"To say that the constitution of England_Junius Unmasked Or, Thomas Paine the author of the Letters of Junius and the Declaration of Independence

union of three powers, reciprocally checking each

other, is farcical; either the words have no

meaning, or they are flat contradictions. To say

that the commons is a check upon the king

presupposes two things:

_"First._--That the king is not to be trusted

without being looked after; or, in other words,

that a thirst for absolute power is the natural

_disease_ of monarchy.

_"Secondly._--That the commons, by being appointed

for that purpose, are either wiser, or more worthy

of confidence than the crown."

_Junius._

"The three branches of the legislature seem to

treat their separate rights and interests as the

Roman triumvirs did their friends--they

reciprocally sacrifice them to the animosities of

each other, and establish a detestable union among

themselves upon the ruin of the laws and the

liberty of the commonwealth."--Let. 39.

"There is something exceedingly ridiculous in the

composition of monarchy--it first excludes a man

from the means of information, yet empowers him to

act in cases where the highest judgment is

required. The state of a king shuts him from the

world, yet the business of a king requires him to

know it thoroughly; wherefore, the different

parts, by unnaturally opposing and destroying each

other, prove the whole character to be absurd and

useless."

In speaking of and to the king, he says:

"It has been the misfortune of your life, and

originally the cause of every reproach and

distress which has attended your government, that

you should never have been acquainted with the

language of truth until you heard it in the

complaints of your people."--Let. 35.

"A faultless, insipid equality in his character is

neither capable of virtue or vice in the extreme,

but it secures his submission to those persons

whom he has been accustomed to respect, and makes

him a dangerous instrument of their ambition.

Secluded from the world, attached from his infancy

to one set of persons and one set of ideas, he can

neither open his heart to new connections, nor his

mind to better information."--Let. 39.

"That the crown is this overbearing part in the

English constitution, needs not to be mentioned;

and that it derives its whole consequence merely

from being the giver of _places and pensions_, is

self-evident. Wherefore, though we have been wise

enough to shut and lock a door against absolute

monarchy, we at the same time have been foolish

enough to put the crown in possession of the key.

"The prejudice of Englishmen in favor of their own

government by king, lords, and commons, arises as

much or more from national pride than reason.

Individuals are undoubtedly safer in England than

in some other countries, but the will of the king

is as much the law of the land in Britain as in

France, with this difference: that, instead of

proceeding directly from his mouth, it is handed

to the people under the formidable shape of an act

of parliament. For the fate of Charles the First

hath only made kings more subtle--not more just."

Of the king's influence on parliament, he says:

"It is arbitrary and notoriously under the

influence of the crown."--Let. 44.

"I beg you will convey to your gracious master my

humble congratulations upon the glorious success

of _peerages and pensions_, so lavishly

distributed as the rewards of Irish virtue."--Let.

66.

"That the sovereign of this country is not

amenable to any form of trial known to the laws,

is unquestionable; but exemption from punishment

is a singular privilege annexed to the royal

character, and no way excludes the possibility of

deserving it. How long and to what extent a king

of England may be protected by the forms, when he

violates the spirit of the constitution, deserves

to be considered. A mistake in this matter proved

fatal to Charles and his son."--Preface to Junius.

"Wherefore, laying aside all national pride and

prejudice in favor of modes and forms, the plain

truth is that _it is wholly owing to the

constitution of the people, and not the

constitution of the government_, that the crown is

not as oppressive in England as in Turkey."

"The consequences of this attack upon the

constitution are too plain and palpable not to

alarm the dullest apprehension. I trust you will

find that the people of England are neither

deficient in spirit or understanding, though you

have treated them as if they had neither sense to

feel, nor spirit to resent. We have reason to

thank God and our ancestors that there never yet

was a minister in this country who could stand the

issue of such a conflict, and, with every

prejudice in favor of your intentions, I see no

such abilities in your grace as should enable you

to succeed in an enterprise in which the ablest

and basest of your predecessors have found their

destruction.... Never hope that the freeholders

will make a tame surrender of their rights, or

that an English army will join with you in

overturning the liberties of their country."--Let.

11.

I will now present their doctrine of _equal rights_:

_Common Sense._

"Mankind being originally equals in the order of

creation, the equality could not be destroyed by

some subsequent circumstance....

"As the exalting one man so greatly above the

rest, can not be justified on the equal rights of

nature...."

_Junius._

"In the rights of freedom we are all equal....

