Girdlestone
Reasons for rejecting the
presumptive Evidence of Mr. Almon
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD
ENDOWMENT FUND
REASONS
FOR REJECTING THE
PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE
OF
MR. A1LMOX,
THAT
" Mr. Hugh Boyd was the Writer of Junius."
WITH
PASSAGES SELECTED
TO PROVE THE
REAL AUTHOR
OF THE
LETTERS OF JUNIUS.
1J fr ** k.CV* a-G j_.
" How many of every Rank and Profession are too indolent
to search for Information; who judge by hearsay, and volun-
tarily renounce the Right of thinking for themselves."
LONDON:
BY T.HARPEK jus. AND co.4, CBAKE COURT, rurr ITCH?
FOR S. HIGhLEY, 2+, FLEET STREET.
1807, ,
REASONS,
1 HE following passage relative to Junius is
taken from the St. James's Chronicle of April 16,
1803.
" The impenetrable mystery that hangs over
the Author of the celebrated Letters of Junius, is
so favourable to the propagation of reports, that
we may expect to hear that they have been ascribed,
in succession to every distinguished character who
flourished during the period (f their republication.
The following article, however, which appeared
in a late Number of THE WILMINGTON (Dela-
ware) MIRROR, is founded upon a stronger asser-
tion than has ever before been made upon the sub-
ject ; for IT proceeds upon a supposed acknowledg-
ment (f Junius himself ! Of Mr. Rodney, or
of the degree of credit that may reasonably be
attached to his declaration, we know nothing ,
but the subject is so curious, that we think our
readers will not be averse from having their atten-
tion once more drawn to it.
" No political writings ever made more noise
" in the world, or were more celebrated, than the
'
" Letters signedJHpj^, and published in Lon-
" don more than* 'twenty years ago. And as the
st Author conveyed those letters to the press in
" such a secret manner as to conceal himself en-
" tirely from the knowledge of the public, and
te every other person, the public curiosity has
" been excited from time to time to this, to know
t( who he was.
" Frequent and various have been the conjec-
" tures respecting him ; but all have accorded in
11 * f attributing those Letters to one person or other
" of the most eminent abilities. This, without
" doubt, does the Author great honour. I have
" observed, in some of our late papers, that they
" were attributed to the celebrated Dunning, by
" one writer, and to the late Earl of Chatham by
'"' another. But to satisfy the curiosity of the
" world, and to preclude all future and uncertain
" conjectures, I can assure the public, that our
" celebrated Major-General Charles Lee, of the
" American army, was the real Author of these
" Letters. And although he had declared that
" the secret rested solely with himself, and that
1 ' he meant to carry it to the grave with him ; yet,
<c I affirm, and answer to the public, that he re-
" vealed it to me, and, perhaps, to no other per-
" son, in the world.
" In the fall of 177^? not long after General
" Lee had arrived in America, I had the pleasure
Cf of spending an afternoon in his company, when
" there was no other person present. Our con-
" versation chiefly turned on politics, and was
" mutually free and open. Among other things,
" the Letters of Junius were mentioned, and Ge-
" neral Lee asked me, who was conjectured to be
" the Author of these letters. I replied, ourcon-
" jectures here generally followed those started in
" England; but, for myself, I concluded, from
" the spirit, style, patriotism, and political in-
" formation which they displayed, that Lord
" Chatham was the Author ; and yet there were
<l some sentiments there that indicated his not
(( being the Author. General Lee immediately
tf replied, with considerable animation, affirming,
" that to his certain knowledge, Lord Chatham
" was not the Author ; neither did he know who
" the Author was, any more than I did ; that
" there was not a man in the world, no, not even
" Woodfall, the publisher, that knew who the
" Author was ; that the secret rested solely with
" himself, and for ever would remain with him.
" Feeling, in some degree, surprised at this
" unexpected declaration, after pausing a little,
( l I replied : l No, General Lee, if you certainly
" know what you have affirmed, it can no longer
" remain solely with him ; for, certainly, no one
" could know what you have affirmed but the
" Author himself !*
" Recollecting himself, he replied : ' I
" unguardedly committed myself, and it would be
" but folly to deny to you that I am the Author ;
" but I must request that you will not reveal it
" during my life ; for it never was, nor never will
" be revealed by me to any other?' He then
" proceeded to mention several circumstances to
" verify his being the Author; and, among them,
" that of his going over to the Continent, and
" absenting himself from England most of the
" time in which these Letters were first published
" in London, &c. &c. This he thought neces-
" sary, lest, by some accident, the Author
" should become known, or, at least, suspected,
" which might have been his ruin, had he been
*'. known to the Court of London, &c.
" Whoever will compare the letters of General
" Lee, written to several of the British officers
" at the commencement of our revolutionary war,
" with those of Junius, will probably be con-
" vinced that they were dictated by the same mind,
ff and written by the same hand ; but however
" that may be, I affirm, that what I have herein
" communicated to the public relative to General
" Lee's communication to me respecting the Au-
" thor of Junius, is, in substance, strictly true,
" { and no doubt remains with me but that he was
" the real Author.
" T. RODNEY."
" Dover, February 1, 1805.
The perusal of the above testimony occasioned
a comparison of the Letters of Junius with those
of General Lee, which were published in his Me-
moirs, by JORDAN, IN FLEET STREET, IN THE
YEAR 1792*. And, as the dates of the letters to
and from General Lee, convict Mr. Almon of many
inaccuracies, it became the amusement of a few
idle hours to examine the presumptive evidence of
Mr. Almon in favour of Mr. Boyd being the
writer of Junius, and to note down some passages
from General Lee's Memoirs, and such observa
tions as, it is presumed, would have occurred to
any reader, who would take the trouble of com-
paring the style and sentiments of General Lee's
writings with those of Junius.
Mr. Almon, in his Preface to his Edition of
Junius, observes,
" The opinion which has ascribed these com*
" positions to Major General Lee, a few facts and
" dates will at once show to be entirely erroneous.
" In the year 1/58, he served under General
" Abercrombie, in North America ; and com-
" manded a company of grenadiers at the battle
" of Ticonduroga, where he was wounded. In
" 1762, he served under General Burgoyne, in
* The Second Edition of these Memoirs was published in
1797, and all the references are made to the pages in that
Edition.
<e Portugal, and was afterwards Lieutenant Co-
" lonel of the 44th regiment. At the end of the
" war he came to England, but did not stay long
" here. In 1/65, he entered into the service of
" the Ring of Poland ; who made him one of his
" Aide-de-camps, and a Major General. In
" 17^9* when the Letters of Junius were written
" he was at Warsaw. In the next year he was in
(( Italy, where, in a duel with a gentleman of that
" country, he lost two of his fingers, but killed
" his antagonist, for which he was obliged imme-r
" diately to escape into Germany. During the
<f remainder of that year, and 177 1 ? ne lived
" principally at Vienna and Warsaw. These cir-
'5 cumstances indisputably prove that it is impos-
ee sible for him to have been the Author of Ju-
" nius's Letters ; to say nothing of his literary
" talents, which were infinitely inferior to such
ft productions. He did not return to England
" till the year 1773, In 1774, he went to
<f America."
If we consult the Memoirs of the life of Ge-
neral Lee, we shall find how inaccurate Mr. Al-
mon has been in all the facts and dates which
should disprove General Lee to be the writer of
Junius. In these Memoirs, page 7? it is sa id,
ff The General, who could never stay long in one
" place, during the years 1771, 1772, to the fall
pf 1773j had rambled all over Europe : but
" we can collect nothing relative to the adventures
" of his travels, as his memorandums only men-
" tion the name of the towns and cities through
" which he passed.
" That he was a most rapid and very active
" writer, it is evident : it appears also, that he
" was engaged with an officer in Italy, in an affair
" of honour, by which he lost the use of two of
" his fingers ; but having recourse to pistols, the
" Italian was slain, and he immediately obliged
" to fly for his life.
f< Much dissatisfied with the appearance of the
" political horizon at London, on the l6th of
" August, 1773, he embarked on board the
" packet for New York, where he arrived on the
" 10th of November following, and had a very
" severe fit of the gout."
There is nothing in the above citations to prove
the dates of Mr. Almon to be correct, and when
we turn to the different letters of General Lee,
which are printed in these Memoirs, it will appear
that he was not at Warsaw in 17^9> when Junius
was first published. Let us read General Lee's let-
ters, and we shall find that General Lee was not at
Warsaw after 17^7- See his letter to M. dolman^
in 17^7, page 301, where he says,
" I wish, by practice, to make myself a sol-
" dier for purposes honest, but which I shall not
" mention.
