Chapter III: Part 3

The _Church History_ continued to hold Priestley's first thought. He was a busy student, occupied with a diversity of interests and usually cheerful and eager to follow up new lines of endeavor. The arrival of vessels from the home country was closely watched. Books and apparatus were brought by them. While, as observed, he was singularly cheerful and happy, he confessed at times that

my character as a philosopher is under a cloud.

Yet, this was but a momentary depression, for he uttered in almost the same breath--

Everything will be cleared up in a reasonable time.

Amid the constant daily duties he found real solace in his scientific pursuits; indeed when he was quite prepared to abandon all his activities he declared of his experiments that he could not stop them for

I consider them as that study of the works of the great Creator,
which I shall resume with more advantage hereafter.

He advised his friends Lindsey and Belsham--

I cannot express what _I_ feel on receiving your letters. They set
my thoughts afloat, so that I can do nothing but ruminate a
long time; but it is a most pleasing melancholy.

Far removed from European events he was nevertheless ever keen and alert concerning them. Then the winter of 1797 appears to have been very severe. His enforced confinement to home probably gave rise to an introspection, and a slight disappointment in matters which had formerly given him pleasure. For example, he puzzled over the fact that on his second visit to Philadelphia, Mr. Adams was present but once at his lectures, and remarks--

When my lectures were less popular, and he was near his
presidentship, he left me, making a kind of apology, from the
members of the principal Presbyterian Church having offered him a
pew there. He seemed to interest himself in my favour against M.
Volney, but did not subscribe to my Church History ... I suppose
he was not pleased that I did not adopt his dislike of the French.

When January of 1798 arrived his joy was great. A box of books had come. Among them was a General Dictionary which he regarded as a real treasure. Reading was now his principal occupation. He found the making of many experiments irksome and seemed, all at once, "quite averse to having his hands so much in water." Presumably these were innocent excuses for his devotion to the Church History which had been brought up to date. Furthermore he was actually contemplating transplanting himself to France. But with it all he wrote assiduously on religious topics, and was highly pleased with the experimental work he had sent to Dr. Mitchill (p. 85).

He advised his friends of the "intercepted letters" which did him much harm when they were published. They called down upon him severest judgement and suspicion, and made him--

disliked by all the friends of the ruling power in this country.

It may be well to note that these "intercepted letters" were found on a Danish ship, inclosed in a cover addressed to

DR. PRIESTLEY, IN AMERICA

They came from friends, English and French, living in Paris. They abounded

with matter of the most serious reflection.... If the animosity of
these apostate Englishmen against their own country, their
conviction that no submissions will avert our danger, and their
description of the engines employed by the Directory for our
destruction, were impressed as they ought to be, upon the minds of
all our countrymen, we should certainly never again be told of the
innocent designs of these traitors, or their associates--

The preceding quotation is from a booklet containing exact copies of the "intercepted letters."

In the first of the letters, dated Feb. 12, 1798, the correspondent of Priestley tells that he had met a young Frenchman who had visited Northumberland

and we all rejoiced at the aggreeable information that at the
peace you would not fail to revisit Europe; and that he hoped you
would fix yourself in this country (France). Whether you fix
yourself here or in England, (_as England will then be_) is
probably a matter of little importance ... but we all think you are
misplaced where you are, though, no doubt, in the way of
_usefulness_--

The editor of the letters annotates _usefulness_ thus:

Dr. Priestley is _in the way of usefulness_ in America, because he
is labouring there, as his associates are in Europe, to disunite
the people from their government, and to introduce the blessings
of French anarchy.

These "intercepted letters" in no way prove that Dr. Priestley was engaged in any movement against his native land or against his adopted country. However, the whole world was in an uproar. People were ready to believe the worst regarding their fellows, so it is not surprising that he should have declared himself "disliked."

He alludes frequently to the marvelous changes taking place in the States. Everything was in rapid motion. Taxes were the topic of conversation on all sides.

To divert his philosophizing he busied himself in his laboratory where many "original experiments were made." He avoided the crowd. There was too great a party spirit. Indeed, there was violence, so he determined not to visit Philadelphia. He sought to escape the "rancorous abuse" which was being hurled at him--

as a citizen of France.

One must read his correspondence to fully appreciate Priestley during the early days of 1799. What must have been his mental condition when he wrote Lindsey--

As to a public violent death the idea of that does not affect me
near so much

and

I cannot express what I feel when I receive and read your letters.
I generally shed many tears over them.

There was no assurance in financial and commercial circles. The hopes of neither the more sober, nor of the wild and fanatic reformers of humanity could be realized, and they got into such a war of hate and abuse that they themselves stamped their doctrines false.

Priestley was out of patience with the public measures of the country. He disliked them as much as he did those of England, but added

Here the excellence of the Constitution provides a remedy, if the
people will make use of it, and if not, they deserve what they
suffer.

The Constitution was a favorite instrument with him. A most interesting lecture upon it will be found among the _Discourses_ which he proposed delivering in Philadelphia. This never occurred.

The Academy he expected to see in operation failed for support. The walls were raised and he feared it would go no further. The Legislature had voted it $3000, but the Senate negatived this act. He thought of giving up the presidency of it.

