No. 62.

May 10, 1772.

Pray let this be announced, Memoirs of Lord Barrington in our next*. Keep the author a secret †.

No. 63.

January 19, 1773.

I HAVE seen the signals thrown out for your old friend and correspondent. Be assured that I have had good reason for not complying with them. In the present state of things, if I were to write again, I must be as silly as any of the horned cattle that run mad through the city, or as any of your wise aldermen. I meant the cause and the public. Both are given up. I feel for the honour of this country, when I see that there are not ten men in it who will unite and stand together upon any one question. But it is all alike, vile and contemptible.

You have never flinched that I know of; and I shall always rejoice to hear of your prosperity.

If you have anything to communicate (of moment to yourself) you may use the last address, and give a hint‡.

No. 64.

SIR,

I HAVE troubled you with the perusal of two letters, as that of the prior date accounts for the delay of not sending the books

* The annunciation, under this title, appeared in the notice to correspondents, Public Advertiser, May 11, and the Memoirs were printed in a letter bearing the signature of Nemesis, May 12, forming Miscellaneous Letter, No. 113. See also note at the end of Nemesis, for a notice of Lord Bar rington.

Junius (Francis?) having done his work, set out, as already stated, on his continental travels, and did not, as appears from the date of his next and concluding note, again communicate with Woodfall till the January following. -ED.

This letter was thus noticed in the answer to correspondents in the Public Advertiser, March 8, 1773. "The letter from AN OLD FRIEND and CORRESPONDENT, dated Jan. 19, came safe to hand, and his directions are strictly followed. Quod si quis existimat, aut, &c."

sooner; and this acquaints you that I did not get them out of the bookbinder's hands till yesterday; nor, though I desired them to be finished in the most elegant manner possible, are they done so well as I wished. But, Sir, if the manner of the contents and index are not agreeable to you, they shall be done over again according to any directions you shall please to favour me with. With respect to city politics, I fear the breach is too wide ever to be again closed, and even my friend Mr. Wilkes lost some of his wonted coolness at the late election, on Sawbridge, Oliver, &c., scratching against him*. hope you will believe that, however agreeable to me it must be to be honoured with your correspondence, I should never entertain the most distant wish that one ray of your splendour should be diminished by your continuing to write. Mr. Wilkes, indeed, mentioned to me the other day that he thought the East India Company a proper subject, and asked if I could communicate anything to you, to which my reply was that I could not tell (as I did not know whether you might choose to be intruded upon). You will perceive by the papers that two persons have forced themselves upon us who, without a tithe of Mr. Wilkes's abilities, imagine the public will look up to them as their deliverers; but they are most egregiously mistaken, as every one who possesses a grain of common sense hold them in almost utter contempt. You will probably guess who I mean, and were I capable of drawing a parallel, I should borrow some part of it from Shakespeare's Iago and Roderigo. Should it please the Almighty to spare your life till the next general election, and I should at that time exist, I shall hope you will deign to instruct me for whom I should give my vote, as my wish is to be represented by the most honest and able, and I know there cannot be any one who is so fit to judge as

* Mr. Wilkes and Mr. Townshend were, after a sharp contest, returned to the court of aldermen for them to make their election of one of these gentlemen to the mayoralty for the year 1772, when their choice fell upon Mr. Alderman Townshend, in consequence of Sawbridge and Oliver scratching against Wilkes. The candidates for that office, with the numbers which they polled, were as under :—

Mr. Alderman Wilkes

2301

yourself. I have no connections to warp me, nor am I acquainted with but one person who would speak to me on the subject, and that gentleman is, I believe, a true friend to the real good of his country; I mean Mr. Glover, the author of Leonidas. As I thought Serjeant Glyn deserving of something more than the mere fees of his profession, for the pains he took upon my trial, I have made a purchase of a small freehold at Brentford by way of qualification, in order to convince him, if he should offer himself at the next election, whenever it should happen, that I hold his services in grateful remembrance. But I am since informed that it is not his intention, and that Lord Percy is to be joined with Sir W. B. Proctor, who is to be supported by the Duke of Northumberland's interest. I have heard much of a most trimming letter from Mr. Stewart to Lord Mansfield on the Douglas cause, but cannot possibly get a copy, which probably would be a good letter to print.

