Excerpt from The Rights of the People
Fellow Citizens,
The apostate Burke observes, that "when the affairs of a nation are distracted, private people are justified in stepping a little out of their ordinary sphere. They enjoy a privilege of somewhat more dignity than that of idle lamentation over the calamities of their country. They may look into them narrowly, they may reason upon them liberally." And Barlow says, that "under this prospect, every person who but thinks he can throw the least light upon the subject, is called upon for his assistance, and his duty to his fellow creatures becomes the more imperious as it is increased by the probability of success." It matters not what part of a ship you are in when it is sinking: every person in the vessel ought to lend a helping hand to throw all the useless trumpery overboard, and endeavour to save the wreck. It was this train of thinking which caused me, though a feeble advocate, to contribute the following mite in defence of your rights; in doing of which, I have no other prospect than that of making myself useful to the society in which I live; every citizen or member of civilized society having a right to propose to his countrymen whatever he conceives tends to secure or increase their happiness. The present is the age of political speculation; new and old systems of government are now at issue; every thing seems hastening towards an extraordinary change, and a change is the one thing needful.
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