LIBRARY
THE UNIVERSITY
OE CALIEORNIA
SANTA BARBARA
PRESENTED BY
MRS. ERIC SCHMIDT.
WOODFALL'S JUNIUS
THE
LETTERS OF JUNIUS
FBOM
TEE LATEST LONDON EDITION,
WITH FAC-SIMILES OF ATTRIBUTED AUTHORS.
STAT NOMnUJS TJMBEAi
TWO VOLS. IN ONE
NEW YORK:
JOHN W. LOVELL, PUBLISHER,
NOS. 14 AND 16 ASTOR PLACE.
1880.
CONTENTS.
Page
Dedication to the English Nation - - - 3
Preface - - - - - - . -11
Letter I. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 25
II. Sir Wilham Draper's answer - - - 37
III. Junius to sir William Draper - - 42
IV. Sir William Draper to Junius - - - 48
V. To sir William Draper - - - - 55
VI. To Junius from sir William Draper - - 57
VII. To sir William Draper - - - - 59
\ III. To the duke of Grafton - ... 62
IX. To the duke of Grafton - - - - 68
X. To Mr. Edward Weston - - . - 72
XI. To the duke of Grafton - . - - 74
XII. To the duke of Grafton - - - - 79
XIII. Pliilo Junius to the Printer of the Pub. Adv. 89
XIV. Pliilo Junius to the Printer of the Pub. Adv. 91
XV. To the duke of Grafton - - - 96
XVI. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser 103
XVII. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Pub. Adv. 109
XVIII. To sir William Blackstone - - -113
XIX. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Pub. Adv. 1J9
XX. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser - 128
XXI. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser - 138
XXII. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Pub. Adv. 140
XXIII. Junius to the duke of Bedford - - _ 144
XXI V^ Sir William Draper to Junius - - - 156
XXV. Junius to sir William Draper - - - 159
XXVI. Sir William Draper to Junius - - - Ibl
XXVII. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser I ^^8
XXVIII. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser - 173
XXIX. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Pub. Adv. 174
XXX. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 179
XXXI. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Pub. Adv. 18C
XXXIT, Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 190
XXXIII. To the duke of Grafton ... 192
XXXIV To the duke of Grafton - - - 193
XXXV To the Printer of the PubHc Advertiser . 198
DEDICATION
TO THK
ENGLISH NATION.
1 DEDICATE to you a collection of letters, written l)y
one of yourselves, for the common benefit of us all , l^liey
would never have grown to this size without your continued
encouragement and applause. To me they originally owe
nothing but a healthy, sanguine constitution. Under your
care they have thriven : to you they are indebted for what-
ever strength or beauty they possess. When kings aod
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,
r believe, be found to contain principles worthy to be trans-
mitted to posterity. When you leave the unimpaired heredi'
tary freehold to your children, you do but half your duty.
Both liberty and property are precarious, unless the pes'
sessors 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 naiTow circle. I am the sole
depository of my own secret, and it shall perish with me.
If an honest, and, I may truly affirm, a laborious zeal foi
ihe public service, has given me any weight in your esteem
fi DEDICATION.
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 precedent creates another. They soon
accumulate, and constitute law. What yesterday was fact,
to-day 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 constitutioji, and 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 Britain.
Ahhough the king should continue to support his present
sj'stein 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 agitation, 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 questions have
been started, on which your determination should he
equally clear and unanimous. Let it be impressed upon
your minds, .et it be instilled into your children, that
tlie liberty of the piess is the palladium of all the civil,
political, and religious rights of an Englishman ; 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 Tin pow r of king, lords,
DEDICATION. vfl
and commons, is not an arbitrary power :* ttiey are the
trustees, not the owners, of the estate The fee-simple is
in us : they cannot alienate, they cannot waste. Wheu
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, established by the laws. In this sense, the word
supreme is lelative, not absolute. The power of the
legislature is limited, not only by the general rules of na-
tural 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 commons, have no rule to direct their resolu-
tions, 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 parlia-
ment. But I am persuaded you will not leave it to the
choice of seven hundred persons, notoriously corrupted by
* The positive denial of an arbitrary power being vested
in the legislature, is not, in fact, a new doctrine. When
the earl of Lindsay, in the year 1675, brought in a bill
into the house of lords, " To prevent the dangers
which might arise from persons disaffected to govern-
ment," by which an oath and penalty was to be imposed
upon the members of both houses ; it was affirmed, in a
protest, signed by twenty-three lay peers, (my lords the
bishops were not accustomed to protest,) " That the pri-
vilege of sitting and voting in parliament was an honour
they had by birth, and a right so inherejit in them, and
inseparable from them, that nothing could take it away,
but what, by the law of the land, must withal take away
their lives, and corrupt their blood." These noble peers,
whose names are a reproach to their posterity, have, ir
this instance, solemnly denied the power of parliament
to alter the constitution. Under a particular proposition,
they have asserted a general truth, in which e\e y man iv
England is con'erned.
^iii DEDICATION.
the crown, whether seven uiilions of their equals shal b«
free men or slaves. The certairity of loifeiting 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 Harry the Eighth,,
there are instances, in the history of other countries, of a
formal, deliberate surrender of the public liberty into tlie
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 parliament.
I said, that the liberty of the "^ress is the palladium o/
ill your rights, and that the right of the juries to return
a general verdict, is part of your constitution. To pre-
serve the whole system, you must correct your legislature.
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,
iltliough 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. If you re-
flect, that, in the changes of administration which have
marked and disgraced the present reign, although youi
warmest patriots have, in their turn, been invested with the
lawful and unlawful authority of the crown, and though
other reliefs or improvements have been held forth to the
people, yet that no one man in office has ever promoted or
encouraged a bill for shortening the duration of parlia«
ments, but that (whoever was minister) the opposition to
this measure, ever since the septennial act passed, has been
constant and uniform on the part of government — ^you
rannot but conclude, without the possibility of a doubt,
that long parliaments are the foundation of the undue in«
DEDlCATIOiN. !l
fliif ace of the crown. This influence answers every ;)iur-
pose of arbitiary power to the crown, with an expense
ind oppression to the people, which would be unnecessary
in an arbitrary government. The best of our ministers
•6 no it the easiest and most compendious mode of conduct-
ing the king's affmrs ; and all ministers have a general
interest in adhering to a system, which, of itself, is suffi-
cient to support them in office, without any assistance
from personal virtue, popularity, labour, abilities, or ex-
perience. It promises every gratification to avarice and
ambition, and secures impunity. These rie truths un-
questionable : if they make no impression, it is because
•they are too vulgar and notorious. But the inattention
or indifference of the nation has continued 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 pre
sents itself, you neglect to do your duty to yourselves and
fo posterity, to God and to your country, I shall have one
consolation left, in common with the meanest and basest o
mankind : Civil 'iberty may still last the life of
iUNILS.
^ 2
PREFACE.
THE encouragement given to a multitude of sp uriious,
Bfiangled publications of the " Letters of Junius," per-
suades me, that a complete edition, corrected and improved
by the author, will be favourably received. The printer
will readily acquit me of any view to my own profit. I
undertake this troublesome task merely to serve a man who
has deserved well of me and of the public ; and who, on
my account, has been exposed to an expensive, tyrainiLcal
prosecution. For these re-^^ons, I give to Mr. Henry Samp-
son Woodfall, and to him alone, my right, interest, and
property, in tliese letters, as fully and completely, to all
intents and purposes, as an author can possibly convey his
property in his own works to another.
This edition contains all the letters of Junius, Phiio
Junius, and of Sir William Draper and Mr. Home to
Junius, with their respective dates, and according to the
order in which they appeared in the Public Advertiser.
The auxiliary part of Philo Junius was indispensably neces-
saiy to defend or explain particular passages in Junius, in
answer to plausible objections ; but the subordinate char-
acter is never guilty of the indecorum of praising his prin-
cipal. The fraud was innocent, and J always intended to
explain it. The notes will be found not only use'ul but
wjcessary. References tc facts not generally knc s^ii, ot
xii PREFACE.
ftllusions to the c irrent report or opinion of the day, are^
In a little time, unintelligible : yet the reader will not find
himself overloaded with explanations : I was not born to be
a commentator, even upon my own works.
[t remains to say a few words upon the liberty of tJ>e
press. The daring spirit by which these letters are sup-
posed to be distinguished, seems to require that some-
thing serious should be said m their defence. I am no
lawyer by profession, nor do I pretend to be more deeply
read than every EngUsh gentleman should be, in the laws
of his country. If, therefore, the principles I maintain are
truly constitutional, I shall not think myself answered,
though I should be convicted of a mistake in terms, or of
misapplying the Hnguage of the law. I speak to the plain
understanding of (he people, and appeal to their honest,
iberal construction of me.
Good men, to whom alone I address myself, appear to
me to consult their piety as little as their judgment and
experience, when they admit the great and essential advan-
tages accruing to society from the freedom of the press, yet
indulge themselves in peevish or passionate exclamations
against the abuses of it. Ben lying an unreasonable ex-
pectation of benefits, pure and entire from any human
institution, they, in effect, arraign the goodness of Provi-
dence, and confess that they are dissatisfied with the com-
mon lot of humanity. In the present instance, they realr/
create to their own minds, or greatly exaggerate the evil
they complain of. The laws of England provide as cffef
tually as any human laws can do for the protection of tl>»
subject, in his reputation, as well as in his person and prt..
perty. If the characters of private men are insulted or
injured, a double remedy is open to them by action and in-
dictment : if, through indolence, false shame, or indiffer-
ence, the} will not appeal to the laws of their country,
they fail in their duty to society, and are unjust to them
PREFACE. xiil
selves : if, from an unwarrantable distrust of the integrity
of juries, they would wish to obtain justice by any mode of
proceeding more summary than a trial by their peers, I do
not scruple to affirm, that they are in effect, greater enemies
to themselves than to the libeller they 'prosecute.
With regard to strictures upon the characters of men in
office, and the measures of government, the case is a little
different. A considerable latitude must be allowed in the
discussion of public affairs, or the liberty of the press will
be of no benefit to society. As the indulgence of private
malice and personal slander should be checked and resisted
by every legal means, so a constant examination into the
characters and conduct of ministers and magistrates should
be equally promoted and encouraged. They who conceive
that our newspapers are no restraint upon bad men, or im-
pediment to the execution of bad measures, know nothing
of this country. In that state of abandoned servility and
prostitution, to which the undue influence of the crown has
reduced the other branches of the legislature, our ministers
and magistrates have, in reality, little punishment to fear,
and kw difficulties to contend whh, beyond the censure of
tlie press, and the spirit of resistance which it excites among
the people. While this censorial power is mamtained, (to
speak in the words of a most ingenious foreigner) both mi-
nister and magistrate are compelled, in almost every in-
stance to choose between his duty and his reputation. A
dilemma of this kind perpetually before him, will not,
indeed work a miracle on his heart, but it will assuredly
operate, in son^e degree, upon his conduct. At all events,
these are not times to admit of any relaxation in the little
discipline we have left.
But it is alleged, that the licentiousness of the press is
carried beyond all bounds of decency and truth ; that our
excellent ministers are continua ly exposed to the public
hatrei or derision; that in prosecUions for libels on govern
siv PREFACE.
ment, juries are partial to the popular siile ; and thi , in
the most flagrant cases, a verdict cannot be obtained for the
king. If the premises were admitted, I should deny the
conclusion Tt is not true that the temper of the times haa
in general an undue influence over the conduct of juries :
on the contrary, many signal instances may be produced of
verdicts returned for the king, when the inchnations of the
people led strongly to an undistinguished opposition to go-
vernment. Witness the cases of Mr. Wilkes and Mr. Ahnon.
In the late prosecution of the printers of my address to a
great personage, the juries were never fairly dealt with.
Lord chief justice Mansfield, conscious that the paper in
question contained no treasonable or libellous matter, and
that the severest parts of it, however painful to the king oi
oflensive to his servants, were strictly true, would fain have
restricted the jury to the finding of special facts, which, as
to guilty or not guilty, were merely indifferent. This par-
ticular motive, combined with his general purpose to con
tract the power of juries, will account for the charge he
dehvered in Woodfall's trial. He told the jury, in so many
words, that they had nothing to determine, except the fact
of printing and publishing, and whether or no the blanks or
inuen Joes were properly filled up in the information ; but
that, whether the defendant had committed a crime or not,
was no matter of consideration to twelve men, who yet,
upon their oaths, were to pronounce their peer guilty or
not guilty. When we hear such nonsense delivered from
the bench, and find it supported by a laboured train of so-
phistry, which a plain understanding is unable to follow, and
which an unlearned jury, however it may shock their rea-
son, cannot be supposed qualified to refute, can it be won-
dered that they should return a verdict perplexed, absurd,
or imperfect ? Lord Mansfield has not yet explained to the
world, why he accepted of a verdict which the court after-
wards set aside as illegal; and whi :h, as it took no notice o.'
PREFACL. XV
the inuendoes, did not even correspond with his cwn charge.
If he had known his duty, he should have sent the jury
back. I speak advisedly, and am well assured, that no
lawyer of character, in Westminster-hall, will contradict
me. To show the falsehood of lord Mansfield's doctrine,
it is not necessary to enter into the merits of the paper
which produced the trial. If every line of it were treason,
his charge to the jury would still be false, absurd, illegal,
and unconstitutional. If I stated the merits of my letter to
the king, I should imitate lord Mansfield, and travel* out of
* The following quotation from a speech delivered by
lord Chatham, on the 11th of December, 1770, is taken
with exactness. The reader will find it curious in itself,
and very fit to be inserted here. " My lords, the verdict
given in Woodfall's trial was, ' guilty of printing and pub-
lishing only;' upon which two motions were made in court;
one, in arrest of judgment, by the -^'■'endant's counsel,
grounded upon the ambiguity of the verdict ; the other, by
the counsel for the crown, for a rule upon the defendant,
to show cause why the verdict should not be entered up
according to the legal import of the words. On both mo-
tions a rule was granted ; and soon after the matter was
argued before the court of king's bench. The noble judge,
when he delivered the opinion of the court upon the ver-
dict, went regularly through the whole of the proceedings
at Nisi Prius, as well the evidence that had been given, as
his own charge to the jury. This proceeding would have
been very proper, had a motion been made on either side
for a new trial ; because either a verdict given contrary to
evidence, or an improper charge by the judge at Nisi Prius,
is held to be a sufficient ground for granting a new trial.
But when a motion is made in arrest of judgment, or for
establishing the verdict, by entering it up according to the
legal import of the words, it must be on the ground of
Bomething appearing on the face of the record ; and the
court, in considering whether the verdict shall be estab-
lished or not, are so confined to the record, that they can-
not take notice of any thing that does not appear on tho
XVI PREFACE.
the record. When law and reason speak plainly, we do not
want authority to direct our understandings. Yet, for the
honour of the profession, I am content to oppose one lawyer
to another ; especially when it happens that the kings at-
torney-general has virtually disclaimed the doctrine by
which the chief justice meant to ensure success to the pro-
secution. The opinion of the plantiff's counsel (however
it may be otherwise insignificant) is weighty in the scale of
the defendant. My lord chief justice de Grey, who filed
the information ex officio, is directly with me. If he had
coQcurred in lord Mansfield's doctrine, the trial must have
been a very short one. The facts were either admitted by
Woodfall's counsel, or easily proved to the satisfaction of
the jury ; but Mr. de Grey, far from thinking he should
acquit himself of his duty, by barely proving the facts,
entered largely, and I confess, not without ability, into
ihe demerits of th'^ aper, which he called a seditious libel.
He dwelt but lightly upon those points which (according to
lord Mansfield) were the only matter of consideration to the
jury. The criminal intent, the libellous matter, the perni-
cious tendency of the paper itself, were the topics on which
he principally insisted, and of which, for more than an hour,
he tortured his faculties to convince the jury. If he agreed
in opinion with lord Mansfield, his discourse was imperti-
nent, ridiculous, and unreasonable. But understanding the
law as I do, what he said was at least consistent, and to the
purpose.
face of it ; in the legal phrase, they cannot travel out of the
record. The noble judge did travel out of the record ;
and I affirm, that his discourse was irregular, extrajudicial,
and unprecedented. His apparent motive for doing what
he knew to be wrong, was tliat he might have an opportu-
nity of telling the public extrajudicially, that the other
three judges concurred in the doctrine laid down m his
charge."
PREFACE. XVII
If any honest man should still be inchned to leave the
construction of libels to the court, I would entreat him to
consider what a dreadful complication of hardships he im-
poses upon his fellow subjects. In the first place, the pro-
secution commences by information of an officer of the
crown, not by the regular constitutional mode of indict
ment before a grand jury. As the fact is usually admitted,
or, in general can easily be "proved, the office of the petty
jury is nugatory : the court then judges of the nature and
extent of the offence, and determines, ad arbitrium, the
quantum of the punishment, from a small fine to a heavy
one, to repeated whipping, to pillory, and unlimited impri-
sonment. Cutting off cars and noses might still be inflicted
by a resolute judge : but I will be candid enough to suppose
that penalties, so apparently shocking to humanity, would
not be hazarded in these times. In all other criminal pro-
secutions the jury decides upon the fact and the crime in
one word, and the court pronounces a certain sentence,
which is the sentence of the law, not of the judge. If lord
Mansfield's doctrine be received, the jury must either find a
verdict of acquittal, contrary to evidence, which, I can con-
ceive, might be done by very conscientious men, rather
than trust a fellow-creature to lord Mansfield's mercy ;
or they must leave to the court two offices, never but
in this instance united, of finding guilty, and awarding
punishment.
" But," says this honest lord chief justice, " if the paper
be not crimina., the defendant (though found guilty by his
peers) is in no danger, for he may move the court in arrest
of judgment." True, my good lord ; but who is to determine
upon the motion ? Is not the court still to decide, whether
judgment shall be entered up or not ? and is not the de-
fendant this way as effectually deprived of judgment by his
peers, as if he were tried in a court of civil law, or in the
chambers of the inquisition ? It is you, my lord, who then
1
jcviii PREFACE.
try the crime, nol the jury. As to the inobable effect of
the motion in arrost of judgment, I shall only observe, that
no reasfuiable man would be so eager to possess himself of
the invidious power of intlicting punishment, if he were nv
predetermined to make use of it.
Again, we are told that judge and jury have a distinc
office; that the jury is to find the fact, and the judge to
deliver the law. " De jure respondent judices, de facto
jurati." The dictum is true, though not in the sense given
to it by lord Mansfield. The jury are undoubtedly to de-
termine the fact ; that is, whether the defendant did or
did not commit the crime charged against him. The
judge pronounces the sentence annexed by law to that fact
so found ; and if, in the course of the trial, any question
of law arises, both the counsel and the jury must, of necessi-
ty, ajjpeal to the judge, and leave it to his decision. An
exception, or plea in bar, may be allowed by the court ; but,
when issue is joined, and the jury have received their
charge, it is not possible, in the nature of things, for them
to separate the law from the fact, unless they think proper
lo return a special verdict.
It has also been alleged, that, although a common jury
are sufficient to determine a plain matter of fact, they are
not qualified to compreliend the meaning, or to judge of
the tendency of a seditious libel. In answer to this objec-
tion (which, if well founded, would prove nothing as to the
strict right of returning a general verdict) I might safely
deny the truth of this assertion. Englishmen, of that rank
from which juries are usually taken, are not so illiterate as
(to serve a particular puipose) they are now represented :
or, admitting the fact, let a special jury be summoned in
all cases of difficulty and importance, and the objection is
removed But the truth is, that if a paper, supposed to be
a libel upon government, be so obscurely worded, that
twelve common men cannot possibly see the sedition!
PREFACE. XIX
meaning and tendency of it, it is in eflect no libel. It caiy
not inflame the minds of the people, nor alienate theii
aflfoctions from government ; for they no more undersiatid
what it means, than if it were published in a language un-
known to them.
Upon the whole matter, it appears, to my understanding,
clear, beyond a doubt, that, if, in any future prosecutioi
for a seditious libel, the jury should bring in a verdict of
acquittal, not warranted by the evidence, it will be owing
to the false and absurd doctrines laid down by lord Mans-
field. Disgusted at the odious artifices made use of by the
judge to mislead and perplex them, guarded against his
sophistry, and convinced of the falsehood of his assertions,
they may, perhaps, determine to thwart his detestable pur
pose, and defeat him at any rate. To him, at least, they
will do substantial justice. Wliereas, if the whole charge
laid in the information be fairly and honestly submitted to
the jury, there is no reason whatsoever to presume that
twelve men, upon their oaths, will not decide impartially
between the king and the defendant. The numerous in-
stances, in our state trials, of verdicts recovered for the
king, sufficiently refute the false and scandalous imputa-
tions thrown, by the abettors of lord Mansfield, upon
the integrity of juries. But, even admitting the supposi-
tion, that, in times of universal discontent, arising from
the notorious maladministration of public affairs, a sedi-
tious writer should escape punishment, it makes nothing
against my general argument. If juries are fallible, to
what other tribunal shall we appeal ' If juries cannot
safely be trusted, shall we unite the offices of judge and
jury, so wisely divided by the constitution, and trust im-
plicitly to lord Mansfield ? Are the judges of the court of
king's bench more likely to be unbiassed and impartial
than t'.velve yeomen, burgesses, or gentlemen, taken indif-
ferently from the country ai. large ? Or, in shorty shall
XX PREFACE
there be no decision, until v/e have instituted a Libunal
from vviiich no possible abuse or inconvenience whatsoever
can arise ? If I am not grossly mistaken, these questions
carry a decisive answer along with them.
Having cleared the freedom of the press from a re-
straint equally unnecessary and illegal, I return to the
use which has been made of it in the present publication.
National reflections, I confess, are not justified in theory,
nor upon any general principles. To know how well they
are deserved, and how justly they have been applied, we
must have the evidence of facts before us. We must be con-
versant with the Scots in private life, and observe their
principles of acting to us and to each other ; the character-
istic prudence, tlie selfish nationality, the indefatigable
smile, the persevering assiduity, the everlasting profession
of a discreet and moderate resentment. If the instance
were not too important for an experiment, it might not be
ami.-is to confide a Uttle in their integrity. Without any
abstract reasoning upon causes and effects, we shall sof)n be
convinced, by experience, that the Scots, transplanted from
their own country, are always a distinct and separate body
from the people wlio receive them. In other settlements,
they only love themselves : in England they cordially love
themselves, and as cordially hate their neighbours. For
the remainder of their good qualities I must appeal to the
reader's observation, unless he will accept of my lord Bar-
rington's authority in a letter to the late lord Melcombe,
published by Mr. Lee : he expresses himself with a truth
and accuracy not very common in his lordship's lucubrations.
" And Cockburn, like most of his countrymen, is as abject
to those above him, as he is insolent to those below him."
I am far from meaning to impeach the articles of the union.
If the true spirit of those articles were religiously adhered
to, we should not see such a multitude of Scotch commoners
n the lower house, as representatives o^ English boroughsj
PREFACE. XXI
while not a single Scotch borougli is ever represented by an
Englishman : we should not see English peerages given to
Scotch ladies, or to the elder sons of Scotch peers, and the
number of sixteen doubled and trebled by a scandalous eva-
sion of the act of union. If it shou d ever be thought
adviseable to dissolve an act, the violation or observance of
which is invariably directed by the advantage and interest
of the Scots, I shall say very sincerely, with Sir Edward
Coke,* " When poor England stood alone, and had not
the access of another kingdom, and yet had more and as
potent enemies as it now hath, yet the king of England
prevailed."
Some opinion may now be expected from me, upon a
point of equal delicacy to the writer, and hazard to the
printer. When the character of the chief magistrate is in
question, more must be understood than may be safely ex-
pressed. If it be really a part of our constitution, and not
a mere dictum of the la^, that the king can do no wrong,
it is not the only instance, in the wisest of human institu-
tions, where theory is at variance with practice. That the
sovereign of this country is not amenable to any form of
frial known to the laws, is unquestionable : but exemption
from punishment is a singular privilege annexed to the
foyal character, and no way excludes the possibility of de-
serving it. How long, and to what extent, a king of Eng-
land 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 son.
For ray own part, far from thinking that the king can do
no wrong, far from sufTering myself to be deterred or im-
posed upon by the language of forms, in opposition to the
lubstantial evidence of truth ; if it were my misfortune to
Pailiamentary History, vol. ii. p. 400.
xxii PREFACE.
live under the inauspicious reign of a priace, whose A'hol*
life was employed in one base, contemptible struggle with
tlie free spirit of his people, or in the detestable endeavour
to corrupt their moral principles, I would not scruple to
declare to him, " Sir, you alone are the author of the great-
est wrong to your subjects and to yourself. Instead of
reigning in the hearts of your people, instead of commanding
their lives and fortunes through the medium of their affec-
tions ; has not the strength of the crown, whether influence
or prerogative, been uniformly exerted, for eleven years
together, to support a narrow, pitiful system of government
which defeats itself, and answers no one purpose of real
[lower, profit, or personal satisfaction to you ? With the
greatest unappropriated revenue of any prince in Europe-
have we not seen you reduced to such vile and sordid dis,
tresses, as would have conducted any other man to a prison ?
With a great military, and the greatest naval power in the
known world, have not foi-eign nations repeatedly insulted
you with impunity ? Is it not notorious that the vast reve-
nues, extorted from the labour and industry of your sub-
jects, and given you to do honour to yourself and to the
nation, are dissipated in corrupting their representatives ?
Are you a prince of the house of Hanover, and do you ez-
clude all the leading Whig families from your councils r
Do you profess to govern according to law, and is it consis-
tent with that profession to impart your confidence and af^
fection to those men only who, though now, perhaps,
detached from the desperate cause of the pretender, are
marked in this country by an hereditary attachment to high
and arbitrary principles of government ? Are you so infatu-
ated as to take the sense of your people from the representa-
tion cf ministers, or from the shouts of a mob, notoriously
hired to surround your coach, or stationed at a theatre ?
And if you are, in reality, that public man, that king, that
magistrate, which these questions suppose you lo be, is it
PREFACE. xxiii
any answer to jour people, to say. that among your
domestics you are good-liuinoured, that to one lady you
are faithful, that to your children you are indulgent ?
Sir, the man who addresses you in these terms, is your best
friend : he would willingly hazard his life in defence of
your title to the crown ; and, if power be your object, will
still show you how possible it is for a king of England, by
the noblest means, to be the most absolute prince in Europe.
You have no enemies, sir, but those who persuade you t »
aim at power without right, and who think it flattery to tell
y w, that the character of king dissolves the natural relation
between guilt and punishment."
I cannot conceive tiiat there is a heart so callous, or an
understanding so depraved, as to attend to a discourse of
this nature, and not to feel the force of it. But where is
the man, among those who have access to the closet, reso-
lute and honest enough to deliver it ? The liberty of the
press is our only resource : it will command an audience
when every honest man in the kingdom is excluded. This
glorious privilege may be a security to the king as well as
a resource to his people. Had there been no star-chamber,
there would have been no rebellion against Charles th»
First. The constant censure and admonition of the pres«
would have corrected his conduct, prevented a civil war,
and saved him from an ignominious death. I am no friend
to the doctrnie of precedents, exclus've of right ; though
lawyers often tell us, that whatever has been once done
may lawfully be done again. I shall conclude this Preface
with a quotation applicable to the subject, from a foreign
writer,* whose Essay on the English Constitution I beg leave
to recommend to the public, as a performance deep, soli j,
and ingenious.
• Monsieur de Lolme
Kxiv PREFACE.
" In short, whoever considers what it is that coustitutea
the moving principle of what we call great affairs, and the
invincible sensibilit}' of man to the opinion of his fellow-
creatures, will not hesitate to affirm, that if it were possible
for the liberty of the press to exist in a despotic govern-
ment, and (what is not less difficult) for it to exist without
changing the constitution, this liberty of the press would
alone form a counterpoise to the power of the prince. If,
for example, in an empire of the East, a sanctuary could be
found, which, rendered respectable by the ancient religion
of the people, might insure safety to those who should bring
thither their observations of any kind ; and that, from
thence, printed papers should issue, which, under a certain
seal, might be equally respected, and which, in their daily
appearance, should examine and freely discuss the conduct
of the cadis, the bashaws, the vizir, the divan, and the sul-
tan himself; that would iDtroduce immediale'v soiae d«»
gree el kUerty."
LETTERS OF JUNIUa
LETTER 1.
Addressed to the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
Sm, January 21, 1769.
The submission of a free people to the executive
authority of government, is no more than a com-
pliance with laws which they themselves have
enacted. While the national honour is firmly main-
tained abroad, and while justice is impartially ad-
ministered at jiome, the obedience of the subject wil
be voluntary, cheerful, and, I might almost say, un-
limited. A generous nation is grateful even for the
preservation of its rights, and willingly extends the
respect due to the office of a good prince into ai)
affection for his person. Loyalty, in tl.e heart and
understanding of an Englishman, is a rational at
tachment to the guardian of the laws. Prejudices
and passion have sometimes carried it to a cnrr.nial
length, and, whatever foreigners may imagine, we
Know tnat Englishmen have erred a« much in a miv
vo
B
26 JLNIUS'S LETTERS.
taken zeal for particular persons and famil.es, as
they ever did in defe ice of what they tjjought most
dear and interesting to themselves.
It naturally fills us with resentment, to see such a
temper insulted and abused. In reading the history
of a free people, whose rights have been invaded, we
are interested in their cause. Our own feelings tell
us how long they ought to have submitted, and al
what moment it would have been treachery to them-
selves not to have resisted. How much warmer will
be our resentment, if exferience should bring the
fatal example home to ourselves !
The situation of this country is alarming enough
to rouse the attention of every man who pretends to
a concern for the public welfare. Appearances jus-
tify suspicion ; and when the safety of a nation is at
stake, suspicion is a just ground of inquiry. Let us
enter into it with candour and decency. Respect is
due to the station of ministers ; and, if a resolution
must at last be taken, there is none so likely to be
supported with firmness, as that which has been adopt-
ed with moderation.
The ruin or prosperity of a state depends so much
Hpon the administration of its government, that, to
be acquainied with the merit of a ministry, we need
only observe the condition of the people. If we see
lliem obedient to the laws, prosperous in their indus-
try, united at home, and respected abroad, we may
reasonably presume that their affairs are conducted
by men of experience, abilities, and virtue. If, on
the contrary, we see an universal spirit of distrust and
dissatisfacti9n, a rapid decay of trade, dissensions in
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 27
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 i?
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 ne' v was an instance of a change in
the circumstances nd temper of a whole nation so
sudden and extrao • nary as that which the miscon-
duct of ministers .s, within these few years, pro-
duced in Great Briti t:. When our gracious sove-
reign ascended the throne, we were a flourishing and
a contented people. If the personal virtues of a 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 trying all charac-
ters, 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
wisdom of such a plan, it undoubtedly arose from an
unbounded goodness of heart, in which folly had no
share. It was not a capricious partiality to new
faces ; it was not a natural turn for low intrigue ; nor
was it the treacherous 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. Unfortunately for us, the event has
not been answerable to the design. After a rapid
succession of changes, we are reduced to that state
which hardly any change can mend. Yet tJiere is no
28 JUNIUS'S .^ETTERb.
extremity of distress, which, of itself, ought to reduce
a great nation to despair. It is not the disorder, but
the phj'sician : it is not a casual concurrence of ca-
lamitous circumstances ; it is the pernicious hand ol
government which alone can make a whole peoph
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 mis-
chief that befalls us.
The * finances of a nation, sinking under its debts
and expenses, are committed to a young nobleman,
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 became minister
by accident : but deserting the principles and profes-
sions which gave him a moment's popularit}^, we see
him from every honourable engagement to the public,
an apostatt by design. As for business, the world
yet knows nothing of his talents or resolution ; unless
a wayward, wavering inconsistency be a mark of
* The duke of Grafton took the office of secretary of
state, with an engagement to support the marquis of Rock-
ingham's administration. He resigned, however, in a little
time, under pretence that lie could not act without lord
Chatham, nor bear to see Mr. Wilkes abandoned ; but that
under lord Chatliam he would act in any office. This wag
the signal of lord Rockingham's dismission. When lord
Chatham came in, tlie duke got possession of the treasury
Reader, mark t!ie consequence !
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 29
genius, and raprice a demonstration of spirit. It
may be said, perhaps, that it is his grace's province,
as surely it is his passion, rather to distribute tiian to
save the public money; and that while lord North is
chancellor of the exchequer, the first lord of the trea-
sury may be as thoughtless and extravagant as he
pleases, I hope, however, he will not rely too much
on the fertility of lord North's genius for finance : his
lordship is yet to give us the first proof of his abili-
ties. It may be candid to suppose that he has hitherto
v^oluntarily 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 has been in office, no plan has
been formed, no system adhered to, nor any one im-
portant measure adopted for the relief of public credit.
If his plan for the service of the current year be not
irrevocably fixed on, let me warn him to think seri-
ously 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 dimi-
nution 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 expect that
it will not be paid without a strict inquiry how it was
incurved. If it must be paid by parliament, let me
advise the chancellor of the exchequer to think of
30 JUNIL^S'S LETTERS.
some better expedient than a lottery. To support an
expensive war, or in circumstances of absolute neces-
sity, a lottery may, perhaps, be allowable; but, be-
sides 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 country bridge, or a decayed
hospital. The management 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 mo-
tions ridiculously withdrawn, deliberate plans discon-
certed, 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 in-
fluence. Yet, before he had the misfortune of being
chancellor of the exchequer, he was neither an object
of derision to his enemies, nor of melancholy pity to
his fnends.
A series of inconsistent measures has 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 indispensable, 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 he empire which had benefited most by
* This happened frequently to poor lord North.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 31
ihe expenses of ilie war, should contribute something
to the expenses of the peace, and he had no doubt o!
the constitutional right vested in parliament to raise
the contribution. But, unfortunately for his country,
Mr. (Jrunville 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 ar-
gument 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 taxing the colo-
nies is invented, and a question revived which ought
to have been buried in oblivion. In these circum-
stances a new office is established for the business ol
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 su-
perior capacit}^ and knowledge. Whether he be so
or not, let his despatches, as far as they have appear-
ed, let his measures, as ar as they have operated,
determine for him. In the former we have seen strong
assertions without proof, declamation without argu-
ment, and violent censures without dignity or mode-
ration ; but neither correctness in the composition,
nor j idgmentin the design. As for his measures, lei
* Yet Junius has been called the partisan of lord Chatham '
32 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
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 constitutional methods of petition and
remonstrance. Since that period they have been
driven into excesses little short of rebellion. Peti-
tions have been hindered from reaching the throne;
and the continuance of one of the principal assem-
blies rested upon an arbitrary condition,* which, con-
sidering the temper they were in, it was impossible
they should comply with; and which would have
availed nothing as to the general question, if it had
been compUed 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 necessa
rily withdrawn or diminished, 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 prerogative ; and,
supporting their claims by argument, are insulted
with declamatinn.
* That they should retract one of their resolutions, ai V
n ase the eotrv of it.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 33
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 Weymoutii was equally
qualified for either department :* by what unaccount-
able caprice has it happened, that the latter, who pre-
tends to no experience whatsoever, is removed to the
"snost important of the two departments ; and the for-
tier, by preference, placed in an office where his ex-
perience can be of no use to him ? Lord Weymouth
had distinguished himself, iu his first employment,
by a spirited, if not judicious 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 execution. 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 Bedford ; no,
sir, when this respectable minister interposed his
autiiority 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 was pretended tfiat the earl of Rocliford, while am-
bassador in France, had quarrelled with the duke of Clioi-
seul ; and that, therefore, he was appointed to the northern
dep'.u-tmont. out of compliment to the French minister.
B 2 3
34 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
It has lately been a fashion to pay a coinplimenf
to the bravery and generosity of the coininander-in-
ciiief,* at the expense of his understandinjr. They
who love him least make no question of his c()urag(\
while his friends dwell chietly 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 remain-
der of his character. If it oe generosity to accumu-
late, in his own person and family, a number of lucra-
tive employments; to provide, at the public expense,
for every creature that bears the name of Manners ;
und, neglecting the merit and services of the rest of
ihe army, to heap promotions upon his favourites and
dependents; the present commander-in-chief is the
most generous man alive. Nature has been sparing of
her gifts to this noble lord ; but where birth and for-
tune are united, we expect the noble pride and inde-
pendence of a man of spirit, not the servile humili-
ating complaisance of a courtier. As to the good-
ness of his heart, if a proof of it be taken from the
facility of never refusing, what conclusion shall we
draw from the indecency of never performing.'' And
if the discipline of the army be in any degree pre-
served, what thaidis 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, thai
this country is so highly indebted to sir Edward
* The late lord (Jinixby
JUNIUS 'S LETTERS 35
Havke, that no expense should be spared to secure
to him an honourable and afilueni retreat.
The pure and impartial administration of justice
IS, perhaps, the firmest bond to secure a cheerfu!
submission of tiie people, and to engage their aflec-
tions to government. It is not sufficient that ques-
tions of private right or wrong are justly decided,
nor that judges are superior to the vileness of pecu-
niary corruption. Jefleries 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 com-
munity. A judge, under the influeiice of govern-
ment, may be honest enough in the decision of pri-
vate causes, yet a traitor to the public. When a
victim is marked out by the ministry, this judge
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 resentment
of a court to be gratified.
These principles and proceedings, odious and
contemptible as they are, in effect are no less inju-
dicious. A wise and generous people are roused by
every appearance of oppressive, unconstitutional
measures, whether those measures are supported
only by the power of government, or masked under
the forms of a court of justice. Prudence and self-
preservation will oblige the most moderate dispf)si-
tions to make common cause even with a man
whose cond'ict they censure, if they see him per-
secuted in a way which the real spirit of the laws
36 JLiSlUS'S LETTERS.
will not justify. The facts on which these rcinarki
are founded are too notorious to require an ap-
plication.
This, sir, is the detail. In one view, behold a na-
tion overwhelmed with debt ; her revenues wasted,
her trade declining ; the affections of her colo-
nies alienated ; the duty of the magistrate trans-
ferred 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 become
odious and suspected to the whole body of the peo-
ple. This deplorable scene admits of but one ad-
dition ; that we are governed by counsels from
which a reasonable 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 ol
terror and despair, posterity will not believe the
history of the present times. They will either con-
clude that our distresses were imaginary, or that
we had tiie good fortune to be governed by men of
acknowledged integrity and wisdom : they will not
oelieve it possible, that their ancestors could have
lurvived or recovered from so desperate a condi-
non, while a duke of Grafton was prime minister,
•a lord North chancellor of the exchequer ; a Wey-
mouth and a Hillsborough secretaries of state ; a
^iranby commander-in-chief; and a Mansfield chief
tiirninal judge of the kingdom.
JUNIUS
JONIUS'S LETTERS. 31
II.
2': the Printer of the Public Advertisir.
SIR, January 26, 1769.
The kingdom swarms with such numbers of felo«
nious robbers of private character and virtue, that
no honest or good man is safe ; especially as these
cowardly, base assassins, stab in the dark, with-
out having the courage to sign their real names
to their malevolent and wicked productions. A
writer, who signs himself Junius, in the Public
Advertiser of the 21st instant, opens the deplorable
wtuation of his country in a very aifecting manner.
With a pompous parade of his candour and de-
cency, he- tells us that we see dissensions in all parts
of the empire, an universal spirit of distrust and
rlissatisfaction, and a total loss of respect towards
us in the eyes of foreign powers. But this writer,
with all his boasted candour, has not told us the
real cause of the evils he so pathetically enume-
rates, i shall take the liberty to explain the cause
for him. Junius, and such writers as himself,
occasion all the mischief complained of, by falsely
and maliciously traducing the best characters in the
kingdom : for wlien our deluded people at home,
and foreigners abroad, read the poisonous and in-
flammatory libels that are daily published with
impunity, to vilify those who are any way distin-
guished by their good qualities and eminent vir-
tues; when they iind no notice taken of, or reply
38 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
given to these slanderous tongues and pens, their
conchision is, that both the ministers and the
nation have been fairly described, and they act ac-
cordingly. I think it, therefore, the duty of every
g«od citizen to staild forth, and endeavour to un-
deceive the public, when the vilest arts are made
use of to defame and blacken the briorhtest char*
acters among us. An eminent author affirms it to
be almost as criminal to hear a worthy man tra-
duced, without attempting his justification, as to
be the author of the calumny against him. For my
own part, I think it a sort of misprision of treason
against society. No man, therefore, who knows
lord Granby, can possibly hear so good and great a
character most vilely abused, without a warm and
just indignation against this Junius, this high-
priest of envy, malice, and all uncharitableness,
who has endeavoured to sacrifice our beloved com-
mander-in-chief at the altars of his horrid deities.
Nor is the injury done to his lordship alone, but
to the whole nation, which may too soon feel the
contempt, and consequently the attacks, of our late
enemies, if they can be induced to believe that the
person on whom the safety of these kingdoms so
much depends, is unequal to \m high station, and
destitute of those qualities which form a good ge-
neral. One would have thought that his lordship's
services in the cause of his country, from the battle
of Culloden to his most glorious conclusion of the
late war, might have entitled him to common re-
spect and decency at least ; but this uncandid, inrle-
cent writer, has gone so far as to turn one of the
most amiable men of the age into a stupid, unfeel •
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 39
log, &nd senseless being possessed, jndeed. of a
personal courage, but void of those essential qua-
lities which distinguish the commander from the
common soldier.
A very long, uninterrupted, impartial, (I will add,
a most disinterested) friendship, with lord Granby,
gives me the right to affirm, that all Junius's asser-
tions are false and scandalous. Lord Granby's
courage, though of the brightest and most ardent
kind, is amongst the lowest of his numerous good
qualities : he was formed to excel in war, by nature's
liberality to his mind as well as person. Educated
and instructed by his most noble father, and a most
spirited as well as excellent scholar, the present
bishop of Bangor, he was trained to the nicest sense
of honour, and to the truest and noblest sort of pride,
that of never doing or suffering a mean action. A
sincere love and attachment to his king and country,
and to their glory, first impelled him to the field,
where he never gained ought but honour. He im-
paired, through his bounty, his own fortune ; for
his bounty, which this writer would in vain depreciate,
is founded upon the noblest of the human affections;
It flows from a heart melting to goodness ; from
the most refined humanity. Can a man, who is
described as unfeeling and void of reflection be
constantly employed in seeking proper objects, on
whom to exercise those glorious virtues of com-
passion and generosity ? The distressed officer, the
soldier, the widow, the orphan, and a long list
besides, know that vanity has no share in his frequent
donations ; he gives, because he feels their distresses.
Nor has he ever been rapacious with one hand, to hi
40 JUNIUS S LETTERS,
bountiful with the other. Yet this uncandid Juukug
vvould insinuate, that the dignity of the commander-
in-chief is depraved into the base ofRce of a com-
mission-broker ; that is, lord Granby bargains for
the sale of commissions ; for it must have this mean-
ing, if it has any at all. But where is the man
living who can justly charge his lordship with such
mean practices f Why does not Junius produce him '
Junius knows that he has no other means of wound-
ing this hero, than from some missile weapon, shot
from an obscure corner. He seeks, as all such
defamatory writers do,
spargere voces
In \'xilgum ambiguas,
to raise suspicion in the minds of the people. But
I hope that my countrymen will be no longer im«
posed upon by artful and designing men, or by
wretches, who, bankrupts in business, in fame, and
in fortune, mean nothing more than to involve this
country in the same common ruin with themselves.
Hence it is, that they are constantly aiming their
dark, and too often fatal, weapons against those who
stand forth as the bulwark of our national safety.
Lord Granby was too conspicuous a mark not to be
their object. He is next attacked for being unfaithfu.
fo his promises and engagements ? Wliere are
Junius's proofs ? Although I could give some in-
stances where a breach of promise would be a virtue,
especially in the case of those who would pervert the
open unsuspecting moments of convivial mirth into
sly insidious applications for preferment or party-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 41
systems ; and would endeavour to surprise a good
man, who cannot bear to see any one leave liiiri
dissatisfied, into unguarded promises. Lord Granby's
attention to liis own family and relations is called
selfish. Had he not attended to them, when Aiir and
just opportunities presented themselves, I should have
thought him unfeeling, and void of reflection indeed.
How are any man's friends or relations to be pro-
vided for, but from the influence and protection of
the patron .'' It is unfair to suppose that lord
Granby's friends have not as much merit as the
friends of any other great man. If he is generoua
at the public expense, as Junius invidiously calls it,
the public is at no more expense for his lordship's
friends, than it would be if any other set of men
possessed those oflices. The charge is ridiculous.
The last charge against lord Granby is of a most
serious and alarming nature indeed. Junius asserts,
that the army is mouldering away, for want of the
direction of a man of common abilities and spirit.
The present condition of the army gives the directest
lie to liis assertions. It was never upon a more res-
pectable footing with regard to discipline and all the
essentials that can form good soldiers. Lord Ligo-
nier delivered a firm and noble palladium of our
safeties into lord Granby's hands, who has kept it in
the same good order in which he received it. The
strictest care has been taken to fill up the vacant
commissions with such gentlemen as have the glory
of their ancestors to support, as well as their own ;
and are <loubly bound to the cause of their king and
country, from motives of private property, as well
as pull lie spirit. The adjutant-general, who has tho
42 JCNIUS'S LETTERS.
immediate care of the troops after lord Granby, ii
an officer that would do great honour to any service
in Europe, for his correct arrangements, good sense
and discernment upon all occasions, and for a
punctuality and precision which give the most entire
satisfaction to all who are obliged to consult him.
The reviewing generals, who inspect the army twice
a-year, have been selected with the greatest care,
and have answered the important trust reposed in
them in the most laudable manner. Their reports
of the condition of the army are much more to be
credited than those of Junius, whom I do advise to
atone for his shameful aspersions, by asking pardon
of lord Granby and the whole kingdom, whom be>
has offended by his abominable scandals. In short,
to turn Junius's own battery against him, I must
assert in his own words, " that he has given strong
assertions without proof, declamation without argu
ment, and violent censures without dignity or mo-
deration."
WILLIAINI DRAPER.
III.
To Sir William Drape- Knight of the Bath.
SIR, February 7, 1769.
Your defence of lord Granby does honour to the
goodness of your heart. You feel, as you ougnt
to do, for the reputation of your friend, and you
express yourself in the warmest language of your
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 43
passions, . n any other cause, I doubi not you
would have cautiously weighed the consequences of
committing your name to the licentious discourses
and malignant opinions of the world : but here, I
presume, you tliought it would be a breach oi
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 courage. Touched with your generosity, I
freely forgive the excesses into which it has led
you ; and, far from resenting those terms of re-
proach, which, considering- that you are an advo-
cate for decorum, you have heaped upon me rathei
too liberally, I place them to the account 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 not seen how very little
weight or consideration a printed 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 iitde calm reflection might have shown you, that
national calamities do not arise from the description,
44 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
but from the real character and conduct of mhiisters
To h.ave supported your assertion, you should liave
proved, that the present ministry are unquestionably
the best and brightest characters of the kingdom ;
and that, if the aliections of the colonies have been
alienated, if Corsica has been shamefully abandoned,
if commerce languishes, if public credit is threatened
with a new debt, and your own jManilla 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
nature has been so very liberal to his mind. It
you have served with him, you ought to have
pointed out some instances of able disposition and
well-concerted enterprise, which might fairly be
attributed to his capacity as a general. It is you
sir William, who make your friend appear awkward
and ridiculo"us by giving him a laced suit of taw*
dry qualilications which nature never intended him
to wear.
You say he has acquired nothing but honour in
the field 'i Is the ordnance nothing Are the Blues
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 45
nothing ? Is tlie command of the army, with all
the patronage annexed to it, nothing ? Where he
got all these nothings I know not ; but you, al lea-t,
ougiit to have told us when he deserved them.
As to his bount}^, compassion, he. it wouM have
been but little to the purpose, though you had
proved all that you have asserted. I meddle with
nothing but his character as commander-in-chief;
and, though I acquit him of the baseness of selling
commissions, I still assert, that his military cares
have never extended beyond the disposal of vacan-
cies; and I am justified by the complaints of the
whole army, when I say, that, ni this distribution,
he consults nothing but parliamentary interest, or
the gratification of his immediate dependents. As
to his servile submission to the reigning ministry,
let me ask, whether he did not desert the cause
of the whole arm}', 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 interest 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 pro-
mises 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 Jast as an.
absolute vice in his disposition, but to prove that a
careless, disinterested spirit is no part of his ciiaracier:
and us to the otiier, 1 desire it may be remembered,
46 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
that I never descended to the indecency of inquiring
into his convivial hours. It is 3'ou, sir William Dra-
per, 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 fre-
quently have seen him in these unhappy, disgraceful
moments, could have described him so well.
The last charge, of the neglect of the army, is
indeed the most material of all. 1 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 appearance, I could wish, that, in your future
publications, you would pay a greater attention to
the truth of your premises, 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 ^palladium) into lord
Granby's hands. It was taken from him, much
against his inclination, some two or three years before
lord Granby was 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 Cliflon ^ The
reports of reviewing generals comprehend only a few
regiments in England, which, as they are immediately
under the royal inspection, are perhaps in some tole-
rable order. But do you know any thing 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
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 47
facts, sir William, before you publish your next
panegyric upon 1 >r(l Granby ; and, believe me, you
will tincl there is a fault at head-quarters, which even
the acUnowledged care and abilities of the adjutant
general cannot correct.
Permit me now, sir William, to address myself
jiersonally to you, by way of thanks for the honour
of your correspondence. You are by no means un-
deserving 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 deserving of praise. When you returned to
Europe, you zealously undertook the cause of that
gallant army, by whose bravery at Manilla your own
fortune had been established. You complained, you
threatened, you even appealed 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 thj\t
time, an uninterrupted silence ? Did the ministry
suggest any motives to you strong enough to tempt a
man of honour to desert and betray the cause of his
fellow soldiers ? Was it that blushing ribbon which
is now the perpetual ornament of your person ? Or was
xt that regiment which you afterwards (a thing unpre-
cedented among soldiers) sold to colonel Gisborne ?
Or was it that government, the full 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
unthought of, uncalled for, upon the patience of the
Dublic ? Arc yo ir flatteries of the commander-ia-
48 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
chief, directed to another regiment, whi^h you ma.jF
again dispose of on the same honourable terms ?
We know your prudence, sir William ; and I should
be sorry to stop your preferment.
JUNIUS.
IV.
To Junius.
SIR, February 17, 1769-
I received Junius's favour last night : he is deter-
mined to keep his advantage by the help of hiu
mask : it is an excellent protection : it has saved
many a man from an untimely end. But whenever
he will be honest enough to lay it aside, avow him-
self, and produce the face which has so long lurked
behind it, the world will be able to judge of his
motives for writing such infamous invectives. His
real name will discover his freedom and indepen-
dency, or his servility to a faction. Disappointed
ambition, resentment for defeated hopes, and desire
of revenge, assume but too often the appearance of
public spirit : but, be his designs wicked or chari-
table Junius should learn, that it is possible to
condemn measures without a barbarous and crim-
inal outrage against nicr. Jiuiius delights to
mangle carcases with a natchet ; his language
and instrument have a grCtit connexion with Clare-
imarket, and, to do him justice, he handles his weapon
most adinirabl}'. One would imagine he had been
♦aught to throw it by Uie savages of America. It is,
JUNIUS 5 LETTERS. 49
therefore, high time for me to step in once more to
shield my friend from this merciless weapon, aliiiough
[ may be wounded in the attempt. But I must first
ask Junius by what forced analogy and construction,
the moments of convivial mirth are made to signify
indecency, a violation of engagements, a drunken
landlord, and a desire that every one in company
should be drunk likewise .? He must have culled
all the flowers of St. Giles's and Billingsgate to
have produced such a piece of oratory. Here the
hatchet descends with tenfold vengeance : but, alas !
it hurts no one but its master ! For Junius must
not think to put words into my mouth, that seem
too foul even for his own.
My friend's political engagements I know not ; so
cannot pretend to explain them, or assert their con-
sistency. I know not whether Junius be considerable
enough to belong to any party. If he should be so,
can he affirm that he has always adhered to one set
of men and measures ? Is he sure that he has never
sided with those whom he was first hired to abuse ?
Has he never abused those he was hired to praise ?
To say the truth, most men's politics sit much too
loosely about them. But as my friend's military
character was the chief object that engaged me in
this controversy, to that I shall return.
Junius asks, what instances my friend has given
of his military skill and capacity as a general ?
When and where he gained his honour .'' When
he deserved his emoluments .'' The united voice
of the army which served under him, the glorious
testimony of prince Ferdifiand, and of vanquished
enemies, all Germany will tell him. Junius re-
C 2
50 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
peats the complaints of the army against parli*-
rnentary intkience. I love the army too well iiot
to wish that such influence were less. Let Junius
point out the time when it has not prevailed. It
was of the least force in the time of that great
man, the late duke of Cumberland, who, as a
prince of the blood, was able, as well as willing,
to stem a torrent which would have overborne any
private subject. Li time of war, this influence is
small. In peace, when discontent and faction have
the surest means to operate, especially in this coun-
try, and when, from a scarcity of public spirit, the
wheels of government are rarely moved but by the
power and force of obligations, its weight is always
too great. Yet, if this influence, at present, has
done no greater harm than the placing earl Percy at
the head of a regiment, I do not think that either
the rights or best interests of the army are sacri-
ficed and betrayed, or the nation undone. Let me
ask Junius, if he knows any one nobleman in the
army who has had a regiment by seniority .'* I feel
myself happy in seeing young noblemen of illus-
trious name and great property come amongst us.
They are an additional security to the kingdom
from foreign or domestic slavery. Junius needs not
be told, that, should the time ever come when this
nation is to be defended only by those who have
nothing more to lose than their arms and their pay,
its danger will be great indeed. A happy mixture
of men of quality with soldiers of fortune is always
to be wished for. But the main point is still to be
contended for ; I mean the discipline and condition
of the army ; and I must still mainiain, though cou-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 51
tradicted by Junius, that it was never upon a more
respectable footing, as to all the essentials that can
form good soldiers, than it is at present. Junius is
forced to allow, that our army at home may be in
some tolerable order ; yet, how kindly does he in-
vite our late enemies to the invasion of Ireland, by
assuring them that the army in that kingdom is
totally ruined ! (The colonels of that army are
much obliged to him.) I have too great an opinion
of the military talents of the lord-lieutenant, and of
all their diligence and capacity, to believe it. If,
from some strange unaccountable fatality, the people
of that kingdom camiot be induced to consult their
own security, by such an effectual augmentation as
may enable the troops there to act with power and
energy, is the commander-in-chief here to blame .'*
Or, is he to blame, because the troops in the Medi-
terranean, in the West Indies, in America, labour
under great difficulties from the scarcity of men,
which is but too visible all over these kingdoms ?
Many of our forces are in climates unfavourable to
British constitutions ; their loss is in proportion.
Britain must recruit all these regiments from her
own emaciated bosom ; or, more precariously, by
catholics from Ireland. We are likewise subject to
the fatal drains to the East Indies, to Senegal, and
the alarming emigrations of our people to other
countries. Such depopulation can only be repaired
by a long peace, or by some sensible bill of natural-
ization.
I must now take the liberty of addressing Junius
on my own account. He is pleased to tell me that
he addresses himself to me personally : I shall be
62 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
glad to see him. It is his impersonality that I com-
plain of, and his invisible attacks ; for his dagger in
the air is only to be regarded, because one cannot
see the hand which holds it j but, had it not wounded
other people more deeply than myself, I should not
have obtruded myself at all on the patience of the
public.
Mark how plain a tale shall put him down, and
transfuse the blush of my ribbon into his own cheeks.
Junius tells me, that at my return, I zealously under-
took the cause of the gallant army, by whose bra-
very at Manilla my own fortunes were established ;
that I complained, that I even appealed to the public.
I did so ; I glory in having done so, as I had an
undoubted right to vindicate my own character,
attacked by a Spanish memorial, and to assert the
rights of my brave companions. I glory, likewise,
that I have never taken up my pen but to vindicate
the injured. Junius asks, by what accident did it
happen, that, in the midst of all this bustle, and all
the clamours for justice to the injured troops, the
Manilla ransom was suddenly buried in a profound,
and, since that time, an uninterrupted silence ^ 1
will explain the cause to the public. The several
ministers who have been employed since that time
have been very desirous to do justice, from two
most laudable motives: a strong inclination to assist
injured bravery, and to acquire a well-deserved
popularity to themselves. Their efforts have been
in vain. Some were ingenuous enough to own,
that they could not think of involving tiiis distressed
nation in another war for our private concerns. In
short, our lights, for the present, are sacrificed to
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. id
national convenience ; and I must confess, that a.-
though I may lose live-and-twenty thousand pounds
by their acquiescence to this breach of faith in the
Spaniards, I think they are in the right to temporixe,
considering the critical situation of this country,
convulsed in every part, by poison infused by
anonymous, wicked, and incendiary writers. Lord
Slielburne will d-o me the justice to own, that in
September last, I waited upon him with a joint me-
morial from the admiral, sir S. Cornish, and myself,
in behalf of our injured companions. His lordship
was as frank upon the occasion as other secretaries
liad been before him. He did not deceive us, by
giving any immediate hopes of relief.
Junius would basely insinuate, that my silence
may have been purchased by my goverment, by
my blushing ribbon, by my regiment, by the sale of
that regiment, and by half-pay as an Irish colonel.
His majesty was pleased to give me my govern-
ment for my service at Madras. I had my first
regiment in 1757. Upon my return from Manilla,
his majesty, by lord Egij^mont, informed me, that
I should have the first vacant red ribbon, as a
reward for many services in an enterprise which I
had planned as well as executed. The duke oi
Bedford and Mr. Grenville confirmed these assu-
rances, many months before the Spaniards had pro-
tested the ransom bills. To accomodate lord Clive,
then going upon a most important service to Bengal,
I waved my claim to the vacancy which then hap-
pened. As there was no other vacancy until the
duke of Grafton and lord Rockingham were joint
Bi'nisters I was then honoured with he order ; and
64 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
it is surely no small honour to me, that, m sucn a
succession of ministers, they were all pleased to
think that I had deserved it ; in my favour they
were all united. Upon the reduction of the 79th
regiment, which had served so gloriously in the
East Indies, his majesty, unsolicited hy me, gave me
the 16tii of foot as an equivalent. My motives for
retiring, afterwards, are foreign to the purpose: let
it suffice, that his majesty was pleased to approve ol
them : they are such as no man can think indecent,
who knows the shocks that repeated vicissitudes of
heat and cold, of dangerous and sickly climates,
will give to the best constitutions, in a pretty long
course of service. I resigned my regiment to colonel
Gisborne, a very good officer, for his half-pay, and
200/. Irish annuity : so that, according to Junius, I
have been bribed to say nothing more of tlie Manilla
ransom, and to sacrifice those brave men, by the
strange avarice of accepting 380Z. per annum, and
giving up 800L ! If this be bribery, it is not the
bribery of these times. As to my flattery, those who
know me will judge of it. • By the asperity of Junius's
style, I cannot, indeed, call him a flatterer, unless he
be as a cynic or a mastiff: if he wags his tail, he wil.
still growl, and long to bite. The public will now
judge of the credit that ought to be given to Junius's
writings, from the falsities that he has insinuated with
respect to myself.
WILLIAM DRAPER.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 55
2'o Sir William Draper, Knight of the Bath.
SIR, February 21 1769
I should justly be suspected of acting upon motives
cif more than common enmity to lord Granby, if I
continued to give you fresh materials or occasion
for writing in his defence. Individuals who hate,
and the public who despise, have read your letters^
sir William, with infinitely more satisfaction than
mine. Unfortunately for him, his reputation, like
that unhappy country to which you refer me for his
last military achievements, has suffered more by his
friends than his enemies. In mercy to him, let us
drop the subject. For my own part, I willingly
leave it to the public to determine, whether your
vindication of your friend has been as able and ju-
dicious as it was certainly well intended : and you,
1 think, may be satisfied with the warm acknow-
ledgments he already owes you, for making him the
principal figure m a piece, in which, but for your
amicable assistance, he might have passed without
particular notice or distinction.
In justice to your friends, et your future labours
be confined to the care of your own reputation.
Your declaration, that you are happy in seeing
young noblemen come among us, is liable to two ob-
jections. With respect to lord Percy, it means
nothing ; for he was already in the army. Ho was
56 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
aide-de-camp to the king, and had the rank of
colonel. A regiment, therefore, could not make him
a more military man, though it made him richer j
and probably at the expense of some brave, deserv-
ing, friendless officer. The other concerns your-
self After selling the companions of your victory
in one instance, and after selling your profession in
the other, by what authority do you presume to call
yourself a soldier ? The plain evidence of facis is
superior to all declarations. Before you were ap-
pointed to the 16th regiment, your complaints were
a distress to government • from that moment you
were silent. The conclusion is inevitable. You
insinuate to us, that your ill state of health obliged
you to quit the service. The retirement necessary
to repair a broken constitution would have been as
good a reason for not accepting, as for resigning,
the command of a regiment. There is certainly an
error of the press, or an affected obscurity in that
paragraph, where you speak of your bargain with
colonel Gisborne. Instead of attempting to answer
what I do not really understand, permit me to explain
to the public what I really know. In exchange for
your regiment, you accepted of a colonel's half-pay,
(at least 220/. a year) and an annuity of 200/. for
your own and lady Draper's life jointly. And is
this the losing bargain, which you would represent
to us, as if you had given up an income of 800/. a
year for 380/. ? Was it decent, was it honourable,
in a man who pretends to love the army, and calls
himself a soldier, to make a traffic of the royal fa-
vour, and turn the highest honour of an activp pro-
fession into a sordid prov/sion for himself a.ul his
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 5"
family ? It were unworthy of me to press you far-
ther. The contempt with which the whole army
heard of the manner of your retreat, assures me^
that, as your conduct was not justified by precedent,
it will never be thought an example for imitation.
The last and most important question remains.
When you receive your half-pay, do you or do you
not, take a solemn oath, or sign a declaration, upon
your honour, to the following effect ? That you do
not actually hold any place of profit, civil or viili-
tary, under his majesty. The charge which the
question plainly conveys against you, is of so shock-
ing a complexion, that I sincerely wish you may be
ttble to answer it well ; not merely for the colour
of your reputation, but for your own inward peace of
mind.
JUNIUS.
VI.
To Junius.
SIR, February 27, 1769.
1 have a very short answer for Junius's important
question. I do not either take an oath, or declare
upon my honour, that I hold no p.cice of profit, civil
or military, when I receive the half-pay as an Irish
colonel : my most gracious sovereign gives it me as
a pension : he was pleased to think I deserved it
The annuity of 200/. Irish, and the equivalent for
hf. halt-pay, together produce no more fhan 380/
c 2
58 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
per annum, clear of fees and perquisites of ofiicei
I receive 167/. from my government of Yarmouth.
Total 547/, per annum. My conscience is much at
ease in these particulars : my friends need not blush
for me.
Junius makes much and frequent use of interro-
gations : they are arms that may be easily turned
against himself. I could, by malicious interroga-
tion, disturb the peace of the most virtuous man in
the kingdom. I could take the decalogue, and say
to one man. Did you never steal ? To the next,
Did you never commit murder ? And to Junius
himself, who is putting my life and conduct to the
rack. Did you never " bear false witness against
thy neighbour .f*" Junius must easily see, that, un-
less he affirms to the contrary, in his real name, some
people, who may be as ignorant of him as I am, will
be apt to suspect him of having deviated a little from
the truth : therefore let Junius ask no more questior*
ITou bite against a file • Cease viper !
w. u
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 59
VII.
To Sir fVilliam Draper, Knight of the Bath.
SIR March 3, 1769.
An academical education has given you an un-
limited command over the most beautiful figures of
speech. Masks, hatchets, racks, and vipers, danct
through your letters in all the mazes of metaphorical
confusion. These are the gloomy companions of a
disturbed imagination ; the melancholy madness of
poetry, without the inspiration. I will not contend
with you in point of composition : you are a scholar,
sir William; and, if I am truly informed, you write
Latin with almost as much purity as English. Suf-
fer me then (for I am a plain unlettered man) to
continue that style of interrogation which suits my
capacity, and to which, considering the readiness o/
your answers, you ought to have no objection.
Even Mr. Bingley* promises to answer, if put to the
torture.
Do you then really think, that, if I were to ask a
wost virtuous man, whether he ever committed theft
or murder, it would disturb his peace of mind ^
Such a question might, perhaps, discompose the
* This man, being committod by the couit of king's
bench for contempt, vohintarily made oath that he would
never answer interi'ogatories unless he should be put to the
torture.
60 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
gravity of his muscles, but I believe it would little
affect the tranquillity of his conscience. Examine
yeur own breast, sir William, and you will discovef
that reproaches and inquiries have no power to
afflict either the man of unblemished integrity 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 enough to be ashamed of it
I thank you for the hint of the decalogue, and
shall take an opportunity of applying it to some of
your most virtuous friends in both houses of par-
liament.
You seem to have dropped the afl'air of your regi-
ment; so let it rest. When you are appointed to
another, I dure say you will not sell it either for &
gross sum, or for an annuity upon lives.
I am truly glad (for really, sir William, I am not
your enemy, nor did I begin this contest with you)
that you have been able to clear yourself of a crime,
though at the expense of the highest indiscretion.
You say that your half-pay was given you by way
of pension. I will not dwell upon the singularity of
uniting in your own person two sorts of provision,
which, in their own nature, and in all military and
parliamentary views, are incompatible ; but I call
upon you to justify that declaration, wl>erein you
charge your sovereign with having done an act in
your favour notoriously against law. The half-pay,
both in Ireland and England, is appropriated by
parliament; and if it be given to persons who, like
you, are legally incapable of holding it, it is a breach
ef law. It would have b^en more decent in }0u to
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 61
have called this dishonourable transaction by its true
name ; ^job, to accommodate two persons, by par
ticular interest and management at the castle. —
What sense must government have had of your ser-
vices, when the rewards they have given you are
only a disgrace to you !
And now, sir William, I shall take my leave of
you for ever. Motives ^ ery different from any ap-
prehension of your resentment make it impossible
you should ever know me. In truth, you have
some reason to hold yourself indebted to me. From
the lessons I have given you, you may collect a pro-
fitable instruction for your future life. They wil
either teach you so to regulate your future conduct,
as to be able to set the most malicious inquiries at
defiance ; or, if that by? a lost hope, they will teach
you prudence enough not to attract the public atten-
tion to a character, which will only pass without
censure, when it passes without observation.*
JUNIUS.
* It has been said, I believe truly, that it was signified
to sir William Draper, as the request of lord Granby, that
he should desist from writing in his lordship's defence. Sit'
William Draper certainly drew Junius forward to say more
of lord Granby's character than he originally intended. He
was reduced to the dilemma, of either being totally silenced,
or of supporting his first letter. Whether sir William had
a right to reduce him to this dilemma, or to call upon him
for his name, after a voluntary attack on his side, are
questions submitted to the candour of the public. The
death of lord Granby was lamented by Junius. He un-
doubtedly owed some compensations to the public, and
62 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
VIII.
