36 Philosophical Character of Dr. Priestley. 





. er new facts only as discoveries, and to draw conclusions for them- 

 selves." The only exception to this general praise is to be found 

 in the pertinacity with which he adhered, to the last, to the Stahlian 

 hypothesis of phlogiston ; and in the anxiety, which he evinced, to 

 reconcile to it new phenomefta, which were considered by almost all 

 other philosophers, as proofs of its utter unsoundness. But this anx- 

 iety, it must be remembered, was chiefly apparent at a period of life, 

 when most men feel a reluctance to change the principle of arrange- 

 ment, by which they have been long accustomed to class the multifa- 

 rious particulars of their knowledge. 



In all those feelings and habits that connect the purest morals with 

 the highest philosophy, (and that there is such a connection no one 

 can doubt), Dr. Priestley is entitled to unqualified esteem and admi- 

 ration. Attached to science by the most generous motives, he pur- 

 sued it with an entire disregard to his own peculiar interests. He 

 neither sought, nor accepted when offered, any pecuniary aid in his 

 philosophical pursuits, that did not leave him in possession of the most 

 complete independence of thought and of action. Free from all lit- 

 tle jealousies of contemporaries or rivals, he earnestly invited other 

 laborers into the field, which he was cultivating; gave publicity, in 

 his own volumes, to their experiments ; and, with true candor, was 

 as ready to record the evidence which contradicted, as that which 

 confirmed, his own views and results. Every hint, which he had 

 derived from the writings or conversation of others, was unreserved- 

 ly acknowledged. As the best way of accelerating the progress of 

 science, he recommended and practised the early publication of all 

 discoveries ; though quite aware that, in his own case, more durable 

 fame would often- have resulted from a delayed and more finished 

 performance. " Those persons," he remarks, " are very properly 

 disappointed, who, for the sake of a little more reputation, delay pub- 

 lishing their discoveries, till they are anticipated by others." 



In perfect consistency with that liberality of temper, which has 

 been ascribed to Dr. Priestley, it may be remarked also, that he 

 took the most enlarged views of the scope and objects of Natural 

 Science. In various passages of his works he has enforced, with 

 warm and impressive eloquence, the considerations, that flow from 

 the contemplation of those arrangements in the natural world, which 

 are not only perfect in themselves, but are essential parts of one grand 

 and harmonious design. He strenuously recommends experimental 



philosophy as an agreeable relief from employments, that excite the 





