“In contemplating a subject that embraces with equatorial magnitude the whole region of humanity it is impossible to confine the pursuit in one single direction. It takes ground on every character and condition that appertains to man, and blends the individual, the nation, and the world. From a small spark, kindled in America, a flame has arisen not to be extinguished. Without consuming, like the Ultima Ratio Regum, it winds its progress from nation to nation, and conquers by a silent operation. Man finds himself changed, he scarcely perceives how. He acquires a knowledge of his rights by attending justly to his interest, and discovers in the event that the strength and powers of despotism consist wholly in the fear of resisting it, and that, in order to be free, it is sufficient that he wills it.”
Thomas Paine
Rights of Man, Part the Second.
Chapter Four.

Liberty Enlightening the World (La Liberté éclairant le monde) by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904).

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[image credit: Eugene Mymrin}

Fasten your seat-belts; snug. Yes, the malignant narcissists who rise to the top of the capitalist mosh pit like the foam in a rotting pot of yeast -- including His Royal Malignant Highness #1 in the WH and his merry crew of sycophants, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Jared Kushner, Mark Zuckerman, Larry Ellison, Jeff "the penus-rocket" Beszos, Little Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff, J.D. “not his real name” Vance, and the rest have laid the groundwork for your personal demise and the destruction of human life at large. But we are all perpetrators and we are all implicated without exception. There are two options: resist or capitulate.

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“The privations and discouragements of the army, under Washington, required the energy of the mind of Thomas Paine, to animate the despairing rebels to renewed energy, and endue them with perseverance. Even the detractor, Cheetham, says, the numbers of the Crisis, by Paine, was no less necessary in this desperate struggle, than the cannon of Washington.

You may remember, Mr. President, the circumstance related to us, at the last anniversary, by our venerable friend, Mr. Ming. He said that Mr. Paine informed him, that such were their privations in the army, that much of the time they were unable to procure candles or lamps, and that they resorted to the expedient of lighting a hickory nut. By such a light, said Mr. Paine, was much of my writing, at that time, done. I have prepared a few of these revolutionary lamps. Imagine to yourself, Mr. President, the immortal Washington, and the no less immortal Paine, penning—one his dispatches, and the other his Crisis—by such lamps, amidst the privations of the revolutionary camp. Some part, at least, of those soul-stiring (sic) writings were thus prepared; and such a lamp has shed its light upon the noblest cause the world has ever beheld, and has contributed its rays to the immortality of the heroes of our revolution.

Note. - The hickory nut lamps were exhibited.”

The Monthly Beacon
1848-1849
pp. 104-105

The 1875 painting at top of page is "The Spirit of ‘76” by Archibald MacNeal Willard.

The article is from a speech prepared for the 1848 Thomas Paine Birthday Celebration in New York City reprinted in The Monthly Beacon of Gilbert Vale. The “Mr. Ming” mentioned in the article was Alexander Ming, Sr., printer, bookseller, and personal friend of Thomas Paine after Paine’s 1802 return to the United States.

From Paine’s The American Crisis, written on a drum-head by the light of a camp-fire … and perhaps a hickory nut candle:

“December 23, 1776

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 by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”

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The Dems (Blue) and Reps (Red) are two wings of the same party OWNED by the same people who OWN you. And who is that, pray tell ? Do you really need to ask? They are the same people that Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower warned Americans about on his way out the golden revolving door of the White House; at least he tried … between tee-times. First, let us name our owners, our slave-masters: they are the corporate, military, industrial, FINANCIAL complex named by Pres. Eisenhower; poisoned with the genocidal Zionist money-machine of Israel, its apologists, and now … (drum roll) … ASI (artificial super intelligence).

The is a five-bell alarm.

Second thing to know is that the USA made this decision a LONG time ago. And that’s what we talk about here at Revolution, Reform, & History. Federalist influences in the US Congress hitched the U.S. horse and wagon to the money machine, NOT to the cause of Liberty, Equality, and Justice for All. The chief villain was Alexander Hamilton, but he was just one of many. My view is that the only mistake Aaron Burr made was to wait too long.

THAT kind of history is what we deal with here at Revolution, Reform, & History. Stay with us. Comment, like, and share. Heck … subscribe with or without a donation. This site is free.

Dan and Dawna Wilson, as most of you know, invited me to their show last night for a live interview. Note: these good people are doing the work of Tom Paine and the men and women of the Revolutionary Period. Put that in your pipe and smoke on it a little while. They are standing up to the arbitrary and abusive use of power in our local community and in the nation. No, I don’t agree with every dang thing they think or do. That’s not important. That’s just fun and THAT is how we learn from each other.

Stay tuned. Like, share, and subscribe to Revolution, Reform, & History. We are going to CONTINUE to speak out and speak the truth as we see it. Dan, this one’s for you:

“December 23, 1776
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 by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”
Thomas Paine
The American Crisis

Surely no greater writer ever took up a pen. And I would argue further that there has never been a greater humanitarian.

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Thanks, Dan and Dawna for all you do. Thank you to the readers and followers of this Substack.

Here’s the link. Oh … and ps. I RECOMMEND listening to Dan’s opening segment on our local Kootenai County, Idaho political and law enforcement situation, but SHOULD you prefer to skip to the interview, it is around minute 50:

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The context of the following letter is the 1839 Thomas Paine Birthday Celebration hosted in New York and many other locations throughout the U.S.A. and elsewhere on January 29. The author, educator, editor and printer Gilbert Vale (1788-1866) had just announced completion of his Life of Thomas Paine, the first American and first honest and complete biography of Paine’s life. The following letter was printed in the same edition.

[For the Beacon.]

LIFE OF PAINE, & PAINE’S INFLUENCE IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

Wilmington, 2 mo. 5, 1839.

Esteemed Friend, - I am glad to hear of the publication of the Life of Paine, by one who I think will do him justice. I hope to see all his strong and weak traits of character placed in juxtaposition; I shall not fear to look at the picture, for with all his faults he was what few politicians of the present-day can boast of; a great statesman, a benevolent and pure-minded philanthropist and an HONEST MAN.

As an author he will ever stand high upon the rolls of fame; his writings are made up of common place expressions, adapted to the general capacity of readers; and yet withal he is one of the most concise, cogent, and conclusive reasoners ... history has given us any account of.

I think America is more indebted to Thomas Paine for the successful termination of the Revolution than to the labors of any other man. Upon looking over the part he acted in that eventful period; I have often entertained strong doubts as to its final glorious issue, had it not been for his watchful and enthusiastic spirit.

As I expect his life and character will now be impartially shown to the world, I will mention some trifling matters bearing upon the subject; but trifling as they are, they may be of some importance in making up an opinion upon the influence of that truly great man, in the darker days of the Revolution. I got these little anecdotes from the mouth of one of Paine’s intimate friends, a man of strict veracity, who used to take great delight in amusing young people with interesting reminiscences of by-gone times. He said Paine was the greatest man in America, he was the soul of the revolution; he acted every where, and in every thing; and every body thought so then, and would think so now, were it not for the clergy; he often used to advert to the troubles of the Revolution with great warmth of feeling; he said none but those who were in the struggle knew, or could in any way appreciate the bodily and mental sufferings of those noble and high-minded patriots, surrounded with hunger and cold, and often destitute of ammunition; while a boasting and tyrannical foe was well-equipped, and fed by the insidious and secret friends of human degradation, so often the repeated news of the day, that it wore down the stoutest hearts. Despair and despondency was pictured on every face but Paine, - he alone was firm; his sinews never relaxed; his high and noble soul could be broke by the tyrant’s power, but nothing could ever make it bend. At a council one evening, when despair seemed to bear down every mind with an unusual degree of oppression, Paine entered, and the scene soon changed, - his invincible spirit infused its fire and energy into every mind, and the meeting terminated with new and determined resolution to resist arbitrary power to the last, and to die rather than abandon the cause of liberty.

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The country was filled with popular songs and national airs, laudatory of Paine’s heroic deeds; which were sung at all their parties, jollifications, and merry-making assemblages.

When the work is ready for sale please to send me five copies, and I will pay for them upon de- livery.

Very Respectfully, B. Webb.

Note. - We never abandon any thing we undertake; but from the present state of the subscription list we see no immediate prospect of putting the work to press. The above is the best order we have received except one. - G. V.

P. S.—Since writing the Note we have received a letter from Mr. Richard Owen, of N. Harmony, proposing to take a few copies for certainty, and to endeavor to get up a subscription list.

The price of the Life of Paine will be $1.50 bound, uniform with Evan’s edition of his works. We wish to get out this Life while there are living respectable witnesses to important facts.

The Beacon
3:17
9 March 1839
pp. 133-134

Author’s note: B. Webb was probably Benjamin Webb (24 July 1786–22 February 1851). Apart from his dates, little seems to be known of him. As it turned out, Vale’s Life of Thomas Paine (1841) did very well indeed. It went into many printings and was the most influential Paine biography until the appearance of Moncure Daniel Conway’s work c. 1899 that was itself in part derivative of Vale’s research.

