After seeing Mr. Cooper's book,* you cannot want any information that I can give you respecting this country; and knowing the facts, you must advise yourself. It is too hazardous for another to give it, especially where so much is depending, as with you. I can only apprize you of one thing, of which you may not perhaps be sufficiently aware, viz. that much money will unavoidably be sunk in the passage, and living in any manner here, till you have looked out for a farm; for I would not advise any person to take one without having seen it himself. Two hundred pounds is the least that would go in this way. Living in Philadelphia, or any of the great towns, is more expensive than in London, and, with every advantage, very irksome to a person accustomed to English modes. To me the difference was much more than I was aware of.

But, supposing a person actually here, and willing to labour in any way whatever, he will be twice as well off as in England. He will find immediate employment, and good wages. We could take all the servants, mechanics, and handicraftmen, that England could furnish; but if a man or his family must live without actual labour, he will starve. Farming will not answer, if the labour be all hired. On this account, all farms are small, sufficient to maintain families in abundance with necessaries, but nothing more. All the money a man gets he employs in speculation, chiefly now in buying land, with a view to selling again, or in merchandise.

If, on this view of things, you should think it worth your while to come over, I should be very happy to have you near me; but in this place there is no scope for farming, or at present any thing else, though some time hence I think this is so situated as to promise considerable things with respect to traffic, though the expense and trouble of getting hither is greater than you can well imagine. I came with a view of being near a large settlement of emigrants, which is now given up; but being here, and having all my books, &c., with me, I cannot remove any more. Indeed, I had not the means of subsisting at Phila

* "Advice to those who would remove to America."

delphia, without more exertion than at my time of life I am well capable of. Though my time here is far from passing so agreeably as it did in England, I am very thankful for such an asylum; and all the accounts I have from England make me more satisfied with my lot, though not a very enviable one. In time, however, I hope to have some employment, in which I may be once more useful and happy. With every good wish, I am, dear Sir, yours sincerely.*

DEAR SIR,

TO REV. SAMUEL PALMER.†

I HAVE not yet had the pleasure of seeing your son, though I am in daily expectation of it. This is one inconvenience attending my distance from Philadelphia; but then there are many more than equivalent advantages in this country place. It is not near so expensive, and much more healthy. Indeed, I never saw a town I liked less than Philadelphia. My friends in England wonder that I did not accept the offer of the professorship of chemistry in the university there; but they cannot see all the circumstances. I was at one time inclined to it, but it was solely with a view to the forming of an Unitarian congre gation there. And I still mean to spend about two months there every winter, with that view, at least to deliver a set of discourses on the evidences of Christianity, and other interesting subjects, and a place is provided for the purpose.

Here, though I have little society, I have leisure for my pursuits, and I endeavour to make the most of it. At present I apply very closely to the continuation of my Church History, which I hope to finish in about two years. It was late before I got my books hither; and now I am crowded with all my books and instruments in one room, though a large one. Something, however, I contrive to do in my experiments, and I have more advantages in this respect than you could easily imagine in this remote place. I want hardly any thing but a

+ Hackney. See I. 189.

* Orig. MS. among Mr. Lindsey's papers. Mr. Priestley says, "He found at Northumberland several excellent workmen in metals, who could repair his instruments, and make all the new

glass house. As to any instruments of consequence, I must have had them from England, had I lived in Philadelphia.

I cannot just now find the letter you were so good as to write to me, or I would answer it more particularly. I do assure you I cannot help looking back with some regret on the time I spent at Hackney, though I find every thing in this country to exceed my expectations, and we have many capital advantages that are nowhere else to be found a free government, no church establishment, no tithe, no poor, and almost no taxes, and a climate greatly indeed superior to yours.

But I want my friends, and such society as I have been accustomed to. We do, however, pretty well in this respect, and hope to do better every year. I am expecting Mr. Russell from France, and though I cannot expect that he will live always here, he will probably reside here some part of the year. Here we enjoy the great blessing of peace, which I earnestly wish you had. The treaty is generally disliked here, so that many persons think it will not be ratified without so many restrictions as will make it rejected by England. I hope, however, there will be no war between the two countries. It would be very hurtful to both. If there should be a general peace, how happy should I be to pay you a visit before I leave the world! and sometimes I do not despair of this, though I should probably find things so changed as to have but little enjoyment of it. I therefore endeavour to look forward to a better and more permanent state of existence. While we live, I shall always be glad to hear from you.

