American Affairs.--Re-election of Wilkes.--His Second
Expulsion.--Payment of the King’s Debts.--Third Election and
Expulsion of Wilkes.--Loyal Demonstrations.--Address of the
Merchants of London.--Riots.--Lutterell appears as Candidate
for Middlesex.--Wilkes again Elected and Expelled.--Lutterell
declared duly Returned.--Excitement of the Country.--Meeting of the
Freeholders of Middlesex.--Close of the Session.
1769.
The flame Grenville had kindled still blazed in the Colonies. The
Assembly of New York declared by vote, that they had an internal
legislature of their own, and for that vote their Assembly was
dissolved. The English Parliament addressed the King against the
refractory behaviour of the colony of Massachuset’s Bay. He answered,
he would give the orders they recommended, as the most effectual method
of bringing the authors of the late disorders to condign punishment.
The Administration prepared a severe bill of præmunire against the
Colonies, and even meditated taking away the charter of Massachuset’s
Bay. The Chancellor was exceedingly alarmed at these authoritative
plans, and looked on them as partly levelled at him, who must have
contradicted himself ignominiously if he joined in them, or risked
the loss of the Seals if he opposed them; but he prevailed on the
Duke of Grafton to overrule the scheme, which had been the work of
Lord Hillsborough, and it was laid aside. The Ministers, too, were
sufficiently embarrassed with Wilkes.
He was once more rechosen for Middlesex, February the 16th, without
opposition, being proposed by two members, James Townshend and
Sawbridge. The next day Lord Strange moved the House that Mr. Wilkes
having been expelled, was and is incapable of sitting in the _present_
Parliament. This Beckford strongly opposed; and Dowdeswell proposed
that his crimes should be specified, as in the case of Sir Robert
Walpole. Grenville seconded, and moved that mere expulsion should
not be deemed a foundation of incapacity. When Sir Robert Walpole
was rejected on his re-election, Parliaments were triennial; being
now septennial, the punishment of Wilkes would be more than double.
T. Townshend threatened the House, that the freeholders of Middlesex
would, _in a body_, petition the King to dissolve the Parliament. On a
division for amendment of the question on Dowdeswell’s idea, 102 were
for it, 224 against it; and then the simple question of expulsion
being put, it was carried by 235 to 89.[202] Wilkes, however, the very
next morning persisted in offering himself again to the county of
Middlesex, and dispersed handbills for that purpose.
The next step of the Court was weak, and betrayed their timidity. Not
satisfied with the interposition of the House of Commons in favour of
the condemned chairmen, against which no objection could lie, they had
recourse to an expedient, which, however humane, was liable to censure
from the novelty, and did occasion a controversy in print. It appeared,
that by the negligence of Macquirk’s counsel, no surgeons had been
called before the Bench at his trial, to depose whether Clarke had died
of his wounds or not. Had he had no counsel, the judges themselves
would have ordered surgeons to give their opinion on Clarke’s death.
On representation of this neglect to the King, the Chancellor advised
his Majesty to refer the consideration to a court of examiners, or
surgeons. Bromfield, a surgeon and an apothecary, made a report, that
in their opinions, Clarke had not died of his wounds, but from a bad
habit of blood, inflamed by strong liquors, after the election. On this
Balf was entirely pardoned, Macquirk respited till other favourable
circumstances could be examined[203]--and next month he was pardoned
too. The grand jury in the meantime found a bill against Sir William
Beauchamp Proctor, Tatum, an agent of the Duke of Northumberland, and
Broughter, a boxer and yeoman of the guard, for hiring the mob that
committed the riot and murder at Brentford--but it came to nothing.
On the 21st a meeting was held at the London Tavern, of the principal
gentlemen and merchants of Middlesex in the interest of Wilkes, when
three thousand three hundred and forty pounds were subscribed to
support him and his cause; and a committee was appointed to promote the
same throughout the Kingdom. The Assembly then formed themselves into
a society which they denominated the Supporters of the Bill of Rights.
The city of Bath also sent instructions to its members to the same
tenor with those of the city of London.
On the 24th was read in the committee of the House of Commons, Sir
George Saville’s quieting Bill, called the Nullum Tempus, of which
an account has been given before. When it had been rejected the last
year, there had been a kind of promise that it should be suffered to
pass another time; yet the Ministers, to save as much as possible of
prerogative, proposed that the prescription should be granted only for
the last sixty years, instead of a current and constant prescription of
sixty years against the Crown, as there is between subject and subject.
