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Junius Finally Discovered 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM H. GRAVES, L.B. 
 e A X 
 
 BIRMINGHAM 
 
 ALABAMA 
 
 EUREKA" 
 
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 COPYRIGHT, I9IT 
 BY 
 
 W. H. GRAVES 
 
 from the press of the 
 
 Dispatch Printing Company 
 
 birmingham, ala. 
 
 APR 23 1817 
 
 ©CI.A462083 
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PREFACE 
 
 IN the preparation of this discussion I have thought best to make 
 Uberal quotations from the writings of "JUNIUS," SIR PHILIP 
 FRANCIS, and from those of the person whom I conceive to be the 
 real author of the "JUNIUS LETTERS," whose name I will disclose in a 
 subsequent part of this volume. I have made these quotations solely 
 for the benefit and convenience of my readers, in order to save them 
 the trouble and expense of collecting quite a number of books on the 
 subject, most of which are now out of print and very difficult to pro- 
 cure. It has taken me quite a while to get these books into my posses- 
 sion, and at considerable pains and expense to me, most of them having 
 to be imported from London, where they were written and published; 
 but I consider that I have been amply repaid, as they have enabled me 
 to investigate this abstruse question in all of its phases, which, other- 
 wise, I could not have done. The reader being furnished with these 
 quotations for ready use and inspection, will be able to compare the 
 different styles, sentiments, political opinions, etc., of these writers, the 
 aims and objects which they had in view, and in this manner to draw 
 his own conclusion upon the subject. 
 
 I hope that my readers will observe that almost every proposition 
 laid down by me is sustained by facts, and by history, in which the 
 books and pages are cited. That I rarely volunteer an opinion of my 
 own, unless it is amply supported by historical facts, or corroborated 
 by well-known authors and able critics. If the reader will examine 
 the books of Mr. Taylor and H, R. Francis, frequently referred to in 
 this discussion, wherein they contend that Sir PhiHp Francis was the 
 author of the "Junius Letters," he will discover that almost every one 
 of their propositions is founded upon their own opinions, surmises and 
 conjectures, without any facts or history to sustain them; the reason 
 why, is very evident: there were no facts or history in existence which 
 tended to prove their contention. It is impossible to prove a fact 
 which does not exist. 
 
 I have also inserted the opinions of several eminent Hterary critics 
 on this controversy, in order that my readers may compare them with 
 those expressed by me. If my views shall merit and receive the appro- 
 bation of those who may follow me through this discussion, I shall feel 
 fully compensated for the pains and labor which I have bestowed upon 
 this book, regardless of the expense of its publication. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 As a tribute to the THOMAS PAINE NATIONAL 
 HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, which has achieved so 
 much towards perpetuating the name of the patriotic 
 author of the "Common Sense" and "The Crisis" pam- 
 phlets, which were written and published by him just be- 
 fore and during the dark days of the American Revolution, 
 I dedicate this volume. 
 
 The first suggestion ever made to the American Colo- 
 nies to assert and fight for their emancipation from the 
 tyrannical oppression of Great Britain appeared in these 
 pamphlets, which outlined the principles finally incorpor- 
 ated in the Declaration of Independence, and which event- 
 ually resulted in the achievement by the Colonies of the 
 inestimable blessings of Liberty. 
 
PART I 
 
 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 in the person of a very talented Englishman who fought with the 
 Americans in the Revolutionary War. 
 
PART I.— JUNIUS 
 
 "TNOUBTLESS no literary enigma has ever perplexed the 
 -'— ^ minds of so many eminent literary critics as the author- 
 ship of the celebrated Junius Letters. Sir Harris Nicho- 
 las, an eminent writer, says in his "Analysis" of the subject: 
 "The extraordinary interest which the community has taken in 
 this question, has given birth to at least one hundred vol- 
 umes or pamphlets, besides numerous essays and letters in 
 magazines and newspapers;" and that a "great and universal 
 curiosity is still felt to know who wrote the Letters." 
 
 About forty persons have been suggested by the friends 
 of eminent writers as the author of these wonderful letters, 
 and all have been successfully eliminated from the contest 
 for the honor, in one way and another, by very profound 
 critics, except Sir Philip Francis; and still, up to the present 
 date, the riddle has never been solved. ''Stat nominis umbra.'' 
 If the reader will acquit me of egotism, I believe that I 
 can and will unravel the mystery to his entire satisfaction, 
 provided he does not expect me to produce positive proof 
 from Junius himself that he disclosed his real name; which 
 proof has never yet been made, according to all writers on 
 the subject. 
 
 On the 21st day of January, 1769, the first one of the 
 authentic political letters of Junius appeared in the "Public 
 Advertiser," a newspaper owned and published by Henry 
 Sampson Woodfall, in the city of London, England, and the 
 last one appeared in the same paper on the 21st day of 
 January, 1772, covering a priod of exactly three years. 
 These remarkable letters were written from time to time, 
 being forty-seven in number, written over the signature 
 "Junius." Seven were written over the signature "Philo 
 Junius," who was really Junius, being another name assumed 
 
JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 by him, under which he defended himself. These letters, 
 with four written by Sir WiUiam Draper, one by Mr. Home, 
 and a few others, were revised and corrected by Junius, and 
 presented by him to his pubHsher, Mr. Woodfall, and were 
 pubHshed by him under the name of "Woodfall's Junius." 
 
 Besides these, Junius wrote quite a nimiber of "Miscel- 
 laneous Letters," and many "Private Letters" to Mr. Wood- 
 fall; also a few over the names "Lucius" and "Atticus"; 
 possibly one over the name "Brutus," which last three are 
 generally considered to have been written by Junius. 
 
 All of the foregoing letters can be found in two volumes 
 in Bohn's Standard Library, under the name of "Junius by 
 Woodfall," which were compiled by him from all the writ- 
 ings of Junius, which he had in his possession; to which the 
 reader is referred, if he wishes to get all the writings of 
 Junius. Bohn's Standard Library Edition of Junius is used 
 by me in this discussion. 
 
 Almost from the very beginning of his letters he assimi- 
 ed the fictitious name of "Junius," for which he had a most 
 excellent reason, to which I will hereafter allude. He started 
 out by saying: "I am the sole depositary of my own secret 
 [his name] and it shall perish with me," which resolution I 
 think he kept to the last; except, that he may have given 
 his pubUsher, Mr. Woodfall, a hint as to his identity, this 
 being a necessity for carrying on his voluminous correspond- 
 ence with him, as I will show in a subsequent part of the 
 subject. 
 
 In order that the reader may know something of the 
 personality of this mysterious author, his style, sentiments, 
 doctrines, politics, and advice given, I will here insert his 
 "Dedication to the English Nation": 
 
 "DEDICATION TO THE ENGLISH NATION" 
 
 "I dedicate to you a collection of letters, written 
 by one of yourselves, for the common benefit of us all. 
 They would never have grown to this size without your 
 continued encouragement and applause. To me they 
 originally owe nothing, but a healthy sanguine consti- 
 tution. Under your care they have thriven. To you 
 
PART I 
 
 they are indebted for whatever strength or beauty they 
 possess. When kings and ministers are forgotten, when 
 the force and direction of personal satire is no longer 
 understood, and when measures are only felt in their 
 remotest consequences, this book will, I believe, be 
 found to contain principles worthy to be transmitted to 
 posterity. When you leave the unimpaired, hereditary 
 freehold to your children, you do but half your duty. 
 Both liberty and property are precarious, unless the 
 possessors have sense and spirit enough to defend them. 
 This is not the language of vanity. If I am a vain 
 man, my gratification lies within a narrow circle. I am 
 the sole depositary of my own secret, and it shall perish 
 with me. If an honest man, and, I may truly affirm, a 
 laborious zeal for the public service, has given me any 
 weight in your esteem, let me exhort and conjure you 
 never to suffer an invasion of your political constitution, 
 however minute the instance may appear, to pass by, 
 without a determined, persevering resistance. One prec- 
 edent creates another. They soon accumulate and con- 
 stitute law. What yesterday was fact, today is doctrine. 
 Examples are supposed to justify the most dangerous 
 measures, and where they do not suit exactly, the defect 
 is supplied by analogy. Be assured that the laws, which 
 protect us in our civil rights, grow out of the constitu- 
 tion, and that they must fall or flourish with it. This 
 is not the cause of faction, or of party, or of any indi- 
 vidual, but the common interest of every man in Brit- 
 ain. Although the King should continue to support his 
 present system of government, the period is not very 
 distant at which you will have the means of redress in 
 your own power. It may be nearer, perhaps, than any 
 of us expect, and I would warn you to be prepared for 
 it. The King may possibly be advised to dissolve the 
 present Parliament a year or two before it expires of 
 course, and precipitate a new election, in hopes of taking 
 the nation by surprise. If such a measure be in agita- 
 tion, this very caution may defeat or prevent it. 
 
 "I cannot doubt that you will unanimously assert 
 the freedom of election, and vindicate your exclusive 
 right to choose your representatives. But other ques- 
 tions have been started, on which your determination 
 should be equally clear and unanimous. Let it be im- 
 pressed upon your minds, let it be instilled into your 
 children, that the liberty of the press is the palladium 
 
10 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 of all the civil, political, and religious rights of an Eng- 
 lishman, and that the right of juries to return a general 
 verdict, in all cases whatsoever, is an essential part of 
 our constitution, not to be controlled or limited by the 
 judges, nor in any shape questionable by the legislature. 
 The power of King, Lords, and Commons is not an 
 arbitrary power. They are the trustees, not the owners, 
 of the estate. The fee-simple is in US. They cannot 
 alienate, they cannot waste. When we say that the 
 legislature is supreme we mean that it is the highest 
 power known to the constitution; that it is the highest 
 in comparison with the other subordinate powers estab- 
 lished by the laws. In this sense, the word supreme is 
 relative, not absolute. The power of the legislature is 
 limited, not only by the general rules of natural justice 
 and the welfare of the community, but by the forms and 
 principles of our particular constitution. If this doctrine 
 be not true, we must admit that King, Lords and Com- 
 mons have no rule to direct their resolutions, but merely 
 their own will and pleasure. They might unite the 
 legislative and executive power in the same hands, and 
 dissolve the constitution by an Act of Parliam_ent. But 
 I am persuaded you will not leave it to the choice of 
 seven hiuidred persons, notoriously corrupted by the 
 Crown, whether seven millions of their equals shall be 
 freemen or slaves. The certainty of forfeiting their own 
 rights, when they sacrifice those of the nation, is no 
 check to a brutal, degenerate mind. Without insisting 
 upon the extravagant concession made to Henry the 
 Eighth, there are instances in the history of other coun- 
 tries, of a formal, deliberate surrender of the public 
 liberty into the hands of the sovereign. If England does 
 not share the same fate, it is because we have better 
 resources than in the virtue of either House of Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 "I said that the liberty of the press is the palladium 
 of all your rights, and that the right of juries to return 
 a general verdict is part of your constitution. To pre- 
 serve the whole system, you must correct your legisla- 
 ture. With regard to any influence of the constituent 
 over the conduct of the representative, there is little 
 difference between a seat in Parliament for seven years 
 and a seat for life. The prospect of your resentment 
 is too remote, and although the last session of a septen- 
 nial Parliament be usually employed in courting the 
 
PART I 11 
 
 favour of the people, consider that, at this rate, your 
 representatives have six years for offense, and but one 
 for atonement. A death-bed repentance seldom reaches 
 to restitution. If you reflect that in the changes of 
 administration which have marked and disgraced the 
 present reign, although your warmest patriots have, in 
 their turn, been invested with the lawful and unlawful 
 authority of the Crown, and though other reliefs or im- 
 provements have been held forth to the people, yet 
 that no one man in office ever promoted or encouraged 
 a bill for shortening the duration of Parliament, but 
 that (whoever was minister) the opposition to this meas- 
 ure, ever since the septennial act passed, has been con- 
 stant and uniform on the part of government — you can 
 not but conclude, without the possibility of a doubt, that 
 long Parliaments are the foundation of the undue influ- 
 . ence of the Crown. This influence answers every pur- 
 pose of arbitrary power to the Crown, with an expense 
 and oppression to the people, which would be unneces- 
 sary in an arbitrary government. The best of our min- 
 isters find it the easiest and most compendious mode of 
 conducting the King's affairs; and all ministers have a 
 general interest in adhering to a system, which of itself 
 is sufficient to support them in office, without any 
 assistance from personal virtue, popularity, labor, 
 abilities, or experience. It promises every gratification 
 to avarice and ambition, and secures impunity. These 
 are truths unquestionable. If they make no impression, 
 it is because they are too vulgar and notorious. But 
 the inattention or indifference of the nation has con- 
 tinued too long. You are roused at last to a sense of 
 your danger. The remedy will soon be in your power. 
 
 "If Junius lives, you shall often be reminded of it. 
 If, when the opportunity presents itself, you neglect to 
 do your duty to yourselves and to your posterity, to 
 God and to your country, I shall have one consolation 
 left, in common with the meanest and basest of man- 
 kind: Civil Hberty may still last the Hfe of JUNIUS." 
 
 From a perusal of his political writings, it is evident 
 that he had a fixed and settled purpose in mind from the 
 beginning, which I will concisely state, according to my own 
 opinion : 
 
 At the time when he wrote his first letters, under the 
 names of "Lucius" and "Atticus," and also when he wrote 
 
12 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 his first letter as Junius, the political situation of England 
 was in a deplorable condition. The Government had recent- 
 ly emerged from a seven-years' war with France, and was 
 overwhelmingly in debt. Spain had also been giving England 
 considerable trouble about the Falkland Islands. George 
 the Third had recently become King; he was young and 
 inexperienced, being only about fifteen years old when the 
 first Junius Letter was written; consequently, his mother, 
 the Princess Dowager of Wales, was Regent until the young 
 King attained his majority. She was governed almost en- 
 tirely by Lord Bute, then Prime Minister of England. He 
 and the Queen Regent had the tutelage of the young King 
 in their own hands, and moulded his character and politi- 
 cal opinions after their own notions, which were on a very 
 selfish and arbitrary line; besides, history informs us that he 
 was, by no means, an intellectual character, which frequently 
 showed itself during his reign. 
 
 He was often influenced by bad men in the Ministry, 
 to suit their evil purposes; all of which made the King, when 
 he entered the throne, and his Ministry, very unpopular 
 with the people, and caused them to be very restless under 
 the Government. He continued Lord Bute as Prime Minis- 
 ter, and was under his baneful influence, owing to his inex- 
 perience in governmental affairs. Lord Bute selected a weak 
 and inefficient Ministry to suit his own selfish purposes. 
 The Parlament was, at that time, mostly composed of men 
 of very poor ability, very venal in their characters, each 
 looking out for his own private interests, utterly ignoring the 
 good of the Government and the people at large. 
 
 A treaty of peace was about to be concluded with 
 France, which was very unfair to England, and which Lord 
 Bute, with his great personal influence over the King, the 
 Ministry and Parliament, succeeded in getting through and 
 ratified. It has been said in history that the Prime Minister 
 was bribed by France for his influence in concluding the 
 treaty. 
 
 These grievances, and others of a similar nature, exas- 
 perated the people against Lord Bute and the entire Govern- 
 
PART I 13 
 
 ment, and made them very restless for a change of officials; 
 he became very obnoxious to the entire Whig Party, among 
 whom were Lords Chatham, Temple, Rockingham, Calcraft 
 and others, who were then either in the Ministry or in Par- 
 liament; and, although in the minority, were quite a power 
 to be reckoned with; so that Lord Bute resigned on April 8, 
 1763. He was succeeded by Lord Grenville as Prime Minis- 
 ter, who inaugurated a very bitter contest against the cele- 
 brated John Wilkes, who had been elected to Parliament by 
 an overwhleming majority from London and Middlesex 
 County over a Mr. Luttrell, and succeeded in ousting him 
 from his seat and placing in his stead the person whom he 
 defeated. 
 
 This was regarded as a high-handed piece of lawlessness, 
 directly violative of the constitution. Wilkes entered the 
 contest at the next election, and was chosen by the people 
 by a still larger majority; but was again rejected by the 
 House of Commons. He was re-elected three times by the 
 people of Middlesex County, and was three times rejected 
 by the Parliament. 
 
 This exasperated the people more than ever, and also 
 the Whig party. They all considered that Wilkes had been 
 persecuted by Parliament, and without a shadow of law or 
 reason for the iniquity. Lord Grenville also had the odious 
 Stamp Act passed in March, 1765, heavily taxing the Amer- 
 ican Colonies, which spread general dissatisfaction among 
 those people, as well as great discontent in England. There- 
 upon, the King dismissed the entire Grenville Ministry, and 
 appointed the Marquis of Rockingham as Prime Minister, 
 with an entirely new Ministry, which repealed the Stamp 
 Act in June 1767, but soon this Ministry came to an end, 
 by internal dissensions and treachery among themselves. 
 
 In August, the Earl of Chatham, the great leader of 
 the Whig Party, was placed at the head of the Ministry, but 
 many of the other members were not in harmony with him, 
 which caused violent dissensions among them. The King 
 had not failed to put in the Ministry some of his favorites, 
 to represent his views. 
 
14 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 Shortly thereafter, a new bill for taxing the American 
 Colonies was secretly put through Parliament by Lord 
 Townshend, without consulting Lord Chatham, who had 
 been sick, and was, part of the time, absent from the Min- 
 istry, and at variance with a majority of them; they, well 
 knowing his violent opposition to the Act, passed it through 
 during his absence. 
 
 This Act placed a heavy duty on tea, among other 
 things, which exasperated the Colonies very much, and as- 
 serted the right in England to tax them in any way she 
 chose. 
 
 Against this procedure, the Colonies openly rebelled, 
 and on the arrival of the first cargo of tea, at Boston, the 
 citizens boarded the vessel and threw the tea overboard. 
 
 Shortly thereafter. Lord Chatham resigned as Prime 
 Minister, which broke up the Ministry. The Duke of Graf- 
 ton was then appointed as Prime Minister with an entirely 
 new Ministry, known as the Grafton Ministry, which was 
 even worse than any of its predecessors. 
 
 It was composed of strong adherents of the King, and 
 bitter enemies of the Colonies; as the question of American 
 taxation was at that time, a very vital issue. This critical 
 juncture of affairs gave birth to the Junius Letters. 
 
 About this time, Junius, the great political gladiator, 
 appears upon the stage, and published the first of his cele- 
 brated Philippics, in which, he openly and boldly espoused 
 the cause of the American Colonies, warning the Govern- 
 ment of Great Britain that if it persisted in its course, it 
 would bring on a revolution among the Colonies, which it 
 finally did. 
 
 At the same time he directed a very caustic and severe 
 criticism against the King, the Ministry and the Parliament, 
 but especially against the Duke of Grafton, who was the 
 principal object of his denunciation, which struck terror and 
 consternation to the minds of them all. They well knew the 
 powerful effect it would have upon the people, who were al- 
 ready in a state of unrest and suspicion. His open and 
 avowed purpose was to overthrow the hated and despised 
 
PART I 15 
 
 Grafton Ministry, dissolve the Parliament; and some writers 
 say, to dethrone the King, but I do not agree with them in 
 the last proposition, as it is not hinted at in any of his writ- 
 ings. My idea is that, in the overthrow of the Ministry and 
 the dissolution of Parliament, he hoped and expected greatly 
 to improve the condition of the Government by making it 
 more liberal and republican in form, and in this wise to 
 ameliorate the condition of the people. 
 
 In order that the reader may be able to comprehend the 
 situation more fully, and understand the main object and 
 purpose of his attack, I will here insert a copy of his first 
 Letter: 
 
 LETTER I 
 
 TO THE PRINTER OF THE PUBLIC ADVERTISER 
 
 January 21, 1769 
 "Sir: 
 
 The submission of a free people to the executive 
 authority of Government is no more than a compliance 
 with laws which they themselves have enacted. While 
 the national honour is firmly maintained abroad, and 
 while justice is impartially administered at home, the 
 obedience of the subject will be voluntary, cheerful, and 
 I might almost say, unlimited. A generous nation is 
 grateful even for the preservation of its rights, and will- 
 ingly extends the respect due to the office of a good 
 prince into an affection for his person. Loyalty in the 
 heart and understanding of an Englishman, is a rational 
 attachment to the guardian of the laws. Prejudices and 
 passion have sometimes carried it to a criminal length; 
 and whatever foreigners may imagine, we know that 
 Englishmen have erred as much in a mistaken zeal for 
 particular persons and families, as they ever did in de- 
 fence of what they thought most dear and interesting 
 to themselves. 
 
 "It naturally fills us with resentment, to see such a 
 temper insulted, or abused. In reading the history of a 
 free people, whose rights have been invaded, we are in- 
 terested in their cause. Our own feelings tell us how 
 long they ought to have submitted, and at what moment 
 it would have been treachery to themselves not to have 
 
16 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 resisted. How much warmer will be our resentment, if 
 experience should bring the fatal example home to our- 
 selves! 
 
 "The situation of this country is alarming enough 
 to arouse the attention of every man who pretends to a 
 concern for the public welfare. Appearances justify 
 suspicion, and when the safety of a nation is at stake, 
 suspicion is a just ground of inquiry. Let us enter into 
 it with candor and decency. Respect is due to the 
 station of Ministers; and, if a resolution must at last be 
 taken, there is none so Hkely to be supported with firm- 
 ness, as that which has been adopted with moderation. 
 
 "The ruin of prosperity of a state depends so much 
 upon the administration of its Government, that to be 
 acquainted with the merit of a Ministry, we need only 
 to observe the condition of the people. 
 
 "If we see them obedient to the laws, prosperous 
 in their industry, united at home and respected abroad, 
 we may reasonably presume that their affairs are con- 
 ducted by men of experience, abilities and virtue. If, 
 on the contrary, we see an universal spirit of distrust 
 and dissatisfaction, a rapid decay of trade, dissensions 
 in all parts of the Empire, and a total loss of respect 
 in the eyes of foreign powers, we may pronounce, with- 
 out hesitation, that the Government of that country is 
 weak, distracted and corrupt. The multitude, in all 
 countries, are patient to a certain point. Ill usage may 
 rouse their indignation, and hurry them into excesses, 
 but the original fault is in Government. Perhaps there 
 never was an instance of a change in the circumstances 
 and temper of a whole nation so sudden and extraor- 
 dinary as that which the misconduct of Ministers has, 
 within these very few years, produced in Great Britain. 
 When our gracious Sovereign ascended the throne, we 
 were a flourishing and contented people. If the personal 
 virtues of the King could have insured the happiness of 
 his subjects, the scene could not have altered so entirely 
 as it has done. The idea of uniting all parties, of try- 
 ing all characters, and distributing the offices of state 
 by rotation, was gracious and benevolent to an extreme, 
 though it has not yet produced the many salutary effects 
 which were intended by it. To say nothing of the wis- 
 dom of such a plan, it undoubtedly arose from an un- 
 bounded goodness of heart, in which folly had no share. 
 It was not a capricious partiality to new faces; it was 
 
PART I 17 
 
 not a natural turn for low intrigue ; nor was it the treach- 
 erous amusement of double and triple negotiations. No, 
 sir, it arose from a continued anxiety, in the purest of 
 all possible hearts, for the general welfare. Unfortun- 
 ately for us, the event has not been answerable to the 
 design. After a rapid succession of changes we are re- 
 duced to the state which hardly any change can mend. 
 Yet there is no extremity of distress, which of itself 
 ought to reduce a great nation to despair. It is not 
 the disorder, but the physician; it is not a casual con- 
 currence of calamitous circumstances; it is the pernicious 
 hand of Government, which alone can make a whole 
 people desperate. 
 
 "Without much political sagacity, or any extraor- 
 dinary depth of observation, we need only mark how 
 the principal departments of the state are bestowed, and 
 look no farther for the true cause of every mischief that 
 befalls us. 
 
 "The finances of a nation, sinking under its debts 
 and expenses, are committed to a young nobleman [the 
 Duke of Grafton] already ruined by play. Introduced 
 to act under the auspices of Lord Chatham, and left at 
 the head of affairs by that nobleman's retreat, he be- 
 came Minister by accident; but, deserting the principles 
 and professions which gave him a moment's popularity, 
 we see him, from every honourable engagement to the 
 public, an apostate by design. As for business, the 
 world yet knows nothing of his talents or resolution; 
 unless a wayward, wavering inconsistency be a mark of 
 genius, and caprice a demonstration of spirit. It may 
 be said, perhaps, that it is his Grace's province, as sure- 
 ly as it is his passion, rather to distribute than to save 
 the public money; and that while Lord North is Chan- 
 cellor of the Exchequer, the first Lord of the Treasury 
 may be as thoughtless and as extravagant as he pleases. 
 I hope, however, he will not rely too much on the fer- 
 tility of Lord North's genius for finance. His Lordship 
 is yet to give us the first proof of his abilities. It may 
 be candid to suppose that he has hitherto voluntarily 
 concealed his talents; intending, perhaps, to astonish 
 the world, when we least expect it, with a knowledge of 
 trade, a choice of expedients, and a depth of resources 
 equal to the necessities, and far beyond the hopes of his 
 country. He must now exert the whole power of his 
 capacity, if he would wish us to forget, that, since he 
 
18 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 has been in office, no plan hass been formed, no system 
 adhered to, nor any one important measure adopted for 
 the reHef of public credit. If his plan for the service of 
 the current year be not irrevocably fixed on, let me 
 warn him to think seriously of consequences before he 
 ventures to increase the public debt. Outraged and 
 oppressed as we are, this nation will not bear, after a 
 six years' peace, to see new millions borrowed, without 
 an eventual diminution of debt, or reduction of interest. 
 The attempt might rouse a spirit of resentment which 
 might reach beyond the sacrifice of a Minister. As to 
 the debt upon the civil list, the people of England ex- 
 pect that it will not be paid without a strict inquiry 
 how it was incurred. If it must be paid by Parliament, 
 let me advise the Chancellor of the Exchequer to think 
 of some better expedient than a lottery. To support an 
 expensive war, or in circumstances of absolute necessity, 
 a lottery may perhaps be allowable; but, besides that 
 it is at all times the very worst way of raising money upon 
 the people, I think it ill becomes the royal dignity to 
 have the debts of a King provided for, like the repairs 
 of a county bridge, or a decayed hospital. The manage- 
 ment of the King's affairs in the House of Commons 
 cannot be more disgraced than it has been. A leading 
 Minister repeatedly called down for absolute ignorance, 
 ridiculous motions ridiculously withdrawn — deliberate 
 plans disconcerted, and a week's preparation of graceful 
 oratory lost in a moment, — give us some, though not 
 adequate ideas, of Lord North's parliamentary abilities 
 and influence. Yet before he had the misfortune to be 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, he was neither an object 
 of derision to his enemies, nor of melancholy pity to his 
 friends. 
 
 "A series of inconsistent measures had alienated the 
 Colonies from their duty as subjects, and from their 
 natural affection to their common country. When Mr. 
 Grenville was placed at the head of the Treasury, he 
 felt the impossibility of Great Britain's supporting such 
 an establishment as her former successes had made indis- 
 pensable, and at the same time of giving any sensible 
 relief to foreign trade, and to the weight of the public 
 debt. He thought it equitable that those parts of the 
 Empire which had benefited most by the expenses of 
 the war, should contribute something* to the expenses of 
 the peace, and he had no doubt of the constitutional 
 
PART I 19 
 
 right vested in Pariiament to raise that contribution. 
 But, unfortunately for his country, Mr. Grenville was 
 at any rate to be distressed, because he was Minister; 
 and Mr. Pitt and Lord Camden were to be the patrons 
 of America, because they were in opposition. Their 
 declaration gave spirit and argument to the Colonies; 
 and while perhaps they meant no more than the ruin of 
 a minister, they in effect divided one half of the Empire 
 from the other. Under one administration, the Stamp 
 Act is made; under the second, it is repealed; under 
 the third, in spite of all experience, a new mode of tax- 
 ing the Colonies is invented, and a question revived 
 which ought to have been buried in oblivion. In these 
 circumstances, a new office is established for the business 
 of the plantations, and the Earl of Hillsborough called 
 forth, at a most critical season, to govern America. 
 The choice at least announced to us a man of superior 
 capacity and knowledge. Whether he be so or not, let 
 his dispatches, as far as they have appeared, let his 
 measures, as far as they have operated, determine for 
 him. In the former we have seen strong assertions 
 without proof, declamation without argument, and vio- 
 lent censures without dignity or moderation; but neither 
 correctness in the composition, nor judgment in the de- 
 sign. As for his measures, let it be remembered, that 
 he was called upon to conciliate and unite; and that, 
 when he entered into office, the most refractory of the 
 Colonies were still disposed to proceed by the consti- 
 tutional methods of petition and remonstrance. Since 
 that period they have been driven into excesses little 
 short of rebellion. Petitions have been hindered from 
 reaching the throne; and the continuance of one of the 
 principal assemblies rested upon an arbitrary condition, 
 which, considering the temper they were in, it was im- 
 possible they should comply with; and which would 
 have availed nothing as to the general question if it 
 had been complied with. So violent, and I believe 
 I may call it, so unconstitutional an exertion of the 
 prerogative, to say nothing of the weak, injudicious terms 
 in which it was conveyed, gives us as humble an opinion 
 of his lordship's capacity as it does of his temper and 
 moderation. While we are at peace with other nations, 
 our military force may perhaps be spared to support the 
 Earl of Hillsborough's measures in America. Whenever 
 that force shall be necessarily withdrawn or diminished, 
 
20 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 the dismission of such a Minister will neither console us 
 for his imprudence nor remove the settled resentment of 
 a people, who, complaining of an Act of the Legislature, 
 are outraged by an unwarrantable stretch of prerog- 
 ative; and, supporting their claims by argument, are 
 insulted with declamation. 
 
 "Drawing lots would be a prudent and reasonable 
 method of appointing the officers of state compared to a 
 late disposition of the Secretary's office. Lord Rochford 
 was acquainted with the affairs and temper of the 
 southern courts — Lord Weymouth was equally qualified 
 for either department. By what unaccountable caprice 
 has it happened, that the latter, who pretends to no 
 experience whatsoever, is removed to the most import- 
 tant of the two departments, and the former by prefer- 
 ence placed in an office where his experience can be of 
 no use to him? Lord Weymouth had distinguished him- 
 self in his first employment by a spirited, if not judi- 
 cious, conduct. He had animated the civil magistrate 
 beyond the tone of civil authority, and had directed 
 the operations of the army to more than military exe- 
 cution. Recovered from the errors of his youth, from 
 the distraction of play, and the bewitching smiles of 
 Burgundy, behold him exerting the whole strength of 
 his clear, unclouded faculties, in the service of the Crown. 
 It was not the heat of midnight excesses, nor ignorance 
 of the laws, nor the furious spirit of the House of Bed- 
 ford. No, sir, when this respectable Minister interposed 
 his authority between the magistrate and the people, 
 and signed the mandate on which, for aught he knew, 
 the lives of thousands depended, he did it from the de- 
 liberate motion of his heart, supported by the best of 
 his judgment. 
 
 "It has lately been a fashion to pay a compliment 
 to the bravery and generosity of the Commander-in- 
 chief [Lord Granby] at the expense of his understanding. 
 They who love him least make no question of his cour- 
 age, while his friends dwell chiefly on the facility of his 
 disposition. Admitting him to be as brave as a total 
 absence of all feeling and reflection can make him, let 
 us see what sort of merit he derives from the remainder 
 of his character. If it be generosity to accumulate in 
 his own person and family a number of lucrative em- 
 ployments — to provide, at the public expense, for every 
 creature that bears the name of Manners [Granby's 
 
PART I 21 
 
 name], and, neglecting the merit and services of the rest 
 of the army, to heap promotions upon his favourites 
 and dependants — the present Commander-in-chief is the 
 most generous man ahve. Nature has been sparing of 
 her gifts to this noble lord; but, where birth and fortune 
 are united, we expect the noble pride and independence 
 of a man of spirit, not the servile, humiliating complais- 
 ance of a courtier. As to the goodness of his heart, if 
 a proof of it be taken from the facility of never refusing, 
 what conclusions shall we draw from the indecency of 
 never performing? And if the discipline of the army 
 be in any degree preserved, what thanks are due to a 
 man, whose cares, notoriously confined to filling up 
 vacancies, have degraded the office of commander-in- 
 chief into a broker of commissions! 
 
 "With respect to the navy, I shall only say, that 
 this country is so highly indebted to Sir Edward Hawke, 
 that no expense should be spared to secure to him an 
 honourable and affluent retreat. 
 
 "The pure and impartial administration of justice 
 is, perhaps the firmest bond to secure a cheerful submis- 
 sion of the people, and to engage their affections to 
 Government. It is not sufficient that questions of private 
 right or wrong are justly decided, nor that judges are 
 superior to the vileness of pecuniary corruption. Jef- 
 feries himself, when the court had no interest, was an 
 upright judge. A court of justice may be subject to 
 another sort of bias, more important and pernicious, as 
 it reaches beyond the interest of individuals, and affects 
 the whole community. A judge under the influence of 
 Government, may be honest enough in the decision of 
 private causes, yet a traitor to the public. When a vic- 
 tim is marked out by the Ministry, this judge [Lord 
 Mansfield] will offer himself to perform the sacrifice. 
 He will not scruple to prostitute his dignity, and betray 
 the sanctity of his office, whenever an arbitrary point 
 is to be carried for Government, or the resentments of a 
 court are to be gratified. 
 
 "These principles and proceedings, odious and con- 
 temptible as they are, in effect are no less injudicious. 
 A wise and generous people are roused by every appear- 
 ance of oppressive, unconstitutional measures, whether 
 those measures are supported openly by the power of 
 government, or masked under the forms of a court of 
 justice. Prudence and self-preservation will oblige the 
 
22 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 most moderate dispositions to make common cause, 
 even with a man whose conduct they censure, if they 
 see him [Wilkes] persecuted in a way which the real 
 spirit of the laws will not justify. The facts, on which 
 these remarks are founded, are too notorious to require 
 an application. 
 
 "This, sir, is the detail. In one view, behold a 
 nation overwhelmed with debt; her revenues wasted, her 
 trade declining; the affections of her colonies alienated; 
 the duty of the magistrate transferred to the soldiery; 
 a gallant army, which never fought unwillingly but 
 against their fellow-subjects, mouldering away for want 
 of the direction of a man of common abilities and spirit; 
 and in the last instance, the administration of justice 
 becomes odious and suspected to the whole body of the 
 people. 
 
 "This deplorable scene admits of but one addition — 
 that we are governed by counsels from which a reason- 
 able man can expect no remedy but poison; no relief 
 but death. 
 
 "If, by the immediate interposition of Providence, 
 it were possible for us to escape a crisis so full of terror 
 and despair, posterity will not believe the history of the 
 present time. They will either conclude that our dis- 
 tresses were imaginary, or that we had the good fortune 
 to be governed by men of acknowledged integrity and 
 wisdom; they will not believe it possible that their an- 
 cestors could have survived, or recovered from so des- 
 perate a condition, while a duke of Grafton was Prime 
 Minister, a Lord North Chancellor of the Exchequer, a 
 Weymouth and a Hillsborough Secretaries of State, a 
 Granby Commander-in-chief, and a Mansfield chief 
 criminal judge of the Kingdom. 
 
 JUNIUS." 
 
 Several other letters of a similar kind followed in quick 
 succession against the Duke of Grafton and other members 
 of the Ministry. The allusion to the Marquis of Granby, 
 the Commander-in-chief of the King's army, is particularly 
 noticeable, as Junius's object seemed to have been to get a 
 man who was not hostile to his purposes. In his assault on 
 the Marquis, he brought forward many of his short-comings 
 as Commander-in-chief. 
 
PART I 28 
 
 Sir William Draper, an officer in the King's service, and 
 a well educated man, came to the rescue of the Marquis, by- 
 writing a very severe letter in reply to Junius, as an anon- 
 ymous writer, which was answered by Junius in very caustic 
 terms, in which he reviewed the official and private life of 
 Sir William, which was not very savory in its nature. It 
 was answered by him in a very subdued tone, and apologetic 
 manner, which indicated that he was badly embarrassed in 
 explaining some of his official acts. 
 
 Junius replied to this letter in a very severe manner, 
 and I will call the reader's attention to the bitter irony in 
 his succeeding letters: 
 
 LETTER III 
 
 TO SIR WILLIAM DRAPER, KNIGHT OF THE 
 
 BATH 
 
 February 7th, 1769 
 "Sir: 
 
 Your defense of Lord Granby does honour to the 
 goodness of your heart. You feel, as you ought to do, 
 for the reputation of your friend, and you express your- 
 self in the warmest language of your passions. In any 
 other cause I doubt not, you would have cautiously 
 weighed the consequences of committing your name to 
 the Hcentious discourses and malignant opinions of the 
 world. But here, I presume, you thought it would be a 
 breach of friendship to lose one moment in consulting 
 your understanding; as if an appeal to the public were 
 no more than a military coup de main, where a brave 
 man has no rules to follow but the dictates of his cour- 
 age. Touched with your generosity, I freely forgive the 
 excesses into which it has led you; and, far from resent- 
 ing those terms of reproach which, considering that 
 you are an advocate for decorum, you have heaped 
 upon me rather too liberally, I place them to the ac- 
 count of an honest, unreflecting indignation, in which 
 your cooler judgment and natural politeness had no con- 
 cern. I approve of the spirit with which you have given 
 your name to the public; and, if it were a proof of any- 
 thing but spirit, I should have thought myself bound to 
 follow your example. I should have hoped that even 
 my name might carry some authority with it, if I had 
 
24 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 not seen how very little weight or consideration a print- 
 ed paper receives even from the respectable signature of 
 Sir William Draper. 
 
 "You begin with a general assertion, that writers, 
 such as I am, are the real cause of all the public evils 
 we complain of. And do you really think, Sir William, 
 that the licentious pen of a political writer is able to 
 produce such important effects? A little calm reflection 
 might have shown you that national calamities do not 
 arise from the description, but from the real character 
 and conduct of Ministers. To have supported your 
 assertion, you should have proved that the present 
 Ministry are unquestionably the best and brightest char- 
 acters of the kingdom; and that, if the affections of the 
 Colonies have been alienated, if Corsica has been shame- 
 fully abandoned, if commerce languishes, if public 
 credit is threatened with a new debt, and your own 
 Manilla ransom most dishonourably given up, it has all 
 been owing to the malice of political writers, who will 
 not suffer the best and brightest characters (meaning 
 still the present Ministry) to take a single right step for 
 the honour or interest of the nation. But it seems you 
 were a little tender of coming to particulars. Your 
 conscience insinuated to you that it would be prudent 
 to leave the characters of Grafton, North, Hillsborough, 
 Weymouth, and Mansfield to shift for themselves; and 
 truly. Sir William, the part you have undertaken is at 
 least as much as you are equal to. 
 
 "Without disputing Lord Granby's courage, we are 
 yet to learn in what articles of military knowledge na- 
 ture has been so very liberal to his mind. If you have 
 served with him, you ought to have pointed out some 
 instances of able disposition and well-concerted enter- 
 prise which might fairly be attributed to his capacity as 
 a general. It is you. Sir William, who make your friend 
 appear awkward and ridiculous, by giving him a laced 
 suit of tawdry qualifications, which nature never intend- 
 ed him to wear. 
 
 "You say he has acquired nothing but honour in 
 the field. Is the Ordnance nothing? Are the Blues 
 nothing? Is the command of the army, with all the 
 patronage annexed to it, nothing? Where he got all these 
 nothings, I know not; but you, at least, ought to have 
 told us where he deserved them. 
 
 "As to his bounty, compassion, etc., it would have 
 been but little to the purpose, though you had approved 
 
PART I 25 
 
 all that you have asserted. I meddle with nothing but 
 his character as Commander-in-chief; and though I ac- 
 quit him of the baseness of selling commissions, I still 
 assert that his mihtary cares have never extended be- 
 yond the disposal of vacancies; and I am justified by 
 the complaints of the whole army, when I say, that, in 
 this distribution, he consults nothing but parliamentary 
 interest, or the gratification of his immediate depend- 
 ants. As to his servile submission to the reigning Min- 
 istry, let me ask whether he did not desert the cause of 
 the whole army when he suffered Sir Jeffery Amherst to 
 be sacrificed, and what share he had in recalling that 
 officer to the service? Did he not betray the just inter- 
 est of the army, in permitting Lord Percy to have a 
 regiment? And does he not at this moment give up all 
 character and dignity as a gentleman, in receding from 
 his own repeated declarations in favour of Mr. Wilkes? 
 
 "In the two next articles, I think we are agreed. 
 You candidly admit, that he often makes such promises 
 as it is a virtue in him to violate, and that no man is 
 more assiduous to provide for his relations at the public 
 expense. I did not urge the last as an absolute vice in 
 his disposition, but to prove that a careless, disinterested 
 spirit is no part of his character: and as to the other, 
 I desire it may be remembered, that / never descended 
 to the indecency of inquiring into his convivial hours. 
 It is you. Sir William Draper, who have taken pains to 
 represent your friend in the character of a drunken 
 landlord, who deals out his promises as liberally as his 
 liquor, and will suffer no man to leave his table either 
 sorrowful or sober. None but an intimate friend, who 
 must frequently have seen him in these unhappy, dis- 
 graceful moments, could have described him so well. 
 
 "The last charge, of the neglect of the army, is in- 
 deed the most material of all. I am sorry to tell you, 
 Sir William, that in this article, your first fact is false; 
 and as there is nothing more painful to me than to give 
 a direct contradiction to a gentleman of your appear- 
 ance, I could wish that, in your future publications, you 
 would pay a greater attention to the truth of your prem- 
 ises, before you suffer your genius to hurry you to a 
 conclusion. Lord Ligonier did not deliver the army 
 (which you, in classical language, are pleased to call a 
 palladium) into Lord Granby's hands. It was taken 
 from him much against his inclination, some two or 
 
26 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 three years before Lord Granby was a Commander-in- 
 chief. As to the state of the army, I should be glad to 
 know where you have received your intelligence. Was 
 it in the rooms at Bath, or at your retreat at CHfton? 
 The reports of reviewing generals comprehend only a 
 few regiments in England, which, as they are immedi- 
 ately under the royal inspection, are perhaps in some 
 tolerable order. But do you know anything of the 
 troops in the West Indies, the Mediterranean, and North 
 America, to say nothing of a whole army absolutely 
 ruined in Ireland? Inquire a little into facts, Sir Wil- 
 liam, before you publish your next panegyric upon Lord 
 Granby, and, believe me, you will find there is a fault 
 at headquarters, which even the acknowledged care and 
 abilities of the Adjutant-general cannot correct. 
 
 "Permit me now, Sir William, to address myself 
 personally to you, by way of thanks for the honour of 
 your correspondence. You are by no means undeserv- 
 ing of notice; and it may be of consequence, even to 
 Lord Granby, to have it determined, whether or no the 
 man who has praised him so lavishly, be himself deserv- 
 ing of praise. When you returned to Europe, you zeal- 
 ously undertook the cause of that gallant army by whose 
 bravery at Manilla your own fortune had been estab- 
 lished. You complained, you threatened, you even ap- 
 pealed to the public in print. By what accident did it 
 happen, that in the midst of all this bustle, and all these 
 clamours for justice to your injured troops, the name of 
 the Manilla ransom was suddenly buried in a profound, 
 and, since that time, an uninterrupted, silence? Did the 
 Ministry suggest any motive to you strong enough to 
 tempt a man of honour to desert and betray the cause 
 of his fellow-soldiers? Was it that blushing ribband, 
 which is now the perpetual ornament of your person? 
 Or was it that regiment, which you afterwards (a thing 
 unprecedented among soldiers) sold to Colonel Gisbome? 
 Or was it that Government, the ftdl pay of which you 
 are contented to hold, with the half-pay of an Irish 
 Colonel? And do you now, after a retreat not very 
 like that of Scipio, presume to intrude yourself, un- 
 thought of, uncalled for, upon the patience of the pub- 
 lic? Are your flatteries of the Commander-in-chief di- 
 rected to another regiment, which you may again dis- 
 pose of on the same honourable terms? We know your 
 prudence. Sir William, and I should be sorry to stop 
 your preferment. JUNIUS." 
 
PART I 27 
 
 In Vol. I of Bohn's Edition, pp. 126, 129, 221 and 228, 
 Junius wrote four other masterly letters in reply to Sir Wil- 
 liam Draper, which are well worth the perusal of any one; 
 but I have not the space to reproduce them here. Their 
 severity is almost beyond imitation. They must have made 
 Sir WiUiam writhe in every nerve of his body. The invec- 
 tives which Junius employed are scarcely surpassed by those 
 of Cicero against Cataline, Anthony, or Verres. Let us take, 
 for example, the beautiful rhetorical climax used by the 
 great Roman orator, in his celebrated speech against Cata- 
 line: "Abiit, Evasit, Excessit, Erupit," when the bold con- 
 spirator, smarting under the attack, madly dashed out of the 
 Senate; and we will find that it is hardly superior to some of 
 the invectives used by Junius against Sir William Draper, 
 the Duke of Grafton, Lord Barrington, Lord Mansfield and 
 Lord North. I quote the above Latin expression from mem- 
 ory. 
 