He wrote Dr. Rush that he was quite busy with replies to Dr. Woodhouse's attack on his confirmation of the existence of phlogiston, (p. 88). He relished his discussions with Woodhouse and was confident that eventually he would "overturn the French system of chemistry." He further remarked to Rush--

Were you at liberty to make an excursion as far as these _back
woods_ I shall be happy to see you, and so would many others.

But at that particular moment Rush was too much engaged in combating yellow fever, which again ravaged Philadelphia, and all who could, fled, and the streets were "lifeless and dead." The prevalence of this fearful plague was a potent factor in Priestley's failure to visit the City during the year--the last year of a closing Century which did not end in the prosperity anticipated for it in the hopeful months and years following the war. It seemed, in many ways, to be the end of an era. Washington died December 14, 1799, and the Federalists' tenure of power was coming to a close. The Jeffersonians, aided by eight of the electoral votes of Pennsylvania, won the victory, amid outbursts of unprecedented political bitterness. It was, therefore, very wise that the Doctor remained quietly at home in Northumberland with his experiments and Church History.

The new Century--the 19th--found our beloved philosopher at times quite proud of the success he had with his experiments and full of genuine hope that "phlogiston" was established; and again dejected because of the "coarse and low articles" directed against him by the prints of the day. To offset, in a measure, the distrust entertained for him because of the "intercepted letters" he addressed a series of _Letters_ to the inhabitants of Northumberland and vicinity. These were explanatory of his views. At home they were most satisfying but in the city they brought upon him "more abuse." And, so, he translated a passage from Petrarch which read--

By civil fueds exiled my native home,
Resign'd, though injured, hither I have come.
Here, groves and streams, delights of rural ease;
Yet, where the associates, wont to serve and please;
The aspect bland, that bade the heart confide?
Absent from these, e'en here, no joys abide.

And these were incorporated in his brochure.

Having alluded to the _Letters_ addressed to the Northumberland folks, it may be proper to introduce a letter which Priestley received from Mr. Jefferson, whom the former was disposed to hold as "in many respects the first man in this Country:"

Philadelphia, Jan. 18, 1800.

Dear Sir--

I thank you for the pamphlets (Letters) you were so kind as to
send me. You will know what I thought of them by my having before
sent a dozen sets to Virginia, to distribute among my friends; yet
I thank you not the less for these, which I value the more as they
came from yourself.

The papers of Political Arithmetic, both in yours and Mr. Cooper's
pamphlets, are the most precious gifts that can be made to us; for
we are running navigation-mad, and commerce-mad, and Navy-mad,
which is worst of all. How desirable it is that you should pursue
that subject for us. From the porcupines of our country you will
receive no thanks, but the great mass of our nation will edify,
and thank you.

How deeply have I been chagrined and mortified at the persecutions
which fanaticism and monarchy have excited against you, even here!
At first, I believed it was merely a continuance of the English
persecution; but I observe that, on the demise of Porcupine, and
the division of his inheritance between Fenno and Brown, the
latter (though succeeding only to the Federal portion of
Porcupinism, not the Anglican, which is Fenno's part) serves up
for the palate of his sect dishes of abuse against you as
high-seasoned as Porcupine's were. You have sinned against Church
and King, and therefore can never be forgiven. How sincerely I
have regretted that your friend, before he fixed a choice of
position, did not visit the valleys on each side of the blue range
in Virginia, as Mr. Madison and myself so much wished. You would
have found there equal soil, the finest climate, and the most
healthy air on the earth, the homage of universal reverence and
love, and the power of the country spread over you as a shield;
but, since you would not make it your Country by adoption, you
must now do it by your good offices.

Mr. Livingston, the Chancellor of New York, so approved the "Letters" that he got a new edition of them printed at Albany.

The following letter to this same gentleman, although upon another subject than the "Letters" is not devoid of interest. It has come into the writer's hands through the kind offices of Dr. Thomas L. Montgomery, State Librarian of Pennsylvania:

Sir,

I think myself much honoured by your letter, and should have
thought myself singularly happy if my situation had been near to
such a person as you. Persons engaged in scientific pursuits are
few in this country. Indeed, they are not very numerous anywhere.
In other respects I think myself very happy where I am.

I have never given much attention to machines of any kind, and
therefore cannot pretend to decide concerning your proposal for
the improvement of the fire engine. It appears to me to deserve
attention. But I do not for want of a drawing see in what manner
the steam is to be let into the cylinder, or discharged from it.
There would be, I fear, an objection to it from the force
necessary to raise the column of mercury, and from the evaporation
of the mercury in the requisite heat. I have found that it loses
weight in 70° Fahrenheit. If the mercury was pure, I should not
apprehend much from the calcination of it, though, as I have
observed, the agitation of it in water, converts a part of it into
a black powder, which I propose to examine farther.

If travelling was attended with no fewer inconveniences here than
it is in England, I should certainly wait upon you and some other
friends at New York. But this, and my age, render it impossible,
and it would be unreasonable to expect many visitors in this _back
woods_.

I shall be very happy to be favoured with your correspondence, and
am,

Sir,

Yours sincerely,

J. PRIESTLEY

Northumberland April 16, 1799.

In this period Thomas Cooper was convicted of libel. He was thrown into prison. Priestley regarded him as a rising man in the Country.[7] He said the act was the last blow of the Federal party "which is now broke up."

