logical and diffuse in no ordinary degree. Not only does he ring the changes on ideas-a very common fault in sermons -but he is apt to heap together synonymous words in a rather irritating way. The following extract, which is a fair sample of his style, shows this peculiarity:-"Truth is always consistent with itself, and needs nothing to help it out; it is always near at hand, and sits upon our lips, and is ready to drop out before we are aware; whereas a lie is troublesome, and sets a man's invention upon the rack, and one trick needs a great many more to make it good. It is like building upon a false foundation, which continually stands in need of props to shore it up, and proves at last more chargeable than to have raised a substantial building at first upon a true and solid foundation; for sincerity is firm and substantial, and there is nothing hollow or unsound in it, and because it is plain and open, fears no discovery; of which the crafty man is always in danger; and when he thinks he walks in the dark, all his pretences are so transparent that he that runs may read them." Tillotson probably presents more examples than any author of passages wherewith to exercise the skill of the student of English composition in weeding out their superfluous words and phrases.

Three other notable divines, all ardent controversialists, were Stillingfleet, Sherlock, and South. Edward Stillingfleet (1635-1699) defended with considerable vigour and acrimony the doctrines of the Church of England, attacking all her opponents, Atheists, Unitarians, Papists, and Dissenters. In 1686 he had a controversy with Dryden, who had been employed to defend the reasons of conversion to the Catholic faith by Anne Hyde, which were said to have been found in Charles II.'s strong-box. In this controversy he had decidedly the best of it, but he was signally worsted in a dispute with Locke on the doctrine of the Trinity, and the mortification he then sustained is said to have hastened his death. William Sherlock (1641-1707) "entered warmly into dispute with the most busy sectaries of the time, the Solifidians and Antinominans, who appeared in the reign of

Elizabeth; with the Catholics and Nonconformists, the latter of whom he was very anxious to bring back to the Established Church." Sherlock is now chiefly remembered by his "Discourse Concerning Death," published in 1690. His "Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity" was fiercely attacked by Robert South (1633-1716), who has been very unjustly called "the wittiest of English divines." No doubt he displays a great command of satirical wit, but his wit was neither so spontaneous nor so affluent as Fuller's. South, who had a brilliant university career, was an extreme Anglican, adhering firmly to the doctrine of passive obedience and the divine right of kings. At the Revolution, though, after some delay, he took the oaths to the new Government, he steadily declined preferment, declaring, "that notwithstanding he, for his part, saw nothing that was contrary to the laws of God and the common practice of all nations to submit to princes in possession of the throne, yet others might have their reasons for a contrary opinion; and he blessed God that he was neither so ambitious nor in want of preferment as for the sake of it to build his rise upon the ruin of any one father of the Church, who for piety, good morals, and strictness of life, which every one of the deprived bishops were famous for, might be said not to have left their equal." His solid erudition, united to his command of language and his frequent flashes of wit, give his sermons high literary value; but the intolerant spirit which animates all his works contrasts very unfavourably with the conciliatory tone and forbearance of Tillotson.

Another divine, of great popularity as a preacher, but whose fame is grounded upon his historical works, was Gilbert Burnet, a prominent figure in the history of the Revolution of 1688. He was born at Edinburgh in 1643, and educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, which, in accordance with the ridiculous fashion of the time, he entered when he was ten years old, graduating when he was fourteen. He then applied himself to the study of civil law, but soon turned aside from this pursuit to devote himself to theology. In 1669 he was made professor of divinity at Glasgow, which office he held

about four years, resigning in 1673, when he went to London. There he soon attracted attention as a preacher and as a man of liberal opinions. During the troubled reign of James II. he went abroad, and after a tour through various parts of the Continent, was invited to the Hague by the Prince and Princess of Holland. He afterwards accompanied the Prince in his expedition to England as his chaplain, and took a leading part in the politics of the Revolution. In 1689 he was appointed Bishop of Salisbury. So attractive were his pulpit ministrations, that he was often, says Macaulay, "interrupted by the deep hum of his audience, and when, after preaching out the hour-glass, he held it up in his hand, the congregation clamorously encouraged him to go on till the sand had run off once more." We doubt very much if there is any preacher now living whose congregation would listen to him with attention and sympathy for two hours; but sermons were more popular in those days, when reading was not a universal accomplishment. Burnet died in 1715, having spent a very industrious, active, and useful life. He was an honest, courageous man, rather disposed to be fussy and interfering, but a faithful and steady friend to those whose cause he had adopted, and not disposed to keep up malice against his enemies. He was the author of many writings, of which the most noteworthy are "An Account of the Life and Death of the Earl of Rochester" (1680), a book which Dr. Johnson declared "the critic ought to read for its elegance, the philosopher for its arguments, and the saint for its piety," though, as he once said in conversation, the "death" is better than the "life;" a "History of the Reformation of the Church of England," in three volumes, of which the first appeared in 1679, gaining for him the thanks of Parliament; and the "History of my Own Times," which was published posthumously. The last is his most valuable work, though his "History of the Reformation" contains a great store of information. "Burnet's 'History of His Own Times," Johnson is recorded to have said, "is very entertaining; the style, indeed, is mere chit-chat. I do not believe that Burnet intentionally lied; but he was so

