From the year 1669, when Newton was installed in the Lucasian chair, till 1695, when he ceased to reside in Cambridge, he seems to have been seldom absent from his college more than three or four201 weeks in the year. In 1675, he received a dispensation from Charles II. to continue in his fellowship of Trinity College without taking orders, and we have already seen in the preceding chapter how his time was occupied till the publication of the Principia in 1687.
An event now occurred which drew Newton from the seclusion2 of his studies, and placed him upon the theatre of public life. Desirous of re-establishing the Catholic faith in its former supremacy3, King James II. had begun to assail4 the rights and privileges of his Protestant subjects. Among other illegal acts, he sent his letter of mandamus to the University of Cambridge to order Father Francis, an ignorant monk5 of the Benedictine order, to be received as master of arts, and to enjoy all the privileges of this degree, without taking the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. The university speedily perceived the consequences which might arise from such a measure. Independent of the infringement6 of their rights which such an order involved, it was obvious that the highest interests of the university were endangered, and that Roman Catholics might soon become a majority in the convocation. They therefore unanimously refused to listen to the royal order, and they did this with a firmness of purpose which irritated the despotic court. The king reiterated7 his commands, and accompanied them with the severest threatenings in case of disobedience. The Catholics were not idle in supporting the views of the sovereign. The honorary degree of M.A. which conveys no civil rights to its possessor, having been formerly8 given to the secretary of the ambassador from Morocco, it was triumphantly9 urged that the University of Cambridge had a greater regard for a Mahometan than for a Roman Catholic, and was more obsequious10 to the ambassador from Morocco than to their own lawful11 sovereign. Though this reasoning might impose upon the ignorant, it produced202 little effect upon the members of the university. A few weak-minded individuals, however, were disposed to yield a reluctant consent to the royal wishes. They proposed to confer the degree, and at the same time to resolve that it should not in future be regarded as a precedent12. To this it was replied, that the very act of submission13 in one case would be a stronger argument for continuing the practice than any such resolution would be against its repetition. The university accordingly remained firm in their original decision. The vice-chancellor was summoned before the ecclesiastical commission to answer for this act of contempt. Newton was among the number of those who resisted the wishes of the court, and he was consequently chosen one of the nine delegates who were appointed to defend the independence of the university. These delegates appeared before the High Court. They maintained that not a single precedent could be found to justify14 so extraordinary a measure; and they showed that Charles II. had, under similar circumstances, been pleased to withdraw his mandamus. This representation had its full weight, and the king was induced to abandon his design.73
The part which Newton had taken in this affair, and the high character which he now held in the scientific world, induced his friends to propose him as member of parliament for the university. He was accordingly elected in 1688, though by a very narrow majority,74 and he sat in the Convention Parliament till its dissolution. In the year 1688 and 1689, Newton was absent from Cambridge during the greater part of the year, owing, we presume, to his attendance in parliament; but it appears from203 the books of the University that from 1690 to 1695 he was seldom absent, and must therefore have renounced15 his parliamentary duties.
During his stay in London he had no doubt experienced the unsuitableness of his income to the new circumstances in which he was placed, and it is probable that this was the cause of the limitation of his residence to Cambridge. His income was certainly very confined, and but little suited to the generosity16 of his disposition17. Demands were doubtless made upon it by some of his less wealthy relatives; and there is reason to think that he himself, as well as his influential18 friends, had been looking forward to some act of liberality on the part of the government.
An event however occurred which will ever form an epoch19 in his history; and it is a singular circumstance, that this incident has been for more than a century unknown to his own countrymen, and has been accidentally brought to light by the examination of the manuscripts of Huygens. This event has been magnified into a temporary aberration20 of mind, which is said to have arisen from a cause scarcely adequate to its production.
While he was attending divine service in a winter morning, he had left in his study a favourite little dog called Diamond. Upon returning from chapel21 he found that it had overturned a lighted taper22 on his desk, which set fire to several papers on which he had recorded the results of some optical experiments. These papers are said to have contained the labours of many years, and it has been stated that when Mr. Newton perceived the magnitude of his loss, he exclaimed, “Oh, Diamond, Diamond, little do you know the mischief23 you have done me!” It is a curious circumstance that Newton never refers to the experiments which he is said to have lost on this occasion, and his nephew, Mr. Conduit, makes no allusion24 to the event itself. The distress25, however204 which it occasioned is said to have been so deep as to affect even the powers of his understanding.
