It must be from the justness of their principles, and the interest which a nation feels therein, that they derive support; if they require any other than this, it is a sign that something in the system of government is imperfect.
In "Rights of Man," Paine argues that the legitimacy and support for laws must come from their inherent justice and the nation's interest, not from external authority.
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The present age will hereafter merit to be called the Age of Reason, and the present generation will appear to the future as the Adam of a new world.
Long experience however has shown, that reforms of this kind are not those which old governments wish to promote, and therefore it is to nations, and not to such governments, that these matters present themselves.
Nations, like individuals, who have long been enemies, without knowing each other, or knowing why, become the better friends when they discover the errors and impositions under which they had acted.
It serves to keep up deceitful expectations which prevent people from looking into the defects and abuses of government.