[64] The Royal Society first met at Gresham College, the resort of men of science. Will’s Coffee-House was the resort of wits and men of letters.
[65a] Viz., about moving the earth.—S.
[65b] “Virtuoso experiments and modern comedies.”—S.
[67a] He lived a thousand.—S.
[67b] Viz., in the year 1697.—S. Dryden died in 1700, and the publication of the “Tale of a Tub,” written in 1697, was not until 1704.
[69a] The title-page in the original was so torn that it was not possible to recover several titles which the author here speaks of.—S.
[69b] See Virgil translated, &c.—S.
[70] Peter, the Church of Rome; Martin, the Reformed Church as established by authority in England; Jack, the dissenters from the English Church Establishment. Martin, named probably from Martin Luther; Jack, from John Calvin. The coats are the coats of righteousness, in which all servants of God should be clothed; alike in love and duty, however they may differ in opinion.
[71] Covetousness, ambition, and pride, which were the three great vices that the ancient fathers inveighed against as the first corruptions of Christianity.—W. Wotton.
[72a] The tailor.