The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 22, 1858.

Z ORD _73BOUGHAM IN LINCOLNSHIRE.

GRANTHAM, TUESDAY.

Lincolnshire enjoys the proud distinction of
having given to the world the illustrious mathema-
tician and philosopher, Sir Isaac Newton, justly
described as " the greatest genius of the human
race,"—wfio was born at the manor house of
IVoolsthorpe, a hamlet eight miles from this town,
on Christmas-day, 1642.
The principal front of the house has a western
aspect, and, with the exception of the windows and
door, is entirely covered with ivy. A tablet is in-
serted in the wall, over the door, with the following
inscription, and surmounted by two shin bones
saltier-wise :—" In this Manor-house Sir Isaac New-
ton, Knight, was born 25th December, A.D. 1642."
On entering the building, rendered so famous,
attention is directed to an antique method of fasten-
ing the door ; from out of the stone walls, which
are very thick, a strong oaken bar slides backwards
and forwards at will, and when placed across the
door forms a secure fastening. Proceeding up a
wide and flattish staircase, the chamber in which
Sir Isaac was born is on the left, and is entered by
an old oak panelled door. The room is capacious,
with a window looking westward, on the right of
which, over the fireplace, is a white marble tablet,
fixed in its present position when the Manor-house
was repaired in 1798. It contains the following :
" Sir Isaac Newton (son of Isaac Newton, Lord
of the Manor of IVoolsthorpe) was born in this
room, December 25, 1642."
"Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night,
God said Let Newton be,' and all was light."

' —Pope.

An old cupboard with carved panels and a sketch
of the celebrated apple tree, with a piece of the
tree itself, are objects of attraction in the room.
On the window sill a book is laid for receiving the
autographs of visitors. On the right of the stair-
case is a room supposed to have been the sleeping
place of the celebrated man. In the south-east
corner a space 9 feet by 6 feet 9 inches is partitioned
off, and is shown as "Newton's Study." Two win-
dows, now blocked up, are included—one looking
cast, the other south. It is understood that at the
wish of the Lady Caroline Tumor the lights are to
be replaced, as her ladyship rightly considers that
there is somewhat of incongruity in Newton's study
being destitute of light.
At the south end of the house is a sun dial, said
to have been fixed by the philosopher's own hands.
Upon this relic time has worked its usual effect,
and it is now useless except as a mark of interest
to those who visit the house. The apple tree which
suggested to the mind of Newton his system of
gravitation no longer exists, but two grafts from
the original stock are now growing luxuriantly,
and are well laden with fruit.
Sir Isaac was a posthumous child, his father
having died at a comparatively early age,
some three months before the birth of a
son whose reputation will endure "to the last
syllable of recorded time." Mrs. Newton re-mar-
rieFl; and the embryo philosopher seems to have re-
mained under the care of his maternal grandmother
and'uncle until he attained the age of 12, when he
was sent to the grammar-school at Grantham.
While at school he displayed an extraordinary in-
clination for mechanics, and busied himself, during
the time devoted by his schoolmates to play, in
making models of various kinds, chiefly clocks- and
sun-dials, one of the latter of which is still to be
seen carved-upon the walls of the old manor-house
at Woolsthorpe. He was entered, in 1661, at
Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was fortu-
nate enough to secure the friendship of the learned
Dr.' Isaac Barrow, who had been elected Greek.
Professor in 1660, and who became Lucasian Profes-
sor in 1663. In the autumn of 1667 Newton was
elected a minor fellow ; on the 16th of March, 1668,
he was elected a major fellow; and on the 29th of
October, 1669, he was appointed Lucasian Profes-
sor, in the room of Dr. Barrow, who is said to have
resigned with a view to his appointment, and from
this period may be dated the development of those
wonderful scientific discoveries which have given
him worli-wide and time-enduring reputation.
It is unnecessary to trace further the career of this
great philosopher, over whose giant intellect a
sad cloud subsequently passed, but who died at a
green age, in his 85th year, but unmarried, on the
20th of-March, 1727.
The relations of Sir Isaac, who inherited his
personal estate, devoted the sum of £5OO to the
erection of a monument to his memory in West-
minster Abbey, but in his case the proverb that a
prophet is honoured everywhere save in his own
Country and among his own people has until re-
cently been verified. Some three or four years ago,
however, the inhabitants, or the Town Council, of
Grantham, bethought themselves that some orna-
ment was required for a vacant space of ground
which is styled St. Peter's-hill, though it seems to
be little, if at all, above the dead level of the Lin-
colnshire fens. It was suggested—and the sug-
gestion was favourably received—that the most
appropriate ornament would be a monument to the
memory of a man whose early career was so closely
identified with the town and neighbourhood, and
whose researches had conferred an eternal benefit
upon mankind. A committee was formed to carry
outsthis object, and Mr. T. Winter, a member of the
Town Council—to whose untiring zeal and energy
its successful accomplishment is, we believe, mainly
attributable—undertook to act as the honorary
secretary.. Mr. Winter at once placed himself in
communication with Lord Rosse, Lord Brougham,
and other gentlemen of distinction in the literary
and. scientific world, who evinced a warm interest
in the success of the scheme. Under these auspices
the project received the sanction of the Royal So--
cietn and the patronage of her Majesty and the
Prince Consort, who aided the fund-by a subscrip-
tion of £lOO. A general meeting of the subscribers
was held in 1854, at St. George's-hall, Liverpool,
during the seance in that town of the British As-
sociation for the Advancement of Science, when it
NV RS resolved that the memorial should be a bronze
statue, and its execution was intrusted by the com-
mittee of selection to Mr. Wm. Theca, the result of
whose labours is not only creditable to himself, but
not unworthy of the great philosopher whose me-
mory it perpetuates. A detailed description of the
statue appeared in The Sun of Thursday last. The
likeness of Sir Isaac is copied from a mask of his
face taken after death, and from the portrait bust
by Roubilliac. It represents him in the costume of
the period, and in the gown of a Master of Arts, in
the act of lecturing. The figure is nearly 13 feet
high, weighing upwards of two tons, and about half
the quantity of the material of which it is composed
was presented, in the shape of old gun metal, by
her Majesty's Government. The statue was cast at
the foundry of Messrs. Robinson and Cottam, of
Pimlico, and as a specimen of casting, with sharp
outline, does them high credit. The figure stands
upon a pedestal of- Anglesey marble, designed by
Mr. Theed, and cut by Mr. Rogers, of Park-hill.
The height of the pedestal and figure is 27ft., and its
cost is £1,630, of which £6OO was contributed by
the inhabitants of Grantham and neighbourhood.
From an early hour this morning visitors poured
into the town to witness the inauguration of the
statute. The interest which such a ceremony would
have excited under ordinary circumstances was in-
creased by the announcement that the inaugural
address would be delivered by Lord Brougham,
whose devotion to philosophical investigations espe-
cially qualified him for such an important duty..
The noble and learned lord, who has just completed
his 80th year, and upon whose physical vigour time
has made comparatively slight inroads, while his
mental energy„as will be evident to those who pe-
ruse- his address, remains unimpaired, arrived at
Grantham early in the morning, and was received
at the grammar school by the mayor (Mr. J. L.
Ostler), the recorder (Mr. W. 11. Roberts), the Bi-
shop of Lincoln, Mr. M. Mimes, M.P., Sir J. Trol-
lope, M.P., Mr. A. Wilson, M.P., the Master of
Trinity College, Cambridge (Dr. Whewell), Prof.
Owen, Mr. W. Fairbairn, Dr. Lee, Sir E. Cust, Sir
j. Rennie, Sir. B. Brodie, Mr. C. Turner, Col. Fans,
Major Moore, Sir J. Thorold, the members of the
corporation, and other gentlemen. A procession was
then formed, headed by the band of the South Lin-
colnshire Militia, which proceelled through Church-
terrace, Vine-street, and High-street, to St. Peter's
hill, in the following order :
Escort of Military.
The Band of the Royal South Lincolnshire Militia.
Town Flag. Crier. Town Fla
Policemen. Chief Constable. Policemen.
Mace Bearer. Mace Bearer. Mace Bearer.
Ex-Mayor. The Mayor. The Recorder. Town-Clerk.
The Vicar and Parochial Clergy of the Borough.
The Aldermen and Borough Magistrates.
The Town Council, three abreast.
The Boys of the Grammar School, four abreast.:
Head Schoolboy, carrying the Principle.
Second Boy, carrying the Reflecting Telescope invented by
Newton.
Third Boy, carrying Newton's Prism.
The Masters of the Grammar School.
The Lord Bishop of the Diocese.
Dr. Whewell, The Right Hon. Professor Owen.
Master of Trinity. Lord Brougham.
The Committee of Selection.
Major-General the Hon. Sir E. Cast, K.C.H.
Sir G. Welby, Bart.
The Founders,
Messrs. Robinson and Co.
The Secretaries.
The Members of the Committee, three abreast.
Gentlemen attending by invitation, three abreast.

