for their improvement and extension,-astronomy, mechanics, natural history, medicine, and literature, and the arts, are entitled to the same protection."—Vol. I. p. 104. We cannot, of course, say what considerations may have swayed the mind of Sir Robert Peel in the establishment of the Institution referred to in London, and the kindred Institution in Dublin. We have, however, always been led to suppose that the idea of these Museums originated in the mind of the late Sir Henry De la Beche; that when he commenced, in the first instance, almost entirely on his own resources, the geological survey of Cornwall and Devon, with a view to its being ultimately continued by the Government over the whole kingdom, the Museum of Economical Geology, as it was then called, arose from the necessity for having some place in which to store, exhibit, and arrange the specimens collected, together with models of mining machinery and other practical matters. This idea grew and increased, until it has been expanded into its present size, which we by no means look upon as anything like its full growth. Upon the principle that a Museum, without lectures explanatory of the objects contained in it, is a mere curiosity-shop, educational arrangements have followed as a necessary and logical consequence of the foundation of the two Museums in London and Dublin, and will, we conclude, follow that which is to be established shortly in Edinburgh, that education having a special technical direction, limited by the nature of the contents of the Museum in each case. We do not by any means agree with Sir David Brewster in looking on these Institutions as the enlargements of any section of an Academy of Sciences or National Institute, or as containing the germs for the development of such a notion. Based on a great survey of the mineral resources and the geological structure of the United Kingdom, which has both theoretical and practical results of high importance for its object, these Institutions will be the store-houses and the record-offices of this survey, and the places where those results, and everything connected with, and of kin to, them may be preserved and arranged, and explained, and expounded, long after the survey itself shall have been brought to a conclusion. We come now to the history of the discovery of the universality of the attraction of gravitation, and the explanation of the motions of the whole of the heavenly bodies by one general simple law. What we have said before as regards the nature of light, is applicable here too. We who have been familiar from our childhood with the idea of gravitation, can hardly realise to ourselves the mental state of men who were destitute of it. In order fully to understand the majesty of Newton's simple theory, we should be familiar with the complicated hypotheses not only of the cycle and epicycle of the Ptolemaic system, but of the vortices of Descartes, with which all men's heads were bewildered till Newton's time, and many of them even beyond it. The idea of gravity first occurred to Newton in 1665; it had been kept in abeyance during his optical investigations, and it was not till the years 1685 and 1686 that, urged by several friends, among whom Halley must be especially mentioned, he composed and gave to the world the " Philosophia Naturalis Principia Mathematica." The whole of the history of the publication of the "Principia," as given by Sir David, is very interesting. All men of science, and especially all those who claim England for their birth-place, must ever feel an interest in knowing the minutest particular about this the loftiest effort of the human mind; that of which it has been well said "Nec fas est propius mortali attingere divos." It would occupy, however, too much of our space to give even the brief abstract of the contents of this work that Sir David lays before us; the reader will find it in his first volume, pages 319-330. We will just quote the following passage, by which it is introduced: "Such is a brief notice of the composition and printing of the first and second editions of a work which will be memorable not only in the annals of one science, or of one country, but which will form an epoch in the history of the world, and will ever be regarded as the brightest page in the records of human reason, a work, may we not add, which would be read with delight in every planet of our system,-in every system of the universe. What a glorious privilege was it to have been the author of the Principia! There was but one earth upon whose form and tides and movements the philosopher could exercise his genius,-one moon, whose perturbations and inequalities and actions he could study, - one sun, whose controlling force and apparent motions he could calculate and determine,-one system of planets, whose mutual disturbances could tax his highest reason,-one system of comets, whose eccentric paths he could explore and rectify,and one universe of stars, to whose binary and multiple combinations he could extend the law of terrestial gravity. To have been the chosen sage summoned to the study of that earth, these systems, and that universe, the favoured lawgiver to worlds unnumbered, the high-priest in the temple of boundless space,-was a privilege that could be granted but to one member of the human family; and to have executed the task was an achievement which in its magnitude can be measured only by the infinite in space, and in the duration of its triumphs by the infinite in time. That Sage-that Lawgiver -that High-priest was Newton."