Priestley's daughter, in England, was ill at this time. Her life was despaired of and tidings from her were few and most distressing, but the Doctor maintained a quiet and calm assurance of her recovery.

Subsequent correspondence between Mr. Jefferson and Priestley had much in it about the new College which the former contemplated for the State of Virginia. Indeed, the thought was entertained that Priestley himself might become a professor in it, but his advanced age, he contended forbade this, although he was agreeable to the idea of getting professors from Europe.

Here, perhaps, may well be included several letters, now in possession of the Library of Congress, which reveal the attitude of Dr. Priestley toward President Jefferson, who was indeed most friendly to him:

Dear Sir--

I am flattered by your thinking so favourably of my _pamphlets_,
which were only calculated to give some satisfaction to my
suspicious neighbours. Chancellor Livingston informs me that he
has got an edition of them printed at Albany, for the information
of the people in the back country, where, he says, it is so much
wanted. Indeed, it seems extraordinary, that in such a country as
this, where there is no court to dazzle men's eyes a maxim as
plain as that 2 and 2 make 4 should not be understood, and acted
upon. It is evident that the bulk of mankind are governed by
something very different from reasoning and argument. This
principle must have its influence even in your Congress, for if
the members are not convinced by the excellent speeches of Mr.
Gallatin and Nicolas, neither would they be persuaded tho one
should rise from the dead.

It is true that I had more to do with colleges, and places of
education, than most men in Europe; but I would not pretend to
advise in this country. I will, however, at my leisure, propose
such _hints_ as shall occur to me; and if you want tutors from
England, I can recommend some very good ones. Were I a few years
younger, and more moveable, I should make interest for some
appointment in your institution myself; but age and inactivity are
fast approaching, and I am so fixed here, that a remove is
absolutely impossible, unless you were possessed of _Aladin's
lamp_, and could transport my house, library, and laboratory,
into Virginia without trouble or expense.

On my settlement here the gentlemen in the neighbourhood, thinking
to make me of some use, set on foot a college, of which I gave
them the plan, and they got it incorporated, and made me the
president; but tho I proposed to give lectures _gratis_, and had
the disposal of a valuable library at the decease of a learned
friend (new, near so), and had it in my power to render them
important service in various ways, yet, owing I suspect, in part
at least, to religious and political prejudices, nothing more has
been done, besides marking the site of a building these five
years, so that I have told them I shall resign.

I much wish to have some conversation with you on social subjects;
but I cannot expect that the Vice President of the United States
should visit me in my _shed_ at Northumberland, and I cannot come
to you. I intended on my settling here to have spent a month or so
every winter at Philadelphia, but the state of the times, and
various accidents, have a little deranged my finances, and I
prefer to spend what I can spare on my experiments, and
publication, rather than in travelling and seeing my friends.

With the greatest respect, I am,
Dear Sir,
Yours sincerely,
J. PRIESTLEY.

Northumberland Jan. 30, 1800.

Dear Sir--

I enclose my thoughts on the subject you did me the honour to
propose to me. Your own better judgment will decide concerning
their value, or their fitness for the circumstances of your
College. This may require a very different distribution of the
business from that which I here recommend.

I thank you for your care to transmit a copy of my works to Bp.
Madison. He, as well as many others, speaks of the increasing
spread of republican principles in this country. I wish I could
see the effects of it. But I fear we flatter ourselves, and if I
be rightly informed, my poor _Letters_ have done more harm than
good. I can only say that I am a sincere well wisher to this
country, and the purity and stability of its constitution.

Yours sincerely,
J. PRIESTLEY.

Northumberland May 8, 1800.

HINTS CONCERNING PUBLIC EDUCATION

Persons educated at public seminaries are of two classes. One is
that of professional men, and physicians and divines who are to be
qualified for entering upon their professions immediately after
leaving the college or university. The other is that of gentlemen,
and those who are designed for offices of civil and active life.
The former must be minutely instructed in everything adding to
their several professions, whereas to the latter a general
knowledge of the several branches of science is sufficient. To the
former, especially that of Medicine, several professors are
necessary, as the business must be subdivided, in order to be
taught to advantage. For the purpose of the latter fewer professors
are wanted, as it is most advisable to give them only the elements
of the several branches of knowledge, to which they may afterwards
give more particular attention, as they may have a disposition or
convenience for it.

Lawyers are not supposed to be qualified for entering upon their
professions at any place of public education. They are therefore to
be considered as gentlemen to whom a general knowledge is
sufficient. It is advisable, however, that when any subject, as
that of Medicine, is much divided, and distributed among a number
of professors, lectures of a more general and popular nature be
provided for the other classes of students, to whom some knowledge
of the subject may be very useful. A general knowledge, for
example, of anatomy and of medicine, too, is useful to all persons,
and therefore ought not to be omitted in any scheme of liberal
education. And if in a regular school of medicine any of the
professors would undertake this, it might serve as an useful
introduction to that more particular and accurate knowledge which
is necessary for practiced physicians.

