CHAPTER IX. A RESTORATION
As in 1792 Paine had left England with the authorities at his heels, so in 1794 escaped Morris from France. The ex-Minister went off to play courtier to George III. and write for Louis XVIII. the despotic proclamation with which monarchy was to be restored in France*; Paine sat in the house of a real American Minister, writing proclamations of republicanism to invade the empires. So passed each to his own place.
While the American Minister in Paris and his wife were nursing their predecessor's victim back into life, a thrill of joy was passing through European courts, on a rumor that the dreaded author had been guillotined. Paine had the satisfaction of reading, at Monroe's fireside, his own last words on the scaffold,** and along with it an invitation of the 27th of December 1792.
* Morris' royal proclamations are printed in full in his
biography by Jared Sparks.
** "The last dying words of Thomas Paine. Executed at the
Guillotine in France on the 1st of September, 1794." The
dying speech begins: "Ye numerous spectators gathered
around, pray give ear to my last words; I am determined to
speak the Truth in these my last moments, altho' I have
written and spoke nothing but lies all my life." There is
nothing in the witless leaflet worth quoting. When Paine was
burnt in effigy, in 1792, it appears to have been with
accompaniments of the same kind. Before me is a small
placard, which reads thus: "The Dying Speech and Confession
of the Arch-Traitor Thomas Paine. Who was executed at Oakham
on Thursday."
"This morning the Officers usually attending on such
occasions went in procession on Horseback to the County
Gaol, and demanded the Body of the Arch-Traitor, and from
thence proceeded with the Criminal drawn in a Cart by an Ass
to the usual place of execution with his Pamphlet called the
'Rights of Man' in his right hand."
On December 7, 1794, Thibaudeau had spoken to that assembly in the following terms:
"It yet remains for the Convention to perform an act of justice. I reclaim one of the most zealous defenders of liberty'—Thomas Paine. (Loud applause.) My reclamation is for a man who has honored his age by his energy in defence of the rights of humanity, and who is so gloriously distinguished by his part in the American revolution. A naturalized Frenchman* by a decree of the legislative assembly, he was nominated by the people. It was only by an intrigue that he was driven from the Convention, the pretext being a decree excluding foreigners from representing the French people. There were only two foreigners in the Convention; one [Anacharsis Clootz] is dead, and I speak not of him, but of Thomas Paine, who powerfully contributed to establish liberty in a country allied with the French Republic. I demand that he be recalled to the bosom of the Convention." (Applause.)
"The Moniteur, from which I translate, reports the unanimous adoption of Thibaudeau's motion. But this was not enough. The Committee of Public Instruction, empowered to award pensions for literary services, reported (January 3, 1795) as the first name on their list, Thomas Paine. Chenier, in reading the report, claimed the honor of having originally suggested Paines name as an honorary citizen of France, and denounced, amid applause, the decree against foreigners under which the great author had suffered.
* Here Thibaudeau was inexact. In the next sentence but one
he rightly describes Paine as a foreigner. The allusion to
"an intrigue" is significant.
You have revoked that inhospitable decree, and we again see Thomas Paine, the man of genius without fortune, our colleague, dear to all friends of humanity,—a cosmopolitan, persecuted equally by Pitt and by Robespierre. Notable epoch in the life of this philosopher, who opposed the arms of Common Sense to the sword of Tyranny, the Rights of Man to the machiavelism of English politicians; and who, by two immortal works, has deserved well of the human race, and consecrated liberty in the two worlds."
Poor as he was, Paine declined this literary pension. He accepted the honors paid him by the Convention, no doubt with a sorrow at the contrasted silence of those who ruled in America. Monroe, however, encouraged him to believe that he was still beloved there, and, as he got stronger, a great homesickness came upon him. The kindly host made an effort to satisfy him. On January 4th he (Monroe) wrote to the Committee of Public Safety:
"Citizens: The Decree just passed, bearing on the execution of Articles 23 and 24 of the Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between the two Republics, is of such great importance to my country, that I think it expedient to send it there officially, by some particularly confidential hand; and no one seems to be better fitted for this errand than Thomas Paine, Having resided a long time in France, and having a perfect knowledge of the many vicissitudes which the Republic has passed, he will be able to explain and compare the happy lot she now enjoys. As he has passed the same himself, remaining faithful to his principles, his reports will be the more trustworthy, and consequently produce a better effect. But as Citizen Paine is a member of the Convention, I thought it better to submit this subject to your consideration. If this affair can be arranged, the Citizen will leave for America immediately, via Bordeaux, on an American vessel which will be prepared for him. As he has reason to fear the persecution of the English government, should he be taken prisoner, he desires that his departure may be kept a secret.
