V
SN.
Ceateoary of Thomas Paine
Illustrious FoSitical Agita
tor Whose Admirers Will
Soon Meet at Kis Tomb In
New Rochelle to Celebrate
the One 'Hundredth Anni
versary of His Birth. -:-
The Apostle of Liberty In
Three Lands Who Origi
nated Many Humanitari
an Movements Deemed
"True Author of the Decla
ration of Independence."
By JAMES A. EDGER.TON.
THIS is centenary year. It Is the
one hundredth anniversary of the
birth of Lincoln, Darwin, Glad
. stone, Tennyson, Poe, Holmes,
Fitzgerald and many more almost as
illustrious. It likewise measures the
completed century following one nota
ble death, that of Thomas Paine, who
breathed his . last in the city of New
York on June S, 1809. On Saturday;
afternoon, June 5, many societies and
Individuals from New York and other
cities will journey to the Paine m'onu
ment at New Rochelle, N. Y., to cele
brate the event. There will also be
services by the Brooklyn Philosophical
association and many other bodies both
ia the United States and in Europe. ;
' The misunderstanding of Paine is
rapidly passing away. It is now rec
ognized that his religious views were
no more radical than those of modern
Unitarians and other sects, and his un
questioned services for political and
intellectual liberty, his - conspicuous ;
army Paine started a subscription list
by heading it with his whole years
salary, $500, and succeeded in raising
a million and a half and starting a
colonial bank. Yet he was a poor mail.
At another crisis he -planned a trip
to France to procure a loan, accompa
nied Colonel Laurens, who was sent on
the , mission, and brought back the
money.
In the French Revolution.
When the king fled from Paris at
the beginning of the French revolu
tion Paine with others issued a circu
lar, placarded Paris and aroused the
French capital as - he - had before
aroused America.
His "Rights of Man" had a phenom
enal sale throughout England, and the
younger Pitt Eaid that if it had not
been suppressed it would have resulted
In a' revolution there. The peaceful
reforms that came later in England
were from the seeds then sown.
With Condorcet he wrote the first
works for human rights in three ands, ! French constitution.
and especially in the United States, the
country of his adoption, deserve gener
ous recognition. The changed attitude
toward him has been shown in many
ways, notably by the acceptance of his
-. Perhaps the most sublime act of his
life was in opposing the' sending of
King Louis to the scaffold. "Kill the
monarchy, but spare the man!" was his
cry. Yet he knew that by this act he
RICHARDS' STATUE
OF THOMAS PAINE AND
HIM AS A YOUNG MAN.
A MINIATURE OF
statue in Independence hall and gen- would endanger his own life.. As a
erally by the more kindly treatment of ( matter of fact, Paine was thrown Into
him throughout the world. The case prison for eleven months and escaped
of New Rochelle is typical. That city the guillotine only through a thalk
has not only accepted his monument, mark on the wrong side of his door,
placing it in the center of the old road For this arch democrat to risk his own
Jh.at led up to his house, which it calls , nfe to save that of a friendless and
Paine avenue, but the Huguenot Asso- ( dethroned king strikes me as the finest
elation of New Rochelle has moved his piece of heroism seen in modern times,
house to its park near his grave and j These are ttlt the beginning of
will convert it into a museum of his-, nhnmaa T9no,a aervw tn hnmnnitv.
"
torical relics.
Forecasted Modern Reforms.
Throughout most 6f the adult period
of his seventy-two years of life he was
i Thomas Paine first suggested Ameri-1 working for the advancement of man
can independence. j in some quarter of the world.
By his writings and otherwise he" I Perhaps the greatest service of all,
powerfully aided the Revolution. 'the credit of which he unselfishly gave
He first suggested the federal union to another, was in writing the Deciara
of the states.
He first proposed the abolition of
negro slavery.
He first suggested protection for
dumb animals.
He first proposed arbitration and In
ternational peace.
He first suggested equal rights for
women.
He pointed out the reality of human
brotherhood. ' - . :
He first proposed old age pensions.
He first suggested international copy
right. He first suggested the education of
poor children at public expense.
