Lord North's government lasted for twelve years, and its career is for ever associated with one of the most momentous chapters in the history of the English nation and of free institutions.
Through this long and eventful period, Burke's was as the voice of one crying in the wilderness.

He had become important enough for the ministry to think it worth while to take pains to discredit him.

They busily encouraged the report that he was Junius, or a close ally of Junius.

This was one of the minor vexations of Burke's middle life.
Even his friends continued to torment him for incessant disclaimers.
Burke's lofty pride made him slow to deal positively with what he scorned as a malicious and unworthy imputation.

To such a friend as Johnson he did not, as we have seen, disdain to volunteer a denial, but Charles Townshend was forced to write more than one importunate letter before he could extract from Burke the definite sentence (November 24, 1771):--"I now give you my word and honour that I am not the author of Junius, and that I know not the author of that paper, and I do authorise you to say so." Nor was this the only kind of annoyance to which he was subjected.