The public may be assured that a subscription is begun at the house of Lee and Ayton, bankers in Lombard-Street, to satisfy the creditors of John Wilkes, Esq; and thereby qualify him as an independant member of the House of Commons; ..

After Wilkes's return from France in February 1768, his resources at an end, his friends purchased the freedom of the City of London for him. This enabled him to stand as a candidate for the City in the March parliamentary election.