This extraordinary effect was first communicated to the world in the Life of Newton by M. Biot, who received the following account of it from the celebrated26 M. Van Swinden.
“There is among the manuscripts of the celebrated Huygens a small journal in folio, in which he used to note down different occurrences. It is side ζ, No. 8, p. 112, in the catalogue of the library of Leyden. The following extract is written by Huygens himself, with whose handwriting I am well acquainted, having had occasion to peruse27 several of his manuscripts and autograph letters. ‘On the 29th May, 1694, M. Colin,75 a Scotsman, informed me that eighteen months ago the illustrious geometer, Isaac Newton, had become insane, either in consequence of his too intense application to his studies, or from excessive grief at having lost, by fire, his chymical laboratory and several manuscripts. When he came to the Archbishop of Cambridge, he made some observations which indicated an alienation28 of mind. He was immediately taken care of by his friends, who confined him to his house and applied29 remedies, by means of which he had now so far recovered his health that he began to understand the Principia.’” Huygens mentioned this circumstance to Leibnitz, in a letter dated 8th June, 1694, to which Leibnitz replies in a letter dated the 23d, “I am very glad that I received information of the cure of Mr. Newton, at the same time that I first heard of his illness, which doubtless must have been205 very alarming. ‘It is to men like you and him, sir, that I wish a long life.’”
The first publication of the preceding statement produced a strong sensation among the friends and admirers of Newton. They could not easily believe in the prostration30 of that intellectual strength which had unbarred the strongholds of the universe. The unbroken equanimity31 of Newton’s mind, the purity of his moral character, his temperate32 and abstemious33 life, his ardent34 and unaffected piety36, and the weakness of his imaginative powers, all indicated a mind which was not likely to be overset by any affliction to which it could be exposed. The loss of a few experimental records could never have disturbed the equilibrium37 of a mind like his. If they were the records of discoveries, the discoveries themselves indestructible would have been afterward38 given to the world. If they were merely the details of experimental results, a little time could have easily reproduced them. Had these records contained the first fruits of early genius—of obscure talent, on which fame had not yet shed its rays, we might have supposed that the first blight39 of such early ambition would have unsettled the stability of an untried mind. But Newton was satiated with fame. His mightiest40 discoveries were completed and diffused41 over all Europe, and he must have felt himself placed on the loftiest pinnacle42 of earthly ambition. The incredulity which such views could not fail to encourage was increased by the novelty of the information. No English biographer had ever alluded43 to such an event. History and tradition were equally silent, and it was not easy to believe that the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, a member of the English parliament, and the first philosopher in Europe could have lost his reason without the dreadful fact being known to his own countrymen.
But if the friends of Newton were surprised by the nature of the intelligence, they were distressed206 at the view which was taken of it by foreign philosophers. While one maintained that the intellectual exertions45 of Newton had terminated with the publication of the Principia, and that the derangement of his mind was the cause of his abandoning the sciences, others indirectly46 questioned the sincerity47 of his religious views, and ascribed to the aberration of his mind those theological pursuits which gilded48 his declining age. “But the fact,” says M. Biot, “of the derangement of his intellect, whatever may have been the cause of it, will explain why, after the publication of the Principia in 1687, Newton, though only forty-five years old, never more published a new work on any branch of science, but contented49 himself with giving to the world those which he had composed long before that epoch, confining himself to the completion of those parts which might require development. We may also remark, that even these developments appear always to be derived50 from experiments and observations formerly made, such as the additions to the second edition of the Principia, published in 1713, the experiments on thick plates, those on diffraction, and the chymical queries51 placed at the end of the Optics in 1704; for in giving an account of these experiments Newton distinctly says that they were taken from ancient manuscripts which he had formerly composed; and he adds, that though he felt the necessity of extending them, or rendering52 them more perfect, he was not able to resolve to do this, these matters being no longer in his way. Thus it appears that though he had recovered his health sufficiently53 to understand all his researches, and even in some cases to make additions to them, and useful alterations54, as appears from the second edition of the Principia, for which he kept up a very active mathematical correspondence with Mr. Cotes, yet he did not wish to undertake new labours in those departments of science where he had done so much, and where he so distinctly207 saw what remained to be done.” Under the influence of the same opinion, M. Biot finds “it extremely probable that his dissertation55 on the scale of heat was written before the fire in his laboratory;” he describes Newton’s conduct about the longitude56 bill as “almost puerile57 on so solemn an occasion, and one which might lead to the strangest conclusions, particularly if we refer it to the fatal accident which Newton had suffered in 1695.”
