Utica Observer Dispatch, 10 June 1923
New York, June 9.—Representatives of foreign governments and historical and patriotic societies attended the unveiling of a bronze tablet today to the memory of Thomas Paine, Revolutionary War patriot, at the house in Greenwich Village where he once lived. Paine was lauded as “the greatest man of his age” and “the Revolutionary whose utterances inspired our freedom.”
Among those who eulogized Paine were H. Gloster Armstrong, consul general of Great Britain, and French Johnson, Columbia University, said that “the indictment against Paine has been erased and he stands today as a patriot.”
Speakers declared that Paine was “greatly misjudged”. Joseph French Johnson, dean of New York University, said that the “indictment of Thomas Paine is that he was too honest a man to be a safe citizen.”