THOMAS PAINE, JOEL BARLOW, PHILIP FRENEAU,
AND INTERNATIONAL REPUBLICANISM
by
LARRY D. CUNNINGHAM, B.A.
A THESIS
IN
ENGLISH
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty
of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for
the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
Approved
Accepted
May, 1971
^^^'
59c?7
Ac
mi
NoJZ
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I want to express my thanks for the time, the
interest, and the helpful suggestions Dr. Warren S. Walker
gave me when he directed this thesis.
11
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
ii
CHAPTER
I.
THE POLITICS OF INTERNATIONAL REPUBLICANISM
1
II.
THOMAS PAINE AND THE REPUBLICAN VISION. . .
39
III.
JOEL BARLOW AND THE ROAD TO RATIONALISM . .
54
PHILIP FRENEAU AND THE POETRY OF
REPUBLICANISM
70
IV.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
83
111
CHAPTER I
THE POLITICS OF INTERNATIONAL REPUBLICANISM
International republicanism refers to the literarypolitical movement that had its strongest expression with
the advent of the French Revolution and in the poetry and
prose of Thomas Paine, Joel Barlow, and Philip Freneau.
Although each of these writers had voiced international
ideas earlier in his career during and after the period of
the American Revolution, his identification with the movement to overthrow the autocratic, monarchial governments
of Europe did not begin until 1789.
At this point, when
the French people engaged in revolution with the plan of
establishing a republic based on the form of government in
the United States, there were optimistic attitudes in this
country that this was only a beginning place, for some believed that eventually republicanism would be a worldwide
watchword.
In America there was already a strong propen-
sity toward brotherhood with France because of the aid that
country had given the Americans in the war against England.
During this period, French culture was in vogue in America,
with the language and some of its other institutions forming a major area of study in some colleges.
In addition to these unofficial ties with France,
America had signed a perpetual defensive-offensive alliance
with that country in 1778.
With the resumption of war
between France and England in 1793, the United States was
expected to uphold its part in the alliance by helping to
defend the French West Indies.
The official governmental
position was cautious neutrality, but a great many of the
people wanted to give the French the aid they desired.
This was brought about in part by the tour of Citizen
Gen^t on which he traveled up the east coast from Charleston in 1793, soliciting support for his government.
Even
after he had been warned of the hostility of Washington
and Jefferson, he appealed directly to the people.
In the
meantime, Freneau in his National Gazette urged Genet to
go to greater lengths and to ignore the government completely.
He was also filling his pages with features about
the activities of Paine and Barlow in Europe, with accounts
of how the royalists of Europe were being sought out and
destroyed.
Americans, especially in Philadelphia, were
almost completely caught up in the militant spirit which
Freneau's writing fostered.
By 1795 the movement had nearly reached its end
because during that year John Jay had negotiated a treaty
with Britain, a treaty not popular with the American citizenry.
France maintained that she had been undermined,
and immediately showed hostility toward the United States
by carrying out acts of war against American shipping.
lations continued to disintegrate until America made a
desperate attempt in 1797 to re-establish diplomatic
Re-
congeniality between the two countries.
In that year
three American diplomats were sent to France, where they
were met by three French agents known as X, Y, and Z.
These agents demanded a $250,000 bribe in order for talks
to be carried on by the two countries.
As a result, rela-
tions deteriorated even further, and the Americans left
France, insulted.
By 1798 Napoleon had risen to power in France, and
what hopes of international republicanism had been left
after the XYZ Affair were soon extinguished by the little
tyrant.
Barlow, and later Paine, returned to America dis-
illusioned that their dream of brotherhood, equality, and
liberty for Europe had been replaced by worse tyranny and
war.
Thus, the international republican movement sprang
forth in 1789 in France, spread to other parts of Europe
and also to America, and expired about 1798 with the rise
of Napoleon.
The historical events of this movement will
be related in some detail in this first chapter; otherwise,
the writings of Paine, Barlow, and Freneau would be quite
meaningless.
By examining each of these men in a political
context, one will be able to understand more fully his particular literary achievement.
Thomas Paine spent the early part of his adult life
as a citizen of England.
It is evident that he had a
thoroughgoing knowledge of English history, and that he
was widely read in various reform proposals.
In 1772 he
became politically active when he began to petition Parliament to take measures to alleviate the poverty of the
workers in the Excise Department where he was employed.
His frequent trips to Parliament resulted in his acquaintance with Benjamin Franklin, who was just beginning to gain
an international reputation as an American statesman.
Franklin was impressed with Paine's abilities and his enthusiasm, and believed that his talents could be put to
excellent use for the American cause.
Consequently, he
gave Paine a personal letter of introduction which aided
him to become established in America.
By 1775 Paine was devoting all of his energies to
the revolutionary activities which were rapidly emerging
into imminent conflict between Britain and the colonies.
Even at this early point in his career, Paine's writing
reflected a broader outlook than just the nationalistic
struggle at hand.
It was not only the people of the English
colonies for whom he championed freedom; he defended the
right of men everywhere to be free.
For example, in 1775
he wrote an article on African slavery in America which
proposed the abolition of the practice, not only in this
country but everywhere in the world.
Again, in Common
Sense, a justification of American emancipation from
Britain, he asserted, "Government by kings was first introduced into the world by heathens, from whom the children
of Israel copied the custom.
It was the most prosperous
invention the devil ever set on the face of the earth."
These examples from Paine*s early writing demonstrate his
preoccupation with a universal spirit of brotherhood.
W. E.
Woodward says, in his biography of Paine, that Paine always
believed in freedom, reason, and kindness for all men re2
gardless of race, creed, or nationality.
Embodied in the American Revolution, as Paine no
doubt saw them, were the very universal principles that he
supported.
At this point, however, the republican ideal
was limited only to the emerging nation of the United
States; therefore, although he believed that all monarchies
were evil, he found no real movement toward internationalism
with which to associate during this period.
American free-
dom was the primary objective, and it was Paine's inspiring
propaganda, says Woodward, that helped the people to maintain the will to continue the struggle.
^Thomas Paine, Common Sense, in The Life and Works
of Thomas Paine, ed. by William M. Van der Weyde (10 vols.;
New Rochelle, New York: Thomas Paine National Historical
Association, 1925), II, 108. Hereafter, all references to
Paine's writing will be cited as Works, and will refer to
this edition.
Tom Paine; America's Godfather (New York: E. P.
Dutton, 1945), 60. Hereinafter this will be referred to
as America's Godfather.
-^America's Godfather, p. 90.
6
After the Revolutionary War, Paine retired from
political life and became an inventor.
In 1787 he went to
France with intentions of selling an iron bridge which he
had designed.
Shortly after he arrived, he met Thomas
Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette, both of whom were predicting impending political strife in France.
Paine im-
mediately became interested in French political affairs
and began to make a study of the current discord there.
In the meantime, his efforts to sell his bridge were unsuccessful, so the following year, 1788, he went to England
in the hope that his idea would be accepted there.
He
could not divorce himself from politics, however, and soon
he became friends with Charles Fox and Edmund Burke, leaders of the liberal Whig faction in Parliament.
The politi-
cal atmosphere of England was also highly charged, as the
supporters of Fox and the liberals sought to curb the powers
of the monarch.
Before Paine could really become involved
in this struggle, though, he was called back to France,
where political upheaval was reaching a critical stage.
Late in 1788, Premier Lomenie de Brienne had called
for a convention of the States-General, an advisory body
to the king which had not met since 1614.
The king's pur-
pose in calling together this group was to discuss and
analyze the critical economic situation of France.
States-General consisted of three parts:
The
the nobles, the
clergy, and the Third Estate, the last of which represented
the middle and lower classes of people.
This last group
was, in effect, powerless to determine whether any of their
grievances would be considered by the other two members of
the body, so they proposed that all three groups merge into
one organization called the National Assembly, with equal
privileges for all.
Louis XVI rejected the plan, however,
and, fearing that there might be an uprising, he ordered
the meeting hall of the Third Estate closed.
The next day,
June 20, 1789, the delegates blatantly called a meeting in
a tennis court near their regular quarters.
Louis ordered
troops to the scene to repress the rebellion, but they
joined the conspirators instead.
In the meantime, Louis
secretly had begun to hire mercenaries to subdue his rebellious subjects, but the plan was discovered, and the
storming of the Bastille followed, marking the beginning
of the French Revolution, only six years after the one in
America had ended.
In England the royalists and conservatives were
fearful that a pattern might be emerging which could possibly hurl that country into a revolution of its own.
The
French uprising, so close in time to the colonial conflict,
was an ominous sign; therefore, some of the royalists began to inquire of Whig leaders their response to the situation.
Edmund Burke, fearing the radicalism of the French
Revolutionary leaders, defected to the conservatives, but
pretended that his was still a liberal sentiment.
In
8
February, 1790, he wrote "Reflections on the Revolution in
France," which supported the monarchial form of government
and deplored democracy and the ideals of the French conflict.
Thomas Paine, at that time fifty-four years old,
was extremely excited about the events that were taking
place.
In a letter to Washington, he said that after the
American Revolution, he had felt that his life's work was
completed.
He went on to say, however, that the principles
of 1776 were capable of renewing themselves, and that he
4
was ready to devote his talents to the work at hand.
His
first task was to write a reply to Burke's "Reflections.
. . ."
He entitled it The Rights of Man,'and, according
to Woodward, it was the most important commentary on social
experience produced anywhere in the world during the
eighteenth century.
It was looked upon with horror by
ruling classes everywhere.
"A bomb it was, or so they
thought—a bomb filled with explosive ideas, lying in the
road and apt to go off any moment to scatter fire and fury
5
in all directions."
The Rights . . . , which will be dis-
cussed at length in Chapter II, did not have any strikingly
new ideas; basically, it reiterated the concepts of John
Locke and Thomas Jefferson, that all men v/ere created with
"^Works, I, 237.
^America's Godfather, pp. 188-189
equal rights.
"Man has no property in man," Paine said.
"Neither has any generation property in the generations
6
v^ich are to follow."
According to Woodward, the most
important feature of The Rights . . . is that it was the
first powerful and significant statement of the republi7
canism of Jefferson, Madison, and Edmund Randolph.
Like
all of these men, Paine believed in the brotherhood of all
men.
After the storming of the Bastille, the revolutionary fever in France ebbed for a time.
But in June, 1791,
Louis tried to flee from France to seek political asylum
in Germany.
He was captured near the border and returned
to the Palace of Tuileries, where he was placed under house
arrest.
Paine believed that this was the precise time to
take action.
Since the French monarch had been completely
discredited, he believed that the people were ready to
establish a republic based on the government of the United
States.
Consequently, Paine, working almost single-
handedly, established the Society Republicaine, which had
as its main goal the founding of the French Republic.
The
people were not ready for such drastic action, however,
even though Paine explained that every aspect of the revolution could be accomplished without violence.
gain support of even the radical Jacobins.
^Works, VI, 20.
7
America's Godfather, p. 192.
He failed to
10
After this rather temporary defeat, Paine went
back to England to support the republicans against the
Burkean conservatives.
The revolutionary fever in France
had, by this time, spread across the channel to England,
and Paine was able to move into a position of leadership
for the cause.
By July, 1791, he was dividing his time
among three organizations which supported the French Revolution.
Along with Joseph Priestly, H o m e Tooke, and Joel
Barlow, he was a member of the Revolution Society, the
Constitutional Society, an<3 the Society for Constitutional
Information.
Aldridge says that although these groups
were rarely united about what they believed or what reforms
should be effected, they had one common bond:
praise for
Thomas Paine.
Paine's pen was extremely active during this period
as he continued to attack social injustice and to demand
political reform in England.
He also began work on the
second part of The Rights of Man, which he finished in the
fall of 1791.
The royalists considered the second part to
be fully as dangerous to their position as the first, and
thus they made attempts to have it suppressed.
It was
basically an expression of Paine's faith in America, which
he said was the "cradle of liberty" where all oppressed
Q
A. F. Aldridge, Man of Reason: The Life of Thomas
Paine (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1959), p. 153.
Hereinafter this will be referred to as Man of Reason.
11
people could look for help and guidance to overthrow
tyrants.
