A new demand was made on Dryden's industry at this time by the illness of his eldest son Charles. He had held an appointment in the household of the Pope, but was obliged by ill-health to return to England to his father. Dryden was ill himself, but he worked harder than ever, to meet the increased expense; and wrote, in allusion to his son's illness, "If it please God that I die of overstudy, I cannot spend my life better than in preserving his."

Dryden made a contract with his publisher to supply 10,000 verses for 250 guineas; and in 1700 was published a book of "Fables in Verse," some of them versions of Chaucer's tales and other translations from the Latin and Italian. In his preface to this book Dryden writes some noble words in answer to attacks which had been made upon him in regard to the evil in some of his plays, which had been written for the stage of Charles II.'s time. After acknowledging the justice of the censure passed upon them, and his willingness to plead guilty, and retract every evil thought or expression, he says of his critic: "If he be my enemy, let him triumph; if he be my friend, as I have given him no personal occasion to be otherwise, he will be glad of my repentance. It becomes me not to draw my pen in the defence of a bad cause, when I have so often drawn it for a good one."

Of Dryden's way of life at this time we are told that he always spent the mornings in study; at two o'clock he dined with his family, and in the afternoon he went to Will's Coffee-house, where the literary men of the time used to meet, and spend a few hours in discussing subjects of literature and criticising new productions. A chair was always kept for Dryden: in the winter it was put in the warmest corner by the fire, and in the summer by the open balconywindow. Here the younger writers, of whom we shall soon speak, and who were now rising up to carry on the work, would gather round the old poet's chair and listen

reverently to his opinions on literary questions, and it was remarked that he was ever ready to welcome a new, young writer, and to receive with respect any opinions or criticisms from a younger man.

Dryden's last work was for his son Charles. He had resolved not to write any more plays; but on the promise of the third night's profits being given to his sick son, he consented to write a prologue and an epilogue to a play of Fletcher's, and a masque on the close of the seventeenth century.

Three weeks afterwards, on the 1st of May, 1700, John Dryden died.

CHAPTER XVI.

JOHN LOCKE AND SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

In order to understand the story of our English Literature from this period onward to the present day, we must try to have a clear idea of the kind of thoughts which were disturbing men's minds at this time, and giving rise to a conflict of opinions. We have seen that since the revival of learning, there had been constant questioning as to whether this or that thing had reached its highest ideal, and whether it could not be improved. Sir Thomas More's "Utopia" was an attempt to show how he thought all things in the State and in society might be changed for the better. On the other hand, there were those who, seeing the good in existing institutions, strove to preserve things as they were, fearing that in the change the good might be lost. In the discussions arising between these two parties, appeal was often made to higher authority, such as the customs of society, the laws of the country, or the commands of God. But at the time we have now reached, we find the conflict as to what was to be reformed and what was to be preserved unchanged passing into discussion about the foundations of authority itself. In this discussion three lines of thought are more particularly marked. The first arose out of the question On what ground rests the authority of the laws and rulers of a country? The most celebrated writer on this question was John Locke.

Another line of thought sprang from the question—

Have the customs of society any other authority than an artificial state of civilisation, which is in itself an evil rather than a good? The earliest writers in England influenced by this idea were Gay and Mandeville.

Then the inquiry was pushed further, until this doubt arose-Seeing there is so much evil and misery in the world, can it be under the rule of a wise and good God, whose commands are the best laws of life? This question had no great supporter at this time in England; but Pope, the chief poet of his age, met the doubts which it expressed, and strove, like Milton, to rise "to the height of this great argument"

Other thoughts which occupied men's minds at this time rose out of the application of Bacon's method for studying Nature. Bacon had shown that we can know nothing of Nature, excepting what we learn by observation and experiment; and in working on this method the question was started as to whether we can be said to really know anything at all, excepting the knowledge we gain of the outward world through our senses. In this is shown a reaction from the philosophy of Plato, which, ever since the revival of learning, had held sway over thought and literature, and which, as we have seen, taught that the chief source of knowledge is from the ideas which we bring into this world with us from a previous and perfect state of existence. On the question as to the source of knowledge, John Locke was again one of the first and chief writers.

John Locke was born at Wrington, in Somersetshire, on the 29th of August, 1632. At the time of his birth Charles I. had just entered on that course of arbitrary and illegal rule which a few years later brought on the Civil War. In the first year of Locke's life occurred the punish

ment of Prynne, by loss of his ears, a fine of £5,000, and imprisonment for life, for writing a book against dancing and plays, of which the queen was very fond. The same year Wentworth went to Ireland to carry out there the king's ideas of despotic rule; and the same year also the "Book of Sports" was ordered by royal command to be read in the churches. When Locke was five years old those around him would be talking of Hampden's trial for refusal to pay ship-money, and of the royal proclamation forbidding the emigration of the Puritans to America, and of the attempt to force the English Liturgy on the Scots. In 1640 began the sittings of the Long Parliament, which for the next thirteen years formed the real government of England. When Locke was ten years old, he saw his father leave his home and go to join the Parliamentary army. Thus, from his earliest years, thoughts and discussions respecting the rights of kings and their peoples must have been constantly brought before him.

Locke was sent to Westminster School, and in 1651 went to Oxford. Here he studied Bacon's works, and began himself to seek for knowledge through observation and experiment. After leaving Oxford he became a physician, and an accidental introduction brought him into attendance on Lord Ashley, afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury. This nobleman, seeing Locke's power of dealing with questions of government, urged him to give up his practice and devote himself to politics. Locke, however, still continued his study of natural science, and became a member of the Royal Society. In 1670 he was living with Lord Ashley, and directing the education of his only son. With the exception of occasional visits to the Continent on account of his health, Locke was constantly with the Earl of Shaftesbury, until, from the part the earl took in the plan for excluding James from the throne, he was obliged to leave the country. Locke then went with him to Holland, and