Thomas Payne
Thomas Paine: a patriot both betrayed and venerated
By Ken La Rive
I present to you here one of the most amazing patriots
associated with our American revolution. He was considered in his time to be a
Democrat, but if he were alive today, his thoughts would be considered Moderate
Republican. Indeed, a liberal of the JFK era would be hard put to understand
the concepts of Progressive Marxism, that has gained such power in America, and without a doubt would have pushed
back on it with everything he had.
Many historians considered him an atheist, but some
of his most profound quotes say otherwise. He was a man of ideals, of a high moral fiber, and influenced American unity that students of truth can not deny.
"Reputation is what men and women
think of us; character is what God and angels know of us."- Thomas Paine
He saw the real dangers associated with both
Secularism, and the overt dominating power of Church and State, and he
understood first hand the primary reason a lot of our ancestors fled their
original homeland. But beyond that, Paine broadly saw the real need for a
unified moral and ethical code.
Back then both parties stood for the working man,
family principles, morals and ethical values based primarily on Christian
principles. The business of Capitalism, with free and balanced trade that most
Republicans of today hold dear, and fight for, was common for all of the many
sects of Christianity of those times, and so that religion would not get in the
way of progress, they decided to call themselves Deists. Strange, but it seems from my readings of
original text and letters that it is quite evident, on a social level, that the
two party’s ideals were a lot closer in reasoning than they are today. Fundamental,
all-encompassing and inclusive Christian values, so evident in our early American
society were set in place by their own hand, from our laws, our Constitution,
and the balance of power as found in our Democratic Republic.
The far left today advocate what can’t be denied as
Socialism, but deep within the folds the underpinning of Marxist Communism,
their ultimate goal. What stand in their way is our Constitution, and the
fortitude of a small select few who can be named Patriots. Only by this united
front can Tyranny be arrested, and held at bay. Constant diligence, with each
and every generation, will a reflective armor be maintained.
Just looking at the span of our last fifty years can
we witness the veritable war that is raging from the Secular Progressive
movement grappling for the minds, hearts, and the veritable souls of the
American Standard our forefathers bled and died to give us. In essence, Socialism is the taking from the
working class and giving to the non-working class, for the good of the whole.
It did not work for Communist Russia, and it will not work for us. Our legal
system has metabolized by Progressive Lawyers to be a veritable swiss-cheese of
loopholes, blind and subjectively obtuse, we have gathered many societal
problems, moral and ethical equivalents, never found in a healthy and vibrant
society, and these inclusions are confounding and dismantling us from the
inside out, just as designed. We are succumbing to the destruction of moral
fiber, the blurring of the sexes, debt slavery, family disillusionment, the disconnect
of love, honor, justice, honesty, respect,
responsibility, duty and obligation, commitment, and hundreds more... all nails
that make us strong and united. Break
these bonds, and your culture, your
history, your future, no longer belongs
to you... DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS?
We must, for the survival of our very ideals, take
pause and reflect on what labels we call ourselves. Never have the two parties
been so divided, and never have the American citizen been as confused as to
what party they associate with. We owe it to ourselves and the good of our
country to look closely at what we are facing, and come together for a common
cause. I see, at this time, that Donald Trump is heading America, finally, in
that direction. So what were we? What have we lost?
Let’s let Thomas Paine reintroduce to us to what we
once were…
"Every science has for its basis a
system of principles as fixed and unalterable as those by which the universe is
regulated and governed. Man cannot make principles; he can only discover them." -Thomas
Paine
The works of Thomas Paine was kept alive a hundred
years ago by a controversial writer, Bertrand Russell. In his essays, he once
again gave life to Paine, his writings, and his amazingly adventurous life. The
essence of what I have written here is a reflection of that work.
