LOCKE. 



was received on liis own terms, that lie might hai^e his entire 

 liberty, and look upon himfelf a< at his own home ; and 

 here he chiefiy piirfncd his future iludies, being ftldom ab- 

 font, becanfe the air of I^ondon grew more and more trouble- 

 fome to him. In 1695 he publiflicd his " Thoutrhts on 

 Education," whichihe improved in fonie fubfequent editions ; 

 and in 1695 he was appointed, by the king, one of the 

 " Commilfio'ers of Trade and Plantations," which obliged 

 him to be more frequently in London than he had been for 

 fome time pall. In the fame year he publiflied his excellent 

 treatife, entitled " Tlie Reafonabieuefs of -Chriflianity as 

 delivered in the Scriptures;" of which he nfterwards pub- 

 lifhed a vindication, in anfwer to a fcurrilons attack by Dr. 

 Edwards, entitled " Socinianifm unma{)<ed." Scarcely 

 was Mr. Locke difeugaged from this controverfy, before 

 he wa^ drawn into another, occafioned by the publication of 

 Mr. 'Poland's " Chriilianity not mylierious," in which he 

 endeavoured to prove " that there is nothing in the Cliriftian 

 religion not only contrary to reafon, but even nothing 

 above it ;" and in explaining his notions, he made ufe of fe- 

 vcral arguments from Mr. Locke's " ElFay." Abnut the 

 fame time, feveral trcatifes were publiflied by fome Unitarian 

 tvritera, maintaining that there was nothing in the Chriftian re- 

 ligion but what was rational and intelligible, which fentiment 

 h.id been advanced by Mr Locke. The ufe which was made 

 of his writings in thefe inilanccs, determined Dr. Slilling- 

 fleet, bifhop of Worcefter, to make an attack upon the 

 author, in his " Defence of the Dodrinc of the Trinity," 

 publilhed in 1697. Mr. Locke wrote an anfwer, and the 

 controverfy was carried on ,till the death of the biihop : 

 The candid of every party admitted that Mr. Locke was 

 too powerful for the learned prelate, and M. Le Clerc, 

 fpeaking of the difcuflion, fays, " Every body admired the 

 llrength of Mr. Locke's reafonings, and his great clearnefs 

 and i-xaanefs, not only in explaining his own notions, but in 

 confuting thofe of his adversary. Nor were men of under- 

 ftanding lefs ftirprifed, that fo learned a man as the billiop 

 fhoidd engage in a controverfy, in which he had all the dis- 

 advantages poffible : for he was by no means'ableto maintain 

 his opinions again ft Mr. Locke, whofe reafonings he neither 

 underftood, nor the fnbjeCt itfelf abo\it which hedifputed." 

 And an Irifh prelate writing to Mr. Molyneux, the intimate 

 friend of Mr. Locke, thus expreff-s himfelf on the fubjeft : 

 " I am wholly of your opinion, that he has laid the great 

 bifhop on his back ; but it is with fo much gentlencfs, as if 

 he were afraid not only of hurting him, but even of fpoiling 

 or tumbling his clothes. Indeed, I cannot tell which I moll 

 admire ; the great civility arfd good manners in his book, or 

 the forciblcnefs and clearnefs of his reafoning.'' Never, per- 

 haps, was a controverfy managed with fa much f]<ill and art 

 on one fide, nor on the othL-r, fo unjulHy, confufedly, or 

 fo httle to the credit of the author. The trafls on this con- 

 troverfy were the laft which Mr. Locke committed to prefs : 

 he grew infirm more from difeafe than great age, and lie de- 

 termined to refign his office of " Commifiloner of Trade, 

 &c. ;" but he acquainted no perfon of his intention till he had 

 given up his commiffion into the king's own hand. His ma- 

 jelly preffed him to continue in the p'oft, thoui^h he fhould be 

 unable to perform its duties ; but Mr. Locke could not be 

 induced to make fuch a compromife, and he infilled upon 

 furrendering the emoluments of a place that he felt him- 

 ftlf incapable of filling. From this time, which was the 

 year 1700, he lived altogether at Oates in EfTex, and applied 

 himfelf, without interruption, entirely to the ftudy of the 

 holy fcripturcs ; and in the employment he found fo much 

 pleafure, that he rearetted his not having devoted more of 

 Jbis time to it m the former jpart of liis life ; and he replied, in 



anfwer to a young genlleman, who aflced what was the' 

