n was clearly and often severely
expressed on literary men and literary subjects, and no great writer of
his own or a past age escaped either his praise or his censure. Authors
wrote with the fear of his criticism before their eyes; and his pompous
diction was long imitated by men who, without this influence, would have
written far better English. But, on the other hand, his honesty, his
scholarship, his piety, and his championship of what was good and true, as
depicted in his writings, made him a blessing to his time, and an honored
and notable character in the noble line of English authors.

JUNIUS.--Among the most significant and instructive writings to the
student of English history, in the earlier part of the reign of George
III., is a series of letters written by a person, or by several persons in
combination, whose _nom de plume_ was Junius. These letters specified the
errors and abuses of the government, were exceedingly bold in denunciation
and bitter in invective. The letters of Junius were forty-four in number,
and were addressed to Mr. Woodfall, the proprietor of _The Public
Advertiser_, a London newspaper, in which they were published. Fifteen
others in the same vein were signed Philo-Junius; and there are besides
sixty-two notes addressed by Junius to his publisher.

The principal letters signed Junius were addressed to ministers directly,
and the first, on the _State of the Nation_, was a manifesto of the
grounds of his writing and his purpose. It was evident that a bold censor
had sprung forth; one acquainted with the secret movements of the
government, and with the foibles and faults of the principal statesmen:
they writhed under his lash. Some of the more gifted attempted to answer
him, and, as in the case of Sir William Draper, met with signal
discomfiture. Vigorous efforts were made to discover the offender, but
without success; and as to his first patriotic intentions he soon added
personal spite, the writer found that his life would not be safe if his
secret were discovered. The rage of parties has long since died away, and
the writer or writers have long been in their graves, but the curious
secret still remains, and has puzzled the brains of students to the
present day. Allibone gives a list of forty-two persons to whom the
letters were in whole or in part ascribed, among whom are Colonel Barre,
Burke, Lord Chatham, General Charles Lee, Horne Tooke, Wilkes, Horace
Walpole, Lord Lyttleton, Lord