Priestley’s entrance into the Warrington community affected1 his career in more ways than one. In the first place, the improvements in his worldly prospects3 enabled him to marry; and in the second he was led to turn his attention to Natural Philosophy, to which, as we have seen, he was already predisposed. The selection of his wife and of his studies influenced the subsequent course of his life profoundly. Why he should have left the sprightly4, witty5 “Nancy Aikin, with the blue and laughing eyes,” to be “carried off to Palgrave by that queer little man” whom she had to “honour and obey” as a school-mistress, is one of those inscrutable dispensations which the hymeneal god delights in. That they were the best of friends and had pleasure in each other’s society is abundantly evident. Priestley warmly admired her genius: she confessed, indeed, that he first encouraged her to try her ’prentice hand at poetry. She was about eighteen when Priestley first appeared at Warrington, and about ten years his junior, a girl of many personal attractions and, as demonstrated by her writings, of great mental ability and accomplishments6. She had been carefully educated by her father, had a considerable knowledge of modern literature, and 46 was fairly well-read in that of Greece and Rome. Her first volume of poems was printed at Warrington in 1773 and ran through four editions in a year. It was said of her that she roused the admiration7 of Fox and Johnson, the envy of Rogers and Wordsworth, and the jealousy8 of Goldsmith; Scott declared she made a poet of him; Brougham eulogised her in the House of Lords, and Mrs Oliphant has paid her a beautiful tribute in her Literary History of England.
Miss Lucy Aikin, in her edition of her aunt’s collected works, gives a charming description of her as she appeared in early womanhood:—
“She was at this time possessed9 of great beauty, distinct traces of which she retained to the latest period of her life. Her person was slender, her complexion10 exquisitely11 fair, with the bloom of perfect health; her features were regular and elegant, and her dark blue eyes beamed with the light of wit and fancy.”
Not less charming is the testimony12 of Henry Crabb Robinson, who, in 1805, wrote:—
“Mrs Barbauld bore the remains13 of great personal beauty.[7] She had a brilliant complexion, light hair, blue eyes, a small, elegant figure, and her manners were very agreeable, with something of the generation then departing.... Mrs Barbauld is so well known by her prose writings that it is needless for me to attempt to characterise her here. Her excellence14 lay in the soundness and acuteness of her understanding, and in the perfection of her taste. In the estimation of Wordsworth she was the first of our literary women, and he was not bribed16 to this judgment17 by any especial congeniality of feeling or by concurrence18 in speculative19 opinions. I may here relate an anecdote20 connecting her and Wordsworth, though out of its proper time by many, many years; but it is so good that it ought to be preserved from oblivion. It was after her death that Lucy Aikin published Mrs Barbauld’s collected works, of which I gave a 47 copy to Miss Wordsworth. Among the poems is a Stanza21 on Life, written in extreme old age. It had delighted my sister, to whom I had repeated it on her deathbed. It was long after I gave these works to Miss Wordsworth that her brother said, ‘Repeat me that Stanza by Mrs Barbauld.’ I did so. He made me repeat it again. And so he learned it by heart. He was at the time walking in his sitting-room22 at Rydal with his hands behind him, and I heard him mutter to himself, ‘I am not in the habit of grudging23 people their good things, but I wish I had written those lines.’”[8]
Priestley’s choice fell upon Mary Wilkinson, who was of about the same age as Anna Letitia Aikin. She was the daughter of a well-to-do ironmaster at Wrexham, with whose family he had become acquainted in consequence of the youngest son, William, having been a pupil at his school in Nantwich. He certainly had no reason to regret his choice, whatever Mary Wilkinson might have felt at times in the “cloudy weather” she was destined24 to go through. It is, of course, idle to speculate “on what might have been if things had been otherwise.” The world, at all events, was the richer for the Hymns25 in Prose and the Early Lessons, on which Mr Rochemont Barbauld’s young charges and many succeeding generations of children were nurtured26.
From a worldly point of view Priestley’s marriage was not without its advantages to him, immediate27 and prospective28. Mary Wilkinson had all the force of 48 character, and much of the mental and intellectual ability of her father and her brother John, both of whom had a considerable share in the development of the iron industry in this country. Of them Miss Meteyard, in her Life of Wedgwood, writes:—
“John Wilkinson and his father Isaac played no unimportant part in the vast industrial movement of their time. Isaac invented and first brought into action the steam-engine blast at his iron works near Wrexham. John, at the same place, as also at Bradley Forge, in Staffordshire, executed all the ponderous29 castings for the steam engines required in the Cornish mines, as well as those for Boulton and Watt30 when they first commenced business.”
