Note (in a note) — Chapter XXV

[389] Allan's American Revolution, Vol. I., pp. 342, 343.

"The interval was employed in unceasing exertions by the friends of independence to prepare the minds of the people for the necessity and advantages of such a measure. The press teemed with essays and pamphlets, in which all the arts of eloquence were used to ridicule the prejudices which supported an attachment to the King and Government of England. Among the numerous writers on this momentous question, the most luminous, the most eloquent, and the most forcible was Thomas Paine. His pamphlet entitled 'Common Sense' was not only read, but understood, by everybody; and those who regard the independence of the United States as a blessing will never cease to cherish the remembrance of Thomas Paine. Whatever may have been his subsequent career—in whatever light his religious principles may be regarded—it should never be forgotten that to him, more than to any single individual, was owing the rapid diffusion of those sentiments and feelings which produced the act of separation from Great Britain."—Ib., pp. 343, 344.