envi which have been ascribed to public men, as dialectics of political strife all the malice and asperity and personality which have been associated with the name of Junius. Regarding Junius, aloof from his contemporaries, and unidentified with any brilliant name, let us view him as a shadow hovering above the mighty obelisk which has been reared to his genius-as England's Shakspeare in prose and let us consider what may have been his probable position in the conflict which he waged, and what palliation that position may offer for the ardor of his temperament and the severity of his judgments. Let us suppose him holding office under Lord Shelburne-deprived of that office by a change of ministry-unconnected by ties of gratitude or affection with most of the public characters of the day--prompt-zation, we shall have to deplore in the ed and aided by the chiefs of his partyobtaining his materials, sometimes correct, sometimes exaggerated, and sometimes false,* through the same party channels, and with- Such are the general views under which out the power, as an anonymous writer, of we shall now proceed to the subject of the inquiring into their truth-daring through the identification of Junius; but as many of our press to stem the tide of political corruption, readers are but imperfectly acquainted with to stifle in their birth the schemes of ministe- the circumstances under which his letters rial intrigue-to protect the public journalist were composed and published, we must, for from malicious prosecutions-to expose pri- their benefit, make a few preliminary observate vices when united with the power of vations. The genuine letters of Junius, doing mischief to the community, and even seventy-one in number, including two to to remonstrate with the sovereign against the Lord Chatham, which have been only refolly and treachery of his servants. Sup-cently published,* were written between the posing this to have been the position which Junius held, and these the functions which he fearlessly, and often successfully, exercised, his moral portrait displays a nobler phase than if it bore the autograph of Burke, or of Barré, of Francis, or of Sackville. But even if Junius were identified with some contemporaneous politician, whether a peer of the realm, or a clerk in the War Office, we venture to say that we could point out in the speeches and writings of living statesmen, and in the anonymous essays aud reviews *On the testimony of Dr. Musgrave, for example, it had been generally believed, and therefore asserted by Junius, that the Duke of Bedford and the Earl of Bute had concluded the peace of Paris under the influence of a bribe from France. In our own day, analogous charges have been made against ministers, not anonymously, but even in the House of Commons, and in their own hearing. On the other hand, in order to make out a charge of falsehood against Junius, it has been alleged that Lord Mansfield did not, as alleged by Junius, drink the health of the Pretender on his knees. But it is positively asserted," that Lord Ravensworth, in 1753, before the Privy Council, convicted Lord Mansfield of that offence." In his celebrated expostulation with the king, while Junius expressed it as the first wish of his heart, "that the people may be free," he as sincerely avowed it to be the second, that his majesty "might long continue king of a free people." 2d January, 1768, and the 21st January, 1772. They first appeared in the Public Advertiser, conducted by H. S. Woodfall. They were afterwards collected into a volume by their author, and dedicated, in an eloquent address, to the English Nation. The Duke of Grafton was at the head of the Tory administration, which was then in power. Lord North was Chancellor of the Exchequer; Lord Mansfield, Lord ChiefJustice; Lord Weymouth and the Earl of Hillsborough, Secretaries of State; The Marquis of Granby, Commander-in-Chief; and Viscount Townshend, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. The letters of Junius, when not addressed to the editor of the Public AdVertiser, were addressed chiefly to the three first of these distinguished statesmen; and as Junius was a moderate Whig, with scarcely any leaning to democratic principles, he was the admirer and supporter of Lord Shelburne and Lord Chatham, while he denounced the measures of the Grafton administration, and exerted all his influence to damage it in public opinion, and restore Lord Shelburne to power. At the commencement of these dicussions, a controversy * Chatham's Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 305, and iv. p. 190. | He has attacked even you-he has—and I believe you have no reason to triumph in the encounter. In short, after carrying away our Royal Eagle in his pounces, and dashing him against a rock, he has laid you