The father was ruined in one of the commercial crises of which the times were fertile. Of the son we shall hear more as this history proceeds. He was one of the truest and staunchest of the many true and staunch friends Priestley possessed.[9]
Priestley was married in 1762, Mr Threlkeld, one of the students at the academy, who subsequently became a well-known Presbyterian divine, notable for his linguistic31 attainments32 and his extraordinary power of memory, being his groomsman. Whatever might be Mr Threlkeld’s faculty33 of recollection it went wholly astray on this occasion, for he became so absorbed in the study of a Welsh Bible he found beside him in the pew that he became quite oblivious34 to the onerous35 duties of his office.
49
Of his marriage Priestley characteristically writes:—
“This proved a very suitable and happy connection, my wife being a woman of an excellent understanding, much improved by reading, of great fortitude36 and strength of mind, and of a temper in the highest degree affectionate and generous; feeling strongly for others, and little for herself. Also, greatly excelling in everything relating to household affairs, she entirely37 relieved me of all concern of that kind, which allowed me to give all my time to the prosecution38 of my studies and the other duties of my station.”
All accounts we have of Mary Wilkinson are to the same effect. Her great-granddaughter, Madame Belloc, writes:—
“It is a tradition in the family that Mrs Priestley once sent her famous husband to market with a large basket, and that he so acquitted39 himself that she never sent him again! Mrs Priestley was extremely intelligent and original. Lord Shelburne once found her sitting on the top of a pair of steps, clad in a great apron40, and vigorously pasting on a new wallpaper. She received him with calm composure. There is a good portrait of her as an elderly lady in a cap, curving her hand round her ear to assist her hearing. She must have herself insisted upon being painted in this unusual attitude. She looks like a person of excellent understanding, whose mind has been much improved by reading.”
Before he committed himself to matrimony Priestley took another step hardly less momentous41.
What it was may be gleaned42 from the following extract of a letter dated May 1, 1762, to Seddon, who was away at the time on one of his frequent begging expeditions on behalf of the Academy:—
“I am seriously preparing for ordination43. As all things in this world are uncertain, I think it a point of prudence44 not to omit anything that may possibly be of advantage to me, if ever it be my lot to be obliged to have recourse to the ministry45 for the whole or any part of my subsistence, particularly as I am 50 going to have a dearer and more important stake in this world than I have ever yet had in it. I can sincerely say I never knew what it was to be anxious on my own account, but I cannot help confessing I begin to feel a good deal on the account of another person. The hazard of bringing a person into difficulties which she cannot possibly have any idea or prospect2 of affects me, at times, very sensibly.”
The earliest known portrait of Priestley is of this period. It represents him as a slender young man with sloping shoulders, with a keen, intelligent eye and an expression not unlike that caught by Fuseli at a later time; his long neck is swathed in the ample folds of a white neck-cloth, and he wears a full-bottomed wig46.[10] During Priestley’s residence at Warrington an artist was employed in making silhouettes47 of the principal inhabitants. Many of these were published by Dr Kendrick in his Profiles of Warrington Worthies48. In that of Priestley the features are delicate and almost feminine: the full-bottomed wig is very much in evidence.
Priestley brought his young bride to “the good dwelling-house neatly49 filled up, handsomely sashed to the front, with a flight of five steps to the entrance, three storeys high, four rooms on a floor, cellared under, with convenient kitchens, yards and out-offices,” over which she was to preside for the next five years. To add to her responsibilities she was promptly50 charged 51 with the care of the gay but improvident51 Mr Ben Vaughan and his brother Bill, and “received the very moderate compensation of fifty pounds a year for each son.”
Priestley’s house in Academy Street still remains, and the fact that he occupied it until his removal in 1767 is commemorated52 by a bronze tablet affixed53 to its walls by the members of the Warrington Society on the hundredth anniversary of his death.
There is a local tradition that an adjoining building was used by him as a laboratory, although it is difficult to find any grounds for the belief. There is no mention of experimental work at this time in his memoirs54 or correspondence, and whatever he might have done in this direction for his own amusement or the instruction of his pupils needed no special apartment.[11]
Lectures on chemistry were, however, given at the academy by Matthew Turner, who is believed to have first turned Priestley’s attention to that science. Turner, who practised medicine in Liverpool, although an eccentric man, applied55 his knowledge of chemistry to industrial purposes, and he is credited with having revived the art of glass-painting.
