Thomas Paine: Was he Junius?

I have no manner of objection to your reprinting the letters, if you think it will answer. If you determine to do it, give me a hint, and I will send you more errata indeed they are innumerable , and perhaps a preface. I really doubt whether I shall write any more under this signature. I am weary of attacking a set of brutes, whose writings are too dull to furnish me even with the materials of contention, and whose measures are too gross and direct to be the subject of argument or to require illustration. Again, in December, , he writes: I am now meditating a capital, and, I hope, a final piece.

I am strangely partial to the inclosed. It is finished with the ut- most care. Again, on the eighth of November, he writes: The above to that Scotchman should be printed conspicuously to -mor- row. At last I have concluded my great work, and I assure you with no small labor. Chief Justice Mansfield was " that Scotchman" whom Junius hoped in his next and last letter to be able to " pull to the ground. Gv has literally forced me to break my resolution of writing no more.

The letter of Junius to Lord Mansfield did not appear till Jan- uary 21, , and it was his last, with an appended appeal to Lord Camden. The private letters of Junius to Woodfall and John Wilkes, were first published in 2. To Wilkes, September 18, , he says: I willingly accept of as much of your friendship as you can impart to -a man you will assuredly never know.

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I speak from a recess which no human curiosity can penetrate. And again, on the sixth of November!

No man writes under so many disadvantages as I do, I cannot con- ;sult the learned, I cannot directly ask the opinion of my acquaintance, -and in the newspapers I am never assisted. In a private letter of Junius to Lord Chatham, dated January 14, , and inclosing a proof-sheet of the letter to Lord Mans- field, Junius says: Retired and unknown, I live in the shade, and have only a speculative ambition.

And in the dedication of WoodfalFs authorized edition of the letters, the author says: I am the sole depository of my own secret, and it shall perish with me. The secretiveness of Junius is repeated in the life of Paine, and the promise never to disclose the secret of Junius was ful- iilled by Paine.

On the twenty-first of January, , exactly one hundred years after the date and pubhcation of the last letter of Junius, the discovery that he was Thomas Paine was first made public in the- cily of Washington, and the first printed copy of the book con- taining the proof was exhibited to an audience of forty people.

The book, which had been stereotyped several weeks, opens with these words: One hundred years ago Junius wrote as follows. C, January 21, The writer of this article, who made the announcement, did not hear of the discovery before January 2, , when Joel Moody, Esq. Moody did not wish to be known for a while and 1 voluntarily became god father to the banding. One most remarkable characteristic of Junius was his refusal to receive any pay for his work. When Woodfall issued a com- plete edition of the letters, with a " Dedication to the English Nation,'' and a preface, both prepared by the unknown author, he tendered to Junius one-half the profits of the book.

Junius replied as follows: What you say about the profits is very handsome. I like to deal with such men. As for myself, be assured that I am above all pecuniary views, and no other person, I think, has any claim to share with you..

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Make the most of it, therefore, and let all your views in life be directed to a solid, however moderate, independence. Without it no man can be- happy, nor even honest. This extraordinary characteristic is strikingly paralleled in Paine.. This parallels with the sentiment expressed in the private letter to Woodfall, that without a moderate independence " no man can be happy, nor even honest. These lines, inspired by Churchill's laurePd shade, I write, unknown, unpatronized, unpaid.

What's in the name of lord, that I should feai To bring my grievance to the public ear? But now mark what Paine himself says about writing for profit: In a great affair, where the happiness of man is at stake, I love to work for nothing. I take neither copyright nor profit from anything I publish. Is there an example even of a rich man? Not one writer in a thousand would act thus. But here are two contemporary ex- amples. Multiply one thousand by one thousand and you have: Another most prominent characteristic of Junius was hatred -of the Scotch.

For this no parallel was found at first in any of Paine's writings. The expression " Scotch and foreign mercena- ries,'' in the draft of the Declaration of Independence, which so offended two gentleman of that country that it had to be stricken out, was doubtless penned by Paine, for Jefferson had no antipa- thy to the Scotch.

But that kind of evidence was scarcely ad- missible without other Support. Speaking of the policy of embracing the Scotch in the reign of George HI. The brilliant pen of Junius was drawn forth, but in vain. This was sufficient proof that Paine, like Junius, hated the Scotch; but then the somewhat embarrassing question arose if Paine was Junius, could he have thus alluded to that writer? Should galling Junius make a new attack, Whose lashes still are flagrant on your back.

