SIR ISAAC NEWTON, OB. 1727, ÆT. 85.
Here lies interred Isaac Newton, knight, who, with an energy of mind almost divine, guided by the light of mathematics purely his own, first demonstrated the motions and figures of the planets, the paths of comets, and the causes of the tides; who discovered, what before his time no one had ever suspected, that the rays of light are differently refrangible, and that this is the cause of colors; and who was a diligent, penetrating, and faithful interpreter of nature, antiquity, and the sacred writings. In his philosophy, he maintained the majesty of the Supreme Being; in his manners, he expressed the simplicity of the Gospel. Let mortals congratulate themselves that the world has seen so great and excellent a man, the glory of human nature.
Pope’s inscription is as follows:—
Isaacus Newtonus:
Quem Immortalem
Testantur Tempus, Natura, Cœlum:
Mortalem
Hoc marmor fatetur.
Nature and nature’s laws lay hid in night:
God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.