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diff --git a/31271.txt b/31271.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e155b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/31271.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16739 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Writings Of Thomas Paine, Volume III., by +Thomas Paine + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Writings Of Thomas Paine, Volume III. + 1791-1804 + +Author: Thomas Paine + +Editor: Moncure Daniel Conway + +Release Date: February 13, 2010 [EBook #31271] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE + +By Thomas Paine + +Edited By Moncure Daniel Conway + + +VOLUME III. + +1791-1804 + +G. P. Putnam's Sons + +New York London + + +Copyright, 1895 + +By G. P. Putnam's Sons + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Introduction to the Third Volume + + I. The Republican Proclamation + + II. To the Authors of "Le Republicain" + + III. To the Abbe Sieyes + + IV. To the Attorney General + + V. To Mr. Secretary Dundas + + VI. Letters to Onslow Cranley + + VII. To the Sheriff of the County of Sussex + + VIII. To Mr. Secretary Dundas + + IX. Letter Addressed to the Addressers on the Late Proclamation + + X. Address to the People of France + + XI. Anti-Monarchal Essay + + XII. To the Attorney General, on the Prosecution AGAINST + THE SECOND PART OF RIGHTS of Man + + XIII. On the Propriety of Bringing Louis XVI to Trial + + XIV. Reasons for Preserving the Life of Louis Capet + + XV. Shall Louis XVI. Have Respite? + + XVI. Declaration of Rights. + + XVII. Private Letters to Jefferson + + XVIII. Letters to Danton + + XIX. A Citizen of America to the Citizens of Europe + + XX. Appeal to the Convention + + XXI. The Memorial to Monroe + + XXII. Letter to George Washington + + XXIII. Observations + + XXIV. Dissertation on First Principles of Government + + XXV. The Constitution of 1795 + + XXVI. The Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance + + XXVII. Forgetfulness + + XXVIII. Agrarian Justice + + XXIX. The Eighteenth Fructidor + + XXX. The Recall of Monroe + + XXXI. Private Letter to President Jefferson + + XXXII. Proposal that Louisiana be Purchased + + XXXIII. Thomas Paine to the Citizens of the United States + + XXXIV. To the French Inhabitants of Louisiana + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO THE THIRD VOLUME. + +WITH HISTORICAL NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. + +In a letter of Lafayette to Washington ("Paris, 12 Jan., 1790") he +writes: "_Common Sense_ is writing for you a brochure where you will see +a part of my adventures." It thus appears that the narrative embodied in +the reply to Burke ("Rights of Man," Part I.), dedicated to Washington, +was begun with Lafayette's collaboration fourteen months before its +publication (March 13, 1791). + +In another letter of Lafayette to Washington (March 17, 1790) he writes: + +"To Mr. Paine, who leaves for London, I entrust the care of sending +you my news.... Permit me, my dear General, to offer you a picture +representing the Bastille as it was some days after I gave the order for +its demolition. I also pay you the homage of sending you the principal +Key of that fortress of despotism. It is a tribute I owe as a son to +my adoptive father, as aide-de-camp to my General, as a missionary of +liberty to his Patriarch." + +The Key was entrusted to Paine, and by him to J. Rut-ledge, Jr., who +sailed from London in May. I have found in the manuscript despatches of +Louis Otto, Charge d' Affaires, several amusing paragraphs, addressed to +his govern-ment at Paris, about this Key. + +"August 4, 1790. In attending yesterday the public audience of the +President, I was surprised by a question from the Chief Magistrate, +'whether I would like to see the Key of the Bastille?' One of his +secretaries showed me at the same moment a large Key, which had +been sent to the President by desire of the Marquis de la Fayette. I +dissembled my surprise in observing to the President that 'the time had +not yet come in America to do ironwork equal to that before him.' +The Americans present looked at the key with indifference, and as if +wondering why it had been sent But the serene face of the President +showed that he regarded it as an homage from the French nation." +"December 13, 1790. The Key of the Bastille, regularly shown at the +President's audiences, is now also on exhibition in Mrs. Washington's +_salon_, where it satisfies the curiosity of the Philadelphians. I am +persuaded, Monseigneur, that it is only their vanity that finds pleasure +in the exhibition of this trophy, but Frenchmen here are not the less +piqued, and many will not enter the President's house on this account." + +In sending the key Paine, who saw farther than these distant Frenchmen, +wrote to Washington: "That the principles of America opened the Bastille +is not to be doubted, and therefore the Key comes to the right place." + +Early in May, 1791 (the exact date is not given), Lafayette writes +Washington: "I send you the rather indifferent translation of Mr. Paine +as a kind of preservative and to keep me near you." This was a hasty +translation of "Rights of Man," Part I., by F. Soules, presently +superseded by that of Lanthenas. + +The first convert of Paine to pure republicanism in France was Achille +Duchatelet, son of the Duke, and grandson of the authoress,--the friend +of Voltaire. It was he and Paine who, after the flight of Louis XVI., +placarded Paris with the Proclamation of a Republic, given as the first +chapter of this volume. An account of this incident is here quoted from +Etienne Dumont's "Recollections of Mirabeau": + +"The celebrated Paine was at this time in Paris, and intimate in +Condorcet's family. Thinking that he had effected the American +Revolution, he fancied himself called upon to bring about one in France. +Duchatelet called on me, and after a little preface placed in my hand an +English manuscript--a Proclamation to the French People. It was nothing +less than an anti-royalist Manifesto, and summoned the nation to +seize the opportunity and establish a Republic. Paine was its author. +Duchatelet had adopted and was resolved to sign, placard the walls of +Paris with it, and take the consequences. He had come to request me to +translate and develop it. I began discussing the strange proposal, +and pointed out the danger of raising a republican standard without +concurrence of the National Assembly, and nothing being as yet known +of the king's intentions, resources, alliances, and possibilities of +support by the army, and in the provinces. I asked if he had consulted +any of the most influential leaders,--Sieves, Lafayette, etc. He had +not: he and Paine had acted alone. An American and an impulsive nobleman +had put themselves forward to change the whole governmental system +of France. Resisting his entreaties, I refused to translate the +Proclamation. Next day the republican Proclamation appeared on the walls +in every part of Paris, and was denounced to the Assembly. The idea of +a Republic had previously presented itself to no one: this first +intimation filled with consternation the Right and the moderates of the +Left. Malouet, Cazales, and others proposed prosecution of the author, +but Chapelier, and a numerous party, fearing to add fuel to the fire +instead of extinguishing it, prevented this. But some of the seed sown +by the audacious hand of Paine were now budding in leading minds." + +A Republican Club was formed in July, consisting of five members, the +others who joined themselves to Paine and Duchatelet being Condorcet, +and probably Lanthenas (translator of Paine's works), and Nicolas de +Bonneville. They advanced so far as to print "Le Republicain," of which, +however, only one number ever appeared. From it is taken the second +piece in this volume. + +Early in the year 1792 Paine lodged in the house and book-shop of Thomas +"Clio" Rickman, now as then 7 Upper Marylebone Street. Among his friends +was the mystical artist and poet, William Blake. Paine had become to +him a transcendental type; he is one of the Seven who appear in Blake's +"Prophecy" concerning America (1793): + + + "The Guardian Prince of Albion burns in his nightly tent + Sullen fires across the Atlantic glow to America's shore; + Piercing the souls of warlike men, who rise in silent night:-- + Washington, Franklin, Paine, and Warren, Gates, Hancock, and Greene, + Meet on the coast glowing with blood from Albion's fiery Prince." + + +The Seven are wrapt in the flames of their enthusiasm. Albion's Prince +sends to America his thirteen Angels, who, however, there become +Governors of the thirteen States. It is difficult to discover from +Blake's mystical visions how much political radicalism was in him, but +he certainly saved Paine from the scaffold by forewarning him (September +13, 1792) that an order had been issued for his arrest. Without +repeating the story told in Gilchrist's "Life of Blake," and in my "Life +of Paine," I may add here my belief that Paine also appears in one of +Blake's pictures. The picture is in the National Gallery (London), and +called "The spiritual form of Pitt guiding Behemoth." The monster jaws +of Behemoth are full of struggling men, some of whom stretch imploring +hands to another spiritual form, who reaches down from a crescent +moon in the sky, as if to rescue them. This face and form appear to me +certainly meant for Paine. + +Acting on Blake's warning Paine's friends got him off to Dover, where, +after some trouble, related in a letter to Dundas (see p. 41 of this +volume), he reached Calais. He had been elected by four departments to +the National Convention, and selected Calais, where he was welcomed +with grand civic parades. On September 19, 1792, he arrived in Paris, +stopping at "White's Hotel," 7 Passage des Petits Peres, about five +minutes' walk from the Salle de Manege, where, on September 21st, the +National Convention opened its sessions. The spot is now indicated by a +tablet on the wall of the Tuileries Garden, Rue de Rivoli. On that +day Paine was introduced to the Convention by the Abbe Gregoire, and +received with acclamation. + +The French Minister in London, Chauvelin, had sent to his government +(still royalist) a despatch unfavorable to Paine's work in England, part +of which I translate: + +"May 23, 1792. An Association [for Parliamentary Reform, see pp. 78, +93, of this volume] has been formed to seek the means of forwarding the +demand. It includes some distinguished members of the Commons, and a few +peers. The writings of M. Payne which preceded this Association by a +few days have done it infinite harm. People suspect under the veil of +a reform long demanded by justice and reason an intention to destroy a +constitution equally dear to the peers whose privileges it consecrates, +to the wealthy whom it protects, and to the entire nation, to which +it assures all the liberty desired by a people methodical and slow in +character, and who, absorbed in their commercial interests, do not +like being perpetually worried about the imbecile George III. or public +affairs. Vainly have the friends of reform protested their attachment +to the Constitution. Vainly they declare that they desire to demand +nothing, to obtain nothing, save in lawful ways. They are persistently +disbelieved. Payne alone is seen in all their movements; and this author +has not, like Mackintosh, rendered imposing his refutation of Burke. The +members of the Association, although very different in principles, find +themselves involved in the now almost general disgrace of Payne." + +M. Noel writes from London, November 2, 1792, to the republican +Minister, Le Brun, concerning the approaching trial of Paine, which had +been fixed for December 18th. + +"This matter above all excites the liveliest interest. People desire +to know whether they live in a free country, where criticism even of +government is a right of every citizen. Whatever may be the decision in +this interesting trial, the result can only be fortunate for the cause +of liberty. But the government cannot conceal from itself that it is +suspended over a volcano. The wild dissipations of the King's sons +add to the discontent, and if something is overlooked in the Prince of +Wales, who is loved enough, it is not so with the Duke of York, who +has few friends. The latter has so many debts that at this moment the +receivers are in his house, and the creditors wish even his bed to be +seized. You perceive, Citizen, what a text fruitful in reflexions this +conduct presents to a people groaning under the weight of taxes for the +support of such whelps (_louvetaux_)." + +Under date of December 22, 1792, M. Noel writes: + +"London is perfectly tranquil. The arbitrary measures taken by the +government in advance [of Paine's trial] cause no anxiety to the mass +of the nation about its liberties. Some dear-headed people see well that +the royal prerogative will gain in this crisis, and that it is dangerous +to leave executive power to become arbitrary at pleasure; but this very +small number groan in silence, and dare not speak for fear of seeing +their property pillaged or burned by what the miserable hirelings +of government call 'Loyal Mob,' or 'Church and King Mob.' To the +'Addressers,' of whom I wrote you, are added the associations for +maintaining the Constitution they are doing all they can to destroy. +There is no corporation, no parish, which is not mustered for this +object. All have assembled, one on the other, to press against +those whom they call 'The Republicans and the Levellers,' the most +inquisitorial measures. Among other parishes, one (S. James' Vestry +Room) distinguishes itself by a decree worthy of the sixteenth century. +It promises twenty guineas reward to any one who shall denounce those +who in conversation or otherwise propagate opinions contrary to the +public tranquillity, and places the denouncer under protection of the +parish. The inhabitants of London are now placed under a new kind of +_Test_, and those who refuse it will undoubtedly be persecuted. Meantime +these papers are carried from house to house to be signed, especially by +those lodging as strangers. This _Test_ causes murmurs, and some try to +evade signature, but the number is few. The example of the capital is +generally followed. The trial of Payne, which at one time seemed likely +to cause events, has ended in the most peaceful way. Erskine has been +borne to his house by people shouting _God Save the King! Erskine +forever!_ The friends of liberty generally are much dissatisfied with +the way in which he has defended his client. They find that he threw +himself into commonplaces which could make his eloquence shine, but +guarded himself well from going to the bottom of the question. Vane +especially, a distinguished advocate and zealous democrat, is furious +against Erskine. It is now for Payne to defend himself. But whatever +he does, he will have trouble enough to reverse the opinion. The Jury's +verdict is generally applauded: a mortal blow is dealt to freedom of +thought. People sing in the streets, even at midnight, _God save the +King and damn Tom Payne!_" (1) + + 1 The despatches from which these translations are made are + in the Archives of the Department of State at Paris, series + marked _Angleterre_ vol. 581. + +The student of that period will find some instruction in a collection, +now in the British Museum, of coins and medals mostly struck after the +trial and outlawry of Paine. A halfpenny, January 21,1793: _obverse_, +a man hanging on a gibbet, with church in the distance; motto "End of +Pain"; _reverse_, open book inscribed "The Wrongs of Man." A token: bust +of Paine, with his name; _reverse_, "The Mountain in Labour, 1793." +Farthing: Paine gibbeted; _reverse_, breeches burning, legend, +"Pandora's breeches"; beneath, serpent decapitated by a dagger, +the severed head that of Paine. Similar farthing, but _reverse_, +combustibles intermixed with labels issuing from a globe marked +"Fraternity"; the labels inscribed "Regicide," "Robbery," "Falsity," +"Requisition"; legend, "French Reforms, 1797"; near by, a church with +flag, on it a cross. Half-penny without date, but no doubt struck in +1794, when a rumor reached London that Paine had been guillotined: +Paine gibbeted; above, devil smoking a pipe; _reverse_, monkey dancing; +legend, "We dance, Paine swings." Farthing: three men hanging on a +gallows; "The three Thomases, 1796." _Reverse_, "May the three knaves +of Jacobin Clubs never get a trick." The three Thomases were Thomas +Paine, Thomas Muir, and Thomas Spence. In 1794 Spence was imprisoned +seven months for publishing some of Paine's works at his so-called +"Hive of Liberty." Muir, a Scotch lawyer, was banished to Botany Bay for +fourteen years for having got up in Edinburgh (1792) a "Convention," in +imitation of that just opened in Paris; two years later he escaped from +Botany Bay on an American ship, and found his way to Paine in Paris. +Among these coins there are two of opposite character. A farthing +represents Pitt on a gibbet, against which rests a ladder; inscription, +"End of P [here an eye] T." _Reverse_, face of Pitt conjoined with that +of the devil, and legend, "Even Fellows." Another farthing like the +last, except an added legend, "Such is the reward of tyrants, 1796." +These anti-Pitt farthings were struck by Thomas Spence. + +In the winter of 1792-3 the only Reign of Terror was in England. The +Ministry had replied to Paine's "Rights of Man" by a royal proclamation +against seditious literature, surrounding London with militia, and +calling a meeting of Parliament (December, 1792) out of season. +Even before the trial of Paine his case was prejudged by the royal +proclamation, and by the Addresses got up throughout the country in +response,--documents which elicited Paine's Address to the Addressers, +chapter IX. in this volume. The Tory gentry employed roughs to burn +Paine in effigy throughout the country, and to harry the Nonconformists. +Dr. Priestley's house was gutted. Mr. Fox (December 14, 1792) reminded +the House of Commons that all the mobs had "Church and King" for their +watchword, no mob having been heard of for "The Rights of Man"; and +he vainly appealed to the government to prosecute the dangerous libels +against Dissenters as they were prosecuting Paine's work. Burke, who in +the extra session of Parliament for the first time took his seat on the +Treasury Bench, was reminded that he had once "exulted at the victories +of that rebel Washington," and welcomed Franklin. "Franklin," he said, +"was a native of America; Paine was born in England, and lived under the +protection of our laws; but, instigated by his evil genius, he conspired +against the very country which gave him birth, by attempting to +introduce the new and pernicious doctrines of republicans." + +In the course of the same harangue, Burke alluded to the English and +Irish deputations, then in Paris, which had congratulated the Convention +on the defeat of the invaders of the Republic. Among them he named +Lord Semphill, John Frost, D. Adams, and "Joel--Joel the Prophet" (Joel +Barlow). These men were among those who, towards the close of 1792, +formed a sort of Paine Club at "Philadelphia House"--as White's Hotel +was now called. The men gathered around Paine, as the exponent of +republican principles, were animated by a passion for liberty which +withheld no sacrifice. Some of them threw away wealth and rank as +trifles. At a banquet of the Club, at Philadelphia House, November 18, +1792, where Paine presided, Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Sir Robert Smyth, +Baronet, formally renounced their titles. Sir Robert proposed the toast, +"A speedy abolition of all hereditary titles and feudal distinctions." +Another toast was, "Paine--and the new way of making good books known by +a Royal proclamation and a King's Bench prosecution." + +There was also Franklin's friend, Benjamin Vaughan, Member of +Parliament, who, compromised by an intercepted letter, took refuge in +Paris under the name of Jean Martin. Other Englishmen were Rev. Jeremiah +Joyce, a Unitarian minister and author (coadjutor of Dr. Gregory in +his "Cyclopaedia "); Henry Redhead Yorke, a West Indian with some negro +blood (afterwards an agent of Pitt, under whom he had been imprisoned); +Robert Merry, husband of the actress "Miss Brunton"; Sayer, Rayment, +Macdonald, Perry. + +Sampson Perry of London, having attacked the government in his journal, +"The Argus," fled from an indictment, and reached Paris in January, +1793. These men, who for a time formed at Philadelphia House their +Parliament of Man, were dashed by swift storms on their several rocks. +Sir Robert Smyth was long a prisoner under the Reign of Terror, and died +(1802) of the illness thereby contracted. Lord Edward Fitzgerald was +slain while trying to kindle a revolution in Ireland. Perry was a +prisoner in the Luxembourg, and afterwards in London. John Frost, a +lawyer (struck off the roll), ventured back to London, where he was +imprisoned six months in Newgate, sitting in the pillory at Charing +Cross one hour per day. Robert Merry went to Baltimore, where he died +in 1798. Nearly all of these men suffered griefs known only to the "man +without a country." + +Sampson Perry, who in 1796 published an interesting "History of the +French Revolution," has left an account of his visit to Paine in +January, 1793: + +"I breakfasted with Paine about this time at the Philadelphia Hotel, and +asked him which province in America he conceived the best calculated +for a fugitive to settle in, and, as it were, to begin the world with no +other means or pretensions than common sense and common honesty. Whether +he saw the occasion and felt the tendency of this question I know not; +but he turned it aside by the political news of the day, and added that +he was going to dine with Petion, the mayor, and that he knew I should +be welcome and be entertained. We went to the mayoralty in a hackney +coach, and were seated at a table about which were placed the following +persons: Petion, the mayor of Paris, with his female relation who did +the honour of the table; Dumourier, the commander-in-chief of the French +forces, and one of his aides-de-camp; Santerre, the commandant of the +armed force of Paris, and an aide-de-camp; Condorcet; Brissot; Gaudet; +Genson-net; Danton; Rersaint; Claviere; Vergniaud; and Syeyes; which, +with three other persons, whose names I do not now recollect, and +including Paine and myself, made in all nineteen." + +Paine found warm welcome in the home of Achille Du-chatelet, who with +him had first proclaimed the Republic, and was now a General. Madame +Duchatelet was an English lady of rank, Charlotte Comyn, and English was +fluently spoken in the family. They resided at Auteuil, not far from the +Abbe Moulet, who preserved an arm-chair with the inscription, _Benjamin +Franklin hic sedebat_, Paine was a guest of the Duchatelets soon after +he got to work in the Convention, as I have just discovered by a letter +addressed "To Citizen Le Brun, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paris." + +"Auteuil, Friday, the 4th December, 1792. I enclose an Irish newspaper +which has been sent me from Belfast. It contains the Address of the +Society of United Irishmen of Dublin (of which Society I am a member) +to the volunteers of Ireland. None of the English newspapers that I have +seen have ventured to republish this Address, and as there is no other +copy of it than this which I send you, I request you not to let it go +out of your possession. Before I received this newspaper I had drawn up +a statement of the affairs of Ireland, which I had communicated to my +friend General Duchatelet at Auteuil, where I now am. I wish to confer +with you on that subject, but as I do not speak French, and as the +matter requires confidence, General Duchatelet has desired me to say +that if you can make it convenient to dine with him and me at Auteuil, +he will with pleasure do the office of interpreter. I send this letter +by my servant, but as it may not be convenient to you to give an answer +directly, I have told him not to wait--Thomas Paine." + +It will be noticed that Paine now keeps his servant, and drives to the +Mayor's dinner in a hackney coach. A portrait painted in Paris about +this time, now owned by Mr. Alfred Howlett of Syracuse, N. Y., shows him +in elegant costume. + +It is mournful to reflect, even at this distance, that only a little +later both Paine and his friend General Duchatelet were prisoners. The +latter poisoned himself in prison (1794). + +The illustrative notes and documents which it seems best to set before +the reader at the outset may here terminate. As in the previous volumes +the writings are, as a rule, given in chronological sequence, but an +exception is now made in respect of Paine's religious writings, some of +which antedate essays in the present volume. The religious writings +are reserved for the fourth and final volume, to which will be added +an Appendix containing Paine's poems, scientific fragments, and several +letters of general interest. + + + + +I. THE REPUBLICAN PROCLAMATION.(1) + +"Brethren and Fellow Citizens: + +"The serene tranquillity, the mutual confidence which prevailed amongst +us, during the time of the late King's escape, the indifference with +which we beheld him return, are unequivocal proofs that the absence of +a King is more desirable than his presence, and that he is not only a +political superfluity, but a grievous burden, pressing hard on the whole +nation. + +"Let us not be imposed on by sophisms; all that concerns this is reduced +to four points. + +"He has abdicated the throne in having fled from his post. Abdication +and desertion are not characterized by the length of absence; but by the +single act of flight. In the present instance, the act is everything, +and the time nothing. + +"The nation can never give back its confidence to a man who, false to +his trust, perjured to his oath, conspires a clandestine flight, obtains +a fraudulent passport, conceals a King of France under the disguise of +a valet, directs his course towards a frontier covered with traitors +and deserters, and evidently meditates a return into our country, with a +force capable of imposing his own despotic laws. + +"Should his flight be considered as his own act, or the act of those +who fled with him? Was it a spontaneous resolution of his own, or was +it inspired by others? The alternative is immaterial; whether fool or +hypocrite, idiot or traitor, he has proved himself equally unworthy of +the important functions that had been delegated to him. + + 1 See Introduction to this volume. This manifesto with which + Paris was found placarded on July 1, 1791, is described by + Dumont as a "Republican Proclamation," but what its literal + caption was I have not found.--_Editor_. + +"In every sense in which the question can be considered, the reciprocal +obligation which subsisted between us is dissolved. He holds no longer +any authority. We owe him no longer obedience. We see in him no more +than an indifferent person; we can regard him only as Louis Capet. + +"The history of France presents little else than a long series of public +calamity, which takes its source from the vices of Kings; we have been +the wretched victims that have never ceased to suffer either for them +or by them. The catalogue of their oppressions was complete, but to +complete the sum of their crimes, treason was yet wanting. Now the +only vacancy is filled up, the dreadful list is full; the system is +exhausted; there are no remaining errors for them to commit; their reign +is consequently at an end. + +"What kind of office must that be in a government which requires for its +execution neither experience nor ability, that may be abandoned to the +desperate chance of birth, that may be filled by an idiot, a madman, a +tyrant, with equal effect as by the good, the virtuous, and the wise? An +office of this nature is a mere nonentity; it is a place of show, not of +use. Let France then, arrived at the age of reason, no longer be deluded +by the sound of words, and let her deliberately examine, if a King, +however insignificant and contemptible in himself, may not at the same +time be extremely dangerous. + +"The thirty millions which it costs to support a King in the eclat of +stupid brutal luxury, presents us with an easy method of reducing taxes, +which reduction would at once relieve the people, and stop the progress +of political corruption. The grandeur of nations consists, not, as Kings +pretend, in the splendour of thrones, but in a conspicuous sense of +their own dignity, and in a just disdain of those barbarous follies and +crimes which, under the sanction of Royalty, have hitherto desolated +Europe. + +"As to the personal safety of Louis Capet, it is so much the more +confirmed, as France will not stoop to degrade herself by a spirit of +revenge against a wretch who has dishonoured himself. In defending +a just and glorious cause, it is not possible to degrade it, and the +universal tranquillity which prevails is an undeniable proof that a free +people know how to respect themselves." + + + + +II. TO THE AUTHORS OF "LE REPUBLICAIN."(1) + + +Gentlemen: + +M. Duchatelet has mentioned to me the intention of some persons to +commence a work under the title of "The Republican." + +As I am a Citizen of a country which knows no other Majesty than that of +the People; no other Government than that of the Representative body; +no other sovereignty than that of the Laws, and which is attached to +_France_ both by alliance and by gratitude, I voluntarily offer you my +services in support of principles as honorable to a nation as they are +adapted to promote the happiness of mankind. I offer them to you with +the more zeal, as I know the moral, literary, and political character +of those who are engaged in the undertaking, and find myself honoured in +their good opinion. + +But I must at the same time observe, that from ignorance of the French +language, my works must necessarily undergo a translation; they can of +course be of but little utility, and my offering must consist more of +wishes than services. I must add, that I am obliged to pass a part of +this summer in England and Ireland. + +As the public has done me the unmerited favor of recognizing me under +the appellation of "Common Sense," which is my usual signature, I shall +continue it in this publication to avoid mistakes, and to prevent +my being supposed the author of works not my own. As to my political +principles, I shall endeavour, in this letter, to trace their general +features in such a manner, as that they cannot be misunderstood. + + 1 "Le Republicain; ou le Defenseur du gouvernement + Representatif. Par une Societe des Republicains. A Paris. + July, 1791." See Introduction to this volume.--_Editor_. + +It is desirable in most instances to avoid that which may give even the +least suspicion as to the part meant to be adopted, and particularly +on the present occasion, where a perfect clearness of expression is +necessary to the avoidance of any possible misinterpretation. I am +happy, therefore, to find, that the work in question is entitled "The +Republican." This word expresses perfectly the idea which we ought to +have of Government in general--_Res Publico_,--the public affairs of a +nation. + +As to the word _Monarchy_, though the address and intrigue of Courts +have rendered it familiar, it does not contain the less of reproach or +of insult to a nation. The word, in its immediate or original sense, +signifies _the absolute power of a single individual_, who may prove +a fool, an hypocrite, or a tyrant. The appellation admits of no other +interpretation than that which is here given. France is therefore not a +_Monarchy_; it is insulted when called by that name. The servile spirit +which characterizes this species of government is banished from France, +and this country, like AMERICA, can now afford to Monarchy no more than +a glance of disdain. + +Of the errors which monarchic ignorance or knavery has spread through +the world, the one which bears the marks of the most dexterous +invention, is the opinion that the system of _Republicanism_ is only +adapted to a small country, and that a _Monarchy_ is suited, on the +contrary, to those of greater extent. Such is the language of Courts, +and such the sentiments which they have caused to be adopted in +monarchic countries; but the opinion is contrary, at the same time, to +principle and to experience. + +The Government, to be of real use, should possess a complete knowledge +of all the parties, all the circumstances, and all the interests of a +nation. The monarchic system, in consequence, instead of being suited +to a country of great extent, would be more admissible in a small +territory, where an individual may be supposed to know the affairs and +the interests of the whole. But when it is attempted to extend this +individual knowledge to the affairs of a great country, the capacity of +knowing bears no longer any proportion to the extent or multiplicity of +the objects which ought to be known, and the government inevitably falls +from ignorance into tyranny. For the proof of this position we need only +look to Spain, Russia, Germany, Turkey, and the whole of the Eastern +Continent,--countries, for the deliverance of which I offer my most +sincere wishes. + +On the contrary, the true _Republican_ system, by Election and +Representation, offers the only means which are known, and, in my +opinion, the only means which are possible, of proportioning the wisdom +and the information of a Government to the extent of a country. + +The system of _Representation_ is the strongest and most powerful center +that can be devised for a nation. Its attraction acts so powerfully, +that men give it their approbation even without reasoning on the cause; +and France, however distant its several parts, finds itself at this +moment _an whole_, in its _central_ Representation. The citizen is +assured that his rights are protected, and the soldier feels that he +is no longer the slave of a Despot, but that he is become one of the +Nation, and interested of course in its defence. + +The states at present styled _Republican_, as Holland, Genoa, Venice, +Berne, &c. are not only unworthy the name, but are actually in +opposition to every principle of a _Republican_ government, and the +countries submitted to their power are, truly speaking, subject to an +_Aristocratic_ slavery! + +It is, perhaps, impossible, in the first steps which are made in a +Revolution, to avoid all kind of error, in principle or in practice, or +in some instances to prevent the combination of both. Before the sense +of a nation is sufficiently enlightened, and before men have entered +into the habits of a free communication with each other of their natural +thoughts, a certain reserve--a timid prudence seizes on the human mind, +and prevents it from obtaining its level with that vigor and promptitude +that belongs to _right_.--An example of this influence discovers +itself in the commencement of the present Revolution: but happily this +discovery has been made before the Constitution was completed, and in +time to provide a remedy. + +The _hereditary succession_ can never exist as a matter of _right_; it +is a _nullity_--a _nothing_. To admit the idea is to regard man as a +species of property belonging to some individuals, either born or to +be born! It is to consider our descendants, and all posterity, as mere +animals without a right or will! It is, in fine, the most base and +humiliating idea that ever degraded the human species, and which, for +the honor of Humanity, should be destroyed for ever. + +The idea of hereditary succession is so contrary to the rights of man, +that if we were ourselves to be recalled to existence, instead of being +replaced by our posterity, we should not have the right of depriving +ourselves beforehand of those _rights_ which would then properly belong +to us. On what ground, then, or by what authority, do we dare to deprive +of their rights those children who will soon be men? Why are we not +struck with the injustice which we perpetrate on our descendants, by +endeavouring to transmit them as a vile herd to masters whose vices are +all that can be foreseen. + +Whenever the _French_ constitution shall be rendered conformable to its +_Declaration of Rights_, we shall then be enabled to give to France, and +with justice, the appellation of a _civic Empire_; for its government +will be the empire of laws founded on the great republican principles +of _Elective Representation_, and the _Rights of Man_.--But Monarchy +and Hereditary Succession are incompatible with the _basis_ of its +constitution. + +I hope that I have at present sufficiently proved to you that I am +a good Republican; and I have such a confidence in the truth of the +principles, that I doubt not they will soon be as universal in _France_ +as in _America_. The pride of human nature will assist their evidence, +will contribute to their establishment, and men will be ashamed of +Monarchy. + +I am, with respect, Gentlemen, your friend, + +Thomas Paine. + +Paris, June, 1791. + + + + +III. TO THE ABBE SIEYES.(1) + +Paris, 8th July, 1791. + +Sir, + +At the moment of my departure for England, I read, in the _Moniteur_ +of Tuesday last, your letter, in which you give the challenge, on +the subject of Government, and offer to defend what is called the +_Monarchical opinion_ against the Republican system. + +I accept of your challenge with pleasure; and I place such a confidence +in the superiority of the Republican system over that nullity of a +system, called _Monarchy_, that I engage not to exceed the extent of +fifty pages, and to leave you the liberty of taking as much latitude as +you may think proper. + +The respect which I bear your moral and literary reputation, will be +your security for my candour in the course of this discussion; but, +notwithstanding that I shall treat the subject seriously and sincerely, +let me promise, that I consider myself at liberty to ridicule, as they +deserve, Monarchical absurdities, whensoever the occasion shall present +itself. + +By Republicanism, I do not understand what the name signifies in +Holland, and in some parts of Italy. I understand simply a government +by representation--a government founded upon the principles of the +Declaration of Rights; principles to which several parts of the French +Constitution arise in contradiction. The Declaration of Rights of France +and America are but one and the same thing in principles, and almost in +expressions; and this is the Republicanism which I undertake to defend +against what is called _Monarchy_ and _Aristocracy_. + + 1 Written to the _Moniteur_ in reply to a letter of the Abbe + (July 8) elicited by Paine's letter to "Le Republicain" + (II.). The Abbe now declining a controversy, Paine dealt + with his views in "Rights of Man," Part IL, ch. 3.-- + _Editor_. + +I see with pleasure that in respect to one point we are already agreed; +and _that is, the extreme danger of a civil list of thirty millions_. I +can discover no reason why one of the parts of the government should +be supported with so extravagant a profusion, whilst the other scarcely +receives what is sufficient for its common wants. + +This dangerous and dishonourable disproportion at once supplies the one +with the means of corrupting, and throws the other into the predicament +of being corrupted. In America there is but little difference, with +regard to this point, between the legislative and the executive part of +our government; but the first is much better attended to than it is in +France. + +In whatsoever manner, Sir, I may treat the subject of which you +have proposed the investigation, I hope that you will not doubt my +entertaining for you the highest esteem. I must also add, that I am not +the personal enemy of Kings. Quite the contrary. No man more heartily +wishes than myself to see them all in the happy and honourable state of +private individuals; but I am the avowed, open, and intrepid enemy of +what is called Monarchy; and I am such by principles which nothing can +either alter or corrupt--by my attachment to humanity; by the anxiety +which I feel within myself, for the dignity and the honour of the human +race; by the disgust which I experience, when I observe men directed by +children, and governed by brutes; by the horror which all the evils that +Monarchy has spread over the earth excite within my breast; and by those +sentiments which make me shudder at the calamities, the exactions, the +wars, and the massacres with which Monarchy has crushed mankind: in +short, it is against all the hell of monarchy that I have declared war. + +Thomas Paine.(1) + + 1 To the sixth paragraph of the above letter is appended a + footnote: "A deputy to the congress receives about a guinea + and a half daily: and provisions are cheaper in America + than in France." The American Declaration of Rights referred + to unless the Declaration of Independence, was no doubt, + especially that of Pennsylvania, which Paine helped to + frame.--Editor. + + + + +IV. TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. + + +[Undated, but probably late in May, 1793.] + + +Sir, + +Though I have some reason for believing that you were not the original +promoter or encourager of the prosecution commenced against the work +entitled "Rights of Man" either as that prosecution is intended to +affect the author, the publisher, or the public; yet as you appear +the official person therein, I address this letter to you, not as Sir +Archibald Macdonald, but as Attorney General. + +You began by a prosecution against the publisher Jordan, and the reason +assigned by Mr. Secretary Dundas, in the House of Commons, in the debate +on the Proclamation, May 25, for taking that measure, was, he said, +because Mr. Paine could not be found, or words to that effect. Mr. +Paine, sir, so far from secreting himself, never went a step out of his +way, nor in the least instance varied from his usual conduct, to avoid +any measure you might choose to adopt with respect to him. It is on the +purity of his heart, and the universal utility of the principles and +plans which his writings contain, that he rests the issue; and he will +not dishonour it by any kind of subterfuge. The apartments which he +occupied at the time of writing the work last winter, he has continued +to occupy to the present hour, and the solicitors of the prosecution +knew where to find him; of which there is a proof in their own office, +as far back as the 21st of May, and also in the office of my own +Attorney.(1) + + 1 Paine was residing at the house of one of his publishers, + Thomas Rickman, 7 Upper Marylebone Street, London. His + Attorney was the Hon. Thomas Erskine.--_Editor_. + +But admitting, for the sake of the case, that the reason for proceeding +against the publisher was, as Mr. Dundas stated, that Mr. Paine could +not be found, that reason can now exist no longer. + +The instant that I was informed that an information was preparing to be +filed against me, as the author of, I believe, one of the most useful +and benevolent books ever offered to mankind, I directed my Attorney +to put in an appearance; and as I shall meet the prosecution fully and +fairly, and with a good and upright conscience, I have a right to +expect that no act of littleness will be made use of on the part of the +prosecution towards influencing the future issue with respect to the +author. This expression may, perhaps, appear obscure to you, but I am +in the possession of some matters which serve to shew that the action +against the publisher is not intended to be a _real_ action. If, +therefore, any persons concerned in the prosecution have found their +cause so weak, as to make it appear convenient to them to enter into +a negociation with the publisher, whether for the purpose of his +submitting to a verdict, and to make use of the verdict so obtained as a +circumstance, by way of precedent, on a future trial against myself; +or for any other purpose not fully made known to me; if, I say, I have +cause to suspect this to be the case, I shall most certainly withdraw +the defence I should otherwise have made, or promoted on his (the +publisher's) behalf, and leave the negociators to themselves, and shall +reserve the whole of the defence for the _real_ trial.(1) + +But, sir, for the purpose of conducting this matter with at least the +appearance of fairness and openness, that shall justify itself before +the public, whose cause it really is, (for it is the right of public +discussion and investigation that is questioned,) I have to propose to +you to cease the prosecution against the publisher; and as the reason +or pretext can no longer exist for continuing it against him because +Mr. Paine could not be found, that you would direct the whole process +against me, with whom the prosecuting party will not find it possible to +enter into any private negociation. + + 1 A detailed account of the proceedings with regard to the + publisher will be found infra, in ix., Letter to the + Addressers.--_Editor_. + +I will do the cause full justice, as well for the sake of the nation, as +for my own reputation. + +Another reason for discontinuing the process against the publisher is, +because it can amount to nothing. First, because a jury in London cannot +decide upon the fact of publishing beyond the limits of the jurisdiction +of London, and therefore the work may be republished over and over +again in every county in the nation, and every case must have a separate +process; and by the time that three or four hundred prosecutions have +been had, the eyes of the nation will then be fully open to see that the +work in question contains a plan the best calculated to root out all the +abuses of government, and to lessen the taxes of the nation upwards of +_six millions annually_. + +Secondly, Because though the gentlemen of London may be very expert in +understanding their particular professions and occupations, and how +to make business contracts with government beneficial to themselves as +individuals, the rest of the nation may not be disposed to consider them +sufficiently qualified nor authorized to determine for the whole Nation +on plans of reform, and on systems and principles of Government. This +would be in effect to erect a jury into a National Convention, instead +of electing a Convention, and to lay a precedent for the probable +tyranny of juries, under the pretence of supporting their rights. + +That the possibility always exists of packing juries will not be denied; +and, therefore, in all cases, where Government is the prosecutor, +more especially in those where the right of public discussion and +investigation of principles and systems of Government is attempted to be +suppressed by a verdict, or in those where the object of the work that +is prosecuted is the reform of abuse and the abolition of sinecure +places and pensions, in all these cases the verdict of a jury will +itself become a subject of discussion; and therefore, it furnishes +an additional reason for discontinuing the prosecution against the +publisher, more especially as it is not a secret that there has been a +negociation with him for secret purposes, and for proceeding against +me only. I shall make a much stronger defence than what I believe the +Treasury Solicitor's agreement with him will permit him to do. + +I believe that Mr. Burke, finding himself defeated, and not being able +to make any answer to the _Rights of Man_, has been one of the promoters +of this prosecution; and I shall return the compliment to him by +shewing, in a future publication, that he has been a masked pensioner at +1500L. per annum for about ten years. + +Thus it is that the public money is wasted, and the dread of public +investigation is produced. + +I am, sir, Your obedient humble servant, + +Thomas Paine.(1) + + 1 Paine's case was set down for June 8th, and on that day he + appeared in court; but, much to his disappointment, the + trial was adjourned to December 18th, at which time he was + in his place in the National Convention at Paris.--_Editor_. + + + + +V. TO MR. SECRETARY DUNDAS.(1) + + +London, June 6, 1793. + +Sir, + +As you opened the debate in the House of Commons, May 25th, on the +proclamation for suppressing publications, which that proclamation +(without naming any) calls wicked and seditious: and as you applied +those opprobious epithets to the works entitled "RIGHTS OF MAN," I think +it unnecessary to offer any other reason for addressing this letter to +you. + +I begin, then, at once, by declaring, that I do not believe there are +found in the writings of any author, ancient or modern, on the subject +of government, a spirit of greater benignity, and a stronger inculcation +of moral principles than in those which I have published. They come, +Sir, from a man, who, by having lived in different countries, and +under different systems of government, and who, being intimate in +the construction of them, is a better judge of the subject than it is +possible that you, from the want of those opportunities, can be:--And +besides this, they come from a heart that knows not how to beguile. + +I will farther say, that when that moment arrives in which the best +consolation that shall be left will be looking back on some past +actions, more virtuous and more meritorious than the rest, I shall then +with happiness remember, among other things, I have written the RIGHTS +OF MAN.---As to what proclamations, or prosecutions, or place-men, +and place-expectants,--those who possess, or those who are gaping for +office,--may say of them, it will not alter their character, either with +the world or with me. + + 1 Henry D. (afterwards Viscount Melville), appointed + Secretary for the Home Department, 1791. In 1805 he was + impeached by the Commons for "gross malversation" while + Treasurer of the Navy; he was acquitted by the Lords + (1806), but not by public sentiment or by history.-- + _Editor_. + +Having, Sir, made this declaration, I shall proceed to remark, not +particularly on your speech on that occasion, but on any one to which +your motion on that day gave rise; and I shall begin with that of Mr. +Adam. + +This Gentleman accuses me of not having done the very thing that _I have +done_, and which, he says, if I _had_ done, he should not have accused +me. + +Mr. Adam, in his speech, (see the Morning Chronicle of May 26,) says, + +"That he had well considered the subject of Constitutional Publications, +and was by no means ready to say (but the contrary) that books of +science upon government though recommending a doctrine or system +different from the form of our constitution (meaning that of England) +were fit objects of prosecution; that if he did, he must condemn +Harrington for his Oceana, Sir Thomas More for his Eutopia, and Hume +for his Idea of a perfect Commonwealth. But (continued Mr. Adam) the +publication of Mr. Paine was very different; for it reviled what +was most sacred in the constitution, destroyed every principle of +subordination, and _established nothing in their room_." + +I readily perceive that Mr. Adam has not read the Second Part of _Rights +of Man_, and I am put under the necessity, either of submitting to an +erroneous charge, or of justifying myself against it; and certainly +shall prefer the latter.--If, then, I shall prove to Mr. Adam, that in +my reasoning upon systems of government, in the Second Part of _Rights +of Man_, I have shown as clearly, I think, as words can convey ideas, a +certain system of government, and that not existing in theory only, +but already in full and established practice, and systematically +and practically free from all the vices and defects of the English +government, and capable of producing more happiness to the people, and +that also with an eightieth part of the taxes, which the present English +system of government consumes; I hope he will do me the justice, when +he next goes to the House, to get up and confess he had been mistaken in +saying, that I had _established nothing, and that I had destroyed every +principle of subordination_. Having thus opened the case, I now come to +the point. + +In the Second Part of the Rights of Man, I have distinguished government +into two classes or systems: the one the hereditary system, the other +the representative system. + +In the First Part of _Rights of Man_, I have endeavoured to shew, and +I challenge any man to refute it, that there does not exist a right +to establish hereditary government; or, in other words, hereditary +governors; because hereditary government always means a government +yet to come, and the case always is, that the people who are to live +afterwards, have always the same right to choose a government for +themselves, as the people had who lived before them. + +In the Second Part of _Rights of Man_, I have not repeated those +arguments, because they are irrefutable; but have confined myself to +shew the defects of what is called hereditary government, or hereditary +succession, that it must, from the nature of it, throw government into +the hands of men totally unworthy of it, from want of principle, or +unfitted for it from want of capacity.--James the IId. is recorded as +an instance of the first of these cases; and instances are to be found +almost all over Europe to prove the truth of the latter. + +To shew the absurdity of the Hereditary System still more strongly, I +will now put the following case:--Take any fifty men promiscuously, and +it will be very extraordinary, if, out of that number, one man should be +found, whose principles and talents taken together (for some might have +principles, and others might have talents) would render him a person +truly fitted to fill any very extraordinary office of National Trust. +If then such a fitness of character could not be expected to be found +in more than one person out of fifty, it would happen but once in a +thousand years to the eldest son of any one family, admitting each, on +an average, to hold the office twenty years. Mr. Adam talks of something +in the Constitution which he calls _most sacred_; but I hope he does not +mean hereditary succession, a thing which appears to me a violation of +every order of nature, and of common sense. + +When I look into history and see the multitudes of men, otherwise +virtuous, who have died, and their families been ruined, in the defence +of knaves and fools, and which they would not have done, had they +reasoned at all upon the system; I do not know a greater good that an +individual can render to mankind, than to endeavour to break the chains +of political superstition. Those chains are now dissolving fast, +and proclamations and persecutions will serve but to hasten that +dissolution. + +Having thus spoken of the Hereditary System as a bad System, and subject +to every possible defect, I now come to the Representative System, and +this Mr. Adam will find stated in the Second Part of Rights of Man, not +only as the best, but as the only _Theory_ of Government under which the +liberties of the people can be permanently secure. + +But it is needless now to talk of mere theory, since there is already a +government in full practice, established upon that theory; or in other +words, upon the Rights of Man, and has been so for almost twenty years. +Mr. Pitt, in a speech of his some short time since, said, "That there +never did, and never could exist a Government established upon those +Rights, and that if it began at noon, it would end at night." Mr. Pitt +has not yet arrived at the degree of a school-boy in this species of +knowledge; his practice has been confined to the means of _extorting +revenue_, and his boast has been--_how much!_ Whereas the boast of the +system of government that I am speaking of, is not how much, but how +little. + +The system of government purely representative, unmixed with any thing +of hereditary nonsense, began in America. I will now compare the effects +of that system of government with the system of government in England, +both during, and since the close of the war. + +So powerful is the Representative system, first, by combining and +consolidating all the parts of a country together, however great the +extent; and, secondly, by admitting of none but men properly qualified +into the government, or dismissing them if they prove to be otherwise, +that America was enabled thereby totally to defeat and overthrow all +the schemes and projects of the hereditary government of England against +her. As the establishment of the Revolution and Independence of America +is a proof of this fact, it is needless to enlarge upon it. + +I now come to the comparative effect of the two systems _since_ the +close of the war, and I request Mr. Adam to attend to it. + +America had internally sustained the ravages of upwards of seven years +of war, which England had not. England sustained only the expence of the +war; whereas America sustained not only the expence, but the destruction +of property committed by _both_ armies. Not a house was built +during that period, and many thousands were destroyed. The farms and +plantations along the coast of the country, for more than a thousand +miles, were laid waste. Her commerce was annihilated. Her ships were +either taken, or had rotted within her own harbours. The credit of +her funds had fallen upwards of ninety per cent., that is, an original +hundred pounds would not sell for ten pounds. In fine, she was +apparently put back an hundred years when the war closed, which was not +the case with England. + +But such was the event, that the same representative system of +government, though since better organized, which enabled her to conquer, +enabled her also to recover, and she now presents a more flourishing +condition, and a more happy and harmonized society, under that system of +government, than any country in the world can boast under any other. Her +towns are rebuilt, much better than before; her farms and plantations +are in higher improvement than ever; her commerce is spread over the +world, and her funds have risen from less than ten pounds the hundred to +upwards of one hundred and twenty. Mr. Pitt and his colleagues talk +of the things that have happened in his boyish administration, without +knowing what greater things have happened elsewhere, and under other +systems of government. + +I now come to state the expence of the two systems, as they now stand +in each of the countries; but it may first be proper to observe, that +government in America is what it ought to be, a matter of honour and +trust, and not made a trade of for the purpose of lucre. + +The whole amount of the nett(sic) taxes in England (exclusive of the +expence of collection, of drawbacks, of seizures and condemnation, of +fines and penalties, of fees of office, of litigations and informers, +which are some of the blessed means of enforcing them) is seventeen +millions. Of this sum, about nine millions go for the payment of the +interest of the national debt, and the remainder, being about eight +millions, is for the current annual expences. This much for one side of +the case. I now come to the other. + +The expence of the several departments of the general Representative +Government of the United States of America, extending over a space +of country nearly ten times larger than England, is two hundred and +ninety-four thousand, five hundred and fifty-eight dollars, which, at +4s. 6d. per dollar, is 66,305L. 11s. sterling, and is thus apportioned; + +[Illustration: table046] + +On account of the incursions of the Indians on the back settlements, +Congress is at this time obliged to keep six thousand militia in pay, in +addition to a regiment of foot, and a battalion of artillery, which it +always keeps; and this increases the expence of the War Department to +390,000 dollars, which is 87,795L. sterling, but when peace shall be +concluded with the Indians, the greatest part of this expence will +cease, and the total amount of the expence of government, including that +of the army, will not amount to 100,000L. sterling, which, as has been +already stated, is but an eightieth part of the expences of the English +government. + +I request Mr. Adam and Mr. Dundas, and all those who are talking of +Constitutions, and blessings, and Kings, and Lords, and the Lord +knows what, to look at this statement. Here is a form and system of +government, that is better organized and better administered than any +government in the world, and that for less than one hundred thousand +pounds per annum, and yet every Member of Congress receives, as a +compensation for his time and attendance on public business, one pound +seven shillings per day, which is at the rate of nearly five hundred +pounds a year. + +This is a government that has nothing to fear. It needs no proclamations +to deter people from writing and reading. It needs no political +superstition to support it; it was by encouraging discussion and +rendering the press free upon all subjects of government, that the +principles of government became understood in America, and the people +are now enjoying the present blessings under it. You hear of no riots, +tumults, and disorders in that country; because there exists no cause +to produce them. Those things are never the effect of Freedom, but of +restraint, oppression, and excessive taxation. + +In America, there is not that class of poor and wretched people that +are so numerously dispersed all over England, who are to be told by a +proclamation, that they are happy; and this is in a great measure to +be accounted for, not by the difference of proclamations, but by the +difference of governments and the difference of taxes between that +country and this. What the labouring people of that country earn, they +apply to their own use, and to the education of their children, and +do not pay it away in taxes as fast as they earn it, to support Court +extravagance, and a long enormous list of place-men and pensioners; +and besides this, they have learned the manly doctrine of reverencing +themselves, and consequently of respecting each other; and they laugh +at those imaginary beings called Kings and Lords, and all the fraudulent +trumpery of Court. + +When place-men and pensioners, or those who expect to be such, are +lavish in praise of a government, it is not a sign of its being a good +one. The pension list alone in England (see sir John Sinclair's History +of the Revenue, p. 6, of the Appendix) is one hundred and seven thousand +four hundred and four pounds, _which is more than the expences of the +whole Government of America amount to_. And I am now more convinced than +before, that the offer that was made to me of a thousand pounds for the +copy-right of the second part of the Rights of Man, together with the +remaining copyright of the first part, was to have effected, by a quick +suppression, what is now attempted to be done by a prosecution. The +connection which the person, who made the offer, has with the King's +printing-office, may furnish part of the means of inquiring into this +affair, when the ministry shall please to bring their prosecution to +issue.(1) But to return to my subject.-- + +I have said in the second part of the _Rights of Man_, and I repeat +it here, that the service of any man, whether called King, President, +Senator, Legislator, or any thing else, cannot be worth more to any +country, in the regular routine of office, than ten thousand pounds per +annum. We have a better man in America, and more of a gentleman, than +any King I ever knew of, who does not occasion half that ex-pence; for, +though the salary is fixed at L5625 he does not accept it, and it is +only the incidental expences that are paid out of it.(2) The name by +which a man is called is of itself but an empty thing. It is worth and +character alone which can render him valuable, for without these, Kings, +and Lords, and Presidents, are but jingling names. + +But without troubling myself about Constitutions of Government, I have +shewn in the Second Part of _Rights of Man_, that an alliance may be +formed between England, France, and America, and that the expences of +government in England may be put back to one million and a half, viz.: + + Civil expence of Government...... 500,000L. + Army............................. 500,000 + Navy............................. 500,000 + ---------- + 1,500,000L. + +And even this sum is fifteen times greater than the expences of +government are in America; and it is also greater than the whole peace +establishment of England amounted to about an hundred years ago. So much +has the weight and oppression of taxes increased since the Revolution, +and especially since the year 1714. + + 1 At Paine's trial, Chapman, the printer, in answer to fa + question of the Solicitor General, said: "I made him three + separate offers in the different stages of the work; the + first, I believe, was a hundred guineas, the second five + hundred, and the last was a thousand."--_Editor_. + + 2 Error. See also ante, and in vol. ii., p. 435. + Washington had retracted his original announcement, and + received his salary regularly.--_Editor_. + +To shew that the sum of 500,000L. is sufficient to defray all civil +expences of government, I have, in that work, annexed the following +estimate for any country of the same extent as England.-- + +In the first place, three hundred Representatives, fairly elected, are +sufficient for all the purposes to which Legislation can apply, and +preferable to a larger number. + +If, then, an allowance, at the rate of 500L. per annum be made to every +Representative, deducting for non-attendance, the expence, if the whole +number attended six months each year, would be.......75,000L. + +The Official Departments could not possibly exceed the following number, +with the salaries annexed, viz.: + + + +[ILLUSTRATION: Table] + +Three offices at + 10,000L. + each + 30,000 + +Ten ditto at + 5,000 + u + 50,000 + +Twenty ditto at + 2,000 + u + 40,000 + +Forty ditto at + 1,000 + it + 40,000 + +Two hundred ditto at + 500 + u + 100,000 + +Three hundred ditto at 200 + u + 60,000 + +Five hundred ditto at + 100 + u + 50,000 + +Seven hundred ditto at 75 + it + 52,500 + +497,500L. + + +If a nation chose, it might deduct four per cent, from all the offices, +and make one of twenty thousand pounds per annum, and style the person +who should fill it, King or Madjesty, (1) or give him any other title. + +Taking, however, this sum of one million and a half, as an abundant +supply for all the expences of government under any form whatever, +there will remain a surplus of nearly six millions and a half out of +the present taxes, after paying the interest of the national debt; and +I have shewn in the Second Part of _Rights of Man_, what appears to me, +the best mode of applying the surplus money; for I am now speaking of +expences and savings, and not of systems of government. + + 1 A friend of Paine advised him against this pun, as too + personal an allusion to George the Third, to whom however + much has been forgiven on account of his mental infirmity. + Yorke, in his account of his visit to Paine, 1802, alludes + to his (Paine's) anecdotes "of humor and benevolence" + concerning George III.--_Editor_. + +I have, in the first place, estimated the poor-rates at two millions +annually, and shewn that the first effectual step would be to abolish +the poor-rates entirely (which would be a saving of two millions to the +house-keepers,) and to remit four millions out of the surplus taxes to +the poor, to be paid to them in money, in proportion to the number of +children in each family, and the number of aged persons. + +I have estimated the number of persons of both sexes in England, of +fifty years of age and upwards, at 420,000, and have taken one third of +this number, viz. 140,000, to be poor people. + +To save long calculations, I have taken 70,000 of them to be upwards of +fifty years of age, and under sixty, and the others to be sixty years +and upwards; and to allow six pounds per annum to the former class, and +ten pounds per annum to the latter. The expence of which will be, + + Seventy thousand persons at 6L. per annum..... 420,000L. + Seventy thousand persons at 10L. per annum.... 700,000 + ----------- + 1,120,000L. + +There will then remain of the four millions, 2,880,000L. I have stated +two different methods of appropriating this money. The one is to pay it +in proportion to the number of children in each family, at the rate of +three or four pounds per annum for each child; the other is to apportion +it according to the expence of living in different counties; but in +either of these cases it would, together with the allowance to be +made to the aged, completely take off taxes from one third of all the +families in England, besides relieving all the other families from the +burthen of poor-rates. + +The whole number of families in England, allotting five souls to each +family, is one million four hundred thousand, of which I take one third, +_viz_. 466,666 to be poor families who now pay four millions of taxes, +and that the poorest pays at least four guineas a year; and that the +other thirteen millions are paid by the other two-thirds. The plan, +therefore, as stated in the work, is, first, to remit or repay, as is +already stated, this sum of four millions to the poor, because it is +impossible to separate them from the others in the present mode of +collecting taxes on articles of consumption; and, secondly, to abolish +the poor-rates, the house and window-light tax, and to change the +commutation tax into a progressive tax on large estates, the particulars +of all which are set forth in the work, to which I desire Mr. Adam to +refer for particulars. I shall here content myself with saying, that to +a town of the population of Manchester, it will make a difference in its +favour, compared with the present state of things, of upwards of fifty +thousand pounds annually, and so in proportion to all other places +throughout the nation. This certainly is of more consequence than that +the same sums should be collected to be afterwards spent by riotous +and profligate courtiers, and in nightly revels at the Star and Garter +tavern, Pall Mall. + +I will conclude this part of my letter with an extract from the Second +Part of the _Rights of Man_, which Mr. Dundas (a man rolling in luxury +at the expence of the nation) has branded with the epithet of "wicked." + +"By the operation of this plan, the poor laws, those instruments +of civil torture, will be superseded, and the wasteful ex-pence of +litigation prevented. The hearts of the humane will not be shocked by +ragged and hungry children, and persons of seventy and eighty years of +age begging for bread. The dying poor will not be dragged from place to +place to breathe their last, as a reprisal of parish upon parish. Widows +will have a maintenance for their children, and not be carted away, on +the death of their husbands, like culprits and criminals; and children +will no longer be considered as increasing the distresses of their +parents. The haunts of the wretched will be known, because it will be +to their advantage; and the number of petty crimes, the offspring of +poverty and distress, will be lessened. The poor as well as the rich +will then be interested in the support of Government, and the cause and +apprehension of riots and tumults will cease. Ye who sit in ease, and +solace yourselves in plenty, and such there are in Turkey and Russia, +as well as in England, and who say to yourselves, _are we not well off_ +have ye thought of these things? When ye do, ye will cease to speak and +feel for yourselves alone." + +After this remission of four millions be made, and the poor-rates +and houses and window-light tax be abolished, and the commutation +tax changed, there will still remain nearly one million and a half +of surplus taxes; and as by an alliance between England, France and +America, armies and navies will, in a great measure, be rendered +unnecessary; and as men who have either been brought up in, or long +habited to, those lines of life, are still citizens of a nation in +common with the rest, and have a right to participate in all plans of +national benefit, it is stated in that work (_Rights of Man_, Part ii.) +to apply annually 507,000L. out of the surplus taxes to this purpose, in +the following manner: + +[Illustration: table 053] + +The limits to which it is proper to confine this letter, will not admit +of my entering into further particulars. I address it to Mr. Dundas +because he took the lead in the debate, and he wishes, I suppose, to +appear conspicuous; but the purport of it is to justify myself from the +charge which Mr. Adam has made. + +This Gentleman, as has been observed in the beginning of this letter, +considers the writings of Harrington, More and Hume, as justifiable and +legal publications, because they reasoned by comparison, though in so +doing they shewed plans and systems of government, not only different +from, but preferable to, that of England; and he accuses me of +endeavouring to confuse, instead of producing a system in the room of +that which I had reasoned against; whereas, the fact is, that I have +not only reasoned by comparison of the representative system against +the hereditary system, but I have gone further; for I have produced +an instance of a government established entirely on the representative +system, under which greater happiness is enjoyed, much fewer taxes +required, and much higher credit is established, than under the system +of government in England. The funds in England have risen since the war +only from 54L. to 97L. and they have been down since the proclamation, +to 87L. whereas the funds in America rose in the mean time from 10L. to +120L. + +His charge against me of "destroying every principle of subordination," +is equally as groundless; which even a single paragraph from the work +will prove, and which I shall here quote: + +"Formerly when divisions arose respecting Governments, recourse was had +to the sword, and a civil war ensued. That savage custom is exploded +by the new system, and _recourse is had to a national convention_. +Discussion, and the general will, arbitrates the question, and to +this private opinion yields with a good grace, and _order is preserved +uninterrupted_." + +That two different charges should be brought at the same time, the one +by a Member of the Legislative, for _not_ doing a certain thing, and +the other by the Attorney General for _doing_ it, is a strange jumble of +contradictions. I have now justified myself, or the work rather, against +the first, by stating the case in this letter, and the justification of +the other will be undertaken in its proper place. But in any case the +work will go on. + +I shall now conclude this letter with saying, that the only objection +I found against the plan and principles contained in the Second Part +of _Rights of Man_, when I had written the book, was, that they would +beneficially interest at least ninety-nine persons out of every hundred +throughout the nation, and therefore would not leave sufficient room for +men to act from the direct and disinterested principles of honour; but +the prosecution now commenced has fortunately removed that objection, +and the approvers and protectors of that work now feel the immediate +impulse of honour added to that of national interest. + +I am, Mr. Dundas, + +Not your obedient humble Servant, + +But the contrary, + +Thomas Paine. + + + + +VI. LETTERS TO ONSLOW CRANLEY, + +Lord Lieutenant of the county of Surry; on the subject of the late +excellent proclamation:--or the chairman who shall preside at the +meeting to be held at Epsom, June 18. + + +FIRST LETTER. + +London, June 17th, 1792. + +SIR, + +I have seen in the public newspapers the following advertisement, to +wit-- + +"To the Nobility, Gentry, Clergy, Freeholders, and other Inhabitants of +the county of Surry. + +"At the requisition and desire of several of the freeholders of the +county, I am, in the absence of the Sheriff, to desire the favour of +your attendance, at a meeting to be held at Epsom, on Monday, the 18th +instant, at 12 o'clock at noon, to consider of an humble address to his +majesty, to express our grateful approbation of his majesty's paternal, +and well-timed attendance to the public welfare, in his late most +gracious Proclamation against the enemies of our happy Constitution. + +"(Signed.) Onslow Cranley." + + +Taking it for granted, that the aforesaid advertisement, equally as +obscure as the proclamation to which it refers, has nevertheless some +meaning, and is intended to effect some purpose; and as a prosecution +(whether wisely or unwisely, justly or unjustly) is already commenced +against a work intitled RIGHTS OF MAN, of which I have the honour and +happiness to be the author; I feel it necessary to address this letter +to you, and to request that it may be read publicly to the gentlemen who +shall meet at Epsom in consequence of the advertisement. + +The work now under prosecution is, I conceive, the same work which is +intended to be suppressed by the aforesaid proclamation. Admitting this +to be the case, the gentlemen of the county of Surry are called upon by +somebody to condemn a work, and they are at the same time forbidden by +the proclamation to know what that work is; and they are further called +upon to give their aid and assistance to prevent other people from +knowing it also. It is therefore necessary that the author, for his own +justification, as well as to prevent the gentlemen who shall meet from +being imposed upon by misrepresentation, should give some outlines of +the principles and plans which that work contains. + +The work, Sir, in question, contains, first, an investigation of general +principles of government. + +It also distinguishes government into two classes or systems, the one +the hereditary system; the other the representative system; and it +compares these two systems with each other. + +It shews that what is called hereditary government cannot exist as a +matter of right; because hereditary government always means a government +yet to come; and the case always is, that those who are to live +afterwards have always the same right to establish a government for +themselves as the people who had lived before them. + +It also shews the defect to which hereditary government is unavoidably +subject: that it must, from the nature of it, throw government into +the hands of men totally unworthy of it from the want of principle, and +unfitted for it from want of capacity. James II. and many others are +recorded in the English history as proofs of the former of those cases, +and instances are to be found all over Europe to prove the truth of the +latter. + +It then shews that the representative system is the only true system of +government; that it is also the only system under which the liberties of +any people can be permanently secure; and, further, that it is the +only one that can continue the same equal probability at all times of +admitting of none but men properly qualified, both by principles and +abilities, into government, and of excluding such as are otherwise. + +The work shews also, by plans and calculations not hitherto denied nor +controverted, not even by the prosecution that is commenced, that the +taxes now existing may be reduced at least six millions, that taxes may +be entirely taken off from the poor, who are computed at one third of +the nation; and that taxes on the other two thirds may be considerably +reduced; that the aged poor may be comfortably provided for, and the +children of poor families properly educated; that fifteen thousand +soldiers, and the same number of sailors, may be allowed three +shillings per week during life out of the surplus taxes; and also that a +proportionate allowance may be made to the officers, and the pay of the +remaining soldiers and sailors be raised; and that it is better to apply +the surplus taxes to those purposes, than to consume them on lazy and +profligate placemen and pensioners; and that the revenue, said to be +twenty thousand pounds per annum, raised by a tax upon coals, and given +to the Duke of Richmond, is a gross imposition upon all the people of +London, and ought to be instantly abolished. + +This, Sir, is a concise abstract of the principles and plans contained +in the work that is now prosecuted, and for the suppression of which the +proclamation appears to be intended; but as it is impossible that I can, +in the compass of a letter, bring into view all the matters contained +in the work, and as it is proper that the gentlemen who may compose that +meeting should know what the merits or demerits of it are, before they +come to any resolutions, either directly or indirectly relating thereto, +I request the honour of presenting them with one hundred copies of the +second part of the Rights of Man, and also one thousand copies of my +letter to Mr. Dundas, which I have directed to be sent to Epsom for that +purpose; and I beg the favour of the Chairman to take the trouble of +presenting them to the gentlemen who shall meet on that occasion, with +my sincere wishes for their happiness, and for that of the nation in +general. + +Having now closed thus much of the subject of my letter, I next come +to speak of what has relation to me personally. I am well aware of the +delicacy that attends it, but the purpose of calling the meeting appears +to me so inconsistent with that justice that is always due between man +and man, that it is proper I should (as well on account of the gentlemen +who may meet, as on my own account) explain myself fully and candidly +thereon. + +I have already informed the gentlemen, that a prosecution is commenced +against a work of which I have the honour and happiness to be the +author; and I have good reasons for believing that the proclamation +which the gentlemen are called to consider, and to present an address +upon, is purposely calculated to give an impression to the jury before +whom that matter is to come. In short, that it is dictating a verdict by +proclamation; and I consider the instigators of the meeting to be held +at Epsom, as aiding and abetting the same improper, and, in my opinion, +illegal purpose, and that in a manner very artfully contrived, as I +shall now shew. + +Had a meeting been called of the Freeholders of the county of Middlesex, +the gentlemen who had composed that meeting would have rendered +themselves objectionable as persons to serve on a Jury, before whom the +judicial case was afterwards to come. But by calling a meeting out +of the county of Middlesex, that matter is artfully avoided, and the +gentlemen of Surry are summoned, as if it were intended thereby to give +a tone to the sort of verdict which the instigators of the meeting no +doubt wish should be brought in, and to give countenance to the Jury in +so doing. I am, sir, + +With much respect to the + +Gentlemen who shall meet, Their and your obedient and humble Servant, + +Thomas Paine. + + +TO ONSLOW CRANLEY, + +COMMONLY CALLED LORD ONSLOW. + +SECOND LETTER. SIR, + +London, June 21st 1792. + +WHEN I wrote you the letter which Mr. Home Tooke did me the favour to +present to you, as chairman of the meeting held at Epsom, Monday, June +18, it was not with much expectation that you would do me the justice of +permitting, or recommending it to be publicly read. I am well aware that +the signature of Thomas Paine has something in it dreadful to sinecure +Placemen and Pensioners; and when you, on seeing the letter opened, +informed the meeting that it was signed Thomas Paine, and added in a +note of exclamation, "the common enemy of us all." you spoke one of the +greatest truths you ever uttered, if you confine the expression to +men of the same description with yourself; men living in indolence and +luxury, on the spoil and labours of the public. + +The letter has since appeared in the "Argus," and probably in other +papers.(1) It will justify itself; but if any thing on that account +hath been wanting, your conduct at the meeting would have supplied +the omission. You there sufficiently proved that I was not mistaken in +supposing that the meeting was called to give an indirect aid to the +prosecution commenced against a work, the reputation of which will long +outlive the memory of the Pensioner I am writing to. + +When meetings, Sir, are called by the partisans of the Court, to +preclude the nation the right of investigating systems and principles +of government, and of exposing errors and defects, under the pretence +of prosecuting an individual--it furnishes an additional motive for +maintaining sacred that violated right. + +The principles and arguments contained in the work in question, _Rights +OF Man_, have stood, and they now stand, and I believe ever will stand, +unrefuted. They are stated in a fair and open manner to the world, and +they have already received the public approbation of a greater number of +men, of the best of characters, of every denomination of religion, and +of every rank in life, (placemen and pensioners excepted,) than all the +juries that shall meet in England, for ten years to come, will amount +to; and I have, moreover, good reasons for believing that the approvers +of that work, as well private as public, are already more numerous than +all the present electors throughout the nation. + + 1 The _Argus_ was edited by Sampson Perry, soon after + prosecuted.--_Editor_. + +Not less than forty pamphlets, intended as answers thereto, have +appeared, and as suddenly disappeared: scarcely are the titles of any of +them remembered, notwithstanding their endeavours have been aided by all +the daily abuse which the Court and Ministerial newspapers, for almost +a year and a half, could bestow, both upon the work and the author; +and now that every attempt to refute, and every abuse has failed, +the invention of calling the work a libel has been hit upon, and the +discomfited party has pusillanimously retreated to prosecution and a +jury, and obscure addresses. + +As I well know that a long letter from me will not be agreeable to you, +I will relieve your uneasiness by making it as short as I conveniently +can; and will conclude it with taking up the subject at that part where +Mr. HORNE TOOKE was interrupted from going on when at the meeting. + +That gentleman was stating, that the situation you stood in rendered it +improper for you to appear _actively_ in a scene in which your private +interest was too visible: that you were a Bedchamber Lord at a thousand +a year, and a Pensioner at three thousand pounds a year more--and here +he was stopped by the little but noisy circle you had collected round. +Permit me then, Sir, to add an explanation to his words, for the benefit +of your neighbours, and with which, and a few observations, I shall +close my letter. + +When it was reported in the English Newspapers, some short time since, +that the empress of RUSSIA had given to one of her minions a large tract +of country and several thousands of peasants as property, it very justly +provoked indignation and abhorrence in those who heard it. But if we +compare the mode practised in England, with that which appears to us so +abhorrent in Russia, it will be found to amount to very near the same +thing;--for example-- + +As the whole of the revenue in England is drawn by taxes from the +pockets of the people, those things called gifts and grants (of which +kind are all pensions and sinecure places) are paid out of that stock. +The difference, therefore, between the two modes is, that in England the +money is collected by the government, and then given to the Pensioner, +and in Russia he is left to collect it for himself. The smallest sum +which the poorest family in a county so near London as Surry, can be +supposed to pay annually, of taxes, is not less than five pounds; and as +your sinecure of one thousand, and pension of three thousand per annum, +are made up of taxes paid by eight hundred such poor families, it comes +to the same thing as if the eight hundred families had been given to +you, as in Russia, and you had collected the money on your account. +Were you to say that you are not quartered particularly on the people +of Surrey, but on the nation at large, the objection would amount to +nothing; for as there are more pensioners than counties, every one may +be considered as quartered on that in which he lives. + +What honour or happiness you can derive from being the PRINCIPAL PAUPER +of the neighbourhood, and occasioning a greater expence than the poor, +the aged, and the infirm, for ten miles round you, I leave you to enjoy. +At the same time I can see that it is no wonder you should be strenuous +in suppressing a book which strikes at the root of those abuses. No +wonder that you should be against reforms, against the freedom of the +press, and the right of investigation. To you, and to others of your +description, these are dreadful things; but you should also consider, +that the motives which prompt you to _act_, ought, by reflection, to +compel you to be _silent_. + +Having now returned your compliment, and sufficiently tired your +patience, I take my leave of you, with mentioning, that if you had not +prevented my former letter from being read at the meeting, you would not +have had the trouble of reading this; and also with requesting, that +the next time you call me "_a common enemy_," you would add, "_of us +sinecure placemen and pensioners_." + +I am, Sir, &c. &c. &c. + +Thomas Paine. + + + + +VII. TO THE SHERIFF OF THE COUNTY OF SUSSEX, + +OR, THE GENTLEMAN WHO SHALL PRESIDE AT THE MEETING TO BE HELD AT LEWES, +JULY 4. + +London, June 30, 1792. + +Sir, + +I have seen in the Lewes newspapers, of June 25, an advertisement, +signed by sundry persons, and also by the sheriff, for holding a meeting +at the Town-hall of Lewes, for the purpose, as the advertisement states, +of presenting an Address on the late Proclamation for suppressing +writings, books, &c. And as I conceive that a certain publication +of mine, entitled "Rights of Man," in which, among other things, the +enormous increase of taxes, placemen, and pensioners, is shewn to be +unnecessary and oppressive, _is the particular writing alluded to in +the said publication_; I request the Sheriff, or in his absence, whoever +shall preside at the meeting, or any other person, to read this letter +publicly to the company who shall assemble in consequence of that +advertisement. + +Gentlemen--It is now upwards of eighteen years since I was a resident +inhabitant of the town of Lewes. My situation among you, as an officer +of the revenue, for more than six years, enabled me to see into the +numerous and various distresses which the weight of taxes even at that +time of day occasioned; and feeling, as I then did, and as it is natural +for me to do, for the hard condition of others, it is with pleasure I +can declare, and every person then under my survey, and now living, can +witness, the exceeding candour, and even tenderness, with which that +part of the duty that fell to my share was executed. The name of _Thomas +Paine_ is not to be found in the records of the Lewes' justices, in any +one act of contention with, or severity of any kind whatever towards, +the persons whom he surveyed, either in the town, or in the country; +of this, _Mr. Fuller_ and _Mr. Shelley_, who will probably attend the +meeting, can, if they please, give full testimony. It is, however, not +in their power to contradict it. + +Having thus indulged myself in recollecting a place where I formerly +had, and even now have, many friends, rich and poor, and most probably +some enemies, I proceed to the more important purport of my letter. + +Since my departure from Lewes, fortune or providence has thrown me +into a line of action, which my first setting out into life could not +possibly have suggested to me. + +I have seen the fine and fertile country of America ravaged and deluged +in blood, and the taxes of England enormously increased and multiplied +in consequence thereof; and this, in a great measure, by the instigation +of the same class of placemen, pensioners, and Court dependants, who +are now promoting addresses throughout England, on the present +_unintelligible_ Proclamation. + +I have also seen a system of Government rise up in that country, free +from corruption, and now administered over an extent of territory ten +times as large as England, _for less expence than the pensions alone in +England amount to_; and under which more freedom is enjoyed, and a more +happy state of society is preserved, and a more general prosperity is +promoted, than under any other system of Government now existing in the +world. Knowing, as I do, the things I now declare, I should reproach +myself with want of duty and affection to mankind, were I not in the +most undismayed manner to publish them, as it were, on the house-tops, +for the good of others. + +Having thus glanced at what has passed within my knowledge, since my +leaving Lewes, I come to the subject more immediately before the meeting +now present. + +Mr. Edmund Burke, who, as I shall show, in a future publication, has +lived a concealed pensioner, at the expence of the public, of fifteen +hundred pounds per annum, for about ten years last past, published a +book the winter before last, in open violation of the principles of +liberty, and for which he was applauded by that class of men _who are +now promoting addresses_. Soon after his book appeared, I published the +first part of the work, entitled "Rights of Man," as an answer thereto, +and had the happiness of receiving the public thanks of several bodies +of men, and of numerous individuals of the best character, of every +denomination in religion, and of every rank in life--placemen and +pensioners excepted. + +In February last, I published the Second Part of "Rights of Man," and as +it met with still greater approbation from the true friends of national +freedom, and went deeper into the system of Government, and exposed the +abuses of it, more than had been done in the First Part, it consequently +excited an alarm among all those, who, insensible of the burthen of +taxes which the general mass of the people sustain, are living in luxury +and indolence, and hunting after Court preferments, sinecure places, and +pensions, either for themselves, or for their family connections. + +I have shewn in that work, that the taxes may be reduced at least _six +millions_, and even then the expences of Government in England would be +twenty times greater than they are in the country I have already spoken +of. That taxes may be entirely taken off from the poor, by remitting to +them in money at the rate of between _three and four pounds_ per head +per annum, for the education and bringing up of the children of the poor +families, who are computed at one third of the whole nation, and _six +pounds_ per annum to all poor persons, decayed tradesmen, or others, +from the age of fifty until sixty, and _ten pounds_ per annum from after +sixty. And that in consequence of this allowance, to be paid out of the +surplus taxes, the poor-rates would become unnecessary, and that it is +better to apply the surplus taxes to these beneficent purposes, _than to +waste them on idle and profligate courtiers, placemen, and pensioners_. + +These, gentlemen, are a part of the plans and principles contained in +the work, which this meeting is now called upon, in an indirect manner, +to vote an address against, and brand with the name of _wicked and +seditious_. But that the work may speak for itself, I request leave to +close this part of my letter with an extract therefrom, in the following +words: [_Quotation the same as that on p. 26_.] + +Gentlemen, I have now stated to you such matters as appear necessary +to me to offer to the consideration of the meeting. I have no other +interest in what I am doing, nor in writing you this letter, than the +interest of the _heart_. I consider the proposed address as calculated +to give countenance to placemen, pensioners, enormous taxation, and +corruption. Many of you will recollect, that whilst I resided among you, +there was not a man more firm and open in supporting the principles of +liberty than myself, and I still pursue, and ever will, the same path. + +I have, Gentlemen, only one request to make, which is--that those +who have called the meeting will speak _out_, and say, whether in +the address they are going to present against publications, which the +proclamation calls wicked, they mean the work entitled _Rights of Man_, +or whether they do not? + +I am, Gentlemen, With sincere wishes for your happiness, + +Your friend and Servant, + +Thomas Paine. + + + + +VIII. TO MR. SECRETARY DUNDAS. + +Calais, Sept. 15, 1792. + +Sir, + +I CONCEIVE it necessary to make you acquainted with the following +circumstance:--The department of Calais having elected me a member +of the National Convention of France, I set off from London the 13th +instant, in company with Mr. Frost, of Spring Garden, and Mr. Audibert, +one of the municipal officers of Calais, who brought me the certificate +of my being elected. We had not arrived more, I believe, than five +minutes at the York Hotel, at Dover, when the train of circumstances +began that I am going to relate. We had taken our baggage out of the +carriage, and put it into a room, into which we went. Mr. Frost, having +occasion to go out, was stopped in the passage by a gentleman, who told +him he must return into the room, which he did, and the gentleman came +in with him, and shut the door. I had remained in the room; Mr. Audibert +was gone to inquire when the packet was to sail. The gentleman then +said, that he was collector of the customs, and had an information +against us, and must examine our baggage for prohibited articles. He +produced his commission as Collector. Mr. Frost demanded to see the +information, which the Collector refused to shew, and continued to +refuse, on every demand that we made. The Collector then called in +several other officers, and began first to search our pockets. He took +from Mr. Audibert, who was then returned into the room, every thing +he found in his pocket, and laid it on the table. He then searched Mr. +Frost in the same manner, (who, among other things, had the keys of the +trunks in his pocket,) and then did the same by me. Mr. Frost wanting +to go out, mentioned it, and was going towards the door; on which the +Collector placed himself against the door, and said, nobody should +depart the room. After the keys had been taken from Mr. Frost, (for I +had given him the keys of my trunks beforehand, for the purpose of his +attending the baggage to the customs, if it should be necessary,) the +Collector asked us to open the trunks, presenting us the keys for +that purpose; this we declined to do, unless he would produce his +information, which he again refused. The Collector then opened the +trunks himself, and took out every paper and letter, sealed or unsealed. +On our remonstrating with him on the bad policy, as well as the +illegality, of Custom-House officers seizing papers and letters, which +were things that did not come under their cognizance, he replied, that +the _Proclamation_ gave him the authority. + +Among the letters which he took out of my trunk, were two sealed +letters, given into my charge by the American Minister in London +[Pinckney], one of which was directed to the American Minister at Paris +[Gouverneur Morris], the other to a private gentleman; a letter from the +President of the United States, and a letter from the Secretary of +State in America, both directed to me, and which I had received from +the American Minister, now in London, and were private letters of +friendship; a letter from the electoral body of the Department of +Calais, containing the notification of my being elected to the National +Convention; and a letter from the President of the National Assembly, +informing me of my being also elected for the Department of the Oise. + +As we found that all remonstrances with the Collector, on the bad policy +and illegality of seizing papers and letters, and retaining our persons +by force, under the pretence of searching for prohibited articles, +were vain, (for he justified himself on the Proclamation, and on the +information which he refused to shew,) we contented ourselves with +assuring him, that what he was then doing, he would afterwards have to +answer for, and left it to himself to do as he pleased. + +It appeared to us that the Collector was acting under the direction of +some other person or persons, then in the hotel, but whom he did not +choose we should see, or who did not choose to be seen by us; for the +Collector went several times out of the room for a few minutes, and was +also called out several times. + +When the Collector had taken what papers and letters he pleased out of +the trunks, he proceeded to read them. The first letter he took up for +this purpose was that from the President of the United States to me. +While he was doing this, I said, that it was very extraordinary that +General Washington could not write a letter of private friendship to +me, without its being subject to be read by a custom-house officer. Upon +this Mr. Frost laid his hand over the face of the letter, and told the +Collector that he should not read it, and took it from him. Mr. Frost +then, casting his eyes on the concluding paragraph of the letter, said, +I will read this part to you, which he did; of which the following is an +exact transcript-- + +"And as no one can feel a greater interest in the happiness of mankind +than I do, it is the first wish of my heart, that the enlightened policy +of the present age may diffuse to all men those blessings to which +they are entitled, and lay the foundation of happiness for future +generations."(1) + +As all the other letters and papers lay then on the table, the Collector +took them up, and was going out of the room with them. During the +transactions already stated, I contented myself with observing what +passed, and spoke but little; but on seeing the Collector going out of +the room with the letters, I told him that the papers and letters then +in his hand were either belonging to me, or entrusted to my charge, and +that as I could not permit them to be out of my sight, I must insist on +going with him. + + 1 Washington's letter is dated 6 May, 1792. See my _Life of + Paine_ vol. i., p. 302.--_Editor_. + +The Collector then made a list of the letters and papers, and went out +of the room, giving the letters and papers into the charge of one of +the officers. He returned in a short time, and, after some trifling +conversation, chiefly about the Proclamation, told us, that he saw _the +Proclamation was ill-founded_, and asked if we chose to put the letters +and papers into the trunks ourselves, which, as we had not taken them +out, we declined doing, and he did it himself, and returned us the keys. + +In stating to you these matters, I make no complaint against the +personal conduct of the Collector, or of any of the officers. Their +manner was as civil as such an extraordinary piece of business could +admit of. + +My chief motive in writing to you on this subject is, that you may take +measures for preventing the like in future, not only as it concerns +private individuals, but in order to prevent a renewal of those +unpleasant consequences that have heretofore arisen between nations from +circumstances equally as insignificant. I mention this only for myself; +but as the interruption extended to two other gentlemen, it is probable +that they, as individuals, will take some more effectual mode for +redress. + +I am, Sir, yours, &c. + +Thomas Paine. + +P. S. Among the papers seized, was a copy of the Attorney-General's +information against me for publishing the _Rights of Man_, and a printed +proof copy of my Letter to the Addressers, which will soon be published. + + + + +IX. LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE ADDRESSERS ON THE LATE PROCLAMATION.(1) + +COULD I have commanded circumstances with a wish, I know not of any that +would have more generally promoted the progress of knowledge, than +the late Proclamation, and the numerous rotten Borough and Corporation +Addresses thereon. They have not only served as advertisements, but they +have excited a spirit of enquiry into principles of government, and a +desire to read the Rights OF Man, in places where that spirit and that +work were before unknown. + +The people of England, wearied and stunned with parties, and alternately +deceived by each, had almost resigned the prerogative of thinking. Even +curiosity had expired, and a universal languor had spread itself over +the land. The opposition was visibly no other than a contest for power, +whilst the mass of the nation stood torpidly by as the prize. + +In this hopeless state of things, the First Part of the Rights of +Man made its appearance. It had to combat with a strange mixture +of prejudice and indifference; it stood exposed to every species of +newspaper abuse; and besides this, it had to remove the obstructions +which Mr. Burke's rude and outrageous attack on the French Revolution +had artfully raised. + + 1 The Royal Proclamation issued against seditious writings, + May 21st. This pamphlet, the proof of which was read in + Paris (see P. S. of preceding chapter), was published at 1s. + 6d. by H. D. Symonds, Paternoster Row, and Thomas Clio + Rickman, 7 Upper Marylebone Street (where it was written), + both pub-Ushers being soon after prosecuted.--_Editor_. + +But how easy does even the most illiterate reader distinguish the +spontaneous sensations of the heart, from the laboured productions of +the brain. Truth, whenever it can fully appear, is a thing so naturally +familiar to the mind, that an acquaintance commences at first sight. +No artificial light, yet discovered, can display all the properties of +daylight; so neither can the best invented fiction fill the mind with +every conviction which truth begets. + +To overthrow Mr. Burke's fallacious book was scarcely the operation of a +day. Even the phalanx of Placemen and Pensioners, who had given the +tone to the multitude, by clamouring forth his political fame, became +suddenly silent; and the final event to himself has been, that as he +rose like a rocket, he fell like the stick. + +It seldom happens, that the mind rests satisfied with the simple +detection of error or imposition. Once put in motion, _that_ motion soon +becomes accelerated; where it had intended to stop, it discovers new +reasons to proceed, and renews and continues the pursuit far beyond the +limits it first prescribed to itself. Thus it has happened to the people +of England. From a detection of Mr. Burke's incoherent rhapsodies, and +distorted facts, they began an enquiry into the first principles of +Government, whilst himself, like an object left far behind, became +invisible and forgotten. + +Much as the First Part of RIGHTS OF Man impressed at its first +appearance, the progressive mind soon discovered that it did not go far +enough. It detected errors; it exposed absurdities; it shook the fabric +of political superstition; it generated new ideas; but it did not +produce a regular system of principles in the room of those which it +displaced. And, if I may guess at the mind of the Government-party, +they beheld it as an unexpected gale that would soon blow over, and +they forbore, like sailors in threatening weather, to whistle, lest they +should encrease(sic) the wind. Every thing, on their part, was profound +silence. + +When the Second Part of _Rights of Man, combining Principle and +Practice_, was preparing to appear, they affected, for a while, to act +with the same policy as before; but finding their silence had no more +influence in stifling the progress of the work, than it would have in +stopping the progress of time, they changed their plan, and affected +to treat it with clamorous contempt. The Speech-making Placemen and +Pensioners, and Place-expectants, in both Houses of Parliament, the +_Outs_ as well as the _Ins_, represented it as a silly, insignificant +performance; as a work incapable of producing any effect; as something +which they were sure the good sense of the people would either despise +or indignantly spurn; but such was the overstrained awkwardness with +which they harangued and encouraged each other, that in the very act of +declaring their confidence they betrayed their fears. + +As most of the rotten Borough Addressers are obscured in holes and +corners throughout the country, and to whom a newspaper arrives as +rarely as an almanac, they most probably have not had the opportunity of +knowing how far this part of the farce (the original prelude to all the +Addresses) has been acted. For _their_ information, I will suspend a +while the more serious purpose of my Letter, and entertain them with two +or three Speeches in the last Session of Parliament, which will serve +them for politics till Parliament meets again. + +You must know, Gentlemen, that the Second Part of the Rights of Man (the +book against which you have been presenting Addresses, though it is +most probable that many of you did not know it) was to have come out +precisely at the time that Parliament last met. It happened not to be +published till a few days after. But as it was very well known that the +book would shortly appear, the parliamentary Orators entered into a very +cordial coalition to cry the book down, and they began their attack by +crying up the _blessings_ of the Constitution. + +Had it been your fate to have been there, you could not but have been +moved at the heart-and-pocket-felt congratulations that passed between +all the parties on this subject of _blessings_; for the _Outs_ enjoy +places and pensions and sinecures as well as the _Ins_, and are as +devoutly attached to the firm of the house. + +One of the most conspicuous of this motley groupe, is the Clerk of +the Court of King's Bench, who calls himself Lord Stormont. He is also +called Justice General of Scotland, and Keeper of Scoon, (an opposition +man,) and he draws from the public for these nominal offices, not less, +as I am informed, than six thousand pounds a-year, and he is, most +probably, at the trouble of counting the money, and signing a receipt, +to shew, perhaps, that he is qualified to be Clerk as well as Justice. +He spoke as follows.(*) + +"That we shall all be unanimous in expressing our attachment to the +constitution of these realms, I am confident. It is a subject upon which +there can be no divided opinion in this house. I do not pretend to be +deep read in the knowledge of the Constitution, but I take upon me to +say, that from the extent of my knowledge [_for I have so many thousands +a year for nothing_] it appears to me, that from the period of the +Revolution, for it was by no means created then, it has been, both in +theory and practice, the wisest system that ever was formed. I never was +[he means he never was till now] a dealer in political cant. My life has +not been occupied in that way, but the speculations of late years seem +to have taken a turn, for which I cannot account. When I came into +public life, the political pamphlets of the time, however they might be +charged with the heat and violence of parties, were agreed in extolling +the radical beauties of the Constitution itself. I remember [_he means +he has forgotten_] a most captivating eulogium on its charms, by Lord +Bolingbroke, where he recommends his readers to contemplate it in all +its aspects, with the assurance that it would be found more estimable +the more it was seen, I do not recollect his precise words, but I wish +that men who write upon these subjects would take this for their +model, instead of the political pamphlets, which, I am told, are now in +circulation, [_such, I suppose, as Rights of Man,_] pamphlets which +I have not read, and whose purport I know only by report, [_he means, +perhaps, by the noise they make_.] This, however, I am sure, that +pamphlets tending to unsettle the public reverence for the constitution, +will have very little influence. They can do very little harm--for +[_by the bye, he is no dealer in political cant_] the English are a +sober-thinking people, and are more intelligent, more solid, more steady +in their opinions, than any people I ever had the fortune to see. [_This +is pretty well laid on, though, for a new beginner_.] But if there +should ever come a time when the propagation of those doctrines should +agitate the public mind, I am sure for every one of your Lordships, that +no attack will be made on the constitution, from which it is truly said +that we derive all our prosperity, without raising every one of +your Lordships to its support It will then be found that there is no +difference among us, but that we are all determined to stand or fall +together, in defence of the inestimable system "--[_of places and +pensions_]. + + * See his speech in the Morning Chronicle of Feb. 1.