" If 1 am defeated in my intention of joining
" the Russians, I think of passing through Hun-
" gary, and spending the ensuing winter in the
" South' cf Italy, bici'y, or some of the islands
" in the JEgean Sea"
That General Lee left Warsaw in 17^7- and
was either on his road to or from Italy, his letter
to Sir Charles Davers evinces ; for it is dated
Dijon, 19th January, 176*8. And as this was
the last letter of his, previously to his departure
from England to America, it is plain that his duel
in Italy took place a year after he had left War-
saw, and a year before the publication of Juius.
Here then are the principal objections of Mr.
Almon proved to be founded on a chronology
which is incorrect. And the possibility that Ju-
nius absented himself from London to the Conti-
nent during most o/ the time thai his letter* were
publishing in London*, is not contradicted by the
interval of one letter from another ; especially
after his letter to the King. From that letter to
the next nearly two months intervened. And as
we were then at peace with France, ten or twelve
* See Mr. Rodney's Testimony.
days were sufficient to return answers to letters,
admitting that he had thought it necessary to ab-
sent himself sooner.
As it is probable that the letters to the Dukes
of Grafton and Bedford, and Lord Mansfield, had
been long written before they were published, it
would have been no difficult matter for Junius to
have occasionally had two letters appear within a
few days of each other ; even had he been at a
greater distance on the Continent from London
than perhaps he ever was during the publication
of any of them. For there are only the notes of
General Lee's own writing (which were written,
perhaps, to give a more colourable objection to the
suspicion of his being the writer of these letters),
to prove that he had made such rapid movements
over the Continent.
Mr. Almon says that General Lee went to Ame-
rica in 1774. Mr. Longworthy, the Editor of
General Lee's Memoirs, says that General Lee
arrived in America in 177^ ' and Mr. Rodney,
that it was in 1773, that his conversation took
place with the General in America. And as Mr.
Almon has taken no notice of the testimony of
Mr. Rodney, though it occasioned the Letters of
Junius to be attributed to General Lee, and Mr.
Almon has supposed General Lee an infinitely Inte-
rior writer these are reasons to believe that Mr.
1O
Almon had allowed his prejudices to get the better
of his judgment, viz. if ever he possessed any
with regard to writing.
That he ever possessed any sort of judgment,
becomes questionable, from the feeble arguments
which he has advanced in favour of Boyd being
the writer of Junius, which resolve themselves into
the following propositions :
1st. That he once had an opportunity of cast-
ing his eye on a manuscript letter of Junius,
while Mr. Woodfall was reading it, and imme-
diately suspected it, from its being written in
Italian hand, to be the hand writing of Boyd.
2. Because Mr. Boyd changed colour when
Mr. Almon accused him of being the writer of
Junius.
3. Because Lord Temple said to Mr. Almon,
Junius was written by an Irishman.
4. Because the letter to the Ring, which was
published 19th December, 17^9 occasioned the
prosecutions of the printers, among whom Mr.
Almon : and that while his prosecution was going
on, Mr. Almon did not, as usual, see Mr. Boyd!!!
Having adduced the arguments of Mr. Almon to
prove Boyd to be the writer of Junius, let us
proceed to the specimen which Mr. Almon pro-
duces to compare with Junius.
11
Junius, 1769, which Mr.
Almon thinks resembles Bond's
specimen.
" If it be really a part of oar
Constitution, and not a mere
dictum of the law, that ' the
King can do no wrong,' it is
not the only instance where
theory is at variance with prac-
tice. That the Sovereign of
this country is not ameniable
to any form of trial known to
the laws, is unquestionable ;
but exemption from punish-
ment, is a singular privilege
annexed to the royal charac-
ter, and no way exceeding the
possibility of deserving it.
HOW long, and to what ex-
tent, a king of England may
be protected by the forms,
when he violates the spirit of
the Constitution, deserves to
be considered. A mistake in
this matter proved fatal to
Charles and his sou."
Boyd, Wfcg, No. S, written
1779-
" When it is truly said, that
the King can do no wrong,
the office is intended, and not
the person; and this true con-
struction is the perfect praise
of our admirable Constitu-
tion. The King of England
can do no wrong, for it is not
the office of the King to do
any thing ; the cautious wis-
dom of our policy will not
permit the King to act. The
office of the King being thus
considered (I trust with due
respect*, for I think it re-
ceives the highest, when de-
stined as part of the Constitu-
tion), it remains to remind the
person appointed to that of-
fice, that he is a man ; that in
his personal capacity, he may,
he must do wrong ; for error f
is essential to humanity. It
remains to demonstrate to him
that whoever confounds his
person with his office, is a fa-
* When did the lofty Junius trust -with due respect ?
f Junius never made such allowances for the failings of
mankind. He attributed every error either to the badness of
the heart, or the weakness of the head.
12
tal enemy to both ; for that
they are so perfectly distinct
in their nature, attiibutes, and
interests, Ural the abuse of one
is expiable only by the pu-
nishment of the other. The
Constitution will not admit that
the King did wrung, and the
hw says, that the King never
dies ; but Charles Stuait was
an obstinate tyrant, and Charles
Stuart lo(t his head."
The specimens which Mr. Almor, has given of
Mr. Boyd's writings, are all written seven and
ten years after the publication of the Letters of
Junius, therefore no proof could have been esta-
blished in favour of Mr. Boyd, admitting that his
writings had been equal in spirit to those of Ju-
nius. 1 here is hardly a supporter of the daily
eloquence of a newspaper, who could not, after
the perusal of a letter of Junius, have adopted
his sentiments in language more nearly resembling
that of Juniufi, than any specimen which Mr.
Aim on has produced from Boyd's publications.
By Mr. Alrnon's own confession, Boyd had not
attained his twenty-third year, when Junius was
published.
Is it likely that the writings of Junius could
have been the production of so young a man ?
The deep thinking and long experience which
13
many of the passages must have required, are suf-
ficient to discredit the idea of these Letters being
the production of a very young man. Many of
the parts discover that personal knowledge of the
members of both Houses of Parliament, of men of
rank in our army, and of princes and peasants in
foreign countries, which no man of twenty-three
had ever attained. Many of the aphorisms had,
doubtless, been deliberately made and long trea-
sured up for some great design. And had Junius
lived to have doubled the number of his letters, it
is not very likely that he could, in his succeeding
writings, have scattered an equal number of beau-
tiful and original images *, or of such maxims as
the following:
" Reproaches and injuries have no power to
" afflict either the man of unblemished inte-
" grity, or the abandoned profligate. It is the
" middle compound character which alone is
" vulnerable ; the man who, without firmness
" enough to avoid a dishonourable action, has
" feeling euough to be asjiamed of it."
" Good faith and folly have so long been re-
' ceived as synonymous terms, that the reverse
* A careful examination of the Letters of Juuius will con-
vince the reader, that as Juuius approached a conclusion, he
became less of a figurative, and more of a mere matter of fact
writer.
14
cf proposition has grown into credit, and every
" villain fancies himself a man of abilities."
" The rays of Royal indignation collected
<f upon him, served only to illuminate, and could
" not consume."
" The coldest bodies warm with opposition,
" the hardest sparkle in collision."
" The vices operate like age bring on disease
" before its time, and, in the prime of youth,
" leave the character broken and exhausted."
" Under an arbitrary government, all ranks and
" distinctions are confounded. The honour of a
" nobleman is no more than the reputation of a
" peasant ; for, with different liveries, they are
" equally slaves !"
" A clear, unblemished character, compre-
" hends, not only the integrity which will not
" offer, but the spirit which will not submit to an
" injury. And whether it belongs to an indivi-
" dual, or to a community, it is the foundation of
" peace, of independance, and of safety. Pri-
" vate credit is wealth ; public honour is secu-
" rity. The feather which adorns the royal bird
" supports his flight; strip him of his plumage and
" you fix him to the earth."
" It is not necessary that I should confide in
" the honour of a man who already seems to hate
" me with as much rancour as if I had formerly
' been his friend."
15
" The flaming patriot who so lately scorched us
" in the meridian, sinks temperately to the west,
" and is hardly felt as he descends."
