Never were more pains taken to instruct and enlighten mankind, and to make them see that their interest consisted in their virtue, and not in their revenge, than have been displayed in the Revolution of France.
Paine asserts that the French Revolution uniquely prioritized the instruction and enlightenment of humanity, emphasizing virtue over revenge.
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To account for this sudden transition, it is proper to observe that there are two distinct species of popularity; the one excited by merit, and the other by resentment.
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.
It was a sort of new form of government that insensibly served to put the old one out of sight and to unhinge it from the superstitious authority of antiquity.
It was become evident, that no constitution, worthy of being called by that name, could be established on anything less than a national ground.