{
  "schema": "tga.work.v1",
  "identifier": "dresden:vol-11:thomas-paine-magazine-article",
  "slug": "thomas-paine-magazine-article",
  "title": "Thomas Paine (Magazine Article)",
  "subtitle": "A magazine article.",
  "excerpt": "A late magazine-length tribute to Thomas Paine — a companion piece to the great 1870 lecture, written for readers who had never been permitted to hear the truth about him in church or school.",
  "year": 1892,
  "volume": 11,
  "category": "Tribute",
  "author": {
    "name": "Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "wikidata": "Q360326",
    "viaf": "44331023"
  },
  "isPartOf": {
    "title": "The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "edition": "Dresden Edition",
    "publisher": "C. P. Farrell",
    "year": 1900
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
  "url": "https://thegreatagnostic.com/works/thomas-paine-magazine-article/",
  "wordCount": 6252,
  "body": "\"A great man's memory may outlive his life half a year,\n    But, by'r lady, he must build churches then.\"\n\nEIGHTY-THREE years ago Thomas Paine ceased to defend himself. The moment\nhe became dumb all his enemies found a tongue. He was attacked on every\nhand. The Tories of England had been waiting for their revenge. The\nbelievers in kings, in hereditary government, the nobility of every\nland, execrated his memory. Their greatest enemy was dead. The believers\nin human slavery, and all who clamored for the rights of the States\nas against the sovereignty of a Nation, joined in the chorus of\ndenunciation. In addition to this, the believers in the inspiration of\nthe Scriptures, the occupants of orthodox pulpits, the professors in\nChristian colleges, and the religious historians, were his sworn and\nimplacable foes.\n\nThis man had gratified no ambition at the expense of his fellow-men;\nhe had desolated no country with the flame and sword of war; he had not\nwrung millions from the poor and unfortunate; he had betrayed no trust,\nand yet he was almost universally despised. He gave his life for the\nbenefit of mankind. Day and night for many, many weary years, he labored\nfor the good of others, and gave himself body and soul to the great\ncause of human liberty. And yet he won the hatred of the people for\nwhose benefit, for whose emancipation, for whose civilization, for whose\nexaltation he gave his life.\n\nAgainst him every slander that malignity could coin and hypocrisy pass\nwas gladly and joyously taken as genuine, and every truth with regard to\nhis career was believed to be counterfeit. He was attacked by thousands\nwhere he was defended by one, and the one who defended him was instantly\nattacked, silenced, or destroyed.\n\nAt last his life has been written by Moncure D. Conway, and the real\nhistory of Thomas Paine, of what he attempted and accomplished, of what\nhe taught and suffered, has been intelligently, truthfully and candidly\ngiven to the world. Henceforth the slanderer will be without excuse.\n\nHe who reads Mr. Conway's pages will find that Thomas Paine was more\nthan a patriot—that he was a philanthropist—a lover not only of his\ncountry, but of all mankind. He will find that his sympathies were\nwith those who suffered, without regard to religion or race, country or\ncomplexion. He will find that this great man did not hesitate to attack\nthe governing class of his native land—to commit what was called\ntreason against the king, that he might do battle for the rights of\nmen; that in spite of the prejudices of birth, he took the side of the\nAmerican Colonies; that he gladly attacked the political abuses and\nabsurdities that had been fostered by altars and thrones for many\ncenturies; that he was for the people against nobles and kings, and that\nhe put his life in pawn for the good of others.\n\nIn the winter of 1774, Thomas Paine came to America. After a time he was\nemployeed as one of the writers on the Pennsylvania Magazine.\n\nLet us see what he did, calculated to excite the hatred of his\nfellow-men.\n\nThe first article he ever wrote in America, and the first ever published\nby him anywhere, appeared in that magazine on the 8th of 'March, 1775.\nIt was an attack on American slavery—a plea for the rights of the\nnegro. In that article will be found substantially all the arguments\nthat can be urged against that most infamous of all institutions. Every\nis full of humanity, pity, tenderness, and love of justice.\n\nFive days after this article appeared the American Anti-Slavery Society\nwas formed. Certainly this should not excite our hatred. To-day the\ncivilized world agrees with the essay written by Thomas Paine in 1775.