 This practically ended the controversy, with a great 
 victory for Junius. 
 
 The Marquis of Granby resigned his office as Commander- 
 in-chief of the army, shortly afterward. It has been said 
 that he requested Sir WilHam Draper not to write any more 
 letters to Junius in his defense. Junius then addressed a 
 letter to the Duke of Grafton, which I will here copy, in 
 order that the reader may have a clear conception of its 
 tenor, and the object for which it was written: 
 
 LETTER XV 
 
 TO HIS GRACE, THE DUKE OF GRAFTON 
 
 July 8th, 1769 
 "My Lord: 
 
 If nature had given you an understanding qualified 
 to keep pace with the wishes and principles of your 
 heart, she would have made you, perhaps, the most 
 formidable Minister that ever was employed under a 
 limited monarch, to accomplish the ruin of a free people. 
 When neither the feelings of shame, the reproaches of 
 conscience, nor the dread of punishment, form any bar 
 
28 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 to the designs of a Minister, the people would have too 
 much reason to lament their condition, if they did not 
 find some resource in the weakness of his understanding. 
 We owe it to the bounty of Providence, that the com- 
 pletest depravity of the heart is sometimes strangely 
 united with a confusion of the mind, which counteracts 
 the most favourite principles and makes the same man 
 treacherous without art, and a hypocrite without deceiv- 
 ing. The measures, for instance, in which your Grace's 
 activity has been chiefly exerted, as they were adopted 
 without skill, should have been conducted with more 
 than common dexterity. But truly, my Lord, the exe- 
 cution has been as gross as the design. By one deci- 
 sive step you have defeated all the arts of writing. You 
 have fairly confounded the intrigues of opposition, and 
 silenced the clamours of faction. A dark, ambiguous 
 system might require and furnish the materials of in- 
 genious illustration; and, in doubtful measures, the viru- 
 lent exaggeration of party must be employed to rouse 
 and engage the passions of the people. You have now 
 brought the merits of your administration to an issue, 
 on which every Englishman of the narrowest capacity 
 may determine for himself. It is not an alarm to the 
 passions, but a calm appeal to the judgment of the peo- 
 ple upon their own most essential interests. A more 
 experienced Minister would not have hazarded a direct 
 invasion of the first principles of the constitution before 
 he had made some progress in subduing the spirit of the 
 people. With such a cause as yours, my Lord, it is not 
 sufficient that you have the court at your devotion, un- 
 less you can find means to corrupt or intimidate the 
 jury. The collective body of the people form that jury, 
 and from their decision there is but one appeal. 
 
 "Whether you have talents to support you at a 
 crisis of such difficulty and danger, should long since 
 have been considered. Judging truly of your disposition, 
 you have, perhaps, mistaken the extent of your capacity. 
 Good faith and folly have so long been received as 
 synonymous terms, that the reverse of the proposition 
 has grown into credit, and every villain fancies himself 
 a man of abilities. It is the apprehension of your friends, 
 my Lord, that you have drawn some hasty conclusion 
 of this sort, and that a partial reliance upon your moral 
 character has betrayed you beyond the depth of your 
 understanding. You have now carried things too far 
 
PART I 29 
 
 to retreat. You have plainly declared to the people 
 what they are to expect from the continuance of your 
 administration. It is time for your Grace to consider 
 what you also may expect in return from their spirit 
 and their resentment. 
 
 ''Since the accession of our most gracious Sovereign 
 to the throne we have seen a system of government 
 which may well be called a reign of experiments. Par- 
 ties of all denominations have been employed and dis- 
 missed. The advice of the ablest men in this country 
 has been repeatedly called for and rejected; and when 
 the royal displeasure has been signified to a Minister, 
 the marks of it have usually been proportioned to his 
 abihties and integrity. The spirit of the FAVOURITE 
 [Lord Bute] had some apparent influence upon every 
 administration; and every set of Ministers preserved an 
 appearance of duration as long as they submitted to 
 that influence. But there were certain services to be 
 performed for the favourite's security, or to gratify his 
 resentments, which your predecessors in office had the 
 wisdom or the virtue not to undertake. The moment 
 this refractory spirit was discovered, their disgrace was 
 determined. 
 
 "Lord Chatham, Mr. Grenville, and Lord Rocking- 
 ham have successively had the honour to be dismissed 
 for preferring their duty as servants of the public, to 
 those compliances which were expected from their sta- 
 tion. A submissive administration was at last gradually 
 collected from the deserters of all parties, interests, and 
 connections; and nothing remained but to find a leader 
 for these gallant well-disciplined troops. Stand forth, 
 my Lord, for thou art the man. Lord Bute found no 
 resource of dependence or security in the proud impos- 
 ing superiority of Lord Chatham's abilities, the shrewd, 
 inflexible judgment of Mr. Grenville, nor in the mild 
 but determined integrity of Lord Rockingham. His 
 views and situation required a creature void of all these 
 properties; and he was forced to go through every divi- 
 sion, resolution, composition, and refinement of political 
 chemistry, before he happily arrived at the caput mor- 
 tuum of vitriol in your Grace. Flat and insipid in your 
 retired state, but, brought into action, you become vit- 
 riol again. Such are the extremes of alternate indolence 
 or fury which have governed your whole administration. 
 
30 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 Your circumstances with regard to the people soon be- 
 coming desperate, like other honest servants you deter- 
 mined to involve the best of masters in the same diffi- 
 culties with yourself. We owe it to your Grace's well- 
 directed labours, that your Sovereign has been per- 
 suaded to doubt of the affections of his subjects, and the 
 people to suspect the virtues of their Sovereign at a time 
 when both were unquestionable. 
 
 "You have degraded the royal dignity into a base, 
 dishonourable competition with Mr. Wilkes, nor had 
 you abilities to carry even this last contemptible tri- 
 umph over a private man, without the grossest viola- 
 tion of the fundamental laws of the constitution and 
 rights of the people. But these are rights, my Lord, 
 which you can no more annihilate than you can the soil 
 to which they are annexed. The question no longer 
 turns upon points of national honour and security abroad 
 or on the degrees of expedience and propriety of meas- 
 ures at home. It was not inconsistent that you should 
 abandon the cause of liberty in another country, which 
 you had persecuted in your own; and in the common 
 arts of domestic corruption, we miss no part of Sir 
 Robert Walpole's system except his abilities. In this 
 humble imitative line, you might have proceeded, safe 
 and contemptible. You might, probably, never have 
 risen to the dignity of being hated, and even have been 
 despised with moderation. But it seems you meant to 
 be distinguished; and, to a mind like yours, there was 
 no other road to fame but by the destruction of a noble 
 fabric, which you thought had been too long the admira- 
 tion of mankind. The use you have made of the mili- 
 tary force introduced an alarming change in the mode 
 of executing the laws. The arbitrary appointment of 
 Mr. Luttrell invades the foundation of the laws them- 
 selves, as it manifestly transfers the right of legislation 
 from those whom the people have chosen, to those whom 
 they have rejected. 
 
 "With a succession of such appointments we may 
 soon see a House of Commons collected, in the choice 
 of which the other towns and counties of England will 
 have as little share as the devoted county of Middlesex. 
 
 "Yet, I trust, your Grace will find that the people 
 of this country are neither to be intimidated by violent 
 measures, not deceived by refinements. When they see 
 Mr. Luttrell seated in the House of Commons by mere 
 
PART I 31 
 
 dint of power, and in direct opposition to the choice of 
 a whole county, they will not listen to those subtleties 
 by which every arbitrary exertion of authority is ex- 
 plained into the law and privilege of Parliament. It re- 
 quires no persuasion of argument, but simply the evi- 
 dence of the senses, to convince them that to transfer 
 the right of election from the collective to the represen- 
 tative body of the people, contradicts all those ideas of 
 a House of Commons which they have received from 
 their forefathers, and which they have already, though 
 vainly perhaps, delivered to their children. The princi- 
 ples on which this violent measure has been defended, 
 have added scorn to injury, and forced us to feel that 
 we are not onl}^ oppressed, but insulted. 
 
 "With what force, my Lord, with what protection, 
 are you prepared to meet the united detestation of the 
 people of England? The City of London has given a 
 generous example to the Kingdom in what manner a 
 king of this country ought to be addressed; and, I fancy, 
 my Lord, it is not yet in your courage to stand between 
 your Sovereign and the addresses of his subjects. The 
 injuries you have done this country are such as demand 
 not only redress but vengeance. In vain shall you look 
 for protection to that venal vote which you have al- 
 ready paid for — another must be purchased; and to save 
 a Minister, the House of Commons must declare them- 
 selves not only independent of their constituents, but the 
 determined enemies of the constitution. Consider, my 
 Lord, whether this be an extremity to which their fears 
 will permit them to advance, or, if their protection 
 should fail you, how far you are authorized to rely upon 
 the sincerity of those smiles which a pious court lav- 
 ishes without reluctance upon a libertine by profession. 
 It is not, indeed, the least of the thousand contradic- 
 tions which attend you, that a man, marked to the 
 world by the grossest violation of all ceremony and de- 
 corum, should be the first servant of a court in which 
 prayers are morality and kneeling a religion. 
 
 "Trust not too far to appearances by which your 
 predecessors have been deceived, though they have not 
 been injured. Even the best of princes may at last 
 discover that this is a contention in which everything 
 may be lost, but nothing can be gained; and, as you 
 became Minister by accident, were adopted without 
 
32 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 choice, trusted without confidence, and continued with- 
 out favour, be assured that, whenever an occasion press- 
 es, you will be discarded without even the forms of re- 
 gret. You will then have reason to be thankful if you 
 are permitted to retire to that seat of learning which, in 
 contemplation of the system of your life, the compara- 
 tive purity of your manners with those of their high 
 steward, and a thousand other recommending circum- 
 stances, has chosen you to encourage the growing virtue 
 of their youth, and to preside over their education. 
 
 "Whenever the spirit of distributing prebends and 
 bishoprics shall have departed from you, you will find 
 that learned seminary perfectly recovered from the de- 
 lirium of an installation, and, what in truth it ought to 
 be, once more a peaceful scene of slumber and thought- 
 less meditation. The venerable tutors of the university 
 will no longer distress your modesty by proposing you 
 for a pattern to their pupils. The learned dullness of 
 declamation will be silent; and even the venal muse, 
 though happiest in fiction, will forget your virtues. 
 Yet, for the benefit of the succeeding age, I could wish 
 that your retreat might be deferred until your morals 
 shall happily be ripened to that maturity of corruption, 
 at which the worst examples cease to be contagious. 
 
 JUNIUS." 
 
 Here I will copy his celebrated Letter to the King, for 
 the convenience of my readers. There is a great deal of 
 adroitness in this letter, in the way he approaches and flat- 
 ters the King to accomplish his purpose, that is, to induce 
 him to remove the odious Grafton Ministry: 
 
 LETTER XXXV 
 
 FOR THE PUBLIC ADVERTISER 
 
 December 19, 1769 
 
 "When the complaints of a brave and powerful 
 people are observed to increase in proportion to the 
 wrongs they have suffered, when instead of sinking into 
 submission, they are roused to resistance, the time will 
 soon arrive, at which every inferior consideration must 
 yield to the security of the Sovereign, and to the general 
 safety of the state. 
 
PART I 33 
 
 "There is a moment of difficulty and danger at 
 which flattery and falsehood can no longer deceive, and 
 simplicity itself can no longer be misled. Let us suppose 
 it arrived. Let us suppose a gracious, well-intentioned 
 prince, made sensible at last of the great duty he owes 
 to his people, and of his own disgraceful situation — that 
 he looks round him for assistance, and asks for no ad- 
 vice but how to gratify the wishes and secure the happi- 
 ness of his subjects. In these circiimstances, it may be 
 matter of curious SPECULATION to consider if an 
 honest man were permitted to approach a King, in 
 what terms he would address himself to his Sovereign. 
 Let it be imagined, no matter how improbable, that the 
 first prejudice against his character is removed, that the 
 ceremonious difficulties of an audience are surmounted, 
 that he feels himself animated by the purest and most 
 honourable aft'ections to his King and country, and that 
 the great person whom he addresses has spirit enough 
 to bid him speak freely, and understanding enough to 
 listen to him with attention. Unacquainted with the 
 vain impertinence of forms, he would deliver his senti- 
 ments with dignity and firmness, but not without re- 
 spect. 
 
 " 'Sir: It is the misfortune of your life, and orig- 
 inally the cause of every reproach and distress which 
 has attended your Government, that you should never 
 have been acquainted with the language of truth, until 
 you heard it in the complaints of your people. It is 
 not, however, too late to correct the error of your educa- 
 tion. We are still inclined to make an indulgent allow- 
 ance for the pernicious lessons you received in your 
 youth, and to form the most sanguine hopes from the 
 natural benevolence of your disposition. We are far 
 from thinking you capable of a direct, deliberate purpose 
 to invade those original rights of your subjects, on which 
 all their civil and political liberties depend. Had it 
 been possible for us to entertain a suspicion so dis- 
 honourable to your character, we should long since have 
 adopted a style of remonstrance very distant from the 
 humility of complaint. The doctrine inculcated by our 
 laws, That the King can do no wrong, is admitted with- 
 out reluctance. We separate the amiable, good-natured 
 prince from the folly and treachery of his servants, and 
 the private virtues of the man from the vices of his 
 Government. Were it not for this just distinction, I 
 
34 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 know not whether your Majesty's condition or that of 
 the English nation would deserve most to be lamented. 
 I would prepare your mind for a favourable reception 
 of truth by removing every painful, offensive idea of 
 personal reproach. Your subjects, Sir, wish for nothing 
 but that, as they are reasonable and affectionate enough 
 to separate your person from your Government, so you, 
 in your turn, should distinguish between the conduct 
 which becomes the permanent dignity of a King and 
 that which serves only to promote the temporary inter- 
 est and miserable ambition of a Minister. You ascend- 
 ed the throne with a declared and, I doubt not, a sin- 
 cere resolution of giving universal satisfaction to your 
 subjects. You found them pleased with the novelty of 
 a young prince whose countenance promised even more 
 than words, and loyal to you not only from principle, 
 but passion. It was not a cold profession of allegiance 
 to the first magistrate, but a partial, animated attach- 
 ment to a favourite prince, the native of their country. 
 They did not wait to examine your conduct, nor to be 
 determined by experience, but gave you a generous cred- 
 it for the future blessings of your reign, and paid you in 
 advance the dearest tribute of their affections. Such, 
 Sir, was once the disposition of a people who now sur- 
 round your throne with reproaches and complaints. Do 
 justice to yourself. Banish from your mind those un- 
 worthy opinions with which some interested persons 
 have laboured to possess you. Distrust the man who 
 tells you that the English are naturally light and incon- 
 stant — that they complain without a cause, Withdraw 
 your confidence equally from all parties — from ministers, 
 favourites, and relations, and let there be one moment 
 in your life in which you have consulted your own un- 
 derstanding. 
 
 " 'When you affectedly renounced the name of 
 Englishman, believe me, Sir, you were persuaded to pay 
 a very ill-judged compliment to one part of your sub- 
 jects at the expense of another. While the natives of 
 Scotland are not in actual rebellion, they are undoubted- 
 ly entitled to protection: nor do I mean to condemn the 
 policy of giving some encouragement to the novelty of 
 their affections for the house of Hanover. I am ready 
 to hope for everything from their new-bom zeal, and 
 from the future steadiness of their allegiance. But 
 hitherto they have no claim to your favour. To honour 
 
PART I 35 
 
 them with a determined predilection and confidence, in 
 exclusion of your English subjects who placed your fam- 
 ily, and in spite of treachery and rebellion, have sup- 
 ported it, upon the throne, is a mistake too gross even 
 for the unsuspecting generosity of youth. In this error 
 we see a capital violation of the most obvious rules of 
 policy and prudence. We trace it, however, to an orig- 
 inal bias in your education, and are ready to allow for 
 your inexperience. 
 
 " 'To the same early influence we atrribute it, that 
 you have descended to take a share not only in the nar- 
 row views and interests of particular persons, but in the 
 fatal malignity of their passions. At your accession to 
 the throne the whole system of Government was altered 
 not from wisdom or deliberation, but because it had 
 been adopted by your predecessor. A little personal 
 motive of pique and resentment was sufficient to remove 
 the ablest servants of the Crown; but it is not in this 
 country. Sir, that such men can be dishonoured by the 
 frowns of a King. They were dismissed, but could not 
 be disgraced. Without entering into a minuter discus- 
 sion of the merits of the peace, we may observe, in the 
 imprudent hurry with which the first overtures from 
 France were accepted, in the conduct of the negotiation, 
 and terms of the treaty, the strongest marks of that 
 precipitate spirit of concession, with which a certain 
 part of your subjects have been at all times ready to 
 purchase a peace with the natural enemies of this country. 
 On your part we are satisfied that everjrthing was hon- 
 ourable and sincere, and if England was sold to France, 
 we doubt not that your Majesty was equally betrayed. 
 The conditions of the peace were matter of grief and sur- 
 prise to your subjects, but not the immediate cause of 
 their present discontent. 
 
 " 'Hitherto, Sir, you have been sacrificed to the 
 prejudices and passions of others. With what firmness 
 will you bear the mention of your own? 
 
 " 'A man not very honourably distinguished in the 
 world, commences a formal attack upon your favourite, 
 considering nothing but how he might best expose his 
 person and principles to detestation, and the national 
 character of his countrymen to contempt. The natives 
 of that country [Scotland], Sir, are as much distinguish- 
 ed by a peculiar character as by your Majesty's favour. 
 Like another chosen people, they have been conducted 
 
36 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 into the land of plenty, where they find themselves ef- 
 fectually marked, and divided from mankind. There is 
 hardly a period at which the most irregular character 
 may not be redeemed. The mistakes of one sex find a 
 retreat in patriotism; those of the other in devotion. 
 Mr. Wilkes brought with him into politics the same lib- 
 eral sentiments by which his private conduct had been 
 directed, and seemed to think that as there are few ex- 
 cesses in which an English gentleman may not be per- 
 mitted to indulge, the same latitude was allowed him in 
 the choice of his political principles, and in the spirit of 
 maintaining them. I mean to state, not entirely to de- 
 fend, his conduct. In the earnestness of his zeal he 
 suffered some unwarrantable insinuations to escape him. 
 He said more than moderate men could justify, but 
 not enough to entitle him to the honour of your Majes- 
 ty's personal resentment. The rays of royal indignation 
 collected upon him served only to illuminate, and could 
 not consume. Animated by the favour of the people on 
 one side, and heated by persecution on the other, his 
 views and sentiments changed with his situation. Hard- 
 ly serious at first, he is now an enthusiast. The coldest 
 bodies warm with opposition, the hardest sparkle in col- 
 lision. There is a holy mistaken zeal in politics as 
 well as religion. By persuading others, we convince our- 
 selves. The passions are engaged, and create a material 
 affection in the mind, which coerces us to love the cause 
 for which we suffer. Is this a contention worthy of a 
 King? Are you not sensible how much the meanness of 
 the cause gives an air of ridicule to the serious difficul- 
 ties into which you have been betrayed? The destruc- 
 tion of one man [Wilkes] has been now for many years 
 the sole object of your Government; and if there can be 
 anything still more disgraceful, we have seen for such 
 an object the utmost influence of the executive power 
 and every ministerial artifice exerted without success. 
 Nor can you ever succeed, unless he should be imprudent 
 enough to forfeit the protection of those laws to which 
 you owe your crown, or unless your Ministers should 
 persuade you to make it a question of force alone, and 
 try the whole strength of Government in opposition to 
 the people. The lessons he has received from experience, 
 will probably guard him from such excess of folly, and 
 ■ in your Majesty's virtues we find an unquestionable 
 assurance that no illegal violence will be attempted. 
 
PART I 87 
 
 " 'Far from suspecting you of so horrible a design, 
 we would attribute the continued violation of the laws, 
 and even this last enormous attack upon the vital prin- 
 ciples of the constitution, to an ill-advised, unworthy- 
 personal resentment. From one false step you have been 
 betrayed into another, and as the cause was unworthy 
 of you, your Ministers were determined that the pru- 
 dence of the execution should correspond with the wis- 
 dom and dignity of the design. They have reduced 
 you to the necessity of choosing out of a variety of diffi- 
 culties, to a situation so unhappy, that you can neither 
 do wrong without ruin, nor right without affliction. 
 
 " 'These worthy servants have undoubtedly given 
 you many singular proofs of their abilities. Not con- 
 tented with making Mr. Wilkes a man of importance, 
 they have judiciously transferred the question from the 
 rights and interests of one man, to the most important 
 rights and interests of the people, and forced your sub- 
 jects from wishing well to the cause of an individual, to 
 unite with him in their own. Let them proceed as they 
 have begun and your Majesty need not doubt that the 
 catastrophe will do no dishonour to the conduct of the 
 piece. 
 
 " 'The circumstances to which you are reduced will 
 not admit of a compromise with the English nation. 
 Undecisive, qualifying measures will disgrace your Gov- 
 ernment still more than open violence, and without 
 satisfying the people, will excite their contempt. They 
 have too much understanding and spirit to accept of an 
 indirect satisfaction for a direct injury. Nothing less 
 than a repeal as formal as the resolution itself, can heal 
 the wound which has been given to the constitution, 
 nor will anything less be accepted. I can readily be- 
 lieve that there is an influence sufficient to recall that 
 pernicious vote. The House of Commons undoubtedly 
 consider their duty to the Crown as paramount to all other 
 obligations. To us they are only indebted for an acci- 
 dental existence, and have justly transferred their grati- 
 tude from their parents to their benefactors; from those 
 who gave them birth, to the Minister from whose benev- 
 olence they derive the comforts and pleasures of their 
 political life, who has taken the tenderest care of their 
 infancy, and relieves their necessities, without offending 
 their delicacy. But, if it were possible for their integ- 
 rity to be degraded to a condition so vile and abject 
 
38 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 that, compared with it, the present estimation they 
 stand in, is a state of honour and respect, consider, Sir, 
 in what manner you will afterwards proceed. Can you 
 conceive that the people of this country will long sub- 
 mit to be governed by so flexible a House of Commons? 
 
 " 'It is not in the nature of himian society that 
 any form of government, in such circumstances, can 
 long be preserved. In ours, the general contempt of the 
 people is as fatal as their detestation. Such, I am per- 
 suaded, would be the necessary effect of any base con- 
 cession made by the present House of Commons, and, 
 as a qualifying measure would not be accepted, it re- 
 mains for you to decide whether you will, at any haz- 
 ard, support a set of men who have reduced you to this 
 unhappy dilemma, or whether you will gratify the united 
 wishes of the whole people of England by dissolving the 
 Parliament. 
 
 " 'Taking it for granted, as I do very sincerely, 
 that you have personally no design against the constitu- 
 tion, nor any views inconsistent with the good of your 
 subjects, I think you cannot hesitate long upon the 
 choice which it equally concerns your interest and your 
 honour to adopt. On one side you hazard the affection 
 of all your English subjects — you relinquish every hope 
 of repose to yourself, and you endanger the establish- 
 ment of your family for ever. All this you venture for 
 no object whatsoever, or for such an object as it would 
 be an affront to you to name. Men of sense will exam- 
 ine your conduct with suspicion, while those who are 
 incapable of comprehending to what degree they are 
 injured, afflict you with clamours equally insolent and 
 unmeaning. Supposing it possible that no fatal struggle 
 should ensue, you determine at once to be unhappy, 
 without the hope of a compensation either from interest 
 or ambition. If an English King be hated or despised, 
 he must be unhappy; and this, perhaps, is the only 
 political truth which he ought to be convinced of with- 
 out experiment. But if the English people should no 
 longer confine their resentment to a submissive represen- 
 tation of their wrongs — if, following the glorious example 
 of their ancestors, they should no longer appeal to the 
 creature of the constitution, but to that high Being who 
 gave them the rights of humanity, whose gifts it were 
 sacrilege to surrender — let me ask you, Sir, upon what 
 part of your subjects would you rely for assistance? 
 
PART I 39 
 
 " 'The people of Ireland have been uniformly plun- 
 dered and oppressed. In return, they give you every 
 day fresh marks of their resentment. They despise the 
 miserable Governor you have sent them, because he is 
 the creature of Lord Bute; nor is it from any natural 
 confusion in their ideas that they are so ready to con- 
 foimd the original of a King with the disgraceful repre- 
 sentation of him. 
 
 " 'The distance of the Colonies would make it im- 
 possible for them to take an active concern in your af- 
 fairs, if they were as well affected to your Government 
 as they once pretended to be to your person. They 
 were ready enough to distinguish between you and your 
 Ministers. They complained of an act of the legislature 
 but traced the origin of it no higher than to the servants 
 of the Crown; they pleased themselves with the hope 
 that their Sovereign, if not favourable to their cause, at 
 least was impartial. The decisive, personal part you 
 took against them, has effectually banished that first 
 distinction from their minds. They consider you as 
 united with your servants against America, and know 
 how to distinguish the Sovereign and a venal Parlia- 
 ment on one side, from the real sentiments of the Eng- 
 lish people on the other. Looking forward to inde- 
 pendence, they might possibly receive you for their 
 King; but if you ever retire to America, be assured they 
 will give you such a covenant to digest as the Presby- 
 tery of Scotland would have been ashamed to offer to 
 Charles the Second. They left their native land in 
 search of freedom, and found it in a desert. Divided as 
 they are into a thousand forms of policy and religion, 
 there is one point in which they aU agree — they equally 
 detest the pageantry of a King and the supercilious 
 hypocrisy of a bishop. 
 
 " Tt is not then from the alienated affection of Ire- 
 land or America that you can reasonably look for 
 assistance; still less from the people of England, who 
 are actually contending for their rights, and in this 
 great question are parties against you. You are not, 
 however, destitute of every appearance of support — you 
 have all the Jacobites, Non-jurors, Roman Catholics, and 
 Tories of this country, and all Scotland, without excep- 
 tion. Considering from what family you are descended, 
 the choice of your friends has been singularly directed; 
 and truly, Sir, if you had not lost the Whig interest of 
 
40 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 England, I should admire your dexterity in turning the 
 hearts of your enemies. Is it possible for you to place 
 any confidence in men who, before they are faithful to 
 you, must renounce every opinion and betray every 
 principle, both in Church and State which they inherit 
 from their ancestors, and are confirmed in by their 
 education? Whose numbers are so inconsiderable, that 
 they have long since been obliged to give up the princi- 
 ples and language which distinguished them as a party, 
 and to fight under the banners of their enemies? Their 
 zeal begins with hypocrisy and must conclude in treach- 
 ery. At first they deceive — at last they betray. 
 
 " 'As to the Scotch, I must suppose your heart and 
 understanding so biased from your earliest infancy in 
 their favour, that nothing less than your own misfortunes 
 can undeceive you. You will not accept of the uniform 
 experience of your ancestors; and when once a man is 
 determined to believe, the very absurdity of the doctrine 
 confirms him in his faith. A bigoted understanding can 
 draw a proof of attachment to the house of Hanover, 
 from a notorious zeal for the house of Stuart, and find 
 an earnest of future loyalty in former rebellions. Ap- 
 pearances are, however, in their favour; so strongly in- 
 deed, that one would think they had forgotton that you 
 are their lawful King, and had mistaken you for a pre- 
 tender to the Crown. Let it be admitted, then, that 
 the Scotch are as sincere in their present professions as 
 if you were in reality not an Englishman, but a Briton 
 of the North. You would not be the first prince of 
 their native country against whom they have rebelled, 
 nor the first whom they have basely betrayed. Have 
 you forgotten. Sir, or has your favourite concealed from 
 you, that part of our history, when the unhappy Charles 
 (and he too had private virtues) fled from the open, 
 avowed indignation of his English subjects, and sur- 
 rendered himself at discretion to the good faith of his 
 own countrymen? Without looking for support in their 
 affections as subjects, he applied only to their honour, 
 as gentlemen, for protection. They received him, as 
 they would your Majesty, with bows, and smiles, and 
 falsehood, and kept him, until they had settled their 
 bargain with the English Parliament; then basely sold 
 their native King to the vengeance of his enemies. This, 
 Sir, was not the act of a few traitors, but the deliberate 
 treachery of a Scotch Parliament representing the nation. 
 
PART I 41 
 
 A wise prince might draw from it two lessons of equal 
 utility to himself. On one side he might learn to dread 
 the undisguised resentment of a generous people, who 
 dare openly assert their rights, and who, in a just cause, 
 are ready to meet their Sovereign in the field. On the 
 other side, he would be taught to apprehend something 
 far more formidable — a fawning treachery against which 
 no prudence can guard, no courage can defend. The 
 insidious smile upon the cheek would warn him of the 
 canker in the heart. 
 
 " 'From the uses to which one part of the army 
 has been too frequently applied, you have some reason 
 to expect that there are no services they would refuse. 
 Here, too, we trace the partiality of your understanding. 
 You take the sense of the army from the conduct of the 
 guards, with the same justice with which you collect the 
 sense of the people from the representations of the Min- 
 istry. Your marching regiments. Sir, will not make the 
 guards their example either as soldiers or subjects; they feel 
 and resent, as they ought to do, that invariable, undistin- 
 guishing favour with which the guards are treated; 
 while those gallant troops by whom every hazardous, 
 every laborious service is performed, are left to perish 
 in garrisons abroad, or pine in quarters at home, neg- 
 lected and forgotten. If they had no sense of the great 
 original duty they owe their country, their resentment 
 would operate like patriotism, and leave your cause to 
 be defended by those to whom you have lavished the 
 rewards and honours of their profession. The Praeto- 
 rian bands, enervated and debauched as they were, had 
 still strength enough to awe the Roman populace; but 
 when the distant legions took the alarm, they marched 
 to Rome and gave away the Empire. 
 
 " 'On this side, then, which ever way you turn your 
 eyes, you see nothing but perplexity and distress. You 
 may determine to support the very Ministry who have 
 reduced your affairs to this deplorable situation — you 
 may shelter yourself under the forms of a parliament, 
 and set your people at defiance. But be assured. Sir, 
 that such a resolution would be as imprudent as it 
 would be odious. If it did not immediately shake your 
 establishment, it would rob you of your peace of mind 
 for ever. 
 
 " 'On the other, how different is the prospect! How 
 easy, how safe and honourable is the path before you! 
 
42 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 The English nation declare they are grossly injured by 
 their representatives, and solicit your Majesty to exert 
 your lawful prerogative, and give them an opportunity 
 of recalling a trust which, they find, has been scan- 
 dalously abused. You are not to be told that the power 
 of the House of Commons is not original, but delegated 
 to them for the welfare of the people from whom they 
 received it. A question of right arises between the 
 constituent and the representative body. By what 
 authority shaU it be decided? Will your Majesty inter- 
 fere in a question in which you have properly no imme- 
 diate concern? It woiild be a step equally odious and 
 unnecessary. Shall the Lords be called upon to deter- 
 mine the rights and privileges of the Commons? They 
 cannot do it without a flagrant breach of the constitu- 
 tion. Or will you refer it to the judges? They have 
 often told your ancestors that the law of Parliament is 
 above them. What part then remains but to leave 
 it to the people to determine for themselves? They 
 alone are injured, and, since there is no superior power 
 to which the cause can be referred, they alone ought to 
 determine. 
 
 " T do not mean to perplex you with a tedious 
 argument upon a subject already so discussed, that in- 
 spiration could hardly throw a new light upon it. 
 There are, however, two points of view in which it par- 
 ticularly imports your Majesty to consider the late pro- 
 ceedings of the House of Commons. By depriving a 
 subject of his birthright, they have attributed to their 
 own vote an authority equal to an act of the whole 
 legislature; and, though perhaps not with the same 
 motives, have strictly followed the example of the Long 
 Parliament, which first declared the regal office useless, 
 and soon after, with as little ceremony, dissolved the 
 House of Lords. The same pretended power which 
 robs an Enghsh subject of his birthright may rob an 
 English King of his crown. In another view, the reso- 
 lution of the House of Commons, apparently not so 
 dangerous to your Majesty, is still more alarming to 
 your people. Not contented with divesting one man of 
 his right, they have arbitrarily conveyed that right to 
 another. They have set aside a return as illegal, with- 
 out daring to censure those officers who were particu- 
 larly apprized of Mr. Wilkes's incapacity; not only by 
 the declaration of the House, but expressly by the writ 
 
PART I 43 
 
 directed to them, and who, nevertheless, returned him 
 as duly elected. They have rejected the majority of 
 votes, the only criterion by which our laws judge of the 
 sense of the people; they have transferred the right of 
 election from the collective to the representative body; 
 and, by these acts, taken separately or together, they 
 have essentially altered the original constitution of the 
 House of Commons. Versed as your Majesty undoubt- 
 edly is in the English history, it cannot easily escape 
 you how much it is your interest, as well as your duty, 
 to prevent one of the three estates from encroaching 
 upon the province of the other two, or assuming the 
 authority of them all. When once they have departed 
 from the great constitutional line by which all their pro- 
 ceedings should be directed, who will answer for their 
 future moderation? Or what assurance will they give 
 you, that when they have trampled upon your equals, 
 they will submit to a superior? Your Majesty may 
 learn hereafter how nearly the slave and tyrant are 
 allied. 
 
 " 'Some of your council, more candid than the rest, 
 admit the abandoned profligacy of the present House of 
 Commons, but oppose their dissolution upon an opinion, 
 I confess, not very unwarrantable, that their successors 
 would be equally at the disposal of the treasury. I can- 
 not persuade myself that the nation will have profited so 
 little by experience. But if that opinion were well 
 founded, you might then gratify our wishes at an easy 
 rate, and appease the present clamour against your 
 Government, without offering any material injury to the 
 favourite cause of corruption. 
 
 " 'You have still an honourable part to act. The 
 affections of your subjects may still be recovered. But 
 before you subdue their hearts you must gain a noble 
 victory over your own. Discard those little personal 
 resentments which have so long directed your public 
 conduct. Pardon this man [Wilkes] the remainder of 
 his punishment; and, if resentment still prevails, make 
 it what it should have been long since — an act, not of 
 mercy, but of contempt. He will soon fall back into 
 his natural station — a silent senator, and hardly support- 
 ing the weekly eloquence of a newspaper. The gentle 
 breath of peace would leave him on the surface neglect- 
 ed and unremoved. It is only the tempest that lifts 
 him from his place. 
 
44 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 " 'Without consulting your Minister, call together 
 your whole council. Let it appear to the public that 
 you can determine an act for yourself. Come forward 
 to your people. Lay aside the wretched formalities of 
 a King, and speak to your subjects with the spirit of a 
 man, and in the language of a gentleman. Tell them 
 you have been fatally deceived. The acknowledgment 
 will be no disgrace, but rather an honour to your under- 
 standing. Tell them you are determined to remove 
 every cause of complaint against your Government, that 
 you will give your confidence to no man who does not 
 possess the confidence of your subjects; and leave it to 
 themselves to determine, by their conduct at a future 
 election, whether or no it be in reality the general sense 
 of the nation that their rights have been arbitrarily in- 
 vaded by the present House of Commons, and the con- 
 stitution betrayed. They will then do justice to their 
 representatives and to themselves. 
 
 " 'These sentiments. Sir, and the style they are 
 conveyed in, may be offensive, perhaps, because they 
 are new to you. Accustomed to the language of court- 
 iers, you measure their affections by the vehemence of 
 their expressions; and, when they only praise you indi- 
 rectly, you admire their sincerity. But this is not a 
 time to trifle with your fortune. They deceive you. Sir, 
 who tell you that you have many friends whose affec- 
 tions are founded upon a principle of personal attach- 
 ment. The first foundation of friendship is not the pow- 
 er of conferring benefits, but the equality with which 
 they are received and may be returned. The fortune 
 which made you a King, forbade you to have a friend. 
 It is a law of nature which cannot be violated with im- 
 punity. The mistaken prince who looks for friendship, 
 will find a favourite, and in that favourite, the ruin of 
 his affairs. 
 
 " 'The people of England are loyal to the house of 
 Hanover, not from a vain preference of one family to 
 another, but from a conviction that the establishment 
 of that family was necessary to the support of their 
 civil and religious liberties. This, Sir, is a principle of 
 allegiance equally solid and rational; fit for English- 
 men to adopt, and well worthy of your Majesty's en- 
 couragement. We cannot long be deluded by nominal 
 distinctions. The name of Stuart, of itself, is only con- 
 temptible; armed with the sovereign authority, their 
 
PART I 45 
 
 principles are formidable. The prince who imitates 
 their conduct, should be warned by their example; and, 
 while he plumes himself upon the security of his title 
 to the crown, should remember that, as it was acquired 
 by one revolution, it may be lost by another.' 
 
 JUNIUS." 
 
 The foregoing is a very powerful criticism of the Govern- 
 ment. It was on account of the publication of this letter 
 by Mr. Woodfall, that he was prosecuted by the Govern- 
 ment, arrested and confined for some time in the Tower of 
 London. 
 
 The Duke of Grafton was removed as Prime Minister, 
 on the 2Sth of January, 1770, and Lord North was appointed 
 by the King to succeed him. A new Ministry was formed 
 by him of persons who were in harmony with him and the 
 King. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Government was doing all in its power 
 to find out who was the author of the Junius Letters, in order 
 to arrest him, enter a prosecution against him, and punish 
 him to the full extent of the law. 
 
 The King, the Ministry and the Parliament were tremb- 
 ling under his severe strictures, and the people were restless 
 and discontented because of the mismanagement of the Gov- 
 ernment, which was then in a deplorable condition. The 
 most violent speeches were made in Parliament by Edmund 
 Burke, Lord North and others, against the author of those 
 remarkable Letters. I will quote a part of the speech of 
 Mr. Burke, in order that the reader may see the temper of 
 Parliament against the mysterious Junius; but all that was 
 done and said on the subject, did not result in the discovery 
 of this vexatious writer. 
 
 Directing his remarks to Lord North, then Prime Min- 
 ister, Edmund Burke, the acknowledged leader of the Eng- 
 lish Parliament, has this to say of Junius and his Letters, 
 which were appearing in the "Public Advertiser": "How 
 comes this Junius to have broke through the cobwebs of the 
 law, and to range uncontrolled, unpunished through the 
 land? The myrmidons of the court have been long, and are 
 
46 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 still, pursuing him in vain .... But what will all 
 their efforts avail? .... No sooner has he wounded 
 one than he lays down another dead at his feet. For my 
 part, when I saw his attack upon the King, I own my blood 
 ran cold. I thought he had ventured too far, and there was 
 an end of his triumphs, not that he had not asserted many 
 truths — yes, sir, there are in that composition many bold 
 truths, by which a wise prince might profit. It was the ran- 
 cour and venom with which I was struck .... But 
 while I expected, in his daring flight, his final ruin and folly, 
 behold him rising still higher, and coming down souse upon 
 both Houses of Parliament. Yes, he did make you his 
 quarry, and you still bleed from the wounds of his talons. 
 You crouched, and still crouch, beneath his rage. Nor has 
 he dreaded the terrors of your brow. Sir, he has attacked 
 even you — he has — and I believe you have no reason to tri- 
 umph in the encounter. In short, after carrying away our 
 Royal Eagle in his pounces, and dashing -him against a rock, 
 he has laid you prostrate — Kings, Lords, and Commons, are 
 but the sport of his fury." 
 
 Shortly thereafter a very malignant prosecution was 
 commenced by the Government against Mr. Woodfall, as 
 the editor and proprietor of the "Public Advertiser," for 
 publishing The Letter to the King, to which I have already 
 alluded. The case was heard before Lord Chief Justice 
 Mansfield, the Law Minister of the Crown, in the Court of 
 King's Bench, at Guildhall; and, although he used all of his 
 personal influence, and all the bias of his nature, in attempt- 
 ing to secure a verdict from the jury in favor of the Govern- 
 ment, yet, very much to his chagrin, they brought in a 
 verdict of "Guilty of Printing and Publishing only," which 
 amounted almost to an acquittal. 
 
 Several motions were made by the Government to have 
 the verdict amended, and entered up as a conviction against 
 the defendant, but it was so very plain as to what the jury 
 intended, that Lord Mansfield could not, with any propriety 
 or self-respect, rule in favor of the motions to amend the 
 verdict. Finally the prosecution was dropped. In the mean- 
 
PART I 47 
 
 time, Mr. Woodfall was under arrest, and imprisoned in the 
 Tower, which caused him great mental anguish, inconveni- 
 ence and mortification during this trying ordeal, and he was 
 put to heavy expense in making his defense to this wicked 
 prosecution. But Junius stood firmly by him through all 
 his troubles, aiding him liberally with money and advice; 
 and all the while he was pouring volley after volley of "hot 
 shot" into Lord Mansfield, the trial Judge, in his most pow- 
 erful invectives, through the "Public Advertiser." He took 
 up the conduct of the Court in all of its phases, exposing his 
 one-sided charges to the jury in favor of the Government, 
 showing his over- weening desire to convict the defendant. 
 Vide Vol. I, page 305, and page 471, "Junius by Woodfall," 
 to which the reader is referred, as it would take up too 
 much space to insert them here. 
 
 Afterwards, Junius revised, corrected and compiled his 
 political letters, with several others, and presented the copy- 
 right of the same to Mr. Woodfall, as he said, to somewhat 
 compensate him for his sufferings and expenses incident to 
 the wicked prosecution which the Government projected 
 against him for publishing the "Letter to the King." No 
 doubt this proceeding against Mr. Woodfall had a two-fold 
 purpose. First, to punish him severely, and second, to find 
 out, if possible, from him, who was the author of the Junius 
 Letters, so that he could be arrested, and likewise, be sorely 
 punished. But they made a signal failure in both; they did 
 not succeed in compelling Mr. Woodfall to disclose the au- 
 thor's name, probably because he did not really know it, 
 then. It was a very generous act on the part of Junius to 
 give Mr. Woodfall the copyright to his Letters, as it doubt- 
 less enabled him to realize quite a little fortune from their 
 publication. History says the book was sold in almost every 
 portion of the civilized world. — Vol. I, p. 80 of Woodfall's 
 Junius. 
 
 This was in keeping with the course which Junius always 
 pursued in relation to all of his writings, even in his after 
 life, to which I shall refer later on in this volume. He said 
 that he did not write for profit, but for the cause and the 
 
48 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 people. Had he written for the emoluments which would 
 have accrued to him, he could doubtless have amassed a 
 large fortune from the publication and sale of his works. 
 
 The appointment of Lord North to the head of the 
 Ministry was a great disappointment to Junius, and to the 
 entire Whig party. He and they hoped and expected that 
 Lord Chatham, their boasted leader, would get the appoint- 
 ment, and that the Ministry would be composed prin- 
 cipally of men belonging to their party, of known ability 
 and integrity, which would have greatly improved the 
 condition of affairs in the Government, and would have 
 pacified the people. But he was not disheartened in the 
 turn which things had taken. He stunmoned his best efforts 
 to keep up the fight, and win over the King to their aid, in 
 which he enlisted the Whig party to his support. 
 
 He vigorously kept up his correspondence in the "Pub- 
 lic Advertiser," first attacking one, and then another of the 
 Ministry of Lord North with his brilliant invectives, keeping 
 them continually in a state of unrest and political excite- 
 ment, hoping finally to improve the personality of the Min- 
 istry, and thereby help to relieve the condition of the people, 
 whose welfare was always topmost with him. It is a well- 
 known historical fact that he never sought any preferment 
 for himself. He never seemed to have coveted wealth or 
 position. He was always for the ''cause" and "the people." 
 On the fourteenth day of February, 1770, he wrote another 
 very severe letter to the Duke of Grafton, who had recently 
 been dismissed by the King from the head of the Ministry, 
 seemingly to remind him, and the public of his former mis- 
 deeds, a copy of which letter is here inserted: 
 
 LETTER XXXVI 
 
 TO HIS GRACE, THE DUKE OF GRAFTON 
 
 February 14, 1770 
 "My Lord: 
 
 If I were personally your enemy, I might pity and 
 forgive you. You have every claim to compassion that 
 can arise from misery and distress. The condition you 
 
PART I 49 
 
 are reduced to would disarm a private enemy of his 
 resentment, and leave no consolation to the most vin- 
 dictive spirit, but that such an object as you are would 
 disgrace the dignity of revenge. But in the relation you 
 have borne to this country, you have no title to indul- 
 gence; and if I had followed the dictates of my own 
 opinion, I never should have allowed you the respite of 
 a moment. In your pubHc character you have injured 
 every subject of the Enpire; and though an individual 
 is not authorized to forgive the injuries done to society, 
 he is called upon to assert his separate share in the pub- 
 lic resentment. I submitted, however, to the judgment 
 of men more moderate, perhaps more candid, than my- 
 self. For my own part, I do not pretend to understand 
 those prudent forms of decorum, those gentle rules of 
 discretion which some men endeavor to unite with the 
 conduct of the greatest and most hazardous affairs. 
 Engaged in the defense of an honourable cause, I would 
 take a decisive part, I should scorn to provide for a 
 future retreat, or to keep terms with a man who pre- 
 serves no measures with the public. Neither the abject 
 submission of deserting his post in the hour of danger, 
 nor even the sacred shield of cowardice should protect 
 him. I would pursue him through life, and try the last 
 exertion of my abilities to preserve the perishable in- 
 famy of his name, and make it immortal. 
 
