Page:Letters of Junius, volume 2 (Woodfall, 1772).djvu/125

discretion. Your zeal in the cause of an unhappy Prince was expressed with the sincerity of wine, and some of the solemnities of religion.^[1]. This I conceive, is the most amiable point of view, in which your character has appeared. Like an honest man, you took that part in politics, which might have been expected from your birth, education, country and connexions. There was something generous in your attachment to the banished house of Stuart. We lament the mistakes of a good man, and do not begin to detest him until he affects to renounce his principles. Why did you not adhere to that loyalty you once professed? Why did you not follow the example of your worthy brother?^[2] With him, you might have shared in the honour of the pretender's confidence—with him, you might have preserved the integrity of your character, and England, I think, might have spared you without

1. This man was always a rank Jacobite. Lord Ravensworth produced the most satisfactory Evidence of his having frequently drank the Pretender's health on his knees.
2. Confidential Secretary to the late Pretender. This circumstance confirmed the friendship between the brothers.