The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-05

There are some people who insist that
mankind is going from bad TO worse, es-
peeially in this country. A little book
which has recently appeared in a series
of biographies sets one to thinking rather
seriously On the change in human affairs
which has taken place in the last hum
dred years-snd mCst unprecedented per-
sons will probably agree that it is for the
better. That book is called THE Life of
Thomas Paine" and it is intended for
general circulation in waistcoat pockets.
There was a time when it was as much
as any Church communicate reputation
was worth to be found reading any of the
works Of Paine, much less an unprecedented
account of the lie of that individual.
Even persons outside the Church were, in
many provincial communities, considered
hardly respectable if they did such things.
Paine was regarded as a sort Of incarna-e
ton of all that was evil. irreligious. and
morally reprehensible. Religious writers
drew horrible pictures of his death-bed,
where spectres of a fearful nature were
said to have appeared, and his reputation
was assaulted in every offensive way which
could possibly be devised. The result in
that day and generation. when hooks were
few and knowledge limited, was sort of
miasmatic yapor which surrounded the
very name of Paine so that the timid and
prejudiced have studously refrsined from
knowing anything about him, even Unto
the present time.
Nowadays It is different. A respectable
man may say frankly that he has read The
Rights of Man and The Age Of Reason"
0ithout creating any great comInotion at
dinner party, and even women may con-
fess to having looked into these books and
escape condemnation. 1t is coming to
be generally understood that the man who
was the trusted friend of Jefferson, the
comrade of the fathers of the Republic,
and the associate OF many honored lead
ers OF European thought Of his time. could
not have been quite the double dyed rascal
which his biographer Cheetham-never
was a man better handicapped him to
be.
The little book in question is likely to
do much good in destroying the DOGGY
man which has so long masqueraded under
the name of Thomas Paine. The death
bed myth is disposed of completely, and SO
are two or three other slandsrous stories;
while no attempt is made TO represent
the man as a greater thinker or hero than
he really was In word, il is biography
of the modern sort, realistic and impartial,
instead of one of the old kind, fairly well
represented, on the one hand, by Weems'
IL.
Cheetham's Life 81 Paine" The old
time biographer insisted on painting his
subject either SO white that he dazzled
the eyes, or so black that he would be
invisible in any ordinary dark corner
This fair, just, and impartial attitude
on the part OF historians is surely a .~oOf
of progress. It shows an advance in the
art of truth-telling. When one considers
that until a comparatively recent rime
there actually seemed TO be little effort
to tell the truth from a non-partisan point
of view, especially in religious matters
it is certainly an advance. 1t is ra' her
queer, when one comes TO think of it, that
people should not be anxious to find nut
the exact truth about their religion, no
matter how hard it may be to get at. One
would suppose that in dealing with his
subject, above all. it would be necessary
to know and to tel. things as they were.
Therefore. it must be considered a great
advance in both religion and morality when
even SO open an enemy to eccles!asticism
as Paine is no longer slsndered continu-
ally in the streets and pulpits.
There is still some trace of the old ami
mostly remaining. but 1t is not much in
evidence. There have been religious speak
ers In this city within the last few years
who have declared that Paine. IN The