The Oregon daily journal., June 21, 1914, Page 58, Image 58

MJNE?S
LONG
LOST
HOME BY. PARCEL
REMAINS
POST
US-fev (1 Hi Mil
; i! IUJ 3rrr rrX
' ln! "in! TtW si
I,- , - ji, Hf . S
By William M. van der Weyde
ITcsldent of the Thomas Paine Na
tional Historical Association.
PAItCKL post brought to New York
from overseas a small wooden
box such as is commonly used
by buninoHs houses for the
transmission of samples. A label on
the'eover bore the words -"Of no com
mercial value."
The declratlon was Indeed true, for
thebox contained nothing of any in
trinsic worth whatever. But so pre
cious are the contents of this little
wpoden box to every patriotic Amer
ican that its value is incalculable.
In the tiny case were two small en
velopes, each containing hair, and
there was also the wax cast of a hu
man 'face.
Ironical, indeed, calling to mind his
own oft quoted phrase that it is but
one step from the sublime to the ridic
ulous in the return to America, sans
ceremonie, by parcel post, of the last
fragment that is known to be in ex
istence of the sto'-n body of Thomas
Paine,, patriot, statesman, philosopher;
author of those epoch making works,
"Common Sense," "The Crisis,"
"Rlgths of Man"' and "Age of Reason."
Two locks of the great patriot's hair
were In 'the little wooden box. There
was also a wax cast made of Palne's
face three years after his body was
taken to England thirteen years after
death.
The return of the last vestige of the
famous reformer's remains to the
"United States of America" (a name
Invented and first used by Thomas
Paine to designate the republic that
he planned and contributed so large
ly to, found) terminates not only the
remarkable travels of Paine's body
and later the fragments of that body
but also, brings to a close an aston
ishing chapter of history coveTing a
period of a century.
He Died in 1809.
Thomas Paine died in New York
June S, 1809, in a little frame house
that stood on the site of the present
69 Grove street "Greenwich Village"
then described as "Greenwich, two
miles from New York." lie was bur
ied, as provided in his will. In a plot 12
feet square, on the great farm pre
sented to him In 1781 by the state of
New York "In consideration . . f emi
nent services rendered to the United
States in the progress of the late war.
and as a testimony of the sense which
the people of this state entertain of
iiis distinguished merit," etc. (Laws
of New York, Seventh Session, 1874,
chapter 64. section XXXI.)
Ten years after Palne's burial. Will-
lam Cobbett. the famous English rad
ical, conceived the idea of disinterring
the body of the great author, and
hoped that by taking it to England he
might awaken there an interest in
Paine's remains and his writings, and
that it would lead to a popular revolution.-
In a public letter that Cobbett wrote
from America September, 1819, to Lord
Folkestone in England, he said:
"While such a fellow as pensfoned
Johnson, 'that slave of state,' stands
In colossal marble in St. Paul's, Paine
lies in a little hole under the grass
and weeds of an obscure farm In Amer
ica. There, however, he shall not 114
unnoticed much longer.
"He belongs to England. His fame
Is the property of England; and If no
other people will show that they value
that fame, the people of England will.
"Yes. my lord, among the pleasures
that I promise myself is that of seeing
the name of Paine honored in every
part of England, where base corrup
tion cajtsed him, while alive, to be
burned ,ln effigy. Never will England
be what it ought to be until the mar
ble of .'Pitt's monument is converted
. into a monument -to the memory pt
Paine. .. .
Death Mask of Paine
Before the close of that same month
. (September, 1819) Cobbett had dug
up the body and started off to Eng
land ' with It. - The next number of
Sobbett's Register (XXXV, page 382)
V - a
contained a report of the exhumation.
Cobbett wrote:
"I have Just done here a thing which
I have always since I carri here vowed
I would do; that is, taken up the re
mains of Paine in order to convey them
to England. i found him ly
ing in a corner of a barren, rugged
field. Our expedition set out
from New York to the place twenty
two miles off at the peep pf day. took
up the coffin entire; and Just as we
found it it goes to England. Let It be
considered the act of the reformers of
England, Scotland and Ireland, In
their name we opened the grave. And
1p their name will the tomb be raised."
The month following the disinter
ment, Cobbett arrived in England
with his strange freight. The Her
cules, carrying Cobbett. his. personal
and household goods and the large
wooden box that inclosed the remains
of Paine, reached Liverpool Nov. 21.