The celebrated Marquis de la Place viewed the illness of Newton in a light still more painful to his friends. He maintained that he never recovered the vigour58 of his intellect, and he was persuaded that Newton’s theological inquiries59 did not commence till after that afflicting60 epoch of his life. He even commissioned Professor Gautier of Geneva to make inquiries on this subject during his visit to England, as if it concerned the interests of truth and justice to show that Newton became a Christian61 and a theological writer only after the decay of his strength and the eclipse of his reason.
Such having been the consequences of the disclosure of Newton’s illness by the manuscript of Huygens, I felt it to be a sacred duty to the memory of that great man, to the feelings of his countrymen, and to the interests of Christianity itself, to inquire into the nature and history of that indisposition which seems to have been so much misrepresented and misapplied. From the ignorance of so extraordinary an event which has prevailed for such a long period in England, it might have been urged with some plausibility62 that Huygens had mistaken the real import of the information that was conveyed to him; or that the Scotchman from whom he received it had propagated an idle and a groundless rumour63. But we are, fortunately, not confined to this very reasonable mode of defence. There exists at Cambridge a manuscript journal written by Mr. Abraham de la Pryme, who was a student in the university208 while Newton was a fellow of Trinity. This manuscript is entitled “Ephemeris Vit?, or Diary of my own Life, containing an account likewise of the most observable and remarkable64 things that I have taken notice of from my youth up hitherto.” Mr. de la Pryme was born in 1671, and begins the diary in 1685. This manuscript is in the possession of his collateral65 descendant, George Pryme, Esq., Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge, to whom I have been indebted for the following extract.
“1692, February 3d.—What I heard to-day I must relate. There is one Mr. Newton (whom I have very oft seen), Fellow of Trinity College, that is mighty66 famous for his learning, being a most excellent mathematician67, philosopher, divine, &c. He has been Fellow of the Royal Society these many years; and among other very learned books and tracts68, he’s written one upon the mathematical principles of philosophy, which has got him a mighty name, he having received, especially from Scotland, abundance of congratulatory letters for the same; but of all the books that he ever wrote, there was one of colours and light, established upon thousands of experiments which he had been twenty years of making, and which had cost him many hundred of pounds. This book, which he valued so much, and which was so much talked of, had the ill luck to perish and be utterly69 lost just when the learned author was almost at putting a conclusion at the same, after this manner: In a winter’s morning, leaving it among his other papers on his study table while he went to chapel, the candle, which he had unfortunately left burning there too, catched hold by some means of other papers, and they fired the aforesaid book, and utterly consumed it and several other valuable writings; and, which is most wonderful, did no further mischief. But when Mr. Newton came from chapel, and had seen what was done, every one thought he would have run mad, he was209 so troubled thereat that he was not himself for a month after. A long account of this his system of light and colours you may find in the Transactions of the Royal Society, which he had sent up to them long before this sad mischance happened unto him.”
From this extract we are enabled to fix the approximate date of the accident by which Newton lost his papers. It must have been previous to the 3d January, 1692, a month before the date of the extract; but if we fix it by the dates in Huygens’s manuscript, we should place it about the 29th November, 1692, eighteen months previous to the conversation between Collins and Huygens. The manner in which Mr. Pryme refers to Newton’s state of mind is that which is used every day when we speak of the loss of tranquillity70 which arises from the ordinary afflictions of life; and the meaning of the passage amounts to nothing more than that Newton was very much troubled by the destruction of his papers, and did not recover his serenity71, and return to his usual occupations, for a month. The very phrase that “every person thought he would have run mad” is in itself a proof that no such effect was produced; and, whatever degree of indisposition may be implied in the phrase “he was not himself for a month after,” we are entitled to infer that one month was the period of its duration, and that previous to the 3d February, 1692, the date of Mr. Pryme’s memorandum72, “Newton was himself again.”
