Francis Sir Philip

Francis, Sir Philip (1740-1818), was the determined enemy of Warren Hastings (q.v.), and has- been maintained by Macaiday and others to have been the mysterious "Junius." He was born at Dublin, and was at St. Paul's school with Woodfall, editor of the Public Advertiser, in which the famous Letters appeared. At sixteen he entered the Civil Service, acted for a short time as amanuensis to the elder Pitt, and from 1762 to. 1771 was a clerk in the War Office. Two years later he went to India as member of the Council for Bengal, where he steadily and acrimoniously opposed Hastings, by whom, in 1780, he was wounded in a duel. After his return to England he entered Parliament, took an active part in the impeachment of the late Governor-General, and identified himself with the advanced Whigs. He wrote many pamphlets somewhat in the style of "Junius," but never claimed the authorship of the Letters. [Junius, Letters of.]