as artifice may counterfeit, or folly miſapply, it cannot be improper to conſider, whether there are not ſome characteriſtical modes of ſpeaking or acting, which may prove a man to be not a Patriot.
In this inquiry, perhaps clearer evidence may be diſcovered, and firmer perſuaſion attained; for it is commonly eaſier to know what is wrong than what is right; to find what we ſhould avoid, than what we ſhould purſue.
As war is one of the heavieſt of national evils, a calamity, in which every ſpecies of miſery is involved; as it ſets the general ſafety to hazard, ſuſpends commerce, and deſolates the country; as it expoſes great numbers to hardſhips, dangers, captivity, and death; no man, who deſires the publick proſperity, will inflame general reſentment by aggravating minute injuries,
