Page:Letters of Junius, volume 2 (Woodfall, 1772).djvu/126

regret. Your friends will say, perhaps, that altho' you deserted the fortune of your liege Lord, you have adhered firmly to the principles which drove his father from the throne;—that without openly supporting the person, you have done essential service to the cause; and consoled yourself for the loss of a favourite family, by reviving and establishing the maxims of their government. This is the way, in which a Scotchman's understanding corrects the error of his heart.—My Lord, I acknowledge the truth of the defence, and can trace it through all your conduct. I see through your whole life, one uniform plan to enlarge the power of the crown, at the expense of the liberty of the subject. To this object your thoughts, words and actions have been constantly directed. In contempt or ignorance of the common law of England, you have made it your study to introduce into the court, where you preside, maxims of jurisprudence unknown to Englishmen. The Roman code, the law of nations, and the opinion of foreign civilians, are your perpetual theme;—but who ever heard you mention Magna Charta, or the Bill of Rights with approbation or respect? By such