It was Jarvis who said: "He devoted his whole life to the attainment
of two objects--rights of man and freedom of conscience."
And, by the bye, Dr. Conway has declared that "his 'Rights of Man' is
now the political constitution of England, his 'Age of Reason' is the
growing constitution of its Church."
In passing I must once again quote Mr. van der Weyde, who once said to
me: "I often wonder just what share Mary Wollstonecraft had with her
'Rights of Women'--in the inspiration of Paine's 'Rights of Man.' He
and she, you know, were close friends."
Another friend was Robert Fulton of steamboat fame. I have truly heard
Paine enthusiasts declare that our "infidel" was the authentic
inventor of the steamboat! In any case, he is known to have "palled"
with Fulton, and certainly gave him many ideas.
There were, to be sure, annoyances. He was, in spite of Mme. de
Bonneville's affectionate protection, still an object of persecution.
Two clergymen were especially tireless in their desire to reform this
sterling reformer. I believe their names were Milledollar and
Cunningham. Janvier tells this anecdote:
"It was during Paine's last days in the little house in
Greenwich that two worthy divines, the Rev. Mr. Milledollar
and the Rev. Mr. Cunningham, sought to bring him to a
realising sense of the error of his ways. Their visitation
was not a success. 'Don't let 'em come here again,' he said,
curtly, to his housekeeper, Mrs. Hedden, when they had
departed; and added: 'They trouble me.' In pursuance of this
order, when they returned to the attack, Mrs. Hedden denied
them admission--saying with a good deal of piety, and with
even more common-sense: 'If God does not change his mind,
I'm sure no man can!'"
Apropos of the two houses occupied by Paine in our city Mr. van der
Weyde has pointed out most interestingly the striking and almost
miraculous way in which they have just escaped destruction. Paine's
"Providence" has seemed to stand guard over the places sacred to him,
just as it stood guard over his invaluable life. A dozen times 309
Bleecker Street and 59 Grove Street have almost gone in the relentless
constructive demolition of metropolitan growth and progress. But--they
have not gone yet!
I have said that the Grove Street house stood in an open lot, the
centre of a block at that time. Just after Paine's death a street was
cut through, called Cozine Street. Names were fleeting affairs in
early and fast-growing New York, and the one street from Cozine became
Columbia, then Burrows, and last of all Grove, which it remains today.
Here let us make a note of one more indignity which the officially
wise and virtuous ones were able to bestow upon their unassumingly
wise and virtuous victim.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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