'optics' are translated from the Latin (in which language he also wrote his principia) by Dr. Samuel Clarke, to whom he gives £500 for the labour-an act of munificence the translator would not have received, very likely, from a bookseller. He has a controversy with Leibnitz about their priority in the discovery of the Calculus-which controversy modern mathematicians have settled by observing that they reached it by different methods. Leibnitz, it is unwelcome to state, acted unworthily of his own great name, in endeavouring to traduce Newton to the Princess Caroline, (daughter-in-law of George 1st., and, afterwards, wife of George 2nd.) who was a highly intellectual woman, and had a fond reverence for Newton-by insinuating that the philosophy of her favourite was Atheistical in its teachings. And yet no great man ever showed so deep a reverence for Deity. He used to uncover his head, even in the open air, whenever he mentioned the Great Name! We cannot wonder at this. Newton's idea of a Personal Deity must have been overwhelming from the magnificence of his conceptions of the Universe as the work of the Almighty Maker. Nor can we wonder at the religious turn of his studies towards the close of life. Yet the French philosophers have scoffed at his 'Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse.' If we think his great mind 'might have been better employed-let us remember of whose mind we are speaking, and comparing its colossal dimensions with our own dwarfishness, hesitate to speak of any of its employments slightingly! At any rate, the orthodox believer in contradictions cannot claim Newton for one of his own creed: he was not a Trinitarian, and, in these his latter years, boldly served the cause of rationality, misnamed 'heresy,' by his 'Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of the Scriptures'-two texts in the Epistles of John and Paul, usually quoted as strongholds of the doctrine of the Trinity.

At 80, he was seized with a tormenting bladder disorder, but by strict diet (which he had never had occasion to observe before) procured great intervals of ease. Yet, often, the sweat would pour from his face with pain, and he would sit silently struggling with it; then smile when the paroxysms were over, and talk cheerfully. He never used spectacles, and never lost but one tooth, after boyhood-such was the beneficial effect of his life of perfect chastity and temperance. On the Saturday morning before his death, he read the newspapers, and conversed with Dr. Mead, in perfect use of his senses; but, in the evening, lost his speech and understanding, and did not recover them. He died on the following Monday, March 20, 1727-in his 85th year. He was laid in state, in the Jerusalem chamber' of the palace of Westminster till the 28th of March; and the pall over his coffin, was borne to Westminster Abbey, by the Lord Chancellor, two Dukes, and three Earls. So the world's forged nobility often feel compelled to do homage to the real! Who could have prophesied this of that frail babe of the farmer's widow, which, at its birth could have been put into a quart pot'?

Young men of London, pay a visit to that venerable abbey, and read the inscription on his tomb-'Let mortals congratulate themselves that so great an ornament of the human race has existed!'-read it, and congratulate yourselves that you are of the national lineage of Newton, and that you all may imitate him in his lowly homage to Truth, and his devotion to the best interests of mankind—the increase of Knowledge. Remember, too, while you read it, how he toiled and thought, laboured and calculated-and be ashamed to be mere idlers! Treasure up, more than all, the divine example of his pure attachment to truth in conduct, as well as in science. Carry ever about with you the impression of his lofty humility. Do not be surprised at the union of

two such words-for it was Newton who replied, when praised for his great discoveries "I seem to myself to have been but like a child on the sea-shore, gathering a few pretty pebbles, while the great ocean of Truth lay before me, unexplored!" It was only a mind like Newton's that could say so much in sincerity. And what encouragement that saying ought to give us! Who knows what grand discovery in the great unexplored ocean, it may be the destiny of some of you, present at this moment, to unfold to your fellow-men. Read, think, and toil-until you also become glorious enterprizers for Humanity. Live for that glorious end, that, dying, you may have Newton's consciousness-that you have not lived in vain-not lived to be forgotten because you promoted no great Truth, or rendered the world in which you lived no lasting service!

CRITICAL EXEGESIS OF GOSPEL HISTORY,

ON THE BASIS OF STRAUSS'S 'LEBEN JESU.'

A SERIES OF EIGHT DISCOURSES; DELIVERED AT THE LITERARY INSTITUTION, JOHN STREET, TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD, AND AT THE HALL OF SCIENCE, CITY ROAD, ON SUNDAY EVENINGS, DURING THE WINTERS OF 1848-9, AND 1849-50.

