Texts:Locke/Fowler
On the Conduct of the Understanding (1706)
John Locke
(Drafted 1697, published 1706 in the Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke.)
INTRODUCTION.
By Thomas Fowler
¶1 — John Locke, who is now best known as a philosopher, though, in his own time, he was almost equally celebrated as a theologian, financier, and statesman, was bom at Wrington, a village in the North of Somersetshire, not far from Bristol, Aug. 29, 1632. His family, who belonged to the lower class of English gentry, were in tolerably comfortable circumstances, and to the judicious care of his father young Locke seems to have been indebted for many of his characteristics, both moral and mental. Of his early boyhood we learn next to nothing, except that it pretty nearly coincided with the troubles of the Civil Wars. 'I no sooner perceived myself in the world,' he wrote in 1660, 'but I found myself in a storm which has lasted almost hitherto? It was probably in 1646 that he was admitted, under the stem government of Dr. Busby, a scholar of Westminster School. In the Thoughts concerning Education, where he criticises most severely the discipline, methods, and studies of the English public-schools, there are probably many passages inspired by a recollection of his own experiences as a school-boy. In the Michaelmas Term of 1652, at what was then the rather late age of twenty, Locke commenced residence in Oxford as a Student of Christ Church. There he took his degrees, and became in due time Tutor and Censor. Probably the most powerful influence, which he underwent in Oxford, was that of Dr. John Owen, then Dean of Christ Church, a learned and, for those days, remarkably tolerant divine, who ranged himself on the side of the Independents. It has been suggested, with some plausibility, that the views subsequently embodied in Locke's Letters on Toleration may partly have had their origin in the example and teaching of Owen.
¶2 — Locke's first introduction to public life was as secretary to Sir Walter Vane in his mission to the Elector of Brandenburg, in 1665-6. The mission came to nothing, but Locke's notes on the manners, customs, and sights of Cleves, a quaint old town, then one of the residences of the Elector, are still full of a curious interest He is peculiarly sarcastic on the scholastic disputations of the monks, but abounds in admiration for the mutual toleration shown, in private life, by the different religious sects. In the summer of 1666, some months after his return to England, he made an acquaintance at Oxford, which probably determined the future course of his life by diverting him from the quiet pursuits and studies of the University to politics and public business. The famous Lord Ashley, afterwards First Earl of Shaftesbury, had come to Oxford, for the purpose of drinking the Astrop waters, and the duty of providing them had been entrusted by Dr. David Thomas, Ashley's Oxford physician, to Locke, who was himself preparing for a medical career. There having been some miscarriage, Locke waited on Lord Ashley, to excuse the delay. Each was much pleased with the conversation of the other, and thus began a friendship which, whether in prosperity or adversity, seems never to have cooled during the remainder of their joint lives. In the summer of 1667, Locke took up his residence with Lord Ashley in London, though he still paid occasional visits of some length to Oxford. At Lord Ashley's town-house he formed the acquaintance of many men of letters and science, as well as of some of the leading politicians, then residing in London. At the same time, he was quietly pursuing his studies in medicine, politics, and philosophy. Besides acting as general adviser and medical attendant to Lord Ashley and his family, he was specially charged with the tuition of Anthony Ashley, the eldest son, who subsequently became Second Earl of Shaftesbury. It is curious that Locke afterwards stood in a similar relation, though rather as supervisor of studies than actual instructor, to the Third Earl of Shaftesbury, son of the second and grandson of the First Earl, the famous author of the Characteristics. While living in Lord Ashley's house, and acting, in a sent of informal capacity, as secretary to the 'lords proprietors of the colony of Carolina,'of whom Ashley was one, he drew up the document, now printed in his works, called The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina. Some of the provisions, however, must have been decidedly distasteful to Locke, and we must by no means regard him as responsible for the scheme in its final shape. But a far more important work, the famous Essay on the Human Understanding, seems to have had its first origin about or soon after the same period. We are told, in his Epistle to the Reader, that five or six friends meeting at his chamber, 'and discoursing on a subject very remote from this, found themselves quickly at a stand by the difficulties that rose on every side? After they had puzzled themselves for some time, without coming any nearer to a resolution of their doubts, it came into his thoughts that they took a wrong course, 'and that, before we set ourselves upon enquiries of that nature, it was necessary to examine our own abilities, and see what objects our Understandings were or were not fitted to deal with? This course he proposed to the company, and 'it was thereupon agreed that this should be our first enquiry? 'Some hasty and undigested thoughts on a subject I had never before considered, which I set down against our next meeting, gave the first entrance into this discourse, which, having been thus begun by chance, was continued by entreaty; written by incoherent parcels; and, after long intervals of neglect, resumed again, as my humour or occasions permitted; and, at last, in a retirement where an attendance on my health gave me leisure, it was brought into that order thou now seest it.' The Copy of the First Edition of the Essay which belonged to Sir James Tyrrell, one of Locke's most intimate friends, is now in the British Museum. In it is a marginal note, stating that the discussion on the occasion alluded to turned on 'the principles of morality and revealed religion.' It is also stated that the time was the winter of 1673. The latter statement, however, is probably mistaken, as there is concurrent evidence to show that it was in 1670 or 1671. It would thus appear that Locke was occupied nearly twenty years in maturing the greatest of his works; for the Essay was not published till 1690.
