THE LIFE OF JOHN WILKES, Eſq
[]MOST ages have produced ſome ſhining models of undaunted virtue and unabating patriotiſm.—It is the part of the Biographer to ſelect characters from the maſs of mankind, and to hold thoſe only up to view who have been moſt diſtinguiſh⯑ed on the vaſt theatre of human [2] life. Were men to be promiſcu⯑ouſly deſcribed, little advantage would be derived from reviewing the annals of paſt or preſent times, and the eye, after a glance, would turn away with wearineſs, as from an unbounded plain, or a mirror, where all objects were preſented indiſcriminately.—But if others have laboured under the diſadvantage of deſcribing cha⯑racters equally mixed with right and wrong, the Author here has little reaſon to complain of ſuch blended materials.—He gives one, bold, enterprizing, and the ſame, ever poſſeſſing uniform principles, [3] without deviation and without ambiguity.
A man, ſays Plutarch, to be completely great, muſt be born in ſome famous city.—London boaſts the birth of Mr. Wilkes— His mother, it is reported, was delivered without pain or labour; and a ſpectre appeared to the nurſe, which foretold that the child ſhe then ſuckled, ſhould prove the ornament and ſup⯑port of the Britiſh Empire: cir⯑cumſtances which to many would have appeared trifling and enthu⯑ſiaſtic, had not his future con⯑duct [4] evinced the truth of the prediction.
Of his Family nothing is re⯑ported but in extreams; for whilſt ſome would have him to be the ſon of a diſtiller, and bred up to the caſk, others trace him up to a moſt illuſtrious origin: but when ſome of his friends judg⯑ed that he ſhould change his name before he engaged in ſtate affairs, he prettily enough repli⯑ed, that he would make the name of Wilkes more glorious than that of a Catiline or a Cade; and when having ſerved the high [5] and important office of Sheriff of London, and the citizens were de⯑ſirous of making an oblation of ſilver plate to him, ſo far from renouncing his origin, that he deſired his figure with a dagger in his hand to deſtroy a monarch, ſhould be engraved on the ſide of a large Drinking Cup.
Now he being, as Plato ſays a ſcholar ought to be, diſpoſed to all manner of learning, and neglectful of no arts, cultivated, beſides his other ſtudies, an early taſte for poetry, and with ſuch [6] wonderful ſucceſs that, in * one production at leaſt in point of ſentiment he is ſuppoſed to have equalled, if not excelled, both a Rocheſter and an † Ariſtotle. In progreſs of time he applied him⯑ſelf to more important ſtudies, and became not only a moſt ex⯑cellent [7] * orator, but likewiſe took in ſubſcriptions for publiſhing † the hiſtory of his own country; an amazing work this, when one conſiders all his other occupa⯑tions, [8] that he was at that time under innumerable difficulties, nay was abſolutely engaged to furniſh out two-and-thirty para⯑graphs a day in each news-paper, beſides letters, advertiſements, epigrams, and intelligence extra⯑ordinary.
But the never-to-be-forgotten work was the North Briton, or rather the No 45 * of that cele⯑brated [9] paper, written by the late Reverend Mr. Churchill, and containing many ſpirited attacks againſt government, which not being well received, a proceſs was preferred againſt the author. Mr. Wilkes being never likely to have a more fair or honourable introduction to glory, generouſly declared the paper to be his own, —defied all government, and has been admired and rewarded for it. In ſhort, in all his writings, whether he arraigned the opi⯑nions of others, or eſtabliſhed any doctrines of his own, there were always found both the harmony [10] of order, and the decency of re⯑ligion. —His reaſons were ſolid and convincing, his inductions pleaſing and agreeable; he was maſter of every ſubject of which he treated, and treated none but what were amply for the benefit of mankind.
