APPENDIX. No. I. A SHORT SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF DR. PRICE, WITH AN ACCOUNT. OF ALL HIS PUBLICATIONS.* (See supra, p. 3.) RICHARD PRICE was born on the 23d of February, 1723, at Tynton, in the parish of Langeinor, Glamorganshire, being the son of the Rev. Rice Price, † who was for many years the pastor of a congregation of Dissenters at Bridgend, in the same county. + At the age of about eight years he was sent to school to the Rev. Joseph Simmons at Neath, and having been continued there for three or four years, he was removed to Pentwyn, in Caermarthenshire, where he was placed under the care of the Rev. Samuel Jones, whom he was used to represent as a man of a very enlarged mind, and who first inspired him with liberal sentiments of religion. Having lived here nearly as long as he had done with Mr. Simmons, § he was sent to the Rev. Vavasor Griffith's Academy, at Talgarth, in Breconshire. In the month of June, 1739, his father died, ¶ and in the beginning of the following year he also lost his mother.** Immediately after this last event he quitted Mr. Griffith's academy, tt and came to London. ‡‡ Here he was settled at the • Annexed, in 1791, to the Discourse, Vol. XV. pp. 441–457. + Who was "so bigotted to his own [Calvinistic] creed, that one day finding the boy reading Dr. Clarke's Sermons, he flung the book, in a rage, into the fire, with the most bitter invectives against him for his want of faith and orthodoxy." See "Memoirs of the Life of the Rev. Richard Price, D.D. F.R.S. By William Morgan, F.R.S." 1815, p. 6. t This congregation "was originally formed by Mr. Thomas, one of those clergymen who had been ejected from their livings at the restoration of Charles the Second." Ibid. pp. 3, 4. "About three years." Ibid. p. 5. "At the age of 15." Ibid. "Leaving one of his children," whom he bad singled out "for his favourite, almost the whole of his property. His widow and other six children were, in consequence, involved in much difficulty and trouble." Ibid. pp. 6, 7. **Whom Mr. Morgan describes "as a most generons and excellent woman.Her son, with his two sisters, attended her in her last moments; and he has often expressed his admiration of the tranquillity and joy with which she viewed the approaches of death, and the prospect of a better world." Ibid. pp. 7, 8. ++"At Talgarth, to which place he walked, over the mountains of Brecon, in the severe frost of that year (1740); and it was in his way thither that his mind was first engaged in studying Butler's Analogy; a work which never ceased to be the subject of his praise and admiration." Ibid. p. 8. 11" Having no means of conveyance, as he then lived with his two sisters who were no better provided for than himself, he had recourse to his brother, the heir of his father's fortune, who supplied him with a horse to carry himself and a servant as far as Cardiff, a distance of twenty miles, from whence he was left to trudge academy, * of which Mr. Eames † was the principal tutor, under the patronage of his uncle, the Rev. Samuel Price, ‡ who was copastor with Dr. Watts for upwards of forty years. At the end of four years he left this academy, and resided with Mr. Streatfield, of Stoke-Newington. At the commencement of his residence here, he assisted Dr. Chandler at the meeting-house in the Old Jewry. § He afterwards occasionally preached at Edmonton, and after having lived near thirteen years in this family, he was induced, in consequence of the death of his uncle and of Mr. Streatfield, which had lately happened, to change his situation in life. In the year 1757, therefore, he was married to Miss Sarah Blundell, originally of Belgrave, in Leicestershire, but who had, previous to her marriage, resided for some time at Hackney. In this place he lived for the first year after his marriage; but upon being chosen pastor of the Dissenting congregation at Newington-Green, he removed thither in the following year, ¶ where he continued till the death of his wife, which happened in September, 1786, and induced him once more to exchange his residence for Hackney in the succeeding March. After having officiated for some time at Newington-Green, he was chosen afternoon-preacher at Mr. on foot with his bundle in his hand to Bristol; a further distance of forty miles. But luckily for him, a good-natured lady, seeing a youth in this forlorn condition walking over rongh and dirty roads, took him into her carriage a part of the way, and so far relieved him of his fatigue and sorrow. From Bristol he set off in a conveyance, which to the best of my recollection" says Mr. Morgan, “he told me was no other than a broad-wheeled waggon." Mem. pp. 8, 9. * "Founded by Mr. Coward." There "he devoted his whole time with ardour and delight (as he expresses himself in some of his private memoirs) to the study of mathematics, philosophy, and theology. Ibid. pp. 9, 10. +"Of whose ability and virtue, he always and deservedly spoke with the greatest respect and esteem." Ibid. p. 11. "A rigid Calvinist.