So Mary Roscoe was Mary Hinsdale, and as Mary Hinsdale has been shown by her own admis- sion to Mr. Cobbett to have known nothing of the matter; and as Mary Hinsdale was not, according to Willet Hicks, worthy of belief--as she told a false- hood of the same kind about Mary Lockwood, and was, according to Mr. Collins, addicted to the use of opium--this disposes of her and her testimony. There remains upon the stand Grant Thorburn. Concerning this witness, I received, yesterday, from the eminent biographer and essayist, James Parton, the following epistle: Newburyport, Mass. Col. R. G. Ingersoll: Touching Grant Thorburn, I personally know him to have been a dishonest man. At the age of ninety- two he copied, with trembling hand, a piece from a newspaper and brought it to the office of the _Home Journal, as his own_. It was I who received it and 521 detected the deliberate forgery. If you are ever go- ing to continue this subject, I will give you the exact facts. Fervently yours, James Parton. After this, you are welcome to what remains of Grant Thorburn. There is one thing that I have noticed during this controversy regarding Thomas Paine. In no instance that I now call to mind has any Christian writer spoken respectfully of Mr. Paine. All have taken particular pains to call him "Tom" Paine. Is it not a little strange that religion should make men so coarse and ill-mannered? I have often wondered what these same gentle- men would say if I should speak of the men eminent in the annals of Christianity in the same way. What would they say if I should write about "Tim" Dwight, old "Ad" Clark, "Tom" Scott, "Jim" McKnight, "Bill" Hamilton, "Dick" Whately, "Bill" Paley, and "Jack" Calvin? They would _say_ of me then, just what I _think_ of them now. Even if we have religion, do not let us try to get along without good manners. Rudeness is exceed- ingly unbecoming, even in a saint. Persons who 522 forgive their enemies ought, to say the least, to treat with politeness those who have never injured them. It is exceedingly gratifying to me that I have com- pelled you to say that "Paine died a blaspheming Infidel." Hereafter it is to be hoped nothing will be heard about his having recanted. As an answer to such slander his friends can confidently quote the following from the _New York Observer_ of November ist, 1877: "WE HAVE NEVER STATED IN ANY FORM, NOR HAVE WE EVER SUPPOSED THAT PAINE ACTUALLY RE- NOUNCED HIS INFIDELITY. THE ACCOUNTS AGREE IN STATING THAT HE DIED A BLASPHEMING INFIDEL." This for all coming time will refute the slanders of the churches yet to be. Right here allow me to ask: If you never supposed that Paine renounced his Infidelity, why did you try to prove by Mary Hinsdale that which you believed to be untrue? From the bottom of my heart I thank myself for having compelled you to admit that Thomas Paine did not recant.