which you first set out with.
Take back your mistress. Indulge the people.
Attend New Market. To be weak and inactive is
safer than to be daring and criminal; and wide is
the distance between a riot of the populace and a
convulsion of the whole kingdom."--Let. 11.

"The farce of monarchy and aristocracy in all
countries is following that of chivalry, and Mr.
Burke is dressing for the funeral. _The time is
not very distant_ when England will laugh at
itself for sending to Holland, Hanover, Zell, or
Brunswick, for men, at the expense of a million a
year, who understand neither her laws, her
language, nor her interest, and whose capacities
would scarcely have fitted them for the office of
parish constable."--Rights of Man.

"_The period is not very distant_ at which you
will have the means of redress in your own power;
it may be nearer, perhaps, than any of us expect,
and I would warn you to be prepared for
it."--Dedication.

But examples of this kind are not wanting in any chapter or Letter. The
threat, the command, the warning, is a peculiarity so prominent that no
one would fail to observe it. And this peculiarity often passes into the
style of prophecy. As above, Junius says: "The period is not very
distant," and Mr. Paine repeats the expression in the same style: "The
time is not very distant." This reveals, not a literary theft, but a
mind whose mode of thinking and expression was ever the same.

* * * * *

The reader will furthermore notice the peculiarity in the use of "sir,"
and the expressions, "You, Sir William," "You, sir," so common to both.
This arises from the proud and commanding character of Mr. Paine. He
always talks as one having authority, when addressing those he wishes to
satirize, but with an avowed modesty when addressing those he wishes to
influence. This last is seen in Junius, with regard to Lords Rockingham
and Chatham, when speaking of parliamentary reform, and in Common Sense,
when speaking of a constitution and methods of taxation. Junius says,
after giving his own views: "Other measures may, undoubtedly, be
supported in argument, as better adapted to the disorder, or more likely
to be obtained." And Common Sense says: "In a former page I threw out a
few thoughts on t