Page:Letters of Junius, volume 2 (Woodfall, 1772).djvu/91

Rh has not been usual in this country, at least since the days of Charles the first, to see the sovereign personally at variance, or engage in a direct altercation with his subjects. Acts of grace and indulgence are wisely appropriated to him, and should constantly be performed by himself. He never should appear but in an amiable light to his subjects. Even in France, as long as any ideas of a limited monarchy were thought worth preserving, it was a maxim that no man should leave the royal presence discontented. They have lost or renounced the moderate principles of their government; and now, when their parliaments venture to remonstrate, the tyrant comes forward, and answers absolutely for himself. The spirit of their present constitution requires that the King should be feared, and the principle, I believe, is tolerably supported by the fact. But, in our political system, the theory is at variance with the practice, for the King should be beloved. Measures of greater severity may, indeed, in some circumstances, be necessary; but the minister who advises should take the execution and odium of them entirely upon himself. He not only betrays his master, but violates the spirit of the English