The Mystery Of “Junius”

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30478, 27 June 1964, Page 4

The Mystery Of “Junius”

Reward Is Secondary: The' Life of a Political Adventurer and an Inquiry into the Mystery of “Junius.” By James Maclean, Hodder and Stoughton. 558 PPLauchlin Macleane was undoubtedly one of the great | political adventurers of thej eighteenth century. It comes as a surprise to find that this is the first time that a full} account of his various activities has been published. Between 1757, and 1777, Macleane was successively a classics scholar, a general medical practitioner in Philadelphia, a regimental surgeon, a contractor providing supplies to the army for the West Indian invasion, Col-lector-General of Customs for Martinique, a speculator in land and shares, LieutenantGovernor of St. Vincent, political pamphleteer. Under Secretary of State, secret agent. Member of Parliament, leader of a powerful group in the political underworld, Superintendent of the Lazaret tos, Commissary-General of the Army in Bengal, Colonel in the service of the Nabob of Arcot and representative in England of Warren Hastings. To all these varied activities, Macleane brought considerable ability, enormous energy and a complete lack of scruples. Deceit, seduction, embezzlement and fraud were all in the day’s work. He had great charm of manner that made him the friend and often confidant of the great men of his time. He had courage and the gift of inspiring confidence, even when bluff and opportunism were his only assets. To describe Macleane’s life as one of sustained nastiness is not altogether just. He was genuinely devoted, though of course not faithful, to Penelope Agnew who he had made his mistress for purely mercenary reasons. He always felt a sense of responsibility for his various illegitimate offspring. His was a complex character and nowhere is this shown so clearly as in Macleane’s revenge up on a fellow doctor in Philadelphia. Macleane acquired a great medical reputation and drew upon himself the envy of less fortunate practitioners. One rival who had endeavoured by fair means and foul to destroy this reputation, was eventually afflicted by the dangerous illness of an only son. Macleane was called into consultation. His zeal for the boy’s welfare never flagged. He sat up with the patient night after night and largely as a result of his skill and energy the boy was restored to health. He refused all remuneration for his work and declared to his friends: "Now I am amply revenged.” Macleane eventually had to abandon bis practice, not because of the envy of his fellow doctors, but because of his own indiscretion. He kissed one his patients—a married woman—in a public place. What would have passed without comment in Dublin and Edinburgh, scandalized Philadelphia. Macleane was fined £25 and could not pay the fine. In Lauchlin Macleane, the author is convinced he has the key to the identity of "Junius,” the pseudonym used by the writer of a series of brilliant and controversial letters whose identity has reniained a secret for almost:

two hundred years. “Junius” was the arch-enemy of the King and government for four years and successfully evaded the agents of both. This suggests a small close-knit organisation, the author argues. It is suggested that Lauchlin Macleane and Andrew Stuart conceived the letters of “Junius,” that Lauchlin's brother Henry actually wrote the letters, and that the three were assisted by Allan' Macleane and Andrew Stuart’s brother James as messengers, and by other henchmen and kinsmen, all sworn to secrecy. The letters of “Junius” were directed towards the issues and personalities of the time. Their literary quality did much to raise the prestige of journalism and the letter to the king led to the trial of his courageous publisher Woodfall and produced a celebrated verdict which secured the freedom of the press. The evidence linking “Junius” with Lauchlin Macleane and what the author

describes as ' the “Celtic Mafia” is very substantial indeed,, but not conclusive. It is clear, however, that Macleane must, on the present evidence replace Sir. Philip Francis as the most likely candidate. “Reward is Secondary” is a piece of painstaking historical detective work. The bibliography and list of authorities cited is almost one hundred pages in length. Even so. the last four years of Macleane’s life are only briefly sketched in an epilogue. There is the suggestion of a further fulllength work to deal with this brief but spectacular period. James Maclean’s detailed description of British public life at the end of the eighteenth Century reveals to modern judgment a startling picture of moral depravity. Many will be cheered to find, that despite a recent political scandal, the moral standards in British public life show evidence of marked improve-m-mt.