OBSERVATIONS
ON THE
EMIGRATION
OF
DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY,
AND ON THE SEVERAL ADDRESSES DELIVERED TO HIM, ON
HIS ARRIVAL AT NEW-YORK,
WITH ADDITIONS;
CONTAINING MANY CURIOUS AND INTERESTING FACTS ON
THE SUBJECT, NOT KNOWN HERE, WHEN THE
FIRST EDITION WAS PUBLISHED:
TOGETHER WITH
A COMPREHENSIVE STORY
OF A
FARMER'S BULL.
THE THIRD EDITION.
" Du mensonge toujours le vrai demeure maitre:
" Pour paraitre honnête homme, en un mot, il faut l'être;
" Et jamais, quoi qu'il fasse, un mortel ici bas,
" Ne peut aux yeux du monde être ce qu'il n'est pas."
BOILEAU.
PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS BRADFORD, NO. 8, South-
Front-Street.
1795.



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS,
To the Gazetteers of the City
of Philadelphia.
GENTLEMEN,
WHEN this Pamphlet first made its ap-
pearance in this City, you all agreed, that
it might do well enough in the despotic
States of Europe; but that it was by no
means fit for the meridian of the United
States. And, you have very lately obliged
the public with the copy of a letter from Li-
verpool, in which, you say, the writer ob-
serves, that the Observations on the
Emigration of Doctor Joseph Priestley
have been republished there, and that,
"it is one of the most scandalous publica-
" tions that ever issued from any press."
These are rather hard lines, gentlemen.
I do not know what I have done, thus to
draw down your vengeance on me. 'Tis
true, I cannot, like you, take towns and
islands as fast as Father Luke takes snuff,
A 2                  

[4]
or erect a bridge across the English Chan-
nel with as little trouble as some people can
the bridge of a fiddle: I cannot put Dukes
into iron cages, and send them to Paris
for Mocking Birds, or chop away at the
heads of kings and ministers with as little
ceremony as if I were chopping a stick of
woool: nor can I spread fleets over the o-
cean, and religion, peace and plenty over
a country as quick as a surgeon's 'prentice
spreads a plaister. No, gentlemen, it is
your province to perform feats like these,
and, if I am not much deceived in my own
heart, I am far, very far, from envying
you your exalted stations. But, if you are
strong, be merciful. 'Though you are the
great Laviathans of Literature, you may
suffer a poor herring to swim in the same
sea; there is certainly room enough for
you and me too.
Was it well done, gentlemen, first to
play at foot-ball with a poor pamphlet
till you were tired, and then turn it into
a shuttle-cock and jet your devils to knock-
ing it from one hemisphere to the other?
Assuredly not; for, 'though the work it-
self might merit rough treatment at your
hands, yet, as it was in print, the natural 
affection that you must be supposed to bear
your typographical brethren, ought to have
'wakened in you some compassion towards it.           

[5]
You have had the goodness to inform the 
public, that this work is neither fit for the 
meridian of the United States, nor the
meridian of Great Britain; but, it ap-
pears that the public (in this country at
least) think otherwise. How the public
dare to differ from you in opinion I shall
not pretend to say, but certain it is, that
the numerous applications for this pam-
phlet have induced me to publish, with
your leave, a third edition of it.
To render this edition more worthy the
perusal of your Honours than the last,
I have made a considerable addition, which
I have been able to do from my being now
in possession of some curious fails, concern-
ing the Doctors Emigration, which were
unknown on this side the water, when the
first edition was published.
I obey the call for this edition with more
pleasure, as it furnishes me with an oppor-
tunity of proving, beyond contradiction,
many things, which some people have look-
ed upon as very "hazarded assertions,"
and which you, gentlemen (never the
most delicate) have not scrupled to call
falshood.
I cannot conclude this address, with-
out praying you to continue me your
good offices. If the first edition merit-
ed your disapprobation, I am in hopes this 

[6]
will be found, to merit it in a much higher
degree. If it should be otherwise decreed,
if I am doomed to suffer your applauses, I
trust, that he who is preparing me the
chastisement, will give me fortitude to bear
it like a man.
I AM,
GENTLEMEN,
YOUR'S, &c. &c.
THE AUTHOR.
Philadelphia 
Feb. 8th. 1795. 

OBSERVATIONS, &c. &c.
WHEN the arrival of Doctor Priest-
ley in the United States was first announced, I
looked upon his emigration (like the proposed
retreat of Cowley, to his imaginary Paradise,
the Summer Islands) as no more than the effect
of that weakness, that delusive caprice, which
too often accompanies the decline of life, and
which is apt, by a change of place, to flatter
age with a renovation of faculties, and a return
of departed genius. Viewing him as a man
that sought repose, my heart welcomed him to
the shores of peace, and wished him, what he
certainly ought to have wished himself, a quiet
obscurity. But his answers to the addresses of
the Democratic and other Societies at New-
York, place him in quite a different light, and
subject him to the animadversions of a public,
among whom they have been industriously pro-
pagated.

[8]
No man has a right to pry into his neigh-
bours private concerns; and the opinions of
every man are his private concerns, while he
keeps them so; that is to say, while they are
confined to himself, his family and particular
friends: but when he makes those opinions
public; when he once attempts to make con-
verts, whether it be in religion, politics, or
any thing else; when he once comes forward
as a candidate for public admiration, esteem
or compassion, his opinions, his principles,
his motives, every action of his life, public or
private, become the fair subject of public dis-
cussion. On this principle, which the Doctor
ought to be the last among Mankind to contro-
vert, it is easy to perceive that these observa-
tions need no apology.
His answers to the addresses of the New-
York societies are evidently calculated to mis-
lead and deceive the people of the United States.
He there endeavours to impose himself on
them for a sufferer in the cause of Liberty;
and makes a canting profession of moderation,
in direct contradiction to the conduct of his
whole life.
He says, he hopes to find here, "that pro-
"tection from violence, which laws and govern-
"ment promise in all countries, but which he
"has not found in his own." He certainly must
suppose that no European intelligence ever
reaches this side of the Atlantic, or that the in-
habitants of thee countries are too dull to com-
prehend the sublime events that mark his life
and character. Perhaps I shall show him, that
it is not the people of England alone who know                  

[9]
now to estimate the merit of Doctor Priestley.
Let us examine his claims to our compassion:
let us see whether his charge against the laws
and government of his country be just, or not.
On the 14th of July, 1791, an unruly mob,
assembled in the town of Birmingham, set fire to
his house, and burnt it, together with all it con-
tained. This is the subject of his complaint, and
the pretended cause of his emigration. The fact
is not denied; but in the relation of facts circum-
stances mud not be forgotten. To judge of the
Doctor's charge against his country, we must
take a retrospective view of his conduct, and of
the circumstances that led to the destruction of
his property.
It is about twelve years since he began to be
distinguished among the dissenters from the
established church of England. He preached
up a kind of deism,* which nobody understood,
and which it was thought the Doctor understood
full as well as his neighbours. This doctrine
afterwards assumed the name of Unitarianism,
and the religieux of the order were called, or
rather they called themselves, Unitarians. The
sect never rose into consequence; and the foun-
der had the mortification of seeing his darling
Unitarianism growing quite out of date with
* This is one of those " hazarded assertions;" alluded
to in the introductory address. But how is it hazarded?
The Doctor says, in his answer to Paine's Age of Reason,
that "the doctrines of atonement, incarnation, and the
"trinity, have no more foundation in the scriptures, than
"the doctrine of transmigration." Is not this a kind of
deism? Is it not deism altogether? Can a man who denies
the divinity of Christ, and that he died to save sinners, have
any pretensions to the flame of Christian?
B 

[10]
himself, when the French Revolution came;
and gave them both a short respite from eternal
oblivion.
Those who know any thing of the English
dissenters, know that they always introduce their
political claims and projects under the mask of re-
ligion. The Doctor was one of those who en-
tertained hopes of bringing about a revolution
in England upon the French plan; and for this
purpose he found it would be very convenient
for him to be at the head of a religious sect.
Unitarianism was now revived, and the society
held regular meetings at Birmingham. In the
inflammatory discourses, called sermons, deliver-
ed at these meetings, the English constitution
was first openly attacked. Here it was that the
Doctor beat his drum ecclesiastic, to raise re-
cruits in the cause of rebellion. The press soon
swarmed with publications expressive of his
principles. The revolutionists began to form so-
cieties all over the kingdom, between which a
mode of communication was established, in per-
fect conformity to that of the Jacobin Clubs in
France,
Nothing was neglected by this branch of the
parisian Propagande to excite the people to a ge-
neral insurrection. Inflammatory hand-bills, ad-
vertisements, federation dinners, toasts, sermons,
prayers; in short, every trick that religious or
political duplicity could suggest, was played off
to destroy a constitution which has borne the
test, and attracted the admiration of ages; and
to establish in its place a new system, fabricated
by themselves.
The fourteenth of July, 1791, was of too much
note in the annals of modern regeneration to be          

[11]
neglected by these regenerated politicians. A
club of them, of which Doctor Priestley was a
member, gave public notice of a feast, to be held
at Birmingham, in which they intended to ce-
lebrate the French revolution. Their endea-
vours had hitherto excited no other sentiments,
in what may be called the people of England,
than those of contempt. The people of Birming-
ham, however, felt, on this occasion, a convul-
sive movement. They were scandalised at this
public notice for holding in their town a festi-
val, to celebrate events which were in reality
a subject of the deepest horror: and seeing in it
at the same time an open and audacious attempt
to destroy the constitution of their country, and
with it their happiness, they thought their un-
derstandings and loyalty insulted, and prepared
to avenge themselves by the chastisement of the
English revolutionists, in the midst of their
scandalous orgies. The feast nevertheless took
place; but the Doctor, knowing himself to be
the grand projector, and consequently the parti-
cular object of his townsmen's vengeance, pru-
dently kept away. The cry of church and king
was the signal for the people to assemble; which
they did to a considerable number, opposite
the hotel where the convives were met. The
club dispersed, aud the mob proceeded to break-
ing the windows, and other acts of violence in-
cident to such scenes; but let it be remembered
that no personal violence was offered. Perhaps it
would have been well, if they had vented their
anger on the persons of the revolutionists; pro-
vided they had contented themselves with the
B 2           

[12]
ceremony of the horse-pond or blanket. Cer-
tain it is, that it would have been very fortunate
if the riot had ended this way; but when that
many-headed monster, a mob, is once roused
and put in motion, who can stop its destructive
steps?
From the hotel of the federation the mob proceed-
ed to Doctor Priestley's Meeting-House, which
they very nearly destroyed in a little time. Had
they stopped here all would yet have been well.
The destruction of this temple of sedition and
infidelity would have been of no great conse-
quence; but, unhappily for them and the town
of Birmingham, they could not be seperated, be-
fore they had destroyed the houses and proper-
ty of many members of the club. Some of
these houses, among which was Doctor Priest-
ley's, were situated at the distance of some miles
from town; the mob were in force to defy all
the efforts of the civil power, and, unluckily,
none of the military could be brought to the
place, 'till some days after the 14th of July. In
the mean time many spacious and elegant houses
were burnt, and much valuable property destroy-
ed; but it is certainly worthy remark, that du-
ring the whole of these unlawful proceedings,
not a single person was killed or wounded, either
wilfully or by accident, except some of the rio-
ters themselves. At the end of four or five days
this riot, which seemed to threaten more serious
consequences, was happily terminated by the
arrival of a detachment of dragoons; and tran-
quillity was restored to the distressed town of
Birmingham.
The magistrates used every exertion in
their power to quell this riot in in very earliest             

[13]
stage, and continued so to do to the last. The
Earl of Plymouth condescended to attend, and
act as a justice of the peace; several clergymen
of the church of England also attended in the
same capacity, and all were indefatigable in
their endeavors to put a stop to to the depreda-
tions, and to re-establish order.
Every one knows, that in such cases, it is
difficult to discriminate, and that it is neither
necessary nor just, if it be possible, to imprison,
try, and execute the whole of a mob, Eleven
of these rioters were, however, indicted; seven
of them were acquitted, four found guilty, and
of these four, two suffered death. These un-
fortunate men were, according to the law, pro-
secuted on the part of the king; and it has
been allowed by the Doctor's own partizans,
that the prosecution was carried on with every
possible enforcement, and even rigour, by the
judges and counsellors. The pretended lenity
was laid to the charge of the jury! What a
contradiction! They accuse the government of
of screening the rioters from the penalty due to
their crimes, and at the same time they accuse
the jury of their acquittal! It is the misfortune
of Doctor Priestley and all his adherents ever
to be inconsistent with themselves.
After this general review of the riots, in
which the Doctor was unlawfully despoiled of
his property, let us return to the merits of his
particular case, and his complaint; and here
let it be recollected, that it is not of the rioters
alone that he complains, but of the laws and
government of his country also. Upon an ex-
amination of particulars we shall find, that so           

[14]
far from his having just cause of complaint, the
laws have rendered him strict justice, if not
something more; and that if any party has
reason to complain of their execution, it is the
town of Birmingham, and not Doctor Priestly.
Sometime after the riots, the Doctor and
the other Revolutionists who had had property
destroyed, brought their actions, for damages
against the town of Birmingham, or rather
against the hundred of which that town makes
a part. The Doctor laid his damages at £.4122.
11. 9. sterling; of which sum £. 420. 15. 0.
was for works in manuscript, which he said,
had been consumed in the flames. The trial of
this cause took up nine hours: the jury gave a
verdict in his favor; but curtailed the damages
to £. 2502. 18. 0. It was rightly considered
that the imaginary value of the manuscript
works ought not to have been included in the 
damages; because the Doctor being the author
of them, he in fact possessed them still, and the
loss could be little more than a few sheets of
dirty paper. Besides if they were to be esti-
mated by those he had published for some years
before, their destruction was a benefit instead
of a loss, both to himself and his country. This
sum then of £.420. 15. 0. being deducted, the
damages stool at £.3701. 16. 9; and it 
should not be forgotten that even a great part
of this sum was charged for an apparatus of phi-
losophical instruments, which in spite of the
most unpardonable gasconade of the Philoso- 

[15]
pher,* can be looked upon as a thing of ima-
ginary value only; and ought not to be estima-
ted at its cost any more than a collection of shells
or infects, or any other of the frivola of a
virtuoso.
Now, it is notorious that actions for da-
mages are always brought for much higher sums
than are ever expected to be recovered. Some-
times they are brought for three times the
amount of the real damage sustained; some-
times for double, and sometimes for only a third
more than the real damage. If we view then
the Doctor's estimate in the most favorable
light, if we suppose that he made but the addi-
tion of one third to his real damages, the sum
he ought to have received would be no more
than £. 2467. 17. 10; whereas he actually
received £. 2502. 18. 0; which was £. 35.
0, 2 ; more than he had a right to expect.
And yet he complains that he has not found
protection from the laws and goverment of his
country! If he had been the very best subject
in England in place of one of the very worst,
what could the laws have done more for him?
Nothing certainly can be a stronger proof of
the independence of the courts of justice, and
of the impartial execution of the laws of England
than the circumstances and result of this cause.
* "You have destroyed the most: truly valuable and useful
"apparatus of philosophical instruments that perhaps
"any individual, in this or any other country, was ever
"possessed of, in my use of which I annually spent large
"sums, with no pecuniary view whatever, but only in
"the advancement of science, for the benefit of my country
"and of mankind."
Letter to the inhabitants of Birmingham. 