He said that the reason America was so great was
that it based its government on the representative system,
which "takes society and civilization for its basis, nature^
9
reason, and experience for its guide."
This piece was as
popular among the people as the first part of The Rights
. . . , for it outsold Burke's "Reflections . . . " two to
one.
Woodward says the royalists tried to suppress it
whenever possible:
they held great public book burnings;
they hired common thugs to follow Paine and harass him;
and, in general, they slandered and libeled it so much that
people read it out of curiosity, if nothing else.
In
Parliament Paine was described as a "wicked, malicious,
seditious, and ill-disposed person," who wrote and published
a "false, scandalous, malicious, and seditious libel.
„11
•
•
•
In France Paine was hailed as a great hero and the
ablest champion of French republicanism.
The National
Assembly conferred the title of "Citizen" upon him, and
appointed him to be a delegate to the upcoming national
convention.
He was eager to participate, but he felt that
great progress was being made in England for establishing
^Works, VI, 263.
•'•^America's Godfather, p. 219.
Cited by Woodward, America's Godfather, p. 22 3.
12
a republic; therefore, he declined on the grounds that he
was still needed in England.
Shortly thereafter, however,
he was forced to flee England in the middle of the night
to escape political arrest.
His flight via Dover was suc-
cessful, but he was tried _in absentia in Britain and found
guilty of high treason.
In France, on the other hand, Paine received a
hearty welcome and an escort of troops, while crowds
cheered him.
"All of France," says one critic, "embraced
him metaphorically, and those who could edge near enough
did so literally.
The whole world seemed in step to the
tune of internationalism; all hearts were pulsing to the
12
rhythm of the brotherhood of man."
Paine, the American,
was completely engulfed in the events of Europe.
France and England
To both
he had gone, and, indeed, to any other
place in the world where people were oppressed he would
willingly have gone. He dedicated himself to these prin13
ciples at the first national convention in France.
Throughout the latter part of 1792 and the early
part of 1793, the revolution was progressing according to
Paine's principle of nonviolence.
He belonged to the
Girondist party, which advocated moderation, lest the
Mary Agnes Best, Thomas Paine: Prophet and Martyr
of Democracy (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1927) , p. 275.
Hereinafter this will be referred to as Prophet and Martyr.
13
Best, Prophet and Martyr, p. 276.
13
revolution hurl France into a bloodbath like the ProtestantCatholic wars almost two centuries previously.
But unfor-
tunately, in the summer of 1793, the revolution fell into
the hands of the Jacobins, the radical faction which sought
the destruction of anyone who opposed them.
Their first
bloody act was to sentence Louis to the guillotine.
abhorred this decision.
Paine
No doubt he could see how the con-
sequences of such an act would enervate the principles of
nonviolence, but, more importantly, he was a humanist and
a man of reason.
In an impassioned speech before the
National Assembly he stated that since France was the first
European nation to abolish royalty, she should be the first
14
to abolish the penalty of death.
Nevertheless, after
the vote was tabulated, Louis was sentenced to die.
The summer of 1793 marked the end of the Girondist
influence and also that of Thomas Paine, their primary
spokesman.
He became extremely disillusioned by the acts
of violence which were being committed in the name of
liberty.
In a letter to Jefferson he said that if the
revolution had been conducted consistently with its primary purposes, there would have been a good chance of extending liberty throughout most of Europe.
But he declared
•^^"On Preserving the Life of Louis Capet, " in Works,
VII, 307.
14
that hope was nearly dead.
15
Paine was not willing to
abandon the republican movement completely, but he believed
that until such time as there was a change in leadership,
he would be safer to confine himself to his living quarters.
For two or three months he remained secluded, work-
ing on The Age of Reason; however, early in 1794 he was
arrested and sent to Luxembourg Prison to await execution.
Due to a mixup in numbering cells of guillotine victims,
and also because he was an American citizen, he was never
16
executed.
He was confined for ten months, during which
time he became physically ill and extremely resentful because the United States government would not take official
steps to have him released.
There are at least two theories as to why Paine was
left to languish in prison when either Washington or Jefferson could have, no doubt, demanded his release.
Pearson
says it was the fault of Gouverneur Morris, Federalist
diplomat to France, who hated Paine because of his political views, and also because he had more prestige and influence as a private citizen in France than Morris did as
an official representative of the American government.
For
example, when Citizen Gen^t was sent to America in 1793
to organize support for France's war against Britain, Paine
15
Works, I, 312.
Woodward, America's Godfather, p. 267
15
was consulted about the matter and Morris was not.^^
After
Morris learned how unpopular Genet had been with Washington, he wrote the President a letter which said Paine had
conspired with the Frenchman to supersede the authority of
the United States government.
This explanation seems
plausible, since Washington, who had tried to remain neutral in his political views, was so enraged at Gen^t that
he temporarily aligned himself with the Federalists over
the affair.
Woodward also agrees that Gouverneur Morris was
instrumental in keeping Paine in prison.
He cites a letter
that Morris wrote to an acquaintance in America, in which
he said that Paine amused himself in prison by writing a
19
pamphlet (The Age of Reason) against Jesus Christ.
Wood-
ward's main argument, however, centers around the Jay
Treaty.
During 1794, John Jay was in London trying to
negotiate a treaty with Britain over four main issues:
he
wanted Britain to agree to cease impressing American
sailors and illegally searching American shipping; he
wanted to settle the question of ownership of the Newfoundland fisheries; he wanted Britain to abandon forts which
(London:
Hesketh Pearson, Tom Paine:
H. Hamilton, 1937), p. 188.
^^Ibid., p. 188.
^^America's Godfather, p. 288.
Friend of Mankind
16
she occupied in the western United States territories; and
he desired more fair trade regulations in the West Indies.
Woodward believes that since Washington thought the treaty
was vital to the future security of the United States, he
would have jeopardized Jay's talks with the British by
20
intervening on behalf of Paine.
Fortunately, Gouverneur
Morris was recalled from France in late 1794, and James
Monroe, who was sent to replace him, had Paine released
immediately after his arrival.
Paine was bitter and re-
sentful over his imprisonment, but he was incensed about
21
the Jay Treaty. He referred to it as "treacherous,"
and
in a letter to Washington he said.
As to you Sir, treacherous in private friendship
and a hypocrite in public life, the v/orld will be
puzzled to decide whether you are an apostate or
an imposter, whether you abandoned good principle
or whether you ever had any.2 2
Paine, no doubt, was convinced that the Jay Treaty seriously threatened to destroy the work he had done in England
and in France.
And he was not wrong, especially where
France was concerned.
Until the treaty was signed, the
American people had been giving their complete support to
the French Revolution.
After the ratification of it,
France became immediately hostile to this country.
Ibid.
^"'•"Letter to Jefferson," in Works, V, 185.
^^Works, V, 200-201.
When
17
Britain began to seize French goods being carried in American ships, hostilities seemed too great for much cooperation between the former allies, France and the United
23
States.
As the destinies of the two countries had seemed
united in 1793, they now became steadily polarized.
As for
Paine and the international republican movement, he spent
much of his time in seclusion at Monroe's house trying to
recuperate from the illness that had come upon him in
prison.
Upon first consideration, it would seem that the
Jay Treaty was a completely negative influence that destroyed one of the most progressive political ideals ever
to occur in the world up to that time. Many critics, however, discount the work of Paine, Barlow, and Freneau as
somewhat quixotic, and even dangerous to the welfare of the
United States.
Garraty, for instance, says that the Jay
Treaty was one of the wisest and luckiest decisions of
Washington's administration.
"It marked the beginning of
pacification and regularization of Anglo-American relations
The alternative might well have been to make the United
States a French satellite." 24
^^Charles Burr Todd, Life and Letters of Joel Barlow
L.L.D. (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1886), p. 155.
Hereinafter this will be referred to as Joel Barlow.
John A. Garraty, The American Nation (New York:
Harper and Row, 1966), p. 160.
18
Paine was not easily persuaded to abandon a project
once he had embarked upon it.
He still remained in France
during 1796-97, partly from fear of being captured by the
British on the high seas, and partly in hopes that FrenchAmerican relations would improve so he could get back to
the important work of building a republican government in
France.
In 1797 he began to believe that relations were
becoming more congenial between the two countries.
The
United States was seeking reconciliation of the differences
that had arisen because of the Jay Treaty.
Consequently,
late that year John Marshall, Charles Pinckney, and Elbridge
Gerry were sent to France to negotiate in the XYZ Affair
referred to above.
When the outraged American diplomats
reported back to President Adams and their story was circulated, there was much popular clamor for a war with
France.
Although the war never officially materialized,
some naval skirmishes were fought with the French.
But
more important than this, the two countries abandoned the
perpetual defensive-offensive treaty they had signed in
1778, thus ending all formal agreements between them.
Paine was crushed over the affair, and blamed both America
and France for regarding selfish nationalistic motives more
highly than international peace and cooperation. 25
25
Aldridge, Man of Reason, p. 253.
19
Strangely enough, though, Paine did not abandon
his designs for international republicanism even after this
devastating defeat.
In 1798 the young Corsican, Napoleon
Bonaparte, was coming to power in France.
He recognized
Paine's value as a propagandist and visited him often,
feigning that he and the American held the same beliefs
about international cooperation and republican ideals.
He
told Paine that he was projecting an invasion of England
to free the people from the tyranny of the king.
He im-
plored Paine to go with him to work as a propagandist, and
for a time Paine was completely enthralled by the dynamic
little general, but soon he grew suspicious of his motives,
and after he had realized the true nature of the man, he
26
began to think of him as a charlatan.
Paine finally returned to the United States in 1801.
He still advocated internationalism and expressed his view
in one last piece on the subject entitled Letters to the
Citizens of the United States.
In the last letter, he
called for an association of nations which would provide
neutrality for all nations during war, and which would implement economic boycott of all aggressor nations.
Thomas
Jefferson was one of the few men in this country who recognized the value of such a plan.
He wrote, "These papers
26
Woodward, America's Godfather, D. 302.
20
contain precisely our principles, and I hope that they will
27
be generally recognized here.'
Many of Paine's ideas were never widely accepted
by his contemporaries.
In fact, when he died, he was gen-
erally misunderstood and hated for his political views.
One contemporary said of him, "Like Judas he will be remembered by posterity.
Men will learn to express all that
is base, malignant, treacherous, unnatural, and blasphemous,
28
by one single monosyllable—Paine."
Very few people
understood the contribution Paine had made to republicanism both here and abroad.
As this section of the study has
tried to show, Paine was not just a writer but also a
political agitator.
Philip Freneau, who fought for the
same principles as Paine, paid the most fitting tribute to
him when he said, "In vain the democratic host his equal
would attain,/ For years to come they will not boast a
29
second Thomas Paine."
Joel Barlow's career as an international republican can be regarded in approximately the same political
^^"Letter to Paine," in The Works of Thomas Jefferson, ed. by Paul Leicester Ford (12 vols.; New York: G. P.
Putnam's Sons, 1904), vii, 458.
^^Cited in Woodward, America's Godfather, p. 296.
^^"Stanzas on the Decease of Thomas Paine," in The
Poems of Philip Freneau, ed. by Fred L. Pattee (3 vols.;
New York: Russell and Russell, 1963), III, 286. Hereinafter this will be referred to as Poems.
21
context as Paine's.
He was living in France when Paine
was; he belonged to the same organizations as Paine did;
and he had basically the same views and ideas about significant political events.
He, too, began his political career
during the American Revolution, but not until after the
war did he begin to have the broader international ideas
that Paine championed.
In 1787 he wrote a long epiclike
poem. The Vision of Columbus, in which he expressed the
notion that commerce among countries should open the way
to better understanding and enlargement of peaceful endeavors in the realms of science and learning.
first expression of international ideals.
It was his
Leon Howard says
that Barlow received his international outlook from his
reading of Dr. Richard Price's Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution and the Means of Making
It a Benefit to the World. 30
It was not until 1790, when Barlow went to France,
however, that he encountered an opportunity to apply international republicanism to a prime situation.
As Paine had
two years before. Barlow had traveled to France not as
political instigator, but with a private motive in mind.
He was the representative of a land company in the United
States which had instructed him to try to sell Ohio farm
land to French immigrants.
