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From the National Inteligr.iccr.
BIOGRAPHY OF JOHN WILKES.
( Cmiinixd.)
<l About a week after he suddently with drew
to France ; a retreat which prudence, riot ti
midity, occasioned. His circumstances were
much involved, and, though fcarl< ‘ . to encoun
ter any peril, by which reputation was to be
gained, he yet thought it wise to avoid the risk
of suffering those more private claims, against
which no honor could be acquired. From Pa
ris where he sought an asylum, he certified to
the speaker of the house of commons, l>y the
signature of the physician of the king of Fanre,
and other gentlemen, his confinement to his
loom, and the impossibility, from hi , state of
health, of his venturing to undertake the jour
ney back to England. U utisfied, of course,
with the neglect with which the house had
passed over his complaint of privilege, he how
ever had sufficient ground for triumph in the
verdict found for him in the court of common
pleas. He had early brought his action against
.Robert Wood esq. the undersecretary of state,
for the seizure of bis papers, as the supposed
author of the North Britain. It was tried,, be
fore a special jury, on the Olh of December,
nnd 1000/damages were given. The charge
to the jury, delivered by lord chief justice
Pratt, concluded thus :—This warrant hs un
constitutional, illegal and absolutely void ; it is
a general warrant, directed to four messengers,
to take up any persons, without naming and
describing them with any certainty, and to ap
prehend them, together with their papers; If
it he good, a secretary of state can delegate
nnd depute any of the messengers, or any even
from tho lowest of people, to take the examin
ations, to commit, or to release, and to do every
act which the highest judicial officers the law
ltnows, can do, or order. There is no order in
our law books that mentions these kinds of
warrants, hut several that in express words
condemn them. Upon the maturcst considera
tion, I am hold toaay, that this warrent is illegal; i
hut 1 am far from wishing a matter of this eon
sequence to rest solely on my opinion ; 1 am
only one of twelve, whose opinions 1 am de
sirous should be taken in this matter, and 1 am ]
very willing to allow myself to be the meanest
of the twelve. There is still a higher court
before which this matter may he canvascsd,
wild whose determination is final; and here I
cannot help obsci viug the happiness ofourcon
sitution m admitting these appeals in conse
quence of which material points are determin
ed on the most mature consideration, and with
the greatest solemnity. To this admirable de
lay of the law (for in this case the law’s delay
may lie stiled admirable) I believe it is chiefly
owing that vve possess the best digested, and
most excellent body of law, which any- nation
on the face of the globe, whether ancient or mo
dern, could ever boast. If these higher ju
risdictions should declare my opinion errone
ous, I submit, as will become me, and kiss the
rod ; but I must sav, I shall always consider it
as a rod of it on for the chastisement of the peo
ple of Grtat-lh itaiu.”
On the 11th of March the public were awak
ened by the following address:
“ To the liverymen of the city of Lmtlon.
“ Gentlemen and Fellow-Citizens,
“ In deference to the opinion of some very
respectable friends, I presume to otter my self
a candidate for my native city of London, at the
ensuing general election. The approbation
you have lx.-on pleased on several occasions to
express of my conduct, induces me to hope
that the address, 1 have now the honor of ma
king to you, will not be unfavorably received.—
The chief merit with you gentlemen; 1 know
to be a sacred love of lilwity, and of those ge
nerous pcineiples, which at first gave and have
since secured to this nation the great character
of freedom. I will yield to none of. my coun
trymen in this noble zeal, which has always
characterised Englishmen. 1 may appeal to
my whole conduct, both in and out of parlia
ment, for the demonstration that such princi
ples are deeply rooted in my heart and that I
have steadily pursued the interests of my coun
try, without regard to the powerful enemies 1
created, or the manifest dangers in which I
must thence be necessarily involved; and that
1 have fulfilled the duties of a good subject.-
The two important questions of public liberty,
respecting general warrants and the seizure
of papos may perhaps place ntc among those
who have deserved well of mankind, by an un
daunted firmness, perseverance, and probity;
these are the virtues which your ancestors
never failed to exert in the same national cause
of liberty, and the world will see. renewed in
their descendants on every great call of frcc
dtmi and our country. The nature and digni
ty of the trust, gentlemen, which 1 >aw solicit,
strikes me very forcibly. I feel the warmest
zeal for your interests and aflcction for your
service. lam conscious how unequal my abi
lities are, yet fidelity and integrity shall in some
measure compensate that deficiency, and I
will endeavor through life to merit the continu
ance of your nppohution ; the most precious re
ward to which I aspire. If lam honored w ith
so near a relation to you, it will be my ambiti
on to be u refill, to dedicate myself to your ser
vice, and to discharge with spirit and assiduity,
the various and important duties of the distin
guished station in which I nuiy he placed bv
the favor of you, gentlemen of the livery of
London.
