Paine, Thomas

Autograph letter signed, 2 pages (9 1/8 x 7 3/8 in.; 233 x 189 mm) on a bifolium of laid paper (watermarked Pieter de Vries & Comp), "Rue du Theatre francais," Paris, 24 April [1802; year obscured by ink smear], to Dr. Joseph Johnson at Derby, autograph address panel with French and English postal cancellations, contemporary newspaper clipping concerning Paine's French imprisonment tipped to third page; small seal tear.

Christie's New York, 9 December 1998, lot 120 (undesignated consignor)

Autograph letter signed, 2 pages (9 1/8 x 7 3/8 in.; 233 x 189 mm) on a bifolium of laid paper (watermarked Pieter de Vries & Comp), "Rue du Theatre francais," Paris, 24 April [1802; year obscured by ink smear], to Dr. Joseph Johnson at Derby, autograph address panel with French and English postal cancellations, contemporary newspaper clipping concerning Paine's French imprisonment tipped to third page; small seal tear.
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Just four months before quitting Paris and returning to America, Thomas Paine tells his former publisher how he survived the Terror: "i attribute my preservation to a fever that had nearly been fatal to me, and which confined me to my bed till after the fall of Robespierre, and the arrival of Mr. Monroe the new American Minister. ..."

Having played a pivotal role in fanning the flames of the American Revolution, Paine was irresistibly drawn to Paris during the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in France. As he wrote to George Washington on 16 October 1789, "A Share in two revolutions is living to some purpose" (Papers, Pres. Ser. 4:197). After the publication of The Rights of Man and its sequel, Paine was charged with sedition and forced to leave England permanently. When he arrived in Paris in the fall of 1792, he was welcomed as a hero and given a seat in the National Convention. But Paine shortly found, as did so many others, that the French Revolution, like Cronus, devoured its own children.

A warrant was issued for Paine's arrest on 27 December 1793 by the Committee of General Surety and Surveillance, and he was incarcerated in the Luxembourg prison. Efforts to have Paine released as an American citizen were stymied by the American minister to France, Gouverneur Morris—perhaps acting on personal animus and perhaps acting on orders from his government. The pamphleteer might easily have been sent to the guillotine, and in the present letter he details his imprisonment and release to Johnson, who had himself just managed to escape France as the Terror began.

"Mr. York called on me to day and brought me your welcome letter. I have enquired often after you, and with great anxiety, but could obtain no information of you. It was a sanguinary scene when you fortunately left Paris, but infinitely worse afterwards. It is impossible to relate to you the events. Two days after you were gone a guard came about two in the Morning to take you and Chappin. Thank God you were out of their Reach. About a Month afterwards, they came and took Georges and Labord, and on the 30 of December they carried me to the Luxembourg where I remained till the 4 of November following, exposed every hour to a worse fate. I attribute my preservation to a fever that had nearly been fatal to me, and which confined me to my bed till after the fall of Robespierre, and the arrival of Mr. Monroe the new American Minister an affectionate friend of mine. The fever was followed by an Abscess in the side which lasted about two years and from which I had no expectation of recovery. The Surgeon Dessauer came to see me as a friend and advised that nothing should be done but to keep the part clean. It is nature, said he, that must perform the cure. I took his advice and got well; and now, my dear friend, after passing through several years of Storms, dangers, and difficulties, I enjoy an excellent state of health and a happy mind.

"York tells me you were two years in America, and that you intend coming to France. I am preparing to set off for America and as I should rejoice to see you before I depart, I wish you would hasten your Journey. I expect to set off in a month at farthest."

Redmond York, who carried Johnson's letter to Paine, assisted the latter in organizing his correspondence and other papers for the voyage back to the United States. Joseph Johnson was the original printer of The Rights of Man, but under the threat of legal censure he ceded the publication to J. S. Jordan.