These facts and dates cannot be reconciled with those in Huygens’s manuscript. It appears from that document, that, so late as May, 1694, Newton had only so far recovered his health as to begin to again understand the Principia. His supposed malady73, therefore, was in force from the 3d of January, 1692, till the month of May, 1694,—a period of more than two years. Now, it is a most important circumstance, which M. Biot ought to have known, that in the very middle of this period,210 Newton wrote his four celebrated letters to Dr. Bentley on the Existence of a Deity75,—letters which evince a power of thought and a serenity of mind absolutely incompatible76 even with the slightest obscuration of his faculties77. No man can peruse these letters without the conviction that their author then possessed78 the full vigour of his reason, and was capable of understanding the most profound parts of his writings. The first of these letters was written on the 10th December, 1692, the second on the 17th January, 1693, the third on the 25th February, and the 4th on the 11th76 February, 1693. His mind was, therefore, strong and vigorous on these four occasions; and as the letters were written at the express request of Dr. Bentley, who had been appointed to deliver the lecture founded by Mr. Boyle for vindicating79 the fundamental principles of natural and revealed religion, we must consider such a request as showing his opinion of the strength and freshness of his friend’s mental powers.
In 1692, Newton, at the request of Dr. Wallis, transmitted to him the first proposition of his book on quadratures, with examples of it in first, second, and third fluxions.77 These examples were written in consequence of an application from his friend; and the author of the review of the Commercium Epistolicum, in which this fact is quoted, draws the conclusion, that he had not at that time forgotten his method of second fluxions. It appears, also, from the second book of the Optics,78 that in the month of June, 1692, he had been occupied with the subject of haloes, and had made accurate observations both on the colours and the diameters of the rings in a halo which he had then seen around the sun.
211 But though these facts stand in direct contradiction to the statement recorded by Huygens, the reader will be naturally anxious to know the real nature and extent of the indisposition to which it refers. The following letters,79 written by Newton himself, Mr. Pepys, Secretary to the Admiralty, and Mr. Millington of Magdalene College, Cambridge, will throw much light upon the subject.
Newton, as will be presently seen, had fallen into a bad state of health some time in 1692, in consequence of which both his sleep and his appetite were greatly affected35. About the middle of September, 1693, he had been kept awake for five nights by this nervous disorder80, and in this condition he wrote the following letter to Mr. Pepys:
Sept. 13, 1693.
“Sir,
“Some time after Mr. Millington had delivered your message, he pressed me to see you the next time I went to London. I was averse81; but upon his pressing consented, before I considered what I did, for I am extremely troubled at the embroilment83 I am in, and have neither ate nor slept well this twelvemonth, nor have my former consistency84 of mind. I never designed to get any thing by your interest, nor by King James’s favour, but am now sensible that I must withdraw from your acquaintance, and see neither you nor the rest of my friends any more, if I may but leave them quietly. I beg your pardon for saying I would see you again, and rest your most humble85 and most obedient servant,
“Is. Newton.”
From this letter we learn, on his own authority, that his complaint had lasted for a twelvemonth, and that during that twelvemonth he neither ate nor slept well, nor enjoyed his former 212consistency of mind. It is not easy to understand exactly what is meant by not enjoying his former consistency of mind; but whatever be its import, it is obvious that he must have been in a state of mind so sound as to enable him to compose the four letters to Bentley, all of which were written during the twelvemonth here referred to.
On the receipt of this letter, his friend Mr. Pepys seems to have written to Mr. Millington of Magdalene College to inquire after Mr. Newton’s health; but the inquiry86 having been made in a vague manner, an answer equally vague was returned. Mr. Pepys, however, who seems to have been deeply anxious about Newton’s health, addressed the following more explicit87 letter to his friend Mr. Millington:—
Septemb. 26, 1693.
