Thomas Paine: Was He Really Anticlassical?Thomas Paine: Was He Really Anticlassical? BY RICHARD M. GUMMERE THERE are three angles from which we may view the life and works of Thomas

Thomas Paine:Was He Really Anticlassical?

BY RICHARD M. GUMMERE

THERE are three angles from which we may view thelife and works of Thomas Paine. The first side is that of

the patriot who never lost his love for his adopted countryand, with his Common Sense and Crisis, helped to found anation. Secondly, there is the angle of the would-be reform-er of a world out of joint, the gadfiy who irritated Burkeand Pitt with his enthusiasm for the French Revolution andembarrassed his fellow-Americans with his internationalindiscretions. Often inconsistent and at times unreliable, hetook the whole universe as his field of activity. He mighthave said grandiloquently with Walt Whitman :

"Do I contradict myself."*Very well, then I contradict myself:I am large, I contain multitudes".It is the "third Paine" with whom we are here concerned.

Paine was a gifted journalist, a stylist who set a high stand-ard for critics and commentators. His attitude towards theGreek and Latin classics has never been analyzed as a partof the cultural atmosphere of the eighteenth century, norwith the development of a prose that expressed new waysof thinking about old problems. His use of the ancientsources for purposes of illustration is just as clearly portrayedas it is in the orations of James Otis or in the notes of ThomasJefferson. The significant difference was that Paine hadrecourse to translations, while Otis and Jefferson were athome in the original languages.

One of his biographers has remarked on the "timing" of hiscommunications : "His rise coincided with the development

254 AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY [Oct.,

of popular journalism and the out-break of the AmericanRevolution,—the first great political and social movementbased on the theory and practice on the current support andpower of the Common Man."^ When Samuel Adams declaredthat Paine's Common Sense "popularized the principles ofthe Declaration", and when John Adams praised its style as"manly and striking", Paine egotistically agreed, and notwithout considerable justification: "It was the great causeof America that made me an author—^The force withwhich it struck my mind and the dangerous condition thecountry appeared to be in, by courting an impossible andunnatural reconciliation with those who were determined toreduce her—made it impossible for me to be silent—and ifin the course of more than seven years I have rendered herany service, I have likewise added something to the reputa-tion of literature by freely and disinterestedly employing itin the great cause of mankind, and showing that there maybe genius without prostitution."'' Another boast is similarlymore downright: "I am proud to say that with a persever-ance undismayed by difficulties, a disinterestedness thatcompelled respect, I have not only contributed to raise anew system of government... I have arrived at an eminencein political literature which aristocracy, with all its aids, hasnot been able to reach or rival."^

Purple patches like these are absurdly flamboyant butpardonable. Such claims irritated Paine's readers, notablyIsaac D'Israeli the bibliophile and literary historian whodefined our pamphleteer in his Curiosities of Literatureas "a very vulgar but acute genius whom we may supposedestitute of all delicacy or refinement, who tells us that theSublime and the Ridiculous are so nearly related that it is

' Albert O. Aldridge, Man of Reason, the Life of Thomas Paine (Philadelphia, 1959), 27-^ The Crisis, no. IS (April 19, 1783), quoted in W. M. van der Weyde, Life and fForks of

Thomas Paint (N.Y., 1925), m, 246-247.' Van der Weyde, op. cit., vu, 17.

1965.] PAINE: WAS H E REALLY ANTICLASSICAL.? 255

difficult to class them separately." Paine himself commentedon the distinction from the point of view of a master ofepigram : "Where knowledge is a duty, ignorance is a crime."*

Thomas Paine was born at Thetford in Norfolk County,England, in 1737, the son of a Quaker stay-maker of excellentcharacter but slender resources. The boy's sensitiveness andhis inferiority-complex showed themselves throughout hiscareer and many of his associates faded away because of hiscompensatory defiance. He was withdrawn from school atthe age of thirteen to serve an apprenticeship to his father.Between this experience and his thirty-seventh year whenFranklin in 1774, with his acute diagnosis of human charac-ter, gave Paine a letter of introduction to his son-in-lawRichard Bache in Philadelphia, he had been a rolling stone.Unsuccessful stretches as an excise-man and as a tobacco-nist, a brief service on a British man-of-war, some school-teaching and, whenever possible, attendance at scientificlectures, marked a long period of trial and error.

