Dr. Joseph Priestley, John Wilkinson and the French Revolution, 1789–1802

W. H. Chaloner

doi:10.2307/3678907

Dr. Joseph Priestley, John Wilkinson and the French Revolution, 1789–1802

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 February 2009

W. H. Chaloner

Article contents

Extract
References

Get access

Rights & Permissions

Extract

LIKE Jacobitism and Chartism, the study of the influence of the French Revolution on British politics and public opinion has attracted a good deal of sentimental interest, but it is a curious fact that with the exception of Professor Alfred Cobban's anthology (The Debate on the French Revolution, 1789–1800 (1950)), A. H. Lincoln's Some Political and Social Ideas of English Dissent, 1763–1800 (1938), and a few scattered articles comparatively little appears to have been published since 1926 on the subject. It has therefore never been examined in the light of those trends in historiography associated with the names of Unwin and Namier.

Type: Research Article
Information: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , Volume 8 , January 1958 , pp. 21 - 40

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3678907 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1958

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

^{page 21 note 1} Park's, Mary C. dissertation on ‘Joseph Priestley and the problem of Pantisocracy’, Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science, Media, Pa., xi, no. 1 (1947), 1–60Google Scholar; a chapter in A. Patterson's, TempleRadical Leicester (1954)Google Scholar on ‘Leicester politics and the French Revolution, 1789–96’; Collins's, H. J. chapter on ‘The London Corresponding Society’ in Democracy and the Labour Movement, ed. Saville, J. (1955), pp. 103–34Google Scholar; Robinson's, Eric articles on ‘The English “Philosophes” and the French Revolution’, History Today (02 1956), 116–21Google Scholar, and ‘An English Jacobin: James Watt, jun. 1769–1848’, Cambridge Historical Journal, xi (1953–1955), 349–55Google Scholar; and Knight, F., The Strange Case of Thomas Walker (1957)Google Scholar.

^{page 21 note 2} Among the older works may be cited: Alger, J. G., Englishmen in the French Revolution (1889)Google Scholar; Laprade, W. T., England and the French Revolution, 1789–1797 (1909)Google Scholar; Jeyes, S. H., The Russells of Birmingham in the French Revolution and America, 1791–1814 (1911)Google Scholar; Meikle, H. W., Scotland and the French Revolution (1912)Google Scholar; Hall, W. P., British Radicalism, 1791–1797 (1912)Google Scholar; Veitch, G. S., The Genesis of Parliamentary Reform (1913)Google Scholar; Brailsford, H. N., Shelley, Godwin and their Circle (1913Google Scholar; repr. with bibliographical postscript, p. 254, in 1942); Brown, P. A., The French Revolution in English History (1918)Google Scholar; Birley, Robert, The English Jacobins from 1789 to 1802 (1924)Google Scholar; Colby, E. (ed.), The Life of Thomas Holcroft (2 vols., 1925)Google Scholar; Malone, Dumas, The Public Life of Thomas Cooper (1926)Google Scholar; and Brown, F. K., The Life of William Godwin (1926)Google Scholar.

^{page 22 note 1} Two, for example, are copies of letters from Thomas Jefferson to Priestley.

^{page 22 note 2} Park, M. C., op. cit., 15Google Scholar.

^{page 22 note 3} Palmer, A. N., History of the Older Nonconformity of Wrexham (1888), p. 135Google Scholar; Hall, J., History of the town and parish of Nantwich (1883), pp. 388–90Google Scholar.

^{page 23 note 1} Commercial and Agricultural Magazine, i, no. 4 (11 1799), 229Google Scholar.

^{page 23 note 2} RevMcLachlan, H., Warrington Academy: its history and influence, Chetham Soc, new ser., cvii (1943), 18Google Scholar; The Athenaeum (ed. DrAikin, J.), iii (01.–06 1808), 393Google Scholar.

^{page 23 note 3} Memoirs of Joseph Priestley to the year 1795 (1806), p. 15.

^{page 23 note 4} Chaloner, W. H., ‘Les frères John et William Wilkinson et leurs rapports avec la métallurgie française, 1775–1786’, Le Fer à travers les Ages: Hommes et Techniques, Annales de l'Est (Nancy, 1956), 285–301Google Scholar.

^{page 23 note 5} Fraser's Magazine (April 1842), 411: 4th instalment of ‘My Life and Times’ by ‘Nimrod’.

^{page 24 note 1} Memoirs …, p. 96. Priestley had for seven years (1773–80) been librarian and political research assistant to William Fitzmaurice-Petty (1737–1805), second earl of Shelburne, and first marquis (1784) of Lansdowne, who as First Lord of the Treasury (1782–3) conceded independence to the U.S.A. After leaving Shelbume's service Priestley continued to receive a pension of £150 a year from him and remained on friendly terms with Benjamin Vaughan, who became a member of Shelbume's group in the House of Commons (see below, p. 30).

^{page 24 note 2} lvii, pt. ii, 1161.