 "What then, my Lord, is the event of all the sacri- 
 fices you have made to Lord Bute's patronage and to 
 your own unfortunate ambition? Was it for this you 
 abandoned your earliest friendships — the warmest con- 
 nections of your youth, and all those honourable engage- 
 ments by which you once solicited, and might have ac- 
 quired, the esteem of your country? Have you secured 
 no recompense for such a waste of honour? Unhappy 
 man! What party will receive the common deserter of all 
 parties? Without a client to flatter, without a friend to 
 console you, and with only one companion from the 
 honest house of Bloomsbury, you must now retire into a 
 dreadful solitude. At the most active period of life 
 you must quit the busy scene and conceal yourself from 
 the world if you would hope to save the wretched re- 
 mains of a ruined reputation. The vices operate like 
 age — bring on disease before its time, and in the prime 
 of youth leave the character broken and exhausted. 
 
50 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 "Yet your conduct has been mysterious as well as 
 contemptible. Where is now that firmness or obstinacy 
 so long boasted of by your friends and acknowledged by 
 your enemies? We were taught to expect that you 
 woiild not leave the ruin of this country to be completed 
 by other hands, but were determined either to gain a 
 decisive victory over the constitution, or to perish brave- 
 ly at least behind the last dyke of the prerogative. You 
 knew the danger and might have been provided for it. 
 You took sufficient time to prepare for a meeting with 
 your Parliament to coniirm the mercenary fidelity of 
 your dependants, and to suggest to your Sovereign a 
 language suited to his dignity, at least, if not to his 
 benevolence and wisdom. Yet, while the whole kingdom 
 was agitated with anxious expectation upon one great 
 point, you meanly evaded the question, and instead of 
 the explicit firmness and decision of a king, gave us 
 nothing but the misery of a ruined grazier, and the 
 whining piety of a Methodist. We had reason to expect 
 that notice would have been taken of the petitions which 
 the King has received from the English nation; and al- 
 though I can conceive some personal motives for not 
 yielding to them, I can find none, in common prudence 
 or decency, for treating them with contempt. Be as- 
 sured, my Lord, the English people will not tamely sub- 
 mit to this unworthy treatment; they had a right to be 
 heard; and their petitions, if not granted, deserved to be 
 considered. Whatever be the real views and doctrine 
 of a court, the Sovereign should be taught to preserve 
 some forms of attention to his subjects, and if he will 
 not redress their grievances, not to make them a topic 
 of jest and mockery among lords and ladies of the bed- 
 chamber. Injuries may be atoned for and forgiven; but 
 insults admit of no compensation. They degrade the 
 mind in its own esteem, and force it to recover its level 
 by revenge. This neglect of the petitions was, however, 
 a part of your original plan of government, nor will any 
 consequences it has produced account for your deserting 
 your Sovereign in the midst of that distress in which you 
 and your new friends had involved him. One would 
 think, my Lord, you might have taken this spirited reso- 
 lution before you had dissolved the last of those early 
 connections which once, even in your own opinion, did 
 honour to your youth; before you had obliged Lord 
 Granby to quit a service he was attached to; before you 
 
PART I 51 
 
 had discarded one chancellor and killed another. To 
 what an abject condition have you laboured to reduce 
 the best of princes, when the unhappy man who yields 
 at last to such personal instance and solicitation as never 
 can be fairly employed against a subject feels himself 
 degraded by his compliance, and is unable to survive 
 the disgraceful honours which his gracious Sovereign had 
 compelled him to accept! He was a man of spirit, for 
 he had a quick sense of shame, and death has redeemed 
 his character. I know your Grace too well to appeal to 
 your feeHngs upon this event ; but there is another heart, 
 not yet, I hope, quite callous to the touch of humanity, 
 to which it ought to be a dreadful lesson for ever. 
 
 Now, my Lord, let us consider the situation to 
 which you have conducted, and in which you have 
 thought it advisable to abandon, your royal master. 
 Whenever the people have complained and nothing bet- 
 ter could be said in defence of the measures of govern- 
 ment, it has been the fashion to answer us, though not 
 very fairly, with an appeal to the private virtues of our 
 Sovereign. "Has he not, to relieve the people, surrend- 
 ered a considerable part of his revenue? Has he not 
 made the judges independent by fixing them in their 
 places for life?" My Lord, we acknowledge the gra- 
 cious principle which gave birth to these concessions, 
 and have nothing to regret but that it has never been ad- 
 hered to. At the end of seven years, we are loaded 
 with a debt of above five hundred thousand pounds upon 
 the civil list, and we now see the Chancellor of Great 
 Britain tyrannically forced out of his office, not for want 
 of abilities, not for want of integrity, or of attention to 
 his duty, but for delivering his honest opinion in Parlia- 
 ment upon the greatest constitutional question that has 
 arisen since the revolution. We care not to whose pri- 
 vate virtues you appeal; the theory of such a Govern- 
 ment is falsehood and mockery; the practice is oppression. 
 You have laboured then (though I confess to no pur- 
 pose) to rob your master of the only plausible answer 
 that ever was given in defence of his Government, — of 
 the opinion which the people had conceived of his per- 
 sonal honour and integrity. The Duke of Bedford was 
 more moderate than your Grace. He only forced his 
 master to violate a solemn promise made to an individ- 
 ual. But you, my Lord, have successfully extended 
 your advice to every political, every moral engagement. 
 
52 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 that could bind either the magistrate or the man. The 
 condition of a King is often miserable, but it required 
 your Grace's abilities to make it contemptible. 
 
 "You will say perhaps that the faithful servants in 
 whose hands you have left him are able to retrieve his 
 honour, and to support his Government. You have 
 publicly declared, even since your resignation, that you 
 approved of their measures and admired their charac- 
 ters, particularly that of the Earl of Sandwich. What a 
 pity it is, that with all this approbation, -you should 
 think it necessary to separate yourself from such amia- 
 ble companions! You forget, my Lord, that while you 
 are lavish in the praise of men whom you desert, you 
 are publicly opposing your conduct to your opinions, 
 and depriving yourself of the only plausible pretence you 
 had for leaving your sovereign overwhelmed with distress. 
 I call it plausible, for, in truth, there is no reason what- 
 soever less than the frowns of your master that could 
 justify a man of spirit for abandoning his post at a 
 moment so critical and important. It is in vain to 
 evade the question. If you will not speak out, the pub- 
 lic have a right to judge from appearances. We are 
 authorized to conclude that you either differed from 
 your colleagues whose measures you still affect to de- 
 fend, or that you thought the administration of the 
 King's affairs no longer tenable. You are at liberty to 
 choose between the hypocrite and the coward. Your 
 best friends are in doubt which way they shall incline. 
 Your country unites the characters, and gives you credit 
 for them both. For my own part I see nothing incon- 
 sistent in your conduct. You began with betraying the 
 people — you conclude with betraying the King. 
 
 "In your treatment of particular persons you have 
 preserved the uniformity of your character. Even Mr. 
 Bradshaw declares that no man was ever so ill used as 
 himself. As to the provision you have made for his 
 family, he was entitled to it by the house he lives in. 
 The successor of one Chancellor might well pretend to 
 be the rival of another. It is the breach of private 
 friendship which touches Mr. Bradshaw; and to say the 
 truth, when a man of his rank and abilities has taken 
 so active a part in your affairs, he ought not to have 
 been let down at last with a miserable pension of fifteen 
 hundred pounds a year. Colonel Luttrell, Mr. Onslow, 
 and Governor Burgoyne, were equally engaged with you, 
 
PART I 63 
 
 and have rather more reason to complain than Mr. 
 Bradshaw. These are men, my Lord, whose friendship 
 you should have adhered to, on the same principle on 
 which you deserted Lord Rockingham, Lord Chatham, 
 Lord Camden, and the Duke of Portland. We can 
 easily account for your violating your engagements with 
 men of honour, but why should you betray your natural 
 connections? Why separate yourself from Lord Sand- 
 wich, Lord Gower, and Mr. Rigby, or leave the three 
 worthy gentlemen above-mentioned to shift for them- 
 selves? With all the fashionable indulgence of the times, 
 this country does not abound in characters like theirs; 
 and you may find it a difficult matter to recruit the 
 black catalogue of your friends. 
 
 'The recollection of the royal patent you sold to 
 Mr. Hine, obliges me to say a word in defense of a man 
 whom you have taken the most dishonourable means to 
 injure. I do not refer to the sham prosecution which 
 you affected to carry on against him. On that ground 
 I doubt not he is prepared to meet you with ten-fold 
 recrimination, and set you at defiance. The injury you 
 have done him affects his moral character. You knew 
 that the offer to purchase the reversion of a place which 
 has heretofore been sold under a decree of the Court of 
 Chancery, however imprudent in his situation, would in 
 no way tend to cover him with that sort of guilt which 
 you wished to fix upon him in the eyes of the world. 
 You laboured, then, by every species of false suggestion, 
 and even by publishing counterfeit letters, to have it 
 understood that he had proposed terms of accommoda- 
 tion to you, and had offered to abandon his principles, 
 his party, and his friends. You consulted your own 
 breast for a character of consummate treachery, and 
 gave it to the public for that of Mr. Vaughan. I think 
 myself obliged to do this justice to an injured man, be- 
 cause I was deceived by the appearances thrown out by 
 your Grace, and have frequently spoken of his conduct 
 with indignation. If he really be what I think him, 
 honest, though mistaken, he will be happy in recovering 
 his reputation, though at the expense of his understand- 
 ing. Here, I see, the matter is likely to rest. Your 
 Grace is afraid to carry on the prosecution. Mr. Hine 
 keeps quiet possession of his purchase; and Governor 
 Burgoyne, relieved from the apprehension of refunding 
 the money, sits down for the remainder of his life in- 
 famous and contented. 
 
64 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 "I believe, my Lord, I may now take my leave of 
 you forever. You are no longer that resolute Minister 
 who had spirit to support the most violent measures — 
 who compensated for the want of great and good qual- 
 ities by a brave determination (which some people ad- 
 mired and relied on) to maintain himself without them. 
 The reputation of obstinacy and perseverance might 
 have supplied the place of all the absent virtues. You 
 have now added the last negative to your character, 
 and meanly confessed that you are destitute of the 
 common spirit of a man. 
 
 "Retire then, my Lord, and hide your blushes 
 from the world; for with such a load of shame, even 
 black may change its color. A mind such as yoiirs, in 
 the solitary hours of domestic enjoyment, may still find 
 topics of consolation. You may find it in the memory 
 of violated friendship; in the afflictions of an accom- 
 plished prince whom you have disgraced and deserted, 
 and in the agitation of a great country driven by your 
 coimsels to the brink of destruction. 
 
 "The palm of ministerial firmness is now transferred 
 to Lord North. He tells us so himself with the pleni- 
 tude of the ore rotundo; and I am ready enough to be- 
 lieve that, while he can keep his place, he will not 
 easily be persuaded to resign it. Your Grace was the 
 firm Minister of yesterday; Lord North is the firm Min- 
 ister of to-day. To-morrow, perhaps, his Majesty in his 
 wisdom may give us a rival for you both. You are too 
 well acquainted with the temper of your late allies to 
 think it possible that Lord North should be permitted 
 to govern this country. If we may believe common 
 fame, they have shown him their superiority already. 
 His Majesty is indeed too gracious to insult his subjects, 
 by choosing his first Minister from among the domestics 
 of the Duke of Bedford. That would have been too 
 gross an outrage to the three kingdoms. Their purpose 
 however, is equally answered by pushing forward this 
 unhappy figure, and forcing it to bear the odium of 
 measures which they in reality direct. Without immedi- 
 ately appearing to govern, they possess the power and 
 distribute the emoliunents of government as they think 
 proper. They still adhere to the spirit of that calcula- 
 tion which made Mr. Luttrell representative of Mid- 
 dlesex. Far from regretting your retreat, they assure 
 us very gravely that it increases the real strength of the 
 
PART I 66 
 
 Ministry. According to this way of reasoning they will 
 probably grow stronger and more flourishing every hour 
 they exist; for I think there is hardly a day passes in 
 which some one or other of his Majesty's servants does 
 not leave them to improve by the loss of his assistance. 
 But, alas! their countenances speak a different language. 
 When :he members drop off, the main body cannot be 
 insensible of its approaching dissolution. Even the 
 violence of their proceedings is a signal of despair. Like 
 broker tenants, who have had warning to quit the 
 premiss, they curse their landlords, destroy the fixtures, 
 throw everything into confusion, and care not what mis- 
 chief tiey do to the estate. 
 
 JUNIUS." 
 
 Junus and the Whig Party finally succeeded in remov- 
 ing the Tvorst element of the Ministry, and in the dissolution 
 of Parliament, which was reformed by placing a better and 
 more ccmpetent membership in their stead, and even the 
 King became much more conservative than he formerly had 
 been. All of these changes ameliorated the condition of 
 thiigs, considerably, and restored peace and harmony among 
 the people of England, as well as tranquillity to the American 
 Colonies; all of whom had become worn out under the opera- 
 tJDn of a very bad system of government. However, Junius 
 aid the Whig Party were not entirely satisfied with even 
 tiis condition of affairs, but sought to make other reforms, 
 1>y improving the personnel of the Ministry, as well as the 
 Parliament. 
 
 History informs us that the condition of the Govern- 
 ment had been so very much improved, that the people and 
 their leaders had become reconciled by the improvement, and 
 longed for tranquillity; therefore, they seemed to be willing 
 to give up any further contention with the Government; and 
 the Whig Party became lukewarm. However, Junius was 
 disposed not to give up the fight, especially against Lord 
 Mansfield, who was still in the Ministry, for reasons hereto- 
 fore mentioned. He also paid his respects to Lord Hawke, 
 Secretary of the King's Navy, ironically saying, among other 
 things: "No expense should be spared to secure to him an 
 
JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 honourable and affluent retreat from office." Soon afterward, 
 the Secretary resigned. He also made some very severe at- 
 tacks on Lord Barrington, Secretary of War. In Private 
 Letters, No. 61, Vol. II, he says: "Next to the Duke of 
 Grafton, I verily believe that the blackest heart in the king- 
 dom belongs to Lord Barrington." 
 
 It may be of interest to the reader to learn from whom 
 Junius took his name. From all I can learn, it is more than 
 probable that he took it from Lucius Junius Brutus, an emi- 
 nent republican in Rome, who expelled the vile farquins 
 from that city and country, on account of the foul indignity 
 offered by Sextus Tarquinius to the helpless Lucretia, as 
 well as for the other outrageous atrocities committed by 
 them. He was also the founder of the Roman RepuMic. It 
 is generally conceded that Junius was the author o: a few 
 other letters, under the names "Lucius" and "Atticus," and 
 probably one under the name of "Brutus," before he com- 
 menced the Junius Letters. The name "Atticus" was prob- 
 ably taken from Atticus T. Pomponius, a highly educated 
 Roman patrician, who was an intimate friend of Cicero aid 
 others of the notable men of Rome. 
 
 The foregoing letters are very similar, and I may say 
 almost identical in style, sentiment and doctrines with the 
 Junius Letters. Possibly my readers would be interested to 
 know the way in which Junius succeeded in concealing him- 
 self from discovery as the author of the Letters. I will re- 
 cite some of them: In his Letter No. 5, to Mr. Woodfall, he 
 says: "Whenever you have anything to communicate to me, 
 let the hint be thus: 'C at the same place, and direct to 
 Mr. John Fretley [an assimied name], at the same Coffee 
 House, where it is impossible I should be known.' " 
 
 In his tenth letter to Mr. Woodfall, he says: "As to 
 me, be assured that it is not in the nature of things that 
 they [the Cavendishes] or you, or anybody else should know 
 me, unless I make myself known. All arts or inquiries 
 would be equally ineffectual." 
 
 In his thirtieth letter to Mr. Woodfall, he writes about 
 the celebrated actor, David Garrick, trying to find him out, 
 
PART I 57 
 
 and scores him very severely for his impertinence. He says 
 to Mr. Woodfall: "I must be more cautious than ever: I 
 am sure I should not survive a discovery three days, or if 
 I did, they would attaint me by bill." "Change to Somer- 
 set Coffee House, and let no mortal know the alteration. I 
 am persuaded you are too honest a man to contribute, in 
 any way, to my destruction. Act honourably by me, and at 
 the proper time you shall know me." 
 
 He takes many other precautions to conceal his identity. 
 He sent most of his letters by Penny Post, at other times 
 by a chairman, or some obscure person. Occasionally he 
 disguised himself and secretly delivered his letters to the of- 
 fice of Mr. Woodfall. 
 
 Mr. Woodfall generally addressed Ms letters to Junius, 
 under the name of Mr. John Fretley, or Mr. WilHam Middle- 
 ton. In these different ways, Junius managed to conceal his 
 personality from everybody; and, in my opinion, from all 
 that I have read on the subject, no one ever found him out, 
 except possibly Mr. Woodfall, his publisher, as it seems to 
 me that it was almost impossible for him to have carried on 
 their voluminous correspondence without being known to 
 each other. Besides, as above stated, Junius told Mr. Wood- 
 fall that if he acted honorably by him he should know him 
 at the proper time. 
 
 It is likely that Junius gave him a mere hint from which 
 Mr. Woodfall made out his identity. Mr. Woodfall is said 
 to have been a scrupulously honorable man, and would never 
 have betrayed the confidence which Junius may have reposed 
 in him. 
 
 The reader may be curious to know how and where 
 Junius procured such quick and accurate information on all 
 that transpired in connection with the Government. At 
 that time, there were two distinct parties in England: The 
 Royalist Party and the Whig Party. The latter was headed 
 by Lord Chatham, who was, perhaps the ablest statesman 
 in the kingdom. Lords Temple, Rockingham and Camden, 
 and John Calcraft, a member of the House of Commons, 
 with many other lesser lights, also belonged to the Whig 
 
58 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 Party, all of whom were in positions, in the Ministry or 
 Parliament, which enabled them to be perfectly and quickly 
 informed as to what was going on in every department of the 
 Government. Mr. Woodfall, the proprietor of the "PubHc 
 Advertiser," was the publisher of current events of the day, 
 which appertained to the welfare of the Whig Party, and 
 Junius was its mouthpiece. Junius was always on the alert 
 to find out all that transpired with the King, the Ministry 
 and Parliament, and Mr. Woodfall was eager to accumulate 
 all the news he could, much of which he received from those 
 leaders of the Whig Party, which in turn he secretly and 
 clandestinely imparted to Junius, to be by him, put in 
 proper shape for publication in the "Public Advertiser." 
 Mr. Calcraft was a prolific source, from whom much of this 
 information proceeded. He was a warm friend of Lord 
 Holland, who belonged to the Ministry, and stood close to 
 the King, which enabled him to keep well posted on what 
 transpired in that quarter, which no doubt, he conveyed to 
 Mr. Calcraft, and this may account for Junius being a little 
 partial to Lord Holland. 
 
 Inasmuch as I have copied and cited many of his letters, 
 of the highest merit for scholarship as well as statesmanship, 
 it may not be amiss in me to give to the reader my impres- 
 sions and opinion of the characteristics of Junius and his 
 very remarkable Letters, which have excited so much inter- 
 est in the literary world. 
 
 I wish all my readers were as familiar with these as I 
 am, in order that they might more fully appreciate their 
 merits, for the good which they have accomplished over the 
 civilized world, and especially in America, which I will more 
 fully explain in the succeeding part of this book. I think I 
 can say without the fear of successful contradiction, that 
 the Letters of Junius are the greatest literary productions of 
 which we have any knowledge, and I believe that the ablest 
 of critics fully coincide with me in this opinion. 
 
 The remarkable ease and fluency with which his letters 
 are written; the choice selection of his words, and the facil- 
 ity with which he arranged them in his sentences; the concise 
 
PART I 59 
 
 statement of his facts, and the admirable harmony of the 
 whole: all clearly demonstrate his complete mastery of the 
 EngHsh language. His style is epigrammatic, very polished, 
 and easily comprehended. His periods are well rounded and 
 complete. His sentences are mostly of uniform length, giving 
 them a certain harmony and rhythm, which is very pleasing 
 to the ear. His facts are concisely grouped together, and 
 carry conviction to the mind of the reader. His arguments 
 are logical and overwhelming in their force against his adver- 
 sary. His antitheses, which are frequent, are highly demon- 
 strative of the ideas which he undertakes to convey. His 
 comparisons are lucid, and seldom fail to accomplish his aim. 
 His syllogisms are perfectly formed, and usually carry con- 
 viction with them. His sarcasm and criticisms are caustic 
 in the extreme, and his victim keenly feels their lacerating 
 effect. His irony, in which his Letters abound, is bitter and 
 severe. His ridicule is overpowering to his adversary. His 
 metaphors are brilliant, one of which I will here insert: 
 "Private credit is wealth, public honor is security. The 
 feather which adorns the royal bird, supports its flight. 
 Strip him of his pltmiage, and you fix him to the earth." 
 This is an elegant and true expression. 
 
 His interrogations, in which he delights, are very pointed 
 and generally bring the person interrogated to his knees. 
 His innuendoes always force a blush to the cheek of his vic- 
 tim. Altogether, when he makes a charge or an assertion, 
 he has the facts to sustain him. His writings all indicate 
 that he was a man of fine education; thoroughly acquainted 
 with ancient and modem history, and perfectly familiar 
 with the ancient classics. He was a fearless, aggressive and 
 courageous writer, always ready to defend his ideas and doc- 
 trines to the last extremity. 
 
 He was evidently bom and reared as one of the people, 
 was in thorough sjmipathy with them, and had no affiliation 
 whatever with the aristocracy. He was a pronounced re- 
 publican in his ideas about Government, and despised a 
 monarchy in all of its departments. There is absolutely no 
 
60 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 levity in his writings; he is always dignified, reserved and 
 rather sedate. 
 
 While on this branch of my subject, I will state what 
 others thought of this wonderful literary prodigy and his re- 
 markable Letters. 
 
 Dr. John Mason Good, a very clever and elaborate 
 critic, has written a very exhaustive commentary on the sub- 
 ject, of about ninety pages, which shows great research and 
 mental labor, which he calls the '^Preliminary Essay on 
 Junius and His Writings ^ It will be found in the front 
 part of Vol. I of Bohn's Standard Library, entitled "Wood- 
 fall's Junius," and is well worth the reading of any one; por- 
 tions of which I will copy for the edification and entertain- 
 ment of my readers: 
 
 Dr. John Mason Good, in his "Preliminary Essay on 
 Junius and His Writings," says: 
 
 "It was not from personal vanity, but a fair estimate of 
 his own merit, and the importance of the subject on which 
 he wrote, that the author of the ensuing letters predicted 
 their immortality. Their matter and their manner, the 
 times they describe, and the talents they disclose, the popu- 
 larity which attended them at their outset, the impression 
 they produced on the public mind, and the triimiph of most 
 of the doctrines they inculcate, all equally concur in stamp- 
 ing for them a passport to the most distant posterity." 
 
 "A series of unsuccessful ministries, often profligate and 
 corrupt, and not infrequently cunning, rather than capable; 
 a succession of weak and obsequious parliaments, and an 
 arbitrary, though able Chief Justice, addicted to the impolitic 
 measures of the Cabinet, fatally concurred to confound 
 the relative powers of the State, and equally to unhinge the 
 happiness of the Crown and of the people; to frustrate all 
 the proud and boasted triimiphs of a glorious war, concluded 
 but a few years before by an inglorious peace; to excite uni- 
 versal contempt abroad, and universal discord at home. 
 
PART I 61 
 
 Hence France, humiliated as she was by her losses and de- 
 feats, did not hesitate to invade Corsica in open defiance 
 of the remonstrances of the British Minister, and succeeded 
 in obtaining possession of it; whilst Spain dishonourably re- 
 fused to make good the ransom she had agreed to, for the 
 restoration of the capital of the Phillipine Isles, which had 
 been exempted from pillage upon this express stipulation. 
 They saw the weakness and distraction of the English Cabinet, 
 and had no reason to dread the chastisement of a new war. 
 
 "The discontents in the American Colonies, which a lit- 
 tle address might at first have stifled, were blown into a 
 flame of open rebellion, through the impolitic violence of the 
 very Minister who was appointed, by the creation of a new 
 office at this very time, and for this express purpose, to ex- 
 amine into the causes of dissatisfaction, and to redress the 
 grievances complained of; while, at home, the whole of the 
 ways and means of the Ministry, instead of being directed 
 against the arrogance of the common enemy, were exhausted 
 against an individual" [John Wilkes]. 
 
 "It was at this period, and under these circumstances, 
 that the Junius Letters successively made their appearance 
 in the "Public Advertiser," the most current newspaper of 
 the day. The classic purity of their language, the exquisite 
 force and perspicuity of their argument, the keen severity 
 of their reproach, the extensive information they evince, 
 their fearless and decisive tone, and, above all, their stem 
 and steady attachment to the purest principles of the con- 
 stitution, acquired for them, with an almost electric speed, a 
 popularity which no series of letters have since possessed, 
 nor, perhaps, ever will; and what is of far greater conse- 
 quence, diffused among the body of the people a clearer 
 knowledge of their constitutional rights than they had ever 
 before attained, and animated them with a more determined 
 spirit to maintain them inx-iolate. Enveloped in the cloud 
 of a fictitious name, the writer of these philippics, unseen 
 himself, beheld with secret satisfaction the vast influence of 
 
62 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 his labours, and enjoyed, though, as we shall afterwards ob- 
 serve, not always without apprehension, the universal hunt 
 that was made to detect him in his disgmse. He beheld 
 the people extolling him, the Court execrating him, the Min- 
 isters and more than ministers trembling beneath the lash of 
 his invisible hand." 
 
 "While the editor of the present impression does not 
 undertake, and, in fact, has it not in his power to communi- 
 cate the real name of Junius, he pledges himself to prove, 
 from incontrovertible evidence, afforded by the private let- 
 ters of Junius himself during the period in question, in con- 
 nection with other documents, that not one of these pretenders 
 has ever had the smallest right to the distinction which some of 
 them have ardently coveted.^' 
 
 I think that Dr. Good has fulfilled the above pledge. 
 The Doctor further says: "That he was not only a man of 
 highly cultivated general talents and education, but who 
 had critically and successfully studied the language, the law, 
 the constitution and history of his native country, is indubit- 
 able. Yet this is not all; the proofs are just as clear that 
 he was also a man of independent fortune, that he had 
 moved in the immediate circle of the Court, and was inti- 
 mately acquainted, from its first conception, with almost 
 every public measure, every ministerial intrigue, every domes- 
 tic incident. 
 
 "That he was a man of easy, if not affluent circum- 
 stances, is unquestionable from the fact that he never could 
 be induced in any way or shape to receive any acknowledg- 
 ment from the proprietor of the "Public Advertiser," for the 
 great benefit and popularity he conferred on this paper by 
 his writings, and to which he was fairly entitled. When the 
 first genuine edition of his letters was on the point of publi- 
 cation, Mr. Woodfall again urged him either to accept half 
 its profits, or to point out some public charity or other insti- 
 tution to which an equal sum might be presented. His re- 
 ply to this request is contained in a paragraph of one of his 
 
PART I 63 
 
 Private Letters, No. 59, and confers credit on both the par- 
 ties: 'What you say about the profits is very handsome. 
 I Hke to deal with such men. As for myself, be assured 
 that / am far above all pecuniary views, and no other person 
 I think has any claim to share with you. Make the best of 
 it therefore, and let all your views in life be directed to a 
 solid, however moderate independence; without it no man 
 can be happy, nor even honest.' " 
 
 Of Junius's style Dr. Good has this to say: "The dis- 
 tinguishing features of his style are ardour, spirit, perspi- 
 cuity, classical correctness, sententious, epigrammatic com- 
 pression, his characteristic ornaments, keen, indignant invec- 
 tive, audacious interrogation, shrewd, severe, antithetic retort, 
 proud, presumptuous disdain of the powers of his adversary, 
 pointed and appropriate allusions, that can never be mis- 
 taken. Similes, introduced, not for the purpose of decora- 
 tion, but of illustration and energy; brilliant, burning, admira- 
 bly selected and irresistible in their application." 
 
 "To pursue this critique further would be to disparage 
 the judgment of the reader. Upon the whole, these letters, 
 whether considered as classical and correct compositions, or 
 as addresses of popular and impressive eloquence, are well 
 entitled to the distinction they have acquired; and quoted, 
 as they have been, with admiration in the senate, by such 
 nice judges and accomplished scholars as Mr. Burke and 
 Lord Eldon, eulogized by Dr. Johnson, and admitted by the 
 author of the 'Pursuits of Literature' to the same rank 
 among English classics as Livy or Tacitus among Roman, 
 there can be no doubt that they will live commensurately 
 with the language in which they are composed." 
 
 "From the observations contained in this esssay, it 
 should seem to follow unquestionably that the author of the 
 Letters of Junius was an Englishman of highly cultivated 
 
64 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 education, deeply versed in the language, the laws, the con- 
 stitution and history of his native country; that he was a 
 man of easy, if not affluent circumstances, of unsullied hon- 
 our and generosity." 
 
 The editor of "Junius by Woodfall" says: "Dr. Good, 
 in the above elaborate dissertation, appears to have fairly 
 cleared the stage of all pretenders to Junius's honours, up to 
 the period of his editorship in 1812. Sixteen years later 
 he seems to have considered the mystery as inscrutable as 
 ever, though he admits that at the time he wrote, the claims 
 of Sir Philip Francis had not been publicly advanced. But, 
 with a full knowledge of Mr. Taylor's book 'Junius Identi- 
 fied with a Distinguished Living Character,' he still continued 
 skeptical; and in a letter to Mr. Barker, concludes despairing- 
 ly, with the expression, 'That the great political enigma of 
 the eighteenth century was likely to lie beyond the fathom- 
 ing of any line and plimimet that will be applied to it in our 
 days.' We insert the entire letter from the late Mr. Bar- 
 ker's pleasant volume of literary melange on the Junius ques- 
 tion: 
 
 " 'Guilford Street, 
 October 13th, 1826 
 " 'Dear Sir: 
 
 " 'Accept my thanks for your obliging copy of your 
 first letter on the subject of Junius and Sir Philip Fran- 
 cis. Many years ago, as you perhaps may be aware, I 
 entered at full into this research, and beat the bush in every 
 direction. At that time, however, the claims of Sir 
 Philip Francis had not been advanced, at least not be- 
 fore the public. But they had been brought forward; 
 the arguments by which it is obvious they may be met, 
 and many of which you have yourself ably handled, 
 would, I think, have succeeded in putting him as com- 
 pletely out of the list as all the other competitors appear 
 to be put, whose friends have undertaken to bring them for- 
 ward. The question is, nevertheless, one of great inter- 
 est, as well on the score of national history, as of liter- 
 ary curiosity. Yet, like many other desiderata, I am 
 afraid it is likely to lie beyond the fathoming of any 
 line and plummet that will be applied to it in our days. 
 I shall be happy to hear of your success, and am, dear 
 sir, faithfully yours, 
 
 J. M. GOOD.' " 
 " 'To E. H. Barker, Esq. 
 
PART I 65 
 
 The foregoing plainly shows that Dr. Good did not 
 think that Sir Philip Francis was the author of the Junius 
 Letters. 
 
 Mr. John Wade, another critic on the subject, thorough- 
 ly investigated the claims made by the friends of these 
 "would-be Juniuses," and he likewise put them all out of the 
 contest. He says: "Junius has been a favourite theme of 
 literary exercise, and there is not one of the above thirty-five 
 names on which a book, pamphlet, review, essay or disquisi- 
 tion has not been written, but almost the whole ntimber are 
 inadmissible under the general class-rules previously estab- 
 lished. I apprehend the field will be cleared of pretenders, 
 up to the pubHcation of Woodfall's Junius in 1812." 
 
 Junius appears to have been very much discouraged, as 
 appears from his letter No. LVIII, Vol. I, pp. 408-409 of 
 Bohn's Edition of Junius by Woodfall, a part of which I will 
 copy. But he continues, most strenuously, to reconcile the 
 desertions, especially in the Whig Party, with which he was 
 fighting: 
 
 LETTER LVni 
 
 TO THE EDITOR OF THE PUBLIC ADVERTISER 
 
 "No man laments more than I do, the unhappy 
 differences which have arisen among the friends of the 
 people, and divided them from each other. The cause 
 undoubtedly suffers as well by the diminution of that 
 strength which union carries with it, as by the separate 
 loss of personal reputation, which every man sustains 
 • when his character and conduct are frequently held 
 forth in odious or contemptible colours. These differ- 
 ences are only advantageous to the common enemy of 
 the country: the hearty friends of the cause are pro- 
 voked and disgusted; the lukewarm advocate avails him- 
 self of any pretense to relapse into that indolent indif- 
 ference about everything that ought to interest an Eng- 
 lishman, so unjustly dignified with the title of modera- 
 tion; the false, invidious partisan, who creates or fo- 
 ments the disorder, sees the fruits of his dishonest indus- 
 try ripen beyond his hopes, and rejoices in the promise 
 of a banquet, only delicious to such an appetite as his 
 
66 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 own. It is time for those who really mean the cause 
 and the people, who have no view to private advantage, 
 and who have virtue enough to prefer the general good 
 of the community to the gratification of personal ani- 
 mosities, — it is time for such men to interpose. Let us 
 try whether these fatal dissensions may not yet be recon- 
 ciled; or, if that be impracticable, let us guard at least 
 against the worst effects of division, and endeavor to 
 persuade these furious partisans, if they will not consent 
 to draw together, to be separately useful to that cause 
 which they all pretend to be attached to. Honour and 
 honesty must not be renounced, although a thousand 
 modes of right and wrong were to occupy the degrees 
 of morality between Zeno and Epicurus. I speak to the 
 people as one of the people. Let us employ these men 
 in whatever departments their various abilities are best 
 suited to, and as much to the advantage of the common 
 cause as their different inclinations will permit. They 
 cannot serve us without essentially serving themselves. 
 
 "Would to God it were practicable to reconcile these 
 important objects in every possible situation of public 
 affairs. I regard the legal liberty of the meanest man 
 in Britain as much as my own, and would defend it 
 with the same zeal. I know we must stand or fall to- 
 gether. In the shipwreck of the State, trifles float and 
 are preserved, while everything solid and valuable sinks 
 to the bottom, and is lost forever. 
 
 JUNIUS." 
 
 After the lapse of some time, he wrote the following: 
 
 PRIVATE LETTER No. 63 
 
 January 19, 1773 
 To H. S. Woodfall: 
 
 "I have seen the signals thrown out for your old 
 friend and correspondent. Be assured that I have good 
 reason for not complying with them. In the present 
 state of things, if I were to write again, I must be as 
 silly as any of the homed cattle that run mad through 
 the city, or as any of your wise aldermen. / meant the 
 cause and the public. Both are given up. I feel for the 
 honour of this country, when I see that there are not 
 ten men in it who will unite and stand together upon 
 any one question. But it is all alike, vile and con- 
 temptible. 
 
PART I 67 
 
 " You have never flinched that I know of; and I 
 shall always rejoice to hear of your prosperity. 
 
 "If you have anything to communicate (of moment 
 to yourself) you may use the last address, and give a 
 hint." 
 
 The last political letter of Junius was addressed to Lord 
 Camden, on the 21st day of January, 1772, in which he 
 urged him, as a member of the House of Lords, to make an 
 attack on Chief Justice Mansfield on the question of his 
 having illegally bailed John Eyre, who had stolen a large 
 quantity of paper from the Government at Guildhall, was 
 "caught with the goods" and should not have been bailed, 
 but should have been committed to prison to await his trial. 
 
 Junius intimated in his letter that Eyre was a Scotch- 
 man, and therefore Lord Mansfield showed favor to him by 
 illegally bailing him. Mansfield was a Scotchman, which 
 was abhorrent to Junius. Notwithstanding, Junius made a 
 very strong personal appeal to Lord Camden to make the 
 attack on the Lord Chief Justice, and had furnished him 
 with a copy of a very elaborate letter which he had recently 
 written on the subject, in which he went into all the facts 
 of the case, including the law, and in which he had made a 
 very bitter attack on Lord Mansfield; still Lord Camden de- 
 clined his request, although articles of impeachment against 
 Lord Mansfield were then pending in Parliament, for his 
 open and flagrant violation of the law of libel, as it then 
 stood. 
 
 I will copy portions of the LXIX letter of Junius to the 
 Right Honourable Lord Camden, and will call the attention 
 of the reader to the beautiful metaphor in the beginning of 
 the letter: 
 
 "January 21st, 1772 
 "My Lord: 
 
 I turn with pleasure from that barren waste, in 
 which no salutary plant takes root, no verdure quickens, 
 to a character fertile, as I willingly believe in every 
 great and good qualification. I call upon you, in the 
 name of the EngHsh nation, to stand forth in defense 
 of the laws of your country, and to exert, in the cause 
 
68 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 of truth and justice, those great abilities with which you 
 were intrusted for the benefit of mankind. The legal 
 argument is submitted to your Lordship's judgment. 
 After the noble stand you made against Lord Mansfield 
 upon the question of libel, we did expect that you would 
 not have suffered that matter to have remained unde- 
 termined. 
 
 "If there be a judge or lawyer of any note in West- 
 minster Hall who shall be daring enough to affirm, that 
 according to the true intendment of the laws of England, 
 a felon, taken with the manner, in flagrante delicto, is 
 bailable, or that the discretion of an English Judge is 
 merely arbitrary, and not governed by rules of law, I 
 should be glad to be acquainted with him. Whoever 
 he be, I will take care that he shall not give you much 
 trouble. Your Lordship's character assures me that 
 you will assiune that principal part which belongs to 
 you, in supporting the laws of England against a wicked 
 Judge, who makes it the occupation of his life to misin- 
 terpret and pervert them. 
 
 "When the contest turns upon the interpretation of 
 the laws, you cannot without a formal surrender of all 
 your reputation, yield the post of honour even to Lord 
 Chatham. Considering the situation and abilities of 
 Lord Mansfield, I do not scruple to affirm, with the 
 most solemn appeal to God for my sincerity, that, in my 
 judgment, he is the very worst and most dangerous man 
 in the kingdom. Thus far, I have done my duty in en- 
 deavouring to bring him to punishment. But mine is an 
 inferior ministerial office in the temple of justice. I 
 have bound the victim, and dragged him to the altar. 
 
 JUNIUS." 
 
 This seems to have discouraged Junius, and he was very 
 much disheartened, on account of many other changes in the 
 political sentiments which had transpired among his coad- 
 jutors in "the cause," which were much to his surprise and 
 mortification. In his private letter to Mr. Woodfall, No. 59, 
 dated March 6th, 1772, he says: "If I saw any prospect of 
 uniting the City of London once more, I would readily con- 
 tinue to labor in the vineyard. Whenever Mr. Wilkes can 
 tell me that such an union is in prospect, he shall hear from 
 me." 
 
PART I 69 
 
 Afterwards, on January the 29th, 1773, in the very last 
 letter which Junius wrote to Mr. Woodfall, he advances 
 precisely the same motives for his continuing to desist from 
 writing any more. (See page 29, Vol. I.) 
 
 Owing to his recent discouragements, and the untoward 
 circumstances which then surrounded him, Junius quit writing 
 his political letters. It could truly have been said of him, 
 "Othello's occupation is gone," at least for the time being. 
 He then employed himself in revising and correcting his 
 political letters which he presented as a gift to Mr. Woodfall 
 for publication. This, and his private business, kept him 
 employed for some time. But, as he before said in a letter 
 to Mr. Woodfall, ^'Quod si quis Existimat me aut Voluntate 
 Esse Mutata, aut Dehilitata Virtute, aut Animo Fracto, 
 Vehementer Errat^' — which being translated, is as follows: 
 "If anyone believes me to be changed in will, weakened in 
 integrity, or broken in courage, he errs greatly." No! his 
 ponderous intellect and powerful pen were not destined to 
 remain inactive. Neither were his spirits broken. Another 
 field soon opened to the talents of this extraordinary genius. 
 
 JUNIUS NOW LEAVES LONDON AND COMES TO 
 
 AMERICA IN THE PERSON OF THOMAS 
 
 PAINE 
 
 During the succeeding year, in the Autumn of 1774, 
 the unknown Junius was introduced to the celebrated Ameri- 
 can diplomat. Dr. Benjamin Franklin, by the distinguished 
 English statesman. Lord Chatham, whom history says was 
 a coadjutor of Junius in "the cause," and it is asserted that 
 probably he had a suspicion of his identity. The Doctor 
 represented the Colonies, at the Court of St. James, in Lon- 
 don. No doubt he soon discovered that his new acquaint- 
 ance was a man of talent, and also that he was a warm friend 
 of the oppressed American Colonies; and probably Lord 
 Chatham hinted that he was Junius. 
 
 Therefore, he advised him to go to America, and gave 
 him letters of introduction to some of his most prominent 
 
70 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 friends there. He thereupon took the advice of Dr. Frank- 
 lin and soon left for Philadelphia; on his arrival there, he 
 quickly got employment on the "Pennsylvania Magazine," 
 and rapidly began making a reputation as a writer. He 
 wrote many articles on the most important issues of the day, 
 particularly on the political disturbances between England 
 and America. 
 
 All the while he was busy making himself acquainted 
 with the condition of the Colonies, their resources, and the 
 sentiments of the people towards Great Britain. This Amer- 
 icanized Junius also began to study what course they should 
 pursue to prevent further encroachments by England on their 
 rights. In the meantime, he was busy preparing to write 
 his first pamphlet, over a fictitious signature, as he had been 
 doing in the Junius Letters, which he completed and pub- 
 lished on the 21st day of January, 1775, of which 4000 copies 
 were printed by him and distributed among all the Colonies. 
 Almost every one procured a copy, and read it with pro- 
 found interest, as they were anxious to know what remedy he 
 proposed to ameliorate their condition. At first, they were 
 struck with awe as they perceived that it would soon lead to 
 open rebellion against Great Britain, which would be treason, 
 the consequences of which they contemplated with horror. 
 They felt that the Colonies were not prepared to make such 
 an issue, and they had not given up all hope of making a 
 compromise with England, although their petitions looking 
 to this end had been spumed by the King and the Ministry. 
 
 I will ask the reader if it would not have been very re- 
 markable that such a powerful writer as Junius should have 
 dropped his pen entirely, after having produced those won- 
 derful letters, which had gained the admiration of the world, 
 and never to have written anything else to be handed down 
 to posterity? Furthermore, I will ask him if he believes 
 that Junius retired to a life of insignificance? I, for one, do 
 not, for a moment, entertain such an idea of this remarkable 
 genius. I hope to convince my readers that the writings of 
 this literary prodigy did not end with his Junius Letters, in 
 London, but, that soon after he quit writing there, he again 
 
PART 1 71 
 
 took up his versatile pen, and wrote other letters and pam- 
 phlets, under an assumed name, along the identical lines of 
 his first letters, in which he advocated the same doctrines, 
 in another country, severely criticising the same King, Minis- 
 try and Parliament, as he did over the signature of Junius; 
 but under other and different circimistances. His subse- 
 quent writings electrified the whole civilized world, shook the 
 throne of England to its foundation, as well as other mon- 
 archies, and won for him an imperishable glory for his great 
 assistance in giving birth to a new and a powerful nation. 
 
 But I find I am about to invade Part III of my subject 
 before discussing Part II, therefore, I will here quit Part I 
 by dropping the mysterious Junius for the present; but I 
 will take him up again, under his real name, in Part III, of 
 this volume, where I hope to prove his certain identity to 
 the satisfaction of my readers. 
 
PART II 
 
PART n.— FRANCIS 
 
 T_TAVING now finished the discussion of Part I of my 
 ■'■ ■*■ subject, I shall proceed to discuss Part II. As I 
 have before stated, about thirty-eight different persons 
 have been brought forward by their respective friends as 
 claimants of the distinguished honor of being the author of 
 the "Junius Letters," and have all been put out of the con- 
 test by several eminent literary critics, in one way and an- 
 other, by satisfactory modes of proof and sound reasoning. 
 After the subject had lain dormant for about forty years, 
 Mr. John Taylor, a new writer, all at once conceived that 
 he had discovered a new author for those remarkable letters, 
 in the person of the Rev. Philip Francis, an Episcopal clergy- 
 man, who was then chaplain to Lord Holland, and was the 
 father of Sir Philip Francis. 
 
