freedom should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right, not only to tax, but to "bind us in all cases whatsoever," and if being bound in that manner is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious, for so unlimited a power can belong only to God. I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsup10 portedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent. I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to feel, against the mean principles that are held by the tories: a noted 15 one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression, "Well! give me peace in my day." Not a man lives on the continent but 20 fully believes that a separation must some time or other finally take place, and a generous parent should have said, "If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace"; and his single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty. Not a place upon earth might be 25 so happy as America. Her situation is remote from all the wrangling world, and she has nothing to do but to trade with them. A man can distinguish in himself between temper and principle, and I am as confident, as I am that God governs the world, that America will never be happy till she gets clear of 30 foreign dominion. Wars, without ceasing, will break out till that period arrives, and the continent must in the end be conqueror; for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire. The heart that feels not now, is dead; the blood of his children 35 will curse his cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a little might have saved the whole, and made them happy. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. "Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray 5 of light. Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to "bind me in all cases whatsoever" to his absolute 10 will, am I to suffer it? What signifies it to me, whether he who does it is a king or a common man; my countryman or not my countryman; whether it be done by an individual villain, or an army of them? If we reason to the root of things we shall find no difference; neither can any just cause be assigned why we 15 should punish in the one case and pardon in the other. NOTES AND QUESTIONS Historical Note. Thomas Paine (1737-1809), an interesting figure or the Revolutionary period, did much by his writings to help win the war. Franklin on one occasion said, "Where liberty is, there is my home." Whereupon Paine answered, "Where liberty is not, there is my home." He came to America from England in 1774 and fought for America's freedom as a volunteer under Washington. After the Revolution he went to France, where again he fought for liberty in the French Revolution. This selection is from a pamphlet called "The Crisis," published in 1776 by Paine. Washington had lost the battle of Long Island and had been compelled to retreat from New York toward Philadelphia. In Philadelphia there were many royalists who hoped that England would win the war. Washington's soldiers, who had enlisted for short terms, were encouraged to desert or to resign at the end of their terms. The situation was serious. Washington ordered that "The Crisis" be read before every company of soldiers in his army. Discussion. 1. Select from these paragraphs sentences that would make good mottoes. 2. What political and military situation did Paine have in mind in the opening sentences? 3. What do you think of the argument of the tavern-keeper at Amboy as compared with Paine's? 4. What do we think today of our "remoteness from the wrangling world"? 5. What, in the last one hundred years, has brought Europe and America closer together than they were in Paine's day? 6. Under what conditions does Paine think war is justified? summer soldier, 397, 1 Phrases calamities of war, 398, 11 sunshine patriot, 397, 2 celestial an article, 397, 9 expression is impious, 398, 5 unsupportedly to perish, 398, 9 single reflection, 398, 23 |