During his time as excise officer at Lewes he belonged to aworking-man's club which met at the White Hart Inn.*The members discussed political and literary topics, andat the close of each meeting awarded a prize to the best debat-er. This was known as "The Headstrong Book," an oldGreek Homer which the winner held until the next session.Paine was described by his associates as "The General of theHeadstrong War" and was a frequent champion. At hisinterview with Franklin who was winding up his Americanagencies in London, Paine is said to have caught the fancy of"Poor Richard" by quoting the Latin proverb Quisquesuae fortunae faber, (Every man is the artisan of his ownfortunes). This same motto was used by Captain JohnSmith, with the same punning significance {Faber means

* Ibid., IV, 272 and viii, 143.' Mary A. Best, Thomas Paine, Prophet and Martyr of Democracy (N.Y., 1927), 16.


Smith) when he assumed the guidance of the first settlers inVirginia. This epigram pleased Franklin and was used laterwhen Paine claimed that he himself "began as the carver ofhis own fortune."^

However limited the adopted American was in his formaleducation, he did not disappoint his sponsor. After a fewtemporary jobs he became an editor and a journalist.He published in the Pennsylvania Magazine and inother periodicals general statements on democracy, theslave trade, women's rights, copyright reforms, and wrotepopular science articles, presaging the great invention of hisfamous "pierless" iron bridge. He invoked ancient testimonyagainst the practice of duelling. The Greeks and the Romansregarded the custom as a wrong one: they held, declaredPaine, that an affair of private honor should not allow thepersonal element to interfere with the military spirit.'̂ Heslipped little phrases of classical origin into the text, asPoor Richard himself used to do: "The most virtuouswoman is she who is least talked of"*—an adage which goesback to the Greek new comedy. There are clichés such asthe comparison of Washington with Fabius. This was allpreliminary practice for his attack on the larger and moredramatic issues of the day. Discussing the disgrace of Clivewho was crushed by his own tyrannical acts he pictureshim as, "some Heraclitus weeping for the world."*

The dialogue form was occasionally employed, as in animaginary conversation between the ghosts of GeneralWolfe and General Gage, wherein the former chides thelatter for his oppressive activities : "If you have any regardfor the glory of the British name, and if you do not prefer

' The Rights of Man, part 2, ch. s; quoted by van der Weyde, op. cit. i, 6 and vn, i6.' The Pennsylvania Magazine, May, 1775.' Letter to the Female Sex, quoted in van der Weyde, ii, 91.' The Pennsylvania Magazine, March, 1775.

PAINE: WAS H E REALLY ANTICLASSICAL? 257

the society of Grecian, Roman, or British heroes in the worldof spirits to the company of Jeffries, Kirk, and other royalexecutioners, I conjure you immediately to resign your com-mission. Only in a commonwealth can you find every man apatriot or a hero. Aristides, Epaminondas, Pericles, Scipio,Camillus, would have been nobodies if they had lived underroyal governments.''^"

The essentially journalistic Paine applied his classicalsources sparingly and mostly from memory. Beginning in1775 he had the ear of Congress, signing his editorials incompliance with the current fashion as Aesop, Atlanticus,Vox Populi, or Humanus. These contributions were accom-panied by New Anecdotes of Alexander the Great, Cupid andHymen, and a revised version of an earlier poem on the deathof Wolfe, which portrayed Britannia mourning her universal-ly beloved leader consoled by Mercury who reported thatWolfe had been called into the ranks of the gods. All this waslight stuff but valuable apprenticeship. The writer should becredited with a new and incisive type of persuasion.

Common Sense, which appeared on January 10, 1776,cleared the way for all-colonial approval. It contained noreference to ancient history. Here was a popular appeal aimedto enlighten soldiers round the camp-fires and civilians attheir tasks of agriculture or industry. It was a well-timedexplosion and its contents offered little that was novel tothose who read Otis, Dickinson, Dulany, and Jefferson'sSummary View. Its feature was the vivid way in which thegrievances were stated. The demand for a republic wasstressed, defined later by the writer as Res Publica, "thePublic Good.""

In The Crisis (December 23, 1776), there was more of ananalytical background after the famous opening slogan,

"• van der Weyde, ii, 15-16, 2S9-" van der Weyde, vi, 268.


