In the above Mr. Paine applies this figure of political chemistry to the causes which led to the separation of the colonies from England. Junius is speaking to the Duke of Grafton. "Menstruum" and "Caput mortuum," are old chemical terms. The former means that which will dissolve, and the latter the worthless matter which is left. They are both figures of analysis, and show the writer to have given his attention to chemistry. Mr. Paine, it is well known, in 1775, shortly after arriving in America, "set his talents to work" to make saltpeter by some cheap and expeditious method, and formed an association to supply gratuitously the national magazines with powder. This fact also shows that Mr. Paine came to America to fight England; for it was before he had written his Common Sense. His object was, to be prepared; his method was, first the powder and then the Declaration of Independence, which last was produced by the pamphlet Common Sense.

Paine.Junius.
"It renders man diminutive in things that are great, and the counterfeit of woman in things that are small."—Rights of Man, part i. "Women, and men like women, are timid, vindictive, and irresolute."—Let. 41.
"Fact is superior to reasoning."—Rights of Man, part ii., chap. i. "The plain evidence of facts is superior to all declarations."—Let. 5.
"You sunk yourself below the character of a private gentleman."—Crisis, ii. "You are degraded below the condition of a man."—Let. 34.
"Now if I have any conception of the human heart, they will fail in this more than in any thing they have yet tried."—Crisis, iii. "I thought, however, he had been better read in the history of the human heart."—Let. 27.

Mr. Paine and Junius both reasoned, and this very often, from the nature of man, and especially his passions. The following are parallels:

Paine.Junius.
"Spirit of prophecy."
"Man of spirit."
"Air of."
"Strokes of."
"Give color to."
"Tranquillity of."
"Narrow views."
 "Spirit of prophecy."
"Man of spirit."
"Air of."
"Strokes of."
"Give color to."
"Tranquillity of."
"Narrow views."
"But the great hinge on which the whole machine turned, is the union of the States."—Crisis, xv., note. "This is not the hinge on which the debate turns."—Let. 16.
"Each individual feels his share of the wound given to the whole."—Crisis, xii. "I consider nothing but the wound which has been given to the law."—Let. 30.
"Thorn in the flesh." "Thorn in the king's side."
"As the future ability of a giant over a dwarf is delineated in his features while an infant."—Crisis, xi. "The features of the infant are a proof of the descent."—Let. 58.
"But from such opposition, the French revolution, instead of suffering, receives homage. The more it is struck, the more sparks it will emit."—Rights of Man, part i. "Hardly serious at first, he is now an enthusiast. The coldest bodies warm with opposition, the hardest sparkle in collision."—Let. 35.
"He pities the plumage, but forgets the dying bird."—Do. "The feather which adorns the royal bird supports his flight. Strip him of his plumage, and you fix him to earth."—Let. 42.
"The ripeness of the continent for independence." "When you are ripe, you shall be plucked."—Let. 66.
"Had you studied true greatness of heart, the first and fairest ornament of mankind."—Crisis, vii. [This shows a parallel also in the estimation they place upon the human faculties, which is worth more in argument than any parallel of figure or expression.] "But neither should I think the most exalted faculties of the human mind a gift worthy of the Divinity, nor any assistance in the improvement of them a subject of gratitude to my fellow-creatures, if I were not satisfied that really to inform the understanding, corrects and enlarges the heart."—Last sentence of Junius.
"Wounded herself to the heart." "Stab you to the heart."
"Unite in despising you." "United detestation."
"We are not moved by the gloomy smile of a worthless king."—Crisis, iv. "How far you are authorized to rely upon the sincerity of those smiles which a pious court lavishes without reluctance upon a libertine by profession," etc.—Let. 15.
"That which, to some persons, appeared moderation in you at first, was not produced by any real virtue of your own, but by a contrast of passions, dividing and holding you in perpetual irresolution. One vice will frequently expel another, without the least merit in the man, as powers in contrary directions reduce each other to rest."—Crisis, v. "We owe it to the bounty of Providence that the completest depravity of the heart is sometimes strangely united with a confusion of the mind, which counteracts the most favorite principles, and makes the same man treacherous without art, and a hypocrite without deceiving."—Let. 15.

The last parallel above will bear a moment's thought and study. Paine says: "Without the least merit in the man." Junius says: "We owe it to the bounty of Providence." They were both deeply read in the history of the human heart. The following is of the same nature, showing the same mental philosophy:

Paine.Junius.
"Men whose political principles are founded on avarice are beyond the reach of reason, and the only cure of toryism of this cast is to tax it. A substantial good drawn from a real evil, is of the same benefit to society as if drawn from a virtue; and when men have not public spirit to render themselves serviceable, it ought to be the study of government to draw the best possible use from their vices. When the governing passion of any man or set of men is once known, the method of managing them is easy; for even misers, whom no public virtue can impress, would become generous could a heavy tax be laid upon covetousness." "In public affairs there is the least chance of a perfect concurrence of sentiment or inclination. If individuals have no virtues, their vices may be of use to us. I care not with what principle the new-born patriot is animated if the measures he supports are beneficial to the community. The nation is interested in his conduct, the motives are his own."—Let. 58. "I am not so unjust as to reason from one crime to another; though I think that, of all vices, avarice is most apt to taint and corrupt the heart."—Let. 27.
"Charity with them begins and ends at home."—Exam. of Prophecies, Appendix. "His charity has improved upon the proverb, and ended where it began."—Let. 27.
"Gut a verse." "Gut a resolution."

The above are a few of the similar figures which have come under my eye. The careful reader will, doubtless, find many more, as I have given my attention to a multiplicity of subjects in this investigation, and many parallels would thus escape me. But I have given more than sixty, which ought to arrest the attention of any thinking man. Together with the above may be taken parallel phrases frequently used by both; for example: "I affirm," "Excess of folly," "In point of," "Give the lie to," "For several reasons," "Branded with," "It signifies not," "Circumstanced," "For my own part," "In short," "Forever," "Common cause."

I now pass on to those figures of speech which come in the form of argumentation, as antithesis and interrogation.