Thomas Paine

THE PHILOSOPHY PAGES

THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE
Volume I. Biographies & Appreciations 1. Introduction 2. Life of Paine 3. Erskine Defense of Paine 4. Father of Republics 5. American Revolution 6. Ingersoll on Paine 7. Journey to the Home 8. A Square Deal Volume II. Common Sense & Miscellaneous Essays Introduction Explanatory Preface Common Sense 1. Common Sense 2. Monarchy and Hereditary Succession 3. Thoughts of the Present State of American Affairs 4. Of the Present Ability of America 5. Appendix 6. Epistle to Quakers Miscellaneous Essays 1. African Slavery in America 2. A Dialogue Between General Wolfe 3. Magazine in America 4. Useful and Entertaining Hints 5. Anecdotes Alexander the Great 6. Reflections Lord Clive 7. Cupid and Hymen 8. Duelling 9. Reflections on Titles 10. The Dream Interpreted 11. Reflections on Unhappy Marriages 12. Thoughts on Defensive War 13. An Occasional Letter on the Female Sex 14. A Serious Thought 15. The Foresters Letters 16. A Dialogue 17. Retreat Across the Delaware 18. Letter to Franklin in Paris 19. The Affair of Silas Deane Volume III. the American Crisis 1. The Crisis I 2. The Crisis II, To Lord Howe 3. The Crisis III 4. The Crisis IV 5. The Crisis V, To General Howe 6. The Crisis VI, To the Earl of Carlisle Etc 7. The Crisis VII, To the People of England 8. The Crisis VIII, Address to the People of England 9. The Crisis IX, 10. The Crisis X, On the Subject of Taxation 11. The Crisis XI, On the King of England's Speech 12. The Crisis XII, On the Present State of News 13. The Crisis XIII, To Sir Guy Carleton 14. The Crisis XIV, To the Earl of Shelbourne 15. The Crisis XV, 16. The Crisis XVI, To the People of America Volume IV. Rights of Man, Part I. 1. To George Washington 2. Historical Preface 3. Preface to English Edition 4. Preface to French Edition 5. Rights of Man, Part I 6. Declaration of the Rights of Man 7. Observations on the Declaration of Rights 8. Miscellaneous Chapter 9. Conclusion Rights of Man, Part II. Rights of Man, Part II, Preface. I. Of Society and Civilisation II. On the Origin of the Present Old Governments III. Of the Old and New Systems of Government IV. On Constitutions Volume V. Rights of Man, Part II & Miscellaneous Essays Rights of Man, Part II. V. Plus Appendix Ways and Means of Improving Miscellaneous Essays 1. To the Authors of Le Republicain 2. A Republican Manifesto 3. To the Abbe Sieyes 4. To the Attorney General 5. To Mr Secretary Dundas 6. Letters to Onslow Cranley 7. To the Sheriff of the County of Sussex 8. To Mr Secretary Dundas 9. Letter Addressed to the Addressers 10. Address to the People of France 11. Essay Written to Aid New Republicans 12. To the Attorney General on the Prosecution 13. On the Propriety of Bringing Louis Xvi to Trial 14. Reasons For Preserving the Life of Louis Capet 15. Shall Louis Xvi Be Respited 16. Plan of A Declaration 17. Answers to Four Questions Volume VI. the Age of Reason, Part I. 1. To My Fellow Citizens of the U.S.A. 2. Age of Reason Part1 3. Age of Reason Part2 Preface 4. Age of Reason Part2 5. The New Testament 6. Conclusion 7. Age of Reason Letters 8. Age of Reason Prosecution Volume VII. the Age of Reason, Part II. 1. The Existence of God 2. Worship and Church Bells 3. Extract from a Reply to the Bishop of Llandaff 4. Origin of Freemasonry 5. Prospect Papers 6. Examination of Prophecies 7. A Letter to Andrew Dean 8. Predestination Volume VIII. Essays, Letters and Addresses. 1. To the Public on Mr Deanes Affair 2. Autobiographical Sketch 3. Messrs Deane Jay and Gerard 4. 1 Peace and the Newfoundland Fisheries 5. 2 Peace and the Newfoundland Fisheries 6. 3 Peace and the Newfoundland Fisheries 7. The American Philosophical Society 8. Emancipation of Slaves 9. Public Good 10. Intro Letter to the Abbe Raynal 1782 11. Letter to the Abbe Raynal 1782 12. Dissertations on Government the Affairs Volume IX. Essays, Letters and Addresses. 1. The Society For Political Enquiries 2. Prospects on the Rubicon 3. Specification of Thomas Paine 4. Letter to Jefferson in Paris 1789-02-16 5. Address and Declaration 6. Private Letters to Jefferson 7. Letter to Danton 8. A Citizen of America to the Citizens of Europe 9. Appeal to the Convention 10. Memorial Addressed to James Monroe 11. Addenda 12. Letter to George Washington 13. Observations 14. Dissertation on First Principles of Government 15. The Constitution of 1795 16. The Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance 17. Forgetfulness Volume X. Essays, Letters and Poems. 1. Agrarian Justice 2. The Eighteenth Fructidor 3. The Recall of Monroe 4. Private Letter to Thomas Jefferson 5. Proposal That Louisiana Be Purchased 6. Thomas Paine to the Citizens of the United States 7. To the French Inhabitants of Louisiana 8. Case of the Officers of Excise 9. Letter to Dr Goldsmith 10. Scientific Memoranda 11. The Iron Bridge 12. The Construction of Iron Bridges 13. To the People of England on the Invasion of England 14. Constitutional Reform 15. Constitutions Governments, and Charters 16. The Cause of Yellow Fever 17. Liberty of the Press 18. Songs and Rhymes 19. The Will of Thomas Paine

SPECIFICATION OF THOMAS PAINE

A.D. 1788. No. 1667

Constructing Arches, Vaulted Roofs, and Ceilings

To ALL TO WHOM THESE. PRESENTS SHALL COME,
I, THOMAS PAINE, send greeting.

