SIR,

LETTER CX.

VETERAN TO THE PUBLIC ADVERTISER.

March 23, 1772.

I DESIRE you will inform the public that the worthy Lord Barrington, not contented with having driven Mr. D'Oyly out of the War Office, has at last contrived to expel Mr. Francis*. His Lordship will never rest till he has cleared his office of every gentleman who can either be serviceable to the public or whose honour and integrity are a check upon his own dark proceedings. Men who do their duty with credit and ability are not proper instruments for Lord Barrington to work with. He must have a broker from 'Change Alley for his deputy, and some raw, ignorant boy for his first clerk. I think the public have a right to call upon Mr. D'Oyly and Mr. Francis to declare their reasons for quitting the War Office. Men of their unblemished character do not resign lucrative employments without some sufficient reasons. The conduct of these gentlemen has always been approved of, and I know that they stand as well in the esteem of the army as any persons in their station ever did. What then can be the cause that the public and the army should be deprived of their service? There must certainly be something about Lord Barrington which every honest man dreads and detests. Or is it that they cannot be brought to connive at his jobs and underhand dealings? They have too much honour, I suppose, to do some certain business by commission. They have not been educated in the conversation of Jews and gamblers; they have had no experience at Jonathan's; they know nothing of the stocks; and therefore Lord Barrington drives them out of the War Office. The army indeed is come to a fine pass, with а gambling broker at the head of it! What signifies ability, or integrity, or practice, or experience in business? Lord Barrington feels himself uneasy while men with such qualifications are about him. He wants nothing in his office but ignorance, impudence, pertness, and servility. Of these com

Francis, afterwards Sir Philip, and D'Oyly, were chief clerks in the War Office. The displacement of D'Oyly to make room for Chamier has been already noticed in Letter 105.

modities he has laid in a plentiful stock, that ought to last him as long as he is Secretary at War. Again, I wish that Mr. Francis and Mr. D'Oyly would give the public some account of what is going forward in the War Office. I think these events so remarkable, that some notice ought to be taken of them in the House of Commons. When the public loses the service of two able and honest servants, it is but reasonable that the wretch who drives such men out of a public office should be compelled to give some account of himself and his proceedings.

VETERAN.

MY LORD,

LETTER CXI.

SCOTUS TO LORD BARRINGTON *.

May 4, 1772. I AM a Scotchman, and can assure your Lordship that I do not esteem my country, or the natives of it, the less because we are not so happy as to be honoured with Lord Barrington's favourable opinion. From a pamphlet, which lately fell in my way, I perceive that there is something in the temper of the Scots that does not suit the manly, sterling virtue which distinguishes your own worthy character. We are too insolent to those beneath us, and too obsequious to our superiors; and with such a disposition must never hope to find favour with Lord Barrington! And Cockburne, like most of his countrymen, is as abject to those above him as he is insolent to those below him." These are your words, given under your hand, as the solemn, deliberate opinion of his Majesty's Secretary at War. Such a censure, coming from a man of honour, good sense, or integrity, might, perhaps, have some weight with the thoughtless or uncandid. But when it comes from a man whose whole life has been employed in acting the part of a false, cringing, fawning, time-serving courtier-from a man who never had a different opinion from the minister for the time being, and who has always contrived to keep some lucrative place or other under twenty different administrations,

The original copy of this letter is still in the hands of Mr. H. D. Woodfall, the printer of the present edition.

-I am not so much offended at the reproach itself, which you have thought proper to throw upon the Scots, as I am shocked at the unparalleled impudence of applying your own individual character to a whole nation. It seems my countrymen are abject to those above them. Pray, my good Lord, by what system of conduct have you recommended yourself to every succeeding minister for these last twenty years? Was it by maintaining your opinion upon all occasions, with a blunt. firm integrity, or was it by the basest and vilest servility to every creature that had power to do you either good or evil? But we are insolent to those below us. Indeed, my Lord, you paint from your own heart. There is courage at least in our composition. It is the coward who fawns upon those above him. It is the coward that is insolent, wherever he dares be so. You have had some lessons which have made you more cautious than you used to be. You have reason to remember that modest humble merit will not always bear to be insulted by an upstart in office. For the future, my little Lord, be more sparing of your reflections upon the Scots. We pay no regard to the calumny of anonymous writers, and despise the malignity of John Wilkes. But when a man, so high in office as you are, pretends to give an odious character of a whole nation, and sets his name to it, we should deserve the reproach, if we did not resent it. You are so detested and despised by all parties (because all parties know you), that England, Scotland, and Ireland have but one wish concerning you, and that is, that as you have shown yourself a fawning traitor to every party and person with which you ever were connected, so all parties may unite in loading you with infamy and contempt.

