Sir Isaac Newton and Voltaire On Railway Traveling.
SIR ISAAC NEWTON wrote a work upon the prophet Daniel, and another upon the book of Revelation, in one of which he said, that in order to fulfill certain prophecies before a certain period was terminated—namely, 1260 years—there would be a mode of traveling, of which the men of his time had no conception; nay, that the knowledge of mankind would be so increased that they would be able to travel at the rate of fifty miles an hour. Voltaire, who did not believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures, got hold of this and said: "Now look at that mighty mind of Newton's who discovered gravity, and told us such marvels for us all to admire. When he became an old man, and got into his dotage, he began to study that book called the Bible; and it seems that, in order to credit its fabulous nonsense, we must believe that the knowledge of mankind will be so increased, that we shall be able to travel at the rate of fifty miles an hour." "The poor dotard!" exclaimed the philosophic infidel Voltaire, in the self-complacency of his pity. But who is the dotard now?