The recorder. [volume], December 08, 1802, Image 2

About The recorder. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1802-1803

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MK. THOMAS 1»A!NTl.
C'jotluticd from < ur Lift.
“ i Have no occafion,” fays Mr.
Paine, c‘ to afk, an ! do not mean to
accept any place, or office, i.i the go
“ vernment,”-The public have no
thing t6 do with all this—«* l have an
cA.aolifh-<J fame in rhe literary world.”
I vii Mr. Pain.* buried his innnpctei,
lo that he finds it reccilary to blow cite
horn himfelf ?— “ I ihdl continue thefe
letters, as l Ice occalion” fafter Inch a
farnplc, tir, as the present, the world
can, without impatience, awric your
leiturc |i “ and as to the iow puny prints
c* that chuic to abnic me, they are wcl
“ come. I Jhall not deice'nd to anlwer
;t them.I have been too much accudnin
“ ed t* fuch common ftui; to c.ntr any
“ notice of them.
It isnsrdtolec what greater abufe any
printer can give Mr. Fiunc than what hr
Sashimld? bellowed upon one half, or
ar le#ll uiie third part of the pcopic of
das country. His important approach
lus {truck them, it fcCms, with a kind of
hxdrophtbia. The iruddett t f Dunne’s
icvcries, when :ic* prates about b«is elevat
ed ground, is decency and mo delation
when compared with lisch matchlcls
inlolence. ! v,.-i, Ajax, I lv>mer*s favo
rite model of arrogance and ferocity,
when he is u> acre or the challenge of
lienor,deliver, lanfcifin a (tile wh/cU
tuncraitcd ( iur ir c. nmu he compared)
with that of Mr. Peine iu the llilc of a
ga ntlemar. If Mr\ Paine fancies that
this is the way to gain profyletes, he is
5< an old man, without the benefit of
c< experience.” J If hr conceits that his
tr ival has (Truck any party, or any man
with terror, l truit the fpirit ot the coun
try will convince him he is mifuker.
Powerful and formidable as Mr. Paine
is, he (liould nor expect that five milli
ons r>: people are prepared fo fall on
their knees before him. He fhouki
it expec> that tnen. who, in every
thing but abilities,are at leafl: in* equals,
will be the more difpoied to adopt
his opinion, becauic he tells them that
hi> approach lias feared them out of
their fenics, bccaule he ceils diem
that they are gnafhing their teeth; be
caufe hr comperes them to die molt
hideous and horrible object ir, the rv in.de
range ofani nated nature. If you wiih
to convince a perfon of the purity of
*vour principles, and the corrrctnefs of
y-.iur aigi n,en:r>, you do not begin by
tweaking lus nofc, and (piecing in his
if'ce. And yet he would regard even
ibat tream rnt as refpectful, in compa
iifon with the metaphor, which Mr.
Paine has i aft in the faces of the peoole
oi A Hit non I do nor. exaggerate. You
v* his language at full length. I'lcre
-•> no garbKci or crippled quotad m.
Mr.Faint h s left no nuti /e no r. um.r o
i oll.bi’i' y ro tyr.ggcr. u. tl».. iniolcncc o;
! ij coiidnet. And f<i eve ry man, who
dors, nor ap) love of the win 1c me a lures
of Mr. Jeiterfon, is to he compare 1
with a mad cr g ! One is alhamed to
reprint fuch defpicable infulrs, or to
employ fuel', epithets of abhorrence, as
they would be found to jnidify. Ar,
Ford fays in the play, {c Amalrftort founds
“ weih Barbajon founds well; yet they
ff are devils’ additions. But---Crc
“k-ld! Cuckold! Cuckold! The
“ devii himfelf has not fuch a nick -
name. T his nickname is infinitely
more refpe&ftil than that which Mr.
* su e has bellowed upon * very nume
rous petti n of people « t lead as good
as iiimbdf. Such is the cbc.;'cn vejfe! of
cur beloved ptrfidcm! lie fends
c Hundred leagues for an auxiliary
w.ui r, to tell ha* adverlaries that they
c m*J degj. ,\[) the wretched Jct
:cri,,n newspapers republifh this preci
:,0'T^r. and fotne of them preface it
* ith rha pfodies of admiration.
* ’■ conduct s the(c wi rdf.
government or Fngland honored
"•,ft a thouf3nd imuyrdoms, by
‘ burning me m effigy i„ r /vry (OWi)
in rfiat «'<au.iiry. and their hj;c mg . in
Amc,i.-: u ay do the f.m c.” I tw g0.
» <1 .nciit of l'n^ja.iu; u. . a burnt ,Vir.
>efiigy,a,id(i,cy >i:;i rhirca/r.
t .1 niii3.
u • I
| body to burn it it -Vn-rica. It was
burnl in lomc piaces, by the mob, but
these people can an more be confound
ed with the Britith government, than
Mr. P.u ur*s propoied national conven
tion with a B:iti!h pirliament. 1 lieie
is no mark of I'cnSe in rhofc challenges.