" As for the differences of opinion uponspecu-
" lative questions, if we wait until they are recon-
" ciled, the action of human affairs must be sus-
" pended for ever."
" In the shipwreck of the State, trifles float
" arid are preserved, while every thing solid and
" valuable sinks to the bottom and is lost forever."
" He never weeps but like an April shower,
" with a ray of sunshine upon his countenance."
" Yet some men are bigotted in politics; who
" are infidels in religion."
" To investigate a question in law, demands
" some labour and attention, though very little
" genius or sagacity.
" As a practical profession, the study of the
" law requires but a moderate portion of abilities.
" The learning of a pleader is usually upon a level
" with his integrity.
" The indiscriminate defence of right and
" wrong, contracts the understanding, while it
" corrupts the heart. Subtlety is soon mistaken
" for wisdom, and impunity for virtue. If there
" beany instances upon record, as some there are
" undoubtedly, of genius and morality united in
" a lawyer, they are distinguished by their sin-
Cf gularity, and operate as exceptions."
16
When we consider that General Lee was con-
nected, very nearly, with two Baronets in Suf-
folk, and was the most intimate friend of a third
(Sir Charles Davers) in thatcpunty ; that he had
been from his eleventh year in the army, and had
acquired a competent share of Greek and Latin ;
and, hy travelling, had attained the Italian, Spa-
nish, German, and French languages, and the
rank of a Colonel in the British army, prior to
the publication of Junius, there is much more
reason to suppose such a man to be the writer of
Junius, than that a student in the Temple of
twenty-three was. The Duke of Grafton lived in
the very county where General Lee oftenest vi-
sited, and had many correspondents. General
Lee had friends in the highest stations, and it
will appear by his correspondents, PRIOR TO THE
PUBLICATION OF JUNIUS, that the men and mea-
sures which he disliked, are those which formed
the subjects of the Letters of Junius. It may
also be observed on the writings of Junius, how
many of the phrases of that writer are military.
And as more of his images are taken from the mi-
litary profession than any other, they prove that
Junius was by profession a soldier. There is
scarcely a page where the words defeated, surr^n-
der, forced, silenced, retreat, subduing, with-
draicn t invasion, command, &c. do not occur, be-
sides the following passages.
If
" A wise and generous people are roused by
" every appearance of oppressive, unconstitutional
" measures. Whether those measures are sup-
" ported only by the power of government, or
" masked under the forms of a Court of Justice."
(Jan. 21, 1769).
" A submissive administration was at last col-
" lect ed from the deserters of all parties, interests,
" and connexions, and nothing remained but to
" find a leader for these gallant, welt disciplined
" troops"
" His palace is besieged; the lines of circunrcal-
" lotion are drawing round him; and unless he
" finds a resource in his own activity, or in the
" attachment of the real friends of his family, the
" best of princes must submit to the confine-
" ment of a state-prisoner, until your Grace's
" death or some less fortunate event shall roisf
" the siege. But, my Lord, you may quit the
" Jield of business, though not thejield of danger."
" They feel and resent as they ought to do that
" invariable undistinguishing favour, with *\ hich
tf the guards are treated, while those gallant
" troops by whom every hazardous service, every
if laborious enterprise is performed are left to
*' perish in garrisons abroad^ or pine in quarters
" at home, neglected and forgotten."
" We were taught to expect that you would not
" leave the ruin of this Country to be completed
18
* f by other hands, but were determined either to
" gain a decisive victory over the Constitution or
" to perish bravely behind the last dike of the
" prerogative."
" The odium of measures, adopted by the col-
" lective body, sits lightly upon the separate
" members, who compose it. They retire into
" summer-quarters, and rest from the disgraceful
" labours of the campaign" &c. &c.
" Not daring to fl/tac& the main body of Junius's
" last letter, he triumphs in having, as he thinks,
" surprised an out-post, and cut off a detached
" argument, a mere straggling proposition."
(Philo Junius, Feb. 6, 1771.)
" I may quit the service; but it would be ab-
" surd to suspect me of desertion"
" We trusted our representatives with privi-
" leges for their own defence. We cannot hinder
" their desertion; but we can prevent their carry-
" ing over their arms to the service of the enemy."
" There they stand ashamed to retreat unable
" to advance"
" Lord Weymouth has cowardice to plead, and
" a desertion of a later date than your own ; and
" if you consider the dignity of the post he desert-
" ed, you will hardly think it decent to quarter
" him upon Mr, Rigby."
" Thanks are undoubtedly due to every man
" who does his duty in the engagement: but it is
" the wounded soldier who deserves the reward."
19
" - have taught him to new model the civil
" forces of the State. Corruption glitters in the
" 'can collects and maintains a standing army of
<c mercenaries.
" What! though he (Mr. Calcraft) riots in the
" plunder of the army; and has only determined
" to be a patriot when he could not be a peer."
" Let us profit by the assistance of such men
" while they are with us, and place them, if possi-
" ble, in the post of 'danger, to prevent desertion"
" The wary Wedderburne, the pompous Suf-
" folk never threzv aicay the scabbard, nor ever
" went upon a forlorn hope"
The legal knowlege of Junius also tends to prove
him to be a soldier. For long before a military
man has attained the rank of a Field-Officer, if he
has any zeal for his profession, he will find the
necessity of knowing the municipal and civil, as
well as the military laws of his Country.
After having endeavoured to ascertain the pro-
fession of Junius, it becomes necessary for me to
show that General Lee, through the friendship of
Mr. Wroughton, had discovered, two years prior
to the publication of Juuius, that all hopes of
farther promotion, rewards, or honours would be
witheld from him in this Country. The following
is a passage of a letter from Mr. Wroughton, dated
Warsaw, April 29, 1767.
c 2
20
*' I should have been heartily glad to have heard,
rf my dear Colonel, that His Majesty's recom-
" mendation had been more successful, in procu-
" ring you an establishment, equal to your merit
" and wishes ; but am not at all surprised that you
" find the door shut against you, by the person
" who has had such unbounded credit; as you
" have ever too freely indulged a liberty of de-
" claiming, which many infamous and invidious
e< people have not failed to inform him of. The
" principle upon which you thus openly speak
" your mind is honest and patriotic, but not po-
" litic ; and, as it will not succeed in changing
tf men or times, common prudence should teach
" us to hold our tongues rather than to risk our
" own fortunes without any prospect of advantage
" to ourselves or neighbours. Excuse this scrap
" of advice, and place it to the bent of a heart en-
" tirely devoted to your interest."
As General Lee was thus informed by Mr.
Wroughton, that the King of Poland's recom-
mendation could not succeed in recommending
him to the English Ministers, the following
passage in the letter of Junius, Oct. 5, 1771
may glance as much at General Lee's own situation
as Wilkes's, provided the proofs which are to fol-
}ow, should be sufficient to establish General, Lee
as the writer of Junius.
21
" When a man, who stands forth for the public
" has gone that length from which there is no re-
" treat, when he has given that kind of personal,
" offence which a pious monarch never pardons, I
" then begin to think him in earnest, and that he
" never will have occasion to solicit the forgiveness
" of his Country. But instances of a determination
" so entire and unreserved are rarely met with."
Before I proceed to the passages which tend to
prove the similarity of style of General Lee to
Junius, it will be necessary for me to give such
extracts, previous to the publication of Junius,
as will evince the same dislike to men and mea-
sures as is to be met with in Junius.
General Lee was at London December 25th,
1 766, and the following passage is taken from a
letter of his, dated at that time, to a Prince at
Warsaw.
" The King and his ministers are out of town,
t( or more properly I should have said : The mi-
" nisters and the King, for I do not find that the*'
c< latter is any more a principal, than when I left
" England. Lord Chatham is supposed to be ab-
" solute in all affairs which concern the State;
" Bute, in his corner, retains influence to a suffi-
" cient degree for the provision of his creatures
" and countymen in subordinate offices; hedis-
22
" claims all concern with business; but this is like
" the rest of his conduct a most impudent and
" ineffectual hypocrisy; for he is, as usual, not
" credited.
" A formidable opposition is expected, but the
" conjectures on this subject are too vague to be
" attended to. Some men of weight and reputa-
" tion are embarked in it; but the heads are too
" odious to the nation in general, in my opinion,
(( to carry their point. Such as Bedford, Sand-
" wich, G. Grenville, and, with submission, your
" friend Mansfield. He lately drew upon himself
" the laugh of the House of Lords, making use of
" the word ' Liberty of the Subject'; and expres-
" sing great regard to it; it was called: Satan
(< preaching up Sanctity.