Priestley was now wholly engrossed56 in the business of teaching, and although nominally57 tutor in the classical languages and in the belles58 lettres, there was practically no department of education in which at one time or other during the half-dozen years of his sojourn59 at Warrington he was not called upon, or did not offer, to instruct. He enlarged and published the Grammar to which reference has already been made, and began a 52 treatise60 on “The Structure and Contemporary State of the English Language,” the material for which he eventually gave to Croft of Oxford61 for the compilation62 of his Grammar and Dictionary.
But what particularly impressed him as a practical educationist was that whilst most of his pupils were designed for situations in civil and active life, every article in the plan of their education was adapted to the learned professions. There was hardly any medium between an education for the counting-house, consisting of writing, arithmetic and merchants’ accounts, and a method of instruction in the abstract sciences. He proceeds to trace how this came about:—
“Formerly63 none but the clergy64 were thought to have any occasion for learning. It was natural, therefore, that the whole plan of education, from the Grammar School to the finishing at the University, should be calculated for their use. If a few other persons, who were not designed for Holy Orders, offered themselves for education, it could not be expected that a course of studies should be provided for them only. And, indeed, as all those persons who superintended the business of education were of the clerical order, and had themselves been taught nothing but the rhetoric65, logic66 and school-divinity, or civil law, which comprised the whole compass of human learning for several centuries, it could not be expected that they should entertain larger, or more liberal, views of education; and still less that they should strike out a course of study for the use of men who were universally thought to have no need of study, and of whom few were so sensible of their own wants as to desire any such advantages.
“Besides, in those days, the great ends of human society seem to have been but little understood. Men of the greatest rank, fortune and influence, and who took the lead in all the affairs of State, had no idea of the great objects of wise and extensive policy, and therefore could never apprehend67 that any fund of knowledge was requisite68 for the most eminent69 stations in the community. Few persons imagined what were the true 53 sources of wealth, power and happiness in a nation. Commerce was little understood, or even attended to; and so slight was the connection of the different nations of Europe that general politics were very contracted. And thus, men’s views being narrow, little previous furniture of mind was requisite to conduct them.”
These paragraphs constitute the introduction to an Essay on Education which Priestley published in 1764, with the object of drawing attention to the necessity for a reform in our educational system. Although written nearly a century and a half ago, Priestley’s main contention70 that the education of youth should be directed and adapted to the circumstances and needs of the time in which they live is just as valid71 now as then, and needs the same insistence72. He points out that “the severe and proper discipline” of the Grammar Schools, which are subservient73 to the Universities, is become a “topic of ridicule74.”
“This is certainly a call upon us to examine the state of education in this country, and to consider how those years are employed which men pass previous to their entering into the world; for upon this their future behaviour and success must, in a great measure, depend. A transition, which is not easy, can never be made with advantage; and therefore it is certainly our wisdom to contrive75 that the studies of youth should tend to fit them for the business of manhood; and that the objects of their attention, and turn of thinking in younger life, should not be too remote from the destined employment of their riper years. If this be not attended to they must necessarily be mere76 novices77 upon entering the great world, be almost unavoidably embarrassed in their conduct, and, after all the time and experience bestowed78 upon their education, be indebted to a series of blunders for the most useful knowledge they will ever acquire.”
“That man is a friend of his country who observes and endeavours to supply any defects in the methods of educating youth.”
54
At the risk of being called “a projector79, a visionary, or whatever anybody pleases,” he proceeds to show “how to fill up with advantage those years which immediately precede a young gentleman’s engaging in those higher spheres of active life in which he is destined to move.”
It will be observed that Priestley is not dealing80 with any scheme of national or universal education adapted to every youth in the community. He is concerned only with the young man who is destined for a station in which his conduct may considerably81 affect the liberty and the property of his countrymen, and the riches, the strength and the security of his country; and who is within the influence of an honourable82 ambition to appear as a legislator in the State, or of standing15 near the helm of affairs and guiding the secret springs of Government—in a word, that class which the universities thought they alone were specially83 concerned with.
