an end to a war fo detrimental to our enemies to be continued, and be elegantly entertained with a fumptuous bill of fare, and a few bottles of champagne ;-but he ought certainly rather to confider, how much a whole nation will fuffer from his unjustifiable conduct, and the illegal gratification of his ambition. Whenever a Mr, (whoever he may be) makes an inglorious peace, if he does not do it from a want of wisdom to execute with propriety the truft repofed in him, he ought himfelf to be ex---ted on T--r-h-ll;-and if he is really deftitute of common understanding, or the abilities requifite for his ftation, he ought not, (though he be the fon of a d-ke) to be charged with commiffions of fo great importance. I thall, crave your indulgence of a few farther animadverf ons on this fubject in another letter; and am, Your fincere friend, and former correfpondent, W. Rck, SIR, LETTER II, Berwick upon Tweed, August 14, 1768. Now beg leave to follicit your indulgence of a few farther animadverfions on the prefent pofture of affairs;-which I observed in my last must have a tendency to alarm every fpeculative British subject, who hath any loyalty for the welfare and independency of these realms, or the happiness and tranquility of his country-men. It is now fufficiently obvious, that one of the articles in the late priyate treaty between France and Genoa, relative to the island of Corfica, has been, that the latter fhould, in her turn, affift the former, whenever she should go to war with England: And it is equally confpicuous, that the fame nation, in conjunction with their neighbours, the Spaniards, have, in their late accommodation with the Barbarians, prevailed upon the emperor of Morocco to commençe hoftilities with the king of Great Britain; fo that we are likely to have four conjoined nations to contend with for our past fimplicity or ry, which cannot be done, though we fhould, in the end, prove victorious, without the former expences, and lofs of lives; and, in confequence, diftreffing, for a few years more, the inhabitants of thefe realms. VOL. III. Ff However, However, rather let us be fo diftreffed, than tamely fubmit to the daring infolence, and bafeful treachery of our enemies. Let us emulate the laudable zeal, and unanimous magnanimity, of the brave and heroic Corficans; (whole kingdom fhould the French obtain, what would avail us the pofieftion of Mahon, or Gibraltar) and make proper examples of all fuch commanders, whether of the Army, Navy, or the Legislature as fhall not exert themselves like a Paoli, and, like him, that fhall not have honesty enough to withstand every pecuniary bribe, or interested temptation, and be only folicitous to fecure the welfare of the nation, and the happiness of the people. Let us forget, or lay afide, private animofities; nor be too much bufied about the punishment of a fingle individual, or one of our own subjects for discovering to the people fome fecret tranfactions, we would have had concealed; while whole nations of foreign enemies demand more particularly our at tention and inftead of affembling our armies to maffacre one another in St. George's Fields, let us, in time, make that ufe of them abroad, for which there feems to be more occafion. Let us, for a while, refrain from the cock-pit, and the turf at Newmarket, and employ our time and thoughts at more proper places, in confultations on concerns more worthy the humanity of rational beings, and more fuited to the dignity of legiflators and what thould appear to us more alarming in their confequences, than the fear of a fingle criminal (if he be deferving of this appellation) escaping that punishment of the law, which from prejudice, we would wil lingly have inflicted upon him.-Let private animofities, I fay be forgot, that public grievances may be redreffed; nor let us be too much bufied about trifles, when our lives, and properties, are more immediately in danger, Before I conclude, I would just mention the great advantages we were made to believe we had gained from the peace; which were the large (I fear, too large) and extenfive territories ceded to us in America: But when we feriously confider, that the people of that country refufe to pay us the taxes levied upon them; fet up their own manufactures; or if they have occafion for any importation of commodities, commiffion them from any other place fooner thanEngland; when this is confidered, let us judge, whether we are likely to reap fuch vaft benefits from the poffeffion of fuch a kingdom; befides, that they may foon grow toopowerful to be fubject to the authority of their mother-country; against which they have already more than once rebelled, Lenitive, "Lenitive, and conciliating measures", we are told, will be adopted by government, relative to the rebellion of our colonies; which will be, I fuppofe, a repeal of the taxes paffed in the laft feffion of P -t, as was done with the ftamp-act; which will farther tend to encourage them to make the fame oppofition in future on the like occafions, from the expectation of the fame fuccefs; and make us be laughed at, for paffing acts, which we afterwards agree fhould not have been passed wherefore, then, were they passed? Upon the whole,-let us not be fo late as we generally are, in declaring war against any kingdom; we perceive it to be effentially neceffary, as that our enemies may have time to apprize their own ships of their safety, while they secure our's in their harbours. If any of our men in power, don't incline to be troubled with the fatigues and interruptions of carrying on a war, an indolent, and careless life being more agreeable to them; let them retire from publick concerns, and enjoy the extent of their wishes; and let cowards and traitors keep from the field of battle.