As the present generation of the people in England did not make the Government, they are not accountable for any of its defects; but, that sooner or later, it must come into their hands to undergo a constitutional reformation, is as certain as that the same thing has happened in France.
Paine argues in "Rights of Man" that the current generation is not bound by past governments and has the right to constitutional reform, drawing a parallel with the French Revolution.
Share
More from Thomas Paine
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.
The man who is in the receipt of a million a year is the last person to promote a spirit of reform, lest, in the event, it should reach to himself.
When it becomes necessary to do anything, the whole heart and soul should go into the measure, or not attempt it.
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.