ul, but
they were subversive of the liberty of the subject and contrary to the
spirit of the constitution. During three days forty-nine persons were
arrested under this warrant. Among them were the avowed publisher of the
_North Briton_, the printer, and his workmen. They declared that Wilkes
was the author.

[Sidenote: _PROCEEDINGS IN WILKES'S CASE._]

Wilkes was arrested under the general warrant on the 30th, and carried
before the secretaries of state; his house was searched and his papers
seized. He was committed to the Tower. He hoped, he said, that he might
have the room in which Egremont's father had been confined as a rebel,
and, referring to the popular belief as to the consequences of the
dirty habits of Bute's fellow-countrymen, in any case, one which had not
been tenanted by a Scot. Temple at once applied on his behalf for a writ
of _habeas corpus_, which was granted by Pratt, chief justice of the
common pleas, but as Wilkes was no longer in the custody of the
messengers, they could not produce him. He was kept in close
confinement; Temple and the Duke of Grafton who went to see him were not
admitted, and even his solicitor was denied access to him. A new writ
was issued, and on May 3 he was brought before the court of common
pleas. He pleaded his privilege as a member of parliament. Pratt
delivered judgment on the 6th and decided that he was entitled to the
privilege of parliament, which extended to all offences save treason,
felony, and breach of the peace. The other judges concurred, and he was
set at liberty. The crowd which had collected in Westminster Hall
received the result of the trial with loud applause, and escorted Wilkes
to his house in Great George Street. Meanwhile Egremont had in the
king's name ordered Temple, the lord lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, to
deprive Wilkes of his commission as colonel of the Bucks militia. In
forwarding this order to Wilkes, Temple added some complimentary
expressions, and on the 7th the earl was dismissed both from his
lieutenancy and the privy council.

Several persons who were arrested on the general warrant brought actions
against the messengers. In the first of these suits Pratt, setting aside
evil precedents, declared general warrants to be illegal. A
master-printer obtained L400 damages, one journeyman L300, and others
L200. Wilkes sued Wood, the under-secretary of state, for ransacking his
house, and the jury awarded him L1,000 damages. He also began ac