-Vol. I. pp. 318, 319. Ever since the publication of the "Principia," astronomers and philosophers have been engaged in extending and amplifying the rules there laid down. One very remarkable instance of the application of Newton's laws has happened in our own time. Newton demonstrated that every particle of matter in the universe is attracted by, or gravitates to, every other particle of matter, with a force directly proportional to their quantities of matter, and inversely to the squares of their distances. It follows that all the planets, as they move around the sun, are acted upon by the sun and by each other, and that, as their mutual places and distances are for ever varying, each one is pulled a little out of its mean path, now on this side and now on that, according as the puller varies its position. Inasmuch as the quantities of matter, however, contained in each do not vary, and inasmuch as this pulling or disturbing action always ultimately compensates itself by exerting at one time as much force in one direction as it did at another in the opposite, the stability of the whole system is perfectly secured. Moreover, by observing and measuring the amount of this "perturbation," as it is called, exerted by any two bodies on each other, as for instance Jupiter and Saturn, and knowing their size and their distance, we are able to weigh them one against another, and estimate the amount of matter contained in them. Now, since the discovery by Herschel of the planet Uranus, it was found, by continued observation, that after allowing for the effect which Saturn and the rest of the heavenly bodies must exert on his motions, there still remained over and above a certain amount of irregularity in this orbit, such as could only be accounted for on the supposition of yet another planet outside of Uranus exerting a certain amount of "pulling" or attractive influence upon him. Two young astronomers, Adams of Cambridge, and Leverrier of Paris, at the same time undertook, unknown to each other, the investigation of this problem, and they not only proved that there must be such an external planet, but, by calculating the amount and direction of its attractive influence, they pointed out the exact spot in the heavens, within a single degree, where it would be found. Even astronomers royal were not prepared for this, and nine months were allowed to pass away before Airey and Challis gave themselves the trouble to look for it in England, and eight months were equally allowed to elapse on the continent. No sooner, however, had the telescopes of Professor Challis at Cambridge, and M. Galle at Berlin, been pointed to the spot indicated, than they saw the new planet as a star of the eighth magnitude, in the exact place that had been predicted equally by Adams and Leverrier. It was in October, 1845, that Adams had completed his task; in November of the same year Leverrier laid his memoir before the Academy of Sciences at Paris. It was in August, 1846, that the star was seen. Sir David says: "The honour of having made this discovery belongs equally to Adams and Leverrier. It is the greatest intellectual achievement in the annals of astronomy, and the noblest triumph of the Newtonian Philosophy. To detect a planet by the eye, or to track it to its place by the mind, are acts as incommensurable as those of muscular and intellectual power. Recumbent on his easy chair, the practical astronomer has but to look through the cleft in his revolving cupola, in order to trace the pilgrim star in its course; or by the application of magnifying power, to expand its tiny disc, and thus transfer it from among its sidereal com panions to the planetary domains. The physical astronomer, on the contrary, has no such auxiliaries: he calculates at noon, when the stars disappear under a meridian sun: he computes at midnight, when clouds and darkness shroud the heavens; and from within that cerebral dome, which has no opening heavenward, and no instrument but the Eye of Reason, he sees in the disturbing agencies of an unseen planet, upon a planet by him equally unseen, the existence of the disturbing agent, and from the nature and amount of its action, he computes its magnitude and indicates its place. If man has ever been permitted to see otherwise than by the eye, it is when the clairvoyance of reason, piercing through screens of epidermis and walls of bone, grasps amid the abstractions of number and of quantity, those sublime realities which have eluded the keenest touch, and evaded the sharpest eye.”—Vol. I. pp. 369, 370. The next phase in Newton's life was his controversy with Leibnitz as regards the invention of the Differential Calculus. There can be little doubt that, as Leibnitz was capable of the independent invention of this calculus, so he did arrive at it independently. It is certain that Newton's Fluxions (the same thing in another form) were his own. Leibnitz's case, however, is unfortunately stained by the dishonesty and disingenuity of his proceedings, and by his treachery to his friend Bernoulli, who told lies for his sake. It is a painful passage in the lives of great men, and had its evil effect even on the calm and dispassionate mind of Newton. Passing over this passage in his life, we meet in Sir David's pages with some curious and interesting accounts of his mode of existence at Cambridge. The letters of his amanuensis, Dr. Humphrey Newton, are very amusing. We give an extract from one of them : "In the last year of King Charles II., Sir Isaac was pleased, through the mediation of Mr. Walker (then schoolmaster at Grantham), to send for me up to Cambridge, of whom I had the opportunity, as well as honour, to wait of for about five years. In such time he wrote his Principia Mathematica, which stupendous work, by his order, I copied out before it went to the press. After the printing, Sir Isaac was pleased to send me with several of them in presents to some of the heads of Colleges, and others of his acquaintance, some of which (particularly Dr. Babington of Trinity) said that they might study seven years before they understood any thing of it. His carriage then was very meek, sedate, and humble, never seemingly angry, of profound thought, his countenance mild, pleasant, and comely. I cannot say I ever saw him laugh but once, which was at that passage which Dr. Stukely mentioned in his letter to your honour, which put me in mind of the