“That the parents and friends of young gentlemen destined to act in any of these important spheres may not think a liberal education unnecessary to them, and that the young gentlemen themselves may enter with spirit into the enlarged views of their friends and tutors, I would humbly84 propose some new articles of academical instruction, such as have a nearer and more evident connection with the business of active life, and which may therefore bid fairer to engage the attention and rouse the thinking powers of young gentlemen of an active genius. The subjects I would recommend are ‘Civil History,’ and more especially the important objects of ‘Civil Policy’; such as the theory of laws, government, manufactures, commerce, naval85 force, etc., with whatever may be demonstrated from history to have contributed to the flourishing state of nations, to rendering86 a people happy and populous87 at home and formidable abroad; together with those articles of previous information, without which it is impossible to understand the nature, connections and mutual88 influences of those great objects.”
He then gives plans and detailed89 syllabuses90 of three 55 distinct courses of lectures subservient to this design. The first is on the “Study of History in General”; the second on the “History of England,” and the third on the “Present Constitution and Laws of England.” This scheme is so daring an innovation on the established order of things 150 years ago, that Priestley then proceeds with care to anticipate, examine and rebut91 the objections which may be urged against it. There is no necessity to dwell upon them now. Much water has flowed under the Folly92 Bridge or past the “Backs” since Priestley’s essay was penned, and everything for which he contended, and even more, now finds its proper place in the educational schemes of all our universities, ancient and modern. But it is significant of the condition of things in the older seats of learning in the middle of the eighteenth century, that he should have to urge his project apologetically and to labour points which to-day appear almost axiomatic93. The essay is characteristic of the author in the breadth and liberality of its tone, in its declaration of the real functions and objects of government, and in its note of true patriotism94. Of course it was fiercely attacked, among others, by Griffiths in the Monthly Review, but it enlisted95 Josiah Wedgwood’s sympathy with its author and formed the basis of a friendship as cordial and enduring as it was useful.
The lectures on “History” and on “General Policy” were subsequently published, with a dedication96, as already stated, to Mr Benjamin Vaughan. It is interesting at this juncture97 to learn the views Priestley inculcated on the youth of Warrington concerning other matters which, like the education problem and the poor, are always with us.
56
In the 51st lecture on “General Policy” we read:—
“The gain of the merchants, it is said, is not always the gain of the country in general. If, for instance, a merchant imports foreign goods by which the consumption of national manufactures is hurt, though the merchant should be gainer by those goods, the State is a loser. As, on the other hand, a merchant may export the manufactures of his own country to his own loss and the nation’s gain. But if the merchants be gainers, the consumers, that is those for whose use manufactures are established, having a power of purchasing or not at pleasure, must be so too. And if, after sufficient trial, it be found that merchants importing foreign goods can sell these cheaper than the manufactures can be bought at home, it is an indication that it is not for the interest of the nation at large to encourage such manufactures.
“Though exportation makes a nation rich, we are not to judge of the quantity of riches which a nation gains by trade from exportation only, but the importation must also be considered. If these exactly balance one another nothing can be said to be gained or lost, just as a person is not the richer for selling a quantity of goods if he buy to the same amount. Nay98, though the exportation be lessened99, if the importation be lessened more than in proportion, it proves an increase of gainful trade, notwithstanding the decrease of exportation. This, however, is estimating the value of commerce by the mere increase of money. But a nation may flourish by internal commerce only, and what is external commerce between two nations not united in government would be internal if they should come under the same government. In every fair bargain the buyer and the seller are equally gainers, whether money be accumulated by either of the parties or not.
“It is a great mistake to confound the king’s revenue with the gain a nation makes by its trade. No man would presume to say it is more for the public benefit that the nation should expend100 a million or more every year with foreigners, in order to raise a hundred thousand pounds to the revenue by the customs, than to save that million or more within ourselves and to raise only the hundred thousand pounds the other way. But Ministers of State are apt to estimate the value of everything to the country by the gain it brings, and that immediately to themselves....
57
“The legislature of any country has seldom interfered101 in the affairs of commerce, but commerce has suffered in consequence to it, owing to the ignorance of statesmen, and even of merchants themselves, concerning the nature of trade. And indeed the principles of commerce are very complicated and require long experience and deep reflection before they can be well understood....
“Most politicians have injured commerce by restricting, confining or burthening it too much; the consequence of which has been that by aiming at great immediate advantage they have cut off the very springs of all future advantage. The inconveniences which have arisen to a nation from leaving trade quite open are few, and very problematical in comparison of the manifest injury it receives from being cramped102 in almost any form whatsoever103....
