ized the word "_notion_," and the phrase
"_various signatures_." Of the former, I would remark that a _notion_ of
one's character falls far short of a judgment, and in a criticism is not
only trifling, but contemptible. In regard to "various signatures," I
will let Junius himself answer: "The encouragement given to a _multitude
of spurious, mangled publications_ of the 'Letters of Junius,' persuades
me that a complete edition, corrected and improved by the author, will
be favorably received."--Preface. In this volume his signature is
Junius, and occasionally, when he wishes to explain the meaning, or
defend the principle, he puts forward Philo Junius, but _never without
this cause_. I now proceed to give the character which Macaulay has
picked up--_I know not where_:

"He was clearly a man not destitute of real patriotism and
magnanimity--a man whose vices were not of a sordid kind. But he
must also have been a man in the highest degree arrogant and
insolent--a man prone to malevolence, and prone to the error of
mistaking his malevolence for public virtue. 'Doest thou well to
be angry?' was the question asked in olden time of the Hebrew
prophet, and he answered: 'I do well.' This was evidently the
temper of Junius, and to this cause we attribute the savage
cruelty which disgraces several of his Letters. No man is so
merciless as he who, under a strong self-delusion, confounds his
antipathies with his duties. It may be added that Junius, though
allied with the democratic party by common enmities, was the very
opposite of a democratic politician. While attacking individuals
with a ferocity which perpetually violated all the laws of
literary warfare, he regarded the most defective parts of the old
constitution with a respect amounting to pedantry; pleaded the
cause of Old Saurum with fervor, and contemptuously told the
capitalists of Manchester and Leeds that, if they wanted votes,
they might buy land and become freeholders of Lancashire and
Yorkshire. All this, we believe, might stand, with scarcely any
change, for a character of Philip Francis."

Thus much Macaulay. Where he got the above character I am unable to
tell, unless out of his own imagination. Before I answer it, I will give
another perversion of the truth. Dr. Goodrich concludes his article on
Junius as follows: "Junius continued his labors, with various ability,
but with little success, nearly two year's longer; unt