The libeller by some state blood-hound trace, And make him feel the terrors of your place. Lord Mansfield was " that Scotchman" whom Junius hoped to "pull to the ground: Paine, this is Mrs. The claim for Sir Philip Francis alone has in recent years maintained any degree of stability. On the evidence of handwriting a very plausible case has been made out, sufficient to convince many that he wrote the disguised hand of Junius. But when I did, 1 soon found positive proof that Francis was not Junius. In a private letter to Woodfall, without date, but certainly written a day or two after November 10, , Junius says: I have been out of town these three weeks, and though I got your last could not conveniently answer it.

B," who was not Junius. But on the fourth of November, , Philip Francis wrote a.

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• Identity of Junius!

Since my discovery of this alibi I have been happy to learn that not less than half a dozen others have been proved in Notes- and Queries. There are more than three hundred parallels of character, conduct, opinion, style, sentiment, and language between Paine and Junius, and no fact incompatible with their identity has been found.

See how differently he Nvrites his name: In Junms's " Dedication to the English Nation," he says: You are roused at last to a sense of your danger. If Junius lives, you shall often be reminded of it. Did he not fulfill that promise? Frank- lin had been insulted at court and was about to leave England forever. Already he had sent Paine to Philadelphia with letters of introduction. But he himself did not embark until three months after the first issue of The Crisis.

I believe that Frank- lin was the only man who detected Junius. Hence in all his writings he never alludes to him. Paine and Franklin were bosom friends, and worked together even when far apart. With- out their secret work American independence would not have been achieved. Is it, therefore, any exaggeration to say that Paine and Franklin made this nation? For wronged America let pity cease, Let all her sons be massacred in peace. The Newark Gazette of October 5, , contained the follow- ing editorial paragraph: It has long been supposed that Mr.

Jefferson drew up the Declaration of Independence, This report was raised to further his election, and the philosopher has thought fit to countenance it. Jefferson, for re- vision and amendment, and it yfQ. Who was that " certain person" whose name the editor kindly suppressed, lest it should humiliate his political adversaries? And did Congress assign to that same person the task of revising and amending the draft of the Declaration reported by the committee of five?

Jefferson himself had not so recorded it in his " notes written on the spot," nor in his letter to the Journal de Paris in , giving a history of the transaction " with precision. Jefferson," is all that Chief Justice Marshall could say in Therefore the public must have been unenlightened as to the authorship of the instrument not only up to , but for many years thereafter; and if Jefferson had died three years earlier than he did, the only evidence that he drew the Declara- tion of Independence would have been: That the original draft is in his own handwriting.

That the task of drawing it was assigned to him by the committee; and 3, That in his own equivocal words, as recorded in " It was accordingly done, and being approved by them, I reported ic to the House. And Thomas Paine, as I shall undertake to prove, was that " certain person" referred to by the editor of the Newark Gazette. The very first literary work of Paine after his arrival in 1 was a series of seven anonymous letters in support of Jefferson's administration, published in the National Intelligencer, signed " Plain Sense," and afterward reprinted in a pamphlet with the following tide: In Jefferson's works, vol.

It is in his own handwridng except four verbal amendments by Franklin and two by Adams. There are many other erasures and interlineations, all in Jeffer- son's handwriting being amendments made by Congress. The first paragraph of the original draft, as reported by the committee,, is as follows: The italicized words were erased, and other language substi- tuted therefor by Congress. The second paragraph of the Declaration was amended still more, the original being as follows: The following paragraph in regard to the slave trade was en- tirely stricken out: Determined to keep open a mar- ket where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his nega- tive for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce.

And that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in. Did he not know the state of feeling in- regard to slavery before he made the draft?

Full text of "Thomas Paine: Was he Junius?"

It is true that he, though a slaveholder, deplored the existence of the institution;.. Speaking of this paragraph in the original draft of the Declara- tion. At this very time, too, they are permitting their chief magistrate to- send over not only soldiers oi our common blood, but Scotch and foreign, mercenaries, to invade and destroy us. These facts have given the last stab to agonizing affection, and manly spirit bids us renounce forever these unfeeling brethren. Be it so, since they will have it.

We will tread it apart from them. Aside from the eloquence and pathos of this passage, altogether t eyond the capacity of Jefferson's pen, there is other evidence to rove that he did not compose it. In referring to it, he said: When the Declaration of Independence was under the consideration of -Congress, there were two or three unlucky expressions in it which gave -offense to some members.