In his time he was sought to be executed by both Pitt
and Robespierre, and Washington himself, in Paine’s hour of need, did nothing
to help, actually disassociating himself with him. It is said that both Pitt
and Washington hated him because he was a democrat, but it was a lot more
complicated than that. In my opinion, the power struggle in a brand new nation
was huge, and the search for a road that many differences could travel together
was an enormous challenge. Many voices were raised, some in praise, some in
critique, and some in protest. Paine found himself constantly teetering on the
wobbly fence of the times, and that was a razor's edge.
With a letter of introduction from Ben Franklin he
came to America and soon became editor of a journal. Paine preached democracy.
A prolific writer, his first grand attempt, in 1775, was a very forceful
article against slavery. It is said that because of his writings Jefferson
inserted a draft into the Declaration of Independence, which was subsequently
cut out. At that time slavery was still in existence in Pennsylvania, and not
abolished for another five years. It is also said that Paine wrote the Preamble
for that Act.
Paine was one, if not the first, to advocate full
division from England. Some of those who actually signed The Declaration of
Independence thought concessions with Britain could still be made. In 1775
Paine wrote: “I hesitate not for a moment
to believe that the Almighty will finally separate America from Britain. Call
it Independency or what you will, if it is the cause of God and humanity it
will go on. And when the Almighty shall have blest us, and made us a people
dependent only upon him, then may our first gratitude be shown by an act of
continental legislation, which shall put a stop to the importation of Negroes
for sale, soften fate of those already here, and in time procure their
freedom.”*Note here his reference to Almighty God.
Paine took up the cause of American Liberty,
publishing stirring manifestos under the label of “Common Sense.” It was a great success, and helped to win the war,
as his style of writing brought these powerful ideals to the common man, the
everyday worker. As the towns of Falmouth and Norfolk still smoldered by a
British torch, Washington wrote to a friend in January 1776: “A few more of such flaming arguments as were exhibited at Falmouth
and Norfolk, added to the sound doctrine an unanswerable reasoning contained in
the pamphlet Common Sense, will not leave numbers at a loss to decide upon the
propriety of separation.”
In our earliest dark days of the Revolution Paine
wrote a string of pamphlets called “The
Crisis” that circulated heavily, and brought hope to those fighting, and on
the home front. “These are the times that
try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this
crisis, shrink from the service of their country, but he that stands it now
deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
For a time, Paine became the most popular writer in
America, and Washington actually read “The
Crisis” to his troops. Any paper or
publication would have paid him great sums for his work, but he gave it all for
free. Praise may well have been enough, but more likely he felt his work’s
impact to be of a higher order, as Washington wrote to him: “…living sense of the importance of your
works.”
At the end of the War of Independence, Paine’s
penniless standing was recognized, and one state legislature voted him a sum of
money, and another an estate, so that he could live in comfort. His mind was of
a restless and creative type however, and to him leisure comforts brought on a
lethargic domineer. With the same energy and insight he gave to politics, he
now gave to engineering, and developed models of his ideas for using iron to
build bridges. This brought him to England where he was well received by Burke,
the Duke of Portland, and other distinguished Whigs. He set up his large model
in Paddington, and engineers came from all around to see his creative concepts.
From there he went to France at the same time the Bastille fell and Paine was
stirred by the opportunity for freedom these sweeping changes brought. Lafayette gave the key of Bastille prison to
Paine to give to Washington, but Payne wrote Washington that he would have to
send it by another carrier, as his business in France was not yet complete. In
his long letter to Washington he excitedly stated what he saw in France: “The early trophy of the spoils of
despotism, and the first ripe fruits of American principles transplanted in
Europe.”
What better place for Paine than a revolution, and
while he gave attention to his bridge; he wrote what cemented him as a Democrat
of the time, “The Rights of Man.”
