[Illustration: A LONDON BELLMAN Title-page of a tract published in 1616 A.D. It was part of the duties of a bellman, or night-watchman, to call out the hours, the state of the weather, and other information as he passed by.]
ECONOMIC ENGLAND
As the population of England increased, old industries developed and new ones sprang up. The chief manufacture was that of wool, while that of silk flourished after the influx of Huguenots which followed the revocation [29] of the Edict of Nantes. The absence of large textile mills made it necessary to carry on spinning and weaving in the homes of the operatives. The vast mineral deposits, which in later times became the main source of England's prosperity, were then little worked. Farming and the raising of sheep and cattle still remained the principal occupations. But agriculture was retarded by the old system of common tillage and open fields, just as industry was fettered by the trade monopoly of the craft guilds. These survivals of the Middle Ages had not yet disappeared.
[Illustration: COACH AND SEDAN CHAIR
Title-page of a tract published in 1636 A.D.]
SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS
The seventeenth century in England saw a notable advance in science. At this time Harvey revealed the circulation of the blood. [30] Napier, a Scotchman, invented logarithms, which lie at the basis of the higher mathematics. Boyle, an Irishman, has been called the "father of modern chemistry," so many were his researches in that field of knowledge. Far greater than any of these men was Sir Isaac Newton, who discovered the law of gravitation and the differential calculus. During the Civil War a group of students interested in the natural world began to hold meetings in London and Oxford, and shortly after the Restoration they obtained a charter under the name of the Royal Society. It still exists and enrolls among its members the most distinguished scientists of England. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich also dates from the period of the Restoration. Altogether much was being done to uncover the secrets of nature.
[Illustration: DEATH MASK OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON.
In the possession of the Royal Society of London.]
PROGRESS OF ART
Seventeenth century England produced no very eminent painters or sculptors, though foreign artists, such as Rubens and Van Dyck, were welcomed there. Among architects the most famous was Sir Christopher Wren, who did much to popularize the Renaissance style of building. [31] A great fire which destroyed most of old London during the reign of Charles II gave Wren an opportunity to rebuild about fifty parish churches, as well as St. Paul's Cathedral. His tomb in the crypt of the cathedral bears the famous inscription: Si monumentum requieris, circumspice: "If you seek his monument, look around you."