Thomas Paine’s Birth-Day Festival In Boston

Boston Investigator, 7 Feb. 1834, p. 3. Readex: America’s Historical Newspapers. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

BOSTON INVESTIGATOR.

Thomas Paine’s Birth-Day FESTIVAL.

No event has happened since our residence in Boston, that has given us more heart-felt satisfaction than the order and harmony observed at this Festival.

At a little past 4 o’clock, P. M., the ladies and gentlemen were conducted into the Hall, and seated by the Marshal, when the President and Orator of the day, and the Vice Presidents, (nine in number,) took their seats. The Marshal addressed the President, Hon. EBENEZER SEAVER of Roxbury, in a few very appropriate words, to which Mr. Seaver made the following reply.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,—Your calling upon me to preside at this time, to celebrate the Birth-Day of the great and benevolent THOMAS PAINE, carries my mind back to the trying times of 1776—at that time only about twelve years of age; yet such was then the distress of our country, the impressions cannot be obliterated from my mind only by death. At that period, the writings of this great and benevolent man appeared over the signature of Common Sense. They were felt in every section of our extensive continent, and gave animation, life and union to the whigs. None, nor all the writings of the patriots of that time, produced such an effect as the writings of this great man. Not content with aiding, (I was about to say, giving Independence to America,) his powerful mind could not rest here.—It carried him to Europe, (although invited by Washington to spend his days with him.) There, Ladies and Gentlemen, his Rights of Man, and Age of Reason, appeared, giving the fatal blow to Civil and Religious Tyranny. There, as here, Reason and Philosophy, Education and Science, are taking the place of Bigotry and Superstition; and man is advancing with a slow, but steady and sure pace, to Freedom, Happiness and Peace.

This Address being pronounced, the company, about 200 in number, sat down to a supper prepared in good style, by Mr. Winn. Their liquors were coffee, chocolate, and tea. Not a drop of wine, or spirit of any kind, or even cider, was used on the occasion, and the utmost harmony prevailed throughout the evening.

After the first regular toast was announced, and the music ceased, Abner Kneeland being called upon, delivered the following

ADDRESS.

MR. PRESIDENT,—I arise with heart-felt joy and congratulation, to address you and this brilliant assembly on the present occasion—a day set apart in honor, and in memory of one, the anniversary of whose Birth we this day celebrate, who, in the opinion of many, both good men and true, did more, by his pen, to break the yoke of both Political and Religious Intolerance, than any other heroes of the American revolution. And although the Monster of Superstition and Religious Bigotry still occasionally rears its head, and struggles hard for supremacy, yet they are like the struggles of a dying man, the last throes of expiring animation. And the time is coming when that name which has so long been the hate and detestation of a hireling priesthood, will be hailed with gratitude by every son and daughter of Mental Freedom. I allude, sir, to the long abused, and often calumniated name of THOMAS PAINE.

THOMAS PAINE, whose political virtues all are ready to acknowledge, and were it not for his exposure of the Priesthood, would have been ready to have rewarded. This was his damning, his unpardonable sin with the Priesthood, and in consequence of this they can never forgive him. What did more to enlighten the American people to a sense of their just rights, previous to the declaration of independence than the work entitled Common Sense?—What did more to revive the American army at the most trying moment than The Crisis? What, though intended particularly for the people of England, was ever better received in this country than The Rights of Man? And last, though not least, what has ever done more to remove the veil which covered a most gross and enslaving superstition than the Age of Reason?

I regret, Sir, that I have had so little time to prepare an address more suited and appropriate to the present occasion, than what I have been able to perform.

As it was said in the eventful period of ’76, so it may be said with equal propriety now, this is a day that truly tries men’s souls. And considering the circumstances in which I have been recently placed, and in which I still stand, we may well presume that there is not a soul present that has not been well tried. They have been weighed in the balance of FREE ENQUIRY, and not found wanting.

I hold in my hand a work entitled Closing Scenes of the Lives of celebrated Liberal Writers, written, as I am informed, by Dr. James R. de Petit Fontaine, of St. Louis, Mo., a few extracts from which I had purposed to read, as they are very appropriate to the present occasion; but I find that neither the time, nor the light, will permit, as it would interfere with the amusements of the evening. I shall therefore content myself in saying that it shows that the Spirit of Free Enquiry has already extended itself to the far distant West, and I hope it will continue till the hydra-headed monster of Ignorance, Superstition, Bigotry, and Intolerance, shall be so prostrated as to fall perfectly harmless before the feet of Reason, Common Sense, and the Rights of Man.

