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Article FURTHER MEMOIR OF JOHN WILKES. ← Page 4 of 7 →
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Further Memoir Of John Wilkes.
a new gale of favour seems to have sprung up on the occasion ; so that he was ele & ed without any material opposition , and continued to enjov that lucrative appointment to the hour of his death . Such is the outline of that life which has just been closed , and it remains for us to attempt the delineation , of that charafter which gave it all its effect and colour
. Mr . Wilkes cannot , we think , be said to have possessed what are called great talents : nor was he formed for great occasions . Lively parts , a sagacity , which , by some would be denominated cunning , a persevering spirit , a mind fertile in resources , and a certain confidence which invigorated his other qualities , are the predominating features of his charader . - It may also be added , that his mind was stored
with useful as well as elegant knowledge ; and that having been a member of the Senate at an early period of his life , he had been induced to apply himself with considerable attention to the more early history , as well as the existing politics of his country . If it should be thought by any of our readers that the extraordinary circumstances of his life , the bustle he made , the influence lie acquiredandthe effects he producedmust have demanded die
ex-, . , ertion of talents far superior to such as are here allowed him , it may be answered , that the best of all talents is to be found in the description of Tacitus , Par negotiis ike supra . Besides a very satisfactory reference may be made to the coadjutors which Mr . Wilkes possessed
in his favourite business of producing the loud , popular , and wideextended outcry o £ Wilkes and Liberty . They were no others than the very Ministers who wished to destroy him ; but , by their violent and unconstitutional proceedings , gave him an importance which healone could never have obtained . He wished to be the idol of the populace , and his enemies erected the altar . The justice and severity of his
prosecution were so many fortunate circumstances , which he employed with an address peculiar to himself , to attach the cause of British Liberty , ' violated in his person , inseparably to himself , in the minds of the multitude ; nor did he fail of proceeding in his important object , far beyond what he had suffered himself to expect , in the most flattering moment of his hopes .
When we refleft on what was done by the spirit of Wilkes and Liberty , operating more or less on every part of the kingdom , but particularly under the very eye of Government in the City of London ' and the County of Middlesex , we are almost disposed to doubt tlie accuracy of our remembrance . This irit made MrTownsendMr . SawbridgeMr . BullMr ,
sp . , , _ , Oliver , Mr . Hayley , Sir Watkin Lewes , and Mr . Wilkes , Aldermen of London , and commanded a powerful majority in its Corporation and Livery . It elected 'the greater part of those gentlemen , at different times , to represent the City in Parliament ^ It conferred an equal honour on Mr . Wilkes and Serjeant Glynn in the County of Middlesex . It called Mr . Beckford a second time to be Lord Mayor
of London , while it drove Mr . Harley , with , all his personal influence , and the most active support of Government , from the representation of the City , and animated tlie Court of Aldermen to cleft VOL . x .- D
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Further Memoir Of John Wilkes.
a new gale of favour seems to have sprung up on the occasion ; so that he was ele & ed without any material opposition , and continued to enjov that lucrative appointment to the hour of his death . Such is the outline of that life which has just been closed , and it remains for us to attempt the delineation , of that charafter which gave it all its effect and colour
. Mr . Wilkes cannot , we think , be said to have possessed what are called great talents : nor was he formed for great occasions . Lively parts , a sagacity , which , by some would be denominated cunning , a persevering spirit , a mind fertile in resources , and a certain confidence which invigorated his other qualities , are the predominating features of his charader . - It may also be added , that his mind was stored
with useful as well as elegant knowledge ; and that having been a member of the Senate at an early period of his life , he had been induced to apply himself with considerable attention to the more early history , as well as the existing politics of his country . If it should be thought by any of our readers that the extraordinary circumstances of his life , the bustle he made , the influence lie acquiredandthe effects he producedmust have demanded die
ex-, . , ertion of talents far superior to such as are here allowed him , it may be answered , that the best of all talents is to be found in the description of Tacitus , Par negotiis ike supra . Besides a very satisfactory reference may be made to the coadjutors which Mr . Wilkes possessed
in his favourite business of producing the loud , popular , and wideextended outcry o £ Wilkes and Liberty . They were no others than the very Ministers who wished to destroy him ; but , by their violent and unconstitutional proceedings , gave him an importance which healone could never have obtained . He wished to be the idol of the populace , and his enemies erected the altar . The justice and severity of his
prosecution were so many fortunate circumstances , which he employed with an address peculiar to himself , to attach the cause of British Liberty , ' violated in his person , inseparably to himself , in the minds of the multitude ; nor did he fail of proceeding in his important object , far beyond what he had suffered himself to expect , in the most flattering moment of his hopes .
When we refleft on what was done by the spirit of Wilkes and Liberty , operating more or less on every part of the kingdom , but particularly under the very eye of Government in the City of London ' and the County of Middlesex , we are almost disposed to doubt tlie accuracy of our remembrance . This irit made MrTownsendMr . SawbridgeMr . BullMr ,
sp . , , _ , Oliver , Mr . Hayley , Sir Watkin Lewes , and Mr . Wilkes , Aldermen of London , and commanded a powerful majority in its Corporation and Livery . It elected 'the greater part of those gentlemen , at different times , to represent the City in Parliament ^ It conferred an equal honour on Mr . Wilkes and Serjeant Glynn in the County of Middlesex . It called Mr . Beckford a second time to be Lord Mayor
of London , while it drove Mr . Harley , with , all his personal influence , and the most active support of Government , from the representation of the City , and animated tlie Court of Aldermen to cleft VOL . x .- D