The sun needs no inscription to distinguish him from darkness; and no sooner did the American governments display themselves to the world, than despotism felt a shock and man began to contemplate redress.
Thomas Paine: “The sun needs no inscription to distinguish him from darkness; and no sooner did the American governments display…”
Editor's note · Context
From his work "Rights of Man," Paine uses an analogy of the sun to illustrate how the emergence of American governments inherently challenged despotism and inspired thoughts of reform.
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Burke's Book is easily accounted for.--When a man in a wrong cause attempts to steer his course by anything else than some polar truth or principle, he is sure to be lost.
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