THE
LIFE
OF
THOMAS PAINE,
AUTHOR OF
"COMMON SENSE,' "RIGHTS OF MAN," "AGE OF REASON,"
ETC., ETC.
WITH CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY
OBSERVATIONS ON HIS WRITINGS.
BY G. VALE,
EDITOR OF "'TIE CITIZEN;OF THE WORLD."
NEW    YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR,
CITIZEN OF THE V.ORLD OFFICE, NQ., 1 BOWERY (CHATHAM SQUARE).
1853.




CONTENTS.
Preface, containing  earlier Histories,       ton's regard for Mr. Paine's services 68, 69
Cheetham's Trial, Carvers Letter,        Receives $3,000 froi.n Coonress, re&c.,..,....................   p. 3-14    ceives 500i. from l'elnsylvalia, reIrrX_~~~              ceives from New Yozk an estate tt
PART I.                       Rochelle, publishes' Dissertation on
Mr. Paine, his bilth, parentage, early life,  Gvernmenlt, do. ol "'Paper Molsey,"
education, religious imnpressio(ns....  16  (commeienes 4 private subicsspriol,
Employment, ariives in London, goes to'   when public failed............... 71-73
sea........................... 17
Leaves tlfe sea, his School-inaster's in-               PART III.
fluenre, settles at Sandwich, marries,  M. Paine, his departure from Amtrica,
removes to Margate, becomes Excise-       objet, reception in Fracee, iron
mans, is dllsillissed, Petitions........ 18  briige, visits Sir Joseph Bariks, his
Goes to Lonldon, becomes a Teache        r, mhr publishes " Prospectsni the
and Student in Natural Philosophy,        Rebicon, colnnexioi  with Society of
Astroisomy, and Mathenatics...... 19     Arts, their meanness.......   75, 6
His, style, anid attainmlents..........20,21  Assisted by Mr. Whiteside, leaves EngRe-appointed in the Excise, resides at      land for France, account of Frelnch
Lewes, second marriage, social hab-       Revolution..                       77
its, early Po-try, his Letter oil Excise  Replies to Burke, secretly opposed by
Officers, habits, and reputation....22, 23  Goverment, " Rigbts of Mals,".. 94-96
Becomes tobacconist, suffers in busi-      Goes to France, danger, reply to Ablie
ness, separates from his Wife, her         Syeyes, returns to London, aiddress at
property, after-conduct, religion, sin-    Tiatc:ed iHose, 2d part of" tights
gillar conlui)ial fact............ 24,25  of Man," Governmerit offers to itlube
His early Thoughts on Governrent, re-       or purchase the iter......... 7-100
visits Loldon, obtaiis Franklin's        Prosecuted, hisletter, addresseslagainst
friendship, leaves England for Amer-      "Rigihs of Man" by:orporas,
ica, Reflections........ 26-28         &c., "Address to the Addiessers"...........               101-106
PART II.               X    Elected to the French Conlvention,
Mr. Paine, his arrival in America, brings     treatment at Dover and Calais, electAetters fisrI Franklin, edits' Penn-      ed for Ahbeville, Beauvais, and Versylvania Magazine'," his poetry, song     sailles, his trial and conviction, reon Wulfi, object in coming to Amer-       tailers prosecuted............ 107-109
ica, connexion with Dr. Rush, his        A list of his publisheis prosecuted, soliterary attainments, a beautiful ox..     cial lite in London, opposition to the
tract..                        3033      death of the King of France, hated
Publishes "Coillmon Sense," its ef-         by Marat and others, attacked by
fects, gives up copy-right, enters the     Capt. Grilihstone............ 110-113
army as a volunteer............. 50-53  HIs lile in Paris, expelled the ConvenPublishes the "Crisis," an extra(t,         tion by a motion to expel foreigners,
Cheethanm's account of its influence      is imprisoned by a motion to ilmprisson
on the Trenton affair, 2d " Crisis,"      personis born in England, publishles
to Lord Itowe, 3d " Crisis," appoint-     "Age of Reason," A;iiericans in Paris
el Secretary to the Committee on          seek his release, coldness of WVash
Foreign Affairs.........4...    54, 55   ington, aid Morris the Amserican
4th' Crisis," on the loss of the battle    Minister in France, writes 2dput of
at Brandywine, salutary, effects of       "Age of Reason," his letter to Mosnthis Crisis, 5th " Crisis" (to Lord       roe, and reply................ 114-118
HIowe), onl predatory. war, distribu-:  Released fromi'lIrison, visits Mr. Montio of forged ills................  56  roe, miraculous escape, invited, to re6thi " Crisis," to Carlisle, Cliiton, &c.,  turn to the Convention, publishes
in ridicule of' rightful sovereign,"     "Age of; Reason," its pritpiples,
after the treaty with Frances, 7th        Llandaff's reply, the publisher Wil- -
" Crisis," to the People of England,      lianis prosecuted........... 119-125
resigns his office of Secretary... 5, 59  His speech on Boissy d'Anglas' constiBecomes Clerkto the Legislature of         tution, adopted, conventionl terriPesnsyivania, 8th' Crisis," address      nated, Mr. Paine not re-elected, 2d
to.the People of England, 9th " Cri-      part of " Age of Reason,"' Dssersis," after the loss of Charleston.. 60, 61  tation on Government," "Agrarian
" Crisis Extraordinary" oal taxes, pro-     Justice." English Finanu es, Illis letposes in a letter to Mr. isard of South   ter to Washilgton, his letter to a lady
Carolina, a loan from France, arcom-     at New York, and attachmenti to
panies Col. Laurens to France, effects    Aerica.........  126, 127
a loan, intention to visit IEngland,    /' A Theophilanthropist," his letter on
advice of Gen. Greene, obtains the        the 18th Fructidor, to Camille Jordespatch:s of art English packet, a        dan, Mr. Paine at one timne uripopuFrench fleet, gives five hundred dol-     lar in France, resides in Bonnelars in relief of the Treasuiy.... 6-64  ville's family, resolves on leaving
10th " Crisis" after the capture of Corn-   France............ 128-130
wallis, a supernumerary " Crisis" to    His moral and social Character in
Sir Guy Carleton, letter to Lorl Shel-     France.............   131-134
burne, 12th " Crisis," publication of  I Is treatment by historians aid b(ook"Public Good," his'disiuterestedness      selleis, his iron bridge, poetry, his
and pecuniary loss fromi Virginiaf.. 65-67  attempt to return, and final return to
oSis letter to Abbe Raynal, Washing-        Amnerica.....................  136-140




PREFACE.
TIERE are four lives of Mr. Thomas Paine now extant; but
none in print in the United States. Francis Oldys, or a person
under that name, wrote a life of. Mr. Paine about the year
1792, while Mr. Paine was yet alive, and active in the progress of the French Revolution. This life was written in fact
by George Chalmers, one of the clerks of the Board of Plantation, at the instigation of Lord Hawksbury, afterward Lord
Liverpool, for which he gave him five hundred pounds. Mr.
Chalmers acknowledged. the authorship of this book.  This
we have never seen; it has sunk into oblivion; it partly served
the political purpose for which it was written, but the enemies
of Mr. Paine and the Rights of Man were too prudent'to endorse its acknowledged calumnies, and identify thenmsele:
with this transaction.
Imnediately after the death of Paine, Cheetham wrote his
life in 1809. Cheetham was an Englishman and had been a
zealous disciple of Paine, both in politics and religion; but
he had retrogaded in politics, and deserted the principles of.
the democratic party.; Paine had attacked him with his accustomed force, and thus converted him into a personal enemy.
Mr. Cheetham at this time edited a party paper (the Citizen)
in New York, and while he was yet smarting under the lash
of-Paine, heated by party politics, and fired with revenge,
like the ass in the fable, he kicked, not indeed the dying, but
the dead lion, by writing the life of his adversary.  Cheet



4                      PREFACE.
hami, however, connected this. with a scheme of interest; for,
becoming the deadly enemy of democracy, and losing the
support of his old friends (for he was turned out of the Tammany society), he was preparing to go to Europe, and enlist
in support of the tory government in England, by publishing
a paper opposed to Cobbett, who had just come out in opposition to the government; and Cheetham apparently meant this
life of Paine as a passport to the British treasury favor: at
least, such was the opinion of the intimate friend of Cheetham, Mr. Charles Christian, who gave this relation to Mr.
John Fellows and others, whom we have seen, and from whom
w;e have learned this fact.  This life of Paine, the only one
published in the United States, abounds in calurmnies, and after a lapse of some years caused the production of two other
lives, one by Clio Rickman, the intimate friend of Mr. Paine
for many years, and another by Mr. W. T. Sherwin, both published in London.  Mr. Rickman was an excellent, amiable
man, of the quaker profession, with whom Mr. Paine lived
both in England and France, at different periods, and with
whom he kept up a constant correspondence.  The life of
Paine, however, by Mr. Rickman, is sullied by a little vanity;
he is to Paine, what Boswell was to Johnson. We are indebted to. Mr. Rickman for many facts on which we can rely;' but
with the best intentions he was not the man to do Mr. Paine
justice.
The best life of Paine before published, is that of Sherwin;
and from this life we shall freely extract.  But Mr. Sherwin
is incorrect on some points, and his whole work is so exclusively adapted to a London reader, that it is deteriorated
for this market.  M r. Paine changed public opinion in favor
of a republic at the time of the Revolution;' his earliest energies were in favor of American liberty; it was here that his
mighty, powers were first developed, and here his'political
principles took root. His success in the United Statesbrought
him out in Europe; and his " Rights of Man," which shook the
corrupt government of England, and endeared him to all
France and every friend of liberty, was based upon his " Common Sense," which had concentrated public opinion in favor
of a declaration of independence.  And when the buds of




PREFACE.                     5
liberty were nipped in England and France, to this country
Mr. Paine retired, as his proper home, at the invitation of
Jefferson, then the president, and avowedly the greatest and
best statesman this country has known.' And here, too, he
died in peace, in a good old age, the firm and consistent friend
of liberty., To this country, then, in a special manner belongs
his life; here are his most numerous.friends and personal acquaintances; it is here that the calumnies propagated by
Cheetham may be effectually rebutted, by living, witnesses
yet in the sound possession of their faculties; and it is here
that Paine can be identified with every crisis in the glorious
Revolution which gave birth to this nation, which has set the
glorious example of republicanism, whose principles are now
progressing in the world. The want of alifethus identifying
Mr. Paine with the glories of our Revolution, is our apology
for our present undertaking.
The life of'Paine by Cheetham  has had a considerable
influence; for though his calumnies are palpable, and his motives in publishing them apparent, he has given to them a degree of credibility by the free use of names, which the reader
necessarily concludes are respectable references for the facts
heshas stated; fortunately, however, a public trial, in which
he was convicted of libel, showed the shallow foundation on
which his slander rested, and our acquaintance with some of
the persons to whom he refers, enables us flatly to contradict
these statements, and to denounce him on the very authority
of many of his references as the utterer of gross falsehoods,
to which he attached without their consent their names.
With much ingenuity he relates a slander as a matter of fact,
as if there were abundance of evidence, arid apparently refers
to the only source of this slander, as if this formed but a
small part of his proof.  Thus he declared Madame Bonneville to 1.. mistress of T. Paine, as if that fact were notorious; ne Fn,duces no proof, but inserts a letter from Mr.
W. Carver, written in anger, after a quarrel, in which such an
insinuation is matde, merely from the fact of that lady bringing
her family to America, and leaving her husband in France.
Madame Bomneville prosecuted Cheetham for this assertion,
and Cheethrm tn' that trial produced no other evidence than




6                      PREFACE.
Carver and his angry letter. His counsel admitted the falseness of the charge, and pleaded only the insinuation in Carver's letter as justifying Cheetham as an historian to repeat
the slander.
This trial excited great interest at the time.  The press
generally reported it; and the brief facts with the counselPs
speech have been preserved in a pamphlet form, from which
pamphlet we shall give the introduction and a few extracts as
pertinent to our object: —
[THE INTRODUCTION.]
" One James Cheetham, a man who had once been an editor
of a republican paper in New York, had abandoned his past
professions, and become the advocate of the British party in
America.  Among other means to serve them, he undertook
to write the life of Thomas Paine, author of' Common Sense,''Righlts of M/an,' &c., &c. In this biography, he introduced
the nanme of Madame. Bonneville, a virtuous and respectable
lady, the wife of. N. Bonneville of Paris. He charged her
with prostitution;, said Paine was her paramour, and that one
of her sons had the features, countenance, and temper of
Thomas Paine. For this atrocious attack on the character of
MAtdame Bonneville, and outrage toi her feelings, lMr. Cheetham w5as indicted for a libel, and on the 19th of June, 1810,
his trial was brought on.
The counsel for the libeller took two grounds of defence:
1st. That the facts charged were true.
2d. That the defendant was an HISTORIAN, and, as such, had
a right to publish what he had heard and believed, though it
reflected on an innocent person.
The first position was, after a contemptible effort to support
it, abandoned even by the libeller's counsel.  They were
ashamed of it themselves. Several ladies of the first distinction, whose daughters had been intrusted to the care of Madame Bonneville, to learn the French language, appeared in
court, and attested to the unblemished character of this muchinjured female.
The counsel for the libeller than had recourse to their last
ground, and, strenuously maintained the principle they bad
laid down.  They perhaps felt confidence in the court, as it
had, ih an early stage of the trial, intimated an opinion favorable to the new and extravagant pretension, which set up a
libeller under the title of an historian. Nor was this confidence nmisplaced. Mr. Recorder Hoffmnan directed the. jury,
that if they should be of opinion, that Mr. CheethamL had




PREFACE.                     7
been informed of what he wrote, and believed it, he was justified, and that, thoulgh Madame Bonneville was an innocent
woman, they were authorized, to'acquit'Mr. Cheetlham. ie
also read the letter of a man, by the name of Carver, as a
justification of the libeller, though his counsel had not mentioned it.
This monstrous doctrine, which leads to the prostration of
private reputation, if not to'the dissolution of civil society,
was pronptly rejected by the jury, although composed of men
of different political sentiments, who returned in a few minutes a verdict of guilty.
The court, however, when the libeller came up tlhe next
day to receive his sentence, highly commended the book
which contained the libellous publication, declared that it
tended to serve the cause of religion, and imposed no other
punishment on the libeller, than the payment of two hundred
and fifty dollars, with a direction that the costs be taken out
of it.
It is fit to remark, lest foreigners who are unacquainted
with our political condition, should receive erroneous impressions, that Mr. Recorder Hoffran does not belong to what is
called the republican party in America, but has been elevated
to office by men in hostility to it, who obtained a temporary
ascendency in the councils of the state."
EXTRACTS FROM MR. SAMPSON'S SPEECH ON THE TRIAL OF MR. JAMES
CHEETHAM, FOR A LIBEL ON MRS. MARGARET BONNEVILLE, IN HIS
LIFE OF THOMAS PA1NE.
In every other grief than that which this historian has in-.
flicted on her the innocent find comfort; for innocence is in
all other wrongs, against all other strokes of rhan's injustice
or oppression, a sevenfold shield.  Not so where woman's
honor is assailed; suspicion there is worse than death itself.It is that for which alone the innocent wife of Cesar was repudiated. The man who dares attack it is of all other criminals
the greatest. If he be not a traitor it is for this alone that he
is worse.  For many a man has suffered as a traitor, whom
after-ages have revered. and honored. But never was he who
set his cloven-hoof upon a woman's honer worthy the name
of man.
[Here the defendant rose and claimed the protection of the
court, not so much with a desire to prevent the range of the
ingenious counsel, as to prevent the utterance of personalities,
that it would not be prudent perhaps to repeat out of court.
While the defendant was addressing the court, the counsel
calmly advanced, and taking a pinch of snuff, modestly observed, that what he was doing was in court, and what was to
be done out of court was not to be talked of here. Then




8                      PREFACE.
pointing to the defendant, and casting a significant look upon
him, he proceeded.]
This unrighteous man has, by this very movement of his
choler, justified all that I can ever say. If he complains of
persoralities-he who is hardened in every gross abuse
he who lives reviling and reviled; who might construct himself a monument, with no other materials but those records
to which he is a,party, and in which he stands enrolled as an
offender -if he cannot sit still to hear his accusation, but
calls for the protection of the court against a counsel, whose
duty it is to make his crimes appear-how does she deserve
protection whom he has driven to the sad necessity of coming
here to vindicate her honor from those personalities which he
has lavished on her. Did not'his opening counsel say before
you that'he could! make the color fade upon this lady's
cheek, and wish that she might be in court to hear him 1 regret that her own son was not here to testify against her'!V
Was not this monstrous personality7? And when it is considered that before this very cause drew near its close, the other
counsel of this same defendant rose and told you, that'they
admitted her character was spotless, and for that reason that
no reproach:was cast upon it, desire you to acquit their innocent client, who is a mere'historian, who neVer could have
malice, who was more ready to rectify his errors, than others
to observe him.'
But it is well, and I am glad that I was interrupted'; for the
very evil genius that waits upon his life has here, for once,
worked to an honest end.  For while my voice was almost
choked with crowding; truths, struggling for utterance, and
while the swell of honest indignation rose even to suffocation, he came forward and pointed my attention to that subject which first deserved rebuke.
I had said, that in the catalogue of crimes none could be
found more base than his.  Not treason, for the reasons I
have given. Not murder; for he who murders life, murders
all sorrow with it; but he has doomed this lady to days of
sorrow, and to lingering death. The pirate meets his foe, or
seeks his prey, where death and danger stare him in the face 
and when he falls before the sword of justice, some sympathy
may mingle with his shame, and men regret, that or- so brave
in manly enterprise should fall so ignominiously. Bu;: here is
an attack upon a woman far from her husban"ti' sic e, from
friends and home, whose infant sons are yet too tnder to
avenge their mother's wrongs. The forger wl}. corn terfeits
some instrument to cheat you of your money, or that crime
spins out his wretched days in hard captivity, in infamy and
labor: will you compare his crime with that >of one who, by
his fabricated histories, pilfers from helpless -:;mnana the only




PREFACE.                     9
precious jewel which she prizes-her more than life, her all
-her spotless honor 1  That which the robber or'the thief
purloins may be retrieved, or may be spared; but not the worth
of twenty thousand beings such as the libeller, were he worth
twenty thousand times as rnuch as ever he will be, reform
how he may, would pay the twenty thousandth part of that
which he has taken.
It is argued that everything should be intended in favor of
this defendant, who has written so godly a work against the
prince of deists, and for the holy gospel. I am sorry to hear
such arguments advanced; they go almost to burlesque religion itself. He a man of God! He write for the love of
God! His book a godly book! a vile, obscene, and filthy
compilation, which bears throughout the character of rancorous malice, and tramples upon every Christian charity. Libel
an innocent woman, lie and calumniate, for the sake of
Christianity! If this be the only godly deed this man has
done, I pray to Heaven to be more merciful to him than he
has been to Mrs. Bofineville, and that for this very work of
godliness he be not damned.
If you be Christian jurors punish him; for be assured of
this, that twenty Paines, were twenty such just now upon this
earth, could not conjointly do more harm to Christianity by
their most violent efforts, than this man by defending it would
do.  If any one of wavering faith should hear that the best
vindication of God's word was this most libellous and scandalous work, he never would be a Christian from that hour.
Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom
of heaven, but least of all he that makes the blessed name of
God a cloak for malice and iniquity. Hle may be like those
priests of whom we read in. history, who, with the holy cross
in the one hand and the bloody sabrb in the other, commit
atrocities at which nature shudders.
Where did he learn, that the God of mercy took delight in
human sacrifices, and that, to do him honor, a woman's heart
should palpitate upon a -bloody altar 1 Has he evei read the
word of God' or, this heavenly historian, does he know one
letter of the gospel history 1  If he does, he is-as blunt and
dull in understanding, as he is dead to sensibility and delicacy. When a woman was brought before the author of the
Christian religion, taken in the very fact of adultery,,what
did he say. He left behind him a specimen of tenderness
ever memorable and divine.'Let him,' he said to the fanatical and malignant rabble,'let him who is innocent cast the
first stone.'
And if this Christian historian had ever known or felt the
benignant spirit of holy inspiration, would he not be sensible
that he was not innocent. If he be innocent, then are tigers
gentle.
2




10                     PRFyFACE.
There was a monastery where deadly crimes were expiated
called. La Trappe: when sinners entered it they made a terrible vow of everlasting silence, and from that awful moment
never uttered a word, and daily with their nails doig their own
graves. When the midnight bell tolled them to prayer, they
left their solitary cells, and moved with noiseless step through
gloomy cloisters and whispering aisles, with downcast look,
turning their rosaries,,but, never spoke. Such is the penitence, such the everlasting silence that would become the
ruthless slanderer of woman's honor.  But he who acts the
bully and the bravo, ahd calls himself the champion of high
HIeavenr, what words can paint the horror he inspires! Then
let us leave him.
My duty Calls me now to recapitulate the testimony of all
his witnesses. The first and principal is Mr. Carver.  He,
with uplifted hand, affirmed, by the ever-living God, the truth
of what he testified-and what was that l His letter tells
us all: that he and Paine had a dispute for money; and in
their correspondence you may find the crimes and baseness
they reciprocally urged against each other. FMr. Carver,
whose vulgar scurrilous letter makes the chief buttress of
-this man's defence, the more to spite his adversaries, flings
out some calumny against the lady. Carver himself admits,
that when she got a sight of it she threatened to prosecute
him for that very letter.  Yet on no better ground has this
audacious libeller defamed her reputation.
From the same source springs the infernal hint-that little
Thomas Bonneville had the pountenarice and features of
Thomas Paine. In his little nose no doubt the historian could
discern, by learned inspection, the germes of future blossoms,
and gems that in due course'of nature should come to this
world's light.
Carver gives evidence of what he heard, from Paine of Mrs.
Bonneville, which he himself retailed to Cheetham; and
Cheetham, rather than such sublime history should not shine
forth to save poor sinners' souls, becomes his historian for the
love of God, and gives them to the world as history. This is
the history of this historian and his history!
I pushed him (Carver) farther, and he stated that he and his
zoife had often gone to Mr.,Purdy's on the farm to visit Mrs.
Bonneville.  Then it was, that seeing the toils in which his
honesty and decency had fallen, he tapered off by saying he
never had seen the slightest indication of any meretricious
or illicit commerce between Paine and Mrs.' Bonneville;'that
they never were alone together, aind that all the three children, the little godson Thomas and all, were alike the objects
of Paine's care.
H-ere ends the black conspiracy and conjuration for the
love'of God.  And- now the sickened soul revives, and a




PrtFACE.                    11
bright scene appears: A group of matrons led by those bands
which holy wedlock had joined to theirs for ever-heads of
families, beloved, distinguished, full of respect and honor;
in form so bright, in innocence so lovely; so pure in unsuspected truth, so proud in conscious worth and dignity; who
never till that hour had'rossed the thresxhold of a court of
justice, or been where discord reigns; whose lips had never
uttered other oaths than those which bound them by the willing ties of constancy and love; who, when the seraph-voice
of piety called them down, first glided from their spheres upon the wings of heaven-born charity, and having done their
mission, disappeared. But, oh! it was a holy sacrament when
wife and husband twined their oaths together with such solemnity, such beaming truth, as when they made before the
altar of their God that vow so full at once of joy and awre that
linked their future destiny together and made them ever one.
They would have told you of this lady's sorrows and her resignation, of her spotless conduct, of her meritg, how they intrusted to her care and tutelage the jewels of their souls, the
children of their hearts; with'what reproachless truth;'what
anxious duty she answered to the trust;, had not the rules of
evidence and technical formalities of law cut short their story.
Hier general character was all they were allowed to testify.
Their words were few, but like so many messages of grace
or high commands from heaven.
The wives of your own bosoms are not more pure than
this injured lady is proved, nay, more, admitted now to be.
If they were stigmatized by an histo'rian, what would you say
of him, that he was innocent or guilty 
You have heard the witnesses for tMrs. Bonneville, and you
may judge if this historian had inquired of them, instead of
grubbing filth from every dunghill, how bright a name she
would have deserved, who has been, nevertheless, doomed by
this terrible man to misery.
If he had begged access to any of those high distinguished
persons under whose roof she lived, whose children she had
taught; of Mr. Emmett, who oppresses no one, but protects
the innocent; or of Mr. Fulton, who knew her and her husband in their own country; if,he had asked of Mr. Jarvis -
that man of keen sagacity, of observation, with knowledge of
mankind and of all the parties; if he had been satisfied with
Mr. Hitt's woird, rather thah that of' pious nurses and kind
attending doctors,' and reverend teachers, who had disputes
and lawsuits; he would have known what all but his
mutinous genius now concedes. Ibhave no cause of private
malice against him, but quite the contrary. When he had
any spark of character, he praised me more than ever I could
merit, and I could not but thank him.  hen he had nothing
good to give but his abuse, without offence or change'in me,




12                    PREFACE.
he gave me that with equal liberality, and I thanked him. If I
could ask a favor of him now, it would be to abuse me more
and more, and never let his malice go to the length of praising me: for although my friends who know me well might
not despise me, yet in this community where I am little
known, and still almost a stranger, I may not have formed sufficient character to stand against his praise, nor be entitled
to so much indulgence that it should be believed that I could
have his praise, and yet be honest."
This same Cheetham, the libeller of Madame Bonneville,
and through her of Paine's memory, is the author of other
calumnies on Paine. It is by, him that the public have been
informed that Paine.was drunken and dirty in his person; and
so industriously and faithfilly have the clergy preached and
circulated these calumnies, that we shall scarcely be believed
in contradicting them on the very best evidences, his companions now alive, and in some cases the very men whom
Cheetham impudently names as sources of his information.
Thus: Mr. Jarvis, the celebrated painter, with whom Mr.
Paine lived, informs us distinctly that Mr. Paine was neither
dirty in his habits nor drunken: nay, he good-humoredly added that he always drank a great deal more than ever Paine
did. Mr. John Fellows lived in the samne house with Mr.
Paine, above a twelvemonth, and was his intimate friend for
many years after his return to this country, and never saw
him but once even elevated with liquor, and then he had been
to a dinner-party. We know more than twenty persons who
were more or less acquainted With Mr. Paine, and not one of
whom ever saw him in liquor.  His habit appears to have
been to take one glass of rum and water with sugar in it, after dinner, and another after supper. His limit at one period,
when at Rochelle, was one quart of rum a week, for himself
and friends, for Mr. Paine was rather penurious in his old age.
This, and this alone, is the only moral fault we find in his
character, and we wish to be his impartial historian. His
manner of life at this time we get from Mr. Burger, a respectable watchmaker in New York, but then a clerk in the only
store at Rochelle, who served Mr. Paine with his liquor, and
waited upon him when sick, and drove him about the neighborhood at the request of his employer, and thus saw much
of his social habits. This gentleman never saw Mr. Paine




PREFACE.                    13
intoxicated. Carver, with whom Paine lived, but from whom
he parted in anger, is the only man we know who has not
spoken distinctly on that subject; and he remarks, that
"Paine was like other men [at that period], he would sometimes take too -much." But Carver had unfortunately committed himself on this subject in an angry letter, the same on
which Cheetham based his libel.  In fact, this letter is the
groundwork for all Cheetham's calumnies. Mr. Grant Thorburn, a few years back, republished this letter in his " Forty
Years' Residence," on which occasion Carver vindicates himself in one of his last publications, where he thus speaks of
that letter: —
EXTRACT FROM "A BONE TO GNAW FOR GRANT THORBURN, BY W.
CARVER.
"When I first read the life of Grant Thorburn, I made this
remark, and wrote it on the cover of his book:'I have read
this life ofjGrant Thorburn. I presume-a great part of which
it is composed has no more connexion with his life than mine,
or the pope of Rome s, to wit: the corresponding letters between Thomas Paine and myself, and those letters I have cut
out of his book.' These letters were first printed by Cheetham without my consent for base purposes, after he became a
tory and a hypocritical turncoat, like Grant Thorburn, who
has now reprinted them for the same purpose.  They were
written by Paine and me in anger.  Mr. Paine had boarded
with me without any regular agreement, and we quarrelled
about the bill, what has happened a thousand times to other
people; he wrote angrily and I angrily replied. But the affair
was amicably settled by Walter Morton and John Fellows; the
latter is still living.  I think some things Paine said of me
were not in earnest, and I answered in anger: the letters
should have been burnt. But Cheetham said many things of
Paine that were not true, after he turned tory. I told him'I
believed that he had had his hand crossed with British gold.'
Mr. Charles Christian was present; he said to Cheetham:' That is a bold attack of Carver in your own house.'  He
replied and said:' I know Carver; he will contradict a judge
on the bench if he thinks him not right;' but he did not deny
the charge. When Paine was on his deathbed, I wrote him
the following letter. This shows what opinion I had of him;
I think he was;one of the greatest men that ever lived.'DEAR SIR: I have heard that you are much indisposed in
health, and that your mind, at present, is not reconciled to
ame. Be that as it may; I can assure you that, on my part, I




14? PREFACE.
bear no ill-will, but still remain your sincere well-wisher; and
am still a zealous supporter and defender of the principles
that you have advocated, believing they are founded on immortal truth and justice; therefore I think it a pity that you
or myself should depart this life with envy in our hearts
against each other-and I firmly believe that no difference
would have taken place between us, had not some of those of
your pretended friends endeavored to have caused a separation of friendship between us.
I, sir, want nothing of you or from you, but only that the
ignorant and superstitious herd may not have it in their power to exclaim and say that Thomas Paine or Carver died
without a reconciliation to each other. I have often told my
friends, if I were on myr dying bed, I shduld send for you, hoping that all our differences might be buried in oblivion before
our bodies were buried in the grave, as I hope that my dying
pillow may not be planted with thorns; I consider that time
with me is short, and perhaps shorter with you.  If I never
should see youi again. in this world, I wish you all the consolationithat your great mind is capable of enjoying, and that
you may resign yourself with full confidence on your Maker,
and leave a noble testimony to the world of the independency
of your mind and honesty of your heart; and this, my friend,
will produce to you more comfort than all the prayers of the
priests in the Christian world.
Yours in friendship,
WM. CARVER."'
Mr. Grant Thorburn, mentioned above, scarcely knew Mr.
Paine, as Mr. Carver observes, nor does his conduct command
respect.
Such are the men, who, admitting the truth of Mr. Paine's
writings, seek to destroy their effects by the most puerile
attack on his private character.  Cheetham, Thorburn, and
others, have repeated slanders suggested in an angry letter;
the enemies of Paine, corrupt statesmen, and the clergy in
particular, have so industriously circulated these slanders, as
even to deceive the very friends of Mr. Paine. In commencing our inquiries we really. thought the fact that Mr. Paine
was a drunkard in old age was well established. In seeking,
however, for the proofs of this, we arrive at a very different
conclusion.  In the course'of this work we' shall show the
sources fromn which we have derived our information.
G. V.




LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
PART     I.
MOST men pursue personal happiness and their own greatness as worthy objects; but Mr. Paine labored for the greatness of the nation of which he was a member,, and sought its
nappiness; and in the pursuit of which he built up his own
greatness and promoted his own happiness. Nothing will be
clearer established by this record of his life than the fact now
alluded to; and this fact marks him as peculiarly distinguished even among great and good men.    We are not, however, about to write a eulogy;, to enhance his virtues, or to
suppress his faults, or vices.  Paine was a part of human
nature, and partook of its imperfections; and our puropose is
fairly, to represent him as he was; but the greater part of
Mr. Paine's life was public, and as such we know of no
man who had greater virtues or less vices. His natural life is
distinctly marked into four periods I his history in England
beforeb he ertmbarked for North America; his residence and
exertions in this country during the revolutionary war; Ihis
return to E urope, and his exertions in Friance and England
during the great French revolution and, revolutionary war;
and his final return and residence in the United States till his
death. The first part will necessarily be the least interesting;
his merits were only known to a few; but fortunately among
those few was Dr. Franklin (by whose advice he visited this
country). We have already noticed Sherwin's life of Paine,
and as we find Paine'9 early life fairly delineated there, with
some exceptions, we shall at once transcribe so much of that




16               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
work as suits our purpose; correcting it where, we find it
necessary, and makingsuch additions as we think proper from
the abundant facts we have accumulated.
THE EARLY LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
" THOMAS PAINE, the subject of these memoirs, was born at
Thetford, in the county of Norfolk, England, on the W9th of
January, 1737. His parents were bbscure as to birth, having
nothing to depend upon, except what was derived from their
own industry. His father, Joseph Paine, was a member of the
society of quakers, a person of sober habits and good moral
character: he obtained a decent, but humble livelihood by
following his trade, which was that of a staymaker.  The
maiden name of his, mother was Frances Cocke, the daughter
of an attorney at Tbetford, and a member of the established
church. It was probably owing' to the disagreement in the
religious tenets of his parents that Paine was never baptized.
He was, however, privately named, and through the pious
care of his aunt, he was afterward confirmed by the bishop
of Norwich.
At an early age, Paine was sent to the grammar-school at
Thetford, where he was taught reading, writing, and accounts.
Before he left this school, he likewise obtained a slight knowledge of the Latin tongue; but from the aversion or contempt
which he subsequently acquired for the study of the dead
languages, or from want of opportunity, it does not appear
that they ever became the objects of settled attention.
It does not seem, or at least it is not known, that, during
his boyhood, he exhibited any peculiar signs of that genius
which was afterward to, exalt him to the very pinnacle of
political fame. But from a passage in the'Age of Reason,' it
-is evident, that however matured in judgment he might be
before hebecame a politician, his first impressions on the subject of ieligion were made at a very early period of his life.
Paine himself says:'From  the time I was capable of
conceiving an idea, and acting upon it by reflection, I either
doubted the truth of the Christian system, or thought it to,be
a strange affair; I scarcely knew which it was: but I well
remember, when about seven or eight years of age, hearing a
sermon read by a relation of mine, who was a great devotee,
of the church, upon the subject of what is called redemption
by the Son of God. After the sermon was ended, I went into
the garden, and as I was going down the garden steps (for I
perfectly recollect the spot) I revolted at the'recollection of
what I had heard, and thought to myself that it was making
God Almighty act like a passionate man that killed his son,
when he could not revenge himself any other way; and as I
was sure a man would be hanged that did such a thing, I could




A STAYMAKER —GOES TO SEA,           17
wot see for what purpose they preached such sermons. This
aas not one of those kind of thoughts that had anything in it,of childish levity it was to me a serious reflection, arising
from the idea I had, that God was too good to do such an
action, and also too almighty to, be under'any necessity of
doing it. I believe in the same manner to this moment; and
I moreover believe, that any system of religion that has any
thing in it that shocks the mind of a'child, cannot be a true
system.'-'.4ge of Reason,' Part I., p. 37.
At the age of thirteen he was taken from school by his
father, who, unable from his circumstances to apprentice him
to any other trade, employed him as an assistant in the business
of staymnaking. Whether he was ever bound apprentice does
not appear, nor is it a matter of much consequen(ce. The
sedentary shopboard had few attractions for our author, and
he left it the first opportunity. After remaining with his
father about three years, he left his native town and proceeded
to London, where he doubtless hoped to better his circumstances; conceiving, as many had done before him, that the
metropolis was the only place where a youth can attain -a
proper knowledge of the world, and the only scene where
natural talent can find an opportunity of displaying itself to
the best advantage. His mind, which nature appears to have
formed for enterprise, was of too aspiring a turn to be restricted to the limits of a provincial town, or-to brook the idea of
being cdnfined for life to a business which would not only
have cramped his genius, but which at best would have
afforded him but a scanty livelihood. His prospects in London, however, do not seem to have been at first much more
inviting than those he had left in the country. On his arrival,
he found himself without either friends or money, and destitute of the. means of procuring any, except by again having
recourse to the business he had just deserted. He applied to
a Mr. Morris, a staymaker, in Hanover Street, LQng Acre, of
whom he procured employment for some weeks. Ftom London he went to Dover, where he worked at his business for a
short time, with a Mr. Grace.
How long a time elapsed from the period of his leaving
his father to his quitting Mr. Grace does not appear, nor,.4f
known, would it be a matter of much interest. Probably, not
more than two or three months. Finding himself baffled in.
the expectations he had formed on quitting his home, he left
his second employer, and went on board the Terrible privateer, Captain Death. To a mind like his, which appears at
the time we are speaking of, to have been ardent in the extreme, it is not surprising that the war which had just then
been declared against France, afforded an abundant field of
enterprising anticipation. Situated as he was, and feeling as
le probably did,'the army or the navy was his only choice,
3




18               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE,
and he took the latter because it was nearest at hand. how
long he remained on board the Terrible; has not been ascertained; but from his own accourt of the affair, the time must
have been short.'From this adventure,' says he, I was
happily prevented by the affectionate and moral remonstrance
of a good father, who, from his own habits of life, being of the
quaker profession, must begin to look upon me as lost.'
Paine had been induced to go to sea from the impressions
which the master of the school at Thetford had given him;
who having been a chaplain on board a mian-of-war, retained
much of the enthusiasm of the sea service, and indirectly
infused it into the most ardent of his scholars. This aff;ir
made a considerable impression at the time; but, like most
of the impressions of youth, it soon wore away,,and left his
disposition for enterprise in much the same state as it was
before the circumstance occurred. Shortly afterward, he
entered on board the King of Prussia privateer, Captain
Mendez; but as no account has been published of this transaction, except that given by himself, it does not appear how,
long he remained at sea, or what occurred to induce him to
desert the naval profession altogether, and resume his own
business.
In the year 1759, he settled at Sandwich as a mastervstaymaker. There he'soon became acquainted with a young
woman of the name of Mary Lambert, to whom he was married about the end of the same year. She was the daughter
of an exciseman, and is said to have possessed considerable
personal attractions.
His staymaking business not exactly'fanswering his expectations, he removed with his wife to Margate, where she died
in the year 1760. From Margate he went to London, and
from London he again removed to Thetford.
Here he iesolved upon relinquishing his business altogether.
He had long wished for some employment more congenial to
his turn of mind. At length, through the interference of Mr.
Cocksedge, the recorder at Thetford, he obtained a situation
in' the excise. This was toward the end of 1763.
For some trifling fault he was dismissed from this situation,
in something more than a year afterward. What the nature
of that fault was, has never been satisfact6rily explained; but
those who are acquainted with the practices of the excises
must be well convinced that if the offence had been of any
magnitude, he would never have been restored to the office,
which was the ease in about eleven months after his dismissal.'
Mr. Paine, it appears, sent a petition to the board of excise
begging to be restored to his situation. In the petition, Paine
admits the justice of his dismissal, but uses the expression,




DISMI&SED FROM THE EXCISE.          19
" No complaint of the least dishonesty or internperance ever
appeared against me."  For what he was dismissed is not
stated, and what is very remarkable, his enemies in the British government who must have known the cause of his dismissal, never made it public,although they sought to destroy
him by every means.  We consequently conclude that he
wits not criminal, or such an opportunity would not have
been' omitted.  Those who have lived on the coast of England know that the impartial exercise of an exciseman's duty,
will expose him to censure; for, they will know that {hose
who make and administer the laws are themselves concerned
in smuggling. Clio Rickman, the friend of Paine, exposed a
flagitious case of this kind, involving even the prime minister
of England, which, from its peculiarity, we shall insert:
"When-Admiral Duncan rendezvoused in the Downs with
his fleet on the eighth of January, 1806, the Spider (lugger),
Daniel Falara, master, was sent to Guernsey to smuggle articles for the fleet, such as wine, spirits, hair-powder, playingcards, tobacco, &c, for'the supply of the different ships.
At her arrival in the Downs, the ships' boats flocked round
h'er to inload her and her contraband cargo. A customhouse
extra boat, commanded by William Wallace, seeing the lugger, followed and took her in doing which he did his duty..
On his inspecting the smuggled articles with which she
was laden, he found a number of cases directed to Admiral
Duncan, the Right Honorable William Pitt, the heaven-born
minister of England, and to the Right Honorable Henry Dundas, Walmer Castle. In a few days, Wallace, the master of
the customhouse cutter, received orders from government to
give the lugger and her smuggled cargo up, on penalty of
being dismissed the service, and these cases of smuggled
goods were afterward delivered at the prime minister's, Mr.
Pitt's, at Walmer Castle."
At this very time, says Clio Rickman, there were fourteen
poor persons in one jail in England for smuggling. From the
surprising silence of Paine's enemies on the subject of his
dismissal, we strongly suspect it was cornnected with something they did not want exposed.
"After his dismission he proceeded to London, where he
became a teacher in an academy kept by AMr. Noble of Goodman's Fields. In this situation he remaiined until the period
of his restoration to office. It is probable that it was during




20               LIFE OF THOMIAS PAINE.
his stay in London at this period, he applied himself to the
study of astronomy and natural philosophy, and that this is
the time he alludes to, when he says,' As soon as I was'able I
purchased a pair of globes, and attended the philosophical
lectures of Martin and Ferguson, and became afterward acquainted with Dr. Bevis of the Society called the Royal
Society, and an excellent astronomer.' Indeed, as he himself
expresses it, the natural bent of his mind appears to have been
to science, and though from his disadvantageous situation in
life he necessarily met with many obstacles, it is evident fiom
severalof his productions, that he attained a great proficiency
in mechanics, mathematics, and astrononiy. It was from his
being well grounded in the principles of science, during the
earlier part of his life, that he afterward became such a powerful adept in reasoning; it was from the mathematical principles which had been engrafted on his mind while it was yet
tender enough to receive the impressions of instruction, that
he was subsequently enabled to write with such precision
upon' almost any subject, that he was enabled to reduce abstruseness to simplicity, to understand difficult subjects himself, and to render them intelligible to others."
The enemies of Mr. Paine have represented him as an ignorant, vulgar man, and his style coarse and rude, but imbued
with strong good sense. His worst enemies allow him the
latter qualities, except Cheetham; who, heated by party politics, and corrupted by expectancies from Britain, has outraged
common sense by denying Paine any good qualities, while his
own-work abounds with proofs to the contrary. Paine's style
was clear, forcible, and elegant: in our opinion, he is the best
English vwriter we know. We never misunderstand him; and
it is almost impossible to put the same thoughts in fewer or
better chosen, words than he'has done. Those, who have
attacked his style, are themselves ignorant or vicious, with
no literary character to lose. When the clergy have urged
on theii hearers the vulgarity of the style of Mr. Paine, it has
always appeared to us that they have presumed on the ignorance of their hearers, or have themselves been the dupes of
what they wished to believe: for Paine was decidedly a learned man, but self-taught, as indeed most learned men are for
the meager instruction.of a school'only gives the rudimentsthe base- that on which the fabric must be raised. Paine's
knowledge of the classics was indeed very limited.; perhaps
the mere elements obtained when a boy at the grammar



RESTORED TO THE EXCISE.           21
school; but even this gave him one important advantage:.the
little he did kno.w enabled him rightly to estimate the value
of Greek and Latin, which are of great intrinsic worth bnly
in some cases, and of none to Mr. Paine in any of his pursuits
or works; and when he stated that a Greek milkman knew
more of Greek than the best Greek scholar in England, he
lifted the veil which covered ignorance; although a scholar
might know much of the grammar or philosophical construction of the language, which a Greek milkman might not. In
his biblical criticisms, he showed that the authorized English
Bible was not the Word of God; and thus he cut off all r'eference to ancient languages. His acquaintance with mathematics and natural philosophy was evidently extensive. His references to these subjects are frequent, and always pertinent
while there is no egotistical display of knowledge or learning; yet every learned man knows well the certainty of detecting ignorance in a man who, by references, assumes a
knowledge of science which he does not possess. Paine
grappled, too, with the higher branches of the mathematics,
for he was acquainted with their application to mechanics and
to bridges; and this latter is one of the most difficult subjects
to which they are applied. It was not then a compliment that
Paine was admitted a member of various learned societies in
this country, France, and England. Hie had substantial claims
to such a standing; and those who have attempted to degrade
him on this subject, have taken a mean advantage of his unpopularity in the religious community, and of'the ignorance
and prejudices of that community against him. We have now
in our possession a part of a letter in Paine's handwriting, on
the difficult subject of fortification, in relation to New York,
and which he treats in a scientific and masterly manner. The
subject, too, has his own peculiarity, that of utility and being
well-timed; for then it was a desideratum to fortify New York.
We return now to the narrative of events, and shall again
make use of Sherwin's life, as containing an elegant narrative
of the facts we wish to communicate. On Paine's petition to
the board of excise, was written: "July 4th, 1766; to be
restored on a proper vacancy." He was therefore restored;
and leaving his scbolastic pursuits, he returned again to, the
excise for several years.




22                LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
" On his reappointment to the excise, our author immediately returned from London to Thetford, rvwhere he continued
until the spring of 1768, when he was removed to Lewes, in
Sussex. There hbe resided in the house of a person of the
name of Ollive, a tobacconist. With him he reImained upward of twelve months, when the former died, leaving a
widow, a daughter, and several sons. Our author then left
the family for a short time, but soon afterward returned, when
he opened the. shop on his own account. In consequence of
this, and of his having previously lived under the same roof,
he soon contracted an intimacy with Mliss Ollive, the dauaghter
of his former landlord, whom he married in the year 1771."
At this time Paine appears to have mingled a little politics
with his pursuits; and he is reported to have written an electioneering ballad, and to have been paid for it: but we know
of none but a jeu d'espril, "The Trial and Execution of the
Farmer's Dog," in ridicule of both parties, and therefore not
likely to be paid for by any one; besides, Paine when better
known, never made a profit of his political works, or even
reserved a copyright. We therefore doubt that he was paid
for such a service; although pay for honorable services, is by
no means unreasonable.
In 1772 he wrote "The Case of the Excise Officers," a
small pamphlet, on a very limited and unpopular subject: yet
in this pamphlet LMr. Paine's style and principles are recognised.
"The same conciseness, clearness, and benevolence, which
form such piominent features in the future productions of
Paine, are distinguishable in almnost every page of the pamphlet in question. Exclusive of the'Introduction,' it is divided
into two parts:'The State of the Salary of the Officers of
Excise;' and'Thoughts on the Corruption of Princ iples,
and on the Numierous Evils arising to the Revenue from the
too great Poverty of the Officers of Excise.' In the introduction is stated the design of the excise officers, in all parts of
the kingdom, to malke an application to parliament to have
the state of their salaries taken into consideration. The subject is then entered upon and discussed with all the energy
and ability.which might have been expected from a ]ongn-experienced advocate. The d'eductions that are made upon the
exciseman's salary by unavoidable contingencies, and the
danger to which his duty necessarily exposes him, are recapitulated in the most forcible manner. Under the second head,
the policy of our author's object is insisted upon: he advises.