The project was not accepted
10
The Connecticut Wits (Chicago:
Chicago Press, 1943), p. 154.
University of
22
in France, and the company soon went bankrupt, leaving
Barlow stranded abroad.
The situation was of no conse-
quence to him, for by this time he was beginning to become
interested in French and English politics.
Todd says that
Barlow was one of many American citizens who, because of
commercial interests or political purposes, lived sometimes
in France and sometimes in England, and who made up a large
portion of the London Society for Constitutional Informa31
tion.
Barlow belonged to several other republican or-
ganizations besides this one, and by 1792 his pen had become active in support of republican causes everywhere.
That year he published Advice to the Privileged Orders,
which was hailed by Charles Fox and the English liberals
as a great achievement.
Jefferson said, in a letter to
Barlow, that his endeavors to bring Europe into the world
32
of reason were not without their effect.
Miller says
that Advice . . . , like Paine's The Rights of Man, was a
reply to Burke's "Reflections. . . . "
It followed quite
closely what Paine had to say in his piece, but more than
that, it followed a fairly general trend in literary practice, for it was a literary fashion during that period for
republicans to reply to Burke, and for monarchists to reply
31
Joel Barlow, p. 87.
-^^The Works of Thomas Jefferson, VII, 122.
23
to Paine.^^
Advice . . . attacked states which assumed in the
name of God their divine authority.
It also exposed the
feudal system, and especially primogeniture, as primitive
and anachronistic examples of the decadent jurisprudence
found in these states.
Capital punishment was also re-
garded as a favorite atrocity of monarchies.
All of Bar-
low's arguments can be summed up in his words, "Only admit
the original unalterable truth, that all men are created
equal in their rights, and the foundation of everything is
^
Ji
laid."
In addition to Advice, Barlow wrote another piece.
The Conspiracy of Kings, which, generally, was an argument
contending that England, Holland, Naples, Sweden, and the
German States were in a conspiracy to crush republicanism
in France.
Both of these pieces will be examined in greater
detail in Chapter III, but it is obvious that they served
to establish Barlow's reputation as a champion of international republicanism.
He -did, in fact, become almost fanatical on the
subject of republicanism.
In a letter he wrote to one
33
Victor Clyde Miller, Joel Barlow: Revolutionist,
London, 1791-92 (Hamburg: Friederichsen, De Gruyter, 1932),
p. 57.
34
Joel Barlow, Advice to the Privileged Orders, in
The Political Writings of Joel Barlow (New York: Mott and
Lyon, 1796), p. 62. Hereinafter this work is referred to
as Advice, with pagination from Writings.
24
Abraham Baldwin, he asserted, "I have such a store of
argument accumulated in my guts on this subject that I can
hold in no longer." 35
He was completely appalled by social
and political conditions in most of Europe, and Howard
says that he was planning nothing less than the complete
renovation of society over all of the continent.
In this
is found one of his main shortcomings, for it becomes apparent that he was guided by emotion and rhetorical inspiration rather than by logical development of a particular
36
viewpoint.
This is valid criticism by Howard because it
is apparent that Barlow had no basis for his views.
For
example, he believed that most political phenomena took
place as the result of human nature.
He believed that it
was mankind's inborn corrupt habits of thinking that caused
him to accept the irrational, feudal organization of
society, the dominance of priests, and the existence of a
military caste. 37 Howard goes on to point out that Barlow
believed that poverty was at the base of men's corrupt
habits of thinking; thus, he advocated the seizure of most
of the private property, to be distributed among the needy
38
of society.
It is not clear from his writings what he
35
Cited by Howard, Connecticut Wits, p. 276.
36
Howard, Connecticut Wits, p. 277.
^^Ibid., p. 279.
•^^Ibid. , p. 284.
25
thought these proposals would lead to, or exactly what reforms would be accomplished by them.
In fact, it will be
seen in Chapter III that Barlow had a good deal of trouble
formulating consistent political views about anything.
His proposal to seize most of the private property had, no
doubt, a more negative than positive influence on the movement.
Not only were the royalists shocked, but certainly
many people in America also were, which would account in
part for Barlow's later disparagement at the hands of newspaper editors here.
In 1792 Barlow encountered exactly the same situation in England that Paine did.
His writing and political
activities were banned as subversive, and he was forced to
flee to France to escape arrest in England.
Upon arrival
in France, he was welcomed with great enthusiasm, and the
title "Citizen" was conferred upon him, as it had been upon
Paine.
He had no qualms about taking an active position in
the French government, and soon he was appointed to the
head of a commission to go to the Duchy of Savoy and organize it into a department of the Republic of France.
This assignment did not satisfy Barlow's proselytizing instincts, however.
During the mission he made several side
trips to Austria and Piedmont, and it was in Piedmont
where he had an especial admiration for the people.
He
believed that they were ready to throw off the yoke of
tyranny and stage a revolution against the autocratic
26
authority of Italy; thus, he began to circulate a letter
in that state which defended the French Revolution and
which urged the people to begin their own revolution.
These attempts to inflame southern Europe were not successful, but Barlow was not particularly discouraged, for he
predicted that sooner or later the people would have "wit
enough to settle the matter according to the laws of na39
ture which admit no kings."
By 1793 Barlow was deeply involved in French politics.
He was mainly concerned with the French constitution,
which he considered weak or defective in some parts.
After
much study he submitted thirteen proposals which he believed would strengthen it and make it more effective as a
herald of republican ideals.
were accepted:
Only two of his proposals
representation was to be based on popula-
tion, and elections were to be held annually.
This was
only a minor victory for Barlow, but again the setback
failed to subdue his exuberance, because he imm.ediately began work on the second part of Advice.
This piece was even
more radical in content than the first part.
It was also
aimed, to some extent, at the Federalists in America, for
in it he attacked the public funding of debts incurred by
the states and indirect taxation, both of which were schemes
proposed by Alexander Hamilton to establish strong credit
39
Cited by Howard, Connecticut Wits, p. 289
27
for the American government and to make its authority
stronger and more centralized.
Barlow's most radical idea,
however, was to disband completely private ownership of all
property.
Obviously, these views were antagonistic to many
Americans, and they began to regard him as a dangerous,
40
obnoxious fanatic.
But just as Americans were becoming
distrustful of Barlow, he was beginning to have some poor
opinions of attitudes in this country.
He suspected that
many people were inclined toward the policies of John Adams
and Alexander Hamilton, both of whom he said were forsaking republican ideals, and were trying to model the United
States after Britain. 41
There was some truth to Barlow's accusations, because the Federalists, and especially Hamilton, had never
supported what they considered to be anarchy in France.
Although Hamilton was progressive, he did lean toward
British governmental institutions.
Ke loved royalty and
titles, but, more important, he admired the strong centralized government of England with much power invested in
one man, the king.
He contended that the President of the
United States should possess this same type of authority
if the states were going to be truly united.
Therefore,
he strove to obtain this centralized power by establishing
40
Howard, Connecticut Wits, p. 295.
41
Todd, Joel Barlow, p. 172.
28
a national banking system and by assuming state debts incurred during the American Revolution.
Both of these
actions accomplished exactly what Hamilton intended:
They
relegated the several states to a position of dependence
on and subservience to the national government.
While this
plan almost certainly saved the United States from economic
calamity, its ultimate design was diametrically opposed to
what Paine and Barlow were trying to establish in Europe.
Barlow believed Hamilton's policies were inconsistent with
republicanism.
As Citizen Joel Barlow of France, he be-
lieved that Hamilton was trying to usurp the power of the
individual states and thus of individual people.
He said
the funding system was "the most dangerous instrument that
42
could be imagined" to the welfare of this country.
The Jay Treaty affected Barlow the same way as it
had Paine.
In an open letter to the people of the United
States, he denounced it by saying that it would ultimately
be the ruination of America and would make it a satellite
43
of Great Britain.
As France became increasingly hostile
to the United States after the treaty was ratified. Barlow
spent fervent hours talking to members of the Directory,
trying to pacify them and reconcile the differences between
42
Advice in Writings, p. 149.
"Letter to Citizens of America on the Jay Treaty,"
in Todd, Joel Barlow, p. 172.
29
the two countries.
He wrote a letter to George Washington,
v^o was no longer President but commander of the army that
had been organized in the event of a war with France, in
which he tried to outline and clarify the Directory's
position.
He claimed that it would be a crime for the two
former allies to go to war, and that the whole affair was
simply a misunderstanding which could easily be placated
by negotiations.
Washington forwarded the letter to Presi-
dent Adams, who denounced Barlow as "a more worthless
fellow" than Thomas Paine.
But
Barlow was not easily throttled in his en-
deavors to establish republicanism in Europe, and he continued to denounce the Jay Treaty and the Federalists.
He
also tried to pacify relations between France and America
even after the XYZ Affair.
By 1801, however, he was ready
to admit that international republicanism had failed, especially after the rise of Napoleon, whom, one critic said,
45
he greatly detested.
He was also convinced that he had
failed, says Howard, because Europeans could not fully understand or comprehend the representative principle of government. 46 This helps to show that Barlow did not truly regard
44
The Works of John Adams, ed. by Charles F. Adams
(10 vols.; Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1851), VIII,
625.
45
Aldridge, Man of Reason, p. 266.
46
Connecticut Wits, p. 305.
30
politics in its proper perspective.
He was still trying
to explain political phenomena in terms of human nature,
which he apparently believed was an absolute rather than a
variable.
In the last analysis, he disregarded the in-
fluence of external circumstances and their effect upon
political events.
This was probably his greatest short-
coming .
He returned to the United States in 1804, somewhat
disillusioned, but enjoying the favorable atmosphere of
Jeffersonian democracy.
He remained politically active,
and Todd points out that he helped to mold the government's
policy, especially in foreign affairs, through the administrations of Jefferson and Madison. 47
He gave up his dream of an international republican
edifice, but his long periods of residence abroad superimposed upon his New England heritage gave him a cosmopolitan outlook which few men of that period from any country
48
could claim.
Thus, whereas Paine died hated and mis-
understood partly because of his devotion to international
republicanism. Barlow was reconciled to many of his fellow
citizens, and turned his international background to his
own advantage as an American statesman.
47
Joel Barlow, p. 217.
48
Connecticut Wits, p. 272.
31
To understcind the political aspects of international
republicanism in their entirety, it is necessary to shift
the emphasis from Europe to America.
It has already been
seen that American citizens were generally favorable to the
events taking place in France because of their feeling of
affinity after the French helped this country to drive the
British back to England.
As Paine and Barlow represented
the vanguard of the movement in Europe, in America Philip
Freneau devoted himself and his literary talents to the
same ideals.
Freneau, like Paine and Barlow, had become
a political activist during the American Revolution.
He,
too, had some of the basic ideas that reflected an international rather than a provincial outlook.
Forman says
that he detested slavery wherever found, and that he be49
lieved it was one of the greatest evils upon the earth.
And his views of monarchial Europe were equally indicting,
for he said America was fortunate because it was
Remote from princes, bishops, lords, kings—
Those fancied gods who famed through every shore.
Mankind have fashioned and like fools adore.^^
In 1790 Philip Freneau was the man Jefferson was
looking for when he returned from France.
He had just
49
S. E. Forman, "Political Activities of Philip
Freneau," Colonial and Economic History, XX (1902), 485.
Hereinafter this will be referred to as "Political Activities."
50
"American Independent," in Poems, I, 281-282.
32
witnessed the storming of the Bastille, and he realized
that there was a possibility that the republican spirit
would soon be raging throughout Europe.
He wanted, there-
fore, to make sure the movement would be well publicized
in this country, and would gain the support of the American people.
To accomplish these goals, he proposed to
establish Freneau as the manager of a republican newspaper.
The National Gazette, in Philadelphia.
The poet could not
resist the offer, and soon copies of the paper were circulating among the populace.
There was no question as to
the political bias of its content, for as Forman says.
It supported the principles of the French Revolution, and its pages were filled with equality,
fraternity, Tom Paine, and Rousseau. Its expressed purpose was co energize the spirit of
democracy and republican ideals. ^•*Jefferson had other motives for his newspaper,
though; he could already perceive the beginnings of partisan politics in the United States government.
