Peoria, Nov. 2d, 1877.
To the Editor of the New York Observer:
You ought to have honesty enough to admit that
you did, in your paper of July 19th, offer to prove
that the absurd story that Thomas Paine died in
terror and agony on account of the religious opinions
he had expressed, was true. You ought to have
fairness enough to admit that you called upon me
to deposit one thousand dollars with an honest man,
that you might, by proving that Thomas Paine did
die in terror, obtain the money.
You ought to have honor enough to admit that
you challenged me and that you commenced the
controversy concerning Thomas Paine.
You ought to have goodness enough to admit
that you were mistaken in the charges you made.
You ought to have manhood enough to do what
you falsely asserted that Thomas Paine did:--you
ought to recant. You ought to admit publicly that
you slandered the dead; that you falsified history;
that you defamed the defenceless; that you deliber-
517
ately denied what you had published in your own
paper. There is an old saying to the effect that
open confession is good for the soul. To you is
presented a splendid opportunity of testing the truth
of this saying.
Nothing has astonished me more than your lack
of common honesty exhibited in this controversy. In
your last, you quote from Dr. J. W. Francis. Why
did you leave out that portion in which Dr. Francis
says _that Cheetham with settled malignity wrote the
life of Paine?_ Why did you leave out that part in
which Dr. Francis says that Cheetham in the same
way _slandered Alexander Hamilton and De Witt
Clinton?_ Is it your business to suppress the truth?
Why did you not publish the entire letter of Bishop
Fenwick? Was it because it proved beyond all
cavil that Thomas Paine did not recant? Was it
because in the light of that letter Mary Roscoe,
Mary Hinsdale and Grant Thorburn appeared un-
worthy of belief? Dr. J. W. Francis says in the
same article from which you quoted, "_Paine clung to
his Infidelity until the last moment of his life!'_ Why
did you not publish that? It was the first line im-
mediately above what you did quote. You must
have seen it. Why did you suppress it? A lawyer,
doing a thing of this character, is denominated a
518
shyster. I do not know the appropriate word to
designate a theologian guilty of such an act.
You brought forward three witnesses, pretending
to have personal knowledge about the life and death
of Thomas Paine: Grant Thorburn, Mary Roscoe
and Mary Hinsdale. In my reply I took the ground
that Mary Roscoe and Mary Hinsdale must have
been the same person. I thought it impossible that
Paine should have had a conversation with Mary
Roscoe, and then one precisely like it with Mary
Hinsdale. Acting upon this conviction, I proceeded
to show that the conversation never could have hap-
pened, that it was absurdly false to say that Paine
asked the opinion of a girl as to his works who had
never read but little of them. I then showed by the
testimony of William Cobbett, that he visited Mary
Hinsdale in 1819, taking with him a statement con-
cerning the recantation of Paine, given him by Mr.
Collins, and that upon being shown this statement
she said that "it was so long ago that she could not
speak positively to any part of the matter--that she
would not say any part of the paper was true." At
that time she knew nothing, and remembered noth-
ing. I also showed that she was a kind of standing
witness to prove that others recanted. Willett Hicks
denounced her as unworthy of belief.
519
To-day the following from the New York _World_
was received, showing that I was right in my
conjecture:
Tom Paine's Death-Bed.
_To the Editor of the World_:
Sir: I see by your paper that Bob Ingersoll dis-
credits Mary Hinsdale's story of the scenes which
occurred at the death-bed of Thomas Paine. No
one who knew that good lady would for one moment
doubt her veracity or question her testimony. Both
she and her husband were Quaker preachers, and
well known and respected inhabitants of New York
City, _Ingersoll is right in his conjecture that Mary
Roscoe and Mary Hinsdale was the same person_. Her
maiden name was Roscoe, and she married Henry
Hinsdale. My mother was a Roscoe, a niece of
Mary Roscoe, and lived with her for some time. I
have heard her relate the story of Tom Paine's dying
remorse, as told her by her aunt, who was a witness
to it. She says (in a letter I have just received from
her), "he (Tom Paine) suffered fearfully from remorse,
and renounced his Infidel principles, calling on God
to forgive him, and wishing his pamphlets and books
to be burned, saying he could not die in peace until
it was done." (Rev.) A. W. Cornell.
Harpersville, New York.
520
You will notice that the testimony of Mary Hins-
dale has been drawing interest since 1809, and has
materially increased. If Paine "suffered fearfully
from remorse, renounced his Infidel opinions and
called on God to forgive him," it is hardly generous
for the Christian world to fasten the fangs of malice
in the flesh of his reputation.
