# Miscellaneous Chapter explained — The Rights of Man

> Chapter companion for The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine.

## What happens

Paine gathers scattered observations to critique Burke's disorganized attack on the French Revolution. He argues that hereditary succession is a form of despotism that precludes the consent of future generations, and that government must be based on reason and the will of the nation, not on hereditary wisdom or arbitrary power.

## Themes in this chapter

### Critique of Hereditary Government

Paine systematically attacks hereditary succession as despotism, arguing that it precludes the consent of future generations and cannot be justified by wisdom or tradition.

### Popular Sovereignty

Paine asserts that the nation has an original right to choose and change its form of government, and that no parliament or monarch can override the general will.

### Natural Rights of Man

Paine invokes the natural right of each generation to self-governance, rejecting Burke's claim that rights are inherited from ancestors.

## Character check-ins

### Edmund Burke

Paine criticizes Burke's book as a confused 'mob of ideas' and refutes his defense of hereditary succession and his claim that government is a 'contrivance of human wisdom.'

### Thomas Paine

Paine presents his own arguments against hereditary government, advocating for the right of each generation to choose its own form of government.

### Marquis de La Fayette

Paine quotes Lafayette's statement: 'For a nation to be free, it is sufficient that she wills it,' contrasting it with Burke's view of English liberties.

### Charles I

Paine cites Charles I as an example of a hereditary monarch who endangered the liberties of the people.

### James II

Paine cites James II as another instance where hereditary government threatened English liberties.

### William the Conqueror

Paine references William the Conqueror in the context of hereditary succession and the origins of monarchy.

## Key lines

> Government is a contrivance of human wisdom.

Burke claims that government is a product of human intelligence and design.

_Paine uses this quote to argue that if government is a human contrivance, then hereditary succession is absurd because wisdom cannot be inherited._

> The rights of men in government are their advantages; and these are often in balance between differences of good; and in compromises sometimes between good and evil, and sometimes between evil and evil. Political reason is a computing principle; adding—subtracting—multiplying—and dividing, morally and not metaphysically or mathematically, true moral denominations.

Burke says that the rights of men in government are their benefits, which are determined by weighing different goods and evils, and that political reasoning is a moral calculation.

_Paine interprets this as Burke justifying arbitrary government, since it implies that government can decide what is good or evil at will._

> For a nation to be free, it is sufficient that she wills it.

Lafayette declares that a nation only needs to desire freedom in order to be free.

_Paine contrasts this revolutionary principle with Burke's claim that English liberties depend on a hereditary crown._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/miscellaneous-chapter
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters