Memoirs of Dr. Joseph Priestley

by Joseph Priestley

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.

[23] Many of these addresses have been published already. In the appendix to the present life (No. 7.) will be given an arranged list of the addresses to Dr. Priestley from various bodies of men at various times of his life; they illustrate the following positions so honourable to his character, and so necessary to a just view of it. 1st That wherever he officiated as a dissenting minister, he never quitted his situation but with the sincere regrets of those among whom he had resided, and with parting testimonies of their affectionate approbation of his conduct. 2dly. That the riots at Birmingham called forth such abundant testimonies in favour of his moral conduct and eminent usefulness; that the promoters of those riots whether in church or state can have no palliation in the eye of a discerning public for their proceedings, so far as he was the object of them. Those only use violence in opposition to argument who have no argument to use. 3dly. That his quitting England for America, was regarded as a national loss to Great Britain, and the circumstances which induced it, a national disgrace. 4thly. That his reception in this country was as honourable as his friends had reason to expect: And his demeanour since his residence here, has been such as to gain him encreased reputation and respect, among those who knew nothing of him personally before his arrival.

T. C.

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.