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CHAPTER L

The Pre-eminence of Sir Isaac Newton's Reputation—The Interest attached to the Study of his Life and WritingsHis Birth and ParentageBis Early Education—7* sent to Grantham SchoolHis Early Attachment to Mechanical Pursuits—His Windmill—His Water-Clock—His Selfmoving CartHis Sun-DialsHis Preparation for the University.

The name of Sir Isaac Newton has by general consent been placed at the head of those great men who have been the ornaments of their species. However imposing be the attributes with which time has invested the sages and the heroes of antiquity, the brightness of their fame has been eclipsed by the splendour of his reputation; and neither the partiality of rival nations, nor the vanity of a presumptuous age, has ventured to dispute the ascendancy of his genius. The philosopher,* indeed, to whom posterity will probably assign the place next to Newton, has characterized the Principia as pre-eminent above all the productions of human intellect, and has thus divested of extravagance the contemporary encomium upon its author,—

Nee fas eet propius mortali attingoro divoe.

Hallrt.

80 now tbo gods—man cannot nearer go.

.

• The Marquis La Place.—See Syilime du Monde, p. 336.

The biography of an individual so highly renowned cannot fail to excite a general interest. Though his course may have lain in the vale of private life, and may have been unmarked with those dramatic events which throw a lustre even round perishable names, yet the inquiring spirit will explore the history of a mind so richly endowed,—will study its intellectual and moral phases,— and will seek the shelter of its authority on those great questions which reason has abandoned to faith and hope.

If the conduct and opinions of men of ordinary talent are recorded for our instruction, how interesting must it be to follow the most exalted genius through the incidents of common life; to mark the steps by which he attained his lofty pre-eminence; to see how he performs the functions of the social and the domestic compact; how he exercises his lofty powers of invention and discovery; how he comports himself in the arena of intellectual strife; and in what sentiments, and with what aspirations, he quits the world which he has adorned!

In almost all these bearings, the life and writings of Sir Isaac Newton abound with the richest counsel. Here 4he philosopher will learn the art by which alone he can acquire an immortal name. The moralist will trace the lineaments of a character adjusted to all the symmetry of which our imperfect nature is susceptible; and the Christian will contemplate with delight the high priest of science quitting the study of the material universe,—the scene of his intellectual triumphs,—to investigate with humility and patience the mysteries of his faith. • Sir Isaac Newton was born at Woolsthorpe, a hamlet in the parish of Colsterworth in Lincolnshire, about eight miles so«th of Grantham,* on the 25th of December O. S.

* In these days, it will be perhaps useful to niontion that tho nearest railroad station is Great Ponton (on the main Great Northern Line from Grantham to Peterborough), which is about four miles from Woolsthorpe

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