COL. K. G. INGERSOLL’S VINDICATION THOMAS PAINE \ r i -o-0>@^00' « BOSTON, MASS.: PUBLISHED BY J. P. AEENDUM, PAINE MEMORIAL BUILDING. 1877. V \ \ N \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ N \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ N V \ \ \ \ N N \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ V \ \ \ \ \ V N V \ \ \ \ i \ \ \ s \ \ s \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ i ^ ^4 liinertisEiiiEiit. THE BOSTON INVESTIGATOR IS PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY MORNING, At Paine Memorial Building*, Appleton Street, Boston, Mass. BY J. P. AIENDUAI. HORACE SEAV^ER, Editor. TEI^lVrS, S3-50 iPEEl. J^1^1SrTJlS/£^ “ The Liberty of the Press, and the Liberty op the People, MUST STAND OR FALL TOGETHER.’* — Hume. The “BOSTON INVESTIGATOR” x^tiS established as a free, liberal paper, in 1830, by Abner Kneeland and others. It was designed as a medium for the discussion of many questions closely related to human progress — questions which received only an ex parte examination from the religious, priest-ridden world. It has shared, in many respects, the fate of all Reform journals; and has struggled with desperate perseverance against obstacles and diffi¬ culties that have crushed innumerable stronger establishments. It is now, emphatically, a FREE PAPER, being open to “ Church, State, and Laity,” upon all questions coming within its professed range. Our past course must be a guaranty for the future, and we shall, to the best of our ability and means, seek to open the public mind to the discussion of those vital questions of reform which affect the welfare of man. . We hold that religious bondage is unworthy of the human mind, ^ and in place of it we shall strive to substitute the empire of reas< n and enlightened self-interest. \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ s \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ N \ \ N \ \ % \ \ \ \ \ N \ N \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ N \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ N \ \ \ N \ \ S \ \ S \ \ \ \ \ S N \ S \ \ \ \ N N \ N \ \ N \ \ \ N \ \ \ \ \ O)^ A VINDICATION OF THOMAS PAINE IN REPLY TO The New York Observer, ROBERT G. INGBRSOLL. To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, is like administering medicine to the dead. TnoMAs Paine. PUBLISHED BY J. P. MENDUM, BOSTON, MASS. 1877. e. PHTi. > THE PUBLISHEE’S PREFACE. THOMAS PAINE. The name of this illustrious Revolutionary Patriot has been a text from which the bigoted portion of the clergy have preached abuse and slander for a long series of years; and most of the religious papers of the times have, in their syco¬ phancy to the priesthood, reiterated and repeated the abuse and shameful falsehoods. No matter how formidable or truthful have been the replies made to their false stories and malignant asser¬ tions, they have never had the candor to admit a reply, nor to make any apology for the abuse be¬ stowed upon his name, nor given any proof of the truth of any of the stories made up and circulated by them against the great and illustrious dead. Their motto has indeed seemed to be, ‘‘If the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why yet am I also judged as a sin¬ ner?’' And as if determined that the gospel should be sustained‘and propagated by (2?/^ means, they have not hesitated to lie for the glory of God, and have abused the name of Thomas Paine as one of the means; supposing that such a course would be . a sufficient reply, instead of examining his works I PREFACE. and answering the arguments contained therein, against the supposed authenticity of the Holv Bible. Year after year the clergy and their supporters have repeated their false stories, and as often as their trutliless missiles have fallen in our way, they have been candidly examined and replied to: but not one instance that we are aware of, has occurred where our replies or the replies of any liiberal have been noticed or given a fair hearing by those who have defamed Thomas Paine. And to such lengths have these slanders been carried, that our very eloquent and talented lec¬ turer and efficient writer. Col. R. G. Ingersoll, de¬ termined if possible to silence these calumniators, made a liberal offer of one thousand dollars in GOLD, to any person who would prove that these base charges and assertions had any foundation in truth. The iV. Y. Editors, not knowing the strong determination of Col. IngersoW, pj'etend- ed to produce evidence to substantiate these charges first denying that they had met the Colonel with abuse. But if they had supposed to silence the eloquent lecturer in this way, they most surely ‘‘reckoned without their host;^’ for the exhaustive vindication in the following pages must convince every candid reader that the vindictive and ma¬ licious stories which have for so many years been used to frighten the timid and redound to the ben¬ efit of the church, were fabricated by enemies of Mr. Paine, and kept in circulation by the pious frauds who flourish all over our country, until nearly every one is familiar with these false death¬ bed scenes of Paine. With some parties alluded to by Col. Ingersoll in his Vindication, we were personally acquainted, PREFACE. Ill especially with Mr. Woodsworth, having enjoyed his company on several occasions at our Paine celebrations. He always asserted that Paine was not an intemperate man — that lie died with¬ out any sign of regret at the great part he had acted in writing the Age of Reason. We asked Mr. Woodsworth on one occasion, if there was any trutli in the story told of Paine calling on Jesus to help him? ‘‘No!” replied the old gentle¬ man, with much emphasis. “ But,” we asked, “was there no ground at all for the assertion ?— Is it possible that such a story could have origi¬ nated without any foundation whatever .^ ” “Well,” replied Mr. Woodsworth, “I will tell you the origin of that story, as 1 believe it. Mr. Paine had been sick many months, and from long confinement to his bed, had become very sore, which caused him considerable pain. When he was moved 1 was sometimes called in to assist in changing him from the bed he had occupied all night to one freshly made. Two or three morn¬ ings before his death I was asked in for this pur¬ pose, and as we placed him on the other bed, he, looking me very keenly in the eye, exclaimed, ‘Oh ! Jesus, how you hurt me I ’ “ Nothing more was thought of it by his attend¬ ants than that it was an exclamation occasioned by great bodily pain. I went from the sick man’s house to a neighboring grocery, and there some one asked if I had been in to see Mr. Paine ; and on being answered in the affirmative, inquired how he was, to which I replied that he was very low, and told the little incident as above related. Some parties overheard the conversation, and I pre¬ sumed went out and repeated it as near as it had been heard. Not long after, the story was circu- PREFACE. iv lated that Thomas Paine just before his death called on Jesus I Thus von understand the oriRin of that story ; reported, no doubt, innocently by the listener, who had not heard the whole of our con¬ versation, but told it as near as he heard it, and being often repeated by different persons has be¬ come like the cloud seen by tlie Prophet; at first not bigger than a man’s hand, it has spread over the whole religious community, for the fanatics to entertain their gossip-loving hearers with.” In December, 1846, we were sent for to visit New York,-at the request of Judge Thomas Hert- tell, on some important business, and during our stay at his house the conversation turned on Thomas Paine and his habits. Mrs. Herttell told us that she knew Mr. Paine very well; that when she was a girl, living with her uncle, Dr. Young, Paine was frequently a visitor at the house; but never was it once intimated that he was an intem¬ perate man, nor did his appearance indicate that he was addicted to the excessive use of ardent spirits. Walter Morton, Esq., one of the executors to Paine’s will, thus speaks of his firmness as re¬ gards his religious views, which should be conclu¬ sive to establish the fact that Paine did not re¬ cant, falter, or tremble at the approach of death : ‘Mn his religious opinions he continued to the last as steadfast and tenacious as any sectarian to the definition of his own creed. He never, indeed, broached the subject first, but to intrusive and in¬ quisitive visitors, who came to try him on that point, his general answer was to this effect:—‘ My opinions are now before the world, and all have an opportunity to refute them if they can. I be- mEFACE. V lieve them unanswerable truths, and that I have done great service to mankind by boldly putting them forth. I do not wish to argue upon the sub¬ ject now. I have labored disinterestedly in tlie cause of truth.’ I shook his hand after his use of speech was gone ; but Avhile the other organs told me sufficiently that he knew me and appreciated my affection, liis eye glistened with genius under the pangs of death.” We here leave the subject with Col. Ingersoll and the Neio York Observer^ hoping our readers will peruse both sides, and then decide as to the truth of the slanders against Mr. Paine. To those who are aware of the debt of gratitude due to the memory of Thomas Paine for the great services he has rendered the American Republic, we would say, in closing these remarks, that we have been instrumental in having erected in Boston a hand¬ some and useful edifice as an appropriate and de¬ served monument to his name and memory ; and ^s as there remains a large debt on the Paine Memo¬ rial, we earnestly call upon all his friends to help' us pay it off. Contributions, large or small, will be most thankfully received, and honestly appro¬ priated to the object of freeing Paine Memorial of debt, and placing it in the hands of the Liberals of the country as a permanent Temple for the development and maintenance of Free Thought and Free Speech, as well as a fitting tribute to the life and services of the ‘‘Author-Hero of the American Revolution,” the great political and religious reformer of his age, the conqueror of kingcraft, priestcraft, and superstition, and the world-renowned champion of universal mental liberty, Thomas Paine. J. P. M. THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. “ To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, is like administering medicine to the dead.”— Thomas Pai^^e. Peoria^ (IlL,) October 8, 1877. To THE Editor of the N. Y. Observer:— Sir:—Last June in San Francisco, I offered a thou¬ sand dollars in gold—not as a wager, but as a gift—to any one that would substantiate the absurd story that Thomas Paine died in agony and fear, frightened by the clanking chains of devils. I also offered the same amount to any minister that would prove that Voltaire did not pass away as serenely as the coming of the dawn. Afterwards I was informed that you had ac¬ cepted the offer, and had called upon me to deposit the money. . Acting upon this information, I sent you the following letter:— Peoria, {III.,) August 31, 1877. To THE Editor of the New York Observer:— I have been informed that you accepted, in your paper, an offer made l)y me to any clergyman in San Francisco. That olfer was. that 1 would pay one thousand dollars in gold to any minister- in that city, who would prove that Thomas Paine died in terror because of religious opinions he had ex¬ pressed, or that Voltaire did not pass away serenely as the coming of the dawn. 4 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. For many years religious journals and ministers have been circulating certain pretended accounts of the frightful agonies endured hy Paine and Voltaire when dying; that these great men at the moment of death were terrified because they had given their honest opinions upon the subject of religion to their fellow-men. The imagination of the religious world has been taxed to the utmost in inventing absurd and infamous accounts of the last moments of these intellectual giants. Every Sunday School paper, thousands of idiotic tracts and countless stupidities, called sermons, have been filled with these calumnies. Paine and Voltaire were both believers in God—both hoped for immortality—both believed in special Providence. But both denied the inspiration of the Scriptures—both denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. While theologians most cheerfully admit that most murderers die without fear, they deny the possibility of any man who has expressed his disbelief in the inspiration of the Bible, dying except in an agony of terror. These stories are used in revivals and in Sunday schools, and have long been considered of great value. I am anxious that these slanders should cease. I am desirous of seeing justice done, even at this late day, to the dead. For the purpose of ascertaining the evidence upon which these death-bed accounts really rest, I make to you the fol¬ lowing proiDOsition:— First .—As to Thomas Paine: I will deposit with the First National Bank of Peoria, Illinois, one thousand dollars in gold, upon the following conditions: This money shall be sub¬ ject TO your order when you shall, in the manner hereinafter provided, substantiate that Thomas Paine admitted the Bible to he uninspired book, or that he recanted his Infidel oiiin- ions—or that he died regretting that he had disbelieved the Bible—or that he died calling upon Jesus Christ in any re¬ ligious sense whatever. In order that a tribunal may be created to try this question, you may select one man, I will select another, and the two thus chosen shall select a third, and any two of the three may decide the matter. As there will be certain costs and expenditures on-both sides, such costs and expenditures shall be paid by the de¬ feated party. In addition to the one thousand dollars in gold, I v»'ill de¬ posit a bond with good and sufficient security in the sum of two thousand dollars, conditioned for the payment of all costs in case I am defeated. I shall require of you a like bond. From the date of accepting this offer you may have ninety days to collect and present your testimony, giving me notice of time and place of taking depositions. I shall have a like - time to take evidence upon my side, givin^ you like notice, and you shall then have thirty days to take further testimony in reply to what I may offer. The case shall then be argued THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. "before the persons chosen; and their decision shall he final as to us. If the arbitrator chosen by me shall die, I shall have the right to choose another. You shall have the same right. If the third one, chosen by our two, shall die, the two shall choose another; and all vacancies, from whatever cause, shall be filled upon the same principle. The arbitrators shall sit, when and where a majority may determine, and shall have full power to i)ass upon all ques¬ tions arising as to competency of evidence and upon all sub¬ jects. Second .—As to Yoltaike: I make the same proposition. If you will substantiate that Voltaire died expressing remorse or showing in any way that he was in mental agony because he had attacked Catholicism—or because he had denied the inspiration of the Bible—or because he had denied the divinity of Christ. I make these propositions because I want your i)eoi)le to stop slandering the dead. If the propositions do not suit you in any particular, please state your objections, and I will modify them in any way con¬ sistent with the object in view. If Paine and Voltaire died filled with childish and silly fear, I want to know it, and I want the world to know it. On the other hand, if the believers in superstition have made and circulated these cruel slanders concerning the mighty dead, I want the world to know that. As soon as you notify me o£ the acceptance of these propo¬ sitions, I will send you the certificate of the bank that the money has been deposited upon the foregoing conditions, together with copies of bonds for costs. R. G. Ingeksoll. In your paper of September 27th, 1877, you acknow¬ ledge the receipt of the foregoing letter, and after giv¬ ing an outline of its contents, say : As not one of the affirmations, in the form stated in this letter, was con¬ tained in the offer we made, we have no occasion to sub¬ stantiate them. But we are prepared to produce the evidence of the truth of our own statement, and even to go further: ‘ to show not only that Tom Paine died a drunken, cowardly, and beastly death,' but that for many years previous, and up to that event, he lived a drunken and beastly ‘life.' " In order to refresh your memory as to what you had published, I call your attention to the following, which 6 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. appeared in the New York Observer the 19th of July, 1877:— Put Down the Money. Col. Bob Ingersoll in a speech full of ribaldry and blasphemy, made in San Francisco recently, said:— ‘ I will give $1,000 in gold coin to any clergyman who can substantiate that the death of Voltaire was not as peaceful as the dawn; and of Tom Paine whom they assert died in fear and agony, frightened by the clankiug chains of devils—in fact frightened to death by God. I will give $1,000 likewise to any one who can substantiate this ‘ absurd story a story without a word of truth in it.’ AVe have published the testimony, and the witnesses are on hand to prove that Tom Paine died a drunken, cowardly, and beastly death. Let the Colonel deposit the money with any honest man and the absurd story^ as he terms it^ shall be shown to be an ower true tale. But he won't do it. His talk is Infidel ‘ Buncombe ' and nothing more." On the 31st of August I sent you my letter, and on the 27th of September you say in your paper : As not one of the affirmations in the form stated in this letter was contained in the offer we made, we have no occasion to substantiate them.’* What were the affirmations contained in the offer you made ? I had offered a thousand dollars in gold to any one who would substantiate the absurd story ' that Thomas Paine died in ’ fear and agony^ frightened by the clanking chains of devils—in fact frightened to death by God." In response to this offer you said : Let the Colonel deposit the money with an honest man and the ‘ absurd story,’ as he terms it, shall be shown to be an ^ower true ’ tale. But he won’t do it. His talk is Infidel ^ Buncombe ’ and nothing more.” Did you not offer to prove that Paine died in fear and agony, frightened by the clanking chains of devils ? THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. 7 Did jou not ask me to deposit the money that you might prove the absurd story to be an ower true tale and obtain the money *? Did you not in your paper of the 27th of September in eifect deny that you had offer¬ ed to prove this absurd story ? As soon as I offered to deposit the gold and give bonds besides to cover costs, did you not publish a falsehood ? You have eaten your own words, and, for my part, I would rather have dined with Ezekiel than with you. You have not met the issue. You have knowingly avoided it. The question was not as to the personal habits of Paine. The real question was and is, whether Paine was filled with fear and horror at the time of his death on account of his religious opinions? That is the question. You avoid this. In effect, you abandon that charge, and make others. To you belongs the honor of having made the most cruel and infamous charges against Thomas Paine that have ever been made. Of what you have said you can¬ not prove the truth of one word. You say that Thomas Paine died a drunken, cowardly, and beastly death. I pronounce this charge to be a cowardly and beastly falsehood. Have you any evidence that he was in a drunken condition when he died ? What did he say or do of a cowardly character just before, or at about the time of his death ? In what way was his death cowardly ? You must answer these questions, and give your proof, or all honest men will hold you in abhorrence. You have made these charges. The man against whom you make them is dead. He cannot answer you. I can. He cannot compel you to produce your testimony, or admit by your silence that you have cruelly slandered the defenceless dead. I can and I will. You say that his death was cowardly. In what respect? Was it cow¬ ardly in him to hold the Thirty-Nine Articles in con¬ tempt? Was it cowardly not to call on your Lord? 8 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. Was it cowardly not to be afraid? You say that his death was beastly. Again I ask, in what respect ? Was it beastly to submit to the inevitable with tran¬ quillity? Was it beastl}' to look with composure upon the approach of death? Was it beastly to die without a complaint, without a murmur—to pass from life with¬ out a tear ? Did Thomas Paine Eecant ? Mr. Paine had prophesied that fanatics would crawl and cringe around him during his last moments. He believed that they would put a lie in the mouth of death. When the shadow of the coming dissolution was upon him, two clergymen, Messrs. Miliedollar and Cunning¬ ham, called to annoy the djing man. Mr. Cunning¬ ham had the politeness to say, ‘‘ Y’ou have now a full view of death—you cannot live long, and whosoever does not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will assuredly be damned.” Mr. Paine replied, ‘‘ Let me have none of your Popish stuflP. Get away with you Good morning.” On another occasion a Methodist minister obtruded himself when Willct Hicks was present. This minister declared to Mr. Paine that unless he repented of his unbelief he would be damned.” Paine, although at the door of death, rose in his bed and indignantly requested the clergyman to leave his room. On another occasion, two brothers by the name of Pigott, sought to convert him. He was displeased and requested their departure. Afterwards Thomas Nixon and Capt. Daniel Pelton visit¬ ed him for the express purpose of ascertaining whether he had, in any manner, changed his religious opiiions. They were assured by the dying man that he still held the principles he had expressed in his writings. Afterwards, these gentlemen hearing that William Cobbett was about to write a life of Paine sent him the following note: — THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. 9 New YorICf April 24, 1818. 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 ex¬ pected he would die, we the subscribers, intimate acquaint¬ ances of Thomas Paine since the year 1776, went to his house. He was sitting up in a chair, and apparently in full vigor and use of all his mental faculties. We interrogated him upon his religious opinions, and if he had changed his mind, or re¬ pented 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, befoie a number of persons then in his room, among whom 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.” Thomas Nixoh. Daniel Felton. €. Mr. Jarvis, the artist, saw Mr. Paine one or two days before his death. To Mr. Jarvis he expressed his be¬ lief in his written opinions upon the subject of religion. B. P. Haskin, an attorney of the City of New York, also visited him and inquired as to his religious opin¬ ions. Paine was then upon the threshhold of death, but he did not tremble. He was not a coward. He ex¬ pressed his firm and unshaken belief in the religious ideas he had given to the world. Dr. Manley was with him when he spoke his last words. Dr. Manley asked the dying man if he did not wish to believe that Jesus was the Son of (rod? and the dying philosopher answered: have no wish to be¬ lieve on that subject.’’ Amasa Woods worth sat up with Thomas Paine the night before his death. In 1839, Gilbert Vale hearing that Mr. M^oodsworth was, living in or near Boston, visited him for the purpose of getting his statement. The statement was published in the Beacon of June 5, 1839, while thousands who had been acquainted with Mr. Paine were living. The following is the article referred to:— 10 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. “We have just returned from Boston. One object of our visit to that city, was to see a Mr. Amasa Woods worth, an en¬ gineer, now retired in a handsome cottage and garden at East Cambridge, near Boston. This gentleman owned the house occupied by Paine at his death—while he lived next door. As an act of kindness Mr. Woodsworth visited Mr. Paine every day for six weeks before his death. He frequently sat up with him, and did so on the last two nights of liis 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 em¬ phasis, replied, ‘I have nawish to believe on that subject.* He lived some time after this but was not known to speak, for he died tranquilly. Pie 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 lie 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 the in¬ sinuations. Mr. Woodsworth-assures us that he neither heard nor saw anything to justify the belief of anymental 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 lying, he was generally too uneasy to enjoy conversation on abstract subjects. This, then, is the best evidence that can be procured on this sub¬ ject, and we publish it while the contravenieg parties are yet alive, and with the authority of Mr. Woodsworth.” Gilbert Yale. A few weeks ago I received the following letter which confirms the statement of Mr. Vale:— Near Stockton, Cal., 1 Greenwood Cottage^ July 9, 1877. j Col. Tngersoll -In 1842 I talked with a gentlemali in Bos¬ ton. I have forgotten his name; but he was then an engineer of the Charlestown navy yard. I am thus particular so that you can find his name on the books. -He told me that he nursed Thomas Paine in his last illness, and closed his eyes when dead. I asked him if he recanted and called upon God to save him. He replied, “No. He died as he had taught. He liad a sore upon his side and when we turned him it was very painful and he would cry out, “Oh! God, or somethiDg like that.” “But.” said the narrator, “ that was nothing, for he believed in a God.’ I told him that I had often heard it asserted from the pulpii that Mr. Paine hafi recanted in his last moments. The gentleman said that it was not true, and he appeared to be an intelligent, truthful man. With respect I remain, &c., Philip Graves, M. D. THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. 11 The next witness is Willet Hicks, a Quaker preacher. He says that during the last illness of Mr. Paine he visited him almost daily, and that Paine died firmly convinced of the truth of the -religious opinions he had given to his fellow men. It was to this same Willet Hicks that Paine applied for permission to be buried in the cemetery of the Quakers. Permission was refused. This refusal settles the question of recantation. If he had recanted, of course there could have been no objec¬ tion to his body being buried by the side of the best hypocrites on the earth. If Paine recanted why should he be denied “a little earth for charity?” Had he recanted, it would have been regarded as a vast and splendid triumph for the Grospel. It would with much noise and pomp and ostentation have been heralded about the world. I received the following letter to-day. The writer is well known in this city, and is a man of high charac¬ ter:— Peoria^ Oct. 8, 1877. Robert G. Ingersoll : —Esteemed Friend: — My parents . were Friends (Quakers.) My father died when 1 was very young. The elderly and middle-aged Friends visited at my mother's house We lived in the city of New York Among the number I distinctly remember Elias Hicks, Willet Hicks, and a Mr.- Hay who was a bookseller in Pearl Street. Theie were many others whose names I do not now remem¬ ber. The subject of the recantation of Thomas Paine of his views about the Bible in his last illness or at any other time was discussed by them in my presence at different times. I learned from them that some of them had attended upon Thom¬ as Paine in his last sickness and ministered to his wants up to the time of his death. And upon the question of whether he did recant, there was but one expression. They all said that he did not recant in any manner. I often fieard*them say that they wish he had recanted. In fact, according to them, the nearer he approached death the more positive he appeared to be in his convictions. These conversations were from 1820 to 1822. I was at the time from ten to twelve years old, but these conversations impressed themselves upon me because many thoughtless people then blamed the Society of Friends for their kindness to the arch-Infidel,” Thomas Paine. Truly yours. A. C. Hankinson. I 12 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED, # A few days ago 1 received the following letter:— Albany^ (A 7.,) Sept. 27, 1877. Dear Sir: —It is over twenty years ago that professionally I made the acquaintance of John Hogehoom, a Justice of tho Peace of the County of Rensselaer, New York. He was then over seventy years of age and had the reputation of being a man of candor and integrity. He was a great admirer of Paine. He told me that he was iiersonally acquainted with him, and used to see him frequently during the la'^t years of his life in the city of New York, where Hoge})Oom then re¬ sided. I asked him if there was any truth in the charge that Paine was in tlie habit of getting drunk? He said that it was utterly false; that he never heard of such a thing during the life-time of Mr. Paine, and did not believe any one else did, I asked him about the recantation of his religious opinions on his death-bed, and the revolting death-bed scenes that the world had heard so much about. He said there was no truth in them, that he had received his information from persons who attended Paine in his last illness, “ and that he passed peacefully away as we may say in the sunshine of a great boul.** Yours truly, W. J. Hilton. The witnesses by whom I substantiate the fact that Thomas Paine did not recant, and that he died holding the religious opinions he had published, are First —Thomas Nixon, Captain Daniel Pelton, B. P. Haskin. These gentlemen visited him during his last illness for the purpose of ascertaining whether he had in any respect changed his views upon religion. He told them that he had not. Second —James Cheetham. This man was the most malicious enemy Mr. Paine had, and yet he admits that Thomas Paine died placidly, and almost without a struggle.’’—[See Life of Thomas Paine, by James Cheet^ ham. Third —The ministers, Milledollar and Cunningham. These gentlemen told Mr. Paine that if he died without believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, he would be damned, and Paine replied, ‘^Let me have none of your Popish stuff. Good morning.”—[See Sherwin’s Life of Paine, page 220. Fourth —Mrs. Hedden. She told these same preach- THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. 13 ers when they attempted to obtrude themselves upon Mr. Paine again, that the attempt to convert Mr. Paine was useless—that if God did not change his mind no human power could.” ' Fifth —Andrew A. Dean. This man lived upon Mr. Paine’s farm at New Rochelle, and corresponded with him upon religious subjects.—[See Paine’s Theological Works, page 308, Sixth —Mr. Jarvis, the artist with whom Paine lived. He gives an account of an old lady coming to Paine and telling him that God Almighty had sent her to tell him that unless he repented and believed in the blessed Sa¬ viour he would be damned. Paine replied that God would not send such a foolish old woman with such an impertinent message. — [See Clio Rickman’s Life of Paine. Seventh —William Carver, with whom Paine boarded. Mr. Carver said again and again that Paine did not re¬ cant. He knew him well, and had every opportunity of knowing.—[See Life of Paine by Vale. Eighth. —Dr. Manley, who attended him in his last sickness, and to whom Paine spoke his last words. Dr. Manley asked him if he did not wish to believe in Jesus Christ, and he replied : I have no wish to believe on that subject.” Ninth —Willet Hicks and Elias Hicks, who were with him frequently during his last sickness, and both of whom tried to persuade him to recant. According to their testimony Mr. Paine died as he had lived—a be¬ liever in God, and a friend of man. Willet Hicks was offered money to say something false against Thomas Paine. He was even offered money to remain silent and allow others to slander the dead. Mr. Hicks, speaking of Thomas Paine, said: He was a good man—an hon¬ est man.”—[See Vale’s Life of Paine. Tenth —Amasa Woodsworth, who was with him every day for some six weeks immediately preceding his death, 2 14 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. and sat up with him the last two nights of his life. This man declares that Paine did not recant, and that he died tranquilly. The evidence of Mr. Woodsworth is con¬ clusive. Eleventh —Thomas Paine himself. The will of Thomas Paine written by himself commences as follows : The last will and testament of me the subscriber, Thomas Paine, reposing confidence in my creator God, and in no other being, for I know of no other, nor be¬ lieve in any other,” and closes in these words: I have lived an honest and useful life to mankind; my time has been spent in doing good; and I die in perfect com¬ posure and resignation to the will of my creator God.” Twelfth —If Thomas Paine recanted, why do you pur¬ sue him'? If he recanted, he died substantially in your belief. For what reason then do you denounce his death as cowardly ? If upon his death-bed he renounced the opinions he had published, the business of defaming him should be done by Infidels, not by Christians. I ask you if it is honest to throwaway the testimony of his friends—the evidence of fair and honorable men—and take the putrid words of avowed and malignant enemies? When Thomas Paine was dying, he was infested by fanatics—by the snaky spies of bigotry. In the shad¬ ows of death were the unclean birds of prey waiting to tear with beak and claw the corpse of him who wrote the ‘‘ Eights of Man.” And there lurking and crouch* ing in the d^kness were the jackals and hyenas of su¬ perstition ready to violate his grave. These birds of prey—these unclean beasts, are the witnesses produced and relied upon by you. One by one the instruments of torture have been wrenched from the cruel clutch of the church, until within the armory of Orthodoxy there remains but one weapon—Slander. Against the witnesses that I have produced, you can bring just two—-Mary Eoscoe and Mary Hinsdale. The THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. 