Paine CommonSense

7/30/2019 Paine CommonSense

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I

THE WRITINGSOF

THOMAS PAINECOLLECTED AND EDITED BY

MONCURE DANIEL CONWAYAUTHOR OF L_THE LIFR OF THOMAS PAINE_ y_ _ OMITTED CHAPTERS OF HISTOIYDI_LOSED IN TH I_"LIFE AND PAPERS OF EDMUND RANDOLPH_ tt_GEORGE W_HINGTON AND MOUNT VERNON_ _P ETC.

VOLUME I.I774-I779

G. P. Pumam's SonsNew York and London_b "lkntckcrbo#_ I_ee


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COPYRIGHT, i8g 4BY G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

Entered at Stationers' Hall, LondonBY G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

G. P. PUTNAM'SSONS


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CONTENTS.

PAGB

INTRODUCTION VPREFATORY NOTE TO PAINE'S FIRST ESSAY , II._AFRICAN SLAVERY IN AMERICA 4

II.--A DIALOGUE BETWEEN GENERAL WOLFE ANDGENERAL GAGE IN A WOOD NEAR BOSTON IO

III.--THE MAGAZINE IN AMERICA. I4IV.--USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING HINTS 20V._NEw ANECDOTES OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT 26

VI.--REFLECTIONS ON THE LIFE AND DEATH OF LORDCLIVE 29

VII._CUPID AND HYMEN 36VIII._DUELLING 40

IX._REFLECTIONS ON TITLES 46X._THE DREAM INTERPRETED 48

XI._REFLECTIONS ON UNHAPPY MARRIAGES _IXII._THOUGHTS ON DEFENSIVE WAR 55XIII.--AN OCCASIONAL LETTER ON THE FEMALE SEX 59XIV._A SERIOUS THOUGHT 65

XV._COMMON SENSE 57XVI._EPISTLE TO QUAKERS . I2I

XVII.--THE FORESTER'SLETTERS I27iii


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_v CONTENTS.

PAGEXVIII.mA DIALOGUE. I6I

XIX.--THE AMERICAN CRISIS . I68XX._RETREAT ACROSS THE DELAWARE 38I

XXI.--LETTER TO FRANKLIN, IN PARIS . 384XXII.--THE AFFAIR OF SILAS DEANE 39S

XXIII.--To THE PUBLm ON MR. DEANE'S A_FAIR 409XXIV.mMEssRs. DEANS, JAY, AND G_RARD 438


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INTRODUCTION.

No apology is needed for an edition of Thomas Paine'swritings, but rather for the tardiness of its appearance. Foralthough there have been laborious and useful collections ofhis more famous works, none of them can be fairly describedas adequate. The compilers have failed to discover manycharacteristic essays, they printed from imperfect texts, andwere unable to find competent publishers courageous enoughto issue in suitable form the Works of Paine. It is not credit-able that the world has had to wait so long for a completeedition of writings which excited the gratitude and admira-tion of the founders of republican liberty in America andEurope; nevertheless those writings, so far as accessible,have been read and pondered by multitudes, and are to-dayin large and increasing demand.

This indeed is not wonderful. Time, which destroys muchliterature, more slowly overtakes that which was inspired byany great human cause. "It was the cause of America thatmade me an author," wrote Paine at the close of the Ameri-can Revolution ; and in the preface to his first pamphlet hehad said "The cause of America is in a great measure thecause of all mankind." In the presence of such great argu-ment he made no account of the poems and magazine essayspublished before the appearance of his first pamphlet, "Com-mon Sense,"--the earliest plea for an independent AmericanRepublic. The magazine essays, which are printed in thisvolume, and the poems, reserved for the last, while theyprove Paine's literary ability, also reveal in him an over-powering moral sentiment and human sympathy which mustnecessarily make his literary art their organ. Paine knewV


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vi IN TROD UC TIOIV.

the secret of good writing. In criticising a passage from theAbbd Raynal's " Revolution of America" he writes :

" In this paragraph the conception is lofty, and the expressionelegant; but the colouring is too high for the original, and thelikeness fails through an excess of graces. To fit the powers ofthinking and the turn of language to the subject, so as to bringout a clear conclusion that shall hit the point in question, andnothing else, is the true criterion of writing. But the greater partof the AbM's writings (if he will pardon me the remark) appearto me uncentral, and burthened with variety. They represent abeautiful wilderness without paths ; in which the eye is divertedby every thing, without being particularly directed to any thing ;and in which it is agreeable to be lost, and difficult to find theway out."

One cannot but wonder how Paine acquired his literaryequipment, almost as complete in his first work as in his last.In his thirty-second year, when exciseman at Lewes, he madeon the intelligent gentlemen of the White Hart Club an im-pression which led one of them, Mr. Lee, to apostrophize himin such lines as these :

" Thy logicvanquish'derror, and thy mindNo boundsbutthose of right and trutk confined.Thy soulof firemust sureascend thesky,Immortal Paine, thy famecan neverdie."

This was written of a man who had never published aword, and who, outside his club, was one of the poorest andmost obscure men in England. He must in some way havepresently gained reputation for superior intelligence amonghis fellow-excisemen, who appointed him to write their pleato Parliament for an increase of salary. This document,printed but not published in I772 (reserved for an appendixto our last volume), is written in the lucid and simple stylecharacteristic of all Paine's works,--" hitting the point inquestion and nothing else." But with all of this power hewould appear to have been without literary ambition, and


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INTRODUCTION. vii

writes to Goldsmith : " It is my first and only attempt, andeven now I should not have undertaken it had I not beenparticularly applied to by some of my superiors in office."Such, when nearly thirty-six, was the man who three yearslater published in America the book which made as muchhistory as any ever written.

These facts suggest some explanation of the effectivenessof Paine's work. Possessed of a style which, as EdmundRandolph said, insinuated itself into the hearts of learnedand unlearned, he wrote not for the sake of writing, pennedno word for personal fame, cared not for the morrow of hisown reputation. His Quaker forerunner, George Fox, wasnever more surrendered to the moving spirit of the moment.Absorbed in the point to be carried, discarding all rhetoricthat did not feather his arrow, dealing with every detail aswell as largest events and principles, his works are now in-valuable to the student of American history. In them thecourse of political events from I774 to I787 may be followedalmost from hour to hour, and even his military narrativesare of great importance. Previous editors of Paine's works,concerned mainly with his theories, have overlooked manyof these occasional writings; but the historian, for whomsuch occasions are never past, will find in these recoveredwritings testimony all the more valuable because not meantfor any day beyond that which elicited it. Chief-JusticeJay confided to a friend his belief that the history of theAmerican Revolution would never be written, on account ofthe reputations that would be affected were the truth fullytold. That the history has not been really written is knownto those who have critically examined the Stevens "Fac-similes," the Letters of George III. and of George Washing-ton. To these actual materials, awaiting the competent andcourageous historian, are now added the writings of ThomasPaine, second to none in importance. Certainly there wasno witness with better opportunities of information, onemore sleeplessly vigilant, or more thoroughly representativeof public sentiment during the twelve momentous years inwhich the American government was founded.


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viii IWTROD UCTION.

While Paine's American writings are historical documents,their value as such is not limited to the mere record or in-terpretation of events. They possess very great value forthe student of political institutions and constitutional de-velopment. Although there are no indications in Paine'swritings of direct indebtedness to other writers, such asRousseau and Locke, he breathes their philosophical atmos-phere ; but his genius is from the first that of an inventor.His utilitarian schemes, following statements of great prin-ciples, are sometimes even somewhat droll, as if a wood-cutter should describe gravitation as a law for bringing downhis axe upon its log. It was, however, this union in Paineof the theocratic-democratic Quaker visionary with the prac-tical ironworker and engineer which had made him so repre-sentative of the theoretical and the concrete, the religiousand the political, forces at work in the American Revolution.He utters the pertinent word, whether of sentiment orfinance, ethics or gunpowder, local government or nationalorganization, at every stage up to the formation of thefederal Union which he was the first to devise. The UnitedStates Constitution departed, indeed, from several of theprinciples maintained by Paine,--as in its bicameral legisla-ture, its disproportionate representation in the Senate, andthe degree of non-amenability accorded to the States ; butPaine's ideas on these subjects harmonize more nearly withmuch of the advanced political philosophy of the presentday, and his arguments are often used by writers and states-men who seem unacquainted with his works. The writingsof Thomas Paine are therefore of living interest, not only forthe light they shed on important events, but as studies andillustrations of political and constitutional evolution.

The present editor has followed the earliest editions, andhas preserved Paine's own spelling. Nothing is suppressed,and nothing altered except manifest misprints, and, in avery few cases, punctuations which might impair the sense.


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XV.COMMON SENSE.'

INTRODUCTION.

