Chapter I · DUELS IN GREAT BRITAIN. (continued 2)

“I came here at three this afternoon, and about five was told that Lord Talbot and Colonel 69Berkeley were in the house. Lord Talbot had been here at one, and was gone again, leaving a message, however, that he would soon return. I had continued in the room where I was at my first coming for fear of raising any suspicion. I sent a compliment to Colonel Berkeley, and that I wished to see him; he was so obliging as to come to me directly. I told him that I supposed we were to sup together with Lord Talbot, whom I was ready to attend as became a private gentleman, and that he and Mr. Harris (my Adjutant), as our seconds, would settle the business of the next morning, according to my letter to him from Winchester, and his answer. Berkeley said that his Lordship wished to finish the business immediately. I replied, that the appointment was to sup together that evening and to fight in the morning; that in consequence of such an arrangement, I had, like an idle man of pleasure, put off some business of real importance, which I meant to settle before I went to bed. I added, that I came from Medmenham Abbey, where the jovial monks of St. Francis had kept me up till four in the morning. That the world would therefore conclude that I was drunk, and form no favourable opinion of his Lordship from a duel at such a time; that it more became us both to take a cool hour of the next morning, and as early a one as was agreeable to his Lordship. Berkeley said that he had undertaken to bring us together, 70and as we were both now at Bagshot, he would leave us to settle our own business. He then asked me if I would go with him to his Lordship. I said I would any moment he pleased. We went directly, with my Adjutant.

“I found his Lordship in an agony of passion. He said that I had injured him; that he was not used to be injured or insulted. What did I mean? Did I, or did I not, write the North Briton of August the 21st, which affronted his honour? He would know; he insisted on a direct answer; here were his pistols. I replied, that he would soon use them; that I desired to know by what right his Lordship catechised me about a paper that did not bear my name; that I should never resolve the question to him till he made out the right of putting it; and that if I could have entertained any other idea, I was too well bred to have given his Lordship and Colonel Berkeley the trouble of coming to Bagshot. I observed that I was a private English gentleman, perfectly free and independent, which I held to be a character of the highest dignity; that I obeyed with pleasure a gracious sovereign, but would never submit to the arbitrary dictates of a fellow-subject, a lord steward of his household, my superior indeed in rank, fortune, and abilities, but my equal only in honour, courage, and liberty. His Lordship then asked me if I would fight him that evening. I said that I preferred 71the next morning, as it had been settled before, and gave my reasons. His Lordship replied that he insisted on finishing the affair immediately. I told him that I should very soon be ready; that I did not mean to quit him, but would absolutely first settle some important business relative to the education of my only daughter, whom I tenderly loved; that it would take up but very little time; and that I would immediately decide the affair in any way he chose, for I had brought both sword and pistols. I rang the bell for pen, ink, and paper, desiring his Lordship to conceal his pistols, that they might not be seen by the waiters. He soon after became half frantic, and used a thousand indecent expressions, that I should be hanged, damned, &c., &c. I said that I was not to be frightened, nor in the least affected by such violence; that God had given me a firmness and spirit equal to his Lordship’s, or any man’s; that cool courage should always mark me; and that it would be seen how well bottomed he was.

“After the waiter had brought pen, ink, and paper, I proposed that the door of the room should be locked, and not opened till our business was decided. His Lordship, on this proposition, became quite outrageous; declared that this was mere butchery, and that I was a wretch who sought his life. I reminded him that I came there on a point of honour to give his Lordship satisfaction; that I mentioned the circumstance 72of shutting the door only to prevent all possibility of interruption; and that I would, in every circumstance, be governed, not by the turbulence of the most violent temper I had ever seen, but by the calm determination of our two seconds, to whom I implicitly submitted. His Lordship then asked me if I would deny the paper. I answered that I would neither own nor deny it; if I survived, I would afterwards declare, but not before.

“Soon after he grew a little cooler, and in a soothing tone of voice, said, ‘I have never, I believe, offended Mr. Wilkes, why has he attacked me? He must be sorry to see me unhappy.’ I asked him upon what grounds his Lordship imputed the paper to me? That Mr. Wilkes would justify any paper to which he had put his name, and would equally assert the privilege of not giving any answer whatever about a paper to which he had not; that that was my undoubted right, which I was ready to seal with my blood.