[16]
A man who had for many years been the a- 
vowed and open enemy of the government and
constitution, had his property destroyed by a
mob, who declared themselves the friends of
both, and who rose on him because he was not.
This mob were pursued by the government
whose cause they thought they were defending;
some of them suffered death, and the inhabi-
tants of the place where they assembled, were
obliged to indemnify the man whose property
they had destroyed. It would be curious to
know what sort of protection this reverend
Doctor, this "friend of humanity" wanted.
Would nothing satisfy him but the blood of
the whole mob? Did he wish to see the town
of Birmingham, like that of Lyons, razed, and
all its industrious and loyal inhabitants butch-
ered; because some of them had been carried
to commit unlawful excesses from their detesta-
tion of his wicked projects? BIRMINGHAM 
HAS COMBATTED AGAINST PRIESTLEY.
BIRMINGHAM IS NO MORE. This I suppose
would have satisfied the charitable modern phi-
losopher, who pretended, and who the De-
mocratic society say did, "return to his enemies
blessings for curies." Woe to the wretch that
is exposed to the benedictions of a modern
philosopher. His "dextre vengresse" is ten thou-
sand times more to be feared than the bloody
poignard of the assassin: the latter is drawn on
individuals only, the other is pointed at the
human race. Happily for the people of Bir-
mingham these blessings had no effect; there
was no National Convention, Revolutionary
Tribunal, or Guillotine, in England.      

[17]
As I have already observed, if the Doctor
had been the best and most peaceable subject in
the kingdom, the government and laws could
not have yielded him more perfect protection;
his complaint, would therefore be groundless, if
he had given no provocation to the people, if he
had in nowise contributed to the riots. If then
he has received ample justice, considered as an
innocent man, and a good subject, what shall we
think of his complaint, when we find that he
was himself the principal cause of these riots;
and that the rioters did nothing that was not
perfectly consonant to the principles he had for
many years been labouring to infuse into their
minds?
That he and his club were the cause of the
riots will not be disputed; for had they not
given an insulting notice of their intention to 
celebrate the horrors of the fourteenth of July,
accompanied with an inflammatory hand-bill,
intended to excite an insurrection against the
government, * no riot would ever have taken
place, and consequently its disastrous effects
would have been avoided. But, it has been
said, that there was nothing offensive in this in-
flammatory hand-bill; because forsooth "the
"matter of it (however indecent and untrue)
"was not more virulent than Paine's Rights of
"man, Mackintosh's answer to Burke, Remarks
* This hand-bill was disowned by the club, and they
offered a reward for apprehending the author; but they
took care to send him to France before their advertisement
appeared.
C

[18]
"on the constitution of England, &c. &c. which
"had been lately published without incurring the
"censure of government." So; an inflammatory
performance, acknowledged to be indecent and
untrue, is not offensive, becauses it is not more
virulent than some other performances, which
have escaped the censure of government! If this
is not a new manner of arguing, it is at least an
odd one. But this hand-bill had something
more malicious in it, if not more virulent, than
even the inflammatory works above mentioned.
They were more difficult to come at; to have
them they must be bought. They contained
something like reasoning, the fallacy of which
the government was very sure would be detect-
ed, by the good sense of those who took the
pains to read, them. A hand-bill was a more
commodious instrument of sedition: It was
calculated to have immediate effect. Besides, if
there had been nothing offensive in it, why did
the club think proper to disown it in so ceremo-
nious a manner? They disowned it with the
most solemn asseverations, offered a reward for
apprehending the author, and afterwards justi-
fied it as an inoffensive thing. Here is a palpa-
ble inconsistency. The fact is, they perceived
that this precious morsel of eloquence, in place
of raising a mob for them, was like to raise one
against them: they saw the storm gathering,
and in the moment of fear disowned the wri-
ting. After the danger was over, seeing they
could not exculpate themselves from the charge
of having published it, they defended it as an
inoffensive performance.

[19]
The Doctor, in his justificatory letter to the
people of Birmingham, says that the company
were assembled on this occasion "to celebrate
"the emancipation of a neighbouring nation from
"tyranny, without intimating a desire of any thing
"more than improvement of their own constitution."
Excessive modesty! Nothing but an improvement?
A LA FRANÇOISE of course? However with res-
pect to the church, as it was a point of con-
science, the club do not seem to have been altoge-
ther so moderate in their designs. "Believe me,"
says the Doctor, in the same letter, "the church
"of England, which you think you are support-
"ing, has received a greater blow by this conduct
"of yours than I and all my friends have ever aim-
"ed at it." They had then it seems aimed a blow
at the established church, and were forming a
plan for improving the constitution; and yet the
Doctor, in the same letter, twice expresses his
astonishment at their being treated as the ene-
mies of church and state. In a letter to the
students of the college of Hackney he says, a
"Hierarchy, equally the bane of christianity and ra-
"tional liberty, now confesses its weakness; and
"be assured that you will see its complete reforma-
"tion or its fall." And yet he has, the assurance
to tell the people of Birmingham, that their
superiors have deceived them in represent-
ing him and his sect as the enemies of church
and state.
But, say they, we certainly exercised the
right of freemen in assembling together; and
even if our meeting had been unlawful, cogni-
zance should have been taken of it by the ma-
C 2 

[20]
gistracy: there can be no liberty where a fero-
cious mob is suffered to supersede the law. Ve-
ry true. This is what the Doctor has been
told a thousand times, but he never would be-
lieve it. He still continued to bawl out: "The
"sunshine of reason will assuredly chase away and
"dissipate the mists of darkness and error; and
"when the majesty of the people is insulted, or
"they feel themselves oppressed by any set of
"men, they have the power to redress the griev-
"ance." So the people of Birmingham, feel-
ing their majesty insulted by a set of men (and
a very impudent set of men too), who audaci-
ously attempted to persuade them that they were
"all slaves and idolaters," and to seduce them
from their duty to god and their country, rose
"to redress the grievance." And yet he com-
plains? Ah! says he, but, my good townsmen,
"-you mistake the matter:
"For, in all scruples of this nature,
"No man includes himself nor turns
"the point upon his own concerns."
And therefore he says to the people of Bir-
mingham: "You have been misled." But
had they suffered themselves to be misled by
himself into an insurrection against the govern-
ment; had they burnt the churches, cut the
throats of the clergy, and hung the magistrates,
military officers and nobility to the lamp posts,
would he not have said that they exercised a
sacred right? Nay, was not the very festival,
which was the immediate cause of the riots, held
expressly to celebrate scenes like these? to cele-
brate the inglorious triumphs of a mob? The
fourteenth of July was a day marked with the                

[21]
blood of the innocent,and eventually the destruc-
tion of an empire. The events of that day must
strike horror to every heart except that of a de-
istical philosopher, and would brand with eter-
nal infamy any other nation but France; which
thanks to the benign influence of the Rights of
Man, has made such a progress in ferocious-
ness, murder, sacrilege, and every species of in-
famy, that the horrors of the fourteenth of July
are already forgotten.
What we celebrate we must approve; and
does not the man, who approved of the events
of the fourteenth of July, blush to complain of
the Birmingham riots? "Happily," says he to
the people of Birmingham, "happily the minds
"of Englishmen have a horror for murder, and
"therefore you did not, I hope, think of that;
"though by your clamourous demanding me at
"at the hotel, it is probable that, at that time,
"some of you intended me some personal inju-
"ry." Yes, Sir, happily the minds of English-
men have a horror for murder; but who will
say that the minds of Englishmen, or English
women either would have a horror for murder,
if you had succeeded in overturning their religi-
on and constitution, and introducing your
Frenchified system of liberty? The French were
acknowledged to be the most polite, gentle,
companionate and hospitable people in all Eu-
rope: what are they now? Let Lafayette, Bris-
sot, Anacharsis Cloots, or Thomas Payne him-
self answer this question.
Let us see a little how mobs have acted un-
der the famous goverment that the Doctor so
much admires. 

[22]
I shall not attempt a detail of the horrors
committed by the cut-throat Jourdan and his
associates in Provence, Avignon, Languedoc,
and Rousillon. Towns and villages sacked,
gentlemen's seats and castles burnt, and their
inhabitants massacred; migistrates insulted,
beat, and imprisoned, sometimes killed; priso-
ners set at liberty to cut the throats of those they
had already robbed. The exploits of this band
of patriots would fill whole volumes. They re-
duced a great part of the inhabitants of the fi-
nest and most fertile country in the whole
world, to a degree of misery and ruin that would
never have been forgotten, had it not been so
far eclipsed since, by the operation of what is,
in "that devoted country," called the the law.
The amount of the damages sustained in proper-
ty, was perhaps a hundred thousand times as
great as that sustained by the Revolutionists at
Birmingham. When repeated accounts of these
murderous scenes were laid before the National
Assembly, what was the consequence? what the
redress? "We had our fears" said Monsieur
Gentil, "for the prisoners of Avignon, and for
"the lives and property of the inhabitants of
"that unhappy country; but these fears are now
"changed into a certainty: the prisoners are
"released; the country seats are burnt, and"
-Monsieur Gentil was called to order, and,
not suffered to proceed; after which these pre-
cious "Guardians of the Rights of Man" passed
a censure on him, for having slandered the pa-
triots. It is notorious that the chief of these cut-
throats, Jourdan, has since produced his butche-
ries in Avignon as a proof of his civism, and that               

[23]
he is now a distinguished character among the
real friends of the Revolution.
Does the Doctor remember having heard any
thing about the glorious achievements of the
10th of August, 1792? Has he ever made an
estimate of the property destroyed in Paris on
that and the following days? Let him compare
the destruction that followed the steps of that
mob, with the loss of his boasted apparatus;
and when he has cone this, let him tell us, if he
can, where he would now be, if the government
of England had treated him and friends, as the
National Assembly did the sufferers in the riots
of the 10th of August. But, perhaps, he looks
upon the events of that day as a glorious vic-
tory, a new emancipation, and of course will
say, that I degrade the Heroes in calling them a
mob. I am not for disputing with him about a
name; he may call them the heroes of the 10th
of August, if he will: "The Heroes of the
14th of July," has always been understood to
mean, a gang of blood thirsty cannibals, and I
would by no means wish to withold the title
from those of the 10th of August.
Will the Doctor allow, that it was a mob that
murdered the state prisoners from Orleans? or
does he insist upon calling that massacre an act
of civism, and the actors in it, the heroes of the
12th of September? But whether it was an act
of civism, a massacre or a victory, or whatever it
was, I cannot help giving it a place here, as I find
it recorded by his countryman, Doctor Moore.
"The mangled bodies, says he, "were lying
"in the street on the left hand as you go to the
"Chateau from Paris. Some of the lower sort of                

[24]
"the inhabitants of Versailles were looking on;
"the rest struck with terror, were shut up in their
"shops and houses. The body of the Duke of
"Brissac was pointed out, the head and one of
"the hands was cut off! a man stood near
"smoking tobacco, with his sword drawn, and
"a human hand stuck on the point! another
"fellow walked carelesly among the bodies
"with an entire arm of another of the prisoners
"fixed to the point of his sword! A waggon
"afterwards arrived, into which were thrown
"as many of the slaughtered bodies as the
"horses could draw! a boy of about fifteen
"years of age was in the waggon, assisting to
"receive the bodies as they were put in, and
"packing them in the most convenient manner,
"with an air of as much indifference as if they
"had been so many parcels of goods! One of
"the wretches who threw in the bodies, and
"who probably had assisted in the massacre,
"said to the spectators in praise of the boy's ac-
"tivity; "See that little fellow there; how bold
"he is!"
"The assassins of the prisoners were a party
"who came from Paris the preceding evening,
"most of them in post chaises, for that purpose,
"and who attacked those unhappy men while
"they remained in the street, waiting 'till the
"gate of the prison which was prepared for
"their reception, should be opened. The detach-
"ment which had guarded the prisoners from
"Orleans, flood shameful and passive spectators
"of the massacre,—The miserable prisoners be-
"ing all unarmed, and some of them fettered,
"could do nothing in their own defence: they                   