To his Grace the Duke of Grafton.
MY LORD, ]March 18, 1769.
Before you were placed at the head of affairs,
it had been a maxim of the English government,
not unwillingly admitted by the people, that every
ungracious or severe exertion of the prerogative
should be placed to the account of the minister ;
but, that whenever an act of grace or benevolence
was to be performed, the whole merit of it should
be attributed to the sovereign himself.* It was a
wise doctrine, my lord, and equally advantageous
seemed determined to acquit himself of them. In private
life, he was unquestionably that good man, who, for the
interest of his country, ought to have been a great one.
Bonum virum facile dixeris ! magnum libentcr. I speak
of him now without partiality ; I never spoke of him with
resentment. His mistakes, in public conduct, did not arise
either from want of sentiment, or want of judgment ; but,
in general, from the difficulty of saying no to the bad peo-
ple who surrounded him.
As for the rest, the friends of lord Granby should re-
member, that he himself thought proper to condemn,
retract, and disavow, by a most solemn declaration, in the
nouse of commons, that very system of political conduct
which Junius has held fortli to the disapprobation of the
public.
* Les rois ne se sont reservi's que les graces. lis renvoient
les condamnations vers Icurs oliiciers. — Montesquieu.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 63
to the king and his subjects ; for while it preserved
that suspicious attention with which the people
ought always to examine the conduct of ministers,
it tended, at the same time, rather to increase than
diminish their attachment to the person of their
sovereign. If there be not a fatality attending every
measure you are concerned in, by what treachery,
or by what excess of folly has it happened, that
those ungracious acts which have distinguished your
administration, and which, I doubt not, were en-
tirely your own, should carry with them a strong
appearance of personal interest, and even of per-
sonal enmity, in a quarter where no such interest
or enmity can be supposed to exist, without the
highest injustice, and the highest dishonour ? On
the other liand, by what judicious management have
you contrived it, that the only act of mercy to
which you ever advised your sovereign, far from
adding to the lustre of a character truly gracious
and benevolent, should be received with universal
disapprobation and disgust ? I shall consider it as
a ministerial measure, because it is an odious one,
and as your measure, my lord duke, because you are
the minister.
As long as the trial of this chairman was depend-
ing, it was natural enough that government should
give him every possible encouragement and support.
The honourable service for which he was hired, and
the spirit with which he performed it, made common
cause between your grace and him. The minister,
who by secret corruption, invades the freedom of
elections, and the ruffian, who, by open violence
destroys that freedom, are embarked in the same
64 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
bottom ; they have the same interests, afiid mutually
feel for each other. To do justice to your grace's
humanit}', you felt for M'Quirk as you ought to do;
and if 3'ou had been contented to assist him indi-
rectly, without a notorious denial of justice, or
openly insulting the sense of the nation, you might
have satisfied every duty of political friendship, with-
out committing the honour of your sovereign, or
hazarding the reputation of his government. But
when this unhappy man had been solemnly tried,
convicted, and condemned ; when it appeared that
he had been frequently employed in the same ser-
vices, and that no excuse for him could be drawn
either from the innocence of his former life, or the
simplicity of his character ; was it not hazarding too
much, to interpose the strength of the prerogative
between this felon and the justice of his country f*
* Whitehall, March 11, 1769. His majesty has been
graciously pleased to extend his royal mercy to Edward
M'Quirk, found guilty of the murder of George Clarke, ds
appears by his royal warrant, to the tenour following ;
GEORGE R.
Whereas a doubt has arisen in our royal breast concern-
ing the evidence of tlie death of George Clarke, from the
representations of William Broomfield, esq. surgeon, and
Solomon Starling, apothecary ; both of whom, as has been
represented to us, attended the deceased before his death,
and expressed their opinions that he did not die of the blow
he received at Brentford : and whereas it appears to us
that neither of the said persons were produced as witnesses
tjpon the trial, th )iigh the said Solomon Starling liad been
examined before the coroner; and the only person called
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 66
Vou ougl.t to have known t'iat an example of this
sort was never so necessary as at present ; i '• >"
tainly you must have known, that the lot could not
have fallen upon a more guilty object. What sys-
to prove that the death of the said George Clarke was occa
sioned by the said blow, was John Foot, surgeon, who never
saw the deceased till after his death : we thought fit there
upon to refer the said representations, togethei with the re
port of the recorder of our city of London, of the evidence
given by Richard and WilUam Beale and the said John
Foot, on the trial of Edward Quirk, otherwise called Ed
ward Kirk, otherwise called Edward M' Quirk, for the mur
der of the said Clarke, to the master, wardens, and the rest
of the court of examiners of the surgeons' company, com-
mandins them likewise to take such farther examination of
die said persons, so representing, and of said John Foot, as
ihey might think necessary, together with the premises
above-mentioned, to form and report to us their opinion,
" Whether it did or did not appear to them that the said
George Clarke died in consequence of the blow he received
in the riot at Brentford on the 8th of December last."
And the said court of examiners of the surgeons' company
having thereupon reported to us their opinion, — " That it
did not appear to them that he did ;" we have thought proper
to extend our royal mercy to him the said Edward Quirk,
otherwise Edward Kirk, otherwise called Edward M'Quirk,
and to grant liim our free pardon for the murder of the said
George Clarke, of which he has been found guilty. Our will
»nd pleasure, therefore, is. That the said Edward Quirk,
otherwise called Edward Kirk, otherwise called Edward
M'Quirk, be inserted, for the said murder, in our first and
next general pardon that shall come out for the poor convicts
of Newgate, without any condition whatsoever; and that, m
66 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
tem of government is this ? You are perpetually
complaining: of the riotous disposition of the lovvc-r
chiss of people ; yet when the laws have given you
the means of making an example, in every sense
unexceptionable, and by far the most likely to awe
the multitude, you pardon the offence, and are not
asliamed to give the sanction of government to tiie
riots you complain of, and even to future murders.
You are partial, perhaps, to the military mode of ex-
ecution ; and had rather see a score of these wretches
butchered by the guards, than one of them suffer
death by regular course of law. How does it hap-
pen, my lord, that, in your hands, even the mercy
of the prerogative is cruelty and oppression to the
subject ^
The measure, it seems, was so extraordinary, that
you thought it necessary to give some reasons for it
to the public. Let them be fairly examined.
1. You say, that Messrs. Broomjield and Starling
were not examined at JYPQuirk^s trial. I will tell
the mean time, you take bail for his appearance, in order to
ploail our said pardon. And for so doing this shall be your
warrant.
Given at our court at St. James's, the tenth day of
March, 17G9, in the ninth year of our reign.
By his majesty's command. ROCHFORD.
To our trusty and well-beloved
James Eyre, esq. recorder of
our city of London, the sheriffs
of our said city and county of
Middlesex, and all others whom
it may concern.
JUNIUS S LETTERS. 67
your grice why they were not. They must hjxvc
been examined ujDon oath ; and it was foreseen, that
their evidence would either not benefit, or might be
prejudicial, to the prisoner. Otherwise, is 't con-
ceivable that his counsel should neglec to call in such
material evidence ?
2. You say, that J\I>\ Foot did not see the deceased
until after his death. A surgeon, my lord, must
know very little of his profession, if, upon examin-
ing a wound or a contusion, he cannot determine
whether it was mortal or not. While the party is
alive, a surgeon will be cautious of pronouncing :
whereas, by the death of the patient, he is enabled
to consider both cause and effect in one view, and
to speak with a certainty confirmed by experience.
3. Yet we are to thank your grace for the estab-
lishment of a new tribunal. Your inquisito post
mortem, is unknown to the laws of England, and
does honour to your invention. The only material
objection to it is, that if Mr. Foot's evidence was
insufficient, because he did not examine the wound
till after the death of the party, much less can a
negative opinion, given by gentlemen who never saw
the body of Mr. Clarke either before or after his
decease, authorise you to supersede the verdict of a
jury, and the sentence of the law.
Now, my lord, let me ask you, Has it never oc-
curred to your grace, while you were withdrawing
this desperate wretch from that justice which the laws
had awarded, and which the whole peopk of Eng-
land demanded against him, that there is another
man, who is the favourite of his country, whose
pardou would have been accepted with gratitude,
68 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
whose pardon would have healed all our divisions ?
Have you quite forgotten that this man was once
*'our grace's friend ? Or, is it to murderers only that
you will extend the mercy of the crown ?
These are questions you will not answer, nor is it
necessary. The character of your private life, and
t1ie uniform tenor of your public conduct, is an
answer to them all.
JUNIUS.
IX.
To his Grace the Duke of Grafton.
MY LORD, April 10, 1769.
I have so good an opinion of your grace's dis-
cernment, that when the author of the vindication ol
your conduct assures us that he writes from his own
mere motion, without the least authority from your
grace, I should be ready enough to believe him, but
for one fatal mark, which seems to be fixed upon
every measure in which either your personal or
political character is concerned. Your first attempt
to support sir William Proctor ended in the election
of Mr. Wilkes ; the second insured success to Mr.
Glynn. The extraordinary step you took to make
sir James Lowther lord paramount of Cumberland
has ruined his interest in that county for ever : the
house list of directors was cursed with the concur-
rence of government ; and even the miserable
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 69
Dmgley* could not escape the misfortune of your
grace's protection, Witli this uniform experience
before us, we are authorised to suspect, that ^vhen a
pretended vindication of your principles and con-
duct, in reality, contains the bitterest reflections
upon both, it could not have been written without
your immediate direction and assistance. The
author, indeed, calls God to witness for him, with
all the sincerity, and in the very terms of an Irish
evidence, to the best of his knowledge and belief.
My lord, you should not encourage these appeals to
Heaven. The pious prince, from whom you are
supposed to descend, made such frequent use of them
in his public declarations, that, at last, the people
also found it necessary to appeal to Heaven in their
turn. Your administration has driven us into cir-
cumstances of equal distress : beware, at least, how
you remind us of the remedy.
You have already much to answer for. You have
piovoked this unhappy gentleman to play the fool
once more in public life, in spite of his years and
infirmities ; and to show us, that, as you yourself
are a singular instance of youth without spirit, the
man who defends you is a no less remarkable ex-
ample of age without the benefit of experience. To
follow such a writer minutely, would, like his own
* This unfortunate person had been persuaded by the
duke of Grafton to set up for Middlesex, his grace being
determined to seat him in the iiouse of commons, if he had
but a sing,le vote. It happened, unluckily, that he could
uot prevail upon any one fiechoUler to put him in nomi-
nation
70 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
periods, be labour without end. The s^ibject to«j
has been already discussed, and is sufficiently un-
derstood. I cannot help observing, however, that
when the pardon of M'Quirk was the principal
charge against you, it would have been but a decent
compliment to your grace's understanding, to have
defended you upon your own principles. What
credit does a man deserve, who tells us plainly, that
the facts set forth in the king's proclamation were
not the true motives on which the pardon was
granted .'' and that he wishes that those chirurgical
reports, which first gave occasion to certain doubts
in the royal breast, had not been laid before his
majesty ? You see, my lord, that even your friends
cannot defend your actions, without changing your
principles; nor justify a deliberate measure of go-
vernment without contradicting the main assertion
on which it was founded.
The conviction of M'Quirk had reduced you to
a dilemma in which it was hardly possible for you
to reconcile your political interest with your duty.
You were obliged either to abandon an active, use-
ful partisan, or to protect a felon from public jus-
tice. With your usual spirit you preferred your
interest to every other consideration ; and, with
your usual judgment, you founded your determina-
tion upon the only motives which should not have
been given to the public.
I have frequently censured IVIr. Wilkes's conduct,
yet your advocate reproaches me with having de-
voted myself to the service of sedition. Your grace
can best infoim us for which of Mr. Wilkes's good
qualities you first honoured him with your friend-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 71
»hip, or how long it was before you disco^ered
those bad ones in him, at which, it seems, your
delicacy was offended. Remember, my lord, that
you continued your connexion with P,Ir. Wilkes,
long after he had been convicted of those crimes
which you have since taken pains to represent in
the blackest colours of blasphemy and treason.
How unlucky is it, that the first instance you have
given us of a scrupulous regard to decorum, is
united with a breach of a moral obligation ! For
my own part, my lord, I am proud to affirm, that
if I had been weak enough to form such a friend-
ship, I would never have been base enough to betray
it. But let Mr, Wilkes's character be what it may,
this, at least is certain ; that circumstanced as
he is, with regard to the public, even his vices
plead for him. The people of England have too
much discernment to suffer your grace to take ad-
vantage of the failings of a private character, to
establish a precedent by which the public liberty is
affected, and which you may hereafter, with equal
ease and satisfaction, employ to the ruin of the
oest men in the kingdom. Content yourself, my
/ord, with the many advantages which the unsullied
purity of your own character has given you over
your unhappy deserted friend. Avail yourself of
all the unforgiving piety of the court you live in,
and bless God that ' you are not as other men are ;
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this pub-
lican.' In a heart void of feeling, the laws of honour
and good faith may be violated with nnpunity, and
there you may safely indulge your genius. But the
laws of England shall not be violated, even by youi
72 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
holy zeal to oppress a sinner ; and, though you have
succeeded in making him a tool, you shall not make
him the victim of your ambition.
JUNIUS
X.
To Mr. Edward Weston.
SIR, April 21, 1769-
I said you were an old man without the benefit of
experience. It seems you are also a volunteer, with
the stipend of twenty commissions ; and at a period
when all prospects are at an end, you are still look-
ing forward to rewards which you cannot enjoy.
No man is better acquainted with the bounty of
government than you are ;
Ton impudence,
Temeraire vieillard, aura sa recompence.
But I will not descend to an altercation either with
the impotence of your age, or the peevishness of your
diseases. Your pamphlet, ingenious as it is, has been
80 little read, that the public cannot know how far
you have a right to give me the lie, without the fol-
lowing citation of your own words :
Page Gth. ' 1. That he is persuaded that the mo-
tives which he (Mr. Weston) has alleged, must ap-
pear fully sufficient with or without the opinions of
the surgeons.
♦
JUNIUS S LETTERS 73
* 2. That those very motives must have been the
foundation on which the earl of Rochford thouglil
proper, he.
' 3. That he cannot but regret, that the earl of
Rochford seems to have thought proper to lay the
uhirurgical reports before the king, in preference to
all the other sufficient motives,' he.
Let the public determine whether this be defending
government on their principles or your own.
The style and language you have adopted are, I
confess, not ill-suited to the elegance of your own
manners, or to the dignity of the cause you have
undertaken. Every common dauber writes rascal
and villain under his pictures, because the pictures
themselves have neither character nor resemblance.
But the works of a master require no index ; his
features and colouring are taken from nature ; the
impression they make is immediate and uniform ,• ^
nor is it possible to mistake his characters, whether
they represent the treachery of a minister, or itm
3 bused simplicity of a king.
JUNJL^
VOL b
74 JTJNIUS'S LETTERS.
XI.
To his Grace the Duke of G-afttn.
MY LORD, April 24, IJC^.
The system you seemed to have adopted when
ord Chatham unexpectedly left you at the head ol
affairs, gave us no promise of that uncommon exer-
tion of vigour which has since illustrated your char-
acter, and distinguished your administration. Far
from discovering a spins bold enough to invade the
first rights of the people and the first principles o
the constitution, you were scrupulous of exercising
even those powers with which the executive branch
of the legislature is legally invested. We have not
yet forgotten how long Mr. Wilkes was suffered to
anoear at large, nor how long he was at liberty to
canvass for the city and county, with all the terrors
of an outlawry hanging over him. Our gracious
sovereign has not yet forgotten the extraordinary
care you took of his dignity, and of the safety of
his person, when, at a crisis which courtiers af-
fected to call alarming, you left the metropolis ex-
posed, for two nights together, to every species oJ
riot and disorder. The security of the royal resi-
dence from insult was then sufficiently provided for
in Mr. Conway's firmness, and lord Weymouth's
discretion ; while the prime minister of Great Bri-
'ain, in a rural retirement, and in the aniis of faded
oeauty, had lost all memory of his sovereign, hii
JUMUS'S LETTERS. 79
country and himself. In these instances you m"ight
have acted with vigour, for you would have had the
sanction of the laws to support you : the friends
of government might have defended you without
shame ; and moderate men, who wish well to the
peace and good order of society, might have had a
pretence for applauding your conduct. But these,
it seems, were not occasions worthy of your grace's
interposition. You reserved the proofs of your in-
trepid spirit for trials of greater hazard and im-
portance ; and now, as if the most disgraceful re-
laxation of the executive authority had given you a
claim of credit to indulge in excesses still more
dangerous, you seem determined to compensate
amply for your former negligence, and to balance
the non-execution of the laws with a breach of the
constitution. From one extreme you suddenly start
to the other, without leaving, between the weakness
and the fury of the passions, one moment's interva
for the firmness of the understanding.
These observations, general as they are, might
easily be extended into a faithful history of your
grace's administration, and perhaps may be the em-
ployment of a future hour. But the business of the
present moment will not suffer me to look back to a
series of events, which cease to be interesting or im-
portant, because they are succeeded by a measure sr
singularly daring, that it excites all our attention, and
engrosses all our resentment.
Your patronage of Mr. Luttrell has been crowned
with success. With this precedent before you, with
thi principles on which it v^as established, and with
a future house of commot.5, perhaps less virtisous
76 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
than the present, every county in England, under the
auspices of the treasury, may be represented as com-
pletely as the county of Middlesex. Posterity will
be indebted to your grace for not contenting yourselt
with a temporary expedient, but entailing upon them
the immediate blessings of your administration.
Boroughs were already too much at the mercy of
government. Counties could neitLsr be purchased
nor intimidated. But their solemn determined elec-
tion may be rejected ; and the man they detest may
be appointed by another choice to represent them in
parliament. Yet it is admitted, that the sheriffs
obeyed the laws, and performed their duty.* The
return they made must have been legal and valid, or
undoubtedly they would have been censured for
making it. With every good-natured allowance
for your grace's youth and inexperience, there are
some things which you cannot but know. You
cannot but know, that the right of the freeholders
to adhere to their choice (even supposing it im-
properly exerted) was as clear and indisputable
as that of the house of commons to exclude one of
their own members. Nor is it possible for you not
to see the wide distance there is between the nega-
tive power of rejecting one man, and the positive
power of appointing another. The right of ex-
pulsion, in the most favourable sense, is no more
than the custom of parliament. The right of elec-
tion is the ver}^ essence of the constitution. To vio-
late that right and much more to transfer it to any
*■ Sir Fletcher Norton, when it wr.s jjrojjoscd to punish
thesherifls, declared in the house of commons, that they, in
return mg Mr. Wilkes, had dene no more than their dul^f.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 77
Dther set of men, is a step leading iannediately to the
dissolution of all government. So far forth a^ it
operatesj it constitutes a house of commons which
does not represent the people. A house of commons
so formed would involve a contradiction, and the
grossest confusion of ideas : but there are some
ministers, my lord, whose views can only be answer-
ed by reconciling absurdities, and making the same
proposition, which is false and absurd in argument,
true in fact.
This measure, my lord, is, however, attended with
one consequence favourable to the people, which
I am persuaded you did not foresee.* While the
contest lay between the ministry and Mr. Wilkes,
his situation and private character gave you advan-
tages over him, which common candour, if not th«i
memory of your former friendship, should hav<i
forbidden you to make use of. To religious mer?
you had an opportunity of exaggerating the irregu-
larities of his past life ; to moderate men you held
forth the pernicious consequences of faction. Men
who, witn this character, looked no farther than
to the object before them, were not dissatisfied at
seeing Mr. Wilkes excluded from parliament. You
have now taken care to shift the question ; or rather,
you have created a new one, in which Mr. Wilkes is
no more concerned than any other English gentle-
man. You have united this country against you on
one grand constitutional point, on the decision of
which our existence, as a free people, absolutel}' de-
pends. You have asserted, not in words, but in fact,
* TIse render is desired to mark this pro^ihecv.
78 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
that the representation in parliament does not depend
upon tlie choice of the freeholders. If such a case
can possibly happen once, it may happen frequently ;
it may happen always : and if three hundred votes,
by any mode of reasoning whatever, can prevail
against twelve hundred, the same reasoning would
equally have given Mr. Luttrell his seat with ten
votes, or even with one. The consequences of this
attack upon the constitution are too plain and
palpable, not to alarm the dullest apprehension. I
trust you will find that the people of England are
neither deficient in spirit or understanding ; though
you have treated them as if they had neither sense to
feel nor spirit to resent. We have reason to thank
God and our ancestors, that there never yet was a
minister in this country who could stand the issue of
such a conflict; and, with every prejudice in favour
of your intentions, I see no such abilities in your
grace, as should enable you to succeed in an enter-
prise, in which the ablest and basest of your prede-
cessors have found their destruction. You may con-
tinue to deceive your gracious master with false
representations of the temper and condition of his
subjects: you may command a venal vote, because
it is the common established appendage of your
ofnce : but never hope that the freeholders will make
a tame surrender of their rights; or, that an English
army will join with you in overturning the liberties
of tlieir country. They know, that their first duty,
as citizens, is paramount to all subsequent engage-
ments : nor will they prefer the discipline, or even
the honoru-s of their profession, to those sacred origi-
ml rights which bolo iged to them before they vvert
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 79
loldier*, and wliicli they cluiin and possess as the
birth-right of Englishmen.
Return, my lord, before it be too late, to that easy
msipid system which you first set out with. Take
back your mistress.* The name of friend may be
fatal to her, for it leads to treachery and persecution.
Indulge the people. Attend Newmarket. Mr. Lut-
trell may again vacate his seat ; and Mr. Wilkes,
if not persecuted, will soon be forgotten. To be
weak and inactive is safer than to be daring and
criminal ; and wide is the distance between a riot
of the populace and a convulsion of the whole king-
dom. You may live to make the experiment, but no
honest man can wish you should survive it.
JUNIUS.
XII.
To his Grace the Duke of Grafton,
MY LORD, May 30, 1769.
If the measures in which yok have been most suc-
cessful had been supported by any tolerable appear-
ance of argument, I should have thought my time
not ill employed in continuing to examine your
* The duke, about this time, had separated himself from
Anne Parsons; but proposed . to continite i»nited with her
on some platonic terms of friendship, which she rejected
with contempt. 11 's baseness to this woman is beyond de-
scription or belief
80 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
conduct as a minister, and stating it fair!}' to the
public. But when I see questions of tlie highesl
national importance carried as they have been, and
the first principles of the constitution openly vio-
lated, wiihout argument or decency, I confess 1 give
up the cause in despair. The meanest of your pre-
decessors had abilities sufficient to give a colour to
their measures. If they invaded the rights of the
people, they did not dare to offer a direct insult to
their understanding ; and, in former times, the mosl
venal parliaments made it a condition, in their bar-
gain with the minister, that he should furnish them
with some plausible pretences for selling their coun-
try and themselves. You have had the merit of in-
troducing a more compendious system of goveriunent
and logic. You neither address yourself to the pas-
sions nor the understanding, but simply to me touch.
You apply yourself immediately to the feelings of
your friends ; who, contrary to the forms of parlia-
ment, never enter heartily into a debate until they
have divided.
Relinquishing, therefore, all idle views of amend-
ment to your grace, or of benefit to the public, let
me be permitted to consider your character and con-
duct, merely as a subject of c.irious speculation.
There is something in both which distinguishes you,
not only from all other ministers, but all other men.
It is not that you do vi'rong by design, but that you
should never do right by mistake. It is not that
your indolence and your activity have been equally
misapj)lied, but that the first uniform principle, or, U
I may call it, the genius of jour life, should have
carried you through every possible change and con-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 81
tradlotlon of conduct, without the momentary impu-
tation or colour of a virtue ; and that the wildest
spirit of inconsistency should never once have betrayed
you into a wise or honourable action. Tliis, I own,
gives an air of singularity to your fortune, as well as
to your disposition. Let us look back, togetlier, to
a scene, in which a mind like yours will find nothing
to repent of Let us try, my lord, how well you
have supported the various relations in which you
stood to your sovereign, your country, your friends,
and yourself. Give us, if it be possible, some excuse
to posterity and to ourselves, for submitting to your
administration. If not the abilities of a great minis-
ter, if not the integrity of a patriot, or the fidelity ol
a friend, show us, at least, the firmness of a man.
For the sake of your mistress, the lover shall be
spared. I will not lead her into public, as you have
done ; nor will I insult the memory of departed
beauty. Her sex, which alone made her amiable in
your eyes, makes her respectable in mine.
The character of the reputed ancestors of some
men has made it possible for their descendants to be
vicious in the extreme, without being degenerate.
Those of your grace, for instance, left no distressing
examples of virtue even to their legitima.te posterity :
and you may look back with pleasure to an illustri-
ous pedigree, in which heraldry has not left a single
good quality upon record to insult or upbraid you.
You have better proofs of your descent, my lord, than
the register of a marriage, or any troublesome in-
heritance of reputation. There are some hereditary
strokes of character, by which a family may be as
clearly distinguished, as by the blackest features of
D 2 e
82 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
the human face. Charles tlie First lived and died a
hypocrite. Charles the Second was a hypocrite of
another sort, and should have died upon the same
scafibld. At the distance of a century, we see then
different characters happily revived and blended in
your grace. Sullen and severe withe it religion,
profligate without gayety, you live like Charles the
Second, without being an amiable compani n^ ; and,
for aught I know, may die as his father did, without
the reputation of a martyr.
You had already taken your degrees with credit,
n those schools in which the English nobility are
formed to virtue, when you were introduced to
lord Chatham's protection.* From Newmarket,
White's, and the opposition, he gave you to the
world with an air of popularity, which young men
usually set out with, and seldom preserve : grave
and plausible enough to be thought fit for business ;
too young for treachery ; and, in short, a patriot of
no unpromising expectations. Lord Chatham was
the earliest object of your political wonder and at-
tachment ; yet you deserted him, upon the first
hopes that oflered of an equal share of power with
lord Rockingham. When the late duke of Cumber-
land's first negotiation failed, and when the fa-
vourite was pushed to the last extremity, you saved
him, by joining with an administration, in which
lord Chatham had refused to engage. Still, how
* To understand these passages, tlie reader is referred
to a noted pamjjhlet, called ' The History of the Mi
nority.'
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 63
rv'er, he was your friend : and you are yet t. ex-
plain to the world, why you consented to act «itli-
out hiin : or why, after uniting with lord Rocking-
ham, you deserted and betrayed him. You com-
plained that no measures were taken to \tisfy 3'our
patron ; and that your friend, M»* • , who had
suffered so much for the party, ^- ^ ueen abandoned
to his fate. They have since contributed, not a
little, to your present plenitude of power ; yet, I
think, lord Chatiiam has less reason than ever to be
satisfied : and, as for Mr. Wilkes, it is, perhaps,
the greatest misfortune of his life, that you should
have so many compensations to make in the closet
for your former friendship with him. Your gracious
master understands your ciiaracter, and makes you
a persecutor, because you have been a friend.
Lord Chatiiam formed his last administration
upon principles which you certainly concurred in, or
you could never have been placed at the head of
the treasury. By deserting those principles, or by
acting in direct contradiction to them, in which he
found you were secretl}'^ supported in the closet,
you soon forced him to leave you to yourself, and
to withdraw iiis name from an administration which
had been formed on the credit of it. You had then
a prospect of friendships better suited to your ge-
nius, and more likely to fix your disposition. Mar-
..'iage is the point on which every rake is stationary
Rt last : and truly, my lord, you may well be weary
of the circuit you have taken ; for you have now
fairly travelled through every sign in the politica.
rodiaCj.from the scorpion, in which you stung lord
84 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
Chatharr.^ to the hopes of a virgin* in the house at
Rloomsbury. One would think that you had hacf
sufficient experience of the frailty of nuptial en-
gagements, or, at least, that such a friendship aa
the duke of Bedford's might have been secured to
you by the ,^ ''^ns marriage of your late duchesst
with his neplib, h t ties of this tender nature
cannot be drawn too close ; and it may possibly
be a part of the duke of Bedford's ambition, after
making her an honest woman, to work a miracle
of the same sort upon your grace. This worthy
nobleman has long dealt in virtue: there has been
a large consumption of it in his own family ; and,
in the way of traffic, I dare say, he has bought and
sold more than half the representative integrity of the
nation.
In a political view, this union is not imprudent.
The favour of princes is a perishable commodity.
You have now a strength sufficient to command the
closet, and if it be necessary to betray one friend-
ship more, you may set even lord Bute at defiance.
Mr. Stewart M'Kenzie may possibly remember what
use the duke of Bedford usually makes of his power;
and our gracious sovereign, I doubt not, rejoices at
this first appearance of union among his servants.
His late majesty, under the happy influence of a
family connexion between his ministers, was re-
• His grace had lately manied miss AVrottesly, niece of
the good Gertrude, duchess of Bedford.
t Miss Liddel, :\fter her divorce iVoin the duke, morned
lord Upper Ossory.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 85
iieved from the cares of the government. A more
active prince may, perhaps, observe with suspicion
by what degrees an artful servant grows upon his
master, from tiie first unlimited professions of duty
and attachment, to the painful representation of
the necessity of the royal service, and soon, in regu-
lar progression, to the humble insolence of dictating
in all the obsequious forms of peremptory submij-
sion. The interval is carefully employed in forming
connexions, creating interests, collecting a party,
and laying the foundation of double marriages; un-
til the deluded prince, who thought he had found a
creature prostituted to his service, and insignificant
enough to be always dependent upon his pleasure,
finds him, at last, too strong to be cqmmanded, and
too formidable to be removed.
Your grace's public conduct, as a minister, is but
the counterpart of your private history ; the same
inconsistency, the same contradictions. In America
we trace you, from the first opposition to the stamp
act, on principles of convenience, to Mr. Pitt's sur-
render of the right ; then forward to lord Rocking-
ham's surrender of the fact ; then back again to
lord Rockingham's declaration of the right ; then
forward to taxation with Mr. Townshend ; and,
in the last instance, from the gentle Conway's un-
determined discretion, to blood and compulsion
with the duke of Bedford : yet, if we may believe
the simplicity of lord North's eloquence, at the
opening of the next session, you are once more to
be the patron of America. Is this the wisdom of
a rreat minister, or is it the ominous vibration of
a pendulum ? Had 3'ou no opinion of your own, my
66 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
lord? Or was it the gratification of betraying every
party with which you have been united, and of de-
serting every political principle in which you had
concurred ?
Your enemies may turn their eyes without regret
from this admirable system of provincial government.
They will find gratification enough in the survey of
your domestic and foreign policy.
If, instead of disowning lord Shelburne, the
British court had interposed widi dignity and firm-
ness, you know, my lord, that Corsica would never
have been invaded. The French saw the weakness
of a distracted ministry, and were justified in treating
you with contempt. Tliey would probably have
yielded, in the first instance, rather than hazard a
rupture with this country ; but, being once engaged,
they cannot retreat without dishonour. Common
sense foresees consequences which have escaped
your grate's penetration. Either we sufler the
French to make an acquisition, the importance of
which you have probably no conception of; or we
oppose them by an underhand management, which
only disgraces us in the eyes of Europe, withoul
answering any purpose of policy or prudence. From
secret, indirect assistance, a transition to some
more open, decisive measures, becomes unavoidable j
till, at last, we find ourselves principal in the war,
and are obliged to hazard every thing for an ob-
ject, which might have originally been obtained
without expense or danger. I am not versed in the
politics of the north ; but lliis, I believe, is certain ;
thut li;ilf the money you have distributed lo carry
tlie cx))u!sion of Mr. \Vilkcs, or even your secreta
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 81
ry's share In the last subscription, vvoukl have kept
the Turks at your devotion. Was it economy, my
lord ? or did the coy resistance you have constantly
met with in the British senate make you despair of
corrupting the divan ? Your friends, indeed, have
tiie first claim upon your bounty : but if 5001. a year
can be spared in pension to Sir Jolm JMoore, it
would not have disgraced you to have allowed some-
thirig to the secret service of the public.
You will say, perhaps, that the situation of affairs .
at home demanded and engrossed the whole of your
attention. Here, I confess, you have been active.
An amiable, accomplished prince, ascends the throne
under the happiest of all auspices, the acclamations
and united affections of his subjects. The first
measures of his reign, and even the odium of a fa-
vourite, were not able to shake their attachment.
Your services, my lord, have been more successful
Since you were permitted to take the lead, we have
seen the natural effects of a system of government
at once both odious and contemptible. We have
seen the laws sometimes scandalously relaxed, s;ome-
limes violently stretched beyond their tone. We
have seen the person of the sovereign insulted ; and,
in profound peace, and willi an undisputed title,
the fidelity of his subjects brought by his own ser-
vants into public question.* Without abilities, reso-
* The wise duke, about this time, exerted all the influ-
ence of government to procure atklresses to satisfy the king
of the fidelity of his subjects. They came in very tliick
fium Scotland ; but, after th? appearance of this letter, we
heard no more of them.
68 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
lution, or interest, you have done more than lord
Bute could accomphsh, with all Scotland at his
heels.
Your grace, little anxious, perhaps, either for
present or future reputation, will not desire to be
handed down in these colours to posterity. Ifou
have reason to flatter yourself, that the memory of
your administration will survive, even the forms of
a constitution, which our ancestors vainly hoped
would be immortal; and, as for your personal char-
acter, I will not, for the honour of human nature,
suppose that you can wish to have it remembered.
The condition of the present times is desperate in-
deed ; but there is a debt due to those who come
after us ; and it is the historian's office to punish,
though he cannot correct. I do not give you to
posterity as a pattern to imitate, but as an example
to deter ; and as your conduct comprehends every
thing that a wise or hoiest minister should avoid, I
mean to make you a negative instruction to you*
Euccessors for ever
JUNnTS.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS 89
XIII.
Addressed to the Printer of the Public Advertiser,
SIR, June 12, 17C9.
The duke of Grafton's friends, not finding it con-
venient to enter into a contest with Junius, are
now reduced to the last melancholy resource of de-
feated argument, the flat general charge of scur-
rility and falsehood. As for his style, I shall leave
it to the critics. The truth of his facts is of more
importance to the public. They are of such a na-
ture, that I think a bare contradiction will have no
weight with any man who judges for himself. Let
us take them in the order in which they appear in
his last letter.
1. Have not the first rights of the people, and the
first principles of the constitution, been openly in-
vaded, and the very name of an election made
ridiculous, by the arbiti'ary appointment of Mr.
Luttrell .''
2. Did not the duke of Grafton frequently lead
his mistress into public, and even place her at the
head of his table, as if he had pulled down an an-
cient temple of Venus, and could bury all decency
and shame luider the ruins ^ Is this the man who
dares to talk of Mr. Wilkes's morals ^
3. Is not the character of his presumptive ances-
tors as strongly marked in him, as if he had de-
scended from them in a direct legitimate line ^ Tiie
90 JUNIUS'S r.ETTERS
idea of Wis death Is only prophetic ; and what 18
prophecy but a narrative preceding the fact ?
4. Was not lord Chatham the first who raised him
o the ranii and post of a minister, and the first
whom he abandoned ?
5. Did he not join with lord Rockingham, and
betray liim ?
6. Was he not the bosom friend of Mr. Wilkes,
whom he now pursues to destruction f
7. Did he not take his degrees with credit at
Newmarket, White's, and the opposition .''
8. After deserting lord Chatham's principles, and
sacrificing his friendship, is he not now closely
united with a set of men, who, though they have
occasionally joined with all parties, have, in every
different situation, and at all times, been equally and
constantly detested by this country .''
9. Has not sir John Moore a pension of five
hundred pounds a year ? This may probably be an
acquittance of favours upon the turf: but is it pos-
sible for a minister to offer a grosser outrage to a
nation, which has so very lately cleared away the
beggary of the civil list, at the expense of more than
half a million .'*
10. Is there any one mode of thinking or acting
with respect to America, which the duke of Grafton
has not successively adopted and abandoned ?
11. Is there not a singular mark of shame set
upon this man, who has so little delicacy and feel-
ing, as to submit to die opprobrium of marrying a
near relation of one who liad debauched his wife .^
In the name of decency, how are these amiable
cousins to meet at their Micle's table ? It will be a
JUNRS'S LETTERS. 91
soene in QGuipus, without the distress. Is it wealth;
or wit, oi" beaut}'? Or is the amorous jouth in
love ^
The rest is notorious. That Corsica has been sa-
crificed to the French ; that, in some instances, the
laws have been scandalously relaxed, and, in others,
daringly violated ; and that the king's subjects have
been cedled upon to assure him of their fidelity, in
spite of the measures of his servants.
A writer, who builds his arguments upon facts
such as these, is not easily to be confuted. He is not
to be answered by general assertions or general re-
proaches. He may want eloquence to amuse and
persuade ; but, speaking truth, he must always
convince.
PHILO JUNHJS
XIV.
Addressed to the Printer of the Public Advertiser
SIR, June 22, 1769.
The name of Old Noll is destined to be the ruin
of the house of Stuart. There is an ominous fatality
in it. which even the spurious descendants of the
family cannot escape. Oliver Cromwell had the
merit of conducting Charles the First to the block.
Your correspondent. Old Noll, appears to have the
same design upon the duke of Grafton. His argu-
ments consist better with the title he has assumed
than with the principles he professes : for liiougb
92 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
he pretends to be an advocate for the cuke, he
takes care to give us the best reason why his patron
should regularly follow the fate of his presumptive
ancestor. Tin-ough the whole course of the duke
of Grafton's life, 1 see a strange endeavour to unite
contradictions which cannot be reconciled. He
marries, to be divorced ; he keeps a mistress, to
remind him of conjugal endearments ; and he choosei
such friends as it is a virtue in him to desert.
If it were possible for the genius of that accomplish-
ed president, who pronounced sentence upon Charles
the First, to be revived in some modern sycophant,*
his grace, I doubt not, would by sympathy discover
him among the dregs of mankind, and take him for
a guide in those paths which naturally conduct a
minister to the scafibld.
The assertion that two-thirds of the nation ap-
prove of the acceptance of Mr. Luttrell (for even
Old JVoll is too modest to call it an election) can
neither be maintained nor confuted by argument.
It is a point of fact, on which every English gentle-
man will determine for himself As to lawyers,
their profession is supported by the indiscriminate
defence of right and wrong j and I confess I have
not that opinion of their knowledge or integrity, to
think it necessary that they should decide for me
upon a plain constitutional question. With respect
to the appointment of Mr. Luttrell, the chancellor
has never yet given any authentic opinion. Sir
• It is hardly necessarA tc rtjnind the reader ol the nam*
jf Braclfhair.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 93
Fletcher Norton is, iitdeed, an honest, a very honest
man ; and the attorney-general is ex officio the guar-
dian of liberty ; to take care, I presume, t.iat it shall
never break out into a criminal excess. Doctor
Blackslone is solicitor to the queen. Thu doctor
recollected that he had a place to preserve, though
he forgot that he had a reputation to lose. We have
now the good fortune to understand the doctor's
principles as well as writings. For the defence ot
truth, of law, and reason, the doctor's book may be
safely consulted ; but whoever wishes to cheat a
neighbour of his estate, or to rob a country of its rights,
need make no scruple of consulting the doctor himself.
The example of the English nobility may, for
aught I know, suffic'ently justify the duke of Graf-
Ion, when he indulges his genius in all the fashion-
able excesses of the age ; yet, considering his rank
and station, I think it would do him more honour
to be able to deny the fact, than to defend it by
such authority. But if vice itself could be excused,
there is yet a certain display of it, a certain outrage
to decency, and violation of public decorum, which,
for the benefit of society, should never be forgiven.
It is not that he kept a mistress at home, but that
he constantly attended her abroad. It is not the
private indulgence, but the pulilic insult, of which
I complain. The name of miss Parsons would hardly
have been known, if the first lord of the treasury
had not led her in triumph through the opera-house,
even in the presence of the queen. When we see a
man act in this manner, we may admit the shame-
less depravity of his heart ; but what are we to thinic
of his understanding ?
94 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
H s grace, it seems, is now to be a regular, do*
mestic man and, as an omen of the future delicacj
and correctness of liis conduct, he marries a first
cousin of the man who had fixed that mark and
title of infamy upon him, which, at the same mo-
ment, makes a husband unhappy and ridiculous.
Tlie ties of consanguinity may possibly preserve
him from the same ftite a second time ; and as to
the distress of meeting, I take for granted, the ven-
erable uncle of these common cousins has settled
the etiquette in such a manner, that, if a mistake
should happen, it may reach no farther than from
madame ma femme to madame ma cousine.
The duke of Grafton has always some excellent
reason for deserting his friends^ the age and inca-
pacity of lord Chatham, the debility of lord Rock-
ingham, or the infamy of Mr. Wilkes. There was
a time, indeed, when he did not appear to be quite
as well acquainted, or so violently offended, with
the infirmities of his friends : but now I confes.5
they are not ill exchanged for the youthful, vigorous
virtue of the duke of Bedford ; the firmness of
general Conway ; the blunt, or, if I may call it, the
awkward integrity of Mr. Rigby ; and the spotless
morality of lord Sandwich.
If a late pension to a broken gambler* be an act
worthy of commendation, the duke of Grafton's
connexions will furnish him with many opportunities
of do'ng praiseworthy actions; and as he himself
bears no part of the expense, the generosity of distri-
buti )g the public money for the support of virtuoua
* Sii John Moore.
JuNirS'S LETTERS. 95
'amiiies In distress, will be an unquestionable proo,
of bis grace's huiiinnity.
As to public affairs, Old JYoIl is a little tender o.
descending tpo particulars. He does not deny that
Corsica has been sacrificed to France 5 and he con-
fesses that, with regard to America, his patron's
measures have been subject to some variation : but
then he promises wonders of stability and firmness
for the future. These are mysteries, of which we
must not pr'^tend to judge by experience ; and
truly, I fear we shall perish in the desert, before we
arrive at the land of promise. In the regular course
of things, the period of the duke of Grafton's minis-
terial manhood should now be approaching. The
'mbecllity of his Infant state was committed to lord
Chatham. Charles Townshend took some care of
his education at that ambiguous age, which lies be-
tween the follies of political childhood and the vices
of puberty. The empire of the passions soon suc-
ceeded. His earliest principles and connexions were
of course forgotten or despised. The company he
has lately kept has been of no service to his morals ;
and, In the conduct of public affairs, we see the
character of his time of life strongly distinguished.
An obstinate, ungovernable self-sufficiency plainly
points out to us that state of Imperfect maturity at
which the graceful levity of youth is lost, and the
solidity of experience not yet acquired. It is pos-
sible tiie young man may, in time, grow wiser, and
reform ; but if I understand his disposition, It Is not
of such corrigible stuff that we should hope for any
amendment In him, before he has accomplished the
96 JLNIUS'S LETTERS.
des nction of his country. Like other rakes, he
may. perhaps, live to see his error, but not until he
has ruined his estate.
PHILO JUNIUS.
XV.
To his Grace the Duke of Grafton.
MY LORD, July 8, 1769.
If nature had given you an understanding quali
fied to keep pace with the wishes and principles ol
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 ol
shame, the reproaches of conscience, nor the dread
of punishment, form any bar 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 couu-
teracts the most favourite principles, and makes the
same man treacherous without art, and a hypocrite
without deceiving. The measures, for instance, in
which your grace's activity has been chiefl}' exerted
as the}' were adopted without skill, should have
been coufUicted with more than common dexterity
liut truly, my lord, the execution has been as grosi
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 97
as the design. By one decisive step yod have de-
feated all the arts of writing. You have fairly con-
founded the intrigues of opposition, and siVnced
the clamours of faction. A dark, ambiguous system
might require and furnisii the materials of inge-
nious illustration ; and, in doubtful measures, the
virulent 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 nar-
rowest capacity, may determine for himself: it is
not an alarm to the passions, but a calm appeal to
the judgment of the people, 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 iiad
made some progress in subduing tiie spirit of the
people. With such a cause as yours, my lord, it is
not sufficient that you have the court at your devo-
tion, unless you can find means to corrupt or intimi-
date 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, yo i have, perhaps, mistaken the extent
of your capacity. Good faith and folly have so long
been received as s3'nonymous terms, that the reverse
of the proposition has grown into credit, and every
villain fancies himself a man of abilities. It is tne
apprehension of your friends, my lord, that 3'ou
have drawn some hasty conclusion of this sort, and
VOL. I. E 7
98 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
ihat a partial reliance upon your moral character hai
betrayed ynu beyond the depth of 3'our understai.u-
ing. You have now carried thinc;s too far to retreat.
You have plainly declared to the people v\ hat tliey
are to expect from the continuance of your adminis-
tration. It is time for your grace to consider wliat
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 n)ay well be called a reign of experiments.
Parties of all denominations have been employed and
dismissed. 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 propor-
tioned to his abilities and integrity. The spirit of
the favourite 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 predeces-
sors 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 Rockingliam,
have successively had liie honour to be dismissed for
preferring their duty as servants of the public to
those compliances which were expected from their
station. A submissive administration was at last
gradually collected from the deserters of all parties,
interests, and connexions; and nothing PMuained
JUKIUS'S LETTERS. 9il
' at to find a leader for these gallant, well-disciplined
tro »ps. Stand forth, my lord ; for thou art the man.
Lord Bute found no resource of dependence or secu-
rity in the proud, imposing superiority of lord Chat-
ham's abilities ; the sln-ewd, inflexible judgment of
Mr. Grenvllle ; nor in the mild but determined in-
tegrity of lord Rockingham. His views and situation
required a creature void of all these properties; and
lie was forced to go tiirough every division, resolu-
tion, composition, and refinement of political chemis-
try, before he happily arrived at the caput mortuum
of vitriol in your grace. Flat and insipid in your
retired state ; but, brought into action, you become
vitriol again. Such are the extremes of alternate
indolence or fury, which have governed your whole
administration. Your circumstances, with regard
to the people, soon becoming desperate, like other
honest servants, you determined to involve the
best of masters in the same difficulties with yourself
We owe it to your grace's well-directed labours,
that your sovereign has been persuaded to doubt
of the afiections 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 and dishonourable compe-
tition with Mr. Wilkes : nor had you abilities to
carry even the last contemptible triumph over a
private man, without the grossest violation 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 aimexed. The question no longer
turns upon points of national honour and security
100 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
abroad, or on the degrees of expedience and propr -
ety of measures at home. It was not inconsis mX
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 corrup-
tion, we miss no part of sir Robert Walpole's system,
except his abilities. In this humble, imitative line,
you might long have proceeded safe and contempt-
ible. You might probably nevei; have risen to the
dignity of being hated, and even have been despised
with moderation. But it seems vou meant to be dis-
tinguished ; 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
admiration of mankind. The use you have made
of the military force introduced an alarming change
in tlie mode of executing the laws. The arbitrary
appointment of Mr% Luttrell invades the foundation
of the laws themselves, as it manifestly transfers
the right of legislation from those whom the people
have chosen, to those whom tiiey 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, nor deceived by refinements. When they
see Mr. Luttrell seated in the house of commons,
by mere dint of power, and in direct opposition to
the choice of a whole county, they will not listen to
tliose subtilties by which every arbitrary exertion
JUNIUS'S LL TIERS 101
of authority is explained into the law and privilege
of parliament. It requires no persuasion of argu-
ment, but simply the evidence of the senses, to con-
vince thein, that, to transfer the right of election
from the collective to the representative body of
the people, contradicts all those ideas of a house of
commons which they have received from their fore-
fathers, and which they had already, though vainly,
perhaps, delivered to their children. The principles
on which this violent measure has been defended
have added scorn to injury, and forced us to feel
that we are not only 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 ad-
dressed : and I fancy, my lord, it is not yet in
vour 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 already paid for : another must be purchased ;
and, to save a minister, the house of commons
must declare themselves 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 authorised to rely upon
the sincerity of those smiles, which a pious court
lavishes without reluctance upon a libertine by pro-
102 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
fession. It is not, indeed, the Jeast of the thousand
contradictions which attend you, tliat a man, marked
to the world by the grossest violation of all cere-
mony and decorum, should be the first servant \>C a
court, in which prayers are morality, and kneeling is
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
hist discover, that this is a contention in which
every thing may be lost, but nothing can be gained :
and, as you became minister by accident, were
adopted without choice, trusted without confidence,
and continued without favour, be assured, that
whenever an occasion presses, you will be discarde(^
without even the forms of regret. You will ther
have reason to be thankful, if you are permitted t«>
retire to that seat of learning, which, in contem
plation of the system of your life, the comparativo
purity of your manners with those of their high
steward, and a thousand other recommending cir-
cumstances, has chosen you to encourage the grow-
ing 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 delirium of an installation, and,
what in tr ith it ought to be, once more a peaceful
scene of slumber and thoughtless meditation. The
i'enerable tutors of the university will no longer
distress your modesty, by proposing 3'ou for a pat-
tern to their pupils. The learned duiness of dec-
lamation will be silent ; and even the venal muse,
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 03
tlioutrh happiest in fiction, will forget your \'rtues.
Yet, for the benefit of the succeeding age,. I could
wish that your retreat iniglit be deferred untjl your
morals shall happily be ripened to that maturity of
corruption, at which the worst examples cease to be
contagious.
JUNIUS
XVI.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, July 19, 1769.
\. great deal of useless argument might have
been saved, in the political contest which has arisen
from the expulsion of Mr. Wilkes, and the subse-
quent appointment of Mr. Luttrell, if the question
had been once stated with precision, to the satis-
faction of each party, and clearly understood by
them both. But in this, as in almost evey other
dispute, it usually happens that much time is lost
in referring to a multitude of cases and precedents,
which prove nothing to the purpose ; or in main-
taining propositions, which are either not disputed,
or, whether they be admitted or denied, are entirely
indiflerent as to the matter in debate ; until at last,
ihe mind, perplexed and confounded with the end-
less sublilties of controversy, loses sight of the main
question, and never arrives at truth. Both parties
in the dispute are aot enough to practise these dis*
t04 JUJNIUS'S LETTERS.
honest artifices. The man who is conscious of th«
weakness of his cause is interested in concealing it :
and, on the other side, it is not uncommon to see a
go<^d cause mangled by advocates, who do not know
the real strength of it.
I should be glad to know, for instance, to what
purpose, in the present case, so many precedents
have been produced, to prove that the house of
commons have a right to expel one of their own
members ; that it belongs to them to judge of the
validity of elections ; or that the law of parliament
is part of the law of the land .''* After all these
propositions are admitted, Mr. Luttrell's right to
his seat will continue to be just as disputable as it
was before. Not one of them is at present in agita-
tion. Let it be admitted that the house of com-
mons were authorised to expel Mr. Wilkes, that they
are the proper court to judge of elections, and that
the law of parliament is binding upon the people ;
still it remains to be inquired, whether the house,
by their resolution in favour of Mr. Luttrell, have,
or have not, truly declared that law. To facilitate
this inqu'ry, I would have the question cleared of
all foreign or indifferent matter. The following
state of it Mill probably be thought a fair one by
ooiii parties ; and then I imagine there is no gen-
tleman in this country who will not be capable of
forming a judicious and true opinion apon 't. I
• The reader will observe, that tliese admissions are made,
not as of truths unquestionable, but for tlie sake of argu
mcnt, avid 'm order to bring th'? 'eal question to issup.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 105
take the question to be strictly this ; " Whether or
110 it be the known, established law of parliament,
that the expulsion of a member of the house of
commons, of itself creates in him such an incapacity
to be re-elected, that, at a subsequent election, any
votes given to him are null and void ; and that any
other candidate, who, except the person expelled,
has the greatest number of votes, ought to be the
sitting member."
To prove that the affirmative is the law of par-
liament, I apprehend it is not sufficient for the pre-
sent house of commons to declare it to be so. We
may shut our eyes, indeed, to the dangerous conse-
quences of suflering one branch of the legislature
to declare new laws without argument or example ;
and it may, perhaps, be prudent enough to submit
to authority ; but a mere assertion will never con-
vince, much less will it be thought reasonable tc
prove the right by the fact itself. The ministry
have not yet pretended to such a tyranny over our
minds. To support the affirmative fairly, it will
either be necessary to produce some statute, in
which that positive provision shall have been made,
that specific disability clearly created, and the con-
sequences cf it declared ; or, if there be no such
statute, the custom of parliament must then be re-
ferred to; and some case or cases,* strictly in point,
must be produced, with the decision of the court
* Precedents, in opposition to principles, have little
weight with Juiiius ; but he thought it necessary to roeet
the ministry upon their own ground.
£ 2
lOe JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
upon them ; for 1 readil} admit, that the custom ol
parliament, once clearly proved, is equally binding
with the common and statute law.
The consideration of what may be reasonable or
unreasonable, makes no part of this question. We
are inquiring what the law is, not what it ought to
be. Reason may be applied to show the impro-
priety or expediency of a law ; bu we must have
either statute or precedent to prove the existence
of it. At the same time, I do not mean to admit
that the late resolution of the house of commons is
defensible on general principles of reason, any more
than in law. This is not the hinge on which the
debate turns.
Supposing, therefore, that I have laid down an
accurate state of the question, I will venture to
affirm, 1st, That there is no statute existing, by
which that specific disability which we speak of is
created. If there be, let it be produced. The ar-
gument will then be at an end.
2dly, That there is no precedent, vn all the pro-
ceedings of the house of commons, which comes
entirely home to the present case, viz. " Where an
expelled member lias been returned again, and
another candidate, with an infer/or number of votes,
has been declared the sitting member." If there be
such a precedent, let it be given to us plainly ; and
I am sure it will have more weight than all tiie
cunning arguments which have been drawn frou) in
ferences and probabilities.
The ministry, in that laborious pamphlet, which,
[ presume, contains the whole strengtii of the party,
liave declared, " That Mr. Walpole's was the first
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 107
anof only instance in wliicii the electors of any
county or borough had returned a person expelled
to serve in iJie same parliament." It is not possible
to conceive a case more exactly in point. Mr. Wal-
pole was expelled ; and, having a majority of votes
at the next election, was returned again. The
friends of Mr. Taylor, a candidate set up by the
ministry, petitioned the house that he might be
the sitting member. Thus far the circumstances
tally exactly, except that our house of commons
saved Mr. Luttrell the trouble of petitioning. The
point of law, however, was the same. It came
regularly before the house, and it was their busi-
ness to determine upon it. They did determine it;
for they declared Mr. Taylor not duly elected. It
it be oaid, that they meant this resolution as mnt*er
of favour and indulgence to the borough, which had
letorted Mr. VValpole upon them, in order that the
burgesses, knowing what the law was, might correct
their error, I answer,
I. That it is a strange way of arguing, to oppose
a supposition, which no man can prove, to a fact
which proves itself.
II. Tliat if this were the intention of the house
of commons, it must have defeated itself. The
burgesses of Lynn could never have known their
error, much less could they have corrected it by
any instruction they received from the proceedings
of the house of commons. They might, perhaps,
rtave foreseen, that if they returned Mr. Walpole
again, he would again be rejected ; but they never
could infer, from a resolution bj' which the can-
idate with the fewest votes Mas declared uit dull.
108 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
elected, that, at a future election, and in sianlar
circumstances, the louse of commons would re-
verse their resolution, and receive the same can-
didate as duly elected, whom they had before re-
acted.
This, indeed, would have been a most extraordi-
nary way of declaring the law of parliament, and
what, I presume, no man, whose understanding is
not at cross purposes with itself, could possibly un-
derstand.
If, in a case of this importance, I thought myself
at liberty to argue from suppositions rather tiian
from facts, I think the probability, in this instance,
is directly the reverse of what the ministry affirm ;
and that it is much more likely that the house of
commons, at that time, would rather have strained
a point in favour of Mr. Taylor, than that they
would have violated the law of parliament, and
robbed Mr. Taylor of a right legally vested in him,
to gratify a refractory borough, which, in defiance
of them, had returned a person branded with the
strongest mark of the displeasure of the house.
But really, sir, this way of talking (for I cannot
call it argument) is a mockery of the common un-
derstanding of the nation, too gross to be endured.
Our dearest interests are at stake. An attempt has
been made, not merely to rob a single county of its
rights, but, by inevitable consequence, to alter the
constitution of the house of commons. This fatal
attempt has succeeded, and stnnds as a precedent
recorded for ever. If the ministry are unable to
defend their cause by fvir argument, founded on
facts, Itt them spare us, at least, the mortification
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 105
of being amused and deluded, like children. I be-
lieve there is yet a spirit of resistance in this country
which will not submit to be oppressed ; but I am
sure there is a fund of good sense in this country,
which cannot be deceived.
JUNIUS.
XVII.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser,
SIR, August 1, 1769.
It will not be necessary for Junius to take the
trouble of answering your correspondent G. A. oi
the quotation from a speech without doors, pub-
lished in your paper of the 28th of last month.
The speech appeared before Junius's letter ; and,
as the author seems to consider the great proposi-
tion on which all his argument depends, viz. that
Mr. Wilkes ivas under that known legal incapacity
of which Junius speaks, as a point granted, his
speech is in no shape an answer to Junius, for this
is the very question in debate.
As to G. A. I observe, first, that if he did not ad-
mit Junius's state of the question, he should have
shown the fallacy of it, or given us a more exact
one ; secondly, that, considering the many hours
md days which the ministry uiid tlicir advocates
no JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
have wasted in public debate, in compiling large
quartos, and collecting innumerable precedents, ex-
pressly to prove that the late proceedings of the
house of commons are warranted by the law, cus-
tom, and practice of parliament, it is rather an ex-
traordinary supposition to be made by one of, their
own party, even for the sake of argument, that no
such statute, no such custom of parliament, no such
case in point, can he produced. G. A. may, however,
make the supposition with safety. It contains
nothing but literally the fact ; except that there is
a case exactly in point, with a decision of the
house diametrically opposite to that which the
present house of commons came to in favour of Mr.
Luttrell.
The ministry now begin to be ashamed of the
weakness of their cause ; and, as it usually happens
with falsehood, are driven to the necessity of shift-
ing their ground, and changing their whole defence
At first we were told, that nothing could be clearer
than that the proceedings of the house of commons
were justified by the known law and uniform cus-
tom of parliament. But now, it seems, if tiiere
be no law, the house of commons iiave a right to
make one ; and if there be no precedent, they have
a right to create tlie first : for this, I presume, is
the amount of the questions proposed to Junius.
If your correspondent had been at all versed in tiie
law of parliament, or generally in the laws of this
country, he would have seen that this defence is as
wcal< and false as the former.
The privileges of ciilicr house of parliament, it
is true, are indefinite th.it is, they have not been
JUNIUS S LETTERS. Ill
described or laid down in any one code or aeclara-
lion wliataoevcr ; but, wlienever a question of priv*-
lege lias arisen, ii has invariably been disputed or
maintained upon the footing of precedents alone.*
In the course of the proceedings upon the Ayles-
bury election, the house of lords resolved, " That
neither house of parliament had any power, by any
vote or declaration, to create to themselves any new
privilege, that was not warranted by the known
laws and customs of parliament." And to this
rule, the house of commons, though otherwise they
had acted in a very arbitrary manner, gave their as-
sent ; for they affirmed that they had guided them-
selves by it in asserting their privileges. Now, sir,
if this be true, with respect to matters of privilege,
in which the house of commons, individually, and
as a body, are principally concerned, how much
more strongly wnl t hold against any pretendea
power in that house to create or declare a new law,
by which not only the rights of the house over their
own member, and those of the member himself
are included, but also those of a third and separate
party ; I mean the freeholders of the kingdom ! To
do justice to the nunistry, they have not yet pre-
tended that any one, or any two, of the three
estates, have power to make a new law, without
the concurrence of the third. They know, that a
nia.i who maintains such a doctrine, is liable, by
• This is still meeting the niiiuslry upon their own
ground ; for, in truth, no precedents will support eitlier
natural injustice, or violation of positive rights.
112 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
statute, to the heaviest penalties. They do not ac-
knowledge that the house of commons have assumed
a new privilege, or declared a new law. On the con-
trary, they affirm that their proceedings have been
strictly conformable to, and founded upon, the ancient
law and custom of parliament. Thus, therefore, the
question returns to the point at which Junius had
fixed it, viz. Whether or no this be the law of par-
liament ? If it be not, the house of commons nad
no legal authority to establish the precedent ; and
the precedent itself is a mere fact, without any proof
of right whatsover.
Your correspondent concludes with a question ol
tlie simplest nature : Must a thing be wrong because
it has never been done before ? No. But, admitting
it were proper to be done, that alone does no'i
convey an authority to do it. As to the present case ^
I hope I shall never see the time, when not only i*
single person, but a whole county, and, in effect,
the entire collective body of the people, may again
be robbed of their birth-right by a vote of the hous2
of commons. But if, for reasons which I am unable
to comprehend, it be necessary to trust that house
with a power so exorbitant and so unconstitutional,
at least let it be givei them by an act of the legist
Uxare,
PHILO JUNIUS.
JiJNIUS'S LI. ITERS. 113
XVIII.
To Sir William BlacJcstone, Solicitor General to
her Majesty.
SIR, July 29, 1769.
I shall make you no apology for considering a
certain pamphlet, in which your late conduct is de-
fended, as written by yourself. The personal in-
terest, the personal resentments, and, above all,
that wounded spirit, unaccustomed to reproach,
and, I hope, not frequently' conscious of deserving
it, are signals which betray the author to us as
plainly as if your name were in the title-page. You
appeal to the public in defence of your reputation.
We hold it, sir, that an injury offered to an indi-
vidual is interesting to society. On this principle
the people of England made common cause with
Mr. Wilkes. On this principle, if you are injured,
tbey will join in your resentment. I shall not follow
you through the insipid form of a third person, but
address myself to you directly.
You seem to think the channel of a pamphlet
more respectable, and better suited to the dignity
of your cause, than that of a newspaper. Be it so.
Yet, if newspapers are scurrilous, you must conless
they are impartial. They give us, without any ap-
parent preference, the wit and argument of the
ministry, as well as the abusive dulness of the oppo-
114 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
sltion. The scales are equally poised. It is not
the printer's fault if the greater weight inc'ines tiie
balance.
Your pamphlet, then, is divided into an attack
upon Mr. Grenville's character, and a defence of
your own. It would have been more consistent,
perhaps, with your professed intention, to have
confined yourself to the last. But anger has some
claim to indulgence, and railing is usually a relief to
the mind. I hope you have found benefit from the
experiment. It is not my design to enter into a for-
mal vindication of Mr. Grenville upon his own prin-
ciples. I have neither the honour of being personally
known to him, nor do I pretend to be completely
master of all the facts. I need not run the risk of
doing an injustice to his opinions, or to his conduct,
when your pamphlet alone carries, upon the face of
It, a full vindication of both.
Your first reflection is, that Mr. Grenville* was,
of all men, the person who should not have com-
plained of inconsistence with regard to Mr. Wilkes.
This, sir, is either an unmeaning sneer, a peevish
expression of resentment ; or, if it means any thing,
you plainly beg the question ; for, whether his par-
liamentary conduct, with regard to Mr. Wilkes,
has or has not been inconsistent, remains yet to
be proved. But it seems he received upon the spot
a sufficient chastisement for exercising so unfairly
* Mr. Grenville had quoted a passage from the doctor's
excellent Commentaries, wliicli directly contradicted the
lloctriix'" maintained by the doctor in '.he house of commons
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. US
his talents of niisreproscntntion. You are a lawyer
sir, and know better than I do upon what particu-
lar occasions a talent for misrepresentation may be
fairly exerted ; but to punish a nian a second time
when he has been once sufficiently chastised, is rather
too severe. It is not in the laws of England ; it is
not in your own Commentaries; nor is it yet, I be-
lieve, in the new law you have revealed to the house
of commons. I hope this doctrine has no exist-
ence but in your own heart. After all, sir, if you
had consulted that sober discretion which you seem
to oppose with triumph to tlie honest jollity of
a taveru, it might have occurred to you, that,
although you could have succeeded in fixing a
charge of inconsistence upon Mr. Grenville, it
would not have tended in any shape to exculpate
yourself.
Your next insinuation, that sir William Meredith
had hastily adopted the false glosses of his new
ally, is of the same sort with the first. It conveys
a sneer, as little worthy of the gravity of your
character, as it is useless to your defence. It is of
little moment to the public to inquire by whom
the charge was conceived, or by whom it was
adopted. The only question we ask is, wijether or
not it be true.'' The remainder of your reflections
upon Mr. Grenville's conduct destroy themselves.
He could not possibly come prepared to traduce
your integrity to the house; he could not foresee
that you would even speak upon the question ;
much less could he foresee that you would main-
tain a direct contradiction of that doctrine which
you had solemnly, disinterestedly, and, upon t!ie
116 JUMUS'S LETTERS.
soberest reflection, delivered to the public. H«
came armed, indeed, with what he thought a re-
spectable authority, to support what he was con-
vinced was the cause of truth ; and, I doubt not,
he intended to give you, ui the course of tlie debate,
an honourable and public testimony of his esteem.
Thinking highly of his abilities, I cannot, however,
allow him the gift of divination. As to what you
are pleased to call a plan, coolly formed, to impose
upon the house of commons, and his producing it,
without provocation, at midnight, I consider it as
the language of pique and invective, therefore un-
worthy of regard. But, sir, I am sensible I have
followed your example too long, and wandered from
the point.
The quotation from your Commentaries is matter
of record : it can neither be altered by your friends,
nor misrepresented by your enemies : and I am
willing to take your own word for what you have
said in the house of commons. If there be a real
difference between what you have written and what
you have spoken, you confess that your book ought
to be the standard. Now, sir, if words mean any
thing, I apprehend, that when a long enumeration
of disqualifications (whether by statute or the cus-
tom of parliament) concludes with these geiieral
comprehensive wonls, " but subject to these re-
strictions and disqualifications, every subject o(
the realm is eligible of common right," — a reader,
of plain understanding, must of course rest satisfied
that no species of disqualification whatsoever had
been omUted. The known character of tlie author,
and the appa'-ent accuracy with which the whole
JUNIJS'S LETTERS. 117
work is compiled, would confirm him in Ins opinion :
nor could he possibly form any other judgment,
without looking upon your Commentaries in the
same light in which you consider those penal
laws, which, though not repealed, are fallen into
disuse, and are now, in effect, a snare to the
unwary.*
You tell us, indeed, that it was not part of your
plan to specify any temporary incapacity ; and
♦hat you could not, without a spirit of prophecy,
have specified the disability of a private individual
subsequent to the period at which you wrote. What
your plan was I know not ; but what it should
have been, in order to complete the work you have
given us, is by no means difficult to determine.
