On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
By nature they are children, and by marriage they are heirs; but by aristocracy they are bastards and orphans.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgBy nature they are children, and by marriage they are heirs; but by aristocracy they are bastards and orphans.
Paine starkly contrasts the natural status of children as heirs with the dehumanizing label of "bastards and orphans" imposed by aristocratic primogeniture.
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