As in the previous election, there was a charge of murder, which arose out of the irregularities then committed, and two Irish chairmen, Balfe and McQuirk, were tried for the death of Mr. George Clarke, “a young gentleman of the law, whom curiosity had brought to Brentford at the late election.” References to this incident are given in the satirical prints and magazines, together with the usual report of the trial of the malefactors. “The Present State of Surgery; or, Modern Practice” (Dec. 14, 1768), appeared in the _Universal Magazine_, vol. v. (April, 1769). This engraving shows Mr. Clarke, whose skull was fatally injured by a blow from a bludgeon, placed between two doctors, who are examining his head: one, a surgeon, is declaring, “If the fever does not kill him, contusions and fractures are nothing;” the other is of opinion, “A court plaister will remove the disorder.” One of a group of surgeons is inquiring of the senior, “Shall we apply the trepan, sir?” “A Glyster” is proposed as likely to “evacuate the broken pieces of bone.” The authors of the mischief, or some of the Irish bludgeon men, are standing by, and discussing the case: “The doctor says a broken skull’s nothing if they can but cure the fever.” His companion replies, “Thank God, we need not fear being knock’d on the head then!” A bystander is remarking, “I catch’d a fever from a bludgeon at Brentford myself”--many persons besides Clarke having complained of maltreatment during these riots. “Ay, they were deadly wise at the Election time,” is the opinion of another. A spectator ejaculates, “I wish those Irish dogs had kept the distemper to themselves--it’s worse than the Itch!” a double-barrelled allusion to the two trials for wilful murder which had arisen out of the successive Middlesex elections--the Irish chairmen who were the cause of Clarke’s death, and the Scotch soldiers who killed Allen. The contusion proved fatal; after languishing a few days the unfortunate young gentleman succumbed. The trial of the two chairmen, Balfe and McQuirk, came on at the Old Bailey, January 14, 1769, and though the prisoners were provided with an array of learned counsellors, to the number of five, for their defence, they were pronounced “guilty,” and sentenced to transportation. An appeal was made to arrest judgment, but it was overruled, and the sentences ordered to be executed. Court influence, in the interval, procured a respite, and the men ultimately received a royal pardon, signed by Lord Rochford, secretary of state, which produced severe animadversions; see “Junius to the Duke of Grafton,” and the notes to this letter by John Wade (Edin. 1850). In the _Political Register_ (IV.) is a copy of the document setting Balfe and McQuirk free. Meanwhile the College of Surgeons was consulted, to exonerate the guilty, to the dissatisfaction of the public.