Revised Memoir of Newton

MEMOIRS
OF
S^r. ISAAC
NEWTON'S
by|li|fe.
W^m Stukeley
1752.

In magnis, voluisse sat est.

being an \some/ account \of his family; &/ chiefly of the junior part of his life.

Preface

The following Memoirs of this great man by some may be accounted trivial. Imperfect they are own'd to be, & drawn up with a purpose only of assisting, toward a compleat life. The scituation I was then in, gave me no further opportunity of inquiry, than what I have here done. & by cooler minds it is thought not \wholly/ unworthy of being communicated to the publick.

whoever writes a life, never fails to give what they can learn of the partys family, education, and the junior part of it. Such is chiefly the present work. But in that \especially/ of so great a man, every reader burns with a desire of knowing somewhat of the primordia, &|the| preparation and presages of his extraordinary abilitys; \of/ the height to which he carryed; and the foundation on which he built, a new philosophy.

I succeeded so far as to gather these materials in the critical time when they were only to be had. & the candid reader will accept of this <ii> testimony of my respect to the memory of this incomparable person.

I have waited for this life to be done, as it deserves; and have not been overhasty, in printing, what was wrote 27 years ago.

there is this use in it likewise. for whilst we see how a great genius will early break out, & down, ag^t any obstacle; will show in miniature, what its ripening talents will adorn: so to a less pregnant one, such objects may be presented, & such measures taken, as will insensibly lead them to very considerable heights; when done with proper art, & judgment; by those that have the care of the education of youth. human nre like a plant must have the vital principle in its self: but it requires \watering &/ proper culture to bring it to its destin'd perfection. So a botanist that has < insertion from higher up p ii > got a rare flower or shrub, views with pleasure & attention its gradual advances in growth, and how it unfolds its beautiful foliages, & the cases of its flowers, till at length they arrive at the full blaze of their perfect state.

I have need enough of an apology, who dare to take in hand the present subject. biography is a thing wh \I have no claim to,/ and has only been well executed by the masterly pen of a Plutarch. a candid reader will make great allowances in the case; in confidence of wh I undertook it. nor shall I easily be excusd from a share of vanity, where I have so often brought my self upon the carpet. but when tis consider'd, it will be found \very/ necessary, to an intelligent reader. I think I need say no more in justification of it, than that what I say is strictly true < insertion from p ii > as far as my memory will serve me. < text from p iii resumes > & as none of my countrymen have hitherto thought fit to give this important life to the publick, I flatter my self that what I have here done, tho' it cannot do justice to the subject, yet will give us a satisfaction in many particulars worth knowing; by no means to be thrown into oblivion. & the very name of Newton is able to wipe out all faults; and indeed that was the sole incentive, that made me think of publishing it.

And in regard to him, it is judg^d by some friends of mine\especially of my native county/, a debt due to the publick, o \as well as/ to his memory. that part of these papers wh relates to his younger days, is not now otherwise to be recoverd. & tho' it must be accounted no otherwise than puerile: yet there is somewhat therein as much above the common level, as he himself was, in his more advanced years.

I have endevor'd to discharge somewhat of the debt, wh his country owes him and it is all, that in my scituation, was in my power to do. & my scituation only c^d. enable me to do the most valuable part of what is here done.

for a professed account of his works I refer the learned to |M^r. Maclaurin &| Dr. Pemberton. What I have to say on his life is divided into 3 parts. I. What I knew of him personally, whilst I resided in London, in the flourishing part of my life.

II. What I gatherd of his family & education at Grantham, after I went to live there.

III. Of his character.

a good part of what I write is from matters of my own knowledg; nor can I well seperate my self from it without writing absurdly. Nor need I be asham'd to own the little degree of friendship, he honor'd me withal. tis no mean satisfaction to me that I pass'd the most flourishing part of my life in an age, when there were a number of great men coeval with S^r Isaac newton, more than are mention'd in these memoirs, with most of whom I was well acquainted: men of great eminence & station, in all the literary societys then among us. If matters are now somewhat changed, tis owing to the natural revolutions incident to mundane affairs. men and sciences have their seasone, thir rise, thir height, and thir declension. nor is the best of things, religion excluded from this predicament. nought remains immutable but the sovereign author of the whole.