This subterfuge of the Court was, however, rejected by 205 against
124--a wonderful event after the late triumphs of the Administration!
Many causes contributed; honesty probably operated on some, and
indignation at the mean evasion attempted. Others who possessed Crown
lands preferred the security of their property to present Court favour.
The Bedford faction, for some political view, absented themselves,
though probably not expecting the Duke of Grafton[204] would receive
so total a defeat in a measure to which his own violence had given
occasion. In short, that Parliament had some virtues, or some vices,
which now and then prevented its being so universally servile as the
preceding.[205]
On the 27th the Administration laid before the House the agreement with
the East India Company, which after a long debate, in which it was
rather discussed than contested, passed without a division, Grenville
himself approving it. Lord Clive spoke against it, and gave an account
of the bad posture of their affairs in India. He was answered by
Governor Johnstone, who imputed those misfortunes to Lord Clive’s own
conduct, and even reproached him with the murder of the Nabob.[206]
The borough of Southwark, and soon after the city of Bristol, sent
instructions to their members. To stem the increasing torrent, the
Court endeavoured to set on foot counter addresses of loyalty. The
first attempt was unsuccessful: a meeting having been summoned in the
City to express dissatisfaction at the assemblies in favour of Wilkes,
not above thirty persons attended the citation, and they broke up in
confusion: but in the county of Essex the Court were more prosperous;
the Opponents having met to instruct their members, Rigby and Bamber
Gascoyne prevailed on the sheriff and the gentlemen to address the King
in high strains of loyalty--an example that was followed in few other
places.
Yet under this unfavourable aspect did the Court venture on a measure
of great import to themselves, threatening much unpopularity, and
yet not attended by any uncommon clamour. This was to demand of
Parliament the payment of the King’s debts. In truth, considering the
expenses of the outset of a new reign, of a coronation, of a royal
wedding, that the Crown had possessed no jewels,--the late King’s
having been bequeathed by him to, and re-purchased of, the Duke of
Cumberland,--that the King had limited himself to a certain revenue,
and, considering the numerous branches of the Royal Family, the
debt incurred, especially by so young a Sovereign, and amounting to
513,000_l._, could not be thought exorbitant. The Hanoverian revenues,
indeed, were now in great part remitted into the Privy Purse; but
the nation had nothing to do with that channel of supply, nor could
pretend to ask an account of it. The message of demand was made on the
28th to both Houses. In the Commons, Dowdeswell immediately moved that
not only the particulars of the expense might be specified, but that
the papers might distinguish under what Administration each debt had
been incurred. This was intended to bring out that Lord Rockingham’s
Administration had been the most frugal. The Ministers pleaded that
such minuteness would occasion much delay; and the motion was rejected
by 169 to 89.[207] The same fate attended another motion made on March
the 1st, by which the Opposition desired that the money might not be
voted till the accounts had been examined; but this, as unreasonable,
was overruled by 248 to 135.
The next day the Lords entered on the same business. The Lords Temple,
Lyttelton, and Suffolk showed the wanton impropriety of not examining
the accounts before granting the money. Even Lord Rockingham attempted,
though under great perturbation, to open his mouth; and, being very
civil and very gentle, he was well heard. The Ministerial advocates, as
if imposing a gabel instead of begging a supply for the Crown, behaved
with insolence and scorn. Lord Sandwich made a mockery of unanimity,
and desired to see who would vote against a measure that was personal
to his Majesty. Lord Talbot, talking of the King, and by mistake saying
_your Majesties_ instead of _your Lordships_, corrected himself; but
said he should have used the royal style by design if he had been
talking to the mob.
The modesty of the Ministers was not more conspicuous in the other
House. On the Report from the Committee, Lord North made an able
invective against popularity; and avowed that he had voted for every
unpopular, and against every popular measure. Rigby went still farther
against instructions to members: asked what place was large enough
to hold all that ought to give them? “They should meet,” said he,
“in Moorfields, which is the only spot that would give or receive
instructions.” He talked of the two pamphlets on the State of the
Nation, and declared he gave the preference to Grenville’s. It was
carried without a division to agree with the Report of the Committee;
which, of course, was in favour of granting the money.[208] The
Lords were as complaisant. The Opposition laboured to show that the
principal load of the debt had been incurred during Lord Bute’s
Administration.[209] The Duke of Grafton provoking Lord Rockingham,
the latter replied with spirit unusual to him, and said the Duke had
braced his nerves. The Court-Lords were 60 to 26.