THE CASE OF THE EXCISE OFFICERS.     23
tle government to render their officers honest by relieving
their necessities; and the pamphlet concludes by enumerating
the advantages thatwould be ensured by adopting the recommendation.
Of this pamphlet four thousand copies were printed by Mr.
William Lee, of Lewes; but to what extent they were circulated I have not been able to learn. It would doubtless be
read with pleasure and avidity by the class of men who were
interested in the result; but whatever might be the distresses
of the excisemen, it was not likely that they would meet with
much sympathy or encouragement from the public. The
nature of their occupation, and the unpleasant mode in which
the duties of it are performed, have always rendered them
objects of public odium; and however misdirected or useless
such odium may be, it will ever continue an appendage to the
character of those who collect this tyrannical impost. The
public, therefore, viewed the complaints, of the excisemen
with indifference; and though considerable exertions were
made by various individuals, as well as our author, there \vas
no member to be found to bring the subject before parliament.
The distresses of the officers, and the consequent depredations
on the revenue, which our author had so ably pointed out,
and so zealously endeavored to get removed, were not deemed
of sufficient importance to merit parliamentary inquiry, and
the proposal, like many other proposals for the removal of
public evils, fell to the ground without investigation."
During Mr. Paine's residence at Lewes, he was held as a
man of talents in the small circle of that town. His company
was sought by men of greater affluence than himself. He vas
decidedly a good companion, whether engaged in amusements
or debate. Paine at that time was fond of bowls, then a fashionable game: even Dr. Young, the elegant author of the
Night Thoughts, was a member of a club, and attended a
bowling-green. Paine in this amusement mingled with the
best company in the place. He met, too, an evening club at
Lewes in the principal tavern, for conversation and debate 
and in that society, the best the town afforded, he carried the
palm as a debater. While, however, he was thus social, he
neither drank to excess, nor did he indulge in the vulgar habit
of swearing, a habit he never contracted; and which, even in
his latter days, he reproved in some of his intimate friends.
This fact, is confirmed to us by Mr. Jarvis, the celebrated
painter, with whom Mr. Paine lived sometime, before his
death. This is worthy of note; for his enemies, foiled by




24               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE,
his arguments, and not being able to attach to him crirnesy
have assumed faults and mnagnified them into vices. We
have these facts from those who knew Paine at Lewes, and
from those who knew the company he kept, and his habits.
Carver, with whom Paine afterward lived in New York, was
then an apprentice in the town, and used to saddle Mr. Paine's
horse, and well remembers both him and his reputation. We
know, too, the family of Rickman, who always resided in that
neighborhood; and on their information and others we can
rely.
4 I have already observed, that on the marriage of our
author with Miss Ollive, he commenced the business of a
tobacconist and grocer,'which he carried on in much the
same method as his predecessor had done before him. This
circumstance, as might have been anticipated, soon rendered
him an object of suspicion in the eyes of the comm,issioners,
and it is not imprlobable that the zeal which Paine had displayed in exposing'the pernicious consequences of doling out
so pitiful a provision to the active class of excisemen, while
their betters were spending their days in ease and affluence,
had rendered him an object of dislike among his superiors in
office. The spirit of independence which he showed on all
occasions, and which there is very little doubt he communicated in a considerable degree to those around him, was,but
little calculated to ensure the approbation of persons who
regard implicit obedience as the test of merit, who look upon
a proposal for reform as a step toward' revolution, and the
protection of abuses as the only mode of perpetuating the
blessings of the English system of government. Considerable
pains were taken to discover some flaw in the conduct of
Paine; but so strictly had he performed his duty, that nothing
of any consequence could be substantiated against him. His
keeping a tobacconist's shop was, howeveri a sufficient pretext with those who wished to rid themselves of so troublesome a servant, and he was a second time dismissed from the
excise in April, 1774."
At this period Paine became unfortunate in his business;
perhaps he suffered from his social qualities, and a spirit of
independence. His companions, we have already remarked,
were generally in better circumstances than himself; and
these sought his company for its intrinsic worth, for he was
both instructive and amusing;'and perhaps he incurred expenses and a loss of'time, which he was unable to afford;




SEPARATES FROM HIS WIFE.          25
while a sanguine temper would still afford him hope, till his
affairs were too bad to mend. His goods, at this period, were
sold to pay his debts; and in the following month, May,'1774,
he separated from his wife by mutual consent, and articles were
signed on the 4th of June, by which she retained the little property she had brought him at marriage, and which was just sufficient to maintain her in a decent manner for the rest of her
life.., All the causes of this separation are not known. MT.
Paine uniformly spoke of his wife with kindness; and Clio
Rickman informs us, in his life of Paine, that he frequently sent her money, without letting her know the source
whence it came. She was afterward a professor of a sectarian
religion in Cranbrook, Kent, and boarded in the house of a
watchmaker, a member of the same church; his house was
consequently visited by religious people, many of them with
strong prejudices, and some very ignorant. These, after the
publication of the " Age of Reason," would sometimes speak
disrespectfully of Mr. Paine in her presence, when she uniformly left the room without a word. If, too, she was questioned on the subject of their separation, she did the /same.
We have these facts from those who resided with her.,Our
m.ost intimate friend at one period, was a Mr. Bourne, a watchmaler in Rye, about eighteen miles from Cranbrook, England.
This gentleman was apprenticed in the house where Mrs.
Paine lived: he sat at the same table with her for years., We
have these facts confirmed by other residents at Cranbrook.
Thus nothing could be learned from her, except that though
she differed from Mr. Paine on religious subjects, she could
not bear to hear him spoken ill of. Paine, as we have before
remarked, spoke respectfully of her; but if any person became
inquisitive, he immediately answered rudely, that "his separation was a private affair."  Clio Rickman asserts, and the
most intimate friends cf Mr. Paine support him, that Paine
never cohabited with his second wife. Sherwin treats the
subject as ridiculous; but Clio Rickman was a man of integrity, and he asserts that he has the documents showing this
strange point, together with others, proving that this arose
from no physical defects in Paine. When the question was
plainly put to Mr. Paine by a friend of ours, he admitted this
4




26                LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
singular fact; but replied, "I had a cause; it is no business
of anybody."  Singular, therefore, as this fact is, as both
parties preserved a taciturnity on the subject, we have not
the means of arriving at the truth. It was, as Paine said, a
private affair; and we have not the means of withdrawing the
veil, and have consequently no right to come to an uncharitable conclusion toward either party. We however infer that
Paine had a cause; without which his wife ought to and would
have exposed him, especially as she was surrounded by his
bitter enemies.
Paine, while at Lewes, was a wvhig; and as such never
thought of examining the first principles of government. A
king,'lords, and commons,,were admitted as forming the best
government by the admixture of the three sorts, royal, aristocratic, and democratic. As a whig, all he sought was the
preservation of the supposed constitution; but a trifling expression from one of his companions, gave his thoughts a
deeper range, and formed the basis of his " Common Sense" and
6' Rights of Man," whic'h afterward so materially influenced the
people in North America, France, and England. While sitting
over some punch after a game at bowls, a Mr. Verral observed
of Frederick, king of Prussia, that " he was the best fellow in
the world for a king; he had so much of the devil in him."
Simple and accidental as this observation was, it turned Paine's
thoughts on the rights by which kings. existed and governed,
and thus led him into an examination of the inherent rights of
the people; while the breaking up of his business, and separation from his wife,'ed him forward to the proper scene in which
his talents and his principles could be properly estimated.
Sherwin, speaking of this period, remarks:
"Our author was by this and prior events relieved from
every tie which might be supposed to bind him to his country.
Deprived of his home, and destitute of friends and employment, he had to commence life anew, and that without either
credit or capital..His parents were become much advanced
in years; their industry was no more than sufficient to pro —
cure a maintenance'for themselves, and therefore Paine could
not have derived, even if he had desired, any assistance from
their kindness. The cheerless prospect which lay expanded
before him, the misfortunes that had already befallen him, and
the desolate situation in which he was then placed, must have




LOSES HIS PROPERTY AND PROSPECTS.       27
impressed upon his mind the idea that to whatever country
he went,' it was impossible for his condition to become worse.
In England there was no hope.  Every change only brought
an accumulation'of, fresh misfortunes.  Borne down by
poverty,,and surrounded by difficulties of every description,
his condition appears to have been that of a ruined, hopeless
man.
In this situation many would have sat down discouraged
without a struggle. But despair and dismay appear to,
have formed no part of Paine's character.  He seems never
to have sunk into the extreme of depression, or to have risen
to that tumultuous gladness'vvhich so often accompanies the
extreme of elevation.'His mind appears never lo have been
crushed by defeat, or elated by success. The unshaken fortitude which can smile on disappointment and danger, and
look serenely amidst the tumult of triumph, seems to,have
been the most prominent feature in his character.
"After the sale of his effects and the separation from his
wife were concluded, our author again went to London. By
what means he procured a living during his stay in the metropolis is uiknown, but soon after his arrival he obtained an
introduction to Dr. Franklin, who advised him to go to America.  The doctor probably perceived in his interviews with
Paine that he was a man possessed of abilities of no ordinary
character, and this accounts for'the readiness with which he
furnished him with a letter of introduction to one of his
most intimate friends in the United States. Our author was
thus afforded an opportunity of beginning life again, and that
at an age when his ardent and enterprising spirit mast have
been considerably tamed by the'sharp lessons of adversity.
He had as he himself observes,'served an apprenticeship to life,'
and it is more than probable that those sublime ideas on the
subject of liberty which were afterward to raise his name so
very high in the temple of fame, were produced by his early
misfortunes.'By wo the soul to daring action swells;
By wo in plaintness patience it excels;
From patience, prudent, clear experience springs,
And traces knowledge through the cause of things!
Thence hope is formed, thence fortitude, success,
Renown-whatever men covet and caress.'
SAVA E.
Poverty is certainly not the parent of genius, but it is unquestionably its best preceptor.  The finest productions we
have in the language have been written by men whose intellectual powers have forced their way into life under circumstances of the most abject penury., In most instances it has
happened that the fire of genius has been iong confined by




28                LIFE OF THOiMAS PAINE.
the heavy black clouds of adversity, before it acquired sufficient strength to burst its boundary; and as the streaming
lightning is more or less vivid in proportion to the density or
lightness of the clouds which encompass it, so it has generally proved that the powers of a fine imagination have been
more or less brilliant, in proportion to the poverty or plenty
by which the possessor was surrounded. The enlivening wit
of Congreve, the melting scenes of Otway, the rural tenderness and pathetic simplicity of Goldsmith, and the dignified
ease and elegance of Thomson, would have been unknown to
us, if these luminaries in the hemisphere of literature had
been born in a state of affluence; for though the men might
have lived with much more comfort to themselves than they
did, it is very probable that the easy couch and plentiful b,oard
-would have destroyed the inspiration which gave birth to
their finest productions.
But to our author.  He had by this time seen enough of
the world to despise its follies, and he had witnessed too many of the bad effects of misgovernment in his native countrry
to feel any affection for them, when directed against the
country of which he was about to become a citizen.  Dr.
Franklin could not therefore have selected a man more likely
to repay his kindness in vindicating the cause of the people,
by whom he was' deputed ambassador to England. Our author sailed fiom this country [England] toward the end of
the year 1774, and' arrived at Philadelphia about two months
afterward."
We have thus briefly brought Mr. Paine to the close of the
first period of his life; a period of no important interest to
the public; and only valuable as qualifying him for the other
periods, which belonged wholly to the public. His good
sense was the work of nature; his acquired knowledge,
whether of books or men, was the effect of study and observation; but to, these was added experience, the result of
accident; but admirably adapted to fit him for his future tasks,
of whichhe could have no conception.  We have seen him
necessarily a mechanic, a sailor, a tradesman, an exciseman,
a storekeeper, and a teacher, acquainted with London, and
different sections of Great Britain; intimate with'the corruptions and revenue of the country from his connexion with
the excise; an author, a politician, and associating with various classes in the community; with a habit for observation
and original thinking, and thus qualified to address a whole




LEAVES ENGLAND.                 2
people on the subject of liberty. His father a quaker, his
mother of the established church, and his wife and her
friends dissenters, he could have but little religious prejudice.
While accident, however painful to himself, which sent him
to this country, unencumbered with either wife, family, or
fortune, contributed highly to render him  devoted to the
people among ihom he was about to reside, during their
arduous struggle in support of liberty.




soX  ~         ~LIFE OF THOMAS,PAIlEo
PART      II.
FROM MR. PAINE'S ARRIVAL IN AMERICA TO THE END OF THE WAB
OF INDEPENDENCE.
MR. PAINE having resolved to leave England, brought letters
of recommendation from Dr. Franklin, then on an enmbassy
from a northern state to the British government in London.
Mr. Paine left England in the autumn of 1774, and arrived at
Philadelphia in the latter part of the same year; and not in
1772, as Dr. Rush states. Sherwin correctly says:
From this period to the day of his death, the abilities of
Paine never lay dormant. Very shortly after his arrival in
Philadelphia, he became acquainted witlh Mr. Aitkin, a respectable bookseller of that town. In January, 1775, Mr. Aitkin commenced the publication of the Pennsylvania Magazine,
of which Paine became the editor. Many of the pieces in
this publication are truly elegant. In these, as in most of his
other writings, he is singularly happy in clothing an original
boldness of thought with a peculiar beauty of diction. The
article in which he treats of the hidden riches of the earth,
and the diligence with which we ought to search after them,
is a fine specimen of this rare combination. The well-known
song on the death of General Wolfe, appeared in an early
number of this magazine; and it is unquestionably one of the
most beautiful productions of the sort in the English language.
The ideas would have done honor to any of the poets of old,
and the poetry is an example of the most polished versification. As this little piece is still i-tuch admired, even by those
who disapprove of its author's political and religious notions,
I here insert it, as transcribed from an original copy:
SONG ON TIE DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE.
In a mouldering cave, where the wretched retreat,
Britannia sat wasted with care:
She mourned for her Wolfe, and exclaimed against fate,
And gave her-self tp to despair.
The walls of her cell she had sculptured around
With the feats of her favorite son,
And even the dust,as it lay on the ground,
Was engraved with some deeds he had done.




LINES ON THE DEATH OF WOLFE.                31
The sire of the gods, froin his crystalline throne,
Beheld the disconsolate dare,
And, moved with her tears, he sent Mercury down,
And these were the tidings that came:' ritannia, forbear, not a sigh or a tear,
For thy Wolfe, so deservedly loved;
Your tears shall be Thanged into triumphs ofjoy,
For thy Wolfe is not dead, but removed.
The sons of the east, the proud giants of old,
H-ave crept from their darksome abodes,
And this is the news, as in heaven it was told,
They were marching to war with the gods.
A council was held in the chambers of Jove,
And this was their final decree.
That Wolfe should be called to the armies above,
And the charge was intrusted to me.
To the plains of Quebec with the orders I flew,
He begged for a moment's delay;
He cried,' Oh forbear, let me victory hear,
And then thy commands'1ll obey.'
With a darksome thick film-1 encompassed his eyes,
And bore him away in an urn;
Lest the fondness he bore to his own native shore
Should induce him again to return."'
In addition to the above, he w:rote several other articles for
the Pennsylvania Magazine, of considerable literary merit.
These principally consist of a letter to the publisher on the
utility of magazines in general;'Useful and Entertaining
Hints on the Ihternal Riches of the Colonies;''Reflections
on the Death of Lord Clive;' and'New Anecdotes of Alex-,
ander the Great.'    The'Reflections oh the Death of Lord
Clive,' I have not seen, though I have been at considerable
pains to procure them; but I have been informed that they
contain much originality of thought, and that they caused the
work to be sought after with great avidity. He likewise wrote
for the same publication an elegant little piece in the form of
a poetical dialogue, between a snowdrop and a critic, in which
the former is made. to describe the variety and pleasure intended to be conveyed, to the public through the medium of
the new work, in opposition to the cavilling objections of the
latter.  These productions are already in the possession of
the public, and they serve to      show  the versatility of,our
author's disposition.'
Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, and formerly a member of. that
congress which declared these states independent, in his letter
to Cheetham, says that Paine came to this country with the
design of opening a school for the instruction of'young ladies
in branches of literature not then generally taught. Paine's
introduction to Mr. Aitkin appeas,to have been through Dr.
Franklin's recommendations.     There Dr. Rush met him; and
afterward, being excited by an article in one of Mr. Aitkin's




S-~2        ZLIFE OP THOMAS PAINE.
papers dn the subject of the African slavery, he sought his
acquaintance. And in:that letter ascribes to himself suggesting to Paine the subject of his " Common Sense," and the title.
That letter, though' highly favorable to Paind, is certainly
egotistical, which renders this suggestion doubtful; especially
as the object of Cheetham in getting tlat letter written to him,
as well as others from different persons, was obviously to pare
off, if possible, any part of Paine's reputation. Dr. Rush was
clearly incorrect in one of his dates; and distinctly marks
his prejudice in conclusively stating, that he declined to see
Paine on his last return to this country, on account of the
principles avowed in his "Age of Reason." This observation,
though intended by Dr. Rush to exalt himself, at the expense
of Mr. Paine, and as such is published by Cheetham, is, in fact,
highly important. It satisfactorily accounts for many of Paine's
early sycophants deserting him, without any dereliction of
personal worth on his part.
M1Ir. Paine's acquaintance with Dr. Franklin; the object of
his coming to this country (to ihtroduce a higher scale of
education than that in use); his first employment (engaged
or hired to edit a new magazine, and other periodicals published by Aitkin); the success and reputation of those publications, and his acquaintance with Dr. Rush as a consequence
of his reputation; the very idea of Dr. Rush suggesting to
Mr. Paine the subject of. a pamphlet to act on the people,
whether true or- false, together with the circumstances just
noted, mark Mr. Paine as then possessing literary attainments
in an eminent degree; and ought to have preserved him
against the vulgar abuse with'which so many of the clergy
and his theological opponents have assailed him. This attack
on his literary character, successful in an extraordinary degree, depended on the suppression of his works; the presumption of the ignorance of those works by the body of the
party addressed; and onthe assumption of the power of the
clergy to prevent those works being read. It is remarkable,
that Cheetham, dishonest in his puIrposes, and, comparatively
withl Paine, of small abilities, and very prejudiced iand ignor.
ant, ra!kes also this charge,,while he himself furnishes the
m:st:;ratisfactory proofs to the contrary. In Cheetham's life




HiS STYLE IN POLITE LITERATURE.      33
is'to be found the song we have already inserted. He likewise
furnishes the following beautiful extract from the pen of Paine,
published in an early number of Aitkin's magazine, from which
the style of Paine may be inferred in what is called polite
literacture.'"In one of his'lucubrations, adverting to the riches of the
earth, the diligence which is necessary to discover, and the
labor to possess them, he thus elegantly invites us to industry'and research:'Thoughf nature is gay, polite, and generous abroad, she is
sullen, rude, and niggardly at home. Return the visit, and
she adamits you with all the suspicion of a miser, and all the
reluctance of an antiquated beauty retired to replenish her
charns. Bred, up in antideluvian notions, she has not yet acquired the European taste of receiving visitant's in her dressing-room: she locks and bolts up her private recesses with
extraordinary care, as if not only resolved to preserve her
hoards, but to conceal her age, and hide the remains of a face
that was young and lovely in the days of Adam. He that
would view nature in her undress, and partake of her internal
treasures, must proceed with the resolution of a robber, if not
a ravisher. She gives no invitation to follow her to the cavern: the externallearth makes no proclamation of the interior
stores, but leaves to chance and industry the discovery of the'
whole. In such gifts as nature can annually iecreate, she is
noble and profuse, and entertains the whole world with' the
interest of her fortunes, but watches over the capital with the
care of a miser. Her gold and jewels lie concealed in tie
earth in caves of utter darkness; the hoards of wrealth, heaps
upon heaps, mould in the chests, like the riches of a necromance,7s cell. It must be very pleasant to an adventurous
speculatist to naake excursions into these Gothic regions;
and in his travels he may possibly come to a cabinet locked
up in some rocky vault, whose treasures shall reward his toil,
and enable him to shine on his return as splendidly'as nature
herself.''"
Were Paine's works known and read, the slander about his
vulgar style would necessarily be confuted, without the labor,of an advocate; and we regret the necessity of exposing the
meanness which would suggest such a course to suppress a
theological opponent. We are happy to find that his bitter
enemies should be compelled to resort to falsehood for such
a purpose. This conduct on the part of his personal enemies,
5




1,4'11       LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE,
ought then to awaken suspicion that this is not the only false
and malicious slander under which Paine has too long lain.
That a man who could write poetry so well should have
written so little, is at once a mark of his good sense and
strong resolution. Paine had remarked that poets were genm
erally pretty triflers, and he suppressed a talent which he
thought of little use to society. It is evident that Paine was
not naturally fond of politics; he Was led by circumstances,
and a strong sense of justice and utility, into the course he
tok.'The beauties of nature and the happiness of the human
family occupied his mind. And the viqlence done to nature,
and to human happiness by tyranny and superstition, together
with the remarkable events of his das, deflected his course
from the pursuits of peace, which he was so fitted to enjoy,
into the more violent but useful course he did pursue.  The
man who could write the beautiful articl e e    have just
quoted, did not want the excitement of a storm or a revoldtion to give zest to life.  Nothing could be more. beautiful
than either Paine's poetry or prose; he possesses not only
strength and clearness, but a beauty of diction surpassed by
no English writer we know: and if we wished to recommend
a single modelor fine, Einglsh composition, we should certainly name Paine's writings as the best.
W1e find Mr. Paine so completely identified with every great
point in the revolution, and of the independence of this country, that we cannot'do justice to' him without giving a brief
but clear account of those events, and the circumstances
which led to them. Indeed, some of the most important
events to be related were actually created or produeed by
him. Other men have followed events; Paine actually created them.
Soon after the discovery of this continent colonies began
to be planted in North America. During the last century the
French held the north or Canada, and large portions of the
south and west.  The English had several colonies in the
middle, while other Europeans had made small settlements.
These colonies were little regarded at first; they were safety-valves for daring spirits who were discontented at home.
The inhabitants formed an amalgamation, as they have done




CAUSES OF THE AM.ERICAN REVOLUTION.    35
since, from every clime; but with the exception of those
transported to these shores for their crimes, they were industrious and independent, the general characteristics of all voluntary emigrants.  Colonies have always been regarded by
the English government only as they profit the mother-country, or rather the party governing.  In the first place large
grants of territory were made by various English sovereigns,
either as rewards to favorites, or for some services received"
and these grants being made without a correct knowledge of
the country or rights of the natives, they were frequently
given with uncertain boundaries; which, as we shall presently
see, was the remote cause of the American war of independence. When the colonists, by dint of their own industry,
could raise a surplus of some produce, they became importers
of manufactured goods, and as such an object'of attention to
the government of Great Britain.  But the interference of
the British government was for their own benefit. They appointed governors, always sycophants of power, to be paid
by the colonists.'And they regulated their trade so as to
produce to Great Britain the greatest advantage. A liberal
policy, the mutual benefit of both parties, has never yet been
conceived and executed by any ministry.  The very principles of the British government laid the seeds of discontent,
and established two interests: the governor pursued his own
and the interests of Britain, or rather what he thought the
interests of the British government; while the assemblies
formed by the people, and their juries (for British settlers
claimed British rights and customs), naturally preferred the
interests of the colonies.
In 1750, a company was formed in London called the Ohio
company.   They obtained a grant of six hundred thousand
acres of land on the rivers Ohio and Mississippi. This grant
was made without much regard to the Indian rights, and as it
cut off the northern French territories from their southern
and western, the French resisted it in practice.  The trade
of this company was chiefly carried on by the Virginians; but
these traders were constantly annoyed by the French, wrho at
last built a fort on the Ohio, and a French goyvernor went so
far as to order the seizure of every British subject found tra



36               LIFE OF THIOMAS PAINE.
ding there.  To counteract this the Virginians formed a
troop with which to protect their traders, and in this troop
Washington was employed as a volunteer in the year 1753,
and in thevwinter of that year undertook an arduous embassy
to the French commandant, through a district that could not
then be travelled by a horse, and at this early period marked
out spots eligible for forts, especially Fort Duquesne. The
embassy failing, force was attempted, and Washington became
lieutenant to Colonel Fry. The French fort became the theatre of war, which was alternately taken and retaken; during
which petty battles Colonel Fry'died and left Washington in
command; and inthis situation the general of the revolution
gained some fame from a masterly retreat before. a very supeciior force of regular French soldiers.  When the British
government heard of these transactions they resolved to profit
by them, and to dispossess the French of some of their territories through the means and at the expense of the colonies.
They directed the governors of the several states to form a
union, and raise a force; and that these united governors, assisted by two members of their respective council, should
direct the whole, and draw upon the British treasury for the
necessary expenses, in the first instance, but to be reimbursed 
by a lax laid on the colonies by the British parliament. This
is the origin of the question which led to the disputes between
Great Britain and the colonies, which ultimately led to
independence.  Franklin was consulted on this subject by
Governor Shirley, and he at once declared the principle of
taxation by the British parliament, in which they were.not
represented, to be unconstitutional and unjust. And thus he,
too, as early as 1754, was initiated into the principles and into the subjects on which,he so much distinguished himself
at a period twenty years later.
In 1755, the king of G reaf Britain, George II., sent out a
large armament, Admial Boscawen, to St. Lawrence, and
General Braddock to Virginia, without a declaration of war,
assuming that the French had commenced hostilities; ind
Washington became the aid-de-camp' of Braddock. Braddock
led his army into the field, relying chiefly on his veterans 
nay, actually despising the militia of the country, and neg



CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.      37
lecting the experienee of Washington. Near Fort Duquesne
he was caught in an Indian defile, and. subject to a species of
warfare he was unaccustomed to; and in that battle he was
slain. WVashington extricated the army from its perilous sit.
nation, retreated to Philadelphia, and afterward defended the
frontiers of Virginia with much ability. Pitt, afterward Lord
Chatham, becoming minister in England, pushed the war with
vigor; and sent out Lord Amherst, an excellent commander,
assisted by Wolfe, General Forbes, and others. In 1758,
Forbes took Fort, Duquesne, while Wolfe lost his life at, but
took Quebec; and in 1760 Amherst took Montreal; and in
1762, the whole of Canada and French NorA America was
yielded to the English, except New Orleans and the adjacent
province. At this period, and in the following year, the colonists were perfectly content. They did not expect Indian
aggression when not supported by French power. They were
satisfied with Britain imposing on them governors, as repre-.
sentatives of royalty, while they enjoyed their colonial assemblies, their trial by jury, and other British rights; they were
in fact, satisfied British subjects, approving of king, lords, and
commons, and, like other British subjects, boasted of their
liberty and their matchless constitution; which they really
thought, for the opibion was common, that this mixed government united all that was excellent in each; while the
parts-checking each other, suppressed all that was vicious in
royalty, aristocracy, or democracy. They were afterward to
be taught the fallacy of these opinions by Thomas Paine. At
this period, 1763, they were politically divided, as in England,
into whigs and tories; or those who assumed to defend or
extend the popular part of the government, and those who
leaned to the aristocratical part, and favored the restriction
of representation to property qualifications, and privileged or
self-elected corporations: but the Whigs predominated. It is
to this period, 1763, that the colonists constantly refer in the
early part of their revolution, before the declaration of independence, as the. situation to which they wished to be restored; and therefore it deserves particular attention. Parliamentary taxation had been named, but never enforced or
acted upon; and in allitheir after-petitions all they ask, is the




38                IIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
repeal of laws since 1763. "Place us,' they repeatedly say,
"in the situation in which we then were."  No feeling qf republicanism is perceived in their addresses; none in their
public acts. Nothing of the kind was openly avowed by any
of their leading men; and the individuals who did occasionally hint at such an event, were regarded as ultras; who,
however correct in theory, held dangerous and impracticable
doctrines: and these were the national feelings up to the
very eve of the declaration of independence; just before
which a change in the whole public sentiment was effected by
the powerful pen of Thomas Paioe, in his " Common Sense;
before which publication the only object avowed, even by the
great men of the age, and seriously sought after by the rest of
the people, was to be placed in the situation of 1763; to be
restored to royal favor, and to enjoy their old British privileges
(not rights).
In 1764 commenced the British and colonial troubles. Mr.
George Grenville had then become minister in Britain. He
proposed to raise a revenue in the American colonies for the
exclusive use of the British treasury. This was, of course,
based upon the late expense of the war, borne by Great Britain, and in consonance with the scheme before noted, of future
remuneration, to the mother-country. About the same time
that this measure was talled of, other obnoxious acts were
attempted. In Massachusetts, the governor published in support of the ministry, and attempted to establish a religious
test, by giving offices only to episcopalians: on which occasion the people sent agents to England. On March 10, 1764,<
the stamp act was declared (not acted upon); which made
certain transactions unlawful if not recorded on stamped
paper, paid for as a tax. Against this Virginia led th'e way
by petition and remonstrance; Massachusetts passed legislative censures; and these two states took the lead in the
whole of the preliminary contests and revolutionary war. The
memorials were not received by parliament; but the parties
were suffered to be heard by council. Dr. Franklin at this
time was agent for Massachusetts. In 1765 the stamnp act
passed, and Boston went into mourning; manifested great
public' spirit; and her merchants agreed to import no goods




CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.      39
till the unjust act should be repealed; while the lower classes
committed some acts of violence: In Virginia a legislative
action was'had on it. Patrick Henry, then a young man, and
scarcely acquainted with the rules of the assembly, waited for
the action of some of the elder legislators but finding them
silent, or disposedc to conciliate, he rose in his place, and proposed a series of resolutions, denouncing the stamp act as
violations of their ancient charters, and destructive of British
and American freed.om, and disclaiming any other authority
to enforce taxes than a general assembly. These resolutions,
after considerable debate, were admitted, and served as a
precedent for other states. The biographer of Patrick Henry,
the late Mr. Wirt, relates, that after Mr.. Henry's death, a
sealed paper was found, directed to be read only when he had
ceased to, live. This paper contained the resolutions referred
to, with remarks. of Mr. Henry in his own handwriting.
He observes:' The resolutions passed with a small, majority; but the alarm spread throughout America. The ministerial party were overwhelmed: the great point of resistance
to British taxation was universally established in the colonies. This brought on the war, which finally separated the
two countries."
In every chain of events there are some links of more importance than others; nay, essential to that chain. It is evident that Patrick Henry thought so of these resolutions: it is
equally evident that he himself looked forward to a separation
of the two countries, and regarded these resolutions as important to that object; yet on the face "of them they only
claim what every Briton claims, and independence and republicanism are not even hinted. The time had not yet come
for such sentiments to be broached; nor how it was to come
was not then known, either to Patrick Henry or to any other
patriot. The man who was destined to convert a nation by
a few pages of " common sense,"V Was then in obscurity; had
just resigned staymaking for a paltry office in the English
excise, and had nev-er published an article: but the resolutions
of Patrick Henry contributed to the crisis which brought Mr.
Paine forward as an author; and as such we regard him as a




40                LIFE OF TIH40MAS PAINE.
chief link, too, iin the chain of events which produced and
consummnated the revolution.
In this same year, 1765, one James Otis, in Miassachusetts,
proposed a congress to be held in New York. A committee
was formed to arrange this. /South Carolina was the first to
yield to the suggestion. The various governors, alarmed,
prrorogued the assemblies of Virginia, North Carolina, and
Georgia: but committees of correspondence were established
in each state; and thus the nucleus of organized resistance
was formed. On the day the stamp act was to take effect,
Boston had the bells tolled; public meetings were held, and
fast days appointed. Violence in some cases was used: and
to wear hooespun became respectable, as marking national
principle. The violent opposition to the stamp act induced
inquiry in London. Franklin was examined at the bar of the
house; and the whigs generally wished the repeal of the obnoxious stamp act. In the house of lords it is reinarlkable;
that the bishops first recommended force to be used to the
Americans; and the king did not wish the repeal of the act.
The law was, however, repealed; and such were the feelings
of the Atmerican people, that they manifested the most rapturous joy; and actually adulated the Britiph government for
not doing them so'great an injustice as to impose oh them
taxes without representation. In Virginia a statue was voted
to the king. From Massachusetts votes of thanks were agreed
upon to the Duke of Grafton and Mr. Pitt; while Boston, and
other parts of the continent, illuminated; and rejoicings were
everywhere heard. W/ell might Thomas Paine say, as he
afterrward did, in the " Crisis, No. VII.:" "I found the disposition of the people such, that they might be led by a thread
and governed by a reed. Their attachment to Britain was.
obstinate; and it was at that time a kind of treason to speak
against it. They disliked the ministry, but they esteemed the
nation. Their ideas of grievance operated without resentment; and their single object was reconciliation."
The foolish ministers again opened the wound by wishing
the states to remunerate those who had suffered by the acts
of violence in resisting the stamp act. And in. 1767, when
Mr. Pitt, or Lord Chatham had again come into. power, but




CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.      41
during his illness, an act was passed, "to restrain the legislative power in New York;" and soon after an act of perfidy
awakened the jealousy and anger of the people; for some
troops landed in Boston, alleging they were driven in precisely
to that port by stress of weather. And in the same year, one
Charles Towrnsend, in the English parliament, publicly announced a plan for taxing the Americans by the English parliamrent, without giving them  offence  and this plan, thus
foolishly announced, consisted in imposing a duty on glass,
pain.t, tea, and paper, to be imported into the colonies; and
to assist this notable scheme, a board of admiralty was imposed on the colonies, to be paid by the natives, and whose
operations cramped the colonies for the supposed benefit of
the mother-country. These measures roused the people, and
again awaked the worst feelings. Boston took the lead,
closely followed by other parts.' The mob committed acts of
violence; while the better sort were loud in petitioning and
remonstrating. Lord Chatham, who had been ill, resigned;
Townsend died; and Lord North succeeded as English chancellor of the exchequer, and afterward as prime minister: and
to his perseverance in a wrong course, for the sake of consist-'
ency, England lost her colonies and' America gained her independence. This, without merit to Lord North, is another
important link in, the chain which led,to independence.
In this year the spirit of resistance was fostered by some
tolerable essays from one John Dickenson, Esq., published in
a Philadelphia paper; while the seizing of Hancock's sloop
" Liberty," for smuggling, furnished the Bostonians the subject of a riot. To quell this, the governor, Bernard, sent for
troops; and the respectable body of the people, at a large
public meeting held at Faneuil Hall, proposed arming in fear
of French invasion. This was undoubtedly a justifiable iruse
to meet the duplicity of the English ministers, whose troops
landed by alleged stress of weather at Boston: it shows, too,
that the Bostonians meant to fight for their liberty; though
independence was never named, nor evidently scarcely conceived of, except by a very few.
In 1769, Lord North, the English minister, obtained a good
support both in the house of commons and in the house of
6




42                LIFE OF THOMIAS PAINE.
lords; and- he determined to maidnain the supremzacy of' the
English government in all things; and to prevent the effects
of native juzries, proposed trying civil officers, charged with
murder or violence in the colonies, in support of the British
government, in England.  On this occasion all the ports
agreed to suspend importations till this grievance should be
removed.
In 1769; the opposition, to the arbitrary measures of the
British government was so great in the colonies, and so powerful the eflect of the non-importation agreement, that the
ministers agreed to discontinue all the duties, except that on
lea; thus perseveringly preserving the principle of taxation
without representation, while they gave up the greater part
of the profit. The war, therefore, that succeeded was a war
on principle, not amount, of taxation.  On this occasion,
Lord Chatham, who had partially recovered from his lae illness, violently opposed the ministers.  During this and the
following year, the spirit of resistance increased, for the
Americans were not to be duped by the repeal of taxes, while
the principle or right of taxation, was maintained. -In Boston,'where the presence of the soldiers was obnoxious, riots ensued; individual quarrels between soldiers and citizens became party quarrels; and three of the soldiers were killed by
the ropemakers.  In New York, the people erected libertypoles, which the soldiers cut down. But the most powerful
incitement to opposition came fiom the pen of McDougal, a
Scotchman, who boldly charged the assembly with betraying
the city and colony of New York, because they had discouraged the people and sanctioned the governor and the troops;
not from attachment, but the necessity of supporting the
laws. McDougal was thrown into prison, where he remained
three months, and then dismissed without'a trial. This fact
shows the force of his writings, and we shall afterward find
this man rendering essential service, for which the notoriety
given him by this' persecution qualified him.
In 1771, Rhode Island showed' considerable excitemrent.
Philadelphia refused to receive the taxed tea; New York and
other places followed, and the vessels returned. But in Boston, where a quantity was assigned, some of the people




CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.     43
dressed like Indians'boarded the ships and threw three hundred and forty-two chests of tea into the sea.  Yet, in this
act, they only sought the liberties which the charters granted
them  and in all their requests, they simply asked to be restored to the situation they were in in 1'763. In all this violence the vword independence was never pronounced.
In 1774, North, enraged at the conduct of the Bostonians,
procured bills, closing their harbor and destroying their an,
cient charter and constitution; thus punishing a whole people and people unborn for the specific acts of some. Against
this Lord Chatham protests; and Burke the Irish orator made
a brilliant speech.  The career of the latter is identified
with.Paine; for he afterwardh became a pensioner to the
British government, and apdlogist for the Bourbon family,
and the opponent of the French revolution, and his woirk on
this subject produced Paine's celebrated "Rights of Man."
Boston, when her harbors'were about to be closed, appealed
to other cities and states. Virginia, ever ready and firm in
"the cause of opposition to arbitrary measures, appointed
through her legislature the day for closing Boston harbor
(1st of June, 1774), as a day of solemn fasting; a measure
always efficacious, for it enlists religious enthusiasm, and
presents to the opponent a ghostly power,,of immense force,
which feels no blows. Cromwell, Mahomet, and Thomas a
Becket, peifectly understood these tactics, and succeeded in
their Aise.  The governor dissolved the house in May, but
the members formed an association, before even they' had
heard from Boston.  They published, too, a manifesto, recommending that no East India produce be used, except saltpetre and spice.  At New York, the parties were nearly
equal; but the popularity of M'Dougal, the Scotchman before noticed, for his spirited writings, gave him a considerable influence, well supported as he was by Captain Sears.
M'Dougal had both the honor to propose a second congress,
the influence to get a committee for that purpose, and the address to carry this out, together with standing local committees: and this arrangement lasted till the declaration of
independence. The various members to this congress, are
the distinguished men, whose names are familiar to uS as fa



44                LIFE OF THOMIAS PAINE.
thers of the revolution.  This congress was generally appointed by the legislatures, and made legal, to effect which
there were some previous secret meetings in Massachusetts.
A committee had been appointed on the state of the province,
which consisted of Samuel Adams, Joseph' Warren, John
Hancock, I. Cutting, Robert Treat Paine, and others. Before
they reported they requested the doors might be shut; and
then they proceeded to recommend a congress and an immediate decision. A spy of the governor affected a bowel corn-,
plaint, and was suffered to depart; but neither he, nor the
governor, nor his agent, wvas suffered to enter till the congress
was confirmed; and the governor's dissolution of the assembly, made on the outside, was neither heard nor regarded.
Virginia appointed Washington, Patrick Henry, &c., and declared herself ready to support Boston, but at the same time
carefully instructed her delegates not to break with Britain;
to support only their British privileges, or what they claimed
as the rights of Englishmen. At this period, Rhode Island
issued a motto, now familiar to our ears, but which at the same
time is degraded by party politics, "United, we stand-divided, we fall."  A,motto, asong, a toast, or a pamphlet, will
sometimes produce a unanimity, which much greater efforts
have failed in.  Georgia, of all the states, sent no deputies
to this congress; but she, too, soon after, when the danger
had not decreased, joined the union.
It should be remembered, that about this time,'Mr. Thomas Paine, by the advice of Dr. Franklin, then in England, was
embarking for North America. It is evident that Franklin
had a design of benefiting his country by this recommendation, in the precise way in which Paine effected it; for
Franklin soon followed Paine, and almost immediately offered
to put into his hands tlhe materials for the eventful history of
the times. Paine at that time was actually engaged on his
"Common Sense,' and soon after sent him the first copy to
surprise him by showing that he had anticipated his designs
and wishes. These events throw a sort of halo about the
characters of these two men, highly respectable to both.
VWhen Franklin knew Mr. Paine, he was in London, ruined in'
his fortune and prospects; of no literary reputation, but for




FRANKLIN AND PAINE.              45
one pamphlet, in which he pleaded the unpopular cause of
the exciseinen. He'had then no distinguished acquaintances,
to whom he was indebted for an introduction. Franklin was'
at this time a doctor, distinguished for his learning, philosophy, and above all for his common sense. He was an old
man, pithy and sententious, acquainted with the manner of
addressing the people, himself an author (and authors are
tenacious), yet he becomes the friend of Paine, advises him.
to come to this country, gives him letters which procure hini
at once a literary engagement, and on his return almost immediately offers to put in his hands the materials for the history of the times; while Paine was but a foreigner of a few
months standing,. What, then, are our conclusions, but that
Franklin had the genius to discover Paine's peculiar tact and
talents, and that he had the address to second Paine's wishes
in coming to this country; without acquainting Paine with
all his motives, and thus indirectly to effect what he himself
wished'  But what means had Franklin to know Paine 
His pamphlet on the excise must have been the only source
by which his qualities as a writer could be known; but that
pamphlet is characteristic, and Franklin's conclusion must
have been correct that he who could employ such good sense,
in so powerful a manner, on such a bad subject, could, on a
better subject, effect much. Franklin must, too, have discovered the sound and correct, judgment of Paine, by conversations, and lie must have believed in the correctness of his
principles and extent of his knowledge, before he could think
of giving into his hands what his own countrymen thought
himself (Franklin) so capable of. This conduct of Franklin,
in preferring Paine to himself for this important object, whilo
it reflects the greatest credit upon Paine's' natural abilities.
acquisitions, and moral virtues, redounds also to Franklin's
glory. It is great men only that can afford to be generous;
and Franklin in this preference marks a greatness of character,
which never forsook him  while it marks also the calumniators of Paine, those who have attempted to present him to
the public as a demoralized, vulgar, and illiterate man, as base
unprincipled slanderers, whose calumnies are not the less
venomous for proceeding frequently from reverend persons.




46               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE,
While Mr. Paine was preparing to leave his country, and
during his voyage, events were ripening the crisis which
should render his services valuable. Boston was distressed
by a blockade; while the men, assisted even by the woimen,
exercised themselves in arms. The governor of Boston had
removed to Salem; but the spirit of the people brought
him back.  His proclamations availed nothing. Meetings
were held: and we cannot but observe the imperfect notions
of political justice and civil rights, when among their complaints, they charge on the British government as a crime
their doing a portion of justice to the catholics of Canada:
such is the force ofiprejudice, religious instruction, and early
impressions. The Bostonians were now indeed cruelly treated; but they were upheld by all the states; and the congress
was now assembled (the latter part of September, 1774):
Patrick Henry first spoke, and gave a manly tone to the
meeting: events had presented the subject; it was not a
matter of choice. The first question nqcessarily was:  Shall
we make common cause with Boston?" and after a month's
delay, or of protracted discussions, the congress (on Oct. 6,
1774) resolved upon supporting Boston; still, however, praying a reconciliation. In their resolutions they declare themselves his majesty's loyal subjects: they declare they are
Englishmen, and want only Englishmen's rights: and'they
especially demand to be restored to the situation they were in
in 1763; that is, after the French war, in which the French
lost Canada, and before Sir George Grenville's stamp act.
After a variety of useful resolutions, and a declaration not to
support the slave-trade, the formation of committees, and the
establishment of provincial congresses, they dissolved; but
resolved to meet again in May, 1775, in Philadelphia. This
then was not a dissolution, but an adjournment of the congress, which afterward declared for independence. At this
time Thomas Paine must have embarked from, England; for
he arrived at Philadelphia in the winter of 1774. The local
congress formed two committees: one of safety, which provided a militia; and the other a committee of supplies, which
provided for them, and other necessary expenses. A new
parliament in England was much divided. The king, in his




THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTOTl.          4
speech, was unfavorable to the colonies: Lord Chatham, and
the greatest men in the ministry, in favor of them:. while
Lord North still attempted to intimidate the people by Lunjust
acts. Ie proposed a bill to restrict the people of New England from fishing;: and performed other irritating.acts of
tyranny. In the colonies the military seized on several collections of arms and stores: but the militia being sanctioned
by the local congresses, retaliated as these assemblies declared the supplies collected in forts necessary for the safety
of the state: thus the people of Pr'ovince, in New Hampshire,
took the stores from Forts William and Maria. In Virginia
Patrick Henry trained a company. At this period Paine had
arrived, and was engaged on various periodicals by Mr. Aitkii,
of Philadelphia; in which situation he necessarily became
acquainted with the local politics; while, from his recent
arrival, he knew also public feeling in Great Britain: and
thus he was becoming matured for what he afterward so well
effected. Dr'. ranklin had, too, returned to the colonies, and
took the place of another deputy in Congress; Thomas Jefferson, likewise, took the place of ahother member: and thus
events gradually led on the cause of independence; while not
a word on the subject was uttered, even by those who wished
it; for they had no hopes of seeiag the people unanimous,
and really expected that any propbsition of the kind would
subdivide those struggling against the tyranny of the British
government.
In April, 1775, an important event occurred. General Gage
marched a few troops to Concord to seize some military
stores. The people knew his design, and resolved on opposition. At Lexington a few militia were drawn up to watch
his motions, but with strict orders not to molest him. These
General Gage ordered to disperse; and after repeating his
orders, fired on the body, and killed eight militiamen.  The
militia dispersed; but some of them returned the fire. The
British colonel (Smith) now moved on to Concord; during
which time the militia assembled in great numbers, resolved
to harass the troops on their return. The stores were removed fromr Concord, except a little flour, which Col. Smith
destroyed, and then commenced a retreat; but the British




W48$ ~ ~      LIFE OF TIOMiAS PAINE.
were met at every pass,' and annoyed by secret foes along
the whole road; and it is probable that the whole force of
nine hundred men would'have been destroyed; had not Lord
Percy brought a re-enforcement to his rescue. In Virginia,
about the same time, the king s troops seized on a quantity
of powder; but being pursued by Patrick Henry, who suddenly raised' five thousand mien, the value of the powder was
recovered  In M-assachusetts an army was immediately raised, and the command gi/en to Putnam, who had fought in the
Canada war. This man, who was one of the best revolutionary generals, had to lay by his leather apron when he became
a general. The provincial troops now seized on the military
Stores whererver they could; and thus the example of the
king's troops aiiorded the first means of getting supplies. In
this year Colonel Ethan Allen and Arnold not only took the
stores, but the fort of Ticonderoga, by surprise. The British
at this time \were commanded by Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne. An offer of pardon was made to those who would lay
down their arms, excepting Samuel Adams and Hancock:
this last, as a compliment to the distinction shown him by the
British, was made president of the congress: but he was more
remarkable for his''ealth and courage than abilities. On the
15th of June, Washington received the chief command: he
declined a salary, and only wished his expenses paid.
On the 16th of June, General Putnam ordered Colonel Prescott to take possession of Bunker's hill, with a thousand men.
By some mnistakeBreed's hill was occupied instead; and the
general himself assisted in throwing up a breastwork during
the nighto To dispossess the Americans of this post, the famous battle of Bunker s hill was fought s which, though lost
by the Americans, was so honorable to them, that it served
as a watchword during the war, and as a grateful monument
since. The men accustomed to the rifle repeatedly repulsed
the enemy by reserving their fire till the approaching column
was very near, and offered marks to be shot ato Trhis coolness
was altogether unexpected from raw troops  and could it
have been exercised in all subsequent engagements, the war
which succeeded would have been of short duration. In the
summner of 1775, an Irish regiment arrived to the assistance




CAUSES OF THIE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.    49
of the Americans;; but as they were destitute of both arms
and provisions, they were not at first very useful to the cause
they came to serve. In July, Georgia sent deputies to congress; and in the same month congress published a declaration, earnestly desiring a reconciliation with Britain: they forwarded also a mosl humble petition to the king. The language
of this petition is more humiliating than either the circumstances required, or the spirit of the people could suggest; and
it was evidently drawn up to satisfy that class of people who
always hope for the best; and who, on this occasion, hoped to
obtain by begging, what others knew very well could only be
obtained by courage. But these good meaning men would
have been lost to the party had their wishes not been attended to. The action on this petition was afterward of great importance. In the meantime the congress did not trust::to
petitioning: they did something more substantial; they trained riflemen. In the south twelve volunteers travelled'- to
Florida, and seized a vessel with fifteen thousand pounds of
gunpowder in it; and giving the captain bills on congress,,
brought it off. In the south Lord Dunmore proposed to liberate the: slaves, and arm them against their masters; but, he
either could not, or did not effect much in that way. In the
north, an expedition was undertaken to Canada. St. John
and Montreal were taken by Montgomery; but Colonel Allen
was made prisoner, Mioontgomery was killed, and Arnold had
his leg broken: the expedition was not finally successful.
Letters of marque were also granted. On the other side,
Lord Dunmore burned Norfolk, and threatened other places.
At this period, late in the year 1775,:Paine Awas engaged on
his " Common Sense." About January, 1776, accounts were
received that the petition forwarded to the king, from which
so much was hoped by a part of the people, had been rejected; and no answer was'deigned in reply. The same. opportunities brouight accounts of foreign troops (Hessians) being
engaged to combat the colonies; and that a large;armament
was coming out. Mr. Penn had indeed been examined at the
bar of the house of commons; and his examination proved
that the colonists had then no thoughts of independenceo
They were now operated on by anger and fear: anger at the
7




50               LIFE OF THIOMAS PAINE.
contemptuous treatment of their petition; and fear for the,consequences of resistance, and at the force about to be
brought against them. Yet none talked of independence, but
a few of no weight in society; as none of the leaders would
risk-their popularity in supporting what appeared hopeless:
yet Jefferson, Franklin, Patrick Henry, and others, evidently
wished iindependence: but this could only be supported by
the unanimity of the body of the, people; and these did not
dare to dream of it. At this period of excitement, anger, and
fear, Paine published his "Common Sense;" and boldly proposed independence, as the best means to get out of the difficulties into which they had now plunged; and as an object
alone worth fighting for. This pamphlet effected wonders:
it overcame difficulties apparently insurmountable, for it removed prejudices, generally a hopeless task: it convinced
the people that the British constitution was not the best thal
could be, and that a government of kings, lords, and commons,
might nol be the essence of all that is excellent in each; but
that the union might retain much that was bad in each: he
satisfied the people of the disadvantages of carrying on
war with a government whose authority was acknowledged:
and he opened to them the resources within their power, and
hinted at the possibility of getting foreign help as an independent nation. He produced, what his writings generally did
produce, a change of opinion. The pamphlet was read from
north to south; everybody talked about it; and each seemed
surprised that he had not had the same thoughts, so clear did
the propositions appear as explained in "Common Sense."
The boldness of the language, indeed, alarmed those who are
in the habit of understanding for other people: they had no
objection to it themselves, but they thought the people not
yet prepared for such opinions; and some ludicrous scenes
occurred. The people, indeed, were not prepared: they read
first from curiosity, and then became convinced. Paine absolutely produced. the events he sought. He wanted a declaration of independence, and he produced the wish for it. Clio
lickman observes, in a note on Cheetham's life of Paine,
that



,EFFECTS OF COIMMION SEN~E."        91
"When' Common Sense' arrived at Albany the convention
of New York was in session: GenePal Scott, a leading member, alarmed at the boldness and novelty of its arguments,
mentioned his fears to several of his distinguished colleagues,
and suggested a private meeting in the evening for the purpose
of' writinga a  apnswer.  They accordingly met, and, Mr.
M'Kesson read the pamphlet throtigh.'At first it was deemed
both necessary and expedient to answer it immediately, but
casting about for the necessary arguments they concluded to
adjourn and meet again. In a few evenings they assembled,
but so rapid was the change of opinion in the colonies.at
large in favor of independence, that they ultimately agreed
not to oppose it."
When Mr. Paine saw the avidity with which his booklwas
read, as he had not published for interest but principle, he
generously gave the copyright to every state. His own. observations on the subject are these:"Politics and self-interest have been so uniformly connected that the world from being so often deceived has a right to
be suspicious of public characters. But with regard to myself, I am perfectly easy on this head. I did not at my first
setting out in public life, nearly seventeen years ago, turn my
thoughts to subjects of government fromR motives of interest;
and my conduct from that moment to this proves the efact. I
saw an opportunity in which I thought I could do some good,
and I followed exactly what my heart dictated. I neither read
books, nor studied other people's opinions-I thought for
myself. The case was this:During the suspension of the old government in America,
both prior to and at the breaking ont of hostilities, I was
struck with the order and decorum with which everything
was conducted, and impressed with the idea that a little more
than what society naturally performed was all the government
that was necessary. On these principles I published the pamphlet' Common Sense.'
The success it met with was beyond anything since the invention of printing. I gave the copyright up to every state
in the Union, and the demand run to not less than one hundred thousand copies, and:I continued the subject under the
title of' American Crisis,' till the complete establishment of
the American revolution.'
The disinterested conduct of Mr. Paine, considering the
enormous quantity that was sold, is a remarkable trait in his
character, and one which should excite in the breast of every




52               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
American citizen a lively sense of gratitude. Paine, at,this
time, was yet a poor man. It would have been perfectly honorable in him to take the ordinary profit. That profit on
"Common Sense" alone must have been enormously large, and
a large profit could have been made on each number of the "Crisis;" and Paine, without the slightest imputation on his character, could have realized a handsome fortune, while he rendered a most important service to his adopted country. We
know of no example of the kind; some rich men publish for
principle, but we know of no poor man, who had the temptation of popularity to anything like the extent which Mr.
Paine enjoyed by this publication, who gave to the public his
copyright.  He stands, therefore, alone, as a remarkable instance of great generosity and public'spirit. Mr. Paine was
never an extravagant man. While in public life, and in the
enjoyment of a moderate competency, he lived like a gentleman in this country, in England, and in France: but when in
retirement, both in France and in this country, at a late period-of his life, when many of his former friends avoided, an.
intimacy for fear of the unpopularity of his religious opinions,
he then evidently became careless of appearances, and, though
always well clothed, comfortably lodged, and possessed of the
comforts of life, yet, in his old age, his style of living was
mean. Yet what can we say of the meanness of a man, who
thus nobly gives up thousands, glorying in the act, and per-'
severing in it, in all his successive political and theological
publications' The only answer is that he had not an extravagant taste, and this enabled him to be generous; while
this taste, at variance with the taste of others in equal circumstances,  will necessarily.appear parsimonious.  Had
Paine been less parsimonious, he would probably have been
less generous.  His capability of living on a little, evidently
suggested the idea that great riches were unnecessary in a
private situation.
"The time was now arrived," says Sherwin, " when our
author was to talke an active as well as a decisive part in public affairs. The declaration of independence had removed
the scene of political warfare from the closet to the camp,
andit was now become necessary to try the strength of public