“Mr Colbert, a man of great probity104, knowledge and industry ... would have done better to have listened to the advice of an old merchant, who being consulted by him about what he should do in favour of trade, said, ‘Laissez nous faire.’”
In another place he says:—
“The happiness of all nations, therefore, as one great community, will be best promoted by laying aside all national jealousy of trade, and by each country cultivating those productions or manufactures which they can do to the most advantage; and experience, in a state of perfect liberty, will soon teach them what those are. In this state of things the only advantage will be on the side of industry and ingenuity105, and no man or nation ought to wish it to be anywhere else.”
With regard to questions of political and civil liberty, the theory of the progress of law, the influence of religion on civil society, the connection of modes of religion with forms of government, the teaching is precisely106 what we should expect in such a hot-bed of liberal dissent107 as the Warrington Academy. With regard to the connection between civil government and religion he says:—
58
“The principal sufferer by this alliance between the Church and the State is religion itself, that is, the members of society as professors of religion and deriving108 advantages from it. For when it is thus guarded by the State, if it be faulty or wants reformation, it must long continue so. The professors of it, being interested in its support, will do everything in their power to prevent any alteration109, though it should be ever so much wanted....
“It is alleged110, in favour of these establishments, that religion has an influence on the conduct of men in this life. No doubt it has, as it connects the hopes of a future life with good behaviour in this. But this is done in all sects111 of Christians112, and as much in those which are reprobated by the State as those which are encouraged by it. Besides, if this was the true cause of attachment114 to Christian113 establishments, the friends of them would be much more jealous of unbelievers than they are of sectaries, which does not appear to be the case.... One would think that Christian Governments might content themselves with establishing the Christian religion in general without confining themselves to any particular mode of it. But so far is this from being the case, that by the present laws of this country a man who denies the doctrine115 of the Trinity, which has no more imaginable connection with the good of the State than the doctrine of Transubstantiation, is deemed a blasphemer and sentenced to suffer confiscation116 of goods and imprisonment117....
“In all other countries the established religion is that of the majority of the people, and the writers in defence of it vindicate118 it on this principle, viz., that it is the religion of the majority, whatever that be. But in Ireland we have a most remarkable119 exception to this rule. There the established religion is not that of the majority but of a small minority of the people, perhaps not more than that of one in ten of the inhabitants. That so flagrant an abuse of power should exist, and under a Government pretending to justice, and even to liberality, is barely credible120.”
Here again much water has flowed under the bridges since these words were penned, but the bread which Priestley cast upon the stream, as well as that upon 59 which he nurtured the young gentlemen of the Warrington Academy, has, we recognise, not been wholly wasted. In regard to what he considered other anomalies, the State still takes upon itself a “great, dangerous and unnecessary burthen” by undertaking121 the care of religion. From the remains of superstition122 the clergy are still considered as a distinct order of men in this country, and they are in a manner represented in Parliament by the bishops123 having seats in the House of Lords. “From which,” he says, “if they had a just sense of the nature of their office, and consulted their true dignity, they would retire of their own accord. At present their seat in the House only flatters their pride and gives the minister so many votes.”
In regard to other items of political and social development, it is noteworthy that Priestley was a consistent opponent of national education as we understand it to-day, on the ground that in his judgment it was inimical to liberty and the natural rights of parents. His position, in fact, was very similar to that taken up by a considerable and influential124 section of Liberal Dissenters125 prior to 1870.
Whilst at Warrington he also gave lectures on the “Theory of Language,” on the “Laws and Constitutions of England,” and on “Oratory and Criticism”—all of which were subsequently published, and which may still be read with profit, despite Lord Brougham’s sneering126 allusion127 to the adventurous128 tutor afflicted129 with an incurable130 stutter who, having never heard any speaking save in the pulpits of meeting-houses, promulgated131 rules of eloquence132 and of jurisprudence to the senators and lawyers of his country. The adventurous tutor with the incurable stutter even taught Elocution, also Logic 60 and Hebrew for a time, and one year he gave a course of lectures on Anatomy133.
