In France, John Adams was accused of writing "Common Sense." He stoutly denied it, there being several allusions in it stronger than he cared to stand sponsor for

In England, Franklin was accused of being the author, and he neither denied nor admitted it. But when a lady reproached him for having used the fine alliterative phrase, applied to the king, "That Royal British Brute," he smiled and said blandly, "Madame, I would never have been as disrespectful to the brute creation as that." "Common Sense" struck the keynote of popular feeling, and the accusation of "treason, "hurled at it from many sources, only served to advertise it It supplied the common people with reasons, and gave statesmen arguments. The legislature of Pennsylvania voted Paine an honorarium of five hundred pounds, and the University of Pennsylvania awarded him the degree of "Master of Arts," in recognition of eminent services to literature and human rights. John Quincy Adams said, "Paine's pamphlet, 'Common Sense,' crystallized public opinion and was the first factor in bringing about the Revolution."

Rev. Theodore Parker once said, "Every living man in America in 1776, who could read, read Common Sense,' by Thomas Paine. If he were a Tory, he read it, at least a little, just to find out for himself how atrocious it was; and if he was a Whig, he read it all to find the reasons why he was one. This book was the

arsenal to which colonists went for their mental weapons.'

As "Common Sense" was published anonymously and without copyright, and was circulated at bare cost, Paine never received anything for the work, save the twenty-five hundred dollars voted to him by the legislature.

When independence was declared, Paine enlisted as a private, but was soon made aide-de-camp to General Greene. He was an intrepid and effective soldier and took an active part in various battles.

In December 1776 he published his second book, “The Crisis,' "the first words of which have gone into the electrotype of human speech, "These are the times that try men's souls." The intent of the letters which make up "The Crisis" was to infuse courage into the sinking spirits of the soldiers Washington ordered the letters to be read at the head of every regiment, and it was so done.

In 1781 Paine was sent to France with Col. Laurens to negotiate a loan The errand was successful, and Paine then made influential acquaintances, which were later to be renewed. He organized the Bank of North America to raise money to feed and clothe the army, and performed sundry and various services for the Colonies.

In 1791 he published his third book, "The Rights of Man," with a complimentary preface by Thomas Jef

ferson The book had an immense circulation in America and England. By way of left-handed recognition of the work, the author was indicted by the British Government for "sedition." A day was set for the trial but as Paine did not appear,-those were hanging days-and could not be found, he was outlawed and "banished forever."

He became a member of the French Assembly, or "Chamber of Deputies," and for voting against the death of the king, came under suspicion, and was imprisoned for one year, lacking a few weeks. His life was saved by James Monroe, America's minister to France, and for eighteen months he was a member of Monroe's household.

In 1794 while in France, there was published simultaneously in England, America and France, Paine's fourth book, "The Age of Reason."

In 1802 Thomas Jefferson, then president of the United States, offered Paine passage to America on board the man-of-war "Maryland," in order that he might be safe from capture by the English who had him under constant surveillance, and were intent on his arrest, regarding him as the chief instigator in the American Rebellion. Arriving in America, Paine was the guest for several months of the president at Monticello. His admirers in Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia and New York gave banquets in his honor, and he was tendered grateful recognition on account of his services

to humanity and his varied talents. He was presented by the State of New York "in token of heroic work for the Union," a farm at New Rochelle, eighteen miles from New York, and here he lived in comparative ease, writing and farming.

He passed peacefully away, aged seventy-two in 1809, and his body was buried on his farm, near the house where he lived, and a modest monument erected marking the spot He had no Christian burial, although unlike Mr. Zangwill, he had a Christian name. Nine years after the death of Paine, William Cobbett, the eminent English reformer, stung by the obloquy visited upon the memory of Paine in America, had the grave opened and the bones of the man who wrote the first draft of our Declaration of Independence, were removed to England, and buried near the spot where he was born. Death having silenced both the tongue and pen of the Thetford weaver, no violent interference was offered by the British government. So now the dead man slept where the presence of the living one was barred and forbidden & A modest monument marks the spot Beneath the name are these words, "The world is my country, mankind are my friends, to do good is my religion."

In 1839 a monument was erected at New Rochelle, New York, on the site of the empty grave where the body of Paine was first buried, by the lovers and admirers of the man. And while only one land claims his

birthplace, three countries dispute for the privilege of honoring his dust, for in France there is now a strong movement demanding that the remains of Thomas Paine be removed from England to France, and be placed in the Pantheon, that resting place of so many of the illustrious dead who gave their lives to the cause of Freedom, close by the graves of Voltaire, Rousseau and Victor Hugo. And the reason the bones were not removed to Paris, was because only an empty coffin rests in the grave at Thetford, as at New Rochelle. Rumor says that Paine's skull is in a London museum, but if so, the head that produced "The Age of Reason" cannot be identified. And the end is not yet!

HE genius of Paine was a flower that blossomed slowly. But life is a sequence and the man who does great work has been in training for it. There is nothing like keeping in condition,one does not know when he is going to be called upon. Prepared people do not have to hunt for a position-the position hunts for them & Paine knew no more about what he

was getting ready for than did Benjamin Franklin,