Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub

seems to me might be better spent in a pious, contemplative life, and a due provision for eternity."

While a pattern of legal diligence, he was thus also a pattern of evangelical fervour. The study of law did not dry up his emotions-they sparkled and flowed like living water in the light of gospel sunshine. Thus he proved the practicability of blending a fervent spirit with secular diligence.

LIFE OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

(Drawn chiefly from the shorter Life of Newton by Brewster.) Phil-os'o-pher, n. (Gr. philos, so- | Ho-mo-ge'ne-ous, adj. (Gr. homos,

phia), a lover of wisdom; a man deeply versed in natural or moral

science. U'ni-verse, n. (L. unus, versum), literally, God's works turned or reduced to unity, that is, viewed as forming one grand whole; the entire creation. U-ni-ver'sal, adj. (see above), extending to the whole system of created things; general. Grav-i-ta'tion, n. (L. gravis), the act of tending to the centre of attraction; the pressure that a body by the force of gravity exerts on another body under it. At-trac ́tion, n. (ad, tractum-see traho), the act or power of drawing to; a general term used to denote the power or principle by which bodies tend or are drawn towards each other.

genos), of the same sort or kind; having the same nature. Dis-sect', v. (L. dis, seco), to cut in pieces; to divide and examine minutely.

In-vest', v. (L. in, vestis), to clothe;
to dress.

Rep-u-ta'tion, n. (L. re, puto), char-
acter derived from our past con-
duct; good name; fame.
Sage, n. (see page 42.)
Rec'og-nise, v. (L. re, con, nosco),
to know again; to call again to
mind; to acknowledge.
Sen'ti-ment, n. (L. sentio), feeling
or thought expressed in words.
Per-se-cu'tion, n. (L. per, secutus--
see sequi), the act of pursuing
with malignity, generally on ac-
count of religious opinions.
Im-pa'tient, adj. (L. in, patiens),
fretful; unable to endure or wait.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON, the most distinguished philosopher and mathematician the world has ever produced, was born at Woolsthorpe, a hamlet near Grantham, in Lincolnshire, in 1642, o. s., exactly one year after the death of the great Galileo.

Newton, during boyhood, was remarkable chiefly for his ingenious mechanical contrivances, and for the decided bias. of his mind to mathematical studies. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in the eighteenth year of his age, and in 1669, when only twenty-seven, was elected Professor of Mathematics, in room of the celebrated Dr. Barrow, who had

resigned. Three years previous, however, viz., in the year 1666, he was driven from Cambridge into the country by the plague which did not confine its ravages to London alone— and while musing in his garden, the falling of an apple to the ground arrested his attention, and threw his mind into a train of thought, that resulted afterwards in the discovery of the great principle of universal gravitation. This law asserts, first, that attraction reigns throughout the material universe, affecting alike the smallest particle of matter and the greatest body; secondly, that attraction acts upon every mass of matter precisely in proportion to its quantity; and, thirdly, that its intensity or force is diminished as the square of the distance is increased. Newton published the doctrine of universal gravitation in 1687, in his "Principia" or "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy." In 1704, he published his "Optics," a piece of philosophy so entirely new that he may be called the creator of this science. Till this time, light was thought to be a simple homogeneous body; but Newton with his simple prism dissected, so to speak, the ray of apparently pure white light, and showed that it was composed of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet colours. Sir Isaac Newton died in the 85th year of his age, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a noble monument was erected to his memory.

The name of 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 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 ascendency of his genius. The Marquis La Place, the philosopher 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

"So near the gods-man cannot nearer go."

ANECDOTE.

The modesty of Sir Isaac Newton, in reference to his great discoveries was very great, but was not founded on any in

difference to the fame which they conferred, or upon any erroneous judgment of their importance to science. The whole of his life proves that he knew his place as a philosopher, and was determined to assert and vindicate his rights. His modesty arose from the depth and extent of his knowledge, which showed him what a small portion of nature he had been able to examine, and how much remained to be explored in the same field in which he had himself laboured. In the magnitude of the comparison he recognized his own littleness; and a short time before his death he uttered this memorable sentiment: "I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.' What a lesson to the vanity and presumption of philosophers,-to those especially who have never even found the smoother pebble or the prettier shell! What a preparation for the latest inquiries, and the last views of the decaying spirit,-for those inspired doctrines which alone can throw a light over the dark ocean of undiscovered truth!

[ocr errors]

In the religious and moral character of Sir Isaac Newton, there is much to admire and to imitate. While he exhibited in his life and writings an ardent regard for the general interests of religion, he was at the same time a firm believer in Revelation. He was too deeply versed in the Scriptures, and too much imbued with their spirit, to judge harshly of other men who took different views of them from himself. He cherished the great principles of religious toleration, and never scrupled to express his abhorrence of persecution, even in its mildest form. Immorality and impiety he never permitted to pass unreproved; and when Dr. Halley ventured to say anything disrespectful to religion, he invariably checked him, and said, "I have studied these things,-you have not."

