For sometimes he like Cerberus would seem-
"Three gentlemen at once" (as sagely says
Good Mrs. Malaprop); then you might deem
That he was not even ONE; now many rays
Were flashing round him; and now a thick steam
Hid him from sight-like fogs on London days:
Now Burke, now Tooke, he grew to people's fancies,
And certes often like Sir Philip Francis.

Lord Byron's "Vision of Judgment."

THE CONFLICTS AND PERILS OF JUNIUS.

I did but prompt the age to quit their clogs
By the known rules of ancient liberty,
When straight a barbarous noise environs me
Of owls and cuckoos, asses, apes, and dogs.

I've read of men beyond man's daring brave,
Who yet have trembled at the strokes he gave;
Whose souls have felt more terrible alarms
From his one line, than from a world in arms.

Milton.

Churchill.

In truth I have left no room for accommodation with the piety of St. James, my offences are not to be redeemed by recantation

or repentance.

Junius.

CHAPTER III.

Attacks of numerous Ministerial writers on Junius. Junius's opinion of the nature of the contests in which he was engaged. -His first controversy with Sir William Draper.-Is challenged by Sir William; proofs afforded by this controversy and other passages in the Letters of Junius that their author was a Soldier. Contradictory passages noticed.—Account of Junius's contest with Mr. Horne.-Keen search after Junius. -His advice to Woodfall how to conduct himself in case of danger.-Prosecution against Woodfall for publishing Junius's Letter to the King.-Result of the trial.-Serjeant Glynn's motion in the House of Commons to inquire into the administration of Criminal Justice.- Lord Camden's attack on Lord Mansfield for his conduct on Woodfall's trial. -Junius's remarks on the transaction.-Various schemes to detect Junius. His art and vigilance to guard his secret and prevent discovery.-His furious attack on Garrick for communicating to the King the intention to discontinue his Letters. Junius's anxiety and dread of discovery. His contradictory accounts of himself to mystify Woodfall.—The success of his devices.-The Duke of Grafton unacquainted with the Author.-Mr. Butler's conjecture respecting him.The mysterious box at Stowe.

THE CONFLICTS AND PERILS OF JUNIUS.

The foe is merciless, and will not pity,
For at their hands I have deserved no pity.

Shakspeare.

"No man," observes Dr. Good, "but he, who with a thorough knowledge of our Author's style, undertakes to examine all the numbers of the Public Advertiser from January 1769 to January 1772, can have any idea of the immense fatigue and trouble he submitted to, by the composition of other letters, under other signatures, in order to support the preeminent pretensions and character of Junius, attacked as it was by a multiplicity of writers in favour of the administration, to whom, as Junius, he did not choose to make any reply whatever. And instead of wondering that he should have disappeared at the distance of about five years, we ought much rather to be surprised that he should have persevered through half this period with a spirit at once so indefatigable and invincible."-Prelim. Essay, p. 47.

The opinion entertained by Junius of the contests in which he was engaged, may be collected from the way he speaks of them in his letter of the 13th of August 1771." As to myself, it is no longer a question whether I shall mix with the throng and take a single share in the danger. Wherever Junius appears, he must encounter

a host of enemies.

But is there no honourable way to

serve the public without engaging in personal quarrels with insignificant individuals, or submitting to the drudgery of canvassing votes for an election? Is there no merit in dedicating my life to the information of my fellow-subjects?-What public question have I declined? What villain have I spared?-Is there no labour in the composition of these letters? Mr. Horne, I fear, is partial to me, and measures the facility of my writings by the fluency of his own." And again, April 22, 1771, he says: "To write for profit without taxing the press;— to write for fame and to be unknown;-to support the intrigues of faction, and to be disowned, as a dangerous auxiliary, by every party in the kingdom,-are contradictions, which the Minister must reconcile before I forfeit my credit with the public. I may quit the service, but it would be absurd to suspect me of desertion. The reputation of these papers is an honourable pledge for my attachment to the people."

And in the P. S. to a private letter to Mr. Wilkes he observes- "As you will probably never hear from me again, I will not omit this opportunity of observing to you that I am not properly supported in the newspapers. One would think that all the fools were of the other side of the question. As to myself it is of little moment. I can brush away the swarming insects whenever I think proper; but it is bad policy to let it appear in any instance that we have not numbers as well as justice on our side.”

The first serious contest in which Junius was involved was with Sir William Draper, who, as Sir Nathaniel Wraxall observes,*" was doubtless impelled by the desire

* Wraxall's Posthumous Memoirs, vol. ii. 186.