In a history of philosophy, the name of this distinguished philosopher would occupy a prominent place, and his works would require extended notice.

But it is not amiss to introduce him briefly in this connection, because his works all have an ethical significance.

He was educated as a physician, and occupied several official positions, in which he suffered from the vicissitudes of political fortune, being once obliged to retreat from persecution to Holland.

His _Letters on Toleration_ is a noble effort to secure the freedom of conscience: his _Treatises on Civil Government_ were specially designed to refute Sir John Filmer's _Patriarcha_, and to overthrow the principle of the _Jus Divinum_.

His greatest work is an _Essay on the Human Understanding_.