; 7 o 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



vigor (and it was impossible with such 

 a man that it could be othenvise), 

 that their ablest theological writers 

 were overmatched. By the established 

 Church of England, he came to be re- 

 garded with such feelings, that in- 

 stances occurred in which those who 

 had successfully answered him were 

 rewarded with the highest dignities ; a 

 circumstance which gave origin to his 

 remark, that he appointed the bishops 

 of England. Priestley forgot that the 

 experience of all nations and of thou- 

 sands of years has proved the utter im- 

 possibility of any one man convincing 

 the whole human race, and converting 

 them all to his views. He shut his 

 eyes to that anarchy of opinion infest- 

 ing the world, brought on in no small 

 degree by such polemics as those in 

 which he delighted. In an exact sci- 

 ence, like chemistry, he could describe 

 some new discovery, and every man in 

 Europe at once admitted its truth. He 

 never realized how different it is in 

 politics and theology. The library of 

 volumes he wrote on these topics has 

 already dropped into that gulf of obliv- 

 ion which has received all the works 

 of the authors of the early and middle 

 ages, and no man cares to learn what 

 he wrote or what he thought of the 

 matter. But not so with his philo- 

 sophical labors : they stand out clear 

 and distinct, monuments of the ad- 

 vance of the human mind in knowl- 

 edge and power during the eighteenth 

 century. His discovery of oxygen gas 

 will last as long as the world endures." 

 But, if Priestley erred by meddling 

 with men's political and religious opin- 

 ions, he paid the full penalty of it. 

 While living in Birmingham, the mob 

 broke open and sacked his house. His 

 philosophical instruments, most of 

 them made by himself, were broken 

 up ; his library and original papers, the 

 fruits of a frugal life, were destroyed, 

 scraps of rrlanuscript covered the floor 

 several inches deep, and his books were 

 strewn over the high-road for half a 



mile. His life was endangered ; he 

 was obliged to flee from the place with 

 his family, and for three days one of 

 the chief cities of the nation was the 

 scene of riot. The blow was crushing. 

 His society was avoided even by his 

 philosophical associates, and, finding 

 that further tranquillity in England was 

 impossible, he resolved to come to 

 America. He arrived in New York in 

 January, 1794, and took up his resi- 

 dence in Northumberland, Pa., where 

 he died in February, 1804. . 



Such was the career of the discover- 

 er of oxygen ; but, as Dr. Draper inti- 

 mates, while oblivion has swallowed 

 his theology and politics, his scientific 

 fame grows brighter with the advance 

 of knowledge. The rancorous feelings 

 which drove him from his native coun- 

 try have subsided, and a more just 

 generation is preparing to grant his 

 memory the honor that is over-due. 

 Subscriptions are being raised to erect 

 a statue to Priestley in Birmingham. 



Would it not be well for the coun- 

 try which gave him refuge to do the 

 same? And apart from the question 

 of doing justice to a great man's mem- 

 ory, which has been obscured for a 

 century, what could be more fitting 

 than to celebrate the centennial of a 

 mighty discovery on August 1, 1874, 

 by unveiling a monument to the illus- 

 trious discoverer ? 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



Botany for Beginners. By Maxwell T. 

 Masters, M. D., F. R. S., late Lecturer 

 on Botany at St. George's Hospital. 

 London : Bradbury & Evans. 



In form, typographical execution, and 

 illustrations, this is a beautiful book ; in its 

 scientific statements it is a sound and trust- 

 worthy book ; but, for the purposes indi- 

 cated in its title, it is a worthless book. 

 Dr. Masters knows much about plants, but 

 of the minds of children he seems to know 

 nothing. How long will it take these edu- 

 cational book-makers to find out that there 