¶3 — In November, 1672, Lord Ashley, who had recently been created Earl of Shaftesbury, was appointed Lord High Chancellor of England. Locke shared to some extent in his patron's good fortune, being made Secretary of Presentations, that is, of the Chancellor's Church Patronage, and subsequently Secretary to the Council of Trade and Foreign Plantations. The salary of the latter office, however, he appears never to have received. But his circumstances were always easy, and, being neither needy nor avaricious, he was entirely free from the sordid cares which often consume so much of the time and thoughts of men of letters.
¶4 — One care, however, he constantly had. His health was always extremely weak, and the air of London seems to have been peculiarly trying to it The malady from which he mainly suffered was a bronchial affection, which compelled him in 1675 to seek what was then the usual resort of English invalids, Montpellier. There, at Paris, and in making excursions in the country parts of F rance, he spent his time till the spring of 1679, when he returned to England. While Locke was living abroad, Shaftesbury had been imprisoned in the Tower for a year, but, by a sudden turn of fortune, he had been restored to office as President of the newly created Council. What were Locke's exact relations to Shaftesbury during this second tenure of office, we do not know, but any way the two friends were in close and frequent intercourse. In the autumn, however, of this year, the King felt himself strong enough to assert his own predilections, and Shaftesbury's name was, 'by his Majesty's command in Council,' struck out. of the list of the Privy Council. Locke, like a true man, adhered to the cause of his patron, even in adversity, and we never obtain the slightest glimpse of any attempt to make terms with the party in power on his own account. One of his main cares at this time was the superintendence of the education of Shaftesbury's grandson, afterwards the third earl, who, the second earl being apparently a person of somewhat feeble intellect, had been made over to the formal guardianship of his grandfather. The author of the Characteristics, though an opponent of Locke's philosophy, always acknowledges the deepest gratitude for the care which he had bestowed on him in childhood and youth. During these years, political animosities were growing more and more bitter, and political intrigues more and more complicated, till, at last, the state of the kingdom became exceedingly critical. We can hardly be surprised that, when both sides seemed ready to strike, ministers took the initiative. On the 2nd of July, 1681, Shaftesbury was arrested on a charge of High Treason, and committed to the Tower. When he was at length brought to trial, the Grand Jury, amidst the plaudits of the spectators, threw out the Bill. But both his political and natural life were drawing to a close. In the summer of 1682, he began to concert measures with Monmouth, Russell, and others, for a general rising against the King. The plot was soon discovered, and, after hiding for some time in England, he escaped to Holland, where he died of gout in the stomach, Jan. 21, 1682-3.
