THE CONDUCT OF THE ADMINISTRATION IN THE PROSECUTION OF MR. WILKES

London: J. Wilkie, 1764. Disbound. Good binding. Octavo. [4], 31, [1] pp. Removed from nonce volume. Deaccessioned copy with periodic rubber stamps and catalog numbers; fairly fragile copy; half title and last leaf (blank) are soiled; chip to the fore-edge margin of the half title; closed tear to the top margin of all leaves, not touching text; generally age toned.

"John Wilkes was a constant thorn in the side of the Ministry during the Seven Years' War. Despite efforts to exclude him, Wilkes was overwhelmingly elected to Parliament from Middlesex, and became the embodiment of the Opposition. His stand against the Ministry of George III led him to establish The North Briton. . . . In the guise of being a Scottish Tory periodical, it launched vicious and satirical attacks on the government. Wilkes' authorship, though unstated, was well known, and he was watched closely for a misstep. With issue 45, on Aril 23, 1763, he went too far and called George III a liar. Wilkes was immediately arrested and thrown in the Tower. Released on a write of habeas corpus, he was rearrested for seditious libel and fled to France, after which he was declared an outlaw by Parliament. He returned to England in 1768, and eventually was reseated in Parliament in 1774. Wilkes' bold stand made him a hero to all dissenters from the government" (cf. Reese, Struggle for North America, 60). Interestingly, Wilkes initial release was because he was taken in on a general warrant without being specifically named. In this element and how the it played out, the Wilkes case "produced a victory for 'liberty' in the total condemnation of general warrants. Already on 6 December 1763 Chief Justice Charles Pratt had ruled in the court of common pleas that general warrants could not be used as search warrants of unspecified buildings. This verdict was complemented by judgments of Chief Justice Lord Mansfield in the court of king's bench on 18 June 1764 and 8 November 1765 that ended the use of general warrants for the arrest of persons" (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). ESTC T2628.