[25]
"were most of them stabbed-and a few, who at-
"tempted resistance, were cut down with sabres.
"There never was a more barbarous and
"dastardly action performed in the face of the
"sun.—Gracious Heaven! Were those barbari-
"ties, which would disgrace savages, committed
"by Frenchmen! by that lively and ingenu-
"ous people, whose writings were so much ad-
"mired, whose society has been so much cour-
"ted, and whose manners have been so much
"imitated by all the neighbouring nations?—
"This attrocious deed, executed in the streets
"of Versailles, and the horrors committed in
"the prisons of Paris, will fix indelible stains
"on the character of the French nation. It is
"said those barbarities revolted the hearts of
"many of the citizens of Paris and Versailles,
"as much as they could those of the inhabitants
"of London or Windsor. It is also said that
"those massacres were not committed by the
"inhabitants of Paris or Versailles, but by a
"set of hired assassins.—But who hired those
"assassins? Who remained in shameful stupor
"and dastardly inactivity, while their laws
"were insulted, their prisons violated, and
"their fellow citizens butchered in the open
"streets? I do not believe, that from the
"wickedest gangs of highway-men, house-
"breakers, and pick-pockets, that infest Lon-
"don and the neighbourhood, men could be
"selected who could be bribed to murder in
"cold blood, such a number of their country-
"men!—and if they could, I am convinced
"that no degree of popular delusion they are ca- 
D                  

[26]
"pable of, no pretext, no motive whatever,
"could make the inhabitants of London or
"Windsor, or any town of Great Britain, suffer
"such dreadful executions to be performed
"within their walls."
No; I hope not: yet I do not know what
might have been effected, by an introduction
of the same system of anarchy, that has chan-
ged the airy amiable French into a set of the
most ferocious inhuman blood-hounds, that ever
disgraced the human shape.
From scenes like these, the mind turns for re-
lief and consolation to the riot at Birmingham.
That riot considered comparatively with what
Doctor Priestley and his friends wished and at-
tempted to stir up, was peace, harmony and
gentleness. Has this man any reason to com-
plain? He will perhaps say, he did not approve
of the French riots and massacres; to which I
shall answer, that he did approve of them. His
public celebration of them was a convincing
proof of this; and if it were not, his sending his
son to Paris, in the midst of them, to request the
honour of becoming a French citizen, is a proof
that certainly will not be disputed.* If then we
* Another "hazarded assertion." Let us hear the Doc-
tor again. "My second for, who was present both at the
"riot, and the assizes, felt more indignation still and wil-
"lingly listened to a proposal to settle in France; and
"there his reception was but too flattering." It is useless
to ascertain the time of this flattering reception, in order to
prove that it was in the midst of massacres for the revolu-
tion has been one continued scene of murder and rapine;
but, however, if the reader has an opportunity of examining
the Paris papers, he will find that the ceremony took place
within a very few days of the time when Jourdan filled
the Ice-house at Avignon with mangled bodies.              

[27]
take a view of the riots of which the doctor is
an admirer, and of those of which he expresses
his detestation, we must fear that he is very far
from being that "friend of human happiness,"
that the democratic society pretend to believe
him. In short, in whatever light we view the
Birmingham riots, we can see no object that ex-
cites our compassion, except the inhabitants of
the Hundred and the unfortunate Rioters them-
selves.
The charge that the Doctor brings against his
country is, that it has not afforded him protection.
It ought to be remarked here, that there is a ma-
terial difference between a government that does
not at all times afford sufficient protection, and one
that is oppressive. However, in his answer to the
New-York addresess, he very politely acquiesces
in the government and laws of England being op-
pressive also. Would he really prefer the proceed-
ings of a revolutionary Tribunal to those of a court
of justice in England? Does he envy the lot of his
colleagues Manuel, Lacroix, Danton and Chabot?
How would he look before a tribunal like that of
the Princess de Lambelle, for example? When
this much lamented unfortunate lady was drag-
ged before the villains that sat in a kind  of
mock judgment on her, they were drinking eau
de vie, to the damnation of those that lay dead
before them. Their shirt sleeves were tucked up
to their elbows their arms and hands, and
even the goblets they were drinking out of, were
besmeared with human blood! I much question
if the assassim's stab, or even the last pang of
death with all its concomitant bitterness, was
D 2

[28]
half so terrible as the blood-freezing sight of
these hell-hounds. Yet this was a court of jus-
tice, under that constitution which "the friend
"of human happiness" wanted to impose on
his countrymen! Paine in speaking of the En-
glish government, says exultingly, and as he
fancies wittily: "they manage those things bet-
"ter in France." I fancy,this boasting "representa-
"tive of twenty four millions of free men" would
now be glad to exchange his post of deputy for
that of under shoe black to the meanest Laquay
at the court of London! Would he not with joy
exchange his cachot with the reversion of the
guillotine into the bargain, for the darkest cell
in that very Bastile, the destruction of which
he has so triumphantly and heroically sung? His
fate is a good hint to those who change countries
every time they cross the sea. A man of all
countries is a man of no country: and let all
those citizens of the world remember, that he
who has been a bad subject in his own country,
though from some latent motive he may be well
received in another, will never be either trusted
or respected.
The Doctor and his fellow labourers who
have lately emigrated to Botany Bay, have been
continually crying out: "a reform of Parlia-
ment." The same visionary delusion seems to have
pervaded all reformers in all ages. They do not
consider what can be done, but what they think
ought to be done. They have no calculating
principle to direct them to discover whether are-
form will cost them more than it is worth or not.
They do not sit down to count the cost; but,
the object being, as they think, desirable, the

[29]
means are totally disregarded. If the French re-
formers had sit down to count the cost, I do not
believe they were villains or ideots enough to have
pursued their plan as they did. To save a tenth
part of their income, they have given the whole,
or rather it has been taken from them. To
preserve the life of a person now and then unjust-
ly condemned, they have drenched the country
with the blood of the innocent. Even the Bastile,
that terrible monument of tyranny, which has
been painted in such frightful colours, contained
but two state prisoners when it was forced by the
mob; and the reformers to deliver these two
prisoners, and to guard others from a like fate,
have erected Bastiles in every town and in every
street. Before the Revolution there were only
two state prisoners, there are now above two
hundred thousand. Do these people calculate?
Certainly not. They will not take man as
they find him, and govern him upon principles
established by experience; they will have him
to be "a faultless monster that the world ne'er
saw," and wish to govern him according to a
system that never was, or can be, brought into
practice.
These waking dreams would be of no more
consequence than those of the night, were they
not generally pursued with an unjustifiable de-
gree of obstinacy and intrigue, and even villainy;
and did they not, being always adapted to flat-
ter and inflame the lower orders of the people,
often baffle every effort of legal power. Thus
it happened in England in the reign of Charles
the first; and thus has it happened in France.
Some trifling innovation always paves the way                  

[30]
to the subversion of a government. The ax in
the forest humbly besought a little piece of wood
to make it a handle: the forest consisting of so
many stately trees, could not, without manifest
cruelty, refuse the "humble" request; but,
the handleonce granted, the before-contemptible
tool began to lay about it with so much violence,
that in a little time not a tree nor even shrub
was standing. That a parliamentary reform
was the handle by which the English revolution-
ists intended to effect the destruction of the con-
stitution needs not be insisted on; at least if we
believe their own repeated declarations. Paine
and some others clearly expressed themselves on
this head: the Doctor was more cautious while
in England, but, safely arrived in his "asylum,"
he has been a little more undisguised. He says
the troubles in Europe are the natural offspring
of the "forms of government" that exist there;
and that the abuses spring from the "artificial
distinctions in society."- I must stop here a mo-
ment to remark on the impudence of this asser-
tion. Is it not notorious that changing those
forms of government, and destroying those distinc-
tions in society, has introduced all the troubles
in Europe? Had the form of government in
France continued what it had been for twelve or
thirteen hundred years, would those troubles ever
have had an existence. To hazard an assertion
like this, a man must be an idiot, or he must think
his readers so.—It was then the form of the En-
glish government, and those artificial distincti-
ons; that is to say, of king, prince, bishop, &c.
that he wanted to destroy, in order to produce
that "other system of liberty," which he had been                   

[31]
so long dreaming about. In his answer to the
address of "the republican natives of Great Bri-
"tain and Ireland, resident at New-York," he
says: "the wisdom and happiness of republican
"governments, and the evils resulting from
"hereditary monarchial ones, cannot appear in
"a stronger light to you than they do to me;"
and yet this same man pretended an inviolable
attachment to the hereditary monarchial govern-
ment of Great Britain! Says he, by way of vin-
dicating the principles of his club to the people
of Birmingham "the first toast that was drunk,
was, "the king and constitution" What! does he
make a merit in England of having toasted that
which he "abominates in America? Alas! Philo-
sophers are but mere men!
It is clear that a parliamentary reform was not
the object: an after game was intended,
which the vigilance of government, and the
natural good sense of the people happily pre-
vented; and the Doctor, disappointed and cha-
grined, is come here to discharge his heart of
the venom it has been long collecting against
his country. He tells the Democratic society
that he cannot promise to be a better subject of
this government than he has been of that of
Great Britain. Let us hope that he intends us
an agreeable disappointment, if not, the sooner
he emigrates back again the better.
System mongers are an unreasonable species
of mortals: time, place, climate, nature itself
must give way. They must have the same go-
vernment in every quarter of the globe; when
perhaps there are not two countries which can
possibly admit of the same form of goverment, at                   

[32]				
the same time. A thousand hidden causes, a				
thousand circumstances and unforeseen events				
conspire to the forming of a government. It is				
always done by little and little. When com-				
pleated, it presents nothing like a system; nothing				
like a thing composed, and written in a book.				
It is curious to hear people cite the American				
government as the summit of human perfection				
while they decry the English; when it is abso-				
lutely nothing more than the government which				
the kings of England established here, with such				
little modifications as were necessary on account				
of the state of society and local circumstances.				
If then the Doctor is come here for a change of				
government and laws, he is the most disappointed				
of mortals. He will have the mortification to				
find in his "asylum" the same laws as those from				
which he has fled, the same upright manner of				
administering them, the same punishment of the				
oppressor and the same protection of the op-				
pressed. In the courts of justice he will every				
dav see precedents quoted from the English law-				
books; and (which to him may appear won-				
derful) we may venture to predict, that it will				
be very long before they will be supplanted by				
the bloody records of the revolutionary tribunal.				
Let him compare the governments of these states,				
and the measures they have pursued, with what				
has passed under the boasted constitution that				
he wished to introduce into England, and see if				
he can find one single instance of the most				
distant resemblance. In the abolition of negro				
slavery for example, the governments of the Uni-				
ted States have not rushed headlong into the				
mad plan of the National Convention. With				
much more humane views; with a much more 				

[33]			
sincere desire of seeing all mankind free and			
happy, they have, in spite of clubs and societies,			
proceeded with caution and justice. In short,			
they have adopted, as nearly as possible, consi-			
dering circumstances and situation, the same			
measures as have been taken by the government			
which he abhors. He will have the further			
mortification to find, that the government here is			
not, any more than in England, influenced by			
the vociferations of fish-women, or by the toasts			
and resolutions of popular societies. He will,			
however, have one consolation, here as well as			
there, he will find, that the truly great,			
virtuous and incorruptible man at the head of			
government, is branded for an Aristocrat, by			
those noisy gentry.			
Happiness being the end of all good govern-			
ment, that which produces the most is conse-			
quently the best; and comparison being the			
only method of determining the relative value of			
things, it is easy to see which is preferable, the			
tyranny which the French formerly enjoyed, or			
the liberty and equality they at present labour			
under. If the Doctor had come about a year			
sooner, he might have had the satisfaction of			
being not only an ear, but an eye-witness also,			
of some of the blessed effects of this celebrated			
revolution. He might then have been regaled			
with that sight, so delectable to a modern philo-			
soper;—opulence reduced to misery.			
The stale pretence, that the league against the			
French has been the cause of their inhuman			
conduct to each other, cannot, by the most per-			
verse sophistry, be applied to the Island of St.			
E   					

[34]			
Domingo. That fine rich colony was ruined,			
its superb capital and villas reduced to ashes,			
one half of its inhabitants massacred, and the			
other half reduced to beggary, before an enemy			
ever appeared on the coast. No: it is that sys-			
tem of anarchy and blood that was celebrated			
at Birmingham on the 14th of July, 1791, that			
has been the cause of all this murder and de-			
vastation.                                  			
Nor let the Doctor pretend that this could			
not be foreseen. It was foreseen and foretold			
too, from the very moment a part of the Depu-			
ties to the States General were permitted to			
call themselves a national assembly. In proof			
of this, I could mention a dozen publications			
that came out under his own eye; but I shall			
content myself with giving a short extract from			
a speech in the British parliament, which is the			
more proper on this occasion,as it was delivered			
but a few weeks before the period of theriots.			
"The Americans," said Mr. Burke, "have			
"what was essentially necessary for freedom;			
"they have the phlegm of the good tempered			
"Englishmen-they were fitted for Republi-			
"cans by a republican education. Their revo-			
"lution was not brought about by base and dege-			
"nerate crimes; nor did they overturn a govern-			
"ment for the purposes of anarchy; but they rais-			
"ed a republic,as nearly representing the British			
"government as it was possible. They did not			
"run into the absurdity of France, and by seiz-			
"ing on the rights of man, declare that the			
"nation was to govern the nation, and Prince 		

[35]			
"Prettyman to govern Prince Prettyman.*			
"There are in Canada many of the ancient inha-			
"bitants; will it be proper to give them the			
"French constitution? In my opinion there    			
"is not a single circumstance that recommends			
"the adoption of any part of it, for the whole			
"is abominably bad—the production of folly			
"not wisdom— of vice, not virtue; it contains			
"nothing but extremes, as distant from each			
"as the poles—the parts are in eternal oppo-			
"sition to each other—it is founded on what			
"is called the rights of man, but to my convic-			
"tion it is founded on the wrongs of man, and			
"I now hold in my hand an example of its ef-			
"fects on the French colonies—Domingo,			
"Guadaloupe, and the other French Islands,			
"were rich, happy, and growing in strength			
"and consequence in spite of the three last			
"distressing wars, before they heard of the			
"new doctrine of the rights of man; but these			
"rights were no sooner arrived at the Islands,			
"than any spectator would have imagined that			
"Pandora's box had been opened, and that Hell			
"had yawned out discord, murder, and every			
"mischief; for anarchy, confusion and blood-			
"shed raged every where; it was a general			
"summons for			
* If this gentleman could see a rant published a few			
days ago, by my old friends, the New York Demo-			
cratic Society, he would find that we are improved;			
and that Prince Prettyman is to govern Prince			
Prettyman here as well as in Prance. "What" say they,			
"shall preserve public liberty, but the wisdom of an en-			
"lightnend people? In every free state the sovereignty			
"is vested in the people, and every individual is at once			
"a legislator and a soverign."			
E 2. 			