Whilst at Warrington he published a Chart of Biography, exhibiting by lines and spaces the succession of the eminent men in every age and of every profession, with the relative length of their lives, and in such manner that at any given epoch134 it could be seen not only who flourished in it, but how all their ages stood with respect to one another, who were a man’s contemporaries, how far any of them was before him, or how far after him, in the order of their births or deaths.
The Chart of Biography procured136 for its compiler the degree of Doctor of Laws of the University of Edinburgh.
It has been said of Priestley that he was not a man who made friends. If it is meant by this that he was essentially137 a self-centred recluse138, who sought his relaxation139 in change of occupation, or only within his own family circle, the statement gives a wholly imperfect idea of the man and is very wide of the truth.
In reality he was one of the most gregarious140 and most easily approachable of individuals, a man of strong, active human sympathies and of much social charm. There is abundant evidence of this in the testimony of his contemporaries; it is illustrated141 by numberless anecdotes142, and is reflected in almost every letter of his correspondence.
It was, doubtless, under the impulse of the social instincts of his nature that, whilst at Warrington, he was led to begin the practice of spending one month in every year in London. This, remarks his son, was of great use to him. He saw and heard a great deal. A 61 new turn was frequently given to his ideas. New and useful acquaintances were formed, and old ones confirmed. London then, as now, was the centre of the intellectual life of the kingdom and the Royal Society the seat of its scientific activity. To a man of Priestley’s versatility143 and eagerness, whose curiosity ranged practically over every department of human knowledge, these annual visits were a sort of intellectual tonic144 and gave a powerful stimulus145 to his activity.
On the first of them he made the acquaintance of men who, in their several capacities, proved to be true and valuable friends, notably146, Dr Richard Price, Mr Canton, and Dr Benjamin Franklin.
Dr Price, a philosopher, and an eminent nonconformist divine, and one of the leading Arians of his time, is best known by his work on morals, and by his writings on financial and political questions. Among these, his papers in the Philosophical147 Transactions on “Life Insurance” and on the “Proper Method of Calculating the Values of Contingent148 Reversions,” are specially noteworthy. His pamphlet on the National Debt is said to have influenced Pitt in establishing the Sinking Fund for its extinction149, and that on the “Policy of the War with America” to have contributed to the declaration of independence by the Americans. His liberal opinions gained him the friendship and patronage150 of Lord Shelburne. The acquaintance with Priestley soon ripened151 into a lasting152 friendship, which was in nowise disturbed by the controversy153 on materialism154 and necessity in which they subsequently engaged. Price and Priestley held similar views as to the French Revolution, and both were denounced with equal 62 fierceness by Burke. Price died in the spring of 1791, and his funeral sermon was preached by Priestley, who succeeded him in the care of the Gravel155 Pit Meeting at Hackney. He was a man for whom Priestley ever entertained the warmest feelings of friendship on the ground of his amiable156 simplicity157, his truly Christian spirit, disinterested158 patriotism and true candour.
John Canton, a notable schoolmaster in his day, is best known for his electrical inquiries159 and for his work on the compressibility of water, and his name is associated with the phosphorescent substance first obtained by him by calcining oyster160 shells with flowers of sulphur.
Among the Canton papers in the possession of the Royal Society is a letter from Seddon to Canton introducing Priestley, in which the latter is described as the author of A Chart of Biography and of an Essay on Education, and in which the writer says of the bearer:—
“You will find him a benevolent161, sensible man, with a considerable share of learning. Besides the studies which belong to his profession, he has a taste for Natural Philosophy which will not render him less agreeable to you.”
That Priestley greatly enjoyed and profited by his Christmas in London is evident from the terms in which he refers to it in a letter to Canton under date February 14, 1766.
“The time I had the happiness to spend in your company appears upon revision like a pleasing dream. I frequently enjoy it once again in recollection, and ardently162 wish for a repetition of it. I wish, but in vain, that it may ever be in my power to return in kind your generous communication of philosophical intelligence and discoveries.”
He concludes the letter by expressing a desire to become a Fellow of the Royal Society.
63
Benjamin Franklin, journeyman printer and journalist, statesman and diplomatist, was about sixty years old when Priestley, then a man of little more than half his age, first made his personal acquaintance. The Royal Society, which had formerly ridiculed163 the discoveries which have given Franklin his undisputed position as one of the most eminent natural philosophers of his time, had paid him, although still a British subject, the distinguished164 compliment of making him an honorary fellow. At the time of Priestley’s coming to town he was occupied with the great struggle on behalf of the American Colony which ended in the defeat of the Stamp Act, and his famous examination before a Committee of Parliament had made him an object of great popular interest. During the eight or nine succeeding years in which Franklin remained in England his acquaintance with Priestley grew into the closest friendship, and there can be no question that the friendship reacted powerfully on Priestley’s work as a political thinker and as a natural philosopher. Indeed, it may be truthfully said that Franklin made Priestley into a man of science.