Without tne wanton invitation ot infult,
Mr. Paine is already as much dctellcd
as a wile man can mill to be.
Mr. Paine's leitet is interaperfed with
numerous profeflions of attachment to
•he United States. About tie year
1790, an American gentleman, who
now relides in Norfolk, and who told
me ilit circumitance, was introduced
to Mr. Paine at London, in a houfe in
Bloomibory kpurc. Mr. Paine fpokc
in the rudett and molt contemptuous
terms borh U1 the people of America
anti of the country. 11c was talking
with mucli rn.j'hads of fomc noblemen,
who had taken notice of him. He
: uia. uic .viiiciadiis wua ingra
| tiuJoC to himlelf. ft docs not ap
j pear that t jis charge hacl an ho
cell foundation. During the war, Mr.
Paine was appointed fecretary to Con
grefs, for foreign affairs. This Was
certainly a very high mark of confidence.
A'ter the war, Congrefs gave him three
thoulanu dollars* and tire date of Penn
‘ylvania gave him a prefent of five hun
dred pounds. Phe ilaces of New-York
and New-J t ricy. gave him a!fo corn
pen lation. Mr. Paine was thus ve
ry handfomely rewarded. He was*
at the lam • time, rarefied and truited
by ioiue oi die firft people of the con
tinent. He had no title to complain
< i American ingratitude. He left this
country. He loon after learned, as he
fays, that the principles of liberty -cere
expiring It vv.is his dutv to hive re
tui .ocd co mat country for which He
pp.Yiico fo much attachment to give
battle to the fedition act. in Head* of
this, he continued in Europe for aim oft
liftecn years, ilc fullered thole ex
piring principles to fight their own
way. It they were prevented from ex
piling, no thanks for their prefervation
am due to Mr. Paine. If he could have
found a proper footing either in France,
or England, »ve fhowid not have heard
any more about him.
Mr. Paine 1 peaks dfnewspapers with
contempt. At the fame time, he chufes
that channel for addreffing the public.
He dcipife*. writers chat are abufive.
At the lainc time, he becomes as abu
ir. e as the wort! or them, lie brags of
nis atcacninent to America, yet he con
! ieifes an abicnce o; no leis than thirteen
j years, after he had heard of her danger,
j Me did not return at all, rill he conficTer
| ed the danger as over. Pic arrives; and
, ^»io t-uiupicic i/ijor-*
• »;*'«» Hpcn tbejpot. He tells one half
<j! the people of this country that he has
frighted them out of their fenfes. To
the whole community he addreffes him
i ji in the tone of a pedagogue fhakirv^
i.is .>ii c.. He forgets that, during an
able nee of fifteen years, bis placeJ has
been lupplied; that our bufimjs can be
d,rii without him-, that, in feventy fix,
the American prcls was in the baby
clot ei- of infancy; that ithasfin e grown
up to the maturity of manhood.
When it va>. rirft reported that Mr.
J' Her Ion had invited Mr Paine to return
t j die United States, the writer of thefe
remarks fee it down as a federal calumny.
Mr, Jetferfou had wirnefled the unipeak
able miichief that rciliitcd to his party
from Bncht’s publication of the fecund
part of the Age of Kcafon. He knew
that fufpicion' of atheifm had been at
tached to hi mi 1 clf. It feemed, therefore,
into edible chat the prefidenr, with his
eves open, lliouid walk into fuch a gulf
or reproach, as the invitation of Mr.
Paine to return to this country. He
I could not hive taken a longer Uep to
deftmtfioui and it i.s amazing that Mr.
Jrdi iibn did not forelee rhi, fimple
and obvious fafU Voltaire, Gibbon, the
king ol Prufli.i, and many ocher ceie
biuted uriters, have artacked the chrif
ti 1,1 religion. Put their publications
bear no more Jikcncfs to ih<- infoicne
hi u.kgLiai disin of M Paine than Gal
latin bfar.s to the Duke of Sully, or
G.i ,.»id Madron to the ancient Hci
P if. ! bar. ihele expreflion* may not
'•>f co.'didcrcd as uncandkl, or unjuft,
here foil >w fomc tpecimrns ot Mr. !
Paine’s Age cf Re'Jin. They are
not feje&ed a* w Ve, or better than
a thouiand others. The leeond part is
ii»ore general' i '. cent than the tirft;
and as*Mr. Paine fays in this letter that
f< he had Tonne manufeript work. to
{‘ publifh,” the natural inference is chat
the third part will be Hill more indecent
than thefecond. t ie had promifed to
write an aniwer to Bilhop Wat Ton, and
another to Mr.Erfldne,wlv> pled again(l
rhe London Bookieller, that was profe
c sited for punting the Age o{ /ieafon.
l'here is much reafem to believe that
thefe two pieces form a pare of Mr.