N. B. We shall publish the extracts referred to in our next.

REGULAR TOASTS.

1. THOMAS PAINE—His Common Sense gladdened and emboldened the hearts, and nerved the Arms of freemen to combat the mercenary tools of Kingcraft and Priestcraft.
2. The President and Vice-President of the United States.
3. THE DAY WE CELEBRATE—Long to be remembered as having given birth to one, who by his talents and patriotism, contributed to the happiness of mankind, as much as any other individual.
4. FREE ENQUIRY—Let its votaries remember the standard toast of their fathers in the Revolution. Steady, boys, steady, Our purses are ready, Not as slaves, but as Freemen We part with our money.
5. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN—Whose wisdom extended from the earth to the clouds, and drove Lightning into Junk Bottles.
6. THE CRY OF INFIDELITY—It will never make Infidelity cry; but will cause thousands to enquire what infidelity is, and when they truly know, they are truly with us.
7. The Invidious Laws of Massachusetts against Blasphemy and Witchcraft—May they soon be abolished.
8. ATHEISM AND INFIDELITY—Twin nondescripts; emanations of Priests and Bigots in the darkest ages, and countersigned by modern Aristocrats, a covering to arguments they cannot answer.
9. NATURE—Beautiful in all thy works, among the most brilliant of thy constellations stands the Immortal Thomas Paine: when he made his first appearance in The Rights of Man, Kings, Priests and Bigots stood aghast, trembling and frenzied in agony at the PAIN they felt.
10. THE NATURAL LAWS OF MAN—May we soon know them and obey them.
11. The dissemination of Liberal Principles throughout the World—May that era soon arrive, when Superstition, Bigotry and Hypocrisy no longer stalk abroad polluting every thing by their poisonous influence.
12. THE PRESENT AGE—On the railroad of mental improvement, propelled by the steam power of Public Opinion.
13. THE FAIR OF OUR WORLD—The solar system of our affections, Nature’s best gift to man; redeemed from the pious slander of original sin, by the freedom of Enquiry.

The usual plaudits and the music followed every toast, whether Regular or Volunteer.

VOLUNTEER TOASTS.

By the President of the Day. The true Millenium. When our meeting-houses shall become Schools of Science; when Reason, Philosophy and Truth, shall be substituted for Mystery, Miracle and Prophecy, and Hypocritical Faith shall become an odious as Witchcraft.

By the First Vice President, after the President had retired. The President of the Day: like the venerable oak of his native soil; the storms of licentious bigotry have more deeply rooted him in the hearts of all true patriots.

By the 2d Vice President. Frances Wright: The talented and fearless Champion of the Rights of Man.

By the 3d Vice President. Woman: the beauty and glory of creation; may she no longer be deprived of her Natural Rights by lordly man. Let her mind cease to be fettered by Superstition—her understanding freed from the impositions of those cunning rogues, the priests, and assume the place and rank in society that Nature and Reason have assigned her.

By the 4th Vice President. Thomas Jefferson:—the Architect of American Independence, who made Political Liberty its corner stone, and ornamented the superstructure with Liberty of Conscience. Millions in gratitude will perpetuate his memory.

By the 5th Vice President. Morality: the germ of happiness. May its roots strike deep in the hearts of every Free Enquirer.

By the 6th Vice President. Robert Taylor and Richard Carlile: the noble champions of Liberty and Truth; may the people reward them for their virtue and fidelity in bringing to light the craft of the Priest and the Priesthood.

By the 7th Vice President. The late Dr. Samuel Danforth of this city: a star whose radiance and splendor can never be obscured, either by self-styled Liberal Christianity, or by Ignorance and Bigotry.

By the 8th Vice President. Stephen Girard: the liberal designer of a great work; May it be accomplished without the aid of Sectarian Principles or Bigoted Interlopers.

By the 9th Vice President. The religious statute of 1782: like Shylock’s bond, its penalties cannot be inflicted without drawing blood from the constitution.

By a Guest. Thomas Paine: his Rights of Man (in England) made an idiot King bawl out to his wool sack barons, “My lords, I have been shot at!”

By a Volunteer. Infidelity: the Orthodox are Infidels to the Atheists; Unitarians to the Orthodox; Universalists to Unitarians; Deists to the Universalists; and mankind in general are noted Infidels to each other, and particularly to themselves.