PERHAPS the sentiments contained in the following pages,are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them generalFavor ; a long Habit of not thinking a Thing wrong, givesit a superficial appearance of being right, and raises atfirst a formidable outcry in defence of Custom. But theTumult soon subsides. Time makes more Converts thanReason.

As a long and violent abuse of power is generally themeans of calling the right of it in question, (and in matterstoo which might never have been thought of, had not thesufferers been aggravated into the inquiry,) and as the Kingof England hath undertaken in his own right, to support theParliament in what he calls Theirs, and as the good Peopleof this Country are grievously oppressed by the Combina-tion, they have an undoubted privilege to enquire into the

I This pamphlet, whose effect has never been paralleled in literary history,was published January xo, I776, with the following title :

COMMONSENSE : Addressed to the Inhabitants of America, on the followingInteresting Subjects, viz.: I. Of the Origin and Design of Government inGeneral ; with Concise Remarks on the Engbsh Constitution. II. Of Mon-axchy and Hereditary Succession. III. Thoughts on the Present State ofAmerican Affairs. IV. Of the Present Ability of America ; with some Miscel-laneous Reflections.

Man knows no master save creating HEAVEN,Or those whom choice and common good ordain. THOMSON.

Philadelphia : Printed, and Sold, by R. BELL, in Third Street. MDCCLXXVI.67


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_8 THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE. [I776

Pretensions of both, and equally to reject the Usurpation ofeither.In the following Sheets, the Author hath studiouslyavoided every thing which is personal among ourselves.

Compliments as well as censure to individuals make no partthereof. The wise and the worthy need not the triumph ofa Pamphlet ; and those whose sentiments are injudicious orunfriendly will cease of themselves, unless too much pains isbestowed upon their conversions.

The cause of America is in a great measure the cause ofall mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise,which are not local, but universal, and through which theprinciples of all lovers of mankind are affected, and in theevent of which their affections are interested. The laying acountry desolate with fire and sword, declaring war againstthe natural rights of all mankind, and extirpating the de-fenders thereof from the face of the earth, is the concern ofevery man to whom nature hath given the power of feeling ;of which class, regardless of party censure, is

THE AUTHOR.

Postscript to Preface in the third edition.P.S. The Publication of this new Edition hath been

delayed, with a view of taking notice (had it been necessary)of any attempt to refute the Doctrine of Independence : Asno answer hath yet appeared, it is now presumed that nonewill, the time needful for getting such a Performance readyfor the Public being considerably past.

Who the Author of this Production is, is wholly unneces-sary to the Public, as the Object for Attention is the Doctrineitself, not the Man. Yet it may not be unnecessary to say,That he is unconnected with any party, and under no sortof Influence, public or private, but the influence of reasonand principle.PHILADELPHIA, Februaryx4, x776.


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COMMON SENSE.ON THE ORIGIN AND DESIGN OF GOVERNMENT IN GEN-

ERAL, WITH CONCISE REMARKS ON THE ENGLISHCONSTITUTION.

SOME writers have so confounded society with government,as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereasthey are not only different, but have different origins.Society is produced by our wants, and government by ourwickedness ; the former promotes our happiness possitivelybyuniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining ourvices. The one encourages intercourse, the other createsdistinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.

Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, evenin its best state, is but a necessary evil ; in its worst state anintolerable one : for when we suffer, or are exposed to thesame miseries by a Goz:ernmellt, which we might expect in acountry wzt/zout Government, our calamity is heightened byreflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; thepalaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers ofparadise. For were the impulses of conscience clear, uni-form and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other law-giver ; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary tosurrender up a part of his property to furnish means for theprotection of the rest ; and this he is induced to do by thesame prudence which in every other case advises him, out oftwo evils to choose the least. Wherefore, security being thetrue design and end of government, it unanswerably followsthat whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensureit to us, with the least expence and greatest benefit, isprelerable to all others.

69


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_70 THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE. [_776

In order to gain a clear and just idea of the design andend of government, let us suppose a small number of per-sons settled in some sequestered part of the earth, uncon-nected with the rest; they will then represent the firstpeopling of any country, or of the world. In this state of nat-ural liberty, society will be their first thought. A thousandmotives will excite them thereto ; the strength of one manis so unequal to his wants, and his mind so unfitted for per-petual solitude, that he is soon obliged to seek assistanceand relief of another, who in his turn requires the same.Four or five united would be able to raise a tolerable dwell-ing in the midst of a wilderness, but one man might labourout the common period of life without accomplishing anything ; when he had felled his timber he could not remove it,nor erect it after it was removed; hunger in the mean timewould urge him to quit his work, and every different wantwould call him a different way. Disease, nay even misfor-tune, would be death ; for though neither might be mortal,yet either would disable him from living, and reduce him to astate in which he might rather be said to perish than to die.

Thus necessity, like a gravitating power, would soon formour newly arrived emigrants into society, the reciprocalblessings of which would supercede, and render the obliga-tions of law and government unnecessary while they re-mained perfectly just to each other; but as nothing butHeaven is impregnable to vice, it will unavoidably happenthat in proportion as they surmount the first difficulties ofemigration, which bound them together in a common cause,they will begin to relax in their duty and attachment toeach other : and this remissness will point out the necessityof establishing some form of government to supply thedefect of moral virtue.

Some convenient tree will afford them a State House, underthe branches of which the whole Colony may assemble todeliberate on public matters. It is more than probable thattheir first laws will have the title only of Regulations and beenforced by no other penalty than public disesteem. In thisfirstarliamentevery man by naturalrightwillhave a seat.


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1776] COMMON SENSE. 71

But as the Colony encreases, the public concerns will en-crease likewise, and the distance at which the members maybe separated, will render it too inconvenient for all of themto meet on every occasion as at first, when their number wassmall, their habitations near, and the public concerns few andtrifling. This will point out the convenience of their con-senting to leave the legislative part to be managed by a se-lect number chosen from the whole body, who are supposedto have the same concerns at stake which those have whoappointed them, and who will act in the same manner as thewhole body would act were they present. If the colonycontinue encreasing, it will become necessary to augment thenumber of representatives, and that the interest of everypart of the colony may be attended to, it will be found bestto divide the whole into convenient parts, each part sendingits proper number : and that the elected might never form tothemselves an interest separate from the electors, prudencewill point out the propriety of having elections often: be-cause as the elected might by that means return and mixagain with the general body of the electors in a few months,their fidelity to the public will be secured by the prudentreflection of not making a rod for themselves. And as thisfrequent interchange will establish a common interest withevery part of the community, they will mutually and natur-ally support each other, and on this, (not on the unmeaningname of king,) depends the strength of government, and thehappiness of the governed.

Here then is the origin and rise of government ; namely,a mode rendered necessary by the inability of moral virtueto govern the world; here too is the design and end ofgovernment, viz. Freedom and security. And however oureyes may be dazzled with show, or our ears deceived by sound ;however prejudice may warp our wills, or interest darken ourunderstanding, the simple voice of nature and reason willsay, 'tis right.

I draw my idea of the form of government from a princi-ple in nature which no art can overturn, viz. that the moresimple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered, and


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72 THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS .PAINE. [I776

the easier repaired when disordered ; and with this maximin view I offer a few remarks on the so much boasted consti-tution of England That it was noble for the dark andslavish times in which it was erected, is granted. When theworld was overrun with tyranny the least remove therefromwas a glorious rescue. But that it is imperfect, subject toconvulsions, and incapable of producing what it seems topromise, is easily demonstrated.

Absolute governments, (tho' the disgrace of human na-ture) have this advantage with them, they are simple ; if thepeople suffer, they know the head from which their sufferingsprings ; know likewise the remedy ; and are not bewilderedby a variety of causes and cures. But the constitution ofEngland is so exceedingly complex, that the nation maysuffer for years together without being able to discover inwhich part the fault lies ; some will say in one and some inanother, and every political physician will advise a differentmedicine.

I know it is difficult to get over local or long standingprejudices, yet if we will suffer ourselves to examine thecomponent parts of the English constitution, we shall findthem to be the base remains of two ancient tyrannies, com-pounded with some new Republican materials.

First.--The remains of Monarchical tyranny in the personof the King.

Secondly.--The remains of Aristocratical tyranny in thepersons of the Peers.

Thirdly.--The new Republican materials, in the personsof the Commons, on whose virtue depends the freedom ofEngland.

The two first, by being hereditary, are independant of thePeople ; wherefore in a constitutional sense they contributenothing towards the freedom of the State.

To say that the constitution of England is an union of threepowers, reciprocally checktng each other, is farcical; eitherthe words have no meaning, or they are flat contradictions.

To say that the Commons is a check upon the King, pre-supposes two things.


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776] COMMO,V SENSE. 73First.--That the King is not to be trusted wlthout being

looked after, or m other words, that a thlrst for absolutepower is the natural dlsease of monarchy.Secondly.--That the Commons, by bcmg appointed for

that purpose, are either wiser or more worthy of confidencethan the Crown.

