4798: | 
ple. operation, of cutting a pudding, 
“‘that he had better take his trowel to 
it!” he fet the whole corporation ina 
roar. ¢ 
- Asamamof pleafure, he facrifieed to 
his paflions, not unfrequently, atthe ex- 
pence of his happinels, and even of his 
charaéter.. The, tcandal attached to the 
order of St. Francis *, of which he was a 
member, operated confiderably againft 
the influence of. his politics; it, is nor 
a little remarkable, however, that men, 
not the moit famous for the cha/fity 
of their manners, fuch as. the lords 
Sandwich and March (the latter is the 
prefent duke of Queenfbury) fhould have 
been the moft eager to deteét and expofe 
the follies of hisloofer moments. 
It cannot be denied, that his conduct 
as a magifirate was not only unexception- 
able, but fpirited and exemplary ; and as 
a guardian of the morals of the city youth, 
he has not been excelled by any of his 
predecefilors. The fame candour that 
dictates thefe obfervations, obliges the 
author at the fame time to confefs that 
he was dilatory in the produétion of the 
city accounts, and rather too attentive to 
the emoluments of office. 
As an author, he poffeffed the fingular 
merit of always writing to, and for, the 
people. His fuccefs was proportionate, 
and he actually wrote down at. leaft one 
adminiftration, which is more than can 
be faid of any man.of the prefent age. 
His merits can only be appreciated by 
the benefits he has conferred on his coun- 
try. It was he who firft taught the pub- 
lic to confider the. ‘‘king’s f{peech’’ as 
the mere fabrication of his minifters, and 
as fuch, proper to be commented on, ap- 


_—— + —--+ ——< 


ghee eo " 
* The mottv over the door of Medmenham 
Abbey, muit be allowed to have been. ‘ex- 
tremely appropriate ; it was 
“66 Pais ce que voudras,’* 
New Patents.—AMr. Carpenter’. 
his daughter’s 
plauded, or treated with contempt. By 
his bold and determined conduct, in the 
cafe of the city printers, he annihilated 
the power of commitment affumed by the 
‘{peaker’s warrant, and rendered the 
jurif{dition of the fergeant at arms, 
fubjeét to the control of a conftable. 
He punithed defpotic fecretaries of ftate, 
by holding them up to public fcorn, 
abolifhed general warrants, and obliged 
even lord Mansfield to declare them un- 
lawful. But this was not all; he con- 
tributed to render an Enghi/hman’s houfe 
his cafile, for it is to him we are ins 
debted for the benefit of having our 
papers confidered as facred, in all cafes 
fhort of high treafon. The moft daring 
minifter muft now particularife his 
victim by name, and he cannot attempt to 
rob us of our fecrets, without at the fanfe 
time endeavouring to bereave us of our 
lives ! 
In fhort, with all his faults,’ Mr. 
Wilkes poffeffed fomething more than 
the vapour of patriotifm; he could face 
poverty and banifhment, defpife a jail, 
refift corruption, attack and overcome 
tyranny. Had his exiftence ceafed at 
the clofe of the Aincrican war, his me- 
mory, however, would have been more 
ref{pected; he outlived his reputation; and 
itis painful to add, that when he died at 
houfe in Grofvenor 
fyuare, on Tuefday, December 27, 1797, 
in the 73d year of hisage, he was near 
ly forgotten. Diftance blends and fof- 
tens the fhades of large objcéts: Time 
throws her mantle over petty defeéts. 
The prefent age already confeffes that 
he was a perfecuted, the next will pro* 
bably confider him asa great, man, At 
all events, his name will be conneéted 
with our hiftory, and if he does: not oc- 
cupy the chief place, a niche, at leaft, wilt 
be tenanted by him. in the temple of 
Fame. 

‘THE NEW PATENTS,. 
Exrclled in Oliober, November, €8c. 
MR. CARPENTER’S, FOR BLEACHING 
Cesc0) palpER! 
[HE difcovery made in France, by 
M. Bertholet, of the efficacy of oxy- 
genated muriatic acid in expediting the 
procefs of bleaching, has been fuccefsfully 
carried into eftecét by many of our own 
manufaéturers and artifts. Mr.Cooper, 
late of Manchefter, now of Northumber- 
Jand, in America, was, we believe, the 
MoyTHiy Mac. XXVII. 
7 Ta Ye 
firft perfon in this country who applied 
the difcovery to’ praétife: his example 
was foon followed by many manufacs 
turers in Lancafhire and Scotland, who 
have obtained patents for different con 
trivances to regulate the application of 
the acid gas : the moft important of thefe 
have been already detailed in our for- 
mer numbers, under the head of d/each- 
ing, in which it will be found, that not 
H only 