The incapacity, which you call temporary, may
continue seven years ; and though you might not
have foreseen the particular case of Mr. Wilkes,
you might, and should, have foreseen the possi-
bility of such a case, and told us how far the house
of commons were authorised to proceed in it by the
law and custom of parliament. The freeholders of
Middlesex would then have known what they had
to trust to, and would never have returned Mr.
Wilkes, when colonel Luttrell was a candidate
against him. Tliey would have chosen some in-
different person, rather than submit to be repre-
• If, in stating the law upon any point, a judge deli-
berately affirms tiiat he has included every case, and it
should apjiear that he lias purpos?ly omitted a matcna4
case, he does, iu effect, lay a snare for the unwary
118 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
sented by the object of their contempt and detei
tation.
Your attempt to distinguish between disabilities
which affect whole classes of men, and those which
affect individuals only, is really unworthy of your
understanding. Your Commentaries had taught
me, that, altliough the instance in which a penal
law is exerted, be particular, the laws themselves
are general : they are made for the benefit and in-
struction of the public, though the penalty falls
only upon an individual. You cannot but know,
sir, that what was Mr. Wilkes's case yesterday may
be yours or mine to-morrow, and that, consequently
the common right of every subject of the realm
IS invaded by it. Professing, therefore, to treat of
the constitution of the house of commons, and of
the laws and customs relative to that constitution,
you certainly were guilty of a most unpardonable
omission, in taking no notice of a right and privi-
lege of the house more extraordinary and more
arbitrary than all the others they possess put to-
gether. If the expulsion of a member, not under
any legal disability, of itself creates in him an in-
capacity to be elected, 1 see a ready way marked
out, by which the majority may, at any time, remove
the honestest and ablest men who happen to be in
opposition to them. To say that they will not
make this extravagant use of their power would
be a language unfit for a man so learned in the laws
as 3'ou are. By your doctrine, sir, they have the
power : and laws, you know, arc intended to guard
aganist what men mny do, not to trust to what they
will do.
JUNIUS'S liETTERS. 119
Upon the whole, sir, the charge agai t you ia
of a plain, simple nature ; it appears even upon the
face of your own pamphlet. On the contrary, your
justification of yourself is full of subtilty and re-
finement, and in some places not very intelligible.
If I were personally your enemy, I should dwell
with a malignant pleasure upon those great and
useful qualifications which you certainly possess,
and by which you once acquired, though they could
not preserve to you, the respect and esteem of your
country ; I should enumerate the honours you have
lost, and the virtues you have disgraced ; but, having
no private resentments to gratify, I think it sufficient
to have given my opinion of your public conduct,
leaving the punishment it deserves to your closet and
to yourself.
JUNIUS.
XIX,
Addressed to the Printer of the Public Advertiser
SIR, August 14, 1709
A correspondent of the St. James's Evening Po?t
first wilfully misunderstands Junius, then censurts
him for a bad reasoner. Junius does not say that
it was incumbent upon doctor Blackstone to foresee
and state the crimes for which Mr. Wilkes was ex-
pelled. If, by a spiiit of prophecy, he had even done
BO, it would hnve been nothing to the purpose The
120 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
question is, not for vvliat particular offences a p«iv
son may be expelled, but, generally, whether by .he
law of parliament expulsion alone creates a disquali
fication. If the afflrmative be the law of parliament,
doctor Blackstone might and should have told us so.
The question is not confined to this or that parti-
cular person, but forms one great general branch
of disqualification, too important in itself, and too
extensive in its consequences, to be omitted in an
accurate work expressly treating of the law of par-
liament.
The truth of the matter is evidently this : doctor
Blackstone, while he was speaking in the house of
commons, never once thought of his Commentaries,
until the contradiction was unexpectedly urged, and
stared liim in the face. Instead of defending him-
self upon the spot, he sunk under the charge in an
agony of confusion and despair. It was well known
that there was a pause of some minutes in the
house, from a general expectation that the doctor
would say something in his own defence ; but it
seems his faculties were too much overpowered to
think of those subtilties and refinements which
have since occurred to him. It was then Mr. Gren-
ville received tliat severe chastisement which the
doctor mentions with so much triumph : / icish the
honourable gentleman, instead of shaking his head,
would shake a good argument out of it. If to tlie
elegance, novelty, and bitterness of this ingenious
sarcasm, we add the natural melody of the amiable
sir Fletcher Norton's pipe, we shall not be surprised
that Mr. Grenville was unable to make him any
reply.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 121
As to the doctor, I would recommend U to hira
to be quiet. If not, he may, perhaps, hear again
from Junius himself.
PHILO JUNIUS.
i'ostscript to a pamphlet entitle(^ An Answer to
the Question stated ; supposed to be written by
Dr. Blackstone, solicitor to the queen, in answ*»r
to Junius's letter.
Since these papers were sent to the press, a writer,
m the public papers, who subscribes iiimself Junius,
Pias made a feint of bringing this question to a short
issue. Though the foregoing observations contain,
in my opinion at least, a full refutation of all tha
this writer has offered, I shall, however, bestow a
very iew words upon him. It will cost me very little
trouble to unravel and expose the sophistry of his
argument.
" I take the question," sa^'s he, " to be strictly
Inis : Whether or no it be the known established
law of parliament, that the expulsion of a member
of the house of commons, of ^tself, creates in him
such an incapacity to be re-elected, that, at a subse-
quent election, any votes given to him are null and
void ; and that any other candidate, who, except the
person expelled, has the greatest number of votes,
ought to be the sitting member."
Waving, for the present, any objection I may
have to this state of tlie question, I shall venture
to meet our champion upon his own ground ; and
attempt to support the affirmative of it, in one ol
VOL. I. F
122 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
the two ways by whicn he says it can be alone fairly
supported. " If there be no statute," says he, " in
wliich the specific disability is clearly created, &c.
(and we acknowledge there is none) the custom of
parliament must then be referred to ; and some
case, or cases, strictly in point, must be produced,
with the decision of the court upon them." Now
I assert that this has been done. Mr. Walpole's
case is strictly in point, to prove that expulsion
creates absolute incapacity of being re-eiected. This
was the clear decision of the house upon 'it; and
was a full declaration that incapacity was the ne-
cessary consequence of expulsion. The law was
as clearly and firnuy fixed by this resolution, and is
as binding in every subsequent case of expulsion
as if it had been declared by an express statute that
a " member, expelled by a resolution of the housn
of commons, shall be deemed incapable of being
re-elected." Whatever doubt, then, there mighi
have been of the law, before Mr. Walpole's case, with
respect to the full operation of a vote of expulsion,
there can be none now. The decision of the house,
upon this case, is strictly in point, to prove that ex-
pulsion creates abs;^lute incapacity in law of being
re-elected.
But incapacity in law, in this instance, must
have the same operation and effect with incapacity
in law in every other instance. Now, incapacity ot
being re-elected implies, in its very terms, that any
votes given to the incapable person, at a subsequent
election, are null and void. This is its necessary
operation, or it has no operation a' all: it s vox
it ])r(£lerca nihil. We can no more be called upon
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 123
to prove this proposition, than we can to j)rove that
a dead man is not alive, or that twice two are four.
Wlicn the terms are understood, the proposition is
self-evident.
Lastly, it is, in all cases of election, the known
and established law of the land, grounded upon the
clearest principles of reason and common sense,
that if the votes given to one candidate are null
and void, they cannot be opposed to the votes given
to another candidate; they cannot aflcct the votes
of such candidate at all. As they have, on the one
hand, no positive quality to add or establish, so
have they, on the other hand, no negative one to
subtract or destro3^ They are, in a word, a mere,
nonentity. Such was the determination of the
house of commons in the Maiden and Bedford elec
tions ; cases strictly in point to the present question,
as far as they are meant to be in point ; and to say
that they are not in point in all circumstances, in
those particularly which are independent of the pro-
position which they are quoted to prove, is to say no
more tlian that Maiden is not Middlesex, nor Serjeant
Comyns Mr. Wilkes.
Let us see then how our proof stands. Expulsion
creates incapacity, incapacity annihilates an}' votes
given to the incapable person j the votes given to
the qualified candidate stand, upon their own bot-
tom, firm and untouched, and can alone have eflect.
This, one would think, would be suflicient. But
we are stopped short, and told that none of our
piccedents come iiome to the present case, and are
challenged to produce " a precedent in all the pro-
ceedings of the house of commons that does come
124 JUNIUS S LETTEB,S.
home to il, viz. where an expelled member has been
returned again, and another candidate, ivith an in-
ferior number of votes, has been declared the sitting
member.''''
Instead of a precedent, I will beg leave to put a
case, which, I fancy, will Le quite as decisive to
the present point. Suppose another Sacheverell
(and every party must have its Sacheverell) should,
at some future election, take it into his head to
offer himself a candidate for the county of Middle-
sex. He is opposed by a candidate whose coat is of
a different colour, but, however, of a very good
colour. The divine has an indisputable majority ;
rjay, the poor layman is absolutely distanced. The
sheriff, after having had his conscience well in-
formed by the reverend casuist, returns him, as he
supposes, duly elected. The whole house is in an
uproar at the apprehension of so strange an appear-
ance amongst them. A motion, however, is at
length made, that the person was incapable of
being elected j that his election, therefore, is null
and void ; and that his competitor ought to have
been returned. No, says a great orator, first show
me your law for this proceeding. Either produce
me a statute, in which the specific disability of a
clergyman is created ; or produce me a precedent,
where a clergyman has been retxirned, and another
candidate, with an inferior number of votes, has been
declared the sitting member. No such statute, no
such precedent, to be found. What answer then is
to be given to this demand .'' The very same answer
which 1 will give to that of Junius. That there is
ore than one precedent in the proceedings of the
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 125
house, ' wliere an incapable person lins br;cn re-
turned, and another candidate, with an iiircriur
number of voles, has been declared the sittinn- mem-
ber ; and that this is the known and established law,
in all cases of incapacity, from whatever cause it may
arise."
I shall now, therefore, beg leave to make a slight
amendmen to Junius's state of the question, the
affirmative of which will then stand thus :
" It is the known and established law of par-
liament, that the expulsion of any member of the
house of commons creates in him an incapacity of
being re-elected ; that any votes given to him at a
subsequent election are, in consequence of such in-
capacity, null and void ; and that any other can-
didate, who, except the person rendered incapable
has the greatest number of votes, ought to be th«'
sitting member."
But our business is not yet quite finished. Mr
Walpole's case must have a re-hearing. " It is nof.
possible," says this writer, " to conceive a case)
more exactly in point. INIr. Walpole was expelled,
and, having a majority of votes at the next election,
was returned again. The friends of Mr. Taylor, a
candidate set up by the ministry, petitioned the
house that he might be the sitting member. Tiius
far the circumstances tally exactl}', except that our
house of commons saved Mr. Luttrell the trouble of
petitioning. The point of law. however, was the
same. It came regularly before the house, and it
was tiieir business to determine upon it. Tliey did
determine it ; for they declared Mr. Taylor not duly
decitdy
126 JUNius's lettp:rs.
Instead of examining the justness of this represeii"
tation, I shall beg leave to oppose against it my own
view of this case, in as plain a manner and as few
words as I am able.
It was the known and established law of parlia-
ment, when the charge against Mr. Walpole came
before the house of commons, that they had power
to expel, to disable, and to render incapable foj
offences. In virtue of this power they expelled
him.
Had they, in the very vote of expulsion, ad-
judged him, jn terms, to be incapable of being re-
elected, there must have been at once an end with
him. But though the right of the house, both to ex-
pel and adjudge him incapable, was clear and indubi-
table, it does not appear to me that the full opera-
lion and effect of a vote of expulsion singly was so.
The law in this case had never been expressly
declared ; there had been no event to call up such
a declaration. I trouble not myself with the gram-
matical meaning of the word expulsion ; I regard
only its legal meaning. This was not, as I think,
precisely fixed. The house thought proper to fix
it, and explicitly to declare the full consequences
of their former vote, before they suffered these con-
sequences to take effect : and in this proceeding
they acted upon the most liberal and solid prin-
ciples of equity, justice, and law. What then did
the burgesses of Lynn collect from the second vote ?
Their subsequent con(Uu;t will tell us : it will with
certainty tell us that they considered it as decisive
itgainst Mr. Walpole. It will also, with equal cer-
lainty, tell us, that, upon supposition that the law
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 127
of election stood then as it docs now, and that they
knew it to stand thus, they inferred, " tiiat, at a
future election, and in case of a similar return, the
house would receive the same candidate, as duly
elected, whom they had before rejected." They
could infer nothing- but this.
It is needless to repeat the circumstance of dis-
similarity in the present case : it will be sufficient
to observe, that, as the law of parlicv^ent, upon
which the house of commons grounded every step
of their proceedings, was clear beyond the reach of
doubt, so neither could the freeholders of Middlesex
be at a loss to foresee what must be the inevitable
consequence of their proceedings in opposition to it ;
-Tor, upon every return of Mr. Wilkes, the house made
'nquiry whether any votes were given to any other
candidate.
But I could venture, for the experiment's sake,
<?ven to give this writer the utmost he asks; to allow
die most perfect similarity throughout, in these two
cases ; to allow that the law of expulsion was quite
as clear to the burgesses of Lynn as to the free-
holders of Middlesex. It will, I am confident,
avail his cause but little. It will only prove, that
the law of election, at that time, was diflerent from
the present law. It will prove, that, in all cases of
an incapable candidate returned, the law then was,
that the whole election should be void. But now
we know that this is not law. The cases of Maiden
and Bedford were, a* has been seen, determined upon
other and more just principles; and these deter-
minations are, I imagine admitted on all sides to be
law.
128 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
I would willingly draw a veil over the remaining
part of this paper. It is astonishing, il is painful,
to see men of parts and ability giving in to the
most unworthy artifices, and descending so much
below their true Hue of character. But, if they are
not the dupes of their sophistry, (which is hardly to
be conceived) let them consider that they are some-
thing much worse.
The dearest interests of this country are its laws
and its constitution. Against every attack upon
these, there will, I hope, be alwaj^s found amongst
us the firmest spirit of resistance, superior to the
united efforts of faction and ambition : for ambition,
though it does not always take the lead of faction,
will be sure, in the end, to make the most fatal ad-
vantage of it, and draw it to its own purposes. But,
I trust, our day of trial is 3'et far off; and there is a
fund of good sense in this country xohich cannot long
he deceived by the arts either of false reasoning or
false patriotism.
XX.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, August b, 1769.
The gentleman who has publislied an answer to
sir William Meredith's pamphlet., having honoured
me witli a postcript of six quiuto pnges, which he
Bioileiatel}' calls bestowing a very (ew words upon
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 129
me, 1 cannot, in common politeness, refuse him a
reply. The form and magnitude of a quarto im-
poses upon the mind; and men, who are unequal
to the labour of discussing an intricate argument,
or wish to avoid it, are v/illing enough to suppose
that much has been proved, because much has been
said. Mine, I confess, are humble labours. I do
not presume to instruct the learned, but simply to
inform the body of the people ; and I prefer that
channel of con''eyance which is likely to spread
farthest among them. The advocates of the minis-
try seem to me to write for fame, arid to flatter
themselves, that the size of their works will make
tuem immortal. They pile up reluctant quarto
upon solid folio, as if their labours, because
they are gigantic, could contend with truth and
heaven.
The writer of the volume in question meets me
upon my own ground. He acknowledges there is
no statute by which the specific disability we speak
of is created : but he affirms, that the custom of
parliament has been referred to, and tliat a case
strictly in point has been produced, with the de-
cision of the court upon it. I thank him for coming
so fairly to the point. He asserts, that the case o(
Mr. Walpole is strictly in point, to prove that ex-
pulsion creates an absolute incapacity of being re-
elected 5 and for this purpose he refers generally
to the first vote of the house upon that occasion,
without venturing to recite the vote itself. The
unfair, disengenuous artifice of adopting that part
of a precedent which seems to suit his purpose, and
omitting the remainder, deserves some pity, buf
F 2 9
1;I0 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
cannot excite my resentment. He takes advantage
eagerly of the first resolution, by which Mr. Wal-
pole's incapacity is declared ; but as to the two fol-
lowing, by which the candidate with the fewest
votes was declared " not duly elected," and the elec-
tion itself vacated, I dare say hi would be well
satisfied if they were for ever blotted out of the
journals of the house of commons. In fair argu-
ment, no part of a precedent should be admitted,
unless the whole of it be given to us together. The
author has divided his precedent ; for he knew,
that, taken together, it produced a consequence
directly the reverse of that which he endeavours to
draw from a vote of expulsion. But what will this
honest person say, if I take him at his word, and
demonstrate to him, that the house of commons
never meant to found Mr. Walpole's incapacity upon
his expulsion only ? What subterfuge will then
remain .''
Let it be remembered, that we are speaking of
the intention of men wdio lived more than half a
century ago ; and that such intention can only be
collected from their words and actions, as they are
delivered to us upon record. To prove their de-
signs by a supposition of what they would have
done, opposed to what they actually did, is mere
trifling and impertinence. The vote by which Mr.
Walpole's incapacity was declared is thus expressed :
" That Robert Walpole, esq. having been, this ses-
sion of parliament, committed a prisoner to the
'-ower, and expelled this house for a breach of trust
I the execution of his office, and notorimis cor-
uption, when secretary at war, was and ia inca-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 131
pable of being elected a member lo S(;ive in this
present parliament."* Now, sir, to my understand-
ing, no proposition of this kind can be more evi-
dent, than tiiat the house of commons, by this very
vote, themselves understood, and meant to declare,
that Mr. Walpole's incapacity arose from the crimes
he had committed, not from the punishment the
house annexed to them. The high breach of trust,
the notorious corruption, are stated in the strongest
terms. They do not tell us that he was incapable
because he was expelled, but because he had been
guilty of such offences as justly rendered him un-
worthy of a seat in parliament. If they had in-
tended to fix the disability upon his expulsion alone,
the mention of his crimes in the same vote would
have been highly improper, ft could only perplex
the minds of the electors, who, if they collected
any diing from so confused a declaration of the law
of parliament, must have concluded, that their repre-
sentative had been declared incapable because he
was highly guilty, not because he had been punished.
• It is well worth remarking, that the compiler of a cer-
tain quarto, called The Case of ike last Election for the
County of Middlesex considet . *, has the impudence to
ecite this very vote in the followmg terms (vide page 11):
** Resolved, that Robert Walpolc, esq. having been his
aession of parliament expelled the house, was, and is, in-
capable of being elected a member to serve in the preseu
parliament." There cannot be a stronger positive proof of
the treachery of the compiler, nor a stronger presumptive
proof that he was convinced that the vote, if dul}' reciteu,
would overturn his Av'iole argument.
132 JUNIUS'S LETfERS.
But, even admitting them to have understood it
in the other sense, they must then, from the very
terms of the vote, have united the idea of his being
sent to the Tower with that of his expulsion ; and
considered his incapacity as tlie joint efiect of
both.*
* Addressed to the Printer of the Public Advertiser
SIR, May 22, 1771.
Very early in the debate upon the decision of the Mitl-
dlesex election, it was observed by Junhis, that the
house of commons had not only exceeded their boasted
precedent of the expulsion and subsequent incapacitation
of Mr. Walpole, but that they had not even adhered to it
strictly as far as it went. After convicting Mr. Dyson of
giving a false quotation from the journals, and having ex-
plained the purpose which that contemptible fraud was in-
tended to answer, he proceeds to state the vote itself by
which Mr. Walpole's supposed incapacity was declared, viz.
" Resolved, that Robert Walpole, esq. having been this ses-
sion of parliament committed a prisoner to the Tower,
and expelled this house for a high breach of trust in the
execution of his office, and notorious corruption when se-
cretary at war, was and is incapable of being elected a
member to serve in this present parliament ;" and then ob-
serves, that, from the terms of the vote, we have no rigii,
to annex the incapacitation to the expulsion only ; for
tliat, as the proposition stands, it must arise equally frcm
expulsion and the connnitment to the Tower. I be-
. , sir, no man, who knows any thing of dialectics, or
who understands English, will dispute the truth and fair-
ness of this construction. But Junius lias a great authori*
ty to support him, wh'ch, to spe;ik widi the duke of
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 133
I do not mean to give an opii.ion upon the jus-
tice of the proceedings of the house of commons
mth regard to Mr. Walpole j but certainly, if I ad-
Grafton, I accidentally met with this morning in the course
of my I'eading. It contains an admonition, whicli cannot
be repeated too often. Lord Sommers, in his excellent
tract upon the Rights of the People, after reciting the
votes of the convention of the 28th of January, l689, viz.
" That king James the Second, having endeavoured to
subvert tlie constitution of this kingdom, by breaking the
original contract between king and people, and, by the ad-
vice of Jesuits, and other wicked persons, having violated
the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out
of this kingdom, hath abdicated the government," &c. —
makes this observation upon it : " The word abdicated re-
lates to all the clauses foregoing, as well as to his deserting
the kingdom, or else tney would have been wholly in vain."
And that there might be no pretence for confining the ah-
dicaiion merely to the loithdr awing, lord Sommers farther
observes. That king James, hy refusing to govern ug
according to that law hy which he held the crown, did
implicitly renounce his title to it.
If Junius''s construction of the vote against Mr. Walpole
be now admitted (and, iirdeed, T cannot comprehend how it
can honestly be disputed) the advocates of the house of
commons must either give up their precedent entirely, or
be reduced to the necessity of maintaining one of the grossest
absurdities imaginable, viz. " That a commitment to the
Towi'r is a constituent part of, and contributes half at least
to the incapacitation o( the person who suffers it."
I need not malte you any excuse for endeavouring to
keep ahve the attention of the public to lh<; decision of the
Middlesex eled ion. The more I consider it, the more I
am convinced, that, as a fact, it is indeed higldy injinious
13 i JUNIUS'S LITTERS.
mitted theii censure to be well founded, I could no
way avoid agreeing with lliem in the consequence
they drew from it. I could never have a doubt, in
law or reason, that a man convicted of a high breach
of trust, and of a notorious corruption, in the execu-
tion of a public office, was, and ought to be, incapa-
ble of sitting in the same parliament. Far from
attempting to invalidate that vote, I should have
to the rights of the people ; but that, as a precedent, it is
one of the most dangerous that ever was established agaiast
those who are to come after us. Yet, I am so far a mode-
rate man, that I verily believe tlie majority of the house of
commons, when they passed this dangerous vote, neither
understood the question, or knew the consequence of what
they Avere doing. Their motives were rather despicable
than criminal, in the extreme. One effect they certainly
did not foresee. They are now reduced to such a situation,
that if a member of the present house of commons were to
conduct himself ever so improperly, and, in reality, deserve
to be sent back to his constituents with a mark of disgi-ace,
they would not dare to expel him ; because they know that
the people, in order to try again the great question of right,
or to thwart EUi odious house of commons, would probably
overlook his immediate unworthiness, and return the same
person to parliament. But, in time, the precedent will gain
strength 5 a future house of commons will have no such
apprehensions ; consequentl}'^, will not scruple to follow a
precedent which they did not establish. The raiser himsell
seldom lives to enjoy the fruit of his extortion, but his heir
lucceetls to him of course, and takes possession without cen-
lure. No man expects him to make restitution ; and, no
)Dattei fjr his title, he lives ruietly upon the estate.
PHILO JUNIUS.
JUNIUS'S I.ETTERS. 135
mshed that the incapacity declared hy it could legallj
have been continued for ever.
Now, sir, observe how forcibly i) e arguirvert
returns. The house of commons, upon tiie face of
their proceedings, had the strongest motives to de-
clare Mr. Walpole incapable of being re-elected.
They thought such a man unworthy to sit among
them. To that point they proceeded, and no far-
ther 5 for they respected the rights of the people,
while they asserted their own. They did not infer,
from Mr. Walpole's incapacity, that his opponent
was duly elected ; on tiie contrary, they declared
Mr. Taylor " not duly elected," and the election it-
self void.
Such, however, is the precedent which my honest
friend assures us is strictly in point, to prove, that
expulsion of itself creates an incapacity of being
elected. If it had been so, the present house of
commons should at least have follov\ed strictly the
example before them, and should have stated to
us, in the same vote, the crimes for which they
expelled Mr. Wilkes : whereas they resolve simply,
(h&i, " having been expelled, he was and is inca-
pable." In this proceeding, I am authorised to aflirm,
they have neither statute, nor custom, nor reason,
nor one single precedent to support them. On the
other side, there is, indeed, a precedent so strongly
in point, that all the enchanted castles of ministe-
rial magic fall before it. In the year 1698 (a period
which the rankest Tory dares not except against)
Mr. Wollaston was expelled, re-elected, and admit-
ted to talce his seat in the same parliament. The
minij'trv have nrecluded themselves from all ob-
136 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
lections drawn from the cause of his expulsion ; for
they affirm absolutely, that expulsion, of itself,
creates the disability. Now, sii*, let sophistry evade,
let falsehood asser/^, and impudence deny ; here
stands the precedent : a land-mark to direct us
through a troubled sea of controversy, conspicuous
and unremoved.
1 have dwelt the longer upon the discussion ol
this point, because, in my opinion, it comprehends
the whole question. The rest is unwortiiy of notice.
We are inquiring whether incapacity be, or be not,
created by expulsion. In the cases of Bedford and
Maiden, the incapacity of the persons returned was
matter of public notoriety, for it was created by act
of parliament. But really, sir, my honest friend's
suppositions are as unfavourable to him as his facts.
He well knows that the clergy, besides that they are
represented in common with their fellow subjects,
have also a separate parliament of their own ; that
their incapacity to sit in the house of commons has
been confirmed by repeated decisions of that house ;
and that the law of parliament, declared by those
decisions, has been, for above two centuries, noto-
rious and undisputed. The author is certainly at
liberty to fancy cases, and make whatever compari-
sons he thinks proper : his suppositions still continue
as dista:it from fact :as his wild discourses are frona
solid argument.
The conclusion of his book is candid to an extreme.
He offers to grant me all I desire. He tliinks he
may safely admit, that the case of Mr. Walpole
makes directly against him; for it seems he has one
grand solution In pe(f ' for all diflicu tics. " If (says
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 137
he) I were to allow all this, it will only prove thai
die law of election was diflferent in queen Anne's time
from what it is at present."
This, indeed, is more than I expected. The
principle, I know, has been maintained in fact ;
but I never expected to see it so formally declared.
What can he inean ? Does he assume this language
to satisfy the doubts of the people, or does he mean
to rouse their indignation ? Are the ministry daring
enough to affirm, that the house of commons have
a right to make and unmake the law of parliament,
at their pleasure ? Does the law of parliament,
which we are often told is the law of the land, does
the common right of every subject of the realm,
depend upon an arbitrary, capricious vote of one
branch of die legislature f The voice of truth and
reason must be silent.
The ministry tell us plainly, that this is no longer
a question of right, but of power and force alone.
What was law yesterday is not law to-day : and now,
it seems, we have no better rule to live by, than the
temporary discretion and fluctuating integrity of the
house of commons.
Professions of patriotism are become stale and
ridiculous. For my own part, I claim no merit
from endeavouring to do a service to my fellow-
Bubjects. I have done it to the best of ray under-
gtanding ; and, without looking for the approbation
of other men, my conscience is satisfied. What
' r.ins to be done, concerns the collective body of
, people. They are now to determine for them-
selves, whether they will firmly and constitutionally
»ssert their rU^hts, or make an humble, slavish
138 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
surrender of them at the feet of the ministry. To
a generous mind there cannot be a doubt. We owfe
it to our ancestors, to p'-eserve entire those rights
which the}^ have delivered to our care. Wc owe it
to our posterity, not to suffer their dearest in-
heritance to be destroyed. But, if it were possible
for us to be insensible of these sacred claims, there
is yet an obligation binding upon ourselves, from
which nothing can acquit us ; a personal interest,
which we cannot surrender. To alienate even our
own rigiits, would be a crime as much more enor-
mous than suicide, as a life of civil security and
freedom is superior to a bare existence : and if lifo
be the bounty of Heaven, we scornfully reject thrt
noblest part of the gift, if we consent to surrender
that certain rule of living, without which the con'
dition of human nature is not only miserable but con-
temptible.
JUNIUS.
XXI.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, August 22, 1769.
I must beg of you to print a few lines in expla-
aation of some passages in my last letter, which, 1
see, have been misunderstood.
1. When I said that the house of commons neve*
meant to bund Mr. Walpole's incaj)a(ity on his ex
JUNIUS'S :.ETTERS. 139
pulsion only, I meant no more than to deny the
general proposition, that expulsion alone creates
ihe incapacity. If there be any thing ambiguous
in the expression I beg leave to explain it, by say-
ing, that, in my opinion, expulsion neither creates
nor in any part contributes to create the incapacity
in question.
2. I carefully avoided entering into the merits of
Mr, Walpole's case. I did not inquire whether the
house of commons acted justly, or whether they
truly declared the law of parliament. My remarks
went only to their apparent meaning and intention,
as it stands declared in their own resolution.
3. I never meant to affirm, that a commitment to
the Tower created a disqualification. — On the con-
trary, I considered that idea as an absurdity, into
which the ministry must inevitably fall if they reason-
ed righ* upon their own principles.
The case of Mr. Wollaston speaks for itself. The
ministry assert, that expulsion alone creates an ab-
solute, complete incapacity to be re-elected to sit in
the same parliament. This proposition they have
uniformly maintained, without any condition or
modification whatsoever. Mr. Wollaston was ex-
pelled, re-elected, and admitted to take his seat m
the same parliament. I leave it to the public to
determine, whether this be plain matter of fact, or
mere nonsense or declamation.
JUNIUS.
140 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
XXIi.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
September 4, 1769.
Argument against Fact ; or, a new System of
Political Logic, by which the ministry have demon-
strated, to the satisfaction of tlieir friends, that expul-
sion alone creates a complete incapacity to be re-
slected, alias, That a subject of this realm may be
robbed of his common right by a vote of the house
>f commons.
FIRST FACT.
Mr. W'ollaston, in 1698, was expelled, re-elected^
and admitted to take his seat.
ARGUMENT.
As this cannot conveniently be reconciled with
our general proposition, it may be necessary to shift
our ground, and look back to the cause of Mr. Wol-
laston's expulsion. From thence it will appear
clearly, that, " alttiough he was expelled, he had
not rendered himself a culprit, loo ignominious to
Bit in parliament ; and that, having resigned his
employment, he VAas no longer incapacitated by
law." J^ide Serious Considerations, page 23. Or
Lhvs : " The house, somewhat inaccinatcly, used the
word eipcllcd ; tlu^y should have called it a motivn.^^
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 141
yide Mungoh Case considered, page 11. Or, in
short, if these arguments should be thought insuf-
ficieut, we may fau-ly deny the fact. For example :
" J affirm that he was not re-elected. The same Mr.
Wollaston, who was expelled, was not again elected.
The same individual, if you please, walked into the
house, and took his seat there ; but the same person,
in law, was not admitted a member of that parliament
from which he had been discarded." Vide Letter to
Junius, page 12.
SECOND FACT.
Mr. Walpole, having been committed to thn
Tower, and expelled, for a high breach of trust, and
notorious corruption in a public office, was declarttt'
incapable, ^c.
ARGUMENT.
From the terms of this vote, nothing can be
more evident, than that the house of commons
meant to fix the incapacity upon the punishment,
and not upon the crime ; but, lest it should appear
in a diflbrent light to weak, uninformed persons,
it may be advisable to gut the resolution, and give
it to the public, with all possible solemnity, in the
following terms, viz. "Resolved, that Robert Wal-
pole, esq. having been that session of parliament
expelled the house, was and is incapable of being
elected a member to serve in that present parlia-
ment." Vide Mungo, on the Use of (Quotations,
page 11.
|42 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
N. B. The author of the answer to Sir William
Meredith seems to have made use of Mungo's quo-
tation : for, in page 18, he assures us, " Tiiat the
declaratory vote of the 17th of February, 1769, was,
indeed, a literal copy of the resolution of the housf
in Mr. Walpole's case "
THIRD FACT.
His opponent, Mr. Taylor, having the smallest
number of votes at the next election, was declared not
duly elected.
ARGUMENT.
This fact we consider as directly in point, to
prove, that Mr. Luttrell ought to be the sitting
member, for the following reasons : " The burgesses
of Lynn could draw no other inference from this
resolution but this ; that, at a future election, and
in case of a similar return, the house would receive
the same candidate as duly elected whom they had
before rejected." J^ide Postscript to Junius, page 37.
Or thus : " This, their resolution, leaves no room
to doubt what part they would have taken, if, upon
a subsequent re-election of Mr. Walpole, there had
been any other candidate in competition with him:
for by their vote, they could have no other inten-
tion than to admit such other candidate." T^^idt
Mungo^s Case considered, page 39. Or, take it in
this light: the burgesses of L3'nji having, in defiance
of the house, retorted upon them a person whom the}
had branded with the most ignominious marks of
their displeasure, were thereby so well entitled to
JUNIUS'S :.ETTERS. 143
favour and indulgence, that the house could do no
less than rob Mr. Taylor of a right legally vested
in him, in order that the burgesses might be apprised
of the law of parliament ; which law the house took
a very direct way of explaining to them, by resolving
that the candidate with the fewest votes was not
duly elected : " And was not this much more equi-
table, more in the spirit of that equal and substantial
justice which is the end of all law, than if they had
violently adhered to the strict maxims of law ?*'
T^ide Serious Considerations, pages 33 and 34.
" And if the present house of commons had chosen
to follow the spirit of this resolution, they would
have received and established the candidate with
the fewest votes." T^ide Answer to sir W. J)I.
page 18. ^
Permit me now, sir, to show you, that the worthy
Dr. Blackstone sometimes contradicts the ministry
as well as himself. The speech without doors
asserts, page 9th, " That the legal effect of an in-
capacity, founded on a judicial determination of a
complete court, is precisely the same as that of an
incapacity created by an act of parliament." Now
for the doctor. " The law, and the opinion of the
judge, are not always convertible terms, or one and
the same thing ; since it sometimes may happen, that
the judge may mistake the law." Commentaries^
vol. i. p. 71.
The answer to sir W. M. asserts, page 23, " That
the returning officer is not a judicial, but a purely
ministerial officer. His return is no judicial act."
x\t 'em again, doctor. " The sheriff, in his judicial
capacity, is to hear and determine causes of forty
144 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
shillings valae, and under, in his county court. H«
lias also a judicial power in divers other civil cases.
He is likewise to decide the elections of knights ol
the shire (subject to the control of the house of com-
mons.) to judge of the qualification of voters, and tc
•eturn such as he shall determine to be duly elected.'
J^ide Commentaries, vol. i. p. 332.
What conclusion shall we draw from such facts,
and such arguments, such contradictions ^ I cannot
express my opinion of the present ministry more ex-
actly than in the words of sir Richard Steele, " That
we are governed by a set of drivellers, whose folly
takes away all dignity from distress, and makes even
talamitv ridiculous."
PHILO JUNIUS.
XXIII.
To his Grace the Duke of Bedford.
MY LORD, September 19, 1769-
You are so little accustomed to receive any marks
of respect or esteem from the public, that if, in the
following lines, a compliment or expression o^ ap~
plause should escape me, I fear you would consides
it as a mockery of your established character, and,
perhaps, an insult to your understanding. You have
nice feelings, my lord, if we may judge from your
resentments. Cautious, therefore, of giving oflence,
where you have so little deserved it, I shall leave
JUNILTS'S LETTERS. 145
the illustration of your virtues to other hands Your
friends have a privilege to play upon the easiness of
your temper, or, possibly, they are better acquainted
with your good qualities than I am. You have done
good by stealth. The rest is upon record. You
have still left ample room for speculation, when
panegyric is exhausted.
You are, indeed, a very considerable man. The
highest rank, a splendid fortune, and a name, glo-
rious, till it was yours, weie sufficient to have sup-
ported you with meaner abilities than I think you
possess. From the first, you derive a constitutional
claim to respect ; from the second, a natural exten-
sive authority ; the last created a partial expectation
of hereditary virtues. The use you have made of
these uncommon advantages might have been more
honourable to yourself, but could not be more in-
structive to mankind. We may trace it in the
veneration of your country, the choice of your
friends, and in the accomplishment of every sanguine
hope which the public might have conceived from
the illustrious name of Russell.
The eminence of your station gave you a com-
manding prospect of your duty. The road which
led to honour was open to your view. You could
not lose it by mistake, and you had no temptation
to depart from it by design. Compare the natural
dignity and importance of the highest peer of Eng-
land : the noble independence which he might have
maintained in parliament ; and the real interest and
respect which he might have acquired, not only in
parliament, but through the whole kingdom ; com-
voL. I. G 10
146 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
pare these glorious distinctions, with the ambition
of holding a share in government, the emoluments
of a place, the sale of a borough, or the purchase ol
\ corporation ; and though you may not regret the
viraie>j ?»V:ii.cn create respect, you may see with
anguish how much real importance and authority
/ou have lost. Consider the character of an inde
pendent, virtuous duke of Bedford ; imagine what
he might be in this country ; then reflect one mo-
wmt upon what you are. If it be possible for me
to withdraw my attention from the fact, I will tell
you in theory what such a man might be.
Conscious of his own weight and importance, his
conduct in parliament would be directed by nothing
but the constitutional duty of a peer. He would
consider himself as a guardian of the laws. Willing
to support the just measures of government, but
determined to observe the conduct of the minister
with suspicion, he would oppose the violence of
faction with as much firmness as the encroachments
of prerogative. He would be as little capable of
bargaining with the minister for places for himself
or his dependents, as of descending to mix himself
in the intrigues of opposition. Whenever an im-
portant question called for his opinion in parlia-
ment, he would be heard by the most profligate
minister with deference and respect. His authority
would either sanctify or disgrace the measures of
government. The people would look up to Jiim
as to their protector ; and a virtuous prince would
have one honest man in his dominions, in whose
mtegrlty and judgment he might safely confide.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 14t
If 't sh3uld be the will of Providence to afflict*
him with a domestic misfortune, he would submit
to the stroke with feeling, but not without dignity.
He would consider the people as his children,
and receive a generous, heartfelt consolation, in
the sympathizing tears and blessings of hi?
country.
Tour grace may probably discover something
more intelligible in the negative part of this illus-
trious character. The man I have described would
never prostitute his dignity in parliament, by an
indecent violence, either in opposing or defending
a minister. He would not at one moment rancor-
ously persecute, at another basely cringe to, the
favourite of his sovereign. After outraging the
royal dignity with peremptory conditions, little
short of menace and hostility, lie would never de-
scend to the humility of soliciting an interviewt
with the favourite, and of offering to recover, at
any price, the honour of his friendship. Though
deceived, perhaps, in his youth, he would not,
through the course of a long life, have invariably
chosen his friends frorr among the most profligate
of mankind. His own nonour would have forbid-
den him from mixing his private pleasures or con-
versation with jockeys, gamesters, blasphemers,
* The duke had lately lost his only son by a fall from hia
borse.
t At this interview, which passed at the house of the late
lord Eglintoun, lord Bute tr»ld tlie duke, tliat he was deter-
mined never to have any connexion with a man who had so
basely betrayed him.
148 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
gladiators, or buffoons. He would then huve nevey
felt, much less would he have submitted to, the dis-
honest necessity of engaging in the interests and
intrigues of his dependents ; of supplying their
vices, or relieving their beggary, at the expense o'
his country. He would not have betrayed such
ignorance, or such contempt, of the constitution,
as openly to avow, in a court of justice, the pur-
chase* and sale of a borough. He would not have
thought it consistent with his rank in the state, or
even with his personal importance, to be the little
tyrant of a little corporation.! He would never
have been insulted with virtues which he had la-
boured to extinguish ; nor suffered tlie disgrace of
a mortifying defeat, which has made him ridiculous
and contemptible even to the few by whom he was
not detested. I reverence the afflictions of a good
man ; his sorrows are sacred. But how can we take
part in the distresses of a man whom we can nei-
ther love or esteem : or feel for a calamity of which
ne himself is insensible.'' Where was the father's
neart, when he could look for, or find, an imme-
* In an answer in chancery, in a suit against him to
recover a large sum, paid him by a person whom he had
undertaken to return to parliament for one of his grace's
boroughs, he was compelled to repay the money.
t Of Bedford, where the tyrant was held in such con-
tempt and detestation, that, in order to deliver fliemselves
trom him, they adnii'tted a great number of strangers tP
the freedom. To make his defeat truly ridiculous, he
tried his whole strength against Mr. Home, and was beaten
upon his own ground.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 149
diate consolation for the loss of an only son, in
consultations and bargains for a place at court,
and even in the misery of ballotting at the India
House ?
Admitting, then, that you have mistaken or de-
serted those honourable principles which ought to
have directed your conduct ; admitting that you
have as little claim to private aflection as to public
esteem, let us see with what abilities, with what de-
gree of judgment, you have carried your own sys-
tem into execution. A great man, in the success,
and even in the magnitude, of his crimes, finds a
rescue from contempt. Your grace is every way
unfortunate. Yet I will not look back to those
ridiculous scenes, by which, in your earlier days_
you thought it an honour to be distinguished ;*
the recorded stripes, the public infamy, your own
Ruflerings, or Mr. Rigby's fortitude. These events
undoubtedly left an impression, though not upon
your mind. To such a mind, it may, perhaps, be a
pleasure to reflect, that there is hardly a corner of
* Mr. Heston Humphrey, a country attorney, horse-
whipped the duke, with equal justice, severity, and perse-
verance, on the course at Lichfield. Rigby and lord Tren-
tham were also cudgelled in a most exemplary manner. This
gave rise to the following story : " When the late king
heard that sir Edward Hawke had given the French a drub-
bing, his" majesty, who had never received that kind of chas-
tisement, was pleased to ask lord Chesterfield the meaning
of the word. — " Sir," says lord Chestorfield, " the meaning
of the word — Cut here comes the duke of Bedford, who n
ttetter able to exphifn it to your majesty Uian I am."
ISO JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
any of his majesty's kingdoms, except France, in
v/hich, at one time or other, your valuable life has
not been in danger. Amiable man ! we see and ac-
knowledge the protection of Providence, by which
you have so often escaped the personal detestation
of your fellow-subjects, and are still reserved for the
public justice of your country.
Your history begins to be important at that
auspicious period, at which you were deputed to
represent the earl of Bute at the court of Versailles.
It was an honourable ofnce, and executed with the
same spirit with which it was accepted. Your
patrons wanted an ambassador who would submit
to make concessions, without daring to insist upon
any honourable condition for his sovereign. Their
business required a man who had as little feeling foi
his own dignity, as for the welfare of his country ,
and they found him in the first rank of the nobility.
Belleisle, Goree, Guadaloupe, St. Lucia, Martin-
ique, the Fishery, and the Havana, are glorious
monuments of your grace's talents for negotiation.
My lord, we are too well acquainted with your pe-
cuniary character, to think it possible that so many
public sacrifices should have been made without
some private compensations. Your conduct carries
with it an internal evidence, beyond all the legal
proofs of a court of justice. Even the callous pride
of lord Egremont was alarmed.*' He saw and felt
• This man, notwithstanding his pride and Tory prin
ciples, had some Engllsli stufT in liim. Upon an official
letter he wrote to the duke of Ucdford, tbe duke desired ta
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 151
liis own dishonour in corresponding with you : and
there certainly was a moment at which he meant to
have resisted, had not a fatal lethargy prevailed over
his faculties.^ and carried all sense and memory away
with it.
I will not pretend to specify the secret terms on
which you were invited to support* an administra-
tion which lord Bute pretended to leave in full
possession of their ministerial authority, and ner-
fecdy masters of themselves. He was not of a
temper to relinquish power, though he retired from
employment. Stipulations were certainly made be-
tween your grace and him, and certainly violated.
After two years' submission, you thought you had
collected strength enough to control his influence,
and that it was your turn to be a tyrant, because you
Lad been a slave. When you found yourself mis-
taken in your opinion of your gracious master's
firmness, disappointment got the better of all your
humble discretion, and carried you to an excess of
outrage to his person, as distant from true spirit, as
from all decency and respect.t After robbing mm
be recalled, and it was with the utmost difficulty that lord
Bute could appease hira.
* Mr. Grenville, lord Halifax, and lord Egremont.
t The ministry having endeavoured to exclude the dow«
Bger out of the Regency Bill, the earl of Bute determiued
to dismiss them. Upon this, the duke of Bedford demanded
an audience of the , reproached him in plain
terms with his duplicity, baseness, falsehood, treachery, and
hypocrisy ; repeatedly gave him the lie, and left him ir
couvuls/oiis
152 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
of the rigbts of a king, you would not permit him
to preserve the honour of a gentleman. It was
then Jord Weymouth was nominated to Ireland
and despatched (we well remember with what inde-
cent hurry) to plunder the treasury of the first fruits
of an employment, which you well knew he was
nev^er to execute.*
This sudden declaration of war against the fa-
vourite, might have given you a momentary merit
with the public, if it had either been adopted upon
principle, or maintained with resolution. With-
out looking back to all your former servility, we
need only observe your subsequent conduct, to see
upon what motives you acted. Apparently united
with Mr. Grenville, you waited until lord Rocking-
ham's feeble administration should dissolve in its
own weakness. The moment their dismission was
suspected, the moment you perceived that another
system was adopted in the closet, you thought it nc
disgrace to return to your former dependence, and
solicit once more the friendship of lord Bute. You
begged an interview, at which he had spirit enough
to treat you with contempt.
It would now be of little use to point out by what
a train of weak, injudicious measures, it became
necessary, or was thought so, to call you back to a
ehare in the administration.! The friends, whom
• He received three thousand pounds for plate and
equipage money.
t AVhen earl Gower was appointed president of the
council, die king, with his usual sinceritVj assured him
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 163
you did not in the last instance desert, were not of
a character to add strength or credit to government :
and, at that time, your alliance with the duke ol
Grafton, was, I presume, hardly foreseen. We must
look for other stipulations to account for that sud-
den resolution of the closet, by which three of your
dependents* (whose characters, I think, cannot be
less respected than they are) were advanced to
offices, through which you might again control the
minister, and probably engross the whole directioi
of affairs.
The possession of absolute power is now once
more within your reach. The measures you have
taken to obtain and confirm it, are too gross to
escape the eyes of a d'scerning, judicious prince
His palace is besieged ; the lines of circumvallation
are drawing round him; and, unless he finds a re-
source in his own activity, or in the attachment c^
the real friends of his family, the best of princes
must submit to the confinement of a state prisoner,
until your grace's death, or some less fortm ate
event, shall raise the siege. For the present, you
may safely resume that style of insult and meracej
which even a private gentleman cannot submit o
hear without being contemptible. Mr. M'Kenzie's
history is not yet forgotten ; and you may find pre-
cedents enough of the mode in which an imperious
that he had not had one happy moment since the duke ol
Bedford left him.
* Lords Gower, Weymouth, and Sandwich.
G 2
154 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
subject may signify his pleasure to his soverei^
Where will this gracious monarch look for assist-
ance, when the wretched Grafton could forget hig
obligations to his master, and desert him for a hol-
low alliance with such a man as the duke ot
Bedford !
Let us consider you, then, as arrived at the sum-
mit of worldly greatness ; let us suppose that all
your plans of avarice and ambition are accom-
plished, and your most sanguine wishes gratified, in
the fear as well as the hatred of the people ; can age
itself forget that you are now in the last act of life ?
Can gray hairs make folly venerable ? And is there
no period to be reserved for meditation and re-
tirement ? For shame, my lord ! let it not be re-
corded of you, that the latest moments of your life
were dedicated to the same unworthy pursuits, the
same busy agitations, in which your youth and
manhood were exhausted. Consider that, although
you cannot disgrace your former life, you are vio-
lating the character of age, and exposing the im-
potent imbecility, after you have lost the vigour, of
the passions.
Your friends will ask, perhaps, Whither shall this
unhappy old man retire .'' Can he remain in the
metropolis, where his life has been so ol'ten threat-
ened, and his palace so often attacked ? If he returns
to Woburn, scorn and mockery await him. He
must create a solitude round his estate, if he would
avoid the face of reproach ar d derision. At Ply-
mouth, his destructior would be more than probable;
at Exeter, inevitable No honest Englishman will
J l^IUS'S LETTERS. 155
«»ver forget his attachment, nor any honest Scotch-
man forgive his treachery, to lord Bute. At every
town he enters, he must change his liveries and
name. Whichever way he flies, the hue and cry ol
the country pursues him.
In another kingdom, indeed, the blessings of his
administration have bean more sensibly felt ; his
virtues bcttci understood ; or, at worst, they will
not, for him alone, forget their hospitality. As
well might T^erres have returned to Sicily. You
have twice escapee, my lord ; beware of a third
experiment. The indignation of a whole people,
plundered, insulted, and oppressed, as they have
been, will not always be disappointed.
It is in vain, tlierefore, to shift the scene. You
can no more fl ' from your enemies, than from
yourself. Perseci led abroad, you look into your
own heart for consolation, and find nothing but
reproaches and despair. But, my lord, you may
quit the field of business, though not the field ol
danger; and though you cannot be safe, you may
cease to be ridiculous. I fear you have listened too
long to the advice of those pernicious friends, with
whose interests you have sordidly united your own,
and for whom you have sacrificed every thing that
ought to be dear to a man of honour. They are
gtill base enough to encourage the follies of your
age, as the> once did the vices of your youth. As
little acquainted with the rules of decornm as with
the laws of morality, they will not sufler you to
profit by experience, nor even to consult the propri-
ety of a bad character. Even now they tell you
156 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
that life is no more than a dramatic scene, in which
the hero should preserve his consistency to the last ;
and that as you lived without virtue, you should die
without repentance.
JUNIUS
XXIV.
To Junih,.
SIR, September 14 1769.
Having, accidentally, seen a republication of your
letters, wherein you have been pleased to assert,
that I had sold the companions of my success, I am
again obliged to declare the said assertion to be a
most infamous and malicious falsehood ; and I again
call upon you to stand forth, avow yourself, and
prove the charge. If you can make it out to the
satisfaction of any one man in the kingdom, I will
be content to be thought the worst man in it ; if
you do not, what must the nation think of you ?
Party has nothing to do in this affair : you have
made a personal attack upon my honour, defamed
me by a most vile calumny, which might possibly
have sunk into oblivion, had not such uncommon
pains been taken to renew and perpetuate this
scandal, chiefly because it has been told in good
language ; for I give j'ou full credit for your eleganl
diction, well-turned periods, and Attic wit : bu
JUNIUS'S LETTERS ISI
Wit IS cftentimes false, though it may appear bril-
Huiil; which is exactly the case of your whole per-
formance. But, sir, I am obliged, in the most
serious manner, to accuse you of being guilty ol
falsities. You have said - the thjng that is not
To support your story, you have recourse to the
following irresistible argument : " You sold the
companions of your victory, because, when the
16t]i regiment was given to yow, you was silent.
The conclusion is inevitable." I believe that such
deep and acute reasoning could only come from
such an extraordinary writer as Junius. But, un-
fortunately for you, the premises, as well as the
conclusion, are absolutely false. Many applications
have been made to the ministry, on the subject of
the Manilla ransom, since the time of my being
colonel of that regiment. As I have for some year.-}
quitted London, I was obliged to have recourse to
the honourable colonel INIonson, and sir Samuel
Cornish, to negotiate for me. In the last autumn,
I personally delivered a memorial to the earl o
Shelburne, at his seat in Wiltshire. As you have
told us of your importance, that you are a person
of rank and fortune, and above a common bribe,
you may, in all probability, be not unknown to his
lordship, who can satisfy you of the truth of what
I say. But I shall now take the liberty, sir, to
seize your battery, and turn it against yourself. If
your puerile and tinsel logic could carry the least
weight or conviction with it, how must you stand
affected by the inevitable conclusion, as you are
pleased to term it ? According to Junius, silence is
guilt. In many of the public papers, you have
£58 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
been called, in the most direct and offensive terms, a
liar and a coward. When did you reply to these foul
accusat ons ? You have been quite silent, quite
chop-fa.len: therefore, because you was silent, the
nation has a right to pronounce you to be both a liar
and a coward, from your own argument. But, sir,
I will give you fair play ; I will afford you an oppor-
tunity to wipe off the first appellation, by desiring
the proofs of your charge against me. Produce
them ! To wipe off the last, produce yourself Peo-
ple cannot bear any longer your lion's skin, and the
despicable imposture of the old Roman name which
you have affected. For the future, assume the name
of some modern* bravo and dark assassin: let your
appellation have some affinity to your practice. But
if i must perish, Junius, let me perish in the face oi
day: be for once a generous and open enemy. 1
allow that Gothic appeals to cold iron, are no better
proofs of a man's honesty and veracity, than hot iron
and burning plough-shares are of female chastity ;
jut a soldier's honour is as delicate as a woman's :
it must not be suspected. You have dared to throw
more than a suspicion upon mine : you cannot but
know the consequences, which even the meekness of
Christianity would pardon me for, after the injury
you have done me.
WILLIAM DRAPER.
* Was Brutus an ancient brave and dark assassin ? Oi
does sir W. D. think it crimina. to stab a tyrant to the
heart ?
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 159
XXV.
Haeret later! lethalis arundo.
To Sir William Draper, Knight of the Bath.
SIR, September 25, 1769.
After so long an interval, I did not expect to see
the debate revived between us. My answer to your
last letter shall be short; for I write to you with
reluctance, and I hope we shall now conclude our
correspondence for ever.
Had you been originally, and without provoca-
tion, attacked by an anonymous writer, you would
have some right to demand his name. But in this
cause you are a volunteer. You engaged in it with
the unpremeditated gallantry of a soldier. You
were content to set your name in opposition to a
man who would probably continue in concealment.
You understood the terms upon which we were to
correspond, and gave at least a tacit assent to them.
After voluntarily attacking me, under the character
of Junius, what possible right have you to know me
under any other.'' Will you forgive me if I insinuate
to you, that you foresaw some honour in the appa-
rent spirit of coming forward in person, and that you
were not quite indiflerent to the display of your lite-
rary qi alifications r
160 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
You cannot but know, that the republication of my
letters was no more than a catch-penny contrivance
of a printer, in which it was impossible I should be
concerned, and for which I am no way answerable.
At the same time, I wish you to understand, that if I
do not take the trouble of reprinting these papers, it
is not from any fear of gi\ ing offence to sir William
Draper.
Tour remarks upon a signature adopted merely for
distinction, are unworthy of notice : but when you
tell me I h xve submitted to be called a liar and a
coward, I nuist ask you, in my turn, whether you
seriously think it any way incumbent on me to take
notice of the silly invectives of every simpleton who
writes in a newspaper; and what opinion you would
have conceived of my discretion, if I had suffered my-
self to be the dupe of so shallow an artifice .'*
Your appeal to the sword, though consisten
enough with your late profession, will neither prove
your innocence, nor clear you from suspicion.
Your complaints with regard to the Manilla ransom,
were, for a considerable time, a distress to govern-
ment. You were appointed (greatly out of your
turn) to the command of a regiment ; and during
that administration we heard no more of sir William
Draper. The facts of which I speak may, indeed,
be variously accounted for ; but they are too notori-
ous to be denied ; and I think you might have learn-
ed, at the university, that a false conclusion is an
error in argument, not a breach of veracity. Your
solicitatious, I doubt not, were renewed under another
idministration. Admitting tlie fact, I fear an indif-
erent person would only infer i^vom it, that experi-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 161
ence had made you acquainted with the benefits o'
complaining. Remember, sir, that you have your-
self confessed, that, considering the critical situation
of this country, the ministry are in the right to tempo-
rise with Spain. Tliis confession reduces you to an
unfortunate dilemma. By renewing your solicita-
tions, you must either mean to force your country
into a war at a most unseasonable juncture, or,
having no view or expectation of that kind, that
you look for nothing but a private compensation to
yourself.
As to me, it is by no means necessary tiiat I should
be exposed to the resentment of the worst and the
most powerful men in this country, though I may be
indifferent about yours. Though you would fight,
there are others who would assassinate.
But, after all, sir, where is the injury .f* You as-
sure me, that my logic is puerile and tinsel ; that it
carries not the least weight or conviction ; that my
premises are false, and my conclusions absurd. If
this be a just description of me, how is if possible
for such a writer to disturb your peace of mind, or
to injure a character so well established as yours ?
Take care, sir William, how you indulge this un-
ruly temper, lest the world should suspect that con-
science has some share in your resentments. You
have more to fear from the treachery of your own
passions, than from any malevolence of mine.
I believe, sir, you will never know me. A con-
siderable time must certainly elapse before we are
personally acquainted. You need not, however,
regret the delay, or suffer an apprehension, that
any length of time can restore you to the Christian
11
i62 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
meekness of jour temper, and disappoint your pre-
sent indignation. If I understand your character,
there is in your own breast a repository, in which
you)' resentments may be safely laid up for future
occasions, and preserved without the hazard of
diminution. The odia in longum jacens, qua re*
conderet, auctaque promeret, I thought had only be-
longed to the worst character of antiquity. The text
is in Tacitus : you know best where to look for the
commentary.
JUNIUS.
XXVI
A Word at parting to Junius
• SIR, October 7, 1769.
As you have not favoured me with either of the
explanations demanded of you, I can have nothing
more to say to you upon my own account. Your
* Meas^tres and not men, is the common cant of affected
moderation : a base counterfeit language, fabricated by
knaves, and made current among fools. Such gentle cen-
sure is not fitted to the })resent degenenite state of society.
What does it avail to expose the absurd contrivance, or
pernicious tendency, of measures, if the man who advises
or executes, shall be suffered, not only to escape with im-
punity, but even to preserve his |)ower, a)id insult us with
\lie favour of his sovereign ? I would reconimcuG to the
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 1G3
mercy to me, or tenderness for yourself, has been
very great. The public will jutlge of you/- motives-
If your excess of modesty forbids you to produce
either the proofs or yourself, I w'lW excuse it.
Take courage, I have not the temper of Tiberius,
any more than the rank or power. You, indeed,
are a tyrant of another sort; and upon your politi-
cal bed of torture, can excruciate any subject, from
a first minister down to such a grub or butterfly
as myself; like another detested tyrant of antiquity,
can make the wretched sufferer fit the bed, if the bed
will not fit the sufferer, by disjointing or tearing the
trembling limbs, until they are stretched to its ex-
tremity. But courage, constancy, and patience
under torments, have sometimes caused the most
hardened monsters to relent, and forgive the object
of their cruelty. You, sir, are determined to try all
that human nature can endure, until she expires ;
else, was it possible that you could be the author of
that most inhuman letter to the duke of Bedford, I
have read with astonishment and horror f Where,
reader the whole of Mr. Pope's letter to Doctor Arbuthnot,
dated July 26th, 1734, from \viiich the following is an ex-
tract : " To reform, and not to chastise, I am afraid, is im-
possible ; and that the best precepts, as well as tlie best laws
would prove of small use, if there were no examples to en-
force them. To attack vices in the abstract, without
touching uersons, may be safe fighting, indeed, but it is
fighting with shadows. My greatest comfort and encou-
ragement to proceed has been to see, that those who hare
no shame, and no fear of any thing else, /lave appeared
iOnclici' by my satires."
164 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
sir, where were the feelings of your own heart, when
you could upbraid a most aflectionale father with the
loss of his only and most amiable son ? Read over
again those cruel lines of yours, and let them wring
your very soul ! Cannot political questions be dis-
cussed, without descending to the most odious per-
sonalities ? Must you go wantonly out of your way
to torment declining age, because the duke of Bed-
ford may have quarrelled with those whose cause and
politics you espouse? For shame! for shame!
As you have spoken daggers to him, you may justly
dread the use of them against your own breast, did a
want of courage, or of noble sentiments, stimulate
him to such mean revenge. He is above it j he is
brave. Do you fancy that your own base arts have
infected our whole island ^ But your own reflec-
tions, your own conscience, must, and will, if you
have any spark of humanity remaining, give him
most ample vengeance. Not all the power of words
with which you are so graced, will ever wash out, or
even palliate, this foul blot in your character. I
have not time, at present, to dissect your letter so
minutely as I could wish; but I will be bold enough
to say, that it is (as to reason and argument) the
most extraordinary piece o(fiorid impotence that was
ever imposed upon the eyes and ears of the too
credulous and deluded mob. It accuses the duke of
Bedford of high treason. Upon what foundation ?
You tell us, " the duke's pecuniary character makes
it more than probable, that he could not have made
such sacrifices at the peace, without some private
compensations: that his conduc carried with it an
JLNIUS'S LETTERS. 165
interior evidence, beyond all the legal proofs of a
court of justice."
My academical education, sir, bids nie tell you, thai
it is necessary to establish the truth of your first
proposition, before you presume to draw inferences
from it. First prove the avarice, before you make
the rash, hasty, and most wicked conclusion. This
father, Junius, whom j^ou call avaricious, allowed
that son eight thousand pounds a year. Upon his
most unfortunate death, which your usual good-na-
ture took care to remind him of, he greatly increased
the jointure of the afflicted lady his widow. Is this
avarice f Is this doing good by stealth ? It is
upon record.
If exact order, method, and true economj^, as a
master of a family ; if splendour, and just magnifi-
cence, without wild waste and thoughtless extrava-
gance, may constitute the character of an avaricious
man, the duke is guilty. But, for a moment, let us
admit that an ambassador may love money too much ;
what proof do you give that he has taken any to
betray his country .'' Is it hearsay, or the evidence
of letters, or ocular ; or the evidence of those con-
cerned in this black affair ? Produce your authori-
ties to the public. It is a most impudent kind of
sorcery, to attempt to blind us with the smoke, with-
out convincing us that the fire has existed. You
first brand him with a vice that he is free from, to
render him odioua and suspected. Suspicion is the
foul weapon with which you make all your chief
attacks ; with that you stab. But shall one of the
first subjects of the realm be ruined in his fame, sIaaH
even his life be in constant danger, from a charge
166 JUNILS'S LETTERS.
built upon such sandy foundations ? Must liis hous«
be besieged by lawless ruffians, his journeys impeded,
and even the asylum of an altar be insecure from
assertions so base and false '^ Potent as he is, the
duke is amenable to justice ; if guilty, punishable
The parliament is the hi^il; and solemn tribunal for
matters of such great moment 5 to that be they sub-
mitted. But I hope, also, that some notice will be
taken of, and some punishment inflicted upon, false
accusers ; especially upon such, Junius, who are wil-
fully false. In any truth I will agree even with
Junius ; will agree with him that it is highly unbe-
coming the dignity of peers to tamper with boroughs.
Aristocracy is as fatal as democracy. Our consti-
tution admits of neither. It loves a king, lords, and
commons, really chosen by the unbought suflrages
of a free people. But if corruption only shifts hands,
if the wealthy commoner gives the bribe instead 0/
the potent peer, is the state better served by this ex-
change ? Is the real emancipation of the borough
eflected, because new parchment bomls may possibly
supersede the old ? To say the truth, wherever such
practices prevail, they are equally criminal to, and
destructive of, oui /reedom.
The rest of your declamation is scarce worth con-
sidering, except for the elegance of the language.
Like Hamlet, in the play, you produce two pictures:
you tell us, that one is not like the duke of Bed-
ford ; then you bring a most hideous caricature,
and tell us of the resemblance ; but multum ahludii
imago.
All your long tedious accounts of the ministeria,
quarrels, and the intrigues of the cabinet, are re
JUNIU^^'S LETTERS. 167
ducible to a few short lines; and to convince you,
sir, that I do not mean to flatter any minister,
either past or present, these are my thouy;hls : they
seem to have acted like lovers, or children ; have*
pouted, quarrelled, cried, kissed, and been friends
again, as the objects of desire, the ministerial rattles,
have been put into tiieir hands. But such proceed-
ings are very unworthy of the gravity and dignity of
a great nation. We do not want men of abilities, but
we have wanted steadiness : we want unanimity ;
your letters, Junius, will not contribute thereto.
You may one day expire by a flame of your own
kindling. But it is my humble opinion, that lenity
and moderation, pardon and oblivion, will disappoii-d
the eflbrts of all the seditious in the land, and extin-
guish their wide-spreading fires. I have lived with
this sentiment ; with this I shall die.
WILLIAM! DRAPER.
• Sir William gives us a pleasant account of men, who,
in his opinion at least, are the best qualified to gov«;m taa
empire.
168 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
xxvu.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, October 13, 1769-
If sir William Draper's bed be a bed of tortures, he
has made it for himself. I shall never interrupt his
repose. Having changed the subject, there are
parts of his last letter not undeserving of a reply.
Leaving his private character and conduct out of the
question, I shall consider him merely in the capacity
of an author, whose labours certainly do no discredit
to a ivewspaper.
We say, in common discourse, that a man may
be his own enemy ; and the frequency of the fact
makes the expression intelligible. But that a man
should be the bitterest enemy of his friends, implies
a contradiction of a peculiar nature. There is some-
thing in it, which cannot be conceived, without a
confusion of ideas, nor expressed, without a solecism
in language. Sir William Draper is still that fatal
friend lord Granby found him. Yet, I am ready to
do justice to his generosity ; if, indeed, it be not
something more than generous, to be the voluntary
advocate of men, who think themselves injured by
his assistance, and to consider nothing in the cause
l>e adopts, but the difficulty of defending it. I
thought, however, he liad been better read in the
history of the human heart, than to compare or con
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 169
found the toitures of the body with tliose of the mind.
He ought to have known, though, perhaps, it might
not be his interest to confess, that no outward tyran-
ny can reach the mind. If conscience pla^s the
ryrant, it would be greatly for the benefit of the
'orld that she were more arbitrary, and far less
\ acable, than some men find her.
But it seems I have outraged the feelings of a
father's heart. Am I, indeed, so injudicious? IJoes
sir William Draper think I would have hazarded my
credit with a generous nation, by so gross a viola-
tion of the laws of humanity .'' Does he think I am
so little acquainted with the first and noblest charac-
teristic of Englishmen ? Or, how will he reconcile
such folly with an understanding so full of artifice as
mine ? Had he been a father, he would have been
but little ofiended with the severity of the reproach,
for his mind would have been filled with the justice
of it. He would have seen, that I did not insult the
feelings of a father, but the father who felt nothing.
He would have trusted to the evidence of his own
paternal heart, and boldly denied the possibility of
the fact, instead of defending it. Against whom,
then, will his honest indignation be directed, when I
assure him, that this whole town beheld the duke of
Bedford's conduct, upon the death of his son, with
horror and astonishment.'' Sir William Draper does
himself but little honour in opposing the general
sense of his country. The people are seldom wrong
in their opinions ; in their sentiments they are never
mistaken. There may be a vanit}', ])erhaps, in a sin-
gular way of thinking : but, when a man professes a
want of those feelings which dip honour to the niulti-
VOL. I. Tl
170 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
lude, he hazards something infinitely more important
tlian the character of his understanding. After all,
as sir William may possihly be in earnest n his anxi-
ety for the didve of Bedford, I shouhl be glad to re-
lieve hiia from it. He may rest assurecV his worthy
nobleman laughs, with equal indiHerence, at my re
proaches, and sir William's distress about him. But
here let it stop. Even the duke of Bedford, insensi-
ble as he is, will consult the tranquillity of his life, in
not provoking the moderation of my temper. If
from the profoundest contempt, I should ever rise
into anger, he should soon find, that all I have already
said of him was lenity and compassion.