This individual work was blasted by anti-Jacobin opposition to be radically
subversive, and yet is read today as mild and to the point. The main positions,
however, are complicated but for the well educated of the times, i.e.,
contemporary political thought, and French history. In essence, he wrote in two
parts, published in 1791 and 1792, and his friend Burke agreed …that the
revolution of 1688 bound Britten forever to the sovereigns appointed by the Act of Settlement. (Type in ACT OF SETTLEMENT in Google.) This idea
was plausible, and showed that it was impossible to hold posterity enslaved,
and that constitutions must be designed by ratification to change with the
times presented. Clearly written, his ideas were pure genius, and needed for
the times. He said that governments “…may
all be comprehended under three heads. First, superstition. Secondly, power.
Thirdly, the common interest of society and the common rights of man... The
first was a government of priestcraft, the second of conquerors, the third of
reason.”
Now his time from fleeing England to France is very
complicated and very exciting. I suggest an essay of about twenty pages from
Bertrand Russell called “The Fate of
Thomas Paine,” published in 1935, where a true precise rendering of Paine
and his life is drawn. Russell identified with Paine, as both men were
persecuted for their thoughts, mostly about religion, and other ideas thought
radical for the times.
Paine was imprisoned and narrowly escaped the
guillotine in France. An American Federalist minister, Governor Morris, sided
with England against France. At the same time, Washington was secretly
promoting Jay’s treaty with England, and didn’t come to Paine’s aid. Payne
escaped only by a slim chance. Though Paine didn’t know that Morris did him far
more harm, when Payne found out that a statue of Washington was commissioned
after his death, he wrote the sculpture’s artist:
Take
from the mine the coldest, the hardest of stone,
It
needs no fashion: it is Washington.
But
if you chisel, let the stroke be rude,
And
on his heart engrave-Ingratitude.
This letter to Washington, written in 1796 shows the
anger and bitterness that remained with Paine to his death: “And to you, Sir, treacherous in private
friendship (for you have done 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 imposter; whether you have abandoned good principles, or
whether you ever had any”
Just before his eminent arrest in France, Paine set
out to write another work, entirely different from politics and Engineering, “The Age of Reason.” This composition
got the attention of a faction of humanity who had previously been neutral, the
Church. In this, Paine critiques the Old Testament from a moralistic point of
view. Probably this, above all that Paine had done, got the attention of
Russell, who throughout his life is known as an Atheist. Today, however, few
clergy would disagree. He starts off chapter one with: “I believe in one God, and no more: and I hope for happiness beyond
this life. I believe in the equality of man, and I believe that religious
duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our
fellow creatures happy.” Seems tame and true, but the clerics of that day
took grave offense for putting the Israelites in a bad light.
According to Russell, Paine was consistent with these
ideas to the day he died. His words inspired and influenced the American
Revolution by instilling a cohesive process of thought easily understood by the
masses. He was shunned by his former friends and patriots when he finally
returned to America, from fleeing France and a long illness. His voting
privileges were taken away three years before his death, on the grounds of
being a foreigner. Accused of “immorality and intemperance” he spent his few
remaining years alone and in poverty...
But then, finally, it is the men that he has inspired who pick up his
clear ideas today. His self sacrifice went unrewarded in his time, but today
his writings are seen for what they are, pure insight. Even his most
controversial writing “The Age of Reason” might not lift an eyebrow of a
Cardinal today.
Russell wrote: “…to
this day his fame is less than what it would have been if his character had
been less generous. Some worldly wisdom is required even to secure praise for
the lack of it”
It is said that few people attended Paine’s funeral in
1809, and that Clergy invaded his room trying to convert him. He said, “Let me alone: good morning!”
Interesting footnote was a man named Cobbett who was imprisoned along with his
wife for illegality publishing Paine’s work. Cobbett is the one responsible for
bringing Paine’s bones back to England, where he was more kindly thought of,
but finally did not give them up. They remained in his effects until 1836, and
passed through many until a Unitarian Minister by the name of Rev. R. Ainslie
in 1854. came into the picture. He confided with a friend that he had the skull
and right hand of Thomas Paine. Though he further evaded all inquiries after
that, Thomas Paine’s bones were never seen again.