Ephesian philosopher, who laughed only once in his lifetime, to see an ass eating thistles when plenty of grass was by. He always kept close to his studies, very rarely went a visiting, and had as few visitors, excepting two or three persons, Mr. Ellis, Mr. Laughton of Trinity, and Mr. Vigani, a chemist, in whose company he took much delight and pleasure at an evening when he came to wait upon him. I never knew him to take any recreation or pastime either in riding out to take the air, walking, bowling, or any other exercise whatever, thinking all hours lost that was not spent in his studies, to which he kept so close that he seldom left his chamber except at term time, when he read in the schools as being Lucasianus Professor, where so few went to hear him, and fewer that understood him, that ofttimes he did in a manner, for want of hearers, read to the walls. Foreigners he received with a great deal of freedom, candour, and respect. When invited to a treat, which was very seldom, he used to return it very handsomely, and with much satisfaction to himself. So intent, so serious upon his studies, that he ate very sparingly, nay, ofttimes he has forgot to eat at all, so that, going into his chamber, I have found his mess untouched, of which, when I have reminded him, he would reply,' Have I' and then making to the table, would eat a bit or two standing, for I cannot say I ever saw him sit at table by himself. At some seldom entertainments, the Masters of Colleges were chiefly his guests. He very rarely went to bed till two or three of the clock, sometimes not till five or six, lying about four or five hours, especially at spring and fall of the leaf, at which times he used to employ about six weeks in his elaboratory, the fire scarcely going out either night or day, he sitting up one night and I another, till he had finished his chemical experiments, in the performances of which he was the most accurate, strict, exact. What his aim might be I was not able to penetrate into, but his pains, his diligence at these set times made me think he aimed at something beyond the reach of human art and industry. I cannot say I ever saw him drink either wine, ale, or beer, excepting at meals, and then but very sparingly. He very rarely went to dine in the hall, except on some public days, and then if he has not been minded, would go very carelessly, with shoes down at heels, stockings untied, surplice on, and his head scarcely combed." Vol. II., pp. 91–94. In 1687, in the contention between James II, and the University, he was one of those who nobly resisted the attempted encroachments of the King, and was elected afterwards by the University a member of the Convention Parliament, which settled the terms of the constitution in accordance with which William III. ascended the throne. Subsequently to this he was occupied with the Lunar theory, which brings us in contact with another controversy, that has been revived in our own day by the friends of Newton and Flamsteed, and can hardly be said to be With this we even yet set at rest. shall not meddle, since it would occupy too much space to give a full explanation of it. Newton may in this, as in other instances, have been more "touchy" than there was exactly occasion for, while it is obvious that Flamsteed's disposition was of the kind best described as "cantankerous." their scientific merits there can be no question the one was the quarryman or stone-mason, the other the architect. Of In 1696, through the influence of his young friend, Charles Montague, afterwards Earl of Halifax, he was made Warden, and, in 1699, Master of the Mint. In November, 1703, he was elected President of the Royal Society, and in April, 1705, on the occasion of Queen Anne visiting Cambridge, he received the far less considerable honour of knighthood. In the meantime he appears, when at the age of sixty, to have had some thoughts of marriage, and to have made proposals to Lady Norris, a lady whose husband had been Resident-Fellow of Trinity, when Newton was Lucasian Professor, and afterwards made a baronet and ambassador at Delhi to the Great Mogul. The letter to Lady Norris is certainly a very curious one, and just the kind of precise and argumentative love-letter one would have imagined Newton likely to write. He endeavours to reduce her remaining a widow longer than she could help to an argumentum ad absurdum, and then to propose himself, by way of a hypothesis, sufficient to satisfy the conditions of the case, or at all events sufficient to reason logically upon : "It is in the handwriting of Mr. Conduitt, who, doubtless, intended to publish it, and is entitled, in the same hand, Copy of a Letter to Lady Norris, by ,' while on the back is written in another hand, 'A Letter 1 from Sir 1. N. to "MADAM,-Your ladyship's great grief at the loss of Sir William, shews that if he had returned safe home, your ladyship could have been glad to have lived still with a husband, and therefore your aversion at present from marrying again can proceed from nothing else than the memory of him whom you have lost. To be always thinking on the dead, is to live a melancholy life among sepulchres, and how much grief is an enemy to your health is very manifest by the sickness it brought when you received the first news of your widowhood. And can your ladyship resolve to spend the rest of your days in grief and sickness? Can you resolve to wear a widow's habit perpetually, -a habit which is less acceptable to company, a habit which will be always putting you in mind of your lost husband, and thereby promote your grief and indisposition till you leave it off. The proper remedy for all these mischiefs is a new husband, and whether your ladyship should admit of a proper remedy for such maladies, is a question which I hope will not need much time to consider of Whether your ladyship should go constantly in the melancholy dress of a widow, or flour rish once more among the ladies; whether you should spend the