McDidiester Memoirs, Vol. Ivii. (19 13), No. 11>. 31 



rington Academy, a situation which he occupied for six 

 years. In this period he got married. On PL VII. is 

 reproduced a portrait which was taken at this time, and is 

 the oldest hkeness extant.'-^ 



Living in London, he became acquainted with Benjamin 

 Franklin and Canton, and was led to the subject of 

 experimental philosophy more than before. Franklin 

 induced him to write his " History of Electricity," which 

 is a very interesting, though somewhat one-sided book. 



Dr. Percival, of Manchester, procured Priestley the 

 title of " Doctor of Law" from Edinburgh. Dalton also, 

 by the way, was a Doctor of Law, though of Oxford. 



In September, 1767, Priestley removed to Leeds, to 

 become minister of Mill Hill Chapel. Although at Leeds 

 he was occupied chiefly with speculative theology, an 

 interest in chemistry had been incited in him through a 

 course of lectures by Dr. Turner, at Warrington. In the 

 main he was self-taught, and, like Dalton, preferred to 

 carry on experiments with a self-manufactured apparatus. 



In 1774 Priestley obtained the position of literary 

 companion to Lord Shelbourne. The oldest letter I have 

 bears this year's date. Its contents are : — 



Dear Sir, 



I wonder that I do not hear from you, and I find 



that you have received the remainder of the volume 



Priestley's 'Rudiments of English Grammar,' 3rd edition, London, 1772, is 

 also very characteristic. A chatty preface, with some interesting remaiks 

 on the usefulness of 'Academies,' 53 somewhat superficial pages, being the 

 grammar proper, and more than three times this space in very motley notes, 

 with examples drawn from Johnson, Hume, Smollett, Swift, Blackstone, 

 etc., form a really interesting volume. Both books must strike the reader 

 by the great self-assertion of the authors in fields which were outside their 

 ordinary domains. 



-* A list of portraits of Priestley is given by Bolton, I.e., page 

 173—194) and by J. Yates, 'Memorials of Dr. Priestley' ; 'The Christian 

 Recorder,' 1863. The latter publication is ornamented with a book-plate of 

 Priestley, differing somewhat from the plate in my collection, reproduced on 



PI. xr.B. 