SCOTUS *.

LETTER CXII.

TO THE LORDS OF THE ADMIRALTY.

MY LORDS, May 8, 1772. HAVING seen in last Saturday's paper that Mr. Bradshaw was appointed to be a member of your board, give me leave to con

*It is almost needless to add that Scotus is Junius. His letter is referred to in a private note, ante, p. 59.-ED.

gratulate your Lordships on the event, as a person of Mr. Bradshaw's birth and talents may be of the greatest use to you on many occasions, besides adding infinitely more weight and dignity to the board; I was therefore a good deal surprised at the simple manner in which his well-merited promotion was announced to the public, but must attribute it either to his own modesty, or the printer's ignorance: but, whatever be the cause I think it necessary to acquaint you, his brother Lords, with a little of his history.

It is needless to trouble your Lordships with an account of his birth or education, as the first might be a very difficult task, and the latter your Lordships may see has not been neglected. His first appearance in the great world was as one of Lord Barrington's domestics, from whence he moved to Ireland, set up a shop, and under the influence of a happy planet returned to England, where, by means of his uncommon address in administering to the pleasures of the great, he was appointed one of the secretaries to the Treasury, which office he held during the Duke of Grafton's administration, and by exerting his happy talents between his Grace and the celebrated Nancy Parsons, he so far ingratiated himself with the Duke, that he became his chief confident, and was privy to the whole of his generous treatment of that young lady, and of course became his Grace's bosom friend; for which service he first received a pension of fifteen hundred pounds a year for three lives, and, that not being sufficient, is now made one of you. I cannot avoid again congratulating you on the acquisition of such a brother member, as it is to be hoped he will assist any of your Lordships with his good offices upon all occasions.

Pall-Mall.

I have the honour to be,

My Lords,

Your Lordships' most humble

And obedient servant,

ARTHUR TELL-TRUTH.

LETTER CXIII.

NEMESIS TO THE PUBLIC ADVERTISER*.

SIR, May 12, 1772. I AM just returned from a visit in a certain part of Berkshire, near which I found Lord Barrington had spent his Easter holidays. His Lordship, I presume, went into the country to indulge his grief; for whatever company he happened to be in, it seems his discourse turned entirely upon the hardship and difficulty of his situation. The impression which he would be glad to give of himself is, that of an old faithful servant of the crown, who on one side is abused and vilified for his great zeal in support of government, and at the same time gets no thanks or reward from the King or the administration. He is modest enough to affirm in all companies, that his services are unrewarded; that he bears the burthen; that other people engross the profits; and that he gets nothing. Those who know but little of his history may, perhaps, be inclined to pity him; but he and I have been old acquaintance, and, considering the size of his understanding, I believe I shall be able to prove, that no man in the kingdom ever sold himself and his services to better advantage than Lord Barrington. Let us take a short review of him from his political birth.

On his entrance into the House of Commons he declared himself a patriot; but he soon found means to dispose of his patriotism for a seat at the Admiralty-Board. This worthy man, before he obtained his price, was as deeply engaged in opposition to government as any member of the Fountain Club, to which he belonged. He then thought it no sin to run down Sir Robert Walpole, though now he has altered his tone. Το oppose the measures of government, however dangerous to the constitution, or to attack the persons of ministers, however justly odious to the nation, is now rank faction, in the opinion of the pliant Lord Barrington. His allegiance follows the descent of power; nor has he ever been known to dispute the validity of the minister's title, as long as he continued in pos

session.

* This letter was advertised under the title of Memoirs of Lord Barrington, in compliance with the request of the author. See private note, No. 62.