-In their conversation one day on controversial subjects, being asked whether he believed in the proper divinity of Jesus Christ, he very ingenuously answered in the negative, if by proper divinity was meant the equality of Jesus Christ with God. On which his uncle with some vehemence exclaimed, 'that he had rather see him transformed into a pig, than that he should have been brought up to be a Dissenting Minister without believing in the Trinity.' The horror expressed in this exclamation of the uncle will, perhaps, serve in some measure to account for the sparing manner in which he doled out a part of his fortune to the nephew who was the object of it." Ibid. pp. 18, 14. § "Here he seemed to acquire considerable popularity; but Dr. Chandler, for reasons best known to himself, advised him to be less energetic in his manner, and to deliver his discourses with more diffidence and modesty. This rebuke had its natural effect on the mild and unassuming temper of Mr. Price. To avoid an extreme into which he was in no danger of falling, he ran into the opposite extreme of a cold and lifeless delivery." Ibid. p. 11. This great defect he afterwards happily corrected, and resumed his energetic manner. See Ibid. pp. 37, 38. By which "his circumstances were considerably improved." Ibid. p. 12. During the first years of his residence at Newington-Green, Mr. Price devoted himself almost wholly to the composition of sermons; and so impressed was he with the necessity and importance of giving up his time entirely to works of this kind, that in some private memoirs which he has left of himself, he laments as a trifling waste of time the few hours which he spent in the study of mathematics and philosophy, and even in the harmless relaxation of visiting his friends. Excepting Dr. Franklin, Mr. Canton, and two or three other philosophical friends, his acquaintance at this period was chiefly confined to the members of his own congregation." Ibid. pp. 19, 20. Radcliffe's meeting-house in Poor Jewry Lane. † But in the year 1770, upon being elected pastor of the congregation at the Gravel-pit in Hackney, he resigned the afternoon service at Poor Jewry Lane, in favour of the same service at Newington-Green, which he continued till within about two years of the death of Mrs. Price. § During the last six years of his life he confined himself to the morning service at Hackney, which he regularly performed till the 20th of February, [1791,] when he preached his last sermon. On Wednesday, the 23d of that month, he was taken ill of a slow nervous fever, occasioned by his attending the funeral of a friend at Bunhill-fields. He languished under that disorder for a fortnight, and then seemed to be recovering. But on Saturday, the 17th of March, (when every symptom of the fever had disappeared,) he was violently attacked by a disorder in his bladder, which had been gradually coming on for ten or twelve years. This, though accompanied with the most excruciating pain, never excited a murmur or a groan from him. In the intervals of ease he was placid, and even cheerful; but in consequence of the long continuance of the disorder, his strength and spirits were at last so reduced that he could not speak without Who quitted the ministry some years before his death, in 1777. See Mon. Repos. IV. p. 710. Mr. Radcliffe is now chiefly known by two or three pamphlets, which discover an enlightened and liberal spirit, and an "Eulogium on Dr. Lardner," anneexd by Dr. Kippis to his Life of Lardner. +"The congregation to which he preached," at Newington-Green, "though highly respectable, was very small; and therefore, instead of officiating to them twice a-day, he was induced, from the hope of being more extensively useful, to accept an invitation in December, 1762, to succeed Dr. Benson as evening preacher in Poor Jewry Lane. But the experience of a few months convinced him that his sphere of usefulness was not likely to be much extended by this change. His hearers were equally thin in both places; which so discouraged