t was avarice which first induced her to
commence the war, how truly wretched and deplorable would the condition
of this country be, were she, by her own remissness, to suffer an
enemy of such a disposition, and so circumstanced, to reduce her to
subjection.

I now proceed to the revenues of America.

I have already stated the number of souls in America to be three
millions, and by a calculation that I have made, which I have every
reason to believe is sufficiently correct, the whole expense of the
war, and the support of the several governments, may be defrayed for
two million pounds sterling annually; which, on an average, is thirteen
shillings and four pence per head, men, women, and children, and the
peace establishment at the end of the war will be but three quarters of
a million, or five shillings sterling per head. Now, throwing out of
the question everything of honor, principle, happiness, freedom, and
reputation in the world, and taking it up on the simple ground of
interest, I put the following case:

Suppose Britain was to conquer America, and, as a conqueror, was to lay
her under no other conditions than to pay the same proportion towards
her annual revenue which the people of England pay: our share, in that
case, would be six million pounds sterling yearly. Can it then be
a question, whether it is best to raise two millions to defend the
country, and govern it ourselves, and only three quarters of a million
afterwards, or pay six millions to have it conquered, and let the enemy
govern it?

Can it be supposed that conquerors would choose to put themselves in a
worse condition than what they granted to the conquered? In England, the
tax on rum is five shillings and one penny sterling per gallon, which is
one silver dollar and fourteen coppers. Now would it not be laughable to
imagine, that after the expense they have been at, they would let either
Whig or Tory drink it cheaper than themselves? Coffee, which is so
inconsiderable an article of consumption and support here, is there
loaded with a duty which makes the price between five and six shillings
per pound, and a penalty of fifty pounds sterling on any person detected
in roasting it in his own house. There is scarcely a necessary of life
that you can eat, drink, wear, or enjoy, that is not there loaded with
a tax; even the light from heaven is only permitted to shine into their
dwellings by paying eighteen pence sterling per window annually; and the