The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1811-05-28
JAMES CHEETHAM"
TO JAMES CHEETHAM.
KALoRAaA, August !


SIR-I have received your letter calling for
information relative to the life Of Thom4s Paine
1t appears to me that this is not the moment %
publish the life Of that man in this country
H:s own writings are his best life, & these are
not read at present.
The greater part Of readers in the u S will
not be persuaded, as long as their present feel
ings last, to consider him in any other light than
es drunkard & deist The writer Of his life
Who should dwell on these topics, to the exclu-
eion of the great and estimabe traits of his real
character, might indeed please the rabble the
sge, who do not know him the book might
cell but it would only tend 70 render the truth
more obscure for the future Biographer, than it
Vas before.
But if the present wrirer should give us Tho =
mas Paine complete in all his character, one of
the most benevolent and disinterested Of man
kind, endowed with the Clearest PERCEPTION, an
uncommon share of original genius, & the grea-
test breadth of thought il this piece of biogra.
phy should anaIyLe his literary labors and rank
him, as he ought to be ranked, among the brigh-
test and most Underwriting luminaries of the age
IN which he has lived-yet with mind assala-
BILE by Flsttery, & receiving through that weak
side tincture ofvanity which he was too proud
to conceal; with mind, though strong enough
TO bear him up and to raise elastic, under the
heaviest hand of oppression, yet unable to en-
dure the contempt Of his former friends & fell
low laborers, the rulers of the country that had
received his 6rst and greatest seryices--a mind
incapable ofloOkiDg down with serene compass
aion, as it ought, on the rude SCOTS of heir imi
eators, new generation that knows him not a
Snind that shFinks from tlieir society and unhap-
ply seeks refuge in low company, or looks for
Consolation in the sordid solitary bottle i'll it
sinks at last far below its native elevation as
% lose sll respect for ITSELF and rfeit that Of
his best friends, disposing these friends almost
20 Join with his enemies, and wish tho from diff
AZ he haat % tn del irn-
self in the grsVe---if yoH are disposed and pre-
Dared to write his life fdRs entire, to fill up the
picture to which these hssty strokes Of outline
give but rude sketch with grestvsculties, your
book may be q useful one tor another age, but
it will not be relished nor scarcely tolerated in
this. -
The Biographer Of Thomas Paine should not
forget his mathematical requirements and his
mechanical genius--His invention OF the iron
bridge which led him to Europe in the year 1887,
has procured him great reputation in that
branch Of science in France and England in both
which countries his bridge has been adopted
in many Instances, and. is now much in use
You ask whether he TO an oath OF allegiance
60 France--DOubtless the qualification to be a
member of the convention, required an oath of
fidelity to that country, but involved in 1t 20 alb
duration of his fidelity to this.--Hc was made a
French citizen by he same decree with Wash-
i1gfoH, Hamilton, PrfeStly and Sir Sames Mac
Lntssh.
What Mr.. M'''+ has told you relative to the
circumstances of his srrestation by order Of Ro-
bespierre is erroneous, at least in one point -
Paine did not lodge at the house where he was
arrested, but had been dining here with some
Americans, of whom Mr.. Ms'ss may have been
one. 1 never heard before that Paine was intox-
Gated that night Indeed the officers brought
bin directly to my house, which was two mites
from us lodgings, and about as much from Tue
place where he lIsd been dining He twas rot
intoxicated when they came to me. Their OBJ
jet was to get me to 10 aud assist them TO eKs-
mine Paine's papers. 1. employed VS. the rest
OF that night and the whole Of the next day at
Pafne's lodgings and he was not committed to
prison tili tie next evening
You ask what company he kept-be always
frcquenteo the best both in England and France,
ill ne became tie o. jet Of csunny in certain
American papers Echoes % TIC + g!ish court
p<beTsI tpr &c sShesensc 20 Vhs'te thSsght