compared with what she would be capable of arriving at,
had she, as she ought to have, the legislative powers in her own hands.
England is, at this time, proudly coveting what would do her no good,
were she to accomplish it; and the Continent hesitating on a matter,
which will be her final ruin if neglected. It is the commerce
and not the conquest of America, by which England is to be benefited,
and that would in a great measure continue, were the countries
as independant of each other as France and Spain; because in many articles,
neither can go to a better market. But it is the independance of this country
of Britain or any other, which is now the main and only object worthy
of contention, and which, like all other truths discovered by necessity,
will appear clearer and stronger every day.

First. Because it will come to that one time or other.

Secondly. Because, the longer it is delayed the harder
it will be to accomplish.

I have frequently amused myself both in public and private
companies, with silently remarking, the specious errors
of those who speak without reflecting. And among the many
which I have heard, the following seems the most general, viz.
that had this rupture happened forty or fifty years hence,
instead of NOW, the Continent would have been more able
to have shaken off the dependance. To which I reply, that our
military ability, AT THIS TIME, arises from the experience
gained in the last war, and which in forty or fifty years time,
would have been totally extinct. The Continent, would not,
by that time, have had a General, or even a military officer left;
and we, or those who may succeed us, would have been as ignorant