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DUBLIN UNIVERSITY PRESS SERIES.

LIFE

SIR WILLIAM ROWAN HAMILTON

Knt., LL,D., D. C.L., M.R.I. A.,

ANDREWS PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN
AND ROYAL ASTRONOMER OF IRELAND, ETC. ETC. :

INCLUDING

SELECTIONS FEOM HIS POEMS, CORRESPONDENCE,
AND MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS.

EGBERT PERCEVAL GRAVES M.A.

SUB-DEAN OF THE CHAPEL ROYAL, DUBLIN,
AND FORMERLY CURATE IN CHARGE OF WINDERMERE.

VGL. I.

DUBLIN: HODGES, FIGGIS, & CO., GRAFTON-STREET.
LONDON: L0NGMAN;S, GREEN, & CO., PATERNOSTER-ROW.

1882.

DUBLIN:
PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

PREFACE.

rriHE fact that Sir William Rowan Hamilton is universally
acknowledged to have been one of the greatest mathemati-
cians of his time is not sufficient to account for the publication of
an extended memoir of his life. On the contrary, it might naturally
be supposed that a series of achievements in the higher mathema-
tics, requiring vast and continuous labour, necessarily implied a life
of almost undiversified seclusion, and a mind remarkable but for
one talent; and that hence a biographer would find little to record
which could interest the general reader. But it is known that
Sir W. E). Hamilton's intellect was endowed with many other
faculties which claimed admiration as well as his mathematical
power ; and there attaches to his individuality the special ground
of interest that his faculties were developed at an unusually early
age, and that of this early development there exist authentic
evidences, which, in connexion with the fact that the man did
not contradict the promise of the boy, cannot but possess a
certain psychological value. In confirmation of the first of these
assertions mc^y be cited the judgment of the brilliant and learned
Professor Sedgwick, who, referring publicly to Professor Hamilton
at the first Cambridge Meeting of the British Association in 1833,
spoke of him as ' a man who possessed within himself powers and

Iv Preface.

talents perhaps never before combined within one philosophical
character ' : and the third and fourth chapters of the present
memoir exhibit proofs of early manifestations of intellect, which
have been given with a detail justified, it is hoped, by their
unquestionable trustworthiness, and by the importance which
belongs to them when considered in the connexion above indi-
cated.

The public has some right to inquire why one who has to
confess himself to be no mathematician should have undertaken
the present work. To such an inquiry I may reply as follows :
that although unconnected with Sir W. R. Hamilton by any tie of
kindred, I became his friend in the youth of both of us, and that
our friendship continued unbroken till the day of his death ; that
when he was applied to by the editor of the Dublin University
Magazine, in 1841, to name a friend who should be requested to
supply to that Magazine a biographical sketch for insertion in its
Portrait Gallery of distinguished Irishmen, he did me the honour
of designating me, and furnished me with the necessary facts;
that he afterwards sought my consent to his nomination of me in
his will as his literary executor — a nomination, however, which he
told me afterwards he had thought right to withhold when he
found that the remainder of my life would probably be spent in
England, and that I should therefore be unable to fulfil the duties
of the trust without undue inconvenience ; lastly, that after his
death I was asked by his sons to undertake the task, and was at
the same time informed by several of the most influential of his
friends that this selection met their approval, and that they were
willing to trust to my judgment the correspondence over which
they had control. The consideration of these circumstances over-

Preface. v

came a very sincere distrust of my powers adequately to execute
so arduous an undertaking ; for I was aware that other deficiencies
besides a want of mathematical knowledge were among my disqual-
ifications; but I could point to no one who combined the requisite
amount of personal knowledge with the appropriate scientific at-
tainments and freedom from incompatible engagements ; and I
gave a reluctant consent, wishing that the memory of my friend
had been more fortunate, but at the same time conscious that by
me would be devoted to it the warmth of honest affection and ad-
miration, and the desire to be just and truthful.

The reader will now be prepared for the fact that, in recording
the successive mathematical discoveries of Sir W. R. Hamilton, I
shall not attempt accurately to appreciate their importance, or
to give them their exact place in connexion with precedent or
subsequent discovery. It is beyond my ability to give to the
inquirer concerning the works of Hamilton that aid of collateral
information and skilled judgment which Mr. Todhunter has
supplied to the readers of his scientific memoir of Dr. Whewell,
but I have taken pains to secure that the mathematical statements
in the following work shall be correct ; they are generally given
in the ipsissima verba of Hamilton himself, and, where in doubt, I
have consulted friends, of competent authority.

With regard to that part of the work which is not scientific,

and which constitutes its larger portion, I may say that while I

have not held back the expression of my feelings towards my

friend and my opinion of his powers, it has been my endeavour to

refrain from exaggeration, and as much as possible to allow his

own words, and the letters of his distinguished contemporaries,

who were his correspondents, to convey to the reader what the

b 2

vi Preface.

whole man was, both in himself and in the impression he pro-
duced upon others.

The following memoir will contain proofs that religious humi-
lity was a fundamental part of Hamilton's character ; yet the
papers he has left show by many indications his consciousness
that he was a great man, and that, as a natural consequence,
interest w^ould in future times be felt not only in the salient events
of his career, but in the vicissitudes of his inner life. In this fact
lies the biographer's warrant for tracing with fidelity the history
of his affections — a history the record of which is remarkably full,
and which he himself, as a poet, largely imparted to the public in
sonnets and other pieces which are perhaps the most striking of
his poetical productions. Of these compositions it has been thought
advisable to interweave the greater number in the narrative of his
life ; while some, of too great length to be so used, but yet too in-
teresting to be altogether suppressed, have been preserved in an
appendix.

I had hoped that the work, of which the first volume now
appears, would have been sooner ready for publication, but the
labour of sifting an immense mass of papers has been far greater
than was anticipated : it has occupied a long time, and it has
been much interrupted by illness and by other engagements.
Hamilton preserved papers of all kinds, whether of value or
not, and left them behind him in a state of utter confusion. It
may be added that he had the habit of putting on record very
minute circumstances. Thus, not only did he preserve in the
form of draft or copy a large proportion of the letters and
many even of the notes written by him, whether important or
ununportant, but he often recorded also the hour at which they

Preface. vii

were despatched, and the person to whom they were entrusted for
the post. One would think from his manuscript-books that he
lived with the pen always in his hand. This regard paid by him
habitually to small things, as well as great, may probably have
had an injurious effect upon his biographer; certainly it has
enormously increased the labour of selection.

It remains for me to make acknowledgments of favours most
gratefully received.

These are due in the first place to the sons of Sir W. R.
Hamilton, Mr. William Edwin Hamilton, B.A., C.E., and the
Rev. Archibald Henry Hamilton, B.A. ; to his daughter, who
became after his death for a short year the happy wife of the
Ven. John 0' Regan, Archdeacon of Kildare, and to her husband;
for the confidence they have reposed in me, and the valuable in-
formation they have communicated. From his only surviving
sister, Sydney Margaret Hamilton, now living in New Zealand,
I have received assistance cordially rendered, and of most material
worth.

To the representatives of Mr. Wordsworth, whose paternal
friendship for Sir W. R. Hamilton has been already made known
to the public ; to the late Earl of Dunraven, his attached and
beloved pupil ; to Sir John F. W. Herschel, his brother in
science, in literary tastes, and in affection ; to his early friends
the Rev. T. Romney Robinson, D.D., of the Observatory,
Armagh, and the Rev. Humphrey Lloyd, D.D., Provost of
Trinity College, Dublin (one whose name will always be joined
with his in connexion with the discovery of Conical Refraction) ;
to Mr. Aubrey He Vere, his spirit-companion in affection, in
poetry, and in philosophy ; to his later correspondents Professor

viii Preface.

Augustus De Morgan, Professor Peter G-uthrie Tait, Professors
Nicliol, father and son, and Dr. C. M. Ingleby ; to the Marquess
of Northampton and to Sir John Lubbock, Bart, (who have sent
me letters addressed to their respective fathers) ; and to others,
whom I must leave imnamed, I have to express my deep obliga-
tion for valuable documents confided to me, and other assistance
afforded.

Another kindness which I have received must not here be
omitted. My friend Dr. Ingram, Fellow of Trinity College,
Dublin, having ascertained that I had undertaken the biography
of Hamilton on my own responsibility, and unassisted in the
labour which it involved, without suggestion on my part brought
this fact before the Board of Trinity College, and the result of
their consideration of it was the appropriation of a liberal sum to
be expended by me in payment of the services of an amanuensis.
This act was in accordance with precedent acts of assistance afforded
by the same Body towards the printing of Hamilton's works on
Quaternions, and may be regarded as an additional proof of their
interest in his fame — a fame which is the heritage not of his per-
sonal descendants alone, but of his University and his country. To
individual members of the Board, and to Mr. French, Mr. Nunn,
and Mr. C. Miller, I am also indebted for facilities afforded me
in my examination of the manuscript-books of Hamilton, de-
posited in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, and of the
Collegiate records under their respective care.

I have further to acknowledge the honour and advantage con-
ferred upon me, on the suggestion of the late Provost of Trinity
College, Dr. Humphrey Lloyd, by the adoption of this work into
the Dublin University Press Series. That this proposition, brought

Preface. ix

before them by their Secretary, Dr. Ingram, should have received
the consent of the Committee, has been doubly gratifying to
me ; first as marking their continued interest in the subject of
my work, and secondly, as an indication of their trust that it
would be treated by me in a manner not unsuited to it. On this
second ground my gratification suffers some drawback, derived
from the fear that I may not have been able to realise their ex-
pectations. Dr. Ingram has most kindly aided me by supervising
the sheets as they passed through the press, and has thus saved
the book not only from misprints which had escaped my eye, but
from other incidental mistakes. It is right, however, I should
add that he has left with me an undivided responsibility in re-
spect to its contents.

For notices of the Life of Sir W. R. Hamilton I may refer
to the article already alluded to, which was published in the
January number of the Dublin University Magazine, in 1842 ; to
the eloge delivered by my brother Dr. Charles Graves, Bishop of
Limerick, as President of the Eoyal Irish Academy, on the 30th
of November, 1865, and which is printed in the Proceedings of the
Academy ; to the similar eloge delivered from the Chair of the
Eoyal Astronomical Society of London, by the Eev. Charles
Pritchard, now Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford, and
to appreciative obituary notices from the pens of Professor
De Morgan and Dr. Ingleby, contributed respectively to the
Gentleman'' s Magazine for January, 1866, and to the British Con-
troversialist for September, 1869. The Imperial Dictionary of Bio-
graphy, published by Mackenzie, London, contains also an
accurate, if not adequate, notice of Sir AY. R. Hamilton and
his works, written during his lifetime, by his friend the Editor,

X Preface.

Jolin Francis Waller, LL.D. But no account of the character and
scientific achievements of the great mathematician better deserves
to be consulted than an article under the title 'Hamilton' con-
tributed to the North British Review, of September, 1866, by Pro-
fessor Tait of Edinburgh, who has been not only the constant and
generous champion of his fame, but one of the most able succes-
sors of the inventor of the Calculus of Quaternions in facilitating
the application of its instrumentality to mathematical investiga-
tion. He has since contributed a short memoir of Hamilton and
his works to the new issue of the Unci/clopmlia Britannica.

Dublin, August, 1882.

CONTENTS.

AlTTOTYPE FROM A MlNIATUKE BuST EXECUTED 1833, BY

Terence Faeeell, frontispiece.

Preface, page iii

Table of Relationship, ,, xix

CHAPTER I.

BIETH AND DESCENT.

PACE

Birth — Brothel's and Sisters — Descent, Scotch or Irish ? — William
Hamilton — Grace Hamilton, born MTerrand, ..... 1

CHAPTER II.

PEESONAL INFLUENCES IN CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.

His Mother — His Father Aechibald Hamilton, Solicitor — Agent of
A. Hamilton Rowan — His misfortunes — Employed by the Fish-
mongers' Company — Loses his wdfe — Her character — His second
marriage, and death. Extracts from letters: County of Wexford in
1803 — Account of crossing to Wales — Middlesex Election, Sir Francis
Burdett— House of Commons : Mackintosh, Lambton, Horner,
Bathurst, Whitbread — Value of good opinion of Co-professionals —
State of Ireland — His own power of work — Honours paid him by
Fishmongers' Company — James Hamilton, Uncle and Educator of
W. R. H. — His College Career — Curate of Trim — Schoolmaster — His
professional merits not adequately recognised — His character — Jane
Sydney Hamilton, his Aunt — Her literary accomplishments —
Character — Aethue Hamilton, his Cousin — Barrister — ^A second
Father to Hamilton and his Sisters — His genial character,

xii Contents.

CHAPTER III.

HIS CHILDHOOD.

PAGE

Sent to his Uncle at Trim before lie was three years old — Reads English
at that age — Rev. Mr. Elliott— Hebrew — Greek — Declaims in Latin —
Sanscrit and other Eastern Languages — Swims in the Boyne — His
first extant letter — Summary, 29

CHAPTER IV.

HIS SCHOOL-TIME.
\Iirst Portion, 1816-1819.]

Extractsfro7n letters: T. Fitzpatrick — Attends Assizes— Syriac Grammar —
Journey to Derry — Epitome of Algebra — Letter to his Father — Letter
from his Father on choice of a Profession. Visit to Dublin — Dr.
Brinkley — Miss O'Neill — Religious reading — Earliest Poems — Ex-
tracts from letters : Observations of Planets — Short-hand — Interest
in Politics — His Father's last letter to him — His Father's second
marriage — Letter to Persian Ambassador — His Father's death, . . 48

CHAPTER V.

HIS SCHOOL-TIME.

[Second Portion, 1819-1823.']

Letters to his Sister on their present state and prospects — His studies — Zerah
Colburn — Attends Fellowship Examination — Eclipse of Moon — Yellow
Steeple as Sun-dial — Newton's Principia — Trim— Old house in Domi-
nick-street — Telegraph — Fellowship Examination — Mysteries in

Science as well as in Religion — Visit to Dublin of George IV

Lines 'To the Evening Star' — Extracts from letters: Moon's passage
through the Pleiades — Viceroy's Knighthoods — Observations on death
of infant cousin — Second comparison of letters and conversation —

Moore's poems — Essay on -. Division — ^neid iii. 506-517 — Correc-
tion of Laplace — ' The Dream ' — Poem on ' The Literature of Rome ' —
Specimens — Geometrical problem — Aspirations — Progress in Science —
Solitary walks — Pleasures of scientific discovery — Germ of Theory
of Systems of Rays — Method of mastering Euclid — ' All Hallow
E'en' — Jenny Walker — The turkey — Mathematical Essays — Defence
of a passage in the ' Loves of the Angels ' — Eclipse of Moon —
Thouerhts instead of adventures — ' Developments.' — •' On the Scenery

Contents. xiii

PAGE

and Associations of Trim ' — ' Trip to Mullingar ' — ' Birthday lines to
Eliza ' — The Observatory — Curious discovery in Optics — Enters
College — ' Dialogue between Pappus and Euclid ' — ' Fragment on
Memory ' — ' Ode to the Moon under total Eclipse.' — ' To the Dargle
River ' — Newton's Algebra — Mrs. Howisson — Thankfulness for a
Student's life — Increased love for Science, . . . . .75

CHAPTER VI.

HIS COLLEGE CAEEEE.

\18U-182ir^

Premiums and Certificates — Optime in Homer — Two prize poems : * The
Ionian Islands,' ' Eustace de St. Pierre ' — ' Elegy on a School-
fellow'— 'On College Ambition' — Alexander Knox at Belle Yue —
First acquaintance with the Disney family — Introduction to Maria
Edgeworth. — -Richard Napier — Mr. Butler — Hamilton's two voices- —
Eliza Hamilton's description of his habits in study — His personal
appearance — 'To Eliza' — The Disney family — Letter from Mr.
Butler — ' A Valentine Ode ' — * On Caustics ' — Catechetical Examina-
tion— Mr. Kennedy stops the Classical Certificate — Disappointment—
' The Enthusiast ' — ' A Farewell ' — Report by a Committee of the
Royal Irish Academy on the ' Memoir on Caustics ' — ' The Vision
Cottage ' — ' Essay on Theory of Systems of Rays ' — The Misses
Lawrence — Hamilton as a Poet — Letter to Miss Lawrence on Poetry
and Science — Illness — 'To my Sister Eliza'—' At Midnight ' — Record
of Reading — Optime in Physics — His social character — The Stanley
Papers: 'The Epanodos,' 'Peace be around thee,' ' Literary culture
of "Women ' — Visit to Miss Edgeworth at Black Castle — Brinkley made
Bishop — Dinner at Mr. North's — Ambitious project as to Literature —
' The Purse ' — Reading for both Gold Medals — Correspondence with
John T. Graves begins — Demonstration of ' Laplace's Theorem ' —
' Essay on a Theory of Systems of Rays ' presented to Royal Irish
Academy — His 'Account' of his Theory — Recognition of its merit by
Herschel and Airy, .......... 153

CHAPTER VII.

PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY.

[1S;?7.]

Elected Professor of Astronomy — Letter to Maria Edgeworth announc-
ing his election — Her comment — As Undergraduate examines Gra-
duates— Degree of B.A. — Charles Boyton — Bishop Brinkley against
his seeking the Professorship — His kindness afterwards — Hamilton

xiv Contents.

PAGE

visits the Bishop at Cloyne — Considerations for and against the
appointment — Invitation from Dr. llomney Robinson — ' To Flowers
found near the Great Circle of the Observatory ' — Letters from
Armagh — Mr. Nimmo — Tour: Limerick, KUlarney, Clifton, Coalmine
at Dudley — Invites his Sister Eliza to study Astronomy with him —
Gain of practical knowledge in his travels — Liverpool — Rydal —
Midnight walk with Wordsworth — Ascent of Helvellyn — Ascent by
MacCullagh — 'It haunts me yet' — Wordsworth's criticism of this
poem, and of ' The Boys' School,' by Eliza Hamilton — Keswick —
Southey — Second appeal to his Sister — Airy — Herschel and Babbage
visit Ireland — Letter to Herschel, and reply — Letter to Wordsworth, 232

CHAPTER VIII.

EARLY YEA.RS AT THE OBSERVATORY.

Visit to Edgeworthstown — Science his master- passion — Receives Lords
George and Alfred Paget as pupils — Member of the Astronomical
Society — Visit to Dr. Robinson at Armagh — Colonel Colby — Lieutenant
Drummond — First course of Lectures on Astronomy — Rev. John
Willey — Correspondence: Proposal that he should receive Francis
Edgeworth as pupil — Bishop Brinkley — Herschel — Dr. Robinson —
Letter to his Sister Sydney — Abstraction the foundation of Arith-
metic—Women distinguished for Scientific Studies, .... 285

CHAPTER IX.

EARLY YEARS AT THE OBSERVATORY.

Recall of Lord Anglesey — Mr. John T. Graves's Paper on Logarithms —
Equatorial — Sir. J. South's object-glass — Urged to be a Candidate for
Fellowship — Francis Beaufort Edgeworth — Wordsworth's visit to
Ireland — Eliza Hamilton's account of Wordsworth at the Obser-
vatory— Abbotstown — Wordsworth discourages Hamilton's cultivation
of poetry — ' Spirit of Beauty ' — Impression on young men — F. B.
Edgeworth — Rev. W. Bailey's gift of Pascal's works — Lord Adare
becomes his pupil — Hamilton as seen at this time — Correspondence :
Professor Peter Barlow — Bishop Brinkley — Dr. Lardner — Words-
worth— F. B. Edgeworth— South's Equatorial — Captain Everest —

Contoits. XV

Letter from F. B. Edge worth— Wordsworth at Edgeworthstown —
His advice to Eliza Hamilton — Maria Edgeworth on the author of
' The CoUegians '— Motives — The ' Antient Mariner ' — Truth and
Beauty — Criticism by Wordsworth — Hamilton's reply — Female
authorship— Miss EUis, 307

CHAPTEE X.

EAELY TEARS AT THE OBSEKVATOKT.

11830 r[

Proposed method of assisting Lord Adare in study of Classics — Hamilton's
second visit to Armagh — The Primate — Lady Campbell — ' We two
have met ' — ' The Dargle ' — Mathematical work — Visit with his Sister
Eliza to Rydal Mount — ' Farewell verses to William Wordsworth ' —
Visit to Adare Manor — Sits for his bust to Kirk, the Dublin Sculptor —
Miniature Bust by Terence Farrell (autotype frontispiece) — Captain
Everest — Airy — ' Easter Morning ' (on the death of Miss Ellis) —
Baron Maurice — Dr. Wollaston's death — Berkeley and Boscovich —
Rydal Mount — Evening view of Mountains — Southey family — Return
to Observatory — Visit to Adare Manor — Letters from and to Words-
worth— Thought and action — Professor Wilson — Wordsworth writes
from Cambridge — Letter to Herschel — Lord Adare — Letter to Lord
Adare — Berkeley's doctrine — Herschel, 356

CHAPTER XI.

EARLY TEARS AT THE OBSERYATORT.

Lord Adare — Rev. Humphrey Lloyd— Correspondence with Wordsworth —
' Corinne' — Wordsworth's reply — Babbage's article in the Quarterly —
State of Ireland — Coleridge — Interest in his relations — Proposed ex-
change of Professorship — Consults Dr. Robinson — Salary raised —
Extension of a theorem of Herschel — Reason and Understanding —
Dualism — Colours of objects looked at through a prism — Visit from
Airy — Music — Canal journey to Limerick — Adare — Boating on the
Shannon — Miss De Vere — An emigrant's choice of three books —
Hamilton pressed to drop Lord Adare' s title in addressing him —
His formality — His love of order — Water vagary — ' To the Infant
Wyndham' — 'To E. De V.' — Edgeworthstown — Proposed visit to
London — South's Equatorial — Ivory — The De Vere family — Alfieri —
The pursuit of knowledge compared with wisdom — Sin and free
agency — Letter on Dr. Channing's Theology — Maria Edgeworth —
Dr. Robinson — Wordsworth — Correspondence: Letter from Dora
Wordsworth to Eliza Hamilton— Francis Edgeworth— Aeschylus—

xvi Contents.

PAGE

* Dishonoured Rock and Ruin ' — Sir "Walter Scott — Schiller's 'Dignity
of Women '—Platen 'On Death'— 'All Hallow E'en'— Letter to
Herschel — Anticipation of a new Calculus — British Association:
Asked to prepare Report on Mathematical Science — ' They tell me,
loved and honoured poesy ! ' — Platen's ' Pilgrim ' — Platen's ' "Warn-
ing ' — ' "Who says that Shakespeare did not know his lot ' — ' On
hearing of the illness of E. De V.' — ■' Early within herself a solemn
throne ' — ' Do I lament that I in youth did love?' — ' Sometimes I wish
that I might nothing do ' — How far wrong to yield to impulses ? —
' To his Sister Eliza ' — ' 0 brooding Spirit of "Wisdom and of Love ' —
Hamilton as Lecturer — Extracts from Lectures on Astronomy — Visit
to Adare — Second Disappointment — ' A hope thou hast bid die with
gentleness' — ' Compassionately hast thou seen me swerve' — ' Even now
beneath its task strong self-control ' — ' If my soul's fabric hath en-
dured this blow ' — Letter to his Sister Eliza — ' To the Countess of
Dunraven' — Friendship with Aubrey De Vere, 418

CHAPTER XII.

EARLY YEARS AT THE OBSERVATORY.

' 'lis true I have outfelt and have out-thought ' — ' On seeing a child asleep
on a couch in the Viceregal rooms ' — Letter to "Wordsworth about
his disappointment — His Poetry — His hermit-like condition — ' The
Graven Tree ' — Correspondence with Aubrey De Vere — The female
character — Application of his characteristic function to improvement
of telescopes — Lord Adare — Lady Campbell — Translation into French
of Herschel on Light — Geometry and Algebra without pen and paper —
Mr. Lubbock invites him to become a Fellow of the Royal Society —
"Urged by Lord Adare to visit London— At last consents — Letter from
Aubrey De Vere— Love as a principle the love of perfection — Visit to
the Miss Lawrences at Liverpool — Obtains letter of introduction to
Coleridge— Visits to Coleridge— Colonel Perceval's speech against the
Reform Bill— Coleridge's 'Elegy on an Infant' — 'Youth and Age ' —

Three letters from Coleridge to Hamilton — One to Miss Lawrence

Doctrine of the Logos — Visit to Herschel at Slough — "With Lord Adare
visits Cambridge — Travels homeward through Wales — Letters to Maria
Edgeworth, Wordsworth, Cousin Arthur, Aubrey De Vere — A reply
of the latter — Letter to Coleridge — ' Not with unchanged existence I
emerge ' — ' There was a frost about my heart ' — ' On a wild sea of
passion and of grief ' — 'Was it a dream r ' — 'Sometimes I seem of her
society ' — ' Methinks I am grown weaker than of old ' — Lord Adare

leaves the Observatory — His feelings towards Hamilton Letter to

Wordsworth and his reply — Coleridge and W.'s Sister — W. S. Landor—
Attends meeting of British Association at Oxford — Speech — Patriotic

Contents. xvii

feeling — ' He could remember when in his young dreams ' — Account
of Association Meeting in letter to Lord Adare : Buckland, Airy,
Brewster — Cholera — Thought of Death — Miss De Vere — Criticisms of
his poetry — Professor Eigaud — Letter to Professor Lloyd — Congratu-
latory letter to MacCuUagh — Letter of A. De Vere on Poetry — Reply —
James Spedding — Spinoza — Correspondence with Lord Adare — Musical
vibrations — Barometer — Related to Lord A. — Harte's System of the
World — Study of Coleridge — Letter to Coleridge — Aim in his Optical
Paper to remould the Geometry of Light — The atomistic theory — ' My
Birthday Eve ' — * The Spirit of a Dream hath often given '— ' To the
Memory of Fourier ' — ' The Rydal Hours ' — Letters from Lady
Campbell — Reply : Shakespeare, Coleridge — Mrs. Hemans — Corre-
spondence with Aubrey De Vere : Patriotism — ' Antigone ' — ' An Ex-
hortation'— 'To Professor Hamilton' — A. De Vere's Poetry — Sir A.
De Vere — ' On the severing of Friends ' — ' The Sonnet ' — Result of
discussing philosophy on horseback — Shelley — Signer Nobili— Spirit
and Soul — Jeremy Taylor— Passion-wasted life — Materialistic Philoso-
phers— Poetry of the age — Politics — ' There is a tranquil beauty in her
face ' — Visit of Aubrey De Vere to the Observatory — ' I wandered with
a brother of my soul ' — Driscoll — Dim perspective of marriage, . .512

CHAPTER XIII.

CONICAL KEFRACTION.

[1832.']

By means of his general method in Optics Hamilton predicts two kinds of
Conical Refraction, internal and external — Requests Professor Lloyd
to verify experimentally this anticipation — Lloyd consents — Corre-
spondence on the subject : Concise reply to Lloyd as to angle of cone —
Communicates with Airy — Lloyd ofEers to relinquish the work from
difficulty in obtaining plate of arragonite — Procures fine specimen from
Dollond and carries on the experiments— Announces success — Hamilton
informs Airy and Herschel — Letter to Herschel — Lloyd describes phe-
nomena— Airy mentions the approximate points at which he had
arrived— Hamilton writes to Lloyd remarks on a note of MacCullagh,
and records the steps of his communication to Lloyd— Reports to Airy
what had been done by MacCullagh — Airy denies the connexion of the
phenomena with Hamilton's theory — Hamilton explains and Airy is
convinced — Second letter to Herschel — Statement of what was done by
Lloyd — Hamilton's discovery published as part of the Third Supple-
ment to his Theory of Systems of Rays, in the seventeenth volume of
the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy — In the same volume
appears Lloyd's account of his experiments — Appreciation of the dis-
covery by Whewell, Airy, Pliicker, Herschel, Babbage, &c. — His own
view of it, 623

xviii Contents.

CHAPTER XIV.

LECTUKES ON ASTEONOMY.

PAGE

Introductory Lecture — Letter to Lord Adare — Lord Bacon — ' Prayer of
the Lonely Student,' by Mrs. Hemans — Her poem on ' The
Purple Anemone ' — Extracts from concluding Lecture on Astro-
nomy, ............ 639

APPENDIX.

Note on Virgil's ^Mew7, Book iii. 506-517, 661

Correction of an error of reasoning in Laplace's Mecanique Celeste, . 661

Waking Dream : or Fragment of a Dialogue between Pappus and

Euclid in the meads of Asphodel, ....... 662

Elegy on a Schoolfellow, T.B., 671

Eustace de Saint Pierre, Prize Poem, . . . . . . . 673

The Boy's School, By Eliza Mary Hamilton, 682

Note on Conical Refraction, Hamilton and MacCullagh, . . . 685

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LIFE

SIR WILLIAM ROWAN HAMILTON.

CHAPTER I.

BIRTH AND DESCENT.

William Eowan Hamilton was born at midnight between the
3rd and 4th of August in the year 1805. The precise time of his
birth was recorded by his father, and led to the result that in his
early years he kept his birth-day on the 3rd, in later years on the
4th, of the month. This change arose from the fact that his second
son, Archibald Henry, was, thirty years after, born on the 4th of
August, and he preferred to be united with his son in the festival
celebration. He himself pleasantly refers to these circumstances
in a letter written in 1852 to his friend Professor De Morgan.
The place of his birth was Dublin, in the house then numbered
29, but subsequently 36, Dominick-street, where his father re-
sided as a solicitor. Two brothers and one sister had been born
before him. Of these, the brothers had died before his birth ; the
sister Grace, born Oct. 4, 1802, lived to be one of three sisters
who were the invaluable companions of his youth and early man-
hood ; the two others were Elizabeth Mary, born April 4, 1807,
closest to him in age, in love, and in intellectual sympathy, and
who gained for herself an independent name as a poetess; and
Sydney Margaret, born Nov. 5, 1810 or 1811, whose intelligence

2 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton.

received with eagerness in her girlish days his instruction in
the elements of mathematics, and repaid it in after years by
assisting him in the reduction of astronomical observations. Be-
sides these he had one younger brother and two younger sisters,
of whom the latest born, Archianna, more than ten years his
junior, lived to be an adiilt ; the others died in infancy. He was
thus the fom-th of a family of nine children.*

With respect to a man remarkable for intellectual achieve-
ments, as was the subject of this memoir, it is specially reasonable
to inquire of what lineage he was sprung, and under what circum-
stances he was brought up. The remainder of this chapter will be
occupied with the first of these inquiries.

Fortes creantur fortibiis et bonis. Is this assertion of the Eoman
lyrist made good in the case before us? The answer can be given
in the affirmative, at least in reference to the generation next
above Sir William, and it has been found impossible to ascend
much higher. What has been ascertained is as follows : the
facts are given upon the authority of his father, of himself, and
of his sisters Eliza and Sydney, corroborated by evidence both
personal and documentary.

It must have been soon after the middle of the last century
that an event took place on the coast of Scotland which enters as
a romantic incident into the family history. At the extremest
south-western angle of that country lies the parish of Kirkmaiden
in Gralloway, of which at this time the Rev. James M'Ferrand
was Minister ; and close below his residence a vessel was wrecked on
its passage from the north of Ireland, the crew and passengers of
which were saved mainly by his exertions. His kindness did not
end with these exertions, but the hospitality of the manse was
extended to as many of the shipwrecked folk as it could contain.

* After his mother's death, his father contracted a second marriage, of which
there was posthumous issue a daughter, Annabella, subsequently married to
an Italian named Aglietta. A son of this latter marriage is a graduate of
Trinity College, Dublin.

Origin and Nationality.

Among these were Mr. and Mrs. Gawen Hamilton of Ivillileagli
Castle in the county of Down. They remained three weeks with
their kind hosts, and having before their departure become much
attached to Mr. and Mrs. M'Ferrand, to both of whom a very high
character is given, and having become, moreover, specially inte-
rested in their eldest girl, they prayed her parents to allow them
to take the child home with them to be their adopted daughter.
This request, favoured by the mother, was decisively negatived by
the father, partly from a delicate feeling of independence, partly
because he desired himself to educate a child of great promise.
This duty he very successfully performed ; but when she had reached
the age of fifteen, he was removed from her by death, leaving his
widow and eight children unprovided for. Mrs. M'Ferrand then
obeyed the injunction laid upon her at parting by Mrs, Gawen
Hamilton, to appeal to her friendship if ever overtaken by misfor-
tune ; and the result was that Grace M'Ferrand was resigned by
her mother to Mrs. Hamilton. Under her care she added to the
charm of a sweet natural disposition and to literary acquirements
already considerable the graces of manner belonging to a higher
rank in life, and afterwards was taken by her maternal friend as
her companion in a continental tour. On her return with Mrs. G.
Hamilton to Dublin from this tour, she received the addresses of
William Hamilton, then, according to the narrative of his son
Archibald, 'a very eminent apothecary in Dublin.' He was intro-
duced to her acquaintance by Mrs. Gawen Hamilton, who showed
her approval of the marriage which ensued by giving her protegee
a dower of £500. From this marriage sprung Archibald the
father of Sir W. R. Hamilton, James his uncle and educator, and
Jane Sydney his aunt. Inquiry has been made, as yet without
success, as to the parentage of William Hamilton, the husband of
Grace M'Ferrand. The only fact connected with his father which
I have been able to discover is, that he was married to a lady of
the name of Blood, belonging to the respectable family of that
name long settled in the county of Clare. There is reason to
suppose that her Christian-name was Margaret, and that she is in

B 2

Life of Sir Williani Rowan Hamilton.

all probability the Margaret Hamilton of Moore-street, Dublin, the
entry of whose burial is contained in the register of St. Mary's
parish under the date April 29, 1811. The remarkable fact is
handed down respecting her, that she lived to considerably beyond
the age of one hundred years; and Eliza Hamilton, her great-
grand-daughter, who was born in 1807, testifies (in some autobio-
graphical memoranda still existing) to her — ' remembering as a
vivid dream his mother [the mother of her own grandfather of
whom she had just made mention] an old bed-ridden lady of a
commanding character, who seemed to inspire considerable awe in
her [grand] children and dependents. She had been a Blood, and
boasted, I have heard, of her descent from the Blood who stole the
Crown jewels in the reign of Charles II. She had been alive, I
have been told, in the reign of Queen Anne, and remembered it,
although she was then a child.' Who then was her husband? It
at first occurred to me that as their son was introduced to Grrace
M'Ferrand by Mrs. Gawen Hamilton, he must have been some
distant relation of the family of Kilhleagh Castle, and the suppo-
sition received support from the belief entertained by Sir W. R.
Hamilton himself, and communicated to me in 1841, that he was
of a family that came over to the north of Ireland in the reign of
James I. ; but researches most kindly made at my instance by
Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms, and Sir Samuel
Ferguson, Deputy Keeper of the Kecords, with a view of ascer-
taining whether this was a fact, led only to a negative conclusion ;
and subsequently such a conclusion was entirely confirmed by the
discovery of a narrative from the pen of Archibald Hamilton, in
which he records some facts connected with his own and his father's
history. In it, speaking of his father, he says : ' he was descended
from a very respectable stock of ancestors both on the male and
female side.' Recording the marriage of his mother (Grrace
M'Ferrand) he says : ' as fate would have it, her husband bore
the same surname as Mr. Gawen Hamilton, though in no way
whatever related to him.' And again, speaking of himself, he
says, that 'he was called by his Christian-name after the son of

Origin and N^ationality.

Mr. Gawen Hamilton [namely, Archibald Hamilton Eowan], from
which trifling circumstance, added to his personal attachment to
the latter, many supposed an affinity existed where no intermix-
ture of blood ever circulated.' This passage, while disclaiming all
pretension to relationship with the Hamiltons of Killileagh Castle,
throws no light upon the question of William Hamilton's origin.
It contains, however, a statement that his father was of gentle
birth on the paternal as well as on that maternal side which con-
nected him with the Blood family. There is ample evidence of
the relationship of the Hamiltons with the Bloods being mutually
recognised in the time of Sir William's father and in his own;
and although I have not been able to discover a legal record of
the connexion, I have in my possession a fragment of a letter from
the Rev. Frederick Blood to Sir W. R. Hamilton, in which he
subscribes himself 'your friend and relative;' and the Rev. F.
Tymons, whose mother was a Blood, has informed me that he has
found letters to his maternal grandfather from Archibald Hamil-
ton, familiarly addressing him by his Christian-name.

It has been necessary to insist with some detail upon these
facts, because Professor Tait of Edinburgh, in his Article upon
' Hamilton ' published in the North British Revieic for Septem-
ber, 1866, lays claim to his mathematical chief and friend as
virtually a countryman of his own, asserting that 'his grand-
father came over from Scotland to Dublin with two young sons of
whom Archibald became a solicitor in Dublin, James the Curate
of Trim, county Meath.' This assertion my investigations have
disproved. The father of these sons is first met with as a very
eminent apothecary in Dublin, introduced there by an Irish lady
to her protegee whom he marries in Dublin, where his sons are
born ; * his brother Francis, who was younger than himself,
became an alderman of the Corporation of Dublin, and in the
record of his son's matriculation in the Entrance-book of Trinity

* The memorandum of admission of Archibald Hamilton as freeman of the
city of Dublin in the year 1802 adds the words ' by birth.'

6 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton.

College, Dublin, is styled ' generosus,' i. c. ' of gentle birtli.' Of his
father, as I have said, no particulars, save the one that he was also
of gentle birth, have been handed down, but his mother was a
daughter of a well-known Irish family. The mistake, wherever
it originated, arose, doubtless, from the fact that the maternal
grandmother of Sir W. R. Hamilton was of Scottish birth. To
this extent Scottish blood was in his veins ; and there may pro-
bably be truth in the family tradition that the branch of the
extensive Hamilton clan to which he belonged came over to
Ireland in the reign of James I., as well as that more distin-
guished branch represented by the successive owners of Eallileagh
Castle. But impossible as it has been found by me to trace his
lineage upwards beyond what has been given, enough has been
ascertained to warrant Irishmen in claiming Hamilton as fully an
Irishman ; and I may add that however he might have felt grati-
fied by the counter-claim I have cited, he would not himself have
willingly resigned that identification with Ireland as his country,
which he was always ready to assert, which excited in him a warm
patriotic affection, to which he more than once gave poetical
expression, and which prompted the habitual feeling of ambition
that his works might add to her renown.

A few words more must be given to William Hamilton and his
wife Grace M'Ferrand. A draft inscription composed by his son
Archibald, and intended for a tablet to be erected in St. Mary's
Church, informs us, that 'they' (regarded, I suppose, as a body
corporate, for W. Hamilton did not live to complete the term) ' were
for forty years resident in St. Mary's parish,' their house being in
Jervis-street ; and a memorandum exists of W. H.'s admission in
the year 1774 as a freeman of the city of Dublin ; in this document
the addition of the words ' by service ' proves that his father was
not a freeman, but does not prove that he himself might not have
been born in Dublin. I learn from the narrative of his son,
already quoted, that his death resulted from a severe cold caught
while attending his duty as one of the old Volunteers of Ireland
in the latter part of the memorable year 1782, and that it took

William and Grace Hamilton.

place on the 23rd of May, 1783, His widow continued to reside
in Jervis-street, where she made industrious and not unsuccessful
endeavours to gain an independent livelihood and to bring up her
family, but finally she became involved in pecuniary embarrass-
ments, from which her son Archibald had the privilege of extricat-
ing her by dutiful exertions and sacrifices. In the years 1802-8
she is referred to as living with her eldest son James at Trim, and
there in all probability she died. Two remaining letters from her
pen, which afford indications of the refinement of feeling attri-
buted to her, do not, it appears to me, convey a corresponding
impression of intellectual ability; but the struggle for independence
which she maintained after her husband's death, and the respect
and affection entertained for her by her children, prove her to have
possessed sterling elements of character.

8 Life of Sir lVi/lia?n Roivan Hainiltou.

CHAPTER II.

PERSONAL INFLUENCES IN CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH.

To four persons of the generation next above him was William
Eowan Hamilton deeply indebted for the culture of his intellect
and the formation of his character, for advice and guidance and
sympathy. Three of these were the surviving children of William
and Grace Hamilton : namely, his own father Archibald Hamil-
ton, James Hamilton his uncle, and Jane Sydney, called 'Aunt
Sydney.' * The fourth was Arthur Hamilton, son of Hamilton's
grand-uncle Alderman Francis Hamilton, and therefore his first
cousin once removed. This was the familiar and beloved ' Cousin
Arthur,' of Hamilton and his sisters.f

The mother of Hamilton died when he was twelve years old;
and having had to part with him when he was only three, at
which early age his education was committed to his uncle, had
not the opportunity of exerting upon him that influence which in

* There were three other sons of the same parentage, Arthur, Robert, and
William, of whom one died in a French prison, the others in infancy. James
was the eldest son, and according to the authority of the Entrance-book of
Trinity College, was born in 1776, being registered as fifteen at the date of
his Matriculation, May 2, 1791. Archibald, who speaks of himself as the
fourth son, was born in March, 1778, according to the authority of a transcript
from the Family Bible, and of another family document. It has been thought
by some members of the family that James and Arcliibald were twins. The
foregoing facts disprove this supposition, but lead to the conclusion that James
had a twin brother, or that two born between him and Archibald were twins,
and hence the incorrect supposition probably arose. Jane Sydney was born in
1779.

t Arthur Hamilton entered College in the same year as James Hamilton
of Trim, but six months later, and is also put down as being then of the age
of fifteen years.

His Father.

the case of so many eminent men has been gratefully recorded: it
would seem also that, although she was of the intellectual family of
the Huttons, it was rather from the paternal than the maternal side
that his peculiar attributes of intellect and character were derived.
The relation to Hamilton of the four persons I have men-
tioned, and the parts they took in his bringing up, render it
fitting that some account should be here given of them.

Archibald Hamilton, his father, was a man of great energy
and strong impulses, of remarkable business powers, of exuberant
eloquence, both of the pen and lips, of strict evangelical views of
religion, and of zeal in expounding and enforcing them, but withal
of tender aifections, and a convivial disposition ; delighting in
repartee, whether his own or that of others, and much given to
quizzing (as then the phrase went) some companion or fellow-
traveller, a tendency, however, which was kept in check by his
strong practical sense and sound moral principles. He speaks
of himself as managing well the pecuniary affairs of all except
himself; and it is plain that if he failed to become a prosperous
man it was not from want of industry, or of unwearied endeavours
to gain success or to retrieve disaster. He had not had the advan-
tage, which his elder brother had enjoyed, of a University educa-
tion, and therefore his style, as exhibited in his letters and other
writings left by him, will not always abide the criticism of a
grammarian or logician ; and its conventional verbiage and rheto-
rical amplification cry out often for the pruning-knife : yet all
that comes from his pen stirs one with its vigour, its brightness,
and its geniality. His daughter Eliza bears this testimony to
his character : ' I know that my father, living and after his death,
was both loved and respected by his fellow-citizens, as a man of
the highest honour and purest principle ; ' a testimony fully corro-
borated by that of a lady now living, who has told me that her
father was a client of Archibald Hamilton, and as such became a
pecuniary loser by his misfortunes, but nevertheless continued his
warm friend to the last, and long after his death spoke of him as

lo Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton.

a wonder, both for his professional laboriousness and his chivahy
of spirit. His son bears testimony to the like effect in a letter to
Professor De Morgan, from which the following words are ex-
tracted : — ' From everything that I have since heard (for he died
when I was only fourteen), he must have stood in the very first
rank of Dublin solicitors. He must have had an English and
foreign connexion.* ... A few of my father's letters remain.
He was a man of remarkable ability, and I must,' . . . Here un-
fortunately the copy breaks off. The Rev. Joseph Stopford, D.D.,
Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, at a time when such
testimonials were more trustworthy than they have been in later
years, gave the following description of his abilities and charac-
ter : the occasion was his candidature for the secretaryship of the
Grrand Canal Company, a candidature which he withdrew upon
ascertaining that the performance of the duties of that office would
interfere too much with his professional pursuits. Referring to
his experience of Archibald Hamilton as secretary to a committee
of industry, and as sub-treasiu'er to the society for relieving
roomkeepers, t Dr. Stopford says, January 11, 1804, 'I have never
seen more honest warmth united to patient and skilful labour than
I have observed in him. Should he be employed in any insti-
tution for which he shall be interested — and I have no reason
to doubt but that he will be interested for an object of so
much national benefit as the success of the canal-scheme — I
am persuaded that he will be much more than an official servant,
even an active and useful friend, affording an enlarged mind for
looking to the sources whence advantages may be derived to the
institution, as well as executing the common duties with con-
scientious fidelity.' But his family letters are the most convincing

* He speaks himself of having * clients in England and Ireland, nay in
Scotland, and even on the Continent.' See ' A letter to Archibald Hamilton
Rowan, Esq., from Archibald Hamilton ; Dublin, 1807,' in * Political Pam-
phlets,' 913 : Haliday Collection, R. I. A., pp. 92, 93.

t I find that Archibald Hamilton held the office of Solicitor to the Incorpo-
rated Association for the Suppression of Vice.

His Father. 1 1

and indeed indisputable vouchers of the qualities I have attributed
to him ; and further on, specimens of these letters will be given.
At the same time that they serve this purpose, they will reflect some
not uninteresting light upon the time in which he lived. A brief
sketch of his career will lead to a fuller understanding of them.

The earliest notice we have of him connects him with Mrs.
Grawen Hamilton, the patroness of his mother. She took a special
interest in this child of her young friend, had him constantly in
her house, controlled his school education, used his services as an
amanuensis, and finally offered to bear the charge of his passing
through the University in preparation for the Bar, and to secure
his future position by a provision for him in her will. With an
independent spirit, honourable to his mother and to the boy
himself, they declined this offer, thereby losing the favour of
Mrs. Hamilton, and earning expressions of gratitude from her son
and other members of her family. Archibald Hamilton was then
apprenticed to an attorney.

The son of Mrs. Gawen Hamilton, who has just been mentioned,
was the afterwards well-known Archibald Hamilton Rowan ; for
he subsequently assumed his mother's maiden name in connexion
with the acquisition of property devolved through her. It was
from him that Archibald Hamilton had derived his Christian-
name, as it was from the same person volunteering in after years
to undertake the office of sponsor that the name of Rowan became
the second Christian-name of the principal subject of this memoir.
This connexion of familiar intercourse led to such a friendship as
could subsist between the young solicitor's apprentice and the heir
of Killileagh Castle. The natural attachment of the former was
heightened by admiration for what he considered the splendid
qualities of ' the manly defender of Mary Neal, and the friend
of the starving manufacturers of Dublin.' * And when the
ambition of the latter had transgressed the bounds of loyalty,
and in the year 1795 incurred the penalties of sedition and

' Sec Life of Arclnhald Hamilton JRotcan, by llcv. Dr. Diumraoud.

12 Life of Sir William Rowan Haviiltov.

rebellion, liis young friend followed him to his prison, and was
zealous in showing attention to his unhappy wife and chil-
dren. During the first five years of her husband's outlawry,
Mrs. Rowan had herself managed his and her property, but when,
in the year 1800, a partial relaxation of his sentence (procured for
him by Lord Clare, then Lord Chancellor of Ireland) allowed Mr.
Rowan to return from America to the continent of Europe, and
Mrs. Rowan had in consequence to join him, with her family, at
Hamburg, it became necessary for her to appoint an agent. She
selected Archibald Hamilton, satisfied that his friendly feeling
towards the family was unabated, and that his abihty as a man
of business was all that could be wished for. This appointment
was confirmed by Mr. Rowan, who soon after himself commu-
nicated with him as the agent of all his property, and the friend
to whose honour and zeal might be confided every personal and
family interest. Documents exist which prove that never did man
devote himself with more ardent zeal to the interests of another
than did Archibald Hamilton to those of his exiled friend. The
peculiar position of Mr. Rowan, the encumbered state of his pro-
perty, the extravagance of his habits of life, his wild speculative-
ness, and, it must be added, his selfish improvidence, caused the
management of his affairs to be attended by extraordinary diffi-
culties. These difficulties Archibald Hamilton encountered with
indomitable resolution, perseverance, and skill. Businesses of
the most dehcate nature, and requiring a rare combination of
energy and considerate thought, he transacted with a success which
gained the suffrages of those against whom his services had been
employed. This was eminently proved when, upon the death, in
1805, of Mr. Gawen Hamilton, the father of Archibald Hamilton
Rowan, and who had visited his son with life-long displeasure, he
had to take possession, in his cHent's name, of Killileagh Castle and
its valuable muniments. Through the whole course of his agency
he continued to exert himself, by personal applications to the Se-
cretary of State in Dublin, and by frequent journeys to London, to
procure the full pardon of his friend ; and it can be proved that the

His Father. 13

final grant of this favour was largely due to these persistent and
skilful exertions. But his fidelity and attachment were most of
all tried by the incessant demands made upon him by Mr. E-owan
for advances of money : and in this matter his zeal for his friend
led him on to the adoption of measures which were more than
imprudent, which, both as a professional man and as the father of
a family, he should have sternly declined to enter upon. When
the rents of Mr. Rowan's estates had been anticipated, and funds
were still required, he consented to raise money at high interest
by bills to which his own name was attached. This went on, as
is so often the case, until it became a bill-traffic, and the end was
his bankruptcy and temporary ruin. It is painful to have to add
that the client whom he had thus served with over-zeal, and
mainly contributed to restore to the enjoyment of his patrimony,
now, in the time of his misfortune, instead of endeavouring to
succour and rescue, treated him with a selfish ingratitude which
it is hard to imagine possible. Some of the services rendered by
Archibald Hamilton were such as money could not repay, but the
remuneration due for the professional labour of seven or eight years
was what, in justice to his creditors, as well as to himself and his
family, he could not but require. The requisition was answered
by the plea that those labours were acts of friendship, and no more
than a grateful return for early favours received, not from Archibald
Hamilton Rowan himself, but from members of his family. The
assignees of Archibald Hamilton brought an action in the King's
Bench against Mr. Rowan for compensation to Archibald Hamilton
for professional services ; and what was thought of the plea of the
defendant, and of the merits of the bankrupt, was proved by a
verdict of their fellow-citizens awarding to the assignees £1500
as due on the ground alleged. This event took place in 1809 : it
terminated of course the friendship which had subsisted between two
men whose intercourse had been so constant and so close. In after
life Archibald Hamilton met with occasional proof of hostile in-
fluence exerted against him by his quondam friend and cHent ;
but in the year 1835, when the sou of the man whom he had

14 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton.

helped to ruin had become celebrated for his abilities, had been
appointed to the post of Astronomer Royal, and had just received
the honour of knighthood under circumstances of remarkable
distinction, Mr. Rowan remembered the sponsorial relation which
he had conferred as a favour (easier to grant than the discharge
of pecuniary obligations), and he wrote a letter to the Professor
claiming him as his godson, and exhorting him to bow his intel-
lect to religion, and to keep the Sabbath.

But Archibald Hamilton was not even by such a calamity to
.be finally ruined. He had necessarily lost his former clients, and
his professional business was suspended ; but he had friends who
stood by him, who knew his worth and his substantial integrity,
and he was soon furnished with introductions to manufacturing
houses in the North of England, which, in the course of the next
year, he personally presented, and which brought him at once
promises of employment. These promises bore fruit. In the
year 1814 he is employed by the Fishmongers' Company of Lon-
don, as their solicitor in an important suit, which brought into
question the history of the Company and its title to estates in the
north of Ireland. The diligence and ability with which he con-
ducted this cause to a successful issue are amply proved by extant
instructions to his cousin Arthur Hamilton, engaged as counsel in
the case, and by accounts of his work in London, and of honours
paid to him by the Company, contained in letters to his wife. A
few words will tell what remains to be told. In 1817 he had the
great misfortune of losing his wife. The letters which remain
from the pens of both prove that she was an excellent religious
woman, full of love and respect for her husband, and that his
affection for her retained, throughout the seventeen years of their
married life, a warmth and a trustfulness which could not be
exceeded.* In the early part of 1819 his son speaks of finding

* In the Freeman'' s Journal of Tuesday, May 13, 1817, appears the follow-
ing obituary notice : — ' Died on Saturday night, after a few hours' illness,
Mrs. Hamilton, wife of Archibald Hamilton, Esq., of Bominick-street. The

His Father. 1 5

him lonely and sad; and throughout this year, with what seems
an unconscious misgiving as to his own tenure of life, he pours out
his anxious and affectionate solicitude for the welfare of his children,
in long letters of wise and loving counsel, addressed not only to
the son of whom he was proud, but to his daughters, whose educa-
tion was being carried on by relations in the north of Ireland. In
these letters, while giving valuable advice as to the acquirement of
knowledge, and imparting practical results of his experience of the
world, he insists earnestly on the need of intellectual and spiritual
humility, and the paramount importance of eternal interests. He
sought, in the autumn of the year, to relieve his loneliness and
sadness by a second marriage, but his choice appears to have
been an unhappy one. This marriage took place in London on the
11th of October, 1819, and in less than two months, on the 10th
of December, after a fortnight's illness, the nature of which is not
recorded, he died prematurely in the forty-second year of his age.
It is a human regret which cannot be suppressed, that he lived not
to see the honours which crowned the early manhood of a son for
the fitting cultivation of whose childhood and youth he had pro-
vided with wise and self-denying care.

I now proceed to give extracts from his letters, with the
double object already indicated.

The following passage from a letter dated Ross, 1803, to
his wife, describing a professional journey to the south-east of
Ireland, brings into view the ruins of houses burned down, and
other mdre ghastly memorials of the troublous time through
which that part of the country had passed not long before : —

best proof of the worth and excellence of this most lamented lady is, that
everyone who knew or even heard of her is a sincere mourner. Among good
women she would be distinguished for every quality of heart that reflects
honour upon humanity. She has left a disconsolate husband and young
family to deplore a loss of which time cannot efface the remembrance, and
which to them may be truly said to be irreparable.'

1 6 Life of Sir Willimn Rowan Hainilton.

From Archibald Hamilton to his Wife.

' Ross, 1803.

'Arklow, you know, was famous for its resistance against
the rebels : 'tis situated very well — on one side a fine river, the
houses, &c., nothing remarkable — some traces of the rebellion — a
skull on the ruins of a castle. Gorey is rather neat, but has the
same remembrances of what ought to be forgotten. The head of
Antrim Jack, a famous rebel, a deserter from the Antrim Militia,
is over the Town Hall. Ferns is perhaps the most wretched vil-
lage in the world, but the situation is grand, on a high hill, on
which are the ruins of a once stately castle. Adjoining is the
princely palace and demesne of the Bishop, which form as striking
a contrast between its magnificence and th^! wretched poverty and
filth of the villagers as can well be conceived. When you pass
Ferns you come in sight of Vinegar Hill, and as you approach
you distinguish the gibbets. Soon after you come in sight of
Enniscorthy : the latter is a good town, large and thickly inha-
bited on both sides the Slaney ; Yinegar HOI overhangs the town.
Desolation is evident ; the glebe-house and others burned to the
ground.'

In 1804 he made his second visit to London on behalf of
Mr. Rowan. At that time the packets from DubKn for England
sailed, some to Holyhead, some to Parkgate on the Dee. For
some reason Archibald Hamilton on this occasion chose the latter
route. A spirited and amusing letter, too long to reproduce, re-
cites his adventures. He was evidently the leader of all on board;
he encounters in wit and argument a host of Paddies in the
steerage who had started a discussion on politics, and saves from
the wrath of the captain one of his antagonists who had become
violent ; he discovers in the same part of the ship the ' Invisible
Grirl,' alia^ M. St. Amant, who had decamped from Dublin
owing him some fees, but whom he helps to food, for which he is
repaid by magnificent promises of future patronage ; with univer-
sal applause he cooks an Irish stew for the benefit of his hungry
companions ; and lastly, when, after twenty-four hours of adverse

His FatJier. 1 7

winds, they had reached the offing of Beaumaris, and, a calm coming
on, the packet had become immovable three leagues from land, he
insists upon the captain giving him a boat with two sailors ; and,
taking with him his clerk and a Major Cope, he puts off for the
shore ; two hours' rowing brought them to a small bay, called
Llandinan Bay, not far from St. Orme's Head, and having with
difficulty procured a cart to convey their luggage, they walked
five miles to the ferry opposite Conway. In crossing this they
encountered a tipsy Welsh parson, a Master of Arts and a learned
discourser on the merits of the Celtic languages, but soiled in
clothes from many a fall, and alternately bullying and affectionate.
The letter furnishes a pleasant contrast of adventure, individual
influence, and leisurely locomotion, to the miraculous speed, the
monotonous uniformity, the absolute suppression of the individual
passenger which characterise the travelling of the present day be-
tween Dublin and London. Archibald Hamilton proceeds on his
journey, and finds London ' in an uproar about the Middlesex
election.' The following passage, of the date August 3, 1804, is
racy of the time : —

From Archibald Hamilton io his Wife.

'August 3, 1804.

' The ladies are, to a woman, high and low, for Sir Francis,*
from the beautiful Duchess of Devonshire downward ; whether
walking, driving, or on the tops of stage coaches, all are anxious
to display their attachment to the cause of one of the handsomest
young men ever England saw. His independent fortune, £30,000
per annum, his good private character, his liberal sentiments, and
his determined opposition to the overgrown power and corruption
of the minister, in opposition to a beggar set up by the minister,
and whose expenses are defrayed by the junta, all tend to render
Sir Francis the peculiar favourite of the fair. Besides, he is a
man of the first talents, the other [Mr. Mainwaring] a blockhead.
One instance amongst many : — His opponents uniformly decry

* Sir Francis Burdett.
C

1 8 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton.

him, as a republican, and in their zeal at one of the public meet-
ings told the freeholders he was the enemy of God and man. He
in reply, with a peculiar readiness of wit, said : " they tell you I
am the enemy of God and man, they tell you true, for they speak
in parables. I am the enemy of their God and their man, for their
God is mammon, and their man is the minister." It was a
capital turn to such a home assertion.'

Eleven years afterwards he was in London again, and gives
the following animated account of some of the parliamentary
orators of the day : —

From Archibald Hamilton to his Wife.

' London, Thursday, 23rd February, 1815.

. . . ' The leisure, after leaving business, I devote to seeing and
hearing everything worth my attention ; the Courts and Parliament
occupy my principal spare time. On Tuesday, I was really grati-
fied by the most serious, animated debate on the principles of strict
justice and good faith, as moral principles distinct from, and the
violation of them not to be justified by, any plea of policy or expe-
diency. The subject was the pledge given to the Genoese of re-
storing them their ancient constitution, and the violation of that
pledge by our Government, in transferring Genoa to Sardinia. I
have read the reports of the speeches in print, but they are mise-
rably garbled, and convince me that in our newspaper reports we
only get the outlines. I never in my life heard such a brilliant
display of luminous talents, both in point of sound argument and
chaste eloquence, as I witnessed in the speeches of Sir J. Macintosh,
Mr. Lambton, and Mr. Horner ; the latter spoke with all the force
and solemnity of the most brilliant displays of the first pulpit
orators. His manner was more suited for the pulpit than for the
popular assembly he addressed, and yet it formed such a contrast to
Whitbread's satire, and yet abounded with such chaste language,
such well-arranged sentences, such connected ideas, such bold
figures, and such overbearing conviction, that not a pin could fall
but what could be heard. He commanded the attention, and cap-
tivated as well the ear and the fancy as the judgment, of every
jperson present. His action also is most chaste, and unites in it

His Father. 19

that natural transition of attitudes, and evidently unaffected move-
ments of the hands and arms and gestures, as convince you that
they are the result of the feelings of his heart, and the conviction
of his mind of the truth of his statements. Mr. Lambton is a
promising young man. His language is more figurative, and his
words flow more rapidly, and his voice is more attractive, than Mr.
Horner's ; they appear of the same age — both young ; Mr. Horner
a Scotchman, Mr. Lambton an Englishman. But Sir J. Macintosh
came forward on the floor, and displayed all the powers of oratory,
and all the strength of the most vigorous mind and the most able
reasoner. His arguments were grounded on reason, on first princi-
ples ; and then, coming to facts, he displayed great research and an
intimate knowledge of circumstances strictly applicable to the case,
but which others had overlooked or forgotten, and from those facts,
applied with judgment to the case, he strengthened and confirmed
all his preceding arguments. Mr. Bathurst, for Government, is a
dull fellow. He is very much the gentleman in his manner, but
nothing new, striking, or interesting ; he fatigues the hearer, who
feels that it would be rude to interrupt him, but wishes for the
moment he may draw to a close. Mr. Vansittart is a neat speaker,
but has a very low voice. He speaks with the confidence and hu-
mility of a man who feels he has acted correctly. Mr. Whitbread
is a mixture of the old English character — blunt and honest ; he
fears no man, glories in his being a brewer, has sound ideas of the
value of the British Constitution, and wishes for the English cha-
racter to stand clear and foremost in rank. But, with all this
plainness, he has considerable talent for public and popular decla-
mation, and has a Kttle spice of the sarcastic and lively repartee of
the Irish.'

The following passages are proofs of his practical sense, and of
the degree to which through it he rose above the prejudice and
party spirit which at that time exercised quite a tyrannical in-
fluence in both politics and religion. In the first he addresses to a
young physician a word of counsel which may be commended as
of wide application and no little importance : —

V, 2

20 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton.

From Archibald Hamilton to Mr. Bielby.

' DuBLi^r, 29, DoMiNiCK-STEEET, Mmj 18, 1815.

' I have found the honourable stations connected with my pro-
fession to which I have been appointed a great and powerful in-
centive to uphold, or, at least not to lessen, the profession by any
ignorance or culpable inattention to the improvement of whatever
little legal knowledge I have already attained to ; and I lay it
down as a sure and unerring maxim — indeed a principle — that in
every profession that man never can become respectable, or, at
least, never can hope to soar to the pinnacle of unenried and repu-
table fame, who treats with contempt the opinion of his own pro-
fession, the members of which must ever be the best judges of his
merits and his talents. Indeed, I might go further, aud say that,
next to the consciousness of having discharged his duty, the greatest
gratification to a liberal mind, and the surest basis on which to build
a truly great professional character, is to court, by all fair and
honourable means, the good opinion and esteem of your profes-
sional contemporaries and competitors.'

In a long letter addressed to his friend Robert Steven, of
London, he gives an historical sketch and survey of the schools
then existing in Ireland. He writes with a knowledge of his sub-
ject both comprehensive and particular, and evinces a far-seeing
and statesmanlike confidence in the beneficial effects which would
follow from the universal spread of education. He severely con-
demns the landed aristocracy for neglect of their obligations in this
respect, and for their contempt of their poorer fellow-countrymen,
and claims for himself the right to feel strongly and indignantly
on these points, as an Irishman born and living in the country.
The following extract is taken from the conclusion of the letter : —

From Archibald Hamilton to R. Steven, Esq.

* Dttblin, 29, DoMiNiCK-STEEET, August 17, 1816.

' Thus amidst the din of conflicting jealousies on the score of
religion, amidst the yell of " no popery" and the cries of " Church

His; Father. 2 i

and State for ever," notwithstanding the insubordination of her
population on the score of polities and local grievances, and labour-
ing under the depression of bad times and the want of a resident
gentry, Ireland is keeping her way on at a steady pace to the at-
tainment of that knowledge which I trust will lay the sure foun-
dation of her future greatness and prosperity. I rejoice that the
Government are at length roused to alter their system of rule in
Ireland, and encourage exertions for informing the peasantry ; and
I look forward to the day when the people of Ireland, enlightened
and educated, will know how to wield those other gifts with which
Providence has so eminently favoured them, for the honour of their
country and the good of the British empire and the world. You
may be ready to accuse me of being too partial in my representa-
tion of this island. It is true I feel as an Irishman, not only by
birth, but by being there domiciliated. I may have my prejudices,
but in this state of imperfection I do not know that it is culpable
to feel sanguine for the intellectual improvement of the population
of one's country ; and if Englishmen feel interested for Ireland,
an Irishman may be excused for possessing similar feelings. Ire-
land has too long been kept back by the vile spirit of abuse and
detestation on the part of Irishmen towards the lower orders of
their own countrymen ; and I rejoice to find Englishmen forcing
them into respect and exertion for their degraded fellow-country-
men.'

And a letter exists written by him to the Rev. Mr. Willey, on
the 10th of September, 1817, which manifests a largeness of view
in religion scarcely to have been expected from a member of the
Bethesda congregation, which then and long afterwards was noted
for Calvinistic tenets of an extreme character. In this letter he
counsels his relative, who was then entering upon his duties as a
Moravian minister in the north of Ireland, to control any efforts
at conversion among the Roman Catholic peasantry by a due
recognition of the truths held by them in common with himself,
by a fear that any mere attack upon their errors might shake the
whole structure of their faith, and by the conviction, upon which
he might confidently act, that error was most safely and effectu-
ally undermined by the simple proclamation of Truth. The spiiit

2 2 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilto7i.

of the argument is true for all times ; but as the form which it
assumes in this letter is suited rather for the time in which it was
written than for the present, I content myself with thus indicating
its drift.

Reserving for future use those letters in which his interest in
the intellectual and moral progress of his son is manifested, I shall
conclude these extracts by one which furnishes a remarkable proof
of the zeal with which he devoted himself to the carrying through
of his professional business, and of the power of continuous labour
which he was able to put forth. Both qualities are indicated by
the painstaking and thorough treatment of his subject, combined
with earnest warmth, which characterises his long family letters on
subjects purely personal; but the following extract has a peculiar
value, as bringing these qualities into view, when applied to the
fulfilment of professional duty, and as revealing the human source
whence his son derived the marvellous power of prolonged intel-
lectual toil, from which Science has reaped such benefits : —

From Archibald Hamilton to Ms Wife.

' London, 2^th Septeinher, 1814.

' The new Prime Warden, Mr. Bricknell, waited in town for me
till Friday, at a great inconvenience. He then made it a point
that, if I arrived on Saturday, the Meeting should be postponed
until Monday, and he came sixty miles on purpose to meet me at
the Hall on Monday. In short I never met such politeness and
steady attachment ; I hope I may preserve it. My only foe, an
arch-attorney, has come round, and now leans on my shoulder,
and does not presume, as he says, to advise or dictate, but rather to
get information, and by a plan of my friends he was lugged in, by
way of a friend, to peruse, as if to assist me in, an arduous case to
be drawn in a great hurry, on intricate points, involving Charles's
patent, Acts of Parliament, old records, &c., &c., for two hundred
years. He thought to puzzle me, and said he must have it at four
o'clock (not to me but to Towse). I had twenty sheets close written,
connecting the results of all my researches in such a complicated
case, with observations and all, ready for Mr. Towse at two o'clock.

His Father. 2;^

Mr. Weston, the eminent attorney alluded to, who had been getting
jealous of me because I had not been appointed by his consent and
influence, declared I was the xevy devil at business, that he now
gave up all inquiries how I was able to make such reports, for he
had ocular demonstration. He declared he could not alter a word,
and that I must have sat up all night or worked by witchcraft, for
that, for his part, he could not have written so much in a fortnight.
I am very glad it so happened, for they had all been, last March,
inquiring how it was I could write such elegant reports in so short
a time, wanted to know did I dictate to two clerks or more at a
time, &c. They could not believe that I first drafted, with my
own hand, every word of my reports, before I had them copied ;
now they have full proof on a very trying and difficult emergency.'

A postscript dated the next day shows what was thought of
these services at the time by the Fishmongers' Company.

' I dined yesterday with the Company, and had all the Members
contending for me. As I was kept there on business till near four,
I had to run home to change, and was too late. Mr. Mills dined
there on purpose to meet me, and kept a vacant seat ; but although
Mr. Sampson the author and I came together, he was sent to the
foot, and the Prime Warden kept his right-hand chair vacant for
me, and would let me sit nowhere else. He took care to tell me,
that the last public day the Duke of Gloucester sat where I did, as
the post of honour. There were many strangers, above twenty
baronets and knights, bankers, &c., &c., aldermen, &c. ; mine
was the only health drunk, except public characters not present,
during the sitting of the court.'

It is pleasant to be able to add that the gratitude of the Fish-
mongers' Company was no ephemeral feeling. More than three
years after the death of Archibald Hamilton, in the year 1823,
they offered to his brother James, as a token of their appreciation
of his brother's services, the living of Tamlaght Finlagan in the
diocese of Derry, a living at that time of near £1000 a-year :
but the right of the Company to present to it was successfully
disputed in a lawsuit by the Bishop of the diocese.

24. Life of Sir Willimn Rowan Hamilton.

Hamilton's uncle and educator, James Hamilton of Trim,
was a man of great natural capacity and strength of mind. And
the capacity of his mind was filled and its strength confirmed by
thorough University training. His private tutor before entrance
was an eminent scholar, Mr. Miller, at that time Fellow of Trinity
College, Dublin, afterwards Head Master of Armagh School, and
author of a well-known work on the Philosophy of History. The
career of James Hamilton at the University was distinguished.
By inspection of the collegiate records of the terminal examina-
tions, I have verified this statement. To the end of his under-
graduate course his judgments were generally of the highest, and
he obtained both premiums and certificates, the honours of that
day, thus taking rank among the leading men of his class. He
appears to have been ordained at the earliest allowable age, for
in 1802 his mother, then living with him, writes of him as Curate
of Trim, and keeping school there. His character both as a
scholar and a clergyman stood in the highest rank. A proof of
scholarship extending to several oriental languages is extant in
his paper on the Punic passage in Plautus, which received the
honour of publication in the Transactions of the Royal Irish
Academy; and as a clergyman the fact that he was called on to
preach a Visitation sermon is an indication that his ability and
influence were recognised by his Diocesan : and yet from his
entrance into the ministry to his death in 1847, when he had
reached his three score years and ten, he remained Curate of
Trim. In ten years after his appointment as such there was
indeed conferred upon him by the then Bishop of Meath the
addition to his curacy of a small rural parish in the neighbour-
hood, of which the net annual value was £140, the parish of
Almoritia. Notwithstanding that his high character was main-
tained to the end, and that ten children were born to him,
this was the extent of professional provision which fell to his
lot. The fact cannot, I think, but be considered to involve a
serious reproach upon the authorities with whom at that time lay
the distribution of Church patronage. The reproach, I am happy to

His Uncle yames. 25

say, does not extend to the nephew who had received his paternal
care and invaluable instruction. Repeatedly, after Sir William
Rowan Hamilton had obtained a position of eminence, did he make
application on behalf of his uncle to Ai'chbishops and Bishops of the
Church, and to successive Yiceroys. The merits of the claim were
often acknowledged in words, but beyond the offer of another
school, at a stage of his life when such a change was scarcely
to be contemplated, disappointment was the invariable result. A
tardy reparation of this neglect was made in 1854, by the good
feeling of Earl St. Grermans, who, upon the application of Sir
William Rowan Hamilton, presented to the Crown living of
Loughcrew the only surviving son of James Hamilton. The
gratitude and affection of Hamilton towards his uncle were ma-
nifested continuously up to the time of his death, by letters
seeking advice, imparting confidences, communicating progress
in study, and scientific discoveries — letters eagerly craved and
warmly acknowledged by him to whom they were addressed;
but I grieve to add that I have not been able to enrich this
biography with what would have been such peculiarly interest-
ing records. The Rector of Loughcrew has informed me that
no such letters are now to be found. The fact is truly to be
deplored. Scarcely indeed is it possible to imagine that they
were not treasured up by one who was so attached to the writer,
and so capable of appreciating their value ; but Mr. Hamilton
adds : ' my dear father . . . who was indeed a man of great
ability and learning, and of most charming versatility, as well
as power and originality of mind, was not systematic, or
careful of his papers : and I have often grieved to think that
there remain the merest scraps and remnants of them, sufficient
to indicate in the vaguest way the learning, research, refined
and critical taste, poetry, philosophy, wit, pathos and sentiment,
of which he was full, and which I seem to remember more dis-
tinctly, and value more fully in my old age, than in former years.'
The letters of James Hamilton to his nephew were preserved by
the latter, and enable me to bear witness, as I have done above, to

26 Life of Sir William Rowan Haviilton.

their contents, and to what his son truly calls his power and origi-
nality of mind. He retained an interest in scientific investigations
as well as in theology and classics : one of his letters starts a theory
connected with the distinction of musical sounds ; another discusses
the application of astronomical phenomena to a particular point in
history; and his comments on his nephew's communications of ma-
thematical discoveries show his power of entering into their nature
and estimating their importance. His nephew, too, for many years
after entering upon manhood, sought for his advice in the critical
moments of his life, and that advice was given with the careful
consideration and warm sympathy of a wise paternal friend.
James Hamilton married early in life Miss Elizabeth Boyle, a
niece of Mrs. Peter La Touche, of Belle Vue, in the county of
Wicklow, and left surviving him, besides the son above mentioned,
four daughters, two of whom, as missionaries in the East, have
since manifested their possession of hereditary energy.

Jane Sydney Hamilton, the sister of these two brothers,
Hamilton's ' Aunt Sydney,' was also no ordinary person. It is
principally from her reports to his mother that we learn the
particulars of his early progress, a progress which she had doubt-
less no inconsiderable share in promoting and guiding. For
Aunt Sydney was herself a scholar: among the letters handed
down are several from her to Miss Hannah Hutton, a first
cousin of her brother Archibald's wife, in which she gives to her,
then beginning the study of Hebrew, solid and clear instruction.
This fact renders more easUy credible the very early acquirement
of this language by her nephew. That she could also assist him
in Latin is proved by a touching circumstance recorded in a
detailed and interesting account of her death, contained in a
letter to a friend from Archibald Hamilton. She had for years
suffered with remarkable fortitude and patience from a cancerous
affection, to which in October, 1814, her constitution at last
succumbed. Her death-bed was a scene of religious faith tri-
umphing oves pain and looking forward to union with the

Aunt Sydney and Cousin Arthur. 27

Saviour, and her brother in describing it introduces the following
incident : —

* Her literary attainments were concealed, but were most ex-
tensive and deep. The morning of her death, her physicians,
fearing to alarm her, said in Latin that all they could do was to
contrive some liquid to keep her mouth wet, and to ease her
pain ; she raised herself, and replied in Latin that they might save
themselves that trouble, as she found the mortification had com-
menced, and that she hoped she would not be disturbed by any
more medicine. She thanked them all for their kindness and
closed her eyes, then clasped her hands in prayer, and never
opened her eyes more, though she could hear a whisper, made
signals for prayer, and answered any spiritual consolations offered,
by motions of her hand.'

She died at the age of thirty-five, in Dominick-street, Dublin,
whither she had gone from Trim to receive the best medical
advice, and where she was most kindly attended in her illness
by her brother Archibald and his wife. She was buried in St.
Mary's churchyard on the 28th of October, in the year above
mentioned, as is attested by the parish register of that date. Her
nephew was at the time only nine years of age, and her death
must have been to him a very serious loss.