• The Sculptor.
W. Theed, Esq.

The privileged visitors occupied seats nun
platforms erected on the open space surrounding
the statue. Lord Brougham—for whom a chair, for-
merly belonging to Sir I. Newton, was placed upon
a dais in front of the statue—was greeted with loud
and reiterated applause. At a signal from Mr. Win-
ter the veil which concealed the statue from public
view was W41105)1'112 Waisl general cheering, tincithe

band played the National Anthem, all the com-
pany standing.
Lord BROUGHAM then delivered the following
address, which was listened to with marked atten-
tion, and was frequently applauded :—To recordthe
names and preserve the memory of those whose great
achievements in science, in arts, or in arms have
conferred benefits and lustre upon our kind, has in
all ages been regarded as a duty and felt as a gra-
tification by wise and reflecting men. The desire
of inspiring an ambition to emulate such examples
generally mingles itself with these sentiments; but
they cease not to operate even in the rare instances
of transcendant merit, where matchless genius ex-
cludes all possibility of imitation, and nothing re-
mains but wonder in those who contemplate, its
triumphs at a distance that forbids all attempts to
approach. We are this day assembled to commemo-
rate him of whom the consent of nations has de-
clared that he is chargeable with nothing like a fol-
lower's exaggeration or local partiality, who pro-
nounces the name of Newton as that of the greatest
genius ever bestowed by the bounty of Providence
for instructing mankind on the frame of the uni-
verse, and the laws by which it is governed :

