111. Great Seducer

John Wilkes is an unlikely candidate. He was a radical MP, journalist and later Lord Mayor of London who wrote pornographic poetry. And he was described as the ugliest man in England. But his charm was extraordinary: „With the start of a quarter of an hour,“ he said, „I can get the better of any man, however good-looking, in the graces of any lady.“ (He later amended this to half an hour modestly.) In an exchange with the Earl of Sandwich, who declared „Sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox,“ Wilkes replied: „That, sir, depends on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress.“ His technique? Unfettered charm. / Mark Wilson, Independent 14.9. 2008