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is absorbed in the study of Euclid. The good uncle discerns the soul there is within him; persuades his mother to struggle with difficulty, and send him again to school, that he may be prepared for the University; promises all the aid in his power; and finally sees him entered of Trinity College, Cambridge, in his eighteenth year, and in 1660, the year of the 'Restoration' of Chas. 2. The zeal for mathematical studies was great throughout Europe at this period. The celebrated Dr. Isaac Barrow-a divine who never preached without knocking all the dust out of his text,' according to the homely phrase of those times-was also professor of mathematics at Cambridge; and Newton had, in him, the best teacher that, perhaps, all England could have afforded, and what was better still, an intellect of that truly noble cast which could admire, instead of becoming jealous of the pupil when he outsped the teacher. The works of the great Descartes, Kepler's Treatise on Optics, and the Arithmetica Infinitorum,' of Wallis, a profound English mathematician, were among the chief studies of young Newton, during his first attendance at the University. His study of Descartes led him to devote his powers especially to algebra, or analytical mathematics; and he soon discovered the formula usually termed, by algebraists, The Binomial Theorem of Newton.' Those among you who are acquainted with the mathematics do not need to have that discovery described. To others, I can only say that the formula unfolds a method for the developement of functions into an infinite series: an explanation which will be no clearer than talking Greek to some people-and yet I knew not how to describe it more intelligibly to those who know nothing of algebra. The thing to be recommended, especially to you young men, is that you begin to get some knowledge of algebra, for yourselves, and then you will know all about it. Suffice it, however, to say, that the 'Binomial Theorem' is now one of the formulas of algebra most commonly used; and that there is scarcely any analytical research in which it is not of use. A far greater discovery followed: this was the 'Integral Calculus,' or what is sometimes called the Science, or Doctrine, of Fluxions'-the very highest discovery ever made by any mathematician, and still more impossible to define popularly. This new and grander discovery, Newton soon perceived, would enable him to make others in determining the laws of natural phenomena. That is, shall I say ?-it was the key by which the laws of the solar and planetary world could be deciphered: the rule and instrument by which their motions could be accurately calculated: Arithmetic,' or the ordinary science of numbers, being too loose and clumsy an instrument to apply to the solution of astral questions, which involve numbers and relations so unusual. With this conviction of the value of this great discovery for the future, Newton did not make it known. He declined the reputation that might have been gained by publishing it-fixing his determination on greater discoveries.

All this had occurred before he quitted the University in 1665, on account of the Plague. We have been looking, therefore, at the mental strides of a giant made by a mere stripling up to three and twenty years of age! What a lesson of early resolution, of energy, and industry-and let it not be forgotten, of humility and modesty, for pride would have rushed to tell the world what it had done: to sacrifice the world's applause -who does not know how difficult that is for us, when we are young?

We must hasten on with our hasty biographical sketch. During his short retirement into the country, his mind is profoundly intent on these great future discoveries; and now it is that the event occurs which has received such various comment; his first thought of the universal applica

tion of Gravitation' while sitting under an apple-tree, and seeing the apple fall. The anecdote was confirmed to Voltaire, by Newton's neice; and the tree was shewn for many years afterwards. Why,' the young philosopher asked himself, 'may not this power which causes the apple to fall to the earth, extend to the moon, and then what more would be necessary to retain her in her orbit about the earth?' None of you, I trust, will join in the foolish attempt to depreciate the mind of this illustrious discoverer, by that senseless remark-It was all accident!' Accident! why, had not hundreds of men seen apples fall, and eaten them too,-and yet had never thought of this doctrine of Gravitation? Be assured that no grand truth has ever fallen by accident,' into a man's mouth when he happened to yawn. No, no, it is not to the listless and indolent that Nature's Revelations are made. The mind must be prepared to perceive; it must yearn after a discovery of Nature's secrets; it must be girt up, and be in the act of grappling with the difficulty. I tell you young men again, it is the Searcher-and the Searcher alone-who finds the gold of Truth: it is the Worker-and the Worker alone-who discovers that 'Open Sesame' which is to unlock the opulent secrets of the Universe.

Newton's young and ardent mind was filled with the desire of comprehending the mechanism of the 'Cosmos.' He was acquainted with all ancient and exploded systems, as well as with Descartes' system of Vortices -the prevailing system of the time. But this method of accounting for the motions, and explaining the relations, of the celestial bodies did not satisfy him. Furthermore, he knew that it was a law of gravity that the velocity of bodies-that is the rate at which they move-is greater as they approach they earth; and he conceived that the same force ought to regulate the different velocities of motion in their orbits of the different planetary bodies. Kepler, his greatest contemporary, had also discovered-(again, I must use terms that cannot be fully understood without some previous acquaintance with mathematical language)-that the squares of the times of revolution of the different planets, are proportional to the cubes of their distances from the sun.

