America, if ſhe doth not conquer herſelf by delay and timidity. The preſent winter is worth an age if rightly employed, but if loſt or neglected, the whole Continent will partake of the misfortune; and there is no puniſhment which that man doth not deſerve, be he who, or what, or where he will, that may be the means of ſacrificing a ſeaſon ſo precious and uſeful.
It is repugnant to reaſon, to the univerſal order of things, to all examples from former ages, to ſuppoſe that this Continent can long remain ſubject to any external power. The moſt ſanguine in Britain doth not think ſo. The utmoſt ſtretch of human wiſdom cannot, at this time, compaſs a plan ſhort of ſeparation, which can promiſe the Continent even a year's ſecurity. Reconciliation is now a fallacious dream. Nature hath deſerted the connexion, and art cannot ſupply her place. For, as Milton wiſely expreſſes, "never can true reconcilement grow, where wounds of deadly hate have pierced ſo deep."
Every quiet method for peace hath been ineffectual. Our prayers have been rejected with diſdain; and hath tended to convince us, that nothing flatters vanity or confirms obſtinacy in Kings more than repeated petitioning—and nothing hath contributed more, than that very meaſure, to make the Kings of Europe abſolute. Witneſs Denmark and Sweden. Wherefore, ſince nothing but blows will do, for God's ſake let us come to a final ſeparation, and not leave the next generation to be cutting throats, under the violated, unmeaning names of parent and child.
To ſay they will never attempt it again is idle and viſionary; we thought ſo at the repeal of the ſtamp-act, yet a year or two undeceived us; as well may we ſuppoſe that nations which have been once defeated will never renew the quarrel.
As to government matters, it is not in the power of Britain to do this Continent juſtice: The buſineſs of it will ſoon be too weighty and intricate to be managed with any tolerable degree of convenience, by a power ſo diſtant from us, and ſo very ignorant of us; for if they cannot conquer us, they cannot govern us. To be always running three or four thouſand miles with a tale or a petition, waiting four or five months for an anſwer, which when obtained requires five or ſix more to explain it in, will in a few years be looked upon as folly and childiſhneſs.—There was a time when it was proper, and there is a proper time for it to ceaſe.
Small iſlands, not capable of protecting themſelves, are the proper objects for government to take under their care; but there is ſomething very abſurd, in ſuppoſing a Continent to be perpetually governed by an iſland. In no inſtance hath nature made the ſatellite larger than its primary planet, and as England and America with reſpect to each other reverſes the common order of nature, it is evident they belong to different ſyſtems. England to Europe: America to itſelf.