PAINE'S " COMMION SENSE."         53
patriotism by bringing it into the field of military operations.
Warlike preparations were immediately set on foot by the
Americans. Maany individuals of respectability volunteered
their services in support of their country's freedom, and
among the foremost of them was Mr. Paine. In this capacity he Was introduced to the friendship of the Marquis de la
Fayette, who was likewise serving as a volunteer in the American army. The officers treated our author with every possible mark of respect; at their tables he was hailed as a welcome guest, and General Washington himself neglected no
opportunity of showing the high opinion he entertained of
his talents and integrity."
Cheetham, in spite of his prejudices, gives the following
brief account of Paine's services at this time:"' When'Common Sense' was written, the friends of independence were not republicans.  Paine's invectives against
monarchy were intended against the monarchy of England,
rather than against monarchy in general, and they were popular in the degree to which the measures and designs of the
British cabinet were odious. The question, when no alternative but colonial vassalage or national independence presented
itself, was one merely of independence, for, as Mr. Adams
truly remarked, the colonists had no wish but for the'immemorial liberties of their ancestors.'  To' this may be added
the observation of Dr. Franklin, that they could not even
hope for a government under which they could enjoy liberties
more precious.
On the fourth of July, 1776, congress declared the colonies'free and independent states,' which was as soon after the
publication of' Common Sense,' Paine remarks, as the xwork
could spread through such an extensive country.'
Paine now accorpanied the army of independence as a sort
of itinerant writer, of which his pen was an appendage almost
as necessary and formidable as its,cannon. Having no property, he fared as the army fared, and at the same expense, but
to what mess he was attached"I have not been able to learn,
although, from what I hear and know, it must, I think, though
he, was sometimes admitted into higher company, have been
a subaltern one.  When the colonists drooped he revived
them with a' Crisis.' The first of these numbers he published early in December, 1776. The object of it was good, the
method excellent, and the language suited to the depressed
spirits of the army, of public bodies, and of private citizens,
cheering. Washington, defeated on Long Island, had retreated to New York, and been driven with great loss from Forts
Washington and Lee. The gallant little army, overwhelmed




~541, ~      LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
with a rapid succession' of misfortunes, was dwindling' away,
and all seemed to be over with the cause, when scarcely a
blow had been struck.'These,' said the'Crisi4,''are the
times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his
country; but he that stands it Now, deserves the,love and
thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily
conquered,; yet' we have this consolation with us, that the
harder the conflict the-imore glorious the triumph: what we
obtain too cheap we esteem too lightly?
The number was read in the camp, to every corporal's
guard, and in the army and out of it had more than tle intended effect.  The convention of New York, reduced by
dispersion occasioned by alarm, to nine members, was rallied
and reanimated. Militiamen, who, already tired of the war,,,
were straggling from the army, returned.  Hope succeeded
to despair, cheerfulness to-gloom, and firmness to irresolution,
To the confidence Which it inspired may'be attributed much
of the brilliant little affair which in the same month followed
at Trenton."
The impression which this first number of the " Crisis" made
on the public mind, is evident by the very first sentence being
handed down already to two generations, as a sort of watchword: "'These are the times that try men's souls;" yet the
dastardly enmity to Paine has suppressed the author. Thousands use this expression, while individuals only know the
origin of it. Yet the fact of this expression being thus hand.,
ed down even in spite of the-personal prejudices against the
man, clearly shows the impression this well-timed pamphlet
must have made on the nation. The extract we have given
scarcely shows the facts:the American army was dispirited;
they were even brought into contempt by their unsoldierlike
appearance in comparison to the well-clothed, well-fed regu.
lars, preceded by. elegant bands of music. The militia whose
time was up were returning in disgust; the army appeared
disbanded. It was Paine's task to reinstate it, to place honor.where it was deserved, and to convert the despairing, degraded, because despised soldier, into a warm patriot, and to convert a feeling of scorn into one of encouragement; and this
task Paine admirably performed.
"The affair of Trenton elevating American confidene," as
Cheetham remarks, "and breathing caution into the British




SECRETARY TO THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT.     55
army, Paine, in January, 1777, congratulated the' free and in,
dependent states' in a second number of the'Crisis.' It is
addressed to Lord Howe, and ridicules his proclamation,'commanding all congresses, committees, &c., to desist and
cease from their treasonable doings.'  Against the king and
his purposes, it is full of invective, but of a sort rather popular than exquisite: Fortunately for the United States the British coimnander-in-chief dealt more in impotent proclamations,
than in the efficacy of arms. Washington's retreat to Trenton was a compulsive one.  He had not from choice and by
military skill drawn the Hessians into the toil in whici they
were ensnared. I do not believe that even a number of the' Crisis' could have saved the American army and cause from
annihilation, if Howe had been an ac,tive and persevering, an
enlightened and energetic commander.  Washington's patience and care, his admirable coolness and prudence, although
often, in the course of the war, provoked to battle by a thousand irritating circumstances, by internal faction, and by
British sneers, saved America to freedom; while the idle dissipation of Howe, his devotion to licentious pleasures, his unmartial spirit and conduct, lost it to the crown.
On the nineteenth of April, 1777, he published, at Philadelphia, the third number of the' Crisis.' As there had been no
military operations from the capture of the Hessians at Trenton,
it was devoted to an examination of occurrences since the declaration of independence, and to a repetition of the arguments
which he had employed in'Common Sense' in favor of independence."
At this time, or rather onthe 17th of April, Mr. Paine was
elected by congress secretary to the committee for foreign
affairs. No man could be more suitable for this situation:
and ably did he'serve it. The duties of his office corresponded with that of the English secretary for foreign affairs. He
stood in the same relation to the committee as that officer
did to the cabinet. All foreign communications were addressed to Mr. Paine, and by him perused, and then laid before the
committee by whose instructions he acted. In his foreign
communlications he assumed the same title which the British
minister did who performed the same task. On this subject
Cheetham is very spiteful, and supposes he. did so from vanity; and insidiously mentions the amount of the paltry salary
which M/r. Paine received, as a sort of presumptuous evidence
that he ought not, with such a salary, to call himself " secretary for foreign affairs."  But the fact is, it vas policy in




56.               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
MIr. Paine to do so: he wrote then in the style of an equal,
and assumed a proper dignity useful to his adopted country.
In the early part of September, 1777, Sir WJilliam Howe and
Cornwao'lis were pushing on the line of the Brandywine towvard Philadelphia; and to, satisfy the public mind, Washington was obliged to risk a battle. He did so, and lost the
battle; but being ably assisted by La Fayette, and other French
and Polish officers, he made good his retreat, without any
very serious injury. On this occasion Paine published his
fourth " Crisis;" short, but admirably adapted to the purpose;
and the n2orale. or confidence of the army increased, so that,
could they have fought, the battle over again, the soldiers
would have done it.
While Washington was engaged with Howe and Cornwallis
near Philadelphia, General Gates was watching the movements
of Burgoyne, descending the Hudson; and fell upon him at
Saratoga, where.the militia simultaneously joined him; and
Burgoyne, weakened by his march, and disappointed in the
junction of the New York army with him in this neighborhood,
was surrounded, and obliged to surrender. Howe, aware of
this, and not being able to brihg isWashington to a general engagement, became predatory in his warfare: on which occasion Paine brought out his fifth " Crisis;" which, as Sherwiin
remarksWas published At Lancaster, in Pennsylvania, March, 1778.
It consists of a letter addressed to General Sir William Howe,
and an:4Address to the Inhabitants of America.' The advantages
gained by General Howe he considers of so trifling a nature,
as rather to prove the impotence of his troops, than to show
their ability to prosecute their object. He cites the retreat of
the British as a co4firmation of this conclusion. He ridicules,
with considerable force, the vanity of attaching importance to
titles, and the pretensions which Sir William had set forth to
the esteem of the Americans.. He is very severe on the mean
and cowardly conduct of Sir William in distributing forged
continental bills. - If this charge vwere true, and the evidence
given is too conclusive to admit of its:being doubted, it is a
most disgraceful circumstance to those employed in carrying
on the war.' In the conduct of an army there are certain
~ The only parallel to this proceeding that I have ever heard of, is the con.duct of Pitt toward the French in 1795. It has been said that Mr. Pitt was the
inventor of this cowardly species of warfare; but this the, reader Will perceive to




FORGED CONTINENTAL MONEY.            57
acts which we consider dishonorable, and which a commander
who values his character will always be careful to prevent.
These are not laid down byany law; because, when countries
are at war with each other, law is totally out of the question:
they depend on the disposition of a generaland the discipline:
of his troops. But of all the low, drivelling practices that
were ever resorted to by an army to distress a people with
whom it was at war, the project of forging their bills is the
most despicable. It is in a moral sense what assassination is
in a physical sense; and ought never to be resorted to except
as a measure of retaliation. It is, however, impossible to reprobate the practice in stronger terms than Paine'has done in
the publication before us.'You, sir,' says he, in the address
to Sir William,'have abetted and patronised the forging and
uttering counterfeit continental bills. In the same New York
newspapers in which your own proclamation under your master's authority was published, offering or pretending to ofrer
pardon and protection to the inhabitants of these states, there
were repeated advertisements of counterfeit money for sale;
and persons who have corme officially from you, anid under
sanction of your flag, have been taken up in attempting to put
them off'. A conduct so basely mean in a public character is
without precedent or pretence.  Every nation on earth,
whether friends or enemies, will join in condemning you. It
is an incendiary war upon society, which nothing can excuse
or palliate: an improvement upon beggarly villany; and
shows an inbred wretchedness of heart, made up between tlie
venomous malignity of a serpent, and the spiteful, imbecility
of an inferior reptile.' The severity of these reproaches finds
an apology in the circumstances of the case; for though the
language is harsh, it is nevertheless just; and the flault lies
with the person who deserves, not with him who applies it.
There, perhaps, is not any, species of composition which, in
a few years, becomes so dry and insipid as disquisitions upon
the politics of the day; and those writers who have been able
to give to such' subject a permanent interest, must be allowed to possess talents of a superior description. The ability
displayed by Paine in the productions before us, has conferred
a lasting importance on events whbich, passing'through the icy
mediumr of distant history, woild have mret with but little
attention. HIe makes us feel as well as see the objects he is
writing upon; and though in some instances he does not attempt to give his language that high polish of which it is susceptible, yet we soon discover the intrinsic value of his sentiments, and we respect the rough exterior as an evidence of the
be an'unfoundled supposition. Not that I wish to deprive Mr. Pitt of any of the
infamv of such an expedient. I merely mention it to show, that in one of his
most dishonorable schemes he was no more than a common imitator.
8




58               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
author's sincerity, while a multitude of graces wo'uld only
tend to bring his motives into suspicion.
The subsequent part of the letter to General Howe discovers a fund of thought, penetration, and feeling. Though 1
intend to be as brief as possible in maling extracts from works
which cannot be properly appreciated unless they are perused
entire, yet the following is so prophetically true, that I cannot resist the temptation of quoting it:-'There is something in meanness which excites a species
of resentment that never subsides; and something in cruelty
which stirs up the heart to the highest agony of human hatred.
Britain has filled up both these characters till no addition can
be made, and hath not reputation left with us to obtain credit
for the slightest promise. The will of God hath parted us;
and the deed is registered for eternity. When she shall be a
spot scarcely visible among nations, America shall flourish, the
favorite of Heaven, and the friend of mankind.'
If the implicit supporters of arbitrary power and orthodox
despotism will not admit Paine to have prophesied from inspiration, it is to be hoped they will allow him to possess the
merit of sound judgment and rational reflection. At all events,
his calumniators cannot deny that the foregoing prediction is
fast verging toward its fulfilment.  Our author concludes
No. V. with an address to the inhabitants of America. In this
he exhorts them to fresh perseverance; and, after an elaborate
description of the situation of the respective armies, he closes
by proposing a plan for recruiting the American forces.
The sixth number of the'Crisis' was published at Philadelphia, in October, 1778. The subject is a letter to the earl of
Carlisle, General Clinton, and William Eden, Esq., British
commissioners at New York. These gentlemen, in opposition
to all the dictates of, reason and experience, had issued a
proclamation, calliing upon the rebellious Americans to renew
their allegiance to the king of Great Britain, whom theypompously described as the'rightful sovereign' of America. The
treaty which had recently been concluded between America
and France, appears to have been the principal cause of this
fresh display of folly. The pains'vhich the poor, commis
sioners were at to make themselves and their royal master
appear ridiculous, were in strict conformity with the blundering policy which had given rise to their appointment; and
their promises and pardons, their flattery and threats, were
alike' unavailing. The government of England, instead of
being looked upon as n affectionate parent, was now regarded as an unnatural monster, who had sought to strangle her
infant offspring.' Even those who at first had been the most
zealous friends of reconciliation, were by this time deprived
of all their long-cherished hopes; for they clearly saw that a




THE CRISIS-SILAS DEANE.            59
reunion with the British government vwold be the certain
forerunner of the most abject slavery. The pretensions and
offers of the commissioners were, therefore, either spurned as
an insult to the people, br ridiculed as a silly display of ima —
ginary power. And when to this state of things we add the
previous capture of General Burgoyne, their situation becomes
truly pitiable. With such materials to work upon, it is impossible that a man of any ability would write ill; and we
therefore need not wonder that they furnished Paine with the
groundwork of one of the best nunmbers of the'Crisis.' As
an'analysis of this production would not tend in any degree
to do justice to the writer's merits, I shall avoid making extracts from this as well as the subsequent numbers; recommending to the reader an attentive perusal of the whole, as
the only mode of enabling himself to appreciate the talents,
perseverance,/ and patriotism of the author.
The seventh number of the' Crisis' was published at Philadelphia, Nov. 21, 1778. It consists of a letter to the people
of England: The object of this number appears to have differed in some degree from that of its immediate predecessor:
the one being writtent for the purpose of convincing the government, and the other of proving to the people the improbability of subduing America. The delusive hopes with which.the ministry had amused the nation, the disgrace which must
attend the hitherto invincible armies of England, and the
wickedness of any man in even wishing those armies to be
successful, are expo'sed with an ability which must have been
most severely felt by the enemies, and warmly applauded by
the friends of independence. The number likewise contains
some excellent reflections on the subject of national honor
and the mischievous effects of national vanity.
In January, 1779, our author resigned his situation of secretary for foreign affairs.'This resignation was in consequence of a disagreement which had taken place between the
congress and Mr. Paine, respecting a person of the name of
Silas Deane. In the early part of the war, it appears that this
man had been employed by the comm'ittee for foreign affairs
as an agent in France, for the purpose of obtaining supplies,
either as a loan'from the French government, or, if he failed
in this, to purchase them as regular merchandise. Without
waiting the issue of his separate nmission, he was soon after
nominated with Dr. Franklin and Mr. Lee, who proceeded
to the court of Louis for the same purp.se. The French
monarch, more perhaps from his hostility to the English government, than from any attachment to the American cause,
gladly acceded to the request; and the supplies were immediately furnished from the king's arsenal. As France was
then to all appearance upon amicable terms with England, a
pledge was given by the American commissioners that the




60               LIFE OF THOMASPAINE.
grant should remain a secret. The supplies were accordingly
shipped in the name of,a Mr. Beaumarchais, and consigned to
an imaginary house in the United States. Deane, taking advantage of the secresy which had been promised by the commissioners, pres6nted a claim for compensation in behalf of
himself and Beaumarchais; thinking, perhaps, that the auditing committee would prefer a compliance with his fraudulent
demand, rather than expose their ally, the king of France, to
a rupture with England.,'At first there appeared an inclination to comply with his request; and Mr. Paine, perceiving
this, and knowing the circumstances of the case, resolved on
laying the transaction before the public. He accorldingly
wrote for the newspapers several essays, under the title of'Common Sense to the Public on Mr. Deane's Affairs.' In
these he exposed, without ceremony, the dishonest designs of.Deane. The business, in consequence, soon became a subject
of general conversation: the demand was rejected by the
auditing committee, and Deane himself soon afterward absconded to England.
For this piece of service to the Americans our author was
thanked and applauded by the body of the people; but by this
time a party had begun to form itself, whose principles, if not
the reverse of independence, were the reverse of republicanism.
These men, as individuals, had long envied the popularity of
M'r. Paine, but from their want of means to check or control
it, they had hitherto remained silent. An opportunity was now
offered for venting their spleen. Mr. Paine, in expressing his
indignation against the claims of Mr. Deane, had mentioned
one or two circumstances that had come to his knowledge in
consequence ot his office; a plan was immediately formed for
depriving him of his situation; and, accordingly, a motion
was made by one of the members for an order to bring him
before the congress. Mr. Paine readily attended; and on
being asked. whether the articles in question were written by.
him, he replied that they were. He was then directed to
withdraw. As soon as he had left the house, a member arose
and moved:'That Thomas Paine be discharged from the
office of secretary to the committee for foreign affairs;' but
the motion was lost upon a division. Mr. Paine then wrote
to congress, requesting that he might be heard in his defence,
and Mr. Laurens made a motion for that purpose, which was
negatived. The next day he sent in his resignation, concluding with these words: "As I cannot, consistently with my
character as a freeman, submit to be censured unheard; therefore, to preserve that character and maintain that right, I think
it my duty to resign the office of secretary to the committee
for foreign affairs; and I do hereby resign the same.'
This conduct on the part of the congress may, in some degree, be attributed to a desire to quiet the fears of the French




CLERK TO PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATURE.      61
ambassador, vwho had bec6olie very dissatisfied, in consequence
of its being knowsn to the world that the supplies were a present from his master. To silence his apprehensions, and preserve the friendship of the, French court, they treated Paine
with ingratitude. This they acknowledged at a future period
by a grant; of which we shall have occasion to speak in its
proper place.
Our author was now deprived of the means of obtaining.a
livelihod; and not being disposed to render his literary
labors subservient to his personal wants, he engaged himself
as clerk to Mr. Biddle, an attorney at Philadelphia.
iMr. Paine's dispute with the congress produced no change
in his patriotism. On every occasion he continued to display
the same degree of independence and resolution which had
produced his first animated efforts in favor of the republican
cause.  Neither personal altercation, nor pecuniary embatrassments, had any effect upon his principles. He had enlisted
himself as,a volunteer in the American cause; and he vindicated her rights under every change of circumstance, with the
unabated ardor of a freeman.
Soon after the resignation of his secretaryship, our author
was chosen clerk of the legislature of Pennsylvania. This
appointment is a proof that, though he had some enemies, he
had many friends; and that the insidious insinuations of the
former had not been enabled to weaken the attachment of the
latter.
In March, 1780, Mr. Paine published the eighth number of
the'Crisis.' The subject of this is a second address to the
people of England. It is written much in the same style as
the one which preceded it. From all that had taken place, it
was apparent that America was beyond the reach of conquest;
and seeing this, he very properJy asks the English people
what their motive was in protracting a contest which appeared to be fraught with nothing'but self-destruction. He dwells
with great emphasis on the calamities of war; and represents
the people of Englr'nd as ignorant of any of its effects, except
that of taxation. He could not have had a better opportunity
of depicting the miseries of military contention; and the portrait he has drawn is as natural as life.
In June following, he published at Philadelphia the ninth
numbei of the'Crisis.' This seems to }have been written for
the purpose of consoling the Americans for the loss of Charlestown, which had recently fallen into the hands of the British.
He reasons with considerable force and ingenuity on the insirnificance of such a conquest; and consoles his readers by
reflecting that similar misfortunes were unavoidable during a
state of local warfare; and that they were in some measure
advAntageous, inasmuch as,- without endangering, the reil




62                LIFE OF THOBAS PAINE.
safety of the country, they were sufficiently injurious to, prevent its being lulled into the lap of false security.
In the beginning of October, 1780, our author published, at
Philadelphia, a long discussion on the subject of taxes, under
the title of'A Crisis Extraordinary.' He draws a comparison
between the extent of taxation in the respective countries of
England and America: he shows, from calculation, that the
former exceed the latter in more than a tenfold degree; and
concludes by recommending the plan of congress; that of
funding its paper, and issuing a new coinage as a substitute.
Notwithstanding the determined hostility of the Americans
toward the English, their army was considerably oppressed
for want of pecuniary means; and to this cause, more than to
any other, we may attribute the apparent hardiness of their
operations about this period. In the course of his reflections,
he takes an opportunity of repeating his former arguments
-.against the tyranny, folly, and avarice of the.English government: he treats the difficulties of the country as afflirs of a
temporaty character, which a little privation and perseverance
wotlld speedily remove.
While those financial discussions were pendino, the congress resolved upon attempting a more effectual plan for removing the public embarrassments, than could be derived
from any application'of the internal resources of the states.
Mr. Paine drew up a letter to Count Vergennes, stating the
difficulties in which the country was placed; and concluding
with a reqtest that France would, either as a subsidy, or as d
loan, supply the United States with a million sterliin, and
continue that supply- annually during the war. This letter
Mr. Paine showed first to MI. MAarbois, the French minister's
secretary. He objected to the application by observing, that'a nillion sent out of a nation exhausted it more than ten
millions spent in it.' Our author was not to be baffled in his
design by this rebuff; and he accordingly presented his
scheme to Mr. Isard, member'for South Carolina. This gentleman readily agreed to bring the subject before congress;
which he did very shortly afterward. The congress, after a
very short discussion, acceded to tle proposal; and a mission
to the court of France was resolved upon immediately. 
Colonel Laurens, son of the late president of congress, was
appoiilted to negotiate the affair; and, at his anxious solicitation, Mr. Paine accompanied hirn to Paris. They sailed in
February, 1781, and arrived in France the following month..Their mission Nwas attended with more success than was expectecl. They obtained six millions of,livres as a present,
and ten millions as a loan, borrowed in Holland on the secuirity of France. They sailed from Brest at the b'eginning of
June, and arrived at Boston in August; having under their




MR. PAINE GOES TO FRANCE.           63
charge two millions and a half in silver, exclusive of a ship
and brig laden with clothing and military stores.
From the account which Mr. Paine gives of himself, it appears that he had, some ti ne p"rvious to this, formed a design
of coming over to England, for the purpose of exposin.g to the
people the folly and perversity of their rulers.  I iwas,' he
observes,' strongly impressed with the idea, that if I could get
over to England without being known, and only remain in
safety till I could get out a publication, that I could open the
eyes of the country with respect to the madness and stupidity'
of its go-oernment.'t  He would have carried his intention into
effect almost immediately, but for the advire of his friend
General Greene; who, it appears, fully approved of the plan:
but the affair of Arnold and Andre, happening shortly afterward, the general altered his mind, and wrote very pressinoly
to M3r. Paine to dissuade him from his design. With some
reluctance he consented to adopt the general's advice; both
parties conceiving-that his personal safety would be greatly
endangered by any attempt at that time to carry his scheme
into practice.
During our author's voyage to France with Col. Laurens,
another event occurred which confirmed the propriety and
practicability of this project. An English packet, from Falmouth to'New York, was taken by a French privateer; and,
owing to an artful stratagem of the French captain, the government despatches in the, packet were secured and brought
on board his vessel. They were sent to Paris to the French
minister, Count Vergennes; Who, after reading them, presented them to Col. Laurens and'Mr. Paine, to be conveyed
to America for the information and use of congress.
What the contents of these despatches were is not known
but it appears that they afforded Mr. Paine a better opportunity of judging of the perfidy and intrigue of the English
*cabinet than could have been done by any other means. This
circumstance renewed his former plan respecting the British
government; but Colonel Laurens being unwilling to return
alone, Mr. Paine was induced to postpone its execution to a
lmore favorable opportunity."
Previous to this period the French had declared in favor of
the United States.,  The campaign of 1778 was arranged in
Paris, and a French army and fleet co-operated with Washington, yet, after the capture of Burgoyne no decisive action was fought till the capture.of Cornwallis in 1780. The
war for several years was chiefly predatory in the south, and'R ights of Man,' Part II., p. 70.




641              LIFE OF THOMIAS PAINE.
General Howe, Cornwallis, and the traitor Arnold, laid waste
the states of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia 
but their troops were continually harassed by the activity and
skill of the American general, Greene, who from a blacksmith became one of the best generals in the service of the
states.  During this year (1780), the finances were in the
most wretched state; the paper-money depreciated to a most
alarming extent, and it was evidently impossible to raise the
supplies by taxes. *Washington's private accounts to the
congress clearly revealed the miserable state of the army,
while their published accounts deceived the enemy.  Mr.
Paine, by his " Common Sense," had previously produced the
declaration of indepdendence, and the unanimity of the people. The "'Crisis," published as,rwe have seen from time to
time, preserved that unanimity, and in a great measure regulated the tone of public feeling.' But IMr. Paine was not
backward in his personal services: on one occasion when
with the army, he formed a plan to destroy a part of the enemy's
shipping, and offered to conduct the enterprise. This he explains in one number of the " Crisis," and shows that his object'was not merely to'effect a loss to the English, but to
abate their pride in the strength of their navy, and to encourage the spirits of the people, who thought the British shipsof-war impregnable. When the finances were in the worst
state, before 5iMr. Paine went to France, and when Washington
feared the immediate dissolution of the army for want of pay
and necessaries, M/r. Paine began a private subscription with
five hundred dollars, all the money he could then raise, including his salary as secretary. The subscriptions on this occasion reached the large amount of three hundred thousand
pounds; and this fund converted into a bank supplied the immediate wants of the government, and enabled WTashington to
commence the preparation to encompass and subdue Cornwallis, and thus bring an end to the war., These preparations
were facilitated by a knowledge of the success of Colonel
Laurens's mission to France, assisted by Mr. Paine: and,the
supplies actually arriving while Washington's army was manamuvring for, the last great exploit, had, probably ha considerable effect on the success of those manceuvres. Ths was




CORNVWALLIS SURRENDERS.            65
evidently the opinion of Mr. Paine. New York was in possession of the enemy, the headquarters of Clinton.  The
anxious solicitude of Washington wast to recover this city.
Wa.shington's plans vere apparently all directed to this object; and the chief attention of Clinton consequently bent on
the retention of that place.  Cornwallis was then at Yorktown, Va., on thI StIsquehannah.  The French fleet, by pretending' to fly, drew out tlle English fleet till a re-enforcement entered the Chesapeake, and then returned to take and
keep possession of that bay.  Troops marching from, the
south did not alarm Clinton'; re-enforcements from the west
he,was perhaps ignorant of; and the trpoops progressing down.
the IHtdson from the north he supposed destined to join
Washington near New York. Whien these collections of
troops were all within a few days' march of the Susquehannah and Yorktowin, Washington suddenly turned his own
force in that direction. Clinton thought it a ruse, and remnain-:
ed inactive and tlhus wras Cornwallis suddenly surrounded, in
every direction, by sea and land, by the regulars, their auxiliaries, the French and Poles, and- by the militia. CornwIallis,
unprepared for a siege, surrendered before he could be relieved by Clinton; and thus a virtual end was put to the war, for
till peace was restored, the British merely kept possession of
New York, and one or two other stations, holding in subjection only the parts actually occupied by their armies.  Just
before this brilliant af air Mr. Paine arrived from France,.
bringing with him two millions of livres in cash and other
supplies, fornmin(r the loading of a brig and a ship. Mr. Paine
was instrumental in procuring these supplies, as-he was better
known (from the reputation.of his writings) than Col. Laurens,
who for that reason had desired his company.  WThether
these supplies were actually used to facilitate Washington's
masterlyt movements we do not know, but as they were
known to be coming, they gave the government and Washington a credit which they would not otherwise have enjoyed.
Money and credit are the sinews of war, and are as necessary
to success as unanimity. - Paine has the merit of contributingtoboth in a very high degree. We shall quote again from
Sherwin, the most accurate of MIr. Paine's fiographers.
9




66               LIFE OF TIHOMAS PAINE.
"In Maarch, 1782, Mr. Paine published at Philadelphia the
tenth number of the'Crisis.' The king of England, probably with a view of keeping the people in good humor with
the expenses of the. war, had delivered a speech at the recent
opening of parliament in which the Americans were abused,
and the English flattered, without any regard to truth or propriety. On this document our author-delivers his opinion in
terms of the severest reprobation.  He satirizes the pretensions of the kinig to the title of sovereign of a free people,
and draws an interesting parallel between the hardsahips of the'Americans and those they would have suffered had the British'
been victorious. He1.concludes the n-umber with an address
to the people of America on the financial affairs of the states.
In'SIay, 178-2, he publilshed at Philadelphia the eleventh
number of the'Cr iisi:'On the present State of News.' It
had been conjectured' and rumored that the object of the British cabinet was to detach France frolm Amrerica, for the purpose of makling a separate peace with the former, in order that
she mioht be enabled to bring her whole force against the independence of the latter. However absurd and dishonorable
such an attempt might appear, it would have been no more than
a continuance of the policy which had induced the ministry to
persist so loing in a war where there t was neither hope to entcourage nor princip]e to sanction their conduct. The present
number appears to have been written with a view to informr
the public that such a design had been contemplated by the
British court, and that want of means alone had prevented
it from being carried into executtion.
In the same month, Mr. Paine published a supernumerary'Crisis,' consisting of a letter to Sir Guy Carleton. This is a
most forcible appeal to the English general respecting the
barbarous murder of Captain Huddy, by a refugee of the
name of Lippincot. Captain Huddy, of the Jersey militia,
with a small party of Americans, had been attacked and taken
prisoner by an armed force in the pay of the British, and carried into New York. About three weeks afterward he wvas
taken down to the water-side, put in a boat, and. brought
again upon the Jersey shore, where he was atrociously murdered, under the direction of the refugee before mentioned.
General Washindton, determined that such an act should not
pass without punishment, directed that lots should be cast by
the British prisoners, for the purpose of selecting a victim in
return for the murder of Captain Huddy. The lot fell,upon
Captain Asgill; and Mr. Paine's letter to Sir Guy Carleton,
was written with a view to induce him to give up the murderer, and save the life of a brave and innocent officer. It
d.oes not appear that this request was, ever complied with;
and Asgil], after suffesing all the suspense, misery, and de



ADDITIONAL CRISIS.              67
spair, which naturally attend such a situation, was at last pardoned through the humanity of the American general.
In October, 1782, our author published, at Philadelphia, a
letter to Lord Shelburne (afterward marquis of Lansdowne):
this has since been classed as the twelfth number of the' Crisis.' It is throughoit' an' excellent production. The policy of concluding a peace with America, and acknowledging her
independence, had on several occasions been discussed; but
Lotd Shelburne, unable to discover the propriety of the
measure, and acting under the influence of that silly vanity
which forms so noble an attribute of'the freeborn Englishman, had declared that' the sun of Great Britain would set
whenever she acknowledged the independence of America.'
The sentiment contained in this declaration is treated with a
poignant salire, which must have been severely felt by the
party with whom it originated.
The war was now fast drawing toward a conclusion, and
America was about to enjoy the benefits of the liberty for
which she had so long and so ardently contended. The British cabinet was at length convinced of the total impossibility
of conquering the Americans and the operations of the English declined in proportion as this conviction became more
general. A'definite treaty of peace was set on foot at Paris
toward the end, of the year 1782, and concluded a few months
afterward. The triumphant situation of America —the grand
and glorious effect of her courage and constancy, is admirably described by Mr. Paine inthe last number of the'Crisis.'
He congratulates the country on the happy conclusion of'the
times that tried men's souls:' he dwells with pleasure on the
fair character which America.had established among the nations of the world; and' observes with truth, that she need
never be ashamed to tell her birth, or relate the stages by
which she rose to empire. Shortly after the publication of
this piece, Mr. Paine wrote a reply to a pamphlet by Lord
Sheffield, on theu subject of American commerce.  This is
classedt with our author's previous productions as a'supernumerary' Crisis.'
To have preserved an exact chronological order, we ought
to have noticed two other pamphlets, written by him some
time previous to the cessation of hostilities. The first of
these is entitled'Public Good;' being an examination of the
claim of Virginia to the vacant westerln territory. The method
in which the case is investigated, discovers all the acuteness
and ability which might be expected from the author; but as
the subject is not now a matter of interest, even to the
American reader, it is not here necessary to enter into the
discussion. There is, however, one circumstance connected
with the, performance which ought not to be omitted, as it
serves to show the disinterested character of Mr. Paine, and




68               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
his determination to publish his opinions unbiased and unshackled, even though, they should militate against his own
private interests. The part which our author espoused in
the dispute was in opposition to the claim of Virginia, though
it was well known to him at the time that a proposition was
pending before the assembly of that state, for granting him a
pecuniary compensation for his writings in favor of independence. Before the publication of'Public Good,' the najority of the members were decidedly in favor of the grant; but
on the appearance' of the pamphlet, they suddenly changed
sides, and the motion was lost bya single vote! Such is,the
reward of ingenuous patriotism and a love of truth! With
facts like this before us, we may cease to wonder that so
many seemingly disinterested -individuals, in every age and
country, are continually drawn into the vortex of sycophancy
and apostacy.
In 1782, he published a letter to the Abbe Raynal. The
object of'this letter was to clear up the mistakes, and expose
the errors into which the abbe had fallen in his history of the
American revolution. Among other things the abbe had as.
serted that none of those energetic causes, which had produced so many revolutions upon the globe, had existed in
North America; that neither religion nor laws had there
been outraged; that the blood of martyrs had not streaned
from scaffolds; that morals had not been insulted; that
neither manners, customs, habits, nor any other object dear
to nations, had there been the sport of ridicule; and that the
only question was, whether the mother-country had or had
not a right to lay a small tax upon the colonies. To correct
and refute such misrepresentations as these, a reference to
facts was barely necessary. T'hey were almost too palpable
to require a confutation; and the popular character of the
abbe in the literary world alone accounts for their obtaining
a currency. That such a warm and enlightened friend of
humanity and freedom, as the Abbe RJaynal, should be mTistaken in his ideas of the American revolution, is at first astonishing; but men who from th'eir cradles have been surrounded by despotism, and who have only contemplated the blessings of liberty as a distant though delightful vision, are
incapable of forming an opinion on so great an event. A long
habit of beholding the acts of tyranny almost unfits the mind
for the contemplation of any other object'; and to this, more
than to any other cause, must be attributed the mistaken conjectures and disordered statements of the Abbe,laynal.
From a comparison between some of the abbe's observatios and those contained in'Common  Sense, on th e subject
of society and government, it appears that the abbe had borrowed very freely from the latter. Some of his remarks are
a literal transcript, with the exception of a few words. Among




PAINE AND WASIIINGTON.             69
other thiings which he had misstated, was the account of the
affair at Trenton, which I have already had occasion to notice.
The abbe had described this as a mere accidental occurrence,
fallir'g, as he says,'within the wide empire of chance.' This
was a very unjust and ungenerous reflection. The highest
praise was due to the AmeriIcan general and his troops, as the
reader xxill perceive by turning to the account of the action;
and it is to be regretted that such a distinguished writer a;
the Abbe Raynal should have been misled on the subject, ful
no person could have done it more justice.
After exposing the abbe's errors and misrepresentation:;-,
Mr. Paine indulges himself in avariety of philoscphical reflections. The following description of prejudice is'so replete
with originality and beauty, that I cannot forbear quoting it:6 There is somnething exceedingly curious in the constitution
and operation of prejudice. It has the singular ability of atc
commodating itself to all the possible varieties of the lhumrnn
mird. Some passions and vices are but thinly scattered amonol
mankind, and find only here and there a fitness of reception..
But prejudice, like the spider, makes everywhere its home.
It has neither taste nor choice of place, and all that it requires
is room.'There is scarcely a situation, except fire and water,
in which the spider will not live. So, let the mind be as naked
as the walls }of an empty and forsaken tenement, gloomy as a
dungeon, or ornanented with the richest abilities of thinking;
let it be hot, cold, dark, or light, lonely or inhabited, still prejudice, if undisturbed, will fill it with cobwebs, and live, like
the spider, where there seems nothing to live on. If the one
prepares her food by poisoning it to her palate and her use'
the other does the same; and as several of our passions are
strongly characterized by the animal world, prejudice may be
denominated the spider of the mind.'
The spirit of universal philanthropy' which formed so conspicuous a feature in Mr. Paine's character, the powerful effect
of his writings in favor of independence, and the talent which
he possessed for philosophical and mechanical discussion, rendered his society a valuable acquisition. Of his friendship
with Dr. Franklin, and several other distinguished individuals,
we have already had occasion to speak; and of the esteem in
which his services and character were held by General Washington, \we have several very lnequivoc;l proofs in his conduct
toward the end of the war. Soon after the definitive treaty of
peace.was concluded, the general took up his quarters at
Rocky Hill, in the neighborhood of Princeton (where the congress was then sitti-ng), for the purpose of resigning his commission. There he was informed that Mr. Paine had retired
to Bordentown, where he had a small property. Conceiving,




70                LIFE OF TIHOIAS PAINE.
probably, that Mr. Paine's circumstances were not in the most
flourishing condition, he very kindly wrote to him the following letter:ROCKY HILL, Sept. 10, 1783.
I have learned, since I have been at this place, that you are
at Bordentown. Whether for the sake of retirement or economy, I know not. Be it for either, for both, or whatever it
may, if you will come to this place and partake with me, I
shall be exceedingly happy to see you at it.
Your presence may remind congress of your past services
to this country; and if it is in my power to impress them,
command my best exertions with' freedonm, as they will be
rendered cheerfully by one who entertains a lively sense of
the importance of your works, and who, with much pleasure,
subscribes himself
Your sincere friend,
G. WASHINGTON.?
Mr. Paine was urged by several of his friends to make an
application to congress for a compensation for his revolution~
ary writings; but this he uniformly refused to do. That the
man who had been the means of first rousing the country to
a declaration of independence, and whose writings had afterward very materially contributed to the attainment of the
object, was deserving of remuneration, no one could deny;
but Mr. Paine's services in this respect being entirely of a
voluntary nature, he could not consent to petition the congress for a pecuniary recompense.'His writings, however
meritorious and serviceable they might have been (and the
most illiberal of his calumniators do not deny that their effects
were great and universal), were dictated by the pure principles of disinterested patriotism, and he could not degrade
their character by converting theny into a medium of sordid
emolument.
I am well aware of the attempts which have been made to
show that Mr. Paine's patriotism was not of that disinterested
nature here described, and when we see that these attempts
are founded upon the resolutions of congress itself, it is not
surprising that they should have' been attended with some
success among the weaker part of mankind. A short explanation will, however, do away with the impressions which such
reports are calculated to produce. Before offering any observations on the —subject, we will first insert the resolutions
as extracted from the journals of congress::-'FRIDAY, Ju gust 26, 1785.-On the report of a committee,
consisting of Mr. Gerry, Mr. Petit, and Mr. King, to whom
was.referred a letter of the 13th from Thomas Paine:




INDEMNITY FROM CONGRESS.            71
Resolved, That the early, unsolicited, and continued labors
of Mr. Thomas Paine, in explaining and enforcing the principles of the late revolution, by ingenious and timely publications upon the nature of liberty and civil government, have
been well received by the citizens of these states, and merit
the approbation of congress, and that in consideration of
these services and the benefits produced thereby, Mr. Paine
is entitled to a liberal gratification from the United States.''MONDAY, Oclober 3, 1785.-On the report of a committee,
consisting of Mr. Gerry, Mr. Howell, and Mr. Long, to whom
were referred sundry letters from Mr. Thomars Paine, and a
report on his letter of the 13th of September:Resolved, That the board of treasury take order for paying
to Mr. Thomas Paine the sum of three thouIsand dollars, for
the considerations mentioned in the resolution of the 26th of
August last.'
That the congress granted, and that Mr Paine received,
the three thousand dollars above mentioned, are facts beyond
dispute. The only error is in the wording of the two resolutions, wrhich makes the grant appear -the reverse of what it
really was.  The case was this: the snlary which Mr. Paine
received as secretary to the committee for foreign affairs was
very small, being only cight hundred dollars a year, and the
depreciation which took place in consequence of the immense
and repeated issues of paper-money, reduced even this to less
than a fifth of its nominal value. Mr. Paine, aware of the
difficulties, in which the congress were placed, forebore to
harass them with any applications for money during the war,
but after it was closed he addressed to them a letter requesting that they would make up the' depreciation, with some
other incidental expenses which he had been at in the discharge
of his official duties. The letter was referred to a committee,
of which Mr. Gerry wvas chairman. This gentlemen came to
Mr. Paine and informed him that' the committee had consulted upon the subject, that, they intended to bring in a handsome report, but they thought it best not to take any notice
of Deane's aflair or Mr. Paine's salary.'-' They will indemnify
you,' said he,'without it.  The case is, there are some
motions ou the journals of congress for censuring you.with
respect to Deane'9. affair, which cmnnot now be recalled,
because they have been printed. We will, therefore, bring in
4 report that will supersede them, without mentioning the
purport of your letter.'
The grant was therefore an indemnity to Mr. Paine for the
depreciation in his salary as secretary of the committee, and
the reason for couching it in tele-terms above quoted, was to
shield the congress from a confession of the injustice they
had done our aulhor for his conduct durihg the disputes about




72                LIFE OF TIHOMAS PAINE.
the claims of Silas Deane.  It was no more thlan he had a
right to expect, and those who granted it had not much reason to boast of their liberality, in performing what was merely
an act of pecuniary justice. So much for the grant of three
thousand dollars, the false language in which it is clothed,
and the malevolernt insinuations which it has given rise to.
But though Mr. Paine had resolved not to make any application to the.ongress on the score of his literary labos, he
had several friends in the provincial assemblies who were determined that his exertions should not pass unrewarded. 4'
have already spoken of the proposition that was made to the
assembly of Virgintia for this purpose, and the cause of its
failure. Similar motions were brought beforb the legislature
of Pennsylvania and the assembly of Tew York; the former
of which gave him 1 500, and the latter the confiscated estate
of a Mr. Frederick Devoe, a royalist. This estate, situated at
New Rochelle, consisting of more than three hundred acres
of land in a high state of cultivation, with a spacious and elegant stone-house, beside extensive out-buildings, was a valu-'
able acquisition; and the readiness with which it was granted,
is a proof of the high estimation in which itM't. Paine's services
were held by one of the most opulent and powerful states in
the Union.
In 1786, he published at Philadelphia, his LDissertations on
Government,'' The Affairs of the Bank,' and' Pa'per-AMoney.
The bank alluded to was the one which /had been estaiblished,
some years before', under the name of the'Bank of North
America.'   Whatever opinion may be entertained of these institutions in general, it is evident that the one in question had
been of considerable service to the Americans during the
most eventful period of their struggle for independence;'to
say theleast, it was therefore entitled to their o'ratitude. But
when menr find themselves in a state of ease and security they
are too apt to forget the means' by which they obtained these
advanta'es; and the bank, without any regard to its past services, was attacked as an establishment at varinance with eveiy
principle of private security and public freedom.  In the
pamphlet before us Mr. Paine gives an elaborate and interesting account of the rise and progress of the institution; and as
he was one of the first promoters of the fscheme, a short accoaunt of it here will not be altogether unrnecessary, although
it will involve some repetition.
The beginning of the year 1780 was a very, distressing
season for the Ajnericans. The people, though not conquered, were depressed; the soldiers, though not driven from the
field, were destitute of resources, and such was their condition, that General Washington was,. for a cbnsiderable time,
in the daily dread of a general mutiny. In this state of affairs
he addressed a letter to the Pennsylvania assembly, describing




BANK OF NORTII AMERICA.            73
in the stronglest terms the nature of his situation. At that
period Mr. Paine was clerk of the assembly, and, as a part of
his duty, he was requested to read the letter. When this was
done, lie informs us,' a despairing silence pervaded the house.'
No one ventured to speak for a considerable-ti'me. At length
one of the mpmbers arose and said: If the acepunt!in that
letter is a true state of thinos, and wve are in the situation
there represented, it appears to me in vain to contend the
matter any longer. We may as well give up at first as at last.'
Another of the members, more cheerful than the last, rose
and expressed his hope that the houlse would not be overcome
by despair;' that the only way to get over the dificulty Nwas
by exertion; and a notion for adjournment being made, the
assembly separated without coming to any conclusion,
America was, indeed, at this period, in a most critical situation. rTjhere now appeared no chance of retrieving her
afifirs by taxation, for the people were already overburdened,
and the only mode that presented itself was, that of a voluntary subscription. There was no time to be lost; and, as a
beginning, M\ir. Paine, immediately on his return from the
housec('drew the salary due to him as clerk of the assemfbly,
and enclosed five hundred dollars in a letter to Mr. M'Clenaghan, proposing to him to.commence a subscription, as the
only means of alleviating the wants of the army. -This gen-'tleman showed the proposal to several others who fully approved of it: a subscription was commenced, and after being
attended with considerable success, the subscribers formed
themselves into a banlk, which soon answered all the purposes
for which it was intended. In 1782, the subscribers were
legally incorporated under the title of the'Bank of No'rth
America,' whic h-they held, with ad'vantage to the public.'
Mr. Paine is clear in his opinion on paper-money: but he
regards this bank as one of necessity in its origin, and of great
service to the country during the latter part of the war, when
the irredeemable notes issued by the government had lost
their value by depreciation. Mr. Paine could not forget the
services of the bankl; and hence he defended it efficiently
against this attack, which he considered rude and unnecessary: yet he explicitly condemns the charter, which was made
perpetual. This was the last public act of Mr. Paine previous
to his departure for E'irope.
Thus we arrive at the- conclusion of the second period of
M'r. Paine's life.'At this time he enjoyed the highest popularity, and, as we have seen, the friendship of the most
10




l74Q              LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
enlightened patriots of the age. Mr. Paine was as much
esteemed in, his private life as in his public.  Je was a welcome visiter to the tables of the most distinguished citizens:
his manners and habits were those of a gentleran, which rendered him agreeable, not only to the master of the family, but
to the mistress also. He was full of anecdote, extremely
social, and always mixed goodnature with his reflection~. At
a later period, in prospect of a dinner-party, Horne Tooke
remarked, that "6 he would venture to say that the best thing
would be, said by Mr. Paine." Indeed, his conversational
powers Were as distinguished as his tact for writing. An old
lady, now a boardinghouse-keeper in Cedar street, remembers,,
when a girl, visiting Mr. Paine just after the war, when he
took possession of his house and farm at New Rochelle, and
gave a village-fete on the occasion; she then only knew him
as " Common Sense," and supposed that was his name. On
that day he had somnething to say to everybody, and young
as she was she received a portion of his attention; while he
sat in the shade and assisted in the labor of the feast, by cutting or breaking sugar to be used in some agreeable liquids
by his guests. Mr. Paine was then, if not handsome, a fine,
agreeable looking man.
Those disposed to censure Mr. Paine, find a subject in the
affair of Deahe: they say nothing can excuse his betrayal of
the public secrets of ofice, even though it was for the benefit
of the people, to resist an unjust claim on the public, and to
expose a public robber. In this affiir we must, however, remember, that when France wished the secret kept she was
not at war with England; but that when Paine'made the exposure France was at open war with England. Still, we are
not disposed to defend the act; while we acquit him of every
moral impropriety. We think, with Sterne, in the case of
Corporal Trim, who had disobeyed orders in the performance
of an act of humanity, when he makes Uncle Toby say, " You
did very right as a man, but very wrong' as a soldier."  Mr.
Paine was placed in a position where he had the choice of
two evils: in his choice he sacrificed himself for the benefit
of the country. A man, less generous, would have taken
care of himself at all hazards.




GOES TO EUROPE.                 75
PART III.
FROM MR. PAINE7S DEPARTURE FROM AMERICA IN 1787 TO HIS FINAL
RETURN IN 1802, EMBRACING THE PERIPD OF THE FRENCH, REVOLUTION AND DURATION OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.
" WE are now," says Sherwin, " to follow Mr. Paine to a
different scene from that in which he had been a prominent
performer for nearly thirteen years. His desire of attracking
the English government on the spot where its principles were
still in full operation, had suffered no change or abatement,
and as America no longer stood in need of his services, he
resolved on putting his project into execution as soon as possible. In April, 1787, he set sail from the United States for
France, and arrived in Paris after a short passage.  His
knowledge of nlechanics and natural philosophy had before
his departure,procured him the honor of being admitted a
member of the American Philosophical society; he was likewise appointed master of arts by the university of Philadelphia. These academic -honors, though not of much consequence in themselves, were the means of introducing him to
several of the most scientific men in France, and soon aster
his arrival,he exhibited to the Academni of Sciences in Paiis,
the model of an iron bridge which had occupied much of his
leisure time during his residence in America. This ingenious
and useful production received the most unqualified. approbation of the academy, and it is but justice —to Mr. Paine to
observe, that his recommendations on this subject have been
sanctioned and adopted by some of the most enlightened
characters of the present age. Among those who have given
their opinion on the; subject, we ought to notice Sir Joseph
Banks, who, in a letter to a friend in America, published some
years ago, says:'I expect many similar improvements from
your countrymen, who think with vigor,.and are in a great
measure free from those shackles of theory which are impressed on the minds of our people, even before they are capable
of exerting their mental faculties to advantage.'
From Paris Mr. Paine proceeded to London, where he arrived on the third of September.  Before the end of that
month he went to Thetford to see his mother, who by this-time
was borne down by age and penury.  His father, it appears,
had died during his absence; and he hastened to the place of




?G~ ZELIFE O'SF HOMAS PAINE.
his birth to relieve the wants of his surviving parent.'He led a
recluse sort of life at Thetford for several weeks, being principally occupied in writing a pamphlet on the state of the nation,
under the title of'Prospects on the Rubicon.' lThis was published in London, toward the end of the year 1787. The purport, of the work is an investigation of the causes and consequences of the politics expected to be agitated at the approaching meeting of parliament. A great variety of subjects are
introduced, not only on. government in general, but on what
is usually termed political economy.'IThe principal portion
of it is occupied with a discussion on the then unsettled state
of the affairs of Holland, and a comparison between the population, revenues, wealth, and general condition of France and
England. The French revolution was at this period beginning to bud forth, a spirit of inquiry was diffusing itself over
the land, while in England the people were sunk into a state
of torpid lethargy.' The people of France,' Mr. Paine
observes, were beginning to think for themselves, and the
people of England were resigning up the prerogatike of
thinking.'
During the year 1788, Mf. Paine was principally occupied in
building his bridge. For this purpose he went to Rotherham
in Yorlkshire, in order that he might have an opportunity of
superintending the castings of iron, which were executed
under the direction of his ingenious friend, Mr. Walker, the
proprietor of the foundry at that place.  For a copious
account of the success which attended this project, the reader
is referred to the author's' letter to Sir George Staunton.
This genitleman, who it appears possessed talent enough to
appreciate the value of the performance, sent the letter'to
the Society of Arts, &c., in the Adelphi: its contents were
deservedly regarded by the members of the society as a subject worthy of their notice, and it was unanimously determined
that the letter should be published in their' Transactions;'
but the moment the first part of'Rights of Man' made its
appearance, this determination was reversed, and the votaries
and advocates of science became the voluntary tools of
despotism.  How thoroughly despicable must the minds of
those men be, who could be gratified by such an act of pitiful
meanness!
Mr. Paine had been at considerable expense in the erection
of his bridge, which was principally defrayed by a Mr. Whiteside, an American merchant.  Of our author's connexions
with this gentleman I have not been able to obtain any particuilars which may be relied upon; but the probability is, that
Mr. Paine had consigned over to him some of his property in
Ameri'a, and on the strength of this consideration had drawn
upon him for money whenever he had wanted it. Be this as
it may, it is certain he had overdrawn his account to a consid



CAUSES OF THL FUIit NCIH REVOLUTION.   77
erable extent, and Whiteside becoming' a bankrupt soon afterward, the assignees arrested him for the balannce. From this
disagreeable situation he was in a short time released by the
kindness of two American merchants, who agreed to become
his bail, Mr. Paine paying down a considerable portion of the
money, which by this time he had received from America, and
giving his promissory note for the remainder.
The situation of France was by this period become a matter of great interest to all Europe, and a;s 1Mr. Paine was in
confidential intercourse with the chief authors of the great
scenes lwhich were taking place, he hastened over to Paris,
that he might have the pleasure of witnessing the downfall
of Bourbon despotism.'
Mr. Paine's disinterested exertions ill the causeI both of
French and English liberty can best be understood bytaking
a clear view of, the French revolution; and as Mr. Paine has
himself given us the best concise history of that event, we
shall offer no apology for its introduction here. Our extract
is taken from the "Rights'of ilaan," a work which we must
presently introduce as the principal political publication of
Mr. Paine.' In this work he quotes an expression of Mr.
Burke, that, "All circumstances taken together, the French
revolution is the most astonishing that has hitherto happened
in the world."  Mr. Paine then remarks:("As wise men are astonished at foolish,things, and other
people at wise ones, I know not on which ground to account
for Mr. Bilrke's astonishment; but certain it is that he does
not understand the French revolution.  It has apparently
Laurst forth like a creation from a chaos, but it is no more
than the consequence of mental revolution previously existing in France. Thle mind of the nation had changed beforehand, and a new order of things has naturally followed a new
order of thoughts. IY will here, as concisely as I can, trace
put the growth of the French revolution, and mark the circumstances that have contributed to produce it.
The despotism of Louis XIV. united with the gayety of
his court, and the gaudy ostentation of his character, had so
humbled, and at thle same time so fascinated the mind of
France, that the people appear to have lost all sense of their
own dignity, in contemplating that of their grand monarch:
and the \xhole reign of Louis XV., remarkable only for weakness and effeminacy, made no other alteration than that of
spreading a sort of lethargy over the nation, from which it
showed no disposition to rise.