prostrate. King, Lords, and Commons, are but the sport of his fury. Were he a member of this House, what might not be expected from his knowledge, his firmness, and his integrity? He would be easily known by his contempt of all danger, by his penetration, by his vigor. Nothing would escape his vigilance and activity. Bad ministers could conceal nothing from his sagacity, nor could prom thing from the public." Even Lord North, who was now Prime Minister, and to whom Junius had addressed his fortieth letter on the appointment of Colonel Luttrel, deplored the popularity of Junius, and looked forward to his detection and punishment. "Why, therefore," says he, "should we wonder that the great boar of the wood, this mighty Junius, has broke through the toils, and foiled the hunter? Though there may be at present no spear that will reach him, yet he may be some time or other caught. At any rate he will be exhausted with fruitless efforts; those tusks which he has been whetting to wound and gnaw the constitution, will be worn out. Truth will at last prevail." arose between Junius and Sir William Draper, which occupies six letters; and about two and a half years afterwards, another controversy sprung up between Junius and the Rev. Mr. Horne, which occupies five let ters, all of which are written with a spirit and talent which have been universally admired. After the publication of his first public letter on the 21st of January, 1769, which contained a general review of the character and conduct of the ministry, and after the termination of the sharp controversy with Sir William Draper, the fame and popularity of Junius were established. The poignancy of his wit and satire, the splendor of his dic-ises or threats induce him to conceal anytion, the logic of his argument, and the power of his eloquence confounded the ministry, and inspired the opposition with new energy and zeal. The anxiety of the public, the hatred of his enemies, and even the admiration of his friends, were combined in the attempt to remove his mask, and discover his retreat. Spies of all shades were employed in this secret service, and even David Garrick seems to have undertaken the task of detecting him. Junius, however, obtained intelligence of their schemes, and by his own skill and caution, coupled with the honesty of Woodfall, he baffled every attempt to unveil him. When his Letters to the Duke of Grafton and the Duke of Bedford were published, new motives for his detection presented themselves, but when his celebrated Letter to the King appeared, bold beyond all precedent, and eloquent above all eloquence, a new spirit was awakened against Junius, which rendered it necessary for his personal safety to persist in the concealment of his name. Upon this "mighty boar of the forest" Burke, who gave him this name, pronounced a splendid eulogy, and while he denounced the severity of his censure, he admitted that in the Letter to the King, there were "many bold truths by which a wise prince might profit." "It was the rancor and venom," he continues, "with which I was struck. In these respects the North Briton is as much inferior to him as in strength, wit, and judgment. But while I expected in this daring flight his final ruin and fall, behold him rising still higher, and coming down souse upon both houses of Parliament. Yes, he did make you his quarry, and you still bleed from the wounds of his talons. You crouch, and still crouch, beneath his rage, nor has he dreaded the terrors of your brow,* sir. *The Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Having abandoned the hope of discovering Junius, the Government wreaked their vengeance on Woodfall, the printer, by prosecuting him for a libel upon the king. The jury, however, notwithstanding the unconstitutional charge to them by Lord ChiefJustice Mansfield, that they should find a verdict of "guilty or not guilty," brought in a verdict of "printing and publishing ONLY," which defeated the designs of the Government, and gave a new triumph to Junius and the Opposition. The anxiety to discover Junius now became more eager than ever. So high were his Letters in public estimation that Burke was suspected to be their author. Lord Mansfield, Sir William Blackstone, and Sir William Draper, adopted this opinion. Mrs. Burke once admitted that her husband knew the author, and Sir Joshua Reynolds and Mr. Malone believed that though Burke did not write them, "he polished and finished them for the public eye." Dr. Johnson believed Burke to be Junius, "because he Fletcher Norton, "was distinguished by a pair of large black eyebrows."