was only equalled by their surprise; and as their joy proceeded from a reflection of the past, as it related to Lord Rochford, they were inattentive to the present, as it related to others. What pity it is that they were so soon disappointed, and that a joy so well founded was destined to be of so short a duration. In proportion as they were elevated with the hopes of his being taken into office, so are they dejected by the manner of his appointment. The course and order of business appears to have been violated, and that vacancy, to which his lordship ought to have succeeded, and which he was so well qualified to fill, has been suffered to be possessed by another altogether a stranger to the principal wheels of those machines, which it becomes his duty to regulate; and the abilities of the earl have been as far as possible thwarted by his being plunged into a correspondence with courts, of whose maxims and interests he is no better qualified to judge than any other of his Majesty's servants who would make use of as much attention, and who may be happily endowed with as much penetration.* It is now then that the public have both cause and inclination to ask a question, which they before thought useless and impertinent: it is now that with horror they reflect on the intelligence communicated by your correspondent Atticus;* it is now that they tremble at the thoughts of a secret negotiation with the French court in relation to Corsica; and it is now that they ask, Why was Lord Rochford appointed secretary of state, and for the northern department? † WHY? 27 October, 1768. SIR, WHEN an anonymous writer tells the public, that a great minister, who happens to be his particular friend, has given him assurances of any sort, with regard to state affairs, the * See the preceding letter. Edit. See this subject further discussed in JUNIUS, leiter 1, Vol. 1. p. 190.-EDIT. authority is doubly suspicious. In the first place, that such writers should have such friends is not, in the highest degree, probable. In the next, it is much to be doubted, whether ministers of state always tell the truth even to their most intimate acquaintance. I take for granted, the author of the letter signed Plain Truth and Justice,* is a modest man, since he expects an implicit reliance on the bare assertion of a person entirely unknown to us. But I fear he will find himself a little disappointed, for the public are not to be imposed upon by such gross artifices. The letters, in which your correspondent Atticus had foretold the decline of public credit, seemed to rest upon a very different footing. He made no assertions of his own, because he neither required nor expected any reliance on his personal credit or authority. He stated facts too notorious to be disputed, and he reasoned upon them in a way, which there has yet been no attempt to answer. This is the fair ground on which his opponents ought to meet him. Vague assertions have no claim to credit, and, if they had, would amount to no proof. What ministers are pleased to say, or what their friends say for them, is but of little moment. A man, who in the present crisis would direct his conduct upon sure grounds, ought to examine the real state of public affairs, and according as he finds them, act with prudence for himself and his family. I know that an artful combination in the alley, may, for a short time, raise or sink the price of stocks a trifle. But no arts, no combination can support them against the reality of national distress. The maxim holds through life. A beggar may cut a figure for a day, but his ruin is inevitable, and his creditors perish with him. Your correspondent assures us that no money will be wanted for the ensuing year. With all due respect to an anonymous assertion, I should be glad to know by what sort of reasoning he would support it. Do the ministry mean to leave the debt on the civil list unpaid? I will tell him that they cannot, dare not do it. This debt amounts to above six hundred thousand pounds, and if they can pay it without money, so much the better.-Have they made any agreement with the East India Company? No-Have they made any provision for outstanding navy and victualling bills? I answer, they must whether they will or no. *He alludes to a correspondent in the Public Advertiser, who had replied to his former letter under this signature. EDIT. Have the Bank agreed to continue creditors for the last million they advanced to government? I answer, that the Bank have no confidence in the present administration, and will not trust them. As to taking the four per cents. entirely out of the market, Mr. Grenville, or an able financier, who possessed the confidence of the public, might perhaps accomplish it, but it is not an object within the reach of the present treasury board. They talk of it in their dreams, and forget it when they wake. * These, Sir, are considerations independent of a war which hangs over us, and of a contest with the colonies, which in no way can end favourably for this country. As to moderate qualifying measures, I know but one which the Americans will accept of, and that is an absolute release from all subjection. They will reject with disdain an offer to be represented in parliament, because they will be independent. They found the effect of their last combination, and when they demand a repeal of an act of the legislature, it must be done without conditions. But, in the name of common sense, what useful purpose will our submission answer? Upon the repeal of the stamp act, our exports to America, instead of doubling, as had been promised, diminished considerably. What are we doing then, but surrendering the first essential rights and principles of the constitution for the sake of a bribe, of which we are cheated at last?