But as the same constitution which gives the Commons apower to check the King by withholding the supplies, givesafterwards the King a power to check the Commons, by em-powering him to reject their other bills; it again supposesthat the King is wiser than those whom it has already sup-posed to be wiser than him. A mere absurdity!

There is something exceedingly ridiculous in the compo-sition of Monarchy ; it first excludes a man from the meansof information, yet empowers him to act in cases where thehighest judgment is required. The state of a king shutshim from the World, yet the business of a king requires himto know it thoroughly; wherefore the different parts, byunnaturally opposing and destroying each other, prove thewhole character to be absurd and useless.

Some writers have explained the English constitutionthus : the King, say they, is one, the people another ; thePeers are a house in behalf of the King, the commons inbehalf of the people; but this hath all the distinctions of ahouse divided against itself ; and though the expressions bepleasantly arranged, yet when examined they appear idle andambiguous; and it will always happen, that the nicest construc-tion that words are capable of, when applied to the descriptionof something which either cannot exist, or is too incompre-hensible to be within the compass of description, will bewords of sound only, and though they may amuse the ear,they cannot inform the mind : for this explanation includesa previous question, viz, how came the kbzg by a power whichthe people are afraid to trust, and always oblixcd to check ._Such a power could not be the gift of a wise people, neithercan any power, which needscheckbtg, be from God; yet theprovision which the constitution makes supposes such apower to exist,


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74 THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE. [x776But the provision is unequal to the task ; the means either

cannot or will not accomplish the end, and the whole affairis a Felo dese : for as the greater weight will always carry upthe less, and as all the wheels of a machine are put in motionby one, it only remains to know which power in theconstitution has the most weight, for that will govern : andtho' the others, or a part of them, may clog, or, as the phraseis, check the rapidity of its motion, yet so long as they can-not stop it, their endeavours will be ineffectual : The firstmoving power will at last have its way, and what it wants inspeed is supplied by time.

That the crown is this overbearing part in the Englishconstitution needs not be mentioned, and that it derives itswhole consequence merely from being the giver of placesand pensions is self-evident; wherefore, though we havebeen wise enough to shut and lock a door against absoluteMonarchy, we at the same time have been foolish enough toput the Crown in possession of the key.

The prejudice of Englishmen, in favour of their owngovernment, by King, Lords and Commons, arises as muchor more from national pride than reason. Individuals areundoubtedly safer in England than in some other countries :but the will of the king is as much the law of the land inBritain as in France, with this difference, that instead of pro-ceeding directly from his mouth, it is handed to the peopleunder the formidable shape of an act of parliament. For thefate of Charles the First hath only made kings more subtle--not more just.

Wherefore, laying aside all national pride and prejudice infavour of modes and forms, the plain truth is that it is whollyowing go the constitution of the people, and not to tke constitu-tion of the government that the crown is not as oppressive inEngland as in Turkey.

An inquiry into the constitutional errors in the Englishform of government, is at this time highly necessary ; for aswe are never in a proper condition of doing justice to others,while we continue under the influence of some leadingpartiality, so neither are we capable of doing it to our-


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_776] COMMON SENSE. _Sselves while we remain fettered by any obstinate prejudice.And as a man who is attached to a prostitute is unfittedto choose or judge of a wife, so any prepossession infavour of a rotten constitution of government will disable usfrom discerning a good one.

OF MONARCHY AND HEREDITARY SUCCESSION.MANKIND being originally equals in the order of creation,

the equality could only be destroyed by some subsequentcircumstance: the distinctions of rich and poor may in agreat measure be accounted for, and that without havingrecourse to the harsh ill-sounding names of oppression andavarice. Oppression is often the consequence, but seldom ornever the means of riches; and tho' avarice will preserve aman from being necessitously poor, it generally makes himtoo timorous to be wealthy.

But there is another and greater distinction for which notruly natural or religious reason can be assigned, and thatis the distinction of men into KINGS and SUBJECTS. Maleand female are the distinctions of nature, good and bad thedistinctions of Heaven ; but how a race of men came into theworld so exalted above the rest, and distinguished like somenew species, is worth inquiring into, and whether they are themeans of happiness or of misery to mankind.

In the early ages of the world, according to the scripturechronology there were no kings ; the consequence of whichwas, there were no wars; it is the pride of kings whichthrows mankind into confusion. Holland, without a kinghath enjoyed more peace for this last century than any ofthe monarchical governments in Europe. Antiquity favoursthe same remark; for the quiet and rural lives of the firstPatriarchs have a happy something in them, which vanisheswhen we come to the history of Jewish royalty.

Government by kings was first introduced into the worldby the Heathens, from whom the children of Israel copiedthe custom. It was the most prosperous invention theDevil ever set on foot for the promotion of idolatry. The


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76 THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE. [_776

Heathens paid divine honours to their deceased kings, andthe Christian World hath improved on the plan by doingthe same to their living ones. How impious is the title ofsacred Majesty applied to a worm, who in the mxdst of hissplendor is crumbling into dust !

As the exalting one man so greatly above the rest cannotbe justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can itbe defended on the authority of scripture; for the will ofthe Almighty as declared by Gideon, and the prophetSamuel, expressly disapproves of government by Kings.All anti-monarchical parts of scripture, have been verysmoothly glossed over in monarchical governments, but theyundoubtedly merit the attention of countries which have theirgovernments yet to form. Render unto Cesar the things whzchare C'esar's, is the scripture doctrine of courts, yet it is no sup-port of monarchical government, for the Jews at that timewere without a king, and in a state of vassalage to the Romans.Near three thousand years passed away, from the Mosaicaccount of the creation, till the Jews under a national delu-sion requested a king. Till then their form of government(except in extraordinary cases where the Almighty inter-posed) was a kind of Republic, administered by a judge andthe elders of the tribes. Kings they had none, and it washeld sinful to acknowledge any being under that title butthe Lord of Hosts. And when a man seriously reflects onthe idolatrous homage which is paid to the persons of kings,he need not wonder that the Almighty, ever jealous of hishonour, should disapprove a form of government which soimpiously invades the prerogative of Heaven.

Monarchy is ranked in scripture as one of the sins of theJews, for which a curse in reserve is denounced againstthem. The history of that transaction is worth attending to.

The children of Israel being oppressed by the Midianites,Gideon marched against them with a small army, andvictory thro' the divine interposition decided in his favour.The Jews, elate with success, and attributing it to thegeneralship of Gideon, proposed making him a king, saying,Rule thou over us, thou and thy son, and tky son's son. Here


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1776] COMMON SElVSE. 77was temptation in its fullest extent; not a kingdom only,but an hereditary one; but Gideon in the piety of his soulreplied, I wdl not rule o2:er you, neztller shah my son rule overyou. THE LORD SHALL RULE OVER YOU. W'ords neednot be more explicit ; Gideon doth not dechne the honour,but denieth their right to give it; neither doth he compli-ment them with invented declarations of his thanks, but inthe positive stile of a prophet charges them with disaffectionto their proper Sovereign, the King of Heaven.

About one hundred and thirty years after this, they fellagain into the same error. The hankering which the Jewshad for the idolatrous customs of the Heathens, is some-thing exceedingly unaccountable; but so it was, that layinghold of the misconduct of Samuel's two sons, who wereintrusted with some secular concerns, they came in anabrupt and clamorous manner to Samuel, saying, Behold thouart old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways, now make us aking to judge us like all the other nations. And here we can-not but observe that their motives were bad, viz. that theymight be like unto other nations, i. e. the Heathens, whereastheir true glory lay in being as much unlike them as possible.But the thzng dtspleased Samuel when they said, give us aKing to judge us ; and Samuel prayed unto the Lord, and theLord said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people inall that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, butthey have rejected me, THAT I SHOULD NOT REIGN OVERTHEM. According to all the works which they have done sincethe day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto thisday, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other Gods ."so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto theirvoice, howbeit, protest solemnly unto them and show them themanner of the King that shall reign over them, i. e. not ofany particular King, but the general manner of the Kingsof the earth whom Israel was so eagerly copying after. Andnotwithstanding the great distance of time and difference ofmanners, the character is still in fashion. And Samuel toldall the words of the Lord unto the people, tlmt asked of hint aKing. And he said,. This shall be the manner of the King that


