On the recordJanuary 1, 1776
The sordid and not the splendid passions gave it being.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgThe sordid and not the splendid passions gave it being.
Paine argues that the American Revolutionary War was initiated by Britain due to base and ignoble desires rather than noble ones.
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The Aristocracy had hitherto opposed the despotism of the Court, and affected the language of patriotism; but it opposed it as its rival (as the English Barons opposed King John) and it now opposed the nation from the same motives.
The argument changes from hereditary rights to hereditary wisdom; and the question is, Who is the wisest man?
He must now show that every one in the line of hereditary succession was a Solomon, or his title is not good to be a king.
It was Government dethroning Government; and the old one, by attempting to make a new one, made a chasm.