Junius Unmasked Part 7

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 const.i.tution 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 circ.u.mstances.

Catchpenny contrivance.

Dignity of the design.

Enormous excesses.

Faith and folly.

Fas.h.i.+onable 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 relations.h.i.+p 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 fas.h.i.+onable_ 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 _pa.s.sions_ 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.

1.

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 const.i.tution 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. "Pa.s.sing 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.

See also Letter 13.

I have before called attention to the manner in which Mr. Paine signed his Introduction to Common Sense, and Junius his Dedication; but there is a similarity in the manner in which they frequently close their pieces. The expressions, "To conclude," "I shall conclude," "I shall therefore conclude," are used by both.

There is a marked peculiarity in taking ill.u.s.trations from the Bible, and I now speak of and compare the political writings of Mr. Paine with Junius. Junius is filled with such references, and they are no less plentiful in Common Sense. This leads me on to speak of figures of speech.

In the use of the trope I find the one a reproduction of the other. The metaphor comes before us in every conceivable beauty, and herein they paint with an artist's skill, and the many delicate touches, as well as bold strokes, show the same hand at the brush. There is never, for example, a long and labored metaphor; never a company of them together; never one that does not apply with admirable effect.

At the close of an article, a figure of speech is often used with a master's skill, and leaves an impression on the mind of the reader not easily effaced. In this they are alike. Junius, for example, closes thirty-six of his Letters in this manner; and in Mr. Paine's three works--Common Sense, The Crisis, and Rights of Man--he closes twenty-three parts in this manner, which gives us about the same ratio.

They both abound in metaphor and comparison. Seldom do they use allegory or hyperbole, but personification and exclamation are frequent. I will now give a few parallels which I have selected from the many examples, and I will begin the list with exclamations so common to both: