and Addison; the chief
poets, Shakespeare and Jonson (mentioned under the preceding period),
Milton, Dryden, Pope, Butler, and Beaumont and Fletcher, with a class
of writers known as the "Comic Dramatists of the Restoration," whose
works, though not lacking in genius, exhibit many of the worst
features of the licentious age in which they were produced. Three
other great writers were born in the latter part of this period,--
Fielding, the novelist, Hume, the historian, and Butler,[1] the ablest
thinker of his time in the English Church,--but their productions
belong to the time of the Georges.

[1] Bishop Butler, author of "The Analogy of Religion" (1736), a work
which gained for him the title of "The Bacon of Theology."

521. Progress in Science and Invention.

Sir Isaac Newton revolutionized natural philosophy by his discovery
and demonstration of the law of gravitation, and Dr. William Harvey
accomplished as great a change in physiological science by his
discovery of the circulation of the blood. The most remarkable
invention of the age was a rude steam engine, patented in 1698 by
Captain Savery, and so far improved by Thomas Newcomen in 1712 that it
was used for pumping water in coal mines for many years. Both were
destined to be superseded by James Watt's engine, which belongs to a
later period (1765).

522. Architecture.

The Gothic style of the preceding periods was followed by the Italian,
or classical, represented in the works of Inigo Jones and
Sir Christopher Wren. It was a revival, in modified form, of the
ancient Greek and Roman architecture. St. Paul's Cathedral, the
grandest church ever built in England for Protestant worship, is the
best example of this style. Many beautiful manor houses were built in
the early part of this period, which, like the churches of the time,
were often ornamented with the exquisite wood carving of Grinling
Gibbons. There were no great artists in England in this age, though
Charles I employed Rubens and other foreign painters to decorate the
palace of Whitehall and Windsor Castle.

523. Education.

The higher education of the period was confined almost wholly to the
study of Latin and Greek. The discipline of all schools was extremely
harsh. Nearly every lesson was emphasized by a liberal application of
the rod, and the highest recommendation a teacher could have was that
he was known as "a learned and lashing master."

V. General Industry and