I am, with the utmost respect, your most
faithful and obedient, humble servant,
JLreA 10, 17M,” JOHN WILK.ES.
Nothing could well be mere auventurou
than this declaration. Biokcn in fortune, out
lawed, two convictions upon record against
him, should that outlawry be reversed, the
throne and its ministers arrayed in opposition
to him, unsupported as heretofore by connec
tion with the great, with nothing on his side
hut the favor of the multitude—relying upon
that favor and animated win an undaunted spi
rit. of energy, lie took his stand, anti dared his
antagonists to remove him. This stand was
not made unadvisedly. His letter of submis
sion to the king was written on the 4th of
March, his address to the liverymen of London
on the 10th of the same month. It was pro
bably intended as prelusive to the course upon
which he had determined. It was not the mere
populace only that supported him. He was
looked up to by the middle ranks of society as
a martyr for their rights. The fate of the let
ter in no way could have been other than of ad
vantage to him. If received with benignity,
and fit., pardon granted, from many of his clifli
- cultics he would have instantly been relieved.
Couched in terms of humility to the sovereign,
yet as is still arraigned the lormer servants of
the crown, he perhaps scarcely expected it
would be treated otherwise than it was. It un
noticed, or rejected, as the enmity home to
wards his person and his cause would be more
apparent, his claim upon the affection of the
people would of course be strengthened. His
outlawry was lie knew, no bar to his return to
parliament. Precedents of outlaws sitting as
representatives existed at once precise and nu
merous. The love of the people vas his ; to
that lie trusted, and through that he triumphed.
He threw himself into their embrace, and it at
length bore him safely to shore—
* /iraece/:s sal! a oese emnibui arris
In fuviurn dedite idle uno cum gurgitrfavo
AccefUit venientem , ac mollibus cxtulc uluis *
“ The election for the city of London took
place on the 16th. Six candidates started
along with him, and though finally tho lowest
in number on the poll, lie yet had arespectable
minority of votes. Battled in the city he de
clared himself a candidate of the county. The
sympathy of popular opinion in Bie interval
spread from man to man. The beacon On one
liiil was answered by the flame knitted on the
next. They were friendly siguiis, that the
country was in arms for his detente. He car
ried his election for Middlesex on Monday the
28th, against ‘.wo gentlemen.of large property
and hereditary interest, and caned it by a
great majority. The whole pull was conduc
ted with the greatest regularity and order, nor
was the least violence offered ;o the voters of
cither party.
Mr. Wiikcr., on the 22d, a week previous to
the day of election tor Middlesex, wiote to tlio
solicitor of the treasury, intimating his inten
tion, in the ensuing term, to appear personally
at the court of king’s bench. Mr. \Vilkes ful
filed his engagement, and no sooner had finish
ed tho add. ess in which he surrendered him
self up to the discretion of the court, than the
attorney general moved for his instant commit
ment upon the outlawry Mr. attorney general
( riiuriow) was replied to by Mi. Serjeant Glynn
and other counsel, who moved on their part
for a writ of error: it had before then been
demanded of the law-otticers of the crown and
had been refused. Lord Mansfield and the
rest of the judges concurred that they could not
commit upon ci voluntary appearance; The
attorney general could not with- the least ap
pearance of reason or law move for the com
mitment of a person who was not legally be
fore them ; nor had the counsel for the defen
dant any better plea for their motion in favor
of a man who appeared in court gratis;” Both
partis were dismissed, (i'll the 27th at noon,
Mr. Wilkes was served with a writ of capias
utlagatum , and in about a week after, writs of
error were allowed. Bail offered in behalf of
Mr. Willkts, was rejected by the attorney ge
neral, and he consequently ordered to the king’s
bench prison. The uproar of the muttitude
during these events, amt tile armed prepara
tions and military precaution of the ministry
arc well known. Mr. Wilkes’s letter of thanks
to the electors of Middlesex on his being cho
sen their representative, was written to them
from prison, on the sth of May. The argu
ment upon the outdaw-ry was heard m>oti the
7th of the same month, and on the 9th of June
in the following tcrm.it Was finally reversed.
