into Westminster school; from whence, in 1652, he was removed to Christ Church, Oxford. Here he took the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts in 1655 and 1658; and, being captivated by the writings of the celebrated French philosopher, Descartes, devoted himself, with great ardour, to similar pursuits. He also studied physic; to which he was probably led by the necessity of managing a very delicate constitution, for it does not appear that he ever took the degree of doctor, or practised for profit as a physician. In 1664 he accompanied Sir William Swan as Envoy to Germany, in the capacity of secretary; and on his return, two years after, resumed his philosophical studies at Oxford; where he formed an intimate connexion with Lord Ashley, whom he cured of a dangerous malady. This circumstance, added to the discovery of Mr. Locke's wonderful powers of mind and great learning, greatly attached his Lordship to him, and he became an inmate in his house; where he mingled freely with all the considerable men of his time, who were astonished and charmed with his conversation. He now turned his attention to religious and political considerations, and laid the foundation of those celebrated works which afterwards raised him to the highest reputation. In 1672 his patron, Lord Ashley, being created Earl of Shaftesbury, and Lord High Chancellor of England, made him secretary for church presentations. In 1681, the Earl, having given offence to King Charles II. by his opposition to the papists, was deprived of his office and committed to the Tower; and no sooner regained his liberty than he retired into Holland, where he soon after died. Mr. Locke, having shared in the displeasure of the court, followed his Lordship thither; and in 1684 was deprived of his appointment of student of Christ Church, by an order from the King. During the whole of the succeeding reign Mr. Locke continued to reside in Holland, his name being highly obnoxious to the Papists, who used all their influence against him. While residing in that country, he cultivated the friendship of Limborch, Le Clerc, and

VOL. I.

other distinguished men. He printed at the Hague his celebrated letter on Toleration, in Latin, but it was immediately translated into English, and republished in London.

The revolution in 1688 restored Mr. Locke to his own country, as well as many other distinguished men who had been compelled to seek shelter abroad. He returned in the fleet which conveyed the Princess of Orange (afterwards Queen Mary) to England, and soon after published his Essay on the Human Understanding, a work which has immortalised his name, and is still esteemed as a standard of profound wisdom. This work had been completed in Holland. The same year he vindicated the principles of the revolution in two treatises on government. The high character of Mr. Locke rendered him an object of King William's immediate notice. He was offered various public employments, but being unambitious, and disposed to retirement, he accepted only a place worth 2007. per annum; and though he was prevailed on, in 1695, to become a member of the board of trade, the duties of which he discharged with great ability, he resigned his commission into the King's own hand in 1700, being resolved to retain no office which his health would not permit him to execute conscientiously.

As he was now freed from public cares, his friend Sir Francis Masham, of Oates, in Essex, who had married the daughter of the celebrated Cudworth, persuaded him to reside permanently with him, for the benefit of country air, which greatly improved his health; and here he employed his pen in the completion of several other works of great value. He had

already published his treatise On the Reasonableness of Christianity, as delivered in the Scriptures," a work which involved him in a controversy with the learned Bishop Stillingfleet; it is much to be regretted that this dispute was productive of considerable asperity between the friends of these two great men, who were both warmed with a hearty desire to promote the honour of Christianity, however

they might differ upon a few points of slight importance.

Mr. Locke devoted the whole of his latter years to the study of the scriptures. On being applied to by a young gentleman to show him the shortest and surest way to attain a true knowledge of Christianity, he replied," Let him study the holy scriptures, especially the New Testament. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter." His health gradually declined, and he foresaw his end with calm composure. On the day before he died, he said he had lived long enough, and was thankful he had enjoyed a happy life; but that after all he looked upon this life to be nothing but vanity. That night he had no rest, and begged in the morning to be carried into his study, where, being placed in an easy chair, his friend Lady Masham read to him, at his request, several of the Psalms, to which he listened earnestly, and presently after expired, on the 28th of October, 1704, in the 73d year of his age.

This excellent lady, a few days after his disease, gave the following account of his last moments in a letter to Mr. Ellis, which is preserved in the British Museum: "You will not dislike to learn that the last scene of Mr. Locke's life was no less admirable than any thing else in him. All the faculties of his mind were perfect to the last; but his weakness, of which only he died, made such gradual and visible advances, that few people, I think, do so sensibly see death approach them as he did. During all which time no one could observe the least alteration in his humour; always cheerful, civil, conversable to the last day; thoughtful of all the concerns of his friends, and omitting no fit occasion of giving Christian advice to all about him. In short, his death was, like his life, truly pious, yet natural, easy, and unaffected; nor can time, I think, ever produce, a more eminent example of reason and religion than he was, living and dying."

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340

DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON.

WE do not hesitate to pronounce Dr. Johnson to have been the first man of the age which he adorned. While we admire the amazing powers of his mind, we are astonished at the compass of his knowledge. It is true that this country has produced scholars more learned-poets more sublime-philosophers more profound-but the rare union of wisdom to investigate, learning to illustrate, and eloquence to enforce, the most subtle, the most delicate, and the most important subjects which can engage the understanding, has justly raised Johnson above all his contemporaries.

When we consider the difficulties under which he laboured-while harassed by poverty and other vexations, his body tormented with disease, his mind clouded with melancholy which often rendered exertion difficult and solitude insupportable-it is wonderful to behold the number and variety of the volumes which he has written, and still more surprising that, amidst all these discouragements, he should find leisure to amass such an amazing fund of information. But the giant strength of his mind overcame every obstacle with equal facility and despatch. In all his works we find a correctness and a polish which conceal the difficulties and betray no mark of the rapidity under which they were composed. Some of his most successful pieces were written under circumstances the most trying; in proof of which it is only necessary to mention that the beautiful tale of Rasselas (which presents the most perfect imitation of the Oriental style which has appeared in any European language) was written at a moment of the deepest affliction to defray the funeral expenses of his mother!

But however great may be the popular admiration of Johnson's writings, we have been assured by some who were members of his celebrated club, that no one could duly estimate his splendid abilities who

did not enjoy his society. The powers of his conversation were unrivalled. He grappled with the most abstruse and trifled with the most familiar subjects, with a facility which at once surprized and delighted his hearers. When seated in his armchair, and surrounded by Burke and Beauclerk, Reynolds, Fox, Windham, and other eminent men, they listened in silent admiration to that wisdom which flowed in the richest eloquence from his lips. He inspired them with an awe which we have heard one of the most distinguished among them acknowledge to have daunted even Burke, nor did this feeling arise from the occasional severity of his manner, but rather from their consciousness of his superior mind.

Happily for those who were not his companions, he had a biographer who has enabled us to form a better estimate of his conversation than that of any other distinguished character upon record. Boswell's "Life of Johnson," like a highly-finished portrait, represents with the utmost exactness every feature of his character, with all its merits and defects, by the most minute and faithful touches; and though the partiality of friendship might have withheld some of these traits, it is the highest honour to Johnson's character that, when thus laid bare to view, it proves so just and so pure on the closest inspection. The extraordinary care with which he has preserved his conversations brings Johnson and his intimate companions before our view in so lively a manner that we feel a personal acquaintance with their character. We shall ever feel grateful to Mr. Boswell for this curious work, which in truth is the literary history of this country during the period when Johnson flourished.

What would we not give that Bacon, Milton, and Shakspeare had each had their Boswells to communicate their opinions and record their very words. Our regret that no such memorial remains of these illustrious men, proves the value of a book which, with many imperfections, is the most interesting piece of Biography in our language.