Ye that oppose independence now ye know not what ye do; ye are opening a door to eternal tyrant, by keeping vacant the seat of government. analyze rhetorical technique

The rethorical technique used in this excerpt from Thomas Paine's Common Sense is Allusion.Allusion in writing is used to refer to something, such as a person or an event, in an indirect way. Paine makes an allusion to the New Testament in the Christian Bible: When he writes "ye that oppose independence now ye know what ye do", he recalls the reader the time Jesus said (before dying on the cross): "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do". He meant that the people who condemned him didn't know that he was the Son of God. To sum up, Paine recalls this moment in Christian history so as to show the reader the seriousness of what it means for society to remain under the rule of George III.