 After having written quite a long essay on the subject, 
 he says: "But before I went to press, I requested a friend 
 to call on Sir Philip Francis and consult him about it." Mr. 
 Tajdor discovered his error. Sir Philip then had an inter- 
 view with Mr. Taylor and told him "That he was surprised 
 at the 'wild goose chase' which he was pursuing, in which 
 he was wasting his time" in writing his pamphlets claiming 
 the Rev. Philip Francis as author of the Junius Letters; he 
 further stated to him: "That so many years had elapsed 
 and so many fruitless attempts had been made to discover 
 Junius, that it now seemed perfectly hopeless to expect he 
 would ever be found out." "For he would be a lucky person 
 indeed," continued Sir Philip, "who could find out Junius." 
 "Why, it would make a man's fortune," he further added. 
 Finding that these discouragements had failed to make the 
 desired impression, he observed in parting with Mr. Taylor: 
 "If you do persist in your purpose, I hope you will present 
 
76 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 me with a copy of your book." See page 87, Vol. II, of 
 Junius by Woodfall, Bohn's Standard Library, and also page 88. 
 Mr. Taylor very cunningly omitted the foregoing from his book, 
 because he knew it would be a "clincher" against him. Conse- 
 quently he "switched" the subject around and fixed the au- 
 thorship of the Letters on Sir Philip Francis. Mr. Taylor 
 likewise requested his friend to ask him (Francis) if he had 
 any objection to his publishing his "new departure" on the 
 subject; to which Francis replied: "You are quite at liberty 
 to print whatever you think proper, provided nothing scan- 
 dalous be said respecting my private character." Vide p. 7. 
 This evasion of the question by Sir Philip seemed to 
 have created the impression on the mind of Mr. Taylor that 
 Francis admitted he was the author of the Letters. I think 
 this was a very strained conclusion on the part of Mr. Tay- 
 lor. However, he proceeded to enlarge his pamphlet to a 
 book of four hundred pages. He eliminated the name of 
 Doctor Francis and substituted in its place, the name of Sir 
 Philip Francis and changed the title from "A Discovery of 
 the Author of The Letters," to "The Identity of Junius with 
 a Distinguished Living Character, Established," which Mr. 
 Taylor applied to his new book; and, in the meantime, re- 
 vised it, as above stated, and got it in readiness to go to the 
 press for publication. Before proceeding any further, Mr. 
 Taylor informs us that the editor of the "Monthly Magazine," 
 wishing to write an editorial on the book, addressed a letter 
 to Sir Philip Francis on the subject, in a way least likely to 
 render the inquiry offensive; and in reply received the follow- 
 ing epistle, which I insert at length, in justice to Sir Philip 
 Francis and Mr. Taylor: "The great civility of your 
 
 LETTER INDUCES ME TO ANSWER IT, WHICH, IF I WOULD RE- 
 FER MERELY TO ITS SUBJECT MATTER, I SHOULD HAVE DE- 
 CLINED, Whether you will assist in giving currency 
 TO a silly malignant falsehood, is a question for your 
 own discretion. To me it is a matter of perfect indif- 
 ference. "I am yours and so forth, 
 
 p. FRANCIS." 
 To the editor of the "Monthly Magazine," July, 1813. 
 
PART II 77 
 
 I cannot imagine how Mr. Taylor could have had the 
 hardihood to proceed with the publication of his book, after 
 receiving this sharp rebuke from Sir Philip Francis. On page 
 9 of Mr. Taylor's book he says: "The editor thought either 
 yes or no would be the frank reply, and in his own opinion 
 he received the latter.'^ I do not see how any one could 
 possibly construe the answer otherwise than a plain and a 
 very positive negative, which meant that he was not the author. 
 
 It appears to me rather strange that Mr. Taylor did 
 not insert in the last edition of his book all the editor of 
 the "Monthly Magazine" had to say about the answer of 
 Sir Philip Francis. It is likely that the editorial put an end 
 to the claim made by Mr. Taylor, that Francis was Junius, 
 and that is why he left it out. I should be glad to know 
 exactly what the editor said on the subject. I cannot see 
 why the plain, unequivocal and emphatic answer of Sir 
 Francis to the editor did not put this question forever at 
 rest, so far as it concerned Sir Philip. 
 
 Mr. E. H. Barker, a most excellent critic, on page 111 
 of his hook entitled, *'The Claims of Sir Philip Francis to the 
 Authorship of Junius's Letters, Disproved,'^ says: "Sir Philip 
 Francis wrote to Sir Richard Phillips, the editor of the 'Month- 
 ly Magazine,' stating that it was a 'silly malignant falsehood,' 
 to attribute the authorship of the Letters to him.'' Mr. Barker 
 says: "What language could be stronger, or more to the point?" 
 
 He further says: "Upon the receipt of this communication, 
 Sir Richard Phillips, the editor, immediately abandoned any 
 further enquiry, perceiving the theory was built on an erro- 
 neous supposition." Nevertheless, Mr. Taylor persisted in the 
 publication of his book, after writing several pages of very weak 
 arguments, trying in every way which ingenuity could devise 
 or sophistry could invent, to prove just the opposite of the 
 very plain language of the answer of Mr. Francis. He evi- 
 dently felt the very stinging rebuke in the letter — that he 
 was guilty of a "silly, malignant falsehood." He seemed to 
 be trying to convince his readers that Mr. Francis was jok- 
 ing, in his letter to the editor. See pages 12-16 of Taylor's 
 book. 
 
78 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 All this occurred more than forty years after the Junius 
 Letters were written and after all other claims of the honor 
 had been swept away, except his claim in behalf of Francis, 
 which he had signally failed to establish. 
 
 It will be observed that the editor of the "Monthly 
 Magazine" put the question of the authorship of the Letters 
 clearly and fairly up to Mr. Francis, for him to affirm or de- 
 ny, and he denied it. Francis knew that his answer would 
 appear in all the public prints of the day. He further real- 
 ized that if he falsely claimed the authorship of the Letters, 
 the real author might be living, and would probably come 
 out and publicly denounce him as a falsifier and prove it on 
 him, which Junius very likely would have done; this would 
 have stamped him with infamy among all his friends. But 
 Sir Philip Francis was not that kind of a man. He was 
 bom and bred a gentleman, and would not have been guilty 
 of such a dastardly act. The reply m.ade by him was a 
 very severe reflection on Mr. Taylor, as it accused him di- 
 rectly of being the author of a '^ silly, malignant falsehood." 
 
 Dr. Samuel Parr, quite an eminent author, says that 
 Francis was not Junius, and gives many reasons why, in a 
 letter to Mr. E. H. Barker, on pages 242 and 243 in Mr. 
 Barker's book, already referred to by me, to which I would 
 call the reader's attention. On page 447 of his book, Mr. 
 Barker says: "The first letter which appeared under the 
 signature of Junius brought the writer to instant and full 
 celebrity." He further says: "Junius is immeasurably supe- 
 rior to Francis in style, but his superiority in mind is still 
 greater." Mr. Barker's book abounds in numerous facts and 
 arguments going to show that Francis was not Junius. 
 
 There are numerous historical facts which go to prove 
 that Francis was not Junius, some of which I have already 
 mentioned, and others will follow in their proper order. In 
 some instances, I have taken extracts from history; in others, 
 I refer to the books and pages only, for the reader to consult 
 if he wishes; as it would extend this volume beyond its 
 capacity to copy even one fourth of them. 
 
PART II 79 
 
 Francis wrote a short essay on Government in the latter 
 part of his Hfe, which he called "Regency," vide p. 216 of 
 Taylor's book entitled "The Identity of Junius with a Dis- 
 tinguished Living Character," in which Francis is made to 
 copy many of the ideas and expressions of Junius, by Mr. 
 Taylor, pp. 219, 220 and 222. 
 
 I wish to call special attention of my readers to what 
 his biographers, Parkes and Merivale say in the "Memoirs 
 of Sir PhiHp Francis," as to his writings. In their "Prelim- 
 inary Remarks" to the Memoirs, on page 7, Vol. I, they 
 have this to say: "His acknowledged writings, though nu- 
 merous, are of inferior interest, reprints of speeches, and 
 pamphlets on subjects of temporary importance. His life 
 was, on the whole a failure." On page 9 they further 
 write: ''Now it is important to observe, and the more so in 
 order to disabuse the public of possible anticipations, that 
 the Francis papers, voluminous as they are, contain no word 
 of confession on his part as to the authorship of Junius. 
 Nor do they contain, so far as we have been able to dis- 
 cover, any direct evidence of it whatever. ^^ On page 19 lb. 
 these biographers further remark: "The late Mr. Thomas 
 Wentworth Dilke, in a series of able articles in the 'Athe- 
 naeum,' and 'Notes and Queries,' has critically exposed the 
 insufficiency of evidence of all the false claims; still consid- 
 ering that, for Sir Philip Francis, 'Unproven' and improb- 
 able." These biographers are very partial to Mr. Francis, 
 but they are very truthful throughout the two very large 
 volumes of "The Memoirs." 
 
 This book by Mr. Taylor was finished in 1816, forty- 
 three years after the Junius Letters were written. He says 
 on page 223: "To produce a few side facts from Junius, 
 from which the preceding examples are maintained, in nearly 
 the same words by Francis, will contribute more to certify 
 his identity, as Sir Philip Francis, than any remarks which 
 might be made upon them." He then cites numerous quo- 
 tations from the "Regency," and from Junius, to prove 
 their similarity. I agree they are similar, and in many 
 instances are identical, as they were copied, almost literally. 
 
80 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 by Francis from Junius. They are pure plagiarisms, but do 
 not in any way go to prove that Francis was Junius. On 
 page 33, Mr. Taylor says, that many of the quotations from 
 the "Regency" were "nearly coeval with the letters of 
 Junius," when in fact they were written by Francis, thirty- 
 seven years after the last letter of Junius, and after the 
 mind of Francis had grown to maturity. I am sorry to say 
 that Mr. Taylor does not always confine himself strictly to 
 the truth in his arguments to sustain his contention. Oth- 
 ers have said the same thing about him. 
 
 Mr. Fraser Rae, an eminent writer on the subject, says 
 on page 32 of the "Athenaeum" of Jan. 8th, 1898: "As 
 Taylor's book is founded upon the false assumption of Fran- 
 cis's expulsion from the War Office [he resigned], the book is 
 entirely untrustworthy from title to colophon." 
 
 Mr. Taylor narrates that Francis was expelled from the 
 War Office, but Francis says that he voluntarily resigned. 
 Mr. Taylor has a purpose in this. If he could have estab- 
 lished the fact that Francis was expelled by Lord Barrington, 
 then Secretary of War, it would show a reason for Junius's 
 being so bitter in his denunciation of Lord Barrington, which 
 Taylor attempts to show in his assertion that Francis was 
 Junius. In many other instances, Mr. Taylor strains the 
 facts, in every way, to carry his point. 
 
 On page 398 Mr. Taylor says that the King, Lord North 
 and Lord Grenville were made acquainted with the real 
 name of Junius in 1772. He contends that they gave Fran- 
 cis the appointment as Commissioner to India, at a salary of 
 10,000 pounds per annum, as a bribe to keep him from writ- 
 ing any more letters against them, under the name of Junius. 
 Vide pp. 399 and 400; and that he was recommended by 
 Lord Barrington for the position. Now if Lord Barrington 
 knew that Francis was Junius, he must have been of a very 
 forgiving nature to have given this vicious writer the re- 
 commendation, who had so bitterly denounced him under 
 the name of Junius. This is all a surmise on the part of 
 Mr. Taylor, to carry his point, even though it reflected so 
 cruelly on the character of Mr. Francis. He was born and 
 
PART II 81 
 
 bred a gentleman, and no one has cast the least reflection 
 on his character, except Mr. Taylor and the degenerate 
 grandson of Sir Philip Francis, H. R. Francis, who wrote 
 a book in 1894 called "Junius Revealed," and therein main- 
 tained that his grandfather, Sir Philip Francis, had taken 
 and received the commission to India, as a secret bribe by the 
 English Government. 
 
 I am fully aware that it is incumbent upon me to en- 
 tirely eliminate Mr. Francis from the contest before I intro- 
 duce the person whom I claim to be the undoubted author 
 of the Letters; therefore, although my readers may conclude 
 that I am elaborating the proof to the above end, I feel that 
 I must make good my assertion that Francis did not and 
 could not have written the Letters; and also, I must answer 
 the arguments of Mr. Taylor and H. R. Francis. 
 
 One of the principal arguments of Henry R. Francis in 
 his "Junius Revealed," in favor of the theory that his grand- 
 father was the author of the Letters, was, that Sir Philip 
 was bribed to quit writing as Junius, by being appointed as 
 one of the Commissioners to India. On page 53 he says: 
 "In which approved principle, then, of building the bridge 
 of gold, after surprising the enemy, they [the King and Min- 
 isters] would seek at once to effectually silence the hostile 
 mouth-piece, and to conciliate Junius's most influential 
 well wishers." He further says: "My belief is that its 
 two-fold object was attained by Francis's last letter from the 
 War Office, and was accomplished by a promise, probably 
 from Lord North, Prime Minister, of a good appointment 
 abroad, after the shortest interval that might suffice to 
 avert the immediate suspicion of a bargain; Francis on his 
 part engaging to drop the role of masked pamphleteer, but 
 never to remove the mask he had worn as Junius, but all 
 the parties had the gravest reasons for keeping it dark." 
 The foregoing is the belief of this degenerate grandson, who 
 besmirched the fair name of his dead grandfather to get a 
 little imaginary glory for himself and others of the descend- 
 ants of Sir Philip Francis. "O shame, where is thy blush!" 
 
82 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 The other arguments which he uses are verj^ similar to 
 those used by Mr. Taylor — bare assertions and surmises, 
 wholly unsupported by any facts. Sir Philip Francis said: 
 "I always suspected Burke of being the author of The Let- 
 ters." Vide p. 40 of "Junius Revealed." Mr. Woodfall, the 
 publisher of the Junius Letters, said: "To my certain knowl- 
 edge, Francis is not Junius." See p. 25, Vol. I of "The 
 Francis Letters." In a letter dated March 10th, 1770, which 
 was written by Alexander Macrabie, from Philadelphia, to 
 Francis, who was his brother-in-law, he said: "Junius is the 
 Mars of malcontents." .... "His letter to the King 
 is past all endurance as well as all compare. Who the devil 
 can he be?" He further says: "I have read all that cor- 
 respondence [between Sir William Draper and Junius] and 
 never before met with such keen cutting satire." Vide p. 
 112, Vol. I, "The Francis Letters." In a letter dated Lon- 
 don, June 12, 1770, Sir Philip Francis replies as follows to 
 Macrabie 's letter: "Junius is not known, which is as curious 
 perhaps, as any of his writings. I have always suspected 
 Burke, but whoever he is, it is impossible he can ever dis- 
 cover himself. The offense he has given to his Majesty 
 and the Duke of Grafton, is more than any private man can 
 support, he would soon be crushed." Vide p. 243, Vol. I of 
 "Memoirs of Sir Philip Francis." Can anything be stronger 
 to show that Francis was not Junius? 
 
 On page 68 of his book, Mr. Taylor asserts, that Fran- 
 cis and Lord Barrington had a "falling out between them" 
 and that Lord Barrington expelled him from the War Office, 
 and that D 'Oyle was expelled from the same office. 
 
 In January 1772, Mr. Francis writes to his cousin, Maj- 
 or Baggs as follows: "You will have heard that Mr. D'Oyle 
 has resigned his employment. He did it while I was at 
 Bath. Immediately upon my return, my Lord Barrington 
 was so good as to make me an offer [of D 'Oyle's place, as 
 Deputy Secretary of War], with many obliging and friendly 
 expressions. I had solid reasons for declining the offer." 
 Vide p. 133, Vol. I of the "Francis Letters." On March 
 20th, 1772, Francis wrote Major Baggs another letter, as 
 
PART II 83 
 
 follows: "At the end of this quarter, I leave the War Ofifice. 
 It is my own act. Be not alarmed for me, everything is 
 secure and as it should be." p. 134. Francis says, on June 
 4, 1772, "While he and his brother-in-law, Macrabie, who 
 had then returned from America, were walking in the park, 
 they met a gentleman who informed them that John ChoU- 
 well, one of the intended Commissioners to India, had declined 
 the nomination. It was the King's birthday and Lord Bar- 
 rington had gone to court. I saw him next morning; as soon 
 as I had expressed my views to him, he wrote the hand- 
 somest, strongest letter imaginable in my favor to Lord 
 North, for the position. Other interests contributed, but I 
 owe my success to Lord Barrington." Vide p. 148, Vol. I 
 of the "Francis Letters." 
 
 From these letters it does not look like Francis was 
 expelled from the War Office and that there was any "falling 
 out" between Francis and Lord Barrington, as stated by Mr. 
 Taylor, and, on which he founds his main arguments in his 
 book. See page 6. This is another instance where Mr. 
 Taylor has perverted the truth. 
 
 In connection with this branch of my subject, I will 
 make a few other references to Junius, which go to prove 
 that Francis was not Junius. They all refer to the very 
 severe strictures of Junius on the intimate friends of Mr. 
 Francis. The above is in relation to the "Veteran Letter," 
 vide p. 405, Vol. II of Bohn's Standard Library Woodfall's 
 Junius, which letter is generally conceded to have been writ- 
 ten by Junius, but Mr. Taylor states it was written by Sir 
 Philip Francis as Junius. I think I can convince my readers 
 that he is utterly mistaken. This letter is very abusive of 
 Francis's friend and benefactor. Lord Barrington, and was 
 written to the printer of the "Public Advertiser," on the 23rd 
 day of March, 1772, by Junius commencing as follows: "I 
 desire that you will inform the public that the worthy Lord 
 Barrington, not contented with having driven Mr. D'Oyle 
 out of the War Office, has at last contrived to expel Mr. 
 Francis. I think the public have a right to call on Mr. 
 D'Oyle and Mr. Francis to declare their reasons for quitting 
 
84 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 the War Ofifice. Men of their unblemished characters do 
 not resign lucrative employments without some sufficient 
 reason. When the public loses the services of two able and 
 honest servants, it is but reasonable that the wretch who 
 drives such men out of public office, be compelled to give 
 some account of himself and his proceedings." 
 
 (Signed) "Veteran." 
 
 Mr. Taylor says that he based his discovery of Junius 
 on the "Veteran Letter." His idea being, that inasmuch as 
 the letter was very hostile toward Lord Barrington, that 
 Francis must have written it. I ask my readers if it is not 
 preposterous to think that Mr. Francis wrote the "Veteran" 
 Letter? In the first place, Mr. Taylor says that D'Oyle 
 and Francis were expelled and driven out of the War Office. 
 Mr. Francis said they both voluntarily resigned, in order to 
 get better positions, in which they succeeded. 
 
 It will be observed that the writer of the "Veteran" 
 Letter uses the personal pronoun "I," in the first person, all 
 the way through the letter, which reads as follows: "7 de- 
 sire that you will inform the public," etc., etc. 
 
 Now if Francis was the author of this letter, he was call- 
 ing on himself to declare the reason for quitting the War 
 Office, and inordinately praising himself as a man of "un- 
 blemished character" and also "an able and honest servant 
 of the government," which appear in the latter parts of the 
 letter, and make it inconsistent with the idea that Francis 
 wrote it. If Mr. Francis, as Junius, wrote the letter, as 
 claimed by Mr. Taylor, was it not very inelegant in him to 
 bestow such fulsome praise on himself? 
 
 The fact is, as soon as Junius heard that D'Oyle and 
 Francis had quit the War Office, he immediately informed 
 the "Public Advertiser" that they had been expelled. Per- 
 haps he was not acquainted with the facts, and probably his 
 version of it, that they were expelled, suited his purpose best, 
 in order to bring odium and criticism on Lord Barrington, 
 
PART II 86 
 
 because he was Secretary of War in the Grafton Ministry, 
 which he (Junius) was trying in every way to break up, as 
 before stated. 
 
 It is well known that Lord Barrington was a wily 
 Scotchman, and was, by no means, an exemplary member 
 of the King's Ministry. He moved the expulsion of the cele- 
 brated John Wilkes from Parliament, which was seconded 
 by one Rigby, and carried; and one Luttrell was put in his 
 place, whom Wilkes had defeated by a very large majority 
 in the Middlesex election. These and many other reasons 
 conspired to make Junius despise him; and write those ma- 
 lignant letters against him. 
 
 In his "Private Letters" to Mr. Woodfall, No. LX, page 
 59, Vol. II of Bohn's Standard Library, Junius says: "Next 
 to the Duke of Grafton, I verily believe that the blackest 
 heart of the Kingdom belongs to Lord Barrington." 
 
 In his letter No. LI I to Mr. H. S. Woodfall, he says: 
 "Having nothing better to do, I propose to entertain myself 
 and the public with torturing that * * * (damned) Bar- 
 rington." A few days later in Letter CVII, he writes as 
 follows to Lord Barrington: "When the bloody Barrington, 
 that silken, fawning courtier at St. James — that stern and 
 insolent Minister at the War Office, is pointed out to uni- 
 versal contempt and detestation, you smile indeed, but the 
 last agonies of the hysteric passions are painted on your 
 countenance; your cheek betrays what passes within you, 
 and your whole form is in convulsions. The very name of Bar- 
 rington implies everything that is mean, cruel, false and con- 
 temptible." 
 
 Is it reasonable to suppose that Francis, as Junius, should 
 have so maligned the character of his best friend, who had 
 treated him so very kindly for many years? I cannot be- 
 lieve that he could have been so lost to every emotion of 
 gratitude, and every instinct of an honorable man. 
 
 Furthermore, if Francis were Junius, he would not have 
 so abused some of his other friends, to-wit: John Calcraft, 
 who remembered him in his will, and left him 1000 pounds, 
 and his wife an annuity of 250 pounds during her lifetime. 
 
86 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 This was before he received the commission to India, 
 and while he was a poor man. Mr. Wilbor Ellis, who was 
 formerly Secretary of War, gave him his first position in the 
 War Office, as shown by his letters. David Garrick, the 
 famous comedian, and Sir William Draper, both of whom 
 were intimate friends of Mr. Francis and his father, were 
 also victims of Junius. 
 
 If Francis were Junius, he also abused Lord North, 
 Prime Minister, who gave him his appointment as Commis- 
 sioner to India. On page 36 of Woodfall's Junius, in Bohn's 
 Standard Library, Vol. II, among other things, he says: 
 "My Lord, I never address your Lordship, but I feel the 
 utmost horror and indignation, for I consider you as a man 
 totally regardless of your honour and the welfare of your 
 country. Every principle of conscience, you have, long ago, 
 been hardy enough to discard. There has not been an ac- 
 tion in the last two years of your life, but what, separately, 
 deserves imprisonment. The time may come, and remem- 
 ber, my Lord, there is a very short period between a Minis- 
 ter's imprisonment and his grave." See also Letter XLVIII, 
 page 246, Vol. II wherein Junius handles Lord North, as 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, pretty roughly. 
 
 Mr. E. H. Barker, a most astute critic and profound 
 reasoner, in his book of 500 pages, which is devoted almost 
 entirely to proving that Sir Philip was not Junius, and in 
 which he has succeeded, says on pages 31 and 32: "Sir 
 Philip is, in his public character, allowed by all impartial 
 men to have been a man of the most unblemished moral in- 
 tegrity and of the purest political principles. Now to sup- 
 pose him to have been the author of Junius, is, in fact, to 
 proclaim him a villain of a vulgar cast; for he must be 
 henceforth regarded by us as a base ingrate to his great 
 benefactor, patron and friend, the Earl of Chatham, without 
 any assigned or assignable cause. It is to proclaim Sir 
 Philip a hypocrite of the blackest dye, professing in his 
 Parliamentary speeches and avowed productions to have ever 
 felt the strongest attachment to the person, and the highest 
 veneration for the character of Lord Chatham, when he had 
 
PART II 87 
 
 in truth, commenced his Uterary and political career by a 
 series of virulent and anonymous libels on him. It is to 
 proclaim Sir Philip to have been an idiot of the grossest 
 stupidity, for it would make him, though a mere clerk in the 
 "War Office, risk his official situation and even personal exist- 
 ence, by calumniating the Ministry, whose servant he was, 
 aad without any apparent motive of private pique. It is to 
 pioclaim Sir Philip to have acted on principles contrary to 
 the ordinary principles of human nature; for men do not 
 desert and libel their benefactor, patron and friend, nor do 
 they act in direct opposition to their own private interests, 
 without some powerful motive, which has not been shown 
 ii the case of Sir Philip Francis, at the date of the earliest 
 known production of Junius, viz: April 28th, 1767." 
 
 On page 171 of Mr. E. H. Barker's very researchful 
 book, he further says: "After the patronage which Sir 
 Philip Francis had in early life experienced from Lord Chat- 
 ham and Lord Mendip, and after the severity with which 
 they have been treated by Junius, any attempt to identify 
 Sir Philip and Junius, if successful, would be only to pro- 
 cure for Sir Philip literary reputation by the total sacrifice 
 of public and private character; — To proverbialize his name, 
 memorialise his crimes, and eternise his infamy." 
 
 "Other arguments on this branch of the question will 
 occupy a second letter," said Mr. Barker. 
 
 What motive could Francis have had for traducing his 
 best friends and benefactors? I cannot think of any. Every 
 human action is prompted by a motive; but Junius did have 
 a positive motive for abusing every one of the above named 
 individuals, because they were all connected with the Eng- 
 lish Government, which he was attempting to destroy; except 
 Garrick, and Junius conceived that he was trying to discover 
 his identity, which aroused his anger. 
 
 Had the King, Lord North and Grenville known that 
 Francis was really Junius, they never would have compromised 
 by giving him the commission to India, but would have had 
 him arrested, cast into prison, tried and punished to the full 
 
88 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 extent of the law. Cotild they, as honest Government offi- 
 cials, have done otherwise, after the EngUsh Government had 
 spent thousands of pounds for the arrest of the wicked Juni- 
 us? On page 401, Mr. Taylor tries to conciHate Mr. Fran- 
 cis, after asserting that Francis was the author of the Let- 
 ters. He says: "Sir Philip Francis must be content to 
 share the lot of all those who have causam celehritatis ." Taj- 
 lor further remarks: "It is said that Mr. Francis is angry 
 at the charge — that would be folly." Mr. Taylor must ha7e 
 had the lowest standard of morals and truth, for as I ha/e 
 already stated. Sir Philip Francis did all he could to dis- 
 courage Mr. Taylor in writing his book, and for the very 
 best reasons and motives. Vide pp. 7 and 9. In the first 
 place, he was a truthful man. He did not wish to claim the 
 distinguished honor of writing the Letters, when he knew he 
 was not the author. He was perfectly aware that if the 
 King and the Ministry ever were convinced that he was 
 Junius, they would have arrested him and proceeded against 
 him criminally. 
 
 Besides, he well knew that if they even suspected him 
 of being Junius, he could never hope to get a promotion 
 from that source. The fact is, that his Hfe-long friend, 
 Lord Barrington, Secretary of War, whom Francis had served 
 so long, cordially recommended him to Lord North for the 
 appointment as one of the Commissioners to India, because 
 he had full capacity, by his long experience in the War Office ; 
 therefore. Lord North gave him the appointment and it 
 was confirmed by the King. He was not appointed until 
 June, 1773, under the Act then recently passed by ParHa- 
 ment, which is more than a year and four months after 
 Junius wrote his last poHtical letter; but Mr. Taylor says 
 that the appointment was made in June, 1772, which was 
 more than a year previous to the passage of the Act author- 
 izing the appointment of the Commissioners to India; but 
 he wanted it to appear that Junius was still writing his 
 cruel letters against the Eang, the Ministry and ParHament, 
 when in fact, he had quit writing a year and four months 
 
PART II 89 
 
 earlier. This is another perversion of the truth which Tay- 
 lor made, in order to sustain his point. Vide p. 399. 
 
 The reason of Mr. Taylor's persistence in writing his 
 book, notwithstanding Mr. Francis endeavored to dissuade 
 him from it, was this: He had spent about three years 
 getting up his data and writing the book. It would have 
 been more mortification to him to have been forced, a second 
 time, to acknowledge to the public that he had made two 
 distinct mistakes in selecting the author for the Junius Letters. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing, he would have lost all the 
 emoluments which he received from the sale of his book, 
 which amounted to a large sum. 
 
 Likewise, he knew that he would enjoy considerable 
 celebrity as a writer, in having made the discovery of the 
 mysterious author of The Letters. All these conditions 
 naturally conspired to impel him forward in the publication 
 of his book. Furthermore, Junius was a native-bom Eng- 
 lishman, as appears through all of his letters, and Francis 
 was an Irishman, bom in Dublin. On page 176 of his book, 
 Mr. Barker says: ''It is proved by incontrovertible evidence 
 that Junius was an Englishman." Francis's father was a 
 clergyman of the Established Church of England. The 
 family removed from Dublin to London when Sir Philip was 
 ten years old. Soon after their arrival. Dr. Francis was 
 appointed chaplain to Lord Holland, chief paymaster in the 
 King's army; and thereafter, the associates of young Francis 
 were aristocrats, among whom he was reared, and naturally 
 became imbued with their ideas and their political affinities. 
 
 As his father was a poor man. Sir Philip was given a 
 "small clerkship" in the Secretary of State's office when 
 about fifteen years old, to help make a living for the family, 
 and later on received the appointment to a clerkship in the 
 War Office by Lord Barrington, which position he held about 
 ten years, and he must have been brought up in the prin- 
 ciples of royalty. These appointments took him from school 
 and limited his education. 
 
 He was married at the age of twenty-one to a Miss 
 Elizabeth Macrabie, two or three years his senior, whose 
 
90 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 father was in reduced circumstances. It appears the father 
 of each of them was opposed to the alliance, on account of 
 their financial conditions, but the young couple did not heed 
 their parental advice, and were married. In a few years, 
 he was the father of five daughters and one son, and his 
 wife a confirmed invalid. He had to contribute to the sup- 
 port of his invalid father, and also to his wife's father and 
 mother, which kept him continually in financial straits. 
 
 I have taken these facts from the history of his life, 
 which show that he could not have been able to attend to 
 the duties of his office, and to have taken so much of his 
 time in getting up the information for the finished composi- 
 tion of the Junius Letters; to have carried on his voluminous 
 correspondence with Mr. Woodfall, Mr. Wilkes, Sir William 
 Draper and many others, and at the same time, though very 
 poor, refusing to accept a dollar for any of his laborious 
 writings, as was the custom of Junius. On the contrary, 
 Junius was evidently in easy financial circumstances, as 
 stated in his letters, and positively refused to accept any 
 compensation for any of his writings from his publisher, 
 Mr. Woodfall. Besides, he contributed liberally towards the 
 expenses of defending a very malignant prosecution which 
 the Government instituted against Mr. Woodfall for the 
 publication of some of the Junius Letters. It is a well-known 
 fact that Francis did not have the mental ability and the 
 education to write The Junius Letters, at the early age of 
 about twenty-seven years, when they were first commenced, 
 under the name of "Lucius." Mr. Barker, on page 121 
 says: "Now, then, I ask Mr. Taylor whether he supposes 
 that an inferior clerk in the War Office, which Mr. T. him- 
 self confesses to have required from its officers 'constant 
 attendance,' could, at the age of twenty-seven (when the 
 earliest production of Junius appeared), have found leisure, 
 first to learn the profession of authorship, secondly to prac- 
 tice it, thirdly to commence the practice with writing, for a 
 regular series of years, papers perfect in their style of compo- 
 sition? The fact is not at all credible; so opposed to com- 
 mon sense and common experience, that, if it had actually 
 
FAC- SIMILES ©jF THE BlAHBWlRI'riFG ©¥ JUNIUS. 
 
 J K.'-iut^o Vo-t^ KjlaJ-< (^.iJLikyi^ (y/'-U- rKc l\..c,^ JLam. 
 IKyLrt-tuAj:} !^3i—vd 14J 1t^ Ljt-lot/L> per -TK^euAv 
 
 
PART II 91 
 
 occurred, it must be regarded as miraculous, and the testi- 
 mony even of an ocular witness could not easily work its 
 way to our belief." 
 
 If the reader will take the pains, which I have taken, 
 to compare any of the Junius Letters with anything which 
 Francis wrote about the same time, I think he will coincide 
 with me in my opinion that there is no similarity whatever 
 between them in style. 
 
 The letters written by Francis are generally light and 
 frivolous without much force or beauty, as will be seen in 
 Vol. I of the Francis Letters, edited by Beta Francis, his 
 granddaughter, and Eliza Karey, in which many words are 
 misspelled, and ntimerous capital letters are placed where 
 they do not belong. This is to be expected of one who had 
 such a limited education. 
 
 On the contrary, all the letters written by Junius are 
 grave, dignified, logical, very forceful, beautifully and flu- 
 ently expressed; his words are all correctly spelled; his capi- 
 tals are in their proper places: all of which shows that they 
 are the work of a scholar and a great genius. Several liter- 
 ary critics and friends of Mr. Francis say that if he did not 
 write the Junius Letters, then he left nothing of a literary 
 character to posterity. See Vol. I, page 6 of the "Memoirs 
 of Francis." 
 
 I will now take up the question of human nature, which 
 I think is very pertinent in this investigation. Htiman na- 
 ture is now, and always has been, the same all over the 
 world, and among all people. Gratitude is a living principle 
 in every heart, unless a person is a moral pervert, which 
 rarely happens. It is found in the breast of the savage, and 
 even among our domestic animals. If a nice morsel is given 
 to our dog, he looks up into the face of the giver, with a 
 kind expression, which indicates his gratitude. Therefore, 
 whenever a gratuitous act of kindness is extended from one 
 person to another, the recipient always feels an instinctive 
 emotion of gratitude in his heart. 
 
 Shakespeare, the great expositor of human nature, puts 
 into the mouth of the venerable King Lear the following 
 
92 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 words: "Ingratitude, thou marble hearted fiend, how sharp- 
 er than a serpent's tooth to have a thankless child." 
 
 I have already said that Sir Philip Francis was bom of 
 excellent parentage, and was reared among gentlemen and 
 as a gentleman. He was a man of culture and refinement, 
 and would not have stooped to a dastardly act of ingratitude. 
 No one has ever said less of him. Therefore, can we even 
 suspect that he was lacking in the noble attribute of un- 
 selfish gratitude to his generous benefactors? As I have 
 stated above, I can not believe it. It is unreasonable. It 
 is contrary to all the laws of human nature. 
 
 If Francis were Junius, as contended for by Mr. Taylor, 
 he was a moral pervert indeed. He did not have a spark 
 of gratitude in his nature, which I will proceed to demon- 
 strate b}'- other facts recorded in history. 
 
 Now if Francis were Junius, he returns the basest in- 
 gratitude to others of his friends, for the many kindnesses 
 which they had shown him. See p. 288, Vol. I, in Letter 38, 
 Woodfall's Junius, where Junius, in commenting on some 
 motion made by Mr. Ellis before Parliament, sa^^-s: "The 
 little dignity of Mr. Ellis has been committed. The mine 
 was sunk; combustibles were provided, and Welbore Ellis, 
 the Guy Faux of the fable, waited only for the signal of 
 command. All of a sudden the country gentlemen [members 
 of Parliament] discover how grossl}'- they have been deceived; 
 the Minister's heart fails him, the grand plot is defeated in 
 a moment, and poor Mr. Ellis and his motion taken into 
 custody Whether he makes or suppresses a mo- 
 tion, he is equally sure of disgrace." Junius commenting on 
 another motion to impeach the Mayor and Sheriff of London, 
 says: "Little manikin Ellis, told the King that if the busi- 
 ness were left to his management, he would engage to do 
 wonders, and it was thought odd, that a motion of so much 
 importance should be intrusted to the most contemptible 
 little piece of machinery in the whole kingdom," etc. Mr. 
 Ellis gave Francis a clerkship in the office of Secretary of 
 State, when he was a boy. 
 
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PART II 93 
 
 Mr. C. F. Karey, in speaking of the argument used by 
 the anti-Francis critics said, that Francis, if Junius, was 
 very ungrateful to some of his best friends and benefactors. 
 He says in Vol. I, page 22 of the Francis Letters: "This is 
 an argument of considerable weight; of the fact of this dis- 
 crepancy, there can be no doubt. It was especially towards 
 Lord Barrington and towards Calcraft, both personal friends 
 and benefactors of Francis; and in a degree hardly less 
 towards Sir William Draper, that Francis, if Francis was 
 Junius, showed himself strangely false, if not vindictive." 
 This is a strong admission by Mr. Karey, who was a warm 
 friend and advocate of Francis. 
 
 The affairs in India were in a very bad condition; Lord 
 Clive had been governor there for a long time, and had rob- 
 bed and oppressed those people outrageously. He had re- 
 cently been recalled, so that the Government was arranging 
 to create a commission of five members to govern that un- 
 fortunate country; Mr. Francis was perfectly aware of it, 
 and was looking to a position on the commission, as appears 
 from what he says in one of his letters above referred to. 
 
 Shortly thereafter. Parliament did enact a law creating 
 the Commission, and, as above stated, his friend and former 
 benefactor. Lord Barrington, recommended him to Lord 
 North for one of the Commissioners, with Warren Hastings 
 as Governor General; John Clavery, George Monson, and 
 Richard Barswell, were the other Commissioners, to which 
 Francis was added as the fourth, by Lord North. Neverthe- 
 less, Mr. Taylor would have us believe that Francis, as 
 Junius, was all the while a secret enemy of, and vile traitor 
 to, Lord Barrington and Lord North, while he was writing 
 those very severe letters, under the name of "Junius," against 
 these benefactors, as shown in the "Veteran" letter, and 
 others of the Junius Letters, herein above referred to. 
 
 I hope I will not weary my readers by stating some re- 
 marks, which Francis, as Junius, made about Mr. Calcraft, 
 as insisted upon by Mr. Taylor. In letter LIX of Woodf all's 
 Junius, Vol. I, page 416, he says: "Even the silent vote 
 of Mr. Calcraft is worth reckoning in a division. What 
 
94 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 though he riots in the plunder of the army, and has only 
 determined to be a patriot when he can not be a peer. Let 
 us profit by the assistance of such men while they are with 
 us, and place them, if it is possible, in the post of danger, 
 to prevent desertion." Mr. Calcraft had been an army 
 agent, and had become rich. 
 
 Next, I will take up David Garrick, the great actor, 
 who was a warm personal friend of the family, to whom 
 Doctor Francis dedicated the play of "Eugenia," which was 
 composed by the Doctor for the stage. Now, if Francis 
 were Junius, he wrote a very unnatural letter to Garrick. 
 Vide Letter XLI, in the Private Letters of Junius to Wood- 
 fall, Vol. II, page 41, Woodfall's Junius, a fac-simile of 
 which I will insert in this book. 
 
 I beg pardon of my readers for imposing on their pa- 
 tience by so greatly elaborating this branch of my subject. 
 
 It seems that Garrick was trying to find out who Junius 
 was. As I have already copied some of his letters against 
 Sir William Draper, the reader is informed of what he said 
 against him. When we look over the bitter letters which 
 Francis, if Junius, wrote against the friends of his father, 
 and his own friends, and benefactors, what must be our 
 natural and rational conclusion if we should accept the the- 
 ory of Mr. Taylor, that Francis was the real author of the 
 Junius Letters? 
 
 I will leave the reader to make up his own opinion on 
 the subject, as I have already expressed mine. Mr. Taylor 
 in his arguments that Francis was Junius, has stamped his 
 memory with the blackest type of infamy, by accusing him 
 of taking a bribe, as Commissioner to India. 
 
 If the reader has the opportunity, and will examine Mr. 
 Taylor's ponderous volume of four hundred pages, entitled 
 "Junius Identified," he will perceive that he has devoted 
 over one hundred pages to comparisons of the styles of Fran- 
 cis and Junius, with a view of showing some similarity be- 
 tween them, nearly all of which he has selected from the 
 speeches of Francis made in the House of Commons, forty 
 years after the Junius letters were written, and after his 
 
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PART II 95 
 
 mind was much more mature; in which Francis actually 
 copied the identical ideas of Junius, in words a little different 
 in many instances, and in others he uses his very words, 
 which are downright plagiarisms. Mr. Taylor is a very 
 ingenious and plausible writer, and is very resourceful. His 
 book shows that he appropriates every idea, surmise, con- 
 jecture and rumor which he could find, devise or invent in 
 his fertile imagination, in order to prove, as far as possible, 
 that Francis was the author of the Junius Letters, in which 
 he made a dismal failure. It may be truly said of his efforts: 
 "Farturiunt monies, nascetur ridiculus mus." 
 
 Inasmuch as Mr. John Taylor was the first one to sug- 
 gest the name of Sir Philip Francis as the author of the 
 Junius Letters, after the subject had lain dormant for over 
 forty years, he has had a few followers who have trodden in 
 his footsteps, in making up their opinions on the question; 
 the most conspicuous of whom is Lord Macaulay, whose 
 arguments I have carefully read and found them nothing more 
 than his opinions on Mr. Taylor's book, and without a par- 
 ticle of original proof to sustain them. He does not even 
 say that he has investigated the subject, or given any partic- 
 ular thought to it, but bases his assertions entirely on the 
 suggestions which he took from Mr. Taylor's book. His com- 
 ment is very brief, and, in my opinion, does Junius great 
 injustice. Therefore, if I have successfully demonstrated 
 that Mr. Taylor has made a complete failure in his elabor- 
 ate effort to prove that Francis was Junius, which I think 
 I have done, then Macaulay's opinion has nothing to sustain 
 it and must fall to the ground; and I may say the same of 
 any other obsequious follower of Mr. Taylor, in his book. 
 
 Furthermore, the editors of "Memoirs of Francis," on 
 page 299, Vol. I, say that "The current belief in the Wood- 
 fall family has been that Francis was not Junius at all," and on 
 page 293, they further say: "The eldest son of Henry Samp- 
 son Woodfall communicates to Mr. Parks [one of the editors] 
 the following anecdote, among others, hostile to the preten- 
 sions of Francis, more than forty years since: 'I recollect 
 my father returning from the Pauline dinner, saying to some 
 
96 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 friends, that he had met his old school fellow, Francis, then 
 soon after his return from India, in 1781. A gentleman 
 present, observed to my father (H. S. W.) "Then you have 
 seen your old friend Junius?" on which he replied, with very 
 marked emphasis: "To my certain knowledge, Francis never 
 wrote a single line of Junius.' " 
 
 This seems very strong evidence to me, as coming from 
 the elder Woodfall. The editors of the Memoirs of Sir Philip 
 Francis, in my opinion, are perfectly honest and fair in writ- 
 ing the book, but Mr. Taylor and H. R. Francis do all in 
 their power to discredit them, whenever they encounter any- 
 thing which does not accord with their side of the contro- 
 versy. 
 
 Mr. Leslie Stephens, an eminent critic, in "The Annual 
 Biography," Vol. IV, page 231. says: "Sir Philip Francis 
 ridiculed the idea of his being the author of the letters signed 
 Junius; he said: 'I have already written on that subject un- 
 til I am tired. I will write no more letters, answer no more 
 questions relative to it. If mankind are so obstinate as not 
 to believe what I have already said, I am not fool enough 
 to hiunble myself any more — I have done.' " 
 
 From all I have been able to discover on the subject, 
 Junius had no wife or family, or anyone else dependent upon 
 him, as he never mentioned either, in any of his letters, 
 which he most likely would have done in his Private Letters 
 to Mr. Woodfall. Therefore he was able to devote all his 
 time to study, accumulating facts, visiting Parliament to 
 hear what was going on there, and talking with eminent per- 
 sons in the Whig Party, who could post him upon the cur- 
 rent political events of the day, and in this wise equipping 
 himself for writing his mysterious letters. On the other hand 
 Francis was married at twenty-one years of age, and in a 
 few years was the father of six children, five girls and one 
 boy, with an invalid wife, which must have been a great 
 care and expense to him, and naturally absorbed much of 
 his thought and time in looking after, and providing for 
 their wants. Besides, he was a poor man, and dependent 
 upon what he called a "meager salary." He frequently 
 
PART II 97 
 
 complained of his constant work as clerk in the War Office. 
 Therefore he could have had no time to collect the necessary 
 facts and information of different kinds, which he was com- 
 pelled to have in order to prepare those very finished 
 political letters of Junius, besides carrying on his volimiinous 
 correspondence with Mr. Woodfall, and writing numerous 
 other letters, which he necessarily had to do, in reply to 
 those written by others about him. Besides, Francis re- 
 ceived no compensation for his letters, if he were Junius, 
 which was the well-known custom of the real author of The 
 Letters. The latter could afford it, because he was, at least 
 in easy circumstances, as shown by his writings. Further- 
 more, it appears to me that Francis could have done but 
 little studying, reading, or writing at home, especially at 
 night, when his family was around him. We all know that 
 the silent hours at night are the best for composing and 
 writing on any subject which requires time and thought. 
 We may reasonably presume that Junius wrote some of his 
 best letters at night, when all was quiet around him. 
 
