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 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 havC 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, 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; 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< ' 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>.\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 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 didf 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 have 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