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Page 78
"Emily, pray talk to me!" said he, somewhat impatiently.
Now, Emily was a remarkably silent little girl, and did not possess that
liveliness of disposition which renders some children such excellent
companions. She seldom laughed, and had not the faculty of making many
words about small matters. But the love and earnestness of her heart
taught her how to amuse poor Edward, in his darkness. She put her
knitting-work into his hands.
"You must learn how to knit," said she.
"What! without using my eyes?" cried Edward.
"I can knit with my eyes shut," replied Emily.
Then, with her own little hands, she guided Edward's fingers, while he
set about this new occupation. So awkward were his first attempts, that
any other little girl would have laughed heartily. But Emily preserved
her gravity, and showed the utmost patience in taking up the innumerable
stitches which he let down. In the course of an hour or two, his
progress was quite encouraging.
When evening came, Edward acknowledged that the day had been far less
wearisome than he anticipated. But he was glad, nevertheless, when his
father and mother, and George and Emily, all took their seats around his
chair. He put out his hand to grasp each of their hands, and smiled with
a very bright expression upon his lips.
"Now I can see you all, with my mind's eye," said he; "and now, father,
pray tell us another story."
So Mr. Temple began.
SIR ISAAC NEWTON.
BORN 1642. DIED 1727.
On Christmas-day, in the year 1642, Isaac Newton was born, at the small
village of Woolsthorpe, in England. Little did his mother think, when
she beheld her new-born babe, that he was destined to explain many
matters which had been a mystery ever since the creation of the world.
Isaac's father being dead, Mrs. Newton was married again to a
clergyman, and went to reside at North Witham. Her son was left to the
care of his good old grandmother, who was very kind to him, and sent him
to school. In his early years, Isaac did not appear to be a very bright
scholar, but was chiefly remarkable for his ingenuity in all mechanical
occupations. He had a set of little tools, and saws of various sizes,
manufactured by himself. With the aid of these, Isaac contrived to make
many curious articles, at which he worked with so much skill, that he
seemed to have been born with a saw or chisel in his hand.
The neighbors looked with vast admiration at the things which Isaac
manufactured. And his old grandmother, I suppose, was never weary of
talking about him.
"He'll make a capital workman, one of these days," she would probably
say. "No fear but what Isaac will do well in the world, and be a rich
man before he dies."
It is amusing to conjecture what were the anticipations of his
grandmother and the neighbors, about Isaac's future life. Some of them,
perhaps, fancied that he would make beautiful furniture of mahogany,
rose-wood, or polished oak, inlaid with ivory and ebony, and
magnificently gilded. And then, doubtless, all the rich people would
purchase these fine things, to adorn their drawing-rooms. Others
probably thought that little Isaac was destined to be an architect, and
would build splendid mansions for the nobility and gentry, and churches
too, with the tallest steeples that had ever been seen in England.
Some of his friends, no doubt, advised Isaac's grandmother to apprentice
him to a clockmaker; for, besides his mechanical skill, the boy seemed
to have a taste for mathematics, which would be very useful to him in
that profession. And then, in due time, Isaac would set up for himself,
and would manufacture curious clocks, like those that contain sets of
dancing figures, which issue from the dial-plate when the hour is
struck; or like those, where a ship sails across the face of the clock,
and is seen tossing up and down on the waves, as often as the pendulum
vibrates.
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