The outlawry reversed, objections were next
taken to the verdicts found against him. A
mongst others one Was vehemently urged on
the ground of the informations having been ut
tered by lord Mansfield, without the consent of
the solicitor or the defendant, the evening pre
vious to the trial. The wort! tenor was substi
tuted for purport. That it was altered without
the consent of the defendant’s agent is true;
but in none but a political cause would a prac
titi . icr of experience have withheld his con
sent.
The objections were overruled ; and be was
sentenced, for rc-printhig and publishing the
North Briton, No. 45, to pay a fine of 5001. and
finning already been imprisoned two) to a con
finement of ten mouths longer. For publish
ing the Essay on Woman his sentence was to
pay a second fine of 5001. and to be imprisoned
for another twelve month. lie was at the ex
piration of these terms to find securities tor his
future conduct during seven years, lnniself un
der a penalty of IOC , 1. his sureties in 5001.
each. This judgment was far milder than had
been expected by the public : and it is said in
deed ’hat Mr. Wilkes might, had he chosen so
to do, have certainly made, at this period, his
peace with government. A negotiation was
opened w ith him upon the subject, with the
knowledge of the duke of Grafton (the prime
minister), and gne condition cniy was proposed
to fifir., in which F.c refwwcf ti dr.r.aT'. Mr.
Wilkes declared, on th.. 3d of November, to
the freeholders of Middlesex, that he should
shortly present to the House cf Commons a
petition relative to his case, upon which lie
should demand their decision.. This, admir.i r
nation foresaw, would necessarily involve in its
discussion all the transactions of the late Par
liament. The condition therefore proposed,
upon which he was to take his seat unimpeded,
was, that his petition should not he presented.
A pledge, however, be conceived had been
given to the contrary, and from this public
pledge lie resolved not to withdraw. The pe
tition was laid before the House on the follow
ing day by Sir J. Mawbey. It was received as
the declaration of a second war.
On the 10th of May the popr.lr.ee had as
sembled in great numbers about the neighbor
hood of the king’s bench prison, where .Mr.
Wilkes was in confinement. T iic notact was
lead by the justices of Surrey, and the mob
not dispersing, the military was imprudently
ordered to fire : several persons were slightty
wounded, and some more seriously, and one
was kitted on the spot. Lord Weymouth, the
secretary of state, had written to the magis
trates a letter dated April 17th, exhorting them
to firmness in the suppression of any popular
tumult which might arise: and lord Barring
ton, the secretary at war, returned written
thanks after the fatal 10th of May, in the name
of His majesty, to the officers and soldiers of
the regiment of guards which had been em
ployed upon the occasion. T hese two letters
were transmitted to the newspapers by Mr.
Wilkes, accompanied with some prefatory re
marks, in which he termed the unhappy trans
action a massacre. Os these remarks he avow
ed himself, at the bar of the House of Corn
mons, to he the author. The remarks were
voted libellous, and he, as the author of them,
was expelled. If the people were irritated be
fore, they were still more irritated now. If
Mr. Wilkes was dear to them before, he was
now endeared to them tenfold. If before the
voice ol'the county.of Middlesex was favorable
to him, it was now wholly his own ; it uttered
no sound but that of his name, unless it was the
cry, ‘Liberty,’ which echoed far ..ml wide, was
considered as almost synonymous with
‘ Wilkes.’ He Was re-chosen on the i£th Fe
bruary, without opposition. On the following
day he was declared by a majority of the House
of Commons incapable cf being elected into
that Parliament, and the election was vacated.
