98 pages. Introduction4I. 7Of the Origin and Design of Government in general, with concise Remarks on the English Constitution.II. 18Of Monarchy and Hereditary SuccessionIII. 34Thoughts on the present State of American AffairsIV. 63Of the present Ability of America, with some miscellaneous ReflectionsAppendix82 Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, ...
Read More
98 pages. Introduction4I. 7Of the Origin and Design of Government in general, with concise Remarks on the English Constitution.II. 18Of Monarchy and Hereditary SuccessionIII. 34Thoughts on the present State of American AffairsIV. 63Of the present Ability of America, with some miscellaneous ReflectionsAppendix82 Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise. For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform, and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same prudence which in every other case advises him out of two evils to choose the least. WHEREFORE, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever FORM thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expence and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others. In order to gain a clear and just idea of the design and end of government, let us suppose a small number of persons settled in some sequestered part of the earth, unconnected with the rest, they will then represent the first peopling of any country, or of the world. In this state of natural liberty, society will be their first thought. A thousand motives will excite them thereto, the strength of one man is so unequal to his wants, and his mind so unfitted for perpetual solitude, that he is soon obliged to seek assistance and relief of another, who in his turn requires the same. Four or five united would be able to raise a tolerable dwelling in the midst of a wilderness, but ONE man might labour out the common period of life without accomplishing any thing; when he had felled his timber he could not remove it, nor erect it after it was removed; hunger in the mean time would urge him from his work, and every different want call him a different way. Disease, nay even misfortune would be death, for though neither might be mortal, yet either would disable him from living, and reduce him to a state in which he might rather be said to perish than to die. This necessity, like a gravitating power, would soon form our newly arrived emigrants into society, the reciprocal blessing of which, would supersede, and render the obligations of law and government unnecessary while they remained perfectly just to each other; but as nothing but heaven is impregnable to vice, it will unavoidably happen, that in proportion as they surmount the first difficulties of emigration, which bound them together in a common cause, they will begin to relax in their duty and attachment to each other; and this remissness, will point out the necessity, of establishing some form of government to supply the defect of moral virtue.
Read Less
Add this copy of Common Sense to cart. $21.69, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Independently published.
A failure in business, Thomas Paine emigrated from England to America in 1774. In early 1776, he published a pamphlet entitled Common Sense. In this tract, Paine argues that the American colonies ought to part from England and establish their own nation. Paine discusses the origins of society and government, the evils of monarchy and hereditary succession, and the rule of law; his disdain for monarchy is an underlying theme of the work. Paine also emphasizes the urgency of independence; he maintains that the time for reconciliation between the colonies and England has passed and the time for independence is now. The leather bound version of Common Sense (the subject of this review) includes background information and a chronology of the life of Thomas Paine. This book is best read from the perspective of an American colonist in 1776; he or she would have remembered the Intolerable Acts and the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Just as The Federalist Papers are essential reading in understanding the Constitution, Common Sense is essential reading in understanding the move toward independence in 1776.