Out of a long catalogue, sir William Draper has
confined himself to the refutation of two charges only.
The rest he had not time to discuss , and, indeed, it
would have been a laborious undertaking. To draw
up a defence of such a series of enormities, would
have required a life, at least, as long as that which
has been uniformly emplo3'ed in the practice of them.
The public opinion of the duke of Bedford's extreme
economy is, it seems, entirely without foundation.
Though not very prodigal abroad, in his own family,
at least, he is regular and magnificent. He pays hia
debts, abhors a beggar, and makes a handsome pro-
vision for his son. His charity has improved upon
the proverb, and ended where it began. Admitting
the whole force of this single instance of his domestic
generosity, (wonderful, indeed, consideiing the nar-
rowness of his fortune, and the little merit of his only
son) the public may still, perhaps, be dissatisfied,
and demand some other less equivocal proofs of his
iiiuuificence. Sir William Draper should have en-
JUNIUSS LETTERS. 171
tered boldly into tlie detail of indigence relieved, of
arts encouraged, of science patronised, men of learn-
ing protected, and works of genius rewarded. In
short, had tliere been a single instance, besides Mr
Rigby,* of blushing merit, brought forward by the
duke for the service of the public, it should not have
been omitted.
I wish it were possible to establish my inference
with the same certainty on which I believe the prin-
ciple is founded. My conclusion, however, was not
drawn from the principle alone. 1 am not so unjust
as to reason from one crime to another: though 1
think that, of all the vices, avarice is most apt to
taint and corrupt the heart. I combined the known
temper of the man, with the extravagant concessions
made by the ambassador ; and though 1 doubt not
sufficient care was taken to leave no document of any
treasonable negotiation, 1 still maintain that the con-
duett of this minister carries with it an internal and
convincing evidence against him. Sir Wilbam Dra-
per seems not to know the value or force of such a
proof. He will not permit us to judge of the mo-
tives of men, by the manifest tendency of their ac-
tions, nor by the notorious character of their minds.
* This gentleman is supposed to have the same idea o{
bliisJiing, that a man, blind from his birth, has of scarlet or
sky-blue .
t If sir W. D. will take the trouble of looking into Torey's
Memoirs, he will see with wliat little ceremony a bribe may
be offered to a duke, }ni(\ - ilh what little ceremony it was
onlf/ not accepted
172 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
He calls for papers and witnesses with triumplianl
Beeuritj, as if nothing could be true but what couhl
be proved in a court of justice. Yet a religious ir.sn
might have remembered upon what foundation some
truths, most interesting to mankind, have been re-
ceived and established. If it were not for the inter-
nal evidence which the purest of religions carries
with it, what would have become of his once well-
quoted decalogue, and of the meekness of his Chris-
tianity f
The generous warmth of his resentment makes
liiin confound the order of events. He forgets,
liiat the insults and distresses which the duke of
Bedford has suffered, and which sir William has
lamented, with many delicate touches of the true
pathetic, were only recorded in my letter to his
grace, not occasioned by it. It was a simple, can-
did narrative of facts ; though, for aught I know.
It may carry with it something prophetic. His
grace, undoubtedly, has received several ominous
hints ; and, I think, in certain circumstances, a
wise man would do well to prepare himself for the
event.
But I have a charge of a heavier nature against
sir William Draper. He tells us, that the duke of
Bedford is amenable to justice ; that parliament is
a high and solemn tribunal ; and that, if guilty,
he may be punished by due course of law ; and all
this he says with as much gravity as if he believed
one word of the matter. I hope, indeed, the day
of impeachments will arrive before this nobleman
escapes out of life ; but, to refer us to that mode
of proceeding now, with such a ministry and such
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 173
s house of commons as the present, what is it
but an indecent mockery of the common sense of
the nation ? I think ho might have contented him-
self with defending the greatest enemy, without in-
sulting the distresses of his country.
His concluding declaration of his opinion, with
respect to the present condition of affairs, is too
loose and undetermined to be of any service to the
public. How strange is it tliat this gentleman
should dedicate so much time and argument to the
defence of worthless or indifferent characters, while
he gives but seven solitary lines to the only subject
which can deserve his attention, or do credit to his
abilities !
JUNIUS.
xxvni.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, October 20, 1769.
I very sincerely applaud the spirit with which a
lady has paid the debt of gratitude to her benefactor.
Though I think she has mistaken the point, she
shows a virtue which makes her respectable. The
question turned upon the personal generosity or ava-
rice of a man, whose private fortune is immense.
The proofs of his munificence must be drawn from
the uses to which he has applied that fortune. I was
not speaking of a lord lieutenant of Ireland, but of a
174 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
rich English duke, whose wealth gave him the means
of doing as much good in this country, as he derived
from his power in another. I am I'ar from wishing
to lessen the merit of this single benevolent action ;
perhaps it is the more conspicuous, from standing
alone. All I mean to say is. that it proves nothing
in the presen* argument.
JUNIUS.
XXIX.
Addressed to the Printer of the Public Advertiser
SIR, October 19, 1769.
I am well assured that Junius will never descend
to a dispute with such a writer as Modestus (whose
letter appeared in the Gazetteer of Monday), espe-
cially as the dispute must be chiefly about words.
Notwithstanding the partiality of the public, it does
not appear that Junms values himself upon any su-
perior skill in composition : and I hope his time
will always be more usefully employed than in the
trifling refinements of verbal criticism. Modestus,
however, shall have no reason to triumph in the
silence and moderation of Junius. If he knew a?
much of the propriety of language, as, I believe, he
does of the facts in question, he would have been
as cautious of attacking Junius upon his composi-
tion, as he seems to be of entering into the subject of
it : yet, after all, the last is the only article of any
importance to the public
I do not wonder at the unremitted rancour wrth
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 175
which the duke of Bedford and his adherents inva-
riably speak of a nation, which we tvell know has
been too much injured to be easily forgiven. But
why must Junius be an Irishman ? The absurdity
of his writings betrays him. Waving all considera-
tion of the insult ofiered by Modestus to the de-
clared judgment of the people (they may well beai
this amongst the rest) let us follow the several instan
ces, and try whether the charge be fairly supported.
1. Then, the leaving a man to enjoy such a re-
pose as he can find upon a bed of torture, is severe
indeed ; perhaps too much so, when applied to such
a trifler as sir William Draper ; but thei*e is nothing
absurd either in the idea or expression. Modestus can-
not distinguish between a sarcasm and a contradiction.
2. I affirm, with Junius, that it is the frequency
of the fact which alone can make us comprehend
how a man can be his own enemy. We sliould
never arrive at the complex idea conveyed by those
words, if we had only seen one or two instances of
a man acting to his ovm prejudice. Offer the pro-
position to a child or a man unused to compound
his ideas, and you will soon see how little either
of them understand you. It is not a simple idea
arising from a single fact, but a very complex idea
arising from many facts, well observed, and accu'
rately compared.
3. Modestus could not, without great affectation,
mistake the meaning of Junius, when he speaks of
a man, who is the bitterest enemy of his friends.
He could not but know, that Junius spoke not ot a
false or hollow friendship, but of a real intention to
serve, and that intention producing the worst eff(;cts
176 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
of enmity. Whether the description be strictly appii
cable to Sir William Draper, is another (juestion.
Junius does not say, that it is more criminal for a
man to be the enemy of his friends than his own;
though he might have affirmed it with truth. In a
noral light, a man may certainly take greater liber-
ties with himself, than with another. To sacrifice
otirselves merely, is a weakness we may indulge in,
if v/e think proper, for we do it at our own hazard
and expense ; but, under the pretence of friendship,
to sport with the reputation, or sacrifice the honour,
of anothei-, is something worse than weakness ; and
if, in favour of the foolish intention, we do not call
it a crime, we must allow, at least, that it arises from
an overweening, busy, meddling impudence. Junius
says only, and he says truly, that it is more extra-
ordinary ; that it involves a greater contradiction
than the other ; and, is it not a maxim received in
life, that, in general, we can determine more wisely
for others than for ourselves ? The reason of it is
so clear in argument, that it hardly wants the con-
firmation of experience. Sir William Draper, I
confess, is an exception to the general rule, though
not much to his credit.
4. If this gentleman will go back to his ethics,
he may, perhaps, discover the truth of what Juniui
says, That no outward tyranny can reach the mind.
The tortures of the body may be introduced, by
way of ornament or illustration, to represent those
of the mind ; but, strictly, there is no similitude be-
tween them : they are totally diflerent, botli in their
cause and operation. The wretch who siiU'crs upoi.
the rack is merely passive : but, when the mind is
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 177
tortured, it is not at the command of any outward
power ; it is the sense of guilt which constitutes the
punishment, and creates that torture, with vvliich the
guilty mind acts upon itself.
5. He misquotes what Junius sdiys of conscience, and
makes the sentence ridiculous, by making it his own.
So much for composition. Now for fact. Junius,
it seems, has mistaken the duke of Bedford. His
grace had all the proper feelings of a father, though
he took care to suppress the appearance of them.
let it was an occasion, one would thiidi, on which
he need not have been ashamed of his grief; on
which less fortitude would have done him more
honour. I can conceive, indeed, a benevolent mo-
tive for his endeavouring to assume an air of tran-
quillity in his own family ; and I wish I could dis-
cover any thing, in the rest of his character, to
justify my assigning that motive to his behaviour.
But is there no medium ? Was it necessary to ap-
pear abroad, to ballot at the India-House, and make
a public display, though it were only of an apparent
msensibility .'' I know we are treading on tender
ground; and Junius, I am convinced, does not wish
to urge this question farther. Lei the friends of ihe
duke of Bedford observe that humble silence which
becomes their situation. They should recollect, that
there are still some facts in store at which human
nature would shudder. I shall be understood by
those whom it concerns, when I say, that these facts
go farther than to the duke.*
* Within a fortnight after lord Tavistock's death, the
venerable Gertrude had a rout at Bedford house. The
II 2 VJ
178 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
it is not inconsisteut to suppose, that a mAn m^Ly
be quite indifferent about one part of a charge, yet
severely slung witli another j a ad though he feels no
'eraorse, that he may wish to be revenged. The
charge of insensibility carries a reproach, indeed, but
no danger with it. Junius had said, There are others
who would assassinate. Modestus, knowing his man,
will not s'affer the insinuation to be divided, but
fixes all upon the duke of Bedford.
Without determining upon what evidence Junius
wotiid choose to be condemned, I will venture to
maintain, in opposition to Modestus, or to Mr,
iigby, (who is certainly not Modestus) or any of the
Bloomsbury gang, that the evidence against the duke
of Bedford is as strong as any presumptive evidence
can be. It depends upon a combination of facts and
reasoning, which require no confirmation from the
anecdote of the duke of Marlborough. This aaec-
good duke (who had only sixty thousand pounds a year)
ordered an inventory to be taken of his son's wearing aj»-
parel, down to his slippers, sold them all, and put the
money in his pocket. The amiable marchiones'jj shocked
dt such brutal, unfeeling avarice, gave the value of the
clothes to the maiquis's servant, out of her own purse.
That incomparable woman did not long survive her hus-
band. When she died, the duchess of Bedford treated her
as tiie duke had treated his only son : she ordered every
)j;<nvn and trinket to be sold, and pocketed the money.
Tliese are the monsters whom sir William Draper comes
tor ward to defend. May God protect me from doing any
ihuig that nviy require such defence or to deserve such
friendship.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 79
dote was referred to, merely to show ho\r ready a
great man may be to receive a great bribe ; and if
Modestus could read the original, he would see, that
the expression only not accepted, was, probably, the
only one in our language that exactly fitted the case.
The bribe offered to the duke of Marlborough was
not refused.
I cannot conclude without taking notice of this
honest gentleman's learning, and wishing he had
given us a little more of it. When he accidentally
found himself so near speaking truth, it was rather
unfair o( him to leave out the nan potuisse refelli.
As it stands, the pudet hcec opprohria may be divided
equally between Mr. Rigby and the duke of Bedford.
Mr. Rigby, I take for granted, will assert his natural
right to the modesty of the quotation, and leave all
the opprobrium to his grace.
PHILO JUNIUS.
XXX.
To the PTinte" vf the Public Advertiser.
SIR, October 17, 1769.
It is not wonderful tgat the great cause in which
this country is engaged, should have roused and en-
grossed the whole attention of the people. I rather
admire the generous spirit with which they feel and
assert their "merest in this important question, than
blame them for their indifference about any other.
When the constitution is openly invaded, when tlie
180 JUNIUS'S LETIERS.
ftrst original right of the pe3ple, from which all laws
derive their authority, is directly attacked, inferior
grievances naturally lose their force, and are suf-
fered to pars by without punishment or observation.
The present ministry are as singularly marked by
their fortune, as their crimes. Instead of atoning for
their former conduct, by any wise or popular mea-
sure, they have found, in the enormity of one fact, a
cover and defence for a series of measures, which
must have been fatal to any other administration. 1
fear we are too remiss in observing the w hole of their
proceedings. Struck with the principal figure, we
do not sufficiently mark in what manner the canvass
is filled up. Yet surely it is not a less crime, nor
less fatal in its consequences, to encourage a flagrant
breach of the law, by a military force, than to make
use of the forms of parliament to destroy the consti-
tution.— The ministry seem determined to give us a
choice of difficulties, and, if possible, to perplex us
with the multitude of their oflences. The expedient
is worthy of the duke of Grafton. But though he
has preserved a gradation and variety in his mea-
sures, we should remember that the principle is un -
f'jrm. Dictated by the same spirit, they deserve the
same attention The following fact, though of the
most alarming nature, has not yet been clearly stated
to the public ; nor have the consequences of it been
sufficiently understood. — Had I taken it up at an
earlier period, I sNould have been accused of an un-
candid, malignant precipitation, as if I watched for
an unfair advantage against the ministr}^, and would
not aMovv them a reasonaile time to do their duty.
The} now stand without excuse. Instead of em-
JUNIUS*S LETTERS. 181
ploying tie leisure they have had, in a strict exami-
nation of the offence, and punishing the ofienders,
they seem to have considered that indulgence as a
security to thcni ; that, with a little time and man-
agement, the whole affair might be buried in silence,
and utterly forgotten.
A major general* of the army is arrested by the
sheriff's officers for a considerable debt. He per-
suades them to conduct him to the Tilt-yard, in St.
James's Park, under some pretence of business,
which it imported him to settle before he was con-
fined. He applies to a serjeant, not immediately on
duty, to assist, with some of his companions, in fa-
vouring his escape. He attempts it. A bustle en-
sues. The bailiffs claim their prisoner.
An officer of the guards,t not then on duty, takes
part in the affair, applies to the lieutenantj com-
manding tlie Tilt-yard guard, and urges him to turn
out his guard to relieve a general officer. The lieu-
tenant declines interfering in person, but stands at
a distance, and suffers the business to be done. The
officer takes upon himself to order out the guard. In
a moment they are in arms, quit their guard, march,
rescue the general, and drive away the sheriff's offi-
cers, who, in vain, represent their right to the prison-
er, and the nature of the arrest. The soldiers first
conduct the general into the guard-room, then escort
him to a place of safety, with bayonets fixed, and in
all the forms of military triumph. I will not enlarge
upon the various circumstances which attended this
* Major-general Gansel.
t Lieuf°nant Dodd. f Lieutenant Garth.
182 JUNIUS'S .ETTERS.
atrocijus proceeding The personal injury received
by tiie officers of the law, in the execution of their
duty, may, perhaps, be atoned for by some private
compensation. I consider nothing but the wound
which has been given 13 the law itself, to which no
remedy has been applied, no satisfaction made.
Neither is it my design to dwell upon the misconduct
.of the parties concerned, any farther than is necessary
to show the behaviour of the ministry in its true
light. I would make every compassionate allow-
ance for the infatuation of the prisoner, the false and
criminal discretion of one officer, and the madness of
another. I would leave the ignorant soldiers entirely
.out of the question. They are certainly the least
guilty ; though they are the only persons who have
yet sufiered, even in the appearance of punishment.*
The fact itself, however atrocious, is not the prin-
cipal point to be considered. It might have happen-
ed under a more regular government, and with guards
better disciplined than ours. The main question is,
In what manner have the ministry acted on this ex-
traordinary occasion .'' A general officer calls upon
the king's own guard, then actually on duty, to res-
cue him from the laws of his country : yet, at tiiis
moment, he is in a situation no worse than if he had
not committed an offence equally enormous in a civil
a: id military view. A lieutenant upon duty design-
edly quits his guard, and suffers it to be drawn out
by another officer, for a purpose, which he well knew
(as we may collect from an appearance of caution,
tvhich on y makes his behaviour the more criminal)
• A few of them were conflDed
JUNIUS S LETTERS. 18J
to be ill the highest degree illegal. Has this gentle-
man been called to a court nuiriial to auawer for his
conduct ? No. Has it been censured .'' No. Has
it been in any shape inquired into : No. Another
lieutenant, not upon duty, nor even in his regimentals,
is daring enough to order out the king's guard, over
which he had properly no command, and engages
them in a violation of the laws of his country, per-
haps the most singular and extravagant that ever
was attempted What punishment I as he suffered .''
Literally none. Supposing he should be prosecuted
at common law for the rescue; will that circumstance,
from which the ministry can derive no merit, excuse
or justify their suffering so flagrant a breach of mili-
tary discipline to pass by unpunished and unnoticed ?
Are they aware of the outrage offered to their sove-
reign, when his own proper guard is ordered out to
stop, by main force, the execution of his laws.'' What
are we to conclude from so scandalous a neglect of
their duty, but that they have other views, which can
only be answered by securing the attachment of the
guards.'' Tiie minister would hardly be so cautious
of offending them, if he did not mean, in due time, to
call for their assistance.
With respect to the parties themselves, let it be
observed, that these gentlemen are neither young
oflicers, nor very young men. Had they belonged
to the unfledged race of ensigns, who infest our
streets, and dishonour our public places, it might,
perhaps, be sufficient to send them back to that dis-
cipline from which their parents, judging lightly from
the maturity of their vices, had removed them too
soon In this case, I am sorry to see, not so much
184 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
the folly of youths, as the spirit of the corps, an J, the
connivance of government. I do not questioiv thai
here are many hrave and worthy officers in the re-
giments of guards. But considering them as a corps,
I fear, it will be found, diat they are neither good
soldiers nor good subjects. Far be it from me to
insinuate the most distant reflection upon the army.
On the contrary, I honour and esteem the profession ;
and, if these gentlemen were better soldiers, I am
sure they would be better subjects. It is not thai
there is any internal vice or defect in the profession
itself, as regulated in this country, but that it is tlie
spirit of this particular corps to despise their profes-
sion : and that, while they vainly assume the lead ol
the army, they make it matter of impertinent com-
parison, and triumph over the bravest troops in the
world (I mean our marching regiments) that they,
indeed, stand upon higher ground, and are privileged
to neglect the laborious forms of military discipline
and duly. Without dwelling longer upon a most
invidious subject, I shall leave it to military men, who
have seen a service more active than the parade, to
determine whether or no I speak truth.
How far this dangerous spirit has been encouraged
by government, and to what pernicious purposes it
may be applied hereafter, well deserves our most
serious consideration. I know, indeed, that, when
this aifair happened, an aflectation of alarm ran
through the ministry. Something must be done to
save appearances. The case was too flagrant to be
passed by absolutel) witl out notice. But how have
they acted f Instead of ordering the oflicers con-
cerned (and who, strictly speaking, are ala'ie guilty
JUJNlUyb L.i-1'IERS. 185
to be put . nder arrest, and brought to trial, the^
would have it understood, that they did their dut^
completely, in confining a serjeanl and four private
soldiers, until they should be demanded by the civiJ
power : so that while the officers, who ordered or
permitted the thing to be done, escaped without cen-
sure, the poor men, who obeyed these orders, who, in
a military view, are no way responsible for what they
did, and who, for that reason, have been discharged
by tl'e civil magistrates, are the only objects whom
the ministry have thought proper to expose to pun-
ishment. They did not venture to bring even these
men to a court martial, because they knew their evi-
dence would be fatal to some persons whom they were
determined to protect ; otherwise, I doubt not, the
lives of these unhappy, friendless soldiers, would long
since have been sacrificed without scruple, to the se-
curity of their guilty officers.
I have been accused of endeavouring to inflame
the passions of the people. Let me now appeal to
their understanding. If there be any tool of adminis-
tration, daring enough to deny these facts, or shame-
less enough to defend the conduct of the ministry, let
him come forward. I care not under what title he
appears. He shall find me ready to maintain the
truth of my narrative, and the justice of my observa-
tions upon it, at the hazard of my utmost cred't with
tlie public.
Under the most arbitrary governments, the common
adm'nistration of justice is sufiered to take its course.
The subject, though robbed of his share in the legis-
lature, is still protected by the laws. The political
freedom of the Englisli constitution was once *he
186 JUNIUS'S f.KTTERS
pride and honour of an Englishman. The cm
equality of the laws joreserved the property, and de-
fended the safety of the subject. Are these glorious
privileges the birthri<z;lit of the people, or are we only
tenants at the will of the ministry.^ But thai I know
there is a spirit of resistance in the hearts of my coun-
trymen ; that they value life, not by its conveniences,
but by the independence and dignity of their condi-
tion ; I i^hould, at this moment, ap|)eal only to their
discretion. I should persuade them to banish from
their minds all memory of what we were; I should
tell them this is not a time to remember that we v/ere
Englishmen ; and give it, as my last advice, to make
some early agreement with the minister, that, since
it has pleased him to rob us of those political rights,
which once distinguished the inhabitants of a country
where honour was happiness, he would leave us at
least the humble, obedient security of citizens, and
graciously condescend to protect us in our submissioti,
JUNIUS.
XXXI.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, November 14, 1769-
The variety of remarks which have been made
upon the last letter of Junius, and my own opinion
of the writer, who, whatever may be his faults, is cer-
tainly not a weak man, have induced me to examine,
with some attention, the subject of that letter. 1
could not persuade myself, that, while he had plenty
of important materials, he would have taken up a
light or trifling occas''on to attack the ministry
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 67
much less could I conceive, that it was his intention
to ruin the officers concerned in tlie rescue of general
Ganscl, or to injure the gener^il himself. These are
little objects, and can no way contribute to the great
purposes he seems to have in view, by addressing
himself to the public. Without considering the orna-
mented style he has adopted, I determined to look
farther into the matter, before I decided upon the
merits of his letter. The first step I took was to in-
quire into the truth of the facts; for, if these were
either false or misrepresented, the most artful exer-
tion of his understaiidincc, in reasoning upon them,
would only be a disgrace to him. Now, sir, I have
found every circumstance stated by Junius to be lite-
rally true. — General Gansel persuaded the bailiffs to
conduct him to the parade, and certainly solicited a
corporal, and other soldiers, to assist him in making
his escape. Captain Dodd rlid certainly apply to
captain Garth for the assistance of his guard. Cap-
tain Garth declined appearing himself, but stood
aloof, while the other took upon him to order out the
king's guard, and by main force rescued the general.
It is also strictly true, that the general was escorted
by a file of musqueteers to a place of security. These
are facts, ]Mr. Woodfall, which I promise you no gen-
\leman in the guards wil deny. If all or any of them
are false, why are they not contradicted by tl e parties
themselves .'' However secure against military cen-
sure, they have yet a character to lose ; and, surely,
if they are innocent, it is not beneath them to pay
some attention to the opinion of the public.
The force of Junius's observations upon these facts
cannot be better marked, than by statnig and refuting
the objections which have been made to them. One
188 .lUNIUS'S LETTERS.
tvriter sa^ys, " Admitting the officers have offenJed,
they are punishable at common law ; and will yon
have a British subjertj punished twice for the same
ofTence ?" I answer, that they have committed two
offences, both very enormous, and violated two laws.
The rescue is one offence, the flagrant breach of dis-
cipline anotlier ; and hitherto it does not appear that
they have been punished, or even censured for either.
Another gentleman lays much stress upon the calami-
ty of the case ; and, instead of disproving facts, ap-
peals at once to the compassion of the public. This
idea, as well as the insinuation, that, depriving the
parties of their commissions would he an injury to
their creditors, can only refer to general Gansel.
The other officers are in no distress; therefore, have no
claim to compassion : nor does it appear that their
creditors, if they have any. are more likely to be
satisfied by their continuing in the guards. But this
sort of plea will not hold in any shape. Compassion to
an offender, who has grossly violated the laws, is, in ef-
fect, a cruelty to the peaceable subject who has observ-
ed them : and, even admitting the force of an}' alleviat-
ing circumstances, it is nevertheless true, that, in this
instance, the royal compassion has interposed too soon.
The legal and proper mercy of a king of England may
ren)xt the punishment, but ought not to stop the trial.
Besides these particular objections, there has been
a cry raised against Junius, for his malice and injus-
tice in attacking the ministry upon an event which
they could neither hinder nor foresee. This, I must
affirm, is a false representation of his argument. He
lays no stress upon the event itself, as a ground of
accusation against the ministry, but dwells entirely
upon their subsequent conduct. He does not say tha»
JUNIUS'S LETTERS 1&9
they are answerable for the olleiicc, but lor the scan-
dalous neglect of their duty, in suffering an ofTence so
flagrant to pass by without notice or inquiry. Sup-
posing them ever so regardless of what the^' owe to
the public, and as indifferent about the opinion, as
liiey are about the interests of their country, what an-
swer, as officers of the crown, w ill they give to Junius,
when he asks them, " Are they aware of the outrage
offered to their sovereign, when his own proper guard
is ordered out to stop, by main force, the execution
of his laws .?" And when we see a ministry giving
such a strange, unaccountable protection to the officers
of the guards, is it unfair to suspect that they have
some secret and unwarrantable motives for their con-
duct.? If they feel themselves injured by such a sus-
picion, why do they not immediately clear themselves
from it by doing their duty ? For the honour of the
guards, 1 cannot help expressing another suspicion,
that if the commanding officer had not received a
secret injunction to the contrary, he would, in the
ordinary course of his business, have applied for a
court martial to try the two subalterns ; the one for
quitting his guard, the other for taking upon him the
command of the guard, and employing it in the man-
ner he did. I do not mean to enter into, or defend,
the severity with which Junius treats the guards. On
the contrary, I will suppose, for a moment, that they
deserve a very different character. If this be true, in
what light will they consider the conduct of the two
subalterns, but as a general reproach and disgrace to
the whole corps .'* And will they not wish to see them
censured, in a military way, if it were only for the
credit and discipline of the regiment .'*
Upon the whole, sir, the ministry seem to n)e to
190 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
nave taken a very improper advantage of the good
nature of the public, whose humanity, they found,
considered nothing in this affair but the distress of
general Gansel. They would persuade us, that it
wab onl}' a common rescue by a few disorderl}-
soldiers, and not the formal, deliberate act of the
king's guard, headed by an oiTicer; and the public
has fallen into the deception. I think, therefore, we
•jre obliged to Junius for the care he has taken to
inquire into the facts, and for the just commentary
with which he has given them to the world. For
my own part, I am as unwilling as any man to load
the unfortunate ; but really, sir, the precedent with
respect to the guards, is of a most important nature,
and alarming enough (considering the consequences
with which it may be attended) to deserve a parlia-
mentary inquiry. When the guards are daring
enough, not only to violate then* own discipline, but
publicly, and, with the most atrocious violence, to
stop the execution of the laws, and when such extra-
ordinary offences pass with impunity, believe me, sir,
the precedent strikes deep.
PHILO JUNIUS.
XXXII.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, November 15, 1769-
I admit the claim of a gentleman, who publishes in
♦fie Gazetteer under the name of Modestus. He has
some right to expect an answer from mc ; though,
I tiiink, not so much from the merit or importance
JUNIUS'S LETTERS 101
af his objections, as from iny own voluntary engage-
ment. I had a reason for not tailing notice of liiu)
Booncv, which, as lie is a candid person, I believe, \w
will think suliicient. In my first letter, I took for
granted, from the time which had elapsed, that there
was no intention to censure, or even to try, the per-
sons concerned in the rescue of general Gansel : but
Modestus having since either affirmed, or strongly in-
sinuated, that the offenders might still be brought to
a legal trial, any attempt to prejudge the cause, or to
prejudice the minds of a jury, or a court-martial,
would be highly improper.
A man more hostile to the ministry than I am, would
not so often remind them of their duty. If the duke
of Grafton will not perform the duty of his station,
why is he minister ? I will not descend to a scurrilous
altercation with any man; but this is a subject too
important to be passed over with silent indifference.
If the gentlemen, whose conduct is in question, are
not brought to a trial, the duVe of Grafton shall hear
from me again.
The motives on which I am supposed to have taken
up this cause, are of little importance, compared with
the facts themselves, and the observations I have made
upon them. Without a vain profession of integrity,
whi<*h in these times might justly be suspected, I shall
5ho\> myself, in effect, a friend to the interests of my
(ountryraen; and leave it to them to determine,
whether I am moved by a personal malevolence to
three private gentlemen, or merely by a hope of
perplexing the ministry; or whether I am animated
by a just and honourable purpose of obtaining a satis-
faction to the laws of this country, equal, if possible,
to the violation they have suffered. JUNIUS
192 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
XXXllI.
To his Grace the Dvke of Grafton.
MY LORD, November 29, 1769
Though my opinion of your grace's integrity wa«
out little affected by the coyness with wliich you re-
ceived Mr. Vaughan's proposals^ I confess I give you
some credit for your discretion. You had a fair op-
portunity of displaying a certain delicacy, of which
vou had not been suspected, and you were in the right
to make use of it. By laying in a moderate stock ol
reputation, you undoubtedly nicant to provide for the
future necessities of your character, that, with an
honourable resistance upon record, you might safely
indulge your genius, and yield to a favourite inclina-
tion with security. But you have discovered your
purposes too soon; and, instead of the modest reserve
of virtue, have shown us the termagant chastity of a
prude, who gratifies her passions with distinction, and
prosecutes one lover for a rape, while she solicits the
lewd embraces of another.
Your cheek turns pale : for a guilty conscience teils
you, you are undone. Come forward, thou virtuous
minister, and tell the world by what interest Mr. Hine
has been recommended to so extraordinary a mark Oi
his majesty's favour; what was the price of the patent
he has bought, and to what honourable purpose the
purchase-money has been applied. Nothing less than
many thousands could pay colonel Burgoyne's ex-
penses at Preston. Do yon dare to prosecute such a
creature as Vaughan, while you are basely setting up
the roj-jl patronage to auction.? Do 3'()U dare to
complain of an attack upon your own honour, while
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 193
you are selling the favours of the crown, to raise a
fund for corrupting the morals of the people ? And
do you think it is possible such enormities should es-
cape without impeachment .'' It is, indeed, highly your
interest to maintain the present house of commons.
Having sold the nation to you in gross, they will un-
doubtedly protect you in the detail; for, while they pat-
ronise your crimes, they feel for their own. JUNIUS
XXXIV.
To his Grace the Duke of Grafton.
MY LORD, December 12, 1769
I find, with some surprise, that you are not sup
ported as you deserve. Your most determined advo-
cates have scruples about them, which you are unac-
quainted with ; and though there be nothing toe
hazardous for your grace to engage in, there are some
things too infamous for the vilest prostitute of a news-
paper to defend.* In what other manner shall we
account for the profound, submissive silence which
you and your friends have observed upon a charge
which called immediately for the clearest refutation,
and would have justified the severest measures of re-
sentment.? I did not attempt to blast your charac-
ter by an indirect, ambiguous insinuation ; but can-
didly stated to you a plain fact, which struck directly
* From the publication of the preceding to this date, not
one word was said in defence of the duke of Grafton.
But vice and impudence soon recovered themselves, and the
sale of the royal favour was openly avowed and defended.
VV^e acknowledge the piety of St. James's, but what is be-
come of its morality ?
vui,. t i 13
194 JUNIUS 'S LETTERS.
at the integrity of a privy-counsellor, of a first coin*
missioner of the treasury, and of a leading minister,
who is supposed to enjoy tho first share .n his majes-
ty's confidence.* In every one of these capacities I
employed the most moderate terms to charge you
with treachery to your sovereign, and breach of trust
in your office. I accused you of having sold a patent
place in the collection of the customs at Exeter to
one Mr. Hine, who, unable or unwilling to deposit
.the whole purchase-money himself, raised part of it
by contribution, and has now a certain doctor Brooke
quartered upon the salary for one hundred pounds a
year. No sale by the candle was ever conducted with
greater formality. I affirm, that the price at which
the place was knocked down (and which, I have good
reason to think, was not less than three thousand five
hundred pounds) was, with your connivance and con-
sent, paid to colonel Burgoyne, to reward him, I
presume, for the decency of his deportment at Pres-
ton; or to reimburse him, perhaps, for the fine of one
thousand pounds, which, for that very deportment,
the court of king's bench thought proper to set upon
him. It is not often that the chief justice and the
prime minister are so strangely at variance in their
opinions of men and things.
I thank God, there is not in human nature a de-
gree of impudence daring enough to deny the charge
1 have fixed upon you. Your courteous secretary,-t
jour confidential architect,! are silent as the grave.
* And by the same means preserves it to this hour.
t Tommy Bradshaw.
I Mr. Taylor. He and George Ross (the Scotch agent and
worthy coulidant of lord Mansfield) managed the business.
."JNIUS'S LETTERS. 196
Even Mr. Rigby's countenance fails hina, tie vio-
ates his second nature, and blushes whenever he
Bpeaks of you. Perhaps the noble colonel himself
will relieve you. No man is more tender of his repu-
tation. He is not only nice, but perfectly sore, in
ev.ery thing that touches his honour. If any man,
for example, were to accuse him of taking his stand
at a gaming-table, and watching, with the soberest
attention, for a fair opportunity of engaging a drunken
young nobleman at piquet, he would, undoubtedly,
consider it as an infamous aspersion upon his charac-
ter, and resent it like a man of honour. Acquitting
him, therefore, of drawing a regular and splendid
subsistence from any unworthy practices, either in
his own house, or elsewhere, let me ask your grace,
for what military merits you have been pleased to re-
ward him with military government ? He had a
regiment of dragoons, which, one would imagine, was
at least an equivalent for any services he ever per-
formed. Besides, he is but a young officer, consider-
ing his preferment ; and, except in his activity at
Preston, not very conspicuous in his profession. But
it seems the sale of a civil employment was not suffi-
cient ; and military governments, which were intended
for the support of worn-out veterans, must be thrown
into the scale, to defray the extensive bribery of a
contested election. Are these the steps you take to
Becure to your sovereign the attachment of his army .''
With what countenance dare you appear in the royal
presence, branded, as you are, with the infamy of a
notorious breach of trust ? With what countenance
can you take your seat at the treasury-board, or in
the council, when you feel that every circulating
whisper is at your expense alone, and slabs you to th»
[96 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
neart ? Have you a single friend in parliament so
shameless, so thoroughly abandoned, as to undertake
your defence ? You know, my lord, that there is not
a man in either house, whose character, however fla
gilious, would not be ruined by mixing his reputation
with yours ; and does not your heart inform you thai
you are degraded below the condition of a man, when
you are obliged to bear these insults with submission,
and even to thank me for my moderation ?
Wc are told, by the highest judicial authority, that
Mr. Vaughan's* offer to purchase the reversion of a
* A little before the publication of this and the preceding
letter, the duke of Grafton had coinmenced a prosecution
against Mr. Samuel Vaughan, for endeavouring to corrupt
his integrity, by an offer of five thousand pounds for a pa-
tent place in Jamaica. A rule to show cause why an infor-
mation should not be exhibited against Vaughan for certain
misdemeanors, being granted by the court of king's bench,
the matter was solemnly argued on the 27th of November,
1769, and by the unanimous opinion of the four judges, the
rule was made absolute. The pleadings and speeches were
accurately taken in short-hand, and published. The whole
of lord Mansfield's speech, and particularly the following
extracts from it, deserve the reader's attention : " A prac-
tice of the kind complained of here, is certainly dishonour-
able and scandalous. If a man, standing under the relatiou
of an officer under the king, or of a person in whom the
king puts confidence, or of a minister, takes money for the
use of that confidence the king puts in him, he basely be-
trays the king ; he basely betrays his trust. If the king
sold the office, it would be acting contrary to the trust the
constitution had reposed in him. The constitution does
not intend the crown should sell those offices to raise a re-
venue out of them. Is it possible to hesitate, whether thii
JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
patent place in Jamaica (which he was otherwise suf-
ficiently entitled to) amounts to a high misdemeanor.
Be it so : and if he deserves it, let him be punished.
But the learned judge might have had a fairer oppor-
tunity of displaying the powers of his eloquence.
Having delivered himself, with so much energy, upon
the criminal nature and dangerous consequences of
any attempt to corrupt a man in your grace's station,
what would he have said to the minister himself, to
that very privy counsellor, to that first commissioner
of the treasury, who does not wait for, but impatiently
solicits, the touch of corruption; who employs the
meanest of his creatures in these honourable services;
and, forgetting the genius and fidelity of his secretary,
descends to apply to his house-builder for assistance?
This affair, my lord, will do infinite credit to gov-
ernment, if, to clear your character, you should think
proper to bring it into the house of lords, or into the
court of king's bench. But, my lord, you dare not
do either. JUNIUS.
would not be criminal in the duke of Grafton ; contrary to
his duty as a privy counsellor, contrary to his duty as a min-
ister, contrary to his duty as a subject ? His advce should
be free, according to his judgment. It is the du^y of his
office ; he hath sworn to it." Notwithstanding al? this, the
duke of Grafton certainly sold a patent place to Mv. Hine,
for three thousand five hundred pounds. If the house of
commons had done their duty, and impeached the d"Ke for
this breach of trust, how wofuUy must poor honest Mans-
field have been puzzled ' His embarrassment would !»av€
afforded the most ridiculous scene that was ever e.xhibi*«?d.
To save the judge from this perplexity, and the duke fr^^
impeachment, the prosecution against Vaughan was imnc».
diately dropped.
J98 ^UNIUS'S LETTERS.
XXXV.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser,
SIR, 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 ari'ive, at which every inferior con-
sideration must yield to the security of the sovereign,
and to the general safety of the state. 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 peo-
ple, and of his own disgraceful situation : that he looks
round him for assistance, and asks for no advice, but
how to gratiiy the wishes and secure the happiness of
his subjects. In these circumstances, it may be mat-
ter of curious speculation to consider, if an honest
m:in were permitted to approach a king, in what terms
he would address himself to his srvereign. Let it be
imagined, no matter how improbable, that the first
prejudice against his character is removed ; that the
reremoniou'5 difficulties of an audience are surmount-
ed; that he feels himself animated by tlie purest and
most honourable affections to his king and country ;
and that the great person whom he addresses, has
spirit enough to bid him speak freely, and under-
Btanding enough to listen to him with attention. Un-
acquainted with the vain impertinence of forms, he
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 199
would deliver his senliments with dignity and lirm-
ness, but not without respect.
Sir, — It is the misfortune of your life, and origi-
nally the cause of every reproach and distress which
has attended your government, that you should never
have been acquainted with the language of truth, un-
til you heard it in the complaints of your people. It
is not, however, too late to correct the error of your
education. We are still inclined to make an indul-
gent allowance for the pernicious lessons you received
in your youth, and to form the most sanguine hopes
from the natural benevolence of your disposition.*
* The plan of the tutelage and future dominion over the
heir apparent, laid many years ago, at Carlton-House, be-
tween the princess dowager and her favourite, the earl of
Bute, was as gross and palpable as that which was concerted
between Anne of Austria and cardinal Mazarine, to govern
Louis the Fourteenth, and, in effect, to prolong his minori
ty until the end of their lives. That prince had strong
natural p .rts, and used frequently to blush for his own ig-
norance atid want of education, which had been wilfully
neglected by his mother and her minion. A little experi-
ence, how ever, soon showed him how shamefully he had been
treated, and for what infamous purposes he had been kept
in ignorance. Our great Edward, too, at an early period,
had sense enough to understand the nature of the connex-
ion between his abandoned mother and the detested Mor-
timer. But, since that time, human nature, we may ob-
serve, is greatly altered for the better. Df>wagers may be
chaste, and minions may be honest. When it was p roposed
to settle the present king's household, as prince of Wales,
it is well known that the earl of Bute was forced into it, in
direct contradiction to the late king's inclination. That was
.he salient point from which all tlie mischiefs and disgraces
200 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
We are far from thinking you capable of a direct, de-
liberate purpose to invade those original rights Oi
vour subjects, on which all their civil and political
liberties depend. Had it been possible for us to en-
tertain a suspicion so dishonourable to your charac-
ter, we should long since have adopted a style of re-
monstrance very distant from the humility of com-
plaint. The doctrine inculcated by our laws, That
the Jcing can do no wrong, is admitted without reluc-
tance. 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
know not whether your majesty's condition, or that
of the English nation, would deserve most to be la-
mented. I would prepare your mind for a favoura-
ble 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 distin-
guish between the conduct which becomes the perma-
nent dignity of a king, and that which serves only to
promote the temporary interest and miserable ambi-
tion of a minister.
You ascended the throne with a declared, and, I
doubt not, a sincere 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 his words; and loyal to you,
oi the present reign took life and motion. From that mo
ment, lord Bute never suffered the prince of Wales to be an
nistaiit o It of his sight. We need not look farther.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS 201
not only from principle, but passion. It was not a
cold profession of allegiance to the first magistrate,
but a partial, animated attachment 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 credit 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
surround your throne with reproaches and complaints.
Do justice to yourself. Banish from your mind those
unworthy opinions, with which some interested per-
■^ons have laboured to possess you. Distrust the men
\^ ho tell you that the English are naturally light and
inconstant; 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 con-
sulted your own understanding.
When you affectedly renounced the name of En-
glishman, 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. Wiiile the natives
of Scotland are not in actual rebellion, they are un-
doubtedly entitled to protection : nor do I mean to
condemn the polic}'^ of giving some encouragement to
the novelty of their affections for the house of Hano-
ver. I am ready to hope for every thing from their
new-born zeal, and from the future steadiness of their
allegiance; but, hitherto, they have no claim to your
favour. To honour them with a determined predi-
lection and confidence, in exclusion of your English
subjects, who placed your family, and, in spite of
treachery and rebellion, have supported it upon the
1 2
202 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
throne, is a mistake too gross even for the unsuspect-
ing generosity of youth. In this error we see a capi-
tal violation of the most obvious rules of policy and
prudence. We trace it, however, to an original bias
in vour education, anc are ready to allow for your
inexperience.
To the same early influence we attribute it, that
you have descended to take a share, not only in the
narrow views and interests of particular persons, but
in the fiual malignity of their passions. At your ac-
cession 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 en-
tering into a minuter discussion 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 sub-
jects have been at all times ready to purchase a peace
with the natural enemies of this country. On your
part we are satisfied that every thing was honourable
and sincere ; and, if England was sold to France, we
* One of the first acts of the present reign was to dismiss
Mr. Legge, because he had, some years before, relumed to
yield Iiis interest in Hampshire to a Scotchman, recom
mended by lord Buft?. This was the reason unblicly assignee
by his lordship.
JUNllJrf'S LETTERS. 20^
doubt not that your majesty was equally betrayed
The conditions of the peace were matter of grief and
surprise to your subjects, but not the immediate cause
of tlieir present discontent.
Hitherto, sir, you had been sacrificed to the preju-
dices and passions ol 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 3'our favour-
ite, considering noihing but how he might best expose
his person and principles to detestation, and the na-
tional character of his countrymen to contempt. The
natives of that country, sir, are as much distinguished
by a peculiar character, as by your majesty's favour.
Like another chosen people, they have been conduct-
ed into the land of plenty, where they find themselves
effectually n)arked, and divided from mankind. There
is hardly a period at which the most irregular charac-
ter may not be redeemed. The mistakes of one sex
find a retreat in patriotism, those of the other in de-
votion. Mr. Wilkes brought with him into politics
\he same liberal sentiments by which his private con-
duct had been directed ; and seemed to think, that
as there are few excesses in which an English gentle
man may not be permitted to indulge, the same lati-
tude was allowed him in the choice of his political
principles, and in the spirit of maintaining them. I
mean to state, not entirely to defend, his conduct. In
the earnestness of his zeal, he suffered some unwar-
rantable insinuations to escape him. He said more
than moderate men could justify ; but not enough to
entitle him to the honour of your majesty's personal
resentment. The rays of royal indignation, collected
upon him, served only to illuminate, and could not
204 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
consume. Animated by the favour of the {^eople on
the one side, and heated by persecution on the other,
his views and sentiments changed with his situation
Hardly serious at first, he is now an enthusiast. Tlie
coldest bodies warm with opposition, the hardest
sparkle in collision. There is a holy mistaken 7,eal
"n politics as well as religion. By persuading others,
we convince ourselves. The passions are engaged,
and create a maternal aiTection in the mind, which
forces us to love the cause for which we sufier. 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 difficulties into which you have
oeen betrayed.'' The destruction of one man has
»)een now, for many years, the sole object of youi
government; and, if there can be any thing still more
disgraceful, we have seen for such an object the ut-
most 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 minister 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 expe-
rience will probably guard him from such excess ol
folly ; and, in your majesty's virtues, we find an un-
questionable assurance, that no illegal violence will
be attempted.
Far from suspecting you of so lorrible a design,
we would attribute the continued violation of the
laws, and even this last enormous attack upon the vi-
tal principles of the conititution. to an ill-advised, un-
fyorthy, personal resentment From one false step
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 205
you have been betrayed into another ; and, as the
cause was unworthy of you, your ministers were deter-
mined that the prudence of the execution should cor-
respond with the wisdom and dignity of the design.
They have reduced you to the necessity of choosing
out of a variety of difiicultles; to a situation so unhap-
py, that you can neither do wrong without ruin, or
right without affliction. These worthy servants have
undoubtedly given you many singular proofs of their
abilities. Not contented with making ]\Ir. 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 peo-
ple ; and forced your subjects, 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 wil<
not admit of a compromise with the English nation.
Undecisive, qualifying measures will disgrace your
government still more than open violence; and, with-
out satisfying the people, will excite their contempt
They have too much understanding and spirit to ac-
cept 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 any thing less be accepted. I
can readily believe, that there is an influence sufficient
to recall that pernicious vote. The house of commons
undoubtedly consider their duty to the crown as para-
mount to all other obligations. T^ us they are oidy
indebted for an accidental existence, and have justly
206 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
ransferred their gratitude from their parents to their
benefactors; from those who gave them birth, to the
minister, from whose benevolence they derive the
comforts and pleasures of their political life; who has
taken the tenderest care of their infancy, and relieves
heir necessities without offending their delicacy.
But, if it were possible for their integrity to te degra-
ded to a condition so vile and abject, 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 submit to be gov-
erned by so flexible a house of commons ? It is not
in the nature of human society that any form of gov-
ernment, in such circumstances, can long be preserv-
ed. In ours, the general contempt of the people is as
fatal as their detestation. Such, I am persuaded,
would be the necessary effect of any base concession
made by the present house of commons; and, as a
qualifying measure would not be accepted, it remains
for you to decide, whetlier you will, at any hazard,
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 dis-
solving the parliament.
Taking it for granted, as I do very sincerely, that
you have personally no design against the constitu-
tion, nor any view inconsistent with the good of
your subjects, I think you cannot hesitate long upon
the choice which it equally concerns your interests
and your honour to adopt. On one side, you hazard
the affection of all your English subjects ; you relin-
quish every hope of repose to yourself, and you endan-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS 201
ger the establishment of your family for ever. All thi«
you venture for no object whatsoever; or for such an
object as it would be an affront to you to name. Mer
of sense will examine your conduct with suspicion ,
while those, who are incapable of comprehending to
what degree they are injured, afflict you with cla-
mours 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, without experi-
ment. But, if the English people should no longer
confine their resentment to a submissive representation
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 Beirjg
who gave them the rights of humanity, whose gifts it
were sacrilege to surrender, let me ask you, sir, upon
what part ofyour subjects would you rely for assistance.''
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 confound the original of a king with the disgrace-
ful representation of him.
* Viscount Townshend, sent over on the plan of being re
sitient governor. The history of his ridiculous administra
Uoii shall not be lost to the public.
208 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
The distance of the co onies would make it impos-
sible for them to take an active concern in your affairs,
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 legisla-
ture, 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 ve-
nal parliament on one side, from the real sentiments
of the English people on the other. Looking forward
to independence, they might possibly receive you for
their king : but, if ever you retire to America, be as-
sured 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 na-
tive land in search of freedom, and found it in a
desert. Divided as they are into a thousand forms
* In the king's speech of November 8th, 1768, it was de-
clared, " That the spirit of faction had broken out afresh in
some of the colonies, and, in one of them, proceeded to acn
of violence and resistance to the execution of the laws ;
• hat Boston was in a state of disobedience to all laws and
government, and had proceeded to measures subversive of
the constitution, and attended with circumstances that mani-
fested a dispositiou to ihrow off their dependence on Great
Britain."
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 20y
of policy and religion, tlicre -s one point in which the^
all agree : they equally detest the pageantry of a king,
and the supercilious hypocrisy of a bishop.
It is not, then, from the alienated affections o!
Ireland or America that you can reasonably look for
assistance; still less froni 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 Scot-
land, without exception. 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 England, 1 should admire
your dexterity in turning the hearts of your enemies.
Is it possible for 3^ou 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 ances-
tors, and are confirmed in by their education ^ whose
numbers are so inconsiderable, that they have long
since been obliged to give up the principles and lan-
guage which distinguish them as a party, and to tight
under the banners of their enemies .^ Their zeal be-
gins with hypocrisy, and must conclude in treachery.
At first they deceive — at last they betray.
As to the Scotch, I must suppose your heart and
understanding so biassed, from your earliest infancy
in their favour, that nothing less than your own mis-
fortunes can undeceive you. You will not accept ol
the uniform experience of your ancestors ; and, when
once a man is determ ned to believe, the very absur-
I 1
210 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
dity of the doctrine confirms him in his faith. A big
otted 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. Appearances are, however, in
their favour : so strongly, indeed, that one would
think they had forgotten that you are their lawful
king, and had mistaken you for a pretender 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 surrended himself at discretion to the good faith
of his own countrymen ? Without looking for sup-
port in their affections as subjects, he applied only to
their honour, as gentlemen, for protection. The};'
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 par-
liament, representing the nation. A wise prince mighj
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
JLNIUS'S LETTERS. 211
to meet their sovereign in the field. On the othei
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 understand-
ing. You take the sense of the army from the con-
duct of the guards, with the same justice with which
you collect the sense of the people from the represen-
tations of the ministry. 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, undistinguishing favour
with which the guards are treated ;* while those gal-
lant troops, by whom every hazardous, every labori-
ous service is performed, are left to perish in garri-
sons abroad, or pine in quarters at home, neglected
and forgotten. If they had no sense of the great
* The number of commissioned officers in the guards are
to the marching regiments as one to eleven : the number of
regiments given to the guards, compared with those given to
the line, is about three to one, at a moderate computation ;
consequently, the partiality in favour of the guards is as
thirty-three to one. So much for the officers. The private
men have four-pence a-day to subsist on, and five hundred
lashes if they desert. Under this punishment they fre*
quently expire. With these encouragements, it is supposed,
they may be depended upon, whenever a certain person
'iiinks it necessarv to butcher his feUow-subjects.
212 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
original duty they owe their country, their resentment
would operate like patriotism, and Jeave your cause
io be defended by those on whom you have lavished
the rewards and honours of their profession. The
praetorian 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 determint to support the very mniistry 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
e&«y, how safe and honourable, is the path before you!
Tne English nation declare they are grossly injured
by their representatives, and solicit your majesty to
extrt your lawful prerogative, and give them an op-
poUunity of recalling a trust, which they find has been
scandalously 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 autiiority shall it be decided.^ Will
your majesty interfere in a question, in which you have,
properly, no immediate concern ? It would be a step
t'.jua ly oilious uin\ tuuHTc^s iry. ?!;;ill the Icrds he
JUNIUS-S LETTERS. 213
called upon to determint- the rights and privileges ol
the commons ? They cannot do it, without a Magrant
breach of the constitution. 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.
I do not mean to perplex you with a tedious argu-
ment upon a subject, already so discussed, that inspira-
tion could hardly throw a new light upon it. Thrre
are, however, two points of view in which it particu-
larly imports your majesty to consider the late pro-
ceedings of the house of commons. By depriving a
subject of his birth-right, they have atti'buted 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 use-
less, and soon after, with as little ceremony, dissolved
the house of lords. The same oretended power which
robs an English subject of his birth-right, may rob an
English king of his crown. In another view, the
resolution 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
diegal, without daring to censure those officers who
were particularly apprised of Mr. Wilkes's incapacity,
not only by the declaration of the house, but expressly
by the writ directed to them, and who, nevertheless,
214 .UNIUS'S LETTERS.
returned him as duly elected. They have rejected tht
majority of votes, the only criterion by which our laws
judge of the sense of the people ; they have transfer-
red the right of election from the collective to the
representative body ; and by these acts, taken sepa-
rately or together, they have essentially altered the
original constitution of the house of commons. Ver
sed, as your majesty undoubtedly is, in the English
history, it cannot easily escape you, how much it is
your interest, as well as your duty, to prevent one ol
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 proceedings
should be directed, who will answer for their future
moderation ? Or what assurance will they give you,
that, when they have trampled upon their 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 opin-
ion, 1 confess, not very unwarrantable, that their
successors would be equally at the disposal of the
treasury. I cannot 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 af-
fections of your subjects may still be recovered. But,
before you subdue their hearts, you must gain a noble
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 216
victory over your own. Discard those little, persona,
resentments, which have too long directed your pub-
lic conduct. Pardon this man the remainder of his
punishment ; and, if resentment still prevails, make
it, what it should have been long since, an act, not o(
mercy, but of contempt. He will soon fall back into
his natural station ; a silent senator, and hardly sup-
porting the weekly eloquence of a newspaper. The
gentle breath of peace would leave him on the surface,
neglected and unremoved. It is only the tempest
that lifts him from his place.
Witiiout consulting your minister, call together
your whole council. Let it appear to the public that
you can determine and act for yourself. Come for-
ward to your people. Lay aside the wretched for-
malities of a king, and speak to your subjects with
the spirit of a man, and in the language of a gentle-
man. Tell them you have been fatally deceived.
The acknowledgment will be no disgrace, but rather
an honour, to ^our understanding. 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 confi-
dence of your subjects ; and leave it to themselves to
determine, by their conduct at a future election,
'vhether or no it be, in reality, the general sense o!
the nation, that their rights have been arbitrarily in-
vaded by the present house of commons, and the con-
Btitution betrayed. They will then do justice to their
representatives and to themselves.
These sentiments, sir, and the style they are con-
veyed in, may be offensive, perlmps, because they are
new to yoi.. Accustomed to the anguage of courtiers.
216 .^UNIUS'S LETTERS.
yon measure their affections by the vehemence oi
their expressions ; and when they only praise you
indifferently, you admire their sincerity. But this n
not a time to trifle with your fortune. They deceive
you, sir, who tell you that you have many friends,
whose affections are founded upon a principle of per-
sonal attachment. The first foundation of friendship
is not the power of conferring benefits, but the equal-
ity with which they are received, and may be return-
ed. The fortune which made you a king, forbade
you to have a friend. It is a law of nature, which
cannot be violated with impunity. 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 Eng-
lishmen to adopt, and well worthy of your majesty's
encouragement. We cannot long be deluded by
nominal distinctions. The name of Stuart, of itself,
is only contemptible ; armed with the sovereign au-
thority, their principles are formidable. The prince
ho imitates their conduct, should be warned by their
example; and, while he plumes hmiself upon the secu-
rity of his title to the crown, should remember, mat,
as it was acquired by one revolution, it may be losi
by another.
JUNIUS
THE END OP VOLUME I.
WOODFALL'S JUNIUS.
THE
LETTERS OF JUNIUS
FROM
THE LATEST LONDON EDITION,
8TAT NOMimrs tn»rBBA-
TWO VOLS. IN ONK
NEW YORK:
JOHN W. LOVELL, PUBLISHER,
Nos. 14 AND 16 AsTOR Place.
1880.
CONTENTS.
letter Pag€'
\XXV1. To the duke of Grafton - - 5
XXXVIl. To the Printer of the Public Ad\ertiser - l6
KXXVIII. To the Printer of the PubHc Advertiser - 22
XXXIX. To the Printer of tiie PubHc Advertiser - 30
XL. To Lord North 43
XLL To Lord Mansfield - - - - 46
XLIL To the Printer of the Public Advertiser - CO
XLin. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser - 70
XLIV. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser - 73
XLV. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser - 8G
XLVL To the Printer of the Public Advertiser - 87
XLVIL To the Printer of tlie Public Advertiser - 89
XLVITL To the duke of Grafton - - 93
XLIX. To the duke of Grafton . - . 98
L. The Rev. Mr. Home to Junius - - 103
LL To the Rev. Mr. Home - - - 106
LH. The Rev. Mr. Home to Junius - - 1 09
LHL To the Printer of the Public Advertiser - 124
LIV. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser - 135
LV. The Rev. Mr. Home to Junius - - 137
LVL To the duke of Grafton - - - 139
LVn. Addressed to the Livery of London - 146
LVHL To tlie Printer of the Public Advertiser - 148
LIX. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser - 159
LX. To Zeno l62
LXI. Tc an Advocate in the Cause of the People 1 68
LXIL .... . 170
LXHL ...... 172
LXI V To Lord Mansfield ... 176
LXV. To the Printer of the PubHc Advertiser 17"
LXVI. To the duke of Grafton - - ibid.
LXVII. To Lord Mansfield - - - 182
LXVIII. To Lord Camden - 209
LETTERS OF JUNIUS.
LETTER XXXVI.
To his Grace the Duke of Grafton.
MY LORD, February 14, 1770.
Ir* I were personally your enemy, I might pity and
forfijive you. You have every claim to compassion
that can arise from misery and distress. The condi-
tion you are reduced to would disarm a private ene-
my of his resentment, and leave no consolation to
the most vindictive 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 indulgence ; and if 1 had followed
the dictates of my own opinion, I never should have
allowed you the respite of a moment. In your pub-
lic character, you have injured every subject of tiie
empire ; and though an individual is not authorised
to forgive the injuries done to society, he is called
upon to assert his separate shaie in the public resent-
ment. I submitted, however, to the judgment of
6 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
men, more moderate, perhaps more candid, than
myself. For my own part, I do not pretend to un-
dei stand those prudent forms of decorum, those gentle
rules of discretion, which some men endeavour to
unite with the conduct of the greatest and most
hazardous affairs. Engaged in the defence of an
honourable cause, I would take a decisive part. 1
should scorn to provide for a future retreat, or to
keep terms with a man who preserves 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 ex-
ertion of my abilities to preserve the perishable imfa-
my of his name, and make it immortal.
What then, my lord ? Is this the event of all the
sacrifices 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 connexions of your youth, and all those
honourable engagements by which you once soli-
cited, and might have acquired, 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 con-
sole you, and with only one companion from the
honest house of Bloomsbury, you must now retire
nto a dreadful solitude. At the most active period
of life you must quit the busy scene, and conceal
• Sacro tremvere timore. Every coward pretends
to be planet-struck.
JUNIUS S LETTERS. 7
yourself from the world, if you would hope to save
the wretched remains of a ruined reputation. The
vices operate like age, bring on disease before its
lime, and in the prime of youth leave the character
broken and exhausted.
Yet your conduct has been mysterious, as well as
contemptible. Where is now that firmness, or ob-
stmacy, so long boasted of by your friends, and ac-
knowledged by your enemies ? We were taught to
expect that you would 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 bravely, at least,
behind the last dike of the prerogative. You kncN*-
the danger, and might have been provided for it.
You took sufficient time to prepare for a meeting
with your parliament, to confirm the mercenary
fidelity of your dependents, 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 ex-
pectation 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* graxier, and the whining piety
of a methodist. We had reason to expect, that no
tice would have been taken of the petitions whicF
the king had received from the English nation ,
and although I can conceive some personal motives
for not yielding to them, I can find none, m common
* There was something wonderfully pathetic in the men
lion of the horned cattle.
8 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
prudence or decency, for treating them with con-
tempt. Be assured, my lord, the English people
will not tamely submit to this unworthy treatment.
They had a right to be heard ; and their petitions,
if not granted, deserved tv, be considered. What-
ever be the real views and doctrines of a court, the
sovei'eign should be taught to preserve some forms
of attention to his subjects ; and, if he will not re-
dress 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 de-
grade 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 sove-
reign, in the midst of that distress, in which you and
your* new friends have involved him. One would
think, my lord, you might have taken this spirited
resolution before you had dissolved the last of those
early connexions, which once, even in your own
0])inion, did honour to your youth ; before you had
obliged lord Granby to quit a service he was at-
tached to ; before you 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 himselt de-
graded by his compliance, and is unable to survive
* The Bedfi^rd party.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 9
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 feelings 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
A'hich you have conducted, and in which you have
thought it advisable to abandon, your royal mas-
ter. Whenever the people have complained, and
nothing better could be said in defence of the mea-
sures of the government, it has been the fashion to
answer us, though not very fairly, with an appeal
to the private virtues of your sovereign ; " Has he
not, to relieve the people, surrendered a consider-
able part of his revenue ? Has he not made the
judges independent, by fixing them in their places
for life .^" My lord, we acknowledge the gracious
principle which gave birth to these concessions,
and have nothing to regret, but that it has never
been adhered to. At the end of seven years, we
are loaded with a debt of above five hundred thou-
sand pounds upon the civil list; and now we 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 parliament,
* The most secret particular of this detestable transa'-.-
tion snail in due time be given to the public. The people
shall know what kind of man they have to deal with.
A 2
10 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
upon the greatest constitutional question that has
arisen since the re\olution. We care not to whose
private virtues you appeal. The theory of such a
government is falsehood and mockery ; the practice
is oppression. You have laboured then (though,
I confess, to no purpose) to rob your master of the
only plausible answer that ever was given in de-
fence of his government — of the opinion which the
people had conceiveJ of his personal honour and
integrity. The duke o Bedford was more mode-
rate than your grace ; Ije only forced his master to
violate a solemn promise made to an individual;*
but you, my lord, have successively extended your
advice to every political, every moral engagement,
that could bind either the magistrate or the man.
The condition of a king is often miserable ; but it
requii-ed your grace's abilities to make it contempt-
ible. You will say, perhaps, that the faithful ser-
vants, in whose hands you have left him, are able
to retrieve his honour, and to support his govern-
ment. You have publicly declared, even since your
resignation, that you approved of their measures,
and admired their conduct, particularly that of the
earl of Sandwich. What a pity it is, that, with all
this appearance, you should think it necessary to
separate yourself from such amiable companions !
You forget, my lord, that, while you are lavish in
the praise of men whom you desert, you are pub-
licly opposing your conduct to your opinions, and
depriving yaurself of the only plausible pretence
you had for leaving your sovereign overwhelmed
* Mr. Stuart M'Kenzie.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 11
with distress. I call it plausible ; for, in truth,
thert is no reason whatsoever, 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 public have a right to
judge from appearances. We are authorised to
conclude, that you either differed from your col-
leagues, whose measures you still affect to defend,
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 inconsistent in your conduct. You be-
gan with betraying the people ; you conclude with
betraying the king.
In your treatment of particular persons, you have
preserved the uniformity of your character. Evei/
Mr. Bradshaw declares, tliat no man was ever so ill
used as himself. As to the provision* you have
* A pension of 1500/. ^er annum, insured upon the four
one half per cents, (he was too cunning to trust to Irish
security) for the lives of himself and his sons. This gentle-
man, who, a very few years ago. was clerk to a contractor for
forage, and afterwards exalted to a petty post in the war
office, thought it necessary (as soon as he was appointed
secretary to the treasury) to take that great house in Lin-
coln's-Inn-fields, in which the earl of Northington had re-
sided, while he was lord high chancellor of Great Britain.
A.S to the pension, lord North very solemnly assured ths
12 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
made for his family, he was entitled to il by the
house he lives in. The successor of one chancel-
lor might well pretend to be the rival of another
It is the breach of piivate friendship which touches
ftli Bradshaw ; and, to say the truth, when a man
of his rank and abilities had 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 Lutlrell, Mr. Onslow, and
governor Burgoyne, were equally engaged with you,
and have rather more reason to complain than Mr
Bradshaw. These are men, my lord, whose friend-
ship you should have adhered to on the same prin-
ciple on which you deserted lord Rockingham, lorr^
Chatham, lord Camden, and the duke of Portland.
We can easily account for your violating your en-
gagements with men of honour ; but why should
you betray your natural connexions ? Why sepa-
rate yourself from lord Sandwich, lord Gower, and
Mr. Rigby ; or leave the three worthy gentlemen
above-mentioned to shift for themselves ? With a\i
the fashionable indulgence of the times, this coun-
try does not abound in characters like theirs ; and
you may find it a very difficult matter to recruit the
black catalogue of your friends.
house of commons, tliat no pension was ever so well
deserved as Mr. Brattshaw's. N. B. Lord Camden and sir
Jeffrey Amherst are not near so well provided for: and
sir Edward Hawke, who saved the state, retires with two
tliousand pounds a year on the Irish establishment, froni
which he, in fact, receives less than Mr. Bradshaw's peu
liou.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 13
The recollection of the royal patent you sold to
Mr. Hiae, obliges me to say a word in defence of a
man, whom you have taken the most dishonourable
means to injure. I do not refer to the sham pro-
secution which you affected to carry on against
him. On that ground, I doubt not, he is prepared
to meet you with tenfold recrimination, and set you
at defiance. The injury you had done him affects
his moral character. You knew that the offer to
purchase the reversion of a place, which has here-
tofore been sold under a decree of the court of
chancery, however imprudent in his situation,
would 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 coun-
terfeit letters, to have it understood, that he had
proposed terms of accommodation to you, and had
ffered to abandon his principles, his party, and his
'riends. You consulted your own breast for a char-
cter of consummate treachery, and gave it to the
public for that of Mr. Vaughan. I think mysell
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 thmk him, honest, though mistaken, he will be
happy in recovering his reputation, though at the
expense of his understanding. Here I see the mat-
ter is like]y to rest. Your grace is afraid to carry
on the prosecution. Mr. Hine keeps quiet posses-
sion of the purchase; and governor Burgoyne, re-
lieved from the apprehension of refunding the
!4 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
money, sits down, for the remainder ot* his life, la-
famous and contented.