78               LIFE OF THOMIAS PAINE.
The only signs which appeared of the spirit of liberty
during. those periods, are to be found in the writings of the
French philosophers.  Montesquieu, president of the parliament of Bourdeaux, went as far as a writer under a despotic
government could wrellproceed: and being obliged to divide
himself between principle and prudence, his mind often appears under a veil, and we ought to give him credit for more
than he has expressed.
Voltaire, Awho was both the flatterer and satirist of despotism, took another line. His forte lay in exposing and ridiculing the superstitions which priestcraft, united with statecraft,
had interwoven' with governments. It was rot from the purity of his principles, or his love of mankind (for satire and
philanthropy are not naturally concordant), but from his
strong capacity of:seeing folly in its true shape, and his irresistible propensity to expose it, that he' made those attacks.
They were, however, as formidable, as if the motives had
been virtuous; and he merits the thanks rather than the
esteem of mankind.
On the contrary, we find in the writings of Rousseau and
Abbe Raynal, a loveliness of sentiment in favor of liberty,
that excites respect, and elevates the human faculties; yet.
havin7 ruised this animation, they do not direct its operations,
but leave the miind in love with an object, withorut.describing
the imeans of possessing it.'Tie writings of Quisne, Turgot, and the friends of those
authors, are of a serious kind; but they labored under the
same disadvantage with Montesquieu; their writings abound
with moral maxims of government, but are rather directed.to
ecolnomize and reform the administration of the government,
than the government itself.
But all those writings and many others had their weight;
and by the different manner in wlhich they treated the subject
of government -Montesqnuieu by his judgmnent and knowledge
of laws, Voltaire by-his wit, Rouss-au and Raynal by theii'
animation, and Quisne and Turgot by their moral maxims and
systems of economy-readers of every class met with something to their taste, and a spirit of political inquiry began to
diffise itself through the nation at the time the dispute betweela
England and the then colonies of America broke out.
In the war which France afterward engaged in, it is very
well known that the nation appeared to be beforehand with
the French ministry. Each of them had its views; but those
views were directed to different objects; the one bought
liberty and the'other retaliation on'England.  The French
officers and soldiers who after this went to America, were
eventually placed in the school of freedom, and learned the
practice as well as the principles of it by heart.
A.s it was impossible to separate the military events which




HISTORY OF THE FRENCII REVOLUTION.      79
took place in Amer'ca from the principles of the American
revolution, the publication of those-events in France necessarily connected themselves  ithl the principles that produced
them. Maany of thefacts were i.n themselves principles; such
as the declaration of American independence, and the treaty
of alliance between Frtn'lce and America, which re.ognised
the natural rights'of man, and justified resistance to oppression.
The then minister of France, Count Vergennes, was not the
friend of America; and it is-both, jiutice and gratitude to say
that"'it was the queen of France- who gave the cause of America a fashion at the French court. Count Ve'rgeines was the
personal and social friend of Dr. Franklin; and the doctor had
obtained, by his sensible gracefulpess, a sort of inf luence over
hlim; but with respect to principles, Count!Vergennes was a
despot.
he — situation of Dr. Frank-lin as minister fromn America to
Frutance should- be taken into the chain of circumstances. A
diplomatic character is the narrowest sphere of society that
man can act in. It forbids intercourse by a reciprocity of
suspicion; and a diplomatist is a sort of unconnected atom,
continually repelling and repelled.  But tlis was not the
icase with Dr. Franlliln; he was not the diplomatist of a court,
but of (an. His character aa philosopher had been Qlong'
establishe`d, and his ciricle of society in Firance wvas universal.J
Count Vergennes resisted for a considerable time the publication of the American constitutions in France, translated
into the French language; but even in this he was obliged to
give way to public opinion, and a sort of propriety in admittion to appear what he had undertaken to defend. The American constitutions were to liberty what a grammar is to
languaage:' they define-its parts of speech, and practically
construct theml into syntax.
The peculiar situation of the then Miarquis de la Fayette is
another lilnk in the great chain. Fe served in Americ a as an
Amlerican officer, under a cormnission of congress, and by the
universality of his acquaintance, was in close friendship with
the civil government of America as well as with the military
line.' He spoke the la.nguage of the country, entered into the
discussions on the principles of government, and was always
a welcome friend-at any election.
When the war closed, a vast reinforcement to the cause of
liberty spread itself over France, by the return of the French
officers and soldiers. A knowledge of the practice was then
joined to the theory; and all that was wanting to give it real
existence, was opportunity. Mlan cannot, properly speaking,
make circumstances for his purpose, but he always has it in his
power to improve them when they occur: and this was the
case in France.
M. Neckar was displaced in May, 1781; and by the ill man



80                LIFE OF TIlOMIAS PAINE,
agement of the finrances.aterwarxd, and particularly during the
extravagant adlin istrati on of iM. Calonne, the revenue of
France, wvich was neaarly twenty-four millions sterlinrg per
year, was.become inequal to the expenditur.es, not because
the revenue had deereaseda but.becase the expenses had
increased, and this Vias the circumstance whiic  the ination
lai id hold of to bihi-gt forward a re volution. T}he English rminister, I1. Pitt, has frequently alluded to the state of the
Frenc h finances i1 i his budo gets, without unlderstandtinrg the
sulbject. IHad the Freanch1 parliamnen!ts been as ready to 
reisteOr'edicts for nexv taxese as an Enclish parliament is to
grant them, there lhad been no derangement in the finances}
nor yet ay revolution a; bu t this will better explain itself as I
proceed.
It will Abe eceas:arcy heie to show how taxes wvere formIerly
raised in Franc e.'The liing, or rather thle court o0r miniistry,
actingn under  n se o. tha tt naxme, framed the edicts for taxes
at their own discretion, c  n sent: the   to the parliaments to
be registe:'t ed;  fr, until' thev'were reo;istetred by the parlia- 
ments, they iwee;ot op cra(i e.  Disputes i ha!d long existed
between the cotrt acLnd'the parliarlent with respect t. o thle extent of tlhe parliamaents axuthority on this head. The cou0rt
insisted th'at the au;ct.h.t rity of parliament went no farther than
to remonstrate or show rersons against the tax, reservinll to
itself the rioght of det;ermuinigi whtether the reasons Swere well
or ill [ounded; nd in consequenee thereof, either to withdraw the edict as a matter' orf choice, or to order it to be
registered as a matter of auth ority.  The parliaments on
their parts insisted, th;at they hlad not only l  a  rio-gt to rremonstrate,. but  retect nd on thios grou nd they were,always
l upported by tie nat ion.
But to returni to tIe oder'of my narrative  MC. CaGonne
wanted monrey   ad a he hIknew the sturdyT disposition oif
the parlaments wtith'respect Ito new taxes, he ingeniously
sought eitihe  o a pr occ tIom bi y a more gnte means than
that of direct aut hori ty or to get oer thleir heads by a na-,
neavre; and for thi' pu'rpose ie:revived.,t h p, rofect of asseamblinff a bodn of men fromn te severeal i-roinces, under the
style of an acsseimly/ of the notale's o menl of nIote, who
met in 178'7, a'0d were eithel to recotmmen. id taxes to the parliarments or to act as a parliament themuselvye.  An a sembly
under this name' hlad been called in 16'87.
As we are to view this- as he rst:i actieal step toward the
revolutioa it will,b1 proper to enter into somae particuclt'rs respecting it, The Lassembly of the notables has ic. somne places
been mistalken for tLe state,:c-general but was, xV7ioly a different body; the states-ageneral beiingr-always by election. The
persons who composed the assembly of the notables were all
nominated by the lcing, and consisted of one lhundred and




STEPS TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION,        81
forty memrbers. But as M. Calonne could not depend upon a
majority of this assembly in his favor,, he very ingleniously
arralnged them in sucI a manner as to make forty-iou a majority of; one hundred and forty. To effect this, he disposed
of them into seven separate c  mitutees of t-wenty members
each. Every general question was to be decided, not by a
majority of persons, but by a majority of committees and,
as eleven votes would make a majority in a commnittee and
four cormmittees a majority of seven, M. Calonne had good
reason to conclude, that as forty-four \wold det"ermne- any
general question, he could not be outvoted. But all his plans
deceived him, and in the event becamr1e his overthrow,
The then iMarquis de Ia Fayette was placed in the second
committee, of which Count d'Arltois vwas president;; and as
money miatters was the object, it Itaturally birolati into view
every circumstance connected, witll it M.  d d 1a Fayette
made a verbal charge against Calonne, for selling crown-land
to the amount of tvo rrillions of livres,,in a manner that appeared to be unknown to thre king. Tihe Count d'Artois (as
if to intimidate, for the bastile wns then in beings) tsked the
mrarqui's if hie would render 1the c ha.re in writing. -. He replied
that he would.  Thie Count d'Artoli^ idii not de-and it, but
brought a message from tnhe 1.in f to thati purilprt, M. de la
Fayette then delivered in his charige, in writirng, to be given
to the king, undertaling to support it.  No farther proceedinas-tvere had, upon this aftfair but 3MI Ca14onne was soon after
dismisnsed by the king, and wnent to EnLaond.
As ML de la Fayette, from the cxperiernc e le had had in
Anmerica, was betteri acquainted withi the science of civilgovernment than the geneCality of the nmerbers who cormnosed
the assemblv of the notables could then be, the brunt of the
business fell considerably to his share.  The plan of those
x who had a constitution in view wa s to contend xith the court
oni the ground of taxes, and some' f them openly professed
their object. Disputes frequ;ently arose between Corunt d'Artois and 1M. de la Fiayette upon various subjects. With respect
to the arrears already incurred, the latter proposed to remedy
thei, by acommodatirng the expenses to the revenue, instead
of the. revenue'to the expenses; and as objects of eform, he
proposed, to abolish the bastile, atad all the state-prisons
t;hroughout the nation (the Iceeping of iwhi ich wtas attended
with cg eat expense) and to suppress let/res de cachet; but
those matters were not then much attended to; and with respect to leih'es de cachzet, a majority ojf Ie nobles a Cea'red to 
be in favor of Ihet,.             /
On the subject of supplying the treasury by nexw taxes, the
assembly declined taklin( the matter on themselves, concurring in the opinion that they had not authority. In a debate
on the subject, M.'de la Fayette said, that, raising mdoney by
11




82                LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
taxes could only be done by a national assembly, freely elected by the people, and acting as their representatives.'Do
you mean,' said the Count d'Artois,'the states-general? M.
de la Fayette replied that he did.' Will you, said the Count
d'Artois,'sign what you say, to be given'to the king 1' The
other replied that he not only' would do this, but that he
he would go farther, and say, that the efiectual mode would
be, for the king to agree to'the establishment of a constitution.
As one of the plans had thus failed, that of getting the assembly to act as a parliament, the other came into view, that
of recommending.   Oh this subject, the assenmbly ia-reed to
recommend two new taxes to be enregistered by the parliament, the one a stamp-act, and the other a territorial tax, or
sort of land tax. The two have been estimated at about five
millions sterling per annum. We have now to turn OU'r attention to the paraliments, on whom the business was again devolving.
The archbishop of Thoulouse (since archbishop of Sens,
and now a c a-rinal), was appointed to the administration of
the finances, soon after the dismission of Calonne. H-e was
also made prime minister, an officer that did not always exist
in France.'When this office did not exist, the chief of each
of the principal departments transacted business immediately
with the;king but when a prime minister was appointed, they
did business only with him. The archbishop arrived to more'
state authority than any minister since the Duke de Choiseiil,
and the nation was strongly disposed in his favor; but by a
line of conduct scarcely to be acedunted for, he perverted every opportunity, turned out a despot, and sunk into disgrace,
hnd a cardinal.
The assembly of the notables having broke up, the new
minister sent the edicts for the two new taxes recommended by the assembly to the parliaments, to be enregistered'They of course canme first before the parliament of Paris,
who returned for answer, that, with such a revenue as /zhe?nation lienz suppolrtad, the name of taxes ought not to be mentioned,
but foi the purpose of r'educig them, and threw both the edicts
out.'i
On this refusal, the parliament was ordered to Versailles,
where, i     ul the usual form, the king held, what under the old
government was called a bed of justice: and ttie two edicts
were enregiristered in presence of the parliament, by an order
of state. On this, the parliament irnmediately returned to
Paris, renewed their session in form, and ordered tlte enregistering to he struck out, declaring that everythin'g done at Versailles w'as illegaal. All the members of parliament were then
served with letrles de cachet, and exiled to Trois; but as they
When the English minister, Mr. Pitt, mentions the French finances again in
the Eng;lish parliament, it would be well that he noticed thiss a an example.




STEPS TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.        83
continued'as inflexible in exile as before, and as vengeance did
not supply the place of taxes, they were after a short time
recalled to Paris.
The edicts were again tendered to them, and the Count
d'Artois undertook to act as representaitive for the king. For
this purpose, he came from Versailles to' Paris, in a train of
procession; and the parliament was assembled to receive him.
But show anid parade had lost their influence in France; and
whatever ideas of importance he might set off with, he had
to return with those of mortification and disappointment.
On alighting from his carriage to ascend the steps of the'parliament-house, the crowd (which was numerously collected)
threw out trite expressions, saying:'This is Monsieur d'Artois, who wants more of our money to spend.'  The marked
disapprobation which he saw, impressed him with apprehension; and the word aux arms (to arms) was'given out by the
officer of the guard who attended him. It was so loudly vociferated, hatit echoed thr(ugh the avenues of the house,
and produced a temporary confusion: I. was then standing in
one of the apartments through which he had to pass, and
could not avoid reflecting how wretched is the condition of a
disrespected man.
He endeavored to impress the parliament by great words,
and opened his authority by saying' The king our lord and
master.' The parliament received him very coolly, and with
their usual determination not to register the taxes; and in
this manner the interview ended.
After this a new subject took place; in the various debates
and contests that arose between the court and the parliaments
on the sLibject of taxes, the parliament of Paris at last declared, that although it had been customary for parliaments to
enregister edicts for taxes as a matter of convenience, the
right belonged only to the states-general; and that, therefore,
the parliaments could no longer with propriety continue to
debate on what it' had not authority to act. The king, after
this, came to Paris, and held a meeting with the parliament,
in which he continued from ten in the morning till about six
in the evening; and, in a manner that appeared to proceed
from him, as if.unconsulted upon with the cabinet or ministry, gave his word to the parliament that the states-general
should be convened.
But after this, another scene arose, on a ground different
from, all the former.  The minister and the cabinet were
averse to calling the states-general: they well knew, that if
the states-general wvere assembled, that themselves iust fall;
and as the king had not mentioned any time, they, hit on a
project calculated to elude, without appearing to oppose.
For this purpose, the court set about making a sort of constitution itself: it was principally,the work of M. Lamoignon,




84                LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
keeper of the seals, who afterward shot himself. The arrangement consisted in es.tablishing a body under the name of
a cour pIeniere, or full court, in which were invesied all the
power that the government might have occasion to make use
of. The persons composing this court to be nominated by the
king; the contended right of taxation was given up on the
part of the, king, and a new criminal code of laws, and law
proceedings, was substituted in the room  of the former.
The thing, in many points, contained better principles than
those upon which the government had hitherto been ad'ministered; but, with respect to the cour pleniere, itwas no other
than a medium through which despotism was to pass, without
appearing to act directly from itself.
The cabinet had high expectations from their new contrivance. The persons who were to compose the cour pleniere
were already nominated; and as it was necessary to carry a
fair appearance, many of the best characters in the nation
were appointed among the number. It was to commence on
the eighth of May, 1788: but an opposition arose to it, on two
grounds —the one as to principle, the other as to form.
On the ground of principle it was contended, that government had not a right to alter itself; and that if the practice
was once admitted, it would grow into a principle, and be
made a precedent for any future alterations the government
might wish to establish; that the right of altering the government was a national right, and not a right of government.
And on the ground of form, it was contended that the cour
pleniere was nothing more than a large cabinet.
The then Dukes de la Rochefoucault, Luxembourg, de Noailles, and many others, refused to accept the nomination, and/
strenuously opposed the whole plan. iWhen the edict for
establishing this new court was sent to the parliaments to be
enregistered, and put into execution, they resisted also. The
parliament of Paris not only refused, but denied the authority;
and the contest renewed'itself between the parliament and the
cabinet more strongly than ever. While the parliament was
sitting in debate on this subject, the ministry ordered a.eiment of soldiers to surround the house, and form a blockade.
The members sent out for beds and provision, and lived as in
a besieged citadel; and as this had no effect, the commanding officer was ordered to enter the parliament-house and
seize them, which he did, and some of the principal members
were shut up in different prisons. About the samre time a deputation of persons arrived from the province of Britanny, to
remonstrate against the establishment of the cour pleniere,
and those the archbishop sent to the bastile. But the' spirit
of the nation was not to be overcome; and it was so fully
sensible of the strong ground it had taken, that of withholding taxes, that it contented itself with keeping up a sort of




STEPS TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.        85
quiet resistance, which effectually overthrew all the plans at
that time formed against it. The project of the cour plenieie
was at last obliged to be given up, and the prime minister not
long afterward followed its fate: and M. Neckar was recalled
into office.
The attempt to establish the cour pleniere had an effect
uapon the nation which was not anticipated. 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 government dethroning government; and the old one, by attempting to make a new one,
made a chasm.
The failure of this scheme renewed the subject- of convening the states-geneial; and this gave rise to a new series of
politics.'There was no settled form for convening the statesgeneral: all that it positively meant was a deputation from
whati was then called the clergy,/the nobility, and the cornnons; but their numbers, or their proportions, had not alwvys
been the same. They had been convened only on extraordinary occasions, the last of which was in 1614; their numbers
were then in equal proportions, and theyr voted by orders.
It could not well escape the sagacity of-M. Neckar, that the
thode of 1614 would answer neither the purpose of the then
government, nior of the nation. As matters were at that time
circumstanced, it would have been too contentious to argue'upon anything. The debates would have been endless upon
privileges and exemptions, in which neither the wants of the
government, nor the wishes of the nation for a constitution,
would have been attended to. But as he did not choose to
take the decision upon himself, he surnmmoned again the
assemrbly oft he notgables, and referred it to tlhem. This body was
in general interested in the decision, being chiefly of the
aristocracy and the high-paid clergy; and they decided in
favor of the mode of 1614.   This decision was against
the sense of the nation, and also against the wishes of the
court; for the aristocracy opposed itself to both, and contended for privileges independent of either. The subject was
then taken up by the parliament, who recommended that the
number of the commons should be equal to the other two 
and that they should all sit in one house and vote in one body.
The number finally determined on was twelve hundred: six
hundred were to be chosen by the commons (and this was
less than their proportion ought to have been when their
worth and consequence are considered on a national scale),
three hundred by the clergy, and'three hundred by the aristocracy; but with respect to the mode of assembling themselves, whether together or apart, or the manner in which
they should vote, those matters were referred.:
* Mr. Burke (and I must take the liberty of telling him that he is unacquainted with French affairs), speaking upon this subject says,' The first thing that




86                    LIFE OF THIOMAS PAINE.
The election    that followed was not a/contested electAion,
but an animated one. The candidates were not men but prin.
ciples.  Societies were formed in Paris, and committees of
correspondence and communication established throughout
the nation, for the purpose of enlightening the people, and
explaining to them the principles of civil government; and so
orderly was the election conducted, that it did not give rise
even to the rumor of tumult.
The states-general were to meet'at Versailles in April, 1789,
but did not asemible till May.     They situated themselves in
three separate chambers, or rather the clergy and the aristocracy withdrew each into a separate chamber.         The majority of the aristocracy claimed what they called the privilege
of voting as a separate body, and of giving their consent or
their negative in that manner; and many of the bishops and
the high-beneficed clergy claimed the same privilege on the
part of their order.
The tiers etat (as they were called) disowned any knowledge
of artificial orders and artificial privileges; and they were
not only resolute    on this point, but somewhat disdainful.
They began to consider aristocracy as a kind of fungus growing out of the corruption of society, that could not be admitted even as a branch of it; and from the disposition the aristocracy had shown, by upholding letlres de cachet, and in
sundry other instances, it was manifest that no constitution
could be formed by admitting men in any other character
than as national men,
After various altercations on this head, the tiers etat, or
commons (as they were then called), declared themselves (on
a motion made for that purpose by the Abbe Sieyes)'THE
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NATION; aznd that the two orders could
be considered but as deputies of corporations, and could only
have a deliberative voice but when they assembled in a national
struck me in calling the states-general was a great departure from the ancient
course;' and he soon after says,' From the moment I read the list, I saw distinctly, and very nearly as it has happened, all that was to follow,' Mr. Burke certainlv did not see all that was to follow. I lave endeavored to impress him, as
well'before as after the states-general met, that there wonld be a revolution;
but was not able to make him see it, neither would he believe it. -ow, then, he
could distinctly see all the parts, when the whole was out of sight, is beyond my
comprehension. And with respect to the' departure from the ancient course,'
beside the natural weakness of the remark, it shbws that he is unacquainted
with circumstances. The departure was necessary, from the experience had
upon it, that the ancient course was a bad one. The states-.eneral of 1614 were
called at the commencement of the civil war in the minority of Louis XIII.; but
by the clash of arranging them by orders, they increased the confusion they were
called to compose. The author of l'Intrigue du Cabinet (Intrigue of the Cabinet), who wrote before any revolution was thought of in France, speaking of the
states-general of 1614 sals:.' They held the public in suspense five months;
and by the questions agitated therein, and the heat with which they were put, it
appears that the great (les grandes) thought more to satisfy their particular
passions than to procure the good of the nation; and the whole time passed
awav in altercations, ceremonies, and parade.' —''Intrigue du Cabinel,' vol. i.
p. 329.




STEPS TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.        87
character with the national representatives.' This proceeding
extinguished the style of etats generaux, or states-general, and
erected it into the style it now bears, that of l'assemble nationale, or national assembly.
This motion was not made in-a precipitate manner' it was
the result of cool deliberation, and concerted between the
national representatives and the patriotic rnembers of the two
chambers, who saw into the folly, mischief, and injustice of
artificial privileged distinctions. It was become evident that
no constitution, worthy of being'called by that name, could
be established on anything less than a national ground.'The
aristocracy had hitherto opposed the despotism of the court,
and affected the language of patriotism; but it opposed it as
its rival (as the English barons opposed King John); and it
now opposed the nation from the same motives.
On carrying this motion the national representatives, as
had been concerted, sent an invitation to the two chambers,
to unite with them in a national character, and. proceed to
business. A majority of the clergy, chiefly of the parishpriests, withdrew from the clerical chamber and joined the
nation; and forty-five from the other chamber' joined in like
manner. There is a sort of secret history belonging to this
last circumstance, which is necessary to its explanation: it
was not judged prudent that all the patriotic members of the
chamber, styling itself the nobles, should quit it at once; and
in consequence of this arrangement, they drew off by degrees,
always leaving some, as well to reason the case, as to watch
the suspected. In a little time the numbers increased from
forty-five to eighty, and soon after to a greater number;
which, with a- majority of the clergy, and the whole of the,national representatives, put the malcontents in a, very diminutive condition.'The king, who, very different to the general class called by
that name, is a man of a good heart, showed himself disposed
to recommend a union of the three chambers, on the ground
the national assembly had taken; but the malcontents exerted
themselves to prevent it, and began now to have another project in view. Their numbers consisted of a majority of the
aristocratical chamber,'and a minority of the clerical chamber, chiefly of bishops and high-beneficed clergy; and. these
men were determined to put everything to issue, as well by
strength as by s'tratagem. They had no objection to a constitution; but it must be such a one as themselves should
dictate, and suited to their own views and particular situations.
On the other hand, the nation disowned knowing anything of
them but as citizens, and. was determined to shut out all such
upstart pretensions.  The more aristocracy appeared, the
more it was despised; there was a visible imbecility and
want of intellect in the majority, a' sort ofje ne sais quoi, that,




88                LIFE OF TIOMAS PAINE.
while it a:fected to be nore than citizen was less than man.
It lost grfound more'from contempt than from hatred;l and
was ratir jered   a      ss an ass  an dareaded as a lion. This
is the Teneral character of aristocracy, or what are called nobles or nobtiiity, or rather no-ability, in all countries.
Trle plan of the malcontenlIs consisted now of two things;
either to deliberate and-vote by clha1mbers (or orders), more
especially on'all questions reYspecting a constitution (by
whichi the aristocratical charber would have had a negative
on any article of the constitution), or, in case they could not
accomtplisih this object, to overthrow the national assembly
entirely.
To effect one or the other of these objects, they began now
to cultivate a friendship with the despotism they had hitherto
attem pted to rival, and the Count d'Artois became their chief.
The king (wvho has since declared himts"elf deceived into their
measures) held, according to the old form, a bed ofjusZtice, in
which he accorded to. the deliberation and vote par gele (by
head) upon several objects; but reserved the deliberation and
vote, Lpon all questions respecting a constitution, to the
three chambers separately. Thisi declaration of the king'was
made against the advice of M.. Necl:ar, who now began to perceive that he was growing out of fashion at court, and that
another minister was in contemplation.
As the form of sitting in separate chamybers was yet apparently kept up, though essentially destroyed, the national representatives, immediately after this declaration of the king,
resorted to their own chambers to consult on a protest against
it; anrd the minority of the chamber (calling itself the nobles)
who had joined the nationlal cause, retired to a private house
to consult in like manner. -- The malcontents, had by this time
concerted their measures with the court, w7hich. count d'Artois undertook to conduct and as they saw, from the discontent which the declaraticn excited, and- the opposition making
against it' that they.could not obtain a control over the-intended constitlution by a separate vote, they prepared themselves for their final object; that of conspiring against the
national assembly and overthrowing it.
The next morning. the door o.f the chamber of the national
assembly was shut against them, and guarded by troops, and
the members were refused admittance. On this they withdrew to a tennis-ground, in the neighborhood of Versailles, as
the most convenient place they could find; and, after renewing their session,.took an oath never to separate from each
other under any circumsrtanes whlatever; death excepted,
until they had established a constitution. As the experiment
of shutting up the house had no other effect than that of producing a closer connexion in the members, it was opened




STEPS IN TIE FRENCII REVOLUTION.      89
again the next day, and the public business recommenced in
the usual place.
We are now to have in view the forming of'the new ministry, which was to accomplish the overthrow of the national
assembly. Bt:ut as force would be necessary, orders were
issued to assemble thirty thousand troops, the command of
which was given to Broglio, one of the new-intended ministry,
who was recalled from the country for this purpose. But as
some manaogement was necessary to keep this plan concealed
till thie'rlomnent it should be ready for execution, it is to this
policy thait a declaration made by Count d'Artois must be attribute.d,; and which is here proper to be introduced.
It could not'but.occur that while the malcontents continued
to resort to their chambers separate from the national assembly, that more jealousy would be excited than if they were
mixed with it, tand that the plot might be suspected but as
they -hadl taken their ground, and now wanted a pretence for
quittinr) it, it was necessary that one should be devised.'his
was eflect.ially accomplished by a declaration made by Count
d'Artois, hMat' if Ihey look not a part in the n7ational assnembly,
the life of t/.e k:ir.g woutld be endangered;' on which they quitted theiir chambers and mixed with the assembly in one body.
At the time this declarationi was made, it was generally
treated as a piece of absurdity in Count d'Artois, and calculated merely to relieve the outstanding members of the two
chambers from the diminutive situation they were put in;
and if nothing more had followed this conclusion would have
been good. But as things best explain themselves by their
events, tills apparent union was only a cover to the machinations ti.t were secretly going on; and the declaration accommodated itself to answer that purpose. In a little time the
national assembly found itself surrounded by troops, and
thousands daily arriving. On,this a very strong declaration
was made by the national assembly to the king, remonstrating
on the impropriety of the measure, and demanding the reason.
The king, who was not in the secret of this business, as himself afterward declared, gave substantially for answer, that he
had no other object in view than to preserve public tranquillity,
which appeared to be much disturbed.
But ini a few days from this time the plot unravelled itself.
M. Neckar and the ministry were displaced, and a new one
formed of the enemies of the revolution; and Broglio, with
between twenty-fie and thirty thousand foreign troops, was
arrived-to support them. The mask was now thrownn off, and
matters were come'to a crisis. The event was, that, in the
space of three days the new'ministry and their abettors found
it prudent to fly the nation; the bastile was taken, and Broglio and his foreign troops dispersed, as is already related in a
former part of this Tvork."
12




90                LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
WVe shall now introd'uce Mr. Paine's description of the
taking of the bastile, and then proceed with his life, or his
connexion with these events and their consequences.'r The mind (can liardly picture to itself a more tremendous
scene than which the city of Paris exhibited at the time of
taking the bastile, and for two days before and after, nor
conceive the possibility of its quieting so soon. At a disiance,
this transaction has appeared only as an act of hleroism st;anding on itself: and the close political connexion it ha:d w ith
the revolution is lost in the brilliancy of the achievement.
But we are to consider it as the strength of the parlties, brou!ght
man to man, and contending for the issue.'The bastile was
to be either the prize or the prison of the assailant}. The
downfall of it included the ideaof the downfall of despotism;
and this compounded image was become as figuratively united,
as Bunyan's Doubting Castle and giant Despair.
The national assembly before and at the time of takling the
bastile,'was sittirig at Versailles, twelve miles distant from
Paris. About a week before the rising of the Parisians and
their taking the bastile, it was discovered that a plot was
forming, at the head of which was the Count d'Artois, the
king's youngest brother, for demolishing the national assembly, seizing its members, and thereby crushing, by a coup de
main, all hopes and prospects of forming'a free government.
For the sake of humanity, as well as of freedom, it is well this
plan did not succeed. Examples are not wanting to show
how dreadfully vindictive and cruel are all old governments,
when they are successful against what they call a revolt.
This plan must have been some time in contemplation; because, inl oidei to carry it into execution, it was necessary to
collect a large military force round Paris, and to cut oif the
cormmunication between that city and the national assembly
at Versailles.  The troops destined for this service were
chiefly the foreign troops in the pay of France, and who, for
this particular purpose, were drawn from the distant provinces
where they were then stationed. WThen they were collected,
to the amount of between twenty-five and thirty tihousand, it
was judged time to put the plan into execution. The ministry who were then in office, and who were friendly to the
revolution, were instantly dismissed, and a new ministry
formed of those who had concerted the project:-.among
whom was Count de Broglio, and to his share was given the
command of those troops. -The character of this man, as
described to me in a letter which I conmmunicated to Mr.
Burke before he began to write his book, and from an
authbrity which Mla. Burke well knows was good, was that of
Sa high-flying aristocrat, cool, aind capable of every mischief.'




TAKING THE BASTILE.              91
While these matters were agitating, the national assembly
stood in the most perilous and critical situation that a body
of men can be supposed to eact in. They were the devoted
victims, and they knew it. They had the hearts and wishes
of their country on their side, but military authority they had
none. The guards of Broglio surrounded the hall where the
assembly sat, ready, at the word of command, to seize their
persons, as had been done the year before to the parliament
in Paris. Had the national assembly deserted their trust, or
had they e'xhibited signs of weakness or fear, their enemies
had been encouraged, and the country depressed. When the
situation they stood in, the pause they were engaged in, and
the crisis then ready to burst which should determine their
personal and political fate, and that of their country, and
probably of Europe, are taken into one view, none but a heart
callous with prejudice, or corrupted by dependance, can avoid
interesting itself iin their success.
The archbishop of Vienne was at this time president of the
national assembly  a person too old to undergo the scene that
a few days, or a few hours, might bring forth. A man of
more-activity, and bolder fortitude, was necessary; and the
national assembly chose (under the form of vice-president, for
the presidency still rested in the archbishop) M. de la Fayette;
and this is' the only instance of a vice-president being chosen.
It was at the moment this storm was pending, July It, that a
declaration of rights was brought forward by M. de la Fayette,
and is the same which is before alluded to. It was hastily
drawn up, and makes only a part of a more extensive declaration of rights, agreed upon and adopted afterward by the
national assembly. The particular reason for bringing it forward at this moment (M. de la Fayette has since informed me)
was, that if the national assembly should fall in the threatened
destruction that then surrounded it, some trace of its principles might have a chance of surviving the wreck.
Everything was now drawing -to a crisis. The event was
freedom or slavery. On one side an army of nearly thirty
thousand men; on the other an unarmed body of citizens, for
the citizens of Paris on whom the national assembly must
then immediately depend, were as'unarmed and undisciplined
as the citizens of London are now. The French guards had
given strong symptoms of their being attached to the national
cause; but their numbers were small, not a tenth part of the
force which Broglio conmanded,, and their offiters were in
the interest of Broglio.
Matters beingnow ripe for execution, the new ministry
made their appearance in office. The reader.will carry in his
mind, that the bastile was taken the 14th of July: the point
of time I am now speaking to, is the 12th.'As soon as the
news of the change of the ministry reached Paris in the after.




LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
noon, all the play-houses and places,of entertainment, shops
and houses, were shut up. The change oft ministry was considered as the prelude of hostilities, and the opinion was
rig}htly founded.
Thie foreign troops began to advance toward the city. The
Prince de Lambese, who commanded a body of German cavalr:, approached by the palace of Louis XV. which connects
itself with some of tile streets. In his march he insulted and
struck an old man with his sword. The French are remarkable for their respect to'old age, and the insolence with which
it appeared to be done, uniting with the general fermentation
they were in, produced a powerful effect, and a cry of' To arms!
to arms P spread itself in a moment over th'e whole city.
Arms they had none, nor scarcely any who knew the use of
them; but desperate resolution, when every hope is at stake,
supplies, for a while, the want of arms. Near where the
Prince de Lambese was drawn up, were large piles of stones
collected for building the new bridge, and with these the
people attacked the cavalry.' A party of the French guards,
upon hearing the firing, rushed from their quarters and joined
the people; and night'coming on, the cavalry retreated.
The streets of Paris, being narrow, are favorable for defence;
and the loftiness of the houses, consisting of many stories,
from which great annoyance might be given, secured them
against nocturnal enterprises; and the night was spent in
providing themselves with every sort of weapon they could
make or procure: guns, swords, blacksmith's hammers, carpenters' axes, iron crows, pikes, halberds, pitchforks, spits,
clubs, &c.
The incredible numbers with which they assembled the next
morning, and the still more incredible resolution they exhibited, embarrassed and astonished their enemies.. Little did the
new ministry expect such a salute. Accustomed to slavery
themselves, they had no idea that liberty was capable of such
inspiration, or that a body of unarmed citizens would dare to
face the military force of thirty thousand men. Every moment of this day was employed in collecting arms, concerting
plans, and arranging themselves in the best order which such
an instantaneous movement could afford. Broglio continued
lying round the city, but made no farther advances this day,
and the succeeding night passed with as much tranquillity as
such a scene could possibly produce.
But the defence only was not the object of the citizens.
They had a cause at stake, on which depended their freedom
or their slavery. They every moment expected an attack, or
to hear of one made on the national assembly; and in such a
situation, the most prompt'measures are sometimes/the best.
The object that now presented itself, was the bastile; and
the eclat of carrying such a fortress in the face of such an




TAKING THE BASTILE,              93
aim, colfid not fail to strike terror into the new ministry,
W.iho ht.d scarcely yet had time to meet. By some intercepted Cforrebpondcnce this morning, it was discovered that the
tniyorr of Paris, lII. de Flessels, who appeared to be in their
i nterest, was betraying them; and from this discovery there
remained no doubt that Broglio would reinforce the bastile
the ensuing evening. It was therefore necessary to attacklit
that day; but before this could be done, it was first necessary
to procure a better supply of arms than they were then possessed of.
There was. adjoining to the city, a large magazine of arms
deposited at the hospital of the invalids, which the citizens
summoned to surrender; and as the place was not' defensible,
nor attempted much defence, t'hey soon succeeded. Thus
supplied, they marched to attack the bastile; a vast mixed
multitude of all ages and of all degrees, and armed with all
sorts of weapons. Imagination would fail of describing to
itself the appearance of such a procession, and of the anxiety
for the events which a fewv hours or a few minutes might produce. What plans the ministry was forming, were as unknown to the people within the city, as wlhat the citizens
were doin~g was unknown to them; and what movements
Broglio might make for the support or relief of the place,
were to the citizens equally unknown. All was mystery and
hazard.
That the bastile was attacked with an enthusiasm of heroism, such only as the highest animation of liberty could inspire, and carried in the space of a few hours, is an bvent
which the world is fully possessed of. I am not undertaking
a detail of the attack, but bringing into view the conspiracy
against the nation which provoked it, and which fell with the
bastile. The, prison to which the new ministry were dooming the national assembly, in addition to its being the high
altar and castle of despotism, became the proper object to
begin'with. This enterprise broke up the new ministry, who
beogan now to fly from the ruin they had prepared for others.
The troops of Broglio dispersed, and himself fled also."
The taling of the bastile by a mob has astonished most
persons acquainted with that fortress, and especially military
men, who knlow the obstacleito such an undertaling, nor was
it generally understood how the moat was passed, or the drawbridge let down. We learn, however, from Robert Dale Owen,
who had the information from La Fayette, that the chain of
the draw-bridge was struck by a well-aimed cannon-ball, or perhaps by a chain-shot, and the chain or chains being thus




94,               LIFE OF TIOMIAS PAINE.
broken, the bridge fell, the mob rushed over, and effected the
rest by gallantry. Sherwin thus speaks on this subject:" he destruction of the bastile, and the, universal difitusion
of republican principles throughout the French empire, had
renesired that country a singular object of terror to the English
government. The mass of the nation saw with pleasure the
dawn of French liberty, while the majority of their rulers beheld it as a treasonable invasion of the divine rights of monarchy. They dreaded the spirit of inquiry which it was calculated to diffuse, and they feared that the government of England, lmatchless and enviable as it wass:epresented, would gain
no credit by passing through the ordeal of national discussion.
The first important attack that was made upon the principles
of the French revolution was by lr. Burke at the opening of
parliament, 1790. Thiswvas followed by an advertisement in
several of tbe newspapers, stating that lie intended shortly to
ptblish his opinions on the subject in the form of a pamphlet.
lThe friends of liberty in this country.were astonished at the
sudden chang;e in the politics of Mr. Burlie, as he had, for several ):ears revious, and piarticularly during the American war,
been considered as a most eloquent and sincere advocate of
public freedom. But it was shortly discovered that le had received a pension of three thousand pounds a year, and this sufficiently explained the grounds of his apostacy. At. the period.of his parliamentry attack on the French revolution, he corresponded wvith Mr. Paine, and so totally unexpected was his
conduct, that the latter had written to him from Paris but- a
few weeks before; to inform him how prosperously matters
were going on. When the adveitisement was published announcingo Mr. Burke's'Reflections,' Mr. Paine, promised the
friends of the Frenchrevolution that he would answer the work
whenever it appeared. He left France in NoNlember, 1790, having been an attentive observer, if not an active adviser, of the
important proceedings which had taken place during' the precedin'-'tw elve months.  Mr. Burke'sbook appeared soon after
his arrival. The popularity of the author as a literary charactevi, t!e exertions of the government and its agents in all parts
of Ithe country, the flowery and impassioned language in wh1ich
the hlstorical and declamatory partslof the book were clothed,
and the repeated delays which had retarded'its appearance,
antd, consetrently, increased the anxiety of the public, all conspired t ogive the work an interest, which its profligacy ot
principle and perversity of sentiment were insufficient to overcone. The mass of his readers were captivated by his eloquenkce, and but a few took the trouble to reflect on the distorted facts, the real falsehoods, and the egregious absurdities,
with. which the book abounded.




BURKE'S APOSTACY —-RIGIHTS O, MIAN.     95
1Mr. Paine lost no time in preparing his answer to the work.
In less than three months he produced the first part of' Rights
of Man,' in which he had combated and confuted the greater
portion of 1Mr. Buirke's doctrines. The work was printed. in
February 19, 1791,r M r. Johnsori, of St. Paul's Church Yard,
but on looking' it over he discovered some passages wvhich he
conc t-ived were liable to be prosecuted, andl he declined the
publication. This refusal, which was altogether unexpect:ed
oc:casiond a month's delay. After some difficulty, a publisher was ait l length found in Mr. Jordan, at No. 166, Fleet street,
and the work was brouaght out on the 13th of March, 1791.
This. putblication had a two-fold object in view;-fir.stly that 
of roi:nsing the attention of the people of England to the defects
and abuses of their own system of government; and sec'ondly,
that of refutino the falsehoods and exaoggerations in Mr. Burke's
Refilections. Among other doctrines equally devoid of principle, Mr. Buike had published a commentary on the proceedings
of tie parliament of 1688, in which he had argued that the people of Eng-land were bound by the declaration of the'said parliitent, w7ho had consented' to submit themselves, their heirs
and posterities for ever, to th' heirs and posterity of Wijliam
an-d \arly. Mr. Paine' argues, that;whttever iighht the parliament might have to submit themselves, they had not, and could
not, lhive any right to enter into any agreement or contract respectino the government ofposterity, for, says he,' every age and
generation must be as free to act for itself in all cases, as the
age and generation which preceded it."  A more self-evident
position than. this could not have been advanced, and the reflections naturally arising from it were quite sufficient to overturn the absurd conclusions which Mir. Burke had drawn from
his omnipotent parliament of 1688.
O;tr author then proceeds to refute his misrepresentations
relative to the French revolution, and the causes'of it.  He
enters into' an elaborate detail of the events imrediately precedin r the overthrow of the ancient despotism, and of the consequences which it was calculated to produce. In speaking
of the'destruction of thle bastile, and of AMr. Burke's silence on
the subject, he thus beautifully expresses himself: "" Not one
glance of compassion, not one commiserating reflection, that
I can find throughout his book, has he bestowed on those wiho
lingered out the most wretched of lives —a life without hope
in the most miserable of prisons7  It is painful to behold a man
employingr his talents to corrupt, himself. Nature has been'Iinder to Mr. Burke than he is to her. He is not affected by
the reality of distress touching his heart, but by the showy resermblance of it strikingo his imagination.  He pities the p!umag'e, but forgets the dying bird.  Accustomed to lkiss the
aristocratic hand that hath purloined him'from hr simself, he degenerates into a composition of art, and the genuine soul of




96               LIFE OF TTHOM3AS PAINE.
nature forsakes him. His hero or his heroine must be a traogedv victim expiring in show, arid not the real prisoner of misery sliding into death, in the silence of a dunreon.' Mr. Patine
reasons veCy deeply on the sub ject of rigohts, and the origin of
government, in opposition to the dogmatical assertions and
high-soundi n( declamition of his antagonist, and concludes
his arigumient with a comparison betxveen the constituttions of
England and France, as the latter then stood under the authority of the national assembly. lHe ridicules the vanity of titles,
and the policy of hereditary governors, and vindicates thle conduet of the national assembly in abolishing the one, and neutralizing the authoritv of the other.
It has been urg(ed against the work before us, that the author had neglected to arrange his matter methodically. But
it should be recollected, that he was compelled to follow the
tr-ckl of his opponent, which, as WiAr. Paine very truly observes,
was a complete'wilderness of rhapsodies.' It was th'erefore
impossible to preserve that order which in any other work
would be considered essentially requisite. It may, however,
be safely asserted, that the author's meaning is always5 clear,
that his facts are always correctly stated, and that his arguments are incontrovertible. With respc-t to the merits of the
work as a composition, its immense circulation and immediate effect in exciting an inquiry into the abuses of the English
government, will answer for this part of the subject. Perhaps
there never was a period in which the people of that country
were less disposed to attend to the discussion of politics than
at the tinme'im'  Paine's pamphlet made its appearance: they
had been so often amused, and so often deceived, by men who
pretended to advocate their rightsthat they were disgusted
with the subject, and the' apostacy of AMir. Burke was a confirmation of their sentiments, But the principles contained in
the' Rights of Mann, opened an entirely new field of argument
and inquiry, and. the thinkin part of the people b1egan to view
the right of political reform, not as a boon to be exiected or
desired from the governcment, but as a power which the nation
alone ihad the authority to exercise.
About the middle of MAy M'r Paine agrain went to France.
Soon after lis iarrival the kin ig fled firio Paris. On this occasion
hle observed to his friend lMr. Christie:'You see the absurdity
of monarchical,governments. Heree will be a whole nation
disturbed by the folly of one man.' When the king returned
to Paris, NMr.i Paine was, fronm an accidental circumstance, in
considerable danger of losinx his life. An immense concourse
of persons of all classes had assembled to witness the event,
Among the crowd was Mr. Paine. An officer proclaimed the
order of the national assembly, that all should be silent and
covered. In an instant all hats were on. Paine,,lhowever,
had lost his cbckad/, the emblem of liberty and equality. The




ABBE SYEYES —HORNE TOOKE.               97
multitude observing that he remained uncovered, supposed
that he was one of their enemies, and a cry instantly arose,
iristocrat! siristocrat! a la lacnterne! a la lanterne!' He
was desired by those who stood near him to put on his hat,
and it was sometime before the people could be satisfied by
explanation.'The Abbe Syeyes, who had been one of the principal authors of the new constitution, being alarmed at the partial
excesses which had been committed by the populace, and
falsely attributiaig them to the propagation of republicant principles, avowed his intention of defending the monarclical
against the democratical system of government.    Mr. Paine
readily accepted the challenge, and offered, in the short space
of fifty pages, to controvert all the arguments which the abbe
could bring forward in defence of his proposition. The latter
prudently declined the contest, and thus the matter ended.
On the thirteenth July, 1791,, he returned to London, but it
was not thought prudent that he should attend the public celebration of the French revolution, which was to take place on
the followving day. He was, however, present at the meeting
which was held at the Thatched-House tavern, on the twentieth of August following.  Of the address and declaration
which issued from this meeting, and which was at first attributed to Mr. Horne Tooke,!Mr. Paiie was the,author. A
second meeting was intended to have been held at the same
place, for a similar purpose, but the proprietor of the tavern
was so much alarmed at the clamors of the government party,
that he was under the necessity of informing Mr. Horne Tooke
and his friends that he could not receive them.
Mr. Paine was now very much engaged in preparing the
second part of the'Rights of Man' tfor the press. In the. meaitime the ministry had received information that the- work
would shortly appear, and they resolved on getting it suppressed if possible. Having ascertained the name of the printer, they employed' him to endeavor to purchase the copyright of the second, together with the future copyright of the
first part of the'Rights of Man.' He began first by offering
a hundred guineas, then five hundred, and at length a thousand;
but Mr. Paine told him, that he'would never put it in the
power of any printer or publisher to suppress or alter a work
of his, by making him  master of the copy, or give him the
* am aware that the circumstance of Mr. Chapman's being employed by government,has been denied by the partisans of the administration. But from the
evidence which he gave on the trial, there is every reason to conclude that he was
commissionede by the ministry or their immediate agents. He there states, that
he refused to go on with the.printing-of the work from the fear of its being prosecuted. Is it probable that any man'would lhe so extremely fiolish as to offer a
thousand guineas for the copyright of a bool which he dare not sell, unless he
had some prospect in doing it distinct fiom1 the profit that was to be derived from
the publication? Tle case is too clear to require farther coxmmintary.
13




98                LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
right of- selling it to any minister, or to any other person,
or to treat as a mere mnatter of traffic that which, he intended
should operate a' a prjinciplp."
Finding that A\r. Paine was not to be, bribed by pecuniary
offers, the ministry next attempted to impede, sincethey could
not suppress, the publication of the work, and in this they
partially succeeded. Among other thinags, it contained several
propositions relative to a reduction of the public taxes. It was
intended to have appeared on the day of the meeting of parliatment but when the printer found it was not to be purchased,
lhe suddenly stopped in the middle of the work, and informed
lMr. Paine that he would not proceed with the remainder on
any consideration. Another printer, therefore, became necessary, and this occasioned a delay of a fortnight. From the
circumstances, elsewhere stated, there is every reason to confclude that the proof-sheets were regularly sent to the cabi~
net, and that the small addition to the pay of the soldiers, as
vwell as several proposals for educing the taxes brought forward by Mr. Pitt at the opening of parliament, were done for
no other object than that of makinig it appear that Mr. Paine's
plan was merely an improvement on that of the minister. But
even iinthispa   palry ppose the parties in power were defeated, by the exposure of tlhe circumstances in the appendix to
the work.
The' Rights of Man, -part the second, comnbining principle
and practice, was published by Mr. Jordan, of Fleet sireet, on
the sixteenth of February, 1792. Exclusive of a dedication to
M. de la Fayette, a preface and an introduction, it, is divided
into five chlapters: chapter 1, on Society and Civilization; 2,
on the Origin of the present old Goverynments; 3, on the old
and new Systems of Government; 4, on Constitutions; 5,
Ways and Means of reforming the Political Condition of Europe, interspersed with MAiscellaneous Observations.
The second part is, strictly speaking, a continuation of the
first. The general design of the work appears to have been
an investigation of the abuses of the English governmrent; an
examination of thehereditary and representative systems; to
whiich are added, a variety of propositions for meliorating the
condition of the nation. In going over this work, it is difficult
to decide whether the ability or benevolence of the writer is
the most deserving of our admiration. The'most abstruse and.
difficult subjects in the science of politics8are rendered intelligible and interesting, and the abuses which had been accumulating for ag'es, and which antiquity seemed to have rendered
sadred and venerable, are examined with a degree of boldness,
which is wholly without precedent or parallel. The generality
of those wvho, had previously Wvritten on the sub ject of govern
ment, appear to have drawn their principles from existing
systems, and all that they had attempted to effect, was the




n" RIGHTS OF MAN,'9 PART II.       99
correction of a few exterior abuses, without daring to invade
the assumed' rights of th,e establishment itself. But our autlhor'S attfa-ik was quite of a different nature:he not only deprecated the practice, but he condemned the principle; he not
only declared his contempt for the'monarch, but his detestation of the monarchy. He had studied the science of politics
in the school of human nature, and he spoke as he felt, without reverencing, or even referring to the subtleties of the
sophists who had gone before him.
One of the great objects of the work was to do away with
the delusive notion, that the members of the'system ought to
be expected to reform themselves.'There does not,' says'he,
exist within such governments, sufficient stamina'whereon to
ingraft'reformation.' 6 The right of reform is in the nation, in
its oriSinal character, and the constitutional method would'be
by a general convention elected for the purpose.' Ie likewise
reasons with much energy in the first as well as the second
part of the work against the prevalent opinions, with respect
to the mixed system of governmelent.'A nation is not a body,
the fint:ire of which is to be represented by the human body,
but is like a body contained within a circle, having a common
centre, in which every radius meets, and that centre is formed
by representation. To connect representation with what is
called monarchy, is eccentric government. Representation is
of itself the delegated monarchy of a nation, and cannot debase itself by dividing it with another.' Indeed,:it requires
very little reflection to discover the impossibility of uniting
democracy with monarchy or aristocracy, for any beneficial
purpose. The union may exist in appearance, but it never can
take place in fact. The dignified pride of republicanism disowns the base connexion.
It is impossible to form an exact estimate of the niumber o(
copies which were circulated of the first and second parts of
the' Rights of Man,' but at a very moderate calculation there
was at least a hundred thousand of each. When ilr. Paine
saw the great interest which it excited, he thought the best
mode of promulgating its principles, would be to give up the
copyright in favor of the public, which he did about two months
after the appearance of the'second part. The probability of
a revolution now became a subject of general discussion. The
niation was divided into two numerous and powerful classes,
the one consisting of the ignorant and the majority of the
wealthy, arranged under the banners of civil and religious
tyranny, and declaring their attachment to all that was super-stitious in the church, and all that wNas despotic in the statewhile the other, more numerous and less dependant, more
enlightened though less opulent, being convinced that the
government in its existing state, was the cause of the greater
iart of the misery with which the country was afflicted, were




'100             LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
determined to let slip no opportunity of shaking off the load,
of oppression. That the different branches of government
were in a state of the completest trepidation, is a fact that admits of no question,. and that many of the most intelligent
men of all parties expected a revolution, is equally indisputable. It is recorded of a'certain ancient philosopher, who lived
under a capricious tyrant, that he used every morning, when
he awoke, to feel whether his head was on his shoulders; and
the state of the English people at length became so unsettled,
and the stability of the government so problematical, that the
king and his ministry might almost consider thet selves in as
precarious a situation.,
On the first appearance of the'Rights of Maan,' the ministry
saiv that it inculcated truths which they could not controvert,
that it contained plans which, if adopted, would benefit at least
nine tenths of the community, and that its principles were the
reverse of the existing system of government; they therefore
judged that the most politic method would be to treat the work
with contempt, to represent it as a foolish and insignificant
performance, unworthy of their notice, and undeserving of the
attention of the public. But they soon found the inefficacy of
this mode of treatment; the more contempt they showed, the
mhore the book was read and approved of. Finding, therefore,
that their declarations of, contempt were as unsuccessful as
their project of buying up the work, they determined upon
prosecuting the author and publisher. Mr. Paine was not at
all surprised at this resolution of the ministry; indeed, he had
anticipated it on the publication of the second part of the wvork,
and to remove any doubt as to his intention of defending the
principles which he had so effectually inculcated, he addressed the following letter to his publisher:'FEBRUARY 16, 1792.
SIR: Should any person, under the sanction of any kind of
authority, inquiie of you respecting the author and publisher
of the "'Rights of Man," you will please to mention me as the
author and. publisher of that work, and show to such person
this letter. I will as soon as I am made acquainted with it, appear and answer for the work personally.
Your humble servant,
THOMAS PAINE,
MR. JORDAN,'No. 166 Fleet Street.7
The first intimation which Mli. Paine received of the intentions of the ministry, was on the 14th of May, 1792. He was
then at Bromley in Kent, upon which he came immediately to
town; on his arrival, he' found that' Mr. Jordan had that evening been served with a summons to appear at the court' of
King's Bench on the Monday followinp, but for what pulrp'ise




PROSECUTION OF MR. PAINE.         101
was not stated. Conceiving it to be on account of the work,
he appointed a meeting with Mr. Jordan, on the next morning,
when he provided a solicitor, and took the expense of the defence on himself. But Mr. Jordan, it appears, had too much
regard for his person to hazard its safety on the event of a
prosecution, and he compromised the affair with the solicitor
of the treasury, by agreeing to appear in court and plead guilty.
This arrangement answered the purpose of both parties-that
of Jordan in liberating him from the risk of a prosecution, and
that of the ministry, since his pleaof guilty amounted in some
measure to a condemnation of the work.
The following letter from Mr. Paine to Sir Archibald Macdonald, the then attorney-general, will serve to confirm this
statement:' SIR: Though I have some reason for believing that you
were not the original pi'omoter or encourager of the piosecution commenced against the work entitled'Rights of Man,'
either as that prosecution is intended to affect the author, the
publisher, or the public; yet as you appealr the official person
therein, I address this letter to you, not as Sir Archibald Macdonald, but as attorney-general.
Yoa began by a prosecut.ion against the publisher, Jordan,
and the reason assigned by Mr. Secretary pundas, in the house
of commons, in the debate on the proclamation. May 25, for taking that measure,, was, he said, because Mr. Paine could not
be found, or words to that effect.'Mr. Paine, sir, so far from
secreting himself, never went a step out of his d'ay, nor in the
least instance varied from his usual conduct, to avoid any measure you might choose to adopt with respect to him.'It is on
the purity of his heart, and the universal utility of the principles and plans which his writings contain, that he rests the
issue; and he will not dishonor it by any kind of subterfuge.
The apartments which he occupied at the time of-writing the
work last winter, he has continued to occupy to the present
hour, and the solicitors of the prosecution knew where to find
him; of which there is a proof in their own office as far back
as the 21st of May, and also in the office of my own attorney.
But admitting, for the-sake of the case, that the'reason for
proceeding against the publisher was, as Mr. Dundas stated,
that Mr. Paine could not be found, that reason can now exist
no longer.
The instant that I was informed that an information was preparing. to be filed against me; as the author of, I believe, one
of the' most useful books ever offered to mankind, 1 direct-.ed my attorney to put in an appearance; and as I shall meet
the prosecution fully and fairly, and with a good and upright
conscience, I have a right to expect that no act of littleness,
will be made use of on the part of the prosecution toward in.




