Book Description
Excerpt from An Oration Delivered in Tammany Hall: In Commemoration of the Birthday Thomas Paine, although a native of Great Britain, was, in the strict sense of the word, a citizen of the world. Long before the American "Declaration of Independence" announced the important, and, to tyrants, the appalling truth, that "all men are born free and equal," he had cherished this sentiment in his bosom; and the first proof that he gave of its paramount influence in his mind, was, to fly to the aid of his brethren in this country, who were struggling to free themselves from a cruel and foreign despotism. He could not, it is true, be of much service in a military point of view, to those he came to assist. But what he lacked in this respect, he more than supplied with his powerful pen. When the army of the brave Washington was reduced to nearly the last extremity, and the opinion was almost universal that the cause of American liberty was hopeless, Paine, confident in the correctness of his principles, and determined to avow them at all hazards, stepped forward, and in his admirable treatise entitled "Common Sense," and in the "Crisis," urged the necessity of a virtual separation from the oppressors, and the formation of a government congenial with the true principles of liberty. This fearless attempt, in which he stood alone, had the desired effect. The project was almost unanimously hailed with rapture. The slumbering energies of the nation were roused - our forefathers rushed to arms - and, by conforming to those principles which the mighty mind of Paine was alone capable of conceiving, that political fabric was reared of which we now so justly boast, because it is calculated to secure to all the uninterrupted enjoyment of their natural rights. Having aided, in so essential a manner, in establishing the liberties of this country, and perceiving in the political horizon indications of better days for enslaved Europe, he hastened to his native country which he reached at the moment the breaking out of the French Revolution threatened the overthrow of all existing thrones in that quarter of the globe. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
