But in England there are no such occasional bodies; and as to those who are now called Representatives, a great part of them are mere machines of the court, placemen, and dependants.
From "Rights of Man," Paine critiques the English system of representation, asserting that many representatives serve the court rather than the people.
Share
More from Thomas Paine
It has nothing to dread from attacks; truth has given it an establishment, and time will record it with a name as lasting as his own.
The man who is in the receipt of a million a year is the last person to promote a spirit of reform, lest, in the event, it should reach to himself.
The aristocracy has screened itself too much, and this serves to restore a part of the lost equilibrium.