Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1855-11-15
DAILY VIRGlNlAN.
Sir Isaac Newton

The common idcn Of Newton svery vague. In
writing 20 the earliest of his hiographers, Pope
expressed n desire to have some memors and
character of him us private man." The desire
might still be expressed. We have no intimacy
with Newton. Few persons, if asked to describe
tho character of the man, could say more than
this-that he was exceedingly absent, that no
was impurturable almost to insipidity, perhaps
quoting as an illustration of the latter character
stic the apocryrhal story of the philosopher ana
his little dog diamond" This is not saying
much and vet the half Of it is incorrect. The
contemporaries of Newton describe him M any
thing but imperturnble certain occasions.
Locke declared TINT he was n nice man To deal
with" but "a little too apt TO raise IN himself
suspicious where there is no ground Finm-
steed always "found him insdious, ambitious and
excessively covetous of praise and impatient OF
contradiction.
Winston describes him M eqelly impatient,
and of the most fearful cautions and suspicious
temper that ever he knew. D'Alcmbert gives
the French idea of him when he snys "ln Eng
land people were content with Newton being the
III eatcst genius of his age in France one would
have also wished him to be nmiabe.' II Now
ton was really unamiable it was chiefly u mega
tive unaminhility. lie was unsocial, he was re-
served he was absent, he silent; in the
course of five years his Secretary, Humphrey
Newton, never snw him laugh but once, and that
once il is impossible to comprehend why, worst
If all to II Frenohmnn he had none OF the gra-
ces-could not. like Fontencle begin irentise
on astronomy by saluting II lady, and comparing
the beauty of day TO II blonde and the beauty OF
night to brunette. The only qualities in New
ton that were positively unamiable were his sus-
pcious temper and his impatence OF oontradie-
ton All else were negative. His goodness even
was negative, with the exception OF his piety ana
his veracity. lie good because he was pas
sionlcss: nnd he was not loveablc, because he
wns not void of emotion.
Bishop Burnet says that Newton hnd the whi-
test soul he ever knew. We can believer 80.
Newton was utterly unwordly, and the unword-
lness Of the man who wus content to pace about
his chamber and his trim little garden from NOR
ming 10 night. save when he turned out Tor hall
nm hour to see if any body would listen to him as
Lucasian Professor must have rather astonlshed
the bustling Scotch Bishop. Then he was pure
as n child his niece tells that ho broke nm &C.
anaintaince of the greatest intimacy with Vigani
because the Italian chemist told him some loose
story of n nun. Bishop Burnet's remark how
ever. is true in much more stringent sense thnn
hs--in n much more stringent than perhaps, ne
ever contemplated. Newton had the whitest soul
he ever knew simply because his emotional ma
ture was the sheet Of white piper which the met
apply scnns Of that period were continually talk
ing about
Sir David Brewster has done his best TO prove
the contrary He even fnncies that he has dis
covered Sir lsane in love- Sir lsaac in kove!-
it is imcretible-it is impossible. Fancy the Sc
date Lucasian Professor addressing Norris IKE
one of those fops called pretty fellows" whom
Steele shortly afterwards satrized IN the Tatler.
"Can YOU resolve to wear n widows habit per-
petnnlly ," he wrtcs.-"W your ladyship
should 20 constantly in the melancholy dress OF
n widow or flourish once more among the ladies!'
TINT is the question and that is the style OF
courtship which Sir David, with his eyes open
.t..t, ftrtI taa
10 philosopher whose soul was fixed on one idea
the increase of gravity inversely osthe square
af the distance. Sir Isaac, we make bold to say
never had thought of love.
In comparison with Newton, Uncle Toby's be-
hayior to the Widow Wadmnn was the extreme
of galnntry and RIGHTEOUSNESS. 1t must be re-
membered that Newton was n god. and Alexan-
der the Great used to say that two-he might
have said three-things reminded him that he
was mortal aud not n god-love, sleep and food
These three things proved the divinity OF Sir
Isaac, for he never spent thought on love, took
very little sleep, and as for his dinner, he never
cared for it and often never nte H. lie kept
neither dog nor cat in his chamber. says Hum
phrey Newton, (Which made well for the old wo-
man, his bed maker, she faring much the better
for it, for in a morning she has sometimes found
both dinner and supper scarcely tasted or which
the old woman has very pleasantly ana mump-
ingy gone away with.
While speaking Of food. may mention, in
passing. as set Off to the ncgatonso OF New
toms animal and emotional nature, his ono phys
ical enjoyment. He liked fruit, and could eat
any quantity fit. AS n boy, we find him IN his
account books spending his money on cherries
taris aud marmalade. This latter taste seems
10 have grown with him, for he was always very
fond of small roasted qaince for his supper
He was ms fond of orange peel as DR.. Johnson
and sed to take it boiled in water for his break
fast, instead of ten. Apples, too appear to have
been favore fruit of his; one ofhis letters ex-
hibits him longing after cider and making great
cndeavors TO secure some gratis of the genuine
.red streaks" that falling from the tree suggest
ed the system of the world-the universally of
the law of gravitaton.
o,ber enioyments Newton had none which
were not purely intellectual. Even as boy he
never ioined in the games and amusements OF his
companions. We find him making dias and wa
ter clocks and wind mills; and on the day of the
rreat storm of 1868, when Cromwell was draw
| ing his last breath in Whitehall, and Goodwin
stood by his bedside, assuring him that his soul
was safe, and Bates went Soft and sad from room
TO room, and the trees in st. James Park were
unrooted by the tempest, Newton. in his 10th
wear, was Jumping about in the gale to measure
the force of the wind. In more advanced years
! his amusements were still more severe. When
weary of his other studies. the dlfferental caicu
lus and the irregularities of the moon,he refresh
ed himself, with chronology and all the dry de-
tails of lustrums, Olympiads and the expeditioh
of the Argonauts.
With sncb pleasures it will not be surprising
that we return to negation. and say that his as-
tbetical nature was utterly blank. lie had
nerfect horror of poetry and would have echoed
the sentiment of his friend Barrow, that is ian
ingenious kind of nonsense" He showed his
l.. r.