Arthur Hamilton was not many months younger than his
first cousin James, yet exercised upon the children of Archibald a
different but scarcely less beneficial influence. The difference
was partly due to the fact that he had no recognised authority
over them, partly to his peculiarly amiable and genial disposition,
which rendered him the loved companion as well as friend of his
young cousins. He was, as I have said, son of Alderman Francis
Hamilton, entered College at the end of 1791, the year of James's
entrance in May, but proceeded in the class of the following year.
He, too, in the terminal examinations obtained always high judg-
ments, and was twice awarded the premium in his division. He
became in due time a barrister with good practice, was in 1821 a

28 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton.

candidate for the post of Recorder of Dublin — a fact which indi-
cates the position he held in his profession — and subsequently was
appointed the legal magistrate in the Head Office of the Metropoli-
tan Police. He died unmarried in the year 1841, at the age of
sixty-five. His house in South Cumberland-street was the Dublin
home of Hamilton and his sisters. Here, after their father's death,
they met for holidays dm-ing their school period, and later on it
was resorted to by them all when it served some need of business,
or when his warm affection invited them either to visit him singly,
or to meet around his hearth. It is not from hearsay merely that
I speak of Arthur Hamilton. I can look back upon the pleasm"e
of joining not unfrequently those family gatherings in Dublin,
and at the Observatory; and I remember vividly how, by his
countenance beaming with good-nature, his cordially sympathetic
manner, and his combination of cheerful wit, solid sense, and a
peculiarly engaging modesty, he added to the happiness of all
about him. The poet "Wordsworth could not be said to be a
genial man, though he had his genial times, but he delighted
in genial men ; and Arthur Hamilton, on the single occasion of
their meeting at the Observatory, at once passed into his heart,
and was long after asked for by him, not as the mere relative of
a friend, but as one cared for on his own account. Into his
young kinsman's gifts, his progress, and his successes, he entered
from the first with a loving admiration and delight, and he
failed not, as time went on, to give him, in addition to affection
and sympathy, the support of well-weighed counsel and manifold
information, which, coming from a man of affairs and knowledge
of the world, was often of great value to the inexperienced open-
hearted idealist.

No cloud ever passed over a connexion which had brightened
his life, and he had the satisfaction of breathing his last in the
arms of the human being who had been his chief pride and joy.

His Childhood. 29

CHAPTER III.

HIS CHILDHOOD.

The reader must be prepared to meet in this chapter with
passages from letters which otherwise might strike him as of
too domestic a character for introduction into a biography, and
it is true that I might have extracted and condensed the facts
they record, and narrated them in my own language. Had I
done so, however, although space might have been economised
and all material facts preserved, they would have lost not a
little of the naive charm which original records possess and
impart, and even that portion of the evidence for their reality
which adheres to such records, not passing on to secondary
testimony. And I have thought that in this instance the facts
deserved and required the fullest evidence. It will be re-
membered that the young Hamilton was born on August 3-4,
1805. At the time of his birth in Dominick-street, his father
was in the county of Down, arranging business matters con-
sequent on the death of Mr. Gawen Hamilton at Killileagh
Castle, but he came up to Dublin to be present at the christen-
ing of his child. This took place on the 24th of the same
month, the sacred rite being administered by the Rev. B. W.
Matthias, the pastor and friend of the family, and then Chaplain
of the Bethesda Church, in the parish of St. Mary. It would
appear that immediately after the christening, the mother, with
her two childi-en Grace and William, went to Trim on a visit
to her brother-in-law; for on the 31st of August she writes from
that place to her husband, who had returned to the North, a letter
which gives us the first glimpse of the boy's individuality. She
reports, as being struck with something uncommon in its degree,
that under the irritation of some infantile complaint he exhibited

30 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1808.

a placidity of temper not easily to be discomposed. They returned
to Dublin, and her next report of him, written on the 23rd July
of the following year, when he was nearly a year old, was that
he was a well-developed child and already walking stoutly. Not
long after the last date his intellect must have shown itself to be
remarkable, for it led to the decision on the part of his parents
to commit without delay their child's education to the care of his
uncle and his aunt Sydney at Trim. There is extant a series of
letters from the latter to his mother, giving her an account of his
progress ; and beginning, as they do, in the month after he had
attained his third year, they indicate that he had then been for
some time an inmate in his uncle's house. The wisdom of this
measure was abundantly proved by the result, and it does credit
not only to the sagacity but to the self-denial of his parents,
that they could bring themselves, with a view to his ultimate
advantage, so early to part with a child whose abilities would
have ministered day by day equally to their pleasure and their
pride. What appears to be the first letter of this series, though
it has no date, was probably written on his third birth-day, and
amusingly exhibits his physical vigour ; those which follow in-
troduce and carry on a history of the corresponding vigour of the
child's intellect.

From Aunt Sidney to the Mother of W. R. H.

'Teim[1808].

* Willy is, thank God, very well, and as impudent as ever ; if

he goes on every three years in the same way, he will

^**'^^d^^" be a hopefvd blade ; if any of the boys says a word to

him that he does not like, he immediately replies, " if

you do not take care I'll give you a good kicking"; he sometimes

makes some three times his age fly before him. I believe it is a

General he is to be, in place of an Admiral, for if he gets a stick,

it is a gun, and anything that makes a noise is a drum, and you

would laugh to hear him singing and trying to beat time ; when

he is marching, head and all goes. This must be nature, for

where has he seen it ? '

AETAT. 3.] His Childhood. 31

From the Same to the Same.

' Teim, September 18, 1808.

* Your dear little Willy is very well and improving very fast ;
indeed James pays unremitting attention to him, and
Willy is a very apt scholar, and yet how he picks up and^^"

.-(•xi API 1 t • 1 °nG month.

everything i know not, lor he never stops playing and
jumping ahout; I sometimes threaten to tie his legs when he
comes to say his lessons. When the boys are reading the Bible,
James calls him in to read, principally to shame some boys who
are double his age, who do not read near so well, and you would
really laugh to hear the consequential manner with which he
reads. He is laying by the small books for Eliza, who he
supposes is spelling by this.' *

From the Same to the Same.

* Teim, October 17, 1808.

' )

* Your son and heir is, thank God, very well ; indeed he looks
better these few days than ever I saw him ; and though
it certainly must be trying to you to be so long without ^ Inl^^^

1 . I T ^ l^ • 111 -1 two months.

seeing him, yet i hope the improvement he has made
will, when you see him, make some amends. I need not say that
he is taken every care of; and now, as I know it is the most agree-
able subject I can write on to you, I will give you an account of
the plan that has been pursued with him. He has never yet spelled
a lesson in a book, and though he can read and spell the most
difficult words, he is not yet out of monosyllables. James printed
on cards every word he has yet spelled; he began with every
monosyllable in which A was the principal letter, and so on
alphabetically, never beginning a new set till he could spell
them off book and on book ; every spelling-book and dictionary
was searched ; it was for that purpose he got Johnson's Dictionary,
so that he is now completely grounded in words that most children
are very deficient in, and indeed many grown people. I am sure
there are some words in his collection that I never heard; he is
going through them now for the last time, and James is now

* She was but eighteen months old.

32 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [lft09.

preparing words of two syllables. James attributes bis so soon
reading well to tbis plan ; so mucb for tbat part : now for tbe
manner bis time is laid out : — be runs about tbe garden for some
time, as be says bimself, to get an appetite for bis breakfast, tben
spells and reads a cbapter to me, tben runs about till about one,
wben be reads in tbe scbool, and tben goes to bis uncle, wbo bas a
card witb strokes cut out, wbicb be makes bim do a few of every
day ; be says in about six years, if it pleases God to spare bim, be
expects be will be a fine writer : be tben plays till tea-time, wben
maps cut out in different ways are brougbt forward, tben aritb-
metic as far as ten is gone tbrougb in addition, subtraction, multi-
plication ; be bas only got as far as ten yet. He begs me to tell
bis dada and you tbat be bas grown a famous leaper, tbat bis
uncle is teacbiug bim to leap like little Tom Wbite in tbe Book of
Oames, and tbat be can clear bis bat witb bis feet close togetber.
You may be sure be is taugbt as mucb bymns, and bas tbem and
tbe Bible as mucb explained to bim, as be can at present under-
stand ; as all tbose operations were suspended during Arcby's [bis
f'atber's] stay, be could not give an account of tbem. James [bis
uncle] would not be pleased if be knew I was telling you, for be
tbinks to surprise you greatly, or ratber did tbink, for since Arcby
saw bim you know everytbing, so James tbinks now you will
expect too mucb.'

Tbe description of tbe metbod adopted by bis uncle in teacb-
iug bim to spell is notewortby. It may be tbat tbis searcb tbrougb
spelling-books and dictionaries for all tbe monosyllables in wbicb
A occurs, and so on alpbabetically, was an example to bim at tbree
years of age of tbat tborougb and exbaustive mode of researcb and
induction wbicb in after years be practised in every brancb of study.

From the Same to the Same.

'Teim, 1809.

'I made Willy read tbat part of your letter about Eliza,

for reading writing is one of bis accompUsbments,

and and bow be learned it I know not, except tbat

wben bis uncle was writing be used to ask wbat tbe

different letters were.'

AETAT. 4.] His CJiildJiood. '^2i

From fhc Same to the Samk.

' Willy is very well, but not pleased with the carman, who was
in too great a hurry to listen to him ; he therefore attached him-
self to Fotterell the smith, who was at work here, and who, thougli
one of the most savage men in the county of'Meath, sat for a
quarter of an hour listening to him reading a poem, and seemed
quite delighted.'

From the Same to the Same.

' TiiiM, November 6th, 1809.

' Willy is charmingly, thank Grod. We were invited to dine
some days ago at Mr. Elliot's [then vicar of Trim], and
they said if Willy did not come they would send an and
express for him, so I brought him to tea, as / did not
choose to go to dinner, having refused everyone else. Mr. Elliot
had never heard him repeat anything before, and I never saw
anyone so delighted as he was with him ; Captain Mockler was
there; they got him to read for them, and were greatly astonished
at his reading with the book upside down (which Archy saw him
do), they then turned the book every way, and every way Willy
read well ; I never saw Mr. Elliot laugh so miich, for, as Willy
has no idea of fear, all the little amusing tricks he would play at
home he played there. James was to dine next day at the
Captain's, and he begged we would let Willy [go] ; but as when
he is well I like to keep him so, I was determined on that subject,
and of course kept him at home ; but the moment James went in,
the Captain began to talk of him; the room was full of gentlemen,
both belonging to the town and from Kells, Navan, &c., &c., but
Willy was the subject of conversation the most of the evening.
Mr. Elliot declared that such a child he had never seen, and that
he was certain there was not another such in Ireland, that he not
only read well, but was made to understand what he read. Mr.
Wainright was astonished ; he had never heard of all this before.
I went out to visit the other day, and every place I went I was
told Mr. Elliot had been there telling about Willy, and that he
could talk of nothing else ; but if he knew half the things Willy
knows, he would indeed be astonished; but I must hold my tongue

34 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [isio.

or it will blab, and I must keei3 something to tell you anotlier
time. I now tell you a piece of wit of bis which, / think, was
excellent. Mrs. Fox of Foxbrook called yesterday to pay a visit
and to try, she said, if she could prevail on James to take her
eldest son, who is a year older than Willy, as a boarder, she
having heard so much, she said, of Willy's progress, that she
would give anything to have him under James. James said he
would consider of it, that certainly if he took any it would be
young children ; but, to return to Willy, 8he said to him, " will
you come with me, my love, to Foxbrook?" "No," says he, in
a very impudent way. "Pray," says his uncle, "what sort of an
answer is that, sir ? " "a Fox's answer," says Willy.*

' ' Halloo ! cries the Farmer, you thief of a Fox,

* ' You've been I suppose at the hens and the cocks ;

" But in vain from their perches to scare them you tried,"

(And then in the archest tone of voice he said),

" So you thought that you'd give Mr. Groosy a ride."

The little poem, you know, says ^' Mrs. Groosy," so that by his
changing it, it was evident that he knew what he was about. The
poor woman was thunderstruck ; but you would have thought
James would go into fits with laughing, though he was trying to
keep it in as much as possible.'

From the Same to the Same.

'Trim, 1809.

' Your dear Willy is very well. For him you cannot be too

thankful, he is a most sensible little creatm-e, but at the

""Ind^"^^ same time has a great deal of roguery about him. James

ree mon . ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ j^^ much out, f Or fcar of his being spoiled

by praise, for he says he thinks that is the reason so few children
grow up clever.'

* Meaning evidently a tit answer to a Fox.

AETAT. 4.] His CliildJiood. 35

From the Same to the Same.

' Teim, November 27, 1809.

' Do you know (though I never observed it to James) that I
think he has at different times seemed very much
struck with different verses of Watts's hymns and and
psalms which Willy has, without being bid, repeated """

with great energy ; this may, however, be only fancy

"We were all delighted to hear such pleasing accounts of Grace
[who had gone to Ayrshire on a visit to her grand-aunt Campbell] ;
James says he will write to her; Willy says with a great air,
"then, uncle, pray tell her I am perfectly satisfied with her, and
will give her a jaunt in my car"; then he was greatly puzzled to
know what he was to do with Eliza, for that the car would not
hold them both ; his uncle told him Grace must get the first, as she
was the eldest, that he might say to Eliza that he loved her very
much, but that as Grace was the eldest and the best girl, she must
get the first jaunt: "O no," says he, "I can't tell Eliza that, I
may say Grace is the eldest ; but you know, uncle, I could not say
to Eliza she was the bed; I dare say Eliza knows it, but you know
I need not say it to her." His uncle says, his dada must, if he
pleases, buy him a nice little glohe for a Christmas-box, the skeleton
maps are too trifling for hi% mind.''

From tlie Same to the Same.

'Tkim, 1810.

I must say, without I think being too partial, that few
children would appear to much advantage in the
same house with Willy, who is so accustomed to obey, ami ""^
that he would not think of disputing anything he was
desired to do.'

five months.

36 Life of Sir William Rowan HawHton. [isio.

From his Mother to her sister Mary Hutton.

'1810.

' M}^ dear Mary, I have put off from day to day writing to you,

till I am almost ashamed of myself ; but I had William

and in town, and he took up my whole thoughts : he is one

five months. „ , . . i -i i • • 'i •

01 the most surprising children you can imagine ; it is
scarcely credible : he not only reads well, but with such nice
judgment and point, that it would shame mau}^ who have finished
their education. His reciting is astonishing, and his clear and
accurate knowledge of geography is beyond belief; he even
draws the countries with a pencil on paper, and will cut them
out, though not perfectly accurate, yet so well that anybody
knowing the countries could not mistake them ; but you will
think this nothing when I tell you that he reads Latin, Greek,
and Hebrew ! ! It is truly funny to see the faces some of
the Wise Heads put on after examining him : they first look
incredulous ; then they look as if he said it as a parrot would ; but
after an examination of various books and various parts of the same
book, and when sometimes, to correct those who from long neglect
to read these dead languages have forgotten some letters, he puts
them in, — if they say no, he says, "well but it is so," and when
they must agree with him, he says, " now see tlie advantage of
attending to what you read " — they stare ; then say that it is wrong
to let his mind be so overstocked. They cannot suppose that all
this is learned by him as play, and that he could no more speak or
play as children in general do, than he could fly. Everything he
must have a reason for. The things at dinner are the different,
countries of the world ; if he wants his handkerchief tied round
his throat, it is — please put this round my Isthmus ; if his eye
itches, it is his east eye, or his west. He reads the Hebrew with
points. H. H. is learning it without. She, being rather incredu-
lous, brought her book, to see the difference of pronunciation, and
what was the advantage of points. She read for him, but he got
so vexed at her persevering to pronounce the words so differently
from what it is with points, that he began to cry most piteously,
and came and told me she went to examine him, and that she
knew nothing about it at all, that she called her letters wrong, and
could not say Hnshamaim* as it should be said, or any other part

* Gen. i. 1.

AETAT. 1.] His Childhood. 37

any more than a dunce. We had some trouble to pacify him, and
after that, if he was asked to read Hebrew, he always asked, " do
you read with points ? " But by this time you are completely
tired of a mother's enthusiasm about her prodigy of a son.'

From Aunt Sydney to his Mother.

'January 18, 1810.

' The canal was almost one sheet of ice, it was really awful in
the lakes to hear the ice tumbling down. When day

*-■ tour years

appeared, and Willy looked out, he very naturally ^^nt^s
observed that he believed we were going to the North
Pole, for he could see nothing but ice.

* The moment Willy got to Trim he seemed anxious to resume
his former pursuits, and would not eat his breakfast this morning
till his uncle heard him his Hebrew, and he made a very serious
complaint of H. H.'s improper pronunciation.'

From the Same to the Same.

' Februarj/ 20, 1810.

' Willy is going on well, but James is not pushing him on ; he
is, however, I think, increasing daily in knowledge.
This severe weather has kept him from visiting, at . and

(, , 1 . . T SIX months,

which I am very glad, for he was beginning to have

a great share of self-complacency, but is now, I am happy to say,

returned to his little careless, innocent ways. . . .

'Willy is very well, thank God, and very good; he was highly
delighted with the form of prayer which came by post for his
uncle, for he said he never saw a holy newspaper before. One of
the lessons was from Romans, wherein love to one another is re-
commended; so when he came home he said "Aunt, I think Mr.
Elliot preaches the eleventh commandment. You know the new
one says ' love one another: ' " it showed great attention.

' I never take him to church now except on a day when there is
to be no sermon, for he has not patience to sit it out ; even on
Wednesday he said, out loud, when the litany was over, " when do

38 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [I810.

you intend to take me home?" And he is not a young gentleman
to be frightened into good behaviour,'

Fvom the Same to the Same.

' May, 1810.

* Willy began in a very high-flown style when he went into

the boat, but very soon found he was rather too high

and for his company ; he therefore very cleverly adapted

himself to them for the rest of the way, by talking as

much folly as he could, and they declared they had never met

a more sensible boy.'

From the Same to the Same.

'Trim, 3fay ISIO.

'Willy, thank God, is very well. James will not agree to his
being bathed till the first of June, as the mornings are still very
sharp, and we must submit to the higher powers; indeed we must
sometimes submit to the lower ones ; for as the first of June falls
on a Friday, Rose [their servant] assures me I had better wait till
Monday. Friday is not considered a lucky day to begin anything,
so I suppose I must give it up, particularly as I dare say Willy
would object to being bathed on Saturday, for he says we should
keep both that and Sunday holy, the one being the Jewish and
the other the Cliristian Sabbath.

' There was some part of the rails near the hall door in a very
bad way : Willy, however, thought proper to finish them by pitch-
ing them into the court. I asked him how he came to do it ; he
told me it was to show in a metaphorical sense the horribleness of
having them in that state.

' He is at present in his forest, where he works with his spade
and holds converse with imaginary wild beasts. He sends his love
and many kisses to all.'

'[1810.]

' Willy is as comical as ever ; the moment he came in he got
his Hebrew letters to show Grrace.'

AETAT. 0.] His CJiildhood. 39

From Aunt Sydney to one of his Mother's Sisters.

' Juhj 9, 1810.

' Yom^ nephew is, I thank God, well, and as bright as ever; he
has begun to dance, or as the man who is teaching him
very pompously says, to learn the grammar of dancing. and
He beats time and does the positions wonderfully, con-
sidering he is but a week learning. He astonishes his master by
correcting himself whenever he goes wrong, and disturbs his gra-
vity by kicking up his heels in the most comical manner sometimes,
and asking him can he tell him what position that is.'

From his Mother to his Father.

' Trim, August 14, 1810.

' The dear children are well, and when the weather permits are
constantly in the garden. Willy is as fond as usual of
using his Hebrew or Latin on any occasion that strikes Fi^e^years
his imagination. Mr. Boot breakfasted here yesterday,
and Willy at breakfast looking into his mug said, "Aunt, my mug
is hohuy^ which signifies empty, or rather void. You would be
amazed to hear him translating the first chapters of Genesis, and
very anxious to get to the account of the flood.'

From Aunt Sydney to his Mother.

» '[1810.]

' Willy, despairing of success in teaching Rose Hebrew, is
now trying to instruct her in the different figures of
speech. You would have been amused had you heard F'^^^years
him the other day giving her examples of a simile.
He compared himself to a tree that bringeth forth good fruit,
and assured her that simi/e was the Latin for like; " and now, Ilose,
I will give you another example : suppose I compare you to a tree
that brings forth bad fruit, don't you see the likeness there ? Well
that is a simile." '

40 JLiJi oj Sir M'illiam Rowcdi HmniUun. [1811,

Froia Aunt Sydney to Im Mother.

'Tkim, 1810.

' Mr. Elliot took him the other day to visit a Mr. Winter,
who lives about two miles off, and educates both his
^'^oid^^" girls and boys at home ; he was very much astonished :
and James, who went also to return a visit, said he
never saw Willy behave so well. He repeated Dryden's and
Collins's Ode inimitably, read both English and Greek, and re-
peated his Hebrew, for Mr. Elliot insisted on his giving them
a little of everything. There was a Mr. Montgomery with the
Elliots the other day ; he is curate to Mr. Elliot's northern living,
and takes a certain number of boys. We were there: they had
been talking a great deal of Willy to him, however he looked on
it as all nonsense, till after tea Mr. Elliot got a Greek Homer,
and desired Mr. Montgomery to examine him. When he opened
the book he said, " oh this book has contractions, Mr. Elliot, of
course the child cannot read it." " Try him, sir," said James.
To his amazement Willy went on with the greatest ease. Mr.
Montgomery dropped the book and paced the room; but every
now and then he would come and stare at Willy, and when he
went away, he told Mr. and Mrs. Elliot that such a thing he had
never heard of, and that he really was seized with a degree of
awe that made him almost afraid to look at Willy. He would
not, he said, have thought so much of it had he been a grave,
quiet child ; but to see him the whole evening acting in the most
infantine manner and then reading all these things, astonished
him more than he could express.'

From the Same to the Same.

' Trim, January 4, 1811.

' Willy is as great an original as ever : " Pray can you find out

any similitude between a participle and a mule?" what

and mama, I will answer for, cannot do, her son can ;

he says that as a mule is between an ass and a horse,

so a participle is between a noun and a verb : this discovery he

made yesterday morning while saying his Hebrew grammar.'

AKTAT. f).] His Childhood. 41

From the Same to the Same.

'Trim, Jammnj Uth, 1811.

* You would find it difficult to puzzle him in addition or multi-
plication ; but even in that he must go some stranp^e

1 ' . 1 -n rive years

way, unless he is fouffht with. Sometimes he will and

•^ ' '-' , . ^. ;M1 nve months.

he several days that he will not eat his dinner till
he has repeated something, which at those times he does admi-
rably ; at others it is with difficulty he can be prevailed on. The
present rage is Milton, which James makes Grace and him read
a little of every evening.'

From the Same to the Same.

'Tkim, 1812.

' Willy is the same old thing ; his favourite play at present is
the Troian war, and which he makes Grrace assist in ; it ^.

•" PI ^'^ years

is laughable enough to hear them, for they perform the . and

IIP 1 1 • 1 IT SIX months.

parts both of mortals and immortals ; and 1 am sony
to say, Jove, Juno, Minerva, and the rest of the gods and goddesses
(for they take them all in turn) very often fall out, as Jove at
times is rather overbearing, and Juno, like her namesake, not very
patient. They do better in the field, as Grace is then his swift-
winged messenger, which pleases her much better, as the war is
forgot in the chase after the sheep. I found him in the garden
the other day at the stump of an old tree, with some bit of old
iron ; he told me not to disturb him, for he was Vulcan, and very
busy. He is very good, and his observations on the Bible and
religious subjects are really sm-prising. His spirits are very great.'

From the Same to the Same.

'Tkim, 1811-12.

* I wish you could see them [the children] dancing of an
evening ; you may be sure the music is very fne, when
Grace is the musician ; indeed it is hard to say whether . and

. . T SIX months.

their feet or tongues move fastest ; Grace is distrest that

Willy will not learn the Highland fling, but he assures her that

the " Tiger and Lion fliug," which he dances, is much finer.'

42 Life of Sir William Rowan Hainilton. [1813.

From the Same to the Same,

'Tkim, April 6, 1S12.

' In the meantime tell Eliza, that we hope you u-ili hring her to

see us before summer, and that Willy and Grace send

and her many kisses, and intend to write her a letter.

Willy says, to be sure he was never taught to write,

but thinks she may make it out ; and I beg you may admire his

economy : he requests I may not give him the best paper, as that,

he thinks, would be great waste, as he writes so badly. He is,

thank Grod, very well.'

From the Same to the Same.

' Tkim, 3Iay 15, 1812.

* Willy goes on as usual ; he is translating Homer and Virgil,

and is quite master of the Hebrew. When I called

and him this morning, he told me that though Diana had

long withdrawn her pale light, yet that Aurora had

scarce unbarred her gates, and therefore he begged to be allowed

to lie still.'

From the Same to the Same.

• Trim, 3Imj 30, 1812.

' It would make you laugh to hear William and Grrace address-
ing Pan and Flora during their rambles through the fields.

' Willy says a race of lawyers must exist as well as any other
business, and one of them he is determined to be. He is at present
lying on Neptune [the dog], addressing him in a very poetical
strain, but Derham complains he is growing very arch.'

From the Same to the Same.

' Trim, 1813.

' Willy is, thank Grod, charmingly. ... He found an old

hinge to-day in the garden, which he assures me is an

and antient spur formerly used in battle ; and he brought

six months. p -• i • ^.^ l T

forward so many reasons to convince me, tuat i was
obliged to appear perfectly satisfied. Kose and he had rather a

AET.vT. (S.] His Childhood. 43

warm dispute about it. I would not be surprised if he insisted
upon my taking it up to bis aunt Mary.'

Fro7n his Mother to her Sister.

'3fai/ 1, 1813.

' We bad a most pleasing letter from James Hamilton to-day,
saying that be could now say that William was master

nil 111 I'l' Seven years

of tbree lanffua^es, and tbat be prepares bis business and

. 1 1 • ■ 1 1 "'"'^ months.

Without any assistance, and that it is always correct.
He also says that be finds so little difficulty in learning French
and Italian, that be wishes to read Homer in French. He is
enraptured with the Iliad, and carries it about with him, spout-
ing from it whatever particularly pleases him. This will give
you pleasure to hear, and was very gratifying to us.'

Extract from a diary of an excursion in the Co. Wickloic, hy his
Cousin Hannah Hutton, who teas one of the party.

'September, 1813.

' I took a little walk up the road with William, and was much
pleased listening to this interesting little boy, whilst .
be was reading to me parts of the 2nd canto of The and

one month.

ohipwreck.

'As we passed through the Scalp, William amused us by all at
once expressing with animation bis feelings in Latin. I was
curious to know what they were ; I asked him therefore to trans-
late what be was saying, as I did not know the language ; be very
readily complied. I was greatly surprised to find, on further
questioning him, tbat the composition was bis own; for though
I knew he was a child of extraordinary genius, I could hardly
think it possible for a boy of his years to have such enlarged
ideas. His subject was an address to Nature and Art, delivered
in a bold and manly style ; be concluded it by asking pardon of
the latter for preferring the former greatly before her. Each face
expressed satisfaction while listening to the little orator.'

44 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1814,

From Aunt Sydney to his Mother.

' Trim, June 17, 1814.

' James is very glad you are trying to get the new edition

of the Hebrew Testament ; he wishes you would get

and the second vol. of the one Archy got from Mercier two

years ago, corrected from the version published by Dr.

Hutter at Nuremberg, 1600,* and republished by Dr. Robertson at

London, 1661. The vol. he has contains the four Grospels. . . .

' Mr. Gresham was much astonished at William, who is now at

my elbow : he was swimming with his uncle this morning.'

From Ms Father to his Mother.

'London, September 29, 1814.

* I told you of the Arabic Bible for William. I hope he

may persevere, and may retain his proper regard for

and money as well as learning. I can manage anything

one month. ^ _ ^ , .,, ,

but my own money concerns, i hope ne will be
wiser.'

Archibald Hamilton to his daughter Gtrace of Fairjie/d.f

' Dublin, 29, Dominick-street,

' Jati. 30, 1815.

' William is not satisfied till he learns the mother tongue of

the Oriental languages, the Sanscrit, and I have written

and for the necessary books. Now my dear children, Grace

and Eliza, only look to this and be encouraged. Boys

are supposed to be idle, girls are supposed to be industrious ; but

your young brother is detei-mined not to relax a moment in his

pursuits. Providence is very gracious in giving me such a son,

and you such a brother. Now, my dear children, as life is un-

* Novum Testamentum syriace, hebraice, grcfce, latine, germanice, bohemice,
italice, htsjjanice, gal/ice, anglice, danice, jiolonice, studio et labore Elia Huttert.
Xorimbergce, lo99, 2 vol. in fol. \\b1 .^—B runet.

t The Moravian Settlement, near Manchester.

AETAT. 9.] His Child flood. 45

certain, and I may be called away, value as you ought such a
brother, and prove yourselves by your industry and attention
deserving of his support and countenance. I doubt not but you
will do so. Perhaps the Brethren may suggest a mode of getting
the Oriental translations or original grammars, etc., for William.
/ tcotUd spare no expense. Any of the Brethren's original vocabu-
laries, grammars, etc., of any coiDitnj William would be glad to
get at.'

Fro)n Archibald Hamilton to Mr. Beilby.

* 29, DOMINICK-STREET, DUBLIN,

' Mmj 18, 1815.

' William continues his even course of commanding and per-
severing talent. What he may turn out in maturer

. , , 11- i- Nine years

years it is hard to say ; but there is every reason tor and

, .-. 1 J 1 nine months.

a well-founded hope that he will at least be a very
learned man, and, I trust, also a very worthy character. His
thirst for the Oriental languages is unabated. He is now master
of most, indeed of all except the minor and comparatively pro-
vincial ones. The Hebrew, Persian, and Arabic are about to
be confirmed by the superior and intimate acquaintance with
the Sanscrit, in which he is already a proficient. The Chaldee
and Syriac he is grounded in, and the Hindoostanee, Malay,
Mahratta, Bengali, and others. He is about to commence the
Chinese, but the difficulties of procuring books is very great.
It cost me a large sum to supply him from London, but I hope
the money was well expended.'

Archibald Hamilton to his daughter Grace at FairfieU.

'Dublin, May 23 [1815.]

' William is very good and diligent — very fond also of his
Bible, and even amidst all his learning thinks that ^,.

. Nine years

the best. I hope you and Eliza think the same. . and

' P.S.— How did you like William's letter ? He "'"' "'""' ''
has a book in which he writes down a Journal or Diary of all
his new thoughts — all remarkable occurrences — the heads of all

46 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1815.

sermons he hears — any interesting conversation — any doubt
lie has on any text, or any improvement he thinks he has dis-
covered or can suggest, whether in Arts or Literature. So you
see he is not idle. Go thou and do likewise.'

I shall conclude these Extracts with the earliest letter of
William Eowan Hamilton which has come down ; it was ad-
dressed to his sister Grrace, who was still at Fairfield, and bears
date, Trim, December 14, 1815.

William Eowan Hamilton to his sister Grace.

^December 14, 1815.

' I have been for some time reading Lucian and Terence, the
Hebrew Psalter on Sundays, and on Saturdays some
and Sanscrit, Arabic, and Persian. I read at leisure hours
Goldsmith's Animated Nature, and any new history
or poetry that falls in my way. I like Walter Scott very much.
In arithmetic I have got as far as Practice, and I have done near
half the first book of Euclid with uncle. I do the antient and
modern geography of the different countries together. I do the,
second Lesson every morning in the Greek Testament, and on
Sunday after church go over the Scripture Lessons of the past
week with Doddridge's Notes and Improvement, and before
church I read Seeker on the Catechism, and in the evening
Wells' Scripture Geography, a very entertaining book. I fear
I have tired you with this account, but I wish for a similar one
from you of your studies, and have set you the example. I am
glad to hear you learn drawing, and hope you will some day or
other take a sketch of the old Castle, etc., at Trim. Do you learn
music ? '

In glancing back at these records of Hamilton's childhood
the reader should not look merely to the facts as they are succes-
sively set down, but collate them with the corresponding age of
the boy. It will then be noted that, continuing a vigorous child
in spirits and playfulness, he was at three years of age a superior
reader of English, and considerably advanced in arithmetic ; at

AETAT. 9.] His Childhood. 47

four a good geographer ; at five able to read and translate Latin,
Greek, and Hebrew, and loving to recite Drjden, Collins, Milton,
and Homer ; at eight he has added Italian and French, and gives
vent to his feelings in extemporised Latin, and before he is ten
he is a student of Arabic and Sanscrit. And all this knowledge
seems to have been acquired, not indeed without diligence, but
with perfect ease, and applied, as occasion arose, with practical
judgment and tact. And we catch sight of him, when only
nine, swimming with his uncle in the waters of the Boyne. In
this accomplishment he afterwards became a proficient.

48 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1816.

CHAPTER IV.

HIS SCHOOL-TIME.

The next seven years of Hamilton's life bring him over his
school-time, to the date (July, 1823) of his entrance into College ;
but in the year 1819 this period was divided about half way by
the death of his father, an event which made the character of the
latter half very different from that of the earlier portion. Great
as his attainments were for his age in this earlier portion, he con-
tinued throughout it to be the child developing into the boy.
His father's death became in the onward course of his life a
new point of departure, and from that time we shall see the boy
rapidly changing into the man.

I return now to the selection of extracts from his early letters.
Of these, the first three in my hands are addressed to his mother,
the last of them bearing date less than two months before her
death. They are childishly simple, full of facts, personal, domes-
tic, and local, most promiscuously poured out, some of them ex-
pressed with a quiet brevity that has a touch of humour.

' Trim, March 9, 1816.

[Age, lO^'^** 7™. J . . . ' I received your kind letter and
the translation of Lucian. Bessy [his cousin] is near a yard
long, and can walk very well alone. Tommy* and I are great
friends ; at first we took long walks, but latterly, being so busy,
we have not had time.'

His favourite sehoolfellow, now Thomas Fitzpatriek, M.D., of Dublin.

AKTAT. 11.] His School-time. 49

'Tbim, March a, 1817.

[Age, 11^'"^ 7"°.] 'I am sorry that I have heard no more of
going to town. The boat is on the river now, and I have been in
it. I subscribed at first 5s., but was returned 2.s. 6rtf. of it; and
the books I have been reading since are the 2nd volunie of The,
Duke of Clarence [?], and Sir Francis Bacon's Essays. The Assizes
here will commence soon, and I hope we will get holidays then,
and be let to see them ; for I was present at a public meeting held
here lately, and liked it very much.'

Trim, 3Iarch 18, 1817.

' Bessy is rather cross, but as she can speak a little she affords
us great amusement. Does Archianna continue as funny as she
used to be? I have finished the Satires of Horace, which I believe
is all of that book that is examined in at entrance. Two of us
bought a book called Sports, showing how to do curious things.
I read this in general now.'

He then gives an account of the weekly arrangement of
studies, and adds : —

' After school I ride the ass, or make small pits for the work-
men to fall into.* They are employed to dig up the field opposite
in ridges four or five feet deep. The Assizes ended on Thursday,
and we went to business on Friday. Those four men were not
executed either till Thursday.'

So that he had his wish of attending the Assizes. He con-
tinued long after to take an interest of more than curiosity in
these stated sessions of law. The last few words of extract just

* I have felt bound to insert this clause, because it records the only piece of
mischief knowa. to me in Hamilton's life.

50 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1816.

given show that the forfeit of lives solemnized those Sessions ; in
a subsequent letter he speaks of twenty-four men being tried for
murder at one Assizes, and fourteen of them sentenced to death.

[Age, W^ 9™.] Of the date [Dublin] May 28, 1817, we have
a saucy letter in Latin to his cousin Arthur, asking him when he
was going to be married, and reporting his bad success in not
being able either to see or hear on the first day of the Fellowship
Examination; but declaring his determination to secure a good
seat early the next morning. These bits reveal the genuine boy ;
but the impression already made by the totality of his powers is
indicated by the following passage in the letter quoted in a former
chapter, from his father to Mr. Steven : —

'August 17, 1816.

' You kindly enquire after my son ; he is pursuing his course
with unabated zeal and success, and if Providence should be
pleased to spare his life, I trust he will prove an ornament to
literature, and an enlightened and liberal member of society.
His advantages have been great, and his improvement commen-
surate.'

This passage expands into an excited anticipation of the
future career of his son, referring to his 'glowing imagination,'
his ' ardent mind ' — ' clear in perception,' ' acute in discrimina-
tion,' ' capable of all kinds of knowledge,' and of his ' correspond-
ing moral principles ' and ' comprehensive sympathies,' as warrant
for the highest hopes and exj)ectatious.

The document which next presents itself is a little manuscript
book of tliirty pages, thus formally intituled : —

AETAT. 11.] His ScJiool-tii7i€. 51

A SYEIAC GRAMMAR,

In Syriac letters and characters, compiled from that of Buxtorf,
translated into the English language and Syriac characters

WILLIAM HAMILTON, ESQ., OF

DUBLIN AND TRIM.

BEGUN

July the ^th, 1817, Anno Domini.
TRIM.

The conclusion is —

' Thus have I gone through what is necessary to be known
for reading and writing Syriac — the forms of their pronouns, and
of their regular nouns and verbs ; thus comprising in four chapters
the Rudiments of Syriac Grrammar. Soon may be expected an ac-
count of their irregular and indeclinable words, etc., with a Syntax.'

And the last page, representing the final cover of the book,
bears the inscription in varied and flowing characters : —

NUMBER I.

PRICE TENPENCE.

William
Hamilton.

Finished

July the 11th, 1817, Anno Domini*

TRIM.

The compilation seems carefully and thoroughly carried
through. The price he affixes to his Grammar indicates that

* Age, 11 years 11 months.
E 2

52 Life of Sir W^illiain Roivan Hamilton. [I817.

tenpennies were still current in Ireland. The next letter to his
sister Grace, dated July 5th, 1817, begins: — 'I received aunt's
letter on Sunday, I got the fivepenny piece under the seal.'
He proceeds : — * I deferred writing until after the visitation which
was held here on Thursday last. Uncle gave a very good sermon
then, which the Bishop, Dr. O'Beirne, liked very much. In the
first place there was the regular Church Service; then uncle
preached on "Be zealous," Revelation iii. 19; the Bishop next
delivered his charge. I have not desisted learning French, but
I am afraid it will be a great while before I can write French
letters. I read at leisure Blackstone' s Commentaries.''

At the end of this and the following letter he gives what he
calls shorthand, but is rather writing in a cryptic character, to
Grace, and the Greek alphabet to Eliza.

On the 10th July, 1817, he writes to his aunt m-ging pleas for
his being invited up to town in the approaching holidays, such
as ' that his birthday was to occur ; ' ' that he could take up his
books ; ' ' that fresh water was not so salutary for bathing as salt
water.' Dublin had always a great charm for him. His desire
was granted, and more than his desire, for in his school album,
under the title 'journey to Derry,' we have the following amusing
entry : —

[Age, 12j^^] 'Tuesday, August 12th, 1817, a. Ji.— First
Stage, Dublin. Got up at five o'clock ; had great trouble arrang-
ing books, papers, etc. The chaise went for Mr. Abbott ; when he
came we all set off and breakfasted at Glasnevan ; the country
about this place is uncommonly fine. We soon passed Sir Cump-
ton Dumville's demesne called Santry. Note. — Lord Santry was
hanged.* Went through Cloghran, where there is a church, and a
lime quarry under it, iindennining the church. We then came to
Swords, a pot-walloping borough, once the Archiepiscopal See of
Dublin ; some fine ruins and a Round Tower. Stopped to get
water for the horses ; two fine ostlers. Went by Leissenhall ; went

* Not an accurate statement. The sentence was not executed ; see The Irish
Bar, by J. R. O'Flanagan, pp. 7, 14. (London, 1879.)

AETAT. 12.] His School-time. 53

through Curduff and several insignificant villages. We then came
to the Man of War. Second Stage. — Went here into the garden,
where there was a tame crow, and palmtrees* resembling haycocks
with seats inside them. Went through Balruddery, where are the
ruins of a church and castle. Went through Balbriggan, where a
flag was waving on the Martello Tower. Went by Gormanstown
castle, which had a fine vista ; went over the bridge of Ballygarth.
Note. — The original owner got it for a grey horse and a crown. A
little after going up a steep hill we were completely locked in with
a cart. We passed Mr. Megranes. Note. — JVoi a doctor, for he is
a pock-marked man. We entered Drogheda by a road cut through
a rock.'

Referring to this exciting episode in his childhood's history, he
thus forty-four years afterwards writes of it to his friend Professor
De Morgan.

February 5, 1852. ' Since you tell me that you are so much
of a British Indian by descent, I must tell you that I was very
near being viade a Hiberno-Indian by my father, when I was a
child. My father was Archibald Hamilton, Esq. (I cannot find
it in my heart to omit the "Esquire"), of No. 29 (now 36) Domi-
nick-street, Dublin, and from anything that I have since heard
(for he died when I was only fourteen) he must have been in
the very first rank of Dublin solicitors. He must have had an
English and foreign connexion, for I remember well my going
with him in the year 1817, when I was twelve years old, almost
" en prince " in a luxurious post-chaise, or what then appeared to
me such, scattering half-pence or "bawbees" to poor people (a
very unwise thing, as I have since come to think), to the north of
Ireland — Derry, Newtown-Limavady, etc.; connected with each
of wliich places, as also with the Giants' Causeway, which we then
visited, I have this day a set of uneffaced although childish re-
membrances ; and I know that it was as agent to the Fishmongers'
Company of London, that he then visited ofiicially certain of their
estates ; the Giants' Causeway being probabl}^ thrown in to amuse,
or gratify, or instruct me. A few of my father's letters remain ;

* The Yew, in Ireland so called, as the Willow is in parts of England, because
adopted on Palm Sunday, in memorial celebration of the festival.

54 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1818.

he was a man of remarkable ability, and I must . . .' [Here
unfortunately the copy breaks off].

Of his progress in 1818 not much record survives. His father
had moved into a new house (18, Dominick-street, from 29), and
he was anticipating the removal from Trim of his uncle, a removal,
however, which did not occur. On the 29th of March he writes
to his father inquiring about the new house ; tells him that he is
learning Botany from Gl-race ; and asks him 'can a man after
being discharged by the Grand Jury be brought to trial again ? '
On the 14th August, 1818, he writes more fully : —

[Age, 13^' ^] 'I am very busy going over Homer and Yirgil,
and some other books, and have advanced a good deal in Science. I
have made a kind of epitome of Algebra in my large Album. lam
reading a little Italian in order to study the notes of an Italian
Yirgil that uncle has, and read Clairaut's Algebra in French.
Sydney is doing arithmetic with me, and is going on very well
in it. She does a little French and geography with aunt every
day, and reads part of the chapters, morning and evening, to
uncle, I reading the remainder in Hebrew and Grreek. I write
a little explanation of the catechism for her on Sundays. There
was an election for the county here some time ago. I was in the

court house, and Lord spoke, as I thought, very badly.

He was chaired with Sir Marcus Somerville, and afterwards went
to the top of the monument. There is to be no statue of Lord
"Wellington on the top of it, which will give it, I think, a very
vinfinished appearance. I bathe every morning, and often ride
in the evening on uncle's mare.'

The Epitome of Algebra to which he above refers is in the
album ambitiously entitled ' a Compendious Treatise of Algebra,
by William Hamilton,' and proceeds in six closely written folio
pages as far as quadratic equations, beginning with Newton's
definition. The first words of the 'Compendious Treatise' are,
' Algebra is defined Universal Arithmetic, because we deduce
from it universal operations.' The same album contains, written
about the same time, 1818, 'A grammar of the Sanscrit Lan-
guage extracted by William Hamilton' — 'An Arabic Praxis' —

AETAT. 14.] His ScJiool-thne. 55

'An Analysis of a passage in Syriac,' besides solutions of Walker's
questions in Arithmetic and Algebra, 'age cards' [?], and prob-
lems in the game of draughts.

The year 1819 was, as has been said, a critical one in
Hamilton's boyhood : it was a year in which his father's influence
was exerted upon him with great energy and activity, and in
which it was withdrawn by death, so as to be thereafter the
influence of a memory only.

To some criticisms on a letter of his to his father, which appear
to have been conveyed to him through his uncle, the boy made the
following reply, which strikes me as really admirable, for the com-
bination it displays of filial deference and personal humility with a
suggestion that his father might be rather unreasonably looking for
results, in the shape of letter- writing, which were not such as would
be the best product of the stage of cultivation at which he had
arrived, and which were incompatible with the devotion of his time
to taking in knowledge. This was probably the first studied letter
that he ever wrote ; and from this date a change in the style of his
letters may be observed, and with it a change in his handwriting ;
for at this time he came under the instruction of a Mr. Jones,
from whom he learned short-hand — a process of the advantages of
which he long continued to avail himself — and from whose rules
he derived that remarkably clear and regular cursive handwriting
by which he was ever after distinguished.

William Rowan Hamilton to hk Father.

' Tkim, March 4, 1819.

[Age, 13>"'* 7"\] ' I should have tried before this to write a
letter more to your liking than my last, but that till now my cold
has hung rather heavily upon me, and I might also add the
(perhaps deservedly) reprehensive tone of your remarks. I hope
one day to have more matter for correspondence, and more the
talent of expressing it correctly. I sometimes feel as if the bottle
of my brain were like those mentioned, I think in Job, "./'«// and
ready to burst " ; but when I try to uncork and empty it, like a
full bottle turned upside down, its contents do not run out as

56 JLi/e of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1819.

fluently as might be expected ; nor is the liquor that comes off
as clear as could be wished. Perhaps I am not long enough in
bottle to be decanted. I fear indeed the vintage of my brain is
yet too crude and unripe to make good wine of. When it shall
have been more matured, I hope the produce of the vineyard you
have planted and watered will afford some cups " to cheer but not
inebriate " you, at least not shame you, as was the case of the
Patriarch who was the earliest planter of the vine, and who per-
haps was in too great haste to drink of its fruits in a precocious
state of growth or premature stage of fermentation. With respect
to my having so much more time than yourself for letter- writing,
besides that that would be balanced by my inferior abilities for the
task, I have another rebutter to put in. Though not as usefully
or profitably employed, my time is perhaps as fully forestalled
as your own. To putting Horace back into Latin I have now
added the putting Yirgil into English blank verse — a task I
pursue, as the Italians say, con amore, or to use a more elegant
(or perhaps more pedantic) phrase from Horace, " studio fallente
laborem." I hope it will help me a step up the hill of original
composition, of which I confess myself at present at the bottom.'

This letter brought him the first he ever received from his
father. It was a long and very urgent appeal to him to make
the Christian religion and the Word of God the foundation of his
principles, of his studies, and of his conduct. To give it at length
would open it needlessly to criticisms which could not be gain-
said of its common-place and inacciu-ate expressions, but it would
be unjust to the affectionate heart and the devout spirit of the
writer not here to put on record this earnest enforcement on the
child of whom he was proud, of his obligation to be before all
things a pious, humble, serious, loving Christian ; and we cannot
doubt that his letter was attended by some of the effect he
intended it to produce.

It was followed two months after by a letter of fifteen quarto
pages of the closest smallest writing, which must have cost the
writer the labour of days both of thought and hand. This letter
pours out from the fatherly mind and heart the experience and
observation of a life in a discussion of the comparative merits of

AETAT. 14.] His School-time. 57

the different professions which he considered open to the choice of
his son, and in advice connected with the conduct of public life
in those higher ranges, no one of which was regarded by him as
too high for his son's reasonable ambition. The whole of this
letter is instructive and interesting, and I would gladly reproduce
it in extenso if my space were unlimited. I confine myself to
giving an abstract of its contents, and a few passages. The
letter is dated 18, Dominick-street, Dublin, May 20, 1819. It
begins by his father encouraging him to enter early upon poli-
tical studies, which should be carried on at leisure times, but
steadily and perseveringly ; he recommends them as needful to
form a character of useful and consistent patriotism, as well as to
afford means of possible advancement in life. The studies which
were to be pursued with this object were to be very extensive,
including the law of nature and of nations ; History, classical and
modern, in its political aspect, especially that of England, with its
constitutional, common, and statute law ; the principal European
and even Oriental languages, the latter with a view to India ; the
acquirement of manners and address firm and gracious, such as to
gain confidence from all, because seen to emanate from thought-
fulness and benevolence. This topic prompts him to extol the
political life, and to declare, 'Had I to begin life over again, I
should certainly feel determined to encounter all the difficulties it
presents rather than forego the advantages it holds out to the un-
wearied and judicious application of even ordinary talents.' And
he adds as a practical inducement specially strong at the time
when he was writing : ' Certain it is that England never stood
in greater need of talent and sound counsel : never was she left
with such a lack of able men as at the present moment. She is in
this respect on the wane, and but for the supply afforded by
Ireland since the Union, her greatness and her wealth would be
lost in the poverty of her Senate and her Council. Her great Sena-
tors have all paid the debt of nature. . . . Her Bar and almost
all the Learned Bodies suffer under the same lack of talent, hold-
ing out to the genius and ardent spirit of Irishmen the fairest

58 Life of Sir William Rovoan Hamilton. [1819.

field for the full exercise of their enterprise and ability

The revision of the barbarous and complicated system of statute
law would be a great field for usefulness and credit.' ....
'I now proceed to another view of my subject. This leads me
in the gallop of my pen, but the sedateness of my mind, ajid the
ardour of my affection, to suggest for consideration what your
talents and disposition point out as your most suitable career for
life. You may be too young to decide ; you are not too young to
reflect, to pause, to weigh well the different difficulties and advan-
tages which each profession holds out and interposes, and grounded
on deliberate consideration to decide ultimately, and to pursue with
perseverance and without wavering that course you may eventually
adopt.' He then discusses in succession the advantages and dis-
adyantages of the principal professions. He dismisses the Army
and Navy with amusing expressions of hatred, balanced by thank-
fulness for their existence. While acknowledging the usefulness
of the Medical profession, he condemns it on account of the mutual
jealousy prevailing among its practitioners. In regard to the Law,
he points out the usual lot of weary waiting, for eighteen years on
an average, before success can be secured ; but he praises it on the
score of its highest honours being in the later stages certain to fall
to ability and perseverance, and on account of its opening the way
to political eminence. The view he takes of the Clerical profession
is one painful to read, but we may hope less true now than in his
time, when patronage was very corruptly exercised. The necessity
that existed for courting that patronage, in consequence of the
miserable pay of curates, lowered generally, he said, the indepen-
dence of mind every minister of Christ ought to possess, enervated
his zeal, and secularised his spirit. As a general rule, it seems to
have been his opinion that only through a Fellowship in Trinity
College could a living be with any satisfaction obtained by a man
of independent feeling ; but he cordially admits of exceptions to be
admired and reverenced. This summary touches but a few points
in delineations which are full of characteristic traits. He con-
cludes as follows: —

AETAT. 14.] His ScJiool-time. 59

' I wish not to influence, but fairly to state the advantages and
disadvantages of each of the learned professions, in one or other of
which it is more than probable you may be destined to fill, I trust,
not a background post nor a station of mediocrity. It is for you to
consider all, to consult with judicious friends, and to determine on
one, and then to pursue your choice with a fixed purpose of distin-
guishing yourself in character, usefulness, and talent. Should
Divinity be your final pursuit, I would recommend Trinity College,
Dublin, to you as your ^'alma mater'' ^ : raise her character, and with
it the character of your country and your adopted pursuit, by a pre-
eminent display of Biblical and critical knowledge in Theology.
Add to the erudite character of her sons by a hitherto unattempted
display of useful Oriental attainments, illustrating the dubious
sense of many passages in the Vulgate and Grreek editions of the
Old and New Testament, by reference to the sense of the same
passages in the Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic. Lay the foundation
of a totally new and enlarged study of the Oriental languages, by
which you will render the Professor's chair of that department
more dignified, and thus entitle yourself to the fair prospect of one
day filling it with honour to yourself and advantage to the Uni-
versity of your native country. Pursue this without abandoning
your course of Science or your improvement in the Classics, and
with the certainty in the course of time of a large living in the
Church, as the first reward of your prior labours, and previously
acquired academic honours and elevation ; still hold in view the
ultimate reward of your talent, the Provostship, and a mitre.
Honors thus acquired in the Church will excite no envy, compro-
mise no principle, nor degrade your mind by following in the
servile train of any great patron. If, however, a political or legal
course should prove your choice, I would recommend you, after dis-
tinguishing yourself in Trinity College, to push your fortune and
display your talent in either Oxford or Cambridge, where you will
be enabled to form connexions and society calculated most essen-
tially to serve you in your future pursuits and to advance your inte-
rests. By all means be called to the English Bar, from whence you
can, as of course, if disposed, transfer yourself to the Irish Bar, and
again return to the English to lay hold of any fair opening there,
without losing the benefit you might afterwards wish to avail
yourself of by interest in either country, through having been

6o Life of Sir William Rowan Haviilton. [1819.

six years called to each Bar. With this last advantage acquired,
I would advise you to adhere to the English Bar, to seize any and
every opportunity of pushing your way at it as a lawyer, and at
the same time keeping in view the study of politics, so as to be
ready at a moment's notice to jump from Westminster Hall into
the Senator's chair, and from thence to seize the reins of the State,
and guide its course with masterly skill, acknowledged judgment,
and with the confidence and approbation of your sovereign and the
country.

'I have thus sketched out a course adapted to your selection of
either the Law, the Church, or, connected with either, the State. It
is perhaps too premature and too diffuse, too vain and too vague,
nay perhaps quite Utopian ; still, there it is, and if you see much
to reject, you may yet profit by even a partial selection of some of
the hints suggested. I only throw it out for consideration and
mature deliberation, as fit ideas to form from thence a more com-
pact plan of your own, on which to consult abler heads : reject
therefore the chaff, but do not give the wheat to the winds ; profit
by what may be founded on good sense, and reject what may have
no foundation but in exaggerated hopes and premature designs.
My sole wish is to render any part of it useful to you, and thereby
prove my affection and zeal for your future prosperity and respect-
ability in life. Let me have your ideas.'

Archibald Hamilton was now staying at Booterstown, near
Dublin, lonely and in low spirits. He soon asks from his brother
leave for his boy to join him ; permission was granted, and for
more than two months from the beginning of June the boy of
thirteen became his father's companion. This visit gave young
Hamilton a sight of the world such as he had never enjoyed
before. His father then occupied a pleasant country-house 'with
a whimsical name ' in the Cross-avenue, Booterstown, and letters
from William to his sister show that he soon had many ac-
quaintances in the neighbourhood. He tells of his swimming at
the Rock, of his riding an accelerator (the bicycle of those days)
'which has cost eight guineas,' of his going into Dublin almost
every day to see his many friends and relations, of his at the same
time carrying on 'business' (that is, some book- work of the College

AETAT. 14.] His School-time. 6i

Course), of his helping in totting up the gigantic bill of costs of a
case, Bernal v. Donegal, which his father was giving up — a task
about which the latter says in a letter to a former assistant : ' I
suppose the whole vacation and twice more will not suffice to tax
my costs, which have occupied me and ten clerks for six long
weeks in merely drawing, copying, and serving' — and in carrying
on under Mr. Jones his study of shorthand, and his practice of it
in taking down the sermons of Dublin preachers. He was in
request too in social life. He was taken out by his father to dine
with friends at Dunleary :* after dinner he went out boating, but
returned ' to a great debate in the evening on Judge Fletcher's
charge at Wexford.' ' But I have not room,' he writes in a letter
to his sister, 'to give the particulars of mine or the other speeches.'
He was a welcome guest, privileged to come in every evening, at
Willow-park, then occupied by a family with whom he cemented
relations of permanent friendship, and in that family circle his
impressible heart received from a daughter of the house the first
stirring of a feeling which in after times caused him his keenest
joys, and his sharpest sufferings. And if his subsequent expe-
riences were of so different a character from this early partiality,
as to exclude it from being reckoned as a real passion, yet even
at a late period of his life he was able to record with interest

the time when he had not ceased thinking of D. Br . Some

time before this he had formed of himself and his three elder
sisters an ' Honourable Society of Four,' for which he had drawn
up laws in the most formal style. A copy of them is now before
me : — Grace was Lady Lieutenant, William was Peer, Eliza and
Sydney were commoners, all taking new Christian-names. Over
them their father was constituted permanent King, with no legis-
lative authority, but with power to veto enactments of the Four.
On the 9th of July (the document still exists) was presented to
His Majesty Archibald Hamilton the humble petition of William
Hamilton, praying, on various grounds, that the time appointed for
his return to Trim might be deferred. One of these grounds was,

* Now Kinystown.

62 Life of Sir Williain Roivan Hainilton. [1819.

that he might have the oj)porfcunity of re23eatiiig a visit to the
Observatory which he had made on the day before. This was his
first sight of the house which was to be his future home. He had
walked out there with two apprentices of his father, carrying a
lease as a letter of introduction to Dr. Brinkley, the Astronomer
Royal ; but to his disappointment the great man was absent, and
he had to be contented with being shown the instruments by the
assistant, and receiving some information respecting the comet
which was then visible. The prayer of the petition was granted,
but it does not appear that the Observatory was again visited
by him during his stay at Booterstown. When he did revisit
it, years subsequently, he carried in his hand a more appropriate
introduction, in the form of an original mathematical paper and
a letter from his friend Mr. Kiernan. Another pretext for
remaining longer in the neighbourhood of Dublin was his desire
to see the acting of Miss O'Neill. This pleasure he enjoyed at
the Crow-street Theatre on his birthday, when she acted Juliet to
Kemble's Romeo, and on another occasion when she took the part
of Mrs. Haller in Kotzebue's play of The Stranger* It is remark-
able that in reporting these incidents in a letter to his sister Eliza
he expresses no admiration, and makes no comment. I can only
account for this by supposing that he knew the topic was unaccept-
able to his sister, whose religious views may not improbably have
led her to disapprove of the stage. In the letter already cited
from his father to his former assistant and friend, Mr. Hoare, the
following passage refers to this enjoyment of his son, and tells
more than otherwise would have been known of Hamilton's early
love and study of the English Drama.

Archibald Hamilton to Mr. Hoare.

' DOMIIflCK-STREET, No. 18, DuBLIN,

OR RATHER BooTERSTOWN, Cross-avenue, August 6, 1819.

' Miss O'Neill is greatly admired and followed. I have not
seen her here ; not that I am quite so puritanical as to say I would

* Which curiously enough was foUowed by the farce of X Y Z.

AETAT. 14.] His School-time. 63

consider it a sin to go, but my habits are formed, and it is hard to
change them. I allowed William to go, as he was very anxious
to see her in the character of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet ; I
considered him of an age when a forced restraint would he injuri-
ous, and the frank gratification of his desire might give him more
delight, and yet not tend to excite a desire for habitual indulgence
in such amusement. He has read every dramatic author ; and par-
ticularly, and with a critical discernment, the works of Shakespeare.
He has a natural taste for the drama, and was of course much
delighted at the exhibition and brilliant display of the histrionic
talent of so justly eminent an actress as Miss O'Neill. It happened
on his birth-day ; and the following day my friend Mr. Steven of
London was to arrive, and amongst other arguments (too numer-
ous to insert in a play-bill) ior the expediency of granting his
petition, he used two, viz., that as it was his birth-day he should
have to record that he commenced an important year of his life
with witnessing for the first time that display of talent which he
had from his earliest age so much delighted in practising without
the benefit of a model ; and next, that if he delayed till the next
day, Mr. Steven's arguments and hatred of the stage might stagger
his mind and deprive him of the gratification he so much wished
for, but the knowledge of which might pain Mr. Steven's weak
mind.'

The Mr. Steven mentioned in this passage was the English
friend (connected I believe with the Bible Society?)* to whom
Archibald Hamilton had in 1816 written on the subject of
Charity Schools in Ireland, and who had sent in 1814 to William
Rowan Hamilton a present of an Arabic Bible, f The letter to
Mr. Hoare contains also another passage which I must extract.
The expostulations mentioned in it would appear from a letter
from Grace to her father to have been prompted by her brother's
not sufficiently thoughtful execution of some shopping commissions
entrusted to him by his sisters, but about which his own letters
show him to have taken a great deal of trouble ; doubtless, how-

Inft-a, p. (59. f Supra, p. 44.

64 J^ifc of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1819.

ever, business of this kind was irksome to him, and probably was
not well performed.

. . . ' William is all I could wish or desire. He has been with
me ever since. I am trying to brush him up, so as to unite a
little of the gentleman and man of the world with the accom-
plished scholar. He is wonderfully tall, even since you left this,
and begins to assume the manners of a man, with the simplicity
and modesty of a boy. He has had, what I never had, the ad-
vantage of a father's care, advice as of a companion, and expos-
tulation without austerity. He has had the advantage of the free
communication of a father's experience in every changing scene of
life, from youth upwards ; he has had every sunk rock, upon
which the youthful mariner may make shipwreck, accurately traced
on the chart of his voyage ; and what an advantage that is can be
conceived by those only who recollect the bulges their own vessel
sustained for want of such a chart, or for want of looking to it
with attention. The absolute advantages, I trust, he may prove ;
be that as it may, I am already rewarded in the success that has
hitherto attended my parental aifection and care, and by the
consciousness of having so far discharged one of the greatest
moral duties, as well as by the reflection that I have left my son
in that state of mature initiation in every principle of honour and
justice, that, with his own talent, unless abused, must ensure his own
success, and render him an honour to himself and to his country,
and a comfort and a blessing to his family and friends. I need
not urge on you to attend to your son. I am sure you and Mrs.
Hoare will unite in every step that is proper for securing to him
the best education and the best advantages ; still recollect, you can-
not do so too soon or too early ; William is a proof of the great
advantage of early attention ; but for that, and that incessantly
kept up without the appearance of task work, what might he not
have been in opposition to what he is ? No property in money is
equal to such advantages, or can compensate for their neglect.'

It is pleasing to read this testimony of the father to his
satisfaction with his son, to his own motives in securing him the
education he had received, and to his feeling that already in his
son's character and attainments a reward had reached him calling

AETAT. H.] His School-time. 65

for thankful acknowledgment. About the middle of August the
boy returned to Trim and resumed with steadiness his regular
work, under his imcle's supervision. Of this he gives some account
in letters to his sisters Grace and Eliza, who were now in Ballin-
derry in the county of Antrim. Eliza and Sydney had been in the
previous spring committed by their father to the charge of their
maternal aunt Susan, who was the wife of the Rev. John Willey,
Moravian minister of that place, and Grace had gone there on a
temporary visit. From these letters we learn that his attention
was now a good deal directed to theological reading. On Ascen-
sion Day, before his visit to his father, he had been awarded the
first premium given by the Association for Promoting Christian
Knowledge, at a public examination, and soon after his return to
Trim the prize was publicly conferred upon him in church, in
the shape of a handsome Book of Common Prayer, accompanied
by a copy of Paley's Natural Theology. He soon after writes ' I
have been reading Paley's Theology with great attention,' and ' on
Sunday I read Pearson [on the Creed], abstract Seeker [on the
Catechism], and write down what I remember of the sermon.'
The same letters show that he had now begun to cultivate the
society of the Muse. Besides others, they make mention of 'a
short Poem on Society,' which records his conviction of the
superiority of the female sex as entertaining companions, and
one on Winter, assigning his * Reasons for preferring Winter to
the other Seasons.'

A few extracts are given from these letters, as for various
reasons possessing interest. The first is produced not so much
for inherent merit as because in a subsequent letter the writer,
referring to it, modifies in a lively way w^hat he here lays down.
In the second he comes out as a liberal politician, delivering his
judgments with a decision creditable to his moral instincts, and
suitable to his age ; but the succeeding extract is a confession that
he might experience change of opinions : —

66 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1819.

From W. R. Hamilton to Im sister Eliza.

.'Trim, September loth, 1819.

* I find epistolary correspondence, at least with you, although
troublesome in some degree, yet recompensed by the pleasure it
brings along with it. I cannot, however, think that it affords by
any means equal delight with conversation ; the one is in a great
measure solitary, the other reciprocal ; in the first, questions put
require some interval before they can be answered, in the second
curiosity may be immediately allayed ; correspondence is restricted,
conversation unreserved — not to mention the pleasure of seeing
one another, of meeting after a long absence. It has often been
said to me by my uncle, that it is easy for anyone to compose a
very long letter by merely writing what they would say on sup-
position of seeing the person addressed ; and this was applied to
my letters to my father. And although I never could exactly
refute this argument, yet it certainly appears to me fallacious.
For many things which one would say by word of mouth, they
would feel unwilling to record (as it were) on paper; to give
things either trifling or secret the chance of being ridiculed or
discovered.'

From W. R. Hamilton to his sister Gtrace.

' Tkim, October 1th, 1819.

' On Michaelmas I went to the Court-house to see Mr. Carshore
sworn in as Portreeve, and the other business of the corporation of
Trim. For we have an ancient, loyal, and honourable corporation;
our elections to the ofiice of Portreeve are ratified by the Vice-
regal authority, and Trim also sends two members to the Imperial
Parliament. By-the-by, I concur with the Reformers both in the
necessity of reform, and reprobation of the Manchester proceed-
ings.' ....

'I continue to view the moons of Jupiter with my large
telescope. On Monday night the two which I saw appeared to
form a line with the planet as the three principal stars in Aquila;
I imagined, too, I distinguished the Ring of Saturn.' ....

AETAT. 14.] His School-time. 67

'It is agreeable to be able to trace back the events of one's
life, trifling as they may be ; but my journals might be interest-
ing if I could bring myself to record, as it were, my thoughts and
feelings on different occasions at different times. This, however,
I have never done, as if I thought they were more secure in the
repository of my heart. Whereas if they were committed to paper,
I might perceive the gradual change of my ideas, be led to examine
whether my present or former ones were correct, and not to place
too great confidence in my own judgment. If you or Eliza would
also keep a brief account of your transactions, it would be very
pleasant for us to compare notes to see what each was doing on
any particular day or hour. This would be almost realizing the
fabled glass which enabled its possessors to behold what their
friends were doing at a distance. I leave Eliza's romantic ima-
gination to realize this idea.'

From W. E. Hamilton to his sister Eliza.

' Teim, Odoher 25, 1819.

' That you have made so great proficiency in my short-hand, as
you have shown by reading what was written in my letter, and
writing in return, gratifies me. It can, however, only be of use
as a medium of communication between us, for I think it certainly
would take up as much time to write as common characters ; and
even I, when I used it, did not write it exactly as you do. For, in
the first place, I made use of two contractions, 7 for the, and o for
and; and besides I left out the vowels. But I always write in Mr.
Jones's now, and, if you wish, will teach you it. I am generally em-
ployed in the evening with my blank verse Translation of Homer,
which I am regularly pursuing through the eight Books read for
Entrance. The advantages of this are numerous, and the superio-
rity that it gives to a prose translation afterwards well recompenses
the trouble. I consult Cowper and Pope, the two best translators
of Homer, as I go along. I did in this manner the First Aeneid
of Virgil and part of the Second. I am employed to write out a
translation of one of the plays of Terence too, for the boys in that
class. I hear it and Ormston, before the boys that are in them say
them to uncle or Mr. Waters. I say, myself, Homer, Horace,

68 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1819.

Lucian, and Grammars ; I do a cliapter in tlie Greek Testament in
the morning, the Psalm [in Hebrew] both morning and evening,
and till very lately the Second Lesson in the evening. On Sun-
days, beside what I mentioned in my first letter, the Syriac
Epistle.* On Saturday I read Sir William Ouseley's Travels in
the East, with copious extracts in the notes from Oriental authors.
' I take a good deal of interest in the state of England. We
see two Papers here, Carrick and The Patriot, the latter ministerial.
I did not expect, at the dissolution of Parliament, that it would so
soon have been re-assembled — that I would so soon have the pleasure
of reading Parliamentary debates. I suppose you know that its
meeting is fixed for the 23rd of next month. It will soon be seen
whether, in defiance of the sense of almost all England, Ministers
will be able to support themselves and to screen the Manchester
magistrates. If you can get and read newspapers, you will have
seen that the inquest on the body of Lees is adjom-ned until the
first of December.'

The last letter which he ever received from his father was
written on the 15th September, in answer to one of the 11th,
in which William had given a report of the studies he was carry-
ing on since his return to school, and of his views regarding them
as connected with after-life. So much we learn from the answer
to it. It is matter of regret that this letter of William's, as well
as a former one, in which doubtless he acknowledged his father's on
the choice of a profession, are not preserved. This last letter of his
father begins with an expression of satisfaction that his son shows
himself bent on improvement, through labour of a systematic
character. He insists strongly on the necessity of system and
regularity in everything, touchingly adverting to his own want
of early advice on this point. ' I have always told you candidly
the defects I have had to lament in myself, that you might be
warned by the experience of an old mariner to avoid those sunk
rocks which proved so injurious to my voyage, which otherwise

Translating the Epistle of the day into Syriac.

AETAT. 14.] His School-time. 69

might have heen most prosperous. I had not the advice or
advantages you have experienced. I had no pilot but my own
judgment. I was so much of a seaman as to keep my boat above
water, but I have suffered much and often from the presumption
and credulity I placed in my own judgment.' He encourages
him to send him the reflections on Paley's Natural Theology which
he had promised, and proceeds : —

' I am very happy to find you are not altogether giving up the
pursuit, or at least the retention, of what you learned of the Orien-
tals ; thereis no knowing the fortunate, or, more properly speak-
ing, the providential occurrence or moment in your future life at
which such knowledge may not prove available to your own
interest, preferment, and public usefulness. I therefore feel
gratified that you hold your ground in that branch of literature.
It is more than probable that I shall very shortly visit London,
and if I can pick up any fragments of Oriental literature to add to
your present stock, I shall not forget you. I think when you feel
disposed and qualified you might on your own bottom so far inter-
est Mr. Steven that he would feel induced on your own application
to procure you a copy of all their different translations in the
foreign European and Eastern languages of the Bible and New
Testament. It would be a rich present, and one that they have
granted to all the Home and Foreign Universities and Libraries,
though not yet carried into execution.'

He then urges him to look forward to a splendid success in his
College career as what both he and his friends were warranted in
calculating on, and to this end inculcates the necessity of keeping
fresh his knowledge of rudiments, grammar, arithmetic, etc. He
continues : —

* I have no objection, but quite the contrary, to your improving
yourself in both the art of swimming, and every other pastime and
recreation and manly sport that can tend to improve your health
and invigorate your body, without debasing your mind or injuring
your morals. It also affords me satisfaction to think that you
pursue your Astronomical researches ; it is a grand pursuit : but

70 Life of Sir William Rowan Hafnilton. [1819.

recollect you must not seek to be wise above measure, or to found
on your researches theories inconsistent with the system of Astro-
nomy, and the account of the Heavenly Bodies which He who
created them, and this earth, and us, has been pleased to reveal to
us concerning them in the word of his divine and inspired and
sublime revelation. You know I allude to some conversation we
had on the subject in which I rather curbed you too much, but
it was to lead you to reflect, and not to put forward, with the
pedantry and dogmatic spirit of the Scholastic, new tenets, in my
mind not revealed, and which, if dwelt upon by an unlearned man,
would lead him to doubt of the reality and truth of the Divine
Mission and Atonement of our Lord and Saviour for the iahabi-
tants of this speck of His Creation ; at least I would say that, in
my judgment, all those great and deep mysteries should be entered
upon with great fear and humility, and in very select society
indeed. StUl I would not have you suppose that I would wish to
stem the current of Philosophical research ; only let your communi-
cations on those subjects be in the first instance with men of letters
and science, and men who submit with reverence to the Divine
Authority of Scripture. " Throw not your pearls before swine," nor
encounter unprofitable argument with unlearned men, nor wound
the prejudices of the weak, nor risk your strength with the infidel
on points not necessary, until at least you become, like David, a
match for any Groliath. Avoid always any discussion connected
with Scripture which you feel you maintain more to display your
own mental powers than to propagate truth, elucidate difficulties,
or convey conviction on practical subjects.'

He adds some sensible remarks in the nature of verbal criticism
applied to letter- writing, and concludes with a P.S., 'Write soon
and fully before I leave town, and do not fear to express yourself
candidly, or to differ from me, only give me your reasons. The
accounts of and from your sisters are very gratifying. I shall
write to them and your uncle to-morrow. I do not forget any
of you.'

I may perhaps have given larger extracts from this and the
preceding letter from the same pen than to some readers may
seem justified by their inherent value. I may plead in excuse

AETAT. 14.] His School-time. 7 1

that I have been desirous of setting in light the memory of a man
for whose character I have found it impossible not to conceive a
warm regard — a man who certainly was imprudent, and cannot
be spoken of as possessing an intellect thoroughly cultured and
trained ; but, at the same time, one whose intellect was of great
natural strength, and who, notwithstanding his imprudence, mani-
fested immense practical ability and sagacity, and who withal
was endowed with a warmth of heart and fidelity of nature —
shrinking from no labour in the exercise of duty and affection —
which more than make up for any intellectual defects. He was
at this time on the eve of his second marriage ; this he knew ; he
did not know that he was almost as near to the day of his death ;
and yet there seems something like the delivery of soul and
affection of a man going to encounter a fatal danger, something
testamentary, in the outpourings of earnest advice, which from
May to September, at the cost of much time and labour, he
devoted to the future welfare of his children. The lady to whom
he was engaged, a widow, named Barlow, had left Booterstown,
where his children had become acquainted with her, in order to
obtain in London surgical advice for her son. Thither, a few days
after writing the letter last quoted, Archibald Hamilton followed
her, and there the marriage took place on the 11th of October. On
the 23rd of the month he arrives in Dublin with his wife, and
William is soon invited to accompany his uncle and aunt in a
visit to them. This he desires to do out of affection for his
father, but in reference to his studies he also expresses his desire
that his visit may not outlast a day or two. It is probable that
his visit took place and was as short as he wished ; but we learn
that another errand brought him again up to Dublin in the
middle of November. The cause was the letter which by his
father's advice he had written in Persian to the Persian Ambas-
sador, Mirza Abul Hassan Khan, then on a visit to Dublin, and
which it was hoped might serve as a personal introduction to His
Excellency. I find among his papers a translation of this letter ;
it is as follows : —

72 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1819.

' Kove?nber, 1819.

'May it be dignified by the perusal of Prince Abul Hassan
Khan!

'Accept, 0 illustrious visitant from Irann,* an humble tribute to
thy exalted merit from the weak and yet inexperienced pen of a
schoolboy, on whom, though far from thy ancient and renowned
realm, a ray from the bright luminary of that paradise of regions,
spreading light on this Isle of the West, has created in the soul of
thy servant a heart-inflaming and daily increasing desire and love
for the delightful literature of the East.

' As the heart of the worshipper is turned towards the altar of
his sacred vision,t and as the sunflower to the rays of the sun, so
to thy polished radiance turns, expanding itself, the yet unblos-
somed rose-bud of my mind, desiring warmer climates, whose
fragrancy and glorious splendour appear to warm and embalm
the orbit about thee, the Star of the State, of brilliant lustre.

'Ah ! while I re-peruse this imperfect verse, the leaves of my
humble sunflower fearful seem to fade, unworthy to be seen by
thee, and yet desirous in thy beams to bask.

' But let thine eye forget the faults and errors, and wherever
an omission or failure shall occiu' in a strain formed in a few
moments stolen from hours devoted to our Western lore. Science
of ancient and modern times, gathering the roses from the bards
of Grreece and Rome, and the Hebrew melodies of the harp-tuning,
sweet-singing David, and the memorable events of IrannJ recorded
in the Histories of Greece.

' Oh ! had I the period in which the exile from Greece acquired

* Irann means Persia.

t 'As the heart of the worshipper,' &c., is an allusion to the Mahomedan
custom of turning in their devotions towards Mecca.

% ' The memorable events of Irann,' &c. The history of the Persians and
Grecians has been during a long period connected, and there is even a book by
Rollin of that name. It is mentioned by Cornelius Nepos that the great
Themistocles, driven from Greece by the ingratitude of his countrjanen, fled to
the coast of Persia, where he was hospitably received by Xerxes : and that in
one year he acquired the Deri, or old courtly Persian, in such perfection as even
to surpass the natives,

AETAT. 14.] His School-time. 73

the Deri tongue, a salutation more worthy should have been offered
thee than this trifling present; in thy praise should I compose
verses and string pearls.

