which his immediate predeceffor had fo gloriously established, and it is well known that he laid the foundation for his fon's misfortunes by his ill-timed exertions; and left him the kingdom in an evil hour.

It was very foon after King Charles began his reign, when he was befet by a pack of the most artful villains, that, under the mask of the most profound hypocrity, ever difgraced this nation. He was fcarce feated on his throne when they oppofed and betrayed him, that excellent character which adorned his private life, and was admitted fo to be by his very enemies, they never once trufted to in his public tation; he was refufed the tonnage and poundage in his first feffion of parliament, contrary to all precedent, which, high as the notions of prerogative was then held, was a great trial of his patience, and was too violent a beginning not to raise a ferment in the nation. Had he trufted to his own judgement and difpofition in thefe matters preferably to that of others, his abilities would have raised him above the malice, or even the fubtilty of his enemies.

Mr. Rapin, who has fkilfully urged every thing that could be faid against the king, has fummed up his character in fubftance as follows: "He was (fays he) fober, temperate and chafte; a good hufband, a good father, and a good master; never was any thing perhaps fo punctual and regular in his devotions both public and private; he abhorred all debauchery and could not endure any obfcene or profane word; he was a fincere member of the church of England, and was endued with a great many virtues and noble qualities, and there was room to believe his failings flowed entirely from the defign he had formed of enflaveing England; and that if, on fome occafions, he followed not exactly the rules of fincerity, it was only in order to be the better able to execute what he had undertaken; had it not been for this unfortunate project (adds Rapin) he might be faid to be one of the moft accomplished princes that ever fat on the English throne."

Whether the above charge of infincerity and attempting to enilave England can appear confiflent or compatible with the king's character

as above given must be submitted to your readers; it appears to me much more credible from what Rapin has faid, that the king, as an honest man, deemed himself bound to preferve the prerogative of the crown inviolate, and tranfmit them to his fucceffors as his predeceffors had transmitted them to him, and that he acted upon fuch principles confcientiously.

Lord Clarendon, who knew every fpring of his actions, accounts more experimentally for the misfortunes-attending that reign: "The king (fays his lordship) had an excellent understanding, but was not confident enough of it, which made him oftentimes change his own opinion for a worse, and follow the advice of men that did not judge fo well as himself; this made him more irrefolute than the conjuncture of his affairs would admit."

He fought a good fight in defence of his religion and monarchy, and the anarchy that followed too fatally convinced us of it. He finished his courfe exemplarily; and as Rapin fays, fuffered death with great conftancy and refolution, without fhewing the leaft fign of weak nefs or amazement. The trueft instance of heroifm, and of the uprightness of his intentions.

We have been taught to believe it criminal to dwell on his virtues, as being one of the family of the Stuarts; but alas! he was a rara avis among them, and the times now make it neceffary to refresh our memory with our paft calamities.

The voice of liberty becomes fo licentious, and so much in the language of thofe unhappy times, that we ought to open our eyes to conviction, and our ears to the accounts which we daily receive of a repetition of thofe very calamities in Poland.

Though Poland has a king poffeffed of the trueft courage and fortitude, and who is blefied with the best of characters; the mifery of that country is now not to be equalled: but what will not liberty and licentionnefs, uncontrouled by the laws of its country, attempt and perpetrate ? Civil war, with all its evil concomitants, is now deftroying and defolating that unhappy country; and it will be wonderful from the account of it, if the king, however deferving of

a better fate, fhould escape being murthered or dethroned by his own fubjects.

Such recent troubles make the commemoration of this day more than ordinarily useful and neceffary to us; and, when we confider the unexampled goodness and exemplary conduct of our prefent king traduced and vilified with impunity by foul mouthed whisperers, we ought to guard our felves against fuch depreciating attempts, and with fervency exhort, in our feveral ftations, our fellow-countrymen and Britons "as free, not to ufe their liberty (as St. Peter exhorts them in the ritual of this day) for a cloke of malicioufnefs, but as the fervants of God, honour all men ; love the brotherhood, fear God and honour the king."

POLITICAL DISSENSIONS.

P. B.

Tr Mr. WILKES. SIR, Monday, Jan. 14,1771.

to be made public, because the objects are not private.

The Westminster bufinefs I fhalt referve for my future letter, because it is one of the pretended caufes of diffe rence. The other charges I think are, 1. That "I fubfcribed to the Society of the Bill of Rights, but never paid one fhilling."-2. That " I have received amazing fums for Mr. Ser. jeant Glynn's election, ten guineas each from moft of his friends.”—3. That "I have received fubfcriptions for the Widow Bigby's appeal.' That "I have received fupfcriptions for Mr. Gillam's Trial."-5. That "I have received fubfcriptions for the affair of the Weavers in Spitalfields."

-4.

