ABSTRACT
As an epilogue to this book it is interesting to follow up the influence of English pioneers in foreign countries. The theme is too vast to treat it in a few pages, and a separate volume has to be devoted to it. There were many channels through which English thought and practice penetrated abroad. The Royal Society with its many foreign correspondents was one. The English Freemasonry was another. The encyclopedic movement connected with Masonry also had its start in England. The origin of the French Encyclopédie, at first conceived as a translation of Chamber’s Cyclopædia is well known. Personal links of famous men such as B. Franklin, J. Priestley, Th. Pain, J. Bentham and others played an important rôle in this ‘diffusion of knowledge’. Here we shall give as an example the influence of the Royal Mathematical School, Christ’s Hospital, on the spread of modern education in Europe.
