The Writings of Thomas Paine, Volume II

t; or why are those terms distinctly and separately used? A constitution is not the act of a government,

gated or assumed. There are no other sources. All delegated power is trust, and all

acts that have arisen in our own day. We have no occasion to roam for information into the obscure field of antiquity, nor hazard ourselves upon conjecture. We are brought at once to the point of

erican constitutions; by which the difference between

ependently of the rest, in forming its governments; but the same general principle pervades the whole. When the several state governments were formed, they proceeded to form the federal government, that acts over the whole in all matters which concern the i

e with the English government; and as the city of Philadelphia, which also had its committee, was the most central for intelligence, it became the center of communication to the several country committees. Whe

tently with the American idea of rights, assume such a power, they could only confer upon the matter, and put it into a train of operation. The conferees, therefore, did no more than state the case,

urned to a stated time. When the time of adjournment was expired, the convention re-assembled; and as the general opinion of the people in approbation of it was then known, the constitution was signed, sealed, and proclaimed on the authority of the people and the original inst

the courts of judicature, and of juries-the manner in which elections should be conducted, and the proportion of representatives to the number of electors-the time which each s

ience, and in order also to prevent the accumulation of errors, if any should be found, and to preserve an unison of government with the circumstances of the state at all times, the constitution provided that, at th

l to the government. It was the political bible of the state. Scarcely a family was without it. Every member of the government had a copy; and nothing was more common, when any debate arose on the princi

, I will show the proceedings by which the federal c

congress went no further than to issue recommendations to the several provincial assemblies, who at discretion adopted them or not. Nothing on the part of congress was compulsive; yet, in this situation, it was more faithfully and affectionately obeyed than was any government in Europe. This instance, like that of the national assembly in France, s

founded, that the authority of congress should be defined and established. Whether that authority should be more or

act of congress, because it is repugnant to the principles of representative government that a body should give power to itself. Congress first informed the several states, of the powers which it concei

ent on the other. The compact was that of the people with each other, to produce and constitute a government. To suppose that any government can be a party in a compact with the whole people, is to suppose it to have exis

for his own emolument, but is altogether a trust, in right of those by whom that trust is delega

ion of a constitution, I will show the manner in which

nd, upon experience, to be too great; and those vested in the federal government, by the act of

he state of Virginia, experiencing some inconvenience with respect to commerce, proposed holding a continental conference; in consequence of which, a deputation from five or six state assemblies met at Annapolis, in Maryland, in 1786. This meeting

ident. He was not at that time connected with any of the state governments, or with congress.

bate and investigation, agreed among themselves upon the several parts of a federal

d for a Dutch Stadtholder, or a German Elector; but they refe

consideration, and of ratifying or rejecting it; and that as soon as the approbation and ratification of any nine states should be given, that those states shall proce

jority was not above nineteen or twenty, in about three hundred members; but such is the nature of representative government, that it quietly decides all matters by majority. After the debate in the Massachusetts convention was closed, and the vote taken, the objecting members rose and declared

is place I cannot help remarking, that the character and services of this gentleman are sufficient to put all those men called kings to shame. While they are receiving from the sweat and labours of mankind, a prodigality of pay, to whi

me parts of its own constitution required to be altered, elected a convention for that purpose. T

nd the advantages have been much. It is always the interest of a far greater number of people in a nation to have things right, than to let them

ate respecting the principles or modes of forming, or of changing, constitutions. It is not for the benefit of those who exercise the powers of government that constit

merica are declared to be established on the authority of the people. In France, the word nation is used instead of

icles, digested into form, which are its constitution. It then appointed its officers, whose powers and authorities are described in that constitution, and the government of that society then

placed this power in the discretion of the persons exercising the government, instead of placing it in a constitution formed by the nation. When it is in a constitution, it has the nation for its support, and the natural and the political controlling powers are together. The laws

an evidence that no such thing as a constitution exists in England. But it may be put as a question, not improper t

tution in both its cases:-First, as creating a government and giving i

an invasion and conquest of the country. This being admitted, it will then appear, that the exertion of the nation

