The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1908-12-26
Cening Into His Owa.
(Communicatadl

"oS oooo orOuSnt 10 Hgnt
In England who was to greatly in
huence the course OF free government
In this country and the world, then to
die in poverty abhorred and maiigned.
ana AFTER q century and a half, to at
last come into his right heritage. The
person to whom We refer was the son
OF Quaker and = staymsker; reared
In poverty, deprived of many of the
advantages OF education, with a fear
less and intrepid disposition, with a
burning love for truth and freedom,
welding keen, convincing pen. The
person to whom We refer is Thomas
Paine. Now don't have a At; don't
permit . waive Of prejudice to jaun-
dice your love Of fair play-your love
OF truth and justice. It was years ago
when We Arst heard Of Tom Paine and
10 our mind he was pictured as the
Prince OF the Infamous, and we were
frequently and with the greatest SOL
emnity warned never to read any of
his impious and blssphemous works.
But curiosity got the better of 10 once
sna We read them. We hal always un-
lsrstoed that Tom Paine dealt sxclu-
sivsly with subjects religious. But
the Arst work that We read from his
psn was called "Commonsense," and
consisted Of series OF essays on gov
srAmsnt. II told OF the true nature Of
government and how all men were
created to BE- free and tc have equal
rights under the law. Ire text for
this work wes taken from MANUEL
dear, old samuel Of the Bible; one of
the most rugged characters Of the BIZ
sla~r"es Of the grandsst, sublimest
sharsctsrpf all history-brought in
10 being answer to the desiring
prayers great mother; dedicated
In ehildh$ in infancy. u fact, to
the ssrvief Jehovah: pious and obe-
hsnt in ~. with his ear ever close
to the lipyH Coz. . receiver Of Gods
messages. life attuned to
Gods vii faithful. honest, sincere,
fearless. right In the service of
GsA.-At 4 place In II where the
people Of cal desired q king; and
aow God liked the people for ask
Ing kin That was Tom Paine's
text. ana pr in all history. perhaps,
vas tened for q better purpose
whsA tAslssays were altered they
RroauesA rofsuna sensation. For
TEN PaiHwas q eontrovsrsialist
VITA Few 10 and no supsriors. His
uttsranes&his time were profound,
apropos, unanswerable. These
essays w@istributsd over all the
seleniss. were universally read.
They were entering wedge that
divided Ala from England. And
one has ID much who has never
read thsstays. No religion In
them ut good, commonsense in
matters otsrnment, that's all.
Next top from his pen was
series Of %. called The Crisis"
These wshed during the darkest
hours OF American revolution.
during thSribls winter at Valley
Forge whh bleeding feet of the
great patftainsd the snow upon
the srounhins was q soldier at
valley Foharing the hunger and
cold withlfsllow revolutionists;
In fact, hsl soldier all during the
rsvoluttonh these essays were
written to- the hearts and nerve
the handss great revolutionary
fathers. 4ess letters were read
to the patmiss every day. They
warn the and stir the blood to
this day t4hsm, and Washington
in bursthusiasm said that the
letters wels much worth In the
cause Of % the arms OF the
soldiers. time Paine was one
Of the nadhlar men in the col
enies.
with thAg OF the revolution,
Paine arsfhs greatest seal for
liberty sod other worlds to con-
susr and England, the land Of
his birth. lghten out the kinks
in that ol@'s government, and. !
while therlwer to q voluminous
sseay. noStsn, OF Burke's. he
wrote the Of Man" This was
another q work. II aroused
universal and so stirred |
thiAos upl good old country |
that Paintrrsstsd for issuing |
seditious dhemous works, was |
tried. andh BY Erskine. In q
nastsrly before the Kings /
Bench viii 10 q classic on the
rights OF Oh and . pree press.
Lsaving Tom Paine went
10 Frsncek an activs part In
the Frsncl Hon. and. where by
his modsn excited the suspi-
oions and Robespierrs. was
thfovA mi while held there
aaa bsiisf ibis last hour was