[36]			
"Black spirits, and white,			
"Blue spirits, and grey,			
"Mingle, mingle, mingle,			
"You that mingle may."			
"When the assembly heard of these disorders,			
"they ordered troops to quell them; but it			
"proves that the troops have joined the insur-			
"gents, and murdered their commander. I			
"look on the revolution with horror and detes-			
"tation; it is a revolution of consummate folly,			
"formed and maintained by every vice."			
But perhaps the Doctor's intense studies; "his			
"continual labours for the good of mankind,"			
might not leave him time to peruse the debates			
of parliament; however, we may fairly pre-			
sume that he read the letters addressed to him-			
self; and if so, he has read the following pas-			
sage, "you think that a neighbouring nation			
"is emancipated from tyranny, and that a com-			
"pany of Englishmen may laudably express			
"their joy on the occasion. Were your premi-			
"ses true, I would allow your conclusion. But			
"let us wait the event. Philosophers should			
"not be too credulous, or form their determi-			
"nations too rashly. It is very possible that			
"all the magnificent schemes of your august			
"diet in France may be succeeded by a ridicu-			
"lous, a villainous, or a bloody catastrophe."			
Either he foresaw the consequences of the			
French Revolution or he did not foresee them:			
if he did not, he must confess that his penetra-			
tion was far inferior to that of his antagonists,			
and even to that of the multitude of his coun-			
trymen; for they all foresaw them. If he did			
foresee them, he ought to blush at being called 			            

[37]			
the "friend of human happiness;" for, to fore-			
see such dreadful calamities and to form a delibe-			
rate plan for bringing them upon his country he			
must have a disposition truely diabolical. If he			
did not foresee them, he must have an under-			
standing little superior to that of an idiot; if he			
did, he must have the heart of a Marat. Let			
him choose.			
But it is pretty clear that he foresaw the con-			
sequences, or, at least, that he approves of			
them; for, as I have observed above, he sent his			
son into France, in the very midst of the mas-			
sacres, to request the honor of becoming a			
French citizen; and in his answer to the addres-			
sers at New York, he takes good care to express			
his disaprobation of the war pursued by his coun-			
try (which he calls an infatuation) because its			
manifest tendency is to destroy that hydra, that			
system of anarchy which is the primary cause.			
Besides, is not his emigration itself a convincing			
proof, that his opinion still remains the same?			
If he found himself mistaken, he would confess			
his error; at least tacitly, by a change of con-			
duct. Has he done this? No: the French re-			
volution is his system, and sooner than not see			
it established, I much question if he would not			
with pleasure see the massacre of all the human			
race.			
Even suppose his intended plan of improve-			
ment had been the best in the world instead of			
the worst: the people of England had certainly			
a right to reject it. He claims, as an indubita-			
ble right, the right of thinking for others, and			
yet he will not permit the people of England to			
think for themselves. Paine says: "what a 			

[38]			
whole nation wills, it has a right to do." Con-			
sequently, what a whole nation does not will, it			
has a right not to do. Rousseau says: "the ma-			
jority of a people has a right to force the rest to			
be free;" but even the "insane Socrates of the			
national assembly" has never, in all his absurd			
reveries, had the folly to pretend, that a club			
of dissenting malcontents has a right to force a			
whole nation to be free. If the English chose			
to remain slaves, bigots, and idolators, as the			
Doctor calls them, that was no business of his:			
he had nothing to do with them. He should			
have let them alone; and perhaps in due time,			
the abuses of their government would have come			
to that "natural termination," which he trusts			
"will guard against future abuses," But, no,			
said the Doctor, I will reform you,—I will en-			
lighten you,—I will will make you free. You			
shall not! say the people. But I will! says the			
Doctor. By-, say the people, you shall not!			
"And when Ahithopel saw that his counsel was			
"not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and			
"gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his			
"household in order, and hanged himself, and			
"died and was buried in the sepulchre of his			
"father."			
I now beg the reader's company in a slight re-			
view of the addresses, delivered to the Doctor by			
the several patriotic societies at New York.*			
*I. An address from "the Denveratic Society"			
II. From the "Tammany Society."			
III. From the "Associated Teacher."			
IIII, From the "Republican Natives of Great Britain			
"and Ireland."			
Those addresses, with the answers to them, having all			
appeared in the Gazettoa, it will be useless to give			
them at length here.			

[39]			
It is no more than justice to say of these ad-			
dresses, in the lump, that they are distinguished			
for a certain barrenness of thought and vulgarity			
of style, which, were we not in possession of the			
Doctor's answers, might be thought inimitable.			
If the parties were less known, one might be			
tempted to think that the addressers were dull			
by concert; and that by way of retaliation, the			
Doctor was resolved to be as dull as they. At			
least, if this was their design, nobody will deny			
but they have succeeded to admiration.			
"The governments of the old world," say the			
Democratic Soicety, "are most of them now			
"basely combined to prevent the establishment			
"of liberty in France, and to effect the total			
"destruction of the rights of man."			
What! The Rights of Man yet? I thought			
that Liberty and Equality, the Rights of Man,			
and all that kind of political cant, had long been			
discovered for the greatest Bore in nature.			
Are there people in this country, and people			
who pretend to possess a superior degree of sa-			
gacity too, who are dolts enough to talk about			
French Liberty, after what passes under their eyes			
every day? Is not every Frenchman in the			
United States, obliged to go to a justice of the			
peace, every two or three months, to have a			
certificate of residence? And must he not have			
this certificate sworn to and signed, by four in-			
habitants besides the magistrate? And must			
he not pay for this too? And if he fails in			
any part of this slavish ceremony, or goes into			
Canada or Florida, is he not marked out for the			
Guilliotine? An Englishman may come when			
he will, stay as long as he pleases, go where he			

[40]			
will, and return when he will to his own coun-			
try, without finding any law of proscription, or			
confiscation, issued against him or his property.			
Which has most liberty?			
I thought no one would dun our ears with			
French liberty, after the decree which obliges eve-			
ry merchant, under pain of the Guilliotine, to			
make a declaration of all his property in foreign			
countries, and to give up his right and title of			
such property to the convention; and not only			
to make a declaration of his own, but of his			
neighbour's property also, under the same penal-			
ty! It has long been customary to express a			
detestation of the tyranny and cruelty of the In-			
quisition: but the Inquisition, in the height of			
its severity, was never half so tyrannical as this			
decree. This is the boasted "gallic liberty."			
Let us hear their own definition of this liberty.			
"Liberty," says Barrere, in his report to the			
National Convention, on the 3d of January 1794,			
"Liberty, my dear fellow citizens, is a privi-			
"ledged and general creditor; not only has			
"she a right to our property and persons, but to			
"our talents and courage, and even to our			
"thoughts!" Oh Liberty! What a metamor-			
phosis hast thou undergone in the hands of these			
political juglers!			
If this be liberty, may God in his mercy con-			
tinue me the most abject slave. If this be liber-			
ty, who will say that the English did not do well			
in rejecting the Doctor's plan for making them			
free? The Democrats of New York, accuse the			
allies of being combined to prevent the establish-			
ment of liberty in France, and to destroy the			
rights of man; when it is notorious that the   			

[41]				
French themselves have banished the very idea				
of the thing from amongst them; that is to say,				
if they ever had an idea of it. Nay, the author				
of the rights of man, and the authoress of the				
rights of women, are at this moment starving in				
a dirty dungeon, not a hundred paces from the				
sanctum sanctorum of liberty and equality; and				
the poor, unfortunate Goddess* herself is guillio-				
tined! So much for liberty and the rights of				
man.		
The Tammany society comes forward in boast-				
ing of their "venerable ancestors," and, says the				
Doctor in his answer: "Happy would our				
"venerable ancestors have been to have				
"found, &c." What! Were they the				
Doctor's ancestors too? I suppose he means in a				
figurative sense. But certainly, gentlemen,				
you made a faux pas in talking about your an-				
cestors at all. It is always a tender subject, and				
ought to be particularly avoided by a body of				
men "who disdain the shackles of tradition."				
You say that, in the United States, "there				
"exists a sentiment of free and candid enquiry,				
"which disdains the hackles of tradition, pre- 			
"paring a rich harvest of improvement and the				
"glorious triumph of truth." Knowing the				
religious, or rather irreligious, principles of				
the person to whom this sentence was addressed				
it is easy to divine its meaning. But, without				
* Madame Hebert, who had the honor of representing				
this Deity, and who received for a considerable time, the				
adorations and incense of the devout Parisians, was guillio-				
tined not long ago. It is impossible to say for what she was				
executed, as the court by which she was tried do not waste				
their precious time in committing their proceedings to				
writing.				
F 				

[44]			
to say, Idolatrous Christians." Idolatrous Chris-			
tians! It is the first time I believe these two			
words were ever joined together. Is this the			
language of a man who wanted only toleration, in			
a country where the established church, and the			
most part of the dissenters also, are professedly			
trinitarians? He will undoubtedly say that the			
people of this country are idolators too, for			
there is not one out of a hundred at most, who			
does not firmly believe in the doctrine of the			
Trinity.			
Such a man complains of persecution with a			
very ill grace. But suppose he had been per-			
secuted for a mere matter of opinion; it would			
be only receiving the measure he has meted to			
others. Has he not approved of the unmerciful			
persecution of the unfortunate and worthy part			
of the French clergy; men as far surpassing him			
in piety and utility as in suffering? They did			
not want to coin a new religion; they wanted			
only to be permitted to enjoy, without interrup-			
tion, the one they had been educated in, and			
that they had sworn in the most solemn manner,			
to continue in to the end of their lives. The			
Doctor says in his address to the Methodists;			
"you will judge wether I have not reason and			
"scripture on my side. You will at least be con-			
"vinced that have so persuaded myself; and you			
"cannot but respect a real lover of truth, and			
"a desire to bring others into it, even in the man			
"who is unfortunately in an error." Does			
not this man blush at approving of the base,			
cowardly and bloody persecutions that have			
been carried on against a set of men, who erred,	
if they did err at all, from an excess of con-		

[41]				
French themselves have banished the very idea				
of the thing from amongst them; that is to say,				
if they ever had an idea of it. Nay, the author				
of the rights of man, and the authoress of the				
rights of women, are at this moment starving in				
a dirty dungeon, not a hundred paces from the				
sanctum sanctorum of liberty and equality; and				
the poor, unfortunate Goddess* herself is guillio-				
tined! So much for liberty and the rights of				
man.		
The Tammany society comes forward in boast-				
ing of their "venerable ancestors," and, says the				
Doctor in his answer: "Happy would our				
"venerable ancestors have been to have				
"found, &c." What! Were they the				
Doctor's ancestors too? I suppose he means in a				
figurative sense. But certainly, gentlemen,				
you made a faux pas in talking about your an-				
cestors at all. It is always a tender subject, and				
ought to be particularly avoided by a body of				
men "who disdain the shackles of tradition."				
You say that, in the United States, "there				
"exists a sentiment of free and candid enquiry,				
"which disdains the shackles of tradition, pre- 			
"paring a rich harvest of improvement and the				
"glorious triumph of truth." Knowing the				
religious, or rather irreligious, principles of				
the person to whom this sentence was addressed,				
it is easy to divine its meaning. But, without				
* Madame Hebert, who had the honor of representing				
this Deity, and who received for a considerable time, the				
adorations and incense of the devout Parisians, was guillio-				
tined not long ago. It is impossible to say for what she was				
executed, as the court by which she was tried do not waste				
their precious time in committing their proceedings to				
writing.				
F 			

[44]			
to say, Idolatrous Christians." Idolatrous Chris-			
tians! It is the first time I believe these two			
words were ever joined together. Is this the			
language of a man who wanted only toleration, in			
a country where the established church, and the			
most part of the dissenters also, are professedly			
trinitarians? He will undoubtedly say that the			
people of this country are idolators too, for			
there is not one out of a hundred at most, who			
does not firmly believe in the doctrine of the			
Trinity.			
Such a man complains of persecution with a			
very ill grace. But suppose he had been per-			
secuted for a mere matter of opinion; it would			
be only receiving the measure he has meted to			
others. Has he not approved of the unmerciful			
persecution of the unfortunate and worthy part			
of the French clergy; men as far surpassing him			
in piety and utility as in suffering? They did			
not want to coin a new religion; they wanted			
only to be permitted to enjoy, without interrup-			
tion, the one they had been educated in, and			
that they had sworn in the most solemn manner,			
to continue in to the end of their lives. The			
Doctor says in his address to the Methodists;			
"you will judge whether I have not reason and			
"scripture on my side. You will at least be con-			
"vinced that have so persuaded myself; and you			
"cannot but respect a real lover of truth, and			
"a desire to bring others into it, even in the man			
"who is unfortunately in an error." Does			
not this man blush at approving of the base,			
cowardly and bloody persecutions that have			
been carried on against a set of men, who erred,	
if they did err at all, from an excess of con-	

