name; but he was then an engineer of the Charleston navy yard. I am
thus particular so that you can find his name on the books. He told me
that he nursed Thomas Paine in his last illness and closed his eyes
when dead. I asked him if he recanted and called upon God to save him.
He replied: No; he died as he had taught. He had a sore upon his
side, and when we turned him it was very painful, and he would cry out,
'O God!' or something like that. 'But,' said the narrator, 'that was
nothing, for he believed in a God.' I told him that I had often heard
it asserted from the pulpit that Mr. Paine had recanted in his last
moment. The gentleman said that it was not true, and he appeared to be
an intelligent, truthful man. With respect, I remain, etc., Philip
Graves, M.D."

The next witness is Willet Hicks, a Quaker preacher. He says that
during the last illness of Mr. Paine he visited him almost daily, and
that Paine died firmly convinced of the truth of the religious opinions
that he had given to his fellow-men. It was to this same Willet Hicks
that Paine applied for permission to be buried in the cemetery of the
Quakers. Permission was refused. This refusal settles the question of
recantation. If he had recanted, of course there would have been no
objection to his body being buried by the side of the best hypocrites
in the earth. If Paine recanted, why should he denied "a little earth
for charity?" Had he recanted, it would have been regarded as a vast
and splendid triumph for the gospel. It would, with much noise and
pomp and ostentation, have been heralded about the world.

Here is another letter:

"Peoria, Ill., Oct. 8, 1877.--Robert G. Ingersoll--Esteemed Friend: My
parents were Friends (Quakers). My father died when I was very young.
The elderly and middle-aged Friends visited at my mother's house. We
lived in the City of New York. Among the number I distinctly remember
Elias Hicks, Willet Hicks, and a Mr. -- Day, who was a bookseller in
Pearl St. There were many others whose names I do not now remember.
The subject of the recantation of Thomas Paine of his views about the
Bible in his last illness, or any other time, was discussed by them in
my presence at different times. I learned from them that some of them
had attended upon Thomas Paine in his last sickness, and ministered to
his wants up to the time of his death. And upon the question of
whether he did recant there was but one expression.