done, and is doing, in astronomy, falls inevitably under this description; and it is only when the astronomer travels to the very limits of his vast field of labor, that he falls in with phenomena which do not acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Newtonian legislation.-WHEWELL, WILLIAM, 1837-57, History of the Inductive Sciences, vol. I, p. 420. Newton's religious writings are distinguished by their absolute freedom from prejudice. Everywhere, throughout them, there glows the genuine nobleness of soul. To his whole life, indeed, we may here fitly extend the same observation. He was most richly imbued with the very spirit of the Scriptures which he so delighted to study and to meditate upon. His was a piety, so fervent, so sincere and practical, that it rose up like a holy incense from every thought and act. His a benevolence that not only willed, but endeavoured the best for all. His a philanthropy that held in the embracings of its love every brother-man. His a toleration of the largest and the truest; condemning persecution in every, even its mildest, form; and kindly encouraging each striving after excellence: a toleration that came not of indifference-for the immoral and impious met with their quick rebuke -but a toleration that came of the wise humbleness and the Christian charity, which see, in the nothingness of self and the almightiness of TRUTH, no praise for the ablest, and no blame for the feeblest in their strugglings upwards to light and life. CHITTENDEN, N. W., 1846, ed., Newton's Principia, Life, p. 41. I cannot but fancy the shade of Newton blushing to reflect that, among the many things which he professed to know not, poetry was omitted, of which he knew nothing. Great as he was, he indeed saw nothing in the face of nature but its lines and colors; not the lines and colors of passion and sentiment included, but only squares and their distances, and the anatomy of the rainbow. He thought the earth a glorious planet; he knew it better than any one else, in its connection with other planets; and yet half the beauty of them all, that which sympathy bestows and imagination colors, was to him a blank. He took space to be the sensorium of the Deity, (so noble a fancy could be struck. out of the involuntary encounter between his intense sense of a mystery and the imagination he despised!) and yet this very fancy was but an escape from the horror of a vacuum, and a substitution of the mere consciousness of existence for the thoughts and images with which a poet would have accompanied it. He imagined the form of the house, and the presence of the builder; but the life and the variety, the paintings, the imagery, and the music -the loves and the joys, the whole riches of the place, the whole riches in the distance, the creations heaped upon creation, and the particular as well as aggregate consciousness of all this in the great mind of whose presence he was conscious-to all this his want of imagination rendered him insensible. The "Fairy Queen" was to him a trifle; the dreams of Shakspeare "ingenious nonsense." But courts were something, and so were the fashions there. When the name of the Deity was mentioned, he took off his hat!-HUNT, LEIGH, 1847, Fiction and Matter of Fact; Men, Women and Books, vol. I, p. 8. In Isaac Newton two kinds of intellectual power, which have little in common, and which are not often found together in a very high degree of vigour, but which nevertheless are equally necessary in the most sublime departments of physics, were united as they have never been united before or since. There may have been minds as happily constituted as his for the cultivation of pure mathematical science; there may have been minds as happily constituted for the cultivation of science purely experimental; but in no other mind have the demonstrative faculty and the inductive faculty coexisted in such supreme excellence and perfect harmony. Perhaps in the days of Scotists and Thomists even his intellect might have run to waste, as many intellects ran to waste which were inferior only to his. Happily the spirit of the age on which his lot was cast, gave the right direction to his mind; and his mind reacted with tenfold force on the spirit of the age.-MACAULAY, THOMAS BABINGTON, 1849, History of England, ch. iii. They who have overlooked or disregarded the proofs garded the proofs of the connexion between what Bacon enjoined and Boyle performed, are not likely to have recognized any traces of the lights held out by the former, in the philosophy of Newton. Yet it appears undeniable that the latter was guided by principles which Bacon alone had taught; and that his philosophy derives an imperishable character from its rigid adherence to them.-NAPIER, MACVEY, 1853, Lord Bacon and Sir Walter Raleigh, p. 43. We think of Euclid as of fine ice; we admire Newton as we admire the peak of Teneriffe. BAGEHOT, WALTER, 1856, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Works, ed. Morgan, vol. II, p. 59. A genius of the very highest order, a type of genius in science, if ever there was one. ARNOLD, MATTHEW, 1865, The Literary Influence of Academies, Essays in Criticism. Newton's merit consisted in this, that he applied the laws of dynamics to the movements of the celestial bodies, and insisted that scientific theories must be substantiated by the agreement of observations with calculations.