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No. XIII.

COPY OF A LETTER TO DR. PRIESTLEY,

Printed in a column opposite to his Letter to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, [supra, p. 540,] and thrown into many houses in London, with the title of SELF-MURDER, OR THE DOCTOR TRIED AND CONVICTED BY HIS OWN EVIDENCE.

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You have appealed to the public in vindication of your conduct, and lamented your losses with the feelings of a man; they are great, because in one respect they are irreparable.

But whilst I join with the public in regretting the destruction of your philosophical property, it pains me to aver that you have not proved your political innocence.

You and your friends have been charged as enemies to the present system of government: let us examine how you attempt to disprove that assertion.

You say, that your friends met to express their joy at the French Revolution, and to intimate a desire that an improvement should take place in our constitution.

Does the inference to be drawn from this, prove you, and those of your persuasion, to be friends to the present established government? Surely not.

By celebrating the French Revolution, you give your sanction to the system adopted in that country. If you did not sanction, you would not celebrate; and by desiring an improvement, at the same moment, in the British constitution, you declare yourself inimical to our government in its present form. He who is inimical to any matter, cannot be a friend; and the opposite to that character is, of course, an enemy. Your letter has afforded me these premises, and the conclusion is fairly drawn from that which is fully established.

It is not your religious, but your political sentiments which are thought dangerous to the state. The Presbyterians certainly approve the conduct of that usurped authority which decollated the unhappy CHARLES. Our constitution considers that bloody act of commonwealth tyranny, to be a martyrdom. The difference in political sentiments on this great point, can therefore never be reconciled. It is as opposite as monarchy and republicanism can make it. Were I to ask you, if the doctrine laid down by Mr. Paine in his Rights of Man, coincided with your principles, you would certainly say that "it does." You cannot successfully controvert that assertion.

Now, Sir, this publication of Mr. Paine's is a gross libel upon the spirit and letter of the British constitution, and as it is received into your community as a political truth, and that in approving such doctrine, you and your friends cannot disapprove the French Revolution, I wish to know what sort of amendment you would make to the British government?

You have made a distinction in your letter, between the constitutional subjects of Great Britain and your sect. You divide them by saying, "our cause," and "your cause." The constitutional subjects' cause, is the present government in church and state; your cause must be the opposite to that; and therefore it is some other kind of government in church and state; and though you have not directly said that you ever attacked the state, you fairly acknowledge to have given our church a BLOW: your words are, "The Church of England, which you now think you are supporting, has received a greater blow by this conduct, than I and all my friends have ever aimed at it."* This is a direct avowal that you and your friends have aimed a blow at our religious rights.

Do you call this peaceably following your studies as a minister of the gospel and a philosopher? No, Mr. Priestley, it is such kind of turbulent conduct that has brought you and your friends into the present situation.

Had you, Sir, and those of your persuasion, quietly attended the duties of your respective stations, and left the Protestant church and the British government to the care of those who are appointed by the constitution, as representatives of the people, to guard and protect them; you might have enjoyed that ease, happiness, and peace, which every good subject is entitled to expect from the excellence of our laws, and the honour and integrity of those men who compose the three branches of the legislature.

July 20, 1791.

JOHN CHURCHMAN.

No. XIV.

COPIES OF TWO HAND-BILLS DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE RIOTERS.

(See supra, p. 398.)

Birmingham, July 16, 1791.

FRIENDS AND FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN,

It is earnestly requested that every true friend to the Church of England, and to the laws of his country, will reflect how much a continuance of the present proceedings must injure that church and that king they are intended to support; and how highly unlawful it is to destroy the rights and property of any of our neighbours. And all true friends to the town and trade of Birmingham, in particular, are intreated to forbear immediately from all riotous and violent proceedings; dispersing and returning peaceably to their trades and callings, as the only way to do credit to themselves and their cause, and to promote the peace, happiness, and prosperity of this great and flourishing town.

• See supra, p. 542.

Birmingham,

Sunday, July 17, 1791.

Important Information to the Friends of Church and King.

FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CHURchmen,

BEING convinced you are unacquainted, that the great losses which are sustained by your burning and destroying of the houses of so many individuals, will eventually fall upon the county at large, and not upon the persons to whom they belonged, we feel it our duty to inform you, that the damages already done, upon the best computation that can be made, will amount to upwards of One Hundred Thousand Pounds; the whole of which enormous sum will be charged upon the respective parishes, and paid out of the rates. We, therefore, as your friends, conjure you immediately to desist from the destruction of any more houses; otherwise the very proceedings of your zeal for shewing your attachment to the CHURCH and KING, will inevitably be the means of most seriously injuring innumerable families, who are hearty supporters of government, and bring an addition of taxes, which yourselves, and the rest of the friends of the church, will for years feel a very grievous burden.

This we assure you was the case in London, when there were so many houses and public buildings burnt and destroyed in the year 1780, and you may rely upon it, will be the case on the present occasion. And we must observe to you, that any further violent proceedings will more offend your king and country, than serve the cause of him and the church.

Fellow-churchmen, as you love your king, regard his laws, and restore peace.

