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    rationally exp lained—whohave derived ( torn tbe perusal of the Bible , and the works which are calculated to illustrate and authenticate its contents , the utmost improvement and delight , and who have resolved to devote a part of their leisure time in extending their acquaintance

    with such productions : —to these the appeal is made in favour of the proposed edition of Dr . Priestley ' s Works , and it is ardently hoped it will not be made in vain . Two or three trivial objections have

    been made to the Proposal in the course of my conversation ; and as these may possibl y prevent some of your readers from yielding to the natural impulse of generous feeling , it may be well td bestow upon each a passing

    consideration . 1 . There may be and probably are some copies of the larger Theological Works on hand ; but this is no real objection to the proposed edition . This must have been the case with

    Dr . Lardner ' s Tvorks , which consist almost entirely of two or three principal works ; and yet happily for the celebrity of that useful critic , and for the progress of theological science in general , this was considered no sufficient obstacle to Dr . Kippis ' s edition . The fact is , that a great proportion of

    the eighteen volumes which it is computed Dr . Priestley ' s Works will occupy , would be made up of the smaller publications , many of which are little if any thing inferior in importance to the larger works ; and many of these are almost inaccessible : —this is particularly the case with one of the most valuable , " The Letters to a

    Philosophical Unbeliever . " The consequence of the new edition will be a reduction m the price of the former ones , which will thus become accessible to that interest ing class of the community—men who , amid the daily toils for their subsistence , find time to ruminate on the

    grand truths of religion , and whose nunds are often more enlightened on these subjects , than many of those who are favoured with a higher place in the s ^ le of society . Every suitable exertion should certainly be made to secure the ports of such persons who labour to convey to those of their own rank a

    knowled ge of the truth as it is in Jesus . i J * Are there not some of Dr . Pries . t-T 8 geological writings which partake

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    rather of the nature of ingenious conjecture , than of sound and mature in- * vesttgation ? And would it be advisable * when the Christian world is so extensively combined in warfare against our little ( but daily increasing ) band , to

    place in their way any of those parts of the Doctor ' s writings , which may have already afforded occasion for our opponents to cavil ? If the objection had not been actually made , it would not have been deemed deserving of consideration in this connexion . Your

    present Correspondent , Sir , has learned too highly to prize Dr . Priestley ' s excellencies both of heart and head , to entertain any apprehensions of the general effect that would arise from a perusal of his works . Let a man of ordinary understanding do this with candour

    and seriousness , and I pronounce it impossible that he should rise from the employment without being a much wiser and better man than he was before . The state of the case is indeed this : occasion has been taken to revilo *

    Dr . Priestley ' s character , and to shudder at the thought of giving him a place in company with others of considerable name , ( but in reality vastly inferior to him *) , from a very partial acquaintance with his writings , and the unjustifiable selection ( according to the too common

    practice of orthodox men ) of a few passages out of their connection , upon , which they found their erroneous and unjust conclusions . Present the whole of the Doctor ' s gigantic labours in morals and religion before the eyes of the discerning public , and no other refutation will be needed of the vile clamours

    so industriously circulated . The candid will be struck with the piety and intelligence evinced in his numerous productions ; the bigot will be suffused with shame from a comparison of his own littleness ; and the fair fame of Priestley burst from the ignoble chains in which she is at present confined , and soar aloft amidst the general shout of admiration and gratitude .

    * <* Who , that was not bent on giving his system popularity and eclat , would ever have thought of classing together in the same theological list the names of Dr . Isaac Watts and Dr . Joseph Priestley ? Have there existed two men antipodes in religious sentiment and religious feeling , these are the two . "—Jfaralaw ' s Z / ntearianitm incapable of Vindications

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    On Mr . Rutfs Button of Priestley ' s PTvrks . 523

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1816, page 523, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2456/page/23/