,,english ,,men ,,of ,,science ,,edited ,,by ,j4 ,,reynolds ,,green1 ,d4,sc4 ,,joseph ,,priestley ,all ,rights ,reserved ,illustration3 ,j ,priestley ,,joseph ,,priestley ,,by ,t4 ,e4 ,,thorpe1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,,author ,,of ,,humphry ,,davy1 ,,poet ,,and ,,philosopher ,,etc41 ,,etc4 ,,published ,,in ,,london ,,by ,j4 ,m4 ,,dent ,,co41 ,,and ,,in ,,new ,,york ,,by ,e4 ,p4 ,,dutton ,,co4 #aijf ,,preface ,in the following account of the life and work of that hero and type of the intellectual energy of the eighteenth century--the honest heretic--,joseph ,priestley1 ,i have1 to a considerable extent1 made the subject of it tell his own story4 ,after ,priestley's death there was found among his papers a short autobiography1 dealing with the main events of his life up to the time of his settlement in ,america4 ,this was subsequently published1 with additions and explanatory notes1 by his eldest son4 ,of this biography ,i have made full use1 considering it1 of course1 as the best authority on the matters to which it refers4 ,for the account of the ,warrington ,academy1 with which institution ,priestley was connected for some years1 and which connection profoundly affected his career1 ,i am mainly indebted to ,mr ,henry ,a4 ,bright's paper in the ,transactions of the ,historic ,society of ,lancashire and ,cheshire1 #aheh-ei4 ,the ,yates papers in the possession of the ,royal ,society have also afforded me much assistance1 and have been freely drawn upon4 ,i am also indebted to the late ,mr ,henry ,carrington ,bolton's collection for certain letters and for information concerning the ,lunar ,society of ,birmingham4 ,for the graphic account of the ,birmingham ,riots of #agia1 when ,priestley's house was wrecked1 and his library and laboratory destroyed1 as described by an eye-witness1 ,miss ,martha ,russell1 ,i have to express my obligations to her relative1 ,dr ,w4 ,j4 ,russell1 who first made me acquainted with her narrative4 ,i am also indebted to ,dr ,russell for a copy of the print from which has been prepared the illustration showing the destruction of ,priestley's house4 ,i desire also to acknowledge my indebtedness to ,dr ,aikin for permission to publish certain of ,priestley's letters to his distinguished connection1 ,mrs ,barbauld4 ,i am further under obligations to ,lady ,priestley1 ,lady ,roscoe and ,mr ,sydney ,lupton for much useful assistance4 ,the portrait of ,priestley1 which forms the frontispiece1 has been reproduced in photogravure from the painting by ,artaud1 now in ,dr ,williams' ,theological ,library in ,gordon ,square4 ,i have to thank the ,trustees of the ,library for their kindness in allowing the copy to be made4 ,t4 ,e4 ,t4 ,london3 ,may #aijf4 ,,contents ,,page ,chapter ,i #a ,birth--,parentage--,home ,life--,early ,education4 ,chapter ,,ii #ag ,enters the ,daventry ,academy to be trained for the ,ministry--,goes to ,needham ,market--,his ,life1 ,work and ,privations there4 ,chapter ,,iii #cj ,goes to ,nantwich--,starts a ,school--,is appointed a ,tutor in the ,warrington ,academy--,life at ,warrington4 ,chapter ,,iv #de ,priestley marries--,is ordained--,his ,essay on ,education--,lectures on ,history and ,general ,policy--,his ,chart of ,biography--,becomes a ,doctor of ,laws of the ,university of ,edinburgh--,his visits to ,london--,makes the acquaintance of ,dr ,price1 ,canton and ,benjamin ,franklin--,writes the ,history of ,electricity--,is elected into the ,royal ,society4 ,chapter ,v #ff ,goes to ,leeds as minister of the ,mill ,hill ,chapel--,resumes his studies in ,speculative ,theology--,the ,theological ,repository--,becomes a ,unitarian--,priestley as a controversialist--,his ,theory and ,practice of ,perspective--,his literary characteristics--,begins his inquiries on ,pneumatic ,chemistry--,his invention of soda-water--,receives the ,copley ,medal of the ,royal ,society4 ,chapter ,,vi #hb ,becomes literary companion to ,lord ,shelburne--,goes abroad--,his visit to ,paris--,his scientific work at ,calne and in ,london--,continues his theological and metaphysical studies--,his growing unpopularity--,leaves ,lord ,shelburne4 ,chapter ,,vii #hi ,removes to ,london--,declines a pension--,renews his acquaintance with ,franklin--,goes to ,birmingham--,becomes a member of the ,lunar ,society4 ,chapter ,,viii #ajc ,priestley at ,birmingham--,his theological work there--,his love of literature--,his catholicity--,his personal characteristics4 ,chapter ,,ix #abj ,the ,birmingham riots of #agia4 ,chapter ,x #ade ,determines to leave ,england--,his arrival in ,america--,settles in ,northumberland--,his closing days--,his death4 ,chapter ,,xi #afg ,priestley as a man of science--,his characteristics as a philosopher--,experiments and ,observations on ,different ,kinds of ,air--,his discovery of the influence of vegetation on vitiated air--,atmospheric air not elementary--,his researches on nitric oxide--,eudiometry--,nitrous oxide--,discovers hydrogen chloride--,prepares oxygen from nitre 7#agga7--;,isolates ammonia gas--,discovers sulphur dioxide--,dephlogisticated air 7oxygen7--,discovers silicon fluoride--,intra-diffusion of gases--,respiration--,priestley's opinions of the value of experimental science in education--,discovers nitrosulphuric acid--,notes the constancy of composition of the atmosphere--,prepares chlorine--,sound in air--,experiments relating to phlogiston--,the seeming conversion of water into air--,watt and the compound nature of water--,discovers sulphuretted hydrogen--,priestley's confession of faith in phlogiston4 ,index #bbe ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,joseph ,priestley1 from the portrait in ,dr ,williams' ,library by ,artaud 7,photogravure7 ,frontispiece ,birthplace of ,priestley1 from a drawing by ,j4 ,a4 ,symington after a photograph page #e ,the ,pillaging of ,priestley's ,house during the ,birmingham ,riots facing page #abj ,joseph ,priestley ,,chapter ,i ,birth--,parentage--,home ,life--,early ,education ,if1 says ,mr ,frederic ,harrison1 we choose one man as a type of the intellectual energy of the eighteenth century we could hardly find a better than ,joseph ,priestley1 though his was not the greatest mind of the century4 ,his versatility1 eagerness1 activity and humanity2 the immense range of his curiosity in all things1 physical1 moral or social2 his place in science1 in theology1 in philosophy and in politics2 his peculiar relation to the ,revolution1 and the pathetic story of his unmerited sufferings1 may make him the hero of the eighteenth century4 ,in these few lines ,mr ,harrison has indicated1 in terms sufficiently precise1 the leading features in the character and life-history of one of the most remarkable men of the eighteenth century4 ,to what extent he may be regarded as a hero and as a type of the intellectual energy of that century it is the purpose of the following pages to make clear4 ,joseph ,priestley was born at ,fieldhead1 in the parish of ,birstall1 near ,leeds1 on ,march #ac 7,old ,style71 #agcc4a ,he was named after his paternal grandfather1 an eminent tradesman1 as much famed for his heavenly conduct as his grandson 7,joseph7 has since been for natural abilities4 ,the ,priestleys1 writes ,madame ,belloc1 the great-granddaughter of the subject of this memoir1 in her charming essay1 ,joseph ,priestley in ,domestic ,life 7,contemporary ,review1 ,october #ahid71 were of an old ,presbyterian stock2 one branch of the family acquired wealth and lived at ,whiteways1 but his 7,joseph's7 own immediate ancestors were farmers and clothiers1 people of substance in the yeoman class4 ,we can trace them accurately as far as the middle of the seventeenth century1 when one ,phoebe ,priestley1 after wrestling with fever in her household1 was herself stricken1 and 'lay like a lamb before the ,lord' on her deathbed4 ,her husband wrote a long and touching account of all she said and did1 that her children might know what manner of mother they had lost4 ,these people were presumably of the same stock as the ,priestleys of ,soylands1 who ran back into the ,middle ,ages4 ,the children of the ,priestley families were all named after scriptural characters4 ,they were ,josephs1 ,timothys and ,sarahs from one generation to another4 ,the ,bible was stamped into them1 and from it they drew all the inspiration of their lives4 ,joseph ,priestley the elder was born in #affj1 and died on ,august #b1 #agde4 ,he married ,sarah ,healey and had by her eight children1 five sons and three daughters1 of whom ,jonas1 the father of ,joseph ,priestley the younger1 born about #agjj1 was the seventh child and fourth son4 ,jonas ,priestley married ,mary1 a daughter of ,joseph ,swift1 a farmer and maltster of ,shafton1 near ,wakefield1 and had by her six children1 four sons and two daughters1 of whom ,joseph was the eldest and ,timothy the second2 ,martha1 the elder girl1 who died in #ahab1 married ,john ,crouch1 and was left a widow in poor circumstances in #aghf4 ,another member of the ,priestley family who requires mention for the purpose of this narrative is ,sarah1 the sister of ,jonas and second daughter of ,joseph ,priestley the elder4 ,she was born in #afib and married ,john ,keighley--a man who had distinguished himself for his zeal for religion and for his public spirit4 ,she was left a widow in #agde4 ,three years before this she took her nephew ,joseph1 the subject of this memoir1 to live with her1 and was fond of him in the extreme4 ,she died in #agfd4 ,her brother ,john1 ,joseph ,priestley the younger's uncle1 died on ,february #bh1 #aghf1 aged ninety-two4 ,he was a remarkable man and of a singularly happy constitution1 both of body and mind4 ,this happy constitution of body and mind seems indeed to have been a characteristic of many members of the family1 the several branches of which were remarkably healthy and long-lived4 ,priestley says of his father ,jonas that he had uniformly better spirits than any man he ever knew1 and by this means was as happy towards the close of life1 when reduced to poverty and dependent upon others1 as in his best days4 ,these facts are not without interest as serving to account for much that we shall have occasion to note in the character and temperament of the subject of this biography4 ,fieldhead1 the house in which he first saw the light1 had been occupied by the family for several generations4 ,it was a small two-storey building1 built of stone and slated with flag1 similar in character to many of the houses still standing in the district1 the long1 low windows in the upper storeys betokening that they were formerly occupied by weavers4 ,it was last lived in by ,martha ,priestley 7,mrs ,crouch71 but on the death of her husband in #aghf was abandoned by the family1 and1 falling into decay1 was pulled down about fifty years ago4 ,the ,priestleys were a simple1 sober1 honest1 ,god-fearing folk1 staunch ,calvinists1 and deeply religious4 ,jonas ,priestley was a manufacturer of home-spun--a weaver and cloth dresser--two trades now distinct but then practised in common--who took his week's work on ass-back1 on roads little better than bridle-paths1 to the ,sunday market in ,leeds4 ,he was of a class characteristic of the district4 ,these hand-loom weavers1 who lived in the hill country lying to the west of ,leeds1 were generally men of small capitals2 they often annexed a small farm to their business1 or possessed a field or two on which to support a horse and cow1 and were for the most part blessed with the comforts without the superfluities of life4 ,during five or six days of the week they dwelt in their own little village1 among trees and fields1 taking no thought of the outside world and contenting themselves with the homely gossip of their farmstead or hamlet4 ,on market day they came into the town in shoals1 clad in their quaint corduroy breeches1 broad-brimmed hats1 and brass-buttoned coats of antique cut1 bringing their produce on pack-horses1 to await the visits of the merchants--the commercial aristocracy of ,leeds1 then a town of some #af1jjj or #ag1jjj inhabitants--who were the agents through which the outer world received its supply of ,yorkshire woollen goods4 ,they were a shrewd1 careful race1 somewhat stolid and slow of speech and not given to great mental briskness or activity1 keenly appreciative of the blessings of liberty and usually in sympathy with the political party to whom the cause of liberty was for the moment entrusted2 sober1 godly souls for the most part2 regular in their attendance at public worship1 and upon the whole preferring the plebeian zeal of the ,chapel to the aristocratic repose of the ,church4#b ,illustration3 ,,birthplace ,,of ,,priestley4 ,and what a world it was in which they thus serenely dwelt apart4 ,it was1 writes ,madame ,belloc1 the time of ,louis the ,fifteenth in ,france and of ,george the ,second in ,england1 and the nephews and nieces of ,charlotte ,princess ,palatine were still living1 and her letters1 whose name is legion1 yet lay stored in the cabinets of her correspondents1 full of inexpressible details discussed in most expressive language4 ,it was the time when ,jeanie ,deans walked from ,scotland to beg her sister's life of ,queen ,caroline1 and met ,madge ,wildfire in the way4 ,it was the time when the polite world was composed of 'men1 women and ,herveys'2 when ,squire ,pendarves was found dead in his bed in ,greek ,street1 ,soho1 leaving his young widow to be courted by ,john ,wesley and wedded by ,dr ,delany2 when statesmen bribed1 and young blades drank1 and ,sir ,harbottle carried off ,harriet ,byron1 whose shrieks brought ,sir ,charles ,grandison to the rescue1 sword in hand4 ,it was the period when the ,jacobite ,rebellion flamed up and expired2 when the ,young ,pretender marched to ,derby and the heads of the decapitated lords were exposed on ,temple ,bar2 tragedies1 agonies1 highway robberies1 ,dick ,turpin1 ,jack ,sheppard1 smugglers1 the press-gang2 ,frederick ,prince of ,wales quarrelling in ,leicester ,square2 ,queen ,caroline on her death-bed telling her weeping little ,george1 'que l'un n'empche pas l'autre'2 ,horace ,walpole making the grand tour2 ,dean ,swift dying in agonised misery4 ,merciful ,heavens6 ,what an ,england1 of which we possess the daily diary6 ,we can see ,hogarth at his easel1 and ,sir ,joshua taking his first stiff portraits1 and ,garrick going on pilgrimage to ,stratford1 and the young king courting ,hannah ,lightfoot and marrying his little bride from ,mecklenburg4 ,without too much verifying of dates it is certain that all this was happening before ,dr ,priestley was thirty years of age1 and that of none of it is there the faintest mention in the account he has drawn up of his own childhood1 youth and young manhood1 though he was himself destined to be one of the principal illustrations of the ,georgian era4 ,for anything which appears to the contrary1 he and his friends might have dwelt in some far-distant planet whose inhabitants were wholly given up to study and to prayer4 ,priestley says of his father that he had a strong sense of religion1 praying with his family morning and evening1 and carefully teaching his children and servants the ,assembly's ,catechism1 which was all the system of which he had any knowledge4 ,in the latter part of his life he became very fond of ,mr ,whitfield's writings and other works of a similar kind1 having been brought up in the principles of ,calvinism1 and adopting them1 but without ever giving much attention to matters of speculation1 and entertaining no bigoted aversion to those who differed from him on the subject4 ,we may well imagine that ,jonas1 with his strong sense of religion1 was one of that earnest band of several hundreds of plain people who listened1 spellbound1 to the eloquence of ,john ,wesley on that memorable day of ,may #agdb1 on which1 on ,birstall ,hill1 began the great ,yorkshire ,revival4 ,of his wife1 a woman of exemplary piety1 the mother of the future philosopher1 little has been recorded beyond the fragmentary notice in her son's autobiography4 ,he says of her3-- ,it is but little that ,i can recollect of my mother4 ,i remember1 however1 that she was careful to teach me the ,assembly's ,catechism1 and to give me the best instructions the little time that ,i was at home4 ,once in particular1 when ,i was playing with a pin1 she asked me where ,i got it2 and on telling her that ,i found it at my uncle's1 who lived very near to my father1 and where ,i had been playing with my cousins1 she made me carry it back again2 no doubt to impress my mind1 as it could not fail to do1 with a clear idea of the distinction of property and of the importance of attending to it4 ,she died in the hard winter of #agci1c not long after being delivered of my youngest brother2 and having dreamed a little before her death that she was in a delightful place1 which she particularly described and imagined to be heaven1 the last words which she spake1 as my aunt informed me1 were1 ',let me go to that fine place4' ,during some considerable portion of his mother's short period of married life1 ,joseph ,priestley1 together with his brother ,timothy1 was committed to the care of his grandfather ,swift1 with whom he remained with little interruption until his mother's death4 ,from this we may infer that the domestic circumstances of his parents were far from easy1 or that the accommodation at ,fieldhead was unequal to the support of the cloth-dresser's rapidly-increasing family4 ,timothy1 who1 after following his father's business as a cloth-dresser for a time1 became an ,independent minister1 and died in ,london1 has left us reminiscences of his brother's boyhood4 ,he seems to have been particularly impressed with his ability to repeat the ,assembly's ,catechism without missing a word1 and by being made to kneel down with him while he prayed4 ,this was not at bed-time1 which he never neglected1 but in the course of the day4 ,on the death of his mother1 the eldest boy1 then barely six years old1 was taken home and sent to school in the neighbourhood4 ,luckily for him1 his ,aunt ,sarah1 ,mrs ,keighley1 a truly pious and excellent woman1 who knew no other use of wealth1 or of talents of any kind1 than to do good1 and who never spared herself for this purpose1 being childless1 offered1 in #agdb1 to relieve her brother ,jonas of all care for his eldest son by taking entire charge of him4 ,from this time1 says her nephew1 she was truly a parent to me1 till her death in #agfd4 ,john ,keighley was a man of considerable property1 and at his death1 which occurred when ,priestley was about twelve years of age1 the widow was left with the greater part of his fortune for life1 and much of it at her disposal after her death4 ,by ,mrs ,keighley's direction he was sent1 he tells us1 to several schools in the neighbourhood1 especially to a large free school under the care of a clergyman1 ,mr ,hague1 under whom1 at the age of twelve or thirteen1 he first began to make progress in ,latin and acquired the elements of ,greek4 ,his brother ,timothy records that from eleven to about thirteen he had read most of ,mr ,bunyan's works and other authors on religion1 besides the common ,latin authors4 ,how a well-ordered school was conducted in the middle of the eighteenth century may be gleaned from the following regulations in force in ,mr ,canton's well-known academy in #agde3-- #a4 ,that the ,school hours are from #g o'clock in the morning till #ab1 and from #b to #e in the afternoon3 except the winter half-year1 when they begin at #h in the morning4 #b4 ,that all the ,scholars come decently1 that is1 with their ,hands and ,faces wash'd1 their ,hair or ,perriwigs ,comb'd1 and their ,shoes black'd4 #c4 ,that they bow at ,coming in and going out1 and when any ,thing is given or rec'd2 and never wear their ,hats in the ,house or ,school4 #d4 ,that they loiter not1 but go immediately to their own seats and move not thence1 without ,leave1 till ,school is done4 #e4 ,that if any ,person come into the ,school whom they know1 they are to get up1 make a bow1 and sit down in their places again4 #f4 ,that if the ,master be discoursing with1 or reading to any ,person1 they shall not stare ,confidently on them or hearken to their ,talk1 unless required to be present4 #g4 ,that they shall not interrupt the ,master while a ,stranger is talking with him1 with any ,question1 request1 or complaint whatsoever1 but stay till he is at ,leisure4 #h4 ,that they shall not presume to talk loud nor make any noise in getting their lessons4 ,a ,boy's ,tongue should never be heard1 but in saying his ,lesson1 asking or ,answering a ,question4 #i4 ,that there be no buying1 selling1 changing1 laying ,wagers or ,gaming in ,school-time1 on the forfeiture of the whole so bought or sold1 etc4 #aj4 ,that those who learn ,french shall not speak ,english to any that learn ,french1 on the ,forfeiture of ye ,bill1 or one ,hour's ,exercize after ,school ,time4 #aa4 ,that such as learn ,latin are also oblig'd not to speak other ,language to those that learn it1 during ,school time1 on the ,penalty last mentioned4 #ab4 ,that all perform their ,lessons and ,exercises in fair ,writing and true ,spelling1 and likewise prepare themselves for their ,examinations in ,french1 ,latin1 ,accounts and ,catechisms every week1 both in ,school times and all ,vacations4 #ac4 ,that such as perform well1 shall be prefer'd according to their ,merit1 and shall have liberty to leave ,school before the usual ,time2 but such as are ,negligent herein1 shall have their ,exercizes to write over again after ,school4 #ad4 ,that none presume to call any ,party or ,nick-names nor give any ill or reproachful ,language1 much less ,curse1 ,sware1 or ,lye1 but in all things behave in a quiet1 peaceable1 and civil manner4 #ae4 ,that the ,boarders shall not go beyond ye bounds belonging to ye ,house on any pretence whatsoever without leave1 on the forfeiture of #f;d4 or two ,hours' ,exercize after ,school for ,every such ,offence4 #af4 ,that one ,scholar is not to strike another1 or challenge him to fight2 but in case of any ,difference shall acquaint the ,master therewith and be satisfied with his ,determination4 ,whilst acquiring ,greek at the public school1 ,priestley learned ,hebrew on holidays of the ,dissenting minister of the place1 ,mr ,kirkby1 under whose care he eventually came4 ,the weakly1 consumptive habit into which he now fell necessitated his withdrawal from school4 ,his fondness for books had led his aunt to encourage the hope that he might be trained for the ministry1 and he readily entered into her views4 ,but1 he says1 my ill health obliged me to turn my thoughts another way1 and1 with a view to trade1 ,i learned the modern languages1 ,french1 ,italian and ,high ,dutch ,german1 without a master2 and in the first and last of them ,i translated and wrote letters for an uncle of mine who was a merchant1 and who intended to put me into a counting-house in ,lisbon4 ,indeed1 he says a house was actually engaged to receive him there1 and everything was nearly ready for his undertaking the voyage when his health so far improved that the idea of the ministry was resumed4 ,during the two years in which he had been kept away from school the boy was thrown almost entirely upon his own resources4 ,it says much for the activity and eagerness of his mind1 his diligence and his power of mental acquisitiveness1 that he should have neglected no opportunity of gaining knowledge from the various heretical divines who came to drink a dish of tea with his aunt4 ,he tells us that from ,mr ,haggerstone1 a ,dissenting minister in the neighbourhood1 who had been educated under ,maclaurin1 and whom he visited twice a week1 he learned geometry1 algebra and various branches of mathematics1 theoretical and practical4 ,he also read1 with but little assistance from him1 ,gravesend's ,elements of ,natural ,philosophy1 ,watts's ,logic1 and ,locke's ,essay on the ,human ,understanding4 ,he also gave lessons in ,hebrew to a ,baptist minister at ,gildersome1 a village about four miles from ,leeds1 and by that means made himself 'a considerable proficient in that language4' ,at the same time ,i learned ,chaldee and ,syriac1 and just began to read ,arabic4 ,as his knowledge increased1 and the powers of his intellect strengthened1 he began to exercise his reason upon the many problems of doctrine and religious belief which could not fail to be uppermost in his mind when his upbringing and the environment in which circumstances had placed him are considered4 ,his aunt1 although a strict ,calvinist1 was a large-minded woman1 and1 as her nephew says1 far from confining salvation to those who thought as she did on religious subjects4 ,her home1 he says1 was the resort of all the dissenting ministers in the neighbourhood1 without distinction1 and those who were the most obnoxious1 on account of their heresy1 were almost as welcome to her1 if she thought them honest and good men 7which she was not unwilling to do71 as any others4 ,although all the religious books that came in his way tended to confirm him in the principles of ,calvinism1 he was led by the natural vigour of his mind1 and by an innate spirit of philosophical optimism1 which strengthened with advancing years1 to feel a repugnance to its gloomy tenets1 and to question the sufficiency and reasonableness of much of its doctrine4 ,the conversation of the heretical divines in whose company he was thrown served1 moreover1 to awaken inquiry and to increase his doubts4 ,these divines were for the most part men who1 in liberality of thought1 were far in advance of the congregations they served1 and this was especially the case of those for whose attainments and character the discerning boy had most respect4 ,the youth1 who as a child had lisped at his mother's knee1 without missing a word1 the formularies of the ,assembly's ,catechism1 was now tortured with doubt and misgiving as he strove to penetrate into and to realise the meaning of the phrases his memory so tenaciously retained4 ,and the more he read and the more he pondered the more disquieted he became4 ,having1 he says1 read many books of experiences1 and1 in consequence1 believing that a new birth1 produced by the immediate agency of the ,spirit of ,god1 was necessary to salvation1 and not being able to satisfy myself that ,i had experienced anything of the kind1 ,i felt occasionally such distress of mind as it is not in my power to describe1 and which ,i still look back upon with horror4 ,notwithstanding ,i had nothing very material to reproach myself with1 ,i often concluded that ,god had forsaken me1 and that mine was like the case of ,francis ,spira1 to whom1 as he imagined1 repentance and salvation were denied4 ,in that state of mind ,i remember reading the account of the man in the iron cage in the ,pilgrim's ,progress with the greatest perturbation4 ,i imagine1 he continues1 that even these conflicts of mind were not without their use1 as they led me to think habitually of ,god and a future state4 ,and though my feelings were then1 no doubt1 too full of terror1 what remained of them was a deep reverence for divine things1 and in time a pleasing satisfaction which can never be effaced1 and ,i hope was strengthened as ,i have advanced in life and acquired more rational notions of religion4 ,the remembrance1 however1 of what ,i sometimes felt in that state of ignorance and darkness gives me a peculiar sense of the value of rational principles of religion1 and of which ,i can give but an imperfect description to others4 ,at the time he was greatly distressed that he could not feel a proper repentance for the sin of ,adam1 taking it for granted1 he says1 that without this it could not be forgiven him4 ,the fact was that1 under the influence of his friends1 ,haggerstone and ,walker1 he was insensibly following ,baxter in attempting to reconcile the doctrines of ,arminius and ,calvin1 and he ended by embracing those of ,arminius4 ,it was repugnant to his sense of equity and justice that1 in the words of his ,catechism1 ,all mankind1 by the fall of our first parents1 lost communion with ,god1 are under his wrath and curse1 and so made liable to all miseries in this life1 to death itself1 and to the pains of hell for ever4 ,his first trial of faith came when he applied for admission as a communicant in the congregation which he had always attended4 ,the old minister was willing enough to receive him1 but the elders1 who had the government of the church1 discovering this unsoundness on the subject of the sin of ,adam1 stoutly refused to sanction his admission4 ,whilst the taint of heresy appears not to have greatly distressed the worthy ,mrs ,keighley1 it doubtless added to her difficulties in shaping his course towards the ministry4 ,in the natural order of things he was to have been sent to the academy at ,mile ,end1 a hot-bed of ,calvinism1 then under the care of ,dr ,cawder4 ,but1 he says1 being at that time an ,arminian1 ,i resolutely opposed it1 especially upon finding that if ,i went thither1 besides giving an experience1 ,i must subscribe my assent to ten printed articles of the strictest ,calvinistic faith1 and repeat it every six months4 ,it now looked as if the idea of the ministry was to be given up for good and all1 and given up it probably would have been but for the intercession of ,mr ,kirkby1 who strongly recommended that he should be placed under the care of the good and learned ,dr ,doddridge4 ,mr ,kirby1 says ,priestley1 had received a good education himself1 was a good classical scholar1 and had no opinion of the mode of education among the very orthodox ,dissenters1 and being fond of me1 he was desirous of my having every advantage that could be procured for me4 ,my good aunt1 not being a bigoted ,calvinist1 entered into his views4 ,priestley had another ally in his step-mother1 for his father had married again4 ,she was a woman of good sense as well as of religion1 and had been sometime housekeeper to ,dr ,doddridge1 of whom she had a high opinion1 and had always recommended his academy4 ,to ,dr ,doddridge1 however1 he was not destined to go4 ,that eminent divine was in the last stages of the malady to which he eventually succumbed1 and he died at ,lisbon in the ,october of #agea4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,enters the ,daventry ,academy to be trained for the ,ministry--,goes to ,needham ,market--,his ,life1 ,work and ,privations there4 ,accordingly1 in #ageb1 he was sent to ,daventry1 then under the charge of ,mr ,ashworth4 ,he was now nineteen4 ,although of a weakly constitution1 his health was sufficiently re-established to enable him to stand the strain of preparation for the calling to which he now assiduously devoted himself4 ,in mental equipments he was so much in advance of his fellows that he was excused all the studies of the first year and a great part of those of the second4 ,he remained at the ,academy three years4 ,no student ever dwelt more fondly on the memory of his ,alma ,mater than did ,priestley on ,daventry and all that it meant to him4 ,its atmosphere was wholly congenial to him1 steadying1 stimulating and strengthening the naturally vigorous powers of his mind4 ,it was1 he says1 peculiarly favourable to the serious pursuit of truth1 and every question of much importance1 such as liberty and necessity1 the sleep of the soul1 and all the articles of theological orthodoxy and heresy were the subjects of continual discussion between the teachers and the taught4 ,the general plan of studies was exceedingly favourable to free inquiry3 the students were referred to authors on both sides of every question and were required to give an account of them1 abridging the more important for future use4 ,concerning this small seminary for the training of ,dissenting ministers1 the ,rev4 ,mr ,hargrove in his account of ,priestley in the ,inquirer of #aijd1 says3#d-- ,a miserable little place it must have seemed to the eyes of neighbouring clergy1 with nothing in it of the venerable traditions1 the ancestral wealth1 the beauty and the dignity of the old colleges at ,oxford and ,cambridge4 ,there was nothing grand about this building1 nor did any sacred associations hallow its homeliness4 ,but while the lamp of learning burnt low in the ancient universities during the eighteenth century1 their gates kept fast closed against all who were too intelligent not to doubt the doctrines of the ,established ,church1 or too honest to conceal their doubts1 it burnt bright and clear1 tiny though the flame might be1 in obscure and poor haunts like this of ,daventry4 ,as ,priestley proudly1 and not untruly1 boasted1 at a later time1 to the ,prime ,minister of ,england3 ',shutting the doors of the universities against us1 and keeping the means of learning to yourselves1 you may think to keep us in ignorance and so less capable to give you disturbance4 ,but though ignominiously and unjustly excluded from the seats of learning1 and driven to the expedient of providing at a great expense for scientific education among ourselves1 we have had this advantage1 that our institutions1 being formed in a more enlightened age1 are more liberal and therefore better calculated to answer the purpose of a truly liberal education4 ,thus while your universities resemble pools of stagnant water secured by dams and mounds1 ours are like rivers which1 taking their natural course1 fertilise a whole country4' ,the manner in which he occupied his time1 the range of his studies1 and the miscellaneous nature of his reading at ,daventry1 may be seen from his following extract from his journal for #agee3-- ,,business ,,done ,,in ,,january1 ,,february ,,and ,,march ,practical ,howe's ,blessedness of the ,righteous2 ,bennel's ,pastoral ,care2 ,norris's ,letters and ,some ,sermons4 ,controversial ,taylor on ,atonement2 ,hampton's ,answer2 ,sherlock's ,discourse1 vol4 i42 ,christianity not founded in ,argument2 ,doddridge's ,answer2 ,warburton's ,divine ,legation2 ,benson on the ,first ,planting of ,christianity2 ,king's ,constitution of the ,primitive ,church4 ,classics ,josephus1 vol4 i4 from p4 #ci to #ggj2 ,ovid's ,metamorphoses1 to p4 #aci2 ,tacitus's ,history1 ,life of ,agricola1 and ,manners of the ,germans4 ,scriptures ,john the ,evangelist2 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles2 ,the ,epistles to the ,romans1 ,galatians1 ,ephesians2 #a and #b ,corinthians1 in ,greek2 ,isaiah to the #hth chapter1 in ,hebrew4 ,mathematics ,maclaurin's ,algebra1 to part ii4 ,entertaining ,irene2 ,prince ,arthur2 ,ecclesiastical ,characters2 ,dryden's ,fables2 ,peruvian ,tales2 ,voyage round the ,world2 ,oriental ,tales2 ,massey's ,travels2 ,life of ,hai ,ebn ,yokdam2 ,history of ,abdallah4 ,composition ,a ,sermon on the ,wisdom of ,god2 ,an ,oration on the ,means of ,virtue2 #ast vol4 of the ,institutes of ,natural and ,revealed ,religion4 ,with one of his classmates he engaged to rise early and so dispatched many articles of business every day4 ,one of them1 which continued all the time we were at the academy1 was to read every day ten folio pages in some ,greek author1 and generally a ,greek play in the course of the week besides4 ,by this means we became very well acquainted with that language and with the most valuable authors in it4444 ,my attention was always more drawn to mathematical and philosophical studies than his was4 ,throughout the whole of his time at the academy1 and despite the attractions which scholarship and literary studies had for him1 and notwithstanding his eagerness to satisfy the immense range of his curiosity in all things1 physical1 moral or social1 he never1 he says1 lost sight of the great object of his studies1 which was the duties of a ,christian minister4 ,there it was that ,i laid the general plan which ,i have executed since4 ,particularly ,i there composed the first copy of my ,institutes of ,natural and ,revealed ,religion1 ,mr ,clark1 to whom ,i communicated my scheme1 carefully perusing every section of it and talking over the subject of it with me4 ,what three years of this mental1 moral and intellectual discipline meant to the young ,arminian may be summed up in his own words3 he saw reason to embrace what he says is usually called the heterodox side of almost every question4 ,and this notwithstanding that ,dr ,ashworth was earnestly desirous of making him as orthodox as possible4 ,notwithstanding the great freedom of our speculations and debates1 the extreme of heresy among us was ,arianism2 and all of us1 ,i believe1 left the academy with a belief1 more or less qualified1 of the doctrine of atonement4 ,priestley1 even at this early stage in his career1 gave abundant proof of that resolute regard for truth which constituted the motive power of his life4 ,his sturdy independence of thought1 and his almost passionate resentment of dogmatic authority--among the most significant of his intellectual traits--were plainly manifested in his youth and early manhood4 ,they continued to the end to be the dominant notes of his character and to be the springs of his action4 ,they were at once the sources of his strength and the causes of his misfortunes4 ,priestley had now finished with ,daventry4 ,he was twenty-two years of age1 and ready1 and indeed eager1 to minister in all the glory of a full-bottomed wig to any congregation that might solicit his services4 ,the young divines at the academy were an unworldly set1 taking but little thought of their future situations in life4 ,they often1 indeed1 amused themselves1 as ,priestley tells us1 with the idea of their dispersion in all parts of the kingdom1 after living so happily together1 and with the camaraderie of youth used to propose plans of meeting at certain times1 and smile at the different appearances they would probably make after being ten or twenty years settled in the world4 ,priestley set out on his career with the highest ideal of his calling2 indeed to him the office of a ,christian minister was the most honourable of any on earth1 and he had no other ambition than to distinguish himself by his application to the studies proper to that profession4 ,that he laboured unselfishly and with no idea of place and preferment is certain from the circumstance that he suffered from a physical disability which he must have recognised could not but tell strongly against his chance of worldly success4 ,he had an inveterate stammer which1 at times1 made preaching as irksome to him as it was trying to those who had to listen to him4 ,in spite of many and repeated attempts he never wholly overcame this trial4 ,and yet nothing is more characteristic of him than1 as he reviewed his career in the evening of his life1 he should see that1 like ,st ,paul's thorn in the flesh1 his impediment had not been without its use4 ,without some such check as this1 he says1 ,i might have been disputatious in company1 or might have been seduced by the love of popular applause as a preacher2 whereas1 my conversation and my delivery in the pulpit having nothing in them that was generally striking1 ,i hope ,i have been more attentive to qualifications of a superior kind4 ,the thorn in the flesh was probably not without its use in other ways4 ,it probably drove him to literature4 ,if he had none of the graces of pulpit oratory1 he had at least the gift of facile composition4 ,if he could not hope to move men's minds by oral appeals1 he might aspire to sway them by the power of the pen4 ,his first call came from an inconsiderable congregation at ,needham ,market in ,suffolk4 ,it was a poor and needy place1 nominally under the charge of a superannuated minister1 the prospects bounded by the possibilities attaching to a stipend of forty pounds a year4 ,and these prospects1 limited as they were1 were still further curtailed by ,priestley's own action4 ,he found that his congregation had been used to receive assistance from both ,presbyterian and ,independent funds4 ,priestley was no longer in the mood to receive assistance from the ,independents1 and told his congregation that he did not choose to have anything to do with that body4 ,that little difference between the elders and himself concerning the sin of ,adam and its consequence1 together with his three years' sojourn at ,daventry1 were beginning to bear fruit4 ,the congregation readily consented to give up the ,independent fund and promised to make good the deficiency themselves4 ,priestley1 however1 quickly realised that they deceived themselves either as to their ability or their willingness to redeem this promise1 for the most1 he says1 he ever received from them was in the proportion of about thirty pounds per annum4 ,they also deceived him in another sense4 ,their readiness in consenting to do without the assistance of the ,independents disposed him to think they could not have much bigotry among them4 ,although he made it a rule to introduce nothing in the pulpit that could1 or should1 lead to controversy1 he made no secret of his real opinions in conversation1 or in his lectures on the theory of religion which he had composed at the academy and which he proceeded to give to all persons1 without distinction of sex or age1 who chose to come and listen to him4 ,he then found that when he came to treat of the ,unity of ,god merely as an article of religion his hearers were attentive to nothing but the soundness of his faith in the doctrine of the ,trinity1 and they quickly discovered1 what he was at no pains to conceal1 that he was a very pronounced ,arian4 ,from the time of this discovery1 he says1 his hearers fell off apace1 especially as the old minister1 as might have been expected1 took a decided part against him4 ,to add to his difficulties his aunt stopped his remittances4 ,this was in part due to the ill offices of his orthodox1 i4e41 ,independent1 relations1 but mainly because the worthy ,mrs ,keighley had largely exhausted her liberality in supporting others of her needy dependants1 and in particular a deformed niece1 her constant companion1 and who could not1 ,priestley thinks1 have subsisted without the greatest part1 at least1 of all she had to bequeath4 ,he himself was the first to recognise that1 being apparently settled in the world1 he ought to be no longer burdensome to her4 ,she had spared no expense in his education1 and that1 he says1 was doing more for him than giving him an estate4 ,whatever the world might have thought as to his being settled in it1 it had little to offer him beyond the dignity of his profession1 and it is difficult to live on dignity alone4 ,the respectable and agreeable families in the place1 to whom he had flattered himself he would be useful1 were not very prompt to support that dignity1 and eventually it had to sustain itself on the wages of an agricultural labourer4 ,indeed1 he says1 had it not been for the good offices of ,dr ,benson and ,dr ,kippis1 eminent eighteenth century divines1 who procured him now and then an extraordinary five pounds from different charities1 he believed he should have starved4#e ,at ,needham he says1 ,i felt the effect of a low1 despised situation1 together with that arising from the want of popular talents4 ,there were several vacancies in congregations in that neighbourhood where my sentiments would have been no objection to me1 but ,i was never thought of4 ,even my next neighbour1 whose sentiments were as free as my own1 and known to be so1 declined making exchanges with me1 which1 when ,i left that part of the country1 he acknowledged was not owing to any dislike his people had to me as heretical1 but for other reasons1 the more genteel part of his hearers always absenting themselves when they heard ,i was to preach for him4 ,but visiting that country some years afterwards1 when ,i had raised myself to some degree of notice in the world1 and being invited to preach in that very pulpit1 the same people crowded to hear me1 though my elocution was not much improved1 and they professed to admire one of the same discourses they had formerly despised4 ,the iron would have entered the soul of a weaker man1 but ,priestley1 true to himself1 never lost hope or faltered in his courage4 ,however short his commons1 ,providence had endowed him with the continual feast of a contented mind4 ,he firmly believed1 even during the darkest hours of that ,suffolk time1 that this same wise ,providence was disposing everything for the best4 ,notwithstanding his unfavourable circumstances1 ,i was1 he says1 far from being unhappy at ,needham4 ,he boarded with a family for whose kindness he was always grateful4 ,he had free access to one or two private libraries in the district1 in particular one belonging to ,mr ,alexander1 a ,quaker4 ,here it was1 he says1 that ,i was first acquainted with any person of that persuasion2 and ,i must acknowledge my obligation to many of them in every future stage of my life4 ,i have met with the noblest instances of liberality of sentiment and the truest generosity among them4 ,there can be little doubt1 however1 in spite of his robust optimism and the courage with which he confronted the world1 the young divine led a cheerless and solitary existence at ,needham4 ,and it is no less certain that it was during this dark and troubled time that he sowed the seed--the wheat and the tares--which in the fulness of time was to furnish the harvest of good and evil he eventually garnered--fame1 obloquy1 insult1 persecution1 respect1 affection and his position among the immortals4 ,although the account which ,priestley has left us of his life and work at ,needham is somewhat meagre1 it is sufficiently full to enable us to trace in it the initial stages of his evolution as a theological thinker4 ,indeed1 he says his studies at this period were chiefly theological1 theology being the business of his life and the vocation to which he had been called4 ,he had left the academy with a qualified belief in the doctrine of atonement1 and as he was desirous of getting some more definite ideas on the subject he set himself to peruse the whole of the ,old and ,new ,testament and to collect from them1 with the greatest care1 all the texts that appeared to him to have any relation to the subject1 and to arrange them under a great variety of heads4 ,the consequence of this was1 he says1 what ,i had no apprehension of when ,i began the work1 viz41 a full persuasion that the doctrine of atonement1 even in its most qualified sense1 had no countenance either from ,scripture or reason4 ,he then proceeded to digest his observations into a regular treatise1 a part only of which was at that time published1 under the title of the ,doctrine of ,remission4 ,the portion omitted had reference to an examination of the writings of the ,apostle ,paul1 whose reasoning1 he was satisfied1 was in many places far from being conclusive4 ,this examination grew into a separate work1 in which he tested every passage in which the reasoning appeared to him to be defective or the conclusions ill-supported2 and1 as he says1 he thought them to be pretty numerous4 ,his friend ,kippis advised him to publish this treatise under the character of an unbeliever1 in order to draw the more attention to it4 ,this he says1 ,i did not choose1 having always had a great aversion to assume any character that was not my own1 even so much as disputing for the sake of discovering truth4 ,i cannot ever say that ,i was quite reconciled to the idea of writing to a fictitious person1 as in my ,letters to a ,philosophical ,unbeliever1 though nothing can be more innocent1 or sometimes more proper1 our ,saviour's parables implying a much greater departure from strict truth than those letters do4 ,i therefore wrote the book with great freedom indeed1 but as a ,christian and an admirer of the ,apostle ,paul1 as ,i always was in other respects4 ,when nine sheets of the work were printed off1 ,dr ,kippis dissuaded him from proceeding1 or indeed from publishing anything of the kind1 until he should be more known and his character better established1 and accordingly he desisted4 ,all that he considered of consequence in this work he subsequently inserted in the ,theological ,repository1 in order to its being submitted to the examination of learned ,christians4 ,another task that he imposed on himself at ,needham1 and in part executed1 was an accurate comparison of the ,hebrew text of the ,hagiographa and the ,prophets with the version of the ,septuagint1 noting all the variations4 ,it was1 perhaps1 in connection with this inquiry that his name appears in the second list of subscribers to ,taylor's ,hebrew ,concordance1 the second volume of which was published in #ageg4 ,the subscription was three guineas1 a very considerable sum to the young divine in those days4 ,the fact that he should have entered his name at all is an indication of the ardour and spirit of self-sacrifice with which he invariably pursued his inquiries1 whether theological or scientific4 ,priestley1 to the end of his days1 cared little for money except as the means of procuring the material for his investigations1 and he was always ready to part with it1 to the extent of his opportunity1 in any cause in which his sympathies were enlisted4 ,his circumstances were now so straitened that1 despite the great aversion which he conceived he had to the business of a schoolmaster--having often said that he would have recourse to anything else for a maintenance in preference to it--he was at length compelled to make some attempt that way4 ,he therefore printed and distributed proposals to teach classics1 mathematics1 etc41 for half a guinea a quarter1 and to board the pupils in the house with himself for twelve guineas a year4 ,it was recognised that he was not unqualified for this work1 but although there was no obvious connection between ,arianism and arithmetic it was enough that he was tainted with heresy1 and not a pupil was entrusted to his care4 ,he then proposed to give lectures to grown persons on such branches of science as he could procure the means of illustrating1 and began with a course of twelve lectures on the use of ,a ,new and ,correct ,globe of the ,earth4 ,his one course of ten hearers did little more than pay for his globes4 ,at this juncture a distant relative procured him an opportunity of preaching as a candidate at ,sheffield1 but his trial sermon was not approved3 his manner was thought too gay and airy4 ,one of the ministers at ,sheffield had1 however1 more discrimination1 and by his good offices he was recommended to a congregation at ,nantwich1 in ,cheshire1 who gave him an invitation to preach there for a year certain4 ,accordingly1 he put together his few worldly possessions--his globes1 his beloved books1 his stock of sermons1 and the manuscripts of the theological treatises he was too poor or too diffident to give to the world--and took the ,ipswich packet to ,london as the least expensive way of getting down to ,cheshire4 ,the chapel in which ,priestley preached at ,needham was taken down and rebuilt in #ahcg4 ,when ,rutt was preparing his edition of ,priestley's ,memoirs1 his daughter1 ,mrs ,notcutt1 who lived in ,ipswich1 made inquiries respecting ,priestley1 but with no result4 ,no reminiscences of him could be found at ,needham4 ,he was evidently thought too poor and too obscure for his memory to be treasured4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,goes to ,nantwich--,starts a ,school--,is appointed a ,tutor in the ,warrington ,academy--,life at ,warrington4 ,priestley left ,needham ,market in #ageh4 ,he had been there three years1 and he was in his twenty-fifth year when he entered upon his work at ,nantwich4 ,of this place he had always the happiest recollections4 ,the meeting-house1 as we learn from ,partridge's ,historical ,account of ,nantwich1 #aggd1 was a good1 decent building1 to which appertains a convenient house for the minister4 ,whether he actually occupied this house is uncertain4 ,one account states that he boarded with ,mr ,john ,eddowes1 a grocer1 and sometimes showed his agility and sprightliness by leaping over the counter4 ,eddowes was described by ,priestley as a very sociable and sensible man1 and as he was fond of music his guest was-- ,induced to learn to play a little on the ,english flute1 as the easiest instrument2 and1 he continues1 though ,i was never a proficient in it1 my