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78 THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS .PAINE. [i776shall reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint themfor himself for his chariots and to be his horsemen, and someshall run before his chariots (this description agrees with thepresent mode of impressing men) and he will appoint himcaptains over thousands and captains over fifties, will set themto ear his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make hisinstruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And hewill take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks,and to be bakers (this describes the expense and luxury aswell as the oppression of Kings) and he will take your fieldsand your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best ofthem, and give them to his servants. And he will take thetenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give them to hisofficers and to his servants (by which we see that bribery, cor-ruption, and favouritism, are the standing vices of Kings)and he will take the tenth of your men servants, and yourmaid servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses,and put them to his work : and he will take the tenth of yoursheep, and ye shall be his servants, and ye shall cry out in thatday because of your king which ye shall have chosen, AND THELORD WILL NOT HEAR YOU IN THAT DAY. This accountsfor the continuation of Monarchy ; neither do the charactersof the few good kings which have lived since, either sanctifythe title, or blot out the sinfulness of the origin; the highencomium given of David takes no notice of him officially asa King, but only as a Man after God's own heart. Never-theless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and theysaid, Nay but we will have a king ever us, that we may belike all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and goout before us and fight our battles. Samuel continued toreason with them but to no purpose; he set before themtheir ingratitude, but all would not avail ; and seeing themfully bent on their folly, he cried out, I will call unto theLord, and he shall send thunder and rain (which was then apunishment, being in the time of wheat harvest) that ye mayperceive and see that your wickedness is great which ye havedone in the sight of the Lord, IN ASKING YOU A KING. SoSamuel called unto the Lord, and the L.ord sent thunder and


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x776] COMMONSE2VSE. 79rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord andSamuel And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thyservants unto the Lord thy God that we die not, for WE HAVEADDED UNTO OUR SINS THIS EVIL, TO ASK A KING. Theseportions of scripture are direct and positive. They admitof no equivocal construction. That the Almighty hath hereentered his protest against monarchical government is true,or the scripture is false. And a man hath good reason tobelieve that there is as much of kingcraft as priestcraft inwithholding the scripture from the public in popish coun-tries. For monarchy in every instance is the popery ofgovernment.To the evil of monarchy we have added that of hereditarysuccession; and as the first is a degradation and lessening ofourselves, so the second, claimed as a matter of right, isan insult and imposition on posterity. For all men beingoriginally equals, no one by birth could have a right to setup his own family in perpetual preference to all others forever, and tho' himself might deserve some decent degree ofhonours of his cotemporaries, yet his descendants might befar too unworthy to inherit them. One of the strongestnatural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in Kings,is that nature disapproves it, otherwise she would not sofrequently turn it into ridicule, by giving mankind an Assfor a Lion.

Secondly, as no man at first could possess any other pub-lic honors than were bestowed upon him, so the givers ofthose honors could have no power to give away the right ofposterity, and though they might say "We choose youfor our head," they could not without manifest injustice totheir children say "that your children and your children'schildren shall reign over ours forever." Because such an un-wise, unjust, unnatural compact might (perhaps) in the nextsuccession put them under the government of a rogue or afool. Most wise men in their private sentiments have evertreated hereditary right with contempt; yet it is one ofthose evils which when once established is not easily re-moved: many submit from fear, others from superstition,


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80 THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE. [I776and the more powerful part shares with the king the plunderof the rest.

This is supposing the present race of kings in the worldto have had an honorable origin: whereas it is more thanprobable, that, could we take off the dark covering of anti-quity and trace them to their first rise, we should find thefirst of them nothing better than the principal ruffian of somerestless gang, whose savage manners or pre-eminence insubtilty obtained him the title of chief among plunderers:and who by increasing in power and extending his depreda-tions, overawed the quiet and defenceless to purchase theirsafety by frequent contributions. Yet his electors couldhave no idea of giving hereditary right to his descendants,because such a perpetual exclusion of themselves was in-compatible with the free and unrestrained principles theyprofessed to live by. Wherefore, hereditary succession inthe early ages of monarchy could not take place as a matterof claim, but as something casual or complemental ; but asfew or no records were extant in those days, and traditionaryhistory stuff'd with fables, it was very easy, after the lapseof a few generations, to trump up some superstitious taleconveniently timed, Mahomet-like, to cram hereditary rightdown the throats of the vulgar. Perhaps the disorderswhich threatened, or seemed to threaten, on the decease ofa leader and the choice of a new one (for elections amongruffians could not be very orderly) induced many at first tofavour hereditary pretensions ; by which means it happened,as it hath happened since, that what at first was submittedto as a convenience was aftePwards claimed as a right.

England since the conquest hath known some few goodmonarchs, but groaned beneath a much larger number ofbad ones: yet no man in his senses can say that their claimunder William the Conqueror is a very honourable one. AFrench bastard landing with an armed Banditti and estab-lishing himself king of England against the consent of thenatives, is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original. Itcertainly hath no divinity in it. However it is needlessto spend much time in exposing the folly of hereditary


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I776 ] COMMON SENSE. 8Iright; if there are any so weak as to believe it, let thempromiscuously worship the Ass and the Lion, and welcome. Ishall neither copy their humility, nor disturb their devotion.Yet I should be glad to ask how they suppose kings cameat first? The question admits but of three answers, viz.either by lot, by election, or by usurpation. If the firstking was taken by lot, it establishes a precedent for the next,which excludes hereditary succession. Saul was by lot, yetthe succession was not hereditary, neither does it appearfrom that transaction that there was any intention it evershould. If the first king of any country was by election,that likewise establishes a precedent for the next ; for to say,that the right of all future generations is taken away, by theact of the first electors, in their choice not only of a king butof a family of kings for ever, hath no parallel in or out ofscripture but the doctrine of original sin, which supposesthe free will of all men lost in Adam ; and from such com-parison, and it will admit of no other, hereditary successioncan derive no glory. For as in Adam all sinned, and as in thefirst electors all men obeyed ; as in the one all mankind weresubjected to Satan, and in the other to sovereignty ; as ourinnocence was lost in the first, and our authority in the last ;and as both disable us from re-assuming some former stateand privilege, it unanswerably follows that original sin andhereditary succession are parallels. Dishonourable rank!inglorious connection! yet the most subtle sophist cannotproduce a juster simile.

As to usurpation, no man will be so hardy as to defend it ;and that William the Conqueror was an usurper is a fact notto be contradicted. The plain truth is, that the antiquity ofEnglish monarchy will not bear looking into.

But it is not so much the absurdity as the evil of hereditarysuccession which concerns mankind. Did it ensure a race ofgood and wise men it would have the seal of divine author-ity, but as it opens a door to the foolish, the wicked, and theimproper, it hath in it the nature of oppression. Men wholook upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey,soon grow insolent. Selected from the rest of mankind, theirvo,. t.-.-6


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82 ?'HE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE. [z776minds are early poisoned by importance ; and the world theyact in differs so materially from the world at large, that theyhave but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, andwhen they succeed to the government are frequently themost ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.

Another evil which attends hereditary succession is, thatthe throne is subject to be possessed by a minor at any age ;all which time the regency acting under the cover of a kinghave every opportunity and inducement to betray theirtrust. The same national misfortune happens when a kingworn out with age and infirmity enters the last stage ofhuman weakness. In both these cases the public becomesa prey to every miscreant who can tamper successfully withthe follies either of age or infancy.

The most plausible plea which hath ever been offered infavor of hereditary succession is, that it preserves a nationfrom civil wars; and were this true, it would be weighty;whereas it is the most bare-faced falsity ever imposed uponmankind. The whole history of England disowns the fact.Thirty kings and two minors have reigned in that distractedkingdom since the conquest, in which time there has been(including the revolution) no less than eight civil wars andnineteen Rebellions. Wherefore instead of making for peace,it makes against it, and destroys the very foundation it seemsto stand upon.The contest for monarchy and succession, between thehouses of York and Lancaster, laid England in a scene ofblood for many years. Twelve pitched battles besides skir-mishes and sieges were fought between Henry and Edward.Twice was Henry prisoner to Edward, who in his turn wasprisoner to Henry. And so uncertain is the fate of war andthe temper of a nation, when nothing but personal mattersare the ground of a quarrel, that Henry was taken in triumphfrom a prison to a palace, and Edward obliged to fly from apalace to a foreign land ; yet, as sudden transitions of tem-per are seldom lasting, Henry in his turn was driven fromthe throne, and Edward re-caUed to succeed him. The par-liament always following the strongest side.


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x776] COMMON SENSE. 8 3This contest began in the reign of Henry the Sixth, and

was not entirely extinguished till Henry the Seventh, inwhom the families were united. Including a period of 67years, viz. from 1422 to I489.

In short, monarchy and succession have laid (not this orthat kingdom only) but the world in blood and ashes. 'Tisa form of government which the word of God bears testimonyagainst, and blood will attend it.

If we enquire into the business of a King, we shall find thatin some countries they may have none ; and after saunteringaway their lives without pleasure to themselves or advantageto the nation, withdraw from the scene, and leave their suc-cessors to tread the same idle round. In absolute monarchiesthe whole weight of business civil and military lies on theKing ; the children of Israel in their request for a king urgedthis plea, " that he may judge us, and go out before us andfight our battles." But in countries where he is neither aJudge nor a General, as in England, a man would be puzzledto know what is his business.

