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498 be honored as long as freedom of opinion and independence of character elicit the admiration of men.

Dr. Priestley's intellectual greatness is the more remarkable as he led what may be called a divided life. He was a discoverer in science, and a pioneer in theology. His extensions of our knowledge of Nature will suffice for his immortality, while the extent and power of his theological work made him famous among his contemporaries. Nevertheless it is only by concentration that the highest results can be achieved. We have shown in the preceding article where Dr. Priestley fell short as a man of science. His scientific education was insufficient. He began these studies late, and pursued them at great disadvantage, for scientific pursuits are expensive. He says: "I applied myself with great assiduity to my studies, which were classical, mathematical, and theological. These required but few books. As to experimental philosophy, I had always cultivated an acquaintance with it, but I had not the means of prosecuting it." His great rival, Lavoisier, was more fortunate. His father was rich, and spared no expense on his education; and, having an early taste for the physical sciences, he was trained to experimental research, which he pursued so successfully that, at twenty-one, he received a gold medal for a memoir on the best and most economical method of lighting the streets of a large city. Could Priestley have had similar early advantages, there is little doubt that he would have devoted himself entirely to science, and, with his remarkable genius for investigation, would have impressed himself far more profoundly upon the chemistry of his period.

Of the truth or error of Dr. Priestley's religions opinions, it is no place here to speak; but, that he sought the truth in all earnestness, and maintained what he believed to be the truth with steadfast determination, does not now admit of question. That he led a life of the highest purity was never doubted, even by his enemies, and that he was ever animated by a high religious aspiration his works bear abundant witness. A portion of each day was given to prayer and private devotional exercises, and he kept up the practice of Sunday preaching, whether officially engaged or not; while the uniform testimony of all his parishioners showed that his ministrations were conducted in a loving, Christian spirit. Shall we question that the religious experience of such a man was not profound and genuine? And yet he was a speculative materialist; that is, he did not believe in "the immateriality of the sentient principle in man." No one, however, had a firmer belief in immortality and the future life than Dr. Priestley. This transcendent article of his faith he did not ask at the hands of Science nor hold as dependent upon her investigations. His repose in the prospect of immortality was grounded on the Christian doctrine of a resurrection; no results of science could reach or disturb it, and in this he was far in advance, not only of his own age, but of ours. As an illustration of his independence of character, and his scorn of all temporizing, it may be stated that he promulgated these views while living under the patronage of Lord Shelburne, and beset with solicitations to accept high favors from the Church and the state. Undoubtedly, as Dr. Draper remarks, it is upon his discoveries that his future fame will rest, while his theological works are already forgotten; yet the world owes him a debt for his manly maintenance of independent inquiry in a cowardly age and among a craven people, which will command respect as long as the nobler virtues of character continue to be appreciated.

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