him, that he had determined to give up preaching altogether, from an idea that his talents were totally unfit for the office of a public speaker." Mem. pp. 21, 22. See Vol. XV. p. 457, Note. "To the period nearly in which he was chosen minister to the congregation at Hackney, Mr. Price appears from the preceding account to have confined his studies almost exclusively to moral and religious subjects; but the different communications which he made to the Royal Society about this time seem to shew that he was becoming less scrupulous in this respect, and disposed to consider philosophical inquiries not altogether inconsistent with the profession of a Dissenting Minister." Ibid. p. 38. In one of these papers, he corrected an error into which M. De Moivre had fallen." Mr. Morgan adds “a remarkable circumstance which attended the composition of it. From the high opinion he entertained of the accuracy of De Moivre, he conceived the error to be his own rather than that of so eminent a mathematician, and in consequence puzzled himself so much in the correction of it, that the colour of his hair, which was naturally black, became changed in different parts of his head into spots of perfect white." Ibid. p. 39. § Of whom Mr. Morgan says, "The purity of her mind, and the benevolence of her disposition, had well fitted her to be the friend and companion of Dr. Price; and though their union was never blessed with an addition to their family, they were no less the objects of filial love and veneration to many of their younger relatives, whom they treated with all the care and kindness of the most affectionate parents." He adds, "I do not know that in any part of Dr. Price's life the amiable benevolence of his temper shone with more lustre than during the last illness of Mrs. Price." Ibid. pp. 115, 116. much difficulty. On Saturday, the 16th of April, the violence of his disorder increased exceedingly-his pains became more and more frequent, and he was rendered totally incapable of taking any nourishment. At length, worn out with agony and disease, but still in the full enjoyment of his understanding, he expired without a groan * at half-past one in the morning of Tuesday the 19th. † AN ACCOUNT OF ALL HIS PUBLICATIONS. 1. A Review of the principal Questions in Morals, first published in 1757. + See Vol. XV. p. 454, Note. + See ibid. pp. 441, 457, Notes. I am tempted here to gratify myself by adding the following passages from Dr. Kippis's Address at his friend's interment: "Dr. Price had no enemies, but such as were enemies to his public principles; and among those who differed the most from him in this respect, many were bis zealous and affectionate admirers. It would be impossible to do justice to the number and respectability of his friends. His friends were of the first distinction for rank, and knowledge, and virtue. They comprehend the names which at present stand, or lately have stood, the highest in the records of science, of learning, of free. dom, and of moral worth. With regard to his future fame we may say, in the language of Sacred Writ, that his memory will be blessed.' It will be honoured by all who knew him; it will be honoured in this country; it will be honoured in America; it will be honoured in France; it will be honoured in every part of the globe, in proportion to the diffusion of just sentiments concerning the rights of human nature. "But will the honours which appertain to our beloved friend be confined to this world alone? No; he will, we doubt not, be crowned with the approbation of the Supreme Judge in the great day of retribution. It was not to this inferior scene that his views were limited. He was not one of those who entertain the gloomy expectations of perishing at death, but had a firm hope of immortality. His hope was grounded, in an especial manner, on the evidence of the gospel. With that evidence he was well acquainted; with that evidence he was fully satisfied; that evidence he gladly embraced. Hence did Doctor Price derive his fairest supports; and hereby was he animated in all his constant and vigorous endeavours for the advancement of truth and virtue, and the final happiness of man. "It is not many weeks since Dr. Price stood upon this very ground, at the funeral of a beloved friend, and not far from the remains of a wife who had possessed and deserved his tenderest affection. He was deeply affected on the occasion, and it was the last religious service, of a public nature, that he ever performed." Address, pp 22-26. 