He that spits in the wind,

spits in his own face.

The title phrase of this post is best known from a letter written by Benjamin Franklin dated 1786. The recipient was anonymous, “Dear Sir.” Franklin was sharply critical of the anonymous recipient’s intention to write a book attacking conventional religious beliefs. Not a few Christian evangelists and other enemies of Thomas Paine and his ideas — particularly those fearful of the influence of his AGE OF REASON — have assumed that it was addressed to Thomas Paine. If they were correct, it would mean that Paine’s friend, mentor, and sponsor to the colonies had disapproved of the writing of AGE OF REASON and given his protegé, Thomas Paine, a rather sharp rebuke. He recommended that the author burn his own manuscript. Franklin’s letter and some criticism follows, but first a little background.

In 1906, the periodical entitled Christian Advocate (1826-1975) published the Franklin letter and claimed it was written “to Thomas Paine.” and that it allegedly warned Paine against writing his book AGE OF REASON (1794). This claim has resurfaced again and again, invariably trotted about by Christian evangelists and their cohort in an effort to blunt the influence that Paine’s book has had upon generations of readers.

It also formed the theme for a populat 1970 novel:

Naturally, Levin used it to defame and portray Paine as a licentious, drunken, and hasty person who was abandoned even by the mild, good, and universally acclaimed Benjamin Franklin. The book is a poorly written, lurid, and trashy potboiler whose sole redeeming characteristic is that the author honestly labeled it fiction. It perpetuated, however … the legend.

This quote turned up again recently - sad to say - in the brand new (ink still wet) graphic biography of Paine, soon to be reviewed on this blog. Spoiler alert: even with this error, perhaps the most serious in the work, it will receive a positive review. Here is a teaser:

N.B. - Wait until the forthcoming review to consider ordering a copy. Polyp aka Paul Fitzgerald, the author, is looking for a North American distributor. Shipping costs from England are ferocious. Will keep you updated.

Going back to the Christian Advocate and their 1906 claim that seems to have been the origin of this often misattributed tale, the editors and contributors to the TruthSeeker, a magazine of freethought and one of Paine’s greatest boosters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, "showed why the letter couldn’t be anything of the kind; that it might not have been written by Franklin and certainly not meant for Paine. Thereupon Editor Buckley of The Christian Advocate dispatched a ‘commission’ to Washington to examine the original manuscript on file in the Department of State. What the commission reported added no strength to the contention that Franklin wrote the letter to the author of the AGE OF REASON. In the controversy that ensued, Dr. Moncure D. Conway took part ; and that all readers might judge for themselves whether the letter justified the ‘To Thomas Paine’ title, reproduced it as it was alleged to have come from Franklin’s hand,” along with Dr. Conway’s textual criticism.*

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Philadelphia, July, 1786

Dear Sir: I have read your Manuscript with some Attention. By the Arguments it contains against the doctrine of a particular Providence, tho’ you allow a general Providence (2), you strike at the Foundation of all Religion: For without the Belief of a Providence (1) that takes cognizance of, guards and guides & may favour particular Persons, there is no Motive to Worship a Deity, to fear its Displeasure, or to pray for its Protection. I will not enter into any Discussion of your Principles, tho’ you seem to desire it; At present I shall only give my Opinion, that tho’ your Reasonings are subtle, and may prevail with some Readers, you will not succeed so as to change the general Sentiments of Mankind on that Subject; and the Consequences of printing this Piece will be a great deal of Odium drawn upon yourself, mischief to you, & no benefit to others. He that spits against the wind, spits in his own Face. But were you to succeed, do you imagine any Good would be done by it? You yourself may find it easy to live a virtuous Life without the Assistance afforded by Religion, you having a clear Perception of the Advantages of Virtue & Disadvantages of Vice, and possessing a Strength of Resolution sufficient to enable you to resist common Temptations. But think how great a Proportion of Mankind consists of weak & ignorant Men and Women, and of inexperienced & inconsiderate Youth of both Sexes who have need of the Motives of Religion to restrain them from Vice, to support their Virtue, & retain them in the Practice of it till it becomes habitual, which is the great Point for its security. And perhaps you are indebted to her originally, that is to your Religious Education, for the Habits of Virtue upon which you now justly value yourself. You might easily display your excellent Talents of reason on a less hazardous Subject, and thereby obtain Rank with our most distinguished Authors. (3) For among us, it is not necessary, as among the Hottentots, that a Youth (4) to be received into the Company of Men, should prove his Manhood by beating his Mother. I would advise you therefore not to attempt unchaining the Tyger, but to burn this Piece before it is seen by any other Person, whereby you will save yourself a great deal of Mortification from the Enemies it may raise against you, and perhaps a good deal of Regret & Repentance. If Men are so wicked as we now see them with Religion, (5) what would they  be without it? I intend this Letter itself as a Proof to my Friendship & therefore add no Professions of it; but subscribe simply

