dow of them could be
found. In fact, the mob of Birmingham was the very counterpart of that
which had been engaged in Lord George Gordon's riots. Throughout their
whole career they had not shown any disposition for fighting, except
with fists and sticks, and on one occasion they fled when resisted by a
single pistol. The riots had, doubtless, been raised by men of a better
stamp than those engaged in it; but who, like the prime movers of the
riots in London, kept in the back-ground. At the same time it manifested
that the great body of the people of Birmingham had no fellow-feeling
with those who advocated the principle of the French revolution. It was
from this cause, perhaps, that government was backward in exhibiting
sympathy for the sufferers, and a disposition for punishing the
offenders. Troops were, indeed, sent to restore peace, but no
proclamations were issued from the secretary of state's office until
some days elapsed, and then the reward offered for discovering and
apprehending a chief rioter was a mere bagatelle. In the whole,
seventeen were arrested and tried, five of whom only were found guilty;
three were executed. The losses sustained by the sufferers were made
good by the hundred, in the way which the law directs; and Dr. Priestley
at least was a gainer in point of money, for in addition to the
compensation awarded by law, his friends and admirers opened their
purses freely on his behalf. He gained by the event, also, in point of
popularity, and more especially in France and America. Testimonials,
condolences, and flattering compliments were sent to him from all
quarters, and he was even compared to Galileo and Socrates! The event,
in truth, had the effect of making him more bold in his advocacy of
revolutionary principles. Both from the pulpit and the press he
loudly denounced the bigotry of England, and as loudly applauded the
enlightened toleration of France. In this he was encouraged by those
who entertained similar views to his own, and who in their addresses
extolled him as a martyr. On the other hand, those who supported "church
and state," and various bodies of Dissenters, who could not tolerate
either his extreme views of republicanism or his attacks on the mystery
of the Trinity, assailed him in the most bitter manner. England, in
fact, became too hot to hold him, for, in 1794, he expatriated to
America. The national convention had nominated him a citizen of the
French Republic, but by that ti