The Letters of Junius |
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admitted affirm answer appear argument army assert authority bail bailable best of princes betrayed called candidate cause character conduct confess consider constitution contempt crown declared defense desert determined dignity disgrace doctrine duke of Bedford duke of Grafton duty England expelled expulsion fact favor felony friends grace honest honor house of commons house of lords incapacity instance insult judge Junius's jury justice king kingdom law of parliament legislature LETTER liberty lord Bute lord Chatham lord Granby lord Mansfield lord North lord Rockingham Luttrell majesty mean measures ment minister ministry nation never offense opinion party perhaps person PHILO JUNIUS political precedent present pretended prince principles PRINTER privilege PUBLIC ADVERTISER question reason regiment resolution sir William Draper sovereign spirit statute statute of Westminster supposed thought tion treachery truth understanding violation virtue vote Walpole Walpole's whole Wilkes
Popular passages
Page 127 - On the 17th, it was resolved, that John Wilkes, Esq. having been in this session of parliament expelled the House, was, and is, incapable of being elected a member to serve in this present parliament.
Page 139 - You are so little' accustomed to receive any marks of respect or esteem from the public, that if, '"••• in the following lines, a compliment or expression of applause should escape me, I fear you would consider it as a mockery of your established character, and, perhaps an insult to your understanding.
Page 31 - Mr. Pitt and Lord Camden were to be the patrons of America, because they were in opposition. Their declaration gave spirit and argument to the Colonies; and while perhaps they meant no more than the ruin of a minister, they in effect divided one half of the Empire from the other.
Page 94 - If nature had given you an understanding qualified to keep pace with the wishes and principles of your heart, she would have made you, perhaps, the most formidable Minister that ever was employed under a limited monarch, to accomplish the ruin of a free people. When neither the feelings of shame, the reproaches of conscience, nor the dread of punishment, form any bar to the designs of a Minister, the people would have too much reason to lament their condition, if they did not find some resource in...
Page 25 - The submission of a free people to the executive authority of government, is no more than a compliance with laws which they themselves have enacted. While the national honor is firmly maintained abroad, and while justice is impartially administered at home, the obedience of the subject will be voluntary, cheerful, and, I might almost say, unlimited. A generous nation is grateful even for the preservation of its rights, and willingly extends the respect due to the office of a good prince into an affection...
Page 99 - The arbitrary appointment of Mr. Luttrell invades the foundation of the laws themselves, as it manifestly transfers the right of legislation, from those whom the people have chosen, to those whom they have rejected.
Page 127 - Resolved, That Robert Walpole, ' esq. having been this session of parliament ' committed a prisoner to the tower, and ex' polled this house for a high breach of trust ' in the execution of his office, and notorious ' corruption when secretary at war, was and ' is incapable of being elected a member to ' serve in this present parliament.
Page 133 - To a generous mind there cannot be a doubt. We owe it to our ancestors to preserve entire those rights which they have delivered to our care — we owe it to our posterity not to suffer their dearest inheritance to be destroyed.
Page 141 - Conscious of his own weight and importance, his conduct in parliament would be directed by nothing but the constitutional duty of a peer. He would consider himself as a guardian of the laws. Willing to support the just measures of government, but determined to observe the conduct of the minister with suspicion, he would oppose the violence of faction with as much firmness as the encroachments of prerogative.
Page 5 - When kings and ministers are forgotten, when the force and direction of personal satire is no longer understood, and when measures are only felt in their remotest consequences ; this book will, I believe, be found to contain principles worthy to be transmitted to posterity.