Conway’s introduction: IMMEDIATELY after perusal of Bishop Watson’s reply to “The Age of Reason” (“An Apology for the Bible,” 1796) Paine began his answer to it. By reference to his letter to Jefferson (vol. iii. P. 377 of this edition) it will be seen that in October, 1800, he was still writing on it, and […]
ON THE OCCASION OF A TOAST BEING GIVEN AT A FEDERAL DINNER AT WASHINGTON, OF “MAY THEY NEVER KNOW PLEASURE WHO LOVE PAINE.” I SEND you, Sir, a tale about some Feds, Who, in their wisdom got to loggerheads. The case was this, they felt so flat and sunk, They took a glass together and
From the original 1807 book, printed for the author. PREFACE To the Ministers and Preachers of all Denominations of Religion. IT is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error. But nature has not given to every one a talent for the purpose; and among
I HAVE said, in the first part of “The Age of Reason,” that “I hope for happiness after this life.” This hope is comfortable to me, and I presume not to go beyond the comfortable idea of hope, with respect to a future state. I consider myself in the hands of my Creator, and that
A ESSAY on Dream. from the 1807 book Examinaton of the passages in the Hew Testament, printed by author in New York. The paragraphs edited from the 1803 Paris version have been added at the end. AS a great deal is said in the New Testament about dreams, it is first necessary to explain the
From the original document in the letter to Thomas Jefferson at the Library of Congress. As the limit of the mechanical powers, properly so called, is fixed in nature no addition or improvement otherwise than in the application of them, can be made. To obtain a still greater quantity of power we must have recourse
On the Means of generating Motion for Mechanical Uses Read Post »
A DISCOURSE AT THE SOCIETY OF THEOPHILANTHROPISTS, PARIS Philip Foner’s introduction: One aim Paine had in mind in writing his Age of Reason was to recall the French people to a basic belief in the deity and thereby to overcome the influence of atheism. After the publication of his great work, Paine turned his attention
To Mrs. Robert Smyth WHAT IS LOVE? IT IS that delightsome transport we can feel Which painters cannot paint, nor words reveal, Nor any art we know of can conceal. Canst thou describe the sunbeams to the blind, Or make him feel a shadow with his mind? So neither can we by description show This
COMMENTARY ON THE EASTERN WISE-MEN TRAVELLING TO BETHLEHEM GUIDED BY A STAR, TO SEE THE LITTLE JESUS IN A MANGER Mat. Chap. 2. THREE pedlars Trav’ling to a fair, To see the fun & what was there, and sell their merchandise They stopt upon the road to chat. Refresh and ask of this or that
TO THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE AND THE FRENCH ARMIES Philip Foner’s introduction: On the Seventeenth Fructidor, September 3, 1797, the leaders of the majority in the Council of Five Hundred decided to vote the impeachment on the following day of Barras, Reubell, and La Reveillere, members of the French Directory. In case of resistance on
Philip Foner’s introduction: Monroe was recalled from France on August 22, 1796 by President Washington who had been influenced by Gouverneur Morris, still in Europe, to believe that the American Minister to France had attacked the American chief executive and was organizing an anti-Washington conspiracy among Frenchmen. On his return to the United States, in
Philip Foner’s introduction: The letter which follows the introduction was addressed to Thomas Erskine who had defended Paine in the government suit conducted in 1792 to suppress Rights of Man, but in 1797 conducted the prosecution of Thomas Williams, a London publisher and bookseller, accused by the Society for the Suppression of Vice and Immorality
