as potent enemies as it now hath, yet the king of England your coach, or stationed at a theatre? And if you are, in prevailed" reality, that public man, that king, that magistrate, which Some opinion may now be expected from me, upon a these questions suppose you to be, is it any answer to point of equal delicacy to the writer, and hazard to the your people, to say, that among your domestics you are printer When the character of the chief magistrate is good-humored, that to one lady you are faithful, that to in question, more must be understood than may be safely your children you are indulgent? Sir, the man who ad expressed. If it be really a part of our constitution, and dresses you in these terms, is your best friend: he would not a mere dictum of the law, that the king can do no willingly hazard his life in defense of your title to the wrong, it is not the only instance, in the wisest of human crown; and, if power be your object, will still show you institutions, where theory is at variance with practice. how possible it is for a king of England, by the noblest That the sovereign of this country is not amenable to any means, to be the most absolute prince in Europe. You form of trial known to the laws, is unquestionable: but have no enemies, sir, but those who persuade you to aim exemption from punishment is a singular privilege an- at power without right, and who think it flattery to tell nexed to the royal character, and no way excludes the you, that the character of king dissolves the natural repossibility of deserving it. How long, and to what ex- lation between guilt and punisment." tent, a king of England may be protected by the forms, I cannot conceive that there is a heart so callous, or when he violates the spirit of the constitution, deserves an understanding so depraved, as to attend to a discourse to be considered. A mistake in this matter proved fatal of this nature, and not to feel the force of it. But where to Charles and his son. For my own part, far from think- is the man, among those who have access to the closet, ing that the king can do no wrong, far from suffering resolute and honest enough to deliver it? The liberty of myself to be deterred or imposed upon by the language the press is our only resource: it will command an audiof forms, in opposition to the substantial evidence of ence when every honest man in the kingdom is excluded. truth; if it were my misfortune to live under the in- This glorious privilege may be a security to the king as auspicious reign of a prince, whose whole life was em- well as a resource to his people. Had there been no star ployed in one base, contemptible struggle with the free chamber, there would have been no rebellion against spirit of his people, or in the detestable endeavor to cor- Charles the First. The constant censure and admonition rupt their moral principles, I would not scruple to de- of the press would have corrected his conduct, prevented clare to him, "Sir, you alone are the author of the great- a civil war, and saved him from an ignominious death. I est wrong to your subjects and to yourself. Instead of am no friend to the doctrine of precedents, exclusive of reigning in the hearts of your people, instead of com- right; though lawyers often tell us, that whatever has manding their lives and fortunes through the medium of been once done may lawfully be done again. I shall contheir affections; has not the strength of the crown, clude this preface with a quotation, applicable to the subwhether influence or prerogative, been uniformly ex-ject, from a foreign writer,* whose Essay on the English erted, for eleven years together, to support a narrow, Constitution I beg leave to recommend to the public, as a pitiful system of government which defeats itself, and performance deep, solid, and ingenious. answers no one purpose of real power, profit, or per- "In short, whoever considers what it is that constitutes sonal satisfaction to you? With the greatest unappro- the moving principle of what we call great affairs, and priated revenue of any prince in Europe, have we not the invincible sensibility of man to the opinion of his fel seen you reduced to such vile and sordid distresses, as low-creatures, will not hesitate to affirm, that if it were would have conducted any other man to a prison? With possible for the liberty of the press to exist in a despotic a great military, and the greatest naval power in the government, and (what is not less difficult)for it to exist known world, have not foreign nations repeatedly in- without changing the constitution, this liberty of the sulted you with impunity? Is it not notorious that the press would alone form a counterpoise to the power of vast revenues, extorted from the labor and industry of the prince. If, for example, in an empire of the East, a your subjects, and given you to do honor to yourself and sanctuary could be found, which, rendered respectable to the nation, are dissipated in corrupting their repre- by the ancient religion of the people, might ensure safety sentatives? Are you a prince of the house of Hanover, to those who should bring thither their observations of and do you exclude all the leading Whig families from any kind; and that, from thence printed papers should your councils? Do you profess to govern according to issue, which, under a certain seal, might be equally relaw, and is it consistent with that profession to impart spected, and which, in their daily appearance, should exyour confidence and affection to those men only who, amine and freely discuss the conduct of the cadis, the though now, perhaps, detached from the desperate cause bashaws, the vizir, the divan, and the sultan himself; of the pretender, are marked in this country by an hered- that would introduce immediately some degree of libitary attachment to high and arbitrary principles of goverty." ernment? Are you so infatuated as to take the sense of your people from the representation of ministers, or from the shouts of a mob, notoriously hired to surround *Monsieur de Lolme. LETTERS OF JUNIUS. LETTER I. sovereign 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 characters, 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 there is no extremity of distress, which, of itself, ought to re ADDRESSED TO THE PRINTER OF THE PUBLIC ADVERTISER. SIR, January 21, 1769. The submission of a free people to the executive authority of government, is no more than a compliance with laws which they themselves have enacted. While the national honor is firmly maintained abroad, and while justice is impartially administered at home, the obedience of the subject will be voluntary, cheerful, and, I might almost say, unlimited. 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 an affection for his person. Loyalty, in the heart and understanding of an Englishman, is a rational attachment to the guardian of the laws. Prejudices and passion have sometimes carried it to a criminal length, and, whatever foreigners may imagine, we know that Englishman have erred as much in a mistaken zeal for particular persons and families, as they ever did in defense of what they thought most dear and interesting to them-duce a great nation to despair. It is not the disor selves. 