"I am indebted to you for a former letter. I can make no other apology for not acknowledging it before than inability to give you such an answer as I could wish. I constantly keep the subject in mind, and should any favorable change take place in the sentiments of the Legislature, I will apprize you of it.
"I am, with great esteem, your sincere friend."
In the letter to Madison, Paine tells the same story. At the end he says that Morris' reclamation was not out of any good will to him. "I know not what he wrote to the french minister; whatever it was he concealed it from me." He also says Morris could hardly keep himself out of prison.*
* The letter is in Mr. Frederick McGuire's collection of
Madison papers.
A letter was also written to Joel Barlow, at Washington, dated Broome Street, New York, May 4th. He says in this:
"I have prosecuted the Board of Inspectors for disfranchising me. You and other Americans in Paris went in a body to the Convention to reclaim me, and I want a certificate from you, properly attested, of this fact. If you consult with Gov. Clinton he will in friendship inform you who to address it to.
"Having now done with business I come to meums and tuums. What are you about? You sometimes hear of me but I never hear of you. It seems as if I had got to be master of the feds and the priests. The former do not attack my political publications; they rather try to keep them out of sight by silence. And as to the priests, they act as if they would say, let us alone and we will let you alone. My Examination of the passages called prophecies is printed, and will be published next week. I have prepared it with the Essay on Dream. I do not believe that the priests will attack it, for it is not a book of opinions but of facts. Had the Christian Religion done any good in the world I would not have exposed it, however fabulous I might believe it to be. But the delusive idea of having a friend at court whom they call a redeemer, who pays all their scores, is an encouragement to wickedness.
"What is Fulton about? Is he taming a whale to draw his submarine boat? I wish you would desire Mr. Smith to send me his country National Intelligencer. It is printed twice a week without advertisement. I am somewhat at a loss for want of authentic intelligence. Yours in friendship."
It will be seen that Paine was still in ignorance of the conspiracy which had thrown him in prison, nor did he suspect that Washington had been deceived by Gouverneur Morris, and that his private letter to Washington might have been given over to Pickering.*
* In Chapter X. of this volume, as originally printed, there
were certain passages erroneously suggesting that Pickering
might have even intercepted this important letter of
September 20, 1795. I had not then observed a reference to
that letter by Madison, in writing to Monroe (April 7,
1796), which proves that Paine's communication to Washington
had been read by Pickering. Monroe was anxious lest some
attack on the President should be written by Paine while
under his roof,—an impropriety avoided by Paine as we have
seen,—and had written to Madison on the subject. Madison
answers: "I have given the explanation you desired to F. A.
M[uhlenberg], who has not received any letter as yet, and
has promised to pay due regard to your request. It is proper
you should know that Thomas Paine wrote some time ago a
severe letter to the President which Pickering mentioned to
me in harsh terms when I delivered a note from Thomas Paine
to the Secretary of State, inclosed by T. P. in a letter to
me. Nothing passed, however, that betrayed the least
association of your patronage or attention to Thomas Paine
with the circumstance; nor am I apprehensive that any real
suspicion can exist of your countenancing or even knowing
the steps taken by T. P. under the influence of his personal
feelings or political principles. At the same time the
caution you observe is by no means to be disapproved. Be so
good as to let T. P. know that I have received his letter
and handed his note to the Secretary of State, which
requested copies of such letters as might have been written
hence in his behalf. The note did not require any answer
either to me or through me, and I have heard nothing of it
since I handed it to Pickering." At this time the Secretary
of State's office contained the President's official
recognition of Paine's citizenship; but this application
for the papers relating to his imprisonment by a foreign
power received no reply, though it was evidently couched in
respectful terms; as the letter was open for the eye of
Madison, who would not have conveyed it otherwise. It is
incredible that Washington could have sanctioned such an
outrage on one he had recognized as an American citizen,
unless under pressure of misrepresentations. Possibly
Paine's Quaker and republican direction of his letter to
"George Washington, President of the United States," was
interpreted by his federalist ministers as an insult.