ple to be
consistent--to not talk of liberty without acting it out; and he gives
them "Serious Thoughts" on negro slavery to think about. It is a feeler,
sent out to test public sentiment, and to put the people to thinking in
the right direction. He struck--as he always did--when the iron was hot;
and, between the hammer and the iron, sparks were emitted which kept
burning in America for ninety years. His words were: "Stop the
importation of negroes, soften the hard fate of those already here, and
in time procure their freedom." He believed that the justice of Heaven
would some day blot it out. This piece brought Mr. Paine many friends
and high hopes. Common Sense shortly afterward came from the press, to
stir up revolution in the hearts of the people.

He now turns his attention to chemistry, experiments in the art of
making saltpeter cheaply, publishes his researches, and organizes a
company to gratuitously supply the public magazines with powder. He is
boldly working out his plan. He gives Common Sense to each colony by
copyright, and the poor, ignorant dolts of that age and this age wonder
why he did not make himself rich in the sale of it. The fools must learn
that he was making patriots, not pounds and pence, to serve his purpose
and plan. Franklin smiles at the work as it goes on, for to effect a
revolution the country will be sorely in need of powder and patriotism.
But Washington they can rely on for this latter. When others fail whose
mouths were always open to profess liberty, he shall stand firm; when
_they_ desert the cause, he shall strike the harder and more nobly.

When war begins public sentiment changes quickly. The American people
are now ready for war, made so within a few months. Congress comes
together with more strength in its back-bone, more pluck in its heart;
and, on the 7th of June, a committee of five is appointed to draft a
Declaration of Independence. Thomas Paine makes a concise reproduction
of Common Sense; constructs it upon mechanical principles, so that it
will first convince the understanding, and, having entered the head,
will soon reach the heart, for it is made on purpose to storm the
passions of men. He privately hands it to Thomas Jefferson. It is quite
fortunate that he was chairman of that committee. But in the act the
_honor_ of Thomas Paine is pledged for secrecy; it is an honor without
spot, and he locks up the act forever in his own breast with Junius.

The Declaration is