I JOSEPH PRIESTLEY 23 



istence of a soul distinct from the body; and as 

 a' natural consequence, he denied the natural im- 

 mortality of man. 



In relation to these matters English opinion, a 

 century ago, was very much what it is now. 



A man may be a necessarian without incurring 

 graver reproach than that implied in being called 

 a gloomy fanatic, necessarianism, though very 

 shocking, having a note of Calvinistic orthodoxy; 

 but, if a man is a materialist; or, if good authori- 

 ties say he is and must be so, in spite of his 

 assertion to the contrary; or, if he acknowledge 

 himself unable to see good reasons for believing in 

 the natural immortality of man, respectable folks 

 look upon him as an unsafe neighbour of a cash- 

 box, as an actual or potential sensualist, the more 

 virtuous in outward seeming, the more certainly 

 loaded with secret " grave personal sins." 



Nevertheless, it is as certain as anything can be, 

 that Joseph Priestley was no gloomy fanatic, but 

 as cheerful and kindly a soul as ever breathed, the 

 idol of children; a man who was hated only by 

 those who did not know him, and who charmed 

 away the bitterest prejudices in personal inter- 

 course; a man who never lost a friend, and the 

 best testimony to whose worth Is the generous and 

 tender warmth with which his many friends vied 

 with one another in rendering him substantial 

 help, in all the crises of his career. 



The unspotted purity of Priestley's life, the 

 02 