[45]			
scientiousness? He talks of persecution, and			
puts on the mockery of woe: theirs has been			
persecution indeed. Robbed, dragged from			
their homes, or obliged to hide from the sight			
of man, in continual expectation of the assassin's			
stab; some transported, like common felons,			
for ever; and a much greater number butcher-			
ed by those to whose happiness their lives had			
been devoted, and in that country that they loved			
too well to disgrace by their apostacy! How			
gladly would one of those unfortunate conscien-			
tious men have escaped to America, leaving for-			
tune, friends and all behind him! And how			
different has been the fate of Doctor Priestley!			
Ah, Gentlemen! do not let us be deceived by			
false pretenders: the manner of his emigration			
is, of itself, a sufficient proof that the step was			
not necessary, to the enjoyment of "protection			
from violence."			
You say, he has "long disnterestedly labour-			
"ed for his country." 'Tis true he says so;			
but we must not believe him more disinterested			
than other reformers. If toleration had been all			
he wanted; if he had contented himself with the			
permission of spreading his doctrines, he would			
have found this in England, or in almost any			
other country, as well as here. The man that			
wants only to avoid persecution, does not make			
a noisy and fastidious display of his principles, or			
attack with unbridled indecency, the religion of			
the country in which he lives. He who avoids per-			
secution is seldom persecuted.			
"The lifted ax, the agonizing wheel,			
"Luke's iron crown and Damien's bed of steel,

[48]
every attempt to debase christianity, in whatever
shape, and under whatever disguise it may ap-
pear.
In the address of the "republican natives of
"Great Britain and Ireland, resident at New
"York," we find a very extraordinary passage
indeed. But, before we say any thing about this
address, it will not be amiss to say a word or
two about the addressers. I believe one might
venture to say, that there are but very few natives
of Ireland among them; because, the emigrants
from that country, being generally engaged in
agricultural pursuits from their first arrival here,
have not the time to form themselves into poli-
tical societies: and the words "Great Britain"
might probably have been supplied by one word.
However, as the gentlemen have not thought
this word worthy of a place in their address, I
can by no means think of introducing it here.
But let us see what they say of themselves:
"After a fruitless opposition to a corrupt and
"tyrannical government, many of us, like you,
"sought freedom and protection in the United
"States of America. We look back on our
"native country with pity and indignation, at
"the outrages that humanity has sustained in
"the persons of the virtuous Muir and his pa-
"triotic associates." We may then fairly sup-
"pose, that these "republican natives of Great
"Britain and Ireland" can be no other than the
members of that renowned convention of which
the "virtuous Muir," who is now fortunately
on his passage. to Botany Bay, was president.
The passage of their address, alluded to above,
is as follows; "Participating in the many bles-        

[45]			
scientiousness? He talks of persecution, and			
puts on the mockery of woe: theirs has been			
persecution indeed. Robbed, dragged from			
their homes, or obliged to hide from the sight			
of man, in continual expectation of the assassin's			
stab; some transported, like common felons,			
for ever; and a much greater number butcher-			
ed by those to whose happiness their lives had			
been devoted, and in that country that they loved			
too well to disgrace by their apostacy! How			
gladly would one of those unfortunate conscien-			
tious men have escaped to America, leaving for-			
tune, friends and all behind him! And how			
different has been the fate of Doctor Priestley!			
Ah, Gentlemen! do not let us be deceived by			
false pretenders: the manner of his emigration			
is, of itself, a sufficient proof that the step was			
not necessary, to the enjoyment of "protection			
from violence."			
You say, he has "long disinterestedly labour-			
"ed for his country." 'Tis true he says so;			
but we must not believe him more disinterested			
than other reformers. If toleration had been all			
he wanted; if he had contented himself with the			
permission of spreading his doctrines, he would			
have found this in England, or in almost any			
other country, as well as here. The man that			
wants only to avoid persecution, does not make			
a noisy and fastidious display of his principles, or			
attack with unbridled indecency, the religion of			
the country in which he lives. He who avoids per-			
secution is seldom persecuted.			
"The lifted ax, the agonizing wheel,			
"Luke's iron crown and Damien's bed of steel,

[48]
every attempt to debase christianity, in whatever
shape, and under whatever disguise it may ap-
pear.
In the address of the "republican natives of
"Great Britain and Ireland, resident at New
"York," we find a very extraordinary passage
indeed. But, before we say any thing about this
address, it will not be amiss to say a word or
two about the addressers. I believe one might
venture to say, that there are but very few natives
of Ireland among them; because, the emigrants
from that country, being generally engaged in
agricultural pursuits from their first arrival here,
have not the time to form themselves into poli-
tical societies: and the words "Great Britain"
might probably have been supplied by one word.
However, as the gentlemen have not thought
this word worthy of a place in their address, I
can by no means think of introducing it here.
But let us see what they say of themselves:
"After a fruitless opposition to a corrupt and
"tyrannical government, many of us, like you,
"fought freedom and protection in the United
"States of America. We look back on our
"native country with pity and indignation, at
"the outrages that humanity has sustained in
"the persons of the virtuous Muir and his pa-
"triotic associates." We may then fairly sup-
"pose, that these "republican natives of Great
"Britain and Ireland" can be no other than the
members of that renowned convention of which
the "virtuous Muir," who is now fortunately
on his passage to Botany Bay, was president.
The passage of their address, alluded to above,
is as follows; "Participating in the many bles-  

[49]
"sings, which the government is calculated to
"insure, we are happy in giving it this proof of 
"our respectful attachment. We are only griev-
"ed, that a system of such beauty and excellence
"should be all tarnished by the existence of
"slavery in any form; but, as friends to the 
"equal rights of man, we must be permitted 
"to say, that we with these rights extended to 
"every human being, be his complexion what it
"may. We however look forward with pleas-
"ing anticipation to yet more perfect state of 
"society; and from that love of liberty which
" forms so distinguish a trait in the American 
" character, are taught to hope that this last,
" this worst disgrace to a free government, will 
" finally and for ever be done away." So!
These gentlemen are hardly landed in the United 
States before they begin to cavil against the 
government, and to pant after a more perfect 
state of society! If they have already discovered 
that the system is tarnished by the very last and
worst disgrace of a free government, what may we 
not reasonably expect from their future re-
searches? If they, with their virtuous President,
had been landed in the southern states, they 
might have lent a hand to finish the great 
work, so happily begun by citizens Santhonax
and Polverel. They have caught the itch of 
addressing, petitioning and remonstrating in
their own country; let them seratch themselves
into a cure; but let them not attempt spread-
ing their disorder. They ought to remember, 
that they come here " to seek freedom and 
"protection" for themselves, and not for others. 
When the people of these states are ready for a 
G

[50]
total abolition of negro slavery, they will make
a shift to see the propriety of adopting the mea-
sure without the assistance of these nothern
lights. In the mean time, as the convention
cannot here enter on their legislative functions,
they may amuse themselves with a fable written
for their particular life.
THE POT-SHOP, A FABLE.
In a pot-shop well stocked with ware of all
sorts, a discontented ill formed pitcher un-
luckily bore the sway. One day after the mor-
tifying neglect of several customers, "gentle-
men," said he, addressing himself to his brown
brethren in general, "gentlemen, with your
"permission, we are a set of tame fools, without
"ambition, without courage: condemned to
"the vilest uses, we suffer all without murmur-
"ing. Let us dare to declare ourselves, and
"we shall soon see the difference. That superb
"ewer, which, like us, is but earth; those
"gilded jars, vases, china, and in short all
"those elegant nonsenses, whose colours and
"beauty have neither weight nor solidity, must
"yield to our strength and give place to our
"superior merit."
This civic harangue was received with peals
of applause, and the pitcher (chosen president)
became the organ of the assembly. Some,
however, more moderate than the rest, attemp-
ted to calm the minds of the multitude. But
all those which are called jordans or chamber
pots, were become intractable. Eager to vie
with the bowls and cups, they were impatient 

[51]
almost to madness to quit their obscure abodes,
to shine upon the table, kiss the lip and
ornament the cup-board.
In vain did a wise water jug (some say it
was a platter) make them a long and serious
discourse upon the peacefulness of their voca-
"tion. Those," says he, "who are destined to
"great employments are rarely the most happy.
"We are all of the same clay, tis true; but he
"who made us, formed us for different func-
"tions. One is for ornament, another for use.
"The posts the least important are often the
"most necessary. Our employments are ex-
"tremely different, and so are our talents."
This had a wonderful effect; the most stupid
began to open their ears: perhaps it would
have succeded, if a grease pot had not cried out
with a decisive tone: "You reason like an ass;
"to the devil with you and your silly les-
"sons."
Now; the scale was turned again: all the
hord of jordans, pans and pitchers applauded
the superior eloquence and reasoning of the grease
pot. In short, they determined on the enter-
prize; but a dispute arose who should be chief:
all would command and none obey. It was
then you mighthave heard a clutter: pots, pans
and pitchers, mugs, jugs and jordans, all put
themselves in motion at once; and so wisely
and with so much vigour were their operations
conducted that the whole was soon changed—
not into china, but rubbish.
Let us leave the application of this fable to
those for whom it is intended, and come to the
address of "the associated teachers in the city
"of New-York."
G 2                    

[52]
From the profession of these gentlemen, one 
would have wished not to find them among the
Doctor's addressers; and it will be for those who
employ the "associated teachers" to judge,
how far their approbation and praise of the
writings of such a man, is a proof of their
being calculated for "the arduous and important
"task of cultivating the human mind."*
They very civilly invite the doctor to assist them
to "form the man; " and, in his answer, he
seems to hint that he, may possibly accept the
invitation. All I can say on this matter, is, if
he should embrace this prosession, I hope he
will be exactly as successful in forming the man,
as he has been in reforming him.
In the answer to the "associated Teachers,"
the Doctor observes, that, classes of men, as well
"as individuals, are apt to form too high ideas of
"their own importance." Never was a juster
observation than this, and never was this ob-
servation more fully verified than in the parties
themselves. The Doctor's self importance is
sufficiently depicted in the quotation that I have
given from his letter to the people of Birming-
ham; and as for the "associated teachers,"
how familiarly soever they may talk of "the
*I have been informed, that these associated brethren of
the birch complain of my attacking them in the dark; but
let them lay their hands to their hearts, and say, if they
can, that I fight more unfair than they do, when they dis-
charge their ill-humour on a poor little trembling wretch,
whose pitiful look would soften the heart of a tiger. How-
ever, I cease the inglorious combat: I confess it is not fair
to attack them with a pen. They know how to write with
a rod only; and I dare say their answer to my observa-
tions on their address is still legible on the back-sides of
their unfortunate pupils.                  

[53]
"intriguing politics and vitiating refinements
"of the European World, " I must say, I
think, they know but little of what passes in
that world; or they never would have larded
with such extravagant eulogiums, productions,
which, in general, have been long exploded.
With respect to the Doctor's metaphysical
reveries, or, in other words, his system of infi-
delity, I shall leave to himself the talk of expo-
sing that to the detestation of Americans, as it
has long been to that of the English.* Of his
scientific productions, I propose, in a little time,
to give the public a short reveiw; † meanwhile I
refer the curious, reader to the publications of the
royal society, of 1791 and 1792, and to Doctor
Bewley's treatise on air. He will there see his
system of chemistry and natural philosophy de-
tected, exposed and defeated; and the "cele-
"brated philosopher" himself accused and
convicted of plagiarism.§ He will there find
the key to the following sentence: "The
"patronage to be met with, in monarchical go-
"vernments, is ever capricious, and as often
"employed to bear down merit as to promote
"it, having for its object, not science, or any
"thing useful to mankind, but the mere repu-
"tation of the patron, who is seldom any judge
"of science." ‡ This is the language of every
soured neglected author, from a sorry ballad
* He has made a pretty good beginning already, as we
shall see by and by.                     
† The Doctor has saved me the trouble of doing this. 
§ Have a little patience, reader, and you shall be satis-
fied of this.                 
‡ This was addressed to the Philosophical society at
Philadelphia. We shall see all this unravelled by and by               

[54]
monger to a doctor with half a dozen initials at
the end of his name.
As to his talents as a writer we have only
to open our eyes to be convinced that they are
far below mediocrity. His style is uncouth
and superlatively diffuse. Always involved in
minutiæ, every sentence is a string of parenthe-
sises, in finding the end of which, the reader is
lucky if he does not lose the proposition they
were meant to illustrate. In short, the whole of
his phraseology is extremely disgusting; to
which may be added, that even in point of
grammar he is very often incorrect. 
As a proof of what I have here asserted, I
could give a thousand sentences from his wri-
tings; but I choose one or two from his an-
swers to the addressers, as these pieces, are in
every body's hands; and, not to criticise unfair-
ly, I shall take the first sentence I come at. It
runs thus:                                  
"Viewing with the deepest concern, as you
"do, the prospect that is now exhibited in
"Europe, those troubles which are the natural
"offspring of their forms of government, ori-
"ginating indeed in the spirit of liberty, but
"gradually degenerating into tyrannies, equal-
"ly degrading to the rulers and the ruled, I
"rejoice in finding an assylum from persecu-
"tion in a country in which those abuses have
"come to a natural termination, and produced
"another system of liberty, founded on such
"wise principles, as I trust, will guard against
"all future abuses; those artificial distinctions
"in society, from which they sprung, being
"completely eradicated, that protection from 

[55]
"violence, which laws and government promise
"in all countries, but which I have not found
"in my own, I doubt not I shall find with you,
"though I cannot promise to be a better subject
"of this government, than my whole conduct
"will evince that I have been to that of Great
"Britain."
This is neither the style periodique, nor the
style coupé, it is I presume the style entortillé: for
one would certainly think that the author had
racked his imagination to render what he had
to say unintelligible. This sentence of monstrous
length is cut asunder in the middle by a semico-
lon, which, except that it serves the weary rea-
der by way of half way house, might be placed
in any other part of the sentence to, at least,
equal advantage. In fact, this is not a sentence;
it is a rigmarole ramble, that has neither be-
ginning nor ending, and conveys to us no idea
of any thing but the author's incapacity.
"Viewing with the deepest concern as you
"do, the prospect that is now exhibited in Eu-
"rope, those troubles which are the natural off-
"spring of THEIR forms of government." What,
in the name of goodness, does this mean?—
Troubles is the only antecedent that can be found
to their, and the necessary conclusion is, troubles
have their forms of government.
The doctor says, in his answer to the Tam-
many society: "Happy would our venerable
"ancestors, as you justly call them, have been,
"to have found America such a retreat to
"them." It may perhaps be useful to the
learned Doctor to know, that he ought to have 

[56]
said "Happily would our venerable ancestors,
"as you justly call them, have been, to find
"America, &c."
I grant that there is great reason to believe,
that the Doctor was resolved to be as dull as his
addressers; but I assert that it is impossible for a
person accustomed to commit his thoughts to
paper with the smallest degree of taste or cor-
rectness, to fall into such gross solecisms, or to
tack phrases together in such an awkward home,
spun manner. In short, he cannot be fit for
even the post of castigator; and therefore it is
to be hoped that the "associated teachers" will
not lessen their "importance" by admitting
him amongst them; that is to say, except it be
as a pupil.
There are many things that astonish us in the
addresses, amongst which the compassion that the
addressers express for that "infatuated" and
"devoted country," Great Britain, certainly is
not the least.
The Democratic Society, with a hatred against
tyranny, that would have become the worthy
nephew of Damien,* or the great Marat himself,
say: "The multiplied oppressions which cha-
"racterise that government, excite in us, the
"most painful sensations and exhibit a specta-
"cle as disgusting in itself as dishonorable to
"the British name."
And what a tender affectionate concern do
the sons of Tammany express for the poor dis-
tressed unfortunate country of their "venerable
"ancestors." "A country," say they "al-
* Robespierre.

