The practice, hence, is so far from affecting british subjects alone that, under the pretext of searching for these, thousands of american citizens, under the safeguard of public law and of their national flag, have been torn from their country and from everything dear to them; have been dragged on board ships of war of a foreign nation and exposed, under the severities of their discipline, to be exiled to the most distant and deadly climes, to risk their lives in the battles of their oppressors, and to be the melancholy instruments of taking away those of their own brethren.

use a dictionary or context clues to determine the best definition for pretext?

chatter
misleading appearance or behavior
idea
destructive