In 1664, Mr. Newton took the degree of bachelor of arts, and it appears from some of his accounts of expenses, that he bought in that year a glass prism, for the purpose of examining experimentally Descartes's doctrine of colours. There is no reason, however, for be lieving that he began so early to obtain the results which afterwards excited so much notice for he was interrupted in the midst of his researches by the appearance of the plague at Cambridge in 1665, which compelled him to quit his studies, and retire to his own property in the country. During the two years which he now spent in the country, his mind, as might naturally have been expected, was absorbed in philosophical speculations; and it was in this peaceful seclusion, that he received the first glimpse of those splendid discoveries which have elevated his name above that of all other men, and shed renown upon the country that gave him birth. When seated alone in the garden, the accidental fall of an apple fixed his thoughts on the subject of gravity. In reflecting upon this property of matter, and considering that it seemed to receive no dimunition at the tops either of the highest buildings or the loftiest mountains, he was led to conjecture that it might extend far beyond the earth and its atmosphere, and even to the orbit of the moon. Sir Isaac Newton was particularly distinguished from almost all other great men, by his humility and unpretending modesty. Instead of arrogating to himself a superiority over others, he was always found on the same level with those with whom he associated. He had no singularities either in his conduct or in his opinions. He attributed his discoveries solely to the industry and patience with which he interrogated nature; and every step which he made, either in acquiring knowledge or in advancing its boundaries, seems only to have created a new degree of humility, and to have shown him how little he really knew, and what a small portion he had discovered of what yet remained to be known. In his religious character, Sir Isaac was not less worthy of admiration. That he was a Christian, in the most extensive sense of the word, has never been doubted but by those who wished him to have been an infidel. In the latter part of his life, in particular, he devoted a great portion of his time to the study of the Scriptures. The sincerity of his piety was evinced by a life of liberality and virtue; and there is nothing more remarkable in the history of this great man than the perfect symmetry of his moral, his religious, and his philosophical character. 1 FOR THE MONITOR. INDIAN CHARACTER. IT has sometimes been asserted, that the Indian is a stranger to the finer sensibilities of our nature, and will forever stand aloof from the fascinations of civilized soeiety. This skeptical notion, any one, who will take the trouble to examine facts, may see refuted in the constant occurrences of our Western country. The story of Machiwita has often suggested itself to me while thinking of this subject, as one calculated to give both instruction and pleasure. Machiwita was a son of an Ottawa chief. He was about twenty-three years of age, and of uncommon elegance and symmetry of form. He and a number of others from the Ottawa tribe, were invited by a party of gentlemen and ladies, to take an excursion of pleasure in a steam-boat on Lake Michigan. Among the ladies was Miss B―. Her beauty caught the eye and cap tivated the heart of Machiwita. This she perceived, and in some degree reciprocated the regard. She took an elegant ring from her finger and put it on the finger of the savage. The interpreter told him it was a token of affection, for which he ought to make some acknowledgement. He turned and addressed the lady"Beautiful stranger, you have given to Machiwita a ring, which, he is told, is the emblem of love. Your beauty, like the wild rose, charms his eyes, but your kindness touches his heart; he gives his heart to you ;—it is yours forever. Machiwita is happy in this big canoe; it burns with fire from the sun,-it is drawn by the fishes of the deep, and the Spirit of Maniton guides it through the lake-but it is not this that makes him happy ;it is because you are here, and he can see you smile aud hear you speak. Machiwita would leave his mother and sisters, his wigwam and canoe, and go with you to your country towards the rising sun. He will keep the ring, which you have given him, till he goes to the land of Spirits. Nothing shall make him part with it. Yes, there is one thing. Machiwita will give you back the ring, and you give him in return what alone is more valuable.