The native American. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1840, 1839-11-09
From the Peoples Mngaeine.
SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

The most distinguished philosopher Of modern
times was born OH the 4slh Of December, 1912
in the manor house Of w oolsthorpe, a hamlet of
Colterswolth, in Lincolnshire, England The
house stands in pretty little hollow. on the
west side Of the valley Of the river Witham,
which rises at short distance. This was the
pa,crna estate of Newton and here he was
brought up and educated by his widowed mo-
thcr. ..
Every memorial o. SO great man. says
Mr.. Brewster, in his Life of Newton, has been
preserved aud cherished with peculiar venera-
ton. Lis house at Woolsthorpe has been reli-
gousIy protected by Mr.. Turner, Of Stoke
RochcIord, the proprietor. Dir. Stukely, who
visited it in Sir Isaac's lifetime on the 18th Oc-
tober 1921, gives the following description Of
it in his letter to Dr.. Mead, written in 1927:
'Trs built OF stone, as the way of the country
hereabnuts and reasonable good one They
led me up stairs aud showed ne Sir Isaac's study,
Wherel suppose he studied when in the country
in his Younger days, perhaps when he visited
his mother from the university. observed the
shelves were Of his own making, being piece of
deal boxes which probably he sent his books
and clothes down il OH those OCCASIONS. There
were some years ag3 two or three hundred books
in il Of his 'athtri%-!aw, Mr.. Smith, which Sir
Isaac gave to Dr.. Newton, Of our town.
When The house was repaired in l79S, a
tablet OF white marble was put up by Mr.
TUrner in tie room where Sir Isaac was born,
wish The following inscription:
Sir Isaac Newton, son OF John Newton,
Loid OF IT,, Manner Of Wools,llorpe, was born in
this room on the 25,h Of December, 1912
Na'ue and Natures laws lay lid in night,
God sad = 1t Newton be-, and all was light
$ The house is now occupied BY a person Of
tn" name Of John Wollerton. 1t still contains
the two dia's made by Newton but the STYLES
Of both wanting The celebrated apple t!ee,
tie fall Of one of the apples Of which is said to
have tuned the attention Of Newton TO the SUBJ
j ct Of gravity, was destroyed by wind about four
wears ago; but Mr.. Turner has preserved it in
tie foi NJ Of chair.
" The modesty Of Sir Isaac Newton, in refer
rnce to lis great discoveries was not founded on
any indifference to the fame which they confer
red, or upon any erroneous judgment Of their
importance to science. The whole of his life
proves that he knew his place philosopher,
aud was determined 10 assert ard vin,icate his
rights. His n,o,Iesty arose from the depth and
extent Of his knowledge, which showed him
what small portion Of nature he had been able
to examine, and how much remained 10 be ex-
plorcd in The same field in which he had him.
self laboied. In the magnitude Of the compa-
rison he recognised his own lit,lemess; and
short time before his death he uttered this me-
mofablt sentiment: do not know what may
appear TO the world but to myself seem to have
been only like boy playing on the seashore,
and divciting myself in row ard then finding u
smoother pebble or pretlicr shell than ordinary,
whilst the great ocean Of truth lay all undisco-
vcrcd before me-
" In the iisious and moral character Of our
author there is much TO admire aud initiate.
While he exhibited in his life and writings an
ardent regard for the general interest Of religion,
he was a, the same time firm believer il Reve-
Ia'len. lie was too deeply versed in The Scrip.
lures, and too mach imhued with their spirit, to
Judge haIsl,!y Of other men who took different
views Of them from himself He cherished the
great principles Of religious liberation, and never
iscrnp!ed 10 express lis adherence Of persecution,
even in its mdest form. immortality and impiety
he never permitted to pass nnrcproved; and
when DR.. Hal'Y venturcd to say any thing dis
respectful 10 religion, he invariably checked
him, and said, / have studied these things
! you have not "