morials of the Lives of the Right Reverend Father in God, Matthew Wren, D. D. Lord Bishop of Ely, Christopher Wren, D.D. Dean of Windsor; and sir Christopher Wren, knight, Surveyor. general of the Royal Buildings. With Collections of Records and Original Papers." This piece, with some alterations in the title, was published by his son Stephen in 1750, in folio. Sir Christopher's daughter Jane died in her father's life time, unmarried, at the age of twenty-six, as appears by a monument of white marble erected to her memory against one of the pillars near the south-east end of Paul's vault, in which she was also interred, almost opposite to her father. The following is a catalogue of the churches of the city of London, royal palaces, hospitals, and public edifices, built by sir Christopher Wren, during the space of fifty years, viz. from 1668 to 1718. St. Lawrence, Jewry St. Michael, Queen-hithe St. Margaret Pattens St. Mary, Abchurch St. Mary, Aldermanbury St. Mary, Somerset St. Mary-at-hill St. Nicholas, Cold-abbey St. Olave, Jewry St. Peter, Cornhill St. Swithin, Cannon-street Hampton-court (new part) St. Magnus, London br. St. Dunstan in the East St. Mary, Aldermary Greenwich hospital The theatre of Oxford The Chapel of, Emanuel-college, The Monument To these may be added the frontespiece of the Middle Temple near Fleet-street, erected in 1684. And all the renovations of Westminster-abbey, which were made by sir Christopher from 1698, till his decease in 1723, and since from designs formed by him. But besides these, several other designs of buildings were drawn by him, that were not put in execution; particularly, a design for rebuilding the palace of Whitehall, some time after the restoration; and two designs for rebuilding Whitehall, after the fire at that palace in 1697. A large collection of his draughts and designs was purchased by the members of All-Souls college, which fill several large folios, and are reposited in their library, which is adorned with a curious bust of sir Christopher, who was a fellow of that college. Sir Christopher Wren was the author of several pieces, some of which have been published in the Philosophical Transactions, and others in Parentalia, &c. and some of his productions are yet re. maining in manuscript. Authorities. Ward's Lives of the Greshham Professors. Gen. Biog. Dict. British Biography, vol. vii. 8vo. Critical View of the Public Buildings in London and Westminster, edit. 1734. 1 172 THE LIFE OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON. [A. D. 1642, to 1726.] MR. ISAAC NEWTON, the father of our great philosopher, was descended from an ancient family, which had its origin at Newton in Lancashire; but removing thence, was afterwards seated at Westby, in Lincolnshire; and about the year 1370, becoming possessed of the manor of Woolsthorpe in the same county, fixed his residence upon that demesne. Here this prodigy of philosophical and mathematical learning was born on Christmas-day, in 1642. His father dying, left him lord of that manor while he was yet a child; and a few years after, his mother engaged in a second marriage; however, being a woman of good sense, and of an ancient family herself, of the name of Ascough, she did not neglect to take a becoming care of her son's education; and at twelve years of age put him to the free-school of Grantham in the same county. It was not her design to breed him a scholar; therefore, after he had been at school some years, he was taken home, that, being deprived as he was of his father, he might get an insight into his own affairs, and be able the sooner to manage them himself. But upon trial the youth shewed so little disposition to turn his thoughts that way, and at the same time stuck so closely to his books, that his mother concluded it best to let him pursue the bent of his own inclinations. For that purpose she sent him back to Grantham; whence, at eighteen years of age, he removed to Cambridge, where he was admitted into Trinity-college, in the year 1660. The study of the mathematicks had been introduced into the university in the beginning of this century. From that period, the elements of geometry and algebra became generally one branch of a tutor's lectures to his pupils; but particularly Mr. Newton, at his admission, found Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Barrow, the most eminent mathematician of the time, fellow of his college. Mr. Lucas also dying shortly after, left by his will the appointment for founding his mathematical lecture; which was settled in 1663, and Mr. Barron chosen the first professor. Our author, therefore, by thus turning his thoughts to the mathematicks, seems to have done no more than fall-in, as well with his own particular situation, as with the general taste of that time; but then it is universally confessed, he did it with a genius that was superior to all that ever went before him. For a beginning, he took up Euclid's Elements; he run his eye over the book, and at sight was master of every preposition in it. This done, the youthful vigor of his understanding would not suffer him to stay and sit down, in order to contemplate the singular excellence in that author's elegant manner of demonstrating, whereby the whole series and connection of the truths advanced is continually kept in view up to their first principles. This neglect, however, he was sensible of in his riper age; but his ingenuity in confessing an error, which otherwise nobody could have surmised, and that too after he was grown equally full of years and honor, by setting out in another way, was in him only a slender instance of a most amiable simplicity of disposition. The truth is, when he first went to college, Des Cartes was all the vogue. This eminent mathematician and philosopher had greatly extended the bounds of algebra, in the way of expressing geometrical lines by algebraical equations, and thereby introduced a new method of treating geometry. Our author struck into this new analytical way, and presently saw to the end of the farthest advances made by Des Cartes: but having sounded the depth of that author's understanding, without feeling the extensive power of his own, he proceeded to read those pieces of Dr. Wallis which were then printed, and particularly his "Arithmetica Infinitorum." Here our author first found that matter which set his boundless invention to work; and led him by degrees to the invention of his "New Method of Infinite Series of Fluxions," which after about two years close application to the best mathematical authors then extant, he completed and made public in 1665; and the same year he took the degree of batchelor of arts. About this time he observed, that the greatest mathematical professors were busied in finding out improvements to telescopes, and he threw aside all abstracted speculations, to engage in this more useful study. Des Cartes, in his dioptrics, the best of his performances in philosophy, taking up with the commonly received opinion, that light was homogeneous; had upon this principle first discovered the laws of refraction, demonstrated, that the perfecting of telescopes depended on finding out the way of making the glasses in elliptic, parabolic or hyperbolic figures. This had set our eminent men to work, and amongst others Mr. (afterwards sir Christopher) Wren, who had just made considerable advances towards completing this so useful an invention, as it was then thought to be. Mr. Newton, therefore, whose private affairs had drawn him into Lincolnshire for a short time, no sooner got back to college, than he applied himself in the year 1666, to the grinding of optic glasses of other figures than spherical, having no distrust as yet of the homogeneous nature of light; but not hitting presently upon any thing in this attempt which succeeded to his mind, he procured a glass prism, in order to try the celebrated phænomena of colours, not long before discovered by Grimaldi. He was much pleased at first with viewing the vivid brightness of the colours produced by this experiment; but after a while, applying himself to consider them in a philosophical way, with that circumspection which was natural to him, he became immediately surprized to see them in an oblong form; which, according to the received rule of refractions, ought to have been circular : yet at first he thought the irregularity might possibly be no more than accidental; but this was a question he could not leave without further satisfaction: he therefore presently invented an infallible method of deciding it, and this produced his "New Theory of Light and Colours." However, the theory alone, unexpected and surprising as the discovery was, did not satify him; he rather considered the proper use that might be made for improving telescopes; which was his first design. To this end, having now discovered light not to be homoge neal, but an heterogeneous mixture of differently refrangible rays, |