playing contributed more or less to my amusement many years of my life4 ,and he adds1-- ,i would recommend the knowledge and practice of music to all studious persons2 and it will be better for them if1 like myself1 they should have no very fine ear or exquisite taste1 as by this means they will be more easily pleased and be less apt to be offended when the performances they hear are but indifferent4 ,at ,nantwich he found the people good-natured and friendly1 and happily free from those controversies which had been the topics of almost every conversation in ,suffolk4 ,he had indeed little mind for them himself4 ,his congregation never exceeded sixty persons1 and a great proportion of them were travelling ,scotchmen1 men1 he says1 of very good sense1 and1 what he thought extraordinary1 not one of them at all ,calvinistical4 ,as there were few children in the congregation there was little scope for exertion with respect to his duty in catechising4 ,as the duties of his office left him ample opportunity to turn the active powers of his mind to account1 he again attempted to establish a school1 and this time with a success far beyond his anticipations4 ,my school1 he states1 consisted of about thirty boys1 and ,i had a separate room for about half a dozen young ladies4 ,thus ,i was employed from seven in the morning until four in the afternoon1 without any interval except one hour for dinner1 and ,i never gave a holiday on any consideration1 the red-letter days1 as they are called1 excepted4 ,i had1 therefore1 but little leisure for reading or for improving myself in any way1 except what necessarily arose from my employment4 ,priestley1 in truth1 was an excellent teacher1 and with the success which his efforts brought him there passed away the last traces of the aversion with which he had entered on that calling4 ,he made it his study to regulate his business as a schoolmaster in the best manner1 and he was able to say with truth that in no school was more business done1 or with more satisfaction1 either to the master or the scholars1 than in this school of his4 ,he was no longer haunted1 as at ,needham1 with the fear of debt1 and he was able to add to his stock of books and to gratify his wish to possess some philosophical instruments1 such as a small air-pump and an electrical machine1 which he taught his pupils to use and to keep in order1 and by entertaining their parents and friends with experiments he added greatly to the reputation of his school4 ,at that time1 however1 he had no leisure to make any original observations4 ,such leisure as he had he gave to literature1 recomposing his ,observations on the ,character and ,reasoning of the ,apostle ,paul1 which he began at ,needham1 and compiling an ,english grammar for the use of his school1 on a new plan4 ,this work1 which was printed in #agfa1 had a considerable reputation in its day4 ,david ,hume acknowledged to ,griffith1 the bookseller1 that he was made sensible of the ,gallicisms and peculiarities of his style on reading it4 ,priestley remained three years at ,nantwich4 ,his success there as a teacher induced the trustees of the newly-founded academy at ,warrington to reconsider the desirability of engaging him as tutor in the ,classical ,languages and in what used to be called ,polite ,literature4 ,his name had already been mentioned in connection with the ,warrington ,academy by his friend1 ,clark of ,daventry1 at the time of its establishment and whilst he was at ,needham4 ,but1 says ,priestley1 ,mr 7afterwards ,dr7 ,aikin1 whose qualifications were superior to mine1 was justly preferred to me4 ,on the death1 on ,march #e1 #agfa1 of ,dr ,john ,taylor of ,norwich1 the learned author of ,a ,hebrew ,concordance and other theological works1 and a well-known classical scholar1 the head of the academy and its tutor of divinity1 ,dr ,aikin was appointed to succeed him1 and ,priestley was invited to take ,dr ,aikin's place4 ,this1 says ,priestley1 ,i accepted1 though my school promised to be more gainful to me4 ,but my employment at ,warrington would be more liberal and less painful4 ,but1 as ,i told the persons who brought me the invitation1 ,i should have preferred the office of teaching the ,mathematics and ,natural ,philosophy1 for which ,i had at that time a great predilection4 ,priestley's removal to ,warrington1 in ,september #agfa1 was one of the turning-points in his career1 and no single circumstance in it exercised a greater influence on his life and fortunes4 ,the ,warrington ,academy for the education of young men of every religious denomination for the ,christian ministry1 or as laymen1 and the men who formed its tutors1 played a notable part in the history of ,nonconformity in ,england4 ,in ,taylor of ,norwich2 in ,aikin1 the father of the well-known physician and lecturer on ,natural ,history1 and of ,anna ,ltitia1 better known as ,mrs ,barbauld1 the poetess2 in ,john ,reinhold ,forster1 the naturalist1 who accompanied ,cook in his second voyage2 in ,nicholas ,clayton1 who succeeded ,aikin as divinity tutor2 in ,william ,enfield1 the author of the ,history of ,liverpool and the well-known compiler of ,the ,speaker1 who afterwards became ,rector ,academic2 in ,pendlebury ,houghton1 and in ,gilbert ,wakefield1 the accomplished editor of ,lucretius1 ,priestley had for colleagues or successors as eminent a set of teachers as any place of learning at that time could boast of4 ,it was at the ,warrington ,academy1 the successor of the older academies belonging to the ,english ,presbyterian body at ,findern and ,kendal1 and the direct ancestor of the ,manchester ,college at ,oxford1 that the free thought of ,english ,presbyterianism first began to crystallise into the ,unitarian theology1 and for a time it was the centre of literary taste and activity1 and of political liberalism of the district in which it was placed--the ,areopagus in the ,athens of ,lancashire1 as it was called4 ,the ,transactions of the ,historic ,society of ,lancashire and ,cheshire 7vol xi4 p4 ,i1 #aheh-ei7 contain ,a ,historical ,sketch of ,warrington ,academy1 by ,mr ,henry ,a4 ,bright1 compiled in great measure from a parcel of papers1 letters and memoranda which had belonged to the ,rev4 ,j4 ,seddon1 and which had been rescued from the hands of a ,liverpool cheesemonger1 who was using them for the ordinary purposes of his shop4 ,among these papers were letters of ,priestley1 ,kippis1 ,aikin and others of lesser note1 all of interest as throwing light on the history of the academy4 ,i am indebted to ,mr ,bright's paper for the following account of the character and fortunes of the academy4 ,mr ,john ,seddon1 we learn1 was its virtual founder4 ,the letters referred to1 as well as the testimony of contemporaries1 bear witness to the concern which he had ever expressed for its support1 honour1 success2 the indefatigable pains which he took for this purpose2 the indifference which he showed to fame or censure1 to good or evil report1 so that he might serve the general designs of the institution4 ,seddon1 although described as a dullish person1 must have been a man of considerable pertinacity1 patience and resource1 as shown by the manner in which he steered his venture through the difficulties and dangers incident to its establishment1 for he had to contend with the doubts1 hesitation and luke-warmness of its professed supporters1 and the pleasing spirit of jealous rivalry which existed between ,liverpool and ,manchester as to its locality4 ,liverpool advanced seven excellent reasons why the academy should not be settled at ,warrington2 of these one of the ,manchester party writes3--,some of them are false1 others dubious1 and all1 whether true or not1 trifling and impertinent4 ,this retort courteous was naturally followed by ,remarks on a letter from the gentlemen in ,manchester to the gentlemen in ,liverpool1 subscribers to the intended ,academy1 in which the gentlemen in ,liverpool lose their temper most completely4 ,every fourth word in the remarks is italicised4 ,the gentlemen of ,manchester1 are stigmatised as the authors of contention and division1 and are subjected to much scathing sarcasm4 ,evidently the omens were not very propitious1 but the wordy warfare eventually spent itself4 ,mr ,seddon got his way2 the trustees ultimately settled down to business and on ,june #cj1 #ageg1 the academy was duly inaugurated4 ,its first home1 immortalised by the lines in which ,mrs ,barbauld bids us ,mark where its simple front yon mansion rears1 ,the nursery of men for future years1 was described1 in terms eminently suggestive of the incomparable ,mr ,george ,robins1 as a range of buildings with a considerable extent of garden ground1 and a handsome terrace walk on the banks of the ,mersey1 possessing altogether a respectable collegiate appearance4 ,the ugly1 mean1 old brick house1 no longer ,a dim old mansion1 hidden half-away ,from a dull world grown careless of its fame1 has been transformed into a place of quiet1 old-world dignity1 and is now turned to uses worthy of its fame and in harmony with its traditions4 ,in spite of the seeming unanimity of the trustees1 and the zeal and energy of their secretary1 ,mr ,seddon1 the fortunes of the ,academy were ill-starred from the outset4 ,dr ,taylor1 one of the first ,arians who ministered to the ,english ,presbyterians1 and an erudite and accomplished man--an author so widely read in his day that he is even mentioned by ,burns in his ,epistle to ,john ,goudie3 ',tis you and ,taylor are the chief1 ,wha are to blame for this mischief-- was ill fitted to direct the precarious existence of the enterprise1 and the old scholar must have sighed often for the free and independent position1 and the dear home among an affectionate people1 which he had sacrificed in leaving ,norwich for ,warrington4 ,dissensions arose1 in the midst of which ,dr ,taylor died4 ,dr ,taylor1 as already stated1 was succeeded as theological tutor by ,dr ,aikin1 who retained that position until his death in #aghj4 ,dr ,aikin1 says ,gilbert ,wakefield1 was a gentleman whose endowments as a man and as a scholar it is not easy to exaggerate by panegyric4444 ,his intellectual attainments were of a very superior quality indeed4 ,his acquaintance with all true evidences of revelation1 with morals1 politics and metaphysics1 was most accurate and extensive4 ,every path of polite literature had been traversed by him1 and traversed with success4 ,he understood the ,hebrew and ,french languages to perfection1 and had an intimacy with the best authors of ,greece and ,rome superior to what ,i have ever known in any ,dissenting minister from my own experience4 ,under his judicious guidance matters now went more smoothly3 indeed1 the eighteen or twenty years which followed constituted the golden age of the ,academy1 and the brightest and happiest of these were the six years of ,priestley's stay4 ,in the year following ,taylor's death the academy moved from the house by ,mersey's gentle current1 then1 we are told1 an uncontaminated stream noted for its salmon1 to the new ,academy1 which is described as a brick building in a quiet and secluded court1 with stone copings and a clock and bell turret in the centre1 of no great architectural beauty1 but not unpleasing with its quaint1 old-world look4 ,this1 too1 was celebrated in verse by ,mrs ,barbauld3 ,lo6 there the seat where science loved to dwell1 ,where liberty her ardent spirit breathed4 ,it exists no longer3 municipal improvements have swept it away1 and all that remains of ,academy ,place are the houses at right angles to it where dwelt ,priestley and ,enfield4 ,as to emoluments1 the tutors had each #ajj a year from the subscription fund1 and with respect to dwelling houses1 are to be at their own expenses4 ,poor students were exempted from the payment of fees1 but richer ones paid two guineas yearly to each of the tutors1 who might take boarders into their houses at #ae per annum for those who had two months' vacation1 and #ah per annum for those who had no vacation1 exclusive of tea1 washing1 fire and candles4 ,if the living at ,warrington was plain and the thinking high1 there was a degree of decorous gaiety1 of refinement1 of social charm1 easy1 blithe and debonnair1 pervading the little community1 which1 as may be gleaned from the memoirs and reminiscences of the period1 impressed and delighted everyone who was witness of it4 ,among those who had pleasant memories of the place were ,john ,howard1 the philanthropist1 whose works on prison reform were printed by ,eyres of ,warrington under ,dr ,aikin's superintendence2#f ,william ,roscoe1 the author of the ,lives of ,lorenzo de ,medici and ,leo the ,tenth1 who first learned to care for botany from his visits to the ,warrington ,botanical ,gardens1 and whose first work1 ,mount ,pleasant1 was also printed there2 ,pennant1 the naturalist1 whose ,british ,zoology and ,tour in ,scotland first saw the light at ,warrington2 ,currie1 the biographer of ,burns1 etc4 ,the tutors in my time1 wrote ,priestley--7they knew better1 said ,miss ,lucy ,aikin1 than to usurp the title of ,professors7--lived in the most perfect harmony4 ,we drank tea together every ,saturday1 and our conversation was equally instructive and pleasing4 ,i often thought it not a little extraordinary that four persons who had no previous knowledge of each other should have been brought to unite in conducting such a scheme as this1 and be all zealous ,necessarians as we were4 ,we were all1 likewise1 ,arians2 and the only subject of much consequence on which we differed respected the doctrine of atonement1 concerning which ,dr ,aikin held some obscure notions4 ,the only ,socinian in the neighbourhood was ,mr ,seddon of ,manchester1 and we all wondered at him4 ,miss ,lucy ,aikin1 the granddaughter of ,priestley's colleague1 the niece of ,mrs ,barbauld1 and the accomplished authoress of ,memoirs of the ,courts of ,queen ,elizabeth1 and the biographer of ,addison1 has left us a little sketch of that society in which the early years of her girlhood were spent4 ,i have often thought1 she says1 with envy of that society4 ,neither ,oxford nor ,cambridge could boast of brighter names in literature or science than several of those ,dissenting tutors--humbly content1 in an obscure town and on a scanty pittance1 to cultivate in themselves1 and communicate to a rising generation1 those mental acquirements and moral habits which are their own exceeding great reward4 ,they and theirs lived together like one large family1 and in the facility of their intercourse they found large compensation for its deficiency in luxury and splendour4 ,but we learn there were other attractions in the ,warrington circle besides the tutors and their philosophy4 ,we have a knot of lasses just after your own heart1 writes ,mrs ,barbauld 7then ,miss ,aikin7 to her friend ,miss ,belsham1 as merry1 blithe and gay as you would wish them1 and very smart and clever--two of them are the ,miss ,rigbys4 ,we are further told the beautiful ,miss ,rigbys1 whose father was provider of the ,commons1 made wild work with the students' hearts2 and the trustees had to insist that they must be removed from the house if any students stayed there4 ,and so for a time they were1 but ,mrs ,rigby's health fortunately broke down1 and the young ladies were brought back again4 ,rousseau's ,heloise1 too1 had much to answer for1 and at its appearance 7so ,miss ,aikin tells me71 'everybody instantly fell in love with everybody'2 and then it was that our poetess1 after winning the hearts of half the students1 some one or two of whom for her sake lived 7,i am informed7 'sighing and single1' was carried off to ,palgrave by that queer little man whom henceforth she was to 'honour and obey4' ,on another occasion she wrote3-- ,somebody was bold enough to talk of getting up private theatricals4 ,this was a dreadful business6 ,all the wise and grave1 the whole tutorhood1 cried out1 ',it must not be6' ,the students1 the ,rigbys and1 ,i must add1 my aunt1 took the prohibition very sulkily1 and my aunt's ,ode to ,wisdom was the result4 ,those wicked ,miss ,rigbys must have made the life of that dullish person1 ,mr ,seddon1 who acted as ,rector ,academi1 and who was responsible for law and order1 well-nigh insupportable4 ,on one occasion--perhaps it was to celebrate their return--they asked some of the students to supper4 ,hams and trifles1 and potted beef and other luxuries1 were placed before them1 and the students were asked to help the ladies4 ,but the hams were made of wood1 and the trifles were plates of soap-suds1 and the potted beef was potted sawdust1 and the other luxuries were equally tempting and equally tantalising4 ,nor were the ,rector's feelings likely to be soothed by such letters as the following from ,mr ,samuel ,vaughan of ,bristol1 sent during the ,long ,vacation1 complaining bitterly of the disappointment he felt as regards the ,academy1 and the too great latitude allowed the students3-- ,my son ,ben's expenses during ten months' absence amounted to #aab1 and ,billy's to #ei1 #abs42 this should nearly suffice for the ,university1 and of itself would to many be a sufficient objection1 but in my opinion the consequence of the expense is abundantly more pernicious1 as it naturally leads to ,levity1 a love of pleasure1 dissipation and affectation of smartness2 diverts the attention1 and prevents the necessary application to serious thoughts and ,study4 ,when ,i sent my ,sons so great a distance1 it was with a view to preserve them from the reigning contagion of a dissipated age1 to imbibe good ,morals1 acquire knowledge1 and to obtain a manly and solid way of thinking and acting1 but they are returned with high ,ideas of modern refinements1 of dress and external accomplishments1 which if ever necessary1 yet resumed by them much too soon4 ,as one instance1 they think it a ,sight to appear without having their hair ,frissened1 and this must be done by a dresser1 even upon the ,sabbath4 ,no person can more wish for1 and encourage an open and ,liberal way of thinking and acting than myself1 yet do ,i think that day should be kept with ,ancient ,solemnity1 for to say the least1 the reverse gives offence to many serious good ,people1 and exhibits an ,ill example at a time when ,religion is at so low an ebb as to stand in need of every tie and prop 7whether real or imaginary7 for its support1 therefore any relaxation or ,innovation under sanction of such a seminary as yours may have the most pernicious tendency1 for when restraints even in unessentials are removed they are frequently a clue or gradation to the fashionable levity of the ,age and ,irreligion4 ,that the mauvais quart d'heure under the ancestral roof was not without its chastening influence on the improvident ,ben is evident from the fact that the same post brought the perturbed ,rector a letter from him protesting that-- none of us have been vicious but only gay4444 ,our recreations have been innocent though expensive1 but they imagine that they cannot be expensive without being criminal4 ,however1 he expresses contrition and promises amendment1 fears that he has encroached on ,mr ,seddon's goodness and forbearance1 and that his conduct may have acted injuriously on the ,academy1 etc41 etc41 and winds up by saying that ,mr ,wilkes will probably get a pardon from the ,crown1 and that he 7,mr ,vaughan7 does not believe that he ever wrote the ,north ,briton--,no4 #de4 ,alas6 ,mr ,benjamin ,vaughan's contrition was very short-lived1 for next year that affectionate but distressed pupil had to confess to the ,rector that he dare not show his accounts to his father4 ,my father1 last year1 was extremely angry at an account ,i gave him of #aab spent at ,warrington--the present sum is #agi4 ,bill disclaims all share in the expenses above #fj4 ,i then have #aai to answer for2 ,i who promised such a strict amendment1 and who had as many excuses last year as at present4 ,i had more journeys1 more music1 and yet1 according to his knowledge1 have spent #g more in my present year of pennance1 repentance1 etc46 ,and yet ,mr ,benjamin ,vaughan became a useful member of society1 had a seat in the ,house of ,commons1 and had the honour of having dedicated to him the ,lectures on ,history and ,general ,policy1 to which is prefixed an ,essay on a ,course of ,liberal ,education for ,civil and ,active ,life1 to which he had listened as a pupil and which ,priestley published in #aghh4 ,whatever may have been ,mr ,seddon's worries he had at least the consolation of a loving wife1 although1 it is to be feared1 she too suffered much at the hands of those terrible ,miss ,rigbys1 and even from ,miss ,aikin1 who was somewhat of a quiz4 ,the daughter of an equerry to ,frederick ,prince of ,wales1 she was a very fine lady1 and1 says ,mr ,bright1 spelt abominably4 ,among the ,seddon papers is a letter which her husband wrote to her during a short absence in #agff4 ,on the back of his letter ,mrs ,seddon prepares a rough draft of an answer to her truant husband4 ,the word which puzzles her most is 'adieu1' and she has to spell it over three times before she can determine whether the 'e' comes before the 'i1' or the 'i' before the 'e4' ,the knotty point is at last settled and the fair copy written out2 and this1 too1 her careful husband put away and preserved among his papers4 ,i cannot resist quoting the last paragraph of this most charming but laborious letter4 ,let me hear of you as often as you can2 for it does me more good1 and has a much stronger affect upon my spirits than either eather or salvolatiley4 ,adieu1 my dear1 except the sincerest and best wishes for your health and happiness1 of one whose greatest pleasure in this world is in subscribing herself your truely affectionate wife4--,j4 ,seddon4 ,p4,s4--,i shall want cash before you return2 what must ,i doe8 ,pray put me in a way how to replenish4 ,remember me propperly to everybody4 ,we cannot1 however1 concern ourselves at greater length with the life at the ,warrington ,academy1 or dwell much longer on the fortunes of that seat of learning4 ,to do full justice to the theme would need indeed the witty pen which in ,cranford delineated the social life of a neighbouring town with such inimitable grace and charm4 ,the worthy ,mr ,seddon died in #aggj1 and was succeeded as ,rector by ,dr ,enfield1 a man distinguished for elegance of taste and sound literary judgment1 and who1 on the death1 ten years later1 of ,dr ,aikin1 became chief tutor4 ,for various reasons1 which it is unnecessary to state here1 the trustees eventually decided to remove the ,academy to ,manchester1 and ,warrington knew it no more after #aghf4 ,during the twenty-nine years of its existence in the latter place some #djj pupils had passed through it--many of them noteworthy men in their day1 such as ,percival2 the ,aikins2 ,rigby of ,norwich2 ,estlin of ,bristol2 ,sergeant ,heywood2 ,hamilton ,rowan1 the ,irish rebel2 ,malthus1 the political economist2 ,lord ,ennismore2 ,sir ,james ,carnegie of ,southesk2 ,mr ,henry ,beaton1 ,mr ,pendlebury ,houghton and ,dr ,crompton4 ,in looking over the students' names1 says ,mr ,bright1 ,i cannot but notice how many of their descendants are still the staunch supporters of the liberal dissent which was the distinguishing characteristic of the ,academy4 ,some families1 like the ,willoughbys of ,parkham1 whose last lord was educated at ,warrington1 have now died out2 others1 like the ,aldersons of ,norwich1 of which family the late judge was a member1 have seceded to the ,church of ,england4 ,but we still find united the lineal and the theological successors of the ,academy's students in the ,rigbys1 the ,martineaus1 and the ,taylors of ,norwich1 the ,heywoods and the ,yateses of ,liverpool1 the ,potters of ,manchester1 the ,gaskells of ,wakefield1 the ,brights of ,bristol1 the ,shores of ,sheffield1 the ,hibberts of ,hyde1 and the ,wedgwoods of ,etruria4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,priestley marries--,is ordained--,his ,essay on ,education--,lectures on ,history and ,general ,policy--,his ,chart of ,biography--,becomes a ,doctor of ,laws of the ,university of ,edinburgh--,his visits to ,london--,makes the acquaintance of ,dr ,price1 ,canton and ,benjamin ,franklin--,writes the ,history of ,electricity--,is elected into the ,royal ,society4 ,priestley's entrance into the ,warrington community affected his career in more ways than one4 ,in the first place1 the improvements in his worldly prospects enabled him to marry2 and in the second he was led to turn his attention to ,natural ,philosophy1 to which1 as we have seen1 he was already predisposed4 ,the selection of his wife and of his studies influenced the subsequent course of his life profoundly4 ,why he should have left the sprightly1 witty ,nancy ,aikin1 with the blue and laughing eyes1 to be carried off to ,palgrave by that queer little man whom she had to honour and obey as a school-mistress1 is one of those inscrutable dispensations which the hymeneal god delights in4 ,that they were the best of friends and had pleasure in each other's society is abundantly evident4 ,priestley warmly admired her genius3 she confessed1 indeed1 that he first encouraged her to try her 'prentice hand at poetry4 ,she was about eighteen when ,priestley first appeared at ,warrington1 and about ten years his junior1 a girl of many personal attractions and1 as demonstrated by her writings1 of great mental ability and accomplishments4 ,she had been carefully educated by her father1 had a considerable knowledge of modern literature1 and was fairly well-read in that of ,greece and ,rome4 ,her first volume of poems was printed at ,warrington in #aggc and ran through four editions in a year4 ,it was said of her that she roused the admiration of ,fox and ,johnson1 the envy of ,rogers and ,wordsworth1 and the jealousy of ,goldsmith2 ,scott declared she made a poet of him2 ,brougham eulogised her in the ,house of ,lords1 and ,mrs ,oliphant has paid her a beautiful tribute in her ,literary ,history of ,england4 ,miss ,lucy ,aikin1 in her edition of her aunt's collected works1 gives a charming description of her as she appeared in early womanhood3-- ,she was at this time possessed of great beauty1 distinct traces of which she retained to the latest period of her life4 ,her person was slender1 her complexion exquisitely fair1 with the bloom of perfect health2 her features were regular and elegant1 and her dark blue eyes beamed with the light of wit and fancy4 ,not less charming is the testimony of ,henry ,crabb ,robinson1 who1 in #ahje1 wrote3-- ,mrs ,barbauld bore the remains of great personal beauty4#g ,she had a brilliant complexion1 light hair1 blue eyes1 a small1 elegant figure1 and her manners were very agreeable1 with something of the generation then departing4444 ,mrs ,barbauld is so well known by her prose writings that it is needless for me to attempt to characterise her here4 ,her excellence lay in the soundness and acuteness of her understanding1 and in the perfection of her taste4 ,in the estimation of ,wordsworth she was the first of our literary women1 and he was not bribed to this judgment by any especial congeniality of feeling or by concurrence in speculative opinions4 ,i may here relate an anecdote connecting her and ,wordsworth1 though out of its proper time by many1 many years2 but it is so good that it ought to be preserved from oblivion4 ,it was after her death that ,lucy ,aikin published ,mrs ,barbauld's collected works1 of which ,i gave a copy to ,miss ,wordsworth4 ,among the poems is a ,stanza on ,life1 written in extreme old age4 ,it had delighted my sister1 to whom ,i had repeated it on her deathbed4 ,it was long after ,i gave these works to ,miss ,wordsworth that her brother said1 ',repeat me that ,stanza by ,mrs ,barbauld4' ,i did so4 ,he made me repeat it again4 ,and so he learned it by heart4 ,he was at the time walking in his sitting-room at ,rydal with his hands behind him1 and ,i heard him mutter to himself1 ',i am not in the habit of grudging people their good things1 but ,i wish ,i had written those lines4'#h ,priestley's choice fell upon ,mary ,wilkinson1 who was of about the same age as ,anna ,letitia ,aikin4 ,she was the daughter of a well-to-do ironmaster at ,wrexham1 with whose family he had become acquainted in consequence of the youngest son1 ,william1 having been a pupil at his school in ,nantwich4 ,he certainly had no reason to regret his choice1 whatever ,mary ,wilkinson might have felt at times in the cloudy weather she was destined to go through4 ,it is1 of course1 idle to speculate on what might have been if things had been otherwise4 ,the world1 at all events1 was the richer for the ,hymns in ,prose and the ,early ,lessons1 on which ,mr ,rochemont ,barbauld's young charges and many succeeding generations of children were nurtured4 ,from a worldly point of view ,priestley's marriage was not without its advantages to him1 immediate and prospective4 ,mary ,wilkinson had all the force of character1 and much of the mental and intellectual ability of her father and her brother ,john1 both of whom had a considerable share in the development of the iron industry in this country4 ,of them ,miss ,meteyard1 in her ,life of ,wedgwood1 writes3-- ,john ,wilkinson and his father ,isaac played no unimportant part in the vast industrial movement of their time4 ,isaac invented and first brought into action the steam-engine blast at his iron works near ,wrexham4 ,john1 at the same place1 as also at ,bradley ,forge1 in ,staffordshire1 executed all the ponderous castings for the steam engines required in the ,cornish mines1 as well as those for ,boulton and ,watt when they first commenced business4 ,the father was ruined in one of the commercial crises of which the times were fertile4 ,of the son we shall hear more as this history proceeds4 ,he was one of the truest and staunchest of the many true and staunch friends ,priestley possessed4#i ,priestley was married in #agfb1 ,mr ,threlkeld1 one of the students at the academy1 who subsequently became a well-known ,presbyterian divine1 notable for his linguistic attainments and his extraordinary power of memory1 being his groomsman4 ,whatever might be ,mr ,threlkeld's faculty of recollection it went wholly astray on this occasion1 for he became so absorbed in the study of a ,welsh ,bible he found beside him in the pew that he became quite oblivious to the onerous duties of his office4 ,of his marriage ,priestley characteristically writes3-- ,this proved a very suitable and happy connection1 my wife being a woman of an excellent understanding1 much improved by reading1 of great fortitude and strength of mind1 and of a temper in the highest degree affectionate and generous2 feeling strongly for others1 and little for herself4 ,also1 greatly excelling in everything relating to household affairs1 she entirely relieved me of all concern of that kind1 which allowed me to give all my time to the prosecution of my studies and the other duties of my station4 ,all accounts we have of ,mary ,wilkinson are to the same effect4 ,her great-granddaughter1 ,madame ,belloc1 writes3-- ,it is a tradition in the family that ,mrs ,priestley once sent her famous husband to market with a large basket1 and that he so acquitted himself that she never sent him again6 ,mrs ,priestley was extremely intelligent and original4 ,lord ,shelburne once found her sitting on the top of a pair of steps1 clad in a great apron1 and vigorously pasting on a new wallpaper4 ,she received him with calm composure4 ,there is a good portrait of her as an elderly lady in a cap1 curving her hand round her ear to assist her hearing4 ,she must have herself insisted upon being painted in this unusual attitude4 ,she looks like a person of excellent understanding1 whose mind has been much improved by reading4 ,before he committed himself to matrimony ,priestley took another step hardly less momentous4 ,what it was may be gleaned from the following extract of a letter dated ,may #a1 #agfb1 to ,seddon1 who was away at the time on one of his frequent begging expeditions on behalf of the ,academy3-- ,i am seriously preparing for ordination4 ,as all things in this world are uncertain1 ,i think it a point of prudence not to omit anything that may possibly be of advantage to me1 if ever it be my lot to be obliged to have recourse to the ministry for the whole or any part of my subsistence1 particularly as ,i am going to have a dearer and more important stake in this world than ,i have ever yet had in it4 ,i can sincerely say ,i never knew what it was to be anxious on my own account1 but ,i cannot help confessing ,i begin to feel a good deal on the account of another person4 ,the hazard of bringing a person into difficulties which she cannot possibly have any idea or prospect of affects me1 at times1 very sensibly4 ,the earliest known portrait of ,priestley is of this period4 ,it represents him as a slender young man with sloping shoulders1 with a keen1 intelligent eye and an expression not unlike that caught by ,fuseli at a later time2 his long neck is swathed in the ample folds of a white neck-cloth1 and he wears a full-bottomed wig4#aj ,during ,priestley's residence at ,warrington an artist was employed in making silhouettes of the principal inhabitants4 ,many of these were published by ,dr ,kendrick in his ,profiles of ,warrington ,worthies4 ,in that of ,priestley the features are delicate and almost feminine3 the full-bottomed wig is very much in evidence4 ,priestley brought his young bride to the good dwelling-house neatly filled up1 handsomely sashed to the front1 with a flight of five steps to the entrance1 three storeys high1 four rooms on a floor1 cellared under1 with convenient kitchens1 yards and out-offices1 over which she was to preside for the next five years4 ,to add to her responsibilities she was promptly charged with the care of the gay but improvident ,mr ,ben ,vaughan and his brother ,bill1 and received the very moderate compensation of fifty pounds a year for each son4 ,priestley's house in ,academy ,street still remains1 and the fact that he occupied it until his removal in #agfg is commemorated by a bronze tablet affixed to its walls by the members of the ,warrington ,society on the hundredth anniversary of his death4 ,there is a local tradition that an adjoining building was used by him as a laboratory1 although it is difficult to find any grounds for the belief4 ,there is no mention of experimental work at this time in his memoirs or correspondence1 and whatever he might have done in this direction for his own amusement or the instruction of his pupils needed no special apartment4#aa ,lectures on chemistry were1 however1 given at the academy by ,matthew ,turner1 who is believed to have first turned ,priestley's attention to that science4 ,turner1 who practised medicine in ,liverpool1 although an eccentric man1 applied his knowledge of chemistry to industrial purposes1 and he is credited with having revived the art of glass-painting4 ,priestley was now wholly engrossed in the business of teaching1 and although nominally tutor in the classical languages and in the belles lettres1 there was practically no department of education in which at one time or other during the half-dozen years of his sojourn at ,warrington he was not called upon1 or did not offer1 to instruct4 ,he enlarged and published the ,grammar to which reference has already been made1 and began a treatise on ,the ,structure and ,contemporary ,state of the ,english ,language1 the material for which he eventually gave to ,croft of ,oxford for the compilation of his ,grammar and ,dictionary4 ,but what particularly impressed him as a practical educationist was that whilst most of his pupils were designed for situations in civil and active life1 every article in the plan of their education was adapted to the learned professions4 ,there was hardly any medium between an education for the counting-house1 consisting of writing1 arithmetic and merchants' accounts1 and a method of instruction in the abstract sciences4 ,he proceeds to trace how this came about3-- ,formerly none but the clergy were thought to have any occasion for learning4 ,it was natural1 therefore1 that the whole plan of education1 from the ,grammar ,school to the finishing at the ,university1 should be calculated for their use4 ,if a few other persons1 who were not designed for ,holy ,orders1 offered themselves for education1 it could not be expected that a course of studies should be provided for them only4 ,and1 indeed1 as all those persons who superintended the business of education were of the clerical order1 and had themselves been taught nothing but the rhetoric1 logic and school-divinity1 or civil law1 which comprised the whole compass of human learning for several centuries1 it could not be expected that they should entertain larger1 or more liberal1 views of education2 and still less that they should strike out a course of study for the use of men who were universally thought to have no need of study1 and of whom few were so sensible of their own wants as to desire any such advantages4 ,besides1 in those days1 the great ends of human society seem to have been but little understood4 ,men of the greatest rank1 fortune and influence1 and who took the lead in all the affairs of ,state1 had no idea of the great objects of wise and extensive policy1 and therefore could never apprehend that any fund of knowledge was requisite for the most eminent stations in the community4 ,few persons imagined what were the true sources of wealth1 power and happiness in a nation4 ,commerce was little understood1 or even attended to2 and so slight was the connection of the different nations of ,europe that general politics were very contracted4 ,and thus1 men's views being narrow1 little previous furniture of mind was requisite to conduct them4 ,these paragraphs constitute the introduction to an ,essay on ,education which ,priestley published in #agfd1 with the object of drawing attention to the necessity for a reform in our educational system4 ,although written nearly a century and a half ago1 ,priestley's main contention that the education of youth should be directed and adapted to the circumstances and needs of the time in which they live is just as valid now as then1 and needs the same insistence4 ,he points out that the severe and proper discipline of the ,grammar ,schools1 which are subservient to the ,universities1 is become a topic of ridicule4 ,this is certainly a call upon us to examine the state of education in this country1 and to consider how those years are employed which men pass previous to their entering into the world2 for upon this their future behaviour and success must1 in a great measure1 depend4 ,a transition1 which is not easy1 can never be made with advantage2 and therefore it is certainly our wisdom to contrive that the studies of youth should tend to fit them for the business of manhood2 and that the objects of their attention1 and turn of thinking in younger life1 should not be too remote from the destined employment of their riper years4 ,if this be not attended to they must necessarily be mere novices upon entering the great world1 be almost unavoidably embarrassed in their conduct1 and1 after all the time and experience bestowed upon their education1 be indebted to a series of blunders for the most useful knowledge they will ever acquire4 ,that man is a friend of his country who observes and endeavours to supply any defects in the methods of educating youth4 ,at the risk of being called a projector1 a visionary1 or whatever anybody pleases1 he proceeds to show how to fill up with advantage those years which immediately precede a young gentleman's engaging in those higher spheres of active life in which he is destined to move4 ,it will be observed that ,priestley is not dealing with any scheme of national or universal education adapted to every youth in the community4 ,he is concerned only with the young man who is destined for a station in which his conduct may considerably affect the liberty and the property of his countrymen1 and the riches1 the strength and the security of his country2 and who is within the influence of an honourable ambition to appear as a legislator in the ,state1 or of standing near the helm of affairs and guiding the secret springs of ,government--in a word1 that class which the universities thought they alone were specially concerned with4 ,that the parents and friends of young gentlemen destined to act in any of these important spheres may not think a liberal education unnecessary to them1 and that the young gentlemen themselves may enter with spirit into the enlarged views of their friends and tutors1 ,i would humbly propose some new articles of academical instruction1 such as have a nearer and more evident connection with the business of active life1 and which may therefore bid fairer to engage the attention and rouse the thinking powers of young gentlemen of an active genius4 ,the subjects ,i would recommend are ',civil ,history1' and more especially the important objects of ',civil ,policy'2 such as the theory of laws1 government1 manufactures1 commerce1 naval force1 etc41 with whatever may be demonstrated from history to have contributed to the flourishing state of nations1 to rendering a people happy and populous at home and formidable abroad2 together with those articles of previous information1 without which it is impossible to understand the nature1 connections and mutual influences of those great objects4 ,he then gives plans and detailed syllabuses of three distinct courses of lectures subservient to this design4 ,the first is on the ,study of ,history in ,general2 the second on the ,history of ,england1 and the third on the ,present ,constitution and ,laws of ,england4 ,this scheme is so daring an innovation on the established order of things #aej years ago1 that ,priestley then proceeds with care to anticipate1 examine and rebut the objections which may be urged against it4 ,there is no necessity to dwell upon them now4 ,much water has flowed under the ,folly ,bridge or past the ,backs since ,priestley's essay was penned1 and everything for which he contended1 and even more1 now finds its proper place in the educational schemes of all our universities1 ancient and modern4 ,but it is significant of the condition of things in the older seats of learning in the middle of the eighteenth century1 that he should have to urge his project apologetically and to labour points which to-day appear almost axiomatic4 ,the essay is characteristic of the author in the breadth and liberality of its tone1 in its declaration of the real functions and objects of government1 and in its note of true patriotism4 ,of course it was fiercely attacked1 among others1 by ,griffiths in the ,monthly ,review1 but it enlisted ,josiah ,wedgwood's sympathy with its author and formed the basis of a friendship as cordial and enduring as it was useful4 ,the lectures on ,history and on ,general ,policy were subsequently published1 with a dedication1 as already stated1 to ,mr ,benjamin ,vaughan4 ,it is interesting at this juncture to learn the views ,priestley inculcated on the youth of ,warrington concerning other matters which1 like the education problem and the poor1 are always with us4 ,in the #east lecture on ,general ,policy we read3-- ,the gain of the merchants1 it is said1 is not always the gain of the country in general4 ,if1 for instance1 a merchant imports foreign goods by which the consumption of national manufactures is hurt1 though the merchant should be gainer by those goods1 the ,state is a loser4 ,as1 on the other hand1 a merchant may export the manufactures of his own country to his own loss and the nation's gain4 ,but if the merchants be gainers1 the consumers1 that is those for whose use manufactures are established1 having a power of purchasing or not at pleasure1 must be so too4 ,and if1 after sufficient trial1 it be found that merchants importing foreign goods can sell these cheaper than the manufactures can be bought at home1 it is an indication that it is not for the interest of the nation at large to encourage such manufactures4 ,though exportation makes a nation rich1 we are not to judge of the quantity of riches which a nation gains by trade from exportation only1 but the importation must also be considered4 ,if these exactly balance one another nothing can be said to be gained or lost1 just as a person is not the richer for selling a quantity of goods if he buy to the same amount4 ,nay1 though the exportation be lessened1 if the importation be lessened more than in proportion1 it proves an increase of gainful trade1 notwithstanding the decrease of exportation4 ,this1 however1 is estimating the value of commerce by the mere increase of money4 ,but a nation may flourish by internal commerce only1 and what is external commerce between two nations not united in government would be internal if they should come under the same government4 ,in every fair bargain the buyer and the seller are equally gainers1 whether money be accumulated by either of the parties or not4 ,it is a great mistake to confound the king's revenue with the gain a nation makes by its trade4 ,no man would presume to say it is more for the public benefit that the nation should expend a million or more every year with foreigners1 in order to raise a hundred thousand pounds to the revenue by the customs1 than to save that million or more within ourselves and to raise only the hundred thousand pounds the other way4 ,but ,ministers of ,state are apt to estimate the value of everything to the country by the gain it brings1 and that immediately to themselves4444 ,the legislature of any country has seldom interfered in the affairs of commerce1 but commerce has suffered in consequence to it1 owing to the ignorance of statesmen1 and even of merchants themselves1 concerning the nature of trade4 ,and indeed the principles of commerce are very complicated and require long experience and deep reflection before they can be well understood4444 ,most politicians have injured commerce by restricting1 confining or burthening it too much2 the consequence of which has been that by aiming at great immediate advantage they have cut off the very springs of all future advantage4 ,the inconveniences which have arisen to a nation from leaving trade quite open are few1 and very problematical in comparison of the manifest injury it receives from being cramped in almost any form whatsoever4444 ,mr ,colbert1 a man of great probity1 knowledge and industry 444 would have done better to have listened to the advice of an old merchant1 who being consulted by him about what he should do in favour of trade1 said1 ',laissez nous faire4' ,in another place he says3-- ,the happiness of all nations1 therefore1 as one great community1 will be best promoted by laying aside all national jealousy of trade1 and by each country cultivating those productions or manufactures which they can do to the most advantage2 and experience1 in a state of perfect liberty1 will soon teach them what those are4 ,in this state of things the only advantage will be on the side of industry and ingenuity1 and no man or nation ought to wish it to be anywhere else4 ,with regard to questions of political and civil liberty1 the theory of the progress of law1 the influence of religion on civil society1 the connection of modes of religion with forms of government1 the teaching is precisely what we should expect in such a hot-bed of liberal dissent as the ,warrington ,academy4 ,with regard to the connection between civil government and religion he says3-- ,the principal sufferer by this alliance between the ,church and the ,state is religion itself1 that is1 the members of society as professors of religion and deriving advantages from it4 ,for when it is thus guarded by the ,state1 if it be faulty or wants reformation1 it must long continue so4 ,the professors of it1 being interested in its support1 will do everything in their power to prevent any alteration1 though it should be ever so much wanted4444 ,it is alleged1 in favour of these establishments1 that religion has an influence on the conduct of men in this life4 ,no doubt it has1 as it connects the hopes of a future life with good behaviour in this4 ,but this is done in all sects of ,christians1 and as much in those which are reprobated by the ,state as those which are encouraged by it4 ,besides1 if this was the true cause of attachment to ,christian establishments1 the friends of them would be much more jealous of unbelievers than they are of sectaries1 which does not appear to be the case4444 ,one would think that ,christian ,governments might content themselves with establishing the ,christian religion in general without confining themselves to any particular mode of it4 ,but so far is this from being the case1 that by the present laws of this country a man who denies the doctrine of the ,trinity1 which has no more imaginable connection with the good of the ,state than the doctrine of ,transubstantiation1 is deemed a blasphemer and sentenced to suffer confiscation of goods and imprisonment4444 ,in all other countries the established religion is that of the majority of the people1 and the writers in defence of it vindicate it on this principle1 viz41 that it is the religion of the majority1 whatever that be4 ,but in ,ireland we have a most remarkable exception to this rule4 ,there the established religion is not that of the majority but of a small minority of the people1 perhaps not more than that of one in ten of the inhabitants4 ,that so flagrant an abuse of power should exist1 and under a ,government pretending to justice1 and even to liberality1 is barely credible4 ,here again much water has flowed under the bridges since these words were penned1 but the bread which ,priestley cast upon the stream1 as well as that upon which he nurtured the young gentlemen of the ,warrington ,academy1 has1 we recognise1 not been wholly wasted4 ,in regard to what he considered other anomalies1 the ,state still takes upon itself a great1 dangerous and unnecessary burthen by undertaking the care of religion4 ,from the remains of superstition the clergy are still considered as a distinct order of men in this country1 and they are in a manner represented in ,parliament by the bishops having seats in the ,house of ,lords4 ,from which1 he says1 if they had a just sense of the nature of their office1 and consulted their true dignity1 they would retire of their own accord4 ,at present their seat in the ,house only flatters their pride and gives the minister so many votes4 ,in regard to other items of political and social development1 it is noteworthy that ,priestley was a consistent opponent of national education as we understand it to-day1 on the ground that in his judgment it was inimical to liberty and the natural rights of parents4 ,his position1 in fact1 was very similar to that taken up by a considerable and influential section of ,liberal ,dissenters prior to #ahgj4 ,whilst at ,warrington he also gave lectures on the ,theory of ,language1 on the ,laws and ,constitutions of ,england1 and on ,oratory and ,criticism--all of which were subsequently published1 and which may still be read with profit1 despite ,lord ,brougham's sneering allusion to the adventurous tutor afflicted with an incurable stutter who1 having never heard any speaking save in the pulpits of meeting-houses1 promulgated rules of eloquence and of jurisprudence to the senators and lawyers of his country4 ,the adventurous tutor with the incurable stutter even taught ,elocution1 also ,logic and ,hebrew for a time1 and one year he gave a course of lectures on ,anatomy4 ,whilst at ,warrington he published a ,chart of ,biography1 exhibiting by lines and spaces the succession of the eminent men in every age and of every profession1 with the relative length of their lives1 and in such manner that at any given epoch it could be seen not only who flourished in it1 but how all their ages stood with respect to one another1 who were a man's contemporaries1 how far any of them was before him1 or how far after him1 in the order of their births or deaths4 ,the ,chart of ,biography procured for its compiler the degree of ,doctor of ,laws