I will not advise; though I think you perfectly safe: all I say is that I rely upon your care to have it printed either to-morrow in your own paper, or to-night in the Pacquet. I have not been able to get yours from that place, but you shall hear from me soon. No. 39. About November 5, 1771. YOUR reasons are very just about printing the Preface, &c. It is your own affair. Do whatever you think proper. I am convinced the book will sell, and I suppose will make two volumes the type might be one size larger than Wheble's *. But of all this you are the best judge. I think you should give money to the waiters at that place to make them more attentivet. The notes should be in a smaller type. Pray find out, if you can, upon what day the late Duke of Bedford was flogged on the course at Lichfield by Mr. Heston Homphrey. No. 40. Friday, November 8, 1771. THE above to that Scotchman should be printed conspicuously to-morrow §. At last I have concluded my great work, and I assure you with no small labour. I would have you begin to advertise immediately, and publish before the meeting of parliament. Let all my papers in defence of Junius be inserted. I shall now supply you very fast with copy and notes. The paper and type should at least be as good as Wheble's. You must correct the press yourself, but I should be glad to see corrected proofs of the two first sheets. Show the Dedication and Preface to Mr. Wilkes, and if he has any * The present proprietor and publisher of the County Chronicle, who took a conspicuous part in the dispute with the House of Commons respecting the publication of their debates, an account of which is in the Miscellaneous Letters. A coffee-house at which letters, &c., were left for Junius. Junius, Letter 23, vol. i. p. 214, note. § Junius, No. 66, vol. i. p. 441. The Letters signed Philo-Junius: those numbered 63 and 64, and the extracts from the Letters to the Supporters of the Bill of Rights. material objection, let me know. I say material because of the difficulty of getting your letters. (Secret.) C. Beware of David Garrick*. He was sent to pump you, and went directly to Richmond to tell the King I should write no The Dedication must stand first. more. No. 41 TO MR. DAVID GARRICK November 10, 1771. I AM very exactly informed of your impertinent inquiries, and of the information you so busily sent to Richmond, and with * Garrick had received a letter from Woodfall, just before the above note of Junius was sent to the printer, in which Garrick was told, in confidence, that there were some doubts whether Junius would continue to write much longer. Garrick flew with the intelligence to Mr. Ramus, one of the pages to the King, who immediately conveyed it to his Majesty, at that time residing at Richmond, and from the peculiar sources of information that were open to this extraordinary writer, Junius was apprized of the whole transaction on the ensuing morning, and wrote the above postscript, and the letter that follows it, in consequence. Both text and commentary in this instance are grievously wrong. First, as to the text. From a letter of Garrick, which has been inserted at the end of No. 43, it will be seen that Garrick neither sent nor went to pump Woodfall, but that the communication of the latter to him was incidental and spontaneous. Second, that he neither "went directly to Richmond to tell the King," nor visited Richmond at all; but, having occasion to write to Richmond on the business of the theatre, he mentioned, as a piece of news, as he did to other of his correspondents, that Junius would write no more. On being better informed by Woodfall, Junius corrects his first error in his next note by saying Garrick sent in lieu of went to Richmond. But in the same note (No. 41) he falls into a third error in accusing Garrick of "impertinent inquiries," which he also corrects in No. 43, by directing Woodfall to substitute "impertinent practices." Dr. Good, from a love of the decorative, has expanded into poetical licence. Dr. Good, not content with the prosaic errors of Junius, that Garrick either sent or went to Richmond, says he "flew with the intelligence" to Ramus, who immediately conveyed it to the king. Next he tells us that Junius was apprized of the actor's flight on the "ensuing morning," but Junius says, "next day;" all which is intended by the doctor to heighten the mystery of "the extraordinary writer," and to magnify the importance and promptitude of his peculiar sources of information.-ED. F what triumph and exultation it was received. I knew every particular of it the next day. Now mark me, vagabond. Keep to your pantomimes, or be assured you shall hear of it. Meddle no more, thou busy informer!-It is in my power to make you curse the hour in which you dared to interfere with JUNIUS*. * Mr. Garrick had, before this period, been threatened for his supposed political bias to the court, as will appear from a charge which Mr. Horne brought forward against Mr. Wilkes, during the personal altercation which took place between them in the months of May and June preceding the date of this letter, and which is more particularly noticed in the note to Junius, Letter 52, vol. i. p. 365. Mr. Horne's accusation is as follows: "Whilst Mr. Wilkes was in the King's Bench, he sent a threatening message to Mr. Garrick to forbid his playing the part of Hastings in the tragedy of Jane Shore; on account of some lines in that play which Mr. Wilkes thought applicable to his own situation. Mr. Garrick complained exceedingly of the cruelty of such an interdict, and wished to be permitted to proceed in his endeavours to please the public in the common course of his profession. The patriot was inexorable; and Mr. Garrick has not appeared in that character since. The Lord Chamberlain's control by Act of Parliament over the pleasures of the public is exercised only over new plays." To this charge Mr. Wilkes replied as follows, offering several justly merited compliments to the hitherto unrivalled genius of Mr. Garrick. 