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 at what moment it would have been treachery to themselves not to have resisted. How nuch warmer will be our resentment, if experience 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 justify suspicion; and when the safety of a nation is at stake, suspicion is a just ground of inquiry. Let us enter into it with candor 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 adopted with moderation. der, but the physician: it is not a casual concurrence of calamitous circumstances; it is the pernicious hand of government which alone can make a whole people desperate. Without much political sagacity, or any extraordinary 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 mischief 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 professions which gave him a moment's popularity, we see him from every honorable engagement to the public, an apostate by design. As for business, the world yet knows nothing of his talents or resolution; unless a wayward, wavering inconsistency be a mark The ruin or prosperity of a state depends so much of genius, and caprice a demonstration of spirit. It may upon the administration of its government, that, to be said, perhaps that it is his grace's province, as surebe acquainted with the merit of a ministry, we need ly it is his passion, rather to distribute than to save the only observe the condition of the people. If we see public money; and that while lord North is chancelthem obedient to the laws, prosperous in their in- lor of the exchequer, the first lord of the treasury dustry, united at home, and respected abroad, we may be as thoughtless and extravagant as he pleases. may reasonably presume that their affairs are con- I hope, however, he will not rely too much on the ducted by men of experience, abilities, and virtue. fertility of lord North's genius for finance: his lordIf, on the contrary, we see an universal spirit of dis-ship is yet to give us the first proof of his abilities. trust and dissatisfaction, a rapid decay of trade, dis- It may be candid to suppose that he has hitherto sensions in all parts of the empire, and a total loss | voluntarily concealed his talents; intending, perof respect in the eyes of foreign powers, we may pro-haps, to astonish the world, when we least expect it, nounce, without hesitation, that the government of with a knowledge of trade, a choice of expedients, that country is weak, distracted, and corrupt. The and a depth of resources, equal to the necessities, and multitude, in all countries, are patient to a certain point. Il usage may rouse their indignation, and Murry them into excesses; but the original fault is in government. Perhaps there never was an instance of a change in the circumstances and temper of a whole nation so sudden and extraordinary as that which the misconduct of ministers has, within these few years, produced in Great Britain. When our gracious *The duke of Grafton took the office of secretary of state, with an engager ent to support the marquis of Rockingham's administration. He resigned, however, in a little time, under pretense that he could not act without lord Chatham, nor bear to see Mr. Wilkes abandoned; but that under lord Chatham, he would act in any office. When lord Chatham came in, the duke got possession of This was the signal of lord Rockingham's dismission. the treasury. Reader, mark the consequence! far beyond the hopes of his country. He must now have appeared, let his measures, as far as they have exert the whole power of his capacity, if he would operated, determine for him. In the former we have wish us to forget, that, since he has been in office, no seen strong assertions without proof, declamation plan has been formed, no system adhered to, nor any without argument, and violent censures without one important measure adopted for the relief of pub- dignity or moderation; but neither correctness in lic credit. If his plan for the service of the current the composition, nor judgment in the design. As for year be not irrevocably fixed on, let me warn him to his measures, let it be remembered, that he was think seriously of consequences, before he ventures called upon to conciliate and unite; and that, when to increase the public debt. Outraged and oppressed he entered into office, the most refractory of the as we are, this nation will not bear, after a six years' colonies were still disposed to proceed by the conpeace, to see new millions borrowed, without an stitutional methods of petition, and remonstrance. eventual diminution of debt, or reduction of interest. Since that period they have been driven into exThe attempt might rouse a spirit of resentment which cesses little short of rebellion. Petitions have been might reach beyond the sacrifice of a minister. As hindered from reaching the throne; and the continuto the debt upon the civil list, the people of England ance of one of the principal assemblies rested upon expect that it will not be paid without a strict in- an arbitrary condition,* which, considering the temquiry how it was incurred. If it must be paid by per they were in, it was impossible they should com. parliament, let me advise the chancellor of the ex-ply with; and which would have availed nothing as chequer to think of some better expedient than a to the general question, if it had been complied with. lottery. To support an expensive war, or in circum-So violent, and, I believe, I may call it, so unconstances of absolute necessity, a lottery may, perhaps, stitutional, an exertion of the prerogative, to say be allowable; but, besides that it is at all times the nothing of the weak, injudicious terms in which it very worst way of raising money upon the people, I was conveyed, gives us as humble an opinion of his think it ill becomes the royal dignity to have the lordship's capacity, as it does of his temper and debts of a king provided for, like the repairs of a moderation. While we are at peace with other country bridge, or a decayed hospital. The manage-nations, our military force may, perhaps, be spared ment of the king's affairs in the house of commons, to support the earl of Hillsborough's measures in cannot be more disgraced than it has been. A lead- America. Whenever that force shall be necessarily ing minister* repeatedly called down for absolute withdrawn or diminished, the dismission of such a ignorance, ridiculous motions ridiculously withdrawn, deliberate plans disconcerted, 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 influence. 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 friends. 