The branches of knowledge which are necessary to the teachers of
religion are not so many, or so distinct from each other, but that
they may all be taught by one professor, as far as is necessary to
qualify persons for commencing preachers. To acquire more
knowledge, as that of the scriptures, ecclesistical history, etc.
must be the business of their future lives. But every person
liberally educated should have a general knowledge of Metaphysics,
the theory of morals, and religion; and therefore some popular
lectures of this kind should be provided for the students in
general.

One professor of antient languages may be sufficient for a place of
liberal education, and I would not make any provision for
instruction in the modern languages, for tho the knowledge of
them, as well as skill in fencing, dancing and riding, is proper
for gentlemen liberally educated, instruction in them may be
procured on reasonable terms without burdening the funds of the
seminary with them.

Abstract Mathematics, and Natural Philosophy, are so distinct, that
they require different teachers. One is sufficient for the former,
but the latter must be subdivided, one for natural history, another
for experimental Philosophy in general and a third for chemistry;
in consequence of the great extension of this branch of
experimental Philosophy of late years. The botany, mineralogy, and
other branches of natural history are sufficiently distinct to
admit of different professors, nothing more than a general
knowledge of each of them, and directions for acquiring a more
extended knowledge of them is necessary at any place of education.

Two or three Schools of Medicine I should think sufficient for all
the United States for some years to come, but with respect to these
I do not pretend to give any opinion not having sufficient
knowledge of the subject. Places of liberal education in general
should be made more numerous, and for each of them I should think
the following professors (if the funds of the Society will admit of
it) should be engaged, _viz._ (1) For the antient languages. (2)
The Belles Lettres, including universal Grammar, Oratory, criticism
and bibliography. (3) Mathematics. (4) Natural history. (5)
Experimental Philosophy. (6) Chemistry, including the theory of
Agriculture. (7) Anatomy and Medicine. (8) Geography and history,
Law, and general policy. (9) Metaphysics, morals, and theology.

A course of liberal education should be as comprehensive as
possible. For this purpose a large and well chosen _library_ will
be of great use. Not that the students should be encouraged to read
books while they are under tuition, but an opportunity of seeing
books, and looking into them, will give them a better idea of the
value of them than they could get by merely hearing of them, and
they would afterwards better know what books to purchase when they
should have the means and the leisure for the perusal of them. A
large collection of books will also be useful to the lecturer in
_bibliography_ and would recommend the seminary to the professors
in general, and make it a desirable place of residence for
gentlemen of a studious turn.

2. In order to engage able professors, some fixed salaries are
necessary; but they should not be much more than a bare
subsistence. They will then have a motive to exert themselves, and
by the fees of students their emoluments may be ample. The
professorships in the English universities, which are largely
endowed, are sinecures; while those in Scotland, to which small
stipends are annexed, are filled by able and active men.

3. It is not wise to engage any persons who are much advanced in
life, or of established reputation for efficient teachers. They
will not be so active as younger men who have a character to
acquire. They will also better accommodate their lectures to the
increasing light of the age, whereas old men will be attached to
old systems, tho ever so imperfect. Besides, they are the most
expert in teaching who have lately learned, and the minutae of
science, which are necessary to a teacher, are generally forgotten
by good scholars who are advanced in life, and it is peculiarly
irksome to relearn them.

4. I would not without necessity have recourse to any foreign
country for professors. They will expect too much deference, and
the natives will be jealous of them.

5. Three things must be attended to in the education of youth. They
must be _taught_, _fed_ and _governed_ and each of these requires
very different qualifications. They who are the best qualified to
teach are often the most unfit to govern, and it is generally
advisable that neither of these have anything to do with providing
victuals. In the English universities all these affairs are
perfectly distinct. The _tutors_ only teach, the _proctors_
superintend the discipline, and the _cooks_ provide the victuals.

Philadelphia, Apr. 10, 1801.

Dear Sir--

Your kind letter, which, considering the numerous engagements
incident to your situation, I had no right to expect, was highly
gratifying to me, and I take the first opportunity of
acknowledging it. For tho I believe I am completely recovered from
my late illness, I am advised to write as little as possible. Your
invitation to pay you a visit is flattering to me in the highest
degree, and I shall not wholly despair of some time or other
availing myself of it, but for the present I must take the nearest
way home.

Your resentment of the treatment I have met with in this country
is truly generous, but I must have been but little impressed with
the principles of the religion you so justly commend, if they had
not enabled me to bear much more than I have yet suffered. Do not
suppose that, after the much worse treatment to which I was for
many years exposed in England (of which the pamphlet I take the
liberty to inclose will give you some idea) I was much affected by
this. My _Letters to the Inhabitants of Northumberland_ were not
occasioned by any such thing, tho it served me as a pretense for
writing them, but the threatenings of Mr. Pickering, whose purpose
to send me out of the country Mr. Adams (as I conclude from a
circuitous attempt that he made to prevent it) would not, in the
circumstances in which he then was, have been able to directly
oppose. My publication was of service to me in that and other
respects and I hope, in some measure, to the common cause. But had
it not been for the extreme absurdity and violence of the late
administration, I do not know how far the measures might not have
been carried. I rejoice more than I can express in the glorious
reverse that has taken place, and which has secured your election.
This I flatter myself will be the permanent establishment of truly
republican principles in this country, and also contribute to the
same desirable event in more distant ones.