A Liverpool newspaper reported Cob
bett's arrival In these, words:
Arrival of Cobbett and Tom Palne's
remains. The Hercules arrived on Sun
day last, on board of which was the no
torious Cobbett. A large
number of friends met him on the
beach and cheered him to the Inn,
which is a considerable distance from
the docks. On Wednesday he under
went the usual examination at the
custom house yard, which occupied a
considerable time, as he brought with
him a deal of heavy luggage. The
bones of Paine were deposited in a
large wooden box and lodged in the
custom house yard. When the box
was opened, Cobbett observed:
'There, gentlemen, are the mortal re
mains of the Immortal Thomas Paine.'
The skull was shown and the coffin
plate accompanied It, but all that could
be deciphered was: 'Paine, 180, aged
74 years.' , Cobbett was extremely at
tentive to the box and looked rather
serious at the exhibition."
Now commenced the travels of
Palne's bones through England; trav
els that resulted in the eventual dis
appearance of every part of the body
save a tiny fragment of the brain
and some locks of the hair.
Cobbett gave orders for the ship
ment of the body to his house in Bolt
Court. Fleet street. . London- Thera
the body arrived intact, and It is
likely that it was not disturbed until
some years later.
In the meantime a report had been
circulated to the effect that the body
Cobbett took to England was not that
of Paine. The Times and The Courier
in London published this report, at
tributing the statement to Earl Grosve
nor. A UtUe pamphlet published In
1822 by Henry Stemman, in Leicester
Square, and which he called ""Cob
bett's Gridiron," also inferred that the
body was that of a negro.
Cobbett replied to Earl Grosvenor as
follows; ,
Your lordship 1b represented as In-
sinuating that these bones are not the
1 bones of Paine. Ll Bhall by and
by cause them to be exhibited in the
coffin and with the coffin plate, which
: came out of the ground with them, and
mm
: ; y;ry,vr V-KW
co-to-batt ; , vuh3 1 111 1 111 r " "1
1 I? " Un J
LocK of TrxrjrofiA Ptxrt
then you will see whether they will be .
despised! (Register. XXXV. p. 699.)'
In order to forever set at rest the
stories then in circulation (that the
body was not Parhe's, but that of a
negro) Cobbett had made that same
year. 1822, a wax cast of the face.
The head was In a remarkably fine
state of preservation, when it is con
sidered that It was then thirteen years
after Palne's death and burial. The
wax cast showed very plainly the
THREE POEMS
McAronl Ballads.
L DA BIGGA NOISE.
Som' 'ways I may be domb, my frand.
For I ain't long een deesa land;
Yat eet ees long enough to feel
Dat I have caught da mean in' dear
Of all da biaea noise I hear
Ken street an' alley, shop an' meell.
Eet ees not pretta, no. but strong.
Dees song da's made da whole day long
Een evra place dat turns a wheel;
Eet ees da wan great Blgga Noise,
Da verra loud an ogly voice
Of 'Mericana Dollar BeelL
Now mebbe, too. X s'ose ' X know
Not verra mooch of Mexico
Not verra mooch at alll but steel
I theenk eef I could breeng my ear
Jus' close enough so X could bear
All noises back of evra heell
Where fighters shout an' bullets seeng,
I'd mebbe hear do same, theengl
Eet might be Just a leetla squeal
Oi not da wan great Blgga Noise
But steell da same old ogly voles
Of 'Mericana Dollar Beell, f
Not Observing;.",
"No," complained the Scotch pro
fessor to his students, "ye dlniia use
your faculties of .observation. Ye dinna
use them. For instance "
Picking up- a Jar of chemicals of
vile odor he stuck one finger Into It
and then into' his mouth.
'Taste it,- gentlemen. he' com
manded, as he passed the vessel from
student to student.
After each one licked his finger and
had felt rebellion 'through his whole
soul, the old professor exclaimed tri
umphantly: :: :
j "I tol ye so. Ye dinna use your
faculties. For If 'ye had observed ye
would ha' seen that the finger X stuck
Into the Jar was nae the finger X
Btuck into my mouth." ,
After Century of Wandering, What Little Is Left of the Great Patriot
Is Recaptured to Rest on the Soil He Helped Make Free
Strange Story of 1 00 Years of Theft and
f Desecration, Mystery and Fraud.
features of Thomas Paine; they were
not thos of a negro.
Cobbett publicly exhibited tho wax
death-mask, and Its exhibition seems
to have effectually put an end to the
story Inspired by Earl Grosvenor.
