VII. 1768. CHAP. voting against ministry. The earl of Chatham, the founder of the present ministry, borne down with infirmities, and totally disapproving of the measures of his colleagues, had long withLord Chat- drawn from public business, and lately resigned his office of ham resigns lord privy-seal. The duke of Grafton, though first lord of the the privy- treasury, had been intended to act only a secondary and real. subordinate part, as in the same office the duke of Newcastle had done, during the splendid period of Mr. Secretary Pitt's administration. As the health of lord Chatham rendered him unequal to the exertions of his earlier years, the duke of Grafton actually became prime minister. The talents of this nobleman did not exceed mediocrity, nor was he mature in political experience. So qualified, he was thrust by accident, rather than exalted by design, into a situation, to fill which, in the distracted state of affairs, required a minister of consummate abilities and wisdom. Lord North, while only chancellor of the exchequer, rarely exceeded his official business, or took an active share in the general concerns of administration. Lords Camden and Shelburne, both coinciding in the views and opinions of lord Chatham, had little connexion with their colleagues in office. The other secretaries of state were not distinguished for political talents; so that, on the whole, the present ministry was far from possessing that combined ability> and concert, that would have qualified them to manage with effect the manifold and complicated objects which demanded the attention of the British government. Such was the state of foreign, colonial, and domestic affairs, when the season ar rived for the meeting of parliament. 1 CHAP. VIII. Meeting of parliament-petition of Mr. Wilkes-charges against him, at the instance of ministers expelled the house-re-chosen-declared ineligible during the present parliament-chosen a third time-election again declared void-a competitor set up-Mr. Wilkes returned by a great majority-Mr. Lutterel declared by parliament duly elected,-violent debates, and national ferment.→→ Revival against the Americans of trials within the realm for treasons committed beyond seas.-Debt on the civil list.-Affairs of the East India company— Hyder Ally-war in the Carnatic.—Europe-gallant resistance of Corsica against the French-at last overpowered.-America-discontent increases from the new mode of trial.-Extreme dissatisfaction in England-the chief topic the Middlesex election.-Johnson's False Alarm-Junius-object and character of that extraordinary work.-Petitions-remonstrance of the city of London.Meeting of parliament-lords Chatham and Camden oppose ministry-resig"nation of the duke of Grafton. CHAP. VIII. THE session commenced on the 8th of November; his majesty recommended from the thronef the consideration of our commercial interests, and, regretted the interruption on the 1763. continent of the general tranquillity; but stated the assurances Meeting of which he had received, that Britain would not be affected by parliament, the foreign disturbances. He mentioned the commotions in America, particularly submitted the affairs of that part of his dominions to the wisdom of parliament, and inculcated the necessity of internal harmony and union. To the proposed addresses, great opposition was made; ministers were charged with having excited the disorders in America, and with gross inattention to external affairs. The Bourbon compact became every day closer, and extending its influence to Austria, brought the balance of power into imminent danger. The violation of the general tranquillity in the invasion of Corsica, France would never have attempted, but from her knowing the feebleness and distractions of the British cabinet. Our commercial interests, it was added, were entirely neglected. These were the outlines of the censures against ministers, brought forward on the first day of the session, as a text for future comment and expatiation. The first particular subject which occupied their deliberations was corn: the crop that year had been good, and mea sures were projected to prevent the recurrence of scarcity. A bill was prepared, not only for increasing the prohibition on the exportation of corn, but also for preventing the extraction of low wines and spirits from wheat and flour. This act was useful so far as it extended, but too trifling in its object and opera f See State Papers, 1762. VIII. CHAP. tion to afford any material security against the return of dearth. An evil so frequently prevailing in such a fertile country as England, manifested the expediency of restoring agriculture to its due weight in political economy, and devoting the attention of the legislature to the cultivation of land, as well as the improvement of manufactures and commerce. Other concerns, 1768. bowever, more urgent, though less important, occupied parlia ment. During this session, Wilkes engrossed a great portion of parliamentary attention. This celebrated agitator had uniformly. proposed by political bustle to acquire notoriety and wealth. He succeeded in becoming conspicuous, but had not hitherto `attained opulence to ministers (as we have seen) he had in vain applied for pecuniary assistance; but though they refused: him the required supply, they left and promoted one means of acquisition in his extensive popularity. In the generous hearts of Englishmen, distress is a never failing passport to pity and protection. If the suffering arise from real or apparent oppres sion, the spirit of freedom enhances the desire of benignant vindication and especially, if the alleged persecution issue from the executive government. But as the affections of the multitude are more ardent than their judgment is discriminating, their regards are more frequently bestowed upon noisy dema gogues, than wise and beneficent patriots. Whoever proposes. popularity as his chief object, well knows that he must keep alive the public attention. Wilkes and his supporters were thoroughly skilled in the machinery of political notoriety, and spent a great part of the recess in holding meetings, clubs, and parties; framing resolutions, remonstrances, and pamphlets. Lest the curiosity of the people should be diminished, or the Petition of zeal of his supporters cooled, Wilkes deemed it expedient to present a petition to the house of commons. This paper reca pitulated all his alleged grievances, from his first apprehension in · April 1763, to his commitment in 1768: the only new matter that it contained was an assertion, that lord Mansfield had illegally and tyrannically altered the records; and that Philip Carteret Webb, esq., secretary to the treasury, had bribed the petitioner's servants with the public money, to steal the Essay on Woman, to be made a ground of prosecution. The former statements of the petition, being a narrative of proceedings already determined by the law of the country, the house passed over; on the two last allegations a discussion commenced on the 21st of January 1769, which lasted till the 3d of Febru-> ary. On the charge against lord Mansfield it was resolved, that the orders made by the lord chief justice of the king's bench, for the amendment of the informations established in the saidcourt against Mr. Wilkes, were according to law and equity, and the practice of the court; and also, that the complaint was g This he himself declared to Mr. Gibbon, before the publication of the North Briton. Gibbon's Miscellaneous Works, vol. i. p. 100, note. Mr. Wilkes. Proceedings respecting Wilkes : 1769. 