-- + Author. + +After Stormont, on the opposition side, sat down, up rose another noble +Lord, on the ministerial side, Grenville. This man ought to be as strong +in the back as a mule, or the sire of a mule, or it would crack with +the weight of places and offices. He rose, however, without feeling any +incumbrance, full master of his weight; and thus said this noble Lord to +t'other noble Lord! + +"The patriotic and manly manner in which the noble Lord has declared +his sentiments on the subject of the constitution, demands my cordial +approbation. The noble Viscount has proved, that however we may differ +on particular measures, amidst all the jars and dissonance of parties, +we are unanimous in principle. There is a perfect and entire consent +[_between us_] in the love and maintenance of the constitution as +happily subsisting. It must undoubtedly give your Lordships concern, to +find that the time is come [heigh ho!] when there is propriety in the +expressions of regard to [o! o! o!] the constitution. And that there are +men [confound--their--po-li-tics] who disseminate doctrines hostile to +the genuine spirit of our well balanced system, [_it is certainly well +balanced when both sides hold places and pensions at once._] I agree +with the noble viscount that they have not [I hope] much success. I am +convinced that there is no danger to be apprehended from their attempts: +but it is truly important and consolatory [to us placemen, I suppose] to +know, that if ever there should arise a serious alarm, there is but one +spirit, one sense, [_and that sense I presume is not common sense_] +and one determination in this house "--which undoubtedly is to hold all +their places and pensions as long as they can. + +Both those speeches (except the parts enclosed in parenthesis, which +are added for the purpose of illustration) are copied verbatim from the +Morning Chronicle of the 1st of February last; and when the situation of +the speakers is considered, the one in the opposition, and the other +in the ministry, and both of them living at the public expence, by +sinecure, or nominal places and offices, it required a very unblushing +front to be able to deliver them. Can those men seriously suppose +any nation to be so completely blind as not to see through them? Can +Stormont imagine that the political _cant_, with which he has larded his +harangue, will conceal the craft? Does he not know that there never was +a cover large enough to hide _itself_? Or can Grenvilie believe that his +credit with the public encreases with his avarice for places? + +But, if these orators will accept a service from me, in return for the +allusions they have made to the _Rights of Man_, I will make a speech +for either of them to deliver, on the excellence of the constitution, +that shall be as much to the purpose as what they have spoken, or as +_Bolingbroke's captivating eulogium_. Here it is. + +"That we shall all be unanimous in expressing our attachment to the +constitution, I am confident. It is, my Lords, incomprehensibly good: +but the great wonder of all is the wisdom; for it is, my lords, _the +wisest system that ever was formed_. + +"With respect to us, noble Lords, though the world does not know it, it +is very well known to us, that we have more wisdom than we know what to +do with; and what is still better, my Lords, we have it all in stock. I +defy your Lordships to prove, that a tittle of it has been used yet; and +if we but go on, my Lords, with the frugality we have hitherto done, we +shall leave to our heirs and successors, when we go out of the world, +the whole stock of wisdom, _untouched_, that we brought in; and there is +no doubt but they will follow our example. This, my lords, is one of the +blessed effects of the hereditary system; for we can never be without +wisdom so long as we keep it by us, and do not use it. + +"But, my Lords, as all this wisdom is hereditary property, for the sole +benefit of us and our heirs, and it is necessary that the people should +know where to get a supply for their own use, the excellence of our +constitution has provided us a King for this very purpose, and for _no +other_. But, my Lords, I perceive a defect to which the constitution +is subject, and which I propose to remedy by bringing a bill into +Parliament for that purpose. + +"The constitution, my Lords, out of delicacy, I presume, has left it as +a matter of _choice_ to a King whether he will be wise or not. It has +not, I mean, my Lords, insisted upon it as a constitutional point, +which, I conceive it ought to have done; for I pledge myself to your +Lordships to prove, and that with _true patriotic boldness_, that he has +_no choice in the matter_. This bill, my Lords, which I shall bring in, +will be to declare, that the constitution, according to the true intent +and meaning thereof, does not invest the King with this choice; our +ancestors were too wise to do that; and, in order to prevent any doubts +that might otherwise arise, I shall prepare, my Lords, an enacting +clause, to fix the wisdom of Kings by act of Parliament; and then, my +Lords our Constitution will be the wonder of the world! + +"Wisdom, my lords, is the one thing needful: but that there may be no +mistake in this matter, and that we may proceed consistently with the +true wisdom of the constitution, I shall propose a _certain criterion_ +whereby the _exact quantity of wisdom_ necessary for a King may be +known. [Here should be a cry of, Hear him! Hear him!] + +"It is recorded, my Lords, in the Statutes at Large of the Jews, 'a +book, my Lords, which I have not read, and whose purport I know only by +report,' _but perhaps the bench of Bishops can recollect something about +it_, that Saul gave the most convincing proofs of royal wisdom before +he was made a King, _for he was sent to seek his father's asses and he +could not find them_. + +"Here, my Lords, we have, most happily for us, a case in point: This +precedent ought to be established by act of Parliament; and every King, +before he be crowned, should be sent to seek his father's asses, and +if he cannot find them, he shall be declared wise enough to be King, +according to the true meaning of our excellent constitution. All, +therefore, my Lords, that will be necessary to be done by the enacting +clause that I shall bring in, will be to invest the King beforehand with +the quantity of wisdom necessary for this purpose, lest he should happen +not to possess it; and this, my Lords, we can do without making use of +any of our own. + +"We further read, my Lords, in the said Statutes at Large of the +Jews, that Samuel, who certainly was as mad as any Man-of-Rights-Man +now-a-days (hear him! hear him!), was highly displeased, and even +exasperated, at the proposal of the Jews to have a King, and he warned +them against it with all that assurance and impudence of which he was +master. I have been, my Lords, at the trouble of going all the way to +_Paternoster-row_, to procure an extract from the printed copy. I was +told that I should meet with it there, or in _Amen-eorner_, for I was +then going, my Lords, to rummage for it among the curiosities of the +_Antiquarian Society_. I will read the extracts to your Lordships, to +shew how little Samuel knew of the matter. + +"The extract, my Lords, is from 1 Sam. chap. viii.: + +"'And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked +of him a King. + +"'And he said, this will be the manner of the King that shall reign +over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for +his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his +chariots. + +"'And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over +fifties, and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, +and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. + +"'And he will take your daughters to be confectionnes, and to be cooks, +and to be bakers. + +"'And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your +olive-yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. + +"'And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and +give to his officers and to his servants. + +"'And he will take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your +goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. + +"'And he will take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his +servants. + +"'And ye shall cry out in that day, because of your King, which ye shall +have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.' + +"Now, my Lords, what can we think of this man Samuel? Is there a word of +truth, or any thing like truth, in all that he has said? He pretended +to be a prophet, or a wise man, but has not the event proved him to be a +fool, or an incendiary? Look around, my Lords, and see if any thing has +happened that he pretended to foretell! Has not the most profound peace +reigned throughout the world ever since Kings were in fashion? Are not, +for example, the present Kings of Europe the most peaceable of mankind, +and the Empress of Russia the very milk of human kindness? It would not +be worth having Kings, my Lords, if it were not that they never go to +war. + +"If we look at home, my Lords, do we not see the same things here as are +seen every where else? Are our young men taken to be horsemen, or foot +soldiers, any more than in Germany or in Prussia, or in Hanover or in +Hesse? Are not our sailors as safe at land as at sea? Are they ever +dragged from their homes, like oxen to the slaughter-house, to serve on +board ships of war? When they return from the perils of a long voyage +with the merchandize of distant countries, does not every man sit down +under his own vine and his own fig-tree, in perfect security? Is the +tenth of our seed taken by tax-gatherers, or is any part of it given to +the King's servants? In short, _is not everything as free from taxes as +the light from Heaven!_ (1) + +"Ah! my Lords, do we not see the blessed effect of having Kings in every +thing we look at? Is not the G. R., or the broad R., stampt upon every +thing? Even the shoes, the gloves, and the hats that we wear, +are enriched with the impression, and all our candles blaze a +burnt-offering. + +"Besides these blessings, my Lords, that cover us from the sole of the +foot to the crown of the head, do we not see a race of youths growing +up to be Kings, who are the very paragons of virtue? There is not one of +them, my Lords, but might be trusted with untold gold, as safely as +the other. Are they not '_more sober, intelligent, more solid, more +steady_,' and withal, _more learned, more wise, more every thing, than +any youths we '_ever had the fortune to see.' Ah! my Lords, they are a +_hopeful family_. + +"The blessed prospect of succession, which the nation has at this moment +before its eyes, is a most undeniable proof of the excellence of our +constitution, and of the blessed hereditary system; for nothing, my +Lords, but a constitution founded on the truest and purest wisdom +could admit such heaven-born and heaven-taught characters into the +government.--Permit me now, my Lords, to recal your attention to the +libellous chapter I have just read about Kings. I mention this, my +Lords, because it is my intention to move for a bill to be brought into +parliament to expunge that chapter from the Bible, and that the Lord +Chancellor, with the assistance of the Prince of Wales, the Duke of +York, and the Duke of Clarence, be requested to write a chapter in the +room of it; and that Mr. Burke do see that it be truly canonical, and +faithfully inserted."--Finis. + + 1 Allusion to the window-tax.--Editor, + +If the Clerk of the Court of King's Bench should chuse to be the orator +of this luminous encomium on the constitution, I hope he will get +it well by heart before he attempts to deliver it, and not have +to apologize to Parliament, as he did in the case of Bolingbroke's +encomium, for forgetting his lesson; and, with this admonition I leave +him. + +Having thus informed the Addressers of what passed at the meeting of +Parliament, I return to take up the subject at the part where I broke +off in order to introduce the preceding speeches. + +I was then stating, that the first policy of the Government party was +silence, and the next, clamorous contempt; but as people generally +choose to read and judge for themselves, the work still went on, and the +affectation of contempt, like the silence that preceded it, passed for +nothing. + +Thus foiled in their second scheme, their evil genius, like a +will-with-a-wisp, led them to a third; when all at once, as if it had +been unfolded to them by a fortune-teller, or Mr. Dundas had discovered +it by second sight, this once harmless, insignificant book, without +undergoing the alteration of a single letter, became a most wicked and +dangerous Libel. The whole Cabinet, like a ship's crew, became alarmed; +all hands were piped upon deck, as if a conspiracy of elements was +forming around them, and out came the Proclamation and the Prosecution; +and Addresses supplied the place of prayers. + +Ye silly swains, thought I to myself, why do you torment yourselves +thus? The Rights OF Man is a book calmly and rationally written; why +then are you so disturbed? Did you see how little or how suspicious such +conduct makes you appear, even cunning alone, had you no other faculty, +would hush you into prudence. The plans, principles, and arguments, +contained in that work, are placed before the eyes of the nation, and +of the world, in a fair, open, and manly manner, and nothing more is +necessary than to refute them. Do this, and the whole is done; but if ye +cannot, so neither can ye suppress the reading, nor convict the author; +for the Law, in the opinion of all good men, would convict itself, that +should condemn what cannot be refuted. + +Having now shown the Addressers the several stages of the business, +prior to their being called upon, like Caesar in the Tyber, crying to +Cassius, "_help, Cassius, or I sink_!" I next come to remark on the +policy of the Government, in promoting Addresses; on the consequences +naturally resulting therefrom; and on the conduct of the persons +concerned. + +With respect to the policy, it evidently carries with it every mark +and feature of disguised fear. And it will hereafter be placed in the +history of extraordinary things, that a pamphlet should be produced by +an individual, unconnected with any sect or party, and not seeking to +make any, and almost a stranger in the land, that should compleatly +frighten a whole Government, and that in the midst of its most +triumphant security. Such a circumstance cannot fail to prove, that +either the pamphlet has irresistible powers, or the Government very +extraordinary defects, or both. The nation exhibits no signs of fear at +the Rights of Man; why then should the Government, unless the interest +of the two are really opposite to each other, and the secret is +beginning to be known? That there are two distinct classes of men in +the nation, those who pay taxes, and those who receive and live upon +the taxes, is evident at first sight; and when taxation is carried to +excess, it cannot fail to disunite those two, and something of this kind +is now beginning to appear. + +It is also curious to observe, amidst all the fume and bustle about +Proclamations and Addresses, kept up by a few noisy and interested men, +how little the mass of the nation seem to care about either. They +appear to me, by the indifference they shew, not to believe a word the +Proclamation contains; and as to the Addresses, they travel to London +with the silence of a funeral, and having announced their arrival in +the Gazette, are deposited with the ashes of their predecessors, and Mr. +Dundas writes their _hic facet_. + +One of the best effects which the Proclamation, and its echo the +Addresses have had, has been that of exciting and spreading curiosity; +and it requires only a single reflection to discover, that the object +of all curiosity is knowledge. When the mass of the nation saw that +Placemen, Pensioners, and Borough-mongers, were the persons that stood +forward to promote Addresses, it could not fail to create suspicions +that the public good was not their object; that the character of the +books, or writings, to which such persons obscurely alluded, not daring +to mention them, was directly contrary to what they described them to +be, and that it was necessary that every man, for his own satisfaction, +should exercise his proper right, and read and judge for himself. + +But how will the persons who have been induced to read the _Rights of +Man_, by the clamour that has been raised against it, be surprized +to find, that, instead of a wicked, inflammatory work, instead of a +licencious and profligate performance, it abounds with principles of +government that are uncontrovertible--with arguments which every reader +will feel, are unanswerable--with plans for the increase of commerce +and manufactures--for the extinction of war--for the education of +the children of the poor--for the comfortable support of the aged and +decayed persons of both sexes--for the relief of the army and navy, and, +in short, for the promotion of every thing that can benefit the moral, +civil, and political condition of Man. + +Why, then, some calm observer will ask, why is the work prosecuted, if +these be the goodly matters it contains? I will tell thee, friend; +it contains also a plan for the reduction of Taxes, for lessening the +immense expences of Government, for abolishing sinecure Places and +Pensions; and it proposes applying the redundant taxes, that shall +be saved by these reforms, to the purposes mentioned in the former +paragraph, instead of applying them to the support of idle and +profligate Placemen and Pensioners. + +Is it, then, any wonder that Placemen and Pensioners, and the whole +train of Court expectants, should become the promoters of Addresses, +Proclamations, and Prosecutions? or, is it any wonder that Corporations +and rotten Boroughs, which are attacked and exposed, both in the First +and Second Parts of _Rights of Man_, as unjust monopolies and public +nuisances, should join in the cavalcade? Yet these are the sources from +which Addresses have sprung. Had not such persons come forward to +oppose the _Rights of Man_, I should have doubted the efficacy of my +own writings: but those opposers have now proved to me that the blow was +well directed, and they have done it justice by confessing the smart. + +The principal deception in this business of Addresses has been, that the +promoters of them have not come forward in their proper characters. They +have assumed to pass themselves upon the public as a part of the Public, +bearing a share of the burthen of Taxes, and acting for the public good; +whereas, they are in general that part of it that adds to the public +burthen, by living on the produce of the public taxes. They are to the +public what the locusts are to the tree: the burthen would be less, and +the prosperity would be greater, if they were shaken off. + +"I do not come here," said Onslow, at the Surry County meeting, "as the +Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the county, but I come here as +a plain country gentleman." The fact is, that he came there as what he +was, and as no other, and consequently he came as one of the beings I +have been describing. If it be the character of a gentleman to be fed by +the public, as a pauper is by the parish, Onslow has a fair claim to the +title; and the same description will suit the Duke of Richmond, who led +the Address at the Sussex meeting. He also may set up for a gentleman. + +As to the meeting in the next adjoining county (Kent), it was a scene of +disgrace. About two hundred persons met, when a small part of them drew +privately away from the rest, and voted an Address: the consequence of +which was that they got together by the ears, and produced a riot in the +very act of producing an Address to prevent Riots. + +That the Proclamation and the Addresses have failed of their intended +effect, may be collected from the silence which the Government party +itself observes. The number of addresses has been weekly retailed in the +Gazette; but the number of Addressers has been concealed. Several of the +Addresses have been voted by not more than ten or twelve persons; and a +considerable number of them by not more than thirty. The whole number of +Addresses presented at the time of writing this letter is three hundred +and twenty, (rotten Boroughs and Corporations included) and even +admitting, on an average, one hundred Addressers to each address, the +whole number of addressers would be but thirty-two thousand, and nearly +three months have been taken up in procuring this number. That the +success of the Proclamation has been less than the success of the work +it was intended to discourage, is a matter within my own knowledge; for +a greater number of the cheap edition of the First and Second Parts of +the Rights OF Man has been sold in the space only of one month, than the +whole number of Addressers (admitting them to be thirty-two thousand) +have amounted to in three months. + +It is a dangerous attempt in any government to say to a Nation, "_thou +shalt not read_." This is now done in Spain, and was formerly done under +the old Government of France; but it served to procure the downfall of +the latter, and is subverting that of the former; and it will have +the same tendency in all countries; because _thought_ by some means +or other, is got abroad in the world, and cannot be restrained, though +reading may. + +If _Rights of Man_ were a book that deserved the vile description which +the promoters of the Address have given of it, why did not these men +prove their charge, and satisfy the people, by producing it, and reading +it publicly? This most certainly ought to have been done, and would also +have been done, had they believed it would have answered their purpose. +But the fact is, that the book contains truths which those time-servers +dreaded to hear, and dreaded that the people should know; and it is now +following up the, + + +ADDRESS TO ADDRESSERS. + +Addresses in every part of the nation, and convicting them of +falsehoods. + +Among the unwarrantable proceedings to which the Proclamation has given +rise, the meetings of the Justices in several of the towns and counties +ought to be noticed.. Those men have assumed to re-act the farce of +General Warrants, and to suppress, by their own authority, whatever +publications they please. This is an attempt at power equalled only by +the conduct of the minor despots of the most despotic governments in +Europe, and yet those Justices affect to call England a Free Country. +But even this, perhaps, like the scheme for garrisoning the country +by building military barracks, is necessary to awaken the country to a +sense of its Rights, and, as such, it will have a good effect. + +Another part of the conduct of such Justices has been, that of +threatening to take away the licences from taverns and public-houses, +where the inhabitants of the neighbourhood associated to read and +discuss the principles of Government, and to inform each other thereon. +This, again, is similar to what is doing in Spain and Russia; and the +reflection which it cannot fail to suggest is, that the principles and +conduct of any Government must be bad, when that Government dreads and +startles at discussion, and seeks security by a prevention of knowledge. + +If the Government, or the Constitution, or by whatever name it be +called, be that miracle of perfection which the Proclamation and +the Addresses have trumpeted it forth to be, it ought to have defied +discussion and investigation, instead of dreading it. Whereas, every +attempt it makes, either by Proclamation, Prosecution, or Address, to +suppress investigation, is a confession that it feels itself unable to +bear it. It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from enquiry. All +the numerous pamphlets, and all the newspaper falsehood and abuse, that +have been published against the Rights of Man, have fallen before it +like pointless arrows; and, in like manner, would any work have fallen +before the Constitution, had the Constitution, as it is called, been +founded on as good political principles as those on which the Rights OF +Man is written. + +It is a good Constitution for courtiers, placemen, pensioners, +borough-holders, and the leaders of Parties, and these are the men that +have been the active leaders of Addresses; but it is a bad Constitution +for at least ninety-nine parts of the nation out of an hundred, and this +truth is every day making its way. + +It is bad, first, because it entails upon the nation the unnecessary +expence of supporting three forms and systems of Government at once, +namely, the monarchical, the aristocratical, and the democratical. + +Secondly, because it is impossible to unite such a discordant +composition by any other means than perpetual corruption; and therefore +the corruption so loudly and so universally complained of, is no +other than the natural consequence of such an unnatural compound of +Governments; and in this consists that excellence which the numerous +herd of placemen and pensioners so loudly extol, and which at the same +time, occasions that enormous load of taxes under which the rest of the +nation groans. + +Among the mass of national delusions calculated to amuse and impose upon +the multitude, the standing one has been that of flattering them into +taxes, by calling the Government (or as they please to express it, +the English Constitution) "_the envy and the admiration of the world_" +Scarcely an Address has been voted in which some of the speakers have +not uttered this hackneyed nonsensical falsehood. + +Two Revolutions have taken place, those of America and France; and both +of them have rejected the unnatural compounded system of the English +government. America has declared against all hereditary Government, and +established the representative system of Government only. France has +entirely rejected the aristocratical part, and is now discovering +the absurdity of the monarchical, and is approaching fast to the +representative system. On what ground then, do these men continue a +declaration, respecting what they call the _envy and admiration of other +nations_, which the voluntary practice of such nations, as have had the +opportunity of establishing Government, contradicts and falsifies. Will +such men never confine themselves to truth? Will they be for ever the +deceivers of the people? + +But I will go further, and shew, that were Government now to begin in +England, the people could not be brought to establish the same system +they now submit to. + +In speaking on this subject (or on any other) _on the pure ground +of principle_, antiquity and precedent cease to be authority, and +hoary-headed error loses its effect. The reasonableness and propriety of +things must be examined abstractedly from custom and usage; and, in this +point of view, the right which grows into practice to-day is as much a +right, and as old in principle and theory, as if it had the customary +sanction of a thousand ages. Principles have no connection with time, +nor characters with names. + +To say that the Government of this country is composed of King, Lords, +and Commons, is the mere phraseology of custom. It is composed of +men; and whoever the men be to whom the Government of any country is +intrusted, they ought to be the best and wisest that can be found, and +if they are not so, they are not fit for the station. A man derives +no more excellence from the change of a name, or calling him King, or +calling him Lord, than I should do by changing my name from Thomas to +George, or from Paine to Guelph. I should not be a whit more able to +write a book because my name was altered; neither would any man, now +called a King or a lord, have a whit the more sense than he now has, +were he to call himself Thomas Paine. + +As to the word "Commons," applied as it is in England, it is a term +of degradation and reproach, and ought to be abolished. It is a term +unknown in free countries. + +But to the point.--Let us suppose that Government was now to begin in +England, and that the plan of Government, offered to the nation for its +approbation or rejection, consisted of the following parts: + +First--That some one individual should be taken from all the rest of the +nation, and to whom all the rest should swear obedience, and never be +permitted to sit down in his presence, and that they should give to him +one million sterling a year.--That the nation should never after have +power or authority to make laws but with his express consent; and that +his sons and his sons' sons, whether wise or foolish, good men or +bad, fit or unfit, should have the same power, and also the same money +annually paid to them for ever. + +Secondly--That there should be two houses of Legislators to assist in +making laws, one of which should, in the first instance, be entirely +appointed by the aforesaid person, and that their sons and their sons' +sons, whether wise or foolish, good men or bad, fit or unfit, should for +ever after be hereditary Legislators. + +Thirdly--That the other house should be chosen in the same manner as the +house now called the House of Commons is chosen, and should be subject +to the controul of the two aforesaid hereditary Powers in all things. + +It would be impossible to cram such a farrago of imposition and +absurdity down the throat of this or any other nation that was capable +of reasoning upon its rights and its interest. + +They would ask, in the first place, on what ground of right, or on what +principle, such irrational and preposterous distinctions could, or ought +to be made; and what pretensions any man could have, or what services he +could render, to entitle him to a million a year? They would go +farther, and revolt at the idea of consigning their children, and their +children's children, to the domination of persons hereafter to be born, +who might, for any thing they could foresee, turn out to be knaves or +fools; and they would finally discover, that the project of hereditary +Governors and Legislators _was a treasonable usurpation over the rights +of posterity_. Not only the calm dictates of reason, and the force of +natural affection, but the integrity of manly pride, would impel men to +spurn such proposals. + +From the grosser absurdities of such a scheme, they would extend their +examination to the practical defects--They would soon see that it would +end in tyranny accomplished by fraud. That in the operation of it, it +would be two to one against them, because the two parts that were to be +made hereditary would form a common interest, and stick to each other; +and that themselves and representatives would become no better +than hewers of wood and drawers of water for the other parts of the +Government.--Yet call one of those powers King, the other Lords, and the +third the Commons, and it gives the model of what is called the English +Government. + +I have asserted, and have shewn, both in the First and Second Parts +of _Rights of Man_, that there is not such a thing as an English +Constitution, and that the people have yet a Constitution to form. _A +Constitution is a thing antecedent to a Government; it is the act of a +people creating a Government and giving it powers, and defining the +limits and exercise of the powers so given_. But whenever did the people +of England, acting in their original constituent character, by a +delegation elected for that express purpose, declare and say, "We, the +people of this land, do constitute and appoint this to be our system and +form of Government." The Government has assumed to constitute itself, +but it never was constituted by the people, in whom alone the right of +constituting resides. + +I will here recite the preamble to the Federal Constitution of the +United States of America. I have shewn in the Second Part of _Rights +of Man_, the manner by which the Constitution was formed and afterwards +ratified; and to which I refer the reader. The preamble is in the +following words: + +"We, the people, of the United States, in order to form a more perfect +union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for +common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings +of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this +constitution for the United States of America." + +Then follow the several articles which appoint the manner in which the +several component parts of the Government, legislative and executive, +shall be elected, and the period of their duration, and the powers they +shall have: also, the manner by which future additions, alterations, +or amendments, shall be made to the constitution. Consequently, every +improvement that can be made in the science of government, follows in +that country as a matter of order. It is only in Governments founded on +assumption and false principles, that reasoning upon, and investigating +systems and principles of Government, and shewing their several +excellencies and defects, are termed libellous and seditious. These +terms were made part of the charge brought against Locke, Hampden, and +Sydney, and will continue to be brought against all good men, so long as +bad government shall continue. + +The Government of this country has been ostentatiously giving challenges +for more than an hundred years past, upon what it called its own +excellence and perfection. Scarcely a King's Speech, or a Parliamentary +Speech, has been uttered, in which this glove has not been thrown, till +the world has been insulted with their challenges. But it now appears +that all this was vapour and vain boasting, or that it was intended to +conceal abuses and defects, and hush the people into taxes. I have taken +the challenge up, and in behalf of the public have shewn, in a fair, +open, and candid manner, both the radical and practical defects of the +system; when, lo! those champions of the Civil List have fled away, +and sent the Attorney-General to deny the challenge, by turning the +acceptance of it into an attack, and defending their Places and Pensions +by a prosecution. + +I will here drop this part of the subject, and state a few particulars +respecting the prosecution now pending, by which the Addressers will +see that they have been used as tools to the prosecuting party and their +dependents. The case is as follows: + +The original edition of the First and Second Parts of the Rights of +Man, having been expensively printed, (in the modern stile of printing +pamphlets, that they might be bound up with Mr. Burke's Reflections on +the French Revolution,) the high price(1) precluded the generality +of people from purchasing; and many applications were made to me from +various parts of the country to print the work in a cheaper manner. The +people of Sheffield requested leave to print two thousand copies for +themselves, with which request I immediately complied. The same request +came to me from Rotherham, from Leicester, from Chester, from several +towns in Scotland; and Mr. James Mackintosh, author of _Vindico +Gallico_, brought me a request from Warwickshire, for leave to print ten +thousand copies in that county. I had already sent a cheap edition to +Scotland; and finding the applications increase, I concluded that the +best method of complying therewith, would be to print a very numerous +edition in London, under my own direction, by which means the work would +be more perfect, and the price be reduced lower than it could be by +_printing_ small editions in the country, of only a few thousands each. + + 1 Half a crown.--_Editor_. + +The cheap edition of the first part was begun about the first of last +April, and from that moment, and not before, I expected a prosecution, +and the event has proved that I was not mistaken. I had then occasion to +write to Mr. Thomas Walker of Manchester, and after informing him of my +intention of giving up the work for the purpose of general information, +I informed him of what I apprehended would be the consequence; that +while the work was at a price that precluded an extensive circulation, +the government party, not able to controvert the plans, arguments, +and principles it contained, had chosen to remain silent; but that I +expected they would make an attempt to deprive the mass of the nation, +and especially the poor, of the right of reading, by the pretence of +prosecuting either the Author or the Publisher, or both. They chose to +begin with the Publisher. + +Nearly a month, however, passed, before I had any information given me +of their intentions. I was then at Bromley, in Kent, upon which I came +immediately to town, (May 14) and went to Mr. Jordan, the publisher of +the original edition. He had that evening been served with a summons to +appear at the Court of King's Bench, on the Monday following, but for +what purpose was not stated. Supposing it to be on account of the +work, I appointed a meeting with him on the next morning, which was +accordingly had, when I provided an attorney, and took the ex-pence of +the defence on myself. But finding afterwards that he absented himself +from the attorney employed, and had engaged another, and that he had +been closeted with the Solicitors of the Treasury, I left him to follow +his own choice, and he chose to plead Guilty. This he might do if he +pleased; and I make no objection against him for it. I believe that his +idea by the word _Guilty_, was no other than declaring himself to be the +publisher, without any regard to the merits or demerits of the work; for +were it to be construed otherwise, it would amount to the absurdity of +converting a publisher into a Jury, and his confession into a verdict +upon the work itself. This would be the highest possible refinement upon +packing of Juries. + +On the 21st of May, they commenced their prosecution against me, as the +author, by leaving a summons at my lodgings in town, to appear at the +Court of King's Bench on the 8th of June following; and on the same day, +(May 21,) _they issued also their Proclamation_. Thus the Court of St. +James and the Court of King's Bench, were playing into each other's +hands at the same instant of time, and the farce of Addresses brought up +the rear; and this mode of proceeding is called by the prostituted name +of Law. Such a thundering rapidity, after a ministerial dormancy of +almost eighteen months, can be attributed to no other cause than their +having gained information of the forwardness of the cheap Edition, and +the dread they felt at the progressive increase of political knowledge. + +I was strongly advised by several gentlemen, as well those in the +practice of the law, as others, to prefer a bill of indictment +against the publisher of the Proclamation, as a publication tending to +influence, or rather to dictate the verdict of a Jury on the issue of a +matter then pending; but it appeared to me much better to avail myself +of the opportunity which such a precedent justified me in using, by +meeting the Proclamation and the Addressers on their own ground, and +publicly defending the Work which had been thus unwarrantably attacked +and traduced.--And conscious as I now am, that the Work entitled +Rights OF Man so far from being, as has been maliciously or erroneously +represented, a false, wicked, and seditious libel, is a work abounding +with unanswerable truths, with principles of the purest morality and +benevolence, and with arguments not to be controverted--Conscious, I +say, of these things, and having no object in view but the happiness +of mankind, I have now put the matter to the best proof in my power, by +giving to the public a cheap edition of the First and Second Parts of +that Work. Let every man read and judge for himself, not only of the +merits and demerits of the Work, but of the matters therein contained, +which relate to his own interest and happiness. + +If, to expose the fraud and imposition of monarchy, and every species +of hereditary government--to lessen the oppression of taxes--to propose +plans for the education of helpless infancy, and the comfortable support +of the aged and distressed--to endeavour to conciliate nations to each +other--to extirpate the horrid practice of war--to promote universal +peace, civilization, and commerce--and to break the chains of political +superstition, and raise degraded man to his proper rank;--if these +things be libellous, let me live the life of a Libeller, and let the +name of Libeller be engraved on my tomb. + +Of all the weak and ill-judged measures which fear, ignorance, +or arrogance could suggest, the Proclamation, and the project for +Addresses, are two of the worst. They served to advertise the work which +the promoters of those measures wished to keep unknown; and in doing +this they offered violence to the judgment of the people, by calling on +them to condemn what they forbad them to know, and put the strength +of their party to that hazardous issue that prudence would have +avoided.--The County Meeting for Middlesex was attended by only +one hundred and eighteen Addressers. They, no doubt, expected, that +thousands would flock to their standard, and clamor against the _Rights +of Man_. But the case most probably is, that men in all countries, are +not so blind to their Rights and their Interest as Governments believe. + +Having thus shewn the extraordinary manner in which the Government party +commenced their attack, I proceed to offer a few observations on the +prosecution, and on the mode of trial by Special Jury. + +In the first place, I have written a book; and if it cannot be refuted, +it cannot be condemned. But I do not consider the prosecution as +particularly levelled against me, but against the general right, or +the right of every man, of investigating systems and principles of +government, and shewing their several excellencies or defects. If the +press be free only to flatter Government, as Mr. Burke has done, and to +cry up and extol what certain Court sycophants are pleased to call a +"glorious Constitution," and not free to examine into its errors or +abuses, or whether a Constitution really exist or not, such freedom is +no other than that of Spain, Turkey, or Russia; and a Jury in this case, +would not be a Jury to try, but an Inquisition to condemn. + +I have asserted, and by fair and open argument maintained, the right +of every nation at all times to establish such a system and form of +government for itself as best accords with its disposition, interest, +and happiness; and to change and alter it as it sees occasion. Will any +Jury deny to the Nation this right? If they do, they are traitors, and +their verdict would be null and void. And if they admit the right, the +means must be admitted also; for it would be the highest absurdity to +say, that the right existed, but the means did not. The question then +is, What are the means by which the possession and exercise of +this National Right are to be secured? The answer will be, that +of maintaining, inviolably, the right of free investigation; for +investigation always serves to detect error, and to bring forth truth. + +I have, as an individual, given my opinion upon what I believe to be +not only the best, but the true system of Government, which is the +representative system, and I have given reasons for that opinion. + +First, Because in the representative system, no office of very +extraordinary power, or extravagant pay, is attached to any individual; +and consequently there is nothing to excite those national contentions +and civil wars with which countries under monarchical governments are +frequently convulsed, and of which the History of England exhibits such +numerous instances. + +Secondly, Because the representative is a system of Government always +in maturity; whereas monarchical government fluctuates through all the +stages, from non-age to dotage. + +Thirdly, Because the representative system admits of none but men +properly qualified into the Government, or removes them if they prove +to be otherwise. Whereas, in the hereditary system, a nation may be +encumbered with a knave or an ideot for a whole life-time, and not be +benefited by a successor. + +Fourthly, Because there does not exist a right to establish hereditary +government, or, in other words, hereditary successors, because +hereditary government always means a government yet to come, and the +case always is, that those who are to live afterwards have the same +right to establish government for themselves, as the people had who +lived before them; and, therefore, all laws attempting to establish +hereditary government, are founded on assumption and political fiction. + +If these positions be truths, and I challenge any man to prove the +contrary; if they tend to instruct and enlighten mankind, and to free +them from error, oppression, and political superstition, which are the +objects I have in view in publishing them, that Jury would commit an act +of injustice to their country, and to me, if not an act of perjury, that +should call them _false, wicked, and malicious_. + +Dragonetti, in his treatise "On Virtues and Rewards," has a paragraph +worthy of being recorded in every country in the world--"The science +(says he,) of the politician, consists, in, fixing the true point of +happiness and freedom. Those men deserve the gratitude of ages who +should discover a mode of government that contained the greatest sum of +_individual happiness_ with the least _national expence_." But if Juries +are to be made use of to prohibit enquiry, to suppress truth, and +to stop the progress of knowledge, this boasted palladium of liberty +becomes the most successful instrument of tyranny. + +Among the arts practised at the Bar, and from the Bench, to impose +upon the understanding of a Jury, and to obtain a Verdict where +the consciences of men could not otherwise consent, one of the most +successful has been that of calling _truth a libel_, and of insinuating +that the words "_falsely, wickedly, and maliciously_," though they +are made the formidable and high sounding part of the charge, are not +matters of consideration with a Jury. For what purpose, then, are they +retained, unless it be for that of imposition and wilful defamation? + +I cannot conceive a greater violation of order, nor a more abominable +insult upon morality, and upon human understanding, than to see a man +sitting in the judgment seat, affecting by an antiquated foppery of +dress to impress the audience with awe; then causing witnesses and Jury +to be sworn to truth and justice, himself having officially sworn the +same; then causing to be read a prosecution against a man charging him +with having _wickedly and maliciously written and published a certain +false, wicked, and seditious book_; and having gone through all this +with a shew of solemnity, as if he saw the eye of the Almighty darting +through the roof of the building like a ray of light, turn, in an +instant, the whole into a farce, and, in order to obtain a verdict +that could not otherwise be obtained, tell the Jury that the charge of +_falsely, wickedly, and seditiously_, meant nothing; that _truth_ was +out of the question; and that whether the person accused spoke truth or +falsehood, or intended _virtuously or wickedly_, was the same thing; +and finally conclude the wretched inquisitorial scene, by stating +some antiquated precedent, equally as abominable as that which is then +acting, or giving some opinion of his own, and _falsely calling the one +and the other--Law_. It was, most probably, to such a Judge as this, +that the most solemn of all reproofs was given--"_The Lord will smite +thee, thou whitened wall_." + +I now proceed to offer some remarks on what is called a Special Jury. As +to what is called a Special Verdict, I shall make no other remark upon +it, than that it is in reality _not_ a verdict. It is an attempt on the +part of the Jury to delegate, or of the Bench to obtain, the exercise of +that right, which is committed to the Jury only. + +With respect to the Special Juries, I shall state such matters as I have +been able to collect, for I do not find any uniform opinion concerning +the mode of appointing them. + +In the first place, this mode of trial is but of modern invention, and +the origin of it, as I am told, is as follows: + +Formerly, when disputes arose between Merchants, and were brought before +a Court, the case was that the nature of their commerce, and the method +of keeping Merchants' accounts not being sufficiently understood by +persons out of their own line, it became necessary to depart from the +common mode of appointing Juries, and to select such persons for a Jury +whose _practical knowledge_ would enable them to decide upon the case. +From this introduction, Special Juries became more general; but some +doubts having arisen as to their legality, an act was passed in the 3d +of George II. to establish them as legal, and also to extend them to all +cases, not only between individuals, but in cases where _the Government +itself should be the prosecutor_. This most probably gave rise to the +suspicion so generally entertained of packing a Jury; because, by this +act, when the Crown, as it is called, is the Prosecutor, the Master of +the Crown-office, who holds his office under the Crown, is the person +who either wholly nominates, or has great power in nominating the Jury, +and therefore it has greatly the appearance of the prosecuting party +selecting a Jury. + +The process is as follows: + +On motion being made in Court, by either the Plaintiff or Defendant, for +a Special Jury, the Court grants it or not, at its own discretion. + +If it be granted, the Solicitor of the party that applied for the +Special Jury, gives notice to the Solicitor of the adverse party, and a +day and hour are appointed for them to meet at the office of the Master +of the Crown-office. The Master of the Crown-office sends to the Sheriff +or his deputy, who attends with the Sheriff's book of Freeholders. From +this book, forty-eight names are taken, and a copy thereof given to each +of the parties; and, on a future day, notice is again given, and the +Solicitors meet a second time, and each strikes out twelve names. The +list being thus reduced from forty-eight to twenty-four, the first +twelve that appear in Court, and answer to their names, is the Special +Jury for that cause. The first operation, that of taking the forty-eight +names, is called nominating the Jury; and the reducing them to +twenty-four is called striking the Jury. + +Having thus stated the general process, I come to particulars, and the +first question will be, how are the forty-eight names, out of which the +Jury is to be struck, obtained from the Sheriff's book? For herein lies +the principal ground of suspicion, with respect to what is understood by +packing of Juries. + +Either they must be taken by some rule agreed upon between the parties, +or by some common rule known and established beforehand, or at the +discretion of some person, who in such a case, ought to be perfectly +disinterested in the issue, as well officially as otherwise. + +In the case of Merchants, and in all cases between individuals, +the Master of the office, called the Crown-office, is officially an +indifferent person, and as such may be a proper person to act between +the parties, and present them with a list of forty-eight names, out of +which each party is to strike twelve. But the case assumes an entire +difference of character, when the Government itself is the Prosecutor. +The Master of the Crown-office is then an officer holding his office +under the Prosecutor; and it is therefore no wonder that the suspicion +of packing Juries should, in such cases, have been so prevalent. + +This will apply with additional force, when the prosecution is commenced +against the Author or Publisher of such Works as treat of reforms, and +of the abolition of superfluous places and offices, &c, because in such +cases every person holding an office, subject to that suspicion, becomes +interested as a party; and the office, called the Crown-office, may, +upon examination, be found to be of this description. + +I have heard it asserted, that the Master of the Crown-office is to open +the sheriff's book as it were per hazard, and take thereout forty-eight +_following_ names, to which the word Merchant or Esquire is affixed. +The former of these are certainly proper, when the case is between +Merchants, and it has reference to the origin of the custom, and to +nothing else. As to the word Esquire, every man is an Esquire who +pleases to call himself Esquire; and the sensible part of mankind are +leaving it off. But the matter for enquiry is, whether there be any +existing law to direct the mode by which the forty-eight names shall be +taken, or whether the mode be merely that of custom which the office has +created; or whether the selection of the forty-eight names be wholly +at the discretion and choice of the Master of the Crown-office? One or +other of the two latter appears to be the case, because the act already +mentioned, of the 3d of George II. lays down no rule or mode, nor refers +to any preceding law--but says only, that Special Juries shall hereafter +be struck, "_in such manner as Special Juries have been and are usually +struck_." + +This act appears to have been what is generally understood by a "_deep +take in_." It was fitted to the spur of the moment in which it was +passed, 3d of George II. when parties ran high, and it served to throw +into the hands of Walpole, who was then Minister, the management of +Juries in Crown prosecutions, by making the nomination of the +forty-eight persons, from whom the Jury was to be struck, follow the +precedent established by custom between individuals, and by this means +slipt into practice with less suspicion. Now, the manner of obtaining +Special Juries through the medium of an officer of the Government, such, +for instance, as a Master of the Crown-office, may be impartial in the +case of Merchants or other individuals, but it becomes highly improper +and suspicious in cases where the Government itself is one of the +parties. And it must, upon the whole, appear a strange inconsistency, +that a Government should keep one officer to commence prosecutions, and +another officer to nominate the forty-eight persons from whom the Jury +is to be struck, both of whom are _officers of the Civil List_, and yet +continue to call this by the pompous name of _the glorious "Right of +trial by Jury!_" + +In the case of the King against Jordan, for publishing the Rights of +Man, the Attorney-General moved for the appointment of a Special Jury, +and the Master of the Crown-office nominated the forty-eight persons +himself, and took them from such part of the Sheriff's book as he +pleased. + +The trial did not come on, occasioned by Jordan withdrawing his plea; +but if it had, it might have afforded an opportunity of discussing the +subject of Special Juries; for though such discussion might have had +no effect in the Court of King's Bench, it would, in the present +disposition for enquiry, have had a considerable effect upon the +Country; and, in all national reforms, this is the proper point to begin +at. But a Country right, and it will soon put Government right. Among +the improper things acted by the Government in the case of Special +Juries, on their own motion, one has been that of treating the Jury with +a dinner, and afterwards giving each Juryman two guineas, if a verdict +be found for the prosecution, and only one if otherwise; and it has been +long observed, that, in London and Westminster, there are persons who +appear to make a trade of serving, by being so frequently seen upon +Special Juries. + +Thus much for Special Juries. As to what is called a _Common Jury_, upon +any Government prosecution against the Author or Publisher of RIGHTS OF +Man, during the time of the _present Sheriffry_, I have one question +to offer, which is, _whether the present Sheriffs of London, having +publicly prejudged the case, by the part they have taken in procuring +an Address from the county of Middlesex, (however diminutive and +insignificant the number of Addressers were, being only one hundred and +eighteen,) are eligible or proper persons to be intrusted with the power +of returning a Jury to try the issue of any such prosecution_. + +But the whole matter appears, at least to me, to be worthy of a more +extensive consideration than what relates to any Jury, whether Special +or Common; for the case is, whether any part of a whole nation, locally +selected as a Jury of twelve men always is, be competent to judge and +determine for the whole nation, on any matter that relates to systems +and principles of Government, and whether it be not applying the +institution of Juries to purposes for which such institutions were not +intended? For example, + +I have asserted, in the Work Rights of Man, that as every man in the +nation pays taxes, so has every man a right to a share in government, +and consequently that the people of Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, +Leeds, Halifax, &c have the same right as those of London. Shall, then, +twelve men, picked out between Temple-bar and Whitechapel, because the +book happened to be first published there, decide upon the rights of +the inhabitants of those towns, or of any other town or village in the +nation? + +Having thus spoken of Juries, I come next to offer a few observations on +the matter contained in the information or prosecution. + +The work, Rights of Man, consists of Part the First, and Fart the +Second. The First Part the prosecutor has thought it most proper to let +alone; and from the Second Fart he has selected a few short paragraphs, +making in the whole not quite two pages of the same printing as in the +cheap edition. Those paragraphs relate chiefly to certain facts, such +as the revolution of 1688, and the coming of George the First, commonly +called of the House of Hanover, or the House of Brunswick, or some such +House. The arguments, plans and principles contained in the work, the +prosecutor has not ventured to attack. They are beyond his reach. + +The Act which the prosecutor appears to rest most upon for the support +of the prosecution, is the Act intituled, "An Act, declaring the rights +and liberties of the subject, and settling the succession of the crown," +passed in the first year of William and Mary, and more commonly known by +the name of the "Bill of Rights." + +I have called this bill "_A Bill of wrongs and of insult_." My reasons, +and also my proofs, are as follow: + +The method and principle which this Bill takes for declaring rights and +liberties, are in direct contradiction to rights and liberties; it is an +assumed attempt to take them wholly from posterity--for the declaration +in the said Bill is as follows: + +"The Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do, in _the name of all +the people_, most humbly and faithfully _submit themselves, their heirs, +and posterity for ever_;" that is, to William and Mary his wife, their +heirs and successors. This is a strange way of declaring rights and +liberties. But the Parliament who made this declaration in the name, and +on the part, of the people, had no authority from them for so doing; +and with respect to _posterity for ever_, they had no right or authority +whatever in the case. It was assumption and usurpation. I have reasoned +very extensively against the principle of this Bill, in the first part +of Rights of Man; the prosecutor has silently admitted that reasoning, +and he now commences a prosecution on the authority of the Bill, after +admitting the reasoning against it. + +It is also to be observed, that the declaration in this Bill, abject and +irrational as it is, had no other intentional operation than against the +family of the Stuarts, and their abettors. The idea did not then exist, +that in the space of an hundred years, posterity might discover a +different and much better system of government, and that every species +of hereditary government might fall, as Popes and Monks had fallen +before. This, I say, was not then thought of, and therefore the +application of the Bill, in the present case, is a new, erroneous, and +illegal application, and is the same as creating a new Bill _ex post +facto_. + +It has ever been the craft of Courtiers, for the purpose of keeping +up an expensive and enormous Civil List, and a mummery of useless and +antiquated places and offices at the public expence, to be continually +hanging England upon some individual or other, called _King_, though +the man might not have capacity to be a parish constable. The folly and +absurdity of this, is appearing more and more every day; and still those +men continue to act as if no alteration in the public opinion had taken +place. They hear each other's nonsense, and suppose the whole nation +talks the same Gibberish. + +Let such men cry up the House of Orange, or the House of Brunswick, +if they please. They would cry up any other house if it suited their +purpose, and give as good reasons for it. But what is this house, or +that house, or any other house to a nation? "_For a nation to be free, +it is sufficient that she wills it_." Her freedom depends wholly upon +herself, and not on any house, nor on any individual. I ask not in what +light this cargo of foreign houses appears to others, but I will say in +what light it appears to me--It was like the trees of the forest, saying +unto the bramble, come thou and reign over us. + +Thus much for both their houses. I now come to speak of two other +houses, which are also put into the information, and those are the +House of Lords, and the House of Commons. Here, I suppose, the +Attorney-General intends to prove me guilty of speaking either truth +or falsehood; for, according to the modern interpretation of Libels, it +does not signify which, and the only improvement necessary to shew the +compleat absurdity of such doctrine, would be, to prosecute a man for +uttering a most _false and wicked truth_. + +I will quote the part I am going to give, from the Office Copy, with the +Attorney General's inuendoes, enclosed in parentheses as they stand in +the information, and I hope that civil list officer will caution the +Court not to laugh when he reads them, and also to take care not to +laugh himself. + +The information states, that _Thomas Paine, being a wicked, malicious, +seditious, and evil-disposed person, hath, with force and arms, and +most wicked cunning, written and published a certain false, scandalous, +malicious, and seditious libel; in one part thereof, to the tenor and +effect following, that is to say_-- + +"With respect to the two Houses, of which the English Parliament +(_meaning the Parliament of this Kingdom_) is composed, they appear to +be effectually influenced into one, and, as a Legislature, to have no +temper of its own. The Minister, (_meaning the Minuter employed by the +King of this Realm, in the administration of the Government thereof_) +whoever he at any time may be, touches it (_meaning the two Houses of +Parliament of this Kingdom_) as with an opium wand, and it (_meaning the +two Houses of Parliament of this Kingdom_) sleeps obedience." + +As I am not malicious enough to disturb their repose, though it be time +they should awake, I leave the two Houses and the Attorney General, to +the enjoyment of their dreams, and proceed to a new subject. + +The Gentlemen, to whom I shall next address myself, are those who have +stiled themselves "_Friends of the people_," holding their meeting at +the Freemasons' Tavern, London.(1) + +One of the principal Members of this Society, is Mr. Grey, who, I +believe, is also one of the most independent Members in Parliament.(2) +I collect this opinion from what Mr. Burke formerly mentioned to me, +rather than from any knowledge of my own. The occasion was as follows: + +I was in England at the time the bubble broke forth about Nootka Sound: +and the day after the King's Message, as it is called, was sent to +Parliament, I wrote a note to Mr. Burke, that upon the condition the +French Revolution should not be a subject (for he was then writing +the book I have since answered) I would call on him the next day, and +mention some matters I was acquainted with, respecting the affair; for +it appeared to me extraordinary that any body of men, calling themselves +Representatives, should commit themselves so precipitately, or "sleep +obedience," as Parliament was then doing, and run a nation into expence, +and perhaps a war, without so much as enquiring into the case, or the +subject, of both which I had some knowledge. + + 1 See in the Introduction to this volume Chauvelin's account + of this Association.--_Editor._ + + 2 In the debate in the House of Commons, Dec. 14, 1793, Mr. + Grey is thus reported: "Mr. Grey was not a friend to + Paine's doctrines, but he was not to be deterred by a man + from acknowledging that he considered the rights of man as + the foundation of every government, and those who stood out + against those rights as conspirators against the people." He + severely denounced the Proclamation. Parl. Hist., vol. + xxvi.--_Editor._ + +When I saw Mr. Burke, and mentioned the circumstances to him, he +particularly spoke of Mr. Grey, as the fittest Member to bring such +matters forward; "for," said Mr. Burke, "_I am not the proper_ person to +do it, as I am in a treaty with Mr. Pitt about Mr. Hastings's trial." I +hope the Attorney General will allow, that Mr. Burke was then _sleeping +his obedience_.--But to return to the Society------ + +I cannot bring myself to believe, that the general motive of this +Society is any thing more than that by which every former parliamentary +opposition has been governed, and by which the present is sufficiently +known. Failing in their pursuit of power and place within doors, they +have now (and that in not a very mannerly manner) endeavoured to possess +themselves of that ground out of doors, which, had it not been made +by others, would not have been made by them. They appear to me to have +watched, with more cunning than candour, the progress of a certain +publication, and when they saw it had excited a spirit of enquiry, +and was rapidly spreading, they stepped forward to profit by the +opportunity, and Mr. Fox _then_ called it a Libel. In saying this, he +libelled himself. Politicians of this cast, such, I mean, as those who +trim between parties, and lye by for events, are to be found in every +country, and it never yet happened that they did not do more harm +than good. They embarrass business, fritter it to nothing, perplex the +people, and the event to themselves generally is, that they go just +far enough to make enemies of the few, without going far enough to make +friends of the many. + +Whoever will read the declarations of this Society, of the 25th of April +and 5th of May, will find a studied reserve upon all the points that are +real abuses. They speak not once of the extravagance of Government, of +the abominable list of unnecessary and sinecure places and pensions, of +the enormity of the Civil List, of the excess of taxes, nor of any one +matter that substantially affects the nation; and from some conversation +that has passed in that Society, it does not appear to me that it is +any part of their plan to carry this class of reforms into practice. No +Opposition Party ever did, when it gained possession. + +In making these free observations, I mean not to enter into contention +with this Society; their incivility towards me is what I should expect +from place-hunting reformers. They are welcome, however, to the ground +they have advanced upon, and I wish that every individual among them may +act in the same upright, uninfluenced, and public spirited manner that I +have done. Whatever reforms may be obtained, and by whatever means, +they will be for the benefit of others and not of me. I have no other +interest in the cause than the interest of my heart. The part I have +acted has been wholly that of a volunteer, unconnected with party; and +when I quit, it shall be as honourably as I began. + +I consider the reform of Parliament, by an application to Parliament, as +proposed by the Society, to be a worn-out hackneyed subject, about which +the nation is tired, and the parties are deceiving each other. It is not +a subject that is cognizable before Parliament, because no Government +has a right to alter itself, either in whole or in part. The right, +and the exercise of that right, appertains to the nation only, and the +proper means is by a national convention, elected for the purpose, by +all the people. By this, the will of the nation, whether to reform or +not, or what the reform shall be, or how far it shall extend, will be +known, and it cannot be known by any other means. Partial addresses, or +separate associations, are not testimonies of the general will. + +It is, however, certain, that the opinions of men, with respect +to systems and principles of government, are changing fast in all +countries. The alteration in England, within the space of a little more +than a year, is far greater than could have been believed, and it is +daily and hourly increasing. It moves along the country with the silence +of thought. The enormous expence of Government has provoked men to +think, by making them feel; and the Proclamation has served to increase +jealousy and disgust. To prevent, therefore, those commotions which too +often and too suddenly arise from suffocated discontents, it is best +that the general WILL should have the full and free opportunity of being +publicly ascertained and known. + +Wretched as the state of representation is in England, it is every +day becoming worse, because the unrepresented parts of the nation are +increasing in population and property, and the represented parts are +decreasing. It is, therefore, no ill-grounded estimation to say, that +as not one person in seven is represented, at least fourteen millions of +taxes out of the seventeen millions, are paid by the unrepresented part; +for although copyholds and leaseholds are assessed to the land-tax, the +holders are unrepresented. Should then a general demur take place as to +the obligation of paying taxes, on the ground of not being represented, +it is not the Representatives of Rotten Boroughs, nor Special Juries, +that can decide the question. This is one of the possible cases that +ought to be foreseen, in order to prevent the inconveniencies that might +arise to numerous individuals, by provoking it. + +I confess I have no idea of petitioning for rights. Whatever the rights +of people are, they have a right to them, and none have a right either +to withhold them, or to grant them. Government ought to be established +on such principles of justice as to exclude the occasion of all such +applications, for wherever they appear they are virtually accusations. + +I wish that Mr. Grey, since he has embarked in the business, would take +the whole of it into consideration. He will then see that the right of +reforming the state of the Representation does not reside in Parliament, +and that the only motion he could consistently make would be, that +Parliament should _recommend_ the election of a convention of the +people, because all pay taxes. But whether Parliament recommended it +or not, the right of the nation would neither be lessened nor increased +thereby. + +As to Petitions from the unrepresented part, they ought not to be looked +for. As well might it be expected that Manchester, Sheffield, &c. +should petition the rotten Boroughs, as that they should petition the +Representatives of those Boroughs. Those two towns alone pay far more +taxes than all the rotten Boroughs put together, and it is scarcely to +be expected they should pay their court either to the Boroughs, or the +Borough-mongers. + +It ought also to be observed, that what is called Parliament, is +composed of two houses that have always declared against the right of +each other to interfere in any matter that related to the circumstances +of either, particularly that of election. A reform, therefore, in the +representation cannot, on the ground they have individually taken, +become the subject of an act of Parliament, because such a mode would +include the interference, against which the Commons on their part have +protested; but must, as well on the ground of formality, as on that of +right, proceed from a National Convention. + +Let Mr. Grey, or any other man, sit down and endeavour to put his +thoughts together, for the purpose of drawing up an application to +Parliament for a reform of Parliament, and he will soon convince himself +of the folly of the attempt. He will find that he cannot get on; that +he cannot make his thoughts join, so as to produce any effect; for, +whatever formality of words he may use, they will unavoidably include +two ideas directly opposed to each other; the one in setting forth +the reasons, the other in praying for relief, and the two, when placed +together, would stand thus: "_The Representation in Parliament is so +very corrupt, that we can no longer confide in it,--and, therefore, +confiding in the justice and wisdom of Parliament, we pray_," &c, &c. + +The heavy manner in which every former proposed application to +Parliament has dragged, sufficiently shews, that though the nation might +not exactly see the awkwardness of the measure, it could not clearly see +its way, by those means. To this also may be added another remark, which +is, that the worse Parliament is, the less will be the inclination to +petition it. This indifference, viewed as it ought to be, is one of the +strongest censures the public express. It is as if they were to say to +them, "Ye are not worth reforming." + +Let any man examine the Court-Kalendar of Placemen in both Houses, and +the manner in which the Civil List operates, and he will be at no loss +to account for this indifference and want of confidence on one side, nor +of the opposition to reforms on the other. + +Who would have supposed that Mr. Burke, holding forth as he formerly +did against secret influence, and corrupt majorities, should become +a concealed Pensioner? I will now state the case, not for the little +purpose of exposing Mr. Burke, but to shew the inconsistency of any +application to a body of men, more than half of whom, as far as the +nation can at present know, may be in the same case with himself. + +Towards the end of Lord North's administration, Mr. Burke brought a bill +into Parliament, generally known by Mr. Burke's Reform Bill; in which, +among other things, it is enacted, "That no pension exceeding the sum +of three hundred pounds a year, shall be granted to any one person, +and that the whole amount of the pensions granted in one year shall not +exceed six hundred pounds; a list of which, together with the _names +of the persons_ to whom the same are granted, shall be laid before +Parliament in twenty days after the beginning of each session, until +the whole pension list shall be reduced to ninety thousand pounds." A +provisory clause is afterwards added, "That it shall be lawful for the +First Commissioner of the Treasury, to return into the Exchequer any +pension or annuity, _without a name_, on his making oath that such +pension or annuity is not directly or indirectly for the benefit, use, +or behoof of any Member of the House of Commons." + +But soon after that administration ended, and the party Mr. Burke acted +with came into power, it appears from the circumstances I am going to +relate, that Mr. Burke became himself a Pensioner in disguise; in a +similar manner as if a pension had been granted in the name of John +Nokes, to be privately paid to and enjoyed by Tom Stiles. The name of +Edmund Burke does not appear in the original transaction: but after the +pension was obtained, Mr. Burke wanted to make the most of it at once, +by selling or mortgaging it; and the gentleman in whose name the pension +stands, applied to one of the public offices for that purpose. This +unfortunately brought forth the name of _Edmund Burke_, as the real +Pensioner of 1,500L. per annum.(1) When men trumpet forth what they call +the blessings of the Constitution, it ought to be known what sort of +blessings they allude to. + +As to the Civil List of a million a year, it is not to be supposed that +any one man can eat, drink, or consume the whole upon himself. The case +is, that above half the sum is annually apportioned among Courtiers, +and Court Members, of both Houses, in places and offices, altogether +insignificant and perfectly useless as to every purpose of civil, +rational, and manly government. For instance, + +Of what use in the science and system of Government is what is called +a Lord Chamberlain, a Master and Mistress of the Robes, a Master of the +Horse, a Master of the Hawks, and one hundred other such things? Laws +derive no additional force, nor additional excellence from such mummery. + +In the disbursements of the Civil List for the year 1786, (which may be +seen in Sir John Sinclair's History of the Revenue,) are four separate +charges for this mummery office of Chamberlain: + +[Illustration: table110] + +From this sample the rest may be guessed at. As to the Master of the +Hawks, (there are no hawks kept, and if there were, it is no reason the +people should pay the expence of feeding them, many of whom are put to +it to get bread for their children,) his salary is 1,372L. 10s. + + 1 See note at the end of this chapter.--_Editor._ + +And besides a list of items of this kind, sufficient to fill a quire of +paper, the Pension lists alone are 107,404L. 13s. 4d. which is a greater +sum than all the expences of the federal Government in America amount +to. + +Among the items, there are two I had no expectation of finding, and +which, in this day of enquiry after Civil List influence, ought to be +exposed. The one is an annual payment of one thousand seven hundred +pounds to the Dissenting Ministers in England, and the other, eight +hundred pounds to those of Ireland. + +This is the fact; and the distribution, as I am informed, is as follows: +The whole sum of 1,700L. is paid to one person, a Dissenting Minister +in London, who divides it among eight others, and those eight among such +others as they please. The Lay-body of the Dissenters, and many of their +principal Ministers, have long considered it as dishonourable, and have +endeavoured to prevent it, but still it continues to be secretly paid; +and as the world has sometimes seen very fulsome Addresses from parts of +that body, it may naturally be supposed that the receivers, like Bishops +and other Court-Clergy, are not idle in promoting them. How the money is +distributed in Ireland, I know not. + +To recount all the secret history of the Civil List, is not the +intention of this publication. It is sufficient, in this place, to +expose its general character, and the mass of influence it keeps alive. +It will necessarily become one of the objects of reform; and therefore +enough is said to shew that, under its operation, no application to +Parliament can be expected to succeed, nor can consistently be made. + +Such reforms will not be promoted by the Party that is in possession of +those places, nor by the Opposition who are waiting for them; and as +to a _mere reform_, in the state of the Representation, the idea that +another Parliament, differently elected from the present, but still a +third component part of the same system, and subject to the controul of +the other two parts, will abolish those abuses, is altogether delusion; +because it is not only impracticable on the ground of formality, but is +unwisely exposing another set of men to the same corruptions that have +tainted the present. + +Were all the objects that require reform accomplishable by a mere reform +in the state of the Representation, the persons who compose the present +Parliament might, with rather more propriety, be asked to abolish all +the abuses themselves, than be applied to as the more instruments of +doing it by a future Parliament. If the virtue be wanting to abolish the +abuse, it is also wanting to act as the means, and the nation must, from +necessity, proceed by some other plan. + +Having thus endeavoured to shew what the abject condition of Parliament +is, and the impropriety of going a second time over the same ground that +has before miscarried, I come to the remaining part of the subject. + +There ought to be, in the constitution of every country, a mode of +referring back, on any extraordinary occasion, to the sovereign and +original constituent power, which is the nation itself. The right of +altering any part of a Government, cannot, as already observed, reside +in the Government, or that Government might make itself what it pleased. + +It ought also to be taken for granted, that though a nation may feel +inconveniences, either in the excess of taxation, or in the mode of +expenditure, or in any thing else, it may not at first be sufficiently +assured in what part of its government the defect lies, or where the +evil originates. It may be supposed to be in one part, and on enquiry +be found to be in another; or partly in all. This obscurity is naturally +interwoven with what are called mixed Governments. + +Be, however, the reform to be accomplished whatever it may, it can only +follow in consequence of obtaining a full knowledge of all the causes +that have rendered such reform necessary, and every thing short of this +is guess-work or frivolous cunning. In this case, it cannot be supposed +that any application to Parliament can bring forward this knowledge. +That body is itself the supposed cause, or one of the supposed causes, +of the abuses in question; and cannot be expected, and ought not to be +asked, to give evidence against itself. The enquiry, therefore, which +is of necessity the first step in the business, cannot be trusted to +Parliament, but must be undertaken by a distinct body of men, separated +from every suspicion of corruption or influence. + +Instead, then, of referring to rotten Boroughs and absurd Corporations +for Addresses, or hawking them about the country to be signed by a few +dependant tenants, the real and effectual mode would be to come at once +to the point, and to ascertain the sense of the nation by electing a +National Convention. By this method, as already observed, the general +WILL, whether to reform or not, or what the reform shall be, or how +far it shall extend, will be known, and it cannot be known by any other +means. Such a body, empowered and supported by the nation, will have +authority to demand information upon all matters necessary to be +en-quired into; and no Minister, nor any person, will dare to refuse it. +It will then be seen whether seventeen millions of taxes are necessary, +and for what purposes they are expended. The concealed Pensioners will +then be obliged to unmask; and the source of influence and corruption, +if any such there be, will be laid open to the nation, not for the +purpose of revenge, but of redress. + +By taking this public and national ground, all objections against +partial Addresses on the one side, or private associations on the other, +will be done away; THE NATION WILL DECLARE ITS OWN REFORMS; and the +clamour about Party and Faction, or Ins or Outs, will become ridiculous. + +The plan and organization of a convention is easy in practice. + +In the first place, the number of inhabitants in every county can be +sufficiently ascertained from the number of houses assessed to the +House and Window-light tax in each county. This will give the rule +for apportioning the number of Members to be elected to the National +Convention in each of the counties. + +If the total number of inhabitants in England be seven millions, and the +total number of Members to be elected to the Convention be one thousand, +the number of members to be elected in a county containing one hundred +and fifty thousand inhabitants will be _twenty-one_, and in like +proportion for any other county. + +As the election of a Convention must, in order to ascertain the general +sense of the nation, go on grounds different from that of Parliamentary +elections, the mode that best promises this end will have no +difficulties to combat with from absurd customs and pretended rights. +The right of every man will be the same, whether he lives in a city, +a town, or a village. The custom of attaching Rights to _place_, or +in other words, to inanimate matter, instead of to the _person_, +independently of place, is too absurd to make any part of a rational +argument. + +As every man in the nation, of the age of twenty-one years, pays taxes, +either out of the property he possesses, or out of the product of his +labor, which is property to him; and is amenable in his own person to +every law of the land; so has every one the same equal right to vote, +and no one part of the nation, nor any individual, has a right to +dispute the right of another. The man who should do this ought to +forfeit the exercise of his _own_ right, for a term of years. This would +render the punishment consistent with the crime. + +When a qualification to vote is regulated by years, it is placed on the +firmest possible ground; because the qualification is such, as nothing +but dying before the time can take away; and the equality of Rights, as +a principle, is recognized in the act of regulating the exercise. But +when Rights are placed upon, or made dependant upon property, they are +on the most precarious of all tenures. "Riches make themselves wings, +and fly away," and the rights fly with them; and thus they become lost +to the man when they would be of most value. + +It is from a strange mixture of tyranny and cowardice, that exclusions +have been set up and continued. The boldness to do wrong at first, +changes afterwards into cowardly craft, and at last into fear. The +Representatives in England appear now to act as if they were afraid to +do right, even in part, lest it should awaken the nation to a sense of +all the wrongs it has endured. This case serves to shew, that the same +conduct that best constitutes the safety of an individual, namely, +a strict adherence to principle, constitutes also the safety of a +Government, and that without it safety is but an empty name. When the +rich plunder the poor of his rights, it becomes an example to the poor +to plunder the rich of his property; for the rights of the one are +as much property to him, as wealth is property to the other, and the +_little all_ is as dear as the _much_. It is only by setting out on just +principles that men are trained to be just to each other; and it will +always be found, that when the rich protect the rights of the poor, the +poor will protect the property of the rich. But the guarantee, to be +effectual, must be parliamentarily reciprocal. + +Exclusions are not only unjust, but they frequently operate as +injuriously to the party who monopolizes, as to those who are excluded. +When men seek to exclude others from participating in the exercise of +any right, they should, at least, be assured, that they can effectually +perform the whole of the business they undertake; for, unless they do +this, themselves will be losers by the monopoly. This has been the case +with respect to the monopolized right of Election. The monopolizing +party has not been able to keep the Parliamentary Representation, to +whom the power of taxation was entrusted, in the state it ought to have +been, and have thereby multiplied taxes upon themselves equally with +those who were excluded. + +A great deal has been, and will continue to be said, about +disqualifications, arising from the commission of offences; but were +this subject urged to its full extent, it would disqualify a great +number of the present Electors, together with their Representatives; +for, of all offences, none are more destructive to the morals of Society +than Bribery and Corruption. It is, therefore, civility to such persons +to pass this subject over, and to give them a fair opportunity of +recovering, or rather of creating character. + +Every thing, in the present mode of electioneering in England, is the +reverse of what it ought to be, and the vulgarity that attends elections +is no other than the natural consequence of inverting the order of the +system. + +In the first place, the Candidate seeks the Elector, instead of the +Elector seeking for a Representative; and the Electors are advertised as +being in the interest of the Candidate, instead of the Candidate being +in the interest of the Electors. The Candidate pays the Elector for his +vote, instead of the Nation paying the Representative for his time and +attendance on public business. The complaint for an undue election is +brought by the Candidate, as if he, and not the Electors, were the party +aggrieved; and he takes on himself, at any period of the election, to +break it up, by declining, as if the election was in his right and not +in theirs. + +The compact that was entered into at the last Westminster election +between two of the candidates (Mr. Fox and Lord Hood,) was an indecent +violation of the principles of election. The Candidates assumed, in +their own persons, the rights of the Electors; for, it was only in the +body of the Electors, and not at all in the Candidates, that the +right of making any such compact, or compromise, could exist. But the +principle of Election and Representation is so completely done away, +in every stage thereof, that inconsistency has no longer the power of +surprising. + +Neither from elections thus conducted, nor from rotten Borough +Addressers, nor from County-meetings, promoted by Placemen and +Pensioners, can the sense of the nation be known. It is still corruption +appealing to itself. But a Convention of a thousand persons, fairly +elected, would bring every matter to a decided issue. + +As to County-meetings, it is only persons of leisure, or those who live +near to the place of meeting, that can attend, and the number on such +occasions is but like a drop in the bucket compared with the whole. The +only consistent service which such meetings could render, would be that +of apportioning the county into convenient districts, and when this is +done, each district might, according to its number of inhabitants, elect +its quota of County Members to the National Convention; and the vote of +each Elector might be taken in the parish where he resided, either by +ballot or by voice, as he should chuse to give it. + +A National Convention thus formed, would bring together the sense and +opinions of every part of the nation, fairly taken. The science of +Government, and the interest of the Public, and of the several parts +thereof, would then undergo an ample and rational discussion, freed from +the language of parliamentary disguise. + +But in all deliberations of this kind, though men have a right to +reason with, and endeavour to convince each other, upon any matter that +respects their common good, yet, in point of practice, the majority of +opinions, when known, forms a rule for the whole, and to this rule every +good citizen practically conforms. + +Mr. Burke, as if he knew, (for every concealed Pensioner has the +opportunity of knowing,) that the abuses acted under the present system, +are too flagrant to be palliated, and that the majority of opinions, +whenever such abuses should be made public, would be for a general and +effectual reform, has endeavoured to preclude the event, by sturdily +denying the right of a majority of a nation to act as a whole. Let us +bestow a thought upon this case. + +When any matter is proposed as a subject for consultation, it +necessarily implies some mode of decision. Common consent, arising from +absolute necessity, has placed this in a majority of opinions; because, +without it, there can be no decision, and consequently no order. It is, +perhaps, the only case in which mankind, however various in their ideas +upon other matters, can consistently be unanimous; because it is a mode +of decision derived from the primary original right of every individual +concerned; _that_ right being first individually exercised in giving an +opinion, and whether that opinion shall arrange with the minority or the +majority, is a subsequent accidental thing that neither increases nor +diminishes the individual original right itself. Prior to any debate, +enquiry, or investigation, it is not supposed to be known on which side +the majority of opinions will fall, and therefore, whilst this mode of +decision secures to every one the right of giving an opinion, it admits +to every one an equal chance in the ultimate event. + +Among the matters that will present themselves to the consideration of +a national convention, there is one, wholly of a domestic nature, but so +marvellously loaded with con-fusion, as to appear at first sight, almost +impossible to be reformed. I mean the condition of what is called Law. + +But, if we examine into the cause from whence this confusion, now so +much the subject of universal complaint, is produced, not only the +remedy will immediately present itself, but, with it, the means of +preventing the like case hereafter. + +In the first place, the confusion has generated itself from the +absurdity of every Parliament assuming to be eternal in power, and +the laws partake in a similar manner, of this assumption. They have no +period of legal or natural expiration; and, however absurd in principle, +or inconsistent in practice many of them have become, they still are, +if not especially repealed, considered as making a part of the general +mass. By this means the body of what is called Law, is spread over a +space of _several hundred years_, comprehending laws obsolete, laws +repugnant, laws ridiculous, and every other kind of laws forgotten +or remembered; and what renders the case still worse, is, that the +confusion multiplies with the progress of time. (*) + +To bring this misshapen monster into form, and to prevent its lapsing +again into a wilderness state, only two things, and those very simple, +are necessary. + +The first is, to review the whole mass of laws, and to bring forward +such only as are worth retaining, and let all the rest drop; and to give +to the laws so brought forward a new era, commencing from the time of +such reform. + + * In the time of Henry IV. a law was passed making it felony + "to multiply gold or silver, or to make use of the craft of + multiplication," and this law remained two hundred and + eighty-six years upon the statute books. It was then + repealed as being ridiculous and injurious.--_Author_. + +Secondly; that at the expiration of every twenty-one years (or any other +stated period) a like review shall again be taken, and the laws, found +proper to be retained, be again carried forward, commencing with that +date, and the useless laws dropped and discontinued. + +By this means there can be no obsolete laws, and scarcely such a thing +as laws standing in direct or equivocal contradiction to each other, and +every person will know the period of time to which he is to look back +for all the laws in being. + +It is worth remarking, that while every other branch of science is +brought within some commodious system, and the study of it simplified by +easy methods, the laws take the contrary course, and become every year +more complicated, entangled, confused, and obscure. + +Among the paragraphs which the Attorney General has taken from the +_Rights of Man_, and put into his information, one is, that where I +have said, "that with respect to regular law, there is _scarcely such a +thing_." + +As I do not know whether the Attorney-General means to show this +expression to be libellous, because it is TRUE, or because it is FALSE, +I shall make no other reply to him in this place, than by remarking, +that if almanack-makers had not been more judicious than law-makers, +the study of almanacks would by this time have become as abstruse as the +study of the law, and we should hear of a library of almanacks as we +now do of statutes; but by the simple operation of letting the obsolete +matter drop, and carrying forward that only which is proper to be +retained, all that is necessary to be known is found within the space of +a year, and laws also admit of being kept within some given period. + +I shall here close this letter, so far as it respects the Addresses, the +Proclamation, and the Prosecution; and shall offer a few observations to +the Society, styling itself "The Friends of the People." + +That the science of government is beginning to be better understood than +in former times, and that the age of fiction and political superstition, +and of craft and mystery, is passing away, are matters which the +experience of every day-proves to be true, as well in England as in +other countries. + +As therefore it is impossible to calculate the silent progress of +opinion, and also impossible to govern a nation after it has changed +its habits of thinking, by the craft or policy that it was governed +by before, the only true method to prevent popular discontents and +commotions is, to throw, by every fair and rational argument, all the +light upon the subject that can possibly be thrown; and at the same +time, to open the means of collecting the general sense of the nation; +and this cannot, as already observed, be done by any plan so effectually +as a national convention. Here individual opinion will quiet itself by +having a centre to rest upon. + +The society already mentioned, (which is made up of men of various +descriptions, but chiefly of those called Foxites,) appears to me, +either to have taken wrong grounds from want of judgment, or to have +acted with cunning reserve. It is now amusing the people with a +new phrase, namely, that of "a temperate and moderate reform," the +interpretation of which is, _a continuance of the abuses as long as +possible, If we cannot hold all let us hold some_. + +Who are those that are frightened at reforms? Are the public afraid that +their taxes should be lessened too much? Are they afraid that sinecure +places and pensions should be abolished too fast? Are the poor afraid +that their condition should be rendered too comfortable? Is the worn-out +mechanic, or the aged and decayed tradesman, frightened at the prospect +of receiving ten pounds a year out of the surplus taxes? Is the soldier +frightened at the thoughts of his discharge, and three shillings per +week during life? Is the sailor afraid that press-warrants will be +abolished? The Society mistakes the fears of borough-mongers, placemen, +and pensioners, for the fears of the people; and the _temperate and +moderate Reform_ it talks of, is calculated to suit the condition of the +former. + +Those words, "temperate and moderate," are words either of political +cowardice, or of cunning, or seduction.--A thing, moderately good, is +not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper, is always a virtue; +but moderation in principle, is a species of vice. But who is to be the +judge of what is a temperate and moderate Reform? The Society is the +representative of nobody; neither can the unrepresented part of the +nation commit this power to those in Parliament, in whose election they +had no choice; and, therefore, even upon the ground the Society has +taken, recourse must be had to a National Convention. + +The objection which Mr. Fox made to Mr. Grey's proposed Motion for a +Parliamentary Reform was, that it contained no plan.--It certainly did +not. But the plan very easily presents itself; and whilst it is fair +for all parties, it prevents the dangers that might otherwise arise from +private or popular discontent. + +Thomas Paine. + + + Editorial Note on Burke's Alleged Secret Pension.--By + reference to Vol. II., pp. 271, 360, of this work, it will + be seen that Paine mentions a report that Burke was a + "pensioner in a fictitious name." A letter of John Hall to a + relative in Leicester, (London, May 1,1792.) says: "You will + remember that there was a vote carried, about the conclusion + of the American war, that the influence of the Crown had + increased, was increasing, and should be diminished. Burke, + poor, and like a good angler, baited a hook with a bill to + bring into Parliament, that no pensions should be given + above L300 a year, but what should be publicly granted, and + for what, (I may not be quite particular.) To stop that he + took in another person's name L1500 a year for life, and + some time past he disposed of it, or sold his life out. He + has been very still since his declension from the Whigs, and + is not concerned in the slave-trade [question?] as I hear + of." This letter, now in possession of Hall's kinsman, Dr. + Dutton Steele of Philadelphia, contains an item not in + Paine's account, which may have been derived from it. Hall + was an English scientific engineer, and acquainted with + intelligent men in London. Paine was rather eager for a + judicial encounter with Burke, and probably expected to be + sued by him for libel, as he (Burke) had once sued the + "Public Advertiser" for a personal accusation. But Burke + remained quiet under this charge, and Paine, outlawed, and + in France, had no opportunity for summoning witnesses in its + support. The biographers of Burke have silently passed over + the accusation, and this might be fair enough were this + unconfirmed charge made against a public man of stainless + reputation in such matters. But though Burke escaped + parliamentary censure for official corruption (May 16, 1783, + by only 24 majority) he has never been vindicated. It was + admitted that he had restored to office a cashier and an + accountant dismissed for dishonesty by his predecessor. + ("Pari. Hist.," xxiii., pp. 801,902.) He escaped censure by + agreeing to suspend them. One was proved guilty, the + other committed suicide. It was subsequently shown that one + of the men had been an agent of the Burkes in raising India + stock. (Dilke's "Papers of a Critic," ii-, p. 333--"Dict. + Nat Biography": art Burke.) Paine, in his letter to the + Attorney-General (IV. of this volume), charged that Burke + had been a "masked pensioner" ten years. The date + corresponds with a secret arrangement made in 1782 with + Burke for a virtual pension to his son, for life, and his + mother. Under date April 34 of that year, Burke, writing to + William Burke at Madras, reports his appointment as + Paymaster: "The office is to be 4000L. certain. Young + Richard [his son] is the deputy with a salary of 500L. The + office to be reformed according to the Bill. There is enough + emoluments. In decency it could not be more. Something + considerable is also to be secured for the life of young + Richard to be a security for him and his mother."("Mem. and + Cor. of Charles James Fox," i., p. 451.) It is thus certain + that the Rockingham Ministry were doing for the Paymaster + all they could "in decency," and that while posing as a + reformer in reducing the expenses of that office, he was + arranging for secret advantages to his family. It is said + that the arrangement failed by his loss of office, but while + so many of Burke's papers are withheld from the public (if + not destroyed), it cannot be certain that something was not + done of the kind charged by Paine. That Burke was not strict + in such matters is further shown by his efforts to secure + for his son the rich sinecure of the Clerkship of the Polls, + in which he failed. Burke was again Paymaster in 1783-4, and + this time remained long enough in office to repeat more + successfully his secret attempts to secure irregular + pensions for his family. On April 7, 1894, Messrs. Sotheby, + Wilkinson, and Hodge sold in London (Lot 404) a letter of + Burke (which I have not seen in print), dated July 16, 1795. + It was written to the Chairman of the Commission on Public + Accounts, who had required him to render his accounts for + the time he was in office as Paymaster-General, 1783-4. + Burke refuses to do so in four angry and quibbling pages, + and declares he will appeal to his country against the + demand if it is pressed. Why should Burke wish to conceal + his accounts? There certainly were suspicions around Burke, + and they may have caused Pitt to renounce his intention, + conveyed to Burke, August 30, 1794, of asking Parliament to + bestow on him a pension. "It is not exactly known," says one + of Burke's editors, "what induced Mr. Pitt to decline + bringing before Parliament a measure which he had himself + proposed without any solicitation whatever on the part of + Burke." (Burke's "Works," English Ed., 1852, ii., p. 252.) + The pensions were given without consultation with + Parliament--1200L. granted him by the King from the Civil + List, and 2500L. by Pitt in West Indian 41/2 per cents. + Burke, on taking his seat beside Pitt in the great Paine + Parliament (December, 1792), had protested that he had not + abandoned his party through expectation of a pension, but + the general belief of those with whom he had formerly acted + was that he had been promised a pension. A couplet of the + time ran: + + "A pension makes him change his plan, + And loudly damn the rights of man." + + Writing in 1819, Cobbett says: "As my Lord Grenville + introduced the name of Burke, suffer me, my Lord, to + introduce the name of the man [Paine] who put this Burke to + shame, who drove him off the public stage to seek shelter in + the Pension List, and who is now named fifty million times + where the name of the pensioned Burke is mentioned once."-- + _Editor._ + + + + +X. ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE. + + +Paris, Sept. 25, [1792.] First Year of the Republic. + +Fellow Citizens, + +I RECEIVE, with affectionate gratitude, the honour which the late +National Assembly has conferred upon me, by adopting me a Citizen of +France: and the additional honor of being elected by my fellow citizens +a Member of the National Convention.(1) Happily impressed, as I am, by +those testimonies of respect shown towards me as an individual, I feel +my felicity increased by seeing the barrier broken down that divided +patriotism by spots of earth, and limited citizenship to the soil, like +vegetation. + +Had those honours been conferred in an hour of national tranquillity, +they would have afforded no other means of shewing my affection, than +to have accepted and enjoyed them; but they come accompanied with +circumstances that give me the honourable opportunity of commencing +my citizenship in the stormy hour of difficulties. I come not to enjoy +repose. Convinced that the cause of France is the cause of all mankind, +and that liberty cannot be purchased by a wish, I gladly share with you +the dangers and honours necessary to success. + + 1 The National Assembly (August 26, 1792) conferred the + title of "French Citizen" on "Priestley, Payne, Bentham, + Wilberforce, Clarkson, Mackintosh, Campe, Cormelle, Paw, + David Williams, Gorani, Anacharsis Clootz, Pestalozzi, + Washington, Hamilton, Madison, Klopstoc, Kosciusko, + Gilleers."--_Editor._. vol ni--7 + +I am well aware that the moment of any great change, such as that +accomplished on the 10th of August, is unavoidably the moment of +terror and confusion. The mind, highly agitated by hope, suspicion and +apprehension, continues without rest till the change be accomplished. +But let us now look calmly and confidently forward, and success is +certain. It is no longer the paltry cause of kings, or of this, or of +that individual, that calls France and her armies into action. It is the +great cause of all. It is the establishment of a new aera, that shall +blot despotism from the earth, and fix, on the lasting principles of +peace and citizenship, the great Republic of Man. + +It has been my fate to have borne a share in the commencement and +complete establishment of one Revolution, (I mean the Revolution of +America.) The success and events of that Revolution are encouraging to +us. The prosperity and happiness that have since flowed to that country, +have amply rewarded her for all the hardships she endured and for all +the dangers she encountered. + +The principles on which that Revolution began, have extended themselves +to Europe; and an over-ruling Providence is regenerating the Old World +by the principles of the New. The distance of America from all the +other parts of the globe, did not admit of her carrying those principles +beyond her own situation. It is to the peculiar honour of France, that +she now raises the standard of liberty for all nations; and in fighting +her own battles, contends for the rights of all mankind. + +The same spirit of fortitude that insured success to America; will +insure it to France, for it is impossible to conquer a nation determined +to be free! The military circumstances that now unite themselves to +France, are such as the despots of the earth know nothing of, and can +form no calculation upon. They know not what it is to fight against a +nation; they have only been accustomed to make war upon each other, +and they know, from system and practice, how to calculate the probable +success of despot against despot; and here their knowledge and their +experience end. + +But in a contest like the present a new and boundless variety of +circumstances arise, that deranges all such customary calculations. When +a whole nation acts as an army, the despot knows not the extent of the +power against which he contends. New armies arise against him with the +necessity of the moment. It is then that the difficulties of an invading +enemy multiply, as in the former case they diminished; and he finds them +at their height when he expected them to end. + +The only war that has any similarity of circumstances with the present, +is the late revolution war in America. On her part, as it now is in +France, it was a war of the whole nation:--there it was that the enemy, +by beginning to conquer, put himself in a condition of being conquered. +His first victories prepared him for defeat. He advanced till he could +not retreat, and found himself in the midst of a nation of armies. + +Were it now to be proposed to the Austrians and Prussians, to escort +them into the middle of France, and there leave them to make the most +of such a situation, they would see too much into the dangers of it to +accept the offer, and the same dangers would attend them, could they +arrive there by any other means. Where, then, is the military policy of +their attempting to obtain, by force, that which they would refuse by +choice? But to reason with despots is throwing reason away. The best of +arguments is a vigorous preparation. + +Man is ever a stranger to the ways by which Providence regulates the +order of things. The interference of foreign despots may serve to +introduce into their own enslaved countries the principles they come +to oppose. Liberty and Equality are blessings too great to be the +inheritance of France alone. It is an honour to her to be their first +champion; and she may now say to her enemies, with a mighty voice, "O! +ye Austrians, ye Prussians! ye who now turn your bayonets against us, +it is for you, it is for all Europe, it is for all mankind, and not for +France alone, that she raises the standard of Liberty and Equality!" + +The public cause has hitherto suffered from the contradictions contained +in the Constitution of the Constituent Assembly. Those contradictions +have served to divide the opinions of individuals at home, and to +obscure the great principles of the Revolution in other countries. But +when those contradictions shall be removed, and the Constitution be +made conformable to the declaration of Rights; when the bagatelles of +monarchy, royalty, regency, and hereditary succession, shall be exposed, +with all their absurdities, a new ray of light will be thrown over the +world, and the Revolution will derive new strength by being universally +understood. + +The scene that now opens itself to France extends far beyond the +boundaries of her own dominions. Every nation is becoming her colleague, +and every court is become her enemy. It is now the cause of all nations, +against the cause of all courts. The terror that despotism felt, +clandestinely begot a confederation of despots; and their attack upon +France was produced by their fears at home. + +In entering on this great scene, greater than any nation has yet been +called to act in, let us say to the agitated mind, be calm. Let us +punish by instructing, rather than by revenge. Let us begin the new +ara by a greatness of friendship, and hail the approach of union and +success. + +Your Fellow-Citizen, + +Thomas Paine. + + + + +XI. ANTI-MONARCHAL ESSAY. FOR THE USE OF NEW REPUBLICANS.(1) + +When we reach some great good, long desired, we begin by felicitating +ourselves. We triumph, we give ourselves up to this joy without +rendering to our minds any full account of our reasons for it. Then +comes reflexion: we pass in review all the circumstances of our new +happiness; we compare it in detail with our former condition; and +each of these thoughts becomes a fresh enjoyment. This satisfaction, +elucidated and well-considered, we now desire to procure for our +readers. + +In seeing Royalty abolished and the Republic established, all France +has resounded with unanimous plaudits.(2) Yet, Citizen President: In the +name of the Deputies of the Department of the Pas de Calais, I have the +honor of presenting to the Convention the felicitations of the General +Council of the Commune of Calais on the abolition of Royalty. + + 1 Translated for this work from Le Patriote Francois, + "Samedi 20 Octobre, 1793, l'an Ier de la Republique. + Supplement au No. 1167," in the Bibliotheque Nationale, + Paris. It is headed, "Essai anti-monarchique, a l'usage des + nouveaux republicains, tire de la Feuille Villageoise." I + have not found this Feuille, but no doubt Brissot, in + editing the essay for his journal (Le Patriote Francois) + abridged it, and in one instance Paine is mentioned by name. + Although in this essay Paine occasionally repeats sentences + used elsewhere, and naturally maintains his well-known + principles, the work has a peculiar interest as indicating + the temper and visions of the opening revolution.--_Editor._ + + 2 Royalty was abolished by the National Convention on the + first day of its meeting, September 21, 1792, the + revolutionary Calendar beginning next day. Paine was chosen + by his fellow-deputies of Calais to congratulate the + Convention, and did so in a brief address, dated October 27, + which was loaned by M. Charavay to the Historical Exposition + of the Revolution at Paris, 1889, where I made the subjoined + translation: "folly of oar ancestor", who have placed us + under the necessity of treating gravely (solennellement) the + abolition of a phantom (fantome).--Thomas Paine, Deputy."-- + _Editor._ + +Amid the joy inspired by this event, one cannot forbear some pain +at the some who clap their hands do not sufficiently understand the +condition they are leaving or that which they are assuming. + +The perjuries of Louis, the conspiracies of his court, the wildness of +his worthy brothers, have filled every Frenchman with horror, and this +race was dethroned in their hearts before its fall by legal decree. But +it is little to throw down an idol; it is the pedestal that above all +must be broken down; it is the regal office rather than the incumbent +that is murderous. All do not realize this. + +Why is Royalty an absurd and detestable government? Why is the Republic +a government accordant with nature and reason? At the present time a +Frenchman should put himself in a position to answer these two questions +clearly. For, in fine, if you are free and contented it is yet needful +that you should know why. + +Let us first discuss Royalty or Monarchy. Although one often wishes to +distinguish between these names, common usage gives them the same sense. + + +ROYALTY. + +Bands of brigands unite to subvert a country, place it under tribute, +seize its lands, enslave its inhabitants. The expedition completed, the +chieftain of the robbers adopts the title of monarch or king. Such +is the origin of Royalty among all tribes--huntsmen, agriculturists, +shepherds. + +A second brigand arrives who finds it equitable to take away by force +what was conquered by violence: he dispossesses the first; he chains +him, kills him, reigns in his place. Ere long time effaces the memory +of this origin; the successors rule under a new form; they do a little +good, from policy; they corrupt all who surround them; they invent +fictitious genealogies to make their families sacred (1); the knavery +of priests comes to their aid; they take Religion for a life-guard: +thenceforth tyranny becomes immortal, the usurped power becomes an +hereditary right. + + 1 The Boston Investigator's compilation of Paine's Works + contains the following as supposed to be Mr. Paine's: + + "Royal Pedigree.--George the Third, who was the grandson of + George the Second, who was the son of George the First, who + was the son of the Princess Sophia, who was the cousin of + Anne, who was the sister of William and Mary, who were the + daughter and son-in-law of James the Second, who was the son + of Charles the First, who was a traitor to his country and + decapitated as such, who was the son of James the First, who + was the son of Mary, who was the sister of Edward the Sixth, + who was the son of Henry the Eighth, who was the coldblooded + murderer of his wives, and the promoter of the Protestant + religion, who was the son of Henry the Seventh, who slew + Richard the Third, who smothered his nephew Edward the + Fifth, who was the son of Edward the Fourth, who with bloody + Richard slew Henry the Sixth, who succeeded Henry the Fifth, + who was the son of Henry the Fourth, who was the cousin of + Richard the Second, who was the son of Edward the Third, who + was the son of Richard the Second, who was the son of Edward + the First, who was the son of Henry the Third, who was the + son of John, who was the brother of Richard the First, who + was the son of Henry the Second, who was the son of Matilda, + who was the daughter of Henry the First, who was the brother + of William Rufus, who was the son of William the Conqueror, + who was the son of a whore."