lthy than
this place."

Safely lodged among those dear to him one finds much pleasure in
observing the great philosopher's activities. The preparation of a home
for himself and his wife and the unmarried members of the family was
uppermost in his mind. But much time was given to correspondence with
loyal friends in England. Chief among these were the Reverends Lindsey
and Belsham. The letters to these gentlemen disclose the plans and
musings of the exile. For instance, in a communication to the former,
dated September 14, 1794, he wrote:

The professor of chemistry in the College of Philadelphia is
supposed to be on his death-bed ... in the case of a vacancy, Dr.
Rush thinks I shall be invited to succeed him. In this case I must
reside four months in one year in Philadelphia, and one principal
inducement with me to accept of it will be the opportunity I shall
have of forming an Unitarian Congregation....

And a month later he observed to the same friend:

Philadelphia is unpleasant, unhealthy, and intolerably
expensive.... Every day I do something towards the continuation of
my Church History.... I have never read so much Hebrew as I have
since I left England....

He visited freely in the vicinity of Northumberland, spending much time
in the open. Davy, a traveler, made this note:

Dr. Priestley visited us at Sunbury, looks well and cheerful, has
left off his perriwig, and combs his short grey locks, in the true
style of the simplicity of the country.... Dined very pleasantly
with him. He has bought a lot of eleven acres (exclusively of that
which he is building on), which commands a delightful view of all
the rivers, and both towns, i.e. Sunbury and Northumberland and
the country. It cost him 100L currency.

It was also to Mr. Lindsey that he communicated, on November 12, 1794, a
fact of no little interest, even today, to teachers of Chemistry in
America. It was:

I have just received an invitation to the professorship of
chemistry at Philadelphia ... when I considered that I must pass
four months of every year from home, my heart failed me; and I
declined it. If my books and apparatus had been in Philadelphia, I
might have acted differently, but part of them are now arrived
here, and the remainder I expect in a few days, and the expense
and risk of conveyance of such things