Like a wounded, disabled whale, they want only time and room to die in; and though in the agony of their exit, it may be unsafe to live within the flapping of their tail, yet every hour shortens their date, and lessens their power of mischief.
Paine uses a vivid metaphor in "The American Crisis" to describe the British military's weakening position, despite their lingering capacity for harm.
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The man who is in the receipt of a million a year is the last person to promote a spirit of reform, lest, in the event, it should reach to himself.
It was Government dethroning Government; and the old one, by attempting to make a new one, made a chasm.