“He then said he admired me exceedingly, really loved me, but I was an unaccountable animal—such parts! But would I kill him who had never offended me? &c., &c. We had after this a good deal of conversation about the Bucks’ Militia and the day his Lordship came to see me on Wycombe Heath, before I was colonel. He soon after flamed out again, and said to me, ‘You are a murderer, you want to kill me, but I am sure I shall kill you, I know I shall, by G—d! 73If you will fight, if you will kill me, I hope you will be hanged. I know you will.’ I asked if I was first to be killed and afterwards to be hanged? That I knew his Lordship fought me with the King’s pardon in his pocket, and I fought him with a halter about my neck. That I would fight him for all that, and if he fell I should not tarry here a moment for the tender mercies of such a ministry; but would directly proceed to the next stage, where my valet waited for me, from thence I would make the best of my way to France, as men of honour were sure of protection in that country. He then told me that I was an unbeliever, and wished to be killed. I could not help smiling at this, and observed that we did not meet at Bagshot to settle articles of faith, but points of honour; that, indeed, I had no fear of dying, but I enjoyed life as much as any man; that I am as little subject to be gloomy or even peevish, as any Englishman whatever; that I valued life and the fair enjoyments of it so much, I would never quit it with my own consent, except on a call of honour.

“I then wrote a letter to your Lordship, respecting the education of Miss Wilkes, and gave you my poor thanks for the steady friendship with which you have so many years honoured me. Colonel Berkeley took the care of the letter, and I have since desired him to send it to Stowe; for the sentiments of the head at such a moment 74are beyond all politics, and indeed everything else, except such virtue as Lord Temple’s.

“When I had sealed my letter, I told his Lordship I was entirely at his service, and I again desired that we might decide the affair in the room, because there could not be a possibility of interruption; but he was quite inexorable. He then asked me how many times we should fire. I said, that I left it to his choice. I had brought a flask of powder and a bag of bullets. Our seconds then charged the pistols which my Adjutant had brought. They were large horse-pistols. It was agreed that we should fire at the word of command, to be given by one of our seconds. They tossed up, and it fell to my Adjutant to give the word.

“We then left the room, and walked to a garden at some distance from the house. It was near seven, and the moon shone brightly. We stood about eight yards distant, and agreed not to turn round before we fired, but to continue facing each other. Harris gave the word. Both our fires were in very exact time, but neither took effect.

“I walked up immediately to his Lordship, and told him, that now I avowed the paper. His Lordship paid me the highest encomiums on my courage, and said, he would declare everywhere that I am the noblest fellow God had ever made. He then desired that we might now be good 75friends, and retire to the inn to drink a bottle of claret together, which we did with great good humour and much laugh.

“His Lordship afterwards went to Windsor, Colonel Berkeley and my Adjutant to Winchester, and I continue here until to-morrow morning, waiting the return of my valet, to whom I have sent a messenger. Berkeley told me he was grieved at his Lordship’s passion, and admired my coolness and courage beyond his farthest idea,—that was his expression.

“I am, my Lord, &c.

“John Wilkes.”

According to our modern notions of duelling, in this curious transaction one might be disposed to think that neither of the parties was particularly anxious to fight. That Wilkes should have wished to sup in company with the person whom he had offended, the night before the duel, would lead one to fancy that he contemplated the possibility of a reconciliation. On the other hand, Lord Talbot, by his conduct, which was most ungentlemanly and outrageous, seemed disposed to bully Wilkes into a concession; and both parties talked of killing, with a view to terrify each other. From the well-known character of Wilkes, no one could doubt his courage; but his refusing to acknowledge himself the writer of the offensive article, which he after the duel 76admitted to have been his, was a shallow act, that nothing could have justified but the insulting manner in which Lord Talbot put the question to him; and most assuredly his Lordship had the worst of the affair, since he was satisfied with a shot returned, although Wilkes acknowledged himself the writer of the insulting paragraph. The frequency of the duels that occurred in those days does not appear to have given them, generally speaking, a character of much delicacy or punctilious honour; and they seem to have been the result of fashion more than of feeling.

