Junius Unmasked Part 9

"I turn with pleasure from that barren waste in which no salutary plant takes root, no verdure quickens, to a character fertile as I willingly believe in every great and good qualification. I call upon you, in the name of the English nation, to stand forth in defense of the laws of your country and to exert in the cause of truth and justice those great abilities with which you were intrusted for the benefit of mankind."--Let. 68.

There are two facts in the above parallel showing that the same mind indited both. First: Turning away from those who have deserved and who have been receiving his censure to the friends of the cause; and, Secondly: The call which immediately follows: "I call upon you." That it was not stolen from Junius by Mr. Paine, is proven by two facts. First: The language and figure are different; and, Secondly: That which makes it a parallel it is impossible to steal. It is a parallel of conditions, the one in England and the other in America. But if Junius were not Mr.

Paine, then would the conditions be destroyed. But there is a parallel of conditions, which can not be plagiarized; therefore Thomas Paine was Junius.

If it be argued in answer to this reasoning: There might be just such conditions existing with the character Junius in England as with Paine in America, which might produce a parallel as above, I admit the possibility; but the chances are infinity to one against such a hypothesis.

But to reduce the chances still more, let us bring a parallel of fact to ill.u.s.trate a principle of _national honor_.

_Paine._

"There is such an idea in the world as that of national honor, and this falsely understood is oftentimes the cause of war. In a Christian and philosophical sense mankind seem to have stood still at individual civilizations, and to retain as nations all the original rudeness of nature.

Peace by treaty is only a cessation of violence for a reformation of sentiment. It is a subst.i.tute for a principle that is wanting and ever will be wanting till the idea of national honor is rightly understood. I remember the late Admiral Saunders declaring in the House of Commons, and that in the time of peace, 'That the city of Madrid laid in ashes was not a sufficient atonement for the Spaniards taking off the rudder of an English sloop of war.' I do not ask whether this is Christianity or morality, I ask whether it is decency? whether it is proper language for a nation to use? In private life we call it by the plain name of bullying, and the elevation of rank can not alter its character. It is, I think, exceedingly easy to define what ought to be understood by national honor; for that which is the best character for an individual is the best character for a nation; and wherever the latter exceeds or falls beneath the former, there is a departure from the line of true greatness."--Crisis, vii.

_Junius._

"If we recollect in what manner the _king's friends_ have been constantly employed, we shall have no reason to be surprised at any condition of disgrace to which the once respected name of Englishman may be degraded.... The expedition against Port Egmont does not appear to have been a sudden ill-concerted enterprise: it seems to have been conducted, not only with the usual military precautions, but in all the forms and ceremonies of war. A frigate was first employed to examine the strength of the place. A message was then sent demanding immediate possession in the Catholic king's name, and ordering our people to depart. At last a military force appears and compels the garrison to surrender. A formal capitulation ensues, and his majesty's ship, which might at least have been permitted to bring home his troops immediately, is detained in port twenty days and her rudder forcibly taken away. This train of facts carries no appearance of the rashness or violence of a Spanish governor. Mr. Buccarelli is not a pirate, nor has he been treated as such by those who employed him. I feel for the honor of a gentleman when I affirm that our king owes him a signal reparation. When will the humility of this country end? A king of Great Britain, not contented with placing himself upon a level with a Spanish governor, descends so low as to do a notorious injustice to that governor. Thus it happens in private life with a man who has no spirit nor sense of honor. One of his equals orders a servant to strike him: instead of returning the blow to the master, his courage is contented with throwing an aspertion equally false and public upon the character of the servant."--Let. 42.

The above parallel, like the preceding one, arises primarily in the mind from the a.s.sociation of ideas. The definition of national honor is the same, and arose out of the same transaction. Taking away the rudder from an English frigate was a national insult, but instead of demanding reparation of the king of Spain, the king of England would satisfy his honor by attacking a king's servant, which furnishes the materials for the censure of Junius, and Admiral Saunders would be satisfied to see the city of Madrid laid in ashes, which furnishes the just ground for the aspersions of Mr. Paine; and from thence they define national honor to be that deportment which is best suited to an individual. They both state the case, and then define; the method and figures are the same.