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The titles of these eight posts have all been standardized now and here is a list of the URLs in order for your convenience. Here’s hoping they all work correctly:

https://kennethburchell.substack.com/p/to-the-citizens-of-the-united-states

https://kennethburchell.substack.com/p/to-the-citizens-of-the-united-states-d5b

https://kennethburchell.substack.com/p/thomas-paine-to-the-citizens-of-the

https://kennethburchell.substack.com/p/letter-the-fourth-to-the-citizens

https://kennethburchell.substack.com/p/letter-the-fifth-thomas-paine-to

https://kennethburchell.substack.com/p/letter-the-sixth-to-the-citizens

https://kennethburchell.substack.com/p/to-the-citizens-of-the-united-states-e25

https://kennethburchell.substack.com/p/thomas-paine-to-the-citizens-of-the-067

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THOMAS PAINE, TO THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES
LETTER THE EIGHTH

June 7, 1805

Much has been said, and much remains to be said, of that undescribed and undescribable nothing, called federalism. It is a word without a meaning, and designates a faction that has no principles. Ask a man who called himself a federalist, what federalism is? and he cannot tell you. Ask him, what are its principles, and he has none to give. Federalism, then, with respect to government, is similar to atheism with respect to religion, a nominal nothing without principles. The federal papers, especially those of New England, have often said, that religion and federalism must go together. But if their religion is related to their federalism; if it is as destitute of morals as their federalism is of principles; and I fear it is; it will do them no good in this world or the next. It will condemn them as imposters and hypocrites in both.

Those who once figured as leaders under the assumed and fraudulent name of federalism, (but who are since gone, not into honorable and peaceable retirement, like John Dickinson and Charles Thomson (1) but into obscurity and oblivion, like John Adams and John Jay) had some plans in contemplation which they concealed from their deluded adherents, but those plans can be discovered through the gauzy, but clumsy, veil of conduct those leaders adopted. “No cover is large enough to hide itself,” says the Spanish proverb.

It requires more artifice and management to disguise and conceal sinister designs than schemers are aware of. A man never turns a rogue but he turns a fool. He incautiously lets out something by which those he intended to cheat or impose upon begin to find him out. Whereas truth is a straight forward thing, even an ignorant man will not blunder in a true story — nor can an artful man keep a false story straight.

But those leaders, supposing themselves in a higher position than what common observation would reach, presumed, on their supposed consequence and the expected credulity of their adherents, to impose on the nation by clamorous and false pretences (sic), for the purpose of raising a standing army of fifty thousand men; and when they had got that army the mask would have been thrown off, and their deluded adherents would have paid the price of their duplicity by being enslaved.

But in the midst of this career of delusion and imposition, those leaders became fools. They did everything they ought not to have done. They advocated plans which shewed that their intention and their cause were not good. They laboured to provoke war. They opposed every thing which led to peace. — They loaded the country with vexatious and unnecessary taxes, and then opposed the reduction of them. They opposed a reduction of useless offices that served no other purpose than to maintain their own partizans at the expense of the public. In short, they run themselves a-ground, first, by their extravagance and next by their folly. Blinded by their own vanity, and though bewildered in the wilderness of their own projects, they foolishly supposed themselves above detection. They had neither sense enough to know, nor logic enough to perceive, that as we can reason upward from cause to effect, so also can we reason downward from effect to cause, and discover, by the means they make use of, the motives and object of any party; for when the means are bad, the motive and the end to be obtained cannot be good.

The manners also, and language of any party is another clue that leads to a discovery of their real characters. When the cause and principles of a party are good, its advocates make use of reason, argument, and good language. Truth can derive no advantage from boisterous vulgarity. But when the motives and principles of a party are bad, it is necessary to conceal them; and its abettors having principles they dare to acknowledge and cannot defend, avoid every thing of argument, and take refuge in abuse and falsehood.

The federal papers are an instance of the justness of this remark. Their pages are crowded with abuse, but never with argument; for they have no principles to argue from: and as to falsehood, it is become so naturally their mother tongue, especially in New England, that they seem to have lost the power as well as the disposition, of speaking the truth. Those papers have been of great aid to the republican cause, not only by the additional disgrace they have brought on their own disgraceful faction, but by serving as a foil to set off, with greater eclat, the decency and well principled arguments of the republican papers. I have had some experience, perhaps as much as most men have had in the various turns of political life, but I never saw a greater set of fools undertake to conduct a party than the leaders of the federalists have been, and the editors of their papers. They correspond to the story told of a man who was become so proud and famous for lying that he disdained speaking truth lest he should lose his character.

Cannot those stupid people see, or, according to some dogmas, of their own, are their hearts hardened, that they shall not see, that the more vulgar and abusive they are, the more ground they lose in the estimation of the public. Every election, especially in New England, is wearing them down, till they will be lost even as a faction, and Massachusetts and Connecticut will recover their former character. Every thing this faction does hastens its exit. The abusive vulgarity of Hulbert, a pettyfogging attorney of Sheffield, in Massachusetts, and one of its legislators, has contributed to bring forward the funeral. In his late unprincipled speech in the legislature of that state, he has driven another nail in the coffin of the federal faction, and I leave to the New England Palladium to clinch it. It is a paper worthy of being the buffoon of such a faction, and of such an hypocritical impostor. Thus much for the character of parties and the method of ascertaining their motives and objects. I now proceed to other matters.

When I returned to America in November 1802, (after an absence of more than fourteen years) I found the country in a state of disquietude. The people were divided into two classes, under the names of* republicans* and federalists, and in point of numbers appeared to be nearly balanced. The republicans were the majority in congress, and all the administration were of that description; but they were assailed with outrageous abuse in the federal papers, but never by argument. I am enough acquainted with life and the world, to know, that abuse is the evidence of want of argument, and that those who use it, have no right on their side. There is a dignified calmness in conscious rectitude, which descends not to abuse. It can reason but it cannot rage. It cannot quit the strong fortress of rectitude to skirmish in the fields of vulgarity.

It was not difficult to perceive, that this division and agitation arose from some reports spread during the administration of John Adams, and in the latter time of General Washington, which one part of the people believed, and the other did not; and the point to be ascertained was whether those reports were true or false. If either of those cases could be ascertained effectually, it would unite the people. The chief of those reports, was the danger of an invasion from France; and this was made a cause for borrowing, by loan, at the high rate of eight per cent. laying on a land tax of two million dollars annually; besides a greater number of other taxes; and for raising a standing army of fifty thousand men.

Now, if the danger was real, it ought to have been provided against. If it was a fiction, with the design of raising an army to be employed to accomplish some concealed purpose, the country ought to be informed of it. The party stiling themselves federalists appeared to believe the danger, and the republicans to ridicule it as fabulous; and in this state the parties stood. It was, however, equally the interest of both, to know the truth, on which ever side the truth might fall.

Being at Washington in the winter of 1802-3, I talked with some members of congress on the subject, particularly with Mr. Breckenridge, senator from Kentucky, the same person who brought in the bill for repealing John Adams’ judiciary law, and the midnight appointments made in the consequence of it. — This repeal saved the country thirty-two thousand dollars annually, besides freeing it from an intended judiciary despotism.

I spoke to him of the propriety of congress appointing a committee, or by some other method as they might think proper, to enquire into the conduct of the former administration, that of John Adams, and to call upon him to produce the information whether official or otherwise, which he went upon, if he had any, for putting the country to such vast expence, under the idea, real or pretended, of an invasion from France. This would be giving John Adams a fair chance of clearing himself, if he could, from the suspicion that his administration was a gross imposition on the public; and on the other hand, if the imposition should be proved, it would enlighten the country, and put it on its guard against future impositions.

Mr. Breckenridge agreed with me in the propriety and fitness of the measure. He saw that information was wanted, and that it would be useful, because when the truth should be known, it would compose the people. John Adams had gone away in what may be called a clandestine manner, without surrendering into the hands of his successor, as he ought to have done in person, any account of the affairs of the executive department, foreign or domestic. There are no papers or documents that I know of, and I believe there are none, because there can be none in the secretary of state’s office, that will justify John Adams in the expence to which his administration put the country; or even afford ground for suspicion that either France or England intended to invade the United States. For what purpose then was an army to be raised. The projectors of such a measure must have had some object in view, and as that object has never been explained, it ought to be enquired into. It is bad policy, and also a bad precedent, expecially in public affairs, to let imposition slide away without detection.

