London, United Kingdom
Fetter Ln, Holborn
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This is a statue of John Wilkes, the 18th century British radical, journalist, and politician, noted for his support of liberalism. The statue in Fetter Lane shows John Wilkes dressed as a gentleman of the 18th century. He stands upright as if reading from a script to make a speech, right hand on his hip. His face is stern as if about to make another rebuke to parliament.
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John Wilkes believed in liberty, freedom of speech and freedom of action. He was a great supporter of the American revolution, and was a keen member of the Hell-Fire club, which met dressed as monks to parody Roman Catholic rites and to enjoy women costumed as nuns. He was known for his wit and his reply to the Earl of Sandwich, who told him he would either die on the gallows or of the pox, is a classic: ‘That must depend on whether I embrace your lordship’s principles or your mistress.’ Wilkes was elected to the House of Commons in 1757. George III came to the throne in 1760 and presently chose Lord Bute, who had been his mentor, as prime minister. Wilkes started a weekly paper called the North Briton in which he attacked the administration and made libellous suggestions about Bute’s relationship with the king’s mother. Bute resigned in 1763 and was replaced by George Grenville. In April that year Wilkes published the famous No. 45 issue of the North Briton in which he denounced the king’s speech to Parliament as a tissue of lies. The new administration’s ministers were outwardly his target, but many felt he had attacked the king himself and so unforgivably broken established convention. He himself remarked, invited to join a game of cards, that he could not tell a king from a knave. Seeing a chance to silence him, the Government had Wilkes arrested and sent to the Tower of London. Things were different in those days
Statua del parlamentare inglese John Wilkes.
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