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to the Court of King's Bench. His prison at once became a storm centre. On May tenth the government, under pretence of fear ing a riot, rashly sent a regiment of soldiers .to guard the King's Bench prison, together with a letter from the Secretary of State, Lord Weymouth, to the local magistrate,

planned a massacre. The House of Com mons immediately voted this publication a libel, and for this as well as his former of fenses, Wilkes was again expelled from the House. The same ceremony of reelection and expulsion was gone through with again, with the addition of the fatal mistake on the

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE.

urging him to make use of the soldiers in case of disturbance. In' the inevitable con flict which ensued several persons were killed or wounded. Wilkes succeeded in securing a copy of Lord Weymouth's letter, and had it printed in the St. James Chronicle, together with some comments of his own in which he accused the ministry of having

part of the House of declaring Wilkes dis qualified from membership. In April, 1770, Wilkes' term of imprisonment came to an end. He had already been elected alderman, and as such had been instrumental in forc ing Parliament to remove the embargo upon the publication of its debates. He was now elected sheriff of London, and in 1774 lord