of the ,university of ,edinburgh4 ,it has been said of ,priestley that he was not a man who made friends4 ,if it is meant by this that he was essentially a self-centred recluse1 who sought his relaxation in change of occupation1 or only within his own family circle1 the statement gives a wholly imperfect idea of the man and is very wide of the truth4 ,in reality he was one of the most gregarious and most easily approachable of individuals1 a man of strong1 active human sympathies and of much social charm4 ,there is abundant evidence of this in the testimony of his contemporaries2 it is illustrated by numberless anecdotes1 and is reflected in almost every letter of his correspondence4 ,it was1 doubtless1 under the impulse of the social instincts of his nature that1 whilst at ,warrington1 he was led to begin the practice of spending one month in every year in ,london4 ,this1 remarks his son1 was of great use to him4 ,he saw and heard a great deal4 ,a new turn was frequently given to his ideas4 ,new and useful acquaintances were formed1 and old ones confirmed4 ,london then1 as now1 was the centre of the intellectual life of the kingdom and the ,royal ,society the seat of its scientific activity4 ,to a man of ,priestley's versatility and eagerness1 whose curiosity ranged practically over every department of human knowledge1 these annual visits were a sort of intellectual tonic and gave a powerful stimulus to his activity4 ,on the first of them he made the acquaintance of men who1 in their several capacities1 proved to be true and valuable friends1 notably1 ,dr ,richard ,price1 ,mr ,canton1 and ,dr ,benjamin ,franklin4 ,dr ,price1 a philosopher1 and an eminent nonconformist divine1 and one of the leading ,arians of his time1 is best known by his work on morals1 and by his writings on financial and political questions4 ,among these1 his papers in the ,philosophical ,transactions on ,life ,insurance and on the ,proper ,method of ,calculating the ,values of ,contingent ,reversions1 are specially noteworthy4 ,his pamphlet on the ,national ,debt is said to have influenced ,pitt in establishing the ,sinking ,fund for its extinction1 and that on the ,policy of the ,war with ,america to have contributed to the declaration of independence by the ,americans4 ,his liberal opinions gained him the friendship and patronage of ,lord ,shelburne4 ,the acquaintance with ,priestley soon ripened into a lasting friendship1 which was in nowise disturbed by the controversy on materialism and necessity in which they subsequently engaged4 ,price and ,priestley held similar views as to the ,french ,revolution1 and both were denounced with equal fierceness by ,burke4 ,price died in the spring of #agia1 and his funeral sermon was preached by ,priestley1 who succeeded him in the care of the ,gravel ,pit ,meeting at ,hackney4 ,he was a man for whom ,priestley ever entertained the warmest feelings of friendship on the ground of his amiable simplicity1 his truly ,christian spirit1 disinterested patriotism and true candour4 ,john ,canton1 a notable schoolmaster in his day1 is best known for his electrical inquiries and for his work on the compressibility of water1 and his name is associated with the phosphorescent substance first obtained by him by calcining oyster shells with flowers of sulphur4 ,among the ,canton papers in the possession of the ,royal ,society is a letter from ,seddon to ,canton introducing ,priestley1 in which the latter is described as the author of ,a ,chart of ,biography and of an ,essay on ,education1 and in which the writer says of the bearer3-- ,you will find him a benevolent1 sensible man1 with a considerable share of learning4 ,besides the studies which belong to his profession1 he has a taste for ,natural ,philosophy which will not render him less agreeable to you4 ,that ,priestley greatly enjoyed and profited by his ,christmas in ,london is evident from the terms in which he refers to it in a letter to ,canton under date ,february #ad1 #agff4 ,the time ,i had the happiness to spend in your company appears upon revision like a pleasing dream4 ,i frequently enjoy it once again in recollection1 and ardently wish for a repetition of it4 ,i wish1 but in vain1 that it may ever be in my power to return in kind your generous communication of philosophical intelligence and discoveries4 ,he concludes the letter by expressing a desire to become a ,fellow of the ,royal ,society4 ,benjamin ,franklin1 journeyman printer and journalist1 statesman and diplomatist1 was about sixty years old when ,priestley1 then a man of little more than half his age1 first made his personal acquaintance4 ,the ,royal ,society1 which had formerly ridiculed the discoveries which have given ,franklin his undisputed position as one of the most eminent natural philosophers of his time1 had paid him1 although still a ,british subject1 the distinguished compliment of making him an honorary fellow4 ,at the time of ,priestley's coming to town he was occupied with the great struggle on behalf of the ,american ,colony which ended in the defeat of the ,stamp ,act1 and his famous examination before a ,committee of ,parliament had made him an object of great popular interest4 ,during the eight or nine succeeding years in which ,franklin remained in ,england his acquaintance with ,priestley grew into the closest friendship1 and there can be no question that the friendship reacted powerfully on ,priestley's work as a political thinker and as a natural philosopher4 ,indeed1 it may be truthfully said that ,franklin made ,priestley into a man of science4 ,as the result of this intercourse with ,canton and ,franklin1 ,priestley offered to compile what he called a distinct and methodical account of the history of discoveries in electricity1 provided he could be supplied with the necessary books4 ,franklin warmly seconded the proposal1 and undertook1 with the assistance of friends1 to furnish all existing literature on the subject4 ,as a matter of fact almost the whole of the historical account in ,priestley's book is taken from the ,philosophical ,transactions of the ,royal ,society1 which was then the chief source of information concerning electrical science1 inasmuch as the ,english electricians of that period1 in addition to their own original papers1 which were both numerous and important1 introduced into the ,transactions detailed accounts of all the principal books on electricity published abroad4 ,in putting together his work1 ,priestley1 having1 as he says1 a pretty good machine1 was led to endeavour to ascertain several facts which were in dispute1 and was thus led by degrees into a large field of experimental inquiry1 in which he spared no expense that he could possibly afford4 ,one of the most important of his discoveries is that charcoal is a good conductor4 ,he describes coloured circles produced by receiving discharges from #ba square feet of glass on metal plates4 ,when an electrical battery is discharged light bodies placed near the electric circuit are moved4 ,priestley ascribes this motion to what he calls the force of the lateral explosion1 and he conceives it to depend upon the sudden elasticity given to the air4 ,he found that a long circuit conducts much worse than a short circuit1 even when the conductors are the same2 also1 that when the circuit contains an imperfect conductor a spark passes to bodies near1 no electricity being communicated4 ,the work necessitated much correspondence with ,franklin and others of his philosophical friends in ,london1 and much of his leisure was devoted to his own experimental observations4 ,nevertheless1 the book was completed in less than a year4 ,hasty and imperfect as it was1 ,the ,history and ,present ,state of ,electricity4 ,with ,original ,experiments1 illustrated with ,copperplates1 was well received and ran through five editions in its author's lifetime4 ,its publication at once stamped ,priestley as a man of science2 it secured him recognition as such in scientific circles at home and abroad1 and was the immediate cause of his election1 on ,june #ab1 #agff1 into the ,royal ,society4 ,the growing interest in the subject induced him to put together a ,familiar ,introduction to the ,study of ,electricity1 which had also a considerable measure of success and was the means of popularising a knowledge of the main facts then known concerning ,frictional ,electricity4 ,priestley was instrumental in reviving the use of large electrical machines and batteries4 ,the first of the large machines for which ,nairne became famous was constructed in consequence of a request made to ,priestley by the ,grand ,duke of ,tuscany to procure for him the best machine that could be made in ,england4 ,one of his machines1 which figured in his ,history1 and also in his ,familiar ,introduction1 is in the possession of the ,royal ,society4 ,,chapter ,v ,goes to ,leeds as minister of the ,mill ,hill ,chapel--,resumes his studies in ,speculative ,theology--,the ,theological ,repository--,becomes a ,unitarian--,priestley as a controversialist--,his ,theory and ,practice of ,perspective--,his literary characteristics--,begins his inquiries on ,pneumatic ,chemistry--,his invention of soda-water--,receives the ,copley ,medal of the ,royal ,society4 ,although ,priestley lived in philosophic contentment with his lot at ,warrington1 happy in his occupations and in the society of congenial colleagues1 the circumstances of the ,academy were not fortunate4 ,the institution never wholly recovered from the unhappy differences between the trustees and the first head of the ,educational ,staff1 and in time many of the subscribers grew lukewarm in their support4 ,priestley had a remarkable power of adapting himself to his environment2 he was one of the most even-tempered of men and had a capacity for being cheerful that would have extorted admiration even from ,socrates4 ,but1 says ,miss ,aiken1 the ,alma ,mater of ,warrington was ever a niggardly recompense of the distinguished abilities and virtues which were enlisted in her service4 ,one hundred pounds a year1 with a house and a few boarders--hungry lads at #ae a year1 exclusive of washing and candles--meant little towards the res angusta domi4 ,moreover1 little ,sarah ,priestley had made her appearance1 and the uncertain prospects which were before that young lady1 coupled with the condition of her mother's health1 which was not wholly satisfactory at ,warrington1 led him to contemplate the expediency of giving up school-mastering and of resuming his profession of the ministry4 ,accordingly he was induced to accept an invitation to take charge of the congregation of ,mill ,hill ,chapel1 at ,leeds1 where he was already pretty well known1 and thither he removed in #agfg4ab ,although it was no part of his duty to preach when at ,warrington1 he had from choice continued the practice1 and wishing to maintain the character of a ,dissenting minister1 he had1 as we have already seen1 been ordained whilst there4 ,his tendency to stammer was still a difficulty4 ,indeed1 whilst at ,nantwich it was so marked that he had almost resolved to abandon the calling4 ,by reading aloud and very slowly every day1 and by taking pains1 he in some measure got the better of his defect1 but he never wholly overcame it4 ,at ,leeds he found a liberal1 friendly and harmonious congregation1 to whom his services1 of which he was not sparing1 were very acceptable4 ,there1 he says1 he had no unreasonable prejudices to contend with1 so that he had full scope for every kind of exertion4 ,his activity and zeal in the special duties of his office led him to prepare and print catechisms for the young and to form various classes of catechumens and to instruct them in the principles of religion4 ,he also published discourses on ,family ,prayer1 on the ,lord's ,supper and on ,church ,discipline1 some of which were not altogether to the liking of members of the ,established ,church4 ,indeed1 the first of his controversial pieces was written in answer to some angry remarks on one of these discourses written by a clergyman in the neighbourhood4 ,his return to the active duties of the ministry naturally induced him to resume the studies in ,speculative ,theology which had occupied him at ,needham but which had been in large measure interrupted by the business of teaching at ,nantwich and ,warrington4 ,he now published his ,institutes of ,natural and ,revealed ,religion1 and began the publication of ,the ,theological ,repository1 a collection of papers on theological questions1 contributed by himself and a number of neighbouring ministers and others4 ,the work eventually extended to six volumes1 three of which were printed whilst he was at ,leeds4 ,the ,theological ,repository1 says the ,rev4 ,charles ,wicksteed1#ac was one of those publications which will always appear from time to time in every body in which there is much activity and much freedom of thought4 ,it had1 however1 a very slender circulation1 and was very little read by any but theologians of the ,liberal school4 ,indeed1 it discussed questions which were viewed with terror by many even of the ,liberal school itself1 because it1 in fact1 purposely deserted the beaten track of opinion and opened out those questions on which difficulties began to be felt1 or on which fresh light was wanted4 ,it aimed at collecting the contributions of free1 independent and thoughtful minds--towards correct ultimate decisions1 without pretending itself to furnish those decisions4 ,this is ever a position which the bigoted violently resent1 which the unlearned cannot understand1 on which even the candid and liberal often look with a dissatisfaction not unmingled with fear1 but which is1 notwithstanding1 the essential preliminary of correct settled opinion in every age of thought4 ,it is a position often assumed by the most contemplative and the most thoroughly honest men of the generation1 but one which is never understood until the generation which produced and neglected it is passed4 ,if there were not this neutral ground on which inquiring spirits can meet1 beyond the hackneyed and settled points in which alone the many are interested1 there would be an end to thought1 which in a short time would prove an end to active1 healthy1 influential and tested truth4 ,shortly after his removal to ,leeds1 ,priestley avowed himself an adherent to that school of theological opinion which its enemies associate with the name of ,fausto ,sozzini2 that is1 he became what has been called a humanitarian1 or a believer in the doctrine that ,jesus ,christ was in nature solely and truly a man1 however highly exalted by ,god4 ,sozzini's doctrine brought down upon its teacher the ill-will of a ,cracow mob2 his house was wrecked1 his books and manuscripts destroyed1 his life threatened1 and he was driven from the city4 ,two hundred years later the ,socinian ,priestley went through precisely the same experience4 ,wrecking the homes1 pillaging the property and injuring the persons of heresiarchs might seem an extraordinary way of identifying oneself with the doctrine of the gentle author of the ,sermon on the ,mount if history had not made us pretty familiar with such spectacles4 ,at ,leeds1 as already stated1 ,priestley published the first of the series of controversial pieces on religion and politics which ceased only with his death4 ,by some strange irony of fate this man1 who was by nature one of the most peaceable and peace-loving of men1 singularly calm and dispassionate1 not prone to disputation or given to wrangling1 acquired the reputation of being perhaps the most cantankerous man of his time1 who delighted in tilting against established usage1 and whose hand1 ,ishmael-like1 was against every man's4 ,by sheer force of circumstances he became an indefatigable pamphleteer1 apparently ever ready to vindicate the cause of civil and religious liberty1 to champion the principles and conduct of ,dissenters1 and to attack what he considered the inveterate prejudices of the prevailing religion of his countrymen4 ,as a controversialist his methods were beyond reproach1 and the arts of casuistry were wholly foreign to his character4 ,he was so obviously sincere and fair-minded that he frequently overcame prejudice and disarmed criticism by his unconscious unwritten appeal to the finer instincts of his adversaries4 ,he made many enemies but he won far more friends3 the enemies were for the most part men whom history willingly lets die2 the friends were of every sect1 and some of them were among the chief glories of the eighteenth century4 ,the following characteristic letter to his friend1 ,miss ,aiken1 is interesting as illustrating the action of the active1 eager mind which1 as its owner says1 found scope for every kind of exertion at this period of his life3-- ,leeds1 #acth ,june #agfi4 ,dear ,miss ,aikin1--,you will be surprised when ,i tell you ,i write this on the behalf of ,pascal ,paoli and the brave ,corsicans1 but it is strictly true4 ,mr ,turner of ,wakefield1 who says he reads your poems1 not with admiration1 but astonishment1 insists upon my writing to you to request that a copy of your poem1 called ,corsica1 may be sent to ,mr ,boswell1 with permission to publish it for the benefit of those noble islanders4 ,he is confident that it cannot fail greatly to promote their interest1 now that a subscription is open for them1 by raising a generous ardour in the cause of liberty and admiration of their glorious struggle in its defence4 ,its being written by a lady1 he thinks1 will be a circumstance very much in their favour and that of the poem1 but there is no occasion for ,mr ,boswell to be acquainted with your name unless it be your own choice some time hence4 ,i own ,i entirely agree with ,mr ,turner in these sentiments1 and therefore hope ,miss ,aikin will not refuse so reasonable a request1 which will1 at the same time1 lay a great obligation on her friends in ,england and contribute to the relief of her own heroes in ,corsica4 ,consider that you are as much a general as ,tyrtus was1 and your poems 7which1 ,i am confident1 are much better than his ever were7 may have as great an effect as his4 ,they may be the coup de grace to the ,french troops in that island1 and ,paoli1 who reads ,english1 will cause it to be printed in every history of that renowned island4 ,without any joke1 ,i wish you would comply with this request4 ,in this case you have only to send a corrected copy to me at ,leeds1 to ,mr ,johnson in ,london1 and ,i will take care to introduce it to the notice of ,mr ,boswell by means of ,mr ,vaughan or ,mrs ,macauley1 or some other of the friends of liberty and ,corsica in ,london4 ,the sooner this is done the better4 ,mr ,turner regrets very much that it was not done some time ago4 ,i shall not tell you what ,i think of your poems for more than twenty reasons1 one of which is that ,i am not able to express it4 ,we are now all expectation at the opening of every packet from ,warrington4 ,my piece on ,perspective is nearly ready for the press4 ,come and see us before it is quite printed1 and ,i will engage to teach you the whole art and mystery of it in a few hours4 ,if you come a month after ,i may know no more about the matter than anybody else4 ,i am about to make a bolder push than ever for the pillory1 the ,king's ,bench ,prison1 or something worse4 ,tell ,mr ,aikin he may hug himself that ,i have no connection with the ,academy4 ,on ,monday next ,mr ,turner and ,i set out on a visit to the ,archdeacon at ,richmond4 ,with all our compliments to all your worthy family1 ,i am1 with the greatest cordiality1 your friend and admirer1 ,j4 ,priestley4 ,pasquale de ,paoli1 the ,corsican patriot1 whose struggles to secure the independence of his native island had excited warm sympathy in ,england and had enlisted the pen of ,boswell1 was at that time a refugee in this country1 having been defeated1 after a stubborn resistance1 by the ,french under ,count ,vaux4 ,the poem on ,corsica1 one of the earliest and most beautiful of ,miss ,aikin's productions1 was written in #agfh1 at about the period of the appearance of ,boswell's ,account of ,corsica1 but it was first published in #aggc in a collection of her poems1 of which four editions1 the first in #dto1 the three others in #hvo were printed in that year4 ,the copy seen by ,priestley was in manuscript4 ,whether it was shown to ,boswell or to ,paoli is not recorded4 ,the piece on ,perspective was published in #aggj1 under the title of ,a ,familiar ,introduction to the ,theory and ,practice of ,perspective4 ,with copperplates4 ,he gave as his reason for writing it that1 having occasion to make drawings of philosophical instruments and apparatus he had felt the need of a work treating of perspective4 ,it will be seen in the various editions of his works that the words ,priestley del are engraved at the left-hand corner of the copperplates of the illustrations4 ,the book had a considerable sale and was frequently recommended by drawing-masters4 ,a second edition appeared in #aghb and it continued to be used well into the nineteenth century4 ,it is interesting to note that the first printed account of the use of india-rubber for the purpose of erasing lead pencil marks occurs in the preface to this work4 ,it ran thus3-- ,since this work was printed off ,i have seen a substance excellently adapted to the purpose of wiping off from paper the marks of black lead pencil4 ,it must therefore be of singular use to those who practise drawing4 ,it is sold by ,mr ,nairne1 mathematical instrument maker1 opposite the ,royal ,exchange4 ,he sells a cubical piece of about half an inch for three shillings1 and he says it will last several years4 ,the bolder push than ever for the pillory1 the ,king's ,bench ,prison1 or something worse1 probably refers to the anonymous pieces which he published in support of ,wilkes and ,liberty in the course of the memorable struggle between the freeholders of ,middlesex and the ,house of ,commons concerning the rights of free representation by parliamentary constituencies which at that time agitated the country4 ,wilkes had shortly before the date of this letter been fined by the ,king's ,bench #ajjj and sentenced to twenty-two months' imprisonment for publishing an impious libel1 and had been expelled from the ,house of ,commons--to which1 however1 he was repeatedly returned by the electors of ,middlesex4 ,the ,richmond visit to ,archdeacon ,blackburne1 whose son had been at the ,warrington ,academy1 is memorable from the circumstance that on its occasion ,priestley first met ,theophilus ,lindsey1 with whom he contracted an intimate and lasting friendship1 which greatly influenced the lives and fortunes of both1 and of which ,priestley subsequently wrote that it had been a source of more real satisfaction to him than any other circumstance in his whole life4 ,the busy pamphleteer found time1 however1 to put together more ambitious works than ,wilkes and ,liberty4 ,the success of his ,history of ,electricity induced him to attempt the compilation of the history of all the branches of experimental philosophy1 and he made proposals to publish a ,history of ,discoveries ,relating to ,vision ,light and ,colours4 ,the subscription to this work was not1 however1 sufficient to induce him to proceed1 and after a considerable outlay in the purchase of books and other material the project was abandoned4 ,priestley was1 perhaps1 the most industrious bookmaker of his age4 ,boswell indeed dubbed him a literary ,jack-of-all-,trades1 and he was busy with proof-sheets even to the day of his death4 ,in fact1 the closing act of his life1 before he put his hand to his face to hide the last flicker of the vital spark1 was to make a correction in a proof-sheet4 ,he usually composed in shorthand1 and much of this work was done in the family circle1 sitting by the parlour fire4 ,conversation never disturbed him4 ,although his style is somewhat prolix1 his language is simple and direct and his meaning invariably clear4 ,charges that his writings were hasty performances in nowise disturbed him4 ,indeed1 he was wont to say that some of those that were most hurriedly done were among those that were best received4 ,whatever might have been the time he spent on their composition he was confident that more would not have contributed to their perfection in any essential particular1 and about anything farther he was never very solicitous4 ,his object1 he said1 was not to acquire the character of a fine writer but of a useful one4 ,pecuniary gain was never the chief object of his work2 several of his books1 indeed1 were written with the prospect of certain loss4 ,many writers before and since the great lexicographer have left us what they have imagined to have been the secret of their success as literary craftsmen1 and have told us of the means by which they gained their proficiency of composition and mastery of style4 ,priestley has no pretensions to be considered a master of style2 nevertheless1 it is of interest to learn how he acquired facility in writing the simple1 unaffected ,english which characterises his literary work4 ,it came1 he said1 from a practice of committing to writing as much as he could of the sermons he heard1 and of composing much in verse4 ,with regard to the sermons1 he says3-- ,this practice ,i began very early1 and continued it until ,i was able from the heads of a discourse to supply the rest myself4 ,for1 not troubling myself to commit to memory much of the amplification1 and writing at home almost as much as ,i had heard1 ,i insensibly acquired a habit of composing with great readiness1 and from this practice ,i believe ,i have derived great advantage through life1 composition seldom employing so much time as would be necessary to write in long hand anything ,i have published4 ,as regards the verses1 he says3-- ,i was myself far from having any pretension to the character of a poet1 but in the early part of my life ,i was a great versifier1 and this1 ,i believe1 as well as my custom of writing after preachers1 mentioned before1 contributed to the ease with which ,i always wrote prose4 ,if ,priestley was not himself a poet1 he was at least the cause of poetry in another4 ,miss ,aikin once told him that it was the perusal of some verses of his that first induced her fledgling muse to soar--so that1 he adds1 this country is in some measure indebted to me for one of the best poets it can boast of4 ,no example of ,priestley's abilities as a versifier has come down to us1 but in that dainty little sketch of the ,warrington society1 by ,miss ,lucy ,aikin1 from which we have already quoted1 allusion is made to his accomplishment4 ,both bouts rims and vers de socit were in fashion with the set4 ,once it was their custom to slip anonymous pieces into ,mrs ,priestley's work-bag4 ,one 'copy of verses1' a very eloquent one1 puzzled all guessers a long time2 at length it was traced to ,dr ,priestley's self4 ,to the man of science the special interest of ,priestley's connection with ,leeds arises from the fact that he began there that fruitful series of inquiries1 relating to what he called the doctrine of air1 which eventually raised him to the position of one of the greatest chemical discoverers of his time4 ,the house in which he first lived whilst at ,leeds was in ,meadow ,lane and adjoined the public brew house of ,jakes and ,nell4 ,he was thereby led1 in the outset1 to amuse himself by making experiments on the fixed air1 or carbonic acid1 which is largely produced in the process of fermentation4 ,when he removed to his second house in ,basinghall ,street1 on the site where the schools now stand1 he was under the necessity of making the fixed air for himself2 and1 as he distinctly and faithfully notes in his various publications on the subject1 he was led to make one experiment after another until he became1 what he does not state1 the greatest master of pneumatic chemistry of his age4 ,when he began these experiments he tells us he knew very little of chemistry4 ,indeed1 he says he had in a manner no idea on the subject before his attention was drawn to it in a course of lectures delivered in the ,warrington ,academy by ,dr ,turner of ,liverpool4 ,but1 as he says1 on the whole1 this circumstance was no disadvantage to him1 as in the situation in which he found himself he was led to devise an apparatus and processes of his own adapted to his peculiar views4 ,if he had been previously accustomed to the usual chemical processes he might not have so easily thought of any other2 and without new modes of operation he thinks he should hardly have discovered anything materially new4 ,his means did not permit him to purchase expensive apparatus4 ,indeed1 this very circumstance materially contributed to his success by making his apparatus so simple that his experiments could be readily repeated and their accuracy thereby ensured4 ,his first contribution to ,pneumatic ,chemistry was published in #aggb4 ,it was a small pamphlet on a method of impregnating water with fixed air1 which1 being immediately translated into ,french1 excited a great degree of attention to the subject1 and this was much increased by the publication of his first experimental paper in the ,philosophical ,transactions of the ,royal ,society4 ,priestley's earliest method of impregnating water with carbonic acid consisted in exposing it to the gas above the surface of fermenting wort4 ,this process was no doubt accompanied with many disadvantages and the resulting solution could not have been very palatable4 ,later on he adopted the method originally employed by ,lane in #agji1 although apparently in ignorance of ,lane's paper in the ,philosophical ,transactions1 of making the gas from chalk and sulphuric acid and leading it directly into the water by means of a flexible tube provided with an intercepting bladder to retain any solid or acid substance projected from the effervescent materials in the generating flask4 ,at about this period increased attention was being paid to the question of the supply of drinking water in the ,navy1 owing to the publication of ,irving's plan of making fresh water from sea-water by distillation1 and ,priestley conceived the idea that if some ready means could be devised of impregnating water with carbonic acid on shipboard the solution might be useful as a preventive of sea scurvy4 ,priestley brought his idea to the knowledge of the ,duke of ,northumberland1 and showed a sample of the impregnated water to ,sir ,george ,savile1 who introduced him to ,lord ,sandwich1 at that time ,first ,lord of the ,admiralty in ,lord ,north's ,administration4 ,the ,board of ,admiralty thought the matter was of sufficient importance to ask for a report from the ,college of ,physicians1 and ,priestley was requested to appear before that body in order to explain and illustrate his process4 ,the report from the ,college was favourable1 and in consequence two war-ships were fitted with the apparatus4 ,the idea that scurvy1 in common with other so-called putrid diseases1 was due to an insufficient supply of fixed air in the animal economy1 and that it might be cured by the administration of that gas1 originated with ,dr ,macbride about the middle of the eighteenth century1 shortly after ,black had established the individuality of the gas1 and it was current doctrine with the faculty at the time of ,priestley's experiments4 ,the reasons which ,macbride gave in support of his hypothesis are contained in his ,essays on ,medical and ,philosophical ,subjects1 and are sufficiently ingenious to be worth stating as characteristic of much of the therapeutics of the time4 ,macbride assumed that substances held together1 and acquired the quality of firmness1 by virtue of containing a cementing principle1 which ensured the perfect cohesion of their constituent particles1 and that as putrefaction resulted in the decomposition and disintegration of substances1 putridity was connected with the loss or disappearance of this cementing or cohering principle4 ,he found that fixed air was invariably produced when animal and vegetable substances putrefy1 that a greater amount of fixed air is produced from vegetable substances than from animal substances1 and that animal and vegetable matters putrefy more rapidly when mixed than when separate1 and yield more fixed air in conjunction than apart4 ,on the basis of these observations ,macbride proceeded to explain the well-established fact that a diet mainly composed of animal food is apt to produce sea scurvy1 the remedy for which is a sufficient supply of fresh vegetables1 by assuming that the virtue of the vegetables was due to the evolution of a greater amount of carbonic acid in the process of digestion1 the fixed air so liberated in the body counteracting1 by its antiseptic powers1 putridity in the circulating fluids4 ,we are not here concerned with the subsequent history of so-called rated or soda-water1 as it came to be called1 but it is worth noting that ,priestley's account of his process contains one remark which is not without significance in view of latter-day developments4 ,he says3-- ,i do not doubt but that1 by the help of a condensing engine1 water might be much more highly impregnated with the virtues of the ,pyrmont spring1 and it would not be difficult to contrive a method of doing it4 ,the manufacture of these waters was subsequently taken up by ,priestley's friend and satellite1 as he called himself1 ,richard ,bewley1 of ,great ,massingham1 an apothecary1 and the inventor of the well-known mephitic julep4 ,bewley appears to have discovered that the addition of a small quantity of carbonate of soda to the water enabled it to absorb and retain an increased quantity of carbonic acid1 and to him1 therefore1 is due the credit of first making what was long called acidulous soda-water4 ,the receipt for its manufacture and use1 given by ,henry of ,manchester1 is sufficiently quaint to be worth reproduction3-- ,to prepare ,mr ,bewley's julep dissolve three drachms of fossil alkali in each quart of water1 and throw in streams of fixed air till the alkaline taste be destroyed4 ,this julep should not be prepared in too large quantities1 and should be kept in bottles very closely corked and sealed4 ,four ounces of it may be taken at a time1 drinking a draught of lemonade or water acidulated with vinegar or weak spirit of vitriol1 by which means the fixed air will be extricated in the stomach4 ,it is hardly to be supposed that the ,royal ,society ,club in #aggc adopted all the social manners and customs of the period4 ,nevertheless1 its members1 who were among the most influential fellows of the ,society1 were evidently greatly impressed with the merits of ,priestley's soda-water1 since the ,council of the ,society were moved to reward its discoverer with the ,copley ,medal4 ,in making the award on ,st ,andrew's ,day #aggc1 ,sir ,john ,pringle1 then ,president of the ,royal ,society1 said3-- ,for having learned from ,dr ,black that this fixed or mephitic air could in great abundance be procured from chalk by means of diluted spirits of vitriol2 from ,dr ,macbride that this fluid was of a considerable antiseptic nature2 from ,dr ,cavendish that it could in a large quantity be absorbed by water2 and from ,dr ,brownrigg that it was this very air which gave the briskness and chief virtues to the ,spa and ,pyrmont waters2 ,dr ,priestley1 ,i say1 so well instructed1 conceived that common water impregnated with this fluid alone might be useful in medicine1 particularly for sailors on long voyages1 for curing or preventing the sea scurvy4 ,to-day the ,copley ,medal is regarded as the highest award which it is in the power of the ,society to bestow1 and certainly no man starts his scientific career by acquiring it--not even for so signal an invention as that of soda-water4 ,whilst ,priestley was at ,leeds a proposal was made to him that he should accompany ,captain ,cook in his second voyage to the ,south ,seas4 ,it probably arose from his connection with the ,admiralty in the matter of his invention4 ,he tells us that as the terms were very advantageous he consented to it1 the heads of his congregation agreeing to keep an assistant to supply his place during his absence4 ,but ,mr ,banks informed him that he was objected to by some clergymen in the ,board of ,longitude1 who had the direction of this business1 on account of his religious principles4 ,whether1 said ,huxley1 in commenting on this circumstance in the course of his speech at the unveiling of the ,priestley statue in ,birmingham in #ahgd1 these worthy ecclesiastics feared that ,priestley's presence among the ship's company might expose his ,majesty's sloop ,resolution to the fate which aforetime befell a certain ship that went from ,joppa to ,tarshish1 or whether they were alarmed lest a ,socinian should undermine that piety which in the days of ,commodore ,trunnion so strikingly characterised sailors1 does not appear4 ,the appointment was given to ,reinhold ,forster1 a man1 as ,priestley fully admitted1 far better qualified for the position4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,becomes literary companion to ,lord ,shelburne--,goes abroad--,his visit to ,paris--,his scientific work at ,calne and in ,london--,continues his theological and metaphysical studies--,his growing unpopularity--,leaves ,lord ,shelburne4 ,priestley continued at ,leeds for about six years4 ,although very happy there he was tempted to leave ,mill ,hill ,chapel to enter the service of ,lord ,shelburne4 ,how he was regarded by his flock may be gleaned from the addresses which were presented to him on the eve of his departure2 these1 together with his own farewell letter1 are still preserved among the ,chapel books of ,mill ,hill4 ,but a stipend of one hundred guineas a year1 and a house which was not adequate to contain a family now increased by the birth of two sons1 and with no possibility of making any provision for them in the event of his death1 induced him to accept ,lord ,shelburne's proposals4 ,lord ,shelburne1 afterwards first ,marquis of ,lansdowne1 one of the most enlightened of the many politicians who sought to direct the destinies of this kingdom during the stormy times of the last thirty years of the eighteenth century1 had been ,secretary of ,state in ,pitt's administration of #agff1 but had been dismissed from office in #agfh on account of his conciliatory policy towards ,america1 and at this particular time was living in retirement at ,bowood4 ,under these circumstances his lordship1 a man of culture and fond of literature1 sought the companionship of some kindred spirit4 ,through the good offices of ,dr ,price1 a mutual friend1 he was led to make ,priestley so generous an offer--viz41 two and a half times his ,leeds salary1 a pleasant house at ,calne in the summer and a house in town during the winter1 and a retiring allowance for life should their connection be dissolved--that our philosopher was constrained to accept a position which1 despite its perils and possible constraints1 was so alluring4 ,the engagement seems to have given satisfaction also to ,priestley's friends1 if we may judge from the following extract from one of ,wedgwood's letters to his partner at ,etruria1 ,thomas ,bentley of ,liverpool1 one of the founders of the ,warrington ,academy3-- ,i am glad to hear of ,dr ,priestley's noble appointment1 taking it for granted that he is to go on writing and publishing with the same freedom he now does1 otherwise ,i had much rather he still remained in ,yorkshire4 ,meteyard1 ,,ii4 #dea4 ,in their political sentiments1 and in their views on the great questions which at that time divided parties1 the two men had much in common4 ,lord ,shelburne was certainly not unaware of ,priestley's political proclivities1 and the pamphlet he had written at ,franklin's instigation on the ,american question probably expressed his ,lordship's own sentiments4 ,at the same time ,priestley was under no obligation to serve ,lord ,shelburne politically1 and there is no evidence that any such service was either expected or rendered4 ,his office was nominally that of librarian1 but he had little to do in that capacity beyond arranging and cataloguing the books and numerous manuscripts at ,bowood and ,lansdowne ,house and making an index of ,lord ,shelburne's private papers4 ,indeed1 ,lord ,shelburne treated him rather as a companion and friend than as a servant1 taking him1 in the second year of his engagement1 on a journey through ,flanders1 ,holland and ,germany as far as ,strasburg1 and spending a month in ,paris4 ,the time he spent on the ,continent made him sensible of the benefit of foreign travel1 even without the advantage of much conversation with foreigners4 ,indeed1 he says the very sight of new countries1 buildings and customs of an unfamiliar type1 even the very hearing of a fresh language1 however unintelligible1 stimulates and widens the mind and gives it new ideas4 ,he saw everything to the best advantage and without any anxiety or trouble1 and he had an opportunity of meeting and conversing with every person of eminence wherever he went1 the political characters by ,lord ,shelburne's connections and the literary and scientific ones by his own4 ,one of these was ,magellan1 or ,magalhns1 a ,portuguese ,jesuit descended from the great navigator of that name4 ,he resided in ,england1 where he died in1 or shortly before1 #agij4 ,he had early information on scientific matters from abroad1 and was frequently employed in procuring ,english instruments for foreigners4 ,he was a ,fellow of the ,royal ,society and an active correspondent of ,lavoisier's1 to whom he sent all scientific memoirs published in ,england1 ,priestley's among the number4 ,magellan was the subject of a notable trial at law--one of the last indeed of its kind in ,england4 ,he was indicted at the suit of a common informer under the statute against saying ,mass1 but the suit1 which was heard before ,lord ,mansfield1 was dismissed on some point of legal informality4 ,it was1 no doubt1 mainly through ,magellan that ,priestley was brought into the society of that brilliant galaxy of men of science which at that period was the glory of ,france4 ,in some respects he was out of sympathy with this environment1 and1 as he confesses1 soon tired of ,paris4 ,priestley never obtruded his religious convictions on any company he might be in2 at the same time he never forgot that he was a ,christian and a minister of religion4 ,what is now called ,agnosticism was at least as prevalent during the latter half of the eighteenth century as at any period of the history of ,europe4 ,priestley tells us that a great part of the company he saw at ,lord ,shelburne's did not really know what ,christianity was1 and ,lord ,shelburne numbered among his friends and political associates almost all who were intellectually eminent at that time in this country4 ,he was not unprepared1 therefore1 to find that all the philosophers to whom he was introduced at ,paris were unbelievers in ,christianity and even professed ,atheists4 ,he was told1 indeed1 by some of them that he was the only person they had ever met with1 of whose understanding they had any opinion1 who professed to believe ,christianity4 ,it was this experience which caused ,priestley to write his ,letters to a ,philosophical ,unbeliever4 ,he says that as he had conversed so much with unbelievers at home and abroad he thought he should be able to combat their prejudices with advantage4 ,indeed1 he was wont to say that the greatest satisfaction he received from the success of his philosophical pursuits arose from the genuine weight it gave to his attempts to defend the principles of ,christianity and to free it from those corruptions which prevent its reception with philosophical and thinking persons4 ,of the many advantages he enjoyed through his connection with ,lord ,shelburne1 ,priestley was always fully sensible4 ,it came to him at the most opportune period of his career1 and in the full tide of his intellectual vigour4 ,the years he spent in this association were1 so far at least as science is concerned1 the most fruitful of his life4 ,lord ,shelburne was a generous patron1 and particularly encouraged ,priestley in his chemical inquiries1 affording him ample opportunity for their prosecution and defraying much of the expense they occasioned4 ,he had pleasure in witnessing his experiments1 and frequently requested him to exhibit them to his guests1 particularly to foreigners1 by whom a knowledge of ,priestley's work was thus spread abroad4 ,priestley's energies were1 however1 not wholly engrossed by his scientific labours4 ,theology and metaphysics still claimed much of his time1 and to this period belongs the concluding portion of his ,institutes of ,natural and ,revealed ,religion and his ,harmony of the ,gospels1 and his ,disquisitions relating to ,matter and ,spirit4 ,he also at this time wrote some ,miscellaneous ,observations relating to ,education1 and published his ,warrington ,lectures on ,oratory and ,criticism1 which he dedicated to his patron's eldest son1 ,lord ,fitzmaurice4 ,certain of these publications occasioned considerable uproar at the time of their appearance3 the outcry indeed was such1 he says1 as could hardly have been imagined4 ,he was attacked in almost every newspaper1 and in the greater number of the periodicals1 as an unbeliever in revelation and no better than an ,atheist4 ,in the preface to his ,institutes of ,natural and ,revealed ,religion he had been led to question the principles of ,reid1 ,beattie and ,oswald with respect to their doctrine of common sense1 which they had made to supersede all rational inquiry into the subject of religion1 and he subsequently developed the attack in a separate publication4 ,he expressed his belief in the doctrine of philosophical necessity and his admiration of ,hartley's theory of the human mind4 ,he had uttered some doubt of the immateriality of the sentient principle in man1 and after giving1 as he says1 the closest attention to the subject1 he was firmly persuaded that man is wholly material1 and that our only prospect of immortality is from the ,christian doctrine of a resurrection4 ,priestley clearly recognised that many of these publications were not calculated to improve his relations with ,lord ,shelburne4 ,indeed1 he says several attempts were made by ,lord ,shelburne's friends1 though none by himself1 to dissuade him from persisting in them4 ,he goes on to say that3-- ,in order to proceed with the greatest caution in a business of such moment ,i desired some of my learned friends1 and especially ,dr ,price1 to peruse the work before it was published1 and the remarks that he made upon it led to a free and friendly discussion of the several subjects of it1 which are afterwards published jointly1 and it remains a proof of the possibility of discussing subjects mutually considered as of the greatest importance with the most perfect good-temper and without the least diminution of friendship4 ,lord ,shelburne's political enemies were not slow to take advantage of the outcry raised against ,priestley by the orthodox and to strike at the patron through the philosopher4 ,it is obvious1 from ,priestley's letters to his friends at about this period1 that he was sensible that his relations with ,pitt's ,secretary of ,state had become somewhat strained1 and when he received an intimation through ,dr ,price that ,lord ,shelburne wished to give him an establishment in ,ireland1 where he had large property1 he interpreted this as signifying that the ,minister desired that their connection should be severed4 ,they parted amicably1 ,lord ,shelburne continuing to pay him the promised annuity of #aej until the end of his days1 paying it1 too1 contrary to the insinuation of his enemies1 with perfect punctuality4 ,that there was no unfriendly feeling on the part of ,lord ,shelburne at a separation which seemed to be dictated solely by considerations of political exigency would appear from the circumstance that a few years later he sent a common friend to ,priestley1 who was then settled in ,birmingham1 to invite him to resume his old position1 accompanying his request with expressions which left no doubt of the value he set upon the companionship4 ,sensible as ,priestley was of ,lord ,shelburne's feelings towards him1 he was in no mind to return to a situation which experience had shown might be incompatible with independence4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,removes to ,london--,declines a pension--,renews his acquaintance with ,franklin--,goes to ,birmingham--,becomes a member of the ,lunar ,society4 ,on leaving ,calne1 ,priestley repaired to ,london4 ,his position was somewhat precarious1 as he had practically nothing but his allowance from ,lord ,shelburne to support him4 ,this1 although larger than the stipend he had enjoyed at ,leeds1 was barely sufficient for his growing family4 ,friends however were not wanting to come to his assistance4 ,indeed1 during his residence at ,calne1 some of them observing1 as they said1 that many of his experiments had not been carried to their proper extent on account of the expense that would have attended them1 proposed to supply him with whatever sums he should want for that purpose and named a hundred pounds per annum4 ,this large subscription ,i declined1 he says1 lest the discovery of it 7by the use that ,i should1 of course1 make of it7 should give umbrage to ,lord ,shelburne2 but ,i consented to accept forty pounds per annum1 which from that time he 7,dr ,fothergill7 regularly paid me from the contribution of himself1 ,sir ,theodore ,jansen1 ,mr ,constable and ,sir ,george ,savile4 ,this sentence is characteristic of ,priestley and of much of his autobiography4 ,probably no man with so many enemies had such troops of friends1 and certainly none had so many and such generous benefactors4 ,and the measure of their beneficence was only equalled by that of ,priestley's gratitude and sense of obligation4 ,indeed1 he says the chief object he had in putting together his memoirs was that he thought it right to leave behind him some account of his friends and benefactors1 and accordingly we find that the incidents in his career are dwelt upon by him rather with the idea of illustrating his indebtedness to others than as records of his own achievements4 ,on his removal to ,london1 where he contemplated resuming his profession as a teacher1 ,dr ,fothergill and his co-subscribers considerably increased his allowance for experiments1 whilst at the same time other friends were not less zealous that he should have the means to pursue his theological studies and to publish the fruits of his labours4 ,indeed1 all who could in any way assist seemed to vie with one another in help4 ,parker1 the optician of ,fleet ,street1 supplied him with every instrument that he wanted in glass1 and ,wedgwood1 the potter1 sent him innumerable retorts1 tubes and other articles of clay4 ,without such assistance he could not have carried on his experiments1 except on a very small scale and under great disadvantages4 ,during ,lord ,rockingham's administration1 and subsequently at the beginning of that of ,mr ,pitt1 some suggestions were made to provide ,priestley with a pension to assist in defraying the expense of his inquiries4#ad ,he however declined all overtures of this kind1 wishing1 as he said1 to preserve himself independent of everything connected with the court1 and preferring the assistance of individuals who were lovers of liberty as well as of science4 ,his winter's residence in ,london threw him constantly into the society of his old friend ,franklin2 indeed1 he says1 as members of the same club few days passed without their seeing one another1 and their friendship ripened into the closest intimacy4 ,there can be no doubt that this intercourse with ,franklin not only led ,priestley to the study of natural science1 but quickened and fostered his love of civil and political liberty4 ,priestley in his autobiography does ample justice to ,franklin's efforts to maintain the union of the ,american ,colonies with this country4 ,but ,franklin1 says ,mr ,choate 7,inaugural address as ,president of the ,birmingham and ,midland ,institute1 ,october #bc1 #aijc71 was more than a staunch ,loyalist4 ,he was an ,imperialist in the most stalwart sense of the word1 and on a very broad gauge4 ,his biographer1 ,parton1 truly says3-- ,it was one of ,franklin's most cherished opinions that the greatness of ,england and the happiness of ,america depended chiefly upon their being cordially united4 ,the 'country' which ,franklin loved was not ,england nor ,america1 but the great and glorious ,empire which these two united to form4 ,in writing to ,lord ,kames1 he said3-- ,i have long been of opinion that the foundations of the future grandeur and stability of the ,british ,empire lie in ,america2 and though1 like other foundations1 they are low and little now1 they are nevertheless broad and strong enough to support the greatest political structure that human wisdom ever yet erected4 ,in #aggd he wrote3-- ,it has long appeared to me that the only true ,british policy was that which aimed at the good of the whole ,british ,empire1 not that which sought the advantage of one part in the disadvantage of the others2 therefore all measures of procuring gain to the ,mother ,country arising from loss to her colonies1 and all gain to the ,colonies arising from or occasioning loss to ,britain1 especially where the gain was small and the loss was great 444 ,i in my own mind condemned as improper1 partial1 unjust and mischievous1 tending to create dissensions and weaken that union on which the strength1 solidity and duration of the ,empire greatly depended2 and ,i opposed1 as far as my little powers went1 all proceedings1 either here or in ,america1 that in my opinion had such tendency4 ,priestley's testimony is no less explicit4 ,he says3-- ,the unity of the ,british ,empire in all its parts was a favourite idea of his4 ,he used to compare it to a beautiful china vase which1 if ever broken1 could never be put together again1 and so great an admirer was he of the ,british constitution that he said he saw no inconvenience from its being extended over a great part of the globe4 ,in the autobiography we further read3-- ,i can bear witness that he 7,franklin7 was so far from promoting1 as was generally supposed1 that he took every method in his power to prevent a rupture between the two countries4 ,he urged so much the doctrine of forbearance1 that for some time he was unpopular with the ,americans on that account1 as too much a friend to ,great ,britain4 ,his advice to them was to bear everything for the present1 as they were sure in time to outgrow all their grievances1 as it could not be in the power of the ,mother ,country to oppress them long4 ,he dreaded the war1 and often said that if the difference should come to an open rupture it would be a war of ten years1 and he should not live to see the end of it4 ,in reality the war lasted nearly eight years1 but he did not live to see the happy termination of it4 ,that the issue would be favourable to ,america he never doubted4 ,the ,english1 he used to say1 may take all our great towns1 but that will not give them possession of the country4 ,the last day that he spent in ,england1 having given out that he should leave ,london the day before1 we passed together without any other company2 and much of the time was employed in reading ,american newspapers1 especially accounts of the reception which the ',boston ,port ,bill' met with in ,america2 and as he read the addresses to the inhabitants of ,boston from the places in the neighbourhood the tears trickled down his cheeks4 ,what ,franklin thought of ,priestley may be gathered from the following extract from one of his letters to ,vaughan1 one of ,priestley's ,warrington pupils1 written in ,october #aghh after his return to ,america3-- ,remember me affectionately to the good ,dr ,price and to the honest heretic1 ,dr ,priestley4 ,i do not call him honest by way of distinction1 for ,i think all the heretics ,i have known have been virtuous men4 ,they have the virtue of fortitude1 or they would not venture to own their heresy2 and they cannot afford to be deficient in any of the other virtues1 as that would give advantage to their many enemies2 and they have not1 like orthodox sinners1 such a number of friends to excuse or justify them4 ,do not1 however1 mistake me4 ,it is not to my good friend's heresy that ,i impute his honesty4 ,on the contrary 'tis his honesty that has brought upon him the character of heretic4 ,in #aghj1 at the suggestion of his brother-in-law1 ,john ,wilkinson1 one of his truest friends1 ,priestley was led to take up his residence in ,birmingham4 ,there were many circumstances which made this step desirable4 ,in ,birmingham he had friends prepared to welcome him and society in every way sympathetic and congenial4 ,moreover1 he was desirous of resuming his ministerial duties1 which had been intermitted for the past six or seven years1 and an opportunity of doing so1 with a congregation not less liberal than he had served at ,leeds1 offered itself1 owing to the approaching retirement of ,mr ,hawkes from the charge of the ,new ,meeting4 ,as regards his philosophical pursuits he had the convenience of good workmen of every kind and he could count upon the practical sympathy and interest of men like ,watt1 his partner ,boulton1 ,keir1 ,withering1 ,wedgwood1 ,erasmus ,darwin1 and the ,galtons1 all at that time living in ,birmingham or in its vicinity4 ,these men and their friends constituted indeed a cultured society without a parallel in any other town in the kingdom1 except possibly in the ,metropolis4 ,the more eminent of them formed themselves into an association1 to which frequent reference is made in the biographical literature of the period1 on account of the part which it played in the social and intellectual life of the ,midlands4 ,the ,lunar ,society of ,birmingham appears to have been formed about the year #agff by ,matthew ,boulton and ,erasmus ,darwin1 at that time resident in ,birmingham4 ,the members were about ten or a dozen in number and met at each other's houses for dinner once a month on the ,monday nearest to the full moon1 in order to have the benefit of its light in returning home4 ,they were in the habit of sitting down to dinner at two o'clock and their meeting lasted until eight4 ,each member was allowed to bring a friend1 and thus it happened that many distinguished men were recipients1 at various times1 of the ,club's hospitality4 ,among them we find ,wedgwood1 ,sir ,joseph ,banks1 ,sir ,william ,herschel1 ,smeaton1 the builder of the ,eddystone ,lighthouse2 ,dr ,samuel ,parr1 the critic2 ,afzelius1 the teacher of ,berzelius2 ,solander1 the well-known naturalist and traveller2 ,de ,luc and other names eminent in the literary and scientific annals of the century4 ,as might be supposed from what we know of its founders and their friends the constitution of the society was on the broadest possible basis4 ,we had nothing to do1 says ,priestley1 with the religious or political principles of each other2 we were united by a common love of science1 which we thought sufficient to bring together persons of all distinctions--,christians1 ,jews1 ,mahometans and heathens1 ,monarchists and ,republicans4 ,the invitations issued by the host were usually accompanied by some intimation of the nature of the impending symposium4 ,thus ,watt writes to ,darwin1 under date ,jan4 #c1 #agha3-- ,i beg that you would impress on your memory the idea that you promised to dine with sundry men of learning at my house on ,monday next1 and that you will realise the idea4 ,for your encouragement there is a new book to be cut up1 and it is to be determined whether or not heat is a compound of phlogiston and empyreal air1 and whether a mirror can reflect the heat of the fire4 ,i give you a friendly warning that you may be found wanting whichever opinion you adopt in the latter question1 therefore be cautious4 ,if you are meek and humble1 perhaps you may be told what light is made of1 and also how to make it1 and the theory proved both by synthesis and analysis4 ,the discussions of the philosophic convives were not1 however1 confined exclusively to chemistry4 ,the period1 says ,mr ,carrington ,bolton1 was one of great activity in the world of science2 ,laplace was applying his mathematical genius to the problems of astronomy2 ,herschel was sweeping the heavens with his gigantic telescopes2 ,galvani and ,volta were laying the foundations of a revolution in electricity2 ,count ,rumford in ,bavaria was devoting his great energy to industrial and social economy2 ,hatton and ,werner were geologising in their respective countries2 ,hay was systematising the innumerable crystalline forms occurring in nature2 the ,montgolfier brothers were experimenting with air-balloons and prophesying the yet unsolved problem of arial navigation2 ,captain ,james ,cook returned from his memorable voyages around the world1 full of adventures and novelties in nature3 the application of steam to the driving of land carriages and the propelling of boats was gradually being perfected by patience and genius4 ,these1 together with the metaphysical and even the political questions of the day1 must have engrossed the attention of the talented friends who dined together at the full moon4 ,a picturesque account of the ,club is given in ,mrs ,schimmelpenninck's ,memoirs4 ,mary ,ann ,schimmelpenninck 7ne ,galton7 was the daughter of ,mr ,samuel ,galton1 a wealthy patron of letters and a man of considerable intellectual ability4 ,he was interested in scientific pursuits and was a fellow of the ,royal ,society4 ,his house at ,barr1 about seven or eight miles from ,birmingham1 was a notable place in the social life of the district1 and the ,lunar ,society held some of its most delightful meetings under his hospitable roof1 as ,mrs ,schimmelpenninck recalls4 ,she thus writes of ,dr ,priestley3-- ,a man of admirable simplicity1 gentleness and kindness of heart1 united with great acuteness of intellect4 ,i can never forget the impression produced on me by the serene expression of his countenance4 ,in his ,memoirs ,richard ,lovell ,edgeworth says of the ,society that it consisted of-- ,men of very different characters1 but all devoted to literature and science4 ,this mutual intimacy has never been broken but by death1 nor have any of the number failed to distinguish themselves in science or literature4 ,some may think ,i ought1 with due modesty1 to except myself4 ,mr ,keir1 with his knowledge of the world and good sense2 ,dr ,small1 with his benevolence and profound sagacity2 444 ,boulton1 with his mobility1 quick perception and bold adventure2 ,watt1 with his strong inventive faculty1 undeviating steadiness and bold resources2 ,darwin1 with his imagination1 science and poetical excellence2 and ,day1 with his unwearied research after truth1 his integrity and eloquence1 proved altogether such a society as few men have had the good fortune to live with2 such an assemblage of friends as fewer still have had the happiness to possess and keep through life4 ,there can be no doubt that ,priestley's coming to ,birmingham contributed greatly to the interest of the meetings of the ,lunar ,society and reacted beneficially on ,priestley himself by stimulating his activity and affording him the sympathy of congenial minds not less interested than he was in the study of natural science4 ,as each meeting came round he was certain to find a gathering curious to hear of his latest experiments and eager to discuss with him their bearing upon the chemical doctrine of the period4 ,priestley's influence and position in the ,society may be inferred from the circumstance that almost immediately after he joined it ,pneumatic ,chemistry became one of the chief topics of discussion4 ,this is amply demonstrated in the correspondence of its various members1 which has been preserved to us in the biographies of ,watt1 ,wedgwood and others1 and in the scientific letters of ,priestley1 which have been collected and edited by ,mr ,h4 ,carrington ,bolton4 ,one direct outcome of this interest is seen in ,watt's connection with the ,history of the ,discovery of the ,composition of ,water4 ,it is reasonably certain that if ,watt and ,priestley had not foregathered round the festive board of the ,lunar ,society1 ,watt would not have been stimulated to theorise on the meaning and true significance of ,priestley's experiments1 and as to their bearing upon the fact that ,priestley's dephlogisticated air 7oxygen7 and inflammable air 7hydrogen7 enter into the composition of water4 ,watt's claim to be considered as the discoverer of the composition of water rests upon his interpretation of the experimental phenomena made known to him by ,priestley shortly after his arrival in ,birmingham4 ,the ,water ,controversy--a controversy which keenly excited the entire scientific world a generation or so ago--may be said to have arisen from the accident of ,priestley's removal to ,birmingham and to his association with the ,lunar ,society4 ,priestley's connection with the ,society influenced the progress of chemistry in this country both directly and indirectly4 ,as already stated1 he himself was greatly stimulated to accumulate chemical facts by his association with men like ,boulton1 ,watt1 ,wedgwood1 ,keir1 ,darwin1 who loved knowledge for its own sake1 but who were at the same time quite alive to the material benefits which they and their fellow-men might derive from the pursuit of scientific inquiry4 ,the measure of their interest may be gauged by the extent of their support1 and by the readiness with which they furnished ,priestley with the means to carry on his investigations4 ,priestley not only freely communicated to them the results of his labours1 but he incidentally fixed their attention on a class of phenomena which1 more than any other1 were calculated to afford an insight into the real nature of chemical change1 and to lead to a rational explanation of chemical phenomena4 ,priestley was not consciously a casuist1 but there can be no question that the interpretation which his active and ingenious mind occasionally led him to place upon his work not only served to blind himself1 but was the means of obscuring the truth for a time from others4 ,we have only to read the correspondence1 already more than once alluded to1 to find ample proof that such was the case4 ,in a letter to ,wedgwood1 of ,march #cj1 #agha1 ,boulton writes3-- ,we have long talked of phlogiston without knowing what we talked about2 but now that ,dr ,priestley hath brought the matter to light we can pour that element out of one vessel into another2 can tell how much of it by accurate measurement is necessary to reduce a calx to a metal1 which is easily done1 and without putting that calx into contact with any visible thing4 ,in short1 this goddess of levity can be measured and weighed like other matter4 ,for the rest1 ,i refer you to the doctor himself4 ,in the following year 7,march #ba1 #aghb7 we find ,priestley also writing to ,wedgwood3-- ,before my late experiments1 phlogiston was indeed almost given up by the ,lunar ,society1 but now it seems to be re-established4 ,how difficult it was to convince ,priestley may be seen from the following extract from a letter to his friend ,franklin1 who was then in ,paris1 written at about the same time3-- ,birmingham1 ,june #bd1 #aghb4 ,please to inform the ,duc de ,rochefoucauld1 whose civilities to me ,i remember with pleasure1 that my experiments are certainly inconsistent with ,mr ,lavoisier's supposition of there being no such thing as phlogiston1 and that it is the addition of air1 and not the loss of anything1 that converts a metal into a calx4 ,in their usual state calces of metals do not contain air1 but that may be expelled by heat1 and after this ,i reduce them to a perfect metallic state by nothing but inflammable air1 which they imbibe in toto1 without any decomposition4 ,i lately reduced #aja ounce measures of this air to two by calx of lead1 and that small remainder was still inflammable4 ,i explain ,mr ,lavoisier's experiments by supposing that precipitate per se mercuric oxide contains all the phlogiston of the metal mercury1 but in a different state2 but ,i can show other calces which also contain more phlogiston than the metals themselves4 ,that mercury in its metallic state does contain phlogiston or inflammable air is evident from the production of nitrous air by the solution of it in spirits of nitre1 and ,i make nitrous air from nothing but nitrous vapour and inflammable air2 so that it indisputably consists of these two ingredients4 ,i have already ascertained the proportion of inflammable air that enters into the composition of lead1 tin1 copper and silver1 and am proceeding with the other metals as fast as ,i can4 ,when the whole is completed ,i shall give you a further account of it4 ,i am exceedingly concerned to find that it is so difficult a thing to make peace2 but ,i hope before the campaign is over all parties will have had enough of war1 and be sensible that they will gain nothing by continuing it4 ,if ,i had any voice in the business1 the prospect of seeing you in this country would be a strong additional motive to accelerate the negotiations4 ,with the greatest respect and every good wish4--,i am1 dear sir1 yours sincerely1 ,j4 ,priestley4 ,there were already many indications prior to #aghj that men were beginning to be troubled as to the sufficiency of ,stahl's generalisation to account for the rapidly-accumulating mass of facts which the application of quantitative chemistry to the study of natural phenomena was bringing to light4 ,priestley's advent in ,birmingham certainly retarded by the weight of his authority the growth in heterodoxy in that particular among the members of the ,lunar ,society1 and indirectly therefore all whom they could influence4 ,the following letter from ,keir is typical of many which passed between the members of the ,society in reference to ,priestley's work and of the discussions which it occasioned4 ,keir to ,priestley4 ,the more we discover of ,nature1 the further we are removed from the conceit of our being able to understand the operations4 ,i wish ,m4 ,berthollet and his associates would relate their facts in plain prose1 that all men might understand them1 and reserve their poetry of the new nomenclature for their theoretical commentaries on the facts4 ,i have wished much to call on you to hear of the progress of your experiments1 but have been much indisposed with the rheumatism4 ,i long to know what acids you get with the other inflammable airs4 ,if you get different acids from the inflammable air made from sulphur and water1 that made from marine acid and copper 7for ,i would avoid iron on account of its plumbago and carbon71 and that made from charcoal and water3--,i say1 if these acids are different 7suppose1 according to my notions1 vitriolic1 marine and fixed air71 then will you not be obliged to admit that there is not one inflammable but many inflammables1 which opinion you now think as heterodox as the ,athanasian ,system4 ,however1 there are wonderful resources in the dispute about ,phlogiston1 by which either party can evade1 so that ,i am less sanguine than you are in my hopes of seeing it terminated4 ,one consolation remains1 that in your experiments you cannot fail of discovering something perhaps of as great or greater importance for us to know4 ,nevertheless1 even in the ,club itself there was at least one man who came under the influence of ,priestley1 but who eventually emancipated himself1 and this was ,withering1 who1 we are informed1 read to them a humorous piece in verse entitled ',the ,life and ,death of ,phlogiston1' which was long remembered for its clever treatment and pointed wit4 ,that ,priestley's influence still reigned in the ,club1 even down to #ahjc1 may be inferred from the introduction to his essay1 ,the ,doctrine of ,phlogiston ,established--the last of his scientific papers--in which he says1 ,and now that ,dr ,crawford is dead1 ,i hardly know of any person1 except my friends of the ,lunar ,society of ,birmingham1 who adhere to the doctrine of ,phlogiston4 ,as regards the history of the ,lunar ,society there is little more to tell4 ,one by one its members submitted themselves to the arrest of the fell sergeant1 and eventually ,keir1 ,watt1 and ,boulton1 the founder1 were the only survivors1 and its meetings were gradually discontinued4 ,but1 says its historian1 the influence exerted by the ,society did not die2 it had stimulated inquiry and quickened the zeal for knowledge of all who had come within its influence1 and this spirit diffused and propagated itself in all directions4 ,leonard ,horner1 who visited ,soho in #ahji1 thus refers to the continued moral influence of the association3-- ,the remnant of the ,lunar ,society1 he says1 and the fresh remembrance in others of the remarkable men who composed it1 are very interesting4 ,the impression which they made is not yet worn out1 but shows itself to the second and third generation1 in a spirit of scientific curiosity and free inquiry1 which even yet makes some stand against ,toryism and the love of gain4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,priestley at ,birmingham--,his theological work there--,his love of literature--,his catholicity--,his personal characteristics4 ,in #aghd ,priestley brought out a revised edition of the work on which his fame as a man of science mainly rests1 under the title of ,experiments and ,observations on ,different ,kinds of ,air2 and other branches of ,natural ,philosophy connected with the ,subject4 ,in three volumes1 being the former six abridged and methodised4 ,with many ,additions4 ,london1 #agij4 #c vols4 #hvo4 ,in a letter to his friend ,keir we find an allusion to this matter4 ,he says3-- ,i am working like a horse at the new arrangements of my #f vols4 of ,experiments4 ,it is a tedious business4 ,what do you think of an attempt to dedicate this work to the ,prince of ,wales8 ,the ,king ,i shall never think of in any such light1 nor the ,prince1 unless it be possible that he will be a real patron of science and could look upon it in some other light than that of an honour to myself4 ,an interesting account of ,priestley at this period of his life is to be found in the ,memoirs of the ,french geologist1 ,faujar ,st ,fond1 who visited ,birmingham some time after ,priestley's settlement there4 ,he says3-- ,dr ,priestley received me with the greatest kindness4 ,he presented me to his wife and his daughter1 who were distinguished by vivacity1 intelligence and gentleness of manner4 ,the young lady spoke to me of one of her brothers1 who was then finishing his education at ,geneva and to whom she seemed very much attached4 ,the building in which ,dr ,priestley made his chemical and philosophical experiments was detached from his house to avoid the danger of fire4 ,it consisted of several apartments on a ground floor4 ,upon entering it we were struck with a simple and ingenious apparatus for making experiments on inflammable gas extracted from iron and water reduced to vapour4 ,the tube1 which was thick and long1 was made of red copper and cast in one piece to avoid joinings4 ,the part exposed to the fire was thicker than the rest4 ,into this tube he introduced cuttings or filings of iron1 and instead of dropping in the water he preferred making it enter in vapour4 ,the furnace destined for this operation was supplied with coke made of coal1 which is the best of all combustibles for the intensity and equality of its heat4 ,by these means he obtained a considerable quantity of inflammable gas of great lightness and without any smell4 ,he observed to me1 that by increasing the apparatus and using iron or copper tubes of a large calibre1 aerostatic balloons might be filled with far less trouble and expense than by vitriolic acid4 ,dr ,priestley allowed me to take a drawing of this new apparatus for the purpose of communicating it to the ,french chemists who are engaged in the same pursuit4444 ,dr ,priestley did not regard the experiments made relative to the decomposition of water as satisfactory4 ,he could not admit the fact to be demonstrated so long as the gas was only obtained through the medium of iron1 a metal which is itself susceptible of inflammability2 but he waited with impatience for the result of the experiments of the ,french chemists1 particularly those of ,lavoisier1 who had invented and caused to be constructed an extensive apparatus for the same object4 ',the decomposition of water1' said this indefatigable philosopher1 addressing himself to me1 'is of so much importance in ,natural ,philosophy1 and would occupy so distinguished a place among the phenomena of the universe1 that far from admitting the fact upon slight evidence1 and as it were from enthusiasm1 it were rather to be wished that all objections that may be made1 and which will still long continue to be made against this theory were completely refuted2 in the conflict of opinions1 truth may at last be obtained4 ,but ,i have still so many doubts upon this subject1 and ,i have so many experiments to make1 both pro and con1 that ,i can as yet regard the greatest as only started4' ,dr ,priestley has embellished his solitude with a philosophical cabinet1 which contains all the instruments necessary for his experiments1 and a library rendered valuable by a choice of excellent works4 ,the learned possessor employs himself in a variety of studies3 ,history1 ,moral ,philosophy and ,religion have all in their turn engaged his pen4 ,an active1 intelligent mind and a natural avidity for knowledge gave him a passion for experimental philosophy2 but the sensibility and gentleness of his disposition have sometimes directed his attention to pious and philanthropic studies1 which do honour to the goodness of his heart1 since they always have for their object the happiness of mankind4 ,priestley's time in ,birmingham was not1 however1 wholly devoted to science and the social joys of the ,lunar ,society4 ,much of it was given to his beloved theology and to editing the ,theological ,repository1 which he revived some time after he had settled there4 ,a few months after his arrival he was invited to take charge of the congregation of the ,new ,meeting4 ,with the consent of the congregation his services were mainly confined to ,sunday duty and to catechising and lecturing4 ,of his preaching ,miss ,hutton has left us an account4 ,she says3-- ,i look upon his character as a preacher to be as amicable as his character as a philosopher is great4 ,in the pulpit he is mild1 persuasive and unaffected1 and his sermons are full of sound reasoning and good sense4 ,he is not what is called an orator2 he uses no actions1 no declamation2 but his voice and manner are those of one friend speaking to another4 ,his congregation is described as the most liberal in ,england1 and with many of its members1 particularly ,mr ,russell1 he was on the most intimate and affectionate terms4 ,during this period he completed his friendly controversy with the ,bishop of ,waterford on the duration of ,christ's ministry1 and he published a volume of sermons4 ,to the same period belongs his ,history of the ,corruptions of ,christianity1 which he composed and published shortly after his settlement at ,birmingham4 ,this work1 which he spoke of as the most valuable of all his writings1 he dedicated to his dear friend1 ,theophilus ,lindsey1 in the hope that their names may ever be connected as closely after death as they were connected by friendship during life4 ,to ,lindsey's example of a pure love of truth1 and of the most fearless integrity in asserting it1 as evidenced by the sacrifices he had made to it1 ,priestley says that he owed much of his own wishes to imbibe the same spirit4 ,the work1 as originally planned1 was to be the concluding part of his ,institutes of ,natural and ,revealed ,religion1 but as the matter of it grew it became extended into a separate treatise1 larger1 indeed1 than the whole of the ,institutes4 ,its object was to show that modern ,christianity was a departure from the original scheme1 and that the innovations have debased its spirit and almost annihilated all the happy effects which it was eminently calculated to produce4 ,although it had begun to recover itself from its corrupted state1 and the ,reformation was advancing apace1 abuses still continued in many places1 even although their virulence was very generally abated and the number was greatly increased of those who were most zealous in the profession of ,christianity1 whose lives were the greatest ornament to it1 and who hold it in such purity that if it was fairly exhibited and universally understood it could hardly fail to recommend itself to the acceptance of the whole world4 ,but so long as all the ,christianity that is known to ,heathens1 ,mahometans and ,jews is of a corrupted and debased kind1 and particularly while the profession of it is so much connected with worldly interest1 it is no wonder that mankind in general refuse to admit it1 and that they can even hardly be prevailed upon to give any attention to the evidence that is alleged in its favour4 ,whereas1 when the system itself shall appear to be less liable to objection1 it is to be hoped that they may be brought to give proper attention to it1 and to the evidence on which it rests4 ,in this work ,priestley attempted to trace every corruption--that is every innovation or departure from what he conceives to be the original scheme--to its proper source and to show what circumstances in the state of things1 and especially of other prevailing opinions and prejudices1 made the alteration1 in doctrine or practice1 sufficiently natural1 and the introduction and establishment of it easy4 ,priestley hoped as a true rationalist that this historical method would be found to be one of the most satisfactory modes of argumentation1 in order to prove that what he objected to was no part of the original scheme4 ,for after the clearest refutation of any particular doctrine that has been long established in ,christian churches it will still be asked1 how1 if it be no part of the scheme1 it ever came to be thought so1 and to be so generally acquiesced in2 and in many cases the mind will not be perfectly satisfied till such questions be answered4 ,we are mainly concerned with this remarkable work as illustrating the character and attributes of its author1 and it is not within our province to give any analysis of its contents4 ,it must be remembered in connection with it that ,priestley was no longer an ,arian2 he was not even a ,socinian1 as that term was understood by the immediate followers of ,faustus ,socinus1 who thought it their duty as ,christians1 and1 indeed1 essential to ,christianity1 to pray to ,jesus ,christ1 notwithstanding they believed him to be1 in ,priestley's phrase1 a mere man4 ,priestley was at this time what he remained until his death--a strict ,humanitarian1 although he believed in the supernatural power and divine mission of ,christ4 ,of the reception which awaited his book he could not be altogether unprepared4 ,it was received by the orthodox with a storm of disapproval1 and a dozen pens were immediately set to work to demolish its doctrine and to defend the principles he so boldly assailed4 ,among those who entered the lists the most formidable was ,dr ,horsley1 then ,archdeacon of ,st ,albans1 whose ,animadversions were described as at once nervous1 animated and evangelical1 but in some passages too sarcastic4 ,it says something for ,priestley's position and influence in the theological world that his book should have met with the sternest disapprobation in ,lutheran1 and especially ,calvinistic1 circles abroad4 ,it was ordered to be burnt by the hands of the common hangman at ,dordrecht1 in #aghe--;a sign that the spirit of the ,synod of ,dort had survived even two centuries4 ,priestley thereupon undertook to collect from the original writers the state of opinion on the subject in the age succeeding that of the apostles1 and he published the results of his investigation in his ,history of ,early ,opinion concerning ,jesus ,christ4 ,in four volumes4 #hvo4 ,this bringing him still more antagonists he retaliated by writing a pamphlet annually in defence of the ,unitarian doctrine1 until it appeared to himself and his friends that his antagonists produced nothing to which it was of any consequence to reply4 ,the pains that he took to ascertain the state of early opinions concerning ,jesus ,christ1 and the great misapprehensions that he says he perceived in all the ecclesiastical historians1 led him to undertake a ,general ,history of the ,christian ,church to the ,fall of the ,western ,empire4 ,if you ask me1 says the ,rev4 ,alexander ,gordon1 what ,i should reckon ,priestley's greatest service to theological science1 ,i should say that it is to be found in his adoption of the historical method of investigating the problems of doctrine and in his special handling of that method4 ,the faith of ,priestley was the precursor of the modern theme of theological development1 though ,i do not think he used the term4 ,his term was 'corruption1' a term which1 it may be said1 begs a very important question4 ,at any rate it throws into strong relief the fact1 on which all are agreed1 that there is1 and must be1 some primitive nucleus whence developments proceed4 ,now it is the object of all who1 for any reason1 are interested in the origin of ,christianity to reach this primitive nucleus at its first1 undeveloped and uncorrupted stage4 ,where are we to seek it8 ,by universal consent we must go to the ,new ,testament4 ,there1 if anywhere1 we shall come upon its traces4 ,here the agreement begins and ends4 ,the ,new ,testament is in all hands4 ,but one man finds the ,trinity in it2 another the simplest ,monotheism2 a third1 the papacy2 a fourth1 the supremacy of the illuminating spirit4 ,the same words yield opposite results1 because the principles of interpretation differ4 ,the ,new ,testament is to be interpreted by the voice of the ,church2 or by the testimony of the ,creeds2 or by the opinions of the ,fathers of the first centuries before the age of dogmatic creeds began at ,nica4 ,these had been the expedients proposed by the ,catholic1 the ,anglican1 the ,arian respectively4 ,socinus had rejected them all4 ,it cannot matter to me 7so1 in effect1 he contended7 what any ,church1 or any ,creed1 or any ,father may have said2 ,i go to the ,new ,testament myself1 to read it with my own eyes1 to understand it with my own mind4 ,this was not the position of ,priestley4 ,he thought this as irrational a proceeding as any of those which it superseded4 ,even if1 by good luck1 the true sense were reached1 there was no means of proving it to be such4 ,the ,new ,testament1 in ,priestley's view1 is not to be construed as a book of enigmas which might belong to any age4 ,it is not dropped straight out of heaven into the hands of the man of to-day for him to make what he will of it4 ,it belongs to a specific period2 it was written for a given class of persons2 it was written to be understood4 ',therefore1' said ,priestley1 'it will be an unanswerable argument a priori against any particular doctrine being contained in the ,scriptures1 that it was never understood to be so by those persons for whose immediate use the ,scriptures were written1 and who must have been much better qualified to understand them1 in that respect at least1 than we can pretend to be at the present day4' 7,works1 vi4 #g47 ,accordingly it is the whole object of ,priestley's histories of doctrine to get at the mind of the common ,christian people in the first age2 to make their primary understanding of ,scripture the norm for its true interpretation2 and then to trace the process by which this first impression1 this real meaning1 suffered transmutation by the speculative genius of philosophising divines4 ,of the ,nicene ,council he quaintly says1 'there was no ,house of ,commons in that assembly4' ,it 'represented the ,christian ,church in no other sense than the ,house of ,lords might be said to represent the ,english nation4' ,he conceived that he could penetrate to this unsophisticated sense of the primitive believers through the very writings of the ,fathers whereby it had been overlaid and obscured4 ,their admissions1 their rebukes1 their appeals1 their laboured arguments1 their surviving conservatisms3 all were materials to his purpose4 ,the plan was novel1 the conception original1 the whole endeavour strictly scientific in its method and basis4 ,and ,i do not think that ,priestley's work in this department has received the full recognition which it rightly claims from us1 whether we regard its spirit or its execution4 ,the progress of biblical knowledge implies1 no doubt1 a readjustment of his argument and a revision of his conclusions4 ,but the readjustment and revision are effected by the use of principles which he was the first to set forth and apply4 ,we now go behind the ,new ,testament just as he went behind the ,fathers4 ,the ,new ,testament itself is1 to us1 largely a record by help of which we may reach the first impression made by the life1 and work1 and word of ,christ4 ,in so doing we do but carry out his suggestions and carry on his method4 ,he is the genuine precursor of the properly historic treatment of biblical and theological questions4 ,priestley's action with respect to the ,sunday school movement was another rock of offence to the ,established clergy4 ,this movement began in ,birmingham in #aghd1 and was supported by all denominations4 ,the ,high ,church party1 however1 insisted that all children1 irrespective of the religious persuasion of their parents1 should attend the worship of the ,established ,church and no other4 ,after some time1 and mainly at the instigation of ,priestley1 the ,dissenters opened their separate ,sunday schools1 the ,old ,meeting in #aghg1 and the ,new ,meeting in #aghh1 and ,priestley preached the first sermon on behalf of the ,new ,meeting ,schools in ,november #aghi1 and with his son ,joseph took an active share in the teaching4 ,priestley was a sincere lover of literature1 and no man was more sensible of its value to the moral and intellectual life of communities4 ,in his own case he had derived so much benefit from a ready access to books which were beyond his means to purchase that he was ever willing to lend himself to any well-considered attempt to open the storehouses of literature1 in its widest sense1 as freely as possible1 and to do all in his power to foster the love of reading and the spirit of inquiry among all classes of persons4 ,in each succeeding situation--,needham1 ,nantwich1 ,warrington1 ,leeds--he left evidences of his efforts to make books as accessible as possible to the community of which he was for the time a member4 ,leeds still enjoys a striking example of these efforts in its proprietary library1 and much of its reputation and character is owing to the wise and enlightened spirit which he infused into its administration4 ,as to the library at ,birmingham1 he eventually succeeded in giving to it1 as ,hutton says1 that stability and method without which no institution can prosper4 ,we are further told that the ,society are under many and great obligations to the learned ,doctor2 it was him who altered its original plan and put it on a more extensive scale2 he amended and enlarged the laws and has paid a great attention to its welfare and growing interests4 ,priestley's action1 and more especially the catholicity he displayed in the selection and admission of such books as in his judgment tended to the spread of rationalism1 whether in religion or in politics1 drew down upon him the wrath of the ,court party1 and more particularly of the beneficed clergy of the town and district1 and the library was vigorously denounced as a fountain of erroneous opinions1 spreading infidelity1 heresy and schism through the whole neighbourhood4 ,this catholicity is reflected in almost every circumstance of his daily life4 ,if liberality of sentiment1 he wrote on one occasion1 be the result of general and various acquaintance1 few men now living have had a better opportunity of acquiring it than myself4 ,this has arisen from the great variety of my pursuits1 which has naturally brought me acquainted with persons of all principles and characters4 ,one day1 ,i remember1 ,i dined in company with an eminent popish priest2 the evening ,i spent with philosophers1 determined unbelievers2 the next morning ,i breakfasted1 at his own request1 with a most zealously orthodox clergyman1 ,mr ,toplady1 and the rest of that day ,i spent with ,dr ,jebb1 ,mr ,lindsey and some others1 men in all respects after my own heart4 ,i have since enriched my acquaintance with that of some very intelligent ,jews2 and my opponents1 who consider me already as half a ,mahometan1 will not suppose that ,i can have any objection to the society of persons of that religion4 ,dr ,samuel ,parr1 the ,prebend of ,st ,paul's1 a staunch friend and true admirer of ,priestley1 who wrote the inscription on the tablet to his memory in the ,new ,meeting ,house at ,birmingham1 related the following characteristic anecdote to ,mrs ,robert ,a4 ,wainwright1 who died in #ahia1 in her #hdth year3-- ,now remember this4 ,i knew your grandfather1 ,dr ,priestley4 ,he once invited me to dinner at ,fair ,hill1 and ,i never was at a more agreeable party in my life4 ,your grandfather was at the head of the table4 ,i sat at the bottom4 ,at your grandfather's right hand was ,mr ,berington1 the ,roman ,catholic1 and ,mr ,galton1 the ,quaker1 on his left4 ,next to me was ,robert ,robinson1 the ,baptist1 and ,mr ,proud1 minister of the ,new ,jerusalem ,church4 ,all the five guests were remarkable men and distinguished in their several ,churches4 ,dr ,parr1 one of the most erudite scholars of his time and an acute critic1 an inveterate ,whig1 and a political ally of ,fox1 ,burke and ,north1 was ,vicar of ,wadenhoe in ,northamptonshire1 although he resided1 as assistant curate1 at ,hatton1 near ,warwick1 where he had an excellent library4 ,berington wrote a ,literary ,history of the ,middle ,ages1 and the ,history of ,abelard and ,heloise4 ,robert ,robinson1 of ,cambridge1 was the author of the ,history of ,baptism1 ,ecclesiastical ,researches1 ,village ,sermons and other books4 ,the ,swedenborgian minister was the chief defender of the ,new ,jerusalem ,church in ,england1 and was engaged in controversy with ,priestley4 ,a contemporary account of ,priestley at this period of his life describes him as about the middle stature1 or five feet eight inches high2 slender and well proportioned2 of fair complexion1 eyes grey and sparkling with intelligence1 and his whole countenance expressive of the benignity of his heart4 ,he often smiled1 but seldom laughed4 ,he was extremely active and agile in his motions2 he walked fast and very erect1 and his deportment was dignified4 ,his usual dress was a black coat without a cape1 a fine linen or cambric stock1 a cocked hat1 a powdered wig1 shoes and buckles4 ,he commonly walked with a long cane in his right hand1 and was an excellent pedestrian4 ,the whole of his dress was remarkably clean1 and this purity of person and simple dignity of manners evinced that philosophic propriety which prevailed throughout his conduct as a private individual4 ,he rose about six o'clock and commonly retired to his study1 where he continued until eight1 when he met his family at breakfast4 ,he breakfasted on tea1 and after breakfast again went to his study1 accompanied by his amanuensis4 ,he often devoted the whole of his morning to composition1 or divided his morning between the study and the laboratory4 ,when engaged in experimental work he commonly wore a white apron and canvas covers drawn over his sleeves4 ,he dined at one o'clock and was very abstemious4 ,he seldom drank wine or beer4 ,in the afternoon he usually took a walk1 frequently to ,birmingham1 and spent some time at the office where his works were being printed4 ,he supped at eight1 the meal usually consisting of vegetables1 and retired to rest shortly after ten4 ,he was extremely methodical in his habits and a rigid economist of time4 ,at ,daventry he began the practice1 which he continued up to within three or four days of his death1 of keeping1 in ,peter ,annet's system of shorthand1 a diary in which he noted where he had been1 the nature of his employment1 what he had been reading1 and any hints or suggestions of future work which had occurred to him1 when he rose and the hour at which he went to bed4 ,he was very methodical in his reading and in the alternation of his studies and relaxation4 ,he never read a book without determining in his own mind when he would finish it4 ,had he a work to transcribe1 he would fix a time for its completion4 ,at the beginning of each year he arranged the plan he intended to pursue1 and at the close he reviewed the general situation of his affairs and took stock of the progress he had made1 noting whether the execution of his plan exceeded or fell short of his expectations4 ,it was this regular apportionment of his time1 and the habits of method and order in the arrangement of his business which he adopted in early life1 and from which he never materially deviated1 together with his uniformly good health1 his industry and aptitude for rapid work1 which enabled him to achieve what he did4 ,it was1 he says1 a great advantage to him that he never was under the necessity of retiring from company in order to compose anything4 ,being fond of domestic life he got a habit of writing on any subject by the parlour fire with his wife and children about him1 and occasionally talking to them without experiencing any inconvenience from such interruptions4 ,when he was a young author 7although he did not publish anything until he was about thirty7 strictures on his writings gave him some disturbance1 though he believed even then less than they do most others2 but after some time things of that kind hardly affected him at all1 and on this account he thinks he may be said to have been well formed for public controversy4 ,but what always made him easy in any controversy in which he was engaged was his fixed resolution frankly to acknowledge any mistake that he might perceive he had fallen into4 ,that ,i had never been in the least backward to do this in matters of philosophy can never be denied4 ,though he has been considered as fond of controversy1 and that his chief delight consisted in it1 yet it was far from being true4 ,he was more frequently the defendant than the assailant4 ,his controversies1 as far as it depended upon himself1 were carried on with temper and decency4 ,he was never malicious1 nor even sarcastic or indignant1 unless provoked4 ,priestley was a very busy man and a very industrious man1 but he had not the power of sustained and concentrated application to a single subject which is the characteristic of men of great intellectual eminence4 ,in this respect he was far inferior to his contemporaries ,watt and ,cavendish4 ,his quick and active mind enabled him rapidly to assimilate the ideas of others1 but it may be doubted1 even in theology1 whether he pushed his convictions and doctrinal beliefs beyond the limits reached by previous thinkers4 ,his philosophy1 as ,huxley has pointed out1 contains little that will be new to the readers of ,hobbes1 ,spinoza1 ,collins1 ,hume and ,hartley4 ,it does not appear1 says his son1 that he spent more than six or eight hours per day in business that required much mental exertion4 ,in his diary he laid down the following daily arrangements of time for a minister's studies3--,studying the ,scriptures1 one hour4 ,practical writers1 half-an-hour4 ,philosophy and ,history1 two hours4 ,classics1 half-an-hour4 ,composition1 one hour--in all five hours4 ,all which1 he adds1 may be conveniently dispatched before dinner1 which leaves the afternoon for visiting and company1 and the evening for exceeding in any article if there be occasion4 ,his son tells us that for many years of his life he never spent less than two or three hours a day in games of amusement1 as cards and backgammon1 but particularly chess1 at which he and his wife played regularly three games after dinner and as many after supper4 ,as his children grew up1 chess was laid aside for whist or some round game at cards1 which he enjoyed as much as any of the company4 ,he was fond1 too1 of bodily exercise1 and was particularly attached to his garden1 in which he worked constantly4 ,his laboratory also afforded him exercise1 as he never employed an assistant1 and never allowed anyone even to light his fire4 ,the attention1 he says1 which he paid to the phenomena of his own mind1 made him sensible of some great defects in its constitution4 ,he was1 he says1 from an early period1 subject to a most humbling failure of recollection1 so that he sometimes lost all ideas of both persons and things that he had been conversant with4 ,he says1 ,i have so completely forgotten what ,i have myself published1 that in reading my own writings what ,i find in them often appears perfectly new to me1 and ,i have more than once made experiments the results of which had been published by me4 ,apprised of this defect he never failed to note down as soon as possible everything that he wished not to forget4 ,the same failing led him to devise and have recourse to a variety of mechanical expedients to secure and arrange his thoughts1 which were of the greatest use to him in the composition of large and complex works1 and what he says excited the wonder of some of his readers would only have made them smile had they seen him at work4 ,but by simple and mechanical methods one man shall do that in a month which shall cost another1 of equal ability1 whole years to execute4 ,this methodical arrangement of a large work is greatly facilitated by mechanical methods1 and nothing contributes more to the perspicuity of a large work than a good arrangement of its parts4 ,what he learned to know with respect to himself tended much1 he says1 to lessen both his admiration and his contempt of others4 ,could we have entered into the mind of ,sir ,isaac ,newton1 and have traced all the steps by which he produced his great works1 we might see nothing very extraordinary in the process4 ,and great powers with respect to some things are generally attended with great defects in others2 and these may not appear in a man's writings4 ,for this reason1 it seldom happens but that our admiration of philosophers and writers is lessened by a personal knowledge of them4 ,great defects may1 however1 be more than counter-balanced by great excellences1 and accordingly he hopes that his defect of recollection1 possibly due to a want of sufficient coherence in the association of ideas formerly impressed1 might arise from a mental constitution more favourable to new associations1 so that what he lost with respect to memory may have been compensated by what is called invention1 or new and original combinations of ideas4 ,in the domestic relations of life he was uniformly kind and affectionate4 ,as was truly said of him on ,darton's portrait1 ,not malice itself could ever fix a stain on his private conduct or impeach his integrity4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,the ,birmingham riots of #agia4 ,the picture which ,priestley drew of his life in ,birmingham at this period1 as given in the autobiographical sketch published after his death1 is almost dramatic in its pathos when we bear in mind that it was written almost on the eve of that maniacal outburst of popular passion which eventually drove him from our shores4 ,he said he considered his settlement at ,birmingham as the happiest event in his life1 as being highly favourable to every object he had in view1 philosophical or theological4 ,he thanks ,god that his prospects are better than they have ever been before1 that his own health1 and that of his dear wife1 is better established1 and his hopes as to the disposition and future settlement of his children are satisfactory4 ,he has particular reason to be grateful for the happy temperament of body and mind he owes to his parents1 and for the fundamentally good constitution of body to which was due an even cheerfulness of temper which had but few interruptions4 ,another great