At the time I talked with Mr. Breckenridge on this subject, I expected that Mr. Skipwith formerly (2) and at this time, American consul at Paris, and Joel Barlow would soon arrive, and I did not wish the enquiry (sic) to be gone into till they came. After the fall of Robespierre and the establishment of the directory constitution, these two gentlemen and myself (Mr. Monroe being recalled) had better opportunities of knowing the sentiments and intentions of the French government with respect to America than other persons had; and they can be evidence equally with myself, that no intention existed in the French government to invade America; nor was any preparation made for such an attempt, nor could it be made. The possibility of such a thing did not exist. The French navy at that time was nearly annihilated; her ports blockaded by the British; and she had to fight by land, single handed, against almost the whole of Europe. She had it not in her power to spare a regiment, much less could she spare an army, to send to America; and if she could have spared one, she had not the means of transporting it, nor the convoy to protect it. All the circumstances as well as the evidence that can be provided, will show that the administration of John Adams was a fraudulent and expensive imposition on the country; and that the army to be raised was intended for some secret purpose, and not for the purpose of defence. If John Adams was not conscious of something wrong, and apprehensive of some consequences, why did he abscond in the hasty and private manner he did? or why did his partizans want to put Aaron Burr in the presidency. In the days of the black cockades John Adams had one so enormous and so valiantly large, that he appeared to be suspended by it; but when his midnight hour arrived, his valor fled and himself also.

The voluntary embassy of Dr. Logan to Paris appears to have disconcerted John’s administration, and discomfited its leaders; because it served to expose and put an end to their projects. When Dr. Logan called on Timothy Pickering, secretary of state, with Mr. Skipwith’s dispatches from Paris, Timothy, before he knew their contents, though Logan knew the whole, began to talk of invasions and dangers, and the necessity of preparation. “It may be very well” said Logan, “to have the militia in good order.” “The militia, sir!” said Timothy, “the militia never did any good and never will. We must have any army of fifty thousand men.” (3) When Logan was coming away, Timothy said to him at the door, “Sir, the government don’t thank you.” (3)

When Logan waited on general Washington, who had been then appointed lieutenant general of the army then raising, of which John was commander in chief! — the General received him coldly and sternly, and said to him in a haughty tone, “and pray sir, what right have you, that are but a private citizen, to interfere in matters of government?” Logan very prudently replied, “I have no answer, sir, to make to that,” and withdrew. — The state of Pennsylvania, soon after this, elected Dr. Logan one of its senators in congress.

Circumstances often unriddle and explain themselves, and it happens so in this case; for if the administration, and those leaders connected with it, were sincere in their belief that the danger was real, and that the country (as Gouverneur Morris expressed it, in his funeral oration on Hamilton) was “menaced with dangers from without,” and that France intended an invasion; and if, at the same time, they had no concealed object in contemplation themselves, they would welcome the messenger that should bring them good tidings that all was well. But if, on the contrary, they knew they were acting a fraud, and heating the country with falsehoods and false alarms for the purpose of procuring loans, levying new taxes, and raising an army to accomplish some concealed purpose that could not be accomplished without that treachery, they would be enraged at him; and this accounts for the rude reception Dr. Logan received from that administration. Thousands who supported that administration from a belief that it was acting right, have since abandoned it from a conviction that it acted deceitfully wrong, and this also accounts for the great majority at the last presidential election. We have no alarms now, nor should we have had any then, if the present administration had existed at that time.

It requires only a prudent and honest administration to preserve America always in peace. Her distance from the European world frees her from its intrigues. But when men get into power, whose heads, like the head of John Adams, are filled with “strange notions” and counter revolutionary principles and projects, things will be sure to go wrong. John Adams, who was more the dupe of a party than the leader of it, entered on the office of president with his head turned by the elevation he was lifted to; and his principles, (if ever he had any,) corrupted. He turned out to be a counter revolutionist; and if the concealed objects of his administration had succeeded, the federal constitution would have been destroyed, and that by persons under the assumed and fraudulent name of federalists.

“As General Washington (said John Adams) has no children, it will be right to make the government in the family of Lund Washington.” Perhaps John intended this as a sly introduction of himself and his hopeful son Quincy, in preference to any of the Washingtons; for this same John Adams was one of the chiefs of a party in congress at Yorktown in Pennsylvania, in the latter end of the year 1777 and beginning of ’78, for dismissing Washington from the command of the army,* because*, they said he was not capable of it and did nothing. Yet under John’s administration the name of Washington was made use of, for the purpose of introducing and covering a counter revolutionary system. Such is the inconsistency of faction and of men who have no fixed principles!

The independence of America would have added but little to her own happiness, and been of no benefit to the world, if her government had been formed on the corrupt models of the old world. It was the opportunity of beginning the world anew, as it were; and of bringing forward a new system of government in which the rights of all men should be preserved that gave value to independence. — The pamphlet, Common Sense, the first work I ever published, embraced both those objects. Mere independence might at some future time, have been effected and established by arms, without principle, but a just system of government could not. In short, it was the principle, at that time, that produced the independence; for until the principle spread itself abroad among the people, independence was not thought of, and America was fighting without an object. Those who know the circumstances of the times I speak of, know this to be true.

I am not persecuting John Adams, nor any other man, nor did I ever persecute any; but I see the propriety, and even the necessity of instituting an enquiry into the confused state of affairs during his administration. All the circumstances and the evidence combined with them, justify the suspicion that during that administration the country was grossly imposed upon, and put to so great and unnecessary expence, which the present administration has to pay off; and that some concealed counter-revolutionary scheme was in contemplation. The leaders, separately, might hide from each other what his own particular object was. Each of them might have a different one. But all of them agreed in the preliminary project, that of raising an army: and the case would have been, that when they had collected that army, they would have broken into distinct parties, like the generals of Alexander’s army, and destroyed each other, to decide who should be the reigning usurper. — Symptoms of disgust had already begun to appear among the chiefs. Hamilton despised Washington; Adams was jealous of Hamilton; and Hamilton had a perfect contempt for Adams. But in the end, John, I believe would have come poorly off. He was not a man of the sword, but only of the cockade.

I purposely delayed entering upon this subject till the presidential election should be over. Had I published it before that time the clamour of faction would have said it was an electioneering trick. Now, they cannot say it. The choice made at that election was the spontaneous choice of the people, and is therefore the more honourable both to the electors and the elected. The country at this time, compared with what it was two or three years ago, is in a state of tranquility; and in a fit disposition of calmness to take the matters herein stated into consideration before the next meeting of congress. It is by keeping a country well informed upon its affairs, and discarding from its councils every thing of mystery, that harmony is preserved or restored among the people, and confidence reposed in the government.

THOMAS PAINE.
June 5th, 1805

1). John Dickinson, the respectable author of the farmer’s letters before the revolution began. Charles Thomson, the faithful secretary of the old congress during the revolution.

2). Mr. Skipwith with resigned the consulship during the administration of John Adams. I believe on account of a rude insulting letter he received from Timothy Pickering then secretary of state. Mr. Jefferson re-appointed Mr. Skipwith.

3). Timothy Pickering’s reflection on the militia deserves a rebuff. It was the militia that fought at Bunker’s hill, under* Warren*, a military general. — It was by the aid of numerous reinforcements of militia to join General Gates that Burgoyne was taken. It was by a volunteer militia under Stark, a volunteer general, that col. Baum, a Hessian officer, was defeated at Bennington, in Vermont, which was the prelude to the capture of Burgoyne. But perhaps Timothy reasons from himself; and if he makes himself the standard by which to judge of the merits of the militia there is ground for his saying the militia never did any good and never will. Timothy’s first public employment was very harmless, that of a teacher of psalmody. When the revolution began he learned the manual exercise, and then taught it. He was afterwards appointed a colonel of a regiment of militia, and when the affairs of Lexington and Concord took place, April 19, 1775, and the British were retreating from Concord back to Boston, an order was sent to Timothy, to march with his regiment, and post himself at a certain place to cut off their retreat. Timothy marched but he stopped short of the place, and drew up his men, and went to prayers, till the British passed it. His prayers saved him from the dangers of that day. I do not know that he sung psalms. — Perhaps not. The enemy might have overheard him. Had Timothy done his duty on that occasion, and put his trust in God without loitering away his time, the whole party of the British, about two thousand, must have been prisoners, for they could not have got back into Boston; and the slaughter at Bunker’s hill, the 17th of June following, could not have taken place. The whole force of the British at Boston at that time was about four thousand; one half of which were on this expedition. T.P.

