MEMOIRS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

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lution, occupied and divided the country; but it cannot be doubted that his relationship and intercourse with the illustrious Locke, his near kinsman by the mother's side, contributed largely to impress his mind with the superior importance and interest of such subjects of investigation."

Before completing his twentieth year, he had put the finishing hand to a work of some extent, an Inquiry into the Constitution, Discipline, Unity, and Worship of the Primitive Church, that flourished within the first 300 years after Christ; faithfully collected out of the extant writings of those ages"a title which of itself inferred the expenditure of much research and learning, of a kind that would have been supposed least likely to attract the pursuit of a young man in his condition of life. The question of a comprehensive union between the Established Church and the Dissenters, by the mutual concession of some of the points of external discipline and ritual upon which they differed, had at several periods occupied the attention of the legislature and the clergy. The Revolution appeared to the Dissenters to furnish them with a desirable opportunity for reviving this project. They felt slight satisfaction in the relief then afforded them by the passing of the Toleration Act, which they regarded less as an extension of favour, than as an injurious invasion of their right to an equality of religious profession. They had warmly recommended themselves to the countenance of the new Sovereign, himself a Calvinist, by the assistance they had rendered him in his enterprise; while, on the other hand, some of the most influential in the Establishment had denied his right and abjured his supremacy. They drew up, ⚫ Law Magazine,

accordingly, various plans of accommodation or comprehension, in all of which they sought to be treated as the equals in every respect of the Church; and the proposed terms were such as to imply a preference in the frame of their own constitution, discipline, and worship, over the established forms. The same ques-. tion was also, by the King's recommendation, submitted to the discussion of the bishops and clergy in convocation.

At this conjuncture, and in order to render all the aid in his power to the design of a comprehension, our young author employed himself upon the inquiry which formed the subject of his work.

It sealed the emancipation of the writer from the unwelcome occupation to which he had been destined." At the earnest recommendation of his illustrious kinsman, his father acquiesced in his desire to seek, in the profession of the law, the field in which his talents and knowledge might be applied with the best prospect of finding their due reward. As Locke bore, from his own experience, little love towards the maternal discipline of the English Universities, where, perhaps, the subscription of the articles formed also an obstacle to the introduction of the young champion of Presbyterianism, the liberal philosopher recommended that his pupil should repair, for the prosecution of the preparatory studies, to the university of Leyden. There, accordingly, King fixed his residence in 1692.

He lived even then in the enjoyment of no common acquaintance; his letters to Locke show him in communication with Newton and Somers, and in familiar intercourse with the Lords Peterborough, Shaftesbury, and Pembroke. To these advantages it Law Magazine.

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Lord King's Life of Locke.

was, doubtless, that he owed also his introduction into parliament, being returned at the general election in 1700, for Beeralston, in conjunction with Cowper, this little close borough returning two future Lord Chancellors. For this borough he continued to sit without interruption, through all the parliaments of Queen Anne's reign, a zealous partizan, as might be inferred from his early pursuits, of the whig principles of that day.

It is evident that Locke regarded his kinsman's success in this arena, and the fulfilment of his duties in the House, as of much more importance than his devotion to professional engagements. He writes to the young member, on the commencement of the session of 1700-1, strongly pressing him to remain in town instead of going the circuit; advice not very palatable to a barrister of hardly two years' standing, just launched into practice. "I am as positive as I can be in anything, that you should not think of going the next circuit. I do not, in the mean time forget your calling; but what this one omission may be of loss to you may be made up otherwise. I am sure there never was so critical a time, when every honest Member of Parliament ought to watch his trust, and that you I will see before the end of the next vacation. I, therefore, expect in your next a positive promise to stay in town. I tell you, you will not, you shall not, repent it." In a letter, a few days later in date, he writes" It is my private thought that the Parliament will scarce sit even so much as to choose a Speaker, before the end of the term; but, whenever he is chosen, it is of no small consequence which side carries it, if there be two nominated or at least in view, as it is ten to one there will be, especially in a Parliament chosen

with so much struggle. Give all the help you can in this, which is usually a leading point, shewing the strength of the parties."

The same letter conveys some excellent counsel to the tyro senator:-"My next advice to you is, not to speak at all in the House for some time, whatever fair opportunity you may seem to have, but, though you keep your mouth shut, I doubt not you will have your eyes open to see the temper and observe the motions of the House, and diligently to remark the skill of management, and carefully watch the first and secret beginnings of things and their tendencies, and endeavour, if there be danger in them, to crush them in the egg. You will say, what can you do, who are not to speak. It is true, I would not have you to speak in the House, but you can communicate your light or apprehensions to some honest speaker, who may make use of it; for there have always been very able members who never speak, who yet, by their penetration and foresight, have this way done as much service as any within those walls. And hereby you will more recommend yourself, when people shall observe so much modesty joined with your parts and judgment, than if you should seem forward, though you spoke much."

This advice, as might have been foreseen, found but a reluctant observance. For upwards of a year, however, Mr. King obeyed his cousin's command. When he did speak, in February, 1701, we find the philosopher inculcating a fresh caution. "I am glad the ice is broke, and that it has succeeded so well; but now that you can speak, I advise you to let them see you can hold your peace, and let nothing but some point of law, which you are perfectly clear in,

call you up again." It would appear, from a letter in the following month, that Mr. Locke still pressed his kinsman against his own inclination to prefer politi s to law-the Syren mistress to the faithful wife.

"Dear Cousin, I imagine, by what you say of the circuit, that you have not duly considered the state in which we are now placed. Pray reflect upon it well, and then tell me whether you can think of being a week together absent from your trust in parliament, till you see the main point settled, and the kingdom in a posture of defence against the ruin that threatens it. The reason why I pressed you to stay in town was, to give the world a testimony how much you preferred the public to your private interest, and how true you were to any trust you undertook: this is no small character, nor of small advantage, to a man coming into the world. Besides, I thought it no good husbandry for a man to get a few fees on circuit and lose Westminster Hall. For I assure you Westminster Hall is at stake, and I wonder how any one of the House can sleep till he sees England in a better state of defence, and how he can talk of any thing else till that is done."

Mr. King appears to have resorted with habitual deference to the wisdom and experience of the philosopher for advice and guidance, and in return to have been regarded by him with the warmest kindness and esteem. In a letter, dated June, 1704, a few months before Locke's death, he presses his young friend in the most affectionate terms to pay him a visit, as the highest gratification which could console his decline.

"All appearances concur to warn me that the dissolution of this cottage is not far off. Refuse not therefore to help me to pass some of the last hours of