Volume II Part 35 (2/2)
”John Hall”
Letter of Paine, London, Nov 25, 1791, to ”Mr John Hall, at Mr John Coltland”
”My old Friend: I am very happy to see a letter from you, and to hear that our Friends on the other side the water are well The Bridge has been put up, but being on wood butments they yielded, and it is now taken down The first rib as an experiment was erected between two steel furnaces which supported it firmly; it contained not quite three tons of iron, was ninety feet span, height of the arch five feet; it was loaded with six tons of iron, which reed onout a neork (Second part of the Rights of Man) soon after New Year It will produce so way, but there is a change of sentiot the ear of John Bull that he will read what I write--which is hts of Man has had the greatest run of anything ever published in this country, at least of late years--alone off--and in Ireland above forty thousand--besides the above nuone to Scotland by desire from soham for leave to print ten thousand copies, but I intend, after the next work has had its run a those ill have handsome printed books and fine paper, to print an hundred thousand copies of each work and distribute them at sixpence a-piece; but this I do not at present talk of, because it will alarm the wise mad folks at St James's I have received a letter froreat run it has had there It has been attacked by John Adaht an host about his ears from all parts of the Continent Mr
Jefferson has sent me twenty five different answers to Adanature of Publicola A letter is somewhere in the city for me from Mr Laurens of S Carolina I hope to receive it in a few days
I shall be glad at all times to see, or hear from you Write to me (under cover) to Gordon, Booksellers N: 166 Fleet Street, before you leave Leicester How far is it from thence to Rotherham? Yours sincerely
”P S I have done you the co your favor the inst
I rec'd it which is more than I have done by any other--were I to ans
all the letters I receive--I should require half a dozen clerks”
Extracts froland: London, January 1792 Burke's publication has produced one way or other near 50 different answers and publications Nothing of late ever has been so read as Paine's answer Sohts of Man His first part was scrutinized by the Privy Council held on purpose and through fear ofhim more popular deemed too contemptible for Government notice The sale of it for a day or tas rather retarded or not publickly disposed of until it was known by the printers that it would not be noticed by Governland:
”London, Nov 6, 1792 I dined yesterday with the Revolution Society at the London Tavern A very large company assembled and after dinner many truly noble and patriotic toasts were drank The hts of Man--with 3 times &c--The Revolution of France--The Revolution of the World--May all the armies of tyrants learn the Brunswick March--May the tree of Liberty be planted in every tyrant city, and h the cos in favor of Liberty were sung Every bosolow of patriotism and love of universal freedom I wish you had been there For my part I was transported at the scene It happened that a company of Aristocratic french and Spanish ot up and sarcastically requested the coentlemen by too much festivity This sarcasm was followed by such a burst of applause as I never before heard”
From J Redman, London, Tuesday Dec 18, 5 p land: ”Mr Paine's trial is this instant over Erskine shone like the -Star Johnson was there The instant Erskine closed his speech the venal jury interrupted the Attorney General, as about tofor any answer, or any suuilty Such an instance of infernal corruption is scarcely upon record I have not tis on this occasion At this e ho in triue, Manchester, Bridport Dorset &c &c O England, how art thou fallen! I am just now told that press warrants are issued today February, make haste Mrs R's respects and mine Yours truly”
[John Hall's London Journal (1792) records frequentto dress on an invitation to dine with the Athenians He leaves town for a few days to see his aunt”
”April 20 Mr Paine goes out of town to 5 Mr Paine looking well and in high spirits” ”Sept 6 Mr Paine called in a short time Does not seem to talk much, rather on a reserve, of the prospect of political affairs
He had a letter froton and Jefferson by the ambassador [Pinckney]” ThePaine, whose name, by the way, after the prosecution was instituted, Hall prudently writes ”P------n” He also tells the story of Burke's pension]
”April 19, 1803 Had a ride to Bordentown to see Mr Paine at Mr
Kirkbride's He ell and appeared jollyer than I had ever known him
He is full of whims and schemes and mechanical inventions, and is to build a place or shop to carry them into execution, and wants my help”
APPENDIX C PORTRAITS OF PAINE