15 first is referred to in the memoir of Stephen Grellet. She had once been a servant in his house. Grel¬ let tells what happened between this girl and Paine. According to this account Paine asked Ler if she had ever read any of his writings, and on being told that she had read very little of them, he inquired what she thought of them, adding that from such an one as she he expected a correct answer. Let us examine this falsehood. hy would Paine ex¬ pect a correct answer about his writings from one who had read very little of them? Does not such a state¬ ment devour itself? This young lady further said that the Age of Eeason ” was put in her hands, and that the more she read in it, the more dark and distressed she felt, and that she threw the book into the fire. Where¬ upon -Mr. Paine remarked, I wish all had done as you did, for if the devil ever had any agency in any work, he had it in ray writing that book.” The next is Mary Hinsdale. She was a servant in the family of Willet Hicks. She, like Mary Eoscoe, was sent to carry some delicacy to Mr. Paine. To this young lady Paine, according to her account, said precisely the same that he did to Mary Eoscoe, and she said the same thing to Mr. Paine. My own opinion is that Mary Eoscoe and Mary Hins¬ dale are one and the same person, or the same story has been by mistake put in the mouth of both. It is not possible that the same conversation should have taken place between Paine and Mary Eoscoe, and between him and Mary Hinsdale. Mary Hinsdale lived with Willet Hicks, and he pro¬ nounced her story a pious fraud and fabrication. He said that Thomas Paine never said any such thing to Mary Hinsdale.—[See Vale’s Life of Paine. Another thing about this witness. A woman by the namej)f Mary Lockwood, aHicksite Quaker, died. Mary Hinsdale met her brother about that time and told him that his sister had recanted, and wanted her to say so at her funeral. This turned out to be false. 16 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. It has been claimed that Mary Hinsdale made her statement to Charles Collins. Long after the alleged occurrence, G-ilbert Vale, one of the biographers of Paine, had a conversation with Collins concerning Mary Hinsdale. Vale asked him whut he thought of her. He replied that some of the Friends believed that she used opiates, and that they did not give credit to her state¬ ments. He also said that he believed what the Friends said, but thought that when a young woman, she might have told the truth. In 1818 William Cobbett came to New York. He began collecting materials for a life of Thomas Paine. In this way he became acquainted with Mary Hinsdale and Charles Collins. Mr. Cobbett gave a full account of what happened in a letter addressed to the Norwich Mercury in 1819. From this account it seems that Charles Collins told Cobbett that Paine had recanted. Cobbett called for the testimony, and told Mr. Collins that he must give time, place, and the circumstances. He finally brought a statement that he stated had been made by Mary Hinsdale. Armed with this document Cobbett, in October of that year, called upon the said Mary Hinsdale, at No. 10 Anthony street. New York, and showed her the statement. Upon being questioned by Mr. Cobbett, she said : “ That it was so long ago 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 Charles Collins authority to say any¬ thing about the matter in her name.’* And so in the month of October in the year of Grace 1818, in the mist and fog of forgetfulness disappeared forever one Mary Hinsdale, the last and only witness against the intellec¬ tual honesty of Thomas Paine. 17 TH:0MAS PAINE VINDICATED. « Did Thomas Paine Die in Destitution and Want ? The charge has been made over and over again that Thomas Paine died in want and destitution ; that he was an abandoned pauper—an outcast without friends, and without money. This charge is just as false as the rest. Upon his return to this country in 1802, he was worth $30,000, according to his own statement made at that time in the following letter addressed to Clio Eick- man:— My Dear Friend: —Mr. Monroe, who is appointed minister extraordinary to France, takes charge of this, to he delivered to Mr. Este, hanker in Paris, to he forwarded to you. I arrived at Baltimore 30th of October, and you can have no idea of the agitation which my arrival occasioned. From New Hampshire to Georgia (an extent of 1,500 miles) every news¬ paper was filled with applause or abuse. My property in this country has been taken care of by my friends, and is now worth six thousand pounds sterling, which put in the funds will bring me £400 sterling a year. Remember me in affection and friendship to your wife and family, and in the circle of your friends, Thomas Paine. I A man in those days worth thirty thousand dollars was not a pauper. That amount would bring an income of at least two thousand dollars per annum. Two thou¬ sand dollars then would be fully equal to five thousand dollars now. On the 12th of July, 1809, the year in which he died, Mr. Paine made his will. From this instrument we learn that he was the owner of a valuable farm within twenty miles of New York. He also was the owner of thirty shares in the New York Phoenix Insurance Com¬ pany, worth upwards of fifteen hundred dollars. Be¬ sides this, some personal property and ready money. By his will he gave to Walter Morton, and Thomas Addis Emmet, brother of Robert Emmet, two hundred dollars each, and one hundred to the widow of Elihu Palmer. Is it possible that this will was made by a pauper, by 18 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. a destitute outcast, by a man who suffered for the ordi¬ nary necessaries of life ? But suppose, for the sake of the argument, that he was poor, and that he died a beggar; does that tend to show that the Bible is an inspired book, and that Calvin did not burn Servetus? Do you really regard poverty as a crime ? If Paine had died a millionaire ,would you have accepted his religious opinions ? If Paine had drank nothing but cold water would you have repudi¬ ated the five cardinal points of Calvinism ? Does an argument depend for its force upon the pecuniary condi¬ tion of the person making it ? As a matter of fact, most reformers—most men and women of genius, have been acquainted with poverty. Beneath a covering of rags have been found some of the tenderest and bravest hearts. Owing to the attitude of the church for the last fif¬ teen hundred jears, truth-telling has not been a very lucrative business. As a rule, hypocrisy has worn the robes, and honesty the rags. That day is passing away. You cannot now answer the argument of a man, by point¬ ing at holes in his coat. Thomas Paine attacked the church when it was powerful; when it had what it called honors to bestow ; when it was the keeper of the public conscience; when it was strong and cruel. The church waited till he was dead, and then attacked his reputa¬ tion and his clothes. Once upon a time a donkey kicked a lion. The lion was dead. Did Thomas Paine Live the Life of a Drunken Beast,AND Did He Die a Drunken, Cowardly and Beastly Death ? Upon you rests the burden of substantiating these in¬ famous charges. You have, I suppose, produced the best evidence in THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. 19 your possession, and that evidence I will now pi’oceed to examine. Your first witness is Grant Thorburn. He makes .three charges against Thomas Paine. 1st. That his wife obtained a divorce from him in England for cru¬ elty and neglect. 2d. That he was a defaulter, and fled from England to America. 