[57]
"though, now presenting a prospect frightful to
"the eye of humanity, yet once the nurse of
"sciences, of arts, of heroes, and of freemen, a
"country which although at present apparent-
"ly devoted to destruction, we fondly hope may
"yet tread back the steps of infamy and ruin, and
"once more rise conspicuous among the free nations
"of the earth."
But of all the addressers none seem so zealous
on this subject as "the republican natives of
Great Britain and Ireland." "While," say
they, "we look back on our native country
"with emotions of pity and indignation, at the
"outrages human nature has sustained, in the
"persons of the virtuous Muir and his patrio-
"tic associates; and deeply lament the fatal
"apathy into which our countrymen have fallen:
"we desire to be thankful to the great author
"of our being, that we are in America and
"that, it has pleased him, in his wife provi-
"dence, to make these United States an Asy-
"lum, not only from the immediate tyranny of
"the British government, but also from those
"impending calamities, which its increasing
"despotism, and multiplied iniquities, must
"infallibly bring down on a deluded and op-
"pressed people." What an enthusiastic
warmth is here! No solemn-league-and-cove-
nant prayer, embellished with the nasal sweet-
ness of the conventicle, was ever more affect-
ing.
To all this the Doctor very pitiously echoes
back "sigh for sigh, and groan for groan; and
"when the fountain of their eyes is dry, his
"supplies the place and weeps for both."
H                     

[58]
There is something so pathetic, so irresista-
bly moving in all this, that a man must have a
hard heart indeed to read it, and not burst into
laughter.
In speaking of Monarchies, it has often been 
lamented that the sovereign seldom, or never
hears the truth; and much afraid I am, that this
is equally applicable to democracies. What
court sycophants are to a prince, demagogues
are to a people; and the latter kind of parasites
is by no means less dangerous than the former;
perhaps more so, as being more ambitious and
more numerous. God knows, there were too
many of this description in America, before the
arrival of Doctor Priestley: I can therefore see
no reason for boastings and addressings on ac-
count of the acquisition.         
Every one must observe, how the doctor has
fallen at once into the track of those, who were
already in possession of the honourable post.
Finding a popular prejudice prevailing against
his country, and not possessing that patriæ cari-
tas, which is the characteristic of his country-
men, he has not been ashamed to attempt making
his court by flattering that prejudice. I grant
that a prejudice against this nation is not only
excusable, but almost commendable in Ameri-
cans; but the misfortune is, it exposes them to
deception, and makes them the sport of
every intriguing adventurer. Suppose it be the
interest of Americans that Great Britain should
be ruined and, even annihilated, in the present
contest; it can never be their interest to believe
that this desirable object is already nearly or
quite accomplished, at a time when she is become
more formidable than ever, in every quarter of 

[59]
the globe. And  with respect to the internal
situation of that country, we ought not to suf-
fer ourselves to be deceived by "gleanings
"from morning chronicles, or Dublin ga-
"zettes:" for, if we insist that newspaper re-
port is the criterion by which we ought to judge
of the governments, and the state of other coun-
tries, we must allow the same measure to foreign-
ers with respect to our own country; and then
what must the people of England think of the
government of the United States, upon reading
a page or two from the slovenly pen of Agricola.
"It is charitable," says this democrat, "It
"is charitable to believe many who signed the
"constitution, never dreamed of the measures
"taking place, which alas! we now experience.
"By this double government, we are involved
"in unnecessary burdens which neither we nor
"our fathers ever knew. Such a monster of a
"government has seldom ever been known on
"earth. We are obliged to maintain two go-
"vernments, with their full number of officers
"from head to foot. Some of them receive
"such wages as never were heard of before in
"any goverment upon earth; and all this be-
"stowed on Aristocrats for doing next to noth-
"ing. A blessed revolution! a blessed revolu-
"tion indeed! but farmers, mechanics and
"labourers have no share in it, we are the asses
"who must have the honor of paying them
"all without any adequate service. Now let
"the impartial judge whether our government
"taken collectively, answers the great end of
"protecting our persons and property! Or whether
"it is not rather calculated to drain us of our
"money, and give it to men who have not                  

[60]
"rendered adequate service for it. Had an
"inspired prophet told us the things which
"our eyes see, in the beginning of the revolu-
"tion, he might have met Jeremiah's fate; or
"if we had believed him, not one in a thousand
"would have resisted Great Britain. Indeed, my
"countrymen, we are so loaded by our new
"governments, that we can have little heart to
"attempt to move under all our burdens; we
"have this consolation, when things come to
"the worst, there must be a change, and we
"may rest satisfied, that either the federal or state
"governments must fall."
If "gleanings" like these were published in
England, would not the people naturally ex-
claim: What! the boasted government of A-
merica come to this already? The poor Ameri-
cans are dreadfully tyrannized by the Aristo-
crats! There will certainly be a revolution in
America soon! They would be just as much
mistaken as the people in this country are, when
they talk of a revolution in England.
Neither ought we to look upon the emigra-
tion of persons from England to this country as
a proof of their being persecuted, and of the
tyranny of the Englih government. It is paying
America a very poor compliment, to suppose
that nothing short of persecution, could bring
settlers to his shores. This is besides the most
unfortunate proof that could possibly be produ-
ced by the advocates of the French Revolution:
for if the emigration of a person to this country
be a proof of a tyranny existing in that from
which he comes, how superlatively tyrannical
must the government in France be? But they
say, those who emigrate from France are Aris-                

[61]
tocrats: they are not persecuted; they emi-
grate because they hate a free country. What!
do they really come to America because they hate
a free country? Did the governors of Martinico,
&c. make a capitulation to be sent here, to avoid
going to a free country? The Democratic society
will certainly oblige the world very much in
explaining this enigma.
I am one of those, who wish to believe that
foreigners come to this country from choice,
and not from necessity. America opens a wide
field for entreprize; wages for all mechanics are
better, and the means of subsistence proportio-
nably cheaper than in Europe. This is what
brings foreigners amongst us: they become
citizens of America for the honest purposes of
commerce, of turning their industry and talents
to the best account, and of bettering their for-
tunes. By their exertions to enrich themselves,
they enrich the state, lower the wages, and render
the country less dependent upon others. The
most numerous as well as the most useful are
mechanics; perhaps a cobler with his hammer
and awls, is a more valuable acquisition than a
dozen philosophi-theologi-politi-cal empiricks
with all their boasted apparatus.
Of all the English arrived in these States
(since the war) no one was ever calculated to
render them less service than Doctor Priestley;
and what is more, perhaps no one (before or
since, or even in the war) ever intended to
render them less: his preference to the Ame-
rican government is all affection: his emigra-
tion was not voluntary: he staid in England
till he saw no hopes of recovering a lost reputa-
tion; and then, bursting with envy and resent-              

[62]
ment, he fled into what the Tammany society
very justly call "banishment," covered with
the universal detestation of his countrymen.
Here ended the pamphlet in its original form,
concluding with some of those assertions which
were said to be the most "hazarded," and for
the truth of which I am sorry I have no
better voucher than the Doctor himself.
In the preface to his farewell sermon, preach-
ed to his disciples at Hackney, he says: "I hope
"my friends, and the public, will indulge me
"while I give the reasons of its being the last,
"in consequence of my having at length, after
"much hesitation,and now with reluctance,come
"to a resolution to leave the kingdom."-
"I cannot refrain from repeating that I leave
"my country with real regret."
Was it a "hazarded assertion" then, to say
that his preference to the American government
was all affectation, and that his emigration was
not voluntary?
"My friends," says he, "earnestly advised
"me to disguise myself as I was going to London.
"But all that was done in that way was taking
"a place for me in the mail coach, which I
"entered at Worcester, in another name than
"my own. However, the friend who had the
"courage to receive me in London, had thought
"it necessary to provide a dress that should
"disguise me, and also a method of making my
"escape, in case the house should have been at-
"tacked on my account; and for some time my
"friends would not suffer me to appear in the
"streets,"-"The managers of one of the                 

[63]
"principal charities among the dissenters ap-
"plied to me to preach their annual sermon,
"and I consented. But the treasurer, a man
"of fortune, was so alarmed at it, that he de-
"clared he could not sleep. I therefore, to his
"great relief, declined preaching at all."-
"When the Hackney association was formed,
"several servants in the neighbourhood ac-
"tually removed their goods; and when there
"was some political meeting at the house of
"Mr. Breillat, though about two miles from
"my house, a woman whose daughter was ser-
"vant in the house contiguous to mine, came
"to her mistress, to entreat that she might be 
"out of the way" - "On several occasions
"the neighbourhood has been greatly alarmed
"on account of my being so near them. I
"could name a person, and to appearance a
"reputable tradesman, who declared that, in
"case of any disturbance they would immedi-
"ately come to Hackney, evidently for the
"purpose of mischief. In this state of things,
"it is not to be wondered at, that, of many ser-
"vants who were recommended to me, and
"some that were actually hired, very few could,
"for a long time,be prevailed upon to live with
"me."*- "My eldest son was settled in a
"business, which promised to be very advan-
"tageous, at Manchester; but his partner,
"though a man of liberality himself, informed
"him, on perceiving the general prevalence of
"the spirit which produced the riots in Bir-
"mingham, that, owing to his relationship to
*Servants in England have a character to preserve, I
suppose.                  

[64]
"me, he was under the necessity of proposing a
"separation, which accordingly took place."
-"Many times, I have been burnt in effigy
"along with Mr. Paine; and numberless in-
"sulting and threatening letters have been sent
"to me from all parts of the kingdom" —
"Ill treated as I had been, not merely by the 
"populace of Birmingham; but by the country
"in general, and afterwards by the Representa-
"tives of the Nation,* I own I was not without
"delibertating on the subject of emigration."
Was it a "hazarded assertion" then, to say
that he fled into banishment covered with the
universal detestation of his countrymen?
But, though the above quotations most am-
ply prove that he was detested by the whole
nation, from the Peer to the Parish-Boy, and
that he was a volunteer emigrant, about as
much as one of the hurlers that our tarpawlings
catch on the coast of Ireland, yet the real cause
of his emigration remains to be explained.
While the Birmingham affair was fresh in the
Doctor's mind, he says that he had some thoughts
of emigration; but that, all things considered,
he "determined to stay in England, exposed as
"he was to every kind of obloquy and insult."
He therefore went to Hackney, to succeed his 
dear friend and fellow labourer of factious me-
mory, Doctor Price. Here, as appears by his 
own words above quoted, the people disliked
*He might have made an exception or two here; for,
among the lords, he had for advocate the Earl of Stanhope,
whom an English author very aptly compares to Praise-
God Bare-Bones; and, among the commons, he had the
immaculate Charles Fox. A single word of praise from
men like these would blast the character of a Saint.                  

