Paine is very concerned with the natural idea of society. He lists society as a positive entity of our affections arising out of a common unity. Government, on the other hand, is posed to us as a restraint or some form of punishment. Absolute government is the "disgrace of human nature," and for Paine, the English monarchy is the epitome of tyranny as an abomination over humanity. A king, if he is neither a judge nor a general, is not just and is not wise. It is too much power for one man to be given authority over an entire nation.
Byrd gives further support for the American-colonial opinion of opposition toward the monarchy. For the Calvinist 'inhabitants' of America, this New World wilderness, monarchs and popes were instruments of evil and enslavement. Like Greece and Rome before it, Britain had abandoned life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for a greater mistress: absolute power. In an effort to control everything, the English monarchy had lost the inspiring virtues of liberty, freedom, and equality (which Republicanism was famed to grant). In a republic, America would afford the same representation and partnership as is to be found in the covenants of the fathers of the Old Testament: their American republic would be elect.
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