[_Written by his Son Joseph Priestley._]
Thus far the narrative is from my father’s manuscript, and I regret
extremely, with the reader, that it falls to my lot to give an account
of the latter period of his valuable life.
I entertained hopes at one time, that he would have continued it
himself; and he was frequently requested to do so, by me and many of
his friends in the course of the year preceding his death. He had then
nearly compleated all the literary works he had in view, he had arrived
at that period of life when, in imitation of his friend Mr. Lindsey,
he had determined not to preach again in public, and beyond which he
probably would not have ventured to publish any work without first
subjecting it to the inspection of some judicious friend.
He was requested also, in imitation of Courayer, to add at the close
of his Memoirs a summary of his religious opinions. This would have
counteracted the suspicions entertained by some, that they had
undergone a considerable change since his coming to America; and it
was thought by his friends, that such a brief and simple statement
of all that appeared to him essential to the christian belief, and
the christian character, would attract the attention of many readers
previously indisposed to religion altogether, from not understanding
its real nature, and judging of it only from the corrupt, adulterated,
and complicated state, in which it is professed in all countries called
christian. Unbelievers in general have no conception of the perfect
coincidence of christianity with rational philosophy, of the sublime
views it affords of the divine benevolence, and how powerfully it acts
to promote the pleasures and lessen the evils of the present life, at
the same time that it holds out to us a certain prospect of a future
and endless state of enjoyment. It was suggested to him also, that as
his society through life had been singularly varied and extensive, and
his opportunities of attaining a general knowledge of the world, and
a particular knowledge of eminent political and literary characters,
very great, it would contribute much to the instruction and amusement
of those into whose hands his Memoirs should fall, if they were
accompanied with anecdotes of the principal characters with whom he
had been acquainted. For he had a fund of anecdote which he was never
backward to produce for the amusement of his friends, as occasions
served for introducing it. But his relations were never sarcastic or
ironical, or tended to disparage the characters of the persons spoken
of, unless on subjects of manifest importance to the interests of
society.
He meant to have complied with the above suggestions, but being at
that time very busily employed about his Comparison, and thinking his
Memoirs of little value compared with the works about which he was then
engaged, he put off the completion of his narrative, until his other
works should be ready for the press. Unfortunately this was too late.
The work he had in hand was not compleated until the 22d January, when
he was very weak and suffered greatly from his disorder, and he died on
the 6th of February following:
The reader will therefore make allowance for the difference between
what these Memoirs might have been, and what they now are; and
particularly for the part which I venture to lay before the public as a
continuation of his own account.
The reasons that induced him to quit England, and the progress of his
opinions and inclinations respecting that last important æra in his
life, have been but briefly stated in the preceding pages by himself.
But as many may peruse these Memoirs, into whose hands his appeal to
the public, occasioned by the riots at Birmingham, and his Fast sermon,
in which he assigns at length his reasons for leaving his native
country, are not likely to fall; I think it right to present to the
readers, in his own words the history of the motives that impelled him
to exchange his residence in England for one in this country.
The disgraceful riots at Birmingham were certainly the chief cause that
first induced my father to think of leaving England, though at the
time of his writing the second part of the Appeal, in August 1792, he
had not come to any determination on the subject. This appears from the
following passage which as it shews the progress of his discontent,
and likewise the true state of his political opinions, particularly in
relation to the English form of government I shall quote.--
“In this almost universal prevalence of a spirit so extremely hostile
to me and my friends, and which would be gratified by my destruction,
it cannot be any matter of surprise, that a son of mine should wish to
abandon a country in which his father has been used as I have been,
especially when it is considered that this son was present at the riot
in Birmingham, exerting himself all the dreadful night of the 14th
of July, to save what he could of my most valuable property; that in
consequence of this his life was in imminent danger, and another young
man was nearly killed because he was mistaken for him. This would
probably have been his fate, if a friend had not almost perforce kept
him concealed some days, so that neither myself nor his mother knew
what was become of him. I had not, however, the ambition to court the
honour that has been shewn him by the national assembly of France,
and even declined the proposal of his naturalization. At the most,
I supposed it would have been done without any _eclat_; and I knew
nothing of its being done in so very honourable a way until I saw the
account in the public newspapers. To whatever country this son of mine
shall choose to attach himself, I trust that, from the good principles,
and the spirit, that he has hitherto shewn, he will discharge the
duties of a good citizen.”
“As to myself, I cannot be supposed to feel much attachment to a
country in which I have neither found protection, nor redress. But
I am too old, and my habits too fixed, to remove, as I own I should
otherwise have been disposed to do, to France, or America. The little
that I am capable of doing must be in England, where I shall therefore
continue, as long as it shall please the supreme Disposer of all things
to permit me[25].
[25] “Since this was written, I have myself, without any solicitation on
my part, been made a citizen of France, and moreover elected a member
of the present Conventional Assembly. These, I scruple not to avow, I
consider as the greatest of honours; though, for the reasons which are
now made public, I have declined accepting the latter.”
It might have been thought that, having written so much in defence of
revelation, and of Christianity in general, more perhaps than all the
clergy of the church of England now living; this defence of a _common
cause_ would have been received as some atonement for my demerits in
writing against civil establishments of christianity, and particular
doctrines. But had I been an open enemy of all religion, the animosity
against me could not have been greater than it is. Neither Mr. Hume nor
Mr. Gibbon was a thousandth part so obnoxious to the clergy as I am; so
little respect have my enemies for christianity itself, compared with
what they have for their emoluments from it.”
“As to my supposed hostility to the principles of the civil
constitution of this country, there has been no pretence whatever for
charging me with any thing of the kind. Besides that the very catalogue
of my publications will prove that my life has been devoted to
literature, and chiefly to natural philosophy and theology, which have
not left me any leisure for factious politics; in the few things that I
have written of a political nature, I have been an avowed advocate for
our mixed government by _King, Lords, and Commons_; but because I have
objected to the ecclesiastical part of it, and to particular religious
tenets, I have been industriously represented as openly seditious, and
endeavouring the overthrow of every thing that is _fixed_, the enemy of
all order, and of all government.”
