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as wondrous deeds of a man I could not love, a few portraits drawn from warm life, with the too high colouring of a youthfui fancy, and two or three defcriptions, perhaps too lufcious, which though Nature and Woman might pardon, a Kidgell and a` could

not fail to condemn."

I fhall conclude the whole with what Mr. Wilkes faid on this fubject, when he was before the Court of King's Bench on the 20th of April last :

"As to the other charge against me for the publication of a poem, which has given just offence, I will affert, that fuch an idea never entered my mind. I blush again at the recollection that it has been at any time, and in any way, brought to the public eye, and drawn from the obfcurity in which it remained under my roof. Twelve copies of a small part of it had been printed in my house at my own private prefs. I had carefully locked them up, and I never gave one to the most intimate friend. Government, after the affair of the North Briton, bribed one of my fervants to rob me of the copy, which was produced in the 'Houfe of Peers, and afterwards before this honourable Court. The nation was justly offended, but not with me, for it was evident that I had not been guilty of the least offence to the publick. pray God to forgive, as I do, the Jury, who have found me guilty of publishing a poem I concealed with care, and which is not even yet publifhed, if any precife meaning can be affixed to any word in our language."

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I am, &c.

A. B.

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From the St. James's CHRONICLE.

SIR,

SHOULD have imagined that a man, who had more than once rifqued his life in confequence of a great plan of political liberty, fuffered a long exile from his native country, been expelled the fenate, robbed and plundered by minifterial ruffians, outlawed, twice imprifoned, and all the blood-hounds of the law let loose to tear him to-pieces, and yet had borne all this, not only with fortitude, but without the leaft degree of peevishness, would have met with univerfal regard, and the fnakes of envy have ceased to hifs at fuch a being. I was mistaken, and did not -attend to what is very obvious, that hiffing is as much in nature to fome creatures, as cooing or finging to others.

I was likewife inclined to think, that if a man had voted con→ ftantly in parliament for the liberty and true interest of this nation, against the arbitrary Excife, the infamous Peace of Paris, &c. &c. and had been fo happy as to annihilate the power of iffuing General Warrants, and of feizing the papers of the fubject, fo often in vain complained of, and fo oppreffive, till he stood

forth

54 forth for his country, he would have found in the country, of which he had deferved fo well, every tongue to applaud, every heart to approve his conduct. But, alas! fir, I had not calcu lated the prevalence of envy, of private intereft, of court fycophancy, and of that fpirit of flavery, congenial to all courtiers, which actuates almost every dependent of every king. To give you a true idea of courtiers in this kingdom, only walk, fir, in the park, any where near St. James's, and mark what paffes. You will probably hear the cry of Wilkes and liberty. If you fee any courtier, obferve his looks, and how that found grates on his ear, whether he be the well-fed brawny lord C himself, or the half-ftarved fcullion of the royal kitchen. At the word Wilkes, he will look fretful and angry, but as foon as liberty falutes his ear, he will grow in a rage, and be half frantic. The firft, however, he might be brought to bear, if he faw him bowing at court; but to the laft, nothing could ever reconcile him. I do not believe there is an echo in that contagious air would repeat either of thofe words, and they would certainly blifter the tongue of a placeman, or penfioner, who could be fool-hardy enough on a trial to get the courage to pronounce them. But go into any other part of this great city, or country, you will find the name of Wilkes pronounced and heard with pleasure, that of liberty with rapture, fo well do the fons of England know the value of that bleffing, fo grateful are they to its friends, who they are fenfible must be their own.

I think, fir, Mr. Wilkes is almoft indemnified for his fufferings by the words Wilkes and liberty becoming fynonymous in English; but he has met with a ftill nobler confolation, under the rancour and malignity of courts, both of kings and political judges, as well as the treachery of fome great friends, whom it is a pity he ever trufted, for he found in them, as Tully fays, nibil boni præter caufam, and that they afterwards left; I mean the applaute and affection of all the real friends of this country, and the tribute which the mufes have paid to his merit. I know how very grateful to a man of letters, and of an elegant mind, the incenfe of a well-turned panegyrick is, I fhall therefore felect for my countryman, and the public, and bring into one point of view, all that has been faid of him by the firft poet of this age, whom he loved and admired, by Mr. Churchill, and only add, that there are fome words of Juvenal more applicable to him than any I have seen among the various mottoes under his prints, Civis erat, qui libera posset

Verba animi proferre, et vitam impendere vero.

Mean narrow maxims, which enflave mankind,
Ne'er from its bias warp thy fettled mind;
Not dup'd by party, nor opinions fave,

Thofe faculties, which bounteous nature gave,

Thy honeft fpirit into practice brings,

Nor courts the fmile, nor dreads the frown of kings, &c.

Unwilling

Unwilling to condemn, thy foul difiains
To wear vile faction's arbitrary chains,
And ftrictly weighs, in apprehenfion clear,
Things as they are, and not as they appear.
With thee good-humour tempers lively wit,
Enthron'd with judgment, candour loves to fit,
And nature gave thee, open to distress,
A heart to pity, and hand to blefs.

Prophecy of Famine.

When Wilkes our countryman, our common friend,
Arofe, his king, his country to defend;
When tools of pow'r he bar'd to public view,
And from their holes the sneaking cowards drew,
When rançour found it far beyond her reach .
To fail his honour, and his truth impeach, &c.

