from obscurity and given him his chance; and there is abundant evidence that he faithfully guarded his delicate chief at Quebec, as far as he could, against the troubles that beset him. He fiercely resented, without too critical an appreciation of the military circumstances, the action of the BrigadierGenerals when obliged to oppose the want of continuity of purpose which the Commander displayed. Townshend in particular was the object of his strong aversion.

Lord Shelburne tells us1and we may be sure it is true that Wolfe's famous despatch of September 2, 1759, was worded by Barré, and there is much in the style of it to remind us of the Letter. In short, there is no doubt that his capability, his condition of mind towards the person attacked, and his opportunities for being aware of all the circumstances, seem to single Barré out as the author of at least that part of the Letter which refers to Townshend. Mr N. W. Simons, who examined the question in 1841, and John Britton, who followed in 1848, both definitely attributed the Letter to Barré.

Neither of the two writers just mentioned noticed, however, that Barré could not possibly have been the author

of the Letter as a whole. To prove this it is only necessary to mention two things: first, that when the Letter was published on the 23rd September 1760 Barré was on the voyage to England, bearing General Amherst's despatches after the capture of Montreal, which arrived in England on the 5th of October; and secondly, that there are references in the Letter to events that Barré could not have been aware of, and of these the principal is the battle of Warburg. This action was fought on the 31st July 1760, and the news of it arrived in England on August 8,2 which makes it quite certain that Barré, who left Montreal en route for England on September 7, could not have written anything on the subject in time for publication on September 23.3

But apart from this, the whole letter gives the impression of composition by more than one hand. Besides the attack on Townshend there is the violent outburst against Lord George Sackville, the latter being dragged in as a kind of tag on the former, the whole reading by no means smoothly. The opinion of Lord George is remarkably Shelburnian in its tone, and reminds us of the connection between Barré and the Shelburne party.

Thus there is certainly much circumstantial evidence which cumulatively seems almost convincing that Barré was part author, and the most probable explanation of what occurred is that he sent his contribution to his correspondent in England, where it arrived shortly before the news of Warburg. "If there could have remained a doubt . . . here comes the battle of Warburg," and these words fix the date of the writing of at least the Sackville part of the Letter as within a short time of August 8.

As to the fascinating problem whether Barré was Junius, so much has been written that it is not easy to add anything new. The work, the Life of Lord Shelburne, to which reference has already been made, brings out certain facts that have not hitherto been appreciated, and of these I can only refer to one, and this one might, under further research, be the means of proving or disproving the case definitely. I refer to Lord Shelburne's visit to the Continent, accompanied by Barré. On the 11th May 1771 Lord Shelburne put into action a project he had formed for some time of leaving England on an extended Continental tour. Writing to Lord Chatham, under date 25th April, he says, "I have given the necessary orders for my journey, and hope to be gone in a week"; evidently this was not the first intimation of his intention, but we do not know how long previously the idea had taken shape.

From this tour, which included France and Italy, Lord Shelburne did not return until the end of the year. Now we are at once confronted with the fact that, during a period of frequent appearance of the Junius Letters and of correspondence with the printer of the 'Daily Advertiser,' Barré was, nominally at all events, absent on the Continent! If it can be shown that he was actually absent during the whole period of Lord Shelburne's travels, it is certain that he had nothing to do with Junius. This is, however, where the inquiry breaks down. I have been unable to discover anything to indicate whether Barré remained abroad during the entire period or whether he paid occasional visits to England, as may well have been the case. It is at least certain that he did not return with Lord Shelburne in December of 1771, and there are one or two other considerations which give food for reflection.

On the 19th of April-that is, six days before Lord Shelburne's letter announcing his early departure in company with Colonel Barré-Woodfall, printer of the 'Public Advertiser,' received a letter from his correspondent "C"—that is, Junius-from which it appears that the writer was contemplating absence from London. He urges the printer to take certain action regarding one of his Letters, which he enclosed (No. 44, published 22nd April 1771), and says, "It will be impossible for me to have an opportunity of altering any

if for any reason Woodfall should be unwilling to publish it, he was to send it to the 'North Briton.' It seems evident that "C" did not anticipate being in a position to know if Woodfall would accept the Letter for publication or not, and this fits in well enough with the circumstance of Barré's contemplated departure from England with Lord Shelburne.

