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Untitled Article
to him , and for excellence in which there was little provision in the predominant qualities of his mind . Yet , what he wanted of the critic ' s delicate perception , he compensated by the philosopher ' s comprehensive views ; and though his labours in these departments may not be destined to live , there is in his treatment of his subjects , a breadth and magnitude and metaphysical spirit , which contrasts favourably with the small and superficial criticism of his predecessors in the same field . In his conception of his
object he is as much their superior , as he is inferior to the noble school of German critics , whose genius has , in our own day , penetrated the mysteries , and analyzed the spirit , of poetry and
the arts . Before he quitted his office of tutor , and after he had completed the composition of his lectures , an introduction to Dr . Price and Dr . Franklin gave the first impulse to his philosophical pursuits . Whether tliis event be estimated by its effect on his fame
or by that upon his character , it must be regarded as among the most important in his life . The unparalleled ardour with which he prosecuted his newly-acquired objects , and the signal success by which it was at once recompensed and stimulated , soon rendered it manifest that his intellect had found its appropriate
direction ; and from this time , until his career was checked by persecution , he continued to give to the world a series of
discoveries , capable of comparison , in their variety and productiveness , with the achievements of the most honoured names in the records of physical science . Of the qualities of mind which he brought to the study of nature and her laws , it will be our business to speak hereafter : we notice his philosophical pursuits here , merely as they relate to the history of his character . Great as their
influence upon him was , they wrought no revolution , no change , in his habits and feelings . All that he had been he continued to be ; all that he had done he continued to do . Their operation was one of pure addition . They extended his reverential gaze on creation over a wider field ; they quickened his marvellous activity ; they expanded his benevolence ; they deepened his piety ; they illustrated his own principle , that every intellectual and moral
attainment sheds illumination on every other , and that mental power multiplies itself indefinitely : and they completed that rare
combination of qualities by which , in an age of infidelity and of arbitrary power , science , liberty , and religion , all found in him a fitting representative . Thus much we have said respecting the circumstances which were most deeply concerned in determining the career of this eminent philosopher and divine . Our readers may wonder that
we have omitted to notice the two most remarkable events of his history , — his persecution at Birmingham and his retreat to America . The truth is , that the most romantic passages of
Untitled Article
On the Life , Character , and Works of Dr . Priestley . 29
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1833, page 29, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2606/page/29/
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