ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



disturbance, which oan, under oertain condition*, bo heard by 

 in tlm attached telephone. If tl.-- inlurtion ooil 

 Htuiiil nt tin- /':<> point, the current circulating in 01,. 



oils is exactly halanced by the one traversing the other 



fixed coil ; thm-foro tho effect is m-ntmli-i'il, uiul no iiiilm-tioii 



effect is produced in tho movable coil. Upon moving the ooil 



from point to point along tho scale, tho Bounds become louder 



inlor. until lit last tho patient says that he can hear it. 



irtiriilur d.-jrrco where audibility becomes possible U 



noted by the physician, and he is able to report progress by 



tmbsequent t 



Anot IUT iii-tniinont in which the microphone plays a chief 

 part lias been designed by Dr. Richardson himself, who finds 

 it a groat uid in hi* daily practice. It is called the " Sphyg- 

 rnopiione," and is founded npon that instrument which gives 

 graphic tracings of the movements of the pulse. But tho 

 Sphygmophone as its name implies makes these move- 

 ments audible. Indeed, so loud are they, that the beating of 

 tho pulse can be heard over a large room. The instrument is 

 attached to the patient's wrist, and every movement of tho 

 pulse causes a corresponding movement in a small microphonic 

 arrangement. It is said that the experienced ear can detect 

 tho state of the patient's heart by the nature of the sounds 

 emitted, and that the sphygmophone forms a valuable addition 

 to the resources of the physician in the treatment of disease. 



ENGLISH LITERATURE. XXII. 



THE DEVOLUTION AND THE AUGUSTAN PERIOD : PBOSE 



WRITERS. 



THE great Revolution of 1688 not only completed the great 

 work of tho Civil War and of many an earlier struggle by finally 

 .-v mring political liberty for England, but it also marks a great 

 epoch in the history of free thought, free inquiry, and sound 

 philosophy in this country. The great intellectual revival of tho 

 sixteenth century had never ceased to spread ; the grand crusade 

 against ignorance and superstition in which Bacon played so 

 leading a part had never been abandoned, nor had English 

 thinkers over failed to take their part in it with more or less 

 success and distinction. Even during the reign of Charles II., 

 while tho spirit of the Restoration was at the height of its influ- 

 ence, science and philosophy made much progress a progress of 

 which the establishment of the Royal Society is a notable 

 evidence. But the social influences of tho age were not favour- 

 able to freedom in any of its forms ; and in the domain of 

 thought England showed comparatively little of that energy 

 and breadth which were displayed by Continental nations. But 

 with the Revolution of 1688 a new set of influences prevailed. 

 Political freedom brought with it its natural concomitants, 

 boldness of thought and inquiry, and religious and intellectual 

 tolerance qualities which characterised this age to a degree 

 never previously known in England. 



The central figure in the world of thought and of letters in 

 tho years which followed the Restoration is that of John 

 Locko. This great man was born in 1632. He was educated 

 first at Westminster School, and afterwards at Christchurch, 

 Oxford. At Oxford he spent many years after he had taken his 

 degree, devoting himself mainly to the study of natural science, 

 and especially of medicine, in which he became very proficient. 

 After the Restoration, Locke was frequently employed in the 

 public service abroad and at home ; and was involved in the 

 political conflicts of the time, attaching himself to the cause 

 and following the fortunes of Lord Shaftesbury, the able but 

 unscrupulous and ambitious leader of the Protestant party. 

 After the final fall of Shaftesbury, and the triumph and acces- 

 sion to the throne of his enemy the Duke of York, Locke's 

 position in England became unsafe, and he retired to Holland, 

 where he remained as long as James II. occupied the throne. 

 In 1688, immediately upon the change of government, Locke 

 returned to England. Ho was soon appointed to an important 

 and lucrative post in the public service, as a member of tho 

 Council of Trade, an office which he retained as long as his 

 health allowed of his doing so. After leaving the public 

 service, he passed the remaining years of his life in the country 

 in learned retirement. Ho died in 1704. 