-As I am not willing to credit the common report of our being out-witted by the French, (because we so calmly put up with their repeated infolence) I am in no manner of doubt that war muft very speedily be commenced, to humble once more (I hope fo, at laft) that imperious, and ever restlefs court. Such, are the fentiments of Your very humble servant, W. R ck. For the POLITICAL REGISTER. I Know that it is a fixed principle with Mr. Wilkes, to fubmit to the public every circumftance, which bears any relation to his public conduct. In purfuance of this maxim, invariably followed by himself, I am fure he will forgive one of his friends fending to you, even before the house meets, the inclosed important affidavit. It relates to the infamous manner, in which the administration, in 1763, the tools and fuccellors of the accurfed Scot, (when in a panick the reins dropped out of his hands,) obtained the copy of part of the Effay on Woman, and likewife the evidence given, both at the bar of the houfe of lords, and in the king's bench. That administration, appear to have had no fcruples about a robbery of the fubject in any way, either by force under a General Warrant, or by fraud in corrupting a domeftick, afterwards receiving them felves, felves, and turning to their own profit, the goods another had ftolen. The firft was executed by the under-fecretary of state, by the folicitor of the treasury, (whofe houfe this affidavit proves to be a den of thieves) and the king's meffengers in perfon; the other by the money of the treasury, diftributed by their own folicitor, and the oldeft of the king's meffengers the most hackneyed in the ways of corruption. When this black tranfaction was told in France, there was not an Englishman at Paris, who did not blush for the honour of his country, except at the Hotel de Brancas, where the English ambaflador, the earl of Hertford then lodged. Every thing there, at that time, which was paft fixteen, was likewife paft blufhing. I truft, that the whole truth will at last be brought to light. This affidavit and Farmer's plain truth, published in 1763, will go a great way; but Curry feems cautious of revealing fome circumftances at the beginning of the affair, and perhaps may fear he should run great risks in telling how he came by that copy, which at laft he gave Faden. He may dread the confequences to himself of fo ample a confeffion on oath; but I hope the whole of this wicked minifterial scene will be examined into by the grand committee of grievances in the enfuing feffion, and the living evidence of the feveral facts be produced. As the houfe of commons are chofen by the people to be the grand inquest of the nation, I think Mr. Wilkes ought to confider it as his duty to make the appeal to them. It seems to me as strictly in the business, for which a grand committee of grievances are appointed every feffion, as the other affair of the alteration of the records in a criminal caufe by a judge in his own houfe, falls within the province and jurisdiction of the grand committee of courts of justice. This affidavit, tells us how a fmall part of the public money has been beftowed on one minifterial agent. Hereafter you fhall have the account of a good many thousand pounds; for a great perfonage complained, in February laft, that Wilkes bad coft him ninety two thousand guineas, which I prophecy will, under fome general head of expence, be begged by a gracious meffage to the prefent houfe of commons, and carefully kept out of the infinite debts of the civil lift, when they are laid before parliament. I fhall now, content myfelf with faying, that, in our times, no man has fuffered fuch bafe and cruel wrongs as Mr. Wilkes, only for a spirited oppofition to a defpotic minifter; that against no man have fuch mean, treacherous and difhonourable methods been pursued, that every party and faction has in their turns oppreffed him, which I hold to be the strongest proof, that he is of no party or faction; but I add, to his glory, that his. his country has feen and acknowledged his fervices, that the people have been his buckler and fhield, that the nation have a full confidence in his spirit and firmness, to ftem the torrent of arbitrary proceedings, and to oppofe all illegal precedents of power; that they have given him the most endearing marks of efteem and gratitude, and that, while alive, those honours have been lavished on his name, which envy rarely fuffers to be paid but by pofterity, and only to the lovers of their country, and the guardians of public liberty. Μ AFFIDAVIT. ICHAEL CURRY of St. Peter's Mancroft in the city of Norwich, Printer, maketh oath and faith, that in the month of May one thoufand feven hundred and fixty-three, he was hired by John Wilkes, Efq; of Great George-street, Westminster, at the rate of twenty-five fhillings per week; that he lived in the house of the faid Mr. Wilkes, was boarded and regularly lodged there; that he was employed by the faid Mr. Wilkes, in feveral things about his private prefs; that the faid Mr. Wilkes, employed this deponent to compofe and print part of a poem, entitled, an Effay on Woman; that the faid Mr. Wilkes gave this deponent the ftricteft charge to keep it secret, and to fuffer no perfon whatever to see the said poem; that the faid Mr. Wilkes ordered this deponent to work off only twelve copies, which were all to be delivered, and were actually given to the faid Mr. Wilkes himself, but that without the knowledge of the faid Mr. Wilkes, this deponent worked off another copy for himself; that from the careleffnefs of this deponent four pages only of the faid poem came into the hands of one Jennings, who likewife worked at the faid Mr. Wilkes's; that by the means of this Jennings it was shewn to Mr. Farmer, Mr. Faden, and the Rev. Mr. Kidgell; that the first application made to this deponent was by Farmer, who came, as he pretended, on his own curiofity, to fee the reft of the poem called an Effay on Woman, having feen fome part of it in the hands of Jennings, which, Jennings, he faid, told him, he had from the house of the faid Mr. Wilkes; that this deponent would not then fhew Farmer any thing; that a few nights after Farmer called again on this deponent; that they retired to St. John's Gate coffee-houfe; that Farmer repeated he had fome parts in black; that this deponent then faid to Farmer, that no poetry had been done in black at the faid Mr. Wilkes's, and therefore Jennings must have come by thofe verfes at fome other house, the parts of the Elay |