The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-20 00:00:00

JUNIUS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sre,—The question, Who wrote Junius ? reminds
one of the old solecism, Qui fit Macenas? who made
Maecenas ? Ut nemo? what, no one ? Quam sibi
sortem! what a lucky fellow ! So much has been
said, and well said, about Sir P. Francis, that it has
the air of a plagiarism to pursue the subject ; but
some of those statements read more like plead-
ings than arguments : the "grandson.," one would
think, bad memorialized Mr. Wade :—" You are a
literary artizan : set the controversy at rest, and ob-
tain for my grandmama the honour of having been
the faithful consort of the advanced years of the
author of the ' Letters of Junius,' and your memo-
rialist, as in duty bound, will ever pray." Happily,
none of Sir Philip's representatives have a particle of
vanity, or this contingent, metonyonic amaranth,
would sorely tantalise them.
Altieru e I'altro de' suoi prnpij frogj
Piu the dell' op 6 oh© i vas •t: 'I u.
Much has also been said and forgotten of Burke
as the real author. The main question was,
Who could have written the letters ? A consensus
of eminent persons in those times &Tided—
none but Burke. That Francis edited the let-
ters is as clear as that Burke wrote them; and it i 3
barely possible the editor may not have known who
the mysterious contributor was ! save by that rag-
marok, or "twilight of the go&," which sufficed to
show thinking men it could only be Burke. Probably,
if in the hurry of printing any interpolation or
charge had been necessary, Francis was the last to
du it without discovery, from the idiosyncrasies of
his mind. The arguments from similarity of
style are fallacious : whoever wrote the Let-
ters
nullum fore scribendi genus non attigit, nul-
lum quod teligit non ornavit. Burke had already
imitated Boling broke (awful name), so as to deceive
every one : the Sublime and Beautiful appeared ano-
nymously. We have still among us an illustrious
Irishman who affects the style coupe. Burke's versa-
tility enabled him to write Philo-Junius, Veteran,
Miles, and what not? Lord G. Germaine, Fran-
cis, Calcraft, Rosenhagen—hoc genus omne, could not
write more unlike Burke than himself when he pleased.
Burke was facile princeps—Francis, ultimus
Romanorum: one was the author, the other, to use
his own phrase, " managed the conveyancing departs
ment :" for Francis to have written one of the let-
ters was morally as impossible as it was physically so
for Burke to undertake the conveyancing. The
Junius firm extended to several persons
who collected materials, threw them into
the "Lion's mouth" of a tremendous inquisition,
and frequently wrote on their own account. Were
they formally iniated ? No, they guessed the author,
as Wilkes, Horne Tooke, and even Lord Grenville,
who once said in a large company, " I know who
Junius was, and will never reveal it." Home Tooke
crossed his knife and fork, and said solemnly, " I do."
All this would be absurd if Francis had been the
author, and his own solemn silence still more absurd,
for what, in the name of nonsense, would be the
consequence if, in after times, Junius were ascer-
tained to be Francis ? But, if Burke wrote the
letters he was a conspicuous mark, and " could not
survive the discovery three days." To save his life,
"to spare the meek usurper's holy head," was the
object of his many friends. In Burke's com-
pany they mentioned gravely " the im-
penetrable mystery of Junius," and it was
understood that no one must deny being the author.
In fact, Burke was the only person who ever denied
it. Johnson said, that if Burke had been asked he
would have been completely justified in denying,
but that he had heard him deny it without being
asked. He might have had the very same
question put to him ten minutes before ! and
this delicate casuistry shows Johnson to have
been very sensible of his danger. No one can now
read the Letters and wish, all things considered, to
have written them : it was humiliation as well as
danger. Burke had no choice but disgrace or perpe-
tual exile like that of Byron, and Mathias, author of
the Pursuits of Literature.
In Francis the duty of shielding Burke coincided
with self. congratulation at having shared the peril
and been almost as essential to the plot as himself:
therefore he actively mystified every one. The an-
cient hieroglyph for the world is scarabaus, or blind
beetle, and some men, it has been observed, find more
pleasure in deceiving that world than even in making
money. Francis did both. Burke extolled Francis
beyond measure, which is natural in persons who
have risked their lives together. Burke's society
elevated the genius and character of Francis in com-
mon with all other politicians. For a long time they
were "inseparables ;" at the very least, Francis was
a tried, able, and faithful friend.