"The least considerable man among us has an

interest equal to the proudest nobleman."--Let.

37.

"When the first original right of the people, from

which all laws derive their authority," etc.--Let.

30.

"Those sacred original rights which belonged to

them before they were soldiers."--Let. 11.

"For all men being originally equals, no one by

birth could have a right to set up his own family

in perpetual preference to all others forever, and

though himself might deserve some decent degree of

honors of his cotemporaries, yet his descendants

might be far too unworthy to inherit them. One of

the strongest _natural_ proofs of the folly of

hereditary right in kings, is, that nature

disproves it, otherwise she would not so

frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind

an ass for a lion."

"Those original rights of your subjects, on which

all their civil and political liberties depend....

"If the English people should no longer confine

their resentment to a submissive representation of

their wrongs; if, following the glorious example

of their ancestors, they should no longer appeal

to the creature of the constitution, but to that

high Being who gave them the rights of humanity,

whose gifts it were sacrilege to surrender; let me

ask you, sir, upon what part of your subjects

would you rely for assistance?"--Address to the

king, Let. 35.

While I am upon the subject of king, I will present their views in this

place. And I would call attention to the severity of the language:

_Common Sense._

"In England, a king hath little more to do than to

make war and give away places, which, in plain

terms, is to impoverish the nation and set it

together by the ears. A pretty business, indeed,

for a man to be allowed eight hundred thousand

sterling a year for, and worshiped into the

bargain! Of more worth is one honest man to

society and in the sight of God than all the

crowned ruffians that ever lived.

"But where, say some, is the king of America? I'll

tell you, friend, he reigns above, and doth not

make havoc of mankind, like the royal brute of

Britain."

_Junius._

"For my own part, far from thinking that the king

can do no wrong; far from suffering myself to be

deterred or imposed upon by the language of forms;

if it were my misfortune to live under the

inauspicious reign of a prince, whose whole life

was employed in one base, contemptible struggle

with the free spirit of his people, or in the

_detestable_ endeavor to corrupt their moral

principles, I would not scruple to declare to him:

'Sir, you alone are the author of the greatest

wrong to your subjects and to yourself.... Has not

the strength of the crown, whether influence or

prerogative, been uniformly exerted for eleven

years together, to support a narrow, pitiful

system of government, which defeats itself and

answers no one purpose of real power, profit, or

personal satisfaction to you?'"--Pref.

"The minister who, by secret corruption, invades

the freedom of elections, and the ruffian [meaning

the king] who, by open violence, destroys that

freedom, are embarked in the same bottom."--Let.

"When Junius observes that kings are ready enough

to follow such advice, he does not mean to

insinuate that, if the advice of Parliament were

good, the king would be so ready to follow

it."--Let. 45.

In commenting on the sentence spoken of the king,

"_by whose_ NOD ALONE _they were permitted to do

anything_," he says: "Here is idolatry even

without a mask; and he who can calmly hear and

digest such doctrine, hath forfeited his claim to

rationality; is an apostate from the order of

manhood, and ought to be considered as one who

hath not only given up the proper dignity of man,

but sunk himself beneath the rank of animals, and

contemptibly crawls through the world like a worm.

However, it matters very little now what the king

of England either says or does; he hath wickedly

broken through every moral and human obligation,

trampled nature and conscience under his feet;

and, by a steady and unconstitutional spirit of

insolence and cruelty, procured for himself an

universal hatred."

"There is surely something singularly benevolent

in the character of our sovereign. From the moment

he ascended the throne, there is no crime of which

human nature is capable (and I call upon the

recorder to witness it) that has not appeared

venial in his sight."--Let. 48.

"I know that man [the king] much better than any

of you. _Nature_ intended him only for a good

humored fool. A systematical education, with long

practice, has made him a consummate hypocrite....

What would have been the triumph of that odious

hypocrite and his minions if Wilkes had been

defeated? It was not your fault, reverend sir,

that he did not enjoy it completely."--Let. 51, to

Rev. Mr. Horne.

I shall now give two passages from another portion of Mr. Paine's work

to parallel with the last two of Junius on the king:

"Good heavens! what volumes of thanks does America

owe to Britain! What infinite obligation to the

tool that fills with paradoxical vacancy the

throne!"--Crisis, iii.

"The connection between vice and meanness is a fit

subject for satire, but when the satire is a fact

it cuts with the irresistible power of a diamond.