102               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
fluencing the future issue with respect to the author. This expression may, perhaps, appear obscure to you, but I am in the
possession of some matters which serve to show that the action
against the publisher is not intended to be a real action. If,
there'fore, any persons concerned in the prosecution have found
their cause so weak as to make it appear convenient to them
to enter into a negotiation with the publisher, whether for
the purpose of his submitting to a verdict, and to make use of
the verdict so obtained as a circumstance, by way of precedents
on a future trial against' myself; or for any other purpose not
fully made known to me; if, I say, I have cause to suspect
this to be the case, I shall most certainly withdraw the defence
I should otherwise have made, or promoted, on his (the publisher's) behalf, and leave the negotiators to themselves, and
shall reserve the whole of the defence for the real trial.
But, sir, for the purpose of conducting this matter with at
least that appearance of fairness and openness that shall justifv itself before the public, whose cause it really is (for it' is
the right of public discussion and investigation that is questioned), I have to propose to you to cease the prosecution
against the publisher; and as the reason or pretext can no
longer exist for continuing it against him because Mr. Paine
could not be found, that youi would direct the whole process
against me, with whom the prosecuting party will not find it
possible to enter into any private negotiation.
I will do the cause full.justice, as well for the sake of the
nation, as for my own reputation.
Another reason for discontinuing the process against the
publisher is, because it can amount to nothing. First, because ajury in London cannot decide upon the fact of publishing
beyond the limits of the jurisdiction of London, and therefore
the vwork may be republished over and over again in every
county in the nation, and every case must have a separate process; and by the time that three.or four hundred prosecutions
have been had, the eyes of the nation will then be fully open
~to see that the work in question contains a plan the best calculated to root out all the abuses of government, and to lessen the taxes of the nation upward of six millions annually.
Secondly, because though the gentlemen of London may be
very expert in understanding their particular professions and
occupations, and how to make business contracts with government beneficial to themselves as' individuals, the rest of the
nation may not be disposed to consider them sufficiently qualfied nor authorized to determine for the whole nation on plans
oi re'forn, and on systems and principles of government. This
would be in effect to erect a jury into a national conventions
instead of electing a convention, and to lay a precedent for
the probable tyranny of juries, under the pretence of supporting their rights.




PROSECUTION OF MR. PAINE.           103
That the possibility always exists of packing juries will not
be denied; and, therefore, in all cases where government is
the prosecutor, more especially in those where the right of
public discussion and investigation of principles and systems
of government is attempted to be suppressed by a verdict, or
in those where the object of the work that is prosecuted is
the reform of abuse and the abolition of sinecure places and
pensions, in all these cases the verdict of a jury will itself
become a subject of discussion; and, therefore, it furnishes
an additional reason for discontinuing the prosecution against
the publisher, more especially as it is not a secret that there
has been a negotiation with him for secret purposes, and for
proceeding against me only. I shall make a much stronger
defence than what I believe the treasury solicitor's agreement
with him will permit him to do.
I believe that Mr. Burke, finding himself defeated, and not
being able to make any answer to the " Rights. of Man," has
been one of the promoters of this prosecution; and I shall ret
turn the compliment to him by showing, in a future publication, that he has been a masked pensioner at fifteen hundred
pounds per annum for about ten years.
Thus it is that the public money is wasted, and the dread
of public investigation is produced.
I am, sir,
Your, obedient hunmble servant,
THOMAS PAINE.
Sir A. M1ACDONALD, Attorney-Genereal.
The business being thus settled with respect to Jordan, and
he consenting to give up the documents in his possession
relative to the'Rights of Man,' in order to facilitate their
means of proceeding against the author, they commenced their
prosecution against the latter on the twenty-first of May. On
the same day, they issued their celebrated proclamation against
what they were pleased to term  seditious writings.' The authors of this document preserved a careful silente as to the
specific object of their alarms, but it was easy to discover that
their intention was to cry down the'Rights of Man,' and to
influence the verdict of the jury which was to try the author.
Another expedient was likewise resorted to-that of procuring
addresses in favor of the existing system of government from
the corporations, rotten boroughs, andi other places under the
influence of the ministry. Nothing could-be more despicable
thanl these addresses,'- and nothing more glaring than the conAs a contrast to these contemptible and fulsome specimens of servility, I
subjoin the following:At a meeting of the Manchester Constitutional Society, held this day, it was
unanimously resolvedThat the thanks of this society are due to Mr. Thomas Pai'ne, for the publica



104(                   LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
duct of their promoters, who were chiefly persons directly or
indirectly interested in the support of public abuses: but des'
picable as they were, they served        in some measure the purlion of his " Second Part of the Rights of Man, combining Principle and Practice,"
a work of the highest importance to every nati.on under heaven; but particularly
to this, as containing excellent and practical plans for an immediate and considerable reduction of the public expenditure fo{r the prevention of wars; for th
extension of our manufactures and commerce; for the education of the Voung~n
for the comfoitable support of the aged; for the better maintenance of the poor
of every description; and, finallv, for les;sening, greatly, and without delay, the
enormous load of taxes uider which this country at present labors.
That this society congratulate their countrymen at large, on the influence
which Mr. Paine's publications'ppear to have had, in procurlin the. repeal oi
some oppressive taxes in the present session of parliament; and they hope that
this adoption of a small part of Mr. Paine's ideas, will be followed'by the most
strenuous exertions to accomplish a complete reform in the present inadseqvate
state of the? epresentation of the people, and that the other great plans of public
benefit, which Mr. Paine has so powerfully recommended, w ill be speedily carried
into effect.                            TiHOIMAS WALKER', President.
Alarch 13, 1792.'                      SAMUEL JACKSON, Secretary.
Sheffield Societyfor Constitutional lnformation.' This society, composed chiefly of the manufacturers of Sheffield, began about
four months ago, and is already increased to nearly two thousand members, and
is daily increasing, exclusive of the adjacent towns and villages who are forming
themselves into simila' societies.
Considering, as we do, that the want of knowledge and'information in the gen
eral mass of the people, has exposed them to nunmberless impositions and abuses,
the exertions of this society are directed to the acquirement of useful knowledgee
and to spread the same as fai as our endeavors and abilities can extend.
We declare that we have derived more true knowledge fiom the two works of
Mr. Thomas Paine, entitledl " Rights of Man," parts the first and second, than
fiom any author on the subject. The practice as well as the principle of government is laid. down, in those works, in a manner so clear and irresistibly convincinag that this society do hereby resolve to give their thanks to M... Paine for
his two said publications, entitledT' Rights of Man," parts first and second.
Resolved unanimously, That the thanks of this society be given to Mr. Paine
for the affectionate concern he has shown in his second work in behalf of the
poor, the infant, and the aged; who, notwithstandihg the opulence which blesses
other parts of the community, are, by the grievous weight of taxes, rendered the
miserable victims of poverty and wretchedness.
Resolsed unanimously, That the thanks of this society be given to John Homne
Tooke, Esq., for his meritorious support of our lawful privileges, as a firm advocate of our natural and just rights, the establishment of an equal representation
of the people.'Resolved unanimously, That this society disdaining to be considered either of
a ministerial or opposition party (names of which we are tired, having been so
often deceived by both) do ardently recommend it to all their fellow-citizens, into
whose hands these resolutions may come, to confer seriously and calmly with
each other on the subject alluded to; ad to manifest to the world, that the
spirit of true liberty is a spirit of order; and that to obtain justice it is consistent that we be just to ourselves.
Resolved unanimously, That these resolutions be printed, and that a copy
thereof be transmitted to the Societyvfor Constitutional Information, London
requesting their approbation for twelve of our friends to be entered into their
society for the purpose of establishing a connexion and a regular communication
with that and all other similar societies in the kingdomn.
By order of the committee.
March, 14, 1792.'                              DAVID MARTIN, Chairman.
The above were selected from a number of others of a similar description.
They show that Mr. Paine had the approbation of the most independent portion
of the people, though his writings were not sanctioned by the aristocracy, the
landed interest, or any other class interested in the protection of a corrupt system
of government




MR. PAINE'S " ADDRESS TO THE ADDRESSERS.'  105
pose of the moment in decrying the character of a work, and
defaming the reputation of a man whose arguments were unanswerable, and whose character was irreproachable. A great
number of pamphlets; intended as answers to the'Ri'ghts of
Man,' had issued from the press, but such was the irresistible
nature of truth, that these puny and feeble efforts on the part
of wounded corruption no sooner appeared than they vanished,
and a few short weeks consigned them and their authors to
eternal oblivion. They therefore determined that an appeal to
popular clamor would serve their cause better than an
appeal to reason, and the verdict of a packed jury would
answer their purpose better than any attempt to argue the
merits of the work on the principles of truth and justice.
While the ministers of despotism were thus revelling in the
anticipation of their plots and schemes for crushing the rising
spirit of the country, the author of the'Rights of Main' as
resolved not to shrink from the discussion whic'h his writings
had occasioned. He was urged by several gentlemen of ithe
law to prefer a bill of indictment against the publisher of the
proclamation as a publication tending to influence the decision
of the jury; but conscious of the rectitude of his intentions,
and of the strength of his arguments, he preferred meeting
the proclamation ord its own ground, and defending the principles of the work which had been falsely stigmatized as wicked
and seditious. Accordingly, about the month of August, 1792,
he prepared another publication in defence of the'Rights of
Man' and of his own conduct, entitled,'An Address to the
Addresers on the late Proclamation.' This; is one of the
severest pieces of satire that ever issued from the press. The
parliamentary orators on both sides the house,' anxious to
raise a popular outcry against the'Rights of Man,' had commenced the session, by describing to the country and to each
other blessings which were enjoyed under the British constitution. The praises which were bestowed upon the' radical
beauties' of this constitution, and the motives which produced
them, are ridiculed by Mr. Paine in a fine strain of irony.
Having informed the addressers of these symptoms of alarm,
on the part of their mild, and merciful governors, he proceeds
to a defence of the principles of the' Rights of Man.' He repeats his former'arguments, and offers additional reasons for
the positions he had advanced. He concludes this part of the
pamphlet with these words, in reference to the impending
prosecution:'If to expose the fraud and imposition of every
species of hereditary government; to lessen the oppression
of taxes; to propose plans for the education of helpless infancy, ana the comfortable support of the aged and distressed;
to endeavor to conciliate nations to each other; to extirpate
the horrid practice of war; to promote universal peace, civilization, and commerce; and to break the chains of political
14




106               LIFE,OF TI-lHOMAS PAINE.,superstition, and raise degraded man to his proper rankl
if these things be libellous, let me live the life,of a libeller.
and let the name of libeller be engraven on nmytomb.,
But though /Mr. Paine was determined to take every opportunitv of defending his principles, he maintained that the case was
deserving of a nmuch more extensive consideration than could
be bestowed upon it by any jury, whether special or conmmon
tHe contends in the work before us, that the question wias not
so much whether he had or had not written wThat crowrn lawyers and packed juries are in the habit of condemning as
wicked and seditious libels, but whether individuals had the
right to investigate systems and;principles of government,
and to publish the conclusions resulting from such investt oation. It Was /h/is right which the ministry were invnrdi.ng
under the pretence of prosecuting the author of the' Rights
of Man,' and while in appearance they were merely attemplting
to suppress what they called the seditious writings of M1\'r.
Paine, they were, in fact, aiming a deadly blow at the rights
of every man in the country.
It was at first M[r. Paine's intention to have defended -imself personally, but an event happened about two monthsl pre-'
vious to the trial which disconcerted his purpose. While he
was preparing his'"Letter to the Addressers,' his friends and
admirers in France were preparing a wreath of civic honors,
as a reward for his intrepid exertions in defence of universal
liberty. About the middle of September, 1792, a French d(epiu
tation announced to him inLondon, that the department of Calais
had elected him as their representative'in the national convention. This was a matter of greater interest to him than the attorney-general's prosecution, and he proceeded to Dover with the
intention of embarking immediately to Calais, The treatment
which he met with at Dover was disgraceful in the extrene, 
his trunks were all opened, and the contents examined. Some
of his papers were seized, and it is probable that'the whole
would have shared the same fate, but for the cool and steady
conduct of Mr. Paine and his attendants. Wr'hen the customhouse officers had indulged themselves in this manner as long as
they thought proper, AMr. Paine and his friends were slTfered
to embark, and they arrived at Calais, after a pleasant passage
of three hours. Ie very narrowly escaped the vigilance of
the despots he had provoked, for it appears that an order to
detain him was received at Dover, in about twenty minutes
after his embarkation. The reception which he met with at
Calais, furnished a striking contrast to the conduct of the
government agents at Dover. On the name of Paine being
announced, the soldiers at the gates were drawn up, and the
officers on guard having embraced him, presented him with
For a full account of this scandalous transactio-, see his Second Letter to
Mr. Secretary Dundas, dated Calais, September 15, 1792.




MR. PAINE S HONORS IN FRANCE.        107
the national cockade. A very pretty woman, who was standing by, desired she might have the honor of putting it in his
hat, expressing her hopes that'he would continue his exertions
in favor of liberty, equality, and France. A salute was then
fired from the battery, to announce the arrival of their new'representative. This ceremony being over,-he walked td
Deissein's, in the Rte de l'Egalite (formerly Riue de Roi), the
men, women, and children, crowding around him, and calling
out' Five Thomas Paine!' He wva then conducted to the
town-hall, and there presented to the municipality, who with
the greatest affection embraced their representative. The
mayor addressed- him in a short speech, which was interpreted
to him by his friend and conductor, M. Audibert,,to which
Mr. Paine, laying his hand on his heart, replied, that his life
should be devoted to their service.
At the inn he was waited upon by the different persons in
authority, and by the president of the Constitutional society,
who desired he would attend their meeting of that night: he
cheerfully complied with the request, and the whole townv
would have been there, had there been room: the hall of the',"ininzes' was so crowded that it was with the greatest difficulty they made way for Mr. Paine to the side of the president.
Over the chair he sat in, was placed the bust of Mirabeau, and
the colors of France, England, and America united. A speaker
acquainted him from the tribune with his election, amid the
plaudits of the people. For some minutes after this ceremony,
nothing was heard but' Vive la Jation! Vive THOMAS PAINE,'
in voices male and female.
On the following day an extra meeting was appointed to be
held in the chuiiich in honor of their new deputy to the convention, the 2Jinimies being found quite suffocating from the vast
concourse of people which had assembled on the previous occasion. A play was performed at the theatre on the evening
after his arrival, and a box was specifically reserved'for the
author of the "Rights of Man," the object of.the English
proclamation.'
Mr Paine was likewise elected as deputy for Abbeville,
Beauvais, and Versailles, as well as for the department of Calais,
but the latter having been the first in their choice, he preferred
being their representative.
After remaining with his constituents a short time, he proceeded to Paris in order to take his seat as a member of the
National Assembly. On the road he met with similar honors
to those which he had received at Calais. As soon as he had
arrived at Paris, he addressed a letter to the people of France
thanking his fellow-citizens for adopting him as their dephty
to the convention.
Mr. Paine was, shortly after his arrival in Paris, appointed
a member of the committee for framing the new constitution.




108                    LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
While he was peaceably and patriotically performing the duties
of his station, the ministry       of tEngland were using       every
effort to counteract the (to them) dangerous principles which
he had disseminated.      For this purpose    they   filed a number
of iniformations against the different individuals who had retailed the work.     The trial of Mr. Paine came on at Guildhall,
on the 1Sth of December, before Lord Kenyon,* and a special
jury.   The former being pensioned, and the latter being packed, a verdict of guilty followed as a matter of course.           The
proceedings on this trial are not of much interest, except as
they tend to develop the inquisitorial character of an English
court of law in matters of libel.     The attorney-general had selected a few passages from     the second part of the'Rights of
Man,' which he thought were most likely to answer his purpose, and these, in the verbose vulgarity of the law, he stigmatized as false, wicked, scandalous, and seditious.       He was prudent enough to refrain from     any attempt to prove the truth of
his.charge, well knowing that, with such a judge and such a
jury, abuse would be received as a substitute for argument, and
the coarsest and most improbable calumnies would be admitted
as evidence of the writer's evil intention., The greater part
of his speech to the jury was taken up with a comment on a
letter relative to the prosecution, which Mr. Paine had written
to him from Paris.     In this letter he says:'Had not my duty
as a member of the national convention of France called me
from England, I should have stayed to have contested the injus* This man was one of the most cruel, vindictive, and merciless characters that
ever disgraced the bench of a British court of justice. As an illustration of his
connduct, the following anecd te will be sufficient: in the year 1799, a gentleman
with whoni I have the pleasure of being acquainted, of the name of Waddington.
specul'ated very largely in hops. It is the custom, and has been so time out of
mind, to purchase many of the hops of the growers before they are gathered, and
to give so much a'pound for them when gathered and'put into bags, Mr. Waddington (who was an opulent banker, and whose character as a commercial man,
stood very high), about the time he was making large epirchases of this sort. took
the lead in calling a meeting in the city of London to petition against the war.
The myrnmidons of Pitt were set to work to discover how he might be annoyed. They
trumped up a charge of forestalling against him for having )purchased hops before
they were brought to market. Nothing could be more unfounded than this charge,
seeing that it had been the practice of thousands of persons for perhaps more than
a century. In the reigns of Edward VI., Mary, Elizabeth, Charles II., and Anne,
divers acts of parliament had been passed against forestalling, regrating, engrossing, &c. But in time it was discovered that these acts were not only foolish, but
mischievous, and in the 12th year of the reign of the present king, the whole of
thnem were repealed, upon the ground that they tended to produce dearth and
rmisery. But the common law had not been repealed, or at least Kenyoin said so,
Upon this was Mr. Waddington indicted, and ajury, paclked for the purpose, found
him guilty of dealings as honest and comnmon as any in the country: in consequence of this verdict, the wicked and malignant judge sentencedl this worthy and
respectable rman to be imprisoned as ell as  fined, which, considering that it dissolved all his contracts, produced a forfeiture of his deposites, and caused a run
upon his house and his bank, was, in fact, sentencing him to ruin, and almost
to actual beggary. The result of these proceedings brought forth a number of
infoirnations against forestallers-fortunatelv for Kenvon lie died soon after, and
hisisuccessor declared that not to be an oTfence, which Kenvon had declared to be
an offence for the sole purpose of ruining a man whom Pitt and his colleagues had
marked out for destruction.




PERSONS PERSECUTED.               109
tice of that prosecution; not upon my own account, for I
cared not about the prosecution, but to have defended the
principles' I had advanced in the work.' He likewise delivers
his opinion very freely, upon the capacity of the reigning king,
and the profligacy of his sons, and very pointedly asks the
attorney-general, whether he conceives such persons are
necessary to the government of a nation 1 Mr. Erskine contended against the legal right of the prosecutor to avail himself of the contents of this letter' but the judge'overruled'the
objection.'Indeed the vyhole of the proceedings seem to have
been marked out beforehand, and the trial seems to have been
nothing but a convenient farce. Mr. Erskine addressed the
jury for some hours~,,but his speech was rather an evasion of
the charge, than a justification of the principles he professed
to defend. It was, as Mr. Paine observed, on seeing the report
of the trial,'a good speech for himself, but a very poor defence
of the "Rights of Man."' The jury found a verdict for the
crown, without the trouble of deliberation.
With respect to the different retailers of the work against
whom informations were filed, their fate now becrame pretty
evident. The ministry were not satisfied with puniJhing the
venders of'Rights of Man;' they like'wise instituted prosecutions against the publishers of the' Letler to thie dddressers,'
and obtained several convictions. The following statement
contains, I believe, a correct account of the numbber of prosecutions'against these works:A LIST OF THE PERSONS VI-IO HAVE BEEN PROSECUTED FOR THE
PUBLICATION OF PAINE S WORKS.
December' 18, 1792. Thomas Paine,'Rights of Man, Part
II.' convicted; went to France previous to the trial.
Febrruary 26, 1793. Thomas Spence,'Rights of Mian, Part II.'
flaw in the indictment; acquitted.
William Holland.'Address to the Addressers,' one year's
imprisonment, and ~100 fine.,
H. D. Syrmonds.' Rights of Man,' two years imprisonment,
and ~20 fine.   Letter to the Addressers,' one year's imprisonment, ~100, and two sureties of ~250 each, and self
for ~500, forthree years, and imprisonment till the fine be
paid and sureties given.
ipril 15. Thompson, printer, Birmingham,'Rights of Man'
and'Address to the Addressers;' acquittedo.lpril 17. Richard Phillips, printer, Leicester,'Rights of'Man;' eighteen months' imprisonment.
~lay 8. J. Ridgway, bookseller, London;' Rights of Man,'
one year's imprisonment, and ~100.'Letter to the Addressers,' one year's imprisonmrent and.~100 fine; in each case,




110              LIFE OF THO'IAS PAINE.
-two sureties of ~250 each, and self for 500 for three years,
and imprisonment till the fine be paid, and sureties given.
June 3.  D. I. Eatbn,'Rights of Man:' verdict which
amounted to an acquittal. July 11. Do.'Address to the Addressers:' do.
Richard Peart and William Belcher,' Address to the Addressers,' and Rights of Man;' imprisonment three months.
ugu.st 10. Messrs. Robinsons,'Rights of NMan;' fine.
Daniel Holt, bookseller, Newark,'Address to the Addressers j' four years' imprisonment, and ~g50 fine.
These prosecutions, though they were far from trianmuillizing
or satisfying the public mind, were certainly followed, by one
of their intended effects, that of suppressing the ci culation of
the wxork. Such was the acrimony with which the admirers ot
M\r. Paine uwere persecuted in all parts of the country, that it
was reoarded.as highly dangerous for any person to be found
with the book in his possession; for though the law took no'cognizance of such an act, the individual became a marked object of destruction, and so vigilant were the agents of tyranny,
that their malice was suare to be gratified by one means or
othier~ On the triidls of Hardy, Tooke, and Thelwall, the circuimLstance of their having patronised the' Rights of~Maan' was
1nmde a ery mater eial ground for the charge of high treasoi,
and though the aceusation failed, the obloquy, which by this
and other'means wras cast upon the workl, tended very greatly
to prevent its farther dissemination."
VWe have hitherto only noticed the public character of Mr.
Paine in England. Before we follow him into France, we
shall extract from Clio Rickman's life of Paine, an article on
his civil, social, or domestic habits, observing that Mr.
Rickman was his friend and companion, a man of amiable disposition, extensively known, and esteemed wherever known.
We knew the family, and are at this time intimate with those
who were faniliar with and, companions of _Mr. Rickrrian.
This gentleman remarks:
" Mr. Paine's life in London was a quiet round of philosophical leisure and' enjoyment. It was occupied in'writing, in
a small epistolary correspondence, in walkino about with
me to visit different friends, occasionally lounging at coficehouses and public places, or being visited by a select few.
Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the French and American armbassadorst Mllr. Sharp, the'engraver, Romney, the painter, Mrs.
Wolstonecroft, Joel Barlow,' Mr. 1Hull, Mr. Christie, Dr.
Priestly, Dr. Towers, Colonel Oswald, the walking Stewart,




BIBI. PAINE AND THE FRENCH CONVENTION.     ll
Captaihn Samnpson Perry, MAr. Tuffin Mr. W illiiam  Choppin,
Captain de Stark, oMr. Horne T'ooke, &c., &Cc.,rwere almoeng the
ltlnumbler of his friends a id acquaintance; and, of course, as he,
was my inmate, the most of my associates were frequently his.
At this time e e read but little, took his nap after dinner, and
pled w ith tmy family at some gs.net in thh evening, as chess,'oln lloes, or dralots, but neve at cards  in rectations, sing
ing, mi.sici, &c.; or passed it iii conversation: the part he took
rin thle latter was always enlightened, full of information, enterta;iiilent, and anecdote. Occasionally we visited enlighltened
frieuldsl induled in donmestic ja:unts and recreations from
homre, fequently lounging at the White Bear, Piccadily, with
his old fIiend, tho walking Stewart, and other clever travellers
fromn Friance, and different parts of Europe and Am erica.' norhenr by ourselves we sat very late, and often brokle in on
thie morning hours, indalging the reciprocal interchan-ge of
afFecti-nate and confidential intercourse.'Warm from,the
heart and faithful to its fires,' was that intercoui'se, and gave
to us the'feast of reason and the flow of soul.''
" To return to M r. Paine and the French convention.'On the
25th of July, 1792, the Duke of Brunswick issued his sanguinary manifesto: in this he stated that the allies were resolved
to inflict the most dreadful punishments on the national assembly, and on the city of Paris, for' their treatment of the
royal famrily; he even went so far as to threaten to give up
the place to military execu;tion. The publication of this document threw the people of Paris into a state of complete confusi on. They becarne frantic and furious, and the manifesto,
initead of lullin g'them into repose, drove them to deeds of
desperation. A party was soon formed in the convention for
-putting the king to death, and'the- agitated condition of the
peopile facilitated the design. Mr. Paine labored hard to prevent this object from being carried into execution but though
his e-,orts prolduced a few converts to his doctrine, the inajority of his. colleag-ues were t,oo enraged with the dcplicity of
the kin, and the detestable conduct of the foreign monarchs,
wi.lh xvhom h e was leagued, to listen to anything short of the
mo:t unlimited vengeance. The conduct of Louis was too
repre-iensible to be passed over in silence;.1r. Paine therefore
voted t hat he should be tried, but when the question whether
he shotuild be condemrned to death, was brought forward, he
opposed it by every argumente  in his power. His exertions
weBre, 1however, inefectual, and. sentence of death was passed,
thoue-hl by a very small majority. Mr. Paine was determined
to let, sip no opportutnity of protesting against this mneasur,
and when the question, whether -the sentence should be carried
int.o execiution, tas discussed, he combated the proposition
with g eat ener y. A.s he was not in the habit of pronouncing




112              LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
French, one of the secretaries read his discourse translated
from the original English.
It is evident that his reasoning was thought very persuasive,
since those who had heard the discourses of Buzot, Condorcet,
and Brissbt, to the same purpose without interruption, broke
out in murmurs while Paine's opini'on was reading; and
2Maraat, at length, losing all patience, exclaimed that Paine was
a quaker, and insinuated that his mind being contracted by
the narrow principles of his religion, was incapable of the
liberality that was requisite for condemning men to death.
This shrewd argument not being thought convincing, the
secretary continued to read, that'the execution of the
sentence, instead of an act of justice, would appear to all the
world, and particularly to their allies, the American States, as
an act of vengeance, and that if he were sufficiently master of
the French language, he would, in the name of his brethren of
America, present a petition at their bar against the execution
of the sentence.' Afarat and his associates said that these
could not possibly be the sentiments of Thomas Paine, and
that the assembly was imposed upon by a false translation.
On comparing it with the original, however, it was found
correct.
Though these exertions were frustrated, they were attended
with one effect, that of rendering Mr. Paine an object. of hatred
among the most violent actors in the revolution. They
found that he could not be induced to participate in their acts
of cruelty;'they dreaded the opposition which he might make
to these sanguinary deeds, and they therefore marked him out
as a victim to be sacrificed the first opportunity.
The hunmnity of Mr. Paine was, indeed, one of the most
prominent features in his character, and it was equally a
matter of indifference to him whether the exercise of this'hip.h attribute of the human' heart was required onr a trivial or
important, a public or private occasion. Of his strict attention to his public duty in this respect, even at the hazard of
his own safety, we' have a convincing proof in his opposition
to the execution of the' king, and of his humane and charitable
disposition in a private point of view, the following circumstances are sufficient to warrant the most unqualified conc:lusicn.
Mr. Paine happened to be dining one day with about twenty
friends at a coffee-house in the Palais Egalite, now the Palais
Royal, when, unfortunately for the harmony of the company,
a captain in the English service contrived to introduce himself as one of the party. The military gentleman was a
strenuous supporter of the constitution in church and state,
and a decided enemy of the French revolution. After the
cloth was drawn, the conversation chiefly turned on the state
of affairs in England, and the means which had been adopted




MR. PAINE AND MAJOR MUNROE.        113
by the government to check the increase of political knowledge. Mr. Paine delivered his opinion very freely, and much
to the satisfaction of every one present, with the exception of
Captain Grimstone, who returned his arguments by calling
him a traitor to his country, with a variety of terms equally
opprobious. Mr. Paine treated his abus'e with much good
humor, which rendered the captain so furious, that he walked
up to the part of the room where Mr. Paine was sitting, and
struck him a violent blow, which nearly knocked him off his
seat., The cowardice of this behavior from a stout young man
to-ward a person of Mr. Paine's age (he being then upward of
sixty) is' not the least disgraceful part of the transaction.
There was, however, no time for reflections of this sort; an
alarm was instantly given, that the captain had struck a citizen
deputy of the convention, which was considered an'insult to
the nation at large; the offender was hurried into custody,
and it was with the greatest difficulty that Mr. Paine prevented
him from being executed on the spot.
It ought to be observed, that an act of the convention had
awarded the punishment of death to any one who should be
co'nvicted of striking a deputy: Mr. Paine was therefore
placed in a very unpleasant'situation. He immediately applied to Barrere, at that time president of the committee of
public safety, for a passport for his imprudent adversary, who
after much hesitation complied with his request. It likewise
occasioned Mr. Paine considerable personal inconvenience to
procure' his liberation; but even this was not sufficient; the
captain was without friends, and penniless, and Mr. Paine
generously supplied him with money'to defray his travelling
expenses.
The gentleman who favored me with the account of the
foregoing circumstance, has likewise informed me of another
anecdote equally honorable to Mr. Paine's feelings. A Major
Munroe, who at the beginning of the revolution was employed
ly Mr. Pitt to send an account to the ministry of what was
going on in Paris, remained there till after the declaration of
war, when he, with many others, was sent to prison. He
had previously occupied the same hotel with Mr. Paine, and
though. the latter was aware of his errand, he found him an
intelligent companion. When the major was imprisoned, he
applied to Mr. Paine, who after considerable trouble obtained
his release. The major -was recently living, and it is but fairto
say, that he has often observed to his friends, he should ever
feel indebted to the kindness of Mr. Paine, for the interest he
employed in procuring his discharge.
I have already noticed the feeling of hostility with which
our author's exertions in the cause of humanity were received
by some of the members of the convention. Those who had
15




~ 114o       LIFE OF TIHOMAS PAINE.
deserted the principles of liberty, and who, from the most
treacherous and tyrannical motives, were anxious to plunge the
nation into'a state of anarchy, were naturally the enemies of
the great defender, of the'Rights of M/an,' and they were determined to gratify their vengeance, whenever a possibility of
so doing should offer itself. Before entering into a description of the steps that were taken for this purpose I will give
the reader an account of the mode in which he passed his time
at the period we are speaking of.'In Paris, ir 1793,' he observes,' I had lodgings in the Rue
Fauxbourg St. Denis, No. 63., They were the most agreeable
for situation of any I ever had in Paris, except that they were
too remote from the convdntion, of which I was then a member. But this was recompensed, by their being also remote
from the alarms and confusion into which the interior.of Paris
was then often thrown. The news of those things used to
arrive to us, as if we were in a state of quietude in the country.
The house, which was enclosed by a wall and gateway from
the street, was a good deal like an old mansion farm-house;
and the court-yad: was like a farm-yard stocked with fowls,
ducks, turkeys, add geese; which, for amusement, we used to
feed out of the windows of the parlor on the ground-floor.
There were some huts for rabbits, and a stye with two pigs.
Beyond, was a garden of more than an acre of ground, well
laid out, and stocked with excellent fruit-trees. The orange,
apricot, and the green-gage plum, were the best I ever tasted 
and it is the only place where I saw the wild cucumber, which
they told me is poisonous. The place had formerly been
occupied by some curious person.'
In allusion to the dreadful proceedings which were making
such havoc among the best patriots of France, he continues:-'As for myself, I used to find some relief by walking alone
in the garden after it was dark, and cursing with hearty good
will the authors of that terrible system that had turned the
character of the revolution I had been proud to defend.
I went but little to the convention, and then only to make
my appearance; because I found it impossible for me to join
in their tremendous decrees, and useless and dangerous to
oppose them. My having voted and spoken extensively, more
so than any other member, against the execution of the king,
had already fixed a mark upon me: neither dared any of my
associates in the convention to translate, and speak in French
for me anything I. might have dared to'write.    Pen
and ink were then of no use to me. No good could be don.e
by writing, and no printer dared to print; and whatever I
might have written for my private amusemnent, as anecdotes
of the times, would have been continually exposed to be examined, and tortured into any meaning that the rage of party
might fix upon it; and as to softer' subjects, imy heart was in




AGE OF REASON  PART I.             15
distress at the fate of my friends, and my harp was hung
upon the weeping wiillows.'
At this period the national convention was divided into
factions,i each intent on their own aggrandizement, and each
possessing a powerful host of partisans among the people.'error, hatred, suspicion, revenge, and every other dark and
deadly passion, had supplanted the just, liberal, and humane
principles which marked the commencement of the revolution,
and the wide empire of France became one vast slaughterhouse, where the supporters of freedom aiid the advocates of
despotism were alternately sacrificed at the shrine of factious
violentce. The exertions of the friends of liberty sooner
increased than lessened the effects- of the storm, and to defend
the interests of truth and the rights of the people, was to invite destruction. The voice of humanity was mute, for the
ear of. humanity wVas closed. It is painful to \recur to these
heart-rending scenes, but justice requires it, and more particularly so, as Mr. Paine was very near failing a victim to tlie
violence of the contending factions.
The gentle, conciliating, and open method in which he had
condtcted himself, had prevented the possibility ofimpeaching,
his political conduct, and tothis we must attribute the circumstance of his remaining so long at liberty. The first attempt
that. was made against him, was by means of' an act of the
Iconvention, which decreed that all persons residingin France
who were born in England should be imprisoned; but as Mr.
Paine was a member of the convention, and had'been comtpli —
mIented with the title of' citizen of France,' the decree did not
extend to him. A motion was afterward made by Bourdon
de l'Oise, for expelling foreigners from the convention. It
was evident from the speech of the mover, that Mr. Paine was
the principal object aimed at, and as soon as the expulsion was
effected, an application was made'to the two committees of
public safety and general surety, of which Robespierre was
the dictator, and they immediately put'him in arrestatibn
unrler the former decree for imprisoning persons born in England. On his way to the Luxembourg he cdntrived to call
upon his intimate friend and associate, Joel Barlow, with
whom he left the manuscript of the first part of the'Age of
Reason.''  This work he intended to be the last of his life,
but t.he proceedings in France, during the year 1793, induced
him to delay it no longer.' The circumstance,' says he,'that
has'now taken place in France, of the total abolition of the
whole national order of priesthood, and of everything appertaining to compulsive systems of religion, and compulsive
articles of faith, has not only precipitated my'intention, but
rendered a work of this kind exceedingly necessary, lest in
I See Mr Barlow's letter, page 135.




116                LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
the general wreck of superstition, of false systems of government, and false theology, we lose sight of morality, of humanity,
and of the theology that is true,' At the time this performance
was written, Mr. Paine was in almost daily expectation of
being sent to the guillotine, where many of his friends had
already perished; the doctrines, therefore, which it inculcates,
must be regarded as the sentiments of a dying man. This is
at least a conclusiveproof that the work was not the result of
a wish to deceive, that, whether true or false, it was the effusion of a disinterested mind; and, in ordinary cases,'the fact
of a man writing a book'under such circumstances, would be
admitted as a logical evidence of the rectitude of the doctrines
it contained. I do'not, however, intend to enter into any
discussion relative to our author's religious opinions, until we
arrive at the second part of the work. It is; therefore, only
necessary at present, to observe, that Mr. Paine had measured
his time with such a degree of precision, that he had not finished the book more than six hours before he was arrested and
conveyed to the Luxembourg."
Mr. Paine had remained iii prison about three weeks, when
it was ascertained to the satisfaction of every one in Paris,
except the tyrants who had sent him there, that he had committed no offence; and in consequence'of this, the Americans
residing in that city, went in a body to the convention to demand the liberation of their fellow-citizen and friend. The
following is a copy of the address presented by them to the
president of the convention; an address which sufficiently
shows the high estimation in which Mr. Paine was at this
time held by the citizens of the United States:'Citizens! The French nation had invited the most illustrious of all foreign nations to the honor of representing her.
Thomas Paine, tle apostle of liberty in America, a profound
and valuable philosopher, a virtuous and esteemed citizen,
came to France and took a seat among you. Particular circumstances rendered necessary the decree to put under arrest
all the English residing in France.
Citizens! representatives! We come to demand of you
Thomas Paine, in the name of the, friends of liberty, and in
the name of the Americans, your brothers and allies  was
there anything more wanted to obtain your demand we would
tell you. Do not give to the leagued despots the pleasure of
seeing Paine in irons. WVe shall inform you that the seals put
upon the papers of Thomas Pain'e have been taken ofT, that
the committee of general safety examined them, and far from
* Had such a singularly favorable coincidence as this happened in the transactions of a Christian theological writer, it would undoubtedly have been ascribed
to the interposition of Divine Providence, but in the present instance (whatever
rational men may think on the! subject) the faithful will perhaps find it convenient to attribute the circumstance to the influence of a power of quite an opposite
character.




MIR. PAINE IN PRISON.            117
finding among them any dangerous propositions, they only
found the love of liberty which characterized' him all his lifetime, that eloquence of nature and philosophy which made
him the friend of mankind, and those principles of public
morality which merited the hatred of kings, and the affection
of his fellow-citizens.
In short, citizens.! if you permit us to restore Thomas Paine
to the embraces of his fellow-citizens, we offer to pledge ourselves as securities for his conduct during the short time he
shall remain in France.'
The Americans who presented the foregoing address, received for answer, that'Mr. Paine,was born in England,' and
it was likewise hinted to them that their attempt to reclaim
him as a citizen of the United States, could not be listened to,
in consequence of its not being authorized by the American
government.
A few days after this, all'communication between persons
imprisoned, and any person without the prison, was cut off, by
an order of the police. In this forlorn and solitary situation
Mr. Paine continued for six months, and the onily hope that
remained for him was, that a new minister would arrive from
America to supersede Morris, and that he would be authorized
to inquire into the causes of his imprisonment;'but even this
hope,' Mr. Paine observes,'in the state in which matters were
daily arriving, was too remote to have any consolatory effect;
and I contented myself with the thoiught that I might be remembered when it would be too late.'
During this long imprisonment he amused himself as well
as such a gloomy situation would allow, by writing various,pieces of fancy, both in poetry and prose: some of which have
since been published. He likewise wrote a considerable proportion of the second part of the'Age of Reason' during his
incarceration. When he had, been in prison about eight
months, he was seized with a violent fever, which nearly deprived him of life, and from the effects of which he never
afterward perfectly recovered. This fever, which rendered
him completely insensible for more than a month, was evidently the means of preserving his life. Had he remained in
health he would probably, according to the routine of the
times, have been dragged before the tribunal, and sent to the
guillotine, without the trouble of proving either his guilt or
his innocence. But the fever fortunately averted the impending danger, and the first thing he heard of after his recovery was the fall of Robespierre. But the fate of this sanguinary
man did not restore him to liberty. The desolator was
overthrown, but his faction still remained, and, though considerably humbled, their hostility toward Mr. Paine was unabated. The latter seeing that several of his fellow-prisoners
were'released, addressed a memorial to Mr. Monroe (who it




118              LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
appears had received no instructions from  the American
government respecting Mr. Paine), on the subject of his confinement, who behaved toward him with great kindness and
attention. The following is a copy of Mr. Monroe's letter to
Mr. Paine on this occasion:PARIS, September 18, 1794,'DEAR SI: I was favored, soon after my arrival here, with
several' letters from you, and more latterly with one in the
character of a memorial upon the subject of your confinement: and should have answered them at the times they were
respectively written, had I not concluded, you. would have cdlculated with certainty upon the deep interest I take in your
welfare, and the pleasure with which I shall embrace every
opportunity in my power t'o serve you. I should still pursue
the same course, and for reasons which must obviously occur,
if I did not find that you are disquieted with apprehensions
upon interesting points, and which justice to you and our
country equally forbid you, should entertain. You mention
that you have been informed you are not considered as an
American citizen by the Americans, and that you have likewise heard that I had no instructions respecting you by the
government. I doubt not the persons who gave you the infolmation meant well, but I suspect he did not even convey
accurately his own ideas on the first point: for I presume the
most he could say is, that you had likewise become a Frendn
citizen, and which by no means deprives you of being an
American one. Even this, however, may be doubted, I mean
the acquisition of citizenship in France, and I confess you
have said much to show that it has not been made. I really
suspect that this was all that the gentleman who wrote to you,
and those Americans he heard speak upon the subject, meant.
It becomes my duty, however, to declare to you, that I consider you as an American citizen, and that you are considered
universally in thait character -by the people of America. As
such you'are entitled to rny attention; and so far as it can be
given, consistently with'those obligations which are mutual
between every government and even transient passenger, you
shall receive it.
The congress have never decided upon the subject of citizenship, in a manner to regard the present case. By being with
us through the revolution, you are of our country as absolutely as if you had been born there, and you are no more of
England than every native American is. This is the true
doctrine in the present case, so far as it becomes complicated
with any other consideration. I have mentioned it to make
you easy upon the only point which could give you any disquietude.
It is necessary for me to tell you, how much all your count




MONROE S LETTER TO PAINE.          119
trymen-I speak of the great mass of the people-are interested
in your welfare. They have not forgotten the history of their
own revolution, and the difficult scenes through which they
passed; nor do they review its several stages without reviving
in their bosoms a due sensibility of the merits of those who
served them in that great and arduous conflict. The crime
of ingratitude has not yet stained, and I trust never will stain,
our national character. You are considered by them, as not
only having rendered important services in our own revolution,
but as being, on a more extensive scale, the friend of human
rights, and a distinguished and able advocate in favor of public liberty. To the welfare of Thomas Paine, the Americans
are not, nor can they be, indifferent.
Of the sense which the president has always entertained of
your merits, and- of his friendly disposition toward you, you
are too well assured, to require any declaration of it from me.
That I forward his wishes in seeking your safety is what I
well know: and this will form an additional obligation on me
to perforn what I should otherwise consider as a duty.
You are in my opinion, at present, menaced by no kind of
danger. To liberate you will be an object of my endeavors,
a'nd as soon as possible. But you must, until that event shall
be accomplished, bear your situation with patience and fortitude; you will likewise have the justice to recollect, that I
am placed here upon a difficult theatre, many important objects to attend to, and with few to consult. It becomes me
in pursuit of those, to regulate my conduct with respect to
each, as to the manner and the time, as will, in my judgment,
be best calculated to accomplish the -whole.
With great esteem and respect consider me personally your
friend.
JAMES MONROE.'
Mr. Paipe was released from prison on the 4th of November,
1794, having been in confinement for eleven months.
After his liberation he was kindly invited to the house of
Mr. Monroe, with whom  he remained for about eighteen
months. I intend to be as brief in my extracts as the subject
will admit'; but the following, which is taken from one, of
his letters, written after his return to America, is so descriptive' of his situation while in prison, and of another narrow
escape which he had in addition to the one already noticed,
that I consider it necessary for the information of the reader.'I was oneof the nine members that composed the first
committee of constitution. Six of them have been destroyed.
Syeyes and myself have survived. He by bending with the
times, and I by not bending. The other survivor joined Robespierre, and signed with him the warrant of my arrestation.
After the fall of Robespierre, he was seized and imprisoned




120              LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
in his turn, and sentenced to transportation. He has since
apologized to me for having signed the warrant, by saying, he
felt himself in danger and was obliged to do it.
Herault Sechetles, an acquaintance of Mr. Jefferson, and a
good patriot, was my suppliant as member of the committee
of constitution; that is, he was to supply my place, if I had
not accepted or had resigned, being next in number of votes
to me. He was imprisoned in the Luxembourg with me, was
taken to the tribunal and the guillotine, and I, his principal,
was left.
There were but two foreigners in the convention, Anacharsis
Cloots and myself. We were both put out of the convention
by the same vote, arrested by the same order, and carried to
prison together the same night. He was taken to the guillotine, and I was again left. Joel Barlow was with us when we
went to prison.
Joseph Lebon, one of the vilest characters that ever existed,
and who mlade the streets of Arras run with blood, was my
suppliant as member of the convention for the department of
the Pais'de Calais. When i was pult out of the convention he
came and took my place. When I was liberated from prison,
and voted again into the convention, he was sent to the same
prison and took my place there, and he went to the guillotine
instead of me. He supplied my place all the way through.
One hundred and sixty-eight persons were taken out of the
Luxembourg in one night, and a hundred and sixty of them
guillotined the next day, of which I know I was.to have been
one; and the manner I escaped that fate is curious, and has all
the appearance of accident.
The room in which I was lodged was on the ground floor,
and one of a long range of rooms under a gallery, and the
door of it. opened outward and flat against the wall; so that
when it was open the inside of the door appeared outward, and
the contrary when it was shut. I had three comrades,,fellowprisoners with me, Joseph Vanhuile of Bruges, since president
of the municipality of that town, Michael Robins, and Bastini
of Louvain.
When persons by scores and hundreds were to be taken out
of prison for the guillotine, it was always done in the night, and
those who performed that office had aprivate mark or signal by
which they' knew what rooms to go to, and what number to
take. We, as I have said, were four, and the door of our room
was marked unobserved by us, with that number in chalk; but
it happened, if happening is a proper word, that the mark was
put on when the door was open and flat against the wall, and
thereby came on the inside when we shut it at night, and the destroying angel passed by it. A few days after this Robespierre
fell, and the American ambassador arrived and reclaimed nre
and invited me to his house.




