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Several minor additions and emendations, together with the whole of f. 2v, are in Catherine Conduitt's hand and in pencil.
Since
write an account of the Roman
Empire even when it was at
the highest pitch of it's
it may perhaps be thought a
trifling & insipid tasklow & unaffecting employment
the life of a private man, spent
in speculation, & in the exercise
of those silent virtues which,
however delightfull to the possessor,
afford but little entertainment in
the description, & are not so apt
to strike a vulgar reader as the
tumultuary scenes of pomp &
action. But the mind of man
in one of our own species &
in contemplating the heigth of
knowledge
is capable of attaining as in
following a Conqueror u
field of blood & confusion; And is valued himself more for the little knowledge he had learned from Aristotle than for all his extensive victories ch
series of labour, patience,
humility, temperance, meeknessvolence
any tincture of vice, exhibits an example
beneficial, & ch
reach of the greatest part
mankind than the glory of Heroes un lessrational
in the Co
to observe the period of one
& the rise of another
& to pay a due homage & reve
rence to those Great
who freed mankind from the
bondage of Error & Ignorance.
ugo far back into look around the
past ages &
present
to find an instance of a more
exalted Genius & Virtue,
who penetrated farther into the
works of the divine Author
of Nature or laid a more solid
foundation for a lasting &
Universal Empire in Philosophy
than did the greatrNewton.
Philosopher
introduce a freedom of thinking
& to teach men not to give up
their reason implicitely to any Hypothesis
or established, came into the
world in 1642 when
spirit of Liberty was spread overwas gone forth in
had taken possession of the greatest part of this nation
& upon that day of the year chbrought the greatest of
upon mankind &without any publick institution on his account
be celebrated with the highest
devotion by the Christian
world He was baptized in Costerworth church the sry
He was born upon Christmas day
in the year 1642 near 3 months after the death of his father,
so that he is another instance of remark chch
made; that posthumous children
frequently prove
persons, & does not add less
weight to the observation than
Cæsar or Nassau That there may be no room for contention hereafter about the place of the birth of this Homer of Philosophy let me take note that
Mannor house of his family
at Wolstrope in the parish of
Costerworth in the County of
the great road from London to the
North, it lies on the West side
of the valley of the River Witham chtakes it's sourcerises
has a fine prospect Eastward, the
air is very wholesome & the
country about it beautifull. The
Mannor is of a considerable extent uIt
leet & Court Baron, & by the copies of the Rolls appears to
have been for many generations
in the family of the Newtons
who stile themselves in these rolls
Lords of the Mannour of Mortimer
in the parishes or precincts of
Wolstrope & Costerworth in the
soak of Grantham in the County of Lincoln. They came originally form Lancashire. r
branch of the family of r
Newton tt
to them both was Iohn Newton
of Westby in the parish of
Basingthorp in the County of
Lincoln whoancestors came thither from Lancashire – he
Thomas Richard & William; Iohn
the eldest who died in 1563 was r
he bought the
of Michael Newton of Kirk stoke
in the same County, & removed his
children from Westby thither where they have
William the youngest was r
& went from Westby to Gunnerby
in the same County, where he
married the widow of Richard
her first husband left his half
brother the son of a very considerable estate
William
in land, ch
of those great possessions that are
now so worthily enjoyed by
that family, & to a great part
of chr
have been heir at law if r
Iohn Newton's father had died
without children. Let no one I have
imagine that
long on this article out of a vain
& false notion that the advantage
of birth can add any glory to rbut to do
justice to the honourable family
who are of the same blood with
him, & to whose name he has
given a highest
titles & a duration ch
not depend on a frail &
precarious succession — I can never
allow any one to be base who is
not so by his actions & am far
from thinking that rbut henever
have derived from the proudesthe could never
Pedigree that true dignity & nobili
ty ch
writings & virtue
Or
He himself would never allow any
one to be base who was not so
by his actions & could not haue
derived from the proudest pedigree that tue dignity & nobility ch
of Iames Aiscough of Market Overton
in the County of Rutland & of
Margaret Blith of the family of
the Bliths of Stranson in the County
of Lincoln now extinct. The Aiscoughs
werech
in those parts one of . Her mother ch
was of the family family one antient
of Stranson in the County of Lincoln chch
also a very antient
was on both sides of very antientantient fair
but what was of much more
consequence to her son, she
was a woman of such so
that those who beleive the
& can think that a soul like r
Isaac Newton's could proceed from
any thing
Creator might be apt to ascribe
it to her — She continued a widow
several years & employed her time
in educating her son &
around her little province the
widow's mite of those Christian
offices of humanity & benevolence ch
a whole neighbourhood happy &
from such hands are equally
meritorious withan odour of sweet smell & a sacrifice chacceptable & well pleasing as
of Princes. Upon the high character she bore r Barnabas Smith
near Wolstrope & had lived un
married till he was turned of
fifty sent
proposals to her; u
reason to distrust her own strength
& prudence she would not treat
with him her self upon a concern in w but ch
referred him to her brother
Aiscough the
Cogles in Lincolnshire – Mr Smith
besides his Rectory had near
£500 mch
those days was a plentiful estate
so that Mr Aiscough soon signified
his approbation of so advantageous
her consent till Mr Smith had
previously settled upon chreadily complied with & r
enjoyed as long as he lived;This isa
strong instance of the love she r
for her son by her first husband
the reverse of ch
in widows upon such occasions.