But * fearing ſome Creditors, and having ſuffered in a Duel, he travelled into France with many other great men, for the recovery of his health and fortune. There [11] he lived in eaſe and affluence, ſupplied with money from the diſintereſted in England, as well as with large ſums ariſing from the ſale of Jewels, and other ar⯑ticles which his ſkill and ad⯑dreſs procured him abroad.—His body daily gaining ſtrength, he was ſoon moſt earneſtly ſollicited to return to England, where he again furbiſhed up his Rhetoric, and re-excited all his political fa⯑culties. For ſome time he wiſh⯑ed to have retired to his eſtate at Ayleſbury, but thinking it wrong to give the trouble of long jour⯑nies to thoſe who made ſuit to [12] him, he gave up his eſtate there to be divided amongſt his friends, and then reſided altogether in town, for the convenience of pub⯑lic buſineſs; and indeed there were not fewer attending at his door, than formerly on Croeſus for his wealth, or Pompey for his power.
And now being full of ex⯑pectation, and ſolely bent on the welfare of the public, he con⯑ſulted an oracle how he ſhould ſooneſt arrive at the Summit of all Political Glory.—The Pythi⯑an replied, — that he muſt re⯑nounce [13] his conſtituents at Ayleſ⯑bury, and make the opinion of the Londoners, the rule and guide of his life.—The decrees of fate are irreſiſtible.—Indeed he would have ſubmitted to have repreſent⯑ed the city of London; but his friends moſt prudently prevented him, and compelled him to blaze out at once as the Member for Middleſex, amidſt the united ac⯑clamations of a grateful king⯑dom*.—From this happy event every Engliſhman might juſtly [14] have expected to have dated the aera of his felicity. — A Legiſla⯑tor repreſenting (what is called) the firſt County, burning with a religious zeal to execute his im⯑portant charge, and fully qua⯑lified to regulate with an eye of intuition every the minuteſt de⯑viation from the juſt equilibre of church and ſtate: but ſuch, alas! is the fate of all human things, that the people were no ſooner put in poſſeſſion of their greateſt bleſſing, than they were deprived [15] of it. — The Parliament ſpoke ſparingly of his merits, and as he had been impriſoned for treaſon and blaſphemy, were willing to vindicate one bad action by com⯑mitting another. — They aſſerted, that as ‘no felon was eligible in⯑to any important office, a man ſo like a felon, that he could not be diſtinguiſhed, ought certainly to be expelled:’ but let me remind theſe gentlemen, that the contrary was juſtified by many of the moſt experienc⯑ed lawyers at that time, and has ſince been well explained by the [16] * Majority of the city of London, who are now fully convinced that felony, though puniſhable in a private man, is by no means a diſqualification for a Lord Mayor. —The Head, ſay the beſt Lo⯑gicians, is no Member.
He was now not only deprived of his legal ſeat, but ſhut up from day-light within the melancholy confines of a gloomy priſon: — but theſe hardſhips he could well [17] have borne himſelf, but his Hu⯑manity was alarmed for the wel⯑fare of others.—"All honeſt Free⯑holders (as Lord Chatham beauti⯑fully expreſſed it) were moſt dread⯑fully aggrieved, from the Banks of the Tweed to the Lands-end in Cornwall; they ſlept not in their beds from horrid dreams and midnight apprehenſions: but it was not in dreams, alas! they had in vain implored the juſt aſſiſtance of a relentleſs Monarch:" — tender and pathetic as this lamentation was, there yet was found a Peer hardy enough to [18] ſay, "that the County in which he lived, as well as five or ſix more adjoining, had not only not pe⯑titioned, but he believed felt no grievances, and he was ſorry the Noble Lord would not allow him one honeſt Freeholder in his neighbourhood."—This appear⯑ed to many but as ill-timed raillery, and ſo far from invali⯑dating the truth of the Great O⯑rator's aſſertion, that it only af⯑forded a melancholy proof of Lord Sandwich's apoſtacy. — I will not dwell on the many dreadful conſequences attending Mr. Wilkes's expulſion, — the [19] reader, the generous reader, feels the weight of them too forcibly, and I ſee him with tears in his eyes lamenting that luckleſs hour, when virtue was ſtrip'd of its or⯑nament, honeſty of its robe, and a fatal, an everlaſting blow was given to the very vitals of the Conſtitution.