\n\nAt that time great interests were against him. The owners of slaves\nbecame his enemies, and the pulpits, supported by slave labor, denounced\nthis abolitionist.\n\nThe next article published by Thomas Paine, in the same magazine, and\nfor the next month, was an attack on the practice of dueling, showing\nthat it was barbarous, that it did not even tend to settle the right or\nwrong of a dispute, that it could not be defended on any just grounds,\nand that its influence was degrading and cruel. The civilized world now\nagrees with the opinions of Thomas Paine upon that barbarous practice.\n\nIn May, 1775, appeared in the same magazine another article written by\nThomas Paine, a Protest Against Cruelty to Animals. He began the work\nthat was so successfully and gloriously carried out by Henry Bergh,\none of the noblest, one of the grandest, men that this continent has\nproduced.\n\nThe good people of this world agree with Thomas Paine.\n\nIn August of the same year he wrote a plea for the Rights of Woman, the\nfirst ever published in the New World. Certainly he should not be hated\nfor that.\n\nHe was the first to suggest a union of the colonies. Before the\nDeclaration of Independence was issued, Paine had written of and about\nthe Free and Independent States of America. He had also spoken of the\nUnited Colonies as the \"Glorious Union,\" and he was the first to write\nthese words: \"The United States of America.\"\n\nIn May, 1775, Washington said: \"If you ever hear of me joining in any\nsuch measure (as separation from Great Britain) you have my leave to set\nme down for everything wicked.\" He had also said; \"It is not the wish or\ninterest of the government (meaning Massachusetts), or of any other upon\nthis continent, separately or collectively, to set up for independence.\"\nAnd in the same year Benjamin Franklin assured Chatham that no one in\nAmerica was in favor of separation. As a matter of fact, the people\nof the colonies wanted a redress of their grievances—they were not\ndreaming of separation, of independence.\n\nIn 1775 Paine wrote the pamphlet known as \"Common Sense.\" This was\npublished on the 10th of January, 1776. It was the first appeal for\nindependence, the first cry for national life, for absolute separation.\nNo pamphlet, no book, ever kindled such a sudden conflagration,—a\npurifying flame, in which the prejudices and fears of millions were\nconsumed. To read it now, after the lapse of more than a hundred years,\nhastens the blood. It is but the meagre truth to say that Thomas Paine\ndid more for the cause of separation, to sow the seeds of independence,\nthan any other man of his time. Certainly we should not despise him for\nthis. The Declaration of Independence followed, and in that declaration\nwill be found not only the thoughts, but some of the expressions of\nThomas Paine.\n\nDuring the war, and in the very darkest hours, Paine wrote what is\ncalled \"The Crisis,\" a series of pamphlets giving from time to time\nhis opinion of events, and his prophecies. These marvelous publications\nproduced an effect nearly as great as the pamphlet \"Common Sense.\" These\nstrophes, written by the bivouac fires, had in them the soul of battle.\n\nIn all he wrote, Paine was direct and natural. He touched the very heart\nof the subject. He was not awed by names or titles, by place or power.\nHe never lost his regard for truth, for principle—never wavered in his\nallegiance to reason, to what he believed to be right. His arguments\nwere so lucid, so unanswerable, his comparisons and analogies so apt, so\nunexpected, that they excited the passionate admiration of friends\nand the unquenchable hatred of enemies. So great were these appeals to\npatriotism, to the love of liberty, the pride of independence, the glory\nof success, that it was said by some of the best and greatest of that\ntime that the American cause owed as much to the pen of Paine as to the\nsword of Washington.\n\nOn the 2d day of November, 1779, there was introduced into the Assembly\nof Pennsylvania an act for the abolition of slavery. The preamble was\nwritten by Thomas Paine. To him belongs the honor and glory of having\nwritten the first Proclamation of Emancipation in America—Paine the\nfirst, Lincoln the last.\n\nPaine, of all others, succeeded in getting aid for the struggling\ncolonies from France. \"According to Lamartine, the King, Louis XVI.,\nloaded Paine with favors, and a gift of six millions was confided into\nthe hands of Franklin and Paine. On the 25th of August, 1781, Paine\nreached Boston bringing two million five hundred thousand livres in\nsilver, and in convoy a ship laden with clothing and military stores.