Madam, - An interesting footnote to Brian Maye's thoughtful piece on Joseph Priestley (Rite and Reason, February 2nd) is that Priestley's great-great-grandson was Hilaire Belloc, a vigorous champion of Catholic orthodoxy, but with significant radical impulses, including a sympathy with the French Revolution, a dislike of Whiggism and the Hanoverian monarchy, a soft spot for the Irish cause, and, especially in his student days, an insistence on being regarded as a republican. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN P. McCARTHY, Professor Emeritus of History, Fordham University, New York, USA.