To be Pat in Museum,
This is the wax mask that, has Just
come over. here, together with Paine'
hair. The mask and hair will be ad
ded to the collection, at the Thomas
Paine National Museum at New Ro
chelle. The museum Is located In the
pretty little house that Thomas Paine
erected a few years before his death
on the farm given him by the state of
Brrrjoonn.T
New York, the grea stone mansion
that originally stood on the property
having been burned to the ground dur
ing Palne's absence In Europe as a
member of the French National con
vention. The museum 1 under the
direction of the Thomas Paine Na
tional Historical association.
While the wax mask attracted con
siderable public attention when shown
In London In 1822, Cobbett deter
mined that the time was not propi
tious for carrying out his ideas of a
revolution. Eleven years later (In
1833) Cobbett directed that the great
box, with Palne's body In It, be sent
from his London home, 11 Bolt Court,
Fleet street, to his country place,
Normandy Farm, in Sussex.
Just previous to the shipping, of the
box and its weird contents to Cob
bett's Sussex home occurred the first
step in the disintegration of the body.
.Benjamin Tilly, a secretary and close
FROM THE PEN
The Trees.
They are gone! O! Implacable city,
'Twixt a night and a night, i
With no pang of regret or of pity, !
You have slain them outright, i
Though their beauty besought you : to
, spare li, j
To keep it forever and wear it
For your own and your children's
, delight.
You ) have fattened your greed and
you merit i
The squalor your streets shall inherit.
In their innocent glory and grace
They, the primeval lords of the place.
Ere your earliest highway was trod.
Had grown old in the service of Ood;
And with arms lifted up, as in prayer.
Gave him thanks for the sunlight and
.sur.
For the nourishing moss at their feet.
And the thrushes that made their
treat
In th'e heart of this Eden so long.
For their lodging gave tribute of song.
E'en the violets, dotting the sward.
Breathing perfume of prayer to the
Lord, -Paid
In full for their leasehold; but
you i i
In the service of Mammon, you grew
To a huddle of houses and mills,
Spreading squalor through hollows and
hills, i 1
Till your grimy arms reached through
your smoke
To this grove of the poplar and Oak.
' - ' i i
They are gone! O! implacable city,
'Twixt a night and a night, i i
With no pang of regret or of pity, j
You have slain them outright. i
Though their beauty besought wou
to spare it. . - : .
To keep it forever and wear it I
For your own and your children's
. delight, . - - - -i -
You have fattened your greed and you
merit -.) -
The squalor your streets shall inherit.
personal friend of Cobbett, abstracted
from Inside the skull a small part
of the brain, and at the same time he
took from the outside some of the
hair. v
Several years ago Moncure D. Con-,
way, the eminent biographer of Paine
and my predecessor as president of
the Thomas Paine National Historical
association, succeeded In locating in
London the fragment of Palne's brain,
and he brought the relic back to
America with him. presenting It to
the association. In October, 1905, the
little piece of that great brsln that
produced "Common Sense, "Rights of
Man" and "Age of Reason.- was re
stored with appropriate ceremonies to
the locality from which Cobbett In
1819 had taken Palne's body. With
the fragment of brain, when It was
relnterred under the Paine monument
In New Rochelle, was a printed copy
of Benjamin Tilly's written account
of the removal of brain and hair. It
read as follows: -,
"Tuesday, January 7, 1833. at 1
iTvlly' r cartic&.tca.'
o'clock at noon. I went to 11 Bolt
Court, Fleet street, and there, with Mr.
Gutsell and Mr. Dean, I saw at the
bouse of Mr. Cobbett the remains of
Mr. Thomas Paine (that were brought
from America by Mr. C), when I pro
cured some of his hair and from his.
skull I took a portion of the brain,
which had become hard and which is
almost perfectly black."
The original of this paper, in Tilly's
handwriting, was with the hair Just re
covered, and will be exhibited with it
at the museum.
Also Contained Hair,
The second of "the two envelopes In
the parcel post package also con
tained a lock of Palne's hair, as well
as this authentication on a piece of
oiled paper which enclosed the hair.
"Mr. Palne's hair. Brought from
Normandy Farm, 21st Jan., 1836, by
Mr. Oldfleld."
This is also in Tilly's handwriting.
Jesse Oldfleld was Cobbett's shopman
and publisher. The date given Is the
day following the sale of Cobbett's
effects at Normandy Farm, Cobbett
having died seven months previous.
The box containing Paine's body
OF T. A. DALY
Little Polly's Pome.
TAINTMEMA.
Once my father said to me
"Here's a "curious mystery:
Every deed which is not right
In this house that's brought to light
Is not done It would appear
By somebody living here
Anyway its always blamed
On a total stranger named
'Taintmema.'
