Excerpt from The Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley, Vol. 11 My Christian Friends, Removed as I have long been from you, and to a distant part of the world, the idea of our happy connexion, which subsisted more than ten years, is always present with me, and the reflection upon it affords me peculiar satisfaction. My separation from you by ruffian violence, which received too much countenance from the general spirit of the times, and to appearance, from the government that should have protected us, is a subject of great regret; though, together with all other evils that are permitted to take place in the unsearchable ways of Providence, we cannot doubt but that it will ultimately appear to have been productive of good. To the will of the greatest and best of beings it clearly behoves us to submit without repining; and our enemies, though on account of the unworthy motives by which they were actuated, they are by no means excusable, yet being considered as the instruments in his hands, should be regarded with pity rather than resentment. By this time too, it may be presumed that the most inveterate of them are convinced of the unreasonableness of their conduct, and truly repent of it, which will entitle them to the forgiveness of every Christian. It has been impossible for me not to take an interest in every thing that has befallen you since my removal, and I rejoiced in your uncommonly flourishing state presently after your sufferings, through your noble fortitude, and the peculiarly ardent and valuable services of my successors in the ministry: and I have lamented some circumstances of an unfavourable nature, with respect to which your sentiments have not been unanimous, though they have terminated without any serious inconvenience. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.