--_Editor._ + +The effects of Royalty have been entirely harmonious with its origin. +What scenes of horror, what refinements of iniquity, do the annals of +monarchies present! If we should paint human nature with a baseness of +heart, an hypocrisy, from which all must recoil and humanity disavow, it +would be the portraiture of kings, their ministers and courtiers. + +And why should it not be so? What should such a monstrosity produce +but miseries and crimes? What is monarchy? It has been finely disguised, +and the people familiarized with the odious title: in its real sense the +word signifies _the absolute power of one single individual_, who may +with impunity be stupid, treacherous, tyrannical, etc. Is it not an +insult to nations to wish them so governed? + +Government by a single individual is vicious in itself, independently of +the individual's vices. For however little a State, the prince is +nearly always too small: where is the proportion between one man and the +affairs of a whole nation? + +True, some men of genius have been seen under the diadem; but the evil +is then even greater: the ambition of such a man impels him to conquest +and despotism, his subjects soon have to lament his glory, and sing +their _Te-deums_ while perishing with hunger. Such is the history of +Louis XIV. and so many others. + +But if ordinary men in power repay you with incapacity or with princely +vices? But those who come to the front in monarchies are frequently +mere mean mischief-makers, commonplace knaves, petty intriguers, whose +small wits, which in courts reach large places, serve only to display +their ineptitude in public, as soon as they appear. (*) In short, +monarchs do nothing, and their ministers do evil: this is the history of +all monarchies. + +But if Royalty as such is baneful, as hereditary succession it is +equally revolting and ridiculous. What! there exists among my kind a man +who pretends that he is born to govern me? Whence derived he such right? +From his and my ancestors, says he. But how could they transmit to him +a right they did not possess? Man has no authority over generations +unborn. I cannot be the slave of the dead, more than of the living. +Suppose that instead of our posterity, it was we who should succeed +ourselves: we should not to-day be able to despoil ourselves of the +rights which would belong to us in our second life: for a stronger +reason we cannot so despoil others. + +An hereditary crown! A transmissible throne! What a notion! With even a +little reflexion, can any one tolerate it? Should human beings then be +the property of certain individuals, born or to be born? Are we then to +treat our descendants in advance as cattle, who shall have neither will +nor rights of their own? To inherit government is to inherit peoples, +as if they were herds. It is the basest, the most shameful fantasy that +ever degraded mankind. + +It is wrong to reproach kings with their ferocity, their brutal +indifference, the oppressions of the people, and molestations of +citizens: it is hereditary succession that makes them what they are: +this breeds monsters as a marsh breeds vipers. + + * J. J. Rousseau, Contrat Social.--Author. + +The logic on which the hereditary prince rests is in effect this: I +derive my power from my birth; I derive my birth from God; therefore +I owe nothing to men. It is little that he has at hand a complacent +minister, he continues to indulge, conscientiously, in all the crimes of +tyranny. This has been seen in all times and countries. + +Tell me, then, what is there in common between him who is master of a +people, and the people of whom he is master? Are these masters really of +their kind? It is by sympathy that we are good and human: with whom does +a monarch sympathize? When my neighbor suffers I pity, because I put +myself in his place: a monarch pities none, because he has never been, +can never be, in any other place than his own. + +A monarch is an egoist by nature, the _egoist par excellence_. A +thousand traits show that this kind of men have no point of contact with +the rest of humanity. There was demanded of Charles II. the punishment +of Lauderdale, his favorite, who had infamously oppressed the Scotch. +"Yes," said Charles coolly, "this man has done much against the Scotch, +but I cannot see that he has done anything against my interests." Louis +XIV. often said: "If I follow the wishes of the people, I cannot act the +king." Even such phrases as "misfortunes of the State," "safety of the +State," filled Louis XIV. with wrath. + +Could nature make a law which should assure virtue and wisdom invariably +in these privileged castes that perpetuate themselves on thrones, there +would be no objection to their hereditary succession. But let us pass +Europe in review: all of its monarchs are the meanest of men. This one +a tyrant, that one an imbecile, another a traitor, the next a debauchee, +while some muster all the vices. It looks as if fate and nature had +aimed to show our epoch, and all nations, the absurdity and enormity of +Royalty. + +But I mistake: this epoch has nothing peculiar. For, such is the +essential vice of this royal succession by animal filiation, the peoples +have not even the chances of nature,--they cannot even hope for a good +prince as an alternative. All things conspire to deprive of reason +and justice an individual reared to command others. The word of young +Dionysius was very sensible: his father, reproaching him for a shameful +action, said, "Have I given thee such example?" "Ah," answered the +youth, "thy father was not a king!" + +In truth, were laughter on such a subject permissible, nothing would +suggest ideas more burlesque than this fantastic institution of +hereditary kings. Would it not be believed, to look at them, that there +really exist particular lineages possessing certain qualities which +enter the blood of the embryo prince, and adapt him physically +for royalty, as a horse for the racecourse? But then, in this wild +supposition, it yet becomes necessary to assure the genuine family +descent of the heir presumptive. To perpetuate the noble race of +Andalusian chargers, the circumstances pass before witnesses, and +similar precautions seem necessary, however indecent, to make sure that +the trickeries of queens shall not supply thrones with bastards, and +that the kings, like the horses, shall always be thoroughbreds. + +Whether one jests or reasons, there is found in this idea of hereditary +royalty only folly and shame. What then is this office, which may be +filled by infants or idiots? Some talent is required to be a simple +workman; to be a king there is need to have only the human shape, to be +a living automaton. We are astonished when reading that the Egyptians +placed on the throne a flint, and called it their king. We smile at +the dog Barkouf, sent by an Asiatic despot to govern one of his +provinces.(*) But mon-archs of this kind are less mischievous and less +absurd than those before whom whole peoples prostrate themselves. The +flint and the dog at least imposed on nobody. None ascribed to them +qualities or characters they did not possess. They were not styled +'Father of the People,'--though this were hardly more ridiculous than +to give that title to a rattle-head whom inheritance crowns at eighteen. +Better a mute than an animate idol. Why, there can hardly be cited an +instance of a great man having children worthy of him, yet you will have +the royal function pass from father to son! As well declare that a wise +man's son will be wise. A king is an administrator, and an hereditary +administrator is as absurd as an author by birthright. + + * See the first year of La Feuille Villageoise, No. 42.-- + Author. [Cf. Montaigne's Essays, chap. xii.--_Editor._] + +Royalty is thus as contrary to common sense as to com-mon right. But it +would be a plague even if no more than an absurdity; for a people who +can bow down in honor of a silly thing is a debased people. Can they be +fit for great affairs who render equal homage to vice and virtue, and +yield the same submission to ignorance and wisdom? Of all institutions, +none has caused more intellectual degeneracy. This explains the +often-remarked abjectness of character under monarchies. + +Such is also the effect of this contagious institution that it renders +equality impossible, and draws in its train the presumption and the +evils of "Nobility." If you admit inheritance of an office, why not that +of a distinction? The Nobility's heritage asks only homage, that of +the Crown commands submission. When a man says to me, 'I am born +illustrious,' I merely smile; when he says 'I am born your master,' I +set my foot on him. + +When the Convention pronounced the abolition of Royalty none rose +for the defence that was expected. On this subject a philosopher, who +thought discussion should always precede enactment, proposed a singular +thing; he desired that the Convention should nominate an orator +commissioned to plead before it the cause of Royalty, so that the +pitiful arguments by which it has in all ages been justified might +appear in broad daylight. Judges give one accused, however certain +his guilt, an official defender. In the ancient Senate of Venice there +existed a public officer whose function was to contest all propositions, +however incontestible, or however perfect their evidence. For the rest, +pleaders for Royalty are not rare: let us open them, and see what the +most specious of royalist reasoners have said. + +1. _A king is necessary to preserve a people from the tyranny of +powerful men_. + +Establish the Rights of Man(1); enthrone Equality; form a good +Constitution; divide well its powers; let there be no privileges, no +distinctions of birth, no monopolies; make safe the liberty of industry +and of trade, the equal distribution of [family] inheritances, publicity +of administration, freedom of the press: these things all established, +you will be assured of good laws, and need not fear the powerful men. +Willingly or unwillingly, all citizens will be under the Law. + + 1 The reader should bear in mind that this phrase, now used + vaguely, had for Paine and his political school a special + significance; it implied a fundamental Declaration of + individual rights, of supreme force and authority, invasion + which, either by legislatures, law courts, majorities, or + administrators, was to be regarded as the worst treason and + despotism.--_Editor._ + +2. _The Legislature might usurp authority, and a king is needed to +restrain it_. + +With representatives, frequently renewed, who neither administer +nor judge, whose functions are determined by the laws; with national +conventions, with primary assemblies, which can be convoked any moment; +with a people knowing how to read, and how to defend itself; with good +journals, guns, and pikes; a Legislature would have a good deal of +trouble in enjoying any months of tyranny. Let us not suppose an evil +for the sake of its remedy. + +3. _A king is needed to give force to executive power_. + +This might be said while there existed nobles, a priesthood, +parliaments, the privileged of every kind. But at present who can resist +the Law, which is the will of all, whose execution is the interest of +all? On the contrary the existence of an hereditary prince inspires +perpetual distrust among the friends of liberty; his authority is odious +to them; in checking despotism they constantly obstruct the action of +government. Observe how feeble the executive power was found, after our +recent pretence of marrying Royalty with Liberty. + +Take note, for the rest, that those who talk in this way are men who +believe that the King and the Executive Power are only one and the same +thing: readers of _La Feuille Villageoise_ are more advanced.(*) + + * See No. 50.--_Author_ + +Others use this bad reasoning: "Were there no hereditary chief there +would be an elective chief: the citizens would side with this man or +that, and there would be a civil war at every election." In the first +place, it is certain that hereditary succession alone has produced +the civil wars of France and England; and that beyond this are the +pre-tended rights, of royal families which have twenty times drawn on +these nations the scourge of foreign wars. It is, in fine, the heredity +of crowns that has caused the troubles of Regency, which Thomas Paine +calls Monarchy at nurse. + +But above all it must be said, that if there be an elective chief, that +chief will not be a king surrounded by courtiers, burdened with pomp, +inflated by idolatries, and endowed with thirty millions of money; also, +that no citizen will be tempted to injure himself by placing another +citizen, his equal, for some years in an office without limited income +and circumscribed power. + +In a word, whoever demands a king demands an aristocracy, and thirty +millions of taxes. See why Franklin described Royalism as _a crime like +poisoning_. + +Royalty, its fanatical eclat, its superstitious idolatry, the delusive +assumption of its necessity, all these fictions have been invented only +to obtain from men excessive taxes and voluntary servitude. Royalty +and Popery have had the same aim, have sustained themselves by the same +artifices, and crumble under the same Light. + + + + +XII. TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, ON THE PROSECUTION AGAINST THE SECOND PART +OF RIGHTS OF MAN.(1) + +Paris, 11th of November, 1st Year of the Republic. [1792.] + +Mr. Attorney General: + +Sir,--As there can be no personal resentment between two strangers, I +write this letter to you, as to a man against whom I have no animosity. + +You have, as Attorney General, commenced a prosecution against me, as +the author of Rights of Man. Had not my duty, in consequence of my being +elected a member of the National Convention of France, called me from +England, I should have staid to have contested the injustice of +that prosecution; not upon my own account, for I cared not about the +prosecution, but to have defended the principles I had advanced in the +work. + + 1 Read to the Jury by the Attorney General, Sir Archibald + Macdonald, at the trial of Paine, December 18, 1792, which + resulted in his outlawry.--_Editor._ + +The duty I am now engaged in is of too much importance to permit me to +trouble myself about your prosecution: when I have leisure, I shall have +no objection to meet you on that ground; but, as I now stand, whether +you go on with the prosecution, or whether you do not, or whether you +obtain a verdict, or not, is a matter of the most perfect indifference +to me as an individual. If you obtain one, (which you are welcome to +if you can get it,) it cannot affect me either in person, property, or +reputation, otherwise than to increase the latter; and with respect to +yourself, it is as consistent that you obtain a verdict against the Man +in the Moon as against me; neither do I see how you can continue the +prosecution against me as you would have done against one _your own +people, who_ had absented himself because he was prosecuted; what passed +at Dover proves that my departure from England was no secret. (1) + +My necessary absence from your country affords the opportunity of +knowing whether the prosecution was intended against Thomas Paine, or +against the Right of the People of England to investigate systems and +principles of government; for as I cannot now be the object of the +prosecution, the going on with the prosecution will shew that something +else was the object, and that something else can be no other than the +People of England, for it is against _their Rights_, and not against +me, that a verdict or sentence can operate, if it can operate at all. +Be then so candid as to tell the Jury, (if you choose to continue the +process,) whom it is you are prosecuting, and on whom it is that the +verdict is to fall.(2) + +But I have other reasons than those I have mentioned for writing you +this letter; and, however you may choose to interpret them, they proceed +from a good heart. The time, Sir, is becoming too serious to play +with Court prosecutions, and sport with national rights. The terrible +examples that have taken place here, upon men who, less than a year ago, +thought themselves as secure as any prosecuting Judge, Jury, or Attorney +General, now can in England, ought to have some weight with men in +your situation. That the government of England is as great, if not the +greatest, perfection of fraud and corruption that ever took place since +governments began, is what you cannot be a stranger to, unless the +constant habit of seeing it has blinded your senses; but though you +may not chuse to see it, the people are seeing it very fast, and the +progress is beyond what you may chuse to believe. Is it possible that +you, or I, can believe, or that reason can make any other man believe, +that the capacity of such a man as Mr. Guelph, or any of his profligate +sons, is necessary to the government of a nation? I speak to you as one +man ought to speak to another; and I know also that I speak what other +people are beginning to think. + + 1 See Chapter VIII. of this volume.--_Editor._ + + 2 In reading the letter in court the Attorney General said + at this point: "Gentlemen, I certainly will comply with + this request. I am prosecuting both him and his work; and + if I succeed in this prosecution, he shall never return to + this country otherwise than _in vintulis_, for I will outlaw + him."--_Editor._ + +That you cannot obtain a verdict (and if you do, it will signify +nothing) _without packing a Jury_, (and we _both_ know that such tricks +are practised,) is what I have very good reason to believe, I have gone +into coffee-houses, and places where I was unknown, on purpose to learn +the currency of opinion, and I never yet saw any company of twelve men +that condemned the book; but I have often found a greater number than +twelve approving it, and this I think is _a fair way of collecting the +natural currency of opinion_. Do not then, Sir, be the instrument of +drawing twelve men into a situation that may be _injurious_ to them +afterwards. I do not speak this from policy, but from benevolence; but +if you chuse to go on with the process, I make it my request to you that +you will read this letter in Court, after which the Judge and the Jury +may do as they please. As I do not consider myself the object of the +prosecution, neither can I be affected by the issue, one way or the +other, I shall, though a foreigner in your country, subscribe as much +money as any other man towards supporting the right of the nation +against the prosecution; and it is for this purpose only that I shall do +it.(1) + +Thomas Paine. + +As I have not time to copy letters, you will excuse the corrections. + + 1 In reading this letter at the trial the Attorney + interspersed comments. At the phrase, "Mr. Guelph and his + profligate sons," he exclaimed: "This passage is + contemptuous, scandalous, false, cruel. Why, gentlemen, is + Mr. Paine, in addition to the political doctrines he is + teaching us in this country, to teach us the morality and + religion of implacability? Is he to teach human creatures, + whose moments of existence depend upon the permission of a + Being, merciful, long-suffering, and of great goodness, that + those youthful errors from which even royalty is not + exempted, are to be treasured up in a vindictive memory, and + are to receive sentence of irremissible sin at His hands.... + If giving me pain was his object he has that hellish + gratification." Erskine, Fame's counsel, protested in + advance against the reading of this letter (of which he had + heard), as containing matter likely to divert the Jury from + the subject of prosecution (the book). Lord Kenyon admitted + the letter.--_Editor._ + +P. S. I intended, had I staid in England, to have published the +information, with my remarks upon it, before the trial came on; but as +I am otherwise engaged, I reserve myself till the trial is over, when I +shall reply fully to every thing you shall advance. + + + + +XIII. ON THE PROPRIETY OF BRINGING LOUIS XVI. TO TRIAL.(1) + +Read to the Convention, November 21, 1792. + +Paris, Nov. 20, 1792. + +Citizen President, + +As I do not know precisely what day the Convention will resume the +discussion on the trial of Louis XVI., and, on account of my inability +to express myself in French, I cannot speak at the tribune, I request +permission to deposit in your hands the enclosed paper, which contains +my opinion on that subject. I make this demand with so much more +eagerness, because circumstances will prove how much it imports to +France, that Louis XVI. should continue to enjoy good health. I should +be happy if the Convention would have the goodness to hear this paper +read this morning, as I propose sending a copy of it to London, to be +printed in the English journals.(2) + +Thomas Paine. + + 1 This address, which has suffered by alterations in all + editions is here revised and completed by aid of the + official document: "Opinion de Thomas Payne, Depute du + Departement de la Somme [error], concernant le jugement de + Louis XVI. Precede par sa lettre d'envoi au President de la + Convention. Imprime par ordre de la Convention Nationale. A + Paris. De l'Imprimerie Nationale." Lamartine has censured + Paine for this speech; but the trial of the King was a + foregone conclusion, and it will be noted that Paine was + already trying to avert popular wrath from the individual + man by directing it against the general league of monarchs, + and the monarchal system. Nor would his plea for the King's + life have been listened to but for this previous address.-- + _Editor._ + + 2 Of course no English journal could then venture to print + it.--_Editor._ + +A Secretary read the opinion of Thomas Paine. I think it necessary +that Louis XVI. should be tried; not that this advice is suggested by +a spirit of vengeance, but because this measure appears to me just, +lawful, and conformable to sound policy. If Louis is innocent, let us +put him to prove his innocence; if he is guilty, let the national will +determine whether he shall be pardoned or punished. + +But besides the motives personal to Louis XVI., there are others which +make his trial necessary. I am about to develope these motives, in the +language which I think expresses them, and no other. I forbid myself the +use of equivocal expression or of mere ceremony. There was formed among +the crowned brigands of Europe a conspiracy which threatened not only +French liberty, but likewise that of all nations. Every thing tends +to the belief that Louis XVI. was the partner of this horde of +conspirators. You have this man in your power, and he is at present the +only one of the band of whom you can make sure. I consider Louis XVI. in +the same point of view as the two first robbers taken up in the affair +of the Store Room; their trial led to discovery of the gang to which +they belonged. We have seen the unhappy soldiers of Austria, of Prussia, +and the other powers which declared themselves our enemies, torn from +their fire-sides, and drawn to butchery like wretched animals, to +sustain, at the cost of their blood, the common cause of these crowned +brigands. They loaded the inhabitants of those regions with taxes to +support the expenses of the war. All this was not done solely for Louis +XVI. Some of the conspirators have acted openly: but there is reason +to presume that this conspiracy is composed of two classes of brigands; +those who have taken up arms, and those who have lent to their cause +secret encouragement and clandestine assistance. Now it is indispensable +to let France and the whole world know all these accomplices. + +A little time after the National Convention was constituted, the +Minister for Foreign Affairs presented the picture of all the +governments of Europe,--those whose hostilities were public, and those +that acted with a mysterious circumspection. This picture supplied +grounds for just suspicions of the part the latter were disposed to +take, and since then various circumstances have occurred to confirm +those suspicions. We have already penetrated into some part of the +conduct of Mr. Guelph, Elector of Hanover, and strong presumptions +involve the same man, his court and ministers, in quality of king +of England. M. Calonne has constantly been favoured with a friendly +reception at that court.(1) The arrival of Mr. Smith, secretary to Mr. +Pitt, at Coblentz, when the emigrants were assembling there; the recall +of the English ambassador; the extravagant joy manifested by the court +of St. James' at the false report of the defeat of Dumouriez, when +it was communicated by Lord Elgin, then Minister of Great Britain at +Brussels--all these circumstances render him [George III.] extremely +suspicious; the trial of Louis XVI. will probably furnish more decisive +proofs. + +The long subsisting fear of a revolution in England, would alone, I +believe, prevent that court from manifesting as much publicity in its +operations as Austria and Prussia. Another reason could be added to +this: the inevitable decrease of credit, by means of which alone all +the old governments could obtain fresh loans, in proportion as the +probability of revolutions increased. Whoever invests in the new loans +of such governments must expect to lose his stock. + +Every body knows that the Landgrave of Hesse fights only as far as he is +paid. He has been for many years in the pay of the court of London. If +the trial of Louis XVI. could bring it to light, that this detestable +dealer in human flesh has been paid with the produce of the taxes +imposed on the English people, it would be justice to that nation to +disclose that fact. It would at the same time give to France an exact +knowledge of the character of that court, which has not ceased to be the +most intriguing in Europe, ever since its connexion with Germany. + + 1 Calonne (1734-1802), made Controller General of the + Treasury in 1783, lavished the public money on the Queen, on + courtiers, and on himself (purchasing St. Cloud and + Rambouillet), borrowing vast sums and deceiving the King as + to the emptiness of the Treasury, the annual deficit having + risen in 1787 to 115 millions of francs. He was then + banished to Lorraine, whence he proceeded to England, where + he married the wealthy widow Haveley. By his agency for the + Coblentz party he lost his fortune. In 1802 Napoleon brought + him back from London to Paris, where he died the same year. + --_Editor._ + +Louis XVI., considered as an individual, is an object beneath the notice +of the Republic; but when he is looked upon as a part of that band of +conspirators, as an accused man whose trial may lead all nations in +the world to know and detest the disastrous system of monarchy, and the +plots and intrigues of their own courts, he ought to be tried. + +If the crimes for which Louis XVI. is arraigned were absolutely personal +to him, without reference to general conspiracies, and confined to the +affairs of France, the plea of inviolability, that folly of the moment, +might have been urged in his behalf with some appearance of reason; but +he is arraigned not only for treasons against France, but for having +conspired against all Europe, and if France is to be just to all Europe +we ought to use every means in our power to discover the whole extent +of that conspiracy. France is now a republic; she has completed her +revolution; but she cannot earn all its advantages so long as she is +surrounded with despotic governments. Their armies and their marine +oblige her also to keep troops and ships in readiness. It is therefore +her immediate interest that all nations shall be as free as herself; +that revolutions shall be universal; and since the trial of Louis XVI. +can serve to prove to the world the flagitiousness of governments in +general, and the necessity of revolutions, she ought not to let slip so +precious an opportunity. + +The despots of Europe have formed alliances to preserve their respective +authority, and to perpetuate the oppression of peoples. This is the end +they proposed to themselves in their invasion of French territory. They +dread the effect of the French revolution in the bosom of their own +countries; and in hopes of preventing it, they are come to attempt +the destruction of this revolution before it should attain its perfect +maturity. Their attempt has not been attended with success. France has +already vanquished their armies; but it remains for her to sound the +particulars of the conspiracy, to discover, to expose to the eyes of +the world, those despots who had the infamy to take part in it; and the +world expects from her that act of justice. + +These are my motives for demanding that Louis XVI. be judged; and it is +in this sole point of view that his trial appears to me of sufficient +importance to receive the attention of the Republic. + +As to "inviolability," I would not have such a word mentioned. If, +seeing in Louis XVI. only a weak and narrow-minded man, badly reared, +like all his kind, given, as it is said, to frequent excesses of +drunkenness--a man whom the National Assembly imprudently raised again +on a throne for which he was not made--he is shown hereafter some +compassion, it shall be the result of the national magnanimity, and not +the burlesque notion of a pretended "inviolability." + +Thomas Paine. + + + + +XIV. REASONS FOR PRESERVING THE LIFE OF LOUIS CAPET, + +As Delivered to the National Convention, January 15, 1703.(1) + +Citizen President, + +My hatred and abhorrence of monarchy are sufficiently known: they +originate in principles of reason and conviction, nor, except with life, +can they ever be extirpated; but my compassion for the unfortunate, +whether friend or enemy, is equally lively and sincere. + +I voted that Louis should be tried, because it was necessary to afford +proofs to the world of the perfidy, corruption, and abomination of the +monarchical system. The infinity of evidence that has been produced +exposes them in the most glaring and hideous colours; thence it results +that monarchy, whatever form it may assume, arbitrary or otherwise, +becomes necessarily a centre round which are united every species of +corruption, and the kingly trade is no less destructive of all morality +in the human breast, than the trade of an executioner is destructive +of its sensibility. I remember, during my residence in another country, +that I was exceedingly struck with a sentence of M. Autheine, at the +Jacobins [Club], which corresponds exactly with my own idea,--"Make me a +king to-day," said he, "and I shall be a robber to-morrow." + + 1 Printed in Paris (Hartley, Adlard & Son) and published in + London with the addition of D. I. Eaton's name, in 1796. + While Paine was in prison, he was accused in England and + America of having helped to bring Louis XVI. to the + scaffold. The English pamphlet has a brief preface in which + it is presented "as a burnt offering to Truth, in behalf of + the most zealous friend and advocate of the Rights of Man; + to protect him against the barbarous shafts of scandal and + delusion, and as a reply to all the horrors which despots of + every description have, with such unrelenting malice, + attempted to fix on his conduct. But truth in the end must + triumph: cease then such calumnies: all your efforts are + in vain --you bite a file."--_Editor._ + +Nevertheless, I am inclined to believe that if Louis Capet had been born +in obscure condition, had he lived within the circle of an amiable and +respectable neighbourhood, at liberty to practice the duties of domestic +life, had he been thus situated, I cannot believe that he would have +shewn himself destitute of social virtues: we are, in a moment of +fermentation like this, naturally little indulgent to his vices, or +rather to those of his government; we regard them with additional +horror and indignation; not that they are more heinous than those of +his predecessors, but because our eyes are now open, and the veil of +delusion at length withdrawn; yet the lamentable, degraded state to +which he is actually reduced, is surely far less imputable to him +than to the Constituent Assembly, which, of its own authority, without +consent or advice of the people, restored him to the throne. + +I was in Paris at the time of the flight, or abdication of Louis XVI., +and when he was taken and brought back. The proposal of restoring him to +supreme power struck me with amazement; and although at that time I was +not a French citizen, yet as a citizen of the world I employed all the +efforts that depended on me to prevent it. + +A small society, composed only of five persons, two of whom are +now members of the Convention,(1) took at that time the name of the +Republican Club (Societe Republicaine). This society opposed the +restoration of Louis, not so much on account of his personal offences, +as in order to overthrow the monarchy, and to erect on its ruins the +republican system and an equal representation. + +With this design, I traced out in the English language certain +propositions, which were translated with some trifling alterations, and +signed by Achille Duchatelet, now Lieutenant-General in the army of the +French republic, and at that time one of the five members which composed +our little party: the law requiring the signature of a citizen at the +bottom of each printed paper. + + 1 Condorect and Paine; the other members were Achille + Duchitelet, and probably Nicolas de Bonneville and + Lanthenas,--translator of Paine's "Works."--_Editor._ + +The paper was indignantly torn by Malouet; and brought forth in this +very room as an article of accusation against the person who had signed +it, the author and their adherents; but such is the revolution of +events, that this paper is now received and brought forth for a very +opposite purpose--to remind the nation of the errors of that unfortunate +day, that fatal error of not having then banished Louis XVI. from its +bosom, and to plead this day in favour of his exile, preferable to his +death. + +The paper in question, was conceived in the following terms: + +[The address constitutes the first chapter of the present volume.] + +Having thus explained the principles and the exertions of the +republicans at that fatal period, when Louis was rein-stated in +full possession of the executive power which by his flight had been +suspended, I return to the subject, and to the deplorable situation in +which the man is now actually involved. + +What was neglected at the time of which I have been speaking, has been +since brought about by the force of necessity. The wilful, treacherous +defects in the former constitution have been brought to light; the +continual alarm of treason and conspiracy aroused the nation, and +produced eventually a second revolution. The people have beat down +royalty, never, never to rise again; they have brought Louis Capet to +the bar, and demonstrated in the face of the whole world, the intrigues, +the cabals, the falsehood, corruption, and rooted depravity, the +inevitable effects of monarchical government. There remains then only +one question to be considered, what is to be done with this man? + +For myself I seriously confess, that when I reflect on the unaccountable +folly that restored the executive power to his hands, all covered as +he was with perjuries and treason, I am far more ready to condemn the +Constituent Assembly than the unfortunate prisoner Louis Capet. + +But abstracted from every other consideration, there is one circumstance +in his life which ought to cover or at least to palliate a great number +of his transgressions, and this very circumstance affords to the French +nation a blessed occasion of extricating itself from the yoke of kings, +without defiling itself in the impurities of their blood. + +It is to France alone, I know, that the United States of America owe +that support which enabled them to shake off the unjust and tyrannical +yoke of Britain. The ardour and zeal which she displayed to provide both +men and money, were the natural consequence of a thirst for liberty. +But as the nation at that time, restrained by the shackles of her own +government, could only act by the means of a monarchical organ, this +organ--whatever in other respects the object might be--certainly +performed a good, a great action. + +Let then those United States be the safeguard and asylum of Louis Capet. +There, hereafter, far removed from the miseries and crimes of royalty, +he may learn, from the constant aspect of public prosperity, that the +true system of government consists not in kings, but in fair, equal, and +honourable representation. + +In relating this circumstance, and in submitting this proposition, I +consider myself as a citizen of both countries. I submit it as a citizen +of America, who feels the debt of gratitude which he owes to every +Frenchman. I submit it also as a man, who, although the enemy of kings, +cannot forget that they are subject to human frailties. I support my +proposition as a citizen of the French republic, because it appears to +me the best, the most politic measure that can be adopted. + +As far as my experience in public life extends, I have ever observed, +that the great mass of the people are invariably just, both in their +intentions and in their objects; but the true method of accomplishing an +effect does not always shew itself in the first instance. For example: +the English nation had groaned under the despotism of the Stuarts. +Hence Charles I. lost his life; yet Charles II. was restored to all +the plenitude of power, which his father had lost. Forty years had +not expired when the same family strove to reestablish their ancient +oppression; so the nation then banished from its territories the whole +race. The remedy was effectual. The Stuart family sank into obscurity, +confounded itself with the multitude, and is at length extinct. + +The French nation has carried her measures of government to a greater +length. France is not satisfied with exposing the guilt of the monarch. +She has penetrated into the vices and horrors of the monarchy. She has +shown them clear as daylight, and forever crushed that system; and he, +whoever he may be, that should ever dare to reclaim those rights would +be regarded not as a pretender, but punished as a traitor. + +Two brothers of Louis Capet have banished themselves from the country; +but they are obliged to comply with the spirit and etiquette of the +courts where they reside. They can advance no pretensions on their own +account, so long as Louis Capet shall live. + +Monarchy, in France, was a system pregnant with crime and murders, +cancelling all natural ties, even those by which brothers are united. We +know how often they have assassinated each other to pave a way to power. +As those hopes which the emigrants had reposed in Louis XVI. are fled, +the last that remains rests upon his death, and their situation inclines +them to desire this catastrophe, that they may once again rally around +a more active chief, and try one further effort under the fortune of +the ci-devant Monsieur and d'Artois. That such an enterprize would +precipitate them into a new abyss of calamity and disgrace, it is not +difficult to foresee; yet it might be attended with mutual loss, and it +is our duty as legislators not to spill a drop of blood when our purpose +may be effectually accomplished without it. + +It has already been proposed to abolish the punishment of death, and it +is with infinite satisfaction that I recollect the humane and excellent +oration pronounced by Robespierre on that subject in the Constituent +Assembly. This cause must find its advocates in every corner where +enlightened politicians and lovers of humanity exist, and it ought above +all to find them in this assembly. + +Monarchical governments have trained the human race, and inured it to +the sanguinary arts and refinements of punishment; and it is exactly the +same punishment which has so long shocked the sight and tormented +the patience of the people, that now, in their turn, they practice in +revenge upon their oppressors. But it becomes us to be strictly on our +guard against the abomination and perversity of monarchical examples: +as France has been the first of European nations to abolish royalty, let +her also be the first to abolish the punishment of death, and to find +out a milder and more effectual substitute. + +In the particular case now under consideration, I submit the following +propositions: 1st, That the National Convention shall pronounce sentence +of banishment on Louis and his family. 2d, That Louis Capet shall +be detained in prison till the end of the war, and at that epoch the +sentence of banishment to be executed. + + + + +XV. SHALL LOUIS XVI. HAVE RESPITE? + +SPEECH IN THE CONVENTION, JANUARY 19, 1793.(1) + +(Read in French by Deputy Bancal,) + +Very sincerely do I regret the Convention's vote of yesterday for death. + +Marat [_interrupting_]: I submit that Thomas Paine is incompetent to +vote on this question; being a Quaker his religious principles are +opposed to capital punishment. [_Much confusion, quieted by cries for +"freedom of speech" on which Bancal proceeds with Paine's speech_.] + + 1 Not included in any previous edition of Paine's "Works." + It is here printed from contemporary French reports, + modified only by Paine's own quotations of a few sentences + in his Memorial to Monroe (xxi.).--_Editor._ + +I have the advantage of some experience; it is near twenty years that I +have been engaged in the cause of liberty, having contributed something +to it in the revolution of the United States of America, My language has +always been that of liberty _and_ humanity, and I know that nothing +so exalts a nation as the union of these two principles, under all +circumstances. I know that the public mind of France, and particularly +that of Paris, has been heated and irritated by the dangers to which +they have been exposed; but could we carry our thoughts into the future, +when the dangers are ended and the irritations forgotten, what +to-day seems an act of justice may then appear an act of vengeance. +[_Murmurs_.] My anxiety for the cause of France has become for the +moment concern for her honor. If, on my return to America, I should +employ myself on a history of the French Revolution, I had rather record +a thousand errors on the side of mercy, than be obliged to tell one act +of severe justice. I voted against an appeal to the people, because it +appeared to me that the Convention was needlessly wearied on that point; +but I so voted in the hope that this Assembly would pronounce against +death, and for the same punishment that the nation would have voted, +at least in my opinion, that is for reclusion during the war, and +banishment thereafter.(1) That is the punishment most efficacious, +because it includes the whole family at once, and none other can so +operate. I am still against the appeal to the primary assemblies, +because there is a better method. This Convention has been elected to +form a Constitution, which will be submitted to the primary assemblies. +After its acceptance a necessary consequence will be an election and +another assembly. We cannot suppose that the present Convention will +last more than five or six months. The choice of new deputies will +express the national opinion, on the propriety or impropriety of your +sentence, with as much efficacy as if those primary assemblies had been +consulted on it. As the duration of our functions here cannot be long, +it is a part of our duty to consider the interests of those who shall +replace us. If by any act of ours the number of the nation's enemies +shall be needlessly increased, and that of its friends diminished,--at a +time when the finances may be more strained than to-day,--we should +not be justifiable for having thus unnecessarily heaped obstacles in +the path of our successors. Let us therefore not be precipitate in our +decisions. + + 1 It is possible that the course of the debate may have + produced some reaction among the people, but when Paine + voted against submitting the king's fate to the popular vote + it was believed by the king and his friends that it would be + fatal. The American Minister, Gouverneur Morris, who had + long been acting for the king, wrote to President + Washington, Jan. 6, 1793: "The king's fate is to be decided + next Monday, the 14th. That unhappy man, conversing with one + of his Council on his own fate, calmly summed up the motives + of every kind, and concluded that a majority of the Council + would vote for referring his case to the people, and that in + consequence he should be massacred." Writing to Washington + on Dec. 28, 1792, Morris mentions having heard from Paine + that he was to move the king's banishment to America, and he + may then have informed Paine that the king believed + reference of his case to popular vote would be fatal. + Genet was to have conducted the royal family to America.-- + _Editor._ + +France has but one ally--the United States of America. That is the only +nation that can furnish France with naval provisions, for the +kingdoms of northern Europe are, or soon will be, at war with her. It +unfortunately happens that the person now under discussion is considered +by the Americans as having been the friend of their revolution. His +execution will be an affliction to them, and it is in your power not +to wound the feelings of your ally. Could I speak the French language I +would descend to your bar, and in their name become your petitioner to +respite the execution of the sentence on Louis. + +Thuriot: This is not the language of Thomas Paine. + +Marat: I denounce the interpreter. I maintain that it is not Thomas +Paine's opinion. It is an untrue translation. + +Garran: I have read the original, and the translation is correct.(1) + +[_Prolonged uproar. Paine, still standing in the tribune beside his +interpreter, Deputy Bancal, declared the sentiments to be his._] + +Your Executive Committee will nominate an ambassador to Philadelphia; +my sincere wish is that he may announce to America that the National +Convention of France, out of pure friendship to America, has consented +to respite Louis. That people, by my vote, ask you to delay the +execution. + +Ah, citizens, give not the tyrant of England the triumph of seeing the +man perish on the scaffold who had aided my much-loved America to break +his chains! + +Marat ["_launching himself into the middle of the hall_"]: Paine voted +against the punishment of death because he is a Quaker. + +Paine: I voted against it from both moral motives and motives of public +policy. + + 1 See Guizot, "Hist, of France," vi., p. 136. "Hist. + Parliamentair," vol. ii., p. 350. Louis Blanc says that + Paine's appeal was so effective that Marat interrupted + mainly in order to destroy its effect.--"Hist, de la Rev.," + tome vii, 396.--_Editor._ + + + + +XVI. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.(1) + +The object of all union of men in society being maintenance of their +natural rights, civil and political, these rights are the basis of the +social pact: their recognition and their declaration ought to precede +the Constitution which assures their guarantee. + +1. The natural rights of men, civil and political, are liberty, +equality, security, property, social protection, and resistance to +oppression. + +2. Liberty consists in the right to do whatever is not contrary to +the rights of others: thus, exercise of the natural rights of each +individual has no limits other than those which secure to other members +of society enjoyment of the same rights. + + 1 In his appeal from prison to the Convention (August 7, + 1794) Paine states that he had, as a member of the Committee + for framing the Constitution, prepared a Plan, which was in + the hands of Barere, also of that Committee. I have not yet + succeeded in finding Paine's Constitution, but it is certain + that the work of framing the Constitution of 1793 was mainly + entrusted to Paine and Condorcet. + + Dr. John Moore, in his work on the French Revolution, + describes the two at their work; and it is asserted that he + "assisted in drawing up the French Declaration of Rights," + by "Juvencus," author of an able "Essay on the Life and + Genius of Thomas Paine," whose information came from a + personal friend of Paine. ("Aphorisms, Opinions, and + Reflections of Thomas Paine," etc., London, 1826. Pp. 3, + 14.) A translation of the Declaration and Constitution + appeared in England (Debrett, Picadilly, 1793), but with + some faults. The present translation is from "Oeuvres + Completes de Condorcet," tome xviii. The Committee reported + their Constitution February 15th, and April 15th was set for + its discussion, Robespierre then demanded separate + discussion of the Declaration of Rights, to which he + objected that it made no mention of the Supreme Being, and + that its extreme principles of freedom would shield illicit + traffic. Paine and Jefferson were troubled that the United + States Constitution contained no Declaration of Rights, it + being a fundamental principle in Paine's theory of + government that such a Declaration was the main safeguard of + the individual against the despotism of numbers. See + supra, vol. ii.t pp. 138, 139.--_Editor._. + +3. The preservation of liberty depends on submission to the Law, which +is the expression of the general will. Nothing unforbidden by law can be +hindered, and none may be forced to do what the law does not command. + +4. Every man is free to make known his thoughts and opinions. + +5. Freedom of the press, and every other means of publishing one's +opinion, cannot be interdicted, suspended, or limited. + +6. Every citizen shall be free in the exercise of his religion +(_culte_). + +7. Equality consists in the enjoyment by every one of the same rights. + +8. The law should be equal for all, whether it rewards or punishes, +protects or represses. + +9. All citizens are admissible to all public positions, employments, and +functions. Free nations recognize no grounds of preference save talents +and virtues. + +10. Security consists in the protection accorded by society to every +citizen for the preservation of his person, property, and rights. + +11. None should be sued, accused, arrested, or detained, save in cases +determined by the law, and in accordance with forms prescribed by it. +Every other act against a citizen is arbitrary and null. + +12. Those who solicit, further, sign, execute, or cause to be executed, +such arbitrary acts are culpable, and should be punished. + +13. Citizens against whom the execution of such acts is attempted +have the right to repel force by force; but every citizen summoned or +arrested by authority of the Law, and in the forms by it prescribed, +should instantly obey: he renders himself guilty by resistance. + +14. Every man being presumed innocent until legally pronounced guilty, +should his arrest be deemed indispensable, all rigor not necessary to +secure his person should be severely represssed by law. + +15. None should be punished save in virtue of a law formally enacted, +promulgated anterior to the offence, and legally applied. + +16. Any law that should punish offences committed before its existence +would be an arbitrary act. Retroactive effect given to the law is a +crime. + +17. The law should award only penalties strictly and evidently necessary +to the general safety. Penalties should be proportioned to offences, and +useful to society. + +18. The right of property consists in every man's being master in the +disposal, at his will, of his goods, capital, income, and industry. + +19. No kind of labor, commerce, or culture, can be prohibited to any +one: he may make, sell, and transport every species of production. + +20. Every man may engage his services and his time; but he cannot sell +himself; his person is not an alienable property. + +21. No one can be deprived of the least portion of his property without +his consent, unless evidently required by public necessity, legally +determined, and under the condition of a just indemnity in advance. + +22. No tax shall be imposed except for the general welfare, and to meet +public needs. All citizens have the right to unite personally, or by +their representatives, in the fixing of imposts. + +23. Instruction is the need of all, and society owes it to all its +members equally. + +24. Public succours are a sacred debt of society; it is for the law to +determine their extent and application. + +25. The social guarantee of the rights of man rests on the national +sovereignty. + +26. This sovereignty is one, indivisible, imprescriptible, and +inalienable. + +27. It resides essentially in the whole people, and every citizen has an +equal right to unite in its exercise. + +28. No partial assemblage of citizens, and no individual, may attribute +to themselves sovereignty, or exercise any authority, or discharge any +public function, without formal delegation thereto by the law. + +29. The social guarantee cannot exist if the limits of public +administration are not clearly determined by law, and if the +responsibility of all public functionaries is not assured. + +30. All citizens are bound to unite in this guarantee, and in enforcing +the law when summoned in its name. + +31. Men united in society should have legal means of resisting +oppression. + +32. There is oppression when any law violates the natural rights, civil +and political, which it should guarantee. + +There is oppression when the law is violated by public officials in its +application to individual cases. + +There is oppression when arbitrary actions violate the rights of citizen +against the express purpose (_expression_) of the law. + +In a free government the mode of resisting these different acts of +oppression should be regulated by the Constitution. + +33. A people possesses always the right to reform and alter its +Constitution. A generation has no right to subject a future generation +to its laws; and all heredity in offices is absurd and tyrannical. + + + + +XVII. PRIVATE LETTERS TO JEFFERSON. + + +Paris, 20 April, 1793. + +My dear Friend,--The gentleman (Dr. Romer) to whom I entrust this +letter is an intimate acquaintance of Lavater; but I have not had the +opportunity of seeing him, as he had set off for Havre prior to my +writing this letter, which I forward to him under cover from one of his +friends, who is also an acquaintance of mine. + +We are now in an extraordinary crisis, and it is not altogether without +some considerable faults here. Dumouriez, partly from having no fixed +principles of his own, and partly from the continual persecution of the +Jacobins, who act without either prudence or morality, has gone off +to the Enemy, and taken a considerable part of the Army with him. The +expedition to Holland has totally failed, and all Brabant is again in +the hands of the Austrians. + +You may suppose the consternation which such a sudden reverse of fortune +has occasioned, but it has been without commotion. Dumouriez threatened +to be in Paris in three weeks. It is now three weeks ago; he is still on +the frontier near to Mons with the Enemy, who do not make any progress. +Dumouriez has proposed to re-establish the former Constitution in +which plan the Austrians act with him. But if France and the National +Convention act prudently this project will not succeed. In the first +place there is a popular disposition against it, and there is force +sufficient to prevent it. In the next place, a great deal is to be taken +into the calculation with respect to the Enemy. There are now so many +persons accidentally jumbled together as to render it exceedingly +difficult to them to agree upon any common object. + +The first object, that of restoring the old Monarchy, is evidently given +up by the proposal to re-establish the late Constitution. The object of +England and Prussia was to preserve Holland, and the object of Austria +was to recover Brabant; while those separate objects lasted, each party +having one, the Confederation could hold together, each helping the +other; but after this I see not how a common object is to be formed. +To all this is to be added the probable disputes about opportunity, +the expence, and the projects of reimbursements. The Enemy has once +adventured into France, and they had the permission or the good fortune +to get back again. On every military calculation it is a hazardous +adventure, and armies are not much disposed to try a second time the +ground upon which they have been defeated. + +Had this revolution been conducted consistently with its principles, +there was once a good prospect of extending liberty through the greatest +part of Europe; but I now relinquish that hope. Should the Enemy by +venturing into France put themselves again in a condition of being +captured, the hope will revive; but this is a risk I do not wish to see +tried, lest it should fail. + +As the prospect of a general freedom is now much shortened, I begin +to contemplate returning home. I shall await the event of the proposed +Constitution, and then take my final leave of Europe. I have not written +to the President, as I have nothing to communicate more than in this +letter. Please to present him my affection and compliments, and remember +me among the circle of my friends. + +Your sincere and affectionate friend, + +Thomas Paine. + +P. S. I just now received a letter from General Lewis Morris, who tells +me that the house and Barn on my farm at New Rochelle are burnt down. I +assure you I shall not bring money enough to build another. + + + +Paris, 20 Oct., 1793. + +I wrote you by Captain Dominick who was to sail from Havre about the +20th of this month. This will probably be brought you by Mr. Barlow or +Col. Oswald. Since my letter by Dominick I am every day more convinced +and impressed with the propriety of Congress sending Commissioners to +Europe to confer with the Ministers of the Jesuitical Powers on the +means of terminating the War. The enclosed printed paper will shew there +are a variety of subjects to be taken into consideration which did not +appear at first, all of which have some tendency to put an end to the +War. I see not how this War is to terminate if some intermediate power +does not step forward. There is now no prospect that France can carry +revolutions into Europe on the one hand, or that the combined powers can +conquer France on the other hand. It is a sort of defensive War on both +sides. This being the case, how is the War to close? Neither side +will ask for peace though each may wish it. I believe that England +and Holland are tired of the War. Their Commerce and Manufactures have +suffered most exceedingly,--besides this, it is for them a War without +an object. Russia keeps herself at a distance. + +I cannot help repeating my wish that Congress would send Commissioners, +and I wish also that yourself would venture once more across the ocean, +as one of them. If the Commissioners rendezvous at Holland they would +know what steps to take. They could call Mr. Pinckney [Gen. Thomas +Pinckney, American Minister in England] to their councils, and it would +be of use, on many accounts, that one of them should come over from +Holland to France. Perhaps a long truce, were it proposed by the neutral +powers, would have all the effects of a Peace, without the difficulties +attending the adjustment of all the forms of Peace. + +Yours affectionately, + +Thomas Paine. + + + + +XVIII. LETTER TO DANTON.(1) + +Paris, May 6, 2nd year of the Republic [1793.] + +Citoyen Danton: As you read English, I write this letter to you without +passing it through the hands of a translator. I am exceedingly disturbed +at the distractions, jealousies, discontents and uneasiness that reign +among us, and which, if they continue, will bring ruin and disgrace on +the Republic. When I left America in the year 1787, it was my intention +to return the year following, but the French Revolution, and the +prospect it afforded of extending the principles of liberty and +fraternity through the greater part of Europe, have induced me to +prolong my stay upwards of six years. I now despair of seeing the great +object of European liberty accomplished, and my despair arises not from +the combined foreign powers, not from the intrigues of aristocracy and +priestcraft, but from the tumultuous misconduct with which the internal +affairs of the present revolution are conducted. + +All that now can be hoped for is limited to France only, and I agree +with your motion of not interfering in the government of any foreign +country, nor permitting any foreign country to interfere in the +government of France. This decree was necessary as a preliminary toward +terminating the war. But while these internal contentions continue, +while the hope remains to the enemy of seeing the Republic fall to +pieces, while not only the representatives of the departments but +representation itself is publicly insulted, as it has lately been and +now is by the people of Paris, or at least by the tribunes, the enemy +will be encouraged to hang about the frontiers and await the issue of +circumstances. + + 1 This admirable letter was brought to light by the late M. + Taine, and first published in full by Taine's translator, + John Durand ("New Materials for the History of the American + Revolution," 1889). The letter to Marat mentioned by Paine + has not been discovered. Danton followed Paine to prison, + and on meeting him there said: "That which you did for the + happiness and liberty of your country I tried to do for + mine. I have been less fortunate, but not less innocent. + They will send me to the scaffold; very well, my friend, I + will go gaily." M. Taine in La Revolution (vol. ii., pp. + 382, 413, 414) refers to this letter of Paine, and says: + "Compared with the speeches and writings of the time, it + produces the strangest effect by its practical good sense." + --_Editor._, + +I observe that the confederated powers have not yet recognized Monsieur, +or D'Artois, as regent, nor made any proclamation in favour of any +of the Bourbons; but this negative conduct admits of two different +conclusions. The one is that of abandoning the Bourbons and the war +together; the other is that of changing the object of the war and +substituting a partition scheme in the place of their first object, as +they have done by Poland. If this should be their object, the internal +contentions that now rage will favour that object far more than it +favoured their former object. The danger every day increases of a +rupture between Paris and the departments. The departments did not send +their deputies to Paris to be insulted, and every insult shown to them +is an insult to the departments that elected and sent them. I see but +one effectual plan to prevent this rupture taking place, and that is to +fix the residence of the Convention, and of the future assemblies, at a +distance from Paris. + +I saw, during the American Revolution, the exceeding inconvenience that +arose by having the government of Congress within the limits of any +Municipal Jurisdiction. Congress first resided in Philadelphia, and +after a residence of four years it found it necessary to leave it. It +then adjourned to the State of Jersey. It afterwards removed to +New York; it again removed from New York to Philadelphia, and after +experiencing in every one of these places the great inconvenience of +a government, it formed the project of building a Town, not within +the limits of any municipal jurisdiction, for the future residence of +Congress. In any one of the places where Congress resided, the municipal +authority privately or openly opposed itself to the authority of +Congress, and the people of each of these places expected more attention +from Congress than their equal share with the other States amounted to. +The same thing now takes place in France, but in a far greater excess. + +I see also another embarrassing circumstance arising in Paris of which +we have had full experience in America. I mean that of fixing the price +of provisions. But if this measure is to be attempted it ought to +be done by the Municipality. The Convention has nothing to do with +regulations of this kind; neither can they be carried into practice. The +people of Paris may say they will not give more than a certain price +for provisions, but as they cannot compel the country people to bring +provisions to market the consequence will be directly contrary to their +expectations, and they will find dearness and famine instead of plenty +and cheapness. They may force the price down upon the stock in hand, but +after that the market will be empty. + +I will give you an example. In Philadelphia we undertook, among other +regulations of this kind, to regulate the price of Salt; the consequence +was that no Salt was brought to market, and the price rose to thirty-six +shillings sterling per Bushel. The price before the war was only one +shilling and sixpence per Bushel; and we regulated the price of flour +(farina) till there was none in the market, and the people were glad to +procure it at any price. + +There is also a circumstance to be taken into the account which is not +much attended to. The assignats are not of the same value they were a +year ago, and as the quantity increases the value of them will diminish. +This gives the appearance of things being dear when they are not so in +fact, for in the same proportion that any kind of money falls in +value articles rise in price. If it were not for this the quantity of +assignats would be too great to be circulated. Paper money in America +fell so much in value from this excessive quantity of it, that in the +year 1781 I gave three hundred paper dollars for one pair of worsted +stockings. What I write you upon this subject is experience, and not +merely opinion. I have no personal interest in any of these matters, nor +in any party disputes. I attend only to general principles. + +As soon as a constitution shall be established I shall return to +America; and be the future prosperity of France ever so great, I shall +enjoy no other part of it than the happiness of knowing it. In the mean +time I am distressed to see matters so badly conducted, and so little +attention paid to moral principles. It is these things that injure the +character of the Revolution and discourage the progress of liberty all +over the world. When I began this letter I did not intend making it so +lengthy, but since I have gone thus far I will fill up the remainder of +the sheet with such matters as occur to me. + +There ought to be some regulation with respect to the spirit of +denunciation that now prevails. If every individual is to indulge his +private malignancy or his private ambition, to denounce at random and +without any kind of proof, all confidence will be undermined and all +authority be destroyed. Calumny is a species of Treachery that ought to +be punished as well as any other kind of Treachery. It is a private vice +productive of public evils; because it is possible to irritate men into +disaffection by continual calumny who never intended to be disaffected. +It is therefore, equally as necessary to guard against the evils +of unfounded or malignant suspicion as against the evils of blind +confidence. It is equally as necessary to protect the characters of +public officers from calumny as it is to punish them for treachery or +misconduct. For my own part I shall hold it a matter of doubt, until +better evidence arises than is known at present, whether Dumouriez has +been a traitor from policy or resentment. There was certainly a time +when he acted well, but it is not every man whose mind is strong enough +to bear up against ingratitude, and I think he experienced a great deal +of this before he revolted. Calumny becomes harmless and defeats itself, +when it attempts to act upon too large a scale. Thus the denunciation +of the Sections [of Paris] against the twenty-two deputies [Girondists] +falls to the ground. The departments that elected them are better judges +of their moral and political characters than those who have denounced +them. This denunciation will injure Paris in the opinion of the +departments because it has the appearance of dictating to them what sort +of deputies they shall elect. Most of the acquaintances that I have in +the Convention are among those who are in that list, and I know there +are not better men nor better patriots than what they are. + +I have written a letter to Marat of the same date as this but not on the +same subject. He may show it to you if he chuse. + +Votre Ami, + +Thomas Paine. + +Citoyen Danton. + + + + +XIX. A CITIZEN OF AMERICA TO THE CITIZENS OF EUROPE (1) + + +18th Year of Independence. + + 1 State Archives, Paris: Etats Unis, vol. 38, fol. 90. This + pamphlet is in English, without indication of authorship or + of the place of publication. It is accompanied by a French + translation (MS.) inscribed "Par Thomas Payne." In the + printed pamphlet the date (18th Year, etc) is preceded by + the French words (printed): "Philadelphie 28 Juillet 1793." + It was no doubt the pamphlet sent by Paine to Monroe, with + various documents relating to his imprisonment, describing + it as "a Letter which I had printed here as an American + letter, some copies of which I sent to Mr. Jefferson." A + considerable portion of the pamphlet embodies, with + occasional changes of phraseology, a manuscript (Etats Unis, + vol. 37, Do. 39) endorsed: "January 1793. Thorn. Payne. + Copie. Observations on the situation of the Powers joined + against France." This opens with the following paragraph: + "It is always useful to know the position and the designs of + one's enemies. It is much easier to do so by combining and + comparing the events, and by examining the consequences + which result from them, than by forming one's judgment by + letters found or intercepted. These letters could be + fabricated with the intention of deceiving, but events or + circumstances have a character which is proper to them. If + in the course of our political operations we mistake the + designs of our enemy, it leads us to do precisely that which + he desires we should do, and it happens by the fact, but + against our intentions, that we work for him." That the date + written on this MS. is erroneous appears by an allusion to + the defeat of the Duke of York at Dunkirk in the closing + paragraph: "There are three distinct parties in England at + this moment: the government party, the revolutionary party, + and an intermedial party,--which is only opposed to the war + on account of the expense it entails, and the harm it does + commerce and manufactures. I am speaking of the People, and + not of the Parliament. The latter is divided into two + parties: the Ministerial, and the Anti-ministerial. The + revolutionary party, the intermedial party, and the anti- + ministerial party, will all rejoice, publicly or privately, + at the defeat of the Duke of York at Dunkirk." The two + paragraphs quoted represent the only actual additions to the + pamphlet. I have a clipping from the London Morning + Chronicle of Friday, April 25, 1794, containing the part of + the pamphlet headed "Of the present state of Europe and the + Confederacy," signed "Thomas Paine, Author of Common Sense, + etc." On February 1,1793, the Convention having declared + war, appointed Paine, Barere, Condorcet and Faber, a + Committee to draft an address to the English people. It was + never done, but these fragments may represent notes written + by Paine with reference to that task. The pamphlet + probably appeared late in September, 1793.--_Editor._, + + +Understanding that a proposal is intended to be made at the ensuing +meeting of the Congress of the United States of America "to send +commissioners to Europe to confer with the Ministers of all the Neutral +Powers for the purpose of negotiating preliminaries of peace," I address +this letter to you on that subject, and on the several matters connected +therewith. + +In order to discuss this subject through all its circumstances, it +will be necessary to take a review of the state of Europe, prior to the +French revolution. It will from thence appear, that the powers leagued +against France are fighting to attain an object, which, were it possible +to be attained, would be injurious to themselves. + +This is not an uncommon error in the history of wars and governments, of +which the conduct of the English government in the war against America +is a striking instance. She commenced that war for the avowed purpose of +subjugating America; and after wasting upwards of one hundred millions +sterling, and then abandoning the object, she discovered, in the course +of three or four years, that the prosperity of England was increased, +instead of being diminished, by the independence of America. In short, +every circumstance is pregnant with some natural effect, upon which +intentions and opinions have no influence; and the political error +lies in misjudging what the effect will be. England misjudged it in +the American war, and the reasons I shall now offer will shew, that she +misjudges it in the present war. In discussing this subject, I leave out +of the question everything respecting forms and systems of government; +for as all the governments of Europe differ from each other, there is no +reason that the government of France should not differ from the rest. + +The clamours continually raised in all the countries of Europe were, +that the family of the Bourbons was become too powerful; that the +intrigues of the court of France endangered the peace of Europe. Austria +saw with a jealous eye the connection of France with Prussia; and +Prussia, in her turn became jealous of the connection of France with +Austria; England had wasted millions unsuccessfully in attempting to +prevent the family compact with Spain; Russia disliked the alliance +between France and Turkey; and Turkey became apprehensive of the +inclination of France towards an alliance with Russia. Sometimes the +quadruple alliance alarmed some of the powers, and at other times a +contrary system alarmed others, and in all those cases the charge was +always made against the intrigues of the Bourbons. + +Admitting those matters to be true, the only thing that could have +quieted the apprehensions of all those powers with respect to the +interference of France, would have been her entire NEUTRALITY in Europe; +but this was impossible to be obtained, or if obtained was impossible +to be secured, because the genius of her government was repugnant to all +such restrictions. + +It now happens that by entirely changing the genius of her government, +which France has done for herself, this neutrality, which neither wars +could accomplish nor treaties secure, arises naturally of itself, and +becomes the ground upon which the war should terminate. It is the +thing that approaches the nearest of all others to what ought to be the +political views of all the European powers; and there is nothing that +can so effectually secure this neutrality, as that the genius of the +French government should be different from the rest of Europe. + +But if their object is to restore the Bourbons and monarchy together, +they will unavoidably restore with it all the evils of which they have +complained; and the first question of discord will be, whose ally is +that monarchy to be? + +Will England agree to the restoration of the family compact against +which she has been fighting and scheming ever since it existed? Will +Prussia agree to restore the alliance between France and Austria, or +will Austria agree to restore the former connection between France and +Prussia, formed on purpose to oppose herself; or will Spain or Russia, +or any of the maritime powers, agree that France and her navy should be +allied to England? In fine, will any of the powers agree to strengthen +the hands of the other against itself? Yet all these cases involve +themselves in the original question of the restoration of the Bourbons; +and on the other hand, all of them disappear by the neutrality of +France. + +If their object is not to restore the Bourbons, it must be the +impracticable project of a partition of the country. The Bourbons will +then be out of the question, or, more properly speaking, they will be +put in a worse condition; for as the preservation of the Bourbons made +a part of the first object, the extirpation of them makes a part of the +second. Their pretended friends will then become interested in their +destruction, because it is favourable to the purpose of partition that +none of the nominal claimants should be left in existence. + +But however the project of a partition may at first blind the eyes of +the confederacy, or however each of them may hope to outwit the other +in the progress or in the end, the embarrassments that will arise are +insurmountable. But even were the object attainable, it would not be of +such general advantage to the parties as the neutrality of France, which +costs them nothing, and to obtain which they would formerly have gone to +war. + + + +OF THE PRESENT STATE OF EUROPE, AND THE CONFEDERACY. + +In the first place the confederacy is not of that kind that forms +itself originally by concert and consent. It has been forced together by +chance--a heterogeneous mass, held only by the accident of the moment; +and the instant that accident ceases to operate, the parties will retire +to their former rivalships. + +I will now, independently of the impracticability of a partition +project, trace out some of the embarrassments which will arise among the +confederated parties; for it is contrary to the interest of a majority +of them that such a project should succeed. + +To understand this part of the subject it is necessary, in the +first place, to cast an eye over the map of Europe, and observe the +geographical situation of the several parts of the confederacy; for +however strongly the passionate politics of the moment may operate, the +politics that arise from geographical situation are the most certain, +and will in all cases finally prevail. + +The world has been long amused with what is called the "_balance of +power_." But it is not upon armies only that this balance depends. +Armies have but a small circle of action. Their progress is slow and +limited. But when we take maritime power into the calculation, the scale +extends universally. It comprehends all the interests connected with +commerce. + +The two great maritime powers are England and France. Destroy either of +those, and the balance of naval power is destroyed. The whole world of +commerce that passes on the Ocean would then lie at the mercy of the +other, and the ports of any nation in Europe might be blocked up. + +The geographical situation of those two maritime powers comes next under +consideration. Each of them occupies one entire side of the channel from +the straits of Dover and Calais to the opening into the Atlantic. The +commerce of all the northern nations, from Holland to Russia, must pass +the straits of Dover and Calais, and along the Channel, to arrive at the +Atlantic. + +This being the case, the systematical politics of all the nations, +northward of the straits of Dover and Calais, can be ascertained from +their geographical situation; for it is necessary to the safety of their +commerce that the two sides of the Channel, either in whole or in part, +should not be in the possession either of England or France. While one +nation possesses the whole of one side, and the other nation the other +side, the northern nations cannot help seeing that in any situation of +things their commerce will always find protection on one side or the +other. It may sometimes be that of England and sometimes that of France. + +Again, while the English navy continues in its present condition, it is +necessary that another navy should exist to controul the universal sway +the former would otherwise have over the commerce of all nations. France +is the only nation in Europe where this balance can be placed. The +navies of the North, were they sufficiently powerful, could not be +sufficiently operative. They are blocked up by the ice six months in the +year. Spain lies too remote; besides which, it is only for the sake of +her American mines that she keeps up her navy. + +Applying these cases to the project of a partition of France, it will +appear, that the project involves with it a DESTRUCTION OF THE BALANCE +OF MARITIME POWER; because it is only by keeping France entire and +indivisible that the balance can be kept up. This is a case that at +first sight lies remote and almost hidden. But it interests all the +maritime and commercial nations in Europe in as great a degree as any +case that has ever come before them.--In short, it is with war as it +is with law. In law, the first merits of the case become lost in the +multitude of arguments; and in war they become lost in the variety of +events. New objects arise that take the lead of all that went before, +and everything assumes a new aspect. This was the case in the last great +confederacy in what is called the succession war, and most probably will +be the case in the present. + +I have now thrown together such thoughts as occurred to me on the +several subjects connected with the confederacy against France, and +interwoven with the interest of the neutral powers. Should a conference +of the neutral powers take place, these observations will, at least, +serve to generate others. The whole matter will then undergo a more +extensive investigation than it is in my power to give; and the evils +attending upon either of the projects, that of restoring the Bourbons, +or of attempting a partition of France, will have the calm opportunity +of being fully discussed. + +On the part of England, it is very extraordinary that she should have +engaged in a former confederacy, and a long expensive war, to _prevent_ +the family compact, and now engage in another confederacy to _preserve_ +it. And on the part of the other powers, it is as inconsistent that they +should engage in a partition project, which, could it be executed, would +immediately destroy the balance of maritime power in Europe, and would +probably produce a second war, to remedy the political errors of the +first. + +A Citizen of the United States of America. + + + + +XX. APPEAL TO THE CONVENTION.(1) + + +Citizens Representatives: If I should not express myself with the energy +I used formerly to do, you will attribute it to the very dangerous +illness I have suffered in the prison of the Luxembourg. For several +days I was insensible of my own existence; and though I am much +recovered, it is with exceeding great difficulty that I find power to +write you this letter. + + 1 Written in Luxembourg prison, August 7, 1794. Robespierre + having fallen July 29th, those who had been imprisoned under + his authority were nearly all at once released, but Paine + remained. There were still three conspirators against him on + the Committee of Public Safety, and to that Committee this + appeal was unfortunately confided; consequently it never + reached the Convention. The circumstances are related at + length infra, in the introduction to the Memorial to Monroe + (XXI.). It will also be seen that Paine was mistaken in his + belief that his imprisonment was due to the enmity of + Robespierre, and this he vaguely suspected when his + imprisonment was prolonged three months after Robespierre's + death.--_Editor._. + +But before I proceed further, I request the Convention to observe: that +this is the first line that has come from me, either to the Convention +or to any of the Committees, since my imprisonment,--which is +approaching to eight months. --Ah, my friends, eight months' loss of +liberty seems almost a life-time to a man who has been, as I have been, +the unceasing defender of Liberty for twenty years. + +I have now to inform the Convention of the reason of my not having +written before. It is a year ago that I had strong reason to believe +that Robespierre was my inveterate enemy, as he was the enemy of every +man of virtue and humanity. The address that was sent to the Convention +some time about last August from Arras, the native town of Robespierre, +I have always been informed was the work of that hypocrite and the +partizans he had in the place. The intention of that address was to +prepare the way for destroying me, by making the people declare (though +without assigning any reason) that I had lost their confidence; the +Address, however, failed of success, as it was immediately opposed by a +counter-address from St. Omer, which declared the direct contrary. But +the strange power that Robespierre, by the most consummate hypocrisy and +the most hardened cruelties, had obtained, rendered any attempt on my +part to obtain justice not only useless but dangerous; for it is the +nature of Tyranny always to strike a deeper blow when any attempt has +been made to repel a former one. This being my situation, I submitted +with patience to the hardness of my fate and waited the event of +brighter days. I hope they are now arrived to the nation and to me. + +Citizens, when I left the United States in the year 1787 I promised to +all my friends that I would return to them the next year; but the hope +of seeing a revolution happily established in France, that might serve +as a model to the rest of Europe,(1) and the earnest and disinterested +desire of rendering every service in my power to promote it, induced me +to defer my return to that country, and to the society of my friends, +for more than seven years. This long sacrifice of private tranquillity, +especially after having gone through the fatigues and dangers of the +American Revolution which continued almost eight years, deserved a +better fate than the long imprisonment I have silently suffered. But it +is not the nation but a faction that has done me this injustice. Parties +and Factions, various and numerous as they have been, I have always +avoided. My heart was devoted to all France, and the object to which I +applied myself was the Constitution. The Plan which I proposed to the +Committee, of which I was a member, is now in the hands of Barere, and +it will speak for itself. + + 1 Revolutions have now acquired such sanguinary associations + that it is important to bear in mind that by "revolution" + Paine always means simply a change or reformation of + government, which might be and ought to be bloodless. See + "Rights of Man" Part II., vol. ii. of this work, pp. 513, + 523.--:_Editor_. + +It is perhaps proper that I inform you of the cause as-assigned in the +order for my imprisonment. It is that I am 'a Foreigner'; whereas, the +_Foreigner_ thus imprisoned was invited into France by a decree of the +late National Assembly, and that in the hour of her greatest danger, +when invaded by Austrians and Prussians. He was, moreover, a citizen of +the United States of America, an ally of France, and not a subject of +any country in Europe, and consequently not within the intentions of any +decree concerning Foreigners. But any excuse can be made to serve the +purpose of malignity when in power. + +I will not intrude on your time by offering any apology for the broken +and imperfect manner in which I have expressed myself. I request you to +accept it with the sincerity with which it comes from my heart; and I +conclude with wishing Fraternity and prosperity to France, and union and +happiness to her representatives. + +Citizens, I have now stated to you my situation, and I can have no doubt +but your justice will restore me to the Liberty of which I have been +deprived. + +Thomas Paine. + +Luxembourg, Thermidor 19, 2nd Year of the French Republic, one and +indivisible. + + + + +XXI. THE MEMORIAL TO MONROE. + +EDITOR'S historical introduction: + +The Memorial is here printed from the manuscript of Paine now among the +Morrison Papers, in the British Museum,--no doubt the identical document +penned in Luxembourg prison. The paper in the United States State +Department (vol. vii., Monroe Papers) is accompanied by a note by +Monroe: "Mr. Paine, Luxembourg, on my arrival in France, 1794. My answer +was after the receipt of his second letter. It is thought necessary to +print only those parts of his that relate directly to his confinement, +and to omit all between the parentheses in each." The paper thus +inscribed seems to have been a wrapper for all of Paine's letters. +An examination of the MS. at Washington does not show any such +"parentheses," indicating omissions, whereas that in the British Museum +has such marks, and has evidently been prepared for the press,--being +indeed accompanied by the long title of the French pamphlet. There are +other indications that the British Museum MS. is the original Memorial +from which was printed in Paris the pamphlet entitled: + +"Memoire de Thomas Payne, autographe et signe de sa main: addresse a +M. Monroe, ministre des Etats-unis en france, pour reclamer sa mise en +liberte comme citoyen Americain, 10 Sept 1794. Robespierre avait fait +arreter Th. Payne, en 1793--il fut conduit au Luxembourg ou le glaive +fut longtemps suspendu sur sa tete. Apres onze mois de captivite, il +recouvra la liberte, sur la reclamation du ministre Americain--c'etait +apres la chute de Robespierre--il reprit sa place a la convention, le 8 +decembre 1794. (18 frimaire an iii.) Ce Memoire contient des renseigne +mens curieux sur la conduite politique de Th. Payne en france, pendant +la Revolution, et a l'epoque du proces de Louis XVI. Ce n'est point, dit +il, comme Quaker, qu'il ne vota pas La Mort du Roi mais par un sentiment +d'humanite, qui ne tenait point a ses principes religieux. Villenave." + +No date is given, but the pamphlet probably appeared early in 1795. +Matthieu Gillaume Therese Villenave (b. 1762, d. 1846) was a journalist, +and it will be noticed that he, or the translator, modifies Paine's +answer to Marat about his Quakerism. There are some loose translations +in the cheap French pamphlet, but it is the only publication which +has given Paine's Memorial with any fulness. Nearly ten pages of +the manuscript were omitted from the Memorial when it appeared as +an Appendix to the pamphlet entitled "Letter to George Washington, +President of the United States of America, on Affairs public and +private." By Thomas Paine, Author of the Works entitled, Common Sense, +Rights of Man, Age of Reason, &c. Philadelphia: Printed by Benj. +Franklin Bache, No. 112 Market Street. 1796. [Entered according to +law.] This much-abridged copy of the Memorial has been followed in +all subsequent editions, so that the real document has not hitherto +appeared.(1) + +In appending the Memorial to his "Letter to Washington," Paine would +naturally omit passages rendered unimportant by his release, but his +friend Bache may have suppressed others that might have embarrassed +American partisans of France, such as the scene at the king's trial. + + 1 Bache's pamphlet reproduces the portrait engraved in + Villenave, where it is underlined: "Peint par Ped [Peale] a + Philadelphie, Dessine par F. Bonneville, Grave par Sandoz." + In Bache it is: "Bolt sc. 1793 "; and beneath this the + curious inscription: "Thomas Paine. Secretair d. Americ: + Congr: 1780. Mitgl: d. fr. Nat. Convents. 1793." The + portrait is a variant of that now in Independence Hall, and + one of two painted by C. W. Peale. The other (in which the + chin is supported by the hand) was for religious reasons + refused by the Boston Museum when it purchased the + collection of "American Heroes" from Rembrandt Peale. It was + bought by John McDonough, whose brother sold it to Mr. + Joseph Jefferson, the eminent actor, and perished when his + house was burned at Buzzard's Bay. Mr. Jefferson writes me + that he meant to give the portrait to the Paine Memorial + Society, Boston; "but the cruel fire roasted the splendid + _Infidel_, so I presume the saints are satisfied." + +This description, however, and a large proportion of the suppressed +pages, are historically among the most interesting parts of the +Memorial, and their restoration renders it necessary to transfer the +document from its place as an appendix to that of a preliminary to the +"Letter to Washington." + +Paine's Letter to Washington burdens his reputation today more, +probably, than any other production of his pen. The traditional judgment +was formed in the absence of many materials necessary for a just +verdict. The editor feels under the necessity of introducing at this +point an historical episode; he cannot regard it as fair to the memory +of either Paine or Washington that these two chapters should be printed +without a full statement of the circumstances, the most important of +which, but recently discovered, were unknown to either of those men. In +the editor's "Life of Thomas Paine" (ii., pp. 77-180) newly discovered +facts and documents bearing on the subject are given, which may +be referred to by those who desire to investigate critically such +statements as may here appear insufficiently supported. Considerations +of space require that the history in that work should be only summarized +here, especially as important new details must be added. + +Paine was imprisoned (December 28, 1793) through the hostility of +Gouverneur Morris, the American Minister in Paris. The fact that the +United States, after kindling revolution in France by its example, was +then represented in that country by a Minister of vehement royalist +opinions, and one who literally entered into the service of the King to +defeat the Republic, has been shown by that Minister's own biographers. +Some light is cast on the events that led to this strange situation by +a letter written to M. de Mont-morin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, by +a French Charge d'Affaires, Louis Otto, dated Philadelphia, 10 March, +1792. Otto, a nobleman who married into the Livingston family, was an +astute diplomatist, and enjoyed the intimacy of the Secretary of +State, Jefferson, and of his friends. At the close of a long interview +Jefferson tells him that "The secresy with which the Senate covers its +deliberations serves to veil personal interest, which reigns therein in +all its strength." Otto explains this as referring to the speculative +operations of Senators, and to the commercial connections some of them +have with England, making them unfriendly to French interests. + +"Among the latter the most remarkable is Mr. Robert Morris, of English +birth, formerly Superintendent of Finance, a man of greatest talent, +whose mercantile speculations are as unlimited as his ambition. He +directs the Senate as he once did the American finances in making it +keep step with his policy and his business.... About two years ago Mr. +Robert Morris sent to France Mr. Gouverneur Morris to negotiate a loan +in his name, and for different other personal matters.... During his +sojourn in France, Mr. Rob. Morris thought he could make him more useful +for his aims by inducing the President of the United States to entrust +him with a negotiation with England relative to the Commerce of the two +countries. M. Gouv. Morris acquitted himself in this as an adroit man, +and with his customary zeal, but despite his address (insinuation) +obtained only the vague hope of an advantageous commercial treaty on +condition of an _Alliance resembling that between France and the United +States_.... [Mr. Robert Morris] is himself English, and interested in +all the large speculations founded in this country for Great Britain.... +His great services as Superintendent of Finance during the Revolution +have assured him the esteem and consideration of General Washington, +who, however, is far from adopting his views about France. The warmth +with which Mr. Rob. Morris opposed in the Senate the exemption of French +_armateurs_ from tonnage, demanded by His Majesty, undoubtedly had +for its object to induce the king, by this bad behavior, to break the +treaty, in order to facilitate hereafter the negotiations begun with +England to form an alliance. As for Mr. Gouv. Morris he is entirely +devoted to his correspondent, with whom he has been constantly connected +in business and opinion. His great talents are recognized, and his +extreme quickness in conceiving new schemes and gaining others to them. +He is perhaps the most eloquent and ingenious man of his country, but +his countrymen themselves distrust his talents. They admire but fear +him." (1) + + 1 Archives of the State Department, Paris, Etats Unis., + vol. 35, fol. 301. + +The Commission given to Gouverneur Morris by Washington, to which +Otto refers, was in his own handwriting, dated October 13, 1789, and +authorized him "in the capacity of private agent, and in the credit of +this letter, to converse with His Britannic Majesty's ministers on these +points, viz. whether there be any, and what objection to performing +those articles of the treaty which remained to be performed on his part; +and whether they incline to a treaty of commerce on any and what terms. +This communication ought regularly to be made to you by the Secretary +of State; but, that office not being at present filled, my desire of +avoiding delays induces me to make it under my own hand."(1) + +The President could hardly have assumed the authority of secretly +appointing a virtual ambassador had there not been a tremendous object +in view: this, as he explains in an accompanying letter, was to +secure the evacuation by Great Britain of the frontier posts. This +all-absorbing purpose of Washington is the key to his administration. +Gouverneur Morris paved the way for Jay's treaty, and he was paid for +it with the French mission. The Senate would not have tolerated his +appointment to England, and only by a majority of four could the +President secure his confirmation as Minister to France (January 12, +1792). The President wrote Gouverneur Morris (January 28th) a friendly +lecture about the objections made to him, chiefly that he favored the +aristocracy and was unfriendly to the revolution, and expressed "the +fullest confidence" that, supposing the allegations founded, he would +"effect a change." But Gouverneur Morris remained the agent of Senator +Robert Morris, and still held Washington's mission to England, and he +knew only as "conspirators" the rulers who succeeded Louis XVI. Even +while utilizing them, he was an agent of Great Britain in its war +against the country to which he was officially commissioned. + + 1 Ford's "Writings of George Washington" vol. xi., p. 440. + +Lafayette wrote to Washington ("Paris, March 15,1792") the following +appeal: + +"Permit me, my dear General, to make an observation for yourself alone, +on the recent selection of an American ambassador. Personally I am a +friend of Gouverneur Morris, and have always been, in private, quite +content with him; but the aristocratic and really contra-revolutionary +principles which he has avowed render him little fit to represent the +only government resembling ours.... I cannot repress the desire that +American and French principles should be in the heart and on the lips of +the ambassador of the United States in France." (1) + +In addition to this; two successive Ministers from France, after the +fall of the Monarchy, conveyed to the American Government the most +earnest remonstrances against the continuance of Gouverneur Morris in +their country, one of them reciting the particular offences of which +he was guilty. The President's disregard of all these protests and +entreaties, unexampled perhaps in history, had the effect of giving +Gouverneur Morris enormous power over the country against which he +was intriguing. He was recognized as the Irremovable. He represented +Washington's fixed and unalterable determination, and this at a moment +when the main purpose of the revolutionary leaders was to preserve the +alliance with America. Robespierre at that time ( 1793) had special +charge of diplomatic affairs, and it is shown by the French historian, +Frederic Masson, that he was very anxious to recover for the republic +the initiative of the American alliance credited to the king; and +"although their Minister, Gouverneur Morris, was justly suspected, +and the American republic was at that time aiming only to utilize the +condition of its ally, the French republic cleared it at a cheap rate of +its debts contracted with the King."(2) Morris adroitly held this +doubt, whether the alliance of his government with Louis XVI. would +be continued to that King's executioners, over the head of the +revolutionists, as a suspended sword. Under that menace, and with +the authentication of being Washington's irremovable mouthpiece, this +Minister had only to speak and it was done. + + 1 "Memoire", etc., du General Lafayette," Bruxelles, 1837, + tome ii., pp. 484,485. + + 2 "Le Departement des Affaires Etrangeres pendant la + Revolution," p. 395. + +Meanwhile Gouverneur Morris was steadily working in France for the +aim which he held in common with Robert Morris, namely to transfer the +alliance from France to England. These two nations being at war, it was +impossible for France to fulfil all the terms of the alliance; it could +not permit English ships alone to seize American provisions on the seas, +and it was compelled to prevent American vessels from leaving French +ports with cargoes certain of capture by British cruisers. In this way +a large number of American Captains with their ships were detained in +France, to their distress, but to their Minister's satisfaction. He did +not fail to note and magnify all "infractions" of the treaty, with the +hope that they might be the means of annulling it in favor of England, +and he did nothing to mitigate sufferings which were counts in his +indictment of the Treaty. + +It was at this point that Paine came in the American Minister's way. He +had been on good terms with Gouverneur Morris, who in 1790 (May 29th) +wrote from London to the President: + +"On the 17th Mr. Paine called to tell me that he had conversed on the +same subject [impressment of American seamen] with Mr. Burke, who had +asked him if there was any minister, consul, or other agent of the +United States who could properly make application to the Government: to +which he had replied in the negative; but said that I was here, who had +been a member of Congress, and was therefore the fittest person to step +forward. In consequence of what passed thereupon between them he [Paine] +urged me to take the matter up, which I promised to do. On the 18th I +wrote to the Duke of Leeds requesting an interview." + + 1 Force's "American State Papers, For. Rel.," vol. i. + +At that time (1790) Paine was as yet a lion in London, thus able to +give Morris a lift. He told Morris, in 1792 that he considered his +appointment to France a mistake. This was only on the ground of his +anti-republican opinions; he never dreamed of the secret commissions +to England. He could not have supposed that the Minister who had so +promptly presented the case of impressed seamen in England would +not equally attend to the distressed Captains in France; but these, +neglected by their Minister, appealed to Paine. Paine went to see +Morris, with whom he had an angry interview, during which he asked +Morris "if he did not feel ashamed to take the money of the country +and do nothing for it." Paine thus incurred the personal enmity of +Gouverneur Morris. By his next step he endangered this Minister's +scheme for increasing the friction between France and America; for +Paine advised the Americans to appeal directly to the Convention, and +introduced them to that body, which at once heeded their application, +Morris being left out of the matter altogether. This was August 22d, and +Morris was very angry. It is probable that the Americans in Paris +felt from that time that Paine was in danger, for on September 13th a +memorial, evidently concocted by them, was sent to the French government +proposing that they should send Commissioners to the United States to +forestall the intrigues of England, and that Paine should go with them, +and set forth their case in the journals, as he "has great influence +with the people." This looks like a design to get Paine safely out of +the country, but it probably sealed his fate. Had Paine gone to America +and reported there Morris's treacheries to France and to his own +country, and his licentiousness, notorious in Paris, which his diary has +recently revealed to the world, the career of the Minister would have +swiftly terminated. Gouverneur Morris wrote to Robert Morris that +Paine was intriguing for his removal, and intimates that he (Paine) was +ambitious of taking his place in Paris. Paine's return to America must +be prevented. + +Had the American Minister not been well known as an enemy of the +republic it might have been easy to carry Paine from the Convention to +the guillotine; but under the conditions the case required all of the +ingenuity even of a diplomatist so adroit as Gouverneur Morris. But fate +had played into his hand. It so happened that Louis Otto, whose letter +from Philadelphia has been quoted, had become chief secretary to the +Minister of Foreign Affairs in Paris, M. Deforgues. This Minister and +his Secretary, apprehending the fate that presently overtook both, were +anxious to be appointed to America. No one knew better than Otto the +commanding influence of Gouverneur Morris, as Washington's "irremovable" +representative, both in France and America, and this desire of the two +frightened officials to get out of France was confided to him.(1) By +hope of his aid, and by this compromising confidence, Deforgues came +under the power of a giant who used it like a giant. Morris at +once hinted that Paine was fomenting the troubles given by Genet to +Washington in America, and thus set in motion the procedure by which +Paine was ultimately lodged in prison. + +There being no charge against Paine in France, and no ill-will felt +towards him by Robespierre, compliance with the supposed will of +Washington was in this case difficult. Six months before, a law had been +passed to imprison aliens of hostile nationality, which could not affect +Paine, he being a member of the Convention and an American. But a decree +was passed, evidently to reach Paine, "that no foreigner should be +admitted to represent the French people"; by this he was excluded from +the Convention, and the Committee of General Surety enabled to take the +final step of assuming that he was an Englishman, and thus under the +decree against aliens of hostile nations.(2) + + 1 Letter of Gouverneur Morris to Washington, Oct 19, 1793. + Sparks's "Life of Gouverneur Morris," vol. ii., p. 375. + + 2 Although, as I have said, there was no charge against + Paine in France, and none assigned in any document connected + with his arrest, some kind of insinuation had to be made in + the Convention to cover proceedings against a Deputy, and + Bourdon de l'Oise said, "I know that he has intrigued with a + former agent of the bureau of Foreign Affairs." It will be + seen by the third addendum to the Memorial to Monroe that + Paine supposed this to refer to Louis Otto, who had been his + interpreter in an interview requested by Barere, of the + Committee of Public Safety. But as Otto was then, early in + September, 1793, Secretary in the Foreign Office, and Barere + a fellow-terrorist of Bourdon, there could be no accusation + based on an interview which, had it been probed, would have + put Paine's enemies to confusion. It is doubtful, however, + if Paine was right in his conjecture. The reference of + Bourdon was probably to the collusion between Paine and + Genet suggested by Morris. + +Paine was thus lodged in prison simply to please Washington, to whom +it was left to decide whether he had been rightly represented by his +Minister in the case. When the large number of Americans in Paris +hastened in a body to the Convention to demand his release, the +President (Vadier) extolled Paine, but said his birth in England brought +him under the measures of safety, and referred them to the Committees. +There they were told that "their reclamation was only the act of +individuals, without any authority from the American Government." +Unfortunately the American petitioners, not understanding by this a +reference to the President, unsuspiciously repaired to Morris, as +also did Paine by letter. The Minister pretended compliance, thereby +preventing their direct appeal to the President. Knowing, however, that +America would never agree that nativity under the British flag made +Paine any more than other Americans a citizen of England, the American +Minister came from Sain-port, where he resided, to Paris, and secured +from the obedient Deforgues a certificate that he had reclaimed Paine +as an American citizen, but that he was held as a _French_ citizen. +This ingeniously prepared certificate which was sent to the Secretary +of State (Jefferson), and Morris's pretended "reclamation," _which was +never sent to America_, are translated in my "Life of Paine," and here +given in the original. + + +A Paris le 14 fevrier 1794, 26 pluviose. + +Le Minisire plenipotentiaire des Etats Unis de l'Amerique pres la +Republique francaise au Ministre des Affaires Etrangeres. + +Monsieur: + +Thomas Paine vient de s'adresser a moi pour que je le reclame comme +Citoyen des Etats Unis. Voici (je crois) les Faits que le regardent. Il +est ne en Angleterre. Devenu ensuite Citoyen des Etats Unis il s'y +est acquise une grande celebrite par des Ecrits revolutionnaires. En +consequence il fut adopte Citoyen francais et ensuite elu membre de la +Convention. Sa conduite depuis cette epoque n'est pas de mon ressort. +J'ignore la cause de sa Detention actuelle dans la prison du Luxembourg, +mais je vous prie Monsieur (si des raisons que ne me sont pas connues +s'opposent a sa liberation) de vouloir bien m'en instruire pour que je +puisse les communiquer au Gouvernement des Etats Unis. J'ai l'honneur +d'etre, Monsieur, + +Votre tres humble Serviteur + +Gouv. Morris. + +Paris, i Ventose l'An ad. de la Republique une et indivisible. + +Le Ministre des Affaires Etrangeres au Ministre Plenipotentiaire des +Etats Unis de V Amerique pres la Republique Francaise. + +Par votre lettre du 26 du mois dernier, vous reclamez la liberte de +Thomas Faine, comme Citoyen americain. Ne en Angleterre, cet ex-depute +est devenu successivement Citoyen Americain et Citoyen francais. En +acceptant ce dernier titre et en remplissant une place dans le Corps +Legislatif, il est soumis aux lob de la Republique et il a renonce de +fait a la protection que le droit des gens et les traites conclus avec +les Etats Unis auraient pu lui assurer. + +J'ignore les motifs de sa detention mais je dois presumer quils bien +fondes. Je vois neanmoins soumettre au Comite de Salut Public la demande +que vous m'avez adressee et je m'empresserai de vous faire connaitre sa +decision. + +Dir ORGUBS. (1) + + 1 Archives of the Foreign Office, Paris, "Etats Unis," vol. + xl. Translations:--Morris: "Sir,--Thomas Paine has just + applied to me to claim him as a citizen of the United + States. Here (I believe) are the facts relating to him. He + was born in England. Having afterwards become a citizen of + the United States, he acquired great celebrity there by his + revolutionary writings. In consequence he was adopted a + French citizen and then elected Member of the Convention. + His conduct since this epoch is out of my jurisdiction. I am + ignorant of the reason for his present detention in the + Luxembourg prison, but I beg you, sir (if reasons unknown to + me prevent his liberation), be so good as to inform me, that + I may communicate them to the government of the United + States." Deporgurs: "By your letter of the 36th of last + month you reclaim the liberty of Thomas Paine as an American + citizen. Born in England, this ex-deputy has become + successively an American and a French citizen. In accepting + this last title, and in occupying a place in the Corps + Legislatif he submitted himself to the laws of the Republic, + and has certainly renounced the protection which the law of + nations, and treaties concluded with the United States, + could have assured him. I am ignorant of the motives of his + detention, but I must presume they are well founded. I shall + nevertheless submit to the Committee of Public Safety the + demand you have addressed to me, and I shall lose no time in + letting you know its decision." + +It will be seen that Deforgues begins his letter with a falsehood: "You +reclaim the liberty of Paine as an American citizen." Morris's letter +had declared him a French citizen out of his (the American Minister's) +"jurisdiction." Morris states for Deforgues his case, and it is +obediently adopted, though quite discordant with the decree, which +imprisoned Paine as a foreigner. Deforgues also makes Paine a member +of a non-existent body, the "Corps Legislatif," which might suggest +in Philadelphia previous connection with the defunct Assembly. No such +inquiries as Deforgues promised, nor any, were ever made, and of course +none were intended. Morris had got from Deforgues the certificate he +needed to show in Philadelphia and to Americans in Paris. His pretended +"reclamation" was of course withheld: no copy of it ever reached America +till brought from French archives by the present writer. Morris does +not appear to have ventured even to keep a copy of it himself. The draft +(presumably in English), found among his papers by Sparks, alters the +fatal sentence which deprived Paine of his American citizenship and of +protection. "Res-sort"--jurisdiction--which has a definite technical +meaning in the mouth of a Minister, is changed to "cognizance"; the +sentence is made to read, "his conduct from that time has not come under +my cognizance." (Sparks's "Life of Gouverneur Morris," i., p. 401). +Even as it stands in his book, Sparks says: "The application, it must +be confessed, was neither pressing in its terms, nor cogent in its +arguments." + +The American Minister, armed with this French missive, dictated by +himself, enclosed it to the Secretary of State, whom he supposed to be +still Jefferson, with a letter stating that he had reclaimed Paine as an +American, that he (Paine) was held to answer for "crimes," and that any +further attempt to release him would probably be fatal to the prisoner. +By these falsehoods, secured from detection by the profound secrecy of +the Foreign Offices in both countries, Morris paralyzed all interference +from America, as Washington could not of course intervene in behalf of +an American charged with "crimes" committed in a foreign country, except +to demand his trial. But it was important also to paralyze further +action by Americans in Paris, and to them, too, was shown the French +certificate of a reclamation never made. A copy was also sent to Paine, +who returned to Morris an argument which he entreated him to embody in +a further appeal to the French Minister. This document was of course +buried away among the papers of Morris, who never again mentioned Paine +in any communication to the French government, but contented himself +with personal slanders of his victim in private letters to Washington's +friend, Robert Morris, and no doubt others. I quote Sparks's summary of +the argument unsuspectingly sent by Paine to Morris: + +"He first proves himself to have been an American citizen, a character +of which he affirms no subsequent act had deprived him. The title of +French citizen was a mere nominal and honorary one, which the +Convention chose to confer, when they asked him to help them in making a +Constitution. But let the nature or honor of the title be what it might, +the Convention had taken it away of their own accord. 