In 1763 Wilkes got involved in another duel, with Mr. Martin, Secretary to the Treasury. The North Briton, of which he was the editor, with its usual acrimony against the members of the administration, had introduced some characteristic sketches, supposed to allude to Samuel Martin, member of Parliament for Camelford, and Secretary to the Treasury, and afterwards the hero in Churchill’s poem, “The Duellist.” The following was the offensive paragraph:—

“The secretary of a certain board, and a very apt tool of ministerial persecution, who, with a snout worthy of a Portuguese inquisitor, is hourly looking out for carrion in office, to feed the maw of the insatiable vulture, imo, etiam in senatum venit, notat et designat unumquemque nostrûm, he marks us, and all our innocent families, for beggary 77and ruin. Neither the tenderness of age, nor the sacredness of sex, is spared by the cruel Scot.”

In a further number notice is again taken “of the most treacherous, base, selfish, mean, abject, low-lived, and dirty fellow, that ever wriggled himself into a secretaryship.”

In consequence of that paragraph, which Mr. Martin applied to himself, he made use of very insulting language in the House of Commons, when speaking of the North Briton, upon which Wilkes sent him the following letter;—

“Great George Street, Nov. 16, 1763.

“Sir,

“You complained yesterday before five hundred gentlemen, that you had been stabbed in the dark by the North Briton. But I believe you were not so much in the dark as you affected and chose to be. Was the complaint made before so many gentlemen on purpose that they might interpose? To cut off every pretence of this kind, as to the author, I whisper in your ear, that every passage of the North Briton in which you have been named or alluded to, was written by

“Your humble servant,

“John Wilkes.”

To this letter Mr. Martin returned the following answer:—

78“Arlington Street, Nov. 16, 1763.

“Sir,

“As I said in the House of Commons yesterday, that the writer of the North Briton, who had stabbed me in the dark, was a cowardly as well as a malignant scoundrel, and your letter of this morning’s date acknowledges that every passage of the North Briton in which I have been named, or even alluded to, was written by yourself, I must take the liberty to repeat, that you are a malignant and infamous scoundrel, and that I desire to give you an opportunity of showing me whether the epithet cowardly was rightly applied or not. I desire that you may meet me in Hyde Park immediately, with a brace of pistols each, to determine our difference. I shall go to the ring in Hyde Park, with my pistols, so concealed that nobody may see them, and I will wait in expectation of you one hour. As I shall call on my way at your house to deliver this letter, I propose to go from thence directly to the ring in Hyde Park, from whence we may proceed, if it be necessary, to any more private place. And I mention that I shall wait an hour, in order to give you the full time to meet me.

“I am, sir, your humble servant,

“Samuel Martin.”

When the parties met in Hyde Park, they walked together a little while to avoid some company 79which seemed coming up to them. They brought each a pair of pistols. When they were alone, the first fire was from Mr. Martin’s pistol, which missed Mr. Wilkes. The pistol in Mr. Wilkes’s hand only flashed in the pan. The gentlemen then each took one of the remaining pistols. Mr. Wilkes missed, and the ball of Mr. Martin’s pistol lodged in Mr. Wilkes’s belly. He bled immediately very much. Mr. Martin came up, and desired to give him all the assistance in his power. Mr. Wilkes replied, that Mr. Martin had behaved like a man of honour; that he was killed; and insisted on Mr. Martin’s making his immediate escape, adding, that no person should know from him how the affair happened. Upon this they parted. Mr. Wilkes was carried home; but would not tell any circumstance of the case, till he found it was perfectly known. He only said to the surgeon, that it was an affair of honour.

The day following, Mr. Wilkes, imagining himself in great danger, returned to Mr. Martin his letter, that no evidence might appear against him, and insisted upon it, with his own relatives, that in case of his death, no trouble should be given to Mr. Martin, for he had behaved as a man of honour.

The ball was extracted by Mr. Graves, a surgeon. It had struck Mr. Wilkes’s coat-button, entered his belly half an inch below the navel, 80and sunk obliquely on the right side towards the groin; but it had not penetrated the cavity of the abdomen. It was extracted behind.