I believe, my lord, I may now take my leave of
you for ever. You are no longer that resolute min-
ister who had spirit to support the most violent mea-
sures ; who compensated for the want of good and
great qualities, by a brave determination (which some
people admired and relied on) to maintain himself
without them. The reputation of obstinacy and per-
severance might have supplied the place of all the
absent virtues. You have now added the last nega-
tive to your character, and meanly confessed that you
are destitute of the common spirit of a man. Re-
tire, then, my lord, and hide your blushes from the
world ; for, with such a load of shame, even black
may change its colour. A mind such as yours, 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 j'ou have disgraced and desert-
ed ; and in the agitations of a great country, driven,
by your counsels, to the brink of destruction.
The palm of ministerial firmness is now transferred
to lord North. He tells us so hin elf, and with the
plenitude of the ore rotundo ;* and I am ready enough
to believe, that, while he can keep his place, he will
not easily be persuaded to resign it. Your grace
* Tills eloquent person has got as far as the discipline of
Demosthenes. He constantly speaks with pebbles in hi?
mouth, to improve his articulation.
JULIUS'S LETTERS. 15
was tlie inn minister of yesterday ; lord North is he
firm minister of to-day : to-morrow, perhaps, his
majest} , 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 majp'^t}' 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 out-
rage to the three kingdoms. Their purpose, how-
ever, is equally answered, by pushing forward this
unhappy figure, and forcing it to bear the odium of
measures, which they in reality direct. Without im-
mediately appearing to govern, they possess the pow-
er, and distribute tlie emoluments of government, as
they think proper. They still adhere to the spirit ol
that calculation whicli made Mr. Luttrell representa-
tive of Middlesex. Far from regretting your retreat,
they assure us, very gravely, that it increases the real
strength of the 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 coun-
tenances speak a different language. When the mem-
bers drop off, the main body cannot be insensible of
its approaching dissolution. Even the violence of
tlieir proceedings is a signal of despair. Like broken
tenants, who have had warning to quit the premises,
16 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
they curse their landlord, destroy the fixtures, throw
every thing into confusion, and care not what mis-
chief they do to the estate.
JUNIUS.
XXXVIL
To the Prf'^er of the Puhlic Advertiser
SIR, ' March 19, 1770.
I believe there is no man, however indifferent
.ibout the interests of this country, who will not
readily confess, that the situation to which we are
now reduced, whether it has arisen from the violence
of faction, or from an arbitrary system of govern-
ment, justifies the most melancholy apprehensions,
and calls for the exertion of whatever wisdom or
vigour is left among us. The king's answer to the re-
monstrance of the city of London, and the measures
since adopted by the ministry, amount to a plain de-
claration, that the principle on which Mr. Luttrell
was seated in the house of commons, is to be sup-
ported in a.l its consequences, and carried to its ut-
most extent. The same spirit which violated the
freedom of election, now invades the declaration and
bill of rights, and threatens to punish the subject for
exercising a privilege hitherto undisputed, of petition-
ng the crown. The grievances of the people are
aggravated by insults ; their complaints not merely
disregarded, hut checl:?d by authority; and e\erj
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. H
one of those acts again?', which they remonstratt.-d.
'confirmed by the king's decisive approbation. At
such a moment, no honest man will remain silent or
inactive. However distinguished by rank or proper-
ty, in the rights of freedom we are all equal. As we
are Englishmen, the least considerable man among
us has an inte''«*st equal to the proudest nobleman in
the laws and constitution of his country, and is
equally called upon to make a generous contribution
in support of them ; whether it be the heart to con-
ceive, the understanding to direct, or the hand to
execute. It is a common cause in which we are aH
interested, in which we should all be engaged. The
man who deserts it at this alarming crisis, is an ene-
my to his country, and, what I think of infinitely less
importance, a traitor to his sovereign. The subject,
who is truly loyal to the chief magistrate, will neither
advise or submit to arbitrary measures. The city of
London hath given an example, which, I doubt not,
will be followed by the whole kingdom. The noble
spirit of the metropolis is the life-blood of the state,
collected at the heart : from that point it circulates,
with health and vigour, through every artery of the
constitution. The time is come when the body of the
English people must assert their own cause : con-
sciour. of their strength, and animated by a sense of
their duty, they will not surrender their birth-right
to ministers, parliaments, or kings. The city o(
London have expressed their sentiments with freedom
and firmness ; they have spoken truth boldly ; and,
hi whatsoever light their remonstrance may be repre-
sented by courtiers, I defy the most subtile lawyer in
this couHtry to point out a single instance in whici.
18 JUNILS'S LETTERS.
they have exceeded the u-uth. Even that assertion
which we are told is most offensive to parliament, in
the theory o'^the English constitution, is strictly true.
If any part of the representative body be not chosen
by the people, that part vitiates and corrupts the
wliole. If there be a defect in the representation ol
the people, that power, which alone is equal to the
making of the laws in this country, is not complete,
and the acts of parliament, under that circumstance,
are not the acts of a pure and entire legislature. I
speak of the theory of our constitution ; and what-
ever difficulties or inconveniences may attend the
practice, I am ready to maintain that, as far as the
fact deviates from the principle, so far the practice is
vicious and corrupt. I have not heard a question
raised upon any other part of the remonstrance.
That the principle on which the Middlesex election
was determined, is more pernicious in its effects than
either the levying of ship-money by Charles the
First, or the suspending power assumed by his son,
will hardly be disputed by any man who understands
or wishes well to the English constitution. It is not
an act of open violence done by the king, or any
direct or palpable breach of the laws attempted by
his minister, that can ever endanger the liberties ol
this country. Against such a king or minister the
people would immediately take the alarm, and all the
parties unite to oppose him. The laws may be gross-
ly violated in particular instances, without any direct
attack upon the whole system. Facts of that kind
stand alone ; they are attributed to necessity, not de-
fended by principles. We can never be really in
ilanger, until the forms of parliament are made us«
JUNIUS'S :.ETTERS. 19
jf (o dek, foy the substance of our civil and political
liberties ; until parliament itself betrays its trust, by
contributing to establish new principles of govern-
ment, and employing the very weapons committed to
it by the collective body to stab the constitution.
As for the terms of the remonstrance, I presume it
will not be affirmed, by any person less polished than
a gentleman usher, that this is a season for compli-
ments. Our gracious king, indeed, is abundantly
civil to himself. Instead of an answer to a petition,
his majesty very graciously pronounces his own pan-
egyric ; and I confess that, as far as his personal be-
haviour, or the royal purity of his intentions, is con-
cerned, the truth of those declarations, which the
minister has drawn up for his master, cannot decent-
ly be disputed. In every other respect, I affirm, that
they are absolutely unsupported either in argument
or fact : I must add, too, that supposing the speech
were otherwise unexceptionable, it is not a direct
answer to the petition of the city. His majesty is
pleased to say, that he is always ready to receive the
request of his subjects ; yet the sheriffs were twice
sent back with an excuse ; and it was certainly de-
bated in council, whether or no the magii.lrates of
the city of London should be admitted to an au-
dience. Whether the remonstrance be or be not in-
jurious to parliament, is the very question between
the parliament and the people, and such a question
as cannot be decided by the assertion of a third party,
however respectable. That the petitioning for :.
dissolution of parliament is irreconcilable with the
principles of the constitution, is a new doctrine.
His majesty, perhaps, has not ' een informed, thai
20 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
the house of commons themselves, have, hy a for
mal resolution, adinilted it to be the right of liie yub-
ject. His majesty proceeds to assure us, that he has
made the laws tlje rule of his conduct. Was it in
ordering or permitting his ministers to apprehend Mr.
VV'lkes by a general warrant ? Was it in sufiering
his ministers to revive the obsolete maxim of nulhim
tempus, to rob the duke of Portland of his property,
and thereby give a decisive turn to a county election ?
Was it in erecting a chamber consultation of sur-
geons, with authority to examine into and supersede
the legal verdict of a jury ? Or did his majesty
consult the laws of this country, when he permitted
his secretary of state to declare, that, whenever the
civil magistrate is trifled with, a military force must
be sent for, without the delay of a moment, and ef-
fectually employed ? Or was it in the barbarous ex-
actness with which this illegal, inhuman doctrine was
carried into execution ? If his majesty had recol-
lected these facts, I think, he would never have said,
dt least with any reference to the measures of his
government, that he had made the laws the rule of
his conduct. To ta^k of preserving the affections,
or relying on the support of his subjects, while he
continues to act jpon these principles, is, indeed,
paying a compliment to their loyalty, which, I hope,
they have too much spirit and understanding to
deserve.
His majesty, we are told, is not only punctual in
t'.ic performance of his own duty, but careful not to
assimic any of those powers which the constitution
has placed in other hands. Admitting this last as-
sertion to be strictly true, it is no wa) to the purpose
JUx^US'? LETTERS. 2!
The city of London have not desired the king to as-
sume a power placed in other hands. If they had, 1
should hope to see the person who dared to present
sucli a petition immediately impeached. They so-
licit their sovereign to exert that constitutional au-
thority which the laws have vested in him for the
benefit of his subjects. They call upon him to make
use of his lawful prerogative in a case which our
laws evidently supposed might happen, since they
have provided for it by trusting the sovereign with a
discretionary power to dissolve the parliament. This
request will, I am confident, bo supported by remon-
strances from all parts of the kingdom. His majes-
ty will find, at last, that this is the sense of his peo-
ple ; and that it is not his interest to support either
ministry or parliament at the hazard of a breach
with the collective body of his subjects. That he is
king of a free people, is, indeed, his greatest glory.
That he may long continue the king of a free people
's the second wish that animates my hearto The first
is, that the people may he free*
* When his majesty had done reacmig his speech, the
lord raayor, &c. had the honour of kissing his majc-ty's
hand : after which, as they were withdrawing, his majesty
instantly tirned round to his courtiers, and burst out a
laughing.
Nero Jiddlcd, while Rome was burning.
JOHN HORNE.
22 JUNIUS 'S LETTERS
XXXVIII.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, April S, I7r0.
In n)y lasi letter I offered you my opinion of the
Iriith and propriety of his najesty's answer to the city
of London, considering it merely as the speech of a
minister, drawn up in his own defence, and delivered,
as usual, by the chief magistrate. I would separate,
as much as possible, the king's personal character
and behaviour from the acts of the present govern-
ment. I wish it to be understood that his majesty
had, in effect, no more concern in the substance of
what he said, than sir James Hodges had in the re-
monstrance ; and that as sir James, in virtue of his
office, was obliged to speak the sentiments of the
people, his majesty might think himself bound, by
the same official obligation, to give a graceful ut-
terance to the sentiments of his minister. The cold
formality of a well-repeated lesson is widely distant
from the animated expression of ''he heart
This distinction, however, is only true with resj^ect
to the measure itself. The consequences of it reach
beyond the minister, and materially affect his majes-
ty's honour. In their own nature they are formida-
ble enough to alarm a man of prudence, and dis-
graceful enough to afflict a man of spirit. A subject,
whose sincere attachment to his majesty's person and
family is founded upon rational principles, will not,
JLNIUS'S LETTERS. 123
in llie )resent conjuncture, be scrupulous of alarm
ing, or even of afflicting, his sovereign. I know
there is another sort of loyalty, of which his majesty
has had plenty of experience. When the loyalty of
Tories, Jacobites, and Scotchmen, has once taken
possession of an unhappy prince, it seldom leaves
him without accomplishing his destruction. When
the poison of their doctrines has tainted the natural
benevolence of his disposition, when their insidious
counsels have corrupted the stamina of his govern-
ment, what antidote can restore him to his political
health and honour but the firm sincerity of his Eng-
lish subjects ?
It has not been usual, in this country, at least
since the days of Charles the First, to see the sove-
reign personally at variance, or engaged in a direct
altercation with his subjects. Acts of grace and in-
dulgence are wisely appropriated to him, and should
constantly be performed by himself. He never should
appear but in an amiable light to his subjects. Even
ni France, as long as any ideas of a limited monar-
chy were tkought worth preserving, it was a maxim
that no man should leave the royal presence discon-
tented. They have lost or renounced the moderate
principles of their government ; and now, when their
parliaments venture to remonstrate, the tyrant comes
forward) and answers absolutely for himself. The
spirit of their present constitution requires that the
king should be feared ; and the principle, I believe,
is tolerably supported by the fact. But, in our po-
litical system, the theory is at variance with the prac-
tice, for the king should be beloved. Measures Oi
greater severitj' may, indeed, in some circumstance^
24 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
be neces rary : but the minister who advises should
take the execution and odium of them entirely upon
himself. He not only betrays his master, but vio-
lates the spirit of the English constitution, when he
exposes the chief magistrate to the personal hatred
or contempt of his subjects When we speak of the
firmness of government, we mean an uniform sys-
tem of measures, deliberately adopted, and resolute-
ly maintained by the servants of the crown ; not i
peevish asperity in the language and behaviour of the
sovereign. The government of a weak, irresolute
monarch, may be wise, moderate, and firm : that ol
an obstinate, capricious prince, on the contrary, may
be feeble, undetermined, and relaxed. The reputa-
tion of public measures depends upon the minister,
who is responsible ; not upon the king, whose pri-
vate opinions are not supposed to have any weight
against the adWce of his council, and whose personal
authority should, therefore, never be interposed in
public affairs. This, I believe, is true constitutional
doctrine. But for a moment let us suppose it false.
Let it be taken for granted, that an occasion may
arise in which a king of England shall be compelled
to take upon himself the ungrateful office of rejecting
the petitions and censuring the conduct of his sub-
jects ; and let the city remonstrance be supposed to
have created so extraordinary an occasion. On ihi'j
principle, which I presume no friend of administra-
tion will dispute, let the wisdom and spirit of the
ministry be examined. They advise the king tc
hazard his dignity, by a positive declaration of his
own sentiments ; they suggest to 1 im a language ful,
of severity and reproach. What follows ? When
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 25
his majesty had taken so decisive a part in support
of his ministry and parliament, he had a right to ex-
pect from them a reciprocal demonstration of firmness
in their own canse, and of their zeal for his honour.
He had reason to expect (and such, I doubt not, were
the blustering promises of lord North) that tlie per-
sons whom he had been advised to charge with hav-
mg failed in their respect to him, with having injured
parliament, and violated the principles of the con-
stitution, should not have been permitted to escape
without some severe marks of the displeasure and
vengeance of parliament. As the matter stands, the
minister, after placing his sovereign in the most un-
favourable light to his subjects, and after attempting
to fix the ridicule and odium of his own precipitate
measures upon the royal character, leaves him a soli-
tary figure upon the scene, to recall, if he can, or to
compensate, by future compliances, for one unhappy
demonstration of ill-supported firmness and ineflec-
tual resentment. As a man of spirit, his majesty
cannot but be sensible, that the lofty terms in wliich
he was persuaded to reprimand the city, when united
with the silly conclusion of the business, resembled
the pomp of a mock tragedy, where the most pa-
thetic sentiments, and even the sufierings of the hero,
are calculated for derision.
Such have been the boasted firmness and ccns s-
tency of a minister,* whose appearance in the house
* This graceful minister is oddly constructed. His
tongue is a little too big for his mouth, and his eyes a
great deal too big for their sockets. Every part of hia
person sets natural proportion at defiance. At this preser
VOL. II. B
26 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
of c omnioiii was bought essential to the kind's ser«
vice ; whose presence was to influence every division ,
who had a voice to persuade, an eye to penetrate, a
gpi.ure to command. The reputation of these great
qualities has been fatal to his friends. The little dig-
nity of Mr. E lis has been committed. The mine
was sunk ; combustibles were provided ; and Wel-
bore Ellis, the Guy FauK of the fable, waited only
for the signal of command. All of a sudden the
country gentlemen discover how grossly 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. From the
event of Friday last, one would Imagine that some
(fatality hung over this gentleman. Whether he makes
or suppresses a motion, he is equally sure of disgrace.
But the complexion of the times will suffer no man
to be vice-treasurer of Ireland with impunity.*
writing his head is supposed to be much too heavy for his
shoulders.
* About this time the courtiers talked of nothing but
a bill of pains and penaUies against the lord mayor and
sberifis, or impeachment at the least. Little Mannildn
Ellis told the king, that if the business were left to his
management, he would engage to do wonders. It was
thought very odd that a business of so much importance
should be entrusted to the most contemptible little piece
of macliinery in the whole kingdom. His honest zeal,
however, was disappointed. The minister took fright ;
and, at the very instant that little Ellis was going to
open, sent him an order to sit down. All their mag-
nanimous threats ended in a ridiculous vote of censure,
and a stil, more ridiculous address to the king.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 27
I do not m.ean to express the smallest anxi<;tj for
llie minister's reputation. He acts separately for
himself, and the most shameful inconsistency may
perhaps be no disgrace to him. But when the sove-
reign, who represents the majesty of the state, ap-
pears in person, his dignity should be supported :
the occasion should be important ; the plan well
considered ; the execution steady and consistent.
My zeal for his majesty's real honour, compels me
to assert, that it has been too much the system of
the present reign, to introduce him personally either
to act for or defend his servants. They persuade
him to do what is properly their business, and de-
sert him in the midst of it. Yet this is an incon-
venience to which he must for ever be exposed,
while he adheres to a ministry divided among them-
selves, or unequal in credit and ability to the great
task they have undertaken. Instead of reserving
the interposition of the royal personage as the last
resource of government, their weakness obliges them
to apply it to every ordinary occasion, and to
render it cheap and common in the opinion of the
people. Instead of supporting their masler, they
look to him for support ; and for the emoluments
of remaining one day more in office, care not how
much his sacred character is prostituted and dis-
hcnoured.
If I thought it possible for this paper to reach the
closet, I would venture to appeal at once to hij
majesty's judgment. I would ask him, but in the
most respectful terms, " As you are a young man,
sir, who ought to have a life of happiness in pros-
pect ; as you are a husband, as you are a father
28 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
(your filial duties, I own, have been reli^iousl}? pes*
formed) is it bona fide for your interest or youi"
honour, to sacrifice your domestic tranquillity, and
to live in a perpetual disagreement with your people,
merely to preserve such a chain of beings as North,
Barrington, Weymouth, Cower, Ellis, Onslow,
Rigby, Jerry Dyson, and Sandwich f Their very
names are a satire upon all government ! and I defy
the gravest of your chaplains to read the catalogue
without laughing."
For my own part, sir, I have always considered
addresses from parliament, as a fashionable, un-
meaning formality. Usurpers, idiots, and tyrants,
have been successively complimented with almost
the same professions of duty and affection. But
let us suppose them to mean exactly what they pro-
fess. The consequences deserve to be considered.
Either the sovereign is a man of high spirit and
dangerous ambition, ready to take advantage of the
treachery of the parliament, ready to accept of the
surrender they make him of the public liberty ; or
he is a mild, undesigning prince, who, provided
they indulge him with a little state and pageantry
would of himself intend no mischief. On the first
supposition, it must soon be decided by the sword.,
whedier the constitution should be lost or preserved.
On the second, a prin':e, no way qualified for the
execution of a gneat and hazardous enterprise, and
without any determined object in view, may never-
theless be driven into such desperate measures, as
may lead directly to his ruin ; or disgrace himself
by a shameful fluctuation between the extremes of
violence at one moment, and timidity at another
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 29
The minister, perhaps, may have reason to be satis-
fied with the success of the present hour, and w'th
the profits of his employment. He is the tenant ot
the day, and has no interest in the inheritance.
The sovereign iiimself is bound by other obligations,
and ought to look forward to a superior, a perma-
nent interest. His paternal tenderness should re-
rnnid him how many hostages he has given to so-
ciety. The ties of nature come powerfully in aid
of oaths and protestations. The father, who con-
siders his own precarious state of health, and the
possible hazard of a long minority, will wish to see
the family estate free and unincumbered.* What
is the dignity of the crown, though it were really
maintained; what is the honour of parliament, sup-
posing it could exist without any foundation of in-
tegrity and justice; or what is the vain reputation
of firmness, even if the scheme of the government
were uniform and consistent, compared with the
heart-felt afiections of the people, with the happiness
and security of the royal family, or even with the
grateful acclamations of the populace.'' Whatever
style of contempt may be adopted by ministers or
parliaments, no man sincerely despises the voice o.
the tmcflish nation. The house of commons are
only interpreters, whose duty it is to convey the
sense of the people faithfully to the crown. If the
interpretation be false or imperfect, the constituent
powers are called upon to deliver their own senti-
* Every true friend to the house of Brunswick sees with
affliction how rapidly some of the principal branches of the
"ami y h;ive dropped off
30 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
inents. Their speech is rude, but intelljgiblt; ; theii
gestures fierce, but full of explanation. Perplexed
oy sophistries, their honest eloquence nses into
action. Their first appeal was to the integrity of
their representatives ; their second, to the king's
justice. The last argument of the people, whenever
tiiey have recourse to it, will carry more perhaps,
than persuasion to parliament, or supplication to the
throne.
jUNrrs.
XXXIX.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, May 28, 1770.
While parliament was sitting, it would neither
have been safe, or, perhaps, quite regular, to offer
any opinion to the public upon the justice or wis-
dom of their proceedings. To pronounce fairly
upon their conduct, it was necessary to wait until
we could consider, in one view, the oeginniiig, pro-
gress, and conclusion of their deliberations. The
cause of the public was undertaken and supported
by men, whose abilities and united authority, to say
uotliing of the advantageous ground they stood on,
might well be thought sufficient to determine a po-
pular question in favour of the people. Neither was
the house of commons so absolutely engaged ia
defence of the ministry, or even of their own reso-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 31
lutions, but that tho}^ miglit have pnid sone decent
regard to the known disposition of their constitu-
ents ; and witliout any dislsonour to their firmness,
might have retracted an opinion too hastily adopted,
wlien they saw the alarm it iiad created, ind how
strongly it was opposed by the general sense of
the nation. The ministry, too, would have con-
sulted their own immediate interest in making some
concession satisfactory to the moderate part of the
people. Without touching the fact, they might
have consented to guard against, or give up, the
dangerous principle on which it was established.
In this state of things, I think it was highly im-
probable, at the beginning of the session, that the
complaints of the people upon a matter, which in
their apprehension at least, immediately afiected the
life of the constitution, would be treated with as
much contempt by their own representatives, and by
the house of lords, as they had been by the other
branch of the legislature. Despairing of their in-
tegrity, we had a right ^o expect something from
their prudence, and ijomething from their fears.
The duke of Grafton certainly did not foresee to
what an extent the corruption of a parliament
might be carried. He thought, perhaps, that there
was still some portion of shame or virtue left in the
majority of the house of commons, or that there
was a line in public prostitution beyond which they
would scruple to proceed. Had the young man been
a litt'e more practised in the world, or had he
ventured to measure the characters of other men
by his own, he would not have been so easily
discouraged.
32 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
The prorogation of parliament naturall}) calisj
upon us to review their proceedings, and to con^
Elder the condition in which they have left the king-
dom., I do not question but they have done what
is usually called the king's business, much to his
majesty's satisfaction : we have only to lament, that,
in ooi'sequence of a system introduced or revived
in the present reign, this kind of merit should be,
very consistent with the neglect of every duty they
owe to the nation. The interval between the open-
ing of the last, and close of the former session, was
ionger than usual. Whatever were the views of the
minister in deferring the meeting of parliament,
sufficient time was certainly given to every membei
of the house of commons, to look back upon the
steps he had taken, and the consequences they had
produced. The zeal of party, the violence of per-
sonal animosities, and the heat of contention, had
leisure to subside. From that period, whatever re-
solution they took was deliberate and prepense.
In the preceding session, the dependents of tiie
ministry had affected to believe, that the final deter-
mination of the question would have satisfied the
nation, or at least put a stop to their complaints ;
as if the certa'nty of an evil could diminisli the sense
of it, or the nature of injustice could be altered by
decision. But they found the people of England
were in a temper very distant from submission ; and
although it was contended that the house of commons
could not themselves reverse a resolution whicli had
the force and effeco of a judicial sentence, there were
other constitutional expedients which would have
given a security against any similar attempts for the
JLNIUSS LETTERS. 33
'utiire The general proposition, in which the whole
country had an interest, might have been reduced to
a particular fact, in wliich Mr. Wilkes and Mr. Lut-
trell would alone have been concerned. The house
of lords might interpose ; the king might dissolve the
parliament ; or if every other n source failed, there
still lay a grand . onstitutional writ of error, in be-
half of the people, from the decision of one court to
the wisdom of the whole legislature. Every one of
these remedies has been successively attempted. The
people performed their part with dignity, spirit, and
perseverance. For many months his majesty heard
nothing from iiis people but the language of complaint
and resentment: uniiappily for this country, it was the
daily triumph of his courtiers, that he heard it witli
an indifference approaching contempt.
The house of commons, having assumed a power
unknown to the constitution, were determined not
merely to support it in the single instance in ques-
tion, but to maintain the doctrine in its utmost ex-
tent, and to establish the fact as a precedent in law,
to be applied in whatever manner his majesty's ser-
vants should hereafter think fit. Their proceedings
upon this occasion are a strong proof that a decision,
ui the first instance illegal and unjust, can only be
supjiorled by a continuation of falehood and injustice.
To support their former resolutions, they were obliged
t3 violate some of the best known and established
rules of the house. In one instance, they went so
far as to declare, in open defiance of truth and com-
mon sense, that it was not tlie rule of the house to
divide a complicated question at the request of a
B 2 a
34 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
ineinbii*.* But, after trampling upon the laws of the
land, it was not wonderful that they should treat the
private regulations of their own assembly with equal
disregard. Tiie speaker, being young in office, be
gan with pretended ignorance, and ended with de
ciding for the ministry We are not surprised at the
decision ; but he hesitated and blushed at his ow«
baseness, and every man was astonished.t
The interest of the public was vigorously support-
ed in the house of lords. Tiie right to defend the
constitution against an encroachment of the other
estates, and the necessity of exerting it at this period,
was urged to them with every argument that could be
supposed to influence the heart or the understanding.
* The extravagant resolution appears in tlie vote of the
house ; but, in the minutes of the committees, the in-
stances of resolutions contrary to law and truth, or of re-
fusals to acknowledge law and truth when proposed to them,
are innumerable.
t Wlien the king first made it a measure of his govern-
ment to destroy Mr. Wilkes, and when, for this purpose, it
was necessary to run down privilege, Sir Fletcher Norton,
with his usual prostituted effrontery, assured the house of
commons, that he should regard one of their votes no moie
than a resolution of so many drunken porters. This is
the very lawyer wliom Ben Jonson describes in the follow
ing lines :
" Gives forkea counsel ; takes provoking gold
On ciihcr hand, and puts it up.
So wise, so grave, of so perplex'd a tongue.
And loud withal, that would not wag, nor scarce
Lie still, withou!; a /te."
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. Si
But it aoon appeared tliat they liad already taken
their part, and were determined to support the house
of commons, not onl}' at the expense of truth and
decency, but even by a surrender of their own most
important rights. Instead of performing that duty
which the constitution expected from them, in return
for the dignity and independence of their station, in
return for the iiereditary share it has given tiiem in
the legislature, the majority of them made common
cause with the other house in oppressing the people,
and establisiied another doctrine as false in itself, and,
if possible, more pernicious to the constitution, than
that on which the Middlesex election was determined.
By resolving, " that they had no right to impeach a
judgment of the house of commons, in any case
whatsoever, where that house has a competent juris-
diction," they, in effect, gave up that constitutional
check and reciprocal control of one branch of the
legislature over the other, which is, perhaps, the
greatest and most important object provided for by
the division of the whole legislative power into three
estates : and now let the judicial decisions of the
house of commons be ever so extravagant, let their
declarations of the law be ever so flagrantly false,
arbitrary, and oppressive to the subject, the house of
lords have imposed a slavish silence upon themselves^
they cannot interpose ; they cannot protect the sub-
jpct ; they cannot defend the laws of their country,
A concession so extraordinary in itself, so contradic-
tory to the principles of their own institution, cannot
but alarm the most unsuspecting mind. We may
well conclude that the lords would hardly have yielded
o much to the other house without the certainty of a
38 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
compensation, which can only be made to them £.'
the expense of the people.* The arbitrary powei
they have assumed, of imposing fines, and commit'
ting during pleasure, will now be exercised in its full
extent. The house of commons are too much in
their debt to question or interrupt their proceedings.
The crown too, we may be well assured, will lose
nothing in this new distribution of power. After de-
claring, that, to petition for a dissolution of parlia-
ment is irreconcilable with the principles of the con-
stitution, his majesty has reason to expect that some
extraordinary compliment will be returned to the
royal prerogative. The three branches cf the legis-
lature seem to treat their separate rights and interests
as the Roman triumvirs did their friends ; they reci-
procally sacrifice them to the animosities of each
other; and establish a detestable union among them-
selves, upon t!ie ruin of the laws and liberty of tht
commonwealth. Tiu'ough the whole proceedings o
the house of commons, in this session, there is aM
apparent, a palpable consciousness of guilt, which
has prevented their daring to assert their own dignit}',
where it has been immediately and grossly attacked.
In the course of Dr. INLisgrave's examination, he
said every thing that can be conceived mortifying to
individuals, or offensive to the house They voted
* The man, who resists and overcomes this iniquitous
power, assumed by the lords, must be supported by the
whole people. We have the laws on our side, and want
nothing but an intrepid leader. When such a man stands
forth; let the nation look, to it. It is not his cause, but oiif
own
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 37
his inforniiUion frivolous : but they were awed by l>ia
fiiMiiiess and integrity, and sunk under it.* Tie
terms in wbicii the sale of a patent to Mr. Hine were
communicated to the public, naturally called for »
parliamentary inquiry. The integrity' of the house
of commons was directly impeached : but ihey had
not courage to move in their own vindication, because
\he inquiry would have been fatal to colonel Burgoyne
and the duke of Grafton. When sir George Saville
branded them with the name of traitors to their con-
stituents, when the lord mayor, the sheriffs, and Mr.
Trecothick expressly avowed and maintained ever}'
part of the city remonstrance, why did the}' tamely
submit to be insulted ? Why did they not immedi-
ately expel those refractory members f Conscious of
the motives on which they had acted, the}' prudently
preferred infamy to danger, and were better prepared
to meet the contempt, than to rouse the indignation
of the whole people. Had they expelled those five
members, the consequences of the new doctrine of
incapacitation would have come immediately home to
every man. The truth of it would then have been
fairly tried, without any reference to Mr. Wilkes's
private character, or the dignity of the house, or the
obstinacy of one particular county. These topics, I
know, have had their weigiit witii men, who, affecting
a character of moderation, in reality consult nothing
* The examination of this firm, honest man, is printed
for Alnion. The reader will find it a most curious aiu. most
interesting tract. Doctor Musgrave, with no other support
but truth and his own firmness, resisted and overcame the
vhole house of commons
38 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
but their own immediate ease ; who are weak enough
to acquiesce under a flagrant violation oi the lawa
when it does not directly touch themselves ; and care
not what injustice is practised upon a man whose
moral character they piously think themselves obliged
to condemn. In any other circumstances, the house
of commons must have forfeited all credit and dignity,
if, after such gross provocation, they had permitted
those five gentlemen to sit any longer among them.
We should then have seen and felt the operation of a
precedent, which is represented to be perfectly barren
and harmless. But there is a set of men in this coun
try, whose understandings measure the violation o.
law by the magnitude of the instance, not by the im-
portant consequences which flow directly from the
principle; and the minister, I presume, did not think
it safe to quicken their apprehensions too soon. Had
Mr. Hampden reasoned and acted like the moderate
men of these days, instead of hazarding his whole
fortune in a lawsuit with the crown, he would have
quietly paid the twenty shilhngs demanded of ham ;
the Stuart family would probably have continued
upon the throne ; and at this moment the imposition
of ship-money wiuld have been an acknowledged
prerogative of the crown.
Wliat then has been the business of the session, af-
ter voting the supplies, and confirming the determin-
ation of the Middlesex election ? The extraordinary
prorogation of the Irish parliament, and the just
discontents of that kingdom, have been passed by
without notice. Neither the general situation of our
colonies, nor that particular distress which forced the
inhabitants of iJoston to take up arms in their de<
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. i<a
"ence, have been thought worthy of a moment's con-
sideration. In the repeal of those acts wliich were
most oflensive to America, tlie parliament have done
every thing but remove the offence. They have re-
linquished the revenue, but judiciously taken care to
preserve the contention. It is not pretended that the
continuation of the tea-duty is to produce any direct
benefit whatsoever to the mother country. What is
it then, but an odious, unprofitable exertion of a
speculative right, and fixing a badge of slavery upon
the Americans, without service to their masters ? Bu;
it has pleased God to give us a ministry and a par-
liament, who are neither to be persuaded by argu-
ment, nor instructed by experience.
Lord North, I presume, will not claim an extra-
ordinary merit from any thing he has done this year,
in the improvement or application of the revenue.
A great operation, directed to an important object,
though it should fail of success, marks the genius,
and elevates the character of a minister. A poor
contracted understanding deals in little schemes,
which dishonour him if they fail, and do him nc
credit when they succeed. Lord North had fortu-
nately the means in his possession of reducing all the
four per cents, at once. The failure of his first en-
terprise in finance is not half so disgraceful to his re-
uutation as a minister, as the enterprise itself is in-
jurious to the public. Instead of striking one deci-
sive blow, which would have cleared the market at
once, upon terms proportioned to the price of the
four per cents, six weeks ago, he has tampered with
a pitiful portion of a commodity which ought never
to have been touched but in gross He has given
40 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
notice to the holders of that stock, of a design formed
by government to prevail upon them to surrender it
hy degrees, consequently has warned them to hold
up and enhance the price : so that the plan of redu-
cing the four per cents, must either be dropped en-
irely, or continued with an increasing disadvantage
to the public. The minister's sagacity has served to
raise the value of the thing he means to purchase, and
to sink that of the three joer cents, which it is his pur-
pose to sell. In effect, he has contrived to make it
the interest of the proprietor of the four per cents, to
sell out, and buy three per cents, in the market, ra-
ther than subscribe his stock upon any terms that can
possibly be offered by government.
The state of the nation leads us naturally to con-
sider the situation of the king. The prorogation of
parliament has the effect of a temporary dissolution.
The odium of measures adopted by the collective bo-
dy sits lightly upon the separate members who com-
posed it. They retire into summer quarters, and rest
from the disgraceful labours of the campaign. But
as for the sovereign, it is not so with Mm : he ha- a
permanent existence in this country ; he cannot with-
draw himself from the complaints, the discontents,
the reproaches of his subjects. They pursue him to
his retirement, and invade his domestic happiness,
when no address can be obtained from an obsequioua
parliament to encourage or console him. In other
times, the interest of the king and the people of
England was, as it ought to be, entirely the same. A
new system has not only been adopted in fact, but
professed upon principle. Ministers are no longer the
public servants of the state, but the private domestics
JUNIU'S'S LETTERS. 41
of the sovereign. One* particulat class of men are
permitted to call themselves the king's friends, as ii
the body of the people were the king's enemies ; or,
as if his majesty looked for a resource or consolation
in the attacliment of a few favourites, against the
general contempt and detestation of his subjects.
Edward and Richard the Second made the same dis-
tinction between the collective body of the people^
and a contemptible party, who surrounded the throne,
riie event of their mistaken conduct might have been
a warning to their successors. Yet the errors of those
princes were not without excuse. They had as many
false friends as our present gracious sovereign, and
infinitely greater temptations to seduce them. They
were neither sober, religious, nor demure. Intoxi-
cated with pleasure, they wasted their inheritance in
pursuit of it. Their lives were like a rapid torrent
brilliant in prospect, though useless or dangerous in
its course. In the dull unanimated existence of other
princes, we see nothing but a sickly stagnant water,
which taints the atmosphere, without fertilising tiie
soil. The morality of a king is not to be measured
by vulgar rules. His situation is singular : there are
faults which do him honour, and virtues that disgrace
him. A faultless, insipid equality in his character, is
neither capable of virtue or vice in the extreme ; but
it secures his submission to those persons whom he
* " An ignorant, mercenary, and servile crew; unani-
mous in evil, diligent in mischief, variable in principles, con-
stant to Hiittery, talkers for liberty, but slaves to power ■
styling themselves the court party, and the prince's onlf
fr-ends." Davenant
42 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
has been accustomed to respect, and makes him a
dant^erous instrument of their ambition. Secluded
from the world, attached from his infancy to one set
of persons and one set of ideas, he can neither open
his heart to new connexions, nor his mind to better
information. A character of this sort is the soil fit-
test to produce that obstinate bigotry in politics and
religion, which begins with a meritorious sacrifice of
the understanding, and finally conducts the monarch
and the martyr to the block. At any other period, I
doubt not, the scandalous disorders which have been
introduced into the government of all the dependen-
cies in the empire, would have roused the attention ol
the public. The odious abuse and prostitution of the
prerogative at home ; the unconstitutional employ-
ment of the military ; the arbitrary fines and com-
mitments by the house of lords and court of king's
bench ; the mercy of a chaste and pious prince ex-
tended cheerfully to a wilful murderer, because that
murderer is the brother of a common prostitute ;*
would, I think, at any other time, have excited uni-
versal indignation. But the daring attack upon the
constitution, in the Middlesex election, makes us cal-
lous and indifferent to inferior grievances. No man
regards an eruption upon the surface, when the noble
parts are invaded, and he feels a mortification ap-
proaching to his heart. The free election of our re-
presentatives in parliament comprehends, because it
is, the source and security of every right and privi-
lege of the English nation. The ministry have re-
alised the ;ompendious ideas of Caligula. Thej
* Miss Kennedy
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 43
know that the liberty, tlie laws, and pioperty of an
Englishinan, have, in truth, but one neck, and that
to violate the freedom of election, strikes deeply at
them all
JUNIUS.
XL.
To Lord JSTorth.
MY LORD, August 22, 1770.
Mr. Luttrell's services were the chief support and
ornament of the duke of Grafton's administration.
Tile honour of rewarding them was reserved for your
lordship. The duke, it 'seems, had contracted an
obligation he was ashamed to acknowledge, and una-
ble to acquit. You, my lord, had no scruples. You
accepted the succession with all its encumbrances, and
have paid Mr. Luttrell his legacy, at the hazard of
ruining the estate.
When this accomplished youth declared himself the
champion of government, the world was busy, in-
quiring what honours or emoluments could be a suf-
ficient recompense to a young man of his rank and
fortune, for submitting to mark ais entrance into life
with the universal contempt and detestation of his
eountry. His noble father had not been so precipi-
tate. To vacate his seat in parliament; to intrude
upon a county in which he had no interest or con-
nexion ; to possess himself of another man's right,
and to maintain it in defiance of public shame, as
44 JUNIUSS LETTERS
well as justice, bespoke a degree of zeal or of depravi-
ty which: all the favour of a pious prince could hard-
ly requite. I protest, my lord, there is in this young
man's conduct a strain of prostitution, which, for its
singularity I cannot but admire. He has discovered
a new line in the human character ; he has degraded
even the name of Luttrell, and gratified his father's
most sanguine expectations.
The duke of Grafton, with every possible disposi-
tion to patronize this kind of merit, was contented
with pranonncing colonel Luttrell's panegyric. The
gallarit spirit, the disinterested zeal of the young ad^
venturer, were echoed through the house of lords.
His grace repeatedly pledged himself to the house,
as an evidence of the purity of his friend Mr. Lut-
trell's intentions, that he had engaged without any
prospect of personal benafit, and that the idea of
compensation would mortally offend him.* The no-
ble. duke could hardly be in earnest ; but he had late-
ty quitted his employment, and began to think it ne-
cessary to take some care of his reputation. At that
very moment the Irish negotiation was probably be-
gun. Come forward, thou worthy representative of
lurd Bute, and tell this insulted country, who advised
the king to appoint Mr. Luttrell adjutant-general to
the army in Ireland. By what management was
colonel Cunninghame prevailed on to resign his em-
plo3*ment, and the obsequious Gisborne to accept of
a pension for the government of Kinsale ?f Was it
* He now says that his great object is the niiiK of colo-
Bel, and that he will have it.
t ThasinfaiiKus transaction ought t^ be explained to the
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. i'i
an original stipulation with the princess of Wales ; or
does he owe his preferment to your lordship's par-
tiality, or to the duke of Bedford's friendship ? My
lord, though it may not be possible to trace this niea^
sure to its source, we can follow the stream, and
warn the country of its approaching destruction.
Tiie English nation must be roused, and put upon
its guard. Mr. Luttrell has already shown us how
far he may be trusted, whenever an open attack is to
be made upon the liberties of this country. I do not
doubt that there is a deliberate plan formed. Your
lordship best knows by whom. The corruption oi
the legislative body on this side, a military force on
the other, and then, fareivell to England! It is im-
possible that any minister shall dare to advise the
king to place such a man as Luttrell in the confiden-
tial post of adjutant-general, if there were not some
secret purpose in view, which only such a man as
Luttrell is fit to promote. The insult offered to the
irmy in general is as gross as the outrage intended
public. Colonel Gisborne was quarter-master-generai m
Ireland. Lord Townshend persuaded him to resign to a
Scotch officer, one Frazer, and gives him the government
of Kinsale. Colonel Cunninghame was adjutant-general in
Ireland. Lord Townshend offers him a pension, to induce
him to resign to Luttrell. Cunninghame treats the ofler
with contempt. What's to be done ? Poor Gisborne must
move once more. He accepts of a pension of 500Z. a year,
jntil a government of greater value shall become vacant.
Colonel Cunninghame is made governor of Kinsale ; and
Luttrell, at leist, for whom the whole machinery is put in
motion, becomes adjutant-general, and, in effect, takes
the command of ihe army in Ireland.
46 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
to the people of England. What ! lieutenant-colo-
nel Luttrell adjutant-general of an army of sixteen
thousand men ! One would think his majesty's cam-
paigns at Blackheath and Wimbledon might have
taught him better- 1 cannot help wishing general
Harvey joy of a colleague who does so much honour
to the employment. But, my lord, this measure is
too daring to pass unnoticed, too dangerous to be
received with indifference or submission. You shall
not have time to new model the Irish army. They
will not submit to be garbled by colonel Luttrell. As
a mischief to the English constitution, (for he is not
worth the name of enemy) they already detest him.
As a boy, impudently thrust over their heads, they
will receive him with indignation and contempt. As
for you, my lord, who, perhaps, are no more than
the blind, unhappy instrument of lord Bute and her
royal highness the princess of Wales, be assured, that
you shall be called upon to answt' for the advice
which has been given, and either discover your ac-
complices, or fall a sacrifice to their security.
JUNIUS
xu.
To the Right Honourable Lord Mansfield.
MY LORD, November 14, 1770.
The appearance of this letter will attract the cu-
riosity of the public, and command even your lord-
ship's attention. I am considerawly in your debt, and
JUNIUS'S LETTERS 47
shall endeavour, once for all, to balance the aCv\<)unt.
Accept of this address, mj lord, as a prologue to
more important scenes, in vvhicli you will probably
be called upon to act or sufl'er.
You will not question my veracity, when I assure
you, that it has not been owing to any particular re-
spect for your person that I have abstained from you
so long. Besides the distress and danger with which
the press is threatened, when your lordship is party,
and the party is to be judge, I confess I have been
deterred by the difficulty of the task. Our language
has no term of reproach, the mind has no idea of de-
testation, which has not already been happily applied
to you, and exhausted. Ample justice has been done,
by abler pens dian mine, to the separate merits of
your life and character. Let it be my humble office
to collect the scattered sweets till their united virtue
tortures the sense.
Permit me to begin with paying a just tribute to
Scotch sincerity, wherever I find it. I own I am not
apt to confide in the professions of gentlemen of that
country ; and, when they smi^e, I feel an involunta-
ry emotion to guard myself a^. ainst mischief. With
this general opinion of an ancient nation, I always
thought it much to your lordsliip's honour, that, in
your earlier days, you were but little infected with
the prudence of your country. You had some origi-
nal attachments, which you took every proper oppor-
tunity to acknowledge. The liberal spirit of youth
prevailed over your native discretion. Your zeal in
the cause of an unhappy prince was expressed with
the sincerity of win^, and some of the solemnities oi
48 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
religion.* This, I conceive, is the most amiab e
point of view in which your character has appeared.
Like an honest man, you took that part in politics,
which might have been expected from your birth,
education, country, and connexions. There was
something generous in your attachment to the ban-
shed house of Stuart. We lament the mistakes of a
good man, and do not begin to detest him until he
affects to renounce his prmciples. Why did you not
adhere to tl \i loyalty you once professed ? Why did
you not follow the example of your worthy brother ?t
With him you might have shared in the honour of the
pretender's confidence ; widi him you might have
preserved the integrity of your character ; and Eng-
land, 1 think, might have spared you without regret.
Your friends will say, perhaps, that, although you
deserted the fortune of your liege lord, you have ad-
hered firmly to the principles which drove his father
from the throne ; that, without openly supporting the
person, you have done essential service to the cause ;
and consoled yourself for tlie loss of a favourite fami-
ly, by reviving and establishing the maxims of their
government. This is the way in which a Scotch-
man's understanding corrects the errors of his heart.
My lord, I acknowledge the truth of the defence, and
can trace it through all your conduct. I see through
your whole life one uniform plan to enlarge the povv-
* Tills man was always a rank Jacobite. Lord Ravens,
worth produced the most satisfactory evidence of his having
frequently drank the pretender's health on his knees.
t Ci nfidential secretary to the late pretender This cir-
Btance confirmed the friendship between the brothers.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 49
er of the crown, at the expense of tlie liberty of the
subject. To this object your thoughts, words, and
actions, have been constantly directed. In contempt
or ignorance of the common law of England, you
have made it your study to introduce into the court
where you preside, maxims of jurisprudence un-
knov\n to Englishmen. The Roman code, the law
of nations, and (he opinion of foreign civilians, are
your perpetual theme ; but whoever heard you men-
tion Magna Charta, or the Bill of Rights, with ap-
probation or respect ? By such treacherous arts the
noble simplicity and free spirit of our Saxon laws
were first corrupted. The Norman conquest was not
complete, until Norman lawyers had introduced their
laws, and reduced slavery to a system. This one
leading principle directs 3'our interpretation of the
laws, and accounts for your treatment of juries. It is
not in political questions only (for there the courtier
might be forgiven,) but let the cause be what it may,
your understanding is equally on the rack, either to
contract the power of the jury, or to mislead their
judgment. For the truth of this assertion, I appeal to
the doctrine you delivered in lord Grosvenor's cause.
An action for criminal conversation being brought by
a peer against a prince of the blood, you were daring
enough to tell the jury, that, in fixing the damages,
they were to pay no regard to the quality or fortune
of the parties : that it was a trial between A and B ,
that they were to consider the offence in a moral light
only, and give no greater damages to a peer of the
realm, than to the meanest mechanic. I shall not
attempt to refute a doctrine, which if it was meant for
faw, carries falsehood and absurd'ty upon the face (><
' L. II. C 4
50 JUNK S'S LETTERS.
»t ; but, if it was meant for a declaration ol your po
Htical creed, is clear and consistent. Under an arbi-
trary government, all ranks and distinctions are con*
founded : the honour of a nobleman is no more con-
sidered than the reputation of a peasant j for, with
different liveries, they are equally slaves.
Even in matters of private property, we see the
same bias and inclination to depart from the decisions
of your predecessors, which you certainly ought to
receive as evidence of the common law. Instead ol
those certain positive rules by which the judgment ol
d court of law should invariably be determined, you
iiave fondly introduced your own unsettled notions
of equity and substantial justice. Decisions given
upon such principles do not alarm the public so much
as they ought, because the consequence and tendency
of each particular instance is not observed or re-
garded. In the mean time, the practice gains ground ;
the court of king's bench becomes a court of equit}' ;
and the judge, instead of consulting strictly the law of
the land, refers only to the wisdom of the court, and
to the purity of his own conscience. The name of
Mr. Justice Yates will naturally revive in your mind
some of those emotions of fear and detestation with
which you always beheld him. That great lawyer,
tiiat honest man, saw your whole conduct in the light
that I do. After years of ineffectual resistance to the
pernicious principles introduced by your lordship, and
uniformly supported by your humble friends upon the
bench, he deter aiined to quit a court, whose proceed-
ings and decisions he could neither assent to with
bono'ir, nor oppose with success.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 61
The injustice done to an individual* is sometimts
i)f service to the public. Facts are apt to alarm us
more than the most dangerous principles. The suf-
ferings and firmness of a printer have roused the
public attention. You knew and felt that your con
duct would not bear a parliamentary inquiry ; and
you hoped to escape it by the meanest, the basesi
sacrifice of dignity and consistency that ever was
made by a great magistrate. Where was your firm-
ness, where was that vindictive spirit, of which we
have seen so many examples, when a man so incon-
siderable as Bingley could force you to confess, in
the face of this country, that, for two years together,
V'ou had illegally deprived an English subject of his
iiberty, and that he had trmmphed ov^r you at last ?
Yet, I own, my lord, that yours is not an uncom-
mon character. Women, and men like women, are
timid, vindictive, and irresolute. Their passions
counteract each other, and make the same creature
at one moment hateful, at another contemptible. I
fancy, my lord, some time will elapse before you
venture to commit another Englishman for refusing
to answer interrogatories. t
* The oppression of an obscure individual gave birth to
the famous Habeas Corpus Act of 31 Car. II. which is
frequently considered as another Magna Charta of this
kingdom. Blackstonc, iii. 135.
t Bingley was committed for contempt, in not submitting
to be examined. He lay in prison two years, until the
crown thought the matter might occasion some serious com-
plaint, and therefore he was let out, in the same contume-
lious state he had been put in, with all his srts abwt him,
52 JUNIUS'S [.ETTERS.
The doctrine you lia^e constantly delivered, is
cases of libel, is another powerful evidence of a set-
tled plan to contract the legal power of juries, and
to draw questions, inseparable from fact, within the
arhitrium of the court. Here, my lord, you have
fortune on your side. Wiien you invade the pro
vince of the jury, in matter of libel, you, in e/Tect
attack the liberty of the press, and, with a single
stroke, wound two of your greatest enemies. In some
instances you have succeeded, because jurymen are
too often ignorant of their own rights, and too apt
to be awed by the autiiority of a chief justice. In
other criminal prosecutions, the malice of the design
is confessedly as much the subject of consideration to
a jury as the certainty of the fact. If a different
doctrine prevails in the case of libels, why should it
not extend to all criminal cases .'' Why not to capi-
tal offences .'' I see no reason (and I dare say you
will agree with me, that there is no good one) why
the life of the subject should be better protected
against you, tlian his liberty or property. Why
should you enjoy the full power of pillory, fine, and
imprisonment, and not be indulged with hanging or
transportation .'' Witli your lordship's fertile genius
and merciful disposition, I can conceive such an ex-
ercise of the power you have, as could hardly be ag-
gravated by that which j'ou have not.
But, my lord, since you have laboured (and not
unanointed and unanealed. There was much coquetry 1»p-
tween the court and the attorney general, about who should
undergo the ridicule of letting him escape. — Vide another
Letter to Almon, p. 1 89.
lUNIUS'S LETTERS. 5S
unsuccessfully) to destroy the substance of the trialf
why should you sufler the form of the verdict to re-
main ? Why force twelve honest men, in palpable
violation of their oaths, to pronounce their fellow-
subject a guilty man, when, almost at the same mo-
ment, you forbid their inquiring into the only cir-
■:umstance which, in the eye of law and reason, con-
stitutes guilt— the malignity or innocence of his in-
tentions ? But I understand your lordship. If you
could succeed in making tiie trial by jury useless and
ridiculous, you might then, with greater safety, in-
troduce a bill intj parliament for enlarging the ju-
risdiction of the court, and extending your favourite
trial by inte* rogatories to every question in which the
life or liberty of an Englishman is concerned.*
Your charge to the jury, in the prosecution against
Almon and Woodfall, contradicts the highest legal
authorities, as well as the plainest dictates of reason.
In Miller's cause, and still more expressly in that of
Baldwin, you have proceeded a step farther, and
* The plulosophical poet doth notably describe the dam-
nable and damned proceedings of the judge of hell.
' Gnossius haec Rhadamanthus habet durissima regna,
Casligatque, auditque dolos, suhigitque fateri.^
First he punisheth, and then he heareth, and lastly com-
pelleth to confess, and makes and mars laws at his pleasure;
like as the centurion, in the holy history, did to St. Paul ;
for the text saitli, ' Centurio apprehendi Paulum jussit, et
se calenis alligari, et tunc inter rogahat quis fuisset, et quid
fecisset.' But good judges and justices abhor these courses.
Coke, 2 Inst. 53.
54 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
grossly contradicled yourself. You may know, per-
haps, though I do not mean to insult you by an ap
peal to your experience, that the language of truth ij
uniform and consistent. To depart from it safely,
requires memory and discretion. In the last two
trials, your charge to the jur}' began, as usual, with
assuring them, that they had nothing to do with the
law ; that they were to find the bare fact, and not
concern themselves about the legal inferences drawn
from it, or the degree of the defendant's guilt. Thus
far you were consistent with your former practice.
But how will you account for the conclusion .'' You
told the jury, that " if, after all, they would take
upon themselves to determine the law, they might do
it, but they must be very sure that they determined
according to law ; for it touched their consciences,
and they acted at their peril." If I understand your
first proposition, you mean to affirm, that the jury
were not competent judges of the law in the criminal
case of a libel; that it did not fall within rAeir juris-
diction ; and that with respect to them, the malice or
mnocence of the defendant's intentions would be a
question coram non judice. But the second proposi-
tion clears away your own difficulties, and restores the
) iry to all their judicial capacities.* You make the
competence of the court to depend upon the legality
* Directly the reverse of the doctrine he constantly
maintained in the house of lords, and elsewhere, upon the
decision of the Middlesex election. He invariably asserted,
that the decision must be legal because the court was com
vetent ; and never could be prevailed on to enter farther
into tne question.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 55
of the decision. In the first instance, you deny the
power absolutely: in the second, you admit the power,
provided it be legally exercised. Now, my lord,
without pretending to reconcile the distinctions of
Westminster-hall with the simple information of com-
mon sense, or the integrity of fair argument, I shall
be understood by your lordship, when I assert, that,
if a jury, or any other court of judicature, (for jurors
are judges) have no right to enter into a cause or
question of law, it signifies nothing whether their
decisions be or be not according to la\i , Their de-
cision is, in itself, a mere nullity ; the parties are not
bound to submit to it; and, if the jury run any risk
of punishment, it is not for pronouncing a corrupt or
illegal verdict, but for the illegality of meddling with
a point on which they have no legal authority to
decide.*
I cannot quit this subject without reminding your
lordship of the name of Mr. Benson. Without ofler-
ing any legal objection, you ordered a special jury-
man to be set aside, in a cause where the king was
prosecutor. The novelty of the fact required expla-
nation. Will you condescend to tell the world by
what law or custom you were authorised to make a
* These iniquitous prosecutions cost the best of nrinces
SIX thousand poiuids, and ended in the total defeat and
disgrace of the prosecutors. In the course of one of them,
nidge Aston had the unparalleled impudence to tell I\Tr.
Morris, a gentleman of unquestionable hoit)ur and integri-
ty, and who was then giving his evide.ice on oath, that he
should pay very lUtle regard ii ant affidavit he should
make.
56 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
Dereinptory challenge of a juryPian ? The partief,
indeed, have this power ; and, perhaps, your lord-
ship, having accustomed 3'curself to unite the charac-
ters of judge and party, may claim it in virtue of the
new capacity you have assumed, and profit by your
own wrong. The time within which you might havj
been punished for this daring attempt to pack a jury,
is, I fear, elapsed : but no length of time shall erase
the record of it.
The mischiefs you have done this country are not
confined to your interpretation of the laws. You are
a minister, my lord ; and, as such, have long been
consulted. Let us candidly examine what use you
have made of your ministerial influence. I will not
descend to little matters, but come at once to those
important points on which your resolution was waited
for, on which the expectation of your opinion kept
a great part of the nation in suspense. A constitu-
tional question arises upon a declaration of tlie law
of parliament, b}' which the freedom of election, and
he birthright of the subject, were supposed to have
jeen invaded. The king's servants are accused of
violating the constitution. The nation is in a fer-
ment. The ablest men of all parties engage in tht
question, and exert their utmost abilities in the dis-
cussion of it. What part has the honest lord Mans-
field acted .'' As an eminent judge of the law, his
opinion would have been respected. As a peer, he
had a right to demand an audience of his sovereign,
ami inform him, that his ministers were pursuiUsZ un-
constitutional measures. Upon other occasions, my
lord, you have no difficulty in finding your way into
the closet. The pretended neutrality of belonging
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 57
M no party will not save your reputation. In a ques-
tion merely political, an honest man may stand
neuter. But the laws and constitution are the gene-
ral property of the subject : not to defend, is to re-
Hiiquish : and who is there so senseless as to renounce
tiis share in a common benefit, unless he hopes to
profit by a new division of the spoil ^ As a lord of
parliament, you were repeatedly called upon to con-
demn or defend the new law declared by the house ol
commons. You affected to have scruples, and every
expedient was attempted to remove them. The ques-
tion was proposed and urged to you in a thousand
different shapes. Your prudence still supplied 3'ou
with evasion ; your resolution was invincible. For
my own part, I am not anxious to penetrate this
solemn secret. I care not to whose wisdom it is en-
trusted, nor how soon you carry it with you to the
grave.* You have betrayed your opinion by the
very care you have taken to conceal it. It is not
from lord Mansfield that we expect any reserve in
declaring his real sentiments in favour of government,
or in opposition to the people ; nor is it difficult to
account for the motions of a timid, dishonest heart,
which neither has virtue enough to acknowledge
truth, or courage to contradict it. Yet you continue
to support an administration which you know is uni-
versally odious, and which, on some occasions, you
yourself speak of with contempt. You would fain
* He said, in the house of lords, that he believed he
shoyjd carry his opinion with him to the grave. It was
afterwards reported, that he had entrusted it in special con
hdcnce to the ingenuous duke of Cumberland.
C 2
tS JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
be thought to take no share in government, while, in
reality, you are the main spring of the machine
Here, too, we trace the little, prudential policy of a
Scotchman. Instead of acting that open, generous
part which becomes your rank and station, you mean-
ly sculk into the closet, and give your sovereign such
advice as you have not spirit to avow or defend.
You secretly engross the power, while you decline
the title of a minister, and though you dare not be
chancellor, you know how to secure the emoluments
of the office. Are the seals to be for ever in commis-
sion, that you may enjoy five thousand pounds a
year ? I beg pardon, ray lord ; your fears have in-
terposed at last, and forced you to resign. The
odium of continuing speaker of the house of lords,
upon such terms, was too formidable to be resisted.
What a multitude of bad passions are forced to sub-
mit to a constitutional infirmity ! But though you
have relinquished the salary, you still assume the
rights of a minister. Your conduct, it seems, must
be defended in parliament. For what other purpose
is your wretched friend, that miserable serjeant, posted
to the house of commons ? Is it in the abilities of a
Mr. Leigh to defend the great lord Mansfield ? Or is
he only the punch of the puppet-show, to speak as he is
prompted by the chief juggler behind the curtain ?*
In j)ublic affairs, my lord, cunning, let it be ever sci
well wrought, will not conduct a man honourably
through life. Like bad money, it may be current for
* Thjs paragraph gagged poor Leigh. 1 am really con-
cerned for the man, and wish it were possible to open his
mouth. H=i is a very pretty orator.
JUNILS'S LETTERS. 59
a time, but it will soon be cried down. It cannot
consist with a liberal spirit, though it be sometimes
united with extraordniary qualifications. When I
acknowledge your abilities, you may believe I an>
sincere. I feel for human nature, when I see a man,
so gifted as you are, descend to such vile practices.
Yet do not suffer your vanity to console you too soon.
Believe me, my good lord, you are not admired in
the same degree in which you are aetested. It is
only the partiality of your friends that balances the
defects of your heart with the superiority of your un-
derstanding. No learned man,- even among your
own tribe, thinks you qualified to preside in a court
of common law : yet it is confessed, that, under Jus-
tinian, you might have made an incomparable prcctor.
It is remarkable enough, but I hope not ominous, that
the laws you understand best, and the judges you affect
to admire most, flourished in the decline of a great
empire, and are supposed to have contributed to its fall.
Here, my lord, it may be proper for us to pause
together. It is not for my own sake that I wish you
to consider the delicacy of your situation. Beware
how you indulge the first emotions of your resent-
ment. This paper is delivered to the world, and can-
not be recalled. The prosecution of an "-nnocent print-
er cannot alter facts, nor refute arguments. Do not
furnish me with farther materials against yourself.
An honest man, like the true religion, appeals to tlie
understanding, or modestly confides in the internal
evidence of his conscience. The impostor employs
fojcc instead of argument, imposes silence where he
cannot con\ince, and propagates his character by the
sword. JUNIUS.
60 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
XLII.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser
SIR, January 30, 1771
If we recollect in what manner the king^s friends
have been constantly employed, we shall have no rea-
son to be surprised at any condition of disgrace tc
which the once respected name of Englishmen may
be degraded. His majesty has no cares, but such as
concern the laws and constitution of this country
In his royal breast there is no room left for resent-
ment, no place for hostile sentiments against the
natural enemies of his crown. The system of govern-
ment is uniform : violence and oppression at home
can only be supported by treachery and submission
abroad. When the civil rights of the people are
daringly invaded on one side, what have we to ex-
pect, but that their political rights should be deserted
and betrayed, in the same proportion, on the other .''
The plan of domestic policy which has been invaria-
bly pursued from the moment of his present majesty's
accession, engrosses all the attention of his servants.
They know tliat the security of their places depends
upon their maintaining, at any hazard, the secret sys-
tem of the closet. A foreign war might embarrass
an unfavourable event might ruin, the minister, and
defeat the deep-laid scheme of policy to which he and
his associates owe their employments. Rather than
sufler tlie execution of hat scheme to be delayed or
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 61
Itterrupted, the king has been advised to mt*kfi a
public surrender, a solemn sacrifice, in the face of all
Europe, not only of the interests of his subject-s, but
of his own personal reputation, and of the digi><ty ot
that crown which his predecessors have worn with
honour. These are strong terms, sir, but they are
supported by fact and argument.
The king of Great Britain has been for some years
in possession of an island, to which, as the ministry
themselves have repeatedly asserted, the Spaniards
had no claim of right. The importance of the place
is not in question : if it were, a better judgment might
be formed of it, from the opinion of lord Anson and
lord Egmont, and from the anxiety of the Spaniards,
'han from any fallacious insinuations thrown out by
men, whose interest it is to undervalue that property
tvhich they are determined to relinquish. The pre-
censions of Spain were a subject of negotiation be-
cween the two courts. They had been discussed, but
not admitted. The king of Spain, in these circum-
stances, bids adieu to amicable negotiation, and ap-
peals directly to the sword. The expedition against
Port Egmont does not appear to have been a sudden,
ill-concerted enterprise : it seems to have been con-
ducted not only with the usual military precautions,
but in all the forms and ceremonies of war. A frigate
was first employed, to examine the strength of the
place. A message was then sent, demanding imme-
diate possession, in the Catholic king's name, and
ordering our people to depart. At last, a military
force appears, and compels the garrison to surrender.
A formal capitulation ensues ; and his majesty's ship,
which might at least have been permitted to bring
62 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
home his troops immediately, is detained in port
twenty days, and her rudder forcibly taken away
This train of facts carries no appearance of the r»sh •
ness or violence of a Spanish governor : on the con-
trary, the whole plan seems to have been formed and
executed, in consequence of deliberate orders, and a
regular instruction, from the Spanish court. Mr.
Buccarelli is not a pirate, nor has he been treated as
such by those who employed him. I feel for the
honour of a gentleman, when I affirm, that our king
owes him a signal reparation. Where will the hu-
miliation of this country end ? A king of Great Bri-
tain, not contented with placing himself upon a level
with a Spanish governor, descends so low as to do a
notorious injustice to that governor. As a salvo for
his own reputation, he has been advised to traduce the
character of a brave officer, and to treat him as a
common robber, when he knew, with certainty, that
Mr. Buccarelli had acted in obedience to his orders^
and had done no more than his duty. Thus it hap-
pens, in private life, with a man who has no spirit
nor sense of honour. One of his equals orders a ser-
vant to strike him : instead of returning the blow to
the master, his courage is contented with throwing an
aspersion, equally false and public, upon the charac-
ter of the servant.
Tliis short recapitulation was necessary to intro-
duce the consideration of his majesty's speech of the
13th of November, 1770, and the subsequent measures
of government. The excessive caution witli which
the speech was drawn up, had impressed upon me an
early conviction, that no serious resentment was
thought of, and that the conclusioi of the business,
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 63
whenever it happened must, in some degree, be dis
honourable to Enghuid. There appears, through
the whole speech, a guard and reserve in the choice
of expression, which shows how careful the ministry
were not to embarrass their future projects by any
firm or spirited declaration from the throne. When
all hopes of peace are lost, his majesty tells his par-
liament, that he is preparing, not for barbarous war,
but (with all his mother's softness) /or a different sttti-
ation. An open hostility, authorised by the Catliolic
king, is called an act of a governor. This act, to
avoid tlie mention of a regular siege and surrender,
passes under the piratical description of seizing hy
force ; and the thing taken is described, not as a part
of the king's territory, or proper dominion, but mere-
ly as a possession ; a word expressly chosen in con-
tradistinction to, and exclusion of, the ideas o{ right,
and to prepare us for a future surrender both of the
right and of the possession. Yet this speech, sir,
cautious and equivocal as it is, cannot, by any
sophistry, be accommodated to the measures which
have since been adopted. It seemed to promise, that,
whatever might be given up by secret stipulation,
some care would be taken to save appearances to the
public. The event shows us, that to depart, in the
minutest article, from the nicety and strictness ot
punctilio, is as dangerous to national honour as to
female virtue. The woman who admits of one fami-
liarity seldom knows where to stop, or what to refuse ;
and, when the counsels of a great country give way
in a single instance, when they once are inclined to
submission, every step accelerates the rapidity of the
descent. The ministry themselves, when they framed
G4 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
the speecli, did not foresee that they should ever ac
cede to such an accommodation as they have since
advised their master to accept of.
The king says, " The honour of my crown and
the rights of my people, are deeply afl'ected." The
Spaniard, in his reply, says, " I will give you back
possession, but I adhere to my claim of prior right,
reserving the assertion of it for a more favourable
opportunity."
The speech says, " 1 made an immediate demand
of satisfaction ; and, if that fails, I am prepared to do
myself justice." This immediate demand must have
been sent to Madrid on the 12th of September, or in
a few days after. It was certainly refused, or evaded,
and the king has not done himself justice. When the
first magistrate speaks to the nation, some care should
be taken of his apparent veracity.
The speech proceeds to say, " I shall not discon-
tinue my preparations until I have received proper
reparation for the injur3^" If this assurance may be
relied on, what an enormous expense is entailed sine
die upon this unhappy country ! Restitution of a
possession, and reparation of an injury, are as difle-
rent in substance as they are in language. The very
act of restitution may contain, as in this instance it
palpably does, a shameful aggravation of the injury.
