THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot
will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now,
deserves the love and thanks of man and. woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily
conquered; yet we have this consolation with. us, that the harder the conflict, the more
glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness
only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its
goods, and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be
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highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce ·her tyranny, has declared that· she has a
right, not only to tax,· but "to bind us in all cases whatsoever"; and if being bound in that
manner is not slavery, then there is not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the
expression is impious, fOr' ~o unlimited a power can belong only to God.