The necessity, likewise, of being independent, even before it was declared, became so evident and important, that the continent ran the risk of being ruined every day that she delayed it.
In "The American Crisis," Paine stresses the immediate and dire need for American independence, warning of ruin if delayed.
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The more it is struck the more sparks it will emit; and the fear is it will not be struck enough.
The aristocracy has screened itself too much, and this serves to restore a part of the lost equilibrium.
The meaning, then, good people, of all this, is: That government is governed by no principle whatever; that it can make evil good, or good evil, just as it pleases.
It was Government dethroning Government; and the old one, by attempting to make a new one, made a chasm.