Thefe five charges I understand to be of a public nature. After which there is a charge upon me of a private fraud in a story about Mr. Foote's Pamphlet, and Meirs. Davis the book fellers.

These particular charges I undertake to answer, and if there is any other

time ago, that it would be useful to you and your affairs to come to an open rupture with me. From this opinion has flowed all the abufe which has lately been bestowed upon me in the public papers. I believe you have miftaken a ftrong inclination for policy, and have yielded to a natural bias in oppofition to honefty and your intereit. For near three weeks paft I have been pretty clofely confined to my chamber by indifpofition, and, except the Public Advertiser, have only feen fuch papers as my friends have brought to me, whofe kindness made them feel more fenfibly than myself the injuries you have offered me.

I have hitherto feen very little worthy of an answer. except the particular charges in the Gazetteer of last Tuefday. I think it due to the public, to my friends and myself, to give to each as particular an answer. Sir, as I have never either in public or private life copied your example, I fhall not do it in this my juftification: inftead of a defence, your method has always been to recriminate; on the contrary, I fhall in this letter confine myself to the charges brought agaift me: in a future letter I will explain the nature and caufes of the differences between us: they ought

you will pleafe to remind me of it: if there is any other that you have omitted, your have my free leave to bring it.

First, I never did fubfcribe any thing to the Society of the. Bill of Rights. It is true, that in the accounts of that fociety there will be found five guineas of my money; but thefe five guineas were paid by me at the moment of fubfcribing them, at the laft fubfcription made at the King'sArms Tavern in Cornhill, fome time before the establishment of the fociety at the London Tavern. Nor do I recollect at any time to have fubfcribed any money without inftantly paying down the fmall but numerous fums I have contributed. Thefe poor five guineas were received, and the account of them brought into the fociety by Mr.B.

The fecond charge is, "the amazing furs received by me for Mr. Glynn's election; ten guineas each from moft of his friends." The subject of his charge no doubt puts me in a delicate and difficult fituation, because the particulars of it ought to be difcuffed only by Mr. Glynn and the fub, fcribers; and I am bound to be very careful that whilst I justify myself I do

not

not fay any thing that may give pain or difpleafure to others. However, I think I can fay enough on this head to fatisfy the moft fcrupulous without hurting the mok tender. I must premife that I have always carefully avoided three things. I mean the being placed upon any public occafion in any fituation of honour, truft, or profit, from which my name, my ftation, and my inclination equally diffuaded me. I have been regularly and indefatigably the drudge of almost every popular election, profecution, and public bufinefs-but never the object of any one. For three years paft my time has been entirely and my income almoft wholly applied to public meafures. But tho with great caution, and sometimes obftinacy, I have taken care never to be the chairman of any company, nor the oftenfible manager or conductor of any matter; yet I have not been able to avoid being on three occafions the receiver of money. One of them was the election of Mr. Glynn. But there were no amazing fums in the cafe. The ten guinea fubfcription amounted to 2621. Ios. of which, for want of a more diligent collector than myself, only 2201. 10s. have yet been received; and that fum has been paid away long ago either by me, or by Mr. B, the treasurer of that fubfcription. Mr. Glynn and the fubfcribers muft examine and fettle that bufinefs, and if they have no objection, I am fure I hall have none, to lay each particular article before the public.-And now I have anfwered this charge as far as you have brought it, I defire to ftrengthen the charge, by informing you, Sir, that there was another fubfcription for Mr. Glynn's election. (Indeed the ten guineas were not fubfcribed for the expences of Mr. Glynn in his election, nor was any subscription for that purpofe intended; the ten guineas were fubfcribed to pay the expences of fome dinners which about twenty of us agreed to give to the freeholders in different parts of the county in the fummer, whilft Mr.Glynn was on the circuit. The fecond fubfcription was made only after the riot on the first day of election, in order to pay the additional expences incurred by that moft villainous action, it feeming very cruel and unjust that fo barbarous and

4

wicked a contrivance should encrease the expence to Mr. Serjeant Glynn of a conteft already fufficiently expensive and which had been carried on about feven months aginft all the powers and influence of government.

This fecond fubfcription amounted to 14011. 9811. of which have been paid ; 420l. ftill remain unpaid. Of this money 4ool. were paid into the hands of Mr. Vaughan, the treasurer on this occafion; 340l. 10s. were paid into the hands of Meff. Lowry and Co. bankers in Lombard-street: 240l. 10s. were collected by me from time to time as the fubfcribers fell in my way, and were paid again by me as occafion and opportunity offered: I likewise drew on Meffrs. Lowry and Co. for the money in their hands, with which I paid the demands on Mr. Glynn as far as the money would reach them. On this point I can only fay as before, that if Mr. Glynn and the fubfcribers have no objection, I fhall have none to lay each particular article of receipt and payment before the public.