RELEASE FROM PRISON.           121
During the whole of my imprisonment, prior to the fall of
Robespierre, there was no time when I could think my life
worth twenty-four hours, and my mind was made up to meet its
fate. The Americans in Paris went in a body to the convention
to reclaim me, but without success. There was no party among
them with respect to me. IMy only hope then rested on the
government of America that it would remember me. But the
icy heart of ingratitude, in whatever man it may be placed, has
neither feeling nor sense of honor. The letter of Mr. Jefferson
has served to wipe away the reproach, and done justice to the
mass of the people of America.'
Soon after Mr. Paine's release from prison the convention
passed a unanimous vote to invite him to return to the seat he
had formerly occupied. The times were still dangerous, as
well from without as within, for the coalition of foreign despots
was unbroken, and the constitution not settled. Mr. Paine
however, thought proper to accept the invitation, being resolved
to show that he was not to be alarmed either by prospects or
retrospects of danger, and that his principles were neither to
be perverted by disgust nor weakened by misfortune.
He was liberated, as before stated, in November, 1794; his
bodily health was at this time very much impaired by long
confinement, and in September following he was taken dangerously ill. He states that he had felt the approach of his disorder for some time, which occasioned him to hasten to a conclusion of the second part of the'Age of Reason.' This work
was published at Paris, early in 1795, and was very shortly
afterward reprinted in England, and the United States. At the
time he wrote the first part of the work he was without a bible,
nor could he procure one. The investigation which it contained was therefore ratherf a general, than a detailed inquiry
into the Jewish and Christian systems of belief. The first
point which he attacks is the doctrine of revelation. He admits the possibility, though he denies the probability of the
Supreme Being having ever held personal communication with
man. But even allowing this to be the case, he observes, that'revelation is necessarily limited to the first communication.
After this it is only on account of something which that person
says was revelation made to him; and though he may find hi mself obliged to believe it, it cannot be incumbent on me to believe
it in the same manner, for it was not revelation made to me,
and I have only his word for it that it was made to him.'*
In this manner he proceeds to controvert the principal arguments in favor of Christianity. He asserts that it is a system
founded entirely upon hearsay evidence, and that we are not
obliged to believe it. He next endeavors to show the similarity of the heathen mythology, and that of the Christians, from
* Age of Reason, Part I.
16




122              LIFE' OF THOMAS PAINE.
which he infers that the latter is a copy of the former. Amono
the novel positions which he advanced, was an argument to
prove that the word prophet had changed its original meaning,
that in former times it was synonymous with that of poet or
musician; to prove this he cites the part of the Bible, where
we are told the prophets of old performed the functions of
their vocation by means of pipes, tabrets, horns, harps, and
other musical instruments.  Having declared his disbelief of
what is called revealed religion;, and his reasons for such disbelief, he next gives his opinion as to what he conceives to be
the only true word of God-the only true revelation;, and' as
his idea's on this subject are of, no ordinary stamp, I insert
them in his own words, as the best mode of doing justice to
the author:'It is only ii the CREATION that all our ideas and conceptions
of a word of God can unite. The creation speaketh a universal language, independently of human speech or human language, miltiplied and various as they be. It is an ever-existing
original, which every man can read. It cannot be forged; it
cannot be counterfeited; it cannot be lost; it cannot be altered; it cannot be suppressed. It does not depend upon the
will of man whether it shall be published or not: it publishes
itself from one end of the earth to the other. It preaches to all
nations and to all worlds; and this viord of God reveals to man
all that is necessary for man to know of God.
Do we want to contemplate his power. We see it in the immensity of the creation. Do we want to contemplate his wisdom.
We see it in the unchangeable order by which the incomprehensible Whole is governed. Do we want to contemplate his
munificence 1 W\e see it in the abundance with which he fills
the earth. Do we want to contemplate his mercy 1 We see
it in his not withholding that abundance even from the unthank.
ful. In fine, do we want to know what God is'l Search not
the book called the Scripture, which afiy human hand might
make, but the scripture called the Creation.'
It is not hazarding too much to say that the above breathes
as pure a spirit of morality and philosophy, as anything that
was ever written on the subject, in either ancient or modern
times. It is'superior to the bible description of the Deity, for
it ascribes to him none of those weaknesses and passions which
are so frequently attributed to him by the authors of that book.
It is notiat all wonderful that the ministers of a corrupt system
of religion should calumniate the character of a work, which
inculcates the practice of morality as the only religious duty
that men are bound to perform, which teaches the most sublime and reverential ideas of the Creator of the universe, and
which represents the intercessions of ignorant and bigoted
priests, as unnecessary either to the present'or future happiness of mankind-it is not at all wonderful that such men




WATSON'S APOLOGY-PERSECUTION.          123
should look upon, such'a work with horror, and load its author
with every epithet of calumny and reproach. They are in religion, what courtiers are under a limited monarchy.  Both
parties are, in nine cases out of ten, aware of the farce, and
they tremble at the approach of reason and investigation.
From a great portion of the work before us, it is evident that,
Mr. Paine possessed an extensive knowledge of astronomy and
mathemnatics, and the mode in which he applies these branches of science, to prove the ignorance of the bible writers, and
the falsehood of their statements, is Ivorth the reader's attention. For this, however, I must refer him to the work' itself.
The extract which I have already given will enable any person
to form an idea of the general character of, the book, its principles and tendency; I therefore proceed to offer a fewx observations on the second part.
This work is divided into an examination, first, of the Old,
and, secondly, of the New Testament. In the former our
author examines the different books of the Bible in rotation;
and proves, very clearly, as far-as the evidence of circumstances can go, that they were not Written by the persons to whom
they are ascribed, and, therefore, that they are anonymous and
without authority. He likewise reasons very forcibly against
the various acts of horrid cruelty, and gross immorality, which
are attributed to the Almighty by Moses, and the other reputed
authors of the Bible. In this examination the ancient Jews
are stripped of the disguise in which commentators generally
clothe them, and exposed in their true character-that of the
most ignorant and ferocious race of beings Which evei disgraced the character of human nature. Their ignorance is) inferred from the circumstance' of there not being in the whole
Bible more than one book in which any branch of useful or
scientific knowledge is mentioned (the book of Job) and this
it appears is a book of the Gentiles arid not of the Jews. The
ferocity of their character is established by the almost innumerable and unprovoked murders with which the Scriptures
are filled, and which are blasphemously ascribed to the God of
mercy and eternal beneficence.
These are the principal grounds on which our author argues
against the divinity of the Bible. In the examination of the
New Testament, he exposes the contradictions of the different
writers, he cites authorities to prove that the gospels were not
written till a long time after the evangelists are reported to have
lived; and that they were not formed into a book for more than
three hundred years after the death of Christ. They were then
collected together by the church, and it was decided by vote
which were and which were not the word of God.
The work likewise contains some fine ideas on the doctrine
of immortality: these form a striking contrast to the gloomy
and unnatural doctrines of the resurrection.




124               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
On a superficial view of the subject it appears wonderful that
a system of belief which is liable to so many objections, not
only on the score of probability, but on that of the common
principles of morality, should have obtained so general an influence among mankind. But when we look at the means
which have been used to propagate its principles, we may cease
to be surprised at the general credence it has acquired. Its
professors preached peace hnd humility, until, by the increase
of their numbers, they were enabled to assume a more formidable tone, but so slow was their progress, and with such general conteympt were their doctrines viewed, that even this accession of' strength did not take place until three or four centuries after the death of their founder. As the number of their
converts increased, their temporal power became more extensive, and all attempts to investigate the truth of their' pretensions were put down as impious heresies. Thus, in the first
instance, their faithiiwas protected by its obscurity and the professed humility of its disciples; in latter times it has been promoted by means of the sword, and the assiduity of the priesthood; while all inquiry into the probability or improbability
of its precepts, has been suppressed by the powerful reasoning
of the fagot and the inquisition.
It is not to be denied that the New Testament contains some
good moral maxims, but these are no proofs of its divinity, for
they existed thousands of years before the appearance of Christ,
and they will exist when all the desolating wars and shocking
persecutions which have been occasioned by the Christian
system of faith, shall be sunk in the Lethean stream of oblivion.
They are inherent in human nature, and they consequently do
not depend upon the belief of any particular system of opinions.
It may suit the convenience of the pious teachers of our established religion, to tell us that the practice of virtue, the
foundation of our happiness here and of our hopes hereafter,
are dependant on the practice of their absurd ceremonies, and
the belief of their improbable'doctrines; but it is impossible
for the'eflecting mind to discover in these dogmas anything
more than the motives of an interested priesthood, or the effusions of a distempered imagination. The principles of moral
virtue are essentially distinct from the belief of any existing
system of faith, they result i'rom the relations of a being with
his fellow-beings; justice toward ourselves is wisdom; justice
toward others is virtue.  In society all is relative, there is no
happiness independent; we are compelled to sacrifice a part
of what we might enjoy, not to be deprived of the whole, and
to secuire a portion against all assaults. Even here the balance
is in favor of reason.
However laborious may be the life of the honest man, however
encompassed with dangers, however beset with difficulties it
may be, that of the vicious character must be more so. He can




" AGE OF REASON," PART II.        125
seldom be tranquil who stands in opposition to the interests of
his fellow-men; it is impossible for him to conceal from himself' that he is surrounded by enemies, or by those who are
ready to become-so, and this situation is always painful, however splendid may be appearances. Let us add to these considerations, the sublime rectitude of instinct, which corruption
may lead astray, but which no false philosophy can ever annihilate, which impels us to admire and love wisdom and gener-:osity of conduct, as we do grandeur and beauty in nature and
Athe arts; and we shall have the source of human virtue, inde-'
pendent of every religious system of the intricacies of metaphysics, and of the impostures of priests.
The publication of the' Age of Reason' called forth a great
variety of replies, but the only one which is now remembered
is the Bishop of Llandaff's'Apology for the Bible.' It is
much to be doubted whether this work, which is written in
open defiance of the plainest rules of reason and logic, would
have survived the,fate of its companions in the same cause, if
it had been written by any other person. His character in the
world of letters, and in several of the departments in science,
coupled with his conduct in parliament, which induced many
to regard him as an independent promoter of the gospel, gave
the work an importance which its contents by no means deserved, and the friends of the church lost no time in publishing
it throughout the country. Their zeal in this respect, perhaps, in some measure, answered the purpose they had in
view, but it certainly conferred no honor on the bishop's
literary reputation.
Whether the advocates of the Christian faith wvere or were
not conscious of the imperfections of their system, it is evident they were afraid of an inquiry into its merits, and a prosecution'was commenced against Mr. Williams, the publisher
of the'Age of Reason.' By way of giving a color to this
proceeding, they retained Mr. Erskine on the part of the'
crown, who strained every effort to procure a verdict. Mr
Kyd made an ingenious and argumentative reply, in behalf of
the defendant, but the jury, being special, readily found him
guilty, June 4, 1797. Mr. Paine addressed a letter to Mr.
Erskine on the proceedings of this trial, in which he ridicules
the absurd practice of discussing theological subjects before
such mei as' special juries are generally composed of, and
cites fresh evidence in support of his former arguments
respecting the Bible.
Mr. Paine now attended his duty as a member of the convention, in which capacity he delivered his opinions whenever
occasion required. In April,, 1795, a committee was appointed
to form another new constitution (the former one having been
abolished) and the report of this committee was brought forward on the 2'3d of June following, by Boissy d'Anglas. This




126               LIFE OF THOlMrAS PAINE.
was the constitution of elders and youngsters, a council of
five hundred, a council of ancients, and an executive directory
of five. Mr. Paine wrote a speech in opposition to several of
the articles of this constitution, which was translated and read
to the convention by Citizen Lanthera, on the seventh of July.
One of the subjects against which Mr. Paine contended, was
the unjust distinction that wvas attempted to be made between
direct and indirect taxes. Whatever weight these objections
ought to have carried, they were not listened to by the convention, and the constitution of Boissy d'Anglas was. adopted.
By this decree the convention was formally destroyed, and as
Mir Paine was not afterward re-elected, it likewise terminated his public.functions in France.
The reign of terror having in some degree subsided, our
author's political pen returned to its former employment.
About the time that he brought out the second part of the
K Age of Reason,' he published several pamphlets on subjects
*less likely to inflarhe the passions of the bigoted and the ignorant, than investigations into the nature of theology.'he
principal of these are his' Dissertation on first Principles of
Government,''Agrarian Justice opposed to Agrarian Law,'
and the' Decline and Fall of the English System of FinaneC.''The first of these is a continuation of the arguments advanced
in the' Rights of Man;' the second is a plan for creating' in
every country a national fund' to pay to every person when arrived at the age of twenty-one years the sum of fifteen poundssterling, to enable him or her to begin the world, and also ten
pounds sterling, per,annum, during life, to every person, now
living, of tlhe age of fifty years, and to all others, when they
shall arrive at that age, to enable them to live in old age
without wretchedness, and to go decently out of the world.'''his little essay contains a good deal of original thinking,
and close reasoning, though in the present state of society
it is not very probable that its recommendations will be ever
adopted. The pamphlet on finance is a proof of Mr. Paine's
extensive Inowledge on this complicated subject. The events
of everyv day serve to confirm the truth of his opinions respectino; the English system, and the agitations which have prevailed
throughout the country rendered the fulfilment of his predictions exceedingly probable.
In 1796, he published at Paris a'Letter to General Washington.' The principal subject of this letter is the treaty
which had recently been concluded between the United States
and Great Britain. From the articles of the treaty, Mr. Paine
contends, that those who concluded it had compromised the
honor of America, and the safety of her commerce, from a
disposition to crouch to the British minister. The cold
neglect of Mr. Washington toward Mr. Paine during his imprisonment, forms likewise a prominent subject of the letter




MR. PAINES'ATTACHMiENT TO AMELtICA-WASHINGOTON.  127
and but for this circumstance it is probable it iwo(ldi never
have appeared.' Notwithstanding the high opinion vhich
1Mr. MWashington professed to entertain of his services in behalf. of American independence, he abandoned him in a few
years afterward to the mercy of Robespierre, and dcurinP his
imprisonment of eleven months he never made a sin-le ei-T-rt
to reclaim himi. This was not the treatment lwhich th.e authorl
of' Common Sense' deserved at the hands of Mr. Washiul-ton,
either,as a private individtual; or as president of Amer,'ica.
Exclusive of Mr. Paine's being a citizen of the United Sttefs,
and,of his being consequently entitled to the protection of the
government, he had rendered America sertvices which none
but the ungrateful could. forget; he had therefore no reason to
expect that her chief magistrate vould abandon him in the
hour of difficulty. However deserving of our admiration
some parts of General Washinoton's conduct may be, his
behavior in this instance certainly reflects no honor upon his
character.
From a variety of circumstances it appears that iMr. Paine
regarded the United States as the land of his home. His
spirit of universal philanthropy,' his republican principles, and
his resolution in'attacking fraud and superstition, whether in
politics' or religion, rendered him'in a great measure an inhabitant of the world, more than of any particular country;
but notwithstanding these peculiarities of disposition, he had
domestic feelings and local attachments which neither time
nor distance, could obliterate.  During his residence in
Europe, he always declared his intention of returning to
America: the following extract from a letter of his to a female
literary correspondent at New York, will show the affectionate
regard. which he constantly cherished for the safety and freedom of the country whose affairs were the means of first
launching him into public life:' You touch me on a very tender point, when you say, tlat
my friends on your side of the water cannot be reconciled to
the idea of my abandoning.A3rerica even for my native England. They are right. I had'rather see my horse, Button,
eating the grass of Bordentown, or Aorrissania, than see all
the pomp and show of Europe.
A thousand years hence, for I must indulge a few, thoughts,
perhaps in less, America may be what England now is. The
innocence of her character, that won the hearts of all nations
in her favor, may sound like a romance, and her inimitable
virtue as if it.had never been. The ruins of that liberty,
which thousands bled to obtain, may just furnish materials for
a village tale, or extort a sigh from rustic sensibility; while
the fas-hionable of that day, enveloped in dissipation, shall deride the-principle and deny the fact.
When we tontemplate the' fall of empires, and the extinction




128               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
of the nations of the ancient world, we see but little rmore to
excite our regret than the mouldering ruins of pompous
palaces, magnificent monuments, lofty pyramids, and walls
and towers of the most costly workmanship: but when the
empire of America shall fall, the subject for contemplative
sorrow will be infinitely greater than crumbling brass or marble can inspire. It will not then be said, Here stood a temple
of vast antiquity, here rose a Babel of invisible height, or there
a palace of sumptuous extravagance; but here, ah! painful
thought! the noblest work of human wisdom, the greatest
scene of human glory, the fair cause of freedom, rose and fell!
Read this, then ask\ if I forgot America.'
The name of the lady to whom the above was addressed,
was Nicholson. She was afterward married to Colonel Few.
Whether or not it was owing to Mr. Paine's opinions on religion I co not know, but on his return to America he was totally
forsaken by her and her husband. When, however, Mr. Paine's
dissolution was at hand, they sought his company, and Mrs.
Few expressed a wish to renew their former friendship. But
Mr. Paine, weak and debilitated as he was, refused to shake
hands with her, and indignantly observed,'You have neglected me, and I beg you will leave the room.'
In 1797, a society was formed of a number of persons in
Paris, under the title of'Theophilanthropists.' Of this society
Paine was one of the' principal promoters. Their objects'were the propagation of morality and extinction of religious
prejudices, and their faith the belief of one God. At one of
their meetings Mr. Paine delivered a public discourse, in
which he stated his reasons for rejecting the doctrines of
atheism, which at that time prevailed in many parts of
France.
This year he likewise published a'Letter to the People of
France, on the Events of the eighteenth Fructidor.' Of the
merits or demerits of this pamphlet, I am unable to say anything as I have not been able to procure a copy. I believe it
was never reprinted.
About the middle of the same year he also addressed a letter to Camille Jordan, one of the council of five hundred, respecting his report on the priests, public worship, and bells.
I have only seen a mutilated copy of this production, but as
far as I can judge from that, it deserves to be classed with the
best works of the author.' It is want of feeling,' says he,'to
talk of priests and bells, while so many infants.are perishing
in the hospitals, and aged and infirm poor in the streets from
the want of -necessaries. The abundance that France pro-.
duces is sufficient for every want, if rightly applied; but
priests and bells, like articles of luxury, ought to be the least
articles of consideration.'
The publication of his deistical opinions certainly lost our




A MEDIBER OF THE THEOPHILANTROPISTS.    129
author a great number of friends, and, it is possible, that this
might be one of the causes of General Washington's iddifference. The clear, open, and undisguised method in which he
had contested established opinions, called forth the united
indignation of the whole order of priesthood in England and
America, and there was scarcely a house of devotion, in the
old world'or the new, which did not resound with their pious
execrations. They witnessed with amazement and terror the
immense circulation of the work, and they trembled at the
possibility that men might assume sufficient courage to think
for themselves. Thousands of persons who had never seen
the book, and who knew nothing of its contents, except through
the perverted medium of their spiritual teachers, rent the air
with exclamations'against the blasphemies of Thomas Paine,
and. to conclude these truly charitable proceedings', the English government called upon the public to copdemn the work
which they had suppressed by a legal prosecution.
Such are the means adopted by the professors of Christianity
to suffocate inquiry, and to dispel the doubts of skepticism.
To the credit of mankind it ought to beobserved, that the
powers of the hierarchy are upon the decline. There was, a
time wh     Paie     ld have en n roasted alive for daring to
dispute the dogmas of the church, but the progress of science;
and its handmaid, civilization, has softened the) ferocity of
human nature, and a somewhat milder punishment is now reserved for those who 1may question the divinity of the Christian religion. For this, however, we are not indebted'either
to the morality of the religion, or the piety of its professors —
we owe it to the progress which mankind have made in freeing
themselves from the profane and barbarous notions which
such a system of belief is calculated to diffuse wherever it is
tolerated."
Mr. Paine, it appears, lived long enough in France to become unpopular, at least for a, time. His opposition to the
dominant party of Robespiere, and to the death of the king
of France, were the political offences which rendered-him so.
While his' Age of Reason," written in defence of deism, and
for the express purpose of arresting the progress of atheism,
as he himself informs us, still farther contributed to his unpopularity, for atheism and violence, although not necessarily
connected, at one time prevailed; and during the reign of terror,
and even after the death of Robespiere, men who were not of
his party, nor intolerant democrats, assumed.to be so, to avoid
suspicion and death by the'guillotine: these therefore dared
not associate with Mr. Paine, who steadfastly adhered to his




130              LIFE OF TIIOMAS PAINE.
republican principles without cringing to an intolerant party.
Wlhen Mr. Paine became unpopular he lived chiefly in retirement; and, though a member of the national assenbly, he did
not make himself prominent, as he could not sanction their
proceedings, and opposition was useless, esp ecially, as he did not
speak the language fluently, and never in public. While Mr.
Paine was unpopular in France, and when he had but few
friends, he resided chiefly with Mr. Bonnqville and family. Mr.
Bonneville at that time edited a paper, was in good circum
stancesand when MAr.Paine's remittances from this country were
not regular, hle cheerfully lent him money. This kindness, on
the part of Bonneville, shown at a time when rMr. Paine most
needed' it, was not lost on him, for he was as grateful as generous, moral qualities always in the same ratio; and Ir., Paine
had afterward an opportunity of returning this kindness; for,
on the elevation of Bonaparte to supreme power, the press
of Mr. Bonneville was stopped, and himself injured in his
property., At this time Mr. Paine resolved to quit France,.where Jiberty appeared hopelesisly absorbed by the splendid
military talents and achievements of Napoleon. Mlr. Paine
then offered an asylum'to Mr. Bonneville and family in/the
United States, and this offer Mr. BonneVille accepted, and
soon after Mr. Paine returned to this country. In 1802
Mr. Bonneville forwarded his wife and three sons, intending to
follow them as soon as he could settle his affairs. Accident
or change of purpose delayed his arrival till after Mr. Paine's
death, and hence he became charged with the maintenance of
Mrs. Bonneville and family (except the elder son, who returned
to his father) till his death. To this subject we shall again
refer in the fourth part of this life, especially as it afforded
Cheetham the subject of a libel, of which he was convicted,
after the death of Mr. Paine.
The social and moral character of Mr. Paine while in
France appears to have been the same as in England, and. as in
this country during the revolution; yet Sherwin, in his life,
seems to admit that at one pe'riod, when unpopular, he became
intemperate. Joel Barlow, who certainly knew him  well,
partially admits the charge while he vindicates the general
character of Mr. Paine, in a letter to Cheetham, which we shall




MR. PAINE'S HABITS IN FRANCE.       131
extract. In spite of these admissions, and others, with various
allusions from per-sons who knew something of him, we are
sceptical of the fact, because we were nearly betrayed into an
error on this subject, in relation to his course of life after his
return to this country. The statement that Mr. Paine was
intemperate was so commonly asserted, that we never dontemplated looking for proof to the contrary, till this fact was
forced upon us by the uniform testimony of his most intimate
acquaintances; but as this subject relates to the fourth part
of his history, we shall reserve it for its proper place. We
introduced it merely to justify our scepticism in relation to
his habits in France, when partially in seclusion., This doubt
in us does not arise fiom any desire to screen Mr. Paine from
any supposed blemish; for, if this were the fact, we feel more
disposed to justify than to screen him.'/ e know that he wvas
not only temperate in after life, but even abstemious; and he
would therefore stand as a monument of reform in old age,
on a subject where reform is most uncommon at that period.
Mr. Paine lived in an age when hospitality and'excess were
so identified that the one could not be shown without the
other. In our boyish days bumpers were drank in good/
society, on public occasions; the toasts must go round, and the
glasses drained in honor to the toast, and occasional excess,
even when no public cause induced it, was only a proof' of
good fellowship. Nor would the host be satisfied that the
guests had done him honor, if noisy mirth, excited by wine,
did not finish;the repast; while the guest did not scruple, on his
next-day visit, to complain of present headache, and of double
sight, and a staggering gait on the previous evening, as peoofs
of his good entertainment, and of the liberality of his friend
and host. At that time Pitt was afovr-bottle man, Fox, when
in exertion, would drink wine from a great bowl, and the heirapparent to the British crown might even go to greater excesses, surrounded by the brilliants of the nation; among
whom Sheridan and Fox were not the least distinguished.
If Mr. Paine, then, the companion of some of these men, had
done as they did, he would only have been on a level with
them, and to the custom of the times must the folly be ascribed. Since that age the custom has changed, bumpers are




132                 LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
not insisted on in good society, except in song.    A drained
glass is not a sine que non.   The host indeed spreads the
table abundantly, but excess is not the fashion; each helps
himself, and'the flow of reason and wit, and innocent games,
supply the place of boisterous mirth. The change is rational,
but the present age must not condemn the past, for all follow
custom.  We feel then no disposition to screen Mr. Paine,
but so many falsehoods have been told on this subject, that
we honestly doubt various assertions unsupported by facts.
Mr. Clio Rickman followed Mr. Paine to France, became again
his companion, and parted with him on the shore when he finally
left that country for this.  We shall give that gentleman's
account of Mr. Paine's habits in France, as far as he knew.' Mr. Paine was acknowledged deputy for Calais, the 21st of
September, 1792.  In France, during the early part of the revol tion, his time was almost wholly occupied as a deputy of
the convention and as a member of the committee of constitution.  His company was now coveted and sought after universally among every description of people, and by many who
for some reasons never chose to avow it.    With the Earl of
Lauderdale, and Dr. Moore, whose company he was fond of,
he dined every Friday, till Lord Gower's departure made it
necessary for them to quit France, which was early in 1793.
About this period he removed from White's hotel to one near
the Rue de Richelieu, where he was so plagued and interrupted by numerous visiters, and sometimes by adventurers, that
in order to have some time to himself he appropriated two
mornings in a week for his levee days.*  To this indeed he was
extremely averse, from the fuss and formality attending it, but
he was nevertheless obliged to adopt it.
Annoyed and disconcerted with a life so contraryto his wishes
and habits, and so inimical to his views, he retired to the Fauxbourg St. Dennis, where he occupied part of the hotel that
Madame de Pompadour once resided in.
Among these adventurers was a person calling himself Major Lisle: Mr. Paine
was at breakfast when he was announced; he stated himself to be lately arrived
from Ireland; he was dressed in the Irish uniform, and wore a creen cocklade he
appeared to be a well-informed man, and was gentlemanly in his manners, but ex-.tremelv voluble. IIe ran over the number of sieges and battles lie had been at,
and ended with professing a zealous desire to serve the republic, wishing MrI
Paine to give him a letter of recommendation to the minister at war. Mr. Paine
was extremely observing, shrewd, and cautious; he treated him with hospitality
and politeness, and inquired after some of the leading characters in Ireland, with
whom he found the major not at all acquainted; he then recommended him to
take the credentials of his services tothe military committee, but declined every
importunity to interfere himself. The adventurer turned out afterward to be the
notorious Major Semple.




MR. PAINE'S HABITS,IN FRANCE.        133
Here was a good garden well laid out, and here too our mutual friend Mr. Choppin occupied apartments; at this residence,
which for a town one was very quiet, he lived a life of retirement and philosophical ease, while it was believed he was gone
into the country for his health, which hy this time indeed was
much impaired by intense application to business, and by the
anxious solicitude he felt for the welfare of public affairs.
Here with a chosen few he unbent himself; among whom
were Brissot, the Marquis de Chatelet le Roi of the gallerie de
honore, and an old friend of Dr. Franklin, Banzal, and sometimes General Miranda. His English associates were Christie
and family, Mary Wolstonecraft, Mr. and Mrs. Stone, &c.
Among his American friends were Capt. Imlay, Joel Barlow,
&c., &c. To these parties the French inmates were generally
invited.
It was about this time a gentleman at Paris thus writes of
him to his friend: An English lady of our acquaintance, not
less remarkable for her talents than for her elegance of manners, entreated mie to contrive that she might have an interview
with Mr. Paine. In consequence of this I invited him to dinner on a dab when we were to be favored with her company.
For above four hours he kept every one in astonishment and
admiration of his memory, his keen observation of men and
manners,\his numberless anecdotes of the American Indians,
of the American war, of Franklin, Washington, and even of
his majesty, of whom he told several curious facts of humor
and benevolence. His remarks on genius and taste can never
be forgotten by those present.'"
The above extract is a part of Mr. Yorke's letter, published
we believe in this country, but as that letter contains some
falsehoods we have no confidence in it; for Mr. Yorke says
Paine could repeat by heart anything he had written: and Sherwin repeats the statement. This is a mistake, as we are informed by Mr. John Fellows and others, his intimates. Mr.
Paine would necessarily, express himself nearly in the same
style, on the same subject, because it was the most clear, the
fewest words, and combined the greatest strength. Men who
say the best thing first, can but repeat them on a future occasion. Mr. Clio Rickman goes on to remark:"He usually rose about seven, breakfasted with his friend
Choppin, Johnson, and two or three other Englishmen, and a
Monsieur La Borde, who had been an officer in the ci-devant
garde du corps, an intolerable aristocrat, but whose skill in
mechanics aid geometry brought on a friendship between him
and Paine; for the, undaunted and distinguished ability and




134               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
firmness with which he ever defended his own opinions whetn
controverted, do not reflect' higher honor upon him than that
unbounded liberality toward the opinions of others which constituted such a prominent feature in his character, and which
never suffered mere difference of sentiment, whether political
or religious, to interrupt the harmonious intercourse of
-friendship, or impede the interchanges of knowledge and
information.
After breakfast he usually strayed an hour or two in the
garden, where he one morning pointed out the kind of spider
whose web furnished him with the first idea of constructing
his iron bridge; a fine model of which, in mahogany, is preserved at Paris.
The little happy circle who lived with him here' will ever
remember these days with delight: with these select friends
he would talk of his boyish days, play at chess, whist, piquet,
or cribbage, and enliven the moments by many interesting
anecdotes: with these he would sport on the broad and fine
gravel walk at the upper end of the garden, and then retire to
his boudoir, where he wa up to his knees in letters and papers
of various descriptions. Here he remained till dinner-time;
and unless he visited Brissot's family, or some particular friend
in the evening, which was his frequent custom, he joined
again the society of his favorites and fellow-boarders, with
whom his conversation was often witty and cheerful, always
acute and improving, but never frivolous.
Incorrupt, straightforward, and sincere, he pursued his political course in France, as everywhere else, let the government or
clamor or faction of the day be what it might, with firmness,
with clearness, and without a' shadow of turning.'
In all Mr. Paine's inquiries and conversations he evinced
the strongest attachment to the investigation of truth, and was
always for going to the fountain-head for information. He
often lamented we had no good history of America, and that
the letters written by Columbus, the early navigators, and
others, to the Spanish court, were inaccessible, and that many'
valuable documents, collected by Philip II, and deposited with
the national archives at Simania, had not yet been promulgated. He used to speak highly of the sentimental parts of Raynal's History."
As farther illustration of the character of Mr. Paine while
in France we shall now introduce the letter of Joel Barlow
to Cheetham, when Cheetham was getting up the life of
Paine, just after the death of the latter. He wrote for in
information to various persons, suggesting what answers they
should give by leading questions. These answers, if they'
suited his purpose, he published, if not, he'suppressed them,




JOEL BARLOW'S LETTER TO CHEETHAM.      135
or he took the liberty of publishing detached parts of what'he
had been told, or related direct falsehoods, as in the case ot
Mr. Jarvis, who has explicitly denied to us the words which
Cheetham puts into his mouth in relation to Mr. Paine.
Cheetham, among others, wrote to Mr. Barlow, and to him
put such sort of questions'as we have noticed. Mr. Barlow,
in reply, states as follows:TO JAMES-CHEETHAM.
SIR: I have received your letter calling for information relative to the life of Thomas Paine. It appears to me that this
is not the moment to publish the life of that man in this
country. His own writings are his best life, anti these are
not read at present.
The greatest part of the readers in the United_ States will
not be persuaded as long as their present feelings last, to consider him in any other light than as, a drunkard and a deist.
The writer of his life who should dwell on these topics, to the
exclusion of the great and estimable traits, of his real character, might, indeed, please the rabble of the age who do not
know him; the book might sell; but it would only tend to
render the truth more obscure, for the future biographer than
it was before.
But if the present writer should give us Thomas Paine
complete in all his character as one of the most benevolent and
disinterested of mankind, endowed with the clearest perception, an uncommon share of original genius, and the greatest
breadth of thought; if this piece of biography should analyze
his literary labors, and rank him as he ought to be ranked
among the brightest and most undeviating luminaries of the
age in which he has lived-vet with a mind assailable by flattery, and receiving through that weak side a tincture of vanity
which he was too proud to conceal; with a mind, though
strohngehough to bear him up, and to rise elastic under the
heaviest load of oppression, yet unable to endure the contempt
of his former fiiends and fellow-laborers, the ruleis of the
country that had received his first and greatest servicesa mind incapable of looking down with serene compassion, as
it ought, on the rude scoffs of their imitators, a new generation that knows him not; a mind that shrinks from  their
society, and unhappily seeks refuge in low company, or looks
for consolation in the sordid, solitary bottle, till it sinks at last
so far below its native elevation as to lose all respect for itself,
and to forfeit that of his best friends, disposing these friends
almost to join with his enemies, and wish, though from different motives, that he would haste to hide himself in the




136             LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
grave-if you are disposed and prepared-to write his life, thus
entiee, to fill up the picture to which these hasty strokes of
outline give but a rude sketch with great vacuities, your book
may be a useful'one for another age, but it will not be relished,
nor scarcely tolerated in this.
The biographer of Thomas Paine should not forget his mathematical acquirements, and his mechanical genius. His invention of the iron bridge, which led him to Europe in the year
1787, has procured him a great reputation in that branch of
science, in France and England, in both which countries his
bridge has been adopted in many instances, and is now much in
use.
You ask whether he took an oath of allegiarce to France.
Doubtless, the qualification to be a member of the convention
required an oath of fidelity to that country, but involved in it
no abjuration of his fidelity to this.?-He was made a French
citizen by the same decree with Washington, Hamilton, Priestley, and Sir James Mackintosh.
What Mr. M —-     has told you relative to the circumstances of his arrestation by order of Robespierre, is erroneous, at least in one point. Paine did not lodge at the house
where he was arrested, but had been dining there with some
Americans, of whom Mr. M  --    may have been one. I
never heard before, that Paine was intoxicated that night. Indeed the officers brought him directly to my house, which was
two miles' from his lodgings, and about as much from the
place where he had been dining. He was'not intoxicated
when they came to me. Their object was to get me to go
and assist them to examine Paine's papers. It employed us
tihe rest of that night, and the whole of the next day at Paine's
lodgings; and he was not committeA to prison till the next
evening.
You ask what company he kept —he always frequented the
best, both in England and France, till he became the object
"of calumny in certain American papers (echoes of the English
court papers), for his adherence to what he thought the cause
of liberty in France, till he conceived himself neglected and
despised by his former friends in the United States. From
that moment he gave himself very much to drink, and, consequently, to companions less worthy of his better days.
It is said he was always a peevish inmate-this is possible.
So was Lawrence Sterne, so was Torquato Tasso, so was J. J.
Rousseau; but Thomas Paine, as a visiting acquaintance and
as a literary friend, the only points of view in which I knew
him, was one of the most instructive men I ever have known.
He had a surprising memory and brilliant fancy; his mind was
a storehouse of facts andr useful observations; he was full of
lively anecdote, and ingenious original, pertinent remark upon
almost'very subject.




MIR. PAINE'S NAME SUPPRESSED BY HISTORIANS.  137
He was always charitable to the poor beyond his means, a
sure protector and friend to all Americans in distress that
he found in foreign countries. And he had frequent occasions
to exert his influence in protecting them during the revolution in France. His writings will answer for his patriotism,
and his entire' devotion to what he conceived to be the best
interest and happiness of mankind.~
This, sir, is all I have to remark on the subject you mention.
Now 1 have only one request to make, and that would doubtless seem  impertinent, were you not the editor of a newspaper; it is, that you will not publish my letter, nor permit a
copy of it to be taken.
I am, sir, &c.,
JOEL BARLOW.
KALORAMA, August 11 1S09."7
Mr. Barlow was not always so candid. He has published a
poem on the revolution, in which he does not mention Mr.
Paine, whose "Common Sense" produced the, declaration of
independence, and who, throughout the contest, did more
tov*ard'producing unanimity and funds (the two essentials in
war) than any other man. We have now in our house a
compact history of the revolution, by S. F. Wilson, published
in Baltimore, in which the same injustice is done to Mr. Paine,
for he scarcely occupies one line in the history, although
" political writings," without giving a name, are referred to, as
being very efficacious. Paul Allen in a larger work does him
the same injustice. In a iography of distinguished American
characters, by Colonel Knapp, published by Conner, a short
notice was inserted of Mr. Paine, being a republication of an
English biography. This Mr. Conner was obliged to alter,
after stereotyping, at the instigation of Collins and Hanna,
and other booksellers, not because the facts and sentiments
were incorrect, but because the praise of Mr. Paine would
spoil the sale of the book. These facts we learn from Mr.
John Fellows and Mr. Conner. In the case of Joel Barlow,.
there was no personal objection, but he knewsthat prejudices
existed against Mr. Paine, and he succumbed to public feeling;
and such we believe the case with other writers.
Mr. Barlow might have added, in regard to Mr. Paine's religion, that as it
was the religion of most of the men of science of the present age, and probably
of three folurths of those of the last, there could be no just reason for making it
an' exception in his character.
Ia




138                LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
While Mr. Paine was in France, and partly detached from
politics, in consequence of imprisonment and the violence of
party, he was not. idle. Mr. Yorke remarks, in his letter published in Sherwin's Life:
" In showing me one day the beautiful models of two bridges
he had devised, he observed that Dr. Franklin once told him,
that'books are written to please, houses built for great men,
churches for priests, but no bridge for the people.'
These models exhibit an extraordinary degree, not only of'
skill, but of taste, in mechanics;' and are wrought with extreme
delicacy, entirely by his own hands. The largest is nearly four'
feet in length,; the iron works, the chains, and every other
article belonging to it, were forged and manufactured by himself. It is intended as the model of a bridge, which is to be
constructed across the Delaware, extending 480 feet with only
one arich. The- other is to be erected over a lesser river,
whose name I forget, and is likewise a single arch, and of his
own workmanship, excepting the chains, which instead of iron,
are cut out of pasteboard, by the fair hand'of his correspondent, the' Little Corner of the World,' whose indefatigable per-"
seyerance is extraordinary.  He was offered three thousand
pounds for these-models, and refused it. The iron bars, which
I before mentioned that I nqticed in a corner of his room, were,also forged by himself, as the model of a crane, of a new description. He put them together, and exhibited the power of
the lever, to a most surprising degree."
" Mr. Yorke in the above extract states the correspondence
between Lady Smith' and Mr. Paine to have been extremely
beautiful and interesting; as a proof of this, the following
specimen is subjoined:- 
FROM " THE CASTLE IN- AIR,' TO THE  LITTLE CORNER OF TIIE
WORLD.
IN the region of clouds where the whirlwinds arise,
My castle of fancy was built;
The turrets reflected the blue of the skies,
And the windows with sun-beams were tilt.
The rainbow sometimes, in its beautiful state,
Enamelled the mansion around,
And the figures that fancy in clouds can create,
Supplied me with gardens and ground.
I had grottoes and fountains and orange tree groves,
I had' all that enchantment has told;
I had sweat shady walks for the gods and their loves,
I had mountains of coral and gold.
But a storm that I felt not, had risen and rolle],
While vwrapt in a slumber I lay:
And when I looked out in the' morning, behold!
My castle Was carried'away.




MR. PAINE'S POET1Y —SOCIALITY.            139
It passed over iivers, and valleys, and grovesThe world, it was all in my viewI thought of my friends, of their fates, of their loves,
And often, fiill often, of you.
At length it came over a beautiful scene,
That nature in silence had made:
The place was but small-but't was sweetly serene,
And chequered with sunshine and shade.
I gazed and I envied with painful good will,
And grew tired of my seat in the air:
When all of a sudden my castle stood still.
As ifsome attraction was there.
Like a lark from the sky it came fluttering down,
And placed me exactly in viewWhen who should I meet, in this charming retreat,
This corner of calmness-but you.
Delighted to find you in honor and ease,
I felt no more sIorrow nor pain;
And the wind coming fair, I ascended the breeze,
And went back with my castle again.'
The above was written during his residence in Paris.    Mr.
Paine had very early in life corresponded with the lady to
whom it was addressed, his letters, like the foregoing, being
dated from the Castle in the Air,' and hers from the'Little
Corner of the World.' For reasons which he knew not, their
intercourse was suddenly suspended, and for some time he
believed his friend in obscurity and distress.    Many years
afterward, he met her unexpectedly at Paris, in the most affluent circumstances, and married to Sir Robert Smith.
In Mr. Yorke's Letters there is another piece, on forgetfulness.  This is replete with the most beautiful imagery, but Mr.
Yorke, from some motive which I cannot discover, has cancelled so great a part of it, that much of the interest is lost
which it would otherwise possess.
As the letter of Mfr. Jefferson which Mr. Yorke alludes to,
shows the high opinion which that gentleman entertained of
our author's services, and his wish to accommodate him     by
every possible kindnes~, I here subjoin a copy of it:You express a wish in your letter to return to America by
a national ship; IMr. Dawson, who brings over the treaty, and
who will present you with this letter, is charged with" orders
to the captain of the Maryland to receive and accommodate you
back, if you can be ready to depart at such a short warning.
You will in general find us returned to sentiments worthy of
former times; in these it will be your glory to have steadily
labored, and with as much effect as any man living. That you
may live long to continue your, useful labors, and reap the reward in the thankfulness of nations, is my sincere prayer.
Accept the assurances of my high esteem, and affectionate attachment.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.'




140              LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
Soon after Mr. Paine's release from the Luxembourg, it appears he made an effort to return to America, but he found
the'obstacles more numerous than he expected. The nmisconduect of Mr. Monroe's predecessor had rendered his reception
in France a very unpleasant -one, and as soon as he had effect
ed a good understanding with the government of that country,
he wished to transmit some despatches to America, by a person w-ith whom he could likewise confide a verbal communication, and he fixed upon Mr. Paine. For this purpose he applied to the committee of public safety for a passport, but as
Mr. Paine had been voted again into the convention, it was
only the convention who could grant the passport, and as an'
application to them would have made his departure publicly
known, he was obliged to sustain the disappointment, and Mr.
Monroe to lose the opportunity.
When Mr. Monroe left France, our author was to have accompanied him, but owing to some unforeseen circumstances he
was unable to complete his arrangements for that purpose. It
was fortunate he could not, for the vessel in which the minister
returned was boarded by a British frigate in her passage, and
every part of her searched, down even to the hold, for Thomas
Paine. He then went to Havre, thinking that he should be able
to embark there without its being known, but he found that
several British frigates were cruising in sight of the port, and
he thereupon returned to Paris. Seeing himself cut off from
every opportunity that was within his power to command, he
wrote to Mr. Jefferson requesting that if the fate of the election
should put him in the chair of the presidency, and he should
have occasion to send a frigate to France, he would give him
the opportunity of returning by it. This application produced
an answer fromi Mr. Jefferson of which the letter before cited
is a copy. He did not, however, go by this vessel, the notice
being too short. He next agreed to embark with Commodore
Barney, in a vessel he had engaged, but in this, as in some of
the former cases, the protecting hand of Providence was very
visible, he was accidently detained beyond the time, and the
vessel sunk at sea. Such a multitude of difficulties and narrow escapes were perhaps never concentrated together in the
execution of so simple a project. He finally embarked from
Havre on the 1st of September, and arrived at Baltimore on
the 30th of October, 1802."




