Jump to content

Page:Letters of Junius, volume 2 (Woodfall, 1772).djvu/159

From Wikisource
This page has been validated.
JUNIUS.
149

Whether or no there be a secret system in the closet, and what may be the object of it, are questions, which can only be determined by appearances, and on which every man must decide for himself.

The whole plan of Junius's letter proves that he himself makes no distinction between the real honour of the crown and the real interest of the people. In the climax, to which your correspondent objects, Junius adopts the language of the court, and, by that conformity, gives strength to his argument. He says that "the King has not only sacrificed the interests of his people, but, (what was likely to touch him more nearly) his personal reputation and the dignity of his crown."

The queries, put by Anti-Junius, can only be answered by the ministry. Abandoned as they are, I fancy they will not confess that they have for so many years, maintained possession of another man's property. After admitting the assertion of the ministry,—viz. that the Spaniards had no rightful claim, and after justifying them for saying so;—it is his business, not mine, to give us some good