The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and
Instruction, No. 487, by Various

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, No. 487
Vol. 17, No. 487. Saturday, April 30, 1831

Author: Various

Release Date: July 20, 2004 [EBook #12966]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 487 ***

Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Barbara Tozier and PG Distributed
Proofreaders

THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.

VOL. 17, No. 487.] SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 1831. [PRICE 2d.

* * * * *

[Illustration: BIRTHPLACE OF LOCKE.]

At the village of Wrington, in Somersetshire, in a cottage by the
churchyard, was born JOHN LOCKE. What a simple, unostentatious record is
this of him whom the biographers call "one of the most eminent
philosophers and valuable writers of his age and country." Yet the cottage
is not preserved with any special care;--there is nothing about it to
denote that within its walls the man of whom every Englishman is
proud--first drew breath. The house is now divided into tenements; and,
fortuitously, one of its rooms is used as a school for young children. It
is grateful to know this, even were it only for associating the
appropriation of this apartment with the master-mind of Locke, as
developed in his "Thoughts on Education," and his perspicuous "Essay on
the Human Understanding."

Locke was born August 29, 1632: his father, Mr. J. Locke, who was
descended from the Lockes of Charton Court, in Dorsetshire, possessed a
moderate landed property at Pensfold and Belluton, where he lived. He was
a captain in the Parliamentary army during the civil wars, and his fortune
suffered so considerably in those times, that he left a smaller estate to
his son than he himself had inherited. It is not our intention to follow
the biographers of Locke further than by quoting from the last published
Life of the Philosopher[1] a brief example of his filial affection:--

[1] The Life of John Locke, with Extracts from his Correspondence,
Journals, and Commonplace Books. By Lord K