If, Sir, you should not disapprove of the Contents and Index I thought of advertising them in the manner of the enclosed form, if I have your permission so to do, but not otherwise. May I beg the favour of a line in answer? lieve me, Sir, to be, with gratitude and respect,

Your much obliged

Be

Sunday, March 7, 1773.

humble servant to command,

HENRY SAMPSON WOODFALL.

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE

BETWEEN JUNIUS AND MR. WILKES.

No. 65.

JUNIUS TO JOHN WILKES, ESQ.

London, 21st August, 1771*. I PRESUME, Sir, you are satisfied that I mean you well, and that it is not necessary to assure you that while you adhere to the resolution of depending only upon the public favour (which, if you have half the understanding I attribute to you, you never can depart from) you may rely upon my ut most assistance. Whatever imaginary views may be ascribed to the author, it must always make part of Junius's plan to support Mr. Wilkes while he makes common cause with the people. I would engage your favourable attention to what I am going to say to you; and I entreat you not to be too hasty in concluding, from the apparent tendency of this letter, to any possible interests or connections of my own. It is a very common mistake in judgment, and a very dangerous one in conduct, first to look for nothing in the argument proposed to us but the motive of the man who uses it, and then to measure the truth of his argument by the motive we have assigned to him. With regard to me, Sir, any refinement in this way would assuredly mislead you; and though I do not disclaim the idea of some personal views to future honour and advantage (you would not believe me if I did), yet I can truly af

* On this letter is written, in Mr. Wilkes's own hand, the following memorandum :"August 21, 1771. "Received on Wednesday noon by a chairman, who said he brought it from a gentleman whom he saw in Lancaster Court, in the Strand.

"J. W."

firm that neither are they little in themselves, nor can they by any possible conjecture be collected from my writings.

Mr. Horne, after doing much mischief, is now, I think, completely defeated and disarmed. The author of the late unhappy divisions in the city is removed. Why should we suffer his works to live after him? In this view, I confess, I am vindictive, and would visit his sins upon his children. I would punish him in his offspring, by repairing the breaches he has made. Convinced that I am speaking to a man who has spirit enough to act if his judgment be satisfied, I will not scruple to declare at once, that Mr. Sawbridge ought to be Lord Mayor*, and that he ought to owe it to your first motion, and to the exertion of all your credit in the city. I affirm, without a doubt, that political prudence, the benefit of the cause, your public reputation and personal interest, do all equally demand this conduct of you. I do not deny that a stroke like this is above the level of vulgar policy, or that if you were a much less considerable man than you are it would not suit you. But you will recollect, Sir, that the public opinion of you rises every day, and that you must enlarge your plan as you proceed, since you have every day a new acquisition of credit to maintain. I offer you the sincere opinion of a man, who, perhaps, has more leisure to make reflections than you have, and who, though he stands clear of

After the death of the patriotic magistrate, Mr. Beckford, in 1770, Mr. Sawbridge managed the Chatham interest in the city, and was in constant communication with his Lordship's political attorney, Mr. Calcraft. Hence the declaration of Junius, that Alderman Sawbridge "ought to be Lord Mayor." He in his election failed on the present occasion, but in 1776 obtained the mayoralty. Writing to the Earl of Chatham, Oct. 19, 1770, Mr. Calcraft says:-" Mr. Sawbridge came here this evening, after having attended the common council. The recorder's business has ended much to the satisfaction of our friends." (Chatham Correspondence, iii. 474.) The recorder had given offence by declining to attend at St. James's with the city remonstrance, and the common council, after first repealing an old by-law that required them to consult the recorder and common sergeant in all city business, passed a resolution not to employ the recorder in any city business, but to consult Sergeant Glyn. Mr. Calcraft writes to Chatham, Nov. 28, 1770, " Your Lordship gave me great private satisfaction in what you so generously said [in the House of Lords] about my friend Sawbridge." (Ibid. iv. 33.) These excerpts are essential to elucidate the origin of the city preferences of Junius, and the sources of his copious information relative to the movements of parties there. Alderman Sawbridge died in 1795.-Ed.