Yours,

B.F. …..

[Begin: Conway’s notes on the Letter]

            1. July, 1786. -- The date is given on the authority of Henry Stevens of Vermont, an antiquarian, who collected Franklin’s papers. It is uncertain, the writing in the original being obscure. At that time Paine and Franklin were meeting daily and were therefore under no necessity to communicate by letter. In his fourth ‘Letters to American Citizens”; Paine said: “In my publications I follow the rule I began with in ‘Common Sense,’ that is, to consult nobody, nor to let anybody see what I write till it appears publicly.” He began the writing of his “Age of Reason” in Paris, 1793. Franklin died in 1790, three years earlier.

            2. This is poor literary criticism. Paine’s arguments are against the Bible and the Christian system, not Providence, general or particular, which is not brought up in the “Age of Reason.”

            3. Already there was not a more distinguished author in America than Paine. Franklin writing to Paine might conceivably warn him against risking the loss of rank he had won, but he could no ignore it.

            4. Paine was no “youth” in 1786, being 49 years old.

            5. Franklin’s religion, if he had one, was not the Christianity that Paine argued against. The discarding of that Christianity could not be regarded by Franklin as a parting with all religion.

            The view persisted in by the Christian miseducators, that Franklin rebuked Paine for writing the “Age of Reason” seven years before Paine began on the work -- is contrary to Franklin’s own habits of thought, as shown by a bit of biblical criticism in which he indulged. Franklin observed that the commandment “Increase and multiply” was in the Old Testament, and so proceeded that other injunction; “Love one another,” and he held that the precept which was last in order in the scripture should come first in practice.

]End: Conway’s notes]

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To date no rebuttal of Conway’s claims has been put forward. The reason is that the claims are clear and indisputable.

As a historical aside, the Christian Advocate has become somewhat notorious for bad history and overstated claims. Most infamous were a series of articles regarding the so-called “Flathead” Indians that was required reading in my graduate school program. Why? The 1833 article recounted a visit to St. Louis, Missouri by a group of four “Flathead” Indians. The Advocate claimed that the poor benighted “savages” had traveled on foot across one half of North America in order to find the truth about God and “his” holy book. The entire account has come under a good deal of criticism and doubt. In fact it was printed second-hand from a hearsay account written by a newly converted Methodist with the convert’s enthusiasm and flair for the dramatic; not exactly the stuff of reliable history. But it didn’t matter. The early nineteenth-century Christian rumor and drama-mills quickly reached a smoking, white-hot level of fervor, hymns were sung, tears shed for the plight of the poor Indians and, disregarding the fact that most of western North America was NOT U.S. territory, the first of many waves of “missionaries” to the heathen in the West sallied forth, a movement with disastrous consequences for native societies.

No evidence exists whatsoever that the letter of Benjamin Franklin dated July 1786 to “Dear Sir” was addressed to Thomas Paine except the wishful fantasies of sectarian partisans. To the contrary, the probative evidence demonstrates that it could not have been.

Note:
*George Macdonald, FIFTY YEARS OF FREETHOUGHT, New York, The Truthseeker Company: 1931. Vol. 2, pp. 274-277.

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