us, and the Growth of republican Principles, all, all
conspire to prove, that we ought to get rid of such an onerous, dangerous,
and expensive Connection as soon as possible. In one Word, the longer the
present System is persevered in, the worse Things will necessarily grow,
and the riper for Destruction; it being morally impossible that they
should mend; for the Fire, if even smothered for the present, will break
out again with fresh Violence; and the sound Parts of our Constitution
will be in great Danger of being tainted by the Gangrene of _American_
Republicism.

POSTSCRIPT.

In a Note at the Bottom of Page 52, (2d. Edition) of my Letter to Mr.
BURKE, I expressed myself in the following Manner: "The Instances which
Mr. BURKE has brought, [at Pages 74 and 75 of his Speech, 2d. Edit. 8vo.]
to prove that the Colonies, or rather that a few out of the many Colonies,
have been liberal in their Grants to _Great-Britain_, during the
Continuance of a privateering, smuggling, trucking, and huckstering
_American_ Sea-War, in which they were sure to be the greatest Gainers,
shall be particularly considered in an ensuing Treatise, An Address to the
Landed Interest of _Great-Britain_ and _Ireland_."

The Minutes which I took at that Time relative to this Affair, and which I
intended to have inserted in the Body of this Treatise, were the
following, that the leading Men in the Government of the Province of
_Massachusets_, had, some Time before their famous Expedition against
_Cape Breton_, been guilty of certain Mal-Practices in the Administration
of public Affairs, for which they were in Danger of being called to an
Account. That in order to divert the Storm, and to throw a Barrel to the
Whale, they projected the Plan of an Expedition, knowing the Temper of the
_English_, and their Rage for Conquests. Therefore, hearing that the
Fortifications of _Cape Breton_ were very ruinous, and the Garrison both
weak and mutinous for Want of Pay, Cloathing, and Provisions, they bent
their Forces against this Place. The Scheme succeeded, and _Cape Breton_
was yielded up; but the Joy of the _English_ Nation knew no Bounds: For
the People, from the highest to the lowest, were so intoxicated with
Notions of the Importance of this Port, [tho' now it is evident, that it
is a very useless one if compared with others] that they forgot every
other Idea in the general Transport; so that the Planners and Conductors
of the Expedition, instead