After this there was a long gap, until June 20, during which no correspondence ensued, except four letters of the Philo-Junius series, which need not necessarily have been written in England; and then followed a number of letters which indicate with some certainty that Junius was again in touch with his printer, and, if Barré had anything to do with it, he must have left Lord Shelburne and returned London,1

to

In December, on the 10th, Junius wrote to Woodfall, bidding him farewell. There was another letter, however, on the 17th. It happens by chance that we know Barré was in Paris shortly after the latter date; for the Abbé Morellet, in a letter to Lord Shelburne dated 8th January 1772, mentions the death of Helvetius (26th December 1771), and refers to the fact

with him (Helvetius) just previous to his sudden death. Moreover, in the same letter, Morellet sends his regards to Barré, who had evidently just returned to England. Here, again, is a curious coincidence, for Junius reappeared in London and addressed a letter to the printer dated January 6, in which he referred to the proposed publication of the Letter

which series.

to Lord Mansfield, closed the Junius

In all this there is certainly no proof that Barré was the author, and the most that can be said is that there are quite a number of coincidental circumstances which tend to indicate that he may have been. The Life of Lord Shelburne, which has been published since the date on which the various critical works on the authorship of Junius appeared, gives much valuable insight into the phases of political thought which influenced Lord Shelburne and his adherents; and, in general, it may be said that the expressions of political leanings contained in the Junius letters are peculiarly those we might expect from any one closely associated with Shelburne; and such a mode of deduction again leads one to indicate Barré as the probable author.

was so.

IN course of time critics came with suggestions. Master was asked if the presence of Army Nursing Sisters as part of our personnel would be useful, or otherwise. With memories of the retreat from Mons and the Granary at the Aisne in his mind, Master blanched.

At length, however, we were persuaded to try the effect of a few women nurses in places where circumstances permitted. The comfort of severely wounded men had to be considered. In large French towns Sisters could undoubt edly help much. A chosen five were sent us.

It worried us not a little at first. Were we destined to give up nomadic life and deteriorate into a regular hospital with fallals? Perish the thought!

Now, also, came Phelps-a rural dean in England-henceforth our padre. Porteous snorted. "A combination of petticoats and Church might suit Florrs-probably would." Christmas day was near at hand. After considerable effort we negotiated the purchase of a turkey. Plum - puddings galore for both officers and men arrived from England. The spacious refectory in the Lycée was fairly asking for a Christmas feast. The SergeantVOL. CCL-NO. MCCXV.

Major was consulted and the feast proposed. The Boy, with paper and pencil, and Champion at his elbow, arranged the officers' banquet. For the moment war ceased to occupy our thoughts.

It was the day before Christmas Eve. All seemed peace and goodwill. There was a beautiful calm, no thought of storm.

Master, summoned to Headquarters, returned about the middle of the day.

"I am off to Bethune at once," he proclaimed. "I shall be back, I hope, for dinner to-night. We move there to

morrow.

You are to get under

weigh at once with the packing. We must push off the first lot by 9 A.M., so as to be able to take in patients tomorrow evening. We've got three lorries-total carrying 91 tons-and I am borrowing another three or four."

"Good heavens !" gasped the Boy. "Can't we wait until Boxing Day?"

"No," chuckled Master. "Christmas dinner off! The last unit that was in the 'École des Jeunes Filles' at Bethune hurriedly left on account of shells. That is where we are for. I'm told we shall almost certainly be shelled out of it too. You will all be killed." "We have accumulated forty

E

tons of stuff if we have an ounce," groaned Mackenzie.

The Gael, awakened to a burst of vitality by the prospect of fresh fields of initiative, rumpled his hair worse than usual, and expressed his feelings in untranslatable Scotch.

"What about the Nursing Sisters?" questioned Porteous with a chuckle.

"It was at Bethune that Dumas' three musketeers brought Milady to earth in a convent," announced Florrs.

"The place has its points, I believe," agreed Master. "There is, I hear, a famous macaroon shop."

"Splendid!" cried Phelps, hastening away to mobilise his personal kit.

In half an hour Master had given his orders and gone. Then we set to work. When the former returned at 7 o'clock the symmetry of the hospital wards had disappeared for ever.

To repeat the orders, relate the incidents of packing and loading, and describe the general upheaval of things at daylight next morning would be a wearisome task. It is sufficient to relate that by 9 A.M. the first load on several motor-lorries took to the road. An advance party of threequarters of the personnel threw themselves on top of the loaded lorries, and with shouts of delight turned their faces towards a horizon where lay the Hun lines.

The Nursing Sisters, with disappointed hearts and fear of being permanently left be

our venture.

we

Forming three sides of a square, the building was spacious and pretentious. After inspecting the cubicled dormitories, with their dainty curtains, the luxurious halfdozen shower-baths, the classrooms, kitchen, dining - hall, and tesselated passages, were considerably impressed with the conditions of life of the jeunes filles in times of piping, peace. At the time of our occupation, however, several British regiments, fresh from the mud of the trenches, had recently vacated it. The mud of the place and the desperate condition of the etceteras appalled us.

A human remnant of a Field Ambulance discoursing music from a battered piano had to be driven from the wreckage. Help had to be demanded to scrub floors and sweep. Marguerite, the cook, loyal to her