Volume 1 — MEMOIRS OF Dr. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY. [WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.] (continued 2)

The greatest part of the time that I spent with Lord Shelburne I passed with much satisfaction, his Lordship always behaving to me with uniform politeness, and his guests with respect. But about two years before I left him, I perceived evident marks of dissatisfaction, though I never understood the cause of it; and until that time he had been even lavish on all occasions in expressing his satisfaction in my society to our common friends. When I left him, I asked him whether he had any fault to find with my conduct, and he said none.

At length, however, he intimated to Dr. Price, that he wished to give me an establishment in Ireland, where he had large property. This gave me an opportunity of acquainting him, that if he chose to dissolve the connexion, it should be on the terms expressed in the writings which we mutually signed when it was formed, in consequence of which I should be entitled to an annuity of an hundred and fifty pounds, and then I would provide for myself, and to this he readily acceded. He told Dr. Price that he wished our separation to be amicable, and I assured him that nothing should be wanting on my part to make it truly so. Accordingly, I expected that he would receive my visits when I should be occasionally in London, but he declined them.

However, when I had been some years settled at Birmingham, he sent an especial messenger, and common friend, to engage me again in his service, having, as that friend assured me, a deep sense of the loss of Lord Ashburton (Mr. Dunning) by death, and of Colonel Barre by his becoming almost blind, and his want of some able and faithful friend, such as he had experienced in me; with other expressions more flattering than those. I did not chuse, however, on any consideration, to leave the very eligible situation in which I now am, but expressed my readiness to do him any service in my power. His Lordship’s enemies have insinuated that he was not punctual in the payment of my annuity; but the contrary is true: Hitherto nothing could have been more punctual, and I have no reason to suppose that it will ever be otherwise.

At Calne I had another son born to me, whom, at Lord Shelburne’s request, I called Henry.

It was at the time of my leaving Lord Shelburne that I found the great value of Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey’s friendship, in such a manner as I certainly had no expectation of when our acquaintance commenced; especially by their introducing me to the notice of Mrs. Rayner, one of his hearers, and most zealous friends.

Notwithstanding my allowance from Lord Shelburne was larger than that which I had at Leeds, yet my family growing up, and my expences, on this and other accounts, increasing more than in proportion, I was barely able to support my removal. But my situation being intimated to Mrs. Rayner, besides smaller sums, with which she occasionally assisted me, she gave me an hundred guineas to defray the expence of my removal, and deposited with Mrs. Lindsey, which she soon after gave up to me, four hundred guineas, and to this day has never failed giving me every year marks of her friendship. Her’s is, indeed, I seriously think, one of the first christian characters that I was ever acquainted with, having a cultivated comprehensive mind, equal to any subject of theology or metaphysics, intrepid in the cause of truth, and most rationally pious.

Spending so much of my time in London was the means of increasing my intimacy with both Mr. Lindsey and Mr. Lee, our common friend; who amidst the bustle of politics, always preserved his attachment to theology, and the cause of truth. The Sunday I always spent with Mr. Lindsey, attending the service of his chapel, and sometimes officiating for him; and with him and Mrs. Lindsey I generally spent the evening of that day at Mr. Lee’s who then admitted no other company, and seldom have I enjoyed society with more relish.

My winter’s residence in London was the means of improving my acquaintance with Dr. Franklin. I was seldom many days without seeing him, and being members of the same club, we constantly returned together. The difference with America breaking out at this time, our conversation was chiefly of a political nature; and I can bear witness, that he was so far from promoting, as was generally supposed, that he took every method in his power to prevent a rupture between the two countries. He urged so much the doctrine of forbearance, that for some time he was unpopular with the Americans on that account, as too much a friend to Great Britain. His advice to them was to bear every thing for the present, as they were sure in time to out grow all their grievances; as it could not be in the power of the mother country to oppress them long.

He dreaded the war, and often said that, if the difference should come to an open rupture, it would be a war of ten years, and he should not live to see the end of it. In reality the war lasted near eight years but he did live to see the happy termination of it. That the issue would be favorable to America, he never doubted. The English, he used to say, may take all our great towns, but that will not give them possession of the country. The last day that he spent in England, having given out that he should leave London the day before, we passed together, without any other company; and much of the time was employed in reading American newspapers, especially accounts of the reception which the Boston port bill met with in America; and as he read the addresses to the inhabitants of Boston from the places in the neighbourhood, the tears trickled down his cheeks.[16]

It is much to be lamented, that a man of Dr. Franklin’s general good character, and great influence, should have been an unbeliever in christianity, and also have done so much as he did to make others unbelievers. To me, however, he acknowledged that he had not given so much attention as he ought to have done to the evidences of christianity, and desired me to recommend to him a few treatises on the subject, such as I thought most deserving of his notice, but not of great length, promising to read them, and give me his sentiments on them. Accordingly, I recommended to him Hartley’s evidences of christianity in his Observations on Man, and what I had then written on the subject in my Institutes of natural and revealed religion. But the American war breaking out soon after, I do not believe that he ever found himself sufficiently at leisure for the discussion. I have kept up a correspondence with him occasionally ever since, and three of his letters to me were, with his consent, published in his Miscellaneous Works, in quarto. The first of them, written immediately on his landing in America, is very striking.

About three years before the dissolution of my connection with Lord Shelburne, Dr. Fothergill, with whom I had always lived on terms of much intimacy, having observed, as he said, that many of my experiments had not been carried to their proper extent on account of the expence that would have attended them, proposed to me a subscription from himself and some of his friends, to supply me with whatever sums I should want for that purpose, and named a hundred pounds per annum. This large subscription I declined, lest the discovery of it (by the use that I should, of course, make of it) should give umbrage to Lord Shelburne, but I consented to accept of 40 £. per annum, which from that time he regularly paid me, from the contribution of himself, Sir Theodore Jansen, Mr. Constable, and Sir George Saville.

On my leaving Lord Shelburne, which was attended with the loss of one half of my income, Dr. Fothergill proposed an enlargement of my allowance for my experiments, and likewise for my maintenance, without being under the necessity of giving my time to pupils, which I must otherwise have done. And, considering the generosity with which this voluntary offer was made by persons who could well afford it, and who thought me qualified to serve the interests of science, I thought it right to accept of it; and I preferred it to any pension from the court, offers of which were more than once made by persons who thought they could have procured one for me.

As it was my wish to do what might be in my power to shew my gratitude to my friends and benefactors that suggested the idea of writing these Memoirs, I shall subjoin a list of their names. Some of the subscriptions were made with a view to defray the expence of my experiments only; but the greater part of the subscribers were persons who were equally friends to my theological studies.

The persons who made me this regular annual allowance were Dr. Watson and his son, Mr. Wedgwood, Mr. Moseley, Mr. S. Salte, Mr. Jeffries, Mr. Radcliffe, Mr. Remington, Mr. Strutt of Derby, Mr. Shore, Mr. Reynolds of Paxton, Messrs. Galton, father and son, and the Rev. Mr. Simpson.

Besides the persons whose names appear in this list, as regular subscribers, there were other persons who, without chusing to be known as such, contributed no less to my support, and some considerably more.

My chief benefactress was Mrs. Rayner, and next to her Dr. Heberden, equally distinguished for his love of religious truth, and his zeal to promote science. Such also is the character of Mr. Tayleur of Shrewsbury, who has at different times remitted me considerable sums, chiefly to defray the expences incurred by my theological inquiries and publications.

Mr. Parker of Fleet street very generously supplied me with every instrument that I wanted in glass, particularly a capital burning lens,[17] sixteen inches in diameter. All his benefactions in this way would have amounted to a considerable sum. Mr. Wedgwood also, besides his annual benefaction, supplied me with every thing that I wanted made of pottery, such as retorts, tubes, &c. which the account of my experiments will shew to have been of great use to me.

On my removal to Birmingham commenced my intimacy with Mr. William Russell, whose public spirit, and zeal in every good cause, can hardly be exceeded. My obligations to him were various and constant, so as not to be estimated by sums of money. At his proposal I doubt not, some of the heads of the congregation made me a present of two hundred pounds, to assist me in my theological publications.

Mr. Lee shewed himself particularly my friend at the time that I left Lord Shelburne, assisting me in the difficulties with which I was then pressed, and continuing to befriend me afterwards by seasonable benefactions. By him it was hinted to me during the administration of Lord Rockingham, with whom he had great influence, that I might have a pension from the government, to assist in defraying the expence of my experiments. Another hint of the same kind was given me in the beginning of Mr. Pitt’s administration by a Bishop in whose power it was to have procured it from him. But in both cases I declined the overture, wishing to preserve myself independent of every thing connected with the court, and preferring the assistance of generous and opulent individuals, lovers of science, and also lovers of liberty. Without assistance I could not have carried on my experiments at all, except on a very small scale, and under great disadvantages.