" Qui genus humanum ingenio superavit, et manes
" Restmait ; stellas exortus uti oetherius sol."—Luc.
" In genius who surpassed mankind as far
" As does the mid-day sun the midnight star."—Dryden.
But, though scaling these lofty heights be hopeless,
yet is there some use and much gratification in
contemplating by what steps he ascended. Tracing
his course of action may help others to gain the
lower eminences lying within their reach, while ad-
miration excited and curiosity satisfied are frames
of mind both wholesome andpleasing. Nothing new,
it is true, can be given in narrative, hardly any-
thing in reflection, less still perhaps in comment or
illustration ; but it is well to assemble in one view
various parts of the vast subject, with the surround-
ing circumstances, whether accidental or intrinsic,
and to mark in passing the misconceptions raised
by individual ignorance or national prejudice which
the historian of science occasionally finds crossing
his path. The remark is common and is obvious,
that the genius of Newton did not manifest itself
at a very early age. His faculties were not, like
those of some great and many ordinary individuals,
precociously developed. Among the former, Clairant
stands pre-eminent, who at 19 years of age pre-
sented to the Royal Academy a memoir of great
originality upon a difficult subject in the higher
.geometry, and at 18 published his great work on
curves of double curvature, composed during the
two preceding years. Pascal, too, at 16, wrote an
excellent treatise on conic sections. That Newton
cannot be ranked in this respect with those extra-
ordinary persons is owing to the accidents which
prevented him from entering %on mathematical
study before his 18th Tear ; and then a much
greater marvel was wrought than even the Clairants
and the Pascals displayed. His'earliest history is
involved in some obscurity, and the most celebrated
of men has, in this particular, been compared to
the most celebrated of rivers (the Nile), as if the
course of both in its feebler state had been concealed
from mortal eyes. We have it, however, well ascer-
tained that within four years, between the age of
18 and 22, he had begun to study mathematical
science, and had taken his place amongst its
greatest masters ; learnt for the first time the ele-
ments of geometry anlanalysis, and discoyered a
calculus which entirely changed the face of the
science, effecting a complete revolution in that and
in every branch of philosophy connected with it.
Before 1661 he had not read Euclid ; in 1665 he
had committed to writing, the method of fluxions.
At 25 years of acre he had discovered the law of
gravitation, and laid the foundation of celestial
dynamics, the science created by him. Before 10
years had elapsed he added to his discoveries that
of the fundamental properties of light. So brilliant
a course of discovery in so short a time, changing
and reconstructing analytical, astronomical, and
optical science, almost defies belief. The statement
could only be deemed possible by an appeal to the
incontestable evidence that proves it strictly true.
By a rare felicity these doctrines gained the uni-
versal assent of manind as soon as they were
clearly underhteod ;' and their originality has never
been seriously called in question. Some doubts
having been raised respecting his inventing
the calculus—doubts raised in consequence of his so
long withholding the publication of his method—
no sooner was the inquiry instituted than the evi-
dence produced proved so decisive that all men in
all countries acknowledged him to have been by
several years the earliest inventor, and Leibnitz, at
the utmost, the first publisher, the only questions
raised being, first, whether or not he had borrowed.
from-Newton; and next, whether, as second inven-
tor, he could have any merit at all—both which
questions have long since been decided in favour of
Leibnitz. But undeniable though it be that New-
ton made the great steps of this progress, and made
them without any anticipation or participation by
()tilers, it i equally certain that there had been ap-
proaches in former times by preceding philosophers
to the same discoveries. Cavalleri, b;his Geometry
of Indivisibles (1635), Roberval, by his Method of
Tangents (1637), had both 'given solutions which
Descartes could not attempt; and it is remarkable
that Cavalleri regarded curves as polygons,-surfaces
as composed of lines, while Roberval viewed geo-
metrical quantities as generated by motion; so that
the one approached to the differential calculus, the
other to fluxions; and Fermat, in the interval be-
t-reen them, comes still nearer the great discovery
by his determination if maxima and minima, and
his drawing of tangents. More recently Haddon
had made public several methods invented by Schoe-
t in ; and what is material, treating the subject alge-
braically, while those just mentioned had rather
dealt with it geometrically. It is thus easy to per-
ceive how near an approach had been made to the cal-
culus before the great eventof itsfin al discovery. There
had in like manner been approaches made to the law
of gravitation, and the dynamical system of the
universe. Galileo's important propositions on mo-
tion, especially on curvilinear motion, and Kepler's
laws upon the elliptical form of the planetary orbits,
the proportion of the areas to the times, and the
periodic times to the mean distances; and Huygens's
theorems on centrifugal forces, had been followed
by still nearer approaches to the doctrine of attrac2
tion. Borelli had distinctly ascribed the motion of
satellites to their being drawn towards the principal
planets, and thus prevented from flying off by the
centrifugal force. Even the composition of white
light, and the different action of bodies upon its
component parts, had been vaguely conjectured by
Ant. de Dominis, Archbishop of Spalatro, at the
beginning, and more precisely in the middle of the
17th century by Marcus (Kronland, of Prague) un-
known to Newton, who only refers to the Arch-
bishop's work ; while the treatise of Huygens on
light, Grimaldi's observations on colours by inflexion,
as well as on the' elongation of the image in the
prismatic spectrum, had been brought to his atten-
tion, although much less near to his own great dis-
covery than Marcus's experiment. But all this
only shows that the discoveries of Newton, great
and rapid as wero the steps by which they ad-
vanced our knowledge, yet obeyed the law of con-
tinuity, or rather of gradual progress, which go-
verns all human approaches towards perfection. '
The limited nature of man's faculties precludes the
possibility of his ever reaching at once the utmost
excellence of which they are capable. Survey the
whole circle of the sciences, and trace the history of
our progress in each, you find this to be the uni-
versal rule. In chemical philosophy the dreams of
the alchemists prepared the way for the more ra-
tional, though erroneous, theory. of Stahl ; and it
was by repeated improvements that his errors, so
long prevalent, were at length exploded, giving
place to the sound doctrine which is now estab-
lished. The great discoveries of Black and Priestley
on heat and aeriform fluids, had been preceded by
the happy conjectures of Newton, and the experi-
ments of others. Nay, Voltaire had well nigh dis-
covered both the absorption of heat, the constitution
of the atmosphere, and the oxydation of metals ; and
by a few more trials might have ascertained it. envier
had been preceded by inquirers who took sound
views of fossil osteology, among whom the truly
original genius of Hunter fills the foremost place.
The inductive system of Bacon had been, at least
in its practice,
known to his predecessors. Obser-
vations and even experiments were not unknown
to the ancient philosophers, though mingled with '
gross errors ; in early times, almost in the dark
ages, experimental inquiries had been carried on
with success by Friar Bacon, and that method
actually recommended in a treatise, as it was two
centuries later by Leonardo da Vinci, and at the
latter end of the next century Gilbert examined the
whole subject of magnetic action entirely by expe-
riments. o that Lord Bacon's claim to be regarded
as the father of modern philosophy rests upon the
important, the invaluable step of reducing to a
system the method of investigation adopted by
those eminent men, generalism. 0. it and extending
its application to all matters ofb contingent truth,
exploding the errrors, the absurd dogmas, and fan-
tastic subtleties of the ancient schools, above all,
confining the subject of our inquiry, and the
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great law of gradual progress confined to the
physical sciences ; in the moral it equally governs.
Before the foundations of political economy were
laid by Hume and Smith a great step had been
made by the French philosophers, disciples of
Quesnai ; but a nearer approach to sound princi-
ples had signalized- the labours of Gournay, and
those labours had been shared and his doctrines
patronized by TurgotN
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discovery of modern times in the science of practi-
cal politics has been effected. the representative
scheme which enables States of any extent to enjoy
popular government and allows mixed monarchy to
be established, combining freedom with order, a plan
pronounced by statesmen andwriters of antiquity to
be of hardly possible formation, and wholly impos-
sible continuance. The globe itself, as well as the
science of its inhabitants, has been explored accord.
ing to the law which forbids a sudden and rapid
leaping forward, and decrees that each successive
step, prepared by the last, shall facilitate the next.
Even Columbus followed several successful disco-
verers on a smaller scale, and is by some believed to
have had, unknown to him, a predecessor in the
great exploit by which he pierced the night of ages,
and unfolded a new world to the eyes of the old.
The arts afford no exception to the general law.
Demosthenes had eminent forerunneis, Pericles the
last of them. Homer must have had predecessors
of great merit, though doubtless as far surpassed by
him as Fra Bartolomeo and Pietro Perugino were
by Michael Angelo and Raphael. Dante owed much
to Virgil ; he may be allowed to have owed, through
his Latin Mentor, not a little to the old Grecian ;
and Milton had both the orators and the poets of
the ancient world for his predecessors and his
masters. The art of war itself is no exception to
the The plan of bringing an overpowering
force to bear on a given point had been tried occa-
sionally before Frederick 11. reduced it to a system;
and the Wellingtons and Napoleons of our own
day made it the foundation of their strategy, as it
had also been previously the mainspring of our
naval tactics. It has oftentimes been held that the
invention of logarithms stands alone in the history
of science, as having been preceded by no step lead-
ing towards the discovery. There is, however, great
inaccuracy in this statement, for not only was the
doctrine of infinitesimals familiar to its illustrious
author, and the relation of geometrical to arithmeti-
cal series well known, but he had himself struck out
several methods of great ingenuity and utility (as
that known by the name of Napier 's Bones)—me-
thods that. are now forgotten, eclipsed as they were
by the consummation which has immortalised his
name. So the inventive powers of Watt, preceded as
he was by Worcester and Newcomen, but far more
materially by Causs and Papin, had been exercised on
some admirable contrivances, now forgotten, before
he made the step which created the steam-engine
anew—not only the parallel motion, possibly a
corollary to the proposition on circular motion in the
Principia, but the separate condensation, and above
all, the governor, perhaps the most exquisite of
mechanical inventions ; and now we have those
here present who apply the like principle to the
diffusion of knowledge, aware, as they must be, that
its expansion has the same happy effect naturally
of preventing mischief from its excess which the
skill of the great mechanist gave artificially to steam,
thus rendering his engine as safe as it is powerful.
The grand differe.nce, then, between one discovery
or invention I.lld. another is in degree rather than
in kind ; the degree in which a person, while he
outstrips those whom he comes after, also lives, as
it were, before his age. Nor can any doubt exist
that, in -this respect, Neleston stands at the head of
all who have extended the bounds of knowledge.
The sciences of dynamicand of optics are especially
to be regarded in this point of view; but the for-
mer in particular ' • and the completeness of the sys-
tem which he unfolded, its hating been at the first
elaborated and given in perfection, its having,
'however new, stood the test of time, and sur-
vived, nay gained by, the most rigorous scrutiny,
can be predicated of this system alone, at least in
the same degree. That the calculus, and those
parts of dynamics which are purely mathematical,
should thus endure for ever is a matter of course.
But his system of the universe rests partly upon
contingent truths, and might have yielded to new
experiments and more extended observation. Nay,
at times it has been thought to fail, and further in-
vestigation was deemed requisite to ascertain if any
' error had been introduced—if any circumstance had
escaped the notice of the great founder. The most
memorable instance of this kind is the discrepancy
supposed to have been found between the theory
and the fact in the motion of the lunar apsides,
which about the middle of the last century occupied
the three first analysts of the age. The error was
discovered by themselves to have been their own
in the process of their investigation ; and this, like
all the other doubts that were ever momentarily
entertained, only led in each instance to new and
more brilliant triumphs of the system. The pro-
digious superiority in this cardinal point of the
Newtonian to other discoveries appears manifest
upon examining almost any of the chapters in the
history of science. Successive improvements have, by
extending our views, constantly displaced the system
that appeared firmly established. To take a fami-
liar instance, how little remains of Lavoisier's doc-
trine of combustion and acidification, except the
negative positions, the subversion of the system of
Stahl. The substance having most eminently the
properties of an acid (chlorine) is found to have no
oxygen at all, while many substances abounding in
oxygen, including alkalis themselves, have no acid
property whatever, and without the access of oxy-
gen or any other gas, heat and flame are, produced
in excess. The doctrines of free trade had not been
long promulgated by Smith before Bentham de-
monstrated that his exception of usury was ground-
less; and his theory has been repeatedly proved er-
roneous on colonial establishments, as well as his
exception to it on the navigation laws ; and the
imperfection of his views on the nature of rent
is undeniable, as well as on the principle of popula-
tion. In these and such instances as these it would
not be easy to find in the original doctrines the
means of correcting subsequent errors, or the germs
of extended discovery. But even if philosophers
finally adopt the undulatory theory of light instead
of the atomic, it must be borne in mind that
Newton gave the first elements of it by the well-
known proposition in the Bth section of the Second
Book of the " Principia," the scholium to that
section also indicating his expectation that it would
be applied to optical science'; while M. Biot has
shown how the doctrine , of fits of reflection and
transmission tallies with polarization, if not with-
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out prominent among all the other feats of scientific
research, stamped with the peculiarity of his intel-
lectual character ; they were, their great author
lived before his age, anticipating in part what was
long after wholly accomplished, and thus unfolding
some things which at the time could be but
imperfectly, others not at all comprehended, and
not rarely pointing out the path and affording
the means of treating it, to the ascertainment of
truths then veiled in darkness. He not only en-
larged the actual dominion of knowledge, penetrat-
ing to regions never before explored, and taking
with a firm hand undisputed possession ; but he
showed how the bounds of the visible horizon might
be yet further extended, and enabled his successors
to occupy what he could only descry ; as the illus-
trious discoverer of the new world made the inha-
bitants of the old cast their eyes over lands and
seas far distant from those he had traversed ; lands
and seas of which they could form to themselves no
conception, any more than they had been able to
comprehend the course by which he led them on his
grand enterprise. In this achievement, and in the
qualities which alone made it possible, inexhaus-
tible fertility of resources, patience unsubdued,
close meditation that would suffer no distraction,
steady determination to pursue -paths that seemed
all but hopeless, and unflinching courage to declare
the truths they led to, how far soever removed from
ordinary apprehension—in these characteristics of
high original genius we may be permitted to com-
pare the career of those
.great men. But Columbus
did not invent the mariner's compass as Newton
did the instrument which guided his course and
enabled him to make his discoveries, and his suc-
cessors to extend them by closely following his di-
rections in using it. Nor did the compass suffice to
the great navigator without making any observa-
tions, though he dared to steer without a chart ;
while it is certain that by the philosopher's instru-
ment his discoveries were extended over the whole
system of the universe, determining the masses, the
forms, and the motions of all parts by the mere in-
spection of abstract calculations and formulas analy-
tically deduced. The two great improvements in
this instrument which have been made—the cal-
culus of variations by Euler and Lagrange, the
method of partial differences by D'Alembert—we
have every reason to believe were known at least in
part to Newton himself. His having solved an
isoperimetrical problem (finding the line whose
revolution forms the solid of least resistance)
shows clearly that he must have made the
co-ordinates of the generating curve vary, and
his construction agrees exactly with the
equation given by that calculus. That he
must have tried the process of integrating
by parts in attempting to generalize the inverse
problem of central forces before lie had recourse to
the geometrical approximation which he has g.iven,
and also when he sought the means of ascertaining
the cornet's path, which he has termed by far the
most difficult of problems, is eminently probable,
when we consider how naturally- that method flows
from the ordinary process for differentiating com-
pound quantities, by supposing each variable in
succession constant : in short, differentiating by
parts.
.As to the calculus of variations having sub-
stantially been known to him to doubt can be en-
tertained. Again, in estimating the ellipticity of
tp(rharneoaybvielaeit narth, he proceeded upon the assumption of a
proposition of which he gave no demonstration
h
mot thanjah athat
determinest
the ratio
hadat o
tohfe ellipticity. donet the
oeftli
centrifugal e
Hi sop er iamfi
of er
a terceiecntao
g.l
tury later that which no one before knew to be
true; Titigh many probably eoneidered to be erro-

