of disinterested patriotism, and he could not degrade their character by converting them into a medium of sordid emolument.

I am well aware of the attempts which have been made to shew that Mr. Paine's patriotism was not of that disinterested nature here described, and when we see that these attempts are founded upon the resolutions of Congress itself, it is not surprising that they should have been attended with some success amongst the weaker part of mankind. A short explanation will, however, do away with the impressions which such reports are calculated to produce. Before offering any observations on the subject, we will first insert the resolutions as extracted from the Journals of Congress

"Friday, August 26, 1785.-On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Gerry, Mr. Petit, and Mr. King, to whom was referred a letter of the 13th from Thomas Paine :

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Resolved, That the early, unsolicited, and continued labours of Mr. Thomas Paine, in explaining and enforcing the principles of the late revolution, by ingenious and timely publications upon the nature of liberty and civil government, have been well received by the eitizens of these States, and merit the approba

tion of Congress, and that in consideration of these services and the benefits produced thereby, Mr. Paine is entitled to a liberal gratification from the United States."

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Monday, October 3, 1785.-On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. Gerry, Mr. Howell, and Mr. Long, to whom were referred sundry letters from Mr. Thomas Paine, and a report on his letter of the 13th of September :

"Resolved, That the board of treasury take order for paying to Mr. Thomas Paine the sum of three thousand dollars, for the considerations mentioned in the resolution of the 26th of August last."

That the Congress granted, and that Mr. Paine received the three thousand dollars above mentioned, are facts beyond dispute. The only error is in the wording of the two resolutions, which makes the grant appear the reverse of what it really was. The case was this:-The salary which Mr. Paine received as Secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs was very small, being only eight hundred dollars a year, and the depreciation which took place in consequence of the immense and repeated issues of paper money, reduced even this to less than a fifth of its nominal value. Mr. Paine, aware of the diffi

culties in which the Congress were placed, forbore to harrass them with any applications for money during the war, but after it was closed he addressed to them a letter requesting that they would make up the depreciation, with some other incidental expenses which he had been at in the discharge of his official duties. The letter was referred to a committee, of which Mr. Gerry was chairman. This gentleman came to Mr. Paine and informed him that "the committee had consulted upon the subject, that they intended to bring in a handsome report, but they thought it best not to take any notice of Deane's affair or Mr. Paine's salary.""They will indemnify you," said he, “ without it. The case is, there are some motions on the Journals of Congress for censuring you with respect to Deane's affair, which cannot now be recalled, because they have been printed. We will, therefore, bring in a report that will supersede them, without mentioning the purport of your letter."

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The grant was therefore an indemnity to Mr. Paine for the depreciation in his salary as secretary of the committee, and the reason for couching it in the terms above quoted, was to shield the Congress from a confession of the

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injustice they had done our author for his conduct during the disputes about the claims of Silas Deane. It was no more than he had a right to expect, and those who granted it had not much reason to boast of their "liberality," in performing what was merely an act of pecuniary justice. So much for the grant of three thousand dollars, the false language in which it is clothed, and the malevolent insinuations which it has given rise to.

But though Mr. Paine had resolved not to make any application to the Congress on the score of his literary labours, he had several friends in the provincial assemblies who were determined that his exertions should not pass unrewarded. I have already spoken of the propo sition that was made to the assembly of Virginia for this purpose, and the cause of its failure, Similar motions were brought before the legislature of Pennsylvania and the assembly of New York, the former of which gave him £500, and the latter the confiscated estate of a Mr. Frederick Devoe, a royalist. This estate, situated at New Rochelle, consisting of more than three hundred acres of land in a high state of cultivation, with a spacious and elegant stone house, besides extensive out buildings, was a valuable acqui

sition; and the readiness with which it was. granted, is a proof of the high estimation in which Mr. Paine's services were held by one of the most opulent and powerful States in the Union.

In 1786, he published at Philadelphia his "Dissertations on Government, the Affairs of the Bank, and Paper Money." The Bank alluded to was the one which had been established some years before, under the name of the “Bank of North America." Whatever opinion may be entertained of these institutions in general, it is evident that the one in question had been of considerable service to the Americans, during the most eventful period of their struggle for independence: to say the least, it was therefore entitled to their gratitude. But when men find themselves in a state of ease and security, they are too apt to forget the means by which they obtained these advantages, and the Bank, without any regard to its past services, was attacked as an establishment at variance with every principle of private security and public freedom.-In the pamphlet before us Mr. Paine gives an elaborate and interesting account of the rise and progress of the institution, and as he was one of the first promoters