\"\n\n\"In November, 1779, Paine was elected clerk to the General Assembly\nof Pennsylvania. In 1780, the Assembly received a letter from General\nWashington in the field, saying that he feared the distresses in the\narmy would lead to mutiny in the ranks. This letter was read by Paine to\nthe Assembly. He immediately wrote to Blair McClenaghan, a Philadelphia\nmerchant, explaining the urgency, and inclosing five hundred dollars,\nthe amount of salary due him as clerk, as his contribution towards\na relief fund. The merchant called a meeting the next day, and read\nPaine's letter. A subscription list was immediately circulated, and in\na short time about one million five hundred thousand dollars was raised.\nWith this capital the Pennsylvania bank—afterwards the bank of North\nAmerica—was established for the relief of the army.\"\n\nIn 1783 \"Paine wrote a memorial to Chancellor Livingston, Secretary of\nForeign Affairs, Robert Morris, Minister of Finance, and his assistant,\nurging the necessity of adding a Continental Legislature to Congress, to\nbe elected by the several States. Robert Morris invited the Chancellor\nand a number of eminent men to meet Paine at dinner, where his plea\nfor a stronger Union was discussed and approved. This was probably the\nearliest of a series of consultations preliminary to the Constitutional\nConvention.\"\n\n\"On the 19th of April, 1783, it being the eighth anniversary of the\nBattle of Lexington, Paine printed a little pamphlet entitled 'Thoughts\non Peace and the Probable Advantages Thereof.'\" In this pamphlet\nhe pleads for \"a supreme Nationality absorbing all cherished\nsovereignties.\" Mr. Conway calls this pamphlet Paine's \"Farewell\nAddress,\" and gives the following extract:\n\n\"It was the cause of America that made me an author. The force with\nwhich it struck my mind, and the dangerous condition in which\nthe country was in, by courting an impossible and an unnatural\nreconciliation with those who were determined to reduce her, instead of\nstriking out into the only line that could save her,—a Declaration\nof Independence.—made it impossible for me, feeling as I did, to be\nsilent; and if, in the course of more than seven years, I have rendered\nher any service, I have likewise added something to the reputation of\nliterature, by freely and disinterestedly employing it in the great\ncause of mankind.... But as the scenes of war are closed, and every\nman preparing for home and happier times, I therefore take leave of the\nsubject. I have most sincerely followed it from beginning to end, and\nthrough all its turns and windings; and whatever country I may hereafter\nbe in, I shall always feel an honest pride at the part I have taken and\nacted, and a gratitude to nature and providence for putting it in my\npower to be of some use to mankind.\"\n\nPaine had made some enemies, first, by attacking African slavery, and,\nsecond, by insisting upon the sovereignty of the Nation.\n\nDuring the Revolution our forefathers, in order to justify making war\non Great Britain, were compelled to take the ground that all men are\nentitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In no other way\ncould they justify their action. After the war, the meaner instincts\nbegan to take possession of the mind, and those who had fought for\ntheir own liberty were perfectly willing to enslave others. We must\nalso remember that the Revolution was begun and carried on by a noble\nminority—that the majority were really in favor of Great Britain and\ndid what they dared to prevent the success of the American cause. The\nminority, however, had control of affairs. They were active, energetic,\nenthusiastic, and courageous, and the majority were overawed, shamed,\nand suppressed. But when peace came, the majority asserted themselves\nand the interests of trade and commerce were consulted. Enthusiasm\nslowly died, and patriotism was mingled with the selfishness of traffic.\n\nBut, after all, the enemies of Paine were few, the friends were many.\nHe had the respect and admiration of the greatest and the best, and was\nenjoying the fruits of his labor.\n\nThe Revolution was ended, the colonies were free. They had been united,\nthey formed a Nation, and the United States of America had a place on\nthe map of the world.\n\nPaine was not a politician. He had not labored for seven years to get an\noffice. His services were no longer needed in America. He concluded to\neducate the English people, to inform them of their rights, to expose\nthe pretences, follies and fallacies, the crimes and cruelties of\nnobles, kings, and parliaments. In the brain and heart of this man were\nthe dream and hope of the universal republic. He had confidence in the\npeople. He hated tyranny and war, despised the senseless pomp and vain\nshow of crowned robbers, laughed at titles, and the \"honorable\" badges\nworn by the obsequious and servile, by fawners and followers; loved\nliberty with all his heart, and bravely fought against those who could\ngive the rewards of place and gold, and for those who could pay only\nwith thanks.