Greenwich Village

ine, In

ove and thanks of man and woman.... I have as little superstition in me as any man living; but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to milita

hich it opens. It was the man known far and wide as "the infidel,"-the man who was denounced by church-goers, and persecute

president of the Thomas Paine National Historical Ass

t ever lived in 'Greenwich Village.' I think, on inves

him who came to be known as "the great Commoner of Mankind." He spoke of himself as a "citizen of the worl

ve a place there, too. The street that was named "Reason" because of him, suggests the persecutions abroad and at home which followed the writing of that extraordinary and daring book "The Age of Reason." The name of Mme. de Bonneville, who chose for him the little frame house on the site which is now about at 59 Grove Street, recalls his dramatic life chapter in Paris, where he first met the De

ued many avocations before he found his true vocation-that of a world liberator, and apostle of

t of adventure, in his passion for movement and combat, there Paine is romantic. Paine thou

mance and adventure led him; it was

priately called Death!), putting out from England, and sailed with her piratical crew for a year. This was doubtless adventurous enough, but young Thomas already wanted adventure

ed that he wished to take orders in the Church of England. This is, however, extremely unlikely. In any case, he changed his mind in time, and was again taken on as exciseman. Likewise, he was again dismi

tly useful, partly whimsical." They would be, of course. They included a crane, a planing-machine, a smok

he site of the house w

d was twice married. One wife died, and from the other he was separated. At all events, at thirty-seven, alone and friend

troubled Colonies. He, an Englishman, urged America to break away from England; he, of Quaker birth and by heredity and training opposed to fighting, advocated the most stringen

he is more than half responsible for it. The very soul and fibre and living spirit of the United States was the soul and

mund Randolph drily ascribes American independence first to George III and second to Paine. Five hundred thousand copies of the pamphlet were sold, and he mig

under General Roberdeau; then he went as aide-de-camp to General Greene. It was in 1776 that he started his "Crisis," a series of stirring and patriotic

Wilcox has wr

apprehensively concerning the situation to the Congress. Paine, in the meantime (himself a soldier, with General Greene's army on the retreat from Fort Lee, New Jersey, to Newark), realising

diers,-ragged, barefoot, half frozen and more than half sta

times that tr

cry, as they took up their muskets again. It was with that immor

o be burned by the hangman? It was a more formidable enemy

things that were against possibility. When the patriot cause was weak for lack of money he gave a year's salary to start a bank to finance the army, and coaxed, commanded and hypnotised other people into subscribing enough to carry it. He went to Paris and induced the French King to give $6,000

e surely appreciated his efforts? Listen. On his return from Europe, America disfranchised him, ost

ed him little in comparison with the satisfaction he felt in seeing his exalted projects meet with

guilty of "infidelity," he himself, with that straightforward an

piety, she (Providence) must be as bad as Thomas Paine; she has protected him in all h

t extraordinary and beneficent luck,-or was it rather a guardian angel?-stood guard over Paine.

lers to make a chalk mark upon the door of each cell that held a man condemned. Paine was one of a "consignment" of one hundred and sixty-eight prisoners sentenced to be beheaded at dawn, and the jailer made the fateful chalk mark upon his door along with the others, that the guards would know he w

t difficult to write

rical figures, to continuous or disinterested narrative. The authors who have been rash enough to try to tell something about him can no more pick and choose the inc

find oneself trailing his weary but stubborn footsteps in the war! And always and forever, Paine himself persists in crowding out the legit

id

cription to distingui

d yet-there are people in the world who wear smoked glasses, through which, I imagi

er has come with me thus far, I am going to take advantage of his courteous attention for jus

dirty"? I really forget!) he was very young,-only twenty-eight,-and doubtless had accepted his viewpoint of the great reformer-patriot from that "hearsay upon hearsay" against which Paine himself has so urgently warned us. Of course Mr. Roosevelt, who is both

the power of God, the justice and mercy and infallibility of God; and he lived in a profound trust in and love for God, and a hopeful an

exclaimed, "is to be an Atheist, then J

tancy was not merely of action but of the soul, not only of policy or necessity but of spiritual conviction. When even Washington was inclined to submit patiently a bit longer, it was Paine who lashed America into righteous war. He fought for the freedom of the country, for the abolition of slavery, for the rights of women; he fought for old-age pensions, for free publi

