The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-02-03
AN OLD TOPIC REVIVED.

The Michigan City News has been
shown a copy of the Junius letters.
owned by a resident of that place., Of
which it says:
The work has been out of print for many
years, and was always a publication very
difficult to obtain. These letters were writ
ten during the times when this country was
under English rule, and were termed of a
very insurrect1onary nature. A large re-
ward was offered by the English govern
ment for the Identification and capture of
the author. but not until after the revolu-
severed all allegiance to the English crown,
did any looking to the true au-
thorishp of these letters become known; and
to this day, like the authorship of Shak-
speare. with many 1t is a mooted question,
while the best and most reliable statistics
of that noted author and writer, Thomas
Paine. 1t Is supposed that the publication of
t the letters a at the time they We're written.
of the revolution than all other causes COM
bined. Thomas Paine was u great observer
OF national motives, and the purposes of the
English government toward the original col
onies Of this country were clearly outlined
in his great brain, and to throw off the yoke
of English rule, was the purpose of his
bringing out this series of letters to the
English subjects then in the American col
which their author ntended-they having
been written under a nom de plume-that
they prompted the large reward by the
English government for the identification
of the author, as before stated. Washing
ton, it is said, would call his army about
him and in order to stimulate them to
greater action would read them the latest
Junius letter, which gave his army renewed
vigor and increased hope. and in some cases
brought victory out Of defeat.
The journal has no desire to open the
old controversy concerning the author
ship of Junius. and much less to pre-
cipitate a new one, but it feels moved to
say that the News has got things some
what mixed. 1t is a mistake to say thai
the Junius letters were always very
difficult to obtain" AS long as they had
any current interest they were as easily
obtained as other books of that class,
and the work Is only scarce now because
it treats Of topics which no longer nave
any interest. It is a mistake, also. to
say that the British government ever
offered a reward. either large or small.
for the capture or discovery of the au-
thor. The letters worried the members
Of the Ministry, against whom they
were directed, and at least one of them
made George III squirm when 1t called
on him to 'lay aside the wretched for
mality of a king and speak to your sub
jects with the spirit of a man and the
language of O. gentleman" But, while
the mystery of the authorship of let
ters ave rise to a literary controversy,
which has never been quite definitely
settled, the government never offered
any reward for the solution of the mys-
terry or the capture of the author.
The statement of the News. that the
best and most reliable authorities now
concede the letters to have been written
nv, Thopooc Do;oo - 81, Ar -, -
literary discovery. It is true that ain
was still a resident of England when the
letters were written, having emigrated to
America in 1874, but it does not follow
that he wrote them. In a list of more
thar forty persons who have been
claimed at different stages of the con-
troversy to be the author of the letters,
the name of Paine does not appear. The
News's eulogy of Paine as a patriot, and
of the splendid work he did in the cause
of independence, is well deserved His
writings and his other services were of
immense value to the Revolutionary
cause. but no part of his work was done
in the Junius letters. He was the au-
thor, among other political pamphlets.
of the Crisis which appeared at ir-
regular intervals during the Revolution
airy war. 1t is related, and probably
with truth, that the first number of the
Crisis published in the winter of 1776.
and which, by the way, contained the
now familiar sentence. These are the
times that try men souls" was read by
Washington's order to each regiment and
detachment in the service, and did much
to encourage and inspire them.
On the whole. it cannot be said that
the statement of the News throws any
light on the long-standing mystery OF
the authorship of the Junius letters.
The settled opinion of the literary world
has long been that they were written
nv Sir Philip Francis. Of whom Macau-