evidently required, that it ought to have been allowed from the time of the riot, especially as, in all the cafes, the allowance was far fhort of the lofs. In my cafe it fell fhort, as I have fhewn, not less than two thousand pounds. And the loffes fuftained by the other fufferers far exceeded mine. Public juftice alfo required that, if the forms of law, local enmity, or any other caufe, had prevented our receiving full indemnification, it should have been made up to us from the public treasury; the great end of all civil government being protection from violence, or an indemnification for it. Whatever we might in equity claim, the country owes us, and, if it be juft, will fome time or other pay, and with interest.

I would farther observe, that fince, in a variety of cafes, money is allowed where the injury is not of a pecuniary nature, merely because no other compenfation can be given, the fame fhould have been done with respect to me, on account of the deftruction of my manuscripts, the interruption of my purfuits, the lofs of a pleafing and advantageous fituation, &c. &c. and had the injury been sustained by a clergyman, he would, I doubt not, have claimed, and been allowed, very large damages on this account. far, however, was there any idea of the kind in my favour, that my counfel advifed me to make no mention of my manufcript Lectures on the Conftitution and Laws of England, a work about as large as that of Blackstone (as may be seen by the syllabus of the particular lectures, fixty-three in all, published in the first edition of my Effay on a Courfe of liberal Educa

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tion for civil and active Life) because it would be taken for granted that they were of feditious nature, and would therefore have been of differvice to me with the jury. Accordingly they were, in the account of my loffes, included in the article of fo much paper. After thefe loffes, had I had nothing but the juftice of my country to look to, I must have funk under the burden, incapable of any farther exertions." It was the feasonable generofity of my friends that prevented this, and put it in my power, though with the unavoidable lofs of near two years, to refume my former pursuits.

A farther proof of the exceffive bigotry of this country is, that, though the clergy of Birmingham,' resenting what I advanced in the first part of my Appeal, replied to it, and pledged themselves to go through with the enquiry along with me, till the whole truth fhould be investigated, they have made no reply to the Second Part of my Appeal, in which I' brought fpecific charges against themselves, and other perfons by name, proving them to have been the promoters and abettors of the riot; and yet they have as much refpect fhewn to them as ever, and the country at large pays no attention to it. Had the clergy been the injured perfons, and Diffenters the rioters, unable to anfwer the charges brought against them, fo great would have been the general indignation at their conduct, that I am perfuaded it would not have been poffible for them to continue in the country.

I could, if I were fo difpofed, give my readers

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many more inftances of the bigotry of the clergy of the church of England with respect to me, which could not fail to excite, in generous minds, equal indignation and contempt; but I forbear. Had I, however, foreseen what I am now witness to, I certainly fhould not have made any attempt to replace my library or apparatus, and I foon repented of having done it. But this being done, I was willing to make fome use of both before another interruption of my pursuits. I began to philofophize, and make experiments, rather late in life, being near forty, for want of the neceffary means of doing any thing in this way; and my pursuits have been much interrupted by removals (never indeed chofen by myself, but rendered. neceffary by circumstances) and my time being now fhort, I hoped to have had no occafion for more than one, and that à final, remove. But the circumftances above mentioned have induced me, though with great and fincere regret, to undertake another, and to a greater diftance than any that I have hitherto made.

I profess not to be unmoved by the aspect of things exhibited in this Difcourfe. But notwithstanding this, I fhould willingly have awaited my fate in my native country, whatever it had been, if I had not had fons in America, and if I did not think that' a field of public usefulness, which is evidently clofing upon me here, might open to more advantage there.

I also own that I am not unaffected by such unexampled punishments as thofe of Mr. Muir and my

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friend Mr. Palmer, for offences, which, if, in the eye of reason, they be any at all, are flight, and very infufficiently proved; a measure so fubverfiye of that freedom of speaking and acting, which has hitherto been the great pride of Britons. But the fentence of Mr. Winterbottom, for delivering from the pulpit what I am perfuaded he never did deliver, and which, fimilar evidence might have drawn upon myfelf, or any other diffenting minifter, who was an object of general diflike, has fomething in it ftill more alarming*. But I trust that confcious inno

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I truft that the friends of liberty, efpecially among the Dif fenters, will not fail to do every thing in their power to make Mr. Winterbottom's confinement, and alfo the fufferings of Mr. Palmer and his companions, as eafy to them as poffible. Having been affrited in a feafon of perfecution myself, I fhould be very ill deferving of the favours I have received, if I was not particularly defirous of recommending fuch cafes as theirs to general confideration. Here difference in religious fentiment is leaft of all to be attended to. On the contrary, let those who in this respect differ the most from Mr. Winterbottom, which is my own cafe, exert themselves the most in his favour. When men of unquestionable integrity and piety fuffer in confequence of acting (as fuch perfons always will do) from a principle of confcience, they must command therefpect even of their enemies, if they also act from principle, though they be thereby led to proceed in an oppofite direction.

The cafe of men of education and reflection (and who act from the best intentions with respect to the community) committing what only fate policy requires to be confidered as crimes, but which are allowed on all hands to imply no moral turpitude, fo as to render them unfit for heaven and happinefs hereafter, is not to be confounded with that of common felons. There was nothing in the conduct of Louis XIV. and his ministers, that appeared fo fhocking, fo contrary to all ideas of justice, humanity and decency, and that has contributed more to render, their mes

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cence would fupport me as it does him, under whatever prejudiced and violent men might do to me, as well as fay of me. But I fee no oceafion to expose myself to danger without any prospect of doing good, or to continue any longer in a country in which I am fo unjustly become the object of general diflike, and not retire to another, where I have reason to think I fhall be better received. And I truft that the fame good Providence which has attended me hitherto, and made me happy in my prefent fituation, and all my former ones, will attend and bless me in what may ftill be before me. events, The will of God be done.

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I cannot refrain from repeating again, that I leave my native country with real regret, never expecting to find any where else fociety fo fuited to my difpofition and habits, fuch friends as I have here (whofe attachment has been more than a balance to all the abufe I have met with from others) and especially to replace one particular Chriftian friend, in whofe abfence I fhall, for fome time at leaft, find all the world a blank. Still lefs can I expect to refume my favourite purfuits, with any thing like the advantages I enjoy here. In leaving this country I also abandon a fource of maintenance, which I can but ill bear to lofe. I can, however, truly fay, that I

mory exccrated, than fending fuch men as Mr. Marolles, and other eminent Proteftants, who are now revered as faints and martyrs, to the gallies, along with the vileft mifcreants. Compared with this, the punishment of death would be mercy. I trust that, in time, the Scots in general will think these measures a difgrace to their country.