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charge two millions and a half in silver, exclusive of a ship and brig laden with clothing and military stores.

From the account which Mr. Paine gives of himself, it appears that he had, some time previous to this, formed a design of coming over to England, for the purpose of exposing to the people the folly and perversity of their rulers. 'I was,' he observes, strongly impressed with the idea, that if I could get over to England without being known, and only remain in safety till I could get out a publication, that I could open the eyes of the country with respect to the madness and stupidity of its government." * He would have carried his intention into effect almost immediately, but for the advice of his friend General Greene; who, it appears, fully approved of the plan: but the affair of Arnold and Andre happening shortly afterward, the general altered his mind, and wrote very pressingly to Mr. Paine to dissuade him from his design. With some reluctance he consented to adopt the general's advice; both parties conceiving that his personal safety would be greatly endangered by any attempt at that time to carry his scheme into practice.

During our author's voyage to France with Col. Laurens, another event occurred which confirmed the propriety and practicability of this project. An English packet, from Falmouth to New York, was taken by a French privateer; and, owing to an artful stratagem of the French captain, the gov ernment despatches in the packet were secured and brought on board his vessel. They were sent to Paris to the French minister, Count Vergennes; who, after reading them, presented them to Col. Laurens and Mr. Paine, to be conveyed to America for the information and use of congress.

What the contents of these despatches were is not known; but it appears that they afforded Mr. Paine a better opportunity of judging of the perfidy and intrigue of the English cabinet than could have been done by any other means. This circumstance renewed his former plan respecting the British government; but Colonel Laurens being unwilling to return alone, Mr. Paine was induced to postpone its execution to a more favorable opportunity."

Previous to this period the French had declared in favor of the United States. The campaign of 1778 was arranged in Paris, and a French army and fleet co-operated with Washington; yet, after the capture of Burgoyne no decisive action was fought till the capture of Cornwallis in 1780. The war for several years was chiefly predatory in the south, and

* Rights of Man,' Part II., p. 70.

General Howe, Cornwallis, and the traitor Arnold, laid waste the states of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia; but their troops were continually harassed by the activity and skill of the American general, Greene, who from a blacksmith became one of the best generals in the service of the states. During this year (1780), the finances were in the most wretched state; the paper-money depreciated to a most alarming extent, and it was evidently impossible to raise the supplies by taxes. Washington's private accounts to the congress clearly revealed the miserable state of the army, while their published accounts deceived the enemy. Mr. Paine, by his "Common Sense," had previously produced the declaration of independence, and the unanimity of the people. The "Crisis," published as we have seen from time to time, preserved that unanimity, and in a great measure regulated the tone of public feeling. But Mr. Paine was not backward in his personal services: on one occasion when with the army, he formed a plan to destroy a part of the enemy's shipping, and offered to conduct the enterprise. This he explains in one number of the "Crisis," and shows that his object was not merely to effect a loss to the English, but to abate their pride in the strength of their navy, and to encourage the spirits of the people, who thought the British shipsof-war impregnable. When the finances were in the worst state, before Mr. Paine went to France, and when Washington feared the immediate dissolution of the army for want of pay and necessaries, Mr. Paine began a private subscription with five hundred dollars, all the money he could then raise, including his salary as secretary. The subscriptions on this occasion reached the large amount of three hundred thousand pounds; and this fund converted into a bank supplied the immediate wants of the government, and enabled Washington to commence the preparation to encompass and subdue Cornwallis, and thus bring an end to the war. These preparations were facilitated by a knowledge of the success of Colonel Laurens's mission to France, assisted by Mr. Paine: and the supplies actually arriving while Washington's army was manœuvring for the last great exploit, had, probably a considerable effect on the success of those manœuvres. This was

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evidently the opinion of Mr. Paine. New York was in possession of the enemy, the headquarters of Clinton. The anxious solicitude of Washington was to recover this city. Washington's plans were apparently all directed to this objeet; and the chief attention of Clinton consequently bent on the retention of that place. Cornwallis was then at Yorktown, Va., on the Susquehannah. The French fleet, by pretending to fly, drew out the English fleet till a re-enforcement entered the Chesapeake, and then returned to take and keep possession of that bay. Troops marching from the south did not alarm Clinton; re-enforcements from the west he was perhaps ignorant of; and the troops progressing down the Hudson from the north he supposed destined to join Washington near New York. When these collections of troops were all within a few days' march of the Susquehannah and Yorktown, Washington suddenly turned his own force in that direction. Clinton thought it a ruse, and remained inactive and thus was Cornwallis suddenly surrounded, in every direction, by sea and land, by the regulars, their auxiliaries, the French and Poles, and by the militia. Cornwallis, unprepared for a siege, surrendered before he could be relieved by Clinton; and thus a virtual end was put to the war, for till peace was restored, the British merely kept possession of New York, and one or two other stations, holding in subjection only the parts actually occupied by their armies. before this brilliant affair Mr. Paine arrived from France, bringing with him two millions of livres in cash and other supplies, forming the loading of a brig and a ship. Mr. Paine was instrumental in procuring these supplies, as he was better known (from the reputation of his writings) than Col. Laurens, who for that reason had desired his company. Whether these supplies were actually used to facilitate Washington's masterly movements we do not know, but as they were known to be coming, they gave the government and Washington a credit which they would not otherwise have enjoyed. Money and credit are the sinews of war, and are as necessary to success as unanimity. Paine has the merit of contributing to both in a very high degree. We shall quote again from Sherwin, the most accurate of Mr. Paine's biographers.

