After leaving Parliament, Boswell wrote a series of virulent but anonymous attacks in two Scottish newspapers, the "Beacon" and the "Sentinel", attacking a prominent Whig (James Stuart of Dunearn) as a bully and a coward. When a legal fight broke out between the proprietors of the "Sentinel", Stuart was able to get access to internal documents which indicated Boswell was probably the author. Stuart demanded that Boswell either deny authorship or apologise; Boswell refused to do either and as a result Stuart challenged him to a duel.