So Mary Roscoe was Mary Hinsdale, and as
Mary Hinsdale has been shown by her own admis-
sion to Mr. Cobbett to have known nothing of the
matter; and as Mary Hinsdale was not, according to
Willet Hicks, worthy of belief--as she told a false-
hood of the same kind about Mary Lockwood, and
was, according to Mr. Collins, addicted to the use of
opium--this disposes of her and her testimony.
There remains upon the stand Grant Thorburn.
Concerning this witness, I received, yesterday, from
the eminent biographer and essayist, James Parton,
the following epistle:
Newburyport, Mass.
Col. R. G. Ingersoll:
Touching Grant Thorburn, I personally know him
to have been a dishonest man. At the age of ninety-
two he copied, with trembling hand, a piece from a
newspaper and brought it to the office of the _Home
Journal, as his own_. It was I who received it and
521
detected the deliberate forgery. If you are ever go-
ing to continue this subject, I will give you the exact
facts.
Fervently yours,
James Parton.
After this, you are welcome to what remains of
Grant Thorburn.
There is one thing that I have noticed during this
controversy regarding Thomas Paine. In no instance
that I now call to mind has any Christian writer
spoken respectfully of Mr. Paine. All have taken
particular pains to call him "Tom" Paine. Is it not
a little strange that religion should make men so
coarse and ill-mannered?
I have often wondered what these same gentle-
men would say if I should speak of the men eminent
in the annals of Christianity in the same way. What
would they say if I should write about "Tim"
Dwight, old "Ad" Clark, "Tom" Scott, "Jim"
McKnight, "Bill" Hamilton, "Dick" Whately, "Bill"
Paley, and "Jack" Calvin?
They would _say_ of me then, just what I _think_ of
them now.
Even if we have religion, do not let us try to get
along without good manners. Rudeness is exceed-
ingly unbecoming, even in a saint. Persons who
522
forgive their enemies ought, to say the least, to
treat with politeness those who have never injured
them.
It is exceedingly gratifying to me that I have com-
pelled you to say that "Paine died a blaspheming
Infidel." Hereafter it is to be hoped nothing will be
heard about his having recanted. As an answer to
such slander his friends can confidently quote the
following from the _New York Observer_ of November
ist, 1877:
"WE HAVE NEVER STATED IN ANY FORM, NOR
HAVE WE EVER SUPPOSED THAT PAINE ACTUALLY RE-
NOUNCED HIS INFIDELITY. THE ACCOUNTS AGREE IN
STATING THAT HE DIED A BLASPHEMING INFIDEL."
This for all coming time will refute the slanders of
the churches yet to be.
Right here allow me to ask: If you never supposed
that Paine renounced his Infidelity, why did you try
to prove by Mary Hinsdale that which you believed
to be untrue?
From the bottom of my heart I thank myself for
having compelled you to admit that Thomas Paine
did not recant.
For the purpose of verifying your own admission
concerning the death of Mr. Paine, permit me to call
your attention to the following affidavit:
523
Wabash, Indiana, October 27, 1877.
Col. R. G. Ingersoll:
Dear Sir: The following statement of facts is at
your disposal. In the year 1833 Willet Hicks made
a visit to Indiana and stayed over night at my father's
house, four miles east of Richmond. In the morn-
ing at breakfast my mother asked Willet Hicks the
following questions:
"Was thee with Thomas Paine during his last
sickness?"
Mr. Hicks said: "I was with him every day dur-
ing the latter part of his last sickness."
"Did he express any regret in regard to writing
the 'Age of Reason,' as the published accounts say
he did--those accounts that have the credit of ema-
nating from his Catholic housekeeper?"
Mr. Hicks replied: "He did not in any way by
word or action."
"Did he call on God or Jesus Christ, asking either
of them to forgive his sins, or did he curse them or
either of them?"
Mr. Hicks answered: "He did not. He died as
easy as any one I ever saw die, and I have seen
many die in my time." William B Barnes.
Subscribed and sworn to before me Oct. 27, 1877.
Warren Bigler, Notary Public.
524
You say in your last that "Thomas Paine was
abandoned of God." So far as this controversy is
concerned, it seems to me that in that sentence you
have most graphically described your own condi-
tion.
Wishing you success in all honest undertakings, I
remain,
Yours truly,
Robert G. Ingersoll.