,1807;] 



Dr. Priejlley mid Mvi Burke, 



Hi 



«(ith perfeol hamiony, until after I had 

 left the Marquis of LaiKlfiiowne ; find 

 while I was in his family I was careful 

 not to publilh any political pamphlet, or 

 para'iraph whatever, loll it ilioultl be 

 thought that I did it at hia inllisjation, 

 whei'tas politics vTcre exprelily excluded 

 from our connexion. But I thoi;<;ht it 

 ri^ht never to conceal my fentiments 

 with refpe<St to events that inttrcfled 

 every body ; and they were ahvays in 

 perfect concurience with thole of Mn 

 Uurke, with whom I had frequent inter- 

 views. 



Tiie lad of thefe was when I Ii\ed at 

 Birmin^hani ; when, beiiiii accompanied 

 hy his fon, he called and !*,;ent a grieat 

 part of the aftcinooii with me. 



After much general conveifation, he 

 took me alide to a finall terrace in the 

 !;arden in which the houie Itood, to tell 

 me that Lord Shelburnc, who was then 

 prime minilk'r, finding his influence di- 

 iiiinillied, and of courfe his fituation un- 

 certain, had made projjofals to join 

 Lord North. Having had a bettor op- 

 portunity of knowing the principles and 

 cliaratter of his Lordlliip than Mr. 

 Burke, I feemed (as lie mull: have 

 thought) a little incredulous on the fub- 

 J€ft. But before I could n\ake any re- 

 ply, he laid, " I fee you do not believe 

 me, but you may depend upon it he has 

 made overtures to him, and ui writing :" 

 and without any reply, I believe, on my 

 part (for I did not give nmch credit to 

 the information), we returned to the reft 

 of the company. However, it was not 

 much more than a month, or fix weeks, 

 after this before he himfelf did the very 

 thihg that, whether right or wrong, ex- 

 pedient or inexpedient, (for there were 

 various opinions on the fubjett), he at 

 that time mentioned as a thing lb atro- 

 cious, as hardly to be credible. 



After this our intimacy ceafcd; audi 

 faw nothing of him, except by accident. 

 But his particular animoilty was excited 

 by my anfw^er to his book on the French 

 Revolution, in which, though he intro- 

 duced a compliment to me, it was ac- 

 companied with fufficient afperity. Tl.'j 

 whole of the paragraph, which related 

 to the friends of the revolution in gene- 

 ral, is as follov\s : 



" Some of them are fo heated with 

 their particular religious theories, that 

 they give more ihau hints that the fall of 

 tii'« civil powers, with all the dreudl'ul 

 coiifequences of that fall, provided they 

 rnight be of fervice to their theories, 

 worild not be unacceptable to tLs«J; <jr 



Mo.viHiii Mao., Nw. Ijl, 



very remote from their wiflies. A man 

 amongll them of great authority, and 

 certainly of great talents, fpeaking of a 

 fuppolod alliance between church and 

 ftaic, lays, ' Perhaps we nnill wait for the 

 fall of the civil powers befoie this mofl 

 unnatural alliance be broken. Calami- 

 tous, no doubt, will that time be. But 

 what convullion in the political world 

 ought to be a fubjef-t of lamentation, if 

 it be attended with lb delirable an elltfCt?' 

 You fee with what a fieady eve thol'e 

 gentlemen are prepared to view the 

 greatell calamities which can belkl their 

 country !" 



The feiitimcnt, however, of tliis ofTen- 

 five paragraph, with which I clofed my 

 " Hillory of the Corruptions of Chri(ti| 

 aiiity," and which has been quoted by 

 many others, in order to render me ob- 

 noxious to the Englilh government, had 

 no particular or principal view to Eng- 

 land ; but to all thole countries in which 

 the unnatural alliance between church 

 and Hate fublifted, and efpecially tiiofe 

 European ftates which had been parts of 

 the Roman Empire, but were then in 

 communion with the Church of Rome. 

 Bolides that the interpi-etation of pm- 

 pliecy ought to be free to all, it is the 

 opinion, f believe, of every connneii- 

 tator, that thofe Hates -are doomed to 

 de(hu6tion. Dr. Hartley, a man never 

 fufpected of feditioii, has exprelTcd him- 

 felf more ftrongly on this fubjcct than I 

 have done. Nothing, however, that any- 

 of us have advanced on the fubjeCt im- 

 plies the leall degree of ill-will to any 

 of thofe countries ; for though we can- 

 not but forefee the approaching cala- 

 mity, we lament ii- ; and as we fuPnci- 

 entiy intimated that timely reformation 

 would prevent it, we ought to l»e thanked 

 for our faithful, though unwelcome, 

 warnings. 



Though in ray anfwer to Mr. Burke, I 

 did not fpare his principles, I preferved 

 all the refpett that was due to an old 

 friend, as the letters which I addreffed 

 to him will iliew. From this time, how- 

 ever, without any further provocation, 

 (inltigated, I believe, by the bigotted 

 clergy, he not only never omitted, but 

 evidently fought, and took every advan- 

 tage that he could, of opportunities to 

 add to the odium ujuler which I lay. 



Among other things, he alVerted in 

 one of Ins fpeeches that " I was made a 

 citizen of France, on account of my 

 declared holliiity to the cnnllitution of 

 Enijland ;" a charge for which there was 

 nv fomidation, Kud uf which it wai not 