The following memoirs will be reckon'd only as telling of storys: be it so. < insertion from p iii > I have endevor'd to render them not tedious, nor too many: having suppressed some, that I might give no more than is to the purpose, to show the signs of a rising genius. & what < text from p vii resumes > what{sic} w^d have been trifling of any other persons, by \no/ means will be apply'd to S^r. Isaac Newton to him who is the subject of this discourse.

the world has now been sufficiently acquainted with Sir Isaac's great acquirements, from his writings. & as now most of those that personally knew him, are gone; I flatter my self the rest, & succeeding generations will be pleasd to know somewhat of his origin, & education, & private life: & that he himself w^d be the only one of mankind displeased, had it been done in his life time. I know that foreigners have long expected somewhat of this kind, more than has been communicated to the public, & wonderd at our remissness in doing it. I have therefore herein contributed my endevors to satisfy their eager curiosity: till some abler hands dos more adequate justice to it. & for that purpose these papers may administer some help, and they are judg'd not inconsiderable enough to be suppressd. may the reader find a pleasure in perusing, as I did in writing them.

To the right honorable
George, Earl of Macclesfield,
FRS. &c.

presuming upon that early acquaintance that has been between us; but more, on that candor so eminent in your Lordships character; I make bold to address the following paper to you. I drew it up for the entertainment of the members of the Royal Society; to which your Lordship is so conspicuous an ornament. to the Royal Society, every, even the least, account of S^r. Isaac Newton cannot fail of being acceptable.

to recount the history of such as have de <2r> {serv'd} well of mankind is always lookd upon as a commendable thing. < insertion from f 1v > & tis generally a species of writing, favorable enough to the author: tis an entertainment in reading, without the attention of study.

I shall recite: – I. What I knew of him in the earlier part of my own life.

II. What I learned of his family & the earlier part of his life.

III. What I knew of the latt{sic} part of his life.

the reader's mind is too much ingag'd, to discern the imperfections of the writer. & whilst we are paying a just debt to their memory, we throw in an incitement to others, to merit in their turn. but the illustrious personage here in some sort again presented to the publick view, of all others commands a particular regard \& veneration./

tho' my abilitys are much too inconsiderable to make any elogium on so great a name, yet I have this ample excuse in my favor, that it can need none. I only pretend to tell chiefly some private storys of his life, as they fell under my own cognizance; or what I learn'd from report of credit. but even these have dignity enough to merit a remembrance. & I cannot but account it a very particular felicity in my own life, that it was connected with some part of his: & in having the opportunity of conversing with him {illeg} on many familiar occasions.

but what I chiefly aim at in this paper, is to recount somewhat of the juvenile part of his life. for which I had a fitting opportunity offerd me by my going to live at Grantham, just before he dy'd; & just before some of the oldest people in <3r> {that} neighborhood dy'd, who were his cotemporarys; some his schoolfellows: from whom I obtain'd such relations as their memorys supply'd me with. I shall likewise add, what occurs to me of my own knowledg. < insertion from f 2v > the nre of what I propose to doe, is such as forbids me being over sollicitous about an exact method. this is not a perfect life of S^r. Isaac Newton. it is impossible that I sh^d. do it, not having the materials, nor any opportunity of obtaining them: nothing more than that little knowledg I c^d obtain, either of my self, or the informations I took, about \near/ his native place. I lived in country obscurity, for above 20 years after his death; wh was the fit season to gather all the notices of the most flourishing part of his time. after I have all this while in vain expected justice to be done to his memory, I thought what I c^d say on the great subject would not be wholly unacceptable. Some are celebrated after death, for their learning, some for their vertue, & piety, & charity, some for acquirements in arts and sciences; but he claims it, upon all these accounts.