neous, was examined by one of his most distin-
guished followers, Maclaurin, and demonstrated
most satisfactorily to be true. Newton had not
failed to perceive the necessary effects of gravitation
in producing other phenomena beside the regular
motion of the planets and their satellites in their
course round. their several centres of attraction.
One of these phenomena, wholly unsuspected be-
fore the discovery of the general law, is the alter-
nate movement to and fro of the earth's axis, in
consequence of the solar (and also of the lunar) at-
traction combined with the earth's motion. This
libration, or nutation, distinctly announced by him
as the result of the theory, was not found by actual
observation to exist till 60 years and upwards had
elapsed, when Bradly proved the fact. The discove-
ries which have been made by La Grange and La
Place upon the results of disturbing forces have
established the law of periodical variation of orbits,
which secures the stability of the system by pre-
scribing a maximum and aminimum amount of de-
viation; and this is not a contingent, but a neces-
sary truth, by rigorous demonstration, the inevitable
result of undoubted data in point of fact, eccentri-
cities of the orbits, the directions of the motions; and
the movement in one plane of a certain position.
That wonderful proposition of Newton, which, with
, may be said to give the whole doc-
trinebing forces, has been little more than
its corollaries, or
oofil disturbing
applied and extended by the labours of succeeding
geometricians. Indeed, La Place, struck with
wonder at one of his comprehensive general state-
ments on disturbing forces in another proposition,
has not hesitated to assert that it contains the germ
of La Grange's celebrated inquiry exactly a century
after the 137.incipia was given to the world. The
wonderful powers of generalization, combined with
the boldness of never shrinking from a conclusion
that seemed the legitimate result of his investiga-
tions,—how new and even startling soever it might
appear,—was strikingly shown in that memorable
inference which lie drew from optical phenomena,
that the diamond is " an unctuous substance coagu-
lated ;" subsequent discoveries having proved both
that such substances are carbonaceous and that the
diamond is a crystallized carbon ; and the founda-
tions of mechanical chymistry was laid by him
with the boldest induction and most felicitous anti-
cipations of what has since been effected. The
solution of the inverse problem of disturbing forces
has led Le Verrier and Adams to the discovery of
a new planet, merely by deductions from the
manner in which the motion: of an old one are
affected, and its orbit has been so calculated that
observers could find it—nay, its disc as measured
by them only varies 1-1,200 of a degree from the
amount given by the theory. Moreover, when New-
ton gave his estimate of the earth's density, lie
wrote a century before Maskelyne, and by measur-
ing the force of gravitation in the cotch mountains,
gave the proportion to water as 4,716 to 1; and.many
years after, by-experiments with mechanical appara-
tus, Cavendish. (1798) correctedthis to 5,48, and Baily
more recently (1842), to 5,66, Newton having given
the proportion as between five and six times.
In these instances he only showed the way and
anticipated the result of future inquiry by his fol-
lowers. But the oblate figure of the earth affords
an example of the same kind, with this difference,
that here he has himself perfected the discovery and
nearly completed the demonstration. From the
mutual gravitation of the particles which form its
mass, combined with their motion round its axis,
he deduced the proposition that it must be flat-
tened at the poles ; and he calculated the propor-
tion of its polar to its equatorial diameter. By a
most refined process he gave this proportion upon
the supposition of the mass being homogeneous.
That the proportion is different in consequence of
the mass being heterogenous does not in the least
affect the soundness of his conclusion. Accurate
measurement of a degree of latitude in the equa-
torial and polar regions, with experiments on the
force of gravitation in those regions, by the dif-
ferent lengths of a pendulum vibrating seconds,
have shown that the excess of the equatorial dia-
meter is about 11 miles less than he had deduced
it from the theory ; and thus that the globe is not
homogeneous. But on the assumption of a fluid
mass, the ground of his hydrostatical investigation,
his proportion of 229 to 230 remains unshaken, and
is precisely the one adopted and reasoned from by
Laplace, after all the improvements and all the dis-
coveries of later times. Surely at this we may well
stand amazed, if not awe-struck. A century of
study, of improvement, of discovery has passed
away, and we find Laplace master of all the new
resources of the calculus, and occuping the heights
to which the labours of Euler, Clairant, D'Alem-
bert, and Lagrange have enabled us to ascond,
adopting the Newtonian fraction of 1-230 as the
accurate solution of this speculative problem.
New admeasurements have been undertaken upon
a vast scale, patronised by the munificence of rival
Governments—new experiments have been per.
formed with approved apparatus of exquisite deli-
caty—new observations have been accumulated,
with glasses far exceeding any powers poss2ssed
by the resources of optics in the days of him to
whom the science of optics, as well as dynamics,
owes its origin ; the theory and the fact have thus
been compared and reconciled together in more per-
fect harmony ; but that theory has remained unim-
proved, and the great principles of gravitation, with
its most sublime results, now stands in the attitude,
and of the dimensions, and with the symmetry
which both the law and its application received at
once from the mighty hand of its immortal author.
Newton'sdiscoveries raises
wonder at his matchless genius.
oßtuhtetre feelings contemplation maant io n of
The light with which it shines is not more dazzling
than useful. The difficulties of his course and has
expedients, alike copious and refined for surmount-
ing them, exercise the faculties of the wise while
commanding their admiration. But the results of
his investigations, often abstruse, are truths so
grand and comprehensive, yet so plain, that they
both captivate and instruct the simple. The grati-
tude, too, which they inspire, and the veneration
with which ;they encircle his name, far from tend-
ing to obstruct future improvement, only proclaim-
his disciples the zealous because rational followers
of one whose example both encouraged and enabled
'h•ViOeessors to make further progress. How un-
like the; blind devotion to a master which for so
many ages of the modern world paralysed the
energies of the human mind

