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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



be honored as long as freedom of opin- 

 ion and independence of character elicit 

 the admiration of men. 



Dr. Priestley's intellectual great- 

 ness is the more remarkable as he led 

 what may be called a divided life. 

 He was a discoverer in science, and a 

 pioneer in theology. His extensions 

 of our knowledge of Nature will suffice 

 for his immortahty, while the extent 

 and power of his theological work made 

 him famous among his contemporaries. 

 Nevertheless it is only by concentra- 

 tion that the highest results can be 

 achieved. "We have shown in the pre- 

 ceding article where Dr. Priestley fell 

 short as a man of science. His scien- 

 tific education was insufficient. He 

 began these studies late, and pursued 

 them at great disadvantage, for scien- 

 tific pursuits are expensive. He says : 

 " I applied myself with great assiduity 

 to ray studies, which were classical, 

 mathematical, and theological. These 

 required but few books. As to experi- 

 mental philosophy, I had always culti- 

 vated an acquaintance with it, but I had 

 not the means of prosecuting it." His 

 great rival, Lavoisier, was more fortu- 

 nate. His father was rich, and spared no 

 expense on his education ; and, having 

 an early taste for the physical sciences, 

 he was trained to experimental research, 

 which he pursued so successfully that, 

 at twenty-one, he received a gold medal 

 for a memoir on the best and most eco- 

 nomical method of lighting the streets 

 of a large city. Could Priestley have 

 had similar early advantages, there is 

 little doubt that he would have de- 

 voted himself entirely to science, and, 

 with his remarkable genius for investi- 

 gation, would have impressed himself 

 far more profoundly upon the chemis- 

 try of his period. 



. Of the truth or error of Dr. Priest- 

 ley's religious opinions, it is no place 

 here to speak; but, that he sought the 

 truth in all earnestness, and maintained 

 what he believed to be the truth with 

 steadfast determination, does not now 

 admit of question. That he led a life 



of the highest purity was never doubted, 

 even by his enemies, and that he was 

 ever animated by a high religious aspi- 

 ration his works bear abundant wit- 

 ness. A portion of each day was given 

 to prayer and private devotional exer- 

 cises, and he kept up the practice of 

 Sunday preaching, whether officially 

 engaged or not ; while the uniform tes- 

 timony of all his parishioners showed 

 that his ministrations were conducted 

 in a loving, Christian spirit. Shall we 

 question that the religious experience 

 of such a man was not profound and 

 genuine? And yet he was a specula- 

 tive materialist ; that is, he did not 

 believe in "the immateriality of the 

 sentient principle in man." No one, 

 however, had a firmer belief in immor- 

 tality and the future life than Dr. Priest- 

 ley. This transcendent article of his 

 faith he did not ask at the hands of 

 Science nor hold as dependent upon her 

 investigations. His repose in the pros- 

 pect of immortality was grounded on 

 the Christian doctrine of a resurrec- 

 tion ; no results of science could reach 

 or disturb it, and in this he was far in 

 advance, not only of his own age, but 

 of ours. As an illustration of his in- 

 dependence of characte^r, and his scorn 

 of all temporizing, it may be stated that 

 he promulgated these views while liv- 

 ing under the patronage of Lord Shel- 

 burne, and beset with solicitations to 

 accept high favors from the Church and 

 the state. Undoubtedly, as Dr. Draper 

 remarks, it is upon his discoveries that 

 his future fame will rest, while his the- 

 ological works are already forgotten ; 

 yet the world owes him a debt for his 

 manly maintenance of independent in- 

 quiry in a cowardly age and among a 

 craven people, which will command 

 respect as long as the nobler virtues of 

 character continue to be appreciated. 



SCIEXTIFIC APPARATUS. 

 The attention of those desiring to 

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 called to the advertisement of Profess- 



