Page:Letters of Junius, volume 1 (Woodfall, 1772).djvu/246

200

20. October 1769. SIR,

VERY sincerely applaud the spirit with which a lady has paid the debt of gratitude to her benefactor. Though I think she has mistaken the point, she shews a virtue which makes her respectable. The question turned upon the personal generosity or avarice of a man, whose private fortune is immense. The proofs of his munificence must be drawn from the uses, to which he has applied that fortune. I was not speaking of a Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, but of a rich English duke, whose wealth gave him the means of doing as much good in this country, as he derived from his power in another. I am far from wishing to lessen the merit of this single benevolent action;—perhaps it is the more conspicuous, from standing alone. All I mean to say is, that it proves nothing in the present argument. JUNIUS.