The nearer any government approaches to a Republic, theless business thereis for a King. It is somewhat difficult tofind a proper name for the government of England. Sir Wil-liam Meredith calls it a Republic ; but in its present state itis unworthy of the name, because the corrupt influence ofthe Crown, by having all the places in its disposal, hath soeffectually swallowed up the power, and eaten out the virtueof the House of Commons (the Republican part in the con-stitution) that the government of England is nearly as mon-archical as that of France or Spain. Men fall out with nameswithout understanding them. For 'tis the Republican andnot the Monarchical part of the constitution of Englandwhich Englishmen glory in, viz. the liberty of choosing anHouse of Commons from out of their own body--and it iseasy to see that when Republican virtues fails, slavery en-sues. Why is the constitution of England sickly, but becausemonarchy hath poisoned the Republic; the Crown hathengrossed the Commons.

In England a King hath little more to do than to makevoL. x..--_


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war and giveaway places;which,inplaintcrms,isto em-poverishthe nationand setittogetherby thecars.A prettybusinessindeedfora man to be allowedeighthundred thou-sand sterling year for,and worshipped into tbc bargain!Of more worth isone honestman tosociety,nd inthcsightofGod, than allthe crowned rumans thateverlived.

THOUGHTS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF AMERICANAFFAIRS.

IN the following pages I offer nothing more than simplefacts, plain arguments, and common sense: and have noother preliminaries to settle with the reader, than that hewill divest himself of prejudice and prepossession, and sufferhis reason and his feelings to determine for themselves : thathe will put on, or rather that he will not put off, the truecharacter of a man, and generously enlarge his views beyondthe present day.

Volumes have been written on the subject of the strugglebetween England and America. Men of all ranks have em-barked in the controversy, from different motives, and withvarious designs ; but all have been ineffectual, and the periodof debate is closed. Arms as the last resource decide thecontest; the appeal was the choice of the King, and theContinent has accepted the challenge.

It hath been reported of the late Mr. Pelham (who tho' anable minister was not without his faults) that on his beingattacked in the House of Commons on the score that hismeasures were only of a temporary kind, replied, "tlwy willlast my time." Should a thought so fatal and unmanlypossess the Colonies in the present contest, the name of an-cestors will be remembered by future generations withdetestation.

The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. 'Tisnot the affair of a City, a County, a Province, or a Kingdom ;but of a Continent--of at least one eighth part of the habi-table Globe. 'Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or anage ; posterity are virtually involved in the contest, and will


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_776] COMMO,V S_2vsE. 85be more or less affected even to the end of time, by the pro.ceedings now. Now is the seed-time of Continental union,faith and honour. The least fracture now will be like a nameengraved with the point of a pin on the tender rind of ayoung oak; the wound would enlarge with the tree, andposterity read it in full grown characters.

By referring the matter from argument to arms, a newaera for politics is struck--a new method of thinking hatharisen. All plans, proposals, &c. prior to the nineteenth ofApril, i. e. to the commencement of hostilities,' are like thealmanacks of the last year; which tho' proper then, aresuperceded and useless now. Whatever was advanced bythe advocates on either side of the question then, terminatedin one and the same point, viz. a union with Great Britain ;the only difference between the parties was the method ofeffecting it ; the one proposing force, the other friendship ;but it hath so far happened that the first hath failed, and thesecond hath withdrawn her influence.

As much hath been said of the advantages of reconcilia-tion, which, like an agreeable dream, hath passed away andleft us as we were, it is but right that we should examinethe contrary side of the argument, and enquire into someof the many material injuries which these Colonies sustain,and always will sustain, by being connected with and de-pendant on Great-Britain. To examine that connection anddependance, on the principles of nature and common sense,to see what we have to trust to, if separated, and what weare to expect, if dependant.

I have heard it asserted by some, that as America hasflourished under her former connection with Great-Britain,the same connection is necessary towards her future happi-ness. and will always have the same effect. Nothing can bemore fallacious than this kind of argument. We may aswell assert that because a child has thrived upon milk, thatit is never to have meat, or that the first twenty years ofour lives is to become a precedent for the next twenty. Buteven this is admitting more than is true; for I answer

I At Lexington, Massachusetts, 1775._Ea_tor.


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86 THE WRITZNGS OF THOMAS PAINE. [i776

roundly, that America would have flourished as much, andprobably much more, had no European power taken anynotice of her. The commerce by which she hath enrichedherself are the necessaries of life, and will always have amarket while eating is the custom of Europe.

But she has protected us, say some. That she hath en-grossed us is true, and defended the Continent at our ex-pense as well as her own, is admitted ; and she would havedefended Turkey from the same motive, viz. for the sake oftrade and dominion.Alas ! we have been long led away by ancient prejudicesand made large sacrifices to superstition. We have boastedthe protection of Great Britain, without considering, thather motive was interest not attachment ; and that she did notprotect us from our enemies on our account; but from herenemies on her own account, from those who had no quarrelwith us on any other account, and who will always be ourenemies on the same account. Let Britain waive her preten-sions to the Continent, or the Continent throw off the de-pendance, and we should be at peace with France and Spain,were they at war with Britain. The miseries of Hanoverlast war ought to warn us against connections.It hath lately been asserted in parliament, that the Colo-nies have no relation to each other but through the ParentCountry, L e. that Pennsylvania and the Jerseys, and so onfor the rest, are sister Colonies by the way of England; thisis certainly a very roundabout way of proving relationship,but it is the nearest and only true way of proving enmity(or enemyship, if I may so call it.) France and Spain neverwere, nor perhaps ever will be, our enemies as Americans,but as our being the subjects of Great Britain.But Britain is the parent country, say some. Then themore shame upon her conduct. Even brutes do not devour

their young, nor savages make war upon their families;Wherefore, the assertion, if true, turns to her reproach ; butit happens not to be true, or only partly so, and the phraseparent or mother country hath been jesuitically adopted bythe King and his parasites, with a low papistical design of


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1776] COMMON SENSE. 87gaining an unfair bias on the credulous weakness of ourminds. Europe, and not England, is the parent country ofAmerica. This new World hath been the asylum for thepersecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from everypart of Europe. Hither have they fled, not from the tenderembraces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the mon-ster ; and it is so far true of England, that the same tyrannywhich drove the first emigrants from home, pursues theirdescendants still.

In this extensive quarter of the globe, we forget the nar-row limits of three hundred and sixty miles (the extent ofEngland) and carry our friendship on a larger scale ; we claimbrotherhood with every European Christian, and triumph inthe generosity of the sentiment.

It is pleasant to observe by what regular gradations wesurmount the force of local prejudices, as we enlarge our ac-quaintance with the World. A man born in any town inEngland divided into parishes, will naturally associate mostwith his fellow parishioners (because their interests in manycases will be common) and distinguish him by the name ofneighbour; if he meet him but a few miles from home, hedrops the narrow idea of a street, and salutes him by thename of townsman; if he travel out of the county and meethim in any other, he forgets the minor divisions of streetand town, and calls him countryman, i. e. countyman : butif in their foreign excursions they should associate in France,or any other part of Europe, their local remembrance wouldbe enlarged into that of Englishmen. And by a just parityof reasoning, all Europeans meeting in America, or any otherquarter of the globe, are countrymen; for England, Holland,Germany, or Sweden, when compared with the whole, standin the same places on the larger scale, which the divisions ofstreet, town, and county do on the smaller ones ; Distinctionstoo limited for Continental minds. Not one third of the in-habitants, even of this province, [Pennsylvania], are of Eng-lish descent. Wherefore, I reprobate the phrase of Parentor Mother Country applied to England only, as being false,selfish, narrQw and ungenerous.


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88 TIlE WRITINGS oF THOMAS PAINE. [1776But, admitting that we were all of English descent, what

does it amount to ? Nothing. Britain, being now an openenemy, extinguishes every other name and title : and to saythat reconciliation is our duty, is truly farcical. The firstking of England, of the present line (William the Conqueror)was a Frenchman, and half the peers of England are des-cendants from the same country; wherefore, by the samemethod of reasoning, England ought to be governed byFrance.

Much hath been said of the united strength of Britain andthe Colonies, that in conjunction they might bid defiance totheworld : But this is mere presumption ; the fate of waris uncertain, neither do the expressions mean any thing; forthis continent would never suffer itself to be drained of in-habitants, to support the British arms in either Asia, Africa,or Europe.

Besides, what have we to do with setting the world at de-fiance ? Our plan is commerce, and that, well attended to,will secure us the peace and friendship of all Europe ; be-cause it is the interest of all Europe to have America a freeport. Her trade will always be a protection, and her bar-renness of gold and silver secure her from invaders.