" Conway is still Secretary of State, and much
" regarded as a man of ability and integrity. Lord
" Shelburne, the other Secretary, has surpassed
" the opinion of the world; he speaks well, and is
'' very distinct in office. The Duke of Grafton *
" is an absolute orator, and has a fair character.
" An Irishman, one Mr. Burke is sprung up
" in the House of Commons, who has astonished
" every body with the power of his eloquence,
Junius himself admits that the Duke of Grafton, by being
introduced by Lord Chatham, had a temporary popularity.
Sec thejirst Letter in Juirius,
23
" his comprehensive knowlege in all exterior and
u interior politics and commercial interests. He
" wants nothing but that sort of dignity, annexed
" to rank and property in England, to make him
" the most considerable man in the lower House."
In a letter to Mr. Coleman *, dated Warsaw,
May 1, 1"67, General Lee says :
" As to England, I am resolved not to set my
" foot in it, till the virtue, which I believe to
" exist in the body of the people^ can be put in mo-
" tion. I have good reasons for it. My spirits
* Memoirs, page 300.
t The body of the peopft, is a favourite phrase, both of
General Lee and Juuius; as is the safety of the subject \ the
birthright of the people, the favour of the people.
" I do not presume to instruct the learned, but to inform
" the body of the people ." Junius, Aug.S, 1/69-
" What remains to be done concerns the collective body of
the people." Junius, Aug. 8, 1769
and defended the safety of the subject, the birthright
" of the people." Junius, Oct. 17, 17
" Animated by the favour of the people"
Junius, Dec. 19,
" The time is come, when the body of the English people
" must assert their own cause." Junius, March 19, 1770
" One particular class of men are permitted to call theni-
" selves the King's frieuda, as if the body of the people were the
" King's enemies." Junius, May 28, 1770.
24
" my temper were much affected by the measures
" which I was witness of, measures absolutely
" moderate, laudable and virtuous, in comparison
" of what has been transacted since. To return
" solemn thanks to the Crown for the manifest
M corrupt dissipation of its enormous revenues and
" impudent demand on the people : to repair this
" dissipation, to complete their own ruin* is,
" pushing servility further than the rascally senate
" of Tiberius was guilty of. In this light it is
" considered by all those whom I converse with
" of every nation, even those w r ho have the least
" idea of liberty.
" The Austrians and Russians hoot at us. In
" fine, it is looked upon as the ultimatum of hu-
<c man baseness, a coup dc grace to our freedom
" and national honour.
The next letter from which I shall make a long
" Edward II made the same distinction between the colleo
' iivebody of the people." May 28, 1770.
Body of 'dissenters, supported by the whole body of the
criminal law, body of the Act are also to be met with in Junius.
* The expulsion of Mr. Wilkes predetermined in the Cabi-
net; the power of depriving the subject of his birthright, attri-
tributed to a resolution of one branch of the legislature; the
Constitution impudently invaded by the House of Commons ;
the right of defending it treacherously renounced by the House
of Lords These are strokes, my Lord, which, &c.
Juimis t June 22, 1771.
25
quotation is addressed to a lady, and by mistake of
the editor, to Mrs. M'Cauley, from the circum-
stance of the General finishing his letter by wish-
ing the lady to have as many daughters as possible,
and as like herself as possible, " and some des-
" cendants of Catharine M'Cauley may attribute
" the salvation of the State to her progeny." But
whoever knows that Sir Charles Banbury and
Lady Blake resided in Suffolk, and were brother
and sister, and first cousins to General Lee, will
by the citations from this letter perceive, that it
was addressed to Lady Blake, of Langham, in
Suffolk. It is dated Warsaw, May the 2d, 1767.
" * Your understanding) and the care you have
<( taken to cultivate it, cuts me off from some of
" the most fruitful subjects to female correspon-
" dents ; the dress, intrigue, and diversions of the
" women in the places we pass through : but on the
" other hand it affords me ample liberty of pour-
" ing out my mind upon subjects which, unfor-
" tunately for my own ease, engross it entirely ;
" the dreadful situation of all the honest part of
" mankind, and particularly of our own country.
: How miserably fallen she is in the eyes of every
" state ! How sunk are we (in a few months I
" may say) from the summit of glory, opulence,
* Memoirs, 305.
26
" and strength, to the lowest degree of poverty,
" imbecility, and contempt. Europe is astonished
" at the rapidity of the change ; high and low,
" men of every order, from the Ministers of State
" to the political barbers, make it the subject of
" their admiration."
" How can it happen, say they, that Great Bri-
ec tain, so lately the mistress of the Globe, with
" America in one hand, Asia and Africa in another,
" instead of the glorious task of giving laws and
" peace to nations, protecting the weak and injured,
" cheeking thepowerful and oppressive, should em-
" ploy so much time in trampling on the rights of
" her dependencies, and 'violating her ozvn sacred
" larvs, on which her superiority over her neigh-
" hours is founded ? It was some consolation, say
" they, for the generous few of the Romans who
tc survived the liberties of their country, that it was
" a Julius Caesar, a man with more than mortal ta-
" lents, who was their subverter : and the patriots
" of England had some mitigation for their spleen,
" that it was a Cromwell who had over- reached
" them ; but that
" should he able to encompass the enslaving of a
" spirited nation, whose every law seems dictated by
" Liberty herself] is too much to bear. They com-
1 ' pare the noble remonstrances of the French Par-
(< liament against the oppressions of their Court,
(< with the slavish addresses of ours.
27
" I must confess, that instead of sending for
" cooks and hair-dressers from that country, I
" have long wished that we were to supply our-
" selves with Members of Parliament. What it
" will come to I know not, but it is time some-
" thing should be done, and I flatter myself it
" will: there is much spirit in the body of the
" people ; but I will endeavour to quit this sub-
" ject ; it makes me mad.
" This country is the reverse of ours ; they have
" an honest patriot K g, but a vicious nation.
" If God delights in seeing a virtuous man (as
" Seneca supposes he does) struggling with ad-
" versifies, he has a charming spectacle in the
" King of Poland : and I hope God will, in the
" end, recompense the instrument of his pleasure,
" by extricating him out of his distresses ; nothing
" else can I am sure
" You must excuse me enter-
" ing into a detail of these difficulties as this letter
" may fall into the hands of the confederates, and
" be published to the nation, as several others full
" as insignificant have already been, to the no
" small detriment of this good man's affairs. I
" shall reserve them for some some future letter,
' or our evening's chat in Queen Anne Street, or
" Langham.
' I have heard of Lady S h's flight. I cannot
' say that I ever liked the match. It is impos-
28
" sible to have the least connection with Fox y
" either of a political or private nature without
" smarting for it ; every thing he touches becomes
" putrid and prostitute. I hope your brother will
" have the grace to break this cursed connexion,
" which has diverted such excellent parts from their
" true use, blasted all the hopes which his real
1 friends and his country had a right to entertain of
" him ; that he will see, in its proper colours, the
" odiousness of dependency and venality, parti-
" cularly in a man of fortune ; and that he may,
f<i by his future conduct, make an ample recom-
" pence to the opulent county which has chosen
" him for their hitherto-disappointment*
" I have no doubt of Mr. Blake's-J- doing his
" duty. He is not only well-disposed himself,
(t but is in the hands of one who might transform
" a Macaroni into a Cato. He must be the devil
tc himself, whom a young, beautiful English wo-
<( man, with the sentiments of a Spartan matron,
* Junius is very apt to compound the adverb as hitherto-
disappointment is in his letter.
" Well-directed labours." July 8, 1796.
tl Once-respected name." Jan. 30, 1771.
< All-but-convicted felon." Jan. 21, 1772.
t Mr. Blake was not created a Baronet till Sept. 1772. The
last dated letter in Junius, is January, 1772.
<f cannot lead into the ways of political rightcons-
" ness. If women were like you, men could not
" possibly be such rascals. I have long lamented
lt the accursed prevailing notion that women ought
" to have defective educations. It was the most
" cunning fiend in hell who first broached this
" doctrine ; which, had it not prevailed, the bet-
" ter part of the globe would not have groaned in
" the wretched state of slavery we at present see
" it. For God's sake, Madam, have as many
" daughters as possible, and make them as much
" like yourself as possible, and some descendant
" of Catherine M'Cauley may attribute the salva-
{f tion of the state to your progeny.
