It was either a metaphor or Thomas Paine lived for awhile in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and they had a friendship.

On 8/13/07, George Myers <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I know Huguenot settled in New Rochelle just outside New York City but
> as far as I know no specific excavations have been done there. Part of
> the problem was the lands purchased, much of it was either rock or
> marsh.
>
> I saw on C-Span that Benjamin Rush "American physician, politician,
> and educator. A signer of the Declaration of Independence, he promoted
> the abolition of slavery and the humane treatment of the mentally
> handicapped" lived across the way from Thomas Paine author of  "Common
> Sense" and other writings and a supporter of the American and the
> French revolutions, lived in New Rochelle, NY settled by Huguenots.
> I've been outside Thomas Paine's house.
>