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 the empire which had benefited most by the expenses of the war, should contribute something to the expenses of the peace, and he had no doubt of the constitutional right vested in parliament to raise the .contribution. But, unfortunately for his country, Mr. Grenville 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 declamation gave spirit and argument 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 colonies is invented, and a question revived which ought to have been buried in oblivion. In these circumstances a new office is established for the business of 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 superior capacity and knowledge. Whether he be so or not, let his despatches, as far as they *This happened frequently to poor lord North. ham. Yet Junius has been called the partisan of lord Chat 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 declamation. 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 Weymouth was equally qualified for either department:† by what unaccountable caprice has it happened, that the latter, who pretends to no experience whatsoever, is removed to the most important of the two departments; and the former, by preference, placed in an office where his experience can be of no use to him? Lord Weymouth had distinguished himself, in 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 ser vice of the crown. It was not the heat of midnight excesses, nor ignorance of the laws, nor the furions spirit of the house of Bedford; no, sir, when this respectable minister interposed his authority 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 deliberate motion of his heart, supported by the best of his judgment. It has lately been a fashion to pay a compliment to the bravery and generosity of the commander-inchief, at the expense of his understanding. They *That they should retract one of their resolutions, and erase the entry of it. bassador in France, had quarrelled with the duke of + It was pretended that the earl of Rochford, while am Choiseul; and that, therefore, he was appointed to the northern department, out of compliment to the French minister The late lord Granby. who love him least make no question of his courage, were possible for us to escape a crisis so full of while his friends dwell chiefly on the facility of his terror and despair, posterity will not believe the hisdisposition. Admitting him to be as brave as a total tory of the present times. They will either conclude absence of all feeling and reflection can make him, that our distresses were imaginary, or that we had let us see what sort of merit he derives from the re- the good' fortune to be governed by men of acknowlmainder of his character. If it be generosity to accu-edged integrity and wisdom: they will not believe it mulate, in his own person and family, a number of possible, that their ancestors could have surlucrative employments; to provide, at the public ex-vived or recovered from so desperate a condition, pense, for every creature that bears the name of Man- while a duke of Grafton was prime minister, a lord ners; and, neglecting the merit and services of the North chancellor of the exchequer; a Weymouth and rest of the army, to heap promotions upon his favor- a Hillsborough secretaries of state; a Granby comites and dependents; the present commander-in- mander-in-chief; and a Mansfield chief criminal chief is the most generous man alive. Nature has judge of the kingdom. been sparing of her gifts to this noble lord; but where birth and fortune are united, we expect the noble pride and independence of a man of spirit, not the servile humiliating complaisance of a courtier. As to the goodness 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 preserved, what thanks 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, that this country is so highly indebted to Sir Edward Hawke, that no expense should be spared to secure to him an honorable and affluent retreat. The pure and impartial administration of justice is, perhaps, the firmest bond to secure a cheerful submission of the people, and to engage their affections to government. It is not sufficient that questions of private right or wrong are justly decided, nor that judges are superior to the vileness of pecuniary corruption. Jefferies 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 community. A judge, under the influence of government, may be honest enough in the decision of private 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 injudicious. 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 dispositions to make common cause even with a man whose conduct they censure, if they see him persecuted in a way which the real spirit of the laws will not justify. The facts on which these remarks are founded are too notorious to require an application. This, sir, is the detail. In one view behold a nation overwhelmed with debt; her revenues wasted, her trade declining; the affections of her colonies alienated; the duty of the magistrate transferred 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 people. This deplorable scene admits of but one addition; 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 JUNIUS. LETTER II. TO THE PRINTER OF THE PUBLIC ADVERTISER. SIR, January 26, 1769. The kingdom swarms with such numbers of felonious robbers of private character and virtue, that no honest or good man is safe; especially as these cowardly, base assassins, stab in the dark, without 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 situation of his country in a very affecting manner. With a pompous parade of his candor and decency, he tells us that we see dissensions in all parts of the empire, an universal spirit of distrust and dissatisfaction, and a total loss of respect towards us in the eyes of foreign powers. But this writer, with all his boasted candor, has not told us the real cause of the evils he so pathetically enumerates. 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 when our deluded people at home, and foreigners abroad, read the poisonous and inflammatory libels that are daily published with impunity, to vilify those who are any way distinguished by their good qualities and eminent virtues; when they find no notice taken of, or reply given to these slanderous tongues or pens, their conclusion is, that both the ministers and the nation have been fairly described, and they act accordingly. I think it, therefore, the duty of every good citizen to stand forth, and endeavor to undeceive the public, when the vilest arts are made use of to defame and blacken the brightest characters among us. An eminent author affirms it to be almost as criminal to hear worthy man traduced, 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 endeavored to sacrifice our beloved commander-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 his high station, and destitute of those qualities which form a good general. 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 respect and decency at least; but this uncandid, indecent |