It is not, and from its nature cannot be, the property of any particular man or family, but of the whole community, at whose expense it is supported; and though by force and contrivance it has been usurped into an inheritance, the usurpation cannot alter the right of things.
In "Rights of Man," Paine asserts that government inherently belongs to the entire community, not to any individual or family, regardless of historical usurpations.
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The Parliaments on their part insisted that they had not only a right to remonstrate, but to reject; and on this ground they were always supported by the nation.
It has nothing to dread from attacks; truth has given it an establishment, and time will record it with a name as lasting as his own.
I know the value of moral instruction, and I have seen the danger of the contrary.
It was become evident, that no constitution, worthy of being called by that name, could be established on anything less than a national ground.