LIFE
OF
SIR ISAAC NEWTON.
CHAPTER I.
The Pre-eminence of Sir Isaac Newton’s Reputation—The Interest attached to the Study of his Life and Writings—His Birth and Parentage—His early Education—Is sent to Grantham School—His early Attachment to Mechanical Pursuits—His Windmill—His Waterclock—His Self-moving Cart—His Sundials—His Preparation for the University.
The name of Sir Isaac Newton has by general consent been placed at the head of those great men who have been the ornaments of their species. However imposing be the attributes with which time has invested the sages and the heroes of antiquity, the brightness of their fame has been eclipsed by the splendour of his reputation; and neither the partiality of rival nations, nor the vanity of a presumptuous age, has ventured to dispute the ascendency of his genius. The philosopher,[1] indeed, to whom posterity will probably assign the place next to Newton, has characterized the Principia as pre-eminent above all the productions of human intellect, and has thus divested of extravagance the contemporary encomium upon its author,
Nec fas est propius mortali attingere Divos.
Halley.
So near the gods—man cannot nearer go.