Ex Libris
C. K. OGDEN '
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
hr .T.
BOM'S STANDARD LIBRARY.
THE LETTERS OF JUNTOS.
VOL. L
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THE LETTERS
OF
J U N I U S
WOODFALL'S EDITION REVISED
AND ENLARGED BY
JOHN WADE.
VOL. I.
LONDON :
GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK ST., COVENT GARDEN,
AND NEW YORK.
1894.
LONDON .
BBPBINTED FROM THE STEKLOTYPE PLAT8 BY WM. CLOWES & BOSS, LTD.,
STAMFOBD 8T&BTT AND CBARIKG CROSS.
SOB
v, )
ADVEETISEMENT.
three generations have elapsed since the "Letters of
Junius " were first published ; and it may be safely affirmed
that, during this long ordeal, no contemporary work has main-
tained a higher estimation has received more marked and
uniform approval from competent literary judges or has
called into existence so many commentators, editors, and
investigators.
As there is little in the subject matter of these famous
epistles that could confer upon them such enduring celebrity,
they must be mainly indebted for it to the writer's extra-
ordinary powers, the varied resources of which have enabled
him, with the peculiar characteristic of genius, to dignify and
immortalize that which, in its own nature, is secondary and
perishable. In this respect Junius stands alone he is the
Napoleon of public writers ; and, like the author of the first
and noblest epic, though he has had a host of imitators, he is
still without an equal.
The STANDARD LIBRARY would have been imperfect had it
not included among its elect the most celebrated of political
gladiators. The very complete edition now submitted to the
public comprises all that was given in the three volumes pub-
lished in 1812, and again in 1814, by the late Mr. George
Woodfall indeed all that was authentically known of Junius
and his writings.
To specify more distinctly the merits of Woodfall's edition,
now reprinted entire, it may be proper to enumerate its con-
tents, which are: 1. The public letters of Junius as revised
and annotated by himself, and published collectively, under his
direction, subsequent to their appearance in the Public Adver-
tiser. 2. A collection of Miscellaneous Letters, ascribed to
Junius. 3. His private notes and confidential communica-
tions with Mr. Woodfall (published only after they had beeii
Vi ADVERTISEMENT.
preserved in honourable privacy for forty years). 4. Illus-
trative notes ; and a copious Preliminary Essay, comprising a
critical analysis of the Letters : and an examination of the
various claims to their authorship.
In an edition already so complete little scope was left for
useful enlargement. Nevertheless, even in this respect, some-
thing has been contributed. Besides a more careful discrimina-
tion of the authentic writings of Junius, the Editor, by the
courtesy of the present proprietor of the Junius Manuscripts,
and the abundant materials placed at his disposal by the
publisher, has been enabled to present further illustrations.
He has examined the formidable array of "inquiries" with
considerable diligence, and the reader will have the benefit
of the little that is to be gleaned from them.
But his most critical task is reserved for the second and
concluding volume. Junius remains at least una vowed. The
editor's own impression as to the authorship is strong, based,
he thinks, upon adequate testimony; but his hero and his
arguments must be deferred until the due season of pub-
lication. The solemn enunciation, that " I am the sole de-
positary of my own secret, and it shall perish with me," has
to the present time been kept inviolate.
Since the present volume was put to press, the publisher
has become possessed of some manuscripts relative to Junius
by the late Sir Harris Nicolas, destined, it is believed, towards
a new edition. This acute scholar had devoted his mind to
the subject for years, and has drawn up an ingenious analysis,
which will be presented to the reader in the next volume.
