Page:Letters of Junius, volume 2 (Woodfall, 1772).djvu/251

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JUNIUS.
241

royal compassion;—Neither does it escape his sagacity, that the lower they are degraded in the public esteem, the more submissively they must depend upon his favour for protection. This I affirm, upon the most solemn conviction, and the most certain knowledge, is a leading maxim in the policy of the closet. It is unnecessary to pursue the argument any farther.

Mr. Horne is now a very loyal subject. He laments the wretched state of politics in this country; and sees, in a new light, the weakness and folly of the opposition. Whoever, or whatever, is sovereign. demands the respect and support of the people[1], it was not so when Nero fiddled while Rome was burning. Our gracious sovereign has had wonderful success in creating new attachments to his person and family. He owes it, I presume, to the regular system he has pursued in the mystery of conversion. He began with an experiment upon the Scotch, and concludes with converting Mr. Horne.—What a pity it is, that the Jews should be condemned by Providence to wait for a Messiah of their own!

  1. The very soliloquy of Lord Suffolk before he passed the Rubicon.