For this Senecio I have no compassion, because he was taken, as we say, "in ipso facto,"-still labouring in the work of avarice; but the poor rich man in St. Luke (whose case was not like this) I could pity, methinks, if the Scripture would permit me: for he seems to have been satisfied at last; he confesses he had enough for many years, he bids his soul take its ease; and yet, for all that, God says to him, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and the things thou hast laid up, whom shall they belong to?" Where shall we find the causes of this bitter reproach and terrible judgment? We may find, I think, two; and God, perhaps, saw more. First, that he did not intend true rest to his soul, but only to change the employments of it from avarice to luxury; his design is, to eat, and to drink, and to be merry. Secondly, that he went on too long before he thought of resting; the fulness of his old barns had not sufficed him, he would stay till he was forced to build new ones: and God meted out to him in the same measure; since he would have more riches than his life could contain, God destroyed his life, and gave the fruits of it to another.

Thus God takes away sometimes the man from his riches, and no less frequently riches from the man: what hope can there be of such a marriage, where both parties are so fickle and uncertain? by what bonds can such a couple be kept long together?

Why dost thou heap up wealth, which thou must quit,

Or, what is worse, be left by it?

Why dost thou load thyself when thou'rt to fly,

O man, ordained to die?

Why dost thou build up stately rooms on high,
Thou who art under ground to lie?

Thou sow'st and plantest, but no fruit must see,
For Death, alas! is sowing thee.

Suppose thou Fortune couldst to tameness bring,
And clip or pinion her wing;

Suppose thou couldst on Fate so far prevail,
As not to cut off thy entail;

Yet Death at all that subtilty will laugh,

Death will that foolish gard'ner mock,

Who does a slight and annual plant engraff
Upon a lasting stock.

Thou dost thyself wise and industrious deem ;
A mighty husband thou wouldst seem;
Fond man! like a bought slave, thou all the while
Dost but for others sweat and toil.

Officious fool! that needs must meddling be

In business that concerns not thee!

For when to future years thou extend'st thy cares,
Thou deal'st in other men's affairs.

Even aged men, as if they truly were
Children again, for age prepare;
Provisions for long travel they design,
In the last point of their short line.

Wisely the ant against poor winter hoards
The stock which summer's wealth affords :
In grasshoppers, that must at autumn die,
How vain were such an industry!

Of power and honour the deceitful light
Might half excuse our cheated sight,
If it of life the whole small time would stay,
And be our sunshine all the day;

Like lightning, that, begot but in a cloud,
(Though shining bright, and speaking loud)
Whilst it begins, concludes its violent race,
And where it gilds, it wounds the place.
Oh, scene of fortune, which dost fair appear
Only to men that stand not near!
Proud poverty, that tinsel bravery wears!
And, like a rainbow, painted tears!

Be prudent, and the shore in prospect keep;
In a weak boat trust not the deep;
Placed beneath envy, above envying rise;
Pity great men, great things despise.

The wise example of the heavenly lark,
Thy fellow-poet, Cowley, mark;
Above the clouds let thy proud music sound,

Thy humble nest build on the ground.

JOHN LOCK E:

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

THE subject of this notice was born at Wrington in Somersetshire, in the year 1632. He was the son of a country gentleman of moderate fortune, who served as an officer in the army of the Parliament, and was in consequence obliged at the Restoration to purchase immunity from prosecution by a fine which somewhat reduced his estate. After receiving the first part of his education at Westminster School, John Locke became a resident member of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1651. He did not, however, enter very heartily into the course of study then in vogue at Oxford. That time-honoured seat of learning still retained too much of the spirit and methods of the scholastic philosophy. Much time was consumed in unprofitable speculations, in nice and subtle disquisitions, and in empty disputation. Against all such "oppositions of science falsely so called," the sound, sober, and practical mind of Locke revolted. He took refuge in the private and independent study of the Greek and Latin classics; and, like some other eminent men, whatever he may have gained from the associations of the University, he owed very little to its tutors or its system.

Though he never seems to have contemplated adopting any regular profession, yet he devoted a great deal of time to the study of physic, and made such proficiency in it as to win from Sydenham, the most eminent physician of the day, an express recognition of his high attainments in that science. His health, indeed, was delicate and precarious; and, as his circumstances secured for him all that he needed to satisfy his moderate wants, he was able to devote himself to the repose and seclusion of a literary life. He was, however, induced, in the year 1665, to accompany Sir Walter Vane, envoy to the Elector of Brandenburgh, to Cleves in the capacity of secretary. His residence there was not of long duration, for the envoy was recalled in the course of the same year; but several of his letters written to his friends during his sojourn are still extant, and give a very interesting and lively account of the character and manners of the place. Shortly afterwards he had the offer of being sent to Spain as envoy, but he declined it;