^{page 24 note 3} Parish Registers, Drayton, Market, Salop, , sub anno 1785Google Scholar and Say, Moreton, Salop, , sub anno 1786Google Scholar.

^{page 24 note 4} Christian Reformer, xix (1833), 499–50Google Scholar.

^{page 24 note 5} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Nov. 3, 1790, Jan. 20, 1791.

^{page 25 note 1} Familiar Letters, addressed to the Inhabitants of the Town of Birmingham, in Refutation of several Charges advanced against the Dissenters, and Unitarians, by the Rev. Mr. Madan,—Also Letters to the Rev. Edward Burn, in Answer to his on the Infallibility of the Apostolic Testimony concerning the Person of Christ. And Considerations on the Differences of Opinion among Christians, in Answer to the Rev. Mr. Venn (1790).

^{page 25 note 2} Alger, J. G., op. cit., 14Google Scholar.

^{page 25 note 3} Rutt, J. T., The Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley (25 vols., 1817–1831), i, pt. ii (letters of June 17 and 22, 1792, xxi. 87, 594)Google Scholar.

^{page 26 note 1} Letters to the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, occasioned by his ‘Reflections on the Revolution in France’ (1791).

^{page 26 note 2} Dr. J. Priestley to J. Wilkinson, Feb. 17, 1791.

^{page 26 note 3} Dr. J. Priestley to [Cornelius Reynolds], Feb. 25, 1791.

^{page 26 note 4} Manchester Guardian, Oct. 23, 1844, p. 6, cols. 2–3, Nov. 9, 1844, p. 5, col. 5; Handforth, P., ‘Manchester Radical politics, 1789–1794’, Trans. Lancs, and Ches. Antiq. Soc., lxvi (1957)Google Scholar.

^{page 26 note 5} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Aug. 20, 1791: ‘I thank God I never enjoyed better health or spirits than I have done since this affair…’

^{page 27 note 1} Boulton and Watt Coll., Birmingham Public Library.

^{page 27 note 2} Alger, , op. cit., p. 91Google Scholar.

^{page 27 note 3} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Sept. [? 13], 1791.

^{page 28 note 1} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Oct. 4, 1791.

^{page 28 note 2} Archives Nationales, Paris, F 4774/68.

^{page 28 note 3} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Dec. 2, 1793, Nov. 3, 1796. It was expected that the £10,000 would produce £600 per annum (Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, March 15, 1798).

^{page 28 note 4} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Nov. 3, 1796.

^{page 29 note 1} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, June 14, 1800.

^{page 29 note 2} Thomas Cooper, Manchester, to John Wilkinson, April 16, 1794.

^{page 29 note 3} Z. Walker to Dr. J. Priestley, Sept. 15,1796; Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Nov. 30,1797; J. C. Perregaux to Dr. J. Priestley, Aug. 16, 1797.

^{page 29 note 4} Dr. J. Priestley to J. Wilkinson, Jan. 21, 1798.

^{page 29 note 5} J. C. Perregaux to Dr. J. Priestley, Aug. 16, 1797; Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, June 14, 1800; Bolton, H. C., Scientific Correspondence of Joseph Priestley (1892) pp. 157–8Google Scholar (letter from Dr. J. Priestley to J. C. Perregaux, April 12, 1801).

^{page 29 note 6} Pub. Rec. Off., T 78/IND 8818 (1)—claims; T 78/268-awards (1816–1817).

^{page 30 note 1} The French ambassador.

^{page 30 note 2} Dr. J. Priestley to J. Wilkinson, Feb. 10, 1793. 3 1st ed., 119–34.

^{page 30 note 3} 1st ed., 119–34.

^{page 30 note 4} Dr. J. Priestley to J. Wilkinson, July 15, 1793. Priestley later showed the greatest anxiety that Wilkinson should read such pamphlets as A Convention the only Means of Saving us from Ruin, by the notorious Joseph Gerrald of the London Corresponding Society, and the anonymous Peace and Reform against War and Corruption ( DrPriestley, J. to Wilkinson, J., 01 9, 1794)Google Scholar.

^{page 31 note 1} The description was Sir John Scott's (later Lord Eldon).

^{page 31 note 2} Gentleman's Magazine, lxiv (1794), 572Google Scholar; Alger, , op. cit., 95Google Scholar.

^{page 31 note 3} Alger, , op. cit., 92–5Google Scholar.

^{page 31 note 4} See Dictionary of National Biography and Dictionary of American Biography sub nomine.

^{page 31 note 5} Ashton, T. S., Iron and Steel in the Industrial Revolution (1924), 75–6Google Scholar; Unwin, G. and others, Samuel Oldknow and the Arkwrights (1824), 176–93Google Scholar. John Wilkinson to Boulton and Watt, June 26, 1792 (Boulton and Watt Collection, Birmingham Public Library).

^{page 32 note 1} Ashton, , op. cit., 228–9Google Scholar.

^{page 32 note 2} State of the Poor (1797), iii. 891Google Scholar.