I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation to showa single advantage that this continent can reap by beingconnected with Great Britain. I repeat the challenge ; nota single advantage is derived. Our corn will fetch its pricein any market in Europe, and our imported goods must bepaid for buy them where we will.But the injuries and disadvantages which we sustain by

that connection, are without number; and our duty to man-kind at large, as well as to ourselves, instruct us to renouncethe alliance : because, any submission to, or dependance on,Great Britain, tends directly to involve this Continent inEuropean wars and quarrels, and set us at variance with na-tions who would otherwise seek our friendship, and againstwhom we have neither anger nor complaint. As Europe isour market for trade, we ought to form no partial connectionwith any part of it. It is the true interest of America to


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_776] COMMON SENSE. 89

steer clear of European contentions, which she never can do,while, by her dependance on Britain, she is made the make-weight in the scale of British politics.

Europe is too thickly planted with Kingdoms to be longat peace, and whenever a war breaks out between Englandand any foreign power, the trade of America goes to ruin,because of lzer connection with Britain. The next war maynot turn out like the last, and should it not, the advocatesfor reconciliation now will be wishing for separation then,because neutrality in that case would be a safer convoy thana man of war. Every thing that is right or reasonable pleadsfor separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voiceof nature cries, 'TIS TIME TO PART. Even the distance atwhich the Almighty hath placed England and America is astrong and natural proof that the authority of the one overthe other, was never the design of Heaven. The time like-wise at which the Continent was discovered, adds weight tothe argument, and the manner in which it was peopled, en-creases the force of it. The Reformation was preceded bythe discovery of America: As if the Almighty graciouslymeant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years,when home should afford neither friendship nor safety.

The authority of Great Britain over this continent, is aform of government, which sooner or later must have an end :And a serious mind can draw no true pleasure by lookingforward, under the painful and positive conviction that whathe calls" the present constitution" is merely temporary. Asparents, we can have no joy, knowing that this governmentis not sufficiently lasting to ensure any thing which we maybequeath to posterity: And by a plain method of argument,as we are running the next generation into debt, we oughtto do the work of it, otherwise we use them meanly and piti-fully. In order to discover the line of our duty rightly, weshould take our children in our hand, and fix our station afew years farther into life; that eminence will present aprospect which a few present fears and prejudices concealfrom our sight.Though I would t:_rcfully avoid giving unnecessary of.


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fence, yet I am inclined to believe, that all those who es-pouse the doctrine of reconciliation, may be included withinthe following descriptions.Interested men, who are not to be trusted, weak men whocannot see, prejudiced men who will not see, and a certainset of moderate men who think better of the European worldthan it deserves ; and this last class, by an ill-judged delib-eration, will be the cause of more calamities to this Continentthan all the other three.

It is the good fortune of many to live distant from thescene of present sorrow ; the evil is not sufficiently broughtto their doors to make them feel the precariousness withwhich all American property is possessed. But let our im-aginations transport us a few moments to Boston ; that seatof wretchedness will teach us wisdom, and instruct us forever to renounce a power in whom we can have no trust.The inhabitants of that unfortunate city who but a fewmonths ago were in ease and affluence, have now no otheralternative than to stay and starve, or turn out to beg. En-dangered by the fire of their friends if they continue withinthe city, and plundered by the soldiery if they leave it, intheir present situation they are prisoners without the hopeof redemption, and in a general attack for their relief theywould be exposed to the fury of both armies.

Men of passive tempers look somewhat lightly over theoffences of Great Britain, and, still hoping for the best, areapt to call out, Come, came, we shall be friends again for allthis. But examine the passions and feelings of mankind:bring the doctrine of reconciliation to the touchstone of na-ture, and then tell me whether you can hereafter love, hon-our, and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire andsword into your land ? If you cannot do all these, then areyou only deceiving yourselves, and by your delay bringingruin upon posterity. Your future connection with Britain,whom you can neither love nor honour, will be forced andunnatural, and being formed only on the plan of presentconvenience, will in a little time fall into a relapse morewretched than the first. But if you say, you can stilI pass


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z776J COMMON S_NS2_. 91the violations over, then I ask, hath your house been burnt ?Hath your property been destroyed before your face ? Areyour wife and children destitute of a bed to lie on, or breadto live on? Have you lost a parent or a child by theirhands, and yourself the ruined and wretched survivor ? Ifyou have not, then are you not a judge of those who have.But if you have, and can still shake hands with the murder-ers, then are you unworthy the name of husband, father,friend, or lover, and whatever may be your rank or title inlife, you have the heart of a coward, and the spirit of asycophant.

This is not inflaming or exaggerating matters, but tryingthem by those feelings and affections which nature justifies,and without which we should be incapable of discharging thesocial duties of life, or enjoying the felicities of it. I meannot to exhibit horror for the purpose of provoking revenge,but to awaken us from fatal and unmanly slumbers, that wemay pursue determinately some fixed object. 'Tis not in thepower of Britain or of Europe to conquer America, if shedoth not conquer herself by delay and timidity. The pres-ent winter is worth an age if rightly employed, but if lost orneglected the whole Continent will partake of the misfor-tune; and there is no punishment which that man doth notdeserve, be he who, or what, or where he will, that may bethe means of sacrificing a season so precious and useful.

'Tis repugnant to reason, to the universal order of things,to all examples from former ages, to suppose that this Con-tinent can long remain subject to any external power. Themost sanguine in Britain doth not think so. The utmoststretch of human wisdom cannot, at this time, compass aplan, short of separation, which can promise the continenteven a year's security. Reconciliation is now a fallaciousdream. Nature hath deserted the connection, and artcannot supply her place. For, as Milton wisely expresses,"never can true reconcilement grow where wounds of deadlyhate have pierced so deep."

Every quiet method for peace hath been ineffectual. Ourprayers have been rejected with disdain ; and hath tended to


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92 THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE. [_776

convinceusthatnothingflattersanityorconfirmsobstinacyinKings more than repeatedpetitioning--andothinghathcontributedmore than that very measure to make theKings of Europe absolute. Witness Denmark and Sweden.Wherefore, since nothing but blows will do, for God's sakelet us come to a final separation, and not leave the next gen-eration to be cutting throats under the violated unmeaningnames of parent and child.

To say they will never attempt it again is idle and vision-ary; we thought so at the repeal of the stamp act, yet ayear or two undeceived us; as well may we suppose thatnations which have been once defeated will never renew thequarrel.

As to government matters, 'tis not in the power ofBritain to do this continent justice: the business of it willsoon be too weighty and intricate to be managed with anytolerable degree of convenience, by a power so distant fromus, and so very ignorant of us ; for if they cannot conquerus, they cannot govern us. To be always running three orfour thousand miles with a tale or a petition, waiting four orfive months for an answer, which, when obtained, requiresfive orsix more to explain it in, will in a few years be lookedupon as folly and childishness. There was a time when itwas proper, and there is a proper time for it to cease.Small islands not capable of protecting themselves arethe proper objects for government' to take under their care ;but there is something absurd, in supposing a Continent tobe perpetually governed by an island. In no instance hathnature made the satellite larger than its primary planet;and as England and America, with respect to each other,reverse the common order of nature, it is evident that theybelong to different systems. England to Europe: Americato itself.

I am not induced by motives of pride, party, or resent-ment to espouse the doctrine of separation and independ-ence ; I am clearly, positively, and conscientiously persuadedthat it is the true interest of this Continent to be so ; that

1In some latereditions"kingdoms."_Editor.


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I776] COMMON SENSE. 93every thing short of that is mere patchwork, that it can affordno lasting felicity,--that it is leaving the sword to our children,and shrinking back at a time when a little more, a littlefurther, would have rendered this Continent the glory ofthe earth.

As Britain hath not manifested the least inclinationtowards a compromise, we may be assured that no terms canbe obtained worthy the acceptance of the Continent, or anyways equal to the expence of blood and treasure we havebeen already put to.

The object contended for, ought always to bear some justproportion to the expense. The removal of North, or thewhole detestable junto, is a matter unworthy the millionswe have expended. A temporary stoppage of trade was aninconvenience, which would have sufficiently ballanced therepeal of all the acts complained of, had such repeals beenobtained ; but if the whole Continent must take up arms, ifevery man must be a soldier, 'tis scarcely worth our while tofight against a contemptible ministry only. Dearly, dearlydo we pay for the repeal of the acts, if that is all we fightfor; for, in a just estimation 'tis as great a folly to pay aBunker-hill price for law as for land. As I have always con-sidered the independancy of this continent, as an eventwhich sooner or later must arrive, so from the late rapidprogress of the Continent to maturity, the event cannot befar off'. Wherefore, on the breaking out of hostilities, it wasnot worth the while to have disputed a matter which timewould have finally redressed, unless we meant to be inearnest: otherwise it is like wasting an estate on a suit atlaw, to regulate the trespasses of a tenant whose lease is justexpiring. No man was a warmer wisher for a reconciliationthan myself, before the fatal nineteenth of April, I775, butthe moment the event of that day was made known, I re-jected the hardened, sullen-tempered Pharaoh of Englandfor ever; and disdain the wretch, that with the pretendedtitle of FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE can unfeelingly hear oftheir slaughter, and composedly sleep with their blood uponhis soul.