At the age of thirty Paine was somewhat stout, and very athletic; but after his arrival in Aht was five feet, nine inches He had a prominent nose, somewhat like that of Ralph Waldo Emerson It may have impressed Bonaparte, who insisted, it is said, that a e nose Paine's mouth was delicate, his chin also; he wore no whiskers or beard until too feeble with age to shave His forehead was lofty and unfurrowed; his head long, the occiput feeble His colish
Charles Lee, during the Aenius in his eyes;” Carlyle quotes from Foster an observation on the brilliancy of Paine's eyes, as he sat in the French Convention
His figure, as given in an early French portrait, is shapely; its elegance was often remarked A year or so after his return to America he is shown in a contee by the face This was probably a result of insufficient exercise, on which he much depended He was an expert horseman, and, in health, an unwearied walker He loved music, and could join well in a chorus
There are eleven original portraits of Thomas Paine, besides a death-mask, a bust, and the profile copied in this work from a seal used on the release at Lewes, elsewhere cited (i, p 33) That gives soe of thirty-five I have a picture said to be that of Paine in his youth, but the dress is an anachronism
The earliest portrait of Paine was painted by Charles Willson Peale, in Philadelphia, probably in some early year of the American Revolution, for Thomas Brand Hollis, of London,--the benefactor of Harvard University, one of whose halls bears his name The same artist painted another portrait of Paine, now badly placed in Independence Hall Therefrom one of Peale's pictures, for John Hall writes October 31, 1786: ”A print of Common Sense, if any ofto the printshops in London, but they have put a wrong naraved in London, 1791, underlined ”by Peel [sic] of Philadelphia,” and published, July 25th, by J Ridgway, York Street, St
Jahts of Man,” where Peale probably had ”Common Sense” On a table with inkstand and pens rests Paine's right elbow, the hand supporting his chin The full face appears--young, handso is frizzed, a bit of the queue visible In all of the original portraits of Paine his dress is neat and in accordance with fashi+on, but in this Hollis picture it is rather fine: the loose sleeves are ornae wristbands of white lace fall on the cuffs
This is puzzling The only engraving I have found with ”Toia” was published in London in 1800 Can there be a portrait lost under soether in Paris (1787) Paine wrote hiust 18th, in which he says: ”The second part of your letter, concerning taking my picture, I must feel as an honor done to me, not as a favor asked of me--but in this, as in other matters, I am at the disposal of your friendshi+p” As Jefferson does not appear to have possessed such a portrait, the request was probably h him I incline to identify this portrait with an extre one, now in this country, by an unknown artist It is one of twelve sym Marat, Robespierre, Lafayette, Mirabeau, Danton, Brissot, Petion, Camille Desmoulins, Billaud de Varennes, Gensonne, Clermont Tonnere These pictures were reproduced in cheap woodcuts and distributed about France during the Revolution The originals were secured by Col Lowry, of South Carolina, and brought to Charleston during the Revolution At the beginning of the civil war they were buried in leaden cases at Williamstown, South Carolina At the end of the war they were conveyed to Charleston, where they remained, in the possession of a Mrs Cole, until purchased by their present owner, Mr Alfred Ames Howlett, of Syracuse, New York As Mirabeau is included, the series itation The face of Paine here strongly resembles that in Independence Hall The picture is about two feet high; the whole figure is given, and is dressed in an elegant statess from the knee The table and room indicate official position, but it is the same room as in nine of the other portraits It is to be hoped that further lightthese portraits
Well-dressed also, but notably unlike the preceding, is the ”Bonneville Paine,” one of a celebrated series of two hundred engraved portraits, the publication of which in quarto voluun in Paris in 1796 ”F Bonneville del et sculpsit” is its whole history Paine is described in it as ”Ex Depute a la Convention Nationale,” which would mean strictly some time between his expulsion from that assembly in December, 1793, and his recall to it a year later It could not, however, have been then taken, on account of Paine's imprisonment and illness It was probably one to reside with Nicolas Bonneville in the spring of 1797 It is an ad out the large and expressive eyes The hair is here free and flowing; the dress identical with that of the portrait by Jarvis in this work
The best-known picture of Paine is that painted by his friend George Roh London _Notes and Queries_ after the original, which long ago disappeared, and a clailand; but in this the hand holds a book, and Sharp's engraving shows no hand The face was probably copied from the Romney