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of about the middle stature, slenderly made, remarkably placid, modest, and courteous, pouring out, with the simplicity of a child, the great stores of his most capacious mind to a considerable number of young persons of both sexes; whom, with the familiarity and kindness of a friend, he encouraged to ask him questions, either during the lecture or after it, if he advanced any thing which wanted explanation, or struck them in a light different from his own. The impression made upon us was so strong, that we never failed afterwards to attend on such occasions in order to profit by his lessons, and we frequently went to hear him preach, until he was driven from the town in 1791.

His lectures were peculiarly instructive, and the general tenor of his sermons was practical, urging to the cultivation of universal benevolence, the earnest pursuit of knowledge, and the most unrestrained free inquiry upon all important subjects. He was the most unassuming, candid man I ever knew; and never did I hear from his lips, either in lecture or sermon, one illiberal sentiment, or one harsh expression concerning any persons who differed from him, not even of the individuals who were so much in the practice of abusing him and traducing his character."

"My acquaintance with Dr. Priestley," says Mr. Taylor, in a letter recently received, "commenced early in 1797; it soon became intimate, and, during his subsequent visits to Philadelphia, in 1801 and 1803, I enjoyed much of his company. He was easy of access, and his conversation was peculiarly attractive. He was neither reserved nor talkative. Although his stores of knowledge were uncommonly great, he made no display of his attainments; yet, when called on, he was never unwilling to contribute his share to the entertainment or instruction of those with whom he was associated. He exacted neither homage nor deference; it seemed as if he was utterly unconscious of having risen far above the common level. The expression of his countenance was that of sedateness and benignity, and

the whole of his deportment corresponded with his exterior. Every one felt at perfect ease in his company, yet no one would have ventured to take improper liberties in his presence. With no pretensions to artificial polish, he possessed a strong innate sense of what was proper and becoming. As regarded himself, none could be more strict; but, in speaking of other persons, he was indulgent and liberal; not because he was an unobservant spectator, but because he conscientiously spoke and acted conformably to the true spirit of Matthew vii. 1, and similar passages.

Of his utter ignorance of the most common affairs, many proofs might be given. During the many years that he was a housekeeper, he only went to market once; this was because Mrs. Priestley was unwell. He managed so ill, that he was never asked to go there a second time. On Mrs. Priestley's death he immediately gave up housekeeping. He said, that while at Birmingham his salary was £100 sterling, and that his expenses were about £400 sterling. When I asked him how he managed to get along, he said that money always seemed to come as it was needed, and that he took good care never to run in debt. One day, having requested me to give him some account of the different public stocks of the United States, after I had made some progress, he said, in his pleasant manner, that although he doubted not that my remarks were sufficiently intelligible to almost any other person, he did not understand any part of them, and was persuaded that he was incapable of comprehending financial topics.

As his pamphlets had greatly multiplied, and as there was no bookbinder at Northumberland, during one of his visits to Philadelphia, he was taught by Mr. Birch how to stitch his pamphlets, so as to form them into volumes in boards. It is said, that he was rather a dull scholar; but by diligence and attention he succeeded. More than a hundred volumes were thus put in boards by him."

Mr. Bakewell, who resided near him in Northumberland, has preserved a few notices of his habits at that time.

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"When I was employed in the garden," says Mr. Bakewell, "the Doctor would give me a little assistance, ask me for instruction, and say he would be my under-gardener.' As we were one day thus employed, I said, Doctor, the Bible would appear to be the most contradictory book in the world, from the contrariety of the opinions that are drawn from it!" 'True,' he said, and yet it is a plain book; but if men will not use the faculty of reason in understanding it, as they do when reading other books, it becomes no rule of faith to them, as they only form opinions as their fancy or their prejudice directs.' It was seldom he said much, unless I asked him a question. He observed one day, when we were talking about the strength of religious prejudices, In these things I was once a slave.'

I always found him up and writing, when I went to the house, which seldom exceeded six o'clock in the morning. He usually took a walk after breakfast, and employed the remainder of his time in writing till noon. In the after part of the day he would frequently come to me in the garden, or visit the people employed in building his house, and then return to his study. After tea, he and Mrs. Priestley frequently took a walk in the town, or elsewhere, till the evening, which was generally spent in reading, and concluded with family prayer.”

Some of these details may appear trivial to some readers; but they help to fill up the image of the man and to present more completely before us his real portrait. It is for this reason that they are introduced; and this explains also why so large a portion of this Memoir has been occupied by extracts from his own writings, and by his explanations of a particular portion of his history. I wished that readers should see him and hear him as far as possible for themselves, and make up their judgment from a personal acquaintance. It is but little that we learn of a man's real character by perusing

the eulogy of a friend, or the censures of an enemy, or even the delineation of an impartial witness. We know him only from our own observation. It is the object of these pages to present the subject of them to the observation of men. Here he may be fairly seen. No man is more exactly discerned in his writings than Dr. Priestley. As one of his respectful and admiring opponents, Toplady, said of him, "He is like a piece of crystal, which one can take up in his hand and look through." His works show him as he is, without disguise. And as our object is not to eulogize indiscriminately an imperfect man any more than to join an indiscriminate outcry against him; but simply to do an act of common justice by putting in a fair light the virtues of his extraordinary life; we are satisfied that the method here pursued is the most faithful, as it certainly must be the most interesting.

VIEWS

OF

CHRISTIAN TRUTH, PIETY, AND

MORALITY.

THE DUTY OF NOT LIVING TO OURSELVES.

A SERMON.

the

Of this sermon & that on #babitual Devotion (p.41) the celebrated to Purr expressed his opinion in lowing emphatic language - "If these two sermons. I confidently affirm, that the wisest man read them without being wiver, nor the best man out being better". ROMANS, XIV. 7. Field's Life of Parr, he 1, p. 27

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

It is the excellence of our rational nature, that by it we are capable of living to some known end, and of governing our lives and conduct by some rule; whereas brute creatures necessarily live and act at random, just as the present appetite influences them. Let us, then, my brethren, make the most of this our prerogative, by proposing to ourselves the noblest end of human life, and engaging in such a course of actions as will reflect the greatest honor upon our nature, and be productive of the most solid and lasting happiness, both in the performance and the review of them.

Agreeably to this, let the principal use we make of our understanding be, to discover what the great end of life is;

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