Although
on the title-page the authorship is given as "By the Author of a
Letter from a By-stander," there was no intention of anonymity, since
the Dedication is boldly signed "Corbyn Morris, Inner Temple, Feb. 1,
1743 [44]."
Not much is known of the early life of Corbyn Morris. Born 14 August
1710, he was the eldest son of Edmund Morris of Bishop's Castle,
Salop. (_Alumni Cantabrigienses_). On 17 September 1727 he was
admitted (pensioner) at Queen's College, Cambridge, as an exhibitioner
from the famous Charterhouse School. Exactly when he left the
university, or whether he took a degree, is not certain.
Morris first achieved some prominence, though anonymously, with
_A Letter from a By-stander to a Member of Parliament; wherein is
examined what necessity there is for the maintenance of a large
regular land-force in this island_. This pamphlet, dated at the end,
26 February 1741/42, is a wholehearted eulogy of the Walpole
administration and is filled with statistics and arguments for the
Mercantilist theories of the day. At the time there was some suspicion
that the work had been written either by Walpole himself or by his
direction. When the _Letter from a By-stander_ was answered by the
historian Thomas Carte, an angry pamphlet controversy ensued, with
Morris writing under the pseudonym of "A Gentleman of Cambridge.
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