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Professor, being his friend, and the director of his studies.

Having taken his degrees of Bachelor of Arts in 1664, he was driven from Cambridge in the following year, by the plague, which did not confine its ravages to London. It was at about this period of his absence from the university, perhaps when at Woolsthorp, that the circumstance of an apple falling to the ground from a tree, as he sat beneath it in a garden, gave him the first idea of the law of gravitation, which he afterwards followed out into the most important results. By unwearied application, he is said to have hence determined the principle of motion to the earth, the moon, the several planets, and the comets, in their respective orbits! One of the best poets of our times, in his Lines on a Tear exquisitely alludes to the application of the same mighty principle to the greatest and the least of things:

"The very law* which moulds a tear,

And bids it trickle from its souce,-
That law preserves the earth a sphere,

And guides the planets in their course."-Rogers.

In 1667, Newton, having laid the foundation of his great, work, The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, returned to Cambridge, and was elected Fellow of his college. In 1669, he succeeded Barrow, as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, and in 1672 became a Fellow of the Royal Society, an institution then in its infancy, to which he communicated his New Theory of Lights and Colours. This was his favourite discovery, and had, previous to its publication, employed him for thirty years. So early as 1664, he bought a prism at Cambridge, and in 1666 proceeded to try, by means of that simple but valuable instrument, the laws of colours, on the nature and origin of which many and varying notions had existed. It is not within the compass of our present undertaking, to enter fully into this subject, but we will only state, that the grand conclusion drawn by Newton, was, "that light consists of different rays, some of which are more easily refrangible than others;" that is, are more easily turned out of their way in passing from

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The law of gravitation.

one transparent body to another; and it follows that, after such refraction, they will be separated, and their distinct colour observed."

Thus our great philosopher, who is represented in his statue in Trinity College, Cambridge, with the prism in his hand, and whom Thomson well terms the "awful Newton," proved that a beam of white light, as emitted from the sun, consists of seven different colours; namely, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet; for into these seven colours is the beam separated by the prism. This was a startling discovery. I could never think," says the celebrated Flamstead, "that whiteness was a compound of all the different sorts of rays mixed; but, upon trial, I found all the experiments succeeded as Newton related them."

Strange to say, this theory, when offered to the world, was received, in some quarters, not only with feelings of jealous opposition, but of bitter unkindness towards their author, whose peace of mind was, in consequence, much disturbed; as appears from the following passage in his letter, to a man of science, dated 1675. "I had some thoughts of writing a further discourse about colours, to be read at one of your assemblies; but find it yet against the grain to put pen to paper any more on that subject:" and in a letter to Leibnitz, a distinguished German astronomer, in the course of the same year, he remarks, “I was so persecuted with discussions arising from the publication of my theory of light, that I blamed my own imprudence for parting with so substantial a blessing as my quiet, to run after a shadow." Nor did his anxieties, arising from the spleen of his enemies, terminate here. He had, indeed, been appointed Master of the Mint in 1699, through the generous influence of the Earl of Halifax, and knighted by Queen Anne in 1705; but in 1714, whilst much regarded in the court of George the First, we find him involved in a troublesome quarrel with Leibnitz, who contested with him the credit of a valuable invention in mathematics-that of Fluxions, and who tried to undermine him in the good opinion of the then Princess of Wales, (afterwards Queen-consort of George the Second,) by representing our great philosopher's views not only as false, but as tending to irreligion. Newton, however, is known to have been a firm believer, and a

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sincere Christian. His discoveries concerning the frame and system of the universe were applied by him to prove the being of a God, and to illustrate His power and wisdom in the creation. He likewise studied with the utmost attention the Holy Scriptures, and considered several parts of them with critical care, particularly as to the series of prophecies and events relating to the Messiah; and he left behind him an elaborate treatise, to prove that the famous prophecy of Daniel's weeks was an express prediction of the coming of the Messiah, and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God.

