My first publication on the subject of air was in 1772. It was a small
pamphlet, on the method of impregnating water with fixed air; which
being immediately translated into French, excited a great degree
of attention to the subject, and this was much increased by the
publication of my first paper of experiments in a large article of the
Philosophical Transactions the year following, for which I received the
gold medal of the society. My method of impregnating water with fixed
air was considered at a meeting of the College of Physicians, before
whom I made the experiments, and by them it was recommended to the
Lords of the Admiral (by whom they had been summoned for the purpose)
as likely to be of use in the sea scurvy.
The only person in Leeds who gave much attention to my experiments
was Mr. Hay, a surgeon. He was a zealous methodist, and wrote answers
to some of my theological tracts; but we always conversed with the
greatest freedom on philosophical subjects, without mentioning any
thing relating to theology. When I left Leeds, he begged of me the
earthen trough in which I had made all my experiments on air while I
was there. It was such an one as is there commonly used for washing
linnen.
Having succeeded so well in the History of Electricity, I was
induced to undertake the history of all the brandies of experimental
philosophy; and at Leeds I gave out proposals for that purpose,
and published the _History of discoveries relating to vision light
and colours_. This work, also, I believe I executed to general
satisfaction, and being an undertaking of great expence, I was under
the necessity of publishing it by subscription. The sale, however, was
not such as to encourage me to proceed with a work of so much labour
and expence; so that after purchasing a great number of books, to
enable me to finish my undertaking, I was obliged to abandon it, and to
apply wholly to original experiments.[12]
[12] Many of the subscriptions remained unpaid.
In writing the History of discoveries relating to vision, I was
much assisted by Mr. Michell, the discoverer of the method of making
artificial magnets. Living at Thornhill, not very far from Leeds, I
frequently visited him, and was very happy in his society, as I also
was in that of Mr. Smeaton, who lived still nearer to me. He made me a
present of his excellent air pump, which I constantly use to this day.
Having strongly recommended his construction of this instrument, it is
now generally used; whereas before that hardly any had been made during
the twenty years which had elapsed after the account that he had given
of it in the Philosophical Transactions.
I was also instrumental in reviving the use of large electrical
machines, and batteries, in electricity, the generality of electrical
machines being little more than play things at the time that I began
my experiments. The first very large electrical machine was made by
Mr. Nairne in consequence of a request made to me by the Grand Duke of
Tuscany, to get him the best machine that we could make in England.
This, and another that he made for Mr. Vaughan, were constituted on a
plan of my own. But afterwards Mr. Nairne made large machines on a more
simple and improved construction; and in consideration of the service
which I had rendered him, he made me a present of a pretty large
machine of the same kind.
The review of my history of electricity by Mr. Bewley, who was
acquainted with Mr. Michell, was the means of opening a correspondence
between us, which was the source of much satisfaction to me as long
as he lived. I instantly communicated to him an account of every new
experiment that I made, and, in return, was favoured with his remarks
upon them. All that he published of his own were articles in the
_Appendixes_ to my volumes on air, all of which are ingenious and
valuable. Always publishing in this manner, he used to call himself my
_satellite_. There was a vein of pleasant wit and humour in all his
correspondence, which added greatly to the value of it. His letters
to me would have made several volumes, and mine to him still more.
When he found himself dangerously ill, he made a point of paying me a
visit before he died; and he made a journey from Norfolk to Birmingham,
accompanied by Mrs. Bewley, for that purpose; and after spending about
a week with me, he went to his friend Dr. Burney, and at his house he
died.
While I was at Leeds a proposal was made to me to accompany Captain
Cook in his second voyage to the south seas. As the terms were very
advantageous, I consented to it, and the heads of my congregation had
agreed to keep an assistant to supply my place during my absence. But
Mr. Banks informed me that I was objected to by some clergymen in the
board of longitude, who had the direction of this business, on account
of my religious principles; and presently after I heard that Dr.
