SEQUEL TO THE EPOCH OF NEWTON. 421 



astronomical discoveries of the last century are by no means poor, even 



in interest of this kind, the generalizations which they involve are far 



less important for our object, in consequence of being included in a 



previous generalization. Newton shines out so brightly, that all who 



follow seem faint and dim. It is not precisely the case which the poet 



describes — 



As in a theatre the eyes of men, 

 After some well-graced actor leaves the stage, 

 Are idly bent on him that enters next, 

 Thinking his prattle to be tedious : 



but our eyes are at least less intently bent on the astronomers who 

 succeeded, and we attend to their communications with less curiosity, 

 because we know the end, if not the course of their story ; Ave know 

 that their speeches have all closed with Newton's sublime declaration, 

 asserted in some new form. 



Still, however, the account of the verification and extension of any 

 great discovery is a highly important part of its history. In this in- 

 stance it is most important ; both from the weight and dignity of the 

 theory concerned, and the ingenuity and extent of the methods em- 

 ployed : and, of course, so long as the Newtonian theory still required 

 verification, the question of the truth or falsehood of such a grand sys- 

 tem of doctrines could not but excite the most intense curiosity. In 

 what I have said, I am very far from wishing to depreciate the value 

 of the achievements of modern astronomers, but it is essential to my 

 purpose to mark the subordination of narrower to wider truths — the 

 different character and import of the labors of those who come before 

 and after the promulgation of a master-truth. With this warning I 

 now proceed to my narrative. 



Sect. 2. — Reception of the Newtonian Theory in England. 



There appears to be a popular persuasion that great discoveries are 

 usually received with a prejudiced and contentious opposition, and the 

 authors of them neglected or persecuted. The reverse of this was cer- 

 tainly the case in England with regard to the discoveries of Newton. 

 As we have already seen, even before they were published, they were 

 proclaimed by Halley to be something of transcendent value ; and 

 from the moment of their appearance, they rapidly made their way 

 from one class of thinkers to another, nearly as fast as the nature of 

 men's intellectual capacity allows. Halley, Wren, and all the leading 