With this preparatory knowledge, added to his mathematical skill, he went to work at calculation, and strove, in the first instance, to apply this law of Gravitation, strictly, to the moon. But he failed-because the distance of our earth's centre from its surface was not then accurately known. It was necessary to know this in order to ascertain if there were gravity, or centripetal force, enough in the body of the earth-to counteract the gravity, or centrifugal force, of the moon as shewn by her motion in her orbit. His calculations gave, for the moon, a value greater by one-sixth than that which results from her observed circular velocity. Sixty miles to a degree being then believed to be the true measure of the earth-this excess of value for the moon's gravity necessarily resulted from his calculations. And what did he? Some would have thought the approximation so near that they would have sounded their own trumpet to the world, and claimed a discovery. Not so Newton: rigid Truth was what he worshipped-Truth, exact Truth, in Science-exact Truth, in conduct. Who among us can fail to venerate the intellectual and moral beauty of such a character? How veritably did our great countryman deserve his reputation for wisdom, since he could not sacrifice the substance of inward selfapproval for the shadow of outward, and what he would have felt to be undeserved, applause! He made no proclamation to the world, of a discovery he simply resolved to give up the thought of making the full discovery, for a time; but it was impossible that he could entirely relinquish it.

He returns to the University, on the cessation of the Plague, to resume other important studies. He had read Descartes' Optics before quitting Cambridge, and that had led him to make various experiments with a prism, and to suspect that Light was not a homogeneous body. His communications with Dr. Barrow, who was lecturer on Optics to the University, had convinced that eminent man that Newton was more fit than himself for the office; and, at the doctor's request, the young philosopher was now appointed lecturer, in his room. He began to illustrate, by experiments, the composition and decomposition of Light. The report of his discoveries, in this branch of science, soon drew the attention of the scientific world, and he was speedily elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. His first act of acknowledgement for the honour they conferred on him, was that of sending to them a telescope of his own construction-which was only six inches long, and yet the four moons of Jupiter could be seen with it. This precious relic is still possessed by the Royal Society: shewn, of course, now, only as a curiosity; for remarkable as its construction seemed then, modern telescopes, as improved by Dollond and others,—and eventually expanded into the gigantic space-guaging instruments of Herschell and Lord Rosse, have rendered it valuable simply as a curiosity. He afterwards presented the Society with the First Part of his treatise on Optics-a scientific work unsurpassed in pellucid demonstration, and only inferior in value to the grander work he was soon to produce.

It was now that the elevated mind of Newton began to experience disgust and mortification from the annoyances of a rival. That rival, Dr. Hooke, was himself a noble devotee of science; but, unlike Newton, he was deficient in persevering and patient application, and rather resembled the old Greeks in his disposition to affirm bold hypotheses upon an imperfect basis. Hooke stept forth to claim Newton's optical discoveries for his own. He, he said, had already proved that Light was not a homogeneous body. But Dr. Halley, and other great men examined his claims; and the event was, that his theory was shewn to be essentially unlike Newton's,-masmuch as instead of the many colours of Newton, he maintained that the primary colours of light were but two, red and violet, and that the other colours were but mixtures of these: in contradistinction, too, to Newton's doctrine, that Light was an emanation of small particles -Hooke maintained the theory of vibrations,' or the 'undulatory theory,' as it is also called. In our own times, the scientific world is divided on this latter point: part of it still maintaining, with Newton, that Light is material, consisting of infinitely small particles: the other part teaching that it consists in the undulations, or vibrations, of the ether of the Universe, transmitted to the eye. It is not for the purpose of maintaining one or the other to be right, that we are noticing the distinction; but simply to commemorate the fact that Hooke's theory was not Newton's. To defend himself, Newton had to partake in controversy. The task was so unwelcome to him, that he declared he regretted that he had published his views, and had thus 'parted with a blessing so substantial as quiet to run after a shadow.' He then published one more paper, and retired from the contest. His deep wisdom is again evidenced by this act. Who does not know that the finer powers of the mind are worn away by disputes, and that the spirit of wrangling grows upon a man by practice? Had not Newton wisely determined to withdraw from wrangling, he might not only have lost his quiet for life, but have rendered his mind incapable of the grandest of his triumphs which he was next to achieve.

(To be concluded in our next.)

Review.

Poems: by Frederick George Lee. (Houlston and Stoneman, Paternoster-row.) THIS is a small, but really choice volume of verse. It tells, for itself, that the author has studied his art, instead of depending solely on his genius. The following four stanzas are so excellent, both in spirit and style, that one can scarcely help envying Mr. Lee the authorship of them:

"SPEAK GENTLY TO THE ERRING!"

