Thomas Paine (1737- 1809) was one of the most active and prolific radicals in18th century and19th century, and perhaps he was "the first person who regarded revolution as the only reason for his existence". He wrote and fought for the independence of the United States from Britain, encouraged the abolition of slavery, helped form the constitution of Pennsylvania, advocated the reorganization of the British government, advocated the abolition of the death penalty, participated in the French legislature, and "formulated the first design modern welfare state" and other activities. When he was alive, he directly influenced the politics of the United States, Britain and France (and even created the name "United States of America"). Long after his death, his works remained the main documents in the struggle for freedom and human rights all over the world. However, what is the connection between the famous authors of Common Sense, Crisis, Human Rights and Rational Times, and sometimes even the infamous authors?

In Thomas Paine: The Preacher of Freedom, Jack Flachmann wrote that there is not enough evidence to answer this question clearly: "For a long time, people have questioned whether Paine is a mason. There is no conclusive evidence for either statement. The exact date of his joining is unknown, and there is no specific branch. Nevertheless, it is still common to attribute the membership of the * * * aid society to Paine. In the 1990s, some American associations tended to publish Paine's list of members of famous freemasons. An example is the information manual issued by the Grand Lodge of Oregon: "The masons in the Pantheon include George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine." Various websites of * * * aid societies continue to make similar statements about Paine and * * * aid societies.

In the transatlantic * * * and the Communists: Thomas Paine and the revolutionary era, Bernard Vincent devoted a chapter to "Thomas Paine, the * * * aid society and the American revolution" and explained the reasons why people tend to regard him as a member of the * * * aid society from several aspects:

When I read Thomas Paine's biography, I was curious about this fact from the beginning. Suddenly, in just a few weeks or months, just like magic, Paine moved from his vague and monotonous life as a tailor and tax collector in England to the American literary and political arena and became one of the important figures in the revolutionary movement when he was nearly forty years old. How can a man who is almost a loser in his own country get to know the most famous people in the colony so quickly, and even become their friends in many cases? How to explain his rapid rise and his sudden glory? There is a hypothesis (which has been mentioned several times) that Paine became a member of the * * * Economic Association, and he got help from some branches or members first in America, then in Britain and France.

However, due to the lack of conclusive evidence, Vincent opposed this view. To be sure, Washington and Franklin were members of the * * * aid society, but they did not support Paine's statement equally.

The assertion about Paine's membership in freemasonry is also based on the fact that he wrote an article "Origin of Free-Masonry" after he returned to the United States from England and France between 1803 and 1805. For some people, Paine's curiosity about the * * * aid society and his decision to write articles about the * * * aid society are enough to prove that he is a member. However, Vincent rejected this reasoning:

Paine was so interested in the * * * aid society that at the last moment of his life, that is, 1805, he wrote a long article entitled "The Origin of the * * * aid society". But this does not prove that Paine is a member more than any other details or facts we know. There is no sign of his formal membership in Britain, in the United States or in France. When asked about Paine's membership, the United Grand Lodge of England can only answer: "Since there is no record of his membership, it can only be assumed that he is not a member."

Although Paine himself is not necessarily a member, he must have several close friends as members. For example, in order to escape the accusation of sedition, Paine fled England and lived in France. He lived in Nicolas de Bonneville and his family. Samuel Edwards described Boneville as "an active member of the aid society", and he "believed that the principles and goals of the aid society, if applied to the diseases in the world, would bring peace and prosperity to all countries." "The relationship between these two people is very close. From 1797 to 1802, Paine lived in Bonneville, Paris. Finally, his wife and sons followed Paine to the United States. Flachmann believes that during Paine's living in Paris, Bonneville introduced him to the philosophy and theology of the * * * aid society.

