PREFACE

Summary

My father, Dr. Priestley, having taken the trouble of writing down the principal occurrences of his life, to the period of his arrival in this country, that account is now presented to the public in the state in which he left it, one or two trifling alterations excepted. The simple unaffected manner, in which it is written, will be deemed, I have no doubt, far more interesting, than if the narrative itself had been made the text of a more laboured composition.

Independent of the desire, so universal among mankind, to know somewhat of the private as well as the public history of those who have made themselves eminent among their fellow citizens, the life of my father is likely to be more useful as well as more interesting than those of the generality of literary men; not only as it is an account of great industry combined with great abilities, successfully exerted for the extension of human improvement, but because it affords a striking proof of the value of of rational Christianity, adopted upon mature reffection and practiced with habitual perseverance.