In October came on the election of the Lord Mayor. Sawbridge and Townshend, the late Sheriffs, declared themselves candidates. The Court were afraid publicly to interfere; but they excited the wealthier merchants, who groaned under the ascendant of the upstart tribunes, to make a stand against the popular faction. The idea was eagerly embraced, and one Nash, a senior Alderman, and very opulent grocer,[207] was set up against the two demagogues. Townshend’s friends tried to persuade him to waive his pretensions in favour of Sawbridge, that the popular interest might not be divided; but acquiescence and prudence were not the tone of that Opposition. Nash was grievously insulted and almost killed in his passage to the election; but, in the Hall, Wilkes himself was more the object of attacks, both Sawbridge and Townshend reviling him, and the latter hinting at his insertion of abusive paragraphs in the newspapers. Wilkes challenged them both to prove their accusations. Townshend equivocated; Sawbridge denied his having alluded to Wilkes. These squabbles, and the outrageous behaviour of Captain Allen, who vomited out invectives against the House of Commons[208] on his own case, raised such heats and dissensions, that Nash was elected Mayor, and Townshend driven out of the court with hisses. Between him and Wilkes a war of words and libels and giving the lie ensued; Wilkes, with impudent humour, abused Townshend for having reflected illiberally on the Princess of Wales in the House of Commons. On entering on his shrievalty, Wilkes canvassed for popularity by ordering the irons of criminals to be knocked off during their trials, and by allowing all persons to enter the court without paying for admittance; but this reformation created so much crowding and disturbance, that the magistrates were forced to interpose. To balance these attempts, Townshend refused, as he had often promised, to pay the land-tax for Middlesex, on the pretended plea that the county was not legally represented; but his goods being distrained, nobody chose to be a confessor in the same cause.