The habits of deep meditation which Sir Isaac Newton had acquired, though they did not show themselves in his intercourse with society, exercised their full influence over his mind when in the midst of his own family. Absorbed in thought, he would often sit down on his bedside, after he rose, and remain there for hours without dressing himself, occupied with some interesting investigation which had fixed his attention. Owing to the same absence of mind, he neglected to take the requisite quantity of nourishment, and it was therefore often necessary to remind him of his meals.

E

The following anecdote of Sir Isaac's absence of mind has been published. His intimate friend Dr. Stukely, who had been deputy to Dr. Halley as secretary to the Royal Society, was one day shown into his dining-room, where his dinner had been for some time served up. Dr. Stukely waited for a considerable time, and getting impatient, he removed the cover from a chicken, which he ate, replacing the bones under the cover. In a short time Sir Isaac entered the room, and after the usual compliments sat down to his dinner, but on taking off the cover, and seeing nothing but bones, he remarked, "How absent we philosophers are. I really thought that I had not dined."

1. When and where was Newton born? 2. At what college did he study? 3. In place of whom was he chosen professor of mathematics?

4. What does the law of universal gravitation declare?

5. Name the colours that enter into the composition of light.

6. When did Newton die, and where is he buried?

7. Relate the anecdote of his modestyof his piety-of his absence of mind.

JAMES FERGUSON, THE SELF-TAUGHT ASTRONOMER AND MECHANICIAN,

(Abridged from "The Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties.") As-tron o-mer, n. (Gr. astēr, nomos), | Tol'er-a-bly, adv. (L. tolero), modone skilled in the knowledge of the stars and of the laws by which they are regulated. Ac-qui-si'tion, n. (L. ad, quaesitum), the act of acquiring; the thing gained, as property or learning.

Il-lit'er-ate, adj. (L. in, litera), unlettered; untaught; unlearned.

erately well; passably.
Phe-nom'e-non, n. (see page 45.)
Au'di-ence, n. (L. audio), a hear-
ing; an auditory or assembly of
hearers.

Re-mit', v. (L. re, mitto), to send
back; to relax; to forgive.
Au-to-bi-og'ra-phy, n. (Gr. autos,
bios, grapho), the life of a man
narrated by himself.

AMONG self-educated men there are few who claim more of our admiration than the celebrated James Ferguson. If ever any one was literally his own instructor in the very elements of knowledge, it was he. Acquisitions that have scarcely in any other case, and probably never by one so young, been made without the assistance either of books or a living teacher, were the discoveries of his solitary and almost illiterate boyhood. He was born in the year 1710, a few miles from the village of Keith in Banffshire, of parents in the humblest condition of life; his father being merely a day-labourer, but honest and religious. It was his father's practice to teach his children to

read and write himself, when they were old enough to learn, (as he was not able to pay for their education at school); but James, too impatient to wait till his regular turn came, listened attentively while his elder brothers were receiving their lessons, and by the help of an old woman in a cottage hard by, acquired the art of reading tolerably well, before his parents were aware. Being of weak body, he was sent when very young to keep the sheep of a neighbouring farmer, and while his sheep were feeding around him, he amused himself by making little mills and spinning-wheels during the day, and by studying the stars at night. When about twenty years of age, he entered the service of Thomas Grant Esquire of Achoynaney. Here he found both a good friend and a very extraordinary man in that gentleman's butler, Alexander Cantley, who was painting a sun-dial on a wall near the village school, when Ferguson first saw him.

"This Mr. Cantley," says Ferguson, "was the most extraordinary man I ever was acquainted with, for he was a complete master of arithmetic, a good mathematician, a master of music on every known instrument except the harp, understood Latin, French and Greek, let blood extremely well, and could even prescribe as a physician on any urgent occasion."

After working in the service of one or two families of distinction, Ferguson began to draw portraits, and came to Edinburgh, where he succeeded so well as to earn money enough not only to defray his own expenses, but to assist largely his parents in their old age.

He went to London in 1743, and in 1747, he published his first work "A dissertation on the phenomena of the harvest moon." From 1748 till the end of his life, he read public lectures on Astronomy, which were numerously and fashionably attended, George III. then a boy, being frequently among the audience. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, the usual fees being remitted, as had been done in the case of Sir Isaac Newton and Thomas Simpson. He died in the year 1776.

ANECDOTE INGENUITY AND CIVILITY.

The following extract is taken from Ferguson's "Autobiography," one of the most interesting specimens of self-history in the language:

"In order to amuse myself in this low state, I made a wooden clock, the frame of which was also of wood; and it kept time

« PredošláPokračovať »