There is no despotism to which this iniquitous law did not extend; and though it might have been convenient in the execution of it, to have consulted manners and habits, the principle of the act made all tyranny legal.
Paine condemns the law as a source of widespread tyranny, emphasizing its legal implications.
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The man who is in the receipt of a million a year is the last person to promote a spirit of reform, lest, in the event, it should reach to himself.
The argument changes from hereditary rights to hereditary wisdom; and the question is, Who is the wisest man?