Taking a man's money without his consent, is also as much robbery, when it is done by millions of men, acting in concert, and calling themselves a government, as when it is done by a single individual, acting on his own responsibility, and calling himself a highwayman.
He argues that taking money without consent is robbery, whether done by individuals or a government.
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It was a principle of the Common Law, as it is of the law of nature, and of common sense, that no man can be taxed without his personal consent.
And nobody is bound to take the least notice of them, unless it be to trample them under foot, as usurpations.
The people considered their jurisprudence as a part of their inheritance.
They were even allowed to grant pardon to criminals, and to correct by their clemency the rigors of justice.