When he was able to write, he sent notice by letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons of the condition of his health; and on Friday, the 16th, the House made the following order:—“That Dr. Heberden, physician, and Mr. Cæsar Hawkins, one of His Majesty’s sergeant-surgeons, be desired to attend John Wilkes, Esq., to observe the progress of his cure; and that they, together with Dr. Brocklesby and Mr. Graves, do attend this House to report their opinion thereupon, on the 19th of January next, in case the said John Wilkes, Esq. be not then able to attend in his place.”

The order being sent to Dr. Heberden, by order of the Speaker, he sent it to Dr. Brocklesby, with a letter, desiring to know when he might attend Dr. Brocklesby to Mr. Wilkes. Dr. Brocklesby sent the order of the House and Dr. Heberden’s letter to Mr. Wilkes, who immediately showed his delicacy of feeling on the subject by sending a polite card to Dr. Heberden, saying, that he was well satisfied with the attention and skill of Dr. Brocklesby and Mr. Graves; that he did not wish to see Dr. Heberden for some weeks. He sent a similar card to Mr. Hawkins.^[6] Mr. Martin 81immediately proceeded to Paris; and on Mr. Wilkes’s arrival in that city, notes, and a friendly visit, were exchanged between them.

Mr. Martin’s conduct in this transaction had been highly honourable; but the public was so much exasperated at the danger to which Wilkes had been exposed, that no credit was given to the spirit which his antagonist had displayed. On the contrary, it was remarked, that Mr. Martin had taken no notice of the objectionable passage in the North Briton until about eight months after the publication, and that in so public and official a manner before the House, as almost to demand an interference. He was also accused of having during that period practised every day at a target, Sundays not excepted; and also with not having returned Mr. Wilkes’s letter till a month after the duel, with a view, as it was suggested, had Mr. Wilkes speedily recovered, of making use of it in evidence of his being concerned in the North Briton.

These were not the only instances of his life being perilled as a political and party editor. He had not been long in Paris, after his recovery, when a Scotch captain, of the name of Charles John Forbes, called him out, as the writer of several articles in the North Briton against the 82dignity of Scotland. Wilkes pleaded other engagements of the same nature, but expressed his willingness to give him satisfaction as soon as they were disposed of. The captain, in a wild manner, insisted upon an immediate meeting; but not being able to find a second, or any one to vouch for his being a gentleman, Wilkes declined accepting his request. This affair coming to the ear of the police, the parties were put upon their parole not to fight within the French dominions. Mr. Wilkes, upon this, offered to meet him in Flanders, or any country in Europe, Asia, Africa, or America, excepting the French territory. Soon after the return of Wilkes to London, Captain Forbes appeared there, with a view, as it was suspected, of fighting with him; but the ministry, upon getting notice of the arrival and intention of the Scotchman, very prudently caused it to be intimated to him, that his presence could not but be very disagreeable; upon which the doughty champion of Caledonia thought proper to leave the kingdom, and afterwards entered the Portuguese service a desperate adventurer.

In December 1763, another Scotchman, of the name of Alexander Dunn, obtained admission into Wilkes’s apartment; but being suspected of a design to assassinate him, he was immediately seized and searched, when a new large penknife was found in his pocket; which circumstance, 83coupled with a declaration which he had been heard to make, that he, and ten other sworn Scotch accomplices, had determined to cut Mr. Wilkes off, whatever might be the result, left little doubt of his intention. The papers found upon his person were laid before the House of Commons; but it was found upon further examination, that the man was deranged.

The duel of Wilkes with Lord Talbot was one of the first that occurred in the beginning of the reign of George III. Hostile meetings had now assumed a different character. Swords were no longer drawn in bagnios, taverns, and chocolate houses, on the spur of the moment, and public broils had ceased to become fashionable: since the wearing of side-arms had ceased to be customary, duels assumed a more regular and civilised form. The desperate conduct of the “bloods” and “bucks” of the day was no longer considered a proof of gentlemanlike bearing, and a man might be looked upon as fashionable without being what was called a hell-fire rake. The violence of party had now succeeded trifling dissentions and tavern quarrels; and political differences not unfrequently excited high feelings of animosity, which could only be tempered in the field: and in the following chapter we shall see that duels were but of too frequent occurrence during this momentous reign, a circumstance which we shall endeavour to account for.

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