Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1856-01-25


morning she has sometimes found both
supper scarcely tasted of, which
the old woman has very pleasantly and
gone away with"
While speaking of food, we may men
ton, in passing, as set-of to the mega
tions of Newton's animal and emotional
nature, his one physical enjoyment. He !
liked fruit, and could eat an! quantity of
it. AS boy, we find him in his ac-
count-books spending his money on cher
ries, tarts, and marmaladc. This latter
taste seems to have grown with him, for
he was always very fond of a small roast
ed ounce for supper. He was as fond OF
orange peel as DR.. johnson, and used to
take it boiled in water for his breakfast
instead of tea. Apples, too, appear to
have been favorite fruit of his one Of
his letters exhibits him longing after ci-
der, and making great endeavors to Sc
cure SOME gratis of the genuine cred
streaks." Perhaps it was one of those
favored "red streaks" that falling from
the tree suggested the system of the world
the universally of the law of gravita-
ton.
Other enioyments Newton had none
which were not purely intellectual. Even
as a boy he never joined in the games
and amusements of his companions. We
find him making dials, and water-clocks,
and wind-mills; and on the day of the
great storm Of 1868, when Cromwell was
drawing 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's Park were
uprooted by the tempest, Newton, in his
sixteenth year, 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 diferential calculus
and the irregularities of the moon, he
refreshed himself with chronology and
all the dry details of lustrums, Olympi-
ads, and the expedition of the Argonauts
prsng fRdE f'aP Vi RdeffSHtFf fgtaH it to will not be
say that his esthetical nature was utterly
blank. He had perfect horror of poet
ry, and would have echoed the sentiment
of his friend Barrow, that it is an ingen-
ious kind of nonsense" He showed his
regard for sculptor when he said of his
friend, the Earl of Pembroke, that he was
"a lover of stone dolls" And his opinion
ofpainting expressedin an anecdote which
we do not profess to comprehend, but
which, according to the Interpretation
suggested by Sir David Brewster, implies
that he considered pictures nothing but
Dirt
As we look farther into Newton's char
acter, we find everywhere the saiiie alb
sence Of color, the same whiteness that
Bishop Burnet observed. One curious
specimen of it is presented in a letter Of
advice to his young friend, Francis As
ton, who was about to set out on hi.
travels.
If you are affronted," wrote the phi
losopher, g it Is better in a lorraine count
~ to pass it by in silence, or with a lest.
/ though with some dishonor, than to en-
dear reyenge; for in the first case your
credits ne'er the worse when you return
into England, and come into other COM
pany that have not heard of the QUARREL.
But, in the second case, you may beare
the marks OF the quarrel while you live.
if you outlive it at ALL Here is a lily
liver with vengeance-dissuading his
young friend from quarrel on the ground
not ofhigh Christian principle, but of un-
manly fear. If the truth must be spoken
Newton was a coward. 1t is the most
amazing thing to read how frightened he
was to face the public. He could never
bear publicity. This was partly the re.
suit of timid disposition which made hin
shrink from criticism, but partly also il
was the result of a self-absorbed and un.
sociable nature that was all in all to itself
and felt no need of human sympathy
When, shortly after writing the above
letter TO Francis Aston, he was asked fol
permission TO publish one of his paper
in the Philosophical Transactions, h,
gave his consent, on condition that hi
name should be withheld.
"For see not" he writes, "wha
there is desirable in public esteem, wer,
L able to acquire it and maintain it. /
would, perhaps, increase my acquaintanc
the thing which l chiefly study to de
Cine This appalling sef-absorption
without parallel in the history of tn
human mind. After having been en-
Orolied Ia trifing optical discussion wit