An Instance of the Fingerpost

Dramatis Personae

John Aubrey, 1626–97—Antiquary and gossip, a man of great knowledge and few publications. Best known now for his “Brief Lives,” a set of character sketches of contemporaries. He was interested in all branches of learning, lived in constant financial difficulties and was a member of the Royal Society from 1663 onwards.

Henry Bennet, 1628–85—Created Baron Arlington, 1663, then Earl of Arlington 1672. “A man whose practices have not left his character free from reproach. The deficiency of his integrity was forgotten in the decency of his dishonesty… he lived a protestant in his outward profession, but died a catholic.” Ambassador to Spain, then appointed Secretary of State (effectively foreign minister) in October 1662; impeached for promotion of Catholicism in 1674 and dismissed from office.

Sarah Blundy—Fictitious; the account of her trial and execution is based on that of Anne Greene, hanged in Oxford in 1655.

Robert Boyle, 1627–91—The “Father of Chemistry,” fourteenth child of the fabulously wealthy Earl of Cork, discoverer of “Boyle’s Law,” describing the relationship between the elasticity and pressure of gases. In the Sceptical Chemist used the Word element in its modern sense tor the first time; speculated about the existence of atoms. Thought himself to be as much a theologian as a scientist, and was keenly interested in alchemy as well as modern chemistry.

George Digby, Earl of Bristol, 1622–77—Longtime supporter of Charles II who was denied office on the Restoration because of his Catholicism. Formerly a close friend of Clarendon, he spent the 1660s plotting against him, and in particular launched a badly planned and abortive attainder on corruption charges in 1663 after failure to secure a Spanish alliance. No one supported the move and Bristol had to flee into exile. Returned to conspire in the downfall of Clarendon in 1667.

Charles II, 1630–85—Succeeded by the openly Catholic James II who was forced off the throne by the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Lived in exile in France, Spain and the Low Countries until the Restoration of 1660. Charles’s negotiations of 1663 to be received into the Catholic church were first published in the Monthly Review, 13 December 1903.

Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, 1609–74—Lord Chancellor and effective Prime minister after the Restoration of Charles II. Clarendon was the king’s most loyal supporter, having been with him throughout his exile. His position weakened when his daughter Anne married the king’s brother without permission, but he survived in power until 1667, when he was forced into exile and supplanted by Henry ßennet, Lord Arlington.

George Collop, d. 1682—Of Dorset, receiver-general for the Duke of Bedford from 1661 until his death, and overseer of the later phases of the drainage schemes which converted huge parts of Lincolnshire into farmland.

Sir William Compton, 1625–63—Royalist soldier and conspirator, knighted 1643. Described by Oliver Cromwell as “a sober young man and godly cavalier.” Imprisoned for plotting against the Commonwealth in 1655 and 1658, died London 1663 and buried at Compton Wynyates, Warwickshire.

John Crosse—Oxford apothecary, now mainly known to history as Robert Boyle’s landlord while in the city.

Valentine Greatorex (a.k.a. Greatrakes)—Irish faith healer, who came to England and used a technique of stroking to heal victims of scrofula and other ailments. Believed his ability to cure was a special gift from God. His success impressed Boyle and others, and he achieved some success among the English aristocracy. “A strange fellow, full of talk of devils and witches.” Subsequently resumed career in Ireland as Justice of the Peace and landowner.

Robert Grove, 1610–63—Fellow and “amateur astrologer” of New College, Oxford. “Mar 30, being Munday, Mr Robert Grove, senior fellow of New Coll., died. [He] was buried in the west cloister of that Coll.”—Anthony Wood, Life and Times, vol. I, p. 471.

Thomas Ken, 1637–1711—Bishop of Bath and Wells, lecturer in logic and mathematics New College, Oxford, 1661–63, then presented to living of Easton Parva by Lord May-nard, and built up a reputation for piety and charity. A noted preacher, he was made a bishop in 1684. Opposed James II’s Catholic policies, then also opposed his deposition, for which he was deprived of his see by William III after the revolution of 1688.