\n\nHoping to hasten the day of freedom, he wrote the \"Rights of Man\"—a\nbook that laid the foundation for all the real liberty that the English\nnow enjoy—a book that made known to Englishmen the Declaration of\nNature, and convinced millions that all are children of the same\nmother, entitled to share equally in her gifts. Every Englishman who\nhas outgrown the ideas of 1688 should remember Paine with love and\nreverence. Every Englishman who has sought to destroy abuses, to lessen\nor limit the prerogatives of the crown, to extend the suffrage, to do\naway with \"rotten boroughs,\" to take taxes from knowledge, to increase\nand protect the freedom of speech and the press, to do away with\nbribes under the name of pensions, and to make England a government of\nprinciples rather than of persons, has been compelled to adopt the creed\nand use the arguments of Thomas Paine. In England every step toward\nfreedom has been a triumph of Paine over Burke and Pitt. No man ever\nrendered a greater service to his native land.\n\nThe book called the \"Rights of Man\" was the greatest contribution that\nliterature had given to liberty. It rests on the bed-rock. No attention\nis paid to precedents except to show that they are wrong. Paine was not\nmisled by the proverbs that wolves had written for sheep. He had the\nintelligence to examine for himself, and the courage to publish his\nconclusions. As soon as the \"Rights of Man\" was published the Government\nwas alarmed. Every effort was made to suppress it. The author was\nindicted; those who published, and those who sold, were arrested and\nimprisoned. But the new gospel had been preached—a great man had shed\nlight—a new force had been born, and it was beyond the power of nobles\nand kings to undo what the author-hero had done.\n\nTo avoid arrest and probable death, Paine left England. He had sown with\nbrave hand the seeds of thought, and he knew that he had lighted a fire\nthat nothing could extinguish until England should be free.\n\nThe fame of Thomas Paine had reached France in many ways—principally\nthrough Lafayette. His services in America were well known. The pamphlet\n\"Common Sense\" had been published in French, and its effect had been\nimmense. \"The Rights of Man\" that had created, and was then creating,\nsuch a stir in England, was also known to the French. The lovers of\nliberty everywhere were the friends and admirers of Thomas Paine. In\nAmerica, England, Scotland, Ireland, and France he was known as the\ndefender of popular rights. He had preached a new gospel. He had given a\nnew Magna Charta to the people.\n\nSo popular was Paine in France that he was elected by three\nconstituencies to the National Convention. He chose to represent Calais.\nFrom the moment he entered French territory he was received with almost\nroyal honors. He at once stood with the foremost, and was welcomed\nby all enlightened patriots. As in America, so in France, he knew no\nidleness—he was an organizer and worker. The first thing he did was to\nfound the first Republican Society, and the next to write its Manifesto,\nin which the ground was taken that France did not need a king; that the\npeople should govern themselves. In this Manifesto was this argument:\n\n\"What kind of office must that be in a government which requires\nneither experience nor ability to execute? that may be abandoned to the\ndesperate chance of birth; that may be filled with an idiot, a madman,\na tyrant, with equal effect as with the good, the virtuous, the wise? An\noffice of this nature is a mere nonentity; it is a place of show, not of\nuse.\"\n\nHe said:\n\n\"I am not the personal enemy of kings. Quite the contrary. No man wishes\nmore heartily than myself to see them all in the happy and honorable\nstate of private individuals; but I am the avowed, open and intrepid\nenemy of what is called monarchy; and I am such by principles which\nnothing can either alter or corrupt, by my attachment to humanity, by\nthe anxiety which I feel within myself for the dignity and honor of the\nhuman race.