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fhall find that the genuine fpirit of Magna Charta, that glorious inheritance, that distinguishing 'characteristic of Englifhmen, is as religiously revered there, as I know it is here, by the great perfonages, before whom I have now the happinefs to ftand; and (as in the ever-memorable cafe ' of the imprisoned bishops) an independent jury of 'free-born Englishmen, that will perft to determine my fate, as in confcience bound, upon con'ftitutional principles, by a verdict of guilty or not guilty. I afk no more at the hands of my coun• trymen.'

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After which the court proceeded to give their opinion and Mr. Wilkes was ordered to be dif charged. He then addreffed himself to the court in the words following.

My Lords,

'GREAT as my joy muft naturally be at the de• cifion which this court with a true fpirit of liberty, has been pleafed to make concerning the unwar'rantable feizure of my perfon, and all the other confequential grievances, allow me to affure you that I feel it far lefs fenfibly on my own account, than I do for the public. The fufferings of an 'individual are a trifling object, when compared with the whole, and I fhould blush to feel for myfelf in comparison with confiderations of a nature fo tranfcendently fuperior.

I will not trouble you with my poor thanks. Thanks are due to you from the whole English 'nation, and from all the fubjects of the English crown. They will be paid you together with every teftimony of zeal and affection to the learned ferjeant, who has fo ably and fo conftitutionally • Mr. Serjeant Glynn.

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pleaded

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pleaded my cause, and in mine (with pleasure I fay it) the cause of liberty. Every teftimony of my gratitude is justly due to you, and I take leave ⚫ of this court with a veneration and refpect, which ⚫ no time can obliterate, nor can the most grateful • heart fufficiently express.'

When Mr. Wilkes had ended, the audience burst into an univerfal fhout, which was often repeated. Mr. Wilkes staid fome time in a room adjoining to the court, in expectation that the crowd would difperfe: at last, finding that it continually encreased, he went out of the back door of the common pleas, and was received by a prodigious multitude of people who attended him, amidst continual acclamations, to his own house in Great George Street, Westminster. The evening concluded with bonfires, illuminations, and other rejoicings.

VIVANT REX ET JUDICES REGIS.

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On Mr. Wilkes's return home from the court of common pleas, he fent the following letter to the secretaries of state.

Great George Street, May 6, 1763.

My Lords, ON my return here from Westminster Hall, where I have been discharged from my commitment to the Tower under your lordships warrant, I find that my houfe has been robb'd, and am informed that the ftolen goods are in the poffeffion of one or both of your lordships. I therefore infift that you do forthwith return them to

Your humble fervant

Directed to

JOHN WILKES.

the earls of Egremont and Halifax, his majefty's principal fecretaries of ftate.

[Next morning Mr. Wilkes in perfon, attended only by Mr. Grignion, of Ruffel-Street, CoventGarden, went to fir John Fielding's, in Bow-Street, and demanded a warrant to search the houses of the earls of Egremont and Halifax, his majesty's principal fecretaries of ftate, for the goods ftolen out of his house, which he had received information were lodged at the faid houses of the fecretaries of state, or one of them. John Spinnage, Efq; the fitting juftice, refused to iffue the faid warrant.]

The next day Mr. Wilkes received the following anfwer to his letter.

SIR,

Great George Street, May 7, 1763.

IN answer to your letter of yefterday, in which you take upon you to make ufe of the indecent and fourrilous expreffions of your having found your houfebad been robbed, and that the ftolen goods are in our poffeffion: we acquaint you that your papers were feized in confequence of the heavy charge brought against you, for being the author of an infamous and feditious libel, tending to inflame the minds, and alienate the affections of the people from his majesty, and excite them to traiterous infurrections against the government; for which libel, notwithftanding your discharge from your commitment to the Tower, his majefty has ordered you to be profecuted, by his attorney general.

We are at a lofs to guess what you mean by stolen goods: but fuch of your papers as do not lead to a proof of your guilt, fhall be restored to you; fuch as are neceffary for that purpose, it was our duty to deliver over to thofe, whofe office it is to collect H 2

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To this anfwer Mr. Wilkes fent,the following reply, viz.

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My Lords,

Great George-ftreet, May 9, 1763.

• LITTLE did I expect, when I was requiring from your lordships what an Englishman has a right to, his property taken from him, and faid to be in your lordfhips poffeffion, that I fhould have received in anfwer, from perfons in your high station, the expreffions of indecent and fourrilous applied to my legal demands. The respect I bear to his majefty, whofe fervants it feems you ftill are, though you ftand legally convicted of having in me violated, in the higheft and most offenfive manner, the liberties of all the com'mons of England, prevents my returning you an anfwer in the fame Billingfgate language. If I confidered you only in your private capacities, I fhould treat you both according to your deferts: but where is the wonder that men, who have attacked the facred liberty of the fubject, and have iffued an illegal warrant to feize his property, fhould proceed to fuch libellous expreffions? You fay, "that fuch of my papers fhall be restored "to me, as do not lead to a proof of my guilt." I owe this to your apprehenfion of an action, not to your love of juftice; and in that light, if I can believe your lordship's affurances, the whole will be returned to me. I fear neither your pro

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fecution,

fecution, nor your perfecution; and I will affert the fecurity of my own houfe, the liberty of my perfon, and every right of the people, not fo 'much for my own fake, as for the fake of one of my English fellow fubjects.

I am,
my Lords,

every

Your humble fervant,

JOHN WILKES. ̧

Directed to

the earls of Egremont and Halifax, his majefty's principal fecretaries of State.

[On the first day of the feffions of parliament (Nov. 15, 1763.) Mr. Wilkes made the following. Speech.]

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Mr. Speaker,

"I THINK it my duty to lay before the house a 'few facts, which have occured fince our laft meeting, because, in my humble opinion, (which 'I fhall always fubmit to this houfe) the rights of all the Commons of England, and the privileges of parliament have, in my perfon, been highly violated. I fhall at prefent, content myfelf with barely ftating the facts, and leave the mode of proceeding to the wifdom of the house.

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On the 30th of April, in the morning, I was 'made a prifoner in my own house, by fome of the ̧ king's meffengers. I demanded by what authority they had forced their way into my room, and was fhewn a warrant in which no perfon was named in particular, but generally the authors, printers and publishers of a feditious and treafon-, able paper, entitled, The North Briton, No. 45. The meffengers infifted on my going before lord Halifax, which I abfolutely refufed, because the

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warrant

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