On W A R. 
r *5 
things to as ipeedy and certain an ifiue as pofitble ; therefore, un- 
der our prefent circumftances, negotiations which may be fpun 
out to a great length, muft leave us in a worfe condition than we 
are now in. We have begun in America : will it not be dange- 
rous if we ceafe to a£l ? English policy feems hitherto a match 
for french, but it is becaufe we have added action to debate, 
and fpoken from the mouths of our great guns : happy, if by 
the effectual ufe of thele, we can recover the object in view, 
and, by a fudden rapid fuccefs, confound the french, and pre- 
vent a war! 
Men who are interefted with regard to private gain ; or 
thofe whofe blood has too quick a motion, who think only of 
revenge and daughter, or of leading the captive enemy in 
chains ; fuch perfons fhould be taught to know, that war is a 
very great evil, and the fortune of it uncertain. We can- 
not tell to what dangers it may expofe us ; nor, with all our 
feeming fuperiority, what evils we may fufFer by it. 
Happy if we could prevent the efiufion of french blood and 
our own ! Humanity forbids us to diftrefs the french if we can 
avoid it. As nations, and as individuals, we ought to confider 
what men fhould be to men : they are under the common care 
of the fame beneficent being, who has no delight in the mifery 
of his creatures. 
Thrice happy then if we can prevent the heart- bleeding for- 
rows of the widow, and the lamenting tears of orphans ; the 
pangs of tender mothers, and the fad fighs of fraternal love ; 
2 the 