If a Quaker, in defense of his just rights, his

property, and the chastity of his house, takes up

a musket he is expelled the meeting; but the

present king of England, who seduced and took into

keeping a sister of their society, is reverenced

and supported by repeated testimonies, while the

friendly noodle from whom she was taken, and who

is now in this city, continues a drudge in the

service of his rival, as if proud of being

cuckolded by a creature called a king."--Crisis,

iii.

"Though the Kennedies were convicted of a most

deliberate and atrocious murder, they still had a

claim to the royal mercy. They were saved by the

chastity of their connections. They had a sister;

yet it was not her beauty, but the pliancy of her

virtue, that recommended her to the king.

"The holy author of our religion was seen in the

company of sinners; but it was his gracious

purpose to convert them from their sins. Another

man who, in the ceremonies of our faith, might

give lessons to the great enemy of it, upon

different principles, keeps much the same company.

He advertises for patients, collects all the

diseases of the heart, and turns a royal palace

into an hospital for incurables. A man of honor

has no ticket of admission at St. James'. They

receive him like a virgin at the Magdalen's--'Go

thou and do likewise.'"--Let. 67, to Lord

Mansfield.

The above will explain a passage in Junius--Let.

56--which is as follows: "You must confess that

even Charles the Second would have blushed at that

open encouragement, at those eager, meretricious

caresses, with which every species of private vice

and public prostitution is received at St.

James'."

I will now make a few remarks upon COMMON SENSE. I have introduced a few

extracts to show its spirit, scope, and object; and the opinions,

principles, language, and style of Mr. Paine. I have also thrown by the

side of them the similar characteristics of Junius, but this is not all.

COMMON SENSE was to America what _Junius_ would have been to England if

the same success had attended it. There is a _plan_ in COMMON SENSE

similar to that of Junius. It opens the new year with a new policy; it

begins by a contrast between society and government; it attacks the

government and defends the original rights of the people; it assaults

the king and his minions; it defends republicanism against royalty; it

calls on the people to rebel against the tyrant, to take up arms in

their defense, and to establish government upon the natural and original

rights of the people. If one will study the two works he will find not

only the general plan the same, but even in detail they strikingly

correspond; showing the same head to plan, and the same hand to execute.

There is the same language, the same figures of speech, the same wit,

the same method of argumentation, the same withering satire, the same

appeals to Heaven, and the same bold, proud, unconquerable spirit, in

the one as in the other.

If Mr. Paine was Junius, these things would naturally be expected. And

it would be expected, also, that having failed to produce the desired

effect in England, and all further effort there being at an end, that

if Junius lived he would change his base of operations if a favorable

opportunity offered, and strike once more for the liberties of the

people. Thus the natural order of things leads us to an irresistible

conclusion. But in order not to be too hasty we ought to ask: Is there

not _one_ fact in the whole life and character of Mr. Paine incompatible

with Junius? When it is found I will surrender the argument. But let us

proceed.

Nature is prodigal of varieties. No two individuals are alike, either in

physical form or mental features. Great differences may be found even

among those most resembling each other, but when we find a man prominent

among his fellow-kind, it is because of marked characteristics in which

he greatly differs from the rest. These characteristics are expressed in

action. A record of these actions is the history of men. Faust gives us

movable type, and Watt the steam-engine. Newton asks nature to reveal

her mode of operation in the movement of matter. Bacon asks her for her

method. Buckle inquires after the science of history. Napoleon was a

magazine of war. And thus great minds reveal themselves in their own

way; and the more striking and peculiar the characteristic, the more

easily can we distinguish and describe the person. Mr. Paine was a

literary adventurer. And unlike adventurers in conquest or discovery, he

left the record of his course as he went along. His was not a path in

the sea, nor foot-prints in the sand, but a work like that of Euclid or

Laplace, carved out of thought; he called out of chaos a new world of

politics; he fought great battles and won victories with the pen. To

know the man, then, we must examine his writings. To this end,

therefore, I call the reader's attention to his style.

STYLE.

I will first make some concise remarks upon this subject, to aid us in

comparing Junius with Mr. Paine; because I propose to show that the

style of the one is the style of the other.

Style, by most authors, is treated under the following heads:

_Perspicuity_, _Vivacity_, and _Beauty_. Perspicuity, I define, the

clear and true expression of our thoughts in the fewest words. Vivacity

is the energy or life of expression; it attracts the attention, and

excites the imagination. It takes the will by storm and produces

conviction. Combined with perspicuity it becomes eloquence. Beauty is

the harmony and smoothness of of expression, and is often made

synonymous with _elegance_.

