the idea came into notice that he had some connection with the authorship of the Letters of Junius. Mr. Britton published an interesting Essay, entitled, “Junius Elucidated,” containing pleas for the opinion that Junius was a triumvirate, namely, Shelburne, Dunning, and Barré, the latter being the composer and William Greatrakes the amanuensis. The strongest part of the attempted demonstration, as to Barré, is the belief that he wrote Wolfe’s Last Despatch; also that he probably was the author of “A Letter to a Brigadier-General” concerning the military affairs of that epoch, which was published anonymously, and which is written in the same style as Junius. Other portions of the proof are not perfectly conclusive. As to powers of invective there is no want of probable evidence. Instance the following sentences from Barré’s attack on the Government in 1770:— “Who then can, without sorrow, behold his sovereign going to war with only half of his people at his back ? Who can forbear to wish that there may be reserved in heaven some chosen bolt, red with uncommon fire, to blast the wretches who could reduce him to such an unfortunate situation?” He revelled in sarcastic phrases, such as, “a pension two or three generations deep” — “a species of canine and carnivorous animals called Contractors.” He never avowed himself an author; he said in 1780, “The talent of writing ably is undoubtedly a great additional qualification to an officer; some officers possess it in an eminent degree, and some do not; the latter perhaps make it up to their country by their superior personal bravery, by their superior knowledge of the art of war and their eminence as men of distinguished military character. In France, where military character is better understood than in any country, the talent of writing ably is so far from being thought peculiarly recommendatory in officers, that generals so qualified are spoken of with contempt and in the coarsest terms the French language will admit of.” His speeches occasionally allude to France. In 1773 he said, “In France it is a custom to judge upon one-sixth, one-seventh, or one-eighth of a proof; the unfortunate Calas of Toulouse was condemned upon eight hearsays, which, in France, amounted to a proof. I hope never to see Toulouse arguments admitted as proofs here” [“you mean too loose arguments,” some honourable member cried out].
“Colonel Barré” (as he was commonly called) was a very amiable relation and a cheerful and companionable friend. He was celebrated in Parliament for his most interesting and inexhaustible fund of anecdote. When he was blind he used to be seen at parties, &c, leaning on the arm of his youthful and very beautiful cousin, Arabella Margaretta Phipps, afterwards Mrs Rose of Glastullich. The Phipps family and their connections kept up “Barré” as a Christian name. His political ally, Dunning, became Lord Ashburton; and his heir, the second Lord, was Barré Dunning, in whose memory Barré is a baptismal name in the family of Cuninghame of Lainshaw. Colonel Barré was very intimate with the Montgomery family of Magbie Hill, Peebles; and to one of them, Anne, Marchioness Townshend, he is reputed to have left £12,000. Barbara Montgomery was married to the Right Hon. John Beresford (brother of the first Marquis of Waterford), and her descendants also preserve the name “Barré.” Mr. Roberts, Deputy-Clerk of the Pells, had a son, Barré Charles Roberts, a young literateur, who died at the age of twenty-one, and whose posthumous volume was much admired.
The Right Hon. Isaac Barré lived and died a bachelor; his death took place in his seventy-sixth year, 20th July 1802, at his house in Stanhope Street, Mayfair, London. He had retired from Parliament in 1790. (The authorities for this Memoir are Britton’s Junius Elucidated, Wright’s Life of Wolfe, The Chatham Correspondence, and the Parliamentary History.)
Masères. — The head of this family, and one brother, a physician, remained in France as “new converts.” But the other three brothers, all officers in the French army, left their native country on the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. One of these rose to the rank of Colonel in the British army, and was the grandfather of Francis Masères.
Colonel Masères served in Ireland under King William III. and his generals, and afterwards in Portugal. He was the father of Dr. Masères, a physician in London, whose son Francis was born on the 15th December 1731. Francis was educated at Cambridge University, and became a Fellow of Clare Hall; he took his B A. degree in 1750 with honours. He obtained the first classical medal; Beilby Porteous being second in order of merit. It appears, however, by his subsequent publications, that mathematics was the favourite study of Francis Masères, his great work on that subject being “Scriptorcs Logarithmici.” As a barrister, his early professional life was spent in Canada, where he filled the office of Attorney-General of Quebec. He was very zealous in promoting a good feeling towards the British Government, when the revolt of the Southern Colonies might have proved infectious. In 1773 he was