A conviction that Francis could not be the sole
author must have led Mr. Taylor to what Mr. Wade
calls his first fix on Dr. Francis, translator of Horace.
I had the same conviction, and drew the same infer-
ence, till after reading a collection of Dr. Francis's
anonymous pamphlets, and finding them much infe-
rior to those of his son. The real Junius was as if
a "long 32," or gun a la Paixhans, had cut sheer
through both sides of a ship, oak and iron, deep into
the granite, and the shot were attributed to a
Init.-pounder, then and there in battery, or else the
four-pounder went off at the same time, and was not
beard. Sir P. Francis was the beat pamphleteer of
his time—a master of writing, who would also have
made an excellent writing-master; which exemplifies
ir,the's remark that a good handwriting is as im-
portant as a good style, or may lead to one. All this
makes it more probable, to use a phrase of the
Examiner, that " he often held the pen for others."
In 1816, when he had just published a letter
missive to Lord Holland, Sir Philip was precisely
"The fine old English Gentleman" frontispiece to the
melody so called. You felt he was a clear-headed,
stout-hearted, open-handed Englishman, sensitive, ir-
ritable, very feeling and humane, passionately just,
that is, generous ; nay he had, what is rare, the
talent of justice the penser juste, the droiture of
mind. He considered music a species of athletic,
calisthenic exercise, and when singing, modulated
unconsciously at three or four extraneous keys.
A boy of fourteen years old being present, he
shouted to him repeatedly, " Young man, don't
betray your country 1" The young man dared not
laugh, and never forgot his advice. So voracious
was his love of fame, that when difficulties were made
about the Order of the Bath his violence was extreme ;
he threatened to Junius the Ministry, or, strictly
speaking, to burke them if they refused him a riband.
The short human span, the rapid succession of
births, deaths, and marriages, divide history into
small personal squares, as an engraver reduces a pic-
ture, and if any object is not in its proper compart-
ment the design is incorrect. Here the dates are as
conclusive as the reasons. The correspondence began,
some time before the signature of Junius was adopted,
in 1767. In 1766 Lord Rockingham went out ;
Burke was his private secretary, more or less
unemployed, well informed, disappointed, and 37 years
old, the precise age of Napoleon at Austerlitz. Francis
was ten years younger. Now, could a fiery
young man of twenty- seven, much given to pleasure,
have organiz.d a conspiracy which throws Catiline's
into the shade ? Remembering always that the whole
case turns on one point, Who was capable P
Who was the canorus ales, the hyperborean
literary swan with pride and ample pinion? And
not at all, What could Sir Philip have meant when
he presented the lady with a vellum copy of the Iden-
tified ? At the same time he had no qualities—not
even that of patience, to justify the phrase " little
provender," applied to him by Mr. Wade and as-
sistants, in speaking of his remunerative price.
O'Connell felt perfectly certain without a shadew
of doubt that Junius was an Irishman, which nar-
rows the question considerably, and excludes Francis,
who was born in England, and whose father though
an Irishman was a denizen of England. Still more
was he certain that Burke wrote the letters.
No one could sift evidence or appreciate
the weight of testimony better than O'Connell, nor
judge more wisely of eloquence, whether spoken or
written, nor trace the career of an Irishman obtaining
the highest distinction in England and Europe. One
of his reasons was, that Junius somewhere speaks of
Dublin Castle as " the Castle," and that whoever did
so must be an Irishman.
I have the honour to be, Sir, &c.,
H. C.

