162

Letters between Mr. Wilkes, and the Rev. Mr. Horne.

the word people) I have never thought it wrong; but it is the voice within me that shall ever be the guide of my actions.

It is not my intention here to open any account with you on the score of private character. In that refpect the public have kindly paffed an act of infolvency in your favour; you have delivered up your all, and no man can fairly now make any demand. I blame your public conduct, and never had a difference with you on any other fubject: And though it has fuited your felfish politics to infinuate and pretend fome private pique between us, yet you have not ventured even anonymoufly to fuggeft any particular caufe of my diffatisfaction.

That I may be well understood, it is neceffary to give a fhort hiftory of the commencement, progrefs, and conclufion of the intercourfe between us. And this I will begin to do in my next; not for my own juftification, for I could be well contented to leave each man to his opinion concerning me; but that the people at large, to whofe fafety and happinefs it is important, nray be better able to form their judgment how far they ought, and how far they ought not to fupport you; and that they may perceive your general profeffions and proteftations to be like thofe of laft Wednesday's fpeech, equally calculated to mislead and impofe, and to which every particular act as well of your oppofition as of his government is a flat contradiction.

I

JOHN HORNE.

To the Rev. Mr. H OR NE.
LETTER I.

Princes Court, May 15.
SIR,
Have waited with impatience ever
fince November for the juftification
of your account of the Weftminfier
bufinefs, in the very preface of which
you advanced the falfhood, that you
READY to vouch the authenti-
city of it. I called on you in print the
day after its publication.
letter of Jan. 16. you declared, "the
Westminster bufinefs I fhall reserve for
my future letter." Another letter now
appears, which neither mentions, nor

· were

In your

promifes, any thing on that subject.
Now you trifle with the public: Be-
You fay, "it is net my intention
fore you dared to impofe.
"here to open an account with you on
"the fcore of private character: In
"that refpect the public have kindly

paffed an act of infolvency in your
"favour." I believe indeed you will
not chufe to open any account on the
man in holy orders, whofe hand ap-
Score of private character. A gentle-
pears to teftify his belief of the arti-
cles of the church of England, the least
moral, leaft confcientious of men, whofe
life has paffed in a conftant, direct oppo-
fition to the pu ity and precepts of the
cle in it to the last is known to be Non
gofpel, whofe creed from the first arti-
Credo, fuch a perfon with wonderful
prudence chufes not to open any account
on the score of private character. I
do not mean, Sir, to be impertinent
enough to a public, whom I refpect,
vate life, in which they are not inter-
to defcend to thofe particulars of pri-
fend myself. The frailties, of which
fered, either to accuse you, or to de-
I have repented, I will not justify. I
will not even plead with Horace,
Nec lufiffe pudet, fed non incidere ludum.
but I hope to redeem and bury in ob-
virtuous actions, by real fervices to
livion every past folly by great and
my country.

Your letter of yesterday contains no
Every one fhall be fully answered. I
charge, although it promises many.
have only to defire that your future
letter or letters, may appear before
Midfummer Day, because it is poffible
that by the favour of the livery of
London, I may after that time be
wholly enaged in preparing for the
duties of a very important office, and
the faithful difcharge of the Sheriff's
I am, Sir,
Oath, not of that, which you falfified:

Your humble Servant,
JOHN WILKES.

To Mr. JOHN WILKES.
LETTER II.

SIR,

TH

HE motives of my conduct, and the nature of our intercourse, (for it cannot be called a connexion)

will

Letters between Mr. Wilkes, and the Rev. Mr. Horne.

will beft appear from the fituation of each of us at its commencement: Your motives will appear as plainly in its progrefs and conclufion.

When your troubles began I was in France. I returned to England towards the end of the year 1764. Shortly after, by the intereft of a neighbouring gentleman, with whofe fon I had travelled, I received a promife from Mr. Layinz, late Receiver General of the Customs, that I should fpeedily be appointed one of the chaplains to his majefty, through the nominal application of the Duke of with a profpect of fuch other particular preferment as was fufficient to fatisfy my withes.

I was quickly informed of all the political tranfactions in England during my abfence. My expectations and oppofite connexions were not fo ftrong in me as thofe principles which all who know me, know I always profeffed, long before there was a probability that the times would ever call them out into practice. In this fituation, I did not hesitate one moment about my conduct, but inftantly declared my fentiments very freely; and during my fhort stay in England, contributed my mite to the public caufe, by publishing whatever effays, hints, or intelligence, I thought might be ufeful. Amongft other things, I had written a pamphlet, which one popular bookfeller, after printing, declined to publish. I applied to Mr. Cotes, with whofe name only I was then acquainted, as a perfon most likely to direct me to a hold publifher. Such a one was found; and both Mr. Cotes and the publisher must acknowledge, that the only flipulations between us were, that my name fhould remain a fecret, unlefs the pamphlet was called in queftion: In that cafe the publifher had his choice, either to be indemnified by me, or to give up my name for his own fecurity, if he did not chufe to rifque the confequences of the profecution.

