of the Centenary of the Birth of Dr. Priestley. 385 



which we tread under our feet shall contribute to supply the waste 

 of oxygen caused by the respiration of land animals, whilst the sea- 

 weed, the " inutilis alga" as the poet terms it, and the conferva that 

 grows on the surface of the stagnant pool, compensate for that occa- 

 sioned by the aquatic tribes. 



I think, therefore, this Anniversary well deserves to be attended by 

 others besides professed chemists, and that its celebration will con- 

 tribute to the prosperity not only of the branch of science which 

 Dr. Priestley especially cultivated, but even of other departments of 

 physics. It will show to those engaged in such pursuits, that the 

 fame to which they may aspire, if it be less brilliant than that to be 

 derived from other applications of their talents, is at least equally 

 durable, and certainly less open to controversy. Had, I may remark, 

 Dr. Priestley himself been known only for his theological or his po- 

 litical writings, this, his anniversary, would chiefly have been attended 

 by persons who agreed with him in those respects. As it is, we see 

 men of the most opposite views on those points cordially joining 

 to testify their sense of his merits on particulars which admit of no 

 dispute. Their attendance here involves no opinion on their part 

 with respect to the doctrines of the person whom they are met to 

 commemorate on other subjects ; still less does it imply any wish to 

 exalt the interests of science above those higher ones which concern 

 men more vitally, considered as individuals, or as members of society; 

 but it has been dictated by the deep sense they entertain of the un- 

 rivalled services he has rendered to Chemistry- — unrivalled, I mean, 

 considering the time in which he lived, and the circumstances under 

 which he was placed ; — from the confidence, in short, which they feel, 

 that the Philosophical Character of Dr. Priestley, which, during the 

 time at which he lived, was alternately depressed and elevated un- 

 duly by the waves of political and theological strife, now that the 

 tempest has subsided, has attained its just and natural level, and is 

 destined to float for ever down the stream of time, buoyed up by the 

 fame to which his discoveries in science so justly entitle him. 



A similar tribute of respect having been paid to the University 

 of Cambridge, associated with the name of the Rev. J. Cumming, 

 Professor of Chemistry in that University, the following address was 

 delivered by that gentleman : — 



When it was first intimated to me that a meeting would be held 

 this day to commemorate the birth of a man on whom I have been 

 accustomed to look with reverence, I considered that I should be 

 unworthy the situation I hold if I did not use every exertion to be 

 present on this occasion. The use of these exertions has produced 

 an indisposition which I must be allowed to plead as an apology for 

 my not having prepared myself to say anything on the merits and 

 attainments of Dr. Priestley, such as you are ready to receive, and 

 such as you are entitled to expect from me. But I regret this the 

 less because I see before me many persons more capable of doing 

 justice to his merits than I could possibly be, were my health and 

 mv faculties in a state superior to what they are at present. When 



Third Series. Vol. 2. No. 1 1. May 1833. 3 D 



