421 
IglK] Passage in the Dtcnciad respecting Handel, 
facts, itjsulated delinquencies, and ever- 
varying corruptions, susceptible of much 
improvement from additional informati¬ 
on, Should the author ever favour the 
warld with a second edition, I trust he 
will introduce the following instance of 
oppression, to which the admission of 
special juries may be prostituted, unless 
tlwse precautions are taken whicli the 
following relation of facts will point 
out. 
A respectable private gentleman in 
one of the midland counties, who had a 
predominating influence over a borough 
within it, exerted that influence at one 
of our general elections a few years 
since, in opposition to that of one of our 
most powerfid nobles, Tlie zeal of an 
injudicious friend gave to the great man 
some colourable pretence to harrass his 
antagonist with iaw actions for bribe¬ 
ry, of which he did not fail to take 
advantage. The great man’s agent for 
the borougfi in question, held the office 
of clerk of tlie peace for the county, 
among the duties of which is the return 
of tlie freeholders qualified to serve on 
Juries, to the crown oflice, distinguished 
by their respective titles of esquires, 
gentlemen, and yeomen. It is almost 
unnecessary to observe, tliat the com¬ 
mon juries are taken from the two last- 
mentioned descriptions of freeholders, 
and that tlie special juries are selected 
from the first. The gentleman, wlio' 
was the object of persecution in these 
actions, was a very active, intelligent, 
and useful, magistrate of the county, and 
held in much respect by all persons of a 
similar rank and description within it. 
It was publicly known that there was so 
little foundation for these prosecutions, 
by means of which the attempt to over¬ 
whelm him was to be carried into ex¬ 
ecution, that ail hopes of success seemed 
to depend on effectuating what appeared 
next to impossible, viz the exclusion of 
ail the other magistrates and gentlemen 
of superior rank in the, county, from 
serving on the special juries, which were 
to try the actions; and in the manoeuvre, 
to which recourse vvas had for this pur¬ 
pose, lies the danger in packing juries; 
to which, Mr. Editor, I wish to call tlie 
attention of the public, through your 
medium. If it answer no other purpose, 
it will at least enable persons who, under 
similar circumstances, may hereafter be¬ 
come the objects of persecution by over¬ 
bearing nobles, to guard against tlie 
most oppressive piece of chicanery that 
ever was practised by aa unprincipled 
attorney. Shortly before the assises, 
the clerk of tlie peace made his return of 
the freeholders eligible for jury-men; in 
which list he took the liberty of giving to 
all the graziers and other tenants of the 
great man throughout the county, the 
titles of esquireSj while he withheld it 
from the magistrates and others, (by their 
rank in society and situations entitled 
to it,) and placed against their names 
the simple addition of gent. The 
consequences which were projected, and 
would have ensued, from this manoeuvre, 
if it had not been timely discovered, are 
too obvious to require a comment. By 
good fortune the country solicitor, to 
whom all the names were familiar, hap¬ 
pened to accompany the London agent 
to strike the special jury; and, by that 
accidental circumstance, the fraudulent 
design was fl^covered and frustrated. 
An impartial and respectable special 
jury was obtained, and verdicts, without 
a moment’s hesitation, given in favour 
of the defendant. 
The events just related present so for¬ 
cible an illustration of some parts of the 
Treatise, the perusal of which occasioned 
this communication, that I felt an al¬ 
most irresistible impulse to request a 
place for it in your Monthly Miscellany. 
I should perhaps have hesitated respect¬ 
ing the propriety of making this little 
history public, if any of the parties con¬ 
cerned in the transaction had been in a 
situation to feel the pain, which an ex¬ 
posure of their conduct could not fail to 
occasion; but, as they are gone to give an 
account of all their transgressions before 
a tribunal where this accusation will not 
be presented, I persuade myself it may 
happen to be beneficial to some persons, 
and can be injurious to none, 
Oct, 1, 1811. W. J. 
To the ptdilor of the Monthljq Magazine^ 
SIR, 
T seems not a little strange that the 
ingenious compiler of the particulars 
relating to the life of Handel, inserted in 
your last Magazine, should have so far 
mistaken the object of the passage quoted 
by him from the Dunciad, Book IV. 
1. 65, 70, as to suppose it intended as a 
satire upon that celebrated musician -a 
mere effusion of spleen proceeding froiu 
envy at the fame of Handel. 
The lines, even separated from the 
context, plainly evince that tiiey were 
designed as a compliment, and not as a 
satire; nor is it in the least tlegree pro¬ 
bable that Pope should be envious of the 
8 H 