As the result of this intercourse165 with Canton and Franklin, Priestley offered to compile what he called “a distinct and methodical account” of the history of discoveries in electricity, provided he could be supplied with the necessary books. Franklin warmly seconded the proposal, and undertook, with the assistance of friends, to furnish all existing literature on the subject. As a matter of fact almost the whole of the historical account in Priestley’s book is taken from the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, which was then the chief source of information concerning electrical 64 science, inasmuch as the English electricians of that period, in addition to their own original papers, which were both numerous and important, introduced into the Transactions detailed accounts of all the principal books on electricity published abroad. In putting together his work, Priestley, having, as he says, a pretty good machine, was led to endeavour to ascertain166 several facts which were in dispute, and was thus led by degrees into a large field of experimental inquiry167, in which he spared no expense that he could possibly afford. One of the most important of his discoveries is that charcoal168 is a good conductor. He describes coloured circles produced by receiving discharges from 21 square feet of glass on metal plates. When an electrical battery is discharged light bodies placed near the electric circuit are moved. Priestley ascribes this motion to what he calls the force of the lateral169 explosion, and he conceives it to depend upon the sudden elasticity170 given to the air. He found that a long circuit conducts much worse than a short circuit, even when the conductors are the same; also, that when the circuit contains an imperfect conductor a spark passes to bodies near, no electricity being communicated.
The work necessitated171 much correspondence with Franklin and others of his philosophical friends in London, and much of his leisure was devoted172 to his own experimental observations. Nevertheless, the book was completed in less than a year. Hasty and imperfect as it was, “The History and Present State of Electricity. With Original Experiments, illustrated with Copperplates,” was well received and ran through five editions in its author’s lifetime. Its publication at once stamped Priestley as a man of science; it secured him recognition 65 as such in scientific circles at home and abroad, and was the immediate cause of his election, on June 12, 1766, into the Royal Society. The growing interest in the subject induced him to put together a Familiar Introduction to the Study of Electricity, which had also a considerable measure of success and was the means of popularising a knowledge of the main facts then known concerning Frictional Electricity. Priestley was instrumental in reviving the use of large electrical machines and batteries. The first of the large machines for which Nairne became famous was constructed in consequence of a request made to Priestley by the Grand Duke of Tuscany to procure135 for him the best machine that could be made in England. One of his machines, which figured in his History, and also in his Familiar Introduction, is in the possession of the Royal Society.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
prospects
|
|
| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
sprightly
|
|
| adj.愉快的，活泼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
witty
|
|
| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
accomplishments
|
|
| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
jealousy
|
|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
complexion
|
|
| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
exquisitely
|
|
| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
testimony
|
|
| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
remains
|
|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
excellence
|
|
| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
bribed
|
|
| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
judgment
|
|
| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
concurrence
|
|
| n.同意；并发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
speculative
|
|
| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
anecdote
|
|
| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
stanza
|
|
| n.（诗）节，段 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
sitting-room
|
|
| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
grudging
|
|
| adj.勉强的，吝啬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
destined
|
|
| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
hymns
|
|
| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
nurtured
|
|
| 养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
prospective
|
|
| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
ponderous
|
|
| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
watt
|
|
| n.瓦，瓦特 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
linguistic
|
|
| adj.语言的，语言学的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
attainments
|
|
| 成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
faculty
|
|
| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
oblivious
|
|
| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
onerous
|
|
| adj.繁重的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
fortitude
|
|
| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
prosecution
|
|
| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
acquitted
|
|
| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
apron
|
|
| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
momentous
|
|
| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
gleaned
|
|
| v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的过去式和过去分词 )；（收割后）拾穗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
ordination
|
|
| n.授任圣职 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
prudence
|
|
| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
ministry
|
|
| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
wig
|
|
| n.假发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
silhouettes
|
|
| 轮廓( silhouette的名词复数 )； （人的）体形； （事物的）形状； 剪影 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
worthies
|
|
| 应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
neatly
|
|
| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
improvident
|
|
| adj.不顾将来的，不节俭的，无远见的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
commemorated
|
|
| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
affixed
|
|
| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
memoirs
|
|
| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
applied
|
|
| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
engrossed
|
|
| adj.全神贯注的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
nominally
|
|
| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
belles
|
|
| n.美女( belle的名词复数 )；最美的美女 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
sojourn
|
|
| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
treatise
|
|
| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
Oxford
|
|
| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
compilation
|
|
| n.编译，编辑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
formerly
|
|
| adv.从前，以前 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
clergy
|
|
| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
rhetoric