A man of spirit does not measure the degree of atj
mjury by the mere positive damage he has sustained
ne considers the principle on which it is fonnded ; he
resents the superiority asserted over him ; and re-
jects, w'th indignation, the claim of right which his
adversary endeavours to establish, and would force
bim to acknowledge.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 65
The motives on which the Catholic king makeg
restitution, are, if possible, more insolent and dis-
graceful to our sovereign, than even the declaratory
condition annexed to it. After taking four months
to consider whether the expedition was undertaken by
his own orders or not, he condescends to disavow the
enterprise, and to restore the Island ; not from any
regard to justice, not from any regard he bears to his
Britannic majesty, but merely " from the persuasion
in which he is of the pacific sentiments of the king o^
Great Britain."
At this rate, if our king had discovered the spirit of
a man ; if he had made a peremptory demand of satis-
faction, the king of Spain would have given him a
peremptory refusal. But why tiiis unseasonable, this
ridiculous mention of the king of Great Britain's pa-
cific intentions ^ Have they ever been in question ^
Was he the aggressor? Does he attack foreign
powers without provocation ? Does he even resist,
when he is insulted.? No, sir : if any ideas of strife
or hostility have entered his royal mind, the_y \'>.\e a
very difierent direction. The enemies of England
have nothing to fear from them.
After all, sir, to wliat kind of disavowal has the
king of Spain at last consented .? Supposing it made
m proper time, it should have been accompanied with
instant restitution; and if Mr. Buccarelli acted with-
out orders, he deserved death. Now, sir, instead oi
immediate restitution, we have a four months' nego-
tiation ; and the officer, whose act is disavowed, re-
turns to court, and is loaded with honours.
If the actual situation of Europe be considered, tiie
treachery of the king's servants, particularly of lore'
66 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
North, who takes the whole upon himself, will appear
in the strongest colours of aggravation. Our allies
were masters of the Mediterranean. The king ol
France's present aversion from war, and the distrac-
tion of his afl'airs, are notorious. He is now in a
state of war with his people. In vain did the Catho-
lic king solicit him to take part in the quarrel against
us. His finances were in the last disorder ; and it
was probable that his troops might find sufficient
employment at home. In these circumstances, we
miglit have dictated the law to Spain. There are no
terms to which she might nov have been compelled to
submit. At the worst, a war with Spain alone car-
ries the fairest promise of advantage. One good
efiect, at least, would have been immediately produ-
ced by it. The desertion of France would have irri-
tated her ally, and, in all probability, have dissolved
the family compact. The scene is now fatally changed.
The advantage is thrown away. The most favoura-
ble opportunity is lost. Hereafter we shall know the
value of it. When the French king is reconciled to
his subjects — when Spain has completed her prepa-
rations — when the collected strength of the house of
Bourbon attacks us at once, the king himself will be
able to determine upon the wisdom or impudence of
his present conduct. As far as the probability of
argument extends, we may safely pronounce, that a
conjuncture, which threatens the very being of this
country, has been wilfully prepared and forwarded by
our own ministr}'. How far the people may be ani
mated to resistance, undeirthe present administration
I know not; but this I know, with certainty, that,
under the present administration, o:* if any thing like
JUNIUS'S LETTCRb. r.7
t should continue, it is of very little moment whttlier
we are a conquered nation or not.*
Having travelled thus far ni the high road of mat-
ter of fact, I may now be permitted to wander a little
into the field of imagination. Let us banish from our
minds the persuasion that these events have really
happened in the reign of the best of princes ; let us
consider them as nothing more than the materials o(
a fable, in which we may conceive the sovereign of
some other country to be concerned. I mean to vio-
late all the laws of probability, when I suppose that
this imaginary king, after having voluntarily dis-
graced himself in the eyes of his subjects, might re-
turn to a sense of his dishonour ; that he might per-
ceive the snare laid for him by his ministers, and feel
* The king's acceptance of the Spanish ambassador's de-
claration is drawn up in barbarous French, and signed by
the earl of Rochford. This diplomatic lord has spent his
life in the study and practice of etiquettes, and is supposed
to be a profound master of the ceremonies. I will not in-
sult him by any reference to grammar or common sense : if
he were even acquainted with the common forms of his of-
fice, I should think him as well qualified for it as any man
in his majesty's service. The reader is requested to observe
lord Rochford's method of authenticating a public instru-
ment. — " En foi de quoi, moi soussigne, un des principaux
secretaires d'etat S. M, B. ai signe la presente de ma signa-
ture ordinaire, et celle fait apposer le cachet de nos amies."
In three lines there are no less than seven false concords.
BhI the man does not even know the style of his office. If
he had known it, he would have said, " Nous, soussigM
secretaire d'etat de S. M. B. avons signe," &c.
88 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
a spark of shame kindling in his breast. Th<; par
he must then be obliged to act would overwhelm him
with confusion. To his parliament he must say, " 1
called you together to receive your advice, and have
never asked your opinion." — To the merchant, " I
have distressed your commerce ; I have dragged
your seamen out of your ships; I have loaded you
with a grievous weight of insurances." — To the land-
holder, " I told you war was too probable, when I was
determined to submit to any terms of accommodation j
I extorted new taxes from you before it was possible
they could be wanted, and am now unable to account
for the application of them." — To the public cneditor,
" I have delivered up your fortune a prey to foreign-
ers, and to the vilest of your fellow subjects." Per-
haps, this repenting prince might conclude with one
general acknowledgment to them all : " I have in
volved every rank of my subjects in anxiety and dis-
tress ; and have nothing to offer you, in return, but
the certainty of national dishonour, an armed truce,
and peace without security."
If these accounts were settled, there would still
remain an apology to be made to his navy and to hij
army. To the first he would say, " You were once
tlie terror of the world. But go back to your har-
bours. A man, dishonoured as I am, has no use for
your service." It is not probable that he would ap-
pear again before his soldiers, even in the pacific
ceremony of a review.* But, wherever he appeared,
the humiliating confession would be extorted from
* A mistake : he appears before them every day, with a
mark of a blow upon his face. Froh pudor!
JLNIUS'S LETTERS. €2
him,---" I have received a blow, and had .lot spirit
to resent it. I demanded satisfaction, and have ac-
cepted a declaration, in which the right to strike me
again is asserted and confirmed." His countenance,
at least, would speak this language, and even his
guards would blush for him.
But to return to our argument. The ministry, .t
seems, are labouring to draw a line of distinction be-
tween the honour of the crown and the rights of the
people. This new idea has yet only been started in
discourse ; for, in effect, both objects have been equally
sacrificed. I neither understand the distinction, nor
what use the ministry propose to make of it. The
king's honour is that of his people. Their real hon-
our and real interest are the same. I am not con-
tending for a vain punctilio. A clear, unblemished
character comprehends not only tJie integrity that
will not offer, but the spirit that will not submit to an
nijury; and, whether it belongs to an individual or
to a community, it is the foundation of peace, of in-
dependence, and of safety. Private credit is wealth ;*
public honour is security. The feather that adorns
the royal bird supports his flight. Strip him of his
plumage, and you fix him to the earth.
JUNIUS.
70 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
XLIII.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser,
SIR, February 6, 1771.
I hope j'our correspondent, Junius, is better em-
ployed than in answering or reading the criticisms ol
a newspaper. This is a task, from which, if he were
inclined to submit to it, his -friends ought to relieve
him. Upon this principle, I shall undertake to an-
swer Anti-Junius, more, I belie\ e, to his conviction,
than to his satisfaction. Not daring to attack the
main body of Junius's last letter, he triumphs in hav-
ng, as he thinks, surprised an out-post, and cut off a
detached argument, a mere straggling proposition.
But even in this petty warfare he shall find himself
, defeated.
Junius does not speak of the Spanish nation as the
natural enemies of England ; he applies that descrip-
tion, with the strictest truth and justice, to the Span-
ish court. From the moment when a prince of the
house of Bourbon ascended that throne, their whole
system of government was inverted, and became hos-
tile to this country. Unity of possession introduced
a unity of politics ; and Louis the Fourteenth had
reason, wlien he said to his grandson, " The Pyrenees
are removed." The history of the present century
is one continued confirmation of the prophecy.
The assertion, " That violence and oppression at
home can only be supported bv treachery and sub-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 71
mission abroad," is applied to a free people, whose
rights are insaded, not to the government of a coun-
Iry, where despotic or absolute power is confessedly
vested in the prince ; and, with this application, the
assertion is true. An absolute monarch, having no
points to carry at home, will naturally maintain the
honour of his crown in ail his transactions with
foreign powers. But, if we could suppose the sove-
reign of a free nation possessed with a design to make
himself absolute, he would be inconsistent with him-
self, if he suffered his projects to be interrupted or
embarrassed by a foreign war, unless that war tended,
pis in some cases it might, to promote his principal
tlesign. Of the three exceptions to this general rule
of conduct, (quoted by Anti-Junius,) that of Oliver
Cromwell is the only one in point. Harry the Eighth,
by the submission of his parliament, was as absolute
a prince as Louis the Fourteenth. Queen Elizabeth's
government was not oppressive to the people, and as
vo her foreign wars, it ought to be considered, that
they were unavoidable. The national honour was
not in question : she was compelled to fight in defence
of her own person, and ol her title to the crown. In
the common cause of selfish policy, Oliver Cromwell
should have cultivated the friendship of foreign pow-
ers, or, at least, have avoided disputes with them, the
better to establish his tyranny at home. Had he
been only a bad man, he would have sacrificed the
honour of the nation to the success of his domestic
policy. But, with all his crimes, he had the spirit of
an Englishman. The conduct of such a man must
always be an exception to vulgar rules. He had
abilities sufficient to reconcile contradictions, and to
72 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
make a great nation, at the same moment, unhappy
and formidable. If it were not for the respect I bear
the minister, I could name a. man, who, without one
g-ram of understanding, can do half as much as
Oliver Cromwell.
Whether or no there be a secret system in the
closet, and what may be the object of it, are questions
which can only be determined by appearances, and
on which every man must decide for himself.
The whole plan of Junius's letter proves, that he
himself makes no distinction between the real honoui
of the crown and the real interest of the people. In
the climax to which your correspondent objects, Ju-
nius adopts the language of the court, and, by that
conformity, gives strength to his argument. He says
that " the king has not only sacrificed the interest
of his people, but (what was likely to touch him more
nearly) his personal reputation, and the dignity of his
crown."
The queries put by Anti-Junius can only be an-
swered by the ministry. Abandoned as they are, I
fancy they will not confess, that they have, for so
many years, maintained possession of another man's
property. After admitting the assertion of the minis-
tiy, viz. " That the Spaniards had no rightful
claim," and after justifymg them for saying so, it is
his business, not mine, to give us some good reason
for their " suffering the pretentions of Spain to be a
subject of negotiation." He admits the facts ; let
him reconcile them if he can.
The last paragraph brings us back to the original
question. Whether the Spanish declaration contains
5uch a satisfaction as the king of Great Britain ough
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 73
to have accepted ? This was the field upon which he
ought to have encountered Junius openly and fairly.
But here he leaves the argument, as no longer de-
fensible. I shall, therefore, conclude with one gen-
eral admonition to my fellow subjects ; that, when
they hear these matters debated, they should not suf
fer themselves to be misled by general declamations
upon the conveniences of peace, or the miseries oi
war. Between peace and war abstractedly, there is
not, there cannot, be a question, in the mind of a
rational being. The real questions are, " Have we
any security that the peace we have so dearly pur-
chased will last a twelvemonth .?" and if not, " Have
we, or have we not, sacrificed the fairest opportunity
of making war with advantage .'"'
PHILO JUNIUS
XLIV.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, April 22, 1771.
To write for profit, without taxing the press ; to
;vrite for fame, and to be unknown j to support the
nitrigues of faction, and to be disowned as a danger-
ous auxiliary by every party in the kingdom, are
contradictions which the minister must reconcile be-
fore I forfeit my credit with the public. 1 may quit
the service, but it would be absurd to suspect me of
desertion. The reputation of these papers is an hon-
ourable pledge for my attachment to the people. Tc
VOL. II. D
74 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
sacrifice a respected character, ard to renounce the
esteem of society', requires more than Mr. Wedder-
bu rue's resolution ; and though in him it was rather
a profession than a desertion of his principles, (1
speak tenderly of this gentleman ; for, when treache-
ry is in question, I think we should make allowances
for a Scotchman) yet we have seen him in the house
©f commons overwhelmed with confusion, and almost
bereft of his faculties. But, in truth, sir, I have left
no room for an accommodation with the piety of St.
James's. My offences are not to be redeemed by re-
cantation or repentance. On one side, our warmest
patriots would disclaim me as a burthen to their hon-
est ambition. On the other, the vilest prostitution,
if Junius could descend to it, would lose its natural
merit and influence in the cabinet, and treachery be
no longer a recommendation to the royal favour.
The persons, who, till within these few years, have
been most distinguished by their zeal for high-church
and prerogative, are now, it seems, the great asser-
tors of the privileges of the house of commons. This
sudden alteration of their sentiments or language,
carries with it a suspicious appearance. When I
hear the undefined privileges of the popular branch
of the legislature exalted by lories and Jacobites, at
the expense of those strict rights which are known to
the subject and limited by the laws, I cannot but sus-
pect that some mischievous scheme is in agitation, to
destroy both law and privilege, by opposing them to
each other. They who have uniformly denied the
power of the whole legislature to alter the descent of
he crown, and whose ancestors, in rebellion against
bis majesty's fimily, have defended that doctrine at
JUJNIUS'S LETTERS. 75
he hazard of their lives, now tell us, that privilege
of parliament is the only rule of right, and the chief
security of the public freedom. I fear, sir, that,
while forms remain, there has been some material
change in the substance of our constitution. The
opinions of these men were too absurd to be so easi
ly renounced. Liberal minds are open to convic-
tion; liberal doctrines are capable of improvement.
There are proselytes from atheism, but none from
superstition. If their present professions were sincere,
I think they could not but be highly offended at see-
ing a question concerning parliamentary privilege
unnecessarily started at a season so unfavourable to
the house of commons, and by so very mean and in-
significant a person as the minor Onslow. They
knew that the present house of commons, having
commenced hostilities with the people, and degraded
the authority of the laws by their own example, were
likely enough to be resisted per fas et nefas. If they
were really friends to privilege, they would have
thought the question of right too dangerous to be
hazarded at this season, and, without the formality
of a convention, would have left it undecided.
I have been silent hitherto, though not from that
shameful indifference about the interests of society,
which too many of us possess, and call moderation.
I confess, sir, that I felt the prejudices of my educa-
tion in favour of a house of commons still hanging
about me. I thought that a question between law
and privilege could never be brought to a formal de-
cision without inconvenience to the public service, or
a manifest diminution of legal liberty; that it ought,
therefore, to be carefully avoided : and when I saw
76 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
that the vio ence of the house of commons had car-
ried them too far to retreat, I determined not to de-
liver a hasty opinion upon a matter of so much
d.^licacy and importance.
The state of things is much altered in tins country
since it was necessary to protect our representatives
against the direct power of the crown. We jiave
nothing to apprehend from prerogative, but every
thing from undue influence. Formerly, it was the
interest of the people that the privileges of parliament
should be left unlimited and undefined. At present, it
is not only their interest, but I hold it to be essential-
ly necessary to the preservation of the constitution,
that the privileges of parliament should be strictly
ascertained, and confined within the narrowest bounds
the nature of the institution will admit of. Upon the
same principle on which I would have resisted pre-
rogative in the last century, I now resist privilege. It
is indifi*erent to me, whether the crown, by its own
immediate act, imposes new, and dispenses with old
laws, or whether the same arbitrary power produces
the same effects through the medium of the house ot
commons. We trusted our representatives with privi-
leges for their own defence and ours. We cannot
hinder their desertion, but we can prevent their car-
rying over their aims to the service of the enemy.
It will be said that I begin with endeavouring to re-
duce the argument concerning privilege to a mere
question of convenience ; that, I deny, at oi^.e mo-
ment, what I would allow at another ; and that, to
resist the power of a prostituted house of commons
may establish a precedent injurious to all future par-
liaments. To this 1 answer, generally, that human
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 71
affairs are in no instance governed by strict positive
right. If change of circumstances were to have no
weight in directing our conduct and opinions, the
mutual intercourse of mankind would be nothing
more than a contention between positive and equita-
ble right. Society would be a state of war, and law
itself would be injustice. On this general ground, it
is highly reasonable, that the degree of our submis-
sion to privileges which never have been defined by
any positive law, should be considered as a question
of convenience, and proportioned to the confidence
we repose in the integrity of our representatives. As
to the injury we may do to any future and more re-
spectable house of commons, I own I am not now
sanguine enough to expect a more plentiful harvest
of parliamentary virtue in one year than in another.
Our political climate is severely altered ; and. with-
out dwelling upon the depravity of modern times, I
think no reasonable man will expect that, as human
nature is constituted, the enormous influence of the
crown should cease to prevail over the virtue of indi-
viduals. The mischief lies too deep to be cured by
any remedy less than some great convulsion, which
may either carry back the constitution to its original
principles, or utterly destroy it. I do not doubt that,
m the first session after the next election, some popu-
lar measures may be adopted. The present house ol
commons have injured themselves by a too early and
public profession of their principles ; and if a strain
of prostitution, which had no example, were within
the reach of emulation, it might be imprudent to
hazard the experiment too soon. But, after, all, sir,
■t is very immaterial whether a house of commons
78 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
shall preserve their virtue for a week, a month, era
year. The influence which makes a septennial par-
liament dependent on the pleasure of the crown, has
a permanent operation, and cannot fail of success
My premises, I know, will be denied in argument ;
but every man's conscience tells him they are true.
It remains, then, to be considered, whether it be for
the interest of the people, that privilege of parlia-
ment* (which in respect to the purposes for which it
has hitherto been acquiesced under, is merely nomi-
nal) should be contracted within some certain limits ;
or, whether the subject shall be left at the mercy of a
power, arbitrary upon the face of it, and notoriously
jnder the direction of the crown.
I do not mean to decline the question of right ; on
the contrary, sir, I join issue with the advocates for
privilege, and affirm, that, " excepting the cases
wherein the house of commons are a court of judica-
ture (to which, from the nature of their office, a co-
ercive power must belong) and excepting such con-
tempts as immediately interrupt their proceedings
they have no legal authority to imprison any man for
* The necessity of securing the house of commons against
the king's power, so that no interruption might be given
either to the attendance of the members in parliament, or to
the freedom of debate, was the foundation of parliamentary
privilege ; and we may observe, in al the addresses of new
appointed speakers to the sovereign, the utmost privilege
they demand, is liberty of speech, and freedom from arrests.
The very word privilege means no more than immunity, or
a safeguard to the party who possesses it, and can nev.r b«"
construed into an active power of invading the rights of others
JUMUS'S LETTERS. 79
any supposed violation of ~>iivilege whatsoever." Ii
is not pretended that privilege, as now claimed, has
ever been defined or confirmed by statute ; neithei
can it be said, with any colour of truth, to be a part
of the common law of England, which had grown
into prescription long before we knew any thing of
the existence of a house of commons. As for the
law of parliament, it is only another name for the
privilege in question ; and since the power of cre-
ating new privileges has been formally renounced by
both houses, since there is no code in which we can
study the law of parliament, we have but one way
left to make ourselves acquainted with it ; that is, to
compare the nature of the institution of a house of
commons with the facts upon record. To establish a
claim of privilege in either house, and to distinguish
original right from usurpation, it must appear, thaz
it is indispensably necessary for the performance of
the duty they are employed in, and also that it hai
been uniformly allowed. From the first part of this
description, it follows, clearly, that, whatever privi-
lege does of right belong to the present house of com-
mons, did equally belong to the first assembly of their
predecessors, was so completely vested in them, and
might have been exercised in the same extent. From
the second we must infer that privileges, which for
several centuries were not only never allowed, but
never even claimed by he house of commons, must
b^ founded upon usurpation. The constitutional du-
ties of a house of commons are not very complicated
nor mysterious. They are to propose or assent to
wholesome laws, for the benefit of the nation. They
are to grant the necessary aids to the king ; petition
80 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
for the redress of grievances ; and prosecute treason
or high crimes against the state. If unlimited privi-
lege be necessary to the performance of these duties,
we have reason to conclude, that, for many centuries
after the institution of the house of commons, they
were never performed. 1 am not bound to prove a
negative ; but I appeal to the English history, when 1
affirm, that, with the exceptions already stated, which
yet I might safely relinquish, there is no precedent,
from the year 1265, to the death of queen Elizabeth
of the house of commons having imprisoned any
man (not a member of their house) for contempt or
breach of privilege. In the most flagrant cases, and
when their acknowledged privileges were most gross-
ly violated, the poor commons, as they then styled
themselves, never took the power of punishment into
their own hands. They either sought redress, by
petition to the king, or, what is more remarkable,
applied for justice to the house of lords ; and, when
satisfaction was denied them or delayed, their only
remedy was to refuse proceeding upon the king's busi-
ness. So little conception had our ancestors of the
monstrous doctrines noyv maintained concerning privi-
lege, that, in the reign of Elizabeth, even liberty of
speech, the vital principle of a deliberative assembly,
was restrained by the queen's authority to a simple
ay or no ; and this restriction, though imposed upon
three successive parliaments,* was never once disputed
by the house of commons.
I know there are many precedents of arbitrary
commitments for contempt j but, besides that they are
* In the years 1593, 1597, and iGOl.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 81
of too modern a date to warrant a presumption that
such a power was originally vested in the house of
commons, fact alone does not constitute right. If it
does, general warrants were lawful. An ordinance
of the two houses has a force equal to law : and the
criminal jurisdiction assumed by the commons in
1421, m the case of Edward Lloyd, is a good pre-
cedent to warrant the like proceedings against any
man who shall unadvisedly mention the folly of a
king, or the ambition of a princess. The truth is,
sir, that the greatest and most exceptionable part of
the privileges now contended for, were introduced and
asserted by a house of commons, which abolished both
monarchy and peerage, and whose proceedings, al-
though they ended in one glorious act of substantial
justice, could no way be reconciled to the forms of
the constitution. Their successors profited by their
example, and confirmed their power by a moderate
or popular use of it. Thus it grew, by degrees, from
a notorious innovation at one period, to be tacitly
admitted as the privilege of parliament at anotiier.
If, however, it could be proved, from considera-
tions of necessity or convenience, that an unlimited
power of commitment ouglit to be entrusted to the
nouse of commons, and that, in fact, they have ex-
ercised it without opposition, still, in contemplation
of law, the presumption is strongly against them. It
is a leading maxim of the laws of England (and
without it all laws are nugatory) that tiiere is no right
without a remedy, nor any legal power without a
legal course to carry it into effect. I^et the power
now in question, be tried by this rule. The speaker
issues his warrant of attachment. The party at-
D 2 e
82 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
tached either resists force with force, or a|)y)eals to a
magistrate, who declares the warrant illegal, and dis-
charges the prisoner. Does the law provide no legal
means for enforcing a legal warrant ? Is there no re-
gular proceeding pointed out in our law books, to
assert and vindicate the authority of so high a court as
the house of commons ? The question is answered
directly by the fact ; their unlawful commands are
resisted, and they have no remedy. The imprison-
ment of their own members is revenge indeed ; but it
is no assertion of the privilege they contend for.*
Tlieir whole proceeding stops ; and there they stand,
ashamed to retreat, and unable to advance. Sir,
these ignorant men should be informed, that the ex-
ecution of the laws of England is not left in this un-
certain, defenceless condition. If the process of the
courts of Westminster-hall be resisted, they have a
direct course to enforce submission. The court ol
king's bench commands the sheriff to raise the posse
comitatus ; the courts of chancery and exchequer is-
sue a writ of rebellion ; which must also be support-
ed, if necessary, by the power of the country. To
whom will our honest representatives direct their writ
of rebellion .'' The guards, I doubt not, are willing
enough to be employed ; but they know nothing of
* Upon their own principles, they should have commit-
ted Mr. Wilkes, who had been guilty of a greater offence
than even the lord mayor or alderman Oliver. But, after
repeatedly ordering nim to attend, they at last adjourned
beyond the day appointed for his attendance, and, by thia
mean, pitiful evasion, gave np tl»' point.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 83
the doctrine of writs, and may think it necessary to
wait for a letter from lord Barrington.
It may now be objected to me, that my arguments
prove too much : for that certainly there may be in-
stances of contempt and insult to the house of com-
mons, which do not fall within my own exceptions,
yet, in regard to the dignity of the house, ought not
to pass unpunished. Be it so. The courts of crimi-
nal jurisdiction are open to prosecutions, which the
attorney-general may commence by information or
indictment. A libel tending to asperse or vilify the
house of commons, or any of their members, may
be as severely punished in the court of king's bench,
as a libel upon the king. M. de Grey thought so,
when he drew up the information of my letter to his
majesty, or he had no meaning in charging it to be
a scandalous libel upon the house of commons. In
my opinion, they would consult their real dignity
much better, by appealing to the laws, when they are
offended, than by violating the first principle of natu-
ral justice, which forbids us to be judges, when we
are parties to the cause.*
* " If it be demanded, in case a subject should be com-
mitted by either house for a matter manifestly out of their
jurisdiction, What remedy can he have ? I answei", that it
cannot well be imagined that the law, which favours no-
thing more than the liberty of the subject, should give us a
remedy against commitments b}'^ the king himself, appearing
to be illegal, and yet give us no manner of redress against
a commitment by our fellow subjects, equally appearing to
oe unwarranted. But, as this is a case which I am persuad
84 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
I do not mean to pursue tliem through the remain-
der of their proceedings. In their first resolutions.
it is possible they might have been deceived by ill-
considered precedents. For the rest, there is no co-
lour of palliation or excuse They have advised the
king to resume a power of dispensing with the laws
by royal proclamation ;* and kings, we see, are ready
enough to follow such advice. By mere violence,
and without the shadow of right, they have expunged
the record of a judicial proceeding.t Nothing re-
mained but to attribute to their own vote a power ol
stopping the whole distribution of criminal and civil
justice.
The public virtues of the chief magistrate have
long since ceased to be in question. But, it is said,
that he has private good qualities; and I myself have
been ready to acknowledge (hem. They are now
ed, will never happen, it seems needless over-n:cely to ex
amine it." Haivkins, W. l\0.
N. B. He was a good lawyer, but no prophet.
* Tliat their practice might be every way conformable lo
their principles, the house proceeded to advise the crown to
publish a proclamation, universally acknowledged to be il-
legal. Mr. Moreton publicly pr-otested against it before it
was issued ; and lord Mansfield, though not scrupulous to
an extreme, speaks of it with horror. It is remarkable
enough, that the very men who advised the proclamation,
and who hear it arraigned every day, both within doors and
without, are not daring enough to utter one word in its de-
fence ; nor have they ventured to take the least notice of Mr
Wilkes, for the discharging the persons apprehended under it
t Lord Chatham very properly called this the act of a
mnb, not of a senate.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 8b
brought to the test. If he loves his people, he will
dissolve the parliament, which they can never confide
in or respect. If he has any regard for his own hon-
our, he will disdain to be any longer connected with
such abandoned prostitution. But, if it were con-
ceivable, that a king of this country had lost all sense
of personal honour, and all concern for the welfare
of his subjects, I confess, sir, I should be contented
to renonnce the forms of the constitution once more,
if there were no other way to obtain substantial jus-
tice for the people.t
JUNIUS.
t When Mr. Wilkes was to be punished, they made no
scruple about the privileges of parliament ; and although it
was as well known as any matter of public record and un-
interrupted custom could be, " That the members of eithei
house are privileged, except in case of treason, felony, or
breach of peace," they declared, without hesitation, " That
privilege of parliament did not extend to the case of a sedi-
tious libel :" and undoubtedly they would have done the
same if Mr. Wilkes had been prosecuted for any other mis-
demeanor whatsoever. The ministry, are, of a sudden,
grown wonderfully careful of privileges, which their prede-
cessors were as ready to invade. The known laws of the
land, the rights of the subject, the sanctity of charters, and
the reverence due to our magistrates, must all give way,
without question or resistance, to a privilege of which no
man knows either the oris:in or the extent. The house o»
commons judge of their own privileges whhout appeal*
they may take offence at the most innocent action, and im-
prison the person who offends them during their arbitrary
will and pleasure. The party has no remedy ; he cannot
appeal from their jurisdiction ; and if 1>3 questions the pri-
P6 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
XLV.
To ihi Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, May 1, 1771.
Tliey who object to detached parts of Juuius's last
letter, either do not mean him fairly, or have not con-
sidered the general scope and course of his argument.
There are degrees in all the private vices ; why not
in public prostitution ? The influence of the crown
naturally makes a septennial parliament dependent.
Does it follow, that every house of commons will
plunge at once into the lowest depths of prostitution ?
Junius supposes, that the present house of commons,
in going such enormous lengths, have been impru-
dent to themselves, as well as wicked to the public ;
that their example is not within the reach of emula-
tion ; and that, in the first session after the next elec-
tion, some popular measures may probably be adopt-
ed. He does not expect that a dissolution of parlia-
ment will destroy corruption, but that, at least, it
will be a check and terror to their successors, who
vilege which he is supposed to have violated, it becomes at
aggravation of his offence. Surely this doctrine is not to be
finind in Magna Charta. If it be admitted without limita-
tion, I affirm, that there is neither law nor liberty in this
kingdom. We are the slaves of the house of commons 5
and, through them, we are the slaves of the king and his
ministers. Anonymous.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 87
will have ste.i, that, in flagrant cases, their constitu-
ents can and will interpose with eflect. After all, sir,
will you not endeavour to remove or alleviate the most
dangerous symptoms, because you cannot eradicate
the disease ? Will you not punish treason or parri-
cide, because the sight of a gibbet does not prevent
high-way robberies ? When the main argument of
Junius is admitted to be unanswerable, I think it
would become the minor critic, who hunts for blem-
ishes, to be little more distrustful of his own sagacity.
The other objection is hardly worth an answer.
When Junius observes, that kings are ready enough
to follow such advice, he does not mean to insinuate,
that, if the advice of parliament were good, the
king would be so ready to follow it.
PHILO JUNIUS.
XLVI.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, May 25, 1771.
I confess my partiality to Junius, and feel a con-
siderable pleasure in being able to communicate any
thing to the public in support of his opinions. The
doctrine laid down in his last letter, concerning the
power of the house of commons to commit for con-
temi)t, is not so new as it appeared to many people ;
vvho dazzled with the name of privilege, jiad never
suffered themselves to examine the question fairly.
In the course of m^- reading this morning, I met with
88 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
the following passage in the journals of the house o
commons, (Vol. i. p. 603.) Upon occasion of a ju-
risdiclion unlawfully assumed by the house in the yezr
1621, Mr. attorney-general Noye gave his opinion
as follows : " No doubt but in some cases, this house
may give judgment, in matters of returns, and con-
cerning members of our house, or falling out in our
view in parliament ; but, for foreign matters, know-
eth not how we can judge it; knoweth not that we
have been used to giv^e judgment in any case, but
those before mentioned."
Sir Edward Coke, upon the same subject, says,
(page 604,) " No question but this is a house of re-
cord, and that it hath power of judicature in some
cases ; have power to judge of returns and members
of our house. One, no member, offending out ot
the parliament, whe7i he came hither, and justified it,
was censured for it."
Now, sir, if you will compare the opinion of these
great sages of the law with Junius's doctrine, you
will find they tally exactly. He allows the power of
the house to commit their own members, which, how-
ever, they may grossly abuse ; he allows their power
in cases where they are acting as a court of judica-
ture, viz. elections, returns, &;c. and he allows it in
such contempts as immediately interrupt their pro-
ceedings ; or, as Mr. Noye expresses it, falling out
m their vieiv in parliament.
They who would carry the privileges of parlia-
ment farther than Junius, either do not mean well to
the public, or know not what they are doing. The
government of England is a government of law.
We betray ourselves, we contradict the spirit of our
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 89
.aws, and we shake the whole system of English ju-
risprudence, whenever we entrust a discretionary
power over the life, liberty, or fortune of the subject
to any man, or set of men, whatsoever, upon a pre
sumption that it will not be abused.
1»HIL0 JUNIUS
XLVIl.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser
SIR, • May 28, 1771.
Any man who takes the trouble of perusing the
journals of the house of commons, will soon be con-
vinced, that very little, if any regard at all, ought to
be paid to the resolutions of one branch of the legis-
lature, declaratory o** the law of the land, or even of
what they call the law of pai*1iament. It will appear
that these resolutions have no one of the properties by
which, in this country particularly, law is distinguish-
ed from mere will and pleasure; but that, on the
contrary, they bear every mark of a power arbitrarily
assumed and capriciously applied : that they are
usually made in times of contest, and to serve some
unworthy purpose of passion or party; that the law
is seldom declared until after the fact by which it is
supposed to be violated ; that legislation and juris-
diction are united in the same persons, and exercised
at the same moment; and that a court from which
here is no appeal, assumes an original jurisdiction
n a criminal case. In short sir, to collect a thousand
90 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
absurdities into one mass, "we have a aw which
cannot be known, because it is ex post facto : the
party is both legislator and judge, and the juris-
diction is without appeal." Well might the judges
say, " The law of parliament is above us "
You will not wonder, sir, that with these qualifi-
cations, the declaratory resolutions of the house ot
commons should appear to be in perpetual contra-
diction, not only to common sense, and to the laws
we are acquainted with, (and which alone we can
obey,) but even to one another. I was led to trouble
you with these observations by a passage, which, to
speak in lutestring, / met with this morning in the
course of my reading, and upon which I mean to put
a question to the advocates for privilege. On the
8th of March, 1704, (Ftc?e Journals, Vol. xiv. p. 566,)
the house thought proper to come to the following
resolutions : 1. " That no commoner of England
committed by the house of commons for breach of
privilege or contempt of that house, ought to be, by
any writ of Habeas Corpus, made to appeal in any
other place, or before any other judicature, during
that session of parliament wherein sucli person was so
committed."
2. " That the serjeant at arms, attending this
house, do make no return of, or yield any obedience
to, the said writs of Habeas Corpus ; and for such
his refusal, that he !)ave the protection of the house c.
commons, '*
• If there be, in reality, any such law in England as the
laio of parliament, which (under the exception stated in
my letter on privilege) I confess, after long deliberation, I
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 9i
Weibore Ellis, what say you ? Is this the law ol
parliament, or is it not? I am a plain man, sir, and
cannot follow you through the phlegmatic forms of
an oration. Speak out, Gildrig, say yes or no. If
you say yes, I shall then inquire by what authority
Mr. de Grey, the honest lord Mansfield, and the
barons of the exchequer, dared to grant a writ ol
Habeas Corpus for bringing the bodies of the lord
mayor and Mr. Oliver before them ; and why the
lieutenant of the Tower made any return to a writ,
which the house of commons had, in a similar in-
stance, declared to be unlawful. If you say no, take
care you do not at once give up the cause in support
of which you have so long and so laboriously tor-
tured your understanding. Take care you do no
confess that there is no test by which we can distin
guish, no evidence by which we can determine, what
is, and what is not, the law of parliament. The
resolutions I have quoted, stand upon your journals,
uncontroverted and unrepealed : they contam a de-
claration of the law of parliament, by a court com-
petent to the question, and whose decision, as you
and lord Mansfield say, must be law, because there
very much doubt, it certainly is not constituted by, nor can
it be collected from, the resolutions >f either house, whether
enacting or declaratory. I desire the reader will compare
the above resolutions of the year 1704, with the following o»
the 3d ol April, 1628. — " Resolved, That the writs ofHabea.
Corpus cannot be denied, but ought to be granted to everrj
man that is committed or detained in prison, or otherwise
restranied by the command of the king, the privy council,
9r any other, he pra} ing the same."
92 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
s no appeal from it : and ijiey were made nv>t hast!
ly, but after long deliberation upon a constitutional
question. What farther sanction or solemnity will
you annex to any resolution of the present house of
commons, bej'ond what appears upon the face of those
two resolutions, t4ie legality of which you now denyf*
If you say that parliaments are not infallible, and
that queen Anne, in consequence of the violent pro-
ceedings of that house of commons, was obliged to
proi'ogue and dissolve them, I shall agree with you
very heartily, and think that the precedent ought t©
be followed immediately. But you, Mr. Ellis, who
hold this language, are inconsistent wiih your own
principles. You have hitherto maintained, that the
house of commons are the sole judges of their own
privileges, and that their declaration does ipso facto
constitute the law of parliament ; yet now you con-
fess that parliaments are fallible, and that their re-
solutions may be illegal ; consequently that their re-
solutions do not constitute the law of parliament.
When the king was advised to dissolve the present
parliament, you advised him to tell his subjects, that
" he was careful not to assume any of those powers
which the constitution had placed in other hands,"
he. Yet queen Anne, it seems, was justified in ex-
erting her prerogative to stop a house of commons
whose proceedings, compared with those of the as
eembly of which you are a most wordiy member
were the perfection of justice and reason.
In what a labyrinth of nonsense does a man involve
himself who labours to maintain falsehood by argu-
ment ! How much better would it become the dig-
oity of the house of conunons. to speak plainly to the
JUNIUS'S LETTERb. 93
peop e, and tell us, at once, '• tiiat their will must be
oi3e3'ed ; not because it is lawful and reasonable, but
because it is their will !" Their constituents would
have a better opinion of their candour, and, 1 promise
\ou, not a worse opinion of their integrity.
PHILO JUNIUS.
XLVIII.
To his Grace the Duke of Grafton.
MY LORD, June 22, 1771.
The profound respect I bear to the gracious prince
f*tio governs this country, with no less honour to
himself than satisfaction to his subjects, and who re-
stores you to your rank under his standard, will save
you from a multitude of reproaches. The attention
[ should have paid to your failings, is involuntarily
attracted to the hand that rewards them ; and tiiough
[ am not so partial to the royal judgment as to affirm,
tiiat the favour of a king can remove mountains of
infamy, it serves to lessen, at least, (for undoubtedly
it divides,) the burden. While I remember how much
is due to his sacred character, I cannot, with any de-
cent appearance of propriety, call you the meanest
and basest fellow in the kingdom. I protest, my lord,
I do no' think you so. You will have a dangerous
rival in that kind of fame to which you have hitherto
so happily directed your ambition, so long as there is
one man living who tliinks you worthy of his confi-
dence, and fit to be trusted with any shai-e in his
94 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
govenimeut. I confess you have great intrins /
merit ; but take care you do not value it toe highly
Consider how much of it would have been lo3t to the
world, if the king had not graciously affixed his stamp
and given it currency among his subjects. If it be
true that a virtuous man, struggling with adversity,
be a scene worthy of the gods, the glorious contention
between you and the best of princes deserves a circle
equally attentive and respectable : I think I already
see other gods rising from the earth to behold it.
But this language is too mild for the occasion.
The king is determined that our abilities shall not be
lost to society. The perpetration and description of
new ci-imes will find employment for us both. My
lord, if the persons who have been loudest in their
professions of patriotism, had done their duty to the
public with the same zeal and perseverance that I
did, I will not assert that government would have re-
covered its dignity, but at least our gracious sove-
reign must have spared his subjects this last insult;*
which, if there be any feeling left among us, they will
esent more than even the real injuries they received
from every measure of your grace's administration.
In vain would he have looked round him for another
character so consummate as yours. Lord Mansfield
shrinks from his principles: his ideas of government,
perhaps, go farther than your own ; but his heart
disgraces the theory of his understanding Charles
Fox is yet in blossom ; and as for Mr. Wedderburne,
there is something about him which even treachery
cannot trust. For the present, therefore, the best of
* The duks was lately appointed srd privy seal
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 96
princes mast have contented liimself with lord Sand-
wich. You would long since have received your fina.
dismission and reward, and I, my lord, who do not
esteem you the more for the high office you possess,
would willingly have followed you to your retirement
There is surely something singularly benevolent in
the character of our sovereign. From the moment
he ascended the throne, there is no crime of which
human nature is capable (and I call upon the record-
er to witness it) that has not appeared venial in his
sight. With any other prince, the shameful desertion
of him in the midst of that distress which you alone
had created, in the ver} crisis of danger, when he
fancied he saw the throne surrounded by men of vir-
tue and abilities, would have outweighed the memory
of your former services. But his majesty is full ol
justice, and understands the doctrine of compensa-
tions. He remembers, with gratitude, how soon you
had accommodated your morals to the necessity of
his service ; how cheerfully you had abandoned the
engagements of private friendship, and renounced the
most solemn professions to the public. The sacrifice
of lord Chatham was not lost upon him. Even the
cowardice and perfidy of deserting him may have
done you no disservice in his esteem. The instance
was painful, but the principle might please.
You did not neglect the magistrate whiJe you flat-
tered the man. The expulsion of Mr. Wilkes, prede-
termined in tlie cabinet ; the power of depriving the
subject of his birthright, attributed to a resolution of
one branch of the legislature; the constitution impu-
dently invaded by the house of commons j the right
of defending it treacherously renounced by the house
96 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
of lords ; hese are the strokes, my lord, wliicli, in the
present reign, recommend to office and constitute a
minister. Tiiey would have determined your sove-
reign's judgment, if they had made no impression
upon his heart. We need not look for any other
species of merit to account for his taking the earliest
opportunity to recall you to his councils. But you
have other merit in abundance. Mr. Hine, the duke
of Portland, and Mr. Yorke : — Breach of trust, rob-
bery, and murder. You would think it a compliment
to your gallantry, if I added rape to the catalogue,
but the style of your amours secures you from resis-
tance. I know liovv well these several charges have
been defended. In the first instance, the breach oi
trust is supposed to have been its own reward. Mr
Bradshaw affirms, upon his honour, (and so may the
gift of smiling never depart from him !) that you re-
served no part of Mr. Hine's purchase-money for
your own use, but that every shilling of it was scru-
pulously paid to governor Bargoyne. Make haste,
my lord; anotiier patent, applied in time, may keep
the Oaks* in the family. If not, Birnham-Wood, I
fear, must come to the Alacaroni.
The duke of Pordand was in life your earliest
friend. In defence of his property, iie had nothing
to plead but equity against sir James Lowther, and
prescription against the crown. You felt for your
friend : but th§ law must take its course. Posterity
will scarce believe that lord Bute's son-in-law liad
* A superb vilin of colonel Burgoyne, about this time ad-
vertised for sale.
JUNIUS'S Lj^TTERS. 97
uarely interest enough al the treasury to get his grant
completed before the general election.*
Enough has been said of that detestable transac-
tion which ended in the death of Mr. Yorke . I can-
not speak of it without horror and compassion. To
excuse yourself, you publicly impeach your accom-
plice ; and to his mind, perhaps, the accusation may
be flattery. But in murder you are both principals.
It was once a question of emulation ; and, if the
event had not disappointed the immediate schemes of
the closet, it might still have been a hopeful subject
of jest and merriment between you.
This letter, my lord, is only a preface to my fu-
ture correspondence. The remainder of tl>e summer
shall be dedicated to your amusement. I mean now
and then to relieve the severity of your morning stu
dies, and to prepare you for the business of the day.
Without pretending to more than Mr. Bradshaw's
sincerity, you may rely upon my attachment as long
as you are in office.
Will your grace forgive me, if I venture to express
some anxiety for a man whom I know you do not
love .'' My lord Weymouth has cowardice to plead,
and a desertion of a later date than your own. You
know the privy-seal was intended for him ; and if
vou consider the dignity of the post he deserted, you
will hardly think it decent to quarter him on Mr. Rig-
* It will appear, by a subsequent letter, that the duke's
precipitation proved fatal to the grant. It looks like the
hurry and confusion of a young higlnvayman, who takes a
few shillings, but leaves the purse and watch behind him
And yet the duke was an old offender.
vjL. II. E 7
98 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
by. Yet he must have bread, my lord ; or, lAther, he
must have wine. If you deny him the cup, there wil.
be no keeping him within the pale of the ministr\
JUNIUS.
XLIX.
To his Grace the Duke of Grafton.
MY LORD, July 9, 1771.
The influence of your grace's fortune still seems
to preside over the treasury. The genius of Mr.
Bradshaw inspires Mr. Robinson.* How remarka-
ble it is (and I speak of it not as a matter of reproach,
but as something peculiar to your character) that you
have never yet formed a friendship, which has not
been fatal to the object of it ; nor adopted a cause,
to which, one way or other, you have not done mis-
chief! Your attachment is infamy while it lasts;
and, which ever way it turns, leaves ruin and dis-
grace behind it. The deluded girl, who yields to
such a profligate, even while he is constant, forfeits
her reputation as well as her innocence, and finds
herself abandoned at last to misery and shame. Tims
it happened with the best of princes. Poor Dingley,
too ! I protest I hardly know which of them we ought
* By an intercepted letter from the secretary of the trea-
sury, it appeared, that, the friciuh of government locre to
be very ictive in supporting the ministerial nomination o«
sheriffs.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 99
most to lament; the unhappy man who sinks under the
sense of his dishonour, oi him who survives it. Char-
acters so finished are placed beyond the reach of pan-
egyric. Death has fixed his seal upon Dingley ; and
you, my lord, have set your mark upon the other.
The only letter I ever addressed to the king was so
unkindly received, that I believe I shall never pre-
sume to trouble his majesty in that way again. But
my zeal for his service is superior to neglect ; and,
like Mr. Wilkes's patriotism, thrives by persecution.
Yet his majesty is much addicted to useful reading ;
and, if I am not ill informed, has honoured the Pub-
lie Advertiser with particular attention. I have en-
deavoured, therefore, and not without success, fas,
perhaps, you may remember,) to furnish it with such
interesting and edifying intelligence, as probably
would not reach him through any other channel.
The services you have done the nation, your integri-
ty in office, and signal fidelity to your approved good
master, have been faithfully recorded. Nor have iiis
own virtues been entirely neglected. These letters,
my lord, arc read in other countries, and in other
languages ; and I think I may affirm, without vanity,
that the gracious character of the best of princes is
by this time, not only perfectly known to his sub-
jects, but tolerably well understood by the rest oi
Europe. In this respect alone I have the advantage
of Mr. Whitehead. His plan, I think, is too narrow.
He seems to manufacture his verses for the sole use
ufthe hero who is supposed to be the subject of them,
and, that his meaning may not be exported in foreign
bottoms, sets all translation at defiance.
Your grace's re-appointment to a seat in the cabi
iOO JUNIUS'S BETTERS.
net was announced to the public by the ominous re-
turn of lord Bute to this country. When that nox-
ious planet approaches England, he never fails to
bring plague and pestilence along with him. The
king already feels the malignani effect of your influ-
ence over his councils. Your former administration
made Mr. Wilkes an alderman of London and repre-
sentative of Middlesex. Your next appearance in
office is marked with his election to the shrievalty.
In whatever measure you are concerned, you are not
only disappointed of success, but always contrive to
make the government of the best of princes contempt-
ible in his own eyes, and ridiculous to the whole
world. Making all due allowance for the effect of the
minister's declared interposition, Mr. Robinson's ac-
tivity, and Mr. Home's new zeal in support of ad-
ministration, we still want the genius of the duke of
Grafton to account for committing the whole interest
of government in the city to the conduct of Mr. Bar-
ley. I will not bear hard upon your faithful friend
and emissary, Mr. Touchet ; for I know the difficul-
ties of his situation, and that a few lottery tickets are
of use to his economy. There is a proverb concern-
ing persons in the predicament of this gentleman,
which, however, cannot be strictly applied to him,
They commence dupes,, and finish knaves. Now, Mr.
Touchet's character is uniform. I am convinced that
his sentiments never depended upon his circumstan-
ces ; and that, in the most prosperous state of his
fortune, he wa* always the very man he is at present.
But WC5S Ujere no other person of rank and conse-
quence \\\ the city, whom government could confide
m, but a. notorious Jacobite ^ Did you imagine that
JUNIUS'S LETTERS 101
the whole body of the dissenters, that the whole whig
interest of London, would attend at the levee, and
submit to the directions of a notorious Jacobite ?
Was there no whig magistrate in the city, to whom
the servants of George the Third could entrust the
management of a business so very interesting to their
master as the election of sherifls ? Is there no room
at St. James's but for Scotchmen and Jacobites ?
My lord, I do not mean to question the sincerity of
Mr. Harley's attachment to his majesty's government.
Since the commencement of the present reign, I have
seen still greater contradictions reconciled. The
principles of these worthy Jacobites are not so ab-
surd as they have been represented. Their ideas of
divine right are not so much annexed to the person
or family, as to the political character of the sove-
reign. Had there ever been an honest man among
the Stuarts, his majesty's present friends would have
been whigs upon principle. But the conversion of
the best of princes has removed their scruples. They
have forgiven him the sins of his Hanoverian ancestors,
and acknowledged the hand of Providence in the de-
scent of the crown upon the head of a true Stuart.
In you, my lord, they also behold, with a kind of
predilection which borders upon loyalty, the natural
representative of that illustrious family. The mode
of your descent from Charles the Second is only a
bar to your pretentions to the crown, and no way in-
terrupts the regularity of your succession to all the
virtues of the Stuarts.
The unfortunate success of the reverend Mr. Home s
endeavours in support of the ministerial nominatiou
102 JUNHJS'S LETTERS.
of sheriffs, will, I fear, obstruct his preferment
Permit me to recommend him to your grace's pro-
tection. You will find him copiously gifted with
those qualities of the heart which usually direct you
In the choice of your friendships. He too was Mr.
Wilkes's friend, and as incapable as you are of the
liberal resentment of a gentleman. No, m} lord ;
It was the solitary, vindictive malice of a monk,
brooding over the infirmities of his friend, until he
thought they quickened into public life, and feasting
with a rancorous rapture upon the sordid catalogue
of his distresses. Now let him go back to his clois-
ter. The church is a proper retreat for him. In his
principles he is already a bishop.
The mention of this man has moved me from my
natural moderation. Let me return to your grace.
You are the pillow upon which I am determined to
rest all my resentments. What idea can the best of
sovereigns form to himself of his own government.''
In what repute can he conceive that he stands with
the people, when he sees, beyond the possibility of a
doubt, that, whatever be the office, the suspicion of
his favour is fatal to the candidate ; and that, when
the party he wishes well to has the fairest prospect of
success, if his royal inclination should unfortunately
be discovered, it drops like an acid, and turns the
election ?
This event, among others, may, perhaps, con-
tribute to opeii his majesty's, eyes to his real hunour
and interest. In spite of all your grace's ingenuity,
he may, at last, perceive the inconvenience of se-
ecting, with such a curous felicity every villain in
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 103
the nation to fill the various departments of liis gov-
ernment. Yet I should be sorry to confine him in
the choice either of his footmen or his friends.
JUNIUS.
L.
From the Rev. Mr. Home to Junius.
SIR, July 13, 1771.
Farce, Comedy, and Tragedy. — Wilkes, Foote,
and Junius— \\v\\ie(\ at the same time against one poor
parson, are fearful odds. The two former are only
labouring m their vocation, and may equally plead,
in excuse, that their aim is a livelihood. I admit the
plea for the second : his is an honest calling, and my
filothes were lawful game ; but I cannot so readily
approve Mr. Wilkes, or commend him for making
patriotism a trade, and a frudulent trade. But what
shall I say to Junius ? the grave, the solemn, the
didactic ! Ridicule, indeed, has been ridiculously
called the test of truth : but surely, to confess that
\ou lose your natural moderation when mention i>
made of the man, does not promise much truth of
justice when you speak of him yourself.
You chaise m'! wich " a ntw Lx^a.] in su|>por( oi
administration," and with " endeavours in support
of the ministerial nomination of sheriffs." The re-
putation which your talents have deservedly gained
to the signature of Junius draws from me a reply
104 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
wliich I disdained to give to the anonymous Yie& of
Mr. Wilkes. You make frequent use of the word
gentleman ; I only call myself a man, and desire no
other distinction. If you are either, you are bound
to make good your charges, or to confess that you
have done me a hasty injustice upon no authority.
I put the matter fairly to issue. 1 say that, so far
from any " new zeal in support of administration,"
I am possessed with the utmost abhorrence of their
measures ; and that I have ever shown myself, and
am still ready, in any rational manner, to lay down
all I have — my life, in opposition to those measures.
I say, that I have not, and never have had, any
communication or connexion of any kind, directly or
indirectly, with any courtier or ministerial man^ or
any of their adherents ; that I never have received,
or solicited, or expected, or desired, or do now hope
for, any reward of any sort, from any part}^ or set
of men in administration or opposition. I say, that
I never used an}' " endeavours in support of the min-
isterial nomination of sheriffs ;" that I did not solicit
ony one liveryman for his vote for any one of the
candidates, nor employ any other person to solicit ;
and that I did not write one single line or word in fa-
vour of Mess. Plumbe and Kirkman, whom I under-
stand to have been supported by the ministry.
You are bound to refute what I here advance, or to
.ose your credit for veracity. You must produce factsj
surmise and general abuse, in however elegant lan-
guage, ought not to pass for proofs. You have every
advantage, and I have every disadvantage : you are
unknown ; I give my name. All parties, both in and
out of administration, have their reasons (which I
JUNiUS'S LETTERS lOh
shall relate hereafter) for uniting in their wishes against
me : and the popular prejudice is as strongly in your
favour as it is violent against the parson.
Singular as my present situation is, it is neither
painful, nor was it unforeseen. He is not fit for pub-
lic business, who does not, even at his entrance, /ire-
pare his mind for such an event. Health, foi aine,
tranquillity, and private connexions, I have sacrificed
upon the altar of the public ; and the only return 1
received, because I will not concur to dupe and mis-
lead a senseless multitude, is barely, that they have
not yet torn me in pieces. That this has been the
only return is my pride and a source of more real
satisfaction than honours or prosperity. I can prac-
tise, before I am old, the lessons I learned in mv
youth ; nor shall I forget the words of my an<:iejU
monitor :
" 'Tis the last key-stone
That makes the arch ; the rest that there were put,
Are nothing till that conies to bind and shut ;
Then stands it a triumphal mark ' Then men
Observe the strength, the height, the why and wher
It was erected; and still, walking under,
Meet some new matter to look up and wonder !"
I am, sir, your humble servant,
JOHN HORNt
E 2
106 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
LI.
To the Revtr&id Mr. Hotkj
Sill, July 24, J 771.
I cannot descend to an altercation with you in the
newspapers: but since I have attaclied your 'harac-
ter, and you complain of injustice, I think you havs
some right to an explanation. You defy me to prove,
that you ever solicited a vote, or wrote a word in
support of the ministerial aldermen. Sir, I did never
suspect you of such gross folly. It would have been
impossible for Mr. Home to have solicited votes, and
very difficult to have written in the newspapers in ri**-
fence of that cause, without being detected, and
brought to shame. Neither do I pretend to any in-
telligence concerning you, or to know more of your
conduct than you yourself have thought proper to
communicate to the public. It is from your own let-
ters, I conclude, that you have sold yourself to the
ministry : or, if that charge be too severe, and sup-
posing it possible to be deceived by appearances so
very strongly against you, what are your friends to
say in your defence ? Must they not confess, that, to
gratify your personal hatred of Mr. Wilkes, you sa-
crificed, as far as depended on your interest and
abilities, the cause of the country ? I can make al-
lowances for the violence of the passions ; and if ever
I should be convinced that ; ou had no motive but to
destroy Wilkes, I shall then be ready to do justice to
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 107
youi . » fl-acter, and to declare to the worlld, that I
despise you somewhat less than I do at present But,
as a public man, I must for ever condemn you. You
.annot but know, (nay, you dare not pretend to be
'gnorant) that the highest gratifications of which the
most detestable * * in this nation is capable, would
have been the defeat of Wilkes. I know that man
much better than any of you. Nature intended him
only for a good-humoured fool. A systematical
education, with long practice, has made him a con-
summate hypocrite. Yet this. man, to say nothing of
Ills worthy ministers, you have most assiduously la-
boured to gratify. To exclude Wilkes, it was not
necessary you should solicit votes for his opponents.
We incline the balance as effectually by lessening the
weight in one scale, as increasing it in the other.
The mode of your attack upon Wilkes (though I
am far from thinking meanly of your abilities) con-
vinces me that you either want judgment extremely,
or that you are blinded by your resentment. You
ought to have foreseen that the charges you urged
against Wilkes could never do him any mischief.
After all, when we expected discoveries highly inter-
esting to the community, what a pitiful detail did i*
end in ! — some old clothes, — a Welsh pony — a
French footman — and a hamper of claret. Indeed,
RTr. Home, the public should and will forgive him
iiis claret and his footman, and even the ambition of
making his brother chamberlain of London, as long
as he stands forth agamst a ministry and parliament
who are doing every thing they can to enslave the
country, and as long as he is a thorn in the k'.ng's
wde You will not «uspo-t me of setting up WJiUes
108 JUNIUS'S LETTIRS.
for a perfect character. The question I. the public
is, where shall we find a man who, witn purer' prin-
i.iples, will go the lengths, and run the hazards, that
he has done ? The season calls for such a man, and
he ought to be supported. What would have been
the triumph of that odious hypocrite and his minions,
if Wilkes had been defeated ! It was not your fault,
reverend sir, that he did not enjoy it completely.
But now, I promise you, you have so little power to
do mischief, that I much question whether the minis-
try will adhere to the promises they have made you.
It will be in vain to say that I am a partizan of Mr.
Wilkes, or personally your enemy. You will con-
vince no man, for you do not believe it yourself.
Yet I confess I am a little offended at the low rate at
which you seem to value my understanding. I beg,
Mr. Home, you will hereafter believe, that I measure
the integrity of men by their conduct, not by their
professions. Such tales may entertain Mr. Oliver, or
your grandmother ; but, trust me, they are thrown
away upon Junius.
You say you are a man. Was it generous, was it
manly, repeatedly to introduce into a newspaper, the
name of a young lady with whom you must hereto-
fore have lived on terms of politeness and good hu-
mour ? But I have done with you. In my opinion,
your credit is irrevocably ruined. Mr. Townshend,
I think, is nearly in the same predicament. Poor
Oliver has been shamefully duped by you. You have
made him sacrifice all the honour he got by his im
prisonment. As for Mr. Sawbridge, whose charac-
ter I really respect, I am astonished he does not see
ilu'ough your duplicity Never was so base a design
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 109
so pooii^ conducted. This letter,* you see, is not
'ntended for the public ; but, if you think it will do
you any service, you are at liberty to publish it.
JUNIUS
LII.
Prom the Rev. Mr. Home to Junius.
SIR, July 31, 1771.
You have disappointed me. When I told you that
surmise and general abuse, in however elegant lan-
guage, ought not to pass for proofs, I evidently hint-
ed at the reply which I expected : but you have drop-
ped your usual elegance, and seem willing to try what
will be the effect of surmise and general abuse in very
coarse language. Your answer to my last letter
(which, I hope, was cool, and temperate, and modest)
has convinced me, that my idea of a man is much su-
perior to yours of a gentleman. Of your formei
letters, I have always said, JMateriem. suptrahat ojms :
I do not think so of the present : the principles are
more detestable than the expressions are mean and
illiberal. I am contented that all those who adopt
the one should for ever load me with the other.
I appeal to the common sense of the public, to
which I have ever directed myself: I believe they have
•
* This letter was transmitted privately by the printer tc
Mr. Home, at Junius's request. Mr. Home returned it to
the printer, with directiors to publish it.
no JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
it; though i am sometimes half inclined lo suspect
that Mr. Wilkes has formed a truer judgment of man-
kind than I have. However, of this I am sure, that
there is nothing else upon which to place a steady
reliance. Trick, and low cunning, and addressing
their prejudices and passions, may be the fittest means
to carry a particular point; but if they have not com-
mon sense, there is no prospect of gaining for them
any real permanent good. The same passions which
have been artfully used by an honest man for their
advantage, may be more artfully employed by a dis-
honest man for their destruction. I desire them to
apply their common sense to this letter of Junius,
not for my sake, but their own ; it concerns them
most nearly ; for the principles it contains lead to
disgrace and ruin, and are inconsistent with every
notion of civil society.
The charges which Junius has brought against me,
are made ridiculous by his own inconsistency and
self-contradiction. He charges me positively with
" a new zeal in support of administration;" and with
" endeavours in support of the ministerial nomina-
tion of sheriffs." And he assigns two inconsistent
motives for my conduct : either that I have " sold
myself to the ministry ;" or am instigated " by the
solitary vindictive malice of a monk :" either that I
am influenced by a sordid desire of gain, or am hur-
ried on by " personal hatred, and blinded by resent-
ment." In his letter to the duke of Grafton, he sup-
poses me actuated by both : in his letter to me, he at
first doubts which of the two, whether interest or re-
venge, is my motive. However, at last he determines
for the former and again positively asserts, " thai
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. Ill
ihe minislry have made me promises :" yet he uro-
duccs no instance of corruption, nor pretends to have
any intelligence of a ministerial connexion. He men-
tions no cause of personal hatred to Mr. Wilkes, nor
any reason for my resentment or revenge : nor has
Mr. Wilkes himself ever hinted any, though repeat-
edl}' pressed. When Junius is called upon to justify
his accusation, he answers, " He cannot descend to
an altercation with me in the newspapers." Junius,
who exists only in tlie newspapers, who acknowledges
he has " attacked my character" there, and thinks
" I have some right to an explanation ;" yet this
Jiuiius " cannot descend to an altercation in the
newspapers !" And because he cannot descend to
an altercation with me in the newspapers, he sends a
letter of abuse, by the printer, which he finishes with
telling me, " I am at liberty to publish it^ This,
to be sure, is a most excellent method to avoid an
altercation in the newspapers!
Tiie proofs of his positive charges are as extraor-
dinary. " He does not pretend to any intelligence
concerning me, or to know more of my conduct than
[ myself have thought proper to communicate to the
public." He does not suspect me of such gross folly
as to have solicited votes, or to have written anony-
mously in the newspapers; because it is impossible to
do either without being detected, and brought to
shame. Junius says this ! who yet imagines that he
has himself written two years under that signature
(and more under others) without being detected ! hio
warmest admirers will not hereafter add, ivithout be-
ing brought to shame. But, though he never did
suspect me of such gross folly, as to run the hazard
112 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
of being detected, and brought to shame, by anon^
mous writing, he insists that I have been guilty of a
much grosser folly, of incu) ring the certainty of shame
and detection, by writings signed with my name !
But this is a small flight for the towering Junius :
" He is far from thinidng meanly of my abilities,"
though " he is convinced that I want judgment ex-
tremely;" and can " really respect Mr. Sawbridge's
character," though he declares him* to be so poor a
creature, as not to " see through the basest design,
conducted in the poorest manner. And this most
base design is conducted in the poorest matmer by a
man, whom he does not suspect of gross folly, and of
whose abilities he is far from thinking meanly !
Should we ask Junius to reconcile these contra-
dictions, and explain this nonsense, the answer is
* I beg leave to introduce Mr. Home to the character ol
the Double Dealer. I thought they had been better ac-
quainted. " Another very wrong objection has been made
by some, who have not taken leisure to distinguish the
characters. The hero of the play (meaning Melefoni) is a
gull, and made a fool, and cheated. Is every man a gull
\nd a fool that is deceived ? At that rate, I am afraid, the
two classes of men will be reduced to one, and the knaves
themselves be at a loss to justify their title. But if an open,
honest-hearted man, who has an entire confidence in one
whom he takes to be his friend, and who (to confirm him in
his opinion) in all appearance, and upon several trials, has
been so, if this man be deceived by the treachery of the
other, must he of necessity commence fool immediately,
only because the other has proved a villain ?" Yes, says
parson Home. No, says Congreve : and he, I think, is al
lowed to have knovn something of human nature.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. H3
ready: " He cannot descend to an altercation in the
newspapers." He leels no reluctance to attack the
character of any man : the throne is not too high,
nor the cottage too low : his mighty malice can grasp
both extremes. He liints not his accusations as opin-
ion, conjecture, or inference, but delivers them as
positive assertions. Do the accused complain of in-
justice.'' He acknowledges they have some sort of
right to an explanation ; but if they ask for proofs
and facts, he begs to be excused ; and though he is
no where else to be encountered, " he cannot descend
to an altercation in the newspapers."
And this, perhaps, Junius may think " the liberal
resentment of a gentleman ;" this sculking assassina-
tion he may call courage. In all things, as in this, I
hope we differ.
" I thought that fortitude had been a mean
'Twixt fear and rashness ; not a lust obscene,
Or appetite of offending ; but a skill
And nice discernment between good and ill.
Her ends are honesty and public good :
And without llnse she is not understood."
Of two things, however, he has condescended to
give proof. He very properly produces a young lady
to prove that I am not a man; and a good old woman,
my grandmother, to prove Mr. Oliver a fool. Poor
old soul! she read her Bible far otherwise than Ju-
nius ! She often found there, that the sins of the
fathers had been visited on the children ; and there-
fore was cautious that herself, and her immediate
descendants, should leave no reproach on her poster-
ity : and they left none. How I'ttle could she fore-
il4 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
see tins reverse of Junius, who visils my p3 ical sins
upon my grandmother ! 1 do not charge tliis to the
score of malice in him; it proceeded entirely froin iiis
propensity to blunder; that whilst lie was reproach-
ing me for introducing, in the most harmless manner,
the name of one feniale, he miglit himself, at the same
instant., introduce two.
I am represented, alternately, as it suits Junius's
purpose, under the opposite characters of a gloomy
monk, and a man o( politeness and good-humour, 1
am called " a solitary monk," in order to confirm the
notion given of me in Mr. Wilkes's anonymous para-
graphs, that I never laugh. And the terms of polite-
ness and good-humour, on which I am said to have
lived heretofore with the young lady, are intended to
confirm other paragraphs of Mr. Wilkes, in which he
IS supposed to have offended me by refusing his daugh-
ter. Ridiculous ! Yet I cannot deny but that Junius
has proved me unmanly and ungenerous, as clearly
as he has shown me corrupt and vindictive : and I
will tell him more ; I have paid the present ministry
as many visits and compliments as ever I paid to the
young lady ; and shall all my life treat them with the
same politeness and good-humour.
But Junius " begs me to believe, that he measures
tlie integrity of men by their conduct, not by their
professions." Sure this Junius must imagine his
readers as void of understanding as he is of nu)desty !
Where shall we find the standard of his integrity?
By what are we to measure the conduct of this lurk-
ing assassin ? And he says this to me, whose conduct,
wherever I could personally appear, has been as
direct and open, and pub''c, as my words. I havf
JUNIUS'S L.ETTEUS. 115
not, like him, concealed myself in my chambe ,, to
shoot my arrows out of the window ; nor contented
myself to view the battle from afar; but publicly
mixed in the engagement, and shared the danger.
To whom have I, like him, refused my name, upon
complaint of injury ? What printer have I desired
to conceal me ? In the infinite variety of business in
which I have been concerned, where it is not so easy
to be faultless, which of my actions can he arraign ?