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[Note from Revolution, Reform, & History:

Paine’s statement that “The voluntary embassy of Dr. Logan to Paris appears to have disconcerted John’s administration” was perhaps sarcasm and certainly understatement. Adams and the Federalist faction, ever loyal Anglophile and fervently Francophobe, were determined to use articles of the Jay Treaty as a pretext for a war with France, Adams’ so-called Quasi War. Though HIGHLY obscured in modern accounts of the period, the Jay Treaty of 1794-5 made contraband of both French goods on American ships and American goods shipped to France. Remember that without insult or slight to the many colonial sacrifices, it may be reasonably argued that the French funded and even tilted the military balance in the Revolutionary War for America. American soldiers remembered this. After the American and French revolutions, all French ships were captured, seized, or destroyed by Britain. Under the Jay Treaty, American goods bound for France on American ships were contraband as long as the owners of the goods were compensated; good in theory and much harder to regain in practice. French goods bound for the U.S.A. were contraband and seized by the British under the Jay Treaty with no compensation to American purchasers or ship-owners. The Jay Treaty also failed to prohibit the repeated impressment of American sailors by British warships. Dominated by Federalist Francophobes, Congress had already suspended repayment of the French loans that had enabled a victory in the American Revolution. The French First Republic was furious at all this with the result that they authorized privateer assaults on American ships trading with Britain and ultimately seized 300+ merchant ships (mostly in the Caribbean) in compensation for the loans owed to France. It should be recalled, too, that Southern Americans - including Maryland and DC - were shocked and frightened by the French abolition of slavery in 1794. There were a great many powerful currents in the political, financial, and social affairs of the time.

Meanwhile, returning to “The voluntary embassy of Dr. Logan to Paris,” George Logan (1753–1821) was a distinguished physician, gentleman farmer, politician, and co-founder of the Democratic-Republican societies (anti-Federalist) that would eventually place his friend Thomas Jefferson into the presidency. He was twice elected to the Pennsylvania State Congress and later to the United States Senate after his return from France. In 1798, alarmed at the incompetence and bellicosity of the Adams administration, Logan traveled to Paris, France in order to exert an influence towards a peaceful resolution of American/French tensions.

“Upon his arrival in Paris, he met with various French officials, including Talleyrand. During these meetings, he identified himself as a private citizen, discussed matters of general interest to the French, and told his audience that anti-French sentiment was prevalent in the United States. Logan's conversation with Merlin de Douai, who occupied the highest political office in the French republic, was typical. Logan stated that he did not intend to explain the American government's position, nor to criticize that of France. Instead, he suggested ways in which France could improve relations with the United States, to the benefit of both countries. He also told Merlin that pro-British propagandists in the United States were portraying the French as corrupt and anxious for war, and were stating that any friend of French principles necessarily was an enemy of the United States. Within days of Logan's last meeting, the French took steps to relieve the tensions between the two nations; they lifted the trade embargo then in place, and released American seamen held captive in French jails.”
Kearney, Kevin M. "Private Citizens in Foreign Affairs: A Constitutional Analysis". Emory Law Journal. Vol. 36, No. 1, Winter 1987, pp. 285–355.

Logan was by no means the only person who exerted an influence on these affairs and legal commentator Kearney went on to argue that the somewhat reactionary French Directory was already moving in the direction of rapprochement, but the Adams administration and its Federalist allies were furious with Logan. One result was passage of the Logan Act of 1798 that made it a felony offense for a private citizen to in any way negotiate with a foreign government without explicit government authorization].

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The malignant mind, like the jaundiced eye, sees everything through a false medium of its own creating. The light of heaven appears stained with yellow to the distempered sight of the one, and the fairest actions have the form of crimes in the venomed imagination of the other.

For seven months, both before and after my return to America in October last, the apostate papers styling themselves “Federal” were filled with paragraphs and essays respecting a letter from Mr. Jefferson to me at Paris; and though none of them knew the contents of the letter, nor the occasion of writing it, malignity taught them to suppose it, and the lying tongue of injustice lent them its aid.

That the public may no longer be imposed upon by Federal apostasy, I will now publish the letter, and the occasion of its being written.

The treaty negotiated in England by John Jay, and ratified by the Washington Administration, had so disgracefully surrendered the right and freedom of the American flag, that all the commerce of the United States on the ocean became exposed to capture, and suffered in consequence of it. The duration of the treaty was limited to two years after the war; and consequently America could not, during that period, relieve herself of the chains which the treaty had fixed upon her. This being the case, the only relief that could come must arise out of something originating in Europe that would, in its consequences, extend to America. It had long been my opinion that commerce contained within itself the means of its own protection; but as the time for bringing forward any new system is not always happening, it is necessary to watch its approach and lay hold of it before it passes away.

As soon as the late Emperor Paul of Russia abandoned his coalition with England and became a neutral power, this crisis of time, and also of circumstances, was then arriving; and I employed it in arranging a plan for the protection of the commerce of neutral nations during war that might, in its operation and consequences, relieve the commerce of America. The plan, with the pieces accompanying it, consisted of about forty pages. The Citizen Bonneville, with whom I lived in Paris, translated it into French; Mr. Skipwith, the American Consul, Joel Barlow and myself had the translation printed and distributed as a present to the foreign ministers of all the neutral nations then resident in Paris. This was in the summer of 1800.

It was entitled “Maritime Compact” (in French Pacte Maritime). The plan, exclusive of the pieces that accompanied it, consisted of the following preamble and article:

MARITIME COMPACT

Being an UNARMED ASSOCIATION of Nations for the protection of the Rights and Commerce of Nations that shall be neutral in time of War.

Whereas, the vexations and injuries to which the rights and commerce of neutral nations have been, and continue to be, exposed during the time of maritime war, render it necessary to establish a law of nations for the purpose of putting an end to such vexations and injuries, and to guarantee to the neutral nations the exercise of their just rights.

We, therefore, the undersigned Powers, form ourselves into an association, and establish the following as a law of nations on the seas.

ARTICLE THE FIRST

Definition of the Rights of Neutral Nations

The rights of nations, such as are exercised by them in their intercourse with each other in time of peace, are, and of right ought to be, the rights of neutral nations at all times; because,

First, those rights not having been abandoned by them, remain with them.

Secondly, because those rights cannot become forfeited or void, in consequence of war breaking out between two or more other nations.

A war of nation against nation being exclusively the act of the nations that make the war, and not the act of the neutral nations, cannot, whether considered in itself or in its consequences, destroy or diminish the rights of the nations remaining in peace.

ARTICLE THE SECOND

The ships and vessels of nations that rest neuter and at peace with the world during a war with other nations have a right to navigate freely on the seas as they navigated before that war broke out, and to proceed to and enter the port or ports of any of the belligerent powers, with the consent of that Power, without being seized, searched, visited, or any ways interrupted, by the nation or nations with which that nation is at war.

ARTICLE THE THIRD

For the conservation of the aforesaid rights, we, the undersigned Powers, engaging to each other our sacred faith and honor, DECLARE

That if any belligerent Power shall seize, search, visit, or any ways interrupt any ship or vessel belonging to the citizens or subjects of any of the Powers composing this Association, then each and all of the said undersigned Powers will cease to import, and will not permit to be imported into the ports or dominions of any of the said undersigned Powers, in any ship or vessel whatever, any goods, wares, or merchandise, produced or manufactured in, or exported from, the dominions of the Power so offending against the Association hereby, established and proclaimed.

ARTICLE THE FOURTH

That all the ports appertaining to any and all of the Powers composing this Association shall be shut against the flag of the offending nation.

ARTICLE THE FIFTH

That no remittance or payment in money, merchandise, or bills of exchange, shall be made by any of the citizens, or subjects, of any of the Powers composing this Association, to the citizens or subjects of the offending nation, for the term of one year, or until reparation be made. The reparation to be _____ times the amount of the damages sustained.

ARTICLE THE SIXTH

If any ship or vessel appertaining to any of the citizens or subjects of any of the Powers composing this Association shall be seized, searched, visited or interrupted by any belligerent nation, or be forcibly prevented entering the port of her destination, or be seized, searched, visited, or interrupted in coming out of such port, or be forcibly prevented from proceeding to any new destination, or be insulted or visited by any agent from on board any vessel of any belligerent power, the government or executive power of the nation to which the ship or vessel so seized, searched, visited or interrupted belongs, shall, on evidence of the fact, make public proclamation of the same, and send a copy thereof to the government, or executive, of each of the Powers composing this Association, who shall publish the same in all the extent of his dominions, together with a declaration, that at the expiration of — days after publication, the penal articles of this Association shall be put in execution against the offending nation.

ARTICLE THE SEVENTH

If reparation be not made within the space of one year, the said proclamation shall be renewed for one year more, and so on.

ARTICLE THE EIGHTH

The Association chooses for itself a flag to be carried at the mast-head conjointly with the national flag of each nation composing this Association.

The flag of the Association shall be composed of the same colors as compose the rain-bow, and arranged in the same order as they appear in that phenomenon.

ARTICLE THE NINTH

And whereas it may happen that one or more of the nations composing this Association may be, at the time of forming it, engaged in war or become so in future, in that case, the ships and vessels of such nation shall carry the flag of the Association bound round the mast to denote that the nation to which she belongs is a member of the Association and a respecter of its laws.

N.B. This distinction in the manner of carrying the flag is merely for the purpose that neutral vessels having the flag at the mast-head may be known at first sight.

