Junius Unmasked Part 13

Paine and Junius both had the same opinion of moderate men.

They both, also, had secretiveness large. That Junius never revealed himself to the world, and that he baffled all the king's spies, is evidence enough on his side. I will now present a few evidences in regard to Mr. Paine. First, in regard to his wife. No one knows why they parted, and, when interrogated, he would make the evasive answer, "I had a cause." But, if pressed, he would bluntly respond, "It was a private affair, and n.o.body's business." He also sent her money without letting her know the source of it. Secondly: His Common Sense was kept a secret from Dr. Franklin till published, and this when the doctor had placed the materials in his hands toward completing a history of colonial affairs. He says: "I expected to surprise him with a production on that subject much earlier than he thought of, and, without informing him what I was doing, got it ready for the press as fast as I conveniently could, and sent him the first pamphlet that was printed off." Thirdly: He projected a plan of going to England in disguise, and getting out a pamphlet in secret, to rouse the English people. See what he says about it on page 66 of this book. Fourthly: "The Address and Declaration" of the gentlemen who met at the Thatched House tavern in 1791, in England, was written by Mr. Paine, although he was not known, and took no part in the meeting. He only revealed himself as the author of it after Horne Tooke, the supposed author, had stated that Mr. Paine was the author.

But this is what he says about it: "The gentleman who signed the address and declaration as chairman of the meeting, Mr. Horne Tooke, being generally supposed to be the person who drew it up, and having spoken much in commendation of it, has been jocularly accused of praising his own work. To free him from this embarra.s.sment, and to save him the repeated trouble of mentioning the author, as he has not failed to do, I make no hesitation in saying, I drew up the publication in question," etc.--Rights of Man, note.

This is sufficient to show a trait of character which made Junius, as a secret, a success. Without this strong ruling pa.s.sion there could have been no Junius to spring like a tiger upon king and court. But, if it can be shown in any mental characteristic that Mr. Paine is incompatible with that character which is stamped upon Junius and made him a success, I will surrender the argument.

Mr. Paine says, as Horne Tooke had not failed to declare him the author, he then acknowledged it as his own. Had Mr. Tooke been silent, you may well be a.s.sured Mr. Paine would never have divulged it to friend or foe of either. Since Mr. Paine above has used the expression, "Jocularly accused of praising his own work," the reader will not fail to remember the same characteristic in Junius, when he says of Philo Junius, and who was also the real Junius himself, that "the subordinate character was never guilty of the indecorum of praising his princ.i.p.al." This again reminds us of Mr. Paine, when speaking of that pa.s.sage in Numbers: "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were on the face of the earth." Paine bluntly responds: "If Moses said this of himself, instead of being the meekest of men, he was one of the most vain and arrogant of c.o.xcombs."

I now call attention to the fact that Mr. Paine and Junius, when attacking the private character of men, both seem to delight, when the fact would fit, in charging b.a.s.t.a.r.dy:

_Paine._

"A French _b.a.s.t.a.r.d_, landing with an armed banditti, and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives, is, in plain terms, a very paltry rascally original. It certainty hath no divinity in it."--Common Sense.

_Junius._

Speaking of the Duke of Grafton's ancestors:

"Those of your grace, for instance, left no distressing examples of virtue, even to their _legitimate_ posterity; and you may look back with pleasure to an ill.u.s.trious pedigree, in which heraldry has not left a single good quality upon record to insult or upbraid you. You have better proofs of your descent, my lord, than the register of a marriage," etc.--Let. 12.

In their appeals to posterity they were both equal and frequent. Mr.

Paine says, in closing his first Crisis: "By perseverance and fort.i.tude we have the prospect of a glorious issue; by cowardice and submission the sad choice of a variety of evils, a ravaged country, a depopulated city, habitations without safety, and slavery without hope; our homes turned into barracks and bawdy-houses for Hessians and a _future race_ to provide for, whose fathers we shall doubt of. Look on this picture and weep over it! and if there yet remains one thoughtless wretch who believes it not, let him suffer it unlamented." Junius also says in strains as pathetic and patriotic: "We owe it to _posterity_ not to suffer their dearest inheritance to be destroyed. But if it were possible for us to be insensible of these sacred claims, there is yet an obligation binding on ourselves, from which nothing can acquit us, a personal interest which we can not surrender. To alienate even our own rights would be a crime as much more enormous than suicide as a life of civil security and freedom is superior to a bare existence; and if life be the bounty of Heaven, we scornfully reject the n.o.blest part of the gift, if we consent to surrender that certain rule of living, without which the condition of human nature is not only miserable, but contemptible."--Let. 20.

