of more
than a week's growth, a face well carbuncled as the setting sun, and the
whole figure staggering under a load of inebriation. I was on the point
of inquiring for Mr. Paine, when I noticed something of the portraits I
had seen of him. We were desired to be seated. He had before him a small
round table, on which were a beefsteak, some beer, a pint of brandy, a
pitcher of water and a glass. He sat eating, drinking, and talking with
as much composure as if he had lived with us all his life. I soon
perceived that he had a very retentive memory, and was full of anecdote.
The Bishop of Llandaff (Dr. Watson) was almost the first word he
uttered, and it was followed by his informing us that he had in his
trunk a manuscript reply to the bishop's 'Apology for the Bible.' He
then calmly mumbled his steak, and ever and anon drinking his brandy and
beer, repeated the introduction to his reply, which occupied nearly half
an hour. This was done with deliberation and the utmost clearness, and a
perfect apprehension, intoxicated as he was, of all that he repeated.
Scarcely a word would he allow us to speak. He always, I afterwards
found, in all companies, drunk or sober, would be listened to; in his
regard, there were no _rights of men_ with him--no equality, no
reciprocal immunities and obligations--for he would listen to no one.'

"On the 13th of October, 1802, he arrived at Baltimore, under the
protection of Mr. Jefferson. But it appears that curiosity induced no
one of distinction to suffer his approach. While at his hotel he was
principally visited by the lower class of emigrants from Scotland,
England, and Ireland, who had read and admired his 'Rights of Man.' With
them, it appears, 'he drank grog in the tap-room morning, noon, and
night, admired and praised, strutting and staggering about, showing
himself to all and shaking hands with all. The leaders of the party to
which he had attached himself paid him no attention.'"

Paine's subsequent years, until his miserable death in 1809, were
characterized by the lowest degradation, blasphemy, drunkenness, and
filthiness, which rendered him unfit for any human society, as his
biographies, written even by his friends, abundantly testify.

Those who knew Paine in his earlier years were, of course, not
responsible for the depravity and degradation of his subsequent years;
but from the beginning he was an infidel and an enemy of all settled
government.

Such was the author of A