His poem Absalom and Achitophel1 is an attack on the purposes and methods of Shaftesbury and the Whigs. In the next reign Dryden be

Wren.

Christopher accomplished builder, though not an original designer, his style being copied from the Italian. The most notable product of his art is the Cathedral of Saint Paul's, which he rebuilt. The style is of the Renaissance order which prevailed in the public edifices of the age.

3

367. Scientific Progress: the Royal Society. Somewhat greater progress was made in science. The century opens with Sir Francis Bacon, the jurist and philosopher, and closes with the work of Sir Isaac Newton. Contemporary with Bacon was the eminent physician William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood. About the middle of the century 3 Ibid., 598.

1 Kendall, No. 96; Innes, II, 151-153

2 Gardiner, 631-632.

SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS: THE ROYAL SOCIETY 393

a few devotees of science began to hold occasional meetings to view and hear the results of scientific investigations. This body grew into the Royal Society, the purpose of The Royal which was to study the laws of mathematics, Society. the physical forces of the universe, and the laws and forms of the visible world. The society was christened in 1662 and three years later began to publish its transactions, which extend in continuous series to the present day.

The most famous of all the members of the Royal Society was Isaac Newton, who was admitted to membership in 1671.

Six years before, it is said, he had observed the Isaac Newton.

fall of an apple and had been started on a line of

thought that led to the statement of the law of gravitation; but it was other discoveries in mathematics and physics that gained him a place in the Royal Society. It was during the reign of Charles II that Isaac Newton did his most enduring work in the sciences; in the next reign he was drawn into the

REFERENCES

THE END OF THE COMMONWEALTH. - Fletcher, Introductory History of England, I, ii, 496–507; Innes, History of England, 463-466; Ransome, Advanced History of England, 609–612.

THE RESTORATION SETTLEMENT. Cross, History of England, 529-540; Fletcher, II, i, 16-26; Gardiner, Student's History of England, 578–590; Innes, 467-471; Oman, History of England, 420-426; Ransome, 613-620; Tout, Advanced History of Great Britain, 471–478.

WHIGS AND TORIES. Fletcher, II, i, 37-52; Gardiner, 615-622; Innes, 478-485; Ransome, 634-640; Tout, 484-488. PROGRESS OF THE RESTORATION PERIOD. Cheyney, Short History of England, 490-498; Cross, c. xxxv; Fletcher, II, i, 1-16; Gardiner, 596-599, 628-634.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE WHIG REVOLUTION

369. The Earl of Shaftesbury. The troubles of Charles II during the last ten years of his reign were largely due to the activities of the earl of Shaftesbury. Anthony Ashley Cooper had begun his career as a royalist but soon turned parliamentarian and remained loyal to the republic until he saw that the restoration of the Stuarts was inevitable. For twelve years he was the king's friend and trusted adviser. In 1673, Founder of the however, he joined the opposition and founded the Whig party. Whig party. This was Shaftesbury's greatest achievement. He tried to use this new party to pass the Exclusion Bill and to secure the throne to James Crofts, better known as Monmouth, the alleged illegitimate son of Charles II. For his activities in this direction he incurred the wrath of the king and was made the subject of Dryden's famous satire, Absalom and Achitophel,1 in which Monmouth plays the part of the rebellious son and Shaftesbury that of the wicked counselor.

Charles attempted to have action brought against Shaftesbury in the courts; but in this he failed, for London, where the earl resided, was strongly Whig, and no grand jury could be. found that would bring charges against the Whig chief." Charles then proceeded to transform the government of the City; but this move led to no better results, for the wily intriguer managed to escape to Holland where he character of died a few months later (1683). Shaftesbury Shaftesbury. was a man of unquestioned abilities; on the subject of religious and personal freedom he held broad views and doubtless held them honestly; but his actions were too often dictated by ambition and his methods frequently had a suspicious look. 1 See II Samuel, cc. xvi-xvii; see sec. 365.

2 Gardiner, 622-624.