of distinguished Abilities, lately deceased_, published
by G. Kearsley: London, 1780, 4to. Does not this look much like the
_suppressio veri_ which follows close on the footsteps of the _assertio
falsi_? It is hardly credible that the reviewer should not be acquainted
with this book, for he refers to the lines spoken in 1765, at Stowe, in the
character of Queen Mab, which form part of its contents; and the existence
of the work is expressly pointed out by Chalmers, and noticed by Lowndes,
Watt, and other bibliographers. Among the poems here published, are some
which ought to have received a prominent notice from the author of the
review, if he had fairly stated the case. These are:

1. Lines "to G----e Ed----d Ays----gh, Esq., [George Edward Ayscough,
cousin to Thomas Lyttelton] _from Venice, the 20th July, 1770_."--P.
22.

2. "An Irregular Ode, _wrote at Vicenza, in Italy, the 20th of August,
1770_."--P. 29.

3. "On Mr. ----, _at Venice, in J----, 1770_."

4. "An Invitation to Mrs. A----a D----, _wrote at Ghent in Flanders,
the 23rd of March, 1769_."--P. 41.

5. "_An Extempore, by Lord Lyttelton, in Italy, anno 1770_."--P. 48.

Admitting that these poems are genuine, it is evident that their author,
Thomas Lyttelton, was abroad in Flanders and Italy during the years 1769
and 1770; and consequently could not have been the mysterious Junius, who
in those years (particularly in 1769) was writing constantly in or near
London to Woodfall and the _Public Advertiser_. Of what value then is the
assertion so confidently made by the reviewer (p. 133.):

"The position of Thomas Lyttelton in the five years from 1767 to 1772,
is exactly such a one as it is reasonable to suppose that Junius held
during the period of his writings;"

or how can it be made to agree with the fact of his residence on the
Continent during the greater part of the time?

{32}

The reviewer, indeed, tells us that "just as Junius concluded his great
work, Thomas Lyttelton returned to his father's house, and Chatham was one
of the first to congratulate Lord Lyttelton on the event." This was in
February 1772; and in the _Chatham Correspondence_, vol. iv. p. 195., is
Lord Lyttelton's letter of thanks in reply. The reviewer would evidently
have it inferred, that Thomas Lyttelton had returned home like a prodigal
son, after a temporary estrangement, and from a comparatively short
distance; but surely, had