To balance that success Burke endeavoured to revive the clamour on
the massacre, as it was called, in St. George’s Fields; and moved to
inquire into it, and into the part taken by the Lords Weymouth and
Barrington--but it was too late. Sir William Meredith abandoned him,
and Grenville discountenanced the motion, which was rejected by 245 to
39.[210]
On the 16th of March came on the third election for Middlesex. One
Charles Dingley,[211] a merchant, had offered himself, in the morning
papers, as candidate, and appeared on the hustings at Brentford; but
not a single freeholder proposing him, he slunk away, and drove to
London as fast as he could. Townshend and Sawbridge again proposed
Wilkes, who was accepted with the greatest shouts of applause. Yet
the House of Commons, the next morning, again declared it a void
election; even Grenville allowing it must be so. Rigby hinted at
Townshend and Sawbridge; but said, he would not name them--and though
their conduct as members was most indecent and disrespectful to the
House, the Ministers did not dare to call them to account. On the
contrary, fearing it would occasion louder clamour, should they leave
the county without a member, they ordered a fourth writ to be issued,
which only drew them into greater perplexity; timidity and rashness
being generally alternate. Burke, expecting that the measure would be
to punish the obstinacy of the freeholders by issuing no more writs,
had prepared an invective in that view, and vainly attempted to adapt
his speech to the contrary sense. Wedderburne, whose impudence was
more dauntless, and who had actually been on the point of concluding a
bargain with the Court, but had been disappointed, broke out, with all
the rage of patriotism that had missed the wages of profligacy, and
said, it was no wonder all respect for the House of Commons was lost,
when, in the last Parliament, men had been obliged to follow such low
creatures as Dyson and Bradshaw, as often as Mr. Conway and Mr. Charles
Townshend had disapproved ministerial measures: “nay,” added he, “we
all know that this is ordered by _secret influence_”--memorable words,
as they fell from one who was a competent witness; for though they
pointed out Lord Bute, Wedderburne had been deep in his confidence, and
marked him out now merely because Lord Bute had rather wanted the power
than inclination to serve him.[212]
The University of Oxford were the next to display their zeal for the
Court, and presented a loyal address; so did Cambridge, Kent, and the
merchants of Bristol. The same was attempted in Surrey, but agreed to
by only part of the grand jury. Liverpool, Lichfield, and Edinburgh
followed, and, in general, all the Scotch boroughs,--which did but
increase the opposite spirit, and contributed to the mortifications
that fell on the Court from such injurious measures. At a large meeting
of the Common Council, previous to one intended at Guildhall, for
presenting an address, but twenty-one persons declared for it, one
hundred and forty-one against it; and the latter voted an address of
thanks to Turner, the Lord Mayor, who had distinguished himself on
Wilkes’s side. Shropshire, Leicestershire, and the town of Coventry
joined in the incense to the King; but the latter with a circumstance
peculiarly ridiculous, and which proved how much the enemies of the
Constitution were charmed with the arbitrary measures of the Court--for
the address from Coventry was drawn by a physician, so rancorously
Jacobite, that at church he always rose from his knees, when the King
was prayed for. The Supporters of the Bill of Rights advertised against
the Coventry address, which, with the same unconstitutional views, had
attacked that society. Mankind might judge of a cause, in which King
George’s and King James’s friends were equally interested!--and what
interest, but that of despotism, could they have in common?
The last instance made the Court sick of that fulsome flattery. The
merchants of London, to the number of six or eight hundred, amongst
whom were Dutch, Jews, and any officious tools that they could
assemble, having signed one of those servile panegyrics, set out in
a long procession of coaches to carry it to St. James’s. The mob
accompanied them, hissing and pelting. When they came to the end of
Fleet Street, they found the gates of Temple Bar shut against them.
Another mob was posted at Gray’s Inn Lane. The coaches turned down
lanes and alleys wherever they could, and not a third part arrived at
the palace. Mr. Boehm, Chairman of the East India Company, concealed
the address under the seat of his coach, which he was forced to
quit, and take shelter in a coffee-house. In the meantime a hearse,
drawn by two black and two white horses, and hung with escutcheons
representing the deaths of Clarke at Brentford and of Allen in St.
