THE REVIVAL OF SCIENCE 139 



long period of incubation, and its inception 

 was in reality in 1645. At that date, a society 

 known as the Philosophical, or, as Boyle 

 called it, the "Invisible," College came into be- 

 ing, which met from time to time at Gresham 

 College and elsewhere in London. During 

 the civil war, this society was split in two, 

 some members meeting in London, some at 

 Oxford, but the meetings, wherever held, were 

 at irregular intervals. On the restoration, the 

 meetings were resumed in London and, in 

 1662, the society received the royal charter. 



Of all the poets of the time, Cowley took, 

 perhaps, the greatest interest in science. He 

 had, indeed, like Evelyn and at about the 

 same date, developed a plan for the institution 

 of a college of science. Evelyn explains his 

 scheme in a letter addressed to Robert Boyle, 

 dated 3 September 1659 from Sayes court, 

 which contains minute details as to the build- 

 ings, the maintenance, and the government of 

 his college, the inmates of which were to "pre- 

 serve science and cultivate themselves." Cow- 

 ley's scheme was also elaborately thought out, 

 and had the original and admirable suggestion 



