Junius Unmasked Part 16

_Junius._

"There can not be a doctrine more fatal to the liberty and property we are contending for, than that which confounds the idea of a supreme and an arbitrary legislature.... If the majority can disfranchise ten boroughs, why not twenty--why not the whole kingdom? Why should not they make their own seats in parliament for life? When the septennial act pa.s.sed, the legislature did what, apparently and palpably, they had no power to do."--Let. 68.

Although the above doctrine that the people, not the legislature, are supreme, is not new, yet it was rarely a.s.serted in the time of Paine, and renders the above parallel strong and peculiar. Even the same language is used in making the same application to the septennial act, which might as well have empowered the members of parliament to sit _for life_.

Here is a parallel on the opinion of the _jobbing_ spirit of courtiers:

_Paine._

"Every nation that does not govern itself, is governed as a _job_. England has been the prey of _jobs_ ever since the revolution."--R. of M., part ii, chap, v., note.

_Junius._

To Draper: "It would have been more decent in you to have called this dishonorable transaction by its true name, a _job_, to accommodate two persons by particular interest and management at the castle."--Let. 7.

Both Paine and Junius frequently give vent to their detestation of gambling and gamblers. A single case in point is sufficient:

_Paine._

"Those who knew the savage obstinacy of the king, and the jobbing, _gambling_ spirit of the court, predicted the fate of the pet.i.tion."--Crisis, iii.

_Junius._

To Bedford: "His own honor would have forbidden him from mixing his private pleasures or conversation with jockeys, _gamesters_, blasphemers, gladiators, and buffoons."--Let. 23.

See, also, Let. 14.

They both have the same opinion of the _theater_; but as the proof of this is only circ.u.mstantial, I will not c.u.mber these pages with it. We know that Paine was a Quaker upon this point; and Junius contemptuously addresses Garrick, the actor, "Now mark me, _vagabond_! keep to your _pantomimes_," etc.

I now pa.s.s to consider their religious opinions. And, first, their views of G.o.d:

_Paine._

"The Almighty hath implanted in us these unextinguishable feelings for good and wise purposes."--C. S.

"The country was the gift of Heaven, and G.o.d alone is their Lord and sovereign."--Crisis, v.

"From such men and such masters may the gracious hand of Heaven preserve America."

_Junius._

"Grateful as I am to the good Being whose bounty has imparted to me this reasoning intellect,"

etc.--Let. 68.

"They acknowledged the hand of Providence in the descent of the crown upon the head of a true Stuart." [Spoken in irony.]--Let. 49.

"If they should no longer appeal to the creature of the const.i.tution, but to that high Being, who gave them the rights of humanity, whose gifts it were sacrilege to surrender, let me ask you sir,"

etc.--Let. 35.

"The will of G.o.d hath parted us, and the deed is registered for eternity."--Crisis, v.

"Even the distance at which the Almighty hath placed America and England, is a strong and _natural_ proof that the authority of the one over the other was never the design of Heaven.

"I do not scruple to affirm, with the most solemn appeal to G.o.d for my sincerity."--Let. 68.

"The people also found it necessary to appeal to Heaven in their turn."--Let. 9.

"The reformation was preceded by the discovery of America, as if the Almighty graciously meant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years, when home should afford neither friends.h.i.+p nor safety.

"I am as confident, as I am that G.o.d governs the world, that America will never be happy till she gets clear of foreign dominion."--Crisis, i.

"And if life be the bounty of Heaven, we scorn fully reject the n.o.blest part of the gift,"

etc.--Let. 20.

"If when the opportunity offers itself you neglect to do your duty to yourselves and to posterity, to _G.o.d_ and your country," etc.--Dedication.

Of Providence they further say:

_Paine._

"But Providence, who best knows how to time her misfortunes as well as her immediate favors, chose this to be the time, and who dare dispute it?"--Crisis, iii.

"To the _interposition of Providence_ and her blessings on our endeavors, and not to British benevolence are we indebted for the short chain that limits your ravages."--Crisis, vi.

"To deny such a right would be a kind of atheism against nature, and the beat answer to such an objection will be: 'The fool hath said in his heart there is no G.o.d!'"--Crisis, iii.

_Junius._

"If it should be the will of Providence to afflict him with a domestic misfortune," etc.--Let. 23.

"The next is a most remarkable instance of the goodness of Providence."--Let. 66.

"If by the immediate _interposition of Providence_ it were possible for us to escape a crisis so full of terror and despair, posterity will not believe the history of the present times."--Let. 1.

Mr. Paine wrote the Age of Reason as an argument against atheism on the one hand and fanaticism on the other. This he says himself.

I will now give the language of Mr. Paine on religion, infidelity, atheism, fanaticism, and morality, and then subscribe the language of Junius.

{163}In his discourse to the Theophilanthropists of Paris, Mr. Paine says: "Religion has two princ.i.p.al enemies--_fanaticism and infidelity_, or that which is called _atheism_. The first requires to be combatted by reason or morality, the other by natural philosophy." In opposing atheism he makes intelligent force the G.o.d of the universe. This is his language: "_G.o.d is the power_, or first cause, _nature is the law_, and _matter is the subject acted upon_." That is, there is a duality in the universe--_force_ and _matter_; and the action of _force_ on matter produces the _laws of nature_, or, every phenomenon is produced by the motion of matter. He founds his argument against atheism on the _motion_ of matter, and elaborates it in his clear and forcible style, and then says: "Where will infidelity--where will atheism find cause for this astonis.h.i.+ng velocity of motion, never ceasing, never varying, and which is the preservation of the earth in its...o...b..t? It is not by reasoning from an acorn to an oak, or from any change in the state of matter on the surface of the earth, that this can be accounted for. _Its cause is not to be found in matter, nor in any thing we call nature._ The atheist who affects to reason, and the fanatic who rejects reason, plunge themselves alike into inextricable difficulties. The one perverts the sublime and enlightening study of natural philosophy into a deformity of absurdities by not reasoning to the end, the other loses himself in the obscurity of metaphysical theories, and dishonors the Creator by treating the study of his works with contempt. The one is a half-rational of whom there is some hope, the other is a visionary to whom we must be charitable."

I wish the reader to compare with the last sentence above the following extracts from Junius, to be found in Letters 44 and 35: "The opinions of these men are too absurd to be easily renounced. Liberal minds are open to conviction, liberal doctrines are capable of improvement. _There are proselytes from atheism, but none from superst.i.tion._" "When once a man is determined to believe, the very absurdity of the doctrine confirms him in his faith."