69 
as he had then treated the man with contempt, 
he should decline to disturb him after so great 
a lapse of" time." From this communication it 
would seem, that the Duke believed that he 
knew the author, and also that he was still alive. 
Sir Richard, on calling upon the Marquis of 
Lansdowne, to whom he was personally known, 
found him in his sick chamber, suffering under 
a general breaking up of the constitution, but 
in his usual How of spirits, anecdote, and con- 
versation. On mentioning Almon's new edition 
of Junius, and that the editor had fixed on 
Boyd as the author, the Marquis exclaimed, 
" I thought Almon had known better: I gave 
him credit for more discernment: the World 
will, however, not be deceived by him; for 
there is higher evidence than his opinion. Look 
at Boyd's other writings: he never did write 
like Junius; and never could write like Junius. 
Internal evidence destroys the hypothesis of 
Almon." Sir Richard then said, that many 
persons had ascribed these letters to His Lord'- 
ship; and that the world at large conceived 
that, at least, he was not unacquainted with the