LOCKE BY ALEXANDER CAMPBELL FRASER HON. D.C.L. OXFORD PROFESSOR OF LOGIC AND METAPHYSICS PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY EDINBURGH: WM. BLACK WOOD AND SONS 1890 All Rights reserved PREFACE. Two hundred years have elapsed, in this March of 1890, since the first publication of Locke's 'Essay concerning Human Understanding.' The philosophy of the intervening period has probably been more affected by its direct or indirect influence than by any other similar cause, and indeed the effect seems in excess of the author's speculative depth and subtlety, or grandeur of character. Perhaps no philosopher since Aristotle has represented the spirit and opinions of an age so completely as Locke represents philosophy and all that depends upon philosophic thought, in the eighteenth century-especially in Britain and France. Reaction against his real or supposed opinions, and therefore indirectly due to his influence, is not less marked in the later intellectual history of Europe, wherever the influence of Leibniz, and then of Kant and of Hegel has extended; in Britain the reaction is marked in Coleridge. The bicentenary of this memorable book may be taken as a convenient occasion for a condensed Study of Locke -biographical, expository, and critical-and of his his torical function, which is now more important than his own philosophical conclusions. In these two centuries the Essay' has been subjected to the most opposite interpretations at the hands of its numerous critics, from Stillingfleet, Lee, Leibniz, and others who were Locke's contemporaries, to Cousin, Webb, and Green. Its intellectual flexibility, in admitting the most opposite interpretations, is due partly to imperfection in its intellectual scheme and manner of expression; but this nevertheless may be one cause of its influence in the development of philosophy. What strikes one about Locke and his fortunes, besides the large place which he fills in the history of modern opinion-religious and political as well as metaphysical-is the difficulty of interpreting his philosophy without reading into it the history of the man and his surroundings, and also the abundance of imperfectly used materials for this purpose which exist. There is no adequate edition of his Collected Works,1 in which the parts are compared with one another, with the purpose which pervades the whole, and with his extensive published and unpublished correspondence and other literary remains. As regards his Life, the "Éloge Historique de feu. M. Locke" by Le Clerc, which appeared in the 'Bibliothèque Choisie,' in 1705, about a year after Locke's death, has been the foundation of subsequent memoirs. Le Clerc found his materials in his own and Limborch's personal intercourse with Locke in Holland, and their correspondence with him afterwards; in a letter by the third Lord Shaftesbury; and in an interesting letter by 1 Bishop Law's edition, 4 vols. (1777), is the best. Lady Masham, lately recovered by Mr Fox-Bourne. A letter published about the same time by M. Pierre Coste, Locke's amanuensis, gave a few additional details. For a century and a quarter after the death of Locke the meagre biographical sketches which appeared were drawn. from these sources. In 1830, Lord King, the lineal descendant of Locke's cousin and executor, Lord Chancellor King, wrote a 'Life' which contains a small part of the abundant correspondence, journals, commonplace-books, and other manuscripts that he inherited,-now at Horseley Park, in possession of his son the present Earl of Lovelace. In 1876, Mr Fox-Bourne produced two large volumes which add many facts previously unknown, collected with much care and industry. To his extensive and painstaking researches all who are interested in Locke owe a debt of gratitude. Much correspondence and other matter in manuscript remains still unused. The interesting collection which belongs to Lord Lovelace, and which by his kindness I was some years ago allowed to see, is a mine only partially worked. There is also a large collection of letters to and from Locke, from 1673 till his death, in possession of Mr Sanford of Nynehead, near Taunton, the representative of Locke's friend, Edward Clarke of Chipley in Somerset, which, through Mr Sanford's kindness, I saw some years ago, and some of them I understand may soon be published by the Historical Manuscripts Commission. The Locke relics, kept till lately at Holme Park, I have likewise seen. In this volume I have availed myself of these fresh resources, as far as narrow space has permitted. |