Forster, a person far better qualified for the purpose, had got the
appointment. As I had barely acquiesced in the proposal, this was no
disappointment to me, and I was much better employed at home, even with
respect to my philosophical pursuits. My knowledge of natural history
was not sufficient for the undertaking; but at that time I should by
application have been able to supply my deficiency, though now I am
sensible I could not do it.
At Leeds I was particularly happy in my intercourse with Mr. Turner of
Wakefield, and occasionally, with Mr. Cappe of York, and Mr. Graham
of Halifax. And here it was that, in consequence of a visit which in
company with Mr. Turner I made to the Archdeacon Blackburne at Richmond
(with whom I had kept up a correspondence from the time that his son
was under my care at Warrington) I first met with Mr. Lindsey, then of
Catterick, and a correspondence and intimacy commenced, which has been
the source of more real satisfaction to me than any other circumstance
in my whole life. He soon discovered to me that he was uneasy in his
situation, and had thoughts of quitting it. At first I was not forward
to encourage him in it, but rather advised him to make what alteration
he thought proper in the offices of the church, and leave it to his
superiors to dismiss him if they chose. But his better judgment,
and greater fortitude, led him to give up all connexion with the
established church of his own accord.
This took place about the time of my leaving Leeds, and it was not
until long after this that I was apprized of all the difficulties
he had to struggle with before he could accomplish his purpose. But
the opposition made to it by his nearest friends, and those who
might have been expected to approve of the step that he took, and to
have endeavoured to make it easy to him, was one of the greatest.
Notwithstanding this he left Catterick, where he had lived in
affluence idolized by his parish, and went to London without any
certain prospect; where he lived in two rooms of a ground floor, until
by the assistance of his friends, he was able to pay for the use of the
upper apartments, which the state of his health rendered necessary. In
this humble situation have I passed some of the most pleasing hours of
my life, when, in consequence of living with Lord Shelburne, I spent my
winters in London.
On this occasion it was that my intimacy with Mr. Lindsey was much
improved, and an entire concurrence in every thing that we thought
to be for the interest of christianity gave fresh warmth to our
friendship. To his society I owe much of my zeal for the doctrine of
the divine unity, for which he made so great sacrifices, and in the
defence of which he so much distinguished himself, so as to occasion a
new æra in the history of religion in this country.
As we became more intimate, confiding in his better taste and judgment,
and also in that of Mrs. Lindsey, a woman of the same spirit and views,
and in all respects a help meet for him, I never chose to publish
any thing of moment relating to Theology without consulting him; and
hardly ever ventured to insert any thing that they disapproved, being
sensible that my disposition led to precipitancy, to which their
coolness was a seasonable check.
At Leeds began my intercourse with Mr. Lee of Lincoln’s Inn. He was a
native of the place, and exactly one week older than myself. At that
time he was particularly connected with the congregation, and before he
was married spent his vacations with us. His friendship was a source of
much greater satisfaction and advantage to me after I came to reside in
London, and especially at the time of my leaving Lord Shelburne, when
my prospects wore rather a cloudy aspect.
When I visited London, during my residence at Leeds, commenced my
particular friendship for Dr. Price, to whom I had been introduced
several years before by Dr. Benson; our first interview having been
at Mr. Brownsword’s at Newington, where they were members of a small
literary society, in which they read various compositions. At that time
Dr. Benson read a paper which afterwards made a section in his _Life
of Christ_. For the most amiable simplicity of character, equalled
only by that of Mr. Lindsey, a truly christian spirit, disinterested
patriotism, and true candour, no man in my opinion ever exceeded Dr.
Price. His candour will appear the more extraordinary, considering
his warm attachments to the theological sentiments which he embraced
in very early life. I shall ever reflect upon our friendship as
a circumstance highly honourable, as it was a source of peculiar
satisfaction, to me.
I had two sons born to me at Leeds, Joseph and William, and though I
was very happy there, I was tempted to leave it after continuing there
six years, to go into the family of the Earl of Shelburne, now the
Marquis of Lansdowne; he stipulating to give me 250 £. per annum, a
house to live in, and a certainty for life in case of his death, or of
my separation from him; whereas at Leeds my salary was only one hundred
guineas per annum, and a house, which was not quite sufficient for the
subsistence of my family, without a possibility of making a provision
for them after my death.