The first requisite in style is perspicuity. It is a prevalent notion

among the vulgar that clearness of expression leads to dryness and

dullness in speaking or writing, owing to the plain garb in which ideas

are clothed. But the fact is, the very reverse of this is true, and as

the legitimate result.

Words are said to be the signs of ideas, or symbols of thought. But

words _spoken_ is thought passing in the air; they are ideas in

invisible vibrations, and a sound can neither be a sign nor a symbol.

But words written are symbols of thought. Language addresses both the

ear and the eye. The true end and aim of language is to make others feel

the full force of an idea as it is felt by the speaker. Language must

therefore be forever imperfect, and this from the nature of things, or

at least till ideas can be silently conveyed upon the waves of some

subtle nerve force. Ideas flit from the mind with the rapidity of

lightning. To the inward beholder truth becomes visible at times

instantaneously. He sees it, he feels it; it fills him with emotions; it

struggles for utterance. Truth writhes to get free and become

universally, instead of particularly, known and felt. It may be and is

felt instantaneously, yet it can not be expressed in words for hours,

and perhaps never: certainly never as it should be. Truth rests in the

mind, or flutters there in ideal beauty. It requires an artist

transcending earthly perfection to breathe it to the ear or throw it out

to the eye on canvas. The tongue and hand both fail, the sounds are

discordant, and the lines are broken. In the one instance we have a

jumble of sounds, and in the other a daub for a picture.

It becomes apparent at once, the more words we use to express thought,

the more it is cumbered with technicalities and idiomatic phrases, just

so much more gross, and feeble, and uninviting it becomes, because

robbed of its ideal beauty. But, on the contrary, if a word or a look or

a touch could express it, its beauty, and its power, and its worth would

not be thus blemished. Byron would have spoken that word were it

lightning. Hence arises the interest and charm in beholding the picture

of an artist, where so much is revealed at a glance; for it is thought

which is expressed there. Hence, also, it becomes evident that far more

can be expressed in a figure of speech, quickly and boldly put, than

could be otherwise presented in hours or days. "A single hieroglyphic

character," says Champoleon le June, "would probably convey more to the

mind of an ancient Egyptian than a quarto page would to a European."

Perspicuity, therefore, is not necessarily devoid of energy or elegance,

in fact the only means to secure a clear and concise style is to use the

trope--especially in the two forms of metaphor and comparison: observing

always that long and labored figures of speech are generally ambiguous,

and always have a bad effect. Their beauty, and worth, and power consist

in the brevity and clearness with which they are expressed. "The thought

expressed in a single line by Chaucer," says Lord Kames, "gives more

luster to a young beauty, than the whole of his much labored poem,

"Up rose the sun, and up rose Emilie."

Perspicuity, then, we would consider the very soul of vivacity, and

vivacity the soul of eloquence.

The elegance or beauty of expression is of far less consequence, and

must often be sacrificed to the very nature of ideas. It can not be said

that all ideas are beautiful. There are uncomely and hideous things on

earth; there are disagreeable and hateful subjects to be spoken of, and

there are painful feelings to be expressed. Language would fail to

subserve the end for which it exists, did it not correspond to the

sources of thought and the objects to be described; otherwise it would

not be language. To be elegant, therefore, at all times, in speaking or

writing, involves an absurdity, inasmuch as only a part of our ideas

could be expressed were this the case. The simple narration of facts

enlightens; elegance soothes and pleases; but vivacity moves to action.

It is the duty of the writer to make his style and language correspond

with his subject.

Keeping the foregoing principles in view, the reader may apply such

terms to the piece he reads, or the discourse he hears, as may be most

fitting. It is thus we speak of concise, diffuse, bold, feeble, nervous,

plain, neat, dry, or flowery styles. A full sentence or _period_, as it

is called, must therefore have: 1. _Precision_; that is, it must be

clear and not ambiguous: 2. _Unity_; that is, it must not have crowded

into it different subjects: 3. _Strength_; that is, all unnecessary

words must be thrown away, and it must be built with such mechanical

skill as will render it the most forcible to the mind: and, 4.

_Harmony_; that is, it must sound with the sense.

For the purpose of an argument, it is immaterial to me whether I have

cause to praise or censure the style of Mr. Paine. It is a comparison of

the known with the unknown, in which I am about to engage, and it is the

_likeness_, not the merits, which I wish to bring out. A good or a bad

style would not affect the similarity were either produced by the same

hand. But it is a fact worthy of remark, as I am passing, that a bad

style in writing or speaking, has never produced any marked effect upon

the world. It is the nature of great minds to be possessed of clear

ideas, and to such minds nature never withholds the gift of purity of

diction.

