That the Bastille was attacked with an enthusiasm of heroism, such only as the highest animation of liberty could inspire, and carried in the space of a few hours, is an event which the world is fully possessed of.
From his defense of the French Revolution, this passage describes the heroic spirit that led to the storming of the Bastille.
Share
More from Thomas Paine
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.
The American constitutions were to liberty what a grammar is to language: they define its parts of speech, and practically construct them into syntax.
To possess ourselves of a clear idea of what government is, or ought to be, we must trace it to its origin.
The argument changes from hereditary rights to hereditary wisdom; and the question is, Who is the wisest man?