George III, 1779

Oil on canvas; 255.3 × 182.9 cm (100.5 × 72 in). Royal Collection Trust, London, England.

George III is in military uniform — with Lord Jeffrey Amherst and the marquess of Lothian leading a detachment of the 15th Light Dragoons in the background.

Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense (1775), urging the colonies to declare their independence, found 150,000 purchasers in a population of less than 3 million — the equivalent today of a sale of 14 million.

— Richard Brookhiser

Gentleman Revolutionary: Gouverneur Morris, the Rake Who Wrote the Constitution (2003)