"
The "young man" was thirty-seven years of age when he landed in
Philadelphia in the autumn of 1774, to begin the real business of his
life. He had been a staymaker, a sailor, an exciseman, a teacher, a
shopkeeper, and an author, to say nothing of his twofold matrimonial
experience. Such a long and various course of schooling had fitted him
to become an American citizen.
His father was a staymaker, a Quaker, and poor. The son was sent to a
free school, where he was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic,
--enough learning to be given to any man at the public expense.
With these three keys, if he is made of the right material, he
can open the world. At thirteen, he worked at his father's trade; at
sixteen, he ran away and shipped on board the privateer "Terrible,"
Captain Death: the names of both craft and captain suggest the black
flag and cross-bones. Before the vessel sailed, his father interfered
and brought him ashore. Luckily for him; for, on her next cruise, the
"Terrible" was taken into St. Malo, a prize to the "Vengeance," after
one of the most desperate sea-fights on record. Her captain was killed;
out of a crew of two hundred men, only twenty-six were found alive,
most of them badly wounded. Visions of sea-life again lured Paine away
from the shop-board.
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