'He was +excluded from the Convention on the motion for excluding _foreigners_. +Consequently he was no longer under the law of the Republic as a +_citizen_, but under the protection of the Treaty of Alliance, as fully +and effectually as any other citizen of America. It was therefore the +duty of the American Minister to demand his release.'" + +To this Sparks adds: + +"Such is the drift of Paine's argument, and it would seem indeed that +he could not be a foreigner and a citizen at the same time. It was hard +that his only privilege of citizenship should be that of imprisonment. +But this logic was a little too refined for the revolutionary tribunals +of the Jacobins in Paris, and Mr. Morris well knew it was not worth +while to preach it to them. He did not believe there was any serious +design at that time against the life of the prisoner, and he considered +his best chance of safety to be in preserving silence for the present. +Here the matter rested, and Paine was left undisturbed till the arrival +of Mr. Monroe, who procured his discharge from confinement." ("Life of +Gouverneur Morris," i., p. 417.)l + +Sparks takes the gracious view of the man whose Life he was writing, but +the facts now known turn his words to sarcasm. The Terror by which Paine +suffered was that of Morris, who warned him and his friends, both in +Paris and America, that if his case was stirred the knife would fall +on him. Paine declares (see xx.) that this danger kept him silent till +after the fall of Robespierre. None knew so well as Morris that +there were no charges against Paine for offences in France, and that +Robespierre was awaiting that action by Washington which he (Morris) had +rendered impossible. Having thus suspended the knife over Paine for six +months, Robespierre interpreted the President's silence, and that +of Congress, as confirmation of Morris's story, and resolved on the +execution of Paine "in the interests of America as well as of France"; +in other words to conciliate Washington to the endangered alliance with +France. + +Paine escaped the guillotine by the strange accident related in a +further chapter. The fall of Robespierre did not of course end his +imprisonment, for he was not Robespierre's but Washington's prisoner. +Morris remained Minister in France nearly a month after Robespierre's +death, but the word needed to open Paine's prison was not spoken. +After his recall, had Monroe been able at once to liberate Paine, an +investigation must have followed, and Morris would probably have taken +his prisoner's place in the Luxembourg. But Morris would not present his +letters of recall, and refused to present his successor, thus keeping +Monroe out of his office four weeks. In this he was aided by Bourdon +de l'Oise (afterwards banished as a royalist conspirator, but now a +commissioner to decide on prisoners); also by tools of Robespierre who +had managed to continue on the Committee of Public Safety by laying +their crimes on the dead scapegoat--Robespierre. Against Barere (who had +signed Paine's death-warrant), Billaud-Varennes, and Colloit d'Her-bois, +Paine, if liberated, would have been a terrible witness. The Committee +ruled by them had suppressed Paine's appeal to the Convention, as they +presently suppressed Monroe's first appeal. Paine, knowing that Monroe +had arrived, but never dreaming that the manoeuvres of Morris were +keeping him out of office, wrote him from prison the following letters, +hitherto unpublished. + + 1 There is no need to delay the reader here with any + argument about Paine's unquestionable citizenship, that + point having been settled by his release as an American, and + the sanction of Monroe's action by his government. There was + no genuineness in any challenge of Paine's citizenship, but + a mere desire to do him an injury. In this it had marvellous + success. Ten years after Paine had been reclaimed by Monroe, + with the sanction of Washington, as an American citizen, his + vote was refused at New Rochelle, New York, by the + supervisor, Elisha Ward, on the ground that Washington and + Morris had refused to Declaim him. Under his picture of the + dead Paine, Jarvis, the artist, wrote: "A man who devoted + his whole life to the attainment of two objects--rights of + man, and freedom of conscience--had his vote denied when + living, and was denied a grave when dead."--_Editor._ + + +August 17th, 1794. + +My Dear Sir: As I believe none of the public papers have announced your +name right I am unable to address you by it, but a _new_ minister from +America is joy to me and will be so to every American in France. + +Eight months I have been imprisoned, and I know not for what, except +that the order says that I am a Foreigner. The Illness I have suffered +in this place (and from which I am but just recovering) had nearly put +an end to my existence. My life is but of little value to me in +this situation tho' I have borne it with a firmness of patience and +fortitude. + +I enclose you a copy of a letter, (as well the translation as the +English)--which I sent to the Convention after the fall of the Monster +Robespierre--for I was determined not to write a line during the time of +his detestable influence. I sent also a copy to the Committee of public +safety--but I have not heard any thing respecting it. I have now +no expectation of delivery but by your means--_Morris has been my +inveterate enemy_ and I think he has permitted something of the national +Character of America to suffer by quietly letting a Citizen of that +Country remain almost eight months in prison without making every +official exertion to procure him justice,--for every act of violence +offered to a foreigner is offered also to the Nation to which he +belongs. + +The gentleman, Mr. Beresford, who will present you this has been very +friendly to me.(1) Wishing you happiness in your appointment, I am your +affectionate friend and humble servant. + + +August 18th, 1794. + +Dear Sir: In addition to my letter of yesterday (sent to Mr. Beresford +to be conveyed to you but which is delayed on account of his being at +St. Germain) I send the following memoranda. + +I was in London at the time I was elected a member of this Convention. +I was elected a Depute in four different departments without my knowing +any thing of the matter, or having the least idea of it. The intention +of electing the Convention before the time of the former Legislature +expired, was for the purpose of reforming the Constitution or rather for +forming a new one. As the former Legislature shewed a disposition that +I should assist in this business of the new Constitution, they prepared +the way by voting me a French Citoyen (they conferred the same title +on General Washington and certainly I had no more idea than he had of +vacating any part of my real Citizenship of America for a nominal one in +France, especially at a time when she did not know whether she would +be a Nation or not, and had it not even in her power to promise me +protection). I was elected (the second person in number of Votes, the +Abbe Sieves being first) a member for forming the Constitution, and +every American in Paris as well as my other acquaintance knew that it +was my intention to return to America as soon as the Constitution should +be established. The violence of Party soon began to shew itself in the +Convention, but it was impossible for me to see upon what principle they +differed--unless it was a contention for power. I acted however as I +did in America, I connected myself with no Party, but considered myself +altogether a National Man--but the case with Parties generally is that +when you are not with one you are supposed to be with the other. + + 1 A friendly lamp-lighter, alluded to in the Letter to + Washington, conveyed this letter to Mr. Beresford.-- + _Editor._ + +I was taken out of bed between three and four in the morning on the +28 of December last, and brought to the Luxembourg--without any other +accusation inserted in the order than that I was a foreigner; a motion +having been made two days before in the Convention to expel Foreigners +therefrom. I certainly then remained, even upon their own tactics, what +I was before, a Citizen of America. + +About three weeks after my imprisonment the Americans that were in Paris +went to the bar of the Convention to reclaim me, but contrary to my +advice, they made their address into a Petition, and it miscarried. +I then applied to G. Morris, to reclaim me as an official part of his +duty, which he found it necessary to do, and here the matter stopt.(1) +I have not heard a single line or word from any American since, which +is now seven months. I rested altogether on the hope that a new Minister +would arrive from America. I have escaped with life from more dangers +than one. Had it not been for the fall of Roberspierre and your timely +arrival I know not what fate might have yet attended me. There seemed to +be a determination to destroy all the Prisoners without regard to merit, +character, or any thing else. During the time I laid at the height of my +illness they took, in one night only, 169 persons out of this prison +and executed all but eight. The distress that I have suffered at being +obliged to exist in the midst of such horrors, exclusive of my own +precarious situation, suspended as it were by the single thread of +accident, is greater than it is possible you can conceive--but thank God +times are at last changed, and I hope that your Authority will release +me from this unjust imprisonment. + + 1 The falsehood told Paine, accompanied by an intimation of + danger in pursuing the pretended reclamation, was of course + meant to stop any farther action by Paine or his friends.-- + _Editor._. + + +August 25, 1794. + +My Dear Sir: Having nothing to do but to sit and think, I will write +to pass away time, and to say that I am still here. I have received two +notes from Mr. Beresford which are encouraging (as the generality of +notes and letters are that arrive to persons here) but they contain +nothing explicit or decisive with respect to my liberation, and _I +shall be very glad to receive a line from yourself to inform me in what +condition the matter stands_. If I only glide out of prison by a sort +of accident America gains no credit by my liberation, neither can my +attachment to her be increased by such a circumstance. She has had the +services of my best days, she has my allegiance, she receives my portion +of Taxes for my house in Borden Town and my farm at New Rochelle, and +she owes me protection both at home and thro' her Ministers abroad, yet +I remain in prison, in the face of her Minister, at the arbitrary will +of a committee. + +Excluded as I am from the knowledge of everything and left to a random +of ideas, I know not what to think or how to act. Before there was +any Minister here (for I consider Morris as none) and while the +Robespierrian faction lasted, I had nothing to do but to keep my mind +tranquil and expect the fate that was every day inflicted upon my +comrades, not individually but by scores. Many a man whom I have passed +an hour with in conversation I have seen marching to his destruction the +next hour, or heard of it the next morning; for what rendered the scene +more horrible was that they were generally taken away at midnight, so +that every man went to bed with the apprehension of never seeing his +friends or the world again. + +I wish to impress upon you that all the changes that have taken place in +Paris have been sudden. There is now a moment of calm, but if thro' any +over complaisance to the persons you converse with on the subject of my +liberation, you omit procuring it for me _now_, you may have to lament +the fate of your friend when its too late. The loss of a Battle to the +Northward or other possible accident may happen to bring this about. I +am not out of danger till I am out of Prison. + +Yours affectionately. + +P. S.--I am now entirely without money. The Convention owes me 1800 +livres salary which I know not how to get while I am here, nor do I know +how to draw for money on the rent of my farm in America. It is under +the care of my good friend General Lewis Morris. I have received no rent +since I have been in Europe. + +[Addressed] Minister Plenipotentiary from America, Maison des Etrangers, +Rue de la Loi, Rue Richelieu. + + +Such was the sufficiently cruel situation when there reached Paine in +prison, September 4th, the letter of Peter Whiteside which caused him +to write his Memorial. Whiteside was a Philadelphian whose bankruptcy in +London had swallowed up some of Paine's means. His letter, reporting to +Paine that he was not regarded by the American Government or people as +an American citizen, and that no American Minister could interfere in +his behalf, was evidently inspired by Morris who was still in Paris, the +authorities being unwilling to give him a passport to Switzerland, +as they knew he was going in that direction to join the conspirators +against France. This Whiteside letter put Paine, and through him Monroe, +on a false scent by suggesting that the difficulty of his case lay in a +_bona fide_ question of citizenship, whereas there never had been really +any such question. The knot by which Morris had bound Paine was thus +concealed, and Monroe was appealing to polite wolves in the interest of +their victim. There were thus more delays, inexplicable alike to Monroe +and to Paine, eliciting from the latter some heartbroken letters, not +hitherto printed, which I add at the end of the Memorial. To add to +the difficulties and dangers, Paris was beginning to be agitated by +well-founded rumors of Jay's injurious negotiations in England, and a +coldness towards Monroe was setting in. Had Paine's release been delayed +much longer an American Minister's friendship might even have proved +fatal. Of all this nothing could be known to Paine, who suffered agonies +he had not known during the Reign of Terror. The other prisoners of +Robespierre's time had departed; he alone paced the solitary corridors +of the Luxembourg, chilled by the autumn winds, his cell tireless, unlit +by any candle, insufficiently nourished, an abscess forming in his side; +all this still less cruel than the feeling that he was abandoned, not +only by Washington but by all America. + +This is the man of whom Washington wrote to Madison nine years before: +"Must the merits and services of 'Common Sense' continue to glide down +the stream of time unrewarded by this country?" This, then, is his +reward. To his old comrade in the battle-fields of Liberty, George +Washington, Paine owed his ten months of imprisonment, at the end of +which Monroe found him a wreck, and took him (November 4) to his own +house, where he and his wife nursed him back into life. But it was not +for some months supposed that Paine could recover; it was only after +several relapses; and it was under the shadow of death that he wrote the +letter to Washington so much and so ignorantly condemned. Those who have +followed the foregoing narrative will know that Paine's grievances were +genuine, that his infamous treatment stains American history; but they +will also know that they lay chiefly at the door of a treacherous and +unscrupulous American Minister. + +Yet it is difficult to find an excuse for the retention of that Minister +in France by Washington. On Monroe's return to America in 1797, he +wrote a pamphlet concerning the mission from which he had been curtly +recalled, in which he said: + +"I was persuaded from Mr. Morris's known political character and +principles, that his appointment, and especially at a period when the +French nation was in a course of revolution from an arbitrary to a free +government, would tend to discountenance the republican cause there +and at home, and otherwise weaken, and greatly to our prejudice, the +connexion subsisting between the two countries." + +In a copy of this pamphlet found at Mount Vernon, Washington wrote on +the margin of this sentence: + +"Mr. Morris was known to be a man of first rate abilities; and his +integrity and honor had never been impeached. Besides, Mr. Morris was +sent whilst the kingly government was in existence, ye end of 91 or +beginning of 92." (1) + +But this does not explain why Gouverneur Morris was persistently kept in +France after monarchy was abolished (September 21, 1792), or even after +Lafayette's request for his removal, already quoted. To that letter +of Lafayette no reply has been discovered. After the monarchy was +abolished, Ternant and Genet successively carried to America protests +from their Foreign Office against the continuance of a Minister in +France, who was known in Paris, and is now known to all acquainted with +his published papers, to have all along made his office the headquarters +of British intrigue against France, American interests being quite +subordinated. Washington did not know this, but he might have known it, +and his disregard of French complaints can hardly be ascribed to any +other cause than his delusion that Morris was deeply occupied with +the treaty negotiations confided to him. It must be remembered that +Washington believed such a treaty with England to be the alternative of +war.(2) On that apprehension the British party in America, and British +agents, played to the utmost, and under such influences Washington +sacrificed many old friendships,--with Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, +Edmund Randolph, Paine,--and also the confidence of his own State, +Virginia. + + 1 Washington's marginal notes on Monroe's "View, etc.," + were first fully given in Ford's "Writings of Washington," + vol. xiii., p. 452, seq. + + 2 Ibid., p. 453. + +There is a traditional impression that Paine's angry letter to +Washington was caused by the President's failure to inter-pose for +his relief from prison. But Paine believed that the American Minister +(Morris) had reclaimed him in some feeble fashion, as an American +citizen, and he knew that the President had officially approved Monroe's +action in securing his release. His grievance was that Washington, whose +letters of friendship he cherished, who had extolled his services to +America, should have manifested no concern personally, made no use of +his commanding influence to rescue him from daily impending death, sent +to his prison no word of kindness or inquiry, and sent over their mutual +friend Monroe without any instructions concerning him; and finally, that +his private letter, asking explanation, remained unanswered. No doubt +this silence of Washington concerning the fate of Paine, whom he +acknowledged to be an American citizen, was mainly due to his fear +of offending England, which had proclaimed Paine. The "outlaw's" +imprisonment in Paris caused jubilations among the English gentry, +and went on simultaneously with Jay's negotiations in London, when any +expression by Washington of sympathy with Paine (certain of publication) +might have imperilled the Treaty, regarded by the President as vital. + +So anxious was the President about this, that what he supposed had been +done for Paine by Morris, and what had really been done by Monroe, +was kept in such profound secrecy, that even his Secretary of State, +Pickering, knew nothing of it. This astounding fact I recently +discovered in the manuscripts of that Secretary.(1) Colonel Pickering, +while flattering enough to the President in public, despised his +intellect, and among his papers is a memorandum concluding as follows: + +"But when the hazards of the Revolutionary War had ended, by the +establishment of our Independence, why was the knowledge of General +Washington's comparatively defective mental powers not freely divulged? +Why, even by the enemies of his civil administration were his abilities +very tenderly glanced at? --Because there were few, if any men, who +did not revere him for his distinguished virtues; his modesty--his +unblemished integrity, his pure and disinterested patriotism. These +virtues, of infinitely more value than exalted abilities without them, +secured to him the veneration and love of his fellow citizens at large. +Thus immensely popular, no man was willing to publish, under his hand, +even the simple truth. The only exception, that I recollect, was the +infamous Tom Paine; and this when in France, after he had escaped the +guillotine of Robespierre; and in resentment, because, after he had +participated in the French Revolution, President Washington seemed +not to have thought him so very important a character in the world, +as officially to interpose for his relief from the fangs of the French +ephemeral Rulers. In a word, no man, however well informed, was willing +to hazard his own popularity by exhibiting the real intellectual +character of the immensely popular Washington." + + 1 Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 11., p. 171. + +How can this ignorance of an astute man, Secretary of State under +Washington and Adams, be explained? Had Washington hidden the letters +showing on their face that he _had_ "officially interposed" for Paine by +two Ministers? + +Madison, writing to Monroe, April 7, 1796, says that Pickering had +spoken to him "in harsh terms" of a letter written by Paine to the +President. This was a private letter of September 20, 1795, afterwards +printed in Paine's public Letter to Washington. The Secretary certainly +read that letter on its arrival, January 18, 1796, and yet Washington +does not appear to have told him of what had been officially done in +Paine's case! Such being the secrecy which Washington had carried from +the camp to the cabinet, and the morbid extent of it while the British +Treaty was in negotiation and discussion, one can hardly wonder at his +silence under Paine's private appeal and public reproach. + +Much as Pickering hated Paine, he declares him the only man who ever +told the simple truth about Washington. In the lapse of time historical +research, while removing the sacred halo of Washington, has revealed +beneath it a stronger brain than was then known to any one. Paine +published what many whispered, while they were fawning on Washington for +office, or utilizing his power for partisan ends. Washington, during his +second administration, when his mental decline was remarked by +himself, by Jefferson, and others, was regarded by many of his eminent +contemporaries as fallen under the sway of small partisans. Not only +was the influence of Jefferson, Madison, Randolph, Monroe, Livingston, +alienated, but the counsels of Hamilton were neutralized by Wolcott and +Pickering, who apparently agreed about the President's "mental powers." +Had not Paine previously incurred the _odium theologicum_, his pamphlet +concerning Washington would have been more damaging; even as it was, the +verdict was by no means generally favorable to the President, especially +as the replies to Paine assumed that Washington had indeed failed to +try and rescue him from impending death.(1) A pamphlet written by Bache, +printed anonymously (1797), Remarks occasioned by the late conduct of +Mr. Washington, indicates the belief of those who raised Washington to +power, that both Randolph and Paine had been sacrificed to please Great +Britain. + +The _Bien-informe_ (Paris, November 12, 1797) published a letter from +Philadelphia, which may find translation here as part of the history of +the pamphlet: + +"The letter of Thomas Paine to General Washington is read here with +avidity. We gather from the English papers that the Cabinet of St James +has been unable to stop the circulation of that pamphlet in England, +since it is allowable to reprint there any English work already +published elsewhere, however disagreeable to Messrs. Pitt and Dundas. +We read in the letter to Washington that Robespierre had declared to +the Committee of Public Safety that it was desirable in the interests +of both France and America that Thomas Paine, who, for seven or eight +months had been kept a prisoner in the Luxembourg, should forthwith be +brought up for judgment before the revolutionary tribunal. The proof of +this fact is found in Robespierre's papers, and gives ground for strange +suspicions." + + 1 The principal ones were "A Letter to Thomas Paine. By an + American Citizen. New York, 1797," and "A Letter to the + infamous Tom Paine, in answer to his Letter to General + Washington. December 1796. By Peter Porcupine" (Cobbett). + Writing to David Stuart, January 8,1797, Washington, + speaking of himself in the third person, says: "Although + he is soon to become a private citizen, his opinions are to + be knocked down, and his character traduced as low as they + are capable of sinking it, even by resorting to absolute + falsehoods. As an evidence whereof, and of the plan they are + pursuing, I send you a letter of Mr. Paine to me, printed in + this city and disseminated with great industry. Enclosed you + will receive also a production of Peter Porcupine, alias + William Cobbett. Making allowances for the asperity of an + Englishman, for some of his strong and coarse expressions, + and a want of official information as to many facts, it is + not a bad thing." The "many facts" were, of course, the + action of Monroe, and the supposed action of Morris in + Paris, but not even to one so intimate as Stuart are these + disclosed. + +"It was long believed that Paine had returned to America with his friend +James Monroe, and the lovers of freedom [there] congratulated themselves +on being able to embrace that illustrious champion of the Rights of Man. +Their hopes have been frustrated. We know positively that Thomas Paine +is still living in France. The partizans of the late presidency [in +America] also know it well, yet they have spread a rumor that after +actually arriving he found his (really popular) _principles no longer +the order of the day_, and thought best to re-embark. + +"The English journals, while repeating this idle rumor, observed that it +was unfounded, and that Paine had not left France. Some French journals +have copied these London paragraphs, but without comments; so that at +the very moment when Thomas Paine's Letter on the 18th. Fructidor is +published, _La Clef du Cabinet_ says that this citizen is suffering +unpleasantness in America." + +Paine had intended to return with Monroe, in the spring of 1797, but, +suspecting the Captain and a British cruiser in the distance, returned +from Havre to Paris. The packet was indeed searched by the cruiser +for Paine, and, had he been captured, England would have executed the +sentence pronounced by Robespierre to please Washington. + + + +MEMORIAL ADDRESSED TO JAMES MONROE, + +MINISTER FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. + +Prison of the Luxembourg, Sept. 10th, 1794. + +I address this memorial to you, in consequence of a letter I received +from a friend, 18 Fructidor (September 4th,) in which he says, "Mr. +Monroe has told me, that he has no orders [meaning from the American +government] respecting you; but I am sure he will leave nothing +undone to liberate you; but, from what I can learn, from all the late +Americans, you are not considered either by the Government, or by +the individuals, as an American citizen. You have been made a french +Citizen, which you have accepted, and you have further made yourself +a servant of the french Republic; and, therefore, it would be out +of character for an American Minister to interfere in their internal +concerns. You must therefore either be liberated out of Compliment to +America, or stand your trial, which you have a right to demand." + +This information was so unexpected by me, that I am at a loss how to +answer it. I know not on what principle it originates; whether from an +idea that I had voluntarily abandoned my Citizenship of America for that +of France, or from any article of the American Constitution applied to +me. The first is untrue with respect to any intention on my part; and +the second is without foundation, as I shall shew in the course of this +memorial. + +The idea of conferring honor of Citizenship upon foreigners, who had +distinguished themselves in propagating the principles of liberty and +humanity, in opposition to despotism, war, and bloodshed, was first +proposed by me to La Fayette, at the commencement of the french +revolution, when his heart appeared to be warmed with those principles. +My motive in making this proposal, was to render the people of different +nations more fraternal than they had been, or then were. I observed that +almost every branch of Science had possessed itself of the exercise +of this right, so far as it regarded its own institution. Most of the +Academies and Societies in Europe, and also those of America, conferred +the rank of honorary member, upon foreigners eminent in knowledge, and +made them, in fact, citizens of their literary or scientific republic, +without affecting or anyways diminishing their rights of citizenship +in their own country or in other societies: and why the Science of +Government should not have the same advantage, or why the people of +one nation should not, by their representatives, exercise the right of +conferring the honor of Citizenship upon individuals eminent in another +nation, without affecting _their_ rights of citizenship, is a problem +yet to be solved. + +I now proceed to remark on that part of the letter, in which the writer +says, that, _from what he can learn from all the late Americans, I +am not considered in America, either by the Government or by the +individuals, as an American citizen_. + +In the first place I wish to ask, what is here meant by the Government +of America? The members who compose the Government are only individuals, +when in conversation, and who, most probably, hold very different +opinions upon the subject. Have Congress as a body made any declaration +respecting me, that they now no longer consider me as a citizen? If they +have not, anything they otherwise say is no more than the opinion +of individuals, and consequently is not legal authority, nor anyways +sufficient authority to deprive any man of his Citizenship. Besides, +whether a man has forfeited his rights of Citizenship, is a question not +determinable by Congress, but by a Court of Judicature and a Jury; and +must depend upon evidence, and the application of some law or article of +the Constitution to the case. No such proceeding has yet been had, and +consequently I remain a Citizen until it be had, be that decision what +it may; for there can be no such thing as a suspension of rights in the +interim. + +I am very well aware, and always was, of the article of the Constitution +which says, as nearly as I can recollect the words, that "any citizen +of the United States, who shall accept any title, place, or office, from +any foreign king, prince, or state, shall forfeit and lose his right of +Citizenship of the United States." + +Had the Article said, that _any citizen of the United States, who shall +be a member of any foreign convention, for the purpose of forming a free +constitution, shall forfeit and lose the right of citizenship of the +United States_, the article had been directly applicable to me; but +the idea of such an article never could have entered the mind of the +American Convention, and the present article _is_ altogether foreign +to the case with respect to me. It supposes a Government in active +existence, and not a Government dissolved; and it supposes a citizen of +America accepting titles and offices under that Government, and not a +citizen of America who gives his assistance in a Convention chosen by +the people, for the purpose of forming a Government _de nouveau_ founded +on their authority. + +The late Constitution and Government of France was dissolved the 10th of +August, 1792. The National legislative Assembly then in being, supposed +itself without sufficient authority to continue its sittings, and it +proposed to the departments to elect not another legislative Assembly, +but a Convention for the express purpose of forming a new Constitution. +When the Assembly were discoursing on this matter, some of the members +said, that they wished to gain all the assistance possible upon the +subject of free constitutions; and expressed a wish to elect and invite +foreigners of any Nation to the Convention, who had distinguished +themselves in defending, explaining, and propagating the principles +of liberty. It was on this occasion that my name was mentioned in the +Assembly. (I was then in England.) + + 1 In the American pamphlet a footnote, probably added by + Bache, here says: "Even this article does not exist in the + manner here stated." It is a pity Paine did not have in his + prison the article, which says: "No person holding any + office of profit or trust under them [the United States] + shall, without the consent of Congress, accept of any + present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, + from any king, prince, or foreign State."--_Editor._ + + +After this, a deputation from a body of the french people, in order +to remove any objection that might be made against my assisting at the +proposed Convention, requested the Assembly, as their representatives, +to give me the title of French Citizen; after which, I was elected a +member of the Convention, in four different departments, as is already +known.(1) + +The case, therefore, is, that I accepted nothing from any king, +prince, or state, nor from any Government: for France was without any +Government, except what arose from common consent, and the necessity of +the case. Neither did I _make myself a servant of the french Republic_, +as the letter alluded to expresses; for at that time France was not a +republic, not even in name. She was altogether a people in a state of +revolution. + +It was not until the Convention met that France was declared a republic, +and monarchy abolished; soon after which a committee was elected, of +which I was a member,(2) to form a Constitution, which was presented to +the Convention [and read by Condorcet, who was also a member] the +15th and 16th of February following, but was not to be taken into +consideration till after the expiration of two months,(3) and if +approved of by the Convention, was then to be referred to the people for +their acceptance, with such additions or amendments as the Convention +should make. + + 1 The deputation referred to was described as the + "Commission Extraordinaire," in whose name M. Guadet moved + that the title of French Citizen be conferred on Priestley, + Paine, Bentham, Wilberforce, Clarkson, Mackintosh, David + Williams, Cormelle, Paw, Pestalozzi, Washington, Madison, + Hamilton, Klopstock, Koscinsko, Gorani, Campe, Anacharsis + Clootz, Gilleers. This was on August 26, and Paine was + elected by Calais on September 6,1792; and in the same week + by Oise, Somme, and Puy-de-Dome.--_Editor._ + + 2 Sieves, Paine, Brissot, Petion, Vergniaud, Gensonne, + Barere, Danton, Condorcet.--_Editor._ + + 3 The remainder of this sentence is replaced in the American + pamphlet by the following: "The disorders and the + revolutionary government that took place after this put a + stop to any further progress upon the case."--_Editor._ + +In thus employing myself upon the formation of a Constitution, I +certainly did nothing inconsistent with the American Constitution. I +took no oath of allegiance to France, or any other oath whatever. I +considered the Citizenship they had presented me with as an honorary +mark of respect paid to me not only as a friend to liberty, but as +an American Citizen. My acceptance of that, or of the deputyship, not +conferred on me by any king, prince, or state, but by a people in a +state of revolution and contending for liberty, required no transfer of +my allegiance or of my citizenship from America to France. There I was +a real citizen, paying Taxes; here, I was a voluntary friend, employing +myself on a temporary service. Every American in Paris knew that it was +my constant intention to return to America, as soon as a constitution +should be established, and that I anxiously waited for that event. + +I know not what opinions have been circulated in America. It may have +been supposed there that I had voluntarily and intentionally abandoned +America, and that my citizenship had ceased by my own choice. I can +easily [believe] there are those in that country who would take such +a proceeding on my part somewhat in disgust. The idea of forsaking +old friendships for new acquaintances is not agreeable. I am a little +warranted in making this supposition by a letter I received some time +ago from the wife of one of the Georgia delegates in which she says +"Your friends on this side the water cannot be reconciled to the idea of +your abandoning America." + +I have never abandoned her in thought, word or deed; and I feel it +incumbent upon me to give this assurance to the friends I have in that +country and with whom I have always intended and am determined, if the +possibility exists, to close the scene of my life. It is there that I +have made myself a home. It is there that I have given the services of +my best days. America never saw me flinch from her cause in the most +gloomy and perilous of her situations; and I know there are those in +that country who will not flinch from me. If I have enemies (and every +man has some) I leave them to the enjoyment of their ingratitude.* + + * I subjoin in a note, for the sake of wasting the solitude + of a prison, the answer that I gave to the part of the + letter above mentioned. It is not inapplacable to the + subject of this Memorial; but it contain! somewhat of a + melancholy idea, a little predictive, that I hope is not + becoming true so soon. + +It is somewhat extraordinary that the idea of my not being a citizen +of America should have arisen only at the time that I am imprisoned +in France because, or on the pretence that, I am a foreigner. The case +involves a strange contradiction of ideas. None of the Americans who +came to France whilst I was in liberty had conceived any such idea or +circulated any such opinion; and why it should arise now is a matter +yet to be explained. However discordant the late American Minister G. M. +[Gouverneur Morris] and the late French Committee of Public Safety were, +it suited the purpose of both that I should be continued in arrestation. +The former wished to prevent my return to America, that I should not +expose his misconduct; and the latter, lest I should publish to the +world the history of its wickedness. Whilst that Minister and the +Committee continued I had no expectation of liberty. I speak here of the +Committee of which Robespierre was member.(1) + + "You touch me on a very tender point when you say that my + friends on your side the water cannot be reconciled to the + idea of my abandoning America. They are right. I had rather + see my horse Button eating the grass of Borden-Town or + Morrisania than see all the pomp and show of Europe. + + "A thousand years hence (for I must indulge a few thoughts) + perhaps in less, America may be what Europe now is. The + innocence of her character, that won the hearts of all + nations in her favour, may sound like a romance and her + inimitable virtue as if it had never been. The ruin of that + liberty which thousands bled for or struggled to obtain may + just furnish materials for a village tale or extort a sigh + from rustic sensibility, whilst the fashionable of that day, + enveloped in dissipation, shall deride the principle and + deny the fact. + + "When we contemplate the fall of Empires and the extinction + of the nations of the Ancient World, we see but little to + excite our regret than the mouldering ruins of pompous + palaces, magnificent museums, lofty pyramids and walls and + towers of the most costly workmanship; but when the Empire + of America shall fall, the subject for contemplative sorrow + will be infinitely greater than crumbling brass and marble + can inspire. It will not then be said, here stood a temple + of vast antiquity; here rose a babel of invisible height; + or there a palace of sumptuous extravagance; but here, Ah, + painful thought! the noblest work of human wisdom, the + grandest scene of human glory, the fair cause of Freedom + rose and fell. Read this, and then ask if I forget + America."--Author. + + + 1 This letter, quoted also in Paine's Letter to Washington, + was written from London, Jan. 6, 1789, to the wife of Col. + Few, nee Kate Nicholson. It is given in full in my "Life of + Paine," i., p. 247.--_Editor._ + + + +THE MEMORIAL TO MONROE. + +I ever must deny, that the article of the American constitution +already mentioned, can be applied either verbally, intentionally, +or constructively, to me. It undoubtedly was the intention of the +Convention that framed it, to preserve the purity of the American +republic from being debased by foreign and foppish customs; but it never +could be its intention to act against the principles of liberty, by +forbidding its citizens to assist in promoting those principles in +foreign Countries; neither could it be its intention to act against +the principles of gratitude.(1) France had aided America in the +establishment of her revolution, when invaded and oppressed by England +and her auxiliaries. France in her turn was invaded and oppressed by a +combination of foreign despots. In this situation, I conceived it an act +of gratitude in me, as a citizen of America, to render her in return the +best services I could perform. I came to France (for I was in England +when I received the invitation) not to enjoy ease, emoluments, and +foppish honours, as the article supposes; but to encounter difficulties +and dangers in defence of liberty; and I much question whether those who +now malignantly seek (for some I believe do) to turn this to my injury, +would have had courage to have done the same thing. I am sure Gouverneur +Morris would not. He told me the second day after my arrival, (in +Paris,) that the Austrians and Prussians, who were then at Verdun, +would be in Paris in a fortnight. I have no idea, said he, that seventy +thousand disciplined troops can be stopped in their march by any power +in France. + + 1 This and the two preceding paragraphs, including the + footnote, are entirely omitted from the American pamphlet. + It will be seen that Paine had now a suspicion of the + conspiracy between Gouverneur Morris and those by whom he + was imprisoned. Soon after his imprisonment he had applied + to Morris, who replied that he had reclaimed him, and + enclosed the letter of Deforgues quoted in my Introduction + to this chapter, of course withholding his own letter to the + Minister. Paine answered (Feb. 14, 1793): "You must not + leave me in the situation in which this letter places me. + You know I do not deserve it, and you see the unpleasant + situation in which I am thrown. I have made an answer to the + Minister's letter, which I wish you to make ground of a + reply to him. They have nothing against me--except that they + do not choose I should lie in a state of freedom to write my + mind freely upon things I have seen. Though you and I are + not on terms of the best harmony, I apply to you as the + Minister of America, and you may add to that service + whatever you think my integrity deserves. At any rate I + expect you to make Congress acquainted with my situation, + and to send them copies of the letters that have passed on + the subject. A reply to the Minister's letter is absolutely + necessary, were it only to continue the reclamation. + Otherwise your silence will be a sort of consent to his + observations." Deforgues' "observations" having been + dictated by Morris himself, no reply was sent to him, and no + word to Congress.--_Editor_. + + 2 In the pamphlet this last clause of the sentence is + omitted.--_Editor._. + +Besides the reasons I have already given for accepting the invitations +to the Convention, I had another that has reference particularly to +America, and which I mentioned to Mr. Pinckney the night before I left +London to come to Paris: "That it was to the interest of America that +the system of European governments should be changed and placed on the +same principle with her own." Mr. Pinckney agreed fully in the same +opinion. I have done my part towards it.(1) + +It is certain that governments upon similar systems agree better +together than those that are founded on principles discordant with each +other; and the same rule holds good with respect to the people living +under them. In the latter case they offend each other by pity, or by +reproach; and the discordancy carries itself to matters of commerce. I +am not an ambitious man, but perhaps I have been an ambitious American. +I have wished to see America the _Mother Church_ of government, and I +have done my utmost to exalt her character and her condition. + + 1 In the American pamphlet the name of Pinckney (American + Minister in England) is left blank in this paragraph, and + the two concluding sentences are omitted from both the + French and American pamphlets.--_Editor._, + +I have now stated sufficient matter, to shew that the Article in +question is not applicable to me; and that any such application to my +injury, as well in circumstances as in Rights, is contrary both to +the letter and intention of that Article, and is illegal and +unconstitutional. Neither do I believe that any Jury in America, when +they are informed of the whole of the case, would give a verdict to +deprive me of my Rights upon that Article. The citizens of America, +I believe, are not very fond of permitting forced and indirect +explanations to be put upon matters of this kind. I know not what were +the merits of the case with respect to the person who was prosecuted for +acting as prize master to a french privateer, but I know that the jury +gave a verdict against the prosecution. The Rights I have acquired +are dear to me. They have been acquired by honourable means, and by +dangerous service in the worst of times, and I cannot passively permit +them to be wrested from me. I conceive it my duty to defend them, as the +case involves a constitutional and public question, which is, how +far the power of the federal government (1) extends, in depriving any +citizen of his Rights of Citizenship, or of suspending them. + +That the explanation of National Treaties belongs to Congress is +strictly constitutional; but not the explanation of the Constitution +itself, any more than the explanation of Law in the case of individual +citizens. These are altogether Judiciary questions. It is, however, +worth observing, that Congress, in explaining the Article of the Treaty +with respect to french prizes and french privateers, confined itself +strictly to the letter of the Article. Let them explain the Article +of the Constitution with respect to me in the same manner, and the +decision, did it appertain to them, could not deprive me of my Rights of +Citizenship, or suspend them, for I have accepted nothing from any king, +prince, state, or Government. + +You will please to observe, that I speak as if the federal Government +had made some declaration upon the subject of my Citizenship; whereas +the fact is otherwise; and your saying that you have no order respecting +me is a proof of it. Those therefore who propagate the report of my not +being considered as a Citizen of America by Government, do it to the +prolongation of my imprisonment, and without authority; for Congress, +_as a government_, has neither decided upon it, nor yet taken the matter +into consideration; and I request you to caution such persons against +spreading such reports. But be these matters as they may, I cannot have +a doubt that you find and feel the case very different, since you have +heard what I have to say, and known what my situation is [better] than +you did before your arrival. + + 1 In the pamphlet occurs here a significant parenthesis by + Bache: "it should have been said in this case, how far the + Executive."--_Editor._. + +But it was not the Americans only, but the Convention also, that +knew what my intentions were upon that subject. In my last discourse +delivered at the Tribune of the Convention, January 19,1793, on the +motion for suspending the execution of Louis 16th, I said (the Deputy +Bancal read the translation in French): "It unfortunately happens that +the person who is the subject of the present discussion, is considered +by the Americans as having been the friend of their revolution. His +execution will be an affliction to them, and it is in your power not +to wound the feelings of your ally. Could I speak the french language I +would descend to your bar, and in their name become your petitioner to +respite the execution of the sentence/"--"As the convention was elected +for the express purpose of forming a Constitution, its continuance +cannot be longer than four or five months more at furthest; and if, +after my _return to America_, I should employ myself in writing the +history of the french Revolution, I had rather record a thousand +errors on the side of mercy, than be obliged to tell one act of severe +Justice."--"Ah Citizens! give not the tyrant of England the triumph +of seeing the man perish on a scaffold who had aided my much-loved +America." + +Does this look as if I had abandoned America? But if she abandons me +in the situation I am in, to gratify the enemies of humanity, let that +disgrace be to herself. But I know the people of America better than to +believe it,(1) tho' I undertake not to answer for every individual. + +When this discourse was pronounced, Marat launched himself into the +middle of the hall and said that "I voted against the punishment of +death because I was a quaker." I replied that "I voted against it both +morally and politically." + + 1 In the French pamphlet: "pour jamais lui preter du tels + sentiments." + +I certainly went a great way, considering the rage of the times, in +endeavouring to prevent that execution. I had many reasons for so doing. +I judged, and events have shewn that I judged rightly, that if they once +began shedding blood, there was no knowing where it would end; and as +to what the world might call _honour_ the execution would appear like a +nation killing a mouse; and in a political view, would serve to transfer +the hereditary claim to some more formidable Enemy. The man could do no +more mischief; and that which he had done was not only from the vice of +his education, but was as much the fault of the Nation in restoring +him after he had absconded June 21st, 1791, as it was his. I made +the proposal for imprisonment until the end of the war and perpetual +banishment after the war, instead of the punishment of death. Upwards of +three hundred members voted for that proposal. The sentence for absolute +death (for some members had voted the punishment of death conditionally) +was carried by a majority of twenty-five out of more than seven hundred. + +I return from this digression to the proper subject of my memorial.(1) + + 1 This and the preceding five paragraphs, and five following + the nest, are omitted from the American pamphlet.-- + _Editor._. + +Painful as the want of liberty may be, it is a consolation to me to +believe, that my imprisonment proves to the world, that I had no share +in the murderous system that then reigned. That I was an enemy to it, +both morally and politically, is known to all who had any knowledge of +me; and could I have written french as well as I can English, I would +publicly have exposed its wickedness and shewn the ruin with which it +was pregnant. They who have esteemed me on former occasions, whether in +America or in Europe will, I know, feel no cause to abate that esteem, +when they reflect, that _imprisonment with preservation of character is +preferable to liberty with disgrace_. + +I here close my Memorial and proceed to offer you a proposal that +appears to me suited to all the circumstances of the case; which is, +that you reclaim me conditionally, until the opinion of Congress can be +obtained on the subject of my citizenship of America; and that I remain +in liberty under your protection during that time. + +I found this proposal upon the following grounds. + +First, you say you have no orders respecting me; consequently, you +have no orders _not_ to reclaim me; and in this case you are left +discretionary judge whether to reclaim or not. My proposal therefore +unites a consideration of your situation with my own. + +Secondly, I am put in arrestation because I am a foreigner. It is +therefore necessary to determine to what country I belong. The right of +determining this question cannot appertain exclusively to the Committee +of Public Safety or General Surety; because I appeal to the Minister of +the United States, and show that my citizenship of that country is good +and valid, referring at the same time, thro' the agency of the Minister, +my claim of right to the opinion of Congress. It being a matter between +two Governments. + +Thirdly. France does not claim me fora citizen; neither do I set up any +claim of citizenship in France. The question is simply, whether I am +or am not a citizen of America. I am imprisoned here on the decree for +imprisoning foreigners, because, say they, I was born in England. I +say in answer that, though born in England, I am not a subject of the +English Government any more than any other American who was born, as +they all were, under the same Government, or than the Citizens of France +are subjects of the French Monarchy under which they were born. I have +twice taken the oath of abjuration to the British King and Government +and of Allegiance to America,--once as a citizen of the State of +Pennsylvania in 1776, and again before Congress, administered to me by +the President, Mr. Hancock, when I was appointed Secretary in the Office +of Foreign Affairs in 1777. + +The letter before quoted in the first page of this memorial, says, "It +would be out of character for an American minister to interfere in the +internal affairs of France." This goes on the idea that I am a citizen +of France, and a member of the Convention, which is not the fact. The +Convention have declared me to be a foreigner; and consequently the +citizenship and the election are null and void.(1) It also has the +appearance of a Decision, that the article of the Constitution, +respecting grants made to American Citizens by foreign kings, princes, +or states, is applicable to me; which is the very point in question, +and against the application of which I contend. I state evidence to the +Minister, to shew that I am not within the letter or meaning of that +Article; that it cannot operate against me; and I apply to him for the +protection that I conceive I have a right to ask and to receive. The +internal affairs of France are out of the question with respect to my +application or his interference. I ask it not as a citizen of France, +for I am not one: I ask it not as a member of the Convention, for I am +not one; both these, as before said, have been rendered null and void; +I ask it not as a man against whom there is any accusation, for there +is none; I ask it not as an exile from America, whose liberties I +have honourably and generously contributed to establish; I ask it as a +Citizen of America, deprived of his liberty in France, under the plea of +being a foreigner; and I ask it because I conceive I am entitled to it, +upon every principle of Constitutional Justice and National honour.(2) + + 1 In the pamphlet: "The Convention included me in the vote + for dismissing foreigners from the Convention, and the + Committees imprisoned me as a foreigner."--_Editor._ + + 2 All previous editions of the pamphlet end with this + word.--_Editor._ + +But tho' I thus positively assert my claim because I believe I have a +right to do so, it is perhaps most eligible, in the present situation +of things, to put that claim upon the footing I have already mentioned; +that is, that the Minister reclaims me conditionally until the opinion +of Congress can be obtained on the subject of my citizenship of America, +and that I remain in liberty under the protection of the Minister during +that interval. + +N. B. I should have added that as Gouverneur Morris could not inform +Congress of the cause of my arrestation, as he knew it not himself, it +is to be supposed that Congress was not enough acquainted with the case +to give any directions respecting me when you came away. + +T.P. + + + +ADDENDA. + +Letters, hitherto unpublished, written by Paine to Monroe before his +release on November 4., 1794. + + +1. Luxembourg Mem Vendemaire, Old Style Oct 4th 1794 + +Dear Sir: I thank you for your very friendly and affectionate letter of +the 18th September which I did not receive till this morning.(1) It has +relieved my mind from a load of disquietude. You will easily suppose +that if the information I received had been exact, my situation was +without hope. I had in that case neither section, department nor +Country, to reclaim me; but that is not all, I felt a poignancy of +grief, in having the least reason to suppose that America had so soon +forgotten me who had never forgotten her. + +Mr. Labonadaire, in a note of yesterday, directed me to write to the +Convention. As I suppose this measure has been taken in concert with +you, I have requested him to shew you the letter, of which he will make +a translation to accompany the original. + +(I cannot see what motive can induce them to keep me in prison. It +will gratify the English Government and afflict the friends I have in +America. The supporters of the system of Terror might apprehend that if +I was in liberty and in America I should publish the history of their +crimes, but the present persons who have overset that immoral System +ought to have no such apprehension. On the contrary, they ought to +consider me as one of themselves, at least as one of their friends. Had +I been an insignificant character I had not been in arrestation. It was +the literary and philosophical reputation I had gained, in the world, +that made them my Enemies; and I am the victim of the principles, and +if I may be permitted to say it, of the talents, that procured me the +esteem of America. My character is the _secret_ of my arrestation.) + + 1 Printed in the letter to Washington, chap. XXII. The delay + of sixteen days in Monroe's letter was probably due to the + manouvres of Paine's enemies on the Committee of Public + Safety. He was released only after their removal from the + Committee, and the departure of Gouverneur Morris.-- + _Editor._, + +If the letter I have written be not covered by other authority than my +own it will have no effect, for they already know all that I can say. On +what ground do they pretend to deprive America of the service of any +of her citizens without assigning a cause, or only the flimsy one of +my being born in England? Gates, were he here, might be arrested on the +same pretence, and he and Burgoyne be confounded together. + +It is difficult for me to give an opinion, but among other things +that occur to me, I think that if you were to say that, as it will be +necessary to you to inform the Government of America of my situation, +you require an explanation with the Committee upon that subject; that +you are induced to make this proposal not only out of esteem for the +character of the person who is the personal object of it, but because +you know that his arrestation will distress the Americans, and the more +so as it will appear to them to be contrary to their ideas of civil and +national justice, it might perhaps have some effect. If the Committee +[of Public Safety] will do nothing, it will be necessary to bring this +matter openly before the Convention, for I do most sincerely assure you, +from the observations that I hear, and I suppose the same are made in +other places, that the character of America lies under some reproach. +All the world knows that I have served her, and they see that I am still +in prison; and you know that when people can form a conclusion upon a +simple fact, they trouble not themselves about reasons. I had rather +that America cleared herself of all suspicion of ingratitude, though I +were to be the victim. + +You advise me to have patience, but I am fully persuaded that the longer +I continue in prison the more difficult will be my liberation. There +are two reasons for this: the one is that the present Committee, by +continuing so long my imprisonment, will naturally suppose that my mind +will be soured against them, as it was against those who put me in, and +they will continue my imprisonment from the same apprehensions as the +former Committee did; the other reason is, that it is now about two +months since your arrival, and I am still in prison. They will explain +this into an indifference upon my fate that will encourage them to +continue my imprisonment. When I hear some people say that it is the +Government of America that now keeps me in prison by not reclaiming me, +and then pour forth a volley of execrations against her, I know not +how to answer them otherwise than by a direct denial which they do not +appear to believe. You will easily conclude that whatever relates to +imprisonments and liberations makes a topic of prison conversation; +and as I am now the oldest inhabitant within these walls, except two +or three, I am often the subject of their remarks, because from the +continuance of my imprisonment they auger ill to themselves. You see I +write you every thing that occurs to me, and I conclude with thanking +you again for your very friendly and affectionate letter, and am with +great respect, + +Your's affectionately, + +Thomas Paine. + +(To day is the anniversary of the action at German Town. [October 4, +1777.] Your letter has enabled me to contradict the observations before +mentioned.) + + + +2. Oct 13, 1794 Dear Sir: On the 28th of this Month (October) I shall +have suffered ten months imprisonment, to the dishonour of America as +well as of myself, and I speak to you very honestly when I say that my +patience is exhausted. It is only my actual liberation that can make me +believe it. Had any person told me that I should remain in prison two +months after the arrival of a new Minister, I should have supposed that +he meant to affront me as an American. By the friendship and sympathy +you express in your letter you seem to consider my imprisonment as +having connection only with myself, but I am certain that the inferences +that follow from it have relation also to the National character of +America, I already feel this in myself, for I no longer speak with pride +of being a citizen of that country. Is it possible Sir that I should, +when I am suffering unjust imprisonment under the very eye of her new +Minister? + +While there was no Minister here (for I consider Morris as none) nobody +wondered at my imprisonment, but now everybody wonders. The continuance +of it under a change of diplomatic circumstances, subjects me to the +suspicion of having merited it, and also to the suspicion of having +forfeited my reputation with America; and it subjects her at the same +time to the suspicion of ingratitude, or to the reproach of wanting +national or diplomatic importance. The language that some Americans +have held of my not being considered as an American citizen, tho' +contradicted by yourself, proceeds, I believe, from no other motive, +than the shame and dishonour they feel at the imprisonment of a +fellow-citizen, and they adopt this apology, at my expence, to get rid +of that disgrace. Is it not enough that I suffer imprisonment, but my +mind also must be wounded and tortured with subjects of this kind? Did I +reason from personal considerations only, independent of principles and +the pride of having practiced those principles honourably, I should be +tempted to curse the day I knew America. By contributing to her liberty +I have lost my own, and yet her Government beholds my situation in +silence. Wonder not, Sir, at the ideas I express or the language in +which I express them. If I have a heart to feel for others I can feel +also for myself, and if I have anxiety for my own honour, I have it also +for a country whose suffering infancy I endeavoured to nourish and +to which I have been enthusiastically attached. As to patience I have +practiced it long--as long as it was honorable to do so, and when it +goes beyond that point it becomes meanness. + +I am inclined to believe that you have attended to my imprisonment +more as a friend than as a Minister. As a friend I thank you for your +affectionate attachment. As a Minister you have to look beyond me to the +honour and reputation of your Government; and your Countrymen, who have +accustomed themselves to consider any subject in one line of thinking +only, more especially if it makes a strong [impression] upon them, as +I believe my situation has made upon you, do not immediately see the +matters that have relation to it in another line; and it is to bring +these two into one point that I offer you these observations. A citizen +and his country, in a case like mine, are so closely connected that the +case of one is the case of both. + +When you first arrived the path you had to pursue with respect to my +liberation was simple. I was imprisoned as a foreigner; you knew that +foreigner to be a citizen of America, and you knew also his character, +and as such you should immediately have reclaimed him. You could lose +nothing by taking strong ground, but you might lose much by taking an +inferior one; but instead of this, which I conceive would have been the +right line of acting, you left me in their hands on the loose intimation +that my liberation would take place without your direct interference, +and you strongly recommended it to me to wait the issue. This is more +than seven weeks ago and I am still in prison. I suspect these people +are trifling with you, and if they once believe they can do that, you +will not easily get any business done except what they wish to have +done. + +When I take a review of my whole situation--my circumstances ruined, +my health half destroyed, my person imprisoned, and the prospect of +imprisonment still staring me in the face, can you wonder at the +agony of my feelings? You lie down in safety and rise to plenty; it +is otherwise with me; I am deprived of more than half the common +necessaries of life; I have not a candle to burn and cannot get one. +Fuel can be procured only in small quantities and that with great +difficulty and very dear, and to add to the rest, I am fallen into a +relapse and am again on the sick list. Did you feel the whole force of +what I suffer, and the disgrace put upon America by this injustice done +to one of her best and most affectionate citizens, you would not, either +as a friend or Minister, rest a day till you had procured my liberation. +It is the work of two or three hours when you set heartily about +it, that is, when you demand me as an American citizen, or propose a +conference with the Committee upon that subject; or you may make it the +work of a twelve-month and not succeed. I know these people better than +you do. + +You desire me to believe that "you are placed here on a difficult +Theatre with many important objects to attend to, and with but few to +consult with, and that it becomes you in pursuit of these to regulate +your conduct with respect to each, as to manner and time, as will in +your judgment be best calculated to accomplish the whole." As I know +not what these objects are I can say nothing to that point. But I have +always been taught to believe that the liberty of a Citizen was the +first object of all free Governments, and that it ought not to give +preference to, or be blended with, any other. It is that public object +that all the world can see, and which obtains an influence upon public +opinion more than any other. This is not the case with the objects you +allude to. But be those objects what they may, can you suppose you will +accomplish them the easier by holding me in the back-ground, or making +me only an accident in the negotiation? Those with whom you confer will +conclude from thence that you do not feel yourself very strong upon +those points, and that you politically keep me out of sight in the +meantime to make your approach the easier. + +There is one part in your letter that is equally as proper should be +communicated to the Committee as to me, and which I conceive you are +under some diplomatic obligation to do. It is that part which you +conclude by saying that "_to the welfare of Thomas Paine the Americans +are not and cannot be indifferent_." As it is impossible the Americans +can preserve their esteem for me and for my oppressors at the same +time, the injustice to me strikes at the popular part of the Treaty of +Alliance. If it be the wish of the Committee to reduce the treaty to a +mere skeleton of Government forms, they are taking the right method to +do it, and it is not improbable they will blame you afterwards for not +in-forming them upon the subject. The disposition to retort has been so +notorious here, that you ought to be guarded against it at all points. + +You say in your letter that you doubt whether the gentleman who informed +me of the language held by some Americans respecting my citizenship of +America conveyed even his own ideas clearly upon the subject.(1) I know +not how this may be, but I believe he told me the truth. I received a +letter a few days ago from a friend and former comrade of mine in which +he tells me, that all the Americans he converses with, say, that +I should have been in liberty long ago if the Minister could have +reclaimed me as an American citizen. When I compare this with the +counter-declarations in your letter I can explain the case no otherwise +than I have already done, that it is an apology to get rid of the shame +and dishonour they feel at the imprisonment of an American citizen, +and because they are not willing it should be supposed there is want +of influence in the American Embassy. But they ought to see that this +language is injurious to me. + +On the 2d of this month Vendemaire I received a line from Mr. Beresford +in which he tells me I shall be in liberty in two or three days, and +that he has this from good authority. On the 12th I received a note from +Mr. Labonadaire, written at the Bureau of the Concierge, in which he +tells me of the interest you take in procuring my liberation, and that +after the steps that had been already taken that I ought to write to the +Convention to demand my liberty _purely and simply_ as a citizen of the +United States of America. He advised me to send the letter to him, and +he would translate it. I sent the letter inclosing at the same time +a letter to you. I have heard nothing since of the letter to the +Convention. On the 17th I received a letter from my former comrade +Vanhuele, in which he says "I am just come from Mr. Russell who had +yesterday a conversation with your Minister and your liberation is +certain--you will be in liberty to-morrow." Vanhuele also adds, "I find +the advice of Mr. Labonadaire good, for tho' you have some enemies in +the Convention, the strongest and best part are in your favour." But +the case is, and I felt it whilst I was writing the letter to the +Convention, that there is an awkwardness in my appearing, you being +present; for every foreigner should apply thro' his Minister, or rather +his Minister for him. + + 1 The letter of Peter Whiteside, quoted at the beginning of + the Memorial. See introduction to the Memorial. It would + seem from this whole letter that it was not known by + Americans in Paris that Monroe had been kept ont of his + office by Morris for nearly a month after his arrival in + Paris.--_Editor._ + +When I thus see day after day and month after month, and promise after +promise, pass away without effect, what can I conclude but that either +the Committees are secretly determined not to let me go, or that the +measures you take are not pursued with the vigor necessary to give them +effect; or that the American National character is without sufficient +importance in the French Republic? The latter will be gratifying to +the English Government. In short, Sir, the case is now arrived to that +crisis, that for the sake of your own reputation as a Minister you ought +to require a positive answer from the Committee. As to myself, it is +more agreeable to me now to contemplate an honourable destruction, and +to perish in the act of protesting against the injustice I suffer, +and to caution the people of America against confiding too much in the +Treaty of Alliance, violated as it has been in every principle, and in +my imprisonment though an American Citizen, than remain in the wretched +condition I am. I am no longer of any use to the world or to myself. + +There was a time when I beheld the Revolution of the 10th. Thermidor +[the fall of Robespierre] with enthusiasm. It was the first news +my comrade Vanhuele communicated to me during my illness, and it +contributed to my recovery. But there is still something rotten at the +Center, and the Enemies that I have, though perhaps not numerous, are +more active than my friends. If I form a wrong opinion of men or things +it is to you I must look to set me right. You are in possession of the +secret. I know nothing of it. But that I may be guarded against as many +wants as possible I shall set about writing a memorial to Congress, +another to the State of Pennsylvania, and an address to the people of +America; but it will be difficult for me to finish these until I know +from yourself what applications you have made for my liberation, and +what answers you have received. + +Ah, Sir, you would have gotten a load of trouble and difficulties off +your hands that I fear will multiply every day, had you made it a point +to procure my liberty when you first arrived, and not left me floating +on the promises of men whom you did not know. You were then a new +character. You had come in consequence of their own request that Morris +should be recalled; and had you then, before you opened any subject +of negociation that might arise into controversy, demanded my liberty +either as a Civility or as a Right I see not how they could have refused +it. + +I have already said that after all the promises that have been made I +am still in prison. I am in the dark upon all the matters that relate +to myself. I know not if it be to the Convention, to the Committee of +Public Safety, of General Surety, or to the deputies who come +sometimes to the Luxembourg to examine and put persons in liberty, that +applications have been made for my liberation. But be it to whom it +may, my earnest and pressing request to you as Minister is that you +will bring this matter to a conclusion by reclaiming me as an American +citizen imprisoned in France under the plea of being a foreigner born in +England; that I may know the result, and how to prepare the Memorials +I have mentioned, should there be occasion for them. The right of +determining who are American citizens can belong only to America. The +Convention have declared I am not a French Citizen because she has +declared me to be a foreigner, and have by that declaration cancelled +and annulled the vote of the former assembly that conferred the Title +of Citizen upon Citizens or subjects of other Countries. I should not be +honest to you nor to myself were I not to express myself as I have done +in this letter, and I confide and request you will accept it in that +sense and in no other. + +I am, with great respect, your suffering fellow-citizen, + +Thomas Paine. + +P. S.--If my imprisonment is to continue, and I indulge very little hope +to the contrary, I shall be under the absolute necessity of applying +to you for a supply of several articles. Every person here have their +families or friends upon the spot who make provision for them. This is +not the case with me; I have no person I can apply to but the American +Minister, and I can have no doubt that if events should prevent +my repaying the expence Congress or the State of Pennsylvania will +discharge it for me. + +To day is 22 Vendemaire Monday October 13, but you will not receive this +letter till the 14th. I will send the bearer to you again on the 15th, +Wednesday, and I will be obliged to you to send me for the present, +three or four candles, a little sugar of any kind, and some soap for +shaving; and I should be glad at the same time to receive a line from +you and a memorandum of the articles. Were I in your place I would order +a Hogshead of Sugar, some boxes of Candles and Soap from America, for +they will become still more scarce. Perhaps the best method for you +to procure them at present is by applying to the American Consuls at +Bordeaux and Havre, and have them up by the diligence. + + + +3. [Undated.] + +Dear Sir: As I have not yet received any answer to my last, I have +amused myself with writing you the inclosed memoranda. Though +you recommend patience to me I cannot but feel very pointedly the +uncomfortableness of my situation, and among other reflections that +occur to me I cannot think that America receives any credit from the +long imprisonment that I suffer. It has the appearance of neglecting +her citizens and her friends and of encouraging the insults of foreign +nations upon them, and upon her commerce. My imprisonment is as well +and perhaps more known in England than in France, and they (the English) +will not be intimidated from molesting an American ship when they see +that one of her best citizens (for I have a right to call myself so) can +be imprisoned in another country at the mere discretion of a Committee, +because he is a foreigner. + +When you first arrived every body congratulated me that I should soon, +if not immediately, be in liberty. Since that time about two hundred +have been set free from this prison on the applications of their +sections or of individuals--and I am continually hurt by the +observations that are made--"that a section in Paris has more influence +than America." + +It is right that I furnish you with these circumstances. It is the +effect of my anxiety that the character of America suffer no reproach; +for the world knows that I have acted a generous duty by her. I am the +third American that has been imprisoned. Griffiths nine weeks, Haskins +about five, and myself eight [months] and yet in prison. With respect +to the two former there was then no Minister, for I consider Morris as +none; and they were liberated on the applications of the Americans in +Paris. As to myself I had rather be publicly and honorably reclaimed, +tho' the reclamation was refused, than remain in the uncertain situation +that I am. Though my health has suffered my spirits are not broken. I +have nothing to fear unless innocence and fortitude be crimes. America, +whatever may be my fate, will have no cause to blush for me as a +citizen; I hope I shall have none to blush for her as a country. If, my +dear Sir, there is any-thing in the perplexity of ideas I have mistaken, +only suppose yourself in my situation, and you will easily find an +excuse for it. I need not say how much I shall rejoice to pay my +respects to you without-side the walls of this prison, and to enquire +after my American friends. But I know that nothing can be +accomplished here but by unceasing perseverance and application. Yours +affectionately. + + + +4. October 20, 1794. + +Dear Sir: I recd. your friendly letter of the 26 Vendemaire on the day +it was written, and I thank you for communicating to me your opinion +upon my case. Ideas serve to beget ideas, and as it is from a review of +every thing that can be said upon a subject, or is any ways connected +with it, that the best judgment can be formed how to proceed, I present +you with such ideas as occur to me. I am sure of one thing, which is +that you will give them a patient and attentive perusal. + +You say in your letter that "I must be sensible that although I am an +American citizen, yet if you interfere in my behalf as the Minister of +my country you must demand my liberation only in case there be no charge +against me; and that if there is I must be brought to trial previously, +since no person in a _private_ character can be exempt from the laws of +the country in which he resides."--This is what I have twice attempted +to do. I wrote a letter on the 3d Sans Culottodi(1) to the Deputies, +members of the Committee of Surety General, who came to the Luxembourg +to examine the persons detained. The letter was as follows:--"Citizens +Representatives: I offer myself for examination. Justice is due to every +Man. It is Justice only that I ask.--Thomas Paine." + +As I was not called for examination, nor heard anything in consequence +of my letter the first time of sending it, I sent a duplicate of it a +few days after. It was carried to them by my good friend and comrade +Vanhuele, who was then going in liberty, having been examined the day +before. Vanhuele wrote me on the next day and said: "Bourdon de l'Oise +[who was one of the examining Deputies] is the most inveterate enemy you +can have. The answer he gave me when I presented your letter put me in +such a passion with him that I expected I should be sent back again +to prison." I then wrote a third letter but had not an opportunity of +sending it, as Bourdon did not come any more till after I received Mr. +Labonadaire's letter advising me to write to the Convention. The letter +was as follows:--"Citizens, I have twice offered myself for examination, +and I chose to do this while Bourdon de l'Oise was one of the +Commissioners. + + 1 Festival of Labour, September 19, 1794.--_Editor._. + +This Deputy has said in the Convention that I intrigued with an ancient +agent of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs. My examination therefore while +he is present will give him an opportunity of proving his charge or of +convincing himself of his error. If Bourdon de l'Oise is an honest man +he will examine me, but lest he should not I subjoin the following. That +which B[ourdon] calls an intrigue was at the request of a member of the +former Committee of Salut Public, last August was a twelvemonth. I met +the member on the Boulevard. He asked me something in French which I +did not understand and we went together to the Bureau of Foreign Affairs +which was near at hand. The Agent (Otto, whom you probably knew in +America) served as interpreter, The member (it was Barere) then asked +me 1st, If I could furnish him with the plan of Constitution I had +presented to the Committee of Constitution of which I was member with +himself, because, he said, it contained several things which he +wished had been adopted: 2dly, He asked me my opinion upon sending +Commissioners to the United States of America: 3dly, If fifty or an +hundred ship loads of flour could be procured from America. As verbal +interpretation was tedious, it was agreed that I should give him my +opinion in writing, and that the Agent [Otto] should translate it, which +he did. I answered the first question by sending him the plan [of +a Constitution] which he still has. To the second, I replied that +I thought it would be proper to send Commissioners, because that in +Revolutions circumstances change so fast that it was often necessary +to send a better supply of information to an Ally than could be +communicated by writing; and that Congress had done the same thing +during the American War; and I gave him some information that the +Commissioners would find useful on their arrival. I answered the third +question by sending him a list of American exports two years before, +distinguishing the several articles by which he would see that the +supply he mentioned could be obtained. I sent him also the plan of Paul +Jones, giving it as his, for procuring salt-petre, which was to send +a squadron (it did not require a large one) to take possession of the +Island of St. Helen's, to keep the English flag flying at the port, +that the English East India ships coming from the East Indies, and that +ballast with salt-petre, might be induced to enter as usual; And that it +would be a considerable time before the English Government could know +of what had happened at St. Helen's. See here what Bourdon de l'Oise has +called an intrigue.--If it was an intrigue it was between a Committee of +Salut Public and myself, for the Agent was no more than the interpreter +and translator, and the object of the intrigue was to furnish France +with flour and salt-petre."--I suppose Bourdon had heard that the agent +and I were seen together talking English, and this was enough for _him_ +to found his charge upon.(1) + +You next say that "I must likewise be sensible that although I am an +American citizen that it is likewise believed there [in America] that +I am become a citizen of France, and that in consequence this latter +character has so far [illegible] the former as to weaken if not destroy +any claim you might have to interpose in my behalf." I am sorry I cannot +add any new arguments to those I have already advanced on this part of +the subject. But I cannot help asking myself, and I wish you would +ask the Committee, if it could possibly be the intention of France to +_kidnap_ citizens from America under the pretence of dubbing them +with the title of French citizens, and then, after inviting or rather +enveigling them into France, make it a pretence for detaining them? If +it was, (which I am sure it was not, tho' they now act as if it was) the +insult was to America, tho' the injury was to me, and the treachery was +to both. + + 1 The communications of Paine to Barere are given in my + "Life of Paine," vol. ii-i PP. 73, 87. Otto was Secretary to + the Minister of Foreign Affairs when he acted as interpreter + between Paine and Barere. There was never any charge at all + made against Paine, as the Archives of France now prove, + save that he was a "foreigner." Paine was of coarse ignorant + of the conspiracy between Morris and Deforgues which had + imprisoned him. Bourdon de l'Oise, one of the most cruel + Jacobins and Terrorists, afterwards conspired with Pichegru + to overthrow the Republic, and was with him banished (1797) + to Sinamari, South America, where he died soon after his + arrival.--_Editor._. + +Did they mean to kidnap General Washington, Mr. Madison, and several +other Americans whom they dubbed with the same title as well as me? Let +any man look at the condition of France when I arrived in it,--invaded +by Austrians and Prussians and declared to be in danger,--and then ask +if any man who had a home and a country to go to, as I had in America, +would have come amongst them from any other motive than of assisting +them. If I could possibly have supposed them capable of treachery +I certainly would not have trusted myself in their power. Instead +therefore of your being unwilling or apprehensive of meeting the +question of French citizenship, they ought to be ashamed of advancing +it, and this will be the case unless you admit their arguments or +objections too passively. It is a case on their part fit only for +the continuations of Robespierre to set up. As to the name of French +citizen, I never considered it in any other light, so far as regarded +myself, than as a token of honorary respect. I never made them any +promise nor took any oath of allegiance or of citizenship, nor bound +myself by an act or means whatever to the performance of any thing. +I acted altogether as a friend invited among them as I supposed on +honorable terms. I did not come to join myself to a Government already +formed, but to assist in forming one _de nouveau_, which was afterwards +to be submitted to the people whether they would accept it or not, and +this any foreigner might do. And strictly speaking there are no citizens +before this is a government. They are all of the People. The Americans +were not called citizens till after Government was established, and not +even then until they had taken the oath of allegiance. This was the +case in Pennsylvania. But be this French citizenship more or less, the +Convention have swept it away by declaring me to be a foreigner, and +imprisoning me as such; and this is a short answer to all those who +affect to say or to believe that I am French Citizen. A Citizen without +Citizenship is a term non-descript. + +After the two preceeding paragraphs you ask--"If it be my wish that you +should embark in this controversy (meaning that of reclaiming me) +and risque the consequences with respect to myself and the good +understanding subsisting between the two countries, or, without +relinquishing any point of right, and which might be insisted on in +case of extremities, pursue according to your best judgment and with the +light before you, the object of my liberation?" + +As I believe from the apparent obstinacy of the Committees that +circumstances will grow towards the extremity you mention, unless +prevented beforehand, I will endeavour to throw into your hands all the +lights I can upon the subject. + +In the first place, reclamation may mean two distinct things. All the +reclamations that are made by the sections in behalf of persons detained +as _suspect_ are made on the ground that the persons so detained are +patriots, and the reclamation is good against the charge of "suspect" +because it proves the contrary. But my situation includes another +circumstance. I am imprisoned on the charge (if it can be called one) +of being a foreigner born in England. You know that foreigner to be a +citizen of the United States of America, and that he has been such since +the 4th of July 1776, the political birthday of the United States, +and of every American citizen, for before that period all were British +subjects, and the States, then provinces, were British dominions.--Your +reclamation of me therefore as a citizen of the United States (all other +considerations apart) is good against the pretence for imprisoning me, +or that pretence is equally good against every American citizen born +in England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, or Holland, and you know this +description of men compose a very great part of the population of the +three States of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and make also a +part of Congress, and of the State Legislatures. + +Every politician ought to know, and every civilian does know, that the +Law of Treaty of Alliance, and also that of Amity and Commerce knows no +distinction of American Citizens on account of the place of their birth, +but recognizes all to be Citizens whom the Constitution and laws of the +United States of America recognize as such; and if I recollect rightly +there is an article in the Treaty of Commerce particular to this +point. The law therefore which they have here, to put all persons in +arrestation born in any of the Countries at war with France, is, when +applied to Citizens of America born in England, Ireland, Scotland, +Germany, or holland, a violation of the treaties of Alliance and of +Commerce, because it assumes to make a distinction of Citizens which +those Treaties and the Constitution of America know nothing of. This is +a subject that officially comes under your cognizance as Minister, and +it would be consistent that you expostulated with them upon the Case. +That foolish old man Vadier, who was president of the Convention and of +the Committee of Surety general when the Americans then in Paris went +to the Bar of the Convention to reclaim me, gave them for answer that +my being born in England was cause sufficient for imprisoning me. It +happened that at least half those who went up with that address were in +the same case with myself. + +As to reclamations on the ground of Patriotism it is difficult to know +what is to be understood by Patriotism here. There is not a vice, and +scarcely a virtue, that has not as the fashion of the moment suited +been called by the name of Patriotism. The wretches who composed the +revolutionary tribunal of Nantz were the Patriots of that day and the +criminals of this. The Jacobins called themselves Patriots of the first +order, men up to the height of the circumstances, and they are now +considered as an antidote to Patriotism. But if we give to Patriotism a +fixed idea consistent with that of a Republic, it would signify a strict +adherence to the principles of Moral Justice, to the equality of civil +and political Rights, to the System of representative Government, and an +opposition to every hereditary claim to govern; and of this species +of Patriotism you know my character. But, Sir, there are men on the +Committee who have changed their Party but not their principles. Their +aim is to hold power as long as possible by preventing the establishment +of a Constitution, and these men are and will be my Enemies, and seek to +hold me in prison as long as they can. I am too good a Patriot for them. +It is not improbable that they have heard of the strange language held +by some Americans that I am not considered in America as an American +citizen, and they may also have heard say, that you had no orders +respecting me, and it is not improbable that they interpret that +language and that silence into a connivance at my imprisonment. If they +had not some ideas of this kind would they resist so long the civil +efforts you make for my liberation, or would they attach so much +importance to the imprisonment of an Individual as _to risque_ (as +you say to me) _the good understanding that exists between the two +Countries?_You also say that _it is impossible for any person to do more +than you have done without adopting the other means_, meaning that of +reclaiming me. How then can you account for the want of success after so +many efforts, and such a length of time, upwards of ten weeks, without +supposing that they fortify themselves in the interpretation I have just +mentioned? I can admit that it was not necessary to give orders, and +that it was difficult to give direct orders, for I much question if +Morris had informed Congress or the President of the whole of the case, +or had sent copies of my letters to him as I had desired him to do. +You would find the case here when you came, and you could not fully +understand it till you did come, and as Minister you would have +authority to act upon it. But as you inform me that you know what the +wishes of the President are, you will see also that his reputation is +exposed to some risque, admitting there to be ground for the supposition +I have made. It will not add to his popularity to have it believed in +America, as I am inclined to think the Committee believe here, that he +connives at my imprisonment. You say also that _it is known to everybody +that you wish my liberation_. It is, Sir, because they know your wishes +that they misinterpret the means you use. They suppose that those mild +means arise from a restriction that you cannot use others, or from a +consciousness of some defect on my part of which you are unwilling to +provoke the enquiry. + +But as you ask me if it be my wish that you should embark in this +controversy and risque the consequences with respect to myself, I will +answer this part of the question by marking out precisely the part I +wish you to take. What I mean is a sort of middle line above what you +have yet gone, and not up to the full extremity of the case, which will +still lie in reserve. It is to write a letter to the Committee that +shall in the first place defeat by anticipation all the objections they +might make to a simple reclamation, and at the same time make the ground +good for that object. But, instead of sending the letter immediately, to +invite some of the Committee to your house and to make that invitation +the opportunity of shewing them the letter, expressing at the same time +a wish that you had done this, from a hope that the business might be +settled in an amicable manner without your being forced into an official +interference, that would excite the observations of the Enemies of both +Countries, and probably interrupt the harmony that subsisted between the +two republics. But as I can not convey the ideas I wish you to use by +any means so concisely or so well as to suppose myself the writer of the +letter I shall adopt this method and you will make use of such parts or +such ideas of it as you please if you approve the plan. Here follows the +supposed letter: + +Citizens: When I first arrived amongst you as Minister from the United +States of America I was given to understand that the liberation of +Thomas Paine would take place without any official interference on my +part. This was the more agreeable to me as it would not only supercede +the necessity of that interference, but would leave to yourselves the +whole opportunity of doing justice to a man who as far as I have been +able to learn has suffered much cruel treatment under what you have +denominated the system of Terror. But as I find my expectations have not +been fulfilled I am under the official necessity of being more explicit +upon the subject than I have hitherto been. + +Permit me, in the first place, to observe that as it is impossible for +me to suppose that it could have been the intention of France to seduce +any citizens of America from their allegiance to their proper country +by offering them the title of French citizen, so must I be compelled to +believe, that the title of French citizen conferred on Thomas Paine was +intended only as a mark of honorary respect towards a man who had +so eminently distinguished himself in defence of liberty, and on no +occasion more so than in promoting and defending your own revolution. +For a proof of this I refer you to his two works entitled _Rights of +Man_. Those works have procured to him an addition of esteem in America, +and I am sorry they have been so ill rewarded in France. But be this +title of French Citizen more or less, it is now entirely swept away by +the vote of the Convention which declares him to be a foreigner, and +which supercedes the vote of the Assembly that conferred that title upon +him, consequently upon the case superceded with it. + +In consequence of this vote of the Convention declaring him to be a +foreigner the former Committees have imprisoned him. It is therefore +become my official duty to declare to you that the foreigner thus +imprisoned is a citizen of the United States of America as fully, as +legally, as constitutionally as myself, and that he is moreover one of +the principal founders of the American Republic. + +I have been informed of a law or decree of the Convention which +subjects foreigners born in any of the countries at war with France +to arrestation and imprisonment. This law when applied to citizens of +America born in England is an infraction of the Treaty of Alliance and +of Amity and Commerce, which knows no distinction of American citizens +on account of the place of their birth, but recognizes all to be +citizens whom the Constitution and laws of America recognize as such. +The circumstances under which America has been peopled requires this +guard on her Treaties, because the mass of her citizens are composed not +of natives only but also of the natives of almost all the countries +of Europe who have sought an asylum there from the persecutions they +experienced in their own countries. After this intimation you will +without doubt see the propriety of modelling that law to the principles +of the Treaty, because the law of Treaty in cases where it applies is +the governing law to both parties alike, and it cannot be infracted +without hazarding the existence of the Treaty. + +Of the Patriotism of Thomas Paine I can speak fully, if we agree to give +to patriotism a fixed idea consistent with that of a republic. It would +then signify a strict adherence to Moral Justice, to the equality of +civil and political rights, to the system of representative government, +and an opposition to all hereditary claims to govern. Admitting +patriotism to consist in these principles, I know of no man who has gone +beyond Thomas Paine in promulgating and defending them, and that for +almost twenty years past. + +I have now spoken to you on the principal matters concerned in the case +of Thomas Paine. The title of French citizen which you had enforced upon +him, you have since taken away by declaring him to be a foreigner, and +consequently this part of the subject ceases of itself. I have declared +to you that this foreigner is a citizen of the United States of America, +and have assured you of his patriotism. + +I cannot help at the same time repeating to you my wish that his +liberation had taken place without my being obliged to go thus far into +the subject, because it is the mutual interest of both republics to +avoid as much as possible all subjects of controversy, especially those +from which no possible good can flow. I still hope that you will save me +the unpleasant task of proceeding any farther by sending me an order +for his liberation, which the injured state of his health absolutely +requires. I shall be happy to receive such an order from you and +happy in presenting it to him, for to the welfare of Thomas Paine the +Americans are not and cannot be indifferent. + +This is the sort of letter I wish you to write, for I have no idea that +you will succeed by any measures that can, by any kind of construction, +be interpreted into a want of confidence or an apprehension of +consequences. It is themselves that ought to be apprehensive of +consequences if any are to be apprehended. They, I mean the Committees, +are not certain that the Convention or the nation would support them +in forcing any question to extremity that might interrupt the good +understanding subsisting between the two countries; and I know of no +question [so likely] to do this as that which involves the rights and +liberty of a citizen. + +You will please to observe that I have put the case of French +citizenship in a point of view that ought not only to preclude, but to +make them ashamed to advance any thing upon this subject; and this is +better than to have to answer their counter-reclamation afterwards. +Either the Citizenship was intended as a token of honorary respect, or +it was in-tended to deprive America of a citizen or to seduce him from +his allegiance to his proper country. If it was intended as an honour +they must act consistently with the principle of honour. But if they +make a pretence for detaining me, they convict themselves of the act +of seduction. Had America singled out any particular French citizen, +complimented him with the title of Citizen of America, which he without +suspecting any fraudulent intention might accept, and then after having +invited or rather inveigled him into America made his acceptance of +that Title a pretence for seducing or forcing him from his allegiance to +France, would not France have just cause to be offended at America? And +ought not America to have the same right to be offended at France? And +will the Committees take upon themselves to answer for the dishonour +they bring upon the National Character of their Country? If these +arguments are stated beforehand they will prevent the Committees going +into the subject of French Citizenship. They must be ashamed of it. +But after all the case comes to this, that this French Citizenship +appertains no longer to me because the Convention, as I have already +said, have swept it away by declaring me to be foreigner, and it is not +in the power of the Committees to reverse it. But if I am to be citizen +and foreigner, and citizen again, just when and how and for any purpose +they please, they take the Government of America into their own hands +and make her only a Cypher in their system. + +Though these ideas have been long with me they have been more +particularly matured by reading your last Communication, and I have +many reasons to wish you had opened that Communication sooner. I am best +acquainted with the persons you have to deal with and the circumstances +of my own case. If you chuse to adopt the letter as it is, I send you a +translation for the sake of expediting the business. I have endeavoured +to conceive your own manner of expression as well as I could, and the +civility of language you would use, but the matter of the letter is +essential to me. + +If you chuse to confer with some of the members of the Committee at +your own house on the subject of the letter it may render the sending it +unnecessary; but in either case I must request and press you not to give +away to evasion and delay, and that you will fix positively with them +that they shall give you an answer in three or four days whether they +will liberate me on the representation you have made in the letter, or +whether you must be forced to go further into the subject. The state of +my health will not admit of delay, and besides the tortured state of +my mind wears me down. If they talk of bringing me to trial (and I well +know there is no accusation against me and that they can bring none) +I certainly summons you as an Evidence to my Character. This you may +mention to them either as what I intend to do or what you intend to do +voluntarily for me. + +I am anxious that you undertake this business without losing time, +because if I am not liberated in the course of this decade, I intend, if +in case the seventy-one detained deputies are liberated, to follow the +same track that they have done, and publish my own case myself.(1) +I cannot rest any longer in this state of miserable suspense, be the +consequences what they may. + +Thomas Paine. + + 1 Those deputies, imprisoned for having protested against + the overthrow of the Girondin government, May 31,1793, when + the Convention was invaded and overawed by the armed + communes of Paris. These deputies were liberated and + recalled to the Convention, December 8, 1794. Paine was + invited to resume his seat the day before, by a special act + of the Convention, after an eloquent speech by Thibaudeau.-- + _Editor._. + + +Dear Sir: I need not mention to you the happiness I received from the +information you sent me by Mr. Beresford. I easily guess the persons +you have conversed with on the subject of my liberation--but matters +and even promises that pass in conversation are not quite so strictly +attended to here as in the Country you come from. I am not, my Dear Sir, +impatient from any thing in my disposition, but the state of my health +requires liberty and a better air; and besides this, the rules of the +prison do not permit me, though I have all the indulgences the Concierge +can give, to procure the things necessary to my recovery, which is +slow as to strength. I have a tolerable appetite but the allowance of +provision is scanty. We are not allowed a knife to cut our victuals +with, nor a razor to shave; but they have lately allowed some barbers +that are here to shave. The room where I am lodged is a ground floor +level with the earth in the garden and floored with brick, and is so +wet after every rain that I cannot guard against taking colds that +continually cheat my recovery. If you could, without interfering with or +deranging the mode proposed for my liberation, inform the Committee that +the state of my health requires liberty and air, it would be good ground +to hasten my liberation. The length of my imprisonment is also a reason, +for I am now almost the oldest inhabitant of this uncomfortable mansion, +and I see twenty, thirty and sometimes forty persons a day put in +liberty who have not been so long confined as myself. Their liberation +is a happiness to me; but I feel sometimes, a little mortification +that I am thus left behind. I leave it entirely to you to arrange this +matter. The messenger waits. Your's affectionately, + +T. P. + +I hope and wish much to see you. I have much to say. I have had the +attendance of Dr. Graham (Physician to Genl. O'Hara, who is prisoner +here) and of Dr. Makouski, house physician, who has been most +exceedingly kind to me. After I am at liberty I shall be glad to +introduce him to you. + + 1 This letter, written in a feeble handwriting, is not + dated, but Monroe's endorsement, "2d. Luxembourg," + indicates November 2, two days before Paine's liberation.-- + _Editor._. + + + + +XXII. LETTER TO GEORGE WASHINGTON. + +Paris, July 30, 1796. + +As censure is but awkwardly softened by apology. I shall offer you +no apology for this letter. The eventful crisis to which your double +politics have conducted the affairs of your country, requires an +investigation uncramped by ceremony. + +There was a time when the fame of America, moral and political, stood +fair and high in the world. The lustre of her revolution extended itself +to every individual; and to be a citizen of America gave a title to +respect in Europe. Neither meanness nor ingratitude had been mingled +in the composition of her character. Her resistance to the attempted +tyranny of England left her unsuspected of the one, and her open +acknowledgment of the aid she received from France precluded all +suspicion of the other. The Washington of politics had not then +appeared. + +At the time I left America (April 1787) the Continental Convention, that +formed the federal Constitution was on the point of meeting. Since that +time new schemes of politics, and new distinctions of parties, have +arisen. The term _Antifederalist_ has been applied to all those who +combated the defects of that constitution, or opposed the measures +of your administration. It was only to the absolute necessity of +establishing some federal authority, extending equally over all the +States, that an instrument so inconsistent as the present federal +Constitution is, obtained a suffrage. I would have voted for it myself, +had I been in America, or even for a worse, rather than have had none, +provided it contained the means of remedying its defects by the same +appeal to the people by which it was to be established. It is always +better policy to leave removeable errors to expose themselves, than +to hazard too much in contending against them theoretically. I have +introduced these observations, not only to mark the general difference +between Antifederalist and Anti-constitutionalist, but to preclude +the effect, and even the application, of the former of these terms to +myself. I declare myself opposed to several matters in the Constitution, +particularly to the manner in which what is called the Executive is +formed, and to the long duration of the Senate; and if I live to return +to America, I will use all my endeavours to have them altered.(*) I also +declare myself opposed to almost the whole of your administration; for +I know it to have been deceitful, if not perfidious, as I shall shew +in the course of this letter. But as to the point of consolidating the +States into a Federal Government, it so happens, that the proposition +for that purpose came originally from myself. I proposed it in a letter +to Chancellor Livingston in the spring of 1782, while that gentleman +was Minister for Foreign Affairs. The five per cent, duty recommended +by Congress had then fallen through, having been adopted by some of the +States, altered by others, rejected by Rhode Island, and repealed by +Virginia after it had been consented to. The proposal in the letter I +allude to, was to get over the whole difficulty at once, by annexing a +continental legislative body to Congress; for in order to have any law +of the Union uniform, the case could only be, that either Congress, as +it then stood, must frame the law, and the States severally adopt it +without alteration, or the States must erect a Continental Legislature +for the purpose. Chancellor Livingston, Robert Morris, Gouverneur +Morris, and myself, had a meeting at the house of Robert Morris on +the subject of that letter. There was no diversity of opinion on the +proposition for a Continental Legislature: the only difficulty was on +the manner of bringing the proposition forward. For my own part, as I +considered it as a remedy in reserve, that could be applied at any time +_when the States saw themselves wrong enough to be put right_, (which +did not appear to be the case at that time) I did not see the propriety +of urging it precipitately, and declined being the publisher of it +myself. After this account of a fact, the leaders of your party will +scarcely have the hardiness to apply to me the term of Antifederalist. +But I can go to a date and to a fact beyond this; for the proposition +for electing a continental convention to form the Continental Government +is one of the subjects treated of in the pamphlet _Common Sense_.(1) + + * I have always been opposed to the mode of refining + Government up to an individual, or what is called a single + Executive. Such a man will always be the chief of a party. A + plurality is far better: It combines the mass of a nation + better together: And besides this, it is necessary to the + manly mind of a republic that it loses the debasing idea of + obeying an individual.--_Author_. + + + 1 See vol. i. of this work, pp. 97, 98, 109, no.--_Editor._. + +Having thus cleared away a little of the rubbish that might otherwise +have lain in my way, I return to the point of time at which the present +Federal Constitution and your administration began. It was very well +said by an anonymous writer in Philadelphia, about a year before that +period, that "_thirteen staves and ne'er a hoop will not make a barrel_" +and as any kind of hooping the barrel, however defectively executed, +would be better than none, it was scarcely possible but that +considerable advantages must arise from the federal hooping of the +States. It was with pleasure that every sincere friend of America +beheld, as the natural effect of union, her rising prosperity; and it +was with grief they saw that prosperity mixed, even in the blossom, +with the germ of corruption. Monopolies of every kind marked your +administration almost in the moment of its commencement. The lands +obtained by the revolution were lavished upon partisans; the interest +of the disbanded soldier was sold to the speculator; injustice was acted +under the pretence of faith; and the chief of the army became the patron +of the fraud.(2) From such a beginning what else could be expected, than +what has happened? A mean and servile submission to the insults of one +nation; treachery and ingratitude to another. + + 2 The history of the Scioto Company, by which so many + Frenchmen as well as Americans were ruined, warranted an + even stronger statement. Though Washington did not know what + was going on, he cannot be acquitted of a lack of due + precaution in patronizing leading agents of these + speculations, and introducing them in France.