But there is another parallel in these two pieces, and in the same connection. Mr. Paine and Junius both use very harsh language in commenting on the facts in the case, and when they close their censure they say:

_Paine._

"This, perhaps, may sound harsh and uncourtly, but it is too true, and the more is the pity."

_Junius._

"These are strong terms, sir, but they are supported by fact and argument."

This apology taken in the same connection, shows the same mind, for it is a law of nature, whether exhibited in mind or matter, that when given the same conditions the same results follow. Now if Thomas Paine be not Junius, then would no such parallels be found; for, as before remarked, literary theft is impossible, inasmuch as conditions can not be stolen, and more especially the most important condition in the above case, _mental const.i.tution_. In other words the case is stated by the _same person_, in the _same style_, but not in the same language.

_Paine._

"This plain language may, perhaps, sound uncourtly to an ear vitiated by courtly refinements, but words were made for use, and the fault lies in deserving them, or the abuse in applying them unfairly."--Crisis, ii.

_Junius._

"These sentiments, sir, and the style they are conveyed in, may be offensive perhaps, because they are new to you. Accustomed to the language of courtiers, you measure their affections by the vehemence of their expressions; and when they only praise you indifferently you admire their sincerity."--Let. 35.

"Like a stream of water."

"Like a rapid torrent."

"Slave in buff."

"Cream-colored parasite."

"My creed in politics."

"Political creed we profess."

"Expressed myself over-warmly."

"Pa.s.sionate language."

"By following the pa.s.sion and stupidity of the pilot you wrecked the vessel within sight of the sh.o.r.e." Applied to England.

"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."

"It needs no painting of mine to set it off, for nature can only do it justice."

"The works of a master require no index; his features and coloring are taken from nature."

"She [England] set out with the t.i.tle of parent or mother country. The a.s.sociation of ideas which naturally accompany this expression are filled with every thing that is fond, tender, and forbearing. They have an energy peculiar to themselves, and overlooking the accidental attachment of natural affection apply with infinite _softness_ to the first feelings of the heart."

"With all his mother's _softness_."

[Mr. Paine argued against this t.i.tle of "mother country" being applied to England. And what is remarkable, Junius was never betrayed into it, even with all his prejudice in favor of the English nation hanging about him. In Letter 1, he speaks of England as having "alienated the colonies from their natural affection to their _common_ country," and in no place says parent or mother country. This fact is a striking parallel.]

"That men never turn rogues without turning fools, is a maxim sooner or later universally true."--Crisis, iii.

"There is a proverb concerning persons in the predicament of this gentleman, 'They commence dupes, and finish knaves.'"--Let. 49.

"The corrupt and abandoned court of Britain."

"Corruption glitters in the van, collects and maintains a standing army of mercenaries."

"Trembling duplicity of a spaniel."

"In that state of abandoned servility and prost.i.tution." ... "The ministry, abandoned as they are."

"Agony of a wounded mind."

"When the mind is tortured."

"Compound of reasons."

"Compound his ideas."

"Nothing but the sharpest essence of villainy compounded with the strongest distillation of folly, could have produced a _menstruum_ that would have effected a separation."--Crisis, iii.

"He was forced to go through every division, resolution, composition, and refinement of political chemistry before he happily arrived at the _caput mortuum_ of vitriol in your grace. Flat and insipid in your retired state; but brought into action you become vitriol again."--Let. 15.

In the above Mr. Paine applies this figure of political chemistry to the causes which led to the separation of the colonies from England. Junius is speaking to the Duke of Grafton. "_Menstruum_" and "_Caput mortuum_,"

are old chemical terms. The former means that which will dissolve, and the latter the worthless matter which is left. They are both figures of a.n.a.lysis, and show the writer to have given his attention to chemistry.

Mr. Paine, it is well known, in 1775, shortly after arriving in America, "set his talents to work" to _make_ saltpeter by some cheap and expeditious method, and formed an a.s.sociation to supply gratuitously the national magazines with powder. This fact also shows that Mr. Paine came to America to fight England; for it was before he had written his Common Sense. His object was, to be prepared; his method was, first the powder and then the Declaration of Independence, which last was produced by the pamphlet Common Sense.

_Paine._

"It renders man diminutive in things that are great, and the counterfeit of woman in things that are small."--Rights of Man, part i.