Many encomiums like the preceding--yes, a thousandfold--could easily be gathered if necessary to show the regard and confidence held for this remarkable man to whom America is truly very deeply indebted. Some years ago the writer paid a visit to the God's Acre of Northumberland. He arrived after dark and was conveyed to the sacred place in an automobile. Soon the car stopped. Its headlights illuminated the upright flat stone which marked the last resting place of the great chemist, and in that light not only was the name of the sleeper clearly read but the less distinct but legible epitaph: Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. I will lay me down in peace and sleep till I wake in the morning of the resurrection. Pondering on these lines there slowly returned to mind the words of Franklin's epitaph,--Franklin, who, years before, had encouraged and aided the noble exile, who was ever mindful of the former's goodness to him: The Body of Benjamin Franklin Printer (Like the cover of an old book Its contents torn out And stript of its lettering and gilding) Lies here food for Worms But the work shall not be lost For it will (as he believed) appear once more In a new and more elegant Edition Revised and corrected by The Author And then, by some strange mental reaction, there floated before the writer the paragraph uttered by Professor Huxley, when in 1874 a statue to Priestley was unveiled in the City of Birmingham: Our purpose is to do honour ... to Priestley the peerless defender of national freedom in thought and in action; to Priestley the philosophical thinker; to that Priestley who held a foremost place among the 'swift runners who hand over the lamp of life,' and transmit from one generation to another the fire kindled, in the childhood of the world, at the Promethean altar of science. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 1: Chemistry in Old Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Co., Phila., Pa.] [Footnote 2: Correspondence of Priestley by H. C. Bolton, New York, 1892.] [Footnote 3: Mr. Berthollet discovered that oxygenated muriatic gas, received in a ley of caustic potash, forms a chrystallizable neutral salt, which detonates more strongly than nitre.] [Footnote 4: Nine Famous Birmingham Men--Cornish Brothers, Publishers, 1909.] [Footnote 5: James Woodhouse--A Pioneer in Chemistry--J. C. Winston Co., Phila.--1918.] [Footnote 6: James Woodhouse--A pioneer in Chemistry--J. C. Winston Co., Phila.--1918.] [Footnote 7: See _Chemistry in America_, Appleton & Co. and _Chemistry in Old Philadelphia_, The J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, Pa.] [Footnote 8: The original of this letter is now the property of Dr. C. A. Browne, New York. He graciously permitted it to be inserted here.]