" Had we still paid that homage to a name,
Which only God and nature justly claim,
The western seas had been our utmost bound,
And poets still might dream tho sun was drown'd,
And all the stars that shine in southern skies
Had been admired by none but savage eyes."
Nor let it be imagined that the feelings of wonder
excit▪
ed by contemplating the achievements of this
great man are in any degree whatever the result of
national partiality, and confined to the country which
glories in having given him birth. The language
which expresses her veneration is equalled, perhaps
exceeded, by that in which other nations give ut-
terance to theirs ; not merely by the general voice,
but by the well-considered and well-informed
judgment of the masters of science. Liebnitz, when
asked at the royal table in Berlin his opinion of
Newton, said that, " taking mathematicians from
the beginning of the world to the time when New-
ton lived, what he had done was much the better
half." " The Principia will ever remain a monu-
ment of the profound genius which revealed to us
the greatest law of the universe," are the words of
Laplace. " That work stands pre-eminent above
all the other productions of the human mind."
" The discovery of that simple and general law by
the greatness and the variety of the objects which
it embraces confers honour upon the intellect of
man." Lagrange, we are told by D'Alembert, was
wont to describe Newton as the greatest genius
that ever existed, but to add how fortunate he was
also, " because there can only once be found a sys-
tem of the universe to establish!" "Never," says
the father of the Institute of France—one filling a
high place among
:—" the most eminent of its members
Never," sayl M. Biot, "was the supremacy of
intellect so justly established and so fully confessed.
In mathematical and in experimental science with-
out an equal and without an example, combi▪
ning
the genius for both in its highest degree." The
Prtn•
ctina he terms the greatest work ever pro-
Halley, " that
pro-
duced by the mind of man, adding, in the wor.ds. of
nature has not been permitted to mortals !" " In
first. giving to the world Newton's method of
fluxions," says Fontenelle, "Liebnitz did like Pro-
metheus—he. stole
a nearer approach to the ,Divine
fire from Heaven to. bestow it
upon men!" "Does Newton," L'Hopital asked,
" sleep and wake like other men ? I figure hi▪ m to
myself as a celestial genius, entirely disengaged
from matter." To so renowned a benefactor of the
world, thus exalted to the loftiest place by the
common consent of men—one whose life, without
the intermission of an hour,
was passed in the
search after truths the most important, and at
whose hands the human race had only received
good, never evil----no memorial has been raised by
those nations
which created statues to the tyrants
and conquerors, the scourges of mankind, whose
lives were passed, not in the pursuit of truth, but
the practice of falsehood; or across whose lips, if
truth ever chanced to stray towards some selfish
end, it surely failed to obtain belief ; who, to slake
their insane thirst of power or of pre-eminence,
trampled on the rights and squandered the blood
of their fellow-creatures ; whose course, like the
lightning, blasted while it dazzled; and who,
reversing the Roman Emperor's noble regret,
deemed the.day lost that saw the sun go down upon
their forbearance._ no victim deceived, or betrayed,
or oppressed. That the worshippers of such pesti-
lent genius should consecrate to the memory of the
most illustrious of men no outward symbol of the
.admiration they freely confessed, is not matter of
wonder, But that his own countrymen, justly