¶5 — Though there is no evidence to implicate Locke in Shaftesbury's conspiracy, and though it is most improbable that he was engaged in the plots which succeeded it, enough suspicion attached to him to render his residence in England highly dangerous. He escaped to Holland in the autumn of 1683, and remained there, in what was, on the whole, a very pleasant, and certainly a very profitable exile, till the occurrence of the English Revolution. With the exception of some months during which he was obliged to hide for his life or, at least, to go through the ceremony of hiding for it, in consequence of demands from the English court, his surroundings seem to have been as comfortable and congenial as they could well be. He made many friendships, including those of the theologian, Limborch, and the philosopher and critic, Le Clerc. And his leisure was sufficient to enable him, not only to complete the Essay on the Human Understanding, but also to write the Letter on Toleration, the Thoughts concerning Education, and the second of the two Treatises on Government, none of which, however, were published till after his return to England. But, though he was mainly engaged in study and writing, his political interests and activities had by no means flagged. Locke took a principal share in the negotiations which placed William of Orange on the throne of England, and, when he returned to his own country, it was in the company of the Princess Mary, William's Queen. One incident of his exile ought not to be omitted, though, perhaps, his biographers have made too much of it Soon after his retreat to Holland, and in consequence of his being suspected of writing political pamphlets, he was deprived, by order of the government, of his Studentship at Christ Church. The responsibility of this act attaches to the Ministry and not to the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, for, the College being a royal foundation, it was then held that the Crown had an absolute right to appoint or suspend members on the foundation at its pleasure. And, though the Dean and Chapter might have won our admiration, had they, at the risk of their places, resisted the royal commands, like the Fellows of Magdalen College in the next reign, they can hardly be blamed for not having exhibited so extraordinary a spirit of heroism. It may be mentioned, as an instance of Locke's magnanimity, that he desisted from an appeal for restitution, made after the Revolution, out of consideration for the existing possessor.
¶6 — On his return to England, in 1688-9, Locke was almost immediately offered the important diplomatic post of ambassador to Frederick the Great, Elector of Brandenburg, but, on the ground of his feeble health, he was compelled to decline it. His health, which seems to have suffered from his return to England, and especially from 'the pestilent smoke of the metropolis' (malignus hujus urbis fumus), was henceforth an object of constant solicitude to him. He often made pro* longed visits to the houses of his friends in the country, but, at last, in the spring of 1691, he entered into an arrangement with Sir Francis and Lady Masham, by which he was able to regard their manor-house of Oates, near High Laver in Essex, as his permanent home. Oates is in a pleasant country, abounding in wood and water, and Locke, 'having made trial of the air of the place, thought none would be more suitable to him? Lady Masham, who was daughter of Dr. Ralph Cudworth, the metaphysician and moralist, best known to us as the author of the Treatise concerning Eternal and Immutable Morality, had, as Damaris Cudworth, been one of Locke's acquaintances, before his retirement to Holland. She and her step-daughter, Esther Masham, devoted themselves to him for the remainder of his life, and nothing can be more touching than the mutual esteem and affection, never broken, apparently, by the slightest jealousy or ill-feeling, which henceforth marked his relations with the whole of the Masham family. No philosopher, probably, ever enjoyed a more congenial retreat, or had the good fortune to be tended in his later years with more care and solicitude.
¶7 — About a year before his settlement at Oates, Locke had brought out his great work, the Essay on the Human Understanding, the main topics of which, as we have already seen, had suggested themselves to him about twenty years before. For the copyright of this book, the most important treatise, and that which has exercised the greatest and widest influence, in the whole range of English philosophy, he received the sum of £30. In the spring of 1689, had appeared, at Gouda in Holland, the Epistola de Tolerantia, in which he boldly maintained that the civil magistrate has no concern with religious worship or doctrine, except so far as it may affect the security of civil government. The exception, Locke conceived, excluded Atheists, Roman Catholics, and perhaps certain sects of Antinomians. This tract, which was soon translated into English, was brought out, without Locke's name and apparently without his knowledge, by Limborch, to whom it had been addressed as a letter.
