IX 
TO M. DUBOURG 
LoxpoN, 2 October, 1770. 
I see with pleasure, that we think pretty much 
alike on the subject of English America. We of the 
colonies have never insisted that we ought to be ex- 
empt from contributing to the common expenses 
necessary to support the prosperity of the empire. 
We only assert that, having parliaments of our own, 
and not having representatives in that of Great Brit- 
ain, our parliaments are the only judges of what we 
can and what we ought to contribute in this case; and 
that the English Parliament has no right to take our 
money without our consent. In fact, the British 
empire is not a single state; it comprehends many; 
and though the Parliament of Great Britain has ar- 
rogated to itself the power of taxing the colonies, it 
has no more right to do so than it has to tax Hanover. 
We have the same King, but not the same legisla- 
tures. 
The dispute between the two countries has already 
lost England many millions sterling, which it has lost 
in its commerce, and America has in this respect been 
a proportionable gainer. This commerce consisted 
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