He was eighty years old, and appeared to be enjoying a green old age, when first seriously attacked by disease. It was then, after many years of robust health, that he was called to suffer agonizing pains, which, though they sometimes caused large drops of perspiration to run down his face, he bore with entire resignation to the will of the Almighty. A delightful instance of his mild and amiable temper is on record, as having occurred in the height of his fame. One day, on his having been called out of his study into an adjoining room, a favourite little dog threw down a lighted candle, by which a quantity of papers, and in them the labour of years, were consumed. When

Sir Isaac returned, and noticed the injury he had sustained, he merely rebuked the dog by exclaiming, "O Diamond! Diamond! thou little knowest the mischief thou hast done!" In proof of the deep sense he entertained of his own insufficiency, and of the Divine perfections, we are told, in Spence's Anecdotes, that once, when complimented on his great discoveries in philosophy, he answered, "Alas! I am only like a child, picking up pebbles on the shore of the great ocean of truth." Some amusing anecdotes of what we call absence are also related of him. But it is hardly fair to measure such a mind as Newton's by a common standard: his strength lay in thinking deeply and correctly, not in speaking; and whilst a member of parliament for the University of Cambridge, for some years, he seldom addressed the House.

This great man, who is well said on the pedestal of his statue, to have "surpassed all his fellow-men in genius," expired on the 18th of March, 1727.—W. C. Taylor.

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RELIGION.

THE GOODNESS OF GOD.

As the sun sends forth a benign and gentle influence on the seed of plants, that it may invite forth the active and plastick power from its recess and secrecy, that by rising into the tallness and dimensions of a tree, it may still receive a greater and more refreshing influence from its foster father, the prince of all the bodies of light; and in all these emanations the sun itself receives no advantage but the honour of doing benefits: so doth the Almighty Father of all the creatures. He at first sends forth His blessings upon us, that we by using them aright should make ourselves capable of greater; while the giving glory to God, and doing homage to Him, are nothing for His advantage, but only for ours; our duties towards Him being like vapours ascending from the earth, not at all to refresh the region of the clouds, but to return back in a fruitful and refreshing shower; and God created us, not that we can increase His felicity, but that He might have a subject receptive of felicity from Him.

Does not God send His angels to keep thee in all thy ways? are not they ministering spirits sent forth to wait upon thee as thy guard? art not thou kept from drowning, from fracture of bones, from madness, from deformities, by the riches of the divine goodness? Tell the joints of thy body, doest thou want a finger? and if thou doest not understand how great a blessing that is, do but remember how ill thou canst spare the use of it when thou hast but a thorn in it. The very privative blessings, the blessings of immunity, safeguard, and integrity which we all enjoy, deserve a thanksgiving of a whole life. If God should send a cancer upon thy face, or a wolf into thy breast, if he should spread a crust of leprosy upon thy skin, what wouldst thou give to be but as now thou art.-Bishop Taylor.

DIVINE WISDOM.

WE can often discover evident marks of God's wisdom; some general uses of the world are very discernible, and how that many parts thereof do contribute to them, we may easily observe: and seeing the whole is compacted in a decent, and constant order, we have reason to deem the like of the rest. Our incapacity to discover all doth not argue defect, but excess of the Maker's wisdom; not too little in itself, but too great perfection in the work, in respect of our capacity. The most to us observable piece of the universe is the earth, upon which we dwell; which that it was designed for the accommodation of living creatures, that are upon it, and principally of man, we cannot be ignorant or doubtful, if we be not so negligent, or stupid, as to let pass unobserved those innumerable signs and arguments that show it. If we look upon the frame of the animals themselves, what a number of admirable contrivances in each of them do appear for the sustenance, for the safety, for the pleasure, for the propagation, for grace and ornament, for all imaginable convenience, suitable to the kind and station of each! If we look about them, what variety and abundance of convenient provisions offer themselves even to a careless view, answerable to all their needs, and all their desires! Wholesome and pleasant food to maintain their life; yea to gratify all their senses; fit shelter from offence, and safe refuge from dangers: all these things provided in sufficient plenty and commodiously disposed for such a vast number of creatures; not the least, most silly, weak or contemptible creature, but we may see some care hath been had for its nourishment and comfort: what wonderful instincts are they endued with for procuring and distinguishing of their food, for guarding themselves and their young from danger! But for man especially, a most liberal provision hath been made to supply all his needs; to please all his appetites; to exercise, with profit and satisfaction, all his faculties; to content (I might say) his utmost curiosity: all things about him do minister (or may do so, if he will use the natural powers and instruments given him) to his preservation, ease, and

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