66 'SIR, "TO THE REV. MR. HORNE. "Prince's Court, Thursday, June 6, 1771. "Your ninth letter has relieved me not a little by taking me to the theatre, and recalling to my delighted remembrance the amazing powers both of nature and art in the most wonderful genius that ever trod the English, or perhaps any stage, for his rival, Roscius, had a great defect, erat perversissimis oculis. You say, whilst Mr. Wilkes was in the King's Bench,' &c. The whole of this pompous tale is that some warm friends of Mr. Wilkes imagined that Mr. Garrick acted the part of Hastings at that time in a manner very different from what he had usually done, and marked too strongly some particular passages, unfavourable to the generous principles and to the friends of freedom. They talked of expressing their disapprobation in the theatre at the next representation of Jane Shore, and likewise in the public prints. Mr. Wilkes therefore thought it prudent to state the case by two or three gentlemen to Mr. Garrick himself, and said he feared the part of Hastings might bring on many disagreeable consequences to the great actor himself as well as to Mr. Wilkes and his connections, if continued in the manner then stated. Mr. Garrick received the friendly admonition in the most friendly way, but declared that the gentlemen, who had given Mr. Wilkes the account of his acting Hastings, had greatly mistaken, that he had not made the least alteration in the usual man. ner of acting that part on account of the political disputes of the times, but been solely guided by his own feelings that he always had acted that part, and always should play it in the same manner, not however slavishly I would send the above to Garrick directly, but that I would avoid having this hand too commonly seen. Oblige me, then, so much as to have it copied in any hand, and sent by the penny post, that is, if you dislike sending it in your own writing. I must be more cautious than ever. I am sure I should not survive a discovery three days; or, if I did, they would attaint me by bill. Change to the Somerset Coffee House, and let no mortal know the alteration. I am persuaded you are too honest a man to contribute in any way to my destruction*. Act honourably by me, and at a proper time you shall know me. copying himself, but with all the variety which from time to time his genius might dictate, preserving still the cast and spirit of the original character. Nothing more passed on this subject between Mr. Garrick and me, nor has that gentleman ever expressed the slightest displeasure against Mr. Wilkes, or his friends: so far has he been from complaining exceedingly of the cruelty of an interdict which never existed. "Did it escape your memory, Sir, that one of the objections made at that time by my friends was the peculiar emphasis Mr. Garrick was said to give to the following lines of Hastings, which some thought applicable to your situation: • Ill befall Such meddling priests, who kindle up confusion, And vex the quiet world with their vain scruples; "You say, I think with half his (Mr. Garrick's) merit I should have had twice his courage.' If you mean theatrical merit, I can tell you of some parts in which you would infinitely exceed our great English actor. I mean all those parts from which-fugiunt Pudor, Verumque, Fidesque. In quorum subeunt locum Fraudes, Dolique, Insidiæque, &c. &c. You would act and be Iago with success. Mr. Garrick has that in him which must ever prevent his acting well in that character. You have that in you which would make it easy and natural. Shylock, too, our Roscius must never attempt. The Christian priest of Brentford has no vain scruples to prevent his undertaking and being applauded in that part. He might then talk of dying his black coat red with blood in an innocent way on the stage, which at Brentford inspired a savage horror. "The pleasing hours which Mr. Garrick gave me at the King's Bench I have deducted from the injury of a long and cruel imprisonment, and I think of him as Cicero did of the great Roman actor, cum artifex ejusmodi sit, ut solus dignus videatur esse, qui in scena spectetur: tum vir ejusmodi est, ut solus dignus videatur, qui eo non accedat. "I am, &c., "JOHN WILKES." The extreme alarm of Junius in consequence of the presumed exploratory movements of Garrick will be readily understood from the exposition now given of the authorship of the letters, coupled with the fact of Garrick being I think the second page, with the widest lines, looks best. What is your essential reason for the change *? I send you some more sheets. I think the paper is not so good as Wheble's, but I may be mistaken-the type is good. The aspersions thrown upon my letter to the Bill of Rights† should be refuted by publication. Prevail upon Mr. Wilkes to let you have extracts of my second and third letters to him. It will make the book still more new. I would see them before they are printed, but keep this last to yourself. No. 42. November 11, 1771. PRINT the following as soon as you think proper, and at the head of your paper §. a co-proprietor in the Public Advertiser (see Appendix, vol. i.), and well known to Woodfall. Further, Garrick was on visiting terms with the elder Francis, and probably Francis, junior (Junius?), was familiar to him, as well as his handwriting. Hence the strict injunction of Junius to the printer to withhold from Garrick a sight of his penmanship, and to copy in the writing of another the menacing note addressed to him. The fact of Woodfall having informed Garrick of the "probability that Junius would write no more," and the supposed celerity with which the intelligence was despatched to Richmond, has been adverted to in a former note; but nothing has been said of the peculiar sources of Junius's information of Garrick's proceedings, and for this plain reason, that when Mason Good wrote, the claims of Francis to the authorship had not been examined. But the source of intelligence may now be assumed on what seem sufficient grounds: Garrick may have mentioned Woodfall's news to Dr. Francis, and he to his son; or Lord Holland may have learnt it from George III. in one of his private interviews, and made it a topic of conversation at the evening symposium with Dr. Francis, Calcraft, the army contractor, and his mistress Bellamy.-ED. * In allusion to a specimen of the intended genuine edition of the letters. In the correspondence which took place between Mr. Wilkes and Junius, two of his letters related to the Bill of Rights Society, and were written in disapprobation of several of their measures. These letters were, in many respects, misrepresented to the public, and in his own opinion, purposely so by Mr. Horne. The explanatory extracts here referred to were republished at the close of the second volume of the Junius edition, and will be found in vol. i. p. 467. The letters are given at length in the private correspondence between Junius and Mr. Wilkes, post. On the outside of this letter was written "private and particular." § Certain paragraphs relating to the marriage of the Duke of Cumberland, inserted in the Preliminary Essay, p. 20. |