Whence Middleſex ſhould obtain the right of being denominated the chief county, cannot eaſily be diſcovered; it is indeed the county where the chief city happens to ſtand, but how that city treated the favourite of Middleſex, is not yet forgotten. The county, as diſtinguiſhed from the city, has no claim to particular conſideration.
That a man was in jail for ſedition and impiety, would, I believe, have been within memory a ſufficient reaſon why he ſhould not come out of jail a legiſlator. This reaſon, notwithſtanding the mutability of faſhion, happens ſtill to operate on the Houſe of Commons. Their notions, however ſtrange, may be juſtified by a common obſervation, that few are mended by impriſonment, and that he whoſe crimes have made confinement neceſſary, ſeldom makes any other uſe of his enlarge-