Mr. Galton, before I had any opportunity of being personally acquainted with him, had, on the death of Dr. Fothergill, taken up his subscription. His son did the same, and the friendship of the latter has added much to the happiness of my situation here.[18] Seldom, if ever, have I known two persons of such cultivated minds, pleasing manners, and liberal dispositions, as he and Mrs. Galton. The latter had the greatest attachment imaginable to my wife.

Mr. Salte was zealous in promoting the subscriptions to my experiments, and moreover proposed to take one of my sons as an apprentice without any fee. But my brother-in-law making the same offer, I gave it the preference: Mr. Wedgwood, who has distinguished himself by his application to philosophical pursuits, as well as by his great success in the improvement of his manufactory, was very zealous to serve me, and urged me to accept of a much larger allowance than I chose.

The favours that I received from my two brothers-in-law deserve my most grateful acknowledgments. They acted the part of kind and generous relations, especially at the time when I most wanted assistance. It was in consequence of Mr. John Wilkinson’s proposal, who wished to have us nearer to him, that, being undetermined where to settle, I fixed upon Birmingham, where he soon provided a house for me.

My apology for accepting of these large benefactions is, that besides the great expence of my philosophical and even my theological studies, and the education of three sons and a daughter, the reputation I had, justly or unjustly, acquired brought on me a train of expences not easy to describe, to avoid or to estimate; so that without so much as keeping a horse (which the kindness of Mr. Russel made unnecessary) the expence of housekeeping, &c. was more than double the amount of any regular income that I had.

I consider my settlement at Birmingham as the happiest event in my life, being highly favorable to every object I had in view, philosophical or theological. In the former respect I had the convenience of good workmen of every kind, and the society of persons eminent for their knowledge of chemistry, particularly Mr. Watt, Mr. Keir, and Dr. Withering. These with Mr. Boulton, and Dr. Darwin, who soon left us by removing from Litchfield to Derby, Mr. Galton, and afterwards Mr. Johnson of Kenelworth and myself dined together every month, calling ourselves the lunar society, because the time of our meeting was near the full moon.

With respect to theology, I had the society of Mr. Hawkes, Mr. Blyth, and Mr. Scholefield, and his assistant Mr. Coates, and, while he lived Mr. Palmer, before of Macclesfield. We met and drank tea together, every fortnight. At this meeting we read all the papers that were sent for the Theological Repository, which I revived some time after my coming hither, and in general our conversation was of the same cast as that with my fellow tutors at Warrington.

Within a quarter of a year of my coming to reside at Birmingham, Mr. Hawkes resigned, and I had an unanimous invitation to succeed him, as colleague with Mr. Blyth, a man of a truly christian temper. The congregation we serve is the most liberal, I believe, of any in England; and to this freedom the unwearied labours of Mr. Bourne had eminently contributed.

With this congregation I greatly improved my plan of catechizing and lecturing, and my classes have been well attended. I have also introduced the custom of expounding the scriptures as I read them, which I had never done before, but which I would earnestly recommend to all ministers. My time being much taken up with my philosophical and other studies, I agreed with the congregation to leave the business of baptizing, and visiting the sick, to Mr. Blyth, and to confine my services to the Sundays. I have been minister here between seven and eight years, without any interruption of my happiness; and for this I am sensible I am in a great measure indebted to the friendship of Mr. Russell.

Here I have never long intermitted my philosophical pursuits, and I have published two volumes of experiments, besides communications to the Royal Society.

In theology I have completed my friendly controversy with the Bishop of Waterford on the duration of Christ’s ministry, I have published a variety of single sermons, which, with the addition of a few others, I have lately collected, and published in one volume, and I am now engaged in a controversy of great extent, and which promises to be of considerable consequence, relating to the person of Christ.

This was occasioned by my History of the Corruptions of Christianity, which I composed and published presently after my settlement at Birmingham, the first section of which being rudely attacked in the Monthly Review,[19] then by Dr. Horsely, and afterwards by Mr. Howes, and other particular opponents, I undertook to collect from the original writers the state of opinions on the subject in the age succeeding that of the apostles, and I have published the result of my investigation in my History of early opinions concerning Jesus Christ, in four volumes octavo. This work has brought me more antagonists, and I now write a pamphlet annually in defence of the unitarian doctrine against all my opponents.

My only Arian antagonist is Dr. Price, with whom the discussion of the question has proceeded with perfect amity. But no Arian has as yet appeared upon the ground to which I wish to confine the controversy, viz. the state of opinions in the primitive times, as one means of collecting what was the doctrine of the apostles, and the true sense of scripture on the subject.