“Every publication which bears my name is in favour of our present
form of government. But if I had not thought so highly of it, and had
seen reason for preferring a more republican form, and had openly
advanced that opinion; I do not know that the proposing to free
discussion a system of government different from that of England, even
to Englishmen, is any crime, according to the existing laws of this
country. It has always been thought, at least, that our constitution
authorises the free proposal, and discussion, of all theoretical
principles whatever, political ones not excepted. And though I might
now recommend a very different form of government to a people who had
no previous prejudices or habits, the case is very different with
respect to one that _has_; and it is the duty of every good citizen
to maintain that government of any country which the majority of its
inhabitants approve, whether he himself should otherwise prefer it, or
not.”
“This, however, is all that can in reason be required of any man. To
demand more would be as absurd as to oblige every man, by the law of
marriage, to maintain that his particular wife was absolutely the
handsomest, and best tempered woman in the world; whereas it is surely
sufficient if a man behave well to his wife, and discharge the duties
of a good husband.”
“A very great majority of Englishmen, I am well persuaded, are friends
to what are called _high maxims of government_. They would choose to
have the power of the crown rather enlarged than reduced, and would
rather see all the Dissenters banished than any reformation made in the
church. A dread of every thing tending to _republicanism_ is manifestly
increased of late years, and is likely to increase still more. The very
term is become one of the most opprobrious in the English language.
The clergy (whose near alliance with the court, and the present royal
family, after having been almost a century hostile to them, is a
remarkable event in the present reign) have contributed not a little
to that leaning to arbitrary power in the crown which has lately been
growing upon us. They preach up the doctrine of passive obedience
and non-resistance with as little disguise as their ancestors did in
the reign of the Stuarts, and their adulation of the king and of the
minister is abject in the extreme. Both Mr. Madan’s sermon and Mr.
Burn’s reply to my Appeal discover the same spirit; and any sentiment
in favour of liberty that is at all bold and manly, such as, till of
late, was deemed becoming Englishmen and the disciples of Mr. Locke, is
now reprobated as seditious.”
“In these circumstances, it would be nothing less than madness
seriously to attempt a change in the constitution, and I hope I am
not absolutely insane. I sincerely wish my countrymen, as part of the
human race (though, I own, I now feel no particular attachment to
them on any other ground) the undisturbed enjoyment of that form of
government which they so evidently approve; and as I have no favour to
ask of them, or of their governors, besides mere protection, as to a
stranger, while I violate no known law, and have not this to ask for
any long term, I hope it will be granted me. If not, I must, like many
others, in all ages and all nations, submit to whatever the supreme
Being, whose eye is upon us all, and who I believe intends, and will in
his own time bring about, the good of all, shall appoint, and by their
means execute.” [_Appeal part II page 109. &c._]
The rising disinclination which the preceding passage shews had taken
place in my father’s mind towards a longer residence in England, became
confirmed by various circumstances, particularly the determination of
his sons to emigrate to America. These, together with other reasons,
that finally influenced his conduct on the subject of removing to this
country, are stated at large as I have before observed in the preface
to his Fast sermon for the year 1794 and I cannot so properly give them
as in his own words.
“This discourse, and those on the _Evidences of Divine Revelation_,
which will be published about the same time, being the last of my
labours in this country, I hope my friends, and the public, will
indulge me while I give the reasons of their _being_ the last, in
consequence of my having at length, after much hesitation, and now
with reluctance, come to a resolution to leave this kingdom.
After the riots in Birmingham, it was the expectation, and evidently
the wish, of many persons, that I should immediately fly to France,
or America. But I had no consciousness of guilt to induce me to
fly my country[26]. On the contrary, I came directly to London, and
instantly, by means of my friend Mr. Russell, signified to the king’s
ministers, that I _was_ there, and ready, if they thought proper, to
be interrogated on the subject of the riot. But no notice was taken of
the message.
[26] If, instead of flying from lawless violence, I had been flying
from public justice, I could not have been pursued with more rancour,
nor could my friends have been more anxious for my safety. One man,
who happened to see me on horseback on one of the nights in which I
escaped from Birmingham, expressed his regret that he had not taken me,
expecting probably some considerable reward, as he said, it was so easy
for him to have done it. My friends earnestly advised me to disguise
myself as I was going to London. But all that was done in that way was
taking a place for me in the mail coach, which I entered at Worcester,
in another name than my own. However, the friend who had the courage to
receive me in London had thought it necessary to provide a dress that
should disguise me, and also a method of making my escape, in case the
house should have been attacked on my account; and for some time my
friends would not suffer me to appear in the streets.
Ill treated as I thought I had been, not merely by the populace of
Birmingham, for they were the mere tools of their superiors, but by
the country in general, which evidently exulted in our sufferings, and
afterwards by the representatives of the nation, who refused to inquire
into the cause of them, I own I was not without deliberating upon the
subject of emigration; and several flattering proposals were made me,
especially from France, which was then at peace within itself, and with
all the world; and I was at one time much inclined to go thither, on
account of its nearness to England, the agreeableness of its climate,
and my having many friends there.
But I likewise considered that, if I went thither I should have no
employment of the kind to which I had been accustomed; and the season
of active life not being, according to the course of nature, quite
over, I wished to make as much use of it as I could. I therefore
determined to continue in England, exposed as I was not only to
unbounded obloquy and insult, but to every kind of outrage; and after
my invitation to succeed my friend Dr. Price, I had no hesitation
about it. Accordingly I took up my residence where I now am, though
so prevalent was the idea of my insecurity, that I was not able to
take the house in my own name; and when a friend of mine took it in
_his_, it was with much difficulty that, after some time, the landlord
was prevailed upon to transfer the lease to me. He expressed his
apprehensions, not only of the house that I occupied, being demolished,
but also a capital house in which he himself resides, at the distance
of no less than twenty miles from London, whither he supposed the
rioters would go next, merely for suffering me to live in a house of
_his_.