--_Editor._ + +Some vices make their approach with such a splendid appearance, that we +scarcely know to what class of moral distinctions they belong. They +are rather virtues corrupted than vices, originally. But meanness and +ingratitude have nothing equivocal in their character. There is not a +trait in them that renders them doubtful. They are so originally vice, +that they are generated in the dung of other vices, and crawl into +existence with the filth upon their back. The fugitives have found +protection in you, and the levee-room is their place of rendezvous. + +As the Federal Constitution is a copy, though not quite so base as the +original, of the form of the British Government, an imitation of its +vices was naturally to be expected. So intimate is the connection +between _form and practice_, that to adopt the one is to invite the +other. Imitation is naturally progressive, and is rapidly so in matters +that are vicious. + +Soon after the Federal Constitution arrived in England, I received a +letter from a female literary correspondent (a native of New York) very +well mixed with friendship, sentiment, and politics. In my answer +to that letter, I permitted myself to ramble into the wilderness of +imagination, and to anticipate what might hereafter be the condition +of America. I had no idea that the picture I then drew was realizing +so fast, and still less that Mr. Washington was hurrying it on. As the +extract I allude to is congenial with the subject I am upon, I here +transcribe it: + + [_The extract is the same as that given in a footnote, in + the Memorial to Monroe, p. 180_.] + +Impressed, as I was, with apprehensions of this kind, I had America +constantly in my mind in all the publications I afterwards made. The +First, and still more the Second, Part of the Rights of Man, bear +evident marks of this watchfulness; and the Dissertation on First +Principles of Government [XXIV.] goes more directly to the point than +either of the former. I now pass on to other subjects. + +It will be supposed by those into whose hands this letter may fall, that +I have some personal resentment against you; I will therefore settle +this point before I proceed further. + +If I have any resentment, you must acknowledge that I have not been +hasty in declaring it; neither would it now be declared (for what are +private resentments to the public) if the cause of it did not unite +itself as well with your public as with your private character, and with +the motives of your political conduct. + +The part I acted in the American revolution is well known; I shall not +here repeat it. I know also that had it not been for the aid received +from France, in men, money and ships, that your cold and unmilitary +conduct (as I shall shew in the course of this letter) would in all +probability have lost America; at least she would not have been the +independent nation she now is. You slept away your time in the field, +till the finances of the country were completely exhausted, and you have +but little share in the glory of the final event. It is time, sir, to +speak the undisguised language of historical truth. + +Elevated to the chair of the Presidency, you assumed the merit of every +thing to yourself, and the natural ingratitude of your constitution +began to appear. You commenced your Presidential career by encouraging +and swallowing the grossest adulation, and you travelled America from +one end to the other to put yourself in the way of receiving it. You +have as many addresses in your chest as James the II. As to what were +your views, for if you are not great enough to have ambition you are +little enough to have vanity, they cannot be directly inferred from +expressions of your own; but the partizans of your politics have +divulged the secret. + +John Adams has said, (and John it is known was always a speller after +places and offices, and never thought his little services were highly +enough paid,)--John has said, that as Mr. Washington had no child, the +Presidency should be made hereditary in the family of Lund Washington. +John might then have counted upon some sinecure himself, and a provision +for his descendants. He did not go so far as to say, also, that the +Vice-Presidency should be hereditary in the family of John Adams. He +prudently left that to stand on the ground that one good turn deserves +another.(*) + +John Adams is one of those men who never contemplated the origin of +government, or comprehended any thing of first principles. If he had, +he might have seen, that the right to set up and establish hereditary +government, never did, and never can, exist in any generation at any +time whatever; that it is of the nature of treason; because it is an +attempt to take away the rights of all the minors living at that time, +and of all succeeding generations. It is of a degree beyond common +treason. It is a sin against nature. The equal right of every generation +is a right fixed in the nature of things. It belongs to the son when of +age, as it belonged to the father before him. John Adams would himself +deny the right that any former deceased generation could have to +decree authoritatively a succession of governors over him, or over his +children; and yet he assumes the pretended right, treasonable as it is, +of acting it himself. His ignorance is his best excuse. + +John Jay has said,(**) (and this John was always the sycophant of +every thing in power, from Mr. Girard in America, to Grenville in +England,)--John Jay has said, that the Senate should have been appointed +for life. He would then have been sure of never wanting a lucrative +appointment for himself, and have had no fears about impeachment. These +are the disguised traitors that call themselves Federalists.(**) + +Could I have known to what degree of corruption and perfidy the +administrative part of the government of America had descended, I +could have been at no loss to have understood the reservedness of Mr. +Washington towards me, during my imprisonment in the Luxembourg. There +are cases in which silence is a loud language. I will here explain the +cause of that imprisonment, and return to Mr. Washington afterwards. + + * Two persons to whom John Adams said this, told me of it. + The secretary of Mr. Jay was present when it was told to + me.--_Author_. + + ** If Mr. John Jay desires to know on what authority I say + this, I will give that authority publicly when he chooses to + call for it--_Author_. + +In the course of that rage, terror and suspicion, which the brutal +letter of the Duke of Brunswick first started into existence in France, +it happened that almost every man who was opposed to violence, or who +was not violent himself, became suspected. I had constantly been opposed +to every thing which was of the nature or of the appearance of violence; +but as I had always done it in a manner that shewed it to be a principle +founded in my heart, and not a political manouvre, it precluded the +pretence of accusing me. I was reached, however, under another pretence. + +A decree was passed to imprison all persons born in England; but as +I was a member of the Convention, and had been complimented with the +honorary style of Citizen of France, as Mr. Washington and some other +Americans had been, this decree fell short of reaching me. A motion was +afterwards made and carried, supported chiefly by Bourdon de l'Oise, +for expelling foreigners from the Convention. My expulsion being thus +effected, the two committees of Public Safety and of General Surety, +of which Robespierre was the dictator, put me in arrestation under the +former decree for imprisoning persons born in England. Having thus shewn +under what pretence the imprisonment was effected, I come to speak of +such parts of the case as apply between me and Mr. Washington, either as +a President or as an individual. + +I have always considered that a foreigner, such as I was in fact, with +respect to France, might be a member of a Convention for framing a +Constitution, without affecting his right of citizenship in the +country to which he belongs, but not a member of a government after +a Constitution is formed; and I have uniformly acted upon this +distinction" To be a member of a government requires that a person be +in allegiance to that government and to the country locally. But a +Constitution, being a thing of principle, and not of action, and +which, after it is formed, is to be referred to the people for their +approbation or rejection, does not require allegiance in the persons +forming and proposing it; and besides this, it is only to the thing +after it be formed and established, and to the country after its +governmental character is fixed by the adoption of a constitution, that +the allegiance can be given. No oath of allegiance or of citizenship was +required of the members who composed the Convention: there was nothing +existing in form to swear allegiance to. If any such condition had been +required, I could not, as Citizen of America in fact, though Citizen of +France by compliment, have accepted a seat in the Convention. + +As my citizenship in America was not altered or diminished by any thing +I had done in Europe, (on the contrary, it ought to be considered as +strengthened, for it was the American principle of government that I +was endeavouring to spread in Europe,) and as it is the duty of every +govern-ment to charge itself with the care of any of its citizens who +may happen to fall under an arbitrary persecution abroad, and is also +one of the reasons for which ambassadors or ministers are appointed,--it +was the duty of the Executive department in America, to have made (at +least) some enquiries about me, as soon as it heard of my imprisonment. +But if this had not been the case, that government owed it to me on +every ground and principle of honour and gratitude. Mr. Washington owed +it to me on every score of private acquaintance, I will not now say, +friendship; for it has some time been known by those who know him, that +he has no friendships; that he is incapable of forming any; he can serve +or desert a man, or a cause, with constitutional indifference; and it is +this cold hermaphrodite faculty that imposed itself upon the world, +and was credited for a while by enemies as by friends, for prudence, +moderation and impartiality.(1) + + 1 "L'on pent dire qu'il [Washington] jouit de tous les + avantages possibles a l'exception des douceurs de + l'amitie."--Louis Otto, Charge d'Affaires (at New York) to + his government, 13 June, 1790. French Archives, vol. 35, No. + 32.--Editor. + +Soon after I was put into arrestation, and imprisoned in the Luxembourg, +the Americans who were then in Paris went in a body to the bar of the +Convention to reclaim me. They were answered by the then President +Vadier, who has since absconded, that _I was born in England_, and it +was signified to them, by some of the Committee of _General Surety_, to +whom they were referred (I have been told it was Billaud Varennes,) that +their reclamation of me was only the act of individuals, without any +authority from the American government. + +A few days after this, all communications from persons imprisoned to +any person without the prison was cut off by an order of the Police. I +neither saw, nor heard from, any body for six months; and the only hope +that remained to me was, that a new Minister would arrive from America +to supercede Morris, and that he would be authorized to enquire into +the cause of my imprisonment. But even this hope, in the state to which +matters were daily arriving, was too remote to have any consolatory +effect, and I contented myself with the thought, that I might be +remembered when it would be too late. There is perhaps no condition from +which a man conscious of his own uprightness cannot derive consolation; +for it is in itself a consolation for him to find, that he can bear that +condition with calmness and fortitude. + +From about the middle of March (1794) to the fall of Robespierre +July 29, (9th of Thermidor,) the state of things in the prisons was a +continued scene of horror. No man could count upon life for twenty-four +hours. To such a pitch of rage and suspicion were Robespierre and his +Committee arrived, that it seemed as if they feared to leave a man +living. Scarcely a night passed in which ten, twenty, thirty, forty, +fifty, or more, were not taken out of the prison, carried before a +pretended tribunal in the morning, and guillotined before night. One +hundred and sixty-nine were taken out of the Luxembourg one night, in +the month of July, and one hundred and sixty of them guillotined. A +list of two hundred more, according to the report in the prison, was +preparing a few days before Robespierre fell. In this last list I have +good reason to believe I was included. A memorandum in the hand-writing +of Robespierre was afterwards produced in the Convention, by the +committee to whom the papers of Robespierre were referred, in these +words: + + "Demander que Thomas "I Demand that Thomas Paine + "Payne soit decrete d'ac- be decreed of accusation + "cusation pour les inte- for the interests of America + "rotsde l'Amerique,autant as well as of France." + "que de la France." + + + 1 In reading this the Committee added, "Why Thomas Payne + more than another? Because He helped to establish the + liberty of both worlds."--_Editor_. + +I had then been imprisoned seven months, and the silence of the +Executive part of the government of America (Mr. Washington) upon the +case, and upon every thing respecting me, was explanation enough to +Robespierre that he might proceed to extremities. + +A violent fever which had nearly terminated my existence, was, I +believe, the circumstance that preserved it. I was not in a condition to +be removed, or to know of what was passing, or of what had passed, for +more than a month. It makes a blank in my remembrance of life. The first +thing I was informed of was the fall of Robespierre. + +About a week after this, Mr. Monroe arrived to supercede Gouverneur +Morris, and as soon as I was able to write a note legible enough to be +read, I found a way to convey one to him by means of the man who lighted +the lamps in the prison; and whose unabated friendship to me, from whom +he had never received any service, and with difficulty accepted any +recompense, puts the character of Mr. Washington to shame. + +In a few days I received a message from Mr. Monroe, conveyed to me in a +note from an intermediate person, with assurance of his friendship, and +expressing a desire that I would rest the case in his hands. After a +fortnight or more had passed, and hearing nothing farther, I wrote to a +friend who was then in Paris, a citizen of Philadelphia, requesting him +to inform me what was the true situation of things with respect to me. I +was sure that something was the matter; I began to have hard thoughts of +Mr. Washington, but I was unwilling to encourage them. + +In about ten days, I received an answer to my letter, in which the +writer says, "Mr. Monroe has told me that he has no order [meaning from +the President, Mr. Washington] respecting you, but that he (Mr. Monroe) +will do every thing in his power to liberate you; but, from what I learn +from the Americans lately arrived in Paris, you are not considered, +either by the American government, or by the individuals, as an American +citizen." + +I was now at no loss to understand Mr. Washington and his new fangled +faction, and that their policy was silently to leave me to fall in +France. They were rushing as fast as they could venture, without +awakening the jealousy of America, into all the vices and corruptions of +the British government; and it was no more consistent with the policy +of Mr. Washington, and those who immediately surrounded him, than it was +with that of Robespierre or of Pitt, that I should survive. They have, +however, missed the mark, and the reaction is upon themselves. + +Upon the receipt of the letter just alluded to, I sent a memorial to Mr. +Monroe, which the reader will find in the appendix, and I received from +him the following answer.(1) It is dated the 18th of September, but did +not come to hand till about the 4th of October. I was then failing into +a relapse, the weather was becoming damp and cold, fuel was not to be +had, and the abscess in my side, the consequence of these things, and +of the want of air and exercise, was beginning to form, and which has +continued immoveable ever since. Here follows Mr. Monroe's letter. + + 1 The appendix consisted of an abridgment of the Memorial, + which forms the preceding chapter (XXI.) in this volume.-- + _Editor._. + + +Paris, September 18th, 1794. "Dear Sir, + +"I was favoured soon after my arrival here with several letters from +you, and more latterly with one in the character of memorial upon the +subject of your confinement; and should have answered them at the +times they were respectively written had I not concluded you would have +calculated with certainty upon the deep interest I take in your welfare, +and the pleasure with which I shall embrace every opportunity in my +power to serve you. I should still pursue the same course, and for +reasons which must obviously occur, if I did not find that you are +disquieted with apprehensions upon interesting points, and which justice +to you and our country equally forbid you should entertain. You mention +that you have been informed you are not considered as an American +citizen by the Americans, and that you have likewise heard that I had +no instructions respecting you by the government. I doubt not the person +who gave you the information meant well, but I suspect he did not even +convey accurately his own ideas on the first point: for I presume the +most he could say is, that you had likewise become a French citizen, +and which by no means deprived you of being an American one. Even +this, however, may be doubted, I mean the acquisition of citizenship in +France, and I confess you have said much to show that it has not been +made. I really suspect that this was all that the gentleman who wrote +to you, and those Americans he heard speak upon the subject meant. It +becomes my duty, however, to declare to you, that I consider you as +an American citizen, and that you are considered universally in that +character by the people of America. As such you are entitled to my +attention; and so far as it can be given consistently with those +obligations which are mutual between every government and even a +transient passenger, you shall receive it. + +"The Congress have never decided upon the subject of citizenship in +a manner to regard the present case. By being with us through the +revolution you are of our country as absolutely as if you had been born +there, and you are no more of England, than every native American is. +This is the true doctrine in the present case, so far as it becomes +complicated with any other consideration. I have mentioned it to make +you easy upon the only point which could give you any disquietude. + +"Is it necessary for me to tell you how much all your countrymen, I +speak of the great mass of the people, are interested in your welfare? +They have not forgotten the history of their own revolution and the +difficult scenes through which they passed; nor do they review its +several stages without reviving in their bosoms a due sensibility of the +merits of those who served them in that great and arduous conflict. The +crime of ingratitude has not yet stained, and I trust never will stain, +our national character. You are considered by them as not only having +rendered important service in our own revolution, but as being, on a +more extensive scale, the friend of human rights, and a distinguished +and able advocate in favour of public liberty. To the welfare of Thomas +Paine, the Americans are not, nor can they be, indifferent. + +"Of the sense which the President has always entertained of your merits, +and of his friendly disposition towards you, you are too well assured +to require any declaration of it from me. That I forward his wishes +in seeking your safety is what I well know, and this will form an +additional obligation on me to perform what I should otherwise consider +as a duty. + +"You are, in my opinion, at present menaced by no kind of danger. +To liberate you, will be an object of my endeavours, and as soon as +possible. But you must, until that event shall be accomplished, bear +your situation with patience and fortitude. You will likewise have the +justice to recollect, that I am placed here upon a difficult theatre* +many important objects to attend to, with few to consult It becomes me +in pursuit of those to regulate my conduct in respect to each, as to +the manner and the time, as will, in my judgment, be best calculated to +accomplish the whole. + +"With great esteem and respect consider me personally your friend, + +"James Monroe." + + +The part in Mr. Monroe's letter, in which he speaks of the President, +(Mr. Washington,) is put in soft language. Mr. Monroe knew what Mr. +Washington had said formerly, and he was willing to keep that in view. +But the fact is, not only that Mr. Washington had given no orders to Mr. +Monroe, as the letter [of Whiteside] stated, but he did not so much as +say to him, enquire if Mr. Paine be dead or alive, in prison or out, or +see if there be any assistance we can give him. + + This I presume alludes to the embarrassments which the + strange conduct of Gouverneur Morris had occasioned, and + which, I well know, had created suspicions of the sincerity + of Mr. Washington.--_Author_. voi. m--ij + +While these matters were passing, the liberations from the prisons were +numerous; from twenty to forty in the course of almost every twenty-four +hours. The continuance of my imprisonment after a new Minister had +arrived immediately from America, which was now more than two months, +was a matter so obviously strange, that I found the character of the +American government spoken of in very unqualified terms of reproach; +not only by those who still remained in prison, but by those who were +liberated, and by persons who had access to the prison from without. +Under these circumstances I wrote again to Mr. Monroe, and found +occasion, among other things, to say: "It will not add to the popularity +of Mr. Washington to have it believed in America, as it is believed +here, that he connives at my imprisonment." + +The case, so far as it respected Mr. Monroe, was, that having to get +over the difficulties, which the strange conduct of Gouverneur Morris +had thrown in the way of a successor, and having no authority from the +American government to speak officially upon any thing relating to me, +he found himself obliged to proceed by unofficial means with individual +members; for though Robespierre was overthrown, the Robespierrian +members of the Committee of Public Safety still remained in considerable +force, and had they found out that Mr. Monroe had no official authority +upon the case, they would have paid little or no regard to his +reclamation of me. In the mean time my health was suffering exceedingly, +the dreary prospect of winter was coming on, and imprisonment was still +a thing of danger. After the Robespierrian members of the Committee were +removed by the expiration of their time of serving, Mr. Monroe reclaimed +me, and I was liberated the 4th of November. Mr. Monroe arrived in Paris +the beginning of August before. All that period of my imprisonment, +at least, I owe not to Robespierre, but to his colleague in projects, +George Washington. Immediately upon my liberation, Mr. Monroe invited me +to his house, where I remained more than a year and a half; and I speak +of his aid and friendship, as an open-hearted man will always do in such +a case, with respect and gratitude. + +Soon after my liberation, the Convention passed an unanimous vote, +to invite me to return to my seat among them. The times were still +unsettled and dangerous, as well from without as within, for the +coalition was unbroken, and the constitution not settled. I chose, +however, to accept the invitation: for as I undertake nothing but what +I believe to be right, I abandon nothing that I undertake; and I +was willing also to shew, that, as I was not of a cast of mind to be +deterred by prospects or retrospects of danger, so neither were my +principles to be weakened by misfortune or perverted by disgust. + +Being now once more abroad in the world, I began to find that I was +not the only one who had conceived an unfavourable opinion of Mr. +Washington; it was evident that his character was on the decline as well +among Americans as among foreigners of different nations. From being the +chief of the government, he had made himself the chief of a party; +and his integrity was questioned, for his politics had a doubtful +appearance. The mission of Mr. Jay to London, notwithstanding there +was an American Minister there already, had then taken place, and was +beginning to be talked of. It appeared to others, as it did to me, to +be enveloped in mystery, which every day served either to increase or to +explain into matter of suspicion. + +In the year 1790, or about that time, Mr. Washington, as President, +had sent Gouverneur Morris to London, as his secret agent to have some +communication with the British Ministry. To cover the agency of Morris +it was given out, I know not by whom, that he went as an agent from +Robert Morris to borrow money in Europe, and the report was permitted +to pass uncontradicted. The event of Morris's negociation was, that Mr. +Hammond was sent Minister from England to America, Pinckney from +America to England, and himself Minister to France. If, while Morris was +Minister in France, he was not a emissary of the British Ministry and +the coalesced powers, he gave strong reasons to suspect him of it. No +one who saw his conduct, and heard his conversation, could doubt his +being in their interest; and had he not got off the time he did, after +his recall, he would have been in arrestation. Some letters of his had +fallen into the hands of the Committee of Public Safety, and enquiry was +making after him. + +A great bustle had been made by Mr. Washington about the conduct of +Genet in America, while that of his own Minister, Morris, in France, was +infinitely more reproachable. If Genet was imprudent or rash, he was not +treacherous; but Morris was all three. He was the enemy of the French +revolution, in every stage of it. But notwithstanding this conduct +on the part of Morris, and the known profligacy of his character, Mr. +Washington in a letter he wrote to him at the time of recalling him on +the complaint and request of the Committee of Public Safety, assures +him, that though he had complied with that request, he still retained +the same esteem and friendship for him as before. This letter Morris was +foolish enough to tell of; and, as his own char-acter and conduct were +notorious, the telling of it could have but one effect, which was that +of implicating the character of the writer.(1) Morris still loiters +in Europe, chiefly in England; and Mr. Washington is still in +correspondence with him. Mr. Washington ought, therefore, to expect, +especially since his conduct in the affairs of Jay's treaty, that France +must consider Morris and Washington as men of the same description. The +chief difference, however, between the two is, (for in politics there +is none,) that the one is profligate enough to profess an indifference +about _moral_ principles, and the other is prudent enough to conceal the +want of them. + + 1 Washington wrote to Morris, June 19,1794, "my confidence + in and friendship for you remain undiminished." It was not + "foolish" but sagacious to show this one sentence, without + which Morris might not have escaped out of France. The + letter reveals Washington's mental decline. He says "until + then [Fauchet's demand for recall of Morris, early 1794] I + had supposed you stood well with the powers that were." + Lafayette had pleaded for Morris's removal, and two French + Ministers before Fauchet, Ternant and Genet, had expressed + their Government's dissatisfaction with him. See Ford's + Writings of Washington, vii., p. 453; also Editor's + Introduction to XXI.--_Editor._ + +About three months after I was at liberty, the official note of Jay +to Grenville on the subject of the capture of American vessels by the +British cruisers, appeared in the American papers that arrived at Paris. +Every thing was of a-piece. Every thing was mean. The same kind of +character went to all circumstances public or private. Disgusted at +this national degradation, as well as at the particular conduct of Mr. +Washington to me, I wrote to him (Mr. Washington) on the 22d of February +(1795) under cover to the then Secretary of State, (Mr. Randolph,) and +entrusted the letter to Mr. Le-tombe, who was appointed French consul +to Philadelphia, and was on the point of taking his departure. When I +supposed Mr. Letombe had sailed, I mentioned the letter to Mr. Monroe, +and as I was then in his house, I shewed it to him. He expressed a +wish that I would recall it, which he supposed might be done, as he had +learnt that Mr. Letombe had not then sailed. I agreed to do so, and it +was returned by Mr. Letombe under cover to Mr. Monroe. + +The letter, however, will now reach Mr. Washington publicly in the +course of this work. + +About the month of September following, I had a severe relapse which +gave occasion to the report of my death. I had felt it coming on a +considerable time before, which occasioned me to hasten the work I +had then in hand, the _Second part of the Age of Reason_. When I had +finished that work, I bestowed another letter on Mr. Washington, which I +sent under cover to Mr. Benj. Franklin Bache of Philadelphia. The letter +is as follows: + + +"Paris, September 20th, 1795. + +"Sir, + +"I had written you a letter by Mr. Letombe, French consul, but, at the +request of Mr. Monroe, I withdrew it, and the letter is still by me. +I was the more easily prevailed upon to do this, as it was then my +intention to have returned to America the latter end of the present +year, 1795; but the illness I now suffer prevents me. In case I had +come, I should have applied to you for such parts of your official +letters (and of your private ones, if you had chosen to give them) as +contained any instructions or directions either to Mr. Monroe, or to +Mr. Morris, or to any other person respecting me; for after you were +informed of my imprisonment in France, it was incumbent on you to have +made some enquiry into the cause, as you might very well conclude that I +had not the opportunity of informing you of it. I cannot understand your +silence upon this subject upon any other ground, than as _connivance_ at +my imprisonment; and this is the manner it is understood here, and will +be understood in America, unless you give me authority for contradicting +it. I therefore write you this letter, to propose to you to send me +copies of any letters you have written, that may remove that suspicion. +In the preface to the second part of the Age of Reason, I have given a +memorandum from the hand-writing of Robespierre, in which he proposed a +decree of accusation against me, '_for the interests of America as well +as of France!_' He could have no cause for putting America in the +case, but by interpreting the silence of the American government into +connivance and consent. I was imprisoned on the ground of being born +in England; and your silence in not enquiring into the cause of that +imprisonment, and reclaiming me against it, was tacitly giving me up. I +ought not to have suspected you of treachery; but whether I recover +from the illness I now suffer or not, I shall continue to think you +treacherous, till you give me cause to think otherwise. I am sure you +would have found yourself more at your ease, had you acted by me as +you ought; for whether your desertion of me was intended to gratify the +English Government, or to let me fall into destruction in France that +you might exclaim the louder against the French Revolution, or whether +you hoped by my extinction to meet with less opposition in mounting up +the American government--either of these will involve you in reproach +you will not easily shake off. + +"THOMAS Paine." + + 1 Washington Papers in State Department. Endorsed by Bache: + "Jan. 18, 1796. Enclosed to Benj. Franklin Bache, and by him + forwarded immediately upon receipt."--_Editor._. + +Here follows the letter above alluded to, which I had stopped in +complaisance to Mr. Monroe. + + +"Paris, February aad, 1795. + +"Sir, + +"As it is always painful to reproach those one would wish to respect, it +is not without some difficulty that I have taken the resolution to +write to you. The dangers to which I have been exposed cannot have been +unknown to you, and the guarded silence you have observed upon that +circumstance is what I ought not to have expected from you, either as a +friend or as President of the United States. + +"You knew enough of my character to be assured that I could not have +deserved imprisonment in France; and, without knowing any thing more +than this, you had sufficient ground to have taken some interest for my +safety. Every motive arising from recollection of times past, ought to +have suggested to you the propriety of such a measure. But I cannot find +that you have so much as directed any enquiry to be made whether I +was in prison or at liberty, dead or alive; what the cause of that +imprisonment was, or whether there was any service or assistance you +could render. Is this what I ought to have expected from America, after +the part I had acted towards her, or will it redound to her honour or +to yours, that I tell the story? I do not hesitate to say, that you have +not served America with more disinterestedness, or greater zeal, or more +fidelity, than myself, and I know not if with better effect. After the +revolution of America was established I ventured into new scenes +of difficulties to extend the principles which that revolution had +produced, and you rested at home to partake of the advantages. In the +progress of events, you beheld yourself a President in America, and me a +prisoner in France. You folded your arms, forgot your friend, and became +silent. + +"As every thing I have been doing in Europe was connected with my wishes +for the prosperity of America, I ought to be the more surprised at this +conduct on the part of her government. It leaves me but one mode of +explanation, which is, _that every thing is not as it ought to be +amongst you_, and that the presence of a man who might disapprove, and +who had credit enough with the country to be heard and believed, was not +wished for. This was the operating motive with the despotic faction +that imprisoned me in France, (though the pretence was, that I was a +foreigner,) and those that have been silent and inactive towards me +in America, appear to me to have acted from the same motive. It is +impossible for me to discover any other.(1) + +"After the part I have taken in the revolution of America, it is +natural that I feel interested in whatever relates to her character +and prosperity. Though I am not on the spot to see what is immediately +acting there, I see some part of what she is acting in Europe. For +your own sake, as well as for that of America, I was both surprised +and concerned at the appointment of Gouverneur Morris to be Minister +to France. His conduct has proved that the opinion I had formed of that +appointment was well founded. I wrote that opinion to Mr. Jefferson at +the time, and I was frank enough to say the same thing to Morris--_that +it was an unfortunate appointment?_ His prating, insignificant +pomposity, rendered him at once offensive, suspected, and ridiculous; +and his total neglect of all business had so disgusted the Americans, +that they proposed drawing up a protest against him. He carried this +neglect to such an extreme, that it was necessary to inform him of it; +and I asked him one day, if he did not feel himself ashamed to take the +money of the country, and do nothing for it?' But Morris is so fond of +profit and voluptousness, that he cares nothing about character. Had +he not been removed at the time he was, I think his conduct would have +precipitated the two countries into a rupture; and in this case, +hated _systematically_ as America is and ever will be by the British +government, and at the same time suspected by France, the commerce of +America would have fallen a prey to both countries. + + 1 This paragraph of the original letter was omitted from the + American pamphlet, probably by the prudence of Mr. Bache.-- + _Editor._ + + 2 "I have just heard of Gouverneur Morris's appointment. It + is a most unfortunate one; and, as I shall mention the same + thing to him when I see him, I do not express it to you with + the injunction of confidence."--Paine to Jefferson, Feb. + 13,1792.--_Editor._ + + 3 Paine could not of course know that Morris was willing + that the Americans, to whom he alludes, captains of captured + vessels, should suffer, in order that there might be a case + against France of violation of treaty, which would leave the + United States free to transfer the alliance to England. See + Introduction to XXI.. also my "Life of Paine," ii., p. + 83.--_Editor._. + +"If the inconsistent conduct of Morris exposed the interest of America +to some hazard in France, the pusillanimous conduct of Mr. Jay in +England has rendered the American government contemptible in Europe. +Is it possible that any man who has contributed to the independence of +Amer-ica, and to free her from the tyranny and injustice of the British +government, can read without shame and indignation the note of Jay to +Grenville? It is a satire upon the declaration of Independence, and an +encouragement to the British government to treat America with contempt. +At the time this Minister of Petitions was acting this miserable part, +he had every means in his hands to enable him to have done his business +as he ought. The success or failure of his mission depended upon the +success or failure of the French arms. Had France failed, Mr. Jay might +have put his humble petition in his pocket, and gone home. The case +happened to be otherwise, and he has sacrificed the honour and perhaps +all the advantages of it, by turning petitioner. I take it for granted, +that he was sent over to demand indemnification for the captured +property; and, in this case, if he thought he wanted a preamble to his +demand, he might have said, + +'That, tho' the government of England might suppose itself under +the necessity of seizing American property bound to France, yet +that supposed necessity could not preclude indemnification to the +proprietors, who, acting under the authority of their own government, +were not accountable to any other.' + +"But Mr. Jay sets out with an implied recognition of the right of the +British government to seize and condemn: for he enters his complaint +against the _irregularity_ of the seizures and the condemnation, as if +they were reprehensible only by not being _conformable_ to the _terms_ +of the proclamation under which they were seized. Instead of being the +Envoy of a government, he goes over like a lawyer to demand a new trial. +I can hardly help thinking that Grenville wrote that note himself and +Jay signed it; for the style of it is domestic and not diplomatic. +The term, _His_ Majesty, used without any descriptive epithet, always +signifies the King whom the Minister that speaks represents. If this +sinking of the demand into a petition was a juggle between Grenville +and Jay, to cover the indemnification, I think it will end in another +juggle, that of never paying the money, and be made use of afterwards to +preclude the right of demanding it: for Mr. Jay has virtually disowned +the right _by appealing to the magnanimity of his Majesty against the +capturers_. He has made this magnanimous Majesty the umpire in the case, +and the government of the United States must abide by the decision. If, +Sir, I turn some part of this business into ridicule, it is to avoid the +unpleasant sensation of serious indignation. + +"Among other things which I confess I do not understand, is the +proclamation of neutrality. This has always appeared to me as +an assumption on the part of the executive not warranted by the +Constitution. But passing this over, as a disputable case, and +considering it only as political, the consequence has been that of +sustaining the losses of war, without the balance of reprisals. When +the profession of neutrality, on the part of America, was answered by +hostilities on the part of Britain, the object and intention of that +neutrality existed no longer; and to maintain it after this, was not +only to encourage farther insults and depredations, but was an informal +breach of neutrality towards France, by passively contributing to the +aid of her enemy. That the government of England considered the American +government as pusillanimous, is evident from the encreasing insolence of +the conduct of the former towards the latter, till the affair of General +Wayne. She then saw that it might be possible to kick a government into +some degree of spirit.(1) So far as the proclamation of neutrality was +intended to prevent a dissolute spirit of privateering in America under +foreign colors, it was undoubtedly laudable; but to continue it as a +government neutrality, after the commerce of America was made war upon, +was submission and not neutrality. I have heard so much about this thing +called neutrality, that I know not if the ungenerous and dishonorable +silence (for I must call it such,) that has been observed by your part +of the government towards me, during my imprisonment, has not in some +measure arisen from that policy. + + 1 Wayne's success against the Indians of the Six Nations, + 1794, was regarded by Washington also as a check on England. + Writing to Pendleton, Jan. 22, 1795, he says: "There is + reason to believe that the Indians...._together with their + abettors_; begin to see things in a different point of + view." (Italics mine).--_Editor._ + +"Tho' I have written you this letter, you ought not to suppose it has +been an agreeable undertaking to me. On the contrary, I assure you, it +has caused me some disquietude. I am sorry you have given me cause to +do it; for, as I have always remembered your former friendship with +pleasure, I suffer a loss by your depriving me of that sentiment. + +"Thomas Paine." + + +That this letter was not written in very good temper, is very evident; +but it was just such a letter as his conduct appeared to me to merit, +and every thing on his part since has served to confirm that +opinion. Had I wanted a commentary on his silence, with respect to my +imprisonment in France, some of his faction have furnished me with it. +What I here allude to, is a publication in a Philadelphia paper, copied +afterwards into a New York paper, both under the patronage of the +Washington faction, in which the writer, still supposing me in prison +in France, wonders at my lengthy respite from the scaffold; and he marks +his politics still farther, by saying: + +"It appears, moreover, that the people of England did not relish his +(Thomas Paine's) opinions quite so well as he expected, and that for one +of his last pieces, as destructive to the peace and happiness of their +country, (meaning, I suppose, the _Rights of Man_,) they threatened +our knight-errant with such serious vengeance, that, to avoid a trip to +Botany Bay, he fled over to France, as a less dangerous voyage." + +I am not refuting or contradicting the falsehood of this publication, +for it is sufficiently notorious; neither am I censuring the writer: on +the contrary, I thank him for the explanation he has incautiously given +of the principles of the Washington faction. Insignificant, however, as +the piece is, it was capable of having some ill effects, had it arrived +in France during my imprisonment, and in the time of Robespierre; and I +am not uncharitable in supposing that this was one of the intentions of +the writer.(*) + + * I know not who the writer of the piece is, but some of the + Americans say it is Phineas Bond, an American refugee, but + now a British consul; and that he writes under the + signature of Peter Skunk or Peter Porcupine, or some such + signature.--Author. + + This footnote probably added to the gall of Porcupine's + (Cobbett's) "Letter to the Infamous Tom Paine, in Answer to + his Letter to General Washington" (Polit. Censor, Dec., + 1796), of which he (Cobbett) afterwards repented. Phineas + Bond had nothing to do with it.--Editor. + +I have now done with Mr. Washington on the score of private affairs. It +would have been far more agreeable to me, had his conduct been such as +not to have merited these reproaches. Errors or caprices of the temper +can be pardoned and forgotten; but a cold deliberate crime of the heart, +such as Mr. Washington is capable of acting, is not to be washed away. I +now proceed to other matter. + +After Jay's note to Grenville arrived in Paris from America, the +character of every thing that was to follow might be easily foreseen; +and it was upon this anticipation that _my_ letter of February the 22d +was founded. The event has proved that I was not mistaken, except that +it has been much worse than I expected. + +It would naturally occur to Mr. Washington, that the secrecy of Jay's +mission to England, where there was already an American Minister, could +not but create some suspicion in the French government; especially +as the conduct of Morris had been notorious, and the intimacy of Mr. +Washington with Morris was known. + +The character which Mr. Washington has attempted to act in the world, is +a sort of non-describable, camelion-colored thing, called _prudence_. It +is, in many cases, a substitute for principle, and is so nearly allied +to hypocrisy that it easily slides into it. His genius for prudence +furnished him in this instance with an expedient that served, as is +the natural and general character of all expedients, to diminish the +embarrassments of the moment and multiply them afterwards; for +he authorized it to be made known to the French government, as a +confidential matter, (Mr. Washington should recollect that I was a +member of the Convention, and had the means of knowing what I here +state) he authorized it, I say, to be announced, and that for the +purpose of preventing any uneasiness to France on the score of Mr. Jay's +mission to England, that the object of that mission, and of Mr. Jay's +authority, was restricted to that of demanding the surrender of the +western posts, and indemnification for the cargoes captured in American +vessels. Mr. Washington knows that this was untrue; and knowing this, +he had good reason to himself for refusing to furnish the House of +Representatives with copies of the instructions given to Jay, as he +might suspect, among other things, that he should also be called upon +for copies of instructions given to other Ministers, and that, in +the contradiction of instructions, his want of integrity would be +detected.(1) Mr. Washington may now, perhaps, learn, when it is too late +to be of any use to him, that a man will pass better through the world +with a thousand open errors upon his back, than in being detected in +_one_ sly falsehood. When one is detected, a thousand are suspected. + +The first account that arrived in Paris of a treaty being negotiated by +Mr. Jay, (for nobody suspected any,) came in an English newspaper, which +announced that a treaty _offensive and defensive_ had been concluded +between the United States of America and England. This was immediately +denied by every American in Paris, as an impossible thing; and though +it was disbelieved by the French, it imprinted a suspicion that some +underhand business was going forward.(*) At length the treaty itself +arrived, and every well-affected American blushed with shame. + + 1 When the British treaty had been ratified by the Senate + (with one stipulation) and signed by the President, the + House of Representatives, required to supply the means for + carrying into effect, believed that its power over the + supplies authorized it to check what a large majority + considered an outrage on the country and on France. This was + the opinion of Edmund Randolph (the first Attorney General), + of Jefferson, Madison, and other eminent men. The House + having respectfully requested the President to send them + such papers on the treaty as would not affect any existing + negotiations, he refused in a message (March 30, 1796), + whose tenor Madison described as "improper and indelicate." + He said "the assent of the House of Representatives is not + necessary to the validity of a treaty." The House regarded + the message as menacing a serious conflict, and receded.-- + _Editor._ + + * It was the embarrassment into which the affairs and credit + of America were thrown at this instant by the report above + alluded to, that made it necessary to contradict it, and + that by every means arising from opinion or founded upon + authority. The Committee of Public Safety, existing at that + time, had agreed to the full execution, on their part, of + the treaty between America and France, notwithstanding some + equivocal conduct on the part of the American government, + not very consistent with the good faith of an ally; but they + were not in a disposition to be imposed upon by a counter- + treaty. That Jay had no instructions beyond the points above + stated, or none that could possibly be construed to extend + to the length the British treaty goes, was a matter believed + in America, in England, and in France; and without going to + any other source it followed naturally from the message of + the President to Congress, when he nominated Jay upon that + mission. The secretary of Mr. Jay came to Paris soon after + the treaty with England had been concluded, and brought with + him a copy of Mr. Jay's instructions, which he offered to + shew to me as _justification of Jay_. I advised him, as a + friend, not to shew them to anybody, and did not permit him + to shew them to me. "Who is it," said I to him, "that you + intend to implicate as censureable by shewing those + instructions? Perhaps that implication may fall upon your + own government." Though I did not see the instructions, I + could not be at a loss to understand that the American + administration had been playing a double game.--Author. + + That there was a "double game" in this business, from first + to last, is now a fact of history. Jay was confirmed by the + Senate on a declaration of the President in which no + faintest hint of a treaty was given, but only the + "adjustment of our complaints," "vindication of our rights," + and cultivation of "peace." Only after the Envoy's + confirmation did the Cabinet add the main thing, his + authority to negotiate a commercial treaty. This was done + against the protest of the only lawyer among them, Edmund + Randolph, Secretary of State, who said the exercise of such + a power by Jay would be an abridgment of the rights of the + Senate and of the nation. See my "Life of Randolph," p. 220. + For Jay's Instructions, etc., see I. Am. State Papers, + Foreign Relations.--Editor. + +It is curious to observe, how the appearance of characters will change, +whilst the root that produces them remains the same. The Washington +faction having waded through the slough of negociation, and whilst it +amused France with professions of friendship contrived to injure her, +immediately throws off the hypocrite, and assumes the swaggering air of +a bravado. The party papers of that imbecile administration were on +this occasion filled with paragraphs about _Sovereignty_. A paltroon may +boast of his sovereign right to let another kick him, and this is the +only kind of sovereignty shewn in the treaty with England. But those +daring paragraphs, as Timothy Pickering(1) well knows, were intended +for France; without whose assistance, in men, money, and ships, Mr. +Washington would have cut but a poor figure in the American war. But of +his military talents I shall speak hereafter. + +I mean not to enter into any discussion of any article of Jay's treaty; +I shall speak only upon the whole of it. It is attempted to be justified +on the ground of its not being a violation of any article or articles +of the treaty pre-existing with France. But the sovereign right of +explanation does not lie with George Washington and his man Timothy; +France, on her part, has, at least, an equal right: and when nations +dispute, it is not so much about words as about things. + +A man, such as the world calls a sharper, and versed as Jay must be +supposed to be in the quibbles of the law, may find a way to enter into +engagements, and make bargains, in such a manner as to cheat some other +party, without that party being able, as the phrase is, _to take the law +of him_. This often happens in the cabalistical circle of what is called +law. But when this is attempted to be acted on the national scale of +treaties, it is too despicable to be defended, or to be permitted to +exist. Yet this is the trick upon which Jay's treaty is founded, so +far as it has relation to the treaty pre-existing with France. It is a +counter-treaty to that treaty, and perverts all the great articles of +that treaty to the injury of France, and makes them operate as a bounty +to England, with whom France is at war. + + 1 Secretary of State.--_Editor._. + +The Washington administration shews great desire that the treaty between +France and the United States be preserved. Nobody can doubt their +sincerity upon this matter. There is not a British Minister, a British +merchant, or a British agent or sailor in America, that does not +anxiously wish the same thing. The treaty with France serves now as +a passport to supply England with naval stores and other articles of +American produce, whilst the same articles, when coming to France, are +made contraband or seizable by Jay's treaty with England. The treaty +with France says, that neutral ships make neutral property, and thereby +gives protection to English property on board American ships; and Jay's +treaty delivers up French property on board American ships to be seized +by the English. It is too paltry to talk of faith, of national honour, +and of the preservation of treaties, whilst such a bare-faced treachery +as this stares the world in the face. + +The Washington administration may save itself the trouble of proving to +the French government its _most faithful_ intentions of preserving +the treaty with France; for France has now no desire that it should be +preserved. She had nominated an Envoy extraordinary to America, to make +Mr. Washington and his government a present of the treaty, and to +have no more to do with _that_, or with _him_. It was at the same time +officially declared to the American Minister at Paris, _that the French +Republic had rather have the American government for an open enemy +than a treacherous friend_. This, sir, together with the internal +distractions caused in America, and the loss of character in the world, +is the _eventful crisis_, alluded to in the beginning of this letter, to +which your double politics have brought the affairs of your country. It +is time that the eyes of America be opened upon you. + +How France would have conducted herself towards America and American +commerce, after all treaty stipulations had ceased, and under the sense +of services rendered and injuries received, I know not. It is, however, +an unpleasant reflection, that in all national quarrels, the innocent, +and even the friendly part of the community, become involved with the +culpable and the unfriendly; and as the accounts that arrived from +America continued to manifest an invariable attachment in the general +mass of the people to their original ally, in opposition to the +new-fangled Washington faction,--the resolutions that had been taken +in France were suspended. It happened also, fortunately enough, that +Gouverneur Morris was not Minister at this time. + +There is, however, one point that still remains in embryo, and +which, among other things, serves to shew the ignorance of Washington +treaty-makers, and their inattention to preexisting treaties, when they +were employing themselves in framing or ratifying the new treaty with +England. + +The second article of the treaty of commerce between the United States +and France says: + +"The most christian king and the United States engage mutually, not to +grant any particular favour to other nations in respect of commerce and +navigation that shall not immediately become common to the other party, +who shall enjoy the same favour freely, if the concession was freely +made, or on allowing the same compensation if the concession was +conditional." + +All the concessions, therefore, made to England by Jay's treaty are, +through the medium of this second article in the pre-existing treaty, +made to France, and become engrafted into the treaty with France, and +can be exercised by her as a matter of right, the same as by England. + +Jay's treaty makes a concession to England, and that unconditionally, +of seizing naval stores in American ships, and condemning them as +contraband. It makes also a concession to England to seize provisions +and _other articles_ in American ships. _Other articles are all other +articles_, and none but an ignoramus, or something worse, would have put +such a phrase into a treaty. The condition annexed in this case is, that +the provisions and other articles so seized, are to be paid for at a +price to be agreed upon. Mr. Washington, as President, ratified +this treaty after he knew the British Government had recommended an +indiscriminate seizure of provisions and all other articles in American +ships; and it is now known that those seizures were made to fit out the +expedition going to Quiberon Bay, and it was known before hand that they +would be made. The evidence goes also a good way to prove that Jay and +Grenville understood each other upon that subject. Mr. Pinckney,(1) +when he passed through France on his way to Spain, spoke of the +recommencement of the seizures as a thing that would take place. + + 1 Gen. Thomas Pinckney, U. S. Minister to England.-- + _Editor._ + +The French government had by some means received information from London +to the same purpose, with the addition, that the recommencement of +the seizures would cause no misunderstanding between the British and +American governments. Grenville, in defending himself against the +opposition in Parliament, on account of the scarcity of corn, said (see +his speech at the opening of the Parliament that met October 29, 1795) +that _the supplies for the Quiberon expedition were furnished out of the +American ships_, and all the accounts received at that time from +England stated that those seizures were made under the treaty. After the +supplies for the Quiberon expedition had been procured, and the expected +success had failed, the seizures were countermanded; and had the French +seized provision vessels going to England, it is probable that the +Quiberon expedition could not have been attempted. + +In one point of view, the treaty with England operates as a loan to +the English government. It gives permission to that government to take +American property at sea, to any amount, and pay for it when it suits +her; and besides this, the treaty is in every point of view a surrender +of the rights of American commerce and navigation, and a refusal to +France of the rights of neutrality. The American flag is not now a +neutral flag to France; Jay's treaty of surrender gives a monopoly of it +to England. + +On the contrary, the treaty of commerce between America and France +was formed on the most liberal principles, and calculated to give the +greatest encouragement to the infant commerce of America. France was +neither a carrier nor an exporter of naval stores or of provisions. +Those articles belonged wholly to America, and they had all the +protection in that treaty which a treaty could give. But so much has +that treaty been perverted, that the liberality of it on the part +of France, has served to encourage Jay to form a counter-treaty with +England; for he must have supposed the hands of France tied up by her +treaty with America, when he was making such large concessions in favour +of England. The injury which Mr. Washington's administration has done to +the character as well as to the commerce of America, is too great to be +repaired by him. Foreign nations will be shy of making treaties with +a government that has given the faithless example of perverting the +liberality of a former treaty to the injury of the party with whom it +was made.(1) + + 1 For an analysis of the British Treaty see Wharton's + "Digest of the International Law of the United States," vol. + it, Sec. 150 a. Paine's analysis is perfectly correct.-- + _Editor._. + +In what a fraudulent light must Mr. Washington's character appear in the +world, when his declarations and his conduct are compared together! Here +follows the letter he wrote to the Committee of Public Safety, while Jay +was negotiating in profound secrecy this treacherous treaty: + +"George Washington, President of the United States of America, to the +Representatives of the French people, members of the Committee of Public +Safety of the French Republic, the great and good friend and ally of the +United States. + +"On the intimation of the wish of the French republic that a new +Minister should be sent from the United States, I resolved to manifest +my sense of the readiness with which _my_ request was fulfilled, [that +of recalling Genet,] by immediately fulfilling the request of your +government, [that of recalling Morris]. + +"It was some time before a character could be obtained, worthy of the +high office of expressing the attachment of the United States to +the happiness of our allies, _and drawing closer the bonds of our +friendship_. I have now made choice of James Monroe, one of our +distinguished citizens, to reside near the French republic, in quality +of Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America. He is +instructed to bear to you our _sincere solicitude for your welfare, and +to cultivate with teal the cordiality so happily subsisting between +us_. From a knowledge of his fidelity, probity, and good conduct, I have +entire confidence that he will render himself acceptable to you, +and give effect to your desire of preserving and _advancing, on all +occasions, the interest and connection of the two nations_. I beseech +you, therefore, to give full credence to whatever he shall say to you +on the part of the United States, and _most of all, when he shall assure +you that your prosperity is an object of our affection_. + +"And I pray God to have the French Republic in his holy keeping. + +"G. Washington." + + +Was it by entering into a treaty with England to surrender French +property on board American ships to be seized by the English, while +English property on board American ships was declared by the French +treaty not to be seizable, _that the bonds of friendship between America +and France were to be drawn the closer?_ Was it by declaring naval +stores contraband when coming to France, whilst by the French treaty +they were not contraband when going to England, that the _connection +between France and America was to be advanced?_ Was it by opening the +American ports to the British navy in the present war, from which ports +the same navy had been expelled by the aid solicited from France in the +American war (and that aid gratuitously given) (2) that the gratitude +of America was to be shewn, and the _solicitude_ spoken of in the letter +demonstrated? + + 1 The italics are Paine's. Paine's free use of this document + suggests that he possessed the confidence of the French + Directory.--_Editor._ + + 2 It is notable that Paine adheres to his old contention in + his controversy with Deane. See vol. i., ch. aa of this work; + and vol. i., ch. 9 of my "Life of Paine."--_Editor._. + +As the letter was addressed to the Committee of Public Safety, Mr. +Washington did not expect it would get abroad in the world, or be seen +by any other eye than that of Robespierre, or be heard by any other ear +than that of the Committee; that it would pass as a whisper across the +Atlantic, from one dark chamber to the other, and there terminate. It +was calculated to remove from the mind of the Committee all suspicion +upon Jay's mission to England, and, in this point of view, it was suited +to the circumstances of the movement then passing; but as the event +of that mission has proved the letter to be hypocritical, it serves no +other purpose of the present moment than to shew that the writer is +not to be credited. Two circumstances serve to make the reading of the +letter necessary in the Convention. The one was, that they who succeeded +on the fall of Robespierre, found it most proper to act with publicity; +the other, to extinguish the suspicions which the strange conduct of +Morris had occasioned in France. + +When the British treaty, and the ratification of it by Mr. Washington, +was known in France, all further declarations from him of his good +disposition as an ally and friend, passed for so many cyphers; but still +it appeared necessary to him to keep up the farce of declarations. It +is stipulated in the British treaty, that commissioners are to report +at the end of two years, on the case of _neutral ships making neutral +property_. In the mean time, neutral ships do _not_ make neutral +property, according to the British treaty, and they _do_ according to +the French treaty. The preservation, therefore, of the French treaty +became of great importance to England, as by that means she can employ +American ships as carriers, whilst the same advantage is denied to +France. Whether the French treaty could exist as a matter of right after +this clandestine perversion of it, could not but give some apprehensions +to the partizans of the British treaty, and it became necessary to them +to make up, by fine words, what was wanting in good actions. + +An opportunity offered to that purpose. The Convention, on the public +reception of Mr. Monroe, ordered the American flag and the French flags +to be displayed unitedly in the hall of the Convention. Mr. Monroe made +a present of an American flag for the purpose. The Convention returned +this compliment by sending a French flag to America, to be presented by +their Minister, Mr. Adet, to the American government. This resolution +passed long before Jay's treaty was known or suspected: it passed in +the days of confidence; but the flag was not presented by Mr. Adet till +several months after the treaty had been ratified. Mr. Washington made +this the occasion of saying some fine things to the French Minister; and +the better to get himself into tune to do this, he began by saying the +finest things of himself. + +"Born, sir (said he) in a land of liberty; _having_ early learned its +value; _having_ engaged in a perilous conflict to defend it; _having_, +in a word, devoted the best years of my life to secure its permanent +establishment in my own country; _my_ anxious recollections, my +sympathetic feelings, and _my_ best wishes are irresistibly excited, +whenever, in any country, I see an oppressed people unfurl the banner of +freedom." + +Mr. Washington, having expended so many fine phrases upon himself, was +obliged to invent a new one for the French, and he calls them "wonderful +people!" The coalesced powers acknowledged as much. + +It is laughable to hear Mr. Washington talk of his _sympathetic +feelings_, who has always been remarked, even among his friends, for +not having any. He has, however, given no proofs of any to me. As to the +pompous encomiums he so liberally pays to himself, on the score of the +American revolution, the reality of them may be questioned; and since +he has forced them so much into notice, it is fair to examine his +pretensions. + +A stranger might be led to suppose, from the egotism with which Mr. +Washington speaks, that himself, and himself only, had generated, +conducted, compleated, and established the revolution: In fine, that it +was all his own doing. + +In the first place, as to the political part, he had no share in it; +and, therefore, the whole of _that_ is out of the question with respect +to him. There remains, then, only the military part; and it would have +been prudent in Mr. Washington not to have awakened enquiry upon that +subject. Fame then was cheap; he enjoyed it cheaply; and nobody was +disposed to take away the laurels that, whether they were _acquired_ or +not, had been _given_. + +Mr. Washington's merit consisted in constancy. But constancy was the +common virtue of the revolution. Who was there that was inconstant? I +know but of one military defection, that of Arnold; and I know of no +political defection, among those who made themselves eminent when the +revolution was formed by the declaration of independence. Even Silas +Deane, though he attempted to defraud, did not betray.(1) + + 1 This generous judgment by Deane's old adversary has become + questionable under recent investigations.--_Editor._. + +But when we speak of military character, something more is to be +understood than constancy; and something more _ought_ to be understood +than the Fabian system of _doing nothing_. The _nothing_ part can be +done by any body. Old Mrs. Thompson, the housekeeper of head quarters, +(who threatened to make the sun and the wind shine through Rivington of +New York,) 'could have done it as well as Mr. Washington. Deborah would +have been as good as Barak. + +Mr. Washington had the nominal rank of Commander in Chief, but he was +not so in fact. He had, in reality, only a separate command. He had no +controul over, or direction of, the army to the northward under Gates, +that captured Burgoyne; nor of that to the south under [Nathaniel] +Greene, that recovered the southern States.(2) The nominal rank, +however, of Commander in Chief, served to throw upon him the lustre +of those actions, and to make him appear as the soul and centre of all +military operations in America. + + 1 The Tory publisher of New York City, whose press was + destroyed in 1775 by a mob of Connecticut soldiers.-- + _Editor._ + + 2 See Mr. Winterbotham's valuable History of America, lately + published.--Author. [The "History of the Establishment of + Independence" is contained in the first of Mr. + Winterbotham's four volumes (London, 1795).--_Editor._.] + +He commenced his command June, 1775, during the time the Massachusetts +army lay before Boston, and after the affair of Bunker-hill. The +commencement of his command was the commencement of inactivity. Nothing +was afterwards done, or attempted to be done, during the nine months +he remained before Boston. If we may judge from the resistance made at +Concord, and afterwards at Bunker-hill, there was a spirit of enterprise +at that time, which the presence of Mr. Washington chilled into cold +defence. By the advantage of a good exterior he attracts respect, which +his habitual silence tends to preserve; but he has not the talent of +inspiring ardour in an army. The enemy removed from Boston in March +1776, to wait for reinforcements from Europe, and to take a more +advantageous position at New York. + +The inactivity of the campaign of 1775, on the part of General +Washington, when the enemy had a less force than in any other future +period of the war, and the injudicious choice of positions taken by +him in the campaign of 1776, when the enemy had its greatest force, +necessarily produced the losses and misfortunes that marked that gloomy +campaign. The positions taken were either islands or necks of land. +In the former, the enemy, by the aid of their ships, could bring their +whole force against apart of General Washington's, as in the affair +of Long Island; and in the latter, he might be shut up as in the bottom +of a bag. This had nearly been the case at New York, and it was so in +part; it was actually the case at Fort Washington; and it would have +been the case at Fort Lee, if General Greene had not moved precipitately +off, leaving every thing behind, and by gaining Hackinsack bridge, got +out of the bag of Bergen Neck. How far Mr. Washington, as General, is +blameable for these matters, I am not undertaking to determine; but they +are evidently defects in military geography. The successful skirmishes +at the close of that campaign, (matters that would scarcely be noticed +in a better state of things,) make the brilliant exploits of General +Washington's seven campaigns. No wonder we see so much pusillanimity in +the President, when we see so little enterprise in the General! + +The campaign of 1777 became famous, not by anything on the part of +General Washington, but by the capture of General Burgoyne, and the +army under his command, by the Northern army at Saratoga, under General +Gates. So totally distinct and unconnected were the two armies of +Washington and Gates, and so independent was the latter of the authority +of the nominal Commander in Chief, that the two Generals did not so much +as correspond, and it was only by a letter of General (since Governor) +Clinton, that General Washington was informed of that event. The British +took possession of Philadelphia this year, which they evacuated +the next, just time enough to save their heavy baggage and fleet of +transports from capture by the French Admiral d'Estaing, who arrived at +the mouth of the Delaware soon after. + +The capture of Burgoyne gave an eclat in Europe to the American arms, +and facilitated the alliance with France. The eclat, however, was +not kept up by any thing on the part of General Washington. The same +unfortunate languor that marked his entrance into the field, continued +always. Discontent began to prevail strongly against him, and a party +was formed in Congress, whilst sitting at York-town, in Pennsylvania, +for removing him from the command of the army. The hope, however, +of better times, the news of the alliance with France, and the +unwillingness of shewing discontent, dissipated the matter. + +Nothing was done in the campaigns of 1778, 1779, 1780, in the part +where General Washington commanded, except the taking of Stony Point by +General Wayne. The Southern States in the mean time were over-run by the +enemy. They were afterwards recovered by General Greene, who had in a +very great measure created the army that accomplished that recovery. +In all this General Washington had no share. The Fabian system of war, +followed by him, began now to unfold itself with all its evils; but +what is Fabian war without Fabian means to support it? The finances of +Congress depending wholly on emissions of paper money, were exhausted. +Its credit was gone. The continental treasury was not able to pay the +expense of a brigade of waggons to transport the necessary stores to the +army, and yet the sole object, the establishment of the revolution, +was a thing of remote distance. The time I am now speaking of is in the +latter end of the year 1780. + +In this situation of things it was found not only expedient, but +absolutely necessary, for Congress to state the whole case to its ally. +I knew more of this matter, (before it came into Congress or was known +to General Washington) of its progress, and its issue, than I chuse +to state in this letter. Colonel John Laurens was sent to France as an +Envoy Extraordinary on this occasion, and by a private agreement between +him and me I accompanied him. We sailed from Boston in the Alliance +frigate, February 11th, 1781. France had already done much in accepting +and paying bills drawn by Congress. She was now called upon to do more. +The event of Colonel Laurens's mission, with the aid of the venerable +Minister, Franklin, was, that France gave in money, as a present, six +millions of livres, and ten millions more as a loan, and agreed to send +a fleet of not less than thirty sail of the line, at her own expense, +as an aid to America. Colonel Laurens and myself returned from Brest the +1st of June following, taking with us two millions and a half of livres +(upwards of one hundred thousand pounds sterling) of the money given, +and convoying two ships with stores. + +We arrived at Boston the 25th of August following. De Grasse arrived +with the French fleet in the Chesapeak at the same time, and was +afterwards joined by that of Barras, making 31 sail of the line. +The money was transported in waggons from Boston to the Bank at +Philadelphia, of which Mr. Thomas Willing, who has since put himself at +the head of the list of petitioners in favour of the British treaty, was +then President. And it was by the aid of this money, and this fleet, and +of Rochambeau's army, that Cornwallis was taken; the laurels of which +have been unjustly given to Mr. Washington. His merit in that affair was +no more than that of any other American officer. + +I have had, and still have, as much pride in the American revolution as +any man, or as Mr. Washington has a right to have; but that pride has +never made me forgetful whence the great aid came that compleated +the business. Foreign aid (that of France) was calculated upon at the +commencement of the revolution. It is one of the subjects treated of +in the pamphlet _Common Sense_, but as a matter that could not be hoped +for, unless independence was declared.1 The aid, however, was greater +than could have been expected. + +It is as well the ingratitude as the pusillanimity of Mr. Washington, +and the Washington faction, that has brought upon America the loss +of character she now suffers in the world, and the numerous evils her +commerce has undergone, and to which it is yet exposed. The British +Ministry soon found out what sort of men they had to deal with, and they +dealt with them accordingly; and if further explanation was wanting, it +has been fully given since, in the snivelling address of the New York +Chamber of Commerce to the President, and in that of sundry merchants of +Philadelphia, which was not much better. + + 1 See vol. i. of this work, p. ixx. Paine was sharply taken + to task on this point by "Cato." Ib.% pp. 145-147.-- + _Editor._. + +When the revolution of America was finally established by the +termination of the war, the world gave her credit for great character; +and she had nothing to do but to stand firm upon that ground. The +British ministry had their hands too full of trouble to have provoked +a rupture with her, had she shown a proper resolution to defend her +rights. But encouraged as they were by the submissive character of the +American administration, they proceeded from insult to insult, till none +more were left to be offered. The proposals made by Sweden and Denmark +to the American administration were disregarded. I know not if so much +as an answer has been returned to them. The minister penitentiary, +(as some of the British prints called him,) Mr. Jay, was sent on a +pilgrimage to London, to make up all by penance and petition. In the +mean time the lengthy and drowsy writer of the pieces signed _Camillas_ +held himself in reserve to vindicate every thing; and to sound in +America the tocsin of terror upon the inexhaustible resources of +England. Her resources, says he, are greater than those of all the other +powers. This man is so intoxicated with fear and finance, that he knows +not the difference between _plus_ and _minus_--between a hundred pounds +in hand, and a hundred pounds worse than nothing. + +The commerce of America, so far as it had been established by all the +treaties that had been formed prior to that by Jay, was free, and the +principles upon which it was established were good. That ground ought +never to have been departed from. It was the justifiable ground +of right, and no temporary difficulties ought to have induced an +abandonment of it. The case is now otherwise. The ground, the scene, the +pretensions, the everything, are changed. The commerce of America is, by +Jay's treaty, put under foreign dominion. The sea is not free for her. +Her right to navigate it is reduced to the right of escaping; that is, +until some ship of England or France stops her vessels, and carries them +into port. Every article of American produce, whether from the sea or +the sand, fish, flesh, vegetable, or manufacture, is, by Jay's treaty, +made either contraband or seizable. Nothing is exempt. In all other +treaties of commerce, the article which enumerates the contraband +articles, such as fire arms, gunpowder, &c, is followed by another +article which enumerates the articles not contraband: but it is not so +in Jay's treaty. There is no exempting article. Its place is supplied by +the article for seizing and carrying into port; and the sweeping phrase +of "provisions and _other articles _" includes every thing. There never +was such a base and servile treaty of surrender since treaties began to +exist. + +This is the ground upon which America now stands. All her rights +of commerce and navigation are to begin anew, and that with loss of +character to begin with. If there is sense enough left in the heart +to call a blush into the cheek, the Washington administration must +be ashamed to appear.--And as to you, Sir, treacherous in private +friendship (for so you have been to me, and that in the day of danger) +and a hypocrite in public life, the world will be puzzled to decide +whether you are an apostate or an impostor; whether you have abandoned +good principles, or whether you ever had any. + +Thomas Paine. + + + + +XXIII. OBSERVATIONS.(1) + + 1 State Archives, Paris, Etats Unis, vol. 43, fol. 100. + Undated, but evidently written early in the year 1795, when + Jay's Treaty was as yet unknown. Paine was then staying in + the house of the American Minister, Monroe.--' Editor, + +The United States of America are negociating with Spain respecting the +free Navigation of the Mississippi, and the territorial limits of this +large river, in conformity with the Treaty of Peace with England dated +30th November, 1782. As the brilliant successes of the French Republic +have forced England to grant us, what was in all justice our due, so the +continuation of the prosperity of the Republic, will force Spain to make +a Treaty with us on the points in controversy. + +Since it is certain that all that we shall obtain from Spain will be due +to the victories of France, and as the inhabitants of the western part +of the United States (which part contains or covers more than half +the United States), have decided to claim their rights to the free +navigation of the Mississippi, would it not be a wiser policy for the +Republican Government (who have only to command to obtain) to arrogate +all the merit, by making our demands to Spain, one of the conditions, of +France, to consent to restore peace to the Castilians. They have only +to declare, they will not make Peace, or that they will support with +all their might, the just reclamations of their allies against these +Powers,--against England for the surrender of the frontier posts, and +for the indemnities due through their depredations on our Trade, and +against Spain for our territorial limits, and the free navigation of +the Mississippi. This declaration would certainly not prolong the War a +single day more, nor cost the Republic an obole, whilst it would assure +all the merit of success to France, and besides produce all the good +effects mentioned above. + +It may perhaps be observed that the Negociation is already finished +with England, and perhaps in a manner which will not be approved of by +France. That may be, (though the terms of this arrangement may not be +known); but as to Spain, the negociation is still pending, and it is +evident that if France makes the above _Declaration_ as to this Power +(which declaration would be a demonstrative proof of what she would +have done in the other case if circumstances had required it), she would +receive the same credit as if the Declaration had been made relatively +to the two Powers. In fact the Decree or resolution (and perhaps this +last would be preferable) can be worded in terms which would declare +that in case the arrangement with England were not satisfactory, France +will nevertheless, maintain the just demands of America against +that Power. A like Declaration, in case Mr. Jay should do anything +reprehensible, and which might even be approved of in America, would +certainly raise the reputation of the French Republic to the most +eminent degree of splendour, and lower in proportion that of her +enemies. + +It is very certain that France cannot better favour the views of the +British party in America, and wound in a most sensible manner the +Republican Government of this country, than by adopting a strict and +oppressive policy with regard to us. Every one knows that the injustices +committed by the privateers and other ships belonging to the French +Republic against our navigation, were causes of exultation and joy +to this party, even when their own properties were subjected to these +depredations, whilst the friends of France and the Revolution were vexed +and most confused about it. It follows then, that a generous policy +would produce quite opposite effects--it would acquire for France the +merit that is her due; it would discourage the hopes of her adversaries, +and furnish the friends of humanity and liberty with the means of acting +against the intrigues of England, and cement the Union, and contribute +towards the true interests of the two republics. + +So sublime and generous a manner of acting, which would not cost +anything to France, would cement in a stronger way the ties between +the two republics. The effect of such an event, would confound and +annihilate in an irrevocable manner all the partisans for the British +in America. There are nineteen twentieths of our nation attached through +inclination and gratitude to France, and the small number who seek +uselessly all sorts of pretexts to magnify the small occasions of +complaint which might have subsisted previously will find itself reduced +to silence, or have to join their expressions of gratitude to ours.--The +results of this event cannot be doubted, though not reckoned on: all the +American hearts will be French, and England will be afflicted. + +An American. + + + + +XXIV. DISSERTATION ON FIRST PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT. (1) + + 1 Printed from the first edition, whose title is as above, + with the addition: "By Thomas Paine, Author of Common Sense; + Rights of Man; Age of Reason. Paris, Printed at the + English Press, me de Vaugerard, No. 970. Third year of the + French Republic." The pamphlet seems to have appeared early + in July (perhaps the Fourth), 1795, and was meant to + influence the decision of the National Convention on the + Constitution then under discussion. This Constitution, + adopted September 23d, presently swept away by Napoleon, + contained some features which appeared to Paine reactionary. + Those to which he most objected are quoted by him in his + speech in the Convention, which is bound up in the same + pamphlet, and follows this "Dissertation" in the present + volume. In the Constitution as adopted Paine's preference + for a plural Executive was established, and though the + bicameral organization (the Council of Five Hundred and the + Council of Ancients) was not such as he desired, his chief + objection was based on his principle of manhood suffrage. + But in regard to this see Paine's "Dissertations on + Government," written nine years before (vol. ii., ch. vi. of + this work), and especially p. 138 seq. of that volume, where + he indicates the method of restraining the despotism of + numbers.--_Editor._, + +There is no subject more interesting to every man than the subject of +government. His security, be he rich or poor, and in a great measure +his prosperity, are connected therewith; it is therefore his interest +as well as his duty to make himself acquainted with its principles, and +what the practice ought to be. + +Every art and science, however imperfectly known at first, has been +studied, improved, and brought to what we call perfection by the +progressive labours of succeeding generations; but the science of +government has stood still. No improvement has been made in the +principle and scarcely any in the practice till the American revolution +began. In all the countries of Europe (except in France) the same forms +and systems that were erected in the remote ages of ignorance still +continue, and their antiquity is put in the place of principle; it is +forbidden to investigate their origin, or by what right they exist. +If it be asked how has this happened, the answer is easy: they are +established on a principle that is false, and they employ their power to +prevent detection. + +Notwithstanding the mystery with which the science of government has +been enveloped, for the purpose of enslaving, plundering, and imposing +upon mankind, it is of all things the least mysterious and the most easy +to be understood. The meanest capacity cannot be at a loss, if it begins +its enquiries at the right point. Every art and science has some point, +or alphabet, at which the study of that art or science begins, and by +the assistance of which the progress is facilitated. The same method +ought to be observed with respect to the science of government. + +Instead then of embarrassing the subject in the outset with the numerous +subdivisions under which different forms of government have been +classed, such as aristocracy, democracy, oligarchy, monarchy, &c. +the better method will be to begin with what may be called primary +divisions, or those under which all the several subdivisions will be +comprehended. + +The primary divisions are but two: + +First, government by election and representation. + +Secondly, government by hereditary succession. + +All the several forms and systems of government, however numerous +or diversified, class themselves under one or other of those primary +divisions; for either they are on the system of representation, or on +that of hereditary succession. As to that equivocal thing called mixed +government, such as the late government of Holland, and the present +government of England, it does not make an exception to the general +rule, because the parts separately considered are either representative +or hereditary. + +Beginning then our enquiries at this point, we have first to examine +into the nature of those two primary divisions. + +If they are equally right in principle, it is mere matter of opinion +which we prefer. If the one be demonstratively better than the other, +that difference directs our choice; but if one of them should be so +absolutely false as not to have a right to existence, the matter settles +itself at once; because a negative proved on one thing, where two only +are offered, and one must be accepted, amounts to an affirmative on the +other. + +The revolutions that are now spreading themselves in the world have +their origin in this state of the case, and the present war is a +conflict between the representative system founded on the rights of the +people, and the hereditary system founded in usurpation. As to what are +called Monarchy, Royalty, and Aristocracy, they do not, either as things +or as terms, sufficiently describe the hereditary system; they are but +secondary things or signs of the hereditary system, and which fall of +themselves if that system has not a right to exist. Were there no +such terms as Monarchy, Royalty, and Aristocracy, or were other terms +substituted in their place, the hereditary system, if it continued, +would not be altered thereby. It would be the same system under any +other titulary name as it is now. + +The character therefore of the revolutions of the present day +distinguishes itself most definitively by grounding itself on the system +of representative government, in opposition to the hereditary. No other +distinction reaches the whole of the principle. + +Having thus opened the case generally, I proceed, in the first place, to +examine the hereditary system, because it has the priority in point of +time. The representative system is the invention of the modern world; +and, that no doubt may arise as to my own opinion, I declare it +before hand, which is, _that there is not a problem in Euclid more +mathematically true, than that hereditary government has not a right to +exist. When therefore we take from any man the exercise of hereditary +power, we take away that which he never had the right to possess, and +which no law or custom could, or ever can, give him a title to_. + +The arguments that have hitherto been employed against the hereditary +system have been chiefly founded upon the absurdity of it, and its +incompetency to the purpose of good government. Nothing can present to +our judgment, or to our imagination, a figure of greater absurdity, than +that of seeing the government of a nation fall, as it frequently does, +into the hands of a lad necessarily destitute of experience, and often +little better than a fool. It is an insult to every man of years, of +character, and of talents, in a country. The moment we begin to reason +upon the hereditary system, it falls into derision; let but a single +idea begin, and a thousand will soon follow. Insignificance, imbecility, +childhood, dotage, want of moral character; in fine, every defect +serious or laughable unite to hold up the hereditary system as a figure +of ridicule. Leaving, however, the ridiculousness of the thing to the +reflections of the reader, I proceed to the more important part of the +question, namely, whether such a system has a right to exist. + +To be satisfied of the right of a thing to exist, we must be satisfied +that it had a right to begin. If it had not a right to begin, it has not +a right to continue. By what right then did the hereditary system begin? +Let a man but ask himself this question, and he will find that he cannot +satisfy himself with an answer. + +The right which any man or any family had to set itself up at first to +govern a nation, and to establish itself hereditarily, was no other than +the right which Robespierre had to do the same thing in France. If he +had none, they had none. If they had any, he had as much; for it is +impossible to discover superiority of right in any family, by virtue of +which hereditary government could begin. The Capets, the Guelphs, +the Robespierres, the Marats, are all on the same standing as to the +question of right. It belongs exclusively to none. + +It is one step towards liberty, to perceive that hereditary government +could not begin as an exclusive right in any family. The next point +will be, whether, having once begun, it could grow into a right by the +influence of time. + +This would be supposing an absurdity; for either it is putting time in +the place of principle, or making it superior to principle; whereas time +has no more connection with, or influence upon principle, than principle +has upon time. The wrong which began a thousand years ago, is as much a +wrong as if it began to-day; and the right which originates to-day, is +as much a right as if it had the sanction of a thousand years. Time with +respect to principles is an eternal now: it has no operation upon them: +it changes nothing of their nature and qualities. But what have we to +do with a thousand years? Our life-time is but a short portion of that +period, and if we find the wrong in existence as soon as we begin to +live, that is the point of time at which it begins to us; and our right +to resist it is the same as if it never existed before. + +As hereditary government could not begin as a natural right in any +family, nor derive after its commencement any right from time, we have +only to examine whether there exist in a nation a right to set it up, +and establish it by what is called law, as has been done in England. I +answer NO; and that any law or any constitution made for that purpose is +an act of treason against the right of every minor in the nation, at the +time it is made, and against the rights of all succeeding generations. +I shall speak upon each of those cases. First, of the minor at the time +such law is made. Secondly, of the generations that are to follow. + +A nation, in a collective sense, comprehends all the individuals of +whatever age, from just born to just dying. Of these, one part will be +minors, and the other aged. The average of life is not exactly the same +in every climate and country, but in general, the minority in years are +the majority in numbers; that is, the number of persons under twenty-one +years, is greater than the number of persons above that age. This +difference in number is not necessary to the establishment of the +principle I mean to lay down, but it serves to shew the justice of it +more strongly. The principle would be equally as good, if the majority +in years were also the majority in numbers. + +The rights of minors are as sacred as the rights of the aged. The +difference is altogether in the different age of the two parties, and +nothing in the nature of the rights; the rights are the same rights; +and are to be preserved inviolate for the inheritance of the minors when +they shall come of age. During the minority of minors their rights are +under the sacred guardianship of the aged. The minor cannot surrender +them; the guardian cannot dispossess him; consequently, the aged part +of a nation, who are the law-makers for the time being, and who, in the +march of life are but a few years ahead of those who are yet minors, and +to whom they must shortly give place, have not and cannot have the right +to make a law to set up and establish hereditary government, or, to +speak more distinctly, _an hereditary succession of governors_; because +it is an attempt to deprive every minor in the nation, at the time such +a law is made, of his inheritance of rights when he shall come of age, +and to subjugate him to a system of government to which, during his +minority, he could neither consent nor object. + +If a person who is a minor at the time such a law is proposed, had +happened to have been born a few years sooner, so as to be of the age of +twenty-one years at the time of proposing it, his right to have objected +against it, to have exposed the injustice and tyrannical principles of +it, and to have voted against it, will be admitted on all sides. If, +therefore, the law operates to prevent his exercising the same rights +after he comes of age as he would have had a right to exercise had he +been of age at the time, it is undeniably a law to take away and annul +the rights of every person in the nation who shall be a minor at the +time of making such a law, and consequently the right to make it cannot +exist. + +I come now to speak of government by hereditary succession, as it +applies to succeeding generations; and to shew that in this case, as in +the case of minors, there does not exist in a nation a right to set it +up. + +A nation, though continually existing, is continually in a state of +renewal and succession. It is never stationary. + +Every day produces new births, carries minors forward to maturity, and +old persons from the stage. In this ever running flood of generations +there is no part superior in authority to another. Could we conceive an +idea of superiority in any, at what point of time, or in what century of +the world, are we to fix it? To what cause are we to ascribe it? By +what evidence are we to prove it? By what criterion are we to know it? A +single reflection will teach us that our ancestors, like ourselves, were +but tenants for life in the great freehold of rights. The fee-absolute +was not in them, it is not in us, it belongs to the whole family of +man, thro* all ages. If we think otherwise than this, we think either as +slaves or as tyrants. As slaves, if we think that any former generation +had a right to bind us; as tyrants, if we think that we have authority +to bind the generations that are to follow. + +It may not be inapplicable to the subject, to endeavour to define what +is to be understood by a generation, in the sense the word is here used. + +As a natural term its meaning is sufficiently clear. The father, the +son, the grandson, are so many distinct generations. But when we speak +of a generation as describing the persons in whom legal authority +resides, as distinct from another generation of the same description who +are to succeed them, it comprehends all those who are above the age of +twenty-one years, at the time that we count from; and a generation of +this kind will continue in authority between fourteen and twenty-one +years, that is, until the number of minors, who shall have arrived at +age, shall be greater than the number of persons remaining of the former +stock. + +For example: if France, at this or any other moment, contains +twenty-four millions of souls, twelve millions will be males, and twelve +females. Of the twelve millions of males, six millions will be of the +age of twenty-one years, and six will be under, and the authority +to govern will reside in the first six. But every day will make some +alteration, and in twenty-one years every one of those minors who +survives will have arrived at age, and the greater part of the former +stock will be gone: the majority of persons then living, in whom the +legal authority resides, will be composed of those who, twenty-one years +before, had no legal existence. Those will be fathers and grandfathers +in their turn, and, in the next twenty-one years, (or less) another race +of minors, arrived at age, will succeed them, and so on. + +As this is ever the case, and as every generation is equal in rights to +another, it consequently follows, that there cannot be a right in any +to establish government by hereditary succession, because it would be +supposing itself possessed of a right superior to the rest, namely, +that of commanding by its own authority how the world shall be hereafter +governed and who shall govern it. Every age and generation is, and must +be, (as a matter of right,) as free to act for itself in all cases, as +the age and generation that preceded it. The vanity and presumption of +governing beyond the grave is the most ridiculous and insolent of all +tyrannies. Man has no property in man, neither has one generation a +property in the generations that are to follow. + +In the first part of the Rights of Man I have spoken of government by +hereditary succession; and I will here close the subject with an extract +from that work, which states it under the two following heads. (1) + + 1 The quotation, here omitted, will be found in vol. ii. of + this work, beginning with p. 364, and continuing, with a few + omissions, to the 15th line of p. 366. This "Dissertation" + was originally written for circulation in Holland, where + Paine's "Rights of Man" was not well known.--_Editor._ + + +***** + + +The history of the English parliament furnishes an example of this kind; +and which merits to be recorded, as being the greatest instance of +legislative ignorance and want of principle that is to be found in any +country. The case is as follows: + +The English parliament of 1688, imported a man and his wife from +Holland, _William and Mary_, and made them king and queen of England. +(2) Having done this, the said parliament made a law to convey the +government of the country to the heirs of William and Mary, in the +following words: "We, the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, do, +in the name of the people of England, most humbly and faithfully submit +_ourselves, our heirs, and posterities_, to William and Mary, _their +heirs and posterities_, for ever." And in a subsequent law, as quoted by +Edmund Burke, the said parliament, in the name of the people of England +then living, _binds the said people, their heirs and posterities, to +William and Mary, their heirs and posterities, to the end of time_. + + 2 "The Bill of Rights (temp. William III.) shows that the + Lords and Commons met not in Parliament but in convention, + that they declared against James II., and in favour of + William III. The latter was accepted as sovereign, and, when + monarch. Acta of Parliament were passed confirming what had + been done."--Joseph Fisher in Notes and Queries (London), + May 2,1874. This does not affect Paine's argument, as a + Convention could have no more right to bind the future than + a Parliament.--_Editor._. + +It is not sufficient that we laugh at the ignorance of such law-makers; +it is necessary that we reprobate their want of principle. The +constituent assembly of France, 1789, fell into the same vice as the +parliament of England had done, and assumed to establish an hereditary +succession in the family of the Capets, as an act of the constitution +of that year. That every nation, _for the time being_, has a right to +govern itself as it pleases, must always be admitted; but government by +hereditary succession is government for another race of people, and +not for itself; and as those on whom it is to operate are not yet in +existence, or are minors, so neither is the right in existence to set it +up for them, and to assume such a right is treason against the right of +posterity. + +I here close the arguments on the first head, that of government by +hereditary succession; and proceed to the second, that of government +by election and representation; or, as it may be concisely expressed, +_representative government_, in contra-distinction to _hereditary +government_. + +Reasoning by exclusion, if _hereditary government_ has not a right to +exist, and that it has not is proveable, _representative government_ is +admitted of course. + +In contemplating government by election and representation, we amuse +not ourselves in enquiring when or how, or by what right, it began. Its +origin is ever in view. Man is himself the origin and the evidence +of the right. It appertains to him in right of his existence, and his +person is the title deed.(1) + +The true and only true basis of representative government is equality of +Rights. Every man has a right to one vote, and no more, in the choice +of representatives. The rich have no more right to exclude the poor from +the right of voting, or of electing and being elected, than the poor +have to exclude the rich; and wherever it is attempted, or proposed, on +either side, it is a question of force and not of right. Who is he that +would exclude another? That other has a right to exclude him. + +That which is now called aristocracy implies an inequality of rights; +but who are the persons that have a right to establish this inequality? +Will the rich exclude themselves? No. Will the poor exclude themselves? +No. By what right then can any be excluded? It would be a question, if +any man or class of men have a right to exclude themselves; but, be this +as it may, they cannot have the right to exclude another. The poor will +not delegate such a right to the rich, nor the rich to the poor, and to +assume it is not only to assume arbitrary power, but to assume a right +to commit robbery. Personal rights, of which the right of voting for +representatives is one, are a species of property of the most sacred +kind: and he that would employ his pecuniary property, or presume upon +the influence it gives him, to dispossess or rob another of his property +of rights, uses that pecuniary property as he would use fire-arms, and +merits to have it taken from him. + + 1 "The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for + among old parchments or musty records. They are written as + with a sunbeam in the whole volume of human nature by the + hand of Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured + by mortal power."--Alexander Hamilton, 1775. (Cf. Rights of + Man, Toi. ii., p. 304): "Portions of antiquity by proving + everything establish nothing. It is authority against + authority all the way, till we come to the divine origin of + the rights of man at the creation."--_Editor._. + +Inequality of rights is created by a combination in one part of the +community to exclude another part from its rights. Whenever it be made +an article of a constitution, or a law, that the right of voting, or +of electing and being elected, shall appertain exclusively to persons +possessing a certain quantity of property, be it little or much, it is a +combination of the persons possessing that quantity to exclude those who +do not possess the same quantity. It is investing themselves with powers +as a self-created part of society, to the exclusion of the rest. + +It is always to be taken for granted, that those who oppose an equality +of rights never mean the exclusion should take place on themselves; and +in this view of the case, pardoning the vanity of the thing, aristocracy +is a subject of laughter. This self-soothing vanity is encouraged by +another idea not less selfish, which is, that the opposers conceive they +are playing a safe game, in which there is a chance to gain and none +to lose; that at any rate the doctrine of equality includes _them_, +and that if they cannot get more rights than those whom they oppose and +would exclude, they shall not have less. This opinion has already been +fatal to thousands, who, not contented with _equal rights_, have sought +more till they lost all, and experienced in themselves the degrading +_inequality_ they endeavoured to fix upon others. + +In any view of the case it is dangerous and impolitic, sometimes +ridiculous, and always unjust, to make property the criterion of the +right of voting. If the sum or value of the property upon which the +right is to take place be considerable, it will exclude a majority of +the people, and unite them in a common interest against the government +and against those who support it; and as the power is always with +the majority, they can overturn such a government and its supporters +whenever they please. + +If, in order to avoid this danger, a small quantity of property be +fixed, as the criterion of the right, it exhibits liberty in disgrace, +by putting it in competition with accident and insignificance. When a +brood-mare shall fortunately produce a foal or a mule that, by being +worth the sum in question, shall convey to its owner the right of +voting, or by its death take it from him, in whom does the origin of +such a right exist? Is it in the man, or in the mule? When we consider +how many ways property may be acquired without merit, and lost without a +crime, we ought to spurn the idea of making it a criterion of rights. + +But the offensive part of the case is, that this exclusion from the +right of voting implies a stigma on the moral char* acter of the persons +excluded; and this is what no part of the community has a right to +pronounce upon another part. No external circumstance can justify it: +wealth is no proof of moral character; nor poverty of the want of it. +On the contrary, wealth is often the presumptive evidence of dishonesty; +and poverty the negative evidence of innocence. If therefore property, +whether little or much, be made a criterion, the means by which that +property has been acquired ought to be made a criterion also. + +The only ground upon which exclusion from the right of voting is +consistent with justice, would be to inflict it as a punishment for a +certain time upon those who should propose to take away that right from +others. The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by +which other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce +a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of +another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives +is in this case. The proposal therefore to disfranchise any class of men +is as criminal as the proposal to take away property. When we speak +of right, we ought always to unite with it the idea of duties: rights +become duties by reciprocity. The right which I enjoy becomes my duty +to guarantee it to another, and he to me; and those who violate the duty +justly incur a forfeiture of the right. + +In a political view of the case, the strength and permanent security +of government is in proportion to the number of people interested in +supporting it. The true policy therefore is to interest the whole by +an equality of rights, for the danger arises from exclusions. It is +possible to exclude men from the right of voting, but it is impossible +to exclude them from the right of rebelling against that exclusion; and +when all other rights are taken away, the right of rebellion is made +perfect. + +While men could be persuaded they had no rights, or that rights +appertained only to a certain class of men, or that government was a +thing existing in right of itself, it was not difficult to govern +them authoritatively. The ignorance in which they were held, and the +superstition in which they were instructed, furnished the means of doing +it. But when the ignorance is gone, and the superstition with it; when +they perceive the imposition that has been acted upon them; when they +reflect that the cultivator and the manufacturer are the primary +means of all the wealth that exists in the world, beyond what nature +spontaneously produces; when they begin to feel their consequence by +their usefulness, and their right as members of society, it is then no +longer possible to govern them as before. The fraud once detected +cannot be re-acted. To attempt it is to provoke derision, or invite +destruction. + +That property will ever be unequal is certain. Industry, superiority +of talents, dexterity of management, extreme frugality, fortunate +opportunities, or the opposite, or the means of those things, will ever +produce that effect, without having recourse to the harsh, ill sounding +names of avarice and oppression; and besides this, there are some men +who, though they do not despise wealth, will not stoop to the drudgery +or the means of acquiring it, nor will be troubled with it beyond their +wants or their independence; whilst in others there is an avidity to +obtain it by every means not punishable; it makes the sole business of +their lives, and they follow it as a religion. All that is required +with respect to property is to obtain it honestly, and not employ it +criminally; but it is always criminally employed when it is made a +criterion for exclusive rights. + +In institutions that are purely pecuniary, such as that of a bank or a +commercial company, the rights of the members composing that company are +wholly created by the property they invest therein; and no other rights +are represented in the government of that company, than what arise out +of that property; neither has that government cognizance of _any thing +but property_. + +But the case is totally different with respect to the institution of +civil government, organized on the system of representation. Such a +government has cognizance of every thing, and of _every man_ as a member +of the national society, whether he has property or not; and, therefore, +the principle requires that _every man_, and _every kind of right_, be +represented, of which the right to acquire and to hold property is but +one, and that not of the most essential kind. The protection of a man's +person is more sacred than the protection of property; and besides +this, the faculty of performing any kind of work or services by which +he acquires a livelihood, or maintaining his family, is of the nature of +property. It is property to him; he has acquired it; and it is as much +the object of his protection as exterior property, possessed without +that faculty, can be the object of protection in another person. + +I have always believed that the best security for property, be it much +or little, is to remove from every part of the community, as far as +can possibly be done, every cause of complaint, and every motive to +violence; and this can only be done by an equality of rights. When +rights are secure, property is secure in consequence. But when property +is made a pretence for unequal or exclusive rights, it weakens the right +to hold the property, and provokes indignation and tumult; for it is +unnatural to believe that property can be secure under the guarantee of +a society injured in its rights by the influence of that property. + +Next to the injustice and ill-policy of making property a pretence +for exclusive rights, is the unaccountable absurdity of giving to mere +_sound_ the idea of property, and annexing to it certain rights; for +what else is a _title_ but sound? Nature is often giving to the world +some extraordinary men who arrive at fame by merit and universal +consent, such as Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, &c. They were truly great +or noble. + +But when government sets up a manufactory of nobles, it is as absurd +as if she undertook to manufacture wise men. Her nobles are all +counterfeits. + +This wax-work order has assumed the name of aristocracy; and the +disgrace of it would be lessened if it could be considered only as +childish imbecility. We pardon foppery because of its insignificance" +and on the same ground we might pardon the foppery of Titles. But the +origin of aristocracy was worse than foppery. It was robbery. The +first aristocrats in all countries were brigands. Those of later times, +sycophants. + +It is very well known that in England, (and the same will be found +in other countries) the great landed estates now held in descent were +plundered from the quiet inhabitants at the conquest. The possibility +did not exist of acquiring such estates honestly. If it be asked how +they could have been acquired, no answer but that of robbery can +be given. That they were not acquired by trade, by commerce, by +manufactures, by agriculture, or by any reputable employment, is +certain. How then were they acquired? Blush, aristocracy, to hear your +origin, for your progenitors were Thieves. They were the Robespierres +and the Jacobins of that day. When they had committed the robbery, they +endeavoured to lose the disgrace of it by sinking their real names under +fictitious ones, which they called Titles. It is ever the practice of +Felons to act in this manner. They never pass by their real names.