ARTICLE THE TENTH

And whereas it is contrary to the moral principles of neutrality and peace that any neutral nation should furnish to the belligerent Powers, or any of them, the means of carrying on war against each other, We, therefore, the Powers composing this Association, declare that we will each one for itself prohibit in our dominions the exportation or transportation of military stores, comprehending gun-powder, cannon and cannon-balls, firearms of all kinds, and all kinds of iron and steel weapons used in war. Excluding therefrom all kinds of utensils and instruments used in civil or domestic life, and every other article that cannot, in its immediate state, be employed in war.

Having thus declared the moral motives of the foregoing article, we declare also the civil and political intention thereof, to wit,

That as belligerent nations have no right to visit or search any ship or vessel belonging to a nation at peace and under the protection of the laws and government thereof, and as all such visit or search is an insult to the nation to which such ship or vessel belongs and to the government of the same, We, therefore, the Powers composing this Association, will take the right of prohibition on ourselves to whom it properly belongs, and by whom only it can be legally exercised, and not permit foreign nations, in a state of war, to usurp the right of legislating by proclamaion for any of the citizens or subjects of the Powers composing this Association.

It is, therefore, in order to take away all pretense of search or visit, which by being offensive might become a new cause of war, that we will provide laws and publish them by proclamation, each in his own dominion, to prohibit the supplying or carrying to the belligerent Powers, or either of. them, the military stores or articles before mentioned, annexing thereto a penalty to be levied or inflicted upon any persons within our several dominions transgressing the same.

And we invite all persons, as well of the belligerent nations as of our own, or of any other, to give information of any knowledge they may have of any transgressions against the said law, that the offenders may be prosecuted.

By this conduct we restore the word contraband {contra and ban) to its true and original signification, which means against law, edict or proclamation; and none but the government of a nation can have, or can exercise, the right of making laws, edicts or proclamations, for the conduct of its citizens or subjects.

Now We, the undersigned Powers, declare the aforesaid articles to be a law of nations at all times, or until a congress of nations shall meet to form some law more effectual.

And we do recommend that, immediately on the breaking out of war between any two or more nations, deputies be appointed by all neutral nations, whether members of this Association or not, to meet in congress in some central place to take cognizance of any violations of the rights

of neutral nations.

Signed, etc.

For the purpose of giving operation to the aforesaid plan of an unarmed association, the following paragraph was subjoined:

It may be judged proper for the order of business, that the Association of Nations have a president for a term of years, and the presidency to pass by rotation to each of the parties composing the Association.

In that case, and for the sake of regularity, the first president to be the executive power of the most northerly nation composing the Association, and his deputy or minister at the congress to be president of the congress-and the next most northerly to be vice-president, who shall succeed to the presidency, and so on. The line determining the geographical situation of each to be the latitude of the capital of each nation.

If this method be adopted it will be proper that the first president be nominally constituted in order to give rotation to the rest. In that case the following article might be added to the foregoing, viz. The constitution of the Association nominates the EMPEROR PAUL to be first President of the Association of Nations for the protection of neutral commerce and securing the freedom of the seas.

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The foregoing plan, as I have before mentioned, was presented to the Ministers of all the neutral nations then in Paris, in the summer of 1800. Six copies were given to the Russian General Springporten; and a Russian gentleman who was going to Petersburg took two expressly for the purpose of putting them into the hands of Paul. I sent the original manuscript, in my own handwriting, to Mr. Jefferson, and also wrote him four letters, dated the first, fourth, sixth, sixteenth of October, 1800, giving him an account of what was then going on in Europe respecting neutral commerce.

The case was that in order to compel the English Government to acknowledge the rights of neutral commerce, and that free ships make free goods, the Emperor Paul, in the month of September following the publication of the plan, shut all the ports of Russia against England. Sweden and Denmark did the same by their ports, and Denmark shut up Hamburg. Prussia shut up the Elbe and the Weser.

The ports of Spain, Portugal and Naples were shut up and, in general, all the ports of Italy except Venice, which the Emperor of Germany held; and had it not been for the untimely death of Paul, a haw of Nations, founded on the authority of nations, for establishing the rights of neutral commerce and the freedom of the seas, would have been proclaimed and the Government of England must have consented to that law, or the nation must have lost its commerce; and the consequence to America would have been that such a law would, in a great measure if not entirely, have released her from the injuries of Jay’s Treaty.

Of all these matters I informed Mr. Jefferson. This was before he was President, and the letter he wrote me after he was President was in answer to those I had written to him and the manuscript copy of the plan I had sent here. Here follows the letter:

March 18, 1801

WASHINGTON

DEAR SIR:

Your letters of October first, fourth, sixth, sixteenth, came duly to hand, and the papers which they covered were, according to your permission, published in the newspapers, and in a pamphlet, and under your own name. These papers contain precisely our principles, and I hope they will be generally recognized here. Determined as we are to avoid, if possible, wasting the energies of our people in war and destruction, we shall avoid implicating ourselves with the Powers of Europe, even in support of principles which we mean to pursue. They have so many other interests different from ours that we must avoid being entangled in them. We believe we can enforce those principles as to ourselves by peaceable means, now that we are lively to have our public councils detached from foreign views. The return of our citizens from the frenzy into which they had been wrought, partly by ill conduct in France, partly by artifices practised upon them, is almost extinct, and will, I believe, become quite so. But these details, too minute and long for a letter, will be better developed by Mr. Dawson, the bearer of this, a member of the late Congress, to whom I refer you for them. He goes in the Maryland, sloop of war, which will wait a few days at Havre to receive his letters to be written on his arrival at Paris. You expressed a wish to get a passage to this country in a public vessel. Mr. Dawson is charged with orders to the captain of the Maryland to receive and accommodate you back if you can be ready to depart at such a short warning. Rob’t R. Livingston is appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Republic of France, but will not leave this, till we receive the ratification of the Convention by Mr. Dawson. I am in hopes you will find us returned generally to sentiments worthy of former times. In these it will be your glory to have steadily labored and with as much effect as any man living. That you may long live to continue your useful labors and to reap the reward in the thankfulness of nations is my sincere prayer. Accept assurances of my high esteem and affectionate attachment.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

This, citizens of the United States, is the letter about which the leaders and tools of the Federal faction, without knowing its contents or the occasion of writing it, have wasted so many malignant falsehoods.

It is a letter which on account of its wise economy and peaceable principles, and its forbearance to reproach, will be read by every good man and every good citizen with pleasure; and the faction mortified at its appearance will have to regret they forced it into publication. The least atonement they can now offer is to make the letter as public as they have made their own infamy, and learn to lie no more.

The same injustice they showed to Mr. Jefferson they showed to me. I had employed myself in Europe, and at my own expense, in forming and promoting a plan that would, in its operation, have benefited the commerce of America; and the faction here invented and circulated an account in the papers they employ that I had given a plan to the French for burning all the towns on the coast from Savannah to Baltimore.

Were I to prosecute them for this (and I do not promise that I will not, for the liberty of the press is not the liberty of lying) there is not a Federal judge, not even one of midnight appointment, but must, from the nature of the case, be obliged to condemn them. The faction, however, cannot complain they have been restrained in anything. They have had their full swing of lying uncontradicted; they have availed themselves, unopposed, of all the arts hypocrisy could devise; and the event has been, what in all such cases it ever will and ought to be, the ruin of themselves.

The characters of the late and of the present Administrations are now sufficiently marked, and the adherents of each keep up the distinction. The former Administration rendered itself notorious by outrage, coxcombical parade, false alarms, a continual increase of taxes and an unceasing clamor for war; and as every vice has a virtue opposed to it the present Administration moves on the direct contrary line.

The question, therefore, at elections is not properly a question upon persons, but upon principles. Those who are for peace, moderate taxes and mild government will vote for the Administration that conducts itself by those principles, in whatever hands that Administration may be.

There are in the United States, and particularly in the Middle States, several religious sects, whose leading moral principle is PEACE. It is, therefore, impossible that such persons, consistently with the dictates of that principle, can vote for an Administration that is clamorous for war. When moral principles, rather than persons, are candidates for power, to vote is to perform a moral duty, and not to vote is to neglect a duty.

That persons who are hunting after places, offices and contracts, should be advocates for war, taxes and extravagance, is not to be wondered at; but that so large a portion of the people who had nothing to depend upon but their industry, and no other public prospect but that of paying taxes, and bearing the burden, should be advocates for the same measures, is a thoughtlessness not easily accounted for. But reason is recovering her empire, and the fog of delusion is clearing away.

THOMAS PAINE
New Jersey, April 21, 1803
Bordentown on the Delaware, New Jersey

[The following is the original draft of the Compacte Maritime in the Archives Nationales de France. Phillip Foner included it in his Complete Writings of Thomas Paine and it is attached here as a demonstration of Paine’s evolving ideas on the use of economic sanctions in lieu of kinetic warfare].