|
|
| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
logic
|
|
| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
apprehend
|
|
| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
requisite
|
|
| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
eminent
|
|
| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
contention
|
|
| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
valid
|
|
| adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
insistence
|
|
| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
subservient
|
|
| adj.卑屈的，阿谀的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
ridicule
|
|
| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
contrive
|
|
| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
novices
|
|
| n.新手( novice的名词复数 )；初学修士（或修女）；（修会等的）初学生；尚未赢过大赛的赛马 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
bestowed
|
|
| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
projector
|
|
| n.投影机，放映机，幻灯机 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
dealing
|
|
| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
considerably
|
|
| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
honourable
|
|
| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
specially
|
|
| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
humbly
|
|
| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
naval
|
|
| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
rendering
|
|
| n.表现，描写 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
populous
|
|
| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
mutual
|
|
| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
detailed
|
|
| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
syllabuses
|
|
| 教学大纲，课程提纲( syllabus的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
rebut
|
|
| v.辩驳，驳回 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
axiomatic
|
|
| adj.不需证明的，不言自明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
patriotism
|
|
| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
enlisted
|
|
| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
dedication
|
|
| n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
juncture
|
|
| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
nay
|
|
| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
lessened
|
|
| 减少的，减弱的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
expend
|
|
| vt.花费，消费，消耗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
interfered
|
|
| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
cramped
|
|
| a.狭窄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
whatsoever
|
|
| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
probity
|
|
| n.刚直；廉洁，正直 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
ingenuity
|
|
| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
precisely
|
|
| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
dissent
|
|
| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
deriving
|
|
| v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
alteration
|
|
| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
alleged
|
|
| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
sects
|
|
| n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
Christians
|
|
| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
Christian
|
|
| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
attachment
|
|
| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
doctrine
|
|
| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
confiscation
|
|
| n. 没收, 充公, 征收 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
imprisonment
|
|
| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
vindicate
|
|
| v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
credible
|
|
| adj.可信任的，可靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
undertaking
|
|
| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
superstition
|
|
| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
bishops
|
|
| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
influential
|
|
| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
dissenters
|
|
| n.持异议者，持不同意见者( dissenter的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
sneering
|
|
| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
allusion
|
|
| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
adventurous
|
|
| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
afflicted
|
|
| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
incurable
|
|
| adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
promulgated
|
|
| v.宣扬（某事物）( promulgate的过去式和过去分词 )；传播；公布；颁布（法令、新法律等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
eloquence
|
|
| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
anatomy
|
|
| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
epoch
|
|
| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
procure
|
|
| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
procured
|
|
| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
essentially
|
|
| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
recluse
|
|
| n.隐居者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
relaxation
|
|
| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
gregarious
|
|
| adj.群居的，喜好群居的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
illustrated
|
|
| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
anecdotes
|
|
| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
versatility
|
|
| n.多才多艺，多样性，多功能 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
tonic
|
|
| n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
stimulus
|
|
| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
notably
|
|
| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
philosophical
|
|
| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
contingent
|
|
| adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
extinction
|
|
| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
patronage
|
|
| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
ripened
|
|
| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
lasting
|
|
| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
controversy
|
|
| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
materialism
|
|
| n.［哲］唯物主义，唯物论；物质至上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
gravel
|
|
| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
simplicity
|
|
| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
disinterested
|
|
| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
inquiries
|
|
| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
oyster
|
|
| n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
benevolent
|
|
| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
ardently
|
|
| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
ridiculed
|
|
| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
intercourse
|
|
| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
ascertain
|
|
| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
inquiry
|
|
| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
charcoal
|
|
| n.炭，木炭，生物炭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
lateral
|
|
| adj.侧面的，旁边的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
elasticity
|
|
| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
necessitated
|
|
| 使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
172
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |