ness in that profession at Oxford. So great was the delicacy of his constitution, however, that he was not capable of a laborious application to the medical art; and it is not improbable that his principal motive in studying it was, that he might be qualified, when necessary, to act as his own physician. In the year 1664, he accepted of an offer to go abroad, in the capacity of secretary to sir William Swan, who was appointed envoy from king Charles II. to the clector of Brandenburg, and some other German princes but returning to England again within less than a year, he resumed his studies at Oxford with renewed vigour, and applied himself particularly to natural philosophy. While he was at Oxford in 1666, an accident introduced him to the acquaintance of lord Ashley, afterwards earl of Shaftesbury, which resulted in his inviting Mr. Locke to his house; and, in the year 1667, he prevailed on him to take up his residence with him at Lunning-hill.

By his acquaintance with this nobleman, Mr. Locke was introduced to the conversation of the duke of Buckingham, the earl of Halifax, and other of the most eminent persons of that age, who were all charmed with his conversation. In the year 1668, at the request of the earl and countess of Northumberland, Mr. Locke accompanied them in a tour to France, and staid in that country with the countess, while the earl went towards Italy, with an intention of visiting Rome. But this nobleman dying on his journey at Turin, the countess came back to England sooner than was at first designed, and Mr. Locke with her, who continued to reside, as before, at lord Ashley's. That nobleman, who was then chancellor of the exchequer, having, in conjunction with other lords, obtained a grant of Carolina, employed Mr. Locke to draw up the fundamental constitutions of that province. In executing this task, our author had formed articles relative to religion, and public worship, on those liberal and enlarged principles of toleration, which were agreeable to the sentiments of his enlightened mind; but some of the clergy, jealous of such provisions as might prove an obstacle to their ascendency, expressed their disapprobation of them, and procured an additional article to be inserted, securing the countenance and support of the state only to the exercise of religion according to the discipline of the established church. Mr. Locke still retained his student's place at Christ-church, and made frequent visits to Oxford, for the

sake of consulting books in the prosecution of his studies, and for the benefit of change of air. At lord Ashley's, he inspected the education of his lordship's only son, who was then about sixteen years of age; and executed that prov ince with the greatest care, and to the entire satisfaction of his noble patron. As the young lord was but of a weakly constitution, his father thought proper to marry him early, lest the family should become extinct by his death. And, since he was too young, and had too little experience to choose a wife for himself, and lord Ashley had the highest opinion of Mr. Locke's judgment, as well as the greatest confidence in his integrity, he desired him to make a suitable choice for his son. This was a difficult and delicate task; for though lord Ashley did not insist on a great fortune for his son, yet he would have him marry a lady of a good family, an agreeable temper, a fine person, and, above all, of good education and good understanding, whose conduct would be very different from that of the generality of court ladies. Notwithstanding the difficulties attending such a commission, Mr. Locke undertook it, and executed it very happily. The eldest son by this marriage, afterwards the noble author of the Characteristics, was committed to the care of Mr. Locke in his education, and gave evidence to the world of the master-hand which had directed and guided his genius.

In 1670, and in the following year, Mr. Locke began to forin the plan of his Essay on the Human Understanding, at the earnest request of some of his friends, who were accustomed to meet in his chamber, for the purpose of conversing on philosophical subjects; but the employments and avocations which were found for him by his patron would not then suffer him to make any great progress in that work. About this time, it is supposed, he was made fellow of the Royal Society. In 1672, lord Ashley, having been created earl of Shaftesbury, and raised to the dignity of lord high chancellor of England, appointed Mr. Locke secretary of the presentations; but he held that place only till the end of the following year, when the earl was obliged to resign the great seal. His dismissal was followed by that of Mr. Locke, to whom the earl had communicated his most secret affairs, and who contributed towards the publication of some treatises, which were intended to excite the nation to watch the conduct of the Roman Catholics, and to oppose