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and, at a later period, after the accession of William of Orange, when it was proposed to him to go as ambassador to Vienna or Berlin, he refused the appointment, partly on the ground that his inability to drink freely disqualified him for the duties of it; amongst which the finding out of what others were doing and thinking he regarded as at least one half of his business, and he considered well-managed bottle" the best "rack in the world to draw out men's thoughts." For some years after his return from Cleves he resided at Oxford, and during his sojourn there he accidentally made the acquaintance of Lord Ashley, afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury. The result was an intimacy which continued till the death of that nobleman. In 1672, when Shaftesbury became Lord Chancellor, he made Locke Secretary of Benefices; but the latter resigned the appointment when in the following year his patron ceased to hold the Chancellorship. Eleven years afterwards, Lord Shaftesbury, after narrowly escaping the fate of Russell and Sidney for supposed complicity in the Rye House Plot, withdrew to Holland; and Locke, who had himself taken an active part in politics, and was regarded with suspicion by the Government, retired to the same country, and remained there till the Revolution. The later years of his life were passed at Oates, near Ongar in Essex, the residence of Sir F. Masham, whose wife was the daughter of the celebrated Cudworth. Here he continued for some years to reside, in the enjoyment of the society of his friends and in the cultivation of his literary tastes; and here in 1704 he died the peaceful death of the Christian philosopher, blessing God for a happy life in this world, and looking forward with sure and certain hope to a brighter and happier in that which is to come.

WORKS.

Locke's great work is his Essay concerning Human Understanding. Its composition occupied him for eighteen years, and it was published in 1690, with a dedication to the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery. It is divided into four books. The first, which is merely introductory to the main subject of the Essay, discusses the question of innate ideas, and decides that no such ideas exist. In the second book the author proceeds with the inquiry into the true source of our ideas. The conclusion to which he comes is, that all our ideas are derived from sensation and reflection. In the course of this inquiry be examines the different sorts of ideas, refers them to their origin, and, besides, introduces many topics that have only an indirect bearing on the main subject which he is discussing. Having had occasion to refer to language in his consideration of the origin of ideas, he is led, by the close connection subsisting between the phenomena of language and the modes of ideas, to devote a considerable part of his work to the subject of language. He examines what words are, how they are used, and how general terms have originated; and he discusses the imperfection and abuse of words. These points amongst others form the subject-matter of his third book.

The fourth and last book is devoted to an examination of the extent and reality of human knowledge, of the conditions of certainty and probability, the distinct provinces of reason and faith, &c.

The great merit of Locke's Essay lies in its sober and practical character. His conclusions are drawn simply from observation and experience; and though there are many defects in the work, yet its author has throughout avoided the ambiguities of the scholastic system and followed that method of philosophical inquiry of which Bacon is the great representative and expositor. "Few books," says Sir J. Macintosh, "have contributed more than Mr. Locke's Essay to rectify prejudice, to undermine established errors, to diffuse a just mode of thinking, to excite a fearless spirit of inquiry and yet contain it within the boundaries which nature has prescribed to the human understanding."

Another of Locke's works is his Treatise on Civil Government. This work is divided into two parts. "In the former, the false principles and foundations of Sir Robert Filmer and his followers are detected and overthrown; the latter is an essay concerning the true original, extent, and end of Civil Government."

Sir R. Filmer maintained the comfortable doctrine and position that men have no natural freedom. He insisted that the first man had an absolute “right of fatherhood," and that this right was derived in regular succession to modern kings and rulers. Absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings were, according to Sir Robert, the necessary consequences of this principle. To expose and overthrow such notions was the object of Locke in the first part of his treatise; and it is not saying much to assert that he has effectually done so. As the notions of Filmer are now all but universally exploded, so the work in which they are refuted is not of much present interest or importance. The second part of the treatise discusses in a more philosophical way the origin of government. Its author had in view the vindication of the Revolution of 1688; and he lays down and maintains the principle, recognised in the Act of Parliament which established William of Orange on the throne, that the right of the magistrate to obedience is founded in an original delegation of power by the people.

Besides the works already described, Locke wrote two letters on Toleration, characterized by a very generous and enlightened spirit, much in advance of his age; a treatise on the Reasonableness of Christianity; another on the Conduct of the Understanding; a short work on Education, and several letters, controversial articles, and treatises on theological, ethical, and philosophical subjects. The style of Locke cannot be described as polished or elegant. It is, indeed, somewhat heavy and cumbrous. The sentences have not much rhythm or melody in their flow, and the language is destitute of colour or ornament. The writer seems only to have aimed at expressing his thoughts in clear and intelligible English; and there certainly is in his style a plain downright force and a manly simplicity, which harmonize well with his sober and practical intellect.