She lost her Smith in &
lived there tillwhen
her son by Mr Smith was taken
ill at Stamford of a malignant
feaver, & she went thither to
attend him, he recovered but she out
of her great tenderness changing beds
with him caught his distemper r Smith one
son & two daughters Benjamin
Mary & Hannah – Benjamin
married
Mary was married to
Pilkington of
Hannah was married to
a younger brother of the Bartons
at Brigstock
a considerable estate there several
hundred years & who
related to the Earl of Rockingham r
& many other ble
that neighbourhood — r
half brother & sisters left
eight of chr
personal esate —– The children
by Mr Smith did not lessen the
love of ru
parent to them all & gave so
fatal a proof of it in one instance rher favourite
had much the greatest share of
her chwas very considerable & together with his paternal
inheritance enabled him not only
to follow his studies & indulge
his insatiable thirst of searching thoroughly into the the works of Nature &
upon all the varieties of matter,
but to exercise early that
disposition of charity & liberality ch
in his latter days.
Since Plutarch that
of Biography complains of those
who omitted to tell Posterity the
names of the Mothers of Nicias
Demosthenes Phormio Thrasibulus
& Theramenes & highly co
the names of the preceptor &
Nurse of Alcibiades; I flatter
my self I shall be excused for
taking this notice of her who
gave birth & education to one
about whom in after times some
perhaps may be as curious &
inquisitive as Plutarch was
about his countrymen & that
the precept & excellent
my descending on other occasions
into particulars ch
minute & trivial if they were
not
authority & such a subject –
r
often heard from his mother
that when he was born he
was so little they could haue
put him into a quart pot
& so unlikely to liue that
two women who were sent to
My Lady Packenham at
North Witham for some thing
for him sate down on a stile
by the way & said to one another
they need not make haste
for the child would certainly be
dead before they could get back
He for some time wore a bolster
his shoulders – This weak & unpromi
sing habit of body in his first
infancy he had in co
Descartes Father Paul Mr Pope
& many other superior Genij,
as if the extraordinary portion
of spirits ch
forward souls overpowered &
oppressed the
substance ch
r
schools at Killingworth & Stoke
till he was 12 years old & then
was sent to the Great school at
Grantham where he boarded
with Mr Clark an Apothecary –
The school had then about 80
scholars & was under the care of
Mr Stokes who was excellently
not only by his learning but by the a benevolent heart & so as soa porti
affection that he looked chch
his scholars as
family & took
in
that laborious r
was placed in the lowermost form of all & continued very negligent
till (as he often told me) an odd
he was the last in the lowermost
class but one the boy next
above him as they were going
to school gave him a kick in
his belly ch
great deal of pain, as soon
the boy to fight & they went out
together into the church yard, the
schoolmaster's son came to them & whilst they were fighting
one on the back & winked at the
other to encourage them both – Thô r
his antagonist he had so much
more spirit & resolution that
he beat him till he declared he
would fight no more upon ch
the Schoolmaster's son bad him
use him like a Coward & r
rub his nose against the wall
& accordingly he pulled him along
by the ears & did so
content with this bodily victory
got above him in the school & u
before he never minded his book
(as you may beleive said he by
my being the last in the form) he
from that time began to follow it study
with great application, he had
several contests with his
adversary, got his place &
lost it & then retrieved it
again till at length he not
only kept his ground over him
but continued rising till he
was the first in the school.
