might, and probably would by this time, have
been completely paid; and had it not been
for the colonies, the former of those wars
might not, and the latter certainly would not,
have been undertaken. It was because the
colonies were supposed to be provinces of the
British Empire, that this expense was laid out
upon them. But countries which contribute
neither revenue nor military force towards the
support of the empire, cannot be considered as
provinces. They may, perhaps, be considered
as appendages, as a sort of splendid and
shewy equipage of the empire. But if the
empire can no longer support the expense of
keeping up this equipage, it ought certainly to
lay it down; and if it cannot raise its revenue
in proportion to its expense, it ought at least
to accommodate its expense to its revenue. If
the colonies, notwithstanding their refusal to
submit to British taxes, are still to be considered
as provinces of the British empire,
their defence, in some future war, may cost
Great Britain as great an expense as it ever
has done in any former war. The rulers of
Great Britain have, for more than a century
past, amused the people with the imagination
that they possessed a great empire on the west
side of the Atlantic. This empire, however,
has hitherto existed in imagination only. It
has hitherto been, not an empire, but the project
of an empire; not a gold mine, but the
project of a gold mine; a project which has
cost, which continues to cost, and which, if pursued
in the same way as it has been hitherto, is
likely to cost, immense expense, without being
likely to bring any profit; for the effects of the
monopoly of the colony trade, it has been shewn,
are to the great body of the people, mere loss
instead of profit. It is surely now time that
our rulers should either realize this golden
dream, in which they have been indulging
themselves, perhaps, as well as the people; or
that they should awake from it themselves,
and endeavour to awaken the people. If the
project cannot be completed, it ought to be
given up. If any of the provinces of the
British empire cannot be made to contribute
towards the support of the whole empire, it is
surely time that Great Britain should free
herself from the expense of defending those
provinces in time of war, and of supporting
any part of their civil or military establishments
in time of peace; and endeavour to accommodate
her future views and designs to
the real mediocrity of her circumstances.