But even this does not give such an idea of the danger that not only
myself, but every person, and every thing, that had the slightest
connection with me, were supposed to be in, as the following. The
managers of one of the principal charities among the Dissenters applied
to me to preach their annual sermon, and I had consented. But the
treasurer a man of fortune, who knew nothing more of me than my name,
was so much alarmed at it, that he declared he could not sleep. I
therefore, to his great relief, declined preaching at all.
When it was known that I was settled where I now am, several of my
friends, who lived near me, were seriously advised to remove their
papers, and other most valuable effects, to some place of greater
safety in London. On the 14th of July, 1792, it was taken for granted
by many of the neighbours, that my house was to come down, just as
at Birmingham the year before. When the Hackney association was
formed, several servants in the neighbourhood actually removed their
goods; and when there was some political meeting at the house of Mr.
Breillat, though about two miles from my house, a woman whose daughter
was servant in the house contiguous to mine, came to her mistress,
to entreat that she might be out of the way; and it was not without
much difficulty that she was pacified, and prevailed upon to let her
continue in the house, her mistress saying that she was as safe as
herself.
On several other occasions the neighbourhood has been greatly alarmed
on account of my being so near them. Nor was this without apparent
reason. I could name a person, and to appearance a reputable tradesman,
who, in the company of his friends, and in the hearing of one of my
late congregation at Birmingham, but without knowing him to be such,
declared that, in case of any disturbance, they would immediately come
to Hackney, evidently, for the purpose of mischief. In this state of
things, it is not to be wondered at, that of many servants who were
recommended to me, and some that were actually hired, very few could,
for a long time, be prevailed upon to live with me.
These facts not only shew how general was the idea of my particular
insecurity in this country; but what is of much more consequence, and
highly interesting to the country at large, an idea of the general
disposition to rioting and violence that prevails in it, and that the
Dissenters are the objects of it. Mr. Pitt very justly observed, in
his speech on the subject of the riots at Birmingham, that it was “the
effervescence of the public mind.” Indeed the effervescible matter
has existed in this country ever since the civil wars in the time of
Charles I. and it was particularly apparent in the reign of Queen Anne.
But the power of government under the former princes of the House of
Hanover prevented its doing any mischief. The late events shew that
this power is no longer exerted as it used to be, but that, on the
contrary there prevails an idea, well or ill founded, that tumultuary
proceedings against Dissenters will not receive any effectual
discouragement. After what has taken place with respect to Birmingham,
all idea of much hazard for insulting and abusing the Dissenters is
entirely vanished; whereas the disposition to injure the Catholics was
effectually checked by the proceedings of the year 1780. From that time
_they_ have been safe, and I rejoice in it. But from the year 1791, the
Dissenters have been more exposed to insult and outrage than ever.
Having fixed myself at Clapton; unhinged as I had been, and having lost
the labour of several years; yet flattering myself that I should end my
days here, I took a long lease of my house, and expended a considerable
sum in improving it. I also determined, with the assistance of my
friends, to resume my philosophical and other pursuits; and after an
interruption amounting to about two years, it was with a pleasure that
I cannot describe, that I entered my new laboratory, and began the most
common preparatory processes, with a view to some original inquiries.
With what success I have laboured, the public has already in some
measure seen, and may see more hereafter.
But though I did not choose (notwithstanding I found myself exposed to
continual insult) to leave my native country, I found it necessary to
provide for my sons elsewhere. My eldest son was settled in a business,
which promised to be very advantageous, at Manchester; but his partner
though a man of liberality himself, informed him, on perceiving
the general prevalence of the spirit which produced the riots in
Birmingham, that, owing to his relationship to _me_, he was under the
necessity of proposing a separation, which accordingly took place.
On this he had an invitation to join another connexion, in a business
in which the spirit of party could not have much affected him; but he
declined it. And after he had been present at the assizes at Warwick,
he conceived such an idea of this country, that I do not believe any
proposal, however advantageous, would have induced him to continue in
it; so much was he affected on perceiving his father treated as I had
been.
Determining to go to America, where he had no prospect but that of
being a farmer, he wished to spend a short time with a person who had
greatly distinguished himself in that way, and one who from his own
general principles, and his friendship for myself, would have given him
the best advice and assistance in his power. He, however, declined it,
and acknowledged some time after, that had it been known, as it must
have been, to his landlord, that he had a son of _mine_ with him, he
feared he should have been turned out of his farm.
My second son who was present both at the riot, and the assizes, felt
more indignation still, and willingly listened to a proposal to settle
in France; and there his reception was but too flattering. However, on
the breaking out of the war with this country, all mercantile prospects
being suspended, he wished to go to America. There his eldest and
youngest brother have joined him, and they are now looking out for a
settlement, having as yet no fixed views.
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 too; so that I had nothing in England besides my library,
apparatus, and household goods. By this, I felt myself greatly
relieved, it being of little consequence where a man already turned
sixty ends his days. Whatever good or evil I have been capable of, is
now chiefly done; and I trust that the same consciousness of integrity,
which has supported me hitherto, will carry me through any thing that
may yet be reserved for me. Seeing, however, no great prospect of doing
much good, or having much enjoyment, here, I am now preparing to follow
my sons; hoping to be of some use to them in their present unsettled
state, and that Providence may yet, advancing in years as I am, find me
some sphere of usefulness along with them.
As to the great odium that I have incurred, the charge of _sedition_,
or my being an enemy to the constitution or peace of my country, is
a mere pretence for it; though it has been so much urged, that it is
now generally believed, and all attempts to undeceive the public with
respect to it avail nothing at all. The whole course of my studies,
from early life, shews how little _politics_ of any kind have been my
object. Indeed to have written so much as I have in _theology_, and to
have done so much in _experimental philosophy_, and at the same time
to have had my mind occupied, as it is supposed to have been, with
factious politics, I must have had faculties more than human. Let any
person only cast his eye over the long list of my publications, and he
will see that they relate almost wholly to theology, philosophy, or
general literature.