This is a very particular instance
of the truth of that old maxim
before wee can feel or know our
own strength
rouzed this great spirit &
Emulation that inward spring chpushes boys forward
much more violence than the
faint impulse of tame instruction
not only urged this young Athlete to give an early omen of his future triumphs by
victory in this humble scene
but was the first occasion of
his exerting & improving those
powers ch
Philosopher beyond all that had
gone before him & far out of
the reach of any competitour –
He soon made himself master of his
pen & not only wrote variety of
fine hands some samples of chmade made a good proficiency in
drawing ch
he learned as he did every thing
else by dint of his own inclination
& by of observing Nature
the wall of the chamber where
he lay not many years ago
was still full of figures of birds
beasts men & ships well designed
& several persons still remember copies pictures & some from the life
particularly the heads of King
Charles the 1st Dr Donne & his
worthy schoolmaster Mr Stokes.
His natural curiosity & inquisitive
temper put him upon observing
the composition of the medicines
& the whole business of the shop
where he liued ch
mind the first turn to Chymistry
& an early inclination to that
mistress w & chch
so convenient handmaid to him
in his other great designs –
If euer he entred into the
was with a farther view than
the meer mechanical part of
them & even when he played it was he played philosophically,
following instance of ch
often told himself – on the day
of the great storm when Oliuer
Cromwell died at ch
was entered into his sixteenth
year he jumped first with
the wind & then against it &
measuring his leap both ways
& afterwards comparing it with
his leap in a calm he by a sort of rule of three computed
the vis of the storm
but his strongest inclination was to mechanicks chrs Vincent who
was daughter in law to Mr Clark
where r
the same house with him several
years, says he was always
spent most of his time
school in making knick knacks
& models in wood of several
kinds for ch
got little saws hatchets ha
& a whole shop full of tools chthat he would often make little
tables & cupboards & other utensils
for her & her playfellows to sett
their babies & trinkets upon, nor
fellows making lanthorns for
them of crimpled paper & kites
& was very
proportions & finding out the
proper places where the strings
were to be fastened – Mrs Vincent
remembers particularly a
cart he made with 4 wheels in ch
sit & by turning a windlass or
capstern about make it carry him
wither he pleased. I find by a letter
of Abbé Conti as well as by
the Eloge of Leibnitz that he
in his latter days spent a great
deal of his time in contriving
such machines without bringing
was very diligent in observing
the shadow of the sun in the yard
of the house where he boarded
& used to drive pegs against the
walls & roof to mark the hours
& half hours by the shade ch
by degrees he made so exact
that every body knew what a
clock it was by
as it was co
cannot help observing here
that even to the time of his death
constant observations in the rooms
he cheifly used where the shade
of the sun fell, & I have often
known him both at Kensington & in S when any
one asked what a clock it was
tell immediately by looking where
the shadow of the sun touched
as exactly as he could have
done by his watch. For within
doors he made a water clock
out of an old box, it was 4
feet high & of a proportionable
breadth, it had a dial plate
at the top with figures of the
hours, the index was turned ch
or rose by the dropping of the
water, this stood always in the
room where he lay & he took
care every morning to supply
it with it's proper quantity of
water, it was left in the house
long after r
University & is still talked off
at Grantham — I find in a little
paper book ch
at school a rule for making
such a Clepsydra & the
proportions that are to be
observed *
* Gassendus takes notice in short History of Astronomy before the
life of Tycho Brahe that accord the veryit
were the measuring the motions of
the heavenly bodies by the droppings
of water & the shadow of the Sun; & &rrthose rude rudech
by the first inventors in the infan
cy of that science,
the art it self did, but soon
made a much swifter progress &
years contributed more towards
bringing it nearer perfection
than
thousands of centuries before
him
A new windmill happening to be sett
up near Grantham r
spirit was soon excited, & by frequently
prying into the fabric of it as they
about it he made such a model as was
allowed to be as clean & curious a
piece of workmanship as the original,
he would some times sett it upon the
top of the house where he lodged &
cloth it with sail cloth so that the
wind would readily take it & he
had contrived the inside in such
a manner that he could make a
mouse turn it; sometimes by tying
a string to the tail of the mouse
& pulling it the mouse would go
forward by way of resistance
in a
the Mill go, sometimes & at other
times he would put a little corn ch
turn
the corn; he called the Mouse his
Miller & would often joke upon
his eating up the corn d leaf of folio (#