The Federal-
ist faction, as has been seen, failed to understand or sympathize with the principles of the French Revolution.
In
fact, John Adams boldly stated, "Democracy never has been
and never can be so desirable as aristocracy or monarchy,
..52
b u t w h i l e it lasts, it is m o r e bloody than either.
^•'•"Political A c t i v i t i e s , " p . 500.
"Letter
Adams, V I , 483.
to John Taylor," in The Works of John
33
Jefferson feared that if such an attitude were allowed to
be expounded unchallenged, the democratic course of American politics might be drastically altered.
Consequently,
he depended upon Freneau to destroy the Federalist arguments in his newspaper.
Freneau was convinced that Adams and especially
Hamilton were manipulating Washington on a course that
would eventually lead to full-fledged monarchy in the
United States.
He was outraged when the pages of The
Gazette of the United States, the Federalist newspaper
under Hamilton's control, were filled with the titles and
53
the trappings of royalty in reference to Washington.
But, in reality, the President sided with neither Freneau
nor Hamilton.
He warned the Federalists that their royal-
ist activities were dangerous to the future well-being of
the country, but, at the same time, he refused to align
himself with the Jeffersonians in supporting the new French
Republic in its war against Britain.
As America was still
weak and vulnerable, he believed neutrality to be the best
course.
This position was totally unacceptable to Freneau.
Forman believes that although Freneau was a third-generation
American, he was as much a Frenchman as if he had been born
in Normandy.
To him the interests of America and France
were identical, and the success of the French Revolution
53
Forman, "Political Activities," p. 506.
34
depended upon the complete support of the American people
54
and government.
Freneau's paper, according to Forman,
did much to give French influence to American political
philosophy.
The doctrines of liberty, fraternity, equality,
and equal rights to all and special privileges to none were
doctrines which many of Freneau's contemporary Americans
refused to accept; yet these were the essence of almost
all of his writing.
"The National Gazette was the school-
master who drilled Jeffersonian or French democracy into
35
the minds—willing or unwilling—of the American people.
The year 1793, as mentioned above, marked the continuation of the war between France and Britain, a war
which had flared up, off and on, throughout the century.
Determined that the United States honor the terms of its
alliance of 1778, the French government sent Citizen Gen^t
to solicit support for the war in this hemisphere.
It is
important to remember that Thomas Paine probably helped to
organize this scheme in France before Gen^t left.
Here in
America, people staged rallies, parades, and dinners in
Genet's honor, and began addressing each other as "Citizen,"
but Washington received him very coolly.
He assured GenSt
that the official position of the United States government
was, and would remain, neutrality.
As has been shown,
^^Ibid., p. 531.
55
Forman, "Political Activities," p. 542.
35
Genet replied that he would ignore Washington's position
and appeal directly to the people to take up arms for the
French cause.
Freneau supported this action completely.
He urged the French minister on to greater lengths as government opposition developed.
President Washington,
normally not inclined to passion, was enraged by the whole
situation, and especially by Freneau's part in it.
Forman
says that he became so violent that he was ill for a short
57
time afterwards.
Even Jefferson had to agree with Wash-
ington to some extent.
He believed Genit had gone too far
in his activities, and he predicted that the republican
movement would be ruined unless his party withdraw its
support of the controversial Frenchman.
Freneau continued his radical activities, and in
some ways he was even more extreme than Paine or Barlow.
He gave the President no peace.
He continued to badger
him in his newspaper, warning him not to mistake the voice
of the royalists for that of the American people-
He also
continued to flout the official governmental position of
neutrality by aiding the French cause.
He solicited and
collected funds to be sent to France; he opened his office
and his home to French sympathizers as a place of rendezvous; and he became an agent for the French Society of
56
Ibid., p. 532.
57
..
"Political Activities," p. 533.
36
Patriots of America.
All of these activities were not
without effect, either, for Washington and his policy of
neutrality became very unpopular with large segments of
the people during the years 1793 and 1794.
Critics have varying opinions about Freneau's political activities during and after the GenSt incident.
Fisher
Ames, the highly regarded Federalist, was, of course,
vehement in his attack against supporters of the French
Revolution.
He called them "blind, ambitious men."^^
Forman, a more contemporary critic, holds that Freneau had
every right to oppose Washington because he was acting in
accord with the majority of the American citizens.
Philip Marsh strongly opposes this argument; he says that
this period in American history was extremely dangerous because the French fever of mob spirit nearly controlled the
country.
Mobs of idle workingmen cheered for Gen^t and
tried to coerce the press whenever it denounced that spirit
of radicalism which was gaining prominence in France.
At
the same time, the United States government's prestige was
60
at a low point.
58
"Essay on Government," in The Works of Fisher
Ames, ed. by Seth Ames (2 vols.; Boston: Little, Brown
and Co., 1854), II, 99.
59
"Political Activities," p. 534.
60
Philip M. Marsh, Philip Freneau; Poet and
Journalist (Minneapolis: Dillon Press, 1967), p. 200.
37
The coming of the plague to Philadelphia soon after
the Genet affair helped to dampen the spirit of radicalism
which had permeated the city.
People migrated from Phila-
delphia by the hundreds, and among them was Freneau, who
moved to New York City.
There Freneau could not muster the
same support for Gen^t that he had in Philadelphia.
Never-
theless, he continued to work for international republicanism, and when Washington signed the Jay Treaty, he raged
at the President:
We have given him the powers of a king. He gives
out proclamations like a king; he receives congratulations on his birthday, like a king; makes
treaties, like a king; forgets his old friends,
like a king.^^
As disillusioned as Paine and Barlow by the XYZ
Affair, Freneau also maintained that the United States
erred in seeking retribution for the incident.
In New York
he became the editor of the New York Time Piece for a short
while, from whose pages he denounced the impending hostilities between the two countries, and further stated that if
war were declared, it would be a crime against both nations
62
which history would record as unjustified and unforgivable.
After the war fever subsided, Freneau ceased his newspaper
work and did not reappear on the political scene until the
61
Cited in Marsh, Freneau:
Poet and Journalist,
p. 225.
62
Jacob Axelrad, Philip Freneau: Champion of
Democracy (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967), p.
298.
38
War of 1812. At that time he again wrote political poems,
but for the cause of nationalism rather than internationalism.
This, then, is the political context in which the
literature of these three men will be examined.
Their
political background is an interesting story of its own,
but one that requires some interpretation.
On one hand,
their cause was just, their motives were unselfish, and
their attitudes were humane; but, in another sense, some
of their activities were subversive and potentially dangerous to the welfare of the infant United States.
As France
embarked upon a revolution to overthrow monarchy, Paine,
Barlow, and Freneau were willing to forego any strong political allegiance to the United States in order to help international republicanism thrive in Europe.
If it meant that
France would use the United States to play power politics
with Britain, that was acceptable, too.
Their main goal
was to nourish the flame of republicanism that had been
rekindled in Europe and not, at any cost, let it go out.
As one studies the literature these men produced, the pattern emerges complete:
their ideas about government,
international cooperation, and human relations which they
advocated as political activists are no less evident in
their writing.
While it is evident that they failed, in
varying degrees, in the political sphere, it now remains to
be seen how they fared as literary figures.
CHAPTER II
THOMAS PAINE AND THE REPUBLICAN VISION
As a political activist during the French Revolution, Thomas Paine tried to incorporate his universal
goals of peace and equality for all men into a concrete
political context.
What he wrote during the period was
not really new, for earlier, as the chief pamphleteer for
the American Revolution, he had advocated the same principles.
Now, however, he saw the opportunity for the re-
publican ideals of America to be dispersed over the civilized world, and consequently, by the very fact that he
was deeply involved in the political machinations of no
fewer than three major countries, his writing took on an
international aspect.
This international coloring is more
readily apparent in some works than in others; therefore,
only selected portions of Paine's vast output of the period
1
will be considered here.
The intellectual background for the international
republican movement is found mainly in the literature of
the American Revolution.
Basically Paine's task in Europe
was no different from what it had been in America in 177 5:
•^All of the selections cited in this chapter have
been chosen for their vivid international allusions. Works
of questionable authorship have been omitted. In addition,
because they are so numerous, very few private communications are cited.
39
40
he was attempting to incite the citizens of Europe to overthrow the monarchial governments and to replace them with
republics patterned after the United States.
At the same
time he was inciting this rebellion, he was striving to
promote international peace and cooperation.
Hence, his
task seemed almost paradoxical.
By way of introduction, it is appropriate to examine some of Paine's early writing that is seasoned with
internationalism so that one may fully understand what the
term implies.
In Common Sense, written fifteen years be-
fore the French Revolution, the principles of internationalism are apparent.
In the introduction he states that the
cause of America is the cause of all men.
When men's
natural rights are abused, then every man with a conscience
2
should feel the need to right the wrong.
Later, he says
England cannot claim to be the parent country of America,
for it is all of Europe which provides parentage for the
colonies, and thus all Europeans meeting in America or any
3
other quarter of the globe are countrymen.
Paine's pur-
pose is obvious in such statements; he is trying to solicit
support for America from all of Europe.
At the same time.
2
Thomas Paine, The Life and Works of Thomas Paine,
ed. by William M. Van der Weyde (10 vols.; New Rochelle,
New York: Thomas Paine National Historical Association,
1925) , II, 95. All subsequent references to this work
will be made with the short title Works, as used in Chapter I.
3
Common Sense in Works, II, 128.
41
he implies that the bonds of brotherhood in Europe are or
should be stronger than most Europeans think.
He concludes
his piece by sagely predicting that the destiny of America
is not the concern of a year or even an age, but that
4
posterity will be involved until the end of time.
And
indeed fifteen years later the liberals of Europe were
looking to America for leadership for the international
republican movement.
In The American Crisis Paine's love for France
finds its first major expression.
With the signing of the
perpetual defensive-offensive treaty of 1778, he wrote
that in France America had found a faithful and affection5
ate ally.
He went on to point out that Britain had tra-
ditionally separated herself from the rest of Europe, and
that she had become unsociable and imagined her own jealousy to be present in other countries as well.
This idea
is worth considering because it reflects the delusion under
which Paine later assumed that the majority of Europeans
were anxious to overthrow the existing governments.
In
other words, from an historical viewpoint one would have
to agree that the official governmental position in France
was not favorable to the American experiment.
"^Ibid. , p. 123.
5The American Crisis, in Works, IV, 52.
^Ibid., p. 58.
The aid
42
given to America was out of enmity to Britain rather than
out of admiration for democracy, for ultimately the monarchial government of France was no less indicted by Paine's
attacks on royalty than was that of Britain.
Consequently,
Paine's later internationalism did not gain the support in
Europe that he thought it would because earlier he had
failed to discern political expedience from sincere interest in the republican movement in America.
It was mentioned in Chapter I that when the French
Revolution broke out, Paine was ready for it.
He had been
corresponding with Jefferson and Lafayette, both of whom
could foresee the coming tumult.
By 1791 it was evident
that the revolutionary factions were in control, and Thomas
Paine was ready with pen in hand to aid the cause.
One
of his very first productions on the revolution, entitled
"Address and Declaration," was written in August of 1791.
It is a public pronouncement of rejoicing over the revolution.
Although the piece is very brief, Paine's basic aim
is revolutionary and internationally oriented.
He affirms,
"As Englishmen we also rejoice, because we are immediately
interested in the French Revolution."
He goes on to say
that the old French monarchy, the traditional enemy of
7
England, no longer exists.
His calculation is obvious:
first, English and French liberals now have a common bond
"Address and Declaration," in V^orks, V, 44.
43
of brotherhood, and, second, the distrust of monarchists
is apparent.
Moreover, the international feeling is strong;
the underlying assumption is that France and England, traditional enemies, will now move forward as allies to make
a better world.
There are numerous other minor works expressing
ideas about international republicanism that one could
consider at this point; however, Paine's major piece during the period. The Rights of Man, probably sums up his
philosophy on the subject, and better than any other work
gives one an idea of what is involved in the intellectual
area of the subject.
From a rather superficial standpoint
it is simply what has been pointed out thus f a r — a movement to spread the republican ideal throughout the civilized
g
world.
But with The Rights of Man and certainly Burke's
"Reflections on the Revolution in France," one can see the
conflicting ideologies of the time in clear perspective.