Some years ago I resumed the Theological Repository in which I first advanced my objections to the doctrine of the miraculous conception of Jesus, and his natural fallibility and peccability. These opinions gave at first great alarm, even to my best friends; but that is now in a great measure subsided. For want of sufficient sale, I shall be obliged to discontinue this Repository for some time.

At present I thank God I can say that my prospects are better than they have ever been before, and my own health, and that of my wife, better established, and my hopes as to the dispositions and future settlement of my children satisfactory.

I shall now close this account of myself with some observations of a general nature, but chiefly an account of those circumstances for which I have more particular reason to be thankful to that good being who has brought me hitherto, and to whom I trust I habitually ascribe whatever my partial friends think the world indebted to me for,

I. Not to enlarge again on what has been mentioned already, on the fundamental blessings of a religious and liberal education, I have particular reason to be thankful for a happy temperament of body and mind, both derived from my parents. My father, grand father, and several branches of the family, were remarkably healthy, and long lived; and though my constitution has been far from robust, and was much injured by a consumptive tendency, or rather an ulcer in my lungs, the consequence of improper conduct of myself when I was at school (being often violently heated with exercise, and as often imprudently chilled by bathing, &c.) from which with great difficulty I recovered, it has been excellently adapted to that studious life which has fallen to my lot.

I have never been subject to head-achs, or any other complaints that are peculiarly unfavourable to study. I have never found myself less disposed, or less qualified, for mental exertions of any kind at one time of the day more than another; but all seasons have been equal to me, early or late, before dinner or after, &c. And so far have I been from suffering by my application to study, (which however has never been so close or intense as some have imagined) that I have found my health improving from the age of eighteen to the present time; and never have I found myself more free from any disorder than at present. I must, however, except a short time preceding and following my leaving Lord Shelburne, when I laboured under a bilious complaint, in which I was troubled with gall stones, which sometimes gave me exquisite pain. But by confining myself to a vegetable diet, I perfectly recovered; and I have now been so long free from the disorder that I am under no apprehension of its return.

It has been a singular happiness to me, and a proof, I believe, of a radically good constitution, that I have always slept well, and have awaked with my faculties perfectly vigorous, without any disposition to drowsiness. Also, whenever I have been fatigued with any kind of exertion, I could at any time sit down and sleep; and whatever cause of anxiety I may have had, I have almost always lost sight of it when I have got to bed; and I have generally fallen asleep as soon as I have been warm.[20]

I even think it an advantage to me, and am truly thankful for it, that my health received the check that it did when I was young; since a muscular habit from high health, and strong spirits, are not, I think, in general accompanied with that sensibility of mind, which is both favourable to piety, and to speculative pursuits.[21]

To a fundamentally good constitution of body, and the being who gave it me, I owe an even chearfulness of temper, which has had but few interruptions. This I inherit from my father, who had uniformly better spirits than any man that I ever knew, and by this means was as happy towards the close of life, when reduced to poverty, and dependent upon others, as in his best days; and who, I am confident, would not have been unhappy, as I have frequently heard him say, in a workhouse.

Though my readers will easily suppose that, in the course of a life so full of vicissitude as mine has been, many things must have occurred to mortify and discompose me, nothing has ever depressed my mind beyond a very short period. My spirits have never failed to recover their natural level, and I have frequently observed, and at first with some surprize, that the most perfect satisfaction I have ever felt has been a day or two after an event that afflicted me the most, and without any change having taken place in the state of things. Having found this to be the case after many of my troubles, the persuasion that it would be so, after a new cause of uneasiness, has never failed to lessen the effect of its first impression, and together with my firm belief of the doctrine of necessity, (and consequently that of every thing being ordered for the best) has contributed to that degree of composure which I have enjoyed through life, so that I have always considered myself as one of the happiest of men.

When I was a young author, (though I did not publish any thing until I was about thirty) strictures on my writings gave me some disturbance, though I believe even then less than they do most others; but after some time, things of that kind hardly affected me at all, and on this account I may be said to have been well formed for public controversy.[22] But what has always made me easy in any controversy in which I have been engaged, has been my fixed resolution frankly to acknowledge any mistake that I might perceive I had fallen into. That I have never been in the least backward to do this in matters of philosophy, can never be denied.

As I have not failed to attend to the phenomena of my own mind, as well as to those of other parts of nature, I have not been insensible of some great defects, as well as some advantages, attending its constitution; having from an early period been subject to a most humbling failure of recollection, so that I have sometimes lost all ideas of both persons and things, that I have been conversant with. I have so completely forgotten what I have myself published, that in reading my own writings, what I find in them often appears perfectly new to me, and I have more than once made experiments the results of which had been published by me.

