Part 8
As the reasons for this step in my conduct are given at large in the preface to my Fast sermon, I shall not dwell upon them here. The bigotry of the country in general made it impossible for me to place my sons in it to any advantage. William had been some time in France, and on the breaking out of the troubles in that country he had embarked for America, where his two brothers met him. My own situation, if not hazardous, was become unpleasant, so that I thought my removal would be of more service to the cause of truth than my longer stay in England. At length, therefore, with the approbation of all my friends, without exception, but with great reluctance on my own part, I came to that resolution; I being at a time of life in which I could not expect much satisfaction as to friends and society, comparable to that which I left, in which the resumption of my philosophical pursuits must be attended with great disadvantage, and in which success in my still more favourite pursuit, the propagation of unitarianism, was still more uncertain. It was also painful to me to leave my daughter, Mr. Finch having the greatest aversion to leave his relations and friends in England.
At the time of my leaving England my son in conjunction with Mr. Cooper, and other English emigrants, had a scheme for a large settlement for the friends of liberty in general near the head of the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania. And taking it for granted that it would be carried into effect, after landing at New-York, I went to Philadelphia, and thence came to Northumberland, a town the nearest to the proposed settlement, thinking to reside there until some progress had been made in it. The settlement was given up; but being here, and my wife and myself liking the place, I have determined to take up my residence here, though subject to many disadvantages. Philadelphia was excessively expensive, and this comparatively a cheap place; and my son’s, settling in the neighbourhood, will be less exposed to temptation, and more likely to form habits of sobriety and industry. They will also be settled at much less expence than in or near a large town. We hope, after some time, to be joined by a few of our friends from England, that a readier communication will be opened with Philadelphia, and that the place will improve, and become more eligible in other respects.
When I was at sea, I wrote _some observations on the cause of the present prevalence of infidelity_, which I published, and prefixed to a new edition of the _Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France_. I have also published my _Fast and Farewell sermons_, and my _small tracts_ in defence of unitarianism, also a _Continuation of those Letters_, and a _third part of Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever_, in answer to _Mr. Paine’s Age of Reason_.
The observations on the prevalence of infidelity I have much enlarged, and intend soon to print; but I am chiefly employed on the Continuation of my History of the christian church.
Northumberland, March 24, 1795, in which I have completed the sixty second year of my age.
A
CONTINUATION
OF THE
_MEMOIRS_
OF
DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY.
[_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.