¶8 — If we except some congratulatory verses, presented by Oxford students to Cromwell in the 'Musarum Oxoniensium έλαιοΦορία, which was published, while he was an Undergraduate, in 1654, Locke, active as his pen had been all along, made no appearance in print till he was nearly fifty*four years of age. Such was his natural modesty that, had it not been for the fortunate circumstances which brought him into contact with Le Clerc, the editor of the Bibliothèque Universelle, he might never have consented to make any of his writings public. In the number of the Review just mentioned for July, 1686, appeared Locke's Method of a Common-Place Book, under the title Méthode Nouvelle de dresser des Recueils, and, in the number for January, 1687-8, an epitome of the Essay, which seems to have been then completed, was translated into French by Le Clerc. After his return to England, his works followed one another in rapid succession, though they generally appeared anonymously. Thus, besides the Epistola de Tolerantia and the Essay, there were published, within a year or two of his return, the Two Treatises of Government (designed to defend the principles of the Revolution), and the Second Letter concerning Toleration. In 1692 appeared the Third Letter for Toleration (Locke, notwithstanding his peaceful disposition, had now been forced into an embittered controversy), and a financial tract, of which I shall say more presently, entitled Some Considerations of the Lowering of Interest and Raising the Value of Money. In the following year, he published, in the form of a Treatise, several letters on Education which he had written, during his stay in Holland, to his friend Edward Clarke of Chipley. These Thoughts concerning Education touch on some of the same topics as the treatise here re-published on The Conduct of the Understanding and the two might advantageously be read together. Much of the earlier portion of the work, relating, as it does, to diet and physical management, is rather tedious and antiquated. But the criticisms on what were then the main ingredients of a public-school education, theme-writing, verse-writing, repetition, and grammar, and on the irrational severity which marked the scholastic discipline of that time, may still be read with interest, perhaps even with profit.
¶9 — Though Locke had refused diplomatic employment, he was frequently consulted by the government and contributed often very largely to the various political measures which were passed during William's reign. Thus, he probably took a considerable share in settling the terms of the Toleration Act of 1689, though the 'small beginnings,' as he calls them, of that act by no means satisfied his ideal of religious liberty. Another order of questions which greatly interested him, and towards the solution of which he probably contributed more than any other man of that generation, was connected with the monetary and financial difficulties which specially embarrassed William the Third's government during its earlier years. It had been proposed to lower the maximum rate of interest, allowed by law, from six per cent, to four, with the mistaken idea that the trade of the country would, by this means, be improved. It had also been proposed to remedy the very serious evils under which the country was suffering from the clipped coinage by 'raising the value,' as it was called, or, in other words, lowering the denomination of the silver coins. Both these schemes were opposed by Locke in the tract just referred to, which was dedicated to Somers, an old friend of his, now rapidly becoming one of the most powerful of William the Third's ministers. Two other tracts on the latter of these subjects followed in 1695. But Locke did not content himself simply with opposing the schemes of others. The re-coinage bill which received the Royal Assent on the 21 st of January, 1695-6, and which, in spite of some temporary inconvenience, established the silver coinage once for all on a satisfactory basis, had been shaped, to a great extent, by his suggestions, and its passage through the two Houses was largely facilitated by his exertions. The country soon got rid of its clipped money, then the bane of all commerce, and individuals lost comparatively little by the transition to a sound currency. Only a few months before the re-coinage bill was introduced, Locke had, it is said, drawn up the paper of Reasons by which the Commons induced the Lords to agree to the Repeal of the Licensing Act, thus effecting for the liberty of the press and the diffusion of literature what, as Macaulay says, 'Milton's Areopagitica had failed to do.' In connection with these topics, it may be mentioned that he was one of the original proprietors of the Bank of England, which, in spite of much Tory opposition, was established by Act of Parliament in the spring of 1694.
¶10 — Soon after his return to England, Locke was appointed a Commissioner of Appeals, an office with a modest salary and very slight duties. In 1696, however, his services were enlisted for a far more arduous and important post. The government of William, of which Montague and Somers were now the most active members, determined to revive the old Council of Trade and Plantations. The duties of this commission were of the most multifarious character, comprising at once the administration of the colonies, of the poor-laws, and of the whole trade, internal and external, of the country. Locke very unwillingly accepted a place on the Council, but, having once consented to serve, he became its presiding genius. Whether in town or at Oates, he was always striking out new schemes, or working assiduously at the details of the department. For a little more than four years he devoted himself to this employment, conjointly, of course, with his literary work, but at last, in the summer of 1700, he was compelled, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the King, to resign his place at the board, in which it is interesting to know that he was succeeded by Matthew Prior, the poet.