“Sir,
“After acknowledging your many old favours, give me leave to do it a little more particularly upon occasion of the new one conveyed to me by my nephew Jackson. Though, at the same time, I must acknowledge myself not at the ease I would be glad to be at in reference to the excellent Mr. Newton; concerning whom (methinks) your answer labours under the same kind of restraint which (to tell you the truth) my asking did. For I was loth at first dash to tell you that I had lately received a letter from him so surprising to me for the inconsistency of every part of it, as to be put into great disorder by it, from the concernment I have for him, lest it should arise from that which of all mankind I should least dread44 from him and most lament88 for,—I mean a discomposure in head, or mind, or both. Let me therefore beg you, sir, having now told you the true ground of the trouble I lately gave you, to let me know the very truth of the matter, as far at least as comes within your knowledge. For I own too great an esteem89 for Mr. Newton, as for a public good, to213 be able to let any doubt in me of this kind concerning him lie a moment uncleared, where I can have any hopes of helping90 it. I am, with great truth and respect, dear sir, your most humble, and most affectionate servant,
“S. Pepys.”
To this letter Mr. Millington made the following reply:—
Coll. Magd. Camb.
Sept. the 30, 1693.
“Honor’d Sir,
“Coming home from a journey on the 28th instant at night, I met with your letter which you were pleased to honour me with of the 26th. I am much troubled I was not at home in time for the post, that I might as soon as possible put you out of your generous payne that you are in for the worthy91 Mr. Newton. I was, I must confess, very much surprised at the inquiry you were pleased to make by your nephew about the message that Mr. Newton made the ground of his letter to you, for I was very sure I never either received from you or delivered to him any such, and therefore I went immediately to wayt upon him, with a design to discourse92 him about the matter, but, he was out of town, and since I have not seen him, till upon the 28th I met him at Huntingdon, where, upon his own accord, and before I had time to ask him any question, he told me that he had writt to you a very odd letter, at which he was much concerned; added, that it was in a distemper that much seized his head, and that kept him awake for above five nights together, which upon occasion he desired I would represent to you, and beg your pardon, he being very much ashamed, he should be so rude to a person for whom he hath so great an honour. He is now very well, and, though I fear he is under some small degree of melancholy93, yet I think there is no reason to suspect it hath at214 all touched his understanding, and I hope never will; and so I am sure all ought to wish that love learning or the honour of our nation, which it is a sign how much it is looked after, when such a person as Mr. Newton lyes so neglected by those in power. And thus, honoured sir, I have made you acquainted with all I know of the cause of such inconsistencys in the letter of so excellent a person; and I hope it will remove the doubts and fears you are, with so much compassion94 and publickness of spirit, pleased to entertain about Mr. Newton; but if I should have been wanting in any thing tending to the more full satisfaction, I shall, upon the least notice, endeavour to amend95 it with all gratitude96 and truth. Honored sir, your most faithfull and most obedient servant,
“Joh. Millington.”
Mr. Pepys was perfectly97 satisfied with this answer, as appears from the following letter:—
October 3d, 1693.
“Sir,
“You have delivered me from a fear that indeed gave me much trouble, and from my very heart I thank you for it; an evil to Mr. Newton being what every good man must feel for his own sake as well as his. God grant it may stopp here. And for the kind reflection hee has since made upon his letter to mee, I dare not take upon mee to judge what answer I should make him to it, or whether any or no; and therefore pray that you will bee pleased either to bestow98 on mee what directions you see fitt for my own guidance towards him in it, or to say to him in my name, but your own pleasure, whatever you think may be most welcome to him upon it, and most expressive99 of my regard and affectionate esteem of him, and concernment for him. * * *
Dear sir, your most humble and most faithful servant,
“S. Pepys.”
