profess, if I declined an appeal to the good sense of the people, or did not willingly submit myself to the judgment of my peers.
If any coarse expressions have escaped me, I am ready to agree that they are unfit for Junius to make use of; but I see no reason to admit that they have been improperly applied.
Mr. Horne, it seems, is unable to comprehend how an extreme want of conduct and discretion can consist with the abilities I have allowed him; nor can he conceive that a very honest man, with a very good understanding, may be deceived by a knave. His knowledge of human nature must be limited indeed. Had he never mixed with the world, one would have thought that even his books might have taught him better—Did he hear Lord Mansfield when he defended his doctrine concerning libels?—Or when he stated the law in prosecutions for criminal conversation?—Or when he delivered his reasons for calling the House of Lords together to receive a copy of his charge to the jury in Woodfall's trial?—Had he been present upon any of these occasions, he would have seen how possible it is for a man of the first talents to
