Page:History of the Royal Society.djvu/173

 Temper, close, severe, jealous, avaritious, and withal victorious, and prudent: but how unprepar'd his Time was for new Discoveries, is evident by the slender Account that he made of the Proposition of Columbus. The Reign of King Henry the Eighth was vigorous, haughty, magnificent, expensive, learned: But then the Alteration of Religion began, and that alone was then sufficient to possess the Minds of Men.

The Government of King Edward the Sixth was contentious, by reason of the Factions of those who manag'd his Childhood; and the Shortness of his Life deprived us of the Fruits, that might have been expected from the prodigious Beginnings of the King himself. That of Queen Mary was weak, melancholy, bloody against the Protestants, obscur'd by a foreign Marriage, and unfortunate by the Loss of Calais. That of Queen Elizabeth was long, triumphant, peaceable at home, and glorious abroad. Then it was shewn, to what height the English may rise, when they are commanded by a Prince, who knows how to govern their Hearts as well as Hands. In her Days the Reformation was settled, Commerce was establish'd, and Navigation advanc'd, But though Knowledge began abundantly to spring forth, yet it was not then seasonable for Experiments to receive a publick Incouragement: while the Writings of Antiquity, and the Controversies between us and the Church of Rome, were not fully study'd and dispatch'd.

The Reign of King James was happy in all the Benefits of Peace, and plentfully furnish'd with Men of profound Learning: But in Imitation of the King, they chiefly regarded the Matters of Religion and Disputation; so that even my Lord Bacon, with all his Authority in the State, could never raise any College