215
It does not appear from the memoirs100 of Mr. Pepys whether he ever returned any answer to the letter of Mr. Newton which occasioned this correspondence; but we find that in less than two months after the date of the preceding letter, an opportunity occurred of introducing to him a Mr. Smith, who wished to have his opinion on some problem in the doctrine101 of chances. This letter from Pepys is dated November 22d, 1693. Sir Isaac replied to it on the 26th November, and wrote to Pepys again on the 16th December, 1693; and in both these letters he enters fully102 into the discussion of the mathematical question which had been submitted to his judgment103.80
It is obvious, from Newton’s letter to Mr. Pepys, that the subject of his receiving some favour from the government had been a matter of anxiety with himself, and of discussion among his friends.81 Mr. Millington was no doubt referring to this anxiety, when he represents Newton as an honour to the nation, and expresses his surprise “that such a person should lye so neglected by those in power.” And we find the same subject distinctly referred to in two letters written to Mr. Locke during the preceding year. In one of these, dated January 26th, 1691–2, he says, “Being fully convinced that Mr. Montague, upon an old grudge104 which I thought had been worn out, is false to me, I have done with him, and intend to sit still, unless my Lord Monmouth be still my friend.” Mr. Locke seems to have assured him of the continued friendship of this nobleman, and Mr. Newton, still referring to the same topic, in a letter dated February 16th, 1691–2, remarks,216 “I am very glad Lord Monmouth is still my friend, but intend not to give his lordship and you any farther trouble. My inclinations105 are to sit still.” In a later letter to Mr. Locke, dated September, 1693, and given below, he asks his pardon for saying or thinking that there was a design to sell him an office. In these letters Mr. Newton no doubt referred to some appointment in London which he was solicitous106 to obtain, and which Mr. Montague and his other friends may have failed in procuring107. This opinion is confirmed by the letter of Mr. Montague announcing to him his appointment to the wardenship108 of the mint, in which he says that he is very glad he can at last give him good proof of his friendship.
In the same month in which Newton wrote to Mr. Pepys, we find him in correspondence with Mr. Locke. Displeased109 with his opinions respecting innate110 ideas, he had rashly stated that they struck at the root of all morality; and that he regarded the author of such doctrines111 as a Hobbist. Upon reconsidering these opinions, he addressed the following remarkable letter to Locke, written three days after his letter to Mr. Pepys, and consequently during the illness under which he then laboured.
“Sir,
“Being of opinion that you endeavoured to embroil82 me with women, and by other means, I was so much affected with it, as that when one told me you were sickly and would not live, I answered, ’twere better if you were dead. I desire you to forgive me this uncharitableness; for I am now satisfied that what you have done is just, and I beg your pardon for my having hard thoughts of you for it, and for representing that you struck at the root of morality, in a principle you laid in your book of ideas, and designed to pursue in another book, and that I took217 you for a Hobbist.82 I beg your pardon also for saying or thinking that there was a design to sell me an office, or to embroil me.—I am your most humble and unfortunate servant,
“Is. Newton.
“At the Bull, in Shoreditch, London,
Sept. 16th, 1693.”
To this letter Locke returned the following answer, so nobly distinguished112 by philosophical113 magnanimity and Christian charity:—
Oates, Oct. 5th, 1693.
“Sir,
“I have been, ever since I first knew you, so entirely114 and sincerely your friend, and thought you so much mine, that I could not have believed what you tell me of yourself had I had it from anybody else. And, though I cannot but be mightily115 troubled that you should have had so many wrong and unjust thoughts of me, yet next to the return of good offices, such as from a sincere good-will I have ever done you, I receive your acknowledgment of the contrary as the kindest thing you have done me, since it gives me hopes I have not lost a friend I so much valued. After what your letter expresses, I shall not need to say any thing to justify myself to you. I shall always think your own reflection on my carriage, both to you and all mankind, will sufficiently do that. Instead of that, give me leave to assure you that I am more ready to forgive you than you can be to desire it; and I do it so freely and fully, that I wish for nothing more than the opportunity to convince you that I truly love and esteem you, and that I have the same good-will for you as if218 nothing of this had happened. To confirm this to you more fully, I should be glad to meet you any where, and the rather, because the conclusion of your letter makes me apprehend116 it would not be wholly useless to you. But whether you think it fit or not, I leave wholly to you. I shall always be ready to serve you to my utmost, in any way you shall like, and shall only need your commands or permission to do it.
“My book is going to press for a second edition; and, though I can answer for the design with which I write it, yet, since you have so opportunely117 given me notice of what you have said of it, I should take it as a favour if you would point out to me the places that gave occasion to that censure118, that, by explaining myself better, I may avoid being mistaken by others, or unawares doing the least prejudice to truth or virtue119. I am sure you are so much a friend to them both, that, were you none to me, I could expect this from you. But I cannot doubt but you would do a great deal more than this for my sake, who, after all, have all the concern of a friend for you, wish you extremely well, and am, without compliment, &c.”83
To this letter Newton made the following reply:—
“Sir,
“The last winter, by sleeping too often by my fire, I got an ill habit of sleeping; and a distemper, which this summer has been epidemical, put me farther out of order, so that when I wrote to you, I had not slept an hour a night for a fortnight together, and for five days together not a wink120. I remember I wrote to you, but what I said of your book I remember not. If you please to send me a transcript219 of that passage, I will give you an account of it if I can.—I am your most humble servant,
“Is. Newton.