PROPOSALS FOR AN ASSOCIATION OF NATIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS AND COMMERCE OF NATIONS THAT SHALL BE NEUTRAL IN TIME OF WAR

Whereas the inconvenience and injuries to which the commerce of neutral nations is exposed in time of maritime war, render it absolutely necessary that measures be taken to prevent a continuance of the same, and to secure to them during the time of such war the exercise of their just rights- We the undersigned, each in behalf of the Nation he represents, enter into the following association.

Art. 1.

That the common rights of nations, such as are exercised by them in time of Peace in their intercourse with each, ought not and cannot of Right, be injured or interrupted in consequence of war breaking out between any two or more of them.

2

That ships and vessels of nations that shall be neutral during such war, have a right to pass unmolested on the seas and to enter the port, or ports, of any of the belligerent powers unmolested by the party with which that nation is at war. Provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to give to any ship or vessel a right of entering such ports, otherwise than in conformity to laws of the country to which it shall enter; nor to give protection to any cargoes prohibited by the laws of that country.

3

For the maintenance of the aforesaid Rights, we the undersigned powers declare, and for the performance thereof bind ourselves in honor to each other that if any belligerent power shall seize or injuriously molest any ship or vessel belonging to the citizens or subjects of any of the powers composing this association, and all and each one of the parties composing the same will cease to import and will not permit to be imported in any ship or vessel whatever any goods, wares, or merchandise, manufactured or unmanufactured, from the nation so offending against this association, that all the ports appertaining to the powers composing this association shall be shut against the flag ships and vessels of the of Tending nation and furthermore that no remittances in money, goods and bills of exchange shall be made by any of the citizens and subjects of any of the powers composing this association to the citizens or subjects of the nation so of Tending for the space of one year or until reparation be made as is hereinafter expressed.

4

When any ship or vessel belonging to any of the citizens or subjects composing this association shall be seized by the ship or ships of the belligerent powers and be forced into port, or be forcibly prevented entering the port to which she is going, or be seizedor molested in coming therefrom, the Executive government of the nation to which the shipor vessel so seized or molested belong, shall immediately on ascertaining the fact, make proclamation of same, and send a copy thereof to the executive of each of the powers composing this association, each of which shall within ten days after receiving the same make publication thereof subjoining thereto the following proclamation:

We therefore the of do in our own name, and in the name of the nations associated for the protection of the Rights of neutral nations of which association we are a member, declare, that all goods, wares, and merchandise produced or manufactured in the country or Dominions of (here insert the name of the offending nation) are forbidden to be imported into any of our ports for the term of one year, or until reparation be made to the party injured; the representation to be three times the value of the vessel and cargo according to the invoice, and that in the meantime all ships and vessels of (here insert the name of the offending nation), are forbidden to enter any of our ports, and that all remittances from any of our to the of in money goods or bills of exchange do cease until reparation be made as aforesaid.

5

In case reparation be not made within the space of one year, the proclamation shall be renewed for the space of one year more and so on.

6

The association establishes a flag for itself to be carried by every ship and vessel of every nation composing this association. This flag to be a pennant at the head of the main mast, and is to be composed of the same colors as compose the Rainbow, and arranged in the same order as they appear in that Phenomenon.

7

The ships of the Powers that now are, or in any future time shall be in a state of war, and members of this association, shall not carry the flag at the masthead, but the flag shall be bound round the main mast to denote they are members of the association and bound to respect the laws thereof.

8

As soon as seven of the Powers of Europe, or six of them with the United States of America shall have subscribed to this association, a Congress, composed of one member or more, from each power shall meet to confer upon what further measures, shall be adopted for securing the Rights of neutral nations and establishing the permanent code of marine laws.

9

Articles admitted to be contraband-gunpowder etc.

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View of the Neptune House, New Rochelle, West Chester Ct. NY Engraved by Edward Williams Clay. Lithography: James S. Bailliem, NY. 1842.

​NEW-YORK, SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 1840,
VISIT TO ROCHELLE AND THE PAINE MONUMENT ON THE 4th JULY, 1840. The steamboat American Eagle will leave the slip east of but adjoining the Fulton ferry, at precisely 9 A. M on the 4th of July and will return from Rochelle at 6. P. M. on the same day, at their usual prices 50 cents each way. Light waggons (sic) will convey passengers, who may not choose to walk, from the landing to the Monument, at 25 cents; as we are informed by a friend who has made the arrangement: and as the distance is at least two miles, we do not recommend any to walk, at least without an umbrella, if it should be a clear day. The waggons will stop at the Mansion House in the village, for a few minutes, and any person wishing to dine there at 50 cents, can leave their names. It is expected that several short addresses not exceeding twenty minutes each will be delivered at the monument or in the nearest shade. N. B. - The Captain will advertise the trip in the Sun two or three days previous to the excursion, and will there name other particulars, and as the party may possibly be large, we advise our friends to be on board the steamboat in time. Several private conveyances will go by land: these will leave the city between 7 and 8 A. M., and call at Bradford’s (”Here she goes,” &c.) Harlem. No public land conveyance is engaged, but a stage runs daily at 2 P. M. from the Bowery, near Bayard street.
The Beacon. 1:32 New Series. 27 June 1840. p. 256

Detail: view of the Neptune House, New Rochelle, West Chester Ct. NY Engraved by Edward Williams Clay. Lithography: James S. Bailliem, NY. 1842.

The brief historical entry above, written by the author Revolution, Reform, and History, was first published 12/5/2025 on the website of the Hudson River Maritime Museum at the following link: https://www.hrmm.org/history-blog/1840-visit-to-thomas-paine-monument-on-steamboat-american-eagle

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"Man, were he not corrupted by governments, is naturally the friend of man."
Thomas Paine, Rights of Man II, 1792.

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“In the first place, they insisted with Montesquieu that the laws of education be relative to the forms of government; hence, while monarchies needed an education to status that would fix each class of the citizenry to its proper place in the social order, republics needed an education to virtue that would motivate all men to choose public over private interest. By ‘virtue,’ of course, Americans in the 1780’s and 1790’s implied some proper combination of piety, civility, and learning, with the definitions ranging from Thomas Paine’s rationalistic humanitarianism through Benjamin Rush’s Scottish moralism to Timothy Dwight’s Puritan orthodoxy.”
Cremins, Lawrence A.
American Education: The National Experience, 1783-1876.
New York: 1980.
p.2

“Only as men sought to conform their own lives and institutions to the immutable, universal, and eternal laws of nature would the new world of equality, justice, and happiness portended by the revolutions in America and France come forth in truly permanent foundations ...

... the pious man was one who had used his God-goven reason to study God’s own creation, therein to discover the standards by which all must be judged.”
p.22

“Moreover, Paine himself may have taken some of educational ideas from Jefferson, though the question of originality is less important than the fact of their essential agreement on the proposition that self-government is a chimera in the absence of universal education.”
p. 23

So … what is piety in a republic but the honest and rational study of Life, Nature, and the Universe AS THEY ARE. Certainly it is not found in veneration of fear, superstition, or magical thinking. And what is patriotism but the steadfast and careful protection of liberty, justice, and equality for all. Certainly it is not found in flag waving, fireworks, tear-stained anthems, loyalty oaths, or support for interventionist wars.

"And were America, instead of becoming an example to the Old World of good and moral government and civil manners, or, if they like it better, of gentlemanly conduct toward other nations, to set up the character of ruffian, that of word and blow, and the blow first, and thereby give the example of pulling down the little that civilization has gained upon barbarism, her independence, instead of being an honor and a blessing, would become a curse upon the world and upon herself."
Thomas Paine, To the Citizens of the United States VI, 1802-1806.

”America cannot have an empire abroad and a republic at home." - Mark Twain

"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power." --Thomas Jefferson to W. Jarvis, 1820.

The great questions of our time are:
Whether we were born into a republic … or not.
And whether if lost or absent, we can re-create one.
Therefore, the following proposition is placed for your consideration: there can be no republic without universal, compulsory, and secular public education.

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The Six Principles presented below formed the founding philosophy of the American Public School Movement, at its outset called the Common Schools Movement. These were considered by the founders and their revolutionary successors as ESSENTIAL to the existence of a free society.

The Six Principles

• Citizens cannot maintain both ignorance and freedom: A republic requires an educated public to preserve its democratic liberties.

• Education should be paid for, controlled, and maintained by the public: Schools should be publicly funded (via taxes) and managed by the community rather than private interests.

• Education should be provided in schools that embrace children from varying backgrounds: Classrooms should bring together children from different social, economic, and ethnic strata to serve as a social equalizer.

• Education must be nonsectarian: Instruction should promote profound moral values but remain strictly secular and free from specific religious or sectarian dogmas.

• Education must be taught using tenets of a free society: Classroom discipline and teaching methods should reflect democratic spirit and mutual respect rather than harsh or authoritarian punishments.

• Education must be provided by well-trained, professional teachers: Teaching requires specialized preparation, adequate compensation, and dedicated professional standards.