much prejudiced that he took no pains to find out the truth. He was like a man who resolves to regulate his time by a certain watch, but will not inquire whether the watch is right or not." This is somewhat unjust as regards both Burnet's accuracy and his style. All things considered, the History is wonderfully accurate; and the many character-portraits it contains are masterpieces of shrewd description.

The greatest philosopher of the period was John Locke, who besides did good work in helping forward the cause of toleration. He was born in 1632 in Somersetshire, where his father, who had been a captain in the Parliamentary army during the Civil Wars, had a small estate. He was educated at Westminster, and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took the degree of B. A. in 1655. About this time his inclinations led him to study medicine, and he acquired sufficient knowledge of physic to earn the praise of the great Sydenham. He remained at Oxford till 1664, when he accompanied, as secretary, Sir Walter Vane, the envoy sent by Charles II. to the Elector of Brandenburg during the Dutch war. Two years afterwards he became acquainted with Lord Ashley, afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury, who was so captivated by his society that Locke became an inmate of his house, where he mingled freely with the best society of the time. By Shaftesbury, in 1692, he was made secretary of prosecutions, but ill-health prevented him from holding this office long, and induced him to visit France, where he resided for several years. On Shaftesbury's fall from power Locke came to be looked on with suspicion by the Government, and had to take refuge in Holland. There he wrote, in Latin, his first "Letter on Toleration," which appeared in 1689. In 1690-1692, he published two other letters on the same subject, replying to objections which had been urged against his doctrines. After the Revolution Locke's defence of liberal principles was rewarded by his being made Commissioner of Stamps, and afterwards one of the Commissioners of Trade. In 1689 and 1690 he published "Two Treatises of Government," the first containing a reply to the ridiculous theories of Sir Robert Filmer,

who, in his "Patriarchia" (1680), upheld the divine right of kings in its extremest form, the other treating of the true original, extent, and end of civil government. In 1690 also appeared his famous "Essay on the Human Understanding" and his interesting tractate on Education. He died in 1704. His "Essay on the Conduct of the Understanding" was published posthumously. It is very highly praised by Hallam, who declares that he cannot think any parent or instructor justified in neglecting to put this little treatise in the hands of a boy about the time his reasoning faculties become developed. "It will give him a sober and serious, not flippant or selfconceited, independency of thinking; and while it teaches how to distrust ourselves and watch those prejudices which necessarily grow up from one cause or another, will inspire a reasonable confidence in what he has well considered, by taking off a little of that deference to authority, which is the more to be regretted in its excess, that, like its cousin-german, party-spirit, it is frequently found united to loyalty of heart and the generous enthusiasm of youth." Locke's style is simple and graceful; he was called by Landor the most elegant of prose writers. He is a great name in the history of philosophical thought, and his writings on Toleration and Government had considerable political influence.

The establishment of the Royal Society dates from about the time of the Restoration. It was incorporated by royal charter in 1662. Its germ was a society which, in 1645, during the turmoil and agitation of the Civil Wars, had been formed in London by some quiet, studious men, of whom the most notable were Dr. Ward, Dr. Wallis, and Dr. Wilkins. "Our business," says Wallis, "was (precluding matters of theology and state affairs) to discourse and consider of philosophical inquiries, and such as related thereto, as Physick, Anatomy, Geometry, Astronomy, Navigation, Staticks, Magneticks, Chymicks, Mechanicks, and Natural Experiments, with the state of these studies and their cultivation at home and abroad. We then discoursed of the circulation of the blood, the valves in the veins, the venæ lacteæ, the lymphatic vessels,