This was assuming at Once that the expulsion
of a member of Parliament was equivalent to
exclusion ; and that a single branch cf the le
gislature could controui by its fiat the choke of
electors, however explicitly declared. But
it-rested not here. On the 17tii of February,
the day after his re-election, Mr. Wilkes was
again expelled, the House resolving that lie
was incapable cf being elected into that Parlia
ment. Notwithstanding this resolution, he
was a third time elected again without opposi
tion ; a Mr. Dinglcy indeed ottering himself
as a candidate, but not- obtaining a single free
holder even to nominate him. That election
was also, on the next day, declared void. On
the 13th of April, Mi’. Wilkes Was, a fourth
time elected, by a majority of 1143 votes, a
gainst Mr. kuttreil, who had only 296. The
same day the House ol Commons resolved,
‘ That Mr. Luttrcll ought to have been return
ed.’ On the 29th of April a petition was pre
sented by Sir George Saville, from tho. free
holders of Middlesex, declaring that their in
tention was not, in voting for Mr. Wilkes, to
throw away those votes, or wave their right of
representation, and praying therefore against
the return of Mr. Luttrelb Notwithstanding
which it was finally determined on the Bth of
May, ‘ that Mr. Luttrcll was duly elected’
Mr. W’s. contests, like the battles of Homer,
arose one above the other in progressive ma
jesty. Not within the walls of tho legislative
assemblies only was it fought, but without al
so ; in the Wider plains of literature, of general
intellect, and general feeling. In this, his
fiercest and most important fight, the immor
tals descended into the war. The gravity of
Johnson, biassed bv its favorite political pre
possessions, brought forward to the aid of pow
er its impressive weight. The sage Black
stone. with his book of wisdom, the characters
of whkh were attempted to be read against
him, supported also the cause of ministers.
Burke, more subtle, if less vehement than in
latter days, broke his lance in defence of po
pular right; Burke, supporting as utility seem
ed to him to require, the people or the throne ;
and turning, like the poet’s feigned Almanzor,
in favor of the weaker side, the scale of for
tune. Above all, the fiery and the rapid Ju
nius, in dazzling armour, but-his beaver down,
coursed along the lists, scattering lightnings
round him. Nor were the thunders rolled it.
the senate? less-awful'than the eloquence ofthe
press. Lord Chatham, how much soever he
had once personally condemned Mr. Wilkes,
was now, with the fullness of his great soul, of
his party ; for his party was that of the consti
tution. He quoted Lord Somers and Lord
Holt ; “ he catted them honest men, who knew
and loved the English constitution. I’ vow to
God (to lord Mansfield, who defended the
measures of the majority,) I vow to God, I
thank your lordship equals them both in abili
ties. The house of lords is privileged to in
terfere, in the case of an invasion of the peo
ple’s liberties ; and the case of the county of
Middlesex is a case of such invasion.*’
To the vote of the 17th of February, 1769,
wisely and fortunately no resistance was made
but the resistance of logic and complaint ; the
nnirmcr was loud and long, but vented itself
in the legal mode permitted and justified by
the constitution. The petitions presented to
pa;litim3nt were, hv Lord Chatham, styled
honorable and manly , by the partfsafis of
ministers seditious, by some of them even trea
sonable.
(To be concluded in our next.J
From the liichmond Enquirer.
A nation that would avoid war, fhonld be prepared
fur it.
V. Manufactory of Arms. —This splendid
establishment, the ornament and pride of Vir
ginia. deserves to he particularly known to our
countrymen. The ennu. 1 report of its enligh
tened superintendant have already informed
them ‘<f the kind-and quantity ci arms annually
manufactured there; but no account has yet
been published, of the admirable machinal y ‘‘ Jt
which it works these effects. Under an ini-’
prassron, therefore, that seme 3ttch information
would be both amusing and instructive, we havd
determined, amidst the present drought ofotlw
cr matters, to lay the following description oi it
before ocr readers.