I had been recommended to Lord Shelburne by Dr. Price, as a person
qualified to be a literary companion to him. In this situation, my
family being at Calne in Wiltshire, near to his Lordship’s seat at
Bowood, I continued seven years, spending the summer with my family,
and a great part of the winter in his Lordship’s house in London. My
office was nominally that of _librarian_, but I had little employment
as such, besides arranging his books, taking a catalogue of them, and
of his manuscripts, which were numerous, and making an index to his
collection of private papers. In fact I was with him as a friend,
and the second year made with him the tour of Flanders, Holland, and
Germany, as far as Strasburgh; and after spending a month at Paris,
returned to England. This was in the year 1774.
This little excursion made me more sensible than I should otherwise
have been of the benefit of foreign travel, even without the
advantage of much conversation with foreigners. The very sight of new
countries, new buildings, new customs, &c. and the very hearing of an
unintelligible new language, gives new ideas, and tends to enlarge the
mind. To me this little time was extremely pleasing, especially as I
saw every thing to the greatest advantage, and without any anxiety or
trouble, and had an opportunity of seeing and conversing with every
person of eminence wherever we came; the political characters by
his Lordship’s connections, and the literary ones by my own. I was
soon, however, tired of Paris, and chose to spend my evenings at the
hotel, in company with a few literary friends. Fortunately for me,
Mr. Magellan[13] being at Paris, at the same time, spent most of the
evenings with me; and as I chose to return before his Lordship, he
accompanied me to London, and made the journey very pleasing to me; he
being used to the country, the language, and the manners of it, which
I was not. He had seen much of the world, and his conversation during
our journey was particularly interesting to me. Indeed, in London,
both before and after this time, I always found him very friendly,
especially in every thing that related to my philosophical pursuits.
[13] JOHN HYACINTH DE MAGELLAN a descendant of the famous Navigator
Magellan, was a Portuguese Jesuit, but far more attached to Philosophy
than Christianity. He was much employed by his rich and noble
correspondents abroad to procure philosophical Instruments from the
Artists of Great Britain. He was a good judge of these, and being
of a mechanical turn as well as a man of Science, he improved their
construction in many instances. He was member of and attendant on
almost all the philosophical Clubs and Meetings in London, and
was generally furnished with early intelligence of philosophical
discoveries from the continent. On the 17th of September 1785 he made
a donation of 200 guineas to the American Philosophical Society, the
interest whereof was to be appropriated annually as a premium for
the most useful discoveries or improvements in navigation or natural
philosophy, but to the exclusion of mere natural history. He died a
few years ago, leaving Mr. Nicholson and the late Dr. Crawford his
Executors. T. C.
As I was sufficiently apprized of the fact, I did not wonder, as I
otherwise should have done, to find all the philosophical persons
to whom I was introduced at Paris unbelievers in christianity, and
even professed Atheists. As I chose on all occasions to appear as a
christian, I was told by some of them, that I was the only person they
had ever met with, of whose understanding they had any opinion, who
professed to believe christianity. But on interrogating them on the
subject, I soon found that they had given no proper attention to it,
and did not really know what christianity was. This was also the case
with a great part of the company that I saw at Lord Shelburne’s. But
I hope that my always avowing myself to be a christian, and holding
myself ready on all occasions to defend the genuine principles of it,
was not without its use. Having conversed so much with unbelievers at
home and abroad, I thought I should be able to combat their prejudices
with some advantage, and with this view I wrote, while I was with
Lord Shelburne, the first part of my _Letters to a philosophical
unbeliever_, in proof of the doctrines of a God and a providence, and
to this I have added during my residence at Birmingham, a second part,
in defence of the evidences of christianity. The first part being
replied to by a person who called himself Mr. Hammon, I wrote a reply
to his piece, which has hitherto remained unanswered. I am happy to
find that this work of mine has done some good, and I hope that in due
time it will do more. I can truly say that the greatest satisfaction
I receive from the success of my philosophical pursuits, arises from
the weight it may give to my attempts to defend christianity, and
to free it from those corruptions which prevent its reception with
philosophical and thinking persons, whose influence with the vulgar,
and the unthinking, is very great.
