House of Commons he said: 'He made you
his quarry, and you still bleed from the wounds of his talons. You
crouched, and still crouch beneath his rage.' To the speaker he said:
'Nor has he dreaded the terrors of your brow, sir; he has attacked even
you--he has--and I believe you have no reason to triumph in the
encounter.' And again: 'Kings, lords, and commons are but the sport of
his fury.' Speaking of the 'Letter to the king,' Burke said: 'It was the
rancor and venom with which I was struck. In these respects the _North
Briton_ is as much inferior to him as in strength, wit, and judgment.'
The Government tried every means in their power to discover the author,
but in vain. Woodfall, the proprietor of the _Public Advertiser_, knew
or professed to know nothing about it, asserting that the letters were
found in his box from time to time, but how they came there he could not
tell. Let it suffice us to know that they admirably served the purpose
for which they were written, viz., to defeat tyranny, and to defend
freedom; that they are still allowed to rank as the greatest political
essays that were ever written; and that Junius, whoever he was, will
always be gratefully remembered among us, so long as we continue to
display that watchful jealousy in the preservation of our liberties
which has hitherto ever characterized us as a nation.

The Government prosecuted several newspaper proprietors and printers for
publishing these letters, and more especially that addressed to the
king. Among others who were brought to trial were Woodfall himself; John
Almon, of the _London Museum_; Miller, of the _London Evening Post_;
Baldwin, of the _St. James's Chronicle_; Say, of the _Gazetteer_, and
Robinson, of the _Independent Chronicle_. Almon was, however, the only
one who was punished. The jury consisted of Government employes,
carefully selected, and of course brought in a verdict adverse to him.
Almon was fined and ordered to find substantial bail for his future good
behavior.

The _Public Advertiser_ was a joint-stock concern, chiefly in the hands
of the booksellers, among whom we find names which are still famous in
Paternoster Row, such as Longman, Cadell, Rivington, and Strahan.
Woodfall's ledger supplies us with the following information as to the
expenses of getting it up, some of the items being sufficiently curious:

L s. d.

Paid translating foreign news, etc., 100 0 0