SPEAK gently to the erring

Ye know not all the pow'r

With which the dark temptation came

In some unguarded hour:

Ye may not know how earnestly

They struggled, or how well,

Until the hour of weakness came,

And sadly thus they fell!

Speak gently of the erring-
Oh! do not thou forget,
However darkly stain'd by sin,
He is thy brother yet.
Heir of the self-same heritage,
Child of the self-same God,

He hath but stumbled in the path
Thou hast in weakness trod.

Speak kindly to the erring-
For is it not enough

That innocence and peace are gone,
Without thy censure rough?

It surely is a weary lot

That sin-crushed heart to bear;

And they who share a happier fate
Their chidings well may spare.

Speak kindly to the erring

Thou yet mayst lead him back,
With holy words, and tones of love,
From Mis'ry's thorny track:
Forget not thou hast often sinn'd,
And sinful yet must be;

Deal kindly with the erring one,

As God hath dealt with thee!"

CRITICAL EXEGESIS OF GOSPEL HISTORY,

ON THE BASIS OF STRAUSS'S 'LEBEN JESU.'

A SERIES OF EIGHT DISCOURSES; DELIVERED AT THE LITERARY INSTITUTION, JOHN STREET, TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD, AND AT THE HALL OF SCIENCE, CITY ROAD, ON SUNDAY EVENINGS, DURING THE WINTERS OF 1848-9, AND 1849-50.

BY THOMAS COOPER,

Author of The Purgatory of Suicides.'

IV. THE MIRACLES.

(Continued from last number.)

WHAT we termed the 'mixed miracles,' related in the Gospels, remain for investigation; namely, those relating to the Sea-Feeding the MultitudeTurning Water into Wine- Cursing the Barren Fig-Tree. It will, perhaps,

be possible, to make greater, and yet satisfactory, haste, with the discussion of these, than of the narratives already reviewed.

1. Miracles relating to the Sea. Peter's miraculous draught of fishes (Luke, 5 ch. iv.) first presents itself, and need not occupy us long. This narrative depictures Christ as endowed with supernatural knowledge, or supernatural power: knowledge like that attributed to the Deity, who knows, at all times, all the fish, in all seas, rivers, and lakes or power to compel shoals of fish from the depths of the sea into some particular locality of the waters. Which kind of miracle this is understood to be, we may leave the orthodox to determine. Whoever receives the narrative as literally true can scarcely fail to regard it as a proof of Christ's divinity; for he is described as possessing something beyond human consciousness. But is the attribution of such a miracle to him worthy of him as the Divinity? Was it necessary for him to inspire his followers with the indescribable awe and fear they must have felt towards him, had they really witnessed such a miracle? These are questions we can merely leave for reflection. The narrative of an interruption of the order of nature, here given, ceases to be historical in our viewnot only because it involves the supernatural-but because its chronology is very diversely placed by John, who gives it at the close of his gospel, and as occurring after Christ's resurrection. Granting even that John's narrative relates to another event-though that to us is incredible, from its resemblance to this in Luke-the fact that this miracle is made, by Luke, the occasion of Peter's becoming Christ's disciple, and that it is not related by Matthew or Mark when they describe the calling of Peter, compels us to view it as legendary. The first two evangelists simply describe what there is no reason to doubt is an historical circumstance-Christ seeing Peter and Andrew, and calling them to forsake their nets and follow him, with the saying "I will make you fishers of men." The third Gospel embodies a new and legendary feature the miraculous draught of fishes-and then makes Jesus address Peter saying "Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men."

The miraculous stilling of the storm which had arisen while Jesus slept is narrated by the first three Evangelists, (Matth., 8 ch. 23 v. Mark, 4 ch. 36 v. Luke, 8 ch. 22 v.) and is intended, according to their own words, to represent Jesus to us as him whom "the winds and the sea obey." Thus, to follow out the gradation in the miraculous which has been hitherto observed, it is presupposed, not merely that Jesus could act on the human mind and living body in a psychological and magnetic manner; or with a revivifying power on the human organism when it was forsaken by vitality; nay, not merely, as in the narrative of the draught of fishes, that he could act immediately with determinative power, on irrational yet animated existences, but that he could thus act even on inanimate nature. If possible, this is a still higher assertion of Christ's divinity. But is the narrative historical? How then come the narrators to differ? Mark, as is so often his case, knows exactly where Jesus slept-it was in the "hinder part of the ship," and "on a pillow!" Matthew and Luke have no such particular knowledge. The distressed disciples, according to Matthew, say "Lord, save us we perish;" according to Mark, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" according to Luke, "Master, master, we perish." Lastly, according to Matthew, Jesus first reprehends his disciples, saying "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" and then arises, rebukes the wind and the sea; and when his companions witness the miraculous calm, they exclaim "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey him!" But according to Mark and Luke, Jesus rebukes the wind first; and it is when the calm has taken place that he

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