P. S. I beg to be respectfully mentioned to Mr. Lister.* I shall never forget the many agreeable hours I spent at his house with you and other friends.†

articles he wanted, as well as, (he used to say,) if not in some respects better, than he could have got them done in Birmingham. Continuation.

* Of Hackney, where he died, at an advanced age, a few years since. He was brother to the late Dr. Lister.

Among other reliefs to the affliction of blindness, which Mr. Lister had suffered for many years, he entertained at his house, weekly, an evening party, among whom I have often shared very agreeable society.

+ Obligingly communicated, from the original, by Mr. Palmer's son.

TO REV. T. LINDSEY.*

DEAR FRIEND, Northumberland, Jan. 19, 1795. WE are now in the depth of winter, the cold much greater than ever I knew it in England. It has been 3 below 0 of Fahrenheit. This morning I found it 1 below 0, and in the night it had been 2, and yet it is much more tolerable than the cold with you, and the day as pleasant as in summer. Till the end of December the weather was quite mild and warm; now the river is nearly frozen, and it is expected to continue so about a month or six weeks, when the warm weather comes on pretty suddenly, and continues all the remainder of the year, so that now we have had both the extremes of heat and cold in this climate, and a pretty clear idea of what it will be in the whole course of the year; and certainly it is greatly superior to that of England.

We shall very soon have a better communication with Philadelphia, and a dimunition of our heavy postage, as well as a quicker conveyance. At present we are nearly a week later with respect to intelligence than they are at Philadelphia ; and as there have been no late arrivals from England, and few ships expected at this time of the year, we suffer a good deal from impatience to know what is passing in Europe, and especially in England. The last accounts we had brought us to the speech of the judge on the trial of Mr. Tooke,† and this we had near a month ago, and I cannot express my anxiety on the subject; and we had reports, but nothing certain, of the French taking possession of Rotterdam or Amsterdam. I am only easy in the persuasion of a wise and benevolent Provi

* Essex Street.

↑ Which commenced Nov. 17, 1794, and concluded by an acquittal, the 21st. Mr. Thelwall's trial succeeded, Dec. 6, and on the 10th he was acquitted. N. A. Reg. XV. 63–66.

↑ “Jan. 19, 1795, Amsterdam was taken possession of by thirty French Hussars. The tree of liberty was immediately planted in all the great squares. The inhabitants mounted unanimously the tri-coloured cockade, and a revolutionary committee was chosen. On the following day, General Pichegru entered, at the head of 5000 men. The whole was conducted in

dence, though it is impossible not to feel great concern for one's friends, and even one's country, as such, whatever we may think of the government, or governors of it. The more I think on the subject, the more I am persuaded that the calamitous times foretold in the Scriptures are at hand; and I fear they will be of long continuance, and that England has much to dread from them. I am now giving much attention to the prophecies; but I do not see my way so clearly as I wish. I think Mr. Bicheno's conjecture about the seven thunders a very happy one.* Mr. Garnham's application of Rev. xii. 13, had occurred to me, but I am not quite satisfied with it; and I rather think that Antichrist means any visible power, as that of the Pope, than usurpations of power in the Greek Emperors, &c., according to Mr. Evanson. With respect to prophecies allowed to be accomplished, my chief difficulty respects the 11th of Daniel. It is indeed a most difficult chapter. Could I see my way through that, I think I should write on the subject. I have now no great satisfaction except in theological studies, but this increases daily.

I do not think I told you that I wear my own hair.† Every the most peaceable manner. Not a drop of blood was shed, nor any thing like persecution instituted for any political opinion.

"The liberty and independence of the United Provinces were immediately proclaimed by the sanction of the French general. The citizens were called together, to appoint, by a free and general election, new magistrates. Leyden and Haarlem immediately followed the example of Amsterdam." N. A. Reg. XVI. 176, 177.

* See supra, p. 284. Mr. Bicheno was a Baptist minister at Newbury, who had published, 1794, "The Signs of the Times; or the Overthrow of Papal Tyranny in France the prelude of Destruction to Popery and Despotism." A contemporary critic says,

"Whatever may be thought of the author's success in the application of the prophecies of this obscure book, he certainly discovers great ingenuity, and a commendable attention in studying the symbolical language of his original. The reflections likewise with which he concludes his work, on the predominant motives to the present crusade against a people struggling for liberty, and the unaffected fervour which breathes in his exhortations to a speedy political and moral reformation, are honourable testimonies to his seriousness and liberality." N. A. Reg. XV. [183].

+ See supra, p. 278, note ||. Mr. Bakewell, who was introduced to Dr. Priestley at Northumberland, in the spring of 1795, has thus described his first impressions: