The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1811-12-07

IA Oh ". november ~.
There was once time when the services
ST Thomas Paine we're fresh in our memo
ries. He was hailed as the friend of Ame-
RIGA, and. the disciple of Liberty. At that
time he had the honor OF ranking among his
enemies, all the tories and minions of Great
Britain
If Mr.. Paine has been guilty of subsequent
errors: or, it his conduct as a man has been
disgraced by foibles these are incompetent
to extinguish the services which he has-reif
dered. The good which he has done, is
treasuredup beyond the reach of change
and neither the heresies of '9S nor the levi
ties of 1908, can arnihilaee the services of
70. They live ia the liberties of the people,
which he has assisted to establish /; in the
rights of a nation, which he had so nobly
indicated by his Pen.-They are on re-
cord, which nothing can obliterate; & which
nothing but prejudice or petuiance could re-
fuse to read.
If Mr.. Randolph thinks little of these SER
vices, 1t is well--but they were not so much
undervalued by the contemporaries of Paine.
They were not so little tn ught of by those
WHO are the best witnesses of their effect
And surely when the historians & the sages
OF that time have borne their testimony in
his favor, it must be something more than the
ofinion of Mr.. Randolph, which can strip
the grave of the laurels which bloom overit.
Ramsay in his History of the Revolution,
Vol. 1. page 336-7,OsPeaks in the following
terms OF Common Sense, the first political
piece of Paine Nothing could be better
timed than this performance. In unison with
the feelings and sentiments of the people, it
produced surftrising effects. Many thou
sands were convinced, and were led to APP
prove and long for separation from the mo-
ther country though that measure, a few
months before, was not only foreign from their
wishes but the object of their adherence !;
the current suddenly became so strong in
its favor that it bore down all before it,
Gordon in his history of the Revolution,
Vol. 2. p. rs, pays similar tribute to the
pen OF Paine "The Publications. (says
he,) whichhave appeared, have greatly pro-
NOTED the spirit OF independence, but no one
somuch as the pamphlet under the signature
OF Common Sense, written by Mr. Thomas
Paine, an Englishman. Nothing could have
been better-timcd than this performance
~ mas produced most aStoniShfng cfectS.''
What says the venerable .Suzruei Idams.
whose very name is identified withdhe liber-
ties of America He was as much alive as
Mr.. Randolph to the sentiments of the
Age of Reason" he even wrote letter
TO Paine in 1902, with the protested intenti-
ON OF dissuadiDg him from another attack on
Christianity : " Do you think, (says he) that
your Ien or the pen of any other man can un-
chrlstianzc the mass OF our citizeDs?" And
yet in the course Of this very letter. Mr.. A.
cams, unlike MIR. r., poufs forth his graft
Jude to the politician Of 70. 81 have fire.
quentIy, (caid the venerable patriot with
pleasure reflected on your services to nv
native and your adopted Country. Your
Common Sense, and your Crisis, unducstion-
ably awakened the public mind, and Iedthe
feofie loudly to call for declaration of our
nationa. independence. ] therefore esteemed
you as a warm friend to the liberty, * las
ting welfare of the human race"
What says MIR. Jefferson! "Vou will in
general find us returned TO sentiments worthy
OF former times in these it will be your
glory to have steadily labored. and 7gith as
mHch eject as any man H0mg"
=" The crime of ingratitudc," SAYS Mr..
Monroe, " has not yet stained and I trust
neUer qoTH stain, our national character
Nou are considered by them as not only ha-
wing rendered IMPonTAxT services in our
own revelation, bat as being on more ex-
tensivc scale, the friend Of human rights, <
distinguished aud able advocate in favor OF
pubic liberty. 10 the welfare Of Thomas