The British Constitution Thomas Paine Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Cleary, Scott M., ed. Claeys, Gregory, gen. ed. Thomas Paine Collected Writings. Vol. II. Part 2: Poetry. Princeton Princeton UP 2026 pp. []-[]. 5 Volumes.

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The British Constitution Written by Thomas Paine , on being asked by an Englishman for a few lines on the subject by way of pastime . Of all the wonders man e’er saw That merit his applauses , Since Adam delved in Paradise , And Eve made beds of roses , The greatest wonder of them all , And free from all confusion , It is — O lift your hands and eyes — The British constitution . It is as stable as the hills , That have endured forever ; It is as fleeting as the waves That glide in yonder river : It is as changing as a maid , Just when she is betrothing ; ’Tis this , ’tis that , ’tis either thing , ’Tis every thing , ’tis nothing .