William M. Van der Weyde, in "Life and Works of Thomas Paine", also mentioned Paine's * * * economic association, and stressed that these friendships are not evidence that he belongs to the Brotherhood: "Paine is an interesting and highly directed author of the paper on the origin of * * * economic association. However, although many of his friends are undoubtedly members of the order, there has never been conclusive evidence that Paine is a member of the * * * aid society. " Similarly, Moncure Daniel Conway put forward that "Paine's close relationship with Nicolas de Bonneville and Charles Francois Dupuis in Paris-their works are full of * * * economic thinking-fully illustrates his * *. 18 10 years, after Payne's death, bonneville's widow published his "The Origin of the * * * Freedoms", although she omitted some passages in the book that might be regarded as contempt for Christianity. Most of them were repaired in a printing in 18 18. The central premise of Paine's book The Origin of the * * * aid society is that the order of the * * * aid society "is a religious relic from ancient Druidism; Like the Magi of Persia and the Priests of Heliopolis in Egypt, they are all priests of the sun. "The idea from the druid was not started by Paine, but further developed by others after him. However, according to Paine, the origin of this druid is the true and deepest secret of the * * * aid society, from which all the rituals and secrets hidden by masons extend:

Fear is the natural source of secrecy. When any new religion surpasses an old religion, the professors of the new religion become the persecutors of the old religion … When Christianity surpasses Druids … Druids become the targets of persecution. This will naturally force those of them who are loyal to the original religion to meet in secret under strict confidentiality. Their safety depends on it. A false brother may bring many of them to ruin; In the remains of the Druid religion, an institution was thus retained. In order to avoid the name of the Druid, it took the name of Mei Sen and used this new name to perform rituals and ceremonies of the Druid.

Albert G. Mackey, the author of the * * * aid society, joked that Paine "by the way, he knows as little about the * * * aid society as he knows about Druidism". He called the article "frivolous" and Paine "was just a pure scientist on the subject he thought he wanted to discuss". Indeed, it is obvious from The Origin of the * * * Economic Association that Paine is not very proficient in this craft, although this fact does not prove that he was not a member when he created it. However, Paine's overall tone shows that he is an outsider, trying to evaluate what is in the order, not its members, which shows more than anything else that he was not a member when he wrote The Origin of the * * * Economic Association. For example, after referring to some statements made by george smith, a provincial master in Kent, in The Use and Abuse of Freemasonry (1783), Paine concluded:

Sometimes, in writing and conversation, people will inadvertently reveal an expression, which will reveal what they want to hide, and so will Smith, because in the same chapter, he said, "Druids, when they devote themselves to writing, use Greek letters. I dare to assert that the most perfect rituals and ritual remains of druids are preserved in the existing masons' customs and rituals among human beings." "My brothers," he said, "may be able to find them more accurately than I freely explained to the public." "This is the confession of a master stonemason, who has no intention of letting the public understand that stonemasonry is a legacy of Druidism ...

These words are not from the mouth of a master stonemason, but from the mouth of a person who guesses the secrets that the master stonemason knows and may inadvertently reveal. Paine is an outsider. He mistook Smith's personal guess for an unintentional confession. If Paine was not a master of American life when he wrote this article, would he be an apprentice or a colleague? It's hard to say how curious Paine was about the origin and philosophy of the * * * aid society, so that he seriously wrote an article about the Brotherhood and began to study for a handicraft degree, but he didn't wait until he finished his paper. This is a particularly difficult case, because in the book The Origin of Free Masonry, Paine thinks that masons can get information about the origin of the Brotherhood, while other masons know nothing about it. His article begins:

* * * The freemasonry society is divided into three grades or degrees. 1. Apprentice. 2. Workers. 3. master. The new apprentice can only use some symbols and marks, as well as some steps and vocabulary. Through these, masons can get to know each other without being discovered by people who are not masons. Workers are not much better than new apprentices in masonry. Only in the master's meeting room can all the knowledge about the origin of masonry be preserved and hidden.

Although Thomas Paine's theory that the * * * aid society originated from Druidism may make modern * * * aid society sound odd or even rude, it is best to look at it in the historical background. First of all, remember that in England, druids are sometimes idealized as noble representatives of pure and primitive Celtic culture, which is misunderstood and slandered by the Romans.

