Old Broad Street.
_Sir Isaac Newton and Voltaire on Railway Travelling._--Having been
forcibly impressed by a {35} paragraph in a popular periodical (_The
Leisure Hour_, No. 72.), I am desirous of learning upon what authority the
statements therein depend. As, perhaps, it may also prove interesting to
some of the readers of "N. & Q." who may not already have seen it, and in
the hope that some of your contributors may be able to throw a light upon
so curious a subject, I herewith transcribe it:
"_Sir Isaac Newton and Voltaire on Railway Travelling._--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 fulfil certain
prophecies before a certain date was terminated, namely, 1260 years,
there would be a mode of travelling 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, 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?--_Rev. J. Craig._"
The Query I would more particularly ask is (presuming the accuracy of the
assertions), What is the prophecy so wonderfully fulfilled?