¶11 — During these years of public employment, Locke's pen was by no means idle. In 1695 had appeared his Reasonableness of Christianity, a work in which, while assuming the infallibility of the Scriptures and the supernatural character of Christ's mission, he attempts to limit as far as possible the essential articles of the Christian faith. The views of religion and religious controversy adopted in this book have a general affinity with those of the Arminian or Remonstrant divines, among whom Locke had mixed in Holland. But, in some particulars, they approach the doctrines of Faustus Socinus, and hence a cry of Socinianism was not unnaturally raised against the author, who, though the work was published anonymously, was soon known to be Locke. The attack was commenced by a Cambridge clergyman named John Edwards, and for some years Locke was engaged in a bitter controversy both with him and with Stillingfleet, Bishop of Worcester, who endeavoured to excite theological prejudices against many passages in the Essay. Polemics of this character, so fashionable in that age, were against the whole bent of Locke's nature, and we may be certain that he was forced to take part in them most unwillingly. A far more congenial employment was the preparation of the Fourth Edition of the Essay, which, incorporating many additions and corrections, was issued in the autumn of 1699, arid was the last published during its author's life-time. The tractate here re-published, on the Conduct of the Understanding, was designed to form a chapter in this new edition, but it seems to have grown so much on its author's hands, that he reserved it either for the next edition or for separate publication. The only other literary work of any importance, apart from controversial pamphlets, which occupied Locke's later years was the paraphrase and commentary on some of St. Paul's Epistles. He appears to have undertaken this work more for his own satisfaction, and as a kind of religious exercise in which he might spend his declining years, than with the view of instructing the public. These notes, which were not published till after his death, abound in good sense, but, as we might expect from the time at which they were written, they have little critical value.
¶12 — After his resignation of his place on the Board of Trade,' Locke seems to have lived a peculiarly quiet, and, at the same time, notwithstanding the increasing feebleness of his health, a peculiarly happy life. His cheerfulness and gaiety of temper never deserted him. The Mashams were indefatigable in their attention to all his wants, whether physical or intellectual. And, Oates being only about twenty miles from London, he was entertained by a constant flow of visitors. Amongst those who came down to see him, on single occasions, were Newton, the famous Earl of Peterborough, and William Molyneux, a clever and patriotic Member of the Irish House of Commons, with whom he had corresponded in familiar terms on a great variety of subjects for many years, but whom he had never before seen. The most constant visitor to Oates, however, was Peter King, a young kinsman of his own, who, having been taken out of his father's shop at Exeter by Locke, had been educated at Leyden, and was now rising rapidly at the English bar. King, who was an admirable lawyer, though not a brilliant speaker, afterwards, became successively Recorder of London, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and Lord High Chancellor of England. It is to his great-grandson, Peter, the seventh Lord King, father of the present Earl of Lovelace, that we owe the biography, which, previously to the publication of Mr. Fox-Bourne's Life, was the great authority for Locke's personal history. There seems to have been a strong mutual regard between the two cousins (King was Locke's first cousin once removed), and there can be no doubt that King owed his professional advancement to his elder relative, who not only introduced him to the bar but procured for him a seat in Parliament When Locke died, the greater part of his property was divided between Peter King and Frank Masham, the son of Sir Francis and Lady Masham, who, like King, was a kind of adopted child. One of Locke's main characteristics was the attraction he always exercised on young people, sind the kindness and consideration which he always showed to them.
¶13 — The winter of 1703-4 seems to have aggravated the symptoms of his disease, and the return of summer did not bring its usual relief. He lingered on, however, during the autumn, retaining his faculties and his cheerfulness to the last On the afternoon of the 28th of October, 1704, he passed quietly away, Lady Masham reading the Psalms to him almost up to the moment of his death. He is buried in the church-yard of High Laver. The epitaph on the wall above his tomb was composed by himself.
¶14 — Locke's character was a peculiarly amiable one. He was eminently cheerful, kindly, and good-natured. With children and young people he was always an especial favourite. Few men of letters probably have possessed so much geniality combined with so much humour. He had rare powers of conversation, and was always acceptable in companies of all ranks, ages, and professions. Whatever the pursuit of the person he was conversing with, he had a happy knack of interesting himself in it, and was usually able to impart as well as receive information, whatever might be the subject of discourse. Hence, perhaps, the singular power of illustration and exposition which marks his works. He always writes like a man of the world, who draws from a varied stock of knowledge not of books only but of men. Another trait which distinguishes both his writings and his life is his transparent candour and his simple love of truth. The words of the epitaph which he designed for himself—'Literis innutritus eousque tantum profecit, ut veritati unice litaret' (Brought up among letters, he advanced just so far as to make an acceptable offering to truth alone)—well explain the main character and purpose of his career.
