Page:Letters of Junius, volume 2 (Woodfall, 1772).djvu/292

282 — does not say, that he never had a doubt about the strict right of pressing, till he knew Lord Mansfield was of the same opinion. His words are, until he heard that Lord Mansfield had applauded Lord Chatham for maintaining that doctrine in the house of lords. It was not the accidental concurrence of Lord Mansfield's opinion, but the suspicious applause given by a cunning Scotchman to the man he detests, that raised and justified a doubt in the mind of Junius. The question is not, whether Lord Mansfield be a man of learning and abilities (which Junius has never disputed,) but, whether or no he abuses and misapplies his talents.

Junius did not say that Lord Mansfield had advised the calling out of the guards. On the contrary, his plain meaning is, that he left that odious office to men less cunning than himself.—Whether Lord Mansfield's doctrine concerning libels be or be not an attack upon the liberty of the press, is a question which the public in general are very well able to determine. I shall not enter into it at present. Nor do I think it necessary to say much to a man, who had the daring confidence to say