Our Legal Heritage Part 103

Royal astronomer and genius Edmond Halley, the son of a soap maker, studied tides, magnetism, and the paths of comets and stars. He went on voyages to study the heavens from different positions, thereby laying the foundations of physical geography. He showed that the stars change in position in relation to each other. With Newton's help, he calculated the orbit of a comet he saw in 1682 to be elliptical rather than parabolic and then proved it was the same comet that had appeared in 1531 and 1607, indicating it's regularity; it was then named "Halley's comet". However, the Church of England still embraced the idea that comets and eclipses were evidence of G.o.d's wrath. Greenwich Observatory was built in 1675. Halley used a barometer to measure the density of the atmosphere and related its readings to elevations into the atmosphere and to weather. He determined that the cause of the tropical trade winds was the sun warming the tropical air at the equator, causing it to rise and move north as it was replaced by cooler air from the north. This body of air was deflected by the rotation of the earth. He ill.u.s.trated the tropical winds with the first meteorological map. He made a descent in a diving bell, which was used to try to reach wrecked treasure ships.

He studied fossils and perceived them as remnants of living beings that had died long ago, and imagined a succession of living things. Halley surveyed the tides and coasts of the British Channel for the king in 1701.

In 1675, apothecary Nicolas Lemery divided substances into mineral, vegetable, and animal. He wrote a dictionary of pharmaceuticals.

John Ray and Francis Willoughby were friends who traveled together to study plants and animals respectively. John Ray started the science of zoology with his edition of Francis Willoughby's "Ornithology" on birds and his own "History of Fishes". He also attempted the first scientific cla.s.sification of animals in his "Synopsis of Quadrupeds". Ray compared anatomies and experimented on movements of plants and the ascent of sap.

He knew that fossils were remnants of old animals. Ray first suggested the concept of species in cla.s.sification of animals and plants. He opined that the goodness and wisdom of G.o.d was shown not only by the usefulness of animals to man's uses as taught by the church, but also by the adaptation of animals to their own lives and surroundings. The vast array and dispersal of animals found by world explorers all over the world cast doubt on the biblical story of Noah putting two of every kind of animal on an ark. The science of botany began with Ray's "History of Plants" and the researches of Robert Morrison, who was Charles'

physician and keeper of his gardens.

Nicholaus Steno, a Danish physician, diagrammed six levels of stratification on the earth's surface and demonstrated in 1669 that layers of strata of rock are always deposited with the oldest layers on the bottom and the youngest layers on the top. This began the science of geology. He argued that shifts in the earth's strata caused the formation of mountains. He identified fossils as ancient creatures. The idea that fossils were remnants of dead animals existing before man conflicted with the religious idea that Adam's fall began sin and caused death. The idea from fossils that existing species of animals were modifications of predecessor animals conflicted with the religious belief that Noah's ark had preserved all the varieties of animals. John Aubrey described Stonehenge, thus founding prehistoric archaeology. He thought it to be a Druid temple.

The telescope and compound microscope, which has an objective lens and an eyepiece lens for producing a wide range of magnifications, were further developed. The cellular basis of life was discovered and described by Robert Hooke. Nehemia Grew, the son of a grammar school master who became a physician, observed and drew plant anatomy, including leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, ovules, pollen grains, and stamens. He was the first to observe the existence of plant s.e.xuality.

Italian Marcello Malpighi, a physician, used the new compound microscope to study human skin, spleen, kidneys, and liver and also compared the livers of several types of animals. He discovered capillaries linking the arterial and venous circulation in the lungs. Dutchman Anton van Leeuwenhock, a cloth manufacturer who made microscopes to inspect the quality of cloth, turned them to use in understanding the life cycles of mites, lice, and fleas. He correctly described human blood cells. When he found what he described as tiny animals (bacteria, protozoa, and rotifers), he sent clear descriptions of them to the Royal Society in London as proof against the theory of spontaneous generation, which held that lower forms of life could arise from nonliving matter. This started the science of bacteriology. With the discovery of the egg in the female reproductive system, the status of women was lifted.

Physician Thomas Willis, son of a farmer, dissected brains of men and animals to study the anatomical relations of nerves and arteries. Excess urine had been a.s.sociated with a wasting disease. Willis identified diabetes mellitus with excess of urine that was sweet. Physician Thomas Sydenham, son of a gentleman, observed epidemic diseases of London over successive years, thus founding epidemiology. He also furthered clinical medicine by emphasizing detailed observations of patients and maintaining accurate records. He wrote a treatise on gout and identified scarlet fever. He introduced a cooling method of treating smallpox. But he still relied on the big three treatments: bloodletting, purging, and sweating. Bloodletting was to draw off bad blood so that it could be replaced by a better fluid. Another treatment used was cupping, whereby a vacuum was created by heated gla.s.s cups to draw blood to the surface of the skin. John Locke performed one of the first successful operations draining a kind of abscess of a man's liver. It was common for people who felt ill to take a laxative and rest at home.