(1) + + 1 This and the preceding paragraph have been omitted from + some editions.--Editor. + +As property, honestly obtained, is best secured by an equality of +Rights, so ill-gotten property depends for protection on a monopoly of +rights. He who has robbed another of his property, will next endeavour +to disarm him of his rights, to secure that property; for when the +robber becomes the legislator he believes himself secure. That part +of the government of England that is called the house of lords, was +originally composed of persons who had committed the robberies of which +I have been speaking. It was an association for the protection of the +property they had stolen. + +But besides the criminality of the origin of aristocracy, it has an +injurious effect on the moral and physical character of man. Like +slavery it debilitates the human faculties; for as the mind bowed down +by slavery loses in silence its elastic powers, so, in the contrary +extreme, when it is buoyed up by folly, it becomes incapable of exerting +them, and dwindles into imbecility. It is impossible that a mind +employed upon ribbands and titles can ever be great. The childishness of +the objects consumes the man. + +It is at all times necessary, and more particularly so during the +progress of a revolution, and until right ideas confirm themselves by +habit, that we frequently refresh our patriotism by reference to first +principles. It is by tracing things to their origin that we learn to +understand them: and it is by keeping that line and that origin always +in view that we never forget them. + +An enquiry into the origin of Rights will demonstrate to us that +_rights_ are not _gifts_ from one man to another, nor from one class of +men to another; for who is he who could be the first giver, or by what +principle, or on what authority, could he possess the right of giving? A +declaration of rights is not a creation of them, nor a donation of them. +It is a manifest of the principle by which they exist, followed by a +detail of what the rights are; for every civil right has a natural +right for its foundation, and it includes the principle of a reciprocal +guarantee of those rights from man to man. As, therefore, it is +impossible to discover any origin of rights otherwise than in the origin +of man, it consequently follows, that rights appertain to man in right +of his existence only, and must therefore be equal to every man. The +principle of an _equality of rights_ is clear and simple. Every man can +understand it, and it is by understanding his rights that he learns his +duties; for where the rights of men are equal, every man must finally +see the necessity of protecting the rights of others as the most +effectual security for his own. But if, in the formation of a +constitution, we depart from the principle of equal rights, or attempt +any modification of it, we plunge into a labyrinth of difficulties from +which there is no way out but by retreating. Where are we to stop? Or +by what principle are we to find out the point to stop at, that shall +discriminate between men of the same country, part of whom shall be +free, and the rest not? If property is to be made the criterion, it is +a total departure from every moral principle of liberty, because it +is attaching rights to mere matter, and making man the agent of that +matter. It is, moreover, holding up property as an apple of discord, +and not only exciting but justifying war against it; for I maintain the +principle, that when property is used as an instrument to take away the +rights of those who may happen not to possess property, it is used to an +unlawful purpose, as fire-arms would be in a similar case. + +In a state of nature all men are equal in rights, but they are not equal +in power; the weak cannot protect themselves against the strong. This +being the case, the institution of civil society is for the purpose +of making an equalization of powers that shall be parallel to, and +a guarantee of, the equality of rights. The laws of a country, when +properly constructed, apply to this purpose. Every man takes the arm of +the law for his protection as more effectual than his own; and therefore +every man has an equal right in the formation of the government, and +of the laws by which he is to be governed and judged. In extensive +countries and societies, such as America and France, this right in the +individual can only be exercised by delegation, that is, by election and +representation; and hence it is that the institution of representative +government arises. + +Hitherto, I have confined myself to matters of principle only. First, +that hereditary government has not a right to exist; that it cannot be +established on any principle of right; and that it is a violation of all +principle. Secondly, that government by election and representation has +its origin in the natural and eternal rights of man; for whether a man +be his own lawgiver, as he would be in a state of nature; or whether he +exercises his portion of legislative sovereignty in his own person, as +might be the case in small democracies where all could assemble for the +formation of the laws by which they were to be governed; or whether he +exercises it in the choice of persons to represent him in a national +assembly of representatives, the origin of the right is the same in +all cases. The first, as is before observed, is defective in power; the +second, is practicable only in democracies of small extent; the third, +is the greatest scale upon which human government can be instituted. + +Next to matters of _principle_ are matters of _opinion_, and it is +necessary to distinguish between the two. Whether the rights of men +shall be equal is not a matter of opinion but of right, and consequently +of principle; for men do not hold their rights as grants from each +other, but each one in right of himself. Society is the guardian but not +the giver. And as in extensive societies, such as America and France, +the right of the individual in matters of government cannot be exercised +but by election and representation, it consequently follows that the +only system of government consistent with principle, where simple +democracy is impracticable, is the representative system. But as to the +organical part, or the manner in which the several parts of government +shall be arranged and composed, it is altogether _matter of opinion_, +It is necessary that all the parts be conformable with the _principle of +equal rights_; and so long as this principle be religiously adhered to, +no very material error can take place, neither can any error continue +long in that part which falls within the province of opinion. + +In all matters of opinion, the social compact, or the principle by which +society is held together, requires that the majority of opinions becomes +the rule for the whole, and that the minority yields practical obedience +thereto. This is perfectly conformable to the principle of equal rights: +for, in the first place, every man has a _right to give an opinion_ but +no man has a right that his opinion should _govern the rest_. In the +second place, it is not supposed to be known beforehand on which side +of any question, whether for or against, any man's opinion will fall. +He may happen to be in a majority upon some questions, and in a minority +upon others; and by the same rule that he expects obedience in the one +case, he must yield it in the other. All the disorders that have arisen +in France, during the progress of the revolution, have had their origin, +not in the _principle of equal rights_, but in the violation of that +principle. The principle of equal rights has been repeatedly violated, +and that not by the majority but by the minority, and _that minority +has been composed of men possessing property as well as of men without +property; property, therefore, even upon the experience already had, +is no more a criterion of character than it is of rights_. It will +sometimes happen that the minority are right, and the majority are +wrong, but as soon as experience proves this to be the case, the +minority will increase to a majority, and the error will reform itself +by the tranquil operation of freedom of opinion and equality of rights. +Nothing, therefore, can justify an insurrection, neither can it ever be +necessary where rights are equal and opinions free. + +Taking then the principle of equal rights as the foundation of the +revolution, and consequently of the constitution, the organical part, +or the manner in which the several parts of the government shall be +arranged in the constitution, will, as is already said, fall within the +province of opinion. + +Various methods will present themselves upon a question of this kind, +and tho' experience is yet wanting to determine which is the best, +it has, I think, sufficiently decided which is the worst. That is +the worst, which in its deliberations and decisions is subject to +the precipitancy and passion of an individual; and when the whole +legislature is crowded into one body it is an individual in mass. In all +cases of deliberation it is necessary to have a corps of reserve, and it +would be better to divide the representation by lot into two parts, and +let them revise and correct each other, than that the whole should sit +together, and debate at once. + +Representative government is not necessarily confined to any one +particular form. The principle is the same in all the forms under which +it can be arranged. The equal rights of the people is the root from +which the whole springs, and the branches may be arranged as present +opinion or future experience shall best direct. As to that _hospital of +incurables_ (as Chesterfield calls it), the British house of peers, +it is an excrescence growing out of corruption; and there is no more +affinity or resemblance between any of the branches of a legislative +body originating from the right of the people, and the aforesaid +house of peers, than between a regular member of the human body and an +ulcerated wen. + +As to that part of government that is called the _executive_, it is +necessary in the first place to fix a precise meaning to the word. + +There are but two divisions into which power can be arranged. First, +that of willing or decreeing the laws; secondly, that of executing or +putting them in practice. The former corresponds to the intellectual +faculties of the human mind, which reasons and determines what shall be +done; the second, to the mechanical powers of the human body, that puts +that determination into practice.(1) If the former decides, and the +latter does not perform, it is a state of imbecility; and if the latter +acts without the predetermination of the former, it is a state +of lunacy. The executive department therefore is official, and is +subordinate to the legislative, as the body is to the mind, in a +state of health; for it is impossible to conceive the idea of two +sovereignties, a sovereignty to _will_, and a sovereignty to _act_. +The executive is not invested with the power of deliberating whether it +shall act or not; it has no discretionary authority in the case; for it +can _act no other thing_ than what the laws decree, and it is _obliged_ +to act conformably thereto; and in this view of the case, the executive +is made up of all the official departments that execute the laws, of +which that which is called the judiciary is the chief. + + 1 Paine may have had in mind the five senses, with reference + to the proposed five members of the Directory.--_Editor._. + +But mankind have conceived an idea that _some kind of authority_ is +necessary to _superintend_ the execution of the laws and to see +that they are faithfully performed; and it is by confounding this +superintending authority with the official execution that we get +embarrassed about the term _executive power_. All the parts in the +governments of the United States of America that are called THE +EXECUTIVE, are no other than authorities to superintend the execution of +the laws; and they are so far independent of the legislative, that they +know the legislative only thro' the laws, and cannot be controuled or +directed by it through any other medium. + +In what manner this superintending authority shall be appointed, or +composed, is a matter that falls within the province of opinion. Some +may prefer one method and some another; and in all cases, where opinion +only and not principle is concerned, the majority of opinions forms the +rule for all. There are however some things deducible from reason, and +evidenced by experience, that serve to guide our decision upon the case. +The one is, never to invest any individual with extraordinary power; for +besides his being tempted to misuse it, it will excite contention and +commotion in the nation for the office. Secondly, never to invest power +long in the hands of any number of individuals. The inconveniences that +may be supposed to accompany frequent changes are less to be feared than +the danger that arises from long continuance. + +I shall conclude this discourse with offering some observations on the +means of _preserving liberty_; for it is not only necessary that we +establish it, but that we preserve it. + +It is, in the first place, necessary that we distinguish between the +means made use of to overthrow despotism, in order to prepare the way +for the establishment of liberty, and the means to be used after the +despotism is overthrown. + +The means made use of in the first case are justified by necessity. +Those means are, in general, insurrections; for whilst the established +government of despotism continues in any country it is scarcely possible +that any other means can be used. It is also certain that in the +commencement of a revolution, the revolutionary party permit to +themselves a _discretionary exercise of power_ regulated more by +circumstances than by principle, which, were the practice to continue, +liberty would never be established, or if established would soon be +overthrown. It is never to be expected in a revolution that every man is +to change his opinion at the same moment. There never yet was any truth +or any principle so irresistibly obvious, that all men believed it +at once. Time and reason must co-operate with each other to the final +establishment of any principle; and therefore those who may happen to be +first convinced have not a right to persecute others, on whom conviction +operates more slowly. The moral principle of revolutions is to instruct, +not to destroy. + +Had a constitution been established two years ago, (as ought to have +been done,) the violences that have since desolated France and injured +the character of the revolution, would, in my opinion, have been +prevented.(1) The nation would then have had a bond of union, and every +individual would have known the line of conduct he was to follow. But, +instead of this, a revolutionary government, a thing without either +principle or authority, was substituted in its place; virtue and crime +depended upon accident; and that which was patriotism one day, became +treason the next. All these things have followed from the want of a +constitution; for it is the nature and intention of a constitution to +_prevent governing by party_, by establishing a common principle that +shall limit and control the power and impulse of party, and that says to +all parties, _thus far shalt thou go and no further_. But in the absence +of a constitution, men look entirely to party; and instead of principle +governing party, party governs principle. + + 1 The Constitution adopted August 10, 1793, was by the + determination of "The Mountain," suspended during the war + against France. The revolutionary government was thus made + chronic--_Editor._ + +An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to +stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws. He +that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from +oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent +that will reach to himself. Thomas Paine. + +Paris, July, 1795. + + + + +XXV. THE CONSTITUTION OF 1795. + + +SPEECH IN THE FRENCH NATIONAL CONVENTION, JULY 7, 1795. + +On the motion of Lanthenas, "That permission be granted to Thomas +Paine, to deliver his sentiments on the declaration of rights and the +constitution," Thomas Paine ascended the Tribune; and no opposition +being made to the motion, one of the Secretaries, who stood by Mr. +Paine, read his speech, of which the following is a literal translation: + +Citizens: + +The effects of a malignant fever, with which I was afflicted during a +rigorous confinement in the Luxembourg, have thus long prevented me from +attending at my post in the bosom of the Convention, and the magnitude +of the subject under discussion, and no other consideration on earth, +could induce me now to repair to my station. + +A recurrence to the vicissitudes I have experienced, and the critical +situations in which I have been placed in consequence of the French +Revolution, will throw upon what I now propose to submit to the +Convention the most unequivocal proofs of my integrity, and the +rectitude of those principles which have uniformly influenced my +conduct. + +In England I was proscribed for having vindicated the French Revolution, +and I have suffered a rigorous imprisonment in France for having pursued +a similar mode of conduct. During the reign of terrorism, I was a close +prisoner for eight long months, and remained so above three months after +the era of the 10th Thermidor.(1) I ought, however, to state, that I +was not persecuted by the _people_ either of England or France. The +proceedings in both countries were the effects of the despotism existing +in their respective governments. But, even if my persecution had +originated in the people at large, my principles and conduct would still +have remained the same. Principles which are influenced and subject to +the controul of tyranny, have not their foundation in the heart. + + 1 By the French republican calendar this was nearly the + time. Paine's imprisonment lasted from December 28, 1793, to + November 4, 1794. He was by a unanimous vote recalled to the + Convention, Dec 7, 1794, but his first appearance there was + on July 7, 1795.--_Editor._, + +A few days ago, I transmitted to you by the ordinary mode of +distribution, a short Treatise, entitled "Dissertation on the First +Principles of Government." This little work I did intend to have +dedicated to the people of Holland, who, about the time I began to write +it, were determined to accomplish a Revolution in their Government, +rather than to the people of France, who had long before effected that +glorious object. But there are, in the Constitution which is about to +be ratified by the Convention certain articles, and in the report which +preceded it certain points, so repugnant to reason, and incompatible +with the true principles of liberty, as to render this Treatise, drawn +up for another purpose, applicable to the present occasion, and under +this impression I presumed to submit it to your consideration. + +If there be faults in the Constitution, it were better to expunge them +now, than to abide the event of their mischievous tendency; for certain +it is, that the plan of the Constitution which has been presented to you +is not consistent with the grand object of the Revolution, nor congenial +to the sentiments of the individuals who accomplished it. + +To deprive half the people in a nation of their rights as citizens, +is an easy matter in theory or on paper: but it is a most dangerous +experiment, and rarely practicable in the execution. + +I shall now proceed to the observations I have to offer on this +important subject; and I pledge myself that they shall be neither +numerous nor diffusive. + +In my apprehension, a constitution embraces two distinct parts or +objects, the _Principle_ and the _Practice_; and it is not only an +essential but an indispensable provision that the practice should +emanate from, and accord with, the principle. Now I maintain, that the +reverse of this proposition is the case in the plan of the Constitution +under discussion. The first article, for instance, of the _political +state_ of citizens, (v. Title ii. of the Constitution,) says: + +"Every man born and resident in France, who, being twenty-one years of +age, has inscribed his name on the Civic Register of his Canton, and who +has lived afterwards one year on the territory of the Republic, and who +pays any direct contribution whatever, real or personal, is a French +citizen." (1) + + 1 The article as ultimately adopted substituted "person" for + "man," and for "has inscribed his name" (a slight + educational test) inserted "whose name is inscribed."-- + _Editor._ + +I might here ask, if those only who come under the above description are +to be considered as citizens, what designation do you mean to give the +rest of the people? I allude to that portion of the people on whom the +principal part of the labour falls, and on whom the weight of indirect +taxation will in the event chiefly press. In the structure of the social +fabric, this class of people are infinitely superior to that privileged +order whose only qualification is their wealth or territorial +possessions. For what is trade without merchants? What is land without +cultivation? And what is the produce of the land without manufactures? +But to return to the subject. + +In the first place, this article is incompatible with the three first +articles of the Declaration of Rights, which precede the Constitutional +Act. + +The first article of the Declaration of Rights says: + +"The end of society is the public good; and the institution of +government is to secure to every individual the enjoyment of his +rights." + +But the article of the Constitution to which I have just adverted +proposes as the object of society, not the public good, or in other +words, the good of _all_, but a partial good; or the good only of a +_few_; and the Constitution provides solely for the rights of this few, +to the exclusion of the many. + +The second article of the Declaration of Rights says: + +"The Rights of Man in society are Liberty, Equality, Security of his +person and property." + +But the article alluded to in the Constitution has a direct tendency to +establish the reverse of this position, inasmuch as the persons excluded +by this _inequality_ can neither be said to possess liberty, nor +security against oppression. They are consigned totally to the caprice +and tyranny of the rest. + +The third article of the Declaration of Rights says: + +"Liberty consists in such acts of volition as are not injurious to +others." + +But the article of the Constitution, on which I have observed, breaks +down this barrier. It enables the liberty of one part of society to +destroy the freedom of the other. + +Having thus pointed out the inconsistency of this article to the +Declaration of Rights, I shall proceed to comment on that of the same +article which makes a direct contribution a necessary qualification to +the right of citizenship. + +A modern refinement on the object of public revenue has divided the +taxes, or contributions, into two classes, the _direct_ and the_ +indirect_, without being able to define precisely the distinction or +difference between them, because the effect of both is the same. + +Those are designated indirect taxes which fall upon the consumers of +certain articles, on which the tax is imposed, because, the tax being +included in the price, the consumer pays it without taking notice of it. + +The same observation is applicable to the territorial tax. The land +proprietors, in order to reimburse themselves, will rack-rent their +tenants: the farmer, of course, will transfer the obligation to the +miller, by enhancing the price of grain; the miller to the baker, by +increasing the price of flour; and the baker to the consumer, by raising +the price of bread. The territorial tax, therefore, though called +_direct_, is, in its consequences, _indirect_. + +To this tax the land proprietor contributes only in proportion to the +quantity of bread and other provisions that are consumed in his own +family. The deficit is furnished by the great mass of the community, +which comprehends every individual of the nation. + +From the logical distinction between the direct and in-direct taxation, +some emolument may result, I allow, to auditors of public accounts, &c., +but to the people at large I deny that such a distinction (which by the +by is without a difference) can be productive of any practical +benefit. It ought not, therefore, to be admitted as a principle in the +constitution. + +Besides this objection, the provision in question does not affect to +define, secure, or establish the right of citizenship. It consigns to +the caprice or discretion of the legislature the power of pronouncing +who shall, or shall not, exercise the functions of a citizen; and +this may be done effectually, either by the imposition of a _direct or +indirect_ tax, according to the selfish views of the legislators, or by +the mode of collecting the taxes so imposed. + +Neither a tenant who occupies an extensive farm, nor a merchant or +manufacturer who may have embarked a large capital in their respective +pursuits, can ever, according to this system, attain the preemption +of a citizen. On the other hand, any upstart, who has, by succession +or management, got possession of a few acres of land or a miserable +tenement, may exultingly exercise the functions of a citizen, although +perhaps neither possesses a hundredth part of the worth or property of a +simple mechanic, nor contributes in any proportion to the exigencies of +the State. + +The contempt in which the old government held mercantile pursuits, and +the obloquy that attached on merchants and manufacturers, contributed +not a little to its embarrassments, and its eventual subversion; and, +strange to tell, though the mischiefs arising from this mode of conduct +are so obvious, yet an article is proposed for your adoption which has a +manifest tendency to restore a defect inherent in the monarchy. + + +I shall now proceed to the second article of the same Title, with which +I shall conclude my remarks. + +The second article says, "Every French soldier, who shall have served +one or more campaigns in the cause of liberty, is deemed a citizen +of the republic, without any respect or reference to other +qualifications."(1) + +It would seem, that in this Article the Committee were desirous of +extricating themselves from a dilemma into which they had been plunged +by the preceding article. When men depart from an established principle +they are compelled to resort to trick and subterfuge, always shifting +their means to preserve the unity of their objects; and as it rarely +happens that the first expedient makes amends for the prostitution of +principle, they must call in aid a second, of a more flagrant nature, +to supply the deficiency of the former. In this manner legislators go +on accumulating error upon error, and artifice upon artifice, until +the mass becomes so bulky and incongruous, and their embarrassment so +desperate, that they are compelled, as their last expedient, to resort +to the very principle they had violated. The Committee were precisely +in this predicament when they framed this article; and to me, I confess, +their conduct appears specious rather than efficacious.(2) + + 1 This article eventually stood: "All Frenchmen who shall + have made one or more campaigns for the establishment of the + Republic, are citizens, without condition as to taxes."-- + _Editor._ + + 2 The head of the Committee (eleven) was the Abbe Sieves, + whose political treachery was well known to Paine before it + became known to the world by his services to Napoleon in + overthrowing the Republic.--_Editor._ + +It was not for himself alone, but for his family, that the French +citizen, at the dawn of the revolution, (for then indeed every man +was considered a citizen) marched soldier-like to the frontiers, and +repelled a foreign invasion. He had it not in his contemplation, that he +should enjoy liberty for the residue of his earthly career, and by his +own act preclude his offspring from that inestimable blessing. No! He +wished to leave it as an inheritance to his children, and that they +might hand it down to their latest posterity. If a Frenchman, who united +in his person the character of a Soldier and a Citizen, was now to +return from the army to his peaceful habitation, he must address his +small family in this manner: "Sorry I am, that I cannot leave to you +a small portion of what I have acquired by exposing my person to +the ferocity of our enemies and defeating their machinations. I have +established the republic, and, painful the reflection, all the laurels +which I have won in the field are blasted, and all the privileges to +which my exertions have entitled me extend not beyond the period of +my own existence!" Thus the measure that has been adopted by way of +subterfuge falls short of what the framers of it speculated upon; for +in conciliating the affections of the _Soldier_, they have subjected +the _Father_ to the most pungent sensations, by obliging him to adopt a +generation of Slaves. + +Citizens, a great deal has been urged respecting insurrections. I am +confident that no man has a greater abhorrence of them than myself, and +I am sorry that any insinuations should have been thrown out upon me +as a promoter of violence of any kind. The whole tenor of my life and +conversation gives the lie to those calumnies, and proves me to be a +friend to order, truth and justice. + +I hope you will attribute this effusion of my sentiments to my anxiety +for the honor and success of the revolution. I have no interest distinct +from that which has a tendency to meliorate the situation of mankind. +The revolution, as far as it respects myself, has been productive of +more loss and persecution than it is possible for me to describe, or for +you to indemnify. But with respect to the subject under consideration, I +could not refrain from declaring my sentiments. + +In my opinion, if you subvert the basis of the revolution, if you +dispense with principles, and substitute expedients, you will extinguish +that enthusiasm and energy which have hitherto been the life and soul of +the revolution; and you will substitute in its place nothing but a +cold indifference and self-interest, which will again degenerate into +intrigue, cunning, and effeminacy. + +But to discard all considerations of a personal and subordinate nature, +it is essential to the well-being of the republic that the practical or +organic part of the constitution should correspond with its principles; +and as this does not appear to be the case in the plan that has been +presented to you, it is absolutely necessary that it should be submitted +to the revision of a committee, who should be instructed to compare it +with the Declaration of Rights, in order to ascertain the difference +between the two, and to make such alterations as shall render them +perfectly consistent and compatible with each other. + + + + +XXVI. THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ENGLISH SYSTEM OF FINANCE.(1) + + "On the verge, nay even in the gulph of bankruptcy." + + 1 This pamphlet, as Paine predicts at its close (no doubt on + good grounds), was translated into all languages of Europe, + and probably hastened the gold suspension of the Bank of + England (1797), which it predicted. The British Government + entrusted its reply to Ralph Broome and George Chalmers, who + wrote pamphlets. There is in the French Archives an order + for 1000 copies, April 27, 1796, nineteen days after Paine's + pamphlet appeared. "Mr. Cobbett has made this little + pamphlet a text-book for most of his elaborate treatises on + our finances.... On the authority of a late Register of Mr. + Cobbett's I learn that the profits arising from the sale of + this pamphlet were devoted [by Paine] to the relief of the + prisoners confined in Newgate for debt."--"Life of Paine," + by Richard Carlile, 1819.--_Editor._. + + +Debates in Parliament. + +Nothing, they say, is more certain than death, and nothing more +uncertain than the time of dying; yet we can always fix a period beyond +which man cannot live, and within some moment of which he will die. We +are enabled to do this, not by any spirit of prophecy, or foresight into +the event, but by observation of what has happened in all cases of human +or animal existence. If then any other subject, such, for instance, as +a system of finance, exhibits in its progress a series of symptoms +indicating decay, its final dissolution is certain, and the period of it +can be calculated from the symptoms it exhibits. + +Those who have hitherto written on the English system of finance, (the +funding system,) have been uniformly impressed with the idea that its +downfall would happen _some time or other_. They took, however, no data +for their opinion, but expressed it predictively,--or merely as opinion, +from a conviction that the perpetual duration of such a system was a +natural impossibility. It is in this manner that Dr. Price has spoken of +it; and Smith, in his Wealth of Nations, has spoken in the same manner; +that is, merely as opinion without data. "The progress," says Smith, +"of the enormous debts, which at present oppress, and will in the long +run _most probably ruin_, all the great nations of Europe [he should +have said _governments_] has been pretty uniform." But this general +manner of speaking, though it might make some impression, carried with +it no conviction. + +It is not my intention to predict any thing; but I will show from data +already known, from symptoms and facts which the English funding system +has already exhibited publicly, that it will not continue to the end of +Mr. Pitt's life, supposing him to live the usual age of a man. How much +sooner it may fall, I leave to others to predict. + +Let financiers diversify systems of credit as they will, it _is_ +nevertheless true, that every system of credit is a system of paper +money. Two experiments have already been had upon paper money; the one +in America, the other in France. In both those cases the whole capital +was emitted, and that whole capital, which in America was called +continental money, and in France assignats, appeared in circulation; the +consequence of which was, that the quantity became so enormous, and so +disproportioned to the quantity of population, and to the quantity' of +objects upon which it could be employed, that the market, if I may so +express it, was glutted with it, and the value of it fell. Between five +and six years determined the fate of those experiments. The same fate +would have happened to gold and silver, could gold and silver have been +issued in the same abundant manner that paper had been, and confined +within the country as paper money always is, by having no circulation +out of it; or, to speak on a larger scale, the same thing would happen +in the world, could the world be glutted with gold and silver, as +America and France have been with paper. + +The English system differs from that of America and France in this one +particular, that its capital is kept out of sight; that is, it does +not appear in circulation. Were the whole capital of the national debt, +which at the time I write this is almost one hundred million pounds +sterling, to be emitted in assignats or bills, and that whole quantity +put into circulation, as was done in America and in France, those +English assignats, or bills, would soon sink in value as those of +America and France have done; and that in a greater degree, because +the quantity of them would be more disproportioned to the quantity +of population in England, than was the case in either of the other two +countries. A nominal pound sterling in such bills would not be worth one +penny. + +But though the English system, by thus keeping the capital out of sight, +is preserved from hasty destruction, as in the case of America and +France, it nevertheless approaches the same fate, and will arrive at it +with the same certainty, though by a slower progress. The difference +is altogether in the degree of speed by which the two systems approach +their fate, which, to speak in round numbers, is as twenty is to one; +that is, the English system, that of funding the capital instead of +issuing it, contained within itself a capacity of enduring twenty times +longer than the systems adopted by America and France; and at the end of +that time it would arrive at the same common grave, the Potter's Field +of paper money. + +The datum, I take for this proportion of twenty to one, is the +difference between a capital and the interest at five per cent. Twenty +times the interest is equal to the capital. The accumulation of paper +money in England is in proportion to the accumulation of the interest +upon every new loan; and therefore the progress to the dissolution is +twenty times slower than if the capital were to be emitted and put into +circulation immediately. Every twenty years in the English system is +equal to one year in the French and American systems. + +Having thus stated the duration of the two systems, that of funding upon +interest, and that of emitting the whole capital without funding, to be +as twenty to one, I come to examine the symptoms of decay, approaching +to dissolution, that the English system has already exhibited, and to +compare them with similar systems in the French and American systems. + +The English funding system began one hundred years ago; in which time +there have been six wars, including the war that ended in 1697. + +1. The war that ended, as I have just said, in 1697. + +2. The war that began in 1702. + +3. The war that began in 1739. + +4. The war that began in 1756. + +5. The American war, that began in 1775. + +6. The present war, that began in 1793. + + +The national debt, at the conclusion of the war which ended in 1697, was +twenty-one millions and an half. (See Smith's Wealth of Nations, +chapter on Public Debts.) We now see it approaching fast to four hundred +millions. If between these two extremes of twenty-one millions and four +hundred millions, embracing the several expenses of all the including +wars, there exist some common ratio that will ascertain arithmetically +the amount of the debts at the end of each war, as certainly as the fact +is known to be, that ratio will in like manner determine what the amount +of the debt will be in all future wars, and will ascertain the period +within which the funding system will expire in a bankruptcy of the +government; for the ratio I allude to, is the ratio which the nature of +the thing has established for itself. + +Hitherto no idea has been entertained that any such ratio existed, or +could exist, that would determine a problem of this kind; that is, that +would ascertain, without having any knowledge of the fact, what the +expense of any former war had been, or what the expense of any future +war would be; but it is nevertheless true that such a ratio does exist, +as I shall show, and also the mode of applying it. + +The ratio I allude to is not in arithmetical progression like the +numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; nor yet in geometrical progression, like +the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256; but it is in the series of +one half upon each preceding number; like the numbers 8, 12, 18, 27, 40, +60, 90, 135. + +Any person can perceive that the second number, 12, is produced by the +preceding number, 8, and half 8; and that the third number, 18, is in +like manner produced by the preceding number, 12, and half 12; and so +on for the rest. They can also see how rapidly the sums increase as +the ratio proceeds. The difference between the two first numbers is but +four; but the difference between the two last is forty-five; and from +thence they may see with what immense rapidity the national debt has +increased, and will continue to increase, till it exceeds the ordinary +powers of calculation, and loses itself in ciphers. + +I come now to apply the ratio as a rule to determine in all cases. + +I began with the war that ended in 1697, which was the war in which the +funding system began. The expense of that war was twenty-one millions +and an half. In order to ascertain the expense of the next war, I add +to twenty-one millions and an half, the half thereof (ten millions and +three quarters) which makes thirty-two millions and a quarter for the +expense of that war. This thirty-two millions and a quarter, added to +the former debt of twenty-one millions and an half, carries the national +debt to fifty-three millions and three quarters. Smith, in his +chapter on Public Debts, says, that the national debt was at this time +fifty-three millions. + +I proceed to ascertain the expense of the next war, that of 1739, by +adding, as in the former case, one half to the expense of the preceding +war. The expense of the preceding war was thirty-two millions and a +quarter; for the sake of even numbers, say, thirty-two millions; the +half of which (16) makes forty-eight millions for the expense of that +war. + +I proceed to ascertain the expense of the war of 1756, by adding, +according to the ratio, one half to the expense of the preceding war. +The expense of the preceding was taken at 48 millions, the half of which +(24) makes 72 millions for the expense of that war. Smith, (chapter on +Public Debts,) says, the expense of the war of 1756, was 72 millions and +a quarter. + +I proceed to ascertain the expense of the American war, of 1775, by +adding, as in the former cases, one half to the expense of the preceding +war. The expense of the preceding war was 72 millions, the half of which +(36) makes 108 millions for the expense of that war. In the last +edition of Smith, (chapter on Public Debts,) he says, the expense of the +American war was _more than an hundred millions_. + +I come now to ascertain the expense of the present war, supposing it to +continue as long as former wars have done, and the funding system not +to break up before that period. The expense of the preceding war was 108 +millions, the half of which (54) makes 162 millions for the expense of +the present war. It gives symptoms of going beyond this sum, supposing +the funding system not to break up; for the loans of the last year and +of the present year are twenty-two millions each, which exceeds the +ratio compared with the loans of the preceding war. It will not be from +the inability of procuring loans that the system will break up. On +the contrary, it is the facility with which loans can be procured that +hastens that event. The loans are altogether paper transactions; and +it is the excess of them that brings on, with accelerating speed, that +progressive depreciation of funded paper money that will dissolve the +funding system. + +I proceed to ascertain the expense of future wars, and I do this merely +to show the impossibility of the continuance of the funding system, and +the certainty of its dissolution. + +The expense of the next war after the present war, according to the +ratio that has ascertained the preceding cases, will be 243 millions. + +Expense of the second war 364 + +---------------- third war 546 + +---------------- fourth war 819 + +-------- fifth war 1228 + + 3200 millions; + +which, at only four per cent. will require taxes to the nominal amount +of one hundred and twenty-eight millions to pay the annual interest, +besides the interest of the present debt, and the expenses of +government, which are not included in this account. Is there a man so +mad, so stupid, as to sup-pose this system can continue? + +When I first conceived the idea of seeking for some common ratio that +should apply as a rule of measurement to all the cases of the funding +system, so far as to ascertain the several stages of its approach to +dissolution, I had no expectation that any ratio could be found that +would apply with so much exactness as this does. I was led to the idea +merely by observing that the funding system was a thing in continual +progression, and that whatever was in a state of progression might be +supposed to admit of, at least, some general ratio of measurement, +that would apply without any very great variation. But who could have +supposed that falling systems, or falling opinions, admitted of a ratio +apparently as true as the descent of falling bodies? I have not made the +ratio any more than Newton made the ratio of gravitation. I have only +discovered it, and explained the mode of applying it. + +To shew at one view the rapid progression of the funding system to +destruction, and to expose the folly of those who blindly believe in +its continuance, and who artfully endeavour to impose that belief upon +others, I exhibit in the annexed table, the expense of each of the six +wars since the funding system began, as ascertained by ratio, and the +expense of the six wars yet to come, ascertained by the same ratio. + +[Illustration: Table318] + + * The actual expense of the war of 1739 did not come up to + the sum ascertained by the ratio. But as that which is the + natural disposition of a thing, as it is the natural + disposition of a stream of water to descend, will, if + impeded in its course, overcome by a new effort what it had + lost by that impediment, so it was with respect to this war + and the next (1756) taken collectively; for the expense of + the war of 1756 restored the equilibrium of the ratio, as + fully as if it had not been impeded. A circumstance that + serves to prove the truth of the ratio more folly than if + the interruption had not taken place. The war of 1739 *** + languid; the efforts were below the value of money et that + time; for the ratio is the measure of the depreciation of + money in consequence of the funding system; or what comes + to the same end, it is the measure of the increase of paper. + Every additional quantity of it, whether in bank notes or + otherwise, diminishes the real, though not the nominal value + of the former quantity.--_Author_ + + +Those who are acquainted with the power with which even a small ratio, +acting in progression, multiplies in a long series, will see nothing to +wonder at in this table. Those who are not acquainted with that subject, +and not knowing what else to say, may be inclined to deny it. But it is +not their opinion one way, nor mine the other, that can influence the +event. The table exhibits the natural march of the funding system to its +irredeemable dissolution. Supposing the present government of England to +continue, and to go on as it has gone on since the funding system began, +I would not give twenty shillings for one hundred pounds in the funds to +be paid twenty years hence. I do not speak this predictively; I produce +the data upon which that belief is founded; and which data it is every +body's interest to know, who have any thing to do with the funds, or +who are going to bequeath property to their descendants to be paid at a +future day. + +Perhaps it may be asked, that as governments or ministers proceeded by +no ratio in making loans or incurring debts, and nobody intended any +ratio, or thought of any, how does it happen that there is one? I +answer, that the ratio is founded in necessity; and I now go to explain +what that necessity is. + +It will always happen, that the price of labour, or of the produce +of labour, be that produce what it may, will be in proportion to the +quantity of money in a country, admitting things to take their natural +course. Before the invention of the funding system, there was no other +money than gold and silver; and as nature gives out those metals with +a sparing hand, and in regular annual quantities from the mines, the +several prices of things were proportioned to the quantity of money at +that time, and so nearly stationary as to vary but little in any fifty +or sixty years of that period. + +When the funding system began, a substitute for gold and silver began +also. That substitute was paper; and the quantity increased as the +quantity of interest increased upon accumulated loans. This appearance +of a new and additional species of money in the nation soon began to +break the relative value which money and the things it will purchase +bore to each other before. Every thing rose in price; but the rise at +first was little and slow, like the difference in units between two +first numbers, 8 and 12, compared with the two last numbers 90 and 135, +in the table. It was however sufficient to make itself considerably felt +in a large transaction. When therefore government, by engaging in a new +war, required a new loan, it was obliged to make a higher loan than the +former loan, to balance the increased price to which things had risen; +and as that new loan increased the quantity of paper in proportion +to the new quantity of interest, it carried the price of things still +higher than before. The next loan was again higher, to balance that +further increased price; and all this in the same manner, though not +in the same degree, that every new emission of continental money in +America, or of assignats in France, was greater than the preceding +emission, to make head against the advance of prices, till the combat +could be maintained no longer. Herein is founded the necessity of which +I have just spoken. That necessity proceeds with accelerating velocity, +and the ratio I have laid down is the measure of that acceleration; or, +to speak the technical language of the subject, it is the measure of the +increasing depreciation of funded paper money, which it is impossible to +prevent while the quantity of that money and of bank notes continues to +multiply. What else but this can account for the difference between one +war costing 21 millions, and another war costing 160 millions? + +The difference cannot be accounted for on the score of extraordinary +efforts or extraordinary achievements. The war that cost twenty-one +millions was the war of the con-federates, historically called the grand +alliance, consisting of England, Austria, and Holland in the time of +William III. against Louis XIV. and in which the confederates were +victorious. The present is a war of a much greater confederacy--a +confederacy of England, Austria, Prussia, the German Empire, Spain, +Holland, Naples, and Sardinia, eight powers, against the French Republic +singly, and the Republic has beaten the whole confederacy.--But to +return to my subject. + +It is said in England, that the value of paper keeps equal with the +value of gold and silver. But the case is not rightly stated; for the +fact is, that the paper has _pulled down_ the value of gold and silver +to a level with itself. Gold and silver will not purchase so much of any +purchasable article at this day as if no paper had appeared, nor so much +as it will in any country in Europe where there is no paper. How long +this hanging together of money and paper will continue, makes a new +case; because it daily exposes the system to sudden death, independent +of the natural death it would otherwise suffer. + +I consider the funding system as being now advanced into the last twenty +years of its existence. The single circumstance, were there no other, +that a war should now cost nominally one hundred and sixty millions, +which when the system began cost but twenty-one millions, or that the +loan for one year only (including the loan to the Emperor) should now be +nominally greater than the whole expense of that war, shows the state of +depreciation to which the funding system has arrived. Its depreciation +is in the proportion of eight for one, compared with the value of its +money when the system began; which is the state the French assignats +stood a year ago (March 1795) compared with gold and silver. It is +therefore that I say, that the English funding system has entered on the +last twenty years of its existence, comparing each twenty years of +the English system with every single year of the American and French +systems, as before stated. + +Again, supposing the present war to close as former wars have done, and +without producing either revolution or reform in England, another war at +least must be looked for in the space of the twenty years I allude to; +for it has never yet happened that twenty years have passed off without +a war, and that more especially since the English government has dabbled +in German politics, and shown a disposition to insult the world, and the +world of commerce, with her navy. The next war will carry the national +debt to very nearly seven hundred millions, the interest of which, at +four per cent, will be twenty-eight millions besides the taxes for +the (then) expenses of government, which will increase in the same +proportion, and which will carry the taxes to at least forty millions; +and if another war only begins, it will quickly carry them to above +fifty; for it is in the last twenty years of the funding system, as in +the last year of the American and French systems without funding, that +all the great shocks begin to operate. + +I have just mentioned that, paper in England has _pulled down_ the value +of gold and silver to a level with itself; and that _this pulling dawn_ +of gold and silver money has created the appearance of paper money +keeping up. The same thing, and the same mistake, took place in +America and in France, and continued for a considerable time after the +commencement of their system of paper; and the actual depreciation of +money was hidden under that mistake. + +It was said in America, at that time, that everything was becoming +_dear_; but gold and silver could then buy those dear articles no +cheaper than paper could; and therefore it was not called depreciation. +The idea of _dearness_ established itself for the idea of depreciation. +The same was the case in France. Though every thing rose in price soon +after assignats appeared, yet those dear articles could be purchased no +cheaper with gold and silver, than with paper, and it was only said that +things were _dear_. The same is still the language in England. They +call it _deariness_. But they will soon find that it is an actual +depreciation, and that this depreciation is the effect of the funding +system; which, by crowding such a continually increasing mass of paper +into circulation, carries down the value of gold and silver with it. But +gold and silver, will, in the long run, revolt against depreciation, and +separate from the value of paper; for the progress of all such systems +appears to be, that the paper will take the command in the beginning, +and gold and silver in the end. + +But this succession in the command of gold and silver over paper, makes +a crisis far more eventful to the funding system than to any other +system upon which paper can be issued; for, strictly speaking, it is not +a crisis of danger but a symptom of death. It is a death-stroke to the +funding system. It is a revolution in the whole of its affairs. + +If paper be issued without being funded upon interest, emissions of it +can be continued after the value of it separates from gold and silver, +as we have seen in the two cases of America and France. But the funding +system rests altogether upon the value of paper being equal to gold and +silver; which will be as long as the paper can continue carrying down +the value of gold and silver to the same level to which itself descends, +and no longer. But even in this state, that of descending equally +together, the minister, whoever he may be, will find himself beset with +accumulating difficulties; because the loans and taxes voted for the +service of each ensuing year will wither in his hands before the year +expires, or before they can be applied. This will force him to have +recourse to emissions of what are called exchequer and navy bills, +which, by still increasing the mass of paper in circulation, will drive +on the depreciation still more rapidly. + +It ought to be known that taxes in England are not paid in gold +and silver, but in paper (bank notes). Every person who pays any +considerable quantity of taxes, such as maltsters, brewers, distillers, +(I appeal for the truth of it, to any of the collectors of excise in +England, or to Mr. White-bread,)(1) knows this to be the case. There is +not gold and silver enough in the nation to pay the taxes in coin, as +I shall show; and consequently there is not money enough in the bank to +pay the notes. The interest of the national funded debt is paid at the +bank in the same kind of paper in which the taxes are collected. When +people find, as they will find, a reservedness among each other in +giving gold and silver for bank notes, or the least preference for the +former over the latter, they will go for payment to the bank, where they +have a right to go. They will do this as a measure of prudence, each one +for himself, and the truth or delusion of the funding system will then +be proved. + + 1 An eminent Member of Parliament.--_Editor._. + +I have said in the foregoing paragraph that there is not gold and silver +enough in the nation to pay the taxes in coin, and consequently that +there cannot be enough in the bank to pay the notes. As I do not choose +to rest anything upon assertion, I appeal for the truth of this to the +publications of Mr. Eden (now called Lord Auckland) and George Chalmers, +Secretary to the Board of Trade and Plantation, of which Jenkinson (now +Lord Hawkesbury) is president.(1) (These sort of folks change their +names so often that it is as difficult to know them as it is to know +a thief.) Chalmers gives the quantity of gold and silver coin from the +returns of coinage at the Mint; and after deducting for the light gold +recoined, says that the amount of gold and silver coined is about twenty +millions. He had better not have proved this, especially if he had +reflected that _public credit is suspicion asleep_. The quantity is much +too little. + + 1 Concerning Chalmers and Hawkesbury see vol. ii., p. 533. + Also, preface to my "Life of Paine", xvi., and other + passages.---_Editor._. + +Of this twenty millions (which is not a fourth part of the quantity of +gold and silver there is in France, as is shown in Mr. Neckar's Treatise +on the Administration of the Finances) three millions at least must be +supposed to be in Ireland, some in Scotland, and in the West Indies, +Newfoundland, &c. The quantity therefore in England cannot be more than +sixteen millions, which is four millions less than the amount of the +taxes. But admitting that there are sixteen millions, not more than +a fourth part thereof (four millions) can be in London, when it is +considered that every city, town, village, and farm-house in the nation +must have a part of it, and that all the great manufactories, which most +require cash, are out of London. Of this four millions in London, every +banker, merchant, tradesman, in short every individual, must have some. +He must be a poor shopkeeper indeed, who has not a few guineas in his +till. The quantity of cash therefore in the bank can never, on the +evidence of circumstances, be so much as two millions; most probably +not more than one million; and on this slender twig, always liable to be +broken, hangs the whole funding system of four hundred millions, besides +many millions in bank notes. The sum in the bank is not sufficient to +pay one-fourth of only one year's interest of the national debt, were +the creditors to demand payment in cash, or demand cash for the bank +notes in which the interest is paid, a circumstance always liable to +happen. + +One of the amusements that has kept up the farce of the funding system +is, that the interest is regularly paid. But as the interest is always +paid in bank notes, and as bank notes can always be coined for the +purpose, this mode of payment proves nothing. The point of proof is, can +the bank give cash for the bank notes with which the interest is paid? +If it cannot, and it is evident it cannot, some millions of bank notes +must go without payment, and those holders of bank notes who apply last +will be worst off. When the present quantity of cash in the bank is paid +away, it is next to impossible to see how any new quantity is to arrive. +None will arrive from taxes, for the taxes will all be paid in bank +notes; and should the government refuse bank notes in payment of taxes, +the credit of bank notes will be gone at once. No cash will arise from +the business of discounting merchants' bills; for every merchant will +pay off those bills in bank notes, and not in cash. There is therefore +no means left for the bank to obtain a new supply of cash, after the +present quantity is paid away. But besides the impossibility of paying +the interest of the funded debt in cash, there are many thousand +persons, in London and in the country, who are holders of bank notes +that came into their hands in the fair way of trade, and who are not +stockholders in the funds; and as such persons have had no hand in +increasing the demand upon the bank, as those have had who for their own +private interest, like Boyd and others, are contracting or pretending to +contract for new loans, they will conceive they have a just right that +their bank notes should be paid first. Boyd has been very sly in France, +in changing his paper into cash. He will be just as sly in doing the +same thing in London, for he has learned to calculate; and then it is +probable he will set off for America. + +A stoppage of payment at the bank is not a new thing. Smith in his +Wealth of Nations, book ii. chap. 2, says, that in the year 1696, +exchequer bills fell forty, fifty, and sixty per cent; bank notes twenty +per cent; and the bank stopped payment. That which happened in 1696 may +happen again in 1796. The period in which it happened was the last year +of the war of King William. It necessarily put a stop to the further +emissions of exchequer and navy bills, and to the raising of new loans; +and the peace which took place the next year was probably hurried on by +this circumstance, and saved the bank from bankruptcy. Smith in speaking +from the circumstances of the bank, upon another occasion, says (book +ii. chap. 2.) "This great company had been reduced to the necessity +of paying in sixpences." When a bank adopts the expedient of paying in +sixpences, it is a confession of insolvency. + +It is worthy of observation, that every case of failure in finances, +since the system of paper began, has produced a revolution in +governments, either total or partial. A failure in the finances of +France produced the French revolution. A failure in the finance of +the assignats broke up the revolutionary government, and produced +the present French Constitution. A failure in the finances of the Old +Congress of America, and the embarrassments it brought upon commerce, +broke up the system of the old confederation, and produced the federal +Constitution. If, then, we admit of reasoning by comparison of causes +and events, the failure of the English finances will produce some change +in the government of that country. + +As to Mr. Pitt's project of paying off the national debt by applying +a million a-year for that purpose, while he continues adding more than +twenty millions a-year to it, it is like setting a man with a wooden leg +to run after a hare. The longer he runs the farther he is off. + +When I said that the funding system had entered the last twenty years +of its existence, I certainly did not mean that it would continue twenty +years, and then expire as a lease would do. I meant to describe that +age of decrepitude in which death is every day to be expected, and life +cannot continue long. But the death of credit, or that state that is +called bankruptcy, is not always marked by those progressive stages +of visible decline that marked the decline of natural life. In the +progression of natural life age cannot counterfeit youth, nor conceal +the departure of juvenile abilities. But it is otherwise with respect +to the death of credit; for though all the approaches to bankruptcy +may actually exist in circumstances, they admit of being concealed by +appearances. Nothing is more common than to see the bankrupt of to-day a +man in credit but the day before; yet no sooner is the real state of +his affairs known, than every body can see he had been insolvent long +before. In London, the greatest theatre of bankruptcy in Europe, this +part of the subject will be well and feelingly understood. + +Mr. Pitt continually talks of credit, and the national resources. These +are two of the feigned appearances by which the approaches to bankruptcy +are concealed. That which he calls credit may exist, as I have just +shown, in a state of insolvency, and is always what I have before +described it to be, _suspicion asleep_. + +As to national resources, Mr. Pitt, like all English financiers that +preceded him since the funding system began, has uniformly mistaken the +nature of a resource; that is, they have mistaken it consistently with +the delusion of the funding system; but time is explaining the delusion. +That which he calls, and which they call, a resource, is not a resource, +but is the _anticipation_ of a resource. They have anticipated what +_would have been_ a resource in another generation, had not the use of +it been so anticipated. The funding system is a system of anticipation. +Those who established it an hundred years ago anticipated the resources +of those who were to live an hundred years after; for the people of the +present day have to pay the interest of the debts contracted at that +time, and all debts contracted since. But it is the last feather that +breaks the horse's back. Had the system begun an hundred years before, +the amount of taxes at this time to pay the annual interest at four per +cent. (could we suppose such a system of insanity could have continued) +would be two hundred and twenty millions annually: for the capital of +the debt would be 5486 millions, according to the ratio that ascertains +the expense of the wars for the hundred years that are past. But long +before it could have reached this period, the value of bank notes, +from the immense quantity of them, (for it is in paper only that such +a nominal revenue could be collected,) would have been as low or lower +than continental paper has been in America, or assignats in France; and +as to the idea of exchanging them for gold and silver, it is too absurd +to be contradicted. + +Do we not see that nature, in all her operations, disowns the visionary +basis upon which the funding system is built? She acts always by +renewed successions, and never by accumulating additions perpetually +progressing. Animals and vegetables, men and trees, have existed since +the world began: but that existence has been carried on by succession +of generations, and not by continuing the same men and the same trees in +existence that existed first; and to make room for the new she removes +the old. Every natural idiot can see this; it is the stock-jobbing idiot +only that mistakes. He has conceived that art can do what nature cannot. +He is teaching her a new system--that there is no occasion for man to +die--that the scheme of creation can be carried on upon the plan of +the funding system--that it can proceed by continual additions of new +beings, like new loans, and all live together in eternal youth. Go, +count the graves, thou idiot, and learn the folly of thy arithmetic! + +But besides these things, there is something visibly farcical in the +whole operation of loaning. It is scarcely more than four years ago +that such a rot of bankruptcy spread itself over London, that the whole +commercial fabric tottered; trade and credit were at a stand; and +such was the state of things that, to prevent or suspend a general +bankruptcy, the government lent the merchants six millions in +_government_ paper, and now the merchants lend the government twenty-two +millions in _their_ paper; and two parties, Boyd and Morgan, men but +little known, contend who shall be the lenders. What a farce is this! +It reduces the operation of loaning to accommodation paper, in which +the competitors contend, not who shall lend, but who shall sign, because +there is something to be got for signing. + +Every English stock-jobber and minister boasts of the credit of England. +Its credit, say they, is greater than that of any country in Europe. +There is a good reason for this: for there is not another country in +Europe that could be made the dupe of such a delusion. The English +funding system will remain a monument of wonder, not so much on account +of the extent to which it has been carried, as of the folly of believing +in it. + +Those who had formerly predicted that the funding system would break +up when the debt should amount to one hundred or one hundred and fifty +millions, erred only in not distinguishing between insolvency and actual +bankruptcy; for the insolvency commenced as soon as the government +became unable to pay the interest in cash, or to give cash for the bank +notes in which the interest was paid, whether that inability was known +or not, or whether it was suspected or not. Insolvency always takes +place before bankruptcy; for bankruptcy is nothing more than the +publication of that insolvency. In the affairs of an individual, it +often happens that insolvency exists several years before bankruptcy, +and that the insolvency is concealed and carried on till the individual +is not able to pay one shilling in the pound. A government can ward off +bankruptcy longer than an individual: but insolvency will inevitably +produce bankruptcy, whether in an individual or in a government. If then +the quantity of bank notes payable on demand, which the bank has issued, +are greater than the bank can pay off, the bank is insolvent: and when +that insolvency is declared, it is bankruptcy.(*) + + * Among the delusions that have been imposed upon the + nation by ministers to give a false colouring to its + affairs, and by none more than by Mr. Pitt, is a motley, + amphibious-charactered thing called the _balance of trade_. + This balance of trade, as it is called, is taken from the + custom-house books, in which entries are made of all cargoes + exported, and also of all cargoes imported, in each year; + and when the value of the exports, according to the price + set upon them by the exporter or by the custom-house, is + greater than the value of the imports, estimated in the same + manner, they say the balance of trade is much in their + favour. + + The custom-house books prove regularly enough that so many + cargoes have been exported, and so many imported; but this + is all that they prove, or were intended to prove. They have + nothing to do with the balance of profit or loss; and it is + ignorance to appeal to them upon that account: for the case + is, that the greater the loss is in any one year, the higher + will this thing called the balance of trade appear to be + according to the custom-house books. For example, nearly the + whole of the Mediterranean convoy has been taken by the + French this year; consequently those cargoes will not + appear as imports on the custom-house books, and therefore + the balance of trade, by which they mean the profits of it, + will appear to be so much the greater as the loss amounts to; + and, on the other hand, had the loss not happened, the + profits would have appeared to have been so much the less. + All the losses happening at sea to returning cargoes, by + accidents, by the elements, or by capture, make the balance + appear the higher on the side of the exports; and were they + all lost at sea, it would appear to be all profit on the + custom-house books. Also every cargo of exports that is lost + that occasions another to be sent, adds in like manner to + the side of the exports, and appears as profit. This year + the balance of trade will appear high, because the losses + have been great by capture and by storms. The ignorance of + the British Parliament in listening to this hackneyed + imposition of ministers about the balance of trade is + astonishing. It shows how little they know of national + affairs--and Mr. Grey may as well talk Greek to them, as to + make motions about the state of the nation. They understand + only fox-hunting and the game laws,--_Author_. + +I come now to show the several ways by which bank notes get into +circulation: I shall afterwards offer an estimate on the total quantity +or amount of bank notes existing at this moment. + +The bank acts in three capacities. As a bank of discount; as a bank of +deposit; and as a banker for the government. + +First, as a bank of discount. The bank discounts merchants' bills of +exchange for two months. When a merchant has a bill that will become due +at the end of two months, and wants payment before that time, the bank +advances that payment to him, deducting therefrom at the rate of five +per cent, per annum. The bill of exchange remains at the bank as a +pledge or pawn, and at the end of two months it must be redeemed. This +transaction is done altogether in paper; for the profits of the bank, +as a bank of discount, arise entirely from its making use of paper as +money. The bank gives bank notes to the merchant in discounting the bill +of exchange, and the redeemer of the bill pays bank notes to the bank in +redeeming it. It very seldom happens that any real money passes between +them. + +If the profits of a bank be, for example, two hundred thousand pounds a +year (a great sum to be made merely by exchanging one sort of paper +for another, and which shows also that the merchants of that place are +pressed for money for payments, instead of having money to spare to lend +to government,) it proves that the bank discounts to the amount of four +millions annually, or 666,666L. every two months; and as there never +remain in the bank more than two months' pledges, of the value of +666,666L., at any one time, the amount of bank notes in circulation at +any one time should not be more than to that amount. This is sufficient +to show that the present immense quantity of bank notes, which are +distributed through every city, town, village, and farm-house in +England, cannot be accounted for on the score of discounting. + +Secondly, as a bank of deposit. To deposit money at the bank means to +lodge it there for the sake of convenience, and to be drawn out at any +moment the depositor pleases, or to be paid away to his order. When +the business of discounting is great, that of depositing is necessarily +small. No man deposits and applies for discounts at the same time; +for it would be like paying interest for lending money, instead of for +borrowing it. The deposits that are now made at the bank are almost +entirely in bank notes, and consequently they add nothing to the ability +of the bank to pay off the bank notes that may be presented for payment; +and besides this, the deposits are no more the property of the bank than +the cash or bank notes in a merchant's counting-house are the property +of his book-keeper. No great increase therefore of bank notes, beyond +what the discounting business admits, can be accounted for on the score +of deposits. + +Thirdly, the bank acts as banker for the government. This is the +connection that threatens to ruin every public bank. It is through this +connection that the credit of a bank is forced far beyond what it ought +to be, and still further beyond its ability to pay. It is through this +connection, that such an immense redundant quantity of bank notes, have +gotten into circulation; and which, instead of being issued because +there was property in the bank, have been issued because there was none. + +When the treasury is empty, which happens in almost every year of every +war, its coffers at the bank are empty also. It is in this condition of +emptiness that the minister has recourse to emissions of what are called +exchequer and navy bills, which continually generates a new increase of +bank notes, and which are sported upon the public, without there being +property in the bank to pay them. These exchequer and navy bills (being, +as I have said, emitted because the treasury and its coffers at the bank +are empty, and cannot pay the demands that come in) are no other than +an acknowledgment that the bearer is entitled to receive so much money. +They may be compared to the settlement of an account, in which the +debtor acknowledges the balance he owes, and for which he gives a note +of hand; or to a note of hand given to raise money upon it. + +Sometimes the bank discounts those bills as it would discount merchants' +bills of exchange; sometimes it purchases them of the holders at the +current price; and sometimes it agrees with the ministers to pay an +interest upon them to the holders, and keep them in circulation. In +every one of these cases an additional quantity of bank notes gets into +circulation, and are sported, as I have said, upon the public, without +there being property in the bank, as banker for the government, to pay +them; and besides this, the bank has now no money of its own; for the +money that was originally subscribed to begin the credit of the bank +with, at its first establishment, has been lent to government and wasted +long ago. + +"The bank" (says Smith, book ii. chap. 2.) "acts not only as an ordinary +bank, but as a great engine of State; it receives and pays a greater +part of the annuities which are due to the creditors of the _public_." +(It is worth observing, that the _public_, or the _nation_, is always +put for the government, in speaking of debts.) "It circulates" (says +Smith) "exchequer bills, and it advances to government the annual amount +of the land and malt taxes, which are frequently not paid till several +years afterwards." (This advancement is also done in bank notes, +for which there is not property in the bank.) "In those different +operations" (says Smith) "_its duty to the public_ may sometimes have +obliged it, without any fault of its directors, _to overstock the +circulation with paper money_."--bank notes. How its _duty_ to _the +public_ can induce it _to overstock that public_ with promissory bank +notes which it _cannot pay_, and thereby expose the individuals of that +public to ruin, is too paradoxical to be explained; for it is on +the credit which individuals _give to the bank_, by receiving and +circulating its notes, and not upon its _own_ credit or its _own_ +property, for it has none, that the bank sports. If, however, it be the +duty of the bank to expose the public to this hazard, it is at least +equally the duty of the individuals of that public to get their money +and take care of themselves; and leave it to placemen, pensioners, +government contractors, Reeves' association, and the members of both +houses of Parliament, who have voted away the money at the nod of +the minister, to continue the credit if they can, and for which their +estates individually and collectively ought to answer, as far as they +will go. + +There has always existed, and still exists, a mysterious, suspicious +connection, between the minister and the directors of the bank, and +which explains itself no otherways than by a continual increase in bank +notes. Without, therefore, entering into any further details of the +various contrivances by which bank notes are issued, and thrown upon the +public, I proceed, as I before mentioned, to offer an estimate on the +total quantity of bank notes in circulation. + +However disposed governments may be to wring money by taxes from the +people, there is a limit to the practice established by the nature of +things. That limit is the proportion between the quantity of money in a +nation, be that quantity what it may, and the greatest quantity of taxes +that can be raised upon it. People have other uses for money besides +paying taxes; and it is only a proportional part of the money they can +spare for taxes, as it is only a proportional part they can spare +for house-rent, for clothing, or for any other particular use. These +proportions find out and establish themselves; and that with such +exactness, that if any one part exceeds its proportion, all the other +parts feel it. + +Before the invention of paper money (bank notes,) there was no other +money in the nation than gold and silver, and the greatest quantity of +money that was ever raised in taxes during that period never exceeded a +fourth part of the quantity of money in the nation. It was high taxing +when it came to this point. The taxes in the time of William III. never +reached to four millions before the invention of paper, and the quantity +of money in the nation at that time was estimated to be about sixteen +millions. The same proportions established themselves in France. There +was no paper money in France before the present revolution, and the +taxes were collected in gold and silver money. The highest quantity of +taxes never exceeded twenty-two millions sterling; and the quantity of +gold and silver money in the nation at the same time, as stated by M. +Neckar, from returns of coinage at the Mint, in his Treatise on the +Administration of the Finances, was about ninety millions sterling. To +go beyond this limit of a fourth part, in England, they were obliged to +introduce paper money; and the attempt to go beyond it in France, where +paper could not be introduced, broke up the government. This proportion, +therefore, of a fourth part, is the limit which the thing establishes +for itself, be the quantity of money in a nation more or less. + +The amount of taxes in England at this time is full twenty millions; +and therefore the quantity of gold and silver, and of bank notes, taken +together, amounts to eighty millions. The quantity of gold and silver, +as stated by Lord Hawkes-bury's Secretary, George Chalmers, as I have +before shown, is twenty millions; and, therefore, the total amount +of bank notes in circulation, all made payable on demand, is sixty +millions. This enormous sum will astonish the most stupid stock-jobber, +and overpower the credulity of the most thoughtless Englishman: but were +it only a third part of that sum, the bank cannot pay half a crown in +the pound. + +There is something curious in the movements of this modern complicated +machine, the funding system; and it is only now that it is beginning +to unfold the full extent of its movements. In the first part of its +movements it gives great powers into the hands of government, and in the +last part it takes them completely away. + +The funding system set out with raising revenues under the name of +loans, by means of which government became both prodigal and powerful. +The loaners assumed the name of creditors, and though it was soon +discovered that loaning was government-jobbing, those pretended loaners, +or the persons who purchased into the funds afterwards, conceived +themselves not only to be creditors, but to be the _only_ creditors. + +But such has been the operation of this complicated machine, the funding +system, that it has produced, unperceived, a second generation of +creditors, more numerous and far more formidable and withal more +real than the first generation; for every holder of a bank note is a +creditor, and a real creditor, and the debt due to him is made payable +on demand. The debt therefore which the government owes to individuals +is composed of two parts; the one about four hundred millions bearing +interest, the other about sixty millions payable on demand. The one is +called the funded debt, the other is the debt due in bank notes. + +The second debt (that contained in the bank notes) has, in a great +measure, been incurred to pay the interest of the first debt; so that in +fact little or no real interest has been paid by government. The whole +has been delusion and fraud. Government first contracted a debt, in the +form of loans, with one class of people, and then run clandestinely into +debt with another class, by means of bank notes, to pay the interest. +Government acted of itself in contracting the first debt, and made a +machine of the bank to contract the second. It is this second debt that +changes the seat of power and the order of things; for it puts it in +the power of even a small part of the holders of bank notes (had they no +other motives than disgust at Pitt and Grenville's sedition bills,) to +control any measure of government they found to be injurious to their +interest; and that not by popular meetings, or popular societies, but +by the simple and easy opera-tion of withholding their credit from that +government; that is, by individually demanding payment at the bank +for every bank note that comes into their hands. Why should Pitt and +Grenville expect that the very men whom they insult and injure, +should, at the same time, continue to support the measures of Pitt and +Grenville, by giving credit to their promissory notes of payment? No new +emissions of bank notes could go on while payment was demanding on the +old, and the cash in the bank wasting daily away; nor any new advances +be made to government, or to the emperor, to carry on the war; nor any +new emission be made on exchequer bills. + +"_The bank_" says Smith, (book ii. chap. 2) "_is a great engine of +state_." And in the same paragraph he says, "_The stability of the bank +is equal to that of the British government_;" which is the same as to +say that the stability of the government is equal to that of the bank, +and no more. If then the bank cannot pay, the _arch-treasurer_ of the +holy Roman empire (S. R. I. A.*) is a bankrupt. When Folly invented +titles, she did not attend to their application; forever since the +government of England has been in the hands of _arch-treasurers_, it has +been running into bankruptcy; and as to the arch-treasurer _apparent_, +he has been a bankrupt long ago. What a miserable prospect has England +before its eyes! + + * Put of the inscription on an English guinea.--_Author_. + +Before the war of 1755 there were no bank notes lower than twenty +pounds. During that war, bank notes of fifteen pounds and of ten pounds +were coined; and now, since the commencement of the present war, they +are coined as low as five pounds. These five-pound notes will circulate +chiefly among little shop-keepers, butchers, bakers, market-people, +renters of small houses, lodgers, &c. All the high departments of +commerce and the affluent stations of life were already _overstocked_, +as Smith expresses it, with the bank notes. No place remained open +wherein to crowd an additional quantity of bank notes but among the +class of people I have just mentioned, and the means of doing this +could be best effected by coining five-pound notes. This conduct has the +appearance of that of an unprincipled insolvent, who, when on the verge +of bankruptcy to the amount of many thousands, will borrow as low as +five pounds of the servants in his house, and break the next day. + +But whatever momentary relief or aid the minister and his bank might +expect from this low contrivance of five-pound notes, it will increase +the inability of the bank to pay the higher notes, and hasten the +destruction of all; for even the small taxes that used to be paid in +money will now be paid in those notes, and the bank will soon find +itself with scarcely any other money than what the hair-powder +guinea-tax brings in. + +The bank notes make the most serious part of the business of finance: +what is called the national funded debt is but a trifle when put in +comparison with it; yet the case of the bank notes has never been +touched upon. But it certainly ought to be known upon what authority, +whether that of the minister or of the directors, and upon what +foundation, such immense quantities are issued. I have stated the amount +of them at sixty millions; I have produced data for that estimation; and +besides this, the apparent quantity of them, far beyond that of gold and +silver in the nation, corroborates the statement. But were there but a +third part of sixty millions, the bank cannot pay half a crown in the +pound; for no new supply of money, as before said, can arrive at the +bank, as all the taxes will be paid in paper. + +When the funding system began, it was not doubted that the loans that +had been borrowed would be repaid. Government not only propagated that +belief, but it began paying them off. In time this profession came to be +abandoned: and it is not difficult to see that bank notes will march +the same way; for the amount of them is only another debt under another +name; and the probability is that Mr. Pitt will at last propose +funding them. In that case bank notes will not be so valuable as French +assignats. The assignats have a solid property in reserve, in the +national domains; bank notes have none; and, besides this, the English +revenue must then sink down to what the amount of it was before the +funding system began--between three and four millions; one of which +the _arch-treasurer_ would require for himself, and the arch-treasurer +_apparent_ would require three-quarters of a million more to pay his +debts. "_In France_," says Sterne, "_they order these things better_." + +I have now exposed the English system of finance to the eyes of all +nations; for this work will be published in all languages. In doing +this, I have done an act of justice to those numerous citizens of +neutral nations who have been imposed upon by that fraudulent system, +and who have property at stake upon the event. + +As an individual citizen of America, and as far as an individual can +go, I have revenged (if I may use the expression without any immoral +meaning) the piratical depredations committed on the American commerce +by the English government. I have retaliated for France on the subject +of finance: and I conclude with retorting on Mr. Pitt the expression he +used against France, and say, that the English system of finance "is on +the verge, nay even in the + +GULPH OF BANKRUPTCY." + +Thomas Paine. + +PARIS, 19th Germinal. 4th year of the Republic, April 8, 1796. + + + + +XXVII. FORGETFULNESS.(1) + + 1 This undated composition, of much biographical interest, + was shown by Paine to Henry Redhead Yorke, who visited him + in Paris (1802), and was allowed to copy the only portions + now preserved. In the last of Yorke's Letters from France + (Lond., 1814), thirty-three pages are given to Paine. Under + the name "Little Corner of the World," Lady Smyth wrote + cheering letters to Paine in his prison, and he replied to + his then unknown correspondent under the name of "The Castle + in die Air." After his release he discovered in his + correspondent a lady who had appealed to him for assistance, + no doubt for her husband. With Sir Robert (an English banker + in Paris) and Lady Smyth, Paine formed a fast friendship + which continued through life. Sir Robert was born in 1744, + and married (1776) a Miss Blake of Hanover Square, London. + He died in 1802 of illness brought on by his imprisonment + under Napoleon. Several of Paine's poems were addressed to + Lady Smyth.--_Editor._ + + +FROM "THE CASTLE IN THE AIR," TO THE "LITTLE CORNER OF THE WORLD." + +Memory, like a beauty that is always present to hear her-self +flattered, is flattered by every one. But the absent and silent goddess, +Forgetfulness, has no votaries, and is never thought of: yet we owe her +much. She is the goddess of ease, though not of pleasure. + +When the mind is like a room hung with black, and every corner of it +crowded with the most horrid images imagination can create, this kind +speechless goddess of a maid, Forgetfulness, is following us night +and day with her opium wand, and gently touching first one, and then +another, benumbs them into rest, and at last glides them away with the +silence of a departing shadow. It is thus the tortured mind is restored +to the calm condition of ease, and fitted for happiness. + +How dismal must the picture of life appear to the mind in that dreadful +moment when it resolves on darkness, and to die! One can scarcely +believe such a choice was possible. Yet how many of the young and +beautiful, timid in every thing else, and formed for delight, have shut +their eyes upon the world, and made the waters their sepulchral bed! Ah, +would they in that crisis, when life and death are before them, and +each within their reach, would they but think, or try to think, that +Forgetfulness will come to their relief, and lull them into ease, they +could stay their hand, and lay hold of life. But there is a necromancy +in wretchedness that entombs the mind, and increases the misery, by +shutting out every ray of light and hope. It makes the wretched +falsely believe they will be wretched ever. It is the most fatal of all +dangerous delusions; and it is only when this necromantic night-mare of +the mind begins to vanish, by being resisted, that it is discovered to +be but a tyrannic spectre. All grief, like all things else, will yield +to the obliterating power of time. While despair is preying on the mind, +time and its effects are preying on despair; and certain it is, the +dismal vision will fade away, and Forgetfulness, with her sister Ease, +will change the scene. Then let not the wretched be rash, but wait, +painful as the struggle may be, the arrival of Forgetfulness; for it +will certainly arrive. + +I have twice been present at the scene of attempted suicide. The one +a love-distracted girl in England, the other of a patriotic friend in +France; and as the circumstances of each are strongly pictured in my +memory, I will relate them to you. They will in some measure corroborate +what I have said of Forgetfulness. + +About the year 1766, I was in Lincolnshire, in England, and on a visit +at the house of a widow lady, Mrs. E____, at a small village in the fens +of that county. It was in summer; and one evening after supper, Mrs. +E____ and myself went to take a turn in the garden. It was about eleven +o'clock, and to avoid the night air of the fens, we were walking in a +bower, shaded over with hazel bushes. On a sudden, she screamed out, +and cried "Lord, look, look!" I cast my eyes through the openings of the +hazel bushes in the direction she was looking, and saw a white shapeless +figure, without head or arms, moving along one of the walks at some +distance from us. I quitted Mrs. E______, and went after it. When I got +into the walk where the figure was, and was following it, it took up +another walk. There was a holly bush in the corner of the two walks, +which, it being night, I did not observe; and as I continued to step +forward, the holly bush came in a straight line between me and the +figure, and I lost sight of it; and as I passed along one walk, and the +figure the other, the holly bush still continued to intercept the view, +so as to give the appearance that the figure had vanished. When I came +to the corner of the two walks, I caught sight of it again, and coming +up with it, I reached out my hand to touch it; and in the act of doing +this, the idea struck me, will my hand pass through the air, or shall I +feel any thing? Less than a moment would decide this, and my hand rested +on the shoulder of a human figure. I spoke, but do not recollect what I +said. It answered in a low voice, "Pray let me alone." I then knew who +it was. It was a young lady who was on a visit to Mrs. E------, and who, +when we sat down to supper, said she found herself extremely ill, and +would go to bed. I called to Mrs. E------, who came, and I said to her, +"It is Miss N------." Mrs. E------ said, "My God, I hope you are not +going to do yourself any hurt;" for Mrs. E------ suspected something. +She replied with pathetic melancholy, "Life has not one pleasure for +me." We got her into the house, and Mrs. E------ took her to sleep with +her. + +The case was, the man to whom she expected to be married had forsaken +her, and when she heard he was to be married to another the shock +appeared to her to be too great to be borne. She had retired, as I have +said, to her room, and when she supposed all the family were gone to +bed, (which would have been the case if Mrs. E------ and I had not +walked into the garden,) she undressed herself, and tied her apron over +her head; which, descending below her waist, gave her the shapeless +figure I have spoken of. With this and a white under petticoat and +slippers, for she had taken out her buckles and put them at the servant +maid's door, I suppose as a keepsake, and aided by the obscurity of +almost midnight, she came down stairs, and was going to drown her-self +in a pond at the bottom of the garden, towards which she was going when +Mrs. E------screamed out. We found afterwards that she had heard the +scream, and that was the cause of her changing her walk. + +By gentle usage, and leading her into subjects that might, without +doing violence to her feelings, and without letting her see the direct +intention of it, steal her as it were from the horror she was in, (and +I felt a compassionate, earnest disposition to do it, for she was a good +girl,) she recovered her former cheerfulness, and was afterwards a happy +wife, and the mother of a family. + +The other case, and the conclusion in my next: In Paris, in 1793, had +lodgings in the Rue Fauxbourg, St. Denis, No. 63.(1) They were the most +agreeable, for situation, of any I ever had in Paris, except that they +were too remote from the Convention, of which I was then a member. But +this was recompensed by their being also remote from the alarms and +confusion into which the interior of Paris was then often thrown. The +news of those things used to arrive to us, as if we were in a state of +tranquility in the country. The house, which was enclosed by a wall and +gateway from the street, was a good deal like an old mansion farm house, +and the court yard was like a farm-yard, stocked with fowls, ducks, +turkies, and geese; which, for amusement, we used to feed out of the +parlour window on the ground floor. There were some hutches for rabbits, +and a sty with two pigs. Beyond, was a garden of more than an acre +of ground, well laid out, and stocked with excellent fruit trees. The +orange, apricot, and green-gage plum, were the best I ever tasted; +and it is the only place where I saw the wild cucumber. The place had +formerly been occupied by some curious person.(2) + + 1 This ancient mansion is still standing (1895).--_Editor._ + + 2 Madame de Pompadour, among others.--_Editor._" + +My apartments consisted of three rooms; the first for wood, water, etc., +with an old fashioned closet chest, high enough to hang up clothes in; +the next was the bed room; and beyond it the sitting room, which looked +into the garden through a glass door; and on the outside there was a +small landing place railed in, and a flight of narrow stairs almost +hidden by the vines that grew over it, by which I could descend into +the garden, without going down stairs through the house. I am trying +by description to make you see the place in your mind, because it will +assist the story I have to tell; and which I think you can do, because +you once called upon me there on account of Sir [Robert Smyth], who was +then, as I was soon afterwards, in arrestation. But it was winter when +you came, and it is a summer scene I am describing. + +***** + +I went into my chambers to write and sign a certificate for them, which +I intended to take to the guard house to obtain their release. Just as I +had finished it a man came into my room dressed in the Parisian uniform +of a captain, and spoke to me in good English, and with a good address. +He told me that two young men, Englishmen, were arrested and detained +in the guard house, and that the section, (meaning those who represented +and acted for the section,) had sent him to ask me if I knew them, +in which case they would be liberated. This matter being soon settled +between us, he talked to me about the Revolution, and something about +the "Rights of Man," which he had read in English; and at parting +offered me in a polite and civil manner, his services. And who do you +think the man was that offered me his services? It was no other than the +public executioner Samson, who guillotined the king, and all who were +guillotined in Paris; and who lived in the same section, and in the same +street with me. + +***** + +As to myself, I used to find some relief by walking alone in the garden +after dark, and cursing with hearty good will the authors of that +terrible system that had turned the character of the Revolution I had +been proud to defend. + +I went but little to the Convention, and then only to make my +appearance; because I found it impossible to join in their tremendous +decrees, and useless and dangerous to oppose them. My having voted and +spoken extensively, more so than any other member, against the execution +of the king, had already fixed a mark upon me: neither dared any of my +associates in the Convention to translate and speak in French for me +anything I might have dared to have written. + + +***** + +Pen and ink were then of no use to me: no good could be done by writing, +and no printer dared to print; and whatever I might have written for +my private amusement, as anecdotes of the times, would have been +continually exposed to be examined, and tortured into any meaning that +the rage of party might fix upon it; and as to softer subjects, my heart +was in distress at the fate of my friends, and my harp hung upon the +weeping willows.(1) + +As it was summer we spent most of our time in the garden, and passed it +away in those childish amusements that serve to keep reflection from the +mind, such as marbles, scotch-hops, battledores, etc., at which we were +all pretty expert. + +In this retired manner we remained about six or seven weeks, and our +landlord went every evening into the city to bring us the news of the +day and the evening journal. + +I have now, my "Little Corner of the World," led you on, step by step, +to the scene that makes the sequel to this narrative, and I will put +that scene before your eyes. You shall see it in description as I saw it +in fact. + + 1 This allusion is to the Girondins.--_Editor._, + + 2 Yorke omits the description "from motives of personal + delicacy." The case was that of young Johnson, a wealthy + devotee of Paine in London, who had followed him to Paris + and lived in the same house with him. Hearing that Marat had + resolved on Paine's death, Johnson wrote a will bequeathing + his property to Paine, then stabbed himself, but recovered. + Paine was examined about this incident at Marat's trial. + (Moniteur, April 24, 1793.) See my "Life of Paine," vol. + ii., p. 48 seq.--_Editor._. + +***** + +He recovered, and being anxious to get out of France, a passage was +obtained for him and Mr. Choppin: they received it late in the evening, +and set off the next morning for Basle before four, from which place I +had a letter from them, highly pleased with their escape from France, +into which they had entered with an enthusiasm of patriotic devotion. +Ah, France! thou hast ruined the character of a Revolution virtuously +begun, and destroyed those who produced it. I might almost say like +Job's servant, "and I only am escaped." + +Two days after they were gone I heard a rapping at the gate, and looking +out of the window of the bed room I saw the landlord going with the +candle to the gate, which he opened, and a guard with musquets and fixed +bayonets entered. I went to bed again, and made up my mind for prison, +for I was then the only lodger. It was a guard to take up [Johnson and +Choppin], but, I thank God, they were out of their reach. + +The guard came about a month after in the night, and took away the +landlord Georgeit; and the scene in the house finished with the +arrestation of myself. This was soon after you called on me, and sorry +I was it was not in my power to render to [Sir Robert Smyth] the service +that you asked. + +I have now fulfilled my engagement, and I hope your expectation, in +relating the case of [Johnson], landed back on the shore of life, by +the mistake of the pilot who was conducting him out; and preserved +afterwards from prison, perhaps a worse fate, without knowing it +himself. + +You say a story cannot be too melancholy for you. This is interesting +and affecting, but not melancholy. It may raise in your mind a +sympathetic sentiment in reading it; and though it may start a tear of +pity, you will not have a tear of sorrow to drop on the page. + +***** + +Here, my contemplative correspondent, let us stop and look back upon the +scene. The matters here related being all facts, are strongly pictured +in my mind, and in this sense Forgetfulness does not apply. But facts +and feelings are distinct things, and it is against feelings that the +opium wand of Forgetfulness draws us into ease. Look back on any scene +or subject that once gave you distress, for all of us have felt some, +and you will find, that though the remembrance of the fact is not +extinct in your memory, the feeling is extinct in your mind. You can +remember when you had felt distress, but you cannot feel that distress +again, and perhaps will wonder you felt it then. It is like a shadow +that loses itself by light. + +It is often difficult to know what is a misfortune: that which we feel +as a great one today, may be the means of turning aside our steps into +some new path that leads to happiness yet unknown. In tracing the scenes +of my own life, I can discover that the condition I now enjoy, which is +sweet to me, and will be more so when I get to America, except by the +loss of your society, has been produced, in the first instance, in my +being disappointed in former projects. Under that impenetrable veil, +futurity, we know not what is concealed, and the day to arrive is hidden +from us. Turning then our thoughts to those cases of despair that lead +to suicide, when, "the mind," as you say, "neither sees nor hears, and +holds counsel only with itself; when the very idea of consolation would +add to the torture, and self-destruction is its only aim," what, it may +be asked, is the best advice, what the best relief? I answer, seek it +not in reason, for the mind is at war with reason, and to reason against +feelings is as vain as to reason against fire: it serves only to torture +the torture, by adding reproach to horror. All reasoning with ourselves +in such cases acts upon us like the reason of another person, which, +however kindly done, serves but to insult the misery we suffer. If +reason could remove the pain, reason would have prevented it. If she +could not do the one, how is she to perform the other? In all such cases +we must look upon Reason as dispossessed of her empire, by a revolt +of the mind. She retires herself to a distance to weep, and the ebony +sceptre of Despair rules alone. All that Reason can do is to suggest, +to hint a thought, to signify a wish, to cast now and then a kind +of bewailing look, to hold up, when she can catch the eye, the +miniature-shaded portrait of Hope; and though dethroned, and can dictate +no more, to wait upon us in the humble station of a handmaid. + + + + +XXVIII. AGRARIAN JUSTICE. + +Editor's introduction: + +This pamphlet appeared first in Paris, 1797, with the title: "Thomas +Payne a La Legislature et au Directoire. Ou la Justice Agraire opposee a +la Loi Agraire, et aux privileges agraires. Prix 15 sols. A Paris, chez +la citoyenne Ragouleau, pres le Theatre de la Republique, No. 229. Et +chez les Marchands de Nouveautes." A prefatory note says (translated): +"The sudden departure of Thomas Paine has pre-vented his supervising the +translation of this work, to which he attached great value. He entrusted +it to a friend. It is for the reader to decide whether the scheme here +set forth is worthy of the publicity given it." (Paine had gone to Havre +early in May with the Monroes, intending to accompany them to America, +but, rightly suspecting plans for his capture by an English cruiser, +returned to Paris.) In the same year the pamphlet was printed in +English, by W. Adlard in Paris, and in London for "T. Williams, No. +8 Little Turnstile, Holborn." Paine's preface to the London edition +contained some sentences which the publishers, as will be seen, +suppressed under asterisks, and two sentences were omitted from the +pamphlet which I have supplied from the French. The English title adds a +brief resume of Paine's scheme to the caption--"Agrarian Justice opposed +to Agrarian Law, and to Agrarian Monopoly." The work was written in the +winter of 1795-6, when Paine was still an invalid in Monroe's house, +though not published until 1797. + +The prefatory Letter to the Legislature and the Directory, now for the +first time printed in English, is of much historical interest, and shows +the title of the pamphlet related to the rise of Socialism in France. +The leader of that move-ment, Francois Noel Babeuf, a frantic and +pathetic figure of the time, had just been executed. He had named +himself "Gracchus," and called his journal "Tribune du Peuple," in +homage to the Roman Tribune, Caius Gracchus, the original socialist and +agrarian, whose fate (suicide of himself and his servant) Babeuf and his +disciple Darthe invoked in prison, whence they were carried bleeding to +the guillotine. This, however, was on account of the conspiracy they had +formed, with the remains of the Robespierrian party and some disguised +royalists, to overthrow the government. The socialistic propaganda of +Babeuf, however, prevailed over all other elements of the conspiracy: +the reactionary features of the Constitution, especially the property +qualification of suffrage of whose effects Paine had warned the +Convention in the speech printed in this volume, (chapter xxv.) and the +poverty which survived a revolution that promised its abolition, had +excited wide discontent. The "Babouvists" numbered as many as 17,000 in +Paris. Babeuf and Lepelletier were appointed by the secret council of +this fraternity (which took the name of "Equals") a "Directory of Public +Safety." May 11, 1796, was fixed for seizing on the government, and +Babeuf had prepared his Proclamation of the socialistic millennium. But +the plot was discovered, May 10th, the leaders arrested, and, after +a year's delay, two of them executed,--the best-hearted men in the +movement, Babeuf and Darthe. Paine too had been moved by the cry for +"Bread, and the Constitution of '93 "; and it is a notable coincidence +that in that winter of 1795-6, while the socialists were secretly +plotting to seize the kingdom of heaven by violence, Paine was devising +his plan of relief by taxing inheritances of land, anticipating by a +hundred years the English budget of Sir William Harcourt. Babeuf having +failed in his socialist, and Pichegru in his royalist, plot, their blows +were yet fatal: there still remained in the hearts of millions a Babeuf +or a Pichegru awaiting the chieftain strong enough to combine them, +as Napoleon presently did, making all the nation "Egaux" as parts of a +mighty military engine, and satisfying the royalist triflers with the +pomp and glory of war. + + + +AUTHOR'S INSCRIPTION. + +To the Legislature and the Executive Directory of the French Republic. + +The plan contained in this work is not adapted for any particular +country alone: the principle on which it is based is general. But as the +rights of man are a new study in this world, and one needing protection +from priestly imposture, and the insolence of oppressions too long +established, I have thought it right to place this little work under +your safeguard. When we reflect on the long and dense night in which +France and all Europe have remained plunged by their governments and +their priests, we must feel less surprise than grief at the bewilderment +caused by the first burst of light that dispels the darkness. The eye +accustomed to darkness can hardly bear at first the broad daylight. It +is by usage the eye learns to see, and it is the same in passing from +any situation to its opposite. + +As we have not at one instant renounced all our errors, we cannot at one +stroke acquire knowledge of all our rights. France has had the honour of +adding to the word _Liberty_ that of _Equality_; and this word signifies +essentially a principal that admits of no gradation in the things to +which it applies. But equality is often misunderstood, often misapplied, +and often violated. + +_Liberty_ and _Property_ are words expressing all those of our +possessions which are not of an intellectual nature. There are two kinds +of property. Firstly, natural property, or that which comes to us from +the Creator of the universe,--such as the earth, air, water. Secondly, +artificial or acquired property,--the invention of men. In the latter +equality is impossible; for to distribute it equally it would be +necessary that all should have contributed in the same proportion, which +can never be the case; and this being the case, every individual would +hold on to his own property, as his right share. Equality of natural +property is the subject of this little essay. Every individual in +the world is born therein with legitimate claims on a certain kind of +property, or its equivalent. + +The right of voting for persons charged with the execution of the laws +that govern society is inherent in the word Liberty, and constitutes +the equality of personal rights. But even if that right (of voting) were +inherent in property, which I deny, the right of suffrage would still +belong to all equally, because, as I have said, all individuals have +legitimate birthrights in a certain species of property. + +I have always considered the present Constitution of the French Republic +the _best organized system_ the human mind has yet produced. But I hope +my former colleagues will not be offended if I warn them of an error +which has slipped into its principle. Equality of the right of suffrage +is not maintained. This right is in it connected with a condition on +which it ought not to depend; that is, with a proportion of a certain +tax called "direct." The dignity of suffrage is thus lowered; and, in +placing it in the scale with an inferior thing, the enthusiasm that +right is capable of inspiring is diminished. It is impossible to find +any equivalent counterpoise for the right of suffrage, because it is +alone worthy to be its own basis, and cannot thrive as a graft, or an +appendage. + +Since the Constitution was established we have seen two conspiracies +stranded,--that of Babeuf, and that of some obscure personages who +decorate themselves with the despicable name of "royalists." The defect +in principle of the Constitution was the origin of Babeuf's conspiracy. +He availed himself of the resentment caused by this flaw, and instead +of seeking a remedy by legitimate and constitutional means, or proposing +some measure useful to society, the conspirators did their best to renew +disorder and confusion, and constituted themselves personally into a +Directory, which is formally destructive of election and representation. +They were, in fine, extravagant enough to suppose that society, occupied +with its domestic affairs, would blindly yield to them a directorship +usurped by violence. + +The conspiracy of Babeuf was followed in a few months by that of the +royalists, who foolishly flattered themselves with the notion of +doing great things by feeble or foul means. They counted on all the +discontented, from whatever cause, and tried to rouse, in their turn, +the class of people who had been following the others. But these new +chiefs acted as if they thought society had nothing more at heart +than to maintain courtiers, pensioners, and all their train, under the +contemptible title of royalty. My little essay will disabuse them, by +showing that society is aiming at a very different end,--maintaining +itself. + +We all know or should know, that the time during which a revolution is +proceeding is not the time when its resulting advantages can be +enjoyed. But had Babeuf and his accomplices taken into consideration the +condition of France under this constitution, and compared it with what +it was under the tragical revolutionary government, and during the +execrable reign of Terror, the rapidity of the alteration must have +appeared to them very striking and astonishing. Famine has been replaced +by abundance, and by the well-founded hope of a near and increasing +prosperity. + +As for the defect in the Constitution, I am fully convinced that it will +be rectified constitutionally, and that this step is indispensable; for +so long as it continues it will inspire the hopes and furnish the means +of conspirators; and for the rest, it is regrettable that a Constitution +so wisely organized should err so much in its principle. This fault +exposes it to other dangers which will make themselves felt. Intriguing +candidates will go about among those who have not the means to pay the +direct tax and pay it for them, on condition of receiving their votes. +Let us maintain inviolably equality in the sacred right of suffrage: +public security can never have a basis more solid. Salut et Fraternite. + +Your former colleague, + +Thomas Paine. + + + +AUTHOR'S ENGLISH PREFACE. + +The following little Piece was written in the winter of 1795 and 96; +and, as I had not determined whether to publish it during the present +war, or to wait till the commencement of a peace, it has lain by me, +without alteration or addition, from the time it was written. + +What has determined me to publish it now is, a sermon preached by +Watson, _Bishop of Llandaff_. Some of my Readers will recollect, that +this Bishop wrote a Book entitled _An Apology for the Bible_ in answer +to my _Second Part of the Age of Reason_. I procured a copy of his Book, +and he may depend upon hearing from me on that subject. + +At the end of the Bishop's Book is a List of the Works he has written. +Among which is the sermon alluded to; it is entitled: "The Wisdom and +Goodness of God, in having made both Rich and Poor; with an Appendix, +containing Reflections on the Present State of England and France." + +The error contained in this sermon determined me to publish my Agrarian +Justice. It is wrong to say God made _rich and poor_; he made only _male +and female_; and he gave them the earth for their inheritance. '... + +Instead of preaching to encourage one part of mankind in insolence... it +would be better that Priests employed their time to render the general +condition of man less miserable than it is. Practical religion consists +in doing good: and the only way of serving God is, that of endeavouring +to make his creation happy. All preaching that has not this for its +object is nonsense and hypocracy. + + 1 The omissions are noted in the English edition of 1797.