The great inventor of the solar system, was descendant of the Earl of
Orrery. He discovered the centrifugal force from watching the scenes in
the circle at Astley's. Whilst seated in his usual place in the pit one
night, he was hit on the head by an apple from the gallery, supposed to
have been aimed at Widdicombe, which led him to the discovery of the
gravity of the earth, though it destroyed that of the house. Yet this
great man was in his old age reduced to keep an eating-house near
Leicester Square, formerly called the Hotel Newton, but now better known
as Berthollini's.