I beg you would not trouble yourself with any answer to this. The
knowledge of your good opinion and good wishes, is quite
sufficient for me. I feel for the difficulties of your situation,
but your spirit and prudence will carry you thro them, tho not
without paying the tax which the wise laws of nature have imposed
upon preeminence and celebrity of every kind, a tax which, for
want of true greatness of mind, neither of your predecessors, if I
estimate their characters aright, paid without much reluctance.

With every good wish, I am,
Dear Sir,
Yours sincerely,
J. PRIESTLEY.

P.S.

As I trust that _Politics_ will not make you forget what is due to
_science_, I shall send you a copy of some articles that are just
printed for the _Transactions of the Philosophical Society_ in
this place. No. (5) p. 36 is the most deserving of your notice. I
should have sent you my _Defence of Phlogiston_, but that I
presume you have seen it.

June, 1802.
To Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States of America.

Sir,

My high respect for your character, as a politician, and a man,
makes me desirous of connecting my name, in some measure with
yours while it is in my power, by means of some publication, to do
it.

The first part of this work, which brought the history to the fall
of the western empire, was dedicated to a zealous friend of civil
and religious liberty, but in a private station. What he, or any
other friend of liberty in Europe, could only do by their good
wishes, by writing, or by patriot suffering, you, Sir, are
actually accomplishing, and upon a theatre of great and growing
extent.

It is the boast of this country to have a constitution the most
favourable to political liberty, and private happiness, of any in
the world, and all say that it was yourself, more than any other
individual, that planned and established it; and to this opinion
your conduct in various public offices, and now in the highest,
gives the clearest attestation.

Many have appeared the friends of the rights of man while they were
subject to the power of others, and especially when they were
sufferers by it; but I do not recollect one besides yourself who
retained the same principles, and acted by them, in a station of
real power. You, Sir, have done more than this; having proposed to
relinquish some part of the power which the constitution gave you;
and instead of adding to the burden of the people, it has been
your endeavour to lighten those burdens tho the necessary
consequence must be the diminution of your influence. May this
great example, which I doubt not will demonstrate the
practicability of truly republican principles, by the actual
existence of a form of government calculated to answer all the
useful purposes of government (giving equal protection to all, and
leaving every man in the possession of every power that he can
exercise to his own advantage, without infringing on the equal
liberty of others) be followed in other countries, and at length
become universal.

Another reason why I wish to prefix your name to this work, and
more appropriate to the subject of it, is that you have ever been
a strenuous and uniform advocate of religious no less than civil
liberty, both in your own state of Virginia, and in the United
States in general, seeing in the clearest light the various and
great mischiefs that have arisen from any particular form of
religion being favoured by the State more than any other; so that
the profession or practice of religion is here as free as that of
philosophy, or medicine. And now the experience of more than
twenty years leaves little room to doubt but that it is a state,
of things the most favourable to mutual candour, which is of great
importance to domestic peace and good neighbourhood and to the
cause of all truth, religious truth least of all excepted. When
every question is thus left to free discussion, there cannot be a
doubt but that truth will finally prevail, and establish itself by
its own evidence; and he must know little of mankind, or of human
nature, who can imagine that truth of any kind will be ultimately
unfavourable to general happiness. That man must entertain a
secret suspicion of his own principles who wishes for any
exclusive advantage in his defence or profession of them.

Having fled from a state of persecution in England, and having been
exposed to some degree of danger in the late administration here, I
naturally feel the greater satisfaction in the prospect of passing
the remainder of an active life (when I naturally wish for repose)
under your protection. Tho arrived at the usual term of human life
it is now only that I can say I see nothing to fear from the hand
of power, the government under which I live being for the first
time truly favourable to me. And tho it will be evident to all who
know me that I have never been swayed by the mean principle of
fear, it is certainly a happiness to be out of the possibility of
its influence, and to end ones days in peace, enjoying some degree
of rest before the state of more perfect rest in the grave, and
with the hope of rising to a state of greater activity, security
and happiness beyond it. This is all that any man can wish for, or
have; and this, Sir, under your administration, I enjoy.

With the most perfect attachment, and every good wish I subscribe
myself not your subject, or humble servant, but your sincere
admirer.

J. PRIESTLEY.

Dear Sir,

As there are some particulars in a letter I have lately received
from Mr. Stone at Paris which I think it will give you pleasure to
have, and Mr. Cooper has been so obliging as to translate them for
me, I take the liberty to send them, along with a copy of my
_Dedication_, with the correction that you suggested, and a Note
from the latter with which you favoured me concerning what you did
with respect to the _constitution_, and which is really more than
I had ascribed to you. For almost everything of importance to
political liberty in that instrument was, as it appears to me,
suggested by you, and as this was unknown to myself, and I believe
is so with the world in general, I was unwilling to omit this
opportunity of noticing it.

I shall be glad if you will be so good as to engage any person
sufficiently qualified to draw up such an account of the
_constitutional forms_ of this country as my friends say will be
agreeable to the emperor, and I will transmit it to Mr. Stone.

Not knowing any certain method of sending a letter to France and
presuming that you do I take the liberty to inclose my letter to
Mr. Stone. It is, however, so written that no danger can arise to
him from it, into whatever hands it may fall.

