at the advent of the French Revolution; when abuses of every description would be swept away, and the beginning of happy days for the human race. Priestley was at loggerheads with the Birmingham clergy on account of his opinions on theological matters, and with laymen he made enemies owing to his contemptuous allusions to King George III. and the royal family.
About this time Priestley was elected one of the eight foreign associates of the Académie des Sciences de Paris (the blue ribbon of science), and was, therefore, brought into correspondence with many savants who supported the Revolution in its early stages, and this fact only helped to add fuel to the fire that was even then smouldering.
Priestley was sorely hurt by the publication of Burke's book, and replied by publishing his Letters to Mr Burke, in which he maintained that the old aristocratic system, embracing both civil and ecclesiastical matters, was beginning to totter at its foundation—due to the salutary effect of the French Revolution. This exasperated the men of Birmingham, who were loyal to Church and King. They became furious, and all sorts of terms of vituperation were hurled at Priestley: he was " chaos in miniature, not worth God's notice." A verse to the national anthem is well worth quoting here:—
Gunpowder Priestley would
Deluge the throne with blood,
And lay the great and good
Low in the dust.
