"Let all their thoughts be unconfined, / And clap your padlock on their mind."
— Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. S. Jordan
Date
1792
Metaphor
"Let all their thoughts be unconfined, / And clap your padlock on their mind."
Metaphor in Context
Remember, I am not asking the verdict for him, on any other institution than the law of England. I am not desiring your decision on any other constitution. The policy of Great Britain is not to have a jealousy over her subjects, to know what is for the benefit of the whole community. The subjects of England are affected to whatever is right and honest; and let reason be reason, let truth and falsehood oppose and fight one another, but it is better to pursue this course with respect to Englishmen, which was proposed by Lord Chatham. Do not think they are to be bent to your purpose by a froward conduct.
Be to their faults a little blind;
Be to their virtues very kind:
Let all their thoughts be unconfined,
And clap your padlock on their mind.
(p. 107)
Be to their faults a little blind;
Be to their virtues very kind:
Let all their thoughts be unconfined,
And clap your padlock on their mind.
(p. 107)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in ECCO-TCP
Citation
The Genuine Trial of Thomas Paine: for a Libel Contained in the Second Part of Rights of Man; at Guildhall, London, Dec. 18, 1792, Before Lord Kenyon and a Special Jury: ... Taken in Short-Hand by E. Hodgson. (London: Printed for J. S. Jordan, 1792). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
11/10/2013