“Cambridge, Oct. 5th, 1693.”
Although the first of these letters evinces the existence of a nervous irritability121 which could not fail to arise from want of appetite and of rest, yet it is obvious that its author was in the full possession of his mental powers. The answer of Mr. Locke, indeed, is written upon that supposition; and it deserves to be remarked, that Mr. Dugald Stewart, who first published a portion of these letters, never imagines for a moment that Newton was labouring under any mental alienation.
The opinion entertained by Laplace, that Newton devoted122 his attention to theology only in the latter part of his life, may be considered as deriving123 some countenance124 from the fact, that the celebrated general scholium at the end of the second edition of the Principia, published in 1713, did not appear in the first edition of that work. This argument has been ably controverted125 by Dr. J. C. Gregory of Edinburgh, on the authority of a manuscript of Newton, which seems to have been transmitted to his ancestor, Dr. David Gregory, between the years 1687 and 1698. This manuscript, which consists of twelve folio pages in Newton’s handwriting, contains, in the form of additions and scholia to some propositions in the third book of the Principia, an account of the opinions of the ancient philosophers on gravitation and motion, and on natural theology, with various quotations126 from their works. Attached to this manuscript are three very curious paragraphs. The first two appear to have been the original draught127 of the general scholium already referred to; and the third relates to the subject of an ethereal medium, respecting which he maintains an opinion diametrically opposite to that which he afterward220 published at the end of his Optics.84 The first paragraph expresses nearly the same ideas as some sentences in the scholium beginning “Deus summus est ens ?ternum, infinitum, absolute perfectum;”85 and it is remarkable that the second paragraph is found only in the third edition of the Principia, which appeared in 1726, the year before Newton’s death.
In the middle of the year 1694, about the time when our author is said to be beginning to understand the Principia, we find him occupied with the difficult and profound subject of the lunar theory. In order to procure128 observations for verifying the equations which he had deduced from the theory of gravity, he paid a visit to Flamstead, at the Royal Observatory129 of Greenwich, on the 1st September, 1694, when he received from him a series of lunar observations. On the 7th of October he wrote to Flamstead that he had compared the observations with his theory, and had satisfied himself that by both together “the moon’s theory may be reduced to a good degree of exactness, perhaps to the exactness of two or three minutes.” He wrote him again on the 24th October, and the correspondence was continued till 1698, Newton making constant application for observations to compare with his theory221 of the planetary motions; while Flamstead, not sufficiently aware of the importance of the inquiry, received his requests as if they were idle intrusions in which the interests of science were but slightly concerned.86
In reviewing the details which we have now given respecting the health and occupations of Newton from the beginning of 1692 till 1695, it is impossible to draw any other conclusion than that he possessed a sound mind, and was perfectly capable of carrying on his mathematical, his metaphysical, and his astronomical130 inquiries. His friend and admirer, Mr. Pepys, residing within fifty miles of Cambridge, had never heard of his being attacked with any illness till he inferred it from the letter to himself written in September, 1693. Mr. Millington, who lived in the same university, had been equally unacquainted with any such attack, and, after a personal interview with Newton, for the express purpose of ascertaining131 the state of his health, he assures Mr. Pepys “that he is very well,—that he fears he is under some small degree of melancholy, but that there is222 no reason to suspect that it hath at all touched his understanding.”
During this period of bodily indisposition, his mind, though in a state of nervous irritability, and disturbed by want of rest, was capable of putting forth132 its highest powers. At the request of Dr. Wallis he drew up an example of one of his propositions on the quadrature of curves in second fluxions. He composed, at the desire of Dr. Bentley, his profound and beautiful letters on the existence of the Deity. He was requested by Locke to reconsider his opinions on the subject of innate ideas; and we find him grappling with the difficulties of the lunar theory.
