34 NEW 
us with the hiftory of a great man’s fird thoughts, even in 
that view they mud be entertaining and curious. With 
the approbation of Newton, the learned Dr. Samuel Clarke 
tranflated the Optics into Latin ; and our author was fo 
well pleafed with the accuracy and elegance of his verlion, 
that he made the dodfor a prefent of five hundred pounds, 
or a hundred pounds for each of his children. This 
tranflation was publilhed at London, in 1706, quarto; 
and, our author printing a fecond edition of his book, with 
improvements, in 1718, oftavo, the fecond edition of 
Dr. Clarke’s tranflation was likewife publifhed, in 1719, 
quarto. A French tranflation of it, by Mr. Peter Code, 
was publilhed at Amflerdam, in 1720, in two volumes, 
i2ino. and reprinted at Paris in 1722. 
With the firfl edition of his Optics, the author alfo 
publilhed his “ Quadrature of Curves” by his new ana- 
lyfis; to which lie fubjoined “ An Enumeration of the 
Lines of the Third Orderboth contained under this 
title: “ Traftatus duo de Speciebus et Magnitudine Fi- 
gurarum curvilinearum.” This was the fil'd appearance 
in print of his “ Method of Fluxions.” We have already 
feen that this invention was intended for the public fo 
long beforeas the year 1672 ; but was then laid by in or¬ 
der to prevent the author from being engaged in any dif- 
pute about it. However, notwitbflanding his folicitude 
to avoid controverfy, its publication at prefent proved 
the fource of an altercation that continued many years. 
Ever lince the year 1684, Mr. Leibnitz had endeavoured 
to imprefs the world with the perfualion, that Newton 
liad borrowed this invention from his differential method. 
Of this defign ourauthor was aware,and on thataccount 
inferted his right to the invention, in the fcholium to the 
fecond lemma of the fecond book of his fil'd edition of 
the Principia, in 1687; and, as he now publilhed his 
Method,” he took occafion to acquaint the world, that 
he had difcovered it in the years 1665 and 1666. In the 
account which was given of this treatile in the Afta Eru- 
ditorum of Leipfic, this invention was afcribed to Leib¬ 
nitz, and it was intimated that Newton borrowed it from 
him. In our life of Dr. Keill, profeflbr of aflronomy at 
Oxford, we have entered into a particular account of the 
zeal and fuccefs with which that mathematician vindi¬ 
cated the honour of his illudrious countrymen. When 
referring to this difpute, Fontenelle fays, “ Sir Ifaac was 
by many years the fil'd inventor. Mr. Leibnitz, on the 
other fide, was the fird who publilhed this method of cal¬ 
culation ; and, if he took it from fir Ifaac Newton, he re- 
fembled Prometheus in the fable, who dole fire from hea¬ 
ven, that he might communicate it to men.” 
In the year 1705, queen Anne, influenced by the con- 
fidefation of Mr. Newton’s extraordinary merit, was 
pleafed to confer upon him the honour of knighthood. 
Two years afterwards, Mr. Whidon, by our author’s 
permiiTion, publilhed his algebraical lefilures, under the 
title of “ Arithmetica Univerfalis, five de Conrpofitione 
et Refolutione Arithmeticae Liber,” oftavo ; which was 
tranflated into Englilh by Mr. Raphfon. A fecond edi¬ 
tion of it, with improvements by the author, having 
been printed under the care of Mr. Machin, profelfor of 
aflronomy at Grefham College, and fecretary to the Royal 
Society, Raphfon’s tranflation was revifed and corre&ed 
by Mr. Cunn ; and an improved edition of it, illuflrated 
with notes, was publilhed by Dr. Wilder, of Trinity 
College, Dublin, in 1769,, in two volumes, oftavo. A 
Latin edition of the fame .work, with a commentary, by 
Cadilion, afterwards made its appearance at Amflerdam, 
in two volumes, quarto. Dr. Pemberton tells us that 
the author called this work, which exhibits another 
fpecimen of the extraordinary force of his genius, by 
the name of “ Unive.rfal Arithmetic,” in oppoiition to 
the injudicious title of “ Geometry,” given by Des 
Cartes to the treatife in which he Ihows how the geo¬ 
metrician may aflifl his invention by fuch kind of com¬ 
putations. In the year 1711, our author’s “ Analyiis 
per Quantitatum Series, Fluxjones, et Difl'ereritias, cum’ 
TON. 