163

letters from Mr. Onflow, which you
have fince published. Though this
was the first time we ever faw each
other, you exacted from me, with
very earnest intreaty, a promife of cor-
refpondence. I thought you, at that
time, fincerely public-fpirited, and a
man of honour. I mean that fort of
honour which, though it does not
reftrain from bad, prevents men from
being guilty of mean actions. I wrote
to you from Montpelier; and left from
my appearance you should mistake my
fituation, and expect confiderable fer-
vices from me, I thought it proper to
inform you, that I was only a poor
country clergyman; whofe fituation,
notwithstanding his zeal, would never
enable him to perform any confider-
able fervice either to you or the public.
Having told you my profeffion, I dif-
claimed, in a joking manner, those
vices which, from the dependent fitua-
tion of its profeflors, are too frequently
attendant on it-I mean hypocrify,
fervility, and an abject attention to
private intereft. Receiving no answer,
I did not repeat my folly and upon
a fecond vifit to you at Paris, in my
return from Italy to England, in the
year 1767, I faw reafons fufficient ne-
ver more to truft you with a fingle line;
for I found that all the private letters
of your friends were regularly posted
in a book, and read over indifcrimi-
nately, not only to your friends and
acquaintance, but to every vifitor. In
this fecond vifit at Paris, you re-
proached me for not keeping my pro-
mife of carrefpondence, and fwore
you had not received my letter. I
was very well contented, though I did
not believe your excufe, and hugged
myfeif in the reflection that I had fur-
nifhed you with only one opportunity
of treachery. This letter
you copied
fome months, and fhewed it about to
numbers of people with a menace of
publication if I dared to interrupt
you. And yet you cannot pretend to
justify yourself by faying that it con-
tains any promifes which have not been
abundantly fulfilled. So far from pro-
mifing affiftance, if I have any me-
m ry, it declares an inability to affift.
You will not fay that I courted you
in your profperity, and forfook you in

In the year 1765, another neighbouring gentleman applied to me to go to Italy with his fou: I embraced his offer. Paffing through Paris, I delivered fome letters to you from Mr. Cotes; amongst others one of thofe

X 2

adverfity;

164
adverfity: You will not fay that I have
been ungrateful, or that I ever re-
ceived any favours at your hands. I
found you in the most hopeless ftate; an
outlaw; plunged in the deepest di-
ftrefs; overwhelmed with debt and dif.
grace; forfaken by all your friends,
and thunned by every thing that called
itself a gentleman, at a time when very
honeft men who could diftinguish
between you and your caufe, and who
feared no danger, yet feared the ri
dicule attending a probable defeat.
Happily we fucceeded, and I leave you
by repeated elections the legal repre-
fentative of Middlefex, an Alderman
of London, and about thirty thousand
pounds rieher than when first I knew
you; myself by many degrees poorer
than I was before; and I pretend to
have been a little inftrumental in all
thefe changes of your fituation.

Letters between Mr. Wilkes, and the Rev. Mr. Horne.

I make no other reflection on your behaviour refpecting my letter than barely to fay that thofe who shall attempt to palliate or justify it, will want a juftification themselves. Pub lifh it however when you will, I am confident, as indeed I have likewife been affured by many to whom you have shewn it, that there is nothing in the letter of which I need to be afhamed, unless there are any compliments to you; of every thing of that kind your fubfequent conduct has indeed made me most heatily ashamed.

JOHN HORNE.

To Mr. JOHN WILKE S.
LETTER III.

SIR,

M
Y first employment on my return
to England was to reconcile you
with Mr. Cotes, whom I thought you
treated in his misfortunes with a bar-
barous ingratitude: and at Paris I ex-
plained to you my fentiments on the
fubject as freely as a stranger could
who wished not to offend you.

From this time till your arrival in England I threw out hints in the papers of your intention to offer yourfelf a candidate at the enfuing general election; and I endeavoured, with as much art as I was master of, to let them be just strong enough to make thofe who wished you well fuppofe the event

poffible, without being fo ftrong as to make thefe who feared fuch an event fuppofe it probable.

From the time I left you at Paris in 1767, I held no communication with you of any kind whatever; nor did I upon your arrival in England in 1768, even pay you a vifit, till it was very evident you had loft your election in the city. Then indeed I went to you, because I knew I could be useful to you in Middlefex; and I did then, and do ftill think, that there was no method by which I could do greater fervice to the public, than by efpoufing your caufe; which the weakness and wickedness of your court had made, to a certain degree, the cause of every Englishman.