I am.
Dear Madam,
With the highest esteem,
Yours, &c.
C. LEE.
For the sake of brevity, I have left out the be-
ginning, and some other parts of this letter ; but
the sentiments of the whole resemble those of
Junius ; and I think it may be proved from the
parts which are cited and distinguished by Italics,
that many of the favourite words and phrases of
Junius are to be traced in them.
Your UNDERSTANDING and the CARE you kcrce
30
taken to cultivate if, CUTS me off* from some of the
most fruitful subjects to female correspondents;
the d rets, intrigues, and diversions of the women
of the several places we pass through : but on the
other hand, it AFFORDS me, &c.
Perhaps this is a mistake which is too common
to some of our best writers, to prove any thing.
But as Junius has a similar one in his letter to the
King, it may be considered rather as one of those
mistakes which were more apt to escape the writer
than an error of the press.
" * It is the MISFORTUNE of your life, and origi-
" nally the CAUSE of every reproach and distress
" which HAS attended your government, that you
" never have been acquainted with the language of
" truth, until your heard it in the complaints of
" your people." Junius, Dec. 19,
Junius in his preface has a similar error.
" While this censoral power is maintained, to
* It maybe necessary to observe that in General Lee's post-
humous Publications there are as few grammatical errors as in
Junius, though Junius's letters had the benefit of a revision
from himself. But every person who has been guilty of Author-
ship knows how difficult it is to prevent the errors of the press,
if he had avoided those of the pen.
31
ei speak in the words of a most ingenious foreigner,
" both MINISTER and MAGISTRATE is compelled
" in almost every instance, to choose between his
" duty and his reputation"
Trampling on the rights.
Violating her awn sacred laws*.
Much spirit in the body of the people.
Dictated, slavish, enslaving, prostituted, are
frequently repeated phrases and words in Junius.
And the following part of General Lee's letter:
" If God delights in seeing a virtuous man (as
Seneca supposes he does) struggling with adversi-
ties, he has a charming spectacle in the King of
Poland:" is so nearly verbatim to what Junius
published four years afterwards in one of his letters
to the Duke of Grafton, that it is impossible for
any reader to compare the two passages, without
suspecting that each passage was written by the
same writer.
* That in some instances the laws have been scandalously
relaxed, and, in others, daringly violated. June 12, 1769.
Or what assurance will they give you, that when they have
trampled upon their equals, they will submit to a superior.
December 19, 1769.
S3
* " If it be true that a virtuous man, strug-
gling with adversity, be a scene worthy of the
gods, the glorious contention between you and the
best of princes, desewes a circle equally attentive
and respectable. 1 " Junius, June 22, 177 1 -
Now, admitting that two authors had been
equally struck with one Latin passage, is it pro-
* The following is the passage ia Seneca de Providentia:
" Patrium luibet Deus adversus bonos virosanimuni, et illos
further amat: et operibus, inquit, doloribus ac damnis exagi-
tentur, ut verum colligant robur. Latiguent per inertiam sagi-
uata : nee lubore tantum sed mole et ipso stii onere deficiunt.
Non fert ulluni ictuin illcesa felicitas, ut ubi assidua fuit cum
iucommodis suis rixa, callum per injurias ducit nee ulli malo
cedit : sed etiani si ceciderit, de genu pngnat. Miraris tu
si Deus ille bonorum amantissimus, qui illos quain optimos
esse atque excellentissimos vult, fortunam illis cum qua exer-
ceantur assignat 1 Ego vero non miror, si quando impetmn
capiuut spectandi magnos viros colluctantcs cum aliqua cula-
mitate. Nobis interdum voluptati est, si adolescens constantis
aiiimi irruentem feram venabulo excepit, si leoisis incursum
interitum pertulet: tantoque spectaculum est gratius, quanto id
honestior fecit. Non sunt ista, quse possunt deorum iu se vul-
tum convertere sed puerilia, et hunianae oblect amenta levita-
tis. Ecce spectaculum dignum, ad quod respeciat intentus
operi sun Deus : ecce par Deo dignum, vir fortis cum mala
fortana compositus, utique si et provocavit. Non video, in-
quam, quid habeat in tenis Jupiter pulchrius, si convertere
animum velit, quam ut spectet Catonem jam partibus non
semel fractis stantem, nihilominus inter ruinas publicas
rectum."
38
bable that each author would have rendered it
exactly in the same words into English? It is
singular, indeed, if General Lee and Junius were
different men, that both of them, while they
Were supposing and bewailing the ruin of their
country, should not only glance at the description
which Seneca has given of Cato, but should have
compressed so long a passage into so few words.
Sir Roger 1'Estrange has given a compressed trans-
lation of Seneca, which he calls An Abstract of
Senecas Morals. This work has run through
thirteen editions, and I quote as much of his
translation of the Latin as will satisfy the reader
that both General Lee and Junius translated the
passage from the Latin. " God loves us with a
" masculine love, and turns us loose to injuries
" and indignities : he takes delight to see a BRAVE
" AND A GOOD MAN WRESTLING WITH EVIL FOR-
" TUNE, and yet keeping himself upon his legs,
" when the whole world is disordered about him.
" And are not we ourselves delighted to see a bold
" fellow press with his lance upon a boar or a lion ?
" And the constancy and resolution of the action
" is the grace and dignity of the spectacle" L'Es-
trange's Seneca, cap. viii. p. 143, of thirteenth
edition.
In the same letter of Junius where the above
cited passage occurs, is the following sentence :
D
34
" Make haste, my Lord ; another patent ap-
" plied in time, may keep the OAKS in the fa-
" mily If not, Burnham wood, I fear, must
" come to the MACARONI." This passage, com-
pared with the last part of Lee's letter to Lady
Blake, that her husband is in the hands of a wo-
man who might transform a MACARONI into a Cato,
is very curious. It tends to prove that Lee and
Junius could not think of the ruin of their coun-
try without a correspondent idea of Cato nor of
Cato, without contrasting him with a MACARONI.
The next citation is from a letter to Lord
Thanet, from Warsaw, and dated May the 4th,
1767, containing many .of the opinions, and
much of the declamatory manner of Junius.
" * I have greater reason every day to congratu-
" late my prudence in having left England: I am
" persuaded, had I stayed, I should have brought
" myself into some cursed scrape ; even here, at
" so great a distance, I am thrown into strange
" agitations of passion on the sight of every news-
" paper. Heavenly God ! is it possible we should
" be so far sunk? to return solemn thanks for a
; manifestly corrupt dissipation of such enormous
" revenues, and an impudent demand on the pub-
" lie to repair this dissipation, is pushing servility
" to its ultimatum.. Those nations who have the
* Memoirs, page 312.
35
" least idea of liberty, as the Austrians and Rus-
" sians, laugh and hoot at us. Compare, say they,
<f the remonstrances of the French parliaments
" with the addresses of yours, and then dare to
" pride yourselves in the superiority of British
" spirit over their neighbours. It is impossible to
" make the least reply to these charges, I choak
" with grief and indignation. When I attempt
" to assure them, the body of the nation is still
" untainted, that they have still sentiments of
* freedom, they answer that such sentiments are
" of little consequence, when courage is wanting
" to put them in motion.
" Is not every of your most boasted laws trampled
" upon or eluded? Is not perjury, desolation and
<( murder encouraged and rewarded with the na-
" tional money ? Are not your magistrates, from
" the sole merit of being declared enemies of the
(( law, become factious partizans? Is not the
" choice of your people in their representatives
" treated with contempt and annulled? Are not
(t your citizens massacred in the public streets,
" and in the arms of their household gods, by the
<f military, and the military thanked for their
" friendly alertness * ?
" If these things are borne with by the people,
* " When the Constitution is openly invaded when the
" first original right of the people, from which all laws derive
' their authority, is directly attacked, inferior grievances natu-
D 2
36
" who possess sentiments of liberty, we have lost
" the meaning of words. Such, my dear Lord, is
" the language of these people, and it is fortunate
" for me, that they are ignorant of the state of our
" American politics. They can have no idea of
<f our carrying our abominations so far, as to dis-
" franchise three millions of people of all the rights
" of men, for the gratification* of the revenge of
" a blundering knavish Secretary, and a scoundrel
" Attorney-General a Hillsborough and a Bar-
" nard."