The style of Mr. Paine is as peculiar as the great mind that produced

it, and I will describe it to be: _strong, bold, clear, and harmonious_.

The construction of any of his pieces, is like the building of a fine

edifice. He never begins without plan and specifications. He builds it

in the ideal before he puts it on paper. The reader finds a foundation

fit and substantial in the first paragraph, often in the first sentence.

Upon this he finds a superstructure to correspond, which in size and

proportions, is neat and artistic, constructed with each separate

material of the best kind, and in its proper place, never left without

cornice and entablature, so that when taken all together it is most

pleasing and useful. He never leaves a period like a broken column, yet

a careless vine sometimes winds around it, to attract the mind from its

stately proportions, and we have lost the argument in the beauty of the

figure. But the effect is momentary. He soon brings us back to the

practical and the real. And it is his peculiar beauty, that he does not

impose ideas upon us which his language can not convey to the commonest

understanding.

Mr. Jefferson says of his style: "No writer has exceeded Paine in

familiarity of style, in perspicuity of expression, happiness of

elucidation, and in simple and unassuming language."

Style presents the _law_, as well as the image, of the writers' mind; in

other words, style gives us the true portrait and habits of the mind,

for the mind can by no means counterfeit itself. I will therefore

proceed to an analysis and comparison of Mr. Paine's style with that of

Junius; and, first, of the sentence, or period. The different members

are of the same length, hence the rythm or harmony. Take the following

examples, and I will place bars between the different members to aid the

eye:

"The style and language you have adopted are, I confess, | not ill

suited to the elegance of your own manners, | or to the dignity of the

cause you have undertaken. | Every common dauber writes rascal and

villain under his pictures, | because the pictures themselves have

neither character nor resemblance. | But the works of a master require

no index; | his features and coloring are taken from nature; | the

impression is immediate and uniform; | nor is it possible to mistake the

characters, | whether they represent the treachery of a minister, | or

the abused simplicity of a king." |

"Were I disposed to paint a contrast, | I could easily set off what you

have done in the present case | against what you would have done in

_that_ case, | and by justly opposing them, | conclude a picture that

would make you blush. | But as, when any of the prouder passions are

hurt, | it is much better philosophy | to let a man slip into a good

temper | than to attack him in a bad one-- | for that reason, therefore,

I only state the case, | and leave you to reflect upon it." |

"Ye that tell us of harmony and reconciliation, | can ye restore to us

the time that is past? | Can ye give to prostitution its former

innocence? | Neither can ye reconcile Britain and America. | The last

cord now is broken-- | the people of England are presenting addresses

against us. | There are injuries which nature can not forgive-- | she

would cease to be nature if she did. | As well can the lover forgive the

ravisher of his mistress, | as the continent forgive the murders of

Britain." |

"The question is not of what metal your instruments are made, | but

whether they are adapted to the work you have in hand. | Will they grant

you common halls when it shall be necessary? | Will they go up with

remonstrances to the king? | Have they firmness enough to meet the fury

of a venal House of Commons? | Have they fortitude enough not to shrink

at imprisonment? | Have they spirit enough to hazard their lives and

fortunes in a contest, | if it should be necessary, with a prostituted

legislature? | If these questions can fairly be answered in the

affirmative, your choice is made. | Forgive this passionate language. |

I am unable to correct it. | The subject comes home to us all. | It is

the language of my heart." |

The above is sufficient. The first and last paragraphs are from Junius,

the other two from Paine. The last two paragraphs are passionate, the

first two calm but energetic. Throughout the whole, nature is at

work--there is nothing artificial. But it was the melody or rythm that I

wished to indicate to the reader. This is peculiar and common to both,

and itself can not be imitated. If a writer ever succeeds in reproducing

this style, it will be from the nature of his own mind, and not from

imitation.

If the reader will now return to page 71, and compare the Dedication to

Junius with the Introduction to Common Sense, he will find in rythm a

striking parallel, because the subject is the same, and the mind of the

writer is performing the same work.

Grammatical accuracy is often sacrificed to conciseness, as in the

following:

_Paine._

"Many circumstances have and will arise which are

not local."--Introduc.