The state of my health, though, I thank God, much improved, will
not permit me to avail myself of your kind invitation to pay you a
visit. Where ever I am, you may depend upon my warmest attachment
and best wishes.

J. PRIESTLEY.

Northumberland Oct. 29, 1802.

P.S.

I send a copy of the _Preface_ as well as of the _Dedication_,
that you may form some idea of the work you are pleased to
patronize.

Northumberland Jan. 25, 1803.

Dear Sir,

As you were pleased to think favourably of my pamphlet entitled
_Socrates and Jesus compared_, I take the liberty to send you a
_defence_ of it. My principal object, you will perceive, was to
lay hold of the opportunity, given me by Mr. B. Linn, to excite
some attention to doctrines which I consider as of peculiar
importance in the Christian system, and which I do not find to
have been discussed in this country.

The Church History is, I hope, by this time in the hands of the
bookseller at Philadelphia, so that you will soon, if my
directions have been attended to, receive a copy of the work which
I have the honour to dedicate to you.

With the greatest respect and attachment, I am

Dear Sir,
Yours sincerely,
J. PRIESTLEY.

Dear Sir,

I take the liberty to send you _a second defence of my pamphlet
about Socrates_, on the 16th page of which you will find that I
have undertaken the task you were pleased to recommend to me. On
giving more attention to it, I found, as the fox did with respect
to the lion, that my apprehensions entirely vanished. Indeed, I
have already accomplished a considerable part of the work, and in
about a year from this time I hope to finish the whole, provided
my health, which is very precarious, be continued in the state in
which it now is. I directed a copy of the _tract on phlogiston_
to be sent to you from Philadelphia, and I shall order another,
which, together with the inclosed papers, I shall be much obliged
to you if you will convey to. Mr. Livingston. Please also to cast
an eye over them yourself; and if you can with propriety promote
my interest by any representation of yours, I am confident you
will do it.

When you wrote to me at the commencement of your administration,
you said "the only dark speck in our horizon is in Louisiana." By
your excellent conduct it is now the brightest we have to look to.

Mr. Vaughan having applied to me for a copy of my Harmony of the
Evangelists, which was not to be had in Philadelphia, and
intimated that it was for you, my son, whose copy is more perfect
than mine, begs the honour of your acceptance of it, as a mark of
his high esteem, in which he has the hearty concurrence of

Dear Sir,
Yours sincerely,
J. PRIESTLEY.

Northumberland Dec. 12, 1803.

His European correspondents were informed that he was much engaged with religious matters. While his theological views were not received very graciously yet he found

some young men of a serious and inquisitive turn, who read my
works, and are confirmed Unitarians.

In one of his communications to Lindsey, written in April 1800, he expresses himself in the following most interesting way relative to his scientific engagements. American men of science will welcome it: This is the message:

I send along with this an account of a course of experiments of as
much importance as almost any that I have ever made. Please to
shew it to Mr. Kirwan, and give it either to Mr. Nicholson for his
journal, or to Mr. Phillips for his magazine, as you please. I was
never more busy or more successful in this way, when I was in
England; and I am very thankful to Providence for the means and
the leisure for these pursuits, which next to theological studies,
interest me the most. Indeed, there is a natural alliance between
them, as there must be between the word and the works of God.

He was now at work apparently in his own little laboratory adjacent to his dwelling place. For more than a century this structure has remained practically as it was in the days of Priestley. In it he did remarkable things, in his judgment; thus refuting the general idea that after his arrival in America nothing of merit in the scientific direction was accomplished by him. The satisfactory results, mentioned to Lindsey, were embodied in a series of "Six Chemical Essays" which eventually found their way into the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. It is a miscellany of observations. In it are recorded the results found on passing the "vapour of spirit of nitre" over iron turnings, over copper, over perfect charcoal, charcoal of bones, melted lead, tin and bismuth; and there appears a note to the effect that in Papin's digester "a solution of caustic alkali, aided by heat, made a _liquor silicum_ with pounded flint glass." There is also given a description of a pyrophorus obtained from iron and sulphur. More interesting, however, was the account of the change of place in different kinds of air, "through several interposing substances," in which Priestley recognized distinctly for the first time, the phenomena of gaseous diffusion. There are also references to the absorption of air by water, and of course, as one would expect from the Doctor, for it never failed, there is once more emphasized "certain facts pertaining to phlogiston." His friends were quite prepared for such statements. They thought of Joseph Priestley and involuntarily there arose the idea of phlogiston.

The little workshop or laboratory, in Northumberland, where these facts were gathered, will soon be removed to the Campus of Pennsylvania State College. It will be preserved with care and in it, it is hoped, will be gradually assembled everything to be found relating to the noble soul who once disclosed Nature's secrets in this simple primitive structure, which American chemists should ever cherish, and hold as a Mecca for all who would look back to the beginnings of chemical research in our beloved country.

How appropriate it would be could there be deposited in the little laboratory, the apparatus owned and used by Priestley, which at present constitutes and for many years past has formed an attractive collection in Dickinson College, (Pa.) There would be the burning lens, the reflecting telescope, the refracting telescope (probably one of the first achromatic telescopes made), the air-gun, the orrery, and flasks with heavy ground necks, and heavy curved tubes with ground stoppers--all brought (to Dickinson) through the instrumentality of Thomas Cooper, "the greatest man in America in the powers of his mind and acquired information and that without a single exception" according to Thomas Jefferson.