3d. That he was a drunkard. These three charges stand upon the same evidence^—the word of Grant Thorburn. If they are not all true, Mr. Thorburn stands impeached. The charge that Mrs. Paine obtained a divorce on ac¬ count of the cruelty and neglect of her husband, is ut¬ terly false. There is no such record in the world, and never was. Paine and his wife separated by mutual consent. Each respe'cted the other. They remained friends. This charge is without any foundation in fact. 1 challenge the Christian world to produce the record of this decree of divorce. According to JVlr. Thorburn it was granted in England. In that country public records are kept of all such decrees. Have the kindness to pro¬ duce this decree, showing that it was given on account of cruelty, or admit that Mr. Thorburn was mistaken. Thomas Paine was a just man. Although separated from his wife, he always spoke of her with tenderness and respect, and frequently sent her money without let¬ ting her know the source from whence it came. Was this the conduct of a drunken beast? The second charge, that Paine was a defaulter in Eng¬ land and fled to America, is equally false. He did not flee from England. He came to America, not as a fugi¬ tive, but as a free man. He came with a letter of intro¬ duction signed by another Infidel, Benjamin Franklin. He came as a soldier of Freedom—an apostle of Liberty. In this second charge there is not one word of truth. He held a small office in England. If he was a de¬ faulter the records of that country will show that fact. Mr. Thorburn, unless the record can be produced to substantiate him, stands convicted of at least two mis¬ takes. Now as to the third : He says that in 1802 Paine was 20 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. an old remnant of mortality, drunk, bloated, and half asleep/’ Can any one believe this to be a true account of the personal appearance of Mr. Paine in 1802? He had just returned from France. He had been welcomed home by Thomas Jefferson, who had said that he was entitled to the hospitality of every American. In 1802 Mr. Paine was honored with a public dinner in the city of New York. He was called upon and treat- .ed with kindness and respect by such men as De Witt Clinton. In 1806 Mr. Paine wrote a letter to Andrew A. Dean upon the subject of religion. 'Bead that letter and then say that the writer of it was an ‘‘ old remnant of mor¬ tality, drunk, bloated, and half asleep.” Search the files of the New York Observer from the first issue to the last, and you will find nothing superior to this letter. In 1803 Mr. Paine wrote a letter of considerable length, and of great force, to his friend Samuel Adams. Such letters are not written by drunken beasts, nor by rem¬ nants of old mortality, nor by drunkards. It was about the same time that he wrote his “ Eemarks on Eobert Hall’s Sermons ” Tiiese “ Eemarks ” were not written by a drunken beast, but by a clear-headed and thought¬ ful man. In 1804 he published an essay on the invasion of England, and a treatise on gun-boats, full of valuable maritime information. In 1805 a treatise on yellow fe¬ ver, suggesting modes of prevention. In short, he was an industrious and thoughtful man. He sympathised with the poor and oppressed of all lands. He looked upon monarchy as a species of physical slavery. He had the goodness to attack that form of government. He re¬ garded the religion of his day as a kind of mental sla¬ very. He had the courage to give his reasons for his opinions. His reasons filled the churches with hatred. Instead of answering his arguments they attacked him. Men who were not fit to blacken his shoes, blackened his character. THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. 21 There is too much religious cant in the statement of Mr. Thorburn. He exhibits too much anxiety to tell what Grant Thorburn said to Thomas Paine. He names Thomas Jefferson as one of the disreputable men who welcomed Paine with open arms. The testimony of a man who regarded Thomas Jefferson as a disreputable » person, as to the character of anybody, is utterly without value. In my judgment the testimony of Mr. Thorburn should be thrown aside as wholly unworthy of belief. Your next witness is Pev. J. D. Wickham, D. D., who tells what an elder in his church said. This elder said that Paine passed his last days on his farm at New Eo- chelle with a solitary female attendant. This is not true. He did not pass his last days at New Eochelle. Consequently this pious elder did not see him during his last days at that place. Upon this elder we prove an alibi. Mr. Paine passed his last days in the city of New York in a house upon Columbia street. The story of the Eev. J. D. Wickham, D. D., is «imply false. The next competent false witness is the Eev. Charles Hawley, D. D , who proceeds to state that the story of the Eev. J. D. W., is corroborated by older citizens of New Eochelle. The names of these ancient residents are withheld. According to these unknown witnesses the account given by the deceased elder was entirely correct. But as the particulars of Mr. Paine’s conduct were too loathsome to be described in print,” we are left en¬ tirely in the dark as to what he really did. While at New Eochelle Mr. Paine lived with Mr. Purdy, with Mr. Dean, with Capt. Pelton, and with Mr. Staple. It is worthy of note that all of these gentlemen give the lie direct to the statements of ‘‘older residents ” and ancient citizens spoken of by the Eev. Charles Haw¬ ley, D. D., and leave him with his “loathsome particu¬ lars” existing only in his own mind. The next gentleman you bring upon the stand is W. H. Ladd, who quotes from the memoirs of Stephen Grel- let. This gentleman has also the misfortune to be dead. 22 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. According to his account Mr. Paine made his recanta¬ tion to a servant girl of his by the name of Mary Koscoe. To this girl, according to the account, Mr. Paine uttered the wish that all who read his book had burned it. I believe there is a mistake in the name of this girl. Her name was probably Mary Hinsdale, as it was once claimed that Paine made the same remark to her, but this point I shall notice hereafter. These are your wit¬ nesses, and the only ones you bring forward to support your charge that Thomas Paine lived a drunken and beastly life, and died a drunken, cowardly, and beastly death. Ail these calumnies are found in a life of Paine by a Mr. Cheetham, the convicted libeller already re¬ ferred to. Mr. Cheetham was an enemy of the man whose life he pretended to write. In order to show you the estimation in which Mr. Cheetham was held by Mr. Paine, I will give you a copy of a letter that throws light upon this point. October 27th, 1807. Mr. Cheetham: —Unless you make a public apology for the abuse and falsehood in your paper of Tuesday, October 27th, respecting me, I will prosecute you for lying. * Thomas Paine. In another letter, speaking of this same man, Mr. Paine says: ‘‘ If an unprincipled bully cannot be re¬ formed, he can be punished.’^ ‘‘ Cheetham has been so long in the habit of giving false information, that truth is to him like a foreign language.” Mr. Cheetham wrote the life of Paine to gratify his malice and-to support religion. He was prosecuted for libel; was convicted and fined. Yet the life of Paine written by this man is referred to by the Christian world as the highest authority! As to the personal habits of Mr. Paine, we have the testimony of William Carver with whom he lived ; of Mr. Jarvis, the artist, with whom he lived; of Mr. Staple, with whom he lived; of Mr. Purdy, who was a tenant i THOIVIAS PAINE VINDICATED. 23 of Paine; of Mr. Burger, with whom he was intimate ; of Thomas Nixon, and Gapt. Daniel Pelton, both of whom knew him well; of Amasa Woodsworth, who was with him when he died; of John Fellows, who boarded at the same house ; of James Wilburn, with whom he boarded ; of B, F. Haskin, a lawyer, who was well acquainted with him and called upon him during his last illness; of Walter Morton, President of the Phoenix Insurance Company; of Clio Kickman, who had known him for many years ; of Willet and Elias Hicks, Quakers, who knew him intimately and well; of Judge Thomas Her- tell, H. Margery, Elihu Palmer, and many others. All these testified to the fact that Mr. Paine was a temper¬ ate man. In those days nearly everybody used spirit¬ uous liquors. Paine was not an exception ; but he did not drink to excess. Mr. Lovett, who kept the City Hotel where Paine stopped, in a note to Caleb Bingham, declared that Paine drank less than any boarder he had. ‘ Against all this evidence you produce the story of Grant Thorburn; the story of the Eev. J. D. Wickham, that an elder in his church told him that Paine was a drunkard, corroborated by the Eev. Charles Hawley, and an extract from Lossing’s history to the same effect. The evidence is overwhelmingly against you. Will you have the fairness to admit it ? Your witnesses are merely the repeaters of the falsehoods of James Cheetham the con¬ victed libeller. After all, drinking is not as bad as lying. An honest drunkard is better than a calumniator of the dead. A remnant of old mortality, drunk, bloated, and half asleep,'^ is better than a perfectly sober defender of hu¬ man slavery. To become drunk is a virtue compared with stealing a babe from the breast of its mother. Drunkenness is one of the beatitudes, compared with editing a religious paper devoted to the defence of sla¬ very upon the ground that it is a divine institution. Do you really think that Paine was a drunken beast when he wrote “ Common Sense,” a pamphlet that 24 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. aroused three millions of people, as people were never aroused by words,before ? Was he a drunken beast when he wrote The Crisis?’’ Was it to a drunken beast that the following letter was addressed ' By Genepal Washington? Rocky Hill, Septe^nher 10, 1783. I Have learned since I Have been at tHis place, tHat you are at Bordentown. WHetlier for tHe sake of retirement or econo¬ my I know not. Be it for eitHer or 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 re¬ mind Congress of your i:)ast services to tHis country; and if it is in my power to impress tliem, command my best exertions witH freedom, 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, George Washington. Did any of your ancestors ever receive a letter like that ? Do you think that Paine was a drunken beast when the following letter was received by him Prom Thomas Jefferson ? “You express a wisH in your letter to return to America in a national sHip; Mr. 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 warn¬ ing. You will in general find us returned to sentiments wor¬ thy of former times; in these it loill 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.’* Thoihas Jefferson. Did any of your ancestors ever receive a letter like that ? THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. 25 “ It lias been very generally propagated tlirough tlie conti¬ nent that I wrote the pamphlet ‘ Common Sense.’ I could not have written anything in so manly and striking a style.” John Adams. “ A few more such flaming arguments as were exhibited at Falmouth and Norfolk, added to the sound doctrine and un¬ answerable reasoning contained in the pamphlet ‘ Common Sense,* will not leave numbers at a loss to decide on the i^ro- priety of a separation.” George Washington. “It is not necessary for me to tell you how much all your countr:^men—I speak of the great mass of tlie peoiile—are in¬ terested 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 re¬ viving 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. James Monroe. Did any of y^ur ancestors ever receive a letter like that ? \ “ No writer has exceeded Paine in ease and familiarity of style, in perspicuity of expression, happiness of elucidation, and in simple and unassuming language.” Thoivias Jefferson. Was ever a letter like that written about an editor of the New York Observer Was it in consideration of the services of a drunken beast that the Legislature of Pennsylvania presented Thomas Paine with five hundred pounds sterling ? Did the State of New York feel indebted to a drunken beast, and confer upon Thomas Paine an estate of several hundred acres ? Did the Congress of the United States thank him for his services because he had lived a drunken and beastly life ? Was he elected a member of the French Convention 3 26 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. because he was a drunken beast ? Was it the act of a drunken beast to put his own life in jeopardy by voting against the death of the king ? Was it because he was a drunken beast that he opposed the Beign of Ter¬ ror ? ’’ — that he endeavored to stop the shedding of blood, and did all in his power to protect even his own enemies ? Do the following extracts sound like the words of a drunken beast ? I believe in the equality of man, and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow creatures happy.*’ My own mind is my own church.'* ‘‘ It is necessSiry to the happiness of man that he be ^mentally faithful to himself.” ‘‘ Any system of religion that shocks the mind of a child cannot be a true system.” ‘‘ The word of God is the creation which we behold.” ‘‘ The age of ignorance commenced with the Christian system.** It is with a pious fraud as with a bad action—it be¬ gets a calamitous necessity of going on.” To read the Bible without horror, we must undo everything that is tender, sympathizing, and benevolent in the heart of man.” The man does not exist who can say I have perse¬ cuted him, or that I have in any case returned evil for evil.” ‘‘ Of all the tyrannies that aflElict mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.” ‘‘ The belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.** My own opinion is, that those whose lives have been spent in doing good and endeavoring to make their fel¬ low* mortals happy, will be happy hereafter.” The intellectual part of religion is a private affair between every man and his Maker, and in which no third party has any right to interfere. The practical part consists in our doing good to each other.** No man ought to make a living by religion. One THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. 27 person cannot act religion for another: every person must perforin it for himself.” One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hun¬ dred priests.” ' Let us propagate morality unfettered by supersti¬ tion.” God is the power, or first cause, Nature is the law, and matter is the subject acted upon.” I believe in one God and no more, and I hope for happiness beyond this life.” The key of happiness is not in the keeping of any sect, nor ought the road to it be obstructed by any.” My religion, and the whole of it is, the fear and love of the Deity and universal philanthropy.” 1 have yet, I believe, some years in store, for I have a good state of health and a happy mind. I take care of both, by nourishing the first with temperance^ and the latter with abundance.” He lives immured within a Bastile of a word.” How perfectly that sentence describes you ! The Bas¬ tile in which you are immured is the word Calvinism.” Man has no property in man.” What a splendid motto that would have made for the New York Observer in the olden time ! ‘‘ The world is my country ; to do good my religion.” I ask you again whether these splendid utterances came from the lips of a drunken beast ? CONCLUSION. From the persistence with which the Orthodox have charged for the last sixty-eight years that Thomas Paine recanted, and that when dying he was filled with re¬ morse and fear; from the malignity of the attacks upon his personal character, I had concluded that there must be some evidence of some kind to support these 28 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. charges. Even with my ideas of the average honor of believers in superstition—the disciples of fear, I did not quite believe that all these infamies rested solely on poorly attested lies. 1 had charity enough to suppose that something had been said or done by Thomas Paine capable of being tortured into a foundation for these calumnies. And I was foolish enough to think that even you would be willing to fairly examine the pretended evidence said to sustain these charges, and give your honest conclusion to the world. I supposed that you, being acquainted with the history of your country, felt under a certain obligation to Thomas Paine for the splen¬ did services rendered by him in the darkest days of the Eevolution. It was only reasonable to suppose that you were aware that in the midnight of Valley Forge, the ‘‘’Crisis,” by Thomas Paine, was the first star that glit¬ tered in the wide horizon of despair. I took it for grant¬ ed that you knew the bold stand taken and the brave words spoken by Thomas Paine in the French Conven¬ tion, against the death of the king. I thought it pro¬ bable that you, being an editor, had read the “ Eights of Manthat you knew Thomas Paine was a champion of human liberty ; that he was one of the founders and fathers of this republic ; that he was one of the foremost men of his age; that he had never written a word in favor of injustice; that he was a despiser of slavery; that he abhorred tyranny in all its forms ; that he was in the widest and highest sense a friend of his race; that his head was as clear as his heart was good, and that he had the courage to speak his honest thought. Under these circumstances I had hoped that you would for the moment forget your religious prejudices and sub¬ mit to the enligntened judgment of the world the evi¬ dence you had or could obtain, affecting in any way the character of so great and so generous a man. This you have refused to do. In my judgment you have mistaken the temper of even your own readers. A large majority of the religious people of this country have, to a consid¬ erable extent, outgrown the prejudices of their fathers. THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. 