But getting back to our sheep, the greatest minds--scientists, philosophers, poets, musicians and composers--of the 16th and 17th centuries were (Catholic and) Protestant Englishmen (and Englishwomen)

and half of them--Roger Williams, anyway--were American.  Now how did that come about?

Admit that this is a tad elliptical, and that it omits Galileo and Leibniz and J.S. Bach (and Molière and Racine--not to mention Palestrina and Victoria), still it has a certain postmodern "narrative" truth, in promoting to their due and proper eminence, Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, Milton, Byrd, Newton and Purcell.  And, at least, it places Milton and Newton, where they plainly belong, as first among the first, which not even Voltaire was wholly able to do (as regards Milton--though he seems to have known and appreciated the genius of Congreve): Perhaps the young Arouet was thinking of Milton's being, according to Dr. Johnson, "second in performance," not unnaturally, and certainly forgiveably, in the opinion of many, after Homer, Virgil and (maybe) Dante--though I, personally, think Comus (and several others of Milton's long poems) second to absolutely nobody's performance.