I did, however, when I was a younger man, and before it was in my
power to give much attention to philosophical pursuits, write a
small anonymous political pamphlet, on the _State of Liberty in this
Country_, about the time of Mr. Wilkes’s election for Middlesex, which
gained me the acquaintance, and I may say the friendship, of Sir George
Savile, and which I had the happiness to enjoy as long as he lived.
At the request also of Dr. Franklin and Dr. Fothergill, I wrote an
address to the Dissenters on the subject of the approaching rupture
with America, a pamphlet which Sir George Savile, and my other friends,
circulated in great numbers, and it was thought with some effect.
After this I entirely ceased to write any thing on the subject of
politics, except as far as the business of the _Test Act_, and of
_Civil Establishments of Religion_, had a connection with politics. And
though, at the recommendation of Dr. Price, I was presently after this
taken into the family of the Marquis of Landsdowne, and I entered into
almost all his views, as thinking them just and liberal, I never wrote
a single political pamphlet, or even a paragraph in a newspaper, all
the time that I was with him, which was seven years.
I never preached a political sermon in my life; unless such as, I
believe all Dissenters usually preach on the fifth of November, in
favour of _civil and religious liberty_, may be said to be political.
And on these occasions, I am confident, that I never advanced any
sentiment but such as, until of late years, would have tended to
recommend, rather than render me obnoxious, to those who direct the
administration of this country. And the doctrines which I adopted when
young, and which were even popular then (except with the clergy, who
were at that time generally disaffected to the family on the throne)
I cannot abandon, merely because the times are so changed, that they
are now become unpopular, and the expression and communication of them
hazardous.
Farther, though I by no means disapprove of societies for political
information, such as are now every where discountenanced, and generally
suppressed, I never was a member of any of them; nor, indeed, did I
ever attend any public meeting, if I could decently avoid it, owing to
habits acquired in studious and retired life.
From a mistake of my talents and disposition, I was invited by many of
the departments in France, to represent them in the present National
Convention, after I had been made a citizen of France, on account of my
being considered as one who had been persecuted for my attachment to
the cause of liberty here. But though the invitation was repeated with
the most flattering importunity, I never hesitated about declining it.
I can farther say with respect to politics, concerning which I believe
every Englishman has some opinion or other (and at present, owing to
the peculiar nature of the present war, it is almost the only topic of
general conversation) that, except in company, I hardly ever think of
the subject, my reading, meditation, and writing, being almost wholly
engrossed by theology, and philosophy; and of late, as for many years
before the riots in Birmingham, I have spent a very great proportion of
my time, as my friends well know, in my laboratory.
If, then, my real crime has not been _sedition_, or _treason_, what
has it been? For every _effect_ must have some adequate _cause_, 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
it. In my opinion, it cannot have been any thing but my open hostility
to the doctrines of the established church, and more especially to all
civil establishments of religion whatever. This has brought upon me the
implacable resentment of the great body of the clergy; and they have
found other methods of opposing me besides _argument_, and that use
of the _press_ which is equally open to us all. They have also found
an able ally and champion in Mr. Burke, who (without any provocation
except that of answering his book on the French Revolution) has taken
several opportunities of inveighing against me, in a place where he
knows I cannot reply to him, 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 mine[27].
They have had another, and still more effectual vehicle of their
abuse in what are called the _treasury newspapers_, and other popular
publications.
[27] Mr. Burke having said in the House of Commons, that “I was made
a citizen of France on account of my declared hostility to the
constitution of this country,” I, in the public papers, denied the
charge, and called upon him for the proofs of it. As he made no reply,
I said, in the preface to my Fast Sermon of the last year, p. 9, that
“it sufficiently appeared that he had neither ability to maintain his
charge, nor virtue to retract it.” A year more of silence on his part
having now elapsed, this is become more evident than before.
By these and others means, the same party spirit which was the cause
of the riots in Birmingham, has been increasing ever since, especially
in that neighbourhood. A remarkable instance of this may be seen in
a _Letter_ addressed, but not sent, to me from _Mr. Foley, rector
of Stourbridge_, who acknowledges the satisfaction that he and his
brethren have received from one of the grossest and coarsest pieces
of abuse of me that has yet appeared, which, as a curious specimen of
the kind, I inserted in the _Appendix of my Appeal_, and in which I am
represented as no better than Guy Fawkes, or the devil himself. This
very Christian divine recommends to the members of the established
church to decline all commercial dealings with the Dissenters, as an
effectual method of exterminating them. This method has been actually
adopted in many parts of England. Also great numbers of the best
farmers and artizans in England have been dismissed because they
would not go to the established church. _Defoe’s Shortest Way with
the Dissenters_[28] would have taught the friends of the church a more
effectual method still. And yet this Mr. Foley, whom I never saw, and
who could not have had any particular cause of enmity to me, had, like
Mr. Madan of Birmingham, a character for liberality. What, then, have
we to expect from others, when we find so much bigotry and rancour in
such men as these?
Many times, by the encouragement of persons from whom better things
might have been expected, I have been burned in effigy along with Mr.
Paine; and numberless insulting and threatening letters have been sent
to me from all parts of the kingdom.[29] It is not possible for any
man to have conducted himself more peaceably than I have done all the
time that I have lived at Clapton, yet it has not exempted me not only
from the worst suspicions, but very gross insults. A very friendly
and innocent club, which I found in the place, has been considered as
_Jacobin_ chiefly on my account; and at one time there was cause of
apprehension that I should have been brought into danger for lending
one of Mr. Paine’s books. But with some difficulty the neighbourhood
was satisfied that I was innocent.
[28] A tract written in a grave ironical stile, advising to hang them
all.
[29] In one of these I was threatened with being burned alive before a
slow fire.
As nothing had been paid to me on account of damages in the riot,
when I published the second part of my _Appeal_ to the public on the
subject, it may be proper to say, that it was paid some time in the
beginning of the year 1793, with interest only from the first of
January of the same year, though the injury was received in July, 1791;
when equity evidently required, that it ought to have been allowed from
the time of the riot, especially as, in all the cases, the allowance
was far short of the loss. In my case it fell short, as I have shewn,
not less than two thousand pounds. And the losses sustained by the
other sufferers far exceeded mine. Public justice also required that,
if the forms of law, local enmity or any other cause, had prevented
our receiving full indemnification, it should have been made up to us
from the public treasury; the great end of all civil government being
protection from violence, or an indemnification for it. Whatever we
might in equity claim, the country owes us, and, if it be just, will
some time or other pay, and with interest.
