2nd g. No 65., Jan. 17. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



41 



lONDOlf, SATURDAY, JANUARY 17. 1857. 



fiatti, 

 Newton's nephew, the rev. b. smIia. 



In Nichols's illustrations (vol. iv. pp. 1 — 6l.) 

 are a number of miscellanies relating to Newton, 

 all Or hiost of which are to be found elsewhere, 

 but which, nevertheless, are worthy of being cited 

 by biographers as a convenient collection. They 

 contain Conduitt's memoranda on the life and 

 funeral, the extracts from the journal books of 

 the Royal Society, Stukeley's reminiscences, and 

 Whitaker's (of which more presently), the pedi- 

 grees of Newton, Stnith, Conduitt, and Walpole, 

 epitaphs of various persons, and a few letters of 

 Newton (mostly Well known) to Aston, Olden- 

 burg, Collins, Aubrey, Flamstead, Bentley, Fatio, 

 Sloane, Percival, Mason. At p. 67. is an anony- 

 mous letter to Halley, of which the curious may 

 decide whether or no Hooke had any hand in it. 



I have befote me six volumes of the Illustrations, 

 the last in 1831 (posthumous). There is no In- 

 dex ; and I hardly know whether I have got all 

 the volumes. The Anecdotes have a most excel- 

 lent pair of Indexes ; one to the first six volumes, 

 one to the eighth and ninth. But this pair of 

 Indexes makes the seventh volume : and any one 

 who will note this fact in the title-pjlge of ths 

 first volume will very much augment the value of 

 the copy. 



In Dr. Whitaker's History of Craven (2nd ed. 

 1812, p. 462.) is some account of Nekton's half- 

 nephew, Benjamin Smith, rector of Linton in 

 Craven from 1733 to 1776, the year of his death. 

 They were communicated by the Rev. W. Sheep- 

 shanks, Prebendary of Carlisle. The pai-t delating 

 to Newton is worth extracting entire : 



"lie [Benjamin Smith] was born at or near Stamford, 

 about the year 1700. When about eighteen years old, his 

 uncle sent for him, and at his house he chiefly resided till 

 the death of Sir Isaac in 1727. 



" In many conversations with him I [Rev. W. S.] 

 could not learn much more than was known already with 

 respect to Sir Isaac's habits, companj', &c. : but he gene- 

 rally confirmed what had been told by others. He said 

 that his uncle, when advanced in years, was rather cor- 

 pulent, but not so much so as to diminish his activit)*; 

 that he was in general silent and reserved ; but when 

 he gaVe his opinion on subjects of literature^ it was pe- 

 remptory and decisive. He confirmed the account tliat 

 the Princess of Wales, afterwards Quefen Caroline, when 

 Sir Isaac, from his age and infirmities, could not wait 

 upon her, frequently visited him : that Dr. Samuel Clarke, 

 whom he called his ciiaplain, dined at his table very often ; 

 and that of all his uncle's intimate friends he should say 

 he (Sir Isaac) had the greatest respect for Dr. Clarke. 

 Mr. Smith himself always mentioned Dr. Clarke's mild, 

 accommodating manners and lively conversation, and 

 particularly his condescending attentions to himselfi with 

 much respect and gratitude. 



" He said that Dr. Bentley was, when in town, fre- 

 quently at Sir Isaac's table j and that his behaviour was 



singularly haughty and inattentive to every one but New- 

 ton himself; that he had heard his uncle mention Koger 

 Cotes with much regret, and Dr. Halley with disappro- 

 bation, on account of his infidelity and licentious conduct. 



" Voltaire, in a small treatise on the character of New- 

 ton, ascribes his promotion in the Mint to an improper 

 attachment of Lord Halifax to Mrs. Conduitt. In order 

 to investigate this point, I asked Mr. Smith what was the 

 age of his cousin, Miss Smith [Barton], afterwards Mrs. 

 Conduitt. He answered she was born in the same year 

 with himself. He always declined to tell his age ; but 

 allowed ine to conclude that he was born within two or 

 three years of 1700 ; and, upon being told of Voltaire's 

 calumny, said that when his uncle was made Warden of 

 the Mint bv King William, Mrs. Conduitt was not born ; 

 and when he succeeded to the office of Master^ she ivas 

 only a chikL 



"Among Mr. Smith's papers were several letters from 

 Sir Isaac Newton. In these he addressed his nephew by 

 the familiar name of Ben, and pressed him to ciioose a 

 profession. There was some vulgar phraseology in them 

 which induced me to burn thein when I arranged his 

 papers after his death." 



This Rev. B. Smith probably exaggerated the 

 amount of his personal intercourse with his uncle. 

 He gives his friend nothing but what he might 

 have learnt from books, except a false account of 

 his cousin Miss Smith. Looking at his other mis- 

 take, it is by no means safe to charge this mis- 

 nomer on Mr, Sheepshanks. It is hardly credible 

 that a boy of eighteen should have taken a mar- 

 ried woman of thirtypeight to have been of his own 

 agej and should have preserved that impression 

 through nearly nine years of familiar acquaintance. 

 Nor is it easy to see how Newton should, by letter 

 after letter, be pressing to choose a profession 

 a nephew wh© " chiefly resided " with himself. 

 Looking at the character which Smith bore, it 

 may be surmised that a dinner or two was the 

 greatest amount of intercourse which he had with 

 his uncle : and it may be suspected that thd "vul- 

 gar phraseology" of Newton's letters amounted to 

 nothing but such reference to his nephew's haunts 

 and practices as a strong remonstrance required. 

 This Smith appears to have over-exaggerated his 

 own acquaintance with Lord Hardwicke : and he 

 appears also to have informed Mr. Sheepshanks that 

 Newton had left him landed property, which was 

 certainly hot the case. His friend the prebendilry 

 says, " In no part of his life, so far as I know, had 

 his conduct been so regular as that a patron who 

 was acquainted with it, could find any satisfaction 

 in promoting him." But there is stronger evi- 

 dence than this. 



In February, 1732-33, Wdrburton (afterwards 

 Bishop) wrote to Dr. Stukeley a strong reproof 



for having given a title for orders to — ^ . 



{Illustrations, vol. ii. p. 20.) Nichols has sup- 

 pressed the name : but aftei-wards (Joe. cit.), for- 

 getting the suppression, he refers back to this 

 letter as relating to Smith. And some confirm- 

 ation is derived from Warburton going on to 

 speak of Newton's work on Daniel, which Smith 



