A History of Parliamentary Elections and Electioneering 38

A History of Parliamentary Elections and Electioneering 38

The day of Wilkes’s election appeared the portrait of “John Wilkes,

elected Knight of the Shire for Middlesex, March 28, 1768, by the free

voice of the people,” with, according to the allegorical taste of the

time, Hercules and Minerva as supporters, the latter crowning the elect

M.P. with a wreath, while the former tramples upon the serpent of Envy;

the genius of Liberty is holding the staff of maintenance, surmounted

by the cap of liberty (as invariably associated with Wilkes), and is

pointing to the portrait as her champion. Simultaneously appeared

an engraving commemorative of other incidents of the return from

Brentford, showing the valour of the chief magistrate of the city. The

guards on duty at St. James’s Palace had orders to be in readiness to

march at beat of drum to suppress any riots which might take place; it

has been described how certain drummers took to drumming for Wilkes,

while his sympathizers marched through Westminster to the city,

upsetting all in their way, chalking doors, breaking window-glass,

both in houses and carriages, inscribing vehicles and foot-passengers

impartially with “45.” “Wilkes and Liberty” was the cry, and woe to

those who did not join in shouting, for they, without further inquiry,

were promptly knocked down. In the city, the mob grew more outrageous,

the lord mayor being the Hon. Thomas Harley, who had been elected for

the city, at the top of the poll, when Wilkes, his name lowest on the

list, had been defeated ignominiously; moreover, the lord mayor was a

courtier, and was denounced subsequently in the _North Briton_ as “a

political gambler,” nor was the charge groundless. The mob accordingly

attacked the Mansion House and the lord mayor’s private residence

in Aldersgate Street; neither of these places being illuminated in

honour of Wilkes was a sufficient offence in the sight of the mob, who

proceeded to demolish the windows: every pane of glass was broken,

even to those of the lady mayoress’s bed-chamber. Then they erected

a gallows, on which was suspended a boot and petticoat to symbolize

the Princess of Wales, only too well-known, according to popular

clamour, in association with the Earl of Bute, the “Laird of the Boot”

thus indicated in close proximity; these suggestive emblems of hated

“secret influence” were also marked “45” for the nonce. The pictorial

satire evoked on this topic, “The Rape of the Petticoat” (March 28,

1768), exhibits the lord mayor making a sally from the Mansion House,

supported by constables armed with long staves; the chief magistrate

has himself seized the obnoxious boot and petticoat, amid the ridicule

and laughing resistance of the rabble, who are treating his lordship

to indignities. Below the design is inscribed, “He valiantly seiz’d

the Petticoat and Boot at the portal of his own Mansion.--_Daily

Advertiser._”

 

This loyal zeal was rewarded with signal favour. Harley was made a

councillor of State, and subsequently, through Lord Suffolk, obtained

a lucrative contract. To the impression of this print in the _Oxford

Magazine_ the following verses were added:--

 

“Sing thou, my muse, the dire contested fray,

Where Harley dar’d the dangers of the day;

Propitious Day, that could at once create

A Merchant Tailor[51] Councillor of State!

A numerous multitude contriv’d to meet;

And Halloo _Forty-Five_ thro’ every street;

And (what’s incredible) were heard to cry

Those words seditious, _Wilkes and Liberty_!

On lofty standards in the air did float

Those hieroglyphics ‘_Boot_ and _Petticoat_.’

Soon as their dreadful shouts accost the ear

Of grocer knights, and traders in small-beer,

Confounded and amaz’d the Guildhall court

Forget their custard, and forsake their port;

Away, with ghastly looks, lo, Harley ran,

And thus, in doleful plight, their dismal tale began:

‘Most honour’d, most belov’d, thou best of men!’

 

* * * * *

 

Then from his mansion rush’d the val’rous chief,

To serve his country, or to--take a thief:

But more resolv’d to crush Rebellion’s root,

And triumph o’er the Petticoat and Boot;

In equal balance hung the fierce dispute

Between the warlike Magistrate and Boot.

The Boot and Petticoat at length gave way,

And now remain the trophies of the day.”

