Hon. Philip Yorke to Horace Walpole-Battle of Fontenoy. In sieges they are to furnish one-third, and we the rest. The expense of the land carriage of artillery is to be borne by the government in Flanders. I take it for granted they could be brought to no more, though it is a most unaccountable thing that we should be at so much trouble to persuade them into what is absolutely requisite, for their own security and independence. Have you seen my Lord's speech at taking leave? It is quite calculated for the language it is writ in, and makes but an indifferent figure in English. The thoughts are common, and yet he strains hard to give them an air of novelty, and the quaintness of the expression is quite à la Francaise. You may observe it is intended to steer wide of the alert, and military, and invective turn which reigns through Lord Stair's harangue, and so far was prudent. Besides the three regiments of Mordaunt, Rice, and Handasyde, there is a draft of 540 men, fifteen per company, made out of the Guards, which embarked on Sunday for Flanders. With these reënforcements, and what the Dutch are sending, we hope to look the enemy once more in the face; and if Tournay does but hold out, some attempt will be made, either by diversion or attack, to raise the siege. Martin is returned as usual, re infecta. People imagined he was gone to the Leeward Islands in search of Caylus, who threatens to invade Nevis and St. Kitts, where I doubt we are weak. There is an expectation that the Elector of Cologne will join his troops to D'Aremberg. If he does, and Bathiany's come down to the Rhine, we trust Monsieur le Prince must leave the coast clear, and that Smessart's corps at least may be detached for Flanders. You see, sir, we follow the Roman ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito, and really people are less dispirited with William Strahan to David Hume-Wilkes, and the Middlesex Elections. this than I expected, and full of encomiums on the gallant spirit which has shown itself in our officers and private men. And now, sir, I must heartily beg your pardon for this long letter-I should rather call it despatch. This I promise you, not to trouble you with one so long in haste, for I am naturally a lazy correspondent; but when the scribbling fit is upon me, it is as difficult to leave off, as it was uneasy to begin. One question let me put to you, and then I have done. Why are you quite immersed in re rustica? Put your papers in order, write some memoirs for the instruction of your friends, or if you will, posterity, of your own negotiations and Lord Oxford's ministry. Methinks I should be loath to go down to future times, either portrayed with all the features of deformity which Lord Bolingbroke's pen can give, or what is as bad, daubed over with the sign-post coloring of the Gazetteers. But I run on insensibly, and you will excuse my freedom as the strongest proof that I can give you of the regard wherewith I am, etc., P. YORKE. X.-WILKES, AND THE MIDDLESEX ELECTIONS.* William Strahan to David Hume. LONDON, April 1st, 1768. Mr. Wilkes (the hero of our tale) made his appearance here some weeks ago, gave notice of his intention to surrender himself at the bar of the King's Bench next term, and walked * The memorable transactions growing out of the imprisonment of Wilkes, and which made him a popular hero, terminated in securing to the British subject a most valuable muniment of liberty. Lord Halifax, one of the Secretaries of State, issued a roving commission, directing his messengers to search for the authors, printers, and publishers of No. 45 of the "North Briton;" to apprehend and seize them, together with their papers, and to bring them in William Strahan to David Hume-Wilkes, and the Middlesex Elections. the streets as publicly as he could well do, to evade the attempts of his private creditors to secure him. When the election for the city drew near, he, an outlaw and a beggar, without a shilling in his pocket, offered himself as a candidate; and, contrary to all expectation, a spirit was quickly infused into the lowest class of people, which must have ensured him success, had the livery of London been composed in any great measure of such. The appearance for him at Guildhall on the day of election was considerable, not of livery-men, however, but of real mob. I was there upon the hustings and very near the candidates, so that I distinctly heard every word that was spoken. Wilkes' address (which you must have read in the papers) was delivered with more coolness and presence of mind than could have been expected, from one who was acting so bold a part. Harley, the Lord Mayor, spoke last and best. He said he did not stand up to make apologies for his conduct in Parliament, because he was not conscious it needed any; that no man safe custody before him. Under this warrant no less than forty-nine