"These are the times that try men's souls." The secondnumber excoriated Lord Howe, "You hold out the sword ofwar and call it the Ultima Ratio Regum."^^ Britain has, likeAlexander, made war her sport and inflicted misery forprodigality's sake."" The third Crisis reveals his objection toa Quaker policy, which would "tie this continent to Britainlike Hector to the chariot-wheels of Achilles." The fifthnumber, aimed at Sir William Howe, states matters even morestrongly: "The histories of Alexander and Charles of Swedenare the histories of human devils." This tract is perhapsthe most convincing one : it is a plea for freedom, comparingancient and modern systems : "The wisdom, civil governmentand sense of honor of the states of Greece and Rome arefrequently held up as objects of excellence and imitation—But why do we need to go back two or three thousand yearsfor lessons and examples ? Clear away the mists of antiquity !""The Greeks and Romans were strongly possessed of thespirit of liberty but not the principle . . . they enslaved therest of mankind, though determined not to be slaves them-selves."

The seventh installment gives us a hint of future trans-atlantic attempts by Paine to reform the British and Frenchsystems of statecraft: "My attachment is to all the world."Now would be the time for nations to plan a program ofpeace and plenty: "The Alexanders and Caesars of antiq-uity have left behind them their monuments of destruc-tion and are remembered with hatred . . . of more use wasone philosopher, though a heathen, to the world than all theheathen conquerors that ever existed." In answer to com-ments by the Abbé Raynal he holds that "the idea of con-quering countries, like the Greeks and Romans, does not nowexist, and experience has exploded the notion of going to war

" For the same Latin phrase, see van der Weyde, vii, I (from The Rights of Man, part 2,ch. S).

" Crisis, no. 2.

1965.] PAINE: WAS H E REALLY ANTICLASSICAL? 259

for the sake of profit."" The thirteenth Crisis compares theinception of a peaceful United States in contrast to oldRome, which began "as a band of rufiians."^^ In any case,the Colonies should have been made independent in 1763,related to the mother country by loyalty alone,—like theGreek settlements as described in the first book of Thu-cydides.

Paine felt that he had played a vital part in the develop-ment of a few provinces into a world-power. "If only Athenshad had the principle of representation, she would have sur-passed her own democracies."" The last Crisis appeared onDecember 9,1783 ;and there were numerous celebrations ofthePeace. Paine turned poet with a ballad on "The Liberty-Tree"and a song "Hail Great Republic." Despite certain com-plaints about his persistent ego and his unkempt habits, wemay be grateful for his sincere belief in the promise ofAmerica and courageous activities in her behalf during acritical decade.

He had not rested content with propaganda. He turnedover his royalties to the government. He enlisted in the"Flying Camp." He served at Fort Lee as a brigade-Major.He was elected secretary to the Committee on Foreign AflFairsand to the clerkship of the State Assembly. In spite of vari-ous ups and downs, one must admit that he deserved the honorof election to the Philosophical Society, an honorary degreefrom the University of Pennsylvania, and the gift of a farmat New Rochelle, with a small honorarium from Congress.He was never popular in the usual sense of the word. Frank-lin's daughter Sarah Bache wrote to her father in January,1781 : "There was never a man less belpved in a place than

" van der Weyde, iv, 198 and 170. See also Mary A. Best, op. cit., 202." Hid., Ill, 239." This is a sweeping statement, and an incorrect one. For a study of ancient representa-

tion, see J. A. O. Larsen, Representative Government in Greek and Roman History (Berkeley,Calif., I9SS).


