ROBERT BOYLE [Illustration: THE HONOURABLE ROBERT BOYLE _From a painting by Kerseboom, in the rooms of the Royal Society._] ROBERT BOYLE _A BIOGRAPHY_ BY FLORA MASSON LONDON CONSTABLE & COMPANY LTD. 1914 RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, BRUNSWICK STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For permission to quote from the Lismore Papers (as edited by Grosart, 10 vols.), I have to acknowledge my indebtedness to the Duke of Devonshire. I have also to thank Lady Verney for allowing me to quote from the Verney Memoirs, and Sir William Ramsay for permission to quote from his Presidential Address delivered to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Portsmouth 1911. To the kindness of Sir Archibald Geikie I owe the permission to reproduce the portrait of Robert Boyle in possession of the Royal Society of London. I remember with special gratitude the kind counsel given me, in the last months of his life, by the late Professor Edward Dowden. My thanks are due, for advice and help, to Miss Elizabeth Dowden, Mr. Richard Bagwell, Mr. Irvine Masson, Mrs. Millar, Mrs. Townshend, and Mr. James Penrose. I gratefully acknowledge the unfailing courtesy and helpfulness of the Librarians of the Edinburgh Public Library, the Signet Library, the University Library, and the Library of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. FLORA MASSON. _Edinburgh, March 1914._ CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I HIS BIRTH AND FAMILY 1 II AN IRISH CHILDHOOD 15 III SCHOOLDAYS AT ETON 34 IV THE MANOR OF STALBRIDGE 55 V THE HOUSE OF THE SAVOY 70 VI ROBYN GOES ABROAD 85 VII THE DEBACLE 99 VIII IN ENGLAND AGAIN 122 IX THE DEARE SQUIRE 140 X A KIND OF ELYSIUM 159 XI HERMETIC THOUGHTS 170 XII OXFORD: A LEARNED JUNTO 189 XIII POLITICS AND PHILOSOPHY 206 XIV THE RESTORATION AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY 226 XV THE PLAGUE AND THE FIRE 246 XVI A NEW LONDON 267 XVII THE HOUSE IN PALL MALL 282 INDEX 311 ROBERT BOYLE CHAPTER I HIS BIRTH AND FAMILY