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A Second Letter concerning Toleration is published in answer to Jonas Proast

In 1690 A Second Letter concerning Toleration answered Jonas Proast’s argument for coercive religion. The dated sequel is not the 1689 Letter’s first publication and not the 1692 Third Letter. In the causal graph this event strengthens Protection of Minority Rights, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — an improving welfare path.

Read the full account

In 1690 A Second Letter concerning Toleration answered Jonas Proast’s argument for coercive religion. The dated sequel is not the 1689 Letter’s first publication and not the 1692 Third Letter. John Locke’s documented role is: He published a second public letter answering Proast’s attack on the 1689 Letter. Proast wrote the critique; Locke wrote the reply. A sequel answering Proast is a different instrument. Later editors, printers, and excavators remain named where they appear. John Locke's documented role is: He published a second public letter answering Proast’s attack on the 1689 Letter.

Context

Proast’s The Argument of the Letter concerning Toleration, Briefly Consider’d and Answer’d had already appeared. Locke’s reply keeps the public fight in print. Later collected volumes are not 1690 type. Exclusions in the first Letter remain on that other row. The public setting is the file around 1690-01-01. Contribution type is direct. The instrument stays A Second Letter concerning Toleration is published in answer to Jonas Proast. The setting of A Second Letter concerning Toleration is published in answer to Jonas Proast is the public file around 1690-01-01. Contribution type is direct. Driver protection-of-minority-rights is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

Why it matters

Direct on the sequel. Welfare reading improving. The attached mechanism is A dated sequel defended the 1689 toleration argument in public print against a restoration of coercive religion. Lag to any modern indicator is not treated as zero. This path is attached because the mechanism is named from this act, not because a driver list needed coverage. The welfare reading on this path is improving.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Mixed effects of A Second Letter concerning Toleration is published in answer to Jonas Proast are separate paths.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • John Locke

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.36 · verified

    He published a second public letter answering Proast’s attack on the 1689 Letter. Proast wrote the critique; Locke wrote the reply.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactA Second Letter concerning Toleration is published in answer to Jonas Proast
    2. strengthensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
    3. strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Improving path

    impact weight 0.35 · Effect from 1 January 1690 · verified

    A dated sequel defended the 1689 toleration argument in public print against a restoration of coercive religion.

    • Having a say in government

      via Protection of Minority Rights

      Better

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.16 (weight 0.35 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Protection of Minority Rights

      Better

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.16 (weight 0.35 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Locke on TolerationStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.A Letter Concerning Toleration — public EnglishProject Gutenberg · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Gutenberg’s Letter cluster and SEP’s toleration entry independently mark the 1690 Second Letter as a sequel. Official: A Letter concerning Toleration and sequels — public English cluster (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23772 (opens in a new tab); Project Gutenberg). Independent: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Locke on Toleration, later letters (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke-toleration/ (opens in a new tab); Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). The two URLs are different pages. Where the carrier is a later edition or a received narrative, that limit is stated rather than upgraded to an autograph. Official carrier: A Letter concerning Toleration and sequels — public English cluster (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23772 (opens in a new tab); Project Gutenberg). Independent carrier: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Locke on Toleration, later letters (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke-toleration/ (opens in a new tab); Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

Established: a 1690 Second Letter against Proast. Not established: that the first Letter’s Catholic and atheist exclusions were thereby repealed. Established: a sourced public record of A Second Letter concerning Toleration is published in answer to Jonas Proast under 1690-01-01.

Shared responsibility is part of A Second Letter concerning Toleration is published in answer to Jonas Proast. Naming John Locke does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1690-01-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

The contribution type is direct. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorJohn Locke
  2. contributed toFactA Second Letter concerning Toleration is published in answer to Jonas Proast
  3. strengthensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). A Second Letter concerning Toleration is published in answer to Jonas Proast. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/jlk-second-letter-1690

https://factrail.ai/facts/jlk-second-letter-1690

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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