And how the Library would add to the glory of the place, but, alas! it has been scattered far and wide, for in 1816, Thomas Dobson advertised the same for sale in a neatly printed pamphlet of 96 pages. In it were many scarce and valuable books. The appended prices ranged quite widely, reaching in one case the goodly sum of two hundred dollars!

And as future chemists visit this unique reminder of Dr. Priestley it should be remembered that on the piazza of the dwelling house there assembled August 1, 1874, a group of men who planned then and there for the organization of the present American Chemical Society.

The "Essays," previously mentioned, will be found intensely interesting but they are somewhat difficult to read because of their strange nomenclature. Here is Priestley's account of the method pursued by him to get nitrogen:

Pure phlogisticated air (nitrogen) may be procured in the easiest
and surest manner by the use of iron only--To do this I fill
phials with turnings of malleable iron, and having filled them
with water, pour it out, to admit the air of the atmosphere, and
in six or seven hours it will be diminished ... what remains of
the air in the phials will be the purest phlogisticated air
(nitrogen).

Among his contributions to the scientific periodicals of the times there was one relating to the sense of hearing. It is a curious story. One may properly ask whether the singular facts in it were not due to defects in Priestley's own organs of hearing. The paper did not arouse comment. It was so out of the ordinary experimental work which he was carrying forward with such genuine pleasure and intense vigour.

Strong appeals were steadily coming from English friends that he return. While commenting on the pleasure he should have in seeing them he firmly declared that the step would not be wise. In short, despite all arguments he had determined to

remain where I am for life.

The prejudices against him were abating, although he said

that many things are against me; and though they do not _shake_ my
faith, they _try_ it.

There had gathered a class of fourteen young men about him in the Northumberland home. They had adopted his Unitarian ideas. To them he lectured regularly on theology and philosophy. Those must have been inspiring moments. It was in this wise that the aged philosopher felt he was doing good and was most useful. He said that it was

a pretty good class of young men to lecture to.

Much time was given to his English correspondents. Them he advised of the rapid development of the States. He sent to some pictures of the country about him, and with much delight he referred to the fact that Jefferson, whom he ardently admired, was now, in the closing weeks of 1800, the President, and his associate--Aaron Burr, Vice-President. He announced to English friends that the late administration, that of John Adams, was

almost universally reprobated.

Mr. Jefferson, he insisted, "will do nothing rashly,"

His being president may induce me to visit the federal city, and
perhaps his seat in Virginia.

The seat of government, as may be inferred, had been removed to Washington from Philadelphia. But to the latter center, which still offered many attractions, Priestley journeyed for the third time early in 1801. He was not especially desirous of making this third visit, but as his son and daughter came down a distance of 130 miles on business, he determined to accompany them. True, Congress was no longer there, but there were many interesting people about with whom he had great pleasure. With Bishop White, who was most orthodox and whom he saw frequently, he enjoyed much "Christian and edifying conversation." John Andrews was another favorite. He was a violent Federalist and informed Priestley that the latter

had done them (the Federalists) more mischief than any other man,

yet these two noble spirits lived in amity, and Priestley several times announced that Dr. Andrews was a Unitarian, which is not the thought today in regard to the latter.

It was an eventful year--this year of 1801. Much that was unexpected happened. It brought joy and it brought sorrow.

Perhaps it would be just as well to note the scientific progress of the Doctor during this year, for he gave forth the statement that he had succeeded in producing air by freezing water. This production of air was one of his earlier ideas (p. 62), and now he wrote--

The harder the frost was the more air I procured.

Further, he announced that on heating manganese (dioxide) in inflammable air

no water is formed,

and what is rather astounding, he was certain that _azote_ consisted of hydrogen and oxygen.

To the _Medical Repository_, which he regarded highly, there was sent a rather thoughtful disquisition on dreams. In it the idea was expressed

that dreams have their seat in some region of the brain more
deeply seated than that which is occupied by our waking thoughts.

A "Pile of Volta" had been sent out from England. It amused him and he studied it carefully when he was led to remark upon the theory of this curious process as follows:

The operation wholly depends on the calcination of the zinc, which
suffers a great diminution in weight, while the silver is little
affected, and all metals lose their phlogiston in calcination,
therefore what remains of the zinc in metallic form in the pile
and everything connected with that end of it, is supersaturated
with phlogiston.

More need not be quoted. It was phlogiston and that only which occasioned the electric current. It may properly be added that in this connection he wrote:

It is said the inventor of the galvanic pile discovered the
conducting power of charcoal, whereas it was one of my first
observations in electricity, made in 1766.

Some additional attention to air was also given by him, and in so doing he reached the conclusion that

The diamond and charcoal of copper are, as nearly as possible,
pure phlogiston.

One wonders how he could so persuade himself, for these bodies surely possessed weight. Why did he not rely more upon his balance?

With Woodhouse he discussed the product from passing water over heated charcoal. He had been endeavoring to refute certain statements made by Cruikshank. There is no question but that he had carbon monoxide in hand, and had it as early as 1799, and that he had obtained it in several different ways. Observe this statement:

I always found that the first portion of the heavy inflammable
air, resulting from the passage of steam over heated charcoal was
loaded with fixed air (CO_2), but that in the course of the
process this disappeared, the remaining air (CO) burning with a
lambent flame.