I would farther observe, that since, in a variety of cases, money is
allowed where the injury is not of a pecuniary nature, merely because
no other compensation can be given, the same should have been done with
respect to me, on account of the destruction of my manuscripts, the
interruption of my pursuits, the loss of a pleasing and advantageous
situation, &c. &c. and had the injury been sustained by a _clergyman_,
he would, I doubt not, have claimed, and been allowed, very large
damages on this account. So far, however, was there from being any
idea of the kind in _my_ favour, that my counsel advised me to make no
mention of my manuscript _Lectures on the Constitution of England_,
a work about as large as that of Blackstone (as may be seen by the
syllabus of the particular lectures, sixty-three in all, published in
the first edition of my _Essay on a Course of liberal Education for
civil and active Life_) because it would be taken for granted that they
were of a seditious nature, and would therefore have been of disservice
to me with the jury. Accordingly they were, in the account of my
losses, included in the article of so much _paper_. After these losses,
had I had nothing but the justice of my country to look to, I must have
sunk under the burden, incapable of any farther exertions. It was the
seasonable generosity of my friends that prevented this, and put it in
my power, though with the unavoidable loss of near two years, to resume
my former pursuits.
A farther proof of the excessive bigotry of this country is, that,
though the clergy of Birmingham resenting what I advanced in the first
part of my _Appeal_, replied to it, and pledged themselves to go
through with the enquiry along with me, till the whole truth should
be investigated, they have made no reply to the _Second Part of my
Appeal_, in which I brought specific charges against themselves, and
other persons by name, proving them to have been the promoters and
abettors of the riot; and yet they have as much respect shown to them
as ever, and the country at large pays no attention to it. Had the
clergy been the injured persons, and Dissenters the rioters, unable to
answer the charges brought against them, so great would have been the
general indignation at their conduct, that I am persuaded it would not
have been possible for them to continue in the country.
I could, if I were so disposed, 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 contempt; but I forbear.[30] Had I, however, foreseen what I am now
witness to, I certainly should not have made any attempt to replace
my library or apparatus, and I soon repented of having done it.
But this being done, I was willing to make some use of both before
another interruption of my pursuits. I began to philosophize, and make
experiments, rather late in life, being near forty, for want of the
necessary means of doing any thing in this way; and my pursuits have
been much interrupted by removals (never indeed chosen by myself, but
rendered necessary by circumstances) and my time being now short, I
hoped to have had no occasion for more than one, and that a final,
remove. But the circumstances above mentioned have induced me, though
with great and sincere regret, to undertake another, and to a greater
distance than any that I have hitherto made.
[30] At a dinner of all the Prebendaries of a cathedral church, the
conversation turning on the riots in Birmingham, and on a clergyman
having said that if I were mounted on a pile of my publications, he
would set fire to them, and burn me alive, they all declared that they
would be ready to do the same.
I profess not to be unmoved by the aspect of things exhibited in this
discourse. But notwithstanding this, I should willingly have awaited my
fate in my native country, whatever it had been, if I had not had sons
in America, and if I did not think that a field of public usefulness,
which is evidently closing upon me here, might open to more advantage
there.
I own also that I am not unaffected by such unexampled punishments
as those of Mr. Muir and my friend Mr. Palmer, for offences, which,
if, in the eye of reason, they be any at all, are slight, and very
insufficiently proved; a measure so subversive of that freedom of
speaking and acting, which has hitherto been the great pride of
Britons. But the sentence of Mr. Winterbotham, for delivering from
the pulpit what I am persuaded he never did deliver, and which,
similar evidence might have drawn upon myself, or any other dissenting
minister, who was an object of general dislike, has something in it
still more alarming[31]. But I trust that conscious innocence would
support me as it does him, under whatever prejudiced and violent men
might _do_ to me, as well as _say_ of me. But I see no occasion to
expose myself to danger without any prospect of doing good, or to
continue any longer in a country in which I am so unjustly become the
object of general dislike, and not retire to another, where I have
reason to think I shall be better received. And I trust that the same
good Providence which has attended me hitherto, and made me happy in my
present situation, and all my former ones, will attend and bless me in
what may still be before me. In all events, _The will of God be done_.
[31] I trust that the friends of liberty, especially among the
Dissenters, will not fail to do every thing in their power to make
Mr. Winterbotham’s confinement, and also the sufferings of Mr. Palmer
and his companions, as easy to them as possible. Having been assisted
in a season of persecution myself, I should be very ill deserving
of the favours I have received, if I was not particularly desirous
of recommending such cases as theirs to general consideration. Here
difference in religious sentiment is least of all to be attended to.
On the contrary, let those who in this respect differ the most from
Mr. Winterbotham, which is my own case, exert themselves the most in
his favour. When men of unquestionable integrity and piety suffer in
consequence of acting (as such persons always will do) from a principle
of _conscience_, they must command the respect even of their enemies,
if they also act from principle, though they be thereby led to proceed
in an opposite direction.
The case of men of education and reflection (and who act from the best
intentions with respect to the community) committing what only _state
policy_ requires to be considered as _crimes_, but which are allowed
on all hands to imply no moral turpitude, so as to render them unfit
for heaven and happiness hereafter, is not to be confounded with that
of common felons. There was nothing in the conduct of Louis XIV. and
his ministers, that appeared so shocking, so contrary to all ideas of
justice, humanity and decency, and that has contributed more to render
their memory execrated, than sending such men as Mr. Marolles, and
other eminent Protestants, who are now revered as saints and martyrs,
to the galleys, along with the vilest miscreants. Compared with this,
the punishment of death would be mercy. I trust that, the Scots in
general will think these measures a disgrace to their country.