in april 1705 S^r Isaac came to Cambridg, to offer himself a candidate to represent the University, in parliament. on the 16^th of that month Queen Ann was pleasd to visit the University, from Newmarket: whether{sic} a deputation of the heads of the Colleges had been, to invite her. I was then student in C. C. College, in what we call there junior Sophs year, being the 3^d after admission. the whole University lined both sides of the way, from Emanuel college, where the Queen enter'd the town, to the public schools. her Majesty dined at Trinity college; where she knighted S^r. Isaac. & afterward, went to evening service at king's college chapel; which I always lookd upon, as the most magnificent building in the world. the provost made a speech to her Majesty, & presented her with a bible richly ornamented. Then she returned, amid the repeated acclamations of the scholars & townsmen.

It was talked among us, that one purpose of the Queens, was to recommend S^r. Isaac Newton to the choice of the University: < insertion from f 3v > by her powerful presence, < text from f 4r resumes > & chiefly projected by the Earl of Hallifax, minded, that great man sh^d receive from, & give honor to the world, in a more public life.

We had then in our college, under the instruction of D^r Rob^t Dannye, (who dy'd in the month of March 1730, rector of Spofforth in Yorkshire) gone thro' an excellent course of lectures in mathematics, & philosophy, particularly the Newtonian. & I own, upon this Royal Visit, my curiosity was mostly excited, & delighted, in the beholding S^r. Isaac; who remain'd some time with us. & no joy c^d equal that wh I took, in seeing the great man, of whom we had imbibed so high an idea, from being conversant in his works. We < insertion from f 3v > always took care on Sundays to place our selves before him, as he sat with heads of the colleges; we < text from f 4r resumes > gaz'd on him, never enough satisfy'd, as on somewhat divine. the University was well sensible of the proposed honor, & readily chose him thir representative; who was thir greatest boast & ornament.

Then was the glory of Brittain at its acme, & the glory of a Brittish parliament, & the glory of a wise, & able ministry, wh inabled the great <5r> Duke of Marlborough, to carry the glory of the Brittish arms & councils, to the highest pitch. then were the two nations united into one great Brittain. At the same time, learning was equally incourag'd, & flourishd: and Religion then kept pace with it. witness the Act of Parliament for founding and endowing 50 new churches in the city of London: & the seasonable gift of this pious queen, for the augmentation of the small Livings of the parochial clergy.

Such was then the felicity of Brittain. But as afterwards, Religion, by being divided into many streams, has weaken'd its power & influence upon the morals of the people: we feel that deluge of impiety wh now oreflows us, altogether unknown to former ages; wh threatens a solution of the bands of Society, & government. that the state of our public affairs has ever since been upon the decline, is but the natural consequence.

this was the most flourishing age of Brittain, when we had this extraordinary man among us, in the most flourishing part of his life. S^r Isaac was at this time, about 63 years of age current; & had now for above 20 years been known, & celebrated for the greatest genius of human nature. by the Earl of Halifax his means, he had been <6r> drawn forth into light before, as to his person, from his belov'd privacy in the walls of a college. where at 40 years of age he published his Principia, that prodigious and immortal work. < insertion from f 5v > & this year, as it was the grand climacteric of his life: so it was that crisis to him, & to the world reciprocal; that he might receive the publick honors & lucrative reward, due to his consummate merit, for the remainder of his days. < text from f 6r resumes > & now all the great men in Europe had the opportunity, by making a voyage to England, of satisfying thir eager curiosity in seeing him preside in, & adorn, the Royal Society; whose glory too was then at the highest.

