THE NEW PHILOSOPHY 



generation. But the new philosophy of one generation may, of course, 

 become the old philosophy of a later generation. Sometimes the world 

 settles down quite content for a long period, studying and disputing in 

 its conventional philosophies until a champion of new thought appears 

 and suddenly breaks up the disputations of the schoolmen. Occasion- 

 ally this gathers the force of a revolution and a new epoch in human 

 affairs comes into existence. Thus in England in the 16th century the 

 Old Learning was resting in quiet content in the Universities of Oxford 

 and Cambridge. Aristotle and the seven philosophies seemed so safe 

 and so fixed and unchangeable in their human relations, that Thomas 

 Gresham in founding his college in London provided that there should 

 be seven professors, one for each of the seven philosophies, and that 

 each professor should lecture once a week, thus providing one lecture a 

 day for each of the seven days of the week. Thomas Gresham was a 

 merchant and financier, belonging to a family of merchants very promi- 

 nent in English life. He had served Elizabeth his queen and her gov- 

 ernment in many important fiscal and economic missions. He was 

 founder of the Royal Exchange and was known as a hardheaded and 

 practical man of extraordinary ability and judgment. Yet this man 

 evidently believed that there was no more likelihood of a new philoso- 

 phy coming forward than there was probablity of the number of the 

 days in the week being increased from seven to eight. Gresham had 

 evidently long contemplated the founding and endowing of a college, 

 for the enormous mansion which he built for himself on Bishopsgate 

 Street, a few squares north of the Royal Exchange, was particularly 

 adapted for college use. The building extended entirely around an 

 open court measuring 140 by 200 feet. The large section of the edifice 

 on Bishopsgate Street had a frontage of 200 feet; it contained a great 

 hall 20 by 37 feet and 30 feet high, and two other Moms of practically 

 the same size. Gresham had some very original ideas. It was provided 

 that the professors were to be bachelors and they were to have apart- 

 ments in the college. It was also ordained "for comeliness sake that 

 the lecturers should read then* lectures in their hoods, according to 

 their degrees in the universities," and that each lecture should be deliv- 

 ered twice, at 8 o'clock in the morning in Latin and at 2 o'clock in the 

 afternoon in English. The Latin lecture was appointed because it was 

 thought "very likely that diverse strangers of foreign countries, who 

 resort to Gresham College and understand not the English tongue, will 

 greatly desire to hear the reading of said lectures, whereby the memory 

 of said founder in erecting of the said college for encrease of learning 

 may be divulged to the good example of foreign nations, and the honour 

 and credit of this honourable city." The allotment of the days among 

 the seven philosophies was changed from time to time. One of the 

 the early arrangements was as follows : 



