France on account of his being much in debt. He took little pains to conceal his political principles, and when the glass had freely circulated, a short time after dinner he attempted loudly and impertinently to combat the political doctrines of the philosopher: this was to be sure the viper biting at the file. Mr. Paine in few words, with much acuteness and address, continued exposing the fallacy of his reasoning, and rebutting his invectives.

The captain became more violent, and waxed so angry, that at length rising from his chair he walked round the table to where Mr. Paine was sitting, and here began a volley of abuse, calling him incendiary, traitor to his country, and struck him a violent blow that nearly knocked him off his seat. Captain Grimstone was a stout young man about thirty, and Mr. Paine at this time nearly sixty.

The company, who suspected not such an outrage against every thing decent, mannerly, and just, and who had occasion frequently during dinner to call him to order, were now obliged to give him in charge of the national

guard. It must be remembered that an act of the convention had made it death to strike a deputy, and every one in company with the person committing the assault refusing to give up the offender was considered as an accomplice.

But a short period before this circumstance happened nine men had been decapitated, one of whom had struck Bourdeur de L'oise, at Orleans. The other eight were walking with him in the street at the time.

Paine was extremely agitated when he reflected on the danger of his unprovoked enemy, and immediately applied to Barrere, at that time president of the committee of public safety, for a passport for the unhappy man, who must otherwise have suffered death; and tho he found the greatest difficulty in effecting this, he however persevered and at length accomplished it, at the same time sending Grimstone money to defray his travelling expences; for his passport was of so short a duration that he was obliged to go immediately from his prison to the messagerie nationale.

Of Mr. Paine's arrest by Robespierre and his imprisonment, &c. we cannot be so well informed as by himself in his own affecting and interesting letters.

"When I was voted out of the French "convention the reason assigned for it was that "I was a foreigner. When Robespierre had

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me seized in the night and imprisoned in "the Luxembourg (where I remained eleven "months) he assigned no reason for it. But "when he proposed bringing me to the tri"bunal, which was like sending me at once "to the scaffold, he then assigned a reason; "and the reason was, for the interest of "America as well as France'-' pour l'intérêt "de l'Amerique autant que de la France.' The "words are in his own hand-writing and re

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ported to the convention by the committee appointed to examine his papers, and are

printed in their report, with this reflection "added to them, Why Thomas Paine more "than another? because he contributed to

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the liberty of both worlds?' There must "have been coalition in sentiment, if not in

"fact, between the terrorists of America and

"the terrorists of France, and Robespierre

must have known it or he could not have "had the idea of putting America into the "bill of accusation against me.

7

"Yet these men, these terrorists of the new world, who were waiting in the devotion of "their hearts for the joyful news of my "destruction, are the same banditti who are

now bellowing in all the hackneyed language "of hackneyed hypocrisy about humanity and piety, and often about something they call infidelity, and they finish with the chorus of

"

crucify him, crucify him. I am become so "famous among them that they cannot eat or "drink without me. I serve them as a stand

ing dish, and they cannot make up a bill of "fare if I am not in it,

"Thomas Paine, to their mortification, Pro"vidence has protected in all his dangers, patronized him in all his undertakings, en"couraged him in all his ways, and rewarded "him at last by bringing him

safety to the promised land.

"than it did by the Jews, the

in health and

This is more

chosen people

"whom they tell us it brought out of the land "of Egypt and out of the house of bondage; "for they all died in the wilderness and Moses I was one of the nine members that composed the first committee of constitution. "Six of them have been destroyed; Sieyes and

"too.

myself have survived. He by bending with "the times, and I by not bending. The other "survivor joined Robespierre and signed with "him the warrant for my arrestation.

"After the fall of Robespierre he was seized " and imprisoned in his turn, and sentenced to "transportation. He has since apologized to me "for having signed the warrant by saying he "felt himself in danger and was obliged to do it.

"Herault Sechelles, an acquaintance of Mr. "Jefferson's, and a good patriot, was my suppli"ant as a member of the committee of constitu"tion; that is, he was to supply my place if I "had not accepted or had resigned, being next " in number of votes to me. He was imprisoned " in the Luxembourg with me, was taken to the "tribunal and to the guillotine, and I, his principal, was left.

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