The citizens of Worcester have declined, on the
plea of expense, to appoint a medical officer under the
Public Health Act.

Yesterday the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, Messrs.
Lawrence and Nicoll, gave a most sumptuous entertainment
to the Judges and others, at the Sessions-house, Old Bailey.
Covers were laid for fifty. Amongst the distinguished
guests we noticed—The French Ambassador, the American
Minister, Mr. Justice Williams, Mr. Justice Tali', urd, Alder-
men Kelly, Gibbs, Hooper, Hunter, Moon, Challis, and
Finnis. The Common Sergeant, Ur. Commissioner Gurney,
Q.C., Sir J. J. Hansler, Mr. Under-Sheriff Millard, Mr.
Under-Sheriff Wire, Colonel Rota, U.S., Mr. Philip, Mr.
Ross, of the United States tar, Professor Davis, U.S.,
Messrs. W. Lawrence, Pawson, James Lawrence, Alfred
Dale, Campbell, 11. J. Nicoll, G. Smith, Dr. Davison,
chaplain to Mr. Sheriff Lawrence, the Ordinary, &c.
The expense to the corporation of Edinburgh Ca.
ringing bells upon the occasion of her Majesty's late visit
was just U. 17s. 6d. The ringers tugged at the ropes for
exactly two hours, and each man received half-a-crown.
The resident magistrates of Portsburgli expended 31. 6s. in
renewing their batons on the same occasion. •
When the works now in progress are completed
Edinburgh will be supplied with 1,376 gallons ( f water per
minute. In 1842 the supply from all sources was only 560
gallons per minute, so that it has been, or will be nearly
trebled.

The compliments of the world are seldom more
sincere than those of the undertaker, who wishes the dying
person may be better.—Eliza cook's Journal.
There are now on the stocks in Now York
eighteen ocean steamers of the aggregate tonnage of 24,600
tons. Most of them are intended for California, in addition
to which sailing chips are building for the India trade.
The Head Mastership of the proprietary school of
Bishops Stortford has • been conferred on the Rev. George
Y9Bter Simpson, 111. A,

SEP,TEMBER 20, 1850.

LITERATURE.
ANDERSON'S GUIDE to the HIGHLANDS'.
Under this modest title the Messrs. George and
Peter Anderson, of Inverness, have compiled a work
of very extraordinary merit and completeness. Al-
though professing to accomplish little, the book is a
guide to the Islands and Lowlands as well as to the
Highlands, in fact to eve ry portion of Scotland without
exception, so that its utility must extend itself to
every stranger visiting the various and picturesque
counties of Caledonia. Many will doubtless
remember the volume as it appeared origi-
nally, being reminded of it nevertheless more
by the name of its authors than by its intrinsic
resemblance. We say this in consequence c.f the
remarkable improvements perceptible throughout, im-
provements which render the present edition imrnea •
curably superior to its predecessor. Besides append-
ing a condensed sketch of the Lowlands, and thereby
completing the labour so admirably commenced, the
writers have materially enhanced the value of the
Guide to all strangers travelling to the Highlands by
commencing the routes not at Inverness, as formerly,
but at a central point 'between Inverness and the
South. Besides this new districts have been person-
ally visited by the Messrs. Anderson, who have
thereby enabled themselves to infuse an additional
truthfulness and rraisemblance into their descriptions.
As to the bulk of the volume, it appears to have un-
-1 dergone a thorough and searching revision. The
letter-press is adorned throughout with a variety of
illustrative wood-cuts. A clearly engraved and
authentic map of the country renders the whole more
comprehensive than it could otherwise have been if
devoid of that most useful embellishment. Of the
routes depicted there are no less than four : the first
being from Glasgow to Obsn, Fort William, and In-
verness ; the second from Perth to Inverness, across
the Grampians by the highland road, through Athole,
Badenoch, Strathspey, and Strathdearn ; the
third from Aberdeen to Inverness by sea, and
through the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin,
and Nairn ; the fourth from Inverness to Tain, Gol
spie, Wick, Thurso, and John O'Groat's. One sec-
tion is devoted entirely to the town of Inverness ;
another sketches the Western Islands and Cantyre ;
another the Orkney Islands and Zetland ; the Lowlands
being described in a compact but comprehensive
ap-
pendix. No.:guide-book could by possibility afford
greater facilities for reference, the volume being
furnished not only with a copious index, but also with
an inestimable table of distances. Added to all this a
chapter consisting of general observations on the
Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and an
account of all the principal approaches to the High-
lands, of the Highland roads, of the inns, coaches,
and steam navigation, and it must be sufficiently ap-
parent that the book is replete with information.
Besides all the advantages which we have already
particularised as characterising the "Guide Book"
of the Messrs. Anderson, it should be borne in mind
that theirs is no dry and tedious narrative, but one
illuminated throughout with the most charming
prose and poetical quotations, adding to the useful-
ness of a cicerone the interest of an educated and in
telligent companion.