rest of your days cheerfully or in sadness, in health or in sickness, are questions which need not much consideration to decide them. Besides that your ladyship will be better able to live according to your quality by the assistance of a hus band than upon your own estate alone; and therefore since your ladyship likes the person proposed, I doubt not but in a little time to have notice of your ladyship's inclinations to marry, at least that you will give him leave te discourse with you about it. "I am, Madam, your ladyship's most humble, and most obedient servant."" -Vol. II., pp. 211, 212. There is yet one side of Newton's mind which we must not wholly neglect, and that is the theological side: "If," says Sir D. Brewster, "Sir Isaac Newton had not been distinguished as a mathematician and a natural philosopher, he would have enjoyed a high reputation as a theologian. The occupation of his time, however, with those profound studies for which his genius was so peculiarly adapted, prevented him from preparing for the press the theological works which he had begun at a very early period of life, and to which he devoted much of his time, even when he mixed with the world, and was occupied with the affairs of the Mint." These theological writings are very remarkable. Among them we may class, perhaps, his "Chronology," as well as his Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John." The most interesting, however, is his "Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture," in which he shows that the texts, 1 John, v. 7, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one;" and 1 Timothy, iii. 16, "Great is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh," are both gross and unwarrantable corruptions, which ought long ago to have been removed from our Bibles. In the first, the words "the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost' were mere marginal interpretations of Jerome, which the Latins transferred into the text, though they are not in any of the ancient Greek manuscripts or other versions. Luther omitted them from his Bible, in which he is supported by such men as Erasmus, Grotius, Clarke, and Bentley. In the other text the word "God" ought to be "which," the Greek word signify ing the latter, being easily altered into the Greek contraction which stands for the former. It was in the sixth century that this alteration took place in the Greek manuscripts, and it does not appear in either the Ethiopic, the Syrian, or the Latin versions to this day : "Sir Isaac thus sums up his arguments:The difference between the Greek and the ancient version puts it past dispute that either the Greeks have corrupted their MSS., or the Latins, Syrians, and Ethiopians their versions; and it is more reasonable to lay the fault upon the Greeks than upon the other three, for these considerations:-It was easier for one nation to do it than for three to conspire, it was easier to change a letter or two in the Greek than six words in the Latin. In the Greek the sense is obscure,-in the versions clear. It was agreeable to the interest of the Greeks to make the change, but against the interest of other nations to do it, and men are never false to their own interest. The Greek reading was unknown in the times of the Arian controversy, but that of the versions was then in use both among Greeks and Latins. Some Greek MSS. render the Greek reading dubious, but those of the versions, hitherto collated, agree. There are no signs of corruption in the versions, hitherto discovered, but in the Greek we have showed you particularly when, on what occasion, and by whom the text was corrupted.' "The view taken of this text by Sir Isaac VOL. XLVI.NO. CCLXXIII. has been defended by Dr. Clarke, Whiston, Semler, Griesbach, Wetstein, and others. In our own day it has been controverted, with much ability and learning, in an elaborate dissertation by Dr. Henderson, who has not justified its retention as a portion of revealed truth." Vol. II., pp. 335, 336. In addition, Newton left the following MSS., evidently intended for publication "Paradoxical Questions concerning Athanasius." "A History of the Creed." It was doubtless necessary to the convictions of Newton that the texts mentioned above should be set completely beyond a doubt one way or other, since, though a deeply religious and pious Christian, there can be no doubt that Newton, like his friend Locke, was not an orthodox believer in the Trinity, and that it was for that reason that he always resisted the importunity of his friends to take holy orders. In addition to his other scientific pursuits, Newton was also a diligent and enthusiastic student of chemistry, as far as it was known as a science in his time, and was at some periods of his life constantly occupied in his laboratory. It was in 1722, when now in his eightieth year, that the first symptoms of mortal disease began to undermine the hitherto vigorous frame of Sir Isaac Newton. Gout and stone begun now to trouble him, and of the latter disease he died on Monday, the 20th of March, 1727, in his eighty-fifth year. Sir David gives us the following interesting particulars respecting him : "In his personal appearance, Sir Isaac Newton was not above the middle size, and in the latter part of his life was inclined to be corpulent. According to Mr. Conduitt, 'he had a very lively and piercing eye, a comely and gracious aspect, with a fine head of hair as white as silver, without any baldness, and when his peruke was off was a venerable sight.' Bishop Atterbury asserts, on the other hand, that the lively and piercing eye did not belong to Sir Isaac during the last twenty years of his life. Indeed,' says he, in the whole air of his face and make there was nothing of that penetrating sagacity which appears in his compositions. He had something rather languid in his look and manner which did not raise any great expectation in those who did not know him.' This opinion of Bishop Atterbury is con |