Whereas, His Most Excellent Majesty King George III, by his letters patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date the twenty-sixth day of August, in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, did give unto me, the said Thomas Paine, his special license that I, the said Thomas Paine, during the term of fourteen years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and Town of Berwick upon-Tweed, my invention of “A METHOD Of CQNSTRUCTING ARCHES, VAULTED Roofs, AND CEILINGS, EITHER IN IRON OR WOOD, ON PRINCIPLES NEW AND DIFFERENT TO ANYTHING HITHERTO PRACTISED, BY MEANS OF WHICH CONSTRUCTION, ARCHES, VAULTED ROOFs, AND CEILINGS MAY BE ERECTED TO THE EXTENT OF SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET BEYOND WHAT CAN BE PERFORMED IN THE PRESENT PRACTISE OF ARCHITECTURE;” in which said letters patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Thomas Paine, to cause a particular description of the nature of my said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in His Majesty’s High Court of Chancery within one calendar month next and immediately after the date of the said recited letters patent, as in and by the same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear.

Now KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said “Thomas Paine, do hereby declare that my said invention of A Method of Constructing of Arches, Vaulted Roofs, and Ceilings, either in Iron or Wood, on Principles New and Different to anything hitherto practised by means of which Construction, Arches, Vaulted Roofs, and Ceilings may be Erected to the Extent of several Hundred Feet beyond what can be performed in the present practise of Architecture, is described in manner following (that is to say) :-

The idea and construction of this arch is taken from the figure of a spider’s circular web, of which it resembles a section, and from a conviction that when nature empowered this insect to make a web she also instructed her in the strongest mechanical method of constructing it.

Another idea, taken from nature in the construction of this arch, is that of increasing the strength of matter by dividing and combining it, and thereby causing it to act over a larger space than it would occupy in a solid state, as is seen in the quills of birds, bones of animals, reeds, canes, etc. The curved bars of the arch are composed of pieces of any length joined together to the whole extent of the arch, and take curvature by bending.

Those curves, to any number, height or thickness, as the extent of the arch may require, are raised concentrically one above another, and separated, when the extent of the arch requires it, by the interposition of blocks, tubes, or pins, and the whole bolted close and fast together (the direction of the radius is the best) through the whole thickness of the arch, the bolts being made fast by ahead pin or screw at each end of them. This connection forms one arched rib, and thenumber of ribs to be used is in proportion to the breadth and extent of the arch, and those separate ribs are also combined and braced together by bars passing across all the ribs, and made fast thereto above and below, and as often and wherever the arch, from its extent, depth, and breadth, requires. When this arch is to be applied to the purpose of a bridge, which requires more arches than one, they are to be connected in the following manner (this is to say):

Wood piles are to be driven into the earth; over each of those piles are to be let fall a hollow iron or metal case, with a broad foot let into a bed; the interspace between the case and the wood pile to be filled up with a cement and pinned together, The whole number of those pillars are to be braced together, and formed into a platform for receiving and connecting the arches, The inter spaces of those pillars may be filled with plates of iron or lattice work so as to resemble a pier, or left open so as to resemble a colonnade of any of the orders of architecture.

Among the advantages of this construction is that of rendering the construction of bridges into a portable manufacture, as the bars and parts of which it is composed need not be longer orlarger than is convenient to be stowed in a vessel, boat, or wagon, and that with as much compactness as iron or timber is transported to or from Great Britain; and a bridge of any extent upon this construction may be manufactured in Great Britain and sent to any part of the world to be erected. For the purpose of preserving the iron from rust it is to be varnished over with a coat of melted glass, It ought to be observed that extreme simplicity, though striking to the view, is difficult to be conceived from description, although such description exactly accords, upon inspection, with the thing described.

A practicable method of constructing arches to several hundred feet span, with a small elevation is the desideratum of bridge architecture, and it is the principle and practicability of constructing and connecting such arches so as totally to remove or effectually lessen the danger and inconvenience of obstructing the channel of rivers, together with that of adding a new and important manufacture to the iron works of the nation, capable of transportation and exportation, that is herein described. When this arch is to be applied to the purpose of a roof and ceiling cords may be added to the arch to supply the want ofbutments, which are to be braced to or connected with the arch by perpendiculars.

In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Paine, have hereunto set my hand and seal, the twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight.

Thomas (L.S.) Paine.

Sealed and delivered, being first duly stamped,
in the presence of
Peter Whiteside.

AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the twenty-fifth day of September, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of His Majesty, King George, III, the said Thomas Paine came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and everything therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the several statutes made in the sixth year of the reign of the late King and Queen, William and Mary of England, and so forth, and in the seventeenth and twenty-third years of the reign of His Majesty King George III.

Enrolled the said twenty-fifth day of September, in the year last above written.

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