John, or the author of the fourth Gospel, has also his peculiarly marvellous features, in this narrative. According to Matthew and Mark, the ship was only in the middle of the sea when Jesus reached it: according to John, it immediately after arrived at the opposite shore! According to the former, Jesus actually entered the ship, and the storm thereupon subsided: according to John, on the contrary, the disciples did indeed wish to take Jesus into the ship, but their actually doing so was rendered surperfluous by their immediate arrival at the place of disembarkation! Mark sought to aggrandise the miracle, by implying that Jesus intended to walk past his disciples across the entire sea: John by making the ship miraculously arrive, from 'the midst of the sea' to the opposite shore! But, furthermore,-Matthew and Mark make the disciples the only witnesses that Jesus was walking on the sea: John adds a multitude-the people who were assembled when Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes. These, when on the following morning they no longer find Jesus on the same spot, make the calculation, that Jesus cannot have crossed the sea by ship, for he did not get into the same boat with the disciples, and no other boat was there (ver. 22.); while, that he did not go by land, is involved in the circumstance that the people when they have forthwith crossed the sea, find him on the opposite shore (ver. 25), whither he could hardly have arrived by land in the short interval. conclude in the words of Strauss,

То

Thus in the narrative of the fourth gospel, as all natural means of passage are cut off from Jesus, there remains for him only a supernatural one, and this consequence is in fact inferred by the multitude in the astonished question which they put to Jesus, when they find him on the opposite shore: Rabbi, when camest thou hither? As this chain of evidence for the miraculous passage of Jesus depends on the rapid transportation of the multitude, the evangelist hastens to procure other boats (áλλa λolápia) for their service (v. 23). Now the multitude who take the ship (v. 22, 26) are described as the same

whom Jesus had miraculously fed, and these amounted (according to v. 10) to about 5000. If only a fifth, nay, a tenth of these passed over, there needed for this, as the author of the Probabilia has justly observed, a whole fleet of ships, especially if they were fishing boats; but even if we suppose them vessels of freight, these would not all have been bound for Capernaum, or have changed their destination for the sake of the crowd. This passage of the multitude, therefore, appears only to have been invented, on the one hand, to confirm by their evidence the walking of Jesus on the sea; on the other, as we shall presently see, to gain an opportunity for making Jesus, who according to the tradition had gone over to the opposite shore immediately after the multiplication of the loaves, speak yet further with the multitude on the subject of this miracle.

After pruning away these offshoots of the miraculous which are peculiar to the respective narratives, the main stem is still left, namely, the miracle of Jesus walking on the sea for a considerable distance, with all its attendant impossibilities as above exposed. But the solution of these accessory particulars, as it led us to discover the causes of their unhistorical origin, has facilitated the discovery of such causes for the main narrative, and has thereby rendered possible the solution of this also. We have seen, by examples already adduced, that it was usual with the heathens and early Christians, to represent the power of God over nature, a power which the human spirit when united to him was supposed to share, under the image of supremacy over the raging waves of the sea. In the narrative of the Exodus this supremacy is manifested by the sea being driven out of its place at a sign, so that a dry path is opened to the people of God in its bed; in the New Testament narrative previously considered, the sea is not removed out of its place, but only so far laid to rest that Jesus and his disciples can cross it in safety in their ship: in the anecdote before us, the sea still remains in its place as in the second, but there is this point of similarity to the first, that the passage is made on foot, not by ship, yet as a necessary consequence of the other particular, on the surface of the sea, not in its bed. Still more immediate inducements to develop in such a manner the conception of the power of the miracle-worker over the waves, may be found both in the Old Testament, and in the opinions prevalent at the time of Jesus. Among the miracles of Elisha, it is not only told that he divided the Jordan by a stroke of his inantle, so that he could go through it dry shod (2 Kings ii. 14.), but also that he caused a piece of iron which had fallen into the water to swim (2 Kings vi. 6.); an ascendency over the law of gravitation which it would be imagined the miracle-worker might be able to evince in relation to his own body also, and thus to exhibit himself, as it is said of Jehovah Job ix. 8, lxx., walking upon the sea as upon a pavement. In the time of Jesus much was told of miracle-workers who could walk on the water. Apart from conceptions exclusively Grecian, the Greco-oriental legend feigned that the hyperborean Abaris possessed an arrow, by means of which he could bear himself up in the air, and thus traverse rivers, seas, abysses, and popular superstition attributed to many wonder-workers the power of walking on water. Hence the possibility that all these elements and inducements existing, a similar legend should be formed concerning Jesus, appears incomparably stronger, than that a real event of this kind should have occurred:-and with this conclusion we may dismiss the subject.