George’s Fields, appeared in the streets, and was driven to the gates
of St. James’s, where the attendant mob hissed and insulted all that
entered the Court. The Ministers, who had received no intimation of
this pageant, remained trembling in the palace;[213] and all they did
was to order the grenadiers to defend the entrance till the magistrates
could arrive and read the Riot Act. At last, Earl Talbot took courage,
and went down with his white staff, which was soon broken in his
hand. He seized one man, and fourteen more of the rioters were made
prisoners. The Duke of Northumberland was very ill treated; and the
Duke of Kingston,[214] coming from a visit from Bedford House, was
taken for the Duke of Bedford, and was so pelted, that his coach and
new wedding liveries were covered with mud. It was half an hour past
four ere the address could be carried to St. James’s; and then was
not presented by the Chairman, who was not in a condition to appear.
At night, a proclamation was issued against riots. Ten of the rioters
were discharged: the grand jury threw out the bills against the other
five. Such was the consequence of an unpopular Court, at once affecting
popularity, and affecting to despise it!
Had they been content with sillily assuming a share in the affections
of the people, which they did not possess, no great mischief had been
done. By provoking their resentment in the same breath, they had
well nigh driven the people into rebellion; and, by making the House
of Commons the instrument of their irregularities, they effected
a contempt for Parliaments, which, perhaps, did not displease the
machinators. Liberty stood in an alarming position: her buckler, the
Parliament, was in the hands of the enemy, and she was reduced to
beg that enemy to break that buckler--an alternative of almost equal
danger, whether granted or refused. It required a man of the firmest
virtue, or a ruffian of dauntless prostitution, to undertake the
office of opposing Wilkes in the decisive contest for the county of
Middlesex. There was a young officer, called Colonel Lutterell, whose
father, Lord Irnham, was devoted to Lord Bute. They were descended of
a good Irish family, who had been attached to and had betrayed King
James the Second; and the morals and characters of both father and son,
especially of the former, were in no good estimation. The father had
parts, wit, and boldness:[215] the son affected to be a bravo, too, but
supported it ill. The son was pitched upon by the junto for candidate
for Middlesex; and Lord Holland and his sons openly espoused him. This
last circumstance, and the zeal of the Scots, crowned his unpopularity;
and lest it should not, Wilkes gave out that Lutterell was to be
rewarded with a daughter of Lord Bute. One of the race, not long after,
attained a far more elevated match.
So desperate did Lutterell’s cause appear, that great bets were made
on his life; and at Lloyd’s Coffee-house, it was insured for a month.
A third candidate soon appeared, one Captain Roache, another duelling
Irishman, supposed to be selected by Wilkes, as a proper antagonist to
Lutterell.
The struggle now became very serious. The House of Commons party--at
least in the approaching violence--affected the tone of legality, and
ordered the sheriffs to call on the magistrates to attend and keep the
peace at Brentford. On the other hand, a new indictment was preferred
at Hickes’s Hall against Macquirk, the chairman, for the murder of a
constable; but the grand jury would not find the bill; yet the next
month a new bill was found against him, and he was forced to abscond.
The Treasury offered a reward of 500_l._ for discovering the person
who, at the procession of the merchants, had, with a hammer, broke
the chariot of one Ross, an aged merchant, and wounded him in several
places. The celebrated and unknown writer Junius threw his firebrands
about, among so many combustibles, but aimed them chiefly at the head
of the Duke of Grafton.[216]
But though the Court affected to proceed according to law, its
votaries acted as if a martial campaign was opened. An advertisement
on Lutterell’s side called on _gentlemen_ to accompany and defend him,
and not to suffer the mob to govern. Captain Roache, at the same time,
advertised that he acted in concert with Wilkes; and told Lutterell,
that if there should any disorder arise, he should ask no questions
but of him. Lutterell replied, that he would not fight till after the
election. The Duke of Northumberland, fearing for his own popularity,
gave out that he had influenced no votes on either side.
On the 12th, Colonel Lutterell proceeded to Brentford with a much
smaller troop of gentlemen than he had expected; and the mob having
assembled before his door, that little band of heroes stole away to the
election by breaking down the wall of the garden behind Lord Irnham’s
house. This prevented their rendezvous at Holland House, where a great
breakfast had been prepared for them. Stephen Fox, Lord Holland’s son,
proposed Lutterell, as Mr. Townshend did Wilkes. Townshend desired
the people to behave with temper and decency; told them, that was no
time to be unruly: if they should be denied justice, then would be
the moment to defend themselves by the sword. For Wilkes were given
1143 votes; for Lutterell, 296; for Serjeant Whitaker, who had thrust
himself into the contest, only 5; for Captain Roache, not one--but he
was hissed, laughed at, and forced to retire, it being suspected that
the Court had bought him.