In 1690, physicians opened the first dispensaries, which gave treatment and medicine together, to take business away from their rivals: the apothecaries. London's apothecaries were released in 1694 from jury service and service as constable, scavenger, or other parish or ward office because it was necessary that they be available to attend the sick at all times. Peruvian bark which had quinine as its alkaloid had been introduced as a proven cure for the ague, a fever with chills usually due to malaria, in 1653. The English ceased to believe in holy wells, but went to spas such as Bath for treatment of disease.

There was more bathing because private homes in towns now had indoor baths. The public baths came into disuse.

For childbirth, only rich women were attended by physicians. Most physicians used talismen such as the eagle stone at deliveries.

Caesarian section almost always led to the death of the mother. Midwives were licensed by the church and could baptize babies. Jane Sharp wrote "The Midwives Book" with anatomical ill.u.s.trations.

Women over thirty had fewer children and the last child born was at an earlier age than before. This was in part due to birth control such as coitus-interruptus, long breast-feeding of a current child and/or the taboo against s.e.x if the wife was still breast-feeding. Rich women often employed wet-nurses to breast- feed their babies. Babies seldom thrived, or even survived, without out a regular supply of breast milk.

John Locke, an Oxford don, physician, and son of an attorney, expressed a view that the monarchy was not based on divine right, but rather on a contractual relationship with the people, who were reasonable, free, and equal by nature. This idea was first adopted by revolutionists and then became accepted as orthodoxy. Also, he articulated the right of resistance, the supremacy of legislative a.s.semblies, and the responsibility of rulers to answer to their subjects. He theorized that men turn to forming a civil government when there is a need to protect acc.u.mulated property from some unreasonable men. This, along with the protection of life and liberty, was the primary function of government, before royal pleasure, national pride, or foreign conquest. He wrote theories on the interaction of supply, demand, interest rates, rents, coinage, and foreign exchange rates. He believed that interest rates should be the natural ones determined by market forces rather than by the legislature, especially if there was an attempt to lower interest rates below their natural rate, which was not only undesirable but easily circ.u.mvented. He thought that attempting to legislate contrary to natural economic laws, e.g. prices, was doomed to failure from unexpected consequences. He agreed with most mercantilists that by maintaining a large inflow of precious metals through consistent export of surpluses in foreign trade would lead to low interest rates, increased trade, increased capital stock, high employment, and high prices, and therefore a healthy economy and enrichment of the nation.

Locke thought that knowledge comes primarily from experience, i.e.

sensation and reflection, rather than from innate ideas placed in the mind by G.o.d, so that observation and experimentation are necessary to find truth. He theorized that propositions of truth have probability rather than certainty. Probable propositions included opinion, belief, and revelation. His "Thoughts on Education" was a great book on the formation of character. Locke also advocated the use of a large field for inventing labor-saving and economic devices for agriculture. He espoused freedom of thought in "Letters on Toleration" and wrote "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding", which described how the mind functions in learning about the world and which attempted to reconcile science and Christianity. He was a great admirer and friend of Newton and they shared religious views. He was also a member of the Royal Society.

At Oxford and Cambridge Universities, there were the most enlightened theologians, cla.s.sicists, orientalists, philologists, mathematicians, chemists, architects, and musicians. There were professors of Anglo-Saxon, Hebrew, and Arabic. John Locke's influence caused modern philosophy to supercede traditional scholasticism. There were no more disputations to qualify for degrees. Some of the students were the sons of n.o.blemen and sat at meals with the heads, tutors, and fellows of the colleges. Most students were the sons of landowners, clergymen, professional men, or prosperous men of business. They were known as the gentlemen commoner students. The few poor students were known as servitors and paid for their education by menial work. Corporal punishment ceased. Instead there were fines, suspension, and expulsion.

Fellows of colleges had common rooms for drinking and smoking together as they had done in taverns outside college walls. The king had authority to grant licenses in sell or give land in perpetuity, to encourage founding and augmenting colleges and schools. The two universities were vested with the presentation of benefices that had belonged to Papists.

English nonconformists such as Presbyterians were excluded from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, so they were educated at Glasgow in Scotland.

Grammar schools were blamed for the past civil war by educating too many people above their station, so ecclesiastical control now stifled them. A few dissenting schools were established. Charity was given to schools for children of the poor for placement as apprentices, but not to educate them above their stations.

In the 1670s, about 70% of males in London were literate. By 1680, illiteracy was a special characteristic of the poor instead of a characteristic of the vast majority of common people as in 1580.

Fountain pens came into use.

Many books written tended to be about the author's experiences, for instance Samuel Pepys' "Diary", Gilbert Burnet's "History of my own Times", John Evelyn's lifelong diary with vivid descriptions of striking events of the day, and nonconformist Celia Fiennes' description of her tour of England on horseback. There were many political biographies.

Historians did not yet study history as a continuous process, but narrated self-contained stories to instruct by example. William Fleetwood wrote about economic history in "Chronicon Preciogum". George Hicks put together a "Thesaurus" of the northern languages. Thomas Hyde wrote on ancient Persian religion. John Spenser compared Jewish rites with those of other Semitic people, thus starting comparative religion.