On one hand, Burke supports change insofar as it does not
damage the underlying structure of the state.
Fundamentally,
his reasons are based on tradition and more importantly on
religion, which is a vital element in this study.
o
Paine,
Literal international allusions in The Rights of
Man are minimal; however, the implications of the piece as
a whole, the scope of its purpose, and the circumstances
under which it was written make it Paine's greatest expression of international republicanism. By the same token,
Burke's "Reflections" manifests support for the existing
order on an international level.
44
in contrast, is an iconoclast.
To him nothing is sacred;
nothing is worth preserving unless it proves pragmatically
to be functional.
As for religion, he has no regard for
it himself, but he does recognize it as a strong force in
society and treats it accordingly in his writing.
Thus,
although politics and religion make antagonistic bedfellows,
in this case one cannot divorce them, for Paine the liberal
humanist is the religious and political antithesis of Burke
the conservative Christian.
To understand better what Paine was trying to do
with The Rights of Man, it is necessary to examine Burke's
"Reflections on the Revolution" for the nature of his arguments.
With only a general knowledge of the controversy,
some tend to regard Burke as a reactionary royalist who
tried to preserve the corruption of the monarchy simply
because it was beneficial to his own interests.
This is
true only up to a point, for in reality he was a responsible statesman who feared irresponsible anarchists who advocated the destruction of the existing order before they
had a definite program with which to replace it.
The fol-
lowing excerpt is fairly typical of some of the good argument Burke employs in his piece.
The wild gas, the fixed air is plainly broke loose:
but we ought to suspend our judgment until the
first effervescence is a little subsided, till the
liquor is cleared, and until we see something deeper
than the agitation of a troubled frothy surface.
. . . I suspend my congratulations of the new
45
liberty of France until I see how it is combined
with government, with public force, with collection and distribution of revenue, with peace and
order, with morality and religion.^
In one's consideration of the course the revolution in
France took after the Jacobins came to power, Burke's words
are prophetic, since he wrote them three years before the
radicals' rise to dominance.
But more than being prophe-
tic, they are responsible and reflective.
His questions
about how the new government will maintain all of the
elements conducive to the well-being of the state are
legitimate and thought provoking.
Government, revenue,
peace, order, and morality are issues that are vital to
any society, and Burke is correct in being concerned about
them.
In some ways, however, Burke violates decorum with
irresponsible statements and emotion-packed descriptions.
At one point he asserts that by examining the deposed
French government for several years previously, one cannot help but see amid the inconstancy natural to royal
courts a genuine endeavor toward prosperity and improvement of the whole country.
Not only does he fail to
substantiate this contention, but existing evidence would
9
Edmund Burke, "Reflections on the Revolution in
France," in The Burke-Paine Controversy, ed. by Ray B.
Browne (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1963), p. 3.
Hereinafter, all references to this work will be cited as
"Reflections," and will refer to this edition.
-'•^"Reflections," p. 43.
46
even indicate that the opposite is true.
It was pointed
out in Chapter I that the States-General had not convened
since 1614, and when it finally met in 1789 it was called
into session because the government was bankrupt and needed
more tax revenue from the already over-burdened populace.
Moreover, France had been pursuing the same ridiculous
foreign policy as had England and Spain for over two hundred years; all three countries had been almost constantly
at war over colonial possessions most of which were additional financial burdens rather than assets.
Consequently,
when Burke uses unsupportable generalizations such as the
above, he exposes himself to Paine*s withering rebuttals
based on historical fact.
Burke also relies upon emotional techniques to support his position.
His account of the Queen, Marie An-
toinette, is a prime example.
"I see her just above the
horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she
just began to move in,—glittering like the morning star,
11
full of life, and splendor and joy."
A figure of speech
such as this kind might have appealed to some people in
France, but the common Englishman was probably unmoved because, after all, France had been his traditional enemy
for generations.
^^"Reflections," p. 27.
47
Another interesting point in Burke's piece concerns his international tendencies.
Just as Paine, Barlow,
and Freneau recognized the universal nature of the French
Revolution and its implications for all of Europe, Burke
did too.
He asserts that fonnerly France's affairs were
her own concern, but he goes on to say that now, whether
the present condition proves to be a plague or a panacea,
men of Britain can ignore it no longer.
12
Once men like
Paine and Barlow had dedicated themselves to the cause of
republicanism everywhere, the royalists out of necessity
were forced into the struggle on an international scale.
As was mentioned before, the underlying concepts
of mankind and religion play an important role in the
Burke-Paine controversy.
Religious overtones permeate
both "Reflections" and The Rights of Man.
A typical
Burkean religious allusion is the following:
"The atheis-
tic libellers act as trumpeters to animate the populace
to plunder."
13
This statement suggests a view that is
anti-intellectual and narrow-minded, but Laski makes it a
14
point to show that Burke was an extremely religious man.
As such, he was doubtless aware of the apostle Paul's
teaching in the thirteenth chapter of Romans where he makes
-^^Ibid. , p. 32.
^^''Reflections, " p. 46.
14
Harold J. Laski, "Political Thought m
in Browne, The Burke-Paine Controversy, p. 147.
England,"
48
it perfectly clear that Christians have an obligation to
obey the state authorities because they rule by the will
of God, and He is the one who put them in their positions
in the first place.
Consequently, Burke views rebellion
against the state as rebellion against God and, hence,
atheism.
To Paine, Burke's position is abominable from all
standpoints.
Actually The Rights of Man is a point-by-
point demolition of the Englishman's argument.
On most
issues Paine prevails, but to try to examine each one is
not feasible.
It is the underlying differences in phi-
losophy of the two men and their diverse literary styles
that are important.
In general, Paine's production de-
plores hereditary government throughout and advocates a
break from traditions whenever possible.
"I contend for
the right of the living not to be controlled by the dead,"
he says.
"Mr. Burke is contending for the authority of
the dead over the rights and freedom of the living."
And even though Burke's emotional appeals were probably
ineffective, Paine destroys them very simply by saying
that the populace feel no ill will toward the king and
queen, but are rebelling against the system which the
royalty represents.
16
^^The Rights of Man, in Works, VI, 21.
l^Ibid., p. 30.
49
With the religious question Paine is especially
careful to make sure his arguments are clearly developed.
This phase of his writing is evident early in his career,
and it is important to gain a full understanding of the
issues involved in international republicanism.
In Com-
mon Sense, for instance, he says that anyone who is against
the democratic form of government would have joined Lucifer
17
m his revolt.
The appeal of such a statement was mainly
to emotion, no doubt, but when one examines the statement
closely it becomes humorously ironic, for Lucifer was rebelling against what might be called absolute authority.
On a more serious note, however, it can be seen even at
this early period that Paine's religious beliefs, although
shrouded in traditional diction and allusions, are not
traditional.
The clearest expression of his belief comes
out in The American Crisis in which he talks about England's
18
making war against the religion of humanity.
This is the
philosophy of Humanism which teaches that mankind of himself is of a divine nature.
The idea occurs again in The
Rights of Man when he explains the nature of governments.
To his way of thinking, man in his natural state is perfect, like his Creator.
It is the "upstart" governments
that have corrupted him and have made it difficult for him
-'-'^Works, II, 145.
^^Works, III, 69.
50
to be seen in his perfect state.
19
In The Rights of Man,
Part II Paine continues his arguments by saying that government is an unnatural state, and that when the American
colonies had virtually no formal government the people were
20
happiest and things ran most smoothly.
One can begin to see why W. E. Woodward referred
to The Rights . . . as a "bomb" feared by all ruling classes
The question of whether a man really had the innate capability to rule himself was a vital one from a sociological
and a religious position.
As this idea relates to Paine,
Burke, and international republicanism, one can see the
universal implications.
People would either accept the
totally orthodox religious viewpoint of Burke, that man
must be ruled and controlled by a social order and government, or they would assent to Paine's humanistic idea that
every man could rule himself and choose his own social
standards.
Ideally Paine's tenets were more appealing,
for he was affirming belief in the perfectibility of man.
Perry Miller says, however, that even though Paine understood what society should be, it was Burke who took into
account man's emotional makeup, which is unpredictable;
thus, it was he rather than Paine who predicted the rise
of Napoleon.
""-^Worvks, VI, 66-67.
^^Ibid., p. 241.
21
"Thomas Paine: Rationalist," in Browne, The
Burke-Paino Controversy, p. 177.
51
If Paine's basic suppositions were incorrect, it
still remains to be explained why The Rights of Man was so
popular and why it outsold Burke's "Reflections" two to
one.
From a political position the popularity of the
international republican movement has already been discussed and analyzed in Chapter I, but where literary endeavor is concerned, Paine's popularity resulted, no doubt,
from his style, which James T. Boulton has called the
"vulgar style."
This critic observes that in all there
were over fifty books and pamphlets written in reply to
"Reflections," but that no other even came close to selling the number of copies that Paine's did.
He attributes
22
this success to Paine's direct, lucid style.
In the
sense that Boulton refers to it, vulgar does not mean debased but rather plain or common.
Therefore, Paine sug-
gests by his style that the issues he discusses should be
in common language, for they have a direct bearing on man's
23
ordinary existence.
Other stylistic devices that Paine
uses to make his writing more effective are his numerous
easily quotable phrases ("Man has no property in man")
and his allusions drawn from common stock.
According to
Boulton, this style was no accident on Paine's part,
^^"Tom Paine and the Vulgar Style," in Browne,
The Burke-Paine Controversy, p. 214.
23
Ibid.
52
because he recognized that the vast majority of his audiences were unable to follow a lengthy discussion of abstract theory; consequently, he purposely used common
24
anecdotes and plain narrative.
On the other hand, Boulton holds the same belief about Edmund Burke's style as
does W. Somerset Maugham, who says his writing is "elegant,
flowery, and magnificently rhetorical."
2S
In other words,
as Boulton sums up his arguments, Paine by his style suggests that he is writing to the majority, the common people.
Burke, on the other hand, implies by his style that the
issues at hand are for refined aristocrats only.
This
discussion of literary form explains, then, to a great extent, the popularity of Paine's literature.
Others of Paine's writings reflect his international
outlook, but outside of Letter VII in Letters to the Citizens of the United States, which was discussed in Chapter
I, very little more needs to be taken into account.
The
Burke-Paine controversy is the focal point of this chapter
and perhaps of the movement itself, for better than any
other literature of the time the writings of these men
represent the conflicting viewpoints and ideologies which
^^"Tom Paine and the Vulgar Style," in Browne,
The Burke-Paine Controversy, p. 221.
25
"After Reading Burke," m Browne, The BurkePaine Controversy, p. 212.
26
Browne, The Burke-Paine Controversy, p. 216.
53
were in existence.
For a time it appeared that Paine's
view would prevail, but with the radicalism of the Jacobins
and later the rise of Napoleon, Burke's more astute observations about human nature and government won the day.
CHAPTER III
JOEL BARLOW AND THE ROAD TO RATIONALISM
Unlike Thomas Paine, who entertained the international ideal at the outset of his political career, Joel
Barlow made the transition from a conservative, religious
Yankee to a liberal, humanistic adherent of republicanism
over the space of twenty years.
Barlow's intellectual
background included a classical education at Yale, in preparation for the ministry, and also early affiliation with
the Connecticut Wits, a conservative literary group that
included Timothy Dwight, John Trumbull, and David Humphreys
These early years are not important in this study, however,
for Barlow's career did not really begin until after the
American Revolution.
In 1787 he made his first mark on
the literary world with the publication of his long, epic1
like poem The Vision of Columbus.
It would be possible to study The Vision for various reasons, but here it will be considered for its impact
upon international republican concepts, and also as a beginning point from which to evaluate and trace the intellectual development of its author.
When it was written
in 1787, Barlow probably had only a vague idea of what
-'•Joel Barlow, The Vision of Columbus (Hartford:
Hudson and Goodwin, 1787). Hereinafter, this work is referred to as The Vision.
54
55
later was to become the guiding principle of his life;
even at this early period, however, two years before the
outbreak of the French Revolution, some of the philosophy
of The Vision can be seen as definitely international in
character.