I shall particularly mention one fact of this kind; as it alarmed me much at the time, as a symptom of all my mental powers totally failing me, until I was relieved by the recollection of things of a similar nature having happened to me before. When I was composing the Dissertations which are prefixed to my Harmony of the gospels, I had to ascertain something which had been the subject of much discussion relating to the Jewish passover (I have now forgotten what it was) and for that purpose had to consult, and compare several writers. This I accordingly did, and digested the result in the compass of a few paragraphs, which I wrote in short hand. But having mislaid the paper, and my attention having been drawn off to other things, in the space of a fortnight, I did the same thing over again; and should never have discovered that I had done it twice, if, after the second paper was transcribed for the press, I had not accidentally found the former, which I viewed with a degree of terror.

Apprized of this defect, I never fail to note down as soon as possible every thing that I wish not to forget. The same failing has led me to devise, and have recourse to, a variety of mechanical expedients to secure and arrange my thoughts, which have been of the greatest use to me in the composition of large and complex works; and what has excited the wonder of some of my readers, would only have made them smile if they had seen me at work. But by simple and mechanical methods one man shall do that in a month, which shall cost another, of equal ability, whole years to execute. This methodical arrangement of a large work is greatly facilitated by mechanical methods, and nothing contributes more to the perspicuity of a large work, than a good arrangement of its parts.

What I have known with respect to myself has tended much to lessen both my admiration, and my contempt, of others. Could we have entered into the mind of Sir Isaac Newton, and have traced all the steps by which he produced his great works, we might see nothing very extraordinary in the process. And great powers with respect to some things are generally attended with great defects in others; and these may not appear in a man’s writings. For this reason it seldom happens but that our admiration of philosophers and writers is lessened by a personal knowledge of them.

As great excellencies are often balanced by great, though not apparent, defects, so great and apparent defects are often accompanied by great, though not apparent, excellencies. Thus my defect in point of recollection, which may be owing to a want of sufficient coherence in the association of ideas formerly impressed, may arise from a mental constitution more favourable to new associations; so that what I have lost with respect to memory, may have been compensated by what is called invention, or new and original combinations of ideas. This is a subject that deserves attention, as well as every thing else that relates to the affections of the mind.

Though I have often composed much in a little time, it by no means follows that I could have done much in a given time. For whenever I have done much business in a short time, it has always been with the idea of having time more than sufficient to do it in; so that I have always felt myself at ease, and I could have done nothing, as many can, if I had been hurried.

Knowing the necessity of this state of my mind to the dispatch of business, I have never put off any thing to the last moment; and instead of doing that on the morrow which ought to be done to day, I have often blamed myself for doing to day what had better have been put off until to morrow; precipitancy being more my fault than procrastination.

It has been a great advantage to me that I have never been under the necessity of retiring from company in order to compose any thing. Being fond of domestic life, I got a habit of writing on any subject by the parlour fire, with my wife and children about me, and occasionally talking to them, without experiencing any inconvenience from such interruptions. Nothing but reading, or speaking without interruption, has been any obstruction to me. For I could not help attending (as some can) when others spoke in my hearing. These are useful habits, which studious persons in general might acquire, if they would; and many persons greatly distress themselves, and others, by the idea that they can do nothing except in perfect solitude or silence.

Another great subject of my thankfulness to a good providence is my perfect freedom from any embarrassment in my circumstances, so that, without any anxiety on the subject, my supplies have always been equal to my wants; and now that my expences are increased to a degree that I had no conception of some years ago, I am a richer man than I was, and without laying myself out for the purpose. What is more, this indifference about an increase of fortune has been the means of attaining it. When I began my experiments, I expended on them all the money I could possibly raise, carried on by my ardour in philosophical investigations, and entirely regardless of consequences, except so far as never to contract any debt; and if this had been without success, my imprudence would have been manifest. But having succeeded, I was in time more than indemnified for all that I had expended.

My theological studies, especially those which made it necessary for me to consult the Christian Fathers, &c. have also been expensive to me. But I have found my theological friends even more liberal than my philosophical ones, and all beyond my expectations.

In reflecting on my past life I have often thought of two sayings of Jacob. When he had lost one of his sons, and thought of other things that were afflictions to him, he said, “all these things are against me,” at the same time that they were in reality making for him. So the impediment in my speech, and the difficulties of my situation at Needham, I now see as much cause to be thankful for, as for the most brilliant scenes in my life.