Paine in this, having at times disputed with everybody. Themost rational thing he could have done would have been todie the instant he finished his Common Sense, for he neveragain will have it in his power to leave the world with somuch credit."" He was seldom discreet: and it must be re-corded that he had to resign his foreign affairs positionbecause he let the cat out of the bag in the matter of SilasDeane's questionable arrangements with France. He wasright, however, on certain American problems. He arguedthat Virginia should give up her Western territory for es-tablishing new states. How could the Old Dominion claim aright to these lands "any more than the will of Alexandercould have taken it into his head to bequeath away theworld ?"i* He stood for sound money and a chartered bank.On his return to England in 1787 he stepped into the lime-light with an article, "Prospects on the Rubicon," expressingthe hope that England would not embark on a costly warwith France. "Democritus," he declared, "could scarcelyhave foregone laughing at that foUy."̂ ^ This was good advice;but Pitt, "a modern Julius Caesar," paid no attention tohim. At this time the stay-maker's son from Thetford was onfriendly terms with Burke and the Duke of Portland andafter demonstrating the quality of his iron bridge to prom-inent individuals and scientific groups, he was on the wayto a successful career as an inventor. In America he hadmade suggestions for a "Continental Convention" and theproceedings of the 1787 Constitutional delegates were aboutto be ratified. He had made also some remarks on fair taxationto meet state debts. He studied and wrote on the principlesof "Agrarian Justice." But this peaceful situation turned towrangling, primarily as a result of the taking of the Bastille

" Quoted in Aldridge, op. cit., 86.^ van der Weyde, iv, 93." "The Laughing Philosopher", contrasted with Heraclitus the "Weeping Philosopher",

8ee van der Weyde, iv, 322.


and the radical messages from France, where "the world-child" had been adopted as a citizen and a representativefrom the department of Pas de Calais. The patheticstory need not be rehearsed here,—the Rights of Man, theAge of Reason, the law-suits and narrow escapes in England,and the ultimate enmity of Robespierre including a longperiod in the Luxembourg prison. He escaped the guillotineonly because a citoyen, under orders, failed to chalk markthe right door in the gaol. His rescue by James Monroe,his hostility towards Gouverneur Morris, and his finalrestoration to favor by the French Assembly, are familiartopics. His bravery is beyond reproach, as in the case of hisvote against the execution of the king. His distortedtheology did not make clear the difference between Deismand Unitarianism; and his defiant agnosticism upset manybelievers. It was not in order to call St. Paul a fool nor todescribe the Madonna as a lineal descendant of the EphesianDiana.'»

In contrast with his successes in America, he met withdisapproval in England. For example, Thomas Erskine,Paine's lawyer, quoted the passage from the satirist Lucian,where Jupiter and a countryman were chatting as theystrolled together. Conversation proceeded comfortably untilthe latter contradicted the Ruler of the gods, who thenthreatened him with a thunder-bolt. "Jupiter," said therustic, "you are always wrong when you invoke yourthunder."2i "In other words," remarked Erskine, "one canreason with the people of England, but cannot fight againstthe thunder of authority." Burke, with official Englandbehind him, and even the Jacobin "Men of the Mountain,"were all too much for the hopeful reformer.

" Arthur W. Peach, Common Sense, the Crisis (N.Y., 1928), 234." van der Weyde, i, 296. Lucian, Zeus Catechized, trans. A. M. Harmon in Loeb Classi-

cal Library, n, 79.


When, however, we turn our attention again to the"Third Paine," to the self-appointed and self-educatedjournalist, and examine his writing, his background, and hisphilosophy, we find that the Thetford stay-maker's sondeserves a hearing as a ''classicist malgré lui." We ask,with John Adams, where he got that "clear, simple, andnervous style." When Gouverneur Morris, his chronicenemy, said of him : "He was ignorant even of grammar andpolite usage," Morris was mistaken. For, if Paine attainedany real distinction it was in the mastery of brillant styleand a native ability to state his case with clarity and force.While he was in the modern channel with DeFoe and Junius,his style was a creation of his own. It defies comparison.Like Thucydides, he witnessed the events about which hewrote, but those who compare him with Tacitus for vigor,irony, and terseness, are in error. We think of Sallust as acloser parallel.^*

How was Paine able to hold his own (as he did) in compe-tition with British and American university men or philo-sophes like Condorcet? The answer is that he was a voraciousreader and debater who knew what would rouse his peersand reach his public whether they agreed or not. Also, howdo we explain the frequency of classical epigrams with theabsence of documented sources, at a time when manyAmericans recorded word for word the parallels to be foundin Greek or Latin masterpieces which furnished material tothe men of the constitutional convention? Why does he useso many clichés and haphazard allusions to "the Madmanof Macedón," or general praise of American democracy, orapproval of certain pagan men of genius? What was reallyresponsible for his abandonment of the usual offerings in theThetford Grammar School, with its excellent preparationfor the British universities ? If we examine his record up to

" Aldridge, op. cit., 43ff.


the age of thirty-seven when he crossed to America, we shallfind out why and how. We may let Paine himself tell his story.