' Thy servant is hopeful that he will come into thy august
presence: by so doing, the meanest of thy slaves shall be honoured:
*' I shall seem to touch the skies with my exalted head."*

'Be the sun of prosperity and fortune blazing forth! '

Truly an Oriental production. An account of its reception is
contained in the following letter to his uncle at Trim,

From "William Eow^an Hamilton to his uncle James.

' Dublin, South Cumbekland-sieeet,
' November 22, 1819.

.... 'Immediately on my arrival I enclosed the Persian
letter with "Let it be dignified," etc., on the outside, and a
flowered ticket in an envelope. His Excellency sailed last night,
understanding which I called at Bilton's Hotel yesterday, and
sent up my ticket to the Secretary, Mr. WooUock, who had re-
ceived my letter, I was immediately favoured with a private
audience of the Secretary, who, having first enquired if my name
was Captain Kian, complimented me on the style and composition —
had observed no mistakes — enquired whether I had not copied it
from something, and under whom I had studied Persian. He
asked me as to my progress in other Oriental languages, but, as
actually packing up, could give me only a short audience.

' He said His Excellency was exceedingly pleased with the
letter, and much regretted that on account of a bad headache he
was unable to receive me personally. I have seen His Excellency,
however, in public — the description of itf [sic] is not at all exagge-
rated. It becomes him exceedingly, and so does his dress, which is
rich in the extreme. The Captain Kian I spoke of was a gentleman

* 'I shall seem,' &c., is a quotation from an Eastern poet. [The notes on
the letter are by W, R. H.]

1 1 believe this word to be intended to refer to the long flowing dark beard
of the Ambassador,

74 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1819.

tliat had also addressed the Ambassador in Persian, but the Secre-
tary left a message for him that his presence would be dispensed
with, as the letter was totally illegible.

' I was the more flattered by the preference given to mine, as I
hear that Captain Kian is a very learned man.

' P.S. — If you write before I return, please to copy the line
from Sir W. Jones (I think page 228), " I shall seem to touch
the skies with my exalted head." '

This letter anticipates his immediate return to Trim ; it speaks
also of his sister Grrace being then in her father's house, having
returned from her sojourn at Ballinderry. She had very soon to
summon her brother again to quit his studies and return to Dublin.
It was not for the meeting of the whole family at Christmas, which
in writing to Eliza he had recently counted on, but to aid her in
watching the serious illness of their father. At first they were
hopeful of its being overcome, but these hopes soon vanished, and
they had the mournful experience of tending him without recogni-
tion. William, however, had the satisfaction at last of hearing
his father, in an interval of consciousness, say to himself, apparently
in reference to their presence, ' I certainly have nothing now to
complain of,' words which were a consolation to their hearts. He
died on the 10th December, 1819, at the premature age of forty-one.
By this event William and his sisters lost their remaining parent,
and had to face the world as orphans. William was fourteen
years and four months old. He returned to a companionless
Christmas at Trim. Grrace found temporary refuge with her
paternal aunt Collins ; his other sisters continued to reside at
Ballinderry with the Willeys, and all had to be grateful for
arrangements made for their benefit by their relations on both
sides of the family.

AETAT. 14.] His School-time, 75

CHAPTER V.

SCHOOL-TIME — Continued.

Early in the year 1820, William Hamilton writes from Trim an
interesting letter to his sister Eliza, then at Ballinderry ; from it,
and from some fragments of journal we learn that immediately
after his father's funeral he moved first to his cousin Arthur's and
then to Trim, where he suffered from a short illness. In the
letter he gives some particulars of his father's last illness, and
then in words which show how abeady there had grown up within
him a sense that he was to fit himself for supplying towards his
sisters his father's place, he goes on to say : —

[Age, 14^^"^ 6"".] 'Our being separated under such circum-
stances adds to the afflictive nature of it — but let us look to
the grounds we have of thankfulness, and exercise faith in a good
and wise Providence. The Father of the fatherless will continue to
provide for us, putting our trust in Him, as He has done and
continues to do. . , . I trust I need not say that though separated
from you, you are near my thoughts. The hope of being, if we
are spared, useful to my dear sisters will, I trust, stimulate, and
the hope of Grod's blessing in doing so animate my exertions.
Uncle encourages me to hope that with the divine blessing they
will be successful.'

In a similarly cheerful and manly tone he writes on the 2nd
of February, to his eldest sister : —

' On the whole we have great, very great, grounds for thank-
fulness and gratitude, and the best means of showing it both
towards God and our relations at present is by being cheerful and
happy. I assure you that I feel no difficulty in being so, and
I trust that you will be so too, wherever your lot is now cast. . . .
To-morrow I will be fourteen years and six months old ; I have,

76 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1819.

then, if I live, two years and a-half to prepare myself for College,
and when I shall have passed that time under uncle's instruction,
I may reasonably expect, with God's blessing, to be very well pre-
pared. You know that I have always been well employed here,
but I now, if possible, exert myself with more diligence than ever.
I get up early, read the Lessons and Psalms in the original, and
continue the study of various Oriental languages, but confine the
much greater portion of my time and labour to the Classics, which
are of more immediate importance.'

He then asks for Olinthus Gregory's Treatise on Mechanics,
Practical and Theoretical, which he had left at his aunt Collins's.

It may be well here to furnish particulars showing the diligence
with which he was at this time carrying on his studies.

The fragments of journal, to which reference has been made,
beginning with the date December 23, 1819, and written at Trim,
give as their first entry : —

' Finished the essential part of the Persian Grammar. Amused
myself translating some of the " Tuti Nameh," " Bulbul wa
Baghban," of Sir W. Jones. On the 26th (Sunday) put some of
the Gospel into Syriac, and on the 30th finished the first half of
the Seventh Iliad. Began " Comparison between the Persian
and English languages.'

5J >

A separate record exists of weekly work done by him from
January 10 to May 13, 1820. I have thought it worth while to
make an abstract of this record with a view of exhibiting the
extent of his reading in those four months.

His religious studies included the Holy Bible with Commen-
taries ; the Psalms and Greek Testament in the original languages ;
the Septuagint version ; Elizabeth Smith's Translation of the Book
of Job ; Sermons by Home, Ahson, Massillon, Chalmers ; Seeker's
Lectures on the Catechism ; Clarke on Exodus.

In Classics, Homer's Iliad, of which he carried on a blank
verse translation ; ^schylus (Prometheus Yinctus) ; Sophocles
((Edipus) ; Virgil, -^neid, with blank verse translation ; Terence

AETAT. 14.] His School-time. 77

B.V. Trans.; Sallust, Lucian, Horace, ClassicalJournal. Another
journal speaks of the Philoctetes of Sophocles and of Demosthenes
as having been read by him at this time.

In Oriental languages : Hebrew ; Arabic Bible (Exodus and
Jeremiah) ; Sanscrit, S jriac, Persian (Sir W. Jones) .

In Science : Algebra (Arithmetical and Geometrical Progres-
sion); Euclid; the theory of Eclipses.

In Law, Blackstone's Commentaries.

In History ; Hooke, Yertot, Morgan's France, Smollett, Adams's
Manners and Customs of the Romans, Goldsmith.

In English Poetry: Shakespeare's Winter's Tale; Milton;
Young's Night Thoughts ; Blair's Grave, Crabbe, Southey's
Eoderick (respecting which he notes that he "considers it a
very well-wrought and affecting poem"j.

In miscellaneous reading : Blackwood, Book of Plants, Bio-
graphy, Edgeworth's Letters, Baron Smith's Charge to the Grand
Jury at MuUingar (recommended to his attention by his uncle as
a model of style), and some authors who are now forgotten.

This record also shows that in studying the Classics he regu-
larly pursued the system of re-translating after translating, and
that his practice was to study passages of moderate length with
great accuracy and thoroughness, using all aids within his reach
of notes and translations.

But his studies during that period of four months were not
uninterrupted. On the 4th April, being Easter Tuesday, he was
invited by his cousin Arthur to go up to Dublin to meet Zerah
Colburn, with whom two years before he had engaged in trials of
arithmetical skill, trials in which he came off with honour, though
his antagonist was generally the victor. On this occasion he was
not so much the antagonist as the critic and the investigator of the
methods of the gifted computist. The latter came by appointment
to South Cumberland-street, and seems to have very freely im-
parted to Hamilton the methods used by him in calculation. On
his return to Trim, from his two days' visit to town, Hamilton at
once applied himself to the consideration of these methods, with a

78 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1820.

view to ascertain their practical usefulness and to remedy their
defects, and without delay furnished his cousin with criticisms and
remarks, which, transcribed below, will speak for themselves. I
may introduce them by extracts from a letter to his sister Eliza,
giving some interesting personal details respecting Zerah Colburn.

From William Eowan Hamilton to Ms sister Eliza.

' Teim, Ajiril 12tli, 1820.

' I hinted that I had been in Dublin last week. Cousin Arthur
wrote to me saying that Zerah Colburn, the wonderful American
boy who used to calculate with such astonishing rapidity when
here some years ago, had returned, and inviting me to come up
and benefit by the explanation he professed himself able to make
of his various methods. I did so that very day. He came by
appointment to cousin Arthur's house and told me his various
modes of rapid calculation. He also lent me tables of his method
of finding the factors. iWe had him to breakfast too the next
morning. He is greatly grown and much improved in manner.
He has lost every trace of his sixth finger. His father accom-
panies him. He does not now exhibit himself, but solicits
subscriptions to his book. I put down my name. He has been
since some years at Westminster school.'

'Airril \5tli, 1820.

' In my letter [from Cousin Arthur] he mentions that Zerah
Colburn's destination was the stage ! " Oh ! what a fall was
there ! " '

From William Eowan Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur.

' Teim, Ajml 8th, 1820.

' I have been considering the methods which Zerah imparted
to me of calculating the square and cube roots in particular, and I
wish to put this question to him, viz. — Can his method be of any
use to discover the nearest square to surd numbers or those
which have no exact square root? If not, it will deduct much
from its practical utility; as the great use of extracting the

AETAT. 14.] His School-time. yg

square root is in operations wherein there will scarcely ever
occur an exact square. Still it will be a curious discovery, but
I fear not one of any great value, except to mere arithmeticians.
I suspect the same of his method of finding the cube root, as each
depends on the two last figures of the square or cube, which would
be quite changed, and probably greatly confuse the calculator by
merely adding a small number to the square or cube. I hope I
have expressed myself clearly. I should think that as subscriber
you would have a right to request his answer on paper to such
queries as these, but, unless others of more importance occur, I do
not wish to give him or you the trouble. You may remember
my mentioning that he started a new difiiculty with respect to his
other operation of discovering the factors of high numbers, and
showed that it required more tedious calculation. He in fact
himself, just before leaving me, the other morning, allowed it to
be a " drag of a method," and said he had found it so, but claimed
the merit of the invention. It is indeed less simple than I at first
supposed it to be. At the same time, however, that I have dis-
covered this, I have also by patient and attentive consideration
found a much simpler method than it then appeared to require,
and which he did not seem himself to be aware of, with regard to
very high numbers, and which reduces into certain limits the
ascertainment of the factors even of the highest. I expect to find
more and more light on this subject as I continue to consider it.'

* Remarks on Zerah Colburn's Printed Pro2)osals and Manuscript

Arithmetical Tables.

'Beside the tables here spoken of, Zerah Colburn now pro-
poses to furnish others for discovering the factors of numbers, or
ascertaining if they be prime. On those tables, which I have
taken a copy of from his manuscript, I have to make the following-
observations : — Perceiving that all numbers may be easily reduced
to odd ones not ending in 5, and that there are forty such in the
first hundred numbers, Zerah Colburn has constructed tables by
which may be seen at one view the several pairs of factors that will
produce numbers ending in any particular two figures, the last of
which shall neither be an even number, a cypher, nor a 5 ; so
under the head 01 are ranged the pairs of factors, the two last

8o Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1820.

figures of the product of which will end in 01. It is convenient
but not necessary to mark at the side the hundreds of the pro-
ducts, as thus the whole of it will he easily seen. So much for
the construction. As to the use of the tables, a number ending in
01, for instance, being assigned, to find the factors; we are to try
first if any of these pairs will themselves produce it. But although
they may not, yet as thej^ may do so with the addition of more or
less hundreds to one of the factors in a pair ; for this reason it is
necessary to subtract the number of hundreds in their product
from that in the given number. The remainder is to be divided
by each of the factors before mentioned. If there be an exact
quotient it is to be prefixed as hundreds to the other factor ; but
as there may be one of the factors which, added to 100 and multi-
plied by the other with an indefinite number of hundreds, will
produce it ; to ascertain this I have discovered by Algebra the
following method : — Subtract from the remainder spoken of at
the bottom of the last page each of the factors in every pair of the
table, and divide each of these remainders successively by the
other factor with 100, and if there be in this case an exact quo-
tient, it is to be prefixed as hundreds to the subtracted factor of
the pair. (N.B. Some of these rules were formed by myself,
and the reason depends on Algebra, of which the inventor of the
tables confessed his ignorance.) I cannot (as yet) perceive how
any general rule can be applied to these tables, so as by them to
perceive (without something similar to the old and tedious method
of tentation) the factors, when hoth of them consist of the tens and
units in the table together with an indefinitely great number of
hundreds. But when ezYAer is under 200 I can then find them by
means of the table and rules. Perhaps I may be able to extend
the principle to all numbers, however great the factors may be.
His method of multiplying large numbers mentally was that of
beginning at the left hand, or highest denomination, and proceed-
ing downwards. It was by observing particularly the two last
figures or digits of squares or cubes that he discovered their roots.
This was capable of being done with greater accuracy in cubes
than squares. His plan appears to me to be only of use in ascer-
taining the roots of exact squares or cubes.'

Again, at the ensuing Whitsuntide, the same kind relative

AETAT. 14.] His ScJiool-timc. 8 1

invited him up to Dublin that he might attend the Fellowship
Examination; for thus early he was directed towards a Trinity
Fellowship as the groove by which he was to attain a position
in life. He had on this occasion the pleasure of witnessing the
distinguished answering in Physics and Mathematics of Charles
Boyton, the son of a family friend (Dr. Boyton, M. D.), and his
future Collegiate Tutor. Mr. Boyton was at that time indeed
surpassed on the total answering by Mr. O'Brien (afterwards
Bishop of Ossory), and Mr. Martin (afterwards Archdeacon of
Kilmore) ; but was destined in the succeeding year to gain the
object of his ambition. This visit gives us a parting glimpse of
Z. Colburn. In a letter to his sister, June 5, 1820, from Dublin,
Hamilton writes : — ' Zerah Colburn dined with us lately, and
acted a little in the evening — " Pierre " and " Zanga." I con-
versed with him on his Tables, &c.'

The same letter speaks of his having constituted at Trim a
Senate of Four, composed of the four head-boys in the school,
himself, T. Fitzpatrick, J. Butler, and Matthew Fox. There
were the offices of President, Lord Keeper and Secretary, to
■which the members were from time to time elected. His jour-
nal regularly records debates and other events ; and formal
instruments, signed and sealed, and directed to 'all whom it
may concern,' exist, in which Appointments, Prorogations, Dis-
solutions, &c., were proclaimed.

Astronomy, and especially eclipses, occupied during this year
much of his attention. He was in possession of a telescope, and
his journal often notes his observation of the planets and their
satellites, their conjunctions and occultations. But the occurrence
of two lunar eclipses, one on the 29th March, and the other on
the 22nd September, and of an intervening Solar Eclipse on the
7th September, all visible at Trim, became of absorbing interest to
him. The entry in his journal respecting the first is amusing : —

* Tuesday . . . Told different persons of the black moon
to-morrow night. Wednesday, School; Day of eclipse of the

82 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1820.

moon. Church [it was in Passion Week] ; good many people
at it. Staid in after school and wrote Virgil, to have the night
free for observing the eclipse. Set out to Fairy Mountain about

a quarter before six, according to appointment with . Very

wet night ; no moon appeared ; very much provoked ; came home
in a great shower. We were put to bed immediately, and got hot
tea. Fine moon in the course of the night. This was a severe
disappointment. '

A subsequent entry runs — ' Talked of eclipses this year, but I
resolved not to speak of them any more until the very day, then
it will be a surprise.' Eespecting the Solar Eclipse of September
7, he wrote to his aunt Susan, Mrs. Willey :

From W. R. Hamilton to his Aunt Susan.

' Trim, August 26, 1820.

' I have been in hopes of receiving the plan of the approach-
ing eclipse, which uncle Willey intended to draw out for me. I
hope uncle will not think this too much trouble, for now that the
eclipse is so near [it was twelve days off] I can think of nothing
else, and have begun to study the doctrine of eclipses in Kiel's
Astronomy.'

He received in due time from his uncle Willey the plans and
map of the central path of the moon's shadow over the earth, with
Tables of various kinds, 'all most ingeniously, accurately, care-
fully, neatly, skilfully, obligingly, and beautifully executed,' as he
records in his journal.

Another scientific occupation was to convert the tall Yellow
Steeple, standing, as it does, alone in the field, into the pointer
of a gigantic sun-dial, drawing from it meridian and other hour-
lines ; but a more remarkable feat was his invention, in conjunc-
tion with his schoolfellow T. Fitzpatrick, of a mode of telegraphy
mthout machinery, by which one of the confederates being in the
Steeple-field and the other a mile distant on Fairy Mount, they
could carry on conversations merely by properly varied and com-

AETAT. 15.] His School-time. 83

bined motions of the arms, viewed tlii'oiigli a glass. They took
great pleasure in giving to their friends demonstrations of their
success in thus conversing.

An additional instance of his practical talent is furnished by
the following entry at a later date (November 15), in the same
journal : — ' Borrowed Mr. Bell's instruments and made a qua-
drant. The idea last night occurred to me of making a more
accurate one for sines than Martin's ; I did so, and returned the
instrument.'

But perhaps the most note-worthy event of this year of his
life was his beginning the study of a particular book, an event
to which he himself looked back as marking an era in his
scientific progress. In the journal of September 4 is the entry
*read Newton's Life,'' on the 22nd November following, with
similar brevity he writes 'began Newton's Principia.' How
thoroughly he was still the boy at this time is indicated by the
fact that on the next day the first entry is ' vaulted over two
tables and three forms easily.' In fact these jom-nals are
■delightfully boyish in the frank multifariousness of their con-
tents. We see in them everything which interested him in
every department of his life — the putting on of a new suit, or
the change from winter to summer clothing, as well as the
taking up of new books or the progress of his studies; licensed
raids upon strawberry beds and gooseberry bushes, eating apples
and oranges ; games of fives, common, and prisoners' base ; walks
with his sister, and gathering water-cress for her ; swims in the
river, and rides on his uncle's mare ; as well as work in Classics
and Science, or observations of Jupiter's satellites and Saturn's
ring. But the journals are also valuable as showing us that he
looked beyond the range of the school-boy's work and play : that
he even now habitually interested himself in such phases of public
life as the little town of Trim could exhibit to him, and in the
politics of his country and of Europe. He notes, for instance, the
successive stages in Queen Caroline's trial, indicating his changes
of opinion about her, and records 'the complete triumph of the

84 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1820,

revolution in Spain.' And more than this : lie not only takes
down in sliort-hand the sermons of his uncle and of the Yicar of
Trim, Mr. Butler, a man likewise of learning and ability, but
exercises this accomplishment in taking notes of remarkable trials
at the Assizes, or speeches at parliamentary elections, and then
sends his reports to the Patriot or Corresjwndent, Dublin news-
papers of the day.

Trim at that time was a country town of more consequence
than it is at present, but no one could visit it even now and read
these journals without coming to the conclusion that Hamilton
was fortunate in the place of his rearing, as well as in the relative
to whose charge he was committed. Prettily situated in the midst
of a pleasing landscape, with the vigorous stream of the Boyne
flowing through it, Trim, unlovely itself, was smTounded by
objects of beauty and interest. The Diocesan School of Meath,
presided over by his uncle, was held in the remains of Talbot's
Castle, built by 'the Scom-ge of France' early in the fifteenth
century, when he was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In this
school the illustrious Duke of Wellington received his early
education, and here Hamilton lived with his imcle. On one
side, with only the deep current of the Boyne flowing between
at the foot of the garden, rose the magnificent ruin of the
Military Castle, recalling memories of King John, and of yoimg
Harry of Monmouth, held there as hostage by Richard II. ; on the
other, still nearer, towered, to the height of 125 feet, the pic-
tm-esque fragment of the Tellow Steeple, the only relic of St.
Mary's Abbey. A little beyond was the ancient Parish Church,
of thirteenth century architectm'e, tracing its foundation to St.
Patrick, and within whose walls the Bishops of Meath were wont
to be enthroned. A pathway of half a mile in length conducted
through pleasant meadows on the north bank of the BojTie
to the exquisite remains of the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul,
with its monumental tombs and recumbent efiigies : a little lower
down, crossing the bridge of Newtown, you come in face of another
ecclesiastical ruin, that of the Priory of St. John, also venerable

AT-.TAT. 15.] His School-iu/ie. 85

iind picturesque ; and a longer most deliglitful walk by the river-
side leads on to Bective Abbey and a new cluster of objects of
interest. In the town itself, distinguished from a village by its
Court-house, its barrack, and its jail, rises the Wellington Memo-
rial column, and on the far side, two miles to the south, is Laracor,
with its memories of Swift and Stella. Thus there existed at Trim
a combination of external objects and associations fitted harmo-
niously to unpress and influence a mind open, as Hamilton's emi-
nently was, to every healthy influence. Nature in a cheerful
smiling aspect ; history connected on one side with kingly and
military prowess, on the other with apostolic personages and the
venerable traditions of religion ; in the town a com-se of social
life, ordinarily indeed dull and sluggish, but nevertheless occasion-
ally diversified by successive movements of law solemnly adminis-
tered, of municipal elections (for Trim possessed a Corporation
presided over by a portreeve), of elections of county members, of
a military force constantly before the eyes, of religion with its
seemly rites duly celebrated in an ancient church, and its truths
constantly inculcated by able and godly ministers : these in-
fluences, and others might be added to the list, all addressed their
appeals to his impressible nature and intelligence, and all called
forth in different degrees his sympathies, and had their share in
developing and consolidating his character. The journals to which
I have referred, and which embrace only a few months in this
year, when he reached his fifteenth birthday, give, I say, valuable
evidence of this fact, showing how he entered spontaneously and
with youthful eagerness into all these regions of interest, and
enable the reader to accredit him more fully than otherwise he
might feel able to do with that largeness of view and well-
balanced judgment of affairs which his intimates knew him to
possess, but which those who think of him only as the great
mathematician might fail to ascribe to him. Nor was he without
a strong attachment to these scenes of his boyhood : he did indeed
regard Dublin as a place to which intercourse with many friends,
and the stimulus of intellectual companionship, gave a superior

86 Life of Sir Williavi Roivan Hamilton. [1820.

charm ; but, as will be seen later on, his love for Trim and its
associations found utterance, before he left it for good, in affec-
tionate farewell verses.

I now give a few extracts from letters of this period : the first
of them, written just after his sojourn in Dublin when he met
Zerah Colburn, tells of a feeling kindred to that last mentioned,
leading him to revisit his still earlier home in Dominick- street
after it had lapsed to a new owner.

From W. E. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' April 12, 1820.

... . 'As I passed through Old Dominick-street, seeing a
little boy going up to poor No. 29, I asked him who had the
house ; he said Mr. Paisley, a Magistrate, but that he had not yet
come to reside ; in fact it was fitting up for him. I went into the
house of my nativity for the first time since the day when we all
came down together in a chaise to Trim. I looked into the front
office and had some recollection ; I remembered too the other
office and the yard. The iron-grated pantry window and the
small garden then caught my eye; it was there I had passed
some of the pleasantest days of my life — there it was that you
and I had played together! Well I remembered the well-stair-
case— scene of rival bubbles descending from the top — and the old
skylight too. I asked leave to go up-stairs, and entered the back
parloiu- ; the scene from the windows was familiar to my eyes, but
the room itself was greatly changed ; the chimneypiece I recol-
lected best. I then went through the drawing-room, the kitchen,
and the pantry, and left with reluctance this spot which awakened
so various emotions.'

To give such details to any other than a sister playfellow
would have been absurd; but remembering to whom he was
writing, I have thought it well to give the passage without
omission.

AETAT. 15,] His ScJiool-time. 87

From "W. E. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' Trim, Auf/ust 28, 1820.

'Since we came down, Tommy Fitzpatrick and I invented a
plan by which, one being at home and the other at Fairy Mount,
we are capable of maintaining a conversation. Fairy Mount is
the hill covered with furze which you, Grace, Sydney, James
Byrne and I were so fond of walking to. Had anyone then
told us that we would ever be able to converse from that post to
the steeple-field we would have considered it incredible ; yet such
is the fact ; by a telegraph which I contrived myself, each having
a telescope, we have repeatedly transmitted questions and answers
correctly. It is somewhat on the plan of our secret language.'

The passage in his journal recording this invention of his is
as follows : —

' Friday, July 21.— Walked to Fairy Mount with T. F. Had
previously set up a mark on the tower in steeple-field ; took tele-
scopes and saw it. The idea of a telegraph then occurred. I was
at Fairy Mount after six. T. F., Grace, Uncle, Ann and the
children were watching for us. I understood and answered him,
to their great amusement. . . . Saturday. — Went about eight
to Fairy Mount. I then ascertained that a large straight or
curved line could be distinguished from one place to the other,
and made such. Read Gregory's account of telegraphs. . . .
Monday. — ... At half-past twelve we went ou.t about the
telegraphs. He went to Fairy Mount. In oiu- plan every letter
consists of a combination of two out of five signs. . . . Tuesday,
half-past twelve. — I went to Fairy Mount and astonished some
men there by my silent gesticulations and signs. Slightly altered
our plan. Friday 28th. — I talked by the telegraph, he at Fairy
Mount, and we understood each other perfectly.'

Dr. Fitzpatrick has kindly furnished me with the scheme
devised by Hamilton ; it was based upon the alphabet as ar-
ranged in the accompanying diagram.

Explanation of the scheme : — There are five motions of the arms
of the telegrapher corresponding to the numerical digits 1, 2,

Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1820.

3, 4, 5. These five motions are represented in the diagram with
arms. One arm would suffice, but the use of both arms is perhaps
less liable to mistake; a book or some such article held in the hand
makes the sign more easily observable. . . . Any particular
letter is shown by making, first the motion corresponding to its
digit in the vertical rank of digits, and then the motion corre-

InJ

1
it=.

2/-:. M>.. .'\2

,;'■ r*-; /' '•/ \ \ ^'i^! ■;:.

TWICE

u=w

spending to its digit in the horizontal rank. Thus the letter N is
represented by the arms held out horizontally, followed by the
arms dropped to an angle 45° lower. It will be observed that the
same motion duplicated, whichever of the five motions be made,
always indicates a rowel. It would seem desirable to use some
slight conventional signs to indicate respectively divisions between
letters, words and sentences.

An amusing instance of the success of this mode of communi-
cation is remembered by Dr. Fitzpatrick. Hamilton had sent him
to Fairy Mount with his telescope for the pm-pose of holding a
telegraphic conversation. He then went into the town, and found
a conflict beginning between soldiers and the towns-folk. He ran
up to the steeple-field and telegraphed the fact to T. F., ' the
soldiers and the people are fighting.' The news was immediately
told by T. F. to a cluster of boys and men who surrounded him,
watching his manoeuvres, 'run, boys, as quick as you can, and you

AEXAT. 16.'] His School-tune. 89

will be in time for the fight.' His word was acted on with the
result predicted. Next day he was left alone at his telegraph ; and
on inquiry, the reason discovered that yesterday's band of curious
spectators were now afraid to be present, supposing him to be in
league with the evil one.

The letters which follow refer to his studies : —

From W. R. Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur.

' Tkim, November 28, 1820.

* I have not been making any astronomical observations lately.
Yenus, which continues to shine with great lustre as the morning
star, is expected to cross the moon on Saturday next at five o'clock
in the morning, and as but little of the moon's disc will be illumi-
nated, we may hope, if a fine morning, to see Yenus suddenly dis-
appear without any apparent cause. I would have seen this to
advantage lately in the case of Jupiter's transit, had it not been
so near the horizon as to be obscured by vapours. I mention this,
if you or any of your acquaintance are disposed to be early risers
on that day. My science studies at present are confined to sphe-
rical trigonometry and astronomy. Uncle wishes me to be able,
at whatever time I may see Uncle Willey, to profit by his acquire-
ments in practical astronomy, without being then obliged to go
over that part of the theory which I may now learn here.'

After expressing gratitude for an invitation to attend the
approaching Fellowship Examination, he continues in a letter
addressed to his Cousin Arthur.

From W. R. Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur.

'Trim, il/m/ 28, 1821.

' I thank you for your full and satisfactory account of the law
upon which that important cliange in the Calendar is founded. In
the course of my astronomical studies I had met with the reason
of the change, without exactly knowing the history of the legisla-
tive remedy which was applied to it. There will be an occultation
on the night of the IGth next, or rather on the morning of the

90 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1821.

17th, Trinity Sunday. I am calculating the circumstances of this,
and drawing up a view of it. For these computations also, at
least for exactness in them, a knowledge of the moon's horizontal
parallax and semidiameter is necessary. I am taking them as they
are at the moon's mean distance, which supposition must in this casa
he nearly right. You are not to imagine that because astronomi-
cal calculations take up the greater part of my letters to you, they
therefore occupy the principal portion of my time ; it is employed
in the study of the classics as my serious business, and only
occasionally in the sciences by way of recreation, in which light
I consider them, however closely I may pursue them for a time %
since certainly nothing relieves the mind more than varying the
objects to which its attention is directed. You know you told me
the last evening we were in Dublin together, that you had hopes
of being able to procure me the loan of a telescope, if I had no
cold on my next visit. I now remind you of this, that you may
have it beforehand, but hope you will not think of doing so if it
should put you to any inconvenience with regard to time and
trouble.'

From the Same to the Same.

'TEI3I, /»/)/ 11, 1821.

'In my studies I have made a sudden transition from
astronomy to natural philosophy in Helsham's and Hamilton's
Lecttires and in Newton's Princ/pia. My intention was to
prevent my giving up too much time to astronomy by diverting
my thoughts to another channel : " atqui emovit veterem mire
morbus novus," for I am now as deeply engaged in the study
of Pendulums.'

In the first half of the next letter to his sister Eliza he dwells,,
with full explanations, upon the rite of Confirmation, in which,
together with his sister Grace, he was on the following day to take
his part as one of the confirmed. He then asks whether she had
acted a part in the drama she had spoken of, and in what sense
poetry forms a portion of her studies ; by an appreciative criticism
of his own on James Montgomery's pleasing lines 'Departed Days,'
which seem to have been favourites with him, for they are copied

AETAT. 1j.] His School-time. gi

in his School Eecord, he challenges her to repay him in kind by
similar criticisms, and proceeds to tell her of his own occuj)ations
and pursuits.

F)'om W. E.. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

'Tbim, J«/?/ 14, 1821.

' In the mornings on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, from
eight till ten o'clock, and again in the afternoons from two till
four, I attended the Fellowship examinations: the greater part
of the questions of com'se were such as I did not understand, and
therefore did not derive much profit from, and it was very difficult
to get a place where I could hear at all well ; but still it was an
advantage to me to know what kind of questions are asked, and
next year, if it please God that I shall be alive and able to attend
them, they will be much more instructive to me, as I am reading
natural philosophy in the treatises of Helsham, Hamilton, and
Newton. The new Fellows are Boyton and Martin.

' Cousin Arthur procured me a good telescope from Mr. Mason
the optician, with which I sat up on Saturday night, the 16th of
June, till three o'clock the following morning, observing the
moon and planets. An occultation of a fixed star took place
that morning at 24^ minutes after three, by my calculation ; but
although the night was extremely clear, I did not see it, for
just about the time, or a little before it, the moon disappeared
behind the wall of the house in Cumberland-street, and there
was no part of the house from which I could get a sight of it.
But before it vanished I observed the star approaching dii'ectly
to the moon's disc, and at a very little distance to the east of it.
That morning, however, I saw the planets Jupiter and Saturn
in the east, remarkably near each other. Their conjunction
took place on the 19th; the ring was very plain. An occulta-
tion of another star occurred in the evening of last Wednesday,
but it was over before sunset, and so invisible. And on the 24th,
before sunrise, the moon will be seen in the constellation of the
Pleiades.'

The following extract from a letter to his cousin Hannah
Hutton expresses well an important argument from analogy in

■92 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1821.

support of the belief of incomprehensible truths in philosophy
and religion, and attests the wide survey so early taken by the
writer of the various fields of thought.

From W. E. Hamilton to his Cousin Hannah Hutton.

' Trim, October 9, 1821.

*I have been principally employed in reading science. In
studying conic sections and other parts of geometry, I have often
been struck with the occurrence of what may be called demon-
strated mysteries, since, tho' they are proved by rigidly mathema-
tical proof, it is difficult if not impossible to conceive how they
can be true. For instance, it is proved that the most minute line
can be divided into an infinite number of parts, and that there
can be assigned two lines, the hyperbola and its asymptote, which
shall continually approach without ever meeting, altho' the dis-
tance between them shall diminish within any assignable limits.
If, therefore, within the very domain of that science which is most
within the grasp of human reason, which rests upon the firm pillars
of demonstration, and is totally removed from doubt or dispute,
there be truths which we cannot comprehend, why should we sup-
pose that we can understand everything connected with the nature
and attributes of an Infinite Being ? For " if ye understand not
earthly things, how shall ye those that are heavenly?" I am con-
tinuing my remarks on the Prayer Book Version of the Psalms ;
it is not near so L'teral as the Bible, and the next opportunity
hope to send them with letters, &c. &c.'

A break in Hamilton's studies was, caused by George the
Fourth's visit to Dublin. His cousin Arthur invited him to
come up to see the Lion of England (as Hamilton calls the king-
in a letter to one of his aunts), and to witness the manifestations
of welcome and attachment he was to receive from his warm-
hearted Irish subjects. The letter to his sister which expresses
the emotions which were stirred by these sights in the breast of
the sympathetic youth may tell more for the generosity of his
nature, and the principles of loyalty in which he was educated,

AETAT. IG.] • His School-time.

93-

than for his power to judge of individual character; but it is
to be remembered that men of mature experience were then, like
him, carried away by the flood of natural feeling, and only too
late discovered how little there was of truth and substance under
the ostentation of love for Ireland, to which the self-indulgent,
hollow-hearted monarch o:ave effusive utterance.

From W.' R. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

'Teim, Octoher 15, 1821.

' When I was in Dublin last, I was completely carried away
with the general enthusiasm for the king, and expressed myself
too warmly perhaps on the subject in my letter to you. And even
still I look back with a kind of delightful interest to some of the
scenes I have witnessed. Even still, were I to give free vent to my
feelings, I might appear ridiculous and affected. The entrance and
departm-e of the king were the best worth seeing of all the magni-
ficent spectacles during his stay ; for in both there was more than
mere pomp or splendour could produce. There was in each the
interesting scene of a monarch of a free people receiving from his
subjects the homage of their hearts. I do not think that I am apt
to be dazzled by the disj)lay of grandeur, or disposed to an abject
submission to power, but the character of a king is a sacred one,.
and when the abstract principle of loyalty, that has been early
instilled into us all, and has impelled so many brave men in every
age to encounter danger in defence of their country and their
king, is united with an attachment to the man who has so well
deserved it at our hands, what wonder if a people almost pro-
verbially remarkable for warmth of feeling should have expressed
it in a manner different from that which sober reason and calm
reflection might dictate? Can we be surprised that he should have
been received as he was by a nation distinguished for hospitaHt}'- ?
The evening that the king embarked we were all at Dunleary ; I
stood on the pier not far from the place where he got into his
boat ; the effect of the whole was very grand and beautiful. The
entire range of hills along the road which the king was to pass
was crowded with spectators from their top to the very edge of
the waves, the lamp-posts were occupied, and every place that

94 Life of Sir Willia7n Rowan Hamilto7i. [1821.

could command any view of the king : so was the whole pier. A
great number of fine vessels in the harbour, when he appeared,
all fired the salute and displayed their gay colours ; the day was
most favourable, and the scene was diversified by Kent's walking
on the water by a machine he has invented, and by a sailor in a
little boat four feet long, which he has made and navigates him-
self— by-the-by, he is a cripple. It was worth going to Dunleary,
if it were only to see the vessels and the crowds ; but when the
king approached, a simultaneous shout arose from the distant
multitude, which seemed to increase as he drew nearer, and,
swelled as it was by the hearty cheers of every individual, had
an almost deafening effect. He got into his elegant barge just
as the sun disappeared behind the distant hills, and as his last
rays were tinging the masts and waving colours of the fleet.
Everyone seemed to take leave of the king as of an affectionate
friend, and the imagination was carried back to those Patriarchal
times when the favourite title of kings was shepherds of the peo-
ple. There had been a kind of canopy erected where he was to
get out of his carriage, and under this he made a short speech to
the people : "I came here with a heart full of joy, and go away
with a heart full of sorrow ; Grod bless you all ! " As he went
down the slip to embark, he was quite surrounded by the people,
and somewhat incommoded by the pressure. Nay, to such an
extent did the zeal of those that were about him go, that when
the barge put off from shore several followed him into the water
and swam to get one parting shake of his hand. He kept his hat
off for a long time and acknowledged the attentions paid him by
bowing repeatedly. As soon as he got on board he wrote an
excellent letter to the Lord Lieutenant, which I am sure you
have seen, and which has contributed more than anything else to
cherish the spirit of loyalty. He gave about £1500 in charity ;
his private visit to the Female Orphan House was particularly
interesting. "We came back a few days after he had gone,
having experienced a great deal of pleasure, which wanted
nothing to make it complete but to have you and Sydney to
share it with us.'

Some letters of an earlier date have contained familiar verses
addressed to his sisters, which, seeming not to be above the

AETAT. 16.] His ScJiool-time. 95

average of boyish compositions, I have forborne to produce ; but
the following lines, as linking with much beauty of expression
his astronomical observations and his human feelings, I judge
worthy of appearing here as the first specimen of his more
serious muse. They bear date October 31, 1821.

' TO THE EVENING STAR.

' How fondly do I hail thee, Star of Eve !
In all thy beauty shinmg in the west ;
And, as if loth our firmament to leave,
Slow and majestic sinking to thy rest !

* Ere Night ascends her throne, while tinged the sky,

And yet all glowing with expiring day,
Floats thy fair orb upon the ravished eye,
Beaming a pure celestial living ray.

* Rival of Dian in the heavenly host,

A not less lovely crescent thou cans't claim ;
Her maiden triumphs let cold Cynthia boast,

But love's and beauty's Goddess wears thy name.

* Oft has the Poet's eye on thee been turned,

WhUe yet thou ling'rest with thy starry train ;
And inspiration higher as it burned

Hath sung thy beauties in sublimer strain.

' Many a fond pair have gazed upon thy beam.
While soar'd their spirits above all below ;
On such, kind influence shedding might' st thou seem,
Could stars have influence on our weal or woe.

' Say, lovely Planet ! do congenial souls

Quaff pure delight from thy etherial rills ;
And while unmixed their tide of pleasure rolls,
Cast down a pitying glance on human ills ?'

As belonging to this year I may here insert two entries written
under the heading ' Thoughts,' in a page of his School Eecord.
Both are interesting as showing the warmth of his moral feelings;
but the first involves an unfounded charge against the noble
author, who introduces the inward curse as a remembered ex-
perience of Tasso's boyhood, alien altogether to the spiiit of

96 Life of Sir Williani Roivan Hamilton. [182 K

charitable forgiveness at which he had arrived in his maturitj,
and which the poem so affectingly expresses.

* Fehriiary, 1821.

' In page 230 [of the School Eecord] I copied a stanza from
Byron's Lament of I'asso, which struck me much at the time by its
description of Love. But on looking back at it now, the horrible
effect of the line, But cursed them in my heart, preponderates over
the beauty of the rest. When I read Godwin's MandeviUe, I de-
rived from it unmingled pain : the hinge of the story being a
description of that diabolical feeling, Hatred. In Scott's Keii'd-
worth I was much pleased by the constant interest which is kept
up from beginning to end.'

The following extract prettily describes a favourable view
which he had obtained of one of those many celestial phenomena
which, often recurring, are seldom made, as they might be, sources
of imaginative pleasure and admiration.

From W. E. Hamilton to his Annt Collins.

' Teiji, December 8, 1821.

' I saw last night a remarkable occurrence in the heavens, the
passage of the moon through the Pleiades. This occurs every
month, but it is not often visible. I observed it when I was in
Dublin in July this year, on the 24th of that month, very early in
the morning. At that time it so happened that in the course of
the moon's passage it became for a while studded all round with
the stars, and to my imagination suggested the idea of the orb of
the crown set round with jewels. There has been no opportunity
since of observing this phenomenon until last night. A little
before seven I observed the moon cover two little stars, and
between seven and eight two others. They all appeared again on
the other side of the moon about eight o'clock. The disapjDear-
ance took place before they were seen to touch the moon, and,
being quite sudden, had a very pretty effect. The other particu-
lars of this phenomenon which I observed are only interesting tO'
the astronomer.'

AETAT. 16.] His Scliool-time. 97

From W. R. Hamilton to Jiis Sister Eliza.

'Dttblin, 7, South Cumbeeland-steeet,

* January 12, 1822.

* ... I used often to walk out in the fields near Trim,
and although the country about it does not abound in any of the
striking beauties of nature, yet, when in romantic mood, I have
fancied them most interesting spots, arrayed them in imaginary
grandeur or loveliness, and conjured up departed days when we
liave walked there happily together. Places that have otherwise
little to recommend them may thus become endeared by associa-
tions. . . .

' Since I came to town I have read Lord Byron's Tragedies,
namely. The Doge of Venice (which came out near a year ago, and
which I like best), and Sanlanapahis, The Two Foscari, and Cai)i
in one volume, published the other day. In The Doge of Venice
there occur some passages of great beauty. I copied out one
description, and will, if I have time, transcribe it for you.

' Cain is founded on the account given of him in the Bible ;
and on this the author has grafted a great deal of impiety and
blasphemy. The piece is chiefly composed of dialogues between
Lucifer and Cain, so that you may easily conceive of what
character it is.

'I have also read Scott's Mar m ion, and The World before the
Flood, by Montgomery, both which I like. In the book which has
the latter there are many smaller pieces by Montgomery, but I
know you have these, and agree with me in admiring them.'

* Januarrj 17.

' Being again alone, I sit down to finish this letter. I have
had for a week past an order on the Dublin Institution, but could
not get time to go there until last Tuesday. What has attracted
me most is their collection of valuable scientific books ; but I have
also employed part of my time in reading The Pirate, Scott's last
production, and not inferior in interest to any of his former ones,
in my opinion. . . . My studies have not been so regular as
in Trim ; but I intend to make up for it on my retiu'n. This
evening I have read Watson's Answer to Tom Paine. It is an
excellent defence of revealed religion.'

g8 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1822.

From W. R. Hamilton to Ms Cousin Arthur.

' Trim, January 2Uh, 1822.

' I have been very hard at work at Homer, Prosody, and His-
tory. In Prosody I have gone over the whole of Alvary's common
rules, comparing them with Uncle's sheet. ... I have adopted
a plan to recollect the quantity of syllables which depend on
authority. I pronounce the first syllable of secus (to give an ex-
ample) as in our word second. Now the more usual and correct
way is to pronounce it seeeus, and so I would in College. But my
plan is a memoria fechnica for this and other words.'

From W. E.. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

'DuBLi^r, Felruary 7, 1822.

' The question about the names of the antediluvian patriarchs
was put to me some months ago. I examined the original words
along with Uncle, and found that they are susceptible of such a
meaning. The coincidence is undoubtedly curious.' [?]

After mentioning the arrival of the Marquess Wellesley as Lord
Lieutenant, and the expectations which accompanied the event, he
continues : —

* It is pleasant to think you are so far removed from the seat of
insurrection. I should be sorry to have any friend now in the
south of Ireland.

' There has been a discovery made lately, which has caused a
great deal of amusement. No Lord Lieutenant since the Union
has had the power of conferring knighthood ; and so all the gentle-
men who have received that honour from Irish Viceroys have now
been deprived of them.* This gives occasion for great jokes on
the knights and their ladies who are brought down again to a

* I learn from Sir Bernard Burke that tliis was a serious question at the
time ; but that in 1823 it was referred to the Judges in England, and that by
them a decision was imanimously arrived at declaring that the power of con-
ferring knighthood was vested in the Viceroy.

AETAT. 16.] His ScJiool-tiine. 99

level with other people. Sir Nicholas Brady and a few others are
safe, having been knighted by the king. I got up a little after
three yesterday morning to observe the eclipse of the moon, which
I had previously calculated. The morning was very fine, and I
saw it very well. It agreed with the view I had previously made
of the progress. But I must write a full account of this to Uncle
Willey. I have been several times at Kilmore* since I came, and
found them all well there. Aunt Mary has been so good as to
make me a present of the Nautical Almanack for this year. It is
very interesting to the practical astronomer, as it gives the places
of the heavenly bodies in the most accurate manner possible.'

From W. R. Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur.

'February 18, 1822.

* Mr. Butler is going to Dublin to-day, and will take our
letters. . . . If he will take charge of the quadrant, though
it is not in the best order, I would be glad to get it. It would be
better than none. I have resumed my classical studies, and intend
to give more time and attention to them than I used to do. I
have had an opportunity of seeing Jupiter's satellites twice since
my return, and they correspond very well with the configuration
given in the Nautical Almanack. Have you sent the telescope ?'

In the month of April, Hamilton was suffering from whooping-
cough, and his little cousin Kate died. The letter which an-
nounced the latter event to his cousin is a touching proof of his
being able to disengage himself from his own interests and pur-
suits and to enter with sympathy into the position and feelings of
a bereaved mother.

From the Same to the Same.

'Tkim, April 21, 1822.

* On Thursday morning we attended the funeral of Kate. She
was laid by the side of her little brother and mine. Even to me

* Kilmore House, the residence , near Clontarf , of Mr. John Hutton.

II 2

lOO Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1822.

the house appears since deserted — how much more to Aunt, who
was so particularly fond of her ! It was by a merciful dispensation
of Providence that she was prevented hy her own illness from
mtnessing that of her child. She has had all the advantages of
medical advice and affectionate attention. The attendance of
Aunt must have been unavailing, and could but have endangered
her health and peace. The separation has been gradually made
between them ; and when her image returns to her mind, it comes
not associated with sorrow and suffering and pain, but such as it
was while yet radiant with infantine beauty and untouched by
sickness and death. She was the youngest child.'

His uncle's objections, on account of loss of time, to his
accepting an invitation from his cousin to change the air by
a visit to him having been overruled by the Doctor, Hamilton
went up to Dublin early in May. The change was required,
for he had been for some time forbidden to read, coughed
much, and had to struggle with great difficulty of breathing.
On the 10th of May he thus writes to Eliza from South Cum-
berland-street : —

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' Dublin, 7, South Cuimberland-steeet,

' Ilmj 10, 1822.

'In a letter written to you some years ago, I remember
comparing the pleasure of correspondence with that of con-
versation, and giving the preference to the latter; yet when
reading your letters, I am often inclined to form a different
opinion. Perhaps you have heard of the lovers who used to
separate that they might enjoy a mutual coiTespondence. With-
out going quite so far, I think the pleasure a letter gives is for
the time more exquisite than any derived from conversation : but
it does not last. When friends are together, they enjoy a kind of
sunshine of placid and constant satisfaction : a letter, on the other
hand, like a flash of lightning, for a moment dissipates the gloom
of absence, illumining it with even greater brilliancy, but leaving

AETAT. 16.] His School-tune. loi

it only more painful or more sensible. Do you think this a fair
comparison ? .... I do not know whether I am glad or
sorry that you have Moore's Irish Melodies : they will give you a
great deal of pleasure, but I hoped to have been myself the means
of conveying it to you, and had copied some more with that in-
tention. " 0 the days are gone " is a beautiful little poem : so is
" Oft in the stilly night." Perhaps one would enjoy two or three
of them more than when one has the collection together, for I
think that when I read many I am cloyed by the continued sweet-
ness, and enjoy them less than I would any one alone. I like
them better than his larger poem of LaUa Rookli. He has been
very successful in introducing new poetical measures, but in some
he fails. I am afraid that of " At the mid hour of night, when
stars are weeping, I fly " cannot be allowed in English poetry.

. , . . ' Two months ago I made a great many calcida-
tions about the next eclipse of the moon : part of it will fall on
August 3, my birthday. I have also made a view of the progress
for Dublin. If Uncle Willey would like to see them, I shall have
great pleasure in copying them for him.'

The calculations referred to in the last paragraph are still in
existence; so also is an Essay, dated March 13, 1822, "On the

value of -r, with preliminary remarks on Division." The main con-
tention of this Essay, viz., that the fraction in question has no
definite value, in preference to the opinion held by some that t: = 0,

is proved indeed by the writer ; but by a subsequent annotation of
his own is discredited "as unnecessary, it being allowed by mathe-
maticians that - is indefinite, and yet that a quantity represented

by it may have a real value." The preliminary remarks on Division
are worth reproducing, as showing his early interest in the elemen-
tary notions of science.

'Division, according to the most obvious definition, is the
dividing a quantity into a given number of parts, whence that
number is called the Divisor. This kind of Division was pro-
bably the first made use of, but is very limited in extent, not
Admitting any Divisors but such as are real positive integer

I02 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1822,

numbers; in short such as are of the series 1, 2, 3, 4, &c. The
result of this operation always bore the same proportion to the
original number that Unity did to the Divisor. By adopting
this property as a definition, namely that Division is the finding
of a fourth proportional to Divisor, Unity, and Dividend, all
sorts of Numerical Divisors were admitted.

' But there is another view of the subject, naturally suggested
by the term Quotient ; namely, that Division is the finding how
often one quantity is contained in another. This is the Definition
at present generally adopted. The distinction between it and the
former is, that in this the Divisor must be homogeneous to the
Dividend ; in the former it must be a number. Perhaps the best
Definition of Division would be " the finding that quantity which
multiplied by the Divisor will produce the Dividend.

' Before I quit this subject I may be allowed to remark that all
the branches of Arithmetic are applied in a much more extensive
manner than was contemplated by the inventors of them. By the
introduction of negative and fractional quantities, operations that
diminish are included under Addition and Multiplication, and
others that increase under Subtraction and Division. As the
boundaries of science were extended, new operations were desig-
nated by old names. The name of Geometry shows that it was
at first confined to what is now only a subordinate part of it,
Mensuration: and Calculation itself, the objects of which are so
extensive and so wonderful, continues to record by its etymology
its humble origin in the rude custom of counting by pebbles.'

In another short paper, still extant, Hamilton finds astrono-
mical calculation to help in the decision of a moot point in the
chronology of the j^neid. It may be thought that the reasoning
proceeds on a supposition which ascribes to Vii'gil a kind of
accuracy in his statement of the observations of Palinurus which
no poet in classical times ever thought of aiming at; but the
argument is carefully conducted, and the result interesting. This
paper is given in the Appendix.

The change to Dublin proved beneficial to his health; and
during the month of May which he spent there, we find him
studying the Differential Calculus in the Treatise of Gramier,

AETAT. 16.] His School-time.

and making acquaintance with the 3Iecanique Celeste of Laplace.
He signalised the beginning of this acquaintance with a great
masterpiece by detecting a flaw in the reasoning by which
Laplace demonstrates the parallelogram of forces. He wrote
out his criticism at the instance of a friend, Mr. Gr. Kieman,
by whom it was shown to Dr. Brinkley; and thus was the seed
sown of personal acquaintance with an elder of Science which
had a most happy influence upon the future career of Hamilton.
It will interest the mathematical reader to see a criticism which
led to these results, and I am enabled by the kindness of Pro-
fessor Hennessy to commit it to print from the original document,
which was found by him inserted at the pages it refers to in the
copy of the Mecanique Celeste which belonged to Dr. Brinkley,
and which subsequently came into the possession of Mr. Hennessy.
It is given in the Appendix.

On the 13th of June he writes from Trim to his Cousin
Arthur : — ' I send you a copy of a poetical fragment that I
wrote since my last letter, omitting only the first twelve lines,*
which describe the dream that suggested the idea.

« THE DREAM.

' " Sometimes it is a visit made by tlie soul of the object of which he dreams."

' Notes to Gertrude of Wyoming.

[* A dream of exquisite delight
Dispelled the gloom of yesternight,
And gave me back the place, the hour,
"When first I felt Love's mightj^ power.
Together we appeared to stand
Fondly clasping hand in hand ;
And words were few, hut looks that spoke
Each moment through the stillness broke.
Oh could I think her spirit too
"Was conscious of that interview ;
And came to soothe my troubled breast,
To give my anxious bosom rest !
For in the solemn, &c.']

* As Hamilton at a later date [infra, p. 140) refers to this Poem by the
first of the twelve lines here mentioned, I have decided to prefix them, with a
title for the whole Poem, and appended quotation, as I find them in two of his
manuscript collections of verse.

I04 Life of Sir Willimn Rowan Hamilton. [1822.

' Oft in the solemn midnight hour,
When things of other worlds have power,
The soul perhaps may take its flight
To regions of celestial light,
Once haply its own bright abode,
Ere earthly life was yet bestowed ;
Mounting on incorporeal wings
May hear unutterable things ;
See sights denied to human ken ;
Meet friends, long wept for here, again.
And, if the messengers of heaven
(Those ministers to mortals given)
Descend to hover round the bed
Where some loved one lays his head,
May mingle with th' angelic choir.
And thoughts unearthly may inspire ;
Visions of Elysian hues
Pure as the summer's clearest dews :
Even when the heavenly dream hath fled.
The sweetness lingers that it shed.
But soon to blend again with clay,
The soul must wing its backward waj',
And all unconscious must awake,
As if it drank of Lethe's lake,
Losing by stern decree of fate
Remembrance of its former state.

These blissful scenes, while here below,
It is not given to man to know.
Save in such mystic wand'rings high.
Aspiring to his native sky.
For could the veil be drawn aside.
Which once was placed those scenes to hide,
And human eye should dare to gaze
On that insufferable blaze
Which shrouds the throne of Deity,
His were the fate of Semele,
Amid such glories, all too bright.
To perish in excessive light ! '

At the end he gives the lines —

'Animfe quibus altera f ato
Corpora debentur Lethan ad fluminis undam
Securos latices et longa oblivia potant — '

and adds —

'Such are my verses; the last quotation is from our "beloved

AETAT. 16.] His School-time. 105

Virgil," inserted to show that my idea was in some respect like
Ms.'

'Beloved Virgil,' are words quoted from a poem wliich, in
an incomplete state, has come into my hands, and which by this
quotation is proved to have been composed at a date anterior to
the time now arrived at. It is of the Prize-poem order, and its
subject is the Literature of Rome. I give the argument, to show
its ambitious scope, and a few passages which appear to me to
have force and beauty.

'Analysis of Part I.

' The poem opens by a sketch of the early History of Rome ;
probable anticipations of Romulus with respect to the military
glories of his city in general, and the conquest of Grreece in par-
ticular : hence a transition is made to the main subject of the
poem.

'Allusion to the earliest poetry of Rome; song of the Fratres
Arvales ; Saliare Carmen : Fabellse Atellanse ; Saturnian measure ;
Fescennine verses ; Punic Wars ; Syracuse ; by the conquest of
this Dorian colony a taste first excited at Rome for the Science,
Arts, and Poetry of Greece ; this taste further cherished and
refined by Tarentum and Magna Grsecia recently annexed to
the Empire.

* Improvement in the Roman Theatre ; Attic models ; allusion
to the writings of Livius Andronicus and other early dramatists of
Rome ; confining themselves first to mere translation from the
Greek, but afterwards " vestigia Graeca Ausi deserere et celebrare
domestica facta."

'General character of style in the ancient poets of Rome,
incorrect but spirited; Ennius, Lucilius, Plautus, Terence; po-
verty of character in Roman Comedy, contrasted with the riches
of Shakespeare.

' The Greek and Latin languages compared with respect to
their principal sources ; the Grecian being derived from the
Oriental, and the Latin from the Greek.

' A brief review concludes the First Part.

io6 Life of Sir William Roivan Hainilton. [1822.

'Part II.

'Recapitulation of the steps by which Greek refinement was
introduced at Eome; from the conquest of Syracuse, and of
Magna Grsecia in Italy, to that of Corinth, by which Greece
beame a Roman province.

' Image of the Genius of Greece departing from the Parthenon ;
Athenian Academy, associations connected with it ; its becoming
the resort of the youth of Italy ; allusion to the visit of Cicero,
and the early days of Horace passed in that delightful spot.

'Transition to the life and writings of Horace; the "exem-
plaria Grseca" which formed his style. Varius and the forgotten
bards of the Augustan Court ; allusion to the Oscan dramas which
maintained their ground even in that golden age ; censure on the
poetry of Ovid.

'Virgil compared with his Grecian models, Theocritus, Hesiod
and Homer ; but particularly the last. Conclusion.'

He speaks of the robbers gathered in the rude home of Ro-
mulus as

* Men whose only virtue was — to die.'

Another striking line, which came from his own consciousness,
is —

' And Genius reads its triumphs from afar.'

The following picture of the Roman soldier gazing upon the
Zeus of Phidias is well imagined : —

' Methinks I see in half subdued amaze
The rugged soldier on the marble gaze
Where some Athenian sculptor boldly strove
To mould the unseen majesty of Jove,
The ambrosial locks down his high forehead curled,
The awful nod with which he bows the world.
And can we marvel if the Roman heart
Confessed the influence strange of Grecian art,
At once by mingling feelings tranced and awed,
Admired the Artist and adored the God ?

But hark ! what fingers slowly strike the strings ?
It is the moiu-nful captive sweetly sings ;

AETAT. ic] His ScJiool-time. 107

From Pella's bard* he sings in plaintive tone
Of Man's vicissitudes, of States o'erthrowTi ;
And how the Victor's laurels brightest shine
Bathed in thy tears, 0 Mercy, nymph divine !
The softened conqueror thinks upon his home.
And sheathes again th' uplifted sword of Rome.'

The * Genius of Greece departing from tlie Parthenon ' is thus^

presented : —

' 0 tell me, when the Genius of the land
Took on the Parthenon his lingering stand,
And cast his eyes around, and blushed to see
That land, the birth-place of the great and free,
Of those whose Talents, Virtue, Wisdom, Worth,
Made them as beacons to the sons of Earth,
So deeply now degraded and enthralled
By those whom they had once barbarians called,
Did he not then pronounce the potent spell
Which he alone knew how to frame so well ;
Spell, which in turn the conqueror's soul subdued,
And captive took the Roman bosom rude ? '

After alluding to the visits to Greece of Tully and Horace, he
thus characterises the latter : —

' Shall not my lay a line to Horace lend,
The bard, the sage, the critic, and the friend ?
In whom, although a courtier, strange to tell,
His patron found sincere affection dwell ;
Who lashed his age, goodhumouredly severe,
Alike remote from malice and from fear ?
Though the inventor of the Roman lyre.
The Greek exemplars formed his poet fire ;
Now all Anacreon fills his sportive page.
And now he glows with more than Pindar's rage ;
Or he assumes the solemn critic's right.
And moulds his precepts by the Stagirite.'

Then having alluded briefly to the other poets of the Augustan
age, and visited Ovid with censure, he continues : —

* Well pleased I turn me from the Pontic bard.
And fix on Mantua's my charmed regard ;

* This is a reminiscence of CoUins's * Ode to Pity.'

io8 Life of Sir Williain Roivan Hamilton. [1822.

Wlietlier lie sing in sweetly flowing strain

On oaten pipe the shepherd of the plain ;

Or teach to tend the flocks, and read the stars ;

Or chaunt of Heroes, and Italia's Wars.

Beloved Virgil ! tempered in thy page,

I read Theocrit, Hesiod, Homer's rage ;

And if the Master's more impetuous song,

Like his own warrior, hurries us along,

Yet will a gentler and more still delight

To Maro's melodies ofttimes invite.

The impress of a genius less divine

Is stamped indeed upon the Roman line,

Nor can his pen the mighty magic give

Which hids the Greek creation breathe and live.

More dimly shadowed all his pictures seem.

Like the faint imagery of a dream :

Yet e'en the mist o'er Virgil's beauties shed

A softening halo casts around his head.

If Homer wrings at will his hearers' hearts,

When from Andromache her Hector parts,

Who can refrain the sympathetic tear

O'er Msus' and Euryalus's bier ;

Or when old Priam, in his anguish wild,

Attempts in vain t' avenge his murdered child ?

At least let Maro proudly take his stand.

Unrivalled poet of his native land ;

His Grecian models still before his eye,

Rome's minstrel greatness never soared so high.'

Hamilton is again in Dublin in tlie following July, and from
thence writes to his sister an account of his succeeding in the
solution of a difficult geometrical problem which had resisted the
efforts of Mr. Boyton, recently elected Fellow of Trinity College.

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

'Dublin, 7, Soxjth Cumberlaij^D'STileet,
' Juli/ 18, 1822.

' I called on Charles Boyton, the Fellow, last week. He was
trying to solve a problem in Analytic Geometry, which he showed
me, and I had the pleasui'e of solving it before him ; for, two
days after, when I brought the solution, I found that he had not
succeeded. Charles Boyton is eminent as a mathematician in Col-
lege. He will be my tutor. He has lent me several French books.'

AETAT. 16.] His School-time.

109

The following letter to Mr. Boyton, aided by one of Hamilton's
manuscript books, fui-nislies us with the problem and solution : —

From Manuscript Book : — ' Prize Question for 1822, Gen-
tleman's Mathematical Companion. " Griven three circles of which
the centres lie in one right line, to find two other right lines and
an area such that the rectangle under the tangents drawn from
any point in one circle to the other two may be a mean propor-
tional between the area and the sum of the squares of the perpen-
diculars let fall from the same point on the same lines." '

From W. R. Hamilton to Charles Boytox, f.t.c.d.

'Julij 11, 1822.

* I have solved the problem. Let the line joining the centre
be the axis of the abscissae, and the perpendicular cc, passing
through the centre of the principal circle, that of the ordinates.
Let r be the radius, and let //, c, g represent the rectangles under
the tangents di-awn from those points respectively.* Then the

2,7

fixed space is equal to .~_, , and the equations of the lines are
{g - h)x - (g + h) r ^. ■ ■, ■,

and the lower to the other.

' I enclose the verses that I promised.'

A manuscript book gives also a geometrical solution of the same
problem.

In the letter above quotedf he gives his sister a copy of the
lines beginning

' Oft intlie solemn, midnight hour,'
and continues :

' This, you will perhaps say, is great nonsense — and I believe
it is. Aunt Mary saw it, and asked me whether I did not live on
vegetables, as I was a believer in the transmigration of souls ?

* The line of centres meets the principal circle in the points g and A ; and
the axis of ordinates meets the same circle in the points cc.

t Suiira, p. 108.

no Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilto7i. [1822.

Sydney says that you are very fond of poetry, and that in the
nightly visitations of your muse, you are so " raised to fury, rapt,
inspired," that you do not allow anyone to sleep. Why, then,
do you not favour me with a few of your compositions, in return
for the many foolish ones I have sent you ? . . . Mr. Butler
showed me, before I came to town, a curious Persian coin, which
I translated for him. I have the coin here. The date is 1200
Hegira : our 1785. . . .'

From Trim, having now attained his seventeenth year, Ha-
milton writes a remarkable letter to his aunt Mary Hutton.
After having entered upon the study of Newton, Laplace, and
Lagrange, he began to feel that he possessed powers akin to
theirs ; perhaps, too, he had floating notions of some of the dis-
coveries which lay before him, for to this year he himself assigns
the composition of an Essay which contains the germ of his in-
vestigations respecting Systems of Eays, which were begun in the
following year.

From W. R. Hamilton to Jiis Aunt Mary Hutton.

' Teim, August 26, 1822.

' I have been continuing my Classics, jis usual, with my uncle.
But I fear I shall never be so fond of them as of the Mathematics
that I am now reading. I know that an intimate acquaintance
with Classical literature is of the greatest importance both in
College and in society : that nothing contributes more to form
and refine one's taste ; but still, in human literature, I think
there is nothing that so exalts the mind, or so raises one man
above his fellow-creatures, as the researches of Science. Who
would not rather have the fame of Archimedes than that of his
conqueror Marcellus, or than any of those learned commentators
on the Classics, whose highest ambition was to be famiHar with
the thoughts of other men ? If indeed I could hope to become
myself a Classic, or even to approach in any degree to those
great masters of ancient poetry, I would ask no more ; but since I
have not the presumption to think so, I must enter on that field
which is open for me.

AEiAT. 17.] His School-time. 1 1 1

* Mighty minds in all ages have combined to rear upon a lofty-
eminence the vast and beautiful temple of Science, and inscribed
their names upon it in imperishable characters ; but the edifice is
not completed : it is not yet too late to add another pillar or
another ornament. I have yet scarcely arrived at its foot, but I
may aspire one day to reach its summit.'

In the next month he writes to his Cousin Arthur a very inte-
resting retrospect of his scientific progress, followed by an expres-
sion of his aspirations.

From "W. E. Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur.

* TfiiM, September 4, 1822,
' Wednesday Evening.

* I was amused this morning, looking back on the eagerness
with which I began different branches of the Mathematics, and
how I always thought my present pursuit the most interesting.
I believe it was seeing Zerah Colburn that first gave me an
interest in those things. For a long time afterwards I liked to
perform long operations in Arithmetic in my mind ; extracting
the square and cube root, and everything that related to the pro-
perties of numbers. It is now a good while since I began Euclid.
Do you remember when I used to go to breakfast with you, and we
read two or three propositions together every morning ? I was
then so fond of it, that when my uncle wished me to learn Algebra,
he said he was afraid I would not like its uphill work after the
smooth and easy path of Geometry. However, I became equally
fond of Algebra, though I never mastered some parts of the
science. Indeed the resources of Algebra have probably not
been yet exhausted ; though the Integral Calculus is only an
extension of it — that art, which has accomplished more than even
Newton in Physical Astronomy, and would enable any student
to make the discoveries that immortalized Ai'chimedes. Three
years ago I read Stack's Optics.

' If you add to what I have mentioned some popular know-
ledge of Astronomy, you will have the whole of my acquirements
in Science, at the beginning of last year. I was lent at that time

112 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [182?.

Brinkley's Agronomy and a Trigonometry, whicli I read, but liad
not time to make myself sufficiently acquainted witli them. I
bought an Ephemeris, and my favourite amusement was calculat-
ing and observing occiiltations of stars by the moon ; eclipses too,
but there were not any to observe. But in August, while the King
was in Dublin, my uncle gave me Lloyd's Analytic Geometry. Ill-
omened gift ! it was the commencement of my present course of
mathematical reading, which has in so great a degree withdrawn my
attention, I may say my aifection, from the Classics. It prepared
the way for Puissant, Grarnier, Lagrange. I soon became quite
fascinated with it, took it with me even to the pier of Dunleary, on
the day the King embarked. My next attempt was so much of
Newton's Principia as is read for the Science medal. At Christ-
mas I was made a present of two Nautical Almanacks, which gave
me a new impulse to observe the heavenly bodies. In June I was
lent Garnier, and some other French mathematical books, which I
nearly read through since, though only at stolen intervals from
my classical studies with my uncle. You have always allowed me
to write what interested myself, without sufficiently considering
whether it would interest you also ; and I fear I must plead this
in excuse for the long account I have given you.

*I do not much like Horace's placing happiness in the nil admi-
rari. I am more inclined to agree with those who suppose it is found
in the constant pursuit of some real or imaginary good. Not that
the chase is to end when the object has been attained: the travel-
ler of the Alps, when he has gained what appeared to him the
summit of the mountain, finds still another and another height to
be surmounted. There is something similar to this in intellectual
acquirements. The mind perhaps proposes to itself at first some
goal, and thinks it will be content if it can attain it ; but finds it,
when attained, only the starting-post for renewed exertion. Nor
is there any limit to its progress, unless, like Atalanta, it turns too
often aside to gather the golden apples. It was said of the first
mathematicians that they opened a field in which their successors
may go on advancing, and behold the horizon receding at every
step. He who enters on this fair field must be ever pressing-
forward, and consider nothing as done while anything remains
undone. How small has been my progress — how wide the inter-
val between my actual and (as I hope) possible attainments ! How

AETAT. 17.] His Scliool-time. 113

little of the ample page, ricli with the spoils of time, has been yet
unrolled to my view ! I have indeed much to learn ; much in
Languages, much in History, much in Science ; in the elegant
Geometry, in the profound and powerful Analysis.'

The letter to his aunt giving vent to his feelings of scientific
ambition appears to have startled his good and kind relative,
unable doubtless to measure the intellectual capacity of her young
correspondent, and to have made her think it incumbent on her to
administer a lesson of humility. In reply he says : —

From W. R. Hamilton to his Aunt Mary Hutton.

' Tkim, September 16, 1822.

'I quite agree with you in the importance of humility, and
accept what you say as a gentle reproof to the tone of my last
letter. I fear I may have appeared arrogant, while unbosoming my
secret thoughts and wishes, and those aspirings in which I scarcely
ever dare permit myself to indulge, much less reveal them.

'Whatever I may hope for the future, I am conscious of my
present deficiencies ; and know how unprofitable is human know-
ledge to one who is not taught of God.'

In the same letter he writes : —

* I can very well conceive that it must be difiicult for Eliza to
speak French all day, as she has never been accustomed to it ; but
the advantage will repay the trouble. It is very hard at first to
learn to speak or write in a foreign language ; but there is no better
way of becoming master of it. When I wrote a Persian Address
to the Ambassador some years ago, it obliged me to ransack my
memory, grammars, and other authorities for the best way of
expressing my ideas : in short I learned more Persian in a day
than in a long time before. I have not much practised writing
Latin ; but I wrote a Latin letter the other day, and found great
benefit from it.'

The Latin letter here referred to was addressed to his Cousin
Arthur, and is still in existence. I have not thought it worthy of

114 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1822.

insertion here, for tliough very pleasing in its tenor and possessing
mucli elegance of style, its Latinity is not flawless.

From W. R. Hamilton io his Sister Eijza.

' Teim, September 23, 1822.

'I have been surprised to find myself much less inclined to
■write to you now that you are nearer me, and after the few days
we spent so happily together in Dublin. Is it the waywardness
of the will which neglects the pleasures that are easy of attain-
ment, or that long absence creates a more romantic tenderness,
and a halo of beauty is spread around from the dimness of the
medium? I will make no more conjectures, as I certainly am
very glad of an opportunity to write to-day.

You know I never was so fond of the country as not very
willingly to exchange it for Dublin. But I really enjoy a soUtary
walk in the fields on a fine morning — it is then the spirits are
most elastic, and mind and body most open to sensations of plea-
sure. The imagination is more awake, and the fancy takes higher
flights. The silent flocks, the warbling birds, the curling smoke
from the dwellings of man, and the solitary grandeur of those
which he has long since ceased to inhabit, every object of Nature
has then its charms, and surely the season is not unfavourable for
elevating the soul to Nature's Grod. A walk with another has
also pleasures; but I think of another kind. It dissipates the
charming illusions to which you might yield yourself up if alone,
and brings you back to the realities of life. . . .

* I have some curious discoveries — at least they are so to me — ^to
show Charles Boy ton when next we meet : he will be my Tutor
soon. No lady reads a novel with more anxious interest than a
mathematician investigates a problem, i^articuJarJij if in any new or
untried field of research. All the energies of his mind are called
forth, all his facidties are on the stretch for the discovery. Some-
times an unexpected difiiculty starts up, and he almost despairs of
success. Often, if he be as inexperienced as I am, he will detect
mistakes of his own, which throw him back. But when all have
been rectified, when the happy clue has been found and followed
up, when the difficulties, perhaps unusually great, have been com-
pletely overcome, what is his rapture ! Such in kind, though not in

AETAx. 17.] His School-time. 115

degree, as Newton's, when he found the one simple and pervading
principle which governs the motions of the universe, from the fall
of an apple to the orbits of the stars.'

I have italicised some words in the concluding passage of the
above letter, because I believe them to refer to the investigations
he had recently entered upon, and which led to his Theory of
Systems of Rays. There exists a Paper of twenty-one folio pages
entitled " Essay on Equations representing Systems of Eight
Lines in a given Plane. Part I. : On the manner in which they
arise from problems determpning aj right line, which admit of
more than one solution. By William Hamilton." To this title
is appended a note which I transcribe. ("This curious old Paper,
found by me to-day in settling my study, must have been written
at least as early as 1822. It contains the germ of my investiga-
tions respecting Systems of Pays, begun in 1823. W. P. H.,
February 27, 1834.")

The following letter announces the postponement till the sum-
mer of the next year of his entrance into College, This decision was
arrived at after much discussion between his uncle and his Cousin
Arthur, the determining motive being the state of his health,
which during the spring and the summer had caused much
uneasiness. The description in the succeeding letter of his
mode of attacking the advanced propositions of Euclid furnishes
proof of his intellectual vigour, unwilling to appropriate what
he had not himself conquered.

From W. P. Hamilton to his Sisto' Eliza.

' Tkim, October 9, 1822.

* There is very little of the day that I am not reading, but I
read a good deal standing, and even walking. After dinner I
generally take out my book and walk up and down the top of our
lower meadow. There is a very pretty view from it of the river, the
ruins, the islands, and the Dublin mountains. At that hour the

Ii6 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1822.

Minstrel* is often my companion. I am particularly fond of tliat
walk, for it is under a row of tall trees whicli give shelter from the
blast, and shade from the sun when it is high, but do not prevent
it from shining when it is lower. . . .

'It is a common mistake to think that to be poetry, of which the
only merit is sweetness of sound, if indeed it has that recommenda-
tion. And some, perceiving that this is wrong, have gone into the
opposite extreme, contending that loftiness of thought, of language,
and of imagery, are not only essential requisites to a good poem,
but sufficient of themselves to constitute one. I incline rather to the
latter than the former opinion, but I think the truth lies between ;
and that in poetry, melody should wait on sublimity, as its insepa-
rable handmaid. A poet can never fully express what he feels in
the happy moments of inspiration; hence, independently of the
effect of his parental fondness for his own writings, they cannot
be equally interesting to other persons, because they cannot com-
municate to others the same train of ideas which they awaken in
his mind. And the consciousness of this impossibility, together
with the attachment habit produces, makes him unwilling to change
even a word at the suggestion of another. If I may bring forward,
not as authority but illustration, my Address to the Evening Star,
I have never cordially consented to your correction of shining ;
though I am sure burning is better, for the sake of alliteration and
other reasons. But even though I should not adopt them, I shall be
glad to receive from you any other criticisms or corrections ; and
I hope you will sometimes give me an opportunity of making
them in return on your compositions. We shall probably not
meet until Christmas, as I am not to enter College till next
July, which is a disappointment to us both. . . . The Sunday
before last I received what is justly styled in our Liturgy "the
most comfortable Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ." I
had been prevented by my cough from attending at several returns
of that holy ordinance, and even from joining at all in public
worship. I am convinced that the precept is wise which enjoins
us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Have you
ever received the Sacrament ? '

* Beattie's.

AETAT. 17.] His ScJiool-timc. 117

From W. R. Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur.

' Teim, October 12, 1822.