\"\n\nOne of the grandest things done by Thomas Paine was his effort to save\nthe life of Louis XVI. The Convention was in favor of death. Paine was a\nforeigner. His career had caused some jealousies. He knew the danger he\nwas in—that the tiger was already crouching for a spring—but he\nwas true to his principles. He was opposed to the death penalty. He\nremembered that Louis XVI. had been the friend of America, and he very\ncheerfully risked his life, not only for the good of France, not only to\nsave the king, but to pay a debt of gratitude. He asked the Convention\nto exile the king to the United States. He asked this as a member of the\nConvention and as a citizen of the United States. As an American he felt\ngrateful not only to the king, but to every Frenchman. He, the adversary\nof all kings, asked the Convention to remember that kings were men, and\nsubject to human frailties. He took still another step, and said: \"As\nFrance has been the first of European nations to abolish royalty, let us\nalso be the first to abolish the punishment of death.\"\n\nEven after the death of Louis had been voted, Paine made another appeal.\nWith a courage born of the highest possible sense of duty he said:\n\n\"France has but one ally—the United States of America. That is the only\nnation that can furnish France with naval provisions, for the kingdoms\nof Northern Europe are, or soon will be, at war with her. It happens\nthat the person now under discussion is regarded in America as a\ndeliverer of their country. I can assure you that his execution will\nthere spread universal sorrow, and it is in your power not thus to wound\nthe feelings of your ally. Could I speak the French language I would\ndescend to your bar, and in their name become your petitioner to respite\nthe execution of your sentence on Louis. Ah, citizens, give not the\ntyrant of England the triumph of seeing the man perish on the scaffold\nwho helped my dear brothers of America to break his chains.\"\n\nThis was worthy of the man who had said: \"Where Liberty is not, there\nis my country.\"\n\nPaine was second on the committee to prepare the draft of a constitution\nfor France to be submitted to the Convention. He was the real author,\nnot only of the draft of the Constitution, but of the Declaration of\nRights.\n\nIn France, as in America, he took the lead. His first thoughts seemed\nto be first principles. He was clear because he was profound. People\nwithout ideas experience great difficulty in finding words to express\nthem.\n\nFrom the moment that Paine cast his vote in favor of mercy—in favor of\nlife—the shadow of the guillotine was upon him. He knew that when he\nvoted for the King's life, he voted for his own death. Paine remembered\nthat the king had been the friend of America, and to him ingratitude\nseemed the worst of crimes. He worked to destroy the monarch, not the\nman; the king, not the friend. He discharged his duty and accepted\ndeath. This was the heroism of goodness—the sublimity of devotion.\n\nBelieving that his life was near its close, he made up his mind to give\nto the world his thoughts concerning \"revealed religion.\" This he\nhad for some time intended to do, but other matters had claimed his\nattention. Feeling that there was no time to be lost, he wrote the first\npart of the \"Age of Reason,\" and gave the manuscript to Joel Barlow.\nSix hours after, he was arrested. The second part was written in prison\nwhile he was waiting for death.\n\nPaine clearly saw that men could not be really free, or defend the\nfreedom they had, unless they were free to think and speak. He knew that\nthe church was the enemy of liberty, that the altar and throne were in\npartnership, that they helped each other and divided the spoils.\n\nHe felt that, being a man, he had the right to examine the creeds and\nthe Scriptures for himself, and that, being an honest man, it was his\nduty and his privilege to tell his fellow-men the conclusions at which\nhe arrived.\n\nHe found that the creeds of all orthodox churches were absurd and cruel,\nand that the Bible was no better. Of course he found that there were\nsome good things in the creeds and in the Bible. These he defended, but\nthe infamous, the inhuman, he attacked.\n\nIn matters of religion he pursued the same course that he had in things\npolitical. He depended upon experience, and above all on reason. He\nrefused to extinguish the light in his own soul. He was true to himself,\nand gave to others his honest thoughts. He did not seek wealth, or\nplace, or fame. He sought the truth.\n\nHe had felt it to be his duty to attack the institution of slavery in\nAmerica, to raise his voice against dueling, to plead for the rights\nof woman, to excite pity for the sufferings of domestic animals,\nthe speechless friends of man; to plead the cause of separation, of\nindependence, of American nationality, to attack the abuses and crimes\nof mon-archs, to do what he could to give freedom to the world.