141
PART IV.
FROM THE ARRIVAL OF MR. PAINE IN BALTIMORE, OCTOBER 30, 1802,
TO HIS DEATH IN 1809.
THE most interesting period of Mr. Paine's life has necessarily already been given. He was now an old man, between
sixty and seventy, yet vigorous, with his mental faculties unimpaired. His strong desire to end his days in the United States
was beautifully and pathetically expressed to a lady, in a
letter from France, a few.days before his arrival. This we
have already given, page 137. The reception of Mr. Paine
in the United States was such as might have been expected
from his fame and independent course. In a letter to his
friend Clio Rickman he thus expresses himself:" MY DEAR FRIEND: Mr. lionroe, who is appointed minister
extraordinary to France, takes charge of this, to be delivered
to Mr. Este, banker in Paris, to be forwarded to you.,I arrived at Baltimore 30t-h October, and you can have no
idea of the agitation which my arrival occasioned. From
New Hampshire to Georgia (an extent of 1500 miles), every
newspaper, was filled with applause or abuse.
My property in this country has been taken care of by my
fri'ends, and is now worth six thousand pounds sterling; which
put in the funds will bring me ~o400 sterling a year.
Remember me in friendship and affection;o your wife and
family, and in the circle of our friends.
Yours in friendship,
THiOMAS PAINE."
What course he meant to pursue in America his own words
will best tell, and best characterize his sentiments and principles'; they are these:
"As this letter is intended to announce my arrival to my
friends, and my epemies if I have any, for I ought to have
none in America, and as introductory to others that will occa



142              Et'LIFEx OF TIOM.AS PAINE.
sionally follow, I shall close it by detailing the line of conduct
I shall pursue.
I have no occasion to ask, nor ao I intend to accept, any
place or office in the government.
There is none it could give me.that would in any way be
equal to the profits I could make as an author (for I have an
established fame in the literary world) could I reconcile it to
my principles to make money by my politids or religion; I
must be in everything as I have ever been, a disinterested
volunteer: my proper sphere of action is on the coimmon floor
of citizenship, and to honest men I give my hand and my heart
freely.
I have some manuscript works to publish, of which I shall
give proper notice, and some mechanical affairs to bring forward, that will employ all my leisure time.
I shall continue these letters as I see occasion, and as to the
low party prints that choose to abuse me, they are velcome;
I shall not descend to aiswer them. I have been too much
used to such common stuff to take any notice of it.
THIoOMAS PAINE.
CITY OF WASIINGTON,."
Mr. Paine did not remain long at Baltimore, but while there
the following characteristic circumstance occurred:-' Passing through Baltimore, he was accosted by the Rev.
Mr. Hargrove, minister of a new sect called the New Jerusalemites. "You are Mr. Paine,' said'Mr. Hargrove.'Yes.''My name is Hargrove, sir; I am minister of the New Jerusalem church here. We, sir, explain the Scripture in its true
meaning. The key has been lost above four thousand years,
and we have found it.'' Then,' said Paine, drily,'it must
have been very rusty.'
gMr. Paine aviited Washington, and was kindly received by
Jefferson, then president; indeed this gentleman kept up
a constant correspondence with him to the day of his death.
He had invited 1im to return to the United States, had sent
out a ship for him, and on being asked if he had done so, he
replied, "I have, and when he arrives, if there be an office ip
my gift, suitable for him to fill, I will give it to him; I will
never abandon old friends to make room for new ones."  Mr.
Paine, it appears, had resolved not to take office, his wants
were moderate and his means sufficient. Mr. Paine'visited
the heads of the departments, and the various leading political
characters, by whom he was received with pleasure, and re



MR. PAINE IN 1NEW YORK.           14,3
membered with gratitude, not, however, to be depended on
when such remembrances came     in contact with their
popularity.
Soon after lMr. Paine came to New York, and put up at the
City hotel, then Lovett's hotel, where Grant Thorburn, well
known in New York, says, in a pamphlet before noticed, that
he visited him, introduced himself, shook hands with him, declared that his only object in thus visiting' A r. Paine wvas to see
the man'who had written " Common Sense," and was so much'
talked about; and having gratified his curiosity, as hesays,
he abruptly retired, to the no small amusement of the party.
Thorburn had formerly adopted IMr. Paine's principles, but at
this time he was a professor of religion, and held some office
in a baptist church, the members of which, hearing that Mr.
Grant Thorburn had shaken hands with Thomas Paine, thought
proper to suspend him from the church on that account; for
this reason we have introduced the anecdote, as it explains
the stuation of all the friends of Mir. Paine, who were connected with' churches, either from principle or policy.
While Mr. Paine was at Lovett's hotel, in spite of the influence of the church, he was honored with a public dinner by
a respectable and numerous party, and his after-enemy,
Cheetham, then editor of a daily paper, the organ of the deniocratic party, was particularly active in making the arrangements. Notwithstanding this public declaration in favor of
Mr. Paine, he was not popular; the church feared him and
had set their curse upon him; children had been taught to
lisp his name in connexion with blasphemy; and those political leaders who sought after place, without regarding the'
means to be employed, and who needed the suffrages of the
pious, and above all feared their united opposition, shunned
the company of Mr. Paine as something contaminating. The
people were deceived by the church, and those who knew
better wanted the honesty to stem the torrent. Jefferson,
Clinton, the mayor of New York, and a number of others,
-high in politics, literature, and situation in, life, were honorable
exceptions; while the independence of Mr. Paine would not
allow him to conceal his principles or conform in practices,'which involved evenl a. portion of hypocrisy. On a rmorning




1 44             LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
visit to Dr.Miitchill, in company wVith' Mr. John Fellows, the
latter reminded Mr. Paine, while in a gig, before they reached
the doctor, that Mr. Paine had a morning gown on; Mr. Paine
replied, "Let those dress who need it."  Cheetham has said
much about the slovenly habits and appearance of Mr. Paine.
Mr. Fellows, who knew him well from his first return to this
country till his death, denies the whole of it. HIe remarks
that he was careless of his appearance (as the above little
anecdote shows), but always cleanly and decent; and, as we
before remarked, that he never saw him disguised in'iquor
but once, when he had been to a dinner-party, and that he
was then only excited. This opinion we find uniformly sup"
ported by every credible person who knew him.,
The partial desertion of Mr. Paine, as a matter of policy, by
many of the prominent leading political characters, opened a
way to others of less influence in society, but more fearless
of public opinion; and some of these, with an indiscreet zeal,
thrust themselves upon Mr. Paine, and claimed a sort of
championship in his support. At this time Mr. Carver introduced' himself to Mr. Paine, as a fellow-townsman, who, when
a boy, remembered the fame of the latter, at Lewes, in Sussex.
Mr. Paine, too, probably, remembered him, for Carver had
sometimes saddled his horse, and could remind him of these
services and former times. Mr. Carver was at this period a
respectable tradesman, a blacksmith and veterinary surgeon.
He had a comfortable home, was liberal, and kept a horse and
chaise; but, above all, he was honest, independent, and openly
avowed the opinions, political and theological, of Mr. Paine.
With him Mr. Paine consented to live till he went to his farm
at New Rochelle; and thus he became a guest, and afterward a
boarder and lodger of a man who, without meaning it, did his
memory a great injustice, by becoming the tool of Cheethar
in a fit of anger.
Mrs. Bonneville' and her three sons soon after arrived from
France, on invitation from MIr. Paine to Mr. Bonneville and
the whole family, as mentioned in the introduction to this life.
Mr. Paine, who was simple in his habits, indeed economical,
offered Mrs. Bonneville his smallfarm at Bordentown, where
he wished to establish her in a school; but this employment




CHEETHAM' S FALSEHOODS-PAINE IN RETIREMENT,  15
did not suit the habits or taste of this lady, and thus the expense of herself and family fell entirely on Mr. Paine. He
retired to New Rochelle, and boarded with Purdy, who lived
on Paine's farm. Madam Bonneville, however, preferred New
York, where she occasionally taught French, whild the two
boys were sent to school at Newv Rochelle by i1 r. Paine; the
eldest, a youth of fourteen, returned to France. itr. Paine
was godfather to one of the others, who had been named after
him. He now divided his time between New York and New Rochelle, boarding in various places, and sometimes living on his
farm.
Cheetham has represented Mr. Paine at this period, as disgustingly dirty, drunken, ill-tempered, and quarrelsome, and
with much impudence he has referred tQ living characters as
proofs, and thus he gives to his falsehoods the appearance of
truth; while a portion of the clergy, eager to believe what
they wished to be true, have propagated these falsehoods with
the utmost zeal.'We are, however, fortunate in being acquainted with those who were about him at this time, and
with some of those to whom Cheetham refers; and these
lat'ter do not hesitate to blast the memory of this writer of
Paine'slife as a deliberate falsifier, and as an unprincipled
man. Both Carver and IMr. Jarvis, the celebrated painter, thus
speak of Cheetham, and yet he has had the impudence to refer to them for events as facts which he knew to be fabricated.
At this time, 1803 and 1804, when M3r. Paine was backward
and, forward, from New York to New Rochelle, he, resided
for several weeks at the private house of Captain Pelton, who
also kept the store at New Rochelle. He resided also for two
months in the winter- with M1r. Staple, at New Rochelle. Mr.
D. Burger, the brother-in-law of Mr. Staple, was the clerk to
Captain Pelton  and when l\Mr. Paine was rather poorly, he
drove him in a gig daily about the neighborhood. He, too,
supplied Mr. Paine-with all the liquor he took, which was one
quart of rum in a week, to serve himself and visiters. Mr.
BurgerC is well known to us, he has since lived for many
years in New York, as a watch and clock-maker, and for
$ This gentleman is since dead, but his eldest, son lives and remembers tho
statement of his father.
19




146               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
some time he had the care of the public clocks; his veracity
is not disputed. He describes Mr. Paine as really abstemious, and when pressed to drink by those on whom he called
during his rides, he usually refused with great firmness, but
politely. In one of these rides he awas met by De Witt Clinton,
and their,mutual greetings were extremely hearty. Mr. Paine
at this time was the reverse of morose, and though careless
in his dress and prodigal of his snuTf, he was always clean and
well- clothed. Mr. Burger describes him as familiar even
Awith children, and humane to animals, occasionally sitting
by the store, playing with the neighboring children, and
communicating a friendly pat, even to a passing.dog, assuring'him he would not see him hurt. Such were the simple habits
of the man, described to be wallowing in filth, drunkenness,
and brutality. At the time of Mr. Paine's residence at his
farm, Mr. Ward, now a coffee-roaster in Gold street, New
XYok, and an assistant aklerian, was then a little boy and
residing about Rochelle. IHe remembers the impressions
his mother and some religious people made on him    by
speaking of Tomn Paine, so that he concluded Tom Paine
must be a very bad and brutal mali. -Sonme of his elder
companions proposed going into Mr. Paine's orchard to obtain
some fruit, and he, out of fear, kept at a distance behind,
till he beheld, to his surprise, Mr. Paine come out and
assist the boys in getting apples, patting,,one on the head
and caressing another, and directing them where to get the
best. He then advanced and received his share of encouragement, and the impression this kindness made on him
determined him  at a very, early period to examine  his
writings. His mother at first took the books from him, but
at a later period restored them to him, observing that he was
then of an age to judge for himself; perhaps she had herself
been gradually undeceived, both as to his character and
writings.
In 1804, Mr. Purdy having left his farm, Mr. Paine hired
one Derick to cultivate it, when he and the family of the
Bonnevilles boarded for some time at Mr. James Wilburn's, in
Gold street. At this period Mr. John Fellows, still living in
New York, and respected as a good citizen, boarded at the




PAINE AND MADAME BONlNEVILLE.        147
same house, and test   testifies to the propriety both of Mr. Paine's
and Madame Bonneville's conduct. M3r. Paine's notions of
economy did not however accord with those of.Madame Bonneville. She was constantly incurring expenses which he
deemed unnecessary, while she, relying upon the protection
which he had promised both her and her husband, did not
scruple to send bills in to him which he had not sanctioned.
One of these was presented by Mr. Wilburn, for board to the
amount of thirty-five dollars, which she had incurred beyond
what he' had sanctioned. This demand Mr. Paine resisted,
perhaps to check Mrs. Bonneville, and make her either content with a simple competence at his farm in Bordentown, or
with him at Rochelle, or that she should by industry acquire
the means of a more ample expenditure. The action was
brought, and Mr. Fellows was a witness; but the plaintiff was
nonsuited, for the debt had been incurred without Mr. Paine's
consent. No sooner, however, was the trial ended in the favor
of Mr. Paine than he paid Mr. Wilburn the mohey; thus
justifying the view we have taken of this subject. Honorable
and liberal as this transaction is to Mr. Paine, Cheetham, and
after him Mr. Paine's enemies, have retailed this story as if
it were to his discredit. There is no reconciling tastes or
standards of expenditure. Madame Bonneville's was probably
too high to be prudent. Taste is a gift of nature, but partly
depending on education. A differeice of tastes, where two
persons are interested, will always lead to divisions, and
Madame Bonneville does not seem to have readily yielded, or
to have been very scrupulous as to the means she employed.
On one occasion, as we learn from Mr. Carver, and as Cheetham'has expressed in a note (if such authority can be relied on),
"c Before his return to the city, Madame Bonneville paid him
a visit, and arrived just at candle-light. She told hin she had
an order which she wished him to sign, for clothing for herself
and the children, who were all in fact nearly naked. She presented the order. Paine said,' I'll put it in my pocket and read
it in the morning.'-' No,' said she,'you must sign it to-night:
[ want to return and get the things to-morrow.-' I cannot
read in the night, I'll keep it till morning.'-' Then,' said Madame Bonneville, with some temper,'if you won't read it to-night,
give it me back.' Paine resisted all her importunities: he kept




148              LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
the paper until the morning, when he found, that instead of an
order for clothing, it was a bond, duly drawn, for seven hundred
pounds. Quite enraged, he went to Mrs. Dean's and told her
the story, by whom, and by Mr. Carver, it is, mentioned to me."
In these circumstances Madame Bonneville was sometimes left to want what she thought comforts, yet it does not
appeal that they had any serious quarrels, although these
differences interrupted that cordial intimacy which both perhaps expected. Yet, at his death, we shall find he left her, her
husband, and family, the bulk of his property, which was
then very considerable.
During this time Mr. Paine was not idle, he had generally
some work on politics, science, or literature, on hand. He
mixed a little too with party politics, communicated with some
papers and periodicals, and, when Cheetham deserted the democratic cause, he lashed.him with the severity of party spirit,
but not unjustly; and hence the revenge which Cheetham
afterward took. Mr. Paine now, too, published many little
things which had been written long before for amusement
when in France or in England. One of these was a piece of
poetry in the style of " Chevy Chase," entitled, " The Strange
Story of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram," perhaps- the severest
thing ever written upon tythes. In 1804 he published an essay
on the invasion of England, and a treatise on gun-boats, full of
valuable maritime information; and, in 1805, a treatise on the
yellow fever, and suggests modes of prevention, especially il
the improvement of the docks, so as to favor cleanliness. He
had now been residing for some time at New Rochelle, when
lr.C arver'rodeout to see him, and in his zeal urged him to
come into the city to oblige his friends, and offered him a
room in his house. Mr. Paine consented, and thus again
became, a inmate with Mr. Carver,. without any engagement
as to terms, an error extremely injurious in its consequence. Mr. Paine lived with the family, and occasionally
made purchases for them, thus complicating the accounts.
While he thus resided in Cedar street, with Mr. Carver, his
friend, Elihu Palmer, with his wife, boarded in the same street,
and within sight of Mrs. Burtsell's; him Mr. Paine visited
daily, and when Mr. Paine was seized with an epileptic fit, and




PAINE AND JARVIS.               149
fell down stairs, Mrs. Palmer attended on him. The attendance which he thus required, when ill, still farther served to
complicate the accounts between him and Mr. Carver. Mrs.
Burtsell, still living in Cddar street, speaks with enthusiasm of
the agreeable manners of Mr. Paine. She declares she never
saw him intoxicated, though he was daily in her house. By
the advice of a medical man Mr. Paine now left Mr. Carver's,
and lived in Church street with Mr. Jarvis, the celebrated
painter, still living.* Here he soon recovered, and he and
Mr. Jarvis became good companions; the one the greatest wit
of the age, and the other, though now an old man, not
deficient in sprightly thoughts or conversation, and abounding
in information. Mr. Jarvis still speaks of their agreeable companionship with much gust, and relates a number of anecdotes
highly characteristic; and he positively denies to us the
language ascribed to him by Cheetham. As Mr. Jarvis was
at this time in good circumstances, and received Mr. Paine as
a companion, the Cheetham stories of Mr. Paine's dirtiness
kill themselves, for it is absurd to suppose Mr. Jarvis would
have had such a companion. The following are among the
anecdotes related by Mr. Jarvis in relation to Mr. Paine:"He usually took a nap after dinner, and would not be disturbed let w-ho would call to see him. One afternoon, a very
old lady, dressed in a large scarlet cloak, knocked at the door,
and inquired for Thomas Paine. Mr. Jarvis told her he was
asleep.'I am very sorry,' she said, for that, for I want to see
him very particularly.' Thinking it a pity to make an old
woman call twice, Mr. Jarvis-took her into Paine's bed-room
and waked him. He rose upon one elbow, and then, with an
expression of eye that staggered the old woman back a step
or two, he asked —'What do you want'.-'Is your name
Paine'-' Yes,' Well then, I come from Almighty God, to tell
you, that if you do not repent of your sins and believe in our
blessed Savior Jesus Christ, you will be damned, and' —'Poh, poh, it is not true. You were not sent with such ah
impertinent message. Jarvis, make her go away. Pshaw, he
would not send such a foolish ugly old woman, as you about
with his messages. Go away. Go back. Shut the door.'
The old lady raised both her hands, kept them so, and without
saying another word, walked away in mute astonishment."
Died since the manuscript was written.




150              LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
Mr. Paine still visited New Rochelle, while ostensibly with
Mr. Jarvis. He had left Mr. Carver without any direct settle
ment of accounts. Mr. Carver's circumstances had now
altered from some family affairs which he could not control,
and altered circumstances produced altered feelings. When
Mr. Carver was in good circumstances, he thought only of the
honor and pleasure of having Mr. Paine under the same roof
with him, the terms of his board were a secondary consideration. We have already remarked that no agreement was
made. Now in altered circumstances, of which Mr. Paine
does not appear to be aware, his charge was an object.
In the'first note from Carver to Mr. Paine on this subject,
published by Cheetham, Mr. Carver uses this expression,' 1
have made a calculation of my expenditures on your account, the
last time you were at my house, and find they amount to one
4undred and fifty or sixty dollars.'  He charges for twentytwo weeks for Mr. Paine and twelve for Mrs. Palmer, who
assisted him in his illness; and he takes no notice of the few
things Mr. Paine had purchased. He reminds Mr. Paine of
his riches, and concludes by saying that he should not ask one
cent if he could afford it. IMr. Paine at this time did not expect a long life. The fit and subsequent sickness had shaken
his constitution. He had put Mr. Carver down in his will for
a handsome sum; and from the manner of the invitation and
supposed circumstances of Mr. Carver, perhaps he never expected a formal charge. At any rate, Mr. Paine was indignant at this charge, which he considered unjust, and proposed
paying the money down at once, and having nothing more to
do with him. This he was prevented from doing by Mr. John
Fellows, who was present when the demand was made by Mr.
Carver's boy. Mr. Fellows and Mr. Morton, the friends of
Mr. Paine; considered the charge too high; and these finally
settled the account upon what they considered just principles.
The charge might have been perfectly just, as, in Mr. Carver's
altered circumstances, he might have remembered former
hospitalities, for he refers to them in one of his letters. There
might have been but a trifling difference had Mr. Paine made
up the account. The fault was, not having a definite agreement; and this foolish affair produced a quarrel. Mr. Paine




CARVER'S LETTER-CHEETHAM.            151
replied to this note in an angry mnanner to Mr. Carver, and
Carver, remarkable for his boldness, replied in the severest
terms possible, giving the very worst construction  to
every event concerning Mr. Paine he could think of. His
epileptic fit he insinuates was drunkenness; and he infers an
improper connexion with Madame Bonneville, merely however
in an inuendo, with a sarcastic remark about young Thobias, the
godson, being like Mr. Paine. He refers to his trouble when
Mr. Paine was sick, and reminds him of the quantity of water
he procured for his personal cleanliness.  This personal
quarrel was soon forgotten, and the angry letters should have
been destroyed; but both letters had been read in public by
some zealous friends, and copies were taken. They ought to.
have been obliterated; buat after Mr. Paine's death, in 1809,
Cheetham sought out Mr. Carver, obtained acopy, deceived
him as to hi's intention and the nature of his publication, and
published these letters against Carver's Will. The mere publication of these letters would avail nothing among a candid
people; they were avowedly written in anger, but there were
persons who wished to believe. Even among such these
angry letters could avail but little; but Mr. Cheetham, with
fiendish ingenuity, not only insbrted these letters, but in other
parts of his life, presuming on their publication, boldly asserts
as facts what Carver had only insinuated, leaving the impression that these letters are additional confirmations of the facts,
instead of the only foundation for such reports. Thus he directly charges Mr. Paine with adultery with Madame Bonneville. He charges him with drunkenness,,-coarseness, and
dirtiness directly, which are only insinuated or implied in
Carver's angry letters. In the first charge grs. Bonneville
was implicated, and she very properly prosecuted Cheetham..On the trial, which we have read, he could only bring Mr.
Carver as witness, and Mr. Carver could only say what he
had before written, and his counsel was obliged to withdraw
the justification and acknowledge that the accusation was a
FALSE and IMALIC[OUS libel. The other charges applied to Mir.
Paine only, and he was dead and could not prosecute.  We,
after'diligent inquiry, believe them also false and malicious,
and that they have no other foundation than the angry letter




152              LIFE OF THIOMAS PAINE.
of MIr. Carver, and the malicious revengeful spirit 6f Cheetham; for this reason we have defailed this foolish quarrel.
We have now approached the yer 1807, the seventieth of
Mr. Paine's life, and two years only before his death. In the
spring of this year he removed to Broome street, at one Mr.
Iitt's, a baker; here he lived some time; and wvhile'in Broome
street he published an examination of the passages in the New
Testament, quoted from the Old, and called " Prophesies of
Jesus Christ," &c. This work shows all the acumen of his
former workss; it marks the most laborious examination of the
Scriptures. The Bible of Mr. Paine had been most carefully
read, it was marked all over; indeed, no book hlad been read
by him mord than that.
Mr. Paine lived successively in Partition street and afterward
in Greenwich street, near the state-prison; but his sickness increased on him, and boarding-house attention was scarcely sufficient. Madame Bonneville took a small house for him, M/ay,
1809, in Columbiaestreet, and here she attended on him till his
death. Mr. Paine was perfectly conscious of his approaching
dissolution, and some time before he wished to arrange for his
burial in the quakers' burying-ground, as the least obnoxious
to his feelings; and for this purpose he applied to Mr. Willit
Hicks, a preacher and' influential member of that body, as his
father had been of that persuasion. Mr. Hicks saw no objection, he had no prejudice on his own account, and brought
this subject before the church; and to their discredit they
denied the request.
While Mr. Paine was at iMr. Jarvis's he seemed to foresee
what would be the scene of his death-bed, and what some
fanatical persons would attempt after his death. With that
shrewdness of judgment which he always possessed, and which
displayed itself during the revolution, by his instantly anticipating what the British government would do, he was enabled
to prepare the people for the various proclamations and deceptive propositions before they arrived; nay, some of these
appeared but a repetition of Paines statements. The consequence was, they lost -their effect, as far as his influence
went. So, on this occasion, he foretold that when on a sick
bed attempts would be made to convert him to Christianity,
Now Grove street.




DEATH-BED OF MIR. PAINE.          153
or to make it appear that he was converted; and that after his
death reports would be spread of his death-bed repentance, of
his unbelief; then, appealing to'Mr. Jarvis, he observed,
"' Now I am in health, and in perfect soundness of mind; now
is the time to express my opinion."  And thus having called
Mr. Jarvis to witness, he solemnly repeated his belief in his
already written opinions.
What Mr. Paine had foreseen came to pass. As his illness
assumed a fatal appearance he was visited by men and women
who obtruded upon his last moments their religious principles,
either from christian simplicity and ignorant-sincerity, and,
most likely, in some of them, from hypocrisy; in the hopes of
being able to contort some of his answers into a manifestation
of fear or conversion, or to give them an opportunity of inventing a recantation for him. This is by no means an uncharitable supposition from the facts which followed his death,
when the second part of Mr. Paine's prophesy was fulfilled'by an invention of the kind, and by pious falsehoods promulgated to willing ears. The position is not uncharitable, for
the dying moments of Voltaire have been misrepresented by
similar pious frauds. Nor are these the only instances where
base falsehoods have been perpetrated in the name of God
for a supposed pious purpose. Even the judge, who afterward sentenced Cheetham for a false and malicious libel on
the memory of Mr. Paine and Madame Bonneville, declared
Cheetham's life a useful book, because it tended tosuppress
the influence of Mr. Paine's writings. After these and other
proofs of lying, for the sake of God, in remembrance too of
the counterpart, we think we are justified in: assumiing that
some of the visiters were hypocrites, and came there to distort his answers, or as an excuse for invention, than for any
reasonable hope of converting and saving his soul. Among
the most prominent and zealous visiters of Mr. Paine in his
last days were the Rev. Mr. Milledollar,'a presbyterian
clergyman, and the Rev. Mr. Cunningham, about a fortnight
before Mr. Paine's death. This latter gentleman told Paine
that they visited him as friends and neighbors, and added,
"'You have now a full view of death, you cannot live long, and
whosoever does not believe in Jesus Christ will assuredly be
20




1 D44.           LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
damned." AMr. Paine replied,'Let me have none of your
popish stuff.  Get away with. you.' Good morning, good
morning.'" Mir. Milledollar attempted to address him, but was
interrupted by Mr.'Paine; and when'they were gone, he said
to Mrs. Hedden, his housekeeper, "Don't let'em come here
again, they trouble me." In spite of Mr. Paine's declaration
these gentlemen again attempted to obtrude themselves upon
him, but they were refused admittance, as directed, by Mrs.
Hedden, who piously added, " If God does not change his
mind, she was. sure no human power could."
Mr. Villit Hicks, himself a preacher, a most respectable
member of the friends, and a man of high standing in the community, yet alive, was then a neighbor of Mr. Paine, and in
his last illness visited him daily, and on the day of his death.
This gentleman, whom.we especially visited, assured us that
Mr. Paine was beset by clergymen; that on one occasion a
methodist minister obtruded on IMr. Paine when he;, Mr.
Hicks, was present. The minister, we suppose sincerely,
declared to M{r. Paine, with uplifted hands, that,''unless, he
repented of his unbelief he would be damned."  Mr. Hicks
describes Mr. Paine as rising in his bed with indignation at
the intrusion and ignorant presumption, and, sick as he was,
declaring that-if he-was able he would immediately put him
out of the room.. We recently met one of these visiting
parties who sought to convert Mr. Paine on his death-bed, a
Mr. Pigott, formerly a legislator, and now a man of high
moral standing. He has a brother a minister, a learned studious man, but unfortunately blind. He wVas so at, the time
of Mr. Paine's death, and he felt desirous of converting MIr.
Paine, and engaged his brother, Mr. Pigott, our informant, to
go with him. With some difficulty thiey obtained access, for
Mr. Paine was then annoyed, as we have seen, by obtruders;
but as this gentleman had once adopted the opinions of Mr.
Paine, and wvas then blind, these qualities obtained the
brothers an audience. Mr. Pigott remarked that Mr. Paine
was in bed and sick, but that he received them with politeness,
and cheerfully conversed with his brother, who was a learned
thoughtful man'; but when his brother proceeded to state that
he had changed his opinions, and about to urge on Mr. Paine,




DEATH-BED OF MR. PAINE.          155
sincerely in this case no doubt, the necessity of re-examination and conversion, Mr. Paine abruptly closed the. con
versation, and intimated his displeasure, and a wish fop their
immediate departure; and they thus left the room. Mr. Pigott
describes Mr. Paine as a large-faced man, with a most penetrating eye, and immense  expression of countenance, marking lively sensibilities, which. the peculiar character of the
visit brought out; for he had seen him  pleased with his
brother, intelligent and communicative, and then ilndignant
at supposing the brother could change his opinions.
The friends of Mr. Paine visited him till his death. Mr.
Jarvis saw him one or two days before his dissolution; and on
that day he had expected to die during the night, to Mr. Jarvis
he expressed a continued belief in his written opinions; of
this we are informed by Mi.'Jarvis. Mr. Thomas Nixn, and
his old friend Mr. Pelton, visited him expressly on the subject
of his opinions, so did Mr. B. F. Hasken, a respectable attorney, now residing in ChambeTs street, New York; and, as they
say, aware that falsehoods might be resorted to, because
such means had before been used withl others, they plt down
Mr. Paine's answers in writing. But when they first proposed
their questions, as Mr. Paine did not know their motive, he
seemed hurt that they should suppose he had:any doubts on
the subject. We have this account personally from Mr.
Hasken, and we shall give a letterfrom Mr, T. Nixon and
Mr. D. Pelton in another place. Mr. Paine suffered considerably in his illness, but he retained his mental faculties to the
last. Death made slow approaches, and dropsy, attended by a
cough and vomiting, were the last symptoms of approaching
dissolution. On the eighth of June, about nine in,the morning, he died, placid and almost without a struggle, notwithstanding his previous sufferings. And his last words, as recorded by Dr. Manley were-" I have no wish to believe on
the subject," in answer to the question, " Do you wish to
believe that Jesus is the Son of God 2" put by the pious doctor
himself, who wvas curious on the subject.
Fortuinately we have the living testimony of the person who
sat up with Mr. Paine on the night previous to his death.
This testimony cost us a journey to Boston, but wie are




156               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
amply repaid for our labor. On our return we published the
testimony in the Beacon of June 5,1839, Vol. III., page 240.
A precaution we have taken for these eight years, during.
which time we have had the command of a press; for aware
that many of the witnesses to this history, being then advanced
in years, might die, we published their testimony in detail
while yet alive, and capable of verifying our statements if
correct, or of contradicting them if erroneous. As a specimen of this method of chronicling events, whichWwe meant to
imbody in this work, we extract the following from the Beacon (see reference above):THOMAS PAINE'S DEATH-BED.
VTeiaave just returned from Boston. One object of our
visit to'that city, was to see a Mr. Amasa Woodsworth, an
engineer, now retired in a handsome cottage and garden at
East Cambridge, Boston. This gentleman owned the house
rented by Mrs. Bonneville for Mr. Paine at his death; while
he lived next door. As an act of kindness Mr. Woodsworih
visited Mr. Paine every day for six weeks before hi's death;
he frequently sat up with him, and' did so on the last two
nights of his life. He was always there with Dr. Manley the
physician, and assisted in removing Mr. Paine, while his bed
was prepared: he was present when Dr. Manley asked Mr.
Paine'if he wished to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son
of God,' and he describes Mr. Paine's answer as animated.
He says, that lying on his back, he used some action, and
with\ much emphasis replied,' I have no wish to believe on
that subject.' He lived a short time after this, but \vas not
known to speak, for he died tranquilly. He accounts for the
insinuating style of Dr. Manley's letter, by stating that that
gentleman just after its publication joined a church. He informs us that he has openly reproved the doctor for the falsity
contained in the spirit of that letter, boldly declaring before
Dr. Manley, who is yet living, that nothing which he saw
justified his (the doctdr's) insinuations. Mri. Woodsworth
assures us that he neither heard nor saw anything to justify
the belief of any mental change in the opinions of Mr'. Paine
previous to his death; but that being very ill and in pain,
chiefly arising from the skin being removed in some parts by
long laying, he was generally too uneasy to enjoy conversation on abstract subjects. This, then, is the best evidence
that can be procured on this subject, and we publish it while
the contravening parties are yet alive, and with the authority
of Mr. Woodsworth.-G. v."




DEATH OF IMR. PAINE.            157
Mr. Woodsworth is yet alive, and his testimony has derived
additional importance from the evidence of M3r. Willet Hicks,
which we shall shortly give. We refer especially to his remarks on the conduct of Dr. Manley; and when we produce
Mr. Hicks' evidence, we shall have to request that our readers
will return to the previous page, and again read this testimony,
and compare it with that evidence.
The day after the death of Mr. Paine'he was taken from his
house in Greenwichvillage to New Rochelle, attended by a few
friends, and was there buried on his farm, and a plain stone
was erected to his memory, with the following inscription:THOMAS PAINE,
AUTHOR OF C COMMON SENSE.77
Died June, 8, 1809, aged sevenzy-two years and five months.
Mr. Paine left behind him a manuscript in answer to Bishop
Watson. A copy of this is now in the hands of Madame Bonneville. A catholic priest in this country borrowed another
copy of her, which has never been returned.
In reviewing the life of Mir. Thomas Paine, we can see-no
defect in his public character. He was a citizen of the world,
and served its interests to the best of his abilities, which were
great. "Where liberty is, that is my country,"' said Dr.
Franklin. Mr. Paine replied, " Where liberty is not, that is
my country," in reference to his exertions for liberty in the
United States, England, and France. Paine wrote for mankind, and he may be emphatically styled " the friend of man."
Here he was a good citizen, and a firm supporter of the government; because that government is based upon the rights
of man, with the exception of the recognition of slavery in the
southern states, unfortunately engrafted on the community
before the war of independence. Whatever may be the
opinionof Mr. Paine's theological works, his honesty in publishing them cannot lbe doubted by any impartial reader. He
believed those opinions true, and he believed the truth useful
to mankind; while his especial object was to establish a religious principle in,France, then becoming atheistical. The




1-58             LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
best argument in support of deism is to be found in the first
part of the " Age of Reason." In this view of the subject Mr.
Paine ought to have been taken by the hand by every believer
in the existence, wisdom, power, and goodness of one supreme
God, the maker and sustainer of the universe. Mr. Paine gave
up the copyright of his theological works, just as he hcd done
that of his political, and for the same reason, public good.
His prudence in publishing his " Age of Reason," has been
doubted; and if he had been ambitious, and had consulted his
own interest, he would have abstained from such a publication 
but he was neither ambitious nor covetous, except of honest
faje, from honest and intelligent men, and that he has obtained. His political career was run, and the doors apparently
closed against an extension of liberty at that time, and therefore his political usefulness was not injured. The United
States had accomplished her independence; the revolution in
France was completed, and liberty disgraced by excesses
which the " Age of Reason" was intended to. restrain, as it
-taught toleration  while in England the cause of liberty wac
checked by war, and his political works suppressed; but
church aggressionswere oppressive; there the " Age of Reason"
had nearly effected a revolution, and the odious system of
tythes was almost prostrated. We, cannot then admit that
Mr. Paine was imprudent in the publication. The age of
reason has now arrived, at least in New York, and every man
chooses to read and think for himself, whatever may be his
conclusions; and lMr. Paine was scarcely in advance of the
age.
Of Mr. Paine's private character, we cannot say it:was perfect. We should be sorry if we could; for then we could
not hope to be believed..Mr. Paine was a part of human
nature, and partook of its imperfections. He wrote a foolish
angry letter to Carver. He was, no doubt, penurious, to a
limited extent, in his old age; and in sickness we can easily
conceive of his being sometimes peevish and angry; he would
not be man if he were not; but these are all the personal
blemishes we can discover, and these are counterbalanced by
the most noble and social qualities. Hle hbad a heart to feel
for the distresses of mankind, and a head to conceive the




MIR. PAINE S PRIVATE LIFE.        159
means of relief. The charge of Madame Bonneville and famnily
was at once an' act of generosity and gratitude, however unpleasant their different tastes, or sense of propriety rendered their
mutual duties. Mr. Paine possessed every prominent virtue
(if not in perfection, which human nature forbids) in iarge
proportions; and to these he added the most social qualities.'
in public, without being.a great talker, he was cheerful, conmmunicative, abounding in information and anecdote, and in private
he was not less agreeable, on the testimony of Mri. John
Fellows, Mr. Jarvis, and'a host of others, his companions.
Few people are aware of the morals and decorum of Mr. Paine.
We have already observed'that he never used vulgar oaths,
and that he even goodhumoredly reproved his friends who
did. Mr. Jarvis, who gave us the above information, observed
that he once, by way of a joke, advised Mr. Paine to recant,
and publish his recantation as a hoax, assuring him that he
would then make a large fortune and get a good living. Mr.,
Paine, shaking his head, replied, " Tom Paine never told a lie."
We do not discover in Mr. Paine, on any account, even a
prevarication; such was his love of truth, while he had too
much sense to be the dupe of the falsehood of others. The
charge of drunkenness we can find no ground for, unless it
occurred in France for a short period; and yet the company
he there kept seems to forbid it. But as this charge is so
generally believed we shall take the liberty of naming a few
persons who knew him personally during his last residence in
New York, some of whom were in the habit of meeting him
in public, and others in public and private societies, his companions for years; and of these, none ever saw him drunk, and
most of them are well known and respected for their veracity.
Among others, are Mr. John Fellowss,' Mr. D. Burger,t Mr.
Minr, senr., Judge Herttell, Mr.'Jarvis, M]r, Bassinet, Nassau
street, M[r. B. F. Faskin, attorney, Chambers street,; Mr. IH.
Magary, Willet Hicks, &c., &c., to which we could add a
number-now dispersed about the states, as Amasa Woodsworth, near Boston, and all the old inhabitants of New Rochelle.
There exists, too, a note on this subject to Mr. Caleb
* Saw him once elevated; after attending a dinner-party.
t Since dead.




160               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
Bingham, bookseller, Boston, from Mr. Lovett, now deceased,
but formerly of.the City hotel, New York, where M[r. Paine
put up after his last return to this country. In that note MItr.
Lovett declares that Mr. Paine drank less than anv of his
other boarders, While at his hotel: and this accords with what
Mr. Jarvis and others have informed us, that " he did not, and
could not, drink much."  Our author, for the existence of
this note, is Mr. John Fellows, a gentleman well known.
and whose'veracity iwas never doubted. The note was written
to answer an inquiry, and shown to Mr. John Fellows, our informant. This subject is puerile in itself, were there not a host
whd sincerely believe Mr. Paine' to have been disgustingly a
drunkard or a sot. Others of liberal minds, would at onceperceive that he who possessed all his faculties to an advanced
age unitnpaired, could not commonly indulge in such gross
excesses; and if he had indulged in excesses sometimes only,
it was merely a fault in the age which has passed. But we
have a much more important inference, beside a desire to,
undeceive those who have been duped. We think we have
given abundant evidence that AMr. Paine was neither a sot nor
drunkard; and we know of no conti'ary evidence, nothing but
hearsay, which, when approached, vanishes. How then are
we to regard this slander, its circulation, its reiteration, the
boldness of the assailants, and the variety of forms it assumed,
from the pulpit, the press, and in prints; and in private, from
mouth to mputh, till his very friends were deceived, as cwe
were, till we commenced this investigation. What now is
the secret cause of slander, but the desire to check the influence of an individual or his writings. Could the "Age of
Reason" and "Righis of Man" hlave been replied toas he
replied to Burke, we should never have heard these slanders;
and kings and priests, lordlings, an aristocracy and their sycophants, and the sincerely pious, but duped disciples of Jesus,
never would have formed one mighty mass to circulate a petty
slander but from fear. Some feared the truth-it would disturb their old prejudices; but others feared reform; because
where equal rights are maintained, privileges must be yielded,
and the leeches on society must give up their hold. But why
did the slanderers fix on the minor vice of inebriety! It is




THE SLANDEERERS OF MlR. PALNE.      161
clear, by fixing' on so smoall a vice as inebriety for the subject
of slander, that there was no pretence even'for other vices.
HIad he been unjuLst, not addicted to truth, a man wa!nting
principle, or possessed of any p'blic vice, these would necessarily have been laid hold of; and this is a negrative evidence
that no jpret)ence for public vice existed. But how ar we to
regartd Mis slanderers, the great body of wvomn are sinzcere, religiious, and feminine. WtaT t an amalgamation do the slanderers
of Paine present. TIe young girl of pious educ(atiorn vociferatinTg T'om Paine, tie filthy, drunen, Tom iPaine the pious
teacher, perhaps also deceived, but without exam;ination,
preachling froim the pulpit, that tie opponent of the gospel
scheme lived and died. a degraded, a drunken- beinc. o  To
these are added the a ch hypocrite, who knows the slander but,
from interested motives, joins the bitter cry of To Pa? ine and
inebriety. To these again are added the thouzsacnds of decent
people of all religions, who, finding it fashionable to pronounce
the name of Paine with a sneer, generously believe wfat
everybody says; and these' add their mrite of slan d, making1
in thle aoogreate a mzountain. But to these must yet be added
the politician, the sneaking artful man who could not afford
to lose a vote, and Vwho, conscious Cf the contrary, chimes in
with the pious, arnd pronounces Toz Paine and excess withl supreme disgust, as an assurance that the speaker, the politician,
is neither sot, drunl:ard,i nor infidel; but even the political
drunkard Vwll join the throng, and in' his beer become extremely pious, and denounce Tom Paine as drun.ren and dirty,
being zwillinzg to b elive what he wises to o   te  as a
excuse for himself, an d degdrading to Ute principles which
Paine manifested, and wvhich orr drunke.n politician, eschews.
This msass have sought  to ovevrwhelm the name of Paine by
associating it with intoxication, for which there is not a partiele of proof. We cannot say a s/adowt Por a shadow there
was, and this, peyhaps, rendered the extension of the slander
easy. Mr. Paine qused, but did not abuse, liquor. He had a
large florid face, and this, we believe, favored the report
among those who only knew him by sight. If now we push
back the slander, on whom does it rest. Are the sincere justided, because of their sincerity, in propagating slander Is it
21




162               LIFE. OF THOMAS PAINE.
in accordance with their religion X It is evident it exists, with
religion most-sincere. It exists with the ministers of religion
sojne of whom'were sincere but ignorant, others, not sincere,
but interested; but the whole body was contaminated, minister
and people, by circulating slander. This then was the visible
religion Mr. Paine would have uprooted, while the political
tyrants and sycophants, who joined the crusade, f;om the
basest motives, and they have now their representatives, but
ill contrast in sentiment and feelings with the noble principles
of the man whose fame they would suppress. " TE WORLD
MY coUNTRY, TO DO GOOD MY RELIGION," V ere the sublime sentiments of this sincere and able advocate of human rights,
whose fair fame has beaen thus abused.
Immediately on the death of Mr. Paine, Cheetham, his political enemy, began to collect materials for his life; which was
published the same year. We have already noticed the manner
in which he collected those materials, and the recklessness
with which he repeated the grossest and most malicious falsehoods, while in the most impudent manner he inserted the
names of living witnesses., His conviction in the case of
Madame Bonneville did something to undeceive the public;
still Mr. Paine's memory suffers from this malignity. We
had by us Mr. Carver's copy of Cheetham's first edition of the
"Life of Paine," including the matter for which he (Cheletham) was prosecuted. This copy Mr. Carver sold to Mr.
Parkins, ex-sheriff of London, and he, tMr. Parkins, loaned it
to us.'The book is margined by notes in Carver's handwriting; a few of which.we shall notice or extract, although
they are extremely coarse.
The first note on the blank leaf after the preface, charges
Cheetham with villifying Mr. Paine, and also Mr. Palmer, and
plainly calls Mr. Cheetham a hypocrite. To this Carver puts
his name and address, 36 Cedar street. Page 47, Cheetham
says, " Common Sense' has no merit."  Carver adds,  One
more of Cheetham's lies."  Page 209, Cheetham pretends a
great reverence for received religious opinions. Carver adds,
"I believe Cheetham  was an athiest, as he told me/ that
Mirabeau's'Systemr of Nature' could never be answered.
He was a hypocrite." Page 210, Carver says, " Cheetham fol



CHEETHAMI'S FALSEHOODS,.           163
lowed Palmer in principles, but was not half as good and moral
a man."   He adds, " Cheetham was an abominable liar."
This last expression is repeated in various parts of the book,
with some variations, such as, " Cheetham was a liar, and, if
reports are true, he should have treated-his wife better."  On'
the last page Carver adds,  I once told Cheetham in his own
house, as that he had\had his hands crossed with British gold."
This is one of the witnesses to whom'Cheetham constantly
refers; and this witness thus denounces the man who refers
to him, in the plain language we have shown, as not to be
relied on. Mr, Jarvis is another, and he too uses the same
expressions, in relation to Cheetham, which Carver does.
Could we then get access, to the other living witness to
whom Cheetham refers for proofs of Mr. Paine's failings, we
might find in them the same indignation and conviction of
Cheetham's impudence and falsehoods.*
The cunning of Cheetham, in getting up materials for the
life of Paine, will clearly be seen by again referring to Joel
Barlow's letter to Cheetham (page 135). It is clear that Barlow
was deceived, and we were deceived when we first read this letter in Cheetham's life of Paine, and continued Qeceived till we
had examined the question of Mr. Paine's habits of temperance
during the last years in New Yolk. We then re-read Barlow's
letter, and discovered the cunning. Mr. Barlow was in France
at the time of Mr. Paine's death and knew not his habits.
Cheetham wrote to him, informed him of his object, mentioned
that Paine was drunken and low in his company toward the
latter years of his life, and says he was informed that he was
drunk when taken to prison in France. Now Mr. Barlow
does not contradict Cheetham; he could not,'as Cheetham had
the better opportunity of knowing facts, and Mr. Barlow does
not suspect him  of falsehood; as who would l He therefore
* Cheetham sported with truth. He published in his paper an account of Burr's
duel with Hamilton, in which he declared that Burr had undergarments of silk,
to turn off the ball if hit, and that a garment of silk would do this; for that a
Mr. Lawrence, then well known, had by accident fired off a pistol, that the ball
struck his leg, and turned off from the effect of the silk-stocking. On the
Sunday following Judge Herttell dined where Cheetham was, when he related the
story of this publication as a hoax, and laughed at the people's credulity; as we
are informed Iy Mr. Herttell.




1641             LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
presumes Mr. Cheetham correct in the statement, and goes on,
not to excuse Paine, but to present his acknowledged good
qualities as a set-off. Then Cheetham publishes this letter,
and presents, to a cursory reader, Mr. Joel Barlow as acknowledging Mr. Paine's intemperance, and other infirmities, which
had no other foundation than Cheetharn's declaration, given
to deceive Barlow; who afterward, as we have seen, gives
Barlow's letter to deceive the public. In the next place
Cheetham informs Mr. Barlow that he had heard Mr. Paine
was drunk when sent to prison, and boldly gives his authority;
as he did in the libel case  Here Mr. Barlow happened to be
qualified to judge, for Paine was brought to his house when he
was arrested, and Mr. Barlow distioctly disavows the statements; but he is too polite, or too unsuspicious, to suppose
himself cheated; yet it is evident on this assertion and alleged
evidence, had Mr. Barlow not known by accident the contrary,
he too would have presumed the fact on Cheetham's statement, and, perhaps, would have endeavored to excuse Mr.
Paine for being intoxicated at such a time; when the fact
was, he was not intoxicated, nor is there any evidence that he
was in the habit of being intoxicated. Of the referee, Mr.
Murray,our friend Mr. John Fellows thus speaks:" I happen to know something of the Mr. Murray alluded to
above, whose\testimony Mr. Barlow proves.to be false. It is
thus,that Cheetham collected stories injurious to the character
of Paine. Mr. Murraywas an English speculator in France, in
the time of the revolution, and was once imprisoned as a spy.
His enmity to Paine and the principles for which France was
contending, I am confident (from my knowledge of the man),
would induce him to fabricate any story calculated to throw
obloquy upon either."
Now who can doubt but that Cheetham knew the qualities
of this man, whom he used as a referee, especially after we
have seen the unscrupulous character of Cheetham as to truth.
But perhaps it will be asked,,what could induce Cheetham
thus to liel We have before remarked, that Cheetham had
edited the leading republican paper; but that he had become
a renegade, and was then in support of the English tory party,
and was preparing to go to England, when he died. His life




PAINE AND CHEETHADM.             165
of Paine he knew was a passport to the English court, and he
intended to defend the Bible and crown against Cobbet, who
had shortly before broken his connexion with the English
government, and was then in successful opposition. Such is
the evidence we obtained from a gentleman who was then
head-clerk to Cheetham, and this we find sustained by others.
Besides, Paine had been very( severe on Cheetham for his
political change; and this would stimulate his revenge. The
following, published by Mr. Paine a short time before his
death, will show the relation Mr. Cheetham bore to Mr. Paine
at that time, and how badly qualified such a man must be for
an impartial biographer. Mr. Paine had published an article
in the Public Advertiser, on the defence of the harbor of New
York. Cheetham had attacked Paine on that article, and Mr.
Paine in his reply remarks:"I Mr. Cheethamn speaks much about Locke, and says, that
all political elementary writers on government since the days
of Locke, including Mr. Paine, are but the mere retailers of
his ideats and doctrines.' This is John Bullism all over.
He also says, that' on hereditary and elective government,
Mr. Paine, in his "Common Sense" and " Rights of Man,"
has followed Locke idea for idea.' It may be so for what I
knov, for I never read Locke, nor ever had the work in my
hand, and by what I have heard of it from Horne Tooke, I had
no inducement to read it. It is a speculative, not a practical
work, and the style of it is heavy and tedious, as all Locke's
writings are.
I suppose Locke has spoken of hereditary and elective monarchy, but the representative, as laid down in' Common
Sense' and' Rights of Man,' is an entirely different thing to
elective monarchy. So far from taking any ideas from Locke
or from anybody else, it was the absurd expression of a mere
John Bull in'England, about the year 1773, that first caused
me to turn my mind to systems of government. In speaking
of the then king of Prussia, called the Great Frederick, -he
said,'He is the right sort of'man for a king, for he has a deal'
of the devil in him.' This set me to think if a system of government could not exist that did not require the devil, and I
succeeded without any help from anybody. It is a great
deal that may be learned from absurdity, and I expect to learn
something from James Cheetham. When I do, I will let him
know in the Public Advertiser.
In the conclusion of the piece of mine, which Mr. Cheetham
has vomited his spleen upon, I threw out some reproach




166               LIFE OF THOMIAS PAINE.
against.those who, instead of practising themselves in arms
and artillery, that they might be prepared to defend New
York, should it be attacked, were continually employing
themselves on'imaginary fortifications, and skulking behind
projects of obstruction. As Mr. Cheetham supposed himself
included in this description (and he thought right), he made,
as he imagined, an effectual retort, but in doing this, as in
everything else he does, he betrayed his want of knowledge,
both as to the spirit and circumstances of the times he
speaks of.'I would not,' says Mr. Cheetham,'charge with cowardice
that gentleman [meaning'ne], who, in the " times that tried
men's, souls," stuck very correctly to his pen in a safe retreat,
and never handled a musket offensively.'.By this paragraph, Mr. Cheetham must have supposed, that
when congress retreated from Philadelphia to Baltimore, in
the'times that tried men's souls,' that I retreated with them
as secretary to the committee for foreign affairs.
Inrthe first place, the committee for foreign affairs did not
exist at that tinme.
In the next place, I served in the army the whole of the
time that tried men's souls,' from the beginning to the end.
Soon after the declaration of independence, July 4, 1776,
congress recommended that a body of ten thousand men, to
be called the flying camp, because it was to act wherever
necessary, should be formed from the militia and volunteers
of Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland., I went with one
division from Pennsylvania, under General Roberdeau. We
were stationed at Peirth Amboy, and afterward at Bergen;
and when the time of the flying camp expired, and they went
home, I went to Fort Lee, and served as aid-de-camp to
Greene, who commanded at Fort Lee, and was with him
through the whole of the black times of that trying campaign.
I began the first number of the' Crisis,' beginning with the
well-known expression,' These are the times that try men's
souls', at Newark, upon the retreat from Fort Lee, and continued writing it at every place we stopped at, and had it printed
at Philadelphia the 19th of December, six days before thee
taking the Hessians at Trenton, which, with the affair at
Princeton, the week-after, put an end to the black times.
It therefore is not true, that I stifck to my pen in a safe
retreat with congress from Philadelphia to Baltimore in the
times that tried men's souls.' But if I had done so, I should
not have published the cowardice James Cheetham has done.
In speaking of the affair of the Driver sloop-of-war, -t Charleston, South Carolina, he said in his paper, if the Driver and her
comrades should take into their heads -to come here (New
York), we must submit. What abominable cowardice, for a
man to have such a thought in his mind, that a city containing




PAINE'S REPRIMAND OF CHEETHAM.        167
twenty thousand able-bodied men, numbers of them as stout
in person as himself, should submit to a sloop-of-war containing
about a hundred and fifty men.
After this, Mr. Cheetham will take care how he attacks old
revolutionary characters, whose undiscouraged intrepidity, in
the' times that tried men's souls,' made a home for hini to
come to.
TIIOMIAS PAINE
NEW YORK, Aug'. 21, 1807."' REPRIMAIND TO JAMES CHEETHAM.
If James Cheetham, editor of the' New York American
Citizen,' thinks to draw me into a controversy with him, he
is greatly mistaken. In the first place, I hold him too cheap;
and his well-known character for abuse and blackguarding,
renders any altercation with him dishonorable; and beside
this, it would take up too much of my timd to put his blunders
to-rights. He cannot write'without blundering, neither can:
he write'truth, of which I Awill give another instance.
He quotes the following paragraph from the Arst part of' Rights of Man,' and then grounds a false assertion upon it:Every age and generation must be as free to act for itself,
in all cases, as the ages' and generations that preceded it. The
vanity and presumption of governing beyond the grave, is the
most ridiculous and insolent of all tyrannies. Man has no
property in man, neither has one generation a property in the
generation that is to follow.'
Mr. Cheetham having made this short quotation says:' M1r.
Paine here and there glances at the absurdity of hereditary
government, but the passage just quoted is the only attempt
at argument against it containecdtin the' Rights of Man."'
Is James Cheetham an idiot, or Ias the envy and malignity
of his mind possessed him with a spirit of wilful lying 1
The short passage he has quoted (which is taken from the
middle of a paragraph)'is on the third, and in some editions
on the fourth page of the first part of'Rights of Man.' It
contains a general principle, on which the arguments and
statements against hereditary succession are founded in the
progress of that work.
If Mr. Cheetham had looked farther into the work,'Rights
of Man,' he would have come to a paragraph ending with the
expression,' hereditary succession cannot be established as a
legal thing.' The work then goes on to say:'In order'to arrive at a more perfect decision on this head
(that is,'that hereditary succession cannot be established as a
legal thing), it is proper to consider the generation which
undertakes to establish a family with hereditary powers, apart
and separate from the generations which are to follow, and




168              LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
also to consider the character in which the generation acts
with respect to succeeding generations.
The generation which selects a person and puts him at the
head of its government with the title of king, or any other
distinction, acts its own choice, be it wise or foolish, as a free
agent for itself. The person so set up is not hereditary, but
selected and appointed, and the generation which sets him up
do not live under an hereditary government, but under a government of its own choice and establishment. Were the
generation which sethim up, and the person so set up, to live
for ever, it never could become hereditary succession; and, of
consequence, hereditary succession can only take place on the
death of the first parties.
As, therefore, hereditary succession is out of the question
with respect to the first generation, we have now to consider
the character in which that generation acts with respect to the
commencing generation, and to all succeeding ones.
It assumes a character to which it has neither right nor
title. It changes itself from a legislator to a testator, and affects to make its will, which is to have operation after the
demise of the makers, to bequeath the government; and it not
only attempts to bequeath, but to establish over the succeeding
generation a new and different form of government from that
und'er which itself lived. Itself, as already observed, lived not
under an hereditary government, but under a government of its
own choice and establishment, and'it now attempts, by virtue
of a will and testament, which it has no authority to make, to
take from the commencing generation, and all succeeding ones,
the right and free agency by which itself acted.'
Now, without giving any farther extracts from the work,
Rights of Man,' on the subject of hereditary succession, what
is here given ought to cover James Cleetham wvith shame for
the falsehood he has advanced. But as a man who has no sense
\of honor has no sense of shame, Mr. Cheetham will be able
to read this with an unblushing front.
Several writers before Locke had remarked on the absurdity
of hereditary succession, but ther.e they stopped. Buchanah,
a Scots historian, who lived more than a hundred years before
Locke, reproaches Malcolm II., king of Scotland, and his
father, Kenethus, for making the crown of Scotland hereditary
in his family,' by which means,' says Buchanan,'the kingdom
must frequently be' possessed by a child or a fool; whereas
before, the Scots used to make choice of that prince of the
royal family that was best qualified to govern and protect his
people.'
But I knoxy of no author, nor of any work, before' Common
Sense' and, Rights of Man' appeared, that has attacked and
exposed hereditary succession on thle ground of illegalitv,
which is the strongest of all grounds to attack it upon; for if




PAINE AND CHEETHAI.              169
the right to set it up do not exist-and that it does not is certain,
because it is establishing a form of government, notfor themselves, but for a future race of people-all discussion upon the
subject ends. at once. But James Cheetham has not sense
enough to see this.
He has got something into his head about Locke, and he
keeps it there, for he does not give a single quotation frpm him
to supportthe random assertion he makes concerning Locke.'It is to Locke in particular,' says Cheetham,' who wrote
his incomparable essay on government in' 1689, that -we are
almost wholly indebted for. those political lights which conducted us to our revolution.'
Thiis is both libellous and false. The revolutionary contest
began in opposition to the assumed rights of the British parliament'to bind.'meerica in all cases whatsoever' and there
can be nothing in Locke, who wrote in 1689, that can have
reference to such a case. The tax upon tea, which bronuht
on hostilities, was an experiment on the part of the British
government to enforce the practice of that assumed right,
which was called the declaratory act. James Cheetham talks
of times and circt-mstances he knows nothing of, for he did
not come here till several years after the war.; yet in speaking
of the revolution, he uses the'words we, and us, and ourirevolution. It is common in England, in ridiculing self-conceited
importance, to say,' What a long tail our cat has got!'
The people of America, in conducting their revolution,
learned notlhin from Locke; nor was his name, or his work,
ever mentioned during the revolution, that I know'of. The
case America was in was a new one, without any former example, and the people had to find their way as well as they
could by the lights that arose among themselves, of which I
can honestly and proudly say, I did my part. Locke was
employed by the first settlers of South Carolina to draw up a
form of government for that province; but it was such an
inconsistent aristocratical thing, that it was rejected. Perhaps
Mr. Cheetham does not know of this, bLit he may know it if he
will inquire.
Mr. Cheetham hypocritically says,'I advise Mr. Paine, as a
friend, to write no more'
In returin for this civility in words, I will inform him of
something for his good, which is, that he has been going down
hill in the opinion of the republicans for a long time past.
Good principles will defend themselves; bu't the abuse and
scurrility in Cheetham''s paper have given very general offence
to his subscribers. Another complaint is, that his paper is
not a newspaper. It does not give the news from Europe till
it becomes old in every other paper. There are, perhaps, two
causes for this: as a John Bull, he does not like the news
22




170               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
from Europe; and as a dabbler in scribbling- he prefers filling
his paper with his own stuff.
It is probable he will be called upon to explain on what
ground of compromise (for it has the appearance of a compromise)the intimacy between him and the Anglo-Irish emissary
Cullen, alias Carpenter, began and continued. -He is now
giving symptoms of becoming a successor of Cullen, as Cullen
was the successor of Cobbett. As there is now a well-condueted republican paper established in New York (the Public
Advertiser), Mr. Cheetham cannot have the same range for
his scurrility he had before.
THOMAS PAINE
September 5, 1807."
" CHEETHAM AND HIS TORY PAPER.*
Cheetham is frequently giving symptoms of being the sue
cessor of Cullen, alias Carpenter, as Cullen was the successor
of Cobbett, alias Porcucpine. Like him, he is seeking to involve
the United States in a quarrel with France for the benefit
of England,
In his paper of Tuesday, September 22, he has a long
abusive piece against France, under the title of' Remzarks"
on the speech of the arch-chancellor of France to the French
senate.  This is a matter that Cheetham, as an adopted
American citizen, has no business with; and as a John Bull it
is impertinence in him to come here to spit out his venom
against France. But Cheetham cannot live without quarreling,.nor write without abuse. He is a disgrace to the republicans,
whose principle is to live in peace and friendship with all nations, and not to interfere in the domestic concerns of any.
Cheetham seems to regret that peace is made on the continent of Europe, and he shows his spleen against it by the
following roundabout scurrilous paragraph.' The people of France,' says he,'now breathe the air of
peace,'under slavery, closer, more systematic, military, and
universal [Cheetharn knows nothing about it], than that with
which they were overwhelmed previous to the beginning of
the long continued calamity.' This is spoken exactly in the
character of a stupid prejudiced John Bull, who,'shut up in
his island, and. ignorant of the world, suppose all nations
slaves but themselves; whereas, those at a distance can see,
that of all people enslaved by their own governments, none
are so much so as the people of England. Had Cheetham
stayed in England till this time, he would have had to shoulder;a musket, and this would have been dreadful to him, for, as all
This piece was the cause of a duel between Cheetham and Frank.