I have also applied to myself what Jacob said on his return from Padan Aram. “With my staff I went over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands;” when I consider how little I carried with me to Needham and Nantwich, how much more I had to carry to Warrington, how much more still to Leeds, how much more than that to Calne, and then to Birmingham.

Yet, frequently as I have changed my situation, and always for the better, I can truly say that I never wished for any change on my own account. I should have been contented even at Needham, if I could have been unmolested, and had bare necessaries. This freedom from anxiety was remarkable in my father, and therefore is in a manner hereditary to me; but it has been much increased by reflection; having frequently observed, especially with respect to christian ministers, how often it has contributed to embitter their lives, without being of any use to them. Some attention to the improvement of a man’s circumstances is, no doubt, right, because no man can tell what occasion he may have for money, especially if he have children, and therefore I do not recommend my example to others. But I am thankful to that good providence which always took more care of me than I ever took of myself.

Hitherto I have had great reason to be thankful with respect to my children, as they have a prospect of enjoying a good share of health, and a sufficient capacity for performing the duties of their stations. They have also good dispositions, and as much as could be expected at their age, a sense of religion. But as I hope they will live to see this work, I say the less on this subject, and I hope they will consider what I say in their favour as an incitement to exert themselves to act a christian and useful part in life; that the care that I and their mother have taken of their instruction may not be lost upon them, and that they may secure a happy meeting with us in a better world.

I esteem it a singular happiness to have lived in an age and country, in which I have been at full liberty both to investigate, and by preaching and writing to propagate, religious truth; that though the freedom I have used for this purpose was for some time disadvantageous to me, it was not long so, and that my present situation is such that I can with the greatest openness urge whatever appears to me to be the truth of the gospel, not only without giving the least offence, but with the intire approbation of those with whom I am particularly connected.

As to the dislike which I have drawn upon myself by my writings, whether that of the Calvinistic party, in or out of the church of England, those who rank with rational dissenters (but who have been exceedingly offended at my carrying my inquiries farther than they wished any person to do) or whether they be unbelievers, I am thankful that it gives less disturbance to me than it does to themselves; and that their dislike is much more than compensated by the cordial esteem and approbation of my conduct by a few, whose minds are congenial to my own, and especially that the number of such persons increases.

[Birmingham, 1787.

A Continuation of the Memoirs, written at Northumberland in America in the beginning of the year 1795.

When I wrote the preceding part of these Memoirs I was happy as must have appeared in the course of them, in the prospect of spending the remainder of my life at Birmingham, where I had every advantage for pursuing my studies, both philosophical and theological; but it pleased the sovereign disposer of all things to appoint for me other removals, and the manner in which they were brought about were more painful to me than the removals themselves. I am far, however, from questioning the wisdom or the goodness of the appointments respecting myself or others.

To resume the account of my pursuits where the former part of the Memoirs left it, I must observe that, in the prosecution of my experiments, I was led to maintain the doctrine of phlogiston against Mr. Lavoisier and other chemists in France, whose opinions were adopted not only by almost all the philosophers of that country, but by those in England and Scotland also. My friends, however, of the lunar society were never satisfied with the Anti-phlogistic doctrine. My experiments and observations on this subject were published in various papers in the Philosophical Transactions. At Birmingham I also published a new edition of my publications on the subject of air, and others connected with it, reducing the six volumes to three, which, with his consent, I dedicated to the prince of Wales.

In theology I continued my defences of Unitarianism, until it appeared to myself and my friends that my antagonists produced nothing to which it was of any consequence to reply. But I did not, as I had proposed, publish any address to the bishops, or to the legislature, on the subject. The former I wrote, but did not publish. I left it, however, in the hands of Mr. Belsham when I came to America, that he might dispose of it as he should think proper.

The pains that I took to ascertain the state of early opinions concerning Jesus Christ, and the great misapprehensions I perceived in all the ecclesiastical historians, led me to undertake a General History of the christian church to the fall of the Western empire, which accordingly I wrote in two volumes octavo, and dedicated to Mr. Shore. This work I mean to continue.

At Birmingham I wrote the second part of my Letters to a philosophical Unbeliever, and dedicated the whole to Mr. Tayleur of Shrewsbury, who had afforded me most material assistance in the publication of many of my theological works, without which, the sale being inconsiderable, I should not have been able to publish them at all.

Before I left Birmingham I preached a funeral sermon for my friend Dr. Price, and another for Mr. Robinson of Cambridge, who died with us on a visit to preach our annual charity school sermon. I also preached the last annual sermon to the friends of the college at Hackney. All these three sermons were published.