While this business was in agitation, the House of Commons voted the
militia perpetual, on a division of 84 to 79. Beckford and Barré abused
the Rockingham party; and each faction avoided taking part with Wilkes
and the Supporters of the Bill of Rights--a disunion that made the
Court amends for the errors of their own conduct.
Wilkes being returned by so great a majority, was again rejected by
the House: and the Ministers avowed that they intended, according to
precedent, to substitute Lutterell on the poll, as being the legal
candidate who had had the greatest number of voices; and the sheriffs
were ordered to attend next day on purpose. General Conway strongly
supported that intention, for the dignity of Parliament. He had studied
the case laboriously, and persuaded himself that it was founded on
the law of Parliament; yet neither he nor its warmest advocates could
produce a parallel case, all the precedents quoted for establishing
the second person on the poll having happened only where the rejected
person had been incapacitated by Act of Parliament, as minors, &c.;
whereas Wilkes lay under no legal incapacity, but had been declared
incapable by a vote of one House only, which does not constitute a law.
Had Conway, Sir Edward Hawke, and Lord Granby been firm to their first
resolution, the Court would not have ventured on such obnoxious and
alarming precedents. It was not less prejudicial, that Lord Chatham,
though so long announced by Lord Temple, did not appear during that
whole session; whether still temporising with the Court, or that his
intellects were yet too disordered, had he stood forth the champion of
Wilkes, at that crisis, it might have shaken the predominance of the
Court. Norton himself was irresolute; shuffled at the consultations
held at Lord North’s, and though bought to be on his own side, could
not be steady to it. The House again endeavoured to avoid mention of
Townshend and Sawbridge; but Edmondson, a foolish Scot, insisted on
having the list read of those who had proposed Wilkes--yet no notice
ensued--though Townshend, to force out the name of Lord Holland’s son,
asked who had proposed Lutterell?
The next day, though Saturday, the House sat, and the debate lasted
till two o’clock on Sunday morning, when it was carried to admit
Lutterell by only 197 voices to 143--so little was the Court sure of
their majority on so violent a measure! Some of their friends quitted
them. Harley, the Lord Mayor, fearing for his personal safety in the
City, was permitted by the Duke of Grafton to vote against the vote:
and several Tory members for counties absented themselves not to
offend their constituents,--evidence how little addresses had spoken
the real sense of the counties. Burke and James Townshend were severe
against the measure; Serjeant Glynn and Grenville[217] temperate,
and the latter much applauded. Beckford, on the military procession
of the gentlemen, said it put him in mind of Muley Ishmael, King of
Morocco, who, when he meditated a murder, put on his yellow sash.
When gentlemen in lace appeared, it announced a massacre: and he
compared the times to those of Rehoboam, who, rejecting the advice of
his father’s counsellors, followed that of the young men, by which he
lost ten tribes, and reigned over the two little ones (Scotland). Much
complaint was made of the arbitrary doctrines suggested by the writers
on the side of the Court. Norton, Lord North, and the Attorney-General
De Grey spoke firmly for Lutterell. Stephen Fox indecently and
indiscreetly said, Wilkes had been chosen only _by the scum of the
earth_--an expression often retorted on his family, his grandfather’s
birth being of the lowest obscurity. Young Payne, in another pompous
oration, abused the Supporters of the Bill of Rights, protesting, on
his honour, that his speech was not premeditated; but, forgetting part,
he inadvertently pulled it out of his pocket in writing! Charles Fox,
with infinite superiority in parts, was not inferior to his brother in
insolence.[218] Lutterell, the preceding night, had been assaulted by
persons unknown, as he quitted the House; and, for some months, did
not dare to appear in the streets, or scarce quit his lodging. He was
hissed out of one of the theatres; and going afterwards to Dublin, and
attending the debates of the House of Commons there, heard himself
named with very opprobrious terms, which he resenting, the member
answered with a firmness that Lutterell declined encountering.
As the colonies were not less disposed to mutiny than the capital,
Governor Pownal, as a step to a repeal of the American duties, which
had produced but two hundred and seventy pounds, moved to appoint a
Committee to consider the state of America. Conway, who knew it was
intended to repeal the new duties the next year, and who, for the sake
of peace, wished to give that prospect to the colonies, moved that
only those duties should be considered: but Lord North, whether from
firmness, pride, or jealousy of Conway, objected strongly, and said,
it was below the dignity of the House to hold out any such hopes;[219]
and though the confusion increased so fast that the stocks fell, from
apprehensions of a rebellion, the obstinacy of the Ministers would not
palliate any part of the disorders. Conway would not increase the flame
by dividing the House, and the motion was rejected. The session was no
sooner at an end, than the Ministers gave assurances of repealing the
taxes.
