Page:Of the conduct of the understanding (IA ofconductofunder00lock).pdf/11

Rh published until some time after. In this essay Locke traced all public ills to the dominance of the priesthood, and he held that the only remedy lay in the supremacy of the state. His ideal was the Roman Constitution, in which he found but two essentials of belief—the goodness of the gods and the merit of a moral life.

Locke's interest in science led him to the study of medicine, which he hoped to make a profession. Ill health, however, prevented him from engaging in regular practice, though his skill was held in high esteem and his services were often in demand.

In 1662 he was transferred from the Greek lectureship to one in Rhetoric, and three years later he left the University for his first visit to the Continent, going as secretary of an embassy to the Elector of Brandenburg. His personal letters at this time are full of interest. Nothing escaped his observation and he did not fail to tell his friends of what he saw and heard. In less than a year, however, he returned to Oxford, where his friendship with Lord Ashley soon began. Later he took up his residence in London with his newly found friend, and here came in contact with many of the famous men of the day.

Through this intimacy he began to be drawn into public affairs. Lord Ashley was one of the eight lords proprietors to whom the Carolina grant had been made. Locke was interested in the plan for colonization and became practically the manager of the association. The famous Constitution, which has been characterized as “the most grotesque curiosity in modern political history,” has been attributed to Locke; but he was probably author of only a part. It was not long after