\n\nHe thought it his duty to take another step. Kings asserted that they\nderived their power, their right to govern, from God. To this assertion\nPaine replied with the \"Rights of Man.\" Priests pretended that they were\nthe authorized agents of God. Paine replied with the \"Age of Reason.\"\n\nThis book is still a power, and will be as long as the absurdities\nand cruelties of the creeds and the Bible have defenders. The \"Age of\nReason\" affected the priests just as the \"Rights of Man\" affected nobles\nand kings. The kings answered the arguments of Paine with laws, the\npriests with lies. Kings appealed to force, priests to fraud. Mr. Conway\nhas written in regard to the \"Age of Reason\" the most impressive and the\nmost interesting chapter in his book.\n\nPaine contended for the rights of the individual,—tor the jurisdiction\nof the soul. Above all religions he placed Reason, above all kings, Men,\nand above all men, Law.\n\nThe first part of the \"Age of Reason\" was written in the shadow of a\nprison, the second part in the gloom of death. From that shadow, from\nthat gloom, came a flood of light. This testament, by which the wealth\nof a marvelous brain, the love of a great and heroic heart were given to\nthe world, was written in the presence of the scaffold, when the writer\nbelieved he was giving his last message to his fellow-men.\n\nThe \"Age of Reason\" was his crime.\n\nFranklin, Jefferson, Sumner and Lincoln, the four greatest statesmen\nthat America has produced, were believers in the creed of Thomas Paine.\n\nThe Universalists and Unitarians have found their best weapons, their\nbest arguments, in the \"Age of Reason.\"\n\nSlowly, but surely, the churches are adopting not only the arguments,\nbut the opinions of the great Reformer.\n\nTheodore Parker attacked the Old Testament and Calvinistic theology\nwith the same weapons and with a bitterness excelled by no man who has\nexpressed his thoughts in our language.\n\nPaine was a century in advance of his time. If he were living now\nhis sympathy would be with Savage, Chadwick, Professor Briggs and the\n\"advanced theologians.\" He, too, would talk about the \"higher criticism\"\nand the latest definition of \"inspiration.\" These advanced thinkers\nsubstantially are repeating the \"Age of Reason.\" They still wear the\nold uniform—clinging to the toggery of theology—but inside of their\nreligious rags they agree with Thomas Paine.\n\nNot one argument that Paine urged against the inspiration of the Bible,\nagainst the truth of miracles, against the barbarities and infamies of\nthe Old Testament, against the pretensions of priests and the claims of\nkings, has ever been answered.\n\nHis arguments in favor of the existence of what he was pleased to call\nthe God of Nature were as weak as those of all Theists have been. But\nin all the affairs of this world, his clearness of vision, lucidity\nof expression, cogency of argument, aptness of comparison, power\nof statement and comprehension of the subject in hand, with all its\nbearings and consequences, have rarely, if ever, been excelled.\n\nHe had no reverence for mistakes because they were old. He did not\nadmire the castles of Feudalism even when they were covered with ivy. He\nnot only said that the Bible was not inspired, but he demonstrated that\nit could not all be true. This was \"brutal.\" He presented arguments so\nstrong, so clear, so convincing, that they could not be answered. This\nwas \"vulgar.\"\n\nHe stood for liberty against kings, for humanity against creeds and\ngods. This was \"cowardly and low.\" He gave his life to free and civilize\nhis fellow-men. This was \"infamous.\"\n\nPaine was arrested and imprisoned in December, 1793. He was, to say the\nleast, neglected by Gouverneur Morris and Washington. He was released\nthrough the efforts of James Monroe, in November, 1794. He was called\nback to the Convention, but too late to be of use. As most of the actors\nhad suffered death, the tragedy was about over and the curtain was\nfalling. Paine remained in Paris until the \"Reign of Terror\" was ended\nand that of the Corsican tyrant had commenced.\n\nPaine came back to America hoping to spend the remainder of his life\nsurrounded by those for whose happiness and freedom he had labored so\nmany years. He expected to be rewarded with the love and reverence of\nthe American people.\n\nIn 1794 James Monroe had written to Paine these words:\n\n\"It is unnecessary for me to tell you how much all your countrymen, I\nspeak of the great mass of the people, are interested in your welfare.