, . . ' In the conversation I bad with my uncle on the subject
of my deficiencies, be observed to me that since my time and
thoughts bad become most valuable, they had been taken up very
much with mathematical studies — not without his approbation, yet
which had diverted my attention not only from the Classics but the
Science of the Undergraduate course. This was a very just obser-
vation. But last week I rode a few miles off to dine with an old
schoolfellow that entered last October, full of regret at the idea of
losing a day. But so far was this from being the case, that we
spent all the time, except dinner- and bed-time, in discussing
Wright's Euclid — an edition much used in College, on the plan
of general terms, and copious deducibles without proof. I had to
brush up all I knew ; and though not so familiar with that particu-
lar branch, by my being more accustomed to general mathematical
reasoning and acquainted with Algebra, I could explain many
things that puzzled him. However, this had the effect of making
me sensible how deficient I was in Euclid, and the deducibles in
in that book gave me a fresh interest in the subject. We agreed
that after the examinations I should get Wright and lend Madan.
Here I should tell you that I have finished, this some time, the
blank verse translation of the four Satires for Entrance.

* I began Jucenal with reluctance and laid it down with regret :
as, by-the-by, I remember you anticipated I would. The style is
not so polished as that of Horace ; but I am almost inclined to
prefer Juveiial. If we were not so frequently disgusted by the
mention of crimes that may not so much as be named among
Christians, I scarcely know any profane writer with more sublime
sentiments and lessons of virtue. We cannot but admii'e the
severe majesty with which he chastises the vices of that flagitious
age and city. The thirteenth Satire is the freest from the objec-
tions I have mentioned, and is indeed admirable for the terrible
description of an evil conscience, not to speak of other excellences.
But the tenth is his masterpiece.

' To return to Euclid : I have since read through the six Books
on this plan : when I am walking, or otherwise prevented from
^•raver pm^suits, I glance at the title of a proposition and then work

ii8 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1822.

it, having resolved not to assist myself by text or figure until I
conquer the difficulty by my own resources. In general I find this
very easy — sometimes not. Still I have observed my rule. The
hardest question I met was Euclid, iv. 10 : to construct an isosceles
triangle having each angle at the base double that at the vertex.
I found by Analytic Greometry that the base must be the greater
segment of either side, cut in extreme and mean ratio, and then
formed a demonstration depending only on the Second Book of
Euclid. On referring to his text, I saw that the construction was
the same, but the demonstration quite different, being entirely
from the Third Book, and therefore less simple than mine. I
mention this principally to show the use that may be made of
Grraduate science in the Undergraduate course, and that even for
present purposes the time has not been thrown away which I have
devoted to it con amove. But in the Fellowship Examination I
think there must be incalculable advantage in an early familiarity
with those sciences which are often not read till after graduating.
We have been getting up before five for several mornings, that is,
my uncle and I ; he pulls a string which goes through the wall aud
is fastened to my shirt at night. The Constellations visible in the
mornings are those that appear later in the winter in the evening-
(Orion). The Planets are Jupiter, Venus, aud Saturn; but you
can scarcely conceive how little I care now about making astrono-
mical observations ; my telescope lies untouched in a corner of my
desk, and my coughs forget to trouble me. This is all your fault,
for you broke me of the habit off star-gazing.'

From tlte Same to tJte Same.

' TiiiM, October 25, 1822.

' You would be amused to hear all the books I have begun —
Algebra, Trigonometry, Fitzgerald's Hehreic Gmminar, Mitford's
Grecian Hidorij, Bossuet's Universal Historrj : of these I can read
of course only a very small portion every day, but still by system
I will make progress in them all. Algebra and Trigonometry are
not new to me. I read a chapter in each while I am walking;
about as much of Fitzgerald's Hebrew and Yalpy's Greek Gram-
mar : a section of Mitford in the evening, along with the Classical
Atlas; an Epoch of Bossuet in French, with Grace; a page of

AETAT. 17.] His School-time. 119

Lueian from Latin into Greek; besides Virgil, Sallust, Greek
Testament, Psalter, as usual ; and when I am done with uncle in
the evening, some part of Astronomy or Integral Calculus. Here
is a multifarious course of reading, and one that seems to contain
too many things at a time. But the parts that take up the most
room in this catalogue occupy the least time. I think there is an
advantage, however, in diversifying my studies, and I read every-
thing on some system.'

The arrival at Trim, on the 31st of October, of his loved sister
Eliza, was an event which deeply stirred his affectionate heart, and
prompted him to give her welcome by a poem, which from its first
words he entitled 'AH Hallow E'en,' and to which in after years he
was accustomed to refer with a peculiar interest ; because although,
technically considered, it might be judged to be graceful rather
than vigorous, he knew it to be the genuine expression of a feel-
ing bound up with his life, pure, deep, and lasting. With regard
to the ' queries about Laplace,' mentioned in the second paragraph
of the letter, I am not able to supply any information.

From the Same io the Same.

'Trim, October Z\, 1822.

'This morning as it drew near to 10 you may think I got
fidgetty ; and the coach did not come in till near a quarter after
it. But it came at last, and in it Eliza. She looks very well, and
much improved. We were agreeably surprised to hear that you
saw her to the coach yourself. Aunt Mary has sent Grace some
nice flowers and roots. There have come two flower-pots for her
from Mrs. Boyle.

* When was Mr. Kiernan's letter left at Cumberland-street ?
He tells me that " I forgot your 'queries about Laplace' for a long-
time" (the same as those I showed to Boyton) ; "but at last I laid
them before Dr. Brinkley, who said he thought them ingenious,
and he was so good as to say that he would write an explanation
for you. He also desired me to bring you to him, and that ho
would be happy to know you, and to show you the Observatory. This
of course, you know, is a great honour." And in a postcript : " I

I20 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1822.

will have Dr. Brinkley's answer for you when you call." As my
calling for it is out of the question, and I am rather anxious to see
what Dr. Brinkley says — Do you know Mr. Kiernan ? or would
you like to call some day you are passing through Henry-street,
and get it in my name ? or should I write a note to him on Mon-
day ? In short I wish you would tell me what you think I had
better do, as Mr. Kiernan's politeness requires a return of civility.

' And now I will copy for you some verses with which I will
surprise our little party this evening. I have not shown them yet
to anyone but Grace, but you will see them a few hours after they
have given us a laugh.

' I write this at your model of a reading-desk.

' All Hallow E'en, we welcome thee,
"With all thy train of mirth and glee.
And arts by which we fondly try
To read our future destiny.

Now merry night comes dancing in ;
Now the accustomed sports begin ;
And nuts and apples now are poured
Profusely on the festive board.
Now brightly shines the cheerful fire,
And all the social joys conspire ;
And many a youthful heart beats high,
And sparkles many a happy eye.

To me, this day has highest charms,
It gives Eliza to mine arms ;
Again our kindred spirits meet,
And every joy is doubly sweet :
And while my life flows smooth away,
This will have been my happiest day.

So have I marked — when all around
"Was but unclouded blue profound —
A solitary spot, so bright,

O'ercharged with splendour, fraught with light,
As moonbeams, thro' the midnight air.
Had foimd repose, and centred there.
It might have been, in Ida's grove.
The cestus of the Q,ueen of Love.

It was on such an eve as this,
• That Lisbon lay in heedless bliss •}
" No sign in earth or air was given ;

Hushed were the winds, serene the heaven ;

^ 'The Earthquake of Lisbon, 1755, was on All Saints' Day.'

AETAT. 17.] His- ScJiool- time. 121

Nought broke the silence of the night,
Save sounds of pleasure and delight ;
Or where the distant music stole
On the entranced and softened soul.

And while her youths and maidens gay
Counted on many a happy day,
Methinks I see them rove afar,
And gaze upon the evening star,
And whisper love, and sweetly smile.
And mirth like ours the night beguile.

Even then their ruin was at hand,
The earthquake brooded o'er their land ;
And few, few hours their course shoiild run,
Nor e'er should set another sun,
Before their city far and wide
"Was 'whelmed in one devouring tide :
And those who 'scaped the wasting wave
Found in the earth a living grave.

But let it pause : so sad the tale.
It well might make the hearers pale ;
Blend our own bliss with this alloy.
And cast its gloom o'er all our joy.
Yet if their fate may claim a tear.
It falls from pity, not from fear :
No earthquake here have we to dread,
No bvirsting river quits its bed.
To desolate our favoured soil.
Or natui'e's fairest face despoil.

But all too serious, and too long
For this gay season seems my song :
Pensive our secret bosom grows.
While thus we muse on others' woes.

Yet ere we turn to livelier themes.
And leave these sad, poetic dreams ;
Ere mirth, impatient of control,
Prepare to seize the willing soul ;
Hear but one wish — propitious powers !
May many days like this be ours ;
Still as the smiling years go round,
May Hallow E'en with bliss be crowTi'd ;
Still may the muse invoked be near,
And mutual love make all more dear.

< October 31, 1822.

* They will be greatly surprised this evening when I produce
the verses. I know uncle will begin talking of Latin verses and

122 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1822.

sofortli, for he wanted me to put Burns [his "Hallow E'en"?]
into Latin.'

He then recounts the incidents of a romance in real life, of
which the persons are no higher than a children's maid and
soldiers in the barracks of a country town ; but which interested
him, as they will every reader who believes that ' we have all of
us one human heart.'

From the Same to the Same.

' Teim, November 12, 1822.

' Past eleven at night.

' Do you remember me sending you some crumbs of a bride-
cake in a letter, a few months ago ? I think you will be interested
in the history of the bride, told partly from my own recollection,
and partly from very good authority : — Jenny Walker was a very
pretty girl, our children's maid some years ago. There never goes
from this town a regiment with as many bachelors as came into it ;
one of the soldiers courted Jenny, and it seems she was equally iu
love with him. But her mother did not choose her to marry him,
because he was a soldier, and because he was poor. She came to
Aunt to request her to lock her up, or at least confine her to the
house. Aunt refused to take charge of her, and parted with her.
In time the regiment went, and Jenny heard no more of her lover.
Early in this year there came another, and one of the soldiers, an
Englishman, a Serjeant, I will not say fell in love with her at first
sight, but declared that moment, she shall be my wife. Accord-
ingly he soon went to Mrs. Walker, and got her over completely
to his interest. She came to Uncle to request him to add his
influence to hers, to get her daughter to marry this English-
man, who (although she did not like his being a soldier) was of
very good character, and had saved a great deal of money. Jenny
was at last prevailed on, for she supposed the Scotchman had for-
gotten her. Unwillingly she consented. The soldier gave a ball,
at which the officers were present. Huge bride-cakes were made»
of which you got a crumb. A separate room was given them in
the barrack, and everything done in the first style. They were
married at eight o'clock by Mr. Butler, and at ten she received a

AETAT. 17.] His School-lime.

letter from the man she had really loved, saying that he had (I
believe by legacy) got a good deal of money, left the army and
turned farmer, and would soon come to Trim to marry Jenny.

' She and her husband went to Dublin with the regiment, and
are now there. She retm'ned last week to see her friends, and
paid a visit to Aunt. She told her that her husband was a dark,,
distant man.

' Have you ever read Mackenzie's novel called Julia de RoU'
higne ? The facts that I have mentioned are very like the fictions
of that novel. There is a great deal of romance in real life. Every-
one that saw her last week remarked that, though she was dressed so
well, she was not at all so handsome as she used to be ; but this is
easily accounted for, by those that know the history of the letter —
for it has probably been preying on her mind.'

It is impossible for those who remember Hamilton not to smile
as they read the following account of his study of the way to
carve a turkey : the solemn dogged seriousness with which he
would take in hand any problem of daily life which was new to
him, whether it were important or trivial, and, if it were trivial,
the double consciousness alongside of this, taking humorous en-
joyment in the comedy, and ready to burst into a genial laugh,
were characteristic of him to the end of his life.

From W. E. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' Teim, December 2, 1822.

' I must tell you of a curious adventure that I had with a
turkey. The week before last, when uncle was in Dublin, Mr.
Barton came here — Bessie's music-master. He always dines and
sleeps at the houses of his pupils. I went to the Griebe to ask
Mr. Butler to meet him, but he was at Ardbraccan, so I was to sit
at the foot of the table, as I heard in the middle of the day to my
great dismay. You would have laughed to see me studying the
chapter on carving in the Domestic Cooker// (draw your knife from
a to b, &o.), with the turkey before me, and asking every body for
instructions. When I understood it as well as the man that had
a frog in a basin and learned to swim on dry land, at last I let it
be dressed. But even when dinner was on the table, I got to the

124 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1822.

parlour, and by way of security made a little nick in tlie breast,
that I might not forget it. But behold, Mr. Barton offered his
services, and deprived me of the brilliant display I had anticipated.
. . . We had a terrible storm here last Thursday night. Six
windows were completely broken in this house — one, sash and all,
fell on Grace, and hurt her a little. The slates were nearly all
blown off. Part of the steeple has fallen, and a great deal of
the old ruin at Newtown. Several trees in the garden, and one
large tree in the Steeple-field, were torn up. Some old houses in
the town fell, but no lives were lost. On the whole we escaped
very well ; but if heavy rain should fall, would be drowned, as
there is almost no roof. Did the storm affect you at all ? '

I find among the early mathematical manuscripts of Hamilton
one entitled ' Example of an Osculating Circle determined with-
out any consideration repugnant to the utmost rigour of Analysis,'
iind dated November 14, 1822 ; a second, without date, entitled

* Osculating Parabola to Curves of Double Curvatm-e' ; and a
third, dated December, 1822, of which the title is, ' On Contacts
between Algebraic Curves and Surfaces.' These papers mark the
year 1822, when he attained the seventeenth year of his age, as
that in which Hamilton entered upon the path of original ma-
thematical discovery. With the second and third of them in his
hand, availing himself of the kind permission of Dr. Brinkley, he
paid his first visit to him at the Observatory. Dr. Brinkley was
impressed by their value, and desired to see some of the investiga-
tions in a more developed form ; with this request Hamilton com-
plied, by forwarding to him in the following month a pajDer entitled

* Developments ' ; it was returned by him to Hamilton, and was in
possession of the latter in the year 1841, but I have not discovered
it among the manuscripts entrusted to me, nor I believe is it to be
found in the Hamilton collection deposited in the manuscript-room
of the Library of Trinity College.*

* It is not^ I believe, tlie fasciculus entitled ' Developments and Illustrations
of my Theory of Systems of Rays, Section I.' — a rough-draft manuscript, seven
■sheets in length (the sixth sheet wanting).

AETAT. 17.] His School-time. 125

It was at the end of the year 1822 that Hamilton's uncle
received from the Fishmongers' Company that conditional promise
of the living of Tamlaght Finlagan which I have recorded in an
early chapter. Gratifying as it must have been to his fraternal
feelings, its other effects were trying and painfal — unsettlement
at Trim, many and anxious conferences with lawyers in Dublin,
tedious suspense, and final disappointment.

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Sydney.

* DtTBLiN, January 2, 1823.

'I have been busy, reading the Classics and Science of the
College course, partly by myself, partly with Uncle James. He
has been made a present of the living of Finlagan, near Derry,
by the Fishmongers' [Company] ; but there must be a long and
expensive lawsuit before he can get it. The Fishmongers, how-
ever, will bear the expense. It will be very pleasant if he does get
it, as we will be so near you.'

Here is a bit of juvenile criticism shot at a Newspaper
critic : —

From W. R. Hamilton to the Editor of The Warder.

< Januanj 20, 1823.

' I observe with pleasure that, while ever vigilant to defend the
Constitution in Church and State, you occasionally introduce
lighter articles. Omne tulit punctmn qui miscuit utile dulci. Permit
me then to hope that the following remarks may be honoured
by insertion in your paper, though they are written in behalf of
Moore. They are suggested by the critique in the last Warder
on the Loves of the Angels.

' Moore is one of those authors who have given themselves up
to their fancy, and expatiated in those regions of imagination
where neither reason nor Revelation affords them any certain light.
Presuming, like Bellerophon, to soar on Pegasus above this earth,
there is danger lest they " fall dismounted on the Aleian field."
But wit and ridicule, as well as poetry, have their dangerous fasci-

126 Life of Sir William Rovoan Hamilton. [1823.

nations, and sometimes prove an ignis fatuus io lead their admirers
astray. Allow me to select, as an example, one passage in the
critique, in which these lines are quoted : —

" Like the light of evening, stealing
O'er some fair temple, which all day
Had slept in sJiadoic, slow revealing
Its several beauties, ray by ray," &c.

' Now the conception is evidently that the temple is so situated
that it does not receive the brightness of the noonday. But the
Eeviewer asks where the light of evening is so much stronger
than the light of day, and makes some amusing allusions to
Echo, and Paddy Blake.

' The answer is : — Irishman as Moore is, the poet does not
assert that the light of the evening is anywhere stronger than
that of day ; and what he does say is obviously and at once ex-
plained by supposing the temple to have a western aspect. " How
do you do, Paddy Blake?" '

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' Tkim, January 28, 1823.

* You know that I am to enter in July : and as this time is
fixed beyond postponement, and approaches fast, I have resolved
to apply seriously to prepare for it. Forget then — no, do not
forget I exist, but imagine I am in some other hemisphere : and
do not expect that I will give up my time to the fascinating em-
ployment of letter- writing. I have devoted part of this evening
to write to you ; immediately after dinner, which is my only
leisure hour. Even my favourite mathematical studies I have
quite given up, lest they should interfere too much with my
classical — and that not merely by the time they require, but by
occupying my thoughts even at moments when they are not before
my eyes. The very same objection lies against my writing letters.
But now that I mention mathematics, I must tell you about the
eclipse of the moon, last Sunday evening. I had made calcula-
tions of all the circumstances six months ago, and I showed them
to uncle as soon as dinner was over. He wrote a note to ask Mr.
Butler and his brother to come to observe, and drink tea ; they

AETAT. 17.] His ScJiool-timc. 127

came, but not till all was nearly over, "When the time of emersion
approached, for the moon was totaUij eclipsed, I went out to the
garden : the stars and planets were glowing, but their queen was
absent. I sought her, but her place was nowhere to be found.
Shortly afterwards, I saw through my telescope the first Satellite
of Jupiter — and knew that the emersion of the moon must have
taken place. For it is a remarkable coincidence that Jupiter's
moon emerged from a total eclipse only three minutes and a-half
before ours did. At the same time Saturn was on the meridian,
and in some parts of the world the moon was seen to cover a small
star while itself totally eclipsed. So I think an astrologer would
say something wonderful was portended. I went out and saw
that the moon had just begun to emerge. What then must have
been the feelings of one who worshipped the host of heaven, and
knew not that their motions were reduced to calculation ! For
myself, as I gazed, my delight was blended with awe. That
instant, I observed a falling star, and the circumstance struck me.
I observed a similar one during the last eclipse of the moon, and
told Cousin Arthur that the heavens seemed to sympathise in com-
motion with the astonished earth.

' January 29, I must conclude my account, for I find Edward
Butler intends to go to Dublin to-morrow, and will take this letter.
The shadow of the earth went rapidly off the moon, moving appa-
rently in a north-west direction, as I had calculated, such as this /,
The whole course of emerging from total darkness to perfect light
did not occupy an hour. It was interesting to observe the gradual
increase of the moonlight on the scenery. At last the shadow
went off entirely, to wander through space until the 23rd of July,
when it will again cause a total eclipse. That Sunday night,
when the rest of the family had retired to rest, I remained for a
good while admiring the effect of the snow in the moonlight. The
fields were smiling in one dazzling and unbroken whiteness, except
a few spots from which the snow had been drifted away. The
borders of the river were covered with thin sheets of ice, but in
the main channel, where the frost had no power, the small waves
were all tipped with silver: while the ruins of the castle, which
slept in shadow, formed a striking contrast by their dark and
frowning majesty. You perceive that in writing to you I unite
in some degree the poet with the astronomer : but it was such a

128 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1823.

scene as I could have wished you to have witnessed along with

me. We should have

"... felt how the best charms of nature improve
When we see them reflected from looks that we love." '

From TV. E. Hamilton to his Aunt Mary Hutton.

' Trim, February 6, 1823.

' On Tuesday I took a good walk, and enjoj^ed it. On my way
home I passed through a field not very far off, but in which I had
not been for two or three months. It was always a favourite place
with me for reading or thinking while I walked, and had become
still more so by habit. You can scarcely imagine how much de-
lighted I was with the accident, as I may call it, of seeing the field
again. Every shrub, and all the surrounding scenery, called up
agreeable associations — thoughts instead of adventures. Excuse
my dwelling on so trifling a circumstance as this : associations of
this kind, extended and ennobled, are the foundation of our love
of country and of home.'

" Thoughts instead of adventures." I may here note that to
him throughout his life thoughts were events. He would re-
member, when he came to a particular spot in a road or field,
the conversation which years before had passed there with a
friend, and recall it to that friend's memory.

From W. R. Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur.

' Trim, Fehruanj 23, 1823.

' Perhaps you heard that Dr. Brinkley expressed his full appro-
bation of my "Developments." I observed, four weeks ago, that
while part of the moon was still under the eclipse the centre was
less visible than the circumference. Since that time I have found
an adequate cause of the phenomenon in the rarity of the lunar
atmosphere. In the sun, on the contrary, which has a dense
atmosphere, it is ascertained that the centre is brighter than the
circumference.

' Monday. Another thing that struck me was the near coinci-
dence in point of time between the eclipse of our moon and that of

AETAT. 17.] His School-time. 129

the first Satellite of Jupiter. By an investigation founded on the
successive propagation of light, I ascertained that there were
places (not in this earth) at which the emersion of Jupiter's
moon and the middle of the eclipse of ours would have appeared
to synchronise, and also that these places are all contained in a
hyperboloid of revolution, Jupiter being in one focus, the earth
in the other, and the axis equal to the space that light traverses
in the difference of the times of the phenomena : about ninety
millions of miles. The result is remarkable.

' What a fine speech Mr. North's* was, and how happy some
of the classical allusions ! '

To the following verses I have already made reference! : —

' VERSES ON THE SCENERY AND ASSOCIATIONS OF TRIM.

' Once more the re-awakening world
Has from his throne old winter hurled :
And see the giant stalks away,
Sullen-relinquishing his sway.
But traces of his power remain,
Which show he has scarce ceased to reign ;
Although now still the swelling wave,
The overpowering waters lave
The base of yonder aged piles,
Where amid ruins Nature smiles ;
Although the torrent rage no more,
It keeps not its accustomed shore.
And that small ripple of the flood
But marks where the green islet stood ;
Long awed by frowns, the timid Spring
Scarce dares her flowery train to bring ;
And not as yet the Graces shed
Their lavish roses o'er her head.

Yet lovely all the prospect seems.
And suited to a poet's dreams.
O'er all the verdure of the scene
Fresh sunbeams fling a brighter green ;
Clouds of every shape and dye
Are scattered o'er the deep blue sky ;

• In defence of the persons indicted by the Attorney-General for the bottle-
throwing conspiracy, in the Yiceroyalty of the Marquess Wellesley.
f Supra, page 86.

I30 Life of S'iv Williain Roivan Hamilton. [1823.

And melody of many a bird

In the charmed air is heard.

Through those bonghs so closely twining

The river's sparkling waves are shining ;

Adown its course, the little bays

Are glittering in a fuller blaze ;

And as by fits the gentle blast

So fondly o'er the bosom passed

Of the bright Naiad in repose,

Saw you not how new beauties rose ?

How well with this surrounding bloom
Contrasts those ramparts' solemn gloom !
With what a proud and awful frown
Appear their turrets to look down
On all beside that meets my gaze,
On monuments of later days,
On all that modern art around
Has reared upon this classic ground !
0 g-enius of those ruined towers,

Who lovest to dwell in ivy-bowers,

Have I not paid thee honour due ;

Have I not kindled at the view

Of thy majestic walls, surveyed

While the meridian sun has stayed

His steeds above them, or his light

At morn or eve illumed their height,

Or bright Orion from above.

Or that fair Vesper, star of love !

Have I not watched the stealing shade

When moonbeams on thy summit played,

While sound or motion there was none,

Except that stealing shade alone :

And thought within those massy walls.

In those so long deserted halls,

Nobles and warriors sat of old,

Clad in refulgent arms and gold.

Arrayed with hauberk and with helm,

And gave their laws and ruled their realm :

Their bones have mouldered in decay.

Thy greatness hath not passed away !

With higher transport swells my breast.
As now mine eyes delighted rest
On those mountains, capt with snow,
Near which Dublin lies below —
My native city ! where those dwell
I've loved so long and loved so well ;

AETAT. 17.] His School- ii/jic. 131

Whose cherished image, in my mind
With all my grief and joys combined,
With every blissful vision blends,
With every fervent prayer ascends ;
Who haply at this moment see
Those snow-capt hills and tliink of me.

Oft at the hour of parting day
I've marked those mountains melt away ;
And sighed, as I would sadly think
It robbed me of another link
Of Nature's mystic chain which binds
Separate but congenial minds.

With those to whom that chain has bound me,
And friends as dear who now are round me,
O may my happy lot at last
Amid such scenes as these be cast ;
Still may I with poetic eye
Gaze upon earth, and sea, and sky ;
And homeward as that gaze I turn
Still tind an answering eve to burn !

^»

'Fehrnary 28, 1823.'

From W. R. Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur,

' Trim, 3Iarch 3, 1823.

' I owe you a letter, and am going to put you off with a poem.
Instead of observing the nonum prematur in anmim, I show you my
compositions before the ninth day. But when you are immersed
in Circuit business I am afraid you wo'nt much mind the Muses ;
so here their ladyships are paying you a visit in Dublin. Need I
tell you that you and your family are those I speak of as having
their images by the snow-capt hills ? We are all well. The bell
for Service rings, and I must stop.

' P.S. — You will find some allusion in my verses to these of
Anacreon.

'See how the Spring appearing, Graces bid roses bloom.
See how the wave of the sea is smoothed to a calm !
The sun shines forth unobscured, the shadows of the clouds are
dispersed, the earth is bending with fruits.

'The Greek is written on the other side.'*

* "iSe iritis eapos ipavevros, k. t. A.
Jv 2

132 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1823.

Horace's pleasant history of his journey to Brundusium has
prompted many imitations. The following verses can scarcely be
considered a regular imitation, but are proved by the references at
foot, and by an allusion in the context, to owe not a little of their
inspiration to the famous satire ; still the gig journey with his
uncle from Trim to Mullingar, the bog on the way, the country-
town in the bustle of Circuit, and all its Irish accessories, will be
found to supply scenery and incidents entirely novel and racy of
the soil.

From the Same to the Same,

• Saturday, 3farch the 15th ; Mullingar.
(I never find it hard to get so far —
Bnt when I've put the year, and month, and day
I have not got another word to say.)
Peer Co":iiL Artlivj, that will never do !
I must hegin some other way to you ;
For fashionable people, as I hear,
Always put something else before 3Iy Dear ;
And now that I am quite a travelled man
I'm not contented with the vulgar plan.

Well, to begin ; soon after eight this morning
The breakfast bell gave loud and welcome warning,
But while all heedlessly we sipped our tea,
What great events lurked in futurity !
For at post-hour there came to us a letter
From Aunt in Dublin — mentioned she was better —
But we were somewhat saddened by her saying
That Bessy must return 'without delaying.
So short a notice hurried us a little.
And everyone had several things to settle,
Letters to write, and messages to give,
And the whole house in short was all alive.
But when the bustle about this was o'er
I found my uncle's gig was at the door ;
For he to Almoritia (you must know),
His country parish, was obliged to go.
He asked me would I like a short set down
With him, a mile or two beyond the town.
I did not wait a second invitation,
But quickly caught the reins and took my station.
A lady hailed us as we passed in view.
And " are you taking William with you too ? "

AETAT. 17.] His ScJiool-thnc. 133

She asked my uncle, '■'• Not at all," says he :
"And yet on second thoughts," he turned to me —
'■'■ If we had said so ere we came away,
"We might have had a very pleasant day."
Back in a moment to the house I ran,
Had gone, returned, and settled the whole plan,
And I was ready to go on, almost
Before my uncle missed me from my post.

And now behold me as away I dash^
Guiding the reins and flourishing the lash.
Boyne's silent banks we startle as we pass ;
Its placid surface, like to polished glass.
Gives back the light of noon without its glare,
And diamond sparkles deck its bosom fair.
We leave the town and ruins far behind.
New prospects opening and new scenes we find,
And reach — 1 quite forget — I'm going wrong. —
I brought a little library along :
A Prayer Book, Thomson's Seasons, Grecian History-
Tho' I confess it is to me a mystery
What good a person does by bringing books
When into one of them he never looks :
But this is entre nous. I seldom go
From home unless I have a book or so ;
But when quick motion on a vernal day
Has called the bounding spirits into play ;
When the imagination pleased awakes,
And (like the sky-lark) Fancy soaring takes
Her heavenward flight ; when all around conspire,
And all within, to rouse poetic tire ;
I've sometimes tried, but never could succeed —
I am not quite composed enough to read.

But here the traveller delighted sees
The graceful village spire 'mid distant trees;
That village is named Killeconegan.
We stopped awhile to bait ; but ere we're gone again
The rector here with civil speeches chid us
Because we had not gone to him, and bid us
Turn to the Glebe and a cold shoulder taste,
But we declined it on the ground of haste.
Hostlers are tedious, and I found it hard
To reach the stable thro' the dirty yard.

We gained the borders of Westmeath at last,
And thro' it for the first time as I passed

*■ ' Rapimur ilictiis.

134 -^^ of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1823.

I looked to see a thousand wondrous things,

And almost wondered the men wore no wings.

But travelling expands the mind of men —

I'll never wonder, I believe, again.

I journeyed on thro' an extensive bog

Much like a person wand'ring in a fog.

After this dreary wilderness our way

Thro' richly cultivated country laj',

And from the road on every side were seen

Hills crowned with waving woods, and valleys green,

And gentle eminences here and there.

And all things smiled around, and all was fair.

Killucan's village neat, and tempting sign,"
Invite us now to rest awhile and dine.
As for the inn, I'll be content to say.
If you shall ever chance to pass that way.
Be sure to stop and take your dinner here ;
You'll rarely meet more comfort or good cheer.
Dinner being over, I walked out alone
To see the church and tombs with moss o'ergrown.
The horse being duly fed and rested, then
I don my coat and take my seat again,
Being resolved if possible to get
To Mullingar before the sun should set.
That sun however shone upon our face
Which was most inconvenient for a race,
So, by the lustre of the Evening Star,
(Odd as it sounds) we entered MuUingar,
Crowded with cunning lawyers and attorneys,''
And chaises in demand for Circuit journeys.

When we had reached that medley, the inn j'ard,
It was my promise to be on my guard
Lest while the hostlers our tired steed remove^
Some gossoon to the luggage might make love.
Here the new Curate had arrived before us.
And had secured a bed and parlour for us.
Immediately the tea-things by the maid,
A pleasing sight, are in due order laid.
I to the Courts meanwhile had sallied out
To listen to the pleaders' angry rout.
Lord Norbury was sitting there as judge,
And hungrj' lawyers did not dare to budge ;

^ ' Recipit plenissiraa villa.

^ ' DifFertum nautis cauponibus atquc malignis.

* ' Muli clitcllas ponunt.

AKTAT. 17.] His School-time, 135

So when at last they had dismissed the jury *

No one was sorry for it, I assure you.

But here I met an unexpected pleasure

By which I was delighted beyond measure. *

For coming out into the air

Who should I meet but Mr. Wallace* there !

Shook hands, asked questions, answered them, and I

Promised to call upon him by and by.

By this time it was getting late, and we

Began to be impatient for our tea.

Yet tho' we rung for nearly half an hour

Our nerves had ne'er felt its refreshing power,

Had not my uncle sallied in a rage

And snatched a kettle from a loitering page.

But while my fellow-travellers tried to boil it

I slipped up stairs a moment to my toilet.

To reach the room my guide before me passes

Thro' scenes of boist'rous mirth and circling glasses.

At nine o'clock I issued forth once more
And reached another hospitable door :
Counsellors Wallace here and Cruise I met,
With others of the Bar, a jovial set.
Our Pliny goes to play — but I and Cruise
Talk of the Differential Calculus. '
Then Mr. Wallace, fond of Paradox,
With Wit and Cenius gives plain sense hard knocks,
While with much artful reasoning he proves**
One loaf of bread is equal to two loaves ; »
The jew Apella may believe, not I — -
I've not learned Logic yet, nor Sophistry. "^
In short, quite pleasantly I spent that eve, "
And handed Wallace, at my taking leave,
A copy of the verses which you know,
Having annexed to them the four below ;

" And as by fits the gentle blast
" So fondly o'er the bosom passed

^ ' . . . Praetore libenter linquimus.

* ' Gaudia quanta fuerunt.

' ' Lusum it Maecenas, dormitura ego Virgiliusque.

® ' Dum cupit persuadere.

" ' Crcdat Judaeus Apella, non ego.

10 ' Didici.

^1 ' Prorsus jucunde coenam produximus illara.

* Thomas Wallace, K. C, M. P., author of ' Observations on Lord
Brougham's Natural Tlieoh)gy' : London, 1<S35.

136 Life of Sir William Rowan Haniilton. [1823,

" Of the Bright Naiad in repose,

" Saw you not how new beauties rose ?"

But now methinks I see you yawn and whistle,

Completely tired by this verbose epistle. ^*

If travelling can be interesting matter,

'Tis so in Horace's First Book, Fifth Satire.

Ml) highest hope is but to move your lauyhter ;

Next day's adventures shall be told hereafter.

Now I must bid you once for all good night,

For here's the lazy waiter with the light.

' July 16, tivelve at night.

^- ' Long£e chartas.

' Tkim, Thursday, 20.

* My uncle did not like my sending this to you in so crude a
state, as you showed my last verses to others. Besides, he wanted
me to add some lines about the night boat in which I went to
Ballinacarrig the next day, to make the parody on Horace more
complete. But in truth it is already long enough for a ludicrous
composition ; and having written it bona fide on the road, I do not
choose to lengthen it now that I am in a less humorous mood.'

This,;ew d'' esprit reached his cousin on Circuit, and, as we learn
by the letter of acknowledgment, afforded amusement to brother-
barristers at the mess-table. Among these was the eloquent and
accomplished Doherty, afterwards Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas, who sent the author in return a j)arody of his own on
Q,ui8 multa gracilis full of Bar allusions.

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

'Tkim, Aprils, 1823.

'I hope this will reach you to-morrow, your birthday, though
it will not contain either the compliments or advice usual on such
an occasion. Indeed I fear I could not say anything new, either
as an ode or a lecture. So I shall trust to your imagination for
tlie ode and to your sense for the lecture — in the meantime ac-
cepting very hearty congratulations on your being sixteen years
old. Three or four times since I wrote I thought that if I were to

AETAT. 17.] His ScJiool-time. 137

sit down I might scribble you a fine long letter ; but your bad —
perhaps I should say good — fortune has deprived you of them by
not giving me time to write. First, I expected to be able to fill a
sheet with an account of the assizes, which always create a bustle in
a country town, and of our guests, one of whom was that memorable
gentleman who brought me out of my adventure with the turkey
and the Cookery-book. He sung and played for us " Scots wha
hae," and some of the Melodies, etc., in a very fashionable style,
but (as I thought) , with very little feeling. I could not help contrast-
ing him, in my own mind, with Bruce making the same address
at the head of his army. But enough of this : I do not wish to
make my letter amusing at the expense of acquaintances, nor
am I ambitious of being a satirist. Again, I thought I could
have given a long account of my trip to Almoritia with uncle. I
wrote Cousin Arthur a rhyming letter about it in imitation of the
account Horace gives of a journey to Brundusium. So the allu-
sions are classical ; and, besides, it is so ridiculous a production
that I do not think I will show it to you, though perhaps I may
copy it if room and time permit. This, however, contains only
the adventures of one day, and we had equally curious adventures
on the following. Then I thought I would describe to you some
of my evening rides, particularly that on which I saw the evening
star for the first time this year, and was as much delighted as
either you or Aunt Mary, or any other tasteful florist, at the sight
of the first crocus or snowdrop of the season. As I was riding over
Newtown Bridge, the effect, upon the ruins, of the setting sun re-
flected in the river, was striking. I returned after a few minutes'
ride to observe the scene by twilight : it was then improved by a
woman knitting at her cottage door. Immediately I began to draw
an imaginary picture of the landscape, and put her into it along
with the ruins, etc. As I thought how unconscious she was of the
honour, it came into my head that perhaps tliere was some other
landscape painter abroad that evening who might put me into the
picture. Shall I tell you of another reverie I had in one of my
rides : I forget if it was the same evening : but I had been indulg-
ing in admiration of the ruins both of Trim and Newtown, and
thought how much I would enjoy '*my ain fireside" after return-
ing from these more poetical scenes. Then I went on to think
there was something parallel to this in the manner in which a

138 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1823.

well-regulated mind can rove delighted through the regions of
history or other literature, contemplating the greatest characters
and most wonderful events, and return with even increased satis-
faction to the ordinary occurrences of domestic life, and feel an
interest in whatever comes within its sphere of duty or usefulness.
Absence of mind is sometimes associated with great talents, but it
is a defect, not a perfection : it obscures their brilliancy and di-
minishes their usefulness. My next embryo letter was about a
walk to our old favourite hill of Fairymount. Having here no
Alpine solitudes in which to sit down and spend a pensive hour,
and let "my heart untravelled fondly turn to thee", as the best
substitute, I roved for several hours one stormy day about the hill
of Fairymount and read your last letter on the very top. The only
change that has been made there since we loved to visit it is, that
the meadow at the foot of it has been ploughed up. Here I
mused of you and other cherished friends in Dublin, and added
some lines to the last verses I sent you. This addition is not for
the public eye, but perhaps I may recite it to you some time or
other when visitors and visitees in the room are too busy talking
to listen to us. I came home that day through the churchyard at
Newtown. Though the ruins still look very well from a distance,
I am not reconciled to their effect when near, there is such a
quantity, or rather mass, of stones prostrated by the storm of De-
cember, and there are workmen to be seen with pickaxe and crow-
bar. I gathered for Grace on my way the first nosegay of primroses
she got this year. That evening I received from Uncle your
last letter of all, for which I thank you very much, and hope that
we may conclude that your health is restored. For myself, I have
a cold, as usual. The only day that Uncle has had in Dublin for
visiting was that on which White was chaired. He endeavoured
to get to Great George's-street to see you, but was effectually pre-
vented by the mobs. Did you hear that Aunt had a son on the
Monday before last, and that it only lived for two days ? "We were
at first greatly delighted, but have been since proportionately grieved
by the death of the child and aunt's precarious health. This, how-
ever, is improving ; and for the child, we can only say " TAe Lord
gketh and the Lord talieth an-aij. Blessed he the Name of the Lord.

5> >

He was better than his word, by sending with the above letter

AEiAT. 17.] His ScJwol-thne. 139

some verses which, prompted by his love for his sister, express
with warmth and delicate appreciation his sense of the peculiar
blessings which consecrate the charities of kindred.

' BIRTHDAY LINES.

' TO ELIZA.

* Oh ! tell me from what hidden ties
The charities of kindred rise,
Those softening feelings, mild, sublime,
That 'scape the withering blasts of time ;
Like sister buds unsevered found.
Though rude the tempest rage around ;
Those pure and holy loves that shed
Their mingling influence o'er our head,
While happy spirits from above
AVith a benignant smUe approve.
0 that there came a voice to tell
Where spoken was the mighty spell.
Where woven the mysterious wreath
Which binds our hearts in life and death,
"Uniting all our joys in this—
This world with thoughts of higher bliss,
Like to that fabled chain of gold
Around Olympus' summit rolled,
Which in the eternal fields of ether
Hung, binding Heaven and Earth together !

'April 3, 1823.'

The following passage is curious as showing the fascination the
Observatory exercised upon him even at this early time.

From W. E,. Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur.

'Trim, 3Imj1, 1823.

*Do not imagine that I am going to write a sentimental journey
to Trim on the coach. I set off in good spirits, and had a fine
morning. Yet it was not without emotion that I felt myself re-
ceding from the spires and mountains of Dublin; and I watched
the dome of the Observatory, till I could see it no longer. En
pasmiit, I should like to have a house which combined the most

140 Life of Sir William Rowan Ihwiilton. [1823,'

perfect domestic privacy with a situation that enabled me to see
my home from a distance. . . .

'I thouglit I had told you everything, trifling or important,
connected with my last visit to the Observatory, but I forgot one
thing about the Pole star. When I saw it through the telescope,
to my great surprise I observed it move from west to east, and
cried out "It is going wrong! " Doctor Brinkley was amused,
and explained that the telescope inverted objects. He also
remarked that the Pole star moves with about thirty times less
velocity than one in the Equator.

' I am at work again at Classics. I was at church to-day, and
saw the installation of the Bishop by proxy. The ceremony was
not at all imposing — indeed some parts of the patent amused me.'

From the Same to the Same.

' Tkim, Mmj 12, 1823.

' After Homer I took up Lucian. Of late I have been reading
so much Grreek that really I think I could speak it better than
Latin. You remember that in our Classical evenings at Cumber-
land-street we used to talk Latin. Well, I was trying to do so
yesterday while reading the Fourth Psalm in a strict grammatical
way, as if preparing it for a Fellowship Examination. I got on
pretty well in the technical part, about tenses and so forth ; but at
last I began to wish for dinner, and found |3ouAojuat spxefrO' £7ri
'^{itrvov come to the tip of my tongue instead of a Latin phrase.'

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' Teim, 3Iay 29, 1823.
* Do you remember —

"A dream of exquisite delight
Dispelled the gloom of yesternight" *

It lately revisited me, and set me on a very philosophical train of
thinking about dreams. I see you are smiling; but out it shall

Supra, p. 103.

AETAT. 17.] His School-time. 141

come. Well, then, I have often found that a pleasant dream about
an absent friend has awakened my love for that friend from a
perhaps dormant state ; and I have had recourse to letters or
memory to fan the fire. Now it puzzles me to account for the
circumstance that a mere illusion of the fancy should have this
effect.'

This letter, which had begun by showing a warm interest in the
occupations and studies of his sister, who was at that time in the
school of the Misses Hincks in North Great Greorge's-street, pro-
ceeds to give her a remarkable passage from Madame de Stael's Be
f influence des Passions. The passage is from the chapter, *De
I'amour d'Etude.' It sets forth how study has thoughts for events,
and epochs of its own — how largely it is independent of persons
or outward vicissitudes — how sure are its pleasures. These were
truths felt by Hamilton, and he asks his sister to give her com-
ments on the extract which contains them.

From W. R. Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur.

'Trim, 3IayZ\, 1823.

' The time I have given to Science has been very small indeed ;
for I fear becoming again infatuated with it, and prefer giving my
leisure even to less valuable reading, if it can be connected in any
way with Classical literature. I find, however, that I have not
lost much ground. In Optics I have made a very curious dis-
covery— at least it seems so to me

' In all the Classics, I find that my pleasure in reading them
increases with every new perusal. And I think the reason that
few people enjoy them is this : they do not take the trouble to read
them so often, that their attention may not be distracted from the
beauties of the poetry and the composition in general, by an im-
perfect knowledge of the meaning of words and sentences. In
short, the Classics will not give the degree of pleasure they are
calculated to impart, as long as the reader is reminded that they
are in a foreign language, by his want of famUiariiij with them.
Do you concur in this view of the subject?'

142 Life of Sir Williavi Rowan Hamilton. [1823,

'•In Optica I have made a very curious discovery.^ Referring, I
believe, to his ' Characteristic Function ' ?

On the 7th of July, 1823, preceded by rumours, not unfounded,
of the intellectual prowess of 'Hamilton the Prodigy,' he made
his appearance in the courts of Trinity College, and underwent the
Entrance Examination. As was expected, he came out first of one
liundred candidates, and on the next day obtained a premium for
his answering at an examination in Hebrew. No account of his
feelings on this occasion survives, and probably no record of them
was made, for his sisters Grrace and Eliza were with him in his
cousin's house, and this initiatory success was at once thrown
behind him as an event no longer worth a thought. He remained
for some time at South Cumberland-street, whence about a week
after we find him writing as follows to his cousin, who had been
obliged to go on Circuit : —

From the Same to the Same.

' July 16, 1823.

' On Wednesday I walked to the Observatory, and

breakfasted with Dr. Brinkley. He gave me Lardner's Analytic
Geometry. A long walk is a fine opportunity for wooing the Muse,
and by the time I got home her ladyship had favoured me with
part of a Fragment on Memory, which will find its way to you in
due course. On Thursday I dined with a large party at Mr.
liobert Hutton's. Mrs. Robert Hutton was there of coui'se, a host
in herself, for the charm of the greatest vivacity regulated by the
most perfect etiquette and everything else which makes female
society so delightful. Mr. Hincks, the late Fellow, was there, and
paid particular attention to me.'

He then sketches with some satirical touches another guest, and
checks himself immediately after, sensible of the danger of giving
any such indulgence to the power of ridicule. He adds —

' Perhaps I speak too seriously, I know that you would be the
very last to affix to me the unamiable character of one who returns

AETAT. 17.] His School-tniie. 143

confidence witli satire. I know too that you have more experience,
iar more, in the world than I can pretend to. Yet I would wish
rather to be thought dull than malignant, though but in the
slightest degree ; and I have a greater desire to be loved than

admired There will be a fine total eclipse of the moon next

Wednesday morning: do not accuse me of having left jou without
warning.

' I have read some Virgil, some Logic, some Lacroix, some
Roman History, some Poetry, some novels — for one, Qucntin
Durward. I intended to have given you the Greek Dialogue, but
forgot it, and it is rather large to send by post.'

The Greek Dialogue is probably a very able tractate in this
form, in which, under the title Waking Dream, or Fragment of
a Diahguc hcheeen Pappus and Euclid in the Meads of Asphodel, he
sets forth the process by which he supposes Euclid to have arrived
at his system of Greometry. This piece exhibits much elegance of
composition, as well as profound insight into the order of mathe-
matical thought. It will be found in the Appendix.

The ' Fragment on Memory,' afterwards styled ' Memory
and Reserve ' is as follows : —

'FRAGMENT ON MEMORY,

'AND ITS EFF>;CT ON PERSONS OF EESERVED BXJX NOT UNFEELING TEMPEK.

' Who has not felt how many a thought forgot
Awakens on revisiting the spot
Which, from among the common scenes around,
Is marked as Memory's consecrated ground ?
Who has not felt the strong, the deep emotion
Come o'er his bosom like the tide of ocean.
As he beholds, by absence clearer made,
The place where friendship talked or boyhood played.
Or that where first he saw his own beloved maid ?

Yet some there be who more than others know
The pensive pleasure thoughts like these bestow ;
But chiefly he with nobler bosom born,
Who only dreads indifference or scorn,
Would die for those he loves, but cannot brook
To seem a flatterer by word or look,

144 -^^' of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1823.

Whose heart is never like his language cold,
Whose soul is cast in a more delicate mould ;
Unlike to those who fear^ not to reveal,
To utter all and more than all they feel,
He feels more deeply than he dares express,
Nor trusts himself with half his tenderness.

Such he my friend ! in undiscerning eyes
He is a treasure which they cannot prize ;
But let him meet with a congenial mind.
With one whose thoughts are, like his own, refined;
Their mingling spirits then together iiow,
They kindle in one sympathetic glow :
As some rare flower, closed in our chilly land,
Seems all unlovely, cropt by careless hand,
Which in its native climate, where it grew
'Neath warmer suns and skies of purer blue.
Was fraught with rich perfume and beauties ever new.

For tempers such as these was Memory given,
Memory to Hope twin-sister, child of heaven I
She treasures up for him each word, each look,
Inscribes them in her o^vn immortal book,
Then draws them forth by her celestial power
To soothe his sad and solitary hour.

He who to others might seem Apathy
In secret lets enthusiasm free,
Recalls the time when with suspended breath
Sorrowing he sat beside the couch of Death ;
The friends of many a former happy day ;
Enchanted visions melted all away ;
Or seeks deserted scenes of past delight
In stiUy hour, or sUence of the night :
He goes again to feed his fancy there.
To breathe his passion to the listening air ;
As if his loved one's spirit hovered nigh,
Her form were flitting past his raptured eye,
Frames some wild song, heard by no human ear,
And sheds in solitude the bursting tear.'

^ ' " Fear, affection's proof." — Lady of the Lake.'

The total eclipse of the moon, of which he forewarned his
cousin, occurred on the 23rd of July. It prompted the composi-
tion of an Ode more ambitious in style than was usual to him.

AETAT. 17.] His School-time. r^c

The Ode bears as its date of composition the very day of the
eclipse : among his papers are several copies of it in his own
handwriting, showing that even to the last year of his life he
attached a special value to it.

< ODE TO THE MOON UNDER TOTAL ECLIPSE.

(.rULT 23, 1823.)
' The moon under 2'otal Eclipse is not invisible, but of a dark red colour.

' 0 queen of yon ethereal plain,

With slow majestic step advancing,

'Mid thine attendant starry train,
The subject waves beneath thee dancing,

As Dian moves through Delian shades,

Above her circling Oread maids :

Why hath that crimson red

Thy lovely brow o'erspread ?

Oh ! wherefore that portentous gloom.

Meet for the tenants of the tomb ?

' Say is it but a passing cloud
Far in some higher sphere,
Which thus around thee winds its shroud,

While all the heaven is clear :
When all the stars are brightly burning,
Each in his wonted orbit turning ?

' Or wizard from his murky cell,
Who bows thee to his power,
By magic word and muttered spell
In this, Night's witching hour ?

' Or is it, as the sages say

Yersed in celestial lore.
Our Earth athwart Light's pathless way.

Which bars it from thy shore :
Whose shadowy cone, with noiseless pace,
Through the iutinity of space,
Hath darkly crossed thine orb on high,
And dimmed it to our wondering eye ?

146 Life of Sir Will ia in Rowan Haw ii ton. [1823.

' On thee the Nations gaze,
With looks of wild amaze,

And anxious ask what means the sign :
What dread disaster nigh
Is boded by thine eye

Lowering with aspect thus malign ?

' For ancient tales of terror say
That still, before some fatal day.

Thou veilest thus thy blushing face ;
Earthquake or famine, sword or tire,
Is menaced by that look of ire ;

Ruin prepares to run his race :
Lo ! in his widely whelming car.
He comes, the demon from afar.
Rushing with a whirlwind's noise.
Trampling o'er prostrate hopes and joys.
While at his side the ministers of fate
In silence seem his signal to await !

' 'Twas thus, 0 moon, thy failing light,
When Athens' army thought of flight
From that dark iSicilian shore,
To their distant country bore
The omen of her slaughtered host,
Of coming woe and glory lost.

' The Warrior, or the Poet, now
M ay gaze on thy ensanguined brow,
But not the Lover ; all too rude,
It suits not with his milder mood ;
Better he loves to look on thee.
When shining in thy purity,
Clad in thy robe of virgin snow.
As thou wert an hour ago ;
Or hid by fleecy clouds alone,
Which canopy thine azure throne.'

He very wisely spared some part of this summer for holiday
excursions, one of which was to the Powerscourt Waterfall and to
the Dargle. The Dargle continued to be to him — as I believe it
must to all who have, imder favouring conditions, penetrated its
sanctuaries and roved through its -woods — a scene deep-seated in
his memory and affections. The following verses, composed on

AETAT. 17.] His School-time. 147

this occasion, record the feelings excited in him by his visits to
the Glen of Oaks and the stream which is its spirit of life : —

' TO THE DARGLE RIVER.

' 'Twas in this lone, this loved retreat,
The soul of Beauty fixed her seat.
Descending from her native sphere
She closed her wings, and rested here ;
And, wooed and won by the young earth.
She chose this valley to give birth
To those who haunt this faii-y ground,
Hovering invisibly around.
Their dance is on the waving hills.
Their song the murmur of the rills ;
Hark how their magic melody
Thus breaks upon my reverie !

Oh, if the thought be deemed too wild,
Yet sure the censure should be mild.
' For here might Poet muse away.

Unmarked, the longest summer day :
And when the slowly setting sun
Had warned him that the day was done,
Might wonder that the rising moon
Should bring returning night so soon.
What marvel if in such a mood
His mind o'er Fancy's wealth should brood,
And when its essence had been caught
In fervour of poetic thought,
He stretched his free and gifted ken
Beyond the reach of other men.
I, too, in many a lonely hour
Have yielded to thy beauty's power :
Entranced and dazzled by the sight,
And dizzy with intense delight.
And I could tell how oft thy sway
Hurried me, like thyself, away :
How oft, these clift's and woods among
I've roamed, and paused, and mused, and sung ;
Or hung in silence o'er the scene
Where the boughs weave so soft a screen.
That Heaven above and Thou beneath
Seem lovelier through the veil they wreathe.
But praise of mine, though fond, yet faint,
Would wrong the charms it sought to paint.

148 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1823.

Roll then thy modest course along !
Mine is no snch presumptuous song ;
Some loftier bard than I may see
And frame a worthy lay of thee :
But Thou, fair River, would'st disdain
The tribute of my lowly strain.

'Daegle, August 1\^ 1823.'

The following extracts bring to a close the record of 1823 and
of the School period of Hamilton's life : —

From W. R. Hamilton to hh Cousin Arthur.

' Trim, Septemher 28, 1823.

' . . . My life as a Student has always to me to be divided
into two principal parts — preparation for Entrance ; preparation for
Fellowship. The first part is over, and I think the second has begun.
For I consider Academic honors as not only valuable 'pe.r se, but
important as steps {(jradus) to the ultimate rank at which I aim.
And were it only for the weight they must give to answering in
the Fellowship Hall, I would think them well worth an effort to
attain. So you see I am trying to prove that in reading for pre-
miums,* I am really aiming higher. But besides this, which you
may perhaps think a subtlet}'-, whatever study is not given to my
immediate course has a tendency to prepare me for remoter objects,
and yet at the same time facilitates my intermediate progress.
For example, I have found an old Logic by Burgersdieius ; it is,
I believe, read for Fellowship ; it is a great deal fuller than
Mm'ray's,t and throws a good deal of light on those parts which
he passes rapidly over — for example, the Categories. It tells
you, too, what Aristotle said on every part of the subject. I
have some logical questions to discuss with you when we meet
again, or perhaps we may talk over some of them in the mean-
time by letter. A little time, too, is bestowed on Newton's
Algebra, a subject that is treated of by the great author in the
same masterly manner as the Principia, and yet in many parts is

* Premiums and Certificates were the honors at the Term Examinations.
■]■ The text-book of Logic for the Term Examinations.

AETAT. 18.] His School-time. 149

rendered almost as difficult, by its conciseness and omission of
intermediate steps. In Classics I continue the Blank Verse
Translation, and Uncle is correcting the Yii'gil. So much for my
studies. . . . Yesterday we drove to some of the distant parts
of the parish to give notice of the Catechetical Examination that
is to be held here on Tuesday next. There will be premiums
given, and a sermon preached. It is a very anxious day to the
young candidates. I remember being as nervous about an exami-
nation of the kind four years and a-half ago, at which I got a
premium, as if the whole world were looking on. For however
well one may be prepared, the answering in public is an awful
thing to those that are not accustomed to it. One of our visits
was to Foxbrook, and there we met a young lady whom I took
for a Miss Sirr, but was really a Mrs. Howisson. We had some
conversation with her about the poems of the day, and as we came
to Lalla Roolih, she recollected that the book had been just re-
turned to her, and offered it to Uncle. He accepted it through
politeness, but was wishing on the way home that it had been
some other book. I, however, was not at all sorry to have an
opportunity of renewing my acquaintance with the Oriental tale.'

From the Same to the Same.

'TiUM, October -i, 1823.

' Uncle and I went to W by ourselves — except that John

came to drive us home over the hills at night. We sat on
different sides, and had not much conversation, for I was think-
ing of Logic, Cycloids, Tides, and the formation of the Hainbow.

' When I entered the drawing-room and saw the solemn circle,
I really had a great mind to run away again, before the spell of
silence and gloom should enthral every faculty. But down I sat,
determined to endure, and comforting myself with the thought
that we had not accepted the invitation to sleep there. Now whom
do you think I met, that completely prevented my fears from
being realized ? You need not guess ; for if you were to try for a
week, you would not think of such a guest in such a place. The
very same lady that I mentioued in my last letter as having been
mistaken by me for Miss Sirr — Mrs. Howisson, that lent Uncle

150 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1S23.

Lalla Rookh. She came in witli her sister Miss Johnstone, before
my spirits had been utterly subdued by the sombrousness of the
scene, and immediately recognized me. The interval, awful as it
was before dinner was announced, now became more supportable.
Uncle was telling about the tread-mill, and one lady asked what
kind of trend they spun in it. Then Mrs. H. began to talk to me
so well about prison discipline, contrasting the American system
with ours, and showing so much information, that I thought it a
great pity that the grand jury had not appointed her a member
of the Graol Committee.

' After dinner, some recent conversions from the errors of the
Church of Rome to those of the Chm-ch of England were talked of,
which have occurred in this neighbourhood, and are indeed inte-
resting stories. And here again Mrs. Howisson talked so well,
that I changed my mind, and wished to make a missionary of
her.

' I did not sit long after dinner, but visited the drawing-room
as soon as I could. To my great dismay Mrs. H. was gone !
Her absence, however, was only like that of the moon when it
hides itself behind a cloud, to give the lesser planets leave to
shine, and from which it bursts forth again hailed by the music
of the spheres.

* She had stolen a march upon us all, and soon reappeared,
attended by the pianoforte, which I suppose is considered too pro-
fane an instrument to be suit'ered to remain in general in the
drawing-room. However, as it was brought down, one of the
Misses Fox and Miss Langtree, the governess, played a hymn, in
the singing of which Mrs. H. joined. After this we asked her to
play herself, which she did. She gave us some of Moore's Melodies,
of which, when she was at a loss, I supplied the words from me-
mory, for you may easily suppose there was no copy in the house.
While we were at the piano, a gentleman set me mad by asking
me whether I was more partial to marches or imlfzes. As I did
not choose to confess that I knew nothing about the matter, I told
him that " I had really not made up my mind between their rival
claims." He said that each had its peculiar beauties, and I was
glad to acquiesce in his opinion. Tea was announced in the
middle of one of these Melodies, but we would hear it out. How-
ever, Mrs. H. did not come off without a lecture for singing what

AETAT. 18.] His School-time. 151

Mrs. Fox was pleased to call a song. She made some slight defence,
but the argument was very brief, as both sides saw they could not
make the other understand them. I wonder how I escaped rebuke
for aiding and abetting what, though not "the lees and settlings
of a melancholy blood," was still more " against the canon laws of
their foundation."

' At tea we were separated, but she soon contrived to draw me
into conversation, which we kept up with spirit for about an hour,
on every possible subject. It was a conversazione — de omnibus
rebus et quibusdam aliis. She detailed to me a galvanic experi-
ment ; I told her of the throwing down the steeple and setting fire
to the church by electricity. This, however, is a very imperfect
specimen of our celestial colloquy sublime, which, like the poet's eye,
darted from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven.

' It is utterly impossible for you to conceive the curious effect
of the scene — a large magnificent drawing-room, full of people,
the greater part of whom looked as if they had been dropped
down into it, like Captain Skipsey's idea of falling from the
moon iuto the Pacific Ocean ; or rather a great deal more out of
their element, while this conversation was going on between
two persons not sitting near each other, but separated by the inter-
vention of two or three chairs of silent guests.

' In the early part of the evening I had sketched out, as I told
you, some characters that Mrs. H. seemed best adapted to fill —
the reformer of prisons — the missionary; but when she played
and talked after dinner, my mind was so dazzled and confounded,
that I was forced to suspend my sketch, for I could not decide
whether she was most at home in Music, Religion, Poetry, Elec-
tricity, Botany, or any other of our thousand topics. After tea
we had more sacred music ; but Uncle contrived to get me quietly
home. Aunt asked me who we had there ; I said all in one
word — Mrs. Howisson. Mr. Butler was here yesterday evening,
and we were talking about her ; he says that he has dined in com-
pany with her and she never opened her lips : perhaps / would
do well to be a little less loquacious. ... I mentioned that
I was thinking about the Rainbow. Stack mentions certain limits
of the elevation of the sun for which the inner and outer bows are
visible — the angle between the incident and emergent rays is
given by him, for red and violet rays. I wished to know how Sir

152 Life of Sir William Roivan Ha7nilto7i. [1823.

Isaac Newton calcidated these angles, but not having his Optics,
I calculated back from those the ratio of the sines — and found it
as four to three in red rays.'

From W. R. Hamilton to hk Sider Ej.iza.

' Trim, October 8, 1823.

' . . . I think a Student's life a very happy one ; but I
cannot help feeling sympathy for those who, gifted with capabiU-
ties and tastes for the sublimest pursuits, are impeded by circum-
stances in the pui'suit of learning, and constrained to offer up
those energies as a sacrifice on the sordid shrine of gain. Hand
facile emergunt, quorum virtutihus ohstat Res anguda domi.
With me it has been otherwise. I have never had the cares of the
world as a drag-weight on my efforts, to pull me down to earth,
like the string that confines the captive bird, and checks in its very
birth his every aspiring. Has my language a tone of arrogance ?
It is foreign from my heart. I speak in a deep feeling of hu-
mility, when I reflect that I am so little worthy of these blessings —
that while the goodness of Grod and the kindness of friends have
followed me all the days of my life, my progress has been so dis-
proportionate to my advantages — my attainments so far short of
what might have been expected. The ground has been smoothed
before me, and my race cheered by the unmerited, at least too
partial, applauses I have met, while my only impediment has been
the golden apples of pleasure that have been flung in my path,
and which I have too readily turned aside to gather.

' One thing only have I to regret in the direction of my
studies, that they should be diverted — or ratlier, rudely forced —
by the College Course from their natural bent and favourite
channel. That bent, you know, is Science — Science in its most
exalted heights, in its most secret recesses. It has so captivated
me — so seized on, I may say, my affections — that my attention to
Classical studies is an effort, and an irksome one. And I own
that before I entered College, I did not hope that in them I would
rise above mediocrity. My success surprised me ; but it has also
given me a spur, by holding out a prospect that even in the less
agreeable part of my business I may hope still to succeed.'

AETAT. 18.] His College Career. 153

CHAPTER VT.

HIS COLLEGE CAREER.

(1824-1827.)

At the time of Hamilton's passing through Trinity College,
terminal examinations were held there four times in each year.
During the Freshman years separate Premiums were awarded in
Science and Classics ; in the two succeeding Sophister years,
premiums, called general premiums, were given for the best
answering in Science and Classics combined, Science counting
for much more than Classics. A Student could obtain only one
premium (books to a certain value to be obtained from the Uni-
versity Bookseller) in each year : if after having obtained a
premium he came out at a succeeding examination as the best
answerer in his division, he was given a Certificate stating the
fact. The class under examination was broken into divisions of
about thirty, the Students being placed according to their stand-
ing in the College Books. To each division in the Freshman
years were assigned two examiners, one in Science, one in Classics.
In the Sophister years each division had but one examiner. The
consequence of this arrangement was that a cluster of the best
men in a class might be in one division, so that a defeated man
in it might be far superior to a successful man in another. The
premium men of the earlier examination contended at subsequent
examinations for certificates, and the variation in the composition
of divisions, caused by a difference in the total number under
examination, brought men of Avhat had been adjacent divisions
into competition ; still the best men in a class, from their distance
in standing, might not meet till the end of their Undergraduate
career, when they would become rival candidates for the gold

154 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1824.

medals, of wliicli only one was awarded to a whole class in
Science, and one in Classics. This statement will explain the
future mention in his letters of the gain by Hamilton, sometimes
of premiums, sometimes of certificates, and throw light upon
the magnitude of his venture in determining to stand for both
the gold medals.

The first year of Hamilton's college career justified all the
expectations entertained by his friends, and foreshowed the intel-
lectual altitude he was destined to attain. It was one of unprece-
dented success. At the first, or Hilary, examination he gained both
premiums, and about the same time was awarded a Chancellor's
Prize for his Poem on the subject of The Ionian Islands. At each
of the three subsequent examinations he obtained both certificates ;
but at the examination in Trinity Term a still higher honour was
conferred upon him by the examiner in Classics, Dr. Elrington,
awarding the judgment of optime to his answering in Homer.
In explanation of the value of this honour, it should be stated that
in the examinations a scale of judgments applicable to each subject
was in use, descending from valde bene through bene, satis,
mediocriter to vix medi, with its accompanying caution. Vcilde bene
was the judgment bestowed upon thoroughly good answering. Of
the judgment optime, only to be thought of when the Student
appeared by his answering to have proved his complete mastery of
the subject, the examj)les were very rare. The honour on this
occasion was entirely unexpected by Hamilton. It was also at
the commencement of this summer that he received a second
Chancellor's Prize for his poem Eustace de St. Pierre, the sub-
ject being the well-known incident in the Siege of Calais. These
two prize poems, written in different styles, but both more spirited
and impulsive than is ordinarily the case with compositions of the
same class, will be found in the Appendix. The reader will, I
trust, agree with me in thinking that the latter, at least, is on the
ground of intrinsic merit worthy of preservation. I have added
to them a poem of intermediate date (April, 1824), namely, an
Elegy on a Schoolfellow (T. B.) who died in the East. It shows

AKTAT. 18.] His College Career. 155

* a heart for friendship formed' ; and tenderness of feeling imparts
a subdued tone and a graceful flow to the reminiscences of familiar
companionship, and to the summoned up images of hopes unrealized.
The letters which illustrate this year show Hamilton in contact
with persons distinguished for moral worth and intellectual power ;
with Brinkley, the paternal encourager of his scientific efforts ; with
Alexander Knox, whose mind, spiritual at once and logical, influ-
enced deeply the Theology of his age, and laid individual students
of religion under a sense of unspeakable obligation, and whose
writings, it may be added, contain passages which, for lucid
beauty of expression and elevated tone, have never been surpas-
sed, even in the works of that living master of English prose
who drank largely at this fountain of thought, though unhappily,
as many must think, he abandoned some essential leading princi-
ples of our eloquent lay theologian ; with Maria Edgeworth and
her brother-in-law Mr. Butler, vicar of Trim, afterwards Dean
of Clonmacnoise ; and with Mr. Richard Napier* and his refined
and accomplished wife.f The friendships thus entered upon by
Hamilton in his 19th and 20th years were preserved by him
through life to such extent as circumstances allowed, and were
valued by him as among his best possessions. A letter from his
sister Eliza to her Aunt Willey in Ballinderry, dated February 4,
1824, gives full expression to the excitement of pleasure caused to
those nearest to him by his success in gaining both Science and
Classical premiums at his first Terminal Examination, and men-

* Mr. Richard Napier was a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and
brother of the three Generals, Sir Charles, Sir George (at one time Governor of
the Cape Colony), and Sir William (the historian), and of Captain Henry E.
Napier, R. N., author of Florentine History. 6 vols. London : E. Moxon.

t Mrs. Richard Napier was author of a work entitled ' Woman'' s Rights and
Duties considered loith relation to their Injiuence on Society and on her own
condition.^ 2 vols. London: J.W.Parker. 1840.

The reader who has the opportunity of consulting this book will thank me
for referring him to vol. ii. p. 304, for an exquisite portrait of female excel-
lence, in the person of Lady Louisa ConoUy.

15^^ Lift of Sir Williajn Roivan Hamilton. [1S24.

tions lier being provoked by the coolness with which it was an-
nounced by him. It is pleasant to pass from this record of a
certain amount of tested proficiency to the first letter of the year
from himself, in which he describes his being at the lowest stage
of rudimental instruction in Botany at the hands of his friends
Dr. and Mrs. Brinkley.

From William Rowan Hamilton to his Aunt Mary Hutton.

' March 20, 1824.

' You will be glad to hear of my visit to the Observatory. It
was a fine morning, and I enjoyed it very much.

' I had a lesson from Dr. and Mrs. Brinkley on Botany in the
garden. I have got some idea of the anthers, pistils, &c. ; single
and double anemones, p//n(s japoiiica, auriculas, and many other
flowers I saw, and perhaps will remember. I have always derived
enjoyment from flowers as one of the beauties of Natm-e, part of
the " goodly garniture of earth " ; but I have not as yet known
them by name, except a very few : still less have I studied their
properties or their classification as a branch of Science and Na-
tural History. This is one of the pleasures to which I look for-
ward, if my life shall be prolonged.'

The next letter tells of his first optime : —

Fro7)i the Same to the Same.

' Dttbli^t, 7, South CuMBEKLAJfl^D-sruEET,
' July 3, 1824.

* According to promise I write to inform you of my success.
Dr. Elrington, w^ho was my Classical Examiner, did not say
before he left the Hall that he had given me the Certificate, and
so I told every one I met that I had only got the one in Science.
But while I was spreading this report, I had, without knowing it,
received an unexpected and extraordinary honor in Classics —
an optime in Homer. I have heard of nothing since but the
unusual natm-e of tliis. Bovton savs, no one has obtained an

AETAT. 18.] His College Career. 157

optime for twenty years ; Lloyd, * that it is better than the
Gold Medal. One tells me, that no one has ever received one,
in his first year, before ; and another reports to me the ex-
pressions of the Examiner. In short, I am in some danger of
having my head tm^ned. Indeed there are physical reasons for
a little dizziness of head in my case at present, inasmuch as I was
up all the night between the Examinations, and have not yet reco-
vered from the fatigue.'

Here may be j)roperly inserted some lines written in the course
of this year, ' On College Ambition.' Their author not unfre-
quently adverted to the line, ' The generous rival's sympathy,'
because it gave him evident pleasure to call to mind the hapj^y
terms on which he associated with his distinguished class-fellows,
as on the other hand it is in my power to testify, from personal
observation, that his unprecedented honours were borne with a
total freedom from airs of superiority, with a genial confidence,
not misplaced, in the pleasure they would give to others as well as
to himself.

' ON COLLEGE AMBITION.

(1824.)

' Oh ! Ambition hath its hour
Of deep and spirit-stirring power ;
Not in the tented field alone,
Nor peer-engirded court and throne ;
Nor the intrigues of busy life ;
But ardent Boyhood's generous strife,
While yet the Enthusiast spirit turns
Where'er the light of Glory burns,
Thinks not how transient is the blaze,
But longs to barter Life for Praise.

■'to'-

* Look round the arena, and ye spy
Pallid cheek and faded eye ;
Among the bands of rivals, few
Keep their native healthy hue :
Night and thought have stolen away
Their once elastic spirit's play.

* His class-fellow, Bartholomew Lloyd, afterwards Q.C.

158 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1824.

A few short hours and all is o'er ;
Some shall win one trivimph more ;
Some from the place of contest go
Again defeated, sad and slow.

' What shall reward the conqueror then
For all his toil, for all his pain,
For every midnight throb that stole
So often o'er his fevered soul ?
Is it the applaudings loud
Or wond'ring gazes of the crowd ;
Disappointed envy's shame,
Or hollow voice of fickle Fame ?

These may extort the sudden smile, . '

May swell the heart a little while ;
But they leave no joy behind.
Breathe no pure transport o'er the mind,
Nor will the thought of selfish gladness
Expand the brow of secret sadness. ^,

Yet if Ambition hath its hour
Of deep and spirit-stirring power,
Some bright rewards are all its own,
And bless its votaries alone :
The anxious friend's approving eye ;
The generous rival's sympathy ;
And that best and sweetest prize
Given by silent Beauty's eyes !
These are transports true and strong,
Deeply felt, remembered long :
Time and sorrow passing o'er
Endear their memory but the more.'

Alexander Knox at this time resided at Bellevue, in the ro-
mantic county of Wicklow. No country-place better deserves its
too-hackneyed name. It looks down on the west into the richly
wooded Glen of the Downs, of which its grounds form the eastern
side, and in another direction commands the pretty village of
Delgany and the waters of the Irish Channel. It has been long
in the possession of the La Touche family. Here early in the
present centuiy Alexander Knox arrived, intending to pay a visit
of a few days, and here he remained for nearly thirty years the
cherished guest of Mr. and Mrs. Peter La Touche. The present
owner, Mr. William La Touche, among the numerous treasures of

AETAT. 19.] His College Career. 159

his house, reverentially preserves not a few memorials of this
most interesting man, of whom it may he said that the connexion
between him and his hosts was one of mutual honour, bearing
witness to congenial natures and to sympathy of no ordinary kind
in the study of religious truth and in its practical manifestation.

Hamilton's Uncle, Mr. James Hamilton, was connected by his
marriage to Elizabeth Boyle with the Bellevue family, his wife
being niece of Mrs. La Touche, and it was thus almost as a kins-
man that Hamilton visited Bellevue.

From W. R. Hamilton to his Uncle James.

* Dublin, August 7, 1824,

* I am ashamed to think that so much time should have
elapsed since you were here without my having written to you,
or rather without my having sent a letter, for you know that I
had one written, and that a long one ; but the longer I kept it
the more ridiculous it seemed, and the less worth postage ; indeed,
I dare say that this is always the case when a letter is de-
layed. The momentary effusions of enthusiasm are apt to be
disapproved of by the cooler judgment. Whatever explanation
may be given of it, I can only answer for the fact. It was partly
this which at Bellevue prevented me, from day to day, from writing
according to promise. Besides, I may mention in apology for my
silence that several interesting and valuable books which I there
met engaged every moment I could spare. One of these was
Knox : a book that wore spectacles. With him I had a great
deal of conversation, and was a good deal together. He gave me
Jebb's Sacred Literature, according to old promise.

' On Friday I was one of a party to the Dargle, where we had
a very pleasant and very adventurous day. After dinner I had
to read Eustace to them in the open air, and Miss De Marvel
[a Swiss lady] was particularly pleased with the Alpine simile,
which, though sketched by me from imagination, she seemed to
consider as a faithful picture. I should have mentioned that I
had to read that poem first to Mr. Knox and then to the family
at Bellevue. . . . Mr. Knox said that the objection to

i6o Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [182 1-

Eustace as too long was very drily made by those old men whose
signatures he showed me to the " Ionian Isles." As for himself,
when I had ended he " stood fixed to hear," for some time expect-
ing more. Indeed his approbation almost amounted to flattery.'

It is carefully recorded by Hamilton that Tuesday, August
17, 1824, was the day on which he made his first visit to the
residence of the family of Disney at Summerhill, a place in the
county of Meath, not far from Trim, then and now the property
of Lord Langford, to whom Mr. Disney senior was agent. The
Disney family, to whom he was then introduced by his Uncle,
became at once to him the objects of warm friendship, and one
daughter of the house the source of a still deeper feeling, which
influenced his whole life. The five sons were nearly of his own
age, were fellow- students in College, and were men of ingenuous
dispositions, of ability and culture. The sister by whose charms
Hamilton's susceptible heart was instantly captivated was, by all
accounts, of singular beauty, amiable, sensitive, and pious. When
they met in Dublin, the young people on both sides — for his three
elder sisters were then in town — formed a literary society which
brought into full mutual communication their thoughts, their
tastes, and their feelings. To give stated expression to these, and
so furnish material for regular discussions, they set on foot the
writing of essays, called the Stanley Papers, one of which was to
be supplied in turn by the members to a weekly meeting, at break-
fast. This short statement will explain much that is to follow.

I now turn to the commencement of another friendship which
remained unbroken to the end of the long life of the brilliantly
gifted Maria Edgeworth, and which brought to Hamilton many
of her delightful notes and letters, and in them cordial sympathy
and wise counsel. In the collection of her letters, printed for
private distribution by Mrs. Edgeworth, is one addressed to Miss
Honora Edgeworth, dated August 28, 1824.