With Lord Shelburne I saw a great variety of characters, but, of our
neighbours in Wiltshire, the person I had the most frequent opportunity
of seeing was Dr. Frampton, a clergyman, whose history may serve as a
lesson to many. No man perhaps was ever better qualified to please in a
convivial hour, or had greater talents for conversation and repartee;
in consequence of which, though there were several things very
disgusting about him, his society was much courted, and many promises
of preferment were made to him. To these, notwithstanding his knowledge
of the world, and of high life, he gave too much credit; so that he
spared no expence to gratify his taste and appetite, until he was
universally involved in debt; and though his friends made some efforts
to relieve him, he was confined a year in the county prison at a time
when his bodily infirmities required the greatest indulgences; and he
obtained his release but a short time before his death on condition of
his living on a scanty allowance; the income of his livings (amounting
to more than 400 £. per annum) being in the hands of his creditors.
Such was the end of a man who kept the table in a roar.
Dr. Frampton being a high churchman, he could not at first conceal
his aversion to me, and endeavoured to do me some ill offices. But
being a man of letters, and despising the clergy in his neighbourhood,
he became at last much attached to me; and in his distresses was
satisfied, I believe, that I was one of his most sincere friends. With
some great defects he had some considerable virtues, and uncommon
abilities, which appeared more particularly in extempore speaking.
He always preached without notes, and when, on some occasions, he
composed his sermons, he could, if he chose to do it, repeat the whole
_verbatim_. He frequently extemporized in verse, in a great variety of
measures.
In Lord Shelburne’s family was Lady Arabella Denny, who is well known
by her extensive charities. She is (for she is still living) a woman of
good understanding, and great piety. She had the care of his Lordship’s
two sons until they came under the care of Mr. Jervis, who was their
tutor during my continuance in the family. His Lordship’s younger son,
who died suddenly, had made astonishing attainments both in knowledge
and piety, while very young, far beyond any thing that I had an
opportunity of observing in my life.
When I went to his Lordship, I had materials for one volume of
_experiments on air_, which I soon after published, and inscribed to
him; and before I left him I published three volumes more, and had
materials for a fourth, which I published immediately on my settling in
Birmingham. He encouraged me in the prosecution of my philosophical
enquiries, and allowed me 40 £. per annum for expences of that kind,
and was pleased to see me make experiments to entertain his guests, and
especially foreigners.
Notwithstanding the attention that I gave to philosophy in this
situation, I did not discontinue my other studies, especially in
theology and metaphysics. Here I wrote my _Miscellaneous Observations
relating to education_, and published my _Lectures on Oratory and
Criticism_, which I dedicated to Lord Fitzmaurice, Lord Shelburne’s
eldest son. Here also I published the third and last part of my
_Institutes of Natural and Revealed religion_; and having in the
Preface attacked the principles of Dr. Reid, Dr. Beattie, and Dr.
Oswald, with respect to their doctrine of _Common Sense_, which they
made to supercede all rational inquiry into the subject of religion,
I was led to consider their system in a separate work, which, though
written in a manner that I do not intirely approve, has, I hope, upon
the whole been of service to the cause of free inquiry and truth.[14]
[14] This reply of Dr. Priestley to the Scotch Doctors, though not
written in a manner that his maturer reflection approved, compleatly
set at rest the question of Common Sense as denoting the intuitive
evidence of a class of moral and religious propositions capable of
satisfactory proof, or of high probability from considerations _ab
extra_. But Dr. Reid ought hardly to be classed with coadjutors so
inferior as the Drs. Oswald and Beattie. The latter wrote something
which he meant as a defence of the christian religion; but such
defenders of christianity as Dr. Beattie and Soame Jenyns, are well
calculated to bring it into contempt with men of reason and reflection.