Paine's resistance to Latin grammar manifested itselfearly in his life. As a schoolboy he "had no inclination tolearn languages; but also because of the Quaker objectionagainst the books in which the language was taught.This, however, did not prevent me from being acquaintedwith the subjects of all the Latin books used in the school.""It does not require much ingenuity to gather that this pre-cocious, inquisitive, and restless lad, sitting in the same roomwith the reciting older boys, absorbed by second-hand os-mosis much of the contents if not the forms and syntax of theolder pupils' lessons. He had one ear on the teacher and theother in the land of his dreams.

We may query his statement about the Quaker viewpoint.William Penn at some length cited the pre-Socratic philos-ophers in order to enforce the doctrine of the Inner Lightwhich was a basic part of the Friends' belief. George Fox,the founder of the sect, gave his blessing in 1676 to a Latintext-book, Institutiones Pietatis, in usum Christianae Juven-tutis Scholasticae Latine Redditae. Anthony Benezet, the Phil-adelphia schoolmaster, approved Aesop, Plutarch, andmany other classical authors whom he regarded as safe.Paine might also have recollected that the William PennCharter School offered courses in Latin with the full approv-al of the Meeting. Charles Thomson's copy of Ovid'sMetamorphoses is a cherished relic in the school museum to-day. The disposition and temperament of our hero alsoindicate that he was perhaps dodging a task which in itsearly stages requires close and attentive study.

His positive interests were clear enough: "The naturalbent of my mind was to science." In an appeal to reason and

" For pa88ages dealing with Paine's anti-linguistic viewpoint, see van der Weyde, i, 4-6,•nil, 58-69 and 252-253; A. W. Peach, op. cit., 259-264, 29&-291, etc.


liberty he quotes the old Greek proverb,^ "What Archimedessaid of the mechanical powers may be applied to thesetwo qualities, had we a place to stand upon, we might raisethe world". He maintained that an hereditary governor isas inconsistent as an hereditary author: "I know not whetherHomer or Euclid had sons; but I will venture an opinionthat if they had, and had left their works unfinished, thesesons could not have completed them."^^ The quality ofHomer or Euclid speaks for itself: it could not have beenaccomplished by anyone but a first-class creative artist.Euclid is "a book of self-evident demonstration," independ-ent of the author's identity. "I am not contending for themorality of Homer . . . a book of false glory... Aesop's moralis just, but the fable is cruel."

"Learning," he declared, "does not consist in the knowl-edge of languages, but in the knowledge of things to whichlanguage gives names. The Greeks were a learned people;but learning, with them, did not consist in speaking Greekany more than in a Roman's speaking Latin or a Frenchman'sspeaking French—From what we know of the Greeks, itdoes not appear that they knew or studied any language buttheir own—The schools of the Greeks were schools ofscience and philosophy, and not of languages; and it is inthe knowledge of the things that science and philosophyteach, that learning consists. Almost all the scientific learn-ing that now exists came from the Greeks, or the peoplethat spoke the Greek language — It therefore becamenecessary to people of the other nations that some amongthem should learn the Greek language, in order that thelearning of the Greeks might be known in those languagesby translating the Greek books on science and philosophyinto the mother-tongue of each nation." Hence the study

" Paine, Political Writings (Charlestown, 1824), 11,153; also van der Weyde, vi, 231." F. J. Gould, Thomas Paine (London, 1925), 93; Peach, op. cit., 315, 361-

1965.] PAINE: WAS HE REALLY ANTICLASSICAL? 265

of Greek or Latin as such "was only the drudgery businessof a linguist. Hence also the danger of putting the probleminto the hands of specialists who force it on the schools andcolleges. All honor to the great masters who are deservedlycultivated, such as Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, etc." But gov-ernment should not setup a "factory of notables." The merename of antiquity establishes nothing. Herodotus and Taci-tus are important, and are judged according to their inspi-rational interest; but they are credited only as far as theyrelate things credible.̂ ^

