III
26. I have now finished my anecdotes of Isaac Newton's boyhood. My story would be far too long were I to mention all the splendid discoveries which he made after he came to be a man.
He was the first that found out the nature of light; for, before his day, nobody could tell what the sunshine was composed of.
27. You remember, I suppose, the story of an apple's falling on his head and thus leading him to discover the force of gravitation, which keeps the heavenly bodies in their courses. When he had once got hold of this idea, he never permitted his mind to rest until he had searched out all the laws by which the planets are guided through the sky.
28. This he did as thoroughly as if he had gone up among the stars and tracked them in their orbits. The boy had found out the mechanism of a windmill; the man explained to his fellow men the mechanism of the universe.
29. While making these researches he was accustomed to spend night after night in a lofty tower, gazing at the heavenly bodies through a telescope. His mind was lifted far above the things of this world. He may be said, indeed, to have spent the greater part of his life in worlds that lie thousands and millions of miles away; for where the thoughts and the heart are, there is our true life.
There stood little Diamond, the author of all the mischief.
30. Did you never hear the story of Newton and his little dog, Diamond? One day, when he was fifty years old, and had been hard at work more than twenty years studying the theory of light, he went out of his chamber, leaving his little dog asleep before the fire.
31. On the table lay a heap of manuscript papers containing all the discoveries which Newton had made during those twenty years. When his master was gone, up rose little Diamond, jumped upon the table, and overthrew the lighted candle. The papers immediately caught fire.
32. Just as the destruction was completed, Newton opened the chamber door and perceived that the labors of twenty years were reduced to a heap of ashes. There stood little Diamond, the author of all the mischief. Almost any other man would have sentenced the dog to immediate death. But Newton patted him on the head, with his usual kindness, although grief was at his heart.
33. "O Diamond, Diamond," exclaimed he, "thou little knowest the mischief thou hast done!"
This incident affected his health and spirits for some time afterwards; but, from his conduct towards the little dog, you may judge what was the sweetness of his temper.
34. Newton lived to be a very old man, and acquired great fame. He was made a member of Parliament and was knighted by the king. But he cared little for earthly fame and honors, and felt no pride in the vastness of his knowledge. All that he had learned only made him feel how little he knew in comparison to what remained to be known.
35. "I seem to myself like a child," he observed, "playing on the sea-shore and picking up here and there a curious shell or a pretty pebble, while the boundless ocean of truth lies undiscovered before me."
36. At last, in 1727, when he was fourscore and five years old, Sir Isaac Newton died—or, rather, he ceased to live on earth. We may be permitted to believe that he is still searching out the infinite wisdom and goodness of the Creator as earnestly, and with even more success, than while his spirit animated a mortal body.
He has left a fame behind him which will be as lasting as if his name were written in letters of light formed by the stars upon the midnight sky.
I. Ĭn ġē̍ nū´ĭ ty̆: skill; inventiveness. Măn ū̍ făc´tū̍red: made. Är´c̵hĭ tĕct: a person skilled in the art of building. Mē̍ c̵hăn´ĭ cal: relating to tools and machinery. Vī´brātes: moves to and fro.
II. Phi los´o phy: the science or knowledge of things, their causes and effects. Prīed: looked closely. Hŏp´pẽr: a box through which grain passes into a mill. Con struc´tion: manner of building; arrangement. Cŏn vẽrt´ĕd: changed. De fi´cien cy: want. Quạd´rụ pĕd: an animal having four feet. Rev er en´tial: respectful; humble.
III. Grav i ta´tion: the law of nature by which all bodies are drawn towards one another. Ôr´bĭts: paths round the sun. Mĕc̵h´an ĭs̝m: Arrangement of the parts of anything. Fōur scōre: eighty.
Who is here?
It is I. It is he. It is she. It is we. It is they.
Who was here?
It was I. It was he. It was she. It was we. It was they.
Answer the following questions, using the right words:
Who is there? Who is coming? Who is reading the book? Who brought the flowers?
It is not what we earn, but what we save, that makes us rich. It is not what we eat, but what we digest, that makes us strong. It is not what we read, but what we understand, that makes us wise. It is not what we intend, but what we do, that makes us useful.