had "served the cause of liberty" by their writings. Priestley accepted French citizenship, considering it "the greatest of honours". In the French National Convention election on 5 September 1792, Joseph Priestley was elected to the French National Convention by at least two departments, (Orne and Rhône-et-Loire). He declined the honour, on the grounds that he was not fluent in French. As relations between England and France worsened, a removal to France became impracticable. Following the declaration of war of February 1793, and the Aliens Bill of March 1793, which forbade correspondence or travel between England and France, William Priestley left France for America. Joseph Priestley's sons Harry and Joseph chose to leave England for America in August 1793. Finally Priestley himself followed with his wife, boarding the Sansom at Gravesend on 7 April 1794. Five weeks after Priestley left, William Pitt's administration began arresting radicals for seditious libel, resulting in the famous 1794 Treason Trials. Pennsylvania (1794–1804) The Priestleys arrived in New York City on 4 June 1794, where they were fêted by various political factions vying for Priestley's endorsement. Priestley declined their entreaties, hoping to avoid political discord in his new country. Before travelling to a new home in the backwoods of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, at Point township (now the Borough of Northumberland), Priestley and his wife lodged in Philadelphia, where he gave a series of sermons which led to the founding of the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. Priestley turned down an opportunity to teach chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. Priestley's son Joseph Priestley Jr. was a leading member of a consortium that had purchased of virgin woodland between the forks of Loyalsock Creek. This they intended to lease or sell in plots, with payment deferred to seven annual instalments, with interest. His brothers, William and Henry, bought a plot of woodland which they attempted to transform into a farm, later called "Fairhill", felling and uprooting trees, and making lime to sweeten the soil by building their own lime kilns. Henry Priestley died 11 December 1795, possibly of malaria which he may have contracted after landing at New York. Mary Priestley's health, already poor, deteriorated further; although William's wife, Margaret Foulke-Priestley, moved in with the couple to nurse Mary 24 hours a day, Mary Priestley died 17 September 1796. Priestley then moved in with his elder son, Joseph Jr., and his wife Elizabeth Ryland-Priestley. Thomas Cooper, whose