To what danger has any man been exposed, which I
have not faced ? Information, action, imprisonment,
or death'? What labour have 1 refused? What
expense have I declined? What pleasure have I not
renounced ? But Junius, to whom no conduct be-
longs, " measures the integrity of men by their con-
duct, not b.y their professions :" himself, all the while
being nothing but professions, and those too anony-
mous. The political ignorance, or wilful falsehood,
of this declaimer, is extreme. His own former letters
justify both my conduct and those whom his last let-
ter abuses : for the public measures which Junius has
been all along defending, were ours whom he attacks ;
and the uniform opposer of those measures has been
Mr. Wilkes, whose bad actions and interitions he en-
deavours to screen.
Let Junius now, if he pleases, change his abuse,
and quitting his loose hold of interest and revenge,
accuse me of vanity, and call this defence boasting.
I own I have pride to see statues decreed, and the
highest honours conferred, for measures and actions
which all men have approved ; whilst those who coun-
selled and caused them are execrated and insulted.
The darkness in whicl. Junius thi ^ks himself shroud-
A 16 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
ed, has not concealed him j nor the artifice of onljf
attacking under that signature those he would pul
down, whilst he recommends by other ways those lie
would have promoted, disguised from me whose par-
tizan he is. When lord Chatham can forgive the
awkward situation in which, for the sake of the pub-
ic, he was designedly placed by the thanks to him
from the city ; and when Wilkes's name ceases to be
necessary to lord Rockingham, to keep up a clamour
against the persons of the ministry, without obliging
the different factions, now in opposition, to bind them-
selves beforehand to some certain points, and to stip-
ulate some precise advantages to the public ; then,
and not till then, may those whom he now abuses ex-
pect the approbation of Junius. The approbation of
the public, for our faithful attention to their interest,
by endeavours for those stipulations, which have made
us as obnoxious to the factions in opposition as to
those in administration, is not, perhaps, to be expect-
ed till some years hence ; when the public will look
back, and see how shamefully tliey have been de-
luded, and by what arts they were made to lose <he
golden opportunity of preventing what they wili
surely experience, — a change of ministers, without a
Tiaterial change of measures, and without any secu-
rity for a tottering constitution. But what cares Ju-
nius for the security of the constitution ? He has now
unfolded to us his diabolical principles. As a public
man he must ever condemn any measure which may
tend accidentally to gratify the sovereign ; and Mr.
Wilkes is to be supported and assisted in all his at-
tempts (no matter how ridiculous and mischievous his
projects) as long as he continues to be a thorn in t\i
JUNIUS'S LETTERS 117
king^s side! The cause of the country, it seems, in the
opinion of Junius, is merely to vex the king; and any
rascal is to be supported in any roguery, provided he
can only thereby plant a thorn in the king^s side.
This is the very extremity of faction, and the last de-
gree of pjlitical wickedness. Because lord Chatham
has been ill treated by the king, and treacherously
betrayed by the duke of Grafton, the latter is to be
" the pillow on w hich Junius will rest his resentment;"
and the public are to oppose the measures of govern-
ment from mere motives of personal enmity to the
sovereign ! These are the avowed principles of the
man who, in the same letter, says, " If ever he should
be convinced that I had no motive but to destroy
Wilkes, he shall then be ready to do justice to my
character, and to declare to the world, that he despi-
ses me somewhat less than he does at present!" Had
I ever acted from personal affection or enmity to Mr.
Wilkes, I should justly be despised : but what does
he deserve, whose avowed motive is personal enmity
to the sovereign ? The contempt which I should
otherwise feel for the absurdity and glaring inconsis-
tency of Juiiius, is here swallowed up in my abhor-
rence of his principles. The right divine and sacred-
ness of kings is to me a senseless jargon. It was
thought a daring expression of Oliver Cromwell, in
the time of Charles the First, that, if he found him-
self placed opposite to the king in battle, he would
discharge his piece into his bosom as soon as into
any other man's. I go farther : had I lived in those
days, I would not have waited for chance to give me
an opportunity of doing my duty; I would have soughl
him through the ranks, and, without the least per
118 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
sonal enmity, have discharged my piece into hig
bosom rather than into any other man's. The king,
whose actions justify rehelhon to hi; government,
deservjs death from the hand of every subject. And
should such a time arrive, I shall be as free to act as
to say ; but, till then, my attachment to the person
and family of the sovereign shall ever be found more
zealous and sincere than that of his flatterers. 1
would offend the sovereign with as much reluctance
as the parent : but if the happiness and security ot
the whole family made it necessary, so far, and no
farther, I would offend him without remorse.
But lei us consider a little whither these principles
of Junius would lead us. Should Mr. Wilkes once
more commission Mr. Thomas Walpole to procure
for him a pension of one thousand pounds, upon the
Irish establishment, for thirty years, he must be sup-
ported in the demand by the public, because it would
mortify the king !
Sliould he wish to see lord Rockingham and his
friends once more in administration, unclogged by
any stipulations for the people, that he might again
enjoy a pension of one thousand and forty pounds a
year, viz. from the first lord of tlie treasury, 500/.
from the lords #f the treasury, 60/. each : from the
lords of trade, 40/. each, &tc. the publ'c must give up
their attention to points of national benefit, and assist
Mr. Wilkes in his attempt, because it would mortify
the king !
Should he demand the government of Canada, or
of Jamaica, or the embassy to Constantinople, and,
in case of refusal, threaten to write them down, as
he ha/^ before served another administration, in a
JUNlbS'S LETTERS. 119
/ear and a half, lie must be supported in ins preten-
sions, and upheld in his insolence, because it would
mortify the king !
Junius may choose to suppose that these things
cannot happen ! But, that they iiave happened, not-
withstanding Mr. Wilkes's denial, I do aver. I main-
tain that Mr. Wilkes did commission Mr. Thomas
Walpole to solicit for him a pension of one thousand
pounds, on the Irish establishment, for thirty years ;
with which, and a pardon, he declared he would be
satisfied: and that, notwithstanding his letter to Mr.
Onslow, he did accept a clandestine, precarious, and
eleemosynary pension from the Rockingham admin-
istration, which they paid in proportion to, and out of
heir salaries ; and so entirely was it ministerial, that,
as any of them went out of the ministry, tlieir names
were scratched out of the list, and they contributed
no longer. I say, he did solicit the governments,
and tlie embassy, and threatened their refusal nearly
in these words : " It cost me a year and a half to
write down the last administration ; sliould I employ
as much time upon you, very few of you would be in
at the death." When these threats did not prevail,
"le came over to England to embarrass them by his
presence : and when he found that lord Rockingham
was something firmer and more manly than he ex-
pected, and refused to be bullied into what he could
not perform, Mr. Wilkes declared that he could not
leave England without money and i\^e duke of Port-
land and lord Rockingham purchased his absence
with one hundred pounds a-piece, with which he re-
turned to Paris. And for the truth of what I here
advance, I appeal to the duke of Portland, to lord
J20 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
Rockingham, to John lord Cavendish, to Mr. Wal*
pole, &ic. I appeal to the hand-writing of Mr. WilkeSj
which is still extant.
Should Mr. Wilkes afterwards (failing in this
wholesale trade) choose to dole out his popularity
by the pound, and expose the city offices to sale to
his brother, h's attorney &ic. Junius will tell us,
it is only an ambition that he has to make them
chamberlain, town clerk, &tc. and he must not be
opposed in thus robbing the ancient citizens of their
birthright, because any defeat of Mr. Wilkes would
gratify the king !
Should he, after consuming the whole of his own
fortune and that of his wife, and incurring a debt ol
twenty thousand pounds, merely by his own private
extravagance, without a single service or exertion al
this time for the public, whilst his estate remained ;
should he, at length, being undone, commence patriot;
have the good fortune to be illegally persecuted, and,
in consideration of that illegality, be espoused by a
few gentlemen of the purest public principles: should
his debts, though none of them were contracted for
the public, and all his other encumbrances, be dis-
charged; should he be offered 600Z. or 1000/. a year
to make him independent for the future ; and should
he, after all, instead of gratitude for these services,
msolently forbid his benefactors to bestow their own
money upon any other object but himself, and revile
them for setting any bounds to their supplies; Junius
(who, any more than lord Ciiatham, never contributed
one farthing to these enormous expenses) will tell
them, that if hey think of converting the supplies of
Mr. Wilkes's private extravagance to the support of
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 121
public measures, they are as great fools as my grand-
mother ; and that Mr. Wilkes ought to hold the strings
of iheir purses, as long as he continues to he a thorn
in the king's side !
Upon these principles I never have acted, and I
never will act. In my opinion, it is less dishonoura-
ble to be the creature of a court, than the tool of a
faction. I will not be eitiier. I understand the two
great leaders of opposition to be lord Rockingham
and lord Chatham ; under one of whose banners all
the opposing members of both houses, who desii-e to
get places, enlist. I can place no confidence in either
of them, or in any others, unless they will now engage,
whilst they ^re out, to grant certain essential advan-
tages for the security of the public when they shall
be in administration. These ()oints they refuse to
stipulate, because they are fearful lest they should
prevent any future overtures from the court. To
force them to these stipulations has been the uniform
endeavour of Mr. Sawbridge, Mr. Townshend, Mr.
Oliver, he. and therefore they are abused by Junius.
I know no reason, but my zeal and industry in the
same cause, that should entitle me tc the honour oi
being ranked hy his abuse with persons of their for-
tune and station. It is a duty I owe to the memory
of the late Mr. Beckford, to say, that he had no other
aim than this, when he provided that sumptuous en-
tertainment at the Mansion House, for the members
of both houses in opposition. At that time, he drew
up the heads of an engagement, which he gave to me.
with a request that I would couch it in terms so cau
tious and precise, as to leave no room for future?
quibble and evasion ; but to oblige them either to
VOL. II. '
122 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
fulfil the intent of the obligation, or to sign their own
infamy, and leave it on record ; and this engagement
he was determined to propose to them at the Mansion
House, that either by their refusal they might forfeit
the confidence of the public, or, by the engagement,
lay a foundation for confidence.
When they were informed of the intention, lord
Rockingham and his friends flatly refused any en-
gagement ; and Mr. Beckford as flatly swore, they
should then " eat none of his broth ;" and he was
determined to put ofl' the entertainment ; but Mr
Beckford was prevailed upon by * * * to indulg'-
tliem in the ridiculous parade of a popular proces
sion through the city, and to give them the foolish
pleasure of an imaginary consequence, for the reai
benefit only of the cooks and purveyors.
It was the same motive which dictated the thanks ov
the city to lord Chatham ; which were expressed to be
given for his declaration in favour oi short parliamenis^
in order thereby to fix lord Chatham, at least, to that
one constitutional remedy, without which all othert
can afford no security. The emliarrassment, no doubt,
was cruel. He had his choice, either to ofl!*end the
Rockingham party, who declared formally against
short parliaments, and with the assistance of whose
numbers in both houses he must expect again to be
minister, ch* to give up the confidence of the public,
from whom, finally, all real consequence must pro-
ceed. Lord Chatham chose the latter; and I will
venture to say, that, by his answer to those thanks,
he has given up the people without gaining the
friendship or cordial assistance of the Rockingham
faction, v/hose little politics are confined tc the mak-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 123
ng of matclies, and extending their family connex-
ions ; and who think they gain more by procuring
one additional vote to their party in the house ol
commons, tlian by adding their languid property, and
feeble character, to the abilities of a Chatham, or the
confidence of a public.
Whatever may be the event of the present wretched
state of politics in this country, the principles of Ju-
nius will suit no form of government. They are not
to be tolerated under any constitution. Personal en-
mity is a motive fit only for the devil. Whoever, or
whatever is sovereign, demands the respect and sup-
port of the people. The union is formed for their
happiness, which cannot be had without mutual res-
pect ; and he counsels maliciously wlio would per-
suade either to a wanton breach of it. When it is
banished by either party, and when every method
has been tried in vain to restore it, there is no reme-
dy but a divorce ; but even then he must have a
hard and a wicked heart indeed, who punishes the
greatest criminal merely for the sake of the punish-
ment ; and who does not lei fell a tear for every drop
jf bloofi that is shed in a public struggle, however
|ust the quarrel.
JOHN HORNE
124 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
LIII.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, August 15, 1771
I ought to make an apology to the duke of Graf
ton, for suffering any part of my attention to be di-
verted from his grace to Mr. Home. I am not justi-
fied by the similarity of their dispositions. Private
vices, however detestable, have not dignity sufficient
to attract the censure of the press, unless they are
united with the power of doing some signal mischief
to the community. Mr. Home's situation does not
correspond with his intentions. In my opinion, (which
I know will be attributed to my usual vanity and pre-
sumption) his letter to me does not deserve an answer.
But I understand that the public are not satisfied with
my silence; that an answer is expected from me; and
that if I persist in refusing to plead, it will be taken
for conviction. I should be inconsistent with the
principles I profess, if I declined an appeal to the good
sense of the people, or did not willingly submit my-
self to the judgment of my peers.
If any coarse expressions have escaped me, I am
ready to agree that they are unfit for Junius to make
use of; but I see no reason to admit that they have
been improperly applied.
Mr. Home, it seems, is unable to comprehend how
an extreme want of conduct and discretion can con
sist with the abilities I have allowed him ; nor can he
JUNlbS'S LLT'ILKS. 125
conceive thai a very honest man, with a very good
understanding, may be deceived by a knave. His
knowledge of liuman nature must be limited indeed.
Had he never mixed with the world, one would have
thought that even his books might have taught him
better — Did he hear lord Mansfield when he defended
his doctrine concerning libels? Or when he stated the
law in prosecutions for criminal conversation ? Or
when he delivered his reasons for calling the house of
lords together to receive acopy of his charge to the jury
in Woodfall's trial .'* Had he been present upon any
of these occasions, he would have seen how possible it
is for a man of the first talents to confound himself
in absurdities, which wouW disgrace the lips of an
idiot. Perhaps the example might have taught him
not to value his own understanding so highly. Lord
Lyttleton's integrity and judgment are unquestiona-
ble; yet he is known to admire that cunning Scotch-
man, and verily believes him an honest man, I
speak to facts, with which all of us are conversant.
I speak to men, and to their experience ; and will not
descend to answer the little sneering sophistries of a
collegian. Distinguished talents are not necessarily
connected with discretion. If there be any thing re-
markable in the character of Mr. Home, it is, that
extreme want of judgment should be united with his
very moderate capacity. — Yet I have not forgotten
the acknowledgment I made him ; he owes it to my
bounty : and though his letter has lowered him in my
opinion, I scorn to retract the charitable donation.
I said it would be very difiicult for Mr. Home to
write directly in defence of a ministerial measure, and
not to be detected, and even that difficulty I confined
126 JUNIUSS LETTERS.
to his particular situation. He changes he terms of
the proposition, and supposes me to assert, that it
would be impossible lor any man to write for the
newspapers, and not be discovered.
He repeatedly affirms, or intimates at least, that he
knows the author of these letters. With what colour
of truth, then, can he pretend, " That I am no where
to be encountered but in a newspaper .'"' I shall leave
him to his suspicions. It is not necessary that I should
confide in the honour and discretion of a man, who
already seems to hate me with as much rancour as 11
[ had formerly been his friend. But he asserts, that
he has traced me through a variety of signatures.
To make the discovery of any importance to his pur-
pose, he should have proved, either that the fictitious
character of Junius has not been consistently sup-
ported, or that the author has maintained different
principles under different signatures. I cannot recall
to my memory the numberless trifles I have written ;
but I rely upon the consciousness of my own integri-
ty, and defy him to fix any colourable charge of in-
consistency upon nie.
I am not bound to assign the secret motives of his
apparent hatred of Mr. Wilkes : nor does it follow
that I may not judge fairly of his conduct, though
it were true that I had no conduct of my oion. Mr.
Home enlarges with rapture upon the importance of
his services ; the dreadful battles which he might have
been engaged in, and the dangers he has escaped. In
support of the formidable description he quotes verses
without mercy. The gentleinan deals in fiction, and
naturally appeals to the evidence of the poets. Taking
him at his word, he cannot but admit the superiority
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 127
of Mr. Wilkes in this line of service. On one side,
we see nothing but imaginary distress ; on the other,
we see real prosecutions ; real penalties ; real impri-
sonment ; life repeatedly hazarded ; and, at one mo-
ment, almost the certainty of death. Thanks are
undoubtedly due to every man who does his duly in
the engagement, but it is the wounded soldier who
deserves the reward.
I did not mean to deny, that Mr. Home had been
an active partizan. It would defeat my own purpose
not to allow him a degree of merit which aggravates
his guilt. The very charge " of contributing his ut-
most efforts to support a ministerial measure," implies
an acknowledgment of his former services. If he had
not once been distinguished by his apparent zeal in
defence of the common cause, he could not now be
distinguished by deserting it. -As for myself, it is no
longer a question, " Whether I shall mix with the
throng, and take a single share in the danger."
Whenever Junius appears, he must encounter a host
of enemies. But is there no honourable way to serve
the public, without engaging in personal quarrels with
insignificant individuals, or submitting to the drud-
gery of canvassing votes for an election .'' Is there
no merit in dedicating my life to the information of
my fellow-subjects .'' What public question have I
declined ? What villain have I spared ? Is there no
.abour in the composition of these letters ? Mr.
Florne, I fear is partial to me, and measure* the fa-
v.ility of my writings by the fluency of his own.
He talks to us in high terms of the gallant feats he
would have performed if he had lived in the last cen-
tury The unhappy Charles could hardl}' have es-
128 JUNILS'S LEITERS.
caped him. But living princes have a cla rn to hti
attachment and respect. Upon these terms, there is
no danger in being a patriot. If he means any thing
more than a pompous rhapsody, let us try how well
his argument holds together. 1 presume he is not yet
so much a courtier as to affirm that the constitution
has not been grossly and daringly violated under the
present reign. He will not say, that the laws have
not been shamefully broken or perverted ; that the
rights of the subject have not been invaded ; or, that
redress has not been repeatedly solicited and refused.
Grievances, like these, were the foundation of the re-
bellion in the last century ; and, if I understand Mr.
Home, they would, at that period, have justified
him, to his own mind, in deliberately attacking the
life of his sovereign. I shall not ask him, to what
political constitution tliis doctrine can be recoi*:iled :
but, at least, it is incumbent upon him to show, that
the present king has better excuses than Charles the
First, for the errors of his government. He ought
to demonstrate to us, that the constitution was better
understood a hundred years ago, than it is at present;
that the legal rights of the subject, and the limits of
the prerogative, were more accurately defined, and
more clearly comprehended. If propositions like
these cannot be fairly maintained, I do not see how
he can reconcile it to his conscience, not to act im
mediately with the same freedom with which he speaks
I reverence the character of Charles the First as lit-
tle as Mr. Home ; but I will not insult his misfor-
tunes by a comparison that would degrade him.
It is worth observing, by what gentle degrees the
*urious, persecuting zeal of Mr. Home has softened
JUNILS'S LETTERS. 120
into moderation. Men and n^easures were ytstenlay
liis object. What pains did be once take to brinj^ tbat
great state criminal M^(^uirk to execution ! To-day
he confines himself to measures only ; no penal ex-
ample is to be left to the successors of the duke oi
Grafton. To-morrow, I presume, both men and
measures will be forgiven. Tiie flaming patriot, who
so lately scorched us in the meridian, sinks temper-
ately to the west, and is hardly felt as he descends.
I comprehend (he policy ':>i endeavouring to com-
municate to Mr. Oliver and Mr. Sawbridge a share
in the reproaches with which he supposes me to have
loaded him. My memory fails me, if I have men-
tioned their names with disrespect; unless it be re-
proachful to acknowledge a sincere respect for the
character of Mr. Sawbridge, and not to have ques-
tioned the innocence of Mr. Oliver's intentions.
It seems I am a partizan of the great leader of the
opposition. If the charge had been a reproach, it
should have been better supported. I did not intend
to make a public declaration of tiie respect I bear lord
Chatham ; I well knew what unworthy conclusions
would be drawn from it. But I am called upon to
deliver my opinion ; and surely it is not in the little
censure of Mr. Home to deter me from doing signal
justice to a man, who, I confess, has grown upon my
esteem. As for the common sordid views of avarice,
or any purpose of vulgar ambition, I question whether
tlie applause of Junius would be of service to lord
Chatham. My vote will hardly recommend him to
an increase of his pension, or to a seat in the cabinet.
But, if his ambition be upon a level with his under-
standing, if he judges of what is truly honouiable
F 2 "i
130 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
for himself, with the same superior genius which an -
mates and directs him to eloquence in debate, to wis-
dom in decision, even the pen of Junius shall con
tribute to reward him Recorded honours shall gath-
er round his monument, and thicken over him It is
a solid fabric, and will support the laurels that adorn
it. I am not conversant in the language of panegyric.
These praises are extorted from me ; but they will
wear well, for they have been dearly earned.
My detestation of the duke of Grafton is not found-
ed upon his treachery to any individual ; though I
am willing enough to suppose, that, in public affairs,
it would be impossible to desert or betray lord Chat-
ham, without doing an essential injury to this coun-
try. My abhorrence of the duke arises from an inti-
mate knowledge of his character, and from a thorough
conviction that his baseness has been the cause ol
greater mischief to England, than even the unfortu-
nate ambition of lord Bute.
The shortening the duration of parliaments is a
subject on which Mr. Home cannot enlarge too warm-
ly, nor will I question his sincerity. If I did not
profess the same sentiments, I should be shamefully
inconsistent with myself. It is unnecessary to bind
lord Chatham by the written formality of an engage-
ment. He has publicly declared himself a convert
to tricnnia parliaments ; and though I have long
been convinced, that tliis is the only possible resource
we have left to preserve the substantial freedom of the
constilnlion, I do not think we have a right to deter-
mine against the integrity of lord Rockingham or his
friends. Other measures may undoubtedly be sup-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 131
ported ill argument, as better adapted to llie disorder,
or more likely to be obtained.
Mr. Home is well assured that I never was tie
"hampion of Mr WilUes. But though I am not
obliged to answer for tiie firmness of his future adhe-
rence to the principles he professes, I have no reason
to presume that he will hereafter disgrace them. As
for all those imaginary cases which Mr. Home so
petulantly urges against me I have one plain honest
answer to make him. Whenever Mr. Wilkes shall
be convicted of sd iciting a pension, an embassy, or
a government, he must depart from that situation,
and renounce that character, which he assumes at pre-
sent, and which, in my opinion, entitles him to the
support of the public. By the same act, and at the
same moment, he will forfeit his power of mortifying
the king : and though he can never be a favourite at
St. James's, his baseness may administer a solid satis-
faction to the royal mind. The man I speak of has
not a heart to feel for the frailties of his fellow-crea-
tures. It is their virtues that afflict, it is their vices
that console him.
I give every possible advantage to Mr. Home,
when I take the facts he refers to for granted. That
they are the produce of his invention, seems highly
probable; that they are exaggerated, I have no doubt.
At the worst, what do they amount to.^ but that Mr.
Wilkes, who never was thought of as a perfect pattern
of morality, has not been at all times proof agaiist
tlie extremity of distress. How shameful is it in a
man who has lived in friendship with him, to reproach
bim with failings too naturally connected with des-
Dair ? Is no allowance to be made for banishmen
£32 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
and ruin ? Does a two years' imprisonment make
no atonement for his crimes ? The resentment of a
priest is implacable : no sufferings can soften, no
penitence can appease him. Yet he himself, I think,
upon his own system, has a multitude of political ot-
fences to atone for. 1 will not insist upon the nause-
ous detail with which he so long disgusted the pub-
lic ; he seems to be ashamed of it. But what excuse
will he make to the friends of the constitution, foi
labouring to promote this consummately had man to
a station of the highest national trust and import-
ance.'' Upon what honourable motives did he recom-
mend him to the livery of London for their represen-
live ; to the ward of Farringdon for their alder-
man ; to the county of Middlesex for their knight ^
Will he affirm, that, at that time, he was ignorant o.
Mr. Wilkes's solicitations to the ministry.'* That he
sliould say so, is, indeed, very necessary for his own
justification ; but where will he find credulity to be-
lieve him .''
In what school this gentleman learned his ethics, I
know not. His logic seems to have been studied un-
der Mr. Dyson. That miserable pamphleteer, divid-
ing the only precedent in point, and taking as much
of it as suited his purpose, had reduced kis argument
uj)on tlie Middlesex election to something like the
shajie of a syllogism. Mr. Home has conducted
hiu) -self with the same Ingenuity and candour. 1 had
afftrmed, that Mr. Wilkes would preserve the public
fa ;our, " as long as he stood forth against a minis-
try and parliament, who were doing every thing they
could to enslave the country and as long as he was
a tliorn in the king's side." Yet, from the exultnig
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 133
triumph of Mr. Home's reply, one would think that
I had rested my expectation that Mr. Wilkes \\ould
be supported by tiie public, upon the single condition
of his mortifying the king. This may be logic at
Cambridge, or at the treasury ; but, among men ot
sense and honour, it is folly or villany in the ex-
treme.
I see the pitiful advantage he has taken of a single
unguarded expression, in a letter not intended for the
public. Yet it is only the expression that is unguard-
ed. I adhere to the true meaning of that member of
the sentence, taken separately as he takes it ; and
now, upon the coolest deliberation, re-assert, that,
for the purposes I referred to, it may be highly meri-
torious to the public, to wound the personal feelings
of the sovereign. It is not a general proposition, nor
is it generally applied to the chief magistrate of this,
or any other constitution. Mr. Home knows, as well
as I do, that the best of princes is not displeased with
the abuse which he sees thrown upon his ostensible
ministers. It makes them, I presume, more properly
the objects of his royal compassion. Neither does
it escape his sagacity, that the lower they are de-
graded in the public esteem, the more submissively
they must depend upon his favour for protection.
This I affirm, upon the most solemn conviction, and
the most certain knowledge, is a leadiug maxim in
he policy of the closet. It is unnecessary to punjue
the argument any farther.
Mr. Home is now a very loyal subject. He laments
the wretched state of politics in this country ; and
sees, in a new light, the weakness and folly of the
opposition. " Whoever, or whatever, is sovereign
134 JUNIUS -S LETTERS,
demands the respect and support of the people:"* it
svas not so " when Nero fiddled while Rome was
burning." Our gracious sovereign has had wonder-
ftd success in creating new attachments to his person
and famihj. He owes it, I presume, to the regular
system he has pursued in the mystery of conversion.
He began with an experiment upon the Scotch, and
concludes with converting Mr. Home. What a pitv
It is, that the Jews should be condemned by Provi-
dence to wait for a Messiah of their own !
The priestliood are accused of misinterpreting the
Scriptures. Mr. Home has improved upon his pro-
fession. He alters the text, and creates a refutable
doctrine of his own. Such artifices cannot long de-
lude the understandings of the people; and, without
meaning an indecent comparison, I may venture to
foretell, that the Bible and Junius will be read, when
the commentaries of the Jesuits are forgotten.
JUNIUS.
* The very soliloquy of lord Suffolk bf/ore Iw passed the
Bubicoiu
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. ,'^5
LIV.
To the Printer of the Public Adve.tiser.
SIR, August 26, 1771.
The enemies of the people having now nothing
better to object to my friend Junius, are, at last, obli-
ged to quit his politics, and to rail at him for crimes
he is not guilty of. His vanity and impiety are now
the perpetual topics of their abuse. I do not mean
to lessen the force of such charges, supposing they
were true, but to show that they are not founded. If
I admitted the premises, I should readily agree in all
the consequences drawn from them. Vanity, indeed,
is a venial error, for it usually carries its own punish-
ment with it ; but if I thought Junius capable of ut-
tering a disrespectful word of the religion of his coun-
try, 1 should be the first to renounce and give him
up to the public contempt and indignation. As a
man, I am satisfied that he is a Christian, upon the
most sincere conviction : as a writer, he would be
grossly inconsistent with his political principles, if he
dared to attack a religion, established by those laws,
which it seems to be the purpose of his life to defend.
Now for the proofs. Junius is accused of an impious
allusion to the holy sacrament, where he says, that,
" if lord Weymouth be denied the cup, there would
be no keeping him within the pale of the ministry."
Now, sir, I affirm, that this passage refers entirely to
a ceremonial in the Roman Catholic church, which
J 36 . JUNIUS'S LETTERS
denies the cup to the laity. It has no manner of re«
lation to the protestant creed ; and is in this countrv
as fair an object of ridicule as transubstantiation, oi
any other part of lord Peter's History, in the Tale o
a Tub.
But Junius is charged with equal vanity and im-
piety, in comparing his writings to the Holy Scrip-
tures. The formal protest he makes against any such
comparison avails him nothing. It becomes neces-
sary then to show that the charge destroys itself. Il
he be vain, he cannot be impious.
A vain man does not usually compare himself to
an object which it is Wis design to undervalue. On
the other hand, if he be impious, he cannot be vain j
for his impiety, if any, must consist in his endeavour-
ing to degrade the Holy Scriptures, by a comparison
rt'ith his own contemptible writings. This would be
folly, indeed, of the grossest nature ; but where lies
the vanity ? I shall now be told, " Sir, what you
say is plausible enough ; but still you must allow,
that it is shamefully impudent in Junius to tell us
that his works will live as long as the Bible." My
answer is. Agreed: hut first prove that he has said so.
Look at his words, and you will find that the utmost
he expects is, that the Bible and Junius will survive
the commentaries of the Jesuits ; which may prove
true in a fortnight. The most malignant sagacity
cannot show that his works are, in his opinion, to live
as long as the Bible. Suppose I were to foretell, that
Jack and Tom would survive Harry, does it lollow
that Jack must live as long as Tom ? I would only
illustrate my meaning, and protest against the least
idea of profaneness.
JUJNlUb'S LETTERS. 137
Yet this is the way in which Junius is usually
answered, arraigned, and convicted. These candid
critics never remember any thing he says in honour
of our holy religion: though it is true that one of
iiis leading arguments is made to rest " upon the in-
ternal evidence, which the purest of all religions
carries with it." I quote his words ; and conclude
from them, that he is a true and hearty christian, in
substance, not in ceremony; though possibly he mav
not agree with my reverend lords the bishops, or with
the head of the church, " that prayers are morality,
or that kneeling is religion."
PHILO JUNIUS.
LV.
From the Reverend Mr. Home to Junius.
August 17, 1771-
I congratulate you, sir, on the recovery of your
wonted style, though it has cost you a fortnight. I
compassionate your labour in the composition of your
letters, and will communicate to you the secret of my
fluency. Truth needs no ornament ; and in my
opinion, what she borrows of the pencil is deformity.
You brought a positive charge against me of cor-
ruption. I denied the charge, and called for your
proofs. Yot. replied with abuse, and re-asserted
your charge. I called again for proofs. You reply
again with abuse only, and drop your accusation.
139 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
In your fortnight's letter, there is not one word uj^^.on
the subject of my corruption.
I liave no more to say, but to return thanks to you
fo' 3 i^'«r condescension, and to a grateful public, and
honest ministry, for all the favours they have con-
ferred upon me. The two latter, I am sure, will
never refuse me any grace I shall solicit : and since
you have been pleased to acnnowledge, that you told
a deliberate lie in my favour, out of bounty, and as a
charitable donation, why may I not expect that you
will hereafter (if you do not forget you ever men-
tioned my name with disrespect) make the same ac-
knowledgment for what you have said to my preju-
dice ^ This second recantation will perhaps, be more
abhorrent from your disposition , but should you de-
cline it, you will only afford one more instance, how
much easier it is to be generous than just, and that
men are sometimes bountiful who are not honest.
At all events, I am as well satisfied with panegyric
as lord Chatham can be. Monument I shall have
none ; but over my grave it will be said, in your own
words, " Home's situation did not correspond with
his intentions."*
JOHN HORNE
• The epitaph would not bt ill suited to the character j
Bt the best it is but equivocal.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS 139
LVI.
Tc his Grace the Duke of Grafton.
MY LORD, September 28, ITJl
The people of England are not apprised of the fu 1
extent of their obligations to you. They have yet no
adequate idea of the endless variety of your character.
They have seen you distinguished and successful in
the continued violation of those moral and political
duties, by which the little as well as the great socie-
ties of life are connected and held together. Every
colour, every character became you. With a rate ol
abilities which lord Weymouth very justly looks
down upon with contempt, you have done as much
mischief to the community as Cromwell would have
done, if Cromwell had been a coward ; and as much
as Machiavel, if Machiavel had not known that an
appearance of morals and religion is useful in society.
To a thinking man, the influence of »he crown will,
in no view, appear so formidable, as when he observes
to what enormous excesses it has safely conducted
your grace, without a ray of real understanding,
without even the pretensions to common decency or
principle of any kind, or a single spark of personal
resolution. What must be the operation of that per-
nicious influence (for which our kings have wise'y
exchanged the nugatory name of prerogative) that in
the highest stations can so abundantly supply the ab-
sence of virtue, courage, and abilities, and qualify a
MO JIJNIUS'S LETTERS.
man to be a minister of a great nation, whom a pri-
vate gentleman would be ashamed and afraid to admit
into his family ? Like the universal passport of an
ambassador, it supercedes the prohibition of the laws,
banishes the suiple virtues of the country, and intro-
duces vice and folly triumphantly into all the depart-
ments of the state. Other princes, besides his majesty,
have had the means of corruption within their reach,
but they have used it with moderation. In former
times, corruption was considered as a foreign auxil-
iary to government, and only called in upon extra-
ordinary emergencies. The unfeigned piety, the
sanctified religion of George the Third, have taught
him to new model the civil forces of the state. The
natural resources of the crown are no longer confided
in. Corruption glitters in the van, collects and main-
tains a standing army of mercenaries, and at the
same moment impoverishes and enslaves the country.
His majesty's predecessors (excepting that worthy
family from which you, my lord, are unquestionably
descended) had some generous qualities in their com-
position, with vices, I confess, or frailties in abun-
dance. They were kings or gentlemen, not hypo-
crites or priests. They were at the head of the church,
but did not know the value of their office. They
said their prayers without ceremony, and had too
little priestcraft in their understanding, to reaoncile
the sanctimonious forms of religion with the utter de-
struction of the morality of their people. INIy lord,
this is fact, not declamation. With all your partiality
to the house of Stuart, you must confess, that even
Charles the Second would have bliislied at that open
encouragemeni, at those eager, meretricious caresses
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 141
with wh ch every species of private vice and public
prostitution is received at St. James's. The unfortu-
nate house of Stuart has been treated with an asperity
whicii, if comparison be a defence, seems to border
upon injustice. Neither Charles nor his brother were
qualified to support such a system of measures a&
would be neccessary to change the government and
subvert the constitution of England. One of them
was too much in earnest in his pleasures, the other in
his religion. But the danger to this country would
cease to be problematical, if the crown should ever
descend to a prince whose apparent simplicity niigiit
throw his subjects off their guard, who might be no
libertine in behaviour, who should have no sense of
honour to restrain him, and who, with just religion
enough to impose upon the multitude, might have no
scruples of conscience to interfere with his morality.
With these honourable qualifications, and the decisive
advantage of situation, low craft and falsehood are
all the abilities that are wanting to destroy the wisdom
of ages, and to deface the noblest monument that
human policy has erected. 1 know such a man ; my
lord, I know you both; and, with the blessing of God
(for I, too, am religious) the people of England shall
know you as well as I do. I am not very sure that
greater abilities, would not, in effect, be an impedi-
ment to a design which seems at first sight to require
a superior capacity. A better understanding might
make him sensible of the wonderful beauty of that
system he was endeavouring to corrupt ; the danger
of the attempt might alarm him ; the meanness and
intrinsic worthlessness of the object (supposing he
could attain it) would fill him with shame, repentance
142 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
and disgust But these are sensations which find
no entrance into a barbarous, contracted heart. In
some men there is a malignant passion to destroy the
works of genius, literature, and freedom. The Van-
dal and the monk find equal gratification i i it.
Reflections like these, my lord, have a general
relation to your grace, and inseparably attend you,
in whatever company or situation your character
occurs to us. They have no mmediate connexion
with the following recent fact, which I lay before
the public, for the honour of the best of sovereigns,
and for the edification of his people. A prince
(whose piety and self-denial, one would think, might
secure him trom such a multitude of worldly necessi-
ties,) with an annual revenue of near a million ster-
ling, unfortunately wants money. The navy of Eng-
land, by an equally strange occurrence of unforseen
circumstances, (though not quite so unfortunately for
his majesty,) is in equal want of timber. The world
knows in what a hopeful condition you delivered the
navy to your successor, and in what a condition we
found it in the moment of distress. You were deter-
mined it should continue in the situation in which you
left it. It happened, however, very luckily for the
privy purse, that one of the above wants promised fair
to supply the other. Our religious, benevolent, gene-
rous sovereign has no objection to selling his own tim-
ber to his own admiralty, to repair his own ships, nor
to putting the money into his own pocket. People of
a religious turn naturally adhere to the principles of
the church ; whatever they acquire falls into mort-
main. Upon a representation fiom the admirahy oi
lite extraordinary want of timber for the indispensable
JUiMus's i;etters. 143
reparts of the navy, the surveyor-general was dhect-
ed to make a survey of the timber in all the royal
chases and forests in England. Having obeyed his
orders with accuracy and attention, he reported that
the finest timber he had any where met with, and the
properest, in every respect, for the purposes of the
navy, was in Whittlebury Forest, of which your
grace, I think, is hereditary ranger. In consequence
of this report, the usual warrant was prepared at the
treasury, and delivered to the surveyor, by which he,
or his deputy, were authorised to cut down any trees
in Whittlebury Forest, which should appear to be
proper for the purposes above-mentioned. The
deputy being informed that the warrant was signed,
and delivered to his principal in London, crossei the
country to Northamptonsliire, and, with an officious
zeal for the public service, begins to do his duty in
the forest. Unfortunately for him, he had not the
warrant in his pocket. The oversight was enormous ;
and you have punished him for it accordingly. You
have insisted, that an active, useful officer should be
dismissed from his place. You have ruined an inno-
cent man and his family. In what language shall I
address so black, so cowardly a tyrant ? Thou
worse than one of the Brunswicks, and all the Stuarts !
To them who know lord North, it is unnecessary to
say, that he was mean and base enough to submit to
you. This, however, is but a small part of the fact.
After ruining the surveyor's deputy, for acting without
the warrant, you attacked the warrant itself You
declared that it was illegal ; and swore, in a fit of
foaming frantic passion, that it never should be exe-
cuted. You asserted, upon your honour, that in the
144 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
grant ol the rangership of Whittlebury Forest, made
by Charles the Second (whom with a modesty that
would do honour to Mr. Rigby, you are pleased to
call your ancestor) to one of his bastards, (from
whom I make no doubt of your descent,) the property
of the timber is vested in the ranger. I have ex-
amined the original grant ^ and now, in the face o'
the public, contradict you directly upon the fact
The very reverse of what you have asserted upon
your honour is the truth. The grant, expressly, and
hy a particular clause, reserves the property of the
timber for the use of the crown. In spite of this
evidence, in defiance of the representations of the
admiralty, in perfect mocker^' of the notorious dis-
tresses of the English navy, and those equally press-
ing and almost equally notorious necessities of your
pious sovereign, here the matter rests. The lords
of the treasury, recall their warrant; the deputy sur-
veyor is ruined for doing his duty ; Mr. John Pitt
(whose name, I suppose, is offensive to you) sub-
mits to be brow-beaten and insulted ; the oaks keep
their ground ; the king is defrauded ; and the navy
of England may perish for want of the best and
finest timber in the island. And all this is submit-
ted to, to appease the duke of Grafton ! to gratify
the man who has involved the king and his king-
dom in confusion and distress ; and who, like a
treacherous coward, deserted his sovereign in the
midst of it !
There has been a strange alteration in your doc-
trines, since you thought it advisable to rob the did<e
of Pordand of his property, in order to strengtljcn
the interest of lord Bute's son-in-law before the last
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 145
general election, JVullum tempus occurrit regi was
then your boasted niotto, and the cry of all your
hungry partizaus. Now it seems a grant of Charles
the Second to one of his bastards is to be held sa
cred and inviolable ! It must not be questioned by
tne king's servants, nor submitted to any interpreta-
tion but your own. My lord, this was not the lai.-
iruage you held, wken it suited you to insult the
memory of the glorious deliverer of England from
that detested family, to which you are still more
nearly allied in principle than in blood. In the name
of decency and common sense, what are your grace's
merits, either with king or ministry, that should en-
title 3'ou to assume this domineering authority over
both .'' Is it the fortunate consanguinity you claim
with the house of Stuart ? Is it the secret corres-
pondence you have so many years carried on with
lord Bute, by the assiduous assistance of your cream-
coloured parasite ? Could not your gallantry find
sufficient employment for him in those gentle offices
by which he first acquired the tender friendship of
lord Barrington ? Or is it only that wonderful sym-
pathy of manners which subsists between your grace
and one of your superiors, ind does so much honour
to you both ? Is the union of Blijil and Black
George no longer a romance 9 From whatever ori-
gin your influence in this country arises, it is a phe-
nomenon in the history of human virtue and under-
standing. Good men can iiardly believe the fact s
wise men are unable to account for it ; religious men
find exercise for their faith, and make it the last ef-
fort of their p'ety not to repine against Providence.
JUNIUS.
^OL. II. G 10
is JUNIUS'S LETTERS
LVII.
Addressed to the Livery of Londo t
GENTLEMEN, September 30, im
If you alone were concerned in the event of tlie
picsent election of a chief magistrate of the metropo-
lis it would be the highest presumption in a stranger
to aUempt to influence your choice, or even to offer
you his opinion. But the situation of public affairs
has annexed an extraordinary importance to your
resolutions. You cannot, in the choice of your ma-
gistrate, determine for yourselves only. You are go-
ing to determine upon a point, in which every mem-
bar of the community is interested. J will not scruple
to say, that the very being of that law, of that right,
of that constitution, for which we have been so long
contending, is now at stake. They who would en-
snare your judgment tell you, it is a common ordi-
nar}' case, and to be decided by ordinary precedent
and practice. They artfully conclude, from mode-
rate peaceable times, to times wiiich are not mode-
rate, and which ought not to be peaceable. While
they solicit your favour, they insist upon a rifle ol
rotation, which excludes all idea of election.
Let me be honoured with a few minutes of your
^ittention. The question, to those who mean fairly
to the liberty of the people (which we all profess to
have in view,) lies within a very narrow compass.
Do you mean to desert that jiist and honourable sys
JUNIUS'S LK ITERS. 47
teni of measures which jou have l)itherto puisued, in
hopes of obtaining from parliament, or from the crown,
a full redress of past grievances, and a security for
the future ? Do you think the cause desperate, and
will you declare that you think so to the whole peo
pie of England ? If this be your meaning and
opinion, you will act consistently with it in choosing
Mr. Nash. I profess to be unacquainted with his
private character; but he has acted as a magistrate,
as a public man. As such I speak of him. I see his
name in a protest against one of your remonstrances
to the crown. He has done every thing in his power
to destroy the freedom of popular elections in the
city, by publishing the poll upon a former occasion ,
and I know, in general, that he has distinguished
himself, by slighting and thwarting all those public
measures which you have engaged in with the great-
est warmth, and hitherto thought most worthy of youi
approbation. From his past conduct, what conclu-
sion will you draw but that he will act the same part
as lord mayor, which he has invariably acted as alder-
man and sherifi'? He cannot alter his conduct with-
out confessing that he never acted upon principle ol
any kind. I should be sorry to injurt the character
of a man, who, perhaps, may be honesi in his inten
tion, by supposing it possible that he can ever conrui
with you in any political measure or opinion.
If, on the other hand, you mean to persevere it
those resolutions for the public good, which, though
not always successful, are always honourable, your
choice w'lll naturally incline to those men who (what-
ever they be in other respects) are most likely to co-
operate with you in the great purpose which you arc
U8 JUNIUS'S LETTERH.
determined not to relinquish. The question is not Oi
what metal your instruments are made, but whether
they are adapted to the work you have in hand. The
honours of the city, in these times, are improperly,
because exclusively, callerl a reward. You mean not
merely to pay, but to employ. Are Mr. Crosby and
Mr. Sawbridge likely to execute the extraordinary,
as well as the ordinary, duties of lord mayor.'* Will
they grant you common-halls when it shall be neces-
sary ^ Will they go up with remonstrances to the
king ^ Have they firmness enough to meet the fur}
of a venal house of commons .'' Have they fortitude
enough not to shrink at imprisonment ^ Have they
spirit enough to hazard tiieir lives and fortunes in a
.ontesl, if it should be necessary, with a prostituted
egislature i If these questions can fairly be answer-
ed in the affirmative, your choice is made. Forgive
his pissionace language. I am unable to correct it.
rh<» subject c^^es home to us all. It is the language
Df «iy heart.
JUNIUS,
LVIII.
To the Piinter of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, October 5, 1771.
No man laments more sincerely than I do, the
nnuappy differences which have arisen among the
friends of the people, and divided them from each
other. The cause, undoubtedly, suffers as well by
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 14^
he diminuUon of that strength which unioii can<es
along with it, as by the separate loss of personal re-
putation, which every man sustains when his charac-
ter and conduct are frequently held forth in odious or
contemptible colours These differences are only
advantageous to the common enemy of the country.
The hearty friends of the cause are provoked ana
disgusted. The lukewarm advocate avails himself
of any pretence, to relapse into that indolent indiffe-
rence about every thing that ought to interest an
Englishman, so unjustly dignified with the title of
moderation. The false, insidious partizan, who cre-
ates or foments the disorder, sees the fruit of his dis-
honest industry ripen beyond his hopes, and rejoices
m the promise of a banquet, only delicious to such an
appetite as his 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 gra-
tification of personal animosities ; it is time for such
men to interpose. Let us try whether these fata
dissensions may not yet be reconciled ; or, if that be
impracticabU let us guard at least against the worsi
effects of division, and endeavour to persuade these
furious partizans, if they will not consent to draw to-
gether, to be separately useful to that lause which
tliey all pret md to be attached to. Honour and
honesty must lot be renounced, although a thousand
modes of right and wrong were to occupy the degrees
of morality between Zeno and Epicurus. The fun-
damental principles of Christianity may still be pre-
served, though every zealous sectary adheres to his
own exclusive doctrine, and pious ecclesiastics make
150 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
t part of thei'r religion to persecute one another.
The civil constitution, too, tliat legal liberty, that
general creed which every Englishman professes,
may still be supported, though Wilkes and Home,
and Townshend and Sawbridge, should obstinately
refuse to commujiicate ; and even if the fathers of the
church, if Savile, Richmond, Camden, Rockingham,
and Chatham, should disagree in the ceremonies of
theii* political worship, and even in the interpretation
of twenty texts in Magna Chirta. I speak to the
people, as one of the people Let us employ these
men in whatever departments jieir 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.
If Mr. Nash be elected, he will hardly venture,
after so recent a mark of the personal esteem of his
fellow-citizens, to declare himself immediately a cour-
tier. The spirit and activity of the sheriff's will, I
hope, be sufficient to counteract any sinister intentions
of the lord mayor. In collision with their virtue,
perhaps, he may take fire.
It is not necessary to exact from Mr. Wilkes the
virtues of a Stoic. They were inconsistent with them-
selves, who, almost at the same moment, represented
him as the basest of mankind, yet seemed to expect
from him such instances of fortitude and self-denial,
as would do honour to an apostle. It is not, how-
ever, flattery to say, that he is obstinate, intrepid, and
fertile in expedients. That he has no possible re-
source but in ihc public favour, is, in my judgment,
a considerable recommendation of him. I wish that
JUMUS'S LETTERS. 1&
every man who pretended to popularity were n\ the
same predicament. I wish that a retreat to St,
James's were not so easy and open as patriots have
found it. To Mr. Wilkes there is no access. How-
ever he may be misled by passion or imprudence, f
think he cannot be guilty of a deliberate treachery to
the public. The favour of iiis country constitutes
the shield which defends him against a thousand
daggers. Desertion would disarm him.
I can more readily admire the liberal spirit and
integrity, than the sound judgment, of any man who
prefers a republican form of government, in this or
any other empire of equal extent, to a monarchy so
qualified and limited as ours. I am convinced, that
neither is it in theory the wisest system of govern-
ment, nor practicable in this country. Yet, thougii
I hope the English constitution will for ever preserve
its original monarchical form, I would have the man-
niers of the people purely and strictly republican. 1
do not mean the licentious spirit of anarchy and riot.
I mean a general attachment to the commonweal,
distinct from any partial attachment to persons or
families ; an implicit submission to the laws only j
and an affection to the magistrate, proportioned to
the integrity and wisdom with which he distributes
justice to his people, and administers their affairs.
The present habit of our political body appears to
me the very reverse of what it ought to be. The
lorm of the constitution leans rather more than enough
to the popular branch ; while, in effect, the manners
of the people (of those at least who are like.y to take
a lead in the country) in;line too generally to a de-
pendence upon the crown The real friends of arbi-
152 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
trary power combine the facts, and are not inconsia-
ent with their principles, when they stienuousiy
support the unwarrantable privileges assum»;d by the
house of commons. In these circumstances, it were
much to be desired, that we had many such men as
Mr. Sawbridge to represent us in parliament. 1
speak from common report and opinion only, when 1
impute to him a speculative predilection in favour oi
a republic. In the personal conduct and manners of
the rnan I cannot be mistaken. He has shown him-
self possessed of that republican firmness which the
times require ; and by which an English gentleman
may be as usefully and as honourably distinguished,
as any citizen of ancient Rome, of Athens, or Lace-
demon.
Mr. Townshend complains that tiie public gratitude
has not been answerable to his deserts. It is not
difficult to trace the artifices which have suggested
•vO him a language so unworthy of his understanding.
A great man commands the affections of the people
a prudent man does not complain when he has lost
them. Yet they are far from being lost to Mr. Town-
shend. He has treated our opinion a little too cava-
lierly. A young man is apt to rely too confidently
upon himself, to be as attentive to his mistress as a
polite and passionate lover ought to be. Perhaps he
found her at first too easy a conquest. Yet I fancy
she will be ready to receive him whenever he thinks
proper to renew his addresses. With all his youth,
his spirit, and his appearance, it would be indecent in
the lady to solicit his return.
have too much respect for the abilities of Mr.
Home, to Hatter m yself that these gentlemen will ever
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 153
be cordiaLy re-united. It is not, however, unreason-
able to expect, that each of them should act his sepa-
rate part with honour and integrity to the public. As
for differences of opinion upon speculative questions,
if we wait until they are reconciled, the action of hu-
man affairs must be suspended for ever. But neither
are we to look for perfection in any one man, nor for
agreement among many. When lord Chatham af-
firms, that the authority of the British legislature is
not supreme over the colonies in the same sense in
which it is supreme over Great Britain ; when lord
Camden supposes a necessity (which the kmg is to
judge of,) and, founded upon that necessity, attributes
to the crown a legal power (not given by the act it-
self,) to suspend the operation of an act of the legis-
lature; I listen to them both with diffidence and res-
pect, but without the smallest degree of conviction or
assent. Yet I doubt not they delivered their real
sentiments, nor ought they to be hastily condemned.
I too have a claim to the candid interpretation of my
country, when 1 acknowledge an involuntary, com-
pulsive assent to one very unpopular opinion. I
lament the unhappy necessity, whenever it arises, ot
providing for the safety of the state by a temporary
invasion of the personal liberty of the subject. Would
to God it were practicable to reconcile these impor-
tant 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
together. But I never can doubt, that the community
has a right to command, as well as to purchase, the
service of its members. I see that right founded on-
154 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
ginally upon a necessity which supersedes all arga
ment : I see it established by usage immemorial, and
admitted by more than a tacit assent of the legislature
I cone ude there is no remedy, in the nature of things
for the grievance complained of; for, if there were,
it must long since have been redressed. Though
numberless opportunities have presented themselves,
highly favourable to public liberty, no successful at-
tempt has ever been made fo the relief of the subject
in this article. Yet it has been felt and complained
of ever since England had a navy. The conditions
which constitute this right must be taken together ;
separately, they have little weight. It is not fair to
argue, from any abuse in the execution, to the ille-
gality of the power ; much less is a conclusion to be
drawn from the navy to the land service. A seaman
can never be employed but against the enemies of his
country. The only case in which the king can have
a right to arm his subjects in general, is that of a
foreign force being actually landed upon our coast.
Whenever that case happens, no true Englishman will
inquire whether the king's right to compel him to de-
fend his country be the custom of England, or a grant
of the legislature. With regard to the press for sea-
men, it does not follow that the symptoms may not be
softened, although the distemper cannot be cured.
Let bounties be increased as far as the public purse
can support them. Still they have a limit ; and when
every reasonable expense is incurred, it will be found,
in fact, that the spur of the press is wanted to give
nperation to the bounty.
Upon the whole I never had a doubt about the strict
I ight of pressing until I heard that lord Mansfield
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 155
had tpplaudefl lord Chatham for delivering some-
th'ma; like this doctrine in the house of lords. That
consideration staggered me not a little. But, upon
reflection, his conduct accounts naturally for itself.
He knew the doctrine was unpopular, and was
eager to fix it upon the man who is the first object of
his fear and detestation. The cunning Scotchmar
never speaks truth without a fraudulent design. In
council, he generally affects to take a moderate part
Besides his natural timidity, it makes part of his poli-
tical plan, never to be known to recommend violent
measures. When tiie guards are called forth to mur-
der their fellow subjects, it is not by the ostensible
advice of lord Mansfield. That odious office, his
prudence tells him, is better left to such men as Gow-
er and Weymouth, as Barrington and Grafton. Lord
Hillsborough wisely confines his firmness to the dis-
tant Americans. The designs of Mansfield are more
subtle, more effectual, and secure. Who attacks the
liberty of the press .f* Lord Mansfield. Who invades
the constitutional power of juries .'' Lord Mansfield.
What judge ever challenged a juryman but lord
Mansfield ? Who was that judge, who, to save the
king's brother, affirmed that a man of the first rank
and quality, who obtains a verdict in a suit for crimi-
nal conversation, is entitled to no greater damages
than the meanest mechanic ? Lord Mansfield. Who
is it makes commissioners of the great seal ? Lord
Mansfield. Who is it that forms a decree for those
commissioners, deciding against lord Chatham, and
afterwards (finding himself opposed by the judges)
declares, in parliament, that he never had a doubt
that the law was 'n direct opposition to that decree?
156 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
Ijord Mansfield. Who is he that has made it th«
study and practice of his life to undermine and alter
the Wiiole system of jurisprudence in the court ol
king's bench ? Lord Mansfield. There never ex-
isted a man but himself who answered exactly to so
complicated a description. Compared to these enor-
mities, his original attachment to the Pretender (to
whom his dearest brother was confidential secretary)
is a virtue of the first magnitude. But the hour of
imoeachment will come, and neither he nor Grafton
shall escape me. Now let them make common
cause against England and the house of Hanover.
A Stuart and a Murray should sympathise with each
other.
When I refer to signal instances of unpopular opin-
ions, delivered and maintained by men, who may well
be supposed to have no view but the public good, I
do not mean to renew the discussion of such opinions.
I should be sorry to revive the dormant questions of
Stamp Act, Corn Bill, or Press Warrant, I mean
only to illustrate one useful proposition, which it is
the intention of this paper to inculcate, " That we
should not generally reject the friendship or services
of any man, because he differs from us in a particu-
lar opinion." This will not appear a superfluous
caution, if we observe the ordinary conduct of man-
kind. In public affairs, there is the least chance of a
perfect concurrence of sentiment or inclination : yet
every man is able to contribute something to the
common stock, and no man's contribution should be
rejected. If individuals have no virtues, their vices
may be of use to us I care not with what principle
the new-born patriot is animated if the measures he
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 167
suppoKs are beneficial to the community. The na-
tion is interested in his conduct. His mt)tives are
his own. The properties of a patriot are perishable
in the individual ; but there is a quick succession of
subjects, and the breed is worth preserving. The
spirit of the Americans may be an useful example to
us. Our dogs and horses are only English upon
English ground ; but patriotism, it seems, may be
improved by transplanting. I will not reject a bill
which tends to confine parliamentary privilege with-
in reasonable bounds, though it should be stolen from
the house of Cavendish, and introduced by Mr. On-
slow. The features of the infant are a proof of the
descent, and vindicate the noble birth from the base-
ness of the adoption. I willingly accept of a sarcasm
from colonel Barre, or a simile from Mr. Burke
Even the silent vote of Mr. Calcraft is worth reckon-
ing in a division. What though he riots in the plun-
der 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 it be possible, in the post of dan-
ger, to prevent desertion. The wary Wedderburne,
the pompous Suffolk, never threw away the scabbard,
nor ever went upon a forlorn hope. They always
treated the king's servants as men with whom, some
time or other, they might probably be in friendship
When a man, who stands forth for the public, has
gone that length from which there is no practicable
retreat, when he has given that kind of personal of-
fence, which a pious monarch never pardons, I then
begin to think him in earnest, and that he wili never
have occasion to solicit the forgiveness of liis lount-v.
158 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
But instances of a determination so entire and unre-
p.erved are rarely met witli. Let us take mankind as
they are ; let us distribute the virtues and abilities ol
individuals according to the offices they affect; and,
when they quit the service, let us endeavour to sup-
ply their places with better men than we have lost.
In this country there are always candidates enough
for popular favour. The temple of fame is the short-
est passage to riches and preferment.
Above all things, let me guard my countrymen
against the meanness and folly of accepting of a tri-
fling or moderate compensation for extraordinary and
essential injuries. Our enemy treats us as the cun-
ning trader does the unskilful Indian; they magnify
their generosity, when they give us baubles of little
proportionate value for ivory and gold. The same
house of commons, who robbed the constituent body
of their right of free election; who presume to njake
a law, under pretence of declaring it ; who paid our
good king's debts, without once inquiring how they
were incurred ; who gave thanks for repeated mur-
ders committed at home, and for national infamy in-
curred abroad ; who screened lord Mansfield ; who
imprisoned the magistrates of the metropolis for as-
serting the subject's right to the protection of the
laws; who erased a judicial record, and ordered all
Oroceedings in a criminal suit to be suspended : this
very house of commons have graciously consented
that their own members may be compelled to pay their
debts, and that contested elections shall, for the future,
be determined with some decent regard to the merits
of tht^ case. The event of the suit is of no conse-
quence to the crown. Wk^Je parliaments are senten*
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 159
nial, the purchase of the sitting member, or of the
petitioner, makes but the difference of a day. C on-
cessions such as these are of little moment to the
sum of thhigs ; unless it be to prove that the worst
of men are sensible of the injuries they have done us,
and perhaps to demonstrate to us the imminent dan-
ger of our situation. In the shipwreck of the state,
trifles float, and are preserved ; while every thing
solid and valuable sinks to the bottom, and is los'
for ever.
JUNIUS.
LIX.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser.
SIR, October 15, 1771
I am convinced that Junius is incapable of wilfully
misrepresenting any man's opinion, and that his incli-
nation leads him to treat lord Camden with particu-
lar candour and respect. The doctrine attributed
to him by Junius, as far as it goes, corresponds with
that stated by your correspondent Scaevola, who
seems to make a distinction without a difference.
Lord Camden, it is agreed, did certainly maintain,
that, in the recess of parliament, the king (by which
we all mean the king in council, or the executive
power) might suspend the operation of an act of the
legislature; and he founded his doctrine upon a sup
posed necessity, of which the king, in the first instance,
must be judge. The lords and commons cannot be
I6C JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
judges of it in the first instance, for they do not exist
Thus far Junius.
But, says Scaevola, lord Catnden made parliament,
and not tlie king, judges of the necessity. Tiiat par-
liament may review the actj of ministers, is unques-
tionable; but there is a wide difference between say-
ing, that the crown has a legal power, and that the
ministers may act at their peril. When we say that
an act is illegal, we mean that it is forbidden by a
joint resolution of the three estates. How a subse-
quent resolution of two of those branches can make
it legal, ah initio, will require explanation. If it
could, the consequence would be truly dreadful, es-
pecially in these times. There is no act of arbitrary
power which the king might not attribute to necessity,
and for which he would not be secure of obtaining
the approbation of his prostituted lords and commons.
If lord Camden admits, that the subsequent sanction
of parliament was necessary to make the proclama-
tion legal, why did he so obstinately oppose the bill,
which was soon after brought in, for indemnifying all
those persons who had acted under it.'' If that bill
had not been passed, I am ready to maintain, in
direct contradiction to lord Camden's doctrine, (taken
as Scaevola states it) that a litigious exporter of corn,
who had suffered in his property, in consequence of
the proclamation, might have laid his action against
the custom-house officers, and would infallibly have
recovered damages. No jury could red se them .
and if I, who am by no means litigious, had been so
injured, I would assuredly have instituted a suit in
VVcstminstcr-hall, on purpose to try the question ol
right 1 would kave done it up in a principle of de-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 161
fiance of the pretended power of either or both houses
to make declarations inconsistent with law ; and I
have no doubt that, with an act of parliament on my
side, I should have been too strong for them all. This
is the way in which an Englishman should speak and
act, and not si'flfer dangerous precedents to be estab-
lished, becausfc the circumstances are favourable or
palliating.
With regard to lord Camden, the truth is, that he
inadvertently overshot himself, as appears plainly by
that unguarded mention of a tyranny of forty days,
which I myself heard. Instead of asserting, that the
proclamation was legal, he should have said, " My
lords, I know the proclamation was illegal ; but I
advised it, because it was indispensably necessary to
save the kingdom from famine ; and I submit myself
to the justice and mercy of my country."
Such language as this would have been manly,
rational, and consistent ; not unfit for a lawyer, and
every way worthy of a great man.
PHILO JUNIUS.
P. S. If Scaevola should think proper to write
again upon this subject, I beg of him to give me a
direct answer; that is, a plain affirmative or negative,
to the following questions :— In the interval between
the publishing such a proclamation (or order of coun-
cil) as that in question, and its receiving the sanction
of the two houses, of what nature is it ? Is it legal or
illesral? Or, is it neither one nor the other.^ I mean
to be candid, and will point out to him the conse-
quence of his answer either way. If it be legal, it
wants no farther sanction: if it be illegal, the subject
IJ
162 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
is not bound to obey it, consequently it is an useless,
nugatory act, even as to its declared purpose. Be-
fore the meeting of parliament, the whole mischief
which it means to prevent will have been completed.
LX.
To Zeno.
SIR, October 17, 1771.
The sophistry of your letter in defence of lord
Mansfield is adapted to the character you defend.
But lord Mansfield is a man of form, and seldom in
his behaviour transgresses the rules of decorum.
I shall imitate his lordship's good manners, and
leave you in full possession of his principles. I
will not call you liar, Jesuit, or villain; but, with
all the politeness imaginable, perhaps I may prove
you so.
Like other fair pleaders in lord Mansfield's
school of justice, 3'ou answer Junius by misquoting
his words, and mistaking his propositions. If I am
candid enougli to admit, that this is the very logic
taught at St. Omer's, 3'ou will readily allow, that this
is the constant practice in the court of king's bench.
Junius does not say that he never had a doubt about
tlie strict right of pressing, till he knew lord Mans-
field was of the same opinion. His words are, " until
he heard that lord Mansfield had applauded lord
Chatham for maintaining that doctrine in the house
of lords." It was not the accidental concurrence ol
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 1«S
lord Mansfield's opinion, but the suspicious applause
given by a cunning Scotchman to the man l.e detests,
that raised and justified a doubt in the mind of Junius.
The question is not, whetiier lord Mansfield be a man
of learning and abilities (which Junius has never dis-
puted), but whether or no he abuses and misapplies
his talents.
Junius did not say that lord Mansfield had advised
the calling out of the guards. On the contrary, his
plain meaning is, that he left that odious office to
men less cunning than himself. Whether lord Mans-
field's doctrine concerning libels be or be not an at-
tack upon the liberty of the press, is a question which
the public in general are very well able to determine.
I shall not enter into it at present. Nor do I think
it necessary to say much to a man, who had the dar-
ing confidence to say to a jury, " Gentlemen, you
are to bring in a verdict guilty or not guilty : but
whether the defendant be guilty or innocent, is not
matter for your consideration." Clothe it in what
language you will, this is the sum total of lord Mans-
field's doctrine. If not, let Zeno show us the difierence.
But it seems, " the liberty of the press may be
r.bused, and the abuse of a valuable privilege is the
(ertain means to lose it." The first I admit; but let
the abuse be submitted to a jury; a sufficient, and,
indeed, the only legal and constitutional check upon
the license of the press. The second I flatly deny.
fn direct contradiction to lord Mansfield, I affirm,
that " the abuse of a valuable privilege is not the
certain means to lose it ;" if it were, the English na-
ti{Mi would have few privileges left ; for, where is the
privilege that has not, at one time or other, been
164 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
abused by individuals? But it is false in reason and
equity, that particulai' abuses should produce a gene-
ral forfeiture. Shall the community be deprived Oi
the protection of the laws, because there are robbers
and murderers ? Shall the community be punished,
because individuals have offended ? Lord Mansfield
says so, consistently enough with his principles ; but
I wonder to find him so explicit. Yet, for one con-
cession, however extorted, I confess myself obliged to
him. The liberty of the press is, after all, a valuable
privilege. I agree with him most heartily, and will
defend it against him.
Yoii ask me. What juryman was challenged by
lord Mansfield .'* I tell you ; his name is Benson.
When his name was called, lord Mansfield ordered
the clerk to pass him by. As for his reasons, you
may ask himself, for he assigned none : but I can
tell you what all men thought of it. This Benson
had been refractory upon a former jury, and would
not accept of the law as delivered by Lord Mansfield;
but had the impudence to pretend to think for himself.
But you, it seems, honest Zeno, know nothing of the
matter. You never read Junius's letter to your pat-
ron : you never heard of the intended instructions
from the city to impeach lord Mansfield : you never
heard by what dexterity of Mr. Paterson that measure
was prevented. How wonderfully ill some people are
niformed !
