strate to us the imminent
danger of our situation. In the shipwreck of the state, trifles
float, and are preserved; while every thing solid and valuable
sinks to the bottom, and is lost forever."

* * * * *

Nor did Junius ever receive pay for his writings. The charges made
against him are thus briefly disposed of: "To write for profit, without
taxing the press; to write for fame, and to be unknown; to support the
intrigues of faction, and to be disowned as a dangerous auxiliary by
every party in the kingdom, are contradictions which the minister must
reconcile before I forfeit my credit with the public. I may quit the
service, but it would be absurd to charge me with desertion. The
reputation of these papers is an honorable pledge for my attachment to
the people.... But, in truth, sir, I have left no room for an
accommodation with the piety of St. James'. My offenses are not to be
redeemed by recantation or repentance. On one side, our warmest patriots
would disclaim me as a burthen to their honest ambition. On the other,
the vilest prostitution, if Junius could descend to it, would lose its
natural merit and influence in the cabinet, and treachery be no longer a
recommendation to the royal favor."--Let. 44. "He is not paid for his
labor, and certainly has a right to choose his employment."--Let. 63.
"As for myself, it is no longer a question whether I shall mix with the
throng and take a single share in the danger. Whenever Junius appears he
must encounter a host of enemies. But is there no honorable way to serve
the public without engaging in personal quarrels with insignificant
individuals, or submitting to the drudgery of canvassing votes for an
election? Is there no merit in dedicating my life to the information of
my fellow-subjects? What public question have I declined? What villain
have I spared? Is there no labor in the composition of these
letters?"--Let. 53.

In compiling the Letters, he says in his Preface: "The printer will
readily acquit me of any view to my own profit. I undertake this
troublesome task merely to serve a man who has deserved well of me and
the public, and who, on my account, has been exposed to an expensive,
tyrannical prosecution." This was Mr. Woodfall, publisher of the _Public
Advertiser_.

I am now prepared to ask: What, then, was the object of Junius? What
does he mean by "The _Cause_ and the _People_"? To what _Cause_ has he
"_dedicated his