Note 536 — THE VISION OF JUDGMENT. BY QUEVEDO REDIVIVUS.
Reading edition
{511}[In 1774 Wilkes was elected Lord Mayor, and in the following spring it fell to his lot to present to the King a remonstrance from the Livery against the continuance of the war with America. Walpole (April 17, 1775, Letters, 1803, vi. 257) says that "he used his triumph with moderation—in modern language with good breeding." The King is said to have been agreeably surprised at his demeanour. In his old age (1790) he voted against the Whigs. A pasquinade, written by Sheridan, Tickell, and Lord John Townshend, anticipated the devil's insinuations—
"Johnny Wilkes, Johnny Wilkes, Thou greatest of bilks, How changed are the notes you now sing! Your famed 'Forty-five' Is prerogative, And your blasphemy 'God save the King'! Johnny Wilkes, And your blasphemy, 'God save the King '!"
Wilkes, Sheridan, Fox, by W. F. Rae, 1874, pp. 132, 133.]