175 Account of ihe late 
huis hands are immenfe. There is fearcely a 
corner of the ifland which has not at one 
time or other felt the weight of his hammer, 
which, like a magician’s wand, has transfer- 
red perhaps half the land of the kingdom from 
one owner to another. Ata meeting of Com- 
mon Hall on Midfummer-day, 1783, Mr. 
Skinner was put in nomination to ferve the 
office of fheriff of London for the year enfu- 
ing. At this period'Mr. Skinner was in the 
prime of life, and in the full poffeffion of 
health and vigour. He received this mark 
of the confidence and 1refpe& of the livery- 
men of London in a manly and becoming 
manner. Thoughit was not fought by him, 
he did not fhrink from the duties: which it 
impofed. The mo& corfpicuovs feature of 
che yesr in which he was theriff was the dif- 
folution of the parliament, and the eleGion 
of anew one. The fpirit of party was never 
more violent. The illuftrious ftatefman, Fox, 
avho had then been newly ftripped of power, 
had in every part of the kingdom numerous 
friends who efpoufed his intereft, and the 
intereft of his fupporters, and ftrenuoufly 
exerted themfelves in fecuring their re-elec- 
tion to parliament. Onthe other hand, the 
fupporters of the new miniftry were equally 
zealous in their oppofition. This conteft was 
carried to a violent extreme in the metropo- 
tis, where confeguently Mr. Skinner, in his 
tuation of returning officer, had a difficult 
and very delicate duty to perform. The fin- 
cere friend and confeffed admirer of Bir. Fox, 
anda ftaunch fupporter of Whig principles 
and the Whig intereft, his whole heart was 
with the friends cf that great ftatefman. 
Added to which, the two Whig. candidates 
for the city, Aldermen Newnham and Saw- 
bridge, were alfo his particular friends In 
the eleftion for Middlefex his intereft at this 
time was ftill more prepgnderating. Of fo 
euch confequence did the celebrated Wilkes 
confider it, that he once obferved to a friend, 
‘4+ If any man wifhes to be member for Mid- 
Glefex he muft make his bow to Mr. Skin- 
ner.” Here alfo he had the fame delicate 
t:ik to perform; for Mr. Byng, the Whig 
candidate, was one of his moft intimate 
friends. Yet fo admirably did he blend his 
public duties and his private feelings toge- 
ther, that even the rival candidates them- 
‘elves fubfcribed to his juftice, honour, and 
impartiality. There is, perhaps no part of 
the duty of a fheriff fo painful as that which 
impofes upon him the fuperintendance of the 
prilons, and the execution of criminals. Tae 
regulations which Mr, Skinner effected in the 
gaol of Newgate, andthe two compters, have 
produced fuch wholefome effects, that the 
aebtor and the felon will ever have caufe to 
be grateful for his exertions. To his hu- 
mane interference alfo the inhabitants of the 
metropolis are indebted for the difcontinu- 
ance of a fpectacle which was at once revolt- 
ing to the feelings of the beholders, and bar- 
barous tothe wretched victims of offended 
Jaitice in their lat awful hour. The Specta- 
Alderman Skinner. [March 1, 
cle to which we allude was, that of dragging 
culprits condemned to death in carts, or on 
fledges, from Newgate through the moft po- 
pulous fireets of London, to be executed at 
Tyburn. This moft affi€ting fight is now 
confined to the gates of Mewgate. On the 
death of Mr, Bates in 1785, Mr. Skinner 
was a fecond time invited by the ward of 
Queenhithe to become their alderman. This 
honour, which he had formerly declined, he 
then accepted; a ftep to which he was no 
doubt tae more readily induced from the ex- 
perience which he had received of the atten- 
tion and ability of bis partner, Mr. Dyke, in 
condu@ing the concerns of the houfe. Mr. 
Skinner was cal'ed by the unanimous voice 
of his fellow citizens to the high office of 
lord mayor; and perhaps no period of the 
hiftory of Lendon can be named when vigi- 
lance and difcretion in its chief magiftrate 
were more neceflary than during his mayor- 
alty. The ftate trials ef that year will ren- 
der it for ever memorable in the annals of 
this country. The predeceflor of Mr. Skias 
ner had deemed it neceflary, forthe preferv- 
ation ef the peace, during thetrial of Horne 
Tooke, to line the Oid Bailey with the mi- 
litary. Upon the continuation cf these trials, 
the new lord mayor rejeéted the proffered fer- 
vices of the foldiers. For this aé&t he was 
feverely centured by the minifterial journal- 
ifts, and, if we are rightly informed, an 
attempt was made by high authority to inti- 
midate him te adopt the milmary regime. He 
continued, however, to preferve the peace 
of the metropolis through the whole of his 
mayoralty by the aid of the civil power 
alone ; and declared that while he fat in the 
civic chair no military force fhould he em- 
ployed. This confitutional condu€t juftly 
railed him to the highe& degree of popu- 
darity. The hofpitality of his table, and the 
{plendour of his entertainments at the Man- 
fion-houfe, though at leaft equal to any of 
his predeceffors, are obje&ts which have only 
a minor claim to notice, eclipfed as they 
were by the infexible integrity and patriotic 
dnsependence with which he difcharged every 
funGiion of a conftitutional chief magiftrate. 
On Michaelmas day 1799, Mr. Skinner was 
again returned by the livery of London, in 
conjunétion with Mr. Coombe, to the court 
of aldermen, for their choiee of one of them 
to be lord-mayor, when the court elected the 
former a fecond time in preference to Mr. 
Ceombe, who had net ferved the office. This 
decifion of the court of aldermen Mr. Skin- 
ner firmly refifted, by refufing to ferve the 
fecond time that office, which he had fo re- 
cently and honourably difcharged. The per- 
feverance of the livery in returning to the 
court of aldermen thefe two gentiemen only, 
and the firmnefs of Mr. Skinner in refuling 
to ferve the office, at lergth fixed Alderman 
Coombe in the chief magiitracy of the citys 
and thus defeated the plaas of a junto of 
contraétors and courtiers, who aimed to ex- 
clude the patriotic alderman from his fair 
claims 