[65]
him so much, that he was obliged to remove to
Clapton. At this place he found the peace and
tranquillity he sought, and for that reason, says
he, "I took a long lease of my house, and expend-
"ed a considerable sum in improving it. I also
"determined, with the assistance of my friends,
"to resume my philosophical and other pursuits;
"and after an interruption amounting to about
"two years, it was with a pleasure that
"I cannot describe, that I entered my new la-
"boratory, and began the most common pre-
"paratory processes, with a view to some origi-
"nal enquiries"
Here then we see him (in the month of August,
1793) in quiet possession of every thing he want-
ed to enjoy. What then could make him come
off to America so soon after? If he had determin-
ed to stay, when exposed to every kind of oblo-
quy and insult, what could make him fly away
when no longer exposed to it? It must be al-
lowed that the Doctor's passion for controversy
and persecution is such as would excuse a belief
that he grew angry with the people for letting
him alone; but candour obliges me to confess
that this was not the case in the present instance;
for, he was going on very diligently with his pro-
cesses and his "original enquiries." Yes, reader,
it was these cursed "original enquiries" that did
all the mischief. For,the Doctor being in the height
of them, happened to fall upon a WONDERFUL
DISCOVERY, which, though erroneous was
not original. However, all would yet have been.
safe, if he had kept it within the walls of his
laboratory; but his communicative temper would
not permit him to do this, and the unfortu- 
I                  

[66]
nate wonderful discovery made its public entry
into the book-seller's shops on the 16th of No-
vember, 1793.
This brought him a "New Year's Gift" from
Doctor Harrington, his old antagonist and his
conqueror, as we shall see by the following ex-
tract from the gentleman's Magazine for May,
1794.
"Doctor Priestley, immediately after the
"Birmingham riots might be supposed to have
"real cause of alarm. But as his resolution
"withstood the first fury of the flood, if
"is rather extraordinary that he should now
"all at once turn coward, and fly to America.
"He must surely be greatly at a loss for solid
"reasons, when he thinks it worth while to ad-
"vance such trifling circumstances as the gos-
"siping of his servant-maid with the neighbours,
"or the foolish declaration of an individual
"before one of his congregation. But, that
"the Doctor was able to brave these dreadful
"denunciations and the terrors of his maid,
"appears from his venturing to take a long
"lease of his house, expending a considerable
"sum of money upon it, and accepting the
"contributions of his friends towards another
"apparatus, laboratory, &c. The Doctor, as
"a prudent man, would certainly not have ex-
"pended his money thus, had he not fully de-
"termined again to remain in the kingdom."
"Then what, give me leave to ask, Mr.
"Urban, can have so lately happened to make
"him alter his resolution? As there appears to
"be fomething which the Doctor is at pains                    

[67]
"to conceal, it may be worth while to enquire
"what it is."
"Doctor Priestly, Sir, for many years, had
"been acquiring a very high degree of same
"from his chemical and philosophical experi-
"ments. According to his own account, it
"was this great reputation which gave him so
"much consequence in the eyes of the French
"philosophers, and which sanctioned his other
"pursuits. On the 16th of November last, he
"published a pamphlet in a very boasting and
"exulting style, informing the world, that he
"had made a most important discovery, that
"water was formed of dephlogisticated and
"phlogisticated airs; the same airs, and the
"same proportions, which your correspondent
"Doctor Harrington observes, that the Hon-
"ourable Mr. Cavendish, from his mistaken ex-
"periments, considers as constituting the ni-
"trous acid. The absurdity of these opinions
"has been pointed out by Doctor Harrington
"in your Magazine for January and February
"last; in which it is most clearly and satisfacto-
"rily shown in what manner Doctor Priestley
"was mistaken: proving at the same time the
"real formation of the different airs, displaying
"the very great futility and the errors of our
"modern chemistry; and at the same time,
"bringing the very heavy charge of plagiarism
"upon Doctor Priestley."*
"As Doctor Priestley, in this last pamphlet,
"announced his intentions of publishing again
"very soon, having materials for another by
*See the. New Year's Gift, to Dr. Priestley. Gentlemen's
Magazine, for Jan. and Feb. 1794. 

[68]
"him, expressing apprehensions lest any per-
"son should interfere with him in these experi-
"ments, I expected everyday to hear of the
"Doctor's vindicating himself and his opinions,
"answering the charges of Doctor Harrington,
"or acknowledging his philosophical mistakes.
"Instead of which, to my very great surprize,
"I am informed he is stealing off to America;
"thus leaving his antagonist master of the
"field, and only saying that the world may hear
"of him again in his chemical pursuits. This
"is certainly very different from what he gave
"us reason to expect, when he announced to
"the world, in his ostentatious pamphlet, that
"we might expect to hear regularly from him.
"But I think, you will agree with me, that
"he has totally fled from his aërial chemistry,
"and, what is the most awkward and extraor-
"dinary thing of all, without one word of de-
"fence from the charges of philosophical pla-
"giarism."
"It was not till Doctor Priestley received the
"New Year's Gift of your January and Fe-
"bruary Magazine, that he was in earnest a-
"about America. And, I am informed, that
"he was so much afraid that he should receive
"another from the same valuable work, that he
"got onboard the ship the very evening before
"the Magazine for the month of March made
"its appearance, although the ship was not like-
"ly to fail immediately."
Was it a "hazarded assertion" then, to say
that the great philosopher was accused and con-
victed of plagiarism, and that he staid in En-
gland till he saw no hopes of recovering a lost
reputation? 

[69]
It has been already observed, that the Doctor
merited the universal odium he laboured under
in England, and we find nothing in his justifi-
catory preface to his farewell sermon (which
was re-published at Philadelphia as an indirect
answer to the first edition of this pamphlet) that
ought to induce us to reject-this opinion. For.
it certainly will not be pretended that his being
hated by King, Lords and Commons, by high
and low, rich and poor, churchmen and dissen-
ters, proves him to be an innocent inoffensive
man: on the contrary, if that trivial and fa-
vourite republican maxim, "the voice of the
people is the voice of God," be founded in
truth, then, does, the Doctor stand condemned
by God as well as man.
But let us hear a little of what he says in his
vindication.                     
After stating that he had been unjustly charg-
ed with being a seditious, factious politician, he
says; "let any one only cast his eyes over the
"long list of my publications, and he will see
"that they relate almost, wholly to theology, &c."
And he has taken care to publish this list at
Philadelphia, amounting to seventy five differ-
ent works. Yes, "by thy works shalt thou
"be judged," but not by the number of them.
He tells us he hardly ever meddled with politics,
and in the very next paragraph, acknowledges that
he wrote a small anonymous pamphlet (when
he was a younger man) in favour of Wilkes and
Liberty. Mr. Wilkes has had the good sense to
retract most of the wild notions that the Doctor
wrote to defend, and happy would it have been
for the latter, if he had profited from age, and 

[70]
from the example of his patron. Mr. Wilkes
is now a determined champion of that consti-
tution that the Doctor wanted to destroy, and
accordingly, he occupies one of the first offi-
ces in the first city in the world, while Doctor
Priestley as a very insignificant settler, in a town
consisting of a couple of hundred of wooden
houses.
Another work he wrote, addressed to the dis-
senters, on the subject of the approaching war
with America; which he says was distributed in
great numbers by his friends, and not without effect.
The subject of this work, and the good it was
intended to do his country are easily conceived,
as he tells us it was written at there request of Doctor
Franklin-He does not tell us whether he was
paid in sterling or continental money for this
work.
On this occasion the reader will please to bear
in mind, that I am not pretending that we ought
to dislike Doctor Priestley; for he is certainly as
much entitled to our gratitude and esteem as
Arnold was to that of the British.
After this he says he meddled no more with
politics; "except as far as the business of the
"Test Act, and all civil establishments of religion,
had a concern with politics."* And yet he was
no factious politician!
*This is the great stumbling block of the English Dis-
senters. What can there be in this Test Act, that makes
them so unhapppy? Why, it prevents them from obtain-
ing-not the kingdom of heaven, but lucrative employments.
Is it not amazing, that people, who are so very godly that
they cannot conform to the established religion of the coun-
try, should trouble themseleves about places and pensions?
They are continually telling us that their kingdom is not of              

[71]
Boasting of his intimate connexion with
Doctors Price and Franklin is a drole way of
proving the peaceableness of his disposition, and
his attachment to his country. With full as
much reason might he boast of being a relation
of Jenny Cameron or Guy Fawkes.
Franklin, Price and Priestley! A precious trio!
well worthy of each other. Methinks I see them
now in one of their dark consultations, like the
three Weird Sisters round their cauldron, brew-
ing
"Double, double, toil and trouble;
"Fire burn and cauldron bubble."
As for Benjamin Franklin, Esqr. and Soap
Boiler, his character for peaceableness is as well
known as his character for gratitude and integrity;
and most people knows that the "political di-
vine," Price, spent the greatest part of a too
long life in endeavouring to blow up the flames
of rebellion in England. He was one of the
principal projectors of the famous college of
dissenting Jesuits at Hackney; from whence
were to come the Titus Oateses of an Unitarian
Plot.*
this world, and yet they want to reign. I think, however,
it would be but right to grant them what Helvetius was wil-
ling to grant the Priests; every thing above the tops of the
houses.
*When this pious old Apostle of discord heard of the
triumphs of the Paris mob, and of the bloody scenes that
ensued, he exclaimed: "Lord now let thy servant depart
"in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation". Pretty
salvation truely. According to my ideas of damnation, the
scenes that have taken place in France since the Revolution,            

[72]
It is pretty clear that the preface, to which I
have been so often obliged, was intended more
to procure the Doctor a favourable reception
here, than to reconcile him to his countrymen;
and, in this respect, the thing was prudent,
though the publishing of it in England was cer-
tainly a trait of insolence, unparalleled even in
the annals of Unitarianism. It was courting a
kick on the breech by way of farewell salute;
but even in this he was disappointed, and was
as last obliged to come off without or even so
much as a box on the ear, to afford an excuse
for his whining, and for the milk-sop sighs of
the New-York Societies.
I have heard many grave people, and by no
means anarchists, express a sorrow for the ill
usage Doctor Priestley received in England.
But how was he ill used?—He was threatned;—
people would not let him into their houses;—
servants would not live with him;—a farmer
would not learn his son husbandry;—a mecha-
nic turned another son out of his partnership;
-Doctor Horsly would not subcribe to his an-
tichristian theology, nor Doctor Harrington to
his aërial chemistry. Well, and what then?
Do we call this ill usuage? Grant me patience!
have not the people of England a right to like
and dislike whom they please, as well as the
people of America?
If, as I have already observed, he had fallen
into the hands of a French mob—but stop; we
have no occasion to cross the sea. If he had
resemble it as much as any think on earth can do. I am
sure there has been a continual "weeping and wailing and
gnashing of teeth". 

[73]
fallen into the hands of an American mob, how
would he have fared? Let us see.
"About twelve persons, armed and painted
"black, in the night of the 10th of June, broke
"into the house of John Lynn, where the office
"was kept, and after having seduced him to
"come down stairs, and put himself in their
"power, they seized him, threatened to hang
"him took him to a retired spot in the neigh-
"bouring wood; and there, after cutting off
"his hair, tarring and feathering him, swore
"him never again to allow the use of his house
"for an excise office: having done which, they
"bound him naked, to a tree, and left him in
"that situation till morning. Not content with
"this, the malcontents, some days after, made
"him another visit; pulled down part of his
"house, and put him in a situation to be obliged
"to become an exile from his home, and to
"find an asylum elsewhere."
This no "hazarded assertion," at any rate;
unless Mr. Hamilton hazarded it; for it is taken 
from his report to the President of the United
States.
This mob stopped the mail, cut open the bags,
and took out the letters. This mob killed several 
persons, took others prisoner, and used the
Marshall in particular extremely cruelly: they
even went so far as to present their pieces at
him with every appearance of an intention to
assassinate. And yet neither the Marshall nor
Lynn has ever had any thoughts of emigrating.
Has any thing of this kind ever happened to
Doctor Priestley? Has the weight of a single 
K

[74]
finger, ever been laid upon him, or any of his
family? "You have," say the addressers at
New-York, "fled from the rude arm of vio-
"lence, from the rod of lawless power:-We
"have learned with regret and indignation the
"abandoned proceedings of those spoilers who
"destroyed your house and good, ruined your
"philosophical apparatus and library, commit-
"ted to the flames your manuscripts, pryed into
"the secrets of your private papers, and in their
"barbarian fury put your life itself in danger.—
"We enter, Sir, with emotion and sympathy
"into the numerous sacrifices you must have
"made, to an undertaking which so eminently
"exhibits our country, as an asylum for the
"persecuted and oppressed." All this was
extremely apropos in the midst of the Western
insurrection. If it was "barbarian fury" to put
life in danger, what was it to take life away? The
people over the mountains seem to have revolted
on purpose to make these addressers a laughing
stock. Are they not ashamed to have made a
canting sympathetic address to a stranger, whose
sufferings, if real, they knew nothing about,
while they have borne with a more than stoic
firmness, and without a single address, the well
known sufferings of their own countrymen?
They want the Pittsburg affair forgotten; why
then do they want to perpetuate the memory of
the Birmingham riots? "Thou hypocrite, first
"cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then
"shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out
"of thy brother's eye."
The Doctor complains again in his preface,
of partiality in the courts of justice; and says,               

[75]
"I am not unaffected by the unexampled pu-
"nishments of Mr. Muir and my friend Mr.
"Palmer, for offences, which, if, in the eye of
"reason, they be any at all, are slight, and very
"insufficiently proved. But the sentence of Mr.
"Winterbothom, for delivering form the pulpit
"what I am persuaded he never did deliver, and
"which, similar evidence might have drawn
"down on myself, has some thing in it still
"more alarming." Aye, aye, very alarming,
without doubt, but nothing like Doctor Har-
rinton's New years gift.
This is another pretty bold trait of modesty
and moderation. Here are three courts of ju-
stice, three grand and three petty juries all con-
demned in the lump. If what the Doctor says
be true, then were the English all become a nest
of scoundrels and purgerers, except his innocent
self, his three sons, and his worthy friends the
Botany-Bay Convicts; but, if what he says be
not true, what did he deserve at the hands or
the English for thus aiming a stab at their
reputation?
There are some among us, who pretend
to have a belief in this partial justice in Great
Britain; and the hobgoblin accounts of it have
been noised about these states, in a style that
would have sounded well from the top of a
chimney or, at the bar of a brothel; but,
unfortunately for our political vultures, the trial
of Hardy has undeceived every one that is capa-
ble of thinking.
When the account of this trial first arrived,
K 2

[76]
it caused nearly as great joy, among some people,
as did the "taking of Amsterdam" or the sending
of" the Duke of York to Paris in an iron cage;"
in fact, it was almost of festivic consequence.
But this was soon perceived to be an egregious
blunder. People began to reflect. What, said
they, there is some justice left in England then?
The nation is not become "one insular Bastile?"
What a chance would poor Hardy have stood
before the  Revolutionary Tribunal at Paris or
Bordeaux? Would he have had eight days trial?
Would he have had eight minutes? Would the
sans-culotte populace have carried him home
amidst acclamations? No; unless it had been to
his last home. It appears that Messrs. Erskine
and Gibbs have received great and deserved
applause for their able defence of an innocent
man and that the government has not touched
a hair of their heads.-Where is Monsieur De
Malsherbe, the generous De Malsherbe, who step-
ped forth at the age of 75 to defend his
innocent and deserted Sovereign?-Where
is he?—Numbered with the dead! Gone to the
receptacle of all that was estimable in France!
-Neither his admired talents, his long and
eminent services, his generous fidelity, his gray
hairs, nor his spotless life, could save him from
the fury of those regenerated russians whom
Doctor Priestley does not blush to call his "dear
fellow citizens."*
Every man that is condemned in England,
whether it be by the public voice or by a court of
*Monsr. De Seze, the second counsel of Louis XVI, saved
his life by flight. 