_Junius._

"If this be your meaning and opinion, you will act

consistently with _it_ in choosing Mr. Nash."--Let. 57.

Mr. Paine was bold enough to transcend the minor rules of grammar

whenever he found them cumbersome to his style. In this he is consistent

with Junius.

* * * * *

There is a majesty of manner, and a grandeur of style, which strike the

mind of the reader with great force. Take, for example, the following:

_Paine._

"It was not Newton's honor, neither could it be

his pride, that he was an Englishman, but that he

was a philosopher; the heavens had liberated him

from the prejudices of an island, and science had

expanded his soul as boundless as his

studies."--Crisis, viii.

_Junius._

"You have still an honorable part to act. The

affections of your subjects may still be

recovered; but, before you subdue their hearts,

you must gain a noble victory over your own.

Discard those little personal resentments which

have too long directed your public conduct. Pardon

this man the remainder of his punishment; and, if

resentment still prevails, make it what it should

have been long since--an act, not of mercy, but of

contempt. He will soon fall back into his natural

station, a silent senator, and hardly supporting

the weekly eloquence of a newspaper. The gentle

breath of peace would leave him on the surface

neglected and unremoved; it is only the tempest

that lifts him from his place.

"The heart that feels not now is dead; the blood

of his children will curse his cowardice who

shrinks back at a time when a little might have

saved the whole, and made them happy. I love the

man that can smile in trouble, that can gather

strength from distress, and grow brave by

reflection." ... Speaking of the principles of

war, he continues: "What signifies it to me

whether he who does it is a king or a common man;

my countryman or not my countryman; whether it be

done by an individual villain or an army of them?

... Let them call me rebel and welcome; I feel no

concern from it, but I should suffer the misery of

devils were I to make a whore of my soul by

swearing allegiance to one whose character is that

of a sottish, stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish

man! ... There are cases which can not be overdone

by language, and this is one."--Crisis, i.

"Without consulting your ministers, call

together your whole council. Let it appear to the

public that you can determine and act for

yourself. Come forward to your people. Lay aside

the wretched formalities of a king, and speak to

your subjects with the spirit of a man, and in the

language of a gentleman.... These sentiments, sir,

and the style they are conveyed in, may be

offensive, perhaps, because they are new to

you."--Let. 35.

In the following, diminutives are handled with telling effect:

_Paine._

"Indolence and inability have too large a share in

your composition ever to suffer you to be any

thing more than the hero of little villainies and

unfinished adventures."--To Lord Howe, Crisis, v.

"That a man whose soul is absorbed in the low

traffic of vulgar vice, is incapable of moving in

any superior region, is clearly shown in you by

the event of every campaign."--To Lord Howe,

Crisis, v.

"You may plan and execute little mischiefs, but

are they worth the expense they cost you, or will

such partial evils have any effect on the general

cause? Your expedition to Egg Harbor will be felt

at a distance like an attack upon a hen-roost, and

expose you in Europe with a sort of childish

frenzy."--Crisis, vi.

_Junius._

"About this time the courtiers talked of nothing

but a bill of pains and penalties against the lord

mayor and sheriffs, or impeachment at the least.

Little Mannikin Ellis told the king that if the

business were left to his management he would

engage to do wonders. It was thought very odd that

a business of so much importance should be

intrusted to the most contemptible little piece of

machinery in the whole kingdom. His honest zeal,

however, was disappointed. The minister took

fright, and at the very instant that little Ellis

was going to open, sent him an order to sit down.

All their magnanimous threats ended in a

ridiculous vote of censure, and a still more

ridiculous address to the king."--Note, Let. 38.

The reader will observe that the method also of ridicule is the same. A

hundred examples of this might be selected from both; and he has,

doubtless, already noticed the biting satire of both. The Letters of

Junius are among the finest specimens of satire in the English language,

and are only equaled by Mr. Paine's Letters to Lord Howe, and passages

in his Rights of Man to Mr. Burke. I will give a few extracts. It will

be remembered how Junius called the king not only a "ruffian," but said

"nature only intended him for a good humored fool," and that if he ever

retired to America he would get a severe covenant to digest from a

people who united in detesting the pageantry of a king and the

supercilious hypocrisy of a bishop. With this remembrance I will submit

the following piece of satire from Crisis, No. vi:

"Your rightful sovereign, as you call him, may do well enough for you,

who dare not inquire into the humble capacities of the man; but we, who

estimate persons and things by their real worth, can not suffer our

judgment to be so imposed upon; and unless it is your wish to see him

exposed, it ought to be your endeavor to keep him out of sight. The less

you have to say about him the better. We have done with him, and that

ought to be answer enough. You have been often told so. Strange! that

the answer must be so often repeated. You go a begging with your king as

with a brat, or with some unsalable commodity you are tired of; and

though every body tells you no, no, still you keep hawking him about.

