Later Unitarians in Christianity 217Priestly not only affirmed the humanity of Jesus, but also de
nied the immacu1ate conception. He thus laid the foundation of
the new thinking which resulted in Unitarianism becoming like a
voyage in a boat without a rudder riding on a turbulent sea. A
sense of direction is totally missing in the movement known as
Unitarian Universalism.
This denial of the immaculate conception - which is confirmed
by the Qur'an-Ied to a totally unnecessary and bitter controversy
that did more harm than good to those who affirmed the Divine
Unity. A similar movement had contributed towards the French
Revolution and its Reign of Terror. These events on the other side
of the Channel had unnerved many people in England. The ortho
dox Church made it appear that the teachings of Priestly would
result in the same kind of tragedy in England. Countless insulting
and threatening letters began to arrive at his doorstep, and his ef
figy was burned in different parts of the country.
On July the 14th 1791, a group of people were celebrating the
anniversaryof the fall of the Bastille in aBirmingham hote1.Amob,
whose leaders were the justices of the town, gathered outsideand,
thinking Priestly was taking part in the celebrations, smashed the
hotel windows. Dr. Priestly was not there. The mob then went to
his house which, Priestly writes in his memoirs, was 'plundered
and bumt without mercy.' 56 His library, his laboratory and all his
papers and manuscripts were destroyed in the fire. Priestly, who
had been forewarned by a friend, barely escaped with his life.
The next day, the houses of all the important Unitarians in Bir
mingham were bumt, and in the two days which followed the mob
began to bum the houses of those people who were not even pro
fessed Unitarians, but who had given shelter and protection to the
Unitari ans who had been made homeless. During this time the
people of Birmingham were in a panic. Ali the shops were closed,
and people cried out and wrote on their houses 'Church and King'
to escape the fury of the mob. It was not until the army was called
in that the rioters melted away.
It was now too dangerous for Priestly to remain in Birming
ham, and he left for London in disguise. Writing about his experi
ences in Birmingham, he said, 'Instead of flying from lawless vio
lence, 1had been flying from rublic justice. 1 could not have been
pursued with more rancour.' 5 ln London he was unable to openly
walk on the streets lest he be recognised and the house of his host
attacked and destroyed. After a while he rented a house. The land