The Miniſterial Hirelings now daily echoed reproaches againſt him; — they inſinuated that he had defrauded the Foundling Hoſpital, and burnt Mr. Sylva's Notes.—The latter was the only circumſtance that ſeemed to en⯑danger [20] his credit in the city;— it was a bad precedent, and they feared it might prove dangerous to trade:— weak minds cannot always weigh the comparative merits of actions,—bad meaſures muſt frequently be applied to good ends, and private honeſty is oft-times abſolutely incompatible with publick patriotiſm; — by many it was called, at leaſt, an act of inattention: —but would it not have been deemed as the height of abſurdity that a Cicero or a Maecenas ſhould have ſtop⯑ped to have regulated a Grocer's bill, when the welfare of millions [21] depended on their public coun⯑ſels? —Pericles, one of the moſt admired heroes of antiquity, when his accounts were confuſed, and could not well be given up, not only deſtroyed the Notes (if I may ſo expreſs it) but to drown the remembrance, involved his coun⯑try in the Peloponneſian war.— But I will place the matter in its true light.— The Notes were given to a Jew—he was im⯑portunate, — Mr. Wilkes was obliged to turn him out of his houſe in his own defence; for, is not a Jew bound, whenever it is in his power, to deſtroy that man [22] who is known to be a ſtrenuous aſſertor of the laws of Chriſtiani⯑ty?—As to the Foundling Hoſ⯑pital, Mr. Wilkes conſidered it as a baſe Inſtitution from the be⯑ginning,— it encouraged Baſ⯑tardy;—however, he ſubmitted the whole tranſaction to the * Treaſurer, whoſe private virtues might be ſaid to go hand in hand with his own, and from whoſe repreſentation of the caſe, the city ſeemed ſo well ſatisfied of their equal integrity, that they gave an entire credit to the one, and by chooſing the other Al⯑derman, [23] not only made him the Guardian of public truſt, but of courſe Governor to almoſt all other Hoſpitals.
The Honour of being Alder⯑man likewiſe entitled him to the high and important office of She⯑riff, which afforded him many favourable opportunities of diſ⯑playing his Humanity; — he felt moſt tenderly for thoſe who partook of one common nature with himſelf, and in his Zeal for Liberty, not only ordered their chains to be ſtruck off during their trials, but inſiſted on their [24] removal from Newgate, to be more immediately under his own inſpection, that he might occa⯑ſionally inſtruct them in their ſeveral duties, and let them out at proper times to practiſe their different occupations, in order to diſcharge the jailors fees.— Nor was this glorious plan of Li⯑berty confined to one ſet of men only — all ranks, all orders, in ſome degree felt the weight of his influence.— The meſſengers and officers who before had uſed to take up any man whom the Parliament deemed highly crimi⯑nal, now tremble leaſt the Lord [25] Mayor ſhould order them to be impriſoned, and their criminal releaſed, and the Magiſtrate who before looked formidable on the Bench, and intimidated the pri⯑ſoner beneath him, now ſhrinks back from a commitment, leaſt the Patriots being diſpleaſed, his houſe ſhould be burnt down, or his family deſtroyed; — nay, ſhould the Clergy preſume to reſtrain the people with the ſhackles of reli⯑gion, or my Lord Chief Juſtice himſelf to bend their necks be⯑neath the galling load of Power, Mr. Wilkes has explained that all Authority is Tyranny, and Dr. [26] Wilſon and Mr. Horne that Reli⯑gion is Impoſture. — Nor is this the ſyſtem of a day only, but the education of our youth is calcu⯑lated to inculcate theſe generous principles:—the poor Apprentice, who before had uſed to read his Bible in the evening, or play at Cribbage with his Miſtreſs, now leaves the houſe, and diſcourſes like a Lacedaemonian, * ‘not on the price of Pepper, but paſſes his judgment on ſome action worth conſidering,’ — openly ridicules the religion of his coun⯑try [27] at the Robinhood, or regulates the meaſures of Government in a more private Aſſembly.
Not even the Military could repreſs Mr. Wilkes's ardour: — at his inſtigation thoſe ſplendid Hirelings were reſtrained from carrying arms through the city, — their very drum was ſilenced, and they were taught, that though they were kept at a vaſt expence to parade in Hyde-Park, and now and then to be reviewed, yet they were to be conſidered as the or⯑nament, not as the ſecurity of the State, and it was unconſtitutional [28] for them to interfere, though the Life of their Sovereign was at⯑tacked in his Palace.
