JOHN WILKES 97 



on terms of friendship with the Gloucestershire wit, 

 as he refers his correspondent to their graces for 

 political information — a circumstance which confirms 

 Lord March's dislike to these matters, though now 

 and again he throws light on some incident then on 

 the political horizon. Indeed, the epistle is little 

 else than a gossip as to how the world was wagging 

 in the neighbourhood of St. James's. But his lord- 

 ship, to be true to himself, ' drags ' another chere 

 amie into the society of her betters — a native of 

 sunny Italy, as was her contemporary, the Rena. 

 This person, the ' Tondino,' informs her friend of a 

 circumstance which one would think he would have 

 heard direct. 



The aforesaid allusions to Lord March's mode of 

 life form a curious preamble to his posing as the 

 defender of decency. True, he may have assumed 

 this part out of gallantry to the fair sex ; a reason 

 advanced in the preceding chapter, and now to be 

 more fully discussed. 



His lordship's opponent in this was John Wilkes, 

 whose labours in the cause of liberty were no more 

 notorious than his libertine character. His, how- 

 ever, was commonplace dissipation, and not tempered 

 with either the novelty or refinement of his rival in 

 the worship of pleasure. 



G 