¶15 — The treatise Of the Conduct of the Understanding, here re-published, was, as I have already stated, originally designed as an additional chapter to the Essay. Writing to William Molyneux, April 10, 1697, Locke himself gives the following account of the occasion of his writing on the subject. 'I have lately got a little leisure to think of some additions to my book, against the next edition, and within these few days have fallen upon a subject, that I know not how far it will lead me. I have written several pages on it, but the matter, the farther I go, opens the more upon me, and I cannot yet get sight of any end of it. The title of the chapter will be “ Of the Conduct of the Understanding,” which if I shall pursue as far as I imagine it will reach, and as it deserves, will, I conclude, make the largest chapter of my Essay? The chapter did not, however, appear in the Fourth Edition of the Essay, nor was it published, or even revised, during its author's life-time. It was included in the Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke, edited anonymously, though probably by Peter King, in 1706. Of these treatises generally the editor says that 'for the greatest part they received not the author's last hand, being in a great measure little more than sudden views, intended to be afterwards revised and farther looked into, but by sickness, intervention of business, or preferable enquiries, happened to be thrust aside, and so lay neglected.' The account given of this treatise in particular will help to explain some of its peculiarities and defects:
¶16 — 'The Conduct of the Understanding he' (the Author) 'always thought to be a subject very well worth consideration. As any miscarriages in that point accidentally came into his mind, he used sometimes to set them down in writing, with those remedies he could then think of. This method, though it makes not that haste to the end which one would wish, is yet perhaps the only one that can be followed in the case; it being here, as in physic, impossible for a physician to describe a disease, or seek remedies for it, till he comes to meet with it. Such particulars of this kind as occurred to the author at a time of leisure he set down in writing, intending, if he had lived, to have reduced them into order and method, and to have made a complete treatise; whereas now it is only a collection of casual observations, sufficient to make men see some faults in the conduct of their understanding, and suspect there may be more, and may perhaps serve to excite others to enquire farther into it than the Author hath done.'
¶17 — Not only is the treatise irregular and incomplete, as a whole, but some of the individual sentences have never been hewn into shape. Locke's customary style, like that of most authors of his time, is much less finished and correct than what we should expect from any writer of the present day, but we can hardly suppose that even he, on revision, would have allowed many of the sentences in this treatise to go into print without some attempt to remodel them. Another defect is the large amount of repetition. These drawbacks, however, are of comparatively little importance, as the meaning is almost always clear, and the terse brevity of the book as a whole, as well as the many racy passages in which it abounds, offer ample amends to the reader for the tediousness of some few sections.
¶18 — No one acquainted with Bacon's writings can read this treatise, without perceiving Locke's obligations to the first book of the Novum Organum. This fact is the more remarkable, as, with one or two exceptions (See Essay, Bk. II, Ch. 12, § i, Bk. IV, Ch. 17, § 4, and my introduction to the Novum Organum § 14, ad init), there are no specific traces of Bacon's influence in the Essay. It might, however, be justly said that Locke's whole mode of treating philosophical questions is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the Baconian method.
¶19 — What is specially remarkable in the mode of handling logical questions in this treatise is the emphasis laid on what may be called the moral causes of fallacious reasoning: prejudice, haste, mental indolence, over-regard for authority, love of antiquity or novelty, self-sufficiency, despondency, and the various other conditions of mind which are quite as effective in barring the way to truth as any sophisms, however skilful, which others may attempt to impose upon us.
¶20 — The relation of the treatise on the Conduct of the Understanding to the Essay is that of a sort of practical appendix. The one book enquires into the constitution and history of the Human Mind, the other attempts to suggest rules and cautions for guiding or controlling its operations in the search for knowledge. Locke's design, like Bacon's, was to supplement and enlarge the logic of the schools by the addition of practical precepts and warnings, which should be instrumental in leading to the discovery of truth rather than in helping to secure victory in disputation. The more special object of Bacon's method, however, was to overcome the subtlety of nature, and extort from it some account of its secrets; while the scattered hints contained in this treatise of Locke have for their object rather to produce a vigorous understanding, and to suggest improved modes of study and reasoning generally. The treatise abounds in robust common-sense, and, notwithstanding a few flat or tedious passages, it can hardly fail to repay the student for the short time consumed in its perusal.