 In one of his letters to Mr. Alex. Macrabie, his brother- 
 in-law, Vol. I, page 96 of the Francis Letters, he says: 
 "Domestic news is as insipid as usual. Children bawling, 
 servants fighting, my wife scolding, your mother and father 
 weeping, and Betty raving mad. This is the perpetual his- 
 tory of my family." His wife's mother and father lived with 
 him most of the time, and ''Betty" was his wife's cousin, 
 who also lived with them. 
 
 It seems that he was in a deplorable condition! In 
 another letter to Macrabie, page 105, on the subject of poli- 
 tics, he says: "We have politics enough, God knows, but as 
 I have not the honour to be entrusted with the secrets of 
 either party, I can give you nothing but what you will see 
 much more elegantly set forth in the newspapers. Truth 
 is out of the question. Each party says and believes just 
 what suits themselves, without decency or moderation, and 
 a neutral party is detested by both. A philosopher has no 
 more chance among them than a cat in hell." 
 
98 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 The foregoing letter and post-script are perfect fac- 
 similes of the handwriting of Junius, copied from one in the 
 front part of Vol. I of ''Junius by Woodfall," of Bohn's 
 Standard Library, and vouched for by the author. The 
 reader will perceive that the post-script is signed "C," 
 which is a recognized signature of Junius, supposed to stand 
 for "Candour." In the post-script he says: "I doubt wheth- 
 er I shall ever have the pleasure of knowing you." This 
 proves conclusively that Francis did not write the letter or 
 the post-script, because it is well-known, as I have before 
 said, that David Garrick, the great comedian, was an inti- 
 mate friend of Dr. PhiHp Francis, the father of Sir PhiHp, 
 The Doctor dedicated his play "Eugenia" to Garrick. Is 
 it reasonable that Sir PhiHp Francis should have written 
 such a severe letter to his father's friend? I cannot be- 
 lieve it. 
 
 The two foregoing letters of Sir Philip Francis, and an 
 extract from a letter of Junius, are fac-similes of the same 
 letters inserted by Mr. John Taylor in his book entitled: 
 "The Identity of Junius with a Distinguished Living Char- 
 acter Established," and are therefore vouched for by Mr. 
 Taylor, as correct copies of the originals. He reproduced 
 them in his book to prove the similarity between them, in 
 the handwriting, style, etc., of Francis and Junius. I insert 
 fac-similes of them in my book to prove the entire dissim- 
 ilarity between them. I can see no similarity whatever be- 
 tween them in handwriting, style or otherwise. The reader 
 can judge for himself. Observe the difference in the double 
 s's of the Francis and Junius letters and the numerous 
 capitals in the wrong places in the Francis Letters. 
 
 It appears that Francis was neutral in politics, and was 
 trusted by neither party. His letters bordered on silliness, 
 and were written by a man of ordinary ability. Remember 
 that they were written about the time Junius was writing 
 his letters, as one of them was a comment upon one of the 
 Junius Letters. 
 
 In order to do ample justice to my subject, I feel that 
 I must refute all the theories assumed by Mr. Taylor, H. R. 
 
PART 11 99 
 
 Francis and their followers, in their attempts to prove that 
 Sir Philip Francis was the author of the Junius Letters, al- 
 though in so doing, I may weary my readers. However, I 
 will be as brief as possible. As Mr. Taylor and H. R. Fran- 
 cis dwell particularly on the similarity of the handwritings 
 of Junius and Sir Philip Francis, I will here adduce further 
 and other proofs to show that their handwritings were not 
 similar, but, on the contrary, were totally dissimilar. 
 
 Sir Harry Nicholas, a ripe scholar and eminent critic, 
 in his "Analysis of Junius and his Works," says, on the 
 subject of handwritings: "It is as impossible for a person 
 to disguise his handwriting, in an effectual manner, as to 
 change his features, or his voice, unless he be a professed 
 mimic, or ventriloquist." 
 
 Let me ask the reader to try to disguise his handwriting 
 for only an hour, and he will, I believe, find out that it is 
 almost impossible to give uniformity to the size and angles 
 of his letters, and make the same pressure on his pen in 
 shading his letters all alike. He will soon discover what a 
 strain on his mind it will prove, and on the muscles of his 
 hand, always to be on the alert in order that he may not 
 fall back to his natural handwriting. If this be so for one 
 hour's writing, what would it have been to Junius in carry- 
 ing on his very large correspondence of four or five years 
 with Mr. Woodfall, besides all his other writings? It was 
 simply impossible for him to have disguised his handwriting 
 all that time. // the reader will examine the copies of the 
 writings of these two persons, which I have inserted herein, 
 I believe he will soon be convinced that there is not the 
 least similiarity between them; that of Francis, who had 
 been a clerk in the War Office for about twelve years, is a 
 bold, round, clerical hand, of the ordinary size generally in 
 use on public records; while that of Junius was a very small 
 hand, with the letters very closely written, and very angular 
 in shape, with many more letters to the line, besides, they 
 are perpendicular; nor is there any shading on them, which 
 is shown in Francis's writing. The reason for his writing 
 such a small and close hand, no doubt, was, that he could 
 
100 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 write so much more rapidly, and could get so much more on 
 a page, which was a great saving of his time and his paper. 
 I do not know how it is with others, who have a great deal 
 of writing to do, but I find that I have fallen into the same 
 habit of writing a very small and a very close hand, although 
 my natural hand is rather large and not closely written. 
 A relative said to me a few days ago, that she never saw 
 any one who could put so much on a page. 
 
 Those theorists who advocate the Francis side of the 
 question, and especially Mr. Taylor, who first '^discovered'' 
 Francis, about forty years after the Letters were written, 
 were then driven to some other alternative to get around this 
 obstacle, which confronted them, and therefore asserted the 
 novel theory that all of Junius's Letters were written in a dis- 
 guised hand, without giving any reason why he should have 
 done so. He was wholly unknown, therefpre how could any 
 one possibly know what kind of a hand he wrote? Then 
 why should he have put himself to all the extra trouble and 
 inconvenience of disguising his hand, during a period of 
 four or five years, even if it were possible for him to have 
 done so? Mr. Fraser Rae, an eminent writer on the subject, 
 says: "Mr. George Woodfall, and a writing master of note, by 
 the name of Tomkins, in the City of London, asserted that 
 Junius's handwriting was not feigned." See "Athenaenum." 
 
 After Mr. Taylor realized that his theories, first as to 
 the similarity of the handwritings of Junius and Francis, and 
 second, that Junius disguised his handwriting, could not be 
 sustained, he conceived the idea that Junius had all his 
 letters copied by some one. This is the weakest invention 
 of them all. In the first place, the question arises. Why 
 should he have had his letters copied? No one knew who 
 he was, therefore, it mattered not whether his letters were 
 copied, or in his own handwriting. A little reflection will 
 convince anyone that Junius had a very strong reason for 
 not having them copied, as it would have led, almost cer- 
 tainly, to his detection. Could he possibly have foimd a 
 person whom he coiild trust with the secret? It would have 
 been an easy thing for the copyist to have gotten quite a 
 
PART II 101 
 
 little fortune from the Government, by disclosing the name 
 of Junius, and Junius would have never known of the treach- 
 ery of the confidante. The King and all his minions were 
 on the alert to discover this mysterious writer, and spared 
 no expense in trjdng to find him; and had they succeeded, it 
 would have cost him his liberty, and possibly his life. Then 
 why should he have taken such a risk for nothing? The 
 idea is preposterous. In a letter to Mr. Woodfall, herein 
 before referred to, he says: "I should not survive a dis- 
 covery three days, or, if I did, they would attaint me by 
 bill." 
 
 The Francis Letters were compiled by Beta Francis, a 
 granddaughter of Sir Philip Francis, and Eliza Karey, in 
 two large volumes, both of which I have carefully read, in 
 order to see if Francis had left any writings to show that 
 he was the author of the Letters; but I discovered nothing 
 whatever which even intimated that he had any connection 
 with them. They are singularly free from anything touching 
 the subject. The editors of the Francis Letters induced a 
 Mr. C. F. Karey, possibly the husband of Eliza Karey, to 
 write an essay on the subject of the authorship of the Junius 
 Letters, which they inserted in front of the first volume, to 
 which I invite the attention of the reader. On pages 22, 24, 
 25 and 26, he tries to prove by assertions and arguments 
 merely, with no facts, that Francis was Junius. I have 
 carefully read the whole essay of thirty-two pages. He did 
 not seem at all familiar with the political ideas of Francis, 
 his associations, handwriting, etc. I have no doubt that he 
 did his utmost on behalf of Francis, but, in my opinion, 
 "he failed to make out his case," as lawyers would say. 
 
 It is beyond the scope of this volimie to include many 
 letters of Francis, which go to show that he always sided 
 with the Royalists in every contention with the American 
 Colonies; I will refer my readers to some of them, vide 
 Vol. I, pp. 72, 75, 96, 103, 106, 112, up to p. 148, but I will 
 quote from one letter to his friend Mr. Allen, on the subject 
 of taxing the Colonies, in any and every manner the Eng- 
 lish Government thought proper; in which doctrine, Francis 
 
102 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 coincided with them. It is well known that Junius, even in 
 his first political letter, took exactly the opposite ground, 
 and was always the staunch friend of the Americans. 
 
 Francis, in writing to his friend Allen in regard to a 
 question which he says ever agitated the English Parliament, 
 says that they had a right to tax the American Colonies 
 in any way they chose. In Vol. I of Francis's Letters, page 
 72, he says: "Since Mr. Pitt thought fit to declare himself 
 so strongly in favour of the Claims of the Americans: It is 
 true that his opinion and manner of declaring it, were uni- 
 versally condemned by every Englishman above the rank of 
 a Blacksmith Yesterday the point was sol- 
 emnly argued by both Houses The Debate lay 
 
 between the two great pillars of the law. Lords Chief Justice 
 
 Camden and Mansfield The Debate took its 
 
 rise from a motion made by the Duke of Grafton as follows: 
 'That the King's Majesty, by and with the advice and con- 
 sent of the Lords spiritual and temporal and Commons of 
 Great Britain in Parliament assembled, had, hath, and of 
 right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws 
 and statutes of sufficient tone and validity to bind the Colo- 
 nies and people of America subjects to the Crown of Great 
 Britain, in all cases whatsoever.' .... Lord Camden 
 
 opposed the motion When Lord Mansfield had 
 
 made his reply, it was so full, so learned, so logical, and in 
 every respect so true, that not an atom of doubt remained 
 in the breasts of his hearers." 
 
 Furthermore, I will call attention to the bad spelling 
 of Francis, vide Vol. I, pp. 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 of "The 
 Francis Letters." His spelling was very inaccurate, to-wit: 
 "Ally" for alley, "Stile" for style, "Compleat" for complete, 
 "Risque" for risk, "Encrease" for increase, "Untill" for un- 
 til, "pacquet" for packet, and most words ending in "1," he 
 used "11," as "wrongful!," shameful!, " etc., besides numer- 
 ous others. He used a great many capital letters in the 
 middle of his sentences, vide the same references as above, 
 and pages 56 to 66. This goes to show that he was not well 
 educated. The fact is, that he did not have the opportunity, 
 
PART II 103 
 
 as he was taken from school when about fifteen years old, to 
 assist his father in supporting the family. 
 
 On the contrary, Junius spelled very correctly, and his 
 capitals were all in their proper places, which show that he 
 was a man of good education. H. R. Francis relies on an- 
 other theory to prove that Sir Philip Francis was Junius. 
 It appears that a cousin of Sir Philip, by the name of Tilgh- 
 man, was very much in love with a Miss Giles, and requested 
 Sir Philip to assist in his suit. He wrote and dedicated some 
 very poor verses of poetry to the young lady, which were 
 copied by Tilghman, and sent to her in his own name, which 
 can be seen on page 82 of ''Junius Revealed," by H. R. 
 Francis. On the envelope in which he sent them, were writ- 
 ten words in a different handwriting, which is unexplained 
 and which H. R. Francis insists were in the handwriting of 
 Junius. 
 
 I will refer the reader to pages 83 and 84 in "Junius 
 Revealed" for a comparison of the handwriting, if he has 
 the opportunity of doing so, as I have carefully done. I be- 
 lieve he will coincide with me in the opinion that it is a 
 very poor counterfeit of the handwriting of Junius. This 
 affair, in my opinion, was "trumped up" by the author of 
 "Junius Revealed," as no reference to the Giles episode is 
 made in Mr. Taylor's book, nor is it even referred to in the 
 "Memoirs of Francis." The authors of both those books 
 would have commented upon it, if they could have, in any 
 way, conceived that there was the least merit in it. In fact, 
 H. R. Francis bitterly complains that the editors of the 
 "Memoirs of Francis" did not insert in their work a written 
 statement which he furnished them about the poetry sent 
 to Miss Giles, of which they took no notice. See page 9 of 
 "Junius Revealed." 
 
 Another argument used by Mr. Taylor on his subject, 
 was that Junius said in one of his letters: "I wish Lord 
 Holland may acquit himself with honour." In order that the 
 reader may comprehend the above quotation, I will explain 
 it. Lord Holland was the Right Honorable Henry Fox, and 
 was Paymaster General of the King's Army. He appears to 
 
104 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 have been delinquent in his accounts with the Government, in 
 a large sum, and was being pressed for a settlement. This is 
 what Junius refers to above. Lord Holland was the father 
 of the celebrated orator and statesman, Charles James Fox, 
 who was somewhat in unison with Junius in his political 
 views; and no doubt, he wanted to make a friend of him, in 
 his contest against the Grafton Ministry, in preference to 
 making him his enemy by criticising his father. Lord Holland, 
 who was then in trouble with the Government. Besides, at 
 that time it had not been proven that he was a defaulter to 
 the Government, as he insisted that the reason why he was 
 behind in his settlement, was that he had been unable to 
 get returns from his sub-paymasters, many of whom were 
 a great distance from London. Junius may have felt that 
 it would hardly be fair to openly criticise him under the 
 circumstances. Besides, when Junius made a charge, he al- 
 ways had the facts to sustain him. But, Mr. Taylor says 
 that the reason why Junius said: ""I wish Lord Holland 
 may acquit himself with honour," was that Francis, whom 
 he now conceives to be Junius, had received a "little clerk- 
 ship" when a boy, in the office of Secretary of State, through 
 the influence of Lord Holland; and that he and Dr. Francis 
 were friends. It strikes me that this obligation of gratitude 
 to Lord Holland, after the lapse of so many years, amounted 
 to very little, when we come to consider how very ungrateful 
 he was to all his father's friends, and to his own benefactors; 
 that is, if Francis were Junius, as contended for by Mr. 
 Taylor. 
 
 Let us now consider who would most probably have 
 known something of the secret, if Francis had been the au- 
 thor of the Letters. His father would certainly have had 
 some inkling of it. The editor of "Junius by Woodfall" in 
 Vol. n, p. 59 says: "That he states it on the best authority , 
 that Dr. Francis, the father of Sir Philip, was entirely un- 
 connected with the writings of Junius, and he was as much 
 in the dark respecting the author, as any reader of the 'Pub- 
 lic Advertiser.' " He further says: "This information has 
 been kindly communicated to me by the grandson of Sir 
 
PART II 105 
 
 Philip Francis, upon the authority of a letter of Dr. Francis 
 in his possession." Dr. Francis was a very literary man, 
 and a fine writer, and could have been of great assistance to 
 Sir Philip in writing the Letters, had he been the author. 
 Park and Merivale, who were the editors of the "Memoirs 
 of Sir Philip Francis," on pages 11 and 12 say: "Late 
 in life, at seventy-five. Sir Philip married a second wife, an 
 old maid, who survived him many years. She was an old 
 acquaintance of his, and was inspired with the utmost affec- 
 tion and admiration for him. She was also [he says, 
 It is with pain the editor indulges in so ungallant an avowal 
 respecting the impression she left on him] one of the most 
 garrulous, credulous, inaccurate and in every way perplexing 
 of reminiscents." And yet Macaulay seemed to rely implic- 
 itly on what she said about Sir Philip and his literary works, 
 and especially about the Junius Letters. In her letter to 
 Lord Campbell, after Francis's death, she said: "He was 
 very anxious to avoid either assent or denial [that he was 
 Junius], lest he might implicate truth or honour, both of 
 which he was very jealous of committing." Of course he 
 was; as I have said before, he was an honest man, and 
 would not have told an untruth about it, for the honor of 
 being regarded as the author of the Letters. Besides, if he 
 had laid a false claim to the authorship, he would naturally 
 have feared detection. 
 
 There is no doubt in my opinion, from her letter to 
 Lord Campbell, that Francis equivocated to her about it. 
 He was a very vain man, and would have enjoyed the repu- 
 tation of being the author, very much. No doubt when she 
 "tackled" him on the subject, and accused him of being the 
 author, he did not deny "The soft impeachment." Had he 
 really been the author of the Letters, is it not natural that 
 he should have imparted the secret to his wife and his father, 
 under a solemn injunction of secrecy? If he could not trust 
 them, whom could he trust with the secret? Besides, this 
 was about fifty years after the Junius Letters were written, 
 when all public excitement about them had subsided, and 
 there was no danger whatever of a prosecution being entered 
 
106 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 against the author, by the Government. Therefore, as I 
 have before said, his biographers, Messrs. Park and Merivale, 
 say: "If Francis was really the author, why did he not 
 come out publicly, and claim the distinguished honour?" It 
 would have rendered his name immortal! History informs 
 us that he was a very vain man, and I do not believe that 
 he could have died contented without revealing the secret. 
 No one would have been prouder of this great distinction 
 than Sir Philip Francis, had he been the real author. Be- 
 sides, he could have realized quite a fortune, by publishing 
 The Letters over his own name. There was but one reason 
 why he did not make the announcement, and that was, he 
 knew that he could not truthfully and conscientiously claim 
 the authorship. As I have already said, he was an highly 
 honorable man, and would not have claimed an honor to 
 which he was not entitled. Besides, he knew that even if 
 he had the temerity to make the claim, the real author 
 would probably have exposed his identity, in asserting a 
 false claim to the honor, which would have been the ruin of 
 Mr. Francis. But "Truth is mighty and will prevail." The 
 unquestionable fact is: Francis was not the author. Messrs. 
 Park and Merivale, editors of the "Memoirs of Francis" 
 were his friends, but they were strictly truthful all the way 
 through the work of two large volumes, which I have care- 
 fully read. In Volume I, page 6, they say: "His acknowl- 
 edged writings, though numerous, are of inferior interest, be- 
 ing reprints of speeches, and pamphlets on subjects of tem- 
 porary importance." On page 9, Vol. I, they say: "It is 
 important to observe that the Francis papers, voluminous 
 as they are, contain no word of confession, on his part, as 
 to the authorship of Junius, nor do they contain, so far as 
 we have been able to discover, any direct evidence of it 
 whatever." 
 
 I will make a sketch of the private life of Sir Philip 
 Francis, in order to contrast it with that of Junius. As I 
 have already said, Junius was very grave, sedate and even 
 austere in all of his writings. He never indulges in any lev- 
 ity whatever. No jokes or anecdotes were ever employed by 
 
 « 
 
PART II 107 
 
 him. He is dignified throughout his works, and confines 
 himself mostly to facts and solid arguments, interspersed 
 with other attributes which are highly distinctive of his 
 character. Frivolity and levity appear all the way through 
 "The Francis Letters"; some instances of which, I already have, 
 and others, I will reproduce herein; but by no means all of 
 them, as they are too numerous for the size of this volume. 
 I have said before, he had a wife and six children. She was 
 almost a confirmed invalid, and spent much of her time at 
 Bath, a seaside resort, for the recuperation of her health, 
 leaving the children with him, as is shown in some of his 
 letters. Her health was somewhat improved before he went 
 as one of the Commissioners to India. He left her and the 
 children in London, and was absent from them several years. 
 This gave him an opportunity to indulge in some of his wild 
 propensities, of which he seems to have availed himself. 
 He soon got in the habit of imbibing too freely, and became 
 quite a gambler, as betrayed by his letters. See Vol. I, pp. 
 223, 224, 225 of the "Memoirs of Francis." 
 
 PHILIP FRANCIS TO HIS WIFE 
 (Page 158) 
 "My dearest Betty: 
 
 I snatch one moment, being all that I can spare from 
 feasting, singing, gaming, riding, and sleeping in a bed as 
 wide as our best parlour, to tell you that I perform all the 
 offices of life above mentioned to admiration. 
 
 "Lady Clive has it much at heart that her guests sleep 
 well, and the beds are incomparable. This, you know, is a 
 capital circinnstance. I am just risen from a monstrous 
 dinner with twenty-three of Lord Clive 's free-voters at 
 Bishop's Castle. Lady Clive drinks your health every day, 
 not forgetting the bairns." 
 
 Most of his other letters are pretty much of the same 
 character. 
 
108 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 Sir Philip Francis left London for Bengal, in India, 
 about the 10th day of June, 1774, as one of the Commis- 
 sioners. On arriving there, he set up quite an estabHsh- 
 ment in the way of a residence, according to what he says 
 in one of his letters on the subject. 
 
 PHILIP FRANCIS TO JOHN BOURKE 
 
 Calcutta, March 20, 1776 
 
 "Here I live, Master of the finest house in Bengal, with 
 a hundred servants, a country house and spacious gardens, 
 horses and carriages — yet so perverse is my nature that the 
 devil take me if I would not exchange the best dinner and 
 best company I ever saw in Bengal for a beefsteak and clar- 
 et at the Horn and let me choose my company. 
 
 "An extraordinary stroke of fortune has made me inde- 
 pendent. Two years more will probably raise me to affluent 
 circumstances. ' ' 
 
 Writing to Mr. D. Godfrey, he explains what the "extra- 
 ordinary stroke of fortune" had been: "You must know, 
 my friend, that on one blessed day of the present year of our 
 Lord (1776), I had won about 20,000 pounds at Whist. It is 
 reduced to about 12,000 pounds, and I now never play but 
 for trifles, and that only once a week." 
 
 His biographer says: "Philip Francis's life . in India 
 had, upon the whole, been a disappointing one; even as 
 early as in the year 1775, only two years after his arrival, 
 he wrote to Mr. D'Oyle: 'I am unable to express to you 
 how weary I am of my situation.' " 
 
 From the foregoing letter he seems to have spent much 
 of his time in riotous Hving, although he was getting a salary 
 of ten thousand pounds, equal to $50,000 per annimi, for 
 services to the Government. It was not long before a friction 
 ensued between him and Warren Hastings, the head of the 
 Commission. The breach kept widening between them until 
 all social intercourse was cut off, and there were frequent 
 clashes between them in their official capacities, which in- 
 jurec? the services they were sent there to perform. Finally 
 
PART II 109 
 
 the mutual ill feeling reached its climax. Hastings accused 
 Francis of not telling the truth about some matter, and Fran- 
 cis challenged him to fight a duel. 
 
 "The opposition which was made by Francis to the 
 proceedings on the Jumma brought to a crisis the animosi- 
 ties which the struggle between him and the Governor 
 General had so long maintained. On July 20th, 1780, Mr. 
 Hastings, in answering a minute of Francis, declared, 'I do 
 not trust to his promise of candour, convinced that he is in- 
 capable of it. I judge of his public conduct by my experi- 
 ence of his private, which I have found to be devoid of 
 truth and honour.' The ground of these severe expressions, 
 the Governor General stated to be a solemn agreement form- 
 ed between him and Mr. Francis, which Mr. Francis had 
 broken." Page 192, Vol. II in "Francis's Letters.' " 
 
 PHILIP FRANCIS'S JOURNAL 
 
 "August 15th, 1780 
 
 "Revenue Board. When it [the council] was over I took 
 him (Hastings) into a private room and read to him the fol- 
 lowing words: 'Mr. Hastings, I am preparing a formal an- 
 swer to the paper you sent me last night. As soon as it 
 can be finished I shall lay it before you; but you must be 
 sensible, sir, that no answer I can give to the matter of that 
 paper can be adequate to the dishonour done me by the 
 terms you have made use of. You have left me no alter- 
 native but to demand personal satisfaction of you for the 
 affronts you have offered me.' 
 
 "As soon as I had read the preceding words to Mr. 
 Hastings, he said he expected the demand, and was ready 
 to answer it. We then agreed to meet on the morning of 
 Thursday the 17th. I told him that I should desire Colonel 
 Watson our chief Ingenier to attend me. 
 
 "Mention the affair to Watson, who happened to dine 
 with me today — he agrees to provide pistols, in order to pre- 
 vent suspicion. 
 
110 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 "16th. Employed in settling my affairs, burning papers, 
 etc., in case of the worst. Dull work. This evening Mr. 
 Hastings orders his minute to be recorded. 
 
 "17th. Arrive at the ground near Belvedere, near an 
 hour before Mr. H., who comes about 6 with Colonel Pearce. 
 Watson marks out a distance of 14 common paces: the same he 
 said at which Mr. Fox and Mr. Adam stood. My pistol 
 missing fire, I changed it. We then fired together, and I 
 was wounded and fell. I thought my backbone was broke, 
 of course that I could not survive it. After the first confu- 
 sion had subsided, and after I had suffered great inconveni- 
 ence from being carried to the wrong place, I was at last 
 conveyed to Major Tolley's house on a bed. The surgeons 
 arrived in about an hour and a half from the time I was 
 wounded, and cut out the ball and bled me twice in the 
 course of the day. Mr. Hastings sends to know when he 
 may visit me." Page 308, "Francis's Letters." 
 
 After Francis had recovered sufficiently from his severe 
 wound, he returned to London on October 18th, 1781. 
 
 "With the return of Francis to England his official life 
 ended. It had been a singularly checquered career; violent, 
 ambitious, but in the end unsuccessful. 
 
 "He returned to England an unpopular and discounte- 
 nanced man. The Governor General, whom he had so 
 fiercely opposed, had hosts of friends, both in Parliament 
 and the India House, and a considerable amount of favour 
 with the pubHc." .... Page 203, Vol. II, "Francis's 
 Letters." 
 
 No one spoke to him on his return except the King and 
 Edmund Burke. 
 
 Afterwards, he was elected as a Member of the House of 
 Commons from Isle of Wright. Articles of impeachment 
 were filed against Warren Hastings in Parliament, for mal- 
 feasance in office. While in Parliament, Francis took a very 
 active part in this prosecution. He even tried to get on a 
 committee to which the question was referred, but it was 
 thought best to leave him off, on account of his strong pre- 
 judices against Hastings. The Committee, however, availed 
 
PART II 111 
 
 themselves of his services in getting up evidence in making 
 out their report. 
 
 After the Committee returned their report, Francis made 
 some violent speeches on the subject. Others were also 
 made by different members of Parliament, but after several 
 years of contention, Hastings was acquitted, which was very 
 mortifying to Francis. 
 
 Although he took a very active part in Parhament, and 
 made speeches on many questions before them, he did not 
 make much reputation. His biographers, in the "Memoirs 
 of Francis," have this to say: "His life was a failure." Lord 
 Thurlow said: "That it would have been a fortunate thing 
 for England if the vessel which took Francis, Monson and 
 Clavering to India, as Commissioners, had sunk before reach- 
 ing there." Vol. II, page 268, "Memoirs of Sir Philip Fran- 
 cis." He lived to quite an old age. 
 
 It would be irksome to me to recapitulate the many rea- 
 sons which I have assigned to show that Francis was not 
 Junius, even if I had the space in this book; besides, I fear 
 it would be tedious for the reader to go over them again. 
 Therefore, I will revert to only one of them, which, I firmly 
 believe is perfectly conclusive of the question at issue. I re- 
 fer TO THE LETTER FROM SiR PhILIP FrANCIS HIMSELF, AD- 
 DRESSED TO THE Editor of the Monthly Magazine, in 
 
 ANSWER to his LETTER ON THE SUBJECT, TO FrANCIS, WHICH 
 
 IS AS follows: "The great civility of your letter in- 
 duces ME TO ANSWER IT, WHICH, IF I WOULD REFER MERELY 
 TO ITS SUBJECT MATTER, I SHOULD HAVE DECLINED. WHETH- 
 ER YOU WILL ASSIST IN GIVING CURRENCY TO A SILLY, 
 
 MALIGNANT FALSEHOOD is a question for your own 
 
 DISCRETION. To ME IT IS A MATTER OF PERFECT INDIFFER- 
 ENCE. 
 
 "I AM YOURS, ETC., 
 
 P. FRANCIS." 
 
 Leaving out the overwhelming proofs which I have 
 added from cold facts and circumstances and from convinc- 
 ing arguments of the very best critics and ablest writers on 
 
112 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 the subject, I would be willing to ''rest my case," as the law- 
 yers say, on the foregoing letter of Mr. Francis to the 
 Editor of the "Monthly Magazine." 
 
 I cannot conceive how any fair minded person could 
 possibly construe the above answer to mean anything else 
 than a positive and unequivocal No! that he was not the 
 author of the Junius Letters. 
 
 Before quitting this branch of my subject, I will make 
 a very apt quotation from Junius: "It would be 'piling reluc- 
 tant quarto upon soHd folio' were I to say anything more, 
 or adduce other facts on this intricate subject; besides, I do 
 not wish to over-burden my readers with any superfluous 
 matter. Quantum sufficitJ' 
 
 I have now taken up and carefully considered all the 
 argimients, assertions and surmises made by Mr. Taylor, 
 H. R. Francis and other commentators on the subject (they 
 produced no facts), in their vain attempts to prove that 
 Sir Philip Francis was the author of the Junius Letters, and 
 I believe that I have successfully refuted every one of them. 
 Therefore, I will conclude Part II, and commence the dis- 
 cussion of Part III of my subject. 
 
PART III 
 
PART III.— PAINE 
 
 I now come to Part III of my subject, in which I sug- 
 gest the name of Thomas Paine, the immortal patriot, states- 
 man and philosopher, as the real author of the "Junius 
 Letters," who did as much with his pen as our own dear 
 Washington did with his sword, to achieve the Independence 
 of America. It has truly been said, by a great author, that 
 "The pen is mightier than the sword." 
 
 Before entering into the discussion of this branch of my 
 subject, I thought it might interest my readers to learn 
 when, where and how I came to "fix upon" Thomas Paine 
 as the author of those remarkable Letters. In 1853, an 
 uncle of mine, who lived in Indiana, visited our old home 
 in Virginia, and while there he invited me to return with 
 him for a visit of six months, which I accepted, as I had 
 just finished my education in the High School, and wanted 
 a vacation before entering college. On my arrival there, I 
 found that he had a large and well selected library, and be- 
 ing very fond of reading, I spent much of my time with the 
 books, while he was out on his plantation, attending to his 
 large farming interests. He called my attention to the 
 "Junius Letters," which I read with much interest and pleas- 
 ure. I then read several other books, and finally picked out 
 the "Political Works of Thomas Paine," which I eagerly 
 devoured, as they were a revelation to me, as a boy about 
 eighteen years old. Having carefully read them through, 
 it occurred to me that I had recently read something very 
 similar in style, and in subject matter; finally it dawned 
 upon me that it was the "Junius Letters." I then commenc- 
 ed to review them, and quickly discovered the great simi- 
 larity of the style and subjects in both works. I soon be- 
 came convinced that they were written by one and the same 
 
116 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 person, who, in my opinion, was Thomas Paine. I also 
 perceived that they had almost the same objects in view. 
 
 Junius attempted to revolutionize the English Govern- 
 ment, in which he partly succeeded. Paine attempted to 
 revolutionize the American Colonies, about two years later, 
 in which he entirely succeeded; by his masterly pen and 
 otherwise, he contributed greatly towards emancipating them 
 from the tyranny of Great Britain, and establishing them as 
 "The free and Independent United States of America." 
 
 The chronology of Junius and Paine, their residence, 
 etc., coincided exactly; and the age of Mr. Paine was suit- 
 able for both of those remarkable achievements. These facts 
 and circumstances made a strong and lasting impression on 
 my mind at the time, and in after years I began to 
 think of writing something on the subject, whenever I could 
 find the timcy which did not occur until recently, when I 
 took up the subject to employ some of my leisure hours, 
 and for my own gratification, rather than for the emolu- 
 ments which I might receive from it. I commenced to gath- 
 er all the facts and information within my reach, in order 
 to prove my contention that Thomas Paine was the author 
 of those very celebrated Letters. I called on Brentanos, ex- 
 tensive book-sellers in New York City, and gave them a list 
 of the books which I needed, a few of which they had on 
 hand, but most of them, I was. informed, would have to be 
 procured from abroad, especially from London, where the 
 Junius Letters were written and published. They proceeded 
 to fill my order, and after some time, succeeded in finding 
 them, at considerable expense, as nearly all of them were 
 out of print, and had to be procured from private persons. 
 A copy of "Junius Identified by Taylor" was in a dilapi- 
 dated condition when I received it; both of the backs were 
 missing, so I had to have it rebound. Price of book, only 
 $6.00! 
 
 Before going into further discussion of this subject, I 
 wish to state that I am perfectly aware of the existence of a 
 small book, called "Junius Unmasked," in which the author, 
 who does not give his name, endeavors to prove that Thomas 
 
THOMAS PAINE AT ABOUT 38 YEARS 
 
 Copied from a photograph taken from a life-size waxen effigy made by the 
 
 Eden Musee Company, in New York, for the Museum of the 
 
 Thomas Paine National Historical Association, at 
 
 the New Rochelle, New York. 
 
PART III 117 
 
 Paine was the author of the Junius Letters, and also, of 
 the Declaration of Independence. Right here, let me assure 
 my readers, on honor, that I never heard of, or saw the 
 book until several months after I commenced writing my 
 discussion on the subject, when, accidently, I noticed it in 
 an index of authors in the "Poetical and Miscellaneous 
 Works of Thomas Paine," which I was using in writing my 
 book. Immediately I wrote Brentanos, book-sellers in New 
 York, to send it to me, which they did. I found, on exami- 
 nation, that it was written in 1872, and was published in the 
 same year, by John Gray & Co., in Washington, D. C. 
 From what I have written above, it will be perceived that 
 I claim to have discovered that Thomas Paine was the au- 
 thor of the Letters, in 1853, which was nineteen years before 
 "Jiuiius Unmasked" was written. I will further state that 
 I never had any information or intimation, from any source 
 whatever, that Paine was Junius. Therefore, the discovery 
 of Paine was original with me. I will refrain from making 
 any criticism on the above named book. 
 
 Before I commenced writing this book, I read everything 
 within my reach on the subject, and made very copious 
 notes as I proceeded, which took me over a year. After- 
 wards I spent several weeks in analysing what I had read, 
 and the notes which I had taken, in order that I might 
 make no mistake, before beginning the discussion of my 
 subject. As I progressed, it became more and more appar- 
 ent to me, that I was right in my conjecture as to the real 
 author of the Junius Letters, until it appeared as clear and 
 straight as a ray of light to my mind. Not until then did 
 I begin the preparation of this volume. Inasmuch as there 
 is no positive proof of the identity of Junius, my readers 
 will hardly expect to find that continuity in my discussion 
 which they would find, were the conditions otherwise. In 
 the first place, I feel constrained to give a short biographical 
 sketch of my real author of the Letters: 
 
 He was bom at Thetford, England, not far from Lon- 
 don, on the 29th day of January, 1737; one author says the 
 29th day of January, 1736; his father was a man of fine 
 
118 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 character, of a good education, and of very liberal intelli- 
 gence. He belonged to the Society of Friends, the Quakers; 
 his mother was a Miss Frances Cocke, daughter of a respect- 
 able attorney of Thetford. Young Paine was in due time 
 confirmed by the Bishop of Norwich, in the Episcopal 
 Church, of which his mother was a member; he was edu- 
 cated at Thetford Grammar School, in which he was taught 
 all the usual branches of learning, including the Latin lan- 
 guage, in all of which he became quite proficient. His biog- 
 rapher says that he received a "good moral education, and 
 a tolerable stock of useful learning from his father." Young 
 Paine improved his opportunity in literature, and became 
 very fond of reading the best political authors; he was espe- 
 cially fond of astronomy and geography. His father was a 
 stay-maker, that is, a manufacturer of cordage, then exten- 
 sively used in making ship sails for vessels on the coast, in 
 which business young Paine assisted him, at intervals of 
 time. When about eighteen years old, he went to London 
 and entered into business with a Mr. Morris, a noted stay- 
 maker, in which he soon became an adept, and followed it 
 quite successfully for a few years. Afterwards he went into 
 the same business for himself, at Sandwich, in Kent, Eng- 
 land, in which he prospered very considerably, but it gave 
 him no time to cultivate his literary taste. Later on, he 
 received an appointment as Exciseman under the English 
 Government, which gave him a great deal of leisure for 
 reading, studying and writing, which he improved to the 
 best advantage. 
 
 The fact is, that Robert Bums, the great Scottish poet, 
 was likewise an Exciseman, which gave him time to write 
 most of his beautiful poems and letters. The Excisemen of 
 England then numbered several thousand, and there was 
 considerable dissatisfaction among them as to their compen- 
 sation in the business. They soon recognized the literary 
 ability of their associate, Thomas Paine, and induced him 
 to prepare a petition to Parliament "To have the state of 
 their salaries taken into consideration," which he did in a 
 very able and elaborate style. See page 79 of the "Poetical 
 
PART m 119 
 
 and Miscellaneous Works of Thomas Paine." Not long after 
 presenting this petition to Parliament, Paine was dismissed 
 by the Government from the service as Exciseman. No 
 public reason was ever assigned for his dismissal. It has 
 been said by a clever author, and we may reasonably con- 
 clude, that it was on account of the petition for an increase 
 of their salaries, which, if raised only in a moderate amount 
 to each Exciseman, would result in a very large simi in the 
 aggregate for several thousand persons. Not long after 
 his dismissal from the service, he made an application to the 
 Government to be re-instated, a copy of which, in part, is 
 as follows: 
 
 PETITION TO THE BOARD OF EXCISE 
 
 "Honourable Sirs: 
 
 The time I enjoyed my former commission was short 
 and unfortunate — an officer only a single year. No com- 
 plaint of the least dishonesty, or intemperance ever appeared 
 against me; and if I am so happy as to succeed in this very 
 humble petition, I will endeavour that my future conduct 
 shall as much engage your Honor's approbation, as my 
 former has merited your displeasure. 
 
 "I am your Honor's most dutiful, humble servant, 
 
 THOMAS PAINE." 
 London, July 3, 1766. 
 
 Shortly thereafter he received a new commission, which 
 he held for some little time. After leaving the Excise, he 
 taught in a female Seminary in London, about two years. 
 It would interest any one very much to read all he had to 
 say to Parliament about raising the salaries of the Excise- 
 men. It embraces many pages, and his argtiments are very 
 lucid and cogent. 
 
 Paine wrote a number of other articles on various sub- 
 jects discussed, while he lived in London; and were I only 
 to name them, they would cover almost a page, all of which 
 may be seen in a book of 460 pages, entitled ''Poetical and 
 Miscellaneous Works of Thomas Paine." It also contains 
 some excellent pieces of poetry written by him. 
 
120 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 I will recite, for the benefit of the reader, a few of the 
 most important subjects on which he wrote, and endeared 
 himself to the hearts of the American people, viz: "Com- 
 mon Sense," "The American Crisis," and "Rights of Man," 
 "A Peace Congress of all Nations," "Coast Defences," "A 
 National Bank," etc. He was the intimate friend and ad- 
 viser of Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Monroe, and other 
 leaders in the cause of American independence. 
 
 Before going further into the discussion of this part of 
 my subject, I will copy the Preface to a very old volume, 
 published in 1826, by Peter Roynold, Tannatt & Company, 
 at Springfield, Massachusetts, entitled, "Political Works of 
 Thomas Paine." This volimie I regard as the most reliable 
 and authentic of any that I have seen, because it was pub- 
 lished while the life, character and writings of Thomas Paine 
 were fresh in the minds of the people. 
 
 PREFACE TO THE BOOK 
 
 "The primary object and design of the publisher of this 
 work is to awaken the attention of the American people, and 
 to enable them to form a just view of the character and 
 political labours of* the immortal Thomas Paine, one of the 
 principal founders of the American Republic. Had the gen- 
 erous and successful efforts of the illustrious author of 
 'Common Sense' been wanting, it is probable that our be- 
 loved country would have been, at this time, groaning under 
 the sickly and senseless pageantry of monarchy, instead of 
 enjoying the choicest blessings of liberty. 
 
 "The publisher most respectfully recommends to the 
 American citizen generally, and to the youth of our country 
 particularly, to peruse with feelings of the deepest interest, 
 the political works of the late Thomas Paine. They will 
 find in them a most valuable treasure: a text-book for them- 
 selves and their children. By such a procedure only, can 
 they justly appreciate the invaluable political services of 
 their great and good benefactor. 
 
 . "No well regulated mind can fail to reverence the man 
 who first taught their fathers the important political truth. 
 
THOMAS PAINE AT ABOUT 56 YEARS 
 
 From a drawing by Gaspard after the celebrated painting by Romney. 
 
 "The World is My Coutitry; 
 
 To Do Good My Religion." 
 
 — Thomas Paine. 
 
PART III 121 
 
 that 'Kings are hut men, and not unfrequently, the very 
 worst of men.' The man therefore, who is ungrateful to the 
 being whose potent pen dispelled the mists of prejudice, and 
 electrified our country with the love of independence; and 
 was the earliest, the most faithful, and able advocate of the 
 superiority and purity of the republican system of govern- 
 ment, must labour under the dominion of the most narrow 
 and pernicious prejudices, must be a stranger to the love of 
 liberty, and unacquainted with all of the finer sensibilities of 
 our nature." 
 
 There is another volume called "Principal Political 
 Works of Thomas Paine," containing over 600 pages, devoted 
 principally to his "Common Sense" and "American Crisis" 
 pamphlets, and his "Rights of Man," to which I will refer 
 the reader for his perusal. 
 
 I will here quote what different authors have written 
 about Thomas Paine: 
 
 The late lamented lost Elbert Hubbard, in his booklet 
 "Thomas Paine, the Great Commoner of Mankind," says: 
 "The legislature of Pennsylvania voted Paine an honorariimi 
 of three thousand dollars, and the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania awarded him the degree of M. A., in recognition of 
 eminent services to literature and human rights." John 
 Quincy Adams said: "Paine's pamphlet, 'Common Sense,' 
 crystallized public opinion and was the first factor in bring- 
 ing about the Revolution." When independence was de- 
 clared, Mr. Paine enlisted as a private soldier, but was soon 
 made aid-de-camp to General Greene. He was an intrepid 
 and effective soldier, and took an active part in various bat- 
 tles. In December, 1776, he published his first pamphlet, 
 "The American Crisis," the first words of which have gone 
 into the electrotype of hiunan speech, commencing with the 
 following words: "These are the times that try men's 
 sotds," etc. 
 
 The intent of "The Crisis" was to infuse courage into 
 the sinking spirits of the soldiers of Washington, who ordered 
 Paine 's book to be read at the head of every regiment, which 
 
122 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 was done. On June the Sth, 1780, Paine started a sub- 
 scription list and headed it with $500.00, all the money he 
 then had, to feed Washington's starving army. The total 
 amount subscribed was a little over one million five hundred 
 thousand dollars. This sum averted disaster, until the loan 
 was procured from France, which Paine helped to secure, by 
 a visit to Louis XVI. Paine was the first one in favor of 
 universal peace, and an end of all war and militarism. 
 
