It then descends upon the Minister, who shelters himself under a majority in Parliament, which, by places, pensions, and corruption, he can always command; and that majority justifies itself by the same authority with which it protects the Minister.
Paine explains how responsibility in a corrupt system shifts from the monarch to ministers, who are then protected by a bribed parliamentary majority.
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I do not believe that any two men, on what are called doctrinal points, think alike who think at all.
When men unite in agreeing that a thing is good, could it be obtained, such for instance as relief from a burden of taxes and the extinction of corruption, the object is more than half accomplished.
In those which proceed from the former cause, the temper becomes incensed and soured; and the redress, obtained by danger, is too often sullied by revenge.