244 THE METAPHYSICS OF SENSATION 



did not withhold a single one of all " the virtues 

 under heaven ; " nor the cynicism of Swift, the 

 dignity of " one of the first men of the kingdom 

 for learning and virtue;" the man whom the 

 pious Atterbury could compare to nothing less 

 than an angel; whose personal influence and 

 eloquence filled the Scriblerus Club and the 

 House of Commons with enthusiasm for the 

 evangelization of the North American Indians ; 

 and even led Sir Robert Walpole to assent to the 

 appropriation of public money to a scheme which 

 was neither business nor bribery. 1 



Hardly any epoch in the intellectual history of 

 England is more remarkable in itself, or possesses 

 a greater interest for us in these latter days, than 

 that which coincides broadly with the conclusion 

 of the seventeenth and the opening of the 

 eighteenth century. The political fermentation of 

 the preceding age was gradually working itself 

 out ; domestic peace gave men time to think ; and 

 the toleration won by the party of which Locke 

 was the spokesman, permitted a freedom of speech 

 and of writing such as has rarely been exceeded 

 in later times. Fostered by these circumstances, 

 the great faculty for physical and metaphysical 



1 In justice to Sir Robert, however, it is proper to remark 

 that he declared afterwards, that he gave his assent to Berkeley's 

 scheme for the Bermuda University only because he thought the 

 House of Commons was sure to throw it out. 



