_Newton and Milton._--Has it been observed that Sir Isaac Newton's dying
words, so often quoted,--
"I am but as a child gathering pebbles on the seashore, while the great
ocean of truth still lies undiscovered before me."
are merely an adaptation of a passage in _Paradise Regained_, book iv.:
"Deep versed in books and shallow in himself, Crude or intoxicate,
collecting toys And trifles for choice matters, worth a sponge, As
_children gathering pebbles_ on the shore."