1854.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
ADVERTISEMENT to present Edition T
PRELIMINARY ESSAY on Junius and his Writings 1
DEDICATION to the English Nation 85
PREFACE by Junius 91
LETTER I. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser 102
II. Sir William Draper's reply 112
Short Sketch of Sir William Draper's character note, 116
III. Junius to Sir William Draper 116
Corsica reduced by the French note, 117
IV. Second Letter of Sir Wm. Draper to Junius 121
V. Junius to Sir William Draper 126
VI. Sir William Draper to Junius 126
Til. Junius to Sir William Draper 129
Sir William Draper to the Printer 132
vm. Junius to the Duke of Grafton 134
ix. Junius to the same 141
x. Junius to Mr. Edward Weston 144
xi. Junius to the Duke of Grafton 147
XII. Junius to the same 153
Statement of American politics at this period note, 158
xm. Philo-Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 162
Xiv. Second Letter of Philo-Junius 164
XV. Junius to the Duke of Grafton . 168
Note on Parties 168
XVI. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 175
Statement of Mr. Walpole's expulsion from the House of
Commons notes, 178
XVII. Philo-Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 180
A speech without doors (Sir William Blackstone's) on the
Middlesex election note, 184
xvni. Junius to Dr. William Blackstone 185
XIX. Philo-Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser .-. 190
Pamphlet ascribed to Sir William Blackstone 191
XX. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 197
Philo-Junius in explanation 202
XXL Junius on Walpole's case 204
XXII. Philo-Junius to the Public Advertiser 205
Xxiii. Junius to the Duke of Bedford 210
On the unpopular peace of 1763, and anecdote of the
Duke notes, 210
Vlll
CONTENTS
LETTER 1>A01
xxiv. Sir William Draper to Junius 219
xxv. Junius to Sir William Draper ... 221
XXVI. Sir William Draper's parting better to Junius 224
Note on Sir William Draper 227
XXVII. Junius in reply to Sir William Draper 228
M. Tullius in defence of the Duke of Bedford note, 232
xxvui. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 234
xxix. Philo-Junius to Modestus 235
XXX. Junius on Rescue of General Gansel 239
General Gansel's case, and brigade order in consequence of
it note, 240
xxxi. Philo-Junins to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 245
xxxn. Junius on Modestus 248
xxxni. Junius to the Duke of Grafton 249
xxxiv. Junius to the same 250
Justice to the Printer of the Public Advertiser in defence of
the Duke of Grafton, on the gift of the patent place to Col.
Burgoyne note, 253
xxxv. Junius's address to the King 255
On Woodfall's trial for publishing this letter note, 255
Wilkes, his imprisonment note, 268
xxxvi. Junius to his Grace the Duke of Grafton 270
xxxvii. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 279
Address, remonstrance and petition of the city of London to
the King ."..... note, 280
His Majesty's answer to the foregoing note, 280
The Lord Mayor's (Beckford) reply to his Majesty's an-
swer note, 281
Xixviil. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 285
xxxix. Junius's Retrospect of Parliamentary Session 291
XL. Junius to Lord North 303
XLI. To Chief Justice Mansfield 305
Lord Mansfield. Explanation of the story of his having drank
the Pretender's health upon his knees note, 307
Judge Yates. Anecdote of him note, 310
XLII. Junius on the Falkland Islands 316
Dr. Johnson. Extracts from his " Thoughts on the late
transactions respecting Falkland's Islands " note, 324
XLIII. Philo-Junius on the Spanish convention 325
Publication of Parliamentary Debates 328
XLIV. Junius on Privileges of Parliament 328
XLV. Philo-Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 339
XLVL Mr Walpole's case... 340
Erasure of the decision of the House of Commons, on the
Middlesex election, from their Journals, with Mr. Wilkes's
speech in prefacing his motion for that purpose note, 342
Short biographical notice of Mr. Wilkes's political life, from
the period of publishing the North Briton, No. 45, to hig
death note, 344
CONTENTS.
LETTER PAG1
XLVII. Philo-Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 346
XLVIII. Junius on Parliamentary resolutions 349
XLIX. Junius to the Duke of Grafton 350
L. Election of Messrs. Wilkes and Bull to be sheriffs of Lon-
don, and Mr. Robinson's note in favour of the ministerial
candidates note, 38
Origin of the dispute between Junius and Mr. Home ...note, 358
LI. The Rev. Mr. Home to Junius 360
LII. Junius to the Rev. Mr. Home 364
Account of the quarrel between Mr. Wilkes and Mr. Home,
and extracts from various letters which passed between
them during the dispute note, 368
Lin. The Rev. Mr. Home to Junius 372
Mr. Home's explanation, as extracted from one of his letters,
of his reasons for originally supporting Mr. Wilkes... note, 375
Mr. Wilkes's reply to a passage in the foregoing extract. . .note, 376
W. B. to the Rev. Mr. Home, on a passage in his letter,
taken from a remark made by Mr. Wilkes on the margin
of his Clarendon note, 380
Vote of thanks from the Common Council to Lord Chatham,
for his declaration in favour of short parliaments note, 384
Lord Chatham's reply to the committee deputed to present it 385
LIT. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 387
LV. Philo-Junius to the same 394
LVI. The Rev. Mr. Home to Junius 396
LYII . Junius to the Duke of Grafton 397
Story of the Oaks, in answer to Junius's charge against the
Duke of Grafton respecting Whittlebury Forest note, 403
LVIII. Junius to the Livery of London 405
LIX. Junius recommends union 408
LX. Philo-Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 417
Scaevola to Junius in defence of Lord Camden note, 418
LXI. Philo-Junius to Zeno 421
Zeno, addressed to Junius, alias Edmund the Jesuit of St.