It is clear to the reader that when Paine urges the abol-ition of the dead languages and makes learning consist inscientific knowledge, he leaves many blank pages in hisprogram, and the humanities get but a short shrift. Not onlydoes he ignore contemporary political scientists such asLocke.̂ î' To him, they represent the machinery rather thanthe principles of statecraft. Locke appears only once in afootnote; Montesquieu, Turgot, and others are casuallyand seldom mentioned. His view of the Renaissance wasmyopic and he did not approach the ancient masterpieces asworks of beauty. He cared little for belles-lettres or theliterary criteria of style. Horace's immortal ode, EheuFugaces, would not have stirred him as it did Benjamin Rush.We must therefore make allowances for the blind sideof our Thetford prophet. Scholarly research in our modernsense was foreign to him: "Of the numerous priests orparsons of the present day,—^bishops and all,—every one ofthese can make a sermon or translate a scrap of Latin, eventhough the subject has been rehearsed a thousand timesbefore." Of what use, he declares, are such pedantic minutiaewhen we have the translation before us?

'• van der Weyde, v, 229; Peach, 291." See Aldridge, op. cit., 40. Paine did not use these authorities as background. He

claimed credit for an original approach. For his opinion of some of these men, especiallythe French philosophes, see vol. 2, pp. 96-7 of the Charlestown edition of the PoliticalWritings, 1824.


In characteristic fashion Paine brings his argument to aclimax: "As there is nothing new to be learned from the deadlanguages, all the useful books being already translated, it isa waste of time to study the originals. It is only in the livinglanguages that new knowledge is to be found. A youth willlearn more of a living language in one year than a deadlanguage in seven."^ "The best Greek linguist that now ex-ists does not understand Greek as well as a Grecian plowman,or Latin as it was spoken by a milkmaid of the Romans."Shades of Bentley and Porson!

Paine therefore can be regarded as approving the ancienttongues, as well as their subject-matter, through the mediumof translations. It is the quality of the idea that matters.Homer, Aristotle, Demosthenes, and Cicero, considered asworks of art, would have the same merit were they anon-ymous. The criterion is one of genius; and in the case ofHomer,"the poet will remain, though the story be fabulous."^This is all reasonable enough: for very few persons can, orcould, read Greek. But no true lover of poetry would believethat a translation of the text of the scene where Helen viewsthe hostile host from the walls of Troy, or where Achilles isaddressed by his chariot-horses, is adequate when comparedwith the original Homer. Jefferson, Adams, Otis, WilliamByrd, or James Logan, besides many of the clergy, such asthe Mathers, were Hellenically at home "as well as possessinga thorough acquaintance with Latin.

Our journalist's foreign language phobia was not confinedto the classics. A period of ten years, spent mostly in France,should have been enough for the mastery of the Gallictongue, both written and oral.'" His speeches in the Conven-

" Benjamin Rush, a Princeton honors graduate, thought likewise on this subject. Seehis Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical (Philadelphia, 1806), JJ-

"van der Weyde, viii, 116-117; Peach, 29(3-291.*' Gould, op. cit., 106, "Paine never attempted to speak more than a sentence or two

in French."


tion and the Assembly had to be relayed by an interpreter,translated from his English. If Joel Barlow and GouverneurMorris were at home in the language, why could not Painehave done likewise? With his alert wits he could soon haveacquired at least a speaking acquaintance.

And yet, with all this scepticism about the ancient tradi-tion and its application to contemporary life and thought,we find that Paine indulges in many references to Greek orRoman examples. The pagan contribution to human progressin all departments of culture was impressive. He has highpraise for Solon's dictum that the most popular governmentwas most satisfactory "when the least injury done to themeanest individual was considered as an insult to the wholeConstitution."" Diogenes Laertius is noted as an authorityon Persian religion.̂ ^ Diodorus Siculas is welcomed as acommentator on the ancient calendars when "the moon wasthe first almanac."ää He reports that the Thebans of Egypt""measured the days according to the sun but not the moon."Herodotus, "who lived above 2200 years ago and is the mostancient historian whose works have reached our time,"speaks of the stars as dividing the year into twelve months.All this is second-hand amateurish comment; but theancient calendars caught the fancy of our starry reformer.