Richard Bentley, William's librarian, wrote a "Dissertation" on the ancient Greeks. He compared the ancient Greek life with modern life. He also confuted atheism on the Newtonian system. A translated version of "Critical History of Old Testament" by Frenchman Richard Simon identified the old testament as history instead of divine revelation.

John Milton wrote "Paradise Lost", which retells the Biblical story of the Creation and the fall of Adam and Eve against the backdrop of Satan's rebellion and expulsion from heaven and emphasized G.o.d's justice in spite of everything. The poem deals with the puritan struggling against evil and the problem of sin and redemption. It has a cold and severe conception of moral virtue and stoical self-repression in its characters. There is no sympathy with the human condition. Reading this book made the English more serious, earnest, and sober in life and conduct and more firm in the love of freedom. John Bunyan wrote "Pilgrim's Progress" in which a tinker takes a journey to find the Everlasting City of heaven and on the way meets people who try to harm him. But he derives strength from his adversities. The journey is a metaphor for the Christian soul trying to find salvation. It is Puritan in its sympathies and has insights into human nature. John Dryden wrote on large social, political, and humanistic issues, often by political satire. William Congreve wrote plays such as a comedy on manners.

William Wycherley wrote cynical satires and portrayed folly, affection, and vice. John Vanbrugh wrote plays satirizing London high society and social inst.i.tutions. John Toland wrote "Christianity and Mysterious" on deism. "Puss in Boots", "Red Ridinghood", and "Cinderella" became available in print. There were many female poets, bookwriters, and playwrights. Anne Finch, later Vicountess Conway, wrote the philosophical book: "Principle of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy" to reconcile the new science with Christian belief. In it every creature had a body and a spirit. Mrs. Aphra Behn wrote "Oroonoko", one of the first novels. Basua Makin, governess of the little sister of Charles II wrote an essay to revive the education of women, arguing that women's activity in wartime showed that they were fit to be educated. Elizabeth Elstob, who studied Teutonic languages, was one of the founders of women's education. Mary Astell proposed a college for women. Some women painted portraits.

There were rigid censorship acts from 1662 to 1695. The first required that no one could print a book without first registering it with the Company of Stationers of London and having it licensed by appropriate authority: common law books by the Lord Chancellor or the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, affairs of state and history books by the Secretaries of State, heraldry books by the Earl Marshall or Kings of Arms Garter, university books by the Chancellor or Vice Chancellor of either of the universities, and all others including divinity, physics, and philosophy by the Archbishop of Canterbury, or Bishop of London. Books could be imported only into London and not sold until approved by the Archbishop of Canterbury or Bishop of London after being opened and viewed by a scholar appointed by these bishops and a representative of the Company of Stationers. If heretical, seditious, scandalous, schismatic or otherwise dangerous or offensive, the importer could be punished. No one could print or import copies of any books without consent of the owner with right by letters patent. The penalty for not doing so was to forfeit 6s.9d. for each such book, of which the king would receive one half and the owner one half. Printers had to set their own name to the books they printed and also the name of the author or else forfeit such book. Only freemen of London who were members of the Company of Stationers could sell books. The Company of Stationers had the authority accompanied by a constable to search all houses and shops where they knew or had "probable reason" to suspect books were being printed. They could search houses of persons of other trades only by special warrant.

They could examine books found to determine if they were licensed and, if not, to seize them. Justices could imprison offenders. The first offense by offending printers was to be punished by suspension from printing for three years, the second offense by permanent disallowance from printing, fine, imprisonment, and corporal punishment not extending to life or limb. This statute was enforced by frequent prosecutions, such as of publishers of p.o.r.nographic books.

The only newspapers to appear between 1660 and 1679 were official government sheets. But in 1695 the requirement to license publications, including newspapers, was abolished, thereby giving some freedom to the press. Locke had argued for this freedom, stating "I know not why a man should not have liberty to print whatever he would speak and to be answerable for the one just as he is for the other..." In 1702 the first daily newspaper in the world came into existence in England. The Stationer's Company monopoly of printing also ended in 1695. Printing was not regulated and no longer criminal just because it was unauthorized. Printing could now be done in other places than London, York, Oxford, and Cambridge.

The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. Many successful merchants and manufacturers bought landed estates and established a line of country squires or baronets or even peers. The fashion started in the n.o.bility and the richest mercantile families that their wives should become ladies of leisure. For workers though, there was constant underemployment. In periods of economic crisis industrial workers lost their jobs. Much work was seasonal. Anyone who could work most of the time was fortunate. Laboring and out- servants, who comprised one fourth of the population, and cottagers and paupers, who comprised another fourth of the population, had to spend more than they earned. The poor rate collected from the parishes for the cottagers and paupers was 3d.

per week. There was an agricultural depression that was deepest in the 1680s after the collapse of a boom. It was the only bad depression experienced in peace time. There was famine in 1698.

Any person receiving relief from any parish and his family members cohabiting with him was required to wear a badge with a "P" which identified his parish. This was to differentiate them from idle, st.u.r.dy, and disorderly beggars who were not ent.i.tled to relief.