subject of thankfulness to a good ,providence was his perfect freedom from any embarrassment in his circumstances1 for his supplies had been always equal to his wants1 and his indifference to an increase of fortune was the means of attaining it4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,pillaging ,,of ,,priestley',s ,,house ,,during ,,the ,,birmingham ,,riots ,when1 he says1 ,i began my experiments ,i expended on them all the money ,i could possibly raise1 carried on by my ardour in philosophical investigations1 and entirely regardless of consequences1 except so far as never to contract any debt4444 ,but having succeeded1 ,i was in time more than indemnified for all that ,i had expended4 ,yet frequently1 as ,i have changed my situation1 and always for the better1 ,i can truly say that ,i never wished for any change on my own account4 ,i should have been contented even at ,needham if ,i could have been unmolested and had bare necessaries4 ,this freedom from anxiety was remarkable in my father1 and therefore is in a manner hereditary to me2 but it has been much increased by reflection1 having frequently observed1 especially with respect to ,christian ministers1 how often it has contributed to embitter their lives without being of any use to them4 ,some attention to the improvement of a man's circumstances is no doubt right1 because no man can tell what occasion he may have for money1 especially if he have children1 and therefore ,i do not recommend my example to others4 ,but ,i am thankful to that good ,providence which always took more care of me than ever ,i took of myself4 ,this serene contentment is reflected in his correspondence at this period1 and we find further evidence of it in the letters of his friends4 ,i esteem it a singular happiness to have lived in an age and country in which ,i have been at full liberty both to investigate1 and by preaching and writing to propagate1 religious truth2 that though the freedom ,i have used for this purpose was for some time disadvantageous to me1 it was not long so1 and that my present situation is such that ,i can1 with the greatest openness1 urge whatever appears to me the truth of the ,gospel1 not only without giving the least offence1 but with the entire approbation of those with whom ,i am particularly connected4 ,dr ,aikin1 visiting him in #aghd1 says in a letter to ,mrs ,aikin3-- ,the great philosopher1 with his simple1 bland1 unaffected manners1 contented and happy1 and declaring that he had not a wish on earth unsatisfied1 gave me infinite delight4 ,these halcyon days were1 however1 but as the calm before the storm1 and the contented and happy philosopher had soon need of all his philosophy1 and of all his ,christianity too1 in face of the ungoverned fury of the mob which1 to use ,wedgwood's words1 swept like a hurricane over him and his friends4 ,the #adth of ,july #agia--the anniversary of the ,french ,revolution--was celebrated in several towns in ,england without interruption or any untoward circumstance2 that day1 however1 was long remembered by the inhabitants of ,birmingham with feelings akin to horror4 ,it is certain that the popular rising which then took place in that town was in the outset mainly directed against ,priestley4 ,the course of events proves this4 ,as it happened1 the appetite in the mob for mischief grew by what it fed upon1 and many others1 his friends and political and religious associates1 were involved in the disaster which overtook him4 ,for it would appear that those who1 in the first instance1 instigated and directed the outrage lost all control over the forces which they invoked1 and the rising1 which in the beginning was intended to visit ,priestley with the vengeance which the ,cracow mob inflicted on his prototype ,socinus1 developed into a wild anarchical riot1 confused and purposeless except as gratifying a wanton lust for rapine and destruction4 ,many contemporary accounts exist of the ,birmingham riots of #agia1 and although1 as might be expected from the temper of the times1 some of the narratives are not wholly uncoloured by prejudice and the partisan spirit of political and religious feeling1 it is not difficult to put together a true view of an episode which profoundly affected all parties and sent a thrill of apprehension and alarm throughout the country4 ,political feeling at the period ran high4 ,europe had recently witnessed the spectacle of a revolution which had filled the governing classes of every state with awe and even terror1 and the great masses of the people in this and other countries1 to whom all political power was denied1 were beginning to realise what might be possible to concerted action properly organised and vigorously pressed4 ,every bureaucracy was in a state of trepidation4 ,the political atmosphere was heavily charged with electricity and no one could foretell where and when the next thunderbolt would descend4 ,naturally enough the great vested interests in ,church and ,state looked askance at1 and were disquieted by1 these periodical celebrations of such an event as the destruction of the ,bastile and all that it symbolised1 with their odes to ,liberty1 ,fraternity and ,equality1 and their impassioned appeals to ,demos1 and the rising hopes of a people grown restive and impatient under what they were taught to believe was political thraldom4 ,it required but a small spark to bring about a conflagration1 and designing and unscrupulous men saw in the approaching anniversary of the memorable #adth of ,july an opportunity of which they were determined to take advantage4 ,priestley had himself1 unwittingly1 laid the train which brought about the catastrophe4 ,dr ,priestley1 says ,corry1 writing in #ahjd1 from the commencement of his residence at ,birmingham1 had undoubtedly turned his attention too much from the luminous field of philosophic disquisition to the sterile regions of polemic divinity and the still more thorny paths of polemic politics4 ,his tracts on these subjects amounted to upwards of thirty1 and from his celebrity they had a very general circulation4 ,as a philosopher he clearly saw defects in the most perfect of human institutions1 and expressed himself with a boldness and freedom which alarmed the neighbouring clergy of the ,established ,church1 and excited their resentment4 ,the labouring classes in ,birmingham certainly looked upon him as a disaffected and dangerous man4 ,incapable of deep reflection themselves1 they abhorred his ,unitarian principles as subversive of ,christianity1 and the idea that the ,church was in danger was propagated among them by men of deeper discernment1 who wished to render ,dr ,priestley odious and unpopular4 ,a very considerable number1 however1 of the more enlightened inhabitants1 who were convinced of the ,doctor's integrity as a man1 sincerity as a preacher1 and superlative merit as a philosopher1 were his strenuous advocates and admirers4 ,the collision of parties became every day more violent1 and the events which were daily transacting in ,france kept alive the jealousy arising from uncongenial opinions4 ,a contemporary account states3 ,the vigorous and repeated attempts of the ,dissenters to obtain a repeal of the ,corporation and ,test ,laws repealed in #ahbh1 excited much alarm and apprehension amongst many of the ,established clergy1 and were most forcibly felt by those residing in ,birmingham4 ,the name and writings of ,dr ,priestley were as much dreaded by his opponents as they were admired by his friends2 and as he long resided near this town1 and was eminently conspicuous in his endeavours to procure a repeal of these laws1 and in the promulgation of ,unitarian doctrines1 it is not surprising that his sentiments should have been represented to the lower classes of the people as dangerous to the ,church and ,state4 ,attacks made upon his principles and motives in different pulpits were answered from the ,press1 and produced among other things his ,familiar ,letters ,addressed to the ,inhabitants of ,birmingham1 in which his opponents are combated with much force and severity4 ,in the course of his controversial publications ,priestley had made a comparison of the progress of free inquiry to the action of gunpowder4 ,the conclusion of the passage ran thus3-- ,the present silent propagation of truth may even be compared to those causes in ,nature which lie dormant for a time1 but which in proper circumstances act with the greatest violence4 ,we are1 as it were1 laying gunpowder1 grain by grain1 under the old building of error and superstition1 which a single spark may hereafter inflame1 so as to produce an instantaneous explosion2 in consequence of which that edifice1 the erection of which has been the work of ages1 may be overturned in a moment1 and so effectually as that the same foundation can never be built upon again4 ,this paragraph became to the enemies of the ,dissenters a common topic of allusion1 and was read in the ,house of ,commons as an unquestionable proof of the dangerous designs of that body with respect to the constitution of this country4 ,hence the mischievous thinkers found no difficulty in persuading the unthinking actors that the real intentions of the ,dissenters were to destroy the churches4 ,that mischief was being deliberately planned in view of the coming anniversary was certainly known to not a few of those in authority1 some of whom from their position were responsible for the order and good government of the town4 ,some days before the outbreak a number of copies of a seditious hand-bill had been left in a public-house by an unknown person1 and this had been copied and circulated throughout the town1 causing a general ferment in the minds of the lowest class of the people4 ,its character was such that the magistrates promptly offered a reward of one hundred guineas for the discovery of the ,writer1 ,printer1 ,publisher or ,distributer of the inflammatory hand-bill4 ,but notwithstanding that the ,dissenters themselves afterwards offered an additional reward of one hundred guineas1 and the ,government also proclaimed a further reward of one hundred pounds1 no clue was ever obtained to the persons concerned in its preparation or distribution4 ,such1 however1 was the feeling of apprehension in the minds of those who were about to take part in the proposed celebration that it was determined to publish the following advertisement in the ,birmingham ,chronicle3-- ,birmingham ,commemoration of the ,french ,revolution4 ,several hand-bills having been circulated in the town which can only be intended to create distrust concerning the intention of the meeting1 to disturb its harmony and inflame the minds of people1 the ,gentlemen who proposed it think it necessary to declare their entire disapprobation of all such hand-bills and their ignorance of the authors4 ,sensible themselves of the advantages of a ,free ,government1 they rejoice in the extension of ,liberty to their ,neighbours1 at the same time avowing1 in the most explicit manner1 their firm attachment to the ,constitution of their own ,country1 as vested in the ,three ,estates of the ,king1 ,lords and ,commons4 ,surely no ,free-born ,englishman can refrain from exulting in this addition to the general mass of human happiness4 ,it is the cause of ,humanity1 it is the cause of the ,people4 ,birmingham1 ,july #ac1 #agia4 ,we learn from a letter in the same newspaper1 written a few days later by ,mr ,william ,russell1 ,priestley's friend1 and himself1 with his family1 a sufferer in the events which followed1 that in spite of this disclaimer there was still good grounds for believing that evil was brewing4 ,he says that on the morning of the #adth many rumours of the probability of a riot were brought to the friends of the meeting2 and as there was too much reason to think that means had been used to promote one1 they determined to postpone the intended dinner and prepared a notice to that effect4 ,this1 says ,mr ,russell1 was sent to the printer1 but before he had composed it1 ,mr ,dadley1 the master of the hotel1 attended1 in consequence of having the ,dinner countermanded1 and represented that he was sure there was no danger of any tumult1 and recommended that the ,dinner might be held as was intended2 only proposing that the gentlemen should take care to break up early1 and then all danger would be avoided4 ,this measure was then adopted1 and orders given to the printer to suppress the hand-bill4 ,accordingly there was a meeting of eighty-one gentlemen1 inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood1 at the great room in the hotel1 where they dined and passed the afternoon with that social1 temperate and benevolent festivity which the consideration of the great event that has diffused liberty and happiness among a large portion of the human race inspired4 ,mr ,russell continues3-- ,it is but justice to the liberality and public spirit of an inglorious artist of this town to mention that he decorated the room upon this occasion with three elegant emblematic pieces of sculpture1 mixed with painting1 in a new style of composition4 ,the central piece was a finely executed medallion of ,his ,majesty1 encircled with a ,glory1 on each side of which was an alabaster ,obelisk2 one exhibiting ,gallic ,liberty breaking the bands of ,despotism1 and the other representing ,british ,liberty in its present enjoyment4 ,a truly respectable gentleman ,captain ,keir1 a member of the ,church of ,england1 was chairman2 others of that profession were of the company1 nor was a single sentiment uttered1 or1 ,i believe1 conceived1 that would hurt the feelings of any one friend to liberty and good government under the happy constitution we are blessed with in this kingdom4 ,the mob1 if they thought at all1 thought otherwise4 ,although1 we are told1 the utmost harmony prevailed at the festive board1 and the company dispersed without the least disturbance1 they found a considerable number of the populace assembled in the neighbourhood of ,temple ,row1 evidently bent on mischief4 ,the crowd remained in the vicinity of the hotel1 their numbers gradually increasing1 for a couple of hours after ,captain ,keir and his friends had left4 ,whether the people expected ,priestley to be of the company1 and fancied he was being detained in the hotel on account of their threatening attitude1 is uncertain4 ,as a matter of fact he had not been at the dinner4 ,suddenly the cry of ,church and ,king6 was raised1 and at that signal every window in the front of the hotel was promptly broken4 ,thereupon1 as if by a common impulse1 or if as acting under direction1 the crowd swept onwards to the ,new ,meeting1 where ,priestley preached2 this they assailed1 we are told1 with incredible fury4 ,the ,new ,meeting was erected in #agcj3 it was described as a considerable pile1 more remarkable for plainness and simplicity than for any uncommon elegance of workmanship or superb style of decoration4 ,the vestry contained a valuable collection of books for the use of the ,society which assembled there4 ,the gates and doors were soon burst open1 the pews demolished1 the cushions and fragments carried out and burnt in front of the building1 and at length fire was carried in which consumed it to the outer walls4 ,the mob was now roused to frenzy4 ,some of the magistrates strove to quell the riot1 and even those who had connived at the outrage grew alarmed at the dangerous temper which they had roused4 ,but the infuriated rabble by this time was thoroughly out of control1 and no sufficient force was at hand to cope with it4 ,the ,old ,meeting-,house was next demolished with the regularity of workmen employed for the purpose4 ,a party armed with crow-bars1 bludgeons1 etc41 tore down the pulpit1 pews and galleries1 and burnt them in the burying-ground1 afterwards setting fire to the body of the ,meeting-house4 ,the cry of ,church and ,king6 was again raised1 and the rioters marched in a body to ,fair ,hill1 about a mile from the town1 where ,priestley resided4 ,his house was described by ,aikin as a most comfortable and pleasing retreat4 ,although1 we are told1 it belonged to a gentleman who was deservedly a favourite of the poor1 yet because it was the dwelling of ,dr ,priestley it was doomed to destruction1 and was attacked with the most savage and determined fury4 ,priestley1 when the news was brought to him by his friend1 ,samuel ,ryland1 of the destruction of the ,meeting-,houses and of the impending attack on ,fair ,hill1 was playing backgammon with his wife1 as was his custom after supper4 ,he could hardly be persuaded of the danger in which he stood1 and it was with difficulty that ,ryland hurried him and ,mrs ,priestley into the chaise which was waiting at the door4 ,he and his wife were then quickly driven to ,showell ,green1 the residence of his friend1 ,william ,russell1 leaving his son ,william ,priestley1 and some other young persons1 with the servants to protect the property4 ,what followed may best be gleaned from the graphic narrative of ,miss ,martha ,russell1 written within a few days of the occurrence1 but first published in ,the ,christian ,reformer of #ahce1 ,vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #bic3-- ,as we were at supper1 ,tolley1 our footman1 came in with a countenance as pale as ashes1 and told my father a messenger was just arrived to inform him that a mob had collected and set fire to the ,new ,meeting-,house1 and were then employed in destroying the ,old ,meeting-,house also1 and they declared their intention to come from thence to ,dr ,priestley's house and then to ours1 and that no magistrate appeared or could be found to disperse them4 ,consternation and alarm now filled our minds4 ,my father ordered his horse1 intending to go and meet the mob1 and search out the justices to quell it4 ,whilst he was loading his pocket-pistols to carry with him1 a chaise drove up to the door with ,dr and ,mrs ,priestley and ,mr ,samuel ,ryland4 ,the latter had taken the alarm1 and1 procuring a chaise1 had hurried the ,doctor and ,mrs ,p4 away from their house1 fearing the mob would be there immediately4 ,so great was the panic he had felt and inspired them with that they had secured nothing1 but seemed as if happy and fortunate in escaping with their lives4 ,we all united in begging my father not to leave the house1 and urged the danger he would be in by meeting such an ungovernable concourse of people1 and that1 being alone1 he could do nothing towards quelling them1 and no doubt but our friends in ,birmingham would some of them exert themselves and stir up the magistrates without his running such a risk4 ,he would1 however1 hear nothing of it1 but declared 'he would be his own master that night4' ,seeing him resolved to go1 ,mrs ,priestley requested him to bring her a small box of money she had in her chamber1 and ,dr ,p4 wished for his pocket-book1 which contained something of value1 and which he had left on the table in the parlour1 so great was their hurry and alarm4444 ,we walked up and down the foot-road leading to town in a dreadful state of suspense and apprehension1 clearly discerning the fire from the two ,meeting-,houses1 and distinctly hearing the shouts of the mob4444 ,in about three hours my father returned and informed us he went first to ,dr ,priestley's house1 where he found ,william ,priestley1 whom he instructed to begin and move all the ,doctor's manuscripts he thought most likely to be valuable1 by means of persons in the neighbourhood whom my father had brought for that purpose1 and on whom he could rely1 to a place in the vicinity he had fixed upon as secret and secure4 ,this he urged him to do as expeditiously and quietly as possible1 and to continue this employ1 including also any other valuables he recollected1 till my father should send him word to stop1 not attending to any reports that might be brought him4 ,my father then rode on to town as far as ,digbeth1 and there meeting the mob1 he tried in vain to proceed4 ,he met many of his friends1 all of whom requested him to return1 telling him he did not hear the threats that were uttered against him4 ,at length1 one of them1 ,i believe ,mr ,j4 ,f----1 suddenly turned his horse1 and giving him a cut with his whip1 the press was so great and the spirit of the horse so roused my father found himself obliged in a manner to return4 ,arriving at ,dr ,priestley's gate before the mob1 he stationed himself withinside till the mob came up1 and then addressed them1 endeavouring to induce them1 by fair words and money1 to desist and return home4 ,at first they seemed a little pacified and inclined to listen1 till one more loud than the rest1 and who had the appearance of a ringleader1 cried out1 ',don't take a sixpence of his money3 in the riots of '#hj in ,london a man was hanged for only taking sixpence4' ,they all then vociferated1 ',stone him1 stone him6' and began to fling stones4 ,my father then1 finding it rashness to brave two or three thousand men1 turned his horse and rode up to the house1 telling ,william ,priestley that he must desist and take as much care of the house as he could1 and advising him to make all the doors and windows as secure as possible4 ,he then rode off home and informed us he did not think our house yet in danger1 but thought we had better remove with ,dr and ,mrs ,p4 to ,mr ,thomas ,hawkes1 about half a mile off1 for fear we should be suddenly surprised4 ,during this time several messages were sent1 and friends came to warn us of our danger4 ,all seemed to apprehend the mob would visit us1 and we had been advised to set out a barrel of ale on the lawn1 thus attempting to pacify them and persuade them to desist4 ,this done1 and proper persons left to watch1 we all walked up to ,mr ,hawkes's4 ,here we found the family up and under great apprehension2 and here we soon heard the shouts of the mob at ,dr ,priestley's house 7and ,i shall never forget what dreadful and hideous shouts they were71 intermingled with a loud noise of battering against the walls1 and such a confusion of cries1 huzzas1 etc41 as cannot be imagined4 ,soon the flames burst forth1 and then all seemed quiet4 ,what were the emotions of our minds at this moment no one can imagine unless they had beheld our countenances and heard the broken1 short sentences that formed all the conversation which passed amongst us3 yet the extreme agitation of our minds did not prevent us from admiring the divine appearance of the excellent ,dr ,priestley4 ,no human being could1 in my opinion1 appear in any trial more like divine1 or show a nearer resemblance to our ,saviour1 than he did then4 ,undaunted he heard the blows which were destroying the house and laboratory that contained all his valuable and rare apparatus and their effects1 which it had been the business of his life to collect and use4 ,all this apparatus1 together with the uses he had made of them1 the laborious exertions of his whole life1 were being destroyed by a set of merciless1 ignorant1 lawless banditti1 whilst he1 tranquil and serene1 walked up and down the road with a firm yet gentle pace that evinced his entire self-possession1 and a complete self-satisfaction and consciousness which rendered him thus firm and resigned under the unjust and cruel persecution of his enemies2 and with a countenance expressing the highest devotion1 turned as it were from this scene and fixed with pure and calm resignation on him who suffered the administration of this bitter cup4 ,not one hasty or impatient expression1 not one look expressive of murmur or complaint1 not one tear or sigh escaped him2 resignation and a conscious innocence and virtue seemed to subdue all these feelings of humanity4 ,about four o'clock my father returned and informed us that as the fire had consumed the doctor's house the mob were nearly dispersed1 half drunk1 having been up to their ankles in wine in his cellar1 where they had broke the necks off all the bottles and inundated the cellar with that portion of their contents they could not drink2 that the fields round were now covered with these fiends sleeping from drunkenness and fatigue1 and that as day was now come he thought it most likely they would disperse entirely1 and that consequently we might return home again4 ,accordingly we set off1 and never shall ,i forget the joy with which ,i entered our own gates once more4444 ,a room was prepared for the ,doctor and ,mrs ,p4 ,we all looked and felt our gratitude2 but the ,doctor appeared the happiest amongst us4 ,just as he was going to rest1 expressing his thankfulness in being permitted to lie down again in peace and comfort1 my father returned from ,fair ,hill with the intelligence that they were collecting again1 and their threats were more violent than ever1 that they swore to find ,dr ,p4 and take his life4 ,the chaise was now ordered with all speed1 and instead of the much-desired rest the ,doctor and ,mrs ,p4 were obliged to dress again and get into it1 scarcely knowing whither to go4 ,mr ,ryland accompanied them1 and it was thought most advisable to take a by-road to ,heath1 where ,mrs ,finch1 the ,doctor's daughter1 lived1 near ,dudley4 ,he remained at ,heath ,forge1 says another account1 until ,saturday1 ,july #afth1 meanwhile writing to ,lindsey and to his sister1 ,mrs ,crouch1 then living at ,gildersome1 fearing that she would receive false accounts through the newspapers4 ,on the afternoon of that day he set off on horseback1 with a servant1 for ,worcester1 intending to catch the ,london mail that evening4 ,but the fugitives lost their way on the ,morfe1 a common between ,heath ,forge and ,bridgenorth1 and wandered about all night4 ,they1 however1 reached ,kidderminster safely in the morning1 and were met by ,mr ,ryland1 who offered ,priestley his own wig and coat by way of disguise4 ,but the doctor declined4 ,he had on a coat buttoned up to the chin1 a wig and a cocked hat1 with the point in front1 his usual dress out of doors4 ,mr ,ryland accompanied ,priestley as far as ,worcester1 and arrived just in time to take a place for him in the mail to ,london4 ,he travelled all night1 reaching ,london between six and seven in the morning of ,monday1 ,july #ahth1 and went to his friend ,lindsey's in ,essex ,street1 ,strand4 ,miss ,russell's apprehensions proved to be only too well-founded4 ,showell ,green was destroyed1 as were ,bordesley ,hall and ,moseley ,hall1 and other houses in the vicinity of ,moseley2 ,mr ,ryland's house at ,easy ,hill1 and ,mr ,hutton's house in ,high ,street and his country seat at ,wash ,wood ,heath4 ,on ,sunday the rioters proceeded to ,king's ,wood1 seven miles from ,birmingham1 and destroyed the meeting-house and the dwelling of the ,dissenting minister4 ,for the greater part of three days the town was in a state of siege1 the majority of the shops were closed and business was at a stand-still4 ,attempts were made to organise a force of constables1 but the number got together was insufficient to cope with the mob1 and in an effort to protect ,mr ,ryland's house the police were beaten after a severe contest1 and many were wounded4 ,a number of the rioters lost their lives2 one man was killed by the fall of a coping stone from ,priestley's house and a number were wounded4 ,at ,easy ,hill the drunken wretches in the cellars were overwhelmed by the falling in of the flaming roof1 six were got out alive1 but terribly burnt and bruised1 whilst ten dead bodies were dug out of the ruins4 ,late on ,sunday night three troops of dragoons reached the town3-- ,their arrival1 says a contemporary chronicler1 was announced by the sound of their trumpets and the acclamations of the inhabitants4 ,anxiety1 which had been strongly depicted in every face during the day1 was succeeded by the smiles of joy and the congratulations of neighbours4 ,the town was illuminated1 the rioters1 conscious of their delinquency1 soon dispersed1 and order was happily restored without bloodshed4 ,the ,king1 writing to ,mr ,secretary ,dundas in approval of dragoons having been sent to ,birmingham to quell the tumult1 thus continues3-- ,though ,i cannot but feel better pleased that ,priestley is the sufferer for the doctrines he and his party have instilled1 and that the people see them in their true light1 yet ,i cannot approve of their having employed such atrocious means of showing their discontent4 ,from ,mr ,lindsey's house ,priestley sent the following letter to the ,birmingham ,chronicle3-- ,to the ,inhabitants of the ,town of ,birmingham4 ,my late ,townsmen and ,neighbours1--,after living with you eleven years1 in which you had uniform experience of my peaceful behaviour1 in my attention to the quiet studies of my profession and those of philosophy1 ,i was far from expecting the injuries which ,i and my friends have lately received from you4 ,but you have been misled4 ,by hearing the ,dissenters1 and particularly the ,unitarian ,dissenters1 continually railed at1 as enemies to the present government in ,church and ,state1 you have been led to consider any injury done to us as a meritorious thing1 and1 not having been better informed1 the means were not attended to4 ,when the object was right you thought the means could not be wrong4 ,by the discourses of your teachers1 and the exclamations of your superiors in general1 drinking confusion and damnation to us 7which is well known to have been their frequent practice71 your bigotry has been excited to the highest pitch1 and nothing has been said to you to moderate your passions1 but everything to inflame them2 hence1 without any consideration on your part or on theirs1 who ought to have known and taught you better1 you were prepared for every species of outrage1 thinking that whatever you could do to spite and injure us was for the support of ,government1 and especially the ,church4 ,in destroying us you have been led to think you did ,god and your country the most substantial service4 ,happily the minds of ,englishmen have a horror of murder1 and therefore you did not1 ,i hope1 think of that1 though by your clamorous demanding of me at the hotel it is probable that at that time some of you intended me some personal injury4 ,but what is the value of life when everything is done to make it wretched8 ,in many cases there would be greater mercy in dispatching the inhabitants than in burning their houses4 ,however1 ,i infinitely prefer what ,i feel from the spoiling of my goods to the disposition of those who have misled you4 ,you have destroyed the most truly valuable and useful apparatus of philosophical instruments that perhaps any individual in this or any other country was ever possessed of1 in my use of which ,i annually spent large sums1 with no pecuniary view whatever1 but only in the advancement of science1 for the benefit of my country and of mankind4 ,you have destroyed a library corresponding to that apparatus which no money can re-purchase1 except in a course of time4 ,but what ,i feel far more1 you have destroyed manuscripts1 which have been the result of the laborious study of many years1 and which ,i shall never be able to recompose2 and this has been done to one who never did1 or imagined you1 any harm4 ,i know nothing more of the hand-bill1 which is said to have enraged you so much1 than any of yourselves1 and ,i disapprove of it as much1 though it has been made the ostensible handle of doing infinitely more mischief than anything of that nature could possibly have done4 ,in the celebration of the ,french ,revolution1 at which ,i did not attend1 the company assembled on the occasion only expressed their joy in the emancipation of a neighbouring nation from tyranny1 without intimating a desire of anything more than such an improvement of our own ,constitution1 as all sober citizens1 of every persuasion1 have long wished for4 ,and though1 in answer to the gross and unprovoked calumnies of ,mr ,madan and others1 ,i publicly vindicated my principles as a ,dissenter1 it was only with plain and sober argument1 and with perfect good-humour4 ,we are better instructed in the mild and forbearing spirit of ,christianity than ever to think of having recourse to violence2 and can you think such conduct as yours any recommendation of your religious principles in preference to ours8 ,you are still more mistaken if you imagine that this conduct of yours has any tendency to serve your cause or to injure ours4 ,it is nothing but reason and argument that can ever support any system of religion4 ,answer your arguments and your business is done2 but your having recourse to violence is only a proof that you have nothing better to produce4 ,should you destroy myself1 as well as my house1 library and apparatus1 ten more persons of equal or superior spirit and ability would instantly rise up4 ,if these ten were destroyed one hundred would appear2 and believe me1 that the ,church of ,england1 which you now think you are supporting1 has received a greater blow by this conduct of yours than ,i and all my friends have ever aimed at it4 ,besides1 to abuse those who have no power of making resistance is equally cowardly and brutal1 peculiarly unworthy of ,englishmen1 to say nothing of ,christianity1 which teaches us to do as we would be done by4 ,in this business we are the sheep and you are the wolves4 ,we will preserve our character1 and hope you will change yours4 ,at all events1 we return you blessings for curses1 and pray that you may soon return to that industry and the sober manners for which the inhabitants of ,birmingham were formerly distinguished4--,i am1 your sincere well-wisher1 ,j4 ,priestley4 ,london1 ,july #ai1 #agia4 ,p4,s4--,the account of the first toast at the ,revolution ,dinner in the ,times of this morning can be nothing less than a malicious lie4 ,to prove this a list of the toasts1 with an account of all the proceedings of the day1 will soon be published4 ,the first of these was ,the ,king and ,constitution1 and they were all such as the friends of liberty1 and of the true principles of the ,constitution1 would approve4 ,one of the earliest letters of sympathy he received was from his steadfast friend and benefactor1 ,wedgwood4 ,it was written from ,weymouth1 at that time the most fashionable seaside watering-place in ,england1 and condoled with him on the irreparable loss he had sustain'd from the brutality1 or rather let us hope the temporary insanity of his neighbours4 ,if they had arisen merely from the ungovern'd madness of a mob from the lowest order of our species1 one would then lament all its effects like those of a storm or hurricane1 but if there is reason to believe that the rabble were acted upon and encouraged to such proceedings by those who should be their superiors1 one cannot but perceive the too evident spirit of the times1 or of the place at least1 by which you and so many of your worthy neighbours have suffered4 ,wedgwood then earnestly begs his friend to let him know how he can be of service to him3-- ,instruct me in the means of doing it and ,i shall esteem it as one of the strongest instances of your friendship4 ,priestley's reply was written from the house of his son-in-law1 ,william ,finch1 ,heath ,forge1 ,birmingham1 and was as follows3-- ,your very kind and sympathising letter was very acceptable to me4 ,the shock was no doubt very great1 but ,i thank ,god ,i have been able to bear it without any loss of health1 or1 indeed1 of spirits4 ,i begin to suffer most from want of employment and absence from my family1 which indeed is irksome to me4 ,my wife behaved with the greatest heroism at the time1 but continuing in the neighbourhood1 and hearing continually of the bad spirit that prevails in the place1 ,i perceived that her mind began to be affected by it4 ,she cannot remove1 as my daughter expects to be brought to bed in about a month1 and she cannot bear that her mother should be absent at the time4 ,this circumstance adds much to my difficulty4 ,could we go together to some distant place for a month we should be much more comfortable4 ,one good thing has already come out of this evil--,i have a kind letter from ,mr ,john ,wilkinson inviting us to any house of his1 and bidding me not to regard any losses that money can repair4 ,his brother-in-law promptly sent him #ejj after the riots1 and subsequently transferred to him #aj1jjj in the ,french funds4 ,as these were afterwards nonproductive he afterwards gave him an annuity of #bjj4 ,immediately after the riots he received a great number of addresses and testimonials from his theological and philosophical admirers1 and an address transmitted by ,condorcet was sent to him from the ,french ,academy of ,sciences4 ,one of the earliest letters he dispatched from ,london was to ,keir1 under date ,july #bb1 #agia4 ,priestley to ,keir4 ,i am very happy to see a copy of your letter to the printer of the ,birmingham ,chronicle1 and in return enclose copies of my ',address to the ,inhabitants of ,birmingham1' and of ,mr ,russell's ',account of the ,proceedings on ,july #adth4' ,both these have been in the ,london papers and ,i have just sent yours to the printer of the ,morning ,chronicle4 ,i am happy to hear that all is quiet with you now1 but when it will be proper for me to come to you ,i cannot tell4 ,i fear not before the next ,lunar ,society4 ,whether ,i shall ever have it in my power to collect another apparatus for experiments is quite uncertain1 as indeed is1 in a great measure1 my settling again at ,birmingham1 though there is no place in the world that ,i should prefer to it4 ,the extra copies of my last paper for the ,philosophical ,transactions are printed1 and ,i shall soon send some to ,mr ,galton to be presented to each of the members of the ,lunar ,society4 ,i beg my compliments to them1 and as long as ,i live ,i shall with much satisfaction think of our many happy meetings4 ,in a letter to ,wedgwood1 dated four days later1 he sends two copies of his paper1 and says3-- ,i fear ,i shall not soon be able to furnish materials for another4 ,indeed1 what ,i shall do1 or where ,i shall settle1 is uncertain4 ,i shall1 however1 continue at ,birmingham if possible1 and resume all my pursuits1 in which case ,i must thank you for a fresh stock of retorts1 tubes1 etc41 etc41 etc4 ,this invasion of the ,goths and ,vandals ,i little foresaw1 and hope it will never be repeated1 as ,i fancy the experiment will not be found to answer4 ,the next letter to ,keir1 dated ,july #bi1 #agia1 is interesting as throwing further light upon the causes of the riots3-- ,i never thought of returning to ,birmingham till my friends there should think it safe and1 on their accounts1 advisable2 and this1 ,i now begin to fear1 will not be so soon as you intimate4 ,however1 ,i am ready to attend the first summons1 and earnestly wish it may be before the next ,lunar ,society4 ,but your meeting must not depend upon this event4 ,with this ,i send each of you a copy of my late1 and ,i fear last1 paper for the ,philosophical ,transactions4 ,i shall always recollect1 with peculiar satisfaction and regret1 our many cheerful and improving meetings2 and if not a constant1 shall indulge the hope of being an occasional1 attendant4 ,you were certainly a better judge than ,i was of the spirit of the times4 ,but even you could not have expected such brutal excesses as have taken place2 and yet ,i am willing to hope much from time1 from your seasonable letter1 and the representations of the more calm and reasonable members of the ,church of ,england1 if not from the interposition of ,government and the execution of the laws1 in which ,i wish for moderation4 ,i lately dined with ,mr ,sheridan1 who said ,i should meet ,mr ,fox4#ae ,he1 however1 was prevented from attending1 but desired ,mr ,sheridan to say that he wished to take the matter up in whatever manner we should think proper1 by motion in the ,house on the subject4 ,they conceive that the encouragement given to this ,high ,church spirit by the ,court arises from their willingness to crush ,mr ,fox1 who has taken our part1 and that they hoped by these measures to intimidate us into silence4 ,this ,i can hardly think to be the case1 and ,i am unwilling to connect our cause with that of any political party2 since upon the face of it1 as you have clearly shown1 it is wholly of a religious nature4 ,however1 ,i said there would be time enough to take our measures before the next meeting of ,parliament4 ,dr ,withering1 himself a sufferer1 hastened to express his sympathy4 ,priestley replied to his letters as follows3-- ,your generous contribution towards the re-establishment of my philosophical apparatus cannot but give me satisfaction1 though ,i am sorry to be so burdensome to my friends1 especially my fellow-sufferers1 among whom you are ranked4 ,but what the country will do towards indemnifying us appears very distant and uncertain1 and my claims will be liable to the greatest uncertainty1 as the proof that may be required of my losses cannot be given4 ,i am happy to find that your alarms and sufferings have no more affected your spirit and health than my own did mine1 and that we may so soon expect your third volume4#af ,it will be a considerable time1 with every assistance that money can afford1 before ,i can be at work again1 and hardly ever to so much advantage as at ,birmingham4 ,such assistance from philosophical friends ,i should in vain look for here1 and as long as ,i live ,i shall look back with pleasure and regret to our ,lunar meetings1 which ,i always enjoyed so much and from which ,i derived so much solid advantage4 ,if ,i could find the same intelligence in any club of ,philosophers here1 ,i could not find the same frankness which is the charm of all society4 ,i have nearly printed ,an ,appeal to the ,public on the subject of the late riot1 and shall direct the printer to deliver you a copy4 ,i am sensible that it will more exasperate my enemies1 but it is addressed to our common judges1 and may conciliate them1 at least in a course of time4 ,i have lately written to ,mr ,watt1 and desired him1 or the ,lunar ,society as a body1 to make a proposal to those who act for the country4 ,i hope you will see the propriety of it and contribute to its effect4 ,the ,appeal evidently cost ,priestley much pains in its composition4 ,part of it was sent in sheets to his intimate friends in ,birmingham1 notably ,dr ,withering1 ,mr ,galton and ,mr ,russell1 who conferred together and with ,captain ,keir as to the advisability of publishing it4 ,like him they were sensible that it would certainly more exasperate his enemies4 ,captain ,keir endeavoured to dissuade him from its publication1 at least in its proposed form1 saying that it would irritate his professed enemies1 and furnish them with a new source of abuse1 and that he feared that ,government would become more remiss in prosecuting the magistrates and in protecting the ,dissenters in future if they should meet with any passage that would give them offence4 ,on learning the opinion of his friends ,priestley wrote to ,wedgwood3-- ,i have desired the printer to send you a copy of my ,appeal on the subject of the riots1 in order to have your opinion and advice with respect to publishing of it4 ,several of my friends in ,birmingham1 viz41 ,dr ,withering1 ,mr ,keir and ,mr ,galton1 think that it had better be suppressed1 or published with many alterations by way of softening4 ,others1 and especially my friends here1 are for its speedy publication1 or about the time of the meeting of ,parliament4 ,in this state of suspense ,i beg your perusal of it and your free opinion4 ,i think that if ,i write at all it should not be with less spirit than ,i have usually shown1 and that there is nothing more violent or offensive in this than in several of my preaching publications4 ,but as others are interested in the event of this publication ,i am willing to be advised by them4 ,on ,august #bd1 #agia1 at the ,warwick ,assizes1 ,john ,green1 ,john ,clifton and ,bartholomew ,fisher were indicted for that they1 with one ,william ,jones1 at large1 with others1 to the number of fifty and more1 did1 on the #aeth of ,july1 unlawfully and riotously assemble and with force of arms begin to pull down the dwelling-house of ,joseph ,priestley1 ,,ll4,d4 ,the jury found ,green and ,fisher guilty and ,clifton not guilty4 ,john ,stokes1 for beginning to pull down the ,old ,meeting-,house in ,birmingham1 was acquitted1 on account of the defects in the indictment4 ,the following was ,baron ,perryn's sentence3-- ,prisoners1 you have been convicted by very human and attentive juries of the enormous crimes of setting fire to and destroying the houses and property of your fellow-subjects in a manner as wanton as it was unprovoked4 ,your cry of ',church and ,king6' was nothing but a pretext to commit depredation and robbery4 ,the ,law and ,constitution is a sufficient shield to protect the ,church and the sacred person of ,his ,majesty and all his good subjects in their lives and property4 ,at the same time the ,law possesses sufficient energy and vigour to make examples of those bad citizens who wickedly and wantonly violate it4 ,you1 miserable criminals1 are of that number1 and it is necessary that your lives should atone for your crimes1 as a public example4 ,you must therefore be removed from this world2 and ,i most earnestly recommend you to employ the short space of time which will be allowed to you to make your peace with your offended ,creator1 who alone can grant that mercy which you must not expect from your country4 ,priestley's own account of these proceedings1 as given in his ,memoirs1 is very nave and even studiously dispassionate4 ,he says3-- ,about two years before ,i left ,birmingham1 the question about the ',test ,act' was much agitated both in and out of ,parliament4 ,this1 however1 was altogether without any concurrence of mine4 ,i only delivered1 and published1 a sermon on the #eth of ,november #aghi1 recommending the most peaceable method of pursuing our object4 ,mr ,madan1 however1 the most respectable clergyman in the town1 preaching and publishing a very inflammatory sermon on the subject1 inveighing in the bitterest manner against the ,dissenters in general and myself in particular1 ,i addressed a number of ',familiar ,letters to the ,inhabitants of ,birmingham' in our defence4 ,this produced a reply from him and other letters from me4 ,all mine were written in an ironical and rather a pleasant manner1 and in some of the last of them ,i introduced a further reply to ,mr ,burn1 another clergyman in ,birmingham1 who had addressed to me ',letters on the ,infallibility of the ,testimony of the ,apostles concerning the ,person of ,christ1' after replying to his first set of letters1 in a separate publication4 ,from these small pieces ,i was far from expecting any serious consequences4 ,but the ,dissenters in general being very obnoxious to the ,court1 and it being imagined1 though without any reason1 that ,i had been the chief promoter of the measures which gave them offence1 the clergy1 not only in ,birmingham but through all ,england1 seemed to make it their business1 by writing in the public papers1 by preaching and other methods1 to inflame the minds of the people against me4 ,and on occasion of the celebration of the anniversary of the ,french ,revolution1 on ,july #ad1 #agia1 by several of my friends1 but with which ,i had little to do1 a mob1 encouraged by some persons in power1 first burned the meeting-house in which ,i preached1 then another meeting-house in the town1 and then my dwelling-house1 demolishing my library1 apparatus and1 as far as they could1 everything belonging to me4 ,they also burned1 or much damaged1 the houses of many ,dissenters1 chiefly my friends4 ,the criminality of the magistrates and other principal ,high ,churchmen at ,birmingham in promoting the riot remains acknowledged4 ,indeed1 many circumstances which have appeared since that time show that the friends of the ,court1 if not the ,prime ,ministers themselves1 were the favourers of that riot1 having1 no doubt1 thought to intimidate the friends of liberty by the measure4 ,the years following the riot of #agia1 wrote ,mr ,matthew ,devonport ,hill1 witnessed various displays of hostile sentiment4 ,in preparation for a municipal dinner shortly after that event1 of which a member of the powerful and wealthy party opposed to ,french principles bore the cost1 the list of guests accustomed prior to the outbreak to be invited on public occasions had been sedulously cleared of adverse elements4 ,by inadvertence1 however1 the name of ,dr ,parr was retained2 and the sturdy divine1 although he must have surmised that he would be the only representative of his opinions1 duly obeyed the summons4 ,the cloth being drawn1 the ,chairman proposed1 as the ,doctor no doubt expected1 the toast of ',church and ,king4' ,parr instantly started to his feet1 proclaiming in a stern voice his dissent4 ',no1 sir1' said he1 ',i will not drink that toast4 ,it was the cry of ,jacobites2 it is the cry of incendiaries4 ,it means a ,church without the ,gospel1 and a ,king above the ,law6' ,,chapter ,x ,determines to leave ,england--,his arrival in ,america--,settles at ,northumberland--,his closing days--,his death4 ,priestley's position in ,london for some time after his arrival there was very insecure1 and so apprehensive were his friends of further outrage that it was thought necessary to provide him with a disguise and to arrange a plan of escape in case the house should be attacked4 ,at first he was not allowed to appear in the streets4 ,ultimately he was moved to ,tottenham1 where he spent a month4 ,in the middle of ,october a house was taken for him in ,hackney1 but it was with difficulty that the landlord1 who feared his property would be demolished1 was persuaded to accept him as a tenant4 ,here1 however1 he proceeded to build himself a laboratory1 and in a letter to ,thomas ,wedgwood1 of ,october #ah1 #agia1 he says3-- ,as soon as convenient ,i shall be obliged to your father if he will supply me1 as usual1 with such retorts as you make1 viz41 earthen tubes closed at the end and open1 and some with two necks4 ,small retorts1 evaporating-dishes1 mortars and levigators4 ,perhaps your servants here can tell me the price at which ,i must estimate those that were destroyed by the riot4 ,i must soon give in an account of my losses1 and ,i fear that some person on your part must attend at ,warwick to attest the value4 ,mr ,nairn1 ,mr ,parker and others have promised to attend4 ,but ,i have prepared proposed a conference between my appraiser and those for the county in ,london1 which1 if they be disposed to do justice1 will save much trouble and expense4 ,whether ,i shall be invited to succeed ,dr ,price is uncertain4 ,many apprehend public disturbance in consequence of my coming4 ,i could not get a house let in my own name4 ,a friend took it in his4 ,i have1 however1 very handsome proposals from ,france1 particularly the offer of a house completely furnished1 two miles from ,paris1 and another polite invitation from ,toulouse1 to take up my residence in the ,south of ,france in 'a monastery which reason has recovered from superstition4' ,priestley's claim for damages amounted to #cfbh1 #hs4 #i;d4 ,hutton says his real loss was upwards of #dejj 7,jewitt's ,life of ,hutton1 p4 #bee74 ,the ,court allowed #bejb1 #ahs4 ,in the town of ,birmingham property to the value of #ej1jjj was destroyed1 of which sum #bf1ifa1 #bs4 #c;d4 was finally paid by a rate on the ,hundred1 in which ,birmingham is included 7,sam ,timmins1 ,trans4 ,midl4 ,inst41 #ahge74 ,lindsey1 writing to his friend1 ,alexander of ,yarmouth1 under date ,october #ae1 #agia1 mentioning ,priestley1 says3-- ,he is very well1 and with his wonted cheerfulness1 which has never forsaken him4 ,sunday last he preached for me for the first time since he has been expelled by fire and destruction out of his own place of worship1 and he does me that favour to-morrow again4 ,he has at last1 though very reluctantly1 and much to the concern of his late beloved people1 given up the thought of continuing the pastoral office among them1 as the exercise of it would not probably be consistent with his personal safety and liberty2 such is the temper of his many adversaries still1 and so hostile to him4 ,the managers of other ,dissenting chapels had not the courage of ,lindsey and begged