proud of having lived in his time, should have left
this duty to their successors, after a century and
a half of professed veneration and lip homage, may
well be deemed strange. The inscription upon the
cathedral, masterpiece of his celebrated friend's
architecture, may possibly be applied in defence of
this neglect. "If you seek for a monument look
around." " If you seek for a monument lift up your
eyes to the heavens which show forth his fame."
Nor when we recollect the Greek orator's exclama-
tion—" The whole earth is the monument of illus-
trious men," can we stop short of declaring that the
whole universe is Newton's. Yet in raising the
statue which preserves his likeness, near the place
of his birth, on the spot where his prodigious facul-
ties were unfolded and trained, we at once gratify
our honest pride as citizens of the same state, and
humbly testify our grateful sense of the Divine
goodness which deigned to bestow upon our race
one so marvellously gifted to comprehend the works
of Infinite Wisdom, and so piously resolved to make
all his study of them the source of religious con-
templations, both philosophical and sublime.
At the conclusion of the noble and learned Lord's
address he was presented by the Mayor with a copy
of Newton's " Principia," and the invited visitors
then proceeded to the Exchange-rooms, where a
substantial dejeuner had been provided. The Mayor
presided, and was supported by Lord Brougham,
the Bishop of Lincoln, and the gentlemen who have
been mentioned as present at the inauguration of
the statue.