John Locke, 1632–1704—Probably the greatest philosopher in the English language, Locke’s work defined English political thought for more than a century. He was trained as a doctor, before becoming tutor in the family of the Earl of Shaftesbury—a man who was imprisoned for opposition to the government in the 1670s. Locke lived in Holland from 1683 to 1688, when the accession of William III made it safe for him to return. Author of Essay Concerning Toleration, Essay on Human Understanding, Two Treatises on Government. Friend of Anthony Wood and the most successful London doctor of his generation. One of the kernel of the Oxford group that founded the Royal Society but not a member until 1667. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians 1675, but career damaged by his political affiliations and did not recover properly until the revolution of 1688. Conducted experiments on transfusion in the 1660s, published Tractatus de Corde 1669.

Thomas Lower, 1633–1720—Brother of Richard and Quaker, married stepdaughter of George Fox; imprisoned 1673 and 1686, had interest in Quaker settlements and property in America.

Count Patricio de Moledi—Spanish ambassador to England 1662—67. Known for his learning and courtesy.

John Mordaunt, Baron Mordaunt, 1627–75—Second son of the first earl of Peterborough, sent abroad for his education, then became leading Royalist conspirator. Arrested 1658 and acquitted at his trial. Appointed Constable of Windsor Castle at the Restoration, but was impeached in Parliament in 1666 and never attained high government office. Spent his last years embroiled in a legal dispute with members of his family.

Sir Samuel Morland, 1625–95—Diplomat and inventor, clerk to Secretary of State Thurloe 1654 and accredited by Cromwell to lead mission to Savoy in 1655. Switched sides in 1659 by identifying traitor in Royalist ranks, knighted on the Restoration. Made calculating machine in 1663 and experimented with pumps and early steam engines from the 1660s onwards. Consultant on water supply to Louis XIV at Versailles, 1681.

Jack Prestcott—Fictitious; his story, and that of his father, is based on the disgrace and exile of Sir Richard Willys for treason in 1660. Willys’s son later died insane.

Sir John Russell, d. 1687—Leading member of the “Sealed Knot,” a group of active Royalists in England which plotted ceaselessly and fruitlessly in the 1650s to overthrow Cromwell and bring back the king.

Peter Stahl, d. 1675—“The noted chimist and Rosicru-cian Peter Stahl of Strasburgh in Royal Prussia was a Lutheran and a great hater of women, [and] a very useful man… he was brought to Oxon by Mr Robert Boyle, an. 1659… About the beginning of the year 1663 he removed his elaboratory to a draper’s house in the parish of Allsaints. In the year following, he was called away to London, died there about 1675, and was buried in the church of St Clement Danes.”—Anthony Wood, Life and Times, vol. I, p. 473.

John Thurloe, 1616–68—Lawyer, secretary to the Cromwellian Council of State in 1652; thereafter organized Cromwell’s espionage system. Escaped all punishment on the Restoration and lived in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, until moving back to London shortly before his death. Hid all his state papers, which were discovered embedded in a plaster ceiling and published in the eighteenth century.

John Wallis, 1616–1703—Professor of Geometry at Oxford, founder-member of the Royal Society and the greatest English mathematician before Newton. A great xenophobe, who carried on lengthy and vitriolic disputes in print with (among others) Hobbes, Pascal, Descartes, Fermat. Cryptographer for Parliament, 1643–60, for Charles II, James II and William III. Published Arithmetica Infinitorum 1655, Ma-thesis Universalis 1657, Treatise of Algebra 1685. Complete Sermons published 1791, Essay on the Art of Decyphering, 1737.

Anthony Wood, 1632–95—Antiquary and historian, author of Historia et Antiquitates Universitatis Oxonienses (1674) and Athenae Oxonienses (1691). A bachelor who lived a hermitlike existence and gained a reputation for un-sociability and rancour in his later years, although until the 1660s had a wide range of friends and acquaintances. Chiefly known through his diaries and papers, which were not published until this century.

Michael Woodward, 1599–1675—Warden of New College, Oxford, 1658–75; rector of Ash in Surrey and “a man of few scholarly attainments and fewer political or religious sentiments.” But tireless in restoring the college’s finances after the disastrous loss of revenues during the Civil War.

Sir Christopher Wren, 1632–1723—Professor of Astronomy at Oxford, Surveyor of the King’s Works and architect. Classed by Newton as Wallis’s equal as a geometer, worked on spherical trigonometry, produced a measured map of the moon, was a founder-member of the Royal Society, and performed important anatomical work with Lower and others of the Oxford circle. Mainly known for design of St. Paul’s Cathedral, his London churches and Hampton Court Palace.