The sun (New York [N.Y.]), June 6, 1909
TRIBUTES TO THOMAS PAINE
NOT SPOKEN OF AS AN INFIDEL 100 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH
Trustees of a $1,500 Marble Bust of Him Not Accepted by Independence Hall in 1905 Present at New Rochelle.
NEW ROCHELLE, June 5
Thomas Paine was not spoken of as an infidel at the celebration here to-day of the centenary of his death, which occurred in New York on June 8, 1809. The speakers, who included two clergymen, spoke of him as the pioneer of democracy.
“We speak glibly of democracy,” said Dr. David Saville Muzzey, a leader in the Ethical Culture movement, “but we do not realize that Thomas Paine was the pathfinder of our present condition. He was a devotee of liberty and he saw the sevenfold struggle between the rulers and their subjects. To-day we look to our Executive, to our popular juries, to our legislative bodies to make us see that one-man power cannot rule. It was the principle of international brotherhood that Thomas Paine advocated, and only to-day is the world beginning to overcome the prejudice of caste and recognize its appreciation of Thomas Paine.”
Elbert Hubbard of East Aurora also spoke.
Among the 500 or 600 persons present were James B. Elliott of Philadelphia, secretary of the Thomas Paine International Association, and three trustees of the $1,500 marble bust of Thomas Paine which was refused by the authorities of Independence Hall, Philadelphia, in 1905. They were Dr. Henry Leffmann, William H. Harvey, and Professor J. J. Macfarlane.
The celebration was held under the auspices of the Thomas Paine Historical Association, of which Moncure D. Conway was the first president.
The actual anniversary of the death of Paine is next Tuesday, and it will be celebrated in various parts of the country.