NATURE 



239 



THURSDAY, JULY 30, 1874 



JOSEPH PRIESTLEY 



DURING the present week the centenary of the birth 

 of Modern Chemistry, as the discovery of oxygen 

 on August I, 1774, may justly be called, is being cele- 

 brated both in this country at Birmingham and Leeds, 

 and in America at Northumberland, Pennsylvania ; we 

 have therefore thought it would be acceptable to our 

 readers to be reminded of the principal events in the 

 life of the author of this all-important discovery. 



Joseph Priestley was born on March 13, 1733, at 

 Ficldhead, near Leeds. At the age of six years he lost 

 his mother, and his education was superintended by 

 Mrs. Keighley, his aunt, a woman apparently of unusually 

 wide sympathies. At an early age young Priestley dis- 

 tinguished himself at school by his great aptitude for 

 learning languages ; he was familiar with Chaldean, 

 Syriac, and Arabic, and without the aid of a master 

 acquired some knowledge of German, French, and 

 Italian. A pupil of Maclaurin taught him mathematics. 

 He took great interest in theological controversies, and 

 his aunt's tastes provided him with many opportunities 

 of gratifying his liking in this matter. Having studied 

 for the Dissenting ministry, he was called to be minister 

 of a smill LInitarian congregation at Needham Market, 

 in Sui.'olk, in 1755. Here he remained until 1758, when 

 he went to occupy a similar post at Nantwich, in Cheshire. 

 Here he opened a school, and by dint of rigid economy 

 was able to buy some physical apparatus, with which he 

 made, to his young pupils, a series of experiments that 

 drew upon him the notice of the authorities of the 

 Warrington Academy, so well known in connection 

 with the name of Aikin. In 1761 he went to this 

 Academy to take Dr. Aikin's place as teacher of 

 languages and literature, and soon after married the 

 daughter of a Welsh ironmaster. While at Warrington 

 he published a number of works on various subjects, in- 

 cluding the " Theory of Language and Universal Lan- 

 guage " (1762-68), " Essay on a Course of Liberal Educa- 

 cation for Civil and Active Life" (1765), "Chart of 

 Biography" (1765^ Chart of History" (1769), &c. A visit 

 which he made to London during this period gave him 

 the opportunity of forming a lasting friendship with 

 Franklin and Price. He communicated to the former his 

 intention of writing a history of discoveries in the depart- 

 ment of electricity ; and not only did he receive from 

 Franklin a warm approval of the scheme, but also all the 

 books and memoirs he required ; and before the end of 

 the year, by dint of persevering work, the first volume 

 was published, under the title of "The History of Elec- 

 tricity" (London, 1764, 4to). Three editions of this were 

 published by 1775 ; but it bears evident marks of having 

 been written in haste. 



Previous to the publication of this work, in 1766, 

 Priestley was chosen a Fellow of the Royal Society, and 

 about the same time the University of Edinburgh con- 

 ferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. In the 

 same year as the above-mentioned work was published, 

 Priestley left Warrington and became pastor of Mill-hill 

 Chapel, in Leeds. While here he was much occupied 

 Vol. X. — Nfi. 24S 



with theological controversies, but by no means neglected 

 his scientific studies, as about 1768 his attention was 

 drawn to chemistry, the result being that in 1772 he com- 

 municated to the Royal Society a paper entitled " Ob- 

 servations on different kinds of Air," for which the Copley 

 Medal was awarded to him. 



Meantime, Priestley had received an offer to accompany 

 Capt. Cook on his second expedition to the South Seas ; 

 this he accepted gladly, but received an intimation that 

 his nomination had not been confirmed by the Board of 

 Longitude on account of his advanced theological opinions. 

 In 1773, however, at the recommendation of his friend 

 Price, he was appointed librarian to the Earl of Shel- 

 burne (afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne) at a compara- 

 tively liberal salary. In the following year, he accom- 

 panied this nobleman into France, Germany, and the Low 

 Countries. At Paris his scientific reputation easily pro- 

 cured him the acquaintanceship of well-known men of 

 science. Besides his salary. Lord Shelburne allowed him 

 expenses for a laboratory, and it was on Aug. i, 1774, 

 that he made the discovery which marks so important an 

 epoch in the progress of chemical science, and the cen- 

 tenary of which is being celebrated both in England and 

 in America during the present week. The discovery was 

 that of oxygen gas, which he announced in his " Experi- 

 ments and Observations on Air," the first volume of which 

 was published in 1 774. 



For some unexplained reason, Priestley and Lord 

 Shelburne parted in 1780, the latter covenanting to allow 

 the former till his death a pension of 150/. Priestley 

 then settled in Birmingham, to which he was attracted, 

 no doubt, by the prospect of meeting with men of kindred 

 scientific tastes. Here he was chosen pastor of one of 

 the principal Dissenting churches, his friends subscribing 

 to defray the expenses of his scientific experiments and 

 his theological controversies, for he was regarded as one 

 of the greatest controversiahsts of his age. His opinions 

 both on ecclesiastical and political topics were much 

 ahead of his age ; but this is not the place to enlarge on this 

 aspect of the character of this remarkable man. We may 

 only mention that he was brought forward as a can- 

 didate for the French National Convention, and was 

 nominated a French citizen, a title of which he was 

 very proud. For his unconcealed liberality and ad- 

 vanced opinions he was doomed, however, to suffer, 

 as the populace of Birmingham, roused to a state 

 of blind fury by the partisans of Government, rushed 

 to Priestley's house, July 14, 1791, and set fire to 

 it, reducing it and nearly all it contained to ashes. How- 

 ever, as the result of an examination, Priestley subse- 

 quently received an indemnity of 2,000/. for this mad act, 

 this sum being considerably increased by the liberality of 

 his private friends. 



Although no word of complaint escaped Priestley con- 

 cerning this misfortune, it no doubt influenced him to a 

 considerable extent in deciding him to quit his native land 

 for republican America. After spending three years in a col- 

 lege at Hackney, as Professor of Chemistry and minister, 

 he embarked on April 7, 1794, and fixed his residence at 

 Northumberland, in Pennsylvania. Even here it was 

 some time before he was allowed to remain at peace, as 

 a spiteful rumour had been circulated that he was a secret 

 agent of the French Repubhc. Here he lost his wife and 



