The History of the Royal Society of London

A horizontal row of ornamental fleur-de-lis printer's marks.

To the Royal Society.

Philosophy, the great and only heir
Of all that human knowledge which has been
Unforfeited by man’s rebellious sin,
Though full of years he do appear,
(Philosophy, I say, and call it, he,
For whatsoever the painter’s fancy be,
It a male virtue seems to me)
Has still been kept in nonage till of late,
Nor managed or enjoyed his vast estate:
Three or four thousand years one would have thought,
To ripeness and perfection might have brought
A science so well-bred and nursed,
And of such hopeful parts too at the first.
But, oh, the guardians and the tutors then,
(Some negligent, and some ambitious men)
Would never consent to set him free,
Or his own natural powers to let him see,
Lest that should put an end to their authority.

That his own business he might quite forget,
They amused him with the sports of wanton wit,
With the desserts of poetry they fed him,
Instead of solid meats to increase his force;
Instead of vigorous exercise, they led him
Into the pleasant labyrinths of ever-fresh discourse:
Instead of carrying him to see
The riches which do hoarded for him lie