Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1877-11-29
BOZEMAN, MONTANA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20. 1877

cir to his personal habits" In a letter
he Paine, dated December 2, 1776, he beal
ny the following testimony:
to "a respectable gentleman from Ne
us Rochelle called to see me a few days bacl
a and said that everybody was tired of yO
o. there, and no one would undertake t
board and lodge you. l thought this WA
he the case, as found you ut the tavern in
at most miserable situation. You appeare
IN as if you had not been shaved for a fort
ne night. and rs to Il shirt. it could not be sal,
IN that you had one on. 1t was only the re
S, mains of one, and this. likewise. appeare,
y, not to have been off your back for
g fortnight, and was nearly the color of tan
'e ned leather; and you had the most disa
o greeable smell possible: just like that o
1t our poor beggars in England. Do yor
J. remember the pains took to clean you:
That got a tub Of warm water and soap
q and washed you from head to foot. and
Il this had to do three times before could
IS get you clean.' (And then followed more
e disgusting dctails.)
h "YOu gay, also, that you found your own
e liquors during t;le lime you boarded with
!, me; but you should have said, Il found only
: a small part Of the liquor drank during
! my stay with you; this part purchased of
John Fellows. which was demijohn of
brandy containing four gallons, and this
did not serve me three weeks This cal,
\ hf I :,
that cannot prove, for hold the truth as
, a precious jewel. 1t is a well known fact.
that you drank one quart of brandy per
day, at my expense. during the different
: times that you have boarded with me- the
demjOhn above mentioned eX' eoted and
.he last fourteen weeks you we'c sick. Is
not This supply Of liquor for dinner and
suooe,:
The hO-en W; less in behalf Of Paine
closes his letter. which is full of loathsome
descriptions Of Paine's manner OF life. as
/ follows:
Now. sir, tb;uk have drawn COM
plete portrait of your character; vet to
enter upon every minu.ia would be 10 give
history of your life. and to develop the
fallacious mask of hypocrisy and decep-
lion under which you have acted in your
political as well us moral capacity of life.
(signeU WILLIAM CARVER.
Carver had Tie same opinion of P;ire to |
his dying dav. When an old man. and an
iniidel of the Paine type and habits, he
was visited by the Rev. E. F. Hatfield d.
p. Of taisv city. .ar!sa wAiaer d..
p, 1877:
Il conyc'sed with him neatly an hour.
| took special p.ins 10 lea: Il from HIM all
that could abolt Pane. whose landlord
he had been for c:cl,een mon hs. He
spoke of him as base and shameless
drunkart. utterly destitute OF moral prin-
ciple. His dcnanciliions Of the man We're
perfectly fearful. and fully confirmed, IN
my apprehension, oil 'hat had been witt
ten Of PL:nc's iMmoal:ly and rcpusive-
ness
Cheetham's Life of PINE. which was
published the year that he died. and which
has passed through several editions. 1--WE
have three Of t:Iem now before u.s. de-
scribes a man lost 10 all moral sensibilitv
and to all sense of de,ency, habitual
drunka,d. and it ia simply Incredible that
book should have appeared so soon after
the death OF is subject and should have
been SO frequently republisiled without
being at once reiuted, if the testimony
were not substantially true. Many years
later. when it was found necessary 10
bolster up the reputation of Paine, Cheet-
hams Memoirs were called pack of lies.
II only One-ienth part of what he publish
es circumstanti;lly in his volume. as facts
in regard to Paine, were tue, oil taat has
been written against him in later years
does not begin to set forth tie degraded
character of the mans life. And with all
that has been wriiien on the subject we
see no good reason to doubt the substan-
tial accuracy of Cheetham's s portrait of the
man whom he knew SO well.
! DR.. j. w. F"ancis. we]l-knOwn as an
eminent physician, of this civ, in his
"reminiscences OF New York, says of
1 Paine:
''ue wro ia i,;s early days, had been as
socia;ed wi d. and bad received counsel
from F, anklin. was. in his old age, desert |
ed by the humblest menial; I've, whose pen
has proved a very sword among nations,
has shaken empires, and made kings trem-
BILE, now yielded up the mastery to the
most treacilerous of tyran;s, King Alco-
lhOl.:'
! The physician who attended Paine dur
ing his last illness was DR.. James r. Man
ley. gentleman of the highest character.
A letter of his. written in October of the
year that Paine died. fully cOrrObor:ites the
account of his stale as recorded by Stephen
Grellet in his Memoirs, which we have al
ready printed. He writes:
New York. October 2, 1901 was by
accident called upon 10 visit NJ. Paine, on
the 25lh of February last, and found him
indispOsed with fever, and very apprehen-
sive of an attack of apoplexy, as he stated
that he had had that disease before. and at
this time felt great degree of vertigo. and
was unable to .,elp himself as he had .hitil-
erto done, on account OF an intense pain
above the eyes. On inquiry Of the attend
ants was told that three or four days pre-
|
his usual quantity of accustomed stimulus,
and that he had on that day resumed it.
To the want of his usual drink they at
tributed bis illness; and it is highly prob
able that the usual quantity operating up
on state of system more easily excited
from tie above privatiOns, WIS the cause
OF the symptoms Of which lie then COM
planned. - And here let me be per-
mitted to observe Qest blame might attach
to those whose business it was 10 pay any
particular attention to his cleanliness OF
person. that it Was absolutely impossible
to effect that purpose. Cleanliness appear
ed to make no part of his comfort; he
seemed TO have singular aversion to soap
and water he would never ask to be wash
ed, and when he was he would always
| make objections; and it was NOT unusual
to wash and dress him clean very much