^{page 33 note 1} 33 Geo. III, cap. 1; Journals of the House of Commons, 1792–3, 51–91 passim. No record of the debates on the bill appears to have survived.

^{page 33 note 2} Dr. J. Priestley to J. Wilkinson, Jan. 25, 1794.

^{page 33 note 3} Z. Walker to Dr. J. Priestley, 15 April, 1796.

^{page 34 note 1} Alger, , op. cit., 63–4Google Scholar.

^{page 34 note 2} Alger, , op. cit., 64, 98Google Scholar.

^{page 34 note 3} Alger, , op. cit., 66Google Scholar. After being two years in prison, William Stone was acquitted in 1796.

^{page 34 note 4} Alger, , op. cit., 67Google Scholar. Lord Kenyon pointed out that he definitely identified himself with the French as early as 1794, referring to them as ‘we’ and to the British as ‘you’ in his correspondence.

^{page 34 note 5} Nov. 3, 1796, Oct. 7, 1797, Jan. 21, 1798; Z. Walker to Dr. J. Priestley, Sept. 15, 1796.

^{page 35 note 1} Priestley's letter of Sept. 4,1798, on the subject to Cobbett is reprinted in his Works (ed. Rutt) i, pt. ii, 406. See also British Museum: Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires, vii (1942), 468–72Google Scholar, and Copies of Original Letters…by Persons in Paris [Williams, Helen M. and Stone, J. H.] to Dr. Priestley in America, Taken on Board a Neutral Vessel (1798)Google Scholar.

^{page 35 note 2} Park, M. C., op. cit., 12–16Google Scholar.

^{page 35 note 3} For the Pantisocracy, see Brown, P. A., The French Revolution in English History (1918), pp. 108–9Google Scholar; Bestor, A. F., Backwoods Utopias, 1950, pp. 36–7Google Scholar, and footnotes; Kelley, M. W., ‘Thomas Cooper and the Pantisocracy’, Modern Language Notes, xlv (04 1930), 218–20CrossRef Google Scholar, and references listed by Park, M. C., op. cit., 58–9Google Scholar.

^{page 35 note 4} Joseph Cottle, publisher to the Pantisocrats, quoted by Brailsford, H. N., Shelley, Godwin and their Circle (1913), p. 53Google Scholar.

^{page 36 note 1} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Jan. 25, 1794.

^{page 36 note 2} Purchase of American Lands (printed folder), 4 pp.; MS. Conditional articles of agreement … between Robert Morris and John Nicholson … and Joseph Priestley, Abel Humphries and John Vaughan (both documents bound up in Priestley-Wilkinson MSS.).

^{page 36 note 3} Wansey, H., Excursion to the United States (2nd ed., 1797), p. 125Google Scholar. Dictionary of American Biography, sub Morris, Robert and Nicholson, John.

^{page 36 note 4} MS. Conditional articles of agreement … between Robert Morris and John Nicholson … and Joseph Priestley, Abel Humphries and John Vaughan (Priestley-Wilkinson MSS.).

^{page 37 note 1} Quoted in William Vaughan to John Wilkinson, Oct. 25, 1794. See also Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Nov. 12, 1794.

^{page 37 note 2} Park, , op. cit., 52–7 (appendix)Google Scholar.

^{page 37 note 3} Park, , op. cit., 17–18Google Scholar.

^{page 37 note 4} The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush, ed. Corner, G. W. (1948), pp. 236–237Google Scholar. Before the crash the two men were estimated to be worth ten million dollars.

^{page 37 note 5} Voyage dans les États-Unis d'Amérique, i (1798–1799), 131Google Scholar.

^{page 38 note 1} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Jan. 21, 1798.

^{page 38 note 2} Jeyes, S. H., The Russells of Birmingham in the French Revolution and America, 1791–1814 (1911), passimGoogle Scholar.

^{page 38 note 3} Ancien Moniteur (réimpression of 1843), xxviii, 493.

^{page 39 note 1} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, April 1, 1797.

^{page 39 note 2} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, April 11, 1797.

^{page 39 note 3} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Oct. 7, 1797. Later Vaughan's assignees in bankruptcy agreed to make Priestley an annual allowance of $500 for 5 years (Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, June 14, 1800).

^{page 39 note 4} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Nov. 30, 1797.

^{page 39 note 5} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, March 15, 1798.

^{page 39 note 6} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, June 14, 1800.

^{page 39 note 7} Dr. J. Priestley to John Wilkinson, Dec. 15, 1800.

^{page 39 note 8} Thos. Jefferson to Dr. J. Priestley, March 21, 1801.

^{page 40 note 1} Thos. Jefferson to Dr. J. Priestley, June 19, 1802.

Article contents

Dr. Joseph Priestley, John Wilkinson and the French Revolution, 1789–1802

Extract

Access options

References

Save article to Kindle

Save article to Dropbox

Save article to Google Drive

Reply to: Submit a response

Your details

You have entered the maximum number of contributors

Conflicting interests