—Prior's Life of Burke, vol. i. knew no man but Burke who was capable of | It would be an unprofitable task, if not at writing them" but Burke "spontaneously present an impracticable one, to give even denied it" to Johnson himself. Two pamph- the shortest analysis of the arguments which lets have been written to prove the identity of have been employed in favor of the different Burke and Junius, and Mr. Prior, in his re- candidates for the honor of being Junius. cent life of him, has made an elaborate at- Our proper business at present is to lay betempt to confirm this opinion; but his argu- fore our readers some account of Mr. Britments are utterly futile, and prove only what ton's new work, in which he attempts to is now almost universally believed, that Ju- identify with Junius the celebrated Colonel nius was an Irishman.* Isaac Barré. After doing this, we shall review what have been regarded the superior pretensions of Sir Philip Francis and Lord George Sackville, and also those of Colonel Lachlan Macleane, which in our opinion have a still stronger claim upon public notice. After Burke's indignant and spontaneous denial that he was Junius, Sir William Draper and others expressed their conviction that Lord George Sackville was the man, and an elaborate work of nearly 400 pages has been published by Mr. Coventry, in order to confer upon him this honor. That Lord George Sackville had many and peculiar reasons for denouncing, with all the severity of Junius, the administration of the Duke of Grafton and its individual members, will be readily granted, but no arguments have been adduced to prove that he possessed those lofty acquirements, and that power of composition, which must be demanded from every competitor. Mr. Coventry has given twenty-four criteria or testimonials, as he calls them, which must be produced in favor of the true Junius, and by adopting the spurious letters as genuine, he finds no difficulty in producing them all on the part of his favorite; but we have no hesitation in asserting now, what we shall by and by prove, that his book is as devoid of argument as his hypothesis is of probability. Many other competitors for the fame of Junius have been presented for public acceptance, and volumes written to establish their claims. Some have even grasped at the high honor of being Junius, while others have imitated his style, and used his expressions, and adopted his sentiments, in order to have some distant chance of bearing his name. * Prior's Life of Burke, vol. i. p. 186. In an address to the public, which Lord George Sackville printed previous to his trial in 1760, he says "I had rather upon this occasion submit myself to all the inconveniences that may arise from the want of style, than borrow assistance from the pen of others, as I can have no hopes of establishing my character but from the force of truth." The following is a list of the persons who have been named either by themselves or others as the authors of Junius' Letters: W. H. Cavendish Bentinck, (Duke of Portland,) the Earl of Chatham, the Earl of Chesterfield, Horace Walpole, (Earl of Orford,) Lord George Sackville, Edmund Burke, Dr. Gilbert Stewart, Hugh Macauley Boyd, Counsellor Dunning, (Lord Ashburton,) Richard Glover, (author of Leonidas,) W. G. Hamilton, (Single Speech Hamilton,) Sir William Jones, General Lee, (an Ameri The object of Mr. Britton's work is thus described by himself : "For the last twelve months I have sought by extensive reading, inquiry, and correspondence, result is that the materials I have accumulated, to obtain authentic satisfactory evidence, and the whilst they serve to elucidate the political and private character and talents of the anonymous AUTHOR of the LETTers--Lieutenant-Colonel BARRE, also point out and implicate his intimate associates, LORD SHELBURNE and Mr. DUNNING. There are likewise some extraordinary revelations respecting William Greatrakes, whose career in life, and the circumstances attending his death, with the disposal of his property, abound in mystery, and are pregnant with suspicion. The story of this gentleman is a romance of real life, and like that of the concealed author is enveloped in a cloak of ambiguity and darkness; yet it is confidently believed that he was the amanuensis to Colonel Barré, and also his confidential agent and messenger. To identify these persons and explain their connection with the public correspondence referred to, to bring out facts of dates and deeds from the dark and intricate recesses in which they were studiously and cunningly concealed, to reconcile and account for contradictions and inconsistencies, have occasioned more anxiety, toil, and scrupulous analysis than can possibly be imagined by any person who has never attempted a similar task. The issue and effects, however, are now submitted to that public tribunal which invariably awards a proper and a just decision, and which I feel assured will ultimately pronounce an impartial verdict, whether favorable or adverse to