In
1762, the new king, George III, arranged
for his close friend, the Earl of Bute, to
become prime minister. This decision upset a large number of MPs who
considered Bute to be incompetent. John Wilkes
became Bute's leading critic in the House of
Commons. In June 1762 Wilkes established The North Briton,
a weekly newspaper in opposition to The Briton, a journal that
supported Bute's administration. Wilkes appointed Charles Churchill,
a former curate, to edit the newspaper. For the next forty-five weeks
the North Briton severely attacked the king and his Prime Minister.
After one article that appeared on 23rd April 1763, George
III and his ministers decided to prosecute John
Wilkes for seditious libel. He was arrested but at a court hearing
the Lord Chief Justice ruled that as an MP, Wilkes was protected by
privilege from arrest on a charge of libel. His discharge was greeted
with great popular acclaim and Wilkes left the court as a champion
of liberty. However, the government was successful in stopping Wilkes
from publishing further editions of the North Briton.
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