that he would refrain from preaching to their congregations4 ,eventually he was invited to take the position formerly occupied by his friend ,price4 ,the rancour of his enemies now broke out afresh1 and the most persistent efforts were made to damage and disparage him in the eyes of his congregation4 ,his friends in the neighbourhood were advised to move their effects to some place of greater safety1 as it was common rumour that his house was to be attacked on the succeeding anniversary of the ,birmingham riot4 ,his servants were afraid to remain for any length of time with him1 and the tradespeople hesitated to take his custom4 ,he was several times burnt in effigy along with ,tom ,paine4 ,coloured caricatures of him1 of the grossest and coarsest kind1 in which he was described as the treacherous rebel and ,birmingham rioter were scattered broadcast4 ,insulting letters1 in some of which he was likened to ,guy ,fawkes or the devil himself1 were sent to him from all parts of the country1 even from men calling themselves ministers of the ,gospel4 ,in one of these he was threatened with being burned alive before a slow fire4 ,the ,rev4 ,dr ,tatham1 ,rector of ,lincoln ,college1 ,oxford1 whose biographer compared him with ,warburton 7,there is much of the same rough1 unpolished strength in his language71 thus addressed him3-- ,long have you been the ,danger of this country1 the ,bane of its ,polity1 and the ,canker-worm of its ,happiness4 ,long1 too long1 have your ,principles tended to bereave it of its ,religion1 its ,constitution1 and consequently of its ,king4 ,burke1 to his everlasting shame1 inveighed against him in the ,house of ,commons1 and many of his associates in the ,royal ,society shunned him4 ,his position in the ,society became eventually so irksome that he withdrew from it1 as he explains in the preface to his ,observations and ,experiments on the ,generation of ,air from ,water1 which he published in pamphlet form at ,hackney1 with a dedication to the members of the ,lunar ,society4 ,in a letter to ,withering1 written from ,clapton1 ,october #b1 #agib1 he says3-- 444 ,one of the things that ,i regret the most in being expelled from ,birmingham is the loss of your company and that of the rest of the ,lunar ,society4 ,i feel ,i want the spur to constant exertion which ,i had with you4 ,my philosophical friends here are cold and distant4 ,mr ,cavendish never expressed the least concern on account of anything ,i had suffered1 though ,i joined a party with which he was1 and talked with them some time4 ,i do not expect to have much intercourse with any of them4 ,i have1 however1 nearly replaced my apparatus1 and intend not to be idle4 ,i have already made some experiments relating to the doctrine of phlogiston1 and when ,i have made a few more shall probably write something on the subject4 ,i am surprised at the confidence with which the ,french chemists write2 but ,i cannot yet learn what they have to object to my last paper in the ,philosophical ,transactions4444 ,i was in hopes to have been able to pay my friends of ,birm4 a visit long before this time1 but was always discouraged1 so that ,i have now given up the thoughts of it1 and must content myself with seeing as many of them as ,i can here4444 ,i do not1 however1 think ,i shall continue here long4 ,though unwillingly1 ,i shall some time hence follow my son to ,france4 ,but as ,i can do nothing there ,i will stay here as long as ,i can4 ,to what lengths the ,government were determined to go was seen in their banishment1 in #agic1 of ,thomas ,fyshe ,palmer1 a gentleman of a highly respectable and opulent family in ,bedfordshire1 to ,botany ,bay for seven years1 because he had been concerned in publishing a paper in favour of ,parliamentary ,reform2 and in their treatment of ,mr ,winterbotham1 a ,calvinistic minister of ,plymouth ,dock1 on account of his political opinions4 ,the mock trial of ,mr ,winterbotham at ,newgate and the four years' imprisonment which followed it1 created a wide-spread feeling of indignation and alarm1 and many families were constrained to leave the country in disgust4 ,among them was ,priestley's friend and fellow-sufferer1 the worthy ,mr ,russell1 who on his way to ,boston1 ,new ,england1 was captured with his family by a ,french privateer and thrown into prison in ,brest4 ,priestley1 at length1 also determined to follow them4 ,it was however with the greatest reluctance that he came to that decision4 ,it meant parting from affectionate and devoted friends to whom he was warmly attached1 whose zeal to serve him and to minister to his wants far outweighed the hatred of those who sought to cover him with oblivion4 ,it meant too the relinquishment in large measure of his philosophical pursuits since he could not hope to procure elsewhere the same facilities for inquiry that he enjoyed here4 ,more than all it seemed to mean the relinquishment of what was still dearer to him--his active efforts in the propagation of ,unitarianism4 ,lastly it meant in all human probability a lasting severance from the daughter to whom he was so tenderly attached4 ,he was largely guided to his decision by consideration for his sons1 since1 as he says1 he found that the bigotry of the country in general made it impossible for him to place them here with any advantage4 ,his second son1 ,william1 had been some time in ,france1 but on the breaking out of the troubles in that country he had embarked for ,america1 where his two brothers1 ,joseph and ,henry1 met him4 ,they had a project of founding a settlement near the head of the ,susquehanna in ,pennsylvania1 and several of ,priestley's friends at home1 among them ,mr ,william ,russell of ,birmingham1 a leader of the ,new ,meeting-,house1 were directly interested in the scheme4 ,priestley at length decided to throw in his lot with his sons1 and in the preface to his ,fast and ,farewell ,sermons1 which he delivered to his ,hackney congregation on the eve of his departure1 he gave his reasons for leaving the country3-- ,after the riots in ,birmingham it was the expectation1 and evidently the wish of many persons1 that ,i should immediately fly to ,france or ,america4 ,but ,i had no consciousness of guilt to induce me to fly from my country4 ,on the contrary1 ,i came directly to ,london1 and instantly1 by means of my friend1 ,mr ,russell1 signified to the ,king's ministers that ,i was there and ready1 if they thought proper1 to be interrogated on the subject of the riots4 ,ill-treated as ,i thought ,i had been1 not merely by the populace of ,birmingham1 for they were the mere tools of their superiors1 but by the country in general1 which evidently exulted in our sufferings1 and afterwards by the representatives of the nation1 who refused to inquire into the cause of them1 ,i own ,i was not without deliberating upon the subject of emigration2 and several flattering proposals were made to me1 especially from ,france1 which was then at peace within itself and with all the world2 and ,i was at one time much inclined to go thither1 on account of its nearness to ,england1 the agreeableness of its climate1 and my having many friends there4 ,but ,i likewise considered that if ,i went thither ,i should have no employment of the kind to which ,i had been accustomed2 and the season of active life not being1 according to the course of nature1 quite over1 ,i wished to make as much use of it as ,i could4 ,i therefore determined to continue in ,england1 exposed as ,i was not only to unbounded obloquy and insult1 but to every kind of outrage2 and after my invitation to succeed my friend ,dr ,price ,i had no hesitation about it4444 ,he then goes on to show how insecure his position was1 and how impossible it was to follow his avocations in peace1 in face of the odium and insult he continually met with3-- ,these facts not only show how general was the idea of my particular insecurity in this country1 but what is of much more consequence1 and highly interesting to the country at large1 an idea of the general disposition to rioting and violence that prevails in it1 and that the ,dissenters are the objects of it4 ,mr ,pitt very justly observed1 in his speech on the subject of the riots at ,birmingham1 that it was 'the effervescence of the public mind4' ,indeed1 the effervescible matter has existed in this country ever since the civil wars in the time of ,charles ,i41 and it was particularly apparent in the reign of ,queen ,anne4 ,but the power of ,government under the former princes of the ,house of ,hanover prevented its doing any mischief4 ,the late events show that this power is no longer exerted as it used to be1 but that on the contrary there prevails an idea1 well or ill founded1 that tumultuary proceedings against ,dissenters will not receive any effectual discouragement4 ,after what has taken place with respect to ,birmingham1 all idea of much hazard for insulting and abusing the ,dissenters is entirely vanished2 whereas the disposition to injure the ,catholics was effectually checked by the proceedings of the year #aghj4 ,from that time they have been safe1 and rejoice in it4 ,but from the year #agia the ,dissenters have been more exposed to insult and outrage than ever4 ,the necessity ,i was under of sending my sons out of this country was my principal inducement to send the little property that ,i had out of it too2 so that ,i had nothing in ,england besides my library1 apparatus and household goods4 ,by this ,i felt myself greatly relieved1 it being of little consequence where a man already turned sixty ends his days4 ,whatever good or evil ,i have been capable of is now chiefly done2 and ,i trust that the same consciousness of integrity which has supported me hitherto will carry me through anything that may yet be reserved for me4 ,seeing1 however1 no great prospect of doing much good1 or having much enjoyment here1 ,i am now preparing to follow my sons2 hoping to be of some use to them in their present unsettled state1 and that ,providence may yet1 advancing in years as ,i am1 find me some sphere of usefulness with them4 ,he then goes on to deal with the charge that he was a factious1 political parson who preached sedition3-- ,as to the great odium that ,i have incurred1 the charge of sedition1 or my being an enemy to the constitution or peace of my country1 is a mere pretence for it2 though it has been so much urged that it is now generally believed1 and all attempts to undeceive the public with respect to it avail nothing at all4 ,the whole course of my studies from early life shows how little politics of any kind have been my object4 ,indeed1 to have written so much as ,i have in theology1 and to have done so much in experimental philosophy1 and at the same time to have had my mind occupied1 as it is supposed to have been1 with factious politics1 ,i must have had faculties more than human4 ,it is true1 he says1 he wrote a pamphlet ,on the ,state of ,liberty in this ,country at the time of ,wilkes's election for ,middlesex1 and at the request of ,franklin he wrote an address to the ,dissenters on the subject of the approaching rupture with ,america2 but he has nothing to reproach himself with on that score1 and posterity agrees with him4 ,his connection with the ,marquis of ,lansdowne was in no sense political4 ,although1 he says1 ,i entered into almost all his views1 as thinking them just and liberal1 ,i never wrote a single political pamphlet1 or even a paragraph in a newspaper1 all the time that ,i was with him1 which was seven years4 ,he had never preached a political sermon in his life1 unless such as he believed all ,dissenters usually preached on the #eth of ,november in favour of civil and religious liberty may be said to be political4 ,even on those occasions he had never advanced any sentiment that would have made him until then obnoxious to the administration of this country4 ,the doctrines he adopted when young1 and which were even popular then 7except with the clergy1 who were at that time generally disaffected to the family on the throne71 he could not now abandon merely because the times were so changed that they had become unpopular and the expression of them hazardous4 ,although he did not disapprove of societies for political information1 he never was a member of one1 nor did he ever attend any public meeting if he could decently avoid it4 ,if1 then1 my real crime has not been sedition1 or treason1 what has it been8 ,for every effect must have some adequate cause1 and therefore the odium that ,i have incurred must have been owing to something in my declared sentiments or conduct that has exposed me to it4 ,in my opinion it cannot have been anything but my open hostility to the doctrines of the ,established ,church1 and more especially to all civil establishments of religion whatever4 ,this has brought upon me the implacable resentment of the great body of the clergy2 and they have found other methods of opposing me besides argument and that use of the press which is equally open to us all4 ,they have also found an able ally and champion in ,mr ,burke1 who 7without any provocation except that of answering his book on the ,french ,revolution7 has taken several opportunities of inveighing against me in a place where he knows ,i cannot reply to him1 and from which he also knows that his accusation will reach every corner of the country and consequently thousands of persons who will never read any writings of mine4 ,they have had another1 and still more effectual vehicle of their abuse in what are called the treasury newpapers1 and other popular publications4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,i could1 if ,i were so disposed1 give my readers many more instances of the bigotry of the clergy of the ,church of ,england with respect to me which could not fail to excite in generous minds equal indignation and contempt3 but ,i forbear4 ,had ,i1 however1 foreseen what ,i am now witness to1 ,i certainly should not have made any attempt to replace my library or apparatus1 and ,i soon repented of having done it4 ,but this being done1 ,i was willing to make some use of both before another interruption of my pursuits4444 ,i hoped to have had no occasion for more than one1 and that a final1 remove4 ,but the circumstances above mentioned have induced me1 though with great and sincere regret1 to undertake another1 and to a greater distance than any that ,i have hitherto made4444 ,and ,i trust that the same good ,providence which has attended me hitherto1 and made me happy in my present situation1 and all my former ones1 will attend and bless me in which may still be before me4 ,in all events the will of ,god be done4 ,i cannot refrain from repeating again that ,i leave my native country with real regret1 never expecting to find anywhere else society so suited to my disposition and habits1 such friends as ,i have here 7whose attachment has been more than a balance to all the abuse ,i have met with from others71 and especially to replace one particular ,christian friend1 in whose absence ,i shall1 for some time at least1 find all the world a blank4 ,still less can ,i expect to resume my favourite pursuits with anything like the advantages ,i enjoy here4 ,in leaving this country ,i also abandon a source of maintenance which ,i can but ill bear to lose4 ,i can1 however1 truly say that ,i leave it without any resentment or ill-will4 ,on the contrary1 ,i sincerely wish my countrymen all happiness2 and when the time for reflection 7which my absence may accelerate7 shall come they will1 ,i am confident1 do me more justice4 ,they will be convinced that every suspicion they have been led to entertain to my disadvantage has been ill founded1 and that ,i have even some claim to their gratitude and esteem4 ,in this case ,i shall look with satisfaction to the time when1 if my life be prolonged1 ,i may visit my friends in this country2 and perhaps ,i may1 notwithstanding my removal for the present1 find a grave 7as ,i believe is naturally the wish of every man7 in the land that gave me birth4 ,as the time of his departure drew near his friends vied with each other in their expressions of esteem and affection and many evidences of their regret were offered to him4 ,among these was a silver inkstand from some of his admirers in the ,university of ,cambridge1 on which was an inscription of their sorrow that this expression of their esteem should be occasioned by the ingratitude of their country4 ,on ,april #h1 #agid1 ,priestley and his wife set sail from ,london1 and arrived at ,new ,york on ,june #d4 ,on the way out he wrote some ,observations on the ,cause of the ,present ,prevalence of ,infidelity1 which he prefixed to a new edition of his ,letters to the ,philosophers and ,politicians of ,france4 ,alas6 one of the most distinguished of those philosophers and politicians was even then no more4 ,coffinhal had pronounced his judgment1 declaring the ,republic has no need of men of science1 and whilst ,priestley was on the high seas his great protagonist1 ,lavoisier1 more unfortunate even than he1 met his death on the scaffold4 ,such was the treatment bestowed upon the best of their citizens by two nations which considered themselves as without exception the most civilised and enlightened in the world6 ,priestley was well received in ,new ,york1 many people meeting him on landing1 and he was presented with addresses of welcome from various societies4 ,after a stay of about a fortnight he proceeded to ,philadelphia and received an address from the ,american ,philosophical ,society1 and by a unanimous vote of the trustees was offered the ,professorship of ,chemistry in the ,university of ,philadelphia4 ,in the following ,july1 in order to escape from the heat of the city1 he moved to ,northumberland1 a town about a hundred and thirty miles north-west of ,philadelphia and situated at the confluence of the north-east and west branches of the ,susquehanna1 near to which place his eldest son1 together with certain other persons1 mainly ,englishmen1 projected a settlement4 ,priestley himself had no pecuniary interest1 as has been stated1 in the undertaking1 and he was not consulted in its formation1 nor had he even decided to join it if carried into effect4 ,we learn from his son's account that the scheme of settlement was not to be confined to any particular class or character of men1 religious or political4 ,it was set on foot to be1 as it were1 a rallying point for the ,english1 who were at that period emigrating to ,america in great numbers1 and who1 it was thought1 would be more happy in society of the kind they had been accustomed to than they would be if dispersed through the whole of the ,states4 ,owing to disagreements among the projectors1 the scheme of the settlement fell through4 ,priestley1 however1 who was charmed with the beauty of its situation and the nature of its surroundings1 determined to settle at ,northumberland4 ,although at that time remote from any considerable town it was obviously destined to become a great thoroughfare4 ,it was apparently healthy and less enervating1 at least in summer time1 than ,philadelphia4 ,living was cheaper there than in that city1 and he would be more free from care and more at liberty to follow his own pursuits than if burdened with the responsibilities of teaching4 ,lastly1 his poor wife1 who had never recovered from the shock of the ,birmingham riots1 needed rest and quiet4 ,on these grounds1 therefore1 he decided to decline the offer of the ,professorship at ,philadelphia1 as well as an invitation to take charge of an ,unitarian congregation at ,new ,york1 and to spend his remaining days in peace and retirement on the beautiful spot he had chosen4 ,the year before his death he was offered the principalship of the ,university of ,pennsylvania in succession to ,dr ,euen1 but this office also he declined4 ,on his first settling at ,northumberland in #agie he was mainly occupied with his theological and metaphysical studies4 ,during this year he published the work which had occupied him during his voyage from ,england1 his ,fast and ,farewell ,sermons1 some tracts in defence of ,unitarianism1 and the third part of his ,letters to a ,philosophical ,unbeliever1 in answer to ,paine's ,age of ,reason1 and he continued his ,church ,history from the ,fall of the ,western ,empire to the ,reformation4 ,in the house he had first occupied1 which was barely sufficient in size to contain the family1 he had little opportunity or convenience for doing experimental work4 ,still1 he made some observations on the analysis of air1 and continued his inquiries on the generation of air from water4 ,having determined to make ,northumberland his home1 he proceeded to build a house more suitable to his needs and pursuits1 and1 as his letters of the period show1 its planning and arrangement gave him much thought and greatly interested him4 ,the house1 which still exists1 is similar in character to many middle-class ,american houses built in the country1 a plain substantial erection1 covered with match-boarding and fitted with jalousies1 and to the front a loggia or verandah4 ,the laboratory is a small building to the side1 partially shaded by a large1 wide-spreading tree4 ,in the autumn of this year he lost his youngest son1 ,henry1 a bright and intelligent youth1 of whom he was remarkably fond4 ,this loss greatly affected him1 for he had hopes that the young man would follow him in his theological and philosophical pursuits1 to which he had shown an inclination4 ,the death of his son was even more profoundly felt by his wife1 whose health and spirits now began rapidly to decline1 and she too passed away a few months later4 ,through life1 says her son1 she had been truly a helpmeet for him2 supporting him under all his trials and sufferings with a constancy and perseverance truly praiseworthy1 and who1 as he himself1 in noting the event in his diary1 justly observes1 'was of a noble and generous mind1 and cared much for others and little for herself through life4' ,at about this period he preached and printed another of his defences of ,unitarianism and completed his ,church ,history1 and began the compilation of his last treatise in defence of phlogiston4 ,he spent the spring of #agif in ,philadelphia1 where he delivered a series of lectures on the evidences of revelation to crowded audiences1 including most of the members of the ,united ,states ,congress1 at that time sitting in ,philadelphia1 and of the executive officers of the ,government4 ,he delivered a second series on the same subject in the spring of the following year1 but with less success1 partly owing1 his son imagines1 to the novelty of the thing having passed away1 and partly from prejudices that began to be excited against him on account of his supposed political principles4 ,in reality ,priestley took even less interest in the politics of ,america than he had done in those of his own country4 ,he seldom read the debates in ,congress1 and beyond ,adams and ,jefferson he knew few of the leading politicians4 ,he never attended a political meeting or took part directly or indirectly in an election1 and excepting an article in a newspaper called ,aurora1 or ,maxims of ,political ,arithmetic1 and signed ,a ,quaker in ,politics1 he wrote nothing on the subject of politics4 ,at that period political feeling ran high and politics were the one subject of conversation1 and to some extent1 therefore1 he could not escape their discussion1 but it was noticed that he always argued on the side of liberty4 ,as regards ,british politics his speculations went no further than a reform in ,parliament1 such as that which was accomplished less than thirty years after his death4 ,he had no desire to see changed the constitution of the kingdom as vested in ,king1 ,lords and ,commons4 ,he used frequently to say1 says his son1 and it was said of him1 that though he was an ,unitarian in religion he was in that country a ,trinitarian in politics4 ,when he came to ,america he found reason to change his opinions1 and he became a decided friend to the general principles and practice of a completely representative ,government1 founded upon universal suffrage1 and excluding hereditary privileges1 as it exists in this country4 ,this change was naturally produced by observing the ease and happiness with which the people lived1 and the unexampled prosperity of the country4 ,but in his feelings he was still an ,englishman4 ,he never was naturalised1 saying that as he had been born and had lived an ,englishman he would die one1 let what might be the consequence4 ,towards the end of #agig his new library and laboratory were finished1 his books once more arranged and much of his old apparatus installed4 ,he found workmen in ,northumberland who could repair his instruments and make such new ones as he wanted4 ,he was thus able to resume the kind of life he led at ,birmingham1 spending much of the day in the laboratory or alternately in his study1 sometimes engaged on experimental philosophy1 at other times in the composition of the theological works which seemed to flow in an unending stream from his pen4 ,he delighted to walk in his garden and to view the beautiful prospect it afforded him of the river and the distant landscape4 ,he had1 too1 a kindly interest in the whole community1 and noted with pleasure the many little improvements going forward in and about the town4 ,there was no apparent abatement in the vigour of his mind or in the keenness and enthusiasm with which he followed the extraordinary expansion of the science he loved so well during the opening years of the nineteenth century4 ,in a letter to ,humphry ,davy1 then at the outset of his brilliant career1 he says3-- ,it gives me peculiar satisfaction that1 as ,i am far advanced in life and cannot expect to do much more1 ,i shall leave so able a fellow-labourer of my own country in the great fields of experimental philosophy4444 ,i rejoice that you are so young a man2 and perceiving the ardour with which you begin your career ,i have no doubts of your success4 ,the following letter to his old friend ,mrs ,barbauld1 with whom he kept up a correspondence to the last1 gives some account of his condition at this time3-- ,dear ,madam1--,this will1 ,i hope1 be delivered1 as it will be conveyed by my son4 ,how happy should ,i think myself to wait on you and ,mr ,barbauld in person4 ,should there be a peace1 ,i do promise myself that pleasure1 but at present this great blessing seems to be at a great distance4 ,how many melancholy changes have taken place since ,i left ,england1 and among these is the death of ,dr ,enfield1 a man at least ten years younger than me1 and to appearance more healthy4 ,i am also much alarmed at the accounts ,i receive of your brother ,dr ,john ,aiken1 whom ,i left in perfect health1 but the last were rather more favourable4 ,his life is of great value1 both to his relatives1 acquaintances and the world at large1 few men having been more usefully employed4 ,i am willing to hope he is yet reserved for more usefulness4 ,when ,i compare the perturbed state of ,europe with the quiet of this place ,i wish all my friends were here1 provided they could find sufficient employment to be happy2 but if they be like myself they must be content to be idle1 except so far as they can make themselves employment in their closets4 ,my library and laboratory sufficiently occupy me1 and of common society ,i have as much as ,i want4 ,a few more rational ,christians to form a society would make this place a paradise to me1 and this would be wanting in many parts of ,england4 ,it is a pleasure to be in a place that is continually and visibly improving1 and this is the case here to an astonishing degree4 ,in every year we find a very sensible difference1 and in all probability improvements of all kind will go on more rapidly than ever4 ,nature has done everything that can be done for any place4 ,perhaps you have seen the views of it taken by ,miss ,daich4 ,they are not by any means too flattering4 ,could ,i have my daughter here ,i should be happy indeed4 ,but this1 ,i fear1 is not likely to be accomplished1 owing to the strange obstinacy and prejudice of ,mr ,finch4 ,her trials must be very great1 but she is naturally cheerful1 and has a strong sense of religion1 which1 ,i hope1 will support her4 ,this1 sufficiently impressed1 will make us equal to everything4 ,your kindness to her affects me much4 ,a friend in need is a friend indeed4 ,something will1 ,i hope1 be done for her before my son returns1 but what it can be ,i do not know4 ,her uncle has some proposal to make to my son in her favour1 but the obstinacy of ,mr ,finch may defeat everything4 ,you have obliged me very much by the exquisite little poem you sent me4 ,i hope you will add to the obligation by the communication of the fragment on the ',game of ,chess1' or any other little piece you may think proper to send me4 ,you had no copy of your first poem to my wife1 or ,i should value that above any other1 and also the little poem you wrote on the birth of ,joseph4 ,i shall always be very happy to hear from you2 and1 with my best respects to ,mr ,barbauld1 ,i am1 dear ,madam1 yours sincerely1 ,j4 ,priestley4 ,northumberland1 ,dec4 #bc1 #agih4 ,mrs ,barbauld1 ,hampstead1 near ,london4 ,his son has given us a faithful picture of his closing years and of the serenity of the evening of his life4 ,for the last four years of his life he lived under an administration1 the principles and practice of which he perfectly approved1 and with ,mr ,jefferson1 the head of that administration1 he frequently corresponded1 and they had for each other a mutual regard and esteem4 ,he enjoyed the esteem of the wisest and best men in the country1 particularly at ,philadelphia1 where his religion and his politics did not prevent his being kindly and cheerfully received by great numbers of opposite opinions in both1 who thus paid homage to his knowledge and virtue4 ,in #ahjj he put together his last scientific work1 and the one which he regarded as the crown of all his efforts1 viz41 his ,doctrine of ,phlogiston ,established4 ,it can never be said of ,priestley that he was to one thing constant never3 versatile as he was1 and with an extraordinary capacity for adaptation and change in matters of philosophy and theological doctrine1 he was ever constant to phlogiston4 ,during the spring of #ahja1 whilst on a visit to ,philadelphia1 he had an attack of fever from which he never wholly recovered4 ,it left him predisposed to the fever and ague at that time prevalent at ,northumberland and he had a succession of attacks which weakened him greatly4 ,nevertheless1 his spirits were uniformly good and his complacency and cheerfulness of manner never left him2 and although he was incapable of taking much physical exercise and had to give up working in his garden1 he spent a considerable amount of time in his laboratory1 experimenting with all the enthusiasm and eagerness of his most active period with the newly-discovered pile of ,volta1 and sending his results to ,nicholson's ,journal4 ,in #ahjb he was enabled to send his ,church ,history to press1 owing to the action of his friends in ,england1 who1 unknown to him1 had set a subscription on foot sufficient to cover the expense of publication4 ,although he was obviously failing in strength1 owing to gastric troubles1 he continued to work on either in his study or in his laboratory4 ,he sent a couple of papers to the ,american ,philosophical ,society on scientific subjects1 and he published an essay on ,jesus and ,socrates ,compared4 ,in the ,november of #ahjc it was evident that his end was approaching4 ,still he struggled on1 hoping by careful attention to his diet he might still see the spring4 ,he told the physician who attended him that if he could but patch him up for six months longer he should be perfectly satisfied1 as he should in that time be able to complete the printing of his works4 ,so precarious did he consider his life that he took the precaution of transcribing one day in longhand what he had composed the day before in shorthand1 that he might by that means leave the work complete as far as it went should he not live to finish the whole4 ,with the beginning of #ahjd his weakness had greatly increased4 ,in his diary for ,january #ca he notes3--,ill all day--not able to speak for nearly three hours4 ,still he rose1 dressed and shaved himself 7which he never omitted doing every morning till within two days of his death71 went to his laboratory and lit his fire1 but found his weakness so great that he was obliged to get back to his study4 ,during the next and following days he was better1 and was able to see to the correction of his proof-sheets1 but on ,february #d he took to his bed1 although he was able to read and look over a sheet of proof and to check the ,greek and ,hebrew quotations4 ,in the course of the day1 says his son1 he expressed his gratitude in being permitted to die quietly in his family1 without pain1 with every convenience and comfort he could wish for4 ,he dwelt upon the peculiarly happy situation in which it had pleased the ,divine ,being to place him in life1 and the great advantage he had enjoyed in the acquaintance and friendship of some of the best and wisest men in the age in which he lived1 and the satisfaction he derived from having led a useful as well as a happy life4 ,in the evening he had his grandchildren brought to his bedside1 saying it gave him great pleasure to see the little things kneel4 ,after prayers they wished him a good-night and he gave each his blessing1 exhorting them all to continue to love each other4 ,and you1 little thing1 speaking to the youngest1 remember the hymn you learned3 ',birds in their little nests agree4' ,i am going to sleep as well as you2 for death is only a good long sleep in the grave1 and we shall meet again4 ,he lingered through the night1 and in the early morning requested his son to take down some additions and alterations he wished inserted in his proofs1 dictating as clearly and distinctly as he had ever done in his life4 ,when these were read to him he said1 ,that is right2 ,i have now done4 ,shortly afterwards he put his hand to his face and breathed his last so easy that those who were sitting close to him hardly perceived he had passed away4 ,what was mortal of him now rests in a little hill-side cemetery overlooking the beautiful river4 ,the spot is marked with a simple headstone on which is engraven-- ,to the memory of the ,revd4 ,dr ,,joseph ,,priestley1 who departed this life on the #fth ,feby4 #ahjd4 ,anno4 tatis ,,lxxi4 ,return unto thy rest1 ,o my soul1 for the ,lord hath dealt bountifully with thee4 ,i will lay me down in peace and sleep till ,i awake in the morning of the resurrection4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,priestley as a man of science--,his characteristics as a philosopher--,experiments and ,observations on ,different ,kinds of ,air--,his discovery of the influence of vegetation on vitiated air--,atmospheric air not elementary--,his researches on nitric oxide--,eudiometry--,nitrous oxide--,discovers hydrogen chloride--,prepares oxygen from nitre 7#agga7--;,isolates ammonia gas--,discovers sulphur dioxide--,dephlogisticated air 7oxygen7--,discovers silicon fluoride--,intra-diffusion of gases--,respiration--,priestley's opinions of the value of experimental science in education--,discovers nitrosulphuric acid--,notes the constancy of composition of the atmosphere--,prepares chlorine--,sound in air--,experiments relating to phlogiston--,the seeming conversion of water into air--,watt and the compound nature of water--,discovers sulphuretted hydrogen--,priestley's confession of faith in phlogiston4 ,priestley's position in the history of science mainly rests on his discoveries in pneumatic chemistry4 ,the course of inquiry which he began at ,leeds was continued by him1 with characteristic assiduity and conspicuous success1 at ,calne1 and his labours added largely to the number of the aeriform bodies which were clearly recognised as distinct substances1 essentially differing from each other1 and not merely modifications of a common principle1 modified or affected by properties more or less fortuitous and accidental4 ,the old idea of the nature of air had its origin in the doctrine of the ,four ,elements4 ,it is ,priestley's merit that he1 more than any man of his time1 contributed to the overthrow of this conception as the basis of a philosophical system of the constitution of the material universe4 ,although ,priestley could not be unmindful that his claim to scientific fame was to be found in the succession of volumes which he called ,experiments and ,observations on ,different ,kinds of ,air1 the very title suggests that he1 at all events in the outset1 was hardly conscious of the magnitude and true significance of his work4 ,priestley was in no real sense a speculative philosopher3 he was indeed pre-eminently the type of man whom ,hobbes disparaged as an experimentarian philosopher1 and an experimentarian philosopher he remained to the end of his days4 ,he was aware of his limitations1 and many passages from his works1 and especially from his correspondence1 might be quoted in proof of this fact4 ,his simple1 unaffected candour was indeed one of the charms of his character and the secret of much of his influence4 ,it is reflected in every page of his scientific writings4 ,his own discoveries1 taken collectively1 did more than those of any one of his contemporaries to uproot and destroy the only generalisation by which his immediate predecessors had sought to group and connect the phenomena of chemistry1 but he was wholly unable to perceive this fact4 ,a patient and industrious observer1 absolutely truthful1 and1 as he hoped and believed1 unbiassed and impartial1 he was nevertheless entirely lacking in the higher qualities of the imagination or in that power of divination which is the characteristic of men of the type of ,newton4 ,the contrast between ,priestley--the social1 political and theological reformer1 always in advance of his times1 receptive1 fearless and insistent2 and ,priestley the man of science--timorous and halting when he might well be bold1 conservative and orthodox when almost every other active worker was heterodox and progressive--is most striking4 ,and yet1 such is the irony of circumstance1 ,priestley's name mainly lives as that of a chemical philosopher4 ,when men have desired to do him honour1 and have sought to perpetuate his memory by statues in public places1 he is generally represented as making a chemical experiment4 ,in reality1 great as ,priestley's merit is as an experimentarian philosopher1 his greater claim on our regard and esteem rests upon his struggles and his sufferings in the cause of civil1 political and religious liberty4 ,the years which ,priestley spent at ,calne constitute the most fruitful period of his scientific career4 ,practically all that he did in the way of solid achievement and of addition to the armoury of science was effected during that time4 ,although1 after leaving ,lord ,shelburne1 he continued to pursue scientific inquiry with his wonted zeal and industry1 doubtless adding thereby to his fame among his contemporaries1 posterity has set the true measure of appreciation to his later efforts4 ,he doubtless made many hundreds of experiments in connection with more or less well-defined trains of inquiry2 nevertheless1 it cannot be maintained that during his subsequent period he added many first-rate facts to our knowledge1 or indeed discovered any facts at all comparable in importance with those he ascertained during his life in ,wiltshire4 ,on the contrary1 what he did observe--as for example the seeming conversion of water into air--too frequently led him astray and was the cause of error to himself and others4 ,thus ,watt's claim to be considered as an independent1 if not the first and true1 discoverer of the real chemical nature of water is based upon ,priestley's experimental blunders4 ,watt was undoubtedly accurate in his surmise1 but the surmise was right in spite of1 and not by reason of1 ,priestley's experimental evidence4 ,priestley recorded his experiments with such fulness that it is now easy to perceive where he went wrong4 ,he was constantly on the verge of a discovery1 sometimes indeed of a discovery of cardinal importance1 but as constantly it eluded his grasp4 ,the experiments on the seeming conversion of water into air might have led him1 when he got over his chagrin on the detection of the real cause of his error1 to the recognition of the underlying truth in it1 namely1 the principle of the diffusion of gases4 ,he was1 of course1 familiar with the fact that the various gases he discovered1 or which were known to him1 differed in relative density1 and he knew perfectly well that they tended to escape from the bottles in which they were contained if these were uncovered and freely exposed to the air4 ,but1 so far as we can learn1 he never seems to have pondered on these facts1 or noted their connection with the phenomena he observed in the course of his many experiments with ,wedgwood's retorts1 and of the interchange of the water vapour he introduced into them with the gases of the fire which heated them4 ,and yet1 had he perceived even a glimmer of the truth he had sufficient means at his disposal1 and sufficient knowledge from his own work and that of his contemporaries1 to make the great step which it was reserved to ,graham to accomplish half a century later4 ,whilst the chief importance of the ,experiments and ,observations on ,different ,kinds of ,air is that it is ,priestley's magnum opus1 to his biographer it has the additional interest of affording an insight into the personal character and intellectual attributes of its author4 ,few writers on scientific subjects have ever taken their readers so completely into their confidence as ,priestley4 ,whatever he knows or thinks he tells3 doubts1 perplexities1 blunders are set down with the most refreshing candour2 one forgives the prolixity and occasional tediousness1 even the little touches of self-satisfaction1 in view of the transparent honesty of purpose1 the single-minded pursuit of truth for its own sake1 wholly apart from preconception or bias of dogma which shine on every page4 ,as key-notes to character1 even the dedications and prefaces to the several volumes have their peculiar value and charm1 as evidence of the workings of an ingenuous mind4 ,the publication of the six volumes comprising the original work--the edition of greatest value to ,priestley's biographer--extended from #agge to #aghf4 ,although the space at our disposal precludes any attempt at a full account of the contents1 it is necessary to set these out in such detail as may serve to afford a just idea of their value1 and with such comment as may be necessary to elucidate their significance4 ,in the preface to the first volume1 which made its appearance in #agge1 with a dedication to ,lord ,shelburne1 ,priestley thinks it necessary to explain why he has decided1 contrary to his original intention1 but with the approbation of the ,president and of his friends in the ,royal ,society1 not to send them any more papers on the subject of ,air at present but to make immediate publication of all he has done with respect to it4 ,in view1 he says1 of the rapid progress that has been made and may be expected to be made in this branch of knowledge1 unnecessary delays in the publication of experiments relating to it are peculiarly unjustifiable4 ,when1 for the sake of a little more reputation1 men can keep brooding over a new fact1 in the discovery of which they might possibly have very little real merit1 till they think they can astonish the world with a system as complete as it is new1 and give mankind a prodigious idea of their judgment and penetration1 they are justly punished for their ingratitude to the fountain of all knowledge1 and for the want of a genuine love of science and of mankind in finding their boasted discoveries anticipated and the field of honest fame pre-occupied by men who1 from a natural ardour of mind1 engage in philosophical pursuits1 and with an ingenuous simplicity immediately communicate to others whatever occurs to them in their inquiries4 ,priestley's productions1 from the very nature of the case make no pretensions to completeness4 ,in completing one discovery we never fail to get an imperfect knowledge of others of which we could have no idea before1 so that we cannot solve one doubt without creating several new ones4 ,he farther observes that a person who means to serve the cause of science effectually must hazard his own reputation so far as to risk even mistakes in things of less moment4 ,among a multiplicity of new objects and new relations some will necessarily pass without sufficient attention2 but if a man be not mistaken in the principal objects of his pursuits he has no occasion to distress himself about lesser things4 ,in the progress of his inquiries he will generally be able to rectify his own mistakes2 or if little and envious souls should take a malignant pleasure in detecting them for him and endeavouring to expose him1 he is not worthy of the name of a philosopher if he has not strength of mind sufficient to enable him not to be disturbed at it4 ,he who does not foolishly affect to be above the failings of humanity will not be mortified when it is proved that he is but a man4 ,he made it a rule to disclose the real views with which he made his experiments4 ,although1 he says1 by following a contrary maxim he might have acquired a character of greater sagacity1 he thought that two good ends were secured by his method--one as tending to make his narrative more interesting1 and the other as encouraging other adventurers in experimental philosophy by showing them that by pursuing even false lights real and important truths may be discovered1 and that in seeking one thing we often find another4 ,he believes1 however1 that he writes more concisely than is usual with those who publish accounts of their experiments1 and in thus refraining from swelling his book to a pompous and respectable size he trusts he will earn the gratitude of those philosophers who1 having but little time to spare for reading1 which is always the case with those who do much themselves1 will thereby be kept not too long from their own pursuits4 ,he then comments on what he justly considers the amazing improvements in natural knowledge which have been made within the century1 and contrasts these with the comparative poverty as regards scientific results of the many preceding ages1 which yet abounded with men who had no other object but study2 and he rejoices to think that this rapid progress of knowledge1 extending itself not this way or that way only1 but in all directions1 will be the means of extirpating all error and prejudice and of putting an end to all undue and usurped authority in the business of religion as well as of science4 ,it was ill policy in ,leo the ,tenth to patronise polite literature4 ,he was cherishing an enemy in disguise4 ,and the ,english hierarchy 7if there be anything unsound in its constitution7 has equal reason to tremble even at an air-pump or an electrical machine4 ,he regrets that the rich and great in this country1 unmindful of the example of ,bacon1 give less attention to these matters than do men of rank and fortune in other countries3 he contrasts the pleasure of the pursuit of science with the pains and penalties of the pursuit of politics4 ,if extensive and lasting fame be at all an object1 literary1 and especially scientifical1 pursuits are preferable to political ones in a variety of respects4444 ,if extensive usefulness be the object1 science has the same advantage over politics4 ,the greatest success in the latter seldom extends farther than one particular country and one particular age1 whereas a successful pursuit of science makes a man the benefactor of all mankind and of every age4 ,how trifling is the fame of any statesman that this country has ever produced to that of ,lord ,bacon1 of ,newton1 or of ,boyle2 and how much greater are our obligations to such men as these than to any other in the whole ,biographia ,britannica4 ,it would be interesting to know the sentiments of ,lord ,shelburne1 then in the cold shade of retirement1 as he perused these passages1 and whether he realised the truth of the little homily from his tame philosopher4 ,the preface is followed by an introduction1 in which ,priestley gives a rapid and confessedly imperfect survey of the state of knowledge concerning air prior to #aggd4 ,he gives to ,boyle the credit of first clearly recognising that elastic fluids exist differing essentially from the air of the atmosphere1 but agreeing with it in the properties of weight1 elasticity and transparency4 ,but he also points out that two remarkable kinds of factitious air had long been known to miners1 viz41 choke damp1 which is heavier than air1 which lies at the bottom of pits1 extinguishes flame and kills animals2 and the other1 called fire damp1 which is lighter than common air1 is found1 therefore1 near the roofs of subterraneous places and is liable to take fire and explode like gunpowder4 ,the word damp signifies vapour or exhalation in the ,german and ,saxon languages4 ,air of the former kind1 besides having been discovered in various caverns1 particularly the ,grotta del ,cane in ,italy1 had also been observed on the surface of fermenting liquors1 and had been called gas 7which is the same with geist1 or spirit7 by ,van ,helmont and other ,german chemists2 but afterwards it obtained the name of fixed air1 especially after it had been discovered by ,dr ,black of ,edinburgh to exist1 in a fixed state1 in alkaline salts1 chalk1 and other calcareous substances4 ,black's work is dealt with in half a dozen lines1 and a passing reference is made to ,macbride and ,brownrigg4 ,a very imperfect account is given of the work of ,hales1 although it is stated that his experiments are so numerous and various that they are justly esteemed to be the solid foundation of all our knowledge of this subject4 ,this section concludes with the mention of ,cavendish's determinations of the relative weights of fixed air 7carbon dioxide71 and inflammable air from metals 7hydrogen71 and of ,lane's observations that water charged with carbonic acid will dissolve iron1 and thereby become a strong chalybeate4 ,priestley was the last man in the world to seek to disparage the work of his predecessors or to minimise what was due to them4 ,in reality he had the intention1 as he distinctly states1 to write at his leisure the history and present state of discoveries relating to air1 in a manner similar to his ,history of ,electricity1 and of the ,discoveries ,relating to ,vision1 ,light and ,colours1 when no doubt he would have done full justice to all concerned4 ,in the meantime he gives only such particulars as are necessary1 in his judgment1 to the understanding of his own work4 ,the remaining section of the introduction deals with his method of experimenting and with the apparatus he employed4 ,it is of historical interest as containing a description of that most useful article of chemical furniture1 his well-known pneumatic trough4 ,he explains its use and gives details of his modes of manipulation4 ,what an advance these were in simplicity1 ingenuity and convenience can only be fully realised by comparing his methods with those of ,hales4 ,not the least of ,priestley's services to science were the improvements he effected in that section of operative chemistry which is concerned with the preparation1 collection and storage of gaseous substances4 ,the main body of the volume is divided into two parts--the first dealing with observations made in and before #aggb1 the second with observations made in the year #aggc and in the beginning of #aggd4 ,in the outset ,priestley finds himself at a disadvantage in regard to the only terms at that time in vogue for the factitious airs1 viz41 fixed1 mephitic and inflammable1 which1 he rightly says1 are not sufficiently characteristic and distinct4 ,strictly speaking1 any two of these terms might be applied to any one of the airs then known4 ,the inflammable air from metals1 as well