Volume II Part 21 (1/2)
He then enquired whatmyself, he observed with a sh for liberty, and now they have it in perfection This is not a country for an honestat all of the principles of free government, and the best way is to leave them to themselves You see they have conquered all Europe, only to make it more miserable than it was before' Upon this, I remarked that I was surprised to hear hie of the fortune of ht yet be done for the Republic 'Republic!' he exclaimed, 'do you call this a Republic?
Why they are worse off than the slaves of Constantinople; for there, they expect to be bashaws in heaven by sub to be slaves below, but here they believe neither in heaven nor hell, and yet are slaves by choice I know of no Republic in the world except America, which is the only country for such et away from this place as soon as possible, and I hope to be off in the autu man and may see better times, but I have done with Europe, and its slavish politics'
”I have often been in company with Mr Paine, since my arrival here, and I was not a little surprised to find hiland, or the re its people Indeed he seemed to dislike the mention of the subject; and when, one day, in order to provoke discussion, I told him I had altered my opinions upon many of his principles, he answered, 'You certainly have the right to do so; but you cannot alter the nature of things; the French have alarh you land, without bringing on a great deal of misery and confusion, you are, I am sure, convinced of their justice' Here he took occasion to speak in terms of the utmost severity of Mr------, who had obtained a seat in parliament, and said that 'parsons were always ave rise to an observation respecting his 'Age of Reason,' the publication of which I said had lost hilish advocates He becaular energy declared that he would not have published it if he had not thought it calculated to 'inspire mankind with a more exalted idea of the Supreme Architect of the Universe, and to put an end to villainous imposture'
He then broke out with the ainst our received opinions, accorand and subli, that I ever heard or read of In the support of his opinion, he avowed himself ready to lay down his life, and said 'the Bishop of Llandaff may roast me in Smithfield if he likes, but human torture cannot shake my conviction'
He reached down a copy of the Bishop's work, interleaved with remarks upon it, which he read me; after which he adretted that in all controversies a men a similar temper was not maintained But in proportion as he appeared listless in politics, he seeious creed; of which the following is an instance An English lady of our acquaintance, not less reance of ht have an intervieith Mr Paine In consequence of this I invited him to dinner on a day ere to be favoured with her coid Roainst touching upon religious subjects, assuring him at the same time that she felt ood nature he promised to be _discreet_ 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 Aton, and even of his Majesty, of whom he told several curious facts of huenius and taste can never be forgotten by those present Thus far everything went on as I could wish; the sparkling chahted But alas! alas! an expression relating to his 'Age of Reason' having been mentioned by one of the coan with Astrono himself to Mrs
Y,--he declared that the least inspection of theproof that Moses was a liar Nothing could stop hi every artifice inwith vehee with unabated ardour I called upon hi in my life He struck up one of his own composition; but the instant he had finished it he resumed his favourite topic I felt extreotten his promise, and that it was not fair to wound so deeply the opinions of the ladies 'Oh!' said he, 'they 'll coain What a pity it is that people should be so prejudiced!' To which I retorted that their prejudices ht be virtues 'If so,' he replied, 'the blossoms may be beautiful to the eye, but the root is weak' One of theto Mr Paine is his power of retaining everything he has written in the course of his life It is a fact that he can repeat word for word every sentence in his 'Cohts of Man,' etc, etc The Bible is the only book which he has studied, and there is not a verse in it that is not fa es he had devised he observed that Dr Franklin once told hireat es for the people' These ree not only of skill but of taste; and are wrought with extreest is nearly four feet in length; the iron works, the chains, and every other article belonging to it, were forged and manufactured by hie which is to be constructed across the Delaware, extending 480 feet with only one arch The other is to be erected over a lesser river, whose nale arch, and of his oork 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 perseverance is extraordinary He was offered 3000 for these models and refused it The iron bars, which I before mentioned that I noticed in a corner of his rooed by himself, as the ether, and exhibited the power of the lever to a ree”'
”Letters from France,” etc, London, 1804, 2 vols, 8vo
Thirty-three pages of the last letter are devoted to Paine
About this time Sir Robert Smith died, and another of the ties to Paris was snapped His beloved Bonnevilles promised to follow him to the New World His old friend Rickman has come over to see him off, and observed that ”he did not drink spirits, and wine he tooklaid in as a part of his sea-stock” These two friends journeyed together to Havre, where, on Septee Poor Rickman, the perpetually prosecuted, strains his eyes till the sail is lost, then sits on the beach and writes his poetical tribute to Jefferson and A farewell to his friend:
”Thus sentle the breeze, As thou bearest ions of ease, Each blessing of freedo sun's ray”
Who can iine the joy of those eyes when they once more beheld the distant coast of the New World! Fifteen years have passed,--years in which all nightmares became real, and liberty's sun had turned to blood,--since he saw the happy land fading behind him Oh, America, thine old friend who first claimed thy republican independence, who laid aside his Quaker coat and fought for thy cause, believing it sacred, is returning to thy breast! This is the s certainly had a powerful effect on the public ht they not then to rined!” It is not money he needs now, but tenderness, sympathy; for he comes back from an old world that has plundered, outlawed, imprisoned him for his love of uillotine, and others are pining in British prisons for publishi+ng his ”Rights of Man,”--principles pronounced by President Jefferson and Secretary Madison to be those of the United States Heartsore, scarred, white-haired, there reles for humanity but one hope, a kindly welcome, a peaceful haven for his tempest-tossed life Never for an instant has his faith in the heart of America been shaken Already he sees his friend Jefferson's ar him to their hearths; he sees his own house and sward at Bordentown, and the beautiful Kirk-bride mansion beside the Delaware,--river of sacred raceful arch How the ladies he left girls,--fanny
Kitty, Sally,--will coreet hie-model, with Lady Smith's delicate chain-work for which (such is his estimate of friendshi+p) he refused three thousand pounds, though it would have made his mean room palatial! Ah, yes, poor heart, A head on her breast! Aain They do not hatein a celestial Robespierre
Thou stricken friend of man, who hast appealed from the God of wrath to the God of Humanity, see in the distance that Maryland coast, which early voyagers called Avalon, and sing again your song when first stepping on that shore twenty-seven years ago:
”I co that summer is at hand, The summer time of wit, you 'll understand; Plants, fruits, and flowers, and all the srace; The Rose and Lily shall address the fair, And whisper sweetly out, 'My dears, take care:'
With sterling worth the Plant of Sense shall rise, And teach the curious to philosophize
”The frost returns?
We 'll garnish out the scenes With stately rows of Evergreens, Trees that will bear the frost, and deck their tops With everlasting flowers, like diamond drops”
”The Snowdrop and Critic,” Pennsylvania Magazine, 1775
Couplets are oiven
CHAPTER XVI THE AMERICAN INQUISITION
On October 30th Paine landed at Baltimore More than two and a half centuries had elapsed since the Catholic Lord Baltimore appointed a Protestant Governor of Maryland, Williaious freedoions of oppression, grew strong enough to exteriven them shelter, and imprisoned his Protestant Governor So, in the New World, passed the Inquisition from Catholic to Protestant hands
In Paine's first American pamphlet, he had repeated and extolled the principle of that earliest proclaious opinions affords a larger field for Christian kindness”
The Christian kindness now consists in a cessation of sectarian strife that they e of Reason”
on their common rack, so far as was possible under a Constitution acknowledging no deity This persecution began on the victi Paine wrote to President Jefferson:
”I arrived here on Saturday froe of sixty days