"Jas. Monroe."
The Convention alone could give a passport to one of its members, and as an application to it would make Paine's mission known, the Committee returned next day a negative answer.
"Citizen: We see with satisfaction and without surprise, that you attach some interest to sending officially to the United States the Decree which the National Convention has just made, in which are recalled and confirmed the reports of Friendship and Commerce existing between the two Republics.
"As to the design you express of confiding this errand to Citizen Thomas Paine, we must observe to you that the position he holds will not permit him to accept it. Salutation and Friendship.
"Cambacérès."*
Liberty's great defender gets least of it! The large seal of the Committee—mottoed "Activity, Purity, Attention"—looks like a wheel of fortune; but one year before it had borne from the Convention to prison the man it now cannot do without. France now especially needs the counsel of shrewd and friendly American heads. There are indications that Jay in London is carrying the United States into Pitt's combination against the Republic, just as it is breaking up on the Continent.
Monroe's magnanimity towards Paine found its reward. He brought to his house, and back into life, just the one man in France competent to give him the assistance he needed. Comprehending the history of the Revolution, knowing the record of every actor in it, Paine was able to revise Monroe's impressions, and enable him to check calumnies circulated in America. The despatches of Monroe are of high historic value, largely through knowledge derived from Paine.
* State Archives of France. États Unis, vol. xliii. Monroe
dates his letter, "19th year of the American Republic."
Nor was this all. In Monroe's instructions emphasis was laid on the importance to the United States of the free navigation of the Mississippi and its ultimate control.* Paine's former enthusiasm in this matter had possibly been utilized by Gouverneur Morris to connect him, as we have seen, with Genêt's proceedings. The Kentuckians consulted Paine at a time when expulsion of the Spaniard was a patriotic American scheme. This is shown in a letter written by the Secretary of State (Randolph) to the President, February 27, 1794.
"Mr. Brown [Senator of Kentucky] has shown me a letter from the famous Dr. O'Fallon to Captain Herron, dated Oct 18, 1793. It was intercepted, and he has permitted me to take the following extract:—'This plan (an attack on Louisiana) was digested between Gen. Clarke and me last Christmas. I framed the whole of the correspondence in the General's name, and corroborated it by a private letter of my own to Mr. Thomas Paine, of the National Assembly, with whom during the late war I was very intimate. His reply reached me but a few days since, enclosed in the General's despatches from the Ambassador."**
* "The conduct of Spain towards us is unaccountable and
injurious. Mr. Pinckney is by this time gone over to Madrid
as our envoy extraordinary to bring matters to a conclusion
some way or other. But you will seize any favorable moment
to execute what has been entrusted to you respecting the
Mississippi."—Randolph to Monroe, February 15, 1795.
** Two important historical works have recently appeared
relating to the famous Senator Brown. The first is a
publication of the Filson Club: "The Political Beginnings of
Kentucky," by John Mason Brown. The second is: "The Spanish
Conspiracy," by Thomas Marshall Green (Cincinnati, Robert
Clarke & Co., 1891). The intercepted letter quoted above has
some bearing on the controversy between these authors.
Apparently, Senator Brown, like many other good patriots,
favored independent action in Kentucky when that seemed for
the welfare of the United States, but, when the situation
had changed, Brown is found co-operating with Washington and
Randolph.
That such letters (freely written as they were at the beginning of 1793) were now intercepted indicates the seriousness of the situation time had brought on. The administration had soothed the Kentuckians by pledges of pressing the matter by negotiations. Hence Monroe's instructions, in carrying out which Paine was able to lend a hand.