Enumeratione Linearum tertli Ordinis,” was publilhed 
at London, in quarto, by William Jones, efq. F.R.S. 
who met with a copy of the fird of thefe pieces among 
the papers of Mr. John Collins, to whom, as we have 
already feen, it had been communicated by Dr. Barrow. 
It w'as publilhed in confequence of the difpute relating 
to the invention of fluxions; which alfo occafioned the 
printing, in 1712, by the co.nfent of fir Ifaac, of a col- 
leftion of letters by him and others in that controverfy, 
under the title of “ Commercium Epidolicum D. )o- 
hannis Collins, et aliorum,. de Analyfi promota, juliu 
Societatis Regite in Lucent editum.” 
In the year 1714, Mr. Ditton and Mr. Whidon having 
petitioned parliament for encouragement to a new me¬ 
thod by which they propofed to difcover the longitude at 
fea by fignals, the houfe of commons appointed a com¬ 
mittee to take it into confideration ; who, after applying 
to our author, and obtaining his written opinion upon the 
fubject, thought proper to rejeft the prayer of the peti¬ 
tioners. During the following year, Mr. Leibnitz, with 
the view of gaining credit to the pretenfion that the me¬ 
thod of fluxions had been borrowed from his differential 
method, attempted to baffle fir Ifnac’s mathematical Ikill 
by his famous problem of the trajectories, which he pro¬ 
pofed to the Englilh by way of challenge ; but, though it 
w'as the mod difficult propoiition which his ingenuity, 
after much dud)', was able to devile, the folution of it 
proved fcarcely more than an amufement to our author. 
The problem was received by him at four o’clock in the 
afternoon, as he was returning from the mint; and, 
though he was extremely fatigued with bufinefs, yet he 
finilhed the folution of it before he retired to bed. 
Upon the acceffion of king George I. to the Britilli 
throne, fir Ifaac was particularly noticed at court; and it 
was for the immediate fatisfa&ion of that prince, to whom 
Leibnitz was a privy-counfellor at Hanover, that he was 
prevailed upon to put the lad hand to the difpute about 
the invention of fluxions. In this court he was intro¬ 
duced to the princefs of Wales, afterwards queen Caro¬ 
line, who took great delight in literary and philofophical 
enquiries, and the converfation of men diflinguilhed by 
their talents and knowledge. With that of our author 
Ihe was always peculiarly-gratified, deriving from it that 
full fatisfa&ion in every difficulty, which Ihe had in vain 
fought for elfewhere ; and Ihe was frequently heard to 
declare publicly, that fhe “ thought herfelf happy in 
coming into the world at a junfture of time which put 
it in her power to converfe with fir Ifaac Newton.” It 
was at the folicitation of this princefs that he drew up an 
abdract of his “ Chronology;” and communicated a copy 
of it to the abbe Conti, a Venetian nobleman then in 
England, upon a promife to keep it fecret. But the 
abbe, who, when in this country, profeffed a particular 
friendfhip for fir Ifaac, while he was privately doing him 
all the injury in his power in the difpute with Leibnitz, 
was fo difhonourable, when he returned to the continent, 
as to difperfe feveral copies of it, and to procure a perfon 
to tranflate it into French, as well as to attempt a confu¬ 
tation of it. This verlion was printed at Paris, in 1-25; 
and a copy of it, without the remarks, under the title of 
“ Abrege de Chronologie de M. le Chevalier Newton, fait 
par lui-meme, et traduit fur le manufcript Anglois,” was 
lent to our author by the booklelier who printed it, under 
the pretence of aiding his confent to the publication ; 
but, though he gave a direct denial, the whole of the work 
was fent into the world in the fame year. Upon this he 
found it neceflary to enter into a defence of himfelf, which 
was inferted in the thirty-fourth volume of the Philofo¬ 
phical Tran factions, under the title of “ Remarks upon 
the Obfervations made upon a Chronological Index of 
Sir Ifaac Newton, tranflated into French by the Obfer- 
vator, and publifhed at Paris.” Of this paper, a French 
tranflation appeared at Paris, in 1726, with a letter of the 
abbe Conti in anlwer to it. In the fame year, likewife, 
fomedifiertations were publifned at Pfiris by fatherSouciet, 
3 againlt 