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94 THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS .PAINE, [x776But admitting that matters were now made up, what would

be the event? I answer, the ruin of the Continent. Andthat for several reasons.First. The powers of governing still remaining in thehands of the King, he will have a negative over the whole

legislation of this Continent. And as he hath shown him-self such an inveterate enemy to liberty, and discovered sucha thirst for arbitrary power, is he, or is he not, a proper personto say to these colonies, You skall make no laws but what Iplease.t ? And is there any inhabitant of America so igno-rant as not to know, that according to what is called thepresent constitution, this Continent can make no laws butwhat the king gives leave to ; and is there any man so un-wise as not to see, that (considering what has happened)he will suffer no law to be made here but such as suits hispurpose ? We may be as effectually enslaved by the wantof laws in America, as by submitting to laws made forus in England. After matters are made up (as it is called)can there be any doubt, but the whole power of thecrown will be exerted to keep this continent as low andhumble as possible? Instead of going forward we shallgo backward, or be perpetually quarrelling, or ridiculouslypetitioning. We are already greater than the King wishesus to be, and will he not hereafter endeavor to make usless? To bring the matter to one point, Is the powerwhois jealous of our prosperity, a proper power to govern us?Whoever says No, to this question, is an Independant forindependency means no more than this, whether we shallmake our own laws, or, whether the King, the greatestenemy this continent hath, or can have, shall tell us tkereskall be no laws but suck as I like.

But the King, you will say, has a negative in England;the people there can make no laws without his consent.In point of right and good order, it is something veryridiculous that a youth of twenty-one (which hath oftenhappened) shall say to several millions of people older andwiser than himself, "I forbid this or that act of yours tobe law." But in this place I decline this sort of reply,


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I776 ] COMMON SENSE. 95though I will never cease to expose the absurdity of it,and only answer that England being the King's residence,and America not so, makes quite another case. TheKing's negative here is ten times more dangerous andfatal than it can be in England; for there he will scarcelyrefuse his consent to a bill for putting England into asstrong a state of defense as possible, and in America hewould never suffer such a bill to be passed.

America is only a secondary object in the system ofBritish politics. England consults the good of this countryno further than it answers her own purpose. Wherefore,her own interest leads her to suppress the growth of oursin every case which doth not promote her advantage, or inthe least interferes with it. A pretty state we should soonbe in under such a second hand government, consideringwhat has happened! Men do not change from enemiesto friends by the alteration of a name: And in order toshow that reconciliation now is a dangerous doctrine, Iaffirm, that it would be policy in the King at this time torepeal the acts, for the sake of reinstating himself in thegovernment of the provinces ; In order that HE MAY ACCOM-PLISH BY CRAFT AND SUBTLETY, IN THE LONG RUN,WHAT HE CANNOT DO BY FORCE AND VIOLENCE IN THESHORT ONE. Reconciliation and ruin are nearly related.Secondly. That as even the best terms which we can

expect to obtain can amount to no more than a tempo-rary expedient, or a kind of government by guardianship,which can last no longer than till the Colonies come of age,so the general face and state of things in the interim will beunsettled and unpromising. Emigrants of property will notchoose to come to a country whose form of governmenthangs but by a thread, and who is every day tottering on thebrink of commotion and disturbance ; and numbers of thepresent inhabitants would lay hold of the interval to disposeof their effects, and quit the Continent.But the most powerful of all arguments is, that nothing

but independance, i. e. a Continental form of government,can keep the peace of the Continent and preserve it inviolate


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96 THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE, [1776from civil wars. I dread the event of a reconciliation withBritain now, as it is more than probable that it will be fo,_-lowed by a revolt some where or other, the consequences ofwhich may be far more fatal than all the malice of Britain.

Thousands are already ruined by British barbarity ; (thou-sands more will probably suffer the same fate.) Those menhave other feelings than us who have nothing suffered. Allthey now possess is liberty ; what they before enjoyed is sacri-ficed to its service, and having nothing more to lose they dis-dain submission. Besides, the general temper of the Colonies,towards a British government will be like that of a youth whois nearly out of his time ; they will care very little about her :And a government which cannot preserve the peace is no gov-ernment at all, and in that case we pay our money for nothing ;and pray what is it that Britain can do, whose power will bewholly on paper, should a civil tumult break out the very dayafter reconciliation ? I have heard some men say, many ofwhom I believe spoke without thinking, that they dreaded anindependance, fearing that it would produce civil wars : It isbut seldom that our first thoughts are truly correct, and that isthe case here ; for there is ten times more to dread from apatched up connection than from independance. I make thesufferer's case my own, and I protest, that were I driven fromhouse and home, my property destroyed, and my circum-stances ruined, that as a man, sensible of injuries, I couldnever relish the doctrine of reconciliation, or consider myselfbound thereby.

The Colonies have manifested such a spirit of good orderand obedience to Continental government, as is sufficient tomake every reasonable person easy and happy on that head.No man can assign the least pretence for his fears, on anyother grounds, than such as are truly childish and ridiculous,viz., that one colony will be striving for superiority overanother.

Where there are no distinctions there can be no superiority ;perfect equality affords no temptation. The Republics ofEurope are all (and we may say always) in peace. Hollandand Switzerland are without wars, foreign or domestic:


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_776] common ssNsE. 97Monarchical governments, it is true, are never long at rest:the crown itself is a temptation to enterprising ruffians athome ; and that degree of pride and insolence ever attendanton regal authority, swells into a rupture with foreign powersin instances where a republican government, by being formedon more natural principles, would negociate the mistake.

If there is any true cause of fear respecting independance,it is because no plan is yet laid down. Men do not see theirway out. Wherefore, as an opening into that business I offerthe following hints ; at the same time modestly affirming, thatI have no other opinion of them myself, than that they maybe the means of giving rise to something better. Could thestraggling thoughts of individuals be collected, they wouldfrequently form materials for wise and able men to improveinto useful matter.

Let the assemblies be annual, with a president only. Therepresentation more equal, their business wholly domestic,and subject to the authority of a Continental Congress.

Let each Colony be divided into six, eight, or ten, con-venient districts, each district to send a proper number ofDelegates to Congress, so that each Colony send at leastthirty. The whole number in Congress will be at least 39 .Each congress to sit and to choose a President by thefollowing method. When the Delegates are met, let a Colonybe taken from the whole thirteen Colonies by lot, after whichlet the Congress choose (by ballot) a president from out of theDelegates of that Province. In the next Congress, let aColony be taken by lot from twelve only, omitting thatColony from which the president was taken in the formerCongress, and so proceeding on till the whole thirteen shallhave had their proper rotation. And in order that nothing maypass into a law but what is satisfactorily just, not less thanthree fifths of the Congress to be called a majority. He thatwill promote discord, under a government so equally formedas this, would have joined Lucifer in his revolt.

But as there is a peculiar delicacy from whom, or in whatmanner, this business must first arise, and as it seems mostagreeable and consistent that it should come from some inter-


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98 THE WRITINGa OF THOMAa PnINE. [x776

mediate body between the governed and the governors, thatis, between the Congress and the People, let a ContinentalConference be held in the following manner, and for thefollowing purpose,

A Committee of twenty six members of congress, viz.Two for each Colony. Two Members from each House ofAssembly, or Provincial Convention; and five Representa-tives of the people at large, to be chosen in the capital cityor town of each Province, for, and in behalf of the wholeProvince, by as many qualified voters as shall think proper toattend from all parts of the Province for that purpose ; or, ifmore convenient, the Representatives may be chosen in twoor three of the most populous parts thereof. In this con.ference, thus assembled, will be united the two grand prin-ciples of business, knowledge and power. The Members ofCongress, Assemblies, or Conventions, by having had ex-perience in national concerns, will be able and useful coun-sellors, and the whole, being impowered by the people, willhave a truly legal authority.

The conferring members being met, let their business beto frame a Continental Charter, or Charter of the UnitedColonies; (answering to what is called the Magna Charta ofEngland) fixing the number and manner of choosing Membersof Congress, Members of Assembly, with their date of sitting ;and drawing the line of business and jurisdiction betweenthem: Always remembering, that our strength is Conti-nental, not Provincial. Securing freedom and property toall men, and above all things, the free exercise of religion,according to the dictates of conscience ; with such other mat-ter as it is necessary for a charter to contain. Immediatelyafter which, the said conference to dissolve, and the bodieswhich shall be chosen conformable to the said charter, to bethe Legislators and Governors of this Continent for the timebeing: Whose peace and happiness, may GOD preserve.AMEN.Should any body of men be hereafter delegated for this

or some similar purpose, I offer them the following extractsfrom that wise observer on Governments, Dragonetti. "The


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_776] COMMO:: SE2VSE. 99

science," says he, " of the Politician consists in fixing thetrue point of happiness and freedom. Those men woulddeserve the gratitude of ages, who should discover a modeof government that contained the greatest sum of individualhappiness, with the least national expense." (Dragonettion "Virtues and Reward.")

