John Wilkes

“ A temperament daring, crafty, and unscrupulous, a fluent pen, and a sarcastic wit, were the instruments of an ambition as remorseless, worldly, and grasping, as dwelt in the bosom of a Cæsar Borgia or a Catiline.
An outline of this singular man's bustling career will best show the pertinacity, the trials, and the troubles which belonged to the candidate for the Tribuneship of Great Britain.
John Wilkes, born in 1727, the son of a rich distiller, began his public life in the canvass for Berwick—alluded to by Lord Temple's letter. ”

“ John Wilkes! His good health and deliverance—with three!"
"Hold!" exclaimed a beetle-browed, square-shouldered man of forty or more, turning down his glass; "I protest against the toast. John Wilkes ought still to be fast by the heels in the Tower of London. If he had his deserts John Wilkes would never have come out again, alive or dead, and nobody but a d—d Jacobite, and traitor to His Majesty King George, would venture to call such a toast in this worshipful company. I stand to what I say, John Garnet. It's you to play next!"
Each man looked at his neighbour. ”

“ Wallace, I know that I shall have your prayers for my recovery. I am sure that I shall be well cared for by John Wilkes."
"Of my prayers you maybe sure, Cyril; and, indeed, I have every faith that, should you catch the malady, you will recover from it. You have neither well-nigh frightened yourself to death, nor have you dosed yourself with drugs until nature was exhausted before the struggle began. ”

“ Collective editions of Wilkes's ‘Speeches in the House of Commons’ appeared at London in 1777 and 1786, 8vo. His ‘Speech in the House of Commons, 9 May 1787, respecting the Impeachment of Warren Hastings,’ appeared in pamphlet form at London in 1787, 8vo. The speeches in which as city chamberlain he presented the freedom of the city to distinguished persons are printed in ‘Correspondence of the late John Wilkes with his Friends, in which are introduced Memoirs of his Life by John Almon,’ London, 1805, 4 vols. ”

“ The Grenville-Bedford ministry only lasted two years (1763-1765) , Pg 539 and was overthrown by another Whig alliance, whose principal leaders were the Duke of Grafton and the Marquis of Rockingham. But short though its tenure of office was, it left its mark on history. In England itself the act of this cabinet which made most noise was the prosecution of Wilkes. John Wilkes was a member of Parliament, a party journalist of gross scurrility and a man of scandalous private life, but he had the good fortune to be made twice in his life a martyr to oppressive government. ”

“ Between 1768 and 1770 there was a distinct tendency in politics towards the reform of Parliament, the reduction of the number of rotten boroughs, and the restriction of the influence of the Crown. This was produced by bad harvests and industrial depression. The expulsion of John Wilkes from the House of Commons in 1770 brought this discontent to a head, and provoked not only dangerous riots in London, but also violent discussion of political principles. Wilkes was a disreputable person, though not more disreputable than some men who enjoyed the confidence of the Crown and Parliament. ”

“ Shebbeare was fined, put in the pillory, and imprisoned for three years, his offence being the publication of what was deemed a scandalous libel in his ‘Sixth Letter to the English People.’ Four years later, John Wilkes, M.P., started the ‘North Briton,’ a Liberal print, in opposition to Smollet’s ‘Briton,’ a Tory paper, which was subsidized and supported by Lord Bute, then in power. John Wilkes was no doubt assisted by Lord Temple and John Churchill the satirist. ”

“ It was observed of an old citizen that he was the most regular man in London in his attendance at church, and no man in the kingdom was more punctual in his prayers. "He has a very good reason for it," replied John Wilkes, "for, as he never gave a shilling, did a kindness, or conferred a favor on any man living, no one would pray for him." ”

“ John Wilkes (1727-1797) of The North Briton. Barry Cornwall writes in his Memoir of Lamb: "I remember that, at one of the monthly magazine dinners, when John Wilkes was too roughly handled, Lamb quoted the story (not generally known) of his replying, when the blackbirds were reported to have stolen all his cherries, 'Poor birds, they are welcome.' He said that those impulsive words showed the inner nature of the man more truly that all his political speeches."
Page 428. Milton. London Magazine, February, 1823. Not signed. ”

