1769. Pardon for M'Quirk. II. His majesty has been graciously pleafed to extend his royal mercy to Edward M'Quirk, found guilty of the murder of George Clarke, as appears by his royal warrant to the tenor following: WHITEHALL, March GEORGE R. WHEREAS a doubt had arifen in our royal breast concerning the evidence of the death of George Clarke, from the reprefentations of William Bromfield, Efq; furgeon, and Solomon Starling, apothecary; both of whom, as has been represented to us, attended the deceased before his death, and expreffed their opinions that he did not die of the blow he received at Brentford; and whereas it appears to us, that neither of the faid perfons were produced as witneffes upon the trial, though the faid Solomon Starling had been examined before the Coroner, and the only perfon called to prove that the death of the faid George Clarke was occafioned by the faid blow, was John Foot, furgeon, who never faw the deceafed till after his death: We thought fit thereupon to refer the faid reprefentations, together with the report of the Recorder of our city of London of the évidence given by Richard and William Beale, and the faid John Foot, on the trial of Edward Quirk, otherwife called Edward Kirk, otherwife called Edward M'Quirk, for the murder of the faid Clarke, to the mafter, wardens, and the rest of the court of examiners of the furgeons company, commanding them likewife to take fuch further examination of the faid perfons fo reprefenting, and of faid John Foor, as they might think neceflary, together with the preliminaries abovementioned, to form and report to us their opinion, "Whether it did or did not appear to them, that the faid George Clarke died in confequence of the blow he received in the riot at Brentford on the 8th of December laft." And the faid court of examiners of the fur geons company having thereupon re ported to us their opinion, "That it did not appear to them that he did ;" we have thought proper to extend our royal mercy to him the faid Ed, ward Quirk, otherwife Edward Kirk, otherwile called Edward M'Quirk, and to grant him our free pardon for 149 the murder of the faid George Clarke, By his majesty's command, RoCHFORD. James Eyre, Efq; recorder of For the PRINTER, &c. My Lord, Bread of affairs, it had been a EFORE you were placed at the maxim of the English Government, not unwillingly admitted by the people, that every ungracious or fevere exertion of the prerogative thould be placed to the account of the minifter; but that whenever an act of grace or benevolence was to be performed, the whole merit of it fhould be attributed to the fovereign himself. It was a wife doctrine, my Lord, and equally advantageous to the king and to his fubjects; for while it preferved that fufpicious attention, with which the people ought always to examine the conduct of minifters, it tended at the fame time rather to increase than to diminish their attachment to the perfon of their fovereign. If there be not a fatality attending every meafure you are concerned in, by what treachery, or by what excess of folly has it happened, that those ungracious acts, which have diftinguished your administration, and which I doubt not were entirely your own, fhould carry with them a strong appearance of perfonal intereft, and even of perfonal enmity in a quarter, where no fuch intereft or enmity can be 150 REMARKS THEREON. be fuppofed to exift, without the highest injuftice and the highest difhonour? On the other hand, by what judicious management have you contrived it, that the only act of mercy to which you ever advised your far from adding to the luftre of a character truly gracious and benevolent, fhould be received with univerfal difapprobation and difguft? I fhall confider it as a ministerial measure, because it is an odious one, and as your measure, my Lord D-e, because you are the minifter. As long as the trial of this chairman was depending, it was natural enough that government fhould give him every poffible encouragement and fupport. The honourable fervice, for which he was hired, and the fpirit with which he performed it, made a common caufe between your grace and him. The minifter, who by fecret corruption invades the freedom of elections, and the ruffian, who by open violence deftroys that freedom, are embarked in the fame bottom. They have the fame interefts, and mutually feel for each other. To do juftice to your grace's humanity, you felt for M'Quirk as you ought to do, and if you had been contented to affift him indirectly, without a notorious denial of justice, or openly infulting the fenfe of the nation, you might have fatisfied every duty of political friendfhip, without committing the honour of your or hazarding the reputation of his government. But when this unhappy man had been folemnly