 Paine published in England, in 1791, two books known 
 as "Rights of Man," Part I and Part II, in reply to Edmund 
 Burke's "Thoughts on the Revolution in France," which re- 
 ply by Paine was the greatest political treatise ever written. 
 Paine was outlawed by England, and was prosecuted for 
 writing it, but the prosecution was finally dropped. In a 
 little pamphlet edited by the "Thomas Paine National His- 
 torical Association," the following eulogy is written on "Com- 
 mon Sense": "Thomas Paine was one of the founders of 
 the great American Republic. Had it not been for his great 
 efforts in liberty's behalf, it is quite as likely as not that to 
 this very day this land would have remained under British 
 rule. Thomas Paine wrote and published in January, 1776, 
 the earliest plea for American independence. This was his 
 pamphlet entitled 'Common Sense.' Previous to the appear- 
 ance of Paine's masterly argument urging immediate separa- 
 tion and resistance, the American Colonists, notwithstanding 
 the impositions of Great Britain (unbearable taxations, etc.) 
 had thought only of supplications and petitions to George 
 III for relief. Despite the British Monarch's long-continued 
 obduracy, and the fact that each new oppression was followed 
 by another, and that he turned a deaf ear to all appeals, 
 the Colonists still hoped on, with never a thought of rebellion. 
 Even Washington, at this time, expressed loyalty to the King. 
 Like a thunderbolt from the sky came Paine's magnificent 
 argument for liberty. It electrified the people, and its 
 stirring words swept like wildfire through the country. No 
 pamphlet ever written sold in such vast numbers, nor did 
 any ever before or since produce such marvellous results. 
 Paine donated all the financial proceeds of the pamphlet to 
 
PART III 123 
 
 the cause of liberty (as he did with all of his other books). 
 Washington, now converted, wrote to his friends in praise 
 of 'Common Sense,' asserting that Paine 's words were 'Sound 
 doctrine and unanswerable reasoning.' Thomas Jefferson, John 
 Adams, Franklin, Madison, all the great statesmen of the 
 time, wrote praisefully of Paine's 'flaming arguments.' In 
 July, six months after 'Common Sense' had awakened the 
 people, the Declaration of Independence, embracing the 
 chief arguments of Paine's great pamphlet, and much of its 
 actual wording, was signed by the committee of patriots in 
 Philadelphia. The great Revolution commenced at once. 
 The oppressed Colonists took up arms at a great disadvant- 
 age, by reason of lack of food, clothes, money and muni- 
 tions of war; but, inspired by the forceful message of 'Com- 
 mon Sense,' they fought bravely and well. When winter set 
 in, however, the ill-clad, poorly nourished little army had 
 been greatly reduced in numbers by desertions from its 
 ranks. Many of the soldiers were shoeless and left bloody 
 footprints on the snow-covered line of march. All were but 
 half-hearted at this time and many utterly discouraged. 
 Washington wrote most apprehensively concerning the situa- 
 tion to the Congress. Paine, in the meantime (himself a 
 soldier, with General Greene's army on the retreat from Fort 
 Lee, N. J., to Newark) realizing the necessity of at once 
 instilling renewed hope and courage in the soldiers, if the 
 cause of liberty were to be saved, wrote by camp-fire at 
 night, the first nimiber of his soul-stirring 'Crisis' commencing 
 with the words: 'These are the times that try men's souls. 
 The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot, will, in this 
 crisis, shrink from the servdce of their country, but he that 
 stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and 
 woman. Tyranny, Uke Hell, is not easily conquered; yet 
 we have this consolation with us, that the harder the con- 
 flict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too 
 cheaply, we esteem too lightly; it is deamess only that gives 
 everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper 
 price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so 
 celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.' 
 
124 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 Washington ordered the 'Crisis' read aloud to every regi- 
 ment of the army. 
 
 "The effect was magical. Hope was renewed in every 
 breast. Deserters returned to the ranks, men who had half- 
 heartedly withheld from joining the patriot army took cour- 
 age from Paine's thrilling words and shouldered muskets 
 with the rest. The great cause, tottering on the brink of 
 dissolution, was saved. Paine's 'Crisis' did it. Following 
 the first number of the 'Crisis' came others — thirteen in all — 
 the last commencing with the words: 'The times that tried 
 men's souls are over.' Paine was not only a great author 
 and statesman, but he was distinctively a pioneer, an origi- 
 nator, an inventor and creator. To him we are indebted 
 for many of the world's greatest ideas and reforms. Paine 
 first proposed and first wrote the words 'United States of 
 America': he first proposed the purchase of the Louisiana 
 territory; first suggested the Federal Union of States. Much 
 more might be told of this wonderful man, but this is merely 
 a little leaflet, not a biographical volume. For a century 
 the world has ignored this brilliant mind. It is time the 
 world awakened to his merits. With that end in view, the 
 Thomas Paine National Historical Association was organized 
 and incorporated in New York some years ago. Through 
 the efforts of this Association, Thomas Paine is at last com- 
 ing into his own. The Association intends that Thomas 
 Paine shall occupy that niche in the world's Temple of Fame, 
 where he properly belongs, and to that end, it bends its 
 every endeavor. The Association has established at New 
 Rochelle, N. Y., in the house that Paine built on the farm 
 presented him by the State of New York, in recognition of 
 his patriotic services, a Thomas Paine National Museum. 
 Admission is free. The Association publishes pamphlets and 
 other literature from time to time on the subject of Thomas 
 Paine. On January 29th, Paine's birthday, the Association 
 has a commemorative meeting in Paine's honor at the Paine 
 Monument in New Rochelle. The expenses of the Associa- 
 tion are defrayed by the receipts from membership dues. 
 The officers receive no remuneration for their services. 
 
PART III 125 
 
 The membership dues are only one dollar a year (no initi- 
 ation or other fees). The Association solicits members from 
 all parts of the country. You have merely to send your 
 name and one dollar for yearly dues to the Treasurer, and 
 you will be enrolled as a member. Address Thomas Paine 
 National Historical Association, 62 Vesey Street, New York, 
 N. Y." 
 
 In August, 1914, I had the pleasure of visiting the 
 Museum of Thomas Paine National Historical Association, 
 which is located at New Rochelle, N. Y., in the old Thomas 
 Paine residence, which has been removed from its original 
 site to a point near where he was buried, and where the 
 Association has erected a beautiful marble monimient to his 
 memory; on which, is the same inscription which was origi- 
 nally on his tombstone, as requested by Paine in his will. 
 This inscription is simply "Thomas Paine, Author of 'Com- 
 mon Sense,' Died June 8th, 1809, aged 72 years and 5 
 months." The old residence, near by, is in a good state of 
 preservation. It contains a complete Museimi, which is 
 kept open all the time, and where the visitor, who is always 
 welcomed by the keeper, can see many old pictures and 
 paintings of the great author of "Common Sense," as well 
 as many of his writings, and a large number of curios, which 
 were associated with his life. On my visit there, I was 
 particularly struck with a waxen effigy of Paine, which was 
 formerly in the Eden Musee, in New York, and was bought 
 by some admirer of Paine and presented to the Association. 
 It is a very artistic hkeness of him when he was about 
 thirty-five years old. It is life-size, sitting in a chair by a 
 table, on which is a candle and candle-stick, with ink and 
 paper on the table. He is holding a quill pen in his hand, 
 as if he had just quit writing. It is said to be a "Speaking 
 likeness of him." His figure, hair, eyes and the complexion 
 are perfect. I got a very good picture of it while there, 
 which I have reproduced in this book, in order that the 
 reader may see what a magnificent specimen of manhood he 
 was. 
 
126 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 I consider it a duty of every native-bom American citi- 
 zen to join this Association, which costs only one dollar a 
 year, and help perpetuate the memory of the great patriot, 
 statesman and philosopher, who contributed so much to the 
 sacred cause of freedom in America. 
 
 Mr. Wm. M. Vander Weyde, President of Thomas 
 Paine National Historical Association, in his pamphlet 
 ''Who Wrote the Declaration of Independence?" says; 
 "Thomas Paine was one of Jefferson's closest and most inti- 
 mate friends. He was the most brilliant writer in the Colo- 
 nies, author of that remarkable pamphlet 'Common Sense,' 
 urging separation and independence from Great Britain, a 
 pamphlet so virile and powerful that its effect has never 
 been paralleled in literary history. Paine's writings were 
 marked by their lucidity, logic and sound reasoning. All 
 his arguments were presented with such force, simplicity of 
 statement and incontrovertible deductions of fact, that his 
 magic pen was hailed on every hand as the instrument of 
 the country's salvation." In his pamphlet, Mr. Vander 
 Weyde contends very artfully and plausibly that the Decla- 
 ration of Independence was written by Thomas Paine. Sev- 
 eral other writers have enunciated the same doctrine, among 
 whom, are Van Buren Denslow, Joel Moody, William H. 
 Burr, James Edgerton and Albert Payson Terhune, but I 
 hardly agree with those gentlemen, because I think it would 
 have "leaked out" by some positive proof by Paine or Jeffer- 
 son, and besides, it seems reasonable that a great statesman, 
 and a thorough Virginian, like Thomas Jefferson, would have 
 awarded to Thomas Paine, his friend, the honor of the pro- 
 duction of this immortal docimient. However, I believe 
 that Mr. Jefferson obtained some of his ideas from the writ- 
 ings of Mr. Paine, who was the first person who dared to ad- 
 vise and urge the American Colonies to withdraw their 
 allegiance from Great Britain, and declare their independ- 
 ence, and did all in his power to help them to accomplish 
 that end. It is difficult for me to believe that Thomas Jef- 
 ferson should have permitted the distinguished honor of 
 writing the Declaration of Independence to have abided 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 at the old homestead of Thomas Paine, at New Rochelk 
 New York, in August, 1914. 
 
PART III 127 
 
 with him, if, in fact, it belonged to his friend, Thomas Paine. 
 Therefore, I do not feel warranted in plucking a laurel from 
 the brow of Jefferson, the great apostle of democracy, even 
 to add another jewel to the crown of Paine, the greater states- 
 man and philosopher. If I could consistently do so, I 
 would gladly appropriate this distinguished honor for Thomas 
 Paine. But when I turn to Vol. I of the "Life of Thomas 
 Jefferson" by that astute writer, Henry S. Randall, LL.D., 
 I find much to convince me otherwise. As this question is 
 entirely foreign to my subject, I will not burden my readers 
 with a discussion of it. 
 
 It may be of interest to the reader to know what other 
 prominent writers have said about Thomas Paine; therefore 
 I will recite the opinions of a few of them. Robert Cheat- 
 ham, an English writer, had the following to say of Paine's 
 ''Common Sense": "It spoke a language which the Ameri- 
 can Colonists had felt but not thought. Its popularity, ter- 
 rible in its consequences to the parent country [Great 
 Britain] was unexampled in the history of the press. At 
 first involving the Colonists, it was thought, in the cause of 
 rebellion, and pointing a road leading inevitably to ruin, it 
 was read with indignation and alarm, but when the reader 
 [and everybody read it] recovering from the first shock, re- 
 perused it, its arguments, surmounting his feelings and appeal- 
 ing to his pride, re-animated his hopes and satisfied his un- 
 derstanding that 'Common Sense,' backed by the resources 
 and force of the Colonies, poor and feeble as they were, 
 coiild alone rescue them from the unqualified oppression with 
 which they were threatened. The unknown author, in the 
 moments of enthusiasm which succeeded, was held as an 
 angel sent from Heaven, to save from all the horrors of slavery, 
 by his timely, powerful and unerring counsels, a faithful, but 
 abused, a brave, but misrepresented people." 
 
 John Adams was supposed to be the author of "Com- 
 mon Sense" but he replied: "I could not have written any- 
 thing in so manly and striking a style." Randall, in his 
 "Life of Jefferson," says: "A more effective appeal never 
 went to the bosom of a nation. Its tone, its manner, its 
 
128 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 Biblical allusions, its evidence of an openly impassioned ap- 
 peal to feelings, and its unanswerable common sense, were ex- 
 quisitely adapted to the great audience to which it was ad- 
 dressed. And calm investigation will satisfy the historical 
 student, that its effect, in preparing the popular mind for 
 the Declaration of Independence, exceeded that of any other 
 paper, speech or docimient made to favor it, and it would 
 scarcely be an exaggeration to add, than all other such 
 means put together." Washington also spoke of "Common 
 Sense" in the very highest praise, as a docinnent to convince 
 the hesitating Colonies that it was their duty to separate 
 themselves from the dominion of Great Britain. 
 
 History records that just prior to the time of the ap- 
 pearance of "Common Sense," even Washington himself was 
 strongly in favor of compromising the difference between the 
 American Colonies and Great Britain, but after reading the 
 powerful appeals of Paine to the people, he soon became an 
 advocate of separation from the parent country. 
 
 I will refer my kind readers to Part I of this argu- 
 ment, where I have expressed my opinion of Junius and his 
 Letters, and in order to condense this subject as much as 
 possible, I will here adopt the text of that opinion, and con- 
 sider that it is repeated here, as it is entirely applicable to 
 Thomas Paine, inasmuch as I am thoroughly convinced that 
 Junius and Paine are identically one and the same person. 
 Of course, we must take into consideration the fact that, 
 although their subjects were close of kin, still, they were not 
 identical. 
 
 In addition to the valuable services which Paine did by 
 his writings, under the name of "Common Sense," for the 
 Colonies, he aided them in other most substantial ways. He 
 gave the copyright of these pamphlets to the Colonies. He 
 had 500,000 copies printed and sold, which realized the enor- 
 mous sum of $250,000.00, out of which, he retained only the 
 bare cost of publication, and the balance went to carry on 
 the war for independence. Besides, he headed a subscrip- 
 tion with $500.00 from his private means, which was circu- 
 lated throughout the country, and reached the enormous 
 
PART III 129 
 
 sum of $1,500,000 which went to the support of the army. 
 Had it not been for the help which Paine contributed toward 
 the support of the army, and the expenses of the Govern- 
 ment, the Colonies would never have achieved their inde- 
 pendence, but would have remained in abject slavery to 
 England. 
 
 The subscribers to the above amount had themselves 
 incorporated into "The Bank of America," which was origi- 
 nated by Mr. Paine, and with this money, and what was 
 realized from Paine 's writing, the war was carried on by the 
 young nation, until funds were procured from France. 
 
 The historian informs us that shortly after the first 
 pamphlet was issued, it was followed by a second, a third 
 and a fourth, in proper order. They all breathed the lan- 
 guage of revolution against, and independence of, the Gov- 
 ernment of England. Soon the people began to lean towards 
 his doctrines. They saw in these pamphlets "A lamp unto 
 their feet and a light unto their path," which was to lead 
 them out of the wilderness of oppression into the land of 
 liberty and independence, almost as miraculously as the 
 children of Israel were delivered from Egyptian bondage. 
 And notwithstanding they had some doubts, they "Took 
 counsel of their hopes," and many town meetings were held 
 to consider what steps should be taken to meet the crisis 
 then before them. The historian says, that soon after these 
 pamphlets reached Albany, N. Y., a great excitement pre- 
 vailed among the people, and a mass meeting of the citizens 
 was called to take the matter into consideration; that after 
 much discussion, a committee was appointed to answer the 
 argimients of "Common Sense," and after long dehberation 
 they reported to the meeting that they could not be answered. 
 
 In order to express the matter more distinctly, I will 
 quote what Calvin Blanchard says in his "Life of Paine": 
 
 "When the American Revolution had progressed as far 
 as the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, John Adams, 
 Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, 
 had met together to read the terrible dispatches they had re- 
 ceived. Having done which, they pause in gloom and silence. 
 
130 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 Presently Franklin speaks: 'What', he asks, 'is to be the 
 end of all this? Is it to obtain justice of Great Britain, to 
 change the Ministry, to soften a tax? Or is it for' — He 
 paused; the word INDEPENDENCE yet choked the bravest 
 throat that sought to utter it. 
 
 "At this critical moment, Paine enters. Frankhn in- 
 troduces him and he takes his seat. He well knows the 
 cause of the prevailing gloom, and breaks the deep silence 
 thus: 'These States of America must be independent of Eng- 
 landl This is the only solution of this question!' They all 
 rise to their feet at this political blasphemy. But nothing 
 daunted, he goes on; his eye lights up with patriotic fire as 
 he paints the glorious destiny which America, considering 
 her vast resources, ought to achieve, and adjures them to 
 lend their influence to rescue the Western Continent from 
 the absurd, unnatural, and unprogressive predicament of be- 
 ing governed by a small island, three thousand miles off. 
 Washington leaped forward, and taking both his hands, be- 
 sought him to publish these views in a book. 
 
 "Paine went to his room, seized his pen, lost sight of 
 every other object, toiled incessantly, and in December, 
 1775, the work entitled 'Common Sense,' which caused the 
 Declaration of Independence, and brought both people and 
 their leaders face to face with the work they had to accom- 
 plish, was sent forth on its mission. 'That book,' says Dr. 
 Rush, 'burst forth from the press with an effect that has 
 been rarely produced by types and paper, in any age or 
 country.' 'Have you seen the pamphlet, "Common Sense"? 
 asked Major General Lee, in a letter to Washington; 'I never 
 saw such a masterly, irresistible performance, it will, if I 
 mistake not, in concurrence with the transcendent folly and 
 wickedness of the Ministry, give the coup de grace to Great 
 Britain. In short, I own myself convinced by the argu- 
 ments of the necessity of separation." Mr. Blanchard con- 
 tinues: "The tribute of Paine's greatest enemy was in these 
 words: 'The cannon of Washington was not more formida- 
 ble to the British than the pen of the author of 'Common 
 Sense.' 
 
PART III 131 
 
 "It was at this crisis, this interval between fear and 
 principle, that Thomas Paine, then unknown as a public 
 character, published the pamphlet 'Common Sense.' 
 
 "This remarkable and inestimable production may be 
 described from the anathemas of the enemies of liberty. It 
 has received the highest possible praise from the pen of 
 Cheatham, one of Thomas Paine 's most venal and shameless 
 calumniators, who thus characterizes the work: 'This pam- 
 phlet of forty-seven octavo pages, holding out relief by pro- 
 posing INDEPENDENCE to an oppressed and despairing 
 people, was published in January, 1776. Speaking a language 
 which the Colonists had felt, but not thought, its popularity, 
 terrible in its consequences to the mother country, was unex- 
 ampled in the history of the press. At first involving the 
 Colonists, it was thought, in the crime of rebellion, and 
 pointing to a road leading inevitably to ruin, it was read 
 with alarm and indignation, but when the reader (and every- 
 body read it) recovering from the first shock, re-perused it, 
 its argimients, ravishing his feelings and appealing to his 
 pride, re-animated his hopes and satisfied his understanding, 
 that 'Common Sense,' backed by the resources and force of 
 the Colonies, poor and feeble as they were, could alone res- 
 cue them from the unqualified oppression with which they 
 were threatened. The unknown author, in the moments of 
 enthusiasm which succeeded, was hailed as an angel sent 
 from Heaven to save from all of the horrors of slavery, by 
 his timely, powerful, and unerring counsels, a faithful but 
 abused, a brave but misrepresented people.' 
 
 "When 'Common Sense' arrived at Albany, the conven- 
 tion of New York was sitting there. General Scott, a lead- 
 ing member, alarmed at the boldness and novelty of its 
 argument, mentioned his fears to several of his distinguished 
 colleagues, and suggested a private meeting in the evening, 
 for the purpose of writing an answer. They accordingly 
 met, and Mr. McThesson read the pamphlet through. At 
 first it was deemed necessary and expedient to answer it 
 without delay, but casting about for the requisite arguments. 
 
132 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 they concluded to adjourn and meet again. In a few even- 
 ings they re-assembled, but so rapid was the change of 
 opinion in the Colonies at large in favor of independence, 
 that they agreed not to oppose it." 
 
 Dr. Gordon in his History of the American Revolution, 
 writes thus: "The publications which have appeared have 
 greatly promoted the spirit of independency, but no one so 
 much as the pamphlet under the signature of 'Common 
 Sense,' written by Thomas Paine, an Englishman. Nothing 
 could have been better timed than this performance — it has 
 produced astonishing effects. 
 
 "Testimonies of this sort from friends and enemies 
 could easily be multiplied, and proofs almost without end 
 could be adduced to show how much the cause of mankind 
 was promoted by Thomas Paine in thus assisting to lay the 
 foundation of the American Republic, — the example of which, 
 will in time be followed by every people on the earth. The 
 principles maintained in 'Common Sense' are applicable to 
 all times, and to all mankind. They should be carefully 
 studied by every one who is at all desirous to possess that 
 information without which he must ever remain a slave at 
 heart." 
 
 "Paine was the first to advise the Americans to assert 
 their independence,^^ says Richard Carlile in his "Life of 
 Paine." "This he did in his famous pamphlet, entitled 
 'Common Sense,' which, for its consequences and rapid ef- 
 fect, was the most important production that ever issued 
 from the press. This pamphlet appeared at the commence- 
 ment of the year 1776, and electrified the minds of the op- 
 pressed Americans. They had not ventured to harbor the 
 idea of independence, and they dreaded war so much as to 
 be anxious for reconciliation with Britain. One incident 
 which gave a stimulus to the pamphlet 'Common Sense' was, 
 that it happened to appear on the very day that the King 
 of England's speech reached the United States, in which the 
 Americans were denounced as rebels and traitors, and in 
 which speech it was asserted to be the right of the Legisla- 
 ture to bind the Colonies in all cases whatsoever! Such 
 
PART III 133 
 
 menace and assertion as this could not fail to kindle the ire 
 of the Americans, and 'Common Sense' came forward to 
 touch their feelings with the spirit of independence in the 
 very nick of time." 
 
 In the meantime, England was sending troops and 
 munitions of war to America, to subdue the Colonies, and 
 the people became more and more restless. On the 19th 
 day of April, 1775, the battle of Lexington was fought be- 
 tween a detachment of EngHsh soldiers and the citizen sol- 
 diery, several of whom were killed in the fight. 
 
 After the meeting at Albany adjourned, they advised 
 active and open rebellion against Great Britain. Soon prepa- 
 rations were made for war, in resistance to their open enemy. 
 General Washington was placed in charge of the troops, as 
 they were raised and put into service. Meanwhile there was 
 still a large ninnber of citizens who had not joined the army. 
 Many of them honestly feared the consequences, in the event 
 that the patriotic little army of Washington should be de- 
 feated, and they, no doubt, hoped to escape most of the 
 hardships which would be visited upon the army, and those 
 who sympathized with them in "the cause." Others re- 
 mained out of the army from sheer cowardice; there still 
 was another class of citizens who took no interest in the 
 terrible conflict, but did all they could to aid the British 
 army. These were called "Tories," and were hated and 
 despised by the patriots and all friends of "the cause." 
 They were taunted for their meanness and infidelity to their 
 country, and in many instances were prosecuted for their 
 treasonable acts against the Government. Many of them 
 left the country and their estates were confiscated. All the 
 while Mr. Paine was writing by the light of the camp-fires, 
 at night, paying particular attention to each class of these 
 citizens, above referred to. 
 
 A convention was soon called by the Colonies to con- 
 sider making a Declaration of Independence, and the estab- 
 lishment of a Provisional Government, under the advice of 
 Mr. Paine and other leading patriots. At this convention, a 
 committee was appointed for the purpose of drafting our 
 
134 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 present Declaration of Independence. After due delibera- 
 tion on the subject, the committee appointed Thomas Jeffer- 
 son to draft the immortal document, which he did, and de- 
 livered it to a special meeting of the committee, and it was 
 unanimously adopted by them, and on July 4th, 1776, it 
 was published to the world, which gave birth to the free and 
 Independent United States of America. 
 
 The war had progressed for about two years; dark 
 clouds had begun to hover over the American people; Eng- 
 land had quartered her troops in all of the principal cities. 
 General Washington had met with several reverses in battle; 
 his army was depleted by death, sickness and desertion; his 
 soldiers were poorly fed, badly clothed and poorly paid; 
 consequently they were greatly dejected in spirit. Many of 
 the citizens began to fear that they had made a mistake in 
 entering the conflict. At this juncture of affairs, Thomas 
 Paine, who was in the army as a private soldier, again took 
 up his pen, and by the light of the camp-fires, at night, be- 
 gan a series of sixteen pamphlets, which he called "The 
 American Crisis," and were also signed "Common Sense." 
 In these pamphlets he discussed the critical condition of the 
 army and the country, and suggested methods and means 
 for greatly improving their condition, and appealed strongly 
 to the patriotism of the whole country to sustain "The 
 cause" to the utmost of their ability, assuring them that 
 under the Providence of God, they would come out victor- 
 ious. He had printed over 5,000 of these remarkable pam- 
 phlets, and spread them broadcast all over the country. 
 They were eagerly sought for, and more eagerly read by 
 every one who could procure a copy. 
 
 It is impossible for me herein, even to comment on 
 Paine's sixteen "Crisis Pamphlets," embracing 230 pages; 
 every line of which should be carefully read by every Ameri- 
 can-bom citizen who is now enjoying the inestimable blessings 
 of Liberty, which these immortal documents did so much to 
 achieve and to maintain. All the while Paine stood like a 
 faithful sentinel on the watch-tower of liberty, and at every 
 approach of danger he gave the alarm to the people, by 
 
PART III 136 
 
 writing another stirring "Crisis," and distributing it among 
 them, advising what should be done to complete and to pre- 
 serve their Independence, which for seven long and dreary- 
 years, hung by a bare thread. However, I cannot refrain 
 from copying a few extracts from those wonderful papers. 
 
 "Crisis" No. I was written in a great emergency, when 
 General Washington's little army had recently met with 
 several reverses in battle, by the overwhelming forces of the 
 British army. His troops were worn out and very much 
 depleted by being killed and wounded in various engage- 
 ments, and by sickness and desertions. Consequently they, 
 and the people in general, were very much disheartened, and 
 scarcely knew which way to turn for support. Paine was a 
 soldier, with them in the army, and was thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with their sad condition — many of them being 
 without shoes and very poorly clothed. He realized the 
 necessity that something must be done, and that quickly, 
 to inspire them and the country with hope and courage. 
 At once he took up his pen, and while others were sleeping, 
 he sat up at nights, by the camp-fire, and wrote the first 
 of his very celebrated papers, known as the "Crisis," which 
 commenced as follows: "These are the times that try men's 
 souls." 
 
 The proceeds of the sale of these pamphlets, as they 
 appeared from time to time, amounted to the sum of about 
 $250,000, which he also donated to the support of the army 
 and the Government. As they appeared. General Washing- 
 ton ordered them to be read at the head of every Company 
 in his command, in order to cheer their drooping spirits, and 
 nerve them to greater acts of heroism. Their influence 
 acted like magic in the great struggle for freedom. The 
 whole country became inspired with hope, and new life was 
 injected into the army. It was resolved by the Congress to 
 conduct the war to a "successful termination," which, as we 
 all know, was finally accomplished, and we are to-day en- 
 joying the full fruition of the benefits of liberty and inde- 
 pendence, which our ancestors bequeathed to us. Who can 
 
136 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 estimate the influence which "Common Sense" contributed 
 to this glorious result? 
 
 All these wonderful pamphlets, as we have seen, were 
 written by Thomas Paine over the signature "Common 
 Sense," just as all the political Letters of Junius were writ- 
 ten over that of "Junius." These pamphlets were attributed 
 to several of the most illustrious patriots in the Colonies, 
 among whom were Dr. Franklin, Samuel Adams, and John 
 Adams, all of whom denied the authorship. Mr. Paine was 
 very solicitous to keep the secret from becoming known, and 
 for the very best reasons: he had the same motives for con- 
 cealing his identity as the author of "Common Sense" which 
 Junius had for concealing his identity with the name of 
 "Junius." Paine feared he would be arrested by the author- 
 ities of Great Britain, then in America, and tried for pro- 
 moting rebellion of the Colonies against the English Govern- 
 ment. Very likely he would have been convicted and sent 
 to London for imprisonment in the Tower, and perhaps 
 it might have cost him his life. For the same reason Junius 
 concealed his identity in England. After the Revolution had 
 progressed far enough to insure his safety from arrest, Paine 
 let it be known that he was the author. As I have before 
 remarked, it has been said, "The pen is mightier than the 
 sword." I am far from intending to disparage the great and 
 immortal Washington, but I do honestly and conscientiously 
 believe that the honor of achieving the independence of 
 the American Colonies should be, at least, equally divided 
 between Thomas Paine, as the author, and Washington, as 
 the soldier, who accomplished these wonderful results. The 
 former furnished the soldiers, by the urgent and patriotic 
 appeals of his pen, and likewise contributed much of the 
 money and supplies, through his influence, to feed and clothe 
 the army, and the latter led them on to victory by his skill 
 and valor. 
 
 I will call the attention of my readers to extracts from 
 two letters commenting upon Lord North, as Prime Minister, 
 one by Paine, the other by Junius; and although they were 
 written some time apart, it will be observed that the same 
 
PART III 137 
 
 vein of bitter sarcasm runs through both of them; and their 
 style is identical. 
 
 In the VII "Crisis" Letter Paine says: "As for Lord 
 North, it is his happiness to have in him more philosophy 
 than sentiment, for he bears flogging like a top, and sleeps 
 the better for it. His punishment becomes his support, for 
 while he suffers the lash for his sins, he keeps himself up by 
 twirling about in politics. He is a good mathematician, and 
 in everything else, nothing at all." Now observe what Jun- 
 ius says of the same person. They are similar in their likes 
 and dislikes. 
 
 In Letter I of Junius, he says of Lord North: "A lead- 
 ing Minister repeatedly called down for absolute ignorance, 
 ridiculous motions, ridiculously withdrawn, deliberate plans 
 disconcerted, a week's preparation of graceful oratory lost 
 in a moment, gives us some, though not adequate ideas, 
 of Lord North's parliamentary abilities and influence. Yet, 
 before he had the misfortune of becoming Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer, he was neither an object of derision to his ene- 
 mies, nor a melancholy pity to his friends. I hope he, the 
 Duke of Grafton [then Prime Minister], will not rely on the 
 fertility of Lord North's genius for finance; his Lordship 
 is yet to give us the first proof of his abilities." They are 
 very similar in many other respects. Here I will compare 
 the similarity of the religion of Paine and Junius. 
 
 In order to remove all prejudice from the minds of our 
 church people, on account of the religious tenets held by 
 Mr. Paine, I will make a short statement of his views on 
 religion. He says: "I believe in one God and no more, and 
 I hope for happiness beyond this life." "The world is my 
 country, to do good is my religion." "All religions are in 
 their nature mild and benign when not associated with polit- 
 ical systems." "As to religion, I hold it to be the indispen- 
 sable duty of all governments to protect all conscientious 
 professors thereof, and I know of no other business which 
 government has to do therewith." 
 
 Paine, in his Epistle to the Quakers, says: "The writer 
 of this, is one of those few who never dishonors religion. 
 
138 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 either by ridiculing or caviling at any denomination whatso- 
 ever. To God, and not to man are all men accountable on 
 the score of religion." "PhUo Junius," who was really Junius, 
 in Letter No. 54 of his Private Letters, says, on religion: 
 "If I thought Junius capable of uttering a disrespectful 
 word of the religion of his country, I should be the first to 
 renounce and give him up to the public contempt and indig- 
 nation." Many of his letters show that he was a strong 
 believer in God. On pages 251 and 252, "Poetical and Mis- 
 cellaneous Works of Thomas Paine," he says: "Do we want to 
 contemplate His power? We see it in the immensity of the 
 Creation. Do we want to contemplate His wisdom? We 
 see it in the unchangeable order by which the incomprehensi- 
 ble whole is governed. Do we want to contemplate His 
 munificence? We see it in the abundance with which He 
 fills the earth. Do we want to contemplate His mercy? We 
 see it in His not withholding that abundance even from the 
 unthankful." 
 
 Remember, Paine was raised as a Quaker, which his 
 father was, his mother being a member of the Established 
 Church of England, and Paine was baptized in her Church. 
 He was, what in this day, is called a Unitarian. He be- 
 lieved in God, but did not believe in the Trinity. 
 
 The Jewish religion is very similar. So is the religion 
 of the Quakers. 
 
 Some one whose name I have omitted from my notes, 
 says: "Thomas Paine was the legitimate ancestor of Hosea 
 Ballou, who founded the Universal Church, and also of Theo- 
 dore Parker, who made Unitarianism in America an intel- 
 lectual torch." 
 
 It would be almost impossible for me to introduce the 
 great nimiber of instances of similarity between Junius and 
 Paine. It would require the greater part of another volimie 
 to copy their writings touching the subject. I can only re- 
 fer the reader to a few of them. Vide Crisis, Nos. V and I, 
 III and VII, and Letters of Junius Nos. 68, 49, 35, 9, and 
 20 on Religion. They were not only alike in their religion, 
 
PART III 139 
 
 but in their friendships and animosities, and in every peculi- 
 arity of their natures. Before commencing to write this book, 
 I made a diHgent search through all the works on the sub- 
 ject, which were at my command, to find anything which 
 militated against my hypothesis, and I have found nothing, — 
 everything confirmed it. If I had discovered even one fact, 
 I most certainly would not have gone to the trouble, labor 
 and expense of getting out this volimie. And why? If I 
 had not thoroughly convinced myself of the certainty of my 
 theory, I could not expect to convince my readers. Any one 
 uncertainty would have kept rising up before me, like the 
 ghost of Banquo at the feast which would not down at the 
 bidding of Macbeth. It would have stalked through my 
 dreams by night, and haunted me by day. Besides, I have no 
 ambition to try to convince anyone of a fallacy. 
 
 In a letter written by Junius on the 19th of December, 
 1769, "To the Printer of the PubHc Advertiser," which is 
 known as his "Letter to the King," wherein he first speaks 
 of the American Colonies "Looking forward to Independence," 
 he says to George III: "They [the Colonies] consider you 
 as united with your servants [the Ministry] against America; 
 and know how to distinguish the Sovereign and a venal Par- 
 liament on one side, from the real sentiments of the Eng- 
 lish people on the other. Looking forward to independence, 
 they might possibly receive you for their King; but, if ever 
 you retire to America, be assured they will give you such a 
 covenant to digest as the presbytery of Scotland would have 
 been ashamed to offer to Charles the Second. — They left 
 their native land in search of freedom, and found it in a 
 desert. Divided as they are into a thousand forms of policy 
 and religion, there is one point in which they all agree; they 
 equally detest the pageantry of a King and the supercilious 
 hypocrisy of a bishop." In November, 1774, this same 
 Junius, in the person of Thomas Paine, came to America, 
 as I have already stated, at the instance of Dr. Franklin, 
 and soon espoused the cause of Independence of the Amer- 
 ican people, under the name of "Common Sense," carrying 
 
140 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 out the same doctrines which Junius enunciated six years 
 prior to this time, in his addresss to the King, above referred to. 
 
 Here I will discuss and copy some parts of the pam- 
 phlets of "Common Sense," which brought on the Revolu- 
 tionary War. 
 
 If convenient, I would like for the critical reader to 
 examine the first two pamphlets of "Common Sense," and 
 observe how adroitly and wisely the author avoids even a 
 suggestion of independence to the Colonies, until he led 
 their minds up to the point where they saw its feasibility 
 as he did, lest they should become alarmed at such a vent- 
 ure, and thereby he would lose all influence over them. 
 
 In his first pamphlet of "Common Sense," he discusses 
 "The origin and design of Government, in general, with con- 
 cise remarks on the English Constitution." He proceeds as 
 follows, in parts of his discussion: "Some writers have so 
 confounded society with Government, as to leave little or no 
 distinction between them; whereas they are not only differ- 
 ent, but have different origins. Society in every state is a 
 blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a 
 necessary evil, in its worst state, an intolerable one; for 
 when we suffer, we are exposed to the same miseries by 
 a Government, which we might expect in a country without 
 Government; our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we 
 furnish the means of which we suffer. Government, like 
 dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of Kings 
 
 are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise 
 
 Wherefore, security being the true design and end of Govern- 
 ment, it unanswerably follows, that whatever form thereof 
 appears most likely to ensure it to us with the least expense 
 and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others." .... 
 His next suggestion relates to the tenure of office, by 
 their representatives, which is identical with the views of 
 Junius, as to the tenure of office, in the English Parliament. 
 See page 3, Principal Political Works of Paine: "That the 
 interest of every part of the colony may be attended to, 
 it will be found best to divide the whole into convenient 
 parts, each part sending its proper number; and that the 
 
PART III 141 
 
 elected might never form to themselves an interest separate 
 from the electors, prudence will point out the propriety of 
 having elections often, because as the elected might by that 
 means return and mix again with the general body of the 
 electors in a few months, their fidelity to the public will be 
 secured by the prudent reflection of not making a plot for 
 themselves." .... Furthermore, it will be noticed 
 by the reader that Junius and Paine both advocate having 
 elections often, in order that the electors might not lose 
 control of their representatives. On page 89, Vol. I of 
 "Junius by Woodfall," Junius says: "With regard to any 
 influence of the constituents over the conduct of the rep- 
 resentatives, there is little difference between a seat in Parli- 
 ament for seven years and a seat for life. The prospect of 
 your resentment is too remote; and although the last session 
 of a septennial Parliament be usually employed in courting 
 the favour of the people, consider that, at this rate, your 
 representatives have six years for offence, and but one for 
 atonement. A death-bed repentance seldom reaches to 
 restitution." 
 
 Paine, then fully discusses the difference betwen a Mon- 
 archial and a Republican form of Government. 
 
 "The prejudice of Englishmen in favor of their own 
 Government by Kings, Lords and Commons, arises as much 
 or more from national pride than reason." .... 
 His second "Common Sense" pamphlet is on "Monarchy 
 and Hereditary Succession," which he discusses very elabo- 
 rately, wherein he comes to the point of a "Separation from 
 England.'" He says: "To the evil of monarchy we have 
 added that of hereditary succession; and as the first is a 
 degradation and lessening of ourselves, so the second, claimed 
 as a matter of right, is an insult and imposition on posterity. 
 For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could 
 have a right to set up his own family in perpetual preference 
 to all others forever, and though himself might deserve some 
 decent degree of honors of his contemporaries, yet his de- 
 scendants might be far too unworthy to inherit them. One 
 of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary 
 
142 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 rights of kings, is that nature disapproves it, otherwise she 
 would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving man- 
 kind an ass for a lion 
 
 "England, since the conquest, hath known some good 
 monarchs, but groaned beneath a much larger niunber of 
 bad ones, yet no man in his senses can say that their claim 
 under William the Conqueror is a very honorable one. A 
 French bastard, landing with an armed banditti, and estab- 
 lishing himself King of England against the consent of the 
 natives, is, in plain terms, a very paltry, rascally original. 
 It is needless to spend much time in exposing the folly of 
 hereditary right; if there are any so weak as to believe it, 
 let them promiscuously worship the ass and the lion, and 
 welcome." . . . ."I shall neither copy their humility nor 
 disturb their devotion." .... "But it is not so much 
 the absurdity as the evil of hereditary succession which con- 
 cerns mankind. Did it ensure a race of good and wise men 
 it would have the seal of divine authority, but as it opens 
 a door to the foolish, the wicked, and the improper, it hath 
 in it the nature of oppression. Another evil which attends 
 hereditary succession is, that the throne is subject to be 
 possessed by a minor of any age; all of which time the regen- 
 cy, under the cover of a king, have every opportunity and 
 inducement to betray their trust. The same national mis- 
 fortune happens when a king, worn out with age and in- 
 firmity, enters the last stage of human weakness. In both 
 cases the public becomes the prey of every miscreant who 
 can tamper successfully with the follies either of age or 
 infancy." .... "The contest for monarchy and suc- 
 cession, between the houses of York and Lancaster, laid 
 England in a scene of blood for many years. Twelve pitched 
 battles, besides skirmishes and sieges, were fought between 
 Henry and Edward, twice was Henry prisoner to Edward, 
 who in his turn was prisoner to Henry." .... "The 
 nearer any government approaches to a republic, the less 
 business there is for a king. For it is the Republican and 
 not the Monarchical part of the constitution of England 
 which Englishmen glory in, viz: the liberty of choosing a 
 
PART III 143 
 
 House of Commons from out of their own body — and it is 
 easy to see that when republican virtue fails, slavery ensues. 
 Why is the constitution of England sickly but because mon- 
 archy hath poisoned the republic, the Crown hath engrossed 
 the Commons?" .... "In England a king hath little more to do 
 than to make war and give away places; which, in plain 
 terms, is to impoverish the nation and set it together by 
 
 the ears." "A pretty business indeed for a 
 
 man to be allowed eight hundred thousand sterling a year 
 for, and worshipped into the bargain! Of more worth is one 
 honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the 
 crowned ruffians that ever lived." Pages 12, 13, 14, 15 16, 
 17 and 18. 
 
 His third pamphlet embraces "Thoughts on the Present 
 State of American Affairs." He says: 
 
 "In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple 
 facts, plain argimients, and common sense; and have no 
 other preliminaries to settle with the reader, than that he 
 will divest himself of prejudice and prepossession, and suffer 
 his reason and his feelings to determine for themselves. Vol- 
 umes have been written on the subject of the struggle be- 
 tween England and America. Men of all ranks have em- 
 barked in the controversy, from different motives, and with 
 various designs: but all have been ineffectual, and the period 
 of debate is closed. Arms, as a last resource, must decide 
 the contest; the appeal was the choice of the King, and the 
 continent hath accepted the challenge." .... "The sun 
 never shone on a cause of greater worth. 'Tis not the affair 
 of a city, a county, a province, or a kingdom, but of a con- 
 tinent — of at least one eighth part of the inhabitable globe. 
 'Tis not the concern of a day, a year or an age; posterity 
 are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or 
 less affected even to the end of time, by the proceedings now. 
 Now is the seed time of continental union, faith and honor. 
 I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation, to show 
 a single advantage that this continent can reap by being 
 connected with Great Britain. I repeat the challenge: not 
 a single advantage is derived. Our com will fetch its price 
 
144 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 in any market in Europe, and our imported goods must be 
 paid for, buy them where we will. But in injuries and dis- 
 advantages we sustain by that connection are without num- 
 ber, and our duty to mankind at large, as well as to our- 
 selves, instructs us to renounce the alliance; because any 
 submission to or dependence on Great Britain tends directly 
 to involve this continent in European wars and quarrels; 
 and sets us at variance with nations who would otherwise 
 seek our friendship, and against whom we have neither anger 
 nor complaint. Everything that is right or natural pleads 
 for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice 
 of nature cries, His time to part. Even the distance at which 
 the Almighty hath placed England and America is a strong 
 and natural proof that the authority of the one over the 
 other was never the design of heaven. 
 
 "Though I would carefully avoid giving unnecessary- 
 offense, yet I am inclined to believe, that all those who es- 
 pouse the doctrine of reconciliation may be included within 
 the following descriptions: 
 
 "Interested men, who are not to be trusted; weak men 
 who cannot see; prejudiced men, who will not see; and a cer- 
 tain set of moderate men who think better of the European 
 world than it deserves; and this last class, by an ill-judged 
 deliberation, will be the cause of more calamities to this 
 continent than all the other three. 
 
 "It is the good fortune of many to live distant from 
 the scene of sorrow; the evil is not sufficiently brought to 
 their doors to make them feel the precariousness with which 
 all American property is possessed. But let our imagina- 
 tions transport us for a few moments to Boston; the seat of 
 wretchedness will teach us wisdom, and instruct us forever 
 to renounce a power in whom we can have no trust. The 
 inhabitants of that unfortunate city, who but a few months 
 ago were in ease and affluence, have now no other alterna- 
 tive than to stay and starve, or turn out to beg. 
 
 "Men of passive tempers look somewhat lightly over 
 the offences of Britain, and still hoping for the best, are apt 
 to call out. Come, come, we shall he friends again for all this. 
 
PART III • 145 
 
 But examine the passions and feelings of mankind, bring the 
 doctrine of reconciliation to the touch-stone of nature, and 
 then tell me whether you can hereafter love, honor and faith- 
 fully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword into 
 your land? If you cannot do all these, then you are only 
 deceiving yourselves, and by your delay bringing ruin upon 
 your posterity. Your future connection with Britain, whom 
 you can neither love nor honor, will be forced and unnatural, 
 and being formed only on the plan of present convenience, 
 will in a little time fall into a relapse more wretched than 
 the first. But if you say you can still pass the violations 
 over, then I ask. Hath your house been burnt? Hath your 
 property been destroyed before your face? Are your wife 
 and children destitute of a bed to lie on, or bread to live 
 on? Have you lost a parent or child by their hands, and 
 yourself the ruined and wretched survivor? If you have 
 not, then you are not a judge of those who have. But if 
 you have, and can still shake hands with the murderers, 
 then you are unworthy the name of husband, father, friend 
 or lover, and whatever may be your rank or title in life, you 
 have the heart of a coward, and the spirit of a sycophant. 
 
 "It is not in the power of Britain or of Europe to con- 
 quer America, if she does not conquer herself by delay and 
 timidity. The present winter is worth an age if rightly em- 
 ployed, but, if lost or neglected, the whole continent will 
 partake of the misfortune; and there is no punishment 
 which that man will not deserve, be he who, or what, or 
 where he will, that may be the means of sacrificing a season 
 so precious and useful. 
 
 "It is repugnant to reason, to the universal order of 
 things, to all examples from former ages, to suppose that 
 this continent can longer remain subject to any external 
 power. The most sanguine in Britain does not think so. 
 The utmost stretch of human wisdom cannot at this time, com- 
 pass a plan short of separation, which can promise the continent 
 even a year's security. Reconciliation is now a fallacious 
 dream. Nature hath deserted the connection, and art can- 
 not supply her place. For, as Milton wisely expresses, 
 
 10 
 
146 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 'Never can true reconcilement grow, where wounds 
 of deadly hate have pierced so deep.' 
 