I cannot refrain from repeating again, that I leave my native country
with real regret, never expecting to find any where else society so
suited to my disposition and habits, such friends as I have here (whose
attachment has been more than a balance to all the abuse I have met
with from others) and especially to replace one particular Christian
friend, in whose absence I shall, for some time at least, find all
the world a blank. Still less can I expect to resume my favourite
pursuits, with any thing like the advantages I enjoy here. In leaving
this country I also abandon a source of maintenance, which I can but
ill bear to lose. I can, however truly say, that I leave it without
any resentment, or ill-will. On the contrary, I sincerely wish my
countrymen all happiness; and when the time for reflection (which my
absence may accelerate) shall come, they will, I am confident, do me
more justice. They will be convinced that every suspicion they have
been led to entertain to my disadvantage has been ill founded, and
that I have even some claim to their gratitude and esteem. In this
case, I shall look with satisfaction to the time when, if my life be
prolonged, I may visit my friends in this country; and perhaps I may,
notwithstanding my removal for the present, find a grave (as I believe
is naturally the wish of every man) in the land that gave me birth.”
On the 8th day of April 1794, my father set sail from London, and
arrived at New-York on the 4th of June, where he staid about a
fortnight. Many persons went to meet him upon his landing, and while
he staid at New-York he received addresses from various Societies, and
great attention from many of the most respectable persons in the place.
From thence he proceeded to Philadelphia, where he received an address
from the American Philosophical Society. Independent of the above marks
of respect, he was chosen by an unanimous vote of the Trustees of the
University of Philadelphia, professor of Chemistry. He was likewise
invited to return and stay at New-York, and open an Unitarian place
of worship, which was to have been provided for him, and also to give
Lectures on Experimental Philosophy to one hundred subscribers at ten
dollars each. These invitations indeed he did not receive until he had
been settled some little time at Northumberland. These are sufficient
proofs that the citizens of this country were not insensible to his
merit as a Philosopher, and that they esteemed him for the part he took
in the politics of Europe. That he was not invited immediately on his
arrival to preach either at New-York or Philadelphia, was not from any
want of respect for his character, but because Unitarianism was in a
manner unknown, and by many ignorantly supposed to have some connection
with infidelity. The proper evidences of christianity, the corruptions
it has suffered, the monstrous additions that have been engrafted
on its primitive simplicity, and the real state of the opinions of
christians in the first ages of the church, were subjects that had
hardly ever been discussed in this country. The controversies that
had been carried on in England had not awakened attention here, and
therefore though my father was known as having suffered in consequence
of his opposition to the established religion of his country, yet his
particular opinions were little understood. As his religious tenets
became more known, these prejudices wore away, and independent of the
proposal to open a place of Unitarian worship at New-York, mentioned
above, I shall have occasion to state the great reason he had to be
satisfied with the testimonies of respect paid to him, by the most
eminent persons in the country, not merely in his character as a
Philosopher, but as a preacher of the Gospel.
About the middle of July 1794 my father left Philadelphia for
Northumberland, a town situated at the confluence of the North-East
and West branches of the Susquehanna, and about 130 miles North-West
of Philadelphia. I, and some other English gentlemen, had projected a
settlement of 300,000 acres of land, about fifty miles distant from
Northumberland. The subscription was filled chiefly by persons in
England. Northumberland being at that time the nearest town to the
proposed settlement, my father wished to see the place, and ascertain
what conveniencies it would afford should he incline either to fix
there permanently, or only until the settlement should be sufficiently
advanced for his accommodation; he was induced likewise to retreat, at
least for the summer months, into the country, fearing the effects of
the hot weather in such a city as Philadelphia. He had not, as has been
erroneously reported, the least concern in the projected settlement. He
was not consulted in the formation of the plan of it, nor had he come
to any determination to join it had it been carried into effect.
The scheme of settlement was not confined to any particular class or
character of men, religious, or political. It was set on foot to be
as it were a rallying point for the English, who were at that time
emigrating to America in great numbers, and who it was thought, would
be more happy in society of the kind they had been accustomed to, than
they would be, dispersed, as they now are, through the whole of the
United States. It was farther thought, that by the union of industry
and capital, the wilderness would soon become cultivated and equal to
any other part of the country in every thing necessary to the enjoyment
of life. To promote this as much as possible, the original projectors
of that scheme reserved only a few shares for themselves, for which
they paid the same as those who had no trouble or expence either in
forming the plan, or carrying it into execution. This they did, with a
view to take away all source of jealousy, and to increase the facility
of settlement, by increasing the proportion of settlers to the quantity
of land to be settled. Fortunately for the original proposers, the
scheme was abandoned. It might and would have answered in a pecuniary
point of view, as the land now sells at double and treble the price
then asked for it, without the advantages which that settlement would
have given rise to; but the generality of Englishmen come to this
country with such erroneous ideas, and, unless previously accustomed
to a life of labour, are so ill qualified to commence cultivation in a
wilderness, that the projectors would most probably have been subject
to still more unfounded abuse than they have been, for their well meant
endeavours to promote the interests of their countrymen.
The scheme of settlement thus failing, for reasons which it is not
necessary now to state, my father, struck with the beauty of the
situation of Northumberland, which is universally allowed to be equal
if not superior to any in the state; believing that, from the nature of
its situation, it was likely to become a great thoroughfare, and having
reason to consider it as healthy as it was pleasant, the intermittents
to which it has latterly been subject being then unknown, determined
to settle there. Before he came to this resolution however, he had
the offer of the Professorship of Chemistry in the University of
Pennsylvania, before mentioned, which would probably have yielded him
3000 dollars per annum, there being generally about 200 students in
Medicine of whom about 150 attend the Chemical Lectures; as likewise
the offer of a situation as Unitarian Preacher and Lecturer in Natural
Philosophy as I have likewise mentioned before. At that time he had no
inducement to settle at Northumberland contrary to his inclination,
as his books and apparatus were still at Philadelphia, his sons had
not fixed upon any place of settlement for themselves, and neither
he, nor they, had purchased a single foot of land in the town or the
neighbourhood of it.