In the study of the human heart, and in a knowledge of the secret workings of the mind they were both masters. And, had it not been that they overapplied the n.o.bler virtues in the common people, they would never have gone wrong in their conclusions. They failed not in the knowledge, but in the application of the thing. They thought it existed where it did not. But this is the law, which they laid down as follows:

_Paine._

"It is the faculty of the human mind to become what it contemplates, and to act in unison with its objects."--R. M., part i.

_Junius._

"By persuading others we convince ourselves. The pa.s.sions are engaged, and create a maternal affection in the mind which forces us to love the cause for which we suffer." ... "When once a man is determined to believe, the very absurdity of the doctrine confirms him in his faith."--Let. 35.

The mental const.i.tution of Mr. Paine made him practical. What he knew he considered of no use to himself unless he could apply it in some way. He finds the people oppressed by the usurpations of government, and he urges to rebellion. He finds in America, Britain had prohibited the importation of powder, and his knowledge of chemistry immediately supplies the national magazines. His mechanical thought was not satisfied until it had taken the form of an iron bridge. It was the same disposition in Junius which kept him forever talking of "experience,"

and the "evidence of facts." I give a single parallel out of hundreds:

_Paine._

"In the progress of politics, as in the common occurrences of life, we are not only apt to forget the ground we have traveled over, but frequently neglect to gather up _experience_ as we go."--Crisis, iii.

_Junius._

"As you yourself are a singular instance of youth without spirit, the man who defends you is a no less remarkable example of _age_ without the benefit of _experience_."--Let. 9.

I merely call attention to the above fact as a practical feature of the mind common to both. In the same manner both make frequent mention of "_reason_" and "common sense." Examples of this kind it is useless to give, for they look out from every page.

I now pa.s.s to consider their doctrines and private opinions; and first of politics:

I have heretofore proven that they were not partisans in the strict sense of the term, yet they both had party proclivities:

_Paine._

"There is a dignity in the warm pa.s.sions of a whig which is never to be found in the cold malice of a tory; in the one nature is only heated, in the other poisoned. The instant the former has it in his power to punish, he feels a disposition to forgive, but the canine venom of the latter knows no relief but revenge. This general distinction will, I believe, apply in all cases, and suits as well the meridian of England as America."--Crisis, vi.

_Junius._

To the king: "You are not, however, dest.i.tute of support. You have all the Jacobites, Non-jurors, Roman Catholics, and _Tories_ of this country, and all Scotland without exception.... And truly, sir, if you had not lost the _Whig_ interest of England, I should admire your dexterity in turning the hearts of your enemies."--Let. 35.

"When I hear the undefined privileges of the popular branch of the legislature exalted by _tories_ and jacobites, at the expense of those strict rights which are known to the subject and limited by the laws, I can not but suspect that some mischievous scheme is in agitation to destroy both law and privilege, by opposing them to each other."--Let. 44.

They both declare _Law to be king_:

_Paine._

"But where, say some, is the king of America? ...

So far as we approve of monarchy, in America _the law is king_."--C. S.

_Junius._

To the king: "Nor can you ever succeed [against Wilkes] unless he should be imprudent enough to forfeit the protection of those _laws to which you owe your crown_."--Let. 35.

They both express themselves on the game laws of England as follows:

_Paine._

"Had there been a house of farmers, there had been no game laws.... The French const.i.tution says there shall be no game laws; that the farmer on whose lands wild game shall be found (for it is by the produce of those lands they are fed) shall have a right to what he can take. In England, game is made the property of those at whose expense it is fed."--R. of M.

_Junius._

"As to the game laws, he [Junius] never scrupled to declare his opinion that they are a species of the forest laws: that they are oppressive to the subject; and that the spirit of them is incompatible with legal liberty: that the penalties imposed by these laws bear no proportion to the nature of the offense: that in particular, the late acts to prevent dog-stealing or killing game between sun and sun, are distinguished by their absurdity, extravagance, and pernicious tendency."--Let. 63.

Both express themselves the same on _laws_ in general:

_Paine._

"The government of a free country, properly speaking, is not in the persons, _but in the laws_."--R. of M.

_Junius._

"The submission of a free people to the executive authority of government is no more than a compliance with the laws which they themselves have enacted."--Let. 1.