But there is one that will have him in a little time, and as we have no

inclination to disappoint you of a customer, we bid nothing for him."

Many passages of similar severity could be collected. In fact, the two

Letters addressed to Lord Howe are not equaled in force or severity by

the most savage of Junius' productions. I now call attention to other

parallel peculiarities.

* * * * *

{103}The manner of threatening, commanding, and warning, is, the same:

_Paine._

"I hold up a warning to your senses, if you have

any left.... I call, not with the rancor of an

enemy, but the earnestness of a friend, on the

deluded people of England.... There is not a

nobleman's country seat but may be laid in ashes

by a single person."--Crisis, vi.

_Junius._

"The English nation must be roused and put upon

its guard.... The corruption of the legislative

body on this side, a military force on the other,

and then _farewell_ to England."--Let. 40.

"A change of the ministry in England may probably

bring your measures into question and your head to

the block."--To Lord Howe, Crisis, v.

"Sullen and severe without religion, profligate

without gayety, you live like Charles the Second,

without being an amiable companion, and, for aught

I know, may die as his father did, without the

reputation of a martyr."--Let. 12.

"Go home, sir, and endeavor to save the remains of

your ruined country by a just representation of

the madness or her measures. A few moments well

applied may yet preserve her from political

destruction."--Crisis, v.

"Return, my lord, before it be too late, to that

easy, insipid system which you first set out with.

Take back your mistress. Indulge the people.

Attend New Market. To be weak and inactive is

safer than to be daring and criminal; and wide is

the distance between a riot of the populace and a

convulsion of the whole kingdom."--Let. 11.

"The farce of monarchy and aristocracy in all

countries is following that of chivalry, and Mr.

Burke is dressing for the funeral. _The time is

not very distant_ when England will laugh at

itself for sending to Holland, Hanover, Zell, or

Brunswick, for men, at the expense of a million a

year, who understand neither her laws, her

language, nor her interest, and whose capacities

would scarcely have fitted them for the office of

parish constable."--Rights of Man.

"_The period is not very distant_ at which you

will have the means of redress in your own power;

it may be nearer, perhaps, than any of us expect,

and I would warn you to be prepared for

it."--Dedication.

But examples of this kind are not wanting in any chapter or Letter. The

threat, the command, the warning, is a peculiarity so prominent that no

one would fail to observe it. And this peculiarity often passes into the

style of prophecy. As above, Junius says: "The period is not very

distant," and Mr. Paine repeats the expression in the same style: "The

time is not very distant." This reveals, not a literary theft, but a

mind whose mode of thinking and expression was ever the same.

* * * * *

The reader will furthermore notice the peculiarity in the use of "sir,"

and the expressions, "You, Sir William," "You, sir," so common to both.

This arises from the proud and commanding character of Mr. Paine. He

always talks as one having authority, when addressing those he wishes to

satirize, but with an avowed modesty when addressing those he wishes to

influence. This last is seen in Junius, with regard to Lords Rockingham

and Chatham, when speaking of parliamentary reform, and in Common Sense,

when speaking of a constitution and methods of taxation. Junius says,

after giving his own views: "Other measures may, undoubtedly, be

supported in argument, as better adapted to the disorder, or more likely

to be obtained." And Common Sense says: "In a former page I threw out a

few thoughts on the propriety of a continental charter, for I only

presume to offer hints, not plans." These things point to the same

mental source, and this characteristic influences the style to a marked

degree.

* * * * *

I call attention now to what is termed _alliteration:_ the bringing

words together commencing with the same letter, as follows:

_Paine._

Conduct and character.

Mark the movements and meaning.

For law as for land.

Fears and falsities.

Prejudice and prepossession.

Patron and punisher.

Wise and worthy.

Stay and starve.

Reconciliation and ruin are nearly related.

_Junius._

Best and brightest.

Character and conduct.

Concurrence of calamitous circumstances.

Catchpenny contrivance.

Dignity of the design.

Enormous excesses.

Faith and folly.

Fashionable formality.

Pernicious principles, etc.

Good faith and folly have long been received as

synonymous terms.