In The Vision Barlow seems uncertain about the relationship between humanity and the nature of government
in America.
Indeed, in one sense, man is nothing more than
a mere puppet in the hands of the omnipotent God.
But
shortly after the poem was published. Barlow began the
transition from a religious traditionalist to a scientifically oriented materialist, somewhat of the Paine type.
By the time he wrote The Columbiad, the change was complete:
Barlow's earlier religious bias is not evident in the poem.
Again one may ask how this theological argument applies to
international republicanism, and the answer would be nearly
the same as it was with Paine:
somehow Barlow has to justify
his position as a revolutionary on theological grounds, for
the Bible specifically forbids rebellion against the state
unless a religious law is being abused.
Consequently,
Barlow, a religious conservative, has a very real conflict
about man's role in the republican movement.
Whereas Paine,
the humanist, believes that man has the capability to
achieve perfection through amelioration. Barlow has reservations about the divinity of man which he does not overcome
until 1809 in The Columbiad.
Now, however, it is necessary
56
to study Barlow's writing in order to trace his political
2
and philosophical development.
In The Vision Barlow strives for the epic proportions of John Milton's Paradise Lost, but fails in his
attempt to reach them.
What he does have is a fair poem
of over 8000 lines which, Leary says, breaks down in spite
of (or perhaps because of) its "breathless verve and easy
3
patriotism."
The first three books cover the background
and development of the Western world, but in Book IV the
continent of North America becomes the prominent subject,
and then through Book VIII the brief history of the United
States is recounted.
In Book IX Columbus is given a vision
of the future beyond Barlow's time.
The poem, and Book IX
in particular, is thoroughly saturated with international
allusions, and therefore it would be impossible to cite
each one separately; briefly, the broad interpretation of
the theme of the poem depends mainly on these allusions.
2
.
.
Barlow is a little-known figure today, and his
works are even less known. Three of the books used in this
study that contain his primary works were printed before
1809. The most recent comprehensive study of him is Leon
Howard's, published in 1943, but to date no definitive
biography has been written. The works cited in this chapter are (with the exception of his poem "Hasty Pudding"
and some private letters) the only ones known by this author
to be in print. Many of his writings remain in the Yale
Library, still unpublished.
3
Lewis Leary, "Poets and Essayists," in Robert E.
Spiller et. al^. , eds. , Literary History of the United States
(3 vols.; New York: Macmillan, 1955), I, 167.
57
Beginning in Book IV Barlow's philosophy and beliefs become fairly evident.
Here he mentions Martin
Luther, a divine gift, who has come to set mankind's mind
free, to "Brave adverse powers, controul the Papal sway,/
4
And bring benighted nations into day."
It is clear that
he harbors the traditional New England distrust of the
Catholic Church, and that he believes that it has been a
negative influence on nations.
This idea is only in embryo
form here, but later in his "Letter to the People of Piedmont" his extreme aversion for the Catholic Church is clear,
As he speaks of the American Revolution in Books V,
VI, and VII, it is interesting to note his attitude toward
the French monarch.
Great Louis there, the pride of monarchs fate.
And fleets and moving armies round him wait;
O'er western shores extend his ardent eyes.
Thro' glorious toils where struggling nations
rise;
Each virtuous deed, each new illustrious name
Wakes in his soul the living light of fame;
He sees the liberal, universal cause,
5
That wondering worlds in still attention draws.
Here Barlow is under the same delusion that Paine exhibits
in The American Crisis.
He obviously believes that France
came to the aid of America because of an idealistic desire
to enhance republicanism everywhere.
It will be interest-
ing to note in The Columbiad how he changes this part of
The Vision, p. 136.
5
..
The Vision, p. 179.
58
the poem, for at that time he has what might be termed
hindsight into Louis's true character.
In Book VIII Barlow begins to speculate on the
future significance of America, and in Book IX, the most
internationally oriented part of the whole poem, his dream
for a united world with a union of interests and a common
language is revealed.
His main point is that progress will
be impeded "Till tribes and states and empires find their
place,/ And one wide interest sways the peaceful race."
Barlow, then, is the first of the three authors being considered in this discussion to devote one complete work to
the philosophy of international republicanism.
And since
The Vision was completed two years before the French Revolution, one might say Barlow is the avant-garde of the international group.
There is, however, a stigma in his scheme of things
that sets him apart from Paine, Jefferson, Franklin, and
other liberal humanists of the time, and that is his tendency to explain all that has taken place on the North
American continent in terms of divine will.
That is to
say, as Howard puts it, "He [Barlow] predicts ambitious
goals for later posterity, but does not imply that human
7
.
.
.
effort is necessary for their attainment."
This belief is.
^The Vision, p. 244.
Leon Howard, The Connecticut Wits (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1943), p. 153. Hereinafter, this
work is referred to as Connecticut Wits.
59
no doubt, the result of Barlow's thoroughgoing indoctrination in Calvinistic predestination.
Rather than very much
emphasis on human reason and intellect in The Vision,
there are numerous references to God's plan, God's will,
and so forth.
In Book VIII, for example, he concludes
o
that the cause of America is also the "cause of God."
He
even defends the human event embodied in the story of the
Tower of Babel as part of a divine plan to improve the lot
9
of mankind.
The humanistic viewpoint, on the other hand,
would regard the story as a good example of how religion
impedes social progress.
In other words, the religious
fundamentalist would take the fatalistic attitude that the
world was never meant to be united by a common language
because it is not within the will of God.
Barlow is not
yet ready to accept the liberal philosophy, however, and
he circumvents a conflict in his beliefs by asserting that
Heaven has a new plan for America and the world, and it
will aid the "blesst design."
11
Advice to the Privileged Orders
is, like Paine's
The Rights of Man, a reply to Burke's "Reflections on the
^The Vision, p. 220.
^Ibid., p. 251.
lOlbid., p. 243.
lljoel Barlow, Advice to the Privileged Orders,
The Political Writings of Joel Barlow (Xew Yor;c: Mott
Lyon, 1796), p. 35. All subsequent references to this
will be made with the short title Advice in V,': itir. :s,
used in Chapter I.
in
and
work
as
60
Revolution in France."
Barlow, however, does not meet
Burke head-on, point by point, as Paine does; in fact,
Burke is only mentioned about a dozen times in the whole
piece.
The main thrust of this work is generally directed
against the evils in the monarchial system of government,
using England as the prime example.
At first observation
this type of writing does not seem unlike Paine's; however,
there is a qualitative difference.
According to Howard,
Barlow is intellectually inconsistent.
The combination of
humanitarianism and philosophical imagination is characteristic of his whole approach in Advice.
quiring rather than systematic.
fiercely rationalistic.
His mind is in-
Paine, in contrast, is
In his mind (and his writing re-
flects it) the concept of humanism is completely compatible
with his idea of divinity.
Barlow's inconsistency can be
traced back to The Vision, where he expounds the Calvinistic
idea of predestination.
Howard maintains that after Barlow
wrote the poem, he began to have serious doubts about the
passive role of mankind in human affairs; by 1791 he had
not resolved the problem completely, and, consequently,
13
his writing reflects his indecision.
Howard's thesis is sound, because it is apparent
that Barlow as a propagandist for a cause he believes in
12
Connecticut Wits, p. 285.
^-^Ibid. , p. 163.
61
does not approach Paine in his caliber of thinking.
Philo-
sophically he is weak and unsure of himself, and this is
probably one reason he does not directly take issue with
Burke.
Whereas Burke and Paine argue over the fundamental
concepts of government and society. Barlow is not sure what
his ideas really are on the issues.
Only his affirmation
of the American experiment as a positive precedent for a
change in Europe approaches any degree of certainty.
This
is not to say, however, that he compromises his belief in
republican ideals.
Indeed, the opposite is true.
He at-
tacks the feudal system, the organized church, and the
military of monarchial governments as devices that put men
into bondage and serve as corrupting influences on their
minds.
In his discussion of the church, for example, he
14
says It IS a vehicle of the state to oppress men.
And
in his discussion of the military he asserts that war was
fashioned by kings so that human slaughter would become
15
honorable.
All of these abominations, he believes, are
the result of man's corrupt habits of thinking.
In other
words. Barlow places the blame for the deplorable condition
of society on human nature as it is affected by society.
This pattern remains fairly consistent throughout the first
14
Barlow, Advice in Writings, p. 35.
^^Ibid.
•"•^Ibid., p .
23.
62
three chapters of Advice, but in his fourth chapter, "The
Administration of Justice," he takes, as Howard says, an
almost whimsical attitude toward the beliefs he presented
1T
so vigorously in the preceding chapters.
As an illustra-
tion, consider the following passage:
It would be a curious speculation, and perhaps as
useful as curious, to consider how far the moral
nature of man is affected by the organization of
society; and to what degree his predominant qualities depend on the nature of the government under
which he lives. •'-^
Just prior to this statement, he has been talking about
the corrupting influence of feudalism, the church, and the
military on society.
This is just one example of his in-
consistent thinking.
Undoubtedly, part of his inconsistency stems from
his old conflict between Calvinism and Humanism.
Paine
believes that men will someday be able to abolish all government, but Barlow cannot abide such radical ideas.
In
his fourth chapter of Advice, he says that for the poor
person without the means for subsistence, society must meet
certain needs; otherwise, the individual is robbed of his
19
natural rights.
This statement puts Barlow in a rather
paradoxical position, for on one hand he advocates the
17
Connecticut Wits, p. 282.
18
Barlow, Advice in Writings, p. 69.
19
•^^P. 77.
63
renovation of society, but here he clearly states that
government and society have a responsibility to every individual.
Ironically, he aligns himself with Burke rather
than Paine in this respect, because as the crux of the controversy between these two men centers around the function
and role of government, it is Burke who believes man cannot exist without some form of authority to guide him.
Of
course Barlow's position is that the republican form of
government is the only panacea for the ills of the human
condition.
Consequently, his allusions to life in the
United States have an almost Utopian ring to them.
He says
that in contrast to the corrupt habits of thinking of Europeans, the only way men think in America is this:
"All men
are created equal in their rights, and it is impossible to
20
make them otherwise."
From the standpoint of style. Advice compares more
closely to Burke's "Reflections" than it does to Paine's
Rights of Man.
It is of a very formal style with many allu-
sions to ancient history and the classics.
This style is
probably the natural result of Barlow's highly formal training and education; nevertheless, his reading audience was
certainly diminished because of it.
Consider, for example,
the language of the following passage:
20
Barlow, Advice in Writings, p. 23.
64
The pernicious effects of the [feudal] system
on territorial tenures are inconceivably various
and great. In a legal view, it has led to those
intricacies and vexations, which we find attached to every circumstance of real property.
When one compares this style with Paine's simple diction
and common anecdotes, it is apparent why Barlow's piece
failed to sell as well as The Rights of Man.
In the fall of 1792 Barlow wrote an open letter to
the National Convention of France on the defects of the
new constitution.
Not only is his veneration of the Ameri-
can Constitution apparent, but his international outlook
is clear.
He begins the letter by telling the people of
France that they are the representatives of mankind, and
what began as justice to themselves is now a duty to the
22
human race.
His third point, however, is the most prom-
inent expression of internationalism, for here he reiterates the same ideas that he presented in Book IX of The
Vision.
He makes the points in connection with national
citizenship requirements, which he predicts will become
archaic.
When society is finally on the right footing, he
declares, the citizen of one state will consider all people
his brothers and fellow citizens in the world.
When a
foreigner settles in a country, all he should be required
to do is declare his intention to become a citizen, and
21
Advice, m Writings, p. 19.
22Ibid,. , p. 160.
65
23
thereby gain all the rights of the natives. "^ The rest
of the letter declares that France should abolish the idea
of keeping foreign colonies; she should abolish her armies
and thus eliminate war.
It is interesting to note in this
letter that Barlow talks about what the people must do.
There are no allusions to the plan or will of God.
In his "Letter to the People of Piedmont," one can
see clearly Barlow's new outlook.
humanistic and less predestinarian.
He is becoming more
One sees that his at-
tack on the Catholic Church and the ruling classes of Italy
is really a call to violent action, if need be, by the
Piedmontese, for he tells them that France is the most
powerful nation in Europe and she hates tyrants; therefore,
she is willing to help any weak country gain freedom that
24
loves liberty.