-DRAPER, JOHN WILLIAM, 1874, History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science, p. 237. Our national reverence for Newton's scientific achievements has deterred us from laughing at his dabblings in the interpretation of prophecy; and, indeed, sighs rather than smiles should greet the melancholy spectacle of a noble intellect running to waste in puzzling over meaningless riddles. -STEPHEN, LESLIE, 1876, History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century, vol. I, p. 212. In the possession of five healthy senses he regarded himself as the centre of all phenomena, and asserted that what was discernible to the unassisted human eye was the real standard for everything. This was the reason why he found no pleasure in astronomy, for which he needed a telescope, or in microscopic investigations. He even cherished a prejudice against Newton from the one circumstance that he operated with a prism instead of making a sufficient instrument of his healthy human eye.GRIMM, HERMAN, 1880, The Life and Times of Goethe, tr. Adams, Lecture xxiii. That Kant was considerably influenced by Locke is evident from his numerous references to him; but in his earlier years, at least, he was much more indebted to Newton. This is not only seen in his work on cosmogony, but also in his first metaphysical dissertation, which aims to show that metaphysic is not in conflict with the Locke's natural philosophy of Newton. influence began later. While it may be impossible to trace the direct influence of Newton on the "Kritik," indirectly it was great.-STUCKENBERG, J. H. W., 1882, The Life of Immanuel Kant, p. 230. The greatest of natural philosophers.TAYLOR, H. M., 1884, Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth ed., vol. XVII. Sir Isaac Newton's great discovery was not of gravitation, but of the Unity which furnishes the proof of God's existence.BRAY, CHARLES, 1884, Phases of Opinion and Experience During a Long Life, p. 231. In Locke's famous countryman, Isaac Newton, the modern investigation of nature attains the level toward which it has striven, at first by wishes and demands, gradually, also, in knowledge and achievement, since the end of the mediæval period. Newton resembles Boyle in uniting profound piety with the rigor of scientific thought. He finds the most certain proof for the existence of an intelligent creator in the wonderful arrangement of the world-machine, which does not need after-adjustment at the hands of its creator, and whose adaption he praises as enthusiastically as he unconditionally rejects the mingling of teleological considerations in the explanation of physical phenomena. -FALCKENBERG, RICHARD, 1885-93, History of Modern Philosophy, tr. Armstrong, pp. 181, 182. Newton has with regard to our subject two great merits. Firstly, he has greatly enlarged the horizon of mechanical physics through the discovery of universal gravitation. Further, he has also completed the enunciation of the principles of mechanics as we now accept them. After him an essentially new principle has not been established. What after him has been done in mechanics refers to the deductive, formal, and mathematical development of mechanics on the ground of Newton's principles. . . . Newton's principles are sufficient without the introduction of any new principle to clear up every mechanical problem which may present itself, be it one of statics or dynamics. If difficulties present themselves, they are always only mathematical, formal, not fundamental.-MACH, ERNST, 188993, Mechanik in ihrer Entwickelung, historisch-kritisch dargestellt, tr. M'Cormack, pp. 174, 239. Newton has indeed but little direct claim to rank among the masters of English prose. With the exception of a few letters and theological pamphlets, his writings are all in Latin, academic instincts teaching him the inestimable value of that language as an instrument of definite and precise statement. Nor are the subjects such as to leave much room for beauty of form in their exposition. Order, lucidity, and a reverence for the syllogism-you can expect no more from a mathematician. And those same virtues of clear and cogent reasoning, are the chief qualities which Newton carries with him when he ventures into his mother tongue, and beyond the sphere of physics. Indirectly, however, he must have had a considerable influence upon the subsequent course of literature. The impulse of the scientific spirit is among the principal factors to be taken account of in examining the problem of the eighteenth century mind; and no one had a greater share in the propagation of this impulse than Newton.-CHAMBERS, E. K., 1894, English Prose, ed. Craik, vol. III, p. 311. An estimate of his genius is impossible. "Sibi gratulentur mortales tale tantunque extitisse Humani generis Decus" are the words on his monument at Westminster, while on Roubilica's statue in Trinity College chapel the inscription is "Newton qui genus humanum ingenio superavit." All who have written of him use words of the highest admiration. On a table in the room in which Newton was born at Woolsthrop manorhouse is inscribed the celebrated epitaph written by Pope: Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night: God said, "Let Newton be," and all was light. Laplace speaks of the causes "which will always assure to the 'Principia' a preeminence above all other productions of the human intellect." Voltaire, who was present at Newton's funeral, and was profoundly impressed by the just honours paid to his memory by "the chief men of the nation," always spoke of the philosopher with reverence-"if all the geniuses of the uinverse assembled, he should lead the band."