Epistle to Hogarth.
What if ten thousand Butes and Hollands bawl,
One Wilkes hath made a large amends for all.

Might tear up freedom by the root,
Destroy a Wilkes, and fix a Bute, &c.
All friends of Liberty, when fate
Prepar'd to fhorten Wilkes's date,

Heav'd, deeply hurt, the heart-felt groan,

The Conference.

And knew that wound to be their own, &c.
Old time himself, his fcythe thrown by,
Himfelf loft in eternity,

An everlasting crown fhall twine

To make a Wilkes and Sidney join, &c.

that their reign

Might longer laft, to work the bane
Of one firm patriot, whofe heart, tied
To honour, all their power defied,
And brought thofe actions into light
They wish'd to have conceal'd in night, &c.

Plotting deftruction 'gainft a head

Whose wisdom could not be mifled
Plotting deftruction 'gainst a heart

Which ne'er from honour would depart, &c,

Hath not his fpirit dar'd oppose
Our dearest measures, made our name
Stand forward on the roll of fhame?
Hath he not won the vulgar tribes
By fcorning menaces and bribes ?
And proving, that his darling caufe
Is of their liberties and laws
To ftand the champion &c.
he, without fear,
Hath dar'd to make the Truth appear.

The Duellift.

Enough

Enough of Wilkes-with good and honeft men
His actions speak much stronger than my pen,
And future ages fhall his name adore,

When he can act, and I can write no more.
England may prove ungrateful and unjust,
But foft'ring France fhall ne'er betray her truft,
'Tis a brave debt which gods on men impofe,
To pay with praise the merit e'en of foes.
When the great warriour of Amilcar's race
Made Rome's wide empire tremble to her bafe,
To prove her virtue, tho' it gall'd her pride,
Rome gave that fame which Carthage had deny'd.
The Candidate.

And, tho' by fools defpis'd, by Saints unblefs'd,
By friends neglected, and by foes opprefs'd,
Scorning the fervile arts of each court-elf,
Founded on honour, Wilkes is still himself.

Gotham.

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The the Printer of the St. J. CHRONACLE. SIR,

Send you the following Affidavit, because I observe, that Mr. Wilkes chufes to fubmit his whole conduct to the public; and I think the nation hath a right to know every step he takes in an affair of fuch moment, for the liberty of the fubject, fo grossly violated by the general warrant in question. As this affair greatly interefts every Englishman, I hope lord Halifax will be equally careful to lay before the public his proceedings, as I dare fay, Mr. Wilkes will every meafure he purfues. In the whole of this bufinefs, whatever be his lordship's conduct, Mr. Wilkes feems inclined to fay with Pope, (Warburton's Edition, Vol. VII. p. 3c2)" Let him be proud of the approbation of his abfolute lord, (lord B-) I appeal to the people, as my rightful judges and matters; and if they are not inclined to condemn me, I fear no arbitrary high-flying proceeding from the small court faction.

Affidavit of the fervice of notice of motion for the first day of next Hillary term.

In the Common Pleas.

John Wilkes, Efq; against the earl of Hallifax.

THOMAS TRUNDLE, clerk to John Reynolds, of Limefreet, London, gentleman, attorney for John Wilkes, Etquire, the plaintiff in this caufe, maketh oath, that he did, on the zoth day of June inftant, perfonally ferve Mr. Barnes, attorney or agent for the defendant above-named, with a notice in writing,

pur

purporting, that on the first day of next Hillary Term, or fo foon after as council can be heard, the plaintiff intends to move his majesty's court of Common Pleas, that he may be at liberty to withdraw his demurrer, and reply to the defendant's plea.

Sworn at my Chambers in Serjeant's Inn, the 23d Day of June, 1768, before

H. GOULD.

THOMAS TRUNDLE.

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RHADAMANT HUS, No. 2.

MR. RHADAMANTHUS,

Coll, Cambridge, 10th June.

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Like your claffical name, and am well pleased with the contents of your Phillippic I have lived in this place above twenty-nine years, and am said to know a good deal of the world; for I read all the political papers, and endeavour to believe every affertion, both for, and against every body. Your account of the duke's character, differs prodigiously from the ideas lately inculcated in our commonroom. Three of our leading men whisper that his grace the propereft man in the world to be our next chancellorfo, if I do not accede when it comes to a push, I am likely to be deprived of my pupils; and, if I do accede, I fhall not get so much as the promise of a curacy in return for my vote. I should not care if we were all to be honeft; but it makes one difcontented you know, fir, and is againft the fitnefs of things to be miferable oneself, and to fee others get two feeples apiece befides chaplainfhips.-They have large promifes from a perfon who is faid to be his grace's moft intimate friend. He looks indeed like an humble companion only, but must be a gentleman, for his words and geftures, they fay, are in the highest degree courteous and complaifant.I was induced by your paper to form a very bad opinion of his grace and therefore took the firft opportunity to read it in a crouded common-room.-The leading men declare that you are totally wrong: I wish to fet you right, and will therefore ftate their arguments, which have convinced me they all affirm that his grace is not guilty of wilful adultery, because he certainly intends to marry the lady, if it should ever be in his power.-Dr. Spavin, who has had the honour to dine with her, fays, that it cannot poffibly be a paffion of VOL. III. I

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