SIR ISAAC NEWTON 1 



WE celebrate so frequently the heroic deeds of warriors 

 that it may be a welcome change to spend a short hour in the 

 consideration of a great man whose renown depends entirely 

 upon peaceful victories. Isaac Newton was a farmer's son, 

 who lived a quiet life of eighty-five years almost entirely unaf- 

 fected by the events of the world about him, but who left, 

 nevertheless, monuments as important as those which com- 

 memorate any victory on land or sea. He fought and con- 

 quered ignorance and error; he established new laws of 

 thought; he discovered for us new beauties in nature; and he 

 opened before our eyes the harmonies of light that are as 

 wonderful and as elevating as the harmonies of music. Un- 

 selfish and regardless of worldly gain, he succeeded in add- 

 ing untold wealth and comfort to our common store. Mathe- 

 matics, astronomy, navigation and mechanics all owe a mighty 

 debt to this quiet student; and in Westminster Abbey his 

 monument is well placed among England's hereos of thought 

 and action. 



Sir Isaac Newton's name means something to every one 

 of us; but I doubt whether the majority of this audience 

 would be able to indicate exactly his claims to fame, and you 

 may be glad to have some of them pointed out. 



He was born at Woolsthorpe, in Lincolnshire, on Decem- 

 ber 26, 1642, the year of Galileo's death. His father, Isaac, 

 he never knew, and he was brought up by his mother, Han- 

 nah Ayscough, and her brother. He was educated at Gran- 



1 There is no clue on the manuscript as to where this lecture was delivered. It 

 was evidently intended for a popular audience having little knowledge of science. 

 Marginal notes show that it was illustrated by experiments and lantern slides. 



[EDITOR.] 



