Page:Of the conduct of the understanding (IA ofconductofunder00lock).pdf/9



Probably no man in England, during the period immediately following the Revolution, contributed more toward the cause of progress and civilization than the philosopher, John Locke. The storm in which Locke said that he found himself when he came into the world was both political and religious. Parliament and King, Roundhead and Cavalier, Puritan and Churchman were the parties between whom the storm raged during the first half of the seventeenth century. The beheading of Charles I. in 1649 brought Parliament and the Puritans into power; but the failure to maintain the Commonwealth after the death of Cromwell brought about, in 1660, the restoration of the monarchy and of the Established Church. It was not alone moral corruption in church and state that led to these changes. The period was one of transition in English thought. Up to the beginning of the century, the scholasticism of the Middle Ages was still dominant. The learned doctors at the universities spent their time in splitting hairs and wrangling over useless questions. Philosophy was allied with the dogmatic theology of the day, and independent thought was stifled. But the time was ripe for a change. Bacon now came and infused new life into philosophy and science; Milton arose as the apostle of freedom of thought and speech; the divine right of kings came to be no longer accepted without question; the more rational of the clergy tried