as choke damp1 is noxious1 and therefore mephitic1 as is fixed air1 and since the inflammable airs are1 apparently1 capable of being imbibed by certain substances they may equally be considered fixable4 ,the term fixed air had1 however1 acquired a distinctive meaning1 and rather than introduce a new term or change the signification of an old one1 he would1 with his contemporaries1 restrict the term to the air which had been made the subject of ,black's memorable investigation4 ,the first paper in this section deals with fixed air2 it is practically a reprint of that in the ,phil4 ,trans4 and which has already been described in sufficient detail4 ,in the course of his experiments he says he once thought that the readiest method of procuring fixed air1 and in sufficient purity1 would be to heat pounded lime-stone in a gun barrel1 making it pass through the stem of a tobacco pipe or a glass tube carefully luted to the orifice of it4 ,in this manner ,i found that air is produced in great plenty2 but1 upon examining it1 ,i found to my great surprise that little more than one half of it was fixed air1 capable of being absorbed by water2 and that the rest was inflammable1 sometimes very weakly1 but sometimes pretty highly so4 ,he surmised that this air must come from the iron1 and yet1 he noted1 it differed from the ordinary inflammable air from iron by the remarkable blue colour of its flame1 and he concludes that this inflammable principle may come from some remains of the animals from which it is thought that all calcareous matter proceeds4 ,priestley1 we now know1 had incidentally converted some of the fixed air into the only other oxide of carbon1 but he failed to appreciate the significance of his observation1 and the credit of the discovery of carbon monoxide belongs to ,cruikshank4 ,in his next paper on ,air in which ,candles have burned1 ,priestley made a discovery of the very highest importance4 ,he had attempted to verify without success the allegation by the ,count de ,saluce1 made in the memoirs of the ,philosophical ,society of ,turin1 that air vitiated by the combustion of candles could be restored by exposure to cold4 ,though this experiment failed1 he says1 ,i have been so happy as by accident to have hit upon a method of restoring air which has been injured by the burning of candles1 and to have discovered at least one of the restoratives which ,nature employs for this purpose4 ,it is vegetation4 ,this restoration of vitiated air1 ,i conjecture1 is effected by plants imbibing the phlogistic matter with which it is overloaded by the burning of inflammable bodies4 ,but whether there be any foundation for this conjecture or not1 the fact is1 ,i think1 indisputable4 ,he then proceeds to give an account of his observations on the growing of plants in confined air which led to his discovery4 ,one might have imagined1 he says1 that since common air is necessary to vegetable as well as to animal life1 both plants and animals had affected it in the same manner2 and ,i own ,i had that expectation when ,i first put a sprig of mint into a glass jar standing inverted in a vessel of water3 but when it had continued there for some months ,i found the air would neither extinguish the candle1 nor was it at all inconvenient to a mouse1 which ,i put into it4444 ,finding that candles would burn very well in air in which plants had grown a long time1 and having had some reason to think that there was something attending vegetation which restored air that had been injured by respiration1 ,i thought it was possible that the same process might also restore the air that had been injured by the burning of candles4 ,accordingly1 on the #agth of ,august #agga1 ,i put a sprig of mint into a quantity of air in which a wax candle had burned out1 and found that on the #bgth of the same month another candle burned perfectly well in it4 ,this experiment ,i repeated1 without the least variation in the event1 not less than eight or ten times in the remainder of the summer4 ,several times ,i divided the quantity of air in which the candle had burned out into two parts1 and putting the plant into one of them left the other in the same exposure1 contained also in a glass vessel immersed in water1 but without any plant1 and never failed to find that a candle would burn in the former but not in the latter4444 ,this remarkable effect does not depend upon anything peculiar to mint1 which was the plant that ,i always made use of till ,july #aggb2 for on the #afth of that month ,i found a quantity of this kind of air to be perfectly restored by sprigs of balm1 which had grown in it from the #gth of the same month4 ,that this restoration of air was not owing to any aromatic effluvia of these two plants not only appeared by the essential oil of mint having no sensible effect of this kind1 but from the equally complete restoration of this vitiated air by the plant called groundsel1 which is usually ranked among the weeds and has an offensive smell4 ,besides1 the plant which ,i have found to be the most effectual of any that ,i have tried for this purpose is spinach1 which is of quick growth1 but will seldom thrive long in water4 ,the next paper on ,inflammable ,air is of slight importance1 and indeed is full of errors4 ,priestley made no distinction between the inflammable air obtained by the action of acids on metals 7hydrogen7 and that formed by the destructive distillation of coal and other organic substances 7marsh gas or carbonic oxide1 or mixtures of the two71 and his inability to distinguish these different gases accounts for many of the phenomena he observed and which he confesses himself unable to explain4 ,the most sagacious observation in the memoir has reference to the colour of the electric spark in the different gases which he accurately describes4 ,the paper on ,air ,infected with ,animal ,respiration or ,putrefection may be considered as the complement of that on ,air in which a ,candle has burned out1 and is no less valuable4 ,that candles will burn only a certain time in a given quantity of air is a fact not better known than it is that animals can live only a certain time in it2 but the cause of the death of the animal is not better known than that of the extinction of flame in the same circumstances2 and when once any quantity of air has been rendered noxious by animals breathing in it as long as they could1 ,i do not know that any methods have been discovered of rendering it fit for breathing again4 ,it is evident1 however1 that there must be some provision in ,nature for this purpose1 as well as for that of rendering the air fit for sustaining flame2 for without it the whole mass of the atmosphere would1 in time1 become unfit for the purpose of animal life2 and yet there is no reason to think that it is1 at present1 at all less fit for respiration than it has ever been4 ,i flatter myself1 however1 that ,i have hit upon two of the methods employed by ,nature for this great purpose4 ,how many others there may be ,i cannot tell4 ,one of these methods he eventually finds to be1 as in the first case1 the action of vegetation1 and he proves by a number of decisive experiments that plants1 instead of affecting the air in the same manner with animal respiration1 reverse the effects of breathing and tend to keep the atmosphere sweet and wholesome when it is become noxious in consequence of animals either living and breathing1 or dying and putrefying in it4 ,the other method he conceived to be the action of water1 since he found that by vigorous agitation with water1 air which breathing had rendered noxious could again be breathed for a further period4 ,i do not think it improbable but that the agitation of the sea and large lakes may be of some use for the purification of the atmosphere1 and the putrid matter contained in water may be imbibed by aquatic plants1 or be deposited in some other manner4 ,when a confined volume of common air is placed in contact with a mixture of iron filings and sulphur made into a paste with water1 a certain portion of the air is imbibed by the paste4 ,this fact was first observed by ,hales4 ,priestley repeated the observation and found that about a fifth or rather more of the volume of the air was thus absorbed4 ,he noted that the residual air was rather lighter than common air1 it had no action on lime-water and was exceedingly noxious to animals1 by which is meant that it could not be breathed by them4 ,priestley had thus prepared nitrogen1 but he failed to recognise the individuality of this gas4 ,in his ,statical ,essays ,hales makes mention of an experiment in which common air and air generated from pyrites by spirit of nitre made a turbid red mixture1 and in which part of the common air was absorbed4 ,this phenomenon particularly struck ,priestley1 who1 acting upon ,cavendish's hint that the red appearance was probably dependent upon the spirit of nitre only and that the metals might answer as well as pyrites1 proceeded to investigate the action of nitric acid upon a number of the metals1 and as the result of his inquiries he succeeded in isolating the gas we now know as nitric oxide1 but which he termed nitrous air4 ,though1 he says1 ,i cannot say that ,i altogether like the term1 neither myself nor any of my friends1 to whom ,i have applied for the purpose1 have been able to hit upon a better4 ,this paper exhibits ,priestley at his best4 ,in it he describes all the main properties of nitric oxide4 ,one of the most conspicuous properties of this kind of air1 he says1 is the great diminution of any quantity of common air with which it is mixed1 attended with a turbid red1 or deep orange colour1 and a considerable heat4444 ,the diminution of a mixture of this and common air is not an equal diminution of both the kinds1 which is all that ,dr ,hales could observe1 but of about one fifth of the common air1 and as much of the nitrous air as is necessary to produce that effect2 which1 as ,i have found by many trials1 is about one half as much as the original quantity of common air4 ,i hardly know any experiment that is more adapted to amaze and surprise than this is1 which exhibits a quantity of air which1 as it were1 devours a quantity of another kind of air half as large as itself1 and yet is so far from gaining any addition to its bulk that it is considerably diminished by it4444 ,it is exceedingly remarkable that this effervescence and diminution1 occasioned by the mixture of nitrous air1 is peculiar to common air1 or air fit for respiration1 and1 as far as ,i can judge from a great number of observations1 is at least very nearly1 if not exactly1 in proportion to its fitness for this purpose2 so that by this means the goodness of air may be distinguished much more accurately than it can be done by putting mice or any other animals to breathe in it4 ,this was a most agreeable discovery to me1 as ,i hope it may be a useful one to the public2 especially as from this time ,i had no occasion for so large a stock of mice as ,i had been used to keep for the purpose of these experiments4 ,priestley here suggests the basis of a method of ,eudiometry1 or method of measuring the goodness of air1 which in his hands1 but more especially in those of ,cavendish1 led to most important results4 ,the quantitative analysis of the air may be said to have taken its rise from the publication of ,priestley's paper4 ,in the course of subsequent work on nitrous air ,priestley had occasion to study its action on iron1 whereby he says3-- ,a most remarkable and most unexpected change was made in the nitrous air1 the iron makes it not only to admit a candle to burn in it1 but enables it to burn with an enlarged flame4444 ,sometimes ,i have perceived the flame of the candle1 in these circumstances1 to be twice as large as it is naturally1 and sometimes not less than five or six times larger2 and yet without anything like an explosion1 as in the firing of the weakest inflammable air4 ,priestley in this manner obtained nitrous oxide1 the properties of which he subsequently studied in some detail4 ,in the paper which follows1 viz41 ,on ,air infected with the ,fumes of ,burning ,charcoal1 he incidentally gains further insight into the nature of atmospheric air4 ,by what he called throwing the focus of a burning mirror on charcoal suspended in air contained in a glass tube standing over water or mercury--a favourite method of his when he had occasion to heat a substance in a gas--he could observe the phenomena with great precision4 ,he noticed the formation of the fixed air and determined the degree of diminution when the burning took place over water or over lime-water4 ,in this manner1 he says1 ,i diminished a given quantity of air one-fifth4 ,air thus diminished by the fumes of burning charcoal not only extinguishes flame1 but is in the highest degree noxious to animals2 it makes no effervescence with nitrous air1 and is incapable of being diminished any farther by the fumes of more charcoal4444 ,all my observations show that air which has once been fully diminished 444 is not only incapable of any further diminution 444 but that it has likewise acquired new properties1 most remarkably different from those which it had before4444 ,by heating pieces of lead and tin in air by means of a burning glass he observed the formation of a metallic calx1 the volume of air was diminished1 and it also was in the highest degree noxious and made no effervescence with nitrous air4 ,the real significance of these phenomena was1 however1 wholly unperceived by ,priestley1 and phlogiston1 as usual1 led him astray4 ,he had1 of course1 in all these experiments prepared nitrogen1 and in a state of sensible purity4 ,he imagined1 however1 that he had simply phlogisticated the air1 the phlogiston coming from the charcoal and the metals1 and that this phlogisticated air was imbibed by the water4 ,an experiment described by ,cavendish led ,priestley to study the action of ,spirit of ,salt 7hydrochloric acid7 upon copper4 ,as ,cavendish had already stated1 the gas so evolved lost its electricity by coming into contact with water4 ,by collecting the gas over mercury ,priestley was able to study its properties more exactly4 ,from certain anomalies in the experiments he says3-- ,i concluded that this subtle air did not arise from the copper1 but from the spirit of salt2 and presently making the experiment with the acid only1 without any copper1 or metal of any kind1 this air was immediately produced in as great plenty as before2 so that this remarkable kind of air is1 in fact1 nothing more than the vapour1 or fumes of spirit of salt1 which appear to be of such a nature that they are not liable to be condensed by cold1 like the vapour of water and other fluids1 and therefore may be very properly called an acid air1 or more restrictively the marine acid air4 ,the new gas discovered by ,priestley we now call hydrogen chloride4 ,ordinary hydrochloric acid is simply an aqueous solution of it4 ,water impregnated with it makes the strongest spirit of salt that ,i have seen1 dissolving iron with the most rapidity4444 ,iron filings1 being admitted to this air1 were dissolved by it pretty fast1 half of the air disappearing and the other half becoming inflammable air1 not absorbed by water4 ,putting chalk to it1 fixed air was produced4 ,he subsequently found that the marine acid air was more conveniently made by the action of oil of vitriol upon common salt4 ,from the miscellaneous observations with which this section of the volume concludes1 there can be little doubt that ,priestley1 without knowing it1 had prepared oxygen gas from nitre as far back as #agga4 ,the accounts he gives of the behaviour of the gas obtained by heating nitre in a gun-barrel plainly indicate this fact4 ,a candle1 he says1 not only burned but the flame was increased1 and something was heard like a hissing similar to the decrepitation of nitre in an open fire4 ,he also noted the effect of nitrous air upon it and concludes that this series of facts relating to air extracted from nitre appear to me to be very extraordinary and important1 and in able hands may lead to considerable discoveries4 ,the second section of the volume deals with experiments and observations made in #aggc and the beginning of #aggd1 and opens with an account of the discovery of ammonia gas4 ,after ,i had made the discovery of the marine acid air1 which the vapour of spirit of salt may properly enough be called 444 it occurred to me that by a process similar to that by which this acid air is expelled from the spirit of salt an alkaline air might be expelled from substances containing volatile alkali4 ,accordingly ,i procured some volatile spirit of sal ammoniac1 and having put it into a thin phial1 and heated it with the flame of a candle1 ,i presently found that a great quantity of vapour was discharged from it2 and being received in a vessel of quicksilver1 standing in a basin of quicksilver1 it continued in the form of a transparent and permanent air1 not at all condensed by cold2 so that ,i had the same opportunity of making experiments upon it as ,i had before on the acid air1 being in the same favourable circumstances4444 ,wanting1 however1 to procure this air in greater quantities1 and this method being rather expensive1 it occurred to me that alkaline air might probably be procured1 with the most ease and convenience1 from the original materials1 mixed in the same proportions that chemists had found by experience to answer the best for the production of the volatile spirit of sal ammoniac4 ,accordingly ,i mixed one-fourth of pounded sal ammoniac with three-fourths of slaked lime2 and filling a phial with the mixture1 ,i presently found it completely answered my purpose4 ,the heat of a candle expelled from this mixture a prodigious quantity of alkaline air2 and the same materials 444 would serve me a considerable time without changing4444 ,he next studied the properties of the alkaline air4 ,he found1 of course1 it was readily soluble in water4 ,having satisfied myself with respect to the relation that alkaline air bears to water1 ,i was impatient to find what would be the consequence of mixing this new air with the other kinds with which ,i was acquainted before1 and especially with acid air2 having a notion that these two airs1 being of opposite natures1 might compose a neutral air1 and perhaps the very same thing with common air4 ,but the moment that these two kinds of air came into contact a beautiful white cloud was formed1 and presently filled the whole vessel in which they were contained4444 ,when the cloud was subsided there appeared to be formed a solid white salt1 which was found to be the common sal ammoniac1 or the marine acid united to the volatile alkali4444 ,fixed air admitted to alkaline air formed oblong and slender crystals4444 ,these crystals must be the same thing with the volatile alkalis which chemists get in a solid form by the distillation of sal ammoniac with fixed alkaline salts4444 ,alkaline air1 ,i was surprised to find1 is slightly inflammable4444 ,that alkaline air is lighter than acid air is evident from the appearances that attend the mixture1 which are indeed very beautiful4 ,when acid air is introduced into a vessel containing alkaline air1 the white cloud which they form appears at the bottom only and ascends gradually4 ,but when the alkaline air is put to the acid the whole becomes immediately cloudy quite to the top of the vessel4 ,up to now ,priestley had mainly confined himself to the narration of the new facts which he had discovered1 barely mentioning any hypotheses that occurred to him4 ,the reason why ,i was so much upon my guard in this respect was lest1 in consequence of attaching myself to any hypothesis too soon1 the success of my future inquiries might be obstructed4 ,but subsequent experiments having thrown great light upon the preceding ones1 and having confirmed the few conjectures ,i then advanced1 ,i may now venture to speak of my hypotheses with a little less diffidence4 ,still1 however1 ,i shall be ready to relinquish any notions ,i may now entertain if new facts should hereafter appear not to favour them4 ,in a paper on ,common ,air ,diminished and made ,noxious by ,various ,processes he attempts to apply the current doctrine of phlogiston to account for the various phenomena he has observed1 and with what success may be inferred from his conclusion that in the precipitation of lime by breathing into lime-water1 the fixed air1 which incorporates with lime1 comes not from the lungs but from the common air1 decomposed by the phlogiston exhaled from them1 and discharged1 after having been taken in with the aliment1 and having performed its function in the animal system4 ,priestley's attempts at theorising brought little satisfaction to him or to his readers4 ,indeed he says3-- ,i begin to be apprehensive lest1 after being considered as a dry experimenter1 ,i should pass into the opposite character of a visionary theorist4444 ,in extenuation of my offence let it1 however1 be considered that theory and experiments necessarily go hand-in-hand1 every process being intended to ascertain some particular hypothesis1 which1 in fact1 is only a conjecture concerning the circumstances or the cause of some natural operation2 consequently that the boldest and most original experimenters are those who1 giving free scope to their imaginations1 admit the combination of the most distant ideas2 and that though many of these associations of ideas will be wild and chimerical1 yet that others will have the chance of giving rise to the greatest and most capital discoveries1 such as very cautious1 timid1 sober and slow-thinking people would never have come at4 ,sir ,isaac ,newton himself1 notwithstanding the great advantage which he derived from a habit of patient thinking1 indulged bold and eccentric thoughts1 of which his queries at the end of his book of ,optics are a sufficient evidence4 ,and a quick conception of distant analogies1 which is the great key to unlock the secrets of ,nature1 is by no means incompatible with the spirit of perseverance in investigations calculated to ascertain and pursue those analogies4 ,after this apologia1 ,priestley gives the reins to his imagination1 or rather he allows phlogiston to drive the halting1 ambling thing for him1 with the result that he utterly loses his way and is eventually landed into an impassable quagmire4 ,it is not too much to say that not one of the ,queries1 ,speculations and ,hints with which the volume closes has stood the test of time4 ,the second volume1 which made its appearance towards the end of #agge1 is dedicated to ,sir ,john ,pringle1 at that time ,president of the ,royal ,society4 ,it opens1 as usual1 with a somewhat prolix but characteristic preface4 ,but to his biographer ,priestley's prefaces are not the least interesting or valuable of his literary productions4 ,in a preface1 he says1 authors have always claimed a right of saying whatever they pleased concerning themselves1 and not to lose this right it must now and then be exercised4 ,in this respect ,priestley has championed the prerogatives of authors for all time4 ,this particular preface begins with an expression of self-laudation for the little delay the writer made in putting the first volume to the press4 ,in consequence of this considerable discoveries have been made by people of distant nations2 and this branch of science1 of which nothing1 in a manner1 was known till very lately1 indeed now bids fair to be farther advanced than any other in the whole compass of natural philosophy4444 ,and it will not now be thought very assuming to say that by working in a tub of water or a basin of quicksilver we may perhaps discover principles of more extensive influence than even that of gravity itself1 the discovery of which1 in its full extent1 contributed so much to immortalise the name of ,newton4 ,having been the means of bringing so many champions into the field1 ,i shall1 with peculiar pleasure1 attend to all their achievements1 in order to prepare myself1 as ,i promised in the preface to my last volume1 for writing the history of the campaign4 ,after a delightfully nave compliment to his own ability as an accumulator of facts1 and to his merits as an instrument in the hands of ,divine ,providence 444 concerning which ,i threw out some further hints in my former preface1 which the excellent ,french translator was not permitted to insert in his version1 he advances this testimony to his impartiality as an historian3-- ,i even think that ,i may flatter myself so much1 if it be any flattery1 as to say that there is not1 in the whole compass of philosophical writing1 a history of experiments so truly ingenuous as mine1 and especially the section on the discovery of dephlogisticated air1 which ,i will venture to exhibit as a model of the kind4 ,i am not conscious to myself of having concealed the least hint that was suggested to me by any person whatever1 any kind of assistance that has been given me1 or any views or hypotheses by which the experiments were directed1 whether they were verified by the result or not4 ,there is much else in the preface that might be quoted as illustrative of the character and mental attributes of its author4 ,priestley1 the natural philosopher1 never forgot that he was a minister of religion1 and that to him theology was the greatest and most important of all the sciences1 and he cannot forbear even1 in what he intended to be a scientific disquisition on purely natural phenomena1 from inculcating his belief in the divine origin of ,christianity and his opinion concerning the doctrine of purgatory and the worship of the dead4 ,the first chapter is concerned with the discovery of what its author called ,vitriolic ,acid ,air1 but which we now know as sulphur dioxide4 ,priestley imagined that as the liquid marine acid--that is hydrochloric acid--readily yielded an air on heating it might be that vitriolic acid1 or oil of vitriol1 would also afford a characteristic air when treated in a similar manner4 ,acting upon a suggestion of ,mr ,lane he heated oil of vitriol with olive oil1 when he readily obtained a new species of air1 which he collected over mercury as he had been used to do it with the marine acid air2 and the whole process was as pleasing and as elegant4 ,priestley at once surmised that the olive oil worked by transferring its phlogiston to the vitriolic acid1 and he naturally concluded that any substance rich in phlogiston would bring about the same result4 ,he next tried charcoal4 ,i put some bits of charcoal into my phial instead of the oil or other inflammable matter which ,i had used before1 and applying the flame of a candle ,i presently found that the vitriolic acid air was produced as well as in the former process1 and in several respects more conveniently1 the production of air being equable1 whereby the disagreeable effect of a sudden explosion is avoided4444 ,finding that a great variety of substances containing phlogiston enabled the oil of vitriol to throw out a permanent acid air1 ,i had some suspicion that mere heat might do the same1 but ,i did not find that there was any foundation for that suspicion4444 ,but though ,i got no air from the oil of vitriol by this process1 air was produced at the same time in a manner that ,i little expected1 and ,i paid pretty dearly for the discovery it occasioned4 ,despairing to get any air from the longer application of my candles1 ,i withdrew them1 but before ,i could disengage the phial from the vessel of quicksilver a little of it passed through the tube into the hot acid1 when instantly it was all filled with dense white fumes1 a prodigious quantity of air was generated1 the tube through which it was transmitted was broken into many pieces1 and part of the hot acid being spilled upon my hand burned it terribly1 so that the effect of it is visible to this day4 ,the inside of the phial was coated with a white saline substance1 and the smell that issued from it was extremely suffocating4 ,this accident taught me what ,i am surprised ,i should not have suspected before1 viz41 that some metals will part with their phlogiston to hot oil of vitriol1 and thereby convert it into a permanent elastic air1 producing the very same effect with oil1 charcoal1 or any other inflammable substance4 ,not discouraged by the disagreeable accident above mentioned1 the next day ,i put a little quicksilver into the phial with the ground stopple and tube1 along with the oil of vitriol1 when1 long before it was boiling hot1 air issued plentifully from it1 and being received in a vessel of quicksilver appeared to be genuine vitriolic acid air1 exactly like that which ,i had procured before1 being readily imbibed by water and extinguishing a candle in the same manner as the other had done4444 ,after this ,i repeated the experiment with several other metals4444 ,copper treated in the same manner yielded air very freely1 with about the same degree of heat that quicksilver had required1 and the air continued to be generated with very little application of more heat4 ,the theory apart1 this paper is as important as these on ammonia and the marine acid air1 and exhibits ,priestley at his best4 ,the observations he makes concerning the main properties of the new gas and its solubility in water1 its inability to burn and to support flame1 its heaviness1 its power to unite with ammonia1 to be absorbed by charcoal and to liquefy camphor1 are all accurate4 ,having hit upon a method of exhibiting some of the acids in the form of air1 nothing could be easier than to extend this process to the rest4 ,accordingly he attempted to procure what he called the vegetable acid air by heating exceedingly strong concentrated acid of vinegar1 and states that he succeeded in obtaining an air which extinguished the flame of a candle and was soluble in water4 ,the paper is very short and is full of contradictions4 ,in reality1 as he subsequently found1 he was dealing with vinegar largely adulterated with oil of vitriol4 ,the vegetable acid air had no real existence4 ,the next paper in the series is the most important of the whole1 and the one of all others that has contributed most largely to ,priestley's reputation4 ,it is entitled ,of ,dephlogisticated ,air1 and of the ,constitution of the ,atmosphere1 and deals with the discovery of oxygen4 ,it begins in the following characteristic fashion3-- ,the contents of this section will furnish a very striking illustration of the truth of a remark which ,i have more than once made in my philosophical writings1 and which can hardly be too often repeated1 as it tends greatly to encourage philosophical investigations1 viz41 that more is owing to what we call chance--that is1 philosophically speaking1 to the observation of events arising from unknown causes than to any proper design or preconceived theory in this business4 ,this does not appear in the works of those who write synthetically upon these subjects1 but would1 ,i doubt not1 appear very strikingly in those who are the most celebrated for their philosophical acumen did they write analytically and ingenuously4 ,for my own part1 ,i will frankly acknowledge that at the commencement of the experiments recited in this section ,i was so far from having formed any hypothesis that led to the discoveries ,i made in pursuing them that they would have appeared very improbable to me had ,i been told of them2 and when the decisive facts did at length obtrude themselves upon my notice it was very slowly1 and with great hesitation1 that ,i yielded to the evidence of my senses4 ,and yet1 when ,i reconsider the matter1 and compare my last discoveries relating to the constitution of the atmosphere with the first1 ,i see the closest and the easiest connection in the world between them1 so as to wonder that ,i should not have been led immediately from the one to the other4 ,that this was not the case ,i attribute to the force of prejudice which1 unknown to ourselves1 biases not only our judgments1 properly so called1 but even the perceptions of our senses2 for we may take a maxim so strongly for granted that the plainest evidence of sense will not entirely change1 and often hardly modify1 our persuasions2 and the more ingenious a man is1 the more effectually he is entangled in his errors1 his ingenuity only helping him to deceive himself by evading the force of truth4 ,he then points out that there are few maxims in philosophy that have laid firmer hold upon the mind than that air1 meaning atmospherical air 444 is a simple elementary substance1 indestructible and unalterable1 at least as much so as water was supposed to be4 ,priestley1 in the course of his inquiries1 was soon satisfied that atmospherical air was not an unalterable thing2 that bodies burning in it1 and animals breathing it and various other chemical processes1 so far alter and deprive it as to render it altogether unfit for the purposes to which it is subservient2 and he had discovered methods1 particularly the process of vegetation1 which tended to restore it to its original purity4 ,but1 he says1 ,i own ,i had no idea of the possibility of going any further in this way and thereby procuring air purer than the best common air4 ,as this paper is one of the classics of chemistry1 as well as the chief corner-stone in the monument which ,priestley erected to himself1 it is necessary to examine it1 as well as certain other papers which grew immediately out of it1 in some degree of detail4 ,after a reference to a hypothesis of the origin and constitution of the atmosphere which occurs among the ,queries1 ,speculations and ,hints above referred to1 and which is on a par with much in ,priestley's speculations1 he proceeds to relate the circumstances which more immediately led to the most important of all his discoveries4 ,it was the accident of possessing a burning lens of considerable force1 for want of which he could not possibly make many of the experiments that he had projected4 ,but having afterwards procured a lens of twelve inches diameter and twenty inches focal distance1 ,i proceeded with great alacrity to examine1 by the help of it1 what kind of air a great variety of substances1 natural and factitious1 would yield1 putting them into vessels short1 wide1 round-bottomed phials1 which ,i filled with quicksilver and kept inverted in a basin of the same4 ,mr ,warltire1 a good chemist1 and lecturer in ,natural ,philosophy1 happening to be at that time in ,calne1 ,i explained my views to him1 and was furnished by him with many substances1 which ,i could not otherwise have procured4 ,with this apparatus1 after a variety of other experiments1 an account of which will be found in its proper place on the #ast ,august #aggd1 ,i endeavoured to extract air from mercurius calcinatus per se2#ag and ,i presently found that1 by means of this lens1 air was expelled from it very readily4 ,having got about three or four times as much as the bulk of my materials1 ,i admitted water to it1 and found that it was not imbibed by it4 ,but what surprised me more than ,i can well express was that a candle burned in this air with a remarkably vigorous flame1 very much like that enlarged flame with which a candle burns in nitrous air exposed to iron or liver of sulphur1#ah but as ,i had got nothing like this remarkable appearance from any kind of air besides this particular modification of nitrous air1 and ,i knew no nitrous acid was used in the preparation of mercurius calcinatus1 ,i was utterly at a loss how to account for it4 ,in this case also1 though ,i did not give sufficient attention to the circumstance at that time1 the flame of the candle1 besides being larger1 burned with more splendour and heat than in that species of nitrous air2 and a piece of red-hot wood sparkled in it1 exactly like paper dipped in a solution of nitre1 and it consumed very fast2 an experiment which ,i had never thought of trying with nitrous air4 ,at the same time that ,i made the above-mentioned experiment ,i extracted a quantity of air with the very same property from the common red precipitate#ai which1 being produced by a solution of mercury in spirit of nitre 7nitric acid71 made me conclude that this peculiar property1 being similar to that of the modification of nitrous air above mentioned1 depended upon something being communicated to it by the nitrous acid2 and since the mercurius calcinatus is produced by exposing mercury to a certain degree of heat1 where common air has access to it1 ,i likewise concluded that this substance had collected something of nitre1 in that state of heat1 from the atmosphere4 ,this1 however1 appearing to me much more extraordinary than it ought to have done1 ,i entertained some suspicion that the mercurius calcinatus on which ,i had made my experiments1 being bought at a common apothecary's1 might1 in fact1 be nothing more than red precipitate2 though1 had ,i been anything of a practical chemist1 ,i could not have entertained any such suspicion4 ,however1 mentioning this suspicion to ,mr ,warltire1 he furnished me with some that he had kept for a specimen of the preparation1 and which1 he told me1 he could warrant to be genuine4 ,this being treated in the same manner as the former1 only by a longer continuance of heat1 ,i extracted much more air from it than from the other4 ,this experiment might have satisfied any moderate sceptic2 but1 however1 being at ,paris in the ,october following1 and knowing that there were several very eminent chemists in that place1 ,i did not omit the opportunity1 by means of my friend ,mr ,magellan1 to get an ounce of mercurius calcinatus prepared by ,mr ,cadet1 of the genuineness of which there could not possibly be any suspicion2 and at the same time ,i frequently mentioned my surprise at the kind of air which ,i had got from this preparation to ,mr ,lavoisier1 ,mr le ,roy1 and several other philosophers1 who honoured me with their notice in that city1 and who1 ,i daresay1 cannot fail to recollect the circumstance4 ,this last remark is significant in reference to a claim which was subsequently put forward that the real discoverer of oxygen was ,lavoisier1 and that he obtained it by heating mercuric oxide4#bj ,priestley also obtained the same air from red lead1 which1 he says1 confirmed me more in my suspicion that the mercurius calcinatus must get the property of yielding this kind of air from the atmosphere1 the process by which that preparation and this of red lead is made being similar4 ,as ,i never make the least secret of anything that ,i observe1 ,i mentioned this experiment also1 as well as those with the mercurius calcinatus and the red precipitate1 to all my philosophical acquaintance at ,paris and elsewhere1 having no idea1 at that time1 to what these remarkable facts would lead4 ,nitrous oxide4 ,priestley1 on his return to ,england1 made an experiment with ,cadet's preparation1 which he found to behave precisely like that he had procured from ,warltire4 ,he observed that the new gas was only sparingly soluble in water and that its power of causing a candle to burn with a strong flame was in nowise diminished by agitation with water--facts which he said convinced him that there must be a very material difference between the constitution of the air from mercurius calcinatus and that of phlogisticated nitrous air1 nitrous oxide notwithstanding their resemblance in some particulars4 ,it was not1 however1 until the following ,march 7#agge7 7he having meanwhile been intent upon his experiments on the vitriolic air sulphur dioxide71 that he ascertained the real nature of the new air1 and was led though very gradually 444 to the complete discovery of the constitution of the air we breathe4 ,by trials with the nitrous air and with mice he found that the new gas was eminently fit for respiration3 nitrous air reduced its volume to a greater extent than in the case of common air1 and a mouse lived longer in it than it would in the same volume of common air4 ,thinking of this extraordinary fact upon my pillow1 the next morning ,i put another measure of nitrous air to the same mixture1 and to my utter astonishment found that it was farther diminished to almost one-half of its original quantity4 ,priestley now utterly missed his way for a time4 ,he sought to get the new air from the various oxides of lead1 but the fetish of phlogiston again led him wrong1 and eventually by a train of reasoning which is fully set forth in the paper1 but which need not here be repeated1 there remained1 he says1 no doubt in his mind but that atmospherical air1 or the thing that we breathe1 consists of the nitrous acid and earth1 with so much phlogiston as is necessary to its elasticity2 and likewise so much more as is required to bring it from its state of perfect purity to the mean condition in which we find it4 ,priestley's complete discovery of the constitution of the air we breathe was thus wholly erroneous3 he was very far indeed from having a clear conception of its real nature4 ,priestley's description of the main properties of oxygen is however accurate1 and lecturers in chemistry are indebted to him for some striking experimental illustrations of them4 ,i easily conjectured1 he says1 that inflammable air would explode with more violence and a louder report by the help of dephlogisticated than of common air2 but the effect far exceeded my expectations1 and it has never failed to surprise every person before whom ,i have made the experiment4444 ,the dipping of a lighted candle into a jar filled with dephlogisticated air is alone a very beautiful experiment4 ,the strength and vivacity of the flame is striking1 and the heat produced by the flame in these circumstances is also remarkably great4444 ,nothing would be easier than to augment the force of fire to a prodigious degree by blowing it with dephlogisticated air instead of common air4444 ,possibly platina might be melted by means of it4 ,from the greater strength and vivacity of the flame of a candle1 in this pure air1 it may be conjectured that it might be peculiarly salutary to the lungs in certain morbid cases4444 ,but perhaps we may also infer from these experiments that though pure dephlogisticated air might be very useful as a medicine1 it might not be so proper for us in the usual healthy state of the body3 for1 as a candle burns out much faster in dephlogisticated than in common air1 so we might1 as may be said1 live out too fast1 and the animal powers be too soon exhausted in this pure kind of air4 ,a moralist1 at least1 may say that the air which ,nature has provided for us is as good as we deserve4444 ,who can tell but that1 in time1 this pure air may become a fashionable article in luxury4 ,hitherto only two mice and myself have had the privilege of breathing it4 ,an experiment which ,priestley says ,i had the pleasure to see at ,paris1 in the laboratory of ,mr ,lavoisier1 my excellent fellow-labourer in these inquiries1 and to whom1 in a variety of respects1 the philosophical part of the world has very great obligations1 led him into a train of inquiry upon the action of nitric acid upon a wide range of organic substances1 from which however no general results followed1 in spite of much experimenting4 ,he had at one time the idea that a fundamental difference existed in the behaviour of animal and vegetable matter with respect to nitric acid1 but the observations were contradictory1 and although it is readily possible to interpret the phenomena in the light of our present knowledge1 they led ,priestley to no definite conclusions4 ,of more importance is the work on the ,fluor ,acid ,air--a substance discovered by ,mr ,scheele1 a ,swede2 from which circumstance the acid is often distinguished by the name of the ,swedish acid4 ,priestley sought to make the air by heating ,derbyshire spar 7fluor spar7 with oil of vitriol in glass vessels1 as in the process of making spirit of nitre from saltpetre2 and the most remarkable facts that have been observed concerning it are1 that the vessels in which the distillation is made are apt to be corroded2 so that holes will be made quite through them2 and that when there is water in the recipient1 the surface of it will be covered with a crust of a friable stony matter4 ,what ,priestley actually produced by this method of experimenting was more or less pure silicon fluoride1 which he proceeded to collect1 in his usual fashion1 over quicksilver4 ,i had no sooner produced this new kind of air but ,i was eager to see the effect it would have on water1 and to produce the stony crust formed by their union1 as described by ,mr ,scheele2 and ,i was not disappointed in my expectations4 ,the moment the water came into contact with this air the surface of it became white and opaque by a stony film4444 ,few philosophical experiments exhibit a more pleasing appearance than this1 which can only be made by first producing the air confined by quicksilver1 and then admitting a large body of water to it4 ,most persons to whom ,i have shown the experiment have been exceedingly struck with it4444 ,the union of this acid air and water may also be exhibited in another manner1 which to some persons makes a still more striking experiment1 viz41 by admitting the air1 as fast as it is generated1 to a large body of water resting on quicksilver4444 ,it is1 then1 very pleasing to observe that the moment any bubble of air1 after passing through the quicksilver1 reaches the water1 it is instantly1 as it were1 converted into a stone2 but continuing hollow for a short space of time1 generally rises to the top of the water4444 ,i have met with few persons who are soon weary of looking at it2 and some could sit by it almost a whole hour1 and be agreeably amused all the time4 ,priestley's attempts to explain the real nature of the fluor acid air were1 as may be expected1 not very happy4 ,these appearances ,i explain by supposing that the vitriolic acid1 in uniting with the spar1 is in part volatilised by means of some phlogiston contained in it1 so as to form a vitriolic acid air2 and there is also combined with this air a portion of the solid earthy part of the spar1 which continues in a state of solution till1 coming into contact with the water1 the fluid unites with the acid1 and the earth is precipitated4 ,the third volume of the work was published in the early part of #aggg1 with a dedication to ,lord ,stanhope4 ,it opens1 as usual1 with the characteristically discursive preface1 extending to thirty pages1 in which the author apologises for the character of much in the volume4 ,he is constrained to admit that numerous as his facts are1 few of them will appear so brilliant in the eye of the general scholar as in either of the two former volumes1 although he trusts they will be thought no less valuable by philosophers and chemists4 ,priestley1 it would seem1 was conscious that he was beginning1 as the phrase goes1 to write himself out4 ,lest my readers should be alarmed at this addition of one volume after another on the same subject1 ,i do assure them that ,i shall now certainly give them and myself some respite1 and deliver the torch to anyone who may be disposed to carry it1 foreseeing that my attention will be sufficiently engaged by speculations of a very different nature4444 ,it will be a great satisfaction to me1 after the part that ,i have taken in this business1 to be a spectator of its future progress1 when ,i see the work in so many and so good hands1 and everything in so rapid and so promising a way4 ,on taking leave of this subject ,i would entreat the candour and indulgence of my readers for any oversights they may discover in me as a philosopher1 or imperfections as a writer4 ,i am far from pretending to infallibility2 but ,i have the satisfaction to reflect that1 imperfect as my works may be found to be1 they are each as perfect as ,i was able to make them4444 ,upon this1 as upon other occasions1 ,i can only repeat that it is not my opinions on which ,i would be understood to lay any stress4 ,let the new facts1 from which ,i deduce them1 be considered as my discoveries1 and let other persons draw better inferences from them if they can4 ,this is a new and a wide field of experiment and speculation1 and a premature attachment to hypothesis is the greatest obstruction we are likely to meet with in our progress through it2 and as ,i think ,i have been pretty much upon my guard myself1 ,i would caution others to be upon their guard too4 ,these passages evidently were written under the influence of the feeling of resentment with which he viewed the criticism to which his speculations were subjected abroad4 ,fontana1 ,lavoisier and others were1 indeed1 zealously engaged in using ,priestley's own facts to destroy the conception by which he explained them4 ,an appeal to the balance was felt to be necessary1 and ,priestley1 as a logician1 could not resist it4 ,but he was no quantitative chemist3 the habits of a ,cavendish were quite foreign to his genius3 patient1 scrupulous attention to numerical accuracy was not one of his characteristics3 he was one of the most industrious of experimenters--delighting1 indeed1 in manipulation for the mere sake of it1 but withal hasty and superficial4 ,it is nowhere evident in his writings that his problems were attacked according to any carefully-thought-out plan4 ,he confesses indeed1 on more than one occasion1 he tested the inflammability of one of his numerous airs because he had a lighted candle near him3 had the candle not been lighted it would not have occurred to him to do it4 ,priestley was1 in fact1 a pioneer3 he showed the existence of a new world for science1 and he himself roamed over a portion of it1 like a second ,joshua2 but he had not the experience or the aptitude to accurately map out even that fraction4 ,there is little in the third volume of permanent value4 ,it is largely an account of a series of disconnected observations on the action of nitric acid upon a variety of substances1 which1 however1 led to no general conclusions4 ,it is1 however1 certain that if ,priestley could have induced himself to follow up certain of his observations he would have arrived at facts of far greater importance than those he actually narrates4 ,speculation1 he said1 by way of rejoinder to ,lavoisier1 is a cheap commodity4 ,new and important facts are most wanted1 and therefore of most value1 and the new and important facts were within his grasp if he had only reached out for them4 ,another portion of the work is concerned with supplementary observations on the gases treated of in the preceding volumes1 partly by way of correction and partly additional4 ,here and there we have a suggestive passage1 as in the paper on ,experiments on the ,mixture of ,different ,kinds of ,air that have no ,mutual ,action1 in which he thus clearly indicates the principle of the intra-diffusion of gases4 ,the result of my trials has been this general conclusion3 that when two kinds of air have been mixed it is not possible to separate them again by any method of decanting or pouring them off1 though the greatest possible care be taken in doing it4 ,they may not properly incorporate1 so as to form a third species of air1 possessed of new properties2 but they will remain equally diffused through the mass of each other2 and whether it be the upper or the lower part of the air that is taken out of the vessel1 without disturbing the rest1 it will contain an equal mixture of them both4 ,another suggestive paper is on ,respiration and the ,use of the ,blood1 which was read to the ,royal ,society on ,january #be1 #aggf1 and appears in the ,phil4 ,trans41 vol4 lxvi4 ,priestley1 of course1 regarded respiration as a phlogistic process1 and that the use of the lungs is to carry off a putrid effluvium1 or to discharge that phlogiston1 which had been taken into the system with the aliment1 and has become1 as it were1 effete1 the air that is respired serving as a menstruum for that purpose4 ,this he thinks he has proved to be effected by means of the blood1 in consequence of its coming so nearly into contact with the air in the lungs1 the blood appearing to be a fluid wonderfully formed to imbibe and part with that principle which the chemists call phlogiston1 and changing its colour in consequence of being charged with it or being freed from it4 ,the facts in this paper