Note 631 — Chapter VII

Indeed, there never has been a period in England in which physical experiments were so fashionable. This is merely worth observing as a symptom of the age, since Charles II. and the nobles were not likely to add, and did not add, anything to our knowledge; and their patronage of science, such as it was, degraded it rather than advanced it. Still, the prevalence of the taste is curious; and in addition to the picture drawn by Mr. Macaulay (Hist. of England, 1st edit. vol. i. pp. 408–412), I may refer the reader to Monconys' Voyages, vol. iii. p. 31; Sorbiere's Voyage to England, pp. 32, 33; Evelyn's Diary, vol. ii. pp. 199, 286; Pepys' Diary, vol. i. p. 375, vol. ii. p. 34, vol. iii. p. 85, vol. iv. p. 229; Burnet's Own Time, vol. i. pp. 171, 322, vol. ii. p. 275; Burnet's Lives, p. 144; Campbell's Chief-Justices, vol. i. p. 582.