Omer's note, 421
LXII. Philo-Junius to an Advocate in the cause of the People 429
The letter of an Advocate, &c. to which the foregoing is an
answer note, 432
LXIII. A friend of Junius, in answer to a Barrister-at-law 432
The Barrister's letter note, 435
LXIV. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser Declaration in
behalf of Junius 437
LXV, Junius to the Lord Chief Justice Mansfield 440
Statement of the case of Eyre note, 441
LXVI. Junius engage* to make good his charge against Lord C. J.
Mansfield 441
LXTII. Junius to the Duke of Grafton 441
Disgraceful anecdote of Lord Imham 443
txvin. Junius to Lord C. J. Mansfield . 445
X CONTENTS.
1ETTER 1'AOE
LXVIII. Case of the Kennedys 468
LXIX. Junius to Lord Camden 465
Extracts from the letter of Junius to Mr. Wilkes, dated
Sept. 7, 1771 467
Conclusion 470
APPENDIX.
Trial of Mr. Woodfall 471
Fees and Expenses of Imprisonment 474
Imprisonment of Mr. Wilkes note, 477
Original Letter of David Garrick -.. 477
Extract from Lord Mansfield's Speech 478
PRELIMINARY ESSAY*.
IT was not from personal vanity, but a fair estimate of his
own merit, and the importance of the subject on which he
wrote, that the author of the ensuing letters predicted their
immortality. Their matter and their manner, the times they
describe, and the talents they disclose, the popularity which
attended them at their outset, the impression they produced
on the public mind, and the triumph of most of the doctrines
they inculcate, all equally concur in stamping for them a
passport to the most distant posterity.
In their range these letters comprise a period of about five
years : from the middle of 1767 to the middle of 1772 : and
never has the history of this country, from its origin to the
present hour, exhibited a period of equal extent that more
peremptorily demanded the severe, decisive, and overpower-
ing pen of such a writer as JUNTOS. The storms and tem-
* This able and comprehensive Essay on Junius and his Writings was
affixed to Woodfall's edition published in 1812, and is ascribed to John
Mason Good, a ph ysician and miscellaneous writer of eminence, who died
Jan. 2, 1827 Of its purport and the views of the writer some observations
by the present editor will be found at the end. The commencement of the
second paragraph requires passing- explanation. The Letters of Junius as
acknowledged by him, and published under his own revision in a collec-
tive edition in 1772, by Henry Sampson Woodfall, proprietor of the Public
Advertiser, appeared in that journal between Jan. 21, 1769, and Jan. 21,
1772, concluding with a brief impressive letter addressed to Lord Gamden,
and a paper by Junius, explanatory of his views on long parliaments and
rotten boroughs. Dr. Good includes in the term of Jive years the Miscella-
neous Letters given in the second volume of the present edition, some of
which Junius acknowledges to have written, at an earlier or later period,
under different signatures; and other letters collected by Mason Good, of
which the authorship is not equally well authenticated.
The omission of a quotation or two, of no present interest, and the correc-
tion of a few inaccuracies of language, are the only alterations that have been
made in the Preliminary Eway. EDITOE.