AEXAT. 19.] His Collep[e Career. i6i

From Maria Edge worth to Miss Honor a Edgeworth.*

* Edgewortdstown, August 28, 1824.

* . . . The Eoman Catholic Bishop, M'Gauran, held a con-
firmation the day before yesterday, and dined here on a god-send
haunch of venison. Same day Mr. Hunter arrived, and Mr.
Butler came with j'oung Mr. Hamilton, an "Admirable Crichton"
of eighteen ;t a real prodigy of talents, who^ Dr. Brinldey says, may
he a second Neivton — quite gentle and simple. Mr. Napier and Mrs.
Napier arrived on Wednesday, and spent two most agreeable days
with us. He is an extremely well informed man, and both are
perfectly well-bred. Mr. Butler and Mr. Hamilton suited them
delightfully. Mr. B. and Mr. N. found they were both Oxford
men, and took to each other directly. Mr. N.'s conversation is
quite superior and easy. Those two days put me in mind of
former times. . . .'

Of Mr. Richard Napier, thus his fellow-guest on this occa-
sion, Hamilton records his impression in a letter to Eliza, of la.ter
date (October 25, 1824) : — ' A gentleman whom I met at Edge-
worthstown, Mr. Napier, has just paid me a long visit of more
than an hour, yet it was not at all tedious. He was indeed one of
the great ornaments of our circle there : a man of considerable
talent and information, united with extreme polish and graceful-
ness of manner.'

Of the visit to Edgeworthstown the following is the accoimt
given by him to his sister Grace.

From W. E). Hamilton to his Sister Grace.

* Edgewokthstown, August 27, 1824.

* I am sm'e you will all wish to know something about Edge-
worthstown and its inhabitants. 0 for descriptive powers like

* Memou- of Maria Edgetvorth, vol. ii. p. 251 : London, Masters & Son.
t Just 19 years.

1 62 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1824.

those of her who forms the great and transcendent interest of the
place — Miss Edgeworth ! She far surpasses all that I had heard
or expected of her, though I confess that, at first sight, I was dis-
appointed by her personal appearance ; and though she said at
once, " Mr. Hamilton, I am sure," I was not at all prepared to
say, " Miss Edgeworth, I am sure." Yet even in beauty she
seemed to improve, as if that of her mind cast reflected graces
upon her person. In her conversation she is brilliant, and full of
imagery to a degree which would in writing be a fault. Ac-
cordingly, if you would study and admire her as she deserves, you
must see her at home, and hear her talk.

' She knows an infinite number of anecdotes about interesting
places and persons, which she tells extremely well, and never
except when they arise naturally out of the subject. She has,
too, a great talent for drawing people out, and making them talk
on whatever they are best acquainted with. To crown her merits,
she appeared to take a prodigious fancy to me, and promised to be
at home, and made me promise to be at Edgeworthstown, for a
fortnight, some time in the next long vacation.'

From W. E. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' Teim, September 1, 1824.

' " A person could say a good deal on one of those sheets,'*
exclaims Lambert [Disney] at my elbow, as he eyes aghast their
formidable appearance — true, my dear sir, and I have a great
deal to say. When in all my life did I ever sit down or stand up
to write to Eliza without having a great deal to say ? The mis-
fortune is that this great deal is too apt to evaporate at the sight
of pen, ink and paper. A person to whom you would talk, un-
tired, " from morn to noon, from noon to dewy eve," no sooner
assumes the dignity and the dearness of an absent friend, than
you either think what you have to say unworthy to meet their
eye, or inadequate to express your own feelings and affection.
Mr. Butler, who in conversation outshines the whole world, even
though you were to enter the lists yourself as his rival — who never
■v\ ants an illustration to adorn his subject or explain his meaning —
says that before the a]3paratus of writing, even to the dearest

AETAx. 19.] His College Career. 163

friends, those "thronged ideal hosts" all melt into thin air, and
leave behind only some stout and sturdy business-like thought,
which is too substantial and important to disappear from his view,
but at the same time too dull to be in the least degree pleasing or
amusing. He thinks and complains that his ideas come so rapidly
that, not having time to embody them on paper fast enough, they
fly away and are forgotten, leaving only the actual business of the
letter ; and he is of opinion that ladies who write interminable
epistles, must either have slow heads or quick hands : slow heads,
in order that their ideas may come in such gentle succession as
to give no trouble in arresting ; or quick hands, to execute the
writ of seizure and imprisonment against them, before the airy
fugitives have time, with all theu' hurry, to effect their escape.

' You see I have been reading Mr. Butler as well as Mr. Knox.
The only difference is that Mr. Knox was on Theology alone,
whereas the subject of Mr. Butler's volume is Man^ and every-
thing connected with human interest or human knowledge — a
much-containing title-page ! He differs in almost everything
from both Mr. Knox and Miss H., who, you may remember, I said
seemed the antipodes of each other. I believe I must introduce a
new figure, and make them the three angles* of a triangle. Every
triangle has a centre of gravity. This puzzles me very much in
trying to make out the analogy, and render it as complete as I
can. Certainly this same centre of gravity must be as far removed
as possible from Miss H. (I intended to have put her street in-
stead of her name, but I have already forgotten the former ; so
there is no great danger of this, or any other letter intended for
Great George 's-street, going astray to any other Miss H.)

' Mr. Knox's conversation is too slow — Miss H.'s too fast ; Mr.
Butler's is exactly at the rate I like : neither lagging behind the
pace of my own ideas, nor running on before them, and forcing
me to keep up : neither resembling the motion of the Egyptian
chariots through the Red Sea, when their wheels had been stricken
off, so that the charioteers drave them heavily — nor yet the Swiss
conveyance for delicate people down their mountains, to wit, an
enormous bramble dragged by boisterous hands ; but tlie j)leasant
and gentlemanly velocity of his own gig, in whicli he trans^jorted
nie the other day to Edgeworthstown.

'And so it was a pleasant drive— a pleasant companion — a

1 64 Life of Sir Williaui Rowan Hamilton. [1824.

pleasant visit — and a pleasant place ! I might, no doubt, put on
a very grave face, endeavom* to be "a stoic of the woods" (an
attempt, by-the-by, in which I should succeed but ill, forasmuch
as there are no woods near Trim, save those of Dangan, and there
not a tree has been left standing). But it would be in vain.

* I do not know any place so pleasant as Edgeworthstown in
the extensive circle of my acquaintance.

' And now, after making so extensive an assertion, it may not
be amiss to qualify it a little. I do not mean — far from it ! — that
the time I passed there was the happiest of my life. Well might
you say that I had eaten that dangerous fruit of which, when the
companions of Ulysses tasted, they forgot forthwith their homes
and former friends. 0 no ! I should be unworthy of the sweet-
ness of home, and charities of kindred, if I could prefer to them
the attractions of stranger friends and stranger places. I only
mean to say that Edgeworthstown must be the pleasantest of
places to those who form its family, and who unite to all its other
charms those of mutual love. Nor yet to those alone. For my
own part, I could scarcely help fancying that I was one of them-
selves— that I had known them all for many years ; and the hour
of parting, when it came, seemed to withdraw me from old and
tried friends. . . .

* September 12. I am quite ashamed to think that I have let a
whole week pass away without sending a letter to you. In truth,
I am in everyone's books as a bad correspondent ; but they must
excuse me when they recollect that, in addition to my preparation
for Examinations, now drawing near, I have had most trouble-
some though fascinating employment, in pursuing a mathematical
discovery. It has prevented me from doing many things that I
wished.

' You will perhaps wonder who is the Lambert I mentioned at
the beginning of this letter. He is a son of Mr. Disney that has
now the house and demesne of Summerhill, brother of the Disney
antagonist to Lloyd. He has two other brothers in College, both
Premium-men. He is now with Uncle, . . . and I am to dine
at his father's with him to-day. We are going to walk to Summer-
hill, or rather to a church a mile beyond it ; so that we must set off
at nine, and you may easily conceive that I have very little time,
bewteen breakfast and all, to finish this.'

AETAT. 19.] His College Career. 165

A pleasant birthday letter to his eldest sister Grace : —

From W. E.. Hamilton to his Sister Grace.

' Trim, October 3, 1824.

' I find from my Terence that there was a custom among the
Romans of making birthday presents, and that it was sometimes
complained of as a hardship by those that were obliged to make
them. But we need not go so far back as " the Nation of the
Gown " (unless you or Cousin Arthiu- can prove that they wore,
besides it, a square cap, for in that case perhaps the precedent
would apply to me in virtue of my gibship.) I believe it is not
very long since, in our own country, the same custom prevailed.
Every returning festival, whether the celebration of a natal day,
or those seasons of the year devoted to joyous or to solemn com-
memoration, friends were expected to maintain a regular inter-
change of presents. These were, no doubt, often the occasions and
opportunities of showing mutual good will, and of cultivating mu-
tual aifection. But sometimes, too, we may suppose that they
were like the extorted benevolences which we read of in English
history, as having been a mode devised for taxing the people
without the authority of Parliament — an exaction the more galling
as it is particularly annoying to be forced to do a thing with a good
grace. In the same way, it is said that it was expected in olden
times for a guest, at his departure from any house where he had
been entertained, to leave a gratuity, called a i^ale, with every one
of the servants. They used to be drawn up in a row, and into
each of these poor-boxes the unfortunate stranger had to deposit
something. Dean Swift turned the practice into ridicule, and put
an end to it in the following manner : finding on one of these
occasions his purse exhausted by the donation to the last but one,
and having nothing else for the last, a great tall black-bearded
man, he very composedly bestowed on him — a kiss.

' Now what is this all about ? or what is the meaning of it 't
Simply this, that I know among us the observance of strict cere-
mony may be dispensed with, and that you do not expect to be
told that I remember your birthday, nor would you consider it an
unpardonable offence if I neglected to show that I did so. At the
same time that the tribute of congratulation is not expected from

1 66 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton . [1824.

me to you, it shall be given more freely, and as cordially as if it
were. So, in the name of all here, and specially in my own, I
send hearty good wishes for many returns of a day which I wish
that I were able to celebrate along with you ; but though I be
absent in person, " my soul, happy friends, shall be with you that
night," and participate in your happiness.'

The following extract, from a note with which his sister Eliza
greets him on his arrival in Dublin for the Michaelmas Examina-
tion, opens for us his chamber door, and sets him before us carrying
on his studies. Part of her description calls for record of a fact
which must remain in the memory of all who knew him, that
Hamilton had two voices — one deep, rich, sonorous, rhythmical,
and solemn, which flowed forth when he delivered a prelection or
a speech, or recited poetry; the other soaring acutely into high
regions, when he burst into an explanation, or gave vent to some
ebullition of good spirits or cheerful comment.

From Eliza Hamilton to W. E. Hamilton.

* October 22, 1824.

' , . . I had been drawing pictures of you in my mind in
youi' study at Cumberland-street, with Xeuophon, &c., &e., on the
table, and you, with your most awfully sublime face of thought,
now sitting down and now walking about, at times rubbing your
hands with an air of satisfaction, and at times bursting forth into
some very heroical strain of poetry in an unknown language and
in your own internal solemn ventriloquist-like voice, when you
address yourself to the silence and solitude of your own room, and
indeed at times even when 3'our mj'sterious poetical addresses are
not quite unheard.'

It may be well here to give the reader such an outline as can
be drawn by memory of Hamilton's personal appearance at this
time of his life. He was of middle height, but his breadth of
shoulders and amplitude of chest made him appear shorter than
he really was. His head, when in social intercourse, he generally

AETAT. 19.] His College Career. 167

carried with an upward inclination, giving to full view his coun-
tenance beaming with an expression of ingenuous cheerfulness
and receptivity. His features were not either beautiful or hand-
some, but there was a certain harmony in their combination which
indicated strength, and in these early years produced almost the
effect of good looks. His eyes were light blue ; his hair was a dark
silky chestnut : his nose rather broad below, the distance between
it and the mouth being somewhat in excess, as I believe has often
been the case with men remarkable for concentrated power. The
mouth itself of moderate size, with upper lip flexible in speaking,
and slightly pouting when at rest ; the chin well shaped and firm,
while the breadth of the skull at its base, and its equable hemisphe-
rical development, betokened at first view a certain intellectual
grandeur. He was strong and active on his limbs ; his hands
were soft and fair ; his fingers, as has been noted by his friend
Professor de Morgan, broad at the ends, and apparently not
adapted for nice manipulations. Yet his manuscript, even when
very minute, was exceptionally clear ; and the drawing of his
mathematical diagrams, which were often of great complexity,
was remarkable for neatness and accuracy.

To the beloved sister who thus playfully greeted his arrival in
Dublin he addressed, a few days afterwards, the following poetical
reminiscence of an autumn evening spent in strolling through the
grounds of Summerhill when visiting the family who, principally
for the sake of one fair member, had now become so dear to him.
He confessed, at a time long subsequent, that the italicised lines
commencing ' Yet was I fain my book to close ' commemorated a
vision of happiness which took flight because he recognised no sub-
stantial warrant for hope of its realization ; and thus the prospect,
depicted at the end, of a sober happiness to be enjoyed in a life
spent with his sister was, however sincere in the affection which
prompted it, a descent from an ideal still more precious to his
heart.

1 68 Life of Sir William Rowan Ha7nilton. [1824.

' TO ELIZA.

* The autumn eve had just begun ;
Seemed hasting to his home the Sun ;
The universal scene was fair ;
It seemed as Nature's self were there
In all her influence full confest,
To raise, refine, inspire the breast.

My study's solitude to leave,
I wandered forth that autumn eve ;
With me the Roman poet's page
Who bid revive the Attic stage,
Whose numbers' grave yet graceful play
Shone as to gild the expiring day
Of Roman freedom, ere arose
Th' Augustan Sun in blood and woes,
Or yet its milder eve had known
The music of the Mantuan swan.

I meant that the Terentian page
My whole attention should engage,
For time was passing fast away,
And near and nearer di'ew the day
When prize of Academic lore
Should call me to one struggle more.

Yet was I fain my book to close,
And siveetly mitse awhile 07i those

Who whether distant, whether near,
Alike are prized, alike are dear.

Aivhile delicious Fancy stole

Far, far away, my entranced soul ;

The lision all too soon was gone .'

I woke and felt myself alone.

Yet 'tivas the hour the Poet loves

Alone to icander throityh the groves,

Unheeded, tmcontrolled, to pour

His spirit forth in verse ; to soar

Up to the heaven of heavens, to climb

Above the bounds of sjMce and time ;

T'o call ideal tcorlds to view,

Mis own creation bright and neio.

And I, although I dare not claim

That lofty meed, the Poefs name,

Enjoy in Solitude like this

A portion of the Poefs bliss.
Then as the beauty of the scene

Came mellowed through the branches' screen,

I marked the distant mountain's swell ;

I marked, between, the lowly dell ;

AETAT. 19.] His College Career, 169

I marked the river's darkling tide
In melancholy stillness glide.
Upon its mirror I could trace
Another Heaven with softer grace,
Another cloudlet floating o'er
That sky to some celestial shore,
Some fancied haven in whose breast
Its kindred clouds had found their rest.
How soon, I thought, Ambition's voice
May rouse thee from these peaceful joys !
How soon may I be swept along
The giddy whirl, the thoughtless throng :
Haply with late regret again
Wish back this hour and wish in vain !
Oh ! never may I leave behind
For brightest bribe the unruffled mind,
The mind unvext by Envy's scourge,
Untost by Discontentment's surge ;
Which leaves not future good unsought,
Yet still enjoys the present lot !
So whether wealth and fame be ours,
And greatness gild the distant hours,
Or in the lowly vale between
We fix our cot by all unseen,
Eliza, still my life shall be
Devote to happiness and thee :
Nor happiness nor thou refuse
To live with me, and with my muse.
« October 30, 1824.'

A letter to his uncle, thanking him for his introduction to the
Disney family, gives at the same time proofs of his deep gratitude
to his relative for all the care bestowed upon his education,
and reveals the romantic warmth of his feeling towards his new
friends. Not less honourable to the nature of his correspondent
is the affectionate letter in which his uncle accepts the confidence
of the warm-hearted youth. The Yalentine verses which succeed
disclose with ingenuous openness the lofty aspirations of the
student, the dazzled admiration of the lover, and the bitter pangs
inflicted on him by the thought that the circumstances of his po-
sition afforded no footing for his hopes ; for it is to be remembered
that when he wrote them, the Fellowship, which was the object of
his ambition, was clogged with the obligation of celibacy.

lyo Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1825.

From W. E. Hamilton to his Uncle James.

'Dublin, 7, South Cumberland -street,

^January 11, 1825.

' Among all tlie obligations which I owe to you, all the benefits
which I have received from your unceasing solicitude for my good,
obligations which, so far from forgetting, I am only becoming
more and more able to appreciate; benefits which, instead of
passing away like the dews of morning, may more aptly be com-
pared, in their progress and influence, to the course of a fertilizing
river, small at first, • and liable to be overlooked in a hasty survey
of the geography of the mind, but increasing in extent and strength
as it rolls along, and making to itself a wider and deeper channel, —
I reckon, as not the least, your introducing me to the Disney
family.

' In a disposition such as mine, the energies and affections of
which must perhaps expatiate on objects unworthy of them, rather
than on none, how important it is to have a right direction given
to those energies and those affections !

'Edward Disney, the brother whom I first saw, and my fa-
vourite, is of a character fitted to arouse the energies and call
forth the affections of anyone. Ardent in ambition, and in
friendship, of a pure and lofty mind, tempering by his piety and
modesty the lustre of talents which I consider as of the first
order. Had I been allowed to select for myself a companion in
the race which I have to run, what character could I have chosen
more congenial than that which I have described?

Edward intends reading for the Science Medal of next October.
Many of his friends wish him to try for the Classical in preference :
and I think he might reasonably expect to obtain it if he would
resign the other. But as he does not hope to obtain both, he pre-
fers to attempt that which is considered the most difficult and most
honourable. In this attempt he has formidable opposition. In
number — his rivals are more than ten : in talent — the magnitude
of the prize of course invites the best men of his Class. One of
these has an advantage over the others, which may, I think, be
justly termed unfair. He ought in regular com'se to have answered
for the Medal last October ; but Toleken,* the then successful can-

* Afterwards Fellow of T.C.D.

A.ETAT. 19.] His College Career. 171

didate, was reported to be invinciLle, and B., though prepared —
and (it is said) well prepared — yet, rather than aspire to a glorious
conquest or submit to an honourable defeat, sought out, as he
supposed, an easier field, and dropped a class, in the expectation
of obtaining next October a victory without a struggle. But, if
the united efforts of two energetic minds can avail anything, he
shall be disappointed !

' This leads me to open to you my plan for the present year.
However completely College business may appear to most persons
to engross my time, you know that it has never been sufficient to
occupy it. There has always been a surplus, which according to
circumstances has been devoted, at one period to an occultation, at
another to Caustics, at another to wandering about the world,
through Dublin, Trim, Belle vue, and Edgeworthstown. All these
things (with perhaps the exception of my wandering visits) the
Provost and you are pleased to designate as extravagating — a word
which Mr. Butler seems to think coined for the occasion. Now,
my Junior Sophister year must in ordinary course be given to Scho-
larship; the year following, should life and health be spared, to
the splendid enterprise of reading for both Gold Medals : what
season remains, except the present year, for indulging my darling
" extravagance " ?*

* I cannot refrain from giving here the passage referred to by Hamilton in
a long and most i^leasant letter to him from Mr. Butler, the Vicar of Trim.

' Teim, January 5, 1825.

' My dear William, . . . When you have made the Caustics famous,
and have shown their nature and scope and tendency and soforth, I shall write
their life and adventures, " a personal narrative of the birth, childhood, and
adolescence of Caustics" : — the history of the deeds of their manhood, and the
detail of the numerous generations of wonderful things which they are to beget,
I must leave to some future and more gifted writer. Little Mary has not
been well, Grace and Bessy as usual, the boy the Unest boy that ever was
seen. He wdll be as handsome as Aleibiades and as wise as Socrates, " Quid
voveat majus ? " He reaUy is a fine strong child, and does not often cry,
which is a child's great crime. Poor Trim is as usual. Your uncle will be
glad to hear that you are busy preparing for Examinations. He does not
much approve of your extravagating. I believe that word was made for you
by the Provost, so I give it to you, considering it your peculiar property. 1
beg that you may not return it on my hands. I will have nothing to say to it."

172 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1825.

My plan, after all, is less romantic than the introduction may
have led you to expect. It is simply this : to read the Science
Medal Course, as laid down by the examiner (Mac Donnell) in his
syllabus, which is much more extensive than the College card.

' Do you wonder what has induced me to resign for so many
years to come those dreams of Discovery and of Fame which Hope
had interwoven in my mind with the renewed prosecution of my
Caustics ? The dearer hope of being useful to Edward Disney
suggested my plan : the same hope will continue to be my motive
and stimulus to exertion : and his success, if he does succeed, will
be my best reward.

' At the same time, it is impossible not to observe the nume-
rous advantages which must result to myself from the execution of
this scheme. Dr. Brinkley has often tried to turn my attention to
Mechanics. Dr. Lloyd is preparing to supersede Helsham, &c.,
by a new course of Physics : I will in all probability be among
the first examined on the new system, and an intimate acquain-
tance with modern Mechanics will be necessary to support my
mathematical character. Finally, when my time comes to read
for both Medals — a more arduous effort than anyone has yet
made, a more illustrious prize than anyone has yet obtained —
how important will it then be for me to be able to give an almost
undivided attention to Classics !

' Weigh all these reasons, and tell me whether, if I had formed
my resolution as much from motives of personal interest as I have
done from the reverse, I could have formed it better ?

'Of Edward's brothers, the next in my interest and affections is
Lambert. I cannot but regret, for his sake and for yours, that he
was not so completely or so long resigned to your care as to enable
you argilld qtiidvis imitari udd; for I think he has latent prin-
ciples of Taste and of GTenius worthy to be developed by your
hand, and which would have repaid your culture.

' But I do not regret his removal from Trim, if, on the one
hand, he was not intended to remain with you for a period such as
you would have yourself desired ; or if, on the other hand, while
so remaining, and for the first time in his life separated from all
his family, his almost too finely affectionate disposition had lost in
melancholy the power of adequate exertion. He is now reading
for Entrance with a Dublin tutor.

AETAT. 19.] His College Career. 17 j

I have, two or three times, had some of the Disneys here, and
have dined with them in town. Mr. and Mrs. Disney have shown
a desire to cultivate our society. Mr. Disney called on Cousin
Arthur, and Mrs. Disney has paid us a still more welcome and
delicate attention, by making a visit to my sisters, who are now
with me. These visits were preparatory to an invitation for
Monday the 3rd, which included us all. I accepted it : Cousin
Arthur was engaged at Court till eleven that night, and Grace,
Eliza, and Sydney were at Kilmore. Besides, they have been
under much anxiety about Miss F. Hincks, the younger of the
two ladies who conduct the school. On the day that it broke up,
at dinner, she was seized with an apoplectic fit, and has since lin-
gered, between pain and insensibility, till her departure yesterday.
She was beloved as not many are, and will be long and deeply
regretted.

' I see that my two sheets of paper are nearly filled, without
the intended sketch of the female part of the Disney family. Mrs.
Disney, as a lady and a mother, is everything that it is possible to
desire, and in both these characters she pleases me particularly
by the contrast I cannot help forming between her and some
fashionable personages who seem to have a great desire for my
acquaintance, but of whom, as I can say nothing good, I shall say
nothing at all.

' In order to complete my sketch, it is absolutely necessary that
I should no longer defer speaking of Miss Disney. Beautiful as
she is, the stranger only can observe her beauty ; her mind and
her heart, with those who know her, are the objects which engage
their attention and secure their love. . . .

' P. S. — From Miss Edgeworth, too, I have received a very
pleasant letter, thanking me for the Novum Organon, and renew-
ing most kindly my invitation to Edgeworthstown, giving also
a sort of opening to a correspondence. Henry Disney has just
called on me, along with my old rival and friend, Lloyd.* Henry
says he has heard a report that I am elected a member of the
Royal Irish Academy.'

* Bartholomew Lloyd, Junior, supra, p. 157.

174 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1825.

From his Uncle James to W. E. Hamilton.

' Tkim, January 14, 1825.

' Though I had uot time to say so, I was not the less gratified,
and will say obliged, by the warmth and fulness of your letter.
Perhaps the Provost and others would say youi' " extravagating "
was transferred from the head to the heart. . . .

' The romance of the exploit, I hope, will not require that you
should sacrifice what it is certainly your clear and paramount
duty to secure — your oicn success. Love thy neighbour as

THYSELF.

'Again accept my acknowledgment for pouring the effusion
of a generous sentiment into a receptacle which welcomes and
cherishes every drop of it. Be assured that such feelings will
ever find sympathy and reciprocity in the heart of your affec-
tionate uncle.'

' TO MISS C. D.

'a valentine ode.

' Look how returning Yalentine
Woos timid spring again to shine !
Flowerless is the mossy hill ;
The garden glories slumber still :
Yet shall Spring yield her tribute gem,
Catharine ! to thy diadem.
See, to braid thy golden hair,
Starts the virgin snow-drop fail* ;
And the modest violet's hue
Emulates thine eyes' soft blue !
0 if / the wreath might twine,
0 if I might call thee mine,
Life should be one undying Spring,
Scattering flow'rets from his wing !

* Forgive me, that on bliss so high
Lingers thrilling phantasie :
That the one Image, dear and bright.
Feeds thoughts by day, and dreams by night :
That Hope presumes to mingle thee
"With visions of my destiny !

AETAT. 19.] His College Caj-eer. 175

Hast thou not seen the summer Sun

Rise, his rejoicing race to run ;

Ardour and light around him throwing,

In all his morning promise glowing :

As if no cloud could overcast

His lustre ere the morn be past ?

Perchance it vunj be mine to soar

Higher than mortal e'er before :

Climb the meridian steeps of fame,

And leave an everlasting name.

Perchance it may be mine to span

"Whate'er man most admires in man :

The awful glories of the Sage,

And the diviner Poet's rage !

If such my lot. ... 0 then how sweet

To lay my triumphs at thy feet :

Recall the days of chivalry,

And hope the crowning meed from thee !

Yet, should those hopes, which brightly play

Now round my path, all pass away ;

And o'er my tempest-darkened soul

The cold world's billows wildly roll :

T/<e«, trust me, Kate ! some Joy 'twould bring,

Blunt even misfortune's sharpest sting,

To think I had not cast o'er thee

The shadow of my misery.

< When fii-st I saw thee, Kate ! my gaze

AVas fixt in rapturous amaze :

I had not thought on earth to find

So much of loveliness combined.
In fairy-land awhile I seemed to be —

But 'twas a bright reality !

The hallowed memory of that day
From me shall never, never pass away !

How felt my soul subdued, refined,

By the soft music of thy mind :

In lines how deep thy beauty pressed

Its image on my inmost breast !

0 the unutterable power

Which dwelt in that, Love's natal hour :

The chords of finest feeling then

Awakened, ne'er to sleep again !

< Still shall that form the beacon be
To guide my bark o'er Honour's sea.

176 Life of Sir William Rowan Hmnilton. [1825.

But I will love it as I love a star,
In its high sphere, so radiant and so far !
For could I speak the spell
Which (Arab legends tell)
The Genii fraught with mystic art
To fascinate the unconscious heart :
Its magic potency
Should not be tried on thee !

' I could not bear that Kate should prove
The anxious hours of untold love ;
I would not that her gentle spirit
Should aught of care or grief inherit :
Or dim those eyes with secret tears
Of hope deferred, through lingering years.

' No ! be life's bitterness to thee unknown,
And may thy cup be full with bliss alone !
In purity and beauty shining,
With happiness ai-ound thee twining.
Earth smile upon thee, like a younger Heaven,
And be this daring lay forgotten — or forgiven !

< February 14, 1825.'

The mathematical investigations respecting the science of
Optics, of which the germ had been conceived in 1822, were car-
ried on, as occasional expressions in his letters have intimated,
through the years 1823 and 1824 in the intervals of his Collegiate
studies. Towards the close of the latter year they had been set
forth in the form of a paper ' On Caustics,' of which the preface
bears date December 6, 1824. The preface has historical value^
and I therefore give it at length : —

' The Problems of Optics, considered mathematically, relate for
the most part to the intersections of the rays of light proceeding
from known surfaces, according to known laws.

' In the present paper it is proposed to investigate some gene-
ral properties common to all such Systems of Rays, and indepen-
dent of the particular surface or particular law. It is intended
in another paper to point out the application of these mathemati-
cal principles to the actual laws of Nature.

AETAT. 19.] His College Career. 177

' A fortnight ago I believed that no writer had ever treated of
Optics on a similar plan. But within that period, my tutor, the
Kev. Mr. Boyton, to whom I had communicated some of my
results, has shown me in the College Library a beautiful memoir
of Malus on the subject, entitled, " Traite d'Optique," and pre-
sented to the Institute in 1807.

' Those who may take the trouble to compare his memoir with
mine will perceive a difference in method and extent.

' With respect to those results which are common to both, it is
proper to state that I had arrived at them in my own researches
before I was aware of the existence of his.'

The second part of the Paper concludes with the following
graceful tribute to the friendly and generous encouragement which
the author had received from Dr. Brinkley : —

' But whatever may be the opinions of others as to its value, I
have the pleasure to think that my Paper is inscribed to the one
who will best be able to perceive and appreciate what is original ;
whose kindness has encouraged, whose advice has strengthened
me ; to whose approbation I have ever looked as to a reward
sufficient to repay me for industry however laborious, for exertion
however arduous.'

In the Minutes of Council of the Royal Irish Academy, under
date of December 13, 1824, is the following entry : — * Received a
Paper on Caustics, Part I., by William Hamilton, Esq., T.C.D.,
communicated by the President [the Rev. Arclideacon Brinkley,
who was in the chair]. Resolved, — That it be referred to a Com-
mittee composed of Dr. Mac Donnell, Mr. Harte, and Mr. Lard-
ner, and that they be requested to report as soon as convenient.'

The report of the Committee was not received by the Council
till the 13th of June following. It will be convenient, before
reading it, to turn to the intervening events of his Collegiate
career. A letter to his uncle describes his experience of a Cate-
chetical Examination, in which a portion of Scripture being the
subject, he had to compete with his division of his class for a
premium.

178 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1825.

From W. E,. Hamilton to his Uncle James.

'Dublin, 10, South Cumberland- street,
' 3Iarch 19, 1825.

' The particular reason of my Leing so much engaged of late,
and in consequence not calling on Aunt for some days before she
left town, nor writing to you, has been my preparing for the Ca-
techetical Examinations, of which the last was held to-day. Mr.
Kennedy was our Examiner, and Joshua and Judges composed the
subject of our Examination. To-day we had a repetition, or, as
Mr. Kennedy called it, a Recapitulation of the whole. I had bor-
rowed a Hebrew Bible from Cousin Hannah, which I consulted. Ed-
ward Disney had got me Mant's Bible from Mr. Purdon, his cousin,
curate of Mary's ; and James Disney lent me Scott's Commentary.
So, being by this means pretty well supplied, I endeavoured to
prepare myself as well as I could. This morning Mr. Kennedy
brought in written questions, which he gave, however, orally.
(I should have mentioned that last Saturday he said our whole
division had answered so well, he did not know whom to bid read
with the most care for to-day). Our division was kept the last in
the Hall this morning, and we were examined with some strict-
ness— in particular, on the miracle of the Sun and Moon's standing
still we were asked a good deal. Was tliere any distinct reference
to it in heathen history — and why not ? (None ; except one
thought of the obvious answer, that no heathen records go near
so far back) . What allusion or trace in mythology ? Some said
FhaetJion, which is Scott's idea ; but when the question came to
me, I fortunately struck off what Mr. K. was thinking of — the
TfiiioTTipoQ night which preceded the birth of Hercules, since in
Greece the sun must have been prevented from rising by the miracle
if it took place (as is supposed) soon after sunrise in Canaan.
Then why did it not derange the systems of Astronomy ? to which
I answered, that not only the Earth's dim-nal motion, but all the
others of our system, were stopped : since if the miracle was con-
fined to stopping the Earth, the Moon could not appear to stand
still for a whole day, though the sun of course would. At last Mr.
Kennedy said to me, " As well for regularity of attendance as for

AETAT. 19.] His College Career. 179

goodness of answering, I give you the Premium." James Disney
4ind Francis Brady got Premiums in their own divisions.'

The Mr. Kennedy here spoken of as Hamilton's Examiner was
a man of note in his day. He was considered to possess more
minute scholarship in Classics than any of his contemporaries in
the University ; but his judgment was not equal to his erudition,
and his language, not only in his writings but in his conversation,
was famed for polysyllabic pedantry. A phrase with which he
began one of his Donuellan Lectures, ' The Pentateuchal Archives
of the Cosmogonic Hexahemeron,' has been handed down as a
sample of his style. The best prepared Classical Honormen had
a perfect dread of him as an Examiner, so far-fetched were his
questions, so minute his tests of scholarship. The letter last
■quoted furnishes a characteristic specimen of the kind of answers
he sought for, as it also affords proof of the plenary faith then held
by Hamilton in the letter of Old Testament histories. It is only
fair to mention that this was modified in after years. On the last
day of his life, defending the command to sacrifice Isaac against the
view taken of it by Bishop Colenso, he adverted to the miracle re-
corded in the Book of Joshua, of the sun standing still, and said
that as an astronomer he must confess that it did not admit of
astronomical interpretation ; that if it were more than a poetical or
legendary exaggeration, it was a subjective not an objective mi-
racle. Hamilton was soon to meet Mr. Kennedy again, and to
receive from him the only shade cast by an Examiner upon the
brilliancy of his Collegiate answering. A letter written to him by
his uncle just before the Easter Examination shows Hamilton,
nfter his recent catechetical success, to have been occupied in
scientific pursuits and projects, and expresses some misgiving on.
the part of his watchful guardian as to whether he was doing jus-
tice to his Classical preparation.

i<2

i8o Life of Sir WiUiaiii Rowan Hamilton. [182c;.

From Ms Uncle James to W. E. Hamilton.

' Teim, March 29, 1825.

* I wrote by Mr. M. yesterday a hasty scratch whilst the mes-
senger waited, acknowledging your letter respecting the Alderman^
and to express the great pleasure and interest I take in your new
speculation. You will subject your own and Francoeur's theory
to a rigorous test before you commit yourself. But I go along
with you most willingly, so far as you have yet gone, respecting
negative quantities (so-called) . Allow me to express my anxious
hope that you will not let these matters engage you too much till
after next Examination, especially lest they operate to the preju-
dice of your Classical preparation. All I care about, as to the
Classical part, is that you secure the Certificate in it, and, if possi-
ble, an Opt. in Science. We shall have, I trust, a pleasant long
vacation at your proposed Elementary Work.'

What occurred at the Examination, thus looked forward to,
was, that while his success in Science was what it always had
been, Mr. Kennedy, as his Examiner in Classics, gave the se-
condary judgment of hcnc to his answering in both Grreek and
Latin authors, appending to his theme the usual ralde tjene ; but
Mr. Kennedy was not content with this amount of depression of
Hamilton's established character as a Classical scholar ; he went
so far as to stop, as it was called, the Classical Certificate in the
division ; thus intimating that neither Hamilton nor his compe-
titors for the honour had reached the standard of positive merit
required. He also withheld the Classical Premium from the di-
vision. This decision of the Examiner was loudly exclaimed
against at the time. Mr. Kennedy's character protected him from
all dishonouring imputations ; but his Examination was freely
charged with unreasonableness, and it was moreover averred that,
persuaded as he was that no Examiner in College was qualified to
give an optime in Greek but himself, the remembrance of this honour
having been conferred on Hamilton by another, and in a subject,

AETAT. in.] His Colleoc Career. i8i

the Iliad of Homer, wliicli lie liad made his own by publishing an
edition of the work, had brought him down upon the distin-
guished Undergraduate, animated by a personal feeling which
caused actual, though it might be unconscious, unfairness. How-
ever, we have seen that Hamilton's preparation in Classics had
not been careful, and he wisely took his disappointment without a
murmur as an admonition for his future guidance. This is proved
by the following judicious letter from his uncle : —

Fi'om the Same to the Same.

' Tkoi, April 26, 182:i.

* I am glad you are determined to profit by the result of last
Examination, which determination acted up to in future will well
repay any feeling of disappointment you may experience at pre-
sent. The result does not appear to me unsatisfactory if no
Classical Honor, Premium or Certificate, was granted in your divi-
sion,* which is what I collect from your letter to have been the
fact. And I am anxious to learn whether I am right in so under-
standing you. I conceive the radical mistake has been the suppo-
sition that you laid down that you had a surplus of time for
extraneous pursuits, in place of adopting the maxim for each
Examination — "Spartam nactus es, hanc exorna." Any surplus
time, if it could be so called, that you could command, after
making yourself master of the Science and Classics (and before that
you could not consider it as yours at all), would be little enough
for what would tell alike in Fellowship and Undergraduate
Course — History : a little for relaxation every evening would

* By reference to the Examination books in Trinity College, I have verified
the fact of the stoppage both of Certificate and Premium ; and it is certainly
remarkable that not only Hamilton, but several other students in this division,
who both before and after this Examination uniformly obtained valdes in
Classics, suffered on this occasion the same depression of their judgments as he
did : I may name Halliday, who subsequently obtained the Classical Medal in
this class, and Bartholomew Lloyd, brother of the late Provost.

1 82 Lift of Si]- ]]lllia]u Roivan Ilaviilton. [182.5.

gradually make it habitual knowledge. The other pursuits will
not bring in less honour if deferred a little ; on the contrary, as I
have said perhaps too often, you will by postponement of them
avoid stumbling-blocks to immediate success and much unpleasant
invidiousness. I anticipate with great pleasure your reading here.
But in the meantime hoc («je. Do not lose the interval between
this and your Lectures. Commence your attack on the Classics.
I send you Leland's Life of Philip, the only volume of it I have.'

This disappointment but slightly affected a man conscious of
power ; but it was about this time that he had to suffer one of a dif-
ferent character, which fell with crushing weight upon his heart and
spirits. He learned quite unexpectedly from the lips of her mother
that the lovely object of his passionate admiration was claimed as
bride by an elder suitor, and that her marriage would shortly take
place. The marriage probably occurred early in May, for tlie
date May 13, 1825, is attached to the lines in which, referring to
it as a past event, he bade her farewell. It may be right to
mention that a note appended to one copy states the fact that they
were not sent to the person addressed. To these farewell lines,
however, I prefix a poem in which Hamilton himself * relates the
story of his love and his disappointment. Bearing date the 21st
of January, 182G, it reveals the depth to which his whole nature
had been shaken by the event, while it also puts on record the
facts that, withheld by the disadvantage of his position, he had
refrained from seeking any engagement, and that after his hopes
were extinguished he breathed no word of reproach upon her who
had been the ' star of his idolatry.'

* * The Enthusiast was composed on a sick bed, diu'ing almost the only
time of serious illness that I can remember, and one brought on chiefly by
brooding on that youthful grief, notwithstanding great and successful efforts
to maintain a high (indeed at that time brilliant) reputation in my own Uni-
versity. The gloom described at the close is therefore not a fair description, or
anticipation, of my subsequent life.' — Letter to Dc Morgan, December 14,.
1853.

AETAT. 19.] His College Career. 183

THE ENTHUSIAST.

■ Ho was a young Enthusiast. He would gaze
For hours upon the face of the night-heaven,
To watch the silent stars, or the bright moon
Moving in her unearthly loveliness ;
And dream of worlds of bliss for pure souls hid
In their far orbs. At other times he loved
To listen to the mountain torrents roar,
To look on Nature in her many forms,
And sympathise with all : to hold sweet converse
In secret with the genius of the stream,
The fountain or the forest, and to pour
His rapture forth in some fond gush of song ;
For the bright gift of Poetry was his ;
And in lone walks and sweetly pensive musings
He would create new worlds and. people them
With fond hearts and sweet sounds and sights of Beauty
He had been gifted, too, with sterner powers.
Even while a child he laid his daring hand
On Science' golden key ; and ere the tastes
Or sports of boyhood yet had passed awaj'
Oft would he hold communion with the mind
Of Newton, and with awed enthusiasm learn
The Eternal Laws which bind the Universe,
And which the stars obey. As years rolled on,
Those high aspirings visited his soul,
Which Genius ever breathes. He longed to leave
Some great memorial of himself, which might
Win for him an imperishable name.
Fame was around him early, and his path
Was bright with honour, and he had a home,
And hearts that loved him and could syiupathisi-
In all his joys ; he was perchance too happy ;
For love had not yet swept with fiery hand
Over his chords of feeling, calling forth
For one short moment all their melody,
Then leaving them for ever mute and broken.

-■o

' It was an August evening, and the youth
Had numbered nineteen summers, when, a guest,
He came within an old romantic mansion,
With dark woods round. He found a brilliant circle
And, holier charm ! a happy family.
But oh ! how soon and how entirely faded
All else when his enthusiastic gaze

184 Life of Sir Will iani Rowan Hajnilton. [l82o.

Had fallen upon a form of youth and beauty,

A maiden in her simple loveliness,

With locks of gold and soft blue eyes, and cheeks

All rich with artless smiles and natural bloom !

He sat beside her at the board, and still

He saw her only, thought of her alone ;

But now it was on other charms he dwelt.

Her thoughts, her tastes, her feelings, and these were

So full of mind, of gi'acefulness and nature.

Blended with such retiring timidness.

They riveted the chain her beauty wove.

They met again, too often for his peace ;
For what had he, but Genius, Hope, and Love ?
Her image became twined iuto his being ;
His musings were of her, of her his dreams ;
She was the star of his idolatry,
But like a star he deemed her all too high
To bow to love for him. Yet he hoped on.
Who hath not felt how heavenly Hope can live
And freshen even amid what should be death,
Like to the self-renewing bird of Araby
Which springs to life from its own funeral pyre !

One eve she woke the harp. The fond enthusiast,
O'erpowered by feeling, sate him down apart.
And hid his face ; he could not look and listen !
And then she sang a sweet and simple air ;
Her voice aroused him, and with altered mood
In silent trance of pleasui-e he hung o'er her.
But these were moments all too exquisite,
Too richly fraught with transport, to last long ;
The dream was to be broken, the chain sundered.

He had not talked of Love. His happiest hours
Were those he passed with her ; yet then his words
Breathed only such respectful tenderness
As if he were addressing a dear sister :
And she — she thought of him but as a brother.
He knew himself in fortune her inferior.
And therefore would not seek to win her heart ;
But he did not know that her troth was plighted,
And a few months must bring her bridal day.
The tidings when they burst upon him crushed
Awhile to earth his energies of soul ;
Or left them but to add new stings to agony,
New power of pain to torturing remembrance.
At length his bitter anguish passed away.
But left him darkly changed. His mind awoke ;
Its powers were unimpaired, and the aiFection

AETAT. 19.] Ill's College Career. 1 8;

Of his fond friends could warm his bosom still ;
And he seemed happy ; but his heart was chilled,
And he was the enthusiast no more.'*

'A FAREWELL.t

* I could not see thee on thy bridal day ;

I could not mingle with the festal throng ;
Tliough, not perchance less fervently than they,

/ wished thee richest bliss, unmixed and long.
But not at once are quelled those feelings strong.

Which held entire dominion o'er the mind ;
Nor high resolve has power, nor charm of song,

At once the wounded spirit to upbind.

Or do the trace away, that Love hath left behind.

* To me thou canst not be what thou hast been.

The Polar Star in Hope's high firmament :
The Fount that made life's desert pathway green.

The spell that bound me wheresoe'er I went :
My treasure of sweet thoughts ; my vision blent

With many a rainbow hue of far delight,
O'er which my Fancy but too fondly bent ;

The Pi'ize which my Ambition did invite ;

The one dear thought that tinged all else with its own light.

* Seldom, how seldom I shall we meet again ;

And stranger-like — and part as strangers part ;
1 shall perhaps be quite forgotten then,
- And chilled maj- be this once impassioned heart :
Yet, though no more my star of hope thou art.

My spring of loftiest, sweetest Phantasy,
Thy cherished image never shall depart ;

Still will I wish all joy to wait on thee ;

Still pray thy lot on Earth a younger Heaven may be !

'3Iay 13, 1825.'

* In late copies of this poem, yielding to a criticism of Mr. Wordsworth,
who found fault with the sound of the last line, he changed it to ' He was the
glad Enthusiast no more,' and this necessitated a corresponding change in
the first line. Believing the alteration not to be an improvement, I have pre-
ferred to give these lines as they were originally written, and as they appeared
in print when published by the author in the Dublin Literary Gazette and
National Magazine for September, 1830.

t Published in tlie Dublin Literary Gazette and National Magazine for
August, 1830.

1 86 Life of Sir WUliavi Roivan Hamilton. [1825.

It was well for Hamilton that the calls upon him for intellec-
tual exertion were imperative, allowing of no remission, of no
brooding over sorrow. He sedulously prepared himself at Trim
for the June Examination, in which his old success attended him,
valde in omnihm, and the two Certificates in Science and Classics,
an event which he thus brieflj^ announced in a letter to his sister : —
' My dear Eliza, Both. W. H. June 24, 1825.' On the 20t]i
of May he wrote to Dr. Brinkley a letter, of which a copy extend-
ing to 6^ folio pages is still extant, giving an ' Account of some
investigations which I have latel}^ made, applying the principles
laid down in my Essay on Caustics to the Theory of Images and
of Telescopes.' The letter concludes by suggesting an improved
construction of Eefleeting Telescopes. I was informed by Dr.
Lloyd, to whom I showed the letter, that in consequence of the
mirror surfaces in reflecting telescopes being no longer circular
but parabolical, improvements with regard to the former such as
those suggested by Hamilton have ceased to possess practical
value, and that theoreticallj' the Paper does not advance beyond
the results obtained in the ' Theory of Systems of Rays.' It was
under date of the 13th of June, 1825, that the Minutes of Council
of the Royal Irish Academy contained the following entry : —

' The Report of the Committee appointed to consider the " Me-
moir on Caustics" was received and ordered to be entered on the
proceedings as follows : —

" We the Committee appointed to consider the ' Memoir on
Caustics' presented by Mr. Hamilton, having attentively examined
the same, are of opinion that the results at which the author has
arrived are novel and highly interesting, and that considerable
analytical skill has been manifested in the investigations which
lead to them. But we conceive that the discussions included in
the Memoir are of a nature so very abstract, and the formulae so
general, as to require that the reasoning by which some of the
conclusions have been obtained should be more fully developed,
and that the analytical process by which some of the formulce
have been obtained should be distinctly specified. This we con-

AETAT. 19.] His College Career. 187

ceive to be necessary in order to render the publication of the
Memoir generally useful.

' (Signed) Henry H. Harte,

' D. Lardner (for self and
' Doctor Macdonnell).' "

This Report, though not unfriendly, ^Nas probably less apprecia-
tive of the merits of his Paper than was anticipated by Hamiltoi!.
Certainly such an impression was created by it on the mind of his
uncle, as is proved by the letter which I here insert ; but there is
no reason to regret the decision it announced. Hamilton acted
upon the advice contained in it, and employed the intervals of his
Collegiate studies during the next two years in recasting and
enlarging his Paper, which in its new form, and under the title of
' Theory of Systems of Rays,' became the foundation of his ma-
thematical fame.

From /it's Uncle James to W. R. Hamilton.

' Trim, Juli/ 5, 1825.

' I had the pleasure of your letter by Thornburgh, from which
I find I did not quite understand the Academic formula for
admitting a Paper to be printed among their Proceedings — the
wording of their Report having led me to understand it as making
the publication of your Paper in their Transactions an honour only
to be hoped for on the conditions of the fulfilment of a task set to
the author by them : " that of more fully developing his reason-
ing, and more distinctly specifying the analytical processes by
which his formulce were obtained." In short, though I did not
think the rites of sepulture in the archives the exact honour I
wished for your Essay — thinking of Horace's " Paulum sepultce
distat inertine celata virtus" — yet I was not prepared to acquiesce
with complacency in what appeared to me a civil refusal of such
" easement of burial," to use the phrase of Mr. Plunket's famous
Burial Bill. It seemed to me as if they reserved to themselves as
judges the discretionary power of keeping thus the ghost of your
Essay flitting about the banks of the R. I. bog. I am glad to-

1 88 Life of Sir Willia7n Roivan Hamilton. [1825.

find those judges of yours are not as stern as I thouglit. Nor am
I sorry that I fell into the error which elicited your lively effusion
on the subject of literary fame. The sentiments you express on
that head I quite concur in. In my own view for your fame I
did, I think, contribute not a little to the degree of it to which
you soon reached in College, by my preventing your grasping
at fruits before they had ripened. And nothing, I fear is ripe
enough for judges who may not have divested themselves of the
susce23tibility implied in Horace's " Urit fulgore suo qui," &c. I
trust this may not be the case with the tribunal in question. But
I should also be glad to learn that you were not again to subject
your Essay and its merits to their exceptions and huts.^

The following extracts from letters written in the autumn to
his sisters testify that the trial he was undergoing had not im-
paired the fidelity of his affection to them, and report the progress
of his work for College, and upon his Optical Essay. The first
two of these letters were written from Summerhill, the residence
of the Disney s : —

From "W. R. Hamilton fo Im Sister Eliza.

' Summerhill, Scjdember 6, 1 825.

' I have, you see, copied for you from memory that j)art of
Campbell's poem on the Rainbow which you wished for, as also
on the next page those lines on I forget what subject, which I re-
peated to you the other day. I am now, as you will observe by
the date, in Summerhill. If you wish to have a more minute
description, know that I am in the chamber of the eastern wing
upon the north side of the castle, as I conclude from the stars —
time midnight, as I learn from the deep tolling of the clock in the
tower. A shaded lamp is burning before me ; all is quiet now
except the audible ticking of my watch ; both doors of my room
are open, one of which leads to a suite of uninhabited apartments,
so long that my light only shows their gloom, through which the
beams wander without filling their extent. Hark ! what sound is

AETAT. 20.] His College Career. 189

that wliicli comes from their ohscurit j ? it is only the creaking of
a door ; but though I am in a castle, with windings and recesses
enough to please you and to satisfy even the passion for exploring
which we had when children, I am not now A^Titing a romance
but a letter, or rather, I have already exhausted my limits of paper
for that piu'pose.

' Well, then, I must be content to stop for the present, and
j)romise to write more fully when I can.'

'THE VISION COTTAGE.

' As hastily I passed along-, mine eye a moment fell
Upon a spot of loveliness where Peace and Love might dwell.
Deep-bosom'd in a quiet vale a lonely Cottage lay ;
The flowers were twining round the walls, and children were at play ;
Not in full sunniness of daj-, nor yet in shadow quite,
It seemed as Heaven had o'er it thrown her softest robe of Light.
Though the tall trees, which bendiugiy were waving dark between,
Half hid it from my gazing with their rich Autumnal screen.
And though one moment only I lingered near the spot.
The Image has remained behind and ivill not be forgot.
And thou who smilest at the tale, and wond'rest that I dwell
On a thing seen so transiently — a cottage in a dell ;
Oh ! tell me, do no memories of all as transient things,
Haply of dreams once dear among thy youth's imaginings.
Though their rich hues have passed away, and never can return,
Yet breathe a lingering fragrancy, like perfumes o'er an urn ?'

From the Same to the Same.

* SuMMEEniLL, September 24, 1825.

' It is pleasant when an opportunity offers of acknowledging
soon, even though it be in a hasty manner, a letter which it has
been delightful to receive. I like to be able, before the first glow
has entirely left the cheeks, before the pulse which had beat high
with transport at the written memorial of affection has returned to
its accustomed calm — I like to seize, if it be possible, that enthu-
siastic moment to reply ; and if the thoughts be less digested, or
the language less polished, yet the impress of heart which a letter
then written is wont to bear, more than atones, in my ojiinion, for

I go Life of Sir Williavi Roivan Hamilton. [1825.

the deficiency of all beside. And I think that we never feel more
sensibly than in letters the truth of the " Bis dat, qui oito dat,"
^' He gives twice, who gives quickly"; that a favour is enhanced
by the cheerful manner of bestowing it ; and that alacrity can
stamp a new value upon kindness. And indeed, in the present
instance, I have nothing more to tell you of than the pleasure
your letter gave me, and the regret I feel for not being able more
fully to answer it. I have been making a very long visit here, and
a very pleasant one. I could talk to you about many of the rea-
sons, difficult yet interesting to analyze, which still make Summer-
hill to me '* like a heart-cherished home on some desolate plain,"
but I have neither inclination nor time to write about them.

* ... I have been very busy, both with College business
and (still more) with my papers for the Academy.'

From "W. E. Hamilton to his Sister Gtrace.

' Trim, October 14, 1825.

* I am going on hard at work with the business for next Exami-
nations, which are so close at hand. The Orations of Demosthenes
I have read, and have finished Locke ; Cicero I am now reading,
and hope to be well prepared in all. I have also been making
myself better acquainted than I was with Plane Geometry ; and I
have found out some new things about Systems of Rays. But as
the remaining time before next Examination is so short, I have
resolved to suspend my investigations in those favourite fields of
research till I have got, at least tried to get, my last Classical Cer-
tificate. Then I will endeavour to make my Essay upon Systems
of Rays as perfect and as interesting as possible. How pleasant it
will be to meet all together again, after the anxiety of an October
Examination, and after being so long separated ! Archianna, too,
will be with us this time, and add not a little to our enjoyment. I
am afraid we are too old and sensible to care much for the nuts
and apples — even burning nuts — and I do not know whether at
Ballinderry such customs exist ; but though it is no longer so ini~
portant an evening as once it was, it can never cease to be a happy
one while we are able to assemble together, and while our " meet-
ing ring of happiness" is shone upon by the Sun of mutual Love.'

AETAT. 20.] His College Caj'ecr. 191

It was some time in the course of this year that Hamilton
made acquaintance with Miss Lawrence, the eldest of three sisters
who kept a girls' school at the Grrange, near Liverpool. It seems
likely that she was on a visit to Miss Edgeworth, and that the
mutual introduction took place through her.

The three sisters were women of sound judgment and much
culture, and two of them are highly spoken of by Miss Edgeworth
in letters written by her in July, 1820, from Paris, where she was
iu intercourse with them. So highly did she esteem the elder, that
she desired to secure her as governess for the children of the
Duchess of Orleans ; but the post was wisely declined by Miss
Lawrence. This lady became to Hamilton, for some years, a
valuable friend and adviser, as letters from her still in existence
amply prove. He visited her and her sisters more than once, and
to them he was indebted for an introduction to the elder Coleridge.
To Miss Lawrence Hamilton had shown some of his poems, and
had received from her in return criticisms honestly blending praise
and dispraise. To this honesty on her part we owe the following
very interesting letter from Hamilton on the differing characters
-of Poetry and Science, and his own relations to both. It is in
perfect conformity with declarations which I have heard from him
at different stages of his life, expressing his recognition of the fact
that his mission in life was that of a mathematician ; that Science
was not only the work by which he could most conveniently earn
his livelihood, but the proper function of his intellect ; and that,
however he might be in feeling and desire a poet, it was not
equally given him by nature to be a master of the art. I am
aware that this is in apparent contradiction to words attributed to
him on what seems good authority ; but I am convinced that those
words must have been misunderstood. The true character of his
poetic nature was indicated by Professor de Morgan when, passing
by Hamilton's compositions in verse, he referred to the poetry
which, in a special sense of the word, pervaded his Scientific work,
the concinnity of its arrangement, the symmetrical accuracy of his
style, and, above all, the exercise of a projecting imagination which

192 Life of Sir Williajii Roivan HaiiiiltGn. [I82u.

it manifested. His mind, from its very nature, dealt too habitu-
ally with generalisations of the widest and most abstract character
to be fitted for that opposite function of giving a concrete sub-
stance, a sensuous embodiment, to the broodings of fancy or affec-
tion ; or for that indispensable habit of the poet — the habit of
fixing the eye upon the outward object, and impregnating it with
a new life, issuing from his own personality. The verse compo-
sitions of Hamilton will, I think, be best estimated and enjoyed
when they are regarded by the reader not as poems displaying
distinctive poetical genius, but as true and graceful expressions of
the feelings, pure, tender, and devout, and records of the inner life,
of a great-minded and great-hearted man.

Fvo)n W. E. Hamilton to Miss Lawrence.

' 1825.

' Excuse me if, in the fear that I may not soon see you again,,
I take this way of renewing my acknowledgments for your can-
dour on the subject of my poetry ; which did not disappoint my
hope that I should find in you not only a mind capable of judg-
ing, but one which would sincerely express its judgment.

' You remember the ancient and expressive maxim, " Know
thyself." It is one I have always admired and wished to act on;
but to do so is very difficult, and perhaps more than usually diffi-
cult for those who have been assailed from childhood by the siren
voice of praise. And however conscious one may be that par-
tiality has influenced the opinion of friends, and that accident
may have contributed to success, it yet requires vigilance in the
favoured or fortunate individual to think of himself soberly and
as he ought to think. It is on this account that I prize the since-
rity which assists me to watch over, to control and to counteract
the tendency of praise and of success.

' There is another view which may be taken of the maxim I
have mentioned ; it may be considered to enjoin the forming an
estimate of the powers of one's own mind ; examining what is
within their reach and what they may not hoj)e to attain. In
forming such an estimate, too high a value cannot be set upon the
opiuion of a sincere friend. For, not to mention the flattering

AETAT. 20.] His College Career. 193

medium through which the mind unconsciously views every object
connected with self, and which perhaps secretly elevates everyone
in his own eyes into a character of greater dignity and importance
than he is in truth or in the eyes of others ; besides this general
delusion of self-love, which vitiates the whole of our estimate,
experience has shown how apt men are to err even in the relative
place that they assign to their own powers and performances.
Milton is believed to have thought the " Paradise Regained " su-
perior to the " Paradise Lost," and it is said that Salvator Posa
could not bear to have his landscapes preferred to his historical
paintings. If then, as we can scarcely but believe, the minds of
men, like their bodies, are cast in different moulds and capable of
different perfections, how greatly conducive to ultimate success it
must be to have the energies early turned into that direction in
which alone excellence is to be hoped for, and how true the kind-
ness which discourages from a pursuit that can but end in disap-
pointment or in mediocrity.

' But while you concur with my own sober judgment in refus-
ing to award me the crown of poetic power, you would not, I am
sure, desire to extinguish in me that love of " sacred song " to
which I can with truth lay claim. There is little danger of its
ever usurping an undue influence over a mind that has once felt
the fascination of Science. The pleasure of intense thought is so
great, the exercise of mind afforded by mathematical research so
delightful, that, having once fully known, it is scarce possible ever
to resign it. But it is the very passionateness of my love for
Science which makes me fear its unlimited indulgence. I would
preserve some other taste, some rival principle ; I would cherish
the fondness for classical and for elegant literature which was early
infused into me by the uncle to whom I owe my education — not in
the vain hope of eminence, not in the idle affectation of universal
genius, but to exjDand and liberalise my mind, to multiply and
vary its resources, to guard not against the name but against the
reality of being a mere mathematician. For while there is no one
study the exclusive attention to which has not a dangerous effect
in the formation of character, perhaps, as there is none more fasci-
nating, so there is none in this respect more dangerous than Ma-
thematics. Mistake me not, as if I were insensible to the dignity
of Science, or meant to depreciate it. I know that Science pre-

194 Life of Sir William Rovoan Hamilton. [1825.

sents to its votaries some of the sublimest objects of liuman con-
templation ; that its results are eternal and immutable verities ;
that it seems to penetrate the counsels of Creation, and soar above
the weakness of humanity. For it sits enthroned in its sphere of
isolated intellect, undisturbed by passion, unclouded by doubt.
And I have thought that, in the infinity of Creation, there may
be an order of beings of pure and passionless intellect, to whom
Science in all its fulness of beauty is unveiled, and to whom our
noblest discoveries appear but as the elements of knowledge. My
conception of them indeed differs widely from that which Pope has
embodied in the lines —

' " Superior beings wlien of late they saw
A mortal man unfold all Nature's law,
Admired such wisdom in an earthly shape,
And showed oiu- Newton as we show an ape."

But I do think that their ample ken may take in the whole of that
ocean of truth respecting which Newton is reported to have said
that he had but been gathering some pebbles by the shore. And
as wo read that the mystery of our redemption affords a theme
which angels desire to look into, so I think that there may be
angelic existences admitted to behold the whole of that vast con-
nexion which binds together the material universe of God.

' But with all these ideas of the dignity of Science, and with
all this enthusiasm of love for it, I still must regard it as dange-
rous when made the exclusive object of study and affection. For,
Avhatever may be imagined of those superhuman beings, man is
not a creature of intellect alone, nor is he at liberty to bestow
upon it an isolated cultivation. His heart is even more important
than his mind ; he was made to be a social creature, and his
second duty is love to man. Now I think that poetry is emi-
nently qualified to strengthen and refine the links which bind man
to his kind. Poetry gives " a local habitation and a name " not
only to the creatures of its own imagination but to those finer and
more delicate sympathies of our nature which without it would be,
not indeed less real, but perhaps less communicable and less abid-
ing. Besides, the poet, whether he send his delighted eye abroad
upon the external beauty and magnificence of Nature, or mingle
in the busy hum of men, or withdraw into himself and his own

ARTAT. 20.] His College Career. 195

solemn musings, has still within his own breast a source of never-
ending gladness, or of more pleasing and sweeter melancholy.
Nor are such luxuries denied to all of those who can never hope
to attain eminence as poets. Permit me here to cite a passage of
my own : —

* Yet 'twas the hour the Poet loves
Alone to wander through the groves ;
Unheeded, uucontroll'd, to pour
His spirit forth in verse ; to soar
Up to the heaven of heavens ; to climb
Above the bounds of Space and Time ;
To call ideal worlds to view,
His own creation bright and new.
And I, although I dare not claim
That lofty meed, the poet's name,
Enjoy in solitude like this
A portion of the poet's bliss.

' I have had (I confess it) my day-dreams of hope, in which I
liave thought that mine was a lofty destiny ; I have indulged in
anticipations of an imagiuar}^ lustre which I was to cast upon my
College and my country ; but those high aspirings never fed on
poetry ; I never, in my wildest moments, fancied that I should
enrol my name by the side of Homer, Shakespeare, and Milton.
Poetry and Science hold their separate realms, and the majesty of
neither will brook a divided allegiance.'

-&"

Concerning the end of the year 1825, little information is sup-
plied by the correspondence in my hands. It is certain that he
went in at the October Examination, and obtained both Certifi-
cates, though with a hene for theme ; and from letters in the early
part of the succeeding year, and from the fact that he did not pre-
sent himself at the January Examination, it appears that in the
first half of the winter he must have been seriously out of health.
Indeed in one of the ' Stanley Papers ' he refers to his indisposition
as a 'long and painful illness.' It is not to be wondered at that
the strain upon heart and mind which he had imdergone should
have told upon him.* The first evidence of renewed active exer-

* See supra, note, p. 182.

196 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1826..

tion which has come down is the poem of ' Tlie Enthusiast,' which
has been ah-eady given, and to which, as I have pointed, the date
January 21, 1826, is attached. It proves that, notwithstanding
the return of bodily health, his inward wound was still bleeding.
To the same period are to be assigned the following pieces.
The address to his sister Eliza is interesting, as showing how in
faintness of body and sjoirit he fell back on her affection and
welcomed her comforting ministrations, and both it and the lines
which follow tell of the religious spirit in which he suffered and
submitted. They tell also, it may be thought, of the state of
bodily weakness in which he composed them ; and indeed it is as
contributions to his biography rather than as poetical compositions
that, in conformity with what has been said above,* they are here
presented to the reader, though I think that poetry as well as feel-
ing may be recognised in the lines written — ' At Midnight.'

' TO MY SISTER ELIZA.

' {Dictated during illness.)

' The birds of morn, that sweetly sing
No pleasure by their music bring ;
The stars of night, the beams of day,
Are joyless all, while thou'rt awaj',

Eliza dear I
Oh come and be my Star, whose beam
May gently on my eyelids stream,
And wake delightful musings high
And kiudle up vaj languid eye,

Eliza dear !
Like drops of rain to parched men
In deserts, shall thy steps sound then ;
Thou'lt be like Music round my bed
And fondly soothe my throbbing head,

Eliza dear !
And I shall hear thy voice again
Give sweetness to the Poet's strain,
And many a tale and many a lay
Shall wile the hours of pain away,

Eliza dear !

* Supra, p. 192.

AETAT. 20.] His Colic (^e Career. IQ7

And then shall that diviner page,
The Book of God. our thoughts engage ;
Our hearts shall seek the heavenly throne,
And humbly pray. His Will be done,

Eliza dear ! '

'AT MIDNIGHT.

* The Moon on high is walking in her brightness,
The eternal Stars are beaming round their Queen ;
Look how yon white Cloud, o'er the blue vault wandering,
Half veils, by turns, their beautj" I How I love
To lift my rapt eyes to those founts of Light,
"Welling unsullied 'neath the soil of Heaven !
A flood of living lustre rolls its waves
Around Earth's zone, the Horizon ; but the Zenith
Is mantled over with a deeper blue.
'Tis Midnight ; all is hushed : I stand alone :
Forgotten thoughts are thronging round, and sorrows
More dear than joy : for Sorrow o'er my head.
Young as I am, hath not passed harmless by :
Dearest and nearest to me in the grave
I have seen laid ; have wept o'er vanished hopes ;
Have known what 'tis upon the lonely couch
Of Agony to lie, weaving again
All that bright golden chain of passionate Love,
Of high thoughts and of fond imaginings, —
And then to start, and feel every link broken I
Memories like these come o'er me, while I stand.
Soothed by Night's sweet and solemn influence.
And bow before the majesty of Nature,
Of Nature's God ! He in no scanty tide
Goodness and joy o'er all His works hath pour'd ;
But at His own right hand, and by His throne,
Flow the pure streams of bliss, and only there.'

In one of tlie volumes of Miscellanies to be found among the
Hamilton Manuscripts in T.C.D. is a weekly record of reading,
beginning with January 30, 182G, which I reproduce nearly in
cHenso, because in addition to telling us of the variety of his fare
at this time as a reader of books, it affords delightful indication
of the ethos of the writer, his simple desire to be pleased, his can-
dour, his conscientiousness, his love for what is right and what is
noble — in a word, for the higher elements in all he read.

1 98 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [182G.

' (January 30, 1826). Everyone, I tliink, at least everyone
who has passed much of his life in reading, writing, and thinking,
would like to be able in his niaturer years to trace the progress of
his thoughts and the development of his intellectual powers ; to
possess, in short, a history of his own mind, more perfect than
the record which memory affords. Such a history, even if mode-
rately well executed, could not fail of being interesting and useful
to others as well as himself. In order to form such a record, the
plan of Diary has often been recommended, but this appears to me
to be attended with many inconveniences. It requires more time
and trouble than persons engaged in study are in general willing
to give, so that the journal is either too meagre to be useful, or
else, after many fruitless efforts, it is thro"wai by in disgust, and
the design abandoned for ever.

' This objection, however, to a daily register of one's piu'suits
does not, I think, apply to a weekly account of them ; for few,
surel}'', am.ong those whose time is principally employed in the
cultivation of their minds could find any serious inconvenience in
appropriating an hour or two in every week to review and record
their progress during the week that is past. Such a review, too,
may perhajis be more impartially made than if it were taken at
the close of a shorter interval ; and when after the lapse of years
we might feel ourselves disposed to examine the record, it would
present an account more masterly, more condensed, and more
interesting.

' (1). To begin, then, an ^(pOlifiepov of my own, let me consider
how I have employed the last week. For some time previous I had
been confined to bed by illness, and though much recovered, was
still obliged to vary my studies, to pursue them with moderation,
and to mix them with reading of a lighter kind. Accordingly,
one of the books which I read last week was the Reminiscences of
Micliael KcJIij. I found much amusement in it, but had great
exercise in the useful art of skipping. He appears to have been a
good-natured man, and of considerable talent as a musician. He
must have been, too, a very entertaining companion, and I think
that this circumstance has been a principal cause both of the
merits and demerits of his book ; it has filled it with anecdotes of
celebrated persons, but, on the other hand, it has led him to pub-
lish many which, however well they may have told, when aided

AETAT. 20.] His College Career. 199

by Kelly's good wine and good humour, are rather tiresome to a
reader. Another book in my catalogue of light literature for last
"week is the Liteyary Souvenir of 1826 ; it contains many well-told
tales in prose, and much good poetry, besides several excellent en-
gravings ; but, on the whole, it seemed to me to be inferior to its
predecessor of 1825. I copied out some lines which particularly
pleased me, entitled " Lines written in an Album." To ascend
gradually to an account of my more laborious reading, I may
mention that I read carefully the two first chapters and the first
section of the third volume of Mitford's Grecian Hintory. The
early part of this work I like extremely, and the whole appears to
me to be valuable ; but in the latter volumes the author seems less
an historian than a partisan, and may, I think, be justly said to
Philippize. And now to give some account of my studies, properly
so-called : I read some chapters in Brinkley's Astronomi/, not,
however, for the first time, and engaged in some investigations of
my own, particularly with regard to the Problem of shortest twi-
light. My calculations led me to the following result :

sin 8 = - sin A . tan 9^, or = - sin X . cot 9" ;

the former solution being the same as Dr. Brinkley's, the latter, I
believe, new. The latter solution can be only applied when A, the
latitude of the place, is less than 3° 37'. My Analysis appeared to
prove that both values of S rendered the time of twilight a mini-
mum ; but this result seems quite incomprehensible to me, and I
intend to examine it at leisure. I read also the whole of Bouchar-
lat's Differential Calculus, and a good deal of his Integral, writing
in a blank book any remarks of my own which occurred, in the
way of simplification or otherwise. Boucharlat is, I think, a very
good elementary writer ; he has attained that clearness and sim-
X^licity which every such writer ought to aim at. I read a few
propositions of Plane Greometry in an old but excellent treatise by
Matthew Stewart, published in 1763, and entitled Propositioncs
Qeonietricce, more veterum demonsfratce, &c. He gives the analysis
nil along. I wrote out the substance of what I had read in a form
which appeared to me simpler, together with other remarks upon
Harmonicals, &c. I find great advantage in thus trying to sim-
plify what I read, at least in Science, and to make it my own by

200 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1826.

casting it, as it were, anew in tlie mould of my own mind ; and
when I have so done, I think it well wortli the while to write down
my thoughts on the subject. Dugald Stewart somewhere recom-
mends this practice, and observes that though what is thus written
may not be really better expressed than it liad been by others, it
is at least likely to be more useful to the writer ; and I can bear
testimony from experience to the truth of his observation. For
instance, some time ago I wrote a short account of the principles
and fundamental formulae of Analytic Mechanics ; last week I
looked at this paper, and in a few minutes revived my knowledge
of the subject more agreeably and more completely than I could
have done in several hours by perusing the works of others. I
read, too, part of Newton's Princqjia, namely, to the end of his
determination of the centripetal force tending to a focus, which
causes a body to revolve in a conic section. Several of his de-
monstrations I simplified a good deal, but have not as yet written
anything on the subject. I made it a rule, after reading the
enunciation of each proposition, to solve it by myself — a plan
which I have always found highly favourable to the exercise of
invention. Some of Newton's problems I solved exactly as he
had done : others I solved by analysis. In the part of the Prin-
cipia which I read I met many interesting properties of the para-
meters of conic sections. I was not quite idle in my Classical
studies. I read Leland's Translation of ^schines's speech against
Ctesiphon : and began to read in the original the speech of De-
mosthenes in reply. Four section's, forming a kind of Introduc-
tion, I read, and wrote a translation of, in which I endeavom-ed
faithfully to preserve tlie meaning of the orator, but not rerhum
t^erho reddere. I am very fond of Demosthenes, and wish much to
be able to prepare a good translation of his Sj)eech on the Crown.
The Art of Poetnj, which is part of the Latin for my next Exami-
nation and of the Classical Medal Coiu'se, I also began to read.
If to what has been already mentioned I add a little Milton, a
little Italian, a little Metaphysics in Dugald Stewart, a little Pro-
sody in Maltby's edition of Morell's Thesaurus, a little mathema-
tical investigation connected with my Theory of Systems of Rays,
a little poem by Howitt on the death of Lord Byron, a little
letter-writing, and a little peep into the new Edinburgh Review, I
shall have given, I believe, a fall account of my profane studies

AKTAT. 20.] His College Career. 201

for the week ending Satiu'day, January 28, 1826 ; and I am sure
no one can say that they were not sufficiently varied.

' Yesterday being Sunday, I read more of the Bible ; I read
also part of Bishop Newcome on TJic Life and Character of Christ,
which interested me a good deal ; and Orton's Life of Doddridge.
I have always found great advantage and pleasure from biogra-
phy ; some lives awaken all my ambition and make me painfully
feel how little I have done — after reading the Life of Pitt, I felt
like Themistocles when he exclaimed, " The trophies of Miltiades
do not suffer me to sleep ! " Others again, like the life of Pitt's
venerable father, inspire me with love and respect for virtue, inte-
grity, and patriotism ; they make me feel the falsehood of the
maxim which commerce with the world has such a tendency to
impress, that selfishness is the universal motive of action, and
that disinterested virtue is but a name ; and when I mingle with
worldly men, I bear with me as a guard the remembrance of such
characters as Chatham. Those lives, finally, in which are re-
corded the actions of pious men, such as Doddridge, have a still
more useful tendency : they excite a nobler ambition and awaken
more heavenward feelings.

' (February 6, 1826). II. I have but a poor account to give
of this last week as compared with the preceding in respect to
study, partly because I was out driving, riding, and walking,
which I had not been since my illness till last week, partly be-
cause there was a greater variety of visitors here, and partlj^, per-
haps, because the fii-st freshness and zeal of study which I felt in
the preceding week, from having not been allowed to read for
some time previous, had begun to subside. I was, too, occupied
last week with my Essay on the Theory of Systems of Rays, which
I wish to prepare for the next volume of the Academy ; and when
one is engaged in invention or investigation of one's own, time
passes rapidly without the fruit being apparently proportionate.
The form of the mirror, to which I was led in my researches at
Summerhill last year, as the most proper for a reflecting telescope,
I do not despair of one day actually constructing in glass or metal.
I say glass, for the angle of incidence is in my mirror 45^. Be-
sides, I have hopes of availing myself of the means lately disco-
vered for suddenly hardening steel. I found that the locus of the
foci of parallel rays in a paraboloid of revolution is another pa-

202 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [182&.

raboloid liaving same axis and turned in same way, the original
focus being the new vertex, and the new parameter being half
the old.

' I read part of Brinkley's Astronomy and of Boucharlat's and
Wood's Mechanics, some Plane Greometry, and a very little of
Demosthenes. This account, I am afraid, includes the whole of
my last week's study. As to amusing books, I read nearly the
whole of a late work called To-day in Ireland. The stories which
I read were (1st) The Carders : Arthur Dillon and Lucy Plunket
are the hero and heroine ; there are several other well-drawn and
interesting characters, and it is, I think, a good novel. (2nd)
Connemara : a very comical story — principal person Dick Martin.
(3rd) Old and New Light. In all these tales the style appears to
me not good ; but they are amusing and written with spirit ; there
are many good observations on life and manners scattered up and
down, such perhaps as Horace meant by loci in a passage which
seems applicable to the book I am speaking of. . . .

" Interdum speciosa locis, morataque recte
Fabula nullius veneris, sine pondere et arte
Taldius oblectat populum meliusque moratur,
Quam versus inopes rerum, nugseque canoree."