1769, frivolous, groundless, and prejudicial to the administration of CHAP. public justice: on the second head it was resolved, that the charge against Mr. Webb was not proved. The preface to lord Weymouth's letter, of which Mr. Wilkes acknowledged himself author and publisher, next came under consideration; it was voted to be a false, scandalous, and seditious libel, tending to the subversion of all order and legal government; and a proposition was immediately made, that Mr. Wilkes should be expelled the house. In supporting this motion, ministers and their adherents spoke and acted as parties eager ly interested in carrying a proposition, not as judges investigating the conduct of one of their peers, that they might deliver a fair and impartial sentence. The charge was accumu lative and indefinite; it contained a recitation of his former offences and expulsion, and also of conduct which was then undergoing the animadversion of the courts of law, fully com petent to condemnation or acquittal. Their speechesi chiefly expatiated on these subjects, and contained the irrelevant exaggerations of passion, much more than the statements and proofs of justice. The opposers of this sentence contend ed, that the libel on lord Weymouth, a peer of the realm, was the only specific ground of the motion: that his privileges as a lord, were not cognizable by the commons; and that any offence against him as a British subject, belonged to the laws of the land. For the other libels, he had been already expelled, and the house had punished him for an attack upon the legislature. Should he be twice chastised for the same offence? "By the present proposition (they said) we are to blend the "executive and judicial powers of the state with the legisla❝tive, and to extend our jurisdiction, that we may take upon "ourselves the odium of trying and punishing in a summary "manner an offence which does not affect us, but is subject ❝to the investigation of the laws. In the exercise of this "assumed power, we are to form an accumulative and "complicated charge, which no other courts, nor even we, "have ever admitted in other instances. We are to mingle "new crimes with old, and to try a man twice for the same "misdemeanour. We are to transfer the censures of a for"mer parliament into the hands of the present, which is to "make them the foundation of a new punishment. We are "to assume a power of determining the rights of the people, "and of their representatives, by no other rule but our own "discretion or caprice." Strong as these arguments may appear to an impartial reader, they were overborne by a ministerial majority, and Mr. Wilkes was expelled the house he is exof commons. The conduct of ministry manifested that pelled the alteration of laxity and violence, which never can proceed h See Journal of the House of Commons, Feb. 3d, 1769. i See Parliamentary Debates on the expulsion of Wilkes; Feb. 3d, 1769. k See Parliamentary Debates, February 34. 1769. house: VIII. 1769. CHAP. from united wisdom and vigour. If severe punishment were expedient, why was it not employed when he returned from exile, before the reversal of his outlawry Permitted then to be out of confinement, he had revived his popularity, and paved the way for its progress to a height which nothing tended more effectually to increase than further prosecution, air Well knowing the temper of his constituents, and of the nation in general, Wilkes considered his expulsion as the sure road to greater popularity and distinction, and immediately offered himself candidate for the vacated county. The favour of his supporters rose to an enthusiasm that overspread Lon don, the county, and their environs; and the sympathetio Feb. 16th, spirit quickly diffused itself throughout England: under the is re-elect influence of such sentiments, his re-election was unanimous and the next day he was declared by the house incapable of being re-elected during the present parliament. On the 16th of March, Mr. Wilkes was chosen a third time; and the following day his election was again declared void... The Middlesex freeholders avowing their determination to choose him again, ministers set up another candidate, colonel Lut but declar- terel. The fourth election took place on the 13th of April: ed ineligi- for Mr. Wilkes, there were eleven hundred and forty-three ed. ble. Lutterel returned. lawful voters; for his opponent, two hundred and ninety: six: Mr. Wilkes was accordingly returned. The next day his name was erased from the writ by order of the house; and the day after, Henry Lawes Lutterel, esq, was, after a very violent debate, declared, by a majority of 221 to 189, duly elected.m The passionate resentment of rulers against an individual, so clearly manifesting their want of magnanimity and true wisdom, produced a totally different effect from that which they expected or desired their aversion procured tor its object the warmest popularity. Ten days after the last vote of the house of commons, he was chosen alderman of the National city of London. Subscriptions were opened, to raise money both for the liquidation of his debts and his future subsistence... He was represented as a meritorious patriot, suffering oppress sion and tyranny for his virtues. ferment. Revival, During this session, America occupied a great share of par against the liamentary attention; both ministry and opposition were desi=" colonies, of rous of an inquiry, but the motives of the parties were different. trials within the realm Ministers proposed to justify their own conduct and that of their for treason officers, and to convince the public that all the disturbances. beyond sea. which had happened, were owing to the refractory and rebellious spirit of the colonists; while, on the other hand, their opponents endeavoured to demonstrate, that the commotions were 1 See Junius's Letter XI. to the duke of Grafton. m -This was the question on which a youth, destined to be one of the greatest orators and ablest men ever admired in any senate, first spoke in parlament ? Charles James Fox had procured a seat before the legal age; and ʼn tawgiver at twenty, astonished his hearers by the force of his abilities, |