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CHAPTER II.

LIFE OF JOHN LOCKE.

JOHN LOCKE, one of the wisest and sincerest of Englishmen, was born at Urington in Somersetshire, on the 29th August, 1632. Little is known of his family except that his father had served in the Parliamentary wars: a fact not without significance in connexion with the steady love of liberty manifested by the son.

His education began at Westminster, where he stayed till he was nineteen or twenty. He was then sent to Oxford. That university was distinguished then, as it has ever been, by its attachment to whatever is old: the Past is its model; the Past has its affection. That there is much good in this veneration for the Past, we will not gainsay. Nevertheless, a university which piques itself on being behind the age, is not the place for an original thinker. Locke was ill at ease there. The Philosophy which was then upheld there was Scholasticism. On such food a mind like Locke's could not nourish itself. Like his great predecessor Bacon, he imbibed a profound contempt for the university studies, and in after life regretted that so much of his time should have been wasted on such profitless pursuits. So deeply convinced was he of the vicious method of college education,

that he ran into the other extreme, and thought self-education the best.

There is a mixture of truth and error in this notion which we can here only indicate. It is true that all great men have been self-taught; or, to state the matter more clearly, all that is most valuable a man must learn for himself, must work out for himself. It is not what we are taught, but what we conquer for ourselves that constitutes nourishment: what we are taught is laid up in the lumber-room of the mind, from whence it may be drawn for purposes of display or for purposes of tuition; it seldom nourishes the mind.

So far goes the advocacy of self-tuition. The error of it lies in supposing that all men will educate themselves if left to themselves. The fact is, the majority have to be educated by force. For those who, left to themselves, would never educate themselves, colleges and schools are indispensable.

Locke's notion of an educated man is very characteristic of him. Writing to Lord Peterborough, he says, "Your lordship would have your son's tutor a thorough scholar, and I think it not much matter whether he be any scholar or no: if he but understand Latin well and have a general scheme of the sciences, I think that enough. But I would have him well-bred and well-tempered."

Disgusted with the disputes which usurped the title of Philosophy, Locke while at Oxford principally devoted himself to Medicine. His proficiency is attested by two very different persons and in two very different ways. Dr. Sydenham, in the Dedication of his Observations on the History and Cure of Acute Diseases,' boasts of the approbation bestowed on his Method by Mr.

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John Locke, "who examined it to the bottom; and who, if we consider his genius and penetrating and exact judgment, has scarce any superior, and few equals now living." The second testimony is that afforded by Lord Shaftesbury, where Locke first met him. The Earl was suffering from an abscess in the chest. No one could discover the nature of his disorder.

Locke at once divined it. advice; submitted to an

The Earl followed his operation and was saved. A close intimacy sprang up between them. Locke accompanied him to London, and resided principally in his house.

His attention was thus turned to politics. His visits to Holland delighted him. "The blessings which the people there enjoyed under a government peculiarly favourable to civil and religious liberty, amply compensated in his view for what their uninviting territory wanted in scenery and climate."* He also visited France and Germany making the acquaintance of several distinguished men.

In 1670 he planned his Essay concerning Human Understanding. This he did not complete till 1687. In 1675 his delicate state of health obliged him to travel, and he repaired to the south of France, where he met Lord Pembroke. To him the Essay is dedicated. He returned in 1679, and resumed his studies at Oxford. But his friendship with Shaftesbury, and the liberal opinions he was known to hold, drew upon him the displeasure of the Court. He was deprived of his studentship by a very arbitrary act. Nor did persecution stop there. He was soon forced to quit

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England and find refuge at the Hague. There also the anger of Charles pursued him, and he was obliged to retreat farther into Holland. It was there he published his celebrated Letter on Toleration.

He did not return to England till after the Revolution. Then there was security and welcome. He was pressed to accept a high diplomatic office in Germany, but the state of his health prevented him.

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In 1690 the first edition of his Essay' appeared. He had indeed already (1688) published an abridgment of it in Leclerc's Bibliothèque Universelle.' The success of this Essay' was immense; and Warburton's assertion to the contrary falls to the ground on the mere statement of the number of editions which the work rapidly went through. Six editions within fourteen years,* and in times when books sold more slowly than they sell now, is evidence enough.

The publication of his Essay' roused great opposition. He soon got involved in the discussions with Stillingfleet, Bishop of Worcester. He was soon after engaged in the political discussions of the day, and published his Treatise on Government.' It was about this time that he became ac

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* The writer of the article Locke,' in the Ency. Brit.,' says that the fourth edition appeared in 1700. Victor Cousin repeats the statement, and adds that a fifth edition was preparing when death overtook the author; this fifth edition appeared in 1705.

We know not on what authority these writers speak; but that they are in error may be seen by turning to Locke's Epistle to the Reader,' the last paragraph of which announces that the edition then issued by Locke himself is the sixth. He died in 1704.

quainted with Sir Isaac Newton; and a portion of their very interesting correspondence has been given by Lord King in his 'Life of Locke.'

Locke's health, though always delicate, had not been disturbed by any imprudencies, so that he reached the age of seventy-two-a good ripe age for one who has studied and thought. He expired in the arms of his friend, Lady Masham, on the 28th October, 1704.

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