ions. It did not create and give powers to government in a manner a constitution does; but was, as far as it went, of the nature of a re-conquest, and not

as could be acted within the limits to which the nation had restricted it. The Stuarts endeavoured to pass those limits, and

is it, but a bargain, which the parts of the government made with each other to divide powers, profits, and privileges? You shall have so much, and I will have the rest; and with respect to the nation, it said, for your share, You shall have the right of petitioning. This being the case, the bill of rights is

r succession by the agency of Walpole; that can be described by no other name than a despotic legislation. Though the parts may embarrass each other, the whole

e persons so elected possess afterwards, as a parliament, unlimited powers. Election, in this

s of parliament, as those words were on window shutters and doorposts; but whatever the constitution may be in other respects, it has undoubtedly been the most productive machine of taxation that was ever invented. The taxes in France, under the new constitution, are not quite thirteen

it is astonishing how such a mass of taxes can be employed. Not even the internal defence of the country is paid out of the revenue. On all occasions, whether real or contrived, recourse is continually had to new loans and new taxes. No wonder, then, that a machine of government so advantageous to the advocates of a cou

a thought or two to Mr. Burke. I ask

nada Constitution bill), "never dreamed of

h a deficiency of judgment, that, without troubling ourselves about principles of philos

n, and are founded on any rights at all, they consequently must be founde

ore, Mr. Burke, by proving against the Rights of Man, proves in behalf of the beast; and consequently, proves that government is a beast; and as difficult things sometimes explain each other, we now see the origin of keeping wild beasts in the Tower; for th

s less mine than his; and as I am willing to make an apology to the reader for t

he compliment of remembering

e the wild impulse of power, many of the laws are irrational and t

litical connection with Germany, to have been so completely engrossed and absorbed by foreign affairs, and the means of raising taxes, tha

ad, or whether it properly applies or not; and the practice is become so general as to

n from, the more they are to be suspected. But by associating those precedents with a superstitious reverence for ancient things, as monks show relics and call them holy, the generality of mankind are deceived into the design. Governments now act as if they were afraid to awaken a single reflection in man. They are softly leading him to the sepulchre of precedents, to deaden his facul

t up. In numerous instances, the precedent ought to operate as a warning, and not as an example, and requires to be shunne

n only hobble along by the stilts and crutches of precedents. How is it that the same persons who would proudly be thought wiser than their predecessors, appear at the same time only as the gh

le to do? If everything that can happen is already in precedent, legislation is at an end, and precedent, like a dictionary, determines every case.

t the other-the one forward and the other backward. If governments are to go on by precedent, while nations go on by improveme

gs distinct from actual governments, let us proceed to

nstitution, as a rule for the conduct of its government, is a simple question in which all men, not d

her, will diminish when put into a

a nation has a right to

s quite another case. It exercises it agreeably to the judgment it poss

is no fear that it will be employed to its own inj

them are exactly alike in their component parts, or in the distribution of the power

re the ends for which government is necessary? Secondly, what are t

vely. Every man wishes to pursue his occupation, and to enjoy the fruits of his labours and the produce of his property in peace and safety, an

t under three distinct general heads. The l

of power, of which civil government is composed, namely, that of legislating or enacting laws, and that of executing or adminis

at power to which every individual has appeal, and which causes the laws to be executed; neither have we any other clear idea with respect to the official ex

nswer the same purpose. Laws have neither more nor less authority on this account. It must be from the justness of their principles, and the interest which a nation feels therein, tha

adopted in different countries. In America it is generally composed of two houses. In

king the necessary trials on modes and principles of government, in order to discover the best, that g

legislature, coming to a final determination by vote on any matter, whilst that matter, with respe

of the possibility, and is often the case in practice, that the minority gover

epresentation, that either should be wiser or better than the other. They may check in the wrong as well as in the right therefore to give the p

me be remembered, that when there is a constitution which defines the power, and establishes the principles within which a legislatur