-- + _Editor._. + +To preserve the benefits of what is called civilized life, and to remedy +at the same time the evil which it has produced, ought to be considered +as one of the first objects of reformed legislation. + +Whether that state that is proudly, perhaps erroneously, called +civilization, has most promoted or most injured the general happiness +of man, is a question that may be strongly contested. On one side, +the spectator is dazzled by splendid appearances; on the other, he is +shocked by extremes of wretchedness; both of which it has erected. The +most affluent and the most miserable of the human race are to be found +in the countries that are called civilized. + +To understand what the state of society ought to be, it is necessary to +have some idea of the natural and primitive state of man; such as it is +at this day among the Indians of North America. There is not, in that +state, any of those spectacles of human misery which poverty and want +present to our eyes in all the towns and streets in Europe. Poverty, +therefore, is a thing created by that which is called civilized life. It +exists not in the natural state. On the other hand, the natural state is +without those advantages which flow from agriculture, arts, science, and +manufactures. + +The life of an Indian is a continual holiday, compared with the poor of +Europe; and, on the other hand it appears to be abject when compared +to the rich. Civilization, therefore, or that which is so called, has +operated two ways: to make one part of society more affluent, and the +other more wretched, than would have been the lot of either in a natural +state. + +It is always possible to go from the natural to the civilized state, but +it is never possible to go from the civilized to the natural state. The +reason is, that man in a natural state, subsisting by hunting, requires +ten times the quantity of land to range over to procure himself +sustenance, than would support him in a civilized state, where the +earth is cultivated. When, therefore, a country becomes populous by the +additional aids of cultivation, art, and science, there is a necessity +of preserving things in that state; because without it there cannot be +sustenance for more, perhaps, than a tenth part of its inhabitants. The +thing, therefore, now to be done is to remedy the evils and preserve the +benefits that have arisen to society by passing from the natural to that +which is called the civilized state. + +In taking the matter upon this ground, the first principle of +civilization ought to have been, and ought still to be, that the +condition of every person born into the world, after a state of +civilization commences, ought not to be worse than if he had been born +before that period. But the fact is, that the condition of millions, in +every country in Europe, is far worse than if they had been born before +civilization began, or had been born among the Indians of North America +at the present day. I will shew how this fact has happened. + +It is a position not to be controverted that the earth, in its natural +uncultivated state was, and ever would have continued to be, _the common +property of the human race_. In that state every man would have been +born to property. He would have been a joint life proprietor with the +rest in the property of the soil, and in all its natural productions, +vegetable and animal. + +But the earth in its natural state, as before said, is capable of +supporting but a small number of inhabitants compared with what it +is capable of doing in a cultivated state. And as it is impossible to +separate the improvement made by cultivation from the earth itself, upon +which that improvement is made, the idea of landed property arose from +that inseparable connection; but it is nevertheless true, that it is +the value of the improvement only, and not the earth itself, that is +individual property. Every proprietor, therefore, of cultivated land, +owes to the community a _ground-rent_ (for I know of no better term +to express the idea) for the land which he holds; and it is from this +ground-rent that the fund proposed in this plan is to issue. + +It is deducible, as well from the nature of the thing as from all the +histories transmitted to us, that the idea of landed property commenced +with cultivation, and that there was no such thing as landed property +before that time. It could not exist in the first state of man, that +of hunters. It did not exist in the second state, that of shepherds: +neither Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, nor Job, so far as the history of the +Bible may be credited in probable things, were owners of land. Their +property consisted, as is always enumerated, in flocks and herds, and +they travelled with them from place to place. The frequent contentions +at that time, about the use of a well in the dry country of Arabia, +where those people lived, also shew that there was no landed property. +It was not admitted that land could be claimed as property. + +There could be no such thing as landed property originally. Man did not +make the earth, and, though he had a natural right to occupy it, he had +no right to locate as his property in perpetuity any part of it; neither +did the creator of the earth open a land-office, from whence the +first title-deeds should issue. Whence then, arose the idea of landed +property? I answer as before, that when cultivation began the idea of +landed property began with it, from the impossibility of separating the +improvement made by cultivation from the earth itself, upon which that +improvement was made. The value of the improvement so far exceeded the +value of the natural earth, at that time, as to absorb it; till, in the +end, the common right of all became confounded into the cultivated right +of the individual. But there are, nevertheless, distinct species of +rights, and will continue to be so long as the earth endures. + +It is only by tracing things to their origin that we can gain rightful +ideas of them, and it is by gaining such ideas that we discover the +boundary that divides right from wrong, and teaches every man to know +his own. I have entitled this tract Agrarian Justice, to distinguish it +from Agrarian Law. Nothing could be more unjust than Agrarian Law in a +country improved by cultivation; for though every man, as an inhabitant +of the earth, is a joint proprietor of it in its natural state, it +does not follow that he is a joint proprietor of cultivated earth. The +additional value made by cultivation, after the system was admitted, +became the property of those who did it, or who inherited it from them, +or who purchased it. It had originally no owner. Whilst, therefore, I +advocate the right, and interest myself in the hard case of all +those who have been thrown out of their natural inheritance by the +introduction of the system of landed property, I equally defend the +right of the possessor to the part which is his. + +Cultivation is at least one of the greatest natural improvements ever +made by human invention. It has given to created earth a tenfold value. +But the landed monopoly that began with it has produced the greatest +evil. It has dispossessed more than half the inhabitants of every nation +of their natural inheritance, without providing for them, as ought +to have been done, an indemnification for that loss, and has thereby +created a species of poverty and wretchedness that did not exist before. + +In advocating the case of the persons thus dispossessed, it is a right, +and not a charity, that I am pleading for. But it is that kind of right +which, being neglected at first, could not be brought forward afterwards +till heaven had opened the way by a revolution in the system of +government. Let us then do honour to revolutions by justice, and give +currency to their principles by blessings. + +Having thus in a few words, opened the merits of the case, I shall now +proceed to the plan I have to propose, which is, + +To create a National Fund, out of which there shall be paid to every +person, when arrived at the age of twenty-one years, the sum of fifteen +pounds sterling, as a compensation in part, for the loss of his or +her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed +property: + +And also, the sum of ten pounds per annum, during life, to every person +now living, of the age of fifty years, and to all others as they shall +arrive at that age. + + + +MEANS BY WHICH THE FUND IS TO BE CREATED. + +I have already established the principle, namely, that the earth, in its +natural uncultivated state was, and ever would have continued to be, the +_common property of the human race_; that in that state, every person +would have been born to property; and that the system of landed +property, by its inseparable connection with cultivation, and with what +is called civilized life, has absorbed the property of all those whom +it dispossessed, without providing, as ought to have been done, an +indemnification for that loss. + +The fault, however, is not in the present possessors. No complaint is +intended, or ought to be alleged against them, unless they adopt the +crime by opposing justice. The fault is in the system, and it has stolen +imperceptibly upon the world, aided afterwards by the agrarian law of +the sword. But the fault can be made to reform itself by successive +generations; and without diminishing or deranging the property of any of +the present possessors, the operation of the fund can yet commence, and +be in full activity, the first year of its establishment, or soon after, +as I shall shew. + +It is proposed that the payments, as already stated, be made to every +person, rich or poor. It is best to make it so, to prevent invidious +distinctions. It is also right it should be so, because it is in lieu of +the natural inheritance, which, as a right, belongs to every man, over +and above the property he may have created, or inherited from those who +did. Such persons as do not choose to receive it can throw it into the +common fund. + +Taking it then for granted that no person ought to be in a worse +condition when born under what is called a state of civilization, than +he would have been had he been born in a state of nature, and that +civilization ought to have made, and ought still to make, provision for +that purpose, it can only be done by subtracting from property a portion +equal in value to the natural inheritance it has absorbed. + +Various methods may be proposed for this purpose, but that which appears +to be the best (not only because it will operate without deranging any +present possessors, or without interfering with the collection of taxes +or emprunts necessary for the purposes of government and the revolution, +but because it will be the least troublesome and the most effectual, and +also because the subtraction will be made at a time that best admits it) +is at the moment that.. property is passing by the death of one person +to the possession of another. In this case, the bequeather gives +nothing: the receiver pays nothing. The only matter to him is, that +the monopoly of natural inheritance, to which there never was a right, +begins to cease in his person. A generous man would not wish it to +continue, and a just man will rejoice to see it abolished. + +My state of health prevents my making sufficient inquiries with respect +to the doctrine of probabilities, whereon to found calculations with +such degrees of certainty as they are capable of. What, therefore, I +offer on this head is more the result of observation and reflection +than of received information; but I believe it will be found to agree +sufficiently with fact. + +In the first place, taking twenty-one years as the epoch of maturity, +all the property of a nation, real and personal, is always in the +possession of persons above that age. It is then necessary to know, as a +datum of calculation, the average of years which persons above that age +will live. I take this average to be about thirty years, for though +many persons will live forty, fifty, or sixty years after the age of +twenty-one years, others will die much sooner, and some in every year of +that time. + +Taking, then, thirty years as the average of time, it will give, without +any material variation one way or other, the average of time in which +the whole property or capital of a nation, or a sum equal thereto, will +have passed through one entire revolution in descent, that is, will have +gone by deaths to new possessors; for though, in many instances, some +parts of this capital will remain forty, fifty, or sixty years in the +possession of one person, other parts will have revolved two or three +times before those thirty years expire, which will bring it to that +average; for were one half the capital of a nation to revolve twice in +thirty years, it would produce the same fund as if the whole revolved +once. + +Taking, then, thirty years as the average of time in which the whole +capital of a nation, or a sum equal thereto, will revolve once, the +thirtieth part thereof will be the sum that will revolve every year, +that is, will go by deaths to new possessors; and this last sum being +thus known, and the ratio per cent, to be subtracted from it determined, +it will give the annual amount or income of the proposed fund, to be +applied as already mentioned. + +In looking over the discourse of the English minister, Pitt, in his +opening of what is called in England the budget, (the scheme of finance +for the year 1796,) I find an estimate of the national capital of that +country. As this estimate of a national capital is prepared ready to my +hand, I take it as a datum to act upon. When a calculation is made upon +the known capital of any nation, combined with its population, it will +serve as a scale for any other nation, in proportion as its capital and +population be more or less. I am the more disposed to take this estimate +of Mr. Pitt, for the purpose of showing to that minister, upon his own +calculation, how much better money may be employed than in wasting it, +as he has done, on the wild project of setting up Bourbon kings. What, +in the name of heaven, are Bourbon kings to the people of England? It is +better that the people have bread. + +Mr. Pitt states the national capital of England, real and personal, +to be one thousand three hundred millions sterling, which is about +one-fourth part of the national capital of France, including Belgia. The +event of the last harvest in each country proves that the soil of France +is more productive than that of England, and that it can better support +twenty-four or twenty-five millions of inhabitants than that of England +can seven or seven and a half millions. + +The thirtieth part of this capital of 1,300,000,000L. is 43,333,333L. +which is the part that will revolve every year by deaths in that country +to new possessors; and the sum that will annually revolve in France +in the proportion of four to one, will be about one hundred and +seventy-three millions sterling. From this sum of 43,333,333L. annually +revolving, is to be subtracted the value of the natural inheritance +absorbed in it, which, perhaps, in fair justice, cannot be taken at +less, and ought not to be taken for more, than a tenth part. + +It will always happen, that of the property thus revolving by deaths +every year a part will descend in a direct line to sons and daughters, +and the other part collaterally, and the proportion will be found to be +about three to one; that is, about thirty millions of the above sum will +descend to direct heirs, and the remaining sum of 13,333,333L. to more +distant relations, and in part to strangers. + +Considering, then, that man is always related to society, that +relationship will become comparatively greater in proportion as the next +of kin is more distant, it is therefore consistent with civilization to +say that where there are no direct heirs society shall be heir to a part +over and above the tenth part due to society. If this additional part be +from five to ten or twelve per cent., in proportion as the next of kin +be nearer or more remote, so as to average with the escheats that may +fall, which ought always to go to society and not to the government +(an addition of ten per cent, more), the produce from the annual sum of +43,333,333L. will be: + +[Illustration: table361] + +Having thus arrived at the annual amount of the proposed fund, I come, +in the next place, to speak of the population proportioned to this fund, +and to compare it with the uses to which the fund is to be applied. + +The population (I mean that of England) does not exceed seven millions +and a half, and the number of persons above the age of fifty will in +that case be about four hundred thousand. There would not, however, be +more than that number that would accept the proposed ten pounds sterling +per annum, though they would be entitled to it. I have no idea it would +be accepted by many persons who had a yearly income of two or three +hundred pounds sterling. But as we often see instances of rich people +falling into sudden poverty, even at the age of sixty, they would always +have the right of drawing all the arrears due to them. Four millions, +therefore, of the above annual sum of 5,666,6667L. will be required for +four hundred thousand aged persons, at ten pounds sterling each. + +I come now to speak of the persons annually arriving at twenty-one years +of age. If all the persons who died were above the age of twenty-one +years, the number of persons annually arriving at that age, must be +equal to the annual number of deaths, to keep the population stationary. +But the greater part die under the age of twenty-one, and therefore the +number of persons annually arriving at twenty-one will be less than half +the number of deaths. The whole number of deaths upon a population of +seven millions and an half will be about 220,000 annually. The number +arriving at twenty-one years of age will be about 100,000. The whole +number of these will not receive the proposed fifteen pounds, for the +reasons already mentioned, though, as in the former case, they would be +entitled to it. Admitting then that a tenth part declined receiving it, +the amount would stand thus: + +[Illustration: table362] + +There are, in every country, a number of blind and lame persons, totally +incapable of earning a livelihood. But as it will always happen that the +greater number of blind persons will be among those who are above +the age of fifty years, they will be provided for in that class. The +remaining sum of 316,666L. will provide for the lame and blind under +that age, at the same rate of 10L. annually for each person. + +Having now gone through all the necessary calculations, and stated the +particulars of the plan, I shall conclude with some observations. + +It is not charity but a right, not bounty but justice, that I am +pleading for. The present state of civilization is as odious as it is +unjust. It is absolutely the opposite of what it should be, and it is +necessary that a revolution should be made in it.(1) The contrast of +affluence and wretchedness continually meeting and offending the eye, +is like dead and living bodies chained together. Though I care as little +about riches, as any man, I am a friend to riches because they are +capable of good. I care not how affluent some may be, provided that +none be miserable in consequence of it. But it is impossible to enjoy +affluence with the felicity it is capable of being enjoyed, whilst so +much misery is mingled in the scene. The sight of the misery, and the +unpleasant sensations it suggests, which, though they may be suffocated +cannot be extinguished, are a greater drawback upon the felicity of +affluence than the proposed 10 per cent, upon property is worth. He that +would not give the one to get rid of the other has no charity, even for +himself. + + 1 This and the preceding sentence axe omitted in all + previous English and American editions.--_Editor._. + +There are, in every country, some magnificent charities established by +individuals. It is, however, but little that any individual can do, +when the whole extent of the misery to be relieved is considered. He may +satisfy his conscience, but not his heart. He may give all that he +has, and that all will relieve but little. It is only by organizing +civilization upon such principles as to act like a system of pullies, +that the whole weight of misery can be removed. + +The plan here proposed will reach the whole. It will immediately relieve +and take out of view three classes of wretchedness--the blind, the lame, +and the aged poor; and it will furnish the rising generation with means +to prevent their becoming poor; and it will do this without deranging +or interfering with any national measures. To shew that this will be the +case, it is sufficient to observe that the operation and effect of +the plan will, in all cases, be the same as if every individual were +_voluntarily_ to make his will and dispose of his property in the manner +here proposed. + +But it is justice, and not charity, that is the principle of the plan. +In all great cases it is necessary to have a principle more universally +active than charity; and, with respect to justice, it ought not to be +left to the choice of detached individuals whether they will do justice +or not. Considering then, the plan on the ground of justice, it ought to +be the act of the whole, growing spontaneously out of the principles of +the revolution, and the reputation of it ought to be national and not +individual. + +A plan upon this principle would benefit the revolution by the energy +that springs from the consciousness of justice. It would multiply also +the national resources; for property, like vegetation, increases +by offsets. When a young couple begin the world, the difference is +exceedingly great whether they begin with nothing or with fifteen pounds +apiece. With this aid they could buy a cow, and implements to cultivate +a few acres of land; and instead of becoming burdens upon society, which +is always the case where children are produced faster than they can be +fed, would be put in the way of becoming useful and profitable citizens. +The national domains also would sell the better if pecuniary aids were +provided to cultivate them in small lots. + +It is the practice of what has unjustly obtained the name of +civilization (and the practice merits not to be called either charity +or policy) to make some provision for persons becoming poor and wretched +only at the time they become so. Would it not, even as a matter of +economy, be far better to adopt means to prevent their becoming poor? +This can best be done by making every person when arrived at the age +of twenty-one years an inheritor of something to begin with. The rugged +face of society, chequered with the extremes of affluence and want, +proves that some extraordinary violence has been committed upon it, +and calls on justice for redress. The great mass of the poor in all +countries are become an hereditary race, and it is next to impossible +for them to get cut of that state of themselves. It ought also to be +observed that this mass increases in all countries that are called +civilized. More persons fall annually into it than get out of it. + +Though in a plan of which justice and humanity are the +foundation-principles, interest ought not to be admitted into the +calculation, yet it is always of advantage to the establishment of any +plan to shew that it is beneficial as a matter of interest. The success +of any proposed plan submitted to public consideration must finally +depend on the numbers interested in supporting it, united with the +justice of its principles. + +The plan here proposed will benefit all, without injuring any. It will +consolidate the interest of the Republic with that of the individual. +To the numerous class dispossessed of their natural inheritance by the +system of landed property it will be an act of national justice. To +persons dying possessed of moderate fortunes it will operate as a +tontine to their children, more beneficial than the sum of money paid +into the fund: and it will give to the accumulation of riches a degree +of security that none of the old governments of Europe, now tottering on +their foundations, can give. + +I do not suppose that more than one family in ten, in any of the +countries of Europe, has, when the head of the family dies, a clear +property left of five hundred pounds sterling. To all such the plan is +advantageous. That property would pay fifty pounds into the fund, and if +there were only two children under age they would receive fifteen pounds +each, (thirty pounds,) on coming of age, and be entitled to ten pounds +a-year after fifty. It is from the overgrown acquisition of property +that the fund will support itself; and I know that the possessors of +such property in England, though they would eventually be benefited by +the protection of nine-tenths of it, will exclaim against the plan. But +without entering into any inquiry how they came by that property, let +them recollect that they have been the advocates of this war, and that +Mr. Pitt has already laid on more new taxes to be raised annually upon +the people of England, and that for supporting the despotism of Austria +and the Bourbons against the liberties of France, than would pay +annually all the sums proposed in this plan. + +I have made the calculations stated in this plan, upon what is called +personal, as well as upon landed property. The reason for making it upon +land is already explained; and the reason for taking personal property +into the calculation is equally well founded though on a different +principle. Land, as before said, is the free gift of the Creator in +common to the human race. Personal property is the effect of society; +and it is as impossible for an individual to acquire personal property +without the aid of society, as it is for him to make land originally. +Separate an individual from society, and give him an island or a +continent to possess, and he cannot acquire personal property. He cannot +be rich. So inseparably are the means connected with the end, in all +cases, that where the former do not exist the latter cannot be obtained. +All accumulation, therefore, of personal property, beyond what a man's +own hands produce, is derived to him by living in society; and he owes +on every principle of justice, of gratitude, and of civilization, a part +of that accumulation back again to society from whence the whole came. +This is putting the matter on a general principle, and perhaps it is +best to do so; for if we examine the case minutely it will be found that +the accumulation of personal property is, in many instances, the effect +of paying too little for the labour that produced it; the consequence +of which is, that the working hand perishes in old age, and the employer +abounds in affluence. It is, perhaps, impossible to proportion exactly +the price of labour to the profits it produces; and it will also be +said, as an apology for the injustice, that were a workman to receive +an increase of wages daily he would not save it against old age, nor be +much bet-ter for it in the interim. Make, then, society the treasurer to +guard it for him in a common fund; for it is no reason, that because he +might not make a good use of it for himself, another should take it. + +The state of civilization that has prevailed throughout Europe, is as +unjust in its principle, as it is horrid in its effects; and it is the +consciousness of this, and the apprehension that such a state cannot +continue when once investigation begins in any country, that makes +the possessors of property dread every idea of a revolution. It is the +hazard and not the principle of revolutions that retards their progress. +This being the case, it is necessary as well for the protection of +property, as for the sake of justice and humanity, to form a system +that, whilst it preserves one part of society from wretchedness, shall +secure the other from depredation. + +The superstitious awe, the enslaving reverence, that formerly surrounded +affluence, is passing away in all countries, and leaving the possessor +of property to the convulsion of accidents. When wealth and splendour, +instead of fascinating the multitude, excite emotions of disgust; when, +instead of drawing forth admiration, it is beheld as an insult upon +wretchedness; when the ostentatious appearance it makes serves to call +the right of it in question, the case of property becomes critical, and +it is only in a system of justice that the possessor can contemplate +security. + +To remove the danger, it is necessary to remove the antipathies, and +this can only be done by making property productive of a national +blessing, extending to every individual. When the riches of one man +above another shall increase the national fund in the same proportion; +when it shall be seen that the prosperity of that fund depends on the +prosperity of individuals; when the more riches a man acquires, the +better it shall be for the general mass; it is then that antipathies +will cease, and property be placed on the permanent basis of national +interest and protection. + +I have no property in France to become subject to the plan I propose. +What I have which is not much, is in the United States of America. But +I will pay one hundred pounds sterling towards this fund in rance, the +instant it shall be established; and I will pay the same sum in England +whenever a similar establishment shall take place in that country. + +A revolution in the state of civilization is the necessary companion of +revolutions in the system of government. If a revolution in any country +be from bad to good, or from good to bad, the state of what is called +civilization in that country, must be made conformable thereto, to give +that revolution effect. Despotic government supports itself by abject +civilization, in which debasement of the human mind, and wretchedness +in the mass of the people, are the chief enterions. Such governments +consider man merely as an animal; that the exercise of intellectual +faculty is not his privilege; _that he has nothing to do with the laws +but to obey them _; (*) and they politically depend more upon breaking +the spirit of the people by poverty, than they fear enraging it by +desperation. + + * Expression of Horsley, an English bishop, in the English + parliament.--Author. + +It is a revolution in the state of civilization that will give +perfection to the revolution of France. Already the conviction that +government by representation is the true system of government is +spreading itself fast in the world. The reasonableness of it can be seen +by all. The justness of it makes itself felt even by its opposers. But +when a system of civilization, growing out of that system of government, +shall be so organized that not a man or woman born in the Republic but +shall inherit some means of beginning the world, and see before them +the certainty of escaping the miseries that under other governments +accompany old age, the revolution of France will have an advocate and an +ally in the heart of all nations. + +An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot; +it will succeed where diplomatic management would fail: it is neither +the Rhine, the Channel, nor the Ocean that can arrest its progress: it +will march on the horizon of the world, and it will conquer. + + +MEANS FOR CARRYING THE PROPOSED PLAN INTO EXECUTION, + +AND TO RENDER IT AT THE SAME TIME CONDUCIVE TO THE PUBLIC INTEREST. + +I. Each canton shall elect in its primary assemblies, three persons, +as commissioners for that canton, who shall take cognizance, and keep +a register of all matters happening in that canton, conformable to the +charter that shall be established by law for carrying this plan into +execution. + +II. The law shall fix the manner in which the property of deceased +persons shall be ascertained. + +III. When the amount of the property of any deceased person shall be +ascertained, the principal heir to that property, or the eldest of the +co-heirs, if of lawful age, or if under age the person authorized by the +will of the deceased to represent him or them, shall give bond to the +commissioners of the canton to pay the said tenth part thereof in four +equal quarterly payments, within the space of one year or sooner, at the +choice of the payers. One half of the whole property shall remain as a +security until the bond be paid off. + +IV. The bond shall be registered in the office of the commissioners of +the canton, and the original bonds shall be deposited in the national +bank at Paris. The bank shall publish every quarter of a year the amount +of the bonds in its possession, and also the bonds that shall have been +paid off, or what parts thereof, since the last quarterly publication. + +V. The national bank shall issue bank notes upon the security of the +bonds in its possession. The notes so issued, shall be applied to pay +the pensions of aged persons, and the compensations to persons arriving +at twenty-one years of age. It is both reasonable and generous to +suppose, that persons not under immediate necessity, will suspend their +right of drawing on the fund, until it acquire, as it will do, a greater +degree of ability. In this case, it is proposed, that an honorary +register be kept, in each canton, of the names of the persons thus +suspending that right, at least during the present war. + +VI. As the inheritors of property must always take up their bonds in +four quarterly payments, or sooner if they choose, there will always +be _numeraire_ [cash] arriving at the bank after the expiration of the +first quarter, to exchange for the bank notes that shall be brought in. + +VII. The bank notes being thus put in circulation, upon the best of all +possible security, that of actual property, to more than four times +the amount of the bonds upon which the notes are issued, and with +_numeraire_ continually arriving at the bank to exchange or pay them off +whenever they shall be presented for that purpose, they will acquire +a permanent value in all parts of the Republic. They can therefore be +received in payment of taxes, or emprunts equal to numeraire, because +the government can always receive numeraire for them at the bank. + +VIII. It will be necessary that the payments of the ten per cent, be +made in numeraire for the first year from the establishment of the plan. +But after the expiration of the first year, the inheritors of property +may pay ten per cent either in bank notes issued upon the fund, or in +numeraire, If the payments be in numeraire, it will lie as a deposit at +the bank, to be exchanged for a quantity of notes equal to that amount; +and if in notes issued upon the fund, it will cause a demand upon the +fund, equal thereto; and thus the operation of the plan will create +means to carry itself into execution. + +Thomas Paine. + + + + +XXIX. THE EIGHTEENTH FRUCTIDOR. + + +To the People of France and the French Armies (1) + + 1 This pamphlet was written between the defeat of Pichegru's + attempt, September 4, 1794, and November 12, of the same + year, the date of the Bien-informe in which the publication + is noticed. General Pichegra (Charles), (1761-1804) having + joined a royalist conspiracy against the Republic, was + banished to Cayenne (1797), whence he escaped to England; + having returned to Paris (1804) he was imprisoned in the + Temple, and there found strangled by a silk handkerchief, + whether by his own or another's act remaining doubtful. + --Editor. + +When an extraordinary measure, not warranted by established +constitutional rules, and justifiable only on the supreme law of +absolute necessity, bursts suddenly upon us, we must, in order to form +a true judgment thereon, carry our researches back to the times that +preceded and occasioned it. Taking up then the subject with respect to +the event of the Eighteenth of Fructidor on this ground, I go to examine +the state of things prior to that period. I begin with the establishment +of the constitution of the year 3 of the French Republic. + +A better _organized_ constitution has never yet been devised by human +wisdom. It is, in its organization, free from all the vices and defects +to which other forms of government are more or less subject. I will +speak first of the legislative body, because the Legislature is, in the +natural order of things, the first power; the Executive is the first +magistrate. + +By arranging the legislative body into two divisions, as is done in the +French Constitution, the one, (the Council of Five Hundred,) whose part +it is to conceive and propose laws; the other, a Council of Ancients, to +review, approve, or reject the laws proposed; all the security is given +that can arise from coolness of reflection acting upon, or correcting +the precipitancy or enthusiasm of conception and imagination. It is +seldom that our first thought, even upon any subject, is sufficiently +just.(1) + + 1 For Paine's ideas on the right division of representatives + into two chambers, which differ essentially from any + bicameral system ever adopted, see vol. ii., p. 444 of this + work; also, in the present volume, Chapter XXXIV.-- + _Editor._. + +The policy of renewing the Legislature by a third part each year, though +not entirely new, either in theory or in practice, is nevertheless one +of the modern improvements in the science of government. It prevents, +on the one hand, that convulsion and precipitate change of measures +into which a nation might be surprised by the going out of the whole +Legislature at the same time, and the instantaneous election of a new +one; on the other hand, it excludes that common interest from taking +place that might tempt a whole Legislature, whose term of duration +expired at once, to usurp the right of continuance. I go now to speak of +the Executive. + +It is a principle uncontrovertible by reason, that each of the parts +by which government is composed, should be so constructed as to be in +perpetual maturity. We should laugh at the idea of a Council of Five +Hundred, or a Council of Ancients, or a Parliament, or any national +assembly, who should be all children in leading strings and in the +cradle, or be all sick, insane, deaf, dumb, lame or blind, at the same +time, or be all upon crutches, tottering with age or infirmities. Any +form of government that was so constructed as to admit the possibility +of such cases happening to a whole Legislature would justly be the +ridicule of the world; and on a parity of reasoning, it is equally as +ridiculous that the same cases should happen in that part of government +which is called the Executive; yet this is the contemptible condition to +which an Executive is always subject, and which is often happening, +when it is placed in an hereditary individual called a king. When +that individual is in either of the cases before mentioned, the whole +Executive is in the same case; for himself is the whole. He is then (as +an Executive) the ridiculous picture of what a Legislature would be if +all its members were in the same case. The one is a whole made up of +parts, the other a whole without parts; and anything happening to the +one, (as a part or sec-tion of the government,) is parallel to the same +thing happening to the other. + +As, therefore, an hereditary executive called a king is a perfect +absurdity in itself, any attachment to it is equally as absurd. It is +neither instinct or reason; and if this attachment is what is called +royalism in France, then is a royalist inferior in character to every +species of the animal world; for what can that being be who acts neither +by instinct nor by reason? Such a being merits rather our derision +than our pity; and it is only when it assumes to act its folly that it +becomes capable of provoking republican indignation. In every other +case it is too contemptible to excite anger. For my own part, when I +contemplate the self-evident absurdity of the thing, I can scarcely +permit myself to believe that there exists in the high-minded nation of +France such a mean and silly animal as a royalist. + +As it requires but a single glance of thought to see (as is before said) +that all the parts of which government is composed must be at all times +in a state of full maturity, it was not possible that men acting under +the influence of reason, could, in forming a Constitution, admit an +hereditary Executive, any more than an hereditary Legislature. I go +therefore to examine the other cases. + +In the first place, (rejecting the hereditary system,) shall the +Executive by election be an _individual or a plurality_. + +An individual by election is almost as bad as the hereditary system, +except that there is always a better chance of not having an idiot. But +he will never be any thing more than a chief of a party, and none but +those of that party will have access to him. He will have no person +to consult with of a standing equal with himself, and consequently be +deprived of the advantages arising from equal discussion. + +Those whom he admits in consultation will be ministers of his own +appointment, who, if they displease by their advice, must expect to +be dismissed. The authority also is too great, and the business too +complicated, to be intrusted to the ambition or the judgment of an +individual; and besides these cases, the sudden change of measures +that might follow by the going out of an individual Executive, and the +election of a new one, would hold the affairs of a nation in a state of +perpetual uncertainty. We come then to the case of a plural Executive. + +It must be sufficiently plural, to give opportunity to discuss all the +various subjects that in the course of national business may come before +it; and yet not so numerous as to endanger the necessary secrecy that +certain cases, such as those of war, require. + +Establishing, then, plurality as a principle, the only question is, What +shall be the number of that plurality? + +Three are too few either for the variety or the quantity of business. +The Constitution has adopted five; and experience has shewn, from the +commencement of the Constitution to the time of the election of the new +legislative third, that this number of Directors, when well chosen, is +sufficient for all national executive purposes; and therefore a greater +number would be only an unnecessary expence. That the measures of the +Directory during that period were well concerted is proved by their +success; and their being well concerted shews they were well discussed; +and, therefore, that five is a sufficient number with respect to +discussion; and, on the other hand, the secret, whenever there was +one, (as in the case of the expedition to Ireland,) was well kept, and +therefore the number is not too great to endanger the necessary secrecy. + +The reason why the two Councils are numerous is not from the necessity +of their being so, on account of business, but because that every +part of the republic shall find and feel itself in the national +representation. + +Next to the general principle of government by representation, the +excellence of the French Constitution consists in providing means to +prevent that abuse of power that might arise by letting it remain too +long in the same hands. This wise precaution pervades every part of the +Constitution. Not only the legislature is renewable by a third every +year, but the president of each of the Councils is renewable every +month; and of the Directory, one member each year, and its president +every three months. Those who formed the Constitution cannot be accused +of having contrived for themselves. The Constitution, in this respect, +is as impartially constructed as if those who framed it were to die as +soon as they had finished their work. + +The only defect in the Constitution is that of having narrowed the right +of suffrage; and it is in a great measure due to this narrowing the +right, that the last elections have not generally been good. My former +colleagues will, I presume, pardon my saying this to day, when they +recollect my arguments against this defect, at the time the Constitution +was discussed in the Convention.(1) + + 1 See Chapters XXIV. and XXV., also the letter prefaced to + XXVIII., in this volume.--_Editor._, + +I will close this part of the subject by remarking on one of the most +vulgar and absurd sayings or dogmas that ever yet imposed itself upon +the world, which is, "_that a Republic is fit only for a small country, +and a Monarchy for a large one_." Ask those who say this their reasons +why it is so, and they can give none. + +Let us then examine the case. If the quantity of knowledge in a +government ought to be proportioned to the extent of a country, and +the magnitude and variety of its affairs, it follows, as an undeniable +result, that this absurd dogma is false, and that the reverse of it is +true. As to what is called Monarchy, if it be adaptable to any country +it can only be so to a small one, whose concerns are few, little +complicated, and all within the comprehension of an individual. But when +we come to a country of large extent, vast population, and whose affairs +are great, numerous, and various, it is the representative republican +system only, that can collect into the government the quantity +of knowledge necessary to govern to the best national advantage. +Montesquieu, who was strongly inclined to republican government, +sheltered himself under this absurd dogma; for he had always the +Bastile before his eyes when he was speaking of Republics, and therefore +_pretended_ not to write for France. Condorcet governed himself by +the same caution, but it was caution only, for no sooner had he the +opportunity of speaking fully out than he did it. When I say this of +Condorcet, I know it as a fact. In a paper published in Paris, July, +1791, entitled, "_The Republican, or the Defender of Representative +Government?_" is a piece signed _Thomas Paine_.(1) That piece was +concerted between Condorcet and myself. I wrote the original in +English, and Condorcet translated it. The object of it was to expose the +absurdity and falsehood of the above mentioned dogma. + + 1 Chapter II. of this volume. See also my "Life of Paine," + vol. i., p. 311.--Editor. + +Having thus concisely glanced at the excellencies of the Constitution, +and the superiority of the representative system of government over +every other system, (if any other can be called a system,) I come to +speak of the circumstances that have intervened between the time the +Constitution was established and the event that took place on the 18th +of Fructidor of the present year. + +Almost as suddenly as the morning light dissipates darkness, did the +establishment of the Constitution change the face of affairs in France. +Security succeeded to terror, prosperity to distress, plenty to famine, +and confidence increased as the days multiplied, until the coming of the +new third. A series of victories unequalled in the world, followed +each other, almost too rapidly to be counted, and too numerous to be +remembered. The Coalition, every where defeated and confounded, crumbled +away like a ball of dust in the hand of a giant. Every thing, during +that period, was acted on such a mighty scale that reality appeared a +dream, and truth outstript romance. It may figuratively be said, that +the Rhine and the Rubicon (Germany and Italy) replied in triumphs to +each other, and the echoing Alps prolonged the shout. I will not +here dishonour a great description by noticing too much the English +government. It is sufficient to say paradoxically, that in the magnitude +of its littleness it cringed, it intrigued, and sought protection in +corruption. + +Though the achievements of these days might give trophies to a nation +and laurels to its heroes, they derive their full radiance of glory +from the principle they inspired and the object they accomplished. +Desolation, chains, and slavery had marked the progress of former wars, +but to conquer for Liberty had never been thought of. To receive +the degrading submission of a distressed and subjugated people, and +insultingly permit them to live, made the chief triumph of former +conquerors; but to receive them with fraternity, to break their chains, +to tell them they are free, and teach them to be so, make a new volume +in the history of man. + +Amidst those national honours, and when only two enemies remained, both +of whom had solicited peace, and one of them had signed preliminaries, +the election of the new third commenced. Every thing was made easy to +them. All difficulties had been conquered before they arrived at the +government. They came in the olive days of the revolution, and all they +had to do was not to do mischief. + +It was, however, not difficult to foresee, that the elections would not +be generally good. The horrid days of Robespierre were still remembered, +and the gratitude due to those who had put an end to them was forgotten. + +Thousands who, by passive approbation during that tremendous scene, had +experienced no suffering, assumed the merit of being the loudest against +it. Their cowardice in not opposing it, became courage when it was over. +They exclaimed against Terrorism as if they had been the heroes that +overthrew it, and rendered themselves ridiculous by fantastically +overacting moderation. The most noisy of this class, that I have met +with, are those who suffered nothing. They became all things, at all +times, to all men; till at last they laughed at principle. It was the +real republicans who suffered most during the time of Robespierre. The +persecution began upon them on the 31st of May, 1793, and ceased only +by the exertions of the remnant that survived. + +In such a confused state of things as preceded the late elections the +public mind was put into a condition of being easily deceived; and it +was almost natural that the hypocrite would stand the best chance of +being elected into the new third. Had those who, since their election, +have thrown the public affairs into confusion by counter-revolutionary +measures, declared themselves beforehand, they would have been denounced +instead of being chosen. Deception was necessary to their success. +The Constitution obtained a full establishment; the revolution was +considered as complete; and the war on the eve of termination. In such a +situation, the mass of the people, fatigued by a long revolution, sought +repose; and in their elections they looked out for quiet men. They +unfortunately found hypocrites. Would any of the primary assemblies +have voted for a civil war? Certainly they would not. But the electoral +assemblies of some departments have chosen men whose measures, since +their election, tended to no other end but to provoke it. Either those +electors have deceived their constituents of the primary assemblies, or +they have been themselves deceived in the choice they made of deputies. + +That there were some direct but secret conspirators in the new third can +scarcely admit of a doubt; but it is most reasonable to suppose that a +great part were seduced by the vanity of thinking they could do better +than those whom they succeeded. Instead of trusting to experience, they +attempted experiments. This counter-disposition prepared them to fall in +with any measures contrary to former measures, and that without seeing, +and probably without suspecting, the end to which they led. + +No sooner were the members of the new third arrived at the seat of +government, than expectation was excited to see how they would act. +Their motions were watched by all parties, and it was impossible for +them to steal a march unobserved. They had it in their power to do great +good, or great mischief. A firm and manly conduct on their part, uniting +with that of the Directory and their colleagues, would have terminated +the war. But the moment before them was not the moment of hesitation. He +that hesitates in such situation is lost. + +The first public act of the Council of Five Hundred was the election of +Pichegru to the presidency of that Council. He arrived at it by a very +large majority, and the public voice was in his favour. I among the rest +was one who rejoiced at it. But if the defection of Pichegru was at that +time known to Conde, and consequently to Pitt, it unveils the cause that +retarded all negotiations for peace.(1) They interpreted that election +into a signal of a counter-revolution, and were waiting for it; and they +mistook the respect shown to Pichegru, founded on the supposition of his +integrity, as a symptom of national revolt. Judging of things by their +own foolish ideas of government, they ascribed appearances to causes +between which there was no connection. Every thing on their part has +been a comedy of errors, and the actors have been chased from the stage. + + 1 Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Conde (1736-1818), + organized the French emigrants on the Rhine into an army + which was incorporated with that of Austria but paid by + England. He converted Pichegru into a secret partisan of the + Bourbons. He ultimately returned to France with Louis + XVIII., who made him colonel of infantry and master of the + royal household.--_Editor._, + +Two or three decades of the new sessions passed away without any +thing very material taking place; but matters soon began to explain +themselves. The first thing that struck the public mind was, that no +more was heard of negotiations for peace, and that public business stood +still. It was not the object of the conspirators that there should be +peace; but as it was necessary to conceal their object, the Constitution +was ransacked to find pretences for delays. In vain did the Directory +explain to them the state of the finances and the wants of the army. The +committee, charged with that business, trifled away its time by a series +of unproductive reports, and continued to sit only to produce more. +Every thing necessary to be done was neglected, and every thing improper +was attempted. Pichegru occupied himself about forming a national guard +for the Councils--the suspicious signal of war,--Camille Jordan about +priests and bells, and the emigrants, with whom he had associated +during the two years he was in England.1 Willot and Delarue attacked the +Directory: their object was to displace some one of the directors, to +get in another of their own. Their motives with respect to the age of +Barras (who is as old as he wishes to be, and has been a little too old +for them) were too obvious not to be seen through.(2) + + 1 Paine's pamphlet, addressed to Jordan, deals mainly with + religions matters, and is reserved for oar fourth volume.-- + _Editor._. + + 2 Paul Francois Jean Nicolas Barras (1755-1899) was + President of the Directory at this time, 1797.--_Editor._. + +In this suspensive state of things, the public mind, filled with +apprehensions, became agitated, and without knowing what it might be, +looked for some extraordinary event. It saw, for it could not avoid +seeing, that things could not remain long in the state they were in, +but it dreaded a convulsion. That spirit of triflingness which it +had indulged too freely when in a state of security, and which it is +probable the new agents had interpreted into indifference about the +success of the Republic, assumed a serious aspect that afforded to +conspiracy no hope of aid; but still it went on. It plunged itself into +new measures with the same ill success, and the further it went the +further the public mind retired. The conspiracy saw nothing around it to +give it encouragement. + +The obstinacy, however, with which it persevered in its repeated +attacks upon the Directory, in framing laws in favour of emigrants and +refractory priests, and in every thing inconsistent with the immediate +safety of the Republic, and which served to encourage the enemy to +prolong the war, admitted of no other direct interpretation than that +something was rotten in the Council of Five Hundred. The evidence of +circumstances became every day too visible not to be seen, and too +strong to be explained away. Even as errors, (to say no worse of +them,) they are not entitled to apology; for where knowledge is a duty, +ignorance is a crime. + +The more serious republicans, who had better opportunities than the +generality had, of knowing the state of politics, began to take +the alarm, and formed themselves into a Society, by the name of the +Constitutional Club. It is the only Society of which I have been a +member in France; and I went to this because it was become necessary +that the friends of the Republic should rally round the standard of +the constitution. I met there several of the original patriots of the +revolution; I do not mean of the last order of Jacobins, but of the +first of that name. The faction in the Council of Five Hundred, +who, finding no counsel from the public, began to be frightened at +appearances, fortified itself against the dread of this Society, by +passing a law to dissolve it. The constitutionality of the law was at +least doubtful: but the Society, that it might not give the example of +exasperating matters already too much inflamed, suspended its meetings. + +A matter, however, of much greater moment soon after presented itself. +It was the march of four regiments, some of whom, in the line of their +route, had to pass within about twelve leagues of Paris, which is the +boundary the Constitution had fixed as the distance of any armed +force from the legislative body. In another state of things, such a +circumstance would not have been noticed. But conspiracy is quick of +suspicion, and the fear which the faction in the Council of Five +Hundred manifested upon this occasion could not have suggested itself +to innocent men; neither would innocent men have expostulated with the +Directory upon the case, in the manner these men did. The question they +urged went to extort from the Directory, and to make known to the enemy, +what the destination of the troops was. The leaders of the faction +conceived that the troops were marching against them; and the conduct +they adopted in consequence of it was sufficient to justify the measure, +even if it had been so. From what other motive than the consciousness of +their own designs could they have fear? The troops, in every instance, +had been the gallant defenders of the Republic, and the openly declared +friends of the Constitution; the Directory had been the same, and if the +faction were not of a different description neither fear nor suspicion +could have had place among them. + +All those manouvres in the Council were acted under the most +professional attachment to the Constitution; and this as necessarily +served to enfeeble their projects. It is exceedingly difficult, and next +to impossible, to conduct a conspiracy, and still more so to give it +success, in a popular government. The disguised and feigned pretences +which men in such cases are obliged to act in the face of the public, +suppress the action of the faculties, and give even to natural courage +the features of timidity. They are not half the men they would be where +no disguise is necessary. It is impossible to be a hypocrite and to be +brave at the same instant. + +The faction, by the imprudence of its measures, upon the march of +the troops, and upon the declarations of the officers and soldiers to +support the Republic and the Constitution against all open or concealed +attempts to overturn them, had gotten itself involved with the army, and +in effect declared itself a party against it. On the one hand, laws were +proposed to admit emigrants and refractory priests as free citizens; and +on the other hand to exclude the troops from Paris, and to punish the +soldiers who had declared to support the Republic In the mean time all +negociations for peace went backward; and the enemy, still recruiting +its forces, rested to take advantage of circumstances. Excepting the +absence of hostilities, it was a state worse than war. + +If all this was not a conspiracy, it had at least the features of one, +and was pregnant with the same mischiefs. The eyes of the faction could +not avoid being open to the dangers to which it obstinately exposed +the Republic; yet still it persisted. During this scene, the journals +devoted to the faction were repeatedly announcing the near approach of +peace with Austria and with England, and often asserting that it was +concluded. This falsehood could be intended for no other purpose than to +keep the eyes of the people shut against the dangers to which they were +exposed. + +Taking all circumstances together, it was impossible that such a state +of things could continue long; and at length it was resolved to bring it +to an issue. There is good reason to believe that the affair of the +18th Fructidor (September 4) was intended to have taken place two days +before; but on recollecting that it was the 2d of September, a day +mournful in the annals of the revolution, it was postponed. When the +issue arrived, the faction found to its cost it had no party among the +public. It had sought its own disasters, and was left to suffer the +consequences. Foreign enemies, as well as those of the interior, if +any such there be, ought to see in the event of this day that all +expectation of aid from any part of the public in support of a counter +revolution is delusion. In a state of security the thoughtless, who +trembled at terror, may laugh at principles of Liberty (for they have +laughed) but it is one thing to indulge a foolish laugh, quite another +thing to surrender Liberty. + +Considering the event of the 18th Fructidor in a political light, it is +one of those that are justifiable only on the supreme law of absolute +necessity, and it is the necessity abstracted from the event that is to +be deplored. The event itself is matter of joy. Whether the manouvres in +the Council of Five Hundred were the conspiracy of a few, aided l>y the +perverseness of many, or whether it had a deeper root, the dangers were +the same. It was impossible to go on. Every thing was at stake, and +all national business at a stand. The case reduced itself to a simple +alternative--shall the Republic be destroyed by the darksome manouvres +-of a faction, or shall it be preserved by an exceptional act? + +During the American Revolution, and that after the State constitutions +were established, particular cases arose that rendered it necessary to +act in a manner that would have been treasonable in a state of peace. At +one time Congress invested General Washington with dictatorial power. +At another time the Government of Pennsylvania suspended itself and +declared martial law. It was the necessity of the times only that +made the apology of those extraordinary measures. But who was it that +produced the necessity of an extraordinary measure in France? A faction, +and that in the face of prosperity and success. Its conduct is without +apology; and it is on the faction only that the exceptional measure has +fallen. The public has suffered no inconvenience. If there are some men +more disposed than others not to act severely, I have a right to place +myself in that class; the whole of my political life invariably proves +it; yet I cannot see, taking all parts of the case together, what else, +or what better, could have been done, than has been done. It was a +great stroke, applied in a great crisis, that crushed in an instant, +and without the loss of a life, all the hopes of the enemy, and restored +tranquillity to the interior. + +The event was ushered in by the discharge of two cannon at four in the +morning, and was the only noise that was heard throughout the day. It +naturally excited a movement among the Parisians to enquire the cause. +They soon learned it, and the countenance they carried was easy to be +interpreted. It was that of a people who, for some time past, had +been oppressed with apprehensions of some direful event, and who felt +themselves suddenly relieved, by finding what it was. Every one went +about his business, or followed his curiosity in quietude. It resembled +the cheerful tranquillity of the day when Louis XVI. absconded in 1791, +and like that day it served to open the eyes of the nation. + +If we take a review of the various events, as well conspiracies as +commotions, that have succeeded each other in this revolution, we shall +see how the former have wasted consumptively away, and the consequences +of the latter have softened. The 31st May and its consequences were +terrible. That of the 9th and 10th Thermidor, though glorious for the +republic, as it overthrew one of the most horrid and cruel despotisms +that ever raged, was nevertheless marked with many circumstances +of severe and continued retaliation. The commotions of Germinal and +Prairial of the year 3, and of Vendemaire of the year 4, were many +degrees below those that preceded them, and affected but a small part of +the public. This of Pichegru and his associates has been crushed in an +instant, without the stain of blood, and without involving the public in +the least inconvenience. + +These events taken in a series, mark the progress of the Republic from +disorder to stability. The contrary of this is the case in all parts +of the British dominions. There, commotions are on an ascending scale; +every one is higher than the former. That of the sailors had nearly +been the overthrow of the government. But the most potent of all is the +invisible commotion in the Bank. It works with the silence of time, and +the certainty of death. Every thing happening in France is curable; but +this is beyond the reach of nature or invention. + +Leaving the event of the 18th Fructidor to justify itself by the +necessity that occasioned it, and glorify itself by the happiness of +its consequences, I come to cast a coup-d'oil on the present state of +affairs. + +We have seen by the lingering condition of the negociations for peace, +that nothing was to be expected from them, in the situation that things +stood prior to the 18th Fructidor. The armies had done wonders, but +those wonders were rendered unproductive by the wretched manouvres of a +faction. New exertions are now necessary to repair the mischiefs which +that faction has done. The electoral bodies, in some Departments, who +by an injudicious choice, or a corrupt influence, have sent improper +deputies to the Legislature, have some atonement to make to their +country. The evil originated with them, and the least they can do is to +be among the foremost to repair it. + +It is, however, in vain to lament an evil that is past. There is neither +manhood nor policy in grief; and it often happens that an error in +politics, like an error in war, admits of being turned to greater +advantage than if it had not occurred. The enemy, encouraged by that +error, presumes too much, and becomes doubly foiled by the re-action. +England, unable to conquer, has stooped to corrupt; and defeated in +the last, as in the first, she is in a worse condition than before. +Continually increasing her crimes, she increases the measure of her +atonement, and multiplies the sacrifices she must make to obtain peace. +Nothing but the most obstinate stupidity could have induced her to let +slip the opportunity when it was within her reach. In addition to the +prospect of new expenses, she is now, to use Mr. Pitt's own figurative +expression against France, _not only on the brink, but in the gulph +of bankruptcy_. There is no longer any mystery in paper money. Call +it assignats, mandats, exchequer bills, or bank notes, it is still the +same. Time has solved the problem, and experience has fixed its fate.(1) + + 1 See Chapter XXVI. of this volume.--_Editor._. + +The government of that unfortunate country discovers its faithlessness +so much, that peace on any terms with her is scarcely worth obtaining. +Of what use is peace with a government that will employ that peace for +no other purpose than to repair, as far as it is possible, her shattered +finances and broken credit, and then go to war again? Four times within +the last ten years, from the time the American war closed, has the +Anglo-germanic government of England been meditating fresh war. First +with France on account of Holland, in 1787; afterwards with Russia; +then with Spain, on account of Nootka Sound; and a second time against +France, to overthrow her revolution. Sometimes that government employs +Prussia against Austria; at another time Austria against Prussia; and +always one or the other, or both against France. Peace with such a +government is only a treacherous cessation of hostilities. + +The frequency of wars on the part of England, within the last century, +more than before, must have had some cause that did not exist prior to +that epoch. It is not difficult to discover what that cause is. It is +the mischievous compound of an Elector of the Germanic body and a King +of England; and which necessarily must, at some day or other, become +an object of attention to France. That one nation has not a right to +interfere in the internal government of another nation, is admitted; and +in this point of view, France has no right to dictate to England what +its form of government shall be. If it choose to have a thing called a +King, or whether that King shall be a man or an ass, is a matter with +which France has no business. But whether an Elector of the Germanic +body shall be King of England, is an _external_ case, with which +France and every other nation, who suffers inconvenience and injury in +consequence of it, has a right to interfere. + +It is from this mischievous compound of Elector and King, that +originates a great part of the troubles that vex the continent of +Europe; and with respect to England, it has been the cause of her +immense national debt, the ruin of her finances, and the insolvency of +her bank. All intrigues on the continent, in which England is a party, +or becomes involved, are generated by, and act through, the medium of +this Anglo-germanic compound. It will be necessary to dissolve it. Let +the Elector retire to his Electorate, and the world will have peace. + +England herself has given examples of interference in matters of this +kind, and that in cases where injury was only apprehended. She engaged +in a long and expensive war against France (called the succession war) +to prevent a grandson of Louis the Fourteenth being king of Spain; +because, said she, _it will be injurious_ to me; and she has been +fighting and intriguing against what was called the family-compact ever +since. In 1787 she threatened France with war to prevent a connection +between France and Hoi-land; and in all her propositions of peace to-day +she is dictating separations. But if she look at the Anglo-germanic +compact at home, called the Hanover succession, she cannot avoid seeing +that France necessarily must, some day or other, take up that subject, +and make the return of the Elector to his Electorate one of the +conditions of peace. There will be no lasting peace between the two +countries till this be done, and the sooner it be done the better will +it be for both. + +I have not been in any company where this matter aas been a topic, that +did not see it in the light it is here stated. Even Barthelemy,(1) when +he first came to the Directory (and Barthelemy was never famous for +patriotism) acknowledged in my hearing, and in company with Derche, +Secretary to the Legation at Lille, the connection of an Elector of +Germany and a King of England to be injurious to France. I do not, +however, mention it from a wish to embarrass the negociation for peace. +The Directory has fixed its _ultimatum_; but if that ultimatum be +rejected, the obligation to adhere to it is discharged, and a new one +may be assumed. So wretchedly has Pitt managed his opportunities" that +every succeeding negociation has ended in terms more against him than +the former. If the Directory had bribed him, he could not serve his +interest better than he does. He serves it as Lord North served that of +America, which finished in the discharge of his master.* + + 1 Marquis de Barthelemy (Francois) (1750-1830) entered the + Directory in June, 1796, through royalist influence. He + shared Pichegru's banishment, and subsequently became an + agent of Louis XVIII.--_Editor._ + + * The father of Pitt, when a member of the House of Commons, + exclaiming one day, during a former war, against the + enormous and ruinous expense of German connections, as the + offspring of the Hanover succession, and borrowing a + metaphor from the story of Prometheus, cried out: "Thus, + Hie Prometheus, is Britain chained to the barren rock of + Hanover; whilst the imperial eagle preys upon her vitals."-- + Author. + +Thus far I had written when the negociation at Lille became suspended, +in consequence of which I delayed the publication, that the ideas +suggested in this letter might not intrude themselves during the +interval. The _ultimatum_ offered by the Directory, as the terms of +peace, was more moderate than the government of England had a right to +expect. That government, though the provoker of the war, and the first +that committed hostilities by sending away the ambassador Chauvelin,(**) +had formerly talked of demanding from France, _indemnification for +the past and security for the future_. France, in her turn, might have +retorted, and demanded the same from England; but she did not. As it was +England that, in consequence of her bankruptcy, solicited peace, France +offered it to her on the simple condition of her restoring the islands +she had taken. The ultimatum has been rejected, and the negociation +broken off. The spirited part of France will say, _tant mieux_, so much +the better. + + ** It was stipulated in the treaty of commerce between + France and England, concluded at Paris, that the sending + away an ambassador by either party, should be taken as an + act of hostility by the other party. The declaration of war + (Feb. M *793) by the Convention, of which I was then a + member and know well the case, was made in exact conformity + to this article in the treaty; for it was not a declaration + of war against England, but a declaration that the French + Republic is in war with England; the first act of hostility + having been committed by England. The declaration was made + immediately on Chauvelin's return to France, and in + consequence of it. Mr. Pitt should inform himself of things + better than he does, before he prates so much about them, or + of the sending away of Malmesbury, who was only on a visit + of permission.--Author. + +How the people of England feel on the breaking up of the negociation, +which was entirely the act of their own Government, is best known to +themselves; but from what I know of the two nations, France ought to +hold herself perfectly indifferent about a peace with the Government of +England. Every day adds new strength to France and new embarrassments +to her enemy. The resources of the one increase, as those of the other +become exhausted. England is now reduced to the same system of paper +money from which France has emerged, and we all know the inevitable fate +of that system. It is not a victory over a few ships, like that on the +coast of Holland, that gives the least support or relief to a paper +system. On the news of this victory arriving in England, the funds did +not rise a farthing. The Government rejoiced, but its creditors were +silent. + +It is difficult to find a motive, except in folly and madness, for the +conduct of the English government. Every calculation and prediction of +Mr. Pitt has turned out directly the contrary; yet still he predicts. +He predicted, with all the solemn assurance of a magician, that France +would be bankrupt in a few months. He was right as to the thing, but +wrong as to the place, for the bankruptcy happened in England whilst the +words were yet warm upon his lips. To find out what will happen, it is +only necessary to know what Mr. Pitt predicts. He is a true prophet if +taken in the reverse. + +Such is the ruinous condition that England is now in, that great as +the difficulties of war are to the people, the difficulties that would +accompany peace are equally as great to the Government. Whilst the war +continues, Mr. Pitt has a pretence for shutting up the bank. But as that +pretence could last no longer than the war lasted, he dreads the peace +that would expose the absolute bankruptcy of the government, and unveil +to a deceived nation the ruinous effect of his measures. Peace would be +a day of accounts to him, and he shuns it as an insolvent debtor shuns +a meeting of his creditors. War furnishes him with many pretences; peace +would furnish him with none, and he stands alarmed at its consequences. +His conduct in the negociation at Lille can be easily interpreted. It is +not for the sake of the nation that he asks to retain some of the taken +islands; for what are islands to a nation that has already too many for +her own good, or what are they in comparison to the expense of another +campaign in the present depreciating state of the English funds? (And +even then those islands must be restored.) + +No, it is not for the sake of the nation that he asks. It is for the +sake of himself. It is as if he said to France, Give me some pretence, +cover me from disgrace when my day of reckoning comes! + +Any person acquainted with the English Government knows that every +Minister has some dread of what is called in England the winding up +of accounts at the end of a war; that is, the final settlement of all +expenses incurred by the war; and no Minister had ever so great cause of +dread as Mr. Pitt. A burnt child dreads the fire, and Pitt has had some +experience upon this case. The winding up of accounts at the end of the +American war was so great, that, though he was not the cause of it, +and came into the Ministry with great popularity, he lost it all by +undertaking, what was impossible for him to avoid, the voluminous +business of the winding up. If such was the case in settling the +accounts of his predecessor, how much more has he to apprehend when the +accounts to be settled are his own? All men in bad circumstances +hate the settlement of accounts, and Pitt, as a Minister, is of that +description. + +But let us take a view of things on a larger ground than the case of +a Minister. It will then be found, that England, on a comparison of +strength with France, when both nations are disposed to exert their +utmost, has no possible chance of success. The efforts that England made +within the last century were not generated on the ground of _natural +ability_, but of _artificial anticipations_. She ran posterity into +debt, and swallowed up in one generation the resources of several +generations yet to come, till the project can be pursued no longer. It +is otherwise in France. The vastness of her territory and her population +render the burden easy that would make a bankrupt of a country like +England. + +It is not the weight of a thing, but the numbers who are to bear that +weight, that makes it feel light or heavy to the shoulders of those who +bear it. A land-tax of half as much in the pound as the land-tax is in +England, will raise nearly four times as much revenue in France as is +raised in England. This is a scale easily understood, by which all the +other sections of productive revenue can be measured. Judge then of the +difference of natural ability. + +England is strong in a navy; but that navy costs about eight millions +sterling a-year, and is one of the causes that has hastened her +bankruptcy. The history of navy bills sufficiently proves this. But +strong as England is in this case, the fate of navies must finally be +decided by the natural ability of each country to carry its navy to the +greatest extent; and France is able to support a navy twice as large as +that of England, with less than half the expense per head on the people, +which the present navy of England costs. + +We all know that a navy cannot be raised as expeditiously as an army. +But as the average duration of a navy, taking the decay of time, storms, +and all circumstances and accidents together, is less than twenty years, +every navy must be renewed within that time; and France at the end of a +few years, can create and support a navy of double the extent of that of +England; and the conduct of the English government will provoke her to +it. + +But of what use are navies otherwise than to make or prevent invasions? +Commercially considered, they are losses. They scarcely give any +protection to the commerce of the countries which have them, compared +with the expense of maintaining them, and they insult the commerce of +the nations that are neutral. + +During the American war, the plan of the armed neutrality was formed and +put in execution: but it was inconvenient, expensive, and ineffectual. +This being the case, the problem is, does not commerce contain within +itself, the means of its own protection? It certainly does, if the +neutral nations will employ that means properly. + +Instead then of an _armed neutrality_, the plan should be directly the +contrary. It should be an _unarmed neutrality_. In the first place, +the rights of neutral nations are easily defined. They are such as are +exercised by nations in their intercourse with each other in time of +peace, and which ought not, and cannot of right, be interrupted in +consequence of war breaking out between any two or more of them. + +Taking this as a principle, the next thing is to give it effect. The +plan of the armed neutrality was to effect it by threatening war; but an +unarmed neutrality can effect it by much easier and more powerful means. + +Were the neutral nations to associate, under an honourable injunction of +fidelity to each other, and publicly declare to the world, that if any +belligerent power shall seize or molest any ship or vessel belonging +to the citizens or subjects of any of the powers composing that +Association, that the whole Association will shut its ports against the +flag of the offending nation, and will not permit any goods, wares, +or merchandise, produced or manufactured in the offending nation, or +appertaining thereto, to be imported into any of the ports included in +the Association, until reparation be made to the injured party,--the +reparation to be three times the value of the vessel and cargo,--and +moreover that all remittances on money, goods, and bills of exchange, do +cease to be made to the offending nation, until the said reparation be +made: were the neutral nations only to do this, which it is their +direct interest to do, England, as a nation depending on the commerce of +neutral nations in time of war, dare not molest them, and France would +not. But whilst, from the want of a common system, they individually +permit England to do it, because individually they cannot resist it, +they put France under the necessity of doing the same thing. The supreme +of all laws, in all cases, is that of self-preservation. + +As the commerce of neutral nations would thus be protected by the means +that commerce naturally contains within itself, all the naval operations +of France and England would be confined within the circle of acting +against each other: and in that case it needs no spirit of prophecy to +discover that France must finally prevail. The sooner this be done, the +better will it be for both nations, and for all the world. + +Thomas Paine.(1) + + 1 Paine had already prepared his "Maritime Compact," and + devised the Rainbow Flag, which was to protect commerce, the + substance and history of which constitutes his Seventh + Letter to the People of the United States, Chapter XXXIII. + of the present volume. He sent the articles of his proposed + international Association to the Minister of Foreign + Relations, Talleyrand, who responded with a cordial letter. + The articles of "Maritime Compact," translated into French + by Nicolas Bouneville, were, in 1800, sent to all the + Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Europe, and to the + ambassadors in Paris.--_Editor._, + + + + +XXX. THE RECALL OF MONROE. (1) + + + 1 Monroe, like Edmund Randolph and Thomas Paine, was + sacrificed to the new commercial alliance with Great + Britain. The Cabinet of Washington were entirely hostile to + France, and in their determination to replace Monroe were + assisted by Gouverneur Morris, still in Europe, who wrote to + President Washington calumnies against that Minister. In a + letter of December 19, 1795, Morris tells Washington that he + had heard from a trusted informant that Monroe had said to + several Frenchmen that "he had no doubt but that, if they + would do what was proper here, he and his friends would turn + out Washington." On July 2, 1796, the Cabinet ministers, + Pickering, Wolcott, and Mo-Henry, wrote to the President + their joint opinion that the interests of the United States + required Monroe's recall, and slanderously connected him + with anonymous letters from France written by M. + Montflorence. The recall, dated August 22, 1796, reached + Monroe early in November. It alluded to certain "concurring + circumstances," which induced his removal, and these "hidden + causes" (in Paine's phrase) Monroe vainly demanded on his + return to America early in 1797. The Directory, on + notification of Monroe's recall, resolved not to recognize + his successor, and the only approach to an American Minister + in Paris for the remainder of the century was Thomas Paine, + who was consulted by the Foreign Ministers, De la Croix and + Talleyrand, and by Napoleon. On the approach of C. C. + Pinckney, as successor to Monroe, Paine feared that his + dismissal might entail war, and urged the Minister (De la + Croix) to regard Pinckney,--nominated in a recess of the + Senate,--as in "suspension" until confirmed by that body. + There might be unofficial "pourparlers," with him. This + letter (State Archives, Paris, Etats Unis, vol. 46, fol. 425) + was considered for several days before Pinckney reached + Paris (December 5, 1796), but the Directory considered that + it was not a "dignified" course, and Pinckney was ordered to + leave French territory, under the existing decree against + foreigners who had no permit to remain.--_Editor._. + + +Paris, Sept. 27, 1797. Editors of the Bien-in forme. + +Citizens: in your 19th number of the complementary 5th, you gave an +analysis of the letters of James Monroe to Timothy Pickering. The +newspapers of Paris and the departments have copied this correspondence +between the ambassador of the United States and the Secretary of State. +I notice, however, that a few of them have omitted some important facts, +whilst indulging in comments of such an extraordinary nature that it is +clear they know neither Monroe's integrity nor the intrigues of Pitt in +this affair. + +The recall of Monroe is connected with circumstances so important to the +interests of France and the United States, that we must be careful not +to confound it with the recall of an ordinary individual. The Washington +faction had affected to spread it abroad that James Monroe was the cause +of rupture between the two Republics. This accusation is a perfidious +and calumnious one; since the main point in this affair is not so much +the recall of a worthy, enlightened and republican minister, as +the ingratitude and clandestine manoeuvering of the government of +Washington, who caused the misunderstanding by signing a treaty +injurious to the French Republic. + +James Monroe, in his letters, does not deny the right of government to +withdraw its confidence from any one of its delegates, representatives, +or agents. He has hinted, it is true, that caprice and temper are not +in accordance with the spirit of paternal rule, and that whenever a +representative government punishes or rewards, good faith, integrity and +justice should replace _the good pleasure of Kings_. + +In the present case, they have done more than recall an agent. Had they +confined themselves to depriving him of his appointment, James Monroe +would have kept silence; but he has been accused of lighting the torch +of discord in both Republics. The refutation of this absurd and infamous +reproach is the chief object of his correspondence. If he did not +immediately complain of these slanders in his letters of the 6th and +8th [July], it is because he wished to use at first a certain degree of +caution, and, if it were possible, to stifle intestine troubles at +their birth. He wished to reopen the way to peaceful negotiations to be +conducted with good faith and justice. + +The arguments of the Secretary of State on the rights of the supreme +administration of the United States are peremptory; but the observations +of Monroe on the hidden causes of his recall are touching; they come +from the heart; they are characteristic of an excellent citizen. If he +does more than complain of his unjust recall as a man of feeling would; +if he proudly asks for proofs of a grave accusation, it is after he has +tried in vain every honest and straightforward means. He will not suffer +that a government, sold to the enemies of freedom, should discharge upon +him its shame, its crimes, its ingratitude, and all the odium of its +unjust dealings. + +Were Monroe to find himself an object of public hatred, the Republican +party in the United States, that party which is the sincere ally +of France, would be annihilated, and this is the aim of the English +government. + +Imagine the triumph of Pitt, if Monroe and the other friends of freedom +in America, should be unjustly attacked in France! + +Monroe does not lay his cause before the Senate since the Senate +itself ratified the unconstitutional treaty; he appeals to the house of +Representatives, and at the same time lays his cause before the upright +tribunal of the American nation. + + + + +XXXI. PRIVATE LETTER TO PRESIDENT JEFFERSON. + + +Paris, October 1, 1800. + +Dear Sir,--I wrote to you from Havre by the ship Dublin Packet in the +year 1797. It was then my intention to return to America; but there were +so many British frigates cruising in sight of the port, and which after +a few days knew that I was at Havre waiting to go to America, that I did +not think it best to trust myself to their discretion, and the more so, +as I had no confidence in the captain of the Dublin Packet (Clay).(1) I +mentioned to you in that letter, which I believe you received thro' +the hands of Colonel [Aaron] Burr, that I was glad since you were not +President that you had accepted the nomination of Vice President. + +The Commissioners Ellsworth & Co.(2) have been here about eight months, +and three more useless mortals never came upon public business. Their +presence appears to me to have been rather an injury than a benefit. +They set themselves up for a faction as soon as they arrived. I was then +in Belgia.(3) Upon my return to Paris I learnt they had made a point of +not returning the visits of Mr. Skipwith and Barlow, because, they said, +they had not the confidence of the executive. Every known republican was +treated in the same manner. I learned from Mr. Miller of Philadelphia, +who had occasion to see them upon business, that they did not intend +to return my visit, if I made one. This, I supposed, it was intended I +should know, that I might not make one. It had the contrary effect. I +went to see Mr. Ellsworth. I told him, I did not come to see him as a +commissioner, nor to congratulate him upon his mission; that I came to +see him because I had formerly known him in Congress. "I mean not," +said I, "to press you with any questions, or to engage you in +any conversation upon the business you are come upon, but I will +nevertheless candidly say that I know not what expectations the +Government or the people of America may have of your mission, or what +expectations you may have yourselves, but I believe you will find you +can do but little. The treaty with England lies at the threshold of all +your business. The American Government never did two more foolish things +than when it signed that Treaty and recalled Mr. Monroe, who was the +only man could do them any service." Mr. Ellsworth put on the dull +gravity of a Judge, and was silent. I added, "You may perhaps make a +treaty like that you have made with England, which is a surrender of the +rights of the American flag; for the principle that neutral ships make +neutral property must be general or not at all." I then changed the +subject, for I had all the talk to myself upon this topic, and enquired +after Samuel Adams, (I asked nothing about John,) Mr. Jefferson, Mr. +Monroe, and others of my friends; and the melancholy case of the yellow +fever,--of which he gave me as circumstantial an account as if he had +been summing up a case to a Jury. Here my visit ended, and had Mr. +Ellsworth been as cunning as a statesman, or as wise as a Judge, he +would have returned my visit that he might appear insensible of the +intention of mine. + + 1 The packet was indeed searched for Paine by a British + cruiser.--_Editor._ + + 2 Oliver Ellsworth (Chief Justice), W. V. Murray, and W. R. + Davie, were sent by President Adams to France to negotiate a + treaty. In this they failed, but a convention was signed + September 30, 1800, which terminated the treaty of 1778, + which had become a source of discord, and prepared the way + for the negotiations of Livingston and Monroe in 1803.-- + _Editor._ + + 3 Paine had visited his room-mate in Luxembourg prison, + Vanhuele, who was now Mayor of Bruges.--_Editor._. + +I now come to the affairs of this country and of Europe. You will, I +suppose, have heard before this arrives to you, of the battle of +Marengo in Italy, where the Austrians were defeated--of the armistice +in consequence thereof, and the surrender of Milan, Genoa etc. to +the french--of the successes of the french Army in Germany--and the +extension of the armistice in that quarter--of the preliminaries of +Peace signed at Paris--of the refusal of the Emperor [of Austria] to +ratify these preliminaries--of the breaking of the armistice by the +french Government in consequence of that refusal--of the "gallant" +expedition of the Emperor to put himself at the head of his Army--of his +pompous arrival there--of his having made his will--of prayers being put +in all his churches for the preservation of the life of this Hero--of +General Moreau announcing to him, immediately on his arrival at the +Army, that hostilities would commence the day after the next at sunrise +unless he signed the treaty or gave security that he would sign within +45 days--of his surrendering up three of the principal keys of Germany +(Ulm, Philipsbourg, and Ingolstadt) as security that he would sign them. +This is the state things are now in, at the time of writing this letter; +but it is proper to add that the refusal of the Emperor to sign the +preliminaries was motived upon a note from the King of England to be +admitted to the Congress for negociating Peace, which was consented to +by the french upon the condition of an armistice at Sea, which England, +before knowing of the surrender the Emperor had made, had refused. From +all which it appears to me, judging from circumstances, that the Emperor +is now so compleatly in the hands of the french, that he has no way of +getting out but by a peace. The Congress for the peace is to be held +at Luneville, a town in France. Since the affair of Rastadt the French +commissioners will not trust themselves within the Emperor's territory. + +I now come to domestic Affairs. I know not what the Commissioners have +done, but from a paper I enclose to you, which appears to have +some authority, it is not much. The paper as you will perceive is +considerably prior to this letter. I know that the Commissioners before +this piece appeared intended setting off. It is therefore probable that +what they have done is conformable to what this paper mentions, which +certainly will not atone for the expence their mission has incurred, +neither are they, by all the accounts I hear of them, men fitted for the +business. + +But independently of these matters there appears to be a state of +circumstances rising, which if it goes on, will render all partial +treaties unnecessary. In the first place I doubt if any peace will be +made with England; and in the second place, I should not wonder to see a +coalition formed against her, to compel her to abandon her insolence on +the seas. This brings me to speak of the manuscripts I send you. + +The piece No. I, without any title, was written in consequence of a +question put to me by Bonaparte. As he supposed I knew England and +English Politics he sent a person to me to ask, that in case of +negociating a Peace with Austria, whether it would be proper to include +England. This was when Count St. Julian was in Paris, on the part of the +Emperor negociating the preliminaries:--which as I have before said the +Emperor refused to sign on the pretence of admitting England. + +The piece No. 2, entitled _On the Jacobinism of the English at sea_, was +written when the English made their insolent and impolitic expedition to +Denmark, and is also an auxiliary to the politic of No. I. I shewed it +to a friend [Bonneville] who had it translated into french, and printed +in the form of a Pamphlet, and distributed gratis among the foreign +Ministers, and persons in the Government. It was immediately copied +into several of the french Journals, and into the official Paper, the +Moniteur. It appeared in this paper one day before the last dispatch +arrived from Egypt; which agreed perfectly with what I had said +respecting Egypt. It hit the two cases of Denmark and Egypt in the exact +proper moment. + +The Piece No. 3, entitled _Compact Maritime_, is the sequel of No. 2, +digested in form. It is translating at the time I write this letter, +and I am to have a meeting with the Senator Garat upon the subject. +The pieces 2 and 3 go off in manuscript to England, by a confidential +person, where they will be published.(1) + + 1 The substance of most of these "pieces" are embodied in + Paine's Seventh Letter to the People of the United States + (infra p. 420).--_Editor._ + +By all the news we get from the North there appears to be something +meditating against England. It is now given for certain that Paul has +embargoed all the English vessels and English property in Russia till +some principle be established for protecting the Rights of neutral +Nations, and securing the liberty of the Seas. The preparations in +Denmark continue, notwithstanding the convention that she has made with +England, which leaves the question with respect to the right set up by +England to stop and search Neutral vessels undecided. I send you the +paragraphs upon the subject. + +The tumults are great in all parts of England on account of the +excessive price of corn and bread, which has risen since the harvest. +I attribute it more to the abundant increase of paper, and the +non-circulation of cash, than to any other cause. People in trade +can push the paper off as fast as they receive it, as they did by +continental money in America; but as farmers have not this opportunity, +they endeavor to secure themselves by going considerably in advance. + +I have now given you all the great articles of intelligence, for I +trouble not myself with little ones, and consequently not with the +Commissioners, nor any thing they are about, nor with John Adams, +otherwise than to wish him safe home, and a better and wiser man in his +place. + +In the present state of circumstances and the prospects arising from +them, it may be proper for America to consider whether it is worth her +while to enter into any treaty at this moment, or to wait the event of +those circumstances which if they go on will render partial treaties +useless by deranging them. But if, in the mean time, she enters into +any treaty it ought to be with a condition to the following purpose: +Reserving to herself the right of joining in an Association of Nations +for the protection of the Rights of Neutral Commerce and the security of +the liberty of the Seas. + +The pieces 2, 3, may go to the press. They will make a small pamphlet +and the printers are welcome to put my name to it. (It is best it should +be put.) From thence they will get into the newspapers. I know that the +faction of John Adams abuses me pretty heartily. They are welcome. + +It does not disturb me, and they lose their labour; and in return for +it I am doing America more service, as a neutral Nation, than their +expensive Commissioners can do, and she has that service from me for +nothing. The piece No. 1 is only for your own amusement and that of your +friends. + +I come now to speak confidentially to you on a private subject. When Mr. +Ellsworth and Davie return to America, Murray will return to Holland, +and in that case there will be nobody in Paris but Mr. Skipwith that +has been in the habit of transacting business with the french Government +since the revolution began. He is on a good standing with them, and if +the chance of the day should place you in the presidency you cannot do +better than appoint him for any purpose you may have occasion for in +France. He is an honest man and will do his country justice, and that +with civility and good manners to the government he is commissioned to +act with; a faculty which that Northern Bear Timothy Pickering wanted, +and which the Bear of that Bear, John Adams, never possessed. + +I know not much of Mr. Murray, otherwise than of his unfriendliness to +every American who is not of his faction, but I am sure that Joel Barlow +is a much fitter man to be in Holland than Mr. Murray. It is upon +the fitness of the man to the place that I speak, for I have not +communicated a thought upon the subject to Barlow, neither does he +know, at the time of my writing this (for he is at Havre), that I have +intention to do it. + +I will now, by way of relief, amuse you with some account of the +progress of iron bridges. + +[Here follows an account of the building of the iron bridge at +Sunderland, England, and some correspondence with Mr. Milbanke, M. P., +which will be given more fully and precisely in a chapter of vol. IV. +(Appendix), on Iron Bridges, and is therefore omitted here.] + +I have now made two other Models [of bridges]. One is pasteboard, five +feet span and five inches of height from the cords. It is in the opinion +of every person who has seen it one of the most beautiful objects the +eye can behold. I then cast a model in metal following the construction +of that in paste-board and of the same dimensions. The whole was +executed in my own Chamber. It is far superior in strength, elegance, +and readiness in execution to the model I made in America, and which you +saw in Paris.(1) I shall bring those models with me when I come +home, which will be as soon as I can pass the seas in safety from the +piratical John Bulls. I suppose you have seen, or have heard of the +Bishop of Landaff's answer to my second part of the Age of Reason. As +soon as I got a copy of it I began a third part, which served also as an +answer to the Bishop; but as soon as the clerical society for promoting +_Christian Knowledge_ knew of my intention to answer the Bishop, they +prosecuted, as a Society, the printer of the first and second parts, to +prevent that answer appearing. No other reason than this can be assigned +for their prosecuting at the time they did, because the first part had +been in circulation above three years and the second part more than one, +and they prosecuted immediately on knowing that I was taking up their +Champion. The Bishop's answer, like Mr. Burke's attack on the french +revolution, served me as a back-ground to bring forward other subjects +upon, with more advantage than if the background was not there. This is +the motive that induced me to answer him, otherwise I should have gone +on without taking any notice of him. I have made and am still making +additions to the manuscript, and shall continue to do so till an +opportunity arrive for publishing it. + + 1 "These models exhibit an extraordinary degree not only of + skill, but of taste, and are wrought with extreme delicacy + entirely by his own hands. The largest is nearly four feet + in length; the iron-works, the chains, and every other + article belonging to it, were forged and manufactured by + himself. It is intended as the model of a bridge which is to + be constructed across the Delaware, extending 480 feet, with + only one arch. The other is to be erected over a lesser + river, whose name I forget, and is likewise a single arch, + and of his own workmanship, excepting the chains, which, + instead of iron, are cut out of paste-hoard by the fair hand + of his correspondent, the 'Little Corner of the World' (Lady + Smyth), whose indefatigable perseverance is extraordinary. + He was offered L3000 for these models and refused it."-- + Yorke's _Letters from France_, These models excited much + admiration in Washington and Philadelphia. They remained for + a long time in Peale's Museum at Philadelphia, but no trace + is left of them.--_Editor._ + +If any American frigate should come to france, and the direction of +it fall to you, I will be glad you would give me the opportunity of +returning. The abscess under which I suffered almost two years is +entirely healed of itself, and I enjoy exceeding good health. This is +the first of October, and Mr. Skipwith has just called to tell me the +Commissioners set off for Havre to-morrow. This will go by the frigate +but not with the knowledge of the Commissioners. Remember me with much +affection to my friends and accept the same to yourself. + +Thomas Paine. + + + + +XXXII. PROPOSAL THAT LOUISIANA BE PURCHASED.(1) + + +(SENT TO THE PRESIDENT, CHRISTMAS DAY, 1802.) + + 1 Paine, being at Lovell's Hotel, Washington, suggested the + purchase of Louisiana to Dr. Michael Leib, representative + from Pennsylvania, who, being pleased with the idea, + suggested that he should write it to Jefferson. On the day + after its reception the President told Paine that "measures + were already taken in that business."--_Editor._. + +Spain has ceded Louisiana to France, and France has excluded Americans +from New Orleans, and the navigation of the Mississippi. The people of +the Western Territory have complained of it to their Government, and the +Government is of consequence involved and interested in the affair. The +question then is--What is the best step to be taken? + +The one is to begin by memorial and remonstrance against an infraction +of a right. The other is by accommodation,--still keeping the right in +view, but not making it a groundwork. + +Suppose then the Government begin by making a proposal to France to +re-purchase the cession made to her by Spain, of Louisiana, provided it +be with the consent of the people of Louisiana, or a majority thereof. + +By beginning on this ground any thing can be said without carrying the +appearance of a threat. The growing power of the Western Territory can +be stated as a matter of information, and also the impossibility +of restraining them from seizing upon New Orleans, and the equal +impossibility of France to prevent it. + +Suppose the proposal attended to, the sum to be given comes next on +the carpet. This, on the part of America, will be estimated between the +value of the commerce and the quantity of revenue that Louisiana will +produce. + +The French Treasury is not only empty, but the Government has consumed +by anticipation a great part of the next year's revenue. A monied +proposal will, I believe, be attended to; if it should, the claims upon +France can be stipulated as part of the payment, and that sum can be +paid here to the claimants. + +----I congratulate you on _The Birthday of the New Sun_, + +now called Christmas Day; and I make you a present of a thought on +Louisiana. + +T.P. + + + + +XXXIII. THOMAS PAINE TO THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES, + + +And particularly to the Leaders of the Federal Faction, LETTER I.(1) + + 1 The National Intelligencer, November 15th. The venerable + Mr. Gales, so long associated with this paper, had been in + youth a prosecuted adherent of Paine in Sheffield, England. + The paper distinguished itself by the kindly welcome it gave + Paine on his return to America. (See issues of Nov. 3 and + 10, 1802.) Paine landed at Baltimore, Oct. 30th.--_Editor._, + +After an absence of almost fifteen years, I am again returned to the +country in whose dangers I bore my share, and to whose greatness I +contributed my part. + +When I sailed for Europe, in the spring of 1787, it was my intention to +return to America the next year, and enjoy in retirement the esteem of +my friends, and the repose I was entitled to. I had stood out the storm +of one revolution, and had no wish to embark in another. But other +scenes and other circumstances than those of contemplated ease were +allotted to me. The French revolution was beginning to germinate when I +arrived in France. The principles of it were good, they were copied +from America, and the men who conducted it were honest. But the fury of +faction soon extinguished the one, and sent the other to the scaffold. +Of those who began that revolution, I am almost the only survivor, +and that through a thousand dangers. I owe this not to the prayers of +priests, nor to the piety of hypocrites, but to the continued protection +of Providence. + +But while I beheld with pleasure the dawn of liberty rising in Europe, +I saw with regret the lustre of it fading in America. In less than two +years from the time of my departure some distant symptoms painfully +suggested the idea that the principles of the revolution were expiring +on the soil that produced them. I received at that time a letter from a +female literary correspondent, and in my answer to her, I expressed my +fears on that head.