Junius did never affirm, that the crime of seducing
the wife of a mechanic or a peer, is not the same,
taken in a moral or religious view. What he affirm
ed, in contradiction to the levelling principle so lately
udopted by lord Mansfield, was, " that the damages
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. L65
should be proportioned to the rank and fortune ol" the
parties:" and for this plain reason (admitted by every
other judge that ever sat in Westminster-hall) because
what is a compensation or penalty to one man, is
none to another. The sophistical distinction you at-
tempt to draw between the person injured and the
person injuring, is Mansfield all over. If you can
once establish the proposition, that the injured party
is not entitled to receive large damages, it follows,
pretty plainly, that the party injuring should not be
compelled to pay them ; consequently the king's
brother is effectually screened by lord Mansfield's
doctrine. Your reference to Nathan and David comes
naturally in aid of your patrons professed system of
jurisprudence. He is fond of introducing into the
court of king's bench any law that contradicts or ex-
cludes the common law of England ; whether it be
canon, civil, jus gentium, or Levitical. But, sir, the
Bible is the code of our religious faith, not of our
municipal jurisprudence : and though it was the
pleasure of God to inflict a particular punishment
upon David's crime (taken as a breach of his divine
commands) and to send his prophet to denounce it,
an English jury have nothing to do either with David
or the prophet. They consider the crime only as it
is a breach of order, an injury to an individual, and
an offence to society; and they judge of it by certain
positive rules of law, or by the practice of their an-
cestors. Upon the whole, the man " after God's
own heart" is much indebted to you for comparing
him to the duke of Cumberland. That his royal
highness may be the man after lord Mansfield's own
heart, seems much more probable ; and y:u, I think,
i66 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
Mr. Zeno, might succeed tolerably well in the char-
acter of Nathan. The evil deity, the prophet, and
the royal sinner, would be very proper company for
ont another.
You say, lord Mansfield did not make the com-
missioners of the great seal, and that he only ad-
vised the king to appoint. I believe Junius meant
no more; and the distinction is hardly worth dis-
puting.
You say he did not deliver an opinion upon lord
Chatham's appeal. I affirm that he did, directly in
favour of the appeal. This is a point of fact to be
determined by evidence only. But you assign no
reason for his supposed silence, nor for his desiring a
conference with the judges the day before. Was not
all Westminster-hall convinced that he did it with a
view to puzzle them with some perplexing question,
and in hopes of bringing some of them over to him .''
You say the commissioners were very capable of fram-
ing a decree for themselves. By the fact, it only ap-
pears, that they were capable of framing an illegal
one ; which, I apprehend, is not much to the credit
either of their learning or integrity.
We are both agreed, tliat lord Mansfield has in-
cessantly laboured to introduce new modes of pro-
ceeding in the court where he presides ; but you
attribute it to an honest zeal in behalf of innocencej
oppressed by quibble and chicane. I say, that he has
introduced new law too, and removed the landmarks
established by former decisions. I say, that his view
is, to change a court of common law into a court of
equity, and to bring every thing within the arbitrium
of a praetorian court. Tht oublic must determine
jaNlUS'S LETTERS. 167
between us. But now for his merits. First then,
the establishment oi* the judges in tlieir places for life,
(whicli you tell us was advised by lord Mansfield)
was a concession merely to catch the people. It bore
tlie appearance of a royal bounty, but had nothing
real in it. The judges were ah-eady for life, except-
ing in the case of a demise. Your boasted bill only
provides, that it shall not be in the power of the king's
successor to remove them. At the best, therefore, it
is only a legacy, not a gift, on the part of his present
majesty, since, for himself, he gives up nothing. That
he did oppose lord Camden and lord Northington
upon the proclamation against the exportation of corn,
is most true, and with great ability. With his talents,
and taking the right side of so clear a question, it
A'as impossible to speak ill. His motives are not so
easily penetrated. They who are acquainted with
the state of politics at that period, will judge of them
somewhat differently from Zeno. Of the popular
bills, which you say he supported in the house of
lords, the most material is unquestionably that of Mr.
Grenville for deciding contested elections. But I
should be glad to know upon what possible pretence
any member of the upper house could oppose such a
bill, after it had passed the house of commons .'' I do
not pretend to know what share he had in promoting
the other two bills ; but I am ready to give him all
the credit you desire. Still you will find, that a
whole life of deliberate iniquity is ill atoned for, by
(lomg now and then a laudable action, upon a mixed
or lioubtful principle. If it be unworthy of him, thus
ungratefully treated, to labour any longer for the
public, in God's name, let him retire. His brother'?
166 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
patron (whose health he once was anxious for) is dead
but the son of that unfortunate prince survives, and
! dare say, will be ready to receive him.
PHILC TUNITJS.
LXI.
To an Advocate in the Cause of the People,
SIR, October 18, 1771.
You do not treat Junius fairly. You would not
have condemned him so hastil}'^, if you had ever read
judge Foster's argument upon the legality of pressing
seamen. A man who has not read that argument, is
not qualified to speak accurately upon the subject. In
answer to strong facts and fair reasoning, you produce
nothing but a vague comparison between two things
which have little or no resemblance to each other.
General warrants, it is true, had been often issued
but they had never been regularly questioned or re-
sisted, until the case of Mr. Wilkes. He brought
them to trial ; and the moment they were tried, they
were declared illegal. This is not the case of press
warrants. They have been complained of, question-
ed, and resisted in a thousand instances ; but still the
legislature have never interposed, nor has there ever
been a formal decision against them in any of the
superior courts. On the contrary, they have been
frequently recognised and admitted by parliament ;
and there are judicial opinions given in their favour
oy judges of the first character. Under the various
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 169
circumstances stated by Junius, Ije has a riglit to
conclude for liimself, that there is no remedy. If
you have a good one to propose, you may depend
upon the assistance and applause of Junius. The
magistrate who guards tlie liberty of the individual
deserves to be commended. But let him remember,
that it is also his duty to provide for, or at least not
.to hazard, the safety of the community. If, in the
case of a foreign war, and die expectation ot an in-
vasion, you would rather keep your fleet in harbour,
than man it by Dressing seamen who refuse the boun-
ty, I have done
You talk of disbanding the army with wonderful
ease and indifierence. If a wiser man held such
language, I should be apt to suspect his sincerity.
As for keeping up a much greater number of sea
men in time of peace, it is not to be done : you will
oppress the merchant, you will distress trade, and
destroy the nursery of your seamen. He must be a
miserable statesman who voluntarily, by the same act.
mcreases the public expense, and lessens the means
of supporting it
PHILO JUNIUS.
*oL n.
ni JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
LXII.
October 22, 1771
A friend of Junius desires it may be observed (in
answer to a barrister at laiv.)
1. Tiiat the fact of lord jMansfield's having ordere(5
a juryman to be passed by (which poor Zeno nevei
heard of) is now formally admitted. When Mr. Ben-
son''s name was called, lord Mansfield was observed
to flush in the face (a signal of guilt not uncommon
with him), and cried out, " Pass him by." This 1
take to be something more than a peremptory chal
lenge : it is an unlawful command, without any rea-
son assigned. That the counsel did not resist, is true;
but this might happen either from inadvertence, or a
criminal complaisance to lord Mansfield. You bar-
risters are too apt to be civil to my lord chief justice,
at the expense of your clients.
2. Junius did never say, tha-t lord Mansfield hao
destroyed the liberty of the press. " That his lord-
ship has laboured to destroy, that his doctrine is an
attack upon the liberty of the press, that it is an inva-
sion of the right of juries," are the propositions
maintained by Junius. His opponents never answer
him in point; for they never meet him fairly upon
his own ground.
3. Lord Mansfield's policy, in endeavourmg to
screen his unconstitutional doctrines behind an act
i>f tlie legislature, is easily understood. Let every
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 171
Eiiglisliman stand upon his guard : the right of
juries to return a general verdict, in all cases what-
soever, is a part of our constitution. Tt stands in
no need of a hill, either enacting or declaratory, to
confirm it.
4. With regard to the Grosvenor cause, it is
pleasant to observe, that the doctrine attributed b}'
Junius to lord Mansfield is admitted by Zeno, and
directly defended. The barrister has not the as
surance to deny it flatly ; but he evades the charge
and softens the doctrine, by such poor contemptible
quibbles as cannot impose upon the meanest under-
standing.
5. The quantity of business in the court of king's
bench proves nothing but the litigious spirit of the
people, arising from the great increase of wealth anil
commerce. These, however, are now upon the de-
cline, and will soon leave nothing but law-suits be-
liind them. When Junius affirms, that lord Mans-
field has laboured to alter the system of jurisprudence
in the court where his lordship presides, he speaks to
those who are able to look a Httle farther than the
vulgar. Besides, that the multitude are easily de-
ceived by the imposing names of equity and substan-
tial Justice, it does not follow that a judge, who in-
troduces into his court new modes of proceeding, and
new principles of law, intends, in every instance, to
decide unjustly. Why should he, where he has no
interest ? We say, that lord Mansfield is a bad man,
and a worse judge ; but we do not say that he is a
mere devil. Our adversaries would fain reduce us to
the difficulty of proving too much. This artifice,
however, shall not avail iiLm. The truth of the mat-
172 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
ler is plainly this: when lord Mansfield has succeeded
in his scheme of changing- a court of common law to
a court of equity, he will have it in his power to dc
injustice whenever he thinks proper. This, though a
wicked purpose, is neither absurd nor unattainable.
6. The last paragraph, relative to lord Chatham's
cause, cannot be answered. It partly refers to facts
of too secret a nature to be ascertained, and partly is
unintelligible. " Upon one point the cause is decid-
ed against lord Chatham : upon another point it is
decided for him." Both the law and the language
are well suited to a barrister ! If I have any guess
at this honest gentleman's meaning, it is, " That
whereas the commissioners of the great seal saw the
question in a point of view unfavourable to lord
Chatham, and decreed accordingly ; lord Mansfield,
out of sheer love and kindness to lord Chatham, took
the pains to place it in a point of view more favour-
able to the appellant.''^ Credat Judceus Apella. So
curious an assertion would stagger the faith of Mr.
Sylva.
LXIII.
iNovember 2, 177 1 -
We are desired to make the following declaration,
/n behalf of Junius, upon three material points,
on which his opinion has been mistaken or misre-
presented.
1 . Junius considers the right of taxing the colo*
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. i; J
nies, by an act of the British legislature, as a ipem-
lative right merely, never to be exerted nor ever to be
renounced. To his jiuigmcnt it appears plain, " Th;it
ihe general reasorings which were employed against
thai powet went directly to our whole legislative riglii ;
and that one part of it could not be yielded to such
arguments, without a virtual surrender of all the rest."
2. That, with regard to press-warrants, his argu-
ment should be taken in his own words, and answer-
ed strictly ; that comparisons may sometimes illus-
trate, but prove nothing; and that, in this case, an
appeal to the passions is unfair and unnecessary.
Junius feels and acknowledges the evil in the most
express terms, and will shww himself ready to concur
ni any rational plan that may provide for the liberty
of the individual, without hazarding the safety of the
commimity. At the same time he expects that the
evil, such as it is, be not exaggerated or misrepre-
sented. In general, it is not unjust, ihat, when the
rich man contributes his wealth, tiie poor man should
serve the state in person ; otherwise, the latter con-
tributes nothing to the defence of that law and con-
stitution from which he demands safety and protec-
tion. But tile question does not lie between the rich
and the poor. The laws of England make no such
distinctions Neither is it true, that the poor man is
torn from the care and support of a wife and family,
helpless williout him. The single question is, Wliether
♦ihe seaman * in times of public danger, shall serve the
* I confine myself strictly to seamen. If any others are
pressed, it is % gross abuse, which the magistrate can and
should correct.
174 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
merchant, or the state, in that profession to which he
« as bred, and by the exercise of which alone he can
honestly support himself and his family ? General
arguments against the doctrine of necessity, and the
dangerous use that may be made of it, are of no weight
m this particular case. Necessity includes thp idea
of inevitable. Whenever it is so, it creates a law to
which all positive laws, and all positive rights must
give way. In this sense, the levy of ship-money by
the king's warrant was not necessary, because the
business might have been as well or better done by
parliament. If the doctrine maintained by Junius be
confined within this limitation, it wil! go but a very
little way in support of arbitrary power. That the
king is to judge of the occasion, is no objection, un-
less we are told how it can possibly be otherwise.
There are other instances, not less important in the
exercise, nor less dangerous in the abuse, in which
the constitution relies entirely upon the king's jndg
ment. The executive power proclaims war and
peace, binds the nation by treaties, orders general
embargoes, and imposes quarantines ; not to men
tion a multitude of prerogative writs, which, though
liable to the greatest abuses, were never disputed.
3. It has been urged, as a reproach to Junius, thai
he has not delivered an opinion upon the game laws,
and particularly the late dog act. But Junius thinks
he has much greater reason to complain, that he is
never assisted by those who are able to assist him :
and tliat almost the whole labour of the press is thrown
upon a single hand, from which a discussion of every
public question is unreasonably expected. He is noj
pa'd 'or his labour, and certainly has a right to
JUXIUS'S LETTERS. I75
choose hi: emph)yment. As to the game laws, he
never scrupled to declare his opinion, that the^ are
a species ol" the forest laws : that they are oppressive
to the subject ; and that the spirit of them is incom-
patible with legal liberty ; that the penalties imposed
by tliese laws bear no proportion to the nature of the
offence : that the mode of trial, and the degree and
kind of evidence necessary to convict, not only de-
prive the subject of all the benefits of a trial by jury,
but are in themselves too summary, and to the last
degree arbitrary and oppressive : that, in particular,
the late acts to prevent dog stealing, or killing game
between sun and sun, are distinguished by their ab-
surdity, extravagance, and pernicious tendency. If
these terms are weak or ambiguous, in what language
can Junius express himself? It is no excuse for lord
Mansfield to say, that he happened to be absent when
these bills passed the house of lords. It was his duty
to be present. Such bills could never have passed
the house of commons without his knowledge. But
we very well know by what rule he regulates his at-
tendance. When tha; order was made in the house
of lords, in the case of lord Pomfret, at which every
Englishman shudders, my honest lord Mansfield
found himself, by mere accident, in the court of king's
bench ; otherwise he would have done wonders in
defence of law and property ! The pitiful evasion
is adapted to the character. But Junius will never
justif) himself by the example of this bad man.
The distinction between doing wrong, and avoiding
to do right, belongs to lord Mansfield. Junius dis-
claims it
176 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
LXIV.
To Lord Chief Jvsttce Mansfield.
November 2, 1771.
At .he intercession of three of your countrymen,
you lave bailed a man, who, I presume, is also a
Scotchman, and whom the lord mayor of London h;id
refused to bail. I do not mean to enter into an exam-
ination of the partial, sinister motives of your conduct ;
but, confining myself strictly to the fact, I affirm, that
you have done that, which, by law, you were not
warranted to do. The thief was taken in the theft ;
the stolen goods were found upon him, and he made
no defence. In these r-rcumstances (the truth at
which you dare not deny, because it is of public no-
toriety) it could not stand indifferent, whether he was
guilty or not, much less could there be any presump-
tion of his innocence; and, in these circumstances, 1
affirm in contradiction to you, lord chief justice
Mansfield, that, by the laws of England, he was not
bailable. If ever Mr. Eyre should be brciight to trial,
5ve ihall hear what you have to say for yourself;
am I pledge myself, before God and my country,
in proper time and plac^ to make goad my charge
against you.
JUNIUS.
JUINIUS'S LETTERS. 177
LXV.
To the Printer of the Public Advertiser,
November 9, 1771.
Junius engages to make good his charge against
iord chief justice Mansfield, some time before the
meeting of parliament, in order that the house of
commons may, if they think proper, make it one
article in the impeachment of the said lord chief
justice.
LXVI.
To his Grace the Duke of Grafton.
November 27, 1771.
What is the reason, my lord, that, when almost
every man in the kingdom, without distinction of
principles or party, exults in the ridiculous defeat of
m James Lowther, when good and bad men unite in
one common opinion of that baronet, and triumph in
his distress, as if the event (without any reference tc
vice or virtue,) were interesting to human nature,
your grace alone should appear so miserably depres-
sed and alllicted ? In such universal joy, I know not
where you will look for a compliment of condaleiu-
H 2 12
178 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
unless you appeal to the tender, sympathetic sorrows
ofj\Ir Bradshavv. That cream-coloured gentleman's
tears, affecting as they are, carry consolation along
vvitli them. He never weeps, but, like an April
shower, with a lambent ray of sunshine upon his
countenance. From the feelings of honest men upon
this joyful occasion, I do not mean to draw any con-
clusion to your grace. They naturally rejoice when
they see a signal instance of tyranny resisted with
success, of treachery exposed to the derision of the
world, an infamous informer defeated, and an impu-
dent robber dragged to the public gibbet. But in
the other class of mankind, I own I expected to meet
the duke of Grafton. Men who had no regard for
justice, nor any sense of honour, seem as heartily
pleased with sir James Lowther's well-deserved pun-
ishment, as if it did not constitute an example against
themselves. The unhappy baronet has no friends,
even among those who resemble him. You, my lord,
are not reduced to so deplorable a state of derelic-
tion ; every villain in the kingdom is your friend ; and,
in compliment to such amity, I think you should suf-
fer your dismal countenance to clear up. Besides,
my lord, I am a little anxious for the consistency
wf your character. You violate your own rules of
decorum, when you do not insult the man you have
betrayed.
The divine justice of retribution seems now to have
begun its progress. Deliberate treachery entails
punishment upon the traitor. There is no possibility
of escaping it, even ni the highest rank to which the
consent of society can exalt the meanest and worst ol
m'^n. The forced, unnatural union of Luttrell and
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 179
Middlesex was an omen of another unnatural union>
by wliich indefeasible infamy is attached to the house
of Brunswick. If one of those acts was virtuous and
honourable, the best of princes, I thank God, is hap-
pily rewarded for it by the other. Your grace, it
has been said, had some share in recommending
colonel Luttrell to the king ; or was it only the gen-
tle Biadshaw who made himself answerable for the
good behaviour of his friend ? An intimate connexion
has long subsisted between him and the worthy lord
Irnham, It arose from a fortunate similarity of prin-
ciples, cemented by the constant mediation of their
common friend Miss Davis.*
* There is a certain family in this country, on whi£h
nature seems to have entailed an hereditary baseness of
disposition. As far as their history has been known, the
son has regu-larly improved upon the vices of his father,
and has taken care to transmit them pure and undiminished
into the bosom of his successor. In the senate, their abili-
ties have confined them to those humble, sordid services, in
which the scavengers of the ministry are usually employed.
But in the memoirs of private treachery, they stand first and
unrivalled. The following story will serve to illustrate the
character of this respectable family, ard to convince the
world, that the present possessor has as cleai a title to the
mfamy of his ancestors, as he has to their estate. It deserves
to be recorded for the curiosity of the fact, and should be
given to the public, as a warning to every honest member
of society.
The present lord Irnham, who is now in the decline of
life, lately cultivated the acquaintance of a younger brother
of a family, with which he had lived in some degree of inti-
macy an.1 friendship. The young man had long been the
(80 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
Yet I confess I should be sorry that the opprobn^
ous infamy of this match should reach beyond the
family. We have now a better reason than ever to
pray for the long life of the best of princes, and the
welfare of his royal issue. I will not mix any thing
ominous with my prayers • but let parliament look
to it. A LuttreU ^all never succeed to the crown
of England. If the hereditary virtues of the family
deserve a kingdom, Scotland will be a proper retreai
tor them.
The next is a most remarkable instance of the
goodness of Providence. The just law of retaliation
has at last overtaken the little contemptible tyrant of
the north. To this son-in-law of your dearest friend,
the earl of Bute, you meant to transfer the duke oi
Portland's property j and you hastened the grant
dupe of a most unhappy attachment to a common prosti-
tute. His friends and relations foresaw the consequences
of this connexion, and did every thing that depended upon
them to save him from ruin. But he had a friend in lord
Irnham, whose advice rendered all their endeavours ineffec-
tual. This hoary lecher, not contented with the enjoy-
ment of his friend's mistress, was base enough to take ad-
vantage of the passions and folly of the young man, and
persuaded him to marry her. He descended even to per-
form tlie office of father to the prostitute. He gave her to
his friend, who was on the point of leaving the kingdom,
and the next night lay with her himself.
Whether the depravity of the human heart can produce
any thing more base and detestable than this fact, must be
[elt undetermined, until the son shall arrive at his father's
ttge and experience.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 181
with an expedition unknown to the treasury, thit he
might iiave it time enough to give a decisive turn to
the election for the county. The immediate conse-
quence of this flagitious robbery was, that he lost the
election which you meant to insure him, and with
such signal circumstances of scorn, reproach, and
insult, (to say nothing of the general exultation of al
parties,) as (excepting the king's brother-in-law,
C(»lonel Luttrell, and old Simon, his father-in-law)
hardly ever fell upon a gentleman in this country
In the evei.it, he loses the very property of which he
thought he had gotten possession, and aficr an ex-
pense which woUid have paid the value of the land in
question twenty times over. The forms of villany,
you see, are necessary to its success. Hereafter you
will 'act with greater circumspection, and not drive
so directly to your object. To snatch a grace beyond
the reach of common treachery, is an exception, not
a rule.
And now, my good lord, does not your conscious
heart inform you, that the justice of retribution be-
gins to operate, and tnat it may soon approach vour
person ? Do you think that Junius has renounced
the Middlesex election .'' or that the king's timber
shall be refused to tne royal navy with impunity .'' or
that you shall hear no more of the sale of that patent
to Mr. Hine, which you endeavour to screen by sud-
denly dropping your prosecution of Samuel Vaughan,
when the rule against him was made absolute .'' 1
believe, indeed, there never was such an instance in
ail the history of negative impudence. But it shall
n >t save } ou. The very sunshine you live in Is a
183 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
prelude to your dissolution. When you are ripe, you
shall be plucked.
JUNIUS
P. S. I beg 3 ou will convey to your gracious mas-
ter my humble congratulations upon the glorious suc-
cess of peerages and pensions so lavishly distributed
as the rewards of Irish virtue.
LXVII.
To Lord Chief Justice Mansfield.
January 21, 1772.
I have undertaken to prove, that when, at (he
intercession of three of your countrymen, you bailed
John Eyre, you did that " which by law you were
not warranted to do ;" and that a felon, under the
circumstsinces " of being taken in the fact, with the
stolen p;oods upon him, and making no defence, is not
bailable" by the laws of England. Your learned
advocates have interpreted this charge into a denial,
that the court of king's bench, or the judges of that
court, during the vacation, have any greater authori-
ty to bail for criminal offences than a justice of peace.
With the instance before me, I am supposed to ques-
tion your power of doing wrong, and to deny the
existence of a power, at the same moment that I ar-
raign the illegal exercise of it. But the opmions of
Buch men. whether wilful in their malignity, or sincere
JLNIUS'S LETTERS. 183
in their iguor-xnce, are unworthy of my notice You,
lord Mansfield, did not understand me so ; and I
promise you, your cause requires an abler defence.
I xm now to make good my charge against you.
However dull my argument, the subject of it is inter
esting. I shall be honoured with the attention of the
public, and have a right to demand the attention of
tlie legislature. Supported, as I am, by the whole
body of the criminal law of England, I have no doubt
Df establishing my ciiarge. If, on your part, you shall
have no plain substantial defence, but should endea-
vour to shelter yourself under the quirk and evasion
of a practising lawyer, or under the mere insulting
assertion of power without right, the reputation 3'ou
pretend to is gone for ever; you stand degraded from
the respect and authority of your office, and are no
longer dejure, lord chief justice of England.
This letter, my lord, is addressed not so much to
you, as to the public. Learned as you are, and quick
in apprehension, few arguments are necessary to satis-
fy you, that you have done that, which, by law, you
were not warranted to do. Your conscience already
tells you, that you have sinned against knowledge ;
and that, whatever defence you make, contradicts
your own internal conviction. But other men are
willing enough to take the law upon trust. They
rely upon your authority, because they are too indo-
lent to search for information : or, conceiving that
there is some mystery in the laws of their country,
which lawyers are only qualified to explain, they dis-
trust their judgment, avA voluntarily renounce the
right of thinking for themselves. With all the evi-
dence of history before them, from Tres\Han to Jefft-
184 JLNIUS'S LETTERS.
rics, from Jefferies to Mansfield, they will not believe
it possible that a learned judge can act in direct con-
tradiction to those laws, which he is supposed to make
the study of his life, and which he has sworn to ad-
minister faithfully. Superstition is certainly not the
characteristic of this age ; yet some men are bigotted
in politics who are infidels in religion. I do not des-
pair of making them ashamed of their credulity.
The charge I brought against you is expressed m
terms guarded and well considered. They do n^t
deny the strict power of the judges of the coh. i
king's bencli to bail in cases not bailable by a justice
of peace, nor replevisable by the common writ, or
ex officio, by the sheriff. I well know the practice of
the court, and by what legal rules it ought to be di-
rected. But, far from meaning to soften or diminish
the force of those terms I have made use of, I now go
beyond them, and affirm,
1. That the superior power of bailing for felony,
claimed bj' the court of king's bench, is founded upon
the opinion of lawyers, and the practice of the court;
that the assent of the legislature to this power is mere-
ly negative, and that it is not supported by any posi-
tive provision in any statute whatsoever. If it be,
produce the statute.
2. Admitting that the judges of the court of ki.ig's
bench are vested with a discretionary power to exam-
ine and judge of circumstances and allegations which
a justice of peace is not permitted to consider, I af-
firm that the judges, in the use and application of that
discretionary power, are as strictly bound by the
spirit, intent, and meaning, as the justice of peace is
by thb words of the legislature. Favourable circura-
JlJNlUb'S LETTERS. IB5
stances, alleged before the judge, may justify a
doubt, whether the prisoner be guilty or not; and
where the guilt is doubtful, a presumption of inno-
cence should in general be admitted. But, when any
such probable circumstances are alleged, they alter
the state and condition of the prisoner. He is no
longer that all-bvt-convicted felon, whom the law in-
tends, and who by law is not bailable at all. If no
circumstances whatsoever are alleged in his favour ;
if no allegation whatsoever be made to lessen the
force of that evidence which the law annexes to a
positive charge of felony, and particularly to the fact
of being taken with the manner ; I then say, that the
lord chief justice of England has no more right to bail
him than a justice of peace. The discretion of an
English judge is not of mere will and pleasure ; it is
not arbitrary; it is not capricious; but, as that great
lawyer (whose authority I wish you respected half as
much as I doj truly says,* " Discretion, taken as it
ought to be, is, discernere per legem quid sit justum.
[f it be not directed by the right line of the law, it is
a crooked cord, and appeareth to be unlawful." If
discretion were arbitrary in the judge, he might in-
troduce whatever novelties he thought proper. But,
says lord Coke, " Novelties, without warrant of pre-
c^dents, are not to be allowed : some certain rules are
to be followed: Quicquid judicis auctoritati subjicitur
nomtatt non subjicitur." And this sound doctrine is
applied to the star-chamber, a court confessedly arbi-
trary. If you will abide by the authority of this
• Tnst. 41. 66.
im JUMLS'S LETTERS.
great man, you shall have all the advantage of his
opimon, wherever it appears to favour you. Ex-
cepting the plain, express meaning of the legislature,
to which all private opinions must give way, I desire
no better judge between as than lord Coke.
3. I affirm that, according to the obvious, indis-
putable meaning of the legislature, repeatedly ex-
pressed, a person positively charged with feloniously
stealing, and taken in flagrante delicto, with the
stolen goods upon him, is not bailable. The law
considers him as differing in nothing from a convict,
hut in the form of conviction ; and (whatever a cor-
>upt judge may do) will accept of no security, but
the confinement of his body within four walls. I
know it has been alleged, in your favour, that you
l>ave often bailed for murders, rapes, and other mani-
fest crimes. Without questioning the fact, I shall
not admit that you are to be justified by your own ex-
ample. If that were a protection to you, where is
the crime, that, as a jtidge, you might not now se-
curely commit.'' But neither shall I suffer myself to
be drawn aside from my present argument, nor you
to profit by your own wrong. To prove the meaning
and intent of the legislature, will require a minute
and tedious deduction. To investigate a question ol
Jaw. dt mands some labour nnd 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 under-
standing, while it corrupts the heart. Subtilty is
Boon mistaken for wisdom and 'mpunity lb' virtue
JUNIUS'S 1 ETTEllS. 181
ff (here be any instances upon record (as some there
are undoubtedly, of genius and morality united in a
lawyer) they are distinguished by their singularity,
and operate as exceptions.
I must solicit the patience of my readers. This is
no light matter ; nor is it any more susceptible of or-
nament, than the conduct of lord Mansfield is capa-
ble of aggravation.
As the law of bail, in charges of felony, has been
exactly ascertained by acts of the legislature, it is at
present of little consequence to inquire how it stood
at common law before the statute of Westminster.
And yet it is worth the reader's attention to observe,
how nearly, in the ideas of our ancestors, the cir-
cumstance of being taken with the maner approach-
ed to the conviction* of the felon. It " fixed the
authoritative stamp of verisimilitude upon the accu-
sation : and, by the common law, with the things
stolen upon him m manu, he might, so detected,
flagrante delicto, be brought into court, arraigned,
and tried, without indictment; as, by the Danish law,
he might be taken and hanged on the spot, without
accusation or trial." It will soon appear that our
statute in law, in this behalf, though less summary
in point of proceeding, is directed by the same spir-
it. In one instance, the very form is adhered to.
In oflences relating to the forest, if a man was takeu
with vert, or venison,t it was declared to be equiva-
ent t) indictment. To enable the reader to Judgi!
* Blackstone, iv. 303.
t X Ed. III. cap. 8 ; and 7 R»c. IT cap. 4.
\
188 JUNIUS S LETTERS.
for himself, I shall state, in due order, the seveiA
statutes relative to bail in criminal casos, cr as much
of them as may be material to the point in question,
omitting superfluous words. If I misrepresent, or
do not quote with fidelity, it will not be difficult tc
detect me.
* The statute of Westminster the first, in 1275,
sets forth, that " Forasmuch as sheriffs and others,
who have taken and kept in prison persons detected
of felony and incontinent, have let out by replevin
such as were not replevisable, because they would
gain of the one party, and grieve the other ; and
forasmuch as, before this time, it was not determined
which persons were replevisable, and which not ; it
is provided, and by the king commanded, that such
prisoners, &,c. as be taken with the maner, &ic.
or for manifest offences, shall be in no wise re-
plevisable by the common writ, nor without writ."
Lord Coke,t in his exposition of the last part of
this quotation, accurately distinguishes between re-
plevy, by the common writ, or ex officio, and bail
by the king's bench. The words of the statute
* Videtur que le statute de mainprize n'est que le rehersai
del comen ley." — Bi-o. Mainp. 6l.
t " There are thi ?e points to be considered in the con-
struction of all remedial statutes ; the old law, the mischief,
and the remedy ; that is, how the common law stood at the
making of the act ; what the mischief was for which the
common law did not provide ; and what remedy the parlia-
ment hath provided to cure this mischief. It is the businesi
of the judges so to constru? the act, as to suppress the mis
;hief, and advmce the reii> ly" — lUnrksfmic. i. 87-
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 18a
certainly do not extend to the judges of that court.
But, besides that, the reader will soon find reason to
think tiiat the legislature, in their intention, made no
diflerence between bailable and replevisable. Lord
Coke himself, if he be understood to mean nothing but
an exposition of the statute of Westminster, and not
to state the law generall}', does not adhere to his
own distinction. In expounding the other offences,
which, by this statute, and declared not replevisable,
he constantly uses the words not bailable. " That
outlaws, for instance, are not bailable at all : that
persons who have abjured the realm, are attainted
upon their own confession, and therefore not bailable
at all by law : that provers are not bailable : that no-
torious felons are not bailable." The reason why
the superior courts were not named in the statute of
Westminster, was plainly this : " because anciently
most of the business touching bailment of prisoners
for felony or misdemeanors, was performed by the
sheriffs, or special bailiffs of liberties, either by writ,
or virtute officii ;"* consequently the superior courts
had little or no opportunity to commit those abuses
which the statute imputes to the sheriffs. With sub-
mission to Dr. Blackstone, I think he has fallen into
a contradiction, which, in terms at least, appears ir-
reconcileable. After enumerating several offences not
bailable, he asserts, without any condition or limita-
tion whatsoever,t " All these are clearly not admissi-
ble to bail." Yet, in a few lines after, he says, " It
s agreed that the court of king's bench may bail for
any crinie whatsoever, according to the circuno-
• 2 Hale, P C. 128, 135 I Blackstone, iv. 29<>'
190 JUNIUS'S LETTERS
stances of the case." To his first proposition he
should hav<? added, " by sheriffs or justices;" other-
wise the tw » propositions contradict each other : with
this difference, however, that the first is absolute, th?
second limited by a consideration of circumstances.
1 say this, without the least intended disrespect to the
learned author. His work is of public utility, and
should not hastily be condemned.
The statute of 17 Richard II. cap. 10, 1393, sets
forth, that, " Forasmuch as thieves notoriously de-
famed, and others taken with the maner. by their
long abiding in prison, were delivered by charters
and favourable inquests procured, to the great hin-
derance of the people, two men of law shall be as-
signed, in every commission of the peace, to proceed
to the deliverance of such felons," &;c. It seems, by
this act, that there was a constant struggle between
the legislature and the officers of justice. Not dar-
ing to admit felons taken with the maner to bail or
rnainprize, they evaded the law, by keeping the party
in prison a long time, and then delivering him witi -
out due trial.
The statute of 1 Richard III. in 1483, sets forth
that, " Forasmuch as divers persons have been daily
arrested and imprisoned for suspicion of felony, some-
time of malice, and sometime of a light suspicion
and so kept in prison without ban or maiuprize ; be
it ordained, that every justice of peace shall have
authority, by his discretion, to let such prisoners and
persons so arrested to bail or rnainprize." By this
act, it appears that there had been abuses in matter
of imprisonment, and that the legislature meant to
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 19J
provide for the immediate enlargement of persons
arrested on light suspicion of felony.
The statute of 3 Henry VII. in 1486, declares,
that, under colour of the preceding act of Ric/iard
the Third, " Persons, such as were not mainperna-
ble, were oftentimes let to bail or mainprize by jus-
tices of the peace, whereby many murderers and fel-
ons escaped ; the king, &tc. hath ordained, that the
justices of the peace, or two of tiiem at least (where-
of one to be of the quorum) have authority to let any
such prisoners or persons, mainpernable by the law, to
bail or mainprize."
Tlie statute of 1 and 2 of Philip and Mary, in
1554, sets forth, that, " Notwithstanding the preced-
ing statute of Henry the Seventh, one justice of peace
hath oftentimes, by sinister labour and means, set at
large the greatest and notablest offenders, such as be
not replevisable by the laws of this realm ; and yet
the rather to hide their affections in that behalf, have
assigned the cause of their apprehension to be but
only for suspicion of felony, whereby the said offend
ers have escaped unpunished, and do daily, to the
high displeasure of Almighty God, the great peril of
the king and queen's true subjects, and encourage-
ment of all thieves and evil-doers ; for reformation
whereof be it enacted that no justice of peace shall
let to bail or mainprize any such persons, which for
any offence by them committed, be declared not to
be replevised or bailed, or be forbidden to be replevis-
ed or bailed, by the statute of Westminster the first ,
and furthermore, that any persons arrested for man
slaughter or felony, being bailable by the law, shal
not be let to bail or mair prize by any justices o
192 JIINIUS'S LETTERS.
peace, but in the form therein after prescribed." In
the two preceding statutes, the words bailable, re-
plevisable, and mainpernable, are used synonymous-
ly,* or promiscuously, to express the same single in-
tention of the legislature, viz. not to accept of any
security but the body of the offender : and when the
latter statute prescribes the form in which persons ar-
rested on suspicion of felony (being bailable by the
law) may be let to bail, it evidently supposes that
there are some cases not bailable by the law. It may
be thought, perhaps, that I attribute to the legisla-
ture an appearance of inaccuracy in the use of terms
merely to serve my present purpose. But, in truth,
It would make more forcibly for my argument, to
presume, that the legislature were constantly aware
of the strict legal distinction between bail and reple-
vy, and that they always meant to adhere to it.t For
if it be true that replevy is by the sheriffs, and bail
by the higher courts at Westminster (which 1 think
no lawyer will deny,) it follows, that when the legis-
lature expressly says that any particular offenee is by
law not bailable, the superior courts are comprehend-
ed in the prohibition, and bound by it. Otherwise,
unless there was a positive exception of the superior
courts (which I affirm there never was in any statute
elative to bail) the legislature would grossly contra-
ilict themselves, and the manifest intention of the law
♦ 2 Hale, P. C. ii. 124.
t Vide 2d Inst. 150, 186, " The word repkmsable never
signifies bailable. Bailable is in a court of record, by the
king's justices ; but rei)levimble is by the sheriff." — Selden.
Stai^ Triah, vii. 149.
JUNIUS'S I.ETTERS 193
be evaded. It is an established rule, that, when the
law is special, and reason of it general, it is to be
generally understood ; and though, by custom, a
latitude be allowed to die court of king's bench, (to
consider circumstances inductive of a doubt, whether
the prisoner be guilty or innocent) if this latitude be
taken as an arbitrary power to bail, when no circum-
stances whatsoever are alleged in favour of the prison-
er, it is a power without right, and a daring viola-
tion of the whole English law of bail.
Tiie act of the 31st of Charles the Second (com-
monly called the Habeas Corpus act) particularly de-
clares, that it is not meant to extend to treason or
felony, plainly and specially expressed in the warrant
of commitment. The prisoner is therefore left to
seek his Habeas Corpus at common law . and so far
was the legislature from supposing that persons (com-
mitted for treason or felony, plainly and specially
expressed in the warrant of commitment) could be
let to bail by a single judge, or by the whole court,
that this very act provides a remedy for such persons,
in case they are not indicted in the course of the term
or sessions subsequent to their commitment. The
law neither suffers them to be enlarged before trial,
oor to be imprisoned after the time in which they
ought regularly to be tried. In this case the law
says, ' It shall and may be lawful to and for the
udges of the court of king's bench, and justices of
oyer and terminer, or general gaol delivery, and they
are hereby required, upon motion made to them in
open court, the last day of the term, session, or gaol
delivery, either by the prisoner, or any one in his
behalf, to sei at liberty the prisoner upon bail, unless
OL. 11. 1 13
194 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
It appear lo the judges and justices, upon oatl made,
that the witnesses for the king could not be produced
the same term, sessions, or gaol delivery." Upon
the wliole of this article I observe, 1. That the pro-
vision made in the first part of it would be, in a great
measure, useless and nugatory, if any single judge
might have bailed the prisoner ex arbitrio during the
vacation, or if the court might have bailed him im-
mediately after the commencement of the term or ses-
sions. 2. When the law says, It shall and may be
lawful to bail for felony under particular circum-
stances, we must presume, that, before the passing
of that act, it was not lawful to bail under those cir-
cumstances. The terms used by the legislature are
enacting, not declaratory. 3. Notwithstanding the
party may Ikivc been imprisoned during the greatest
part of the vacation, and during the whole session,
the court are expressly forbidden to b-ail him, from
that session to the next, if oath be made that the
witnesses for the king could not be produced that same
term or sessions.
Having faithfully stated the several acts of parlia-
ment relative to bail in criminal cases, it may be use-
ful to the reader to take a short historical review of
the law of bail, through its various gradations and
improvements.
By tke ancient common law, before and since the
conquest, all felonies were bailable, till murder was
excepted by statute ; so that persons might be ad-
mitted to bail, before conviction, almost in every case.
The statute of Westminster says, that before that
time, it had not been determined which offences were
replevisable and which were not, whether by the
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 195
common writ de hoinine rtplegiando, or ex officio hy
the sheriff. It is very remarkable, that the abuses
arising from this unlimited power of replevy, dread-
ful as they v\ ere, and destructive to tiie peace of soci-
ety, were not corrected or taken notice of by the
legislature, until the commons of the kingdom hac
obtained a share in it by their representatives ; bu
the house of commons had scarce begun to exist,
when these formidable abuses were corrected by the
statute of Westminster. It is higWy probable, that
the mischief had been severely felt by the people,
although no remedy had been provided for it by the
Norman kings or barons. " The* iniquity of the
times was so great, as it even forced the subjects to
forego that, which was in account a great liberty, to
stop the cause of a growing mischief" The pream-
ble to the statutes made by the first parliament of
Edward the First, assigns the reason of calling it,t
" because the people had been otherwise entreated
than they ought to be, the peace less kept, the laws
less used, and offenders less punished than they ought
to be, by reason whereof the people feared less to
offend ;" and the first attempt to reform these various
abuses was by contracting the power of replevying
felons.
For above two centuries following, it does not ap-
pear that any alteration was made in the law of bail,
except that being taken with vert or venison was de-
clared to be equivalent to indictment. The legisla-
• Selden, by N. Bacon, 182.
t Parliamentary History, i. 82.
196 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
lure adhered firmly to the spirit of the statute of
Westminster. The statute of the 27lh of Edward
the First directs tiie justices of assize to inquire and
punish ofiicers bailing such as were not bailable. As
for the judges of the superior courts, it is probable,
that in those days they thought themselves bound by
the obvious intent and meaning of the legislature
They considered not so much to what particular per
sons the prohibition was addressed, as what the thing
was which the legislature meant to prohibit ; well
knowing that in law, quando aliquid prohibetur,
prohihetur et omne per quod devenitur ad illud.
•' When any thing is forbidden, all the means by
which the same thing may be compassed or done are
equally forbidden."
By the statute of Richard tht; Third, the power of
bailing was a little enlarged ; every justice of peace
was authorised to bail for felony ; but they were ex-
pressly confined to persons arrested on light suspi-
cion ; and even this power, so limited, was found to
produce such inconveniences, that in three years
after the legislature found it necessary to repeal it.
Instead of trusting any longer to a single justice of
peace, the act of 3 Henry VII. repeals the preceding
act, and directs, " That no prisoner (of those who
are mainpernable by the law) shall be let to bail or
mainprize by less than two justices, whereof one to be
of the quorum."
And so indispensably necessary was this provisioi
thought for the administration of justice, and for the
security and peace of society, that at this time an oath
was ])roposed by the king, to be taken by the knights
and esquires of his household, by the members of the
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 197
/iouse of commons, and by the peers spiritual and
temporal, and accepted and sworn to quasi una voce
by them all, which, among other engagements, binds
them not to let any man to bail or mainprise, " know-
itjg and deeming him to be a felon, upon your honour
and worship. So help you God and all saints."*
In about half a century, however, even these pro-
visions were found insufficient. The act of Henrv the
Seventh was evaded and the legislature once more
obliged to interpose. The act of 1 and 2 of Philip
and Mary takes away entirely from the justices all
power of bailing for offences declared not bailable by
the statute of Westminster
Tl>e illegal imprisonment of several persons, who
had refused to contribute to a loan exacted by Charles
the First, and the delay of the habeas corpus, and
subsequent refusal to bail them, constituted one of
the first and most important grievances of that reign.
Yet when the house of commons, which met in the
year 1628, resolved upon measures of the most firnr
and strenuous resistance to the power of imprison-
ment, assumed by the king or privy council, and to
the refusal to bail the party on the return of the ha-
beas corpus ; they did expressly, in all their resolu-
tions, make an exception of commitments, where the
cause of the restraint was expressed, and did by law
justify the commitment. The reason of the distinc-
tion is, that whereas., when the cause of commitment
is expressed, the crime is then known, and the ofTen-
der must be brought to the ordinary trial : if, on the
* Parliamentary History, ii. 519.
198 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
contrary, no cause of commitment be expressed, and
the prisoner be thereupon remanded, it may operate
to perpetual imprisonment. This contest with Charles
the First produced the act of the 16th of that king:
oy which the court of king's bench are directed,
within three days after the return to the habeas cor-
pus, to examine and determine the legality of any
commitment by ttie king or privy council, and to do
wliat in justice shall appertain, in delivering, bailing,
or remanding the prisoner. Now, it seems, it is un-
necessary for the judge to do what appertains to jus-
tice. The same scandalous traffic, in which we have
seen the privilege of parliament exerted or relaxed,
to gratify the present humour, or to serve the imme-
diate purpose of the crown, is introduced into the ad-
ministration of justice. The magistrate, it seems, has
now no rule to follow, but the dictates of personal
enmity, national partiality, or perhaps the most pros
tituted corruption.
To complete this historical inquiry, it only remains
to be observed, that the habeas corpus act of 31 of
Charles the Second, so justly considered as another
Magna Charta of the kingdom, " extends* only to
the case of commitments for such criminal charge as
can produce no inconvenience to public justice by a
temporary enlargement of the prisoner." So careful
were the legislature, at the very moment when they
were providing for the liberty of the subject, not to
ittrnish any colour or pretence for violating or evad-
'ng the established law of bail in higher criminal of-
• Blackstone, iv. 137.
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 19U
fences. But t.ie exception, stated in the body of the
act, puts the matter out of all doubt. After direct-
nig the judges how they are to proceed to the dis-
charge of the prisoner upon recognizance and surety,
having regard to the (juality of the prisoner and na-
ture of the offence, it is expressly added, " unless it
shall appear to the said lord chancellor, &:c. that the
party so committed is detained for such matters or
offences, for the which, by the law, the prisoner is not
bailable."
When the laws, plain of themselves, are thus illus-
trated by facts, and their uniform meaning establish-
ed by history, we do not want the authority of opin-
ions, however respectable, to inform our judgment, or
to confirm our belief. But I am determined that you
shall have no escape. Authority of every sort shall
be produced against you, from Jacob to lord Coke,
from the dictionary to the classic. In vain shall yon
appeal from those upright judges whom you disdain
to imitate, to those whom you have made your exam-
ple. With one voice they all condemn you.
" To be taken with the maner, is where a thief,
having stolen any thing, is taken with the same about
him, as it were in his hands, which is c^Wed flagrante
delicto. Such a criminal is not bailable by law." —
Jacob, under the w» rd Mancr.
" Those who are taken with the maner are excluded
by the statute of Westminster, from the benefit of a
replevin." — Hawkins, P. C. ii. 98.
" Of such heinous offences, no one, who is notori-
ously guilty, seems to be bailable by the intent of this
statute." — Ditto, i. 99.
" The common practice and allowed general rule
200 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
is, that bai. is only tiien proper, where it stands in-
different whether the party were guilty or innocent."
— Ditto, ditto.
" There is no doubt but that the bailing of a per-
son, who is not bailable by law, is punishable either
at common law, as a negligent escape, or as an of-
fence against the several statutes relative to bail."
—Ditto, 89.
•' It cannot be doubted, but that neither the judges
of this, nor of any other superior court of justice, are
strictly within the purview of that statute ; yet they
will always, in their discretion, pay a due regard to
it, and not admit a person to bail who is expressly
declared by it irreplevisable, without some particular
circumstance in his favour ; and, therefore, it seems
difficult to find an instance where persons, attainted
of felony, or notoriously guilty of treason, or man-
slaughter, &c. by their own confession, or otherwise,
have been admitted to the benefit of bail, without
some special motive to the court to grant it." —
Ditto, 114.
" If it appears that any man hath injury or wrong
by his imprisonment, we have power to deliver and
discharge him ; if otherwise, he is to be remanded by
us to prison again." — Lord Ch. J. Hyde, State Trials,
vii. 115.
" The statute of Westminster was especially for
direction to the sheriffs and others; but to say
courts of justice are excluded from this statute, 1
conceive it cannot be." — Attorney General Heathy
Ditto, 132.
" The court, upon view of the return, judgeth of
the sufficiency or insufficiency of it. If they think
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 201
ihe prisoner In law to be bailable, he is committed
to tiio marshal, and bailed ; if not, he is remanded."
Through the whole debate, the objection on the
part of the prisoners was, that no cause of commit-
ment was expressed in tiie warrant ; but it was uni-
formly admitted, by their counsel, that if the cause of
commitment had been expressed for treason or felony,
the court would then have done right in remanding
them.
The attorney-general having urged, before a com-
mittee of both houses, that, in Beckwith's case, and
others, the lords of the council sent a letter to the
court of king's bencii to bail ; it was replied, by the
managers of the house of commons, that this, was
of no moment : " for that either the prisoner was
bailable by the law, or not bailable. If bailable by
the law, then he was to be bailed without any such
letter ; if not bailable by the law, then plainly the
judges could not have bailed him upon the letter,
without breach of their oath, which is, that they are
to do justice according to the law," &;c. — State
Trials, vii. 175.
" So that in bailing upon such offences of the
highest nature, a kind of discretion, rather than a
constant law, hath been exercised, when it stands
wholly indifferent, in the eye of the court, whether
the prisoner be guilty or not." — Selden, St. Tr. vii.
230. 1.
" J. deny that a man is always bailable when im-
prisomnent is imposed upon him for custody." —
Attorney General Heath, ditto, 238.
By these quotations from the State Tr als, though
otherwise not of authority, it appcuirs plainly, that
1 2
202 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
In regard t3 bailable or not bailable, all partiefl
agreed in admitting one proposition as incontro-
vertible.
" In relation to capital offences, there are especial-
ly tliese acts of parliament that are the common land-
marks* touching offences bailable or not bailable." —
Hale, ii. P. C. 127. The enumeration includes the
several acts cited in this paper.
" Persons taken with the manouvre are not baila-
ble, because it is furtum manifestum." — Hale, ii.
P. C. 133.
" The writ o£ Habeas Corpus is of a high nature ;
for if persons be wrongfully committed, they are to
be discharged upon this writ returned ; or, if baila-
ble, they are to bailed : if not bailable, they are to
be committed." — Hale ii. P. C. 143. This doctrine
of lord chief justice Hale refers immediately to the
superior courts from whence the writ issues. " After
the return is filed, the court is either to discharge, or
bail, cr commit him, as the nature of the case re-
uires." — Hale, ii. P. C. 146.
" If bail be granted otherwise than the law allow-
eth, the party that alloweth the same shall be fined,
imprisoned, render damages, or forfeit his place, as
the case shall require." — Selden, by JY. Bacon, 182.
• This induces an absolute necessity of expressing^
upon every commitment, the reason for which it h
made ; that the court, upon a Habeas Corpus, may
ftxamine into its validity, and, according to the cir-
• It has been the study of lord Manstiela to remove lan(^
r . jrks.
JLNIUS'S LETTERS. 203
cumstances of tlie case, mny (Hscliarge, acmit to bail
or remand the prisoner. — Blackstone, iii. 133.
" Marriot was :onimitted for forging indorsements
jpon banli-bills, and upon a Habeas Corpus was
bailed, because tne crime w-as only a great misde-
me-anor ; for though the forging the bills be felony,
yet forging the indorsement is not." — Salkeld, i, 104.
" Appell de Maihem, he. ideo ne fuit lesse a bailk,
nient pJus que in appell de robbery ou murder; qiiori
nota, et que in robbery et murder le partie n'st bail-
lable. — Bro. JMainprize, 67.
" The intendment of the law in bails is, ^uod siai
indifferenter, whether he be guilty or no ; but when
he is convicted by verdict or confession, then he must
be deemed in law to be guilty of the felony, and
therefore not bailable at all." — Coke, ii. List. 18S.
iv. 178.
" Bail is quando stat indifferenter, and not when
the offence is open and manifest." — 2 Inst. 189.
" In this case no7i stat indifferenter, whether he be
guilty or no, being taken with the maner, that is,
with the thing stolen, as it were, in his hand."
Ditto, ditto.
" If it appeareth that this imprisonment be just
and lawful, he shall be remanded to the former gaol-
er ; but if it shall appear to the court that he was
imprisoned against the law of the land, they ought,
by force of this statute, to deliver him : if it be
doubtful, and under consic eration, he may be bail-
ed."— 2 Inst. 55.
It is unnecessary to load the reader with any far-
ther quotations. If these autiiorities are not deemed
sufficient to establish the doctrine maintained in ihis
204 JUNIUS'S LE'lTERS.
paper, it will be in vain to appeal to tlie evidence of
law books, or the opinions of judges. They are not
the authorities by which lord Mansfield will abide.
He assumes an arbitrary power of doing right : and
if he does wrong, it lies only between God and his
conscience.
Now, my lord, although I iiave great faith in the
preceding argument, I will not say that every minute
part of it is absolutely invulnerable. I am too well
acquainted with the practice of a certain court, di-
rected by your example, as it is governed by your
authority, to think there ever yet was an argument,
however conformable to law and reason, in which a
cunning, quibbling attorney might not discover a flaw.
But, taking the whole of it together, I affirm, that it
constitutes a mass of demonstration, than which
nothing more complete or satisfactory can be offered
to the human mind. How an evasive, indirect reply
will stand with your reputation, or how far it will an-
swer in point of defence, at the bar of the house of
U)rds, is worth your consideration. If, after all that
has been said, it should still be maintained, that the
court of king's bench, in bailing felons, are exempted
from all legal rules whatsoever, and that the judge
has no direction to pursue, but his pi vate affections,
or mere unquestionable will and pleasure, it will fol-
low plainly, that the distinction between bailable and
not bailable, uniformly expressed by the legislature,
current through all our law books, and admitted by
all our great lawyers, without exception, is, in ono
sense, a nugatory, in another, a pei'nicious, distinc-
tion. It is nugatory, as it supposes a difference in
the bailable quality of offences, when, in effect, th«
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 205
distil* ctioii refers only to the rank of the magistrate
It is pernicious, as it implies a rule of law, which
yet the judge is not bound to pay the least regard
to ; and impresses an idea upon the minds of ^he
people, tlmt the judge is wiser and greater than the
law.
It remains only to apply the law, thus stated, to the
fact in question. By an authentic copy of the mitti-
mus, it appears that John Eyre was committed for
felon}', plainly and specially expressed in the warrant
of commitment. He was charged before alderman
Halifax, by the oath of Thomas Fielding, William
Holder, William Payne, and William Nash, for felo-
niously stealing eleven quires of writing paper, value
six shillings, the property of Thomas Beach, &,c.
By the examinations upon oath of the four persons
mentioned in the mittimus, it was proved, that large
quantities of paper had been missed ; and that eleven
quires (previously marked, from a suspicion that
Eyre was the thief) were found upon him. Many
other quires of paper, marked in the same manner,
were found at his lodgings ; and after he had been
some time in W^ood-street Compter, a key was found
in his room there, which appeared to be a key to the
closet at Guildhall, from whence the paper was stolen.
When asked what he had to say in his defence, his
only answer was, " I hope you will bail me." Mr.
Holder, the clerk, replied, " That is impossible.
There never was an instance of it, when the stolen
goods were found upon the thief." The lord mayor
was then applied to, and refused to bail him. Of all
these circumstances, it was your duty to have inform-
ed 3'ourself minw ely. The fact was lemarkable :
206 JUNIUS'S lETTERS.
and m3 chief magistrate of the city of Loftdon vva*
known to ha\e refused to bail the offender. To jus-
tify your compliance with the solicitations of your
three counJrymen, it should be proved that such alle-
gations were offered to you in behalf of their asso-
ciate, as honestly and bona fide reduced it to a mat-
ter of doubt and indifference whether the prisoner was
innocent or guilty. Was any thing offered by llie
Scotch triumvirate that tended to invalidate the posi-
tive charge made against him by four credible wit-
nesses upon oath ? Was it even insinuated to you,
either by himself or his bail, that no felony was com-
mitted ; or, that he was not die felon ; that the stolen
goods were not found upon him ; or that he was only
the receiver, not knowing them to be stolen ? Or, in
short, did they attempt to produce any evidence of
his insanity ? To all these questions I answer for
you, without the least fear of contradiction, positively,
No. From the moment he was arrested he never
entertained any hope of acquittal ; therefore, thought
of nothing but obtaining bail, that he might have
time to settle his affairs, convey his fortune into an-
other country, and spend the remainder of his life in
comfort and afBuence abroad. In this prudential
scheme of future happiness, the lord chief justice of
England most readily and heartily concurred. At
sight of so much virtue in distress, your natural be-
nevolence took the alarm. Such a man as Mr. Eyre,
struggling with adversity, must always be an inter-
esting scene to lord Mansfield. Or, was it that libe-
ral anxiety, by which your whole life has been distin
guis^-.'^'i- to enlarge the liberty of the subject.'* IM}
lord, we did not wan this new instance of tlie liberal'
JINIUS'S LEiTCRS. 201
:ty of your principles. We already knew what Kind
of subjects tlicy were for whose liberty you were
anxious. At all events, the public are much indebted
to you for fixing a price, at which felony may be
committed with impunity.
You bound a felon, notoriously worth 30,000Z. in
the sum of 300Z. With your natural turn to equity,
and knowing, as you are, in the doctrine of prece-
dents, you undoubtedly meant to settlf the propor-
tion between the fortune of the felon and the fine
by which he may compound for his felony. The
ratio now upon record, and transmitted to posterity
under the auspices of lord Mansfield, is exactly one
to an hundred. My lord, without intending it, you
have laid a cruel restraint upon the genius of your
countrymen. In the warmest indulgence of their
passions they have an eye to the expense ! and if
tlieir other virtues fail us, we have a resource in
their economy.
By taking so trifling a security from John Eyre,
you invited, and manifestly exhorted him to escape.
Although in bailable cases it be usual to take four
securities, you left him in the custody of three Scon h-
men, whom he might have easily satisfied for con
niving at his i<etreat. That he did not make use of
the opportunity you industriously gave him, neither
justifies your conduct, nor can it be any way account-
ed for, but by his excessive and monstrous avarice.
Any other man, but this bosom friend of three Scotch-
men, would gladly have sacrificed a few hundred
pounds, rather than submit to the infamy of pleading
guilty in open court. It is possible indeed that he
might have flittered himself, and not unreasonably
208 JUNIUS'S LETTKRB.
with the hjpes of a pardon. That he would have
been paidoned, seems more than probable, if I had
not directed the public attention to the leading step
you took in favour of him. In the present gentle
rei2"n, we well know what "se has been made of the
lenity jf the court, and of the mercy of the crown.
The lord chief justice of England accepts of the hun-
dredth part of the property of a felon, taken in the
fact, as a recognizance for his appearance. Your
brother Smythe browbeats a jury, and forces them to
alter their verdict, by which they had found a Scotch
sergeant guilty of murder; and though the Kennedies
were convicted of a most deliberate and atrocious
murder, they still had a claim to the royal mercy.
They were saved by the chastity of their connex-
ions. They had a sister : yet it was not her beauty,
but the pliancy of her virtue, that recommended her to
the king.
The holy author of our religion was seen in the
company of sinners ; but it was his gracious purpose
to convert them from their sins. Another man, who,
in the ceremonies of our faith, might give lessons to
the great enemy of it, upon different principles, keeps
much the same company. He advertises for patients,
collects all the diseases of the heart, and turns a royal
palace into an hospital for incurables. A man of
honour has no ticket of admission at St. James's.
They receive him like a virgin at the Magdalen's ;
" Go thou, and do likewise "
My charge against you is now made good. 1 shall,
however, be ready to answer or to submit to fair ob-
ections. If, whenever this matter shall be agitated
yon suffer the doors of he house of ords .o be shut
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 209
i now protest, that I shall consider you as having
n\ade no reply, i rom that moment, in the opinion
of the world, you will stand self convicted. Whether
your reply be quibbling and evasive, or liberal and
in point, will be matter for the judgment of your
peers ; but if, when every possible idea of disrespect
to that noble house (in whose honou.r and justice the
nation implicitly confides) is here most solemnly dis-
claimed, you should endeavour to represent this
charge as a contempt of their authority, and move
their lordships to censure the publisher of this paper,
I then affirm, that you support mjustice by violence,
that you are guilty of a heinoui aggravation of your
offence, and that you contribute your utmost in-
fluence to promote, on the part of the highest court
of judicature, a positive denial of justice to tiK
iyition.
JTJNIUF
LXVIII.
To the Right Honourable Lord Camden.
MY LORD,
I turn with pleasure from that barren waste in
which no salutary plant takes root, no verdure quick-
ens, to a character fertile, as I willingly believe, in
••very great and good qualification. I call upon you,
/n the name of the English nation, to stand forth ir
defence of the laws of your country, and to exert, in
Ihe cause of trutll and jus ce, those great abilities
14
210 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
with which you were entrusted for the benefit of nan*
kind. To ascertain the facts set forth in the preced«
mg paper, it may be necessary to call the persans
mentioned in the mittimus to the bar of the house ol
iord«. If a motion for that purpose should be reject-
ed, we shall know what to think of lord Mansfield's
innocence. 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 iufiered that mat-
ter to have remained undetermined. But it was said
that lord chief justice Wilmot had been prevailed
upon to vouch for an opinion of the late judge Yates,
which was supposed to make against you ; and we
admit of the excuse. When such detestable arts are
employed to prejudge a question of right, it mighl
have been imprudent at that time to have brought it
to a decision. In the present instance, you will have
no such opposition to contend with. If there be a
judge, or a lawyer, of any note in Westminster-hall,
who shall be daring enough to affirm that, according
to the true intendment of the laws of England, a
felon, taken with the maner in flagrante delict , 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. Who-
ever he be, 1 will take care that he shall not give
you much trouble. Your lordship's character as-
sures me that you will assume that principal part,
which belongs to you, in supporting the laws of Eng-
land against a wicked judge, who makes it the occu-
pation of his life to misinterpret and pervert them. If
you decline this honourable office, I fear ir will be
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. SI J
said, that, for some months past, yon have kept toj
nmch company with the duke of Grafton. When the
contest turns upon the interpretation of tlie .avvs, you
cannot, without a formal surrender of all your repu-
tation, yield the post of lionour even to lord C' hat-
ham. 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 Hir I have done my duty
in endeavouring to bring him to punishment. But
mine is an inferior ministerial office in the temple ol
justice : I have bound the victim, and dragged him to
the altar.
JUNIUS.
The reverend Mr. John Home having, with his
usual veracity, and honest industry, circulated a re-
port that Junius, in \ letter to the supporters of the
bill of rights, had warmly declared himself in favour
of long parliaments and rotten boroughs, it is ihougl.t
necessary to submit to the public the following ex-
tract from his letter to John Wilkes, esq. dated the
7th of September, 1771, and laid before the society
on tne 24th of the same month.
" With regard to the several articles, taken sepa-
rately, 1 own I am concerned to see that the great
condition which ought to be the sine qua non of par-
liamentary qualification, which ought to be the basis
(as ii assuredly will be the only support) of every
212 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
barrier raised in defence of tiie constitution^ (I mean
a declaration upon oath to shorten the duration of
parliaments) is reduced to the fourth rank in the es-
teem of the societ}'; and even in that place, far from
being insisted on with firmness and vehemence, sec.v.s
to have been particularly slighted in the expression
" You shall endeavour to restore annual parliaments.'
Are these the terms vvliich men who are in earnest
make use of, when the salus reipuhliccB is at stake ^
I expected other language from Mr. Wilkes. Be-
sides my objection in point of form, I disapprove
highly of the meaning of the fourth article as it stands.
Whenever the question shall be seriously agitated, I
will endeavour (and if I live, will assuredly attempt
it) to convince the English nation by arguments, to
my understanding unanswerable, that they ought to
insist upon a triennial, and banish the idea of an an-
nual parliament. * * * I am convinced, that if
shortening the duration of parliaments (which, in
effect, is keeping the representative under the rod of
the constituent) be not made the basis of our new
parliamentary jurisprudence, other checks or im-
provements signify nothing. On the contrary, if
this be made the foundation, other measures may come
in aid, and, as auxiliaries, be of considerable advan-
tage. Lord Chatham's project, for instance, of in-
creasing the number of knights of shires, appears to
me admirable. * * * As to cutting away the rotten
boroughs, I am as much offended as any man at see-
ing so many of them under the direct influence of the
crown, or at the disposal of private persons. Yet, I
own, I have both doubts and apprehensions in regard
to the romed) you propose. 1 shall be charged,
JUNIUS'S LETTERS. 213
perhaps, with an unusual want of political intrepiiity,
when I honestly confess to you, that I am startled at
the idea of so extensive an amputation. In the first
place, I question the power, de jure, of the legisla-
ture to disfranchise a number of boroughs upon the
general ground of improving the constitution. There
cannot be a doctrine more fatal to the liberty and
property we are contending for, than that which con-
founds the idea of a supreme and an arbitrary legis-
lature. I need not point out to you the fatal purpo-
ses to which it has been, and may be, applied. If we
are sincere in the political creed we profess, there are
many things which we ought to affirm, cannot be
done by kings, lords, and commons. Among these,
I reckon the disfranchising of boroughs, with a gene-
ral view of improvement. I consider it as an equiva-
lent to robbing the parties concerned of their free-
hold, of their birthright. I say, that although this
birthright may be forfeited, or the exercise of it
suspended in particular cases, it cannot be taken
away by a general law, for any real or intended
purpose of improving the constitution. — Supposing
the attempt made, I am persuaded you cannot mean
that either king or lords should take an active part
in it. A bill which only touches the representation
of the people, must oi'iginatc, in the house of com-
mons. In the formation and mode of passing it, the
exclusive right of the commons must be asserted as
scrupulously as in the case of a money bill. Now,
sir, I should be glad to know by what kind of rea-
soning it can be proved, that there is a power vested
in the representative to destroy his immediate con-
stituent. From whence could he possibly derive it 1
214 JUNIUS'S LETTERS.
A courtier, I know, will be readj^ to maintain the af
rtrmative. The doctrine suits him exactly, because
!t gives an unlimited operation to the influence of the
crown. But we, Mr. Wilkes, ought to hold a differ-
ent language. It is no answer to me to sa}', that the
bilij wVen it passes the house of commons, is the aci
of the majority, and not the representatives of tiie
particular boroughs concerned. If the majority can
disfranchise ten boroughs, why not twenty, why not
the whole kingdom ? Why should not they make
their own seats in parliament for life ? When the
septennial act passed, the legislature did what, appa-
rently and palpably, they had no power to do : but
they did more than people in general were aware of;
they, in effect, disfranchised the whole kingdom for
four years.
" For argument's sake, I will now suppose that the
expediency of the measure, and the power of parlia-
ment, are unquestionable. Still you will find an in-
surmountable difficulty in the execution. When all
your instruments of amputation are prepared, when
the unhappy patient lies bound at your feet, without
the possibility of resistance, by what infallible rule
will you direct the operation ? When you propose
to cut away the rotten parts, can you tell us what
parts are perfectly sound ? Are there any certain
limits in fact or theory, to inform you at what point
you must stop, at what point the mortification ends .''
To a man so capable of observation and reflection
as you are, it is unnecessary to say all that might be
said upon the subject. Besides that I approve highly
of lord Chatham's idea of infusi g a portion of new
health into the constitution, to mable it to bear iti
jaiMrUS'S LETTERS. 2i£
t'.finnitiei (a brilliant expression, and full oi intrinsic
R'lsdom) other reasons occur in persuading me to
adopt it. I iiave no objection," &j,c.
Tiie man who fairly and completely answers this
argument, shall have my thanks and my applause
My heart is already with him. I am ready to be
converted. I admire his morality, and v/ould glad!}-
subscribe to the articles of his faith. Grateful a? i
am, to tiie good Being whose bounty '.las imparted
to me this reasoning intellect, whatever it is, I hold
myself proportionably indebted to h"m from whose
enligiitened understanding another ray of knowledge
'.omiiuinicates to mise. But neither should I think
the most exalted faculties of the human mind a gift
ivorihy of the Divinity, nor any assistance in the
improvement of them a subject of gratitude to my
lellow creature, if I were not satisfied, that, really
lo inform the understanding, corrects and enlarges tlw
JUNIUS
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