 

On the 20th of April, Wilkes appeared before the Court of King’s

Bench, Westminster, of which event an engraving was published. On his

surrendering to his outlawry, the Attorney-General moved for Wilkes’s

commitment, but the judges refused to grant an order to that effect,

on the ground that he was not legally before the court; Wilkes then

left, accompanied by the plaudits of the spectators. “The Scot’s

Triumph; or, a Peep behind the Curtain” gives a further illustration of

this subject; this print, and another following, are announced in the

_Public Advertiser_:--

 

“To Connoisseurs.--This day is published a satirical scratch

in the style of Rembrandt, entitled The Scotch Triumph; with

the representation of their amazing exploits in St. George’s

Fields; the murder of the innocent, and the sacrifice of

Liberty, by Molock; with some curious anecdotes.”

 

In the first version, Wilkes and his friends are driving to surrender

in state; their coach is about to crush a Scotch thistle by the way;

the mob have taken the horses from the vehicle and are dragging it

themselves on the road to the Bench; Wilkes is thus addressing his

vociferous supporters--“Gentlemen and Friends, let me beg you to

desist; I’m willing to submit to the laws of my country.”

 

All the leading political personages are introduced as spectators.

Lord Holland, an alleged adviser of Lord Bute, is observing, “We have

got him safe in a trap at last.” “Jemmy Twitcher” (Lord Sandwich) is

responding, “Yes, but I much doubt whether we shall be able to keep him

there.” On the 27th of April, Wilkes again came up for judgment, and

was then committed to the King’s Bench Prison. On his way thither, in

the custody of two tipstaffs of Lord Mansfield, the coach was stopped

by the people, a further popular demonstration was made, the horses

were removed, and the vehicle drawn through the city by an enthusiastic

crowd, the marshal’s deputies being invited to get out. He finally was

escorted to a public-house, the Three Tuns Tavern, in Spitalfields

(or Cornhill, according to Walpole’s account); from thence, after the

departure of his demonstrative admirers, Wilkes judged it prudent

to make his escape, and surrender himself again, this time at the

prison gates and to the marshal of the King’s Bench. When the news

of his incarceration reached the mob there was a fresh uproar; the

day following, the prison was surrounded, the palings enclosing the

footpath were torn up and made into a bonfire, and the inhabitants of

Southwark found themselves under the necessity, either of illuminating

their houses, or of taking the consequences; the mob dispersed on the

arrival of a small guard.

 

Meanwhile Sergeant Glynn was arguing before all the judges of the Court

of King’s Bench respecting the errors of Wilkes’s outlawry; while,

from his place of confinement, Wilkes next proceeded to address his

sympathizing constituents:--

 

 

“TO THE GENTLEMEN, CLERGY, AND FREEHOLDERS OF THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX.

 

“GENTLEMEN,

 

“In support of the liberties of this country against the

arbitrary rule of ministers, I was before committed to the

Tower, and am now sentenced to this prison. Steadiness,

with, I hope, strength of mind, do not however leave me;

for the same consolation follows me here, the consciousness

of innocence, of having done my duty, and exerted all my

abilities, not unsuccessfully, for this nation. I can submit

even to far greater sufferings with cheerfulness, because I

see that my countrymen reap the happy fruits of my labours

and persecutions, by the repeated decisions of our Sovereign

courts of justice in favour of liberty. I therefore bear up

with fortitude, and even glory, that I am called to suffer in

this cause, because I continue to find the noblest reward,

the applause of my native country, of this great, free, and

spirited people.

 

“I chiefly regret, gentlemen, that this confinement deprives

me of the honour of thanking you in person, according to my

promise; and at present takes from me, in a great degree, the

power of being useful to you. The will, however, to do every

service to my constituents remains in its full force; and when

my sufferings have a period, the first day I regain my liberty

shall restore a life of zeal in the cause and interests of the

county of Middlesex.

 

“In this prison, in any other, in every place, my ruling

passion will be the love of England and our free constitution.

For those objects I will make every sacrifice. Under all the

oppressions which ministerial rage and revenge can invent, my

steady purpose is to concert with you, and other true friends

of the country, the most probable means of rooting out the

remains of arbitrary power and Star-chamber inquisition, and of

improving as well as securing the generous plans of freedom,

which were the boast of our ancestors, and I trust will remain

the noblest inheritance of our posterity, the only genuine

characteristic of Englishmen.

 

“JOHN WILKES.

 

“_King’s Bench Prison, May 5th, 1768._”

 

By this letter it will be seen that Wilkes chiefly appealed to what is