The times that try men's souls

Founding Father of the Week - Thomas Paine

The Paine monument in Thetford, England, the birthplace of Paine, with a quill pen in his right hand and an inverted copy of The Rights of Man in his left. It was sculpted by Sir Charles Wheeler, President of the Royal Academy, and erected in 1964

The Thomas Paine Historical Association's Gallery of Monuments:

Here you can follow Paine’s life journey through images of the different monuments, historical markers, landmarks and homes that form part of his amazing legacy. From his birth in Thetford, UK to his death in New York City, Paine lived a life of amazing action and profound impact. Enjoy!

Here are a few more of them, but some of them look more impressive if you click over to the historical Association gallery:

The statue of Paine in Morristown, New Jersey sculpted in 1950 by Georg J. Lober. It shows a seated Paine with a musket using a drum-head as a makeshift table.

There is a side view of this monument at the main page of the Historical Association's gallery, which also includes other photos, images and history.

The Thomas Paine statue in the Parc Montsouris, in Paris, France. It was dedicated in 1948 and created by Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, It depicts Paine standing before the French National Convention to plead for the life of King Louis XVI

Did you know about this?

Paine’s New Rochelle Monument is a 12-foot marble column marking his burial site. Paine’s New Rochelle In 1837, Gilbert Vale, editor of the New York Beacon, started a subscription for the purpose of erecting the monument that was dedicated on May 30th, 1881. Sculptor William Macdonald created the bronze bust that was placed upon the monument on May 30th, 1899

More on the statue above from Statues: The People They Salute

Thomas Paine published 16 pamphlets from 1776 to 1783 known as The American Crisis. The works inspired the colonists during the fight for freedom from tyranny. Paine signed his pamphlets with the pseudonym, "Common Sense".
You are most likely familiar with this passage from the first pamphlet published at the start of the Revolution. . .

“THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”

This passage from Pamphlet III you may not be familiar with. It addresses the importance of knowing the past. . .

“Were a man to be totally deprived of memory, he would be incapable of forming any just opinion; every thing about him would seem a chaos: he would have even his own history to ask from every one; and by not knowing how the world went in his absence, he would be at a loss to know how it ought to go on when he recovered, or rather, returned to it again. In like manner, though in a less degree, a too great inattention to past occurrences retards and bewilders our judgment in everything; while, on the contrary, by comparing what is past with what is present, we frequently hit on the true character of both, and become wise with very little trouble. It is a kind of counter-march, by which we get into the rear of time, and mark the movements and meaning of things as we make our return. There are certain circumstances, which, at the time of their happening, are a kind of riddles, and as every riddle is to be followed by its answer, so those kind of circumstances will be followed by their events, and those events are always the true solution.”

That sounds like the common sense idea that we must know our history, so we can learn from it and not repeat the same mistakes.

The monument pictured is the oldest memorial to Thomas Paine that still exists. The original monument erected in 1839 consisted of just a tapered marble pedestal and decorative cap. A bronze bust of Paine was later added in 1899. It is located in New Rochelle, New York near the cottage Paine lived from 1802 until 1806.

There is apparently still not a statue of Paine in Washington D.C. even though there is a statue in Paris and a Paine obelisk in London.

Funds are being solicited for a statue in the capital of the USA. There is a link at the affiliated Thomas Paine Historical Association page.

Thomas Paine was a man with nine lives and then some! He was a great humanitarian, a supreme statesman, and a bold visionary. He was also a staymaker, privateer, excise collector, magazine editor, pamphleteer, inventor, war correspondent, and poet. Paine was a man who belonged to three different worlds—England, the newborn United States, and revolutionary France—a man who went from being showered with praise to being reviled for his brave beliefs in what freedom and equality truly meant.

George Washington promoted some of his ideas, but Paine later criticized Washington and also Christianity. He was something of a radical. How does he fit in with the legacy of our other Founding Fathers?

Thomas Paine Political Cartoons

The following gallery contains almost 150 political cartoons of Thomas Paine in chronological order. Some positive and many negative, the cartoons, paintings, sketches and more are a vivid example of how Paine’s enemies attacked him in America and in England, where the British monarchy funded a ruthless and well funded campaign of slander. Supporters also fought back with some of their own, as you will see.

How do these cartoons compare to the slander and libel in politics these days? .

1780’s anonymous cartoon titled “Le Fameux Empyrique Anglois American” (The Famous English American Empiric/Quack) shows Paine, as medicine man, standing on a podium in front of an audience and promoting his bottle labeled “Union” to a crowd of on-lookers – American Philosophical Society

“Contrasted Opinions of Paine’s Pamphlet” is a 1791 intaglio by Frederick George Byron. Eight public figures are depicted reading excerpts from Rights of Man and reacting to them. Charles James Fox, Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Mary Wollstonecraft are the three supporters of Paine’s writings while the rest deplore them – American Philosophical Society

Cambridge hits the skids

Ace posted a great piece yesterday on the state of play concerning the resignation of Jason Arday from Cambridge, the expected upcoming release of his (co-authored) book, etc. Read it if you missed it. Might be worth reading again even if you read it yesterday.

Ed Driscoll has an update on some additional consequences for Cambridge University. They were not thinking of their students when they hired and promoted this guy.

The university intends to investigate. Colin Wright says he can save them some money - It's DEI. Though he recognizes some other quality problems in academe. CHECK THIS OUT . . . "final solution?"

Michael Nayna:

DEI is a boil on the back of the Grievance Studies beast with many heads; Critical Race Theory, Postcolonial Theory, Queer Theory & their younger spawns (inc Disability Studies). When the public catches on & pushes back against one head, it pulls it back, letting another lead.

Richard Fernandez kind of predicted worse for Cambridge a few days ago. I think he may be right about this being an important event in academic history:

Jason Arday understood with the clarity of a software developer that the DEI design constraints would block any attempt to question his claims. He had stumbled upon an invariant: a condition, property, or relation that must always remain true throughout the execution of a…

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) August 5, 2026

The real scandal isn't in what Arday did, but in what he showed could be done. He objectively demonstrated a fatal flaw in a supposedly secure instution. Cambridge University, which produced Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Alan Turing, Alan Rutherford, Watson and Crick, John Milton and Lord Byron had crashed and burned.

Whatever his motives we owe Jason a debt of gratitude that we can hardly repay.

To understand just how irredeemably messed up academia is, compare the differences in how Cambridge treated Jason Arday and how Harvard treated Roland Fryer.

One is a black sociologist; the other is a black economist.

At this point, we are all very well acquainted with Jason… pic.twitter.com/wCMNC03YG2

— Melissa Chen (@MsMelChen) August 7, 2026

Weekend

The Week In Pictures: Winner and Still Champion Edition

Anthony Fauci is shaping up as the Choosin’ Texas of meme subjects–holding down the #1 spot week after week. He was our prime meme target again this week. Apart from Fauci, the WNBA was on the receiving end of a lot of ridicule, and something happened with regard to burritos, I don’t know what. But you will see some burrito memes. And unfortunately, anti-Communism is once again necessary. Who would have predicted that, circa 1991?

Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.

This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.

Last week's thread, Thomas Sowell Weekend

Update for those not familiar with Norm MacDonald

Comments are closed so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on a week-old thread. But don't try it anyway.