Note 68:1 — Chapter X · (continued 2)

Locke gives an admirable illustration of the sceptical spirit working on imperfect data, in the following anecdote. "It happened to a Dutch ambassador, who, entertaining the King of Siam with the particularities of Holland, which he was inquisitive after, amongst other things, told him, that the water in his country would sometimes, in cold weather, be so hard, that men walked upon it, and that it would bear an elephant if he were there. To which the king replied, 'Hitherto I have believed the strange things which you have told me, because I look upon you as a sober fair man: but now I am sure you lie.'"—On the Understanding , book iv. chap. 15, § 5.