Befides fome credible information which I had received fince I first faw you concerning your character, and the danger which my fecond vifit had fhewn me there was in your correfpondence, a particular tranfaction had made me forbear any communication with you though my fentiments of your caufe reinained unaltered. In October 1766, you came over to England privately: My brother-in-law, Mr. Wildman, accidentally met you in the street near his own houfe in Argyle Buildings, in company with your brother, Mr. Heaton Wilkes : Mr. Wildman expreffing his furprize to fee you, you told him you were diftreffed to find fome place where you might fafely lay hid from fear of the outlawry: He offered you his own houfe, where you staid till you went back again to France. You_reprefented to him your fituation in France, which made it proper for you to endeavour by little prefents, &c. to please your friends there to whom you had obligations; and requested him to procure for you certain articles, to the value of forty pounds, and to fend them directed for your friend Monfieur Sainte Foy at Paris; to whofe hands you faid they would come without difficulty, examination or interruption, he being Secretary to the French minifter, and Great Treajurer of the Marine; and you promised that Mr. Wildman's bills for the money he thould lay out on these articles, thoulđ

be

Letters between Mr. Wilkes, and the Rev. Mr. Horne.

be paid at fight. Mr. Wildman executed your commiffion with the zeal of a friend, and chose to delay receiving his money till fome months after, when he was himself to país through Paris. In September 1767, he waited on you at Paris: He hoped he had executed your commiffion to your fatisfaction: You denied that the arti-, cles had ever been received. He afked what he must do; and whether, if any accident had happened, it must be his lofs? You replied, that he muft call upon Monfieur Sainte Foy. Mr. Wildman then defired you to let him have my clothes, which I had left with you at Paris; because I fhould not leave England fo foon as I had before intended, and when I did go abroad fhould not take the route of Paris. You endeavoured to diffuade him from charging himself with the clothes, because of the great rigour of our Cuftoin-house; and when you could not deter him, you promised he should have them foon. Mr. Wildman went to Monf. Sainte Foy, was admitted, and told him the caufe of his vifit: Monf. Sainte Foy pretended that he could not understand either his French or his Engfith. Mr. Wildman went down stairs to call his valet-de-place, who understood both languages well: When he would have gone into the room again to Monf. Sainte Foy, his valet de chambre faid-" Sir, my mafter "is not at home." In vain Mr. Wildman infifted, he had quitted his mafter but that minute to call in his interpreter, the fervant perfifted that his mafter was not at home," and Mr. Wildman could only procure a repetition of the fame answer. Mr. Wildman returned to Mr. Wilkes's honfe; Mr. Wilkes was "not at home." He repeated his visits Mr. Wilkes was 66 not at home." At length he was informed that Mr. Wilkes was gone to his houfe is the country: Mr. Wildman went thither after you; and you promised to come to Paris the next day, and fettle all matters. Mr. Wildman returned to Paris with Monf. Gey, a name well known in England and in France, and a conftant companion of Mr. Wilkes's. M. Goy told Mr. Wildman," he might as well fave himself the trou

165

ble of his vifits, he would get neither money nor clothes; for that Mr. Wilkes was greatly diftreffed, and had been forced lately to pawn the clothes," The next day a note was left at Mr. Wildman's hotel with Mr. Wilkes's name. Mr. Wildman immediately on the receipt of it, at noon, went to Mr. Wilkes's lodgings. The fervants faid, Mr. Wilkes was gone into the country. Mr. Wildman then went to Melfrs. Foley and Panchaud, the bankers, and not finding any money left there for him as you had by letter promifed there thould be, he perceived that Mr. Goy had told him truth, and that he was tricked and laughed at, and therefore instantly quitted Paris. -Such was the return which you his " affectionate friend" made to my brother your hospitable friend for "obligations which made it impoffible "for you to exprefs the feelings of your gratitude" and for " favours "received under his roof," of which you promised an eternal remembrance.

Mr. Wildman has fince made the proper enquiries, and finds that the goods he was commiffioned by you to procure were duly delivered. For my own part I never made the leaft enquiry after my clothes, but have received a letter within the last three months from Mr. Panchaud, informing me that they have long been in his poffeffion.

Though the extreme meanness of thus filching what you might have received freely as a git, infpired me with infinite contempt for the very name of Mr. Wilkes, yet compaffion for the wretchedness of your fituation took away from me all kind of refentment; and though I was deter mined never to be connected with the man, I was ready to lay down my life in the caufe.

I have mentioned thefe circumftances not as any charges against you, though no doubt they will operate as fuch; but merely to prove by facts what was from the beginning the nature of any intercourie with you, and what must have been my motives at the time of its commencement.

JOIN HORNE.

Το

Letters between Mr. Wilkes, and the Rev. Mr. Horně.

To the Rev. Mr. H ORNE.