ie, ita: 
43 } 
ORIGINAL ANECDOTES AND REMAINS 
‘ 
OF 
EMINENT 
PERSONS, 
{ This Article is devoted to the Reception of Biographical Anecdotes, Papers, Letters, &c. and 
we requeft the Communications of Juch of our Readers as can affift us in thefe objeéts.] 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF THE LATE 
Joun WILKEs, Esq. 
HS prefent majefty afcended th 
throne ef thefe realms amidft the 
plaudits of his fubjeéts. His elevation 
was accom panied by a {cries of aulpicious 
occerrences, and every appearance au- 
gured a fortunate and happy reigns A 
change in the dynafty had taken place in 
favour of his family, and the doétrine of 
popular election, by a practical and memo- 
rable exemplification, was juftly preferred 
to a pretended hereditary right. But 
George I was unacquainted with our 
laws, and even with our language. Thefe 
circumf{tances, added to his partiality for 
Hanover, and the. enaétion of the Sep- 
tennial Bill (the firft infringement on 
public liberty during the reign of a houfe. 
exprefsly called in for its proteétion) ren- 
dered him at times unpopular. The lat- 
ter part of the reign of George II was 
uncommonly brilliant; but he alfo: was 
accufed of an over-weening fondnefs for 
his ele€toral dominions, and confidered, 
even on the throne, as a foreigner. 
A happier fate attended his grandfon, 
who, in his firft fpeech, gloried in being 
“ born a Briton.” His youth, his graceful 
perfon, the memory of a father dear to the 
nation, and, above all, the early promife 
of a government founded on the practical 
bleffings of liberty, endeared the new 
king to his people. Indeed, there is not 
a fingle inftance in ail our hiftory, of a 
prince, who atrained the throne of thefe 
kingdoms with brighter profpects ; it was 
accordingly predigted, in the fervour of 
enthufiafm, that the fway of a Trajan, 
or an Alfred, was to be renewed in the 
perfon of George III *. 

* One of the firft acts of his majefty’s reign 
was uncommonly gracious. By the demife of 
aking, the patents of the judges were con- 
fidered as having expired ; but this grofs defect 
was remedied by the generous interpofition of 
the young prince. A {fincere regard to truth 
obliges the writer to acknowledge, that in th¥s 
infance, one good, whbolefome, conjflitutional 
advice, has been attributed to the late W. 
Murray, ‘earl of Macclesfield, Chief Juftice of 
the King’s Bench, &c. ; and the merit would 
have been fill greater, had it been éntirely 
His majefty found the country engaged 
in a juft and fortunate conteft with the 
houfe of Bourbon. The war was con- 
ducted by a ftatefman who proved uncom- 
monly fuccefsful in fubduing the armies 
and navies of France; for we pointed 
the thunders of an united nation, with 
terrible and irrefiftible effeét on its 
humbled monarchy, A change of men 
and councils, indeed, faved the enemy 
from utter ruin; but this very circum 
ftance gave a decided turn to the current 
of popularity, which had hitherto flowed 
around, and afforded a facred barrier to 
the throne. 
On the retirement of William Pitt, 
1761, majefty feemed fhorn of its rays ; 
and its luftre being intercepted by the 
fudden interpofition of a malignant planet, 
it appeared to experience almoft a total 
eclipfe! The fecret views that led to 
the peace of Paris are {till inveloped in 
ob{curity, and the particular motives 
which fuperinduced fo many facrifices are, 
at beft, but equivocal. It was, indeed, 
in fome meafure, fanétioned by a majo- 
rily, obtained by means not difficult to be 
gueffed atin a venal age ; but it proved 
the moft finifter treaty in our annals, and, 
from a variety of circumftances, became 
peculiarly odious to the nation. 
The adminiftration of the earl of Bute 
gave general difguft. Clofe, infinuating, 
cunning, rapacious, and revengeful, he 
was faid to have enjoyed the unlimited 
confidence of his royal mafter, and the 
people affeéted to confider him as the mie 
nion of the crown, rather than the minif- 
ter of Engiand, His enemies, however, 
could not ceny that he was amiable in 
private life ; the moft zealous of his friends, 
en the other hand, muft contefs, that, if 
not criminal, he was at leaft uafortunate, 

difinteretted, Some perfons are fo little ac- 
quainted with our hiftory, as to imagine that 
before this period, the commiffions of the 
judges. depended on the will of the crown. 
The faé& is otherwife; nothing more was 
gained than has been ftated above. ‘The par- 
liament that brought Charles I to punifhment 
introduced the maxim followed at this day, re- 
{peting the patents of the bench, which are to 
endure aut vita, aut culpa, 
Gz in 
