When man to man, the warld o’er,
Shall brithers be for a’ that.
By Thomas Jefferson
(President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence, 1743-1826)
All eyes are opened or opening to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God.
A Vindication of Natural Society
By Edmund Burke
(British statesman and orator, 1729-1797; defended the American colonies in Parliament during the Revolutionary War)
Ask of politicians the ends for which laws were originally designed, and they will answer that the laws were designed as a protection for the poor and weak, against the oppression of the rich and powerful. But surely no pretence can be so ridiculous; a man might as well tell me he has taken off my load, because he has changed the burden. If the poor man is not able to support his suit according to the vexatious and expensive manner established in civilized countries, has not the rich as great an advantage over him as the strong has over the weak in a state of nature?...