By B. Page. Robert Taylor in England, and Abner Kneeland in America: persecuted for promulgating Liberal Principles; may they never shrink from their duty until Kingcraft and Priestcraft, like witchcraft, shall be fully exposed.

By Abner Kneeland. The American sage, Benjamin Franklin—the friend of Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, who, although well known to have been alike in sentiment while living, yet Christians are trying to claim the first and the last, Franklin and Jefferson, when dead.

By Samuel Hewes, of Roxbury. In 1776 Thomas Paine’s pamphlet of Common Sense, appeared; its effects, like the electricity of Franklin, gave an impetus to the mind of the people of the United United Colonies, and the Declaration of Independence soon followed.

By an absent Friend. Thomas Paine: His Age of Reason knocked off the bishop’s head, his fool cap, and made the gown and cassock bands of the clergy, both unpopular—out of fashion.

By a Member. The Society of Free Enquirers in Boston: united to man in defence of every constitutional right, against every species of inquisition, United we stand; Divided we fall.

By an absent Friend. Free Enquirers; Characterised for Reason, Common Sense, Moderation, and for Lovers of Truth, they have no cause for alarm on account of the late attack upon them by Bigoted Fanatics. The very fact itself, that the attack has been made, shows on which side the alarm is. It is Priestcraft that trembles, and not Free Enquirers, “Straws show which way the wind blows.”

By a Lady. The fair sex: may we arise in the majesty of our strength, and keep our homes and our fire-sides free from the intrusions of fanatics or their minions; but encourage Common Sense and Free Enquiry.

By a Volunteer. The author of the Age of Reason: though sped to his long home, he has left a sting behind, that has been a thorn in the flesh of Priestcraft.

By a Member. The stripes on the American flag; may they be braided into whips, to scourge Bigotry, Superstition and Intolerance.

By John W. Hall. The two strongest links in the Chains of Oppression, Priestcraft and Aristocracy, which have always gone hand in hand: may they be still closer united—bound neck and heels with strong cords, which a Delilah cannot overcome, even though she shave the hair from their heads: and may they be thrown into the bottomless pit of their own digging, head foremost, that they may dig out of the sight of Free Enquiry.

By a Member of the Orthodox Church. Mary Wollstonecraft and Frances Wright; heroines who have dared to assail the hierarchy that has enslaved mankind. They are the magnets of their sex, to which all may point. May the example they have set be followed by every woman who wishes for equal rights, and so sure as the needle points to the North, so surely will their influence emancipate the world.

By Samuel Adams. The Ladies who, in spite of mis-named public opinion, have honored us by their presence on this occasion; may they always remain an ornament and support to Free Enquiry, and impregnable at all points against the insidious arts of priests.

By Tyler Parsons. James Monroe, late President of the United States: although stigmatised as an easy kind of Infidel, by the Religious Bigots; yet he dared to die “without the benefit of clergy.”

By Dr. Charles Knowlton. The elder President Adams: a man after our own hearts; who, whatever pretensions to faith circumstances may ever have induced him to make, has discovered to the world a high degree of good sense, and doubtless his real sentiments, in the following words, to wit: “This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there was no religion in it.”

By a Guest. Rousseau, Voltaire, Hume and Bolingbroke: pioneers of a former age, in the glorious work of Free Enquiry: may the sons of the present age do honor to their memory.

By B. F. Bond. Thomas Paine: the Apostle of Freedom, who kept alive the flame of Civil and Religious Liberty lighted by our patriot sires in their struggle for American Independence; may that flame never be extinguished until it has consumed every vestige of Superstition, Bigotry, and Intolerance. While Priests and Bigots loudly tell Of pains reserved for us in hell; We fear them not—nor Bigot’s chain, But glory ever in our PAINE!

By a Friend. The Freedom of the Press, and the Liberty of Speech, whether in Religion or Politics, principal pillars upon which this great republic rests.

By one of the Guests. Robert Dale Owen: the mild Orator, and able Defender of Free Enquiry: may he never desert the good cause he has espoused.

By one who knows. The Priests: the Enemies of Man. The Fruits of their labors are Hypocrisy, Mental Slavery, and Self-Aggrandizement. They have been at War with Reason and Common Sense in all ages of the world. Nothing but Truth, Science, and Free Enquiry will produce “Peace on earth, and good will to men.”

