of them, incorrigible) you may furely reckon upon all thofe prejudices and paffions being worked off, which now adminifter the occafion of fo much diflike to it..

LORD SHAFTESBURY.

WELL, but clergy-manners; will they, too, be worked off, with their other infirmities?

MR. LOCKE.

PERHAPS, they may; if not, forgive them this one defect; at leaft, if it be their only one. But you do not mean, that the manners of the clergy, as fuch, are more offenfive than those of other people. They are fuited to their profeffion and way of life, from which they naturally refult; and if the clergy have not that glofs upon them, which fets off the manners of finer men, they rarely disgust you with the affectation of it. But, after all, if persons of your Lordfhip's quality and breeding would con defcend

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defcend to countenance them a little, they would, doubtlefs, brighten under your eye; and might come in time to reflect fomewhat of that high polish, which gliftens fo much in the address and converfation of their betters.

LORD SHAFTESBURY.

WHAT tranfmutations they may undergo hereafter, and by what means, I am not curious to inquire. On this head, their candid apologift is at liberty to be as much in jeft, or in earnest, as he thinks fit. But from what appears at prefent, I must take leave, in my turn, to think lefs reverendly, than He would have me, of our facred inftructors; and though I value fome particular perfons of the order, as much as any man, yet, till I fee a greater change in the principles, temper, and manners of that body, than, I fear, is likely to come to pass in our days, I can have no very favourable fentiments of thofe rude, illiberal, and N 2 monkish

monkish feminaries, where fuch worthies prefide.

MR. LOCKE.

LET us have patience, my Lord. I have not fcrupled to confefs to you, that much is, at prefent, amifs in those feminaries, and wants to be fet right. But fo, God knows, there is every where else. As our factions and parties both in religion and government die away, the Universities will become more reasonable; and as the general manners refine, they too will, of course, take a better air and polish. In a word, they may not lead the public tafte or judgment, but, as I faid, they will be fure to follow it.

AND the happy period is not, perhaps, far off. For, now I have taken upon me to divine fo much of the future condition of our Universities, let me paint to you more particularly what I conceive of their growing improvements; and, in a kind of prophetic ftrain, fuch as old age,

age, they fay, pretends to, and may be indulged in, delineate to you a faint prospect of those brighter days, which I fee rifing upon us.

“THE TIME Will come, my Lord, and "I even affure myself it is at no great "distance, when the Universities of Eng"land fhall be as refpectable, for the "learning they teach, the principles “they instil, and the morals they incul"cate, as they are now contemptible, in "your Lordship's eye at least, on these "feveral accounts.

"I SEE the day, when a scholaftic "theology shall give place to a rational 66 divinity, conducted on the principles of "found criticism and well-interpreted scripture: when their fums and

fyftems fhall fly before enlightened "reason and fober fpeculation: when a "fanciful, precarious, and hypothetic "philosophy, fhall defert their schools; " and

N 3.

"and be replaced by real fcience, fup"porting itself on the fure grounds of "experiment and cautious obfervation "when their phyfics fhall be fact; their "metaphyfics, common fenfe; and their ethics, human nature,

"Do I flatter myself with fond imagi"nations, my Lord? Or is not the time "at hand, when St. PAUL fhall lecture "our divines, and not CAlvin; our "BACONS and BOYLES expel ARISTO"TLE; Mr. NEWTON fill the chair of "DES CARTES; and even your friend

(if your Lordship can forgive the ar

rogance of placing himfelf by the "fide of fuch men) take the lead of "BURGERSDICIUS?

"STILL, my Lord, my prophetic eye penetrates further. Amidft thefe im66 provements in real fcience, the languages fhall be learnt for use, and not !! pedantry: Your Lordship's admired

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"ancients