SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 29 



class. When he was the last in the lowermost 

 form but one, the boy next above him, as they 

 were going to school, gave Isaac a kick, which 

 occasioned severe pain. Stirred with wrath, Isaac 

 challenged the other boy to a fight. For this 

 purpose, they repaired to a neighboring church- 

 yard, where young Newton, though much the 

 smaller and weaker of the two, pounded his 

 antagonist till he was glad to come to any terms 

 of submission. 



He resolved now that this boy should no longer 

 stand above him in scholarship, and with a new 

 ambition and energy born of his insult, he soon 

 rose to the highest place in the school. It was 

 not idleness, probably, that made Newton a poor 

 scholar, but his mind was absorbed with making 

 saws, hammers, hatchets, and other tools. 



He made a windmill and placed it on the top of 

 his home, the wind putting it in motion. When 

 there was no wind, a novel expedient was resorted 

 to. A mouse, which was called "the miller," was 

 trained to turn the windmill by walking on a 

 tread wheel, with some corn just beyond his reach! 

 All through life, he was exceedingly kind to ani- 

 mals, and could never tolerate shooting or hunting 

 for sport. He objected to one of his nephews, 

 when praised in his presence, ".that he loved kill- 

 ing of birds," and this was sufficient to win his 

 disesteem. It is probable, therefore, that the 

 little mouse was kindly cared for by the young 

 experimenter. 