(1) + +I now know from the information I obtain upon the spot, that the +impressions that then distressed me, for I was proud of America, were +but too well founded. She was turning her back on her own glory, and +making hasty strides in the retrograde path of oblivion. But a spark +from the altar of _Seventy-six_, unextinguished and unextinguishable +through the long night of error, is again lighting up, in every part of +the Union, the genuine name of rational liberty. + +As the French revolution advanced, it fixed the attention of the world, +and drew from the pensioned pen (2) of Edmund Burke a furious attack. +This brought me once more on the public theatre of politics, and +occasioned the pamphlet _Rights of Man_. It had the greatest run of +any work ever published in the English language. The number of copies +circulated in England, Scotland, and Ireland, besides translations +into foreign languages, was between four and five hundred thousand. The +principles of that work were the same as those in _Common Sense_, and +the effects would have been the same in England as that had produced in +America, could the vote of the nation been quietly taken, or had equal +opportunities of consulting or acting existed. The only difference +between the two works was, that the one was adapted to the local +circumstances of England, and the other to those of America. As to +myself, I acted in both cases alike; I relinquished to the people of +England, as I had done to those of America, all profits from the work. +My reward existed in the ambition to do good, and the independent +happiness of my own mind. + + 1 Paine here quotes a passage from his letter to Mrs. Few, + already given in the Memorial to Monroe (XXI.). The entire + letter to Mrs. Few will be printed in the Appendix to Vol. + IV. of this work.--_Editor._ + + 2 See editorial note p. 95 in this volume.--_Editor._ + +But a faction, acting in disguise, was rising in America; they had lost +sight of first principles. They were beginning to contemplate government +as a profitable monopoly, and the people as hereditary property. It +is, therefore, no wonder that the _Rights of Man_ was attacked by that +faction, and its author continually abused. But let them go on; give +them rope enough and they will put an end to their own insignificance. +There is too much common sense and independence in America to be long +the dupe of any faction, foreign or domestic. + +But, in the midst of the freedom we enjoy, the licentiousness of the +papers called Federal, (and I know not why they are called so, for they +are in their principles anti-federal and despotic,) is a dishonour +to the character of the country, and an injury to its reputation +and importance abroad. They represent the whole people of America as +destitute of public principle and private manners. As to any injury they +can do at home to those whom they abuse, or service they can render +to those who employ them, it is to be set down to the account of +noisy nothingness. It is on themselves the disgrace recoils, for the +reflection easily presents itself to every thinking mind, that _those +who abuse liberty when they possess it would abuse power could they +obtain it_; and, therefore, they may as well take as a general motto, +for all such papers, _We and our patrons are not fit to be trusted with +power_. + +There is in America, more than in any other country, a large body +of people who attend quietly to their farms, or follow their several +occupations; who pay no regard to the clamours of anonymous scribblers, +who think for themselves, and judge of government, not by the fury of +newspaper writers, but by the prudent frugality of its measures, and the +encouragement it gives to the improvement and prosperity of the country; +and who, acting on their own judgment, never come forward in an election +but on some important occasion. When this body moves, all the little +barkings of scribbling and witless curs pass for nothing. To say to this +independent description of men, "You must turn out such and such persons +at the next election, for they have taken off a great many taxes, and +lessened the expenses of government, they have dismissed my son, or my +brother, or myself, from a lucrative office, in which there was nothing +to do"--is to show the cloven foot of faction, and preach the language +of ill-disguised mortification. In every part of the Union, this faction +is in the agonies of death, and in proportion as its fate approaches, +gnashes its teeth and struggles. My arrival has struck it as with an +hydrophobia, it is like the sight of water to canine madness. + +As this letter is intended to announce my arrival to my friends, and to +my enemies if I have any, for I ought to have none in America, and as +introductory to others that will occasionally follow, I shall close it +by detailing the line of conduct I shall pursue. + +I have no occasion to ask, and do not intend to accept, any place or +office in the government.(1) There is none it could give me that would +be any ways equal to the profits I could make as an author, for I have +an established fame in the literary world, could I reconcile it to my +principles to make money by my politics or religion. I must be in every +thing what I have ever been, a disinterested volunteer; my proper sphere +of action is on the common floor of citizenship, and to honest men I +give my hand and my heart freely. + + 1 The President (Jefferson) being an intimate friend of + Paine, and suspected, despite his reticence, of sympathizing + with Paine's religions views, was included in the + denunciations of Paine ("The Two Toms" they were called), + and Paine here goes out of his way to soften matters for + Jefferson.--_Editor._. + +I have some manuscript works to publish, of which I shall give proper +notice, and some mechanical affairs to bring forward, that will employ +all my leisure time. I shall continue these letters as I see occasion, +and as to the low party prints that choose to abuse me, they are +welcome; I shall not descend to answer them. I have been too much used +to such common stuff to take any notice of it. The government of England +honoured me with a thousand martyrdoms, by burning me in effigy in every +town in that country, and their hirelings in America may do the same. + +City of Washington. + +THOMAS PAINE. + + + +LETTER II(1) + +As the affairs of the country to which I am returned are of more +importance to the world, and to me, than of that I have lately left, +(for it is through the new world the old must be regenerated, if +regenerated at all,) I shall not take up the time of the reader with an +account of scenes that have passed in France, many of which are painful +to remember and horrid to relate, but come at once to the circumstances +in which I find America on my arrival. + +Fourteen years, and something more, have produced a change, at least +among a part of the people, and I ask my-self what it is? I meet or hear +of thousands of my former connexions, who are men of the same principles +and friendships as when I left them. But a non-descript race, and of +equivocal generation, assuming the name of _Federalist_,--a name that +describes no character of principle good or bad, and may equally +be applied to either,--has since started up with the rapidity of a +mushroom, and like a mushroom is withering on its rootless stalk. Are +those men _federalized_ to support the liberties of their country or to +overturn them? To add to its fair fame or riot on its spoils? The +name contains no defined idea. It is like John Adams's definition of a +Republic, in his letter to Mr. Wythe of Virginia.(2) _It is_, says he, +_an empire of laws and not of men_. But as laws may be bad as well as +good, an empire of laws may be the best of all governments or the worst +of all tyrannies. But John Adams is a man of paradoxical heresies, and +consequently of a bewildered mind. He wrote a book entitled, "_A Defence +of the American Constitutions_," and the principles of it are an attack +upon them. But the book is descended to the tomb of forgetfulness, and +the best fortune that can attend its author is quietly to follow its +fate. John was not born for immortality. But, to return to Federalism. + + 1 National Intelligencer, Nov. 23d, 1802.--_Editor._ + + 2 Chancellor Wythe, 1728-1806.--_Editor._ vol m--"5 + +In the history of parties and the names they assume, it often happens +that they finish by the direct contrary principles with which they +profess to begin, and thus it has happened with Federalism. + +During the time of the old Congress, and prior to the establishment of +the federal government, the continental belt was too loosely buckled. +The several states were united in name but not in fact, and that nominal +union had neither centre nor circle. The laws of one state frequently +interferred with, and sometimes opposed, those of another. Commerce +between state and state was without protection, and confidence without +a point to rest on. The condition the country was then in, was aptly +described by Pelatiah Webster, when he said, "_thirteen staves and ne'er +a hoop will not make a barrel_."(1) + +If, then, by _Federalist_ is to be understood one who was for cementing +the Union by a general government operating equally over all the States, +in all matters that embraced the common interest, and to which the +authority of the States severally was not adequate, for no one State +can make laws to bind another; if, I say, by a _Federalist_ is meant +a person of this description, (and this is the origin of the name,) _I +ought to stand first on the list of Federalists_, for the proposition +for establishing a general government over the Union, came originally +from me in 1783, in a written Memorial to Chancellor Livingston, then +Secretary for Foreign Affairs to Congress, Robert Morris, Minister +of Finance, and his associate, Gouverneur Morris, all of whom are now +living; and we had a dinner and conference at Robert Morris's on the +subject. The occasion was as follows: + +Congress had proposed a duty of five per cent, on imported articles, the +money to be applied as a fund towards paying the interest of loans to +be borrowed in Holland. The resolve was sent to the several States to +be enacted into a law. Rhode Island absolutely refused. I was at +the trouble of a journey to Rhode Island to reason with them on the +subject.(2) Some other of the States enacted it with alterations, each +one as it pleased. Virginia adopted it, and afterwards repealed it, and +the affair came to nothing. + + 1 "Like a stare in a cask well bound with hoops, it [the + individual State] stands firmer, is not so easily shaken, + bent, or broken, as it would be were it set up by itself + alone."--Pelatiah Webster, 1788. See Paul L. Ford's + Pamphlets cm the Constitution, etc., p. 128.--Editor + + 2 See my "Life of Paine." vol i., p. 103.--Editor, + +It was then visible, at least to me, that either Congress must frame the +laws necessary for the Union, and send them to the several States to be +enregistered without any alteration, which would in itself appear like +usurpation on one part and passive obedience on the other, or some +method must be devised to accomplish the same end by constitutional +principles; and the proposition I made in the memorial was, to _add +a continental legislature to Congress, to be elected by the several +States_. The proposition met the full approbation of the gentlemen to +whom it was addressed, and the conversation turned on the manner of +bringing it forward. Gouverneur Morris, in walking with me after dinner, +wished me to throw out the idea in the newspaper; I replied, that I did +not like to be always the proposer of new things, that it would have too +assuming an appearance; and besides, that _I did not think the country +was quite wrong enough to be put right_. I remember giving the same +reason to Dr. Rush, at Philadelphia, and to General Gates, at whose +quarters I spent a day on my return from Rhode Island; and I suppose +they will remember it, because the observation seemed to strike them.(1) + + 1 The Letter Books of Robert Morris (16 folio volumes, which + should be in our national Archives) contain many entries + relating to Paine's activity in the public service. Under + date Aug. 21, 1783, about the time referred to by Paine in + this letter, Robert Morris mentions a conversation with him + on public affairs. I am indebted to General Meredith Read, + owner of these Morris papers, for permission to examine + them.--_Editor._. + +But the embarrassments increasing, as they necessarily must from the +want of a better cemented union, the State of Virginia proposed holding +a commercial convention, and that convention, which was not sufficiently +numerous, proposed that another convention, with more extensive and +better defined powers, should be held at Philadelphia, May 10, 1787. + +When the plan of the Federal Government, formed by this Convention, was +proposed and submitted to the consideration of the several States, it +was strongly objected to in each of them. But the objections were not on +anti-federal grounds, but on constitutional points. Many were shocked +at the idea of placing what is called Executive Power in the hands of a +single individual. To them it had too much the form and appearance of a +military government, or a despotic one. Others objected that the +powers given to a president were too great, and that in the hands of +an ambitious and designing man it might grow into tyranny, as it did +in England under Oliver Cromwell, and as it has since done in France. +A Republic must not only be so in its principles, but in its forms. The +Executive part of the Federal government was made for a man, and those +who consented, against their judgment, to place Executive Power in the +hands of a single individual, reposed more on the supposed moderation of +the person they had in view, than on the wisdom of the measure itself. + +Two considerations, however, overcame all objections. The one was, the +absolute necessity of a Federal Government. The other, the rational +reflection, that as government in America is founded on the +representative system any error in the first essay could be reformed +by the same quiet and rational process by which the Constitution was +formed, and that either by the generation then living, or by those who +were to succeed. If ever America lose sight of this principle, she will +no longer be the _land of liberty_. The father will become the assassin +of the rights of the son, and his descendants be a race of slaves. + +As many thousands who were minors are grown up to manhood since the name +of _Federalist_ began, it became necessary, for their information, to +go back and show the origin of the name, which is now no longer what it +originally was; but it was the more necessary to do this, in order to +bring forward, in the open face of day, the apostacy of those who first +called themselves Federalists. + +To them it served as a cloak for treason, a mask for tyranny. Scarcely +were they placed in the seat of power and office, than Federalism was to +be destroyed, and the representative system of government, the pride +and glory of America, and the palladium of her liberties, was to be +overthrown and abolished. The next generation was not to be free. The +son was to bend his neck beneath the father's foot, and live, deprived +of his rights, under hereditary control. Among the men of this apostate +description, is to be ranked the ex-president _John Adams_. It has been +the political career of this man to begin with hypocrisy, proceed with +arrogance, and finish in contempt. May such be the fate of all such +characters. + +I have had doubts of John Adams ever since the year 1776. In a +conversation with me at that time, concerning the pamphlet _Common +Sense_, he censured it because it attacked the English form of +government. John was for independence because he expected to be made +great by it; but it was not difficult to perceive, for the surliness of +his temper makes him an awkward hypocrite, that his head was as full of +kings, queens, and knaves, as a pack of cards. But John has lost deal. + +When a man has a concealed project in his brain that he wants to bring +forward, and fears will not succeed, he begins with it as physicians +do by suspected poison, try it first on an animal; if it agree with the +stomach of the animal, he makes further experiments, and this was the +way John took. His brain was teeming with projects to overturn the +liberties of America, and the representative system of government, and +he began by hinting it in little companies. The secretary of John Jay, +an excellent painter and a poor politician, told me, in presence of +another American, Daniel Parker, that in a company where himself was +present, John Adams talked of making the government hereditary, and that +as Mr. Washington had no children, it should be made hereditary in the +family of Lund Washington.(1) John had not impudence enough to propose +himself in the first instance, as the old French Normandy baron did, +who offered to come over to be king of America, and if Congress did not +accept his offer, that they would give him thirty thousand pounds for +the generosity of it(2); but John, like a mole, was grubbing his way to +it under ground. He knew that Lund Washington was unknown, for nobody +had heard of him, and that as the president had no children to succeed +him, the vice-president had, and if the treason had succeeded, and the +hint with it, the goldsmith might be sent for to take measure of the +head of John or of his son for a golden wig. In this case, the good +people of Boston might have for a king the man they have rejected as a +delegate. The representative system is fatal to ambition. + + 1 See supra footnote on p. 288.--_Editor._ + + 2 See vol. ii. p. 318 of this work.--_Editor._ + +Knowing, as I do, the consummate vanity of John Adams, and the +shallowness of his judgment, I can easily picture to myself that when +he arrived at the Federal City he was strutting in the pomp of his +imagination before the presidential house, or in the audience hall, and +exulting in the language of Nebuchadnezzar, "Is not this great Babylon, +that I have built for the honour of my Majesty!" But in that unfortunate +hour, or soon after, John, like Nebuchadnezzar, was driven from among +men, and fled with the speed of a post-horse. + +Some of John Adams's loyal subjects, I see, have been to present him +with an address on his birthday; but the language they use is too tame +for the occasion. Birthday addresses, like birthday odes, should not +creep along like mildrops down a cabbage leaf, but roll in a torrent of +poetical metaphor. I will give them a specimen for the next year. Here +it is-- + +When an Ant, in travelling over the globe, lift up its foot, and put it +again on the ground, it shakes the earth to its centre: but when YOU, +the mighty Ant of the East, was born, &c. &c. &c, the centre jumped upon +the surface. + +This, gentlemen, is the proper style of addresses from _well-bred_ ants +to the monarch of the ant hills; and as I never take pay for preaching, +praying, politics, or poetry, I make you a present of it. Some people +talk of impeaching John Adams; but I am for softer measures. I would +keep him to make fun of. He will then answer one of the ends for which +he was born, and he ought to be thankful that I am arrived to take his +part. I voted in earnest to save the life of one unfortunate king, and +I now vote in jest to save another. It is my fate to be always plagued +with fools. But to return to Federalism and apostacy. + +The plan of the leaders of the faction was to overthrow the liberties +of the new world, and place government on the corrupt system of the old. +They wanted to hold their power by a more lasting tenure than the choice +of their constituents. It is impossible to account for their conduct and +the measures they adopted on any other ground. But to accomplish that +object, a standing army and a prodigal revenue must be raised; and to +obtain these, pretences must be invented to deceive. Alarms of dangers +that did not exist even in imagination, but in the direct spirit of +lying, were spread abroad. Apostacy stalked through the land in the garb +of patriotism, and the torch of treason blinded for a while the flame of +liberty. + +For what purpose could an army of twenty-five thousand men be wanted? +A single reflection might have taught the most credulous that while +the war raged between France and England, neither could spare a man to +invade America. For what purpose, then, could it be wanted? The case +carries its own explanation. It was wanted for the purpose of destroying +the representative system, for it could be employed for no other. Are +these men Federalists? If they are, they are federalized to deceive and +to destroy. + +The rage against Dr. Logan's patriotic and voluntary mission to France +was excited by the shame they felt at the detection of the false alarms +they had circulated. As to the opposition given by the remnant of +the faction to the repeal of the taxes laid on during the former +administration, it is easily accounted for. The repeal of those taxes +was a sentence of condemnation on those who laid them on, and in the +opposition they gave in that repeal, they are to be considered in the +light of criminals standing on their defence, and the country has passed +judgment upon them. + +Thomas Paine. + +City of Washington, Lovett's Hotel, Nov. 19, 1802. + + + +LETTER III.(1) + + + 1 The National Intelligencer, Dec. 29th, 1802.--_Editor._. + +To ELECT, and to REJECT, is the prerogative of a free people. + +Since the establishment of Independence, no period has arrived that +so decidedly proves the excellence of the representative system of +government, and its superiority over every other, as the time we now +live in. Had America been cursed with John Adams's _hereditary Monarchy_ +or Alexander Hamilton's _Senate for life_ she must have sought, in the +doubtful contest of civil war, what she now obtains by the expression of +public will. An appeal to elections decides better than an appeal to the +sword. + +The Reign of Terror that raged in America during the latter end of the +Washington administration, and the whole of that of Adams, is enveloped +in mystery to me. That there were men in the government hostile to the +representative system, was once their boast, though it is now their +overthrow, and therefore the fact is established against them. But that +so large a mass of the people should become the dupes of those who were +loading them with taxes in order to load them with chains, and deprive +them of the right of election, can be ascribed only to that species +of wildfire rage, lighted up by falsehood, that not only acts without +reflection, but is too impetuous to make any. + +There is a general and striking difference between the genuine effects +of truth itself, and the effects of falsehood believed to be truth. +Truth is naturally benign; but falsehood believed to be truth is always +furious. The former delights in serenity, is mild and persuasive, and +seeks not the auxiliary aid of invention. The latter sticks at nothing. +It has naturally no morals. Every lie is welcome that suits its purpose. +It is the innate character of the thing to act in this manner, and the +criterion by which it may be known, whether in politics or religion. +When any thing is attempted to be supported by lying, it is presumptive +evidence that the thing so supported is a lie also. The stock on which a +lie can be grafted must be of the same species as the graft. + +What is become of the mighty clamour of French invasion, and the cry +that our country is in danger, and taxes and armies must be raised to +defend it? The danger is fled with the faction that created it, and what +is worst of all, the money is fled too. It is I only that have committed +the hostility of invasion, and all the artillery of popguns are prepared +for action. Poor fellows, how they foam! They set half their own +partisans in laughter; for among ridiculous things nothing is more +ridiculous than ridiculous rage. But I hope they will not leave off. I +shall lose half my greatness when they cease to lie. + +So far as respects myself, I have reason to believe, and a right to say, +that the leaders of the Reign of Terror in America and the leaders of +the Reign of Terror in France, during the time of Robespierre, were in +character the same sort of men; or how is it to be accounted for, that +I was persecuted by both at the same time? When I was voted out of +the French Convention, the reason assigned for it was, that I was a +foreigner. When Robespierre had me seized in the night, and imprisoned +in the Luxembourg, (where I remained eleven months,) he assigned no +reason for it. But when he proposed bringing me to the tribunal, which +was like sending me at once to the scaffold, he then assigned a reason, +and the reason was, _for the interests of America as well as of France, +"Pour les interets de l'Amerique autant que de la France_" The words are +in his own hand-writing, and reported to the Convention by the committee +appointed to examine his papers, and are printed in their report, with +this reflection added to them, "_Why Thomas Paine more than another? +Because he contributed to the liberty of both worlds_."(1) + + 1 See my "Life of Paine," vol. ii., pp. 79, 81. Also, the + historical introduction to XXI., p. 330, of this volume. + Robespierre never wrote an idle word. This Paine well knew, + as Mirabeau, who said of Robespierre: "That man will go far + he believes every word he says."--_Editor._ + +There must have been a coalition in sentiment, if not in fact, between +the Terrorists of America and the Terrorists of France, and Robespierre +must have known it, or he could not have had the idea of putting America +into the bill of accusation against me. Yet these men, these Terrorists +of the new world, who were waiting in the devotion of their hearts for +the joyful news of my destruction, are the same banditti who are now +bellowing in all the hacknied language of hacknied hypocrisy, about +humanity, and piety, and often about something they call infidelity, and +they finish with the chorus of _Crucify him, crucify him_. I am become +so famous among them, they cannot eat or drink without me. I serve them +as a standing dish, and they cannot make up a bill of fare if I am not +in it. + +But there is one dish, and that the choicest of all, that they have not +presented on the table, and it is time they should. They have not yet +_accused Providence of Infidelity_. Yet according to their outrageous +piety, she(1) must be as bad as Thomas Paine; she has protected him in +all his dangers, patronized him in all his undertakings, encouraged him +in all his ways, and rewarded him at last by bringing him in safety and +in health to the Promised Land. This is more than she did by the Jews, +the chosen people, that they tell us she brought out of the land +of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage; for they all died in the +wilderness, and Moses too. + +I was one of the nine members that composed the first Committee of +Constitution. Six of them have been destroyed. Sieyes and myself have +survived--he by bending with the times, and I by not bending. The other +survivor joined Robespierre, he was seized and imprisoned in his turn, +and sentenced to transportation. He has since apologized to me for +having signed the warrant, by saying he felt himself in danger and was +obliged to do it.(2) + + 1 Is this a "survival" of the goddess Fortuna?--_Editor._ + + 2 Barere. His apology to Paine proves that a death- + warrant had been issued, for Barere did not sign the order + for Paine's arrest or imprisonment.--_Editor._ + +Herault Sechelles, an acquaintance of Mr. Jefferson, and a good patriot, +was my _suppleant_ as member of the Committee of Constitution, that is, +he was to supply my place, if I had not accepted or had resigned, being +next in number of votes to me. He was imprisoned in the Luxembourg with +me, was taken to the tribunal and the guillotine, and I, his principal, +was left. + +There were two foreigners in the Convention, Anarcharsis Clootz and +myself. We were both put out of the Convention by the same vote, +arrested by the same order, and carried to prison together the same +night. He was taken to the guillotine, and I was again left. Joel Barlow +was with us when we went to prison. + +Joseph Lebon, one of the vilest characters that ever existed, and who +made the streets of Arras run with blood, was my _suppleant_, as member +of the Convention for the department of the Pas de Calais. When I +was put out of the Convention he came and took my place. When I was +liberated from prison and voted again into the Convention, he was sent +to the same prison and took my place there, and he was sent to the +guillotine instead of me. He supplied my place all the way through. + +One hundred and sixty-eight persons were taken out of the Luxembourg +in one night, and a hundred and sixty of them guillotined next day, of +which I now know I was to have been one; and the manner I escaped that +fate is curious, and has all the appearance of accident. + +The room in which I was lodged was on the ground floor, and one of a +long range of rooms under a gallery, and the door of it opened outward +and flat against the wall; so that when it was open the inside of the +door appeared outward, and the contrary when it was shut. I had three +comrades, fellow prisoners with me, Joseph Vanhuele, of Bruges, since +President of the Municipality of that town, Michael Rubyns, and Charles +Bastini of Louvain. + +When persons by scores and by hundreds were to be taken out of the +prison for the guillotine it was always done in the night, and those who +performed that office had a private mark or signal, by which they knew +what rooms to go to, and what number to take. We, as I have stated, were +four, and the door of our room was marked, unobserved by us, with that +number in chalk; but it happened, if happening is a proper word, that +the mark was put on when the door was open, and flat against the +wall, and thereby came on the inside when we shut it at night, and the +destroying angel passed by it.(1) A few days after this, Robespierre +fell, and Mr. Monroe arrived and reclaimed me, and invited me to his +house. + + 1 Painefs preface to the "Age of Reason" Part IL, and his + Letter to Washington (p. 222.) show that for some time after + his release from prison he had attributed his escape from + the guillotine to a fever which rendered him unconscious at + the time when his accusation was demanded by Robespierre; + but it will be seen (XXXI.) that he subsequently visited his + prison room-mate Vanhuele, who had become Mayor of Bruges, + and he may have learned from him the particulars of their + marvellous escape. Carlyle having been criticised by John G. + Alger for crediting this story of the chalk mark, an + exhaustive discussion of the facts took place in the London + Athenoum, July 7, 21, August 25, September 1, 1894, in which + it was conclusively proved, I think, that there is no reason + to doubt the truth of the incident See also my article on + Paine's escape, in The Open Court (Chicago), July 26,1894. + The discussion in the Athenoum elicited the fact that a + tradition had long existed in the family of Sampson Perry + that he had shared Paine's cell and been saved by the + curious mistake. Such is not the fact. Perry, in his book on + the French Revolution, and in his "Argus," told the story of + Paine's escape by his illness, as Paine first told it; and + he also relates an anecdote which may find place here: + "Mr. Paine speaks gratefully of the kindness shown him by his + fellow-prisoners of the same chamber during his severe + malady, and especially of the skilful and voluntary + assistance lent him by General O'Hara's surgeon. He relates + an anecdote of himself which may not be unworthy of + repeating. An arret of the Committee of Public Welfare had + given directions to the administrators of the palace + [Luxembourg] to enter all the prisons with additional guards + and dispossess every prisoner of his knives, forks, and + every other sharp instrument; and also to take their money + from them. This happened a short time before Mr. Paine's + illness, and as this ceremony was represented to him as an + atrocious plunder in the dregs of municipality, he + determined to avert its effect so far as it concerned + himself. He had an English bank note of some value and gold + coin in his pocket, and as he conceived the visitors would + rifle them, as well as his trunks (though they did not do so + by any one) he took off the lock from his door, and hid the + whole of what he had about him in its inside. He recovered + his health, he found his money, but missed about three + hundred of his associated prisoners, who had been sent in + crowds to the murderous tribunal, while he had been + insensible of their or his own danger." This was probably + the money (L200) loaned by Paine to General O'Hara (who + figured at the Yorktown surrender) in prison.--_Editor._ + +During the whole of my imprisonment, prior to the fall of Robespierre, +there was no time when I could think my life worth twenty-four hours, +and my mind was made up to meet its fate. The Americans in Paris went in +a body to the Convention to reclaim me, but without success. There was +no party among them with respect to me. My only hope then rested on the +government of America, that it would _remember me_. But the icy heart of +ingratitude, in whatever man it be placed, has neither feeling nor +sense of honour. The letter of Mr. Jefferson has served to wipe away the +reproach, and done justice to the mass of the people of America.(1) + + 1 Printed in the seventh of this series of Letters.-- + _Editor._. + +When a party was forming, in the latter end of 1777, and beginning of +1778, of which John Adams was one, to remove Mr. Washington from the +command of the army on the complaint that _he did nothing_, I wrote the +fifth number of the Crisis, and published it at Lancaster, (Congress +then being at Yorktown, in Pennsylvania,) to ward off that meditated +blow; for though I well knew that the black times of '76 were the +natural consequence of his want of military judgment in the choice of +positions into which the army was put about New York and New Jersey, I +could see no possible advantage, and nothing but mischief, that could +arise by distracting the army into parties, which would have been the +case had the intended motion gone on. + +General [Charles] Lee, who with a sarcastic genius joined a great fund +of military knowledge, was perfectly right when he said "_We have no +business on islands, and in the bottom of bogs, where the enemy, by the +aid of its ships, can bring its whole force against apart of ours and +shut it up_." This had like to have been the case at New York, and it +was the case at Fort Washington, and would have been the case at Fort +Lee if General [Nathaniel] Greene had not moved instantly off on the +first news of the enemy's approach. I was with Greene through the whole +of that affair, and know it perfectly. + +But though I came forward in defence of Mr. Washington when he was +attacked, and made the best that could be made of a series of blunders +that had nearly ruined the country, he left me to perish when I was in +prison. But as I told him of it in his life-time, I should not now bring +it up if the ignorant impertinence of some of the Federal papers, who +are pushing Mr. Washington forward as their stalking horse, did not make +it necessary. + +That gentleman did not perform his part in the Revolution better, nor +with more honour, than I did mine, and the one part was as necessary +as the other. He accepted as a present, (though he was already rich,) +a hundred thousand acres of land in America, and left me to occupy six +foot of earth in France.(1) I wish, for his own reputation, he had acted +with more justice. But it was always known of Mr. Washington, by +those who best knew him, that he was of such an icy and death-like +constitution, that he neither loved his friends nor hated his enemies. +But, be this as it may, I see no reason that a difference between Mr. +Washington and me should be made a theme of discord with other people. +There are those who may see merit in both, without making themselves +partisans of either, and with this reflection I close the subject. + + 1 Paine was mistaken, as many others were, about the gifts + of Virginia (1785) to Washington. They were 100 shares, of + $100 each, in the James River Company, and 50 shares, of + L100 each, in the Potomac Company. Washington, accepted on + condition that he might appropriate them _to public uses_ + which was done in his Will.--_Editor._ + +As to the hypocritical abuse thrown out by the Federalists on other +subjects, I recommend to them the observance of a commandment that +existed before either Christian or Jew existed: + + Thou shalt make a covenant with thy senses: + With thine eye that it behold no evil, + With thine ear, that it hear no evil, + With thy tongue, that it speak no evil, + With thy hands, that they commit no evil. + +If the Federalists will follow this commandment, they will leave off +lying. + +Thomas Paine. + +Federal City, Lovett's Hotel, Nov. 26,1802. + + + +LETTER IV.(1) + + 1 The National Intelligencer, Dec. 6th. 1802.--_Editor._. + +As Congress is on the point of meeting, the public papers will +necessarily be occupied with the debates of the ensuing session, and +as, in consequence of my long absence from America, my private affairs +require my attendance, (for it is necessary I do this, or I could not +preserve, as I do, my independence,) I shall close my address to the +public with this letter. + +I congratulate them on the success of the late elections, and _that_ +with the additional confidence, that while honest men are chosen and +wise measures pursued, neither the treason of apostacy, masked under the +name of Federalism, of which I have spoken in my second letter, nor the +intrigues of foreign emissaries, acting in concert with that mask, can +prevail. + +As to the licentiousness of the papers calling themselves _Federal_, a +name that apostacy has taken, it can hurt nobody but the party or the +persons who support such papers. There is naturally a wholesome pride +in the public mind that revolts at open vulgarity. It feels itself +dishonoured even by hearing it, as a chaste woman feels dishonour by +hearing obscenity she cannot avoid. It can smile at wit, or be diverted +with strokes of satirical humour, but it detests the _blackguard_. The +same sense of propriety that governs in private companies, governs in +public life. If a man in company runs his wit upon another, it may draw +a smile from some persons present, but as soon as he turns a blackguard +in his language the company gives him up; and it is the same in public +life. The event of the late election shows this to be true; for in +proportion as those papers have become more and more vulgar and abusive, +the elections have gone more and more against the party they support, +or that supports them. Their predecessor, _Porcupine_ [Cobbett] had +wit--these scribblers have none. But as soon as his _blackguardism_ (for +it is the proper name of it) outran his wit, he was abandoned by every +body but the English Minister who protected him. + +The Spanish proverb says, "_there never was a cover large enough to hide +itself_"; and the proverb applies to the case of those papers and the +shattered remnant of the faction that supports them. The falsehoods they +fabricate, and the abuse they circulate, is a cover to hide something +from being seen, but it is not large enough to hide itself. It is as +a tub thrown out to the whale to prevent its attacking and sinking the +vessel. They want to draw the attention of the public from thinking +about, or inquiring into, the measures of the late administration, and +the reason why so much public money was raised and expended; and so far +as a lie today, and a new one tomorrow, will answer this purpose, it +answers theirs. It is nothing to them whether they be believed or not, +for if the negative purpose be answered the main point is answered, to +them. + +He that picks your pocket always tries to make you look another way. +"Look," says he, "at yon man t'other side the street--what a nose he has +got?--Lord, yonder is a chimney on fire!--Do you see yon man going along +in the salamander great coat? That is the very man that stole one of +Jupiter's satellites, and sold it to a countryman for a gold watch, +and it set his breeches on fire!" Now the man that has his hand in your +pocket, does not care a farthing whether you believe what he says or +not. All his aim is to prevent your looking at _him_; and this is the +case with the remnant of the Federal faction. The leaders of it have +imposed upon the country, and they want to turn the attention of it from +the subject. + +In taking up any public matter, I have never made it a consideration, +and never will, whether it be popular or unpopular; but whether it be +_right_ or _wrong_. The right will always become the popular, if it has +courage to show itself, and the shortest way is always a straight line. +I despise expedients, they are the gutter-hole of politics, and the sink +where reputation dies. In the present case, as in every other, I +cannot be accused of using any; and I have no doubt but thousands will +hereafter be ready to say, as Gouverneur Morris said to me, after having +abused me pretty handsomely in Congress for the opposition I gave +the fraudulent demand of Silas Deane of two thousand pounds sterling: +"_Well, we were all duped, and I among the rest!_"(1) + + 1 See vol. I., chapters xxii., xxiii., xxiv., of this work. + Also my "Life of Paine," vol. I., ch. ix., x.--_Editor._ + +Were the late administration to be called upon to give reasons for +the expence it put the country to, it can give none. The danger of an +invasion was a bubble that served as a cover to raise taxes and armies +to be employed on some other purpose. But if the people of America +believed it true, the cheerfulness with which they supported those +measures and paid those taxes is an evidence of their patriotism; and +if they supposed me their enemy, though in that supposition they did me +injustice, it was not injustice in them. He that acts as he believes, +though he may act wrong, is not conscious of wrong. + +But though there was no danger, no thanks are due to the late +administration for it. They sought to blow up a flame between the two +countries; and so intent were they upon this, that they went out of +their way to accomplish it. In a letter which the Secretary of State, +Timothy Pickering, wrote to Mr. Skipwith, the American Consul at Paris, +he broke off from the official subject of his letter, to _thank God_ in +very exulting language, _that the Russians had cut the French army +to pieces_. Mr. Skipwith, after showing me the letter, very prudently +concealed it. + +It was the injudicious and wicked acrimony of this letter, and some +other like conduct of the then Secretary of State, that occasioned me, +in a letter to a friend in the government, to say, that if there was any +official business to be done in France, till a regular Minister could +be appointed, it could not be trusted to a more proper person than Mr. +Skipwith. "_He is_," said I, "_an honest man, and will do business, and +that with good manners to the government he is commissioned to act with. +A faculty which that BEAR, Timothy Pickering, wanted, and which the BEAR +of that bear, John Adams, never possessed_."(2) + + 2 By reference to the letter itself (p. 376 of this volume) + it will be seen that Paine here quotes it from memory.-- + _Editor._ vol III-- + +In another letter to the same friend, in 1797, and which was put +unsealed under cover to Colonel Burr, I expressed a satisfaction +that Mr. Jefferson, since he was not president, had accepted the +vice presidency; "_for_," said I, "_John Adams has such a talent for +blundering and offending, it will be necessary to keep an eye over +him_." He has now sufficiently proved, that though I have not the spirit +of prophecy, I have the gift of _judging right_. And all the world +knows, for it cannot help knowing, that to judge _rightly_ and to write +_clearly_, and that upon all sorts of subjects, to be able to command +thought and as it were to play with it at pleasure, and be always master +of one's temper in writing, is the faculty only of a serene mind, and +the attribute of a happy and philosophical temperament. The scribblers, +who know me not, and who fill their papers with paragraphs about me, +besides their want of talents, drink too many slings and drams in a +morning to have any chance with me. But, poor fellows, they must do +something for the little pittance they get from their employers. This is +my apology for them. + +My anxiety to get back to America was great for many years. It is the +country of my heart, and the place of my political and literary birth. +It was the American revolution that made me an author, and forced into +action the mind that had been dormant, and had no wish for public life, +nor has it now. By the accounts I received, she appeared to me to be +going wrong, and that some meditated treason against her liberties +lurked at the bottom of her government. I heard that my friends were +oppressed, and I longed to take my stand among them, and if other times +to _try mens souls_ were to arrive, that I might bear my share. But my +efforts to return were ineffectual. + +As soon as Mr. Monroe had made a good standing with the French +government, for the conduct of his predecessor [Morris] had made his +reception as Minister difficult, he wanted to send despatches to his own +government by a person to whom he could confide a verbal communication, +and he fixed his choice on me. He then applied to the Committee of +Public Safety for a passport; but as I had been voted again into the +Convention, it was only the Convention that could give the passport; +and as an application to them for that purpose, would have made my going +publicly known, I was obliged to sustain the disappointment, and Mr. +Monroe to lose the opportunity.(1) + +When that gentleman left France to return to America, I was to have +gone with him. It was fortunate I did not. The vessel he sailed in was +visited by a British frigate, that searched every part of it, and down +to the hold, for Thomas Paine.(2) I then went, the same year, to embark +at Havre. But several British frigates were cruizing in sight of the +port who knew I was there, and I had to return again to Paris. Seeing +myself thus cut off from every opportunity that was in my power to +command, I wrote to Mr. Jefferson, that, if the fate of the election +should put him in the chair of the presidency, and he should have +occasion to send a frigate to France, he would give me the opportunity +of returning by it, which he did. But I declined coming by the +_Maryland_, the vessel that was offered me, and waited for the frigate +that was to bring the new Minister, Mr. Chancellor Livingston, to +France. But that frigate was ordered round to the Mediterranean; and +as at that time the war was over, and the British cruisers called in, +I could come any way. I then agreed to come with Commodore Barney in a +vessel he had engaged. It was again fortunate I did not, for the vessel +sank at sea, and the people were preserved in the boat. + + 1 The correspondence is in my "Life of Paine," vol. ii., + pp. 154-5.--_Editor._ + + 2 The "Dublin Packet," Captain Clay, in whom Paine, as he + wrote to Jefferson, "had no confidence."--_Editor._ + +Had half the number of evils befallen me that the number of dangers +amount to through which I have been pre-served, there are those who +would ascribe it to the wrath of heaven; why then do they not ascribe +my preservation to the protecting favour of heaven? Even in my worldly +concerns I have been blessed. The little property I left in America, +and which I cared nothing about, not even to receive the rent of it, +has been increasing in the value of its capital more than eight hundred +dollars every year, for the fourteen years and more that I have been +absent from it. I am now in my circumstances independent; and my economy +makes me rich. As to my health, it is perfectly good, and I leave the +world to judge of the stature of my mind. I am in every instance a +living contradiction to the mortified Federalists. + +In my publications, I follow the rule I began with in _Common Sense_, +that is, to consult nobody, nor to let any body see what I write till +it appears publicly. Were I to do otherwise, the case would be, that +between the timidity of some, who are so afraid of doing wrong that they +never do right, the puny judgment of others, and the despicable craft of +preferring _expedient to right_, as if the world was a world of babies +in leading strings, I should get forward with nothing. My path is a +right line, as straight and clear to me as a ray of light. The boldness +(if they will have it to be so) with which I speak on any subject, is a +compliment to the judgment of the reader. It is like saying to him, +_I treat you as a man and not as a child_. With respect to any worldly +object, as it is impossible to discover any in me, therefore what I do, +and my manner of doing it, ought to be ascribed to a good motive. + +In a great affair, where the happiness of man is at stake, I love +to work for nothing; and so fully am I under the influence of this +principle, that I should lose the spirit, the pleasure, and the pride +of it, were I conscious that I looked for reward; and with this +declaration, I take my leave for the present.(1) + + 1 The self-assertion of this and other letters about this + time was really self-defence, the invective against him, and + the calumnies, being such as can hardly be credited by those + not familiar with the publications of that time.--_Editor._ + +Thomas Paine. + +Federal City, Lovett's Hotel, Dec. 3, 1802. + + + +LETTER V.(1) + + 1 The National Intelligencer, Feb., 1803. In the Tarions + collections of these Letters there appears at this point a + correspondence between Paine and Samuel Adams of Boston, but + as it relates to religious matters I reserve it for the + fourth volume.--_Editor._. + +It is always the interest of a far greater part of the nation to have +a thing right than to have it wrong; and therefore, in a country whose +government is founded on the system of election and representation, the +fate of every party is decided by its principles. + +As this system is the only form and principle of government by which +liberty can be preserved, and the only one that can embrace all the +varieties of a great extent of country, it necessarily follows, that to +have the representation real, the election must be real; and that where +the election is a fiction, the representation is a fiction also. _Like +will always produce like_. + +A great deal has been said and written concerning the conduct of Mr. +Burr, during the late contest, in the federal legislature, whether Mr. +Jefferson or Mr. Burr should be declared President of the United States. +Mr. Burr has been accused of intriguing to obtain the Presidency. +Whether this charge be substantiated or not makes little or no part of +the purport of this letter. There is a point of much higher importance +to attend to than any thing that relates to the individual Mr. Burr: for +the great point is not whether Mr. Burr has intrigued, but whether the +legislature has intrigued with _him_. + +Mr. Ogden, a relation of one of the senators of New Jersey of the same +name, and of the party assuming the style of Federalists, has written +a letter published in the New York papers, signed with his name, the +purport of which is to exculpate Mr. Burr from the charges brought +against him. In this letter he says: + +"When about to return from Washington, two or three _members of +Congress_ of the federal party spoke to me of _their views_, as to the +election of a president, desiring me to converse with Colonel Burr on +the subject, and to ascertain _whether he would enter into terms_. On my +return to New York I called on Colonel Burr, and communicated the above +to him. He explicitly declined the explanation, and _did neither propose +nor agree to any terms_." + +How nearly is human cunning allied to folly! The animals to whom nature +has given the faculty we call _cunning_, know always when to use it, +and use it wisely; but when man descends to cunning, he blunders and +betrays. + +Mr. Ogden's letter is intended to exculpate Mr. Burr from the charge +of intriguing to obtain the presidency; and the letter that he (Ogden) +writes for this purpose is direct evidence against his party in +Congress, that they intrigued with Burr to obtain him for President, +and employed him (Ogden) for the purpose. To save _Aaron_, he betrays +_Moses_, and then turns informer against the _Golden Calf_. + +It is but of little importance to the world to know if Mr. Burr +_listened_ to an intriguing proposal, but it is of great importance to +the constituents to know if their representatives in Congress made one. +The ear can commit no crime, but the tongue may; and therefore the right +policy is to drop Mr. Burr, as being only the hearer, and direct the +whole charge against the Federal faction in Congress as the active +original culprit, or, if the priests will have scripture for it, as the +serpent that beguiled Eve. + + 1 In the presidential canvas of 1800, the votes in the + electoral college being equally divided between Burr and + Jefferson, the election was thrown into the House of + Representatives. Jefferson was elected on the 36th ballot, + but he never forgave Burr, and between these two old friends + Paine had to write this letter under some embarrassment. The + last paragraph of this Letter shows Paine's desire for a + reconciliation between Burr and Jefferson. Aaron Burr is one + of the traditionally slandered figures of American history. + --_Editor._ + +The plot of the intrigue was to make Mr. Burr President, on the private +condition of his agreeing to, and entering into, terms with them, that +is, with the proposers. Had then the election been made, the country, +knowing nothing of this private and illegal transaction, would have +supposed, for who could have supposed otherwise, that it had a President +according to the forms, principles, and intention of the constitution. +No such thing. Every form, principle, and intention of the constitution +would have been violated; and instead of a President, it would have had +a mute, a sort of image, hand-bound and tongue-tied, the dupe and slave +of a party, placed on the theatre of the United States, and acting the +farce of President. + +It is of little importance, in a constitutional sense, to know what the +terms to be proposed might be, because any terms other than those which +the constitution prescribes to a President are criminal. Neither do I +see how Mr. Burr, or any other person put in the same condition, could +have taken the oath prescribed by the constitution to a President, which +is, "_I do solemnly swear (or affirm,) that I will faithfully execute +the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of +my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United +States_." + +How, I ask, could such a person have taken such an oath, knowing at the +same time that he had entered into the Presidency on terms unknown +in the Constitution, and private, and which would deprive him of the +freedom and power of acting as President of the United States, agreeably +to his constitutional oath? + +Mr. Burr, by not agreeing to terms, has escaped the danger to which +they exposed him, and the perjury that would have followed, and also +the punishment annexed thereto. Had he accepted the Presidency on +terms unknown in the constitution, and private, and had the transaction +afterwards transpired, (which it most probably would, for roguery is a +thing difficult to conceal,) it would have produced a sensation in the +country too violent to be quieted, and too just to be resisted; and in +any case the election must have been void. + +But what are we to think of those members of Congress, who having taken +an oath of the same constitutional import as the oath of the President, +violate that oath by tampering to obtain a President on private +conditions. If this is not sedition against the constitution and the +country, it is difficult to define what sedition in a representative can +be. + +Say not that this statement of the case is the effect of personal or +party resentment. No. It is the effect of _sincere concern_ that such +corruption, of which this is but a sample, should, in the space of a few +years, have crept into a country that had the fairest opportunity that +Providence ever gave, within the knowledge of history, of making itself +an illustrious example to the world. + +What the terms were, or were to be, it is probable we never shall know; +or what is more probable, that feigned ones, if any, will be given. But +from the conduct of the party since that time we may conclude, that no +taxes would have been taken off, that the clamour for war would have +been kept up, new expences incurred, and taxes and offices increased +in consequence; and, among the articles of a private nature, that +the leaders in this seditious traffic were to stipulate with the mock +President for lucrative appointments for themselves. + +But if these plotters against the Constitution understood their +business, and they had been plotting long enough to be masters of it, a +single article would have comprehended every thing, which is, _That the +President (thus made) should be governed in all cases whatsoever by a +private junto appointed by themselves_. They could then, through the +medium of a mock President, have negatived all bills which their +party in Congress could not have opposed with success, and reduced +representation to a nullity. + +The country has been imposed upon, and the real culprits are but few; +and as it is necessary for the peace, harmony, and honour of the Union, +to separate the deceiver from the deceived, the betrayer from the +betrayed, that men who once were friends, and that in the worst of +times, should be friends again, it is necessary, as a beginning, that +this dark business be brought to full investigation. Ogden's letter +is direct evidence of the fact of tampering to obtain a conditional +President. He knows the two or three members of Congress that +commissioned him, and they know who commissioned them. + +Thomas Paine. + +Federal City, Lovett's Hotel, Jan. 29th, 1803. + + + +LETTER VI.(1) + + 1 The Aurora (Philadelphia).--_Editor._. + +Religion and War is the cry of the Federalists; Morality and Peace the +voice of Republicans. The union of Morality and Peace is congenial; +but that of Religion and War is a paradox, and the solution of it is +hypocrisy. + +The leaders of the Federalists have no judgment; their plans no +consistency of parts; and want of consistency is the natural consequence +of want of principle. + +They exhibit to the world the curious spectacle of an _Opposition_ +without a _cause_, and conduct without system. Were they, as doctors, +to prescribe medicine as they practise politics, they would poison their +patients with destructive compounds. + +There are not two things more opposed to each other than War and +Religion; and yet, in the double game those leaders have to play, the +one is necessarily the theme of their politics, and the other the text +of their sermons. The week-day orator of Mars, and the Sunday preacher +of Federal Grace, play like gamblers into each other's hands, and this +they call Religion. + +Though hypocrisy can counterfeit every virtue, and become the associate +of every vice, it requires a great dexterity of craft to give it the +power of deceiving. A painted sun may glisten, but it cannot warm. For +hypocrisy to personate virtue successfully it must know and feel what +virtue is, and as it cannot long do this, it cannot long deceive. +When an orator foaming for War breathes forth in another sentence a +_plaintive piety of words_, he may as well write hypocrisy on his front. + +The late attempt of the Federal leaders in Congress (for they acted +without the knowledge of their constituents) to plunge the country into +War, merits not only reproach but indignation. It was madness, conceived +in ignorance and acted in wickedness. The head and the heart went +partners in the crime. + +A neglect of punctuality in the performance of a treaty is made +a _cause_ of war by the _Barbary powers_, and of remonstrance and +explanation by _civilised powers_. The Mahometans of Barbary negociate +by the sword--they seize first, and ex-postulate afterwards; and the +federal leaders have been labouring to _barbarize_ the United States by +adopting the practice of the Barbary States, and this they call honour. +Let their honour and their hypocrisy go weep together, for both are +defeated. Their present Administration is too moral for hypocrites, and +too economical for public spendthrifts. + +A man the least acquainted with diplomatic affairs must know that a +neglect in punctuality is not one of the legal causes of war, unless +that neglect be confirmed by a refusal to perform; and even then it +depends upon circumstances connected with it. The world would be in +continual quarrels and war, and commerce be annihilated, if Algerine +policy was the law of nations. And were America, instead of becoming an +example to the old world of good and moral government and civil manners, +or, if they like it better, of gentlemanly conduct towards other +nations, to set up the character of ruffian, that of _word and blow, and +the blow first_, and thereby give the example of pulling down the little +that civilization has gained upon barbarism, her Independence, instead +of being an honour and a blessing, would become a curse upon the world +and upon herself. + +The conduct of the Barbary powers, though unjust in principle, is suited +to their prejudices, situation, and circumstances. The crusades of the +church to exterminate them fixed in their minds the unobliterated belief +that every Christian power was their mortal enemy. Their religious +prejudices, therefore, suggest the policy, which their situation and +circumstances protect them in. As a people, they are neither commercial +nor agricultural, they neither import nor export, have no property +floating on the seas, nor ships and cargoes in the ports of foreign +nations. No retaliation, therefore, can be acted upon them, and they sin +secure from punishment. + +But this is not the case with the United States. If she sins as a +Barbary power, she must answer for it as a Civilized one. Her commerce +is continually passing on the seas exposed to capture, and her ships +and cargoes in foreign ports to detention and reprisal. An act of War +committed by her in the Mississippi would produce a War against the +commerce of the Atlantic States, and the latter would have to curse the +policy that provoked the former. In every point, therefore, in which the +character and interest of the United States be considered, it would +ill become her to set an example contrary to the policy and custom of +Civilized powers, and practised only by the Barbary powers, that of +striking before she expostulates. + +But can any man, calling himself a Legislator, and supposed by his +constituents to know something of his duty, be so ignorant as to imagine +that seizing on New Orleans would finish the affair or even contribute +towards it? On the contrary it would have made it worse. The treaty +right of deposite at New Orleans, and the right of the navigation of the +Mississippi into the Gulph of Mexico, are distant things. New Orleans is +more than an hundred miles in the country from the mouth of the river, +and, as a place of deposite, is of no value if the mouth of the river be +shut, which either France or Spain could do, and which our possession +of New Orleans could neither prevent or remove. New Orleans in our +possession, by an act of hostility, would have become a blockaded +port, and consequently of no value to the western people as a place of +deposite. Since, therefore, an interruption had arisen to the commerce +of the western states, and until the matter could be brought to a fair +explanation, it was of less injury to have the port shut and the river +open, than to have the river shut and the port in our possession. + +That New Orleans could be taken required no stretch of policy to plan, +nor spirit of enterprize to effect. It was like marching behind a man to +knock him down: and the dastardly slyness of such an attack would have +stained the fame of the United States. Where there is no danger cowards +are bold, and Captain Bobadils are to be found in the Senate as well +as on the stage. Even _Gouverneur_, on such a march, dare have shown a +leg.(1) + + 1 Gouverneur Morris being now leader of the belligerent + faction in Congress, Paine could not resist the temptation + to allude to a well-known incident (related in his Diary and + Letters, i., p. 14). A mob in Paris having surrounded his + fine carriage, crying "Aristocrat!" Morris showed his + wooden leg, declaring he had lost his leg in the cause of + American liberty. Morris was never in any fight, his leg + being lost by a commonplace accident while driving in + Philadelphia. Although Paine's allusion may appear in bad + taste, even with this reference, it was politeness itself + compared with the brutal abuse which Morris (not content + with imprisoning Paine in Paris) and his adherents were + heaping on the author on his return to America; also on + Monroe, whom Jefferson had returned to France to negotiate + for the purchase of Louisiana.--_Editor._, + +The people of the western country to whom the Mississippi serves as +an inland sea to their commerce, must be supposed to understand the +circumstances of that commerce better than a man who is a stranger to +it; and as they have shown no approbation of the war-whoop measures of +the Federal senators, it becomes presumptive evidence they disapprove +them. This is a new mortification for those war-whoop politicians; for +the case is, that finding themselves losing ground and withering away in +the Atlantic States, they laid hold of the affair of New Orleans in the +vain hope of rooting and reinforcing themselves in the western States; +and they did this without perceiving that it was one of those ill judged +hypocritical expedients in politics, that whether it succeeded or failed +the event would be the same. Had their motion [that of Ross and Morris] +succeeded, it would have endangered the commerce of the Atlantic States +and ruined their reputation there; and on the other hand the attempt +to make a tool of the western people was so badly concealed as to +extinguish all credit with them. + +But hypocrisy is a vice of sanguine constitution. It flatters and +promises itself every thing; and it has yet to learn, with respect to +moral and political reputation, it is less dangerous to offend than to +deceive. + +To the measures of administration, supported by the firmness and +integrity of the majority in Congress, the United States owe, as far as +human means are concerned, the preservation of peace, and of national +honour. The confidence which the western people reposed in the +government and their representatives is rewarded with success. They are +reinstated in their rights with the least possible loss of time; and +their harmony with the people of New Orleans, so necessary to the +prosperity of the United States, which would have been broken, and the +seeds of discord sown in its place, had hostilities been preferred to +accommodation, remains unimpaired. Have the Federal ministers of the +church meditated on these matters? and laying aside, as they ought to +do, their electioneering and vindictive prayers and sermons, returned +thanks that peace is preserved, and commerce, without the stain of +blood? + +In the pleasing contemplation of this state of things the mind, by +comparison, carries itself back to those days of uproar and extravagance +that marked the career of the former administration, and decides, by +the unstudied impulse of its own feelings, that something must then have +been wrong. Why was it, that America, formed for happiness, and remote +by situation and circumstances from the troubles and tumults of the +European world, became plunged into its vortex and contaminated with its +crimes? The answer is easy. Those who were then at the head of affairs +were apostates from the principles of the revolution. Raised to an +elevation they had not a right to expect, nor judgment to conduct, +they became like feathers in the air, and blown about by every puff of +passion or conceit. + +Candour would find some apology for their conduct if want of judgment +was their only defect. But error and crime, though often alike in their +features, are distant in their characters and in their origin. The one +has its source in the weakness of the head, the other in the hardness +of the heart, and the coalition of the two, describes the former +Administration.(1) + + 1 That of John Adams.--_Editor._ + +Had no injurious consequences arisen from the conduct of that +Administration, it might have passed for error or imbecility, and +been permitted to die and be forgotten. The grave is kind to innocent +offence. But even innocence, when it is a cause of injury, ought to +undergo an enquiry. + +The country, during the time of the former Administration, was kept in +continual agitation and alarm; and that no investigation might be made +into its conduct, it entrenched itself within a magic circle of terror, +and called it a SEDITION LAW.(1) Violent and mysterious in its measures +and arrogant in its manners, it affected to disdain information, and +insulted the principles that raised it from obscurity. John Adams and +Timothy Pickering were men whom nothing but the accidents of the times +rendered visible on the political horizon. Elevation turned their heads, +and public indignation hath cast them to the ground. But an inquiry +into the conduct and measures of that Administration is nevertheless +necessary. + +The country was put to great expense. Loans, taxes, and standing armies +became the standing order of the day. The militia, said Secretary +Pickering, are not to be depended upon, and fifty thousand men must be +raised. For what? No cause to justify such measures has yet appeared. No +discovery of such a cause has yet been made. The pretended Sedition Law +shut up the sources of investigation, and the precipitate flight of John +Adams closed the scene. But the matter ought not to sleep here. + +It is not to gratify resentment, or encourage it in others, that I enter +upon this subject. It is not in the power of man to accuse me of a +persecuting spirit. But some explanation ought to be had. The motives +and objects respecting the extraordinary and expensive measures of the +former Administration ought to be known. The Sedition Law, that shield +of the moment, prevented it then, and justice demands it now. If the +public have been imposed upon, it is proper they should know it; for +where judgment is to act, or a choice is to be made, knowledge is first +necessary. The conciliation of parties, if it does not grow out of +explanation, partakes of the character of collusion or indifference. + + 1 Passed July 14, 1798, to continue until March 3, 1801. + This Act, described near the close of this Letter, and one + passed June 35th, giving the President despotic powers over + aliens in the United States, constituted the famous "Alien + and Sedition Laws." Hamilton opposed them, and rightly saw + in them the suicide of the Federal party.--_Editor._, + +There has been guilt somewhere; and it is better to fix it where +it belongs, and separate the deceiver from the deceived, than that +suspicion, the bane of society, should range at large, and sour the +public mind. The military measures that were proposed and carrying on +during the former administration, could not have for their object the +defence of the country against invasion. This is a case that decides +itself; for it is self evident, that while the war raged in Europe, +neither France nor England could spare a man to send to America. The +object, therefore, must be something at home, and that something was the +overthrow of the representative system of government, for it could be +nothing else. But the plotters got into confusion and became enemies to +each other. Adams hated and was jealous of Hamilton, and Hamilton hated +and despised both Adams and Washington.(1) Surly Timothy stood aloof, as +he did at the affair of Lexington, and the part that fell to the public +was to pay the expense.(2) + + 1 Hamilton's bitter pamphlet against Adams appeared in 1800, + but his old quarrel with Washington (1781) had apparently + healed. Yet, despite the favors lavished by Washington on + Hamilton, there is no certainty that the latter ever changed + his unfavorable opinion of the former, as expressed in a + letter to General Schuylor, Feb. 18, 1781 (Lodge's + "Hamilton's Works," vol. viii., p. 35).--_Editor._ + + 2 Colonel Pickering's failure, in 1775, to march his Salem + troops in time to intercept the British retreat from + Lexington was attributed to his half-heartedness + in the patriotic cause.--_Editor._ + +But ought a people who, but a few years ago, were fighting the battles +of the world, for liberty had no home but here, ought such a people +to stand quietly by and see that liberty undermined by apostacy +and overthrown by intrigue? Let the tombs of the slain recall their +recollection, and the forethought of what their children are to be +revive and fix in their hearts the love of liberty. + +If the former administration can justify its conduct, give it the +opportunity. The manner in which John Adams disappeared from the +government renders an inquiry the more necessary. He gave some account +of himself, lame and confused as it was, to certain _eastern wise men_ +who came to pay homage to him on his birthday. But if he thought it +necessary to do this, ought he not to have rendered an account to +the public. They had a right to expect it of him. In that tete-a-tete +account, he says, "Some measures were the effect of imperious necessity, +much against my inclination." What measures does Mr. Adams mean, and +what is the imperious necessity to which he alludes? "Others (says he) +were measures of the Legislature, which, although approved when passed, +were never previously proposed or recommended by me." What measures, +it may be asked, were those, for the public have a right to know the +conduct of their representatives? "Some (says he) left to my discretion +were never executed, because no necessity for them, in my judgment, ever +occurred." + +What does this dark apology, mixed with accusation, amount to, but +to increase and confirm the suspicion that something was wrong? +Administration only was possessed of foreign official information, +and it was only upon that information communicated by him publicly or +privately, or to Congress, that Congress could act; and it is not in +the power of Mr. Adams to show, from the condition of the belligerent +powers, that any imperious necessity called for the warlike and +expensive measures of his Administration. + +What the correspondence between Administration and Rufus King in London, +or Quincy Adams in Holland, or Berlin, might be, is but little known. +The public papers have told us that the former became cup-bearer from +the London underwriters to Captain Truxtun,(1) for which, as Minister +from a neutral nation, he ought to have been censured. It is, however, +a feature that marks the politics of the Minister, and hints at the +character of the correspondence. + + 1 Thomas Truxtun (1755-1822), for having captured the French + frigate "L'Insurgente," off Hen's Island, 1799, was + presented at Lloyd's coffee-house with plate to the value of + 600 guineas. Rufus King (1755-1827), made Minister to England + in 1796, continued under Adams, and for two years under + Jefferson's administration.--_Editor._ + +I know that it is the opinion of several members of both houses of +Congress, that an enquiry, with respect to the conduct of the late +Administration, ought to be gone into. The convulsed state into which +the country has been thrown will be best settled by a full and fair +exposition of the conduct of that Administration, and the causes and +object of that conduct. To be deceived, or to remain deceived, can be +the interest of no man who seeks the public good; and it is the deceiver +only, or one interested in the deception, that can wish to preclude +enquiry. + +The suspicion against the late Administration is, that it was plotting +to overturn the representative system of government, and that it spread +alarms of invasions that had no foundation, as a pretence for raising +and establishing a military force as the means of accomplishing that +object. + +The law, called the Sedition Law, enacted, that if any person should +write or publish, or cause to be written or published, any libel +[without defining what a libel is] against the Government of the United +States, or either house of congress, or against the President, he +should be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by +imprisonment not exceeding two years. + +But it is a much greater crime for a president to plot against a +Constitution and the liberties of the people, than for an individual to +plot against a President; and consequently, John Adams is accountable to +the public for his conduct, as the individuals under his administration +were to the sedition law. + +The object, however, of an enquiry, in this case, is not to punish, but +to satisfy; and to shew, by example, to future administrations, that an +abuse of power and trust, however disguised by appearances, or rendered +plausible by pretence, is one time or other to be accounted for. + +Thomas Paine. + +BORDENTOWN, ON THE DELAWARE, + +New Jersey, March 12, 1803. vol. III--27 + + + +LETTER VII. + + EDITOR'S PREFACE. + + This letter was printed in _The True American_, Trenton, New + Jersey, soon after Paine's return to his old home at + Bordenton. It is here printed from the original manuscript, + for which I am indebted to Mr. W. F. Havemeyer of New York. + Although the Editor has concluded to present Paine's + "Maritime Compact" in the form he finally gave it, the + articles were printed in French in 1800, and by S. H. Smith, + Washington, at the close of the same year. There is an + interesting history connected with it. John Hall, in his + diary ("Trenton, 20 April, 1787") relates that Paine told + him of Dr. Franklin, whom he (Paine) had just visited in + Philadelphia, and the Treaty he, the Doctor, made with the + late King of Prussia by adding an article that, should war + ever break out, Commerce should be free. The Doctor said he + showed it to Vergennes, who said it met his idea, and was + such as he would make even with England. In his Address to + the People of France, 1797 (see p. 366), Paine closes with a + suggestion on the subject, and a year later (September 30, + 1798), when events were in a critical condition, he sent + nine articles of his proposed _Pacte Maritime_ to + Talleyrand, newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. The + letters that passed are here taken from the originals (State + Archives, Paris, Etats Unis, vol. 48). + + +"Rue Theatre francaise, No. 4, 9 Vendemaire, 6 year. + +"Citizen Minister: I promised you some observations on the state of +things between France and America. I divide the case into two parts. +First, with respect to some Method that shall effectually put an end to +all interruptions of the American Commerce. Secondly, with respect to +the settlement for the captures that have been made on that Commerce. + +"As to the first case (the interruption of the American Commerce +by France) it has foundation in the British Treaty, and it is the +continuance of that treaty that renders the remedy difficult. Besides, +the American administration has blundered so much in the business of +treaty-making, that it is probable it will blunder again in making +another with France. There is, however, one method left, and there is +but one that I can see, that will be effectual. It is a _non-importation +Convention; that America agrees not to import from any Nation in Europe +who shall interrupt her Commerce on the seas, any goods, wares, or +merchandize whatever, and that all her ports shall be shut against +the Nation that gives the offence_. This will draw America out of her +difficulties with respect to her treaty with England. + +"But it will be far better if this non-importation convention were to +be a general convention of Nations acting as a Whole. It would give a +better protection to Neutral Commerce than the armed neutrality could +do. I would rather be a Neutral Nation under the protection of such a +Convention, which costs nothing to make it, than be under the protection +of a navy equal to that of Great Britain. France should be the patron of +such a Convention and sign it. It would be giving both her consent and +her protection to the Rights of Neutral Nations. If England refuse to +sign it she will nevertheless be obliged to respect it, or lose all her +Commerce. + +"I enclose you a plan I drew up about four months ago, when there was +expectation that Mr. Madison would come to France. It has lain by me +ever since. + +"The second part, that of settlement for the captures, I will make the +subject of a future correspondence. Salut et respect." + + +Talleyrand's Reply ("Foreign Relations, 15 Vendemaire An. 6," Oct. +6, 1797): "I have the honor to return you, Citizen, with very sincere +thanks, your Letter to General Washington which you have had the +goodness to show me. + +"I have received the letter which you have taken the trouble to write +me, the 9th of this month. I need not assure you of the appreciation +with which I shall receive the further indications you promise on the +means of terminating in a durable manner the differences which must +excite your interest as a patriot and as a Republican. Animated by +such a principle your ideas cannot fail to throw valuable light on the +discussion you open, and which should have for its object to reunite the +two Republics in whose alienation the enemies of liberty triumph." + +Paine's plan made a good impression in France--He writes to Jefferson, +October 6, 1800, that the Consul Le Brun, at an entertainment given to +the American envoys, gave for his toast: "A l'union de 1' Amerique avec +les Puissances du Nord pour faire respecter la liberte des mers." + +The malignant mind, like the jaundiced eye, sees everything through a +false medium of its own creating. The light of heaven appears stained +with yellow to the distempered sight of the one, and the fairest actions +have the form of crimes in the venomed imagination of the other. + +For seven months, both before and after my return to America in October +last, the apostate papers styling themselves "Federal" were filled with +paragraphs and Essays respecting a letter from Mr. Jefferson to me at +Paris; and though none of them knew the contents of the letter, nor the +occasion of writing it, malignity taught them to suppose it, and the +lying tongue of injustice lent them its aid. + +That the public may no longer be imposed upon by Federal apostacy, I +will now publish the Letter, and the occasion of its being written. + +The Treaty negociated in England by John Jay, and ratified by the +Washington Administration, had so disgracefully surrendered the right +and freedom of the American flag, that all the Commerce of the +United States on the Ocean became exposed to capture, and suffered in +consequence of it. The duration of the Treaty was limited to two years +after the war; and consequently America could not, during that period, +relieve herself from the Chains which the Treaty had fixed upon her. +This being the case, the only relief that could come must arise out of +something originating in Europe, that would, in its consequences, extend +to America. It had long been my opinion that Commerce contained within +itself the means of its own protection; but as the time for bringing +forward any new system is not always happening, it is necessary to watch +its approach, and lay hold of it before it passes away. + +As soon as the late Emperor Paul of Russia abandoned his coalition with +England and become a Neutral Power, this Crisis of time, and also of +circumstances, was then arriving; and I employed it in arranging a plan +for the protection of the Commerce of Neutral Nations during War, +that might, in its operation and consequences, relieve the Commerce of +America. The Plan, with the pieces accompanying it, consisted of +about forty pages. The Citizen Bonneville, with whom I lived in Paris, +translated it into French; Mr. Skipwith, the American Consul, Joel +Barlow, and myself, had the translation printed and distributed as +a present to the Foreign Ministers of all the Neutral Nations then +resident in Paris. This was in the summer of 1800. + +It was entitled Maritime Compact (in French _Pacte Maritime_), The plan, +exclusive of the pieces that accompanied it, consisted of the following +Preamble and Articles. + + +MARITIME COMPACT. + +Being an Unarmed Association of Nations for the protection of the Rights +and Commerce of Nations that shall be neutral in time of War. + +Whereas, the Vexations and Injuries to which the Rights and Commerce of +Neutral Nations have been, and continue to be, exposed during the time +of maritime War, render it necessary to establish a law of Nations for +the purpose of putting an end to such vexations and Injuries, and to +guarantee to the Neutral Nations the exercise of their just Rights, + +We, therefore, the undersigned Powers, form ourselves into an +Association, and establish the following as a Law of Nations on the +Seas. + +ARTICLE THE FIRST. Definition of the Rights of neutral Nations. + +The Rights of Nations, such as are exercised by them in their +intercourse with each other in time of Peace, are, and of right ought to +be, the Rights of Neutral Nations at all times; because, + +First, those Rights not having been abandoned by them, remain with them. + +Secondly, because those Rights cannot become forfeited or void, in +consequence of War breaking out between two or more other Nations. + +A War of Nation against Nation being exclusively the act of the Nations +that make the War, and not the act of the Neutral Nations, cannot, +whether considered in itself or in its consequences, destroy or diminish +the Rights of the Nations remaining in Peace. + + +ARTICLE THE SECOND. + +The Ships and Vessels of Nations that rest neuter and at Peace with the +World during a War with other Nations, have a Right to navigate freely +on the Seas as they navigated before that War broke out, and to proceed +to and enter the Port or Ports of any of the Belligerent Powers, _with +the consent of that Power_, without being seized, searched, visited, or +any ways interrupted, by the Nation or Nations with which that Nation is +at War. + + +ARTICLE THE THIRD. + +For the Conservation of the aforesaid Rights, We, the undersigned +Powers, engaging to each other our Sacred Faith and Honour, declare, + +That if any Belligerent Power shall seize, search, visit, or any ways +interrupt any Ship or Vessel belonging to the Citizens or Subjects of +any of the Powers composing this Association, then each and all of the +said undersigned Powers will cease to import, and will not permit to +be imported into the Ports or Dominions of any of the said undersigned +Powers, in any Ship or Vessel whatever, any Goods, wares, or +Merchandize, produced or manufactured in, or exported from, the +Dominions of the Power so offending against the Association hereby +established and Proclaimed. + + +ARTICLE THE FOURTH. + +That all the Ports appertaining to any and all of the Powers composing +this Association shall be shut against the Flag of the offending Nation. + + +ARTICLE THE FIFTH. + +That no remittance or payment in Money, Merchandize, or Bills of +Exchange, shall be made by any of the Citizens, or Subjects, of any of +the Powers composing this Association, to the Citizens or Subjects of +the offending Nation, for the Term of one year, or until reparation +be made. The reparation to be ---- times the amount of the damages +sustained. + + +ARTICLE THE SIXTH. + +If any Ship or Vessel appertaining to any of the Citizens or Subjects of +any of the Powers composing this Association shall be seized, searched, +visited, or interrupted, by any Belligerent Nation, or be forcibly +prevented entering the Port of her destination, or be seized, searched, +visited, or interrupted, in coming out of such Port, or be forcibly +prevented from proceeding to any new destination, or be insulted or +visited by any Agent from on board any Vessel of any Belligerent Power, +the Government or Executive Power of the Nation to which the Ship or +Vessel so seized, searched, visited, or interrupted belongs, shall, on +evidence of the fact, make public Proclamation of the same, and send +a Copy thereof to the Government, or Executive, of each of the Powers +composing this Association, who shall publish the same in all the extent +of his Dominions, together with a Declaration, that at the expiration +of ---- days after publication, the penal articles of this Association +shall be put in execution against the offending Nation. + + +ARTICLE THE SEVENTH. + +If reparation be not made within the space of one year, the said +Proclamation shall be renewed for one year more, and so on. + + +ARTICLE THE EIGHTH. + +The Association chooses for itself a Flag to be carried at the Mast-head +conjointly with the National Flag of each Nation composing this +Association. + +The Flag of the Association shall be composed of the same colors as +compose the Rainbow, and arranged in the same order as they appear in +that Phenomenon. + + +ARTICLE THE NINTH. + +And whereas, it may happen that one or more of the Nations composing +this Association may be, at the time of forming it, engaged in War or +become so in future, in that case, the Ships and Vessels of such Nation +shall carry the Flag of the Association bound round the Mast, to denote +that the Nation to which she belongs is a Member of the Association and +a respecter of its Laws. + +N. B. This distinction in the manner of carrying the Flag is mearly for +the purpose, that Neutral Vessels having the Flag at the Mast-head, may +be known at first sight. + + +ARTICLE THE TENTH. + +And whereas, it is contrary to the moral principles of Neutrality and +Peace, that any Neutral Nation should furnish to the Belligerent Powers, +or any of them, the means of carrying on War against each other, We, +therefore, the Powers composing this Association, Declare, that we +will each one for itself, prohibit in our Dominions the exportation or +transportation of military stores, comprehending gunpowder, cannon, and +cannon-balls, fire arms of all kinds, and all kinds of iron and steel +weapons used in War. Excluding therefrom all kinds of Utensils and +Instruments used in civil or domestic life, and every other article that +cannot, in its immediate state, be employed in War. + +Having thus declared the moral Motives of the foregoing Article, We +declare also the civil and political Intention thereof, to wit, + +That as Belligerent Nations have no right to visit or search any Ship or +Vessel belonging to a Nation at Peace, and under the protection of +the Laws and Government thereof, and as all such visit or search is an +insult to the Nation to which such Ship or Vessel belongs and to +the Government of the same, We, therefore, the Powers composing this +Association, will take the right of prohibition on ourselves to whom it +properly belongs, and by whom only it can be legally exercised, and +not permit foreign Nations, in a state of War, to usurp the right of +legislating by Proclamation for any of the Citizens or Subjects of the +Powers composing this Association. + +It is, therefore, in order to take away all pretence of search or visit, +which by being offensive might become a new cause of War, that we will +provide Laws and publish them by Proclamation, each in his own Dominion, +to prohibit the supplying, or carrying to, the Belligerent Powers, +or either of them, the military stores or articles before mentioned, +annexing thereto a penalty to be levied or inflicted upon any persons +within our several Dominions transgressing the same. And we invite all +Persons, as well of the Belligerent Nations as of our own, or of +any other, to give information of any knowledge they may have of +any transgressions against the said Law, that the offenders may be +prosecuted. + +By this conduct we restore the word Contraband (_contra_ and _ban_) to +its true and original signification, which means against Law, edict, or +Proclamation; and none but the Government of a Nation can have, or can +exercise, the right of making Laws, edicts, or Proclamations, for the +conduct of its Citizens or Subjects. + +Now We, the undersigned Powers, declare the aforesaid Articles to be a +Law of Nations at all times, or until a Congress of Nations shall meet +to form some Law more effectual. + +And we do recommend that immediately on the breaking out of War between +any two or more Nations, that Deputies be appointed by all Neutral +Nations, whether members of this Association or not, to meet in Congress +in some central place to take cognizance of any violations of the Rights +of Neutral Nations. + +Signed, &c. + + +For the purpose of giving operation to the aforesaid plan of an _unarmed +Association_, the following Paragraph was subjoined: + +It may be judged proper for the order of Business, that the Association +of Nations have a President for a term of years, and the Presidency to +pass by rotation, to each of the parties composing the Association. + +In that case, and for the sake of regularity, the first President to +be the Executive power of the most northerly Nation composing the +Association, and his deputy or Minister at the Congress to be President +of the Congress,--and the next most northerly to be Vice-president, who +shall succeed to the Presidency, and so on. The line determining the +Geographical situation of each, to be the latitude of the Capital of +each Nation. + +If this method be adopted it will be proper that the first President +be nominally constituted in order to give rotation to the rest. In that +case the following Article might be added to the foregoing, viz't. The +Constitution of the Association nominates the Emperor Paul to be _first +President_ of the Association of Nations for the protection of Neutral +Commerce, and securing the freedom of the Seas. + + +The foregoing plan, as I have before mentioned, was presented to the +Ministers of all the Neutral Nations then in Paris, in the summer of +1800. Six Copies were given to the Russian General Springporten; and a +Russian Gentleman who was going to Petersburgh took two expressly for +the purpose of putting them into the hands of Paul I sent the original +manuscript, in my own handwriting, to Mr. Jefferson, and also wrote him +four Letters, dated the 1st, 4th, 6th, 16th of October, 1800, giving +him an account of what was then going on in Europe respecting Neutral +Commerce. + +The Case was, that in order to compel the English Government to +acknowledge the rights of Neutral Commerce, and that free Ships make +free Goods, the _Emperor Paul_, in the month of September following the +publication of the plan, shut all the Ports of Russia against England. +Sweden and Denmark did the same by their Ports, and Denmark shut up +Hamburgh. Prussia shut up the Elbe and the Weser. The ports of Spain, +Portugal, and Naples were shut up, and, in general, all the ports of +Italy, except Venice, which the Emperor of Germany held; and had it not +been for the untimely death of Paul, a _Law of Nations_, founded on the +authority of Nations, for establishing the rights of Neutral Commerce +and the freedom of the Seas, would have been proclaimed, and the +Government of England must have consented to that Law, or the Nation +must have lost its Commerce; and the consequence to America would have +been, that such a Law would, in a great measure if not entirely, have +released her from the injuries of Jay's Treaty. + +Of all these matters I informed Mr. Jefferson. This was before he was +President, and the Letter he wrote me after he was President was in +answer to those I had written to him and the manuscript Copy of the plan +I had sent here. Here follows the Letter: + + +Washington, March 18, 1801. Dear Sir: + +Your letters of Oct. 1st, 4th, 6th, 16th, came duly to hand, and the +papers which they covered were, according to your permission, published +in the Newspapers, and in a Pamphlet, and under your own name. These +papers contain precisely our principles, and I hope they will be +generally recognized here. _Determined as we are to avoid, if possible, +wasting the energies of our People in war and destruction, we shall +avoid implicating ourselves with the Powers of Europe, even in support +of principles which we mean to pursue. They have so many other Interests +different from ours that we must avoid being entangled in them. We +believe we can enforce those principles as to ourselves by Peaceable +means, now that we are likely to have our Public Councils detached from +foreign views. The return of our citizens from the phrenzy into which +they had been wrought, partly by ill conduct in France, partly by +artifices practiced upon them, is almost extinct, and will, I believe, +become quite so_, But these details, too minute and long for a Letter, +will be better developed by Mr. Dawson, the Bearer of this, a Member of +the late Congress, to whom I refer you for them. He goes in the Maryland +Sloop of War, which will wait a few days at Havre to receive his Letters +to be written on his arrival at Paris. You expressed a wish to get a +passage to this Country in a Public Vessel. Mr. Dawson is charged with +orders to the Captain of the Maryland to receive and accommodate you +back if you can be ready to depart at such a short warning. Rob't R. +Livingston is appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Republic of +France, but will not leave this, till we receive the ratification of +the Convention by Mr. Dawson. I am in hopes you will find us returned +generally to sentiments worthy of former times. In these it will be +your glory to have steadily laboured and with as much effect as any man +living. That you may long live to continue your useful Labours and to +reap the reward in the thankfulness of Nations is my sincere prayer. +Accept assurances of my high esteem and affectionate attachment. + +Thomas Jefferson. + + +This, Citizens of the United States, is the Letter about which the +leaders and tools of the Federal faction, without knowing its contents +or the occasion of writing it, have wasted so many malignant falsehoods. +It is a Letter which, on account of its wise economy and peaceable +principles, and its forbearance to reproach, will be read by every good +Man and every good Citizen with pleasure; and the faction, mortified at +its appearance, will have to regret they forced it into publication. The +least atonement they can now offer is to make the Letter as public as +they have made their own infamy, and learn to lie no more. + +The same injustice they shewed to Mr. Jefferson they shewed to me. I +had employed myself in Europe, and at my own expense, in forming and +promoting a plan that would, in its operation, have benefited the +Commerce of America; and the faction here invented and circulated an +account in the papers they employ, that I had given a plan to the French +for burning all the towns on the Coast from Savannah to Baltimore. Were +I to prosecute them for this (and I do not promise that I will not, for +the Liberty of the Press is not the liberty of lying,) there is not a +federal judge, not even one of Midnight appointment, but must, from the +nature of the case, be obliged to condemn them. The faction, however, +cannot complain they have been restrained in any thing. They have had +their full swing of lying uncontradicted; they have availed themselves, +unopposed, of all the arts Hypocrisy could devise; and the event has +been, what in all such cases it ever will and ought to be, _the ruin of +themselves_. + +The Characters of the late and of the present Administrations are now +sufficiently marked, and the adherents of each keep up the distinction. +The former Administration rendered itself notorious by outrage, +coxcombical parade, false alarms, a continued increase of taxes, and an +unceasing clamor for War; and as every vice has a virtue opposed to +it, the present Administration moves on the direct contrary line. +The question, therefore, at elections is not properly a question upon +Persons, but upon principles. Those who are for Peace, moderate taxes, +and mild Government, will vote for the Administration that conducts +itself by those principles, in whatever hands that Administration may +be. + +There are in the United States, and particularly in the middle States, +several religious Sects, whose leading moral principle is PEACE. It is, +therefore, impossible that such Persons, consistently with the dictates +of that principle, can vote for an Administration that is clamorous +for War. When moral principles, rather than Persons, are candidates for +Power, to vote is to perform a moral duty, and not to vote is to neglect +a duty. + +That persons who are hunting after places, offices, and contracts, +should be advocates for War, taxes, and extravagance, is not to be +wondered at; but that so large a portion of the People who had nothing +to depend upon but their Industry, and no other public prospect but that +of paying taxes, and bearing the burden, should be advocates for the +same measures, is a thoughtlessness not easily accounted for. But reason +is recovering her empire, and the fog of delusion is clearing away. + +Thomas Paine. + +BORDENTOWN, ON THE DELAWARE, + +New Jersey, April 21, 1803.(1) + + + 1 Endorsed: "Sent by Gen. Bloomfield per Mr. Wilson for Mr. + Duane." And, in a later hand: "Paine Letter 6. Found among + the Bartram Papers sent by Col. Carr."--Editor. + + + + +XXXIV. TO THE FRENCH INHABITANTS OF LOUISIANA.(1) + + 1 In a letter to Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury + (Oct 14, 1804), John Randolph of Roanoke proposed "the + printing of -- thousand copies of Tom Paine's answer to + their remonstrance, and transmitting them by as many + thousand troops, who can speak a language perfectly + intelligible to the people of Louisiana, whatever that of + their government may be," The purchase of Louisiana was + announced to the Senate by President Jefferson, October 17, + 1803.--Editor. + +A publication having the appearance of a memorial and remonstrance, to +be presented to Congress at the ensuing session, has appeared in several +papers. It is therefore open to examination, and I offer you my remarks +upon it. The title and introductory paragraph are as follows: + +"_To the Congress of the United States in the Senate and House of +Representatives convened_: We the subscribers, planters, merchants, and +other inhabitants of Louisiana, respectfully approach the legislature +of the United States with a memorial of _our rights_, a remonstrance +against certain laws which contravene them, and a petition for +that redress to which the laws of nature, sanctioned by positive +stipulations, have entitled us." + +It often happens that when one party, or one that thinks itself a party, +talks much about its rights, it puts those of the other party upon +examining into their own, and such is the effect produced by your +memorial. + +A single reading of that memorial will show it is the work of some +person who is not of your people. His acquaintance with the cause, +commencement, progress, and termination of the American revolution, +decides this point; and his making our merits in that revolution the +ground of your claims, as if our merits could become yours, show she +does not understand your situation. + +We obtained our rights by calmly understanding principles, and by the +successful event of a long, obstinate, and expensive war. But it is +not incumbent on us to fight the battles of the world for the world's +profit. You are already participating, without any merit or expense in +obtaining it, the blessings of freedom acquired by ourselves; and in +proportion as you become initiated into the principles and practice of +the representative system of government, of which you have yet had no +experience, you will participate more, and finally be partakers of the +whole. You see what mischief ensued in France by the possession of power +before they understood principles. They earned liberty in words, but +not in fact. The writer of this was in France through the whole of +the revolution, and knows the truth of what he speaks; for after +endeavouring to give it principle, he had nearly fallen a victim to its +rage. + +There is a great want of judgment in the person who drew up your +memorial. He has mistaken your case, and forgotten his own; and by +trying to court your applause has injured your pretensions. He has +written like a lawyer, straining every point that would please his +client, without studying his advantage. I find no fault with the +composition of the memorial, for it is well written; nor with the +principles of liberty it contains, considered in the abstract. The error +lies in the misapplication of them, and in assuming a ground they have +not a right to stand upon. Instead of their serving you as a ground of +reclamation against us, they change into a satire on yourselves. Why +did you not speak thus when you ought to have spoken it? We fought for +liberty when you stood quiet in slavery. + +The author of the memorial injudiciously confounding two distinct +cases together, has spoken as if he was the memorialist of a body of +Americans, who, after sharing equally with us in all the dangers and +hardships of the revolutionary war, had retired to a distance and made +a settlement for themselves. If, in such a situation, Congress had +established a temporary government over them, in which they were not +personally consulted, they would have had a right to speak as the +memorial speaks. But your situation is different from what the situation +of such persons would be, and therefore their ground of reclamation +cannot of right become yours. You are arriving at freedom by the easiest +means that any people ever enjoyed it; without contest, without expense, +and even without any contrivance of your own. And you already so far +mistake principles, that under the name of _rights_ you ask for _powers; +power to import and enslave Africans_; and _to govern_ a territory that +_we have purchased_. + +To give colour to your memorial, you refer to the treaty of cession, (in +which _you were not_ one of the contracting parties,) concluded at Paris +between the governments of the United States and France. + +"The third article" you say "of the treaty lately concluded at +Paris declares, that the inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be +incorporated in the union of the United States, and admitted _as soon as +possible, according to the principles_ of the Federal Constitution, to +the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens +of the United States; and _in the mean time_, they shall be protected +in the enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the exercise of the +religion they profess." + +As from your former condition, you cannot be much acquainted with +diplomatic policy, and I am convinced that even the gentleman who +drew up the memorial is not, I will explain to you the grounds of this +article. It may prevent your running into further errors. + +The territory of Louisiana had been so often ceded to different European +powers, that it became a necessary article on the part of France, +and for the security of Spain, the ally of France, and which accorded +perfectly with our own principles and intentions, that it should be +_ceded no more_; and this article, stipulating for the incorporation of +Louisiana into the union of the United States, stands as a bar against +all future cession, and at the same time, as well as "_in the mean +time_" secures to you a civil and political permanency, personal +security and liberty which you never enjoyed before. + +France and Spain might suspect, (and the suspicion would not have been +ill-founded had the cession been treated for in the administration of +John Adams, or when Washington was president, and Alexander Hamilton +president over him,) that we _bought_ Louisiana for the British +government, or with a view of selling it to her; and though such +suspicion had no just ground to stand upon with respect to our present +president, Thomas Jefferson, who is not only not a man of intrigue but +who possesses that honest pride of principle that cannot be intrigued +with, and which keeps intriguers at a distance, the article was +nevertheless necessary as a precaution against future contingencies. +But you, from not knowing the political ground of the article, apply +to yourselves _personally_ and _exclusively_, what had reference to the +_territory_, to prevent its falling into the hands of any foreign +power that might endanger the [establishment of] _Spanish_ dominion in +America, or those of the _French_ in the West India Islands. + +You claim, (you say), to be incorporated into the union of the United +States, and your remonstrances on this subject are unjust and without +cause. + +You are already _incorporated_ into it as fully and effectually as the +Americans themselves are, who are settled in Louisiana. You enjoy the +same rights, privileges, advantages, and immunities, which they +enjoy; and when Louisiana, or some part of it, shall be erected into a +constitutional State, you also will be citizens equal with them. + +You speak in your memorial, as if you were the only people who were +to live in Louisiana, and as if the territory was purchased that +you exclusively might govern it. In both these cases you are greatly +mistaken. The emigrations from the United States into the purchased +territory, and the population arising therefrom, will, in a few years, +exceed you in numbers. It is but twenty-six years since Kentucky +began to be settled, and it already contains more than _double_ your +population. + +In a candid view of the case, you ask for what would be injurious to +yourselves to receive, and unjust in us to grant. _Injurious_, because +the settlement of Louisiana will go on much faster under the government +and guardianship of Congress, then if the government of it were +committed to _your_ hands; and consequently, the landed property +you possessed as individuals when the treaty was concluded, or have +purchased since, will increase so much faster in value.--_Unjust to +ourselves_, because as the reimbursements of the purchase money must +come out of the sale of the lands to new settlers, the government of it +cannot suddenly go out of the hands of Congress. They are guardians of +that property for _all the people of the United States_. And besides +this, as the new settlers will be chiefly from the United States, it +would be unjust and ill policy to put them and their property under the +jurisdiction of a people whose freedom they had contributed to purchase. +You ought also to recollect, that the French Revolution has not +exhibited to the world that grand display of principles and rights, that +would induce settlers from other countries to put themselves under a +French jurisdiction in Louisiana. Beware of intriguers who may push you +on from private motives of their own. + +You complain of two cases, one of which you have _no right_, no concern +with; and the other is founded in direct injustice. + +You complain that Congress has passed a law to divide the country +into two territories. It is not improper to inform you, that after the +revolutionary war ended, Congress divided the territory acquired by +that war into ten territories; each of which was to be erected into a +constitutional State, when it arrived at a certain population mentioned +in the Act; and, in the mean time, an officer appointed by the +President, as the Governor of Louisiana now is, presided, as Governor +of the Western Territory, over all such parts as have not arrived at +the maturity of _statehood_. Louisiana will require to be divided +into twelve States or more; but this is a matter that belongs to _the +purchaser_ of the territory of Louisiana, and with which the inhabitants +of the town of New-Orleans have no right to interfere; and beside this, +it is probable that the inhabitants of the other territory would choose +to be independent of New-Orleans. They might apprehend, that on some +speculating pretence, their produce might be put in requisition, and a +maximum price put on it--a thing not uncommon in a French government. +As a general rule, without refining upon sentiment, one may put +confidence in the justice of those who have no inducement to do us +injustice; and this is the case Congress stands in with respect to both +territories, and to all other divisions that may be laid out, and to all +inhabitants and settlers, of whatever nation they may be. + +There can be no such thing as what the memorial speaks of, that is, _of +a Governor appointed by the President who may have no interest in the +welfare of Louisiana_. He must, from the nature of the case, have more +interest in it than any other person can have. He is entrusted with the +care of an extensive tract of country, now the property of the United +States by purchase. The value of those lands will depend on the +increasing prosperity of Louisiana, its agriculture, commerce, and +population. You have only a local and partial interest in the town of +New-Orleans, or its vicinity; and if, in consequence of exploring the +country, new seats of commerce should offer, his general interest would +lead him to open them, and your partial interest to shut them up. + +There is probably some justice in your remark, as it applies to the +governments under which you _formerly_ lived. Such governments +always look with jealousy, and an apprehension of revolt, on colonies +increasing in prosperity and population, and they send governors to +_keep them down_. But when you argue from the conduct of governments +_distant and despotic_, to that of _domestic_ and _free_ government, it +shows you do not understand the principles and interest of a Republic, +and to put you right is friendship. We have had experience, and you have +not. + +The other case to which I alluded, as being founded in direct injustice, +is that in which you petition for _power_, under the name of _rights_, +to import and enslave Africans! + +_Dare you put up a petition to Heaven for such a power, without fearing +to be struck from the earth by its justice?_ + +_Why, then, do you ask it of man against man?_ + +_Do you want to renew in Louisiana the horrors of Domingo?_ + + +Common Sense. + +Sept 22, 1804. + + +END OF VOLUME III. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Writings Of Thomas Paine, Volume +III., by Thomas Paine + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE *** + +***** This file should be named 31271.txt or 31271.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/7/31271/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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