The Six Principles were originally proposed by Thomas Mann ((1796–1859), known to history as the "Father of the American Public Education System." Prior to 1970, when American young people received a vastly more comprehensive education, every student knew or at least had heard his name. My 97 year old mother remembers him; and so does the author of this article. If you don’t, then you may well ask why. What forces in American political and social life have buried Mann and his purposes in a memory black hole? Regular readers may recall, by the way, that Mann has been covered previously at Revolution, Reform, & History HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Now observe: we are in a period of declining literacy - general and civic. The U.S.A. has never been more unmoored and off its rails. There is legitimate reason to ask whether the republic will continue. Could there be a connection?

A proposition: if the republic can be saved or if a free and orderly human society is to survive, then the Six Principles must be restored and with them … universal, compulsory, secular public education.

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The idea that every person is entitled to enough land to feed themselves and their family is broadly called “agrarian reform.”

Agrarian reform: a social and political movement aimed at redistributing agricultural land. It shifts land ownership from wealthy landlords to poor or landless individuals. It may also include support services like credit, training, and tools to help cultivators succeed.

Agrarian reform played an important part in American equal rights history and world-wide reform in general. Ever hear of the Homestead Act of 1862? My great-grandparents used it on both sides of the family to get an economic toe-hold. Was it unfair and unjust with respect to Native American rights to exist and travel on those lands? Absolutely. But we don’t have to repeat the mistakes of the past if we STUDY history and internalize the lessons.

The Homestead Act of 1862 came about in great part through the efforts of collection of early 1800s equal-rights and labor reformers allied to George Henry Evans (1805-1856). He and his allies created the National Reform Association with the motto “Vote Yourself a Farm.” Gilbert Vale, the longtime subject of the author’s research and forthcoming biography, was a co-founder and secretary of the association. These people were all admirers and followers of Thomas Paine. Evans was one of the first American publishers of Paine’s works and Gilbert Vale wrote the first complete and fair biography of Paine.

In 1850, a new third party arose in America that eventually nominated Abraham Lincoln in opposition to the spread of chattel slave labor. It was radical for its day and it included in its “tent” the “Vote Yourself a Farm” slogan. Lincoln signed the Homestead Act in 1862.

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Evans published a number of radical newspapers during this period, including Workingman's Advocate (1829–36, 1844–45)
New York Daily Sentinel (1830)
The Man (1834)
The Radical (1841–43)
The People's Rights (1844), and
Young America (1845–49)

Here’s an ad for the NRA (no, not the gun outfit) in Young America that includes the text of their appeal to the working men and women of antebellum America:

Are you an American citizen? Then you are a joint-owner of the public lands. Why not take enough of your property to provide yourself a home? Why not vote yourself a farm?

Remember Poor Richard’s saying: “Now I have a sheep and a cow, every one bids me ‘good morrow.’” If a man have a house and a home of his own, though it be a thousand miles off, he is well received in other people’s houses; while the homeless wretch is turned away. The bare right to a farm, though you should never go near it, would save you from any an insult. Therefore, Vote yourself a farm.

Are you a party follower? Then you have long enough employed your vote to benefit scheming office-seekers; use it for once to benefit yourself – Vote yourself a farm.

Are you tired of slavery – of drudging for others – of poverty and its attendant miseries? Then, Vote yourself a farm?

Are you endowed with reason? Then you must know that your right to life hereby includes the right to a place to live in – the right to a home. Assert this right, so long denied mankind by feudal robbers and their attorneys. Vote yourself a farm.

Are you a believer in the scriptures? Then assert that the land is the Lord’s, because He made it. Resist then the blasphemers who exact money for His work, even as you would resist them should they claim to be worshipped for His holiness. Emancipate the poor from the necessity of encouraging such blasphemy – Vote the freedom of the public lands.

Are you a man? Then assert the sacred rights of man – especially your right to stand upon God’s earth, and to till it for your own profit. Vote yourself a farm.

Would you free your country, and the sons of toil everywhere, from the heartless, irresponsible mastery of the aristocracy of avarice? Would you disarm this aristocracy of its chief weapon, the fearful power of banishment from God’s earth? Then join with your neighbors to form a true American party, having for its guidance the principles of the American revolution, and whose chief measure shall be – 1. To limit the quantity of land that any one man may henceforth monopolize or inherit; and 2. To make the public lands free to actual settlers only, each having the right to sell his improvements to any man not possessed of other land. These great measures once carried, wealth would become a changed social element; it would then consist of the accumulated products of human labor, instead of a hoggish monopoly of the products of God’s labor; and the antagonism of capital and labor would forever cease. Capital could no longer grasp the largest share of the laborer’s earnings, as a reward for not doing him all the injury the laws of the feudal aristocracy authorize, viz.: the denial of all stock to work upon and all place to live in. To derive any profit from the laborer, it must first give him work; for it could no longer wax fat by levying a dead tax upon his existence. The hoary iniquities of Norman land pirates would case to pas current as American law. Capital, with its power for good undiminished, would lose the power to oppress; and a new era would dawn upon the earth, and rejoice the souls of a thousand generations. Therefore forget not to Vote yourself a farm.

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BTW, the Homestead Act was repealed in 1976 with a 10 year extension for Alaska terminated in 1986. You can no longer lay claim to federal lands … unless you are a giant corporate entity. THAT is a story for another day.

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Thomas Paine by William Sharpe after the Romney portrait.

The Romney original is – at least for the present and perhaps forever – lost to history. Certainly, no one can identify its whereabouts. But what happened to it?

No one knows.

Even the indispensable but flawed biography of Paine by John Keane is filled with rubbish on the topic. Someone from the old Thomas Paine National Historical Association - probably Gary Berton or the late David Henley, board member - seems to have gotten to Keane with the idea that one of their oil portraits that once hung over the fireplace of the former museum was the “lost Romney.”² This theory was the “hobby horse” of the late David Henley throughout his life. The author knew Henley well: we were friends and colleagues and kept close touch until his death. We both served on the Board of Trustees of that troubled institution for years. David believed the association’s portrait was “the lost Romney.” The author of this article never believed it for a moment and made the case to the other officers and board of the association on numerous occasions. The style and period of the doe-eyed, sentimental portrait seemed completely wrong for Romney.

During our tenure on the Board of the TPNHA, we eventually arranged for an expert from Christies to come and examine the portrait.

Thomas Paine by unknown.

To the dismay of its “supporters,” the Christies expert declared it FAR too late, too romantic, and lacking Romney’s brush technique. So it goes …

John Keane, whose biography Tom Paine; A Political Life, really is indispensable to Paine researchers, wrote a lot of nonsense about some 19^th century discussion that the lost Romney was actually from the brush of American painter John Wesley Jarvis (1781-1839). Then Keane used the still unidentified painting (see above) for the cover of his book, and identified it as the Romney!³ Egad.

To re-emphasize the point, the painting above is unidentified. The Romney portrait remains “lost.”

So what happened to “the Romney?”

There may be a defensible indication in the form of a short article written by Gilbert Vale (1788-1866), Paine’s first important and fair American biographer and father of the Thomas Paine Monument in New Rochelle, New York. Vale was a British educator and printer who moved from England to the United States in 1829 at 41 years of age. His activities in England were the reason for his departure to America; it got politically “hot” for him there. Vale continued his equal rights activism as a prominent publisher, editor, author, inventor, and teacher of navigation and astronomy during the remainder of his life in America. The Thomas Paine Monument in New Rochelle, NY was organized through his journal, The Beacon (NY) and it is in the same serial that we find the following article with the pertinent comment emboldened:

“Thomas Paine’s Bones

It will be recollected that Mr. Cobbett took the bones of Mr. Paine to England, except a little finger in the possession of a friend in Long Island, who superintended the interment for Mr. Cobbett. Mr. C’s intention was to have had a monument built over these bones, and a popular procession from his birth place to London, but his feelings were not responded to, because he appealed to mere politicians. Mr. Cobbett had no religious prejudices, and a great share of personal boldness, with considerable tact; he could advocate the political opinions of Mr. Paine, and slide over his religious, without committing himself, but other politicians either had committed themselves, or were afraid; he appealed to them in vain; they were afraid to be called the followers of Paine, and therefore would not promote a monument, and procession, for the sake of their standing in their party ranks; and Mr. Cobbett did not appeal to Free Enquirers. The consequence was he died in possession of Mr. Paine’s bones. The elder son and executor of Mr. Cobbett soon became involved in debt and law; and he is now in prison, or was lately, for contempt of court, having remained there several years. In these circumstances he soon had no visible property, or at least he was obliged to make that declaration; and the bones fell into the hands of an elderly female, a nurse in the Cobbett’s family: by her they were given or sold to Lord King’s gardener, as we believe, for the use (or preservation) of Lord King. We believe this especially, because it is understood that Lord King has the famous portrait of Mr. Paine, painted by Romney, afterwards engraved by Sharpe, and from which all good engravings are taken. This is also probable from the political and free opinions of family of Lord King. The father, we presume, of the present nobleman, was a hard-money man; the first who refused to take the Bank of England paper, and to point out its depreciation; he held to opinions generally in accordance with Mr. Cobbett, and therefore we think it likely that the son has imbibed or adopted the opinions of his father; and hence his predilection in favor of the memory of Paine, and his desire to preserve the bones. We may yet hear of a monument erected to the memory of Mr. Paine in England.