On the 20 March 1717-8 whilst I practised physick in London, I was admitted a fellow by S^r. Isaac, at the recommendation of D^r. Mead, \the p^rceding nov^r/

being S^r. Isaac's countryman of Lincolnsh^r < insertion from f 5v > & pretty constant in attendance at the weekly meetings of the Royal Society < text from f 6r resumes > , from that time, I was well receiv'd by him, & enjoyd a good deal of his familiarity, & friendship: < insertion from f 5v > I often visited him, sometime with D^r. Mead, D^r. Halley, or D^r. Brook Taylor, \Mr W. Jones/ or Mr Folkes & others. sometime alone; and we discoursd upon divers curious matters, as well as on country news: I being acquainted with many of his fri^ds & relations there: & my bro^r being at that time apprentice to his old intimate fr^d & school fellow, Mr Chrichloe of Grantham. < text from f 6r resumes > being generally of the Council of the Royal Society. & upon the casual absence of a secretary, I was sometime order'd by him, to take his seat, for that sitting. Several times, I was proposd by him, & elected an auditor of the yearly accounts of the Society, when \at the same time/ we din'd with him, at his house by Leicester fields.

in the year 1720 S^r Isaac's picture was painted by S^r Godfry Kneller to be sent to Abb Bignon in France; who sent his picture to Sir Isaac. Both <7r> Sir Isaac & S^r Godfry desired me to be present at all the sittings. it was no little entertainment to me, to hear all the discourse that passd between these two great \first of/ men < insertion from f 6v > in their way < text from f 7r resumes > . tho' it was S^r Isaac's temper to say little, yet it was one of S^r Godfrys arts to keep up a perpetual discourse, to preserve the lines, & spirit of a face. I was delighted to observe, S^r Godfry, who was not famous for sentiments of religion, sifting S^r Isaac, to find out his notions on that head; who answerd him, with his usual modesty, & caution.

in August that year, S^r Isaac went to Oxford, in company of Dr John Kiel; he having not been there before.

the same year 1720 the South Sea year, I was in the Council of the Royal Society: wh by subscribing, lost 600. S^r Isaac very readily offerd to add to his large donations before made, in the most general|{teel}| manner, < insertion from f 6v > in order to repair the loss < text from f 7r resumes > but the Society would not permit it.

S^r Isaac was of a generous disposition, & particularly fond of his native country of Lincolnshire. & loved to frequent their annual feasts; & contribute to any of their charitable schemes he{sic} < insertion from f 6v > usual at such meetings.

20 feb. 1720-1 a Lincolnshire feast was held at the Ship tavern, Temple bar. when I went into <8r> the dining room above stairs, where the better sort of company was; it was talkd, that there was an old gentleman belowstairs whom they fancied to be S^r Isaac Newton. I instantly went down, & finding it to be so, sat down with him. they above sent to desire us to walk up into the chief room. I answerd, the chief room was where Sir Isaac Newton sat. upon which the upper room was immediately left to the ordinary company, and the better sort came to us.

S^r Isaac enjoy'd himself extremely in this society of his countrymen; & talkd much, & pleasantly. particularly I remember one part of the conversation turn'd upon musick, of which S^r Isaac was fond; & of the opera's then beginning to be in vogue among us. it was no wonder, his soul should be delighted with harmony. S^r Isaac said they were very fine entertainments; but that "there was too much of a good thing; it was like a surfiet at dinner. I went to the last opera," says he, "The first act gave me the greatest pleasure. The second quite tired me: at the third I ran away." He left 5 guineas, & he desired the gentlemen /stewards\ to call upon him for <9r> every subscription relating to his countrymen & gave them handsomely at that time.

about this time < insertion from f 8v > upon the request of my fri^d M^r Maurice Johnson, < text from f 9r resumes > he readily enterd himself a member of the literary society at Spalding, wh still subsists. he made them a present of books: desirous of incouraging every laudable attempt to promote learning, in any branch.

he carryed me with him in his chariot to see the coinage at the Mint, in the Tower: their method of weighing to an extreme nicety, & the rest of thir operations.