the arbitrary designs of the court. After this, his lordship, who was still president of the board of trade, appointed Mr. Locke secretary to the same, which office he retained not long, the commission being dissolved in the year 1674. In the following year, he was admitted to the degree of bachelor of physic; and it appears that he continued to prosecute this study, and to keep up his acquaintance with several of the faculty. In what reputation he was held by some of the most eminent of them, we may judge from the testimonial that was given of him by the celebrated Dr. Sydenham, in his book, entitled, Observationes Medicæ circa Morborum Acutorum Historiam et Curationem, &c. "You know, likewise," says he, "how much my method has been approved of by a person who has examined it to the bottom, and who is our common friend: I mean Mr. John Locke, who, if we consider his genius and penetrating and exact judgment, or the strictness of his morals, has scarcely any superior, and few equals now living." In the summer of 1675, Mr. Locke, being apprehensive of a consumption, travelled into France, and resided for some time at Montpellier, where he became acquainted with Mr. Thomas Herbert, afterwards earl of Pembroke, to whom he communicated his design of writing his Essay on Human Understanding. From Montpellier he went to Paris, where he contracted a friendship with M. Justel, the celebrated civilian, whose house was at that time the place of resort for men of letters; and where a familiarity commenced between him and several other persons of eminent learning. In 1679, the earl of Shaftesbury, being again restored to favour at court, and made president of the council, sent to request that Mr. Locke would return to England, which he accordingly did. Within six months, however, that nobleman was again displaced, for refusing his concurrence with the designs of the court, which aimed at the establishment of popery and arbitrary power; and, in 1682, he was obliged to retire to Holland, to avoid a prosecution for high treason, on account of pretended crimes of which he was accused. Mr. Locke remained steadily attached to his patron, following him into Holland; and upon his lordship's death, which happened soon afterwards, he did not think it safe to return to England, where his intima'e connexion with lord Shaftesbury had created him some powerful and malignant enemies. Before he had been a

year in Holland, he was accused at the English court of being the author of certain tracts which had been published against the government; and, notwithstanding that another person was soon afterwards discovered to be the writer of them, yet as he was observed to join in company at the Hague with several Englishmen who were the avowed enemies of the system of politics on which the English court now acted, information of this circumstance was conveyed to the earl of Sunderland, then secretary of state. This intelligence lord Sunderland communicated to the king, who immediately ordered that bishop Fell, then dean of Christ-church, should receive his express command to eject Mr. Locke from his student's place, which the bishop executed accordingly. After this violent procedure of the court against him in England, he thought it prudent to remain in Holland, where he was at the accession of king James II. Soon after that event, William Penn, the famous quaker, who had known Mr. Locke at the university, used his interest with the king to procure a pardon for him; and would have obtained it had not Mr. Locke declined the acceptance of such an offer, nobly observing, that he had no occasion for a pardon, since he had not been guilty of any crime.

In the year 1685, when the duke of Monmouth and his party were making preparations in Holland for his rasa and unfortunate enterprise, the English envoy at the Hague demanded that Mr. Locke, with several others, should be delivered up to him, on suspicion of his being engaged in that undertaking. And thongh this suspicion was not on y groundless, but without even a shadow of probability, it obliged him to lie concealed nearly twelve months, till it was sufficiently known that he had no concern whatever in that business. Towards the latter end of the year 1686, he appeared again in public; and in the following year formed a literary society at Amsterdam, of which Limborch, Le Clerc, and other learned men, were members, who met together weekly for conversation upon subjects of universal learning. About the end of the year 1687, our author finished the composition of his great work, the Essay concerning Human Understanding, which had been the principal object of his attention for some years; and that the public might be apprised of the outlines of his plan, he made an abridgment of it himself, which his friend Le Clerc trans

lated into French, and inserted in one of his "Biblotheques." This abridgment was so highly approved of by all thinking persons, and sincere lovers of truth, that they expressed the strongest desire to see the whole work. During the time of his concealment, he wrote his first Letter concerning Toleration, in Latin, which was first printed at Gouda, in 1689, under the title of Epistola de Tolerantia, &c. 12mo. This excellent performance, which has ever since been held in the highest esteem by the best judges, was translated into Dutch and French, in the same year, and was also printed in English, in 4to. Before this work made its appearance, the happy Revolution in 1688, effected by the courage and good conduct of the prince of Orange, opened the way for Mr. Locke's return to his native country; whither he came in the fleet which conveyed the princess of Orange. After public liberty had been restored, our author thought it proper to assert his own private rights; and therefore put in his claim to the student's place in Christ-church, of which he had been unjustly deprived. Finding, however, that the society resisted his pretensions, on the plea that their proceedings had been conformable to their statutes, and that they could not be prevailed upon to dispossess the person who had been elected in his room, he desisted from his claim. It is true, that they made him an offer of being admitted a supernumerary student; but, as his sole motive in endeavouring to procure his restoration was, that such a measure might proclaim the injustice of the mandate for his ejection, he did not think proper to accept it. As Mr. Locke was justly considered to be a sufferer for the principles of the Revolution, he might without much difficulty have obtained some very considerable post; but he contented himself with that of commissiouer of appeals, worth about £200 per annum. In July, 1689, he wrote a letter to his friend Limborch, with whom he frequently corresponded, in which he took occasion to speak of the act of toleration, which had then just passed, and at which he expressed his satisfaction; though he at the same time intimated, that he considered it to be defective, and not sufficiently compre hensive. "I doubt not," says he, "but you have already heard, that toleration is at length established among us by law; not, however, perhaps, with that latitude which you, and such as you, true Christians, devoid of envy and ambi