We are indebted for these facts to the son of Mr. Carlile, who recently arrived in New York, and has now gone west; from the same source we obtain a copy of the celebrated Latin pamphlet the ”Three Imposters,” which we shall give in our first Quarterly Beacon now in print; various other valuable documents, together with a bust of Paine, from which we now furnish bronzed casts. G. V.” ⁴

To understand the potential importance of these comments, the reader should appreciate that Gilbert Vale was close to all of these persons and events. “We knew the family, and are at this time intimate with those who were familiar with and companions of Mr. Rickman.”⁵ It would be difficult also to find a more credible informant than Vale. He tended to understatement; never bragged or exaggerated. His grandson, who knew him quite well, said that Vale had been a follower or associate of Cobbett in England. Perhaps. We have only the grandson’s testimony on that. What is certain is that Vale operated actively in reform circles when he was operating in England and that he kept close touch with the English radicals and printers after his move to America. There is dispositive evidence that he was in close and regular contact with James Watson, George Jacob Holyoake, and others with whom he corresponded and exchanged packets of publications. And he visited with them and many others when he returned to England and France in 1848 - the Year of Revolutions - to strengthen ties between the American and English land reform, equal rights, and freethought movements.

Vale’s testimony that he received this information from “the son of Mr. Carlile,” referred to Richard Carlile, Jr. (1814–1854), the oldest son of the publisher who spent more time in jail for publishing the works of Thomas Paine than any other person in history; six years. His wife and shopmen – one of them the earlier noticed James Watson - were also jailed. Richard, Jr. was tightly connected to radical circles in London and his information was credible. And upon whom did he call when he came to America? None other than Gilbert Vale. By the way, Carlile did go out to the then “Wild West”; Wisconsin, where he was elected to the state assembly.⁵ William Carlile Jr. must have spoken to Vale just prior to publication of the article because he arrived in America around 1844 or 1845 at latest.⁶

So, who was “Lord Peter” who was said by the reformers of England to have possessed the Carlile portrait of Paine?

Lord Peter was the William King-Noel (1805–1893), 1st Earl of Lovelace and Fellow of the Royal Society. The family did indeed seem to hold “political and free opinions,” Lord King’s father was a “hard-money man; the first who refused to take the Bank of England paper, and to point out its depreciation.” This was a topic near and dear to Vale who wrote extensively and in depth about banking and currency issues. More to the point, Thomas Paine wrote a famous and influential pamphlet entitled The Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance (1796) a withering critique of the economic policies of the Bank of England and English government’s economic policies, public debt, and use of paper currency. This was in fact the pamphlet that turned William Cobbett from Paine hater to Paine adorer. The same banking ideas, argued Vale, were the reason why the Romney portrait of Paine would have been particularly esteemed by Lord King. Lord King’s wife was Ada Lovelace (1815-1853), renowned for her work with Charles Babbage (1791-1871), inventor of the first mechanical computer, and for her recognition of its potential application beyond simple mathematical calculation; almost insanely prescient given developments today.

If indeed owned by Lord King - as Carlile, Watson, Holyoake, and the other reformers would have likely known - the Romney portrait would almost certainly have been hung in the palatial family estates of Lord King in Ockham Park, Surrey, England.

If displayed in one of its many rooms, halls, dining areas, or stored in a dusty attic, we will never know, because the palatial manor was utterly destroyed by fire in 1948. Lord King also had a hunting lodge in Scotland named Ben Damph Lodge. This was built much later in the 1880s by the former Lord King, by then known as 1^st Earl Lovelace. This still stands and was completely remodeled into the “eco-Lodge” resort and hotel shown below.

William King-Noel also acquired the Horsely Towers, Surrey sometime in the 1860s. This has also been completely remodeled and turned into a hotel.

Horseley Towers, Surrey.

In summary: William Carlile and the London reformers were probably right about the ownership of the Romney portrait of Thomas Paine. They were close to the main players in the disposition of the portrait and always had their ears very much to the London “wall.” The fact that the portrait has never surfaced leads to the tentative conclusion – not absolute, but compelling – that the painting was destroyed in the Ockham Park fire.

Notes:

1. Clio is the “Muse of History” from the Nine Muses of ancient Greece.

2. The TPNHA was recently redubbed the Thomas Paine Historical Association (TPHA). The unidentified painting is currently housed, we understand, with the former Paine Museum holdings which were transferred to the Library of Iona University in the aftermath of the questionable sell-off of some of the former museum’s finest holdings.

3. Keane, John. Tom Paine; A Political Life. New York: Little, Brown, & Co., 1995, p. 595 n212.

4. New-York Beacon, 1:1, Fourth Series, 27 December 1845, p. 2.

5. Vale, Gilbert. The Life of Thomas Paine, With critical and Explanatory Observations on His Writings. New York: The Beacon Office, 1841.

6. Campbell, Theophila Carlile. The Battle of The Press As Told in the Story of the Life of Richard Carlile By His Daughter, Theophila Carlile Campbell. London: A. & H. B. Bonner, 1899. Accessed at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38370/38370-h/38370-h.htm

© Kenneth W. Burchell -- 2026 All Rights Reserved.

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Who is the “Father of American Public Education?” My generation was taught the answer to that question. Can you answer it without “googling” or asking “CLAUDE?” If not, why not? Why do you suppose that we’re talking about a nearly forgotten American, the central figure in the founding of American public education?

What is the purpose of public education? Is it to get you a job? Is it to CATER to your “learning style?” Is it to teach you history that makes you feel good? That doesn’t hurt your feelings?

Do you personally have any idea at all why the United States ATTEMPTED to have universal, compulsory, secular public education?

This story goes all the way back to the American Revolution, but today we are focused on the 1830s and 1840s and “The Father of American Public Education” and the Common Schools: Horace Mann (1796-1859).

Horace Mann has visited here on REVOLUTION, REFORM, & HISTORY twice previously. The earlier appearances were:

HORACE MANN “Be Ashamed to Die.“ Here is the link:
and
HOW TO KEEP A REPUBLIC: HORACE MANN. From the Father of American Education. Here is the link.

Here are the Six Principles that were the founding axioms of American Public Education.

Horace Mann’s Six Principles

• Ignorance and Freedom: A citizen cannot maintain both ignorance and freedom; a democratic nation requires an educated public to survive.

• Public Support and Control: Education should be paid for, controlled, and maintained by an interested public through taxation.

• Social Integration: Education is best provided in schools that bring together children from a variety of backgrounds, including different social, economic, and cultural spheres.

• Non-sectarian: Education must be secular and free from specific religious or partisan sectarian influences.

• Free Society Methods: Education must be taught using the spirit, methods, and discipline of a free society rather than harsh, authoritarian punishment.

• Professional Teachers: Education should be provided by well-trained, professional teachers who have specialized pedagogical preparation.

Please share this ESPECIALLY with any teachers you may know. It is quite probable that they were never taught this BECAUSE after the 1990s, the entire focus of American public education shifted from the preparation of a citizen into simply producing a unit for the economy. My graduate program in history required attendance in the College of Education at my university in order to gain a competency in teaching. The history presented here never came up - not once and not even vaguely.

So let’s talk about it. What are your thoughts on the Six Principles? Could it be that part of our social and political malaise or sickness stems from being completely and utterly detached from our core purpose? Could it be that we serve money and not the happiness and well-being of our society and fellow citizens? It is NOT supposed to be about a “job, mortgage, and the pursuit of profit” - it was intended to be about “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” THAT is what’s in our charter. What the hell happened?

This is REVOLUTION, REFORM, & HISTORY on Substack. Please LIKE, SHARE, and COMMENT. Your help is needed. All you are asked to do is comment and share. This page is free. Paid subscriptions are voluntary and GRATEFULLY received.

The U.S;A; and the world are at a crossroads; a rubicon. Recent graduates will ALSO have to look up “rubicon” and find an online biography of Horace Mann. Why IS this so? WHY are we graduating generations of young adults with a SUBSTANDARD education ,,, utterly unequipped to uphold the rights and duties - because “rights are duties by reciprocity,” Thomas Paine - of citizenship? Without exaggeration, the education that I received at High School graduation in 1968 was superior to that of a four year college degree today, If you are a young person, you don’t feel cheated because you don’t anything otherwise. But you should feel outraged. If you are an older adult, understand this, and do nothing; you are part of the problem.

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