Thomas Paine: “That there are men in all countries to whom a state of war is a mine of wealth, is a fact never to be doubted.”

He writes neither in the character of a Frenchman nor an Englishman, but in the fawning character of that creature known in all countries, and a friend to none--a courtier.

Whether robbery shall be banished from courts, and wretchedness from countries?

Man cannot, properly speaking, make circumstances for his purpose, but he always has it in his power to improve them when they occur, and this was the case in France.

It was become evident, that no constitution, worthy of being called by that name, could be established on anything less than a national ground.