' Another book of which I read part was Old Mortality. This
I became much interested in, and think one of Scott's best pro-
ductions. I finished it to-day. The generous Evandale wins
perhaps as much of our affection and interest as his finally suc-
cessful rival, Morton ; in the same way as in Rokeby we love
Wilfred more than Raymond. Edith Bellenden, too, is a better
heroine than most of those which have been poiuirayed by the
author of Warcrley ; and, to allude again to Rokeby, Matilda's
character in that poem is exquisitely sketched. I have heard from
Miss Edgeworth that Scott has expressed himself less dissatisfied
with Matilda's character than with any other in his poems.

' I read part of a late article in the Edinhurgh Revieic upon the
Grerman novel Wilhelni Mcister by Groethe. Grerman taste is very
different indeed from ours. But it is time to close this account of
a week which was certainly pleasant, but in which I made less
progress in study than in health.

' (February 11, Saturday evening). III. This week has been a

AETAT. 20.] His College Career. 203

little, and only a little, better than the last. My principal study
has been Dynamics. I have read the Second Part of Boucharlat's
Mechanics, and begun the Third Part, which treats of Fluids.
D'Alembert's principle of equilibrium between the quantities of
motion due to the velocities lost or gained appears to be of very
extensive and important application. I read it yesterday for the
first time, and, as often happens to me in studying a new Science,
feel some doubt whether I quite understand it. However, when I
meet a new principle, by reflecting on examples, les r rates iiiter-
j)retcs cle la Tlieoric, and still more by endeavouring to apply the
principle in investigations of my o"wti, I generally succeed in con-
quering the difficulties which one feels when first reading the
abstract enunciation of a theorem. I amused myself with some
calculations by way of exercise both in Mechanics and in Mathema-
tics ; for instance, finding the time in which a body would fall to
the Antipodes ; finding the general term in the series for the time
of oscillation in the simple circular pendulum ; calculating the
form of the orbit, attraction being inversely as the square of the dis-
tance, &c. In the first and last of these investigations I was only
arriving anew at results which have long been known ; but the
general term in the series above mentioned, namely,

\ci ( h y> /I . 3 . 5 2m- V

■57

'J y 8«/ \ 1 . 2 . 3 . . . . m

in which a is length of pendulum, and U is height down which
body falls, is a result I believe new. [Subsequently added by Sir
W. P. H. in pencil, " It is not new"].

'I finished reading over Brinkley's Astronomij, which I like
very much. Acquaintance with it, however, does not supersede
the necessity of studying more detailed treatises, such as that of
Woodhouse.

' This week I advanced a little in my investigations respecting
telescopes : all I did, however, was finding general equations for
the surface of principal foci of any given mirror, and adapting
those equations to the case when the mirror is of revolution, the
curvature being turned in the same direction, and the greatest
osculating circle being in the plane of meridian.

' On Tuesday and Wednesday my sisters were with me, which
caused an interruption in my studies. AVe read together the

204 Life of Sir Williavi Rowan Hamilton. [1826.

greater part of a little work by Mrs. Barbauld, called Legacy for
Young Ladies, whicli I like better upon the whole than the Collec-
tion in two volumes of her writings. Mrs. B. is not, I think, an
eminent poet, but she is an excellent writer of prose. The pieces
in her Legacy are some serious, others humorous. Among the
latter was a most amusing epistle from Grrimalkin to Selima ; from
an old cat to her grand- daughter. The advice in this letter is ex-
cellent ; but the more sound it is, and the more it resembles those
coimsels which are given by the old to the yoimg of our own
species, the more we laugh to see it addressed to a kitten. " My
dear," says the old lady to her young charge, "your present play-
fulness and vivacity caunot in the course of nature continue long.
Consider then, I beseech you, if you neglect now to lay in a stock
of useful knowledge, if you spend your time in jumping over my
back with your sisters, instead of learning to catch a mouse, what
a contemptible character you will become when the clulness of a
cat shall be united with the ignorance of a kitten." Mrs. Barbauld
has an article upon "Riddles," which she says differ from cha-
rades, rebuses, &c., in being translateable. A riddle, she says,
cannot be good if a person, after having guessed it, can doubt
whether he has guessed rightly or no. Her riddle is a very pretty
one upon the nine Arabic numeral figures ; it has been introduced
by Miss Edgeworth into Harry and Luc3^ I remember another,
which I guessed by help of the third and sixth lines : it is as

follows : —

" I never cry, but sometimes weep ;
I never talk but iu my sleep ;
My doors are open day and niglit ;
Old age I help to better sight ;
I, like chameleon, feed on air ;
And dust to me is dainty fare."

In the little work of which I have been speaking there are several
entertaining allegories or enigmatical descriptions. There are also
some good remarks on history, with its two eyes, namely, geo-
graphy and chronology. She (Mrs. Barbauld) thinks that a very
good way of impressing the latter on our memory is to attend
to facts such as the following: — "Uueen Elizabeth received, in
deep mourning, the French Ambassador after the Massacre of St.
Bartholomew. Haroun al Raschid sent, I think, to Charlemagne
the first clock which was seen iu Europe."

AEXAT. 20.] His College Career. 205

' Lambert D. brought me out some books from one of liis
sisters, which assisted in preventing me from giving my whole
time to study. They were — (1st) World without Souls (7th edi-
tion), by the author of The Velvet Cushion (J. Yf. Cunningham).
I never think myself qualified to judge of any book after reading
it but once ; however, as in this Weekly Eegister I am writing
for myself alone, and putting down my thoughts as they occur, I
may mention that I did not quite like the plan, but that I did like
the execution very much, materiam superabat ojms. The author is
one of those persons to whom I feel attached without knowing
them. He is so pious and so candid, that if we think we perceive
in him an error of judgment, we cannot find it in our hearts to
censure it too severely. I must, at the same time, observe that in
the present case the only thing I disapproved of in his plan was
his representing the venerable tutor and almost parent of Grustavus
as practising a deception upon that youth. This, however, was
essential to the story, and the author says that though it was done
with the best intentions, he does not mean to defend it. I hope
to be able to read this little book again.

' Besides these which I have mentioned, I read several other
books in the course of the week. One was The Black Diccwf, by
Scott : good, but inferior to a great many of his novels, for in-
stance, to Old Mortaliti/. The Black Dwarf himself appears an
unnatural character ; and the account, which is rather formally
given, of the origin of his misanthropy, though certainly sufii-
ciently full of horror and misery, seems scarcely sufficient to ex-
plain the contradictions in his conduct. However, one cannot but
feel deeply interested for Hobbie when he has lost, and when he
recovers, Grace Armstrong ; and for Isabella Yere, the heroine of
the tale, when urged by her father to marry Sir F. Langley. Her
father, Mr. Yere, is one of those utterly and meanly wicked cha-
racters which excite only horror, and which, in my opinion, the
author of Waeerlei/ has exhibited too often in his stories. As for
Earnshaw, who seems to be the hero, nobody cares anything about
him.

* By-the-bye, I have a notion of registering in this weekly
account not only what I have done duiing the past week, but what
I intend to do in the next. And that when I form a plan, I may,
as soon as possible, begin to execute it, let me consider what I

2o6 Life of Sir William Roii^an Hamilton. [1826.

■wish to do next week. I hope to read carefully the whole first
volume of Mitford; thirty pages, at the least, in Demosthenes,
TTEpt "^Ti^avov ; First Book of Satires of Horace ; finish Wood's
Mechanics ; take a general survey of my Theory of Systems of
Hays, and do something towards completing it ; . . . read with
Lambert [Disney] the Fifteenth Book of Homer, which is part of
his next Examinations ; go on with Plane Geometry (both for
myself and for my pupils) [his friends the young Disneys] ; jjer-
liaps read some French, Persian, and Italian Grammar, and a little
Greek Prosody, by way of recreation ; not to mention finishing
the Forget-me-not, &c., and taking a little peep into Lucy Aikin's
Memoirs of Elizabeth. But who knoweth what a day may bring-
forth ?

' In the course of this week I heard read part of Segur's ac-
count of Napoleon's Russian Ex]3edition. Segur blames Napoleon
for some acts and omissions ; he says the emperor was WTong
in proclaiming the independence of Poland and expelling the
Russian troops from that country ; however, he says that ordinary
men ought not to sit in judgment on the conduct of so great a
genius. One remark of Segm' struck me as very curious : he says
that Habit is only an imitation of ourselves. To this it was ob-
jected, by a lady present, that every habit must have a beginning,
and that the first act cannot surely be an imitation of ourselves ;
but I think that a habit begins not with the first act but with
the second, and I am not sure that Segur is wi-ong.

' It falls immediately within the plan of this weekly account to
note down from time to time those circumstances which I perceive
influencing my mind in the way of excitement or otherwise. For
instance, I may remark that collections of questions, such as the
Cambridge or Dublin Problems, have a powerful effect on me
whenever I look at them. So also has the contemplation of a
great work like the Principia or the Mecanique Celeste. When I
see how much others have done, and contrast with it the little to
which I have attained, the effect is painful but salutary. It seems
practically to impress that eminence cannot be attained without
exertion ; it teaches modesty of the most genuine kind, and in the
most natural manner ; at the same time it acts as a powerful
stimulus, and kindles tlie ardour of my aspirings after that fame
which (as I once expressed it in a letter to my Uncle) is the " meed

AETAT. 20.] His College Career. 207

which Genius and Industry when united have sometimes been so
fortunate as to obtain, with the world for their arena, and all time
for the tribunal ; which has wedded to immortality some favoured
names, and marked out some individuals as the instructors of
mankind."

aV. (Feb. 20, 1826, Monday). When I look back at the
magnificent plans and projects which I had formed for the em-
ployment of last week, and think how little I have executed, I am
half vexed and half amused. However, though I have not done so
great a variety of things, I have done some more fully and better
than I had intended.

V. (February 27, Monday.) I have sometimes thought it
would be amusing, and might be useful, to collect opposing sen-
timents upon the same subject. For instance, the other day I saw
an article in a newspaper giving Byron's opinions upon several
modern orators : " Whitbread (said he) was the Demosthenes of
bad taste and vulgar vehemence." I am afraid that with all my
admiration for Demosthenes, I must own he shows bad taste and
vulgar vehemence when he gets into a passion with his rival ; but
these are only the stormy clouds which occasionally sully his
heaven of genius. But I should like (I was going to say) to con-
trast this remark of Byron's with some of the paneg^aics which
have been so lavished on Demosthenes.

' Again, I remember seeing some ingenious remarks upon the
rlnhorate composition of Demosthenes, in an old number of the
Edinburgh Review. Their arguments that he took great pains in
polishing his speeches were principally drawn from his Hepetitions.
But Taylor, as quoted by Stock, suggests another reason for our
meeting these Repetitions ; he thinks that the old copyists jumbled
together two copies of the Orations, which were very early pub-
lished, and of which one was more accurate than the other.

' VI. (March 6th.) ... I have finished Demosthenes and
begun Horace. Read Wood On Projectiles. Wrote for James
Disney a short account of the principal properties of the Parabola.
Wrote some Plane Geometry for [Cousin] Hannah, and read
some in Leslie for myself. Bead and copied a little Greek Pro-
.sody from Maltby's Morell. Nearly finished the Second Part of
my Theory of Systems of Rays.

2o8 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [182G.

'As for books of amusement, I have read Collins's Ode to
Evening, which I like, particularly the lines : —

" Then let me rove some wild and heatliy scene,
Or find some ruin midst its dreary dells,

"Whose walls more awful nod

By thy religious gleams.
Or if chill blustering winds or driving rain
Prevent my willing feet, be mine the hut

That from the mountain's side

Yiews wilds and swelling floods
And hamlets brown and dim-discovered spires,
And hears their simple bells, and marks o'er all

Thy dewy fingers draw

The gradual dusky veil."

I dislike Johnson ; I am, I fear, prejudiced about him. I do not
think he was at all a poet, though I think his " Vanity of Human
Wishes" excellent. One reason for my dislike is the arrogance
and envy which he showed in his life ; another is his display of
the same qualities as a critic and biographer. I have just looked
into Stewart's Essays for a passage which I remembered to have
met with on this subject. It is as follows : — " Among our English
poets, who is more vigorous, correct, and polished than Dr. Johnson
in the few poetical compositions which he has left ? Whatever
may be thought of his claims to originality of genius, no person
who reads his verses can deny that he possessed a sound taste in
this species of composition ; and yet how wayward and perverse in
many instances are his decisions when he sits in judgment on a
political adversary, or when he treads upon the ashes of a departed
rival ! To myself (much as I admire his great and glorious merits
both as a critic and as a writer), human nature never appears in a
more humiliating form than when I read his Lives of the Poets — a
performance which exhibits a more faithful, expressive, and cii-
rious picture of the author than all the portraits attempted by his
biographers, and which, in this point of view, compensates fidly
by the moral lessons it may suggest for the critical errors which it
sanctions. The errors, alas ! are not such as anyone who has pe-
rused his imitations of Juvenal can place to the account of bad
taste, but such as had their root in weaknesses which a noble mind
would be still more unwilling to acknowledge."

'In turning over Stewart's Essays, in search of this passage, I

AETAT. 20.] His College Cai'eer. 209

met with many others which interested me still more. Besides
my attachment to Stewart himself, the volume from which I
copied the preceding remarks possesses to me another source of
interest : it belongs to Miss Edgeworth, and has been marked by
her family. I like reading books that have been marked by per-
sons that I know and care for.

' What set me thinking of Johnson at present was his being
the editor of Collins. Whenever I detect in myself a prejudice, I
am anxious to eradicate it ; or rather, since the word prejudice im-
ports a ioo hasti/ decision, I wish to give the case a rehearing. On
this account, as I perceive myself to dislike Johnson more than I
have good cause for, I intend at my leisure to read his best works
carefully, and form my opinion as impartially as I can.

' I read last week, besides what I have mentioned, some of the
Paradise Lost, the Edinburgh Revieiv, Madame de Stael's Germany,
Harry and Lucy, the Christian Examiner, and part of a manuscript
play by C[ousin] Arthur, which both amused and affected me very
much.'

Records for five weeks more are given in skeleton only, and
for the twelfth of the series the entry is : — ' XII. April 15, Satur-
day. Examination for Premiums and for ojjtime.' This touches
with modest brevity the second bestowal upon him of the rarest
University honour. As the former optime was conferred upon his
answering in Grreek, this was gained by his mastery in Mathema-
tical Physics, as exhibited in an examination conducted by Mr.
Poyton, a scholar of high reputation in this department, and
tlierefore justified in thus signalising the answering of a student.
It gave to Hamilton the unique distinction of having obtained two
such judgments, a distinction rendered the more remarkable by
the fact that one was in Classics, the other in Science.

He now became a celebrity in the intellectual circle of Dublin ;
and invitations, embarrassing from their number, poured in upon
him, but he had strength of character sufficient to keep him from
yielding to seductions of this kind, and he remained throughout
his Collegiate course the steadily industrious student which he had
been before. Not that he did not enjoy society and companion-

2IO Life of Sir William Rowan Hamiltoji. [182G.

ship : he was cheerful and sympathetic, and perfectly free alike
from affectation and from conceit. Indeed one of the character-
istics which belonged to him to the end was the disposition to
show respect to all with whom he came in contact, upon the
simple ground of their being fellow human creatures. This was
sometimes misconstrued as if it were an affected humility, because
it was not unfrequently manifested towards persons of mediocre
intellect, or character not worthy of such regard ; but the personal
humility was deeply sincere, as was also the respect for his kind,
extending to the youngest child or the very beggar on the road.
And, on the other hand, he was fully able and ready to measure
his own intellect with that of another when any discussion called
on him for opposing arguments, or to express indignation or dis-
approval when special acts of wrong came under his judgment.
Still it must be admitted that the characteristic I have mentioned
led him into constant mistakes. He would frequently in conver-
sation, where some exposition or explanation was looked for from
him, begin with propositions of the utmost simplicity, which were
eagerly assented to, and then in full confidence advance from
these to others which soon became above the reach of his hearer ;
and not being quick to detect the want of response, he would thus
often expend in vain much good philosophy. And in the same
way, as to sentiment and morality, he was in the habit of attri-
buting to many the feelings and motives which belonged to his
own nature, but were unknown to theirs. He was a dehghtful
companion, combining the openness and readiness to enjoy of a
boy with the power of reasoning and the full stores of knowledge
of a vigorous and thoroughly cultured man, whilst he never
sought to monopolise the conversation, but, on the contrary, was
evidently desirous to receive as well as to give, and to take delight
in the peculiar gifts of others.

When the facts are stated that he underwent the Trinity and
Michaelmas Examinations with the usual honours, and that he was
engaged in carrying on and perfecting his optical Essay, the re-
mainder of this year may be accounted for by the documents

AETAT. 20.] His Coik^e Career. 2 1 1

which follow. The earliest notes from Maria Edgeworth claim him
as a guest for Edgeworthstown. He again visits, in the month of
July, Mr, and Mrs. La Touche at Belle vue, and records his agree-
able imj)ressions of the visit in one of the Stanley Papers, which
were commenced in June of this year. Another of these Papers
records a visit in August to Belfast, where he had a glimpse of one
who, like himself, combined in his own person the man of science,
the poet, and the philosopher — Sir Humphry Davy. One may
gatlier from the brief notice of the meeting that neither had the
opportunity of fully appreciating the other. On the 24th of June
he wrote to Dr. Brinkley a long letter, still extant, giving an
account of the progress he had made in his Theory of Systems of
Hays, but the publication of this letter seems unnecessary, as a
concise statement of the substance of his Essay, written by him-
self after its completion, will be given further on.

From W. E. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' 3Ifnj 31 [1826],
J*Yfe o'clock.

* I have numbered this letter IV.,* as if it were to be upon
Italian, but am afraid that, as I am a little tired, the Italian must
wait till my next. Instead of it, shall I tell you of the long walk
I had with O'Beirne (the Classical Medal) the other day ? I was
quietly walking in Leinster-street, musing on something, I sup-
pose, but not so entirely absorbed as to prevent my perceiving
that I. had overtaken the Medal, who was walking with still
greater deliberation, all alone, and wearing spectacles. I laid my
hand gently on his shoulder, and in that posture we moved on-
ward— if I were in an exaggerating humour, I would say for a
street, but in reality for some paces — before he recovered from his
reverie, and became sensible of my touch. When he did so he
was, as you may think, much amazed, and began by accusing me,
as he usually does, of never going near him. I replied by ac-

* The letters of this series, numbered I., II., III., were filled with in-
structions in Italian Grammar.

2 12 Life of Sir Williain Roivan Hamilton. [1826.

quainting him "with my intention of breakfasting with him next
Sunday. He continued to charge me with never letting him see
me, and particularly with not joining him and his party in their
Sunday walks ; and then he proceeded to beg that I would get rid
of those sisters of mine, and go with them next Sunday. He
gave me a lively and indeed interesting description of the party
that he spoke of, which I shall designate only by initials. . . .
K. is (according to his account) a person of great talents, which
he has devoted entirely to the study of mankind. He is of the
first fashion, at several parties every night. He has singular skill
and quickness in catching character, on which he talks with fluency
and even eloquence. I do not know whether I have expressed
myself clearly, or rather, whether I have rightly repeated the de-
scription which I received, in using the words catching character ;
I mean that, from being a very short time with a person, K. will
collect his character : he has also a facility in collecting mate-
rials of anecdote, so great that, after being a few minutes in com-
pany, he has stored himself with a whole stock of anecdote, and
this without ill-nature or scandal properly so-called, but by a habit
of observing and remembering little traits and incidents. It is
only now and then that this genius honours Dublin with his pre-
sence. His principal place of resort is London ; but when he is
here, he invites himself to breakfast with the Medal whenever he
hears of any inducement in the way of persons to meet ; for in-
stance, he sent word some time ago that he would go, because he
heard Hamilton would be there. Medal tells me that on such oc-
casions Hamilton is generally late, and that it would amuse me
to hear the comments passed upon his conduct. One says —
" O'Beirne, I thought you told me Hamilton was to be here this
morning?" "So I did," replies O'Beirne; "but the fellow
always comes late." By-and-by another pulls out his watch and
wonders will the man come at all ; and then Hamilton is abused
for not walking with them — all which circumstances I am to state
to Hamilton, who will, it is hoped, manifest a proper contrition,
and mend his manners for the future.'

AEXAT. 20.] His College Career. 213

From ' Stanley Papers,' No. II.
* The Ejicinodos.

' It is one of the advantages of a College education tliat it gives
an opportunity for uniting the pursuits of learning with the plea-
sures of friendship. James Stanley and I, who are classfellows in
the University, have a thousand topics in common, and are never
at a loss for conversation when we happen to he together. Some-
times we discuss the merits of a Classic, and sometimes we measure
the height of a mountain in the moon. In short, we not only
climb together the steep ascent of Science, and breathe its pure
atmosphere, but also rove together through those more delicious
valleys of elegant literature which have been peopled by the
orators, the historians, and the poets of antiquity ; and from these
we often pass, by a transition no less pleasing than natural, to the
master-spirits of our own land and language.

' As my friend James is of a very grave and reflecting turn,
he has also a good deal of that moral alchemy by which a true
philosopher can extract from trivial occurrences matter of interest-
ing remark or valuable instruction. Being intended for the Bar,
he has naturally turned his attention to the various forms of elo-
quence, ancient and modern ; and while I, who have always been
a lover of poetry, am fond of watching the scintillations of it, in
rude and imcultivated minds, my friend, on the contrary, will
often discover, in the expressions of some illiterate person, the dim
dawnings of eloquence or the outline of a figure of rhetoric.

' In the course of a walk which we took the other day, we came
to a hill, up which an ass was toiling under a heavy load. No
sooner had the animal caught the eye of my companion, than he
exclaimed that it reminded him of an instance of the FjMnodos.
My curiosity was highly excited by this preamble ; and as I was
anxious not to lose the story through ignorance of the technical
term, I begged of him to inform me, in the first place, what the
EjMHodos was. It is, said he, a figure of rhetoric, in which the
more important topics are reserved for the beginning and the end,
while such as are less interesting are thrust into the middle. I
was going to tell you that I overheard a countryman yesterday,
from whom his ass had run away, shouting after it, " Stop the ass,

214 Life of Sir William Rowan Haviilton. [1826,

ueiglibour ! Neighbour, stop the ass ! " You see, liis concern for
the ass was the feeling uppermost in his mind, and accordingly he
put the expression of it first and last.

' This story, which my friend told with the utmost gravity, ex-
cited in me some very profound ruminations. . . . The -£);«-
nodos appears to have been a favourite figure among the ancients.
I am told that some even ascribe the first idea of it to a passage
in the Iliad, where a skilful general is represented as posting his
weakest troops in the centre of his army, while the bravest soldiers
occupied the rere and the van. But I leave it to the learned to de-
termine whether the invention, at least in j)art, may not have been
owing to the ladies, who, as it is well known, in their epistolary
communications always keep for the postscript the most important
part of the letter. ... I believe, too, it will generally be
found that in forming our opinions of persons or of things (of
books or scenery, for instance), first and last impressions go a
great way. For my own part, I have observed that when I recall
the image of an absent friend, it is usually associated either with
the moment in which we first met or with that in which we last
parted.

' I have occasionally observed a species of artifice employed in
debate, particularly in reply, which may, I think, be called the
Political Epanocios. This artifice consists in selecting such topics
of 3^our adversary's argument as you find most easy to answer,
and dwelling upon these at the commencement and conclusion of
your reply, while you thrust into the middle those which you find
hardest to manage, and dismiss them with affected contempt. . . .

' Poetry, too, has its Epanocios, and perhaps in nothing more
remarkably than in its repetitions. I remember an instance of
this, in the writings of an obscure poet who seems to have suffered
an early disappointment in love. In the verses which I allude to,
and which appear to have been addressed to a lady upon her mar-
riage, the poet begins by expressing his wishes for the happiness
of her to whom his affections had been so long devoted ; he then
speaks of himself, and of his wish not to be altogether forgotten ;
but, returning to her happiness as the more engrossing thought,
he concludes \ij a repetition of that fervent prayer with which he
had begun. As the poem is short, and has not, I believe, been
printed, my readers may like to have a copy : —

AETAT. 20.] His College Career. 2 t 5

" Peace be around thee, wherever thou goest ;

Happiness still o'er thy bright path hover !
Nor aught of gloom or of sorrow come

The sunshine of thj^ young days to cover!
All gladness go with thee, all bliss that springs

From a mind at ease, in pure thoughts dwelling ;
And rich be thy home with undying joys

From wedded Love's holy fountain welling !

" And yet, oh yet ! not quite forgotten

Be he to whom thou wert a light so long ;
A thought that was twined with his fondest musings,

His early dream, his fount of song !
Who, though once to thy heart, to thy love, he aspired,

Now asks but a passing thought from thee ;
Remember me as a brother only :

But yet, as a brother, remember me !

" But may peace be around thee, wherever thou goest !

May happiness still o'er thy bright path hover !
Nor aught of gloom or of sorrow come

The sunshine of thj- young days to cover !
May thy home be rich with the still-new joys

From wedded Love's holy fountain welling^
And thy heart be a shrine for the bliss that springs

From a tranquil mind, in pure thoughts dwelling I "

Jime 1, 1826.

From W. E. Hamilton to Miss Hutton.

'Belfast, August 9, 1826.

' I liked Mrs. Swanwick very much. ... I came away
the nest morning about six o'clock, and got to Belfast on a coach
which took me up at the ruins of Grey Abbey, a beautiful place
near Ehodens. I have since been driving a good deal ; that same
day (Saturday) I went with Emily and Maria to pay a visit at
Clifton, Mrs. Halliday's place, and at Cabinhill, Mrs. Drennan's.
At the latter place I got a shot with Mr. Drennan's rifle, and hit
ray mark at about seventy yards distance. . . . On my re-
turn to Belfast I dined along with Dr. Bruce, at Dr. M'Donnell's
house, where we met Sir Humphry Davy. Dr. M'Donnell is him-
self considered a man of genius, as well as his distinguished guest
Sir Hmnphry.'

2i6 Life of Sir William Rowan HamiltGn. [1826.

From the ' Stanley Papers,' No. IX.

' I have spent a great part of this summer in a delightful
manner, among friends whose names I forbear to mention, lest I
should appear to boast of their intimacy. This gratification was
enhanced by the pleasure arising from a complete restoration to
health, after a long and painful illness — a pleasure so well de-
scribed by Gray in the " Ode upon Vicissitude. " . . .

From the ' Stanley Papers,' No. XII.

' To begin then with the Ladies, as the most desperate part of
this most desperate enterprise ; I must own that both theory and
experience would lead me to suppose that they are more likely to
attain eminence as poets than as mathematicians. Poetry is more
congenial than Science to that refined and imaginative turn of
mind which loves to decide all questions by feeling rather than
by reason, and prefers the halo that fancy throws around its ob-
jects to the severe and naked light in which truth would regard
them. Accordingly, we find that among women many have been
eminent as poets- but few as mathematicians. But to be eminent
is not perhaps the great business of anyone ; certainly it is not
the great business of a woman. Those absurd prejudices have in-
deed died away by which "Learned Ladies" were once looked
upon as a sort of wild beasts, to be treated with a mixture of fear
and aversion. The times are gone when working in tapestry was
one of the highest accomplishments of princesses, and when womeu
of inferior rank were not allowed to aspire much farther than the
making of a shirt, or of a gooseberry pie. Yet even now, notwith-
standing all the instances that we have seen of female talent, per-
haps it may still be thought that domestic excellence is woman's
highest glory ; that where it is wanting, the most splendid accom-
plishments, the most brilliant talents, fall far short of forming a
perfect or an amiable character ; and that where it is found, those
splendid accomplishments, those brilliant talents, may well be dis-
pensed with. At the same time, I am so far from being an enemy
to the cultivation of the female mind, that I am always glad when
I see a lady possessed of that energy by which some have sur-
mounted all the obstacles thrown in their way by the restraints of
custom and the deficiencies of education. And the very thing that

AETAT. 20.] His College Career. 217

was in my mind when I began, and that led me to make these re-
marks, was a wish that they should be persuaded to add to their
native delicacy of taste and feeling something of those habits of
accuracy of thought and reasoning which the study of Science ap-
pears so peculiarly fitted to bestow.

' Accordingly, I could wish a lady to learn something, not only
of the popular parts of Science, but even of Mathematics, properly
so called; because I think that every addition to the strength and
resources of the mind must be an addition to its happiness too. I
do not indeed expect, perhaps I do not even wish, that in every in-
stance these abstract studies should be carried very far. I do not
think, to tell the truth, that there will be many female Newtons.
Yet, notwithstanding the assertion that " a little learning is a dan-
gerous thing," I am convinced that even a little abstract Science
would be a useful part of female education, and form an agreeable
variety in female pursuits. And though I have already expressed
my opinion that the attainment of eminence is not the great busi-
ness of a woman, yet I see no reason for supposing that if the plan
which I have here suggested should ever become general, much
will not be added by women even to the abstract regions of human
knowledge, as much has already been added by them to the more
delightful regions of poetry ; to say nothing of the increased zeal
and interest with which Science would be then pursued by that
sex to whom it is supposed more properly to belong. I am not
quite sure that in anything valuable the minds of men are really
superior to those of the other sex. In taste, in imagination, in
feeling, in affection, in piety, in the enduring of pain, and the
charming away of distress, women have, in general, almost an
allowed superiority ; and even in those deeds of daring valour and
those achievements of political wisdom, in which Man is apt to ar-
rogate pre-eminence, there are some recorded instances in behalf of
the fairer sex which may perhaps excite a suspicion that if there
have not been more, the cause has been the want of opportunity
rather than the want of ability. There have been, and there are,
examples of female character which, without losing any of the
softness and delicacy that seem in so peculiar a manner to belong-
to Woman, do yet contain within them the elements of heroism,
and have all that strength and truth of mind which might befit
the patriot or the martyr.'

2i8 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1826.

From W. E. Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur.*

' Tkim, September 14, 1826.

' I have been busy almost ever since, principally at my Classics,
in which I have a good deal to do before the next Examinations.
I have also been doing something in Science, and'in the caravanf I
discovered a still further generalisation of my principle respecting
the surfaces of constant action, and a simple demonstration which
includes all my particular cases.'

In a Manuscript Book (88 T.C.D.) is the following entry be-
longing to the year 1826 : — ' Sept. 19. Tuesday. Began to think
of applying my principle of constant action to Astronomical Re-
fraction.'

From the Same to the Same.

' Tkim, Sejdemher 18, 1826.

' I have had some curious adventm-es since I last wrote to you.
Mr. Butler, who has, as you know, been away from Trim, came
however to church yesterday, and after church called on us. I
happened to be the person who received his visit, for Uncle and
Aunt were not at home ; and when he was going away, it occurred
to him to take me in his gig to Black Castle, where he is at present,
along with Miss Edgeworth and Mrs. Butler. I liked the thought
very much, and having first left word, that they might not be un-
easy about me here, or at least that they might know where I was,
I walked over to the glebe, and stepped with Mr. Butler into the
gig. We had, as generally happens when he and I are together,
a great many things to say, on a great many subjects ; and after
an interval, which appeared much shorter than it really was, we
arrived at Mr. Ruxton's house, near Navan, situate in a handsome
demesne, which, as I already mentioned, is called Black Castle. I

* This is the first letter in which the initial E. is added to the signature ;
it previously had always been simply "William Hamilton, or W. H.

t The name then given to a vehicle used in the country for passenger traffic.

AETAT. 21.] His College Career. 219

found there several persons whom I had much wished to see, and
to whom, before I conclude, I shall attempt to introduce you ;
and after a very short time was invited to stay for dinner, an invi-
tation which I was very willing to accept : and the more so, be-
cause I knew that I could have Mr. Butler's gig and servant to
return with. The party at Black Castle consisted of Mrs. Ruxton
and her two daughters. Miss Beaufort and her party, Mr. and Mrs.
Butler, and last not least. Miss Edgeworth. Mrs. Ruxton is a
fine animated old lady, about eighty years old, who, to my consi-
derable amusement, made me explain to her, almost immediately
after my arriving there, the reason why a concave mirror inverts
the images of distant objects while a convex mirror leaves them
erect. The Misses Ruxton got me into astronomical disquisitions,
and one was particularly anxious to persuade me that the roundness
of the planets was produced by friction ; perhaps, by being shakeu
together, like marbles in a bag. Miss Edgeworth and Mrs. Butler
drew my attention to a Paper in the last volume of the Philoso-
phical Transactions, in which Mrs. Somerville, a mathematician, of
England, has given an account of some experiments that she has
made upon the magnetic influence of the violet rays. In short,
one would be tempted to suppose that Science was the great busi-
ness of our lives ; though, indeed, it would be very ungrateful in
me to blame them for talking too much about it, as they probably
did so in compliment to the favourite pursuit of their guest. As
Mr. Butler handed in Mrs. Ruxton, and as there was no other
married lady, and no other gentleman present, it fell to me to
hand in Mrs. Butler to dinner ; and then — awful dignity ! I was
placed at the head of the table, where I helped soup, turkey, &c.,
to the admiration of myself at least, who was as much surprised as
the little old woman when she wakened with her petticoats cut
short. And now that I speak of cutting short, it is time to cut
short my story : for it is close upon the post hour, and I do not
wsh to be late. So I shall just mention, that after being driven
home in the gig by Vizor, who was part of the way asleep, I came
to the outside of this house about half-past eleven ; the outside, I
say, for as I did not return earlier, they had concluded here that I
would not return at all, and had all gone to bed. It was in vain
that, in defiance of the clamours of Dandy the watchdog, I rapped
and rang at three different doors ; all were sleeping more soundly

220 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1826.

than Epimenides, and I might have continued till morning, read-
ing by moonlight the Percy Bcdlads, which I happened to have in
my pocket, had not the lucky thought occurred to me of climbing
in through a window. I did so, and went straight to bed ; and in
the morning had a narrow escape of being taken for an apparition,
in which case, if there had been a skilful exorcist, who knows but
I might have been sent to the Red Sea, and you would never have
received this pack of nonsense.'

From W. R. Hamilton to his Uncle James.

' October 24, 1826.

' I have only a very few minutes to "^Tite, to tell you that I
have got the Certificate. Boyton was the Examiner. He said,
when he was given the division, that there was no use in giving it
to him, because his mind was made up already ; but none of the
rest would take it. He offered it (he tells me) to Mr. Kennedy in
particular.

' Among the rumours flying, I have heard it said, on the one
hand, that Dr. Brinkley is to keep the Observatory ; on the other
hand [that I]* ought to be appointed to succeed him.

' I expect now to get some time to wind up and complete my
optical investigations, in which I have made a little further pro-
gress since I came to town. I have to thank you for your letter
on the Greek metres, which I read with much advantage.'

Fro7)i W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' Tuesday, November 7, 1826.

* I must tell you of my dining with Northf at seven o'clock
last Saturday. The party was not very large, and rather pleasant.
Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Foster, with whom I am to dine on Thursday

* Conjecturally supplied : tlie words in the original are erased. The space
is only sufficient for those inserted.

t Supra, p. 129. Mr. x\'orth was Gold Medallist in 1808, and afterwards
E.G. and M.P.

AETAT. 21.] His College Career. 221

next, were there ; so were Dr. and Mrs. M'Donnell, of College.
I sat near the foot of the table, between Leslie Foster and Dr.
M'Donnell ; and after the ladies were gone (but not the cloth, for
that is now the fashion). North asked me to come up near him,
and got into chat with me about College. He remarked that the
last year (upon which you know I am just entering) was a sort
of saturnalia in College, whereas the third year was the most
severe of all. " But it is all the same with you, Mr. Hamilton,"
said he, and then turning to some stranger who was at the other
side of him, he went on — " I used to be very proud of my one
optime, but here is a gentleman that has thrown me into the shade
with his two ojM.mes.^^ I was, as you may easily believe, quite
confounded by the generosity of this speech, and did not attempt
any reply. Another party I was at was at Mrs. Hoare's, on
Wednesday last. It was, upon the whole, a very pleasant even-
ing ; O'Beirne, about whom I used to write you long accounts,
giving him always the title of " Medal," and Mr. M'Clean,* were
there. O'Beirne has a strange passion for drawing other people,
and particularly me, into an argument ; on any subject, no matter
what, it is all the same to him. We had a long conversation on
sundry subjects a day or two ago ; and when I was attacking him
on this habit of his, he defended himself in the following manner.
" Why, Hamilton, what would you have me do ? you provoked
everybody the other evening at Mrs. Hoare's ; you never talked,
the whole evening: what do you suppose you were there _/br .^"
" For !" said I, in the utmost astonishment ; " why, I was there
to pass a pleasant evening, and to contribute to the pleasure of the
rest ; you don't suppose I went as a wild beast ? and indeed I
thought I was a most monstrous talker ; why, I don't think I was
silent for five minutes the whole evening ! " "0 very true,'' said
he, " you got into a corner, and talked to some lady that nobody
knows, till everyone was mad ; but if it had not been for me, not
a word would have been got out of you for the good of the com-
pany at large. It was on the same principle I attacked you at the
other party on Thursday. I know it is not the thing, but there is
no other way of managing you ; and you see how much the lady
of the house enjoyed it, for she called M'Clean over to take part in

* Afterwards F.T.C.D.

222 Life of Sir Willia^n Roivan Hmnilton. [1826.

our discussion." So you see how poor Hamilton is treated. "Will
3'ou tell Mr. Butler that Dr. Brinkley (with whom I passed a very
pleasant morning at the Observatory on Saturday) accepted the
bishopric with real and great reluctance, and only in consequence
of the urgent solicitation of his family.'

In a journal dating from November 27 to December 4, 1826,
is a record of conversation after another dinner at Mr. North's.

' (Friday, December 1). Arithmetic with Grace. Finished the
first part of my Essay ; dined with Mr. North, where I met Mr.
and Mrs. Foster, Mr. Mason a clergyman, Mr. and Mrs. Shaw,
Ould and Dr. Singer. Mr. Mason told me of a book called Re-
marks on the Formation of Opinion, which he said had been pub-
lished within a few years, and which he liked. One of the leading
j)oints in it was, he said, that belief is involuntary. While we
were there, speaking of metaphysics, Mr. North said that, on his
mentioning the word in some conversation lately Avith Miss Edge-
worth, she burst out into a laugh, and exerted all her great powers
of ridicule to put down any confidence in them. We agreed,
however, that nothing can be more interesting than the study of
the phenomena and laws of the human mind ; and that it may be
useful as well as agreeable, by increasing our power of guiding
and controlling our own. North told me of a partisan of Berke-
ley, who in a very ingenious book carries his doctrine so far as to
object to Gray's expression, " Full many a flower is born to blush
unseen,^ maintaining that a flower could not hlush tinseen, and ask-
ing whether Milton is not more philosophical and more poetical,
when he raises up a j)ercipient being to enjoy those Sabean odours
which he represents as visiting those who have now passed Mo-
zambic :

" As when to those who sail
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past
Mozamhic, off at sea, North East winds blow
Sabean odours from the spicy shore
Of Araby the blest ; with such delay
Well-pleased they slack their course and many a league
Cheered with the grateful smell old Ocean smiles."

Among other things that were talked of in the evening I heard of

AETAT. 21.] His College Career. 223

Brjson,* a young man who wrote some beautiful verses on the
fiftieth anniversary of the accession of George III., which got a
prize, and ruined him by bringing him into notice. After I came
home I wrote at Optics for about half an hour.'

The same journal puts on record the ambitious project then
entertained by Hamilton, and communicated to Brinkley's daughter
(at that time wife of Dr. B. J. Graves, the eminent physician),
* that,' to quote his own words, ' among my other schemes I de-
signed to study the literature of all languages ' : an achievement
not so impracticable then as it would be now. In connexion with
this subject, I may mention here that I remember Mr. Southey
in 1833 or 1834 saying that not many years before it was pos-
sible for the man of letters to become master of all that de-
serves to be called Literature ; but adding, that at the time he
spoke, the possibiHty had passed away. Of course literature is
here to be understood in a restricted sense, excluding Science and
works of a technical as well as those of an ephemeral character.

Passing to the year 1827, I find some verses entitled The
Purse, written about its beginning, and I insert them specially for
the reason that they disclose that there was a laughable aspect of
the zealous student, and that he was conscious of the fact, and was
able genially to enjoy it. It was impossible that a mind so sub-
jective as his, and so occupied with abstract thought, should not
often be absent to outward things, and make mistakes creative of
amusement to others with whom the outward eye was always
active ; but Hamilton's healthy nature could, whenever there was
need, be successfully summoned to take the external view of
actions, whether his own or those of others. The ladies to whom
he acted as guide were relatives of the Misses Lawrence, of The
Grange, Liverpool.

* An University Prize Poem, &c., by "William A. Bryson, Sch.. T.C.D. :
Dublin, 1809.

2 24 Life of Sir William Rowan Hafuilton. [1826.

' THE PURSE.

* A Purse I a tempting sort of thing,
That oft hath fledged a Poet's wing ;
A Lady's Purse ! such prize in view,
Shall I not climb Parnassus too ?
Come then, if ever Lady's eye
Hath kindled Poet's energy ;
Come then, ye Muses ! if your breath
E'er waked a strain exempt from death ;
Now yield me one whose charmed song
May, all its faithful coiirse along,
Now with an easy softness flow.
Now with impetuous ardour glow :
And, all its merits to rehearse.
May earn a smile and win the Purse !

' Now had the Sun his chariot driven
Past the meridian steep of heaven,
And many a cloud the blue sky tissued,
When forth a gallant party issued.
Of three fair strangers who, to see
Castle and L^niversity,
Had for their guide made choice of me.
"Were I a painter, — but no matter :
Save that I should not need to flatter.
But Beaiity's items to describe
I leave it to the rhyming tribe ;
A plain dull man like me, it poses,
To talk of brows, lips, cheeks, or noses ;
The wreathed hair's luxuriancy,
Or the soul sitting in the eye ;
So, not to mention names or faces,
Suppose we call them the three Graces.

' On then through many a crowded street
The Graces plied their silver feet ;
(Odd as this epithet for feet is,
Tou know the silver-footed Thetis :
So that if strange, 'tis classical,)
Until we reached the College Hall.
"We entered — and a moment, I
Forgot that even they were by ;
'Twas but a moment, but 'twas fraught
With many a sweet and bitter thought :

AETAT. 21.] His College Career. 22^

Departed hopes, departed fears,
Feelings and dreams of other years,
Twined with that Hall, swept o'er me then
One moment, and I waked again.

' Strange characters strewed all around
Reminded us 'twas learned ground ;
And lingering problems gave us warning
Of the past labours of the morning.
Statues and pictures we admired,
Till we of both were somewhat tired ;
Then we accepted an umbrella
From some unknown though friendly Fellow :
But while the Courts we scudded o'er.
And hastened to the Chapel door,
'Mid mingled mud and rain and wind,
My hat was pleased to stay behind.

* I cannot say due sympathy
Was shown to either hat or me.
And though I had the precedent
Of Gilpin for the accident.
The Graces seemed the whole day after
Troubled with frequent peals of laughter ;
Of which I surely had complained,
Had mine own gravity remained ;
And which were not abated by
A bold mistake that luckless I
Made, when to ope a wall I tried.
Forgetting the Museum's side.
And even when we had fairly entered
That place where all things strange are centred,
They could not check their wayward wit,
Nor listen with decorum fit
To all the wonders we were t-old
Of flood-drowned snakes and mines of gold ;
Of Cleopatra's swarthy hand,
Almost too small for Fairy-land ;
Arms to forgotten battles borne,
Brian Boroimhe's drinking-horn,
Mummies, models, causeways, rockets,
Sandwich combs, and Chinese pockets.

' And now behold the Graces' feet
Treading again the crowded street ;
Till, without going once astray.
Or a hat blown again awaj',

2 26 Life of Sir Williavi Rowan Hamilton. [1826.

Wf reached the Castle Chapel gate,
Or rather, to be accurate,
The sullen chapel-keeper's room ;
Who, with a visage full of gloom,
A manner that appeared to say
I wish you forty miles away.
And all the consequence of office
Acceded to the wishes of us.
One folding door he open threw,
"Which gave to our delighted view
The varied splendours of the place,
The arms of many a noble race,
The " storied windows richly dight
Casting a dim religious light."

' These destined visits being over,
They needs must take me to a glover ;
A glover, who his dwelling made
All in the midst of the Arcade.
When once they found themselves between
The limits of that fairy scene,
A thousand things were to be gotten
Which I have more than half forgotten :
Except three wands of silken thi-ead,
Which by their magic art, they said.
Were to construct a monument
Of all that day's divertisement :
In short, they were to make a Purse,
For which I was to pay in Verse ;
And which, whatever might betide
The Graces or the Graces' guide,
Should be, through many a future year,
A sort of treasured souvenir.

' Fair Helen, if report be true.
For want of something else to do,
Used in her solitary bowers
To wile away the lingering hours
By weaving at her pictured loom
Tales of Troy and warriors' doom.
And haply I may pictured stand.
The strong walls opening with my hand :
Or round the College Courts pursue
A Hat stiU flying from my -sdew.
But pause, my fond presumptuous verse,
Nor scan the mysteries of the purse :
Too deep for me to understand.
Enough — 'tis from a Grace's hand ! '

AF.TAT. 21.] His College Career. 227

I turn now to tlie records of liis collegiate work and his private
scientific researches.

In regard to the former, the College Books prove that in this
his Senior Sophister year he went in to the Hilary and Easter
Term Examinations, obtaining at the first the Premium and at
the second the Certificate upon Valde bene judgments in all sub-
jects scientific and classical ; and from his manuscript books it
appears that in May he had already begun to read for the Classical
Medal, borrowing books for the course from John T. Graves, who
on the 1st of May obtained this honour in the Fellow- Commoner
division of the class. It need scarcely be said that for the Science
Medal little special preparation was needed by him.

One of the manuscript books just referred to (No. 2, T.C.D.),
contains the draft of a letter bearing date January 15, 1827, the
first extant of a fruitful correspondence maintained throughout
his life, both as friend and brother-mathematician, with the class-
fellow just mentioned, Mr. John T. Graves, afterwards F.R.S. and
Professor of Jurisprudence in University College, London. This
letter gives a correction of an expression occurring in a Paper by
Mr. Graves on Logarithms. Another letter of the very same date
communicates to his tutor Mr. Boyton a simple demonstration of
* Laplace's Theorem,' in which ' Lagrange's Theorem ' is included.

His Paper ' On Caustics ' having, in the intervals of his College
work, been expanded into ' A Theory of Systems of Eays,' in
three parts, it was anew presented to the Royal Irish Academy on
the 23rd of April, 1827, and ordered to be printed. The first part
was published in 1828, in the fifteenth volume of the Academy's
Transactions. The second and third parts, as then presented, re-
mained unpublished, but most of the Theorems they contained,
along -with many others, were subsequently embodied in the three
' Supplements ' which successively appeared in the Transactions
of the Academy. An intention was announced in the Table of
Contents of the third part,* to apply to Dynamics the same general

* A portion of the general Table of Contents prefixed to Part I., see p. 12.

228 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1827.

principle of wliieh the application to Optics was now in part
made public. This intention was afterwards fulfilled in the two
Essays on a General Method in Dynamics, which were published
in the Transactions of the Eoyal Society of London in the years
1834 and 1835.

I am fortimately able to present the reader with a Paper in
which the author himself has in popular language set forth the
substance of his Essay on a ' Theory of Systems of Eays.'

' Account of a Theory of Systems of Eays.
[Presented April 23, 1827, to the Roj'al Irish Academy.]

'It appears proper to give some accurate notions of what is
meant by a System of Eays, and of what (mainly) has been done
by me towards forming a Theory of such Systems.

' A Ray, in Optics, is to be considered here as a straight or bent
or curved line, along which light is propagated ; and a System of
Rays as a collection or aggregate of such lines, connected by some
common bond, some similarity of origin or production, in short
some optical unity. Thus the rays which diverge from a luminous
point compose one optical system, and, after they have been re-
flected at a mirror, they compose another. To investigate the geo-
metrical relations of the rays of a system of which we know (as in
these simple cases) the optical origin and history, to inquire how
they are disposed among themselves, how they diverge or converge,
or are parallel, what surfaces or curves they touch or cut, and at
what angles of section, how they can be combined in partial pen-
cils, and how each ray in particular can be determined and dis-
tinguished from every other, is to study that System of Eays.
And to generalise this study of one system so as to become able to
pass, without change of plan, to the study of other systems, to
assign general rules and a general method whereby these sepa-
rate optical arrangements may be connected and harmonised toge-
ther, is to form a Theory of Systems of Rays. Finally, to do this
in such a manner as to make available the powers of the modern
mathesis, replacing figm^es by functions and diagrams by for-
mula, is to construct an Algebraic Theory of such Systems, or an
Application of Ahjchra to Optics.

' Towards constructing such an application it is natural, or

AETAT. 21.] His College Carecv. 229

rather necessary, to employ the method introduced by Descartes
for the application of Algebra to Geometry. That great and phi-
losophical mathematician conceived the possibility, and employed
the plan, of representing or expressing algebraically the position of
any point in space by three co-ordinate numbers which answer re-
spectively the questions how far the point is in three rectangular
directions (such as north, east, and west), from some fixed point or
origin selected or assumed for the purpose ; the three dimensions
<A space receiving thus their three algebraical equivalents, their
appropriate conceptions and symbols in the general science of pro-
gression. A plane or curved surface became thus algebraically
defined by the assigning as lU equation the relation connecting the
three co-ordinates of any point upon it, and common to all those
points : and a line, straight or curved, was expressed according to
the same method, by the assigning two such relations, correspon-
dent to two surfaces of which the line might be regarded as the
intersection. In this manner it became possible to conduct general
investigations respecting surfaces and curves, and to discover pro-
perties common to all, through the medium of general investiga-
tions respecting equations between three variable numbers : every
geometrical problem could be at least algebraically expressed, if
not at once resolved, and every improvement or discovery in Alge-
bra became susceptible of application or interpretation in Geometry.
The sciences of Space and Time (to adopt here a view of Algebra
which I have elsewhere ventured to propose) became intimately
intertwined and indissolubly connected with each other. Hence-
forth it was almost impossible to improve either science without
improving the other also. The problem of drawing tangents to
curves led to the discovery of Fluxions or Differentials : those of
rectification and quadratm-e to the invention of Fluents or Inte-
grals : the investigation of curvatures of sui'faces required the
Calculus of Partial Differentials : the isoperimetrical problems re-
sulted in the formation of the Calculus of Variations. And reci-
procally, all these great steps in Algebraic Science had immediately
their applications to Geometry, and led to the discovery of new
relations between points or lines or surfaces. But even if the ap-
plications of the method had not been so manifold and important,
there would still have been derivable a high intellectual pleasure
from the contemplation of it as a method.

230 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1827.

' The first important application of this algebraical method of
co-ordinates to the study of optical systems was made by Mains, a
French officer of engineers who served in Napoleon's army in
Egypt, and who has acquired celebrity in the history of Physical
Optics as the discoverer of the polarisation of light by reflexion.
Mains presented to the Institute of France, in 1807, a profound
mathematical work which is of the kind above alluded to, and is
entitled Traite iVOptique. The method employed in that treatise
may be thus described : — The direction of a straight ray of any
final optical system being considered as dependent on the position
of some assigned point upon that ray, according to some law which
characterises the particular system and distinguishes it from others ;
this law may be algebraically expressed by assigning three ex-
pressions for the three co-ordinates of some other point of the ray,
as functions of the three co-ordinates of the point proposed. Mains
accordingly introduces general symbols denoting three such func-
tions (or at least three functions equivalent to these), and proceeds
to draw several important general conclusions, by very complicated
but yet symmetric calculations ; many of which conclusions, along
with many others, were also obtained afterwards by myself, when,
by a method nearly similar, without knowing what Mains had done,
I began my own attempts to apply Algebra to Optics. But my re-
searches soon conducted me to substitute, for this method of Mains,
a very different, and (as I conceive that I have proved) a much
more appropriate one, for the study of optical systems ; by which,
instead of employing the three functions above mentioned, or at
the least their tico ratios, it becomes sufficient to employ one /mic-
tion, which I call charaeteristic or principal. And thus, whereas
he made his deductions by setting out with the tivo equations of a
ray, I on the other hand establish and employ the one equation of a
system.

' The function which I have introduced for this purpose, and
made the basis of my method of deduction in mathematical Optics,
had, in another connexion, presented itself to former writers as
expressing the result of a very high and extensive induction in
that science. This known result is usually called the Jaw of least
action, but sometimes also the principle of least time, and includes
all that has hitherto been discovered respecting the rules which
determine the forms and positions of the lines along which light is

AETAT. 21.] His College Career. 231

propagated, and the changes of direction of those lines produced
by reflexion or refraction, ordinary or extraordinary. A certain
quantity which in one physical theory is the action, and in another
the time, expended by light in going from any first to any second
point, is found to be less than if the light had gone in any other
than its actual path, or at least to have what is technically called
its variation null, the extremities of the path being unvaried. The
mathematical novelty of my method consists in considering this
quantity as a function of the co-ordinates of these extremities,
which varies when they vary, according to a law which I have
called the laic of rarying action ; and in reducing all researches re-
specting ojjfical systems of rays to the study of this single function : a
reduction which presents mathematical Optics under an entii'ely
novel view, and one analogous (as it appears to me) to the aspect
under which Descartes presented the application of Algebra to
Geometry.'

This work must ever be regarded as an extraordinary achieve-
ment of scientific genius, projected as it was in the seventeenth
year of the author's age, and brought to a form of approximate
completeness in his twenty-first year. It was promptly hailed by
Herschel in the following terms, -vyhich conclude his Paper on
Light in the Encyclopedia Metroiyolitana : — 'A similar expression
of regret applies to the interesting " Theory of Systems of Rays,"
by Professor Hamilton of Dublin, a powerful and elegant piece
of analysis communicated to the Eoyal Irish Academy in 1824,
and only now in course of impression, but of which enough has
reached us, by the kindness of its author, to make us fully sensible
of the benefit we might have derived from its perusal at an earlier
period of our imdertaking.' And a few years afterwards, at the
Cambridge meeting of the British Association in 1833, when it had
been augmented by two supplements, it was spoken of by Professor
Airy as having made a new science of mathematical Optics.

232 Life of Sir William Rowaii Hamilton. [1827.

CHAPTER VII.

PROFESSOR or ASTRONOMY.

(1827.)

We arrive now at a tui"ning-point in Hamilton's life-career : his
appointment to be Andrews' Professor of Astronomy in the Uni-
versity of Dublin and Royal Astronomer of Ireland.

It is remarkable how a kind of fate from early days seemed to
draw him closer and closer to the Observatory at Dimsink. His
boyish journals show him to have entered his noviciate as an
astronomer before he was fourteen, observing and calculating ce-
lestial phenomena with zeal and laboriousness. Then came in his
fifteenth year his first visit to the Observatory, when, failing to see
Dr. Brinkley, he was shown the instruments by the assistant, and
given information in regard to the newly-arrived comet. After-
wards came his kind reception by Dr. Brinkley, who promptly
accorded him his esteem, cordially encouraged his mathematical
efforts, and made him welcome as a frequent visitor. "We have
observed him, as he returned from Dublin to Trim, fixing his eyes
upon the dome of the building, and not withdrawing them as long
as it remained in sight. We have read his declaration that his
chosen home would be just such a house as the Observatory is —
one seated upon an eminence and commanding a far reach of
landscape.

It was, I beheve, in October, 1826, that Dr. Brinkley accepted
the Bishopric of Cloyne ; and immediately after this event Ha-
milton heard his own name mentioned in connexion with the
vacant post. Before the year was over he received a letter from
his uncle in which was the following passage : — ' I hope you will

AETAT. 21.] Professor of Astronomy. 233

by all means lay yourself out to be able to accept Dr. Robinson's
invitation at Christmas, and that none of the civic sympathies
which that season is apt to awaken in your social (or Blue-stocking
attractions in your sentimental) bosom will sway you to forego
the benefits of establishing a connexion as close as possible with
the Armagh as well as Dunsink Observatory.' The invitation
here referred to he was unable to profit by. Early in 1827 he
received a renewal of it, couched in the following cordial terms,
from the Astronomer of Armagh : —

' I am very sorry that you did not come down to me. . . .
Till the end of May I shall not leave this place, and whenever you
are at leisure, if you send me a week's notice (lest I might be on a
Sunday visit to my parish), you shall be welcome. Your excuse
of preparing for Examinations can hardly have as much weight
with me, or any one who knows you, as you seem to attribute to
it, for I fancy that you look much higher than such game as Bur-
lamaqui, &c. I hope when you come here that you may find me
in the act of projection, erecting a new transit, which I hear is
now finished for me, and get a first lesson to prepare you for being
successor to the Bishop of Cloyne.'

Candidates for the post came over from England, among them
Mr. Airy of Cambridge (already distinguished by his Senior
Wranglership and by optical researches) ; and some who had al-
ready gained the rank of Fellow in Hamilton's own College were
competitors. It appears that before the end of April he met Airy
and other eminent men at the table of Dr. Lloyd, and we remem-
ber hearing that in the scientific discussions to which the meeting
gave occasion he took his part with striking ability, modesty, and
firmness, when it became necessary to defend some of his optical
results against the objections of Mr. Airy.

With all these forces of the past and of the present bearing
upon him, it might have been supposed impossible for him not to
come forward and declare himself a Candidate for the honourable
position which was open to the ambition of all who were qualified
by the appropriate attainments ; but I can answer for the fact that

234 Life of Sir Williaiii Roivaii Hamilton. [1827.

in the extant correspondence of the time not a word comes from
himself expressing any such intention, or implying that he was
even weighing the matter in his mind : on the contrary, after pre-
senting his Essay to the Academy and undergoing the Easter Ex-
amination, he left town early in May in order to carry on quietly
at Trim his studies for the Classical Medal. I cannot hut regard
this line of conduct as in the highest degree attesting at once the
modesty and the dignity of his character. He doubtless felt that
for an Undergraduate so young and inexperienced as he was to
put himself forward uninvited as a pretender to such a position
would be fairly chargeable with presumption, might even be con-
sidered as proving an inadequate notion of the importance of the
office sought for ; while he could not but be conscious that the
honour of the appointment would be immeasurably enhanced if he
were encouraged to compete by those who had the power to bestow.
It was only a week before the appointment had to be made that
he received at Trim, from his tutor, Mr. Boyion, a letter dated
June 8, 1827, informing him confidentially that the Board were
favourably disposed towards him, and urging him to come up to
town at once to take the advice of his friends. That advice co-
inciding with the strong opinion of his zealous friend and tutor,
he sent in his application, and on the 16th he was able to write as
follows to his sister Sydney : —

Ffom W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Sydney.

* Teim, June 16, 1827.

' I have been long intending to write to you, but have been
prevented from doing so by a variety of occupations. But I lose
no time in telling you, what I know will give you pleasure, that I
have been this morning unanimously elected to succeed the Bishop
of Cloyne as Professor of Astronomy to the University. I send
you a rose-leaf from the Observatory garden.'

On the same day he was made a Fellow- Commoner by order
of the Board, and the following addition was inserted in the record

AETAT. 21.] Professor' of Astronojny. 235

of his entrance, contained in the Register of the University. That
record originally stood thus, — under the heading ' Doctoris Wray,
Proelectoris Primarii, July 7, 1823.' — 'Grulielmus Hamilton ; Pen. ;
17 ; Prot. ; Archibaldi f . ; pragmatici ; meridie ; Meath Orient ;
Revi. Hamilton ; Mr. Boj'ton.'

The addition inserted by interlineation immediately after the
name is — ' Factus est Soc. Com. jussu Prsepositi et Soc. Sen. Junii
die 16°, A.D. 1827, et eodem die ab iis electus est Astronomice
Professor.'*

It was on the day after his election that Maria Edgeworth, sup-
posing him to be still at Trim, addressed to him the following note.
The commencement leads one to suppose that she had heard such
remarks on his qualifications for the post still by her considered
to be vacant, and of his chances of obtaining it, as prompted her
to use her influence in urging him to become a candidate : —

From Maria Edgeworth to W. R. Hamilton.

' Edgewoethstown, June 17, 1827.

'I wish to speak to you on a subject that may be of conse-
quence to yourself as well as to Science. Can you come here for
a day ? My aunt Ruxton desires me to assure you of her welcome
and of a bed.f Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or
Friday — take your choice.'

* These entries, filled up in English, would run, ' William Hamilton ; Pen-
sioner ; age, 17; Protestant; son of Archibald Hamilton, solicitor; obtained
first place ; his domicile in East Meath ; his educator, Rev. James Hamilton ;
his College Tutor, Mr. Boyton.' ' He was made a Fellow-Commoner by order
of the Provost and Senior Fellows on the 16th day of June, a.d. 1827, and on
the same day was elected by them Professor of Astronomy.' ' Meridie'' is not
always, when referring to the College Register, to be interpreted as a distinc-
tion of merit ; for when only one student entered it was attached to his name ;
to the name of the second was added ' min 1" p.m.,' and so on. One hundred
Students entered on the same day as Hamilton.

t From this sentence and from Hamilton's reply it is to be inferred that the
date of place at the head of the letter ought to have been Black Castle and not
JEdyeioorthstown .

236 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1827.

The note was forwarded to him to Dublin, and two days after-
wards he replies as follows : —

From W. R. Hamilton io Maria Edgeworth.

* Dublin, 10, South Cumbeeland-stkeet,

' June 19, 1827.

' I received just now the note which you addressed to me to
Trim, and I am sorry that the business which has brought me un-
expectedly to town deprives me of the pleasure of accepting Mrs.
Ruxton's kind invitation. I suppose you have heard of the honour
which has been so unexpectedly conferred on me, by the Board
having unanimously elected me Professor of Astronomy, to suc-
ceed the Bishop of Cloyne. The confidence which they have thus
placed in so young a person, and the unusual preference which
they have given to an Undergraduate, who had for competitors
men of high standing and eminence in two Universities, will of
coiu'se operate as strong incentives to exertion, in addition to all
those other motives which would arise from my zeal for the ad-
vancement of Science and the reputation of myself and my coun-
tiy. I have indeed been placed in a post of a most arduous
and responsible nature, and which has seldom been entrusted ex-
cept to persons of years and experience. To maintain it with
credit will require intense and unremitting exertion, and will de-
mand the concentration of all the ardour or energy which I may
possess. But my very youth, though it may for a time be a dis-
advantage, will, I trust, eventually be in my favour, by enabling
me to bring to that great task to which I have been devoted a
freshness of mind, a capacity for exertion, a disregard of fatigue
or inconvenience, and a deep desire for excellence, which I might
not afterwards possess, at least in the same degree.

' I was obliged here to break off to attend the Quarterly Ex-
aminations necessary for the taking of my Degree. . . .

' With kindest remembrance to all my friends at Black Cas-
tle.' . . .

Upon the above letter was a note written by Maria Edge-
worth, when forwarding it to her sister Fanny : — *

* Afterwards Mrs. Lestock "Wilson. Referring to her death in 1848,

AEXAT. 21.] Professor of Astronomy. 237

*I am impatient to send you this letter, which I know will
please you. If we knew nothing else of Mr. Wm. H., it would,
I think, justify the unanimous choice the Board have made. It
shows such deep-seated humility joined to such energy ! such a
just feeling of the responsibility of the situation to which he is
raised, with such true scientific enthusiasm ! Send this letter as
soon as you can to Captain Beaufort ; he will feel it as we do — I
say we, for I know your feelings as well as I know my own.'

Hamilton's letter and Miss Edgeworth's comment upon it seem
to me to supersede the necessity of enlarging upon the remarkable
event it communicates or the feelings of Hamilton on the occasion.
It may be sufficient to fix attention on the fact, that when ho-
noured by this appointment he was still an Undergraduate of his
University, and had not yet completed the twenty-second year of
his age, and that his competitors were men of proved distinction
belonging to the two Universities of Dublin and Cambridge.

His appointment under these circumstances involved another
exceptional event, signalising his Collegiate career. By the Do-
nor's direction the Professor of Astronomy is one of the Examiners
for Bishop Law's Prize, a prize yearly bestowed upon the best
answerer in the higher Mathematics among candidates of Junior
Bachelor standing. The other Examiners are the Professors of
Natural Philosophy and Mathematics. The Examination takes
place at the close of Trinity Term. In conformity with this regu-
lation, Hamilton was called upon to take his part in the Examina-
tion of this year, and thus came to pass the anomalous proceeding
of an Undergraduate officially examining Grraduates in the high-
est branches of Mathematics.

On the 19th and 20th of June he passed his own last Colle-
giate examination, on this occasion probably a mere form, in the
Fellow-Commoner portion of his Class, and became thus entitled
to take his Degree of B.A. at the immediately succeeding Com-

Mrs. Edgeworth says of her, " Strongly as she [Maria] was attached to all
her brothers and sisters, Fanny had been the dearest object of her love and
admiration." — Memoirs, Yol. III. p. 263.

238 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1827.

mencements, as accordingly he did. This brought to a close his
Collegiate connexion with his Tutor Mr. Boyton, to whom it
would be an injustice not to pay the tribute of a few words of
grateful reminiscence.

Charles Boyton (for that, or ' Charley Boyton,' was his usual
appellation) was a man to impress at first sight. He was above
six feet in height and eminently handsome, and his noble fea-
tures conveyed the idea of a corresponding intellectual superiority.
Conscious power and concentrated energy looked forth from his
dark penetrating eyes ; and if pride had no small share in the ex-
pression of his countenance, there was nothing in it of ill-nature
or sarcasm. He was the darling of the students of his day — ad-
mired equally for his athletic prowess, for his intellectual bril-
liancy and solidity, for his sympathy and generosity. As a
consequence, his College class was always overflowing. It is not
intended here to pronounce whether his influence upon his pupils
was in all respects beneficial, but to Hamilton he was a steadfast
brotherly friend. Of this proofs have abeady been given ; and I
have pleasure in adding two more, for which I am indebted to
manuscript reminiscences . left by Eliza Hamilton : —

'When William,' she writes, 'was entering College, Boyton
said to him that he was aware he could be of little use to him as
a Tutor, for that W. was quite as fit to be his tutor ; but there
was one thing he would promise to be to him, and that was 2^ friend;
and that one proof he would give of this should be, that if ever he
saw W. beginning to be up&et by the sensation he would excite
and the notice he would attract, he (B.) would tell him of it. It
is needless to say he never was obliged to do so, but the promise
struck me as very characteristic of no common friend and no com-
mon man. ..." Now," B. had said to W., when he was ap-
pointed, "Now, you will go and settle quietly there with your
sisters," as if drawing the picture of our happiness in his own
mind — the happiness he had been so instrumental in procming ;
and to put the finishing stroke to his kindness to W. during the
whole time he had been his pupil in College, he now made him a
most valuable present — nothing less than his whole mathen^atical

AETAT. 21.] Professor of Astroiwviy. 239

library, consisting of a great number of books, and very expensive
ones.'

Dr. Boyton became subsequently, as a politician, the public
cbampion of the Conservative cause, and died prematurely in a
remote country parish, leaving behind him an impression of mi-
nisterial devotedness and personal humility as deep as his natural
gifts had formerly been splendid and attractive.

But if there was a striking unanimity among the friends of
Hamilton in their approval of his appointment to the Professor-
ship of Astronomy, and in their congratulations upon its occur-
rence, there was one exception of so great weight that it would be
wrong to omit mention of it. This was no other than Dr. Brink-
ley, the recent holder of the post, and the friend, animi paterni^ of
Hamilton. Writing to him, on the 12th of June, in approval of
a suggestion that Hamilton should publish in the Pldlosophical
Journal an Abstract of his Essay on Systems of Eays, the Bishop
adds as a postscript — ' I hope to hea.r very soon that the Observa-
tory has been appointed to.' On the 14th he writes as follows : —

From Dr. Brinkley, Bishop of Cloyne, to W. E. Hamilton.

' CiOYisrE, June 14, 1827.

' I was unable, in consequence of being out, to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter yesterday, annoimcing your being a
Candidate for the Professorship. From what I had heard I sup-
pose the decision will be made before this letter arrives. However
creditable it may be to you to be appointed so early, I fear it
would eventually be injurious to you. If you be precluded from
looking for a Fellowship, I think no one can doubt it will not be
for your interest to accept the Professorship, In whatever path
you may hereafter push your researches, Science will doubtless
derive great advantages, but you cannot be certain till you have
made yourself acquainted with the business of an observatory,
whether you would be likely to continue to pursue with satisfac-
tion Practical Astronomy. Having a Fellowship, you can have
time to look about you and select the paths of Science which may
appear to you most inviting. In taking the Observatory you fix

240 Life of Sir Williain Roivan Hamilton . [1827.

yourself at once on an income, perhaps at first tempting, but such
as afterwards may appear in a different aspect : no further advan-
tage will he certain. I struggled sixteen years with a family on
the late small income of the Observatory, and my after changes of
circumstances could not have been reasonably reckoned on. I say
all this that you and your friends may well consider. I have had
this morning a letter from your Tutor, Mr. Boyton, to which I
must reply before the post goes out.'

Again on the 26th, after hearing of the appointment which in
the interest of his young friend he had deprecated, and under the
pressure of au afl&iction which I am unable to specify, he writes a
letter to Hamilton which these circumstances stamp with the seal of
true nobility. Though unable to forego the opinion he had formed,
he is willing to suppose it mistaken, and he does not allow it to
operate to the disadvantage of the lyrotege who had not followed his
advice ; but disregarding his own affliction, invites him to receive
at once the benefit of the counsel and information which he knew
himself able to bestow.

From the Same to the Same.

' Clotxe, June 26, 1827.

' I do not know whether I ought to congratulate you on your
appointment, which I fear will not be so advantageous to you as it
is honourable. I cannot bring myself to think that your friends
have done right in encouraging you to give up the prospect of a
Fellowship. But perhaps I may judge wrong at the distance at
which I am, and in my ignorance of all circumstances that have at-
tended your appointment. The severe affliction with which it has
pleased Providence to visit me rendered me quite incapable of in-
quiring ; but my regard for you and for the Observatory makes
me desirous of giving all the assistance in my power, and I think
it might be useful if you could spare time to come down here for a
few days : much useful communication might take place. I men-
tioned this to Dr. Sadleir in a letter yesterday.'

Such an invitation had more than the force of a command. It
was immediately acted upon by Hamilton. A memorandum re-

AETAT. 21.] Professor of Astronomy. 241

cording his visit to Cloyne exists, of which the following passage
is the commencement. I regret not to have been able to discover
some less formal account of Hamilton's visit to a place which
must have been specially impressive to him from its connexion
with the living friend whom he venerated, and from its associa-
tion with the memory of the great and good Berkeley, Brinkley's
predecessor in the See, who as a philosopher had always exerted
upon Hamilton a special charm. Some letter to his uncle or one
of his sisters, which has been lost, doubtless expressed his feelings.

'■ Monday, Julu 2, 1827. — Came to Cloyne on a visit to the
Bishop. He asked me whether I had received a letter from him
which was sent a few days ago to Dr. Mac Donnell. I had not re-
ceived it. He expressed his fear that it had been an imprudent act
on my part the accepting the Observatory. He said that I ought
not to depend upon the Board, for they had acted very shabbily
to him. He too had begun very early (before he was twenty-four),
and was told that he would certainly get some preferment soon ;
but he was left for many years without anything more than the
small salary of the office. His subsequent success could not have
been counted on, and was partly accidental.' If I were a Fellow,
I might have got a dispensation, enabling me not to take pupils ;
and I would have been gradually gaining standing at least, if not
income. My friends ought to have decided the thing for me, and
not have left it to myself. To all this I could only reply, that so
decidedly did I prefer the Observatory to Fellowship in point of
liking, that I would have accepted it if it had been offered to me
without any money at all ; that as a Fellow, on the present system,
I would either have had no time for pursuing Science, or must have
made that time by exertions at extra hours and to the injury of
health ; that, in short, my tastes were strongly for the thing, and
that my friends thought that prudence was for it also.'

The question thus discussed was one of great importance at
the time in reference both to the personal interests of Hamilton
and to the interests of Science. Arguments of much weight could
have been used, even at that time, on both sides, in addition to
what the above memorandum has brought before the reader ; and

242 Life of Sir William Roivati Hamilton. [1827.

it is now possible to consider the question under the fuller light
shed upon it by events, and instead of weighing against each other
two probabilities, a may he against a may he, to endeavour, as
fairly as one can, to balance the actual against the probable — the
has heen against the might have heen. And, on the whole, I believe
that a full consideration of the subject will turn the scale decidedly
in favour of the choice that was made.

Had Hamilton become a Fellow he must, according to the
Collegiate regulations then in force, have also become a clergy-
man, with professional obligations, which would not, by so con-
scientious a mind as his, have been lightly regarded, and which
would have in a considerable degree necessarily interfered with
his scientific researches. He must have become a College Tutor
and Lecturer, with duties occupying most of his time ; and if he
had obtained a dispensation from them, he would have had to live
upon a pittance with which neither he, nor his friends for him,
could have been content. He would have had to throw into the
distance all prospect of marriage, which he rightly felt to be a
haven needful for the repose of his strong affections ; and he
would have found the social life of a metropolitan city, with all
its interruptions, injuriously to disturb studies requiring abstract
thought both deep and prolonged. On the other hand, he might, by
his commanding abilities, employed in some conspicuous manner,
have drawn upon him the attention of the dispensers of patronage,
and have been early promoted in his profession, and died a rich
instead of a poor man, and an ornament of the episcopal bench.
It was, I believe, more suitable to his health and happiness that
he should enjoy the fresh air of a country life, that he should be
early married, and that his mind should, with comparative free-
dom from distraction, pursue throughout his life the studies most
congenial to his iutellectual nature. And so also, I believe that
Science was a gainer by the decision actually arrived at. It is true
that, notwithstanding his love of Astronomy and his early exercise
in observatLon of the heavenly bodies, he did not prove as eminent
a practical Astronomer as might have been anticipated. This was

AETAT. 21.] Professor of Asirono7ny. 243

due partly to the delicacy of chest which made the necessary
nightly vigil especially trying to his health, partly to other phy-
sical causes, but it was due principally to his predominant bias
towards pure mathematics, and the increasing absorption in them
which successful study involved. Still that success was so eminent
that the masters of Science have with one voice been able to pro-
nounce that any deficiencies in the work of observing were far
more than compensated by discoveries which have not only added
to the number of known theoretical truths of the highest order,
but have enriched the scientific observer with improved methods of
calculation and opened new fields of research.

. The continuation of the memorandum from which I have
quoted fm-nishes proof of Hamilton's characteristic willingness to
undertake a task of extensive and minute labour in connexion with
the Grreat Circle of the Observatory, and of the valuable advice
and information imparted to him by Dr. Brinkley.

' I mentioned to the Bishop my idea of examining the interval
between each pair of dots on the Circle and recording the results.
He mentioned many objections. He said that it would be almost
impossible to disentangle the constant error (arising from the
scale of the micrometer and from any peculiarity in the person's
way of observing) from the accumulation of errors of observation
on the several intervals. Generally all the results which depend
on the mm of a number of observations, not divided by the number
of those observations, are little to be depended on. When I had
gone round the circle, if the sum of my readings should be
360° 0' 4"'0, I would not know whether the 4" arose from such
accumulation, or from the constant error before mentioned. The
Calculus of Probabilities does not apply to constant errors. It
would be better, if possible, to examine opposite points. The error
from unequal graduation was throughout very small, and greatly
diminished by taking the mean of the six readings. The labour
of such an operation as I proposed would be very great, and in his
opinion not attended with an adequate advantage. Many things
which appeared very fine in theory were of little use in practice. I
would find that the commonest things were genei-ally the best.