At the conclusion of the repast, the usual loyal
toasts having been honoured,
The Bishop of LINCOLN, in acknowledging the
toast of " The Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese,"
expressed his satisfaction at having been enabled
4o join in doing honour to the memory of a philo-
sopher to whose researches and to whose example
the cause of truth was so much indebted.

" The immortal memory of Newton," was given
by the Mayor, and was drunk in silence.
The MAYOR then proposed " The health of Lord
Brougham," eulogising the noble and learned lord's
exertions for the abolition of slavery, the extension
of education, and the reformation of the law.
Lord BROUGHAM, in returning thanks, expressed
his gratification at the gathering. they had wit-
nessed that day, people having assembled from all
parts of the country, without any inducement of
interest, or any factious or sectarian feeling, simply
to testify their honest and heartfelt pride that the
country which gave them birth had produced the
greatest genius which had ever existed—a man
whose talents had never been exercised but for the
extension of truth, for the instruction of mankind,
and with a view to illustrate the wisdom and power
of the Creator. (Cheers.) The noble and learned
lord gave " The Committee of Selection," the toast
being acknowledged by
Sir E. CusT, who expressed his opinion that a
system of competition, similar to that which has
been acted upon in the present instance, would
conduce to the improvement of art and to the in-
terests of artists. After warmly eulogising the
work of Mr. Theed, he proposed the health of that
gentleman, who briefly resumed thanks.
Several other toasts were given, and among them
" The Master of Trinity College," proposed by Sir
J. TROLLOPE, which was acknowledged by
Dr. IVHEwELL, in returning thanks, said he
certainly did not think it strange that a represen-
tative of Cambridge University and of Trinity Col-
lege should be present on an occasion when the
memory of Newton was to be honoured. (Hear.)
The University of Cambridge had always shown
zeal in the fame of Newton. It was natural that
in the town near which Newton was born, and
where his schoolboy days had been spent, there
should be a desire to erect a monument to so great
a name. (Hear, hear.) But they had already
erected a noble statue to his fame in Cambridge,
which was not unworthy of the beautiful work of
art which had that day been raised in Grantham.
(Hear.) Newton's fame was appropriated in a
particular manner by the University of Cambridge
and by Trinity College. (A laugh.) Few of them
were perhaps aware of the intimate connection
which existed between a Fellow and his College.
The Fellows of the same college might be said to
be connected by the same intellectual blood, by
running the same round of daily occupation, by
studying at the same desk, and -meditating in the
same walks and cloisters. They had in Cambridge
the books, the instruments, the manuscripts, and
some of the silvered hair of Newton, and therefore
they were continually reminded of him. His pre-
decessor, Dr. Barrow, resigned to him his profes-
sorship. Bentley, one of the greatest geniuses of the
time, delivered from the " Principia" his arguments
to show the government of Providence in the uni-
verse. Cambridge University sent Newton to Par-
liament, and in that University he spent 40 years of
his life. His discoveries were received with eager-
ness and accepted with gratitude. He was not
aware that there were any, martyrs of science
amongst the discoverers in science in this country.
The case of Harvey was spoken of, but it was not a
case in point, for Harvey was honoured by the
College of Physicians, and the worst that happened
to him was that his collections were destroyed by
the parliamentary army. He was glad to see so
strong a sympathy for science as was manifested
by so large an assembly on that occasion. (Hear,
hear.) He begged to thank them most cordially
for the honour which had been done to him, as the
representative of the University of Cambridge on
that occasion.

In the course of the evening a few other toasts
were drunk, after which the assembly broke up.
There were fireworks, and some few houses illu-
minated in the night, which was kept altogether
as a gay and festive occasion by the inhabitants
of Grantham.

MR. NEWDEGATE, 111. P., ON POLITICAL

PROGRESS.

COVENTRY, SEPT. 20.
The annual meeting of the Licensed Victuallers'
Association of this city was held this evening in St.
Wary's-hall, when Mr. Newdegate, M.P., presided,
including
several a numerous and respectable company,
several of the Town-council, the President and Vice-
President of the Association, and most of the influ-
ential members sat down to an excellent dinner.
In addition to the members of the Coventry Asso-
ciation, deputations from the Licensed Victuallers'
Associations of Birmingham and Lichfield attended
the meeting.
The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the health of the
Queen, observed that he had heard it said, and had
seen it reported, that elsewhere some other toast had
taken precedence of that of the Queen. He hoped
that, knowing as they did that her Majesty was the
first Sovereign in the world and the first lady in the
land, they would never, as far as they could influ-
ence any one, permit any toast to be proposed at their
festive meetings before that of the Queen, and that
if their guests persisted in doing so they would
charge them double and give them nothing but salt
fish for dinner. (Laughter and cheers.)
The other loyal and patriotic toasts having been

given,
Mr. WILMOT gave " The Health of the Members
for the county of Warwick," observing that no one
could have conducted themselves in a more consis-
tent or exemplary manner than had done both their
hon. chairman and his colleague, Mr. Spooner.
They had faithfully discharged their duties, and he
believed that in every vote they had given they
had been actuated by the purest and most honour.
able motives. (Cheers.)
Mr. NEWDEGATE, M.P., in returning thanks,
said—Gentlemen, I thank you for the honour you
have done me as one of your members, and I will
take the liberty of saying here that I do not believe
fhere are any two members representing any con-
stituency who' are more entirely devoted to ful•
filling their duties than ourselves. (Cheers.)
For myself, I have ever sought, and ever
shall seek, to be the honest representative of your
opinions. (Cheers.) I have never felt afraid to tell
you the course which my own feelings prompt me
to pursue, and how I hope to serve you, and how I
deem it would be my duty as your representative to
conduct myself in the House of Commons, and I
trust I have not disappointed you. If you change,
well and good, change me ; but if you are content
with the honest services of two men closely iden-
tified with you by local interests, and, I trust, by
political opinion—if you are content with two men
who have shown how much they appreciate the
honour of representing you, how willing they are
to do their duty, then I can tell you.' have repre-
sented you for 14 years, during which many changes
have taken place ; and as during that long period
I have been actuated by the principles which I ori-
ginally entertained, so I shall continue to maintain
those principles, knowing, as I do, that I am sin-
cere in upholding them. I believe it is only by a
firm adherence to those principles upon which the
constitution of England is founded that you can pre-
serve intact the inestimable blessings of freedom
which it is your privilege to possess. (Cheers.) Be
assured that if we wish the country to continue in
a course of progress--and I say " progress" advis-
edly—such a wish will be accomplished by re-
maining within the limits of those principles the
practice of which has raised this country to its pre-
sent state of proud pre-eminence. When others tell
you that a Conservative has no right to speak of
progress, pay no attention to them. For myself, I
wish for progress. I desire to see all classes of the
community advance : but I desire to see them advance
within the limits of principles which constitute
safety ; and if there is any difference of opinion be-
tween myself and others upon this question of pro-
gress it amounts to this, that I would prefer to see the
engine of the State driven carefully and safely down
ale rails, while I at the same time entertain 4 Strong

