Historic handwritten manuscript by Thomas Paine, unsigned, one page both sides, 8 x 10, no date but circa 1791–1792. Paine pens an open letter to "Brothers and fellow Citizens of the World," embracing the ideals of the French Revolution and expressing his principled views on the natural rights of man. In part: "The cordial and affectionate reception with which you have honored our worthy country men Mr. Thomas Cooper and Mr. John [sic, for James] Watt Members of the society of Manchester and united with our Society, has been communicated to me by…those Gentlemen and received with that glow of happiness that spontaneously flows from the heart.
In offering you our Congratulations on the glorious revolution your Nation has accomplished we speak a language which only sincerity can dictate. The formality of Courts, dull in every thing but mischief and intrigue affords no Example to us. To do our thoughts Justice we give to the heart the Liberty it delights in and hail you as brothers.
It is not among the least of revolutions which Time is unfolding to an astonished World, that our Nations, nursed…in reciprocal hatred should so suddenly break their common chain and rush into Amity. The principles that can produce such effects is not the offspring of any earthly court, and whilst it exhibits to us the expensive iniquity of former politics it enables us with bold felicity to say we have done with them. In contemplating the political Condition of Nations we can scarcely conceive a more diabolical System of Government than has been generally established over the World. To feed the avarice and gratify the wickedness of ambition, the brotherhood of the human race has been destroyed as if the several Nations of the Earth had been created by rival Gods.Instead of that universal benevolence which the morality of every known religion declares, he has been politically bred to consider his Species as his natural Enemy and to define virtues and Crimes by a Geographical Chart.
The declaration of principles we now make are not peculiar to the Society that addresses you. They are spreading themselves with accumulating force, thro' every part of our Country, and derive Strength from an union of Causes which no other principles can produce. The religious friend of man, of every denomination, records them as his own; they animate the lever of national liberty; and they cherish the heart of the poor, now…under an oppression of Taxes, by a prospect of relief.
It would have given an additional triumph to our congratulations if the equal Rights of Man, (which is the foundation of your Declaration of Rights), had been recognized by the Governments around you, and tranquilly established in all…We have beheld your peaceable principles insulted by despotic Ignorance. We have seen the Right hand of fellowship, you held out to the World, rejected…We now behold you as a Nation provoked into defence and we can see no mode of defence equal to that of establishing the general freedom of Europe…we wish you success and in saying this we speak with the voice of Thousands." In fine condition, with minor wear to the edges.
This remarkable manuscript by Thomas Paine reflects his fervent support for the French Revolution and his broader Enlightenment ideals of universal liberty and human rights. Written during the peak of revolutionary fervor in France—and following the publication of Paine's influential treatise The Rights of Man—this open letter addresses "Brothers and fellow Citizens of the World," signaling Paine’s belief in transnational solidarity against tyranny. At the time, Paine had aligned himself with revolutionary France—he would even become a member of the National Convention—while in Britain he faced persecution for his radical ideas. His rejection of monarchies and corrupt court politics, and his embrace of fraternity among nations formerly divided by war, mirrors the revolutionary optimism that briefly flourished in Europe. The letter's emphasis on natural rights, social equality, and resistance to despotic governments encapsulates Paine’s vision of a global democratic awakening, forged not by conquest, but by shared principles and moral clarity.
