Page:Letters of Junius, volume 2 (Woodfall, 1772).djvu/160

150 reason for their suffering the pretensions of Spain to be a subject of negotiation. He admits the facts;—let him reconcile them if he can.

last paragraph brings us back to the original question, whether the Spanish declaration contains such a satisfaction as the king of Great Britain ought to have accepted. This was the field, upon which he ought to have encountered Junius openly and fairly. But here he leaves the argument, as no longer defensible. I shall therefore conclude with one general admonition to my fellow subjects;—that, when they hear these matters debated, they should not suffer themselves to be misled by general declamations upon the conveniences of peace, or the miseries of war. Between peace and war, abstractedly, there is not, there cannot be a question in the mind of a rational being. The real questions are, Have we any security that the peace we have so dearly purchased will last a twelvemonth? and, if not,—have we, or have we not, sacrificed the fairest opportunity of making war with advantage? PHILO JUNIUS.