Nor were thoſe learned Gentle⯑men of the Long Robe more ſe⯑cure in their dignities. — Mr. Wilkes could explain to a Middleſex Jury, that the King had no right to the Land-tax, — that his power and that of the Parliament was not equal to that of a Petty Con⯑ſtable's; and it was illegal for him in any inſtance to extend his mercy when the people clamour⯑ed for blood: — nay, when the late Judge Yates preſumed only, [29] in paſſing ſentence on Mr. Wilkes, to glance at his poem, by ſpeak⯑ing of the reverence due to Chri⯑ſtianity — the people (ſuch was the Patriot's popularity) laughed him openly to ſcorn, though Mr. Wilkes himſelf with great polite⯑neſs and candour ſaid, that ‘now and then it was not amiſs to hear a muſty ſermon.’
He might even be ſaid to be out of the power of Medicine; for on the Parliament deſiring a Phyſician to inſpect him, whilſt in danger from a duel, he diſ⯑miſſed Hebberden for being illi⯑terate, [30] and ordered no one to in⯑terfere, unleſs they would ſend nurſe Grenv—e herſelf to admi⯑niſter a gliſter.
By extending the liberty of the Preſs, all public and private characters are now fully delineat⯑ed: —from this great prerogative, the birth-right of all Engliſhmen, we are enabled to ſpeak truth with impunity — to ſay, that * a "Mansfield has no integrity, a Grafton no abilities, and that the Duke of Bedford rejoiced at the [31] death of his only ſon, — that the perſon of our Sovereign is ungra⯑cious, — his manners depraved, his private character immoral, and his public one unjuſt, — that he is the worſt orator that ever ſpoke to a parliament, — a parent un⯑concerned in the welfare of his family, — has no care for the State, but, like Nero, "fiddles whilſt Rome is burning."
The Fine Arts live not but in a ſtate of Liberty, but now they flouriſh'd in all their branches;— Muſic was united with Poetry, and Mr. Wilkes, their Apollo, [32] ſtruck the maſter lyre: — his poetry was a mixed ſpecies of the Lyric and Didactic, but managed with ſuch amazing ſkill, that it was echoed not only from the Tower to Tyburn, but balladed about through every Fair and Mar⯑ket-town in the kingdom:— but, as Tacitus obſerves, * "Men ſooner believe their eyes than their ears;" ſo he gave great encouragement likewiſe to all Artiſts to line their ſhops with Prints, Emblems, Sketches, and Aenigmatic Charac⯑ters, [33] — ſuch as ſhould not mere⯑ly ſhow the Delicacy of their Art, but convey either a Fable, Moral, or Hiſtory; and he had the pleaſing ſatisfaction to find that a Fox hanging, a Load of Straw, or a ſuſpended Boot, had more effect, not only on the multitude, but even on the City of London, than all the accumu⯑lated labours of a Univerſity Li⯑brary.
It was Mr. Wilkes's peculiar happineſs to be always connected with characters ſimilar to his own, as they ſay the Magnet at⯑tracts [34] only thoſe fragments that are of kindred qualities: but now and then theſe fragments were at enmity amongſt themſelves:— when altercations aroſe about the diſpoſal of Places, or the diſtribu⯑tion of Public Money, they har⯑rangued ſo freely on their compa⯑rative merits, that though I have no doubt but they all ſpoke Truth of one another, yet I think it was ſometimes rather impolitic ſo fully to unveil to the common eye the deeper myſteries of Patri⯑otic Duty.
[35]Every period of Hiſtory affords ſome ſtriking inſtances of the triumphs of Virtue over Power; — a Cromwell at one time, and a Tyler at another, have been equally the Idols of the Many:— the very Children of one * Prince not only revolted a⯑gainſt, but deſtroy'd their Father: —from Mr. Wilkes then, who is a glorious Compound of all theſe illuſtrious Characters, what may not be expected? for, unhappily for this nation, it is governed by a King, who holds Principles DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE; he has [36] been juſtly reviled by his People, ‘and the Voice of the People isthe Voice of GOD.’