candidate; and that when the party he wishes well to has the fairest prospect of success, if his royal inclination shonld unfortunately be discovered, it drops like an acid, and turns the election? This event, among others, may perhaps contribute to open his Majesty's eyes to his real honour and interest. In spite of all your Grace's intgenuity, he may at last perceive the inconvenience of selecting, with such a curious felicity, every villain in the nation to fill the various departments of his government. Yet I should be sorry to confine him in the choice either of his footmen or his friends. JUNIUS. LETTER LI. SIR, FROM THE REVEREND MR. HORNE TO JUNIUS. July. 13. 1771. FARCE, Comedy, and Tragedy--Wilkes, Foote, same time against one poor The two former are only laand may equally plead in exI admit the plea for and Junius, united at the Parson, are fearful odds. bouring in their vocation; cuse, that their aim is a livelihood. the second; his is an honest calling, and my clothes were lawful game; but I cannot so readily approve Mr Wilkes or commend him for making patriotism a trade, and a fraudulent trade. But what shall I say to Junius? the grave, the solemn, the didactic! Ridicule indeed has been ridicuously called the test of truth; but surely, to confess that you lose your natural moderation when mention is made of the man, does not promise much truth or justice when you speak of him yourself You charge me with "a new zeal in support of admi"nistration," and with "endeavours in support of the "ministerial nomination of sheriffs." The reputation which your talents have deservedly gained to the signature of Junius, draws from me a reply, which I disdained to give to the anonymous lies 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.--I say, that, so far from any "new zeal in support of administration, "I am pos sessed with the utmost abhorence 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 connection 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 party or set of men in administration or opposition. I say, that I never used any "endeavours in support of the ministerial no"mination of sheriffs;" that I did not solicit any 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 favour of Messrs. Plumbe and Kirkman, whom I understand to have been supported by the ministry. You are bound to refute what I here advance, or to Jose your credit for veracity. You must produce facts: surmise and general abuse, in however elegant language, 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 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 public business, who does not even at his entrance, prepare his mind for such an event. Health, fortune, tranquillity, and private connections, I have sacrificed upon the altar of the public; and the only return I receive, because I will not concur to dupe and mislead 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 practise, before I am old, the lessons I learned in my youth; nor shall I ever forget the words of my ancient Monitor: "'Tis the last key-stone That makes the arch: the rest that there were put Meet some new matter to look up and wonder!" I am, Sir, your humble servant, LETTER LII. JOHN HORNE SIR, TO THE REVEREND MR. HORNE. July 24. 1771. I CANNOT descend to an altercation with you in the newspapers; but, since I have attacked your character, and you complain of injustice, I think you have 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. Horne to have solicited votes, and very difficult to have written for the newspapers in defence of that cause, without being detected and brought to shame. Neither do I pretend to any intelligence 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 letters I conclude that you have sold yourself to the ministry: or, if that charge be too severe, and supposing 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 sacrificed, as far as depended on your interest and abilities, the cause of the country? I can make allowance for the violence of the passions; and if ever I should be convinced that you had no motive but to destroy Wilkes, I shall then be ready to do justice to your character, and to declare to the world that I despise you somewhat less than. I do at present. man, I must for ever condemn you. But as a public You cannot but know,--nay, you dare not pretend to be ignorant, that the highest gratification 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 consummate hypocrite. Yet this man, to say nothing of his worthy ministers, you have most assiduously laboured 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 by increasing it in the other. The mode of your attack upon Wilkes (though I am far from thinking meanly of your abilities) convinces 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 interesting to the community, what a pitiful detail did it end in!-Some old clothes, a Welsh poney, a French footman, and a hamper of claret. Indeed, Mr. Horne, the public should, and will forgive him his claret and his footman, and even the ambition of making his brother chamberlain of London, as long as he stands forth against 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 king's side. You will not suspect me as setting up Wilkes for a perfect character. The questionto the public is, Where shall we find a man, who, with purer principles, 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 ministry 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 convince 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 under standing. I beg, Mr. Horne, 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 heretofore have lived on terms of politeness and good humour?-But I have done with you. In my opinion your credit is irrecoverably 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 imprisonment. As for Mr. Sawbridge, whose character I really respect, I am astonished he does not see through your duplicity. Never was so base a design so poorly conducted.--This letter, you see, is not intended for the public; but, if you think it will do you any service, you are at liberty to publish it. JUNIUS. P. S. This letter was transmitted privately by the printer to Mr. Horne, by Junius's request. Mr. Horne returned it to the printer, with directions to publish it. SIR, LETTER LIII. FROM THE REVEREND MR. HORNE TO JUNIUS. You have disappointed me. July 31. 1771: When I told you, that surmise and general abuse, in however elegant language, ought not pass for proofs, I evidently hinted at the reply which I expected: but you have dropped your usual elegance, and seem willingly to try what will be the effect of surmise and general abuse in very course language. Your answer to my letter (which I hope was cool, and temperate, and modest) has convinced me, that my idea of a man is much superior to yours of a gentleOf your former letters I have always said, Materiem superabat opus; I do not think so of the present; the principles are more detestable than the expressions are man. |