quiet and inoffensive subject of any, and every government which is
set over him. And if the setting up and putting down of kings and
governments is God's peculiar prerogative, he most certainly will
not be robbed thereof by us; wherefore, the principle itself leads
you to approve of every thing, which ever happened, or may happen to
kings as being his work. Oliver Cromwell thanks you. Charles, then,
died not by the hands of man; and should the present Proud Imitator
of him, come to the same untimely end, the writers and publishers of
the Testimony, are bound, by the doctrine it contains, to applaud
the fact. Kings are not taken away by miracles, neither are changes
in governments brought about by any other means than such as are
common and human; and such as we are now using. Even the dispersion
of the Jews, though foretold by our Saviour, was effected by arms.
Wherefore, as ye refuse to be the means on one side, ye ought not to
be meddlers on the other; but to wait the issue in silence; and
unless ye can produce divine authority, to prove, that the Almighty
who hath created and placed this new world, at the greatest distance
it could possibly stand, east and west, from every part of the old,
doth, nevertheless, disapprove of its being independant of the
corrupt and abandoned court of Britain, unless I say, ye can shew
this, how can ye on the ground of your principles, justify the
exciting and stirring up the people "firmly to unite in the
abhorrence of all such writings, and measures, as evidence a desire
and design to break off the happy connexion we have hitherto enjoyed,
with the kingdom of Great-Britain, and our just and necessary
subordination to the king, and those who are lawfully placed in
authority under him." What a slap of the face is here! the men, who
in the very paragraph before, have quietly and passively resigned up
the ordering, altering, and disposal of kings and governments, into
the hands of God, are now, recalling their principles, and putting
in for a share of the business. Is it possible, that the conclusion,
which is here justly quoted, can any ways follow from the doctrine
laid down? The inconsistency is too glaring not to be seen; the
absurdity too great not to be laughed at; and such as could only
have been made by those, whose understandings were darkened by the
narrow and crabby spirit of a despairing political party; for ye are
not to be considered as the whole body of the Quakers but only as a
factional and fractional part thereof.
Here ends the examination of your testimony; (which I call upon no
man to abhor, as ye have done, but only to read and judge of fairly;)
to which I subjoin the following remark; "That the setting up and
putting down of kings," most certainly mean, the making him a king,
who is yet not so, and the making him no king who is already one.
And pray what hath this to do in the present case? We neither mean
to set up nor to put down, neither to make nor to unmake, but to
have nothing to do with them. Wherefore, your testimony in whatever
light it is viewed serves only to dishonor your judgement, and for
many other reasons had better have been let alone than published.
First, Because it tends to the decrease and reproach of all religion
whatever, and is of the utmost danger to society, to make it a party
in political disputes.
Secondly, Because it exhibits a body of men, numbers of whom disavow
the publishing political testimonies, as being concerned therein and
approvers thereof.
Thirdly, Because it hath a tendency to undo that continental harmony
and friendship which yourselves by your late liberal and charitable
donations hath lent a hand to establish; and the preservation of
which is of the utmost consequence to us all.
And here without anger or resentment I bid you farewell. Sincerely
wishing, that as men and christians, ye may always fully and
uninterruptedly enjoy every civil and religious right; and be, in
your turn, the means of securing it to others; but that the example
which ye have unwisely set, of mingling religion with politics, may
be disavowed and reprobated by every inhabitant of America.
F I N I S.
On Common Sense
"No writer has exceeded Paine in ease and familiarity of style, in
perspicuity of expression, happiness of elucidation, and in simple
and unassuming language."
Thomas Jefferson
"A pamphlet called 'Commonsense' makes a great noise. One of the
vilest things that ever was published to the world. Full of false
representations, lies, calumny, and treason, whose principles are to
subvert all Kingly Governments and erect an Independent Republic."
Nicholas Cresswell
"I dreaded the effect so popular a pamphlet might have among the
people, and determined to do all in my Power to counteract the
effect of it."
John Adams
"Its effects were sudden and extensive upon the American mind. It
was read by public men."
Dr. Benjamin Rush
"Have you read the pamphlet Common Sense? I never saw such a
masterful performance.... In short, I own myself convinced, by the
arguments, of the necessity of separation."
General Charles Lee
Transcriber's Notes
This production of the Bradford edition of Common Sense retains the
original characteristics of the document--the author's use of
capitalization (large and small), spelling, and italics.
The page numbers of this version of the book were my invention, for
ease in reading the HTML document. The page numbers can more
accurately be called paragraph numbers. They match the paragraph
numbers in the edited text of 'Common Sense' from the National
Humanities Center.
In one case, the text refers to page forty (see our Page 130). We
provided a link to the appropriate part of our document but retained
the page number specified by Paine. Our page numbers are not carried
over to the Kindle, E-PUB, and text documents produced by Project
Gutenberg.
The section "On Common Sense," containing quotes about Common Sense,
have been added by this transcriber.