R 2

244 Life of Sir Williavi Roivan Hamilton. [1827,

For instance, in reversing the transit it might seem a great incon-
venience that the divided semicircle did not point out the height to
which the telescope should be raised ; hut this had been obviated
by the use of a common lath. Instead of examining the divisions
of the instrument, according to the practice of amateurs, he recom-
mended me to UBB it ; this would be the best test, and at the same
time would lead to useful results. However, though the Bishop
has made me see more clearly than before the difficulty of the
business, he has not succeeded in completely discouraging me
from it.

' The Bishop told me that the great question now at issue be-
tween our Observatory and the Greenwich one is whether our
Circle and theirs cannot determine to half a second the small va-
riations of an angle. For instance, if the zenith distance of a Lyrse
be at one time, by our Circle, 14° 13' 11"'9, and at another time
14° 13' 10""4, it is possible that neither of these observations can
be completely depended on, and yet that their difference 1"'5 may
be so, very nearly. He had, as he conceives, established the accu-
racy of the Circle in this respect by his observations on Solar
Nutation. This quantity is certainly between 0""43 and 0"*56 ;
and Brinkley deduced a value between these limits from a great
number of observations with the Circle, from which he also de-
duced Aberration and Parallax. He recommends me to make
some course of observations respecting aberration, or some similar
quantity, in order to determine the question respecting the superior
power of our Circle.

' As a proof of the uniformity of our Cu'cle, he told me that
having made a course of observations on the sun's solstitial alti-
tude for several years, he deduced from this the Lunar Nuta-
tion = 9"'68 ; by the stars it was 9""26 ; and the near agreement
of these results with each other, and with what is known from
other sources, appears to show that the Circle is little altered, either
by the sun or by time.

' Brinkley began to use the Circle in 1809.

' The constant of aberration is perhaps different for different
stars. But if the Greenwich Circle be good, we can place little
dependence on results of this kind ; for by it the constant of aber-
ration, as deduced from the Pole Star above the Pole, is less than
that deduced from the same star below the Pole.

AETAT. 21.] Professor of Astronomy. 245

* The observations of Bradley are uncommonly accurate ; and
they have been reduced and calculated by Bessel in his Astrononiie
Fondamentale, which Briukley considers one of the most valuable
astronomical works extant.

* A zenith sector, or a telescope of higher power, would not, in
B.'s opinion, be of much use. The zenith sector of twenty-five feet
radius, whidi they are trying to get for Greenwich, is intended
only for an experiment, and perhaps will never be finished, as they
find it very difficult to get a micrometer-screw fine enough for it.
We want a good equatorial for comets and a circular micrometer.'

From another astronomer and friend, the Rev. Dr. Robinson
of Armagh, he received the following letter, differing from the
Bishop's in its view of the comparative advantages of the Professor-
ship which Hamilton had accepted and the prospective Fellowship
he had relinquished, but agreeing with it in the kind offer of va-
luable help in preparing him for his work : —

From the Rev. T. R. Robinson, D.D., to W. R. Hamilton.

Armagh, June 21 [1827].

' I will not congratulate you on your appointment to succeed
the Bishop of Cloyne. Congratulation should rather be made to
those who, by making such a choice, have proved themselves true
guardians of the welfare of their University and friends of Science.
You were of far too high an order to be thrown away on the
drudgery of tuition, or what are called the Learned Professions,
though too often very little learning suffices in them, and it seems
to me that no fairer field could possibly have been opened for the
display of the high attainments by which you are distinguished.
I can, however, tell you that there is something more than Science
necessary to an astronomer, and I have (though a very lazy scribe)
taken the pen to urge you to come hem and practise a little of the
legerdemain of the business before you take possession of your
own Observatory. You will probably find it unpleasant to appear
in the eyes of your assistant (Mr. Thomson) with any practical
deficiency ; at least I know that if mine had not been aware of my
previous practice at Dunsink, he would have given me a little an-

246 Life of Sir William Roivan Haviilton. [1S2T.

noyance on the score of his superior dexterity. As yet my instru-
ments are of little value, but they will fully suffice to practise you
in obser\ing and reducing ; and at present I myself am absolutely
idle, so that you need have no fear of trespassing on my time. So
I have said my say, and I hope you will do it.'

This invitation also Hamilton wisely accepted. He came up
to Dublin from Cloyne, took his degree of B.A., received many
letters of congratulation and good counsel, and made his first visit
as master to the Observatory, which was to be his home, but which
he felt deeply was to be also the place in which he was to devote
to Science years of arduous laboiu*. These feelings are gracefully
expressed in lines to which is attached the date. Observatory,
July 13, 1827.

' TO FORGOTTEN AND FADING FLOWERS,
'fottnd near the great circle of the obseevatoet.

' And is it here, ye lovely ones,

That ye have chosen to fade ?
A bright but fragile offering

On Science' altar laid !
Alas, too oft, 'mid scenes like these,

Must Feeling, too, decay ;
And in this air, serene but cold,

Her sweetness waste away I

• For Science on her votaries laj's

A stern and deep control ;
Entire dominion she demands,

And empire o'er the soul :
And hard it is for him who'd climb

The pathway she will show.
To look with lingering fondness back

On the vales that bloom below ; — •

' If he would leave a record

Deep graven on Fame's shrine,
And round his country's name, and his,

A deathless wreath entwine :
If he would be a beacon

By which future times may steer,
And a high and holy thought to wake

Young Ardour's generous tear !

AETAT. 21.] Professor of Astronomy. 247

' Yet perish not, loved flowers,

So soori; so suddenly ;
Though parted from your native soil,

Yet bloom awhile with me :
And be to me an emblem

Of hopes that change and fade.
And of the heart's young sweetness

On Science' altar laid.'

Ten days afterwards he writes thus to his Cousin Arthur from
the Observatory of Armagh :

From W. E. Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur.

' Armagh, Dr. Robinson's Study,
' Mondaij, July 2'i, 1827.

'I found Dr. R., Mrs. R., and a lady named Miss Hewison,
sitting in the drawing-room ; they got tea for me, and Dr. R.
showed me some of his instruments before we went to bed. But
the real rummaging or examining of these was the next day
(Saturday), on which day he showed me his transits old and new,
his equatorial instrument (like ours on the dome, but with a better
frame), his large ten- foot reflector, made by Herschel, besides se-
veral smaller pieces of mechanism, astronomical or otherwise. He
showed me his turning apparatus, and explained to me some things
about it. He thinks it possible to make a speculum of the kind I
want for my optical experiments. In short, I have hardly been
doing anything since I came but cramming myself with informa-
tion on various points of importance communicated in the pleasant-
est manner, either by what I may call experiment, which Dr. R.
has shown me, or by books and papers which he has pointed out,
or by his conversation. Yesterday evening, the sky being pretty
clear, I observed some stars with the transit instrument, a thing
which I had never done before. I saw four stars successively;
each passed (of course) the five wires, and I had to note down the
time — that is, the second and fraction of a second — at which each
of these twenty passages took place. If the instrument were quite
correctly adjusted, the time of passing the middle wire would be
what we want, that is, the right ascension of the star ; but on ac-
count of the uncertainty of a single observation, we observe the

248 Life of Sir Williajfi Rozvan Hamilton. [1827.

time of passing the four side-wires (two at each side of the middle
wire), and take the mean of all. The mean thus taken is to be
then corrected by the help of a table, which is made for the pur-
pose, and which is rendered necessary by small inequalities in the
intervals between the wires. When we took the mean between my
five observations on Capella (the first star which I observed), the
result, on applying the correction before mentioned, appeared to
differ by five seconds from the actual observation at the middle
wire, which excited some dismay in us, and was of course set down
to my inexperience in observing. But on farther consideration of
the matter. Dr. Pu. exclaimed, Herr Hamilton (we had been talking
about Grerman) , you are not so far wrong after all ; for as Capella
was below the Pole, the correction must be applied the other way.
Accordingly, on making this change in the correction, the result-
ing difference came out only the twentieth part of a second, a
time so minute as to be quite inappreciable to the most practised
eye. So that if my first observation is to be taken as an omen, I
may hope to attain considerable accuracy as a practical astro-
nomer. . . .

' With respect to my return, nothing has yet been settled about
it ; for Dr. Eobinson seems to wish me to stay, and no time has
been at all mentioned by either of us for the termination of my
visit ; on the contrary, Dr. R. has proposed to me to accompany
him to some other part of the North, where Colonel Colby and
some other officers of the Trigonometrical Survey will shortly be
carrying on their operations by measuring a base line, I believe.
For my own part, I like my quarters too well to be in haste to
remove sooner than business may require.'

The next letter reports a sudden change of plan, which, short-
ening his present visit to the Observatory of Armagh, led to a tour
of travel beginning in Ireland, but passing on to England and
Scotland, and rendered specially memorable to him by introducing
liim to his life-long friendship with the poet Wordsworth.

AKTAT. 21.] Professor of Astronomy. 249

From W. E.. Hamilton to his Sister Sydney.

' Abmagh, August 2, 1827.

* I received your letter yesterday, and look forward with great
pleasure to the seeing you here on Saturday. I told Dr. and Mrs.
Robinson that Archianna would come with you, and they said
they would be very glad to see you both. I fear I cannot go on
with you to Belfast, for I have just made a very sudden but very
pleasant arrangement with Mr. Nimmo, the engineer, which will
prevent me from accompanying you, if you can do without me.
He came last night to Armagh, and breakfasted here this morning ;
and after a little chat on scientific and other subjects, he suddenly
proposed to me to go with him to Kerry, where he is about to
make some trigonometrical observations and measurements. I told
him that I should like very much to do so, but that I was not
quite free, for I had promised Dr. Robinson to stay to see his
new transit put up, and, besides, I was waiting to see my sisters
here. I said, however, that I would leave it to Dr. E,., and that
if he gave his consent to the plan I would go. " Don't leave
it to ;»e," said Dr. Robinson ; " for if so, I will put a decided ne-
gative on the matter. I have you in my fangs now, and I don't
know when I may have you again if you once get loose." Mr.
Nimmo, however, continued to press me ; told me that he would
frank me to the place and back again, as he was going in his own
carriage with a pleasant party ; that I should have opportunities
of seeing various processes in practical astronomy, making obser-
vations, determining latitudes and longitudes, and seeing the
Lakes of Killarney ; that we would not be more than a week or
two away, and that I might run off from him whenever I got
tired. The result was, that I accepted his kind offer, and pro-
mised to go with him to find the latitude and longitude of the
Lakes of Killarney. Dr. Robinson is to lend me a fine Circle to
take with me, and I am to pay another visit to Armagh before I
get settled at my own Observatory. Miss Hewison, a cousin of
Dr. Robinson, after Mr. Nimmo had left the breakfast-room, on
this arrangement being thus suddenly settled, could not refrain
from giving vent to expressions of astonishment. " Well," said
she to me, " I wish I had but half your powers of attraction ! "

250 Life of Sir Williain Rowan Hamilton. [1827..

I am to go to Dublin on Monday, on which day you will probably
set out from this for Belfast, so that I shall not have lost any of
your compan3^ As another instance of my fascinating powers, I
must tell you of an offer which was made me last night by a ser-
vant of Dr. Robinson's, who was driving me home in a gig from a
place where I had been dining. He said that he had taken a par-
ticular fancy to live with me, and that if I would take him as a
servant he wovild make no stipulation about wages, but be willing
to take anything that I was willing to give, and make himself as
useful as he could. I have consulted Dr. and Mrs. Eobinson, who
have told me some faults of his, but who say that he has the great
requisites of being sober, honest, and obliging, and that he would
probably make me a very good servant. They had not intended
to part with him, but are willing to do so ; his quarter here will
end in October.'

From W. E. Hamilton to his Aunt Mary Hutton.

' CHELTEifHAM, August 25, 1827.

* I know you will be glad to hear from myself some account of
my peregrinations and adventures ; so, without farther preface, I
shall proceed to give you a brief sketch of them, in return for the
many pleasant letters that you used to send us when you were
rambling in England a year or two ago. I was, you know, about
three weeks since, on a visit to Dr. Robinson, at Armagh, from
which I received much pleasure and much information. Dr.
Robinson is a most delightful companion, for his mind is stored
with an apparently inexhaustible fund of information on all possi-
ble subjects, and he knows how to dispense that store to others in
a way which is at once agreeable and instructive. His family,
too, consisting of his wife and children, and of a cousin of his,
named Miss Hewison, added much to the pleasure of his circle ;
for they possess a great deal of good sense and general informa-
tion, besides kindness and courtesy ; and without pretending to
much scientific attainment, have yet caught a good deal of that en-
thusiasm for the advancement of science generally, and astronomy
in particular, which indeed an intimacy with Robinson can hardly
fail to inspire. Besides, the neighbourhood of Armagh is much

AETAT. 22.] Profcsso7' of AsU^onoviy. 251

more highly cultivated — I mean iu point of society — than that
of any other provincial town with which I am acquainted. So
that, on the whole, I enjoyed my visit very much, and should not
have terminated it so soon as I did (though I staid longer than I
had at first intended), were it not that Mr. Nimmo, a celebrated
engineer, of whom you have probably heard, meeting me at break-
fast at Dr. R.'s, proposed to me to accompany him, at his own
expense, on a short tour which he was about to make, partly con-
nected with Science, and leading through some beautiful places in
Ireland and England which I had not seen : an offer too friendly
and too pleasant to be refused. I hastened accordingly to Dublin,
not, however, until I had first seen Sydney and Archianna, wlio
made (at Mrs. E.'s invitation) Armagh their way to Rhodens.
Having scarcely more than a day in Dublin, I employed my time
there principally in visiting the Observatory, and started on Thurs-
day morning (August 9) in the Limerick coach with Mr. Nimmo,
bringing with me a reflecting circle which Dr. Robinson had lent
me. The journey to Limerick, which in the memory of some of
our fellow-passengers had occupied more than two days, we per-
formed in one, and the two next days we spent in visiting some of
the cmiosities of the place, especially the works and model of a new
bridge which, tmder the direction of Mr. Nimmo, is now in course
of building, and a diving-bell for preparing the foundation, in
which I went down to the bottom of the Shannon. The interior
surface of the intended bridge interested me much, for it is built
on a new plan, and affords a curious illustration of some mathema-
tical principles ; the descent, too, in the diving-bell served as an
experiment to illustrate various theorems in hydrostatics and pneu-
matics, particularly the great condensation of the air by the in-
creased pressure of the water, which was felt in a very painful
manner. Nor were these my only scientific amusements. With
the reflecting circle that Dr. Robinson had lent me, and some other
astronomical instruments that Mr. Nimmo had brought with him,
we took several observations of the sun's altitude, in order to find
the latitude of Limerick and other places, being assisted by a
pocket chronometer which Mr. Sharpe had lent me.

' From Limerick we went to Killarney, where we spent two
clear days, which I enjoyed extremely. The first of these two
days I accompanied Mr. Nimmo, who wished to visit a new road

252 Life of Sir William Roivan Haviilfon. [1827.

that he has got made along part of the lakes, through wild and
varied scenery. We had for a companion Mr. Glover the painter,
whom we found very entertaining, and who let me look on while
he was taking several sketches.* Leaving the road, we visited
some cascades and other objects which were to supply materials
for these sketches, and in the course of our rambling crossed some
very marshy places, and waded through some bits of rivers, wliich
made us very glad to accept refreshment offered to us by a gentle-
man that we met, who had a little cottage beautifully situated near
the upper lake. Here we got our shoes dried, and I put on a
pair of fresh stockings which I had prudently carried in my
pocket ; and then we entered a boat which conveyed us from the
upper to the middle lake, and from the middle to the lower,
giving me a first view of all their enchanting scenery. The next
day I was again upon them along with another party. The
waves were very high, and frightened some of my companions ;
but for my part I enjoyed them, as I did also the deep covering
of mist that hid the summits of the hills. Perhaps some other
time I may revisit these beautiful lakes along with dearer friends,
and may then see them in the charms of calm and sunshine.

' From Killarney I pi-oceeded to Cork, Youghal, Dungannon,
Waterford, and Dunmore, staying, however, but a very short time
at each place, as Mr. Nimmo was obliged to be in Hereford on
Monday last, to attend an important trial. Accordingly, after
visiting the pier and lighthouse of Dunmore (another trace of my
comrade's engineering skill), we took a boat and rowed out some
miles to meet the " Nora Creina," a steam vessel which was going
from Waterford to Bristol. We had a pleasant passage in this
excellent vessel, which brought us over in twenty-five or twenty-
six hours, though the wind was against us all the way. Here I
had plenty of climbing, &c. The entrance of the Avon was beau-
tiful. But I cannot now describe any more beauties, for neither
room nor time will admit.'

* A large number of Glover's paintings of Killarney were in the possession of
the late Sir Thomas Phillii^ps, Bart., of Middle Hill and Cheltenham, and
struck me as admirable representations of the peculiar charms of that lovely
district.

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronomy. 253

Other letters of this time express his anxiety for the receipt of
proofs of his Essay on Systems of Rays ; and a long letter to his
sister EKza, which I now insert, describes graphically his descent
into a coal-mine at Dudley, and ends with an urgent appeal to her
to carry on with zeal her studies of mathematics and astronomy-,
so that she may be his companion and assistant in the work of the
Observatory.

From W. E. Hamilton to Jiis Sister Eliza.

'"Waterloo Hotel, Ltverpool,

'Av(/ust 30, 1827.

' Having just received from Mr. North, whom I happened to
meet here this morning, and with whom I have been dining, a
frank for you, I cannot bring myself to neglect the opportunity of
writing to one from whom I have been (as the motto of my seal
will express) sejyarated hut not disunited, although I hope so soon to
rejoin you in person, and be able fully to compare all the various
adventures which have befallen either of us since we parted. I
wrote, you know, from Hereford, a hasty letter to you, an answer
to which I received on return to that town, after a short trip to
Cheltenham. I have since written to Cousin Arthur, to Aunt
Mary, and to Grace, so that my pen has not been quite idle, any
more than my eyes or my legs, though indeed lerjs are not much
used in coach or packet travelling; however, they are a little in
the various excursions over and under ground, which tempt one in
the neighbourhood of the various towns. For instance, last Mon-
day evening we arrived at Dudley, having come from Hereford, and
though we had paid for places to Wolverhampton, which is some-
what further on the Liverpool road, yet, as there were many objects
of interest at Dudley, we stopt there. While they were getting
dinner ready, we (Mr. Nimmo and I) sallied forth to exj)lore the
ruins of the Castle, which we found very well worth seeing — an
antiquary would I am sure have enjoyed them highly, and even /
was greatly pleased. From the battlements of a sort of citadel or
inner tower, upon the highest part of the rock, we had an exten-
sive view of the town and of the surrounding scenery, which was

254 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1827.

principally distinguished by the numher of fires that were seen
coming out of the chimneys of the various iron manufactories and
others rising from heaps of small coal thrown away and burned as
useless. Early the next morning we returned to the same view :
day had begun to pale the light of those vast masses of flame, but
still enough remained to remind one strongly of the old fabled
regions of Tartarus or the halls of Vulcan and the Cyclopes. Fol-
lowing a path that wound through a deep and wooded glen, we
soon came to another scene very different from the former, but
equally suited to keep up the idea of a descent into Acheron. We
found two long and narrow boats at the mouth of a subterranean
stream, which seemed to run for an unmeasured distance into the
dark bowels of a stupendous rock. This, my companion told me,
was the stream of Styx, and these the boats of Charon. We wan-
dered for some time on the gloomy shore, meeting no one to guide
our steps, and imagining ourselves to resemble those unhappy
souls who, having failed to bring with them the customary obolus,
were left by the surly ferryman to rove for a hundred years the
barren shore of that dark flood which stretched its waveless
depths between their weary steps and the far Elysian fields. At
length, however, we had the fortune to find a httle boy ac-
quainted with the place, who for a small gratuity undertook to
guide us into the vast and caverned labyrinths, through which
without some such assistance it would have been too rash for even
me to venture ; though in the expedition to the mines of Ross
Island I had won from my more sensible or less courageous com-
panions the palm of absurdest daring, and the nickname of Le
Biable. Our young guide led the way, carrying a torch in his
hand, and cautioning us to beware how we walked along the slip-
pery path, bordered by the sharp-pointed rocks and by the unseen
stream — unseen except when a turn of the path gave to me, who
followed in comparative darkness, the far-down reflexion of the
torch's unsteady flame and of the dark figures of my companions.
It was a strange, a wild, an unearthly scene — and yet it had some-
thing so romantic and poetical about it that I thought of you, and
wished that you were with me. Presently, as we entered one of
those vast caverns, which have their rocky vault supported by some
enormous pillar^ either formed there by nature or purposely suf-
fered to remain when all around was cleared away, there came in

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronomy. 255

upon us, from a scanty opening in the top, a faint and distant
gKmmer of the light of heaven, which seemed as if, even in those
desolate depths, it would not quite forsake us, and shining on the
grass that fringed and waved around the surface, appeared like
one of those bright and far-ofE heams of hope which even in the
deepest mental gloom will sometimes wake to light and life the
verdant spots of memory, reminding us that bliss has once been
ours, and whispering that it may be ours again. Soon, however,
we lost sight of this transient gleam of day, and the darkness and
danger increased, especially to me, who, by walking after my
companion, lost all the benefit of the torch carried^ by the guide.
I got him to give me a small one for myself, by untwisting and
lighting a bit of the old rojDe-end, which was indeed our sole illu-
mination. And now we began seriously to descry the somewhat
unpleasant probability that having come with so scant a supply of
light upon our journey, our torches, abeady burned almost to our
fingers, might soon be quite exhausted, and we be left in darkness
to trace back our perilous way. Back, however, we would not go,
while any chance remained of penetrating to the workmen, whose
presence in the caverns we knew by the rumbling of their huge
wheelbarrows upon the subterranean railway, and more than once
by the strange and solemn sound of the exploding gunpowder with
which they were blasting the rocks. On therefore we hastened, I
having first resolved that, like a crew on short allowance, who re-
trench their quantity of food to prevent the approaching dangers
of a total famine, I should put out my light, and trust to my own
steadiness, along with such help as I could get from the torch of
the guide (who formed the van of our little army, Mr. N. being
the centre, and I bringing up the rere), to prevent myself from slip-
ping on the rocks or into the water, until we should get on that safe
and guarded railway which led immediately to the workmen. To
this railway we got without any accident to tell of, and presently
came in sight of the workmen, who, with their far lights, that bore
so small a proportion to the size and gloom of the caverns, formed
another group of so picturescjue a kind, and so different from ordi-
nary sights, that I could not help again wishing for you. But
much as I have been interested and impressed by all these novel
scenes, I am ashamed of giving to my adventures an air of such
exaggerated importance ; and as I know that any description

256 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1827.

(mine at least) can seldom give an idea of reality, I am almost
afraid that you will be tired of this one. For my part, I am ge-
nerally tired by descriptive writing, unless it be of a singularly
happy kind ; but I know that you will be glad to have even an
imperfect sketch of some of the things which I have been seeing
and doing ; and if Mrs. Disney or any other of the Stanley Society
should like to hear of the wanderings of their abdicated member,
you are at liberty to show them this letter if you choose. I am
not likely to add much to these wanderings before I retm^n to
Dublin ; for though by no means tired of travel, I am beginning
to long for home, and often think of the pleasure I shall enjoy
when we shall set out together on our journey from earth to
heaven. Would that it were such in every sense ! We should
then indeed be happy ; but I only meant our journey along the
beauteous and glorious path by which we shall mount almost to
that unearthly eminence where unembodied spirits look abroad
upon the wonderful spectacle of the Universe. To mount this
path, however, we must needs begin at the bottom. We must
prepare ourselves by thought, by study, by observation. Geome-
try (an introduction from whom was deemed by Plato an essential
requisite in his disciples) will welcome us at the base of the moun-
tain, and lead us along her simple lines, her graceful circles. She
will then resign us to the guidance of Analysis, her younger and
stronger sister, whose features appear to some at first rej)ulsive,
but who will be every day unfolding new charms, and continu-
ally winning on our esteem and our love. Each, in her several
region, will show to us what she has marked among the motions
of the host of heaven. We shall see the planets in their mystic
dance still looking to their glorious central fire, and circling round
its ever-burning altar. The comets, too, at sight of whom the na-
tions once grew pale, and monarchs trembled on their thrones,
shall be to us familiar friends, returning at expected periods from
their wanderings through the immensity of space. We shall see
them rushing with a lover's joy to the presence of their beloved
sun, but slackening their pace and lingering as they with-
draw. To our ken, too, shall be made visible that other hearth
round which they wing their chill and desolate way, when far be-
yond the planetary regions, in darkness and in distance, they
begin to feel the sun's reviving iufluencCj and turn their chariots

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronomy. 257

liitherward again, coming once more, after the lapse of ages, to appal
and blast the uninstructed gaze, but to gladden ours with solemn
and sublime delight. We shall have risen above the delusions of
sense, the mists and shadows of the vale. Even the earth on
which we tread shall be no more to us a torpid and motionless
mass, but, transformed to celestial beauty, shall grow a sister of
the planets, and be seen circling along with them, in gracefid and
harmonious dance, around the same central source of life and
light. We shall see her robed in her thin aerial veil, preserving
her from the sun's too ardent gaze, without quite excluding his
beams, and yielding to man the twilight hour, sacred to high and
solemn thought and to the walks of love. As we approach the
summit of the mountain, our sight shall become yet keener and
more extensive. We shall discern the changes of our system as
age after age rolls over it. Astronomy shall be to us — history,
vision, prophecy: dispelling the mists that hide from us the past,
making clearer and fuller our view of the present, and revealing
to us the secrets of the future. We shall see that the universe
contains within itself the elements of its own stability, the provi-
sion for its own renovation. We shall trace in all its parts, in all
its seeming irregularities, the power, the wisdom, and the good-
ness of one great Master Architect. The mute but eloquent stars
shall sing to us of Him ; all Nature shall be peopled with His wit-
nesses ; and from the constant contemplation of His works and the
sense of His continual presence we shall every day have our minds
more and more ennobled, our hearts more and more softened and
pmified, and our souls more framed and fitted to modesty, piety,
and virtue.'

The following letter to Mr. Nimmo, from whom he had parted
at Birmingham, proves how sensible he was of any defects in self-
cultm-e, and how his mind was set upon supplying them ; and the
extract from a letter to his cousin Arthur is a similar proof that he
sought from his travels not only the enjoyment and refreshment
which he needed, but improvement of a' solid character.

258 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1827.

From W. R. Hamilton to Alexander Nimmo.

' Wateeioo Hotel, Liveepool,
'August SI, 1827.

' My visit to Eobinson and my trip with you liave contributed
to call forth a taste for practical knowledge in which before I was
very deficient. I open my eyes more, and instead of being con-
tent with knowing a little of the mathematical theory of an opera-
tion, I find myself asking, could I do this myself.^ Other tastes,
too, more or less connected with these newly-acquired habits of
observation, are beginning to develop themselves. I have long
looked on nature with a jwefs eye (if I may be permitted to use
an expression which seems to imply a poKe)\ but which I use
merely to denote a tni<te) ; I am now beginning to look upon it
with a 'painter's, too. Ludicrous as my present attempts in draw-
ing may be, they serve to make me enjoy, in a far higher and
more definite manner than formerly, the visible beauties of Nature
and of Art. Things that before used only to give me a vague and
passing pleasure, or at best used only to recal poetical recollections
or awaken poetical musings, have now an individual, and if I may
so call it, a pictorial interest ; and I do not despair of yet acquiring
a sufiicient skill in the management of the pencil to be able to
embody upon paper my sense of beauty seen, or my conception of
beauty imagined. I even begin to hope that in my increased at-
tention to external and sensible objects, I may improve my present
vague perception of musical harmony into one more vivid and dis-
tinct. In short, amid the numerous impulses and impressions
which I have received, during my last month of abstraction from
anything like regular study, I sometimes fear lest I should lose
that strong and deep devotedness to mathematical research which
has so long characterised my mental habits, and which has been so
closely entwined with my unboimded aspirations after excellence
and distinction. This, however, is an effect of which I need
scarcely entertain any very serious apprehensions. My mathema-
tical tastes are too deeply rooted and too solidly founded to be in
danger from the rivalry of more elegant perhaps, but surely less
fascinating pursuits — less fascinating, I mean, to those who have

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronomy. 259

experienced the delight of fiill intellectual employment, and who
have felt the power with which that employment invests them.
And I have no doubt but that when I return to the quiet of home
and to the local influences of the Observatory, I shall return also to
the scientific pursuits of my profession, with an energy and ardour,
refined it may be, but not abated.'

From W. R. Hamilton to liia Cousin Arthur.

'Malvebn, August 24, 182 7.

* ... I have laid in much store for reflexion, derived many
new ideas, and received many fresh impulses, which may hereafter,
like seeds sown and for a while neglected, ripen into a valuable
and abundant harvest ; not to dwell on what, however, ought not
to be despised, the quantity of enjoyment and relaxation thus
seized before entering on my arduous professional duties, and the
improvement and confirmation of health which may fairly be ex-
pected from air, exercise, and amusement.'

The incidents of his visits to Liverpool he sums up in a letter
to his sister Grace.

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Gtrace.

' . . . However, though the Graces* are not here, there
are many things to interest and please in Liverpool. I have
found out Mrs. Robert Huttonf \jiee CromptonJ and her family,
with whom I have been spending a little time, as also with the
Misses Lawrence,^ some of whom had met Eliza in Dublin, and
desire to be remembered to her. I have met others too whom I was
glad to see, especially Dr. Trail, a very pleasant person, who will
bring me to see Noakes, a wonderful calculating boy. Mr.
Shepherd, whom I met at the Cromptons, has given me an in-
troduction to Roscoe, which I have not yet bden able to present.'

* Siqmi, p. 224. f Stqmc, p. 142. X Supra, p. 191.

• S2

26o Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1827.

Eliza Hamilton's letter is not extant, but she would seem to
have been somewhat awed by the prospect of the scientific journey
from earth to heaven to which her brother had invited her, al-
though she did not refuse to be his companion. He thus reassures
her : —

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' Liverpool, Sej^tember 9, 1827.

' I have not time to answer your letter as fully as its length
and interest deserve, but I hope to be able to write you a few
lines from Lancaster or from the Lakes of Cumberland. In the
meantime I will comfort you by the assurance that in the jou met/
which we meditate taking together, you shall be absolute judge of
the proper length of the stages, if you allow me to judge of the
distance to which we shall finally travel ; or, to speak more plainly,
if you will not despair of becoming in ten or twelve years an ac-
complished astronomer, should we both live so long, or of being fit
to succeed me when I die, I will always let you stop in your les-
sons whenever you feel yourself even beginning to be tired. I
should be glad if you or Grrace would send me, when you write
again, a copy of the Logarithms which you were working, at least
of those in which you got puzzled. Only manage the matter
better than the last packet, received this morning, which cost me
6s. 8d. instead of coming by Nimmo. Tell Grrace I got her letter
inclosing the proof sheet, with the edges cut, and that I was glad
to pay the 2.s. which it cost, for the printers were at a stand.'

The next letter is of peculiar interest, telling of the impressions
made upon Hamilton by the Northern Lakes of England, and of his
first intercourse with Wordsworth. I have more than once heard
the latter refer in terms of pleasurable reminiscence to the mid-
night walk in which the two oscillated between Eydal and Amble-
side, absorbed in converse on high themes, and finding it almost
impossible to part. The poem at the end, ' It haunts me yet,'
introduced to his sister's notice in so cursory and slighting a
manner, is one of those which most reveal the deep movement of

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronomy. 261

his affections, and his aspirations, proceeding from a source almost
equally deep, after scientific excellence.

From the Same to the Same.

'Keswick, September 16, 1827.

* I was glad you liked my account of my Dudley expedition ; I
havb since been seeing many new people and places which have
interested and pleased me very much. Of these I cannot under-
take to give you any complete or regular description, for I have
kept no notes, and the multitude of succeeding objects has pro-
duced on my mind an effect somewhat similar to that of the waves
of the tide ; still making gradual yet certain advances, but sweep-
ing over and as it were effacing one another. To speak less meta-
phorically, I have not indeed forgotten much of what I have seen,
but I cannot recal it all at a required moment and in an historic
order. My mind has been delighted certainly, and, as I hope,
improved ; but though I expect that this tour will have supplied
me with materials of thought and images of memory, for many
future years, those materials and those images are at present too
thickly crowded to admit of perfectly distinct conception, or of
very successful delineation. If I shall ever acquire a skill in draw-
ing, at all proportionate to my fondness for that art (which has
been always breaking out from time to time, and now more than
ever, from the comparative leisure that I have lately had, and the
number of natural beauties that I have seen), I may then be able
to bring home with me, on returning from any future tour of the
same kind as the present, memorials of what I have seen, such as
not only to revive my own recollections of scenery and other ob-
jects, but also to afford somewhat of a corresponding pleasure to
those whom I have left behind. As it is, we may perhaps occa-
sionally for many future years draw out from the stores of me-
mory those materials and images that I spoke of — particularly if I
increase my fund, as I have strong intentions of doing, by proceed-
ing from those delicious Lakes (which, like Killarney, have not in
the least disappointed me) on a farther tour to Edinburgh and the
Highlands. One strong inducement to this extension of my tour
(which, however, I must make at my own expense) is that we

262 Life of Sir WiUiavi Roivan Haviilton. [1827.

picked up yesterday, at the foot of the mountain Helvellj-n, no
less celebrated a fellow-countryman and fellow-citizen of mine
than the Rev. Csesar Otway — the C. 0. of the Christian Examiner.
He too is going, as well as Mr. Nimmo, to Edinburgh and to the
Highlands, for a little more than a week, intending to return to
Dublin (at which place he must arrive in about a fortnight) by steam-
ing from Glasgow to Belfast ; so that if I go with him I may be
back to you probably before the Observatory is ready, and may have
seen not only Scotland (Gretna? I have called on the Graces), but
also have taken Sydney and Dr. Eobinson in my way. To Edin-
burgh therefore I go, starting either this evening or to-morrow,
along with the rest of our caravan ; but first I must shut up this let-
ter and go present to Southey an introduction which I have received
from Wordsworth, with whom I spent the evening — I might
almost say the night — of yesterday, for he and I were taking a
midnight tvalk together for a long, long time, without any comjMnion
except the stars and our own burning thoughts and words. Do
not suppose, however, that Wordsworth was so impolite as to ne-
glect my friends when he invited me — they all came with me to
tea, not only my regular travelling companions, but also C. 0.,
who had been along with us that day above the clouds, upon the
summit of Helvellyn. I wish I could give you some idea of the
novel and beautiful spectacle which we witnessed in our ascent —
the motions of the clouds below us, the rills and valleys beyond,
the strange and thrilling sensation that was felt (by some of us at
least) when we first found ourselves actually in the clouds and saw
the earth disappear, not (as in the diving-bell of Limerick, the
mines of Ross Island, or the quarries of Dudley), by our being he-
loiv, but by being above its surface. There are some steep preci-
pices near the top of Helvellyn, and the effect at their brink was
striking (to me) in the extreme ; for the abyss being quite filled
with cloud, it seemed as if I could have thrown myself off into
that sea of vapour, and sported there, free from all risk of sinking.
There was one small valley between two mountains opposite Hel-
vellyn, which I had watched the whole way up, in every varying
state of light and shade ; — one rill that trickled down it looked so
very beautiful that I quite wished to live there by its side (pro-
vided I could have brought the Observatory along with me) ; — this
rill with its valley I had lost sight of upon entering the clouds ;,

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronoiny. 263

and when, in descending Helvellyn, we came again in sight of it,
I, who happened to be in the front of the party, and so to see it
first, imagined my sensations to resemble those of the Grecian
soldiers who, being in the advanced guard of the Ten Thousand,
exclaimed, with sudden joy, " The Sea, The Sea ! " I must, how-
ever, warn you, that (though not purposely) I am probably ex-
aggerating, for my companions all declared that the day had been
most unfavourable* — notwithstanding that both Mr. Otway and
Mr. Nimmo have a good deal of the poetic spirit, and Mr. Jones
(an apprentice of Mr. Nimmo) is an artist — draws, paints, models,
&c., besides singing both pathetic and comical songs, and telling
stories so humorously, that being in bodily fear for my sides I
was sometimes obliged to cry out quarter. We all dined most vo-
raciously in the guide's house at the foot of the mountain, and I
changed my stockings there, having prudently foreseen (you see
how prudent I am) that we should wet our feet completely in the
various boggy tracts which we had to cross. Then we returned to
our hotel at Ambleside, about six or seven miles off, on a coach
which was passing, and were in time to wait on Wordsworth at
tea, as I already mentioned. We had met him the evening before
at Mr. and Mrs. Harrison's, an amiable family who have a house
near Ambleside, and who showed us a great deal of attention

* It may interest readers who were acquainted with, another great mathe-
matician, a coeval of Hamilton, and like him shedding lustre on the University
of Duhlin, Professor Mac Cullagh, to read here the following note, which in the
year 1838 I had the pleasure of receiving from him after his ascent of Helvel-
lyn. The parallelism both of circumstances and feelings is striking : —

' Ambleside, September 20, 1838.

' I returned here last night from Keswick by Ullswater and Kirkstone, after
seeing Buttermere and Borrowdale, and going up Skiddaw and Helvellyn.
Having lost my glass, I could see but little from the top of the former mountain ;
but I shall never forget how the mist boiled in the cauldrons of Helvellyn. The
day was unfavourable for a view, but the mountain itself, as I saw it, was
worth all the views in the world. I went by Patterdale from Striding Edge
and returned by Swirrel Edge, and was in the greatest glee, jumping from
rock to rock. When I got to the top and looked down upon the two tarns,
with the mist rolling over them and the sun breaking through it, I felt the
most intense delight. Some other time I must ascend the mountain for a
view.'

264 Life of Sir William Rowa7i Hamilton. [1827.

during our stay there. He (Wordsworth) walked back with our
party as far as their lodge ; and then, on our bidding Mrs. Har-
rison good-night, I offered to walk back with him, while my party
proceeded to the hotel. This offer he accepted, and our conversa-
tion had become so interesting that when we arrived at his house,
a distance of about a mile, he proposed to walk back with me on
my way to Ambleside, a proposal which you may be sure that I did
not reject ; so far from it, that when he came to turn once more
towards his home, I also turned once more along with him. It
was very late when I reached the hotel after all this walking ; and
in returning I had some odd adventures which perhaps we may
talk of another time ; for instance, being alone, and being at no
time very skilful in finding my way, I was near wandering first
into a mill-pond, and secondly into a churchyard.

'■ But now I really can write no more ; however, I hope to
wi'ite from Edinburgh, and give you some account of my visit to
Southey. In the meantime I enclose a coinj of verses I picked up at
Ambleside, from which place, besides my excursion to Helvellyn, I
made also a very pleasant one to Coniston and other neighbouring
Lakes.'

' IT HAUNTS ME YET.'

* It haunts me yet, that dream of early Love !

Though Passion's waters toss me now no more ;
And though my feelings, like the ark-banish'd dove,

In wandering that sinking ocean o'er,
Hail with sad joy signs of a coming shore,

And oft would flee to some fresh-springing leaves
Of hope that seem to promise rest in store,

That seeming rest still their tired flight deceives,

And drives them back again where unfreed Memory grieves.

' Aye, His unfreed ! Time may not quite erase

Affection's gravure on the unworn mind ;
Or waves of change or chance sweep out the trace

Young Fancy's eliin footsteps leave behind.
'Tis not in Duty's might, nor Will's, to unbind

WhoUy that chain Hope's seraph hand once wove ;
"When all Imagination's hues combined,

And the Mind's powers, and Heart's, together strove

To frame one glorious shrine for bright and deathless Love,

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronomy. 265

' Where his entire divinity might dwell

And his unclouded presence fill the soul ;
While at the altar's foot a buhbling weU

Of ever-gushing Phantasy should roll
Fresh rills of Joy and Beauty o'er the whole

Yet unmarr'd Paradise of happy thought ;
And unoppressed as yet by the control

Of Earth-born care, Enthusiasm ever brought

From out her fragrant store some golden censer fraught

* With living incense for that cherished fane

Whereof she was th' unwearied minister :
And dreams of Purity without a stain,

And Excellence surpassing human, there
Waved their glad wings as in their native air.

Days of Emotion, ye are not forgot !
The thought of you is twined with whatsoe'er

Of more than common happiness my lot.

Or more than common grief, to this tkrill'd breast had brought.

* And THOU too, mighty Spirit ! whom to name

Seems all too daring for this lowly line ;
Thou who didst climb the pinnacle of Fame,

And left'st a memory almost divine !
To whom the heavens unbarred their inner shrine,

And drew aside their sanctuary's veil,
While Nature's self disclosed her grand design.

And smiled to see thee kindle at the tale.

And before Science' sun thine eagle eye not quail :

*■ AU reverently though I deem of thee,

Though scarce of earth the homage that I pay,

Forgive, if 'mid this fond idolatry

A voice of human sympathy find way ;

And whisper that while Truth's and Science' ray
With such serene effulgence o'er thee shone.

There yet were moments when thy mortal day
Was dark with clouds by secret sorrow thrown.
Some lingering dream of youth — some lost beloved one.

* If then thy history I read aright,

0 be my great Example ! and though above,
Immeasurably above, my feeble flight.

The steep ascent up which thy pinions strove,
Yet in their track my strength let me too prove ;

And if I cannot, quite, past thoughts undo,
Yet let no memory of unhappy love

Have power my fixed purpose to o'erthrow.

Or Duty's onward course e'er tempt me to forego !

266 Life of Sir William Roivan HamiltGn. [1827.

No pause for me, no dallj-ing in the race

To which I've vow'd me long — though Boyhood sought
A sweeter prize — which I must now erase

From the bright catalogue that Hope had wrought ;
When numbering o'er her starry heaven of thought

She hail'd, amid the lesser glories there,
One, as the ruling planet of my lot,

A peerless influence o'er my fate to bear.

And guide me to the port of joy or fond despair.

That hope indeed hath parted from me now,

That gentle planet guides my barque no more ;
But shall Despondence therefore blank my brow.

Or pining Sorrow sickly Ardour o'er ?
Is there no haven left me to explore ?

Have Friends and Country on my thoughts no claim ?
Knowledge and Virtue no ungathered store ?

Is it no prize to win immortal Fame,

And leave to Mankind's love a bright unsullied Name ?

"■■o"-

* There is a monitor within my heart,

A secret voice that passeth not away ;
A burning Finger that wUl not depart

But urges onward stiU and cliides delay ;
Summoning to excellence's onward way ;

And though yet feeble, I will follow still.
Till every cloud be lost in perfect day.

And I have reached the siimmit of that hill

Where more than earthly light my strengthened gaze shall fill I'

Hamilton sent these lines while they were fresh from his
heart, and before time had been allowed for calm review and cor-
rection, to invite the sympathy, but at the same time to meet the
criticism, of Wordsworth. "Wordsworth's acknowledgment, con-
tained in the first of his letters to Hamilton, expresses with satis-
fying fulness his sympathetic recognition of their merits, and
shows him equally true to his critical function as a poetic artist.

From William Wordsworth to W. R. Hamilton.

' Rybal Mount, neak Ken d.^,,
' September 24, 1827.

* You will have no pain to suffer from my sincerity. With a
safe conscience I can assure you that, in my judgment, your

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronomy. 267

verses are animated with true poetic spirit, as they are evidently
the product of strong feeling. The sixth and seventh stanzas
affected me much, even to the dimming of my eye and faltering of
my voice while I was reading them aloud. Having said this, I
have said enough. Now for the per contra. You will not, I am
sure, be hurt, when I tell you that the workmanship (what else
could be expected from so young a writer ?) is not what it ought
to be ; even in those two affecting stanzas it is not perfect —

" Some touch of human sympathy find way
And whisper that while Truth's and Science' ray
With such serene effulgence o'er thee shone."

Sympathy might whisper, but a touch of sympathy could not.
" Truth's and Science' ray," for the ray of Truth and Science, is
not only extremely harsh, but a " ray 8lione " is, if not absolutely
a pleonasm, a great awkwardness; a "ray fell" or "shot" maybe
said, and a sun, or a moon, or a candle shone, but not a ray. I
much regret that I did not receive these verses while you were
here, that I might have given you vwd wee a comment upon them
which would be tedious by letter, and, after all, very imperfect.
If I have the pleasure of seeing you again, I will beg permission
to dissect these verses, or any other you may be inclined to show
me ; but I am certain that, without conference with me, or any
benefit drawn from my practice in metrical composition, your own
high powers of mind will lead you to the main conclusions ; you
will be brought to acknowledge that the logical faculty has in-
finitely more to do with poetry than the young and the inex-
perienced, whether writer or critic, ever dreams of. Indeed, as the
materials upon which that faculty is exercised in poetry are so
subtle, so plastic, so complex, the application of it requires an
adroitness which can proceed from nothing but practice ; a discern-
ment, which emotion is so far from bestowing, that at first it is
ever in the way of it. Here I must stop ; only let me advert to
two lines —

" But shall despondence therefore blench my hrow,
Or pining sorrow sickly ardour o'er?"

These are two of the worst verses in mere expression. Blench is
perhaps miswritten for blanch ; if not, I don't understand the

268 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1827.

word. Blench signifies to flinch. If blanch be the word, the next
one ought to be "hair"; you cannot here use brow for the hair
upon it, because a white brow or forehead is a beautiful character-
istic of youth. " Sickly ardour o'er " was, at first reading, to me
unintelligible ; I took sickly to be an adjective joined with ardour,
whereas you mean it as a portion of a verb, from Shakespeare's
" sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought," but the separation
of the parts, or decomposition of the word, as here done, is not to
be endured.

' Let me now come to your sister's verses,* for which I thank
you. They are surprisingly vigorous for a female pen, but occa-
sionally too rugged, and especially for such a subject ; they have
also the same faults in expression as your own, but not, I think,
in quite an equal degree. Much is to be hoped from feelings
so strong, and a mind thus disposed. I should have entered into
particulars with these also, had I seen you after they came into
my hands. Your sister is, no doubt, aware that in her poem she
has trodden the same ground as Gray, in his Ode upon a distant
prospect of Eton College. What he has been contented to treat in
the abstract she has represented in particulars, and with admirable
spirit. But again, my dear sir, let me exhort you (and do you
exhort your sister) to deal little with modern writers, but fix your
attention almost exclusively upon those who have stood the test of
time. You especially have not leisure to allow of your being
tempted to turn aside from the right course by deceitful lights.
My household desii-e to be remembered to you in no formal way.
Seldom have I parted — never, I was going to say — with one whom,
after so short an acquaintance, I lost sight of with more regret. I
trust we shall meet again. If not,t . . . Pray do not forget
to remember me to Mr. Otway. I was much pleased with him
and with your fellow-traveller Mr. Nimmo, as I should have been
no doubt with the young Irishman,+ had not our conversation
taken so serious a turn. The passage in Tacitus which Milton's
line so strongly resembles is not in the Agricola, nor can I find it ;
but it exists somewhere.'

* ' The Boys' Schoool.'

t A line here has disappeared from the edge of the letter.

\ Mr. Jones.

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronomy. 269

Before I refer to the critical part of tlie above letter, I may
indulge myself by saying that those who knew Wordsworth will
be able to estimate how high is the value of the tribute to Hamil-
ton conveyed in one line near the conclusion of his letter. He-
has said in my hearing that Coleridge and Hamilton were the
two most wonderful men, taking all their endowments together,
that he had ever met.

The reader will observe that "Wordsworth's first criticism was
acted iipon by the change of the word ' touch ' into ' voice ' ; it is
to be regretted that Hamilton found himself unable to make cor-
rections of the two flaws next mentioned. I cannot but think,
however, that his defence* of his meaning in the passage subse-
quently criticised was successful ; he had made an unfortunate
confusion as to the word adopted, but surely he was right in
conceiving that there was a difference between the creamy fair-
ness of the healthy brow in youth and the morbid paleness of
the same feature when affected by distressful emotion. His error
in this line he accordingly first corrected by changing ' blench *
into ' blanch ' ; afterwards, resting upon Shakespeare's authority,
'blank the face of joy' {Hamlet iii. 2, 195, Clarendon Press), he
changed the word into ' blank.' I rather lean to ' blanch,' and
cite in its favour Browning's ' temples — dead-blanched.'

In reference to another part of Wordsworth's letter, and also
because the concluding stanzas are intended to depict her brother,
I think my readers will thank me for giving in the Appendix
a reprint of the poem by Eliza Hamilton of which Wordsworth
speaks in terms of such high approbation. If it recalls to mind
Grray'sOde referred to by Wordsworth, its treatment of the subject
is more individual and concrete, and in so far more affecting. It
forms a beautiful pendant to the touching and characteristic lines
of Mrs. Hemans published previously, ' Evening Prayer at a Grirls'
School'; lines which were favourites with Hamilton and his sister.
Both these poems deserve to live in memory.

* See infra, p. 283.

270 Life of Sir William Rowa7t Hamilton. [1827.

No letter of Hamilton exists describing his visit to Keswick
and his impressions of Soiithey, nor do I remember to have heard
him speak with special interest of either. His heart settled upon
Eydal and the poet of Rydal. But, that Southey enjoyed his
society, and that Hamilton had pleasurable intercourse with
Southey appears by the following extract from a letter of
Southey to Thomas Digges La Touche, dated Keswick, De-
cember 9, 1827:*—

' I have regretted your loss the more because since your depar-
ture I have been in better bodily health, and more capable of
taking bodily exercise than for some years past ; so that, had you
been here, I should have had some mountaineering days with you.
Moreover, had you been at hand, I think I should have sent for
Pocock's book about flying kites, which draw carriages and take
people up in the air. I think you would have set about making such
kites, and that we might have been drawn up Skiddaw by them
in a car (which, however, must not have been backless), and that Mac
perhaps would have taken a flight and admired himself more at
the tail of a kite than he did in the phaeton at York. Such an
ascent would have immortalised us both. I might have burnt
my books if I had written them for ambition only, and rested
upon this exploit for fame.

We had some of your countrymen here in the latter part of the
season. The Dean of Ardagh, Dr. Graves, was lodging next door,
broken down by afflictions and by a paralytic stroke ; his son and
daughter were with him, a very interesting family. We had also
Mr. Otway, a clergyman, whose name I dare say you know, and
Hamilton, the young professor of astronomy, who is so fond of the
stars and so full of life and spirits that I dare say if the kites had
been ready, and Mac had not been willing to undertake an ascent,
he would. Nay, I believe that for the sake of making a tour among
the stars, he would willingly be fastened on to a comet's tail. Nimmo
the engineer was with them, but he indeed is a Scotchman, and a
young pupil of his, Jones by name, all very iDleasant and original

* Selections from the Letters of Robert Southey, by the Rev. J. W. "Warter,
Tol. iv., p. 78.

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astro7iomy. 271

men. I had a good deal of conversation with Mr. Otway concern-
ing the religious movement in Ireland. Besides these persons,
Isaac Weld called on me one day — a clever man — but not to be
liked like these ; for there is more of this world about him, and less
of the other.'

Hamilton, writing from Glasgow, resumes in a letter to his
sister the subject of her study of Astronomy, in a strain not less
marked than previous letters had been by scientific enthusiasm,
here tempered by warm brotherly affection.

From, W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' Glasgow', September 26, 1827.

* You know how desirous I have been that you should learn As-
tronomy, both for your own sake and for mine ; for yours, because I
consider the study of this science useful to all minds, but especially
so to a female, and still more especially to a poetic, mind ; and for
mine, because I wish to have the encouragement of your sympathy
and assistance in running that high career to which I have long
secretly devoted myself, and to which I have of late been publicly
summoned by what I consider as the solemn call of God and my
country — the career of scientific excellence, the search into the
wonders and glories of Creation, the unfolding of the laws and
motions of the Universe. And glorious as this race is, and high
perhaps above all earthly honours as is the crown of fame, and
usefulness, and intellectual eminence, which rewards the successful
competitor ; yet is the path so steep, so tangled, so sore beset with
difficulty and danger, that, of all who have entered upon it, how
many have turned aside, or fallen by the way ! When, indeed,
one reflects on the assemblage of warring qualities ; on the union
of enthusiastic ardour with calm and philosophic caution; of the
courage that shrinks not from difficulties, with the prudence and
art that elude them; of the' observing eye that ranges over earth
and heaven, with the abstracting mind that can withdraw into
its own solitary realm of thought ; of the untiring zeal that still
aims at unlimited excellence, with the modesty that looks upon all
which it has done as nothing ; in a word, of highest imagination

272 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1827.

with clearest and strongest understanding, and of transcendant
genius witli transcendant industry ; when (I say) one reflects on
this array of warring qualities which must league together if they
would storm the citadel, and win the throne of Science — how
may he dare to hope them for himself, or marvel that among^
mankind so few have reached the prize, and that, at least among
our own compatriots, none equal or second to Newton hath yet
appeared? Feeling thus deeply, then, the almost insuperable
difficulties of that enterprise in which, nevertheless, I have long
determined to engage, I would not willingly augment those diffi-
culties by neglecting to arm myself with the aid of friendly and
female sympathy. And, therefore (to speak at present of you
only), though I do not expect, and scarcely even wish, that you
should ever pursue Science to the same extent that I shall, and
have no hope, on my part, of ever wooing poetry with the same
zeal and success as you, I yet indulge the thought that we may
not wholly fail in uniting our pursuits, and blending our tastes
together ; that so we may not stand, as it were, aloof, in rival and
opposite stations, but each be able, though with inferior skill, to
sympathise with, encourage, and even assist the other. Yet
highly as I desire the help of your sympathy and assistance in the
execution of that great task to which I have been devoted, I
would not seek that help if it were to be purchased at the expense
of your own happiness, or even of your own peculiar tastes. But
it need not be so purchased. You will find (I trust), by happy
experience, that, however arduous may be the attempt to climb by
untrodden paths to the very summit of Science, and plant the flag
of discovery in its unexplored regions of thought, there yet is
nothing arduous, nothing that requires more than a moderate
devotement of time and a gentle exercise of attention (useful
always, and soon becoming more and more agreeable) in ascending
so far, under a skilful and patient guide, as will enable you to
attain many of the benefits, without any of the dangers, of the
eminence. Confide yourself then, in this respect, to me ; let me
lead you upward gently, and hand in hand. Moments of weari-
ness, and even disgust, you will have — I too have had them ; but
when these moments come on, sit down and rest, and I will wait
beside you, or pursue my own free track, and return to you
again. We may not reach the top together, but we shall surely

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronomy. 273

reacli a clearer and purer atmosphere. / must, indeed, be ever
pressing onward ; I must seek to pierce the cloudy veil within
which dwells the genius of the place, dark with excessive light ;
but you need not lose sight of earth, of the prospects and beauties
of the valley ; and as we mount or rest together, you shall point
out these to me ; you shall show me much that might otherwise
have escaped my notice, and give an interest to many things
which else I might not have cared for. And when I leave you at
those spots, where the path becomes too steep and rugged for us
both to venture on, you shall still be near enough to be a witness
and a cheerer of my exertions, a judge and a rewarder of my
success; for whatever heights I may attain, whatever honours I
may win, it shall ever be my dearer title that I am your affec-
tionate brother.'

Hamilton returned to Dublin in the beginning of October,
and in one of his manuscript books I find the memorandum : —
" It was on Saturday, October 13th, 1827, that we came to the
Observatory to reside." Before making this move he had found
awaiting him in Dublin a letter written months before by Mr.
Airy, in generous terms congratulating him on his appointment,
and inviting continued intercourse. I give extracts from the
coiTCspondence which ensued.

From Gr. B. Airy to "W". E.. Hamilton.

' Trinity College, Cambkidge,
'J'm/?/23, 1827. ,

' Our introduction at Dr. Lloyd's is perhaps sufficient to jus-
tify me in offering my congratulations on your appointment as
Dr. Brinkley's successor in the Andrews Professorship. To main-
tain the present reputation of the Observatory is no easy task, but
I have no doubt that you will show that there is no impossibility
in it. I am glad, for the reputation of Dublin University and for
the interests of Science, that you are placed in a situation which
will allow you more liberty of thought than any other in the
University.

2 74 X^' of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1827.

* I have, in thus addressing you, made the first step towards a
closer acquaintance, partly because I am desirous of being person-
ally better acquainted with you, and partly on another ground.
There is not at present much intercourse between the members of
the Universities of Cambridge and Dublin — a circumstance which
I cannot but regret. I shall be glad to promote such an inter-
course by placing myself on terms of correspondence with a gentle-
man who is likely to be the brightest ornament of the College of
Dublin.

' I have had much pleasure in reading the Index of your Paper
on Rays. To understand the whole is barely possible ; but I can
comprehend a considerable portion. If the Paper is printed, I
shall be obliged to you if you wiU send me a copy. With this I
have sent copies of two Papers which I wrote some time since on
optical subjects : the first is a proposal for a kind of telescope
which failed on trial, but which I propose (when I have leisure) to
try in another form ; the second is a set of investigations strictly
practical. Since writing the last I have been occupied at intervals
in investigating the spherical aberration of eye-pieces (a subject
which, in its details, is analogous to that treated in your Paper),
and I have now brought it to a pretty complete state ; but the
Paper is not yet printed.

'I am partly occupied at present in a revision of the Solar
Tables, intrusted to me by the Board of Longitude. You would
oblige me much by communicating any observations, or results of
observations, in the Dublin Observatory tending to show the
difference between the sun's computed and observed places. The
observations which I have from the Greenwich Observatory begin
with 1816, and it would not be of much use to go farther back.'

From W. R. Hamilton ^o Gr. B. Airy.

[From a draft.]

'Dublin, 10, Soitth Cumberland- steeet,
' Octoher 9, 1827.

' It is with much pleasure that I have just received your letter
of the 23rd July, together with your two Optical Memoirs from
the Cambridge 'Philosophical Transactions ; though at the same time

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronomy. 275

I feel much regret that they have been here so long without
reaching me — a delay which has arisen partly from a negligence
on the part of the College porters, and partly from my having
been absent for a good while, on a tour for health and relaxation,
through some beautiful places in Ireland, England, and Scotland.

*I return you sincere thanks for your kind congratulation on
my appointment to this Observatory, a situation which, as you
remark, will allow me more liberty of thought than any other in
the University, and which for that reason I had no hesitation in
preferring to a Fellowship, although the salary has not been in-
creased. And I trust that, however little qualified in other respects
I may be to advance the interests of Science, zeal and industry at
least shall not be wanting. I agree, too, with you, in desiring
that there should be a closer intercourse between the Universities
of Cambridge and Dublin, and shall be glad to do whatever I can
towards promoting such an intercourse, especially in so agreeable
a way as by a correspondence with yourself.

' The Optical Memoirs, which, as I before mentioned, have
just reached me together with your letter, will be, I have no
doubt, extremely interesting. They do not appear, however, to
clash with, or anticipate, the investigations in which I have been
engaged, for though they relate to some of the most important
practical subjects connected with plane and spherical surfaces, and
seem to treat those subjects in a novel as well as masterly manner,
they do not appear to extend to those more general questions,
respecting sm'faces and systems in general, to the discussion of
which I have devoted my principal attention. The Essay which
contains my investigations on this subject is still in the Press, and
will not, I fear, be completely printed for some months to come ;
but as you were so good as to express a wish to see it, I shall take
the earliest opportunity of sending you so much as is already
printed, and the remainder shall be sent as soon as it is ready.

' Your wish respecting the Dublin observations on the differ-
ence between the sun's computed and observed places shall also
be attended to without delay. As for myself, I have not myself
commenced any observations, the Observatory being not yet ready
for residence, in consequence of the house being still occupied by
the painters and other workmen, as well as entirely unfurnished ;
and I having employed the interval of delay occasioned by these

276 Life 0/ Sir William Rowan IIamiIto?i. [1827.

circumstances in visiting the Observatories of Armagh and Edin-
burgh, as well as in acquiring, by the tour which I have before
mentioned, a stock of health and relaxation, to prepare me for the
arduous duties of my office. The first, in point of time, of these
duties, and one which will prevent me from doing much in the
way of observation for a little while longer, is the preparing a
course of astronomical lectures to be delivered in this University
during the approaching Term. But when these are over, I hope to
be able to apply with undivided attention to the more immediate-
pursuits of my profession.'

From Gr. B. Airy to W. R. Hamilton.

' Octoher 31, 1827.

* I have lately received some copies of the Paper which I have
mentioned, on the Spherical Aberration of Eye-pieces of Telescopes,
of one of which I beg your acceptance. I have endeavoured to
put it into as practical a form as possible, and I almost flatter
myself that (if I could persuade anybody to read it) it might be of
some use to the makers of telescopes. . . .

' I am not acquainted with any work on the general properties
of systems of rays. I believe (but I cannot say that I know) that
Malus has done something, though, as I conceive, much less
general than joux Essay. But of this you undoubtedly know
more than I do.

^November 2nd. Mr. Herschel, whom I saw yesterday, is
much delighted with some of your Paper that he has seen. I am
waiting for your promised copy with some anxiety.'

From W. R. Hamilton to G. B. Airy.

' Obseetatokt, November 7, 1827.

' I have just received, with much pleasure, your letter from
London, together with your work on the Spherical Aberration of
Eye-pieces of Telescopes, which I hope after some time to read
with interest and advantage, as well as the two Essays which you
transmitted to me some time ago, but which I regret to say that I
have not yet had leisure to examine. The misgiving which you

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronomy. 277

seem to express respecting your work not being read, in conse-
quence of a general want either of sufficient curiosity or informa-
tion on the subject, is one in which every person who has engaged
extensively in abstract researches must (I should think) sympathise ;
at least, I can say, for my own part, that I have often been tem-
porarily depressed by a similar misgiving. But it ought not to be
that fears of this sort should operate as an abiding discourage-
ment ; and I am sure that they will not do so, either in your mind
or in that of any other person who feels himself possessed of the
power and the will to draw forth any of those more than golden
treasures with which the exhaustless lap of Science is ever ready to
«nrich mankind.

' I enclose so much of my Essay as has been already printed.
Some delays respecting paper have occurred at the printing office,
which have kept them at a stand for some time. In the last sheet
which I send you will find some of my investigations respecting
the general theory of aberrations in rectangular systems, that is,
in systems whose rays are perpendicular to a series of surfaces.
These aberrations, as well as the other properties of optical sys-
tems, I have endeavoured to deduce from the form of one cha-
racteristic function, a method which appears to me to admit of
great simplicity and generality, and which I hope at some future
time to develop in some of its more practical applications. But
anything that I have as yet done cannot dispense with the special
consideration of plane and spheric surfaces, and therefore cannot
at all interfere with the investigations in which you have been
engaged.

I send also the right ascensions of the sun for the years 1818,
1819, and 1820, as observed in this Observatory. The longitude
in time is (by Dr. Brinkley) 25'"- 22''- west, and the e^;^augmented
catalogue of stars has been used. The computations and reduc-
tions have all been made by the assistant (Mr. Thompson), who
is skilful at them, as well as at observing ; and though I have
not had leisure to examine them myself, I believe they may be
depended on.'

The letter which follows, full of friendly kindness, from
Dr. Robinson, tells of a visit to Ireland made in company by
Mr. Hersehel and Mr. Babbage during the absence of Hamilton.

278 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1827.

Its receipt prompted Hamilton to write to Mr. Herschel ; and the
letters whieli now passed between them, and which were the begin-
ning of a correspondence, often intermitted, but always cordial,
and continued nearly to the end of Hamilton's life, will be read
"ttith interest.

From the Eev. Dr. Eobinson, to W. R. Hamilton.

'Observatory, October 11, 1827.

' I was very glad to hear from you, for really at times I had
feared that some untoward accident might have occurred. Nimmo,
however, was here last week, and ga,ve us a sketch of your adven-
tures. I am delighted that you had such an opportunity of amuse-
ment : the only drawback to my satisfaction is that I lost by it so
much of your company. I have been very busy here, but merely
as a superintendent, watching the erection of my transit, which is
now up, and I assure you loolx% extremely well : as to how it \oorliB
I cannot say, for since Tuesday week, when it was erected, not one
of the host of heaven has been visible through the dense veil of
cloud that has enwrapt them. Sharpe, the watchmaker, was here
shortly after your departure, and opened and cleaned Earnshawe's
clock, which was really an interesting job, and I was glad to find
it of such admirable construction. Herschel and Babbage were
here, but I think they must have left Ireland long ere this ; how-
ever, you will see them both to more advantage in London, where
you ought soon to go. The measurement of a base at Derry is
proceeding extremely well. I understand that its accuracy will
probably surpass anything that has previously been effected ; but
you shall have more of this if I am able to go there this year. I
will be very glad to see you as soon as the Term is over: only re-
member'that on Christmas-day, and perhaps two days after, I must
be at my parish ; so co-ordinate your movements accordingly, and
give me a few days' previous notice of your coming. All here join
in kind expression of their regard.'

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astivnojny. 279

From W. E. Hamilton to J. F. W. Herschel.

'Dublin, October 12, 1827.

' I am very sorry that I had not the pleasure of meeting you,
when you were in Dublin with Mr. Babbage ; but I indulge the
hope that we may meet at some future time, and that we shall
always regard one another with friendly feelings — if you will per-
mit one so young and untried as myself to call myself the friend of
Herschel. Mr. Kiernan, at whose house I write this letter, men-
tioned that you expressed a wish to know the subject of some
scientific investigations in which I have been engaged, and which
are to be published in the forthcoming number of the Transactions
of the Irish Academy. They relate to the general properties of Sys-
tems of Rays, and of the surfaces with which they are connected —
a subject upon which, so far as I am aware, little has been done
by Mathematicians. I have attempted to consider this subject in
the most general manner, and to investigate results and formulae
which appear to me to include the chief mathematical conclusions
of former optical writers, besides furnishing principles which may
yet be applied with advantage to new forms and combinations of
reflecting and refracting surfaces, ordinary and extraordinary, and
even to the Systems of Rays which are connected with the Theory
of Sound and of Heat. But I will not farther take up your time
by attempting to explain to you a design which you will at once
understand, if you can afford time to look over the accompanying
sheets, which are all that have as yet been printed. The remain-
der shall be sent you whenever the whole is finished ; a consum-
mation which, from the slow rate of printing here, will not probably
take place till Christmas.'

From J. F. W. Herschel to W. E. Hamilton.

' London, October 27, 1827.

' I received this morning your first sheet of your Paper on
Systems of Eays, for which I hope to thank you more properly
than I am yet entitled to do when I shall have read it with the
attention it appears to deserve. All I can now say is, that the

28o Life of Sir Williain Rowan Hamilton. [1827.

analysis appears so elegant, and the whole matter so systematic,
that I regret much its not having come into my hands at an ear-
lier period, when I might have availed myself of it in an Essay I
am engaged on, and have now nearly finished, on " Light," in
which I am conscious of having treated that part of the subject in
a kind of half-way style between the elementary and the profound,
not at all to my satisfaction.

* Malus's applications of his general formula to the extra-
ordinary refraction never pleased me. I am glad to see thai the
theory of extraordinary pencils makes part of your subject. Fur-
ther on in your Table of Contents you speak of the laws of extra-
ordinary refraction in biaxal crystals, with reference to Brewster's
spheroids. You are of course aware that these spheroids are
merely hypothetical, the real law of double refraction in biaxal
crystals being totally different from what Brewster supposed.

' I regretted much having been so unfortunate as to miss you
at the Observatory, but I trust, with you, that opportunities will
not be wanting for the improvement of our acquaintance. You
are placed in a situation, of all others, I should think, the most
enviable to a man with a real desire for scientific distinction, and
with the means of securing it accorded him by nature ; and I con-
gratulate you sincerely on the prospect of a long and honourable
career, as the worthy successor of one of the greatest of European
astronomers. I trust you will take under your protection not
merely those first-rate stars which have, I think, rather too much
dazzled the eyes of observers in most great Observatories, but a
portion, and not an inconsiderable one, of the minor host of heaven,
which need at least as much watching as their more brilliant rivals,
and hold out much more prospect of addition to our knowledge of
the Universe, in proportion to their greater number.

' I shall be obliged to you to point out to me some channel by
which I can, without putting you to serious expense, forward you
from time to time such works as I may receive in charge for the
Observatory. I have now on my table for you copies of Struve's
fifth volume of Dorpat Observations, and his noble catalogue of
3112 double stars — an immortal work: in my estimation, the
greatest astronomical production of the nineteenth century. In
the summer of 1824, 1 passed through Munich, just three weeks too
late to see his great refractor in its maker's hands. In the autumn

AETAT. 22.] Professor of Astronomy. 281

of 1827 we received, printed and published, the first-fruits of this
splendid engine, in which the results of the minute examination of
upwards of 100,000 stars are recorded. And yet this is only a
lid — an outline to be filled up. If you can name to me any
friend in London who may be shortly returning to Dublin — if I
should not find some more regular and direct official mode — I will
transmit them by his hands.

' Mr. Airy has just published in the Cambridge TranmctioiU a
work on the Spherical Aberration of Eye-pieces. I have not had
time to read it, having only received it yesterday, but I promise
myself much instruction from it.'

From W. R. Hamilton to J. F. W. Herschel.

' Observaiort, December o, 1827.

' If the time elapsed from the receiving of a letter to the an-
swering of it were always in the inverse proportion of the pleasure
which that letter had given, your communication, dated the 27th
of October, should doubtless have been long since replied to ; and
the good-nature of Mr. Kiernan, with respect to procuring franks,
should not have enjoyed so long a respite as it has done, while I
have been awaiting the tardy delivery of a second sheet of my
Essay, in addition to those which I had the honour of sending
you before. If pou could feel yourself justified in expressing a
regret that you had not earlier received those sheets, for the pui"-
pose of noticing them in your Essay upon Light, how much more
reasonably may /desire that they had sooner fallen under your
eye, and so have come forth with the sanction (if indeed they
should merit and obtain it) of one so well and so admittedly quali-
fied to decide upon their desert ! Indeed, had it not been for the
encouragement of my generous predecessor, and the hope of meet-
ing with judges such as you, my spirit would have sometimes
sunk within me, while, amid the distraction of academic duties, and
the struggle for academic honours, I was yet engaged in my secret
and separate toil, that I might, if it were possible, extend the
bounds of Science, and serve as a good soldier under the banners
of her and of my country. And now that, through the confidence
which the heads of oiu- University have reposed in me, I am placed-

2 82 Life of Sir William Rowan Haviilton. [1S27.

in a situation which, though of less emolument than a Fellowship,
gives what I more desire — opportunity and leisure for research ;
trust me, your approbation and your counsel will not be less pre-
cious to me now, but rather acquire additional interest and value
from the prospect that scientific intercourse may ripen into per-
sonal friendship. Whenever, therefore, you may be disposed to
speak of any path to improvement or usefulness, you shall find in
me a ready and attentive listener. And aided by such guidance on
the one hand, and by the promised and experienced liberality of
the heads of our Uuiversity on the other, I dare to hope that I
shall not be found an unworthy servant of Science, although per-
haps unable to bear the full burden of that responsibility which
must attach to the successor of Brinkley.'

A note from "William Edgeworth touches on persons and sub-
jects recently mentioned.

From W. Edge worth to W. R. Hamilton.

' Edgeworthstown, November 16, 1827.

' I have two Catalogues of Observations by Struve, which Mr.
Herschel gave me in London to deliver to you.

' I had not time to take them to the Observatory as I passed
through Dublin with my sister. Possibly there is a chance of
your coming here soon, and that I could have the pleasure of giv-
ing them to you in this house. If not, I will have them left at
Merrion-street, or where you may direct, by the first safe con-
veyance.

'I heard from Dr. Wollaston that Mr. Herschel had been
speaking highly of your Paper. When do you go to London ?
I was much delighted by the five days that I spent in London.

' We crossed from Liverpool with Noakes the calculating boy,
who I suppose has found you out by this time, as they looked for-
ward to your valuable assistance. He seems to have the quickest
mind I ever met with.'

The correspondence of the year may be closed with the follow-
ing reply to Mr. Wordsworth's letter, already given, of the date
September 24.

AETAT.

22.] Professor of Astronomy. 283

From W. R. Hamilton to W. Wordsworth.

Obseevatoet,
* Saturday morning, December 8, 1827.

' I have been up all night, observing ; but as I heard yesterday-
evening that Mr. Johnston intended to write to you to-day, I can-
not forego the opportunity of answering your very friendly letter,
which I received on my return from Scotland, and to which I feel
that I ought to have long since replied. The only excuse that I
can offer for my silence is that, on returning from my summer of
absence and idleness, I found so much to be done in all my affairs,
terrestrial and celestial, as completely to occupy and engage me.
The removing with my sisters to a new house, and all the various
petty cares that attend such a removal ; the superintendence of the
printing of an Optical Essay, which, being full of algebraic sym-
bols, has yielded more than the usual harvest of errors of the press,
and required more than usual vigilance on the part of the author ;
the laborious though highly delightful duty of observing the hea-
vens, which is perhaps more fatiguing to a young observer than to
an old one, because the former has continually to employ special acts
of attention and thought on objects which to the latter become
in a great degree matters of habit and routine ; and the uncer-
tainty in which I have been, until within this day or two, whether
I would be required by the University to deliver a course of
Lectures during the present Term — all these things have conspired
to leave me little leisure or inclination for writing, since my retm-u
from that very pleasant excursion, one of the principal pleasures of
which was my meeting with you and your family ; another of
those pleasures, and one which I shall never forget, being my in-
troduction through your means to Mr. Southey and his household
at Keswick.

' And now, after this enormously long sentence by way of ex-
cuse for my silence, let me thank you, my dear Mr. Wordsworth,
for the kindness and freedom of your criticisms upon the verses
which I submitted to your notice. The only one of those criti-
cisms which I shall venture in any manner to combat relates to tlie
line, " But shall despondence therefore blench my brow." The
effect of despondence, to which I here alluded, although (I confess)

284 Life of Sir William Rowan Hauiilton. [1827.

with but too little perspicuity, was not anything of premature old
age or gray hairs, as you appear to have conceived ; but only that
sickness of heart which arises too often from hope disappointed, as
well as from hope deferred, and which I have attempted to denote
by its outward emblem and not unfrequent natural accompani-
ment, the inorhid paleness of the brow. I admit, however, that if
the idea can at all abide the test of criticism, still the word ought
to be altered, either (as you propose) to blanch, or perhaps to imle,
used as an active verb. But though I may attempt to justify a
particular passage of this kind, I am, I assure you, sincerely con-
scious of the general defects of my poetry, and deeply feel the little
likeHhood that there is of one so devoted to Science as myself ever
attaining a high place in the ranks of poetical composition. Sel-
dom indeed have I attempted to place myself among those ranks
at all, except in some moments of strong and excited feeling —
moments such as the spirit of Poetry delights to cherish, but
which the sterner spirit of Science still seeks to check and subdue.
Yet let me not speak of the pursuits and contemplations of Science
as if they had not also power to stir the passions and affections of
humanity. For Science, as well as Poetry, has its own enthusiasm,
and holds its own communion with the sublimity and beauty of
the Universe. And in devoting myself to its pursuits, I seem to
myself to listen not so much to the voice of Ambition or of Patriot-
ism, which would prompt me to labour for the reputation of myself
or of my country, as to the promise of a still purer and nobler re-
ward, in that inward and tranquil delight which cannot but attend
a life occupied in the study of Truth and of Nature, and in un-
folding to myself and to other men the external works of God, and
the magnificent simplicity of Creation.'

