self from
his fallen position in society, by assuming principles of patriotism
which in his heart he despised. Moreover, the conduct of their rulers,
which had been too frequently vacillating and manifestly corrupt,
taught the great body of the people to look upon them with suspicion and
distrust. Talk they as loud as they might of honesty of intention, of
unimpeachable integrity, and of pure patriotism, the people nevertheless
would not now believe them. Hence, political associations began to be
formed; taverns were made so many parliament houses; and the people
seemed as if they were resolved to take the government into their own
hands.

But oh! ye Muses, keep your votary's feet
From tavern-haunts where politicians meet
Where rector, doctor, and attorney pause,
First on each parish, then each public cause:
Indited roads and rates that still increase;
The murmuring poor, who will not fast in peace:
Election zeal and friendship since declined,
A tax commuted, or a tithe in kind;
The Dutch and German? kindling into strife;
Hull port and poachers vile!--the serious ills of life.

THE RETURN OF WILKES, ETC.

Such was the state of society when writs were issued for a new election.
Encouraged by it, John Wilkes once more stepped upon the stage, and
offered himself as a candidate for the suffrages of the people. And, as
it has been well said, Mephistopheles himself could not have chosen a
better time for mischief. For, at this time, the populace had no idol in
whom they could place their confidence, and they hailed his reappearance
with delight. By their aid, indeed, he soon became enabled to insult his
sovereign, and to trample on the legislature with impunity. Unprincipled
as he was, he became the man of their choice, and their "champion bold"
in the cause of what was called liberty.

Wilkes had made an attempt to return to England during the Rockingham
ministry, but that party would not receive his overtures. Recently he
had also sounded the Duke of Grafton, with whom he had formerly been on
terms of intimacy; but his application for his mediation with the
king was treated by that nobleman with neglect and disdain. Thus
disappointed, and finding his situation at Paris, from his accumulated
load of debt, disagreeable, he at length resolved to brave every danger.
During the elections, he boldly presented himself at Guildhall, as
a candidate to represent the metro