the mobs of that day, and, whoever stood forth
to direct them, must of necessity incur the popular indignation. Still,
it was a question among the most candid men, whether milder means might
not have been effectual.

[L] 12. The Marquess of Granby, personally considered, was
perhaps the most popular member of the cabinet, with the exception of
Sir Edward Hawke. He was a warm-hearted man, of highly social qualities
and generous feelings. As it was the object of Junius to break down the
ministry, it was peculiarly necessary for him to blast and destroy his
popularity. This he attempts to do by discrediting the character of the
marquess, as a man of firmness, strength of mind, and disinterestedness
in managing the concerns of the army. This attack is distinguished for
its plausibility and bitterness. It is clear that Junius was in some way
connected with the army or with the War Department, and that in this
situation he had not only the means of very exact information, but some
private grudge against the Commander-in-chief.[4] His charges and
insinuations are greatly overstrained; but it is certain that the army
was moldering away at this time in a manner which left the country in a
very defenseless condition. Lord Chatham showed this by incontestible
evidence, in his speech on the Falkland Islands, delivered about a year
after this Letter was written.

[M] 13. It is unnecessary to say that Lord Mansfield is here
pointed at. No one now believes that this great jurist ever did the
things here ascribed to him by Junius.[5] All that is true is, that he
was a very high Tory, and was, therefore, naturally led to exalt the
prerogatives of the crown; and that he was a very politic man (and this
was the great failing in his character), and therefore unwilling to
oppose the king or his ministers, when he knew in heart they were wrong.
This was undoubtedly the case in respect to the issuing of a general
warrant for apprehending Wilkes, which he ought publicly to have
condemned; but, as he remained silent, men naturally considered him, in
his character of Chief Justice, as having approved of the course
directed by the king. Hence Mansfield was held responsible for the
treatment of Wilkes, of whom Junius here speaks in very nearly the terms
used by Lord Chatham, as a man whose "conduct" he censured, but with
whom every moderate man must "make common cause," when he was
"persecuted in a way which the real spirit of the laws will not