been insulted,-that neither manners, customs habits, nor any other object dear to nations, had there been the sport of ridicule; and that the only question was whether the mother country had or had not a right to lay a small tax upon the colonies. To correct and refute such misrepresentations as these, a reference to facts was barely necessary. They were almost too palpable to require a confutation, and the popular character of the Abbe in the literary world alone accounts for their obtaining a currency. That such a warm and enlightened friend of humanity and freedom, as the Abbe Raynal, should be mistaken in his ideas of the American Revolution, is at first astonishing; but men who from their cradles have been surrounded by despotism, and who have only contemplated the blessings of liberty as a distant though delightful vision, are incapable of forming an opinion on so great an event. A long habit of beholding the acts of tyranny almost unfits the mind for the contemplation of any other object, and to this more than to any other cause must be attributed the mistaken conjectures and disordered statements of the Abbe Raynal.

From a comparison between some of the Abbe's observations, and those contained in,

Common Sense on the subject of society and government, it appears that the Abbe had borrowed very freely from the latter. Some of his remarks are a literal transcript, with the exception of a few words.-Amongst other things which he had mis-stated, was the account of the affair at Trenton, which I have already had occasion to notice. The Abbe had described this as a mere accidental occurrence, falling, as he says," within the wide empire of chance." This was a very unjust and ungenerous reflection. The highest praise was due to the American General and his troops, as the reader will perceive by turning to the account of the action, and it is to be regretted that such a distinguished writer as the Abbe Raynal should have been misled on the subject, for no person could have done it more justice.

After exposing the Abbe's errors and mis representations, Mr. Paine indulges himself in a variety of philosophical reflections. The following description of prejudice is so replete with originality and beauty, that I cannot forbear quoting it :

"There is something exceedingly curious in the constitution and operation of prejudice. It has the singular ability of accommodating

itself to all the possible varieties of the human mind. Some passions and vices are but thinly scattered among mankind, and find only here and there a fitness of reception. But prejudice, like the spider, makes every where its home. It has neither taste nor choice of place, and all that it requires is room. There is scarcely a situation, except fire and water, in which a spider will not live. So, let the mind be as naked as the walls of an empty and forsaken tenement, gloomy as a dungeon, or ornamented with the richest abilities of thinking; let it be hot, cold, dark, or light, lonely or inhabited, still prejudice, if undisturbed, will fill it with cobwebs, and live, like the spider, where there seems nothing to live on. If the one prepares her food by poisoning it to her palate and her use, the other does the same; and as several of our passions are strongly characterized by the animal world, prejudice may be denominated the spider of the mind.”

The spirit of universal philanthrophy which formed so conspicuous a feature in Mr. Paine's character, the powerful effect of his writings in favour of independence, and the talent which he possessed for philosophical and mechanical discussion, rendered his society a

valuable acquisition. Of his friendship with Dr. Franklin, and several other distinguished individuals, we have already had occasion to speak, and of the esteem in which his services and character were held by General Washington, we have several very unequivocal proofs in his conduct towards the end of the war. Soon after the definitive treaty of peace was concluded, the General took up his quarters at Rocky-Hill in the neighbourhood of Princeton, (where the Congress was then sitting,) for the purpose of resigning his commission. There he was informed that Mr. Paine had retired to Borden-Town, where he had a small property. Conceiving, probably, that Mr. Paine's circumstances were not in the most flourishing condition, he very kindly wrote to him the following letter:

"Rocky-Hill, Sept. 10, 1783,

"I have learned since I have been at this place, that you are at Borden-Town. Whether for the sake of retirement or economy, I know not. Be it for either, for both, or whatever it may, if you will come to this place, and partake with me, I shall be exceedingly happy to see you at it.

"Your presence may remind Congress of your past services to this country; and if it is in my power to impress them, command my best exertions with freedom, as they will be rendered cheerfully by one who entertains a lively sense of the importance of your works, and who, with much pleasure, subscribes himself

"Your sincere friend,

"G. WASHINGTON."

Mr. Paine was urged by several of his friends to make an application to Congress for a compensation for his revolutionary writings, but this he uniformly refused to do. That the man who had been the means first of rousing the country to a declaration of independence, and whose writings had afterwards very materially contributed to the attainment of the object, was deserving of remuneration, no one could deny; but Mr. Paine's services in this respect being entirely of a voluntary nature, he could not consent to petition the Congress for a pecuniary recompense. His writings, however meritorious and serviceable they might have been, (and the most illiberal of his calumniators do not deny that their effects were great and universal,) were dictated by the pure principles