The above are only a few examples. Almost every page exhibits this

feature of the writer. It is a mania with Mr. Paine, and it is almost

the first observable feature of Junius. No other author that I have read

so abounds in alliteration. But herein Junius and Mr. Paine, not content

with two words, frequently unite three, as in some of the examples

above. They also bring two words thus together, and ascending from the

sound to the sense, give them relationship in meaning; as in the last

examples above.

As alliteration exhibits a law of the mind, it can easily be determined,

by the rule of averages, whether Mr. Paine and Junius agree. I have

estimated the ratio by counting twenty thousand words in each, and have

found them to average the same. Were all the words in Junius counted and

compared with the same number in Mr. Paine's political writings, it

would give the true law of averages, but twenty thousand words will give

an approximation not far from the truth.

{107}There is another peculiarity in the style of Mr. Paine and Junius,

arising out of this law of the mind, or this mania for alliteration,

which is to continue the alliteration throughout the paragraph. For

example, if a prominent word begins with an f, t, or p, or any other

letter, he continues to select words beginning with the same letter, or

in which the sound is prominent, while expressing the same thought or

idea. In the following he plays upon like letters in a wonderful manner.

I will put the words in italics:

_Paine._

"_Perhaps_ the sentiments contained in the

_following pages_, are not yet _sufficiently

fashionable_ to _procure_ them general _favor_; a

long habit of not _thinking_ a _thing wrong_ gives

it a _superficial appearance_ of being _right_,

and _raises_, at _first_, a _formidable_ out_cry_

in _defense_ of _custom_. But the _tumult soon

subsides_. _Time makes more converts_ than

reason."--C. S., Introd.

_Junius._

"_Prejudices_ and _passions_ have, sometimes,

_carried_ it to a _criminal_ length, and whatever

_foreigners may imagine_, we know that Englishmen

have erred as _much_ in a _mistaken_ zeal _for

particular persons_ and _families_ as they ever

_did_ in _defense_ of what _they thought_ most

_dear_ and _interesting_ to _themselves_."--Let.

I have not gone out of my way for the above examples. Thousands of just

such examples may be taken from both. This, together with the even

length of the members of the period, is what produces the rythm and

harmony of Mr. Paine's style, and which I have never seen paralleled,

except in Junius. I have compared it with a hundred authors, and never

have I found any thing like it. But Junius is in no respect unlike Mr.

Paine. Had a perfect portrait been painted of Mr. Paine, at the time he

wrote his Common Sense, and another at the time Junius wrote his

Letters, the two portraits could not have more resembled each other than

does the style of Junius resemble that of Mr. Paine. And this is what

can not be imitated, for it arises out of the constitution of the mind,

just like poetry or music; and the poet and musician are born, not made.

Mr. Paine and Junius never use poetry, unless it be a line at the head

of a piece. And they both ridicule the use of it in prose composition.

_Paine._

"I can consider Mr. Burke's book in scarcely any

other light than a dramatic performance, and he

must, I think, have considered it in the same

light himself by the _poetical_ liberties he has

taken of omitting some facts, distorting others,

and making the machinery bend to produce a stage

effect.... I have now to follow Mr. Burke through

a pathless wilderness of rhapsodies."--Rights of

Man, part i.

_Junius._

"These letters, my lord, are read in other

countries and in other languages, and I think I

may affirm without vanity, that the gracious

character of the best of princes is by this time

not only perfectly known to his subjects, but

tolerably well understood by the rest of Europe.

In this respect alone I have the advantage of Mr.

Whitehead. His plan, I think, is too narrow. He

seems to manufacture his verses for the sole use

of the hero who is supposed to be the subject of

them, and, that his meaning may not be exported in

foreign bottoms, sets all translation at

defiance."--Let. 49.

They sometimes wander from the point, and then bring the reader back by

mentioning the fact:

_Paine._

"But to return to the case in question."--Crisis,

vii and xiii. "Passing on from this _digression_,

I shall now endeavor to bring into one view the

several parts."--Crisis, viii. "But to return to

my account."--Rights of Man, part i.

_Junius._

"But, sir, I am sensible I have followed your

example too long, and wandered from the

point."--Let. 18.

Another peculiarity is the method of bringing the subject "into one

view:"

_Paine._

See last quotation above. "Having now finished

this subject, I shall bring the several parts into

one view."--Rights of Man, part ii.

_Junius._

"This, sir, is the detail. In one view, behold,"

etc.--Let. 1.

"To say that the constitution of England is a