151. Of which there was a third enlarged edition in 1787. See Vol. III. pp. 146— "The author, with his accustomed modesty, was used to express himself greatly indebted in the composition of this treatise to Hutcheson, Balguy, Clark, Butler, aud Hume; but particularly to the latter, whose doubts and objections led him to examine the ground on which he stood, before he ventured to raise his own structure upon it." Mem. p. 19. From the first publication of this work, "the fruit of his studies from his earliest years," Mr. Morgan dates his Uncle's "acquaintance with the late excellent Dr. Adams," (who died in 1788,) which " produced a friendship between them which terminated only with their lives." Ibid. pp. 15, 16. Mr. Morgan subjoins the following interesting detail : "The modesty, candour, and benevolence displayed in this work, conciliated the minds even of those who differed most widely in their sentiments from the author. In this number Mr. Hume should be particularly mentioned, who, admiring the liberal manner in which his doctrines had been controvered, conceived so favourable an opinion of the writer, that it gave rise to an acquaintance which was 2. Britain's Happiness and the proper Improvement of it: A Thanksgiving Sermon preached at Newington-Green, 1759. ** 3. A Method of calculating the exact Probability of all Conclusions founded on Induction. By the late Rev. Mr. Thomas Bayes, † F.R.S. With an Appendix, by R. Price. Read at the Royal Society, 23d Dec., 1763. Also a Supplement to the Essay. Read 6th Dec., 1764. 4. A Sermon for the Benefit of the Charity-School in Gravel-Lane, Southwark, 1766. 5. Four Dissertations. 1. On Providence. § 2. On Prayer. || 3. On the Reasons for expecting that virtuous Men shall meet after Death in a State of Happiness. ¶ 4. On the Importance of Christianity, continued on both sides with uninterrupted esteem and friendship. Mr. Hume had been so little accustomed to civility from his theological adversaries, that his admiration was naturally excited by the least appearance of it in any of their publications. Dr. Douglas, (the late Bishop of Salisbury,) Dr. Adams, and Mr. Price, were splendid exceptions to this rudeness and bigotry. Having been opposed by these divines with the candour and respect which were due to his abilities, and which it is shameful should ever be wanting in any controversy, he was desirous of meeting them all together, in order to spend a few hours in familiar conversation with them. "Accordingly, they all dined, by invitation, at Mr. Cadell's in the Strand; and, as might be expected, passed their time in the utmost harmony and good humour. In a subsequent interview with Mr. Price, when Mr. Hume visited him at his house at Newington Green, he candidly acknowledged that on one point Mr. Price had succeeded in convincing him that his arguments were inconclusive; but it does not appear that Mr. Hume, in consequence of this conviction, made any alteration in the subsequent edition of his Essays." Mem. pp. 16, 17. In 1767 this work had attracted attention in France, as appears by the following Letter: "Rev. and dear Sir, "Supposing that the foreign literary journals do not fall in your way, I send you the following account of your late work, as given in the Bibliothèque des Sciences et des Beaux Arts for January, February, and March, 1767. After reciting the title, the authors say, 'On devoit déjà à Mr. Price un excellent Traité sur les principales questions de la Morale. L'Ouvrage dont on vient de voir le Titre mettra le sceau à la réputation de l'Auteur, et ne manquera sans doute pas d'être traduit en diverses langues. On y trouve tout ce qu'une méditation profonde, une parfaite connoissauce de la religion, un esprit vraiment philosophique, une piété tendre et éclairée peuvent dicter de meilleur sur les sujets annoncés.' "With sincere esteem I am, "Craven-Street, October 22, 1767." "Dear Sir, yours, &c. "B. FRANKLIN. Ibid. pp. 17, 18, Note. This Antigallican composition, formed on the narrow principles of patriotism, was not worthy of such a philanthropist as Dr. Price became, "whose riper years" in this instance, may be truly said to “upbraid his green." See Mon. Repos. IX. pp. 614-618. This Sermon, as too well suited to their purpose,I have seen reprinted, about 1790, by a Church and King fraternity, in a cheap edition, for popular distribution. "Of Tunbridge Wells," where he died, in 1761. Mem. p. 24. See ibid. p. 26. See a remarkable passage in this Dissertation, Vol. XV. p. 445, Note. p. 23. ¶See Vol. XV. p. 453, Note. |