About two years before I left Birmingham the question about the test act was much agitated both in and out of parliament. This, however, was altogether without any concurrence of mine. I only delivered, and published, a sermon on the 5th of November 1789, recommending the most peaceable method of pursuing our object. Mr. Madan, however, the most respectable clergyman in the town, preaching and publishing a most inflammatory sermon on the subject, inveighing in the bitterest manner against the Dissenters in general, and myself in particular, I addressed a number of familiar letters to the inhabitants of Birmingham in our defence. This produced a reply from him, and other letters from me. All mine were written in an ironical and rather a pleasant manner, and in some of the last of them I introduced a farther reply to Mr. Burn, another clergyman in Birmingham, who had addressed to me letters on the infallibility of the testimony of the Apostles concerning the person of Christ, after replying to his first set of Letters, in a separate publication.

From these small pieces I was far from expecting any serious consequences. But the Dissenters in general being very obnoxious to the court, and it being imagined, though without any reason, that I had been the chief promoter of the measures which gave them offence, the clergy, not only in Birmingham, but through all England, seemed to make it their business, by writing in the public papers, by preaching, and other methods, to inflame the minds of the people against me. And on occasion of the celebration of the anniversary of the French revolution on July 14th, 1791, by several of my friends, but with which I had little to do, a mob encouraged by some persons in power, first burned the meeting house in which I preached, then another meeting house in the town, and then my dwelling house, demolishing my library, apparatus, and, as far as they could, every thing belonging to me. They also burned, or much damaged, the houses of many Dissenters, chiefly my friends; the particulars of which I need not recite, as they will be found in two Appeals which I published on the subject written presently after the riots.

Being in some personal danger on this occasion, I went to London; and so violent was the spirit of party which then prevailed, that I believe I could hardly have been safe in any other place. There, however, I was perfectly so, though I continued to be an object of troublesome attention until I left the country altogether. It shewed no small degree of courage and friendship in Mr. William Vaughan to receive me into his house, and also in Mr. Salte, with whom I spent a month at Tottenham. But it shewed more in Dr. Price’s congregation at Hackney, to invite me to succeed him, which they did, though not unanimously, some time after my arrival in London.

In this situation I found myself as happy as I had been at Birmingham, and contrary to general expectation, I opened my lectures to young persons with great success, being attended by many from London; and though I lost some of the hearers, I left the congregation in a better situation than that in which I found it.

On the whole, I spent my time even more happily at Hackney than ever I had done before; having every advantage for my philosophical and theological studies, in some respect superior to what I had enjoyed at Birmingham, especially from my easy access to Mr. Lindsey, and my frequent intercourse with Mr. Belsham, professor of divinity in the New College, near which I lived. Never, on this side the grave, do I expect to enjoy myself so much as I did by the fire side of Mr. Lindsey, conversing with him and Mrs. Lindsey on theological and other subjects, or in my frequent walks with Mr. Belsham, whose views of most important subjects were, like Mr. Lindsey’s, the same with my own.

I found, however, my society much restricted with respect to my philosophical acquaintance; most of the members of the Royal Society shunning me on account of my religious or political opinions, so that I at length withdrew myself from them, and gave my reasons for so doing in the Preface to my Observations and Experiments on the generation of air from water, which I published at Hackney. For, with the assistance of my friends, I had in a great measure replaced my Apparatus, and had resumed my experiments, though after the loss of near two years.

Living in the neighbourhood of the New College, I voluntarily undertook to deliver the lectures to the pupils on the subject of History and General policy, which I had composed at Warrington, and also on Experimental Philosophy and Chemistry, the Heads of which I drew up for this purpose, and afterwards published. In being useful to this Institution I found a source of considerable satisfaction to myself. Indeed, I have always had a high degree of enjoyment in lecturing to young persons, though more on theological subjects than on any other.

After the riots in Birmingham I wrote an Appeal to the Public on the subject, and that being replied to by the clergy of the place, I wrote a second part, to which, though they had pledged themselves to do it, they made no reply; so that, in fact the criminality of the magistrates, and other principal High-church men at Birmingham, in promoting the riot, remains acknowledged. Indeed, many circumstances, which have appeared since that time, shew that the friends of the court, if not the prime ministers themselves, were the favourers of that riot; having, no doubt, thought to intimidate the friends of liberty by the measure.

To my Appeal I subjoined various Addresses[23] that were sent to me from several descriptions of persons in England, and abroad; and from them I will not deny that I received much satisfaction, as it appeared that the friends of liberty, civil and religious, were of opinion that I was a sufferer in that cause. From France I received a considerable number of Addresses; and when the present National Convention was called, I was invited by many of the departments to be a member of it. But I thought myself more usefully employed at home, and that I was but ill qualified for a business which required knowledge which none but a native of the country could possess; and therefore declined the honour that was proposed to me.

