the Treatises on Government, written in defence of the Revolution against the Tories: and in the year 1690, he published a Second Letter on Toleration.

In 1691 he published the first of his treatises on the subject of the coin, and the Farther Consideration on raising the Value of Money,' in 1695, for the purpose of correcting the false ideas then universally prevalent. In the latter work, addressed to Sir John Somers, he endeavors to strip the question of hard, obscure, and 'doubtful words, wherewith men are often misled and mislead others.' He condemns the nefarious project of raising the denomination and altering the standard, as a fraud on all creditors, and justly considers it as the means of confounding the property of the subject, and disturbing affairs to no purpose.' The advice of Locke was followed, and the great recoinage of 1695 restored the current money of the country to the full legal standard. In the same year he was appointed to a seat at the council of trade, which, after a short time, his increasing infirmities made him wish to resign.

In the following year King William ordered Locke to attend him at Kensington, desirous to employ him again in the public service; but the state of his health prevented him from accepting the honor that was designed him. Having refused the employment which the king had intended for him, he nów determined to resign that which he for some years held, and for the

same reason.

The asthmatic complaint, to which he had been long subject, making a continued residence in London, par

ticularly during the winter season, very distressing to him, he had for some years taken up his abode with Sir F. and Lady Masham, at Oates, near Ongar, in Essex, where he was perfectly at home, and enjoyed the society most agreeable to him; as Lady Masham, the daughter of Cudworth, is said to have been a woman of great sense and of most engaging manners.

During the last four years of his life, increasing infirmities confined him to the retirement he had chosen at Oates; and although laboring under an incurable disorder, he was cheerful to the last, constantly interested in the welfare of his friends, and at the same time perfectly resigned to his own fate. His literary occupation at that time was the study of and commentary on St. Paul's Epistles, published amongst his posthumous works.

In October, 1704, his disorder greatly increased: on the 27th of that month, Lady Masham, not finding him in his study as usual, went to his bedside, when he told her that the fatigue of getting up the day before had been too much for his strength, and that he never expected to rise again from his bed. He said that he had now finished his career in this world, and that in all probability he should not outlive the night, certainly not be able to survive beyond the next day or two. After taking some refreshment, he said to those present, that he wished them all happiness after he was gone. To Lady Masham, who remained with him, he said that he thanked God he had passed a happy life, but that now he found that all was vanity; and exhorted her to consider this world only as a

preparation for a better state hereafter. He would not suffer her to sit up with him, saying that perhaps he might be able to sleep; but if any change should happen, he would send for her. Having no sleep in the night, he was taken out of bed and carried into his study, where he slept for some time in his chair: after waking, he desired to be dressed, and then heard Lady Masham read the Psalms, apparently with great attention; until perceiving his end to draw near, he stopped her, and expired a very few minutes afterwards, about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 28th of October, in his 73d year.

The character of Locke stands eminently high morally and intellectually. He had the manners of a gentleman, the morals of a Christian, the profundity of a philosopher, and the practical activity of the man of business. He was master of whatever he studied, but no one assumed less the airs of superiority. He was a faithful servant of truth, which he followed with conscientious integrity wherever it led him. He sought for knowlege wherever it was to be found, and yielded to reason wherever it appeared. His conversation was agreeable to all; and though he could excel in raillery, he managed his humor so well as never to wound the feelings of any one. He was charitable to the poor, and sought opportunities of doing good to deserving objects. If he had any defect, it was the being somewhat passionate; but he had got the better of it by reason, and it was seldom that it did him or any one else any harm. He was an exact observer of his word, and what he promised

was sacred. His greatest amusement was to talk with sensible people; and he possessed all the requisite qualities for keeping up an agreeable and friendly intercourse. His literary industry was very great, as the enumeration of his works will show. His great work on Human Understanding was first published in 1690, nearly at the same time as Newton's Principia; both contributing to render illustrious the era of the Revolution. The Treatise on Civil Government, a Letter on Toleration, first published in Latin, in Holland, and afterwards in English, with the second Letter in Defence of Toleration, were all published in 1690, and a third Letter in 1692; the Treatise on Education, 1690; that concerning raising the value of money and lowering the interest, 1691; and Farther Considerations on the same subject, 1695, when he was very much consulted on the measures then in operation for restoring the coin; The Reasonableness of Christianity, 1695; and a first and second Vindication of the same, 1696; and also three elaborate letters in defence of the principles contained in the Essay against the attacks of the bishop of Wor

cester.

The Conduct of the Understanding, one of the most useful and practical of his works, and the Commentaries and Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul, close the catalogue of those of his literary labors which have been given to the world.

ESSAY

ON THE

HUMAN UNDERSTANDING.

BOOK I.

CHAPTER I.

Introduction.

SINCE it is the understanding that sets man above the rest of sensible beings, it is worth some labor to make it a subject of inquiry. But though like the eye, it enables us to see other objects, it requires to be set at a distance to be seen itself; and though the inquiry be attended with many difficulties, it cannot fail to be both pleasant and profitable from the assistance it will afford us in our researches on more points than one.

As my purpose is to inquire into the origin, certainty, and extent of human knowlege, together with the grounds and degrees of belief, opinion, and assent, I shall not trouble myself to ascertain in what the essence of the mind consists, or by what motions of our spirits or changes in our bodies we experience sensations or gain ideas, or whether those ideas depend on matter; it will be sufficient to consider what are the discerning faculties of man, and how they are employed; nor shall I consider my time misspent, if it enable us to set down any measures of the certainty Locke.

A