Jump to content

Page:Letters of Junius, volume 1 (Woodfall, 1772).djvu/136

From Wikisource
This page has been validated.
90
LETTERS OF

11. Is there not a singular mark of shame set upon this man, who has so little delicacy and feeling, as to submit to the opprobrium of marrying a near relation of one who had debauched his wife?—In the name of decency, how are these amiable cousins to meet at their uncle's table?—It will be a scene in Œdipus, without the distress. Is it wealth, or wit, or beauty,—or is the amorous youth in love?

The rest is notorious. That Corsica has been sacrificed to the French: that, in some instances, the laws have been scandalously relaxed, and, in others, daringly violated; and that the King's subjects have been called upon to assure him of their fidelity, in spite of the measures of his servants.

A writer, who builds his arguments upon facts such as these, is not easily to be confuted. He is not to be answered by general assertions, or general reproaches. He may want eloquence to amuse and persuade; but, speaking truth, he must always convince.

PHILO JUNIUS.