But no addresses gave me so much satisfaction as those from my late congregation, and especially of the young persons belonging to it, who had attended my lectures. They are a standing testimony of the zeal and fidelity with which I did my duty with respect to them, and which I value highly.

Besides congratulatory addresses, I received much pecuniary assistance from various persons, and bodies of men, which more than compensated for my pecuniary losses, though what was awarded me at the Assizes fell two thousand pounds short of them. But my brother-in-law, Mr. John Wilkinson, from whom I had not at that time any expectation, in consequence of my son’s leaving his employment, was the most generous on the occasion. Without any solicitation, he immediately sent me five hundred pounds, and afterwards transferred to me ten thousand pounds which he had deposited in the French funds, and until that be productive, he allows me two hundred pounds per annum.

After the riots, I published my Letters to the Swedenborgian Society, which I had composed, and prepared for the press just before.

Mr. Wakefield living in the neighbourhood of the College, and publishing at this time his objections to public worship, they made a great impression on many of our young men, and in his Preface he reflected much on the character of Dr. Price. On both these accounts I thought myself called upon to reply to him, which I did in a series of Letters to a young man. But though he made several angry replies, I never noticed any of them. In this situation I also answered Mr. Evanson’s Observations on the dissonance of the Evangelists in a second set of Letters to a young man. He also replied to me, but I was satisfied with what I had done, and did not continue the controversy.

Besides the sermon which I delivered on my acceptance of the invitation to the meeting at Hackney, in the preface to which I gave a detailed account of my system of catechizing, I published two Fast sermons for the years 1793 and 1794, in the latter of which I gave my ideas of antient prophecies compared with the then state of Europe, and in the preface to it I gave an account of my reasons for leaving the country. I also published a Farewell sermon.[24]

But the most important of my publications in this situation were a series of Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France on the subject of Religion. I thought that the light in which I then stood in that country gave me some advantage in my attempts to enforce the evidence of natural and revealed religion. I also published a set of sermons on the evidences of revelation, which I first delivered by public notice, and the delivery of which was attended by great numbers. They were printed just before I left England.

As the reasons for this step in my conduct are given at large in the preface to my Fast sermon, I shall not dwell upon them here. The bigotry of the country in general made it impossible for me to place my sons in it to any advantage. William had been some time in France, and on the breaking out of the troubles in that country he had embarked for America, where his two brothers met him. My own situation, if not hazardous, was become unpleasant, so that I thought my removal would be of more service to the cause of truth than my longer stay in England. At length, therefore, with the approbation of all my friends, without exception, but with great reluctance on my own part, I came to that resolution; I being at a time of life in which I could not expect much satisfaction as to friends and society, comparable to that which I left, in which the resumption of my philosophical pursuits must be attended with great disadvantage, and in which success in my still more favourite pursuit, the propagation of unitarianism, was still more uncertain. It was also painful to me to leave my daughter, Mr. Finch having the greatest aversion to leave his relations and friends in England.

At the time of my leaving England my son in conjunction with Mr. Cooper, and other English emigrants, had a scheme for a large settlement for the friends of liberty in general near the head of the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania. And taking it for granted that it would be carried into effect, after landing at New-York, I went to Philadelphia, and thence came to Northumberland, a town the nearest to the proposed settlement, thinking to reside there until some progress had been made in it. The settlement was given up; but being here, and my wife and myself liking the place, I have determined to take up my residence here, though subject to many disadvantages. Philadelphia was excessively expensive, and this comparatively a cheap place; and my son’s, settling in the neighbourhood, will be less exposed to temptation, and more likely to form habits of sobriety and industry. They will also be settled at much less expence than in or near a large town. We hope, after some time, to be joined by a few of our friends from England, that a readier communication will be opened with Philadelphia, and that the place will improve, and become more eligible in other respects.

When I was at sea, I wrote some observations on the cause of the present prevalence of infidelity, which I published, and prefixed to a new edition of the Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France. I have also published my Fast and Farewell sermons, and my small tracts in defence of unitarianism, also a Continuation of those Letters, and a third part of Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, in answer to Mr. Paine’s Age of Reason.

The observations on the prevalence of infidelity I have much enlarged, and intend soon to print; but I am chiefly employed on the Continuation of my History of the christian church.

Northumberland, March 24, 1795, in which I have completed the sixty second year of my age.