This instance, like that of the national assembly in France, sufficiently shows, that the strength of government does not consist in any thing itself, but in the attachment of a nation, and the interest which a people feel in supporting it.
Paine argues that the true strength of any government lies not in its inherent power but in the loyalty and support it garners from its citizens.
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The argument changes from hereditary rights to hereditary wisdom; and the question is, Who is the wisest man?
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.
Nothing can be more terrible to a Court or Courtier than the Revolution of France.
Burke's Book is easily accounted for.--When a man in a wrong cause attempts to steer his course by anything else than some polar truth or principle, he is sure to be lost.