Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1846-03-20
TOM PAINE, THE INFIDEL.

ness. -s+ q. 80 $3.50
TOM PAINE, THE INFIDEL. --
VIM. B. Reed, Esq, recently delivered
an eloquent lecture before the Mercantile
Library Association of Philadelphia, upon
the Life and Tines of Tom Paine, the
In6del, of which the Inquirer gives the fol-
lowing interesting sketch: us u.s.. ..
Thomas Paine was a citizen Of the
world. and of course alien TO every part of
it. Born in Great Britain, he was an ex-
lie and an outlaw. Naturalized in Amer
lea, he renounced her moderate republican
ism, for the exaggeratioEs of French de-
mocracy. A citizen of France, he became
er-o0fcio an inmate Of the Conciergerie;
and was glad, not grateful, to escape with
a head upon his shoulders. Buried in an
American village, the grave was violated,
and the bones Of the restless cosmopolite
were exhumed and carried abroad, in So
lemn mockerv of the relics Of holy men of
old. Mr.. Reed proceeded, without dero-
eating from the actual value Of PaMe's SER
vices during the revolution, 10 define and
mark their worth, and 10 correct the no.
ton which in life he was so anxious to
cultivate, that he was by common consent
regarded as great benefactor to America.
Thomas Paine, the child of humble though
reputable parents, was born at Thetford,
in the county of Norfolk, England, in 1897.
His father was member Of the Society of
Friends, and his mother was an Episcopa.
liam. According to his own story, Paine
was an in6del in the nursery. Mr.. Reed
alluded to this statement of the deceased,
as given in his Age of Reason and COM
mented upon it in truly beautiful strain.
The old man Of sixty, he said (for such
he was when these sad words were writ.
ten) travelling back in memory to the hours
of infancy, and persuadng himself at the
age of seven years that he was reasoning
infdel. The boy standing upon the gar
den Steps, with the flowers and singing
birds around him; with the sound of ia
miliar prayer in his ears, seriously reflect
ing on thoughts Of blasphemy. And fifty
wears allerw ards, the childless, friendless
man who never knew the soflening influ-
ence of domestic relations, amid scenes oil
blood and carnage. at which even his heart,
bold as it was, would sicken-for he wrote
his Age of Reason in the midst of The Reign
of Terror-boastfully recorded his perse'
vering obdurate scepticisn of all in Gods
written word, which could not be compass
sed either by his childish or his matured
intelligence. = y
On the fall of Robespierre, when the
prisons were opened, Paine. with few
other survivors, worn out with distress o.
mind and disease of body, was set al liber'
ty. Soon after he published the secont
part of his Age of Reason, the blasphemies
of which, said Mr.. Reed, are enough tC
sicken the heart. Subsequently, in 1902
Paine returned to the United States. HI
at last took refuge on his farm near New
Rochelle, where he fingered in obscurit,
until his death, in 1909, at the age of Sc
!, venty-two.
Anudiug to his death-bed scene, Mr.
! Reed closed his lecture in the most impres
sive manner; Paine dreaded being lei
} alone, or being left in darkness, and scream
ed like terrified child for his nurse an
/ the light. He insisted on his nurse. read
ing aloud; but it was no. SO much in or
der to take solace from what she read a
TO be satisfied by the sound of her voice
r that she was at hand. About ten years al
4 ter Paine's death Cerbett made a pilgrim
5 ace 10 New Rochelle. disinterred the moul
: dering bones, and removed them to Grea
{ Britain. 1t was, said Mr.. Reed, a piec
3 of indecent and Intellectual mockery. tn
: bones of the scofer were looked OH b,
: such of the British people as knew any
J thing about them, with no more regar'
: than the anatomical student bestowed Of
5 lthe unknown carcase before him. An
] thus ended the story Of one WHO was en-
D dowed with abilities that might have mad
an impression on the world, and have lei
!, la memorable trace behind hlm-an ACTOR j
1 scenes of commanding interesl-a pairio
: in a certain though narrow ,sease--bu
J. with all. infrm in The only high puFpos
o. which consecraled mans career on eaIlIl
), and poor IN The aspiration which alone dig
= Ini6ed hnmanily-lbe aspiration for are
lizard which the world neither gives no
at,akes awsy,'-,he minging' Of the highe!