VOL. I. B
Vv
2 PBELIMINARY ESSAY ON
pests that, within the last twenty years, have shaken the
political world to its centre, have been wider and more tre-
mendous in their operation ; but they have, for the most
part, discharged their fury at a distance. The constitutions
of other countries have been swept away by the whirlwind;
but that of England still towers, like the pyramids of Egypt,
a wonderful fabric, overshadowing the desert that surrounds
it, and defying the violence of its hurricanes. In the period
however in question, this admirable structure of govemment
was itself attacked, and trembled to its foundation ; a series
of unsuccessful ministries, often profligate and corrupt, and
not unfrequently cunning, rather than capable ; a succession
of weak and obsequious parliaments, and an arbitrary, though
able chief justice, addicted to the impolitic measures of the
cabinet, fatally concurred to confound the relative powers of
the state, and equally to unhinge the happiness of the crown
and of the people ; to frustrate all the proud and boasted
triumphs of a glorious war, concluded but a few years before
by an inglorious peace * ; to excite universal contempt abroad,
and universal discord at home. Hence France, humiliated as
she was by her losses and defeats, did not hesitate to invade
Corsica in open defiance of the remonstrances of the British
minister, and succeeded in obtaining possession of it ; whilst
Spain dishonourably refused to make good the ransom she
had agreed to, for the restoration of the capital of the Phi-
lippine Isles, which had been exempted from pillage upon this
express stipulation. They saw the weakness and distraction
of the English Cabinet, and had no reason to dread the chas-
tisement of a new war.
The discontents in the American colonies, which a little
address might at first have stifled, were blown into a flame
cf open rebellion, through the impolitic violence of the very
minister who was appointed, by the creation of a new office
at this very time and for this express purpose, to examine
into the causes of dissatisfaction, and to redress the griev-
ances complained of; while, at home, the whole of the ways
and means of the ministry, instead of being directed against
the arn gance of the common enemy, were exhausted against an
individual, who, perhaps, would never have been so greatly dis-
* IB 1763, through the negotiation of the Duke of Bedford.
JUN1US AND HIS WRITINGS. 3
tiuguished, had not the ill-judged and contumacious opposition
of the cabinet, and their flagrant violation of the most sacred
and important principles of the constitution in order to punish
him, raised him to a height of popularity seldom attained
even by the most successful candidate for public applause ,
and embroiled themselves on his account in a dispute with
the nation at large, almost amounting to a civil war, and which
at length only terminated in their own utter confusion and
defeat*.
It was at this period, and under these circumstances, that
the ensuing letters successively made their appearance in the
Public Advertiser, the most current newspaper of the day f.
The classic purity of their language, the exquisite force and
perspicuity of their argument, the keen severity of their re-
proach, the extensive information they evince, their fearless
and decisive tone, and, above all, their stern and steady at-
tachment to the purest principles of the constitution, acquired
for them, with an almost electric speed, a popularity which
no series of letters have since possessed, nor, perhaps, ever
will; and what is of far greater consequence, diffused among
the body of the people a clearer knowledge of their constitu-
tional rights than they had ever before attained, and animated
them with a more determined spirit to maintain them invio-
late. Enveloped in the cloud of a fictitious name, the writer
of these philippics, unseen himself, beheld with secret satis-
faction the vast influence of his labours, and enjoyed, though,
as we shall afterwards observe, not always without apprehen-
sion, the universal lumt that was made to detect him in his
disguise. He beheld the people extolling him, the court
execrating him, and ministers and more than ministers trem-
bling beneath the lash of his invisible hand.
That the same general impression was produced by the
appearance of these letters in parliament, which is so well
known to have been produced out of it, is evident from al-
most all the speeches of the day, as the ensuing extracts
from speeches delivered by Mr. Burke and Lord North will
attest.
* In the language of Lord Chatham, delivered May 1, 1771, in the Houae
of Lords, " they rendered the very name of parliament ridiculous, by carrying
on a constant war against Mr. Wilkes."
f They were generally copied from the Public Advertiser into all the daily
and evening papers.
B 3
4 PRELIMINARY E88AT ON
" Whore then shall we look for the origin of this relixation of the la\ri
and all government] How comes this Junius to haye broke through the
cobwebs of the law, and to range uncontrolled, unpunished, through the
land I The mvrmidons of the court have been long, and are still, pursuing
him in vain. They will not spend their time upon me, or you, or you. No :
they disdain such vermin, when the mighty boar of the forest, that has broke
through all their toils, is before them. But what will all their efforts avail ]
No sooner has he wounded one than he lays down another dead at his feet.