are for the most part correctly stated1 but the discoverer of oxygen led the world woefully astray as to the part played by that gas in the phenomena of respiration4 ,the fourth volume made its appearance in ,march #aggi1 with a dedication to ,sir ,george ,savile1 who had rendered ,priestley the service of introducing him and his invention of soda-water to the notice of the ,admiralty4 ,in the preface1 which is commendably short1 he makes some reference to the respite which he had promised himself and his readers1 but trusts1 by way of extenuation1 it may be sufficient to allege the instability of human purposes and pursuits4 ,he had intended to devote himself to metaphysics4 ,but that kind of writing1 he says1 is a thing of a very different nature from this4 ,i can truly say 444 that single sections in this work have cost me more than whole volumes of the other2 so great is the difference between writing from the head only and writing1 as it may be called1 from the hands4 ,the fact was ,priestley could not keep away from his laboratory4 ,having acquired a fondness for experiments1 even slighter inducements than ,i have had would have been sufficient to determine my conduct4 ,the preface is noteworthy for its plea for the position of experimental science in the scheme of general education4 ,if we wish to lay a good foundation for a philosophical taste1 and philosophical pursuits1 persons should be accustomed to the sight of experiments and processes in early life4 ,they should1 more especially1 be early initiated in the theory and practice of investigation1 by which many of the old discoveries may be made to be really their own2 on which account they will be much more valued by them4 ,and1 in a great variety of articles1 very young persons may be made so far acquainted with everything necessary to be previously known as to engage 7which they will do with peculiar alacrity7 in pursuits truly original4 ,in the course of some observations on the effect of impregnating oil of vitriol with nitrous acid vapour he discovered nitrosulphuric acid1 the so-called ,leaden ,chamber ,crystals1 whose properties and behaviour with water he describes with accuracy and even eloquence4 ,of these crystals he says3 ,a more beautiful appearance can hardly be imagined1 and ,i am afraid ,i shall never see the like again4 ,he also noticed the formation of the dark brown compound which nitric oxide forms with a solution of green vitriol1 and adds3-- ,to determine whether the phenomena attending the impregnation of the solution of green vitriol with nitrous air depended in any measure upon the seeming astringency of that solution 444 ,i impregnated a quantity of green tea1 which is also said to be astringent1 with nitrous air1 but no sensible change of colour was produced in it4 ,he several times noticed the deep blue liquid which nitrogen peroxide forms with cold water4 ,he made many attempts to use nitric oxide as an antiseptic1 especially for culinary purposes4 ,but the gastronomic results with fowls and pigeons were not to his liking1 although he says1 my friend ,mr ,magellan 444 had not so bad an opinion of this piece of cookery as ,i had4 ,one cannot read ,priestley's description of his multifarious experiments without being struck with the number of occasions in which he just missed making discoveries of first-rate importance4 ,it is obvious that he had obtained chlorine without recognising it1 even before the news of ,scheele's discovery reached this country4 ,he had also prepared1 without knowing it1 phosphoretted hydrogen and phosphorous acid4 ,at times1 however1 he can follow a clue with remarkable perspicacity2 as in his observation of the cause of the flouring of mercury1 and in his discovery of a method of removing lead and tin from that metal4 ,the subject of dephlogisticated air naturally continued to interest him1 and he again returns to it in this volume1 for he says3-- ,as it sometimes amuses myself it may perhaps amuse others to look back with me to the several steps in the actual progress of this investigation1 some of which ,i overlooked in my last account of it4 ,he points out1 as already stated1 that he must have had the new gas in his hands as far back as ,november #agga1 having obtained it from nitre4 ,he admits that he had no particular view in making his crucial experiment of ,august #a1 #aggd1 excepting that of extracting air from a variety of substances by means of a burning lens in quicksilver1 which was then a new process with me1 and which ,i was very fond of4 ,he explains how he was led to his speculation that this kind of air1 and consequently of atmospherical air1 which is the same thing but in a state of inferior purity1 consists of earth and spirit of nitre4 ,but1 he adds1 ,i have since seen reason to suspect that hypothesis1 plausible as it appears4 ,indeed1 some of my late experiments would lead me to conclude that there is no acid at all in pure air4 ,he then experiments with manganese1 which ,scheele1 who independently discovered oxygen1 had already employed1 and finds that it yields the new air both when heated alone or with oil of vitriol4 ,the production of oxygen from manganese was contrary to his expectations as the substances he had hitherto used1 the precipitate per se and the red lead and the nitre1 had all been subjected to the influence of the atmosphere1 whereas here was pure air from a substance which for anything that appeared had always been in the bowels of the earth1 and never had had any communication with the external air4 ,this led to the surmise that possibly the expulsion of dephlogisticated air from such mineral substances might assist in sustaining subterraneous fires4444 ,the solution of the phenomena of subterraneous fires would certainly be much easier on the supposition of their supplying their own pabulum1 by means of dephlogisticated air contained in substances exposed to their heat4 ,i therefore desired ,mr ,landriani1 who being in ,italy had a good opportunity of making inquiries on the subject1 to inform me whether any of those substances1 and particularly manganese be found in their volcanoes2 and his answer makes it rather probable that those fires are1 in part1 sustained by this means4 ,the ease with which nitre parts with its oxygen on heating furnished ,priestley with the true explanation of its so-called detonation1 concerning which1 he says1 the most improbable conjectures have been advanced by the most eminent philosophers and chemists4 ,after a reference to the hypothesis of ,macquer1 who assumes that what he calls a nitrous sulphur is produced1 ,priestley points out that the doctrine of dephlogisticated air supplies the easiest solution imaginable of this very difficult phenomenon4 ,let any person but attend to the phenomena of the detonation of charcoal in nitre1 and that of dipping a piece of hot charcoal into a jar of dephlogisticated air1 and ,i think it will be impossible for him not to conclude that the appearances are the very same and must have the same cause4 ,of all the quantitative exercises performed by ,priestley1 by far the most numerous depended upon his application of nitric oxide to measure the goodness of air4 ,when1 he says1 ,i first discovered the property of nitrous air as a test of the wholesomeness of common air1 ,i flattered myself that it might be of considerable practical use1 and particularly that the air of distant places and countries might be brought and examined together with great ease and satisfaction2 but ,i own that hitherto ,i have rather been disappointed in my expectations from it4444 ,i gave several of my friends the trouble to send me air from distant places1 especially from manufacturing towns1 and the worst they could find to be actually breathed by the manufacturers1 such as is known to be exceedingly offensive to those who visit them2 but when ,i examined those specimens of air in ,wiltshire1 the difference between them and the very best air in this county1 which is esteemed to be very good1 as also the difference between them and specimens of the best air in the counties in which these manufacturing towns are situated1 was very trifling4444 ,i have frequently taken the open air in the most exposed places in this country at different times of the year1 and in different states of the weather1 etc41 but never found the difference so great as the inaccuracy arising from the method of making the trial might easily amount to or exceed4 ,other observers1 less careful or more sanguine than ,priestley1 were1 however1 successful in detecting the differences which prejudice led them to anticipate4 ,thus ,signor ,marsilio ,landriani of ,milan1 whose name has already been mentioned in connection with the theory of subterraneous fires1 in the course of a tour through ,italy had the satisfaction of convincing himself that the air of all those places1 which from the long experience of the inhabitants has been reputed unwholesome1 is found to be so to a very great degree of exactness by the eudiometer4444 ,the air of the ,pontine lakes1 that of the ,sciroccho at ,rome 7so very unwholesome71 that of the ,campagna ,romana1 of the ,grotto del ,cane1 of the ,zolfatara at ,naples1 of the baths of ,nero at ,baja1 of the seacoast of ,tuscany1 were all examined by me and found to be in such a state as daily experience led me to expect4 ,modern eudiometry1 making use of methods of far greater precision than were possible to ,priestley1 has confirmed his supposition that atmospheric air is remarkably constant in composition1 and that its wholesomeness depends upon other causes than the relative amount of the dephlogisticated air contained in it4 ,perhaps the most important of the many papers contained in this volume are those which relate to the ,melioration of ,air by the ,growth of ,plants1 a subject to which ,priestley gave attention1 even whilst at ,leeds1 in #agga4 ,in these papers he clearly proves that this melioration is connected with the green matter of leaves and that it is dependent upon sunlight4 ,this observation is of fundamental importance and attracted much attention4 ,in the fifth volume1 which was published in the spring of #agha1 with a dedication to ,dr ,heberden1 when ,priestley had moved to ,birmingham1 he again returns to this subject4 ,practically all the experimental work to which it relates was done whilst he was with ,lord ,shelburne1 and mainly at ,calne4 ,during the former parts of the summer of #aghj he suffered from an illness which greatly interfered with his work1 although he thinks that during his incapacity for making experiments his hints for the farther prosecution of them are greatly accumulated4 ,it cannot be said that the five papers on the relations of vegetation to air1 with which the volume opens1 added very materially to the fundamental fact which ,priestley had discovered4 ,they furnished1 however1 additional evidence of it and no doubt stimulated further inquiry4 ,if his facts could not be controverted1 his explanations and surmises were at least open to attack1 and a number of observers1 both here and abroad1 busied themselves with the problems of physiological botany thereby suggested4 ,as regards the subject of air in general1 although a large number of isolated observations are recorded in somewhat tedious detail1 no new fact of first-rate importance is apparent4 ,the experiments are largely supplementary to those in the preceding volumes and are for the most explanatory or corroborative of them4 ,perhaps the most important are those dealing with the production of nitrous air in which a candle will burn1 by which is signified the gas we now know as nitrous oxide1 but which ,priestley eventually termed dephlogisticated nitrous air4 ,the process he employed is no longer used in the production of this gas1 but it sufficed in his hands to determine its individuality without doubt4 ,priestley's methods of experiment with his various airs were very uniform4 ,he tried their solubility in water1 their power of supporting or extinguishing flame1 whether they were respirable1 how they behaved with acid and alkaline air1 and with nitric oxide and inflammable air1 and lastly how they were affected by the electric spark4 ,he occasionally made attempts to weigh them1 but his determinations of their relative density were altogether untrustworthy4 ,indeed1 it is evident from the terms in which he speaks of these efforts that he was conscious of their inadequacy4 ,the result of submitting alkaline air 7ammonia7 to the electric spark1 whereby it is resolved into nitrogen and hydrogen1 surprised him not a little4 ,there are few experiments the rationale of which ,i less pretend to understand than the production of genuine and permanent inflammable air from alkaline air by means of the electric spark4444 ,one query on this subject is1 whence comes the phlogiston1 which is certainly a principal ingredient in the constitution of inflammable air4 ,alkaline air1 indeed1 contains phlogiston1 because in the manner in which ,i have generally produced it1 it is itself partially inflammable2 but it is not nearly so much so as the inflammable air which is produced by means of it4 ,besides1 it will appear by the following experiments that the quantity of the inflammable air far exceeds that of the alkaline4 ,although ,priestley clearly recognised the production of the inflammable air1 in no respect to be distinguished from that which is extracted from metals by acids1 and inferred it must come from the alkaline air 7the production having its limits71 he failed to detect the other constituent of ammonia4 ,his determination of the actual increase in volume was inaccurate1 and his attempt to explain the phenomenon wholly fallacious4 ,at the instigation of ,mr ,woulfe1 whose name mainly lives in connection with a useful piece of chemical apparatus1 ,priestley was encouraged to hope that he would find something remarkable in the solution of manganese in spirit of salt4 ,mr ,woulfe1 however1 in a very friendly manner1 at the same time1 cautioned me with respect of the vapour that would issue from it1 as from his own experience he apprehended it was of a very dangerous nature4444 ,i cannot say that it was the apprehension of danger1 but rather having other things in view1 that prevented my giving much attention to the subject4 ,priestley's experiments led to no decisive result3 he of course recognised the peculiar smell1 exactly resembling that which is procured by dissolving red lead in the same acids4444 ,on the application of heat it was easy to perceive that air1 or vapour1 was expelled2 but it was instantly seized by the quicksilver4444 ,this is a new field that is yet before me4 ,priestley never occupied that field4 ,it is tolerably certain that both ,woulfe and he had unknowingly prepared chlorine gas1 but the glory of its discovery belongs to ,scheele4 ,the paper ,of ,sound in ,different ,kinds of ,air is worth quoting as showing ,priestley at his best3-- ,almost all the experiments that have hitherto been made relating to sound have been made in common air1 of which it is known to be a vibration1 though it is likewise known to be capable of being transmitted by other substances4 ,there could be little doubt1 however1 of the possibility of sound originating in any other kind of air1 as well as being transmitted by them2 but the trial had not been actually made1 and ,i had an easy opportunity of making it4 ,besides1 the experiments promised to ascertain whether the intensity of sound was affected by any other property of the air in which it was made than the mere density of it4 ,for the different kinds of air in which ,i was able to make the same sound1 besides differing in specific gravity1 have likewise other remarkable chemical differences1 the influence of which with respect to sound would1 at the same time1 be submitted to examination4 ,being provided with a piece of clock-work1 in which was a bell1 and a hammer to strike upon it 7which ,i could cover with a receiver1 and which1 when it was properly covered up1 ,i could set in motion by the pressure of a brass rod going through a collar of leather71 ,i placed it on some soft paper on a transfer4 ,then taking a receiver1 the top of which was closed with a plate of brass1 through which the brass rod and collar of leathers was inserted1 ,i placed the whole on the plate of an air-pump1 and exhausted the receiver of all the air that it contained4 ,then removing this exhausted receiver1 containing the piece of clock-work1 ,i filled it with some of those kinds of air that are capable of being confined by water4444 ,then by forcing down the brass rod through the collar of leathers ,i made the hammer strike the bell1 which it would do more than a dozen times after each pressure4 ,and the instrument was contrived to do the same thing many times successively after being once wound up4 ,everything being thus prepared1 ,i had nothing to do1 after filling the same receiver with each of the kinds of air in its turn1 but receding from the apparatus1 while an assistant produced the sound1 to observe at what distance ,i could distinctly hear it4 ,the result of all my observations1 as far as ,i could judge1 was that the intensity of sound depends solely upon the density of the air in which it is made1 and not at all upon any chemical principle in its constitution4 ,in inflammable air the sound of the bell was hardly to be distinguished from the same in a pretty good vacuum2 and this air is ten times rarer than common air4 ,in fixed air the sound was much louder than in common air1 so as to be heard about half as far again2 and this air is in about the same proportion denser than common air4 ,in dephlogisticated air the sound was also sensibly louder than in common air1 and1 as ,i thought1 rather more than in the proportion of its superior density2 but of this ,i cannot pretend to be quite sure4 ,in all these experiments the common standard was the sound of the same bell in the same receiver1 every other circumstance also being the same2 the air only being changed by removing the receiver from the transfer and blowing through it1 etc4 ,the sixth and last volume appeared in #aghf with a dedication to ,william ,constable1 ,esq41 of ,barton ,constable4 ,in the preface ,priestley is concerned to defend himself against the charge that he occupies himself too much with ,theology to the detriment of ,natural ,philosophy4 ,theology1 he pleads1 is his original and proper province1 and for which1 therefore1 he may be allowed to have a justifiable predilection4 ,but as with ,metaphysics1 so with ,theology4 ,neither subject engrossed so much of his time as some persons imagined4 ,i am particularly complained of at present as having thrown away so much time on the composition of my ,history of the ,corruptions of ,christianity1 and of the ,opinions ,concerning ,christ4 ,but ,i can assure them1 and the nature of the thing1 if they consider it1 may satisfy them1 that the time ,i must necessarily have bestowed upon the experiments1 of which an account is contained in this single volume1 is much more than ,i have given to the six1 of which the above-mentioned works consist1 and to all the controversial pieces that ,i have written in defence of the former of them4 ,the labour and attention necessary to enable me to write single paragraphs in this work have been more than was requisite to compose whole sections or chapters of the former4444 ,besides1 these different studies so relieve one another that ,i believe ,i do more in each of them1 by applying to them alternately1 than ,i should do if ,i gave my whole attention to one of them only4 ,but ,priestley's main defence rests on the superior dignity and importance of theological studies to any other whatever4 ,the whole preface must be read in the light of ,priestley's altered circumstances and of his relations to the theological world1 which1 since his removal to ,birmingham1 had greatly increased in weight and importance4 ,as already stated1 he regarded himself as ordained to champion the cause of religion among the persons to whom his writings as a natural philosopher specially appealed4 ,the author of the ,institutes of ,natural and ,revealed ,religion was the writer of the ,letters to a ,philosophical ,unbeliever and1 in an age of unbelief1 the doughty antagonist of ,gibbon4 ,otherwise the incongruous mixture of ,theology and ,natural ,philosophy1 of which the preface is made up1 seems inexplicable4 ,to the historian of chemistry the last volume of the series is hardly less interesting than any one of its predecessors1 not so much as affording knowledge of new airs as by reason of ,priestley's relation to the waning doctrine of phlogiston1 and on account of the part that his own work was playing1 in spite of himself1 in completing its overthrow4 ,the volume indeed significantly opens with ,experiments relating to ,phlogiston1 a reprint with notes of his paper in the #gcrd volume of the ,philosophical ,transactions4 ,priestley truly says3-- ,there are few subjects1 perhaps none1 that have occasioned more perplexity to chemists than that of phlogiston1 or1 as it is sometimes called1 the principle of inflammability4 ,it was the great discovery of ,stahl that this principle1 whatever it be1 is transferable from one substance to another1 how different soever in their other properties1 such as sulphur1 wood1 and all the metals1 and therefore is the same thing in them all4 ,but what has given an air of mystery to this subject has been that it was imagined that this principle1 or substance1 could not be exhibited except in combination with other substances1 and could not be made to assume separately either a fluid or solid form4 ,it was also asserted by some that phlogiston was so far from adding to the weight of bodies that the addition of it made them really lighter than they were before2 on which account they chose to call it the principle of levity4 ,this opinion had great patrons4 ,of late it has been the opinion of many celebrated chemists1 ,mr ,lavoisier among others1 that the whole doctrine of phlogiston has been founded on mistake1 and that in all cases in which it was thought that bodies parted with the principle of phlogiston1 they in fact lost nothing1 but on the contrary acquired something2 and in most cases an addition of some kind of air2 that a metal1 for instance1 was not a combination of two things1 viz41 an earth and phlogiston1 but was probably a simple substance in its metallic state2 and that the calx is produced not by the loss of phlogiston1 or of anything else1 but by the acquisition of air4 ,he then goes on to say that the arguments in favour of this opinion1 especially those which were drawn from the experiments of ,lavoisier on mercury1 were so specious that he owns he was much inclined to adopt it4 ,but he was evidently loth to part company with a conception which had hitherto been the central idea of his chemical creed1 the very key-stone of the structure which he was pleased to regard as his philosophy4 ,as an abstract conception1 as the principle of levity1 as something which was the negation of mass and which gravity repelled1 phlogiston was eminently unsatisfactory4 ,but what if phlogiston were an entity8 ,a ponderable substance1 no matter how light8 ,in that case ,stahl's generalisation might still afford salvation4 ,my friend1 ,mr ,kirwan--a clever1 ingenious ,irishman1 with a nimble wit and a facile pen--supplied the hint--,phlogiston was inflammable air--and ,priestley by a series of experiments1 faultless as to execution but utterly fallacious as to interpretation1 persuades himself that ,kirwan is right and that ,mr ,lavoisier's opinion and his specious arguments are therefore to be discountenanced4 ,the paper1 in certain respects1 is one of the most noteworthy of ,priestley's productions4 ,the experiments are original1 ingenious and striking1 but as an example of his inductive capacity1 or as an indication of its author's logical power1 or of his ability to try judicially the very issue he has raised1 it is significant only of the profound truth of his own words that we may take a maxim so strongly for granted that the plainest evidence of sense will not entirely change1 and often hardly modify1 our persuasions2 and the more ingenious a man is1 the more effectually he is entangled in his errors1 his ingenuity only helping him to deceive himself by evading the force of truth4 ,the next paper in the volume1 on ,the ,seeming ,conversion of ,water into ,air1 is a record of experiments which cost ,priestley much labour and the ,lunar ,society1 for a time1 much mystification4 ,priestley eventually detected the fallacy in the observation which originally induced him to believe that it was possible to transmute water into a permanently elastic fluid1 but he got no further in his explanation than that air has a faculty of passing through the pores of an earthern vessel by means of a power very different from that of pressure4 ,this and the third paper in the series are classical1 and this partly by reason of1 and partly in spite of1 their blunders1 for they are the record of the work upon which ,james ,watt largely based his conjectures concerning the real chemical nature of water1 whereby his name has been associated with that of ,cavendish and ,lavoisier as the true discoverer of its composition4 ,in the course of his inquiry ,priestley studied the action of steam upon red-hot iron by an arrangement generally similar to that employed by ,lavoisier1 but his explanation of the phenomena is essentially different from that of the ,french chemist1 as may be seen from the following quotation3-- ,since iron gains the same addition of weight by melting it in dephlogisticated air1 and also by the addition of water when red-hot1 and becomes1 as ,i have already observed1 in all respects the same substance1 it is evident that this air or water1 as existing in the iron1 is the very same thing2 and this can hardly be explained but upon the supposition that water consists of two kinds of air1 viz41 inflammable and dephlogisticated4 ,this1 however1 is how ,priestley actually does explain it3-- ,when iron is melted in dephlogisticated air we may suppose that1 though part of its phlogiston escapes to enter into the composition of the small quantity of fixed air which is then procured1 yet enough remains to form water with the addition of the dephlogisticated air which it has imbibed1 so that this calx of iron consists of the intimate union of the pure earth of iron and of water2 and therefore when the same calx1 thus saturated with water1 is exposed to heat in inflammable air1 this air enters into it1 destroys the attraction between the water and the earth1 and revives the iron while the water is expelled in its proper form4 ,consequently1 in the process with steam1 nothing is necessary to be supposed but the entrance of the water and the expulsion of the phlogiston belonging to the iron1 no more phlogiston remaining in it than what the water brought along with it1 and which is retained as a constituent part of the water or of the new compound4 ,no more striking illustration of how a man's ingenuity may help him to deceive himself could be given than is afforded by this passage4 ,priestley to the end of his days never got a just conception of the real chemical constitution of water4 ,the remaining papers call for little comment4 ,in the course of some further inquiries ,priestley discovered sulphuretted hydrogen1 termed by him sulphurated inflammable air1 and which he prepared by the action of oil of vitriol upon ferrous sulphide4 ,this gas must of course have been frequently obtained or perceived by him1 and possibly by others1 as it is produced by a number of processes4 ,its characteristic smell was associated with sulphur3 it was thought to be nothing but inflammable air modified or polluted by the accidental presence of sulphur4 ,it cannot be held that ,priestley drew the same sharp distinctions between the various kinds of inflammable air that we draw to-day4 ,to us they are essentially different substances4 ,priestley1 however1 regarded them as in the main phlogiston combined or associated with other substances which affected the character of their flames or gave them different properties4 ,in his opinion they were essentially the same4 ,this fact serves to explain what is otherwise incomprehensible1 and accounts for many of his mistakes4 ,the last paper in the volume1 excluding the ,supplementary ,observations1 has a special interest4 ,it is entitled ,observations relating to ,theory1 and is in fact ,priestley's ,confession of ,faith in the doctrine which enslaved and misled him throughout the whole of his scientific career4 ,but he makes it so hesitatingly and with so many reservations that one wonders why he is constrained to make it at all4 ,he appears to think1 however1 that it is expected of him4 ,it is always our endeavour1 after making experiments1 to generalise the conclusions we draw from them1 and by this means to form a theory1 or system of principles1 to which all the facts may be reduced1 and by means of which we may be able to foretell the results of future experiments4444 ,in my former publications ,i have frequently promised to give such a general theory of the experiments in which the different kinds of air are concerned1 as the present state of our knowledge of them will enable me to do4 ,but1 like ,simonides with respect to the question that was proposed to him concerning ,god1 ,i have deferred it from time to time2 and indeed ,i am more than ever disposed to defer it still longer1 as ,i own that ,i am at present even less able to give such a theory as shall satisfy myself than ,i was some years ago2 new difficulties having arisen1 which unhinge former theories1 and more experiments being necessary to establish new ones4 ,fluctuating1 however1 as the present state of this branch of knowledge is1 ,i do not think that ,i can1 on this occasion1 entirely decline giving some observations of a theoretical nature1 and though ,i cannot pretend to perform the whole of my promise1 ,i shall give a summary view of what appears to me to be the constituent parts of all the kinds of air with which we are acquainted1 and a more particular account of the hypothesis concerning phlogiston1 which is at present more an object of discussion than anything else of a theoretical nature4 ,priestley then passes in review all the airs of which the chemistry of his time had any knowledge1 giving the elements or constituent principles of which he imagined them to be composed4 ,the only kind of air that he thinks to be properly elementary1 and to consist of a simple substance1 is dephlogisticated air1 with possibly the addition of the principle of heat1 which1 as it is not probable that it adds to the weight of bodies1 can hardly be called an element in their composition4 ,dephlogisticated air appears to be one of the elements of water1 of fixed air1 of all the acids1 and of many other substances which1 till lately1 have been thought to be simple4 ,the air of the atmosphere1 exclusive of a great variety of foreign impregnations1 appears to consist of dephlogisticated and phlogisticated air4 ,as regards phlogisticated air--the mephitic air of ,rutherford1 the azote of ,lavoisier1 the nitrogen of ,chaptal--,priestley1 reasoning from ,cavendish's work1 concluded that it was probably not elementary1 but that it consists of nitrous acid and phlogiston2 this acid having always been produced by decomposing it with 444 dephlogisticated air4 ,he is conscious1 however1 of the insufficiency of this hypothesis1 and suggests that the acid principle is supplied by the dephlogisticated air1 while the nitrous air gives the base of the nitrous acid and phlogiston2 and then this phlogisticated air may perhaps be considered as phlogiston combined not with all the necessary elements of nitrous acid1 but only what may be called the base of it1 viz41 the dephlogisticated nitrous vapour1 or something which when united to dephlogisticated air will constitute nitrous acid4 ,fixed air 7carbonic acid7 seems to be a compound of phlogiston and dephlogisticated air4 ,in other words1 carbonic acid and water have1 according to ,priestley1 the same elementary composition4 ,it is something remarkable that two substances so different from each other as fixed air and water should be analysed into the same principles4 ,but there is this difference between them1 that water is the union not of pure phlogiston but of inflammable air and dephlogisticated air4 ,of the true nature of inflammable air1 ,priestley1 as we have more than once had occasion to point out1 had only the vaguest notions4 ,inflammable air1 he says1 seems now to consist of water and inflammable air1 which however seems extraordinary1 as the two substances are hereby made to involve each other1 one of the constituent parts of water being inflammable air1 and one of the constituent parts of inflammable air being water2 and therefore1 if the experiments would favour it 7but ,i do not see that they do so7 it would be more natural to suppose that water1 like fixed air1 consists of phlogiston and dephlogisticated air in some different mode of combination4 ,that ,priestley to the last imagined that the various kinds of inflammable air known to him were at bottom one and the same substance1 modified or affected by other substances1 accidental and unessential1 might be proved by a number of passages4 ,he says with respect to inflammable air generally3-- ,there is an astonishing variety in the different kinds of inflammable air1 the cause of which is very imperfectly known4 ,the lightest1 and therefore1 probably1 the purest kind seems to consist of phlogiston and water only4 ,but it is probable that oil1 and that of different kinds1 may be held in solution in several of them1 and be the reason of their burning with a lambent flame1 and also of their being so readily resolved into fixed air when they are decomposed with dephlogisticated air2 though why this should be the case ,i cannot imagine4 ,nitrous air 7nitric oxide7 he conceives to be a combination of a dephlogisticated nitrous air and phlogiston1 and that by adding to it dephlogisticated air and water it is converted into nitrous acid4 ,dephlogisticated nitrous air 7nitrous oxide7 he conceives may1 like dephlogisticated air1 be an elementary substance and to be formed by depriving nitrous air of its phlogiston4 ,the various acid airs 7e4g41 marine acid air1 vitriolic acid air1 etc47 consist of the peculiar acids as vapours combined with phlogiston4 ,the ,alkaline air 7ammonia7 he thought to consist of inflammable air and phlogisticated air 7nitrogen71 or of something capable of being converted into phlogisticated air4444 ,that water enters into the composition of alkaline air seems necessary to be admitted1 because it is decomposed into inflammable air1 which ,i cannot help thinking necessarily requires water4 ,it seems1 however1 clearly to be inferred 444 that there is no occasion to admit the alkaline principle into the number of elements2 the alkalinity1 as ,i may say1 some way or other1 arising from phlogiston1 or phlogisticated air1 as acidity arises from dephlogisticated air4 ,after these theoretical speculations1 in which1 he says1 ,i fear ,i have not communicated much light1 though it is as much as ,i have been able to get1 ,priestley proceeds to make some observations relating to phlogiston1 the existence of which is at present a great subject of discussion with philosophers2 some maintaining that there is no such thing1 and others holding the doctrine of ,stahl on the subject4 ,according to ,stahl1 phlogiston is a real substance1 capable of being transferred from one body to another2 its presence or absence making a remarkable difference in the properties of bodies1 whether it add to their weight or not4 ,thus he concluded that oil of vitriol deprived of water1 and united to phlogiston1 becomes sulphur2 and that the calces of metals1 by the addition of the same substance1 become metals4444 ,what is now contended for is that in the oil of vitriol changing into sulphur something is lost and nothing gained1 and also that a calx becomes a metal by the loss of air only4 ,and did facts correspond to this theory it would certainly be preferable to that of ,stahl1 as being more simple2 there being one principle less to take into our account in explaining the changes of bodies4 ,but ,i do not know of any case in which phlogiston has been supposed to enter into a body1 but there is room to suppose that something does enter into it4444 ,what has been insisted upon1 as most favourable to the exclusion of phlogiston1 is the revival of mercury without the addition of any other substance from the precipitate per se4 ,in this case it is evident that mere heat 444 is sufficient to revive the metal4 ,and as what is expelled from this calx is the purest dephlogisticated air1 it has been said that mercury is changed into this calx by imbibing pure air1 and therefore becomes a metal again1 merely in consequence of parting with that air4 ,the dexterous ,mr ,kirwan1 not long before he himself embraced the ,french doctrine1 furnished ,priestley with an argument which satisfied him that this cardinal fact can be accounted for without excluding phlogiston4 ,since therefore the supposition is exceedingly convenient1 if not absolutely necessary1 to the explanation of many other facts in chemistry1 it is at least advisable not to abandon it4 ,that calces do not become metals merely by parting with the air they contain1 is evident from my experiments on heating them in contact with inflammable air1 in which the inflammable air1 or some necessary part of it1 is undoubtedly absorbed2 and though a little moisture be deposited in the process1 it may well be supposed to be that which in conjunction with phlogiston constituted the inflammable air4 ,and what can the other principle that is absorbed by the calx be but the same thing which1 when united to water1 is recovered again from the metal and found to be inflammable air having all the same properties with that which was employed in the revival of it4 ,metals therefore are not simple substances1 but consist of their calces1 and something else which they take from inflammable air4 ,and as the same may also be taken from any combustible substance1 it corresponds exactly to ,stahl's phlogiston1 and therefore the doctrine of it is confirmed by these experiments2 that is1 we must still say that in all combustible substances there is a principle capable of being transferred to other substances1 which when united to the calces of metals makes them to be metals1 and which1 united to oil of vitriol 7deprived of its water7 makes it to be sulphur4 ,thus was the ingenious man effectually entangled in his errors1 his ingenuity helping him to deceive himself by evading the force of truth4 ,to err is human4 ,if ,priestley saw through a glass darkly1 and but dimly discerned the truth1 he at least strove1 so far as in him lay1 to reach the light4 ,posterity forgives1 and may well forget1 his errors in grateful recognition of the many noble services he rendered to our common humanity1 and in humbling recollection of the suffering and sacrifice with which those services were requited4 ,,footnotes #a,the ,gregorian ,calendar was not adopted in ,great ,britain until #agea4 ,in #ageb eleven days were left out of the ,calendar1 ,september #crd being counted the #adth4 ,the change of style probably accounts for the confusion in the various dates of ,priestley's birth given by different writers4 ,in ,chalmers's ,general ,biographical ,dictionary the date is given as ,march #ah2 in ,allen's ,american ,biographical and ,historical ,dictionary and in ,thomson's ,history of the ,royal ,society as ,march #bd2 ,corry1 in his ,life of ,priestley1 gives ,march #bd2 ,hoefer1 in his ,histoire de la ,chimie1 gives ,march #cj1 probably following ,dumas's ,philosophie de ,chimie2 ,cuvier1 in his ,eloge1 says that he was born near ,bristol in #agbh6 ,in a letter to ,wedgwood1 dated ,march #bc1 #aghc1 ,priestley says in a postscript ,this day ,i complete my half century4 #b,t4 ,wemyss ,reid1 ,memoir of ,john ,deskin ,heaton1 p4 #g et seq4 #c,the ,great ,frost1 as it was called1 which1 beginning on ,december #bf1 #agci1 continued with the greatest intensity till ,february #ag1 #agdj4 ,above ,london ,bridge the ,thames was completely frozen over1 and numerous booths were erected on it for selling liquor1 etc41 to the multitudes who daily flocked there4 #d,the ,inquirer1 ,january #af1 #aijd4 #e;,dr ,andrew ,kippis1 an eminent ,presbyterian1 was the minister of the ,prince's ,street ,chapel1 ,westminster1 and had at his disposal funds which he could employ in assisting young ministers in their education and first settlement4 ,priestley enjoyed his friendship through life4 ,kippis1 who was the editor of the ,biographia ,britannia1 was elected into the ,royal ,society in #aggi1 and served on its council4 #f,william ,eyres of ,warrington1 who was one of the most remarkable printers of his day1 produced a number of works noted for their typographic excellence and beauty4 ,he printed1 in addition to the works above mentioned1 the first editions of ,mrs ,barbauld's poems1 ,gilbert ,wakefield's ,lucretius1 and other well-known classics4 #g,she was then sixty-two1 and lived twenty years longer4 #h,the lines were the well-known stanza3-- ,life6 ,we've been long together ,through pleasant and through cloudy weather2 ',tis hard to part when friends are dear1 ,perhaps 'twill cost a sigh1 a tear2 ,then steal away1 give little warning4 ,choose thine own time2 ,say not good-night1 but in some brighter clime ,bid me good-morning4 #i;,he lies buried near ,castlehead1 in ,cartmel1 ,lancashire1 where his monument1 a pyramidal mausoleum containing some twenty tons of iron1 is a notable feature in the landscape4 ,on it is the following epitaph written by himself3-- ,delivered from persecution of malice and envy here rests ,john ,wilkinson1 ,iron ,master1 in certain hopes of a better state and heavenly mansion1 as promulgated by ,jesus ,christ1 in whose ,gospel he was a firm believer4 ,his life was spent in action for the benefit of man1 and he trusts in some degree to the glory of ,god4 #aj,this portrait was formerly in the possession of ,mrs ,crouch1 ,priestley's youngest sister1 and1 according to ,mrs ,bilbrough of ,gildersome 7ne ,ellen ,priestley71 was brought by ,mrs ,crouch1 along with the old family clock from her father's1 ,fieldhead1 when she came to live here in #aghg4 ,the picture was once placed in the window of a carver and gilder's shop at ,leeds1 when ,priestley stopped to look at it in passing by4 ,a woman happened to be doing the same1 and1 on seeing him1 exclaimed1 ,why1 here's the fellow himself6 ,a photographic copy of it was presented to the subscribers to the ,stephen ,statue in the ,oxford ,museum4 #aa,there is a pencil-drawing of the house1 made by the son of ,dr ,kenrick of ,warrington1 among the ,yates papers in the possession of the ,royal ,society4 #ab,the ,chapel1 or ,meeting ,house as it was called in ,priestley's time1 adjoined the ,alms ,house ,garth and was erected in #afgc1 after the passage of the ,act of ,indulgence4 ,it was pulled down in #ahdg and the present ,mill ,hill ,chapel erected on its site4 #ac,lectures on the ,memory of the ,just4 ,a ,series of ,discourses on the ,lives and ,times of the ,ministers of ,mill ,hill ,chapel1 ,leeds4 #ad;,he had in ,john ,lee1 a native of ,leeds and a man of about his own age1 who became ,solicitor-,general in #aghb1 a friend who offered to further his interests in that matter4 ,priestley1 in his autobiography1 says3 ,mr ,lee showed himself particularly my friend at the time ,i left ,lord ,shelburne1 assisting me in the difficulties with which ,i was then pressed1 and continuing to befriend me afterwards by seasonable benefactions4 #ae,richard ,brinsley ,sheridan at that time represented ,stafford in the ,house of ,commons4 ,both he and ,fox sympathised with ,priestley and sought to secure him compensation for his losses4 #af,withering's ,botanical ,arrangement1 #bnd ,ed4 #c vols4 #agib4 #ag,mercuric oxide made by heating quicksilver in air4 #ah,nitrous oxide3 see p4 #ahb4 #ai,mercuric oxide made by heating mercuric nitrate4 #bj,see the author's ,essays in ,historical ,chemistry--,priestley1 ,cavendish1 ,lavoisier and ,la ,rvolution ,chimique4 ,,index ,a ,aikin1 ,anna ,ltitia1 #cc1 #dc2 her poem ,corsica1 #gj1 #ge4 ,aikin1 ,john1 #cb1 #cc1 #cf1 #aba4 ,aikin1 ,lucy1 #ch4 ,air1 ,experiments and ,observations on ,different ,kinds of1 ,priestley's treatise on1 #gg1 #ajc1 #afg et seq4 ,air1 ,fixed1 #age1 #agf2 ,priestley's view of its nature1 #bbj4 ,air1 ,inflammable1 #agi1 #bbj4 ,alkaline ,air 7,ammonia71 ,priestley's isolation of1 #ahe2 its properties1 #ahf2 decomposition of by electricity1 #baj2 nature of1 #bba4 ,ammonia ,gas1 ,priestley's discovery of1 #ahe2 its properties1 #ahf4 ,ammonium ,sesquicarbonate1 ,synthesis of1 by ,priestley1 #ahf4 ,b ,barbauld1 ,mrs 7,anna ,ltitia ,aikin71 #cc1 #afj4 ,belloc1 ,madame1 account of the ,priestleys1 #b2 of the times of ,priestley1 #e2 her account of ,mrs ,priestley1 #di4 ,bewley1 ,richard1 his mephitic julep1 #gi4 ,birmingham ,riots of #agia1 #abj et seq4 ,bolton1 ,h4 ,carrington1 his account of the ,lunar ,society1 #if4 ,boulton1 ,matthew1 founds the ,lunar ,society of ,birmingham1 #id4 ,boyle1 ,robert1 his recognition that different elastic fluids exist1 #agd4 ,bright1 ,henry ,a41 his account of the ,warrington ,academy1 #cd4 ,burke1 ,edmund1 his denunciation of ,priestley1 #adg4 ,c ,canton1 ,john1 his school1 #i1 #fb4 ,conversion of ,water into ,air1 ,seeming1 ,priestley's work on1 #baf4 ,corruptions of ,christianity1 ,priestley's1 #ajf4 ,d ,darwin1 ,erasmus1 his connection with the ,birmingham ,lunar ,society1 #id1 #ie4 ,daventry ,academy1 #ah4 ,dephlogisticated ,air 7,oxygen71 ,priestley's discovery of1 #ahd1 #aib et seq4 ,doctrine of ,phlogiston ,established1 ,priestley's last scientific work1 #afb4 ,e ,edgeworth1 ,richard ,lovell1 his account of the ,lunar ,society1 #if4 ,electricity1 ,history of1 ,priestley's1 #fc4 ,enfield1 ,william1 #cc1 #dc4 ,eudiometry1 #ahb1 #bjg1 #bjh4 ,eyres1 ,william1 of ,warrington1 #ch4 ,f ,faujar ,st ,fond1 his visits to ,priestley1 #ajc4 ,fieldhead1 #c4 ,fluor ,acid ,air1 #aih4 ,forster1 ,john ,reinhold1 #cc1 #ha4 ,franklin ,benjamin1 #fc1 #ia1 #ib2 his opinion of ,priestley1 #ic4 ,g ,galton1 ,samuel1 #id1 #if4 ,gases1 diffusion of1 #bjb4 ,general ,history of the ,christian ,church to the ,fall of the ,western ,empire1 #aji1 #afc4 ,gordon1 ,rev4 ,alexander1 his account of ,priestley as a theologian1 #aji4 ,h ,harrison1 ,frederic1 on ,priestley1 #a4 ,horner1 ,leonard1 his account of the ,lunar ,society1 #ajb4 ,hutton1 ,miss1 her account of ,priestley as a preacher1 #aje4 ,i ,india-rubber1 its use for erasing lead-pencil marks1 #gb4 ,j ,jesus and ,socrates compared1 ,priestley's ,essay1 #afc4 ,k ,keighley1 ,mrs ,sarah1 #c1 #h1 #ab4 ,keir1 ,captain1 #id1 #abg4 ,kippis1 ,dr ,andrew1 #bd1 #bf4 ,kirwan1 ,richard1 #bae1 #bbc4 ,l ,lavoisier1 his relations to the discovery of oxygen1 #aie1 #aif1 #aih1 #bja1 #bae4 ,letters to a ,philosophical ,unbeliever1 ,priestley's1 #he4 ,lindsey1 ,theophilus1 his friendship for ,priestley1 #gc1 #ajf4 ,lunar ,society of ,birmingham1 #id et seq4 ,m ,magellan1 or ,magalhns1 #hd1 #bje4 ,marine ,acid ,air 7,hydrogen ,chloride71 ,priestley's discovery of1 #ahd4 ,melioration of ,air1 by the ,growth of ,plants1 ,priestley's paper on1 #bjh4 ,n ,nitrosulphuric ,acid1 discovery of1 #bjd4 ,nitrous ,air 7,nitric ,oxide71 ,priestley's work on1 #aha2 his application of it to ,eudiometry1 #ahb2 nature of1 #bba4 ,nitrous ,acid1 discovery of1 #ahb2 nature of1 #bba4 ,o ,oxygen1 ,priestley's discovery of1 #ahd1 #aib et seq4 ,p ,paoli1 ,pascal1 #gj et seq4 ,parr1 ,dr ,samuel1 #aac1 #add4 ,phlogisticated ,air 7,nitrogen71 ,priestley's theory of its constitution1 #bbj4 ,phlogiston1 #ih1 #ajj1 #afb1 #bad1 #bbb4 ,pneumatic ,trough1 the1 #agf4 ,price1 ,dr ,richard1 #fa4 ,pringle1 ,sir ,john1 address on award of ,copley ,medal to ,priestley1 #hj4 ,priestley1 ,jonas1 father of ,joseph ,priestley1 #b4 ,priestley1 ,joseph1 his birth1 #a2 ancestry1 #b2 education1 #h2 becomes an ,arminian1 #ad2 goes to ,daventry1 #ag2 his studies there1 #ah2 begins his ,institutes of ,natural and ,revealed ,religion1 #bj1 #fh2 his thorn in the flesh1 #ba2 goes to ,needham1 #bb2 his privations there1 #bc2 goes to ,nantwich1 #cj2 starts a school1 #ca2 removes to ,warrington1 #cb2 marries1 #dg2 is ordained1 #di2 his ,english ,grammar1 #cb1 #ea2 ,essay on ,education1 #ec2 ,lectures on ,history and ,general ,policy1 #ee2 his ,chart of ,biography1 #fj2 is made ,doctor of ,laws of ,edinburgh1 #fj2 publishes his ,history and ,present ,state of ,electricity1 #fd2 goes to ,leeds1 #ff2 becomes a ,unitarian1 #fi2 ,theory and ,practice of ,perspective1 #gb2 ,history of ,discoveries ,relating to ,vision1 ,light and ,colours1 #gc2 his literary characteristics1 #gd2 his invention of soda-water1 #gg et seq42 is awarded the ,copley ,medal1 #hj2 becomes librarian to ,lord ,shelburne1 #hb2 visits the continent1 #hd2 his ,disquisitions relating to ,matter and ,spirit1 #hf2 ,experiments and ,observations on ,different ,kinds of ,air1 #gg1 #ajc2 leaves ,lord ,shelburne1 #hh2 removes to ,birmingham1 #ic2 his merits as a preacher1 #aje2 his ,history of the ,corruptions of ,christianity1 #ajf2 his merits as a theologian1 #aji2 his love of literature1 #aaa2 his physical characteristics1 #aad2 his habits of life1 #aad2 his mental characteristics1 #aag2 destruction of his house at ,birmingham1 #abj et seq42 his address to the inhabitants of ,birmingham1 #acd2 his account of the riots1 #adc2 succeeds ,dr ,price as minister at ,hackney1 #adf2 withdraws from the ,royal ,society1 #adg2 determines to leave the country1 #adi2 his arrival in ,new ,york1 #aee2 settles in ,northumberland1 #aee2 death of ,mrs ,priestley1 #aeh2 his last days1 #afb2 his ,doctrine of ,phlogiston ,established1 #afb2 his death1 #afd4 ,priestley1 ,timothy1 #b1 #g4 ,r ,respiration1 and the use of the ,blood1 ,priestley's paper on1 #bjc4 ,robinson1 ,henry ,crabb1 his account of ,mrs ,barbauld1 #df4 ,russell1 ,martha1 her account of the ,birmingham ,riots of #agia1 #abh4 ,russell1 ,william1 #aje1 #abf1 #adi4 ,s ,sal ,ammoniac1 ,synthesis of1 by ,priestley1 #ahf4 ,scheele1 an independent discoverer of ,oxygen1 #bjf2 discovers ,chlorine1 #baa4 ,schimmelpenninck's1 ,mrs1 account of ,priestley1 #if4 ,seddon1 ,john1 #cd1 #db4 ,shelburne1 ,lord 7,marquis of ,lansdowne71 #hb4 ,silicon ,fluoride1 ,priestley's preparation of1 #aih2 its decomposition by water1 #aii4 ,soda-water1 invention of1 #gg4 ,sound in ,air1 #baa4 ,sozzini1 ,fausto1 #fi1 #ajh4 ,stahl1 author of the hypothesis of phlogiston1 #bbb4 ,sulphur dioxide 7,vitriolic ,acid ,air71 ,priestley's discovery of1 #aij4 ,sulphurated inflammable air 7sulphuretted hydrogen71 ,priestley's isolation of1 #bah4 ,sulphuretted hydrogen1 ,priestley's isolation of1 #bah4 ,t ,taylor1 ,dr ,john1 of ,norwich1 #cf4 ,theological ,repository1 the1 #fh1 #aje4 ,turner1 ,matthew1 teacher of chemistry at the ,warrington ,academy1 #ea1 #gf4 ,v ,vegetation1 relation of to ,air1 ,priestley's discovery of1 #agh1 #bjh4 ,vitriolic ,acid ,air 7sulphur dioxide71 ,priestley's isolation of1 #ahi4 ,w ,warrington ,academy1 the1 #cc et seq4 ,water ,controversy1 the1 #ig4 ,watt1 ,james1 his connection with the ,lunar ,society1 #id2 discovery of ,composition of ,water1 #ig4 ,wedgwood1 ,josiah1 his friendship for ,priestley1 #ee1 #hc1 #acg4 ,wilkes and ,liberty1 ,priestley's pamphlet on1 #gc1 #aeb4 ,wilkinson1 ,john1 #dh1 #ach4 ,wilkinson1 ,mary 7,mrs ,priestley71 #di1 #aeh2 ,madame ,belloc's account of her1 #di4 ,withering1 ,dr1 #id1 #aja1 #adh4 ,wordsworth1 ,william1 his admiration of ,mrs ,barbauld's literary work1 #df4 ,colston ,coy4 ,limited1 ,printers1 ,edinburgh4 ,transcriber's ,notes --,retained publication information from the printed edition3 this e,book is public-domain in the country of publication4 --,created cover and spine images based on elements in the book4 --,silently corrected a few palpable typos4 --,in the text versions only1 text in italics is delimited by underscores4