CHA P. XIII. Reflections. Lord Temple difapproves of the acrimony in the North Briton. Makes a diftinction between the fuppofed criminalty of that paper, and the public caufe which it gave rife to.. Determines to fupport that public caufe. Is difmiffed from the lieutenancy of the county of Bucks. Is deferted by the old leaven of the party;" who pay their compliments at St. James's, and enter into a league to betray, and facrifice the Public Liberty. TH HE difcharge of Mr. WILKES from his imprisonment in the Tower, furnished new matter of accufation against the Minifters; for to the many wanton and malicious violations of the liberty of the Subject, which in his cafe had been committed, was now added, the folemn decifion of a most flagrant and dangerous breach of the privileges of Parliament, which alone would, in fome days, have been fufficient to overthrow the firmeft Minifter; and this offence was the more ftrong, as the de⚫cifion of it had been pronounced in one of the king's fuperior Courts, by a Judge of high reputation, with the consent of the three other judges, and after time taken to confider of it. In one part of these arbitrary proceedings all the people of England were interefted. As a general warrant, which named nobody, might have extended to every body, and as the abufes and cruelties.committed under that authority might have happened to any other perfon, as well as to Mr. WILKES, if the Meffengers had been fo inclined: it is therefore no wonder that the whole kingdom inftantly became alarmed, and that every man began to confider the cafe as his own. In another part, the Members of both Houses of Parliament were effentially concerned, as their privileges had been dangeroufly violated. On the other hand, theAdministration were exceedingly incenfed against the Judge, for giving that opinion; and though this difficulty they afterwards found means to furmount, furmount, by the Parliament's generously furrendering this fuppofed privilege, to facilitate the views of the Crown, yet the public opinion remained unaltered. Such manifeft and outrageous violations of the liberty of the fubject, and such a contempt for the authority and dignity of Parliament, as this cafe, in all its parts, was obviously pregnant with, undoubtedly stimulated Lord TEMPLE, from the first moment, publickly to ftand forth in defence of both, and with his perfon, as well as his purfe, to combat this monster of State Tyranny, which had, for a series of years, ufurped an authority from which none in the kingdom were exempt; and the cruelties of which all ranks of people had, at different times, experienced; but most severely the loweft; whofe dread of power, and inability to contend with the weight of government, had fuffered these illegal apprehenfions of perfons, and feizures of papers, to grow into a common and standing practice. Fortunately, for the future liberties of Englishmen, and for the fecurity of every man's house, there there lived at this time a Lord TEMPLE; whofe unbounded generofity and public fpirit, whofe real love of Liberty and his Country, would not fuffer him to fee, with impunity, these great and alarming violations of the invaluable rights of Englishmen. There is a wide difference between a man's offence and the manner of punishing him for it, and it came out afterwards, to the conviction of a very full House of Commons, that his Lordship did not approve of carrying on that paper with fo much acrimony, nor of those national reflections, with which it was replete; that he had repeatedly advised the difcontinuance of the publication; for he could never approve of that kind of writing, nor of that particular paper; and much more, to the fame effect, was affirmed, by Mr. WEBB, to be the contents of fome of his Lordship's letters to Mr. WILKES, which were found among Mr.WILKES's papers. But however highly his Lordship might difapprove of the manner of writing the North Briton, yet it is certain, that he difapproved more highly of thofe who deferted the fuppofed Author, when he ftood moft in need of their affiftance. This treachery was most infamous; for whatever Mr. WILKES's faults might be, yet Government were far more inexcufable, as there could not be the leaft shadow of a doubt, that the proceedings against Mr.WILKES and thePrinters, were wholly illegal; were dangerous abuses of power, and the more fo, as they had continued for a series of years, and were attempted to be juftified by the precedents of office; therefore, on the behalf of all the King's fubjects, the conduct of the Administration, in this cafe, called loudly for a speedy and ftrong condemnation. On this ground Lord "TEMPLE advanced, taking true Conftitutional Liberty for his guide, and declaring in the strongest manner to all his friends, many of whom began to tremble for his fafety, that if the same violations had been committed against any other man, and not Mr. WILKES, his own conduct would be just the same. But this intrepid and laudable public fpirit brought |