BLACK'S 1110 N HIGHWAY.
Like all the other similar publications of the
Messrs. Adam and Charles Black, of Edinburgh,
the present brochure is one of a value proportioned to
its authenticity. It furnishes an exact account of the
railway lines conducting from London to Edinburgh
and Glasgow, passing through Birmingham, Staf-
ford, Preston, Lancaster, Carlisle, and Gretna, ac-
companied with charts, exhibiting the continuous
lines and their branches, as well as a large extent of
the adjacent country. Some of the hints to railway
travellers, prefixed to this descriptive guide-book, we
regard as so peculiarly excellent that we gladly
accord the following the benefit ofour circulation :
" Pack up your luggage in such order that you can
readily carry with you the small matters you may want
on your journey, or immediately on your arrival ; let
the rest be put in such trunks, cases, boxes, or other
packages as will either effectually protect it, or show at
first sight that it must be handled carefully; remember-
ing that, at railway stations a great deal of business
must be done in a little time, and therefore lug-
gage, which seems able to bear it, sometimes gets rough
usage.

" Let your name and destination appear legibly on
your luggage ; and if you wish 0 be safe against all
chances of loss, put your name and address inside also
of each package. Picture to yourself your trunk lying
on the road, left in the corner of an office, or sent out to
a wrong direction, and imagine what you would then
wish should be on or in it, that it might be correctly
and speedily sent to you. What you would then wish
you had done, do before you start. Let the label be of
a strong material, and firmly attached to the package.
"Pe at the station some minutes before the time; if
you do not resolve to be so, expect to see the train on
its way without you.
" Get your ticket (by pay:.ng your fare). and be
careful to understand exactly how far that ticket frees
3 ou. On some railways you keep that ticket to the end
of your journey, on ethers you are called on for it at
starting. In either cue be ready with it, rymembering
that, it you c.ntnot produce it, you may be called upon
to pay your fare again.
See vi here your lurgage is placed on the carriage,
and prefer that it sboul:t be on that in which you are to
be seated, if practicable ; see also that the company's
ticket or lu4gagt• number be affixed to etch package, or
you may ID, called on to pay
,the carriage for it.
" Expect to pay for the cat ria;e of all your luggage
above fifty-six pounds' weight.
"T. ko the best care) on can to prevent the necessity
of yc,ur leaving the carriage be fore you n ach the re-
freshment station at the end of your journey.
" Take your scats as soon as you have made all
needful arrangements; you may have with you a carpet-
bag, hat-box, or other luggage, if it be not so bulky as
to annoy your fellow-passengers."
In all essential respects the work is little short of
being beyond the reach of improvement.
Mu-