war. Every truly great fighter has abhorred war, else he were not truly

A copy of this, together with the President's recent message, might advantageously be sent to a certain well-known address on the other side of the world!) Yet did Paine, with this solemn horror of war, sugg

equired to be a simple workman," he wrote; "to be a king there is need to have only the human shape." Of Burke, he said: "Mr. Burke's min

cely,-even though unable to speak French,-persistently opposing them, with a passionate determination and

that God-given reason which can clearly see things as they are as wel

terribly, had rendered great services and it was at least reasonable that he s

stretched hands, of old friends. This was the bitter fruit of his 'Age of Reason,' which remains of all epoch-making books the one most persistently misquoted and misunderstood; for even now the

says that "slave-owners, ex-royalists, and the f

Quaker women as witches denied him a place on the stage-co

o grateful, took away his right to vote there. They offered the flimsy excuse that he was a French citizen,-which, of course, he wasn't,-but it was

hough I cannot engage that we shall no

honourable years when he came to live in the little

sioners who were at work re-cutting New

w of the first-story room of that house. The sash was raised, and a small table or stand was placed before him with an open book upon it which he appeared to be reading. He had his spectacles on, his left elbow rested upon t

ounce of energy that was in him. The stimulants were resumed, and he grew somewhat better. This naturally brings us to the question of Paine as an excessive drinker. Of course people said he wa

is an old one but too appl

e to Lincoln with the report that one of the greatest and most dist

rue, I should like to send a barrel of the

seems extremely doubtful-it's a frightfu

the younger was named for him, and their visits were among his greatest pleasures. And, by the bye, while we are on the subject, the most scurrilous and unjust re

and had originally intended to come to America with Paine and his family. But, as the publisher of a highly Radical paper-the Bien Informé-De Bonneville was under espionage, and when the time came he was not permitted to leave France. He confided his wife and c

ts and Paine as "Bebia." He was destined to become distinguished in the Civ

eenwich-we have travelled to

y with no more notice than you would pass a humble and shabby wayfarer. Its age and picturesqueness do not arrest the eye; for it isn't the sort of old house which by quaint lines and ol

eciate the honour of placing his hand upon the selfsame polished mahogany stair rail which our immortal "infidel's" hand once pressed, or the rare d

is, incidentally, a mantelpiece which anyone might envy, though now buried i

E CO

t, undertake the long-forgotten national obligation, and

d dogs and puppies. Once he kept pigeons too

thorities never have approv

ht me qu

an old-world feeling. Ah, here we are-59 Grove Street. It is a modest but a charming little red-brick house with a brass knocker and an air of unpretentious, small-scale prosperity. It has only been built during the last half-century, but it stands on the identical plot of ground where Paine's other

One was Willett Hicks, the Quaker preacher, always a staunch friend; another was John Wes

hole life to the attainment of two object

of Man' is now the political constitution of England, his

n wonder just what share Mary Wollstonecraft had with her 'Rights of Women'-in the

iasts declare that our "infidel" was the authentic inventor of the steamboat! In an

in spite of Mme. de Bonneville's affectionat

reform this sterling reformer. I believe their names wer

his ways. Their visitation was not a success. 'Don't let 'em come here again,' he said, curtly, to his housekeeper, Mrs. Hedden, when they had departed; and added: 'They trouble me.' In pursuance of t

e just escaped destruction. Paine's "Providence" has seemed to stand guard over the places sacred to him, just as it stood guard over his invaluable life. A dozen ti

's death a street was cut through, called Cozine Street. Names were fleeting affairs in early and fast-growing New

he officially wise and virtuous ones were able to bes

any bigots (who had never read the book) and some tactful diplomat suggested giving it the French twist-Raison Street. Already they had the notion that French could cover a multitude of sins. Even this was too c

go down there now you will f

June, 1809, Th

homas Paine is no more. This distinguished philanthropist, whose life was devoted to the cause of humanity, departed this l

im for a

look upon his

walked twenty-two miles to New Rochelle to see the last of the man who had always defe

a letter to the Federal faction, conveying a warning as to the then unsettle

r which he was remarkable. He had not much to leave, since he had given all to his country and his country had forgotten him in making up the balance; but what he had went to Mme. de Bonnevill

tinues

nest and useful life to mankind; my time has been spent in doing good and

ll and testament of