The Writings Of Thomas Paine, Volume III.
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~160,000 words · 765 passages
Cite this work
- APAThomas Paine. (n.d.). The Writings Of Thomas Paine, Volume III.. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/thomas-paine/the-writings-of-thomas-paine-volume-iii
- MLAThomas Paine. "The Writings Of Thomas Paine, Volume III.." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/thomas-paine/the-writings-of-thomas-paine-volume-iii.
- ChicagoThomas Paine. The Writings Of Thomas Paine, Volume III.. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/thomas-paine/the-writings-of-thomas-paine-volume-iii.
What it is about
The third volume of Paine's works in Conway's edition: the writings of the years of the French Revolution, above all 'Rights of Man'.
Context and history
'Rights of Man' is the answer to Burke's 'Reflections', and both works are in the corpus: reading them one after the other is the best way to see the fundamental political argument of the late eighteenth century. Paine does not argue as Burke does: where the other speaks of tradition and continuity, he holds that no generation can bind those that follow, that rights come not from history but from the human condition, and that a government not founded on consent is not legitimate however old it may be. The second part contains concrete proposals far ahead of their time: old-age pensions, child allowances, public education, funded by progressive taxation. It cost him a charge of sedition and exile.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
"The serene tranquillity, the mutual confidence which prevailed amongst us, during the time of the late King's escape, the indifference with which we beheld him return, are unequivocal proofs that the absence of a King is more desirable than his presence, and that he is not only a political superfluity, but a grievous burden, pressing hard on the whole nation. "Let us not be imposed on by sophisms; all that concerns this is reduced to four points. "He has abdicated the throne in having fled from his post. Abdication and desertion are not characterized by the length of absence; but by the single act of flight. In the present instance, the act is everything, and the time nothing. "The nation can never give back its confidence to a man who, false to his trust, perjured to his oath, conspires a clandestine flight, obtains a fraudulent passport, conceals a King of France under the disguise of a valet, directs his course towards a frontier covered with traitors and deserters, and evidently meditates a return into our country, with a force capable of imposing his own despotic laws. "Should his flight be considered as his own act, or the act of those who fled with him? Was it a spontaneous resolution of his own, or was it inspired by others? The alternative is immaterial; whether fool or hypocrite, idiot or traitor, he has proved himself equally unworthy of the important functions that had been delegated to him. 1 See Introduction to this volume. This manifesto with which Paris was found placarded on July 1, 1791, is described by Dumont as a "Republican Proclamation," but what its literal caption was I have not found.--_Editor_. "In every sense in which the question can be considered, the reciprocal obligation which subsisted between us is dissolved. He holds no longer any authority. We owe him no longer obedience. We see in him no more than an indifferent p