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And now hear Priestley:

And again:

We all know that "a saint in crape is twice a saint in lawn;" but it is not yet admitted that the views which are consistent with such saintliness in lawn become diabolical when held by a mere Dissenter.

I am not here either to defend or to attack Priestley's philosophical views, and I cannot say that I am personally disposed to attach much value to episcopal authority in philosophical questions; but it seems right to call attention to the fact that those of Priestley's opinions which have brought most odium upon him have been openly promulgated, without challenge, by persons occupying the highest positions in the state Church.

I must confess that what interests me most about Priestley's materialism is, the evidence that he saw dimly the seed of destruction which such materialism carries within its own bosom. In the course of his reading for his "History of Discoveries relating to Vision, Light, and Colors," he had come upon the speculations of Boscovich and Mich ell, and had been led to admit the sufficiently obvious truth that our knowledge of matter is a knowledge of its properties; and that of its substance—if it have a substance—we know nothing. And