which disorder never rose to delirium, I was marvellously struck by the Letters of Junius, and my rapture increased at every review of the brilliant and weighty volumes. The high and noble bearing of that writer seemed akin to that daring spirit which impelled the Americans to declare not only resistance but defiance to the gigantic power of Britain—an inspiration we believed like that which emboldened young David to combat and prostrate Goliah. After a thoughtful series of years spent on the subject of our inquiry, and reiterated examination of facts as they rose; and after disciplining speculation by internal as well as external evidence, I had concluded and settled down many years since in the opinion that William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, was the author of the celebrated letters under the signature of Junius."

But notwithstanding all the new lights afforded by "Woodfall's Junius," and with every possible respect for the industry, ingenuity, and abilties of the more recent investigators, it may be doubted whether, among the numerous persons who have engaged in this inquiry, any of them possessed qualifications for the task, equal to Mr. Wilkes and Mr. Charles Butler, who jointly investigated the subject with great diligence and acumen. Mr. Wilkes, as before observed, had been honoured with the confidential correspondence of Junius himself. And Mr. Butler was one of the most eminent conveyancers of his time, and accustomed in his daily professional avocations to weigh and decide on the most subtle and refined points of evidence.

In his reminiscences, Mr. Butler has given the following account of their proceedings: "One of the

amusements of Mr. Wilkes and the reminiscent was an attempt to discover the author of Junius's letters. With this view they considered them with great attention, examined many of the originals, collected and sifted all the anecdotes which they could learn, and weighed all the opinions and conjectures they could hear of."

These conversations took place from the years 1776 to about 1784, during which time Mr. Butler lived on terms of great intimacy with Mr. Wilkes; and Mr. Butler adds, 66 our conversations on Junius's Letters began from a whimsical circumstance. Business having carried me to Ireland in 1776, I wrote to Mr. Wilkes from Holyhead. On my return, he informed me that my letter had been stopped at the post-office, from the similarity in the handwriting to that of Junius.* This made me wish to see the original of Junius's letters, and he produced them to me." By this investigation, these gentlemen did not so far satisfy their own minds as to pronounce with any degree of certainty who was the author of the letters of Junius; but, Mr. Butler has left on record in his reminiscences the following conclusions, as the result of their inquiry, which we cannot but regard

* It has been suggested that this must have been a hoax of that arch wag, John Wilkes; and it has been asked, how should a Post-office clerk become acquainted with Junius's mode of writing, unless the authorities of the Post Office had first opened all Letters addressed to Mr. Woodfall, until they happened to meet with that rarity, a letter of Junius, sent by the post? Mr. Barker's supposition, "that a clerk, or some other person, accidentally acquainted with Junius' handwriting, saw the letter of Mr. Butler, and thought he discovered a similitude," is by no means satisfactory, as it still leaves the main question unanswered, viz., how could a Post-office clerk accidentally discover what Junius and Woodfall took such pains to conceal?

as a memorial highly honourable to the acuteness and sagacity of these two able investigators, and we therefore present them to the reader, as affording data of the utmost value in pursuing the proposed inquiry.

"Arguing synthetically," says Mr. Butler, "we determined that Junius must be a resident in London, or its environs, from the immediate answers which he generally gave his adversaries; that he was not an author by profession, from the visible improvement which from time to time was discernible in his style; that he was a man of high rank, from the tone of equality which he seemed to use quite naturally in his addresses to persons of rank, and in his expressions respecting them; that he was not a profound lawyer, from the gross inaccuracy of some of his legal expressions; that he had a personal animosity against the King, the Duke of Bedford, and Lord Mansfield, from the bitterness of his expressions respecting them; that he had lived with military men, from the propriety of his language on military subjects; and that he was a great reader of novels, from his frequent allusions to them. The general idea that the letters were the composition of more than one person we always rejected."

We also find that Dr. Good, the author of the Preliminary Essay, prefixed to Mr. Woodfall's edition of Junius, arrives at nearly the same conclusions on the subject, as will appear by the following extract from the Essay: "From the observations contained in this Essay, it should seem to follow unquestionably that the author of the letters of Junius was an Englishman of highly cultivated education, deeply versed in the language, the laws, the constitution, and history of his native country; that he was a man of easy if not affluent circumstances, of

unsullied honour and generosity, who had it equally in his heart and in his power to contribute to the necessities of other persons, and especially of those who were exposed to troubles of any kind on his own account. That he was in habits of confidential intercourse, if not with different members of the Cabinet, with politicians who were most intimately familiar with the court, and entrusted with all its secrets; that he had attained an age which would allow him to boast, without vanity, of ample knowledge and experience of the world; that during 1767, 68, 69, 70, 71, and part of 72, he resided almost constantly in London, or its vicinity, devoting a very large portion of his time to political affairs, and publishing his political lucubrations under different signatures in the Public Advertiser; that in his natural temper he was quick, irritable, and impetuous; subject to political prejudices and strong personal animosities, but possessed of a high independent spirit, honestly attached to the principles of the constitution, and fearless and indefatigable in maintaining them; that he was strict in his moral conduct, and in his attention to public decorum; an avowed member of the established church; and though acquainted with English judicature, not a lawyer by profession. What other characteristics he may have possessed we know not, but these are sufficient; and the claimant who cannot produce them conjointly is in vain brought forwards as the author of the Letters of Junius."\\

Whatever may be thought of the correctness of Dr. Waterhouse's hypothesis, that the Earl of Chatham was Junius, certain it is that he coincides in a remarkable manner with Mr. Butler and Dr. Good, as to the characteristics of Junius; for he says "It appears to our

view that the writings of Junius emanated from one mind, and yet not without assistance; p. 97. The whole series of letters indicate the author of them to have been a great man, a rich man, and an indignant one; for here resentment and even wrath supplied the ordinary stimulus of fame, which the great man was contented to forego, sharpening to a keen edge the weapon of personal indignation, as well as public avengement; p. 98. It appears that the author of the Letters must be sought among the very few great men of his day and country, the Burleighs and the Sullys of the kingdom; such men alone could give lessons of wisdom to a discontented nation, and its troubled king; p. 100. He seems to have been in the first rank of subjects, like one who had retired from high office in disgust; p. 103. A haughty spirit pervades the writings of Junius, and sometimes an imperious, domineering cast of mind, even when he must have discovered that he was wrong, as in his hasty attack on Parson Horne; p. 102. There is internal evidence that the writer of the Letters was a personage settled down in the steadfastness of advanced life and confirmed principles, under a satiety of worldly grandeur, familiarized with royalty, acquainted with privy councils, parliaments, and diplomatic affairs, and thoroughly versed in the architecture of the English constitution; p. 101." |

Thus it appears that the results of three separate and independent inquiries respecting the character and qualifications of the author of the Letters of Junius, made by persons unquestionably the most competent to form correct judgments on the subject, are not only consistent with each other, but coincide in all material particulars.

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