Mr. Wilkes and Mr. Almon, that if the printer of the London Evening Post should be com plained of, a serious, a bold, and a strong re

IMMEDIATELY after this, Mr. Wilkes wrote the following.

To the right hon. the earl of Halifax, one of his majesty's principal secretaries of state.

"Guildhall of London, March 15, 1771.

"I HAD the honour of officiating this day as the sitting justice at Guildhall. John Wheble, the publisher of the Middlesex Journal, a freeman of London, was apprehended and brought before me by Edward Twine Carpenter, who appears to be neither a constable nor peaceofficer of this city. I demanded of what crime Wheble was accused; and if oath had been made of his having committed any felony, or breach of the peace; or if he lay under a suspicion strong enough to justify his apprehension or detention. Carpenter answered that he did not accuse Wheble of any crime, but had apprehended him merely in consequence of his majesty's proclamation; for which he claimed the reward of 50l. As I found that there was no legal cause of complaint against Wheble, I thought it clearly my duty to adjudge that he had been apprehended in the city illegally, in direct

sistance should be made *. The plan was this:that if the printer should be served with an order to attend the house of commons, he was to pay no regard to it that if the house sent a mes

violation of the rights of an Englishman, and of the chartered privileges of a citizen of this metropolis; and to discharge him. He then made a formal complaint of the assault upon him by Carpenter; I therefore bound him over to prosecute, in a recognizance of 40l.; and Carpenter to appear and answer the complaint at the next quarter-session of the peace for this city, in a recognizance of 40l. himself, with two sureties in recognizances of 201. each.

"I am, my lord,

your lordship's most obedient,

humble servant,

JOHN WILKES."

*They were perfectly aware that colonel Onslow was only the instrument in this matter. The project was deeper laid. The measure originated in the same invisible quarter from which lord Marchmont's instructions had been drawn. We are yet too near the time to state the particulars of these facts.

senger to apprehend him, he was to have a constable in readiness to take the messenger into custody; and that then they were to proceed to the mansion-house, where Mr. Wilkes and the lord-mayor (Crosby) would attend for the purpose. The plan was mentioned to Mr. alderman Oliver, who also acquiesced in it.

Circumstances happened exactly as had been foreseen. The printer being ordered to attend the house of commons, he acted according to his instructions: and when the messenger afterwards came to take him into custody, he gave him in charge to the constable, and they proceeded to the mansion-house, where the lordmayor, Mr. Wilkes, and Mr. Oliver, attended; and after hearing the case, they discharged the printer (as a citizen of London) from the custody of the messenger. The printer, in his turn, now charged the messenger with a breach of the peace; and he was bound in the usual manner to prosecute. The messenger was desired to give bail for this offence; which he refused: a mittimus was there

fore made out, and signed by the lordmayor and messrs. Wilkes and Oliver, for his commitment to Wood-street counter. But by this time the deputy serjeant-at-arms, who had been sent for, had arrived at the mansion-house; and he gave the required bail for the messenger.

The ministry, and their party in the house of commons, were enraged at this violent resistance to their power. The proceedings in parliament on this subject having been detailed in various publications, it is necessary only to state them very shortly here.

The house resolved that the lord-mayor and alderman Oliver had been guilty of a breach of privilege. And they resolved also, that the lord-mayor and Mr. alderman Oliver should be committed to the Tower: but as to Mr. Wilkes, they did not choose to meddle with him; for though they ordered him to attend on a particular day, yet it was contrived (by an adjournment) that the house did not sit on that day :—so the matter, as far as related

to him, was let drop. The truth is, they were afraid to proceed against him.

The lord-mayor and Mr. Oliver were committed to the Tower: where they were visited by all the lords, and members of the house of commons, who were in opposition to the measures of the ministry; and by great numbers of other gentlemen. They also received addresses, containing expressions of the highest approbation, and of the warmest thanks, from every ward in the city. On the day of their enlargement (which was the day of the prorogation of parliament) they were further honoured with a brilliant and splendid cavalcade and procession to the mansion-house: the city was illuminated, and every mark of rejoicing was displayed. This was a victory over undefined power.

This struggle concerning the printing of the debates in parliament, forms an era of some interest in the English history. With respect to the house of commons, it is certainly a fair and constitutional question,-Have not the