 "I am not induced by motives of pride, party or resent- 
 ment to espouse the doctrine of separation and independence; 
 I am, clearly, positively, and conscientiously persuaded that 
 it is the truest interest of this continent to be so ; that every- 
 thing short of that is mere patchwork; that it can afford no 
 lasting felicity, that it is leaving the sword to our children, 
 and shrinking back at a time, when a little more, a little 
 further, would have rendered this continent the glory of the 
 earth. 
 
 "No man was a warmer wisher for reconciliation than 
 myself before the fatal nineteenth of April, 1775 [massacre 
 at Lexington], but the moment the event of that day was 
 made known, I rejected the hardened, sullen-tempered Pha- 
 raoh of England forever; and disdain the wretch, that with 
 the pretended title of Father of his people, can unfeelingly 
 hear of their slaughter, and composedly sleep with their 
 blood upon his soul. 
 
 "There are thousands and tens of thousands who would 
 think it glorious to expel from the continent that barbarous 
 and hellish power which hath stirred up the Indians and 
 negroes to destroy us; the cruelty hath a double guilt; it is 
 dealing brutally by us and treacherously by them. 
 
 "O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not 
 only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot 
 of the old world is overrun with oppression." This is a 
 very powerful appeal to the Colonies. 
 
 In his fourth pamphlet of "Common Sense" he treats 
 "Of the present ability of America, with some miscellaneous 
 reflections." In discusing the "Separation of the American 
 Colonies from Great Britain," he says (page 38): "I have 
 never met a man, either in England or America, who hath 
 not confessed his opinion that separation between the coun- 
 tries would take place one time or other; and there is no 
 instance in which we have shown less judgment, than in en- 
 deavoring to describe what we call the ripeness or fitness of 
 the continent for independence. 
 
PART III 147 
 
 "As all men allow the measure, a separation, and vary- 
 only in their opinion of the time, let us, in order to remove 
 mistakes, take a general survey of things, and endeavor, if 
 possible, to find out the very time. But we need not go far, 
 the inquiry ceases at once, for the time hath found us. The 
 general concurrence, the glorious union of all things proves 
 the fact. 
 
 "It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great 
 strength lies." 
 
 In this pamphlet he makes his first suggestion of a 
 Declaration of Independence by the Colonies (pages 48 and 
 49): "However strange it may appear to some, or however 
 unwilling they may be to think so, matters not, but many 
 strong and striking reasons may be given to show that noth- 
 ing can settle our affairs so expeditiously as an open and 
 determined declaration for independence. These proceedings 
 may at first appear strange and difficult; but like all other 
 steps which we have already passed over, will in a little 
 time become familiar and agreeable. Until an independence 
 is declared, the continent will feel itself like a man who con- 
 tinues putting off some unpleasant business from day to day, 
 yet knows it must be done, hates to set about it, wishes 
 it over, and is continually haunted with the thoughts of its 
 necessity." 
 
 In his "Appendix" he discusses "The King's Speech" 
 which had recently appeared in America, which was very 
 bitter towards the Colonies. He says: "Since the publica- 
 tion of the first edition of this pamphlet, or rather, on the 
 same day on which it came out, the King's speech made its 
 appearance in this city. Had the spirit of prophecy directed 
 the birth of this production, it could not have brought it 
 forth at a more seasonable juncture, or at a more necessary 
 time. The bloody-mindedness of the one, shows the neces- 
 sity of pursuing the doctrine of the other. Men ready by 
 way of revenge: and the speech, instead of terrifying, pre- 
 pared a way for the manly principles of independence. 
 
 "Ceremony, and even silence, from whatever motives 
 they may arise, have a hurtful tendency when they give the 
 
148 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 least degree of countenance to base and wicked performances; 
 wherefore, if this maxim be admitted, it naturally follows, 
 that the King's speech, as being a piece of finished villainy, 
 deserved and still deserves a general execration, both by the 
 Congress and the people. The speech, if it be called one, 
 is nothing better than a willful, audacious libel against the 
 truth, the common good, and the existence of mankind; and 
 is a formal and pompous method of offering up human sacri- 
 fices to the pride of tyrants. However, it matters very little 
 now, what the King of England either says or does; he hath 
 wickedly broken through every moral and human obligation, 
 trampled nature and conscience beneath his feet; and by 
 a steady and constitutional spirit of insolence and cruelty, 
 procured for himself an universal hatred. It is now the in- 
 terest of America to provide for herself. 
 
 "The present state of America is truly alarming to every 
 man who is capable of reflection. Without law, without 
 government, without any other mode of power than what is 
 founded on, and granted by, courtesy. Held together by an 
 unexampled concurrence of sentiment, which is nevertheless 
 subject to change, and which every secret enemy is endeavor- 
 ing to dissolve. Our present condition is legislation without 
 law; wisdom without a plan, a constitution without a name, 
 and, what is strangely astonishing, perfect independence con- 
 tending for dependence. The incidence is without a prece- 
 dent; the case never existed before; and who can tell what 
 may be the event? 
 
 "The property of no man is secure in the present un- 
 braced system of things. It is the violence which is done 
 and threatened to our persons; the destruction of our prop- 
 erty by an armed force; the invasion of our country by fire 
 and sword, which conscientiously qualifies the use of arms; 
 and the instant in which such a mode of defence became 
 necessary, all subjection to Britain ought to have ceased; 
 and the independence of America should have been considered 
 as dating its era from, and published by, the first musket that 
 was fired against her. 
 
PART III 149 
 
 "There are reasons to so be given in support of inde- 
 pendence which men should rather privately think of, than 
 be publicly told of. We ought not to be debating whether 
 we shall be independent or not, but anxious to accomplish 
 it on a firm, secure and honorable basis, and uneasy rather, 
 that it is not yet begun upon. Every day convinces us of 
 its necessity. 
 
 "In short, independence is the only bond that can tie 
 and keep us together. We shall then see our object; and 
 our ears shall be legally shut against the schemes of an 
 intriguing, as well as a cruel enemy. 
 
 "Wherefore, instead of gazing at each other, with sus- 
 picious or doubtful curiosity, let each of us hold out to his 
 neighbor the hearty hand of friendship, and unite in drawing 
 a line, which, Hke an act of oblivion shall bury in forgetfulness 
 every former dissension. Let the names of Whig and Tory 
 be extinct ; and let none other be heard among us, than those 
 of a good citizen, an open and resolute friend, and a virtuous 
 supporter of the RIGHTS OF MANKIND, and of the FREE 
 AND INDEPENDENT STATES OF AMERICA." 
 
 The last paragraph is a powerful appeal for friendship, 
 even between the Whigs and the Tories, in order to have 
 perfect unity of action in their approaching struggle for Inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 Mr. Paine, whose father was a Quaker, wrote an "Epis- 
 tle to Quakers" who were actively assisting the King and 
 his minions in making open and cruel war on the Americans, 
 and at the same time, were censuring the Americans for 
 defending themselves against the merciless attacks of Great 
 Britain, because they said hearing arms was sinful. He says: 
 "0 ye partial ministers of your own acknowledged principles! 
 If the bearing of arms be sinful, the first going to war must 
 be more so, by all the difference between wilful attack and 
 unavoidable defence. Wherefore, if ye really preach from 
 conscience, and mean not to make a political hobby-horse 
 of your religion, convince the world thereof by proclaiming 
 your doctrine to our enemies, for they likewise bear arms." 
 
150 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 Other parts of his epistle are very severe on the Quakers for 
 assisting the King to carry on the war. 
 
 Here I shall likewise consider some of the pamphlets of 
 "Common Sense," called "The Crisis": Paine wrote his 
 first pamphlet, which he called "The Crisis," on the 23rd 
 of December, 1776, about nine months after the battle of 
 Lexington and something less than six months after the 
 Declaration of Independence. General Washington had met 
 with several reverses in battle, — his army was much depleted 
 by being killed and wounded, by sickness and desertion. 
 Those remaining true to the cause were very much discour- 
 aged, poorly clothed, poorly fed and poorly paid. Mr. Paine, 
 then in the army, recognized the necessity of doing some- 
 thing to revive their drooping spirits, and to inspire more 
 patriotism in the people generally. Thereupon he took up 
 his pen again, by the camp-fire at night, when all were 
 asleep around him, and commenced those immortal pamphlets 
 known as "The Crisis" which he continued, at intervals, for 
 five or six years, as the war progressed. It has frequently 
 been said by the most distinguished patriots of those times, 
 that had it not been for the efforts of Thomas Paine, at this 
 critical juncture of affairs, America would never have achiev- 
 ed her independence. 
 
 These pamphlets were sixteen in number and embraced 
 230 pages, consequently, I can only make extracts from 
 them, but the reader should, by all means, read every page 
 of them, in order to appreciate their strength and beauty. 
 The First "Crisis" commences as follows: "These are the 
 times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and sun- 
 shine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of 
 his country, but he that stands it now, deserves the love and 
 thanks of man and woman. Tyranny like hell, is not easily 
 conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the 
 harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What 
 we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: 'tis deamess only 
 that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put 
 a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange in- 
 deed, if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be 
 
PART III 151 
 
 highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, 
 has declared that she has a right {not only to tax) but 'to 
 hind us in all cases whatsoever,^ and if being bound in that 
 manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as 
 slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious, for so 
 unlimited a power can belong only to God. 
 
 "I have as little superstition in me as any man living, 
 but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God 
 Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, 
 or leave them unsupported to perish, who have so earnestly 
 and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by 
 every decent method which wisdom could invent. Neither 
 have I so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose that He 
 has relinquished the government of the world, and given us 
 up to the care of the devils; and as I do not, I cannot see 
 on what grounds the king of Britain can look up to Heaven 
 for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or 
 a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as he. 
 
 "Why is it that the enemy have left the New England 
 provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war? The 
 answer is easy: New England is not infested with Tories, 
 and we are. I have been tender in raising the cry against 
 these men, and used ntmiberless arguments to show them 
 their danger, but it would not do to sacrifice a world to 
 either their folly or their baseness. The period is now ar- 
 rived, in which either they or we must change our senti- 
 ments, or one or both must fall. And what is a Tory? 
 Good God! What is he? I should not be afraid to go with 
 a hundred Whigs against a thousand Tories, were they to 
 attempt to get into arms. Every Tory is a coward; for 
 servile, slavish, self-interested fear is the foundation of Tory- 
 ism; and a man under such influence, though he be cruel, 
 never can be brave. 
 
 "Quitting this class of men, the Tories, I turn with the 
 warm ardor of a friend to those who have nobly stood, and 
 are yet determined to stand the matter out : I call not upon 
 a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on 
 every state; up and help us; lay your shoulders to the wheel; 
 
152 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 better have too much force than too little, when so great an 
 object is at stake. Let it be told to the future world, that 
 in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue 
 could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one 
 common danger, came forth to meet and repulse it. Say 
 not that thousands are gone, turn out your tens of thou- 
 sands; throw not the burden of the day upon Providence, 
 but ^show your faith by your works,'' that God may bless you. 
 "It matters not where you live, or what rank of life 
 you hold, the evil or the blessing will reach you all. The 
 far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich 
 and the poor, will suffer or rejoice alike. The heart that 
 feels not now, is dead: the blood of his children will curse 
 his cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a little might 
 have saved the whole, and made them happy. I love the 
 man that can srnile in trouble, that can gather strength 
 from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the busi- 
 ness of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, 
 and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his 
 principles unto death. 
 
 "My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and 
 clear as a ray of light. Not all the treasure of the world, 
 so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an 
 offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks 
 into my house, bums and destroys my property, and kills 
 or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and Ho hind 
 me in all cases whatsoever,' to his absolute will, am I to suf- 
 fer it? What signifies it to me, whether he who does it is a 
 king or a common man; my countryman or not my coun- 
 tryman; whether it be done by an individual villain, or an 
 army of them? If we reason to the root of things, we shall 
 find no difference; neither can any just cause be assigned 
 why we should punish in the one case and pardon in the 
 other. Let them call me rebel, and welcome, I feel no con- 
 cern from it. I conceive likewise a horrid idea in receiving 
 mercy from a being, who at the last day shall be shrieking 
 to the rocks and mountains to cover him, and fleeing with 
 
PART III 153 
 
 terror from the orphan, the widow, and the slain of Amer- 
 ica. I thank God that I fear not. I see no real cause for 
 fear. I know our situation well, and can see the way out 
 of it. While our army was collected, Howe dared not risk 
 a battle, and it is no credit to him that he decamped from 
 the White Plains, and waited a mean opportunity to ravage 
 the defenceless Jerseys. 
 
 "By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect 
 of a glorious issue; by cowardice and submission, the sad 
 choice of a variety of evils: a ravaged country, a depopu- 
 lated city, habitations without safety, and slavery without 
 hope — our homes turned into barracks and bawdy-houses 
 for Hessians, and a future race to provide for whose fathers 
 we shall doubt of. Look on this picture and weep over it! 
 and if there yet remains one thoughtless wretch who believes 
 it not, let him suffer it unlamented." 
 
 December 23rd, 1776. 
 
 The Second "Crisis" is dedicated "To Lord Howe" who 
 was the Commander-in-chief of the British Army in America. 
 He says: "As a military man your lordship may hold out 
 the sword of war, and call it, 'the ultima ratio regum,' the 
 last reason of kings. We in turn can show you the sword of 
 justice, and call it, 'the best scourge of tyrants.' The first 
 of these two may threaten, or even frighten for a while, and 
 cast a sickly langor over an insulted people, but reason will 
 soon recover the debauch, and restore them again to tranquil 
 fortitude. You may issue your proclamations, and welcome, 
 for we have learned to 'reverence ourselves' and scorn the 
 insulting ruffian that employs you. 
 
 " 'THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA' will sound 
 as pompously in the world or in history, as 'the Kingdom of 
 Great Britain,' the character of General Washington will fill a 
 page with as much lustre as that of Lord Howe. 
 
 "The Quakers put forth a testimony, dated the 20th of 
 December, signed, 'John Pemberton,' declaring their attach- 
 ment to the British government. These men are continually 
 harping on the great sin of our bearing arms, but the King 
 
154 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 of Britain may lay waste the worid in blood and famine, and 
 they, poor fallen souls, have nothing to say. 
 
 "Your avowed purpose here, is to kill, conquer, plunder, 
 pardon and enslave: and the ravages of your army through 
 the Jerseys have been marked with as much barbarism as if 
 you had openly professed yourself the prince of ruffians ; not 
 even the appearance of humanity has been preserved either 
 on the march or the retreat of your troops; no general order 
 that I could ever learn, has ever been issued to prevent or 
 even forbid your troops from robbery, wherever they came; 
 and the only instance of justice, if it can be called such, 
 which has distinguished you from impartiality, is, that you 
 treated and plundered all alike: what could not be carried 
 away has been destroyed, and mahogany furniture has been 
 deliberately laid on fire for fuel, rather than the men should 
 be fatigued with cutting wood. 
 
 "In a folio general-order book, belonging to Col. Rhol's 
 battalion, taken at Trenton, and now in the possession of 
 the council of safety for the state, the following barbarous 
 order is frequently repeated: 'His excellency, the Commander- 
 in-chief, orders that all inhabitants who shall be found 
 with arms, not having an officer with them, shall be imme- 
 diately taken and hung up.' How many you may thus have 
 privately sacrificed, we know not, and the account can only 
 be settled in another world. Your treatment of prisoners, 
 in order to distress them to enlist in your infernal service, is 
 not to be equalled by any instance in Europe." 
 
 The third and fourth pamphlets of "The Crisis" dis- 
 cuss all phases of the war; the ability of America to succeed 
 if all the Colonies will unite in one grand effort for their in- 
 dependence. "Independence was a doctrine scarce and rare, 
 even towards the conclusion of the year 1775; all our politics 
 had been founded on the hope or expectation of making the 
 matter up — a hope which though general on the side of 
 America, had never entered the head or heart of the British 
 Court. Their hope was conquest and confiscation. Good 
 Heavens! what volumes of thanks does America owe to 
 Britain? What infinite obligation to the tool that fills with 
 
PART III 155 
 
 paradoxical vacancy, the throne! Nothing but the sharpest 
 essence of villainy, could have produced a menstruum that 
 would have effected a separation." 
 
 The Fifth "Crisis" is dedicated ''To General Sir William 
 Howe, in command of the EngHsh Army in America. 
 There is not in the compass of language a sufficiency of 
 words to express the baseness of your king, his ministry and 
 his army. They have refined upon villainy till it wants a 
 name. To the fierce vices of former ages they have added 
 the dregs and scummings of the most finished rascality, and 
 are so completely sunk in serpentine deceit, that there is not 
 left among them one generous enemy. 
 
 'Trom such men and such masters may the gracious 
 hand of Heaven preserve America! And though the suffer- 
 ings she now endures are heavy and severe, they are like straws 
 in the wind compared to the weight of evils she would feel 
 under the government of your king, and his pensioned parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 "The time, sir, will come when you, in a melancholy 
 hour, shall reckon up your miseries by your murders in 
 America. Life, with you, begins to wear a clouded aspect. 
 The vision of pleasurable delusion is wearing away, and 
 changing to the barren wild of age and sorrow. The poor 
 reflection of having served your king will yield you no con- 
 solation in your parting moments. He will crumble to the 
 same undistinguished ashes with yourself, and have sins 
 enough of his own to answer for. It is not the farcical 
 benedictions of a bishop, nor the cringing hypocrisy of a 
 court of chaplains, nor the formality of an act of parliament, 
 that can change guilt into innocence or make the punish- 
 ment one pang the less. You may, perhaps, be unwilling to 
 be serious, but this destruction of the goods of Providence, 
 this havoc of the human race, and this sowing the world 
 with mischief, must be accounted for to Him who made and 
 governs it. To us they are only present sufferings, but to 
 Him they are deep rebellions. 
 
 "If there is a sin superior to every other, it is that of 
 willful and offensive war. Most other sins are circumscribed 
 
156 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 with narrow limits, that is, the power of one man cannot 
 give them a very general extension, and many kinds of sins 
 have only a mental existence from which no infection arises; 
 but he who is the author of a war, lets loose the whole con- 
 tagion of hell, and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to 
 death. We leave it to England and Indians to boast of 
 these honors; we feel no thirst for such savage glory; a no- 
 bler flame; a purer spirit animates America. She hath 
 taken up the sword of virtuous defence; she hath bravely put 
 herself between T3rranny and Freedom, between a curse and 
 a blessing, determined to expel the one and protect the 
 other." 
 
 Below I will copy Mr. Paine's "Address to Lord Howe," 
 the bloody and cruel General Howe, who was in command of 
 the British army in America, in order to illustrate the great 
 versatility of talent of the author, as a writer, and to draw 
 the attention of the reader to the peculiar aptitude of its 
 composition to the vile object of his denunciation. But, in 
 order to enable the reader to fully comprehend the fitness 
 of the "Address," I will ask him to turn back a page or two, 
 and again peruse what Mr. Paine says about Lord Howe in 
 Nos. II and V of the "Crisis." I do not think I have ever 
 read anything to compare with Paine's poetical "Address to 
 Lord Howe." Its severe and merited satire; its indignant 
 invective; its scathing denunciation of Lord Howe for the 
 atrocities which he perpetrated on the Americans, and its 
 vivid description of the sorrowful sufferings of those bereaved 
 and defenceless people, has no parallel in the English lan- 
 guage. 
 
 ADDRESS TO LORD HOWE 
 (Written at Philadelphia.) 
 
 The rain pours down, the city looks forlorn, 
 And gloomy subjects suit the howHng mom; 
 Close by my fire, with door and window fast. 
 And safely shelter'd from the driving blast, 
 To gayer thoughts I bid a day's adieu. 
 To spend a scene of solitude with you. 
 
PART III 157 
 
 So oft has black revenge engross'd the care 
 Of all the leisure hours man finds to spare; 
 So oft has guilt, in all her thousand dens, 
 Call'd for the vengeance of chastising pens. 
 That while I fein would ease my heart on you, 
 No thought is left untold, no passion new. 
 
 From flight to flight the mental path appears, 
 Worn with the steps of many thousand years. 
 And fill'd throughout with every scene of pain. 
 From George the murderer down to murderous Cain, 
 Alike in cruelty, alike in hate, 
 In guilt alike, but more alike in fate, 
 Cursed supremely for the blood they drew, 
 Each from the rising world, while each was new. 
 
 Go, man of blood! true likeness of the first. 
 And strew your blasted head with homely dust: 
 In ashes sit — in wretched sackcloth weep, 
 And with unpitied sorrows cease to sleep. 
 Go haunt the tombs, and single out the place, 
 Where earth itself shall suffer in disgrace. 
 
 Go spell the letters on some mouldering urn. 
 And ask if he who sleeps there can return; 
 Go count the numbers that in silence lie, 
 And learn by study what it is to die; 
 For sure your heart, if any heart you own. 
 Conceits that man expires without a groan; 
 That he who lives receives from you a grace. 
 Or death is nothing but a change of place: 
 That peace is dull, that joy from sorrow springs, 
 And war the most desirable of things. 
 
 Else why these scenes that wound the feeling mind, 
 
 This spot of death, this cockpit of mankind! 
 
 Why sobs the widow in perpetual pain? 
 
 Why cries the orphans? — "Oh! my father's slain!" 
 
 Why hangs the sire his paralytic head, 
 
 And nods with manly grief? — "My son is dead!" 
 
 Why drops the tear from off the sister's cheek. 
 
 And sweetly tells the pain that she would speak? 
 
 Or why, in sorrow sunk, does pensive John 
 
 To all the neighbors tell, "Poor master's gone!" 
 
158 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 Oh! could I paint the passion that I feel, 
 Or point a horror that would wound like steel, 
 To thy unfeeling, unrelenting mind, 
 I'd send destruction and reHeve mankind. 
 You that are husbands, fathers, brothers, all 
 The tender names which kindred learn to call; 
 Yet like an image carved in massy stone. 
 You bear the shape, but sentiment have none; 
 Allied by dust and figure, not with mind, 
 You only herd, but live not with mankind. 
 
 Since then no hopes to civilize remain. 
 And mild philosophy has preached in vain, 
 One prayer is left, which dreads no proud reply, 
 That he who made you breathe will make you die." 
 
 Thomas Jefferson said of Mr. Paine's writings: "No 
 writer exceeded Paine in familiarity of style, in perspicuity 
 of expression; happiness in elucidation, and in simple and 
 unassuming language." 
 
 One of Paine's enemies criticised some of his writings, 
 and spoke of him as a libeller to which he repHed, in "Rights 
 of Man" (page 37 of "Rickman's Life of Paine"): "If to 
 expose the fraud and imposition of monarchy, and every 
 species of hereditary government; to lessen the oppression; 
 to prepare plans for education of helpless infancy, and the 
 comfortable support of the aged and distressed; to endeavor 
 to concilitate nations to each other; to extirpate the horrid 
 practice of war; to promote universal peace, civilization and 
 commerce; to break the chains of political superstition, and 
 raise degraded man to his proper rank: — ^if these things are 
 libelous, let me live the life of a libeller, and let the name 
 of Libeller be engraven on my tomb." 
 
 His next pamphlet is addressed "To the inhabitants of 
 America." He says: "With all the pleasure with which a 
 man exchanges bad company for good, I take my leave of 
 Sir William Howe, and return to you. It is now nearly 
 three years since the tyranny of Britain received its first 
 repulse by the arms of America. A period which has given 
 birth to a new world, and erected a monument to the folly 
 of the old. 
 
PART III 159 
 
 "I cannot help being sometimes surprised at the com- 
 plimentary references which I have seen and heard made to 
 ancient histories and transactions. The wisdom, civil gov- 
 ernments, and sense of honor of the states of Greece and 
 Rome, are frequently held up as objects of excellence and 
 imitation. Mankind have lived to very little purpose, if, at 
 this period of the world, they must go two or three thousand 
 years back for lessons and examples. We do great injustice 
 to ourselves by placing them in such a superior line; we 
 have no just authority for it, neither can we tell why it is 
 that we should suppose ourselves inferior. Could the mist 
 of antiquity be cleared away, and men and things be viewed 
 as they really are, it is more than probable that they would 
 admire us, rather than we them. America has surmounted 
 a greater variety and combination of difficulties, than, I 
 believe, ever fell to the share of any one people, in the same 
 space of time, and has replenished the world with more use- 
 ful knowledge and sounder maxims of civil government than 
 were ever produced in any age before. Had it not been for 
 America, there had been no such thing as freedom left 
 throughout the whole universe. England hath lost hers in a 
 long chain of right reasoning from wrong principles, and it is 
 from this country, now, that she must learn the resolution 
 to redress herself, and the wisdom how to accompHsh it. 
 
 ''The Grecians and Romans were strongly possessed of 
 the spirit of liberty but not the principle, for at the time 
 that they were determined not to be slaves themselves, they 
 employed their power to enslave the rest of mankind. But 
 this distinguished era is blotted by no one misanthropical 
 vice. 
 
 "In short, if the principle on which the cause is founded, 
 the universal blessings that are to arise from it, the diffi- 
 culties that accompanied it, the wisdom with which it has 
 been debated, the fortitude by which it has been supported, 
 the strength of the power which we had to oppose, and the 
 condition in which we undertook it, be all taken in one view, 
 we may justly style it the most virtuous and illustrious 
 revolution that ever graced the history of mankind. 
 
160 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 "A good opinion of ourselves is exceedingly necessary 
 in private life, but absolutely necessary in public life, and of 
 the utmost importance in supporting national character. I 
 have no notion of yielding the palm of the United States to 
 any Grecians or Romans that were ever bom. We have 
 equalled the bravest in times of danger, and excelled the 
 wisest in the construction of civil governments. 
 
 "The only way to finish a war with the least possible 
 bloodshed, or perhaps without any, is to collect an army, 
 against the power of which, the enemy shall have no chance. 
 By not doing this, we prolong the war, and double both the 
 calamities and the expenses of it. What a rich and happy 
 country would America be, were she, by a vigorous exertion, 
 to reduce Howe as she has reduced Burgoyne. Her currency 
 would rise to millions beyond its present value. Every man 
 would be rich, and every man would have it in his power 
 to be happy. And why not do these things? What is there 
 to hinder?" 
 
 His Sixth "Crisis" is directed "To the Earl of Carlisle, 
 General Clinton and William Eden, Esq., British Commis- 
 sioners at New York." They were sent over to make some 
 kind of a rascally peace with the Americans. Paine com- 
 mences as follows: "There is a dignity in the warm passions 
 of a Whig, which is never to be found in the cold malice of 
 a Tory. In the one, nature is only heated — in the other she 
 is poisoned. The instant the former has it in his power to 
 punish, he feels a disposition to forgive, but the canine 
 venom of the latter knows no relief but revenge. This gen- 
 eral distinction will, I believe, apply in all cases, and suit 
 as well the meridian of England as America. 
 
 "Like men in a state of intoxication, you forget that 
 the rest of the world have eyes, and that the same stupidity 
 which conceals you from yourselves exposes you to their 
 satire and contempt. 
 
 "We are invited to submit to a man who has attempted 
 by every cruelty to destroy us, and to join him in making 
 war against France, who is already against him for our sup- 
 port. 
 
PART III 161 
 
 ''Can Bedlam, in concert with Lucifer, form a more 
 mad and devilish request? Were it possible a people could 
 sink into such apostacy they would deserve to be swept 
 from the earth like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 The proposition is an universal affront to the rank which 
 man holds in the creation, and an indignity to Him who 
 placed him there. It supposes him made up without a 
 spark of honor, and under no obligation to God or man. 
 
 "What sort of men or Christians must you suppose 
 the Americans to be, who, after seeing their most himible 
 petitions insultingly rejected — the most grievous laws passed 
 to distress them in every quarter — an undeclared war let 
 loose upon them, and Indians and Negroes invited to the 
 slaughter — who, after seeing their kinsmen murdered, their 
 fellow-citizens starved to death in prisons, and their houses 
 and property destroyed and burned, — who, after the most 
 serious appeals to heaven, the most solemn abjuration by 
 oath of all government connected with you, and the most 
 heart -felt pledges and protestation of faith to each other — 
 and who, after soliciting the friendship, and entering into 
 alliances with other nations, should at last break through all 
 these obligations, civil and divine, by complying with your 
 horrid and infernal proposal? 
 
 "You may plan and execute little mischiefs, but are 
 they worth the expense they cost you, or will such partial 
 evils have any effect on the general cause? Your expedition 
 to Egg Harbor, will be felt at a distance like an attack upon 
 a hen-roost, and expose you in Europe, with a sort of child- 
 ish frenzy. Is it worth while to keep an army to protect 
 you in writing proclamations, or to get once a year into 
 winter-quarters ? ' ' 
 
 His Seventh "Crisis" is addressed "To the people of 
 England." He fully discusses the futility of their trying to 
 conquer America, and gives many reasons for it. He cites 
 many instances of detriment to their interest by continuing 
 the war (pages 188 and 189) : "War never can be the inter- 
 est of a trading nation, any more than quarreling can be 
 profitable to a man in business. But to make war with 
 
 11 
 
162 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 those who trade with us, is Hke setting a bull-dog upon a 
 customer at the shop-door. The least degree of common 
 sense shows the madness of the latter, and it will apply 
 with the same force of conviction to the former. 
 
 "In whatever light the war with America is considered 
 upon commercial principles, it is evidently the interest of 
 the people of England not to support it; and why it has 
 been supported so long, against the clearest demonstrations 
 of truth, and national advantage, is to me, and must be to 
 all the reasonable world, a matter of astonishment." 
 
 His Eighth "Crisis" is likewise addressed "To the people 
 of England." He very fully discusses the speech of the 
 King of England. It commences as follows: 
 
 " 'Trusting (says the King of England in his speech 
 of November last) in the divine Providence, and in the jus- 
 tice of my cause, I am firmly resolved to prosecute the war 
 with vigor, and to make every exertion in order to compel 
 our enemies to equitable terms of peace and accommoda- 
 tion.' To this declaration the United States of America, 
 and the confederated powers of Europe will reply, if Britain 
 will have war, she shall have enough of it. 
 
 "Five years have nearly elapsed since the commence- 
 ment of hostilities, and every campaign, by a gradual decay, 
 has lessened your ability to conquer, without producing a 
 serious thought on your condition or your fate. Like a 
 prodigal lingering in an habitual consumption, you feel the 
 relics of life, and mistake them for recovery. New schemes, 
 like new medicines, have administered fresh hopes, and pro- 
 longed the disease instead of curing it. A change of generals, 
 like a change of physicians, served only to keep the flattery 
 alive, and furnish new pretences for new extravagance. 
 
 "This makes the second paper, addressed perhaps in 
 vain, to the people of England. That advice should be tak- 
 en wherever example has failed, or precept be regarded where 
 warning is ridiculed, is like a picture of hope resting on de- 
 spair; but when time shall stamp with universal currency, 
 the facts you have long encountered with a laugh, and the 
 irresistible evidence of accumulated losses like the hand- 
 
PART III 163 
 
 writing on the wall, shall add terror to distress, you will 
 then, in a conflict of sufferings, learn to sympathize with 
 others by feeling for yourselves. 
 
 "Hitherto you have experienced the expenses, but noth- 
 ing of the miseries of war. Your disappointments have been 
 accompanied with no immediate suffering, and your losses 
 came to you only by intelligence. Like fire at a distance, 
 your heard not even the cry; you felt not the danger, you 
 saw not the confusion. To you everything has been foreign 
 but the taxes to support it. You knew not what it was to 
 be alarmed at midnight with an armed enemy in the streets. 
 You were strangers to the distressing scene of a family in 
 flight, and to the thousand restless cares and tender sorrows 
 that incessantly arose. To see women and children wander- 
 ing in the severity of winter, with the broken remains of a 
 well-furnished house, and seeking shelter in every crib and 
 hut, were matters you had no conception of. You knew 
 not what it was to stand by and see your goods chopped for 
 fuel, and your beds ripped to pieces to make packages for 
 plunder. The misery of others, like a tempestuous night, 
 added to the pleasures of your own security." 
 
 He commences his Ninth "Crisis" as follows: "Had 
 America pursued her advantages with half the spirit that 
 she resisted her misfortunes, she would, before now, have 
 been a conquering and a peaceful people; but lulled in the 
 lap of soft tranquillity, she rested on her hopes, and adver- 
 sity only has convulsed her into action. Whether subtlety 
 or insincerity, at the close of the last year, induced the ene- 
 my to an appearance for peace, is a point not material to 
 know; it is sufficient that we see the effects it has had on 
 our politics, and that we sternly rise to resent the delusion. 
 
 "At a crisis, big, like the present, with expectation and 
 events, the whole country is called to unanimity and exer- 
 tion. Not an ability ought now to sleep that can produce 
 but a mite to the general good, nor even a whisper to pass 
 that militates against it. The necessity of the case and the 
 importance of the consequences, admit no delay from a 
 friend — no apology from an enemy. To spare now, would 
 
164 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 be the height of extravagance, and to consult present ease, 
 would be to sacrifice it, perhaps forever." 
 
 In his Tenth "Crisis" he writes "On the Subject of 
 Taxation," and very fully discusses it in all of its bearings. 
 He takes up the enormous cost of the war to England, and 
 compares it to the small cost to America, in which he em- 
 ploys a large nimiber of figures to elucidate the comparison. 
 He then discusses how the money can be raised by the 
 Americans for carrying on the war, and how it should be 
 proportioned among the Colonies, showing that it would not 
 be burdensome to any one of them. 
 
 His Eleventh "Crisis" is "On the King of England's 
 Speech." He says: "Although the situation of America, 
 superior to every effort to enslave her, and daily rising to 
 importance and opulence, hath placed herself above the re- 
 gion of anxiety, it has still left her within the circle of curi- 
 osity; and her fancy to see the speech of a man who had 
 proudly threatened to bring her to his feet, was visibly 
 marked with that tranquil confidence which cared nothing 
 about its contents. It was inquired after with a smile, read 
 with a laugh, and dismissed with disdain. 
 
 "How easy it is to abuse truth and language, when men, 
 by habitual wickedness, have learned to set justice at defi- 
 ance. That the very man who began the war, who with the 
 most sullen insolence refused to answer, and even to hear 
 the himiblest of all petitions; who hath encouraged his offi- 
 cers and his army in the most savage cruelties, and the 
 most scandalous plunderings, who hath stirred up the Indians 
 on one side, and the Negroes on the other, and invoked 
 every aid of hell in his behalf, should now, with an affected 
 air of pity, turn the tables from himself, and charge to 
 another the wickedness that is his own, can only be equalled 
 by the baseness of the heart that spoke it. 
 
 "TO BE NOBLY WRONG IS MORE MANLY THAN 
 TO BE MEANLY RIGHT," is an expression I once used 
 on a former occasion, and it is equally applicable now. We 
 feel something like respect for consistency even in error. 
 We lament the virtue that is debauched into vice, but the 
 
PART in 165 
 
 vice that affects a virtue becomes the more detestable; and 
 amongst the various assumptions of character which hypoc- 
 risy has taught and men have practiced, there is none that 
 raises a higher relish of disgust, than to see disappointed 
 inveteracy twisting itself, by the most visible falsehoods, into 
 an appearance of piety it has not pretensions to." 
 
 He then discusses the sufferings of the past as follows: 
 "What are the little sufferings of the present day, compared 
 with the hardships that are past. There was a time, when 
 we had neither house nor home in safety; when every hour 
 was the hour of alarm and danger; when the mind, tortured 
 with anxiety, knew no repose, and every thing but hope and 
 fortitude, was bidding us farewell." 
 
 His Fifteenth "Crisis" is very beautiful and very cheer- 
 ing to the Americans, as their independence had been about 
 achieved. It was written on April 19th, 1783, and begins 
 as follows: "The times that tried men's souls, are over, and 
 the greatest and completest revolution the world ever knew, 
 is gloriously and happily accomplished. 
 
 "But to pass from the extremes of danger to safety — 
 from the tumult of war to the tranquillity of peace, though 
 sweet in contemplation, requires a gradual composure of the 
 senses to receive it. Even calmness has the power of stun- 
 ning, when it opens too instantly upon us. The long and 
 raging hurricane that should cease in a moment, would leave 
 us in a state rather of wonder than enjoyment; and some 
 moments of recollection must pass, before we could be capa- 
 ble of tasting the felicity of repose. There are but few in- 
 stances, in which the mind is fitted for sudden transitions: 
 it takes in its pleasures by reflection and comparison, and 
 those must have time to act, before the relish for new scenes 
 is complete. 
 
 "In the present case, the mighty magnitude of the 
 object, the various uncertainties of fate it has undergone, 
 the numerous and complicated dangers we have suffered or 
 escaped, the eminence we now stand on, and the vast pros- 
 pect before us, must all conspire to impress us with contem- 
 plation. 
 
166 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 "To see it in our power to make a world happy, to 
 teach mankind the art of being so, to exhibit, on the theatre 
 of the universe, a character hitherto unknown, and to have, 
 as it were, a new creation intrusted to our hands, are honors 
 that command reflection, and can neither be too highly esti- 
 mated, nor too gratefiilly received. 
 
 "In this pause then of recollection — while the storm 
 is ceasing, and the long agitated mind vibrating to a rest; 
 let us look back on the scenes we have passed, and learn 
 from experience what is yet to be done. 
 
 "Never, I say, had a country so many openings to happi- 
 ness as this. Her setting out in life, like the rising of a 
 fair morning, was unclouded and promising. Her cause was 
 good. Her principles just and liberal. Her temper serene 
 and firm. Her conduct regulated by the nicest steps, and 
 every thing about her wore the mark of honor. It is not 
 every country (perhaps there is not another in the world) 
 that can boast so fair an origin. Even the first settlement 
 of America corresponds with the character of the Revolution. 
 Rome, once the proud mistress of the universe, was origi- 
 nally a band of rufiians. Plunder and rapine made her rich, 
 and her oppression of millions made her great. But America 
 need never be ashamed to tell her birth, nor relate the 
 stages by which she rose to empire. 
 
 "The remembrance, then, of what is past, if it operates 
 rightly, must inspire her with the most laudable of all ambi- 
 tion, that of adding to the fair fame she began with. The 
 world has seen her great in adversity. Struggling, without 
 a thought of yielding, beneath accumulated difficulties. 
 Bravely, nay proudly, encountering distress, and rising in 
 resolution as the storm increased. All this is justly due to 
 her, for her fortitude has merited the character. Let then, 
 the world see that she can bear prosperity; and that her 
 honest virtue in time of peace, is equal to the bravest virtue 
 in time of war. 
 
 "Character is much easier kept than recovered, and that 
 man, if any such there be, who, from sinister views, or little- 
 
PART III 167 
 
 ness of soul, lends unseen his hand, to injure it, contrives a 
 wound it will never be in his power to heal. 
 
 "If in the course of more than seven years, I have 
 rendered her any service, I have likewise added something 
 to the reputation of literature by freely and disinterestedly 
 employing it in the great cause of mankind, and showing 
 that there may be genius without prostitution. 
 
 "Independence always appeared to me practicable and 
 probable, provided the sentiment of the country could be 
 formed and held to the object, and there is no instance in 
 the world where a people so extended, and wedded to former 
 habits of thinking, and under such a variety of circumstances 
 were so instantly and effectually pervaded by a turn in 
 politics, as in the case of independence, and who supported 
 their opinion, undiminished, through such a succession of 
 good and ill fortune, till they crowned it with success. 
 
 "But as the scenes of war are closed, and every man 
 preparing for home and happier times, I therefore take my 
 leave of the subject. I have most sincerely followed it from 
 beginning to end, and through all its turns and windings: 
 and whatever country I may hereafter be in, I shall always 
 feel an honest pride at the part I have taken and acted, and 
 a gratitude to Nature and Providence for putting it in my 
 power to be of some use to mankind." 
 
 His Sixteenth and last "Crisis" is addressed "To the 
 People of America." He warns the Americans to beware 
 of the hypocrisy and wiles of England in relation to commer- 
 cial intercourse between the two countries. He impresses it 
 upon them that all the States should stand loyally together: 
 
 "But it is only by acting in union, that the usurpations of 
 foreign nations on the freedom of trade can be counteracted, 
 and security extended to the commerce of America. And 
 when we view a flag, which to the eye is beautiful, and to 
 contemplate its rise and origin inspires a sensation of sub- 
 lime delight, our national honor must unite with our interests 
 to prevent injury to the one, or insult to the other." (Page 
 300.) 
 
168 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 Mr. Paine then addresses what he calls a Letter to the 
 Abbe Raynal, of seventy pages. His introduction to the 
 Letter commences as follows: "A London translation of an 
 original work in French by the Abbe Raynal, which treats 
 of the revolution of North America, having been re-printed 
 in Philadelphia and other parts of the continent, and as the 
 distance at which the Abbe is placed from the American 
 theatre of war and politics, has occasioned him to mistake 
 several facts, or misconceive the causes or principles by 
 which they were produced, the following tract, therefore, is 
 published with a view to rectify and prevent even accidental 
 errors from intermixing with history, under the sanction of 
 time and silence." 
 
 It appears from Mr. Paine's letter to the Abbe that 
 he had made a great many mistakes in commenting upon 
 the American Revolution, which did our people much in- 
 justice; all of which Mr. Paine corrects. Speaking of the 
 American war, he says: "Neither the foul finger of disgrace 
 nor the bloody hand of vengeance has hitherto put a blot 
 upon her fame. Her victories have received lustre from a 
 greatness of lenity; and her laws have been permitted to 
 slumber, where they might justly have awakened to punish. 
 War, so much the trade of the world, has been only the 
 business of necessity; and when the necessity shall cease, her 
 very enemies must confess, that as she drew the sword in her 
 just defence, she used it without cruelty and sheathed it 
 without revenge." The entire letter is well worth reading, 
 
 Paine then wrote his "Rights of Man" in reply to 
 "Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution." It em- 
 braces 270 pages, and is a masterly piece of literature. It 
 was written after the American Revolution, and is said by 
 able critics to be the best effort of his literary life. It was 
 chef d' oeuvre in politics. History says "Although 'Burke's 
 Reflections' was very popular in the beginning, it stood no 
 chance against Paine's reply, 'Rights of Man.' When a 
 thousand copies were sold of the former, ten thousand were 
 sold of the latter." 
 
PART III 169 
 
 Mr. Paine in the beginning of his ''Rights of Man," in 
 reply to "Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution," 
 says: 
 
 "Among the incivilities by which nations or individuals 
 provoke and irritate each other, Mr. Burke's pamphlet on 
 the French Revolution is an extraordinary instance. Neither 
 the people of France nor the National Assembly, were troub- 
 ling themselves about the affairs of England, or the English 
 Parliament; and that Mr. Burke should commence an im- 
 provoked attack upon them, both in Parliament and in pub- 
 lic, is a conduct that cannot be pardoned on the score of 
 manners, nor justified on that of policy. 
 
 "There is scarcely an epithet of abuse to be found in 
 the English language, with which Mr. Burke has not loaded 
 the French nation and the National Assembly. Everything 
 which rancor, prejudice, ignorance, or knowledge could sug- 
 gest, are poured forth in the copious fury of near four hun- 
 dred pages. In the strain and on the plan Mr. Burke was 
 writing, he might have written on to as many thousands. 
 When the tongue or the pen is let loose in a frenzy of pas- 
 sion, it is the man and not the subject that becomes ex- 
 hausted. 
 
 "It was not against Louis XVI, but against the despotic 
 principles of the Government, that the nation revolted. 
 These principles had not their origin in him, but in the origi- 
 nal establishment, many centuries back; and they were be- 
 come too deeply rooted to be removed, and the Augean 
 stable of parasites and plunderers too abominably filthy to 
 be cleansed, by anything short of a complete and universal 
 revolution. When it becomes necessary to do a thing, the 
 whole heart and soul should go into the measure, or not 
 attempt it. That crisis was then arrived, and there remained 
 no choice but to act with determined vigor, or not to act 
 at all. 
 
 "I cannot consider Mr. Burke's book in scarcely any 
 other light than a dramatic performance; and he must, I 
 think, have considered it in the same light himself, by the 
 
170 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 poetical liberties he has taken of omitting some facts, dis- 
 torting others, and making the machinery bend to produce 
 a stage effect. Of this kind is his account of the expedition 
 to Versailles. He begins this account by omitting the only 
 facts which, as causes, are known to be true; ever3rthing be- 
 yond these is conjecture, even in Paris, and he then works 
 up a tale accommodated to his own passions and prejudices." 
 