" rally lose their force, and are suffered to pass by without
" punishment or observation." Junius, Oct. 17,1769-
" The same House of Commons who robbed the coustitnent
" body of their right of free election ; who gave thanks for
" repeated murders, committed at home, and for national
" infamy incurred abroad; who screened Mansfield; who im-
" prisoned the magistrates of the metropolis, for asserting the
" subject's right to the protection of the laws; who erased a
" judicial record, and ordered all proceedings in a criminal suit
" to be suspended: this very House," c. Jnn.Oct.5, 177 1.
* " The same scandalous trafic, in which we have seen the
" privilege of parliament exerted or relaxed to gratify the pre-
" sent humour, or to serve the immediate purpose of the Crown,
" is introduced into the administration of justice."
Juntas, Jan. 21, 1772,
" When the guards are called forth to murder their fellow-
" subjects, it is not by the ostensible advice of Lord Mansfield,
" That odious office, his pudence tells him, is better left to
" such men as Gower and Weymoutto, Barrington and Grafton.
" Lord Hillsborough wisely coufines his firmness to the distant
" Americans." Juniuv, Oct. 5, \77\'
General Lee's letter to Sir Charles Davers,
dated, Dijon, Jan. 19, 1768, I have transcribed
to show the inaccuracy of Mr. Almon.
** My dear Davers *,
" Though I have been a long time
" in answering your letter, I beg you will not
" conclude, that the pleasure, I received from it, is
" but small. Believe me, that every fresh assu-
" ranee of your friendship gives me unspeakable
" satisfaction, though I have no need of fresh as-
" surances to be convinced of it. The longer I live
O
" my love for you acquires greater force, perhaps
" from a cynical disposition, in comparing you
" with other men. I have long been acquainted
" with your private virtues, and my opinion of
" your political virtues is now confirmed. I am
" only concerned at your having thoughts of quit-
" ting parliament. I know your reasons, but can
" not approve of them. You think that as you
" are not a speaker, as you have no turn for busi-
" ness, your attendance will little avail; that it
" cannot contribute to stem the torrent of corrup-
" tion and villainy, which at present bears down
" every thing before it. It is this indolent or de-
" spairing method of reasoning of many honest men,
* Memoirs, page 317.
38
" for I cannot help being persuaded that there are
" still many honest men, that have * reduced us to
" this terrible situation. You know that the God
ff of -the Jews, who should have been a judge of
" Jewish affairs, as he interfered in them so much,
" was of opinion, that five righteous men were
" sufficient to save the rotten state of Gomorrah ;
" and I do not find that he meant they should be
" all speakers. Besides the mass of the people of
" of Gomorrah was all polluted, but the mass of the
" English people certainly is not. I believe no
" people was ever possessed of more public vir-
" tue, which is manifest from all their proceeding.
" I beg, my dear friend, you will not in despair
'' quit the deck and get under hatches : work at
* I have copied have as it is printed. As however there are
many mistakes which do not interfere with the syntax of these
Memoirs, it is probable that this grammatical error is also a
mistake of the press. But as it is the management of verbs
which is most apt to escape Junius, such an error does not tend
to prove General Lee an inferior writer to Junius. Gramma-
rians may differ, but to me it has, in the following letter, to
Sir W. Draper appears to be equally ungrammatical.
" To have supported your assertion, you should have proved
*' that the present ministry are unquestionably the best and
" brightest characters of the kingdom; and that if the affec-
" tions of the collonies have been alienated, if Corsica has been
" shamefully abandoned, if commerce languishes, if public
" credit is threatened wiih anew debt, IT HAS all been owing
" to the malice of political writers," &c. Junius, Feb. 7,
39
f the pump hand a rope doing any thing with
ct good will and firmness encourage others to do
(e the same, and with so intrepid a pilot as Sir
" George Savillethe vessel may perhaps work into
tc harbour, notwithstanding the abominable trea-
" son of the major part of the crew.
" I am yours, &c.
" C. LEE."
The quotations which I have made from the
memoirs of General Lee are all taken from those of
his letters, which were written between If 66 and
January 1768 viz. one, two, and three years,
before the publication of Junius, Many passages
equal in sentiment and manner, and nearly in the
very words of Junius are to be met with in these
memoirs : But as the dates of many of them are
not so decidedly settled, I have selected those only
which cannot be doubted. If the passages which
are cited should not be satisfactory to the reader I
must console myself under the confession of Mr*
Almon* " that men, and sometimes great men,
differ widely in their opinions upon the talents of
writers." But if I am not mistaken, whoever
will take the trouble of comparing any part of the
memoirs of General Lee, whether his letters to the
Duke of , General Gage, or.Bur-
* AUnon's Junius, p. 40.
40
goyne, or his orders to the American army, will
discover the same vigour of thought, and structure
of sentences as in Junius : And that after examin-
ing every part of the writings of General Lee in
these memoirs, he will find no passage at variance
with the opinions that are diffused through the
writings of Junius: And that the assertion of
Junius may be as strictly applied to these memoirs
of General Lee as to the letters of Junius.
v
" I cannot recall to my memory the numberless
" trifles I have written ; but I rely upon the con-
" ciousness of my own integrity, and defy him
<f (Home Tooke) to fix any colourable charge
" of inconsistency upon me." Junius, Aug. 1 5,
The memoirs of General Lee discover, that
while a child he was sent to Switzerland for his
education, and that, by his own confession, his
love of liberty commenced in that country.* These
memoirs will also sufficiently evince that the inde-
pendency of America was established by the clever-
ness of General Lee, who not only with his pen,
his declamations and discipline, animated the
Americans, but allured the French to take part
against the British nation.
* Memoirs, p. 62.
41
Of course he may be said to have had as great a
share in bringing about the French revolution and
all its consequences as any of his cotemporaries :
and when it is considered that Calvin, Rousseau,
and Necker, were natives of Switzerland, and that
Generel Lee and x Gibbon received a very consider-
able part of their education in that country, the
combination of these facts becomes very interesting
to a speculative mind.*
Whoever will take the trouble of reading the
memoirs of General Lee, will discover that he
never ought to have been brought to a court mar-
tial ; since his orders were to annoy the enemy as
much as possible without risking any thing of great
importance.
But it is too visible that his talents excited a
jealousy in Washington, especially as a strong
party had formed in Congress to raise Lee to the
* It bas been supposed that Junius formed his style upon
that of a pamphlet, which was published in Oliver Cromwell's
time, entitled Killing no Murder. But as Montesquieu's
Spirit of Laws formed no inconsiderable part of a Swiss educa-
cation ; perhaps the sententious brevity of that writer might
feive had some share in forming the style of Junius. Gibbon
confesses the effects that Montesquieu had upon his first
publication, in the following words. " The obscurity of many
4t passages is often affected, breris esse laboro, obcuro Jio ; the
41 desire of expressing peihaps a common idea, with sententious
" and oracular bevity. Alas ! how fatal has been the imitation
/ of Montesquieu." (Gibbon's Life, p. 91.)
42
first command. The commander in chief brought
him to a court-martial
For disobedience of orders in not -attacking the
enemy on 28th June.
For misbehaviour before the enemy on that day.
For disrespect to the Commander in Chief :
Of all which 'charges he was found guilty, and
suspended from any commission in the American
army for twelve months. While he was thus dis-
graced, and of course soured, and disappointed in
the American character, he received a most insult-
ing letter from one of the Congress of the name of
Wm. Henry- Dray ton. General Lee answered this
letter, and Mr. Drayton wrote a second letter to
which General Lee replied.
Whoever meditates on the situation of General
4
Lee at the time he was receiving these impertinent
letters, will not think any severity of expression in
his answers improperly applied.
I shall transcribe them both And when it is con-
sidered that the first letter was written in a few
hours after the reception of Mr. William Henry
Drayton's letter, and how much more difficult a
subject General Les's was, than any on which
Junius had to write, it is impossible not to be
struck with the powers of Lee's mind. Junius
never could have compressed into fewer words
more argumentative, dignified, and contemptuous
answers, than these two letters are to those of
William Henay Drayton.
43
To Wm. H. Drayton, Esq,
" Philadelphia, Feb. 5, 1779.
Sir,
" I should have done myself the honour of an-
" swering jpur letter yesterday, but was prevented
" by a variety of business. If I h^ave violated any
" orders of the Commander in Chief, to him, and
" the Congress only, am I responsible ; but cer-
" tainly am not amenable to the tribunal of Mr.