\nThey have not forgot the history of their own Revolution and the\ndifficult scenes through which they passed; nor do they review its\nseveral stages without reviving in their bosoms a due sensibility of the\nmerits of those who served them in that great and arduous conflict. The\ncrime of ingratitude has not yet stained, and I hope never will stain,\nour national character. You are considered by them as not only having\nrendered important services in our own Revolution, but as being on a\nmore extensive scale the friend of human rights and a distinguished and\nable advocate of public liberty. To the welfare of Thomas Paine we are\nnot and cannot be indifferent.\"\n\nIn the same year Mr. Monroe wrote a letter to the Committee of General\nSafety, asking for the release of Mr. Paine, in which, among other\nthings, he said:\n\n\"The services Thomas Paine rendered to his country in its struggle\nfor freedom have implanted in the hearts of his countrymen a sense of\ngratitude never to be effaced as long as they shall deserve the title of\na just and generous people.\"\n\nOn reaching America, Paine found that the sense of gratitude had been\neffaced. He found that the Federalists hated him with all their hearts\nbecause he believed in the rights of the people and was still true\nto the splendid principles advocated during the darkest days of the\nRevolution. In almost every pulpit he found a malignant and implacable\nfoe, and the pews were filled with his enemies. The slaveholders\nhated him. He was held responsible even for the crimes of the French\nRevolution. He was regarded as a blasphemer, an Atheist, an enemy of God\nand man. The ignorant citizens of Bordentown, as cowardly as orthodox,\nlonged to mob the author of \"Common Sense\" and \"The Crisis.\" They\nthought he had sold himself to the Devil because he had defended God\nagainst the slanderous charges that he had inspired the writers of the\nBible—because he had said that a being of infinite goodness and purity\ndid not establish slavery and polygamy.\n\nPaine had insisted that men had the right to think for themselves. This\nso enraged the average American citizen that he longed for revenge.\n\nIn 1802 the people of the United States had exceedingly crude ideas\nabout the liberty of thought and expression Neither had they any\nconception of religious freedom. Their highest thought on that subject\nwas expressed by the word \"toleration,\" and even this toleration\nextended only to the various Christian sects. Even the vaunted religious\nliberty of colonial Maryland was only to the effect that one kind of\nChristian should not fine, imprison and kill another kind of Christian,\nbut all kinds of Christians had the right, and it was their duty, to\nbrand, imprison and kill Infidels of every kind.\n\nPaine had been guilty of thinking for himself and giving his conclusions\nto the world without having asked the consent of a priest—just as he\nhad published his political opinions without leave of the king. He had\npublished his thoughts on religion and had appealed to reason—to the\nlight in every mind, to the humanity, the pity, the goodness which he\nbelieved to be in every heart. He denied the right of kings to make laws\nand of priests to make creeds. He insisted that the people should make\nlaws, and that every human being should think for himself. While some\nbelieved in the freedom of religion, he believed in the religion of\nfreedom.\n\nIf Paine had been a hypocrite, if he had concealed his opinions, if he\nhad defended slavery with quotations from the \"sacred Scriptures\"—if\nhe had cared nothing for the liberties of men in other lands—if he had\nsaid that the state could not live without the church—if he had sought\nfor place instead of truth, he would have won wealth and power, and his\nbrow would have been crowned with the laurel of fame.\n\nHe made what the pious call the \"mistake\" of being true to himself—of\nliving with an unstained soul. He had lived and labored for the people.\nThe people were untrue' to him. They returned evil for good, hatred for\nbenefits received, and yet this great chivalric soul remembered their\nignorance and loved them with all his heart, and fought their oppressors\nwith all his strength.\n\nWe must remember what the churches and creeds were in that day, what the\ntheologians really taught, and what the people believed. To save a few\nin spite of their vices, and to damn the many without regard to their\nvirtues, and all for the glory of the Damner:—this was Calvinism. \"He\nthat hath ears to hear, let him hear,\" but he that hath a brain to think\nmust not think. He that believeth without evidence is good, and he that\nbelieveth in spite of evidence is a saint. Only the wicked doubt, only\nthe blasphemer denies. This was orthodox Christianity.