John Wilkes
John Wilkes (born October 17, 1727 in London , † December 26, 1797 ibid) was a British Whig politician, journalist and writer during the Enlightenment .
Life
John Wilkes was the second of six children to the Welsh distiller Israel Wilkes. His education took place at a school in Hertford , through private tutors and at the University of Leiden . Here he will also find a lifelong friendship with the French enlightener Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach, who was also studying in Leiden at the time . He also made acquaintances there with William Dowdeswell and Charles Townshend (1725–1767).
In 1747 he married Mary Meade (1715–1784), whose dowry was a property in Aylesbury , Buckinghamshire , which guaranteed £ 700 a year income. The two had a daughter, Molly, to whom John was deeply devoted his entire life. When Molly contracted smallpox at the age of six and Mary refused to care for her, the marriage shattered. In 1756 Wilkes separated from his wife, but did not marry a second time. At the divorce he was awarded the property and the common child.
Wilkes developed a reputation as Casanova, and he probably had other children as well. His statement is traditional: "Give me ten minutes with any woman and I shall have her." (Give me ten minutes with any woman and I'll own her.) Notoriously ugly, but Wilkes was so charming that he said he needed it only half an hour to argue away his face ("only half an hour to talk away his face") and declared that "a month ahead of his rival because of his face" would be enough to win any love affair.
He was a member of the Knights of St. Francis of Wycombe , also known as the Hellfire Club , but is said to have hastened its dissolution by a prank (he brought a monkey disguised as Satan into the club and released it during a séance , causing a panic evoked among those present).
Wilkes was also known for his sharp tongue. Lord Sandwich , an acquaintance of Wilkes' and Hellfire Club colleague, called out to him:
"'Pon my soul, Wilkes, I don't know whether you'll die upon the gallows or of the pox.
Wilkes replied: That depends, my Lord, whether I first embrace your Lordship's principles, or your Lordship's mistresses. "
(Translated: My dear, Wilkes, I don't know whether you will end up in the gallows or in the smallpox.
Translated: It depends on whether I adopt your lordship principles or your lordship lover first).
Political career
From 1756 Wilkes Whig was MP to the House of Commons for Aylesbury. He had a supporter in Richard Grenville, 2nd Earl Temple (1711–1779), MP for Buckinghamshire .
Wilkes was a supporter of William Pitt the Elder , Whig Speaker of Parliament until 1761. Pitt was married to Hester, Grenville's sister. When Tory John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute , another member of the Hellfire Club, broke Whig supremacy and became Prime Minister in 1762, Wilkes started a weekly magazine with the aim of attacking Bute. The North Briton , secretly funded by Earl Temple, criticized the Scot Bute by all means. He was accused of being Scotch, of having an affair with Augusta von Sachsen-Gotha , the king's mother, but above all of being responsible for the peace of Paris . In 1763 Lord Bute finally resigned, but Wilkes was just as dissatisfied with his successor, George Grenville , Earl Temple's brother.
The North Briton Affair
On April 23, 1763, the 45th edition of North Briton appeared , in which the king's speech at the opening of parliament was sharply criticized and described as a lie. George III himself considered the article, which attacked Lord Bute on behalf of the king, to be treason. On April 30th, blanket warrants were issued for defamation of Wilkes and the newspaper's editors, and nearly 50 people were arrested. Wilkes himself was expelled from the House of Commons and arrested shortly afterwards. However, the Lord Chief Justice released him after a week in detention in the Tower because a Member of Parliament enjoyed immunity from allegations of defamation. He protested against the blanket arrest warrants and, with considerable public support, was able to prove their unconstitutionality in court. He was allowed to resume his parliamentary seat and immediately tried to sue the people who arrested him for trespassing.
Imprisonment and Escape
On November 17, 1763, he dueled with the Tory MP Samuel Martin, who taught him a shot in the stomach. He was in danger of being arrested again because the House of Commons had decided that, while he could not be arrested for defamation, that immunity did not extend to the publication of scandalous, obscene and impious libel (scandalous, obscene and impious libel ) . Friends helped Wilkes to flee to Paris to avoid the threat of arrest.
He could not attend the opening of parliament and therefore could not take his seat. On January 19, 1764, he was convicted in absentia by parliament for defamation that was harmful to the state and Öbszöner and declared outlawed.
Return to Great Britain
In 1768 Wilkes finally returned to Great Britain, was initially spared from state persecution and was again able to run as a candidate for parliament in London. His election manifesto contrasted with that of the government; but he missed a majority in London. Shortly thereafter, however, he was elected in Middlesex and should move into the House of Commons. However, he was previously arrested and taken to King's Bench Prison.
There were demonstrations of up to 15,000 people outside the prison; The battle cries were: Wilkes and Liberty , No Liberty, No King and Damn the King! Damn the Government! Damn the Justices! (Damn the king, government and judge). The government deployed troops against the protesters. Seven people were shot dead in the so-called St. George's Field massacre .
Wilkes waived his parliamentary immunity and was sentenced to two years in prison and a £ 1,000 fine. He was arrested on May 10, 1768, which again sparked mass demonstrations in London. Wilkes waited in vain to be pardoned. In February 1769 he was expelled from parliament, but was re-elected in the same month, and in March the same thing happened again. In April he was removed from the House of Commons one more time. This time the panel declared the king the winner and Wilkes went to jail.
Late work
1769 Wilkes was eventually supported by the Supporters of the Bill of Rights (supporters of the Bill of Rights ) for Alderman select (Assistant) in London. In April 1770 he was released from prison. A year later, the educator joined the campaign for press freedom . Several London newspapers printed reports on meetings of the House of Commons despite the ban, and two publishers were arrested on government orders but released after further protests around the Houses of Parliament.
Finally, the House of Commons was persuaded to let Wilkes take his seat after all. As a member of parliament, he continued to campaign for reforms, such as the redistribution of parliamentary seats from very small constituencies ( rotten boroughs ) to the growing industrial cities of Manchester , Birmingham , Leeds and Sheffield . In 1774 Wilkes was elected Mayor of London.
Wilkes was the MP for Middlesex until the 1790 election, after which he retired. In 1797 he died in his daughter's house and was buried in Grosvenor Chapel on South Audley Street, London. His grave inscription reads "John Wilkes: a Friend to Liberty" (John Wilkes, a friend of freedom).
Honors
According to him, Wilkes County , Georgia and Wilkes County named in North Carolina.
literature
- Wilkes, John . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 28 : Vetch - Zymotic Diseases . London 1911, p. 642 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Philipp Blom: Evil Philosophers: A Salon in Paris and the Forgotten Legacy of the Enlightenment . Hanser, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-446-23648-6 , pp. 63 and 221
- ↑ Stephen Carruthers: John Wilkes and the Enlightenment . Thesis. Dublin Institute of Technology, November 1, 2001
- ↑ John Simkin: John Wilkes. In: Spartacus Educational , July 17, 2011; accessed on June 13, 2018
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wilkes, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British politician, journalist and writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 17, 1727 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 26, 1797 |
| Place of death | London |