Secondly, it is worth remembering that early members of the * * * aid society often mentioned the cultural connection or kinship with the ancient druids. The most prominent example is Dr. William stukeley, a member of the Royal Society and one of the most outstanding intellectuals of the Brotherhood. Stukeley has spent decades studying Stonehenge (which was considered as a relic of Druidism at that time), and he thinks that the * * * Economic Association he founded in 172 1 year represents some relics of ancient Stonehenge. Scholar Steven Brock explained: "A learned gentleman like stukeley thinks that the history, forms and ceremonies of the freemasons are directly related to the distant primitive world, which looms in the imagination of educated British people and is expected to make them understand the nature of God and the world more deeply."

Indeed, 1723 recorded in the Charter of the General Assembly of England that "some people think that there are still some good remains of masonry ... Long before the Romans invaded the island, as Celtic colonies, the ancient Gauls and the ancient Britons built Celtic buildings. A paper on * * * aid in 1730 was reprinted in the constitution of 1738, arguing that "within a reasonable time interval", people can "find something, at least like bricks and stones" in the druidic tradition. 1769, Wellings Calcott quoted druids to defend the secret ceremony of the * * * aid society, and the druids would punish anyone who "published or profaned their secrets". William Hutchinson proudly wrote in his book "The Spirit of * * * Aid Society" published in 1775: "We ... boldly say that we have retained the rituals and teachings of Druidism, more than anywhere else in the world; When we entered the first stage of masonry, many of their religious ceremonies were preserved from oblivion, otherwise they would sleep forever. In the same year, William Preston wrote: "It is said that druidism retains many usages similar to masons; However, due to the time, we can't know their main contents exactly. "

These are just a few examples. Therefore, the scholars of the * * * Economic Association realized that historians must ignore any direct and historical connection between masonry and Druids, and at the same time, they also realized that a considerable number of early craftsmen expressed and appreciated the cultural similarities between the two traditions. Thomas Paine's article, no matter what defects it has, should be viewed against this background.

If he starts to study for a degree, Paine may want all the knowledge they provide, and will wait until he obtains this knowledge before completing his thesis. More likely, at the time of writing this article, he was not a member of the Brotherhood at all, but wrote as an outsider, although he had close partners in this group.

David harrison speculated in his article about Paine published in today's * * * aid society: "If Paine really joined the * * * aid society, it should be during the American Revolution. His life was the center of the social elite at that time. His close relationship with Franklin, Washington, lafayette and Monroe showed that he undoubtedly knew their membership in the * * * aid society." However, Paine's The Origin of the * * * aid society shows that he did not join the * * * aid society at that time, despite his close relationship with these people. Many years later, around 1803- 1805, he still wrote as an outsider.

Although Paine may not be a member of the * * * aid society, all aspects of his thoughts conform to the principles of the * * * aid society. For example, in "The Age of Reason" ("The Origin of the * * * Economic Association" may be considered as part of it at first), Paine explained his religious beliefs:

I believe in one god, that's all; I hope there is happiness beyond this life. I believe that people are equal. I believe that the responsibility of religion lies in upholding justice, loving kindness and striving to make our compatriots happy.

These words, can be said to be a part of the * * * aid society, prompting the historian Joseph Fort Newton of the * * * aid society to write Paine:

Thomas Paine … Although not a beautiful student, he left us an article about the origin of the * * * Economic Association. This great patriot was the first person to put forward the name "United States". He was not a skeptic, but believed in "a religion that everyone agreed on", that is, the immortality of God, responsibility and soul.

Similarly, Vincent concluded in his book "The * * * and the Party in the Atlantic" that although Paine "may never have joined any specific fraternity, he still actively sympathized with the * * * freemasons movement and its philosophy."

Although Voltaire became an American student shortly before his death, there is no evidence that Paine became an American student between the creation of The Origin of Free Masonry and his death in 1809 a few years later. When he wrote that article, he was definitely not a member of the * * *, and there is no evidence that he joined the Brotherhood at that time. However, although "the Pantheon of the * * * aid society" may not hold Thomas Paine, this influential and controversial figure still keeps in touch with the * * * aid society, only because of his close friendship with some fraternity members and his intriguing article on the origin of the * * * aid society.

Reference:

[1] Wikipedia entry: Thomas Paine

[2] Shai Afsai, "Thomas Paine's Masonic Essay and the Question of His Membership in the Fraternity (http://freemasonr y.org/pdf/20 10_04_sample_article.pdf)."