ON THE

HUMAN UNDERSTANDING:

ABRIDGED

FOR COLLEGIATE AND GENERAL USE.

WITH

A PRELIMINARY OUTLINE OF THE PLAN OF THE ORIGINAL WORK.

BY

JOHN MURRAY, A. M., LL. D.

SOMETIME SCHOLAR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN; AUTHOR OF "ORIGINAL VIEWS OF
PASSAGES IN THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF HORACE;" ETC. ETC.

Τοιαῦτα κοινὰ τρόπον τινὰ ἁπάντων ἐστὶ γνωρίζειν, καὶ ὀνδε-
μιᾶς ἐπιστήμης αφωρισμένης.-ARISTOTLE.

DUBLIN:
HODGES AND SMITH, GRAFTON-STREET,

BOOKSELLERS TO THE UNIVERSITY.

MDCCCLII.

265, c. 44.

DUBLIN:

Printed at the University Press,

BY M. H. GILL.

PREFACE.

THE purpose of the present undertaking is to edit the pure text of "LOCKE'S Essay" from a comparison of the best previous editions, in a compass more proportionate to the solid contents of the Work, in a form more easy of access, and on a principle less liable to some particular objections, than has been heretofore attempted; in the hope that an acquaintance, at once real and ready, with that standard specimen of ancient English philosophy may thereby be secured and extended.

The process of abridgment I have endeavoured to carry out by reducing the repetitions, diffusiveness, and irrelevant matter, by which many parts of the "Essay" are incumbered. I have felt, however, that mere convenience should not be so far consulted by a compiler of LOCKE as to induce him to mar the genuine style of the unique original: repetitions, too, are often impressive; especially when they recall at intervals the main question in a long argument: and matter strictly irrelevant (as; for instance, practical reflections on truths established, or supposed to be so) may be very valuable. b