It is significant that Paine did not fail to record withadmiration the famous definition by Cicero of the Law ofNature, unearthing it from Conyers Middleton's biographyof the Roman orator: "The True Law . . . whoever will notobey it must first throw off the nature of man,"^^ "These",says Paine, "are the divine and forcible sentiments of Cicero. . . this is the fundamental, essential, and vital part of all" Perhaps a reference to Plutarch's Solon, ch. 18." van der Weyde, ix, 42." Book I, ch. 2 (Loeb Classical Library, ix, 67, trans. C. H. Oldfather)." van der Weyde, ix, 62ff." van der Weyde, ix, 27sff.


true religion." It is one of the basic principles that playeda part in our Colonial history. In item twenty-four of theTheophilanthropos tract, published at Paris in September1796, we find "extracts from the moral thoughts of Theognis,"a collection of Greek proverbs and satire which John Adamsand Jefferson used in their discussion of the term aristoi}^With regard to a future state of the soul, we note the ap-proval of Plato, Socrates, and Xenophon for its immortality.In the opinion of Cyrus the Great the soul becomes freefrom the flesh, while Christians include also the resurrectionof the body."

Paine is hortatory, realistic, rather than abstract ormetaphysical. But his wide reading and his expressed admira-tion for Plato cause us to wonder whether he was not affectedby the Theory of Ideas, when he wrote the following in hisAge of Reason: " I t may be said that man can make or drawa triangle, and therefore a triangle is a human invention. Butthe triangle when drawn is no other than the image of theprinciple: it is a delineation to the eye, and from thence tothe mind, of a principle that would be otherwise impercep-tible. All the properties of a triangle exist independently ofthe figure, and existed before any triangle was drawn orthought of by man."»« Man had no more to do in the forma-tion of those properties or principles than he had to do inmaking the laws by which the heavenly bodies move. Thesame thing applied, he held, to the principle of the lever orthe wheel. The answer was "Study the structure of the uni-verse: this is the true theology,—God's Creation!"

This excursion into philosophy is very suggestive. I t isundoubtedly true that Paine read Plato in translation. It isbarely possible that he was familiar with Seneca's ninetiethEpistle, which had furnished material for moralizing in hand-

s' Ihid., vm, 347." Ibid, IX, 72.

» Ibid., vm, 53-56; Peach, 256f.


books and extracts, and in discussing the inventions ofearly man. It might have also stemmed from the idealism ofBishop Berkeley. Thomas was a voracious if sometimes asuperficial reader.

Our reformer in the field of the classics has high praisefor Athenian Democracy: "What Athens was in miniature,America will be in magnitude if only it follows the principle ofrepresentation."'' He did not realize that Polybius was skepti-cal about pure democracies, and had raised the questionwhether the Attica of Pericles might not have resembled "apoorly-trimmed boat."^° He found, however, "more to admireand less to condemn in that great people than in anythingwhich history records."*^ Though he was mentally and physi-cally at the farthest remove from an Oxford or a Cambridgecommon-room atmosphere, he suggested a large-scale inter-national group to study past and present contributions toworld-welfare. "A society for enquiring into the ancientstate of the world and the state of ancient history, so far ashistory is connected with systems of religion ancient andmodern, may be a useful and instructive institution."" Thistradition must be kept in reasonable balance: "for if wetravel still further into antiquity, there are a thousandauthorities successively contradicting each other." Hence arespect but not an adoration of the men of old is in order.They should admire us rather than we them. "I have nonotion," as he said on several occasions, "of yielding thepalm of the United States to any Grecians or Romans thatever were born.""

" van der Weyde, vi, 272-273.*• For the use of this figure, see R. M. Gumnaere, The American Colonial Mind and the

Classical Tradition (Harvard Univ. Press, 1963), 177-178." van der Weyde, vi, 266.*• Ibid., IX, I2S; Gould, op. cit., 170-171.^ From Thf Crisis, number 5.

84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94

95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103

104 105 * 106 107 108 109 110 111 112

Î i+ § * S(̂ t -H-xx: - - Ä

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135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145

S « ̂ I S146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156

157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167

168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178

179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187Plate 4. Printers's ornaments mainly taken from books in the Welch collection andMWA. Many of them are shown in duplicate and triplicate.

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Thomas Paine: Was He Really Anticlassical?Thomas Paine: Was He Really Anticlassical? BY RICHARD M. GUMMERE THERE are three angles from which we may view the life and works of Thomas