The rest of the letter is developed by
theological arguments that smack very much of Paine.
Bar-
low declares that for any mortal to claim he is sovereign
over Piedmont is blasphemy against God, the sovereign of
25
nature, and against men, the proprietors of the earth.
He concludes by saying that the people have a right to revolt because "The gospel of Jesus Christ preaches to you
in the strongest language the great doctrine of equality
2^"Letter to the National Convention," in Writings,
p. 178.
24
Writings, p. 204.
^^Ibid., p. 205.
66
that all men are equal in the sight of God."^^
Barlow is
correct about men's being equal under God, but he fails to
consider the passages about servants' obeying their masters.
In fact, the Patriarch of the Catholic Church,
Simon Peter, says in I Peter 2:18 that a servant must be
subject unto his master whether the master be kind or cruel.
Since this is the type of doctrine the Catholic Church
stresses, it is not surprising that Barlow failed to penetrate the hard shell of orthodoxy in Piedmont, for his
plea to stage a republican revolution was largely ignored.
Even so, this letter goes far to point out the changing
philosophy of its author.
He is no longer content to let
God work out things according to His divine plan.
27
Besides "The Conspiracy of Kings"
and some pri-
vate letters. Barlow's last and greatest expression of
international republicanisi;n is The Columbiad, published in
1809, about fifteen years after revolutionary activity in
France had ceased.
The poem is important not only for its
implications for the republican movement, but also for its
2^Writings, p. 211.
27
"The Conspiracy of Kings" is a short poem written in February, 1792. It is a harangue on the degeneracy
of the monarchial system written, after the fashion of the
neoclassicists, in heroic couplets. Basically it expresses
the same philosophy as Advice, only perhaps more bitterly.
It is not significant in providing any insight into Barlow's philosophical development, and thus it only needs to
be mentioned as another piece in the avalanche of republican
literature of the time.
67
reflection of the final stage of the development of its
author's philosophical transition from Calvinism to
Humanism.
Whether this change was good or bad is not for
anyone to say, but the change itself is important because
it reveals the influence of the international republican
movement on the personal beliefs of Barlow.
By 1809 these
personal beliefs are more consistent with the principles
of the movement itself.
As Leary says. The Columbiad is
better articulated and more mature than The Vision, even
though it failed to sell as well.
Barlow's intention is clear in the poem, for in
the preface he states his purpose in writing it.
It is to inculcate the love of rational liberty
and to discountenance the deleterious passion
for violence and war; to show on the basis of the
republican principle all good morals, as well as
good government and hopes of permanent peace,
must be founded.29
The poem is not structured too differently from The Vision,
with the exception that it has one additional book.
The
content, although radically different in philosophy, is
literally the same.
He begins with Columbus and the dis-
covery of the New World, traces colonial progress through
the American Revolution, and ends with the vision of the
2R
" P o e t s and Essayists," in Literary History of
the United States, I, 168.
29
Joel Barlow, The Columbiad (2 vols.; Philadelphia
C. and H. Conrad, 1809), I, viii.
68
future.
In the account of the American Revolution, it is
interesting to note his change from The Vision in regard
to the French aid given America.
In the first poem it will
be remembered that he is generally favorable to Louis, who,
he says, wants to promote the universal cause of freedom.
In The Columbiad, however, he talks about the scourge of
kings and refers to Louis as the "young Bourbon there in
30
royal splendor sat."
He continues by saying the true
republicans of France had to delude Louis with artful arguments into thinking that France should fight for the Ameri31
cans only to humble Britain.
This is ironic, because
history indicates that this is the precise reason France
fought for the American cause.
Furthermore, there is no
evidence that a strong, organized republican movement
existed in Europe before the latter part of the 1780's.
There is also a notable lack of the idea of divine
plan in The Columbiad, and this is important.
Whereas in
The Vision Barlow supports the idea of passive progress
through divine intervention, here he dwells on the achievements mankind has made in science and government.
Thus,
instead of the "cause of God" as being the guiding principle for humanity, he affirms in Book X,
30p. 40.
31
The Columbiad, p. 41.
69
Then moral Science leads the lively mind
Thro' broader fields and pleasures more refined;
Teaches the tempered soul, at one vast view.
To glance o'er time and look existence thro.^2
Moral Science, with a capital S^, has finally become the
guiding principle of Barlow's life, and thus his beliefs
become consistent with the principles of the French Revolution.
There were repercussions, however, for he was
severely censured by many Americans as an atheist.
His
lifelong friend Noah Webster sent him a caustic letter
after reading the poem, saying it contained "atheistical
33
principles of irreligion. "
And so Joel Barlow, at con-
siderable personal expense, resolved the conflict that had
plagued him since before the French Revolution and during
the height of the international republican movement.
He
finally possessed the faith of Paine that humanity would
solve its problems through its own innate capability.
But
whether Barlow kept the faith is difficult to say; ironically, he died trying to reach Napoleon on the Russian
front after the little tyrant had violated an agreement,
a violation which might have led to war between France and
America.
It must have been a bitter end for a man who had
dedicated his life to peace and freedom for everyone.
32
The Columbiad, p. 161.
33
Cited by John Dos Passes in The Ground We Stand
On (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1941), p. 373.
CHAPTER IV
PHILIP FRENEAU AND THE POETRY OF REPUBLICANISM
Philip Freneau probably produced more printed
material on the subject of international republicanism
than did Thomas Paine and Joel Barlow together.
In this
study, however, only selected poems of the movement will
be considered.
This selectivity seems appropriate in
view of two factors:
subject, and (2)
(1)
the great mass of verse on this
the frequent (and at times monotonous)
repetition of ideas.
Something also needs to be said, if only in passing, about Freneau's other poetry.
Whereas Paine and Bar-
low devoted almost all of their time and talent to political causes of one type or another, Freneau wrote nearly
half of his poetry on subjects completely divorced from
politics.
Some modern readers are interested primarily in
his nature poems.
Pattee, in his rather sentimental in-
troduction to Freneau's works, says that the poem "The
In addition to the poetry of international republicanism, Freneau's prose on the subject would probably
constitute several volumes, for during the international
republican movement he was devoting his National Gazette
to the cause. As pointed out in Chapter I, its pages were
filled with news of the movement. But since this journalistic writing can hardly be termed literature, none of
Freneau's newspaper work will be considered in this chap,ter. For further information on this subject, Philip M.
Marsh has a one-volume work The Prose of Philip Freneau
(New Brunswick, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1955), which deals
specifically with this area.
70
71
Wild Honeysuckle," written in 1786, is as spontaneous and
free from the restraints of the neoclassic period as anything written by Wordsworth.
But people, he goes on to
say, were not attuned to fine poetry after the Revolution.
They wanted nothing but "rant and bombast," and thus
2
Freneau had to abandon his romantic endeavors.
critics concur.
Other
Lewis Leary observes that Freneau had to
put aside his dream of literary glory for the greater vision
of freedom and happiness for all men.
He had to accept the
"rituals" and "catchwords" which went with the service to
the new vision, and they colored his poetry until it became
nothing more than a "paraphrase" of radical, political
3
philosophies of the eighteenth century.
Although the purpose of this study is to examine
only Freneau's poetry with overtones of international republicanism, it is important to realize that he wrote this
other poetry, too, for often it is of superior quality.
Leary is very perceptive in his observation that the phrases,
catchwords, and sentiments of radical politics do not often
make suitable material for poetry.
The medium many times
demands rather delicate expression through the use of technical devices such as onomatopoeia and various types of
2Fred L. Pattee, The Poems of Philip Freneau (3
vols.; New York: Russell and Russell, 1963), cviii-cvix.
All subsequent references to this work will be made with
the short title Poems, as used in Chapter I.
Lewis Leary, That Rascal Freneau (New Brunswick,
N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1941), p. 363.
72
imagery.
Near the end of the eighteenth century, when
romanticism was just beginning to develop, this was particularly true.
Mysticism and the beauty of nature were
subjects that required poetic language.
Although Freneau
had an excellent sense of rhythm and rhyme, he lacked
truly poetic subjects during the period of international
republicanism.
And thus, unfortunately, the poetry in
this study is generally not the best the author produced.
One would also have to agree with Pattee and Leary that he
probably never achieved his full potential as a poet.
Freneau was writing poetry before Thomas Paine came
to America, and before Joel Barlow was even out of college.
Much of his early poetry concerns the life and voyages of
Columbus and the discovery of America.
During the 1760's
and early 1770's, there was a growing awareness of the
emergence of America as a nation, and in connection with
this trend, the history of the continent was being
idealized.
Barlow was certainly influenced by this tradi-
tion, as is evidenced in his poem The Vision of Columbus.
This poem, written two years before the French Revolution,
was based on the international ideal, and it will also be
remembered that even many of Paine's pieces written during
the American Revolution were based upon a broader political
philosophy than just nationalism.
Freneau, although he
had formulated a conception of internationalism earlier
than had Barlow, did not have the early vision of Paine.
73
In 1772 he wrote in collaboration with Hugh Henry Brackenridge, another political writer, "The Rising Glory of
America," in which he hinted that the world might someday
enter a great age, the like of which fallen man had never
known.
In addition he said that America would be the very
first to know this more perfect state of affairs.
implications in this poem are obvious:
The
for the far dis-
tant future he envisioned a different kind of world, but
it was barely perceptible.
America and her welfare were
the concerns of the hour.
This poem falls into the period
between 1768 and 1775 which Pattee has categorized as the
early period.
The years between 177 5 and 1781 constituted the
first poetic period, according to Pattee.
During this
time most of Freneau's poetry dealt with the American Revolution and the tyranny of Britain.
No doubt he became ac-
quainted with Paine at this time, but he failed to follow
Paine's lead in predicting broader implications for the
American Revolution than just freedom from the yoke of
Britain.
The era following this one, 1781 to 1790, marked
the first time that Freneau revealed any true international
awareness.
Early in the period, September, 1781, he pub-
lished a poem entitled "An Address."
It was written spe-
cifically to George Washington, but also to all of the
4
Poems, I, 82.
74
soldiers who had fought in the T^erican Revolution.
He
reminisced about their bravery and gallant exploits, but
near the end he said, "In every country are your virtues
read;/ Remotest India hears your deeds of fame,/ The hardy
Scythian stammers at your name;/ The haughty Turk, now
longing to be free,/ Neglects his Sultan to enquire of
5
theel'
He obviously realized that the American Revolution
was of worldwide importance; it is doubtful, however, that
he could have proven the statements and assertions he made
in these lines.
He assumed that republicanism was now the
watchword of the world, and in this respect he was like
Barlow, who made the same mistake in 1787 in The Vision of
Columbus.
There is not one shred of evidence to indicate
the existence of any organized republican movement of
great consequence before 1790 in Europe, let alone in the
Near East or India.
But these kinds of beliefs were natural outcroppings of the events that had taken place in America, especially after Burgoyne's defeat at the Battle of Saratoga.
Consequently, Freneau continued to foster such concepts
in his poetry.
In December, 1783, he wrote "Verses," in
which he predicted the Old World would soon blush at her
6
own barbarous laws, and learn instruction from America.
5
Poems, II, 81.
6
Poems, II, 227.
75
His delusions about the spread of republicanism were confirmed, however, in a poem entitled "Lines," written in
May, 1784.
Here he made exactly the same mistake as Barlow
and Paine did about the motives of France in aiding America
during the Revolution.
He extolled King Louis as virtuous
and full of goodness, and he declared there had never been
7
a king equal to him.
Later, of course, like Paine and
Barlow, he realized his mistake.
The last poem dealing with international republicanism which Freneau produced during this period was "On
the Prospects of a Revolution in France."
It first appeared
in print in March, 1790, though it is possible that he had
written it earlier.
The sentiments of this poem might
plausibly be labeled as the basic tenets and ideas of the
international movement.
At one time or another, and in
some form or another, Paine, Barlow, and Freneau all gave
priority to the expression of these ideas.
Borne on the wings of time another year.
Sprung from the past, begins its proud career:
From the bright spark which first illumed these
lands.
See Europe kindling as the blaze expands.
Each gloomy tyrant, sworn to chain the mind.
