A Benjamin Franklin [1785 
Christian brethren as we would wish to be treated; 
and such goods are not to be sold by any godly men 
within thes burgh.” The race of these godly men in 
Scotland is probably extinct or their principles aban- 
doned; since, as far as that nation had a hand in 
promoting the war against the colonies, prizes and 
confiscations are believed to have been a considerable 
motive. 
It has been for some time a generally received 
opinion, that a military man is not to inquire whether 
a war be just or unjust; he is to execute his orders. 
All princes who are disposed to become tyrants must 
probably approve of this opinion, and be willing to 
establish it; but is it not a dangerous one, since, on 
that principle, if the tyrant commands his army to 
attack and destroy, not only an unoffending neighbor 
nation, but even his own subjects, the army is bound 
to obey? A negro slave, in our colonies, being com- 
manded by his master to rob or murder a neighbor, 
or do any other immoral act, may refuse, and the 
magistrate will protect him in his refusal. The 
slavery then of a soldier is worse than that of a 
negro! A conscientious officer, if not restrained by 
the apprehension of its being imputed to another 
cause, may indeed resign rather than be employed in 
an unjust war; but the private men are slaves for 
life, and they are perhaps incapable of judging for 
themselves. We can only lament their fate, and still 
more that of a sailor, who is often dragged by force 
from his honest occupation, and compelled to imbrue 
his hands in, perhaps, innocent blood. 
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