 fliorteft and lurell way for a perfon to attain a true knowledge 

 of the Chrillian religion ? " Let iiim lludy the holy fcrip- 

 ture, cfpecially the New Tellament. It has God for its 

 author ; falvation for its end ; and trutli, without any mix- 

 ture of error, for its matter." In 1703 he fuflered much 

 from an allhmatic diforder, but the pangs of bodily complaint 

 were alleviated by the kind attentions of lady Mafliam, who 

 was the daughter of the learned Cudworth : flill he forefaw 

 that his diflolution was not far diilant, and he could anticipate 

 it without dread, and fpeak of it with perfect calmnefs and 

 compofure. Though few men had need of fo little prepara- 

 tion for the important change as Mr. Locke, yet he lelt it 

 right to receive the facrament at home, in company with fome 

 friends, being unable to go to church. When the ceremony 

 wasfinifhed,hetoldthemini{lcr, "that he was in perfecl charity 

 with all men, and in a fincere communion with the church of 

 Chrifl, by what name foever it might be dillinguifhed." He 

 lived fome months after this, which he fpent in atls of piety and 

 devotion : when he was meditating on the wildom and good- 

 nefs of the Creator, he could not forbear crying out, " Oh 

 the depth of the riches of the goodnefs and knowledge of 

 God :" what he felt himfelf on this fubjecl he was anxious 

 toinfufe into the hearts of others. On the day previoufly to his 

 departure he faid, •' hehad livedlong ejiough, and v. as thank- 

 ful that lie had enjoved a happy liie ; but that, after all, he looked 

 upon this life to be nothing but vanity," or, as he expreffes 

 a fimilar fentiment, in a letter which he left behind him for his 

 friend Mr. Anthony Collins, one that " alFords no folid fa- 

 tisfatlion but in the confcionfnefs of doing well, and in the 

 hopes of another life." He had no rell that night, and 

 begged in the morning to be carried into his fludy, where, 

 being placed in an eafy chair, he had a refrefhing fleep for 

 a confiderable time. He then requeflcd his valuable friend, 

 lady Mafham, to read aloud fome of the pfalnis, to which 

 he appeared exceedingly attentive, till feeling, probably, the 

 approach of the lall meffenger, he begged her to defill, and 

 in a few minutes expired, on the aSth of October 1704, 

 in the 73d year of his age. He was interred in tlie church 

 of Oates, where there is a monument erefted to his memory, 

 with a Latin infcription, which he had prepared for the 

 purpofe. 



Such was the end of as illuftrious a philofopher as ever 

 adorned our country: celebrated not only by his wifdoni, but 

 by his piety and virtue, by his love of truth, and dihgence in 

 the purfuit of it, and by a noble ardour in defence of the civil 

 and religious riglits of mankind. That Mr, Locke poffeffed 

 a noble and lofty mind, fuperior to prejudice, and capable, 

 by its native energy, of exploring the truth, even in the re- 

 gions of the intelleftual world bofoi-e unknown ; that his 

 judgment was accurate and profound; that his imagination 

 was vigorous ; and that he was well furnilhed with the orna- 

 ments of elegant learning, were there no other proofsj 

 might be concluded from his great and immortal work, 

 " The EfTay concerning Human Underllanding." Though 

 we cannot agree with the learned author of the " Diverfions 

 of Pulley," " that Mr. Locke never did advance a fingle ftep 

 beyond the origin of Ideas and the compoiltion of Terms ;" 

 yet it mufl be admitted, that this was the main objeft of his^ 

 effay, though not at firll perceived by Mr. Locke himfelf, as 

 he acknowledges : but he adds, " when I began to examine 

 the extent and certainty of our knowledge, I found it had 

 fo near a conncftion with words, tliat unlefs their force and 

 manner of iignification were full well oblcrved, there could 

 be very little faid clearly and pertinently concerning know- 

 ledge, which being converfant about truth, had conftantly 

 to do with propolltioiis. And though it terminated in things, 



3 F' 



