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PREFACE.

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IN 1705, a few months after Locke's death, his friend Jean Le Clerc published in the 'Bibliothèque Choisie a brief 'Eloge de M. Locke,' which, as I have discovered, was little more than a translation of two letters that had been sent to him by competent authorities from whom he had sought information; the one written by the third Earl of Shaftesbury, author of Characteristics;' the other, much longer and more important, by Lady Masham, in whose house Locke chiefly resided during the last fourteen years of his life. Fairly accurate in its epitome of facts, and yet more accurate in its presentment of Locke's character, Le Clerc's graceful little memoir was all that could be expected as a magazine article, and deserved more careful rendering into English than it received in the version (small 4to, pp. iv., 32) published in London in 1706; but it was not adequate to the use made of it by all subsequent writers who have said anything about Locke's personal history. Issued with stray additions, more or less apocryphal, by way of prelude to the earlier collected editions of Locke's writings, it was re-written, with a

few further additions, by Bishop Law, for the edition. of the 'Works' published in 1777, and in that shape has been frequently reprinted, epitomised, or adapted in biographical dictionaries and other publications. Even the late Lord King did little more than repeat the statements made by Le Clerc, ignoring Bishop Law's fuller sketch, in 'The Life of John Locke, with Extracts from his Correspondence, Journals, and Common-place Books,' which he published (4to, pp. 407) in 1829, and again, with some fresh matter (2 vols., 8vo., pp. 480, 375), in 1830.

As a lineal descendant of Locke's cousin and legatee, Lord King had in his possession an extremely valuable collection of documents, and in publishing portions of these he rendered an important service to the world. Considerably more than half of his work is occupied with selections from Locke's cominon-place books and journals, and transcripts and extracts from his correspondence fill more than a quarter. These materials, however, only serve to illustrate some passages in Locke's life, and some phases in his character; and Lord King, notwithstanding the title of his work, seems to have made no effort at all to string them together in any order, or to combine with them such information as he could procure from other sources. The writing of an orderly and comprehensive biography of the author of 'An Essay concerning Human Understanding' is for the first time attempted in the following volumes.

In preparing them I have made free use of Lord

King's book, as well as of all other publications bearing on the subject which I have been able to meet with, including, of course, the two collections of Locke's correspondence printed in most editions of his works." By placing these already published materials in their proper connections, I hope that I have greatly enhanced their value as helps to an understanding of Locke's life and character. But more than half of the contents of this work are derived from hitherto unused manuscripts; and by them, in addition to their independent worth, altogether new light is thrown on most of the information that is not actually new.

I have been careful in foot-notes to indicate my authorities for all the important statements and quotations here made and given; but it may be well to point out very briefly the chief original and unprinted sources from which they are mainly drawn.

The least explored and almost the richest mine at which a student of Locke's biography can work is the splendid collection of family documents accumulated by the Earls of Shaftesbury. Locke having been a member of the first earl's household during many years, a very

1. Some Familiar Letters between Mr. Locke and several of his Friends,' first published (8vo, pp. 540) in 1708; and Several Letters' included in A Collection of several Pieces of Mr. John Locke' (8vc, pp. 362), which appeared in 1720. These and other sources furnish two hundred and fiftyeight letters or extracts from letters written by or to Locke, in addition to the ninety-eight printed or referred to by Lord King. I have been able to make use of two hundred and eighteen letters-one hundred and seventysix written by and forty-two written to Locke-which have never before been printed.

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