But where, say some, is the King of America? I'll tellyou, friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc ofmankind like the Royal Brute of Great Britain. Yet thatwe may not appear to be defective even in earthly honours,let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the Charter ;let it be brought forth placed on the Divine Law, the Wordof God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the worldmay know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that inAmerica the law is king. For as in absolute governmentsthe King is law, so in free countries the law ought to beking; and there ought to be no other. But lest any ill useshould afterwards arise, let the Crown at the conclusion ofthe ceremony be demolished, and scattered among thepeople whose right it is.A government of our own is our natural right : and when

a man seriously reflects on the precariousness of humanaffairs, he will become convinced, that it is infinitely wiserand safer, to form a constitution of our own in a cool delib-erate manner, while we have it in our power, than to trustsuch an interesting event to time and chance. If we omitit now, some Massanello* may hereafter arise, who, layinghold of popular disquietudes, may collect together thedesperate and the discontented, and by assuming to them-selves the powers of government, finally sweep away theliberties of the Continent like a deluge. Should the govern-ment of America return again into the hands of Britain, thetottering situation of things will be a temptation for somedesperate adventurer to try his fortune ; and in such a case,

* Thomas Anello, otherwise Massanello, a fisherman of :Naples, who afterspiriting up his countrymen in the public market place, against the oppressionof the Spaniards, to whom the place was then subject, prompted them to revolt,andin the space of a day became King._Autlwr.voL. z.-_


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100 THE WRITINGS OF THOkld5 PAINE. [x776

what relief can Britain give ? Ere she could hear the news,the fatal business might be done; and ourselves sufferinglike the wretched Britons under the oppression of the Con-queror. Ye that oppose independance now, ye know notwhat ye do: ye are opening a door to eternal tyranny, bykeeping vacant the seat of government. There are thou-sands and tens of thousands, who would think it glorious toexpel from the Continent, that barbarous and hellish power,which hath stirred up the Indians and the Negroes to destroyus; the cruelty hath a double guilt, it is dealing brutally byus, and treacherously by them.To talk of friendship with those in whom our reason for-bids us to have faith, and our affections wounded thro' athousand pores instruct us to detest, is madness and folly.Every day wears out the little remains of kindred betweenus and them ; and can there be any reason to hope, that asthe relationship expires, the affection will encrease, or thatwe shall agree better when we have ten times more andgreater concerns to quarrel over than ever ?Ye that tell us of harmony and reconciliation, can yerestore to us the time that is past ? Can ye give to prosti-tution its former innocence ? neither can ye reconcile Britainand America. The last cord now is broken, the people ofEngland are presenting addresses against us. There are in.juries which nature cannot forgive; she would cease to benature if she did. As well can the lover forgive the ravisherof his mistress, as the Continent forgive the murders ofBritain. The Almighty hath implanted in us these unex-tinguishable feelings for good and wise purposes. They arethe Guardians of his Image in our hearts. They distinguishus from the herd of common animals. The social compactwould dissolve, and justice be extirpated from the earth, orhave only a casual existence were we callous to the touchesof affection. The robber and the murderer would oftenescape unpunished, did not the injuries which our temperssustain, provoke us into justice.0 1 ye that love mankind I Ye that dare oppose not onlythe tyranny but the tyrant, stand forth ! Every spot of the


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x776 ] COMMON S_IgSE. IOIold world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath beenhunted round the Globe. Asia and Africa have long ex-pelled her. Europe regards her like a stranger, and Englandhath given her warning to depart. 0 ! receive the fugitive,and prepare in time an asylum for mankind.

OF THE PRESENT ABILITY OF AMERICA: WITH SOMEMISCELLANEOUS REFLECTIONS.

I HAVE never met with a man, either in England orAmerica, who hath not confessed his opinion, that a separa-tion between the countries would take place one time orother: And there is no instance in which we have shownless judgment, than in endeavoring to describe, what we call,the ripeness or fitness of the Continent for independance.

As all men allow the measure, and vary only in theiropinion of the time, let us, in order to remove mistakes,take a general survey of things, and endeavor if possible tofind out the very time. But I need not go far, the inquiryceases at once, for the time ]_atk found us. The generalconcurrence, the glorious union of all things, proves thefact.

'Tis not in numbers but in unity that our great strength lies :yet our present numbers are sufficient to repel the force ofall the world. The Continent hath at this time the largestbody of armed and disciplined men of any power underHeaven: and is just arrived at that pitch of strength, inwhich no single colony is able to support itself, and thewhole, when united, is able to do any thing. Our land forceis more than sufficient, and as to Naval affairs, we cannot beinsensible that Britain would never suffer an American manof war to be built, while the Continent remained in herhands. Wherefore, we should be no forwarder an hundredyears hence in that branch than we are now ; but the truthis, we should be less so, because the timber of the Countryis every day diminishing, and that which will remain at last,will be far off or difficult to procure.


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I02 THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE. [X776Were the Continent crowded with inhabitants, her suffer-

ings under the present circumstances would be intolerable.The more seaport-towns we had, the more should we haveboth to defend and to lose. Our present numbers are sohappily proportioned to our wants, that no man need beidle. The diminution of trade affords an army, and thenecessities of an army create a new trade.

Debts we have none : and whatever we may contract onthis account will serve as a glorious memento of our virtue.Can we but leave posterity with a settled form of govern-ment, an independant constitution of its own, the purchaseat any price will be cheap. But to expend millions for thesake of getting a few vile acts repealed, and routing thepresent ministry only, is unworthy the charge, and is usingposterity with the utmost cruelty; because it is leavingthem the great work to do, and a debt upon their backsfrom which they derive no advantage. Such a thought'sunworthy a man of honour, and is the true characteristic ofa narrow heart and a pidling politician.

The debt we may contract doth not deserve our regard ifthe work be but accomplished. No nation ought to bewithout a debt. A national debt is a national bond; andwhen it bears no interest, is in no case a grievance. Britainis oppressed with a debt of upwards of one hundred andforty millions sterling, for which she pays upwards of fourmillions interest. And as a compensation for her debt, shehas a large navy ; America is without a debt, and without anavy; yet for the twentieth part of the English nationaldebt, could have a navy as large again. The navy of Eng-land is not worth at this time more than three millions anda half sterling.

The first and second editions of this pamphlet were pub-lished without the following calculations, which are nowgiven as a proof that the above estimation of the navy is ajust one. See Entic's "Naval History," Intro., p. 56.

The charge of building a ship of each rate, and furnishingher with masts, yards, sails, and rigging, together with a


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1776] COMMON SENSE. IO3proportionof eightmonths boatswain'sand carpenter'sea-stores,scalculatedy Mr. Burchett,Secretaryto the navy.

For a ship of too guns, 35,553 l.9 29,88680 23,63870 x7,7856o I4,1975 . Io,6o640 7,55830 5,$4620 3,7Io

And hence it is easy to sum up the value, or cost, rather,of the whole British navy, which, in the year 1757, when itwas at its greatest glory, consisted of the following shipsand guns.

Sl_hs. Guns. Costof one. Costof all.6 ioo 55,553L 2t3,318 L

x2 90 29,886 358,632x2 80 23,638 283,65643 7o I7,785 764,75535 60 x4, T97 496,8954 5o _o,605 424,24045 40 7,558 34o,11o58 20 3,7Io "_I5,18085 Sloops, bombs, and )

fireships, one with _- _,ooo 17o,oooanother, at )Cost, 3,266,786L

Remains for guns, :_33,2t 4Total, 3,500,000/.

No country on the globe is so happily situated, or sointernally capable of raising a fleet as America. Tar, timber,iron, and cordage are her natural produce. We need goabroad for nothing. Whereas the Dutch, who make largeprofits by hiring out their ships of war to the Spaniards andPortugese, are obliged to import most of the materials theyuse. We ought to view the building a fleet as an article ofcommerce, it being the natural manufactory of this country.


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IO_ THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE. [i776

'Tis the best money we can lay out. A navy when finishedis worth more than it cost: And is that nice point in na-tional policy, in which commerce and protection are united.Let us build ; if we want them not, we can sell ; and by thatmeans replace our paper currency with ready gold and silver.

In point of manning a fleet, people in general run intogreat errors; it is not necessary that one fourth part shouldbe sailors. The Terrible privateer, captain Death, stood thehottest engagement of

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