23 feb. 1721, I breakfasted with him in company of D^r. Halley. S^r Isaac among other discourse, mentiond the poverty of the materials he had, for making his theory of the moon's motion. he said M^r Flamsted would not communicate his observations to him. so that what he did, was from 3 or 4 observations only of Mr Flamsteds, for which he owed him no thanks; as not design'd for him. but he said, now he could finish that theory, if he w^d set about it; but he rather chose to leave it for others.

S^r Isaac at that time, show'd us the famous Hugenian glass of 170 foot radius; which he had lately bought, from Italy. afterward he presented <10r> it to the Royal Society. he complain'd of the custom house officers who made him pay 20 for the duty, too honestly declaring the value < insertion from f 9v > \or price he paid for it/. Others would have paid only the simple value of the glass. < text from f 10r resumes > he bought soon after the great maypole in the Strand, & had it carryed, & set up at Wansted; for D^r Pound, to make astronomical observations.

about this time I was publishing my Itinerarium Curiosum. I had been a course of travels, from 13 august 1721 with M^r Roger Gale, thro' Berkshire Wiltshire, Glocestershire, Worcestersh^ire. Herefordsh^ire. Staffordsh^ire., Derbysh^ire., Nottinghamsh^ire., returning home on 13 october I visited Wulsthorp, wh parishes to Colsterworth, 6 mile on this side Grantham, in the great road leading from London into the north. I had the curiosity to visit the place where S^r. Isaac was born. Wulsthorp is a little Mannor & farm which was S^r. Isaac's, & his ancestors. it stands in a pleasant little hollow, or convallis on the west side of the valley of the river Witham, wh rises near there: one spring thereof in this hamlet of Wulsthorp. it has a good prospect eastward, & sees the Roman road, the Hermen Street going over the fields, to the east of Colsterworth. there cannot be a finer country than this.

the house is a pretty good one, built of white stone, wh abounds all over this country. they carryed me up stairs, & show'd me S^r. Isaac's study, in wh he used to sit, when he came home from Cambridg, to see his mother. the shelves were of his own making, being pieces of deal boxes. There were some years ago 2 or 300 books in it chiefly of divinity, & old editions of the fathers the library of his father in law, M^r Smith, rector of North Witham. these books S^r. Isaac gave to his relation Dr. Newton of Grantham. & he < insertion from f 10v > D^r. Newton < text from f 11r resumes > gave some of them to me, when I went to live there.

I took a drawing of the place, & of Colsterworth church: & on my return to London, etchd that of Colsterworth church my self. I carryd a print of it to S^r. Isaac, with which he was highly pleasd, and at the same time gave me a book of the new edition of his admirable treatise on opticks: & read over to me, that passage additional which he had inserted.

in november 1721 I was induced by Sir Hans Sloan, Lord Pembroke, Mr Roger Gale, Lord Paisley, Percivale, and very many more of the principal members of the Royal Society, to <12r> offer my self for Secretary in the room of Dr Halley, who resigned. Some persons influenced Sir Isaac against his inclination, to take to the opposite party, and I lost it by a very small majority. Sir Isaac show'd a coolness toward me for 2 or 3 years, but as I did not alter in my carriage and respect toward him, after that, he began to be friendly to me again.

in nov^r. 1725 I was again auditor of the accounts of the Royal Society. we din'd with S^r. Isaac. & after dinner we desired him to recommend the Council to be elected on S. Andrews day approaching; wh he did. I have now, the paper of his own hand writing, & that without spectacles, being the names of the Council for the ensuing year: among wh he put down mine. he wrote in a fair, small hand.

in christmas 1725. upon a visit I made him, we had some discourse about Solomons temple; a matter wh I had studyed with attention, & made very many drawings about it, wh I had communicated to my Lord Thomas, earl of pembroke, to M^r. Martin Folkes, & some more of my friends. I found, S^r. Isaac had made some drawings of it, & <13r> had consider'd the thing: indeed he had studyed every thing. We did not enter into any very particular detail about it. but we both agreed in this, that the architecture was not like any designs, or descriptions yet publick. no authors have an adequate notion of antient, & original architecture. S^r. Isaac rightly judged, that it was older than any other of the great temples mentioned in history; & was indeed the original model wh they followed. he added, that Sesostris in Rehoboams time, took the workmen, from Jerusalem, who who{sic} built his Egyptian temples, in imitation of it; one in every Nomos. & that from thence the greeks borrow'd thir architecture; as they had a good deal of thir religious rites, thir sculpture, & other arts.

