"It is impossible to sit down and think seriously on the affairs of America, but the original principles on which she resisted, and the glow and ardor they inspired, will occur like the undefaced remembrance of a lovely scene. To trace over in imagination the purity of the cause, the voluntary sacrifices made to support it , and all of the various turnings in its defense, is at once both paying and receiving respect. The principles deserve to be remembered, and to remember them rightly is repossessing them. In this indulgence of generous recollection we become gainers by what we seem to give, and the more we bestow the richer we become.
"So extensively right was the ground on which America proceeded, that it not only took in every just and liberal sentiment which could impress the heart, but made it the direct interest of every class and order of men to defend the country. The war, on the part of Britain, was principally a war of covetousness. The sordid and not the splendid passions gave it being. The fertile fields and prosperous infancy of America appeared to her as mines for tributary wealth. She viewed the hive, and disregarding the industry that had enriched it, thirsted for the honey. But in the present stage of her affairs, the violence of temper is added to the rage of avarice ; and therefore, that which at our first setting out, proceeded from purity of principle and public interest , is now heightened by all the obligations of necessity; for it requires but little knowledge of human nature to discern what would be the consequence , were America reduced again to the subjection of Britain. Uncontrolled power in the hands of an incensed, imperious and rapacious conqueror, is an engine of dreadful execution; and woe be to the country over which it can be exercised."
P.235, "The Crisis Extraordinary, October 4, 1780," THOMAS PAINE : COLLECTED WRITINGS (1955)
Saturday, October 28, 2017
THOMAS PAINE, "The Crisis Extraordinary," EXCERPT
"It is impossible to sit down and think seriously on the affairs of America, but the original principles on which she resisted, and the glow and ardor they inspired, will occur like the undefaced remembrance of a lovely scene. To trace over in imagination the purity of the cause, the voluntary sacrifices made to support it , and all of the various turnings in its defense, is at once both paying and receiving respect. The principles deserve to be remembered, and to remember them rightly is repossessing them. In this indulgence of generous recollection we become gainers by what we seem to give, and the more we bestow the richer we become.
"So extensively right was the ground on which America proceeded, that it not only took in every just and liberal sentiment which could impress the heart, but made it the direct interest of every class and order of men to defend the country. The war, on the part of Britain, was principally a war of covetousness. The sordid and not the splendid passions gave it being. The fertile fields and prosperous infancy of America appeared to her as mines for tributary wealth. She viewed the hive, and disregarding the industry that had enriched it, thirsted for the honey. But in the present stage of her affairs, the violence of temper is added to the rage of avarice ; and therefore, that which at our first setting out, proceeded from purity of principle and public interest , is now heightened by all the obligations of necessity; for it requires but little knowledge of human nature to discern what would be the consequence , were America reduced again to the subjection of Britain. Uncontrolled power in the hands of an incensed, imperious and rapacious conqueror, is an engine of dreadful execution; and woe be to the country over which it can be exercised."
P.235, "The Crisis Extraordinary, October 4, 1780," THOMAS PAINE : COLLECTED WRITINGS (1955)