iron rail-way roads with that by canals, it was found, that the former, notwithstand ing its cheapness in comparison with carriage by common roads, is nearly three times as great as the expence of carriage by canals.

The damage lately done by fire to the works for making a tunnel under the Thames, have been completely repaired. The water from the springs is now excluded by a curbing, and the formation of the tunnel proceeds rapidly.

We have to record another dreadful murder, which equals, in point of atrocity, the one lately perpetrated on Hounslow Heath. It was committed within these few weeks on Salisbury Plain; and, from the similar manner in which it was effected, it is not at all improbable that the same persons who were concerned in the horrid transaction of Mr. Steel, have likewise been engaged in this diabolical and sanguinary outrage. The person on whom this shocking murder hes been effected, we understand, is Mr. Benjamin Harding, formerly an inhabitant of Portsmouth, and the circumstances of this inhuman affair are as fol lows:-A gentleman crossing the plain with his dogs, was attracted to a spot of ground where some new earth had been turned up, and at which his dogs had made a stop. On lightly moving the earth, he discovered the body of a human being, which apparently had very recently been buried, and which he justly concluded, from the marks of violence that appeared on the body, to have fallen a sacrifice by the relentless and bloody hands of daring miscreants, and deposited there to prevent a discovery being made.

An inquisition has been taken at Wolverley, on view of the bodies of Richard Jennings, his wife, and his daughter (an infant about eleven years of age.) It appeared that these persons inhabited a house hewn out of a rock there, consisting of three rooms on the same level; and on Friday night, Nov. 25th, the wife put some charcoal to burn in a pan in the room were she, her husband and daughter slept, and where there was no chimney, in order to warm it, as she thought it damp; that the husband and daughter went to bed, and his wife, it is supposed, sat up to smoke her pipe, which was her constant custom; the lodging-room door was shut. The neighbours next day not seeing any of them, and the house door being locked with the key within side, and at night the same, and also on Sunday morning, it was then concluded something had happened to them; the door was consequently broke open, and in the lodging-room (which was with difficulty entered on account of the sulphureous smell) where these unfortunate persons lay, a very melancholy scene presented itself; the wife, partly undressed, lying upon the floor dead; the daughter dead, and the father nearly expiring ; but the admission of fresh air revived him, only to survive till the next day, without being · able to give any account of the sad accident,

Mr. David Erskine, eldest son to the Hon. Thomas Erskine, has been lately called to the Bar.

14 DREADFUL SHIPWRECK.-Dover, Nov. 24.-The Dutch Indiaman Vryheid, which passed Dover Roads in distress on Monday evening, having lost her mainmast, made signals for assistance, but the pilot-boat which put off never reached her, as it came on dreadfully thick and tempestuous, so that she was soon lost sight of. In this helpless situation, the crew were unable to keep her off the land, and about one in the morning she was driven on shore near Hythe, by the fury of the wind. It is supposed that out of the number on board, most of ⚫ whom were troops, and which amounted, with the crew, to above 400, not more than 18 have been saved. Every officer has perished. The floating bodies of the sufferers are as distressing to the eye, as their shrieks, during a dark and stormy morning, were to the ear of humanity; and no attempt could be made to save them that was not certain to involve in a similar fate all who should undertake it. A gentleman who went from this place to Hythe to see the wreck, says that not the smallest part of the vessel is to be seen. The body of a woman was thrown upon the beach, among the rest, with an infant closely pressed to her bosom. The scene was a most afflicting one to all who witnessed it. Had the pilot-boat fortunately reached the ship on Monday, the tremendous wreck of life and property which ensued, might have been prevented. Fourteen of the poor sufferers were taken out of an excavation of the rock all together. The captain's wife was on board, and perished with her husband.