[77]
justice, is sure, according to some people, to be
vilely treated.-The people are slaves;-the
jury was packed.-But how would this
measure suit if meted to ourselves? A fellow, who
was hanged here the other day, told the crowd,
just as he was going off that he had no doubt
but the greatest part of them merited the same
fate.* This "farewell sermon" was full as
modest as Doctor Priestley's; but if the English
were to pretend to believe that the majority of
us deserve the halter, should we not call them
a set of narrow-souled, ill-natured, envious
wretches? Certainly we should, and with a
great deal of justice too.
I should here put an end to my observations,
flattering myself that the whole business of the
Doctor's emigration has been set in a pretty fair
light; but, as he has lately published something,
which he calls an Answer to Paine's Age of
Reason, and, as he there attempts to wipe off the
charge of deism, I look upon myself as called
upon to say a word or two in reply.
This Answer consists of a number of letters,
addressed to the philosophers in France, and to a
philosophical unbeliever. In the preface, the
Doctor says: "The more I attend to this sub-
"ject, the more sensible I am that no defence
"of christianity can be of any avail 'till it be
"freed from the many corruptions and abuses
"which have hitherto encumbered it." Among
these corruptions he numbers, atonement, incarna-
tion and the trinity; and, says he: "The expo-
"sing of these corruptions I therefore think to be
*See the American Daily Advertiser.             

[78]
"the most essential preliminary to the defence
"of christianity, and consequently I shall omit
"no fair opportunity of reprobating them in
"the strongest terms, to whatever odium I
"may expose myself." He has been as good
as his word; for, the whole piece appears to be
an attack on the doctrine of the trinity rather
than an Answer to Paine.*
He begins the first letter with telling us, that
he has, "read with pleasure, and even with en-
"thusiasm, the admirable report of Robespierre
"on the subject of morals and religion." Now,
it is well known, that this report contained a re-
gular plan for establishing a deistical worship in
France; and it is also well known, that Paine
wrote his book to flatter Robespierre, and by that
means to procure his own discharge from pri-
son. How comes it then that the Doctor should
admire the principles of the one, and pretend to
answer those of the other?
He very artfully cries off all acquaintance
with Voltaire, Rousseau and Gibbon; but
he knows they are in a place whence they
cannot answer him. However, Gibbon left him
a letter that he ought not to have forgotten so
*If the reader looks over the first and second chapters of
the Gospel according to St. Matthew, he will see every
thing that is necessary to confirm him in the doctrines that
Doctor Priestley thinks it his duty to reprobate in the strong-
est terms. But the Doctor gets rid of this proof, which he
knows to be in every one's hands, by telling us that those
two chapters are "spurious;" that is to say, false. This is
a knock-me-down argument. He will certainly tell us that
the first chapter of the Gospel of St. John is "spurious"
also; and thus he may go on, 'till he leaves us but just e-
nough text to make up an Unitarian Creed. 

[79]
soon.-The Doctor, having no wonderful dis-
covery upon his hands, wrote to Mr. Gibbon,
not long before the death of the latter, challeng-
ing him to the combat. This Mr. Gibbon
very politely declined, by saying, that he could
never bring himself to dispute with a person
from whose writings he had in a great measure
imbibed his principles; adding, that if the Doc-
tor was really become a convert to christianity
since he had received the last answer from Doc-
tor Horsley, he thought, the propable remainder
of his life was by no means too long to repair
the injury the former part of it had done; and
therefore, advised him not to lose his time in
vain and unprofitable dispute. If the Doctor
had followed this salutary advice, we should
have been spared the pain of seeing an old man
turned of sixty amusing, himself and the world
with a sham answer to the wild incoherent blas-
phemy of a poor unhappy wretch, whom disa-
pointment and hunger had driven to despair,
and who would have turned Turk, Jew, or even
Eunuch, for an extraordinary biscuit or a
bundle of straw.*
The Doctor boasts of his having been elected
a Deputy to the National Convention, and
styles himself their "highly honored fellow citi-
"zen." It is subject both of wonder and re-
gret, that he did not prefer France to America;
he was pressed to go there, which he never was
to come here; there he could have done no
harm, here he may. If he had went to his a-
dopted country, and accompanied his colleague,
*When we reflect on the degradation of this quondam Le-
gislator, it is some consolation that he is an Englishman.                  

[80]
Paine, in his legislative career, he might have
had an opportunity of answering him by word
of mouth. The bottom of a dungeon would
have been a very fit place for them to debate,
like Milton's fallen Angels, on the surest means
of sowing discord among mankind, and sedu-
cing them from their Maker.
One observation more on this answer to Paine,
and I dismiss it for ever.
The zealous answerer boasts of his freedom as
an American at the same time that he calls him-
self a citizen of France and a Fellow of the Royal
Society of London! This is being literally,
"all things to all men." With the English he is
a Royalist, with the Americans, a Republican,
and with the French, a Carmagnole. Thus the
triple Goddess (under whose influence, Doctor
Harrington swears, he acts) is called Luna in
heaven, Diana on earth, and Hecate in Hell.
Before I bid the Doctor adieu, I should be glad
to ask him how he finds himself in his "asylum."
It is said, he has declared that the duplicity of
our Land-jobbers is more to be feared than the
outrages of a Birmingham Mob; and, indeed, if
all his complaints had had the same appearance
of being well founded, the public would never
have been troubled with these observations; for,
there is little doubt of his having been most
cruelly fleeced. This honest prosession, vulgarly
called land-jobbing, a member of Congress very
justly styled "swindling upon a broad scale;"
it is, in fact, a South-Sea bubble upon terra firma,
as hundreds and thousands of ruined foreign-
ers, besides Doctor Priestley, can testify.               

[81]
It is to be hoped that the Doctor's anger
against his country is by this time nearly assuag-
ed: dear bought experience has at last taught
him, that an Utopia never existed any where but
in a delirious brain. He thought, like too many
others, to find America a Terrestrial Paradise;
a Land of Canaan, where he would have nothing
to do, but open his mouth and swallow the milk
and honey: but, alas! he is now convinced, I
believe, that those who cultivate the fertile
Lesowes of Warwickshire,
"Where all around the gentlest breezes play
"Where gentle music melts on every spray,
have little reason to envy him his rocks and his
swamps, the music of his bull frogs and the
strings of his musquitos.
In the preface, so often mentioned, the
Doctor expresses a desire of one day returning
to "the land that gave him birth;" and, no
offence to the New-York addressers, I think
we ought to wish that this desire may be very
soon accomplished. He is a bird of passage
that has visited us, only to avoid the rigour
of an inclement season: when the re-animating
sunshine of revolution shall burst forth on his
native clime, we may hope to see him prune his
wings, and take his flight from the dreary banks
of the Susquehannah to those of the Thames or
the Avon.
L

THE COPY RIGHT SECURED ACCCORDING TO LAW.

THE
SHORT BUT COMPREHENSIVE
STORY
OF
A FARMER'S BULL.
A CERTAIN troublesome fellow, who turn-
ed his back upon the church, having occasion
to pass through a large farm-yard in his way to
Meeting-house, met with a fine majestic venerable
old Bull, lying down at his ease, and basking in
the sun-shine. This Bull was at times the tamest
creature in the world; he would suffer the
curs to yelp at him, the flies to tease him, and
even some of the mischievous fellows to pull
him by the horns. He was at this very moment
in one of his gentlest humours; ruminating
upon past and present scenes of delight; con-
templating the neighbouring dairy and the
farm-yard, where the milch cows had all their
bags distended till they were nearly running
over; the calves, and the pigs, and the poultry,
were frisking, and grunting, and crowing on ev-

[84]
ery dung-hill; the granaries were full, and the
barns ready to burst: there were, besides, ma-
ny a goodly rick of wheat, and barley, and
oats, and pease, and beans, and hay, and rye-
grass and clover. The dairy was full of curds,
and cream, and butter, and cheese of every
kind. To be sure, there was plenty for the
master and his family, and all the servants, and
every body belonging to the farm. Nay, those
that were poor and needy, and idle, and lazy,
and sick, and proud, and saucy, and old, and
infirm, and silly, were freely supplied: and even
this troublesome fellow himself, notwithstand-
ing he had long since quarrelled with the head-
farmer and all his best friends, and an old
grudge was  still subsisting betwixt them, yet,
upon making at any time a solemn promise to
do no mischief, had free ingress, egress, and
regress, into every part of the farm and the
dairy, and was at liberty to help himself
wherever he liked. In short he was allowed to
do any thing but skim the cream and set his own
mark upon the butter. 
Now, because the bull had happened to place
himself across his favourite foot-path, although
there was plenty of room to the right and to the
left, nothing would satisfy this impudent fellow,
but he must kick Old John, for that was the Bull's
name, out of his way: and all the world agrees
that John suffered, him to kick a long while, be-
fore he shewed the least inclination to rise and
resent the affront. At last, however he got upon
his legs, and began to look round him, but still
it was a look of contempt only, which the
foolish fellow mistook for the marks of fear;                     

[85]
and now, growing bolder and bolder, and hal-
looing the curs, and calling all his comrades to
prick and goad him in the tenderest parts of his
body, the Bull began to threaten and roar;-
this was on the 14th of July, one of the hottest
days in the summer, when some body threw a
fiery stick under his tail, at the very moment that
a parcel of impudent half witted fellows were
trying to flourish a French flambeau (lighted
and blazing at both ends) full in his face.-
No wonder that the Bull should set off with a
vengeance into the street:- down went the
gingerbread-stalls, and the hard-ware shops, the
buckle menders and the razor-grinders, and the
dagger-makers: he even got into private houses,
and in one place threw down whole baskets full
of bottles and chemical glasses, crucibles and
gun-barrels;- smash went all the jars of in-
flammable air, which instantly took fire, and
spread all over the place; every thing went to
rack and ruin; nothing was safe; even the re-
ligious houses themselves, where nothing had
ever been heard but the most pious exhortations
(like those of Doctor Vicessimus Knox), to peace
and harmony, and obedience to the governing
powers. In short, nothing could pacify, or put
a stop to, the fury of this poor enraged animal,
till his honest master the farmer, as quiet and as
good a kind of church-going man as ever lived
in the world, father of a large family, hearing
of the rumpus, sent a number of his best and
steadiest old servants to muzzle the beast, which
had already tossed the fellow with the fiery stick
over the tops of the houses, and gored him in
fifty different places. It was next to a miracle that                   

[86]
he escaped with his life; and every body thought
he had reason to be thankful that he got off so
well as he did; but no sooner did he find himself
safe in a Hackney-coach, than, to the astonishment
of all the world, he began to preach up his in-
nocence and to lodge a complaint against poor
Old John, who, in the end, suffered a great deal
more than himself. Some silly people pitied
him; some laughed at him; others again were
wicked enough to with him at the devil:-even
his best friends were ashamed of him; and
although they, one and all, defended him as
much as they could in public, there was a con-
founded deal of muttering and grumbling in
private. "I thought what it would come to,"
said one; "a pretty method of driving a mad
Bull through the church-pales," said another.
But, to go on with my story; no sooner was
the Bull fairly muzzled, and properly confined,
than the friends and neighbours on both sides
were called in, to enquire into the whole affair;
but there were so many contradictory stories,
that it was impossible to come at the truth, how it
happened, or who had first provoked him; but
since it was plain to every body that Old John did
the mischief, and as he was proved to be the
Town Bull, it was at last settled that the parish
should pay all the damages, for not keeping
him in better order.
And here again was fresh matter for discon-
tent: some thought it hard to pay for all the in-
flammable air, which had done full as much
mischief as the Bull. Others again objected to
a montrous out-of-the-way heavy demand for a
large quantity (several reams) of fools-cap pa-               

[87]
per, which had been scribbled upon and spoiled
long before the affair happened. Indeed, in the
opinion of some sensible persons, it was fit
for nothing but kindling the fire.
But the strangest part of the story remains to
be told; for when this bustle was all over and
settled, and every body thought the perverse fel-
low was going to take to his church, and get
his living in an honest way, what did he do but
set to work bottling up his own f-rts, and selling
them for superfine inflammable air, and what's still
worse, had the impudence to want a patent for the
discovery; and, indeed, a good many people were
deceived for a long time; but, they say, two of a
trade can never agree,and so it happened here; for
a brother trade one day catched him at his dirty
tricks and exposed him to the whole parish. After
this all the neighbours cried shame on him: the
women laughed, the girls they tittered, even the
little boys pointed at him and made game of him
as he went along the street. In short, one dark
night when all the neighbourhood was quiet and
every body fast asleep, up he got and sat off into
into the next parish, bag and baggage.
Here he trumped up a terrible story, pre-
tended to be frightened to death, and swore and
d-d his soul if the Bull was not just at his
heels. The good folks (who, by the by, had a
monstrous grudge against Old John) believed
him at once: and now there was the devil to
do again; the women screamed and fell into fits;
out run the men and boys with broomsticks and
pitchforks and scalping knives to kill the Bull:
but it was all a sham, for poor Old John was
quiet at home, grazing in the meadow, up to         

[88]
his eyes in clover, and blue-bells, and daffodils,
and cows-lips, and primroses, as contented as a
lamb, and neither thinking nor caring anymore
about the fellow with the fiery stick than about
one of the flies that he was brushing off with his
tail.
But the worst of all is to come yet; for
while these silly people were running about and
making a hue and cry against Old John, their
own Bull (a thirsty beast that they had penned
up in a barren lot, without any pond or water-
ing-place) broke loose, and did ten times more
mischief than John had ever done. This made
a fine laugh all round the country; every body
said it served them just right; and so be sure it
did, for they should have looked at home, and
minded their own Bull, and not run bawling
about after Old John.
FINIS.