tried, convicted and condemned; when it appeared that he had been frequently employed in the fame fervices, and that no excuse for him could be drawn either from the innocence of his former life, or the fimplicity of his character, was it not hazarding too much to interpofe the ftrength of the prerogative between this felon and the juftice of his country? You ought to have known that an example of this fort was never fo neceflary as at prefent; and certainly you must have known that the lot could not have fallen upon a more guilty object. What fyftem of government is this? You are perpetually complaining of the riotous disposi. tion of the lower clafs of people, yet when the laws have given you the March in means of making an example, every fenfe unexceptionable, and by far the most likely to awe the multitude, you pardon the offence, and are not ashamed to give the sanction of government to the riots you complain of, and even to future murders. You are partial perhaps to the military mode of execution, and had rather fee a fcore of thefe wretches butchered by the guards, than one of them fuffer death by regular courfe of law. How does it happen, my Lord, that, in your hands, even the mercy of the prerogative is cruelty and oppreffion to the fubject? The measure it feems was fo extraordinary, that you thought it neceffary to give fome reafons for it to the public. Let them be fairly examined. 1. You fay that Messrs. Bromfield and Starling were not examined at M'Quirk's trial. I will tell your grace why they were not. They must have been examined upon oath; and it was foreseen that their evidence would either not benefit, or might be prejudicial to the prifoner. Otherwife is it conceivable that his counfel fhould neglect to call in fuch material evidence? 2. You fay that Mr. Foot did not fee the deceased until after his death. A furgeon, my Lord, muft know very little of his profeffion, if, upon examining a wound or a contufion, he cannot determine whether it was mortal or not. While the party is alive, a furgeon will be cautious of pronouncing; whereas, by the death of the patient, he is enabled to confider both caufe and effect in one view, and to fpeak with a certainty confirmed by experience. Yet we are to thank your grace for the establishment of a new tribunał. Your inquifitio poft mortem is unknown to the laws of England, and does honour to your invention. The only material objection to it is, that, if Mr. Foot's evidence was infufficient, because he did not examine the wound till after the death of the party, much less can a negative opinion, given by gentlemen who never faw the body of Mr. Clarke, either before or after his decease, authorife you to fuperfede the verdict of a jury, and the fentence of the laws. Now, my Lord, let me ask you, Has it never occured to your grace, 1769. To the Court of Examiners, &c. To the Court of Examiners of the Sur. geons Company. Mr. Benjamin Cowell. William Bromfield, Esq; furgeon to her Royal Highness the Princess Dowager of Wales. Mr. Stafford Crane. John Ranby, Efq; Serjeant Surgeon to his Majefy. Cæfar Hawkins, Efq; ditto. Mr. Percival Pott. 151 trial, but deceived at the fame time by his evidence; what does he merit less than M'Quirk, whofe life has been almoft miraculously preferved, by the new and happy medium of the court of examiners? But if, on the other hand, a murderer has efcaped juftice, is let loose on the public, and the▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ clemency abufed, in confequence of your opinion that this wound of Clark's was not mortal, or the caufe of his death, what do you not deferve? Let me ask, whether (if there be in nature a poffible mortal wound) an extravafation of blood between the dura and pia mater, and a rupture of the pia mater itself, does not come under that denomination? Is not this definition established by writers of the beft credit, by conftant practice and obfervation, and by innumerable evidences in judicial anatomy? What is the refalt; but that this wound of Clark's was abfolutely mortal per fe? Nor does this reft upon a fimple affirmation, which might well enough and effectually enough be contratted with your fimple opinions; but is founded on a bafis of truth and reality, which the court of examiners can neither fubvert nor deftroy. It is allowed, that fome wounds, mortal in themselves, are fometimes, Mr. Robert Adair, Surgeon to the though but feldom, cured by the art Third Regiment of Foot Guards. Gentlemen, OES not Mr. Foot depofe up M'Quirk, for the murder of Mr. Clark, that his dura mater was inflamed, blood extravafated between that membrane and the pia mater, the pia mater not only inflamed, but ruptured also; and that the wound re-. ceived on his head was the caufe of his death? If falfe has not Mr. Foot been guilty of the groffet ignorance, or the foulet perjury-But from whence thefe infamous imputations ?