That is, that she could not bear, in the first instance, that which would have saved her twice as much at last; or, in proverbial language, that she could not bear to pay a penny to save a pound; the consequence of which has been, that she has paid a pound for a penny.
Paine critiques the short-sighted financial policies of the American states during the Revolution, arguing that parsimony in defense leads to greater long-term costs.
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Long experience however has shown, that reforms of this kind are not those which old governments wish to promote, and therefore it is to nations, and not to such governments, that these matters present themselves.
The insulted German and the enslaved Spaniard, the Russ and the Pole, are beginning to think.
Reason and discussion will soon bring things right, however wrong they may begin.
The horrid scene that is now acting by the English government in the East-Indies, is fit only to be told of Goths and Vandals, who, destitute of principle, robbed and tortured the world they were incapable of enjoying.