1674-5. Et. 42. ANNUITY FROM LORD SHAFTESBURY. 333 would have you free from care, and think of living long and at ease.' Shaftesbury accordingly arranged to pay Locke an annuity of 100l. a year on favourable terms. "This annuity," it is said in an anonymous and undated, but doubtless authentic, note among the papers of the Shaftesbury family, "was not a mere gift, for Mr. Locke paid money for it; but it was done in this manner: Mr. Locke mentioning one day to Lord Shaftesbury his having a sum of money by him which he knew not well how to dispose of, Lord Shaftesbury said to him, 'Give me your money, and I will grant you such an annuity as shall make your circumstances easy;' which he did accordingly. Mr. Locke, as I have been informed, paid not above half, or a little more, than the worth of such a rent-charge, which he received till his death." 2 Shaftesbury's contribution in Locke's annuity was not too great a return for the services that had been rendered to him. But Locke's tastes being simple, this augmentation of his income doubtless sufficed to keep him, as far as money was concerned, "free from care." That must have been satisfactory to him, for he was evidently now in frequent alarm lest it should not be possible for him to do much more work. Though his chest and lungs may not have been in a more delicate state now than a few years before, it would appear that about the time when he arranged with Shaftesbury concerning the annuity, he was suffering from a fresh malady, the exact nature of which is not stated. Our only positive information about this is derived from a memorandum addressed to him by Sydenham, which, though undated, was probably written in the autumn of 1674. 1 Lord King, p. 35; Shaftesbury to Locke, 23 Nov., 1674. "Your age, ill habit of body, and approach of winter concurring," wrote Sydenham, "it comes to pass that the distemper you complain of yields not so soon to remedies as it would do under contrary circumstances. However, you may not have the least doubt that a steady persisting in the use of the following directions, grounded not on opinion, but uninterrupted experience, will at last effect your desired cure." Sydenham then recommended that some medicine-for which the prescription must have been given at some previous time-should be taken "twice a week, as, for example, every Thursday and Sunday, about four o'clock in the morning," and that other medical treatment should be adopted. "In the next place, forasmuch as there is wanting, in bodies broken with business and disquieted upon the before-mentioned accounts, that stock of natural heat which should bring the matter quickly to digestion, 'twill be highly necessary that you cherish yourself as much as possibly you can by going to bed very early at night, even at eight o'clock, which, next to keeping bed, that is impracticable, will contribute more to your relief than can be imagined. As to diet, all meats of easy digestion and that nourish well may be allowed, provided they be not salt, sweet, or spiced, and also excepting fruits, roots, and such like. For wine, a total forbearance thereof, if it could possibly be, and in its stead the use of any mild small beer, such as our lesser houses do afford, would, as near as I can guess, be most expedient; for thereby your body would be kept well, and consequently all accidents proceeding from hot and sharp humours grating upon the part kept off." "This," he said in conclusion, after giving other directions, "is all that I have to offer to you, and I have thought of it, and all circumstances relating to your case 1674-5. Et. 42. "" BROKEN WITH BUSINESS." 335 with the same intention of mind as if my life and my son's were concerned therein." 1 If that document furnishes very welcome illustration of the way in which Sydenham blended the offices of friend and physician in his consideration of, and. his advice concerning, the ailment of the friend and physician who consulted him, it painfully confirms the information, more vaguely derived from other sources, as to the poor state of Locke's health at this time. So long as Locke had to conduct the affairs of the council of trade and plantations, it was clearly impossible. for him, however "broken with business," to keep his bed altogether, and the best he could do was to go to rest every evening at eight o'clock, and diet himself very carefully. When the council was dissolved in the spring of 1675, it became easier for him to take, or seek, more complete relaxation, and soon after that he resolved to pay a long visit to France, and to spend some time at Montpellier, the great French health resort. Though he was in London on the 14th of June,2 he probably passed some time at St. Giles's before as well as after that date. He was there at any rate in September, assisting Lord Shaftesbury in arranging for an action at law against Lord Digby, who, counting too much on his loss of favour at court, had grossly libelled him.3 He was also in other ways helping Shaftesbury, who—now altogether alienated, for some time at least, from the 1 Shaftesbury Papers, series viii., no. 2. 2 On that day he made the last entry, for nearly six years, in his register of the weather.-Boyle, ' Works,' vol. v., p. 151. 3 Christie, vol. ii., p. 215. Among the Shaftesbury Papers there are several documents referring to this matter, which appear to have escaped the notice of Mr. Christie-one of them a long and partly defaced letter from William Fanshawe to Locke, dated 14 September, 1675. king and the catholic party-deemed it necessary to prepare a general defence of his policy, and, if not himself its author, must certainly have inspired the famous pamphlet entitled 'A Letter from a Person of Quality to his Friend in the Country,' which was published in the autumn of 1675, and immediately after the next meeting of parliament was burnt by the common hangman under orders from the House of Lords. The authorship of this pamphlet was, in his own day and subsequently, assigned to Locke; but the statement was denied by him in terms too precise and emphatic to be disputed.2 After parting from his friends at St. Giles's early in November, Locke hurried up to London, there to complete the arrangements for his journey. He had not time to visit Oxford and obtain formal leave from the dean and chapter of Christ Church, on the score of ill health, for so long an absence from his student's place as he contemplated. "I am sorry for the occasion of your voyage," wrote Dr. Fell to him, "but wish you success in it, and by no means expect you should add to it by a journey hither on the score of ceremony. It is that which I by no means expect from my friends, and I hope the rest of the chapter are of the same mind. When we have occasion to meet next, I shall propose your concern to the company, and, with my affectionate remembrances, remain your assured friend and servant." 8 We shall see hereafter how far Dr. Fell proved himself Locke's "assured friend and servant." 1 Des Maizeaux, who included it in A Collection of Several Pieces of Mr. John Locke,' says that Shaftesbury "desired Mr. Locke to draw up this relation, which he did under his lordship's inspection, and only committed to writing what my Lord Shaftesbury in a manner dictated to him." 2 Christie, vol. i., p. 261; Locke to the Earl of Pembroke, 3 Dec., 1684. 3 Lord King, p. 153; Dr. Fell to Locke, 8 Nov., 1675. CHAPTER VII. TRAVEL AND SOJOURN IN FRANCE. [1675-1679.] T is probable that Locke's journey to France, thought of often and for a long time past, was specially undertaken in November, 1675, because Ralph Montague, the English ambassador at Paris, who had paid a short visit to England, was now returning to his post. Montague was Lady Dorothy Ashley's cousin, and Locke's acquaintance with him had apparently been of some years' standing. He afterwards showed himself to be one of the most depraved of all the depraved politicians and diplomatists of Charles the Second's reign; but this was not yet suspected, and, in any case, it was natural that Locke should avail himself of the ambassador's protection at a time when there were far fewer opportunities of crossing the channel than we now have, and when there was safety in company. Even as it was, and with a strong escort, it would seem that the party, in the day's ride from Calais to Boulogne, barely avoided an attack from some of the robbers who frequented that road.1 Locke's journals, or the chief portions of them, for a period of several years following his arrival at Calais, have fortunately been preserved, and they enable us to follow his movements closely. They not only give us very welcome information as to his adventures and experiences, 1 Lord King, p. 41. VOL. I.-22 |