I Paine’s budget, Here follow the ex
! tracts.
Speaking of I (Utah's prophecy of the incar
n-'tion of our Savior, w Behold! a virgin
1 (hall conceive and boat «tfon,‘ See. Mr- Paine
renmi ks:
1 It certain!v was not a difficult thing ‘many
time of the world to find a girl with child, or
to nuke her lb', anti perhaps Ifaiah knew of
One beforehand i fo« I do not flip pole that the
proohefs of that dav were any more to he
trufled titan the priefts ofthisr
u The fable of fefus Chrifl, tnkino it as ;t
. u i-' told, is 1)!djbhnnoi'.Jy ohjeene. It .ves an
! account of a voting woman engager e
i “ mar; soil, a id while under tins catp .•.-ox •
: “ fne is, to (peak plain l tr.gujge, devauchni
“ h ghej}."1
rspenkung or the rclurrcctioa ol faints at
; the crack;\inn, I’.line lays:
; i Mathew fhcnild Have told hs whether
. r:\ came ofst naked and all in natu.ii bvfF,
' u he-!: t.t- .and Ihe-laint*, or whether they
: ca:rt in!! (ireiledj and where thev got their
I 4t drclles; whether thev went tti their fornt
! ‘‘ .r habitations and reclaimed their wiv es,
their hu(bands and their property, and how
tl they were received; whether they entered
4‘ ejercrticnt for the recovery of their poll'd"
“ i'onSj c.r brought actions of o:«;, r-pak'ft
“ the rival interlopers; whether ihev remain
M cd or earth, and followed their former oc
“ cupaticna of p reach in •: 01 working, or whe
tc thee they died a gam, ol went hack to their
“graves and buried themfc-ves.*’
Such is the literary Iti’.e of the com
panion of Aladifcn, anti JefFerfcn, of che
man upon whom, at his arrival in W.r.h
ington, ,cneral Mafon immediately
waited. Glaudian, one of the lali and
bell of Roman poecs, was convinced of
the agency of a fupr.inc being by die
fail of the tyrant Rufinus.* The invica
"N uT f.S
* Left I fhoilld forger to mention it
in fome other place, I mull here take
notice of one of the niimerom and fplcu
didexcellencies of Duane, the eu.-uddfr
and aftociatc of Paine, and that other
crutch, upon whole abihii's, the pr< fi
dent’s character miy be laid to jean.
The bagpipe is fond of making reference
to hiftory, and fome of his admirers
imagine that his llrength lies in this
quarter. In one of his late Anroras,
we find the following deep jnd juft ob- j
fervarioils upon Greek ancf Roman »
Ill i lOi Vi
Gratitude is riot a republican virtue
“ Ancient and modern hi fiery vviil bear wit.
w nefs in mv favour. Athens ivwarded So.
“ crates for his fervices v/i-h a do e rtf p-.ifon
“ Rome too, was a genuine republic, ,d fid
“ lifarius, after having hi? country, wr.,
“deprived oi hi eye fig!.r,and '-.bfided by ■
“ging hi? breed in the ftreets of' their |
“capital/’ This clla? on n ati.side i<
infer ted, both in the National and
the Auroi/*.ud it i* intended as a fatire
upon the *e .eralifts Tor their in^ratitu.lc to
Mr. Paine.
Ic has already been proved tlur Mr.
Paine was very ampiy rewarded for |»i
fervice? in America. Som' years ago,
Duane’s party upbraided Cobbct a
a criminal, for laying that grab aide was ]
not the virtue of republican. The truth !
is that, of all mankind, kin/:; a’e the
mod generally ungr.itchri. It b ainui
ing to hear Duane prating ..bout Beii
larius. Rome had ccafed ro be i r
I public nt leaft five ki ndred years btj fc
| Bciifarius was born : and Gibbcn could
i have told him that the i.act or Roman
I generals was never de prived of his eye
j fight, that he never begged hi, bread*
| and that one of the ci di h - ncs of his
life was the rrpulic of an army of bar
barians, who had attacked the/espi al «>f
| the Byzantine etnpir Duane mi lit
as well have faid that J.e.n \ lam- wr-.
a drummer in the at my o; Gu,;,i.ui.
i Adbjpans or that 1 I~iir#ar and Sr Clair
mderltood bu'hing- fighfim/ »-c i r|1;i
Pickens, or George Ro;c:, Clarke.
cion of 1'iomas Paine cov« vinecs ri■ e*
writer of chi' paper that divine provi*
deuce has pre ictlincd the disgrace mid
dismilTion ot Jeiferfon. Whe
ther the cin ikian religion be founded on
true!) or impolturr, ii is nothing ief> than
the heightof raiinels for Madiioii and
che prelidcnt to embrace as their confi -
dent and companion,the man that inluir5,
•t. 1 heynever chink of religion but to
dcipile it. They, as well as Paine,belie v.
that the llory of the birth of "fetus Cbrid
is an obsci:nf. blammiemous fabls.