The Virginia manufactory of arms'is'situat
ed on the James river navigation canai, at i;
entrance into the city of Richmond ; which
canal is capable at all seasons of furnishing an
abundant supply of water foronerating the ma
chinery for sav illg manual labour, in tl. e various,
branches of the work. As the manufactory af
for lsa fall of 51 feet (perpendicular) from the:
canal to the l iver, which arc about two hundred’
and twenty yards asunder; this site possessed
the advantages of a navigation by batteaux nF
about two hundred miles above ; and by sea
vessels into the ocean, about two hundred miles
below.
I>y means of this navigation, all’the raw ma
terials proper forthe fabrication cf arms of. eve
ry description (which are afforded in the most
prclr.se abundance on this river) ar? brought
to the door ol the wctrksrat an easy and cheap*
rate. This manufactory was designed for the
fabrication of every species of small arms, as•
well as all kinds of ordnance, proper for the
held, fortifications,’ and the equipment of na
vies; and being placed on the declivity of a.
bill, in a healthy situation, possesses the bene
fits cf a free circulation of fresh air to all its
parts, while it is secure from attacks by a na
val force, and never impeded in its operations
by the inundations of the river. The fall is so
extensive, that the same water is used three
several times in its descent from the cahal.ta
the river ; the first and second operations are
applied to the machinery for making small arms ;
and the third to the boring and turning of erd*
nance.
The buildings are constructed to suit the
three operations of water above-mentioned ;
the walks, are substantially made of stone and
brick; and the whole so connected as to makes
one uniform building; which surrounds an.ex
tensive area or open court. ‘Flic north frontis
three hundred and ten feet in length, re twenty
four in breadth, with the principal gate-way
and balfry in its centre ; it borders on the ca
nal so as to receive raw materials with the great
est convenience from the bouts which navigate- it.
1 lie apartments of the lower story arc appro
priated to tlte storing of materials; and to work
shops; and those of the upper story, to stock
ing and finishing muskets; rifles, swards and
pistols:
To each extreme of this front, a wing cotw
sisting of three buildings is attached at right- an
gles thereto ; the bases of which are ol different
elevations, and suited to the three operations of
water as above. To southern enuremites of
these wings (each to which is an hundred
and seventy-two ifcet long) polygonal buildings
are attached. These being built on a circle,
enclose the yard, and form the south front, in
the centre of which, is placed the Founclary
for cannon, and adjacent thereto, the mill or
machine forthe boring and turning the ct.f.
The lower apartments of this front are design
ed for cooking, washing See. and the apartments
irr the upper story for habitations for the arti
ficers.
Ibe wa'er for oporatirtg the machinery is
taken from the canal in two distinct streams,
winch are carried by subterraneous passages
into each respective wing; where all the opera
tions of the machtnery, working by water for
. saving manual labour are carried on. Tha
water is first applied to four overshot water
wheels, two of which are placed in each wing;,
and the machinery attached to them is precise
ly similar in each wing; being designed for
similar operations. Those four water wheels*,
to which every simple machinery is attached
forthe purpose, operate 28 bellows; 12 grind
stones; the works for rough and smooth loot
ing musket, rille and pistol barrels; the works,
for polishing, drilling, milling of screws and
sundry other operati.ors; also, two simple en
gines on the chain pump principle, fcrxelerat
ing water into reservoirs, standing in the roofs
ot the btiilcliugs; from which it may be con
veyed throughout the interior of the works,
with a view to secure- them against accidental
fires.
After performing these several operations,,
the two streams of water are conveyed from
under those w heels, by subterraneous culverts,
to two tilt hammer forges; one of which is
placed at the suthern extremity of each'wing ;
where the second operation of the water is
performed on two breast water-wheels, which
work the hammers for heating out the bar-iron
into proper form for ah the purposes cf making
small arms, and of rendering the iron mare
rough and malleable ; and also a machine for
cutting with great case, the largest bar-iron,
into such pieces as are required for the various
parts of arms: and it is intended, that a ma
chine to be operated by this second fall of wa-
I’m, shall fc'e erected for cutting with great*