Furthermore, is not the argument of Mr. I quote the whole clause as adopted, with an amendment in brackets, but without the interpolated words " Scotch and other," which appear without erasure in Jefferson's draft: He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to -complete the works of death, destruction, and tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy [scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages and totally] unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

When the subsequent passage, containing the offensive words, "Scotch and foreign mercenaries,'' was stricken out by Congress, the interpolated words " Scotch and other" in this clause should have been erased. And in the engrossed copy they were omitted but in Jefferson's draft they still remain, thus: If Paine drew it, and not only wished to be unknown but was will- ing to let another have the credit of the performance, Jefferson was nevertheless placed in an embarrassing position. How" could he dare, even in notes written on the spot, much less in any public communication, while Paine was living, avow him- self the author?

Hence in his notes, written on the spot, he- says: A committee was appointed to prepare a Declaration of Independence. The committee were John Adams, Dr.

Thomas Paine: Was he Junius?

Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert- R. This was reported to the House on Friday, the twenty -eighth of June, when it was read, and ordered to lie on the table. On the twenty-eighth of June the Declaration of Independence was re- ported to the House and was laid on the table. In , in answer to a proposal to publish his writings, after mentioning many of them, he says: I say nothing of numerous drafts of reports, resolutions, declarations,, etc..

These having be- come the acts of public bodies, there can be no personal claim to them. Joseph Parkes , author with Herman Merivale of the Memoirs of Sir Philip Francis , gave a list of more than forty persons who had been supposed to be Junius. Taylor approached to Sir Philip for leave to publish, and received evasive answers. Charles Chabot was convinced of the identity of Junius and Francis, based on the handwriting and other collateral evidence. His family maintained that Sir Philip addressed a copy of verses to a Miss Giles in the handwriting of Junius.

The similarity of Junius and Francis in regard to their opinions, their likes and dislikes, their knowledge, and their known movements are also close. Edward Turner Boyd Twistleton employed Chabot to report again on the handwriting, based on manuscripts in the British Museum. He published Chabot's evidence that Francis was the writer as Handwriting of Junius professionally investigated This allowed some statistical conclusions to be drawn about the author—they used "among" thirty-five times, but never used "amongst", for example. Comparing this to the writings of some of the suspects proved informative; Sir Philip Francis used "among" 66 times, and "amongst" only once.

A group of general writers of the time, tested as a control, used "among" times and "amongst" Several hundred such words and phrases were found that could be tests of style—"farther" or "further", for example. Barker, writing in the Dictionary of National Biography. At the time of publication, a leading candidate with Edmund Burke for Junius; Sir William Draper was confident that the author was one of the two. Jaques, will be found among the Woodfall letters in the British Museum Addit. Wray is one of those who have been identified with Junius. In James Falconar published an ingenious work entitled 'The Secret Revealed,' in which he made out a plausible case for the identification.

An examination of his evidence shows, however, that it is untrustworthy cf. Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. There have been other hypotheses put forward. In most cases the attribution is based on nothing more than a vague guess. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. His brother of William Woodfall later established the Daily , a paper that reported on parliamentary debates. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed.

Subscription or UK public library membership required. Lord Camden , Samuel Dyer. Vian, Alsager Richard Dictionary of National Biography. The authorship of the letters of Junius elucidated: The Handwriting of Junius Professionally Investigated. Common terms and phrases afterward America argument army atheism believe Britain cause character colonies Common Sense Congress constitution continent Crisis crown Declaration of Independence Duke of Grafton enemies England English equal evidence expression fact favor feeling forever Francis Franklin give Grafton hath heart honor House of Commons ideas Jefferson John Adams Junius says king language laws letters of Junius liberty Lord Lord Camden Lord Chatham Lord Granby Lord Mansfield Lord North mankind ment method mind minister Miscellaneous Letters morality nation natural proofs nature never opinion original Paine and Junius Paine says Paine's paragraph parallel Parliament passion peculiar Philo Junius political prejudices principles produced proof Quaker reader reason religion revolution Scotch sentence sentiment speak spirit style thing Thomas Paine thought tion true truth tyranny usurpations views whole words write wrote.

Popular passages Page - He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. Determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative Page - For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world: For imposing taxes on us without our consent: For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury: For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

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