doubt whether the Liberals, as they are termed,
would not either shunt us into a dangerous siding
or land us at the wrong platform. (Laughter.)
It is with an experience of fourteen years
that I speak, during the whole of which time I have
had the honour of representing, in conjunction with
my hon. colleague, the Northern Division of War-
wickshire. I shall still endeavour to serve you,
while at the same time -I maintain those principles
which have so long actuated me in my public
conduct. If you are not changed lam not, although
I am prepared to make due allowance for the
changes which have taken place in public opinion
of late years. As one of your representatives in
Parliament for North Warwickshire, I return you
my most hearty thanks for the honour you have
done me upon the present occasion. (Cheers.)
Mr. TAUNTON then' proposed the " Health of the
Members for the City," one of whom (Mr. Ellice)
had represented them for 40 years, and during that
long period, however violent might be party strug-
gles and party heats, he had always devoted himself
most honourably to the service of the city of Coventry
—while of Sir Joseph Paxton it might be said, that
he had conferred great national advantages upon
England both in organising what would become
a most important constituent part of our army, and
by his practical talent in forwarding the great
work of civilization and promoting the social com-
forts of all in the land, whether they might be rich
or poor, gentle or simple. (Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN having'in the absence of the two
hon. members, said a few words in reply to the
toast, proposed " The Mayor and Magistrates of
the City of Coventry." He said that he was one of
those who had ever been opposed to the spirit of
centralisation, which was at one time so strenuously
advocated. A long experience had proved to him
the great advantages of the local form of municipal
government as opposed to centralisation. Freedom
was a plant which, to exist, must be cherished ; it
was not a matter of accident, and it came not to
every country by chance ; but every country must
persevere in those means of independence which
were represented in this toast. If, however, they did
not maintain the system of local self-government, he
was afraid that their national representative
system would be of very little use, the
administration of justice would not be pure, and
they would not have the inestimable blessing of
being their own governors in those matters which
concerned most intimately their own hearths and
homes ; for upon self-government depended that
social freedom which was dearer to them and more
useful than :any of the more specious kind of liberty
granted in the mere possession of representative
institutions. They. had seen those institutions per-
verted aforetime ; then let them never give up their
old Saxon constitution ; let them keep their power
at home, close within their hands ; let it be con-
scientiously exercised, and England would still be
free among the nations of the world, an example of
order, happiness, security, and true liberty, which
constituted the proper organisation for the good
government of a great, wise, and an enlightened
community. (Cheers.)
--
Mr. J. N. CLARKE, in proposing the health of
Mr. Newdegate, said that, irrespective of his poli-
tical services, he had always shown himself a good
neighbour and faithful friend in all social relations
of life.
The CHAIRMAN briefly returned thanks, and
afterwards proposed " Sufeess to the Association,"
which was drunk with cheers ; and several toasts
having been given of a local character, the meet-
ing separated.

CRIMINAL COURT.—Sept. 21.

NEW COURT.
(Before the Common Sergeant.)
Thomas Ferryman, 42, labourer, and Hannah
Ferryman, 36, his wife, were indicted for coining.
Mr. Ellis, Mr. Bodkin, and Mr. Clark prosecuted.
It appeared from the evidence of Brennan, the
detective officer, that information took him and
some other constables to 2, Crown-place, Crown-
street, Soho, and having gone up to a room upon
the second floor they broke it open, and found the
prisoners in bed. Upon searching an inner room
they found a galvanic battery, a quantity of plaster
of Paris, white metal, and files, which bore evident
of having been used to finish bad coin, and other
implements used by coiners ; and upon the mantel-
piece, hidden in some broken images, six counterfeit
sixpences and six counterfeit fourpenny pieces, each
separately wrapped up in paper, and also a half-
crown of Birmingham make, struck in brass. When
Brennan found the things the male prisoner said,
" You have got enough to give me a stretch, but
the woman knows nothing about it."
The jury returned a verdict of not guilty against
the female prisoner.
In answer to the Court,
Brennan, the officer, stated that he had known
the prisoner 15 or 10 years, and during that time
had received five informations respecting him as
being a maker and dealer in base coin, but never
until the present time could find anything to con-
vict him. He frequently saw him come out of a pub-
lic-house in Crown-street, and pass something into
the possession of those known to the police as the
uttcrcrs of base coin.
"

The Common Sergeant, in passing sentence, told
the prisoner that the offence of which he had been
convicted was an extremely grave one. It was
always most difficult to detect the makers of bad
money, but, when detected, the tribunals before
whom they were convicted felt bound to pass most
severe sentences. The offence of circulating base
coin was a very cruel one, as the loss which it en-
tailed generally fell upon poor small shopkeepers
and a class of society who felt such losses most
severely. The prisoner had rendered himself liable
to be sent into penal servitude for the rest of his
life. He (the Common Sergeant) would not upon
the present occasion go to that extent, but still pass
a very severe sentence, and that was that the pri-
soner be kept in penal servitude for eight years.
William Hughes, 35, tailor, pleaded guilty to
stealing a purse and moneys, value £39 165., from
the person of George Palmer.
Mr. Robinson, for the prosecution, said he ap-
peared on the part of the General Omnibus Com-
pany, who, with a desire to protect those who tra-
velled in their vehicles, had specially instructed
him through their solicitor, the offence being com-
mitted in one of their omnibuses upon the prosecu-
tor, a major in the army, while travelling between
Kingsland and the Bank.
The prisoner was sentenced to six years' penal
servitude.