in his grief for the destruction of Jerusalem.

When I came

to Warwick House to my lord, I found him, blessed be God, pretty well. . . . .

Nov. 25, Sunday.-I meditated and prayed to God to fit me for the duties of the day, then went to St Andrew's Church to hear Mr Stillingfleet preach; his text was, "God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power." It was an excellent sermon, and God was pleased by it much to melt my heart, and to give me many tears, and enabled me in prayer to send up strong cries. After dinner, had good discourse with my lady Manchester, my mother-in-law.

Nov. 28.-In the morning, as soon as dressed, went to prayer, then went in a chair to visit my sister Ranelagh.

As

I went, had very serious meditations of the vanity of the world, and did there make a short reflection upon what I had seen since my coming to London; how vain and unsatisfactory all was, and how much more real and solid content there was in a retired life. I did then pray to God to sanctify this conviction to me, and to wean me more and more from all creature contentment. Then came to my sister's, where she and I alone had discourse of that which was serious and profitable. After dinner, was visited, and at night committed my soul to God by prayer,

Nov. 29. In the morning, as soon as dressed, went to prayer; and after that went to dinner to my lord Berkley's; and after dinner, was visited by the Archbishop of Canterbury, with whom I had very good discourse. After supper, committed myself to God.

Dec. 1.-In the morning, as soon as dressed, went to prayer, then went to my brother Burlington's to dinner.

Dec. 2.- . . . . Then went to my sister Ranelagh's, where my brother Robin, and she and I, had holy discourse.

*

April 23, 1667.-In the morning, as soon as dressed, in a

*The Honourable Robert Boyle.

MIRTH AND DEATH IN THE PALACE.

207

short prayer I committed my soul to God; then went to Whitehall, and dined at my lord chamberlain's; then went to see the celebration of St George's feast, which was a very glorious sight. Whilst I was in the banqueting-house, hearing the trumpets sounding, in the midst of all that great show, God was pleased to put very mortifying thoughts into my mind, and to make me consider, what if the trump of God should now sound! Which thought did strike me with some seriousness, and made me consider in what glory I had in that very place seen the late king, and yet out of that very place he was brought to have his head cut off. And I had also many thoughts how soon all that glory might be laid in the dust; and I did in the midst of it consider how much greater glory was provided for a poor, sincere child of God. I found, blessed be God, that my heart was not at all taken with anything I saw, but esteemed it not worth the being taken with. At night, committed my soul to God. . . .

....

May 22.-At evening, went to visit the Duchess of York, whose sons were both very sick. When I went to the Duke of Kendal, I found him in a convulsion fit, and near death. The sight of him, and of the king and duke, and four doctors standing by him, and the women about him crying to the doctors to give him something to ease him, and yet they not being able to do it, made me think they were all physicians of no value, and that they might say, Unless the Lord help thee, how can we help thee? It pleased God, by the sight of the dying child, much to affect my heart, and to make me pray for a sanctified improvement of this affliction to the parents. I came home not till late in the evening; and that night the duke died. After supper, I committed my soul to God. . . .

June 8.-As soon as up, I retired; meditated and prayed, but with some distraction. After dinner, went to see the Duchess of York, who sent to me to have the Duke of Cambridge (that was dangerously ill) come to my house for change

of air. I stayed with her a great while, and had good discourse with her. At last, it was determined that the duke should not come to my house, but to the Bishop of Winchester's. I returned not home till evening. Committed my soul to God at night, being very well pleased that the duke came not, because I feared he would die there.

June 12.-After evening prayer was over, came the ill news that the Dutch were come as far as Chatham, and had set some of our great ships on fire. I was much surprised and grieved at that sad news, and presently retired and prayed to God, and did confess that He was just, and that He had punished us far less than we deserved; and did, with great store of tears, beg that a way might be found out to save us from destruction, and that He would not let the French set up Popery in the kingdom. I did send up strong cries for mercy for England. After supper, committed my soul to God.

June 13.-God was pleased also to enable me, with much sorrow and many tears, to bemoan my husband's swearing and cursing; and I was much troubled to think that he did often at his table (which God had spread daily with variety of His creatures) curse and swear, when he should have been speaking good of His name, and blessing Him. I did weep much for this sin, and did, with earnestness, beg of God to pardon this unworthy return for His mercies; and did with great truth confess that it were now just with God to deprive us of those mercies we had so abused, and to turn us out of those houses wherein He had been so blasphemed; and I did exceedingly adore and admire His mercy, that did yet keep the plague out of my house, when that curse was so usually in my husband's mouth.

JOHN LOCKE.

Hard, logical, and unimaginative, Locke, as a theologian, had the faculty of perceiving the mistakes and fallacies of

others; but, deficient in that reverential receptivity to which the more majestic and mysterious truths of Christianity address themselves, his "Expositions of St Paul's Epistles" are cold, inadequate, and on many vital points utterly erroneous. At the same time, no English Protestant can ever forget the service rendered to the cause of religious liberty by his "Letters on Toleration," and every good man will rejoice to number amongst the sincere and growingly devout adherents of Christianity, the most distinguished name which Britain has contributed to the ranks of mental science.

Locke was born in the parish of Wrington, Somersetshire, Aug. 29, 1632. His "Essay concerning Human Understanding," was published in 1690. He died at Oates, in Essex, the residence of Sir Francis Masham, where he spent his last years, Nov. 8, 1704.

The Study of Scripture.

A LETTER TO THE REV. RICHARD KING.

OATES, 25th Aug. 1703.

SIR,-You ask me, "What is the shortest and surest way for a young gentleman to attain a true knowledge of the Christian religion, in the full and just extent of it?" For so I understand your question; if I have mistaken in it, you must set me right. And to this I have a short and plain answer: Let him study the Holy Scripture, especially the New Testament. Therein are contained the words of Eternal Life. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter; so that it is a wonder to me how any one professing Christianity, that would seriously set himself to know his religion, should be in doubt where to employ his search, and lay out his pains for his information, when he knows a book where it is all contained

pure and entire, and whither, at last, every one must have recourse to verify that of it which he finds anywhere else.

TO THE SAME.

OATES, 27th September 1704.

DEAR SIR,-I am sorry to find that the question which was most material, and which my mind was most upon, was answered so little to your satisfaction that you are fain to ask it again. Since, therefore, you ask me a second time, What is the best method to study religion? I must ask you, What religion you mean? For if it be, as I understood you before, the Christian religion, in its full extent and purity, I can make you no other answer than what I did, viz., that the only way to attain a certain knowledge of that is the study of the Holy Scripture. And my reason is, because the Christian religion is a revelation from God Almighty, which is contained in the Bible; and so all the knowledge we can have of it must be derived from thence. But if you ask, Which is the best way to get the knowledge of the Romish, Lutheran, or reformed religion, of this or that particular Church? each whereof entitles itself to be the true Christian religion, with some kind of exclusion or diminution of the rest, that will not be hard to tell you. But then, it is plain that the books that best teach you any one of these, do most remove you from all the rest, and, in this way of studying, you pitch upon one as the right, before you know it to be so; whereas that choice should be the result of your study of the Christian religion in the Sacred Scriptures. And the method I have proposed would, I presume, bring you the surest way to that Church which, I imagine, you already think most conformable to the Word of God.

I find the letter you last honoured me with contains a new question, and that a very material one, viz., What is the best