He suggested a great republic of all
the nations of the world.
In addition to these, several of his
services almost as notable occur to
my own memory: -
He wrote for liberty in three lands
and never took a cent for any of his
writingf! .. Not only so, but he claimed
no credit, putting out a great part -of
his Tvork nnotymotisly. i
All .historians agree that his 'Com
mon Sense" converted the colonies - to
Independence. ' - .
.. While a conawn soldier in the army
he "wrote spirited numbers of' "The
Crisis" that were read at the heads of
the- regiments and have been described
as "half battles." .
When he. was secretary of the Penn
sylvania assembly and there was no
money to buy food for Washington's
tlon of Independence. After careful
study of the subject I have absolutely
no doubt that Paine was the actual
author of this document. :
Several years ago, writing under a
nom de plume, I gave my reasons for
believing this. For the most part they
were arguments that had already been
advanced by William Henry Burr and
Van Buren Denslow, and there is not
space to give them In detail here. One
was that a paper In Newark, N. J, in
1802 practically said that Paine wrote
the Declaration. Jefferson never claim
ed to be the author till just before his
death, years after Paine was dead.
The style Is unquestionably that of
Paine, the wwrds, manner of writing,
views on slavery, on taxation, on deity,
on government, on liberty, on the
Scotch and on many other subjects be
ing those of Taine rather than Jeffer
son; There are several stock phrases
that unquestionably show Paine's ear
marks. In, addition to all these evi
dences, there 'is one that I discovered
myself, the rise of the word "hath'' in
the Declaration. Jefferson never used
that 'word in his life: Paine used it
habitually. ' ' '
. Since writing.-- tnnt articla I have
read a convincing argument i:i support
of Paine's authorship in a book issued
anonymously,, but "which I have re
cently . learned" was written by" Joel
Moody of Kansas. - I had few doubts
on, the, subject before. After reading
that book I have none at all. I have
Space to refer to bnt' one of Moody's'
telling points. It consists in quoting
both Paine's and Jefferson's ideas of a
proper prouunciamentp before the Dec
laration was issued. In style, , in
thought, in arrangement and in every
possible way Jefferson's statement is
utterly different from the Declaration
of Independence. On the other hand,
Paine six months before the Declara
tion was adopted said that such a doc
ument should be given out. Not only,
so. but he Set forth the four grand di
visions that shouldrbe Included In the
instrument and gave these in the ex
act order afterward found in the Dec
laration itself. - -;- -
, The tradition of the -authorship of
this charter of American liberty is as
follows: Paine's "Common Sense" ap
peared about six months before the
adoption of the Declaration of Inde
pendence. During this time it is known
that he worked incessantly for inde
pendence. He was so ardent that he
drafted a tentative paper that might
be used by the congress as a reason
for the step. Of this his friend Jeffer-.
son knew and used it as the basis of
the reclaratlon when he came to draw
it up. Not being a member of con
gress and because of his friendship for
Jefferson, Paine never claimed the au
thorship. .
Expert Opinions on Authorship.
That Paine assisted .Jefferson in
writing the Declaration or actually
penned a tentative draft for him is
now accepted by most students. The
New York Herald in , a - recent half
page review of a new. twelve volume
edition of Paine's works and life says:
''Then when Paine was editor of
the Pennsylvania Magazine he wrote
a paper called 'A Serious Thought'
which was the Declaration of Inde
pendence in embryo. Indeed, Paine is
said to have assisted Jefferson in
drawing up the first draft of the Dec
laration itself. 'It has been epigram
matically said of .him that even if he
did not write it he was its author." .
Albert Paysoh Terhune in the New
York World, using as a basis an arti
cle written by myself," gives a review
of the argument that is strongly in
favor of Paine. He does not abso
lutely commit himself, but says:
, "Though the evidence may or may
not be 'conclusive,' it is at least inter
esting and has found many support
ers." - - - - '
William Cobbett, the famous Eng
lish . member , of parliament and re
former, puts the case thus: -
"Jefferson and some others have had
the credit of ; being the authors of the
Declaration of Independence of Amer
ica. Either of them for aught I know
may have written it, but Paine was its
author." .