Presumes no more to trample mankind.°
First, he recognized the movement as beginning in America
during an earlier era, presumably that of the American
Poems, II, 246.
^Ibid., p. 385.
76
Revolution.
He also saw all of Europe as being influenced
by republicanism.
Finally, he believed that once men were
allowed to use their minds, tyrants would be abolished.
All of these ideas are central to the literature of international republicanism, and from the time this poem was
published until 1798, very little else was to be found in
Freneau's writing, poetry and prose.
It is difficult to say what poems of this third
period (1790-1798) were the most significant.
Nearly forty
poems of this period made more than passing references to
9
international republicanism.
Besides the frequent repeti-
tion of catch phrases and slogans of the movement, there
^All the poems on the following list have direct
references to the international republican movement, but it
would be nearly impossible to discuss each one in detail
here. Besides these that deal directly with the subject,
there are literally dozens more that make passing or casual
references to republicanism. Although some of these poems
bear the dates 1809 or 1815, they were all written between
1790 and 1798. Pattee has simply not taken the time (or
has not been able) to find where they first appeared. Therefore, he has taken them from editions of poems which Freneau
himself compiled in 1809 and 1815. This list, then, is in
chronological order: "On the Fourteenth of July" (1792);
"To Crispin O'Connor" (1792); "Crispin's Answer" (1792); "To
Shylock Ap-Shenkin" (1792); "On the Demolition of the French
Monarchy" (1792); "On the French Republicans" (1792); "On
the Portraits" (1792); "Ode to Liberty" (1793); "Ode" on
The Rights of Man (1793); "On the Death of a Republican
Printer" (1793); "On the Anniversary of the Storming of
Bastille" (1793); "Thoughts on the European War System"
(1795); "On the Memorable Naval Engagement" (1793); "The
Republican Genius of Europe" (1795); "The Rival Suitors for
America" (1795); "On the Death of Catherine II" (1815);
"Ode" on the Fourth of July celebration (1797); "Address"
to republicans in America (1797); "The Royal Cockneys in
America" (1797); "Reflection" on government (1809); "On the
Proposed System" (1815); "On False Systems" (1809); "On a
Proposed Negotiation" (1815); "Stanzas" to the memory of
Washington (1815); "The Tomb of Patriots" (1815).
77
were sometimes more basic philosophical considerations of
the nature of government and of humanity.
He never ex-
pressed himself as clearly or fully on these matters as
did Paine or Barlow, but he really had no need to do so,
for they had already been well articulated by Paine in
The Rights of Man.
Freneau simply alluded to the appro-
priate passage in Paine's work.
A poem, for example, in
the very first issue of the National Gazette promises to
keep readers informed about many subjects, including events
in Europe, and concludes.
From the spark we kindled, a flame has gone
forth.
To astonish the world and enlighten mankind:
With a code of new doctrines the universe rings.
And Paine is addressing strange sermons to kings.
It is fairly clear that the "new doctrines" and the "strange
sermons" refer to The Rights of Man.
In another poem, "On Mr. Paine's Rights of Man,"
written around 1795, Freneau observed, "Thus briefly sketched
the Sacred Rights of Man,/ How inconsistent with the royal
plan."
He goes on to speak of "Reason" which he says Paine
11
uses to raise up mankind and pull down kings.
The capital
^ of Sacred and the capital R of Reason are interesting
stylistic devices that Freneau used quite often in his political poetry.
In this case, it appears that he was saying
-*^^"To the Public," in Poems, III, 56
^^Poems, III, 90.
78
Reason is like Christianity or Hinduism in that it is a
kind of religion that entails a whole system of values and
beliefs.
Reason did, in fact, become the religion of the
Enlightenment, which had its basis in scientific and intellectual inquiry.
He apparently put the capital S^ on
Sacred to indicate that The Rights of Man was to Reason
what the Bible was to Christianity.
(Pattee's views add
weight to this conclusion, for he says Freneau detested
the formal, conventional religion of the day, but that he
loved the "sincerety" that comes "from reason and an honest
12
heart." ) Freneau really had no reason to formulate his
own peculiar viewpoint when Thomas Paine had already expressed so well everything he believed.
One is forced to
conclude that Freneau did not develop any essential beliefs
or tenets of international republicanism, but rather that
he served as a propagandist to promote ideas already enunciated.
His position as a newspaper editor was invaluable
in his effort to reach the masses with his message.
Since Freneau was isolated from what could be called
the mainstream of the international republican movement in
Europe, and mainly in France, it is not surprising to find
that some of his poetry exaggerated (or even fabricated)
12
••
Poems, I, xcviii.
Other poems Freneau wrote indicate his support of an unconventional religious doctrine.
Earlier in his career he wrote a poem titled "On a Book
Called Unitarian Theology." Here he said the book was a
"choice" work full of wisdom which the "bigots" had denied.
79
events there.
Some of the blame can be placed on poor com-
munications, and some on the human tendency to idealize
such a movement and make it more than it really is.
In
his poem "Seventeen Hundred and Ninety-one," for instance,
this exaggeration of facts is readily evident.
He said,
among other things, that Empress Kate had burned The Rights
of Man, that the Pope was "in a sweat" because he could
not bear the music of freedom, and that Britain was about
13
to "unrig" her fleet.
It has already been pointed out
that outside of England and France, international republicanism had very little influence in Europe.
It will be
remembered that the people of Piedmont, even after Barlow
had guaranteed them French aid, failed to launch a revolution to overthrow the tyranny of the Pope.
envisioned it as more widespread.
But Freneau
No doubt his idealized
conception of what was occurring in Europe influenced his
own behavior in the Gen^t affair.
He apparently failed to
realize that even the revolution in France had deteriorated,
that power had fallen into the hands of the radical Jacobin
party, and that what he believed was a revolution to free
mankind from tyranny had actually turned into a bloodbath
denounced by both Paine and Barlow.
Because of his isolation from the movement, Freneau
continued to idealize the republican revolution and to write
-^-^Poems, III, 65.
80
about it even after it had become virtually defunct.
As
early as the summer of 1793 Paine had written a letter to
Jefferson (cited in Chapter I) indicating that with the
radical ascendancy in France, the hope of spreading republicanism throughout Europe was nearly dead.
After that,
Paine and Barlow, although active in behalf of the movement, did not have the same verve they had demonstrated
previously.
It is also noteworthy that the greatest bulk
of literature born out of the movement was produced before
1795.
Freneau championed the movement, however, if only
on paper, until 1798.
For one thing, he felt it was his
obligation to mend the damage he believed had been done by
the Jay Treaty.
In one poem he referred to it as a treaty
"to oppress men."
And after the XYZ Affair, he wrote
several poems pleading with America not to go to war with
France, but to promote a spirit of cooperation with a
sister republic to fight tyranny.
In 1798 he wrote one last poem on the subject of
international republicanism entitled "Reflections on the
Gradual Progress of Nations from Democratical States to
Despotic Empires."
He mentioned the fact that there seemed
to be a decline of the intellect but a rise of war and
bloodshed.
In general he said that unless tyranny was
checked, the world would be in danger of losing what progress it had made.
He concluded by saying, "America! will
14 "Mr. Jay's Treaty," in Poems, III, 132.
81
you control such view?/ Speak—for you must—you have no
time to lose." 15
At a time when the star of Napoleon was
about to rise, and when America and France were virtually
fighting a non-declared naval war, this poem was almost
pathetic.
International republicanism, with its emphasis on
brotherhood, freedom, and equality, certainly was an appealing subject for Philip Freneau, but the drum and the fife
are not the most suitable instruments for poetic expression.
None of the poems that he wrote on this subject is what one
could call a masterpiece; in fact, none is even esthetically
appealing.
Certainly his bitter struggle with the Federal-
ists during the Genet incident did nothing for his poetic
expression.
The harsh, vindictive prose and poetry with
which he rebuffed them in the National Gazette were the
antithesis of poetic expression in the romantic strain.
It is worthwhile here to quote Lewis Leary, one of Freneau's
most sympathetic (but also fair) biographers.
The flame that had burned brightly for American
freedom was once again ignited as he wrote for
the freedom of France. But it was now a quivering flame, not as intense or vigorous as it was
ten years before. Something of the poetry had
been consumed in Freneau. Only the stout spirit
of liberty remained.-*-"
-'-^Poems, III, 217.
1 /That Rascal Freneau, p. 234.
82
And finally,
Freneau lost his old ability to transmit action
into stirring words. He had fought in too many
causes.17
Whether Freneau, under different circumstances, might have
become the great romantic poet that Pattee envisioned is
difficult to say.
The record shows, instead, a commitment
to the role of revolutionary propagandist.
Though his
philosophical contribution to the movement was less than
that of Paine (or even Barlow), Freneau nevertheless added
a valuable dimension to the republican cause.
^^That Rascal Freneau, p. 239.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I.
Primary Sources
Adams, John. The Works of John Adams. 10 vols. Edited
by Charles F. Adams. Boston: Little, Brown, 1851.
Ames, Fisher. The Works of Fisher Ames. 2 vols.
by Seth Ames. Boston: Little, Brown, 1854.
Barlow, Joel. The Columbiad.
C. and H. Conrad, 1809.
2 vols.
Philadelphia:
. The Political Writings of Joel Barlow.
York: Mott and Lyon, 1796.
The Vision of Columbus.
Goodwin, 1787.
Edited
Hartford:
New
Hudson and
Burke, Edmund. "Reflections on the Revolution in France."
The Burke-Paine Controversy. Edited by Ray B. Browne
New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1963.
Freneau, Philip. The Poems of Philip Freneau. 3 vols.
Edited by Fred L. Pattee. New York: Russell and
Russell, 1963.
Jefferson, Thomas. The Works of Thomas Jefferson. 12
vols. Edited by Paul Leicester Ford. New York:
G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1904.
Paine, Thomas. The Life and Works of Thomas Paine. 10
vols. Edited by William M. Van der Weyde. New
Rochelle, New York: Thomas Paine National Historical
Association, 1925.
II.
Secondary Sources
Aldridge, A. F. Man of Reason: The Life of Thomas Paine
Philadelphia! J. B. Lippincott, 1959.
Axelrad, Jacob. Philip Freneau: Champion of Democracy.
Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967.
Best, Mary Agnes. Thomas Paine: Prophet and Martyr of
Democracy. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1927.
83
84
Boulton, James T. "Tom Paine and the Vulgar Style." The
Burke-Paine Controversy. Edited by Ray B. Browne.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1963.
Browne, Ray B., ed. The Burke-Paine Controversy.
York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1963.
Dos Passes, John. The Ground We Stand On.
Harcourt, Brace, 1941.
New
New York:
Forman, S. E. "Political Activities of Philip Freneau."
Colonial and Economic History, XX (1902), 482-554.
Garraty, John A. The American Nation.
and Row, 1966.
,
Howard, Leon. The Connecticut Wits.
of Chicago Press, 1943.
New York:
Chicago:
Harper
University
Leary, Lewis. "Poets and Essayists." Literary History of
the United States. Edited by Robert E. Spiller ^ al,
3 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1955.
. That Rascal Freneau. New Brunswick, N.J.:
Rutgers University Press, 1941.
Marsh, Philip M. Philip Freneau: Poet and Journalist.
Minneapolis: Dillon Press, 1967.
The Prose of PhilID Freneau.
N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1955.
New Brunswick,
Maugham, W. Somerset. "After Reading Burke." The BurkePaine Controversy. Edited by Ray B. Browne. New
York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1963.
Miller, Perry. "Thomas Paine: Rationalist." The BurkePaine Controversy. Edited by Ray B. Browne. New
York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1963.
Miller, Victor Clyde. Joel Barlow: Revolutionist, London,
1791-92. Hamburg: Friederichsen De Gruyter, 1932.
Pearson, Hesketh. Tom Paine:
H. Hamilton, 1937.
Friend of Mankind.
London:
Spiller, Robert E., ejb ^ ] ^ . , eds. Literary History of the
United States. 3 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1955.
Todd, Charles Burr. Life and Letters of Joel Barlow L.L.D.
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1886.
85
Woodward, W. E. Tom Paine: America's Godfather.
York: E. P. Dutton, 1945.
New