None but a Herod of uncommon malice would have made war upon infancy and innocence: and none but a people of the most finished fortitude, dared under those circumstances, have resisted the tyranny.
Paine uses a biblical allusion to describe the extreme malice of the British attack on America and the exceptional courage of the American people in resisting it.
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It was Government dethroning Government; and the old one, by attempting to make a new one, made a chasm.
To account for this sudden transition, it is proper to observe that there are two distinct species of popularity; the one excited by merit, and the other by resentment.