The manifestation of Jesus at the sea of Tiberias, narrated in John (ch. 21,) has a striking resemblance to the sea anecdotes we have just considered. Part of it, we have already touched upon, in glancing at the miraculous draught of fishes. It need not delay us, since it seems merely to be a confused duplicate of these several stories, by the author, or authors, of what is evidently an appendix to the Fourth Gospel.

But one other miracle relating to the sea remains to be noticed; and it is one that commentators would fain had been omitted from the New Testament: it is the extravagant story that Jesus bid Peter go to the sea, cast an hook, and take up the first fish that came up,-giving him the assurance that when he opened its mouth he should find there a stater: piece of money' in our translation. (Matth. 17 ch. 24 ver.) This tale is too kindred in spirit to the stories of the Thousand and One Nights, to deserve serious criticism. The legend seems to have sported with the notable fact that Peter was a fisherman, and to have never been weary of creating wondrous anecdotes upon that substratum of fact,

Throughout we have not repeated the objection, during our glance at this class of miracles, that we do not know who are the real writers of the narratives; but we beg that the objection may not be forgotten.

2. Feeding the Multitude. In the narratives we have just considered, Jesus is represented as having power over inanimate nature in the narratives we are now to examine he is depictured as multiplying the productions of nature which had been wrought upon by art. All the Evangelists record one miraculous feeding of the multitude, (Matth., 14 ch. 13 v. Mark, 6 ch. 30 v. Luke, 9 ch. 10 v. John, 6 ch. 1 v.) and the first two relate a second miracle (Matth. 15 ch. 32 v, Mark, 8 ch. 1 v.). On the first occasion, 5,000 men are fed with five loaves and two small fishes; and on the second, 4,000 men with seven loaves and 'a few' fishes; on the first occasion, twelve baskets are filled with the fragments, on the second only seven baskets. In both instances, the locality is a solitary region in the vicinity of the sea of Galilee; Jesus is led to perform the miracle because the people have lingered too long with him; he manifests a wish to feed the people from his own stores, which the disciples deem impossible; the stock of food at his disposal consists of loaves and fishes; Jesus makes the people sit down, and after giving of, thanks, distributes the provisions through the medium of the disciples; they are completely satisfied, and yet a disproportionately great quantity of fragments is afterwards collected into baskets; lastly-in the one case, as in the other, Jesus, after thus feeding the multitude, crosses the sea.

Is it not strange that the events should thus so strikingly resemble each other? And how, if they had really witnessed the first miracle, could the disciples have forgotten it, and have asked on the second occasion,-"Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness as to feed so great a multitude ?" Forget the first miracle! they could not forget it; or, if that were possible, the similarity of the circumstances in which the second multitude were placed must have reminded them of the former miracle; and then, they could not have uttered that question. Surely, Christ must have selected twelve of the most stupid and thick-witted men to be found in Palestine, if his disciples acted thus. If the disciples had asked that question on the first occasion, it would have looked more natural. And if the miracle occurred twice, it would seem fair to conclude that many features in the narrative of the first were transferred to the other, and thus the two, originally unlike, became, in the course of oral tradition, more and more similar the incredulous question of the disciples, especially, having been uttered only on the first occasion, and not on the second. If the four Evangelists most unusually agree, yet, let it be noted, that they have their divergences. But first, let us ponder on the nature of the miracle. Be it observed that it is not the acceleration of a natural process--as some have described it to be, and therefore have asserted it to be within our idea of Almighty power. Listen again to Strauss:

