S ir: I must apologise to Audrey Williamson for having erroneously
stated, iti my review of her biography of Thomas Paine, that Paine's second Marriage was to his landlord's widow, rather than his daughter. I must point out, however, that Miss Williamson is herself in error (letters, September 1) When she states that I suggested that Chalmers's biography was the origin of the stories of Paine's drunkenness; if she re-reads my review she will discover that I said nothing of the kind, merely *marking the part played by Chalmers In the formation of the legend. As for Paine as a traitor, Miss Williamson protests too much. The evidence is conveniently presented on Pages 250 and 251 of her biography. There also she refers to his "apparent calleusness to the suffering and death of .ordinary English people." When Paine dropped his pacifism and started evolving plans for the invasion of Britain he was, surely, being bloodthirsty (at least by his own earlier standards). Ifl. objecting to my use of this word Miss Williamson surely contradicts the li'giirnents of her own book. Her piety iS laudable, but it does not make for clarity of insight or exposition —which Is Precisely what her biography lacked. Richard Luckett .St Catherine's College, Cambridge.
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