I h«.;y believe, and ail tneiracijuiuntances
know, by this time, th..c they believe
tii.it tiie Virgin Mary was a Woman of
bad tame, and that herludbuid was coi
noted. But if 1‘uch was his opinion)
Mr. MadiUm lbould have kept it to
hinfeir. I r. is true chat he did nor
write a teeter of invitation to Mr.Paine.
He did not thank die author of the
of Rcafon, tor his ufehil labours. Bur
the fccretaiy did the very lame tiling.
He has paid to Mr. Paine the homage
of his oi£h c on fderation-, and th*, no liri
ce i r chi mum ever vvili do £
iVg.iJ-ili ;l boon H> Voit. jj’.aoUsj »s the
'!*'» a hook wrote by various au
'-n<»r., ..t various and dirfant periods, and
r ''cu in di!! • vc nc Idnguj iris imo *f
iibit Liiat*' 'j»; lions may not be advanc
ed- I iiiodon is the moll celebrated
vvnerof fermonj in cl it? krsghih i.»n
cP-'g1*- H:s ic#rning, his actifnefs a :d
iv-.-. on.hotlo’cy,have never been dif meed.
He Jives an .»pi ion that piles an end
to many >f tjie verbal cn *cifms an.* rri
vial wircicifmsbf'Mi. Pain?» He lays
t!i..t it is idle to believe that every word
of the fu ipturcs was wrote by immedi
ate inspiration. He aiTigns his reafons.
lie adds tin t inch treiiel is not oeccfiar^
lor die falvati n of .1 chriftian. The
book is not at hand; but the patfage has
been read more riian once, k is drlic.tf:
ly remembered; and •; demanded,can oe
produced.
But, in order to con hmn fucii a book
as Mr. lame s, it is not jieccflary to
believe in ehnilianity. ( lie author
may be defeated upon ground of his owri
rl»tifiiig. i ic book tends to difturb
the peace of fociety, to wound, in
rhe molt ouerngeou.. minner, the feel
ings of mankind; and all this without
the 1 mailed chance of attaining its aki
ii ate qojeeh And if that obje-fl vere
attainable and attained,would mankind be
tile better for it : Hid icobe.spierre, with
his atheilm, prefent fui h a brilliant ipe
men of morality ? Oi does a man who
has been an eye wituefs cu the feenes
,ri d'-it country, vvilli to renew them in
thi.- ? h'or even in his rlrft letter, Mr.
kaiite has ta,*>ne out oi iiis Way to fnerr
at “ the prayers of priefts, and the piety
oi hypocrites.” If religion could be
fubven d, the morals of the people,
citiu elpec:::iy of the female fex, would
Oe much w ule than thev are. A wo
1,,dn ‘-oat empties religion, is one of he
nioli tl.ini'-.-’nr- monftrrs in nature.
Aw » th: kiys a Scots proverb,
IAK. A'\'A r J £• I * H r l*, AND Gl/DE Sr! WEE
to tap • *1 be example of France
prov- , ir prom ;io«i hern wanting, rhac
N • '. i t .
Sometime ;?g , ’On nc.' i.iid that,fie Wi t
u( o i a jc.oroi 1. i le ho. been bored
m v. in to tell in wnat country that
iC.ift.TI ivood. Sucli is the hiitoricad
knowledge Ot this republican home
bre ker !
t I >v is here going to hrvr added
Mi.1.: follow >: ‘.{ l*/Ir. * ladilon v'iil ivbi
" aHociat * icli a peribn, who has juft
iC d* i v ,vl ft from the piiJory, or who
" om nis way to cat* gallows for koufe
“ Yer, m the eye of a chrif
“ t»Ao/rh;ft tnd robaerry are mere pec
ct Cadillacs, when compared with the
“ w''‘-h»g fuch \ book as Paine’s
“ of Real on. Mr. Madifon af
<c |;>ci3res with Mr. Paine. He decc ?;•;/
‘ • cc,‘fl 7s> Pains a > a criminal. There fa rr
“ he caon be a chiiitian.” I was -v
oiling in the force and corrector is o;
rhiri lrUogii.n, when the name of wi;,.
mam dca.vj darted acrofs rcty m.r.no
’ v. *'cco,npa..iv:d with Wolcott’s ce,
Lifton's letters, ftronfon’s letter, and
toe C ilCutra pole. Upon rhis reco!
>r '!i >.\} roe pill g- was tidUaferred
> )tcom n -u . l.i that**cuation, the re
dercan rruh. vhic uie of it, he thi- .
proper.