One member says this is Constitution, and another says that is Constitution--To-day it is one thing; and to-morrow something else--while the maintaining of the debate proves there is none.
From his work "Rights of Man," Paine critiques the lack of a clear, written constitution in England, highlighting the endless debate over its definition.
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I know the value of moral instruction, and I have seen the danger of the contrary.
The Aristocracy had hitherto opposed the despotism of the Court, and affected the language of patriotism; but it opposed it as its rival (as the English Barons opposed King John) and it now opposed the nation from the same motives.
It was a sort of new form of government that insensibly served to put the old one out of sight and to unhinge it from the superstitious authority of antiquity.