the author's hopes and opinions."PREFACE, p. vi. It has always been believed that Lord can,) John Wilkes, John Horne Tooke, Charles Lloyd, secretary to Mr. George Grenville, Henry Flood, M.P., Rev. Philip Rosenhagen, William Greatrakes, John Roberts, originally a treasury clerk, M. De Lolme, Dr. Wilmot, Samuel Dyer, (a literary character, and a friend of Dr. Johnson and Edmund Burke,) Edward Gibbon, Thomas Hollis, Dr. Butler, (Bishop of Hereford,) Sir Philip Francis, Colonel Barré, and Colonel Lachlan Macleane. Shelburne, afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne, | was somehow or other connected with the composition of the letters of Junius. When he quitted office in 1768, and went into opposition to the government which succeeded him, it was highly probable that some of the distinguished individuals who sat in Parliament for his boroughs of Calne or Wycombe, or who held the office of his private secretary, or of Under Secretary of State when he was in power, would embark in the defence of their leaders, and wage war against the ministry which displaced them. The Duke of Grafton, and the other members of the Cabinet, had, by their misconduct and intrigues, compelled Lord Chatham and Lord Shelburne to resign, and it is among the men who suffered by their resignation, who had imbibed their principles, and were actuated by their feelings, that a disinterested inquirer would naturally look for the original of Junius. That Lord Shelburne knew Junius, and everything connected with the writing of his letters, is placed beyond a doubt by the evidence of Sir Richard Philips, who had a personal interview with him when Marquis of Lansdowne in 1804, and only a week before his death. After Sir Richard had stated to his lordship "that many persons had ascribed these letters to him, and that the world at large conceived that at least he was not unacquainted with the author," the Marquis smiled and said, "No, no, I am not equal to Junius, I could not be the author; but the grounds of secresy are now so far removed by death and changes of circumstances, that it is unnecessary the author of Junius should much longer be unknown. The world is curious about him, and I could make a very interesting publication on the subject. I knew Junius, and I knew all about the writing and production of these letters. But look,' said he, "at my condition. I don't think I can live a week; my legs, my strength tell me so; but the doctors, who always flatter sick men, assure me I am in no immediate danger. They order me into the country, and I am going there. If I live over the summer, which, however, I don't expect, I promise you a very interesting pamphlet about Junius. I will put my name to it. I will set that question at rest for ever." When still further pressed by Sir Richard, his lordship added: "I'll tell you this for your guide generally: Junius has never yet been publicly named. None of the parties ever guessed at as Junius was the true Junius. Nobody has ever suspected him. I knew him, and knew all about it, and I pledge myself, if these legs will permit me, to give you a pamphlet on the subject as soon as I feel myself equal to the labor."* As this remarkable declaration disproved every preceding theory of Junius that had come under his lordship's notice, some attempts were made to discredit the statement of Sir Richard Philips; but Sir Richard had no motive for practising any such deception upon the public; and even if his personal character did not protect him from such a charge, it would require evidence of a very peculiar kind to justify us even in doubting the truth of a statement so very probable in all its details. As Colonel Barré therefore had never been publicly named as the author of the letters of Junius, and as he was the personal and political friend of Lord Shelburne, Mr. Britton's theory rests upon a sound and rational foundation, and his arguments are entitled to a fair and candid examination. We regret, however, to find that he has taken it for granted that Junius is the author of the unacknowledged letters collected by Mr. George Woodfall, and that he has drawn many of his arguments from this fallacious source. Many years ago, the writer of this article had communicated to Mr. Woodfall himself his conviction that these letters were not the genuine production of Junius, and we are glad to observe that the same opinion has been recently maintained with much ability in the pages of the Athenæum. By rejecting these letters as his, we place the character of Junius in a more favorable light, while we deprive Mr. Britton of some of the strongest arguments in favor of Colonel Barré's claim. When Mr. Britton was at Hungerford about the end of the last century, he became acquainted with the Rev. Dr. Popham of Chilton, who had held