For my part, when I saw his att.ick upon the king, I own my blood ran
eold. I thought he had ventured too far, and there was an end of his
triumphs, not that he had not asserted many truths. Yes, Sir, there are in
that composition many bold truths, by which a wise prince might profit. It
was the rancour and venom 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 crouched, and still crouch, beneath his rage. Nor has he
dreaded the terrors of your brow, Sir ; he has attacked even you he has
and I believe you have no reason to 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 ex-
pected from his knowledge, his firmness, and integrity 1 He would be easily
known by his contempt of all danger, by his penetration, by his vigour.
Nothing would escape his vigilance and activity. Bad ministers could con-
ceal nothing from his sagacity ; nor could promises nor threats induce him to
conceal anything from the public."
The following is part of a speech delivered by Lord North :
" When factions and discontented men have brought things to this pass,
why should we be surprised at the difficulty of bringing libellers to justice ?
Why should we wonder that the great boar of the wood, this mighty Junius,
has broke through the toils and foiled the hunters ? 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. The public will see and feel that he
has either advanced false facts, or reasoned falsely from true principles ; and
that he has owed his escape to the spirit of the times, not to the justice of
his cause. The North Briton, the most flagitious libel of its day, would have
been equally secure, had it been as powerfully supported. But the press had
not then overflowed the land with its black gall, and poisoned the minds of
the people. Political writers had some shame left ; they had some reverenct
for the crown, some respect for the name of Majesty. Nor were there any
members of parliament hardy enough to harangue in defence of libels.
Lawyers could hardly be brought to plead for them. But the scene is now
entirely changed. Without doors, within doors, the same abusive strains
prevail. Libels find patrons in both Houses of Parliament as well as in
Westminster Hall. Nay, they pronounce libels on the very judges. Thej
JUNTOS AND HIS WRITJXGS. O
pervert the privilege of this house to the purposes of faction. They catch
and swallow the breath of the inconstant multitude, because, I suppose, they
take their voice, which is now that of libels, to be the voice of God."
It is not the intention of the editor of the present volumes
to vindicate the whole of the method pursued by Junius towards
the accomplishment of the patriotic objects on which his heart
appears to have been most ardently engaged. Much of his
individual sarcasm might perhaps have been spared with ad-
vantage and especially the whole of his personal assaults
upon the character and motives of the king. Aware as the
editor is of the arguments in favour of occasionally attacking
the character of the chief magistrate, as urged by Junius him-
self in his Preface, he still thinks that no possible circum-
stances could justify so gross a disrespect and indecency; that
no principle of the constitution supports it, and that every
advantage it was calculated to produce, might have been ob-
tained in an equal degree, and to an equal extent, by animad-
verting upon the conduct of the king's ministers, instead of
censuring that of the king in person. In the volumes before
us the editor is ready to acknowledge that these kinds of
paragraphs seem at times not altogether free from what ought
never to enter the pages of a writer on national subjects in-
dividual spleen and enmity. But well may we forgive such
trivial aberrations of the heart, in the midst of the momentous
matter these volumes are well known to contain, the import-
ant principles they inculcate ; and especially under the recol-
lection that, but for the letters of Junius, the Commons of
England might still have been without a knowledge of the
transactions of the House of Commons, consisting of their par-
liamentary representatives have been exposed to arbitrary
violations of individual liberty, under undefined pretexts of
parliamentary privileges against which there were no appeal
defrauded of their estates upon capricious and interested
claims of the crown and deprived of the constitutional right
of a jury to consider the question of law as well as of fact.
To the steady patriotism of the late Mr. Fox is the nation
solely indebted for a direct legislative decision upon this last
important point; but the ground was previously cleared by
the letters before us ; it is not often that a judge has dared
openly to controvert this right since the manly and unanswer-
able argument of Junius upon tLis subject, in opposition to
6 PRELIMINARY ESSAY OH
the arbitrary arid illegal doctrine of Lord Mansfield, as urged
in the case of the King v. Woodfall : an argument which
seems to have silenced every objection, to have convinced
every party, and without which perhaps even the zeal and