The following reasons among others induced him to prefer a country to a
city life. He thought that if he undertook the duties of a professor,
he should not be so much at liberty to follow his favourite pursuits
as he could wish, and that the expence of living at Philadelphia
or New-York would counterbalance the advantages resulting from his
salary; and indeed, at that time he had no occasion to attend to any
pecuniary considerations, as he believed his income, calculating upon
his property in the French funds (which however from circumstances not
necessary to be stated in this place, never produced him any thing,)
to be more than equal to his wants; but what had greater weight with
him than any thing else was that my mother, who had been harrassed in
her mind ever since the riots at Birmingham, thought that by living in
the country, at a distance from the cities, she should be more likely
to obtain that quiet of which she stood so much in need.
Soon after his settlement at Northumberland, many persons, with a
view that his qualifications as an instructor of youth should not be
wholly lost to the country, concurred in a plan for the establishment
of a college at Northumberland. To this scheme several subscribed from
this motive alone. Many of the principal landholders, partly from the
above and partly from motives of interest, contributed largely both
in money and land, and there was a fair prospect, from the liberal
principles upon which it was founded, that it would have been of very
great advantage to the country. My father was requested to draw up a
plan of the course of study he would recommend, as well as the rules
for the internal management of the institution, and he was appointed
President. He however declined receiving any emolument, and proposed
giving such lectures as he was best qualified for, _gratis_; in the
same manner as he had done at Hackney, and he meant to have given
to the institution the use of his library and apparatus, until the
students could have been furnished with them by means of the funds
of the college. In consequence of the unexpected failure of some of
the principal contributors, the scheme fell through at that time, and
little more was done during my father’s life time than to raise the
shell of a convenient building.
I shall in this place state, though I shall anticipate, in so doing,
that in the year 1803 a vacancy occurred in the University of
Pennsylvania, by the death of Dr. Euen, Principal of that institution.
It was intimated to my father by many of the Trustees, that in
case he would accept of the appointment, there was little doubt of
his obtaining it; Mr. M’Kean, the present governor of the State of
Pennsylvania, being among others particularly anxious that he should
accept of it. In addition to the reasons that had induced him to
decline the offer of the Professorship of Chemistry were to be added
the weak state of his health, which would have made the idea of his
having any serious engagement to fulfil, very irksome to him; he
accordingly declined it.
He had frequent intimations of other proposals of a similar nature that
would have been made to him, had it not become generally known, that he
could not accede to them from their being inconsistent with the plan of
life he had laid down for himself.
I have been thus particular in the account of his reasons for settling
at Northumberland, and of the different inducements offered to him to
fix elsewhere, to do away the erroneous reports respecting the former,
and likewise to counteract the idea that has been so industriously
circulated in England, that his abilities were undervalued, that the
bigotry and prejudice he had to encounter in this country, were greater
than were opposed to him in England; that his life was in consequence
rendered uncomfortable, and that if he could, he would have been
glad to have returned to his native country, but was restrained by
a sense of shame. Some colour was given to these reports by many of
his countrymen who, from motives best known to themselves, perhaps
thinking thereby to excuse the inconsistency of their own conduct,
corroborated the accounts, though many of them had never seen my
father in this country, and had no authority whatever for assertions
which were entirely calumnies. Some currency was also given to the
statement, by the false and injurious accounts published by the Duke de
Liancourt, whose book if I may judge of it by that part which treats of
Pennsylvania, and of this neighbourhood in particular, is not entitled
to the least credit, being false in almost every particular. This my
father himself has stated in a letter addressed to him.
The writer, understanding the language of the country but very
imperfectly, must necessarily have been liable to many mistakes; nor
is it to be wondered at that a man who details all the tittle tattle
of every table to which he is invited, and who can basely convert the
hospitable reception he meets with in a strange country, into the means
of turning into ridicule those who shewed him attention and meant to
serve him, should be even capable of fabricating and circulating gross
and injurious falsehoods respecting individuals. I should disgrace
myself, in my opinion, and still more should I disgrace the high
situation which my father held in the esteem of the public, were I in
this work to enter into any further consideration of his attack on
my father’s character, satisfied that it is beyond the reach of his
falsehoods and unprovoked malevolence.
My father would, no doubt, have been glad to have returned to England,
and have enjoyed the society of his old and much valued friends; he
would have rejoiced to have been nearer the centre of the Arts and
Sciences; to have been joined again to his congregation and resumed his
duties as a Christian Preacher; he would have been glad at the close of
life, as he expresses himself, “to have found a grave in the land that
gave him birth;” but this was impossible: and no person can read the
preface to his Fast Sermon, quoted above, but must be convinced of it.
Though he raised the credit of his native country by the brilliancy,
the extent and the usefulness of his discoveries in different branches
of science; though during his whole life he inculcated principles
of virtue and religion, which the government pretended at least to
believe were necessary to the well being of the state; though in no
one single act of his life had he violated any law of his country or
encouraged others to do so, what was the treatment he met with in that
land of boasted civilization, and at the close of the 18th Century?
It is sufficiently known, and will, as it ought to do, affect the
character of the nation at large. Therefore, though he could have
forgotten and forgiven all that was past, though the above mentioned
motives would have had great weight in inducing him to return, yet
there was no reason to expect that he should meet hereafter with better
treatment than he had already experienced; and in consequence of this
fixed persuasion he never entertained the idea of returning to live
in England. He frequently talked indeed of returning to visit his
friends; but when peace took place and he could have gone with safety,
so comfortably was he settled in this country, and such was his opinion
of the state of things in England, that he abandoned even the idea of a
temporary journey thither, altogether.
But supposing the above obstacles had not existed to his return to his
native country, he had no reason to be, nor was he, dissatisfied with
his reception here. Independent of the attentions paid to him upon
his first arrival in this country, he continued to receive marks of
respect from bodies of men, and from individuals of various opinions in
religion and politics, to whom he had been all his life before an utter
stranger. Little reason therefore have his countrymen to represent
his reception in America as unequal to his merits, or to calumniate
the general character of the people here. His discoveries did not add
to the credit of America as they had done to that of England, yet he
was not obliged to withdraw his name from its Philosophical Society,
disgusted with its illiberal treatment of himself and his friends.
