Details
PAINE, THOMAS. Autograph letter signed ("Thomas Paine") to "Citizen President," with a contemporary French translation in a scribal hand at bottom of first page and blank page, WITH AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED BY PAUL FRANÇOIS BARRAS, n.p. [Paris?], n.d. [translation dated 8 Nivose an 6 (28 December 1797)]. One page, 4to, integral blank.
PAINE PASSES ON INTELLIGENCE CONCERNING A POSSIBLE INVASION BY FRANCE
A remarkable letter in which the exiled Paine passes on intelligence "memorandums" from a friend recently returned from England, some of which consider the state of affairs there in regard to the prospect of a French invasion. In 1798 Paine subscribed a hundred livres towards the invasion, and it was reported that Napoleon had personally invited Paine to join in the expedition. "A very particular friend of mine who had a passport to go to London upon some family Affairs and to return in three months, and whom I had commissioned upon some affairs of my own (for I find that the English Government has seized upon a thousand pounds sterling which I had in the hands of a friend) returned two days ago and gave me the memorandums which I enclose. The first part relates only to my publication on the events of the 18 Fructidor [Paine's pamphlet of the same title], and to a letter to Erskine (who had been council for the prosecution against a former work of mine the Age of Reason) both of which I desired my friend to publish in London. The other part of the memorandums respects the State of Affairs in that country [Great Britain], by which I see that they have little or no Idea of a descent being made upon them [i.e., an invasion from France], tant mieux ["so much the better"] but they will be guarded in Ireland as they expect a descent there.
"I expect a printed Copy of the letter to Erskine in a day or two
[the pamphlet Letter to Erskine]. As it is in English , and on a subject that will be amusing to the Citizen Revelliere Le Peaux I will send it to him. The friend of whom I speak was pupil of Dessalt the Surgeon , and whom I once introduced to you at a public Audience in company with Capt. Cooper on his plan respecting the Island of Bermuda...."
The note of Paul François Barras (1755-1829), a imporant member of the Directoire concerns the receipt of the memoranda by the Directory. Paine refers to another of the five members of the Directory, Larévellière-Lèpeaux, whom he thinks will be amused by the Letter to Erskine. Paine had been indicted for treason in 1792, fled to France, where he became an elected delegate to the convention. Having fallen into disfavor with Robespierre, he was imprisoned and nearly guillotined, but on the intervention of James Monroe and upon the fall of Robespierre, was released and restored to his convention seat. The second part of his Age of Reason, written during his imprisonment, was published at this time, as was his Letter to Erskine, both of which were as a matter of course prosecuted: "the publication of Paine's books in England was a service of danger" (-DNB). The scheme of a French invasion of England was soon abandoned.
PAINE PASSES ON INTELLIGENCE CONCERNING A POSSIBLE INVASION BY FRANCE
A remarkable letter in which the exiled Paine passes on intelligence "memorandums" from a friend recently returned from England, some of which consider the state of affairs there in regard to the prospect of a French invasion. In 1798 Paine subscribed a hundred livres towards the invasion, and it was reported that Napoleon had personally invited Paine to join in the expedition. "A very particular friend of mine who had a passport to go to London upon some family Affairs and to return in three months, and whom I had commissioned upon some affairs of my own (for I find that the English Government has seized upon a thousand pounds sterling which I had in the hands of a friend) returned two days ago and gave me the memorandums which I enclose. The first part relates only to my publication on the events of the 18 Fructidor [Paine's pamphlet of the same title], and to a letter to Erskine (who had been council for the prosecution against a former work of mine the Age of Reason) both of which I desired my friend to publish in London. The other part of the memorandums respects the State of Affairs in that country [Great Britain], by which I see that they have little or no Idea of a descent being made upon them [i.e., an invasion from France], tant mieux ["so much the better"] but they will be guarded in Ireland as they expect a descent there.
"I expect a printed Copy of the letter to Erskine in a day or two
[the pamphlet Letter to Erskine]. As it is in English , and on a subject that will be amusing to the Citizen Revelliere Le Peaux I will send it to him. The friend of whom I speak was pupil of Dessalt the Surgeon , and whom I once introduced to you at a public Audience in company with Capt. Cooper on his plan respecting the Island of Bermuda...."
The note of Paul François Barras (1755-1829), a imporant member of the Directoire concerns the receipt of the memoranda by the Directory. Paine refers to another of the five members of the Directory, Larévellière-Lèpeaux, whom he thinks will be amused by the Letter to Erskine. Paine had been indicted for treason in 1792, fled to France, where he became an elected delegate to the convention. Having fallen into disfavor with Robespierre, he was imprisoned and nearly guillotined, but on the intervention of James Monroe and upon the fall of Robespierre, was released and restored to his convention seat. The second part of his Age of Reason, written during his imprisonment, was published at this time, as was his Letter to Erskine, both of which were as a matter of course prosecuted: "the publication of Paine's books in England was a service of danger" (-DNB). The scheme of a French invasion of England was soon abandoned.