The works of Locke aro numerous, and their subjects some- 

 Tfhat various ; but tho same tone and spirit pervades thorn all 



a spirit of earnest but temperate devotion to the cause at liberty 

 in politics, in philosophy, and in religion. . All show the Mae 

 originality, vigour, and breadth of thought and olearoeM of 

 reasoning ; and in all hi* style U simple and nervou*. though 

 sometimes, perhaps, too idiomatic and too full of 

 be consistent with philosophical exactness or quite in 

 with the dignity of bis subject. 



Locke's " Letters on Toleration " constitute the most syste 

 matic and philosophical argument in favour of toleration which 

 had as yet appeared. 



His " Treatise of Civil Government" is an attempt to deter- 

 mine the true basis on which civil government rents, and the 

 limits within which it ought to be restricted. A school of 

 writers in his day had adopted, without much inquiry, a theory 

 of the origin of government which, however, modern inquiry 

 has shown to be historically quite correct that the family U the 

 oldest of institutions, and the father of the family the oldest of 

 rulers ; that the family became tho tribe, the tribe the nation ; 

 and that so the family organisation and the power of the father 

 are tho root from which have been developed the political state 

 and the authority of kings. But not content with teaching 

 this as an historical theory, in which aspect it is perfectly 

 correct, these writers went on to make a moat mischievous 

 practical application of it. They taught that, by some divine 

 right or inherent necessity, tho power of a king must always 

 remain as sacred and as unlimited as the power of the parent 

 in its most primitive form. Hence they taught the duty of 

 absolute obedience to kings, and denied the rights or liberties of 

 subjects. To meet such views Locke's very powerful treatise 

 was written. In it he places all government upon its only 

 rational basis, the common benefit of all. But he sometimes 

 fails to distinguish between the two wholly distinct questions, 

 the question, How did governments in fact originate ? and the 

 question, Why ought they now to be maintained, and what 

 limits ought to be assigned to them ? And npon matters of 

 history Locke is often less sound than his opponents. Very 

 similar in spirit ia the "Essay on Education," which shows- 

 much liberality of spirit and a strong desire to throw off the 

 narrowness which distinguished the system of education pre- 

 vailing then even more than it does in the present day. The 

 " Essay on the Reasonableness of Christianity " is a calm and 

 serious argument on the subject which its title expresses ; and 

 it gives a greater insight into Locke's religious views and feel- 

 ings than any other of his works. 



But the work which has secured for Locke his great and lasting 

 reputation, and given him a place among the greatest thinkers, 

 is the " Essay on the Human Understanding." A critical exami- 

 nation of this remarkable book would be out of place in these 

 " Lessons on English Literature ;" it belongs rather to the 

 history of philosophy. Locke was not the first who attempted 

 to map out with fulness and precision the field of the human 

 intellect, and to trace our ideas to their sources. Many labourers 

 in the same work had preceded him on the Continent, and some 

 in England ; but no writer had ever approached Locke in clear- 

 ness of thought, soundness of method, or variety and originality 

 of illustration. The truth of Locke's general theory has always 

 been and will probably always be a matter of dispute, and those 

 who agree with his general conclusions will always find some- 

 thing to dissent from among his detailed opinions. But even 

 those most hostile to his philosophical system admit the power 

 of his work and the value of his discussions of the most difficult 

 questions. Few books have exercised so profound an influence 

 upon European thought. 



In the domain of mathematics and experimental philosophy 

 tho genius of Sir Isaac Newton stood supreme at the same epoch ; 

 nor did ho stand by any means alone in the cultivation of these 

 branches of science. 



Nothing more plainly illustrates the spirit prevalent in England 

 after tho Revolution than the character of the churchmen and 

 theologians, and the tone of the theological teaching of the period. 

 The school of divines prominent after the Revolution was that 

 which has been characterised as Latitudinarian a school distin- 

 guished by learning, good sense, judgment, and tolerance ; very 

 free from bigotry, narrowness, and superstition; but falling 

 short, perhaps, of that high standard of zeal and enthusiastic 

 devotion which has sometimes prevailed among men intellec- 

 tually inferior. 



Among theolorians of this class a high place must be assigned 