S^r. Isaac thought, the Greeks, according to thir usual ingenuity, improv'd architecture into a higher delicacy; as they did sculpture and all other arts. I confirmed his sentiments by adding, that I could demonstrate (as I apprehended) that the architecture of Solomons temple was what we now call Doric. then, says he, the greeks advanced it into the Ionic, & the Corinthian, as the Latins into the composite.

this winter I had a severe fitt of the gout, as I <14r> generally had every year, by hereditary right. I found, they grew upon me worse & worse every year. & this among other considerations, determined me to leave the Town.

on 15 April 1726 I paid a visit to S^r. Isaac, at his lodgings in Orbels buildings, Kensington: din'd with him, & spent the whole day with him, alone. I acquainted him with my intentions of retiring into the country; & had pitchd on Grantham. I had a brother there in business, who had a family. he had been apprentice to M^r Chrichloe apothecary there, a great acquaintance, & schoolfellow of S^r. Isaacs.

S^r. Isaac expressed an approbation of my purpose: & especially for Grantham, wh is near the place of his nativity: & where he went to the grammar school. he said, he had frequently thought of spending the last of his days, in that very place: and charg'd me, that if that house to the east of the ch, c^d now be purchasd at any reasonable price, that I sh^d do it immediately in his name, & he w^d answer the demand. that house had belong'd to the family of the Skipwith's. he said his old acquaintance M^rs Vincent lived <15r> there & a few more, whom he knew.

after dinner, the weather being warm, we went into the garden, & drank thea under the shade of some appletrees, only he, & myself. amidst other discourse, he told me, he was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation came into his mind. "why sh^d that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground," thought he to him self: occasion'd by the fall of an apple, as he sat in a comtemplative mood: "why sh^d it not go sideways, or upwards? but constantly to the earths centre? assuredly, the reason is, that the earth draws it. there must be a drawing power in matter. & the sum of the drawing power in the matter of the earth must be in the earths center, not in any side of the earth. therefore dos this earth|apple| fall perpendicularly, or toward the center. if matter thus draws matter; it must be in proportion of its quantity. therefore the apple draws the earth, as well as the earth draws the apple."

That there is a power like that we here call gravity wh extends its self thro' the universe < text from f 15r resumes > & thus by degrees, he began to apply this property of gravitation to the motion of the earth, & of the heavenly bodys: to consider thir distances, their magnitudes, thir periodical revolutions: to find out, that this property, conjointly <16r> with a progressive motion impressed on them in the beginning, perfectly solv'd thir circular courses; kept the planets from falling upon one another, or dropping all together into one center. & thus he unfolded the Universe. this was the birth of those amazing discoverys, whereby he built philosophy on a solid foundation, to the astonishm^t. of all Europe.

at another time, when I visited him, we had some discourse about the first plantation of these western parts of the world, especially our island, from Phœnicia. I had the satisfaction to find, that I had fallen into the same sentiments, with him, and indeed I could not but observe with surprize that he was master of every part of curious learning: & in each branch, equal to those that had studyd it alone. whence one w^d. be apt to draw this conclusion; that a man must be well skilld in most parts of learning, who w^d. excell even in one.

13 May 1726 S^r. Isaac appointed according to custom, < insertion from f 15v > & direction of the Government, < text from f 16r resumes > a Committee of the Royal Society to visit D^r. Halley, astronomer Royal, at the observatory Greenwich: M^r Martin Folkes, D^r. Brook Taylor, my self, M^r. Machen, M^r Graham. we were to examin into the