" William Henry Drayton. I shall therefore re-
<f main entirely indifferent whether you are pleased
4( to think or dream, that I designedly threw my-
" self into the hands of the enemy, or whether I
" was not taken by a concurrence of unfortunate
" circumstances, such as happen in the course of
" all wars. The only remark I shall make on
" your extraordinary requisition, that I should
" clear myself on this point to you, simply Mr.
" Mr. William Henry Drayton, whom I consider
" but as a mere common member of Congress is,
<f that you pay a very ill compliment to the Ge-
<e neral. You must suppose him either miserably
" deficient in understanding, or in integrity as a
" servant of the public, when you suppose that he
" could suffer a man for a single day to act as his
" second in command, whom he knows to be
(< guilty of such abominable treason. This ige-
* Memoirs, p. 50.
44
" nious supposition, therefore is, in my opinion,
" a greater affront to the General than to myself,
" I am sincerely concerned that my friend Eu-
1 stace should have degraded himself so far as to
" enter .into any discussion of this matter with
" Mr. Wm. Henry Dray ton ; and I shall repri-
' mand him for not understanding his own dignity
" better.
" I shall now only take the trouble of adding,
" that if you can reconcile your conduct in step-
" ping out of the road (as I am informed you did
' in your charge to the Grand Jury) to aggravate
" the calamities of an unhappy man, who had sa-
" crificed every thing in the cause of your country;
" and as he then conceived to the rights of man-
" kind ; who had sacrificed an ample fortune, at
" least an easy and independent fortune, the most
" . honourable connexions, great military preten-
" sions, his friends and relations : I say, if you
" can reconcile your stepping out of your road to
" aggravate the calamities of a man who had noto-
" riouslv made these sacrifices, and who, at the
tf
te very time you was displaying your generous
" eloquence, had no less than five centinels on
" his person, and was suffering extremely in body
" and mind If you can, I repeat, reconcile such
" a procedure to common humanity, common
" sense, or common decency, you must be a more
45
'' singular personage than the public at present
' consider you.
" I am, Sir,
" Your most obedient,
" humble Servant,
C. LEE."
Philadelphia, March 15, 1779-
" Sir,
" As I have now settled all my affairs, and as I
" am given to understand that you probably may
" soon set out for South Carolina, I take the liberty
" of addressing this letter to you, which is to close
<{ our correspondence for ever. Until very lately,
" I was taught to consider you only as a fantastic,
" pompous, dramatis persona, a mere malvolio
" never to be spoke or thought of but for the sake
" of laughter ; and when the humour for laughter
" subsided, never to be spoke or thought of
" more. But I find I was mistaken ; I find that
" you are as malignant a scoundrel, as you are uni-
" versally allowed to be a ridiculous and disgusting
" coxcomb. You are pleased to say, that I am
" legally disgraced ; all that I shall reply is, that
" I am able, confidently to pronounce, that every
" man of rank in the whole army, every man
" on the Continent, who had read the pro-
" ceedings of the court martial (perhaps, indeed, I
" may except Mr. Penn, of North Carolina, and
" Dr. Scudder, of the Jerseys, with a few others
46
tf about their size in understanding) is oftheopi-
" nion that the stigma is not on him on whom the
" sentence was passed, but on those who passed
" this absurd and preposterous sentence ; for, to
" be just, I do not believe you quite blockhead
" enough to think the charge had a shadow of
" report; and if, "by some wonderful metamor-
" phis, you should become an honest man, you
" will confess it. As to the confirmation of this
" curious sentence, I do not conceive myself at
" liberty to make any comments on it, as it is an
" affair of Congress, for which body I ever
" had, and ought to have, a profound respect. I
" only lament that they are disgraced by so foul a
" member as Mr. Wm. Henry Dray ton. *You
* Junius often surprises the reader with the singular turn
jliat he gives to his adversary's argument as when Sir William
Draper says, that his half-pay was given to him by way of pen-
sion Junius replies " The half-pay, both in Ireland and Eng-
" land, is appropriated by parliament ; and if it be given to
" persons who like you, are legally incapable of holding it, it
" is a breach of law. It would hare been more decent in you
" to have called this dishonourable transaction by its true
" name ; a job to accommodate two persons by particular in-
" terest and management at the .castle. What sense must Go-
*' cernment ha~ce had of your services, when the rewards they have
" given you are only a disgrace to you?
When Mr. Home accuses Junius of coarse language, Junius
replies,
" If an y coarse expressions have escaped me, I am ready t
( tell me that the Americans are the most merci-
" ful people on the face of the earth ; I think so
" too ; and the strongest intance of it is, that they
" did not long ago hang up you, and every advocate
* f for the stamp act ; and do not flatter yourself
fc that the present virtuous airs of patriotism, and
" your hard-laboured letters to the Commissioners
" and the King, will ever wash away the stain.
f If you think the terms I make use of harsh or
f( unmerited, my friend Major Edwards is com-
" missioned to point out your remedy.
" C. LEE."
General Lee died on the 2d of October, 1782,
and the last letter which he wrote to his maiden
sister, Mrs. Sidney Lee, of Chester, in this king-
dom, ought to operate as a caution to all those
who dislike this country, or who have ever in-
dulged the hopes of rising out of the ashes of a
revolutionary flame.
" My dear Sister,
" The other day, by a kind act of Providence, a
" agree that they are unfit for Junius to make use of, but I see
" no reason to admit that they have been improperly applied."
Both these turns are after the manner of this, which General
Lee has given to You tell me that the Americans are the most
merciful people on the face of the Earth.
4S
** letter of yours fell into my hands, of so late a
" date as 20th of March, and, what is more, it
" had the appearance of never having been open-
" ed. You will better conceive, than I can ex-
" press, the pleasure which I received from it ;
" for I assure you, that my American enthusiasm
" is, at present, so far worn off, that the greatest
" satisfaction I can conceive, is to be informed of
" the health and welfare of my English friends,
" who, with all their political sins, corruptions,
f< and follies, still possess more virtues, at least,
et as individuals, than all the nations of the earth.
" As to the Americans, though I once thought
tc otherwise, when their characters are impartially
" and minutely discussed, I am sure they will
" appear not only destitute of the personal vir-
" tues and good qualities which render those they
" descended from so estimable in the eyes of other
" nations, such as truth, honesty, sincerity, and
" good understanding ; but I am much] mistaken
" if the great public qualities which you, at a
" distance, suppose them endowed with, will
" stand a scrutiny ; but a scrutiny of this kind,
" in a letter, is not possible : all that I shall
" say is, that the New England men ex-
" cepted, the rerft of the Americans, though they
" fancy and call themselves republicans, have
" not a single republican qualification or idea.
" They have always a god of the day, whose in-
49
** fallibility is not to be disputed : to him all peo-
" pie must bow down and sing Hosannas.
" You are curious, my dear sister, on the sub-
" ject of my finances, and are desirous to know
<c whether these people, to whom I have sacri-
" ticed every thing, have shown the same black
" ingratitude, with respect to my circumstances,
" as they have in other matters. I can assure
" you, then, that their actions are all of a piece.
" Was it not for the friendship of Mr. Rt.
*i Morris, and a fortunate purchase I made, more
" by luck than cunning, I might have begged in
(e the streets, but without much chance of being
" relieved ; not, but to be just, there are many
" exceptions to the general character of the Ame-
" ricans, both in and out of the army, and, I
" think, the greater number are of the latter
" class, men of some honour, and who, I believe,
" have, from the beginning, acted on principle ;
" and all these I may, without vanity say have
" been my friends and advocates. Among the
" worthies of America, I reckon Mr. Rt. Morris,
" of Philadelphia ; Richard Henry Lee, of Vir-
" ginia ; Adams and Lovel, and some others of
" New England ; the Morris's of New York, and
" Dr. Rush of Philadelphia.
" In the army there are many worthy to be
" mentioned, Generals Schygler, Miller, Sulli*
50
<c van, Mulhenburgh, Wayne, Weedon,
cc Knox, &c.