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"In March, 1782, Mr. Paine published at Philadelphia the tenth number of the 'Crisis.' The king of England, probably with a view of keeping the people in good humor with the expenses of the war, had delivered a speech at the recent opening of parliament in which the Americans were abused, and the English flattered, without any regard to truth or propriety. On this document our author delivers his opinion in terms of the severest reprobation. He satirizes the pretensions of the king to the title of sovereign of a free people, and draws an interesting parallel between the hardships of the Americans and those they would have suffered had the British been victorious. He concludes the number with an address to the people of America on the financial affairs of the states.

In May, 1782, he published at Philadelphia the eleventh number of the 'Crisis:' 'On the present State of News.' It had been conjectured and rumored that the object of the British cabinet was to detach France from America, for the purpose of making a separate peace with the former, in order that she might be enabled to bring her whole force against the independence of the latter. However absurd and dishonorable such an attempt might appear, it would have been no more than a continuance of the policy which had induced the ministry to persist so long in a war where there was neither hope to encourage nor principle to sanction their conduct. The present number appears to have been written with a view to inform the public that such a design had been contemplated by the British court, and that want of means alone had prevented it from being carried into execution.

In the same month, Mr. Paine published a supernumerary 'Crisis,' consisting of a letter to Sir Guy Carleton. This is a most forcible appeal to the English general respecting the barbarous murder of Captain Huddy, by a refugee of the name of Lippincot. Captain Huddy, of the Jersey militia, with a small party of Americans, had been attacked and taken prisoner by an armed force in the pay of the British, and carried into New York. About three weeks afterward he was taken down to the water-side, put in a boat, and brought again upon the Jersey shore, where he was atrociously murdered, under the direction of the refugee before mentioned. General Washington, determined that such an act should not pass without punishment, directed that lots should be cast by the British prisoners, for the purpose of selecting a victim in return for the murder of Captain Huddy. The lot fell upon Captain Asgill; and Mr. Paine's letter to Sir Guy Carleton, was written with a view to induce him to give up the murderer, and save the life of a brave and innocent officer. It does not appear that this request was ever complied with; and Asgill, after suffering all the suspense, misery, and de

spair, which naturally attend such a situation, was at last pardoned through the humanity of the American general.

In October, 1782, our author published, at Philadelphia, a letter to Lord Shelburne (afterward marquis of Lansdowne): this has since been classed as the twelfth number of the 'Crisis.' It is throughout an excellent production. The policy of concluding a peace with America, and acknowledging her independence, had on several occasions been discussed; but Lord Shelburne, unable to discover the propriety of the measure, and acting under the influence of that silly vanity which forms so noble an attribute of the freeborn Englishman, had declared that 'the sun of Great Britain would set whenever she acknowledged the independence of America.' The sentiment contained in this declaration is treated with a poignant satire, which must have been severely felt by the party with whom it originated.

The war was now fast drawing toward a conclusion, and America was about to enjoy the benefits of the liberty for which she had so long and so ardently contended. The British cabinet was at length convinced of the total impossibility of conquering the Americans; and the operations of the English declined in proportion as this conviction became more general. A definite treaty of peace was set on foot at Paris toward the end of the year 1782, and concluded a few months afterward. The triumphant situation of America—the grand and glorious effect of her courage and constancy, is admirably described by Mr. Paine in the last number of the 'Crisis.' He congratulates the country on the happy conclusion of 'the times that tried men's souls:' he dwells with pleasure on the fair character which America had established among the nations of the world; and observes with truth, that she need never be ashamed to tell her birth, or relate the stages by which she rose to empire. Shortly after the publication of this piece, Mr. Paine wrote a reply to a pamphlet by Lord Sheffield, on the subject of American commerce. This is classed with our author's previous productions as a supernumerary 'Crisis.'

To have preserved an exact chronological order, we ought to have noticed two other pamphlets, written by him some time previous to the cessation of hostilities. The first of these is entitled 'Public Good;' being an examination of the claim of Virginia to the vacant western territory. The method in which the case is investigated, discovers all the acuteness and ability which might be expected from the author; but as the subject is not now a matter of interest, even to the American reader, it is not here necessary to enter into the discussion. There is, however, one circumstance connected with the performance which ought not to be omitted, as it serves to show the disinterested character of Mr. Paine, and

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