The third charge is," that I have received fubfcriptions for the widow Bigby's appeal. Bigby's appeal." The widow Bigby's appeal was not brought by my direction; I do not mean that I difapprove it; I commend the measure, and if I had been applied to, should have advised it. I think the pardon granted to the murderers of Bigby was a horrid one, I think the fame of the pardon granted to Mac Quirk, and I do not believe either of them lawful. Mr. Stamford, the attorney who was employed by the widow, applied to a gentleman of character and fortune in the city for affiftance; that gentleman brought Mr.Stamford to me, who told me what he had done and what he intended to do; but he declared himself unable to bear the expence and go on with the appeal, unless he was affifted immediately with money. I undertook the matter, made myself answerable to him, and affifted him with money, and when I faw my friends I applied to them for their help, because I was unequal to the burden alone. I did not indeed forefee that any member of the House of Commons would move for leave to bring in a bill to take away the right of appeal from the people in cafes of murder; but I did forefee that Lord Mansfield would make fuch a

till Term time, and till after hearing Counsel; although the fame Lord Mansfield confeffed that he was com mitted on a charge for an offence bailable at the very firft view, and which did not admit even the fhadow of a doubt. If any perfon did fubfcribe on this account to me or to any other, it is your business to name him.

Thus, Sir, I have answered your five charges, concerning fubfcriptions. Three of them (one faid to be left unpaid by me, and two faid to have been received by me) are totally false; there never were any fuch fubfcriptions. The other two, I hope, I have likewife answered to your diffatisfaction. Though the proof of fuch charges ought to rest upon him who brings them, yet I think I may venture fafely to take even the oppofite proof on myfelf; for I trust however difagreea. ble it is to gentlemen to put their names in the papers, I truft Mr. Richard Oliver, who is treasurer to the Society of the Bill of Rights, and Mr. Serjeant Glynn and Mr. T-ke will do me that justice which is due to me, and add the authority of their names to the truth of what I have related.

But, Sir, there is one fubfcription more that I have received, and with which you have not charged me; I mean a fubfcription of 941. 178. 9d. raifed for you in my neighbourhood, which I have brought into the fociety very lately, at the laft meeting but one at the London Tavern.

This fubfcription I did not collect; it was only conveyed by me to the fociety. It was collected publickly in an open book, by Mr. B. H. Mr. B. Mr. D. Mr. H. of my parish; and this book was brought back to me only the day before I delivered it in; however, before this fubfcription, I advanced in the payment of demands upon you 381. sd. which I am ftill to receive, and of the fubfcription itself seven guineas ftill remain unpaid to me.

Your laft charge is, that I have received money for different publications, and you call upon me to lay before the public "an account of the profits on my vamped-up Sermon, Mr. Foote's Apology, Mr. Mitling's letter, &c. afferting at the fame time that I defrauded Mr. Foote of 40 or 5ol. which I took from Meffrs. Davis the

bookfellers; and you bid me give you the evidence of Mr. Davis, both the father and the fon, and Mr. Foote's juftification of my difinterested friendhip to him."

Have you forgotten in how unmanly a manner you lately received the very manly behaviour of Mr Alderman Trecothick, when you were charged with the illiberal anonymous abufe caft on that gentleman in "the annals of his mayoralty ?" annals of three or four months!If you thought yourself juftified in refufing to acknowledge to the injured perfon an anonymous writing, how can you expect that I fhould give you an anfwer about pamphlets that bear other men's names? It is true I have always avowed whatever I have written anonymously, whenever any perfon has complained that he was injured; as in the cafes of Sir John Gibbons, Sir W. B. Proctor, Mr. Onflow, &c. it is my general rule when I am treated fairly; but the rule does not extend to you; for in those pamphlets, even if I had written them, there is no reflexion upon you: when you attribute to me the pamphlets that bear the names of other men, and call for an anfwer, you are impertinent to me and injurious to them. Perhaps fome other person may think it as probable that you fhould have written the fermon, as that I fhould have written on fubjects of law and furgery. I know indeed how you will folve that difficulty, by declaring that there is as little divinity in the one as law and furgery in the others. Sir, I fhall only answer you what you must already fuppole, viz. that of all the pamphlets I ever wrote in my life, I have regularly received the profits; and of all the pamphlets which I may hereafter write, I fhall, if I pleafe, regularly receive the profits. But that you may not envy me the amazing fums I have likewife received on that score, I will tell you exactly to what they amourt; and that I might be exact I have fettled accounts which were never before fettled. Of all the things I ever wrote in my life the profits amount to 661. 4s. 1d. not fufficient to furnish you with two months claret.

For the fraud with which you charge me on Mr. Foote, through Mellrs. Davis, the booksellers, it is a falfehood,

and