Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1833-12-12
From the Peoples Magazine.
SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

The most distinguished philosopher of
modern times, was born on the 25th Of
December, l642, in the manor-housc of
Woolsthorpe, hamlet Of Coltersworth,
in Lincolnshire, England. The house
stands in pretty little hollow, on the
west side of the valley of the river Wit
ham, which rises at short distance =
This was the paternal estate of Newton,
and here he was brought up and educa-
ted by his widowed mother.
"Every memorial of so great a man,"
says DR.. Brewster, in his Life OF New
ton, "has been preserved and cherished
with peculiar veneration. His house at
Woolsthorpe has been relis iously pro-
tected by Mr.. Turner, of Stoke Roche
ford, the proprietor DIR. Stukely, who
visited it in Sir I,aac's lifetime, on 18th
of October, 1871 gvesthe following de-
scription of it in his letter to DIR. Mead,
written in 1927: '"Tis built of stone, as
is the way ofthe country hereabouts, and
reasonable good one. They led me up
stairs and showed me Sir Isaac's study,
where, suppose, he studied when in
the country, in his younger days, or, per-
maps, when he visited his mother from
the University. l observed the shelves
were of his own making, being pieces of
deal boxes, in which probably, he sent
his books and clothes down in on these
occasions. There were, some years a
20, two or three hundred books in it, for
his fa'Aer- n-law, Mr.. Smith, which Sin
Isaac gave 10 DR.. Newton, of our town
When the house was repaired in 1893
tablet Of white marble was put up BY
Mr.. Turner, in the room whe e Sir Isaac
was born, with the following Inscription
''Sir Isaac Newton, son of John New,
ton, Lord Of the Manor of Woolsthorpe
was born in this room, on the 18th o
December, 1912"
Nature and Natures laws lay hid in night
God said "Let Newton be-" and all was Light
The house is now occupied by per
son of the name Of John Wollerton. l
still contains two dials made by Newton
but the styles of both are wanting. Ih
celebrated apple tree, the fall Of one "
the apples of which is said to turn the at
tention of Newton to the subject of grav
ity, was destroyed by wind about iou
years ago; but Mr.. Turner has preserv
ed it in the form of a chair.
The modesty of Sir Isaac Newton,
reference to his great discoveries, wa
not founded in amy Indifference to tn
fame which they conferred, or upon an
erroneous judgement Of their importanC
to science. The whole ofhis life prove
that he knew his place as phllosoph,
and was determined to assert and Wind
cate his rights. His modesty arose fro
the depth and extent Of his knowledg
which showed him what small portlc
of nature he had been able to examln
and how much remained to be expior
in the same field in which he had III
self laoored. In tho magnitude OF
comparison he recognized his own ''ll
ness; and short time before his dea
he uttered this memorable sentiment
81 do not know what may appear to
world; but to my self ! seem to have be
only like boy playing on the a-sho
and diverting myself in now and ti'
finding a smoother pebble, or prctt
shell than ordinary, whilst the great
cean of truth lay all undiscovered BET
me-"
In the religious and moral charac
of our author, there is much to adn
and initiate. Wilde he exhibited IN