Thomas Paine: “The patriots of France have discovered in good time that rank and dignity in society must take a new ground.”

He pities the plumage, but forgets the dying bird.

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 argument changes from hereditary rights to hereditary wisdom; and the question is, Who is the wisest man?

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.