104 JOSEPH PRIESTLEY. [LECT. 



Pennsylvania, whjere his posterity still flourish ; and, 

 clear-headed and busy to the last, died on the 6th of 

 February 1804. 



Such were the conditions under which Joseph 

 Priestley did the work which lay before him, and 

 then, as the Norse Sagas say, went out of the story. 

 The work itself was of the most varied kind. No 

 human interest was without its attraction for Priest- 

 ley, and few men have ever had so many irons in the 

 fire at once ; but, though he may have burned his 

 fingers a little, very few who have tried that opera- 

 tion have burned their fingers so little. He made 

 admirable discoveries in science ; his philosophical 

 treatises are still well worth reading ; his political 

 works are full of insight and replete with the spirit of 

 freedom ; and while all these sparks flew off from his 

 anvil, the controversial hammer rained a hail of blows 

 on orthodox priest and bishop. While thus engaged, 

 the kindly, cheerful doctor felt no more wrath or 

 uncharitableness towards his opponents than a smith 

 does towards his iron. But if the iron could only 

 speak ! and the priests and bishops took the point 

 of view of the iron. 



No doubt what Priestley's friends repeatedly urged 

 upon him that he would have escaped the heavier 

 trials of his life and done more for the advancement 

 of knowledge, if he had confined himself to his 

 scientific pursuits and let his fellow-men go their way 

 was true. But it seems to have been Priestley's 

 feeling that he was a man and a citizen before he was 