-We may retire to our prayers, for the game is up. BRUTUS. LETTER LI. TO THE PRINTER OF THE PUBLIC ADVERTISER. 14 November, 1768. SIR, WHEN I foretold the approach of a foreign war, the certainty of a rupture with the colonies, and the decline of public credit, my opinion was chiefly founded on the character, circumstances, and abilities of the present administration. Fortune has but little share in the events most interesting to *See JUNIUS, letter xxxix, in which the failure of Lord North to effect this object is censured by the author, and explained in a note appended to it. EDIT. mankind. Individuals perish by their own imprudence, and the ruin of an empire is no more than the misconduct of a minister or a king. Without the credit of personal reputation, divided as a ministry, and unsupported by talents or experience, his Majesty's servants had left the field of national calamity wide open to prediction. It seems they were determined to accomplish more than even their enemies had foretold. For my own part, I am not personally their enemy, and I could have wished that their conduct had not made the name of friend to the ministry irreconcilable with that of friend to Great Britain. The most contemptible character in private life, and the most ruinous to private fortunes, is that which possesses neither judgment nor inclination to do right, nor resolution enough to be consistent in doing wrong. Such a man loses all the credit of firmness, and uniformity, and suffers the whole reproach of weak or malicious intentions. In politics, there is no other ministerial character so pernicious to the honour of a prince, or so fatal to the welfare of a nation. It is of the highest importance to inquire, whether the present ministry deserve it. The name of Lord Chatham's administration was soon lost in that of the Duke of Grafton. His grace took the lead, and made himself answerable for the measures of a council, at which he was supposed to preside. He had gone as far as any man in the support of Mr. Pitt's doctrine, That parliament had no right to lay a tax upon America, for the sole purpose of raising a revenue. It was a doctrine on which Lord Chatham and the chancellor* formed their administration, and his grace had concurred in it with all his sincerity Yet the first act of his own administration was to impose that tax upon America, which has since thrown the whole continent into a flame. A wise man would have let the question drop; a good man would have felt and adhered to the principles he professed. While the gentle Conway breathed into his ear, he was all lenity and moderation. The colonies were dutiful children, and Great Britain a severe parent. A combination to ruin this country was no more than an amicable agreement, and rebellion was a natural right confirmed by the revolution. But now it seems his grace's opinions are altered with his connections. The measures of the colonies are subversive of the constitution; Lord Camdem. EDIT. they manifest a disposition to throw off their dependance, and vigorous measures must be enforced at the point of the sword. In vain may we look for the temper and firmness of a great minister; we shall find nothing but the passion or weakness of a boy;-the enervated languor of a consumption, or the false strength of a delirium. The same inconsistency will be found to prevail through every measure and operation of government. Perhaps there may be discovered something more than supineness in the first neglect of Corsica, and something worse than inconsistency in the contradiction given to Lord Rochford's spirited declaration to the court of France.* His grace has lately adopted the opposite extreme, and scruples not to give an alarming shock to public credit, by hints little short of a declaration of war. What is this but the undetermined timidity of a coward, who trembles on the brink, until he plunges headlong into the stream? In one gazette we see Sir Jeffery Amherst dismissed; in the very next, we see him restored, and both without reason or decency. The peerage, which had been absolutely refused, is granted, and as in the first instance the royal faith was violated, in the second the royal dignity is betrayed. But this perhaps is a compliment to the duke's new friendship with the Earl of Hillsborough. port Without approving of Mr. Wilke's conduct, I lament his fate. The Duke of Grafton, who contributed to his supabroad, has given the mandate for his expulsion. But I trust there is yet a spirit, which will not obey such mandates. This honourable enterprize will probably be defeated, and leave the author of it nothing but a distinguished excess of infamy, the last consolation of a profligate mind. Is it possible, Sir, that such a ministry can long remain united, or support themselves if they were united? The Duke of Grafton, it is true, has no scruple nor delicacy in the choice of his measures. They are the measures of the day, and vary as often as the weather. But his companions had each their separate plan, to which, for the credit of government, and the benefit of this country, they have severally adhered. The intrepid thoughtless spirit of the commander in chief looks no farther than to the disposal of commissions. He is the friend and patron of the military. With |