" I have been particularly fortunate in my
" Aide-de-Camps. All young men of the best
" families, fortunes, and education, of this con-
ft tinent ; but, above all, I should mention young
" Colonel Harry Lee, who has signalized himself
" extremely in this accursed contest, the ruinous
(f consequences of which, to the whole empire, I
" predicted to Lord Percy, and to my friend Ge-
" neral Burgoyne. To do the Americans justice,
" they certainly were not the aggressors ; but the
" retrospect now is of no use. In all civil eon-
" tests the people, in general, have not been the
( e aggressors ; they only wish to defend, not to
<f encroach. The monarchs, or magnates, ge-
<e nerally commence by their oppressions. Wit-
" ness the disputes betwixt the patricians and ple-
<e beans of Rome, and our wars in the time of
" Charles the First ; but the people in the con-
tf test, forget the principles on which they set
* " out, which ultimately brings destruction on
ec both parties ; and this I extremely apprehend
fe will be the case at present. I shall now quit
" the labyrinth of politics, and return to
ff the subject of my own finances. Mr. Mure
( - has used me most cruelly and villanously ;
f ( notwithstanding the vast sums he owes me, he
51
" has protested a bill of three hundred founds,
' c which has thrown me into unspeakable distress.
" He has affected a delicacy in honouring the
" bills of a rebel ; but if he will consult the Pro-
" clamation of Sir Henry Clinton^ in the year
" 1778, he will find that I am exempted from
" the apprehension of confiscation, by the terms of
(C this Proclamation, which declares, that no man,
" from the date hereof, who does not positively
" act in a civil or military capacity, is subject to
" the confiscation of his property ; but as I have
" reason to think that the -man will avail himself
11 of every chicane, when money is in the case, I
" must entreat that you will urge Sir Charles
tf Bunbury and Davers, to endeavour to in-
" fluence him, at least, to furnish Mr. Garton,
" for my use, with five, four, or, at least, three
<( hundred pounds, until the contest is over, and
" the law, according to the terms of peace, tells
" us what is to be done ; but, at any rate, he,
" Mr. Mure, can have no claim, as an individual,
" to my fortune : he must account for it to some-
" body.
" I am extremely concerned at the embarrass-
" ment our cousin S gives you with regard
" to the legacy, but it is the very error of the
" Moon ; she comes more near the earth than she
" was wont to do, and makes men mad. Is my
2
52
" wortliiest friend Butler* alive and amongst
" you? If he is, a thousand blessings, in my
ff name, on his head.
" God Almighty, my dear sister, give you long
" life, ease, and spirits, is devoutedly the wish
" of,
" Your most affectionate Brother,
" C. LEE.
" Virginia, June 22,
J782."
Since the memoirs of General Lee invalidate all
the essential dates of Mr. Almon, and contain let-
ters from General Lee to his friends, which are
marked with the phrases and indignation of Junius,
against the same men and measures, one, two,
and three years prior to the publication of Junius :
and since the images of Junius prove him to be a
soldier, and the letters of the moment in America,
of General Lee, evince the same argumentative,
lofty, and contemptuous spirit that pervades the
letters of Junius ; what should prevent the testi-
* Colonel Butler was Lieutenant-Colonel of the 38th regi-
ment and wounded at Bunker's Hill. He lives in Wales, and
was esteemed as the worthiest of men, by men of rank in the
British army, and by the writer of these remarks, who had the
Honour of knowing him.
53
-mony of Mr. Rodney from being admitted that
General Lee was the writer of Junius ?
If a daring spirit was thought necessary to the
publication of Junius, where could a more daring
spirit be found than that which General Lee dis-
covered? Could, the age in which General Lee flou-
rished have produced a man who dared do so much
as Lee did, for what he then thought the rights of
mankind ? He turned his back on nine hundred
pounds a year in this country, and headed an army
of rebels against his king, his country, and the
most honorable connexions and friends.
He flung away the scabbard to enter on the for-
lornest of all forlorn hopes.
Junius wrote the dictates of his heart, and Lee
acted up to them.
But it may be asked, why should the writer of
Junius, so clever a man as he undoubtedly was,
allow himself to be decoyed into a confession that
he was the author, when he had declared that the
secret should perish with him.
The answer to this is, that though Junius always
wrote as if he thought himself more than mortal,
as if he was only looking down upon mankind,
yet he, with all his greatness, was but a human
being. He could, no more than any other mortal,
be certain that any resolution that he had made
one year, would last him to the end of his exis-
tence in this world. And after having pledged
54
himself to the public in the manner he had done,
there was no other decent mode of allowing the
secret to be revealed, but under the appearance of
having suffered himself to be entrapped into the
confession.
Whoever has lived much with Field Officers in
London, knows that their morning lounges col-
lect a number of them daily at some coffee-house
dinner; where the conversation invariably turns
more or less, upon regimental affairs ; and where
every act of injustice to the profession of a soldier,
is canvassed, and circulated with a rapidity that
makes the information in Junius about the state
of the Army, and the transactions of Sir William
Draper, not at all surprising to a military man.
Every Field Officer who was able to make Lon-
don his head-quarters at the time of Sir William
Draper's retiring on half-pay, was as well ac-
quainted with the whole of that transaction as
Junius himself.
Hitherto all enquiry about who was the writer
of Junius, has been generally cut short, by the
good fortune of oneof the company in having heard
my Lord Somebody say, " that while a certain
li person was one day asked what news ? he an-
" swered none, except that the Junius of this
" day, was one of the best that had been published"
The Morning Chronicle was instantly called for ;
but instead of a letter of Junius, there was an apo-
logy from the printer, for delaying Junius's letter till
another clay. The person changed colour, and
of course was considered as the author of those
letters. The same tale has been told of several
different men. And why not? since any man
who had read the printer's apology might, if his
vanity led him to wish to be thought the author,
have created a similar suspicion in the same way-
There were doubtless, during the publication of
these long letters, more opportunities than one for
adopting such a plan.
Previously to the testimony of Mr. Rodney, of
all the suspected persons, Burke, from the com-
prehensive powers of his mind, appears to be best
entitled to be considered as the writer of Junius.
But though Lee had so high an opinion of the ta-
lents of Mr. Burke, it is to be questioned whether
any part of Mr. Burke's publications will prove him
to be so close a reasoneras Leeor Junius. Nor does
the style in general of Mr. Burke betray that epi-
grammatic conciseness which adds so much to the
vivacity of Junius. If Junius possessed equal ima-
gination with Burke, he never allowed it to ruii
away with him : for if he could not find a beauti-
ful image, he rather chose to depend upon the
force of his argument and the compression of his
style, than to enlist into his service a disgusting
figure. Like an eagle on his prey, Junius pounces
on his images and renews his flight.
56
Burke is too apt to be the reverse of alt this. He
often wanders wide from his argument, to lead us
to the most degrading, or delightful figurative
descriptions.* It would be needless and out of
place to say more upon the writings of Mr. Burke.
And perhaps it may be thought an equally unne-
cessary attempt to prove the writer of Junius.
But I cannot think that the ascertaining the fate
of Junius is unworthy of the contemplation of
the patriot, the philosopher, or the statesman.
Nay, even the character of General Lee, when it
is considered that he affected the revolt of the
Americans, and of course the revolutions which
have since distracted the European world, cannot
be useless to Statesmen.
They may learn from the life of General Lee,
that it is neither just, safe, nor wise 5 to overlook
such tried courage, enterprise and talents : and
that no parliamentary interest should mortify from
year to year such a man, by keeping him on half-
pay, and giving superior rank to men, who, in a
military point of view, had never any pretensions
to rank with Lee.
* Let any one examine only from p. 126 to 128, of Mr.
Burke's Reflexions on the Revolution in Trance, and he will
fiuil the beauties and defects of Mr. Burke exemplified.
FINIS.
ERRATA.
Page 7, line 6 for writer, read traveller.
Page EO, line 18 for bent, read vent.
Page 25, line 8 for Banbury, read Bunbury.
Pasre 40. line 3 for prfimininn r^A L~~.;~.~
Girdle stone -
|508 Reasons for re-
; jecting the pre-
sumptive evidence
of Mr. Almon
SEP 2 6" 1958
DA
508
L5G14
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los Angeles
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
n L9-32m-8,'57(.C8680s4)444
j j.
to rank with Lee.
* Let any one examine only from p. 126 to 128, of Mr.
Ikukc's Reflexions on the Revolution in Trance, and he will
find the beauties and defects of Mr. Burke exemplified.
FINIS.
ERRATA.
Page 7, line 6 for writer, read traveller.
Page CO, line 18 for bent, read vent.
Page 25, line 8 for Banbury, read Bunbury.
Page 40, line 3 for *>
Girdlestone -
08 Reasons for re-
je cting the pre-
sumptive evidence
of Mr. Almon
000
DA
508