THOMAS PAINE
One of the most vigorous contributors to this discussion was Thomas Paine, an Englishman by birth, whose ability as a writer attracted the attention of Benjamin Franklin, then in London, at whose suggestion Paine came to America. He had already made himself somewhat noted as a radical critic of the English government and political system, and within a year of his arrival in this country became editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine. His “Common Sense,” a pamphlet published in 1776, was a very vigorous argument in favor of severing all ties with the mother country. The argument was put so strongly, and at the same time with such simplicity, that it made a great impression on all kinds of people, and the Pennsylvania legislature, in recognition of the services he had rendered to the American cause, made him a gift of five hundred pounds. This pamphlet was immediately translated into various European languages. His “Crisis,” which was published from time to time during the war, was also of great importance to the Americans, and the first number was read by order of Washington to every regiment in the colonial army. This was in the terrible winter of 1776, and the spirit and courage expressed in these papers did much to relieve the despondency of the time. The “Age of Reason,” an attack on the Bible, published in 1794, shocked the world, and so beclouded Paine’s reputation that his great service to the country has been largely overlooked.
CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN
By Wm. Dunlap—1806