Happily for peace, the Opposition was divided. Wilkes and his friends
inclined to riots and tumult. Sawbridge, and the more real patriots,
encouraged by Lord Rockingham, were for proceeding more legally and
temperately. Yet the aspect was so gloomy, that the town was surrounded
by troops, and no officers suffered to be absent without leave.
The Court of Aldermen, in the meantime, heard the opinion of counsel,
on the eligibility of Wilkes for alderman. De Grey and Dunning,
Attorney and Solicitor-Generals, Yorke, and the Serjeants Glynn
and Lee, pronounced in his favour; but Norton, the Recorder and
Common-Serjeant, dissenting, ten aldermen to six rejected him.
The Supporters of the Bill of Rights were more propitious, and agreed
to pay as far as five thousand pounds of his debts, but compromised
with his creditors at five shillings in the pound; yet promising to pay
more, if the collection to be made round England in the summer should
answer--a fund that produced nothing.
On the 27th, a very numerous meeting of the freeholders of Middlesex
was held at Mile-end, when they were informed that the meeting had been
so long deferred on account of the number of articles to be inserted in
the petition which it was proposed to present to the King against the
Administration. It was then read, unanimously approved, signed, by as
many as could sign, that night, and ordered to be left at the proper
places for other subscriptions; and to be presented to his Majesty
by Serjeant Glynn, Sawbridge, Townshend, and several more--Sawbridge
desiring that nobody would attend the delivery, that they might not be
misrepresented as riotous and rebellious.
Two days after, being the last day for receiving petitions, and the
session on the point of concluding, Sir George Saville, in a very thin
house, presented a petition, signed by a few freeholders, against
Lutterell, and desired to have the consideration postponed to the
next session, or to have a call of the House, with orders sent to the
sheriffs of counties to inform the members of the intended business;
but that proposal was rejected, and the petition was allotted a
hearing on the following Monday, by 94 of the Court party to 49. It
was accordingly heard on May the 8th. Serjeant Whitaker, one of the
late candidates,[220] and Graham, an esteemed Scotch lawyer,[221]
were counsel for Lutterell; Serjeant Adair[222] and Mr. Lee[223] for
the petitioners. Dr. Blackstone, who argued for the incapacity and
expulsion of Wilkes, was severely confuted out of his own Commentaries
on the Law;[224] and George Grenville as roughly handled by Norton.
Charles Fox, not yet twenty-one, answered Burke with great quickness
and parts, but with confidence equally premature. The House sat till
half an hour past two in the morning, when Lutterell’s seat was
confirmed by 221 against 152.
As the House was now to rise, and Captain Allen would, of course, be
discharged, it was apprehended that he would challenge Meredith and
Walsingham; to prevent which, the House enjoined them both to accept
no challenge from him, but to lay before a justice of peace the
information that had been given to the House of his conduct, that he
might be bound over to his good behaviour. Captain Walsingham said, he
would certainly obey their commands, but hoped they did not expect,
if Allen should attack him in the street, that he would not defend
himself. Allen was discharged; abused Walsingham the next day in the
papers, and then sank into obscurity.
Wedderburne, who had been brought into Parliament by Sir Laurence
Dundas, the rich commissary, but, on being disappointed of a bargain
with the Court, had voted on the opposite side, now vacated his seat,
to leave Sir Laurence at liberty to choose a more compliant, or less
interested member.
The turbulent aspect of the times, and the perilous position into which
the Court had brought itself by the violent intrusion of Lutterell,
naturally pointed out coalition to their several enemies. Accordingly,
the Marquis of Rockingham and George Grenville, at the head of their
respective factions, dined together at the Thatched House Tavern, St.
James’s-street, and agreed to support the cause of Opposition in their
several counties during the summer; but the tempers of the leaders were
too dissimilar, their object too much the same, and the resentment of
Grenville for past offences too implacable, to admit of cordial union.
The same day the King put an end to the session. He was much insulted
in his passage to the House of Lords, and heard still worse aspersions
on his mother.
On the 24th of May, the petition of the freeholders of Middlesex was
presented to the King by Serjeant Glynn and six others. Another from
Boston was carried by Colonel Barré.