 Mr. Burke was the ablest speaker and writer in the 
 English Parliament. At one time he was a strong advocate 
 of political freedom, and was a staunch friend of the Ameri- 
 can Colonies. Afterwards he changed his tactics, which 
 Paine attributed to undue influence over him by the English 
 Government, in the way of giving him and his wife a pen- 
 sion for life, which was not generally known, but it was 
 unearthed by Paine. I have copied rather freely from the 
 writings of Mr. Paine, in order to show my readers "what 
 manner of man" he was; and also to enable them to com- 
 pare the writings of Junius with those of Paine, both of 
 whom I regard as the same person. 
 
 Inasmuch as "Preparedness" is the all-absorbing topic 
 of discussion both in and out of Congress, at the present 
 time (March, 1916), I will recite parts of what Thomas Paine 
 said on this and kindred subjects, over one hundred years 
 ago. In the first place, he was a great advocate of having 
 a Peace Congress, for the arbitration of all differences be- 
 tween nation and nation. On this subject he said: "It is 
 attributed to Henry IV of France, a man of enlarged and 
 benevolent heart, that he proposed about 1610, a plan of 
 abolishing war in Europe. The plan consisted in constitut- 
 ing an European Congress, or, as the French authors would 
 style it, a Pacific Republic, by appointing delegates from the 
 several nations, who were to act as a Court of Arbitration 
 in any dispute that might arise between nation and nation." 
 See page 132, "Political and Miscellaneous Works of Thomas 
 Paine." On page 267 he further says: "It is, I think, quite 
 certain, that if the fieets of England, France, and Holland 
 were confederated, they could propose, with effect, a limi- 
 
PART III 171 
 
 tation to, and a general dismantling of, all the navies in 
 Europe, to a certain proportion to be agreed upon. 
 
 "First, that no new ship of war shall be built by any 
 power in Europe, themselves included. 
 
 "Secondly, that all the navies now in existence shall be 
 put back, suppose to one tenth of their present force. This 
 will save to France and England at least two millions annu- 
 ally to each, and their relative force be in the same propor- 
 tion as it is now. If men will permit themselves to think, 
 as rational beings ought to think, nothing can appear more 
 ridiculous and absurd, exclusive of all moral reflections, than 
 to be at the expense of building navies, filling them with 
 men, and then hauling them into the ocean, to try which 
 can sink each other fastest. Peace, which costs nothing, 
 is attended with infinitely more advantage than any victory 
 with all its expense. But this, though it best answers the 
 purpose of nations, does not that of Court Governments, 
 whose habitual policy is pretence for taxation, places, and 
 offices." On page 267 he says: "A gun-boat, carrying 
 heavy metal, is a movable fortification, and there is no mode 
 or system of defense the United States can go into for coasts 
 and harbors or ports, that will be so effectual as by gun- 
 boats. 
 
 "Ships of the line are no ways fitted for the defense 
 of a coast. They are too bulky to act in narrow waters, 
 and cannot act at all in shoal waters. Like a whale, they 
 must be in deep waters, and at a distance from land." He 
 says, besides: "Gun-boats can be built for one-fiftieth 
 part of the cost of gun-ships." 
 
 I have only quoted short extracts from the above pro- 
 ductions, which are quite lengthy. ("Poetical and Miscella- 
 neous Works of Thomas Paine.") 
 
 I coincide with Mr. Paine in his wise suggestions, with 
 some modifications to harmonize with the many develop- 
 ments in Militarism, since he wrote, over one hundred years 
 ago: In his proposition to inaugurate a Peace Congress of 
 all enlightened nations to arbitrate material differences 
 
172 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 between nation and nation; but I would suggest that a pro- 
 vision be made in the compact to compel any refractory 
 nation to abide by the decision of the Arbitration Board, 
 and in order to enforce its decision, that all of the other 
 nations in the Peace Congress should obligate themselves to 
 contribute their pro rata share in money, ships and men, 
 according to the population of each, in order to enforce the 
 decision of the Board against any of the nations refusing to 
 obey the same. 
 
 As to his suggestion for defending oiir sea coasts against 
 the incursions of an enemy, by using gun-boats instead of 
 battle-ships, I think it was very wise at the time, for the 
 reasons stated by him; but, as the submarine has been in- 
 vented since that time, I will venture to suggest that, instead 
 of increasing the number of our battle-ships, we should 
 build and equip a reasonable ntunber of submarines to be 
 scattered along our entire coast, at important points, which, 
 with our present navy, would be sufficient to repel the at- 
 tacks of any nation or nations which might have the temer- 
 ity to make war upon us. I do not coincide with our au- 
 thorities that it is necessary or wise to expend the immense 
 amount of money suggested in building a very much greater 
 number of battle-ships than we already have. This course 
 of procedure might have had some plausibility in it ten 
 years ago, when almost every nation was "armed to the 
 teeth" and flushed with money, and could have given us 
 very considerable trouble, if they had been so disposed. 
 But owing to the gigantic war now pending between all of 
 the most powerful nations of Europe, they have become 
 already, so very much depleted in their financial matters, 
 as well as in men for their armies, and in all other 
 material resources, that they will be almost impotent to 
 wage a war against the United States which will be in ad- 
 mirable plight to resist any attacks which might be made 
 against us; especially if our land forces were augmented by 
 each State increasing its militia and putting them in train- 
 ing, so they woiild be ready for any emergency which might 
 arise. In my opinion, all those nations which are now at 
 
PART III 173 
 
 war with each other, including those which may be drawn 
 into the conflict, will have all they can possibly do to defend 
 themselves at home for the next fifty years, and will have 
 no time or inclination to "pick a fuss" with us. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing preparation for defence, we 
 could mine our principal harbors, if necessary, and build a 
 reasonable number of war-planes, which would put us in a 
 state of perfect "Preparedness." I am curious to know 
 what will be thought of the above suggestions twenty-five 
 years hence. 
 
 We could implicitly rely upon the patriotism and valor 
 of our people to volunteer, if necessary, if ever we have a 
 "Call to arms" for the defense of our beloved country, with- 
 out maintaining a large and very expensive standing army. 
 
 Having copied a number of the writings of Junius and 
 of Paine, I will invite my readers to make a comparison of 
 the styles of their compositions, which I think they will con- 
 clude are very similar to each other: in fact, identical. 
 Style in writing, is an inherent peculiarity in each prominent 
 author, and is almost as easily recognized as the features of 
 his face. Take, for instance, the poems and letters of Bums, 
 Byron and Moore, and the novels of Dickens, Scott and 
 Thackeray, and you will find no similarity among them. 
 Each has his own individuality. Then compare the writings 
 of Junius and Paine, and you will perceive the same identi- 
 cal features of style in both. In the first place, both are 
 singularly epigrammatic, with well-rounded periods. The 
 sentences are mostly of uniform length, very euphonious and 
 rhythmic in their sound, to the reader. Their facts are 
 concisely grouped together, their argiunents are logical. 
 Their antitheses are frequent. Their comparisons are lucid. 
 Their syllogisms are perfectly formed. Their sarcasms are 
 keen. Their irony is bitter. Their ridicule is overpowering. 
 Their metaphors are brilliant; and they have the same pro- 
 pensity for putting searching interrogations to their adver- 
 saries. Both are fearless, aggressive and courageous writers- 
 All of these kindred features in their styles of writing, go to 
 
174 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 prove that the authors were one and the same person. Fur- 
 thermore, style may be said to be the garments with which 
 we clothe our ideas, or thoughts, as we give utterance to 
 them. There are as many different styles of composition, as 
 styles in dressing. Many authors are as easily detected in 
 their style of writing, as in their style of dressing. There- 
 fore, we may say that a fine style of composition is the pro- 
 duction of an expert literary tailor; and a poor style is made 
 by a "botch." Peculiarities of style originate in the mind, 
 and are nature's work. Consequently, when the same person 
 gives utterance to ideas and thoughts on two different sub- 
 jects, similar in their nature, he uses similar modes of expres- 
 sion, which are easily recognized by the structure of his sen- 
 tences. So it is with the author of the "Junius Letters" 
 and the author of "Common Sense." Their subjects were 
 of a closely kindred nature, and many of the facts and cir- 
 cumstances were of a similar character. Consequently, the 
 arguments used on both subjects were more or less alike. 
 As they resemble each other so very closely, I conclude that 
 they were written by the same identical author. I have 
 before said, the facts going to prove the identity of Junius 
 are very few, he being wholly unknown, therefore, we must 
 resort to pertinent, logical arguments, in addition to surround- 
 ing circumstances, such as style, friendships and animosities, 
 kindred subjects, their aims and objects. No doubt Paine 
 avoided using any quotations from, or sentences similar to, 
 any in the Junius Letters, because he well knew that if he 
 did, he would at once be spotted as Junius, by the officers 
 of the English army, then in America, or by the English 
 police force then in nearly all the American cities. Junius, 
 in one of his letters said that the English Government had 
 at that time, spent over 6,000 pounds trying to apprehend 
 him; so that had he been found out in America, he would 
 have been arrested and sent to England, where he would 
 have been severely punished, and probably been confined in 
 the London Tower indefinitely. 
 
 The style of Paine in his "Common Sense" and his 
 "Crisis" pamphlets is identical with that of the Junius 
 
PART III 175 
 
 Letters, and was written on almost precisely the same sub- 
 jects. He was against the English monarchical form of Gov- 
 ernment, its venal Ministry, and its corrupt Parliament, 
 which were then doing all in their power to oppress and en- 
 slave the American Colonies, through their army and navy; 
 murdering the people, and laying waste the country, towns 
 and cities of America. 
 
 After Independence was won, and a firm and glorious 
 Government had been established by the "United States of 
 America," there was concocted a very formidable and insidi- 
 ous party, known as "The Federal Party," with John Adams 
 advocating an Hereditary Monarchy, similar to that of 
 Great Britain, and Alexander Hamilton advocating a Senate 
 for life, besides, a large niunber of very influential men 
 working along the same lines (see pp. 226, 227, etc., of 
 Paine's "Political and Miscellaneous Works"), which party, 
 and its policies, Paine fought most vigorously. He further 
 says: "John Jay has said that the Senate should have been 
 appointed for life. He would then have been sure of never 
 wanting a lucrative appointment for himself, and have had 
 no fears about impeachment. These [Jay, Adams and Ham- 
 ilton] are the disguised traitors that call themselves Feder- 
 alists. If Mr. Jay desires to know on what authority I say 
 this, I will give that authority publicly when he chooses 
 to call for it. ("Poetical and Miscellaneous Works of Thomas 
 Paine," p. 159.) 
 
 After his return from France, Mr. Paine wrote ten let- 
 ters to "The Citizens of the United States," commencing 
 on page 211, in the "Poetical and Miscellaneous Works of 
 Thomas Paine." His object was to warn them against the 
 wiles of the Federal Party, and for defeating the Federalists, 
 headed by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, in their 
 wicked attempt to overthrow the Government of the United 
 States, and establish a Limited Monarchy in its stead, in 
 which he succeeded, with the help of other loyal patriots. 
 
 These powerful letters very much resemble the Junius 
 Letters. On page 218 he says of ex-President Adams: 
 
176 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 "John Adams is a man of paradoxical heresies, and conse- 
 quently of a bewildered mind. He wrote a book entitled 
 'A Defense of the American Constitutions,' and the principles 
 of it are an attack upon them. But the book is descended 
 to the tomb of forgetfulness, and the best fortune that can 
 attend its author is quietly to follow its fate. John was 
 not bom for immortality. But, to return to Federalism. 
 
 "I have had doubts of John Adams ever since the year 
 1776. In a conversation with me at that time, concerning 
 the pamphlet 'Common Sense,' he censured it because it 
 attacked the English form of government. John was for inde- 
 pendence because he expected to be made great by it; but 
 it was not difficult to perceive, for the surliness of his temper 
 makes him an awkward hypocrite, that his head was full 
 of kings, queens, and knaves, as a pack of cards. But John 
 has lost deal. Knowing as I do, the consummate vanity of 
 John Adams, and the shallowness of his judgment, I can 
 easily picture to myself that when he arrived at the Federal 
 city, he was strutting in the pomp of his imagination before 
 the Presidential house, or in the audience hall, and exulting 
 in the language of Nebuchadnezzar: 'Is not this great Baby- 
 lon that I have built for the honor of my majesty.' But in 
 that unfortunate hour, or soon after, John, like Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, was driven from among men, and fled with the speed 
 of a post-horse. 
 
 "But to return to federalism and apostacy. The plan 
 of the leaders of the faction was to overthrow the liberties 
 of the new world, and place government on the corrupt sys- 
 tem of the old. They wanted to hold their power by a more 
 lasting tenure than the choice of their constituents. It is 
 impossible to account for their conduct and the measures 
 they adopted on any other ground. But to accomplish 
 that object, a standing army and a prodigal revenue must 
 be raised; and to obtain these, pretenses must be invented 
 to deceive. Alarms of dangers that did not exist even in 
 imagination, but in the direct spirit of lying, were spread 
 abroad. Apostacy stalked through the land in the garb of 
 
PART III 177 
 
 patriotism, and the torch of treason blinded for a while the 
 flame of liberty. 
 
 "To elect and to reject, is the prerogative of a free peo- 
 ple. Since the estabHshment of independence, no period has 
 arrived that so decidedly proves the excellence of the represen- 
 tative system of government, and its superiority over every 
 other, as the time we now live in. Had America been cursed 
 with John Adams's hereditary monarchy, or Alexander Hamil- 
 ton's senate for life, she must have sought, in the doubtful 
 contest of civil war, what she now obtains by the expression 
 of public will. An appeal to elections decides better than 
 an appeal to the sword. 
 
 "The reign of terror that raged in America during the 
 latter end of the Washington administration, and the whole 
 of that of Adams, is enveloped in mystery to me. That 
 there were men in the government hostile to the representa- 
 tive system, though it is now their overthrow, was once 
 their boast, and therefore the fact is established against them. 
 
 "The object therefore, must be something at home, and 
 that something was the overthrow of the representative sys- 
 tem of government, for it could be nothing else. But the 
 plotters got into confusion and became enemies to each 
 other. Adams hated and was jealous of Hamilton, and 
 Hamilton hated and despised both Adams and Washington." 
 
 Mr. Paine wrote a large number of other literary and 
 scientific articles and letters, embracing two or three hundred 
 pages, which are too numerous to mention. 
 
 As to the handwriting of Mr. Paine, I have not been 
 able to get hold of any, to compare with that of Junius. 
 As Paine wrote his "Common Sense" and some of the "Cri- 
 sis," by camp-fire at night, it is very reasonable to suppose 
 that he wrote with a pencil, for convenience, and that he 
 had his letters copied in ink, before they went to the press, 
 in order to make them more intelligible to the printer, by 
 eliminating interlineations, etc. It therefore follows that if 
 there was any difference in the handwriting of the ink copy 
 of Paine 's letters, and the handwriting of the Junius Letters, 
 these circumstances would readily account for it. 
 
 12 
 
178 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 It is a well-known fact that every distinguished author 
 has his peculiar animosities and friendships, which naturally 
 crop out on every occasion. Take for example the two 
 characters which are now under discussion. Francis was a 
 fast and intimate friend of Lord Clive, who was for a long 
 time Governor of India; sent there by the English Govern- 
 ment, and who built up a very unsavory reputation and an 
 immense fortune; and was recalled, to which, I will refer 
 more particularly hereafter. Francis frequently visited Lord 
 Clive, at his country place, Walcot, England, where he 
 seems to have had the "time of his life," as appears from 
 one of his letters to his wife. If Francis had been Junius 
 he would hardly have been so intimate with any man of such 
 a detestable character as Lord Clive, because Junius was al- 
 ways eager to lampoon any person connected with the Eng- 
 lish Government; so was Paine, who wrote one of the most 
 severe and caustic essays I ever read, on the character of 
 Lord Clive, which I will here introduce: 
 
 LIFE AND DEATH OF LORD CLIVE 
 
 "Ah! The tale is told — the scene is ended — and the 
 curtain falls. As an emblem of the vanity of all earthly 
 pomp, let his monument be a globe, but be that globe a 
 bubble; let his effigy be a man walking round in his sleep; 
 and let Fame, in the character of a shadow, inscribe his 
 honors on the air. 
 
 "I view him but as yesterday on the burning plains of 
 Plassey, doubtful of life, health or victory. I see him in the 
 instant when 'To be or not to be' were equal chances to a 
 human eye — to be a Lord or a slave, to return loaded with 
 the spoils, or remain mingled with the dust of India. 
 
 "Did necessity always justify the severity of a conqueror 
 the rude tongue of censure would be silent, and however 
 painfully he might look back on scenes of horror, the pensive 
 reflection would not alarm him. Though his feelings suffered, 
 his conscience would be acquitted. The sad remembrance 
 would move serenely and leave the mind without a wound. 
 
PART III 179 
 
 "But O India! thou loud proclaimer of European cruel- 
 ties! thou bloody monument of unnecessary deaths! be tender 
 in the days of inquiry, and show a Christian world thou 
 canst suffer and forgive. 
 
 "Departed from India, and loaded with plunder, I see 
 him doubling the Cape and looking wistfully to Europe. I 
 see him contemplating on years of pleasure, and gratifying 
 his ambition with expected honors. I see his arrival pom- 
 pously announced in every newspaper, his eager eye ramb- 
 ling through the crowd in quest of homage, and his ear list- 
 ening lest an applause should escape him. Happily for him 
 he arrived before his fame, and the short interval was a 
 time of rest. From the crowd I follow him to Court, I see 
 him enveloped in the sunshine of sovereign favor, rivaling 
 the great in honors, the proud in splendor, and the rich in 
 wealth. 
 
 "From the court I trace him to the country; his equip- 
 age moves like a camp: every village bell proclaims his com- 
 ing, the wondering peasants admire his pomp, and his heart 
 runs over with joy. 
 
 "But alas! (not satisfied with unaccountable thousands) 
 I accompany him again to India. I mark the variety of 
 countenances which appear at his landing — confusion spreads 
 the news — every passion seems alarmed — the wailing widow, 
 the crying orphan, and the childless parent remember and 
 lament; the rival Nabobs court his favor; the rich dread his 
 power, and the poor his severity. Fear and terror march 
 like pioneers before his camp — murder and rapine accompany 
 it — famine and wretchedness follow it in the rear. 
 
 "Resolved on accumulating an unbounded fortune, he 
 enters into all the schemes of war, treaty and intrigue. The 
 British sword is set up for sale; the heads of contending 
 Nabobs are offered at a price, and the bribe taken from 
 both sides. Thousands of men or money are trifles in an 
 Indian bargain. The field is an empire, and the treasure al- 
 most without end. The wretched inhabitants are glad to 
 compound for offences never committed, and to purchase at 
 any rate the privilege to breathe; while he, the sole lord of 
 
180 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 their lives and fortunes, disposes of either as he pleases, and 
 prepares for Europe. 
 
 "Uncommon fortunes reqmre an uncommon date of life 
 to enjoy them. The usual period is spent in preparing to 
 live; and unless nature prolongs the time, fortune bestows 
 her excess of favors in vain. 
 
 "The Conqueror of the East having nothing more to 
 expect from the one, has all his court to make to the other. 
 Anxiety for wealth gives place to anxiety for life; and wisely 
 recollecting that the sea is no respecter of persons, resolves 
 on taking his route to Europe by land. Little beings move 
 unseen, or unobserved, but he engrosses whole kingdoms in 
 his march, and is gazed at like a comet. The burning 
 desert, the pathless mountains, and the fertile valleys, are in 
 their turns explored and passed over. No material accident 
 distresses his progress, and England once more receives the 
 spoiler. 
 
 "How sweet is rest to the weary traveler; the retrospect 
 heightens the enjoyment; and if the future prospect be serene 
 the days of ease and happiness are arrived. An uninquiring 
 observer might have been inclined to consider Lord Clive, 
 under all these agreeable circumstances, one whose every 
 care was over, and who had nothing to do but sit down and 
 say: 'Soul take thine ease, thou hast goods laid up in 
 store for many years.' 
 
 "The reception which he met with on his second arrival, 
 was in every instance equal, and in many, exceeded, the 
 honors of the first. It is the peculiar temper of the English 
 to applaud before they think. Generous of their praise, 
 they frequently bestow it unworthily; but when once the 
 truth arrives, the torrent stops, and rushes back again with 
 the same violence. Scarcely had the echo of applause ceased 
 upon the ear, than the rude tongue of censure took up the 
 tale. The newspapers, fatal enemies to ill-gotten wealth, 
 began to buzz a general suspicion of his conduct, and the 
 inquisitive public soon refined it into particulars. Every 
 post gave a stab to his fame — a wound to his peace — and a 
 nail to his coffin. Like spectres from the grave, they haunt- 
 
PART III 181 
 
 ed him in every company, and whispered murder in his ear. 
 A life checkered with uncommon varieties is seldom a long 
 one. Action and care will in time wear down the strongest 
 frame, but guilt and melancholy are poisons of quick dis- 
 patch. 
 
 ''Say, cool deliberate reflection, was the prize, though 
 abstracted from the guilt, worthy of the pains? Ah! no. 
 Fatigued with victory, he sat down to rest, and while he was 
 recovering breath, he lost it. A conqueror more fatal than 
 himself beset him, and revenged the injuries done to India. 
 
 "As a cure for avarice and ambition let us take a view 
 of him in his latter years. Ha! what gloomy being wanders 
 yonder? How visibly is the melancholy heart delineated on 
 his countenance. He mourns no common care — his very 
 steps are timed to sorrow — he trembles with a kind of mental 
 palsy. Perhaps it is some broken-hearted parent, some David 
 mourning for his son Absalom, or some Heraclitus weep- 
 ing for the world. I hear him utter something about wealth — 
 perhaps he is poor, and hath not wherewithal to hide his 
 head. Some debtor started from his sleepless pillow, to 
 ruminate on poverty and ponder on the horrors of a jail. 
 Poor man! I'll to him and relieve him. Ha! 'tis Lord 
 Clive himself! Bless me, what a change! He makes, I see, 
 for yonder cypress shade, a fit scene for melancholy hearts! 
 I'll watch him there and listen to his story. Lord Clive 
 soliloquizes: 'Can I but suffer when a beggar pities me? 
 Ere while I heard a ragged wretch, who every mark of pov- 
 erty had on, say to a sooty sweep, "Ah, poor Lord Clive!" 
 while he, the negro colored vagrant, more mercifully cruel, 
 curst me in my hearing. There was a time when fortune, 
 like a yielding mistress, courted me with smiles — she never 
 waited to be told my wishes, but studied to discover them, 
 and seemed not happy to herself, but when she had some 
 favor to bestow. Ah! little did I think the fair enchantress 
 would desert me thus; and after lavishing her smiles upon 
 me, turn my reproacher, and publish me in folio to the 
 world. Volumes of morality are dull and spiritless com- 
 pared to me. Lord Clive is himself a treatise upon vanity, 
 
182 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 printed upon a golden type. The most unlettered clown 
 writes explanatory notes thereon, and reads them to his 
 children. Yet I could bear these insults could I but bear 
 myself. A strange unwelcome something hangs about me. 
 In company I seem no company at all. The festive board 
 appears to me a stage, the crimson colored port resembles 
 blood — each glass is strangely metamorphosed into a man in 
 armor, and every bowl appears a Nabob. The joyous toast 
 is like the sound of murder, and the loud laughs are the 
 groans of dying men. The scenes of India are all rehearsed, 
 and no one sees the tragedy but myself. Ah! I discover 
 things which are not, and hear unuttered sounds. 
 
 'O peace, thou sweet companion of the calm and inno- 
 cent, whither art thou fled? here take my gold, and all the 
 world calls mine, and come thou in exchange. O thou, 
 thou noisy sweep, who mixeth thy food with the soot and 
 relishes it, who canst descend from lofty heights and walk 
 the humbler earth again, without repining at the change, 
 come teach thy mystery to me. Or thou, thou ragged wan- 
 dering beggar, who, when thou canst not beg successfully, 
 will pilfer from the hound, and eat the dirty morsel sweetly; 
 be thou Lord Clive, and I will beg, so that I may laugh 
 like thee. 
 
 'Could I unlearn what I've already learned — ^unact 
 what I've already acted — or would some sacred power con- 
 vey me back to youth and innocence, I'd act another part — 
 I'd keep within the pale of htimble life, nor wish for that 
 the world calls pomp. 
 
 But since this cannot be, 
 And only a few days and sad, remain for me, 
 I'll haste to quit the scene, for what is life, 
 When every passion of the soul's at strife?' " 
 
 — (Atlanticus.) 
 
 The English language contains nothing that can com- 
 pare with the foregoing essay. Now, if Paine were Junius, 
 the above article is in perfect harmony with all his political 
 writings, and was in unison with his desire to break down 
 
PART in 183 
 
 the English Government. And, although he did not sign 
 the name of "Common Sense" or any other of his fictitious 
 names, to it, he may have had a motive for not doing so. 
 He may have desired to create the impression that there 
 were other writers who were criticising the Government. 
 
 In April, 1773, a Committee of the House of Commons, 
 under the name of the Select Committee, were appointed by 
 the House to enquire into the East India affairs, and the con- 
 duct of the several Governors of Bengal. The Committee 
 having gone through the examination. Gen. Burgoyne, the 
 chairman, prefaced their report to the House, informing 
 them, "That the reports contained accounts shocking to 
 hirnian nature, that the most infamous designs had been 
 carried into execution by perfidy and murder." He recapitu- 
 lated the wretched situation of the East Indian Princes, who 
 held their dignities on the precarious condition of being the 
 highest bribers. "No claim, however just on their part," he 
 said, "could be admitted without being introduced with enor- 
 mous sums of rupees, nor any prince suffered to reign long, 
 who did not quadrate with this idea; and that Lord Clive, 
 over and above the enormous sums he might with some 
 appearance of justice lay claim to, had obtained others to 
 which he could have no title." He (General Burgoyne) 
 therefore moved, "That it appears to this House, that Robert 
 Lord Clive, baron of Plassey, about the time of deposing 
 Surajah Dowla, Nabob of Bengal, and establishing Meer 
 Jeffier in his room, did, through the influence of the power 
 with which he was intrusted, as member of the Select Com- 
 mittee in India, and Commander-in-chief of the British forces 
 there, obtain and possess himself of two lacks and 80,000 
 rupees, as Commander-in-chief; a further sum of 16 lacks of 
 rupees, or more, under the denomination of private dona- 
 tions; which stuns, amounting together to 20 lacks and 
 80,000 rupees, were of the value, in English money, of 
 234,000 pounds, and that in so doing, the said Robert Lord 
 Clive abused the powers with which he was intrusted, to the 
 evil example of the servants of the public." He was dis- 
 missed from the service of the Government. 
 
184 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 Whenever Mr. Paine discovered fraud or dishonesty, he 
 did not hestitate to expose it, although it was to his detri- 
 ment. In February 1781, the United States sent the well- 
 known Silas Deane to France, to procure a loan from the 
 Government, to carry on the war with England; in which, 
 he was assisted by Dr. Franklin. Afterwards, Col. Laurens, 
 of S. C, and Mr. Paine, were sent to aid in the solicitation 
 of the loan. They applied to King Louis XVI on the sub- 
 ject, and succeeded in getting $2,500,000 in silver, and a 
 large amount of army stores, which the King donated to the 
 United States, which were shipped and consigned to Silas 
 Deane and one Beaumarchais, in order to conceal the facts 
 from Great Britain, as requested by Louis XVI, as it was 
 somewhat of a secret. Sometime afterwards, Silas Deane pre- 
 sented a claim to Congress for payment of the stores, which 
 he said were purchased by him and Beaimiarchais from the 
 King, which in fact, were taken from the French Arsenal, 
 and presented to the United States. 
 
 On pages 461, 462, and 463 of the "Poetical and Miscel- 
 laneous Works of Thomas Paine," he explains the trans- 
 action; he says: "When I was appointed Secretary to the 
 Committee for Foreign Affairs, all the papers of the Secret 
 Committee, none of which had been seen by Congress, came 
 into my hands. I saw by the correspondence of that Com- 
 mittee with persons in Europe, particularly with Arthur Lee, 
 that the stores which Deane and Beaimiarchais pretended 
 they had purchased, were a present from the Court of France 
 and came out of the King's arsenals. Knowing these things, 
 and seeing that the public were deceived and imposed upon 
 by the pretensions of Deane, I took the subject up, and 
 published three pieces in Dunlap's Philadelphia paper, headed 
 with the title of 'Common Sense to the Public on Mr. Deane's 
 Affairs." John Jay was then President of Congress. 
 
 "After the third piece appeared, I received an order, 
 dated Congress, and signed John Jay, that 'Thomas Paine 
 do attend at the bar of this house immediately,' which I 
 did. Mr. Jay took up a newspaper and said: 'Here is Mr. 
 Dunlap's paper of December 29th. In it is a piece entitled 
 
PART III ■ 185 
 
 "Common Sense to the Public on Mr. Deane's Affairs;" I 
 am directed by Congress to ask you if you are the author.' 
 'Yes, sir, I am the author of that piece.' Mr. Jay put the 
 same question on the other two pieces, and received the 
 same answer. He then said, you may withdraw. As soon 
 as I was gone, John Penn, of North CaroHna, moved that 
 'Thomas Paine be discharged from the office of Secretary to 
 the Committee for Foreign Affairs,' and prating Gouvemeur 
 Morris seconded the motion, but it was lost when put to 
 vote, the States being equally divided. I then wrote to Con- 
 gress, requesting a hearing, and Mr. Laurens made a motion 
 for that purpose, which was negatived. The next day I sent 
 in my resignation, saying that, 'as I cannot, consistently 
 with my character as a free man, submit to be censured un- 
 heard, therefore, to preserve that character and maintain 
 that right, I think it my duty to resign the office of Secre- 
 tary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs, and I do hereby 
 resign the same.' 
 
 "But I still went on with my publications on Deane's 
 affairs, till the fraud became so obvious that Congress was 
 ashamed of supporting him, and he absconded. He went 
 from Philadelphia to Virginia, and took shipping for France, 
 and got over to England, where he died. Dr. Cutting told 
 me he took poison. 
 
 "However, I prevented Deane's fraudulent demand be- 
 ing paid, and so far the country is obliged to me, but I be- 
 came the victim of my integrity." 
 
 Paine made it so hot for Deane that he left the country 
 because of the intensity of public feeling against him, etc. 
 
 It appears that Mr. Paine was accustomed to attend 
 the sessions of Parliament before he left England, and listen 
 to the discussions, which, no doubt, Junius frequently did, 
 in order to keep posted on what transpired in that body. 
 He says: "I remember taking notice of a speech in what is 
 called the English House of Peers, by the Earl of Shelboume, 
 and I think it was at the time he was Minister, in which he 
 said, 'That the form of Government was matter wholly at 
 
186 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 the will of a Nation, at all times; that if it chose a Mon- 
 archical form, it had the right to have it so, and if it after- 
 wards chose to be a Republic, it had a right to be a Repub- 
 lic; and to say to a King: 'We have no longer any occasion 
 for you.' " 
 
 Junius and Paine were in hearty accord with the Earl 
 of Shelbourne in his doctrine, while Francis was not; he was 
 a staunch royalist, and at that time was in the employment 
 of the Government, as a Clerk in the War Office. 
 
 My readers have, no doubt, observed that Mr. Paine 
 frequently uses the word "hath" for "has." I regard it as a 
 kind of idiom, peculiar to the Quakers, and, quite naturally, 
 young Paine contracted the habit from his father of using 
 the word "hath" for "has." Junius very rarely used this 
 mode of expression. I conceive that he had a motive for 
 not doing so. It might have betrayed his identity, which he 
 strenuously endeavored to conceal. His near friends and 
 classmates would probably have detected him, by this pecu- 
 liar manner of expressing himself, and have traced him to 
 his Quaker origin, and, in this way, have discovered his 
 identity with Junius. But Paine as Junius, had no such 
 motive for not using the word "hath" in his writings, after 
 he came to America, as none of his old friends or classmates 
 were here; he was among strangers, and had no fears of 
 detection from strangers. No doubt, he used the word 
 "hath" in his writings, in America, partly because it im- 
 parted a kind of euphony to them, and a certain novelty in 
 America, which helped to give tone and prominence to his 
 pamphlets. 
 
 Lest I tax the patience of my readers, I will not at- 
 tempt a recapitulation of the many instances of similarity 
 and sameness, which I have shown to exist between the 
 writings and characteristics of Junius and Paine, but will 
 refer to only a few of the more prominent examples above 
 mentioned. 
 
 Their sententious and epigrammatic style of expression; 
 their searching interrogations; their beautiful metaphors; 
 
PART III 187 
 
 their caustic sarcasms; their bitter irony; their cruel invec- 
 tives; their apposite antitheses; their rhythmic mode of ex- 
 pression; their unity of purpose to be accompHshed; their 
 hatred of a Monarchy and oppression, and their love of a 
 Republic and liberty of the people, all conspire to prove the 
 fact that Junius and Paine were identically the same person 
 — of course we must take into consideration the circum- 
 stance that the Junius Letters were written in London, and 
 Paine's pamphlets "Common Sense," were written in Amer- 
 ica, but both of them were directed against the same King, 
 Ministry and Parliament, under a somewhat different con- 
 dition of things. 
 
 I have omitted to state one fact and argument which 
 naturally weighs very considerably in favor of Mr. Paine 
 as a writer, when compared with Mr. Francis. It is the 
 difference in their respective ages when the Junius Letters 
 were begun August 10, 1768. Paine was bom on January 
 29th, 1737, and Francis was bom on October 22nd, 1740; 
 therefore Paine was nearly four years older than Francis at 
 the time when the Junius Letters were begun, which we all 
 know, gave him much more experience, much greater knowl- 
 edge and much more maturity in mind and thought than 
 Francis possessed, who was nearly four years younger than 
 Paine. Francis was in his 2Sth year, and Paine was in his 
 32nd year, when the JUNIUS LETTERS were commenced. 
 Francis was too young to have written them. Paine was 
 fully young to have been the author of these remarkable 
 letters. 
 
 During the year 1786, Paine completed all he had to do 
 in America. The war had been ended, and peace restored. 
 An exemplary government had been formed, in all of its 
 departments, with a model Constitution which incorporated 
 all of the thirteen Colonies in one whole, under the name of 
 the United States of America, in all of which he actively 
 participated. Then, like Junius, when he had finished his 
 labors in England, as far as it was possible for him to do, 
 again "Othello's occupation was gone," and he turned his 
 thoughts to some other country for the exercise of his genius. 
 
188 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 On the 16th day of April, 1787, he sailed for France, 
 where the Revolution was in progress, and witnessed the 
 taking of the Bastille. The subsequent year, Edmund Burke, 
 then England's greatest statesman, wrote his "Reflections 
 on the French Revolution," in which he treated the subject 
 at great length, and censured it very severely. Paine was 
 particularly conservative on the plan to aboUsh the French 
 Monarchy, and replace it with a republican form of govern- 
 ment, because he feared that radicalism would be a bad ex- 
 ample to set before the people. Soon thereafter, Mr. Paine 
 returned to England, and wrote an answer of 270 pages, 
 called "The Rights of Man," to Burke's "Reflections," in 
 which he vigorously combatted his arguments, strongly advo- 
 cated a republican form of government, and bitterly de- 
 nounced a Monarchy, especially England. This was one 
 of the ablest documents which ever came from his pen. He 
 almost demolished the argiunents of Mr. Burke. History 
 says that one hundred thousand copies of the "Rights of 
 Man" went into the hands of the people. Everybody read 
 it with profound interest. It carried consternation to the 
 King, the Ministry and the Parliament. Immediately the 
 Government took it up. Many persons were fined and im- 
 prisoned for publishing the work, and Mr. Paine was prose- 
 cuted, tried and convicted as the author, by a violently 
 prejudiced judge and jury, and an order for his immediate 
 arrest was issued, but having been elected as a representative 
 to the National Assembly of France, by the Department of 
 Calais, he hurriedly left England in September, 1792, and 
 never returned. Within half an hour after his departure 
 from Dover, Paine would have been taken into custody, 
 carried to London and probably been confined in the Tower 
 for life. Although he had escaped a grave misfortune, yet, 
 he had a great and perilous work before him, as a member 
 of the National Assembly of France, where he co-operated 
 in the overthrow of the Monarchy, and the establishment of 
 a Republic in its stead. 
 
 On taking his seat in the Assembly, he made a short 
 address, outlining the trials and troubles ahead of them, 
 
PART III 189 
 
 in order to achieve their independence, and enjoy the price- 
 less blessings of liberty. Mr. Paine was one of nine men 
 appointed by the Assembly to draft a new Constitution. 
 Charges were soon brought against King Louis XVI and he 
 was brought to trial; he was found guilty and condemned to 
 die. This was a sore trouble to Mr. Paine, and he used all 
 his arts of persuasive oratory to prevent the King from be- 
 ing executed; but advocated "Killing the Monarchy, but 
 sparing the Monarch," and suggested that he be exiled and 
 sent to America to be held there, where he would be kindly 
 treated. Paine had not forgotten that this same King, at 
 his and Col. Laurens's request, had lent to America $2,500,000 
 when she was struggling for her independence against the 
 tyranny of Great Britain, and which secured her the victory. 
 This noble act sounded Paine's death-knell in the As- 
 sembly. He was looked upon with suspicion by such radi- 
 cals as Marat and Robespierre. Soon after, an order was 
 made by the Assembly, that all foreign-born members should 
 be expelled, and that all persons born in England, should be 
 imprisoned, which included Paine; and he was, by order of 
 Robespierre, arrested and thrown in the Luxembourg prison, 
 where he was confined for nearly a year. It is without the 
 scope of this book to go into details of what happened dur- 
 ing the "Reign of Terror" in France. The reader will have 
 to consult history for that. However, I will relate some 
 circumstances which appertain personally to Mr. Paine, and 
 are germane to my subject. Here is what he says, very 
 much abbreviated: "There were but two foreigners in the 
 Convention, Anarcharsis Clootz and myself. We were both 
 put out of the Convention by the same vote, arrested by 
 the same order, and carried to prison the same night. He 
 was taken to the guillotine and I was left. One hundred and 
 sixty-eight prisoners were taken out of the Liixembourg pris- 
 on in one night, and one hundred and sixty of them guillo- 
 tined the next day, of which I know that I was to have been 
 one, and the manner I escaped that fate is curious, and has 
 all the appearance of accident. When persons, by scores 
 and hundreds, were to be taken out of prison for guillotine, 
 
190 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 it was always done in the night, and those who performed 
 that office had a private mark, or signal, by which they 
 knew what rooms to go to, and what niimber to take. We 
 were number four, and the door of our room was marked, 
 imobserved by us, with that niunber in chalk; but it hap- 
 pened, if happening is a proper word, that the mark was 
 put on when the door was open, and flat against the wall, 
 and thereby came on the inside when we shut it at night, 
 and the destroying angel passed by it. A few days after 
 this, Robespierre fell, and the American Ambassador arrived 
 and reclaimed me, and invited me to his house. The Ameri- 
 cans in Paris went in a body to the Convention to reclaim 
 me, but without success." 
 
 While in prison, he was seized by a violent fever, which 
 came very near ending his life, but he attributes his escape 
 from the guillotine to his serious illness, in part, as he was 
 too low to be moved, when others were taken. He was out 
 of his mind for nearly a month, during which time Robes- 
 pierre fell, which fact was the first thing communicated to 
 him. About a week after this, Mr. Monroe arrived from 
 America, to supersede Gouvemeur Morris, as Minister to 
 France, and two months thereafter Paine was liberated, 
 through the efforts of Mr. Monroe, who took him to his 
 home, where he was a guest for some time; when, by a 
 unanimous vote of the Convention, he was invited to resimie 
 his seat in that body, and which he did for a while. Had 
 the Convention, while Robespierre was in power, listened to 
 Paine's conservative advice, France would have been spared 
 much cruelty and suffering; the "Reign of Terror" would 
 never have been inaugurated; and she would have enjoyed 
 a permanent republican form of government. 
 
 After quitting the Convention, he occupied himself in 
 writing very important works, some of which were: "A 
 Dissertation on the First Principles of Government," "Agra- 
 rian Justice Opposed to Agrarian Law" and to "Agrarian 
 Monopoly." Also "The Decline and Fall of the English 
 Government." 
 
PART III 191 
 
 He was detained longer in France than he desired, owing 
 to the fact that he could not get safe passage to the United 
 States. He made several efforts, but found that England 
 had officers on the look-out, to make his arrest. Finally he 
 found a safe opportunity, and sailed for America on Septem- 
 ber 2, 1802, after an absence of fifteen years. 
 
 After his return, he led a very quiet and retired life, 
 most of the time using his pen to good purpose. But his 
 health was greatly impaired from his imprisonment in the 
 Luxembourg prison. In America he was welcomed by many 
 of the best citizens and officers of the Government, especially 
 DeWitt Clinton, Governor of New Jersey, and Mr. Jefferson, 
 then President, who received him "With joy and gratula- 
 tion." "A large public dinner was held in his honor," "and 
 other demonstrations of joy at his return were evinced in 
 New York." Paine's financial circumstances were very good. 
 He owned the estate at New Rochelle, New York, besides 
 other property, of which he wrote his friend Clio Rickman: 
 "My property in this country has been taken care of by my 
 friends, and is now worth 6000 pounds sterling; and will 
 bring me 400 pounds sterling a year." He wrote a series 
 of very able "Letters to the Citizens of the United States of 
 America, after an absence of fifteen years," seven bitter 
 letters against the Federal Party, and many others. 
 
 Naturally, Paine made many political enemies in the 
 course of his aggressive writings. Most of his attacks, like 
 those of Junius, were directed against the nobility of Eng- 
 land, consequently they contributed everything in their pow- 
 er to detract from the influence of Paine, and the efficacy 
 of his voluminous and powerful works. He, as well as Jun- 
 ius, was a true friend of the people, whom the Government 
 of England was systematically oppressing, and they, in turn, 
 were the friends and admirers of Paine and Junius. Paine 
 and Junius evidently came from the humbler walks of life. 
 They were real prodigies of human nature, whose like has 
 not been seen since their day and time. 
 
 They both wrote under an assvuned name and concealed 
 their identity most carefully, in which they had the same 
 
192 JUNIUS FINALLY DISCOVERED 
 
 motives: Junius to escape arrest and punishment in England, 
 and Paine in America. Both entertained the same ideas on 
 government; they hated a monarchy and strongly advocated 
 a republican form of government. Both employed the same 
 style, thought and subject matter in their writings; which 
 is apparent on a comparison of the Letters of Junius with 
 the Pamphlets of Paine ; they have the same kindred features, 
 which betray the same paternity. They had the same friend- 
 ships and animosities; they were loyal to their friends and 
 implacable to their enemies. They preserved the same dig- 
 nity and gravity in their writings, and never indulged in the 
 least levity. They were punctilious on questions of truth 
 and honor, and never departed from either. They both led 
 secluded, simple and economical lives, and avoided all pub- 
 lic notoriety. They were exceedingly secretive in all their 
 relations of life, and resented any inquiry into their private 
 affairs. Both refused to accept any emoluments from their 
 public writings, but let all go for the benefit of the cause 
 which they espoused. Both were comfortable in their finan- 
 cial matters, and contributed liberally to advance the inter- 
 ests of the people. Their associates were among the plain 
 people, and they eschewed the society of would-be aristoc- 
 racy. Both had fair educations, to an extent, classical. 
 They were well read and informed, had full command of the 
 English language and were fair Latin scholars. Both were 
 bold and fearless in their writings, and were not actuated by 
 any motive of policy. 
 
 I conscientiously believe that I have adduced abundant 
 evidence to prove that Francis was not the author, but that 
 Thomas Paine was the real author of the JUNIUS LETTERS. 
 
 If any of my readers wish to challenge any position 
 which I have taken in this controversy, and will write me, 
 I will take pleasure in endeavoring to answer him. Possibly, 
 I owe my readers an apology for elaborating this discussion 
 so much, but I conceive it to be incumbent upon me to 
 strengthen every redoubt which an ambitious critic might 
 attack. 
 
PART m 193 
 
 In conclusion of the disquisition of this subject, I will 
 tender my thanks to those who have followed me through 
 the discussion of this intricate question; and, if my efforts 
 shall merit their approbation, I shall feel amply repaid for 
 all the pains I have taken, in my search after truth, to 
 prove my contention, that Thomas Paine was the real author 
 of the Junius Letters. 
 
 I beg the reader to remember that Thomas Paine contri- 
 buted in every way in his power, to secure the independence 
 and liberty which we are now enjoying. Let us forget his 
 few errors, and remember his many shining virtues. "To 
 err is human, to forgive is Divine." 
 
 In final conclusion, I will add a few original lines, ex- 
 pressing my idea of the perpetuity of his name: 
 
 No marble shaft, or storied urn, 
 Need mark his resting place; 
 His works perpetuate his name. 
 Which time cannot efface. 
 
 ESTO PERPETUA. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 Birmingham, Ala., 1916.