"It would, indeed, have been an acceleration of a natural process, if in the hands of Jesus a grain of corn had borne fruit a hundred-fold, and brought it to maturity, and if he had shaken the multiplied grain out of his hands as they were filled again and again, that the people might grind, knead, and bake it, or eat it raw from the husk in the wilderness where they were; or if he had taken a living fish, suddenly called forth the eggs from its body, and converted them into full-grown fish, which then the disciples or the people might have boiled or roasted, this, we should say, would have been an acceleration of a natural process. But it is not corn that he takes into his hand, but bread; and the fish also, as they are distributed in pieces, must have been prepared in some way, perhaps, as in Luke xxiv. 42, comp. John xxi. 9, broiled or salted. Here then, on both sides, the production of nature is no longer simple and living, but dead and modified by art: so that to introduce a natural process of the above kind, Jesus must

in the first place, by this miraculous power have metamorphosed the bread into corn again, the roasted fish into raw and living ones; then instantaneously have effected the described multiplication: and lastly, have restored the whole from the natural to the artificial state. Thus the miracle would be composed, 1st, of a revivification, which would exceed in miraculousness all other instances in the gospels; 2ndly, of an extremely accelerated natural process; and 3rdly, of an artificial process, effected invisibly, and likewise extremely accelerated, since all the tedious proceedings of the miller and baker on the one hand, and of the cook on the other, must have been accomplished in a moment by the word of Jesus." (To be continued.)

REYNOLDS'S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER.

Early in May will be issued, PRICE FOUR-PENCE, the First Number of
REYNOLDS'S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER,

Conducted by GEORGE W. M. REYNOLDS, Author of The Mysteries of London," "The Mysteries of the Court of London," "Faust," "The Days of Hogarth," "The Coral Island," "The Bronze Statue," &c., &c., &c.

The political sentiments of REYNOLDS'S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER will be thoroughly democratic; while as an organ of general intelligence, it will yield to none in the copiousness of its news, the interest of its miscellaneous matter, and the variety of its information. It will therefore prove not only a staunch, fearless, and uncompromising friend of popular principles, but likewise a complete and faithful chronicle of all domestic, foreign, and colonial events of interest or value.

The assistance of some of the most eminent democratic writers of the day has been ensured; and the services of able correspondents have been retained in Dublin, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Vienna, Turin, Rome, Athens, Constantinople, New York, &c.

OBSERVE! PRICE FOUR-PENCE.

Published for the Proprietor, by JOHN DICKS, at "Reynolds's Miscellany" Office, 7, Wellington Street North, Strand.

**Orders will be received by all news-agents, and by all the venders of Mr. Reynolds's periodicals, in town and country.

WORKS OF THOMAS COOPER,

To be had of JAMES WATSON, 3, Queen's Head Passage, Paternoster Row.

s. d.

THE PURGATORY OF SUICIDES. A Prison Rhyme. In 10 Books. (To be had also in 18 numbers, at 2d each; or in 6 parts at 6d.)

3 6

WISE SAWS AND MODERN INSTANCES. A series of Tales illustrative of Lincolnshire and
Leicestershire Life. In 2 vols., neat cloth boards,.....

5 0

THE BARON'S YULE FEAST. A Christmas Rhyme. In 1 volume, sewed,.

1 6

THE MINSTREL'S SONG AND THE WOODMAN'S SONG. The Poetry and the Melody by
Thomas Cooper. Piano-forte Arrangement by S. D. Collett,..

0 6

Two Orations against taking away Human Life under any circumstances,.
Eight Letters to the Young Men of the Working Classes. (Collected from the 'Plain Speaker,')

1 0

0 6

PART 3 of "COOPER'S JOURNAL," containing 5 Numbers, in a

Wrapper, Price 51⁄2d., is now ready.

Also, Parts 1 and 2, containing 4 Numbers each, Price 41d. each.

OR

Part 1, Price 6d. (containing 6 Numbers,) is now ready, of CAPTAIN COBLER; LINCOLNSHIRE INSURRECTION:" An Historical Romance of the Reign of Henry VIII. Also, now Publishing in Weekly Numbers, at One Penny. Eight Numbers are now ready.

London: Printed by WILLIAM SHIRREFS, 190, High Holborn; and Published by JAMES WATSON, 3, Queen's Head Passage, Paternoster Row.