Thaddeus Burr Wakeman, who is
perhaps the most thorough student of
Paine now living, states: , ''
"The claim of some that Paine made
a first draft. .of a 'declaration' for the
pen of "Jefferson and a plan of the
flag for the needle f . Betty Ross is not
improbable, for he was certainly an
active and Inspiring man In Philadel
phia during these fateful sis months."
For a World Republic.
Mr. Wakeman, who regards Paine's
ideas as still ! very live factors in the
progress of democracy and)f liberal
ism throughout the world,, gives the
five great objects of Paine's life as fol
lows: (1) American independence; (2)
the modern democratic , republic; .(3)
the American federal union ana "na
tion;" (4)- "the religion of humanity;"
(5) the republic of man" and of the
world. 1
In an adequate consideration of 'the
work of Thomas Paine several further
facts should be considered:
He was. introduced to the United
States by a letter from Benjamin
Franklin. ' ,- - . . - '
Thomas Jefferson was admittedly a
disciple of Paine and sent a war ves
sel to France to - bring him back to
America. , ' .. .. ," '-
Washington avowed, In effect, that
Paine had converted him to the cause
of independence. .
Paine's services were considered so
valuable to the United States that he
was voted large sums of money and
two farms. r i
Among the other forms he favored
was the abolition of dueling.
He was so popular in France that,
although a foreigner, he was plmul-
taneously elected by several different
constituencies to represent them In the
national convention.
He advised with Napoleon about the
Invasion of England and had the in
vasion been made was : to: have writ
ten a new constitution for England.
He was born a Quaker and was in
reality a most . religious man. The
"Age of Reason," which raised the
theological storm against him, was
written to combat French atheism and
at a time wheh Paine momentarily ex
pected death from the guillotine.
Thomas Paine has been frequently
called the greatest political writer that
ever lived. Some of . his sentences
have passed into the common speech
of the world-for example; "These are
the times "that try men's souls," and
"The world is my country, to do good
my religion." . . -,.
j It is known that Abraham Lincoln
was an admirer of Paine and read
him with avidity in his early years.
Lincoln's Ideas of democracy and lib
erty are very ' like : those of Paine.
Their views of religion were not dis
similar, as would be universally ac
knowledged If the popular misconcep
tions or Fame's : real notions were
swept aside. ,"' ?
It sometimes requires a century or
more for the world to come to a just
estimate of its benefactors, but at last
the scale is balanced, as it now is be
ing balanced for Thomas Paine, the
trua author of the Declaration of In
dependence and the apostle of liberty
in three lands. ' :
Hawley .Helping Coos Harbor
Representative Hawley v con
ferred with the Chief of Eng-
Qeers with aview of saving the
inexpended balance . of the
ppropriation for Coos Bay
mounting to about. $22,000.' It
lias been feared this money, if
not expended before June 30,
would be turned back into the
reasury. Inasmuch as Con
gress last session authorized the
use of this money in the op era
tion of the new dredge at Coos
Bay, Hawley contends that that
action was equivalent to r ex
propriation and therefore the
money . is subject to use. any
me during the next fiscal year,
The engineers are inclined to.
accept Hawley,s view and will
submit the question to the Trea
sury Department for a ruling.
How BertR. Lean, of Chenev, Wash.,
was saved from a frightful death is a
story toi thrill the world' "A bad cold."
he writes, "brought on a desperate lung
trouble that baffled an expert doctor
here. - Then. I paid $10 to $15 a visit to
lung specialist in Spokane, who did
not help me. Then I went' to California
but without benefit. At last I used Dr.
King's New Discovery, which complete
ly cured me and now I am as well as
ever." For Lung Trouble. Bronchitis.
Coughs and Colds, . Asthma, Croup and
Whooping Cough it's supreme. 50c and
$1.00. Trial bottle free. Guaranteed
by all'druggfots.' : - -
BOEN. To Mrs. Fort, at the Pres-
now p'.ace, 3 miles east of Corvallis, a
boy.
Daily Gazette 50 cents per month. '
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