NEWTON. 
persecution of the nonconformists. He 
judged of men by their manners, and the 
true schismatics, in his opinion, were the 
vicious and tlie wicked. Not that he con- 
fined his principles to natural religion, for it 
is said he was thoroughly persuaded of the 
truth of revelation ; and amidst the great va- 
riety of books which he had constantly be- 
fore him, that which he studied with the 
greatest application was the Bible, at least 
in the latter years of his life ; and he under- 
stood the nature and force of moral certainty, 
as well as he did that of a strict demonstra- 
tion. 
Sir Isaac did not neglect the opportunities 
of doing good, when the revenues of his pa- 
trimony and a profitable employment, im- 
proved by a prudent economy, put it in his 
power. We have two remarkable instances 
of his bounty and generosity ; one to Mr. 
Maclaurin, extra professor of mathematics 
at Edinburgh, to encourage whose appoint- 
ment he offered 201. a year, to that office ; 
and the other to his niece Barton, upon 
whom he settled an annuity of lOOl. per 
annum. When decency upon any occasion 
required expense and shew, he was magni- 
ficent without grudging it, and with a very 
good grace ; at all other times, that pomp 
which seems great to low minds only, was 
utterly retrenched, and the expense reserv- 
ed for better uses. 
Newton never married ; and it has been 
said, that “ perhaps he never had leisure to 
think of it ; that, being immersed in pro- 
found studies during the prime of his age, 
and afterwards engaged in an employment 
of great importance, and even quite taken 
up with the company which his merit drew 
to him, he was not sensible of any vacancy 
in life, nor the want of a companion at 
home.” These however do not appear to 
be any sufficient reasons for his never mar- 
rying, if he had had an inclination so to do. 
It is much more likely that he had a consti- 
tutional indifference to the state, and even 
to the sex in general. 
He left at his death, it seems, 32,0001. , but 
he made no will ; which, Fontenelle tells us, 
was because he thought a legacy was no 
gift. As to his works, besides what were 
published in his lifetime, there were found 
after his death, among his papers, several 
discourses upon the subjects of antiquity, 
history, divinity, chemistry, and mathema- 
tics ; several of w'hich were published at 
different times, as appears from the follow- 
ing catalogue of all his works ; where they 
are ranked in the order of time in which 
those upon the same subject were pub- 
lished. 
1. Several Papers relating to his Tele- 
scope, and his Theory of Light and Colours, 
printed in the Philosophical Transactions, 
Numbers 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 88, 96, 97, 
tlO, 121, 123, 128; or Vols. 6, 7, 8, 9, 
10 , 11 . 
2. Optics, or a Treatise of the Reflec- 
tions, Refractions, and Inflections, and the 
Colours of Light, 1704, 4to. A Latin Trans- 
lation, by Dr. Clarke, 1706, 4to. ; and a 
French Translation, by P. Caste, Amst. 
1729, 2 vols. 12mo. Besides several Eng- 
lish editions in 8vo. 
3. Optical Lectures, 1728, 8vo. ; also in 
several Letters to Mr. Oldenburg, Secre- 
tary to the Royal Society, inserted in the 
General Dictionary, under our author’s 
article. 
4. Lectiones Opticas, 1729, 4to. 
5. Naturalis PhilosophiEe Principia Ma- 
thematica, 1687, 4to. A second edition in 
1713, with a Preface by Roger Cotes. 
The third edition in 1726, under the direc- 
tion of Dr. Pemberton. An English Trans- 
lation by Motte, 1729, 2 vols. 8vo. printed 
in several editions of his works, in different 
nations, particularly an edition, with a large 
Commentary by the two learned Jesuits, 
Le Seur and Jacquier, in 4 vols. 4to. in 
1739, 1740, and 1742. 
6. A System of the World, translated 
from the Latin original, 1727, 8vo. This, 
as has been already observed, was at first 
intended to make the third book of his 
Principia. An English Translation, by 
Motte, 1729, 8vo. 
7. Several Letters to Mr. Flamsteed, 
Dr. Halley, and Mr. Oldenburg. 
8. A Paper concerning the Longitude, 
drawn up by order of the House of Com- 
mons. 
9. Abreg6 de Chronologic, &c. 1726, 
under the direction of the Abb6 Conti, 
together with some Observations upon it. 
10. Remarks upon the Observations 
made upon a Chronological Index of Sir 
I. Newton, &c. Philosophical Transactions, 
vol. 33. See also the same, vols. 34 and 
35, by Dr. Halley. 
It. The Chronology of Ancient King- 
doms amended, 6ic. 1728, 4to. 
12. Arithmetica Universalis, &c. under 
the inspection of Mr. Whiston, Cantab. 
1707, 8vo. Printed without the author’s 
consent, and even against his will, an of- 
fence which, it seems, was never forgivem 
