The Letters of Junius ...: Stat Nominis Umbra, Volume 1Stereotyped by J. Reed, 1827 - Great Britain |
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Common terms and phrases
admitted affirm appear argument army assert betray breach candidate cause character conduct consider constitution contempt corruption court creates declared defend deserve determine dignity disgrace distress duke of Bedford duke of Grafton duly elected duty enemies expelled expulsion fact false favour friends give given grace Grenville guards guilty honest honour house of commons house of Hanover incapable incapacity instance insult judge Junius's jury justice king law of parliament LETTER LETTERS OF JUNIUS liberty lord Bute lord Chatham lord Granby lord Mansfield lord North lord Rockingham Luttrell measures ment military minister ministry Modestus nation never opinion parlia perhaps person PHILO JUNIUS precedent present prince principles Printer privy counsellor prove Public Advertiser punishment question re-elected regiment resolution Robert Walpole sion sir William Draper sovereign spirit subjects suffered tion truth understanding verdict violation virtue Walpole Walpole's whole Wilkes writer
Popular passages
Page 132 - That king James the Second, having endeavoured to subvert the Constitution of the Kingdom, by breaking the original Contract between king and people, and, by the advice of Jesuits, and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental Laws, and having withdrawn himself out of the Kingdom, has abdicated the Government, and that the Throne is thereby become vacant.
Page 201 - The doctrine inculcated by our laws, that the king can do no wrong, is admitted without reluctance. We separate the amiable, goodnatured prince from the folly and treachery of his servants, and the private virtues of the man from the vices of his government. Were it not for this just distinction, I know not whether your Majesty's condition, or that of the English nation, would deserve most to be lamented. I would prepare your mind for a favorable reception of truth by removing every painful, offensive...
Page 215 - House of Commons, and the constitution betrayed. They will then do justice to their representatives and to themselves. These sentiments, Sir, and the style they are conveyed in, may be offensive, perhaps, because they are new to you.
Page v - 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.
Page 200 - It is the misfortune of your life, and originally the cause of every reproach and distress which has attended your government, that you should never have been acquainted with the language of truth, until you heard it in the complaints of your people. It is not, however, too late to correct the error of your education. We are still inclined to make an indulgent allowance for the pernicious lessons you received in your youth, and to form the most sanguine hopes from the natural benevolence of your...
Page 96 - 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 the...
Page 63 - ... you should ever know me. In truth, you have some reason to hold yourself indebted to me. From the lessons I have given you, you may collect a profitable instruction for your future life. They will either teach you so to regulate your conduct, as to be able to set the most malicious inquiries at defiance; or, if that be a lost hope, they will teach you prudence enough not to attract the public attention to a character, which will only pass without censure, when it passes without observation.
Page 30 - Yet there is no extremity of distress, which of itself ought to reduce a great nation to despair. It is not the disorder, but the physician; — it is not a casual concurrence of calamitous circumstances, it is the pernicious hand of government, which alone can make a whole people desperate. Without much political sagacity, or any extraordinary depth of observation, we need only mark how the principal departments of the state are bestowed, and look no farther for the true cause of every mischief...
Page 36 - ... see what sort of merit he derives from the remainder of his character. If it be generosity to accumulate in his own person and family a number of lucrative employments — to provide, at the public expense, for every creature that bears the name of Manners; and, neglecting the merit and services of the rest of the army, to heap promotions upon his favourites and dependants, the present commander-in-chief is the most generous man alive.
Page 215 - Without consulting your minister, call together your whole council. Let it appear to the public that you can determine and act for yourself. Come forward to your people. Lay aside the wretched formalities of a king, and speak to your subjects with the spirit of a man, and in the language of a gentleman. Tell them you have been fatally deceived.