By an absent Friend. Andrew Dunlap Esq.: the able, talented and eloquent Advocate of the Equal Rights of Man.

By a Volunteer. The Priests: In Adam’s fall, we sinned all, Said pious deacon Horn; E’god, (says a Card,) that’s ‘nation hard, To sin before one’s born.

By one of the Choir. The Prosecution: a concert for the benefit of our children; as our bigoted brethren have given us the pitch of the base, and followed up with the tenor and treble, may we sing counter to them in good harmony.

By one of the Vice Presidents. The Rev Hosea Ballou: Will ye also say, Crucify him! Crucify him!

By a zealous Friend. The Representatives of Massachusetts; may they imitate the examples of the Representatives of their sister State, by expunging from their statute books the unjust and unwholesome laws which disgrace our free and liberal constitution.

By one of the Company. Money: the salvation of the heathen; the Founder of the Gospel; the great support of Priests; the grand desideratum of Temperance, Tract, Missionary and Theological Societies; the great lever of Priestcraft, and would be the Poor Man’s Friend, (if he could get it;) the heathen worship the sun; the Christians worship Gold.

By a Physician. The March of Intellect: Ghosts, Witches, and Goblins—the order of olden times supported by Priests and Laymen of the present day; 2 oz. of the Age of Reason, compounded by 3 dr. of Free Enquiry, and sweetened with a little Common Sense, a certain cure. N. B. The patient to be well SHAKEN when taken.

The following toasts were sent by an absent friend. The Constitution of the U. S.; may it prove a shield that shall protect the venerable head and whitened locks of him, who is now the subject of Persecution.

By the same. Our Enemy: the self-righteous Pharisees; they will not be justified till the war which they have begun shall be carried into the enemies’ camp; may they reap their reward.

Abner Kneeland. Independent enough to be honest, and honest enough to be independent. He has done his duty faithfully, and for so doing has encountered the frowns of fanatics, and all the disgrace which they can heap upon his head; and although others may affect to shun him for fear of contamination, let the sons of Civil and Religious Liberty, tender him a rich cup of consolation. Let them pledge him cordially, and drain the draught of approving sympathy even to its dregs. Three Cheers.

By B. F. Bond. Abner Kneeland: (according to the Orthodox Dictionary,) the High Priest of Infidelity: born in original sin; educated amid the murky clouds which the doctrines of endless misery lowered about him, but redeemed (in his researches,) by the refulgent light of Reason and Common Sense: may he long remain a guide to his fellow-men, and contribute to their happiness, by inculcating the principles of Equality, and an eternal existence of matter, which can never be annihilated by the creeds of sectarians, the denunciations of bigoted judicial magistrates, or the power of imaginary omnipotence.

By a Guest. Richard M. Johnson: A pillar of Democracy—a Patriot, Hero and friend of Equal Rights.

There were a few others, some of which were nearly a repetition, in substance, of some of the above, and therefore are omitted. The Marshal then requested the assembly to rise, and receive the last toast in silence; when, being called upon, the following sentiment was given

By Abner Kneeland. The Father of his country, (pointing at the same time to his picture, which was suspended in the hall,) WASHINGTON.

A solemn dirge was performed, the audience still standing. When the music ceased, the company retired to make ready for the Ball. Several good Songs, by the Choir, were interspersed with the Toasts. The harmony, during the whole, exceeded every thing of the kind we had ever before witnessed.

We shall close with the following remark, which we copy from the Boston Republican, thinking that what others say of us, will be more readily received than what we can say for ourselves.

“At 7 o’clock the company repaired to the Ball room, and dancing was continued until 11 o’clock, when the party separated, each one gratified with the evening’s entertainment.

This is the mode of celebrating public events, we are in favor of. We never could discover any good reason why the fairer and better portion of the human family should be excluded on these occasions, and we are gratified to find that an inroad has now been made on an old established custom—and sincerely hope the example will be followed on similar occasions.”

Owing to the many that could not be admitted to the Ball, for the want of room, it was continued also on the next (Thursday) evening, which was also very well attended. And then, on Friday evening, was the regular Wednesday evening amusement, which had been postponed to make room for the Ball; and this also was attended about as usual.

Thus we consider the foundation for the Temple of Free Enquiry fully established in this city; and so firmly too, that all the flood-gates of ignorance, bigotry, superstition and intolerance will never be able to prevail against it.