to Charleston, S. C. In 1773 "Samuel Adams insisted that the
colonies should have a congress to frame a bill of rights, or to form an
independent state, an American commonwealth." The North Carolinians
renounced their allegiance to the king of England in the Mecklenberg
declaration, which was made in May, 1775. But Paine's little book,
suggested by Dr. Benjamin Rush and Franklin, and called "Common Sense,"
was published in 1776. Hildreth, writing of the year 1802, says that
"Paine, instead of being esteemed as formerly, as a lover of liberty,
whose pen has contributed to hasten the Declaration of Independence, was
now detested by large numbers as the libeler of Washington." In 1795 the
_Aurora_ put out the following language, which seems to be that to which
Hildreth alludes: "If ever a nation was debauched by a man, the American
nation was debauched by Washington; if ever a nation was deceived by a
man, the American nation has been deceived by Washington. Let the history
of the federal government instruct mankind, that the mask of patriotism
may be worn to conceal the foulest designs against the liberties of the
people." This, gentle reader, was from the pen of the man whom Mr.
Ingersoll would immortalize if he could.

William Carver addressed a private letter to Thomas Paine, dated Dec. 2,
1806, and published in the New York _Observer_ Nov. 1, 1877, in which we
have the following revelations: "A respectable gentleman from New Rochelle
called to see me a few days back, and said that every body was tired of
you there and that no one would undertake to board and lodge you. I
thought this was the case, as I found you at a tavern in a most miserable
situation. You appeared as if you had not been shaved for a fortnight, and
as to a shirt, it could not be said that you had one on, it was only the
remains of one, and this likewise appeared not to have been off your back
for a fortnight, and was nearly the color of tanned leather; and you had
the most disagreeable smell possible, just like that of our poor beggars
in England. Do you remember the pains I took to clean you? That I got a
tub of warm water and soap, and washed you from head to foot, and this I
had to do three times before I could get you clean? You say also that you
found your own liquors during the time you boarded with me, but you should
have said, 'I found only a small part of the liquor I drank during my stay
with you; this part I purchased of John Fellows, whic