English parliament, at the commencement of George the First, to extend the duration of the assemblies to a longer pe

an impulse), and at the same time to avoid the inconsistencies, in some cases absurdities,

ve but one r

representation, by lot,

that they may become the hearers of each other, but without taking any vote. After wh

hich is, that one-third of the representation of each county, shall go out at the expiration of one year, and the number be replaced by n

neral principle that distinguishes freedom from slavery, which is, that all hereditary gover

ts; and, therefore, no extraordinary power, capable of producing such an effect, should be lodged in the hands of any individual. The death, sickness, absence or defection, of any one individual in a

l insignificance of the person by whom it is occasioned. Were a government so constructed, that it could not go on unless a goose or a gander were present in the senate, the difficulties would be just as great and as real, on the flight

. No suspension of government can there take place for a moment, from any circumstances whatever. The system of representatio

e assume; it is only a certain service he can perform in the state; and the service of any such individual in the routine of office, whether such office be called monarchical, presidential, senatorial, or by any other name or title, can never exceed the value of ten thousand pounds a year. All the great services that are done in the world are perfor

reto, are pining with want, and struggling with misery. Government does not consist in a contrast between prisons and palaces, between poverty and pomp; it is not instituted to rob

e to any man a million a year, and add thereto the power of creating and disposing of places, at the expense of a country, and the liberties of that country are no longer secure.

person to promote a spirit of reform, lest, in the event, it should reach to himself. It is always his interest to defend inferior abuses, as so many outworks to protect

tects. It is the master-fraud, which shelters all others. By admitting a participation of the spoi

all hereditary pretensions to government, it also rejects all t

he president of the United States of America is elected only for four years. He is not only responsible in the general sense of the word, but a partic

ften a foreigner; always half a foreigner, and always married to a foreigner. He is never in full natural or political connection with the country, is not responsible for anything, a

directly bequeath half the government to Prussia, but he can form a marriage partnership that will produce almost the same thing. Under such circumstances, it is happy for England that she is not situated on the

excluding foreigners, it ought to be from those offices where mischief can most be acted, and where, by uniting every bias of interest and attachment, the trust is best secured. But as nations proceed in the great business of forming constitutions, they will examine with more precision into the

representatives, is all that is necessary; but there is no consistency in calling this the executive; neither can it be considered in any other light

ts of a constitution, is the provision to be made for the support of the persons

t may choose to employ or entrust in any department whatever; neither can any reason be give

ery person alike. If the members of the legislature of any country are to serve at their own expense that which is called the executive, whethe

nses. Whereas in England, a most prodigal provision is made for the support of one part of the Government, and none for the other, the consequence of which is that the one is furnished with the

nd the king," is improper. If taken at all, it ought to be as in America, to the nation only. The law may or may not be good; but, in this place, it can have no other meaning, than as being conducive to the happiness of a nation, and therefore is included in it. The remainder of the oath is improper, on the ground, that all personal oaths ought to be abolished. They are the remains of tyranny on one part and slavery on the other; and the name of the Creator ought not to

ade for the perpetual security and progress of constitutional liberty, is the provision

the end of time, and of renouncing and abdicating the rights of all posterity, for ever," is now become too d

hich forbade all effectual enquiry into rights, and grounded itself wholly on possession. While

cellence which a few years may afford. There is a morning of reason rising upon man on the subject of government, that has not appeared before. As the barbarism of the present old governments expires, the moral conditions of nations with respect to each other will be changed. Man will not be brought up with the savage idea of considering his species as his enemy, because the accident of birth gave the individuals existence in countries distinguished by different names; and as constitutions have always some relation to external as well as to domestic circumstances, the means of benefitting by every change, foreign or domestic, should be a part of every constitution. We already see an alteration in the national disposition of England and France towards each other, which, when we look back to only a few years, is itself a Revolution. Who could have foreseen, or who could have believed, that a French National Assembly would ever have been a popular toast in England, or that a friendly alliance of the two nations should become the wish of either? It shows that man, were he not corrupted by governments, is naturally the friend