29 They are williDg to know the truth, and the whole truth, about the life and death of Thomas Paine. They will not thank you for having presented to them the moss- covered, the maimed and distorted traditions of igno¬ rance, prejudice, and credulity. By this course you will convince them, not of the wickedness of Paine, but of your own unfairness. What crime had Thomas Paine committed that he should have feared to die ? The only answer that you can give is, that he denied the inspiration of the Scrip¬ tures. If this is a crime, the civilized world is filled with criminals. The pioneers of human thought; the intellectual leaders of the world ; the foremost men in every science; the kings of literature and art; those who stand in the front rank of investigation ; the men who are civilizing, elevating, instructing, and refining mankind, are to day unbelievers in the dogma of inspi¬ ration. Upon this question the intellect of Christendom agrees with the conclusion reached by the genius of Thomas Paine. Centuries ago a noise was made for the purpose of frightening mankind. Orthodoxy is the echo of that noise. The man who now regards the Old Testament as in any sense a sacred or inspired book is in my judgment an intellectual and moral deformity. There is in it so much that is cruel, ignorant and ferocious, that it is to me a matter of amazement that it was ever thought to be the work of a most merciful Deity. ' Upon the question of inspiration Thomas Paine gave his honest opinion. Can it be that to give an honest opinion, causes one to die in terror and despair ? Have you, in your writings, been actuated by the fear of such a consequence ? Why should it be taken for granted that Thomas Paine, who devoted his life to the sacred cause of freedom should have been hissed at in the hour of death by the snakes of conscience, while editors of Presbyterian papers who defended slavery as a divine institution, and cheerfully justified the stealing of babes from the breasts of mothers, are supposed to have passed 30 THOMAS PAINE VINDICATED. % smilingly from earth to the embraces of angels ? Why should you think that the heroic author of the Eights of Man’’ should shudderingly dread to leave this bank and shoal of time,” while Calvin dripping with the blood of Servetus, was anxious to be'judged of God? Is it possible that the persecutors-—the instigators of the massacre of St. Bartholomew — the inventors and users of thumb-screws, and iron boots, and racks — the burn¬ ers and tearers of human flesh—the stealers, whippers and enslavers of men — the buyers and beaters of babes and mothers—the founders of inquisitions—the makers of chains, the builders of dungeons, the slanderers of the living and the calumniators of the dead, all died in the odor of sanctity, with white, forgiven hands fold¬ ed upon the breasts of peace, while the destroyers of prejudice — the apostles of humanity — the soldiers of liberty — the breakers of fetters — the creators of light — died surrounded with the fierce fiends of fear? In your attempt to destroy the character of Thomas Paine you have failed, and have succeeded only in leav¬ ing a stain upon your own. You have written words as cruel, bitter and heartless as the creed of Calvin. Here¬ after you will stand in the pillory of history as adefamer —a calumniator of the dead. You will be known as the man who said that Thomas Paine, the Author-Hero,” lived a drunken and beastly life, and died a drunken, cowardly, and beastly death. These infamous words will be branded upon the forehead of your reputation. They will be reruembered against you, when all else you may have uttered shall have passed from the mem¬ ory of men. EOBEET G. INGEESOLL. \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ V s \ \ \ \ \ \ s \ \ \ • V \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ N \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ THE BOSTON INVESTIGATOR. We hold religious fear to be a base, degrading restraint upon the human will; and in place of it would substitute the true, manly motive, — the love cf virtue and right, for their own merits. We hold the present wanton expenditure of capital in religious fanaticism and profligacy to be inconsistent, criminal, worse than useless; and in place of it would substitute a systematic course of Denevolence and universal education. We hold that LABOR should be emancipated from its degrading vassalage to Capital; that all Legislation in favor of Capital and against LABOR should be immediately rescinded. We hold that the present systems of Banking and Landholding con¬ stitute two of the most accursed monopolies that were ever invented to defraud the laboring classes of “ wealth, liberty, and life.” We hold that the Bible, being the source of religious faiths, is also the source of social abuses, which now hang like a millstone upon the neck of society; and that there will be no social concord, r.o true principle of fraternity in .society, while one class are set up as God’s elect, and another set down as God’s vilest reprobates. We hold that society can never be entirely purged of its abuses, of its monopolies, of its cruel and despotic customs, until the Bible and its slave-holding, man-debasing, rum-distilling, war-sanctioning, and its gallows-blessing churches, are cast together into the sea of — oblivion. For all that pertains to the welfare of humanity; for all that tends to alleviate the burdens of labor; for all that tends to enlighten and reform; for all that tends to increase happiness and lessen miser)'; to promote good and discourage evil; and, above all, for FREE DISCUSSION, tempered with brotherly love, the Investigator shall ever continue the unflinching advocate. And in our war upon abuses, of whatever nature, we shall uniformly endeavor to make the proper distinction between error and the erring — between the sin and the sinner ; always regarding our own conviction of right and wrong as the only guide, and measuring that right and wrong by the utility and happiness they produce or prevent. As a friend and champion of freedom, in its most beneficent appli¬ cation, the Investigator has received the eulogium of friends and ^ the respect of its religious opponents. And its friends may rest \ i \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ N \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ V \ \ \ \ V N V \ \ \ \ \ \ V \ \ \ \ \ \ \ THE BOSTON INVESTIGATOR. assured that no pains will be .spared to render it in future all that they can desire, and, as in times past, much more than its compara¬ tively limited patronage will justify. A great many Liberals do not know even yet that such a paper is in existence, and others who do know, but have not seen it, know it ✓ only by the slanderous reports of its enemies. We wish to place the Investigator before these two classes, that they may examine it for themselves; but, as we can of course know only a very few of them, we must mainly depend upon our friends to do this work for us. Some are in the habit of doing this, and obtain thereby a number of new subscribers. We appreciate such kindness most sensibly, for we know by experience, that in our unpopular movement the man who lends us a helping hand is no summer soldier nor sunshine patriot,” but a brother who stands to his post, blow high or low, and looks the tempest in the teeth. We have many such men on our list, and we are proud to be in such company. To them and to all other Li]>erals, whether old friends or new, we would say, that it will be our constant and earnest endeavor to render the Investigator as good as it has been, and as much better as we can possibly make it. Connected with the Investigator Office is a Book Publishing Office, from whence are issued the works of many of the masters of the anti- Church organizations of the past three centuries. Here may be found the works of Paine, Voltaire, Hume, Volney, &c., with many minor publications of interest to all liberal minds. The importance of such an office and organ for the use and advance of anti-Church opinions will be perceived by all; but it is a subject of deep regret that this perception of its vital necessity is not of so practical a nature as its merits demand. The financial connection of the paper and the book publishing department has alone enabled the publisher to keep his flag in the field ; anxiously waiting for a more advanced state of public opinion to obtain that patronage which is the just reward of sincere efforts to emancipate Mind and Labor from all oppressive thraldoms. Orders for Books, Papers, Pamphlets, etc., received by mail, and forwarded "with despatch, on application to J. P. Menddm', Boston, Mass.; or by letter, post paid. All orders must be accompanied with the cash \ N \ V \ 9‘ \ \ \ \ \ \ N \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ N \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ N \ \ \ N \ \ \ \ S \ \ N \ \ \ > \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ N \ \ \ \ \ N \ N \ \ \ \ \ \ N \ \ S \ \ \