|BACK||THE CRISIS INDEX||NEXT| The American Crisis:
Philadelphia, March 5, 1782ON THE KING OF ENGLAND'S SPEECH. OF
all the innocent passions which actuate the human mind there is
none more universally prevalent than curiosity. It reaches all
mankind, and in matters which concern us, or concern us not, it
alike provokes in us a desire to know them. Although the
situation of America, superior to every effort to enslave her,
and daily rising to importance and opulence, has placed her
above the region of anxiety, it has still left her within the
circle of curiosity; and her fancy to see the speech of a man
who had proudly threatened to bring her to his feet, was visibly
marked with that tranquil confidence which cared nothing about
its contents. It was inquired after with a smile, read with a
laugh, and dismissed with disdain. But, as justice is due, even
to an enemy, it is right to say, that the speech is as well
managed as the embarrassed condition of their affairs could well
admit of; and though hardly a line