284 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP. 



that I am becoming an old man, that age and in- 

 firmities overtake me, and more than whisper in my 

 ear that it is time to diminish rather than increase the 

 objects of my attention." And yet he was only fifty- 

 eight years old, an age at which many men consider 

 themselves in the prime of life. 



Wedgwood did not forget his old friends. He 

 specially remembered Dr. Priestley, his bosom friend 

 next to Darwin. He had long admired and followed 

 Priestley's enthusiasm for chemistry ; and knowing that 

 the Doctor's salary from his congregation was small, 

 Boulton, Wedgwood, and Darwin took private counsel 

 together as to the best means of providing him with 

 funds to carry on what Dr. Darwin called his "fine 

 vein of experiments." 



Wedgwood had an interview with Priestley, who 

 communicated to him that he never thought of receiving 

 any pecuniary advantage from any of his experiments, 

 but gave them to the public with the results, just as 

 they happened ; and he should continue to do so with- 

 out ever attempting to make any private emolument 

 for himself. This was an excellent idea pursuing 

 science for science's sake. Nevertheless he could not 

 deny that he required some help ; and the matter was 

 arranged to the great credit of all concerned. The 

 members of the Lunar Society l subscribed, and several 



1 The Lunar Society was a coterie of literary and scientific men 

 who met at Birmingham monthly, at full moon, to enable distant 

 members to drive home by moonlight. 