--you give him yourself." Such was the generous and affectionate heart of the Indian; though the mere pupil of nature, he exhibited a refinement and delicacy of feeling seldom attained in civilized society. Had religion with its benign and ennobling influence taken possession of his heart, what additional charms might we not have seen in his character. Without religion, indeed, no person, whatever be his rank or condition, can be an object of much admiration. He has no steady and permanent principle of action, which will give us confidence in his character. He is prepared to be duped by the wicked in this world, and to receive his portion with them in eternity. A. A COMMON OCCURRENCE MORALIZED. "As the trout in speckled pride, MIR. MONITOR, -CUNNINGHAM. THE last evening in May, I was leisurely riding in a Beautiful country town, a few miles from the metropolis. The atmosphere having recently distilled a refreshing and copious rain, was cool and exhilerating. The sun Fred in golden effulgence just sunk behind the hilts, and painted the sky with inimitable tints of varying splendour. The motion of my chaise wheels presently brought me to the margin of a small lake; or what in New-Eng land is called a pond. The breath of heaven had ceas ed to agitate its surface, which now presented an expanded natural mirror. There were reflected in softeu ed glories the grove and shrubbery of a gentle hill, which rose on the western margin. Its other borders painted upon its surface a few habitations of man, a variety of blooming fruit trees and some extent of land scape, while its centre reflected the crimson and grey tints of the evening twilight. I gazed with interest and delight. Presently a "trout in speckled pride," leaped, appeared, then disappeared; but imparted an impulse which long survived the time, and widely expanded around the place of its appearance. This impulse was first productive of small undulating circular waves. They increased in number and diameter, as they were farther removed from the point where they originated, till my eye could follow them no farther. But the impulse was not ended when I ceased to discern it. On the smooth surface of the lake, this scene was exhibited again and again before my eyes, while a serious train of reflections was rising within, in a way of moralizing this common occurrence. That impulse I viewed as a lively emblem of the moral influence which human beings are imparting around them in time. The surface of the lake represented intelligent existence as susceptible of impressions. I thought of" one sinner which des troyeth much good" as imparting a moral impulse. first communicated to relatives and acquaintances, the companions of his childhood, his youth, or his mature years. His daily intercourse with his fellow men was seen multiplying around him the smaller waves, which were affecting the moral condition of others. These, however, were but the beginnings of evil. The profane boy, learns others to take God's name in vain. These again disseminate around them the vice of cursing and swearing. The licentious youth pollutes other souls, and they in their turn spread the contagion. The sabbath-breaker and the drunkard, impart their contempt for God and their moral debasement to a small circle, and these to a larger. Still the undulations of moral evil are comparatively but small circles. Think of the irreligious, prayerless head of a family, whose lips are strangers to pious instruction, whose family knows no moral discipline.His children are brought up with no fear of God before their eyes. They receive a moral influence from him which each one of them may carry into another family and in the second and third generations it may be diffused through fifty or a hundred families. Still the evil will be expanding, and like the penumbra of a planet, become broader as it recedes from the dark body which occasions it. Look at the waves of death which originated at the interdicted tree; they have rolled over the whole earth, and swept from its surface a hundred generations. A dense mist here meets the eye of unassisted reason, which it cannot penetrate. But revelation exhibits the evil of moral influence of a sinner as extending to a future state and bearing on its widening surges accumulating woes, through the countless ages of eterpity. How much it becomes each individual of the human family capable of reflection to be deeply humbled in the dust, in view of the influence unfavourable to souls which he may have exerted. How importunately should we seek pardon for the past and grace for the future? But the thought of what an impulse grace may enable us to impart is enrapturing. The pious child, the exemplary youthful Christian will communicate to other children and youths a most salutary moral influence.These will extend it to others. The circles will be more numerous, and more broad as the influence extends further from its centre. The present age feels it. ceeding ages feel it to the end of time. The undulations enter eternity, and roll in expanding waves through its endless ages. Such have been the glorious results of the moral influence of patriarchs, prophets, apostles martyrs, reformers, and eminent puritans. Such to Suc some extent, has been the result of influence from the humblest pious soul. Such may be the honour and the felicity of all the youths and of all in maturer life who ardently desire it. Each inhabitant of these dwellings, thought I, as I entered a village of neat country houses, is each day exerting a moral influence, which like the impulse from the leaping of the finny race, is extending around in every direction. And how important that every possible exertion should be made that their influence should move all within its reach towards God, and holiness, and glory. By this time, Venus, then in the part of her orbit nearest |