persons were arrested on suspicion in three days; many as innocent as Lord Halifax himself. The messengers at length discovered that Wilkes was the culprit of whom they were in search, and received verbal directions to arrest him under the general warrant. Wilkes refused to obey, declaring it "a ridiculous warrant against the whole English nation." The messengers, after removing him, ransacked his drawers, and carried off all his private papers. He was com mitted as a close prisoner to the Tower, from which, by reason of his privilege as a member of the House of Commons, he was shortly released on habeas corpus. Actions were brought against the messengers and the Secretaries of State, and notwithstanding obstinate and vexatious resistance by the Government, heavy damages were recovered. The illegality of general warrants was affirmed in the strongest terms from the Bench, and afterwards in declaratory resolutions by the House of Commons. For fuller history of this case, the reader is referred to the recent and valuable “Constitutional History of Eng. land," by J. E. May.-H. William Strahan to David Hume-Wilkes, and the Middlesex Elections. was a firmer friend to liberty, or would go farther in its defence than himself, but he was for liberty bounded by law, the only basis of true liberty; that in the high office he had now the honor to hold, it behoved him above all things to attend to the preservation of the public peace of the city; he therefore begged that, in their choice of representatives, they would put him entirely out of the question, and fix upon those whom they thought best able to discharge so important a trust. Upon holding up of hands the choice fell upon Mr. Wilkes to be one; but onefourth of those in the hall were not of the livery. From that moment his consequence began, though the poll ended against him; and yet greatly beyond what was expected. During its continuance he appeared every day on the hustings, though he was more than once arrested there, at the instance of his private creditors. But he found bail for his appearance, braved it out to the last, and was attended by a considerable mob every day. When he found the poll going against him, he publicly gave out he would stand for Middlesex. There he was likely to stand a better chance. An incredible number of petty freeholders of that county, from Wapping and its environs, immediately declared for him; and, on the day of election, he carried it with ease, and with very little disturbance at Brentford, though the whole road thither was lined with mob, who insulted everyone who would not join in the cry of Wilkes and liberty. This success immediately reached London, and occasioned such an intoxication in the mob-men, women, and children-that they spread themselves from Hyde Park Corner to Wapping, and broke everybody's windows who refused to illuminate their houses; among the rest, those of the mansion-house of the Lord Mayor, who happened that night to sleep in the country, were quite de William Strahan to David Hume-Wilkes, and the Middlesex Elections. molished; and though a party of soldiers were at length sent for by the Mayoress, from the Tower, they, when they came (so general was the infatuation), seemed more disposed to assist the mob than to disperse them. You will not easily believe it, but it is true, that the Dukes of Grafton and Northumberland, and many others of the first nobility, nay, some of the royal family itself (viz., the Princess Amelia, and the Dukes of Gloucester and Cumberland), were mean enough to submit to illuminate their windows upon this infamous occasion, in obedience to the orders of a paltry mob, which a dozen of their footmen might easily have dispersed. If you ask me why was not Wilkes secured on his arrival, and before he had acquired his present consequence? the answer is plain; the ministry were part of them timid, and part of them secretly his friends. The outlawry, says the present AttorneyGeneral, cannot he defended because of some informalities in the passing of it, and his predecessor who did pass it, is in opposition. The Duke of Grafton, though then in town, is now at Newmarket; the Chancellor at Bath; the rest electioneering in different parts of the country, or skulking in town; but not one of them disposed to prevent the insult to their master, or to issue orders for a party of the Guards (and a small one would have been sufficient) to clear the streets. on, The next night the same illuminations were again insisted and the same insolence, with the same impunity, was repeated. Strange, in truth, must it appear to friends and to enemies at home and abroad, that a criminal, an outlaw, a man in every sense a wretch, should be chosen by men who call themselves loyal, to represent the very county honored with the royal resi dence; and this attended, too, with many marks of insolence, |