On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
What at first was plunder, assumed the softer name of revenue; and the power originally usurped, they affected to inherit.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgWhat at first was plunder, assumed the softer name of revenue; and the power originally usurped, they affected to inherit.
In "Rights of Man," Paine critiques how illegitimate gains and usurped power were later disguised with more respectable terms like "revenue" and "inheritance."
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The aristocracy has screened itself too much, and this serves to restore a part of the lost equilibrium.
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 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.
They had a cause at stake, on which depended their freedom or their slavery.