With the Revolution of 1688, and more so since the Hanover succession, came the destructive system of continental intrigues, and the rage for foreign wars and foreign dominion; systems of such secure mystery that the expenses admit of no accounts; a single line stands for millions.
Paine critiques the post-1688 era, attributing to it a destructive system of foreign policy and fiscal opacity where vast sums are unaccounted for.
Share
More from Thomas Paine
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.
The animosity of the English nation, it is very well remembered, ran high; and, had the true principles of Liberty been as well understood then as they now promise to be, it is probable the Nation would not have patiently submitted to so…
In fine, society performs for itself almost everything which is ascribed to government.