for more than twenty years the vicarage of Lacock, in the vicinity of Bowood, the seat of Lord Shelburne. He was an occasional guest at that hospitable house during the period from 1769 to 1772, when the letters of Junius were publishing. Counsellor Dunning and Colonel Barré, for many years, spent the parliamentary recess at Bowood, the one having long represented the burgh of Calne, and the other that of High Wycombe. Dr. Popham was therefore often in their society, and among other subjects he heard the letters of Junius frequently discussed. He was surprised at the "difference of their language," when that subject was discussed by themselves, and in mixed parties, and he came to the conclusion that * Monthly Magazine, July, 1813. they were either the authors of the letters, | good abstract of his inquiries is now in our or were familiar with the writer. On a par- possession. ticular day, when Dr. Popham and the three politicians were the whole party at dinner, Junius was not only the subject of conversation, but a certain attack upon him was freely discussed. One of the party remarked, that this attack would be shown up and confuted in the next day's Advertiser. When the paper arrived next day, there appeared a note from the printer stating that the letter would appear in the ensuing number. Dr. Popham concluded from these facts that one of his three friends was Junius; and Mr. Britton informs us that Mr. Bayliff, and Mr. Ralph Gaby, two respectable solicitors of Chippenham, who had frequently met with the same parties at Bowood, entertained a similar opinion. Isaac Barré was the son of a foreign refugee, "settled by the Bishop of Clogher in a shop in Dublin, because his wife had nursed one of the bishop's children," and he was born in that city about the end of 1726. He was sent to Trinity College, Dublin, in 1740, and his name was entered in one of the Inns of Court in London, with the view of studying for the bar. Disliking, however, the profession which had been imposed upon him, he obtained an ensigncy in the 32d foot, on the 12th of February, 1746. His regiment, which was then in Flanders, returned to England in 1747; and having again gone to the Continent in 1748, it remained there till the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in the same year. From 1749 to 1753, Barré was at Gibraltar; About the same time, Mr. Britton's atten- and in the years 1754, 1755, (when he was tion was directed to a tombstone in Hunger- made lieutenant,) and 1756, his regiment was ford churchyard, to the memory of William quartered in Scotland. In 1758, Barré left Greatrakes, on which was the following in his regiment, and went out as a volunteer scription: Here are deposited the remains with the celebrated Wolfe, then Colonel of of William Greatrakes, Esq., a native of the 20th regiment, on the unsuccessful expeIreland, who, on his way from Bristol to Lon-dition to Rocheford. In order to make don, died in this town, in the 52d year of his age, on the 2d day of August, 1781. STAT NOMINIS UMBRA." This gentleman was a great friend of Lord Shelburne and Colonel Barré, and was an inmate in Lord Shelburne's house during the publication of the letters of Junius. A Captain Stopford, who attended Greatrakes on his deathbed, asserted that he had told him that he was the author of the letters of Junius, and a relation of the family is said to have discovered in his trunk "the letters of Junius, in the hand-writing of the deceased young man, with all the interlineations, corrections, and erasures, which sufficiently established them as the original manuscripts!"* these facts, Mr. Britton concludes, that Mr. Greatrakes was intimately concerned in the letters of Junius," "and that the task which devolved upon him was to copy the letters for the printer, under the immediate superintendence of Colonel Barré." 66 The opinion that Colonel Barré alone was Junius, was first broached and maintained by Captain Henderson, ordnance store-keeper at Chester, who in 1837 transmitted to the writer of this article an account of his investigations. Captain Henderson died in March, 1847, when he was preparing his remarks on Junius for the press; but Mr. Britton had access to his papers, and a very *Cork Mercantile Chronicle, September 7, 1806. amends for the failure, in the same year, of Ad- 66 The last as a specimen of the style," which, however, does not present the slightest resemblance to that of Junius. On the 13th of September, Wolfe fell on the plains of Abraham; the French General Montcalm shared the same fate; Barré was severely wounded in the eye and head; Monckton, the second in command, was disabled and hence the honor of transmitting an account of the victory to England, and the command of the army, devolved, for a short period, on Brigadier-General |