"Fingermarks upon the door
Muddy trackings on the floor
Books atad papers out of place
Or a broken cup or vase
Or most anything that's named
For which someone should be blamed
When we ask 'who did it, prayf
We can hear somebody say
Taintmema.' " t
First when father spoke to me
I pretended not to see
Jnst exactly what he meant
Still it caused me to repent
And the next time I was blamed
1 jF a fault I was ashamed
To deny it. So today
Yoo will never hear me say:
"Taintmema."
punctuated by T. A. DALY.
(Copyright, 1914. by.T. A. 'Daly.)
Unintentional affront.
Mrs. Smith- was an ardent .worker in
the cause of the prevention of cruelty
to animals, and. when Mrs. Brown
came to tea, told her a pathetic tale
of a donkey that she had rescued from
a cruel master the day before.
The visitor was very Interested, snd
when she rose to go said:
"T am glad you have told tne all
those fascinating things about animals,
dear Mrs. Smith. I shall never see a
donkey again without thinking of you."
was at Normandy" Farm from the time
of Its shipment there from Bolt Court.
London, to a few months after Cob
bett's death. Beveral friends of Cob
bett rlewed the remains In that time.
On October 27, 1835, James Paul Cob
bett. son of William Cobbett, In
scribed his name on the larger bones
and in several places on the skull In
order to Insure their Identification In
future years.
Dr. Moncure Conway, up to the
time of his death in 1907. firmly be
lieved that some day the skull, at
least, would be found. "It la as like
ly as not. he told me, "that Palne's
skull Is In the office of some London
physician not as a Paine rello, but
because doctors have human skulls
for purposes of study. If the skull
of Paine, or, rather. If one that Is al
leged to be Palne's, turns up It can
readily be identified by the fact that
it bears the name of Cobbett on It,
and another word or two which X am
keeping secret for the present,
- -"rt 7 '" "
I had intended asking Dr. Conway,
when) I next saw him, to leave a rec
ord In writing, so that the "secret"
might not periph with him. But I
never again saw Dr. Conway. A few
months after our conversation he died,
quite suddenly, in Paris.
I have recently, however, by the
merest chance. In the course of my
investigations tracing the remains of
Paine, discovered the "secret" for my
self. : I have made a record of it,
which is filed away in the Paine as
sociation's archives.
In -January, 1836, Cobbett's effects
were- sold at auction at Normandy
farm.! The box containing Palne's body
was not put up for sale, although Jesse
Oldfleld. Cobbett's publisher, requested
the auctioneer, Thomas Plggott, td
offer: It. After the sale. George West,
trustee of the Cobbett estate, took pos
session, of the box. He held it for
nine years.
At: the end of that period, the re
ceivership being ended, he turned the
box over ta Tilly, who had been Cob
bett's amanuensis, and who was an
ardent admirer of both Cobbett and
Paine. It mas In March. 1844. that
West: shipped the box to 13 Bedford
Square. East London, Tilly's address at
that time.
The next heard of the bones was in
1849, -when, as alleged by a writer in
Notes and Queries, January 26. 1868,
he "saw Paine's bones in a box In the
house of John ChennelL a corn mer
chant In Guildford." The writer, who
signed himself "A Native of Guild
ford.? went on to say that Chennell
told him they had been bought at the
Cobbett sale at Ash by someone who
was Ignorant of the contents of the
box. ;
Chennell sppears again In a letter
to the Surrey Times, published Janu
ary 19. 1889. This correspondent re
lates; that Chennell had Palne's bones
in a ' porcelain Jar that was covered
' with 1 parchment bearing the words.
"The Great Paine's ' Bones." There
were "only a very few bones inside
the Jar," he wrote. The discrepancies
in the Chennell story are apparent.
The Cobbett sale took place at Nor
mandy farm, not at Ash. One writer
tells of the bones in a box. while the
other states that they were in a por
celain Jar.
The story Is not entirely impossible,
however, but If Chennell had any of
Palne's bones in his possession they
were st best only a few of the bones.
The ! bones In 1849 were in Tilly's
keeping, or the major portion of them.
In 1852 or 1854 the Rev. Robert
-Alnslle. secretary of the London City
Mission, told Edward Truelove. a Lon
don publisher of reputation, that he
had in his possession the skull and
. right hand of Thomas Paine. True
love tried to question him, but his in
quiries were evaded.
In later years Robert Alnslie's
daughter, Margaretta.v first wife of
the late Sir Russell Reynolds, told of
her remembrance of the bones In her
father's house when she was a child.
She said: "Thomas Paine's bones wers
in onr possession. I remember them
. as sJ child, but X believe they were
lost in the various raovlngs which
my father had some years ago. X can.
find no trace of them.
