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    improvements in science which had taken place during the past century ; proceeds , ' These and others of a similar kind , are the gigantic advances of human intellect and human ingenuity in the progress of the eighteenth century . But amidst these splendid achievements , have nations become

    wiser ? Alas ! I fear not . Is their conduct suitable to their increased knowledge ? Have they learnt to treat each other with greater integrity and honour ? Are they become more faithful to their engagements , more sincere in their professions ? and in all their nejrociations attentive' to the common

    welfare ? Have they discovered that a course of honest , peaceful industry is the only way to lasting prosperity , and the only source of real honour ? Have they been taught that war is in all cases displeasing to God , and hurtful to man :

    in the end , destructive alike to the victor and the vanquished ; pleasing to none but harpies who fatten on human blood ? Which of'the nations of Europe can stand up in the presence of an allseeing God and declare , ' I have done all this : I have seen , and acted on the

    persuasion , that good faith ahd benevolence art the duty of neighbouring countries , no less than erf connected individuals . In the course of the last century , I have broken no treaty ; I have been guilty of no deceit or concealment in any public transaction ; i have not drawn the sword , or refused

    to sheath it when drawn , to profit by the distress of other nations , or to gratifythecravings of unrighteous ambition ? Though nations never blush , not one of them , I am persuaded , would hazard so daring an assertion . From the beginning of 1701 , to the end of i 8 otf , © ur own nation has suffered under not

    less than 45 years of actual war ; and not one third of the century has blessed Europe at iarge with universal peace . Europe , enlightened Europe , which raises its head above the other quarters © f the globe , and boasts a high preeminence in genius , science and artenlightened Europe is the common disturber of mankind , and those of its

    nations * who have made the greatest progress in commerce and refinement , pften employ their powers for little else than to dp more c »! Jjjofiivc miachief ; they send out thej |^< 3 $£ } e fleets aud- armies % q the e # tr $ fcwti $ a of the * aru ^ s ^ n cl

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    make the north and the south , the east and the west , alike tremble before them . It is to be feared that the present century is not likely to deserve a better character in this respect than its predecessors .

    The funeral sermon for Dr . Priestley , concludes with the following passage , which has been regarded as a specimen of true eloquence . " He has now finished a long and eventful life : he has gone throueh good

    and evil report : he has met with affectionate friends and malignant enemies : he has experienced in the world much enjoyment , and not a little suffering . He was a man , and therefore liable ' to err . Like other men he doubtless

    sometimes erred , flis judgment was fallible , and might sometimes mistake falsehood for truth : his feelings -were strong , and his language might not always be sufficiently guarded . But his heart was never materially wrong : his life was a uniform course of sincere and

    rational piety , of unwearied and extensive usefulness , of strict and undeviating personal virtue : and his last moments were perfectly in unison with the whole of his former days . His ruling passions— -a . love for sacred truth , a desire to promote the extension of religious knowledge , and a warm regard to the best interests of mankind * continued

    with him till the hour of his death . He rests frdm his labour and his works follow him . He has been a burning and a shining ; light ; and those Who truly knew him rejoiced in kis light , Like a fervent summer ' s sun , he rose at an early hour , to send forth hi& beams far

    and wide , and illustrate the wonder * of his Creator ' s works ; and though , when not far advanced beyond the height of noon , he was assailed by a sudden storm , which hid him from the eyes of men , and seemed for a time to have blotted him out from the

    firmament ot heaven , he moved in a sphere far above its reach , and passed on with undiminished strength . Flis rays were intercepted , but not extinguished : his glory was obscured , but not lost . * He soon dispelled the thickest blackness o £

    the gloom ; burst at length , through the yielding cloud , ami at the sol . mu hour of eve appeared , all calm and serene , with a lesg dazzling-splendour , but apparently with a larger orb ^ grv 4 f * g to the admjnng world a dcligruftij earnest

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    Additions and Corrections in former Obituaries * 401

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    YWJU 111 . 3 <* .

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    ; , R * v » W * Wood .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1808, page 401, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2394/page/49/