-GLAZEBROOK, R. T., 1894, Dictionary of National Biography, vol. XL, p. 392. Had Newton done nothing beyond making his wonderful discoveries in light, his fame would have gone down to posterity. as one of the greatest of Nature's interpreters. . . Though Newton lived long enough to receive the honour that his astonishing discoveries so justly merited, and though for many years of his life his renown was much greater than that of any of his contemporaries, yet it is not too much to say that, in the years which have since elapsed, Newton's fame has been ever steadily advancing, so that it never stood higher than it does at this moment. We hardly know whether to admire more the sublime discoveries at which he arrived, or the extraordinary character of the intellectual processes by which those discoveries were reached. Viewed from either standpoint, Newton's "Principia" is incomparably the greatest work on science that has ever yet been produced.-BALL, SIR ROBERT S., 1895, Great Astronomers, pp. 131, 146. His reputation spread more slowly than that of the great High Chancellor; but it rests on a surer foundation, which baffles every attempt to shake it, and will outlast all coming changes of thought. The beginnings of modern scientific thought are thus to be found in this country. Lord Bacon foretold prophetically the great change which the new philosophy was destined to work. Newton more patiently drew up the first simple rules and gave the first brilliant application. More than. the unfinished and wearisome pages of Bacon's "Novum Organum" does the "Principia" deserve to be placed on a line with Aristotle and Euclid as a model work of scientific inquiry.-MERZ, JOHN THEODORE, 1896, A History of European Thought in the Nineteenth Century, vol. I, p. 95. It has been said that the history of Sir Isaac Newton is also the history of science; yet the character of his life and the work does not entirely exclude him from the category of men of letters. Milton and Dante dealt with the spiritual order of creation, Sir Isaac Newton with the material; yet to those who perceive an almost mystical significance in numbers, to whom mathematics are, in a sense, gateways to the unseen,the author of the "Principia" and of the "Treatise on Optics" will seem scarcely less a teacher than the poets.-WARNER, CHARLES DUDLEY, 1897, ed., Library of the World's Best Literature, vol. XVIII, p. 10619. Cotton Mather 1663-1728 Son of Increase Mather. A famous Congregational clergyman of Boston, pastor of the North Church, 1683-1728, and his father's colleague for the greater part of that period. He was a prolific author, publishing nearly four hundred works, large and small, but it is upon the "Magnalia Christi Americana" that his reputation rests. Among other works are "Wonders of the Invisible World;" "Christian Philosopher;" "Psalterium Americanum;" "Manductio ad Ministerium;" "Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft;" "Essays to Do Good;" "The Armour of Christianity;" "Batteries upon the Kingdom of the Devil;" "Death made Easie and Happy." His style is disfigured by pedantry and strained analogies, and is at all times far removed from simplicity, but the author is nevertheless easily seen to be intensely earnest in his endeavours to be of service to his generation.-ADAMS, OSCAR FAY, 1897, A Dictionary of American Authors, p. 249. went in a coach. All the council had gloves. I had a pair. . . . Mr. Walter prayed excellently. - SEWALL, SAMUEL, 1728, Diary, Feb. 19. By his learned works and correspondence, those who lived at the greatest distance might discern much of his superior light and influence; but they could discern these only by a more mediate and faint reflection. These could neither see nor well imagine that extraordinary luster of pious and useful literature, wherewith we were, every day, entertained, surprised, and satisfied, who dwelt in the directer rays, in the more immediate vision. PRINCE, THOMAS, 1729, Life and Times of Cotton Mather, by Marvin, p. 575. When I was a boy, I met with a book, entitled "Essays to do Good," which I think was written by your father. It had been so little regarded by a former possessor, that several leaves of it were torn out; but the remainder gave me such a turn of thinking, as to have an influence on my conduct through life. It is now more than sixty years since I left Boston: but I remember well both your father and grandfather, having heard them both in the pulpit, and seen them in their houses. The last time I saw your father was in the beginning of 1724, when I visited him after my first trip to Pennsylvania. He received me in his library, and on my taking leave, showed me a shorter way out of the house through a narrow passage, which was crossed by a beam overhead. We were still talking as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I turning partly towards him, when he said. hastily, "Stoop, stoop!" I did not understand him, till I felt my head hit against the beam. He was a man that never missed any occasion of giving instruction, and upon this he said to me, "You are young, and have the world before you; stoop as you go through it, and you will miss many hard thumps.' This advice, thus beat into my head, has frequently been of use to me; and I often think of it, when I see pride mortified, and misfortunes brought upon people by their carrying their heads too high.-FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN, 1784, Letter to Samuel Mather, May 12. His early reputation, and the prominent part he took in the ecclesiastical affairs of New England; the great and long-continued consideration which he enjoyed with the people at large; his literary attainments and unquestionable ability of a certain kind; the contributions he made to the materials of our early history, ample at least, if not so exact as might be desired; and last, though not least, his grievous errors of conduct, on several important occasions, give him an undoubted eminence above most of his contemporaries, and make him one of the most remarkable characters that belong to the early period of New England.-PALFREY, JOHN GORHAM, 1836, Spark's American Biography, North American Review, vol. 43, p. 518. In summing up the character of Cotton Mather, we should say, that he was a man of superior general ability, without the advantage of any leading intellectual tendencies, and that his warm and benevolent feelings were not sufficiently guarded by reserve, or qualified by worldly shrewdness. By nature and education he was unfortunately subject to conceit and selfcomplacency, which he had not tact enough to conceal. This infirmity was evidently the real cause of his misfortunes during life, and its influence has followed his reputation, and obscured his merits with posterity.-HAVEN, S. F., 1840, Cotton Mather, North American Review, vol. 51, p. 22. To cover his confusion, Cotton Mather got up a case of witchcraft in his own parish. . Was Cotton Mather honestly credulous? . . He is an example how far selfishness, under the form of vanity and ambition, can blind the higher faculties, stupefy the judgment, and dupe consciousness itself. BANCROFT, GEORGE, 1840, History of the United States, vol. III. He incurred the responsibility of being its chief cause and promoter. In the progress of the superstitious fear, which amounted to frenzy, and could only be satisfied with blood, he neither blenched nor halted; but attended the courts, watched the progress of invisible agency in the prisons, and joined the multitude in witnessing the executions. --QUINCY, JOSIAH, 1840, History of Harvard University, vol. 1, p. 63. The suggestion, that Cotton Mather, for purposes of his own, deliberately got up this witchcraft delusion, and forced it upon a doubtful and hesitating people, is utterly absurd. Mather's position, convictions, and temperament alike called him to serve on this occasion as the organ, exponent, and stimulator of the popular faith. HILDRETH, RICHARD, 1849, History of the United States of America, vol. II, p. 151. As Cotton Mather was a very dis tinguished man, Grandfather took some pains to give the children a lively conception of his character. Over the door of his library were painted these words, BE SHORT, as a warning to visitors that they must not do the world so much harm as needlessly to interrupt this great man's wonderful labors. On entering the room you would probably behold it crowded, and piled, and heaped with books. They were huge, ponderous folios, and quartos, and little duodecimos, in English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldaic, and all other languages that either originated at the confusion of Babel or have since come into use. All these books, no doubt, were tossed about in confusion, thus forming a visible emblem of the manner in which their contents were crowded into Cotton Mather's brain. And in the middle of the room stood a table, on which, besides printed volumes, were strewn manuscript sermons, historical tracts, and political pamphlets, all written in such a queer, blind, crabbed, fantastical hand, that a writing-master would have gone raving mad at the sight of them. By this table stood Grandfather's chair, which seemed to have contracted an air of deep erudition, as if its cushion were stuffed with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and other hard matters. In this chair, from one year's end to another, sat that prodigious bookworm, Cotton Mather, sometimes devouring a great book, and sometimes scribbling one as big. In Grandfather's younger days there used to be a wax figure of him in one of the Boston museums, representing a solemn, dark-visaged person, in a minister's black gown, and with a blackletter volume before him.-HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL, 1850, Grandfather's Chair, ch. iv. Mather was always exercising his ingenuity to contribute something useful to the world. He was one of the first to employ the press extensively in the dissemination of tracts; he early lifted his voice in favor of temperance; he preached and wrote for sailors; he instructed negroes; he substituted moral and sagacious intellectual restraints with his children for flogging; conversation he studied and practised as an art; and he was a devoted historiographer of his country for posterity-besides his paramount employment, according to the full measure of his day and generation, of discharging the sacred duties of his profession. Pity that any personal defects of temperament or "follies of the wise" should counterbalance these noble achievements-that so well freighted a bark should at times experience the want of a rudder. Good sense was the one stick occasionally missing from the enormous faggot of Mather's studies |