Abstract
WHEN Priestley on April 8, 1794 left the shores of England to seek an asylum in the United States, he could little have thought that nearly a century and a half later his name would be on every body's lips and that men of light and learning would gather together in many places to pay tribute to his memory. After fleeing from Birmingham in 1791 in fear of his life, he had reached London only to find himself shunned by many of his fellow members of the Royal Society, and as the French Revolution, for which he had at first had much sympathy, reached its climax, his position had become so unpleasant, if not hazardous, that he was driven to the conclusion that his removal would be of more service to the cause of truth than his longer stay in England.
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The Priestley and Pepys Commemorations. Nature 131, 443–444 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/131443a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/131443a0