Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obituary.
stage of politics and public life . In February 178 7 he was elected one of the representatives for the city ofDurham . His maiden speech in Parliament was on ' the repeal ot th .- shop .-tax , in which he displayed very shining abilities . -. He was an able advocate for the amelioration of a wise and lempera'e reform . His ideas on this delicate subject cannot be better
expressed than in his own elegant and energetic language , extracted from a letter written by him , and published in the Newcastle papers , about the stirring time of December 171 , 2 : 'All I wish , ' says he , ' is to see this happy Constitution reformed and repaired upon its own principle , ; and that every reparation may he made ithe le
f styof the building . ' To his other extraordinary advantages he has to add the paramount blessing of domestic happiness . June 19 , 1791 , he was united to ihe Right Hon . Lady A ; . n Villiers , second daughter to the Earl of Jersey ; a Lady of first rate natural and acquired accomplishments both in mind and person ; and who lias
given to his slock ot felicity the endearing addition of three sons and a daughter . Dec . 2 fi , at the house of Miss Wilkes , in Grosveixr-Square , in the 72 d year of his age , Jons WILK . ES , Esq . Alderman of Ihe Ward of Farringdon' W itlioct , and Chamberlain ofthe City of Londo : i . He languished tor several days , without hopes of
recovery . This gentleman was , we understand , the son of a distillerin Clerkenwell , and few men ever obtained more celebrity without merit than he did . in 1763 ( being then Member for Aylesbury ) he was apprehended by virtue of ' agencral warrant from ihe Earl of Halifax , Secretary of State , and committed to the Tower on the charge of a libel entitled the North Briton , No . XLV . We shall not enn-r
into the deiail of the various proceedings Which resulted . from this illegal measure . They are incorporated in the history of the times and are generally known . " Mr . Wilkes's opposition was laudable and beneficial . The public mind , however , was thrown into a greater degree of ferment than the subject deserved . Our patriot felt himself to be far greater
a man than he reall y was ; and the mfalua-ion of the people contributed to elc \ ate him even above his own expectations . The same year he set up a private printingpress , from which issued not only political tracts , but productions of the most immoral and impious tendency . On the ifilh ot , that year , he was wounded 111 duel
a with Samuel Martin , Esq . Member for Camelford , and Secretary tu the Treasury ; and on Christm . s-dav following he sailed from Dover forCJlais . . tn January 1764 , he y / as found guilty m the Kmg ' s-Bench of having reprinted the North Briton , No . 45 , and an inia'uous book called the Essay on Woi ,. an ;
at tne same time the city of j > ondon took the author under its patronage , by voting some curious resolutions in his favour , In August following he was outlawed . Some idea of his spirit at this time may be formed from the following letter which lie wrote to a friend on this occasion : ' ' Dear Bob , Damned hard times IChurchill is dead , ' Lloyd in the Fleet ;
and Wilkes little better than a trans ; on for life . Damned hard times indeed ! ' ¦ ¦ In 1768 , he returned to England , am ! surrendering himself was committed to the prison of King ' s-Bvnch . The same year he was elected Knight of the Shire for Middlesex , and chosen Alderman of the city for the Ward of FarringdonWithout .
We shall be excused by our Readers for amusing them with the following anecdote . All societies and all parties were carried away with the popular frenzy of " WILKES and LIBERTY ; " and among the rest , the quiet and peaceable Free-Masons came in for their s '; are . March 3 , 1769 the Members of the Lodge held at
, the Jerusalem Tavern in ClerkenweW attended at the King ' s-Bench prison , and made Mr . Wilkes a Mason . In this parliament he was repeatedly expelled the House as ineligible to sit as a member , and as often re-elected by the Free-holders . The same year his caue . e against the Earl of Halifax was
determined in the court of Common-Pleas , when he obtained a verdict of 40 C 0 I . damages . April 12 , 1770 , he was discharged from his confinement . In February , 1771 , he received repeated orders to intend the House , wi' . icii he refused , on the plea that he was net required to attend as a member ; and the same year he was elected Sheriff of London . All this time , however , the
House persisted in keeping him from that seat which a f : ee election had repeatedly given him . Against this measire he niarie frequent and spirited remonstrances . In 177 . 1 he was elected Lord Mayor , and en the 3 d of December was sworn imo Parliament as Member for Middlesex . He was a frequent speaker in the House during the American warand always
, on the patriotic side ; but it was not till' 17 ^ 2 that he could obtain a reversal of Ihe order for his expulsion to be expunged from the Journals . In 1 779 he was elected Chamberlain of the city of London , and the year following re-elected for Middlesex . The same year he perfo ; med a signal servire by his activity in preventing the
rioters irom seizii g on the Bank of England . From that time to the present he has gradually sunk into indifference . He was a man of shrewd parts , much strengthened by profound erudition ; but it is to be lamented that his genius and talents were shaded by scepticism ar-d licentiousness . [ Fdrlber particulars in our nexiA
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Obituary.
stage of politics and public life . In February 178 7 he was elected one of the representatives for the city ofDurham . His maiden speech in Parliament was on ' the repeal ot th .- shop .-tax , in which he displayed very shining abilities . -. He was an able advocate for the amelioration of a wise and lempera'e reform . His ideas on this delicate subject cannot be better
expressed than in his own elegant and energetic language , extracted from a letter written by him , and published in the Newcastle papers , about the stirring time of December 171 , 2 : 'All I wish , ' says he , ' is to see this happy Constitution reformed and repaired upon its own principle , ; and that every reparation may he made ithe le
f styof the building . ' To his other extraordinary advantages he has to add the paramount blessing of domestic happiness . June 19 , 1791 , he was united to ihe Right Hon . Lady A ; . n Villiers , second daughter to the Earl of Jersey ; a Lady of first rate natural and acquired accomplishments both in mind and person ; and who lias
given to his slock ot felicity the endearing addition of three sons and a daughter . Dec . 2 fi , at the house of Miss Wilkes , in Grosveixr-Square , in the 72 d year of his age , Jons WILK . ES , Esq . Alderman of Ihe Ward of Farringdon' W itlioct , and Chamberlain ofthe City of Londo : i . He languished tor several days , without hopes of
recovery . This gentleman was , we understand , the son of a distillerin Clerkenwell , and few men ever obtained more celebrity without merit than he did . in 1763 ( being then Member for Aylesbury ) he was apprehended by virtue of ' agencral warrant from ihe Earl of Halifax , Secretary of State , and committed to the Tower on the charge of a libel entitled the North Briton , No . XLV . We shall not enn-r
into the deiail of the various proceedings Which resulted . from this illegal measure . They are incorporated in the history of the times and are generally known . " Mr . Wilkes's opposition was laudable and beneficial . The public mind , however , was thrown into a greater degree of ferment than the subject deserved . Our patriot felt himself to be far greater
a man than he reall y was ; and the mfalua-ion of the people contributed to elc \ ate him even above his own expectations . The same year he set up a private printingpress , from which issued not only political tracts , but productions of the most immoral and impious tendency . On the ifilh ot , that year , he was wounded 111 duel
a with Samuel Martin , Esq . Member for Camelford , and Secretary tu the Treasury ; and on Christm . s-dav following he sailed from Dover forCJlais . . tn January 1764 , he y / as found guilty m the Kmg ' s-Bench of having reprinted the North Briton , No . 45 , and an inia'uous book called the Essay on Woi ,. an ;
at tne same time the city of j > ondon took the author under its patronage , by voting some curious resolutions in his favour , In August following he was outlawed . Some idea of his spirit at this time may be formed from the following letter which lie wrote to a friend on this occasion : ' ' Dear Bob , Damned hard times IChurchill is dead , ' Lloyd in the Fleet ;
and Wilkes little better than a trans ; on for life . Damned hard times indeed ! ' ¦ ¦ In 1768 , he returned to England , am ! surrendering himself was committed to the prison of King ' s-Bvnch . The same year he was elected Knight of the Shire for Middlesex , and chosen Alderman of the city for the Ward of FarringdonWithout .
We shall be excused by our Readers for amusing them with the following anecdote . All societies and all parties were carried away with the popular frenzy of " WILKES and LIBERTY ; " and among the rest , the quiet and peaceable Free-Masons came in for their s '; are . March 3 , 1769 the Members of the Lodge held at
, the Jerusalem Tavern in ClerkenweW attended at the King ' s-Bench prison , and made Mr . Wilkes a Mason . In this parliament he was repeatedly expelled the House as ineligible to sit as a member , and as often re-elected by the Free-holders . The same year his caue . e against the Earl of Halifax was
determined in the court of Common-Pleas , when he obtained a verdict of 40 C 0 I . damages . April 12 , 1770 , he was discharged from his confinement . In February , 1771 , he received repeated orders to intend the House , wi' . icii he refused , on the plea that he was net required to attend as a member ; and the same year he was elected Sheriff of London . All this time , however , the
House persisted in keeping him from that seat which a f : ee election had repeatedly given him . Against this measire he niarie frequent and spirited remonstrances . In 177 . 1 he was elected Lord Mayor , and en the 3 d of December was sworn imo Parliament as Member for Middlesex . He was a frequent speaker in the House during the American warand always
, on the patriotic side ; but it was not till' 17 ^ 2 that he could obtain a reversal of Ihe order for his expulsion to be expunged from the Journals . In 1 779 he was elected Chamberlain of the city of London , and the year following re-elected for Middlesex . The same year he perfo ; med a signal servire by his activity in preventing the
rioters irom seizii g on the Bank of England . From that time to the present he has gradually sunk into indifference . He was a man of shrewd parts , much strengthened by profound erudition ; but it is to be lamented that his genius and talents were shaded by scepticism ar-d licentiousness . [ Fdrlber particulars in our nexiA