But with all these proofs of a vigorous mind, a diminution133 of his mental powers has been rashly inferred from the cessation of his great discoveries, and from his unwillingness134 to enter upon new investigations135. The facts, however, here assumed are as incorrect as the inference which is drawn136 from them. The ambition of fame is a youthful passion, which is softened137, if not subdued138, by age. Success diminishes its ardour, and early pre-eminence often extinguishes it. Before the middle period of life Newton was invested with all the insignia of immortality139; but endowed with a native humility140 of mind, and animated141 with those hopes which teach us to form an humble estimate of human greatness, he was satisfied with the laurels142 which he had won, and he sought only to perfect and complete his labours. His mind was principally bent74 on the improvement of the Principia; but he occasionally diverged143 into new fields of scientific research,—he solved problems of great difficulty which had been proposed to try his strength,—and he devoted much of his time to profound inquiries in chronology and in theological literature.
The powers of his mind were therefore in full requisition; and, when we consider that he was223 called to the discharge of high official functions which forced him into public life, and compelled him to direct his genius into new channels, we can scarcely be surprised that he ceased to produce any original works on abstract science. In the direction of the affairs of the mint, and of the Royal Society, to which we shall now follow him, he found ample occupation for his time; while the leisure of his declining years was devoted to those exalted144 studies in which philosophy yields to the supremacy of faith, and hope administers to the aspirations145 of genius.
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1
derangement
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| n.精神错乱 | |
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seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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assail
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| v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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infringement
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| n.违反；侵权 | |
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7
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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8
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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9
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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obsequious
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| adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的 | |
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lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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12
precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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15
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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16
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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19
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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20
aberration
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| n.离开正路，脱离常规，色差 | |
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21
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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22
taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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23
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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25
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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27
peruse
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| v.细读，精读 | |
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28
alienation
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| n.疏远；离间；异化 | |
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29
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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30
prostration
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| n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳 | |
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equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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32
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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33
abstemious
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| adj.有节制的，节俭的 | |
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34
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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36
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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37
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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38
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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39
blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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40
mightiest
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| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
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41
diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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42
pinnacle
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| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
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43
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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45
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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46
indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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47
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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48
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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49
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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50
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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51
queries
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| n.问题( query的名词复数 )；疑问；询问；问号v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的第三人称单数 )；询问 | |
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52
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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53
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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54
alterations
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| n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变 | |
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55
dissertation
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| n.（博士学位）论文，学术演讲，专题论文 | |
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56
longitude
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| n.经线，经度 | |
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57
puerile
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| adj.幼稚的，儿童的 | |
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58
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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59
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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60
afflicting
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| 痛苦的 | |
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61
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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62
plausibility
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| n. 似有道理, 能言善辩 | |
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63
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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64
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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65
collateral
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| adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品 | |
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66
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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67
mathematician
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| n.数学家 | |
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68
tracts
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| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
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69
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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70
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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71
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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72
memorandum
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| n.备忘录，便笺 | |
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73
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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74
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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75
deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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76
incompatible
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| adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的 | |
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77
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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79
vindicating
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| v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的现在分词 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护 | |
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80
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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81
averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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82
embroil
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| vt.拖累；牵连；使复杂 | |
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embroilment
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| n.搅乱，纠纷 | |
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84
consistency
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| n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度 | |
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85
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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86
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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87
explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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88
lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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89
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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92
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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95
amend
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| vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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103
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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104
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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solicitous
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| adj.热切的，挂念的 | |
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107
procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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wardenship
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| n.warden之职权（或职务） | |
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displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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innate
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| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
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111
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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112
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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113
philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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115
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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116
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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opportunely
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| adv.恰好地，适时地 | |
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118
censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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119
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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120
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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121
irritability
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| n.易怒 | |
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122
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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123
deriving
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| v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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124
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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125
controverted
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| v.争论，反驳，否定( controvert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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126
quotations
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| n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价 | |
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127
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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128
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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129
observatory
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| n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台 | |
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130
astronomical
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| adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的 | |
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131
ascertaining
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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132
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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133
diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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134
unwillingness
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| n. 不愿意，不情愿 | |
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135
investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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136
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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137
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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138
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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139
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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140
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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141
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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142
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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143
diverged
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| 分开( diverge的过去式和过去分词 )； 偏离； 分歧； 分道扬镳 | |
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144
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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