Scarcely had Priestley set foot in Philadelphia on his third visitation than the _Port Folio_, devoted usually to literature and biography, printed the following unkind words:

The tricks of Dr. Priestley to embroil the government, and disturb
the religion of his own country, have not the merit of novelty.

To which the _Aurora_ replied:

When Porcupine rioted in the filth of a debauched and corrupt
faction in this city, no person experienced so much of his obscene
and vulgar abuse as Dr. Priestley. There is not a single fact on
record or capable of being shewn, to prove that Dr. Priestley was
guilty of any other crime than being a dissenter from the church
of England, and a warm friend of American Independence. For this
he was abused by Porcupine--and Denny is only Porcupine with a
little more tinsel to cover his dirt. It is worthy of remark, that
after a whole sheet of promises of "literary lore" and "products
of the master of spirits" of the nation--the first and second
numbers of the _Portable Foolery_, are stuffed with extracts from
British publications of an ordinary quality.

The attack of the Port Folio was most ungracious. It may have been due to irritation caused by the appearance of a second edition of Priestley's "Letters to the Inhabitants of Northumberland." Nevertheless the thoughtful and dignified men of the City--men who admired Priestley's broad catholic spirit and brave attitude upon all debatable questions, men who appreciated his scientific attainments, invited him to the following subscription dinner, as announced in the _Aurora_, March, 6th:

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon about one hundred citizens sat down
to an elegant entertainment prepared by Mr. Francis to celebrate
the commencement of the administration of Mr. Jefferson. The
Governor honored the company with his presence. Several
respectable Foreigners were invited to partake of the festival....
A variety of patriotic songs were admirably sung; and the
following toasts were drank with unanimous applause.

1. The Governor of Pennsylvania

2. Dr. Priestley: The Philosopher and Philanthropist....

He was present and enjoyed himself, and sad must it have been to read on March 30th:

Some weeks ago, Dr. Priestley having caught cold by attending a
meeting of the Philosophical Society on a wet evening, was taken
ill of a violent inflammatory complaint which rendered his
recovery for a long time dubious. We announce with sincere
pleasure the returning health of a man, whose life hath hitherto
been sedulously and successfully devoted to the interests of
mankind.

He had, indeed, been very ill. The trouble was pleurisy. Dr. Rush was his physician. By his order the patient was bled profusely seven times. During this trying and doubtful period there came to him a cheery letter from President Jefferson who had only learned of his illness. Among other things the President wrote--

Yours is one of the few lives precious to mankind, and for the
continuance of which every thinking man is solicitous. Bigots may
be an exception.... But I have got into a long disquisition on
politics when I only meant to express my sympathy in the state of
your health, and to tender you all the affections of public and
private hospitality. I should be very happy to see you here
(Washington). I leave this about the 30th to return about the 25th
of April. If you do not leave Philadelphia before that, a little
excursion hither would help your health. I should be much
gratified with the possession of a guest I so much esteem, and
should claim a right to lodge you, should you make such an
excursion.

But Priestley journeyed homeward on April 13th, and en route wrote the following letter, addressed to John Vaughan, Esq. 179 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa.:

April 17, 1801
Reading, Friday Evening

Dear Sir,

I have the pleasure to inform you, agreeably to your kind request,
that we are safely arrived at this place, my daughter better than
when we left Philadelphia, and as to myself, I feel just as well,
and as able to bear any fatigue, as before my late illness. This,
however, will always remind me of your friendly attentions, and
those of your sister, if a thousand and other circumstances did
not do the same, and of them all I hope I shall ever retain a
grateful remembrance.

Along the whole road I am struck with the marks of an astonishing
degree of improvement since I came this way four years ago. I do
not think that any part of England is better cultivated, and at
present the wheat is in a very promising state. I wish we may
hear of that of England promising as well. Three years of such a
scarcity is more than any country could bear, and you will believe
me when I say that, if it was in my power, I would guard it not
only from famine, but from every other calamity.

With my daughter's kindest remembrance, I am, as ever

Dear Sir
Yours sincerely,
J. PRIESTLEY.[8]

Resuming his correspondence with his numerous friends in England, he said:

My chief resource is my daily occupation.

He also wrote Dr. Rush his thanks for having advised him to read Noah Webster's _Pestilential Disorders_ which follow the appearance of meteors and earthquakes, taking occasion also to excuse his opposition to blood-letting,--

I believe that I owe my life to your judicious direction of it. I
shall never forget your so readily forgiving my suspicion, and my
requesting the concurrence of Dr. Wistar after the third bleeding.
It was his opinion as well as yours and Dr. Caldwell's, that my
disorder required several more; and the completeness of my cure,
and the speediness of my recovery, prove that you were right. In
the future I shall never be afraid of the lancet when so
judiciously directed.

To Rush he confided his doubts about his paper on Dreams. He cannot account for them, hence he has offered merely an hypothesis, and continues--

I frequently think with much pleasure and regret on the many happy
hours I spent in your company, and wish we were not at so great
distance. Such society would be the value of life to me. But I
must acquiesce in what a wise providence has appointed.