"my own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light." paine most likely uses this language to convince his audience that:

Paine wanted to convince listeners of his confidence in the information in his speech.

Explanation:

Paine was convinced of his ideas; He believed that his line of reasoning is correct and should be considered by everyone. For this, Paine decided to tell his ideas with confidence, so that he could convey to the public the feeling of conviction in all the words he speaks, for this reason, Paine used the statement:  "My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light."

in about winter like late november to january