The Rev. Robert Alnslie's connec
tion with the bones resulted, no
doubt, from the fact that his brother, .
who was famous as a veterinary sur
geon, had some affiliation with the
estate of Lord King at Ockhatn, not
far from Cobbett's home at Normandy
farm.
The son of Robert Alnslle. Oliver, a ;
lawyer in London, Informed Dr. Con- !
way that his father had purchased
the skull and right hand of Paine at
( Richards' auction rooms. 43 Rath
bone Place, near Oxford street, Lon
don. Benjamin Tilly, at about the time
Oliver Alnslle referred to. was chang-,
ing his abode, and it is quite possible
that he temporarily confided the box
with Palne's bones to the auctioneer.
It may be that either Richards him
self, or one of his employes, abstract
ed the skull and right hand from the
box and sold them to the clergyman.
Certain it Is that Tilly remained ig
norant of the removal of any parts
r-mll :'"- Jii; ji
PYcoC norst )oecK&
of the. body from the big box.
Or, as Dr. Conway thought possible,
these had been removed by West, the
receiver of the Cobbett estate, and .
a'd by him to ChennelL
At this point in the tracing of the
remains there is necessarily much .
conjecture.
About 1860 Tilly died at the home
of a family named Glnn, at BethnaU
Green, i'llly at the time of his death
had the skeleton In his possession,
minus the skull and the right hand
In a separate parcel Tilly had the
fragment of the brain, two locks of
Paine's hair, some papers authenticat
ing the brain and hair, several un
published manuscripts by Cobbett, the
wax cast of Paine's face made In
1822 and some pamphlets and mis
cellaneous papers.
In 1879 the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Glnn casually mentioned to the
Rev. George Reynolds, minister of the
Baptist church which the Ginns at
tended, the facta of Tilly's death at
their home and the strange articles
that were found In the room of their
boarder after his demise. JUr. Rey-"
nolds was Interested, and at once
looked up Mrs. Glnn and had a talk '
with her.
Mrs. Oinn told the clergyman that .
In cleaning Tilly's room after his
death she found a hag containing m
lot of bones, and that she had dis
posed of them to a mg-and-bone col
lector for some paltry sum. She
was apparently unaware of the fact
that they were human bones. Ths
other articles found in Tilly's room
were preserved and shown to ths
minister.
Mr. Reynolds at once arranged for
their purchase. The frasruent of
brain he resold to a London book
seller, and from him it was bought
by Dr. Conway. The Cobbett papers
and manuscripts he sold to the Cob
bett family and to the British Mu
seum, Word reached me recently that Mr.
Reynolds still owned the hair snd ths
papers of authentication and the wa4
cast of the face. I at once communi
cated with Mr. Reynolds and arranged
for the purchase of the relics for the
Paine National Museum at New Ro
chelle. Did Not Credit Tale.
Regarding the story of Mrs. Glr
that . she had not known the skeleton la
Tilly's room was human, and that she
had sold It to a rag-and-bone dealer -Dr.
Conway was always skeptical. He
believed Mrs. Glnn knew Just what
bones they , were and had disposed of
them more profitably.
Certain It is that all of the bones,
and the skull as well, have disap
peared. The Glnns are dead, so are;
the Alnslle. and it is more than likely
that if any of the bones, or the skull,
are still In, existence (which I consider
unlikely), the persons who own them
do not know they are part of Paine's .
skeleton.
The Rev. Alexander Gordon of Man
chester, England, some years ago,
claimed to have seen the bones ia
1873 and to have again, heard of then
in 1876. but he affects an air of mys
tery about the matter, snd declines te
give any Information. In response to
my inquiries, Mr, Gordon has written
me that "Dr. Conway was pleased to
believe that I knew something about
the bone of Thomas Paine, but I never
confirmed that belief."
Curiously, the various clergymen
that are concerned in the story of ths
posthumous travels of Paine's bones.
Alnslle, Gordon. Conway and Rey
nolds, wore originally all orthodox and
all subsequently became unorthodox.;
At the great Paine celebration,
which was held at the Paine monu
ment in New Rochelle, May 3(f. one of
the speakers was a clergyman, whs
spoke on "Religion's Debt to Thomas
Paine." ' .
With the recovery-of the two locks -of
Thomas Palne's hair, which had .
neen preserved or vonoett s secretary. ,t
Tilly, ends no doubt the last chapter if'.
In the story of the travels of Paine's . .
remains since that unlucky day when
Cobbett abstracted the body and tooif
It to England,