1768-69.  CHARLES  JAMES  FOX.  157

of  weapons,  and  kept  on  firing  till  VV^ilkes  was  shot  through  the
body.  As  he  lay  on  the  turf  of  Hyde  Park,  his  first  concern
was  for  the  safety  of  his  opponent,  who  had  so  managed  the
affair  that,  if  death  had  been  the  consequence,  the  eloquence
and  skill  of  all  the  ministerial  lawyers  together  could  not  have
persuaded  a  London  jury  to  bring  in  any  verdict  short  of  wilful
murder.
Neither  his  gallantry  nor  his  misfortunes  availed  in  the  least
to  soften  the  industrious  rancour  of  his  enemies.  He  was
turned  out  of  the  Militia.  He  was  expelled  from  his  seat  in
the  Commons.  His  writings  were  ordered  to  be  burned  by  the
common  hangman  ;  a  ceremony  which  very  nearly  temiinated
in  the  hangman  and  the  sheriffs  being  burned  by  the  spectators.