\n\nThomas Paine had the courage, the sense, the heart, to denounce these\nhorrors, these absurdities, these infinite infamies. He did what he\ncould to drive these theological vipers, these Calvinistic cobras, these\nfanged and hissing serpents of superstition from the heart of man.\n\nA few civilized men agreed with him then, and the world has progressed\nsince 1809. Intellectual wealth has accumulated; vast mental estates\nhave been left to the world. Geologists have forced secrets from the\nrocks, astronomers from the stars, historians from old records and lost\nlanguages. In every direction the thinker and the investigator have\nventured and explored, and even the pews have begun to ask questions of\nthe pulpits. Humboldt has lived, and Darwin and Haeckel and Huxley, and\nthe armies led by them, have changed the thought of the world.\n\nThe churches of 1809 could not be the friends of Thomas Paine. No church\nasserting that belief is necessary to salvation ever was, or ever will\nbe, the champion of true liberty. A church founded on slavery—that\nis to say, on blind obedience, worshiping irresponsible and arbitrary\npower, must of necessity be the enemy of human freedom.\n\nThe orthodox churches are now anxious to save the little that Paine left\nof their creed. If one now believes in God, and lends a little financial\naid, he is considered a good and desirable member. He need not define\nGod after the manner of the catechism. He may talk about a \"Power that\nworks for righteousness,\" or the tortoise Truth that beats the rabbit\nLie in the long run, or the \"Unknowable,\" or the \"Unconditioned,\" or\nthe \"Cosmic Force,\" or the \"Ultimate Atom,\" or \"Protoplasm,\" or the\n\"What\"—provided he begins this word with a capital.\n\nWe must also remember that there is a difference between independence\nand liberty. Millions have fought for independence—to throw off some\nforeign yoke—and yet were at heart the enemies of true liberty. A man\nin jail, sighing to be free, may be said to be in favor of liberty, but\nnot from principle; but a man who, being free, risks or gives his life\nto free the enslaved, is a true soldier of liberty.\n\nThomas Paine had passed the legendary limit of life. One by one most of\nhis old friends and acquaintances had deserted him. Maligned on\nevery side, execrated, shunned and abhorred—his virtues denounced as\nvices—his services forgotten—his character blackened, he preserved the\npoise and balance of his soul. He was a victim of the people, but his\nconvictions remained unshaken. He was still a soldier in the army\nof freedom, and still tried to enlighten and civilize those who were\nimpatiently waiting for his death. Even those who loved their enemies\nhated him, their friend—the friend of the whole world—with all their\nhearts.\n\nOn the 8th of June, 1809, death came—Death, almost his only friend.\n\nAt his funeral no pomp, no pageantry, no civic procession, no military\ndisplay. In a carriage, a woman and her son who had lived on the\nbounty of the dead—On horseback, a Quaker, the humanity of whose heart\ndominated the creed of his head—and, following on foot, two negroes\nfilled with gratitude—constituted the funeral cortege of Thomas Paine.\n\nHe who had received the gratitude of many millions, the thanks of\ngenerals and statesmen—he who had been the friend and companion of the\nwisest and best—he who had taught a people to be free, and whose words\nhad inspired armies and enlightened nations, was thus given back to\nNature, the mother of us all.\n\nIf the people of the great Republic knew the life of this generous, this\nchivalric man, the real story of his services, his sufferings and his\ntriumphs—of what he did to compel the robed and crowned, the priests\nand kings, to give back to the people liberty, the jewel of the soul; if\nthey knew that he was the first to write, \"The Religion of Humanity\";\nif they knew that he, above all others, planted and watered the seeds\nof independence, of union, of nationality, in the hearts of our\nforefathers—that his words were gladly repeated by the best and bravest\nin many lands; if they knew that he attempted, by the purest means, to\nattain the noblest and loftiest ends—that he was original, sincere,\nintrepid, and that he could truthfully say: \"The world is my country, to\ndo good my religion\"—if the people only knew all this—the truth—they\nwould repeat the words of Andrew Jackson: \"Thomas Paine needs no\nmonument made with hands; he has erected a monument in the hearts of all\nlovers of liberty.\"—North American Review, August, 1893.\n"
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