A valuable correspondent gives the following statement of the number of persons on board, viz. 320 soldiers, 42 officers, 61 seamen, 22 women, 7 children, and 20 passengers-Total, 472. The vessel soon went to pieces, the cargo nearly all destroyed, and the coast from the fatal period strewed with dead bodies.One poor fellow was found jammed between two timbers; another was lacerated down the back, as if the operation had been performed by a cleaver. The cap tain was warned of the danger of attempting to proceed till the gale abated. To avoid paying the Downs fees of 10s. 6d. which the captain must have done had he dropped anchor, is to be attributed the sacrifice of his own life, together with those of the unfortunate victims of his obstinacy.-People were employed in collecting the dead bodies which had been cast on shore; they were laid in rows in Hythe church-yard, and sewed up in coarse cloths, till graves could be prepared for them. Several bodies were also sent to Cheriton and adjoining parishes, for interment.

Statement of the ballot for the election of three foreign associates of the National Institute, in the sitting of the 2d Frimaire (23d Nov.) 1802;

I. Class of Mathematics and Physical Science.-*Pallas, 206 votes-Cavendish, 157-Volta, 123.

II. Class of Moral and Political Science.-Fox, 212 votes-Gaetano, 168 -Horder, 106.

III Class of Literature and the Fine Arts.-Calderari, 194 votes-Cesaroti, 157--Horne Tooke, 105.

The celebrated Pallas, of Berlin, and first Professor of Natural History to the Emperor of Russia.

LORD WHITWORTH'S PRESENTATION. With a view of giving greater eclat to the presentation of the English ambassador, the monthly parade of the troops was antedated, and took place December 5. Several of the regiments had new colours given them, and the Cuirasiers, for the first time since the revolution, appeared in armour. They are not, strictly speaking, a new corps, having been in use in the times of the monarchy, but they were revived this day.

The weather, however, turned out very inauspicious, for it began to rain almost the very moment the troops assembled. This contre temps, however, did not prevent the Parisians from assembling in vast numbers. The square of the Carousal was thronged, so as to render it impossible to move. The windows and tops of the adjacent houses were crowded with spectators. The apart ments in the Thuilleries exhibited a greater proportion of English visitors than has ever been known before, among whom the red coats were particularly conspicuous.

The First Consul was dressed, after his customary manuer on those occasions, very plain. He wore a cocked hat, without any lace, and rode a white charger. Several petitions were presented to him. Half a dozen sabres of honour were distributed to such as had particularly distinguished themselves.

Lord Whitworth was not present at the Parade. This, we understand, proceeded from a point of etiquette, as, till the presentation of his credentials, he could only be considered as a private gentleman, and therefore could not with propriety be introduced to the Ambassador's Hall. He arrived about half past two, in the carriage of Joseph Bonaparte, drawn by six bay horses. He was dressed in black. Then followed two carriages, with four horses; and lastly, his excellency's own carriage, drawn by six greys. It was empty. The splendour of his retinue attracted universal admiration. He was received with distinguished politeness by the First Consul. The dinner was served up for upwards of two hundred covers.

For the populace at large, one of the principal objects of curiosity was his lordship's coachman, who appeared in the true old English style, with a round hat, and a neat coachman's wig. He is a plump, jolly man, and his looks evince that he is not starved by his master. The tout ensemble of his appearance, presented a striking contrast to the French style of equipment! but a still greater contrast was furnished by the manners of the French and English servants. The moment the French attendants had put down their illustrious guests at the palace, they whipt a short pipe out of their pockets, a flint and steel, lighted their pipe with perfect non chalance, and smoked with all the calm composure of Dutchmen.

A Dr. Berguillon has published a treatise at Paris, in which he maintains with wonderful ingenuity, that the canine madness is communicated solely by the power of imagination, without the intervention of any distinct material poison.

A trial lately took place in the Court of Common Pleas, by the verdict in which, it was decided, that an insolvent debtor, liberated from confinement by the benefit of the late act in favour of such persons, is, nevertheless, liable to be compelled to discharge the debts for which he was conûned, out of any property he may afterwards acquire.