JRRAI'S HAND-BOOKS for SCOTLAND.
Outlines of Scottish History. Part 1.
Messrs. Alexander Murray and Co., of Edinburgh,
have commenced the publication of a series of hand-
books of Scotland, and, as introductory to them, we
have this the first part of Outlines of Scottish History.
It is a condensed but spirited narrative of the history
of Scotland from the time of the Romans down to the
death of David Bruce. Asa favourable specimen of
the author's style we give the following account of the
slaughter of the Red Comyn
In their rapid progress northward, the party of
Bruce encountered a horseman, whom they recognised
as a retainer of the ' Red' Comyn, the rival of their
master. The emissary of Comyn was stopped, searched,
and slain. Papers were found upon his person which
confirmed the worst suspicions of Bruce, who pressed
forward to his castle at Loehmabon, met his brother Ed-
ward, and told him rf the perils which threatened their
family. It was in the month of' February, 1305, when
Bruce thus hastily returned home; the assizes appointed
by Edward to be held at Dumfries were approaching,
and Bruce and Comyn, being both vassals of the crown,
met there, when waiting upon the justiciaries of England.
" Bruce sought a meeting with his rival, Comyn, sur-
named the Red,' from his complexion. Tke conference
took place at Dumfries, in the convent church of the
Minorite Friars, the sacred character of the place being
the supposed warrant of personal safety. Young Bruce
and young Comyn met in this church alone, their atten-
dants remaining without. What passed can only be
conjectured; but before these fierce rivals bad reached
the high altar, their dispute became warm, and when
Comyn was taxed by Bruce with treachery, he gave him
the lie,' and instantly received in his bosom Bruce's
dagger. Bruce, hastening from the sanctuary, ordered
his attendants to horse; but Lindsay of Crawford, and
Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, observing the disorder of their
chief, and the blood re-king upon his weapon, eagerly
inquired the cause. I doubt,' said Bruce, I have slain
the Red Comyn.' Do you trust that to doubt,' exclaimed
Kirkpatrick, I mak siccar (sure);' and rushing into the
church, Comyn was dispatched, and his uncle, Sir
Robert Comyn, who had hastened to his rescue, was also
slain. I mak siccar,' has, since this bloody deed, been
the motto upon the arms of the knights of Kirkpatrick
of Closeburn."

The River and the Firth of Clyde ; with the Lochs,
Towns, and Sea- Bathing Resorts, the leand of
Arran and Ailsa Craig, the Falls of Clyde and
Clydesdale.
This admirable little hand book gives a condensed
account of the history and topography of Glasgow
and its vicinity, and of Clydesdale and the shores and
islands of the Firth, and is illustrated by two neatly-
engraved maps. The description of Ailsa Craig will
be found most interesting by the naturalist, while the
antiquarian will turn with delight to the account of
the far-fanned Bothwell Brig.

The Deeside Highlands, with the Royal Castle and
Deer Forest of Balmoral.
Every tourist about to travel in the Deeside High-
lands, every loyal subject anxious to learn the topo•
graphy of her Majesty's " Ilighland home," should
peruse this little work. It is the best account of
Balmoral and its neighbourhood that has yet been
published.

Lochloinond, Bcnloniond, Glcqfalloch, Stralhfillan,
.King's House, Glencoe.
This most useful li;tle work is dcomplete guide to
Lochlotnond and the Highlands of Argyleshire, and
is illustrated by a well-engraved map. The melan-
choly history of the Glencoe atrocity is admirably
narrated.

- - -
COUNTY COURTS AND THE BAIL—The Chester
Courant announces that the County Courts in that neigh-
bourhood will be regularly attended by the bar in full cos-
tume, as our contemporary expresses it, " candidates for bu-
sincs." It is added, that the bar will not " claim exclusive
audience; and the cost of the barrister's fee will only be
allowed as taxation when the barrister is instructed by an
attorney. 'As both branches of the profession will be entitled
to fees, we have no doubt they will work comfortably to-
gether."

The Priory Park, Chichester, concerning which
the peopla of Chichester have so long felt a desire, will shortly
become the property of the worthy citizens for a term of
years. The Duke of Richmond has consented to let it on
lease, and a committee has been appointed to act on behalf of
the city, with power tv raise fittlAcription4.