Thomas Paine: “We are not moved by the gloomy smile of a worthless king, but by the ardent glow of generous patriotism.”

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.

But from such opposition the French Revolution, instead of suffering, receives an homage.

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.

The object is not so much the produce of the tax as the justice of the measure.