advice of the great, conſtitutional Council of the nation; and then the King ceaſed to be their father: Still the nation were their brethren, their friends: So late even as the preſent year, when war was declared againſt the bulk of the nation, there remained yet many of them friends; entitled to "applauſe and gratitude for their patriotiſm and benevolence[1]."—At laſt they perceived that thoſe friends could not ſerve the turn expected of them; could no more miſguide the nation, than deceive the King and Parliament: And now King, and Parliament, and nation, and patriots, and friends, are all involved in one common accuſation; all pointed out as objects of one common odium. Still however they regret, and feelingly no doubt, that neither warnings, "nor appeals," nor "conjurations," have excited us to "diſavow" what they ſtigmatiſe as "unwarrantable juriſdiction;" Acts of "uſurpation"—to liſten to what they call "the voice of juſtice and conſanguinity." That is, in other words, they regret moſt heartily, that neither they, nor their emiſſaries, have been able to prevail with us to join in their rebellion. Their hopes peradventure had been ſanguine; their diſappointment therefore may be ſevere. They appealed to the paſſions: But they had forgotten, it ſhould ſeem, that there is another appeal, to which, ſooner or later, Britons do not fail to liſten—An appeal to good ſenſe.
The Anſwer is an appeal to the good ſenſe of the nation.To the good ſenſe of my countrymen I venture to appeal. To that good ſenſe with confidence do I ſubmit the following Anſwer to the Declaration. Honeſt, I am ſure, it is; I truſt, not inadequate. Were the charges of "unwarrantable juriſdiction," of "tyranny," of "uſurpation," ſo boldly urged a-- ↑ See their Declaration of April 1ſt, 1776