GOD SAVE THE KING.

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It is particularly hoped, for the HONOUR OF THE TOWN, that all persons whatsoever will shew a due observance of the SABBATH DAY, by desisting from every riotous or disorderly proceeding, as the strongest proof they can give of their principles in favour of the present establishment in CHURCH and STATE.

* The following " anecdote, of which Mr. Russell informed" Dr. Priestley, as knowing it "to be true," will serve to shew the views entertained, in 1791, by this nobleman's nearest connexions: "Not long after the Riots," Lady Aylesford "speaking of the Rioters" to a medical gentleman who attended her, said, "they went farther than we intended." I here quote a Letter from Dr. Priestley, dated 1793, with which a friend, to whom it was addressed, has obligingly supplied me; and which will appear in the Correspondence.

No. XV.

ADDRESSES TO THE KING.

TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

The humble Address of the High Bailiff, Clergy, and other principal Inhabitants of the Town and Neighbourhood of Birmingham.

(See supra, p. 400.)

"MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY,

"WE, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the High Bailiff, Clergy, and other principal Inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Birmingham, deeply sensible of your Majesty's paternal care of all your subjects, beg leave most humbly to approach your royal throne, with hearts full of gratitude for the recent instance of that care which your Majesty graciously condescended to afford us during the late Riots in this place, by commanding such particular attention to be paid to our security, and directing such ample relief for our necessities.

"Rejoicing also in every opportunity of testifying our loyalty to the best of sovereigns, and our firm attachment to that noble fabric, the constitution of this country, the envy of all other nations, as it is the glory of our own. We cannot neglect this occasion of pledging ourselves to support your Majesty's illustrious house, and to defend that happy constitution both in church and state, against every attempt at innovation, at the risk of every thing dear to us."

The Address of the Dissenters to the King.

"MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN,

"WE, your Majesty's loyal and dutiful subjects, the Protestant Dissenters in the town of Birmingham, beg leave to approach your Majesty in a moment of serious affliction and concern, arising not only from our recent aggravated sufferings, but from our painful apprehensions least the calumnies of our enemies should influence your royal mind, and insinuate suspicions of our loyalty and affection.

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'Assured, not of our innocence alone, but of our unalterable attachment to your august person, and to the succession of your royal house, we respectfully claim your Majesty's continued protection and favour, and beg leave most earnestly to assure your Majesty, we have no thoughts of disturbing the constitution. We are the descendants of those to whom (as the annals of our country will testify) the Revolution, which secured to your illustrious house the crown of these kingdoms, was greatly indebted. The civil constitution of our country is our pride and our glory; which we have been taught from our infancy to revere, and which we would die to preserve. Indeed, Sire, though deeply afflicted by the late riotous devastations, and by the want of energy in the civil power, yet we speak from hearts that are actuated by the love of law,

of

peace, of

⚫ order, and good government. Sensible of your Majesty's goodness, in the vigorous measures which have been adopted for suppressing the outrages which a lawless banditti were spreading through this place and its environs, we offer you the warmest tribute of our gratitude, for the happy deliverance we have experienced, by the wisdom of the measures planned by your Majesty's ministers, and by the energy and promptitude with which they were so successfully executed.

"We feel ourselves deeply thankful to your Majesty, for this very beneficial and decisive instance of your royal attention; and likewise to your great goodness, in the measures which have since been adopted, for discovering and bringing to exemplary punishment, as well the instigators, as the perpetrators of the late atrocious violences; and we firmly and dutifully rely upon your Majesty for the continuance of it, as well as for the exercise of that candour and magnanimity, which will resist the calumnies of our enemies, and continue to us that protection, favour, and confidence, to which we know ourselves justly entitled.

"That your Majesty may long reign in peace and glory; that your royal honours may for ages continue to descend to your latest posterity; and that the happiness of Britain may prosper and improve itself under their auspicious influence, is the honest wish and fervent prayer of, Sire,

"Your Majesty's most loyal and dutiful subjects."

No. XVI.

MR. RUSSELL'S LETTER TO DR. PRIESTLEY.

DEAR SIR,

(See supra, p. 484.)

I HAVE Somewhere read that to argue with a person while he is in a passion, is just as wise as to hold a lanthorn to a blind man. The opponents of myself and of my patriotic companions, on the 14th of July, 1791, have evidently been under the most unreasonable phrenzy that ever disgraced this nation; and had we been willing to feed it by returning the abuse and calumny that was so outrageously poured upon us, we might have retorted long ago. But as our appeal is to the calmer passions, it appeared necessary to wait till the season of fury was over, and we could hope that the still, small voice of truth would be listened to. However, the time for a full reply to Mr. Burn's most extraordinary performance is, in my opinion, now come, and I fear any farther delay will be an injury to the cause for which we are suffering. I rejoice, therefore, to hear that you are preparing a second part of your Appeal, not doubting but that this insidious publication will have a full share of your notice, and be exposed as it deserves.

This leads, me, as a friend to society, to lament, and I do it very sincerely, that any of the clergy should think abuse of the Dissen

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