-Do they not arife from your joint opinion, that the facts he relates are falfe, and that Clark's death was not occafioned by the wound received upon his head? If, by the ignorant or perjured de pofition of Mr. Foot, two innocent men were found guilty of the murder of Mr. Clark; a court of justice not only troubled with a long and tedious of furgery. It appears from the Gazette, that William Bromfield, Efq; furgeon to her Royal Highness the Clark from the first. Mortal blows, and wounds of the head, do not always fpeedily difcover their fatal effects; they therefore require the utmoft attention, as well as the utmost skill, preventive and curative.-Let me ask then, how did Mr. Bromfield attend, and what did he do for this man whilft under his care? Was he frequently and plentifully bled? If a strict regard was paid to fymptoms (had he no fymptoms?) why was not the trepan applied?-the only means by which a chance of life could be given? But may it not be threwdly fufpected, that Mr. Bd's many engagements deprived him of that advantage? But fuppofe an omiffion in life, why did he not infpect the head of his deceased patient? Did not duty to his God, King, and Country, de mand 152 Method of brining Wheat. mand this; that he might have been qualified to give evidence in a matter of fuch importance as murder? How then could he pretend, feveral weeks afterward, to take the lead, and direct the opinions of the court of examiners, in an affair wherein they were ftill lefs able to form a true idea than himself? If the court of examiners cannot let the part they have acted in a better light than it now appears to the world, will they not expose themselves to the cenfure of all mankind ? An answer to thefe queries and allegations are expected, and demanded, by every honeft man in the kingdom. I am, Gentlemen, As far as truth and juftice fhall ap- Letter from Mr. John Reynolds, of Adifham, in Kent, to Dr. Peter Templeman, Secretary to the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. in the Strand. On BRINING WHEAT. WORTHY SIR, Nov. 3, 1769. INDING what has been commu March ftone lime, unflaked, ftirring it well till the whole is diffolved or mixed, letting it ftand about thirty hours, and then run it off into another tub as clear as we can (as practifed in beer); this generally produces a hogfhead of good trong lime-water; then add three pecks of falt, forty-two pounds, which, with a little stirring, will foon diffolve; thus we have a proper pickle for the purpose of brining and liming our feed wheat without any manner of obftacle, which is more than can be faid in doing it the common way, and greatly facilitates the drilling. Herein we fteep the wheat in a broad-bottomed basket of about twenty-four inches diameter, and twenty inches deep (for large fowings made on purpose) running in the grain gradually in fmall quantities from ten or twelve gallons up to fixteen gallons, ftirring the fame: what floats we fkim off with a ftrainer, and is not to be fown; then draw up the basket, to drain over the pickle for a few minutes; all which may be performed within half an hour, fufficiently pickled; and fo proceed as before. This done, the wheat will be fit for fowing in twenty-four hours if re Ficated by me relating to huf- quired; but if defigned for drilling, bandry and agriculture, &c. acceptable to the Hon. Society of Arts, &c. and being willing to render myself as ufeful as I poffibly can to the community, and withal oblige thofe refpectable gentlemen you have the honour to reprefent; I fhall, by your means, lay before them a very ufeful method that I have long practifed, to prevent the fmut in our wheat crops, a thing of no fmall confequence to the public in general, but extremely prejudicial to the owner, and makes our bread both black and ill tafted too. The following receipt will affuredly prevent the fmut, and render both the fowing and drilling of the wheat much more eafy and certain (I mean as to the quantity) than any other method hitherto practifed, that I ever heard of, by the following pickle. A tub is to be procured that has a hole at bottom, in which a staff and tap-flote is to be fixed over a wifp of ftraw, to prevent any fmall pieces of lime paffing (as in the brewing way); this done, we put feventy gallons of water, then a corn bushel heap full of 5 two days pickled will be found belt; and if prepared four or five days before hand, in either cafe it makes no difference at all that I know of; but fhould the feed be clammy, and ftick to the notches in the drill-box, more lime must be added to the lime-water; here the mafter must use his difcretion, as the cafe requires, for fome lime has much more drying or aftringent qualities in it than others.... If fea water can be obtained conveniently, much less falt will fuffice, but fome will be found neceffary even then, otherwife the light grains will not float, a thing of more confequence than is generally imagined, and ought to be fkimmed off and thrown afide for poultry, &c. I fay this from well grounded experience, having practifed thefe methods for thirty years past, and never had any black wheat when prepared as above, either from fowing or drilling, on great variety of foils, and large quantities too; all which is confirmation enough to continue its practice. And thus feeing its utility, I throw another 1769: SHREWD OBSERVATIONS. another mite into the noble treasury of arts, &c. for the benefit of my countrymen, which I truft will be acceptable. I am, Sir, Your humble fervant, JOHN REYNOLDS. Note, The fociety have received information, that on experiment it has been found, the wheat may be fown in two hours after being put into the brine, provided the brine is frong enough, and due attention is paid to the strength of the lime-wa ter. Published by order of the society, PETER TEMPLEMAN. fec. Strand, Feb. 8. 1769. To the PRINTER, &c. SIR, PERSU JADED I am, that his majesty King George III. has no fubject in all the British empire that wishes better things to him and his family than his humble fervant; and confequently that it can give no juft ground of offence to any honeft Briton, fhould he place before him a few ob. fervations. By the run of political papers, or publications, one would be led to apprehend fome scheme of defpotifm was forming, even under the fceptre of a prince of the Houfe of Hanover; and yet, assured I am, not any abfurdity can be more flagrant. It would argue a fatal forgetfulness of the relation which fubfifts in our political rubric, between the fourth of November and the firft of Auguft. What I mean by it is this; King William III. the deliverer of thefe kingdoms from popery and arbitrary power, (thofe brethren of cruelty) was born on November the 4th, and was the happy inftrument of procuring the British fceptre to be put into the hands of the Hanover family, to which family the throne was vacated, on the first day of Auguft, 1714, by the demife of Queen Anne. Now, inasmuch as the miniftry cannot but know that his majefty inherits not the crown by hereditary right, even the Sardinian house and the Bourbon family taking the precedence, and as it appears from the genealogical table, in the continuation of Rapin's English history, "At the acceffion of the prefent royal family, there Mirch, 1769. 153 were living, defcendants from Sophia the youngest daughter of Elizabeth Queen of Bohemia, forty five princes and princeffes, viz. fourteen defcended from Charles-Lewis, the eldest son of the Queen of Bohemia, and thirty-one defcended from Edward her fourth fon; and that, in point of hereditary right, Elizabeth-Charlotta Duchefs of Orleans, and Philip her fon, had the beft title of any of that family." From hence it is manifeft, that the fettlement of the imperial crown of Britain upon the Houfe of Hanover, was not upon the principle of hereditary right, but upon an inconceivably better bafis, viz. that of the choice of the people, and from the first and beft motive that could poffibly operate, viz to preserve our laws and liberties from the curfedly cruel hands of po pery and defpotifm. It would confequently be the greatest abfurdity that can be imagined, and argue an infatuation beyond all former example, for a prince of the illuftrious Houfe of Hanover, to pretend to way an arbitrary fceptre over a people who had conferred Britannia's imperial honours on his family, purely for the fake of defending her laws and liberties. Should any miniftry become fo audaciously treacherous to their king and country, as to aim at ravishing from us our LIBERTIES, and dare to trample upon the principles of the glorious revolution and act of fettlement, they will find the resentments of a people pregnant with heated vengeance! And however they may be inftigated by the promised support of popery (which has a natural averfion to manly freedom) fhould they fucceed, and the people become enslaved, the numerous branches of the Hanover family, will be no fecurity to the fceptre in that houfe; fince, in a state of defpotifm, the restoration of hereditary right would be eafy, and no reasons could remain to defend the Hanover fucceffion. I mention this as an argument which must operate with great force, fince it would be abfolutely impoffible for a prince of the House of Hanover to keep his feat on the throne upon the principles, either of popery or of defpotilim. There would be very numerous claimants before them. 1 fhould hence be tempted to conclude, that the idea of an arbitrary fceptre U muft |