“ It was in the press that the nation was finding a court of appeal from the Houses of Parliament. The popularity of the North-Briton made Wilkes the representative of the new journalism, as he was the representative of that mass of general sentiment of which it was beginning to be the mouthpiece; and the fall of Bute had shown how real a power lay behind the agitator's diatribes. ”

“ And, on the verge of death, learn how to die."
What was Hogarth's unpardonable sin? Nature had lodged the unlovely soul of Jack Wilkes in an unlovely and ludicrous person, which the wicked and inimitable pencil of Hogarth had made a little unlovelier perhaps, and a little more ludicrous. Horace Walpole spoke in his usual clear-cutting style of Mr Charles Pylades and Mr John Orestes. They liked one another, and ran the scent, strong as a trail of rancid fish-guts, of the same pleasures—but let not such hunting in couples profane the name of friendship. ”

“ Warburton, bishop of Gloucester, declared that “the blackest fiend in hell would not keep company with Wilkes on his arrival there”; and yet, mournful to relate, Wilkes was the popular hero of the London populace. The sabbath was the day for routs among the nobility and gentry; and political ministers, foreign and domestic, being too busy on other days, gave their grand entertainments on this. Gambling, though not so rampant as it had been, was still a prevailing vice. Rakes were plentiful. Seeing life meant keeping all sorts of company; drinking much, and appearing great ”

“ The pedigree of Wilkes, according to the Heralds’ Visitation in 1614, commences with John Wylkys de Darlaston, who was witness to a Deed of Roger, Lord of Darlaston, in the time of Edward III. (1331) . There is a Richard Wylkys, of Willenhall, who witnessed a Bentley Deed in 1413. To this Richard and his wife Juliana, daughter and heir of William Wilkes, a grant of lands in Bentley was made by Humphrey, Earl of Stafford. The son of this couple was William Wilkes of Willnall (1505) . Protonotary of the Court of Common Pleas, 15 Henry VIII. The family tree is very complete in Shaw. ”

“ While still under age Wilkes married, in deference to his father's wishes, a woman ten years his senior, Mary, daughter and heiress of John Mead, a wealthy London grocer. The marriage placed him in possession of an estate at Aylesbury, the prebendal house and demesne, worth 700l. ”

“ Johnson's Letters, ed. Birkbeck Hill; Farmer's Plain Truth, being a genuine Narrative of the Methods made use of to procure a copy of the Essay on Woman (1763) ; Kidgell's Genuine and Succinct Narrative of a scandalous, obscene, and exceedingly profane Libel, entitled An Essay on Woman (1763) ; A Complete Collection of the Genuine Papers, Letters, &c., in the case of John Wilkes, Esq. (Paris, 1767) ; The whole Account of John Wilkes, Esq., from the time of his being chosen M.P. for Aylesbury till his departure into France (1768) ; A Narrative of the Proceedings against John Wilkes, Esq. (1768) ”

“ On the death of Wilkes he was elected chamberlain of London, 2 Jan. 1798. In the same year he resigned his posts of alderman and president of Christ's Hospital, and was appointed president of Bridewell.
He was fond of mixing in literary society, and in 1785 was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. At the age of fifteen he was introduced by Sir John Hawkins to to Dr. Johnson, whose suppers at the Mitre Tavern in Fleet Street he used frequently to attend. He was also a member of the Essex Head Club, for which he had been proposed by Johnson himself. ”

“ Returning he became prominent as a radical politician, and espoused the cause of Wilkes, with whom, however, he afterwards quarrelled. He also supported the revolted American colonists, and was fined and imprisoned for endeavouring to raise a subscription for them. ”

“ I call the war with our brethren in America an unjust and felonious war, because the primary cause and confessed origin of it is to attempt to take their money from them without their consent, contrary to the common right of all mankind, and those great fundamental principles of the English Constitution for which Hampden bled. ”

“ Every idea of a reconciliation will now vanish. They will pursue the most vigorous course in their own defence. The whole continent of North America will be dismembered from Great Britain, and the wide arch of the raised empire will fall. ”

