Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, Volume 3 (of 4)Walpole, Horace
History
Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, Volume 3 (of 4)
Walpole, Horace
Great Britain -- History -- 1760-1789; Great Britain -- History -- George III, 1760-1820
The riots continuing, and the journeymen tailors taking advantage of
them and of the mourning for Princess Louisa, rose in a great body, and
went to petition Parliament for increase of wages, but were prevailed
on by Justice Fielding to behave with decency. Lord Barrington on
this occasion moved to enable the King to embody the militia on
emergencies--the first experiment for enlarging the power of the Crown
with that accession of strength. But Sir George Saville, and even Lord
Strange and other courtiers, opposed the motion so ardently, that it
was dropped; though Grenville, on the other hand, declared for the
proposition.[110] The sailors were appeased by the merchants agreeing
to enlarge their pay.
The new Parliament produced many new speakers, of whom the most eminent
was Dunning, the Solicitor-General, but whose fame did not rise then in
proportion to the celebrity he had attained at the bar. The others, of
far less note, were, Mr. Cornwall, a sensible lawyer,[111] Mr. Phipps,
son of Lord Mulgrave, a young man whose application forced him at last
into notice, and who, though a seaman, was so addicted to the study
of the law, that he got the appellation of _the Marine Lawyer_;[112] a
young Mr. Cavendish,[113] hot-headed and odd; a Colonel Lutterel,[114]
more absurd and impudent; and James Townshend and Sawbridge, who will
be often mentioned, though not for their eloquence. Lutterel had a
personal enmity to Wilkes, and had declared that he would force the
House into some resolution on Wilkes’s case. Accordingly, he moved
that the proper officer should acquaint the House why Wilkes had not
been taken into custody sooner. Lord North said the motion was so
absurdly worded, that he could not think himself pointed at; but he
alleged that everything had been left to due course of law. This was
confirmed by the Attorney-General; and young Mr. Lyttelton, only son of
Lord Lyttelton, urging with decency that the time was not proper while
the case was depending in the courts below, the previous question was
put and carried; yet not a word was uttered in Wilkes’s favour. Mr.
Lyttelton, who soon after lost his seat, his election being contested,
had parts and knowledge, and conciliated much favour by that first
essay; but his character was uncommonly odious and profligate, and his
life a grievous course of mortification to his father. More will be
said of him hereafter.
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