PAINE AND CHEETAMI.             171
bullies are cowards, the smell of gunpowder would be as horrid
to Cheetham, as the scent of a skunk to other animals.
The danger to which' the city of New York was exposed,
by the continual abuse of France in such papers as Cullen's,
was, that the French, government might be induced to consider
the city of New York as a British colony, such as it was during
the revolutionary war, and exclude her from the commerce of
the continent of Europe, as she has excluded Britain. Cheetham is following the footsteps of Cullen.
The French nation, under all its changes of government, has
always behaved in a civil and friendly manner to the United
States. We have no cause of dispute with France. It was
by the aid of France in men, money, and ships,' that the revolution and independence of the United States were so completely
established, and it is scarcely sufferable that a prejudiced and
surly-tempered John Bull should fix himself among us to abuse
a friendly power.
September 25, 1807."' NOTE TO CHEETHAM..
MR. CHEETHAMI: Unless you make a public apology for the
abuse and falsehood in your paper of Tuesday, October 27,
respecting me, I will prosecute you for lying.
It is-by your talent for abuse and falsehood, that you have
brought so many prosecutions on your back.. You cannot even
state truth without running it to falsehood. There was matter
enough against Morgan Lewis without going a syllable beyond
the truth.
THOMAS PAINE
October 27, 1807."
TO THE CITIZENS OF NEW YORK.
In a letter from the president of the United States,/of October 9, after his mentioning that he did not expect the Revenge
back under a month from that date, adds,'In the meantime,
all the little circumstances coming' to our knowledge are unfavorable to our'wishes for peace.'
As this might be useful information to men in mercantile
pursuits and speculations, and who had no guide to go by,
whether to send out their vessels, or not, I mentioned it to
such of my republican friends as called to see me; and that
the information, if so useful, might not be confined to one
distinction of men only, I mentioned it also to Mr. Coleman,
of the Evening Post, who came to me on account of a piece I
* Six thousand French troops under General Rochambeau, and thirty-one sail.
of-the-line under Admiral de Grasse, assisted at the capture of Cormwallis at
Yorktown, Virginia, which put an end to the war.




172              LIFE OF THOMAS PAFNE.
sent to him concerning Cheetham's insulting message to Mr.
Frank, of the Public Advertiser. How it got into the newspapers I know not; Mr. Coleman, I suppose, can give the best
account of that.
Cheetham then published a most abusive piece in his paper,
and in his vulgar style of language said, " Paine has told a lie,"
and then insinuated as if I had forged the letter. It is by his
propensity to blackguarding and lying, that he has brought so
many prosecutions on his back. He says he has nine. He
will now have one more. If an,unprincipled bully cannot be
reformed, he can be punished.
THOMAS PAINE.
November 20, 1807.";~ THE EMISSARY CHEETIIAM.
Cheetham can now be considered in no other light than a
British emissary, or successor to the impostor Cullen, alias
Carpenter, whom Cheetham handed out in his newspaper, as a
gentlemanly sort of a man. Cheetham finding the republicans
are casting him off, is holding but signs to be employed as a
British partisan.
Cheetham, in his papers of December 29 and 30, has two
long pieces about the embargo, which he labors to prove is
not laid on in consequence of any dispute with England, but in
consequence of some imperious demands on the part of France.
This John Bull is an idiot in diplomatic affairs.
Cheetham says, "Mr. Mbnroe's despatches, which were laid
before congress, and, which congress concluded did not au-,
thorize ant embargo, are dated London, October 10th. In the
opinion of congress,' continues Cheetham,'and I venture to
say of Mr. Monroe, an immediate war with England was therefore by no means probable.'
Cheetham has been so long in the habit of giving false information, that truth is to him like a foreign language'.
The president laid the despatches of Mr. Monroe, of October
10th, before congress; but as they were in daily expectation
of later information by the arrival of the Revenge schooner,
and also of the personal arrival of Mr. Monroe, congress received it as preparatory information, but came to no conclusion on their contents.
Cheetham says, that the Leopard, which brought Mr. Monroe's despatches, of October 10th, sailed from London on the
16th of October, and that, the Revenge sailed from London for
Cherbourg, on the same day, at which time, says Cheetham,
there was no probability of an immediate war with England.
In a letter I received from London, dated October 15th, and
which I published in the Philadelphia Aurora, and in the New
York Public Advertiser, the writer, in speaking of the British
ministry, says, Their cup of iniquity is nearly full, they only




PAINE AND CHEETIIAM.             173
want to go td war with America to iill it up; and it is the;opinion here [London] that that measure is resolved on. They
will make no concessions unless it be to deceive.' The letter
is dated one day before the Revenge sailed from London, and
I suppose came by the Revenge; yet Cheetham   tells his
readers there was then no probability of a war with America.
Cheetham's information is never entitled to credit.
When the Revenge sailed with the president's proclamation,
and the instructions to Mr. Monroe, the writer of this knows
she was ordered to come from London to France. It was expected she would be detained in the two countries about a
month, and be back here about the 16th of November.
Her coming from London o France, would give Mr. Monroe
the opportunity (for foreign ministers do not correspond by
post, but by express) of communicating to Mr. Armstrong, at
Paris, the plans and projects of the British ministry.
Soon after the arrival of the Revenge at Cherbourg, a French
port on the channel, General Armstrong sent circular letters
to'the American consuls in France, to hasten the departure of
the American vessels as fast as possible. Several paragraphs
in the English newspapers, and -which have been copied into
the American papers, stated, that the British ministry intended
to seize American vessels coming to, or going from, any port
in France. As Mr. Monroe would get knowledge of this,
as well as the writer of the letter-to Thomas Paine, of October
15th, he would communicate it to General Armstrong at
Paris; and this accounts for General Armstrongs circular
letter, after the arrival of the Revenge schooner from London.
If Britain put her threat in force, that of taking American
vessels going to or coming ifrom France, it is probable the
French government will retaliate, and take American vessels
going to or coming from England; and this resolution on the
part of France, had a natural tendency to prevent American
vessels being taken, because Britain, by setting the example,
will suffer more by it than France.
The British bloclading decree, that of seizing neutral vessels going to or from France, was to have been published on
the 14th of November, but the. news from London of the 14th
by the Jane, is silent on the subject. The apprehension of
retaliation has, most probably, stopped the British ministry in
their career.
Jan. 7, 1808."
In another letter, dated August 25, 1808 (and Mr. Paine
died, as we have seen, in 1809), he thus expresses himself of
Cheetham, that " in religion he was a hypocrite, and in
politics a John Bull," said in reference to Cheetham's abuse
of Bonaparte and the French. Mr. Paine adds in the same




17a4             LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
letter:' The ward meetings have done exceedingly right
in posting Cheetham. The people in the count y and abroad
will now lknow that he does not belong to the popular republican party, and that he is an English impostor."
Whether these letters derive some asperity from party poltics or not, is a matter of no consequence to our subject.
The statement of facts is no doubt correct, and the feelings
of Cheetham toward Paine must be anything but friendly.
When, therefore, a party hack, as Cheethanm doubtless was,
disappointed and a renegade, with talents, as he certainly possessed, but embittered in feelings and regardless of truth, as'
all circumstances contribute to show, what could be expected
from such a man, but just what he produced-a life ofPaine
a'bounding i' bold'falsehoods, cunningly contrived, and addressed to a people who wished to be deceived! The compliment paid Cheetham by Judge HoiTman, in extenuation of
heavy damages, when convicted by the clearest evidence of
gross' slander in the case of Madame Bonneville, viz, that
"he had produced a work useful to religion," explains the.position of Ch'eetham, his life of Paine, and the public. The
politicians succumbed to the religious part of the community,
and both sacrificed the fame of Paine to their supposed interest. The religious because theythought they did God service,
and hypocrites and politicians because they imagined an injury
from the association of the name of Paine with theirs. Individuals did lift up their voices in defence of the memory of
Paine, but as these had neither the press nor public sympathy,
nor public opinion, nor fashion,. on their. side, their voices
were not heard,'and falsehood triumphed for a time; not,
however, without witnesses, whose testimony was recorded
from time to time, which might be accumulated and presented
at a proper season, a time to which JoelBarlow looked forward.
That time we believe has. now arrived, and Judge Hofnmanl
were he, now alive, dare not repeat his infamous sentiment,
that " Cheetham  had written a book useful to religion."
The very sentiment is now scoffed by the religious people of
the age, who are so far advanced in civilization as to scorn a
religion that needs falsehood for its'support. In the history
of nations there are periods of fanaticism, but a steady prog



MARY HINSDALE S FALSEHOODS.         175
ress in liberality. Cromwell's time was a period. of fanaticism, succeeded indeed by licentiousness; and after the
French revolution a re-action took place., and fanaticism prevailed, first in England, and then on this side the Atlantic;
and in the darkness of which Cheetham slipped in his life of
Paine. But we yet believe that justice will be done to the
memory of the man who caused the declaration of independence, showed how it could be maintained, and wvas the
light of the republic in the "times which tried menl s souls,"'
(Paine). And we farther believe that this age is sifficiently
intelligent to investigate the merits of one of the men of the
revolution, and sufficiently honest to do his memory justice.
The second part of Mr. Paine's prophecy was not sufrered
to want fulfilment. In vain did his friends witness the sincerity of his belief, his firmness and calmness atl the last
moment; in vain, did Dr. Mianley try to extort from him a
recantation, and in vain did clerical gentlemen assail him.
when infirm in body. In vain did Mr. Jarvis, Colonel Daniel
Pelton, and our living friend Mlr. Haskins, and the respected
Willet Hicks, receive his last declaration in presence of
death; in vain was all this. A few zealous pious hypocrites
had determined on a conversion, or on a conviction and remorse, and therefore a woman-was made a tool of to propagate such charges; and one Charles Collins, now alive, was
found base enough to publish her foolish tales, not avowed
till some years after the death of Mr. Paine; such a ciicumstance however is easily jumped over, when that. is revealed
which is-wanted. This subject has however been treated on
in the preface to the Boston edition of Mir. Paine's theological works, written by our friend Mr. JohnFellows, now alive,
and frequently alluded to in this work, from which we shall
therefore extract, as we have ex amined into it, and, with one
exception, are satisfied with the correctness of the statement.
"I cannot relinquish this subject without taling notice of
one of, the most vile and wicked stories that was ever engendered in the fruitful imagination of' depraved mortals. It was
fabricated by a woman, named Ma'y Hinsdale, and published
by one Charles Collins, at New York, or rather, it is probable
that this work was the joint production of Collins, and. some




376                 LIFE OF THOIMAS PAINE.
other fanatics, and that they induced this stupid, ignorant
woman to stand spohsor for it.
It states, in substance, that Thomas Paine, in his last illness, wa-s in the Lmost pitiable condition for wunt of the mere
necessaries of life; and that the neighbors, o.t ofsheler compassion, contributed their aid to supply him, with sulstenan'ce:
that he had become converted to Qhristianity, and lamented
that all his religious works had not been burnt: that Mrs.
Bonneville was in the utmost distress for havinga abandoned
her religion, as she (M. H.) said, for that of Mr. Paine, which
he now told her would not answer the purpose, &e. In all
this rodomontade there is not a single, solitary ray of truth to
give it a colorable pretext. It'is hurhiliating to be under the
necessity of exposinc such contemptible /nonsense.   Collins
if he was not the author, was assured of its falsity. But being
full of th /e spirit of fanaticism and intolerance, and believing,
no doubt, that the end sanctified the means, he continued to
circulate the piousfraud, and the clergy exultingly retailed it
from the pulpit. Nothing but religious phrensy could have induced Collins, after-being warned of the crime lie was committing, to persist in publi:shing thisi abominable trash.; He had
the hardihood even to apply to Williar  Cobbett for the purpose
of inducing him to insert it in the life of Thomas Paine \rwich
AMr. Cobbett then contemplated to write. For which he received due chastisement from the pen of that distinguished
writer, in a number,of his Register.    Mr. Cobbett subseqiently havina taken great pains-to investigate the falsity of
this story, exposed and refuted it in the imost ample manner
This I have not seen, nor is the Register, containing the article
alluded to, before me. MSrs. Bonneville wvas absent in France
at the time of its first appearance in New York, and when
shown to her or her return to America, although her feelings
were highly agfitated-at the baseness of the fabrication, she
would not pe mit her name to appear in print in competition
With that of MIary Hinsdale. No iotice, therefore, has been taken
of it, excepting by YiMr. Cobbett. [Ideed, it. was considered by
the frienjds of  ir. Paine generally-to be too contemptible to
controvert. But as many pious people continue to believe,
or pretend to believe in this stupid story, it was thought
proper to say a few words upon it inr this publication.
Tihe  acts a  s follow: MTary Hinsdale was hired at service
in the family oi Mr. W'illet Hiclks residing at Greenw.ich
~ Since writing the' above, it lias been suggested to ne, by a gentleman who
kinows hlin/,that this base act of Collins is attributable more to his actual stupidity than to either lis fanaticism or malice. That he is too weak to be aware of
the sin of slander; and has no doubt, in this case, been made. use of, as a mere
puppet, bv others behind the scene, nore knowing and more wicked than himself. If tlis be the fact, it is charity to state it to the public, as his case will tend
to excite pity, and depreciate, in some measure. the enormiity of his guilt in this
transaction.




STATEMENT OF NIXON AND FELTON.        177
village, in the neighborhood of Mr. Paine, who occasionally
sent some little delicacies to him in the time of his sickness,
as every good neighbor would do; and this woman was the
bearer. Here is the whole foundation upon which the distorted imagination of Mary Hinsdale, or some one for her, has
raised this diabolical fiction. Mr. Hicks was in the habit ot
seeing Mr. Paine frequently, and must have known if such a
wonderful revolution had taken place in his mind, as is stated,
and he does not hesitate to say, that the whole account is a
pious fraud. -Mr. Hicks' is a respectable merchant at New
York, and any one there, who has anyl doubts on the subject,
by calling on him will be' satisfied. Even James Cheetlham,
the libeller of Mr. Paine, aiknowledges that he died in the religious faith which he had inculcated in his writings. Which
is also attested by his physician, Dr. Manley, and all those
who visited him in his last illness. But to put this matter,beyond all cavil, I shall add the certificate df two old and
highly respectable citizens, Thomas Nixon of N'ew York, and
Captain Daniel Pelton of New Rochelle. It was addressed to
William Cobbett, under an expectation that he was,about to
write the life of Thomas Paine, and left with a friend to be
handed to him; but as the undertaking was relinquished, it
was never delivered, and is now in my possession, in the hand
writing of the signers; and is as followvs:
TO MR. WILLIAM COBBETT.
SIR: Having been informed. that you have a design to write
a history of the life and writings of Thomas Paine, if you
have been furnished with materials in respect to his religious
opinions, or rather of his recantation of' his former opinions
before his death, all you have heard of his recanting is false.
Being aware that such reports would be raised after his death
by fanatics which infested his house at the time it was expected he would die, we, the subscribers, intimate acquaintances of'Thomas Paine, since the year 1776, went to his
house-he was sitting up in a. chair, and apparently in the full
vigor and use of all his mental faculties. We interrogated
him on his religious opinions, and if he had changed his mind
or repented of anything he had said or wrote on that subject.
He answered,'not at all,' and appeared rather offended at our
supposition that any change should take place in his mind.
We took down in writing the' questions.put to him, and his
answers thereto, before a number of persons then in his room,
among wvhom were his doctor, Mrs. Bonneville, &c. This
paper is mislaid and cannot be found at present, but the above
is the substance, which can be attested by many living witnesses.                               Ti-OBAs NIXON.
DANiEL FELTON
NEW YORE April 24, 1818."
na




179              LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
We had resolved on so much of the manuscript before we
saw Mr. Willet Hicks, before mentioned; and if it were not
a rule in, evidence to obtain the best, in the most direct manner,
we should not have sought an interview, for we had supposed
that those who had gone before us had obtained all that was
desirable from that gentleman; but, to our surprise, on seeing
Mr. Hicks, as a duty which we owed the public, we learned
that Mary Hinsdale never saw Paine to Mr. Hicks's knowledge;
that the fact of his sending some delicacy from his table as a
compliment occurred but a very few times, and that he always
commissioned his daughters on this errand of kindness, and
he designated Mrs. Cheeseman, then a little girl, but now the
wife of onre'of our celebrated physicians, as the daughter
especially engaged, and that she states that Mary Hinsdale
once wished to go with her, but was refused. So that on, the
testimony of Mr. Willet Hicks, the whole story of confession
of Paine to such a woman, remorse, wretchedness, despair,
and conversion, rests on Mary Hinsdale once wishing to go
with M2r. Hicks's daughter to Mr. Paine's. The secret of such
a fabrication on such a foundation is easily explained. On
farther conversation with MAr. Hicks, he informed us, that
when it was known that he visited Mr. Paine daily, many, of
the FRIENDS (to which sect he beloriged, and of which'he was
a preacher), thought he would make sorne religious impression on Mr. Paine, and that after his death he was extremely
annoyed at numbers of t'hem pressing hiri to say something
detrimental of Paine, or that he was converted. The old
gentleman remarked to us: "You can have no idea of the
anxiety of our people on this subject; Iwvas beset by them, both
here and in England, where I soon after went on a journey."
He remarked, they wished to convict Mr. Paine of calling on'Jesus; they would say, he observed,  Didst; thee never hear
hear him call on Christ'l" On reference to our notes, which
we took for accuracy, we find, Mr. Hicks even declared:''You
cannot conceive what a deal of trouble I had, and as for money,
I could have had any sums if I would have said anything
against Thomas Paine, or if I would even have consented to
remain silent. They informed me that the doctor was willing
to say something that would satisfy them if I would engage to




WILLET HICKS' STATEMENT.         179
be silent only; but," remarked Mr. Hicks to us, "they observed,
he (the doctor) knows the standing ofWillet Hicks, and
that he knew all about Paine, and if he (Mr. Hicks) should
contradict what I say, he would destroy my testimony."
Such is the simple testimony recently obtained of this gentleman, who is yet alive, and was, when we saw him, at the resi
dence of his son-in-law, Dr. Cheeseman. Mr. Hicks, in conclusion, remarked of Mr. Paine, that " he was a good man, an
honest man," and with great indignation he remarked, " he
was not a man to talk with Mary Hinsdale." Here then is the
KEY to Mary Hinsdale's fabrication; the intense feeling of a
portion of the friends on the subject of iMr. Paine's works.
We say a portion; for, though Mr. Hicks uses the expression,
" he was beset with them, both here and in England," a portion could beset him. Mr. Hicks was himself a fitend, a pious
friend, and a preacher, and an honorable man of high standing, and such as he was and is, such we have no doubt were
and are many. Besid'es, we can readily conceive that this
intense feeling was chiefly among the more orthodox, as some
of these in every sect have always felt the most. From the
multitude who raised the cry, of Tom Paine, we need not minutely examine the question as to numbers in this portion of
the FRIElNDS; we can readily believe there would be enough to
effect the object. If; too, Mr. Hicks, who was rich, could
have had any sum, as he expresses himself, then Mlary Hinsdale could have had any sym for her invention. We do not
know that she did; but we can readily believe that she wou'd
not want a Charles Collins, or any one else, to assist her in
getting out such a work; and that those who wished to believe would not be at much trouble to inqu're after the credibility of the evidence. Will burrreaders now turn to page 156,
where/we have inserted Mr, Amasa Woodsworth's testimony,
and observe in what language he speaks of Dr. Manley, yet
alive, and enjoying a post of honor. Now we do not know
that Mr. Hicks referred to Dr. Manley, when he says that the
friends informed him the doctor was willing to say something,
he might have meant some other doctor; we merely give his
words as he gave them to us. But there is a curious coincidence in these two witnesses, both respectable, but who have




180              LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
moved in very different spheres, and who, perhaps, have never
seen each other since the death of Paine. Their evidence
was taken, the one near Boston, two years ago, the other two
months ago, in NewYork, and they both infer a disposition to
cheat the public by those who were professionally about Mr.
Paine on his death-bed. Dr. Manley has published a letter,
and has thus thrown,himself on the public, and we have a
right to examine that letter. He there, indeed, gives you the
last words of Paine, "I have no wish to believe on that subject."  But what would he have said had Willet Hicks
consented to silence, and if Amasa Woodsworth had not been
present. We again remark that we do not know that Mr.
Hicks referred to Dr. Manley, but we do know that Dr. Manley published a pamphlet, in. which he endeavors to. insinuate,
that in spite of Mr. Paine's declaration, that he did conceal his
real sentiments; and this he infers from looks'and exclamations which he alone saw and heard. And now let us remind
our readers that Amasa' Woodsworth says, he was always
there with Dr. Manley; yet Amasa Woodsworth saw none of
these expression, and heard no exclamations indicating mental
agony, but such expressions as resulted from bodily pain, and
that from a cause explicitly given, viz, " the skin in some
parts being removed from long lying." The judge, Hoffman,
who tried Cheetham on the libel against Madame Bonneville,
complimented Mr. Cheetham for writing a very useful book in
favor of religion, although it did contain falsehoods and libel;
and in the same way the doctor may think his published letter
may be useful to hundreds of thousands, and he no doubt did,
and perhaps does think so; and no doubt some persons will
regret that Mr. Willet Hicks stood in the way of some more
dignified person than Mary Hinsdale, belying Mr. Paine on his
death-bed. The whole, however, is explained by the " intense
feelings of a portion of the FRI.NDS, who could beset Mr. Hicks
in the manner they did,'Didst thee never'hear him call on
Christ' " or who could intimate a wish thatb he would say
that Paine recanted, or, at least, that he would promise silence,
while pthers should testify falsely; and who could intimate
reward for such perfidy. "As for money I could have had
any sum," is the language of Mr. Hicks toward the portion




COBBETT S STATEMENT.               181
of "FRIENDS" that beset him  Now if this feeling could exist
among the FRIENDS, carried out as wbe have seen it in the case
of Mary Hinsdale, to what extent must it have existed in other
classes, more superstitious, less educated, less accustomed to
truth and more to passion, as the devoutly pious among every
class, who believe their feelings the effects of divine influence, and who are consequently easily misled by these feel
ings. And when we consider that all this pious feeling was
backed by an interested class of clergy, and by corrupt politicians, who wished the votes of thepious, can we be surprised
at the calumny under which he has lain, and that even his
friends should have been deceived on some points, from the
incessant clamor and apparent universality of the accusations.
We shall now furnish Mr. W. Cobbett's account of this
transaction of Mr. Collins and Mary Hinsdale, on which, perhaps, we have thrown some light:" CURIOUS HISTORY OF A CALUMNY ON PAINE.
It is a part of the business of a press, sold to the cause of
corrcuption, to calumniate those, dead or alive, who have most
effectually labored against that cause; and, as Paine was the
most powerful and effectual of those laborers, so to calumniate him has been an object of their peculiar attention and care.
Among other things said againstthis famous man, is, that he
recanted before he died; and that in his last illness, he discovered horrible fears of death. This is, to be sure, a very good
answier to what these same persons say about his hardened infidelity. But, it is a pure, unadulterated falsehood. This
falsehood, which I shall presently trace to its origin (the heart
of a profound hypocrite), was cried about the streets of LiverVool, when I landed there in November last. Thence it found
its way to the grand receptacle and distributor of falsehood
and calumny, the London press, which has sent it all over this
kingdom. One country paper, however, pre-eminent in all
that is foul and mean, affects to possess original matter and
authentic information on the subject; and, indeed, it pledges
itself for the character of the gentleman from whom it says it
has received the pretended authentic account. The country
paper I allude to, is the Norwich Mercury, printed and published by one Burks.
The Norwich Mercury did not imagine that any one would
take the pains to expose this tissue of falsehoods. In the first
place, why does he not name his'gentleman',of such excellent character. How these informers skulk! Mr. Burks can




182               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
pledge himself for the chdracter of the " gentleman" informer;
but, where are we to get a pledge for the character of Mr.
Burks, who, if we are to judge from this act of his, stands in
need of very good sponsors.
Let us look, a little, at the internal evidence of the falsehood
of this story. Mr. Paine possessed, at his death, an unencumbered estate of two hundred and fifty acres of land, not
more than twenty miles from JNew York. He possessed a considerable sum beside. These he left by will. Will any one
believe, that he was, on his dying-bed,-in the want of proper
nourishment, and that he,was in a deplorable state as to apartments and necessaries I Then, was it likely, that when a
neighbor's maid-servant went to carry him a little present of
sweetmeats, or the lile, that he would begin a conversation on
theology with her? And is it not monstrous to suppose, that
he would call himself the devil's agent to HER, and not leave
behind him any recantation at all, though he had such ample
time for doing it, and though this confidant was so ready to
receive it and to take care of it? The story is false upon the
face of it: and nothing but a simpleton, or something a great
deal worse, would have given it circulation andt affected to
believe it to be true.
I happen to know the origin of this story: and I possess
the real, original document, whence have proceeded the divers
editions of the falsehood, of the very invention of which I was,
perhaps, myself, the innocent cause!
About two years ago, I, being then on Long Island, published
my intention of writing an account of the life, labors, and
death of Paine. Soon after this, a quaker at New York, named
Charles Collins, made many applications for an interview with
me, which at last he obtained. I found that his object was to
persuade me that Paine had recanted. I laughed at him, and
sent him away. But he returned again and again to the
charge. He wanted me to promise that I would say that'it
was said,' that Paine had recanted. 6 No,' said I; 6 but I will
say that you say it, and that you tell a lie, unless you prove
the truth of what you say; and if you do that, I shall gladly
insert the fact.' This posed' friend Charley,' whom I suspected
to be a most consummate hypocrite. HIe had a sodden face,
a simper, and manceuvred his features, precisely like the nlost
perfidious wretch that I have known, or ever read or heard of.
He was precisely the reverse of my honest, open, and sincere
quaker friends, the Pauls of Pennsylvania. Friend Charley
plied me with remonstrances and reasonings, but I always answered-him.' Give me proof; name persons; state times;
state precise words, or I denounce you as a'liar.' Thus put
to his trumps, friend Charley resorted to the aid of a person
of his own stamp; and, at last, he brought me a paper, containing matter, of which the above statement of Mr. Burks is




COBBETT'S STATEMENT.            183
t garbled edition! This paper, very cautiously and craftily
drawn up, contained only the initials of names. This would
not do. I made him, at last, put down the full name and the
address of the informer,'Mary Hinsdale, No.10 Anthony street,
New York.' I got this from friend Charley some time about
June last; and had no opportunity of visiting the party till
late in October, just before I sailed.
The informer was a quaker woman, who, at the time of Mr.
Paine's last illness, was a servant in the family of Mr. Willet
Hicks, an eminent merchant, a man of excellent character, a
quaker, and even, I believe, a quaker preacher. Mr. Hicks, a
kind and liberal and rich man, visited Mr. Paine in his illness,
and, from his house, which was near that of Mr. Paine, little
nice things (as is the practice in America) were sometimes
sent to him; of which this servant, friend Mary, wias the
bearer; and this was the way in which the lying cant got/into
the room of Mr. Paine.
To'friend Mary,' therefore, I went on the twenty-sixth of
October last, with friend Charley's paper in my pocket. I
found her in a lodging in a back-room up one pair of stairs.
I knew that I had no common cunning to set my wit against.
I began with all the art that I was master of. I had got a prodigiously broad-brimmed hat on. I patted a little child that
she had sitting beside her; I called her friend; and played
all the awkward tricks of an undisciplined wheedler. But I
was compelled to come quickly to business.  She asked,
What's thy name, friend V' and the'moment' I said William
Cobbett, up went her mouth as tight as a purse! Sack-making
appeared to be her occupation; and that I might not extract
through her eyes that which she was resolved'I should not get
o:ut of her mouth, she went and took up a sack and began to
sew; and not another look or glance could I get from her.
How7ever, I took out my paper, read it, and stopping at several points, asked her if it was true. Talk of the Jesuits, indeed! The whole tribe ofLoyola, who had shaken so many
kingdoms to their base, never possessed a millionth part of
the cunning of this drab-colored little woman, whose face
simplicity and innocence seemed to have chosen as the place
of their triumph! She shuffled; she evaded; she equivocated 
she warded off; she affected not to understand me, not to
understand the paper, not to remember: and all this with so
much seeming simplicity and single-heartedness, and in a voice
so mild, so soft, and so sweet, that if the devil had been sitting
where I was, he would certainly have jumped up and hugged
her to his bosom.
The result was: that it was so long ago, that she could not
speak positively to any part of the matter: that she would not
say that any part of the paper was.true: that she had never
seen the paper; and that she had never given' friend Charley'




84              LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
(for so she called him) authority to say anything about the
matter in her namuze. I pushied her closely upon the subject of
the'/unhappy French female.' Asked her whether she should
know her again.-' Oh, no! friend; I tell thee that I have no
recollection of any person or thing that I saw at Thomas
Paine's house.' iThe truth is, that the cunning little thing
knew that the French lady was at hand; and that detection
was easy, if she had said that she should know her upon
sicht! i
I had now nothing to do but to bring friend Charley's nose
to the, grindstone. But Charley, who is a grocer, living in
Cherry street, near Pearl street, though so pious a nman, and
doubtless in great haste to get to everlasting bliss, had moved
out of thle city for fear of the fever, not lilting, apparently, to go
off to the next world in a yellow skin. And thus he escaped
me, who sailed from New York in four days afterward: or
Charley should have found, that' tlere was something else on
this side the grave, pretty nearly as troublesome and as dreadful as the yellow fever.
This is, I think, a pretty good instance of the length to
which hypocrisy will go. The whole, as far as relates to recantation; and to.the'unhappy Frenchfemale,' is alie from the
beginning to the end. Mr. Paine declares in his last will, that
he retains all his publicly expressed opinions as to religion.
His executors, and many other gentlemen of undoubted
veracity, had the same declaration from his dying lips. - Mr.
Willet Hicks visited him till nearly the last. This gentleman
says, that there was no change of opinion intimated to him:
and will any man believe that Paine would have withheld from
Mr. Hicks, that which he was so forward to communicate to
Mr. Hicks' servant-girl?
Observe, reader, that in this tissue of falsehoods, is included
a most foul and venomous slander on a woman of virtue and
of spotless honor. But hypocrites will stick at nothing.
Calumny is their weapon, and a base press is the hand to wield
it. Mr. Bourke, of Norwich, will not insert tlis article, nor
will he acknowledge his error. He klnows that the calumny
which he has circulated, has done what he intended it to do 
and he and the' gentleman' for whose character he pledges
himself, will wholly disregard good men's contempt, so long
as it does not diminish their gains.
This -is not at all a question of religion. It is a question of
moral truth.' Whether Mr. Paine's opinions were correct or
erroneous, has nothing to do with this matter.
WILLIAMI COBBETT.
We have not yet done with this subject.:By a curious
coincidence we' have become acquainted with a Mir. J. W.




MARY HINSDALE AND C. COLLINS.        185
Lockwood, of New York. This gentleman had a:sister, a menber of Ahe FRIENDS, who died about two-and-twenty years ago.
On her death,,Mary Hinsdale, who was known to the family,
stated to them that she should come to the funeral, for that
she had met Mary Lockwood a short time before her death;
and that she (Mary Lockwood) had said to her: " Mary[ Hinsdale], I do not expect to live long; my views are changed; I
wish thee to come to my funeral, and make this declaration to
my friends then assembled," and- that consequehtly she should
come. The relatives of the dieceased, who wetre Hicksite*
quakers, or friends, knew the falseness of this statement.
Those who had sat by her bed-side, and heard her continued
and last declarations on religious subjects (for she was emphatically a religious young woman), knew that no change
had taken place. Her brother, our informant, had heard her
express her opinions with great satisfaction. He and her other
relatives therefore said so- to Mary Hinsdale, but invited her
to attend the funeral. Mary Hinsdale did not attend. The
falsehoodtwas notorious and occasioneda good deal of loud
conversation; and this Mr. Lockwood supposes deterred'this
orthodox friend from appearing am.ng them.
We' recently published the above account in the, Beacon,
and referred to Mr. Cobbett's account, which we had formerly
published. On this publication' Mr. Qollins, frequently named
above, called o us, not- to complain of our remarlis, but to
assure us that his conscience could not suffer the Beacon to be
left at his house, to be forwarded to afirien'd in the West
Indies, as formerly. To this we made no objection; but finding Mr.' C. Collins in our house, and knowing the importance
of his testimony, we at once asked him what induced him to
publish the account of Mary Hinsdale. He assured us he
then thought it true..' He believed that she had seen Mr.
Paine, and that Mr. Paine might confess to her, a girl, when
he would not to Willet Hicks. He knew that many or' their
most respected friends did not believe the account.' He
knew that Mr. W. Hicks did not, whom he highly respected; but
* Followers of Elias Hicks, not orthodox, or believers in the common scheme
of salvation by.the atonement.
24 -




186             LIFE OF T'OMIAS PAINE.
yet he thought it mighit be true. We asked Mr. C. Collins
what he thought of the character of Mary Hinsdale now l He
replied, that some of our friends believe she indulges in opiates, and do not give her credit for truth. We asked, and do
youbelieve they are justified in theiropinions 1 He replied, 0 
yes, I believe they speak the truth" (Mr. Lockwood had given
us the same opinion), but C., added "This does not affect her
testimony when a young woman; she might then hiave sp-oken
the truth." Such is the testimony of Charles Colliris, in relation
to Mary Hinsdale, whom he assisted in publishing her fabrication of Mr. Paine's death-bed scenes, based on her wish to see
Mr. Paine, and which fabrication has been echoed from pulpit to
pulpit, and from press to press, in this country and England,
and sanctioned by thousands of pious people who wished the
account true.
There is one more subject to which our attention has been
drawn, and to which Cheetham refers, Mr. Paine's alleged ingratitude to Mr. Monroe. We have seen in the body of this
work that Mr. Monroe took upon himself to declare Mr. Paine
a citizen of the United States, and to presume that Washington, then president, must feel an interest in him. It is evident
that Mr. Monroe did all he could in the absence of direct in-.
strtictions from his government about Mr. Paine, which he
does not appear to have possessed. And we have seen,
when Mr. Paine finally left the prison, that he went by invitation to Mr. \Monroe's house, and that he remained there above
a year. We hear nothing of any engagement, and we-cannot
conceive that Mr. Monroe,as plenipotentiary at Paris,would take
boarders, or that Mr. Paine would stay at his house uninvited,
or one moment beyond an apparent welcome. Mr. Paine's
company before, and at this time, was sought by many as an
honor.' He afterward resided with Mr. Bonneville, either
with or without an engagement for board; but in that case
we know, when Bonneville was ruined by Bonaparte, for publishing a republican paper, that Mr. Paine, finding on his
return here the means of hospitality, generously invited the
whole family to share his comforts. We cannot, therefore,
perceive in Mr. Paine a natural ingratitude. Cheetham states,
and' others have repeated it, that Mr. Monroe afterward bec




MR. MONROE.                  187
came poor, and applied to Mr. Paine, whom he said was then
rich, to pay for his board, while residing with the consul at
Paris, and that Mr. Paine took no notice of the demand, and
was therefore ungrateful. If this really occurred, and we
think it likely, all we can say is that Mr. Monroe at this period
must have become penurious. He was at that time lo'oking
forward to the presidency, which he afterward obtained;and
if, while in this situation, he made a demand as a hoardinghouse keeper, while acting as minister inFrance, and that to a
distinguished individual whom he had invited to his house,
and with whom he had made no such engagement, for none is
even pretended, he must have forgotten the dignity of an American consul in France, as well as a presumptive successor to the
presidency. We are perfectly aware that men, when they become old, frequently become parsimonious; Mr. Paine did, in
part; and that others, who are both just and generous, on particular occasions, are constitutionally parsimonious. This was the
case with Franklin. We have therefore made some inquiry as
to Mr. Monroe, and we find that he was not unmindful of his
interest. While acting as minister at Paris, Mr. Jefferson, then
president, gave him a commission to transact some business in a
neighboring country, intending an appropriation to Mr. Monroe
for this service, but to save to the country the outfit of an
especial minister or consul, which we believe is about nine
thousand dollars. This outfit Mr. Monroe, we find, afterward
claimed and recovered, and hence we think it possible that
he might have made the charge upon Mr. Paine before stated;
but unless Mr. Paine had agreed to such a charge, which does
not appear from Mr. lonroe's alleged letter, we think the
affair rather to the discredit of the latter than to Mr. Paine;
and if Mr. Paine treated the subject in the manner alleged,,he
probably considered as we do, that the demand never ought
to have been made.
We shall now conclude with the will of Mr. Paine. This
falsifies at once, one part of Mary Hinsdale's relation, viz,
Mr. Paine's poverty; and one part being shown to be false we
can have no belief in the rest, which depends on the same
authority. The fact is, she is now living, and is known as a
silly lying woman, disgraced in the eyes of some of her former
religious connexidns for this very crime.




188               LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
THE WILL OF MIR. THOMAS PAINE.
" The People of the State of Jew York, by the Grace of God, Free
and Indejpendenl, to all to whom these presents shall come or
may concern,                        Send Greeting:
Know ye, That the annexed is a true copy of the will of
THOMAS PAINE, deceased, as recorded in the office of our surrogate, in and for the city and county of New York.'In testimony whereof, we have caused the seal of office of' our said
surrogate to be hereunto affixed. Witness, Silvanus Miller,
Esq., surrogateof said county, at the city of New York, the
twelfth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and nine, and of our Independence the thirty-fourth.
SILVANUS MILLER.
The last will and testament of me, the subscriber, TIHOAS
PAINE,;reposing confidence in my Creator God, and in no
other being, for I know of no other, nor believe in any other,'
I Thomas Paine, of the state of New York, author of the work
entitled'Common Sense,' written in Philadelphia,'in 1775,
and published in that'city the beginning' of January, 1776,
which awaked America to a Declaration of Independence,
on the fourth of July following, which was as fast as the. work
could spread through such an extensive country; author also
of the several numbers of the'American Crisis'' thirteen in
all,' published occasionally during the progress of the revolu-'
tionary war-the last is on the peace; author also of the'Rights of Man,' parts the first and second, written and published in London, in 1791 and'92; author also of a work on
religion,' Age of Reason,' parts the first and second.' N. B.
I have a third part by me in manuscript and an answer to the
Bishop of Landaff;' author also' of a work, lately published,
entitled'Examination of the passages in the New Testament
quoted from the Old, and called prophesies concerning Jesus
Christ,' and showing there are no prophecies of any such person; author also of several other works not here enumerated,
Dissertations on the first Principles of Government,'-Decline and Fall of the English.System of Finance'-' Agrarian
Justice,' &c., &c., make this my last will and testament, that
is to say: I give and bequeath to my executors hereinafter
appointed, Walter Morton and Thomas Addis Emmet, thirty
shares I hold,in the New York Phoenix Insurance Company,
which dost me 1470 dollars, they are worth now upward of
1500 dollars, and all my moveable effects, and also -the money
that may be in my trunk or elsewhere at the time of mv
decease, paying thereout the expenses of my funeral, in tru-st
as to the said shares, moveables, and mrioney, for MUrg'aret




WIILL OF _MR. PAINE.            189
Brazier Bonneville, wife of iNicholas Bonneville, of Paris, for
her own sole and'separate use, and at her own disposal, notwithstanding her coverture. As to my farm in New Rochelle,
I give, devise, and bequeath the same to my said executors,
Walter Morton and Thomas Addis Emmet, and to the survivor
of them, his heirs and assigns for ever, in trust, nevertheless,
to sell and dispose of the north side thereof, norv in the occupation of Andrew A. Dean, beginning at the west end of the
orchard and running in aline with the land sold to -  Coles,
to the end of the farm, and to apply the money.arising from
such sale as hereinafter directed. I give to my friends Walter
Morton, of the New York Phoenix Insurance company, and
Thomas AddisEmrnet, counsellor-at-law, late of Ireland, two
hundred dollars each, and one hundred dollars to Mirs. Palmer,
widow of Elihu Palmer, late of Ntewv York, to be paid out of
the money arising from said sale, and I give the remainder of
the money arising from that sale, one half thereof to Clio
Rickman, of High or Upper Mary-la-bone street, London, and
the other half to Nicholas Bonneville, of Paris, husband of
Malrgaret B. Bonneville aforesaid: and as to the south part of
the said farm, containing upward of one hundred acres, in.
trust, to rent out the same or otherwise put it to profit, as
shall be found most advisable, and to pay the rents and
profits thereof to the said Margaret B. Bonneville, in trust, for
her children, Benjamin Bonneville and Thomas Bonneville,
their education anrd maintenance, until they come to the age
of twenty-one years, in order that she may bring them well
up, give them good and useful learning, and instruct them in
their duty to God, and the practice of morality, the rent of
the land or the interest of the money for which it may be sold,
as hereinafter mentioned, to be employed in their education.
And after the youngest of the said children shallhave arrived
at the age of twenty-one years, in further trust to convey the
same to the said children share and share alike in fee simple.
But if it shall be thought advisable by my executors and exec!trix, or the survivor or survivors of them, at any time
before the youngest of the said children shall come of age, to
sell and dispose of the said south side of the said farm in that
ease I hereby authorize and empower my said executors to
sell and dispose of the same, and I direct that the money
arising from such sale be put into stock, either in the United
States bank stock or New York Phmnix Insurance company
stock, the interest or dividends thereof to be applied as is already directed, for the education and maintenance of the said
children; and the principal to be transferred to thesaid
children or the survivor of them on his or their coming of
age. I know not if the society of people called quakers admit a person to be buried in their burying-ground, who does
not belong to their society, but if they do or will admit me, I




190              LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
would prefer being buried there, my father belonged to that
profession, and I was partly brought up in it. But if it is not
consistent with their rules to do this, I desire to be buried on
my farm at New Rochelle. The place where I am to be buriel to be a square of twelve feet, to be enclosed With rows of
trees, and a stone or post and railed fence, with a head-stone
with mry name and age engraved upon it, author of'Common
Sense.' I nominate, constitute, and appoint, Walter Morton,
of the- New York Phoenix Insurance company, and Thomas
Addis Emmet, counsellor-at-law, late of Ireland, and MIargaret
B. Bonheville, executors and executrix to this my last wTill and
test;,ment, requestino them the said Walter Morton and Thomas
Addis Emmet, that they will give what assistance they conveniently can to Mrs. Bonneville, and see that the children be
well brought up. Thus placing confidence in their friendship,
I herewith take my final leave of them and of the world. I
have lived an honest and useful life to mankind; my time has
been spent in doing good; and I die in perfect composure and
resignation to the will of my Creator God. Dated this eigh,
teenth day of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred
and nine, and I have also signed my name to the other sheet
of this will in testimony of its being a part thereof.
THoMAS PAINE. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, published and declared by the testator, in
our presence, who, at his request, and in the presence of each
other, have set our names as witnesses thereto, the words'published and declared' first interlined.
WILLIAM KEESE,
JABIEs ANGEVINE,
CORNELIUS RYDER."
MONUMENT TO THOMAS PAINE.
ON the fourth of July, 1837, we visited the tomb, or place
of burial, of Thomas Paine, near New Rochelle, and in the
Beacon of July 15, 1837, thus described it (see Beacon,
Vol. I. page 331):"The tomb is close by the road side, but over a stone fence,
and now consists of a low, broken, rough, dry stone wall, of
oblong shape, of about eight by four feet, with loose stones,
grass, and earth, in the centre; the upright slab, simply marked with'TIIOIAS PAINE, AUTHOR OF COIMMON SENSE,'
no Ionger exists. After Cobbett violated the grave, and re



MONUMENT TO PAINE.             1'Q
moved the bones from the remains of Mr. Paine, the headstone
was broken, and pieces successively removed by different visiter s: one large fragment was preserved by a lady in an opposite cottage, in which iMr. Paine had sometimes boarded,
and in which Mr. and Madame Bonneville afterward boarded;
but this fragment gradually suffered diminution, as successive
visiters begged a piece of what they could no longer steal.
To preserve the last remnant, this lady has had it plastered up
in a wall.'We discovered that the lady mentioned, the n.earest
neighbor to the tomb, would be favorable to the repair of
the tomb, and we learned that she believed that such repairs
wolld be popular. among the neighbors; and on this understanding, in which we have not been deceived, we determined
to culomlnence a subscription to repair the tomb, or put up a
moYnument; and before we left the village we obtained from
Mr. J;imes, who had then marble saw-mills in New Ro.chelle,
a promise to be at the expense of putting up a heavy block of
mnrble, instead of a head-stone, if purchased by subscription 
subseqiuently M1r. Frazee, an eminent architect, offered in conjunction with some friends to give the work on a monumtnent,
if the materials were procured, and other expenses paid. This
has now been accomplished, and paid for. The monument
stands on the Paine farm, at the head of the grave, on twenty
feet square, enclosed by a substantial wall on three sides, and
an iron raili ng in front (not yet up, M3arch 1811). It is built
of the marble of the country, and is valued at about thirteen
hundred dollars. The accompanying ctt is a faint representation, and the following extract from a letter from the architect.will best describe the monument and the feelings of the
neighborhood, which is two miles from the village, of New
Rochelle."-G. V.
" NEW Yonlc, Nov, 12, 1839.
To MlAM. VALE:
Will you please to inform our friends that the monument
to Thomas Paine is erected 1 On Friday last I took with me
a rigger and went up to the quarries, and on that day we got
the marble to the spot with the machinery and other apparatus
necessary to the work.-At an early hour on Saturday morninc:, we mustered all hands at the grave, and commenced the
erection of the monlumentin good earnest, and in good spirits.
Everything worked well, and at three o'clock, P. M., the crown
piece was on, and the erection complete. —No persor was
hurt, nor any part of the work broken or injured. —-The people lip there say it is a chaste and beautiful structure. Its
purely Grecian character and simplicity of form, render its
general effect truly impressive and interesting.-The summit
is twelve and a half feet above the level of the road at that
point.




192                   LIFE OF THOMSAS PAINE.'
(- THOMAS PAINME
AUTHOR OF
COMMON SENSE.
hf;'..,
Paine's monument.
I was much pleased to find that among the number of fifty
persons and more, that were.assembled to witness our labors,
not an unkind look was seen, nor an unfriendly expression
heard, during the tilne.   All looked and spake as though their
hearts were glad.at seeing such marked regard-such noble
and lasting honor paid to the GREAIT PATRIOT of OUr revolution
and the defender of the rights of man.
I have a little trimming to do yet on the head, which will
occupy me the best part of a day; this I will endeavor to ac
complish this week wvhen the monument will be completed.
Very truly yours,
JOHN FRAZEE."
NOTE.-The manuscript of the life of iSr. Paine, for want of surplus funds, lay
by us for four years, and in the interim some changes have necessarily taken
place, which we believe we have noticed in the body of the work; but aware of
this delay (not unfavorable to accuracy) and willing to secure the living testio
mony then in being, and which, fror tie age of some of the parties, was of uncertain tenure, we published in the Beacon fiom time to time, such evidences as
we procured, with all the circumstances, and thus secured, while livimg, the sancicen of some who have since died.-G. V.




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