“ I assert, sir, that it is a murderous war, because it is an effort to deprive men of their lives for standing up in the defence of their property and their clear rights. Such a war, I fear, sir, will draw down the vengeance of Heaven on this devoted kingdom. ”

“ Of showers and sunshine, as of their desires;
As much eternal springs and cloudless skies,
As woman, ever temperate, calm, and wise.
If plagues and earth quakes heav'ns design fulfill,
Why should not man o'er woman have his will? ”

“ I may before my God, but not to man. I think I have done well. Thought I am abandoned with the curse of Cain upon me, when if the world knew my heart that one blow would have made me great, though I did desire no greatness. ”

“ I have too great a soul to die like a criminal. Oh, may He, may He spare me that, and let me die bravely. I bless the entire world. Have never hated or wronged anyone. This last was not a wrong, unless God deems it so, and it's with Him to damn or bless me. ”

“ In the great scale of empire, you will decline, I fear, from the decision of this day; and the Americans will rise to independence, to power, to all the greatness of the most renowned states! For they build on the solid basis of general public liberty. ”

“ The motion which I shall have the honour of submitting to the House affects, in my opinion, the very vitals of this Constitution, the great primary sources of the power of the people, whom we represent, and by whose authority only, delegated to us for a time, we are a part of the legislative body of this kingdom. The proceedings of the last Parliament in the business of the Middlesex elections gave a just alarm to almost every elector in the nation. The fatal precedents then attempted to be established were considered as a direct attack on the inalienable rights of the people. ”

“ Who keeps her close while she has power to charm;
Then yields her to his fellow-brutes a prey:
And where's the fault, my friend, in us, or they?
Two principles in human nature reign,
Self-love to urge, and reason to restrain:
Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul ”

“ Why should the Female ever have the power,
To tyrannize o'er Man, and to devour?
Why should the wife, the learned, and the fool,
The brave, the rich.... submit to Woman's rule?
Ask of the learn'd the cause, the learn'd are blind,
This bids us seek, that shun all Womankind;
Some place the bliss in serving one alone,
Some by a single Passion are undone.
Some, sunk to beasts, find pleasure end in pain. ”

“ I knew no private wrong. I struck for my country and that alone. A country that groaned beneath this tyranny, and prayed for the end, and yet now behold the cold hand they extend to me.
God cannot pardon me if I have done wrong, yet I cannot see my wrong except in serving a degenerate people. The little, the very little I left behind to clear my name, the Government will not allow to be printed. So ends all. For my country I have given up all that makes life sweet and holy, brought misery upon my family, and am sure there is no pardon for me in Heaven since man so condemns me. ”

“ Sir, is any minister weak enough to flatter himself with the conquest of the Americans? You can not, with all your allies—with all the mercenary ruffians of the North—you can not effect so wicked a purpose. The Americans will dispute every inch of territory with you, every narrow pass, every strong defile, every Thermopylæ, every Bunker’s Hill! More than half the empire is already lost and almost all the rest is in confusion and anarchy. ”

“ This I know: a successful resistance is a revolution, not a rebellion! Rebellion indeed appears on the back of a flying enemy; but revolution flames on the breast-plate of the victorious warrior. Who can tell, sir, whether, in consequence of this day’s violent and mad address to his majesty, the scabbard may not be thrown away by them as well as by us; and, should success attend them, whether, in a few years, the independent Americans may not celebrate the glorious era of the Revolution of 1775, as we do that of 1688? ”

“ The minister invades immediately the rights of juries. Before any trial, he gets the paper voted a libel, and the member he wishes expelled to be the author – which in fact you are not competent to try. Expulsion means, as is pretended, incapacity. The member is adjudged incapable; he cannot be re-elected, and thus is he excluded from Parliament. A minister by such manoeuvres may garble a House of Commons till not a single enemy of his own, or friend of his country, is left here, and the representation of the people is in a great degree lost. ”

“ It follows directly, from the very idea of choice, that such choice must be free and uncontrolled, admitting of no restrictions but the law of the land, to which King and lords are equally subject, and what must arise from the nature of the trust. ”