The Americans, comparatively speaking, had little opportunity of
judging of his zeal for the real interests of religion, yet he was
suffered to live in peace; and this country has not been disgraced by
the destruction of a library and apparatus uniformly dedicated to the
promotion of Science, and the good of mankind. It will be said that
there were not such interests to oppose in America as in England. It
is true, and it proves that the Americans have done well not to create
such interests, and that the placing all the religious sects upon
the same footing with respect to the government of the country, has
effectually secured the peace of the community, at the same time that
it has essentially promoted the interests of truth and virtue.
Being now settled at Northumberland with his mind at peace, and at ease
in his circumstances, he seriously applied himself to those studies
which he had long been compelled to desist from, and which he had but
imperfectly attended to while he resided at Hackney. It is true that
he spent his time there very agreeably, in a society of highly valued
friends; but he did little compared to what he effected while he was at
Birmingham, or what he has done during his residence here, owing to his
time being very much broken in upon at Hackney by company. To prove how
much he did in this country it is only necessary to refer to the list
of the publications which he presented to the world in various branches
of science, in theology and general literature. Here as in England,
though more at leisure than formerly, he continued to apportion his
time to the various occupations in which he was engaged, and strictly
adhered to a regular plan of alternate study and relaxation, from which
he never materially deviated.
It was while my father was at the academy that he commenced a practice
which he continued until within three or four days of his death, of
keeping a diary, in which he put down the occurrences of the day; what
he was employed about, where he had been, and particularly an exact
account of what he had been reading, mentioning the names of the
authors, and the number of pages he read, which was generally a fixed
number, previously determined upon in his own mind. He likewise noted
down any hints suggested by what he read in the course of the day. It
was his custom at the beginning of each year to arrange the plan of
study that he meant to pursue that year, and to review the general
situation of his affairs, and at the end of the year he took an account
of the progress he had made, how far he had executed the plan he had
laid down, and whether his situation exceeded or fell short of the
expectations he had formed.
This practice was a source of great satisfaction to him through life.
It was at first adopted as a mode of regulating his studies, and
afterwards continued from the pleasure it gave him. The greater part
of his diaries were destroyed at the riots at Birmingham, but there
are still extant those for the year 1754, 1755 and several of the
subsequent years.
As it will serve to shew the regularity with which he pursued his
studies, and may possibly be instructive as well as amusing to the
reader, I shall give a specimen of the manner in which he spent a year
while he was at the academy, at Daventry, and for that purpose shall
select his diary for the year 1755 when he was in his 22d year. The
diary contains a particular account of what he read and wrote each
day, and at different periods of the year he sums up in the following
manner, the progress he had made in improvement, which I give as
entered at the end of the diary.
* * * * *
Business done in January, February and March.
_Practical._
Howe’s blessedness of the righteous; Bennet’s pastoral care; Norris’s
letters and some sermons.
_Controversial._
Taylor on Atonement; Hampton’s Answer; Sherlock’s discourses Vol. 1;
Christianity not founded in Argument; Doddridge’s Answer; Warburton’s
divine legation; Benson on the first planting of Christianity; King’s
Constitution of the Primitive Church.
_Classics._
Josephus, Vol. 1, from page 390 to 770; Ovid’s Metamorphoses to page
139; Tacitus’s History, Life of Agricola, and Manners of the Germans.
_Scriptures._
John the Evangelist, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles to the
Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, 1st and 2d Corinthians, in Greek; Isaiah
to the 8th chapter, in Hebrew.
_Mathematics._
Maclaurin’s Algebra to part 2d.
_Entertaining._
Irene; Prince Arthur; Ecclesiastical characters; Dryden’s fables;
Peruvian tales; Voyage round the world; Oriental tales; Massey’s
travels; Life of Hai Ebn Yokdam; History of Abdallah.
_Composition._
A Sermon on the Wisdom of God; An Oration on the means of Virtue; 1st
Vol. of the Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion.
Business done from April 1st to June 23d.
_Practical._
Watts’s Catechism, and discourses on Catechizing; Fenelon’s spiritual
works Vol. 1st and half of Vol. 2d; Saurin’s Sermons a few; Thomas a
Kempis Book 1st to ch. 21; Cotton Mather’s life; Jenning’s on preaching
Christianity.
_Controversial._
Towgood, Gill and Breckell on Baptism; Le Clerc on Inspiration;
Whiston’s Historical preface; Emlyn’s narrative and humble enquiry;
Apostolical Constitutions; Newton on the prophecies; Winder’s History
of knowledge; Hoadly on the Sacrament; Lowman on the Revelation; Moral
Philosopher; Hume’s Political discourses; Middleton’s fathers of the
four first centuries; Middleton and Waterland’s controversy. ---- on
the Demoniacs; Goodrich’s display of Human Nature.
_Classics._
Cicero’s 1st. Phillippic.
_Historical._
Universal History Vol. 15 and 16 and to page 488 of the 17th.
_Composition._
Second Vol. of the Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion; wrote
an article on Edwards’s translation of the Psalms for the review.
From June 23d to September 1.
_Practical Writers._
Thomas a Kempis from Ch. 21 of Book 1st; Hartley on Man vol. 2d. May’s
Prayers. Holland’s Sermons.
_Scriptures._
From the 1st Epistle of Timothy to the Revelations, and the Gospels of
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in the Greek Testament; The books of Genesis,
Exodus, and Leviticus, in the Hebrew Bible.
_Classics._
Ovid from Book 9th; Demosthenes 1st Phillippic and 3 Olynthiacs;
Herodotus Book 1st; Homer’s Iliad, Book 1, 2, 3; Sallust.
_History._
Universal History from Vol. 17 p. 488 to the end of Vol. 18. Neal’s
History of the Puritans 4 Volumes.
_Philosophy._
The Anatomical Articles in the Universal Dictionary, several principal
Algebraic ones, and all the letter A.
_Composition._