AETAT. 22.] Early Years at the Observatory. 285

CHAPTER VIII.

EARLY YEARS AT THE OBSERVATORY.
(l828).

The commencement of Hamilton's practice as an Observer rather
seriously affected his health. He suffered from constant cold in
head and chest, and was much of his time confined to the house.
He, notwithstanding, persevered in the occupations of the meridian-
room, at this time rendered more trying by roof-shutters out of
gear. This perseverance is proved by an active correspondence
which began in the early part of 1828, between him and Dr. Ro-
binson exchanging observations of moon-culminating stars, with
a view to determine the difference of longitude between Dunsink
and Armagh. He was also employed in preparing for the printer
the conclusion of his Essay on Systems of Rays by expanding some
of the discussions. At length intermission of study, and to this end
change of scene, became evidently necessary ; and as his friends
both at Armagh and Edgeworthstown had been competing for him
as a guest, he acted successively upon their invitations. At Ar-
magh he could scarcely have escaped more observing than he was
fit for; and therefore, though feeling that the second half of his
visit to his brother-Professor was an outstanding debt, he gave
precedence to Edgeworthstown, whither he went in the middle of
March, and where he spent more than a fortnight, full to him of
delight in the brilliant converse of the celebrated authoress, and of
sympathy in his scientific enthusiasm afforded by her brother
William, and her sister Fanny, Edgeworth. For it will be seen
that even at Edgeworthstown he did not altogether escape from
astronomy and observing.

The sight indeed of this brother and sister working together

2 86 Life of Sir William Rowan Hafnilton. [1828.

witli keen interest and sympathy in Practical Astronomy made a
deep impression on him. He zealously lent them his aid when at
Edgeworthstown, and subsequently sent them hooks, and took the
trouble of specially calculating for them tables suited to their in-
struments and locality. But besides this result, the sight stirred
into increased warmth his desire that his own sisters should be
to him companions and assistants in his astronomical work ; and,
accordingly, he writes from Edgeworthstown letters pleading with
all three, and especially with Eliza, to consent to his wish. The
letter to Sydney has survived ; that to Eliza, which is not forth-
coming, must have been too urgent in its tone, for it called forth
from her a reply showing that she was hurt by what she consi-
dered distrust of her devotion to him, and claiming some considera-
tion for her own partiality for poetical composition. His answer is
a letter which I regret that I cannot reproduce, because it signally
proves his justice, his warmth of heart, his wise consideration of
all relative circumstances, and his power of giving to all these
elements forcible and eloquent expression. But it is throughout
too private and personal for publication. I may say, however,
that it frankly confesses that he had been carried away by the
ardour of his ' master-passion,' so as not duly to bear in mind her
feelings or respect her individuality. It appears in the sequel
that this letter produced its intended effect, and that Eliza,
soothed and reconciled, gave him the promise to study Science
which he had sought from her. And Sydney, who was dming this
year an assistant at the school of Mrs. Swanwick at Rhodens (not
far from Belfast), became at once an eager pu^il of her brother,
whose personal instructions she received at the Observatory during
her summer vacation, and who, when she was in the North, carried
on her initiation into Algebra, Trigonometry, and Astronomy, by
means of letters which are still in existence. The expression
'master-passion,' which I have quoted from the letter to Eliza,
is interesting as being as strong a testimony as one word could
give to his own feeling and conviction with regard to his being
before all things a man of Science.

AETAT. 22.] Early Years at the Observatory. 287

On his return to the Observatory, early in April, restored in
health and spirits, he received a summons to the Viceregal Lodge,
from the Marquess of Anglesey, at that time Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland. The object of the summons was to ascertain whether he
would consent to receive as resident pupils two younger sons of
the Marquess, Lord George and Lord Alfred Paget. After some
hesitation he agreed to undertake a charge which was a flattering
homage to his reputation, and carried with it a desirable addition
to a small income, but which, though he found his young pupils
intelligent and amiable, it would probably have been better if he
had declined. Some regret at the engagement thus entered into
he could not but experience immediately ; for within a few days
he was compelled to give a negative reply to Miss Edgeworth's
proposal that he should receive as a mathematical pupil her
brother, Francis Beaufort Edgeworth, with whom he had already
become acquainted, and whose poetical and philosophical genius
would have rendered him a peculiarly interesting and congenial
companion. Such, indeed, he did become afterwards to Hamilton
and his sisters, as far as occasional visits to the Observatory, and
intercourse by letter, allowed.

In the month of May he had the gratification of seeing in
print, as a portion of the sixteenth volume of the Transactions of
the Eoyal Irish Academy, the First Part of his Essay on Systems
of Rays, and no long time elapsed before he received from men of
Science, both his countrymen and foreigners, ample recognition of
its eminent merit. Foremost among these in their thanks and
praises were Brinkley and Herschel. The latter avails himself of
the occasion to ask permission to propose him as a member of the
Astronomical Society, and his election on this honourable intro-
duction took place before the end of the year.

In the month of July he visited Dr. Eobinson at Armagh,
having previously expressed his readiness to start with him im-
mediately on an excursion to the Base which the officers of the
Ordnance Survey under Colonel Colby were then engaged in lay-
ing down along the north-eastern shore of Lough Foyle. It

288 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1828.

would appear that Hamilton at least did not at that time join in
the excursion ; but the correspondence shows that Dr. Robinson
had planned another such excursion in the following October, and
that Hamilton had spent nearly twenty-four continuous hours in
journeying down direct from Dublin to the place of meeting, but
had missed his friend and his companions, who had left a day or
two before. A letter from him to Dr. R. records his adventures,
and the pleasure which had come to him from a taste of camp-life
and from intercourse with scientific officers so eminent as Colonel
Colby and Lieut. Drummond.*

The perusal of an Essay on Logarithms by his friend and
class-fellow John T. Graves drew from Hamilton, in October of
this year, an acknowledgment which is of great interest as show-
ing at how early a period he was dissatisfied with the received
notions as to the elementary conceptions of algebra. The task
which he commends to the consideration of his friend was subse-
quently undertaken and achieved by himself in his Treatises On
Conjugate Functions and On Algebra as the Science of Pure Time,
The letter here referred to is given towards the close of the corre-
spondence of this year.

In November and December, 1828, Hamilton gave his first
course of public Lectures on Astronomy to the collegiate class
studying the subject in preparation for the January Examination.
That they fulfilled the expectations which prevailed is indicated
by a reference to them contained in a note of Dr. Robinson ;
but I must reserve for a future opportunity a fuller consideration
of his qualifications as a Lecturer.

Already we find him applied to by letter as an authority upon
scientific points the most various. The learned and venerable Dr.
Perceval consults him as to chronology in connexion with eclipses ;
and John Carter, house-painter, of Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, com-
mences a correspondence carried on for years by communicating

* Afterwards Chief Secretary for Ireland, and inventor of the artificial light
named after him.

AETAT. 22.] Early Years at tJic Observatory. 289

to him his discovery of a method of determining the sun's dis-
tance, concerning which the writer says : — ' I can send to your
College several plates which may become the embrio of a most
usefull system of astronomy, by which ye may furnish the world
with an inviting treatice that will both chear and entertain the
mind.' To give a florilegium from Mr. Carter's letters is a temp-
tation hard to be resisted, and the temptation extends to commu-
nications which year after year came from unlearned or perverse
votaries of Science, trisectors of the angle, squarers of the circle, dis-
coverers of the longitude at sea, &c., some of them complaining
indignantly of being defrauded of their hardly-earned fame by
jealous placeholders in the hierarchy of mathematicians. To all
inquirers of whatever rank, and whether judicious or ignorant,
Hamilton returned answers marked by courtesy, helpfulness, and
patience, except in cases where, as sometimes occurred, wrong-
headedness complicated with vanity became persistently annoying,
and these he showed himself able to meet with a firm suppression.
A man of very different type from those last referred to, and a
frequent correspondent on astronomical subjects, was his uncle by
marriage, the Rev. John Willey, who, as has been mentioned, was
by profession a Moravian minister, but whose recreation was
astronomy. His letters prove him to have been a most laborious
calculator of celestial phenomena. He constantly resorted to his
nephew for extrication from difficulties, for information and ad-
vice, and on his part was always willing to do anything in his power
for the Professor. On the recent occasion of the Professor's Lec-
tures, for instance, he supplied him with a planisphere of his
own construction, calculated for the meridian of Dunsink, to serve
as one of the illustrations of the course. This correspondence
continued to be actively earned on to a late year of Hamilton's
life.

290 Life of Sir Williaiii Rowan Hamilton. [1828.

From "W. R. Hamilton to the Eev. Dr. Robinson.

Dfxsink,

1828 Saturday morning, civil time,

Feb. 21'' 13'' 20''> 0"

'I have just come into my study, after olDserving Polaris at tlie
Srd and 4th wires of the transit (as you will guess by the profes-
sional date at the top of the sheet) to assist in the calculation of
our difference of longitude, by the moon-culminating stars of
which you gave me a list, and of which some were observed last
night. . . .

' I shall be obliged to you if you will take the trouble of pay-
ing Mr. B. (lO-s. M.) the price of his book on summation of series,
which he left here last Saturday. I will repay you when I com-
plete my unfinished visit to Armagh, of which you so kindly re-
mind me, but which is, I assure you, in no danger of being
forgotten, however it may have been postponed ; for I would not
willingly allow you to suppose me to have so little taste as not to
have enjoyed the time that I spent with you and with your family,
or so little zeal for Science as not to desire that I should receive
all the benefit I can from your kindred enthusiasm and your far
superior experience. But the truth is, that in consequence of a
heavy cold, caught in some of my astronomical vigils, when I had
not yet learned prudence enough to take any proper precautions,
I have been for a good while confined to the Observatory ; and
besides, I have been much engaged in completing some of the dis-
cussions at the end of the first part of my Essay (not yet entirely
finished, but now drawing to a close) , as well as in other mathema-
tical investigations. And on the whole, I do not expect to be able
to go from home till some time in next month ; but whenever I
turn visitor again, you may be sure that your house will be one of
my first and principal attractions.'

From the Rev. Dr. Robinson to W. R. Hamilton.

' Observatory, Armagh,
^ ' Fehniarij 20, 1828.

' I send you with this a few more of the Lunar stars, and will
soon call on you in person for those you have observed. "We have

AKTAT. 22.] Early Years at the Observatory. 291

had infamous weather here, and I am still hampered by my work-
men, so I shall run up to Dublin for a week, when of course I
shall beat up your quarters. I am working stoutly with the
transit, and have ended by cutting off the friction rollers from the
counterpoise levers and altering them entirely. I am now getting
acquainted with the instrument, and it only remains for me to
ascertain that its collimation is permanent at all altitudes (you
will find something to that effect in Struve.) According to the
Irish notion of a short cut, we go to Dublin by Edgeworthstown.
My good people join in all kind wishes to you. Indeed you are
often inquired after here.'

From W. E,. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

* Edgewoethstown, March 19, 1828.

' I arrived, as I had expected, at one of the gates of the
demesne between four and five o'clock on Monday afternoon;
Mr. Lovell Edgeworth met me, and carried me off to look at his
brother William's maps and plans, which were just about to be
rolled up for departure, as Mr. W. E. was to go the next morning
on an engineering expedition to Belfast and to other places. Dr.
Robinson has not been heard of for some time, and I am a little
apprehensive that he may be unwell. But though I have not met
my brother Professor here, the first evening did not pass away
without some astronomical employment. William E. has a pas-
sion for astronomy, and has communicated a part of that passion
to some of his sisters, who act as his assistants in a little observa-
tory most curiously constructed near the top of the house, and who
(particularly Fanny) sometimes continue his observations in his
absence. Accordingly, to the aforesaid observatory he conducted
me after tea, to look for some double stars and to take some tran-
sits, which on our return I assisted him and his sister to reduce, in
order to find the rate of going of a chronometer which does not
appear to have so great an antipathy to the sidereal influences as
your own much-to-be-lamented time-keeper. However, you are
not to suppose that I was occupied the whole of the evening with
unterrestrial luminaries. Miss Edgeworth, as lively and agreeable
as e^er, together with the other members of the Edgeworth con-

u 2

292 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1828.

stellation, had their full share of influence and attraction. In
short, I have hitherto enjoyed my visit very much, and am likely
to continue to do so/

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Sydney.

' Edgewoethstown, 3Iarch 30, 1828.

' . . . You have, I believe, never met Miss Edgeworth,
but you must have heard from Eliza of the impression made upon
her by the amiable and talented authoress. She (Miss E.) is cer-
tainly a most agreeable woman, and her sisters are so too, though
all in diiferent ways. The one that I like best is Fanny, who has
a very strong taste for Science, and is a great assistant to her
brother William in observing and calculating, as I hope that you
will be to me at some future time, unless you should be otherwise
disposed of. . . . As to the Logs., if you do not find it easy to
make use of the tables that I left with you, you had better not
mind them at present, and I will send you instead a copy of some
lectures on algebra which I have given during my present visit to
a niece of Miss Edgeworth, whose only previous knowledge on
the subject was derived from our little conversations on atgebray
conducted during the Christmas holidays at Cumberland-street
some years ago. I have great hopes that when I return to the
Observatory, I shall prevail on Grrace and Eliza, especially the
latter, to pursue the study of mathematics and astronomy, both
for their own sake and for mine. To-morrow I go to Trim, where
I intend to pass a few days, and then to return home,'

From W. R. Hamilton to Maria Edgeworth.

' Obseevatoey, April 15, 1828.

' I write to request your acceptance of the second volume of the
S'jsteme du Monde, which is not less interesting than the first. It
contains many parts which Miss Fanny Edgeworth may not as
yet understand, but it contains much also which I am sure she
will, and much that I think will interest her, especially the his-
tory of astronomy, given in the fifth book. If Miss F. E. will

AETAT. 22.] Early Years at the Observatory, 293

take the trouble of sending a copy of the equatorial intervals of
your transit telescope, I will amuse myself constructing some little
tables for your observatory which will considerably facilitate the
reductions necessary to be made. I need not repeat that I shall
always be interested in the scientific progress of the ladies whom I
had the pleasure of assisting at Edgeworthstown, and shall never
think it any trouble to contribute to that progress in any way that
I can. The lessons which I^received myself, about flowers, trees,
and languages, have not been entirely thrown away — the daphne
eollina and polyanthuses which you gave me at parting I trans-
ferred to a more worthy possessor, my little cousin Gracey, who
could not, however, be spared to pay us the expected visit at the
Observatory. Mr. and Mrs. Butler were well. ... I have
been busy observing and star-gazing. My Essay is finished, at
least the part which is now to be published. I am completely
well, and riding with Lalouette.'*

From the Same t) the Same.

< Observatory, April 25, 1828.

' I have to thank you for the copy of the Annual Report of the
Astronomical Society, and for the note which accompanied it.
Their presenting a Medal to Miss Herschel, and the speech of
South on the occasion, interested me very much. I returned the
Report to Mrs. Edgeworth the day after I received it.

' I mentioned in my last letter that I had finished the part of
my Essay which is to be published in the forthcoming volume of
the Transactions of the Irish Academy. The printing, however, is
not finished, but will be so early next week ; and whenever I re-
ceive complete copies, I shall send one to you and another to
Brewster. I am to give a copy also to the Lord Lieutenant, who
paid us a visit yesterday, and was talking a good deal about scien-
tific subjects, in which he appears to take an interest. In parti-

* Lalouette was an instructor in the art of riding, well-known in Dublin
for many years. It was amusing to lind a memorandum in Hamilton's hand-
writing, of the same date as|Jthe above letter, setting down the rules for mount-
ing, holding the reins, &c., which he had received from Lalouette on the first
<lay of his attendance atjthe Riding-school.

294 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1828.

cular, he was talking- in the Meridian-room ahout the respective
merits of Newton and Laplace, to the former of whom he gave the
preference ; and after alluding to the difference in their religious
opinions — " And you," said he, " do you find confirmation of your
creed while studying the book of nature?" to which I answered,
that I found continually new evidence of design and goodness in
studying the structure of the universe.

' Do not forget to send me the equatorial intervals, as they will
not occupy more than a line, and will enable me to make a useful
Table for the observatory at Edgeworthstown. With kindest re-
gards to all my friends there. . . .'

From Maria Edgeworth to W. E. Hamilton.

' EDGEWOETHSTOWif, April 27, 1828.

' My brother Francis is desirous to acquire mathematical know-
ledge, not only because his experience now convinces him that he
cannot succeed at Cambridge, even with all his classical attain-
ments, without mathematics, but further, because he is convinced,
that the study will be of use to him in after life. Under this con-
viction he wishes to put himself under the tuition of a superior
and a friend, who would instruct him in mathematics and at the
same time teach him the sense of what he is learning and inspire
him by so doing with a taste for the science.

' He says that all the tutors he knows at Cambridge " cram
their disciples with a certain set of things which they are not to
digest but only to bring to examination whole, and then disgorge
them like a heron."

' This he could not bear to do ; and I think you will like him
the better for this.

' You see what I am coming to P At once then, my dear sir,,
your kindness and readiness to communicate knowledge to this
family encourage me to ask whether Francis could have your as-
sistance, and on what terms. . . .'

AETAT. 22.] Early Vcai's at tlic Observatory. 295

Fvom "\V. E. Hamilton to Maria Edgeworth.

' OBSERVATORy, April 30, 182S.

' . . . I mentioned to his Excellency that I had intended
to receive the calculating boy [Noakes] with a view to assist him
in cultivating his mathematical talents, and providing hereafter
for the support of his family ; hut that so much time had elapsed
without my receiving any communication from them, or from his
other friends, that I considered the matter as broken off for the
present, and had been trying to procure for him a situation among
the calculators of the Trigonometrical Survey at a salary, perhaps,
of £50 a-year, in which I have some hope of succeeding, through
the interest of Captain Mudge.

From the Same to the Same.

'Observatory, May 11, 1828.

' It gives me much pain to decline your kind and flattering
offer of placing Francis under my care as a mathematical pupil.
I trust you will believe that the reason which induces me to d<i-
cHne it is not any unwillingness on my own part to assist him in
his mathematical studies, or any fear that he could possibly be
thought an unsuitable companion for the sons of the Lord Lieute-
nant, but simply the conviction that I have already undertaken
offices of almost too great responsibilitj', and that I cannot, with
prudence or propriety, at present bm'den myself with more, espe-
cially when I feel that however pleasant it might be to me to
assist in exciting in Francis a taste for mathematical pm^suits,
there must be hundreds more capable than myself of preparing
him to excel at Cambridge, and therefore more able to be useful
to him at present, even if, as you are good enough to think, I
could hope to be of any permanent service. The opinion that I
have just expressed, of my being less capable than hundreds of
others to assist Francis in preparing to excel at the Cambridge
Examinations, or in any other particular course, is not the result of
any fictitious modesty, but of an honest view of my own powers
and habits ; and entertaining this opinion, I think that I should
not act fairly in becoming the tutor of one who, though he may be

296 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1828.

chiefly influenced by the enlarged desire of mental improvement
and of ultimate distinction, would yet he expected by his friends
and others to exhibit some immediate proof of having derived
benefit from my assistance. Notwithstanding, I might not have
had resolution to decline the proposal, had I not, before I received
that proposal, consented to enter on so arduous and untried a rela-
tion as that in which the Marquess of Anglesey has placed me, by
entrusting his children to my care. But while the duties of this
relation are added to those of the Observatory, I must repeat that
I cannot think myself free to undertake the important charge of
becoming a tutor to Francis, although I shall always remember
the kindness which you have shown to me in proposing it.

' I have been much occupied during the last week in reading
some Prize Essays on the early History of Ireland, an office to
which I was appointed as member of the Eoyal Irish Academy.
However, I have found time to prepare a Table of the corrections
necessary to be used in reducing observations made at the side-
wires of yoiu- transit to the meridian-wire for twenty-foiu- of our
principal stars. The Table is partly on a new plan, and when it is
finished I will send it to Merrion-street. The intenxils I got from
William, who paid me a visit last Sunday. I send a copy of my
Essay, which I have just received.'

From Maria Edgeworth to W. R. Hamilton.

* Edgewouthstown, 3Imj 20, 1828.

' Your manly, open, honourable, and kind letter has perfectly
satisfied me and made me submit to my disappointment, in-
creasing my value for that which we give up and at the same time
convincing me of the propriety of the relinquishment. You keep
me your friend completely by the manner in which you have
written and acted ; and you enhance my feeling of pride in having
your friendship.'

From W. E. Hamilton to the Eev. Dr. Robinson.

' Observatory, May 2, 1828.

' . . . I have been star-gazing a good deal, I scarcely dare
to say observing, but I find my interest in practical astronomy [re-

AEXAT. 22.] Early Years at the Observatory. 297

turning] gradually on me, and I am sure that as soon as I can
hope to be of any use to Science by my observations, I shall not
[grudge! any labour or shrink from any exertion. My Essay has
been quite finished for some time, at least the First Part of it, so
far as depended on my own revisions. . . . Airy says in his
last letter, v^^hich he dates from the Observatory of Cambridge
(having succeeded I believe to Woodhouse), that he will perhaps
think it necessary for his astronomical education to revisit my
Observatory, a remark which I may with much greater truth
[apply] to my deferred visit to Armagh. This pleasure I must
further postpone, because the Lord Lieutenant has thought proper
to place his two younger sons under my care. . .

From the Bishop of Cloy^je (Dr. Brinkley) to W. R. Hamilton.

'Clotoe, May 14, 1828.

'I received by Mr. W. Edgeworth the remainder of the first
part of yom- Paper, which I am glad you have brought on so far.
It must do 3^ou very great credit. You will have now some time
to look about you, for it must have greatly occupied you. I also
received Mr. Airy's Papers at the same time, and I take the oppor-
tunity of Mr. O'Connor's return to inclose you my Paper printed
for the Academy, and to write these few lines. It gave me very
great pleasure to find you so highly distinguished by the Lord
Lieutenant as to put his sons under your care. I trust it will be
as advantageous to you as I am sure it will be to them.

* I received the plants by Mr. O'Connor, for which I am much
obliged to your sisters. The shutters will, I fear, give you a great
deal of trouble to get them into a proper state, but I hope you will
before long be able to accomplish it, as well as to obtain a house
for the assistant.

' I have been so much engaged with business that I have not
been able to examine Mr. Airy's Paper, but I should be glad to
know the result of the comparison of the observations made at the
Observatory for the last few years which you sent him, and his
corrections of the Tables. Mrs. Brinkley and my family all join
me in kindest remembrances.'

298 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [182n.

From J. F. W. Herschel to W. R. Hamilton.

' Mcnj 25, 1828.

' I have to thank you for the remainder (from page 69 to the
end of Part I.) of your masterly Essay on Systems of Rays, which
I shall read with all tlie attention the perusal of the former pages
showed me it would call for.

' . . . I hope you find your duties in the Observatory of a
nature to overpay by the satisfaction of their results the laboui' of
the pursuit. I hope ere long to see yoiu' name in the list of the
Astronomical Society, and it would give me much pleasure to be
allowed to propose you.'

From W. E. Hamilton to J. F. W. Herschel.

' Hay 28, 1828.

' I must not delay to thank you for your kind and complimen-
tary letter of the 25th. I am sorry that any accident should have
occurred to any of your parcels, but cannot regret that I shall have
an opportunity of presenting to you a complete copy of the part that
has been printed of my Essay, which I will endeavour to send by
a Castle frank, together with copies for any other persons to whom
you think I ought to send them, and who would be likely to
think them worth accepting. Your own " Treatise on Light" has
not yet reached me from Captain Beaufort, but I have had for
some time the five numbers of the Encydopa'dia Metropolitana in
which it is contained. I shall not, however, prize your present the
less. I saw the too favourable notice which you were pleased to
take of my Essay at the conclusion of your own. I am sensible
that I must attribute it chiefly to a generous wish to encourage a
young mathematician, who has only yet conceptions and desires of
excellence. In the career of astronomical observation and research,
I am still more sensible of my backwardness, but trust by degrees to
acquire in this delightful situation experience and health to enable
me to labour with more advantage. I need scarcely say that I shall
be much gratified by the honour of being proposed by you as
a member of the Astronomical Society, from which I have re-

AETAT. 22,] Early Years at the Observatory. 299

ceived some papers for the Observatory, that I ought perhaps to
acknowledge in a more formal manner. My leisure will be a little
interrupted for some time, by my having accepted the charge of
two young boys, sons of the Marquess of Anglesey. They are re-
markably fine children, between ten and twelve years old. They
came to me on Monday. They will, no doubt, engage much of
my time and attention, but it will be repaid by the pleasure of
thinking how useful they may one day be to society, and I could
not well refuse to undertake the trust oifered to me with so much
kindness and confidence on the part of the Lord Lieutenant.'

From the Eev. Dr. Eobinson to W. R. Hamilton.

'Akmagh Observatory, July 17, 1828.

' I need not say that I will receive you with pleasure ; you
must be sure of that without my assurance. If the weather is
fine we will start from this on your arrival for Magilligan, where
Colonel Colby is in the act of measuring his base. Thank you for
the stars. I had but four corresponding which give for my longi-
tude

2 L. 1 L.

26™ 30-59 26™ 24-08

31-55 24-76

very good, and confirming what I already had made probable,
that the irradiation of the moon in telescopes exceeds that of the
sun as 3 : 2. . . .'

From W. R. Hamilton to the Rev. Dr. Robinson.

' Drogheda, July 21, 1828.

' You will see from the date of this letter that I am on my way
to you, though as there is no conveyance to Armagh except post-
ing till to-morrow, I am going to spend this day with some old
friends of mine who are now living a few miles off, and intend to
join the Armagh coach at eleven to-morrow morning. I shall
reach you in the evening, and shall be ready to attend you to
Colonel Colby's base, or to any other place ; but as I am to be
back in Dublin on Monday next, I cannot consider myself as pay-
ing this time the visit that I owe to Mrs. Robinson.'

300 Li/d of Sir William Rowan Hainilton. [1S28.

From his Uncle James to W. R. Hamilton.

' Teiit, August 28, 1828.

' Our long and craving expectation of hearing from you was
most agreeably appeased by your letter brought to me on Tuesday
by Captain Beaufort. Its accompaniment, the Essay, I had com-
missioned several hands to call for and convey to me ; but it seems
to have been happily reserved for a more approj)riate bearer, in the
literary and scientific author of the work on Ivaramania, than I
could hope soon to be met with.

' Your last letter but one interested me much, both as contain-
ing your own extensive educational projects, and scarcely less so
from the account you give of your delightful pupils. In an
answer I wrote to it, but which did not reach you, I descanted
more largely than I can at present on the subject. In the feel-
ings you express respecting the arduousness of the task you set
yourself, of grasping, as far as may be, the two different, perhaps
I may say opposite, points of the scientific and philological depart-
ments of education I can well synapathize, but I think I can also
cheer you. It is indeed (as Milton, I believe, has it in his Tractate)
the bow of Ulysses, which few may attempt to bend, and fewer
still with hope of succeeding. But not to mention that we need
not go far for an instance to prove that the feat is not impossible,
I think you have also every encouragement in the excellence and
what I may call spontaneity of the material you have to work
upon, if I may judge from the account you give of the youths en-
trusted to your care.

' Their naif attempt at the old forbidden problem of finding a
royal {qiicere vice-royal) road to Greometry does not, I observe,
meet from you with the stern veto of the olden geometers. As to
my own opinion, though your reminiscences will not lead you, I
fear, to class me among the blandl doctores of Horace, in respect
at least of mathematical demonstration, yet I am not against the
plan of tempering (without compromising) the rigour of mathe-
matical justice by the mercy of a temporary and provisional en-
largement of the number of postulates and axioms (reserved for
future proof), but requiring on such hypothetic data such strict
logical deduction as does not sink or slur over any of the remain-

AETAT. 23.] Early Years at the Odsej^vatory. 301

ing steps of the demonstration. I shall be anxious to hear further
respecting your present course of astronomical observations. But
I hope you will in pursuing them remember that the sun's spots
cost Herschel an eye, and that you will not, like him, provoke the
wrath of Phoebus by any indiscreet peep. You will, I doubt not,
feel your way to some such course of astronomical observations and
study as may demand and engage your own peculiar lens of mind
rather than — or in co-operation with — the lens of matter. Hoping
to hear soon both of the Regia Solis and of the young Phaethon, . /

From W. E. Hamilton to his Sister Sydney.

' Obseevatort, September 16, 1828.

' I received your letters some time ago, containing the results of
your logarithmic calculations, some of which I have examined and
found to be very correct. But it would not be fair to employ you
much at present in this way. So far as concerns myself, it is not so
much a subordinate assistant that I want as a sympathising fellow-
labourer ; and as concerns you, it will be better that you should
have your reasoning faculties engaged and developed, by reflec-
tions on the theory of mathematics, than that you should merely
become expert in the practical business of calculation. I intend
therefore to write to you from time to time on scientific subjects,
beginning with remarks on the first principles of algebra, and
especially of arithmetic, which may be considered as the vestibule
to the great edifice of mathematical philosophy.

' The idea of Number is derived from that power of abstraction
and comparison which some have thought to be the distinguishing
faculty of our species. It is by this power that we come to con-
sider diiferent individuals as similar, and to denote them by a
common name, and thus acquire the idea of a plural and of a
Group, containing more or fewer members. A father, for exam-
ple, has a name for each of his children. He calls, perhaps, one
'Alfred, another Henry, another George ; but a stranger, who sees
these children at play, without knowing or caring for their names,
will call them all boi/s; and if you ask him how many, he will answer
three. He woidd have made the same reply had you inquired the
number of horses in a field, where Selim, Bucephalus, and Pegasus

302 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1828.

were grazing; and tlius, wliile tlie word hoys or horses, like every
other plural, denotes a first abstraction, by which Alfred is com-
pared to Greorge, or Selim to Bucephalus, the term three is the
mark of a second and more refined generalisation, by which the
group of boys is compared with the group of horses, and the one
group pronounced to be similar to the other, as containing neither
more nor fewer individuals.

^Arithmetic is a collection of methods for thus comparing
groups together, with reference only to the number of individuals
which they contain, and without any regard to the nature of those
individuals. It is from this abstract nature of its processes that
arithmetic derives its principal power and value ; since whatever
property is proved by it to belong to the number three (if we con-
tinue to employ this particular number as an example) must ap-
pertain not only to the group of three boys, or of three horses, but
to every other collection of so many similar things ; to a quantity
of three parts, an union of three nations, a constellation of three
stars.

^Algebra, in which number is considered under a still more
general view, conducts to results of a proportionally greater inte-
rest. But I have said enough for this introductory letter, and
must reserve any further remarks until I can write again.'

From the Eev. Dr. Eobinson to W. E.. Hamilton.

' October 20, 1828.

* . . . What became of you in the Base matter ? I had
bespoken quarters for you at a very pleasant house where we
stopped a couple of days on our return (Mr. Staples' of Lissan),
but the return was tion in rent. Captain Beaufort seems delighted
with you; that probably is no novelty; but he is a man whose
esteem is really a thing to be proud of. If you did not see the
base, and those who were measuring it, you had a decided loss,
and you deserve it for giving us the slip. . . .'

AETAT. 23.] Early Years at the Observatory . 303

From AV. R. Hamilton to the Eev. Dr. Robinson.

* Obseevatoey, October 1Z, 1828.

' I was much delighted with your letter, which I received yes-
terday, too late to have the reductions prepared and sent by return
of post. They are as follows. . . .

' I repaired to the base at the time that I mentioned to you,
when I wrote to ask whether there was any hope of meeting you.
I left Dublin on Friday night and reached Newtownlimavady on
the following evening. I found that your party had been there
a day or two before, and could not collect from the people at the
inn whether Colonel Colby was at the camp, so that when I walked
to Meroe, which I did the next day, after church, it was rather
with the intention of reconnoitring the ground, than with much
hope of seeing the base and the officers. However, I found
Captain Pringle and Lieutenant Drummond at home, and after
eating in a tent, for the first time in my life, I took a walk with
them along the base line to the Roe, and then back again by the
shore of Lough Foyle ; on our return we found Colonel Colby,
and had a pleasant evening, closed by my sleeping under canvas,
a novelty which I enjoyed extremely. The next morning, and
indeed the whole day, I spent with the officers, and saw the pro-
cess of measuring. I liked Lieutenant Drummond very much,
and Captain Colomb, who I hear has been married since. . . .
I have been busy observing and calculating, which I am beginning
to take a great interest in. I am sorry to hear that your children
have the whooping-cough ; but it is better for Tommy to have it
now than when he is about to enter College, as was the case with
me. . . .'

From W. R. Hamilton to John T. Gtraves.

' Obseevatoet, October 1^, 1828.

' You would not estimate fairly the pleasm'e with which I re-
ceived your letter, as well as the copy of your Essay upon Loga-
rithms, sent me by Robert some weeks ago, if you judged of my

304 Life of Sh^ WilUiwi Rowan Hamilton. [1828.

thoughts or feelings by the promptness with whicli I may express
them ; for in truth I am a very bad correspondent, and apt to
defer writing from the consciousness of having nothing important
to communicate. However, I must not longer delay to congratu-
late you on the more finished state in which your Paper appears
than that in which it did when you showed it to me yourself be-
fore, though there were even then all the disjecta membra which
have now assumed a more systematic form or body. My own
attention not having been much turned to the questions of which
you treat, I cannot be sure that your developments of the different
orders of logarithms are new, but I believe that they are so,
as well as the idea of those orders. Herschel, of course, is likely
to know, being a great reader as well as a great inventor. Even
if by any chance your Paper should have been anticipated, among
the many valuable writers on mathematical subjects who are now
scattered over the world, yet I hope the Essay will be published
in the Philosop/iical Transactions, as I think it deserves to be. You
do not mention whether anything has been decided on this point.
Your remarks on developments in general are interesting, and the
whole subject is one very well worth pursuing. For my own part
I have always been greatly dissatisfied with the phrases, if not the
reasonings, of even very eminent analysts, on a variety of subjects,
of which the Theory of Developments is one. I have often per-
suaded myself that the whole analysis of infinite series, and indeed
the whole logic of analysis (I mean of algebraic analysis) would
be worthy of [rajdical revision. But it would be [right] for a
person who should attempt this to go to the root of the matter,
and either to discard negative and imaginary quantities, or at least
(if this should be impossible or unadvisable, as indeed I think it
would be) to explain by strict definition, and illustrate by abun-
dant example, the true sense and spirit of the reasonings in which
they are used. An algebraist who should thus clear away the me-
taphysical stumbling-blocks that beset the entrance of analysis,
without sacrificing those concise and powerful methods which con-
stitute its essence and its value, would perform a useful work and
deserve well of Science. Is there any hope that your professional
studies will allow pou to pursue these speculations and to enrich
analysis with an introduction or a supplement such as I have
attempted to describe ? I send you a copy of my Essay.'

AETAT. 23.] Early Years at t lie Observatory. 305

From W. E. Hamilton to his Sister Sydney.

' Obseryatory, l^ovejnher 12, 1828.

' You know I have set my lieart on having one of my sisters an
astronomer, and I cannot expect either Grace or Eliza to become
one, as they are too much occupied with the care of the house and
of my pupils, while Archianna will not for many years be ready
(not to mention that she seems likely to prefer the lyre to the tele-
scope). I have no resource but yoii^ and I hope you will not dis-
appoint me. If I had you here, to assist me in observing and
calculating, and to converse with me on the subject of my various
designs and speculations, I could do much more than I now can,
and do it with more spirit. Besides, in wishing for your presence
and co-operation, I am actuated not merely by considerations of the
comfort and advantage which would result to myself, but partly by
a zeal for the honour of womankind. Remember Madame Agnesi,
the Professor of Mathematics at Bologna, and Miss Herschel, who,
after so ably assisting her immortal brother, and discovering so
much for herself, has lately been presented with a medal from the
Astronomical Society of London, accompanied with an address in
the most respectful and flattering terms. To which names let me
add that of Madame Lepante, of whom Lalande, in his history of
the calculations respecting Halley's comet (the first of these re-
fractory wanderers which human intellect succeeded in taming to
mathematical laws), introduces the following remark: — "Mais il
faut convenir que cette suite immense de details m'eut semble
effrayante, si Madame Lepante, appliquee depuis longtemps et avec
succes aux calculs Astronomiques, n'en eut partage le travail."
By the way, I have seen for the two last nights the comet known
by the name of Encke's comet, which is very remarkable on ac-
count of the rapidity of its revolution, but which is almost invi-
sible from its excessive faintness. I must pay another visit now to
the Dome, to try whether it will favour me again.'

3o6 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1S28.

From J. F. TV. Herschel to W. R. Hamilton.

< December 5, 1828.

' I received your valualole Papers for the Astronomical and
Royal Societies, and shall lose no time in presenting them to these
Bodies. I am so extremely pressed at this moment that I cannot
do more than acknowledge their receipt. At the next meeting of
the Astronomical Society I look forward with much pleasure to
seeing your name enrolled among the members. The Society will
have just reason to be proud of your name.'

Frotn the Rev. Dr. Robinson to "W". R. Hamilton.

'Monday, December 16, 1828.

' . . . I am glad to hear so good an account of your Lec-
tures, and regret that I could not hear one of them for the pleasure
of seeing my expectations so perfectly fulfilled. Good-bye, and
go to bed and rise early, for I hear you are not as well as every-
one who knows you will wish you to be. The intemperance of
study is as fatal as any other, or even more so, for it cuts off only
the noblest of our race.'

AETAT. 23-4.] Early Years at tJic Observatory. 307

CHAPTER IX.

EARLY YEARS AT THE OBSERVATORY Continued.

(1829).

Early in 1829, Hamilton is greeted by pleasant notes from
Mr. Herscliel and Captain Beaufort, expressing the pleasure
with which the former in his office of President had admitted
him, represented in proxy by the latter, as a member of the
Astronomical Society. His election had occurred in the previous
December.

In the month of January Lord Anglesey was recalled, and
this event naturally involved the removal of his sons from
Hamilton's charge. The consequent power of more freely
devoting himself to his own studies was keenly enjoyed by
Hamilton, as we learn on his own testimony. In the following
month he enters upon a correspondence, continued throughout
the year, with his College class-fellow, John T. Graves, upon the
subject of Exponential Functions. Mr. Graves had presented to
the Royal Society a Paper on Imaginary Logarithms, which was
awaiting the judgment of a committee appointed to decide whe-
ther it should be published in the PhilosoijJiical Transactions. Its
substance had been communicated to Hamilton in 1826, and it
had lately come under the consideration of Herschel. The latter,
together with other eminent mathematicians (and among them
Mr. Peacock), wq,s unconvinced by Mr. Graves's reasonings, and
had informed Mr. Graves of Jthe fact. At this juncture Hamilton,
fearing the rejection of his friend's Paper, addressed to Mr. Her-
schel a defence of its conclusions, qualified by criticisms of parti-

3o8 Life of Sh^ Williavi Rowan Hamilton. [1829'.

cular points in the argument. This intervention, unsolicited "by
Mr. Graves, and made without his knowledge, was prompted by
no other motive than the generous one of serving a friend, whom
he thought to be in the right, but likely to fail of meeting due
recognition of his work ; for he took the utmost pains to sever him-
self from all claim to even a share in the credit of the investiga-
tion. Meantime an order had passed for the publication of the
Paper, and Herschel, declining on this account to re-enter upon
the subject, contents himself with a handsome acknowledgment of
the value of Hamilton's advocacy. Hamilton had his reward for
this generous conduct, for he was thus put upon the track of some
important discoveries in pure Mathematics — a fact he did not fail
to acknowledge in his treatise on Conjugate Functions, presented
to the Royal Irish Academy in 1833, and in the Preface to his
Lectures on Quaternions, published in 1853.

In astronomical work we find him engaged during April and
May in calculating roughly for himself an Ephemeris of Vesta,
which he communicates to Dr. Robinson, in addition to continued
observations of Moon-culminating stars — observations which Cap-
tain Beaufort also asks for from him. A kindly return is made
to him by Dr. Robinson, in his offer to represent to the Board
of Trinity College the expediency of obtaining for the Dunsink
Observatory the equatorial of Mr. South — an instrument then rec-
koned one of the best in the world, and which was disposable in
consequence of its owner relinquishing his astronomical pursuits.
An engagement to employ Mr. Sharpe, the Dublin instrument-
maker, interfered with the proposition ; but it may not be out of
place here to record that of this kistrument the celebrated twelve-
inch achromatic object-glass was, in 1863, presented by Sir James
South to the University of Dublin, on the appropriate occasion
of the installation of the Earl of Rosse as Chancellor. A build-
ing had to be erected for the instrument by which it was to be
wielded, in the lawn of the Observatory. There, placed and
adjusted by the mechanical skill of Dr. Briinnow, and directed
to the object of ascertaining the annual parallax of fixed stars by

AETAT.23-4.] Early Years at the Observatory. 309

him and by Dr. Ball, the successors of Hamilton in the Professor-
ship, it has been doing good service to astronomical science.

At the time of his appointment to the Observatory, Hamiltoti
bound himself not to seek for a Fellowship ; in fact, it will be
remembered that he, and his friends for him, had then to make
choice between the Professorship and a Fellowship; the Board
deciding that both offices were not to be held together. In this
year, however, one of its members, Dr. Sadleir, not long before the
examination for Fellowship, expressed to Hamilton his desire that
he should be a candidate, and his opinion, in which he said that
other members of the Board concurred, that the restriction which
prevented it was unjust. The letter to his Cousin Arthur which
records this incident is an additional proof of the delicate feeling
of honour by which Hamilton was habitually actuated. Having
consented to the engagement, he would not even take the step of
applying to be released from it.

The correspondence of this year includes letters which passed
between Hamilton and Wordsworth. Those of the former con-
veyed poems written by himself and by his sister, to which Words-
worth returned in his replies sympathetic praise, rendered tonic by
instructive criticism. Hamilton introduced also in this manner to
Wordsworth's notice specimens of the poetry of his young friend
Francis Beaufort Edgeworth, of which the poet expresses an
amount of admiration not common with him.

In order in some degree to gratify the curiosity of the reader,
which this fact would naturally excite, I have inserted in the cor-
respondence of the year part of a letter from F. B. E. to Eliza
Hamilton, which is introduced by two exquisite songs of his own
composition. Much of the letter has been torn away, but the re-
mainder, of which I give a coherent portion, furnishes proof of the
vigorous, interesting manner in which he discusses subjects con-
nected with poetr3^ There are other letters addressed to Hamil-
ton in which he advocates very Platonic views of the superiority of
general ideas to facts of induction, and sets forth the elements of a

3IO Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1829.

geometry differently constructed from that of Euclid. They, too,
evince much original power. A specimen of the former kind is
inserted.

The event of the year to both him and Hamilton was the visit
of Wordsworth to Ireland at the end of August. This appears to
have been due to a suggestion of Hamilton's, contained in a post-
script to his letter of the 14th of May. The suggestion, however,
met a long-cherished desire of the poet, who had always felt and
expressed a great interest in Ireland and her people. That this
interest did not bear fruit in any poetical reminiscences of his visit
is by himself attributed, " with some degree of shame," to the fact
that he travelled in the carriage-and-four of his friend Mr. Mar-
shall, instead of, as he would have preferred, on foot. He had
intended to have had his daughter — " Dora " — as his companion ;
and had his intention been fulfilled, she might have proved to him
now in Ireland what his sister " Dorothy " was in 1803 in Scot-
land, the kindler and encourager of poetic feeling. As it is, his
allusion to the eagles at Fair Head promontory, in his fine son-
net. Dishonoured Rock and Muiii, is the only record to be found
among his poems of his having been in Ireland. His first object,
upon arrival, was the Observatory and its inmates ; thence he pro-
ceeded to Killarney ; and afterwards availed himself of the invi-
tation to Edgeworthstown of which Francis Edgeworth had been
the eager penman, writing in the name of his mother and sister.
At Edgeworthstown Hamilton again met Wordsworth, spending
a few days in his company before the poet's return to England by
the northern coast.

One little scene of his visit to the Observatory, depicted by the
hand of Eliza Hamilton, will, I think, interest the reader, parti-
cularly as it exhibits not only the poet but the man of science ; the
poet speaking as the advocate of Imagination, and the man of
science as the advocate of Intellect.

AETAT. 23-4.] Early Years at the Observatory. 3 1 i

WORDSWORTH AT THE OBSERVATORY, DUNSIXK.

BY ELIZA MAKY HAMILTON.

'^?/^MS^, 1829.

' " Here he comes," exclaimed Syduey, after we had heen a long-
time home, and were sitting in the house waiting his arrival, or
rather return, for he had arrived during our absence, and gone out
with my brother. I looked, and saw walking up the avenue with
William a tall man, with grey hair, a brown coat, and nankeen
trousers, on whom Smoke, our^ black greyhound, was jumping up
in a most friendly manner, not by any means his wont with every
stranger.

* In a few minutes Wordsworth was in the room with us ;
" Allow me to introduce my sisters to you, Mr. Wordsworth,"
said William, and so we met. Then he and my brother sat down
to luncheon, being informed that we had had ours. I stationed
myself in one of the windows so as to command a good view of
him, my sisters seating themselves rather nearer to him. He was
evidently what I would call a naturally very reserved man, and
in every way as complete an opposite to my preconception of him
as anything could be ; it amused me internally, and I felt myself
involuntarily parodying the first lines of his own poem " Yarrov/
visited."

* And this is Wordsworth ! this the man
Of whom my fancy cherished
So faithfully a waking dream,
An image that hath perished !

There was a slight touch of rusticity and constraint about his
X^erfect gentlemanliness of manner, which I liked — an absence of
that entire ease of manner towards strangers, which always tends
to do away my sympathy with any mind, particularly a gifted
one : but everything he did and said had an unaffected simplicity
and dignity and peacefulness of thought that were very striking.
He was not at all a loquacious man, nor one who seemed inclined
to approach with any degree of intimacy even those of whom he
knew a good deal, but at the same time, one who met every advance
on the part of others with a ready and attractive affability. Other
men did not seem necessary to him, or to the existence of his hap-

312 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1829.

piness, so that Lis sympathy with the happiness and sorrow, tlie
good and ill, of the whole creation as it discovers itself in his
poetry gave one the feeling of his natural character being very
peculiar.

' There was such an indescribable superiority, both intellectual
and moral, stamped upon him in his very silence, that everything
of his I had thought silly immediately took the beautiful colour-
ing of a wondrous benevolence that could descend through love to
the least and most insignificant things among the works of God,
or connected with the weal or woe of man. I think it would be
quite impossible for anyone who had once been in Wordsworth's
company ever again to think anything he has written silly.

' They had been walking in Abbotstown : of these grounds
AYordsworth remarked that they were beautiful, with an air of
melancholy and wildness about them particularly striking, he
thought, from their vicinity to a city ; but this was the only thing
he said in the least of a poetical cast during this interview ; so
slight was the trace in his conversation of his being Wordsworth
the poet, which pleased me very much, as agreeing with my own
feeling that a real jjoet will not be one to introduce the subject of
poetry into general conversation, and will be more averse to have
sentiment on his U})^ than others with v^hom. feelings do not lie so
deep. It always seemed to me quite unnatural for a poet to be
very poetical in his every-day language.

'Having got their feet wet in Abbotstown, my brother and
Mr. Wordsworth soon retired to their rooms, and we to ours, to
dress for dinner. When we next entered the drawing-room, we
found Wordsworth already there, and reading something to
William, who sat by him listening intently. When we entered,
the poet hastily turned, with a gesture of politeness, moving his
face, and indeed his whole body, in the direction to which we
passed ; but after a commonplace word or two passing between us,
as we quietly took our seats at the window, in a way and in a
listening attitude that intimated we did not wish to interrupt them,
he continued.

' It was his own " Excursion " he was reading, in consequence
of a discussion having arisen between them, in which William had
alluded to a passage in that poem which, as well as I could collect,
did not quite please him by its slight reverence for Science.

AETAT. 23-4.] Early Years at the Observatory. 313

' Wordsworth first finished the passage, in a very low, impres-
sive tone, moving his finger under every line as he went along, and
seeming as he read to be quite rapt out of this world.

' I felt a tear gathering in my eye as I looked at him, and at
that moment, I cannot exactly define why, he seemed to me suh-
lime ; and I involuntarily thought of the epithet applied to a
greater poet perhaps, but I do not think a finer or purer specimen
of our species — " a divine old man."

' He then defended himself, with a beautiful mixture of warmth
and temperateness, from the accusation of any want of reverence for
Science, in the proper sense of the word — Science, that raised the
mind to the contemplation of God in works, and which was pur-
sued with that end as its primary and great object ; but as for
all other science, all science which put this end out of view, all
science which was a bare collection of facts for their own sake, or
to be applied merely to the material uses of life, he thought it
degraded instead of raising the species. All science which waged
war with and wished to extinguish Imagination in the mind of
man, and to leave it nothing of any kind but the naked knowledge
of facts, was, he thought, much worse than useless ; and what is
disseminated in the present day under the title of " useful know-
ledge," being disconnected, as he thought it, with Grod and every-
thing but itself, was of a dangerous and debasing tendency. For
his part, rather than have his mind engrossed with this kind of
science, to the utter exclusion of Imagination, and of every consi-
deration but what refers to oui' bodily comforts, power and great-
ness, he would much prefer being a superstitious old woman.

'My brother said of some passage that, '^ so far as it tcent,^' he
quite agreed with it, but " he would add a good deal more." " I
am sure you would," said Wordsworth, with a good-humoured
smile ; " and if you will allow me to explain my sentiments first,
I shall be glad to hear yours afterwards." He then entered very
much at large on the scope of his design, repeating that Science,
when legitimately pursued for the purpose of elevating the mind to
God, he venerated. The only class of scientific persons against
whom he had directed his battery were those whom he would com-
pare to the pioneers of an army, who go before the hero, certainly
preparing the way for him, and cutting down the obstructions that
oppose his march, but who themselves have no feelings of lofty

314 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1829.

enthusiasm, or of any kind but the hope of reaping part of the
plunder and sharing in the profit of success. " What," he said,
" would have been the use of my praising such men as Newton ?
They do not need my insignificant praise, and therefore I did
not allude to such sons of Science."

' My brother argued that although he quite admitted that,
were the faculty of Imagination to be done away with in man —
could that be — he would be left indeed, as Wordsworth said, a
most inferior being; still he thought the Intellectual faculties held
eciual rank at leant with the Imaginative. But I could not help
smiling at his own exemplification of the indestructibility of Ima-
gination in any mind, but above all in those of a high order, when
he told Wordsworth that he believed Mathematics to be a connect-
ing link between men and beings of a higher nature ; the circle
and triangle he believed to have a real existence in their minds and
in the nature of things, and not to be a mere creation or arbitrary
symbol proceeding from human invention.

' Wordsworth smiled kindlj^, but said that reminded him of the
Platonic doctrine of the internal existence in the marble of those
beautiful forms from which the sculptor was supposed only to with-
draw the veil. William also smiled good-humouredly.

' Francis Edge worth's poem upon that subject was alluded to.*

The walk with Wordsworth in the groimds of Abbotstown,
mentioned in this record of his sister's, was long after referred to-
by Hamilton in verses commemorating the various occasions of his
intercourse with the poet. Those who know the place will re-
member the peculiar character of its beauty — where the Tolka
winds, at the feet of noble beeches, among luxuriant ferns — and
will own that no fitter scene could be chosen for the interchange,
by men gifted like Wordsworth and Hamilton, of poetic thought
and feeling ; and hither Hamilton was wont to resort, with the
chosen few whom he acknowledged as "brothers of his soul"; and
thus it became in after-years specially associated with his friend
Aubrey de Vere. But it is remarkable that the immediate effect
of his intercourse with Wordsworth, during the visit of the latter
to Ireland, was to cause him more definitely than before to arrive

AETAT. 23-4.] Early Years at the Observatory. 315

at the conclusion that for him in the future his path must be the path
of Science, and not that of Poetry ; that he must renounce the hope
of habitually cultivating both, and that, therefore, he must brace
himself up to bid a painful farewell to Poetry. Probably his con-
versations with the veteran poet brought home to him the fact^
which Wordsworth's letters had previously insisted on, that Poetry
is an art as well as an inspiration ; that it demands, if excellence
is to be attained, laborious and continued study ; and that Poetry
alike and Science are Muses that refuse to be successfully wooed
by the same suitor. He now saw that this was not only the doc-
trine preached by Wordsworth, but the truth which he exemplified ;
that, in his case. Poetry absorbed the whole man, and that with
him all things were habitually contemplated in relation to it, and
that, especially, form, imagery, emotion, thought, were to him
materials and instruments about which, and their mutual interac-
tion, he was to be perpetually concerned, as one whose calling was
to deal with them in a creative fashioning way, requiring the ex-
ercise of all his energies. Wordsworth, it was now felt by Hamil-
ton, could not put up with the amateur poet. The old bard used
often to say that it was good for themselves that many men should
write verses, but that only the few who recognised poetry as de-
serving and requiring the consecration to it of a life could ever be
Poets in the higher sense. He was unwilling, therefore, that his
young friend, whose powers he admired, should belong to the in-
ferior class ; not denying, perhaps, that had he been able to give
an undivided attention to Poetry, he might have attained to the
higher, but convinced that this was impossible for one whose pro-
fessional obligations were such as Hamilton's. His influence,
accordingly, was exerted in discouragement of the cultivation by
Hamilton of his poetic vein, whilst he was not unwilling that he
should give that relief to personal feeling in the successive emer-
gencies of life, which only poetic expression affords to those wha
possess, in some measure, the accomplishment of verse ; and, in
poetic expression of this kind, it will be seen that Hamilton did
actually indulge with no little copiousness before many months-

316 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1829.

were over. The foregoing observations will enable the reader more
fully to enter into the feeling of the lines which follow, and which
appear to me to be touching to a degree only to be understood by
those who take into account both the greatness of the intellectual
faculty and the strong poetic instinct of their author.

TO POETRY.

Spirit of Beauty and of tender joying,
Who goest forth deformity destroying,
And making of the earth on which we stand
A glad elysium and a fairy -land ;

Thou who keepest festival

In the mind's ideal hall,
"Where, as the servants of thy regal state.
The forms of all things grand or lovely wait I

O, if this unethereal heart have given
Worship too little touched with fire from heaven.
If a devotion all too cold and dull
To thee, the ardent and the beautiful ;
Yet in thy love and pity spare
To leave the temple wholly bare,
To let remembered visions quite decaj'.
And all the old revealings fade away !

0, linger near me I though thou may'st disdain
By my ineloquent lips to breathe thy strain ;
Thy minister altho' I may not be,
To win the wild world by sweet minstrelsy :

Yet from my own, my inmost soul.

Thy chariot, Spirit, do not roll,
Nor leave those chambers dark and desolate.
Where long ago thy glorious presence sate !

Tor hast thou not been with me long ago ?
When o'er the cataract that raged below
Breathless I hung, or while in silent awe
Night's infinite magnificence I saw ;

Or when, in many a thoughtful hour,
I felt thy sweetly troubling power.
Or heard the song of thy inspired band.
The holy ones and high of every land ?

AETAT. 23-4.] Early Years ai the Obsei^atory. 317

Spirit of Beauty ! though my life be now
Bound to thy sister Truth by solemn vow ;
Though I must seem to leave thy sacred hill,
Yet be thine inward influence with me still :

And with a constant hope inspire,

And with a never-quenched desire,
To see the glory of your joint abode,
The home and birth-place, by the throne of God !

October, 1829.

In letters subsequently given may be read. Wordsworth's com-
ments on these verses, and Hamilton's submission to some verbal
criticisms, and defence against others.

It is to Hamilton's honour that the impression he made upon
young men, his coevals and his juniors, was such as to create in
them the warmest affection, admiration, and respect. This arose
from his unaffected humility and his cheerful communicativeness,
combined with his power to solve most difficulties admitting of
solution, his frankness in confessing ignorance, his reverential and
profound treatment of all great questions. The feelings enter-
tained towards him by Francis Edgeworth are stated in a few
words by his mother, who, writing to invite Hamilton to Edge-
worthstown in July of this year, says, " I am tempted to try and
persuade you to give some portion of the leisure you allow your-
self to your friends here in general, and in j)articular to Erancis —
who has, I must say for him, though he is my son, as high an
esteem for your character and admiration for your talents as it is
possible to have." In the same month a letter was written to him
by a friend just quitting college for the life of a country clergy-
man, which is a striking testimony to the same effect — " This
letter is accompanied by an edition of Pascal's works, of which I
beg your acceptance. I desire much that you should keep it as a
memento of the admiration, esteem, and respect I have held you
in from the first moment of our intimacy. I must also be candid
enough to add that my selection of the book was occasioned partly
by the delight I have experienced from a frequent perusal of the
Frovincial Letters and Thoughts, and by the gratification afforded

3i8 Life of Sir William Roivan Haviilton. [1829.

me when I contemplated the happy union of his most exalted
genius and unaffected piety, and partly by the numerous coinci-
dences which a comparison of his life and your own present to
me." The early development of mathematical genius and of the
power of reasoning clearly and forcibly upon metaphysics and
theology constitutes indeed a bond of likeness between Pascal
and Hamilton well worthy of remembrance ; but to Pascal was not
granted the poet's faculty of enjoyment of life and nature, so
largely bestowed on Hamilton ; and the latter, in some degree
perhaps to his disadvantage, possessed no element of character in
sympathy with that fanatical vein which manifested itself in the
extreme asceticism of Pascal.

The summer of 1829 brought also to the Observatory another
youth in whom similar feelings of delight and admiration had
"been excited. This was the Viscount Adare, at that time an
Eton boy of seventeen. By whom Lord Adare was introduced to
Hamilton I have not ascertained, but from documents in my pos-
session it appears probable that it was by some member of the
Goold family, with which he was on terms of intimacy, and of
which one member, Francis Groold, had distinguished himself as
a classical scholar in the college class above Hamilton's.* The
admiration thus excited led to a proposal that Hamilton should, in
the course of the summer, visit Lord Adare's father, the Earl of
Dunraven, at Adare Manor, in the county of Limerick, a pro-
posal which Hamilton was unable to act upon, and before long
the arrangement was suggested that Lord Adare should become
Hamilton's pupil, and live at the Observatory. Hamilton was at
this time enjoying much the entire freedom for work which he had
gained by the removal of Lord Anglesey's sons, and was actively
engaged in extending the application of his Characteristic Function,

* Thomas Groold, an eloquent opponent of the Union in the Irish Parliament,
and subsequently Sergeant-at-law and Master in Chancery, was the head of
this family, the younger members of which were distinguished by graces of mind
and person. One of his daughters became the first wife of Lord Adare, and
mother of the present Earl of Dunraven.

AETAT. 23-4.] Early Years at tlie Observatory. 319

so that he very reluctantly entertained the idea of having another
pupil. But his difficulties were overcome by the facts that Lord
Adare, besides general intelligence, possessed a special interest in
astronomy, of which he had already some practical knowledge, and
that the Provost of Trinity College, Dr. Kyle, not only did not
object to the plan, but desired its realization, as securing for the
University of Dublin an alumnus of distinction. Accordingly the
negotiations were concluded before the end of November, and
Lord Adare at that date writes to Hamilton — " I leave Limerick
to-morrow morning on my way to Eton, for the purpose of taking
leave there. I am so fond of Eton that nothing except the great
pleasure and advantage I shall receive by being with you could
have induced me to leave it so soon." It is pleasant to be able to
add, that the connexion thus entered upon proved the source of an
affectionate friendship that for many a subsequent year was among
the chiefest life-treasures of Hamilton and his pupil. It was not
till the ensuing spring that Lord Adare came to reside at the
Observatory. During the interval, Hamilton was employed in the
delivery of his annual course of collegiate lectures, and in optical
investigations, which formed the material afterwards printed in the
first and second Supplements of his Essay on a Theory of Systems
of Eays.

Before the period now arrived at, Hamilton had extended to
myself and other members of my family the feeling of friendship
with which he had, from the beginning of his college life, regarded
his class-fellow, my eldest brother. To this kind feeling I owed
an invitation to spend at the Observatory some days at the begin-
ning of November, 1829 — an invitation accepted with delight by
one already attached to the giver, and just released from the ex-
amination hall and looking forward to astronomy as his next sub-
ject of study in Science. My object in mentioning this visit is
that it gives me opportunity of recording my remembrance of
Hamilton, as seen and enjoyed by me in the free intercourse of his
home. As to myself, I brought a general apprehensiveness and a
sincere, I may say a lively, interest in the various aspects of truth,

320 Life of Sir WilUain Rowan Hamilton. [1829'.

and a love of poetry, but no special talent for matliematics, and na
originality of power in any line. I could, therefore, feel the more
deeply how gracious was his nature, when, more as a companion
than a teacher, he devoted himself, in the hours we spent together,
to giving me wide and clear views in science and in metaphysics ;
listened patiently to every difficulty, and carefully disposed of
it ; and gladly welcomed any reply that showed something more
than mere recipiency, and encouraged the effort of the learner to
make independent advances.

A peculiar charm of Hamilton at this time, and it never quite
departed from him, was a boyish cheerfulness which irradiated all
his intellectual activity, and yet was never out of harmony with
earnest and serious thought ; smiles and witticisms gleamed and
bubbled on the siu-face of the deepest current of discussion ; and
this rendered his oral teaching delightful, even when, as often
happened, it became too deep for the capacity of his hearer. Often
was the Observatory garden the scene of the private lectures I en-
joyed at that time and afterwards ; there teacher and learner were
more than peripatetics, for frequently both drove hoops abreast
round the walks, as they carried on talk about astronomy or
optics ; and flowers and poetry, reminiscences of Brinkley and
Wordsworth (from each of whom a walk was named) relieved agree-
ably the severer subjects. Another favourite haunt was the field-
terrace immediately below the shrubbery in front of the house.
This terrace, access to which was gained by an iron wicket, often
spoken of by him, commands a wide and varied prospect of great
beauty — the city, the sea, the Dublin and Wicklow mountains, and
an intervening plain with many features of its own, woods and
fields, villas and hamlets. Hither he was sure to bring stranger
or friend, and many will remember how, enjoying the splendid
scene, he was animated by it to pour forth, as he sat or strolled, the
riches of his thought and feeling. At the time of which I now
write, his three sisters, Grrace, Eliza, and Sydney, were domiciled
at the Observatory. The first-named, as the eldest, kept house for
him, but all, including Grace as well as the poetess Eliza and the

AETAT. 23-4.] Early Years at the Observatory, 321

student Sydney, sympathised in his pursuits, and were cheerful and
congenial companions ; and it was delightful to observe the warm
affectionateness which pervaded all his intercourse with them.
No fear that the topics would be uninteresting to them banished
science or poetry, religion or politics from the conversation of meal-
times ; they and Cousin Arthur, a frequent visitor, freely took their
parts in it, for though he was the life and soul of all that passed,
Hamilton was no monopolist of talk, even when he shone most
brilliantly, either at home or in outer society. The poets most
often in his thoughts and conversation at this time were Words-
worth, Coleridge, Shelley, and Keats, and, among the elders,
Milton. The books lay about, as often open as shut, ready to be
snatched up and read from, commented on, and discussed ; these
poets entered into his daily life and into that of his sisters, and it
was as refreshing and fertilising fountains of feeling and thought
that their works were thus habitually resorted to. To Shakespeare
he would occasionally refer, but he did not then, if I remember
rightly, at all study or occupy his mind with the characters or ex-
pressions of the great dramatist. In truth it was in its subjective
aspect that poetry had then for him its principal interest. His
letters and his verses have shown that he was far from being
exclusively confined to the consideration of subjective ideas ; he
took no unwilling note of outward objects and matters of fact,
whether in human life or surrounding nature ; and he was always
alive to passing incident, and prompt to take necessary action ;
but it is to be admitted that the perpetual consciousness of the
working of his great brain, of the large compass embraced by his
thoughts, of the depth and permanence of his feelings, did in him
become an over-weight, and made the presence of self unduly felt
by him, and self-contemplation too habitual. This self-conscious-
ness was indeed most remarkably free from selfishneso ; for no one
was ever more ready to yield what might properly be yielded to
another, nor to take considerate thought of the condition and cir-
cumstances of all in contact with him ; but it was too operative to
be concealed, and indeed he took no pains to conceal it, for he was

322 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1829.

above all things simple and unaffected ; and this interest in his own
mind and feelings led him into what, perhaps, was almost the only
instance of disproportionate action in his intercourse with others ;
it did not manifest itself in the social circle, but with a friend,
or one whom he hastily or charitably supposed to be such, he
would too freely give credit for willingness to enter into abstract
reasoning on the scientific subjects which engaged him, or for the
personal sympathy which woidd take pleasure in the verses which
gave utterance to his feelings ; and, accordingly, when the incom-
petent, the uncongenial, and the unfriendly were thus treated
by him, he incurred in their estimation the character of boredom,
while even the true and comprehending friend would feel at times
that his communicativeness was not always sufficiently restrained
by regard to time and circumstances. His courteousness and his
readiness to show deference, proceeding from his kindness of na-
ture and his religious humility, never in the least degree inter-
fered with his truthfulness. He had abundant moral courage, and,
though not pugnacious, was not unwilling to engage in a strenuous
battle of argument with any adversary, or to express, when oc-
casion called for it, dissent or disapproval ; and in such encoun-
ters or manifestations of conviction or feeling he united vigour
and warmth with a manly good temper. He possessed also
physical courage and activity. His practice of walking on the
parapet of the Observatory roof is on record ; and I remember the
zeal with which he cultivated gymnastics when an undergraduate,
and the strength and agility which he then displayed, and which
he continued to exercise. An early friend of his informs me that
once, in the country, he was mounted by his host on a horse which
ran away with him ; he kept his seat, and, having heard that the
best way of subduing such a propensity in a steed was to tire him
out, he rode him on upon the hard road to such effect as to bring
him home in a foundered condition. It was the possession of all
these qualities which made him, at the time I speak of, so delight-
ful a combination of the boy and the man, and the combination
continued to exist into advanced 5''ears of his life.

AETAT. 23-4.] Early Years at the Observatory. ^22,

From Professor Peter Barlow to W. R. Hamilton.

' Royal Militakt Acabemy,

< January 9th, 1829.

' I received yesterday, by favour of Major Peppercorn, the first
part of your Essay on the "Theory of Systems of Rays," and I
hasten to return you my best thanks for your polite attention. In
this short time I can, of course, have done no more than simply to
look to the general character and nature of the principles on which
you have founded your investigation, which, from their generality
and the very able manner in which you conduct your researches,
cannot fail of leading ultimately to highly valuable theoretical re-
sults. My connexion with optical science has been more practical
than theoretical, but I will endeavour, at the first opportunity, to
make myself acquainted with your investigations, and, while I am
engaged practically on the subject, reduce some of them to useful
practical purposes. Unfortunately, the delicacies of workmanship
are so inferior to the strict minuteness of calculation, that it is not
always possible to avail ourselves of the advantages that might
otherwise be derived from such very profound investigations.'

From W. R. Hamilton io the Rev. Dr. Robinson.

' OiJSEEVATOEY, January 30, 1829.

* I am sorry that I have only one Moon to send you, namely,
that of Jan. 19, on which night, however, I observed a good many
stars besides those given in the Supplement to the Nautical
Almanac, which Thompson has reduced. The bad weather has
been aided (in producing this paucity of (S s) by my state of health,
which is not strong, and which never fails to make me suffer for
any exertion in the observing way. However, it does not hinder
me from pursuing mathematics, and I enjoy intensely my present
leisure, which is much more perfect than any that I possessed while
I had the charge of my late pupils, of whom we were all very fond,
but who necessarily caused us much anxiety. I had not allowed
myself to build any castles on Lord Anglesey's patronage, and

324 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1829.

ratlier enjoyed the connexion as giving me intercourse with a frank
and amiable nobleman, than in the hope of anything beyond ; and
as a political change I cannot regret his removal, although my
temper disposes me to think as little as possible about state affairs.

From Dr. Brinkley, Bishop of Cloyne, to W. E. Hamilton.

'Cloyne, yi^;)-«7 20, 1829.

' I ought not to have deferred so long thanking you for your
letter, but intended writing by a friend who was going to Dublin ;
however I now shall endeavour to send this through the Castle.
The intervals of the wires were not determined with that extreme
precision as you seem to have aimed at, so that I am surprised you
did not find a greater difference. I considered them exact enough
for my purpose. The computations were made in some of the
waste-books, or perhaps on loose paper, and destroyed.

' Not sufficiently recollecting the exact steps and results of Mr.
Graves' Essay, I cannot say how far your series of propositions
will uphold it. The paper you lent me, which I now return, and
ought to have returned it long ago, gives me sufficient proof of
the powerful assistance you afford Mr. Graves in repelling any
objections that may be made to his Essay. At the same time, I
cannot help thinking that no real advance has been made.

' I hear that chemistry is likely at last to afford great assistance
to astronomy by improving the composition of glass. Mr. Faraday,
at the Royal Institute, has made a number of interesting experi-
ments for uniting borax with oxide of lead ; it produces a great dis-
persive power. Mr. Barlow has also been very successful with his
fluid in his telescope. But what has surprised some and annoyed
others is, that the determinations heretofore made of the seconds
pendulum are not exact. This appears to have been shown by Mr.
Bessel. An account of his experiments is published in the last num-
ber of Brancfs Journal, by Captain Sabine. Captain Sabine him-
self has been engaged in a most interesting set of experiments on
the pendulum, by observing the vibrations in rarefied hydrogen gas
and in other airs. The effect of the air does not seem to have been
properly estimated heretofore, and it is not likely it can be done
except by experiments expressly directed to that purpose.

AETAT. 23-4.] Early Years at the Observatory . 325

* Besides the loss of poor Dr. Wollaston, I understand that
Davy, although alive, is lost to the world, that Dr. Young has been
attacked with an alarming and dangerous complaint, and that Mr.
Pond is in a very precarious state ; so that we must depend on you
and the other talented young men to take their places.

* I shall be happy to hear from you at any time, and to answer
any inquiries you may wish to make, relative to the Observatory
or otherwise. . . . '

From "W. R. Hamilton to the Rev. D. Lardner, LL.D.

[from a draft.]

' Dublin, 10, S. Cijmberla.nd Street,

'April 25, 1829.

'I have only this moment received your letter respecting the
Cabinet Cyclopaedia, which, by some strange mistake, has been
lying two months at College. It is probably now too late to do any-
thing more than to remove the impression which my silence may
have left upon your mind, of a failure in respect towards yourself,
or an unwillingness to have my name inserted among those of the
distinguished individuals mentioned in your list. Yet, even had
I received your offer in time to have availed myself of it, I fear
that I must have been discouraged from this latter course by the
conviction that to execute well the plan of the Cabinet Cyclopaedia,
in the scientific part of it, would require not only that fondness
for Mathematical Philosophy which I can conscientiously claim,
but also that experience and maturity of mind which I dare not
attribute to myself. Those profound and classical works which the
Prospectus holds forth as examples of the possibility of executing
its admirable plan are examples which owe their seeming facility
to the very perfection of their art, and deter him who remembers
that the "si6i quivu speret idem''^ is true of scientific as well as of
poetical imitation. Although, therefore, I look forward, among
the objects of my fondest ambition, to applying hereafter my more
matured exertions in the general diffusion of knowledge, I believe
that I ought to confine myself now to that sphere of original re-
search in which experience may less unfitly have its place supplied
by enthusiasm.'

326 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1829.

From W. E. Hamilton to his Aunt Mary Hutton.

' Obseevatoet, 3Icii/ 2, 1829.

*A line to tell you that, having had a good deal of observation for
some time past, I always muffle myself up, and have found your
dressing-gown very comfortable. I cannot say so much for the
beautiful fur cap, which, as well as my hat and college cap, I find
badly suited for hard work. In their stead I wear a night-cap,
and over it a Welsh wig, which make me a comical figure ^

From W. R. Hamilton to W. Wordsworth.

' Obseevatoev, Jan. 23, 1829.

' I hope you do not think that I have forgotten the very plea-
sant evenings which I passed with you in the autumn before last.
The pursuits indeed to which I am devoted are of an absorbing
nature, and their tendency is somewhat unfavourable to the culti-
vation of poetic feelings; but they do not prevent me from some-
times enjoying such feelings, and still less can they hinder me
from remembering your society, and prizing your friendship. I
hope you received, in the beginning of last year, a letter which I
wrote to thank you for your kind critique on the verses that I had
laid before you when in England, and which Mr. Johnston under-
took to forward. I now avail myself again of his aid to forward
some lines for your perusal, written by a young friend of mine,
who, being about to spend some years, perhaps his life, in Germany,
has pressed me, before he goes, to submit the verses to your criticism.
I am sensible that in so doing, and in requesting the favour of a
reply, I presume much upon your indulgence, but I could not refuse
to comply with a wish which he appeared to feel so strongly ; and
I have been tempted to enclose, in the same packet, a few verses
by my sister and myself.

' With kindest regards to all your family, &c.'

AETAT. 23-4.] Early Years at the Observatory. ^i-l

From "W. Wordsworth to W. R. Hamilton.

' Rydal Mount, Kendal,

'Feb. 12, 1829.

* It gave me mucli pleasure to hear from you again ; and I
should have replied instantly, but Mr. Harrison is at Hastings,
and I knew not how to direct without troubling you with postage,
which I would willingly avoid, being aware my letter will scarcely
be worth it.

' Now for a few words upon your enclosures. Your own verses
are dated 1826. I note this early date v/ith pleasure, because I
think if they had been composed lately, the only objections I make
to them would probably not have existed, at least in an equal
degree. It is an objection that relates to style alone, and to versi-
fication ; for example, the last line " And he was the enthusiast no
more," which is, in meaning, the weightiest of all, is not sinewy
enough in sound — the syllable tlie, the metre requires, should be
long, but it is short, and imparts a languor to the sense. The
three lines, " As if he were addressing," etc., are too prosaic in
movement. After having directed your attention to these minutiae,
I can say, without scruple, that the verses are liighly spirited, and
interesting and poetical. The change of character they describe is
an object of instructive contemplation, and the whole executed
with feeling. I was also much gratified with your sister's verses,
which I have read several times over ; they are well and vigor-
ously expressed, and the feelings are such as one could wish should
exist oftener than they appear to do in the bosoms of nude astro-
nomers,

' The specimens of your young friend's* genius are very pro-
mising. His poetical powers are there strikingly exhibited ; nor
have I any objections to make that are worthy his notice, at least
I fear not. I should say to him, however, as I said to you, that
style is, in poetry, of incalculable importance ; he seems, however,
aware of it, for his diction is obviously studied. Thus the great
difficulty is to determine what constitutes a good style. In de-
ciding this, we are all subject to delusions ; not improbably I am
so, when it appears to me that the metaphor in the first speech of

Francis B. Edgeworth.

328 Life of Sir William Roivan Hainilton. [1829.

his Dramatic Scene is too much drawn out ; it does not pass off as
rapidly as metaphors ought to, I think, in dramatic writing. I
am well aware that our early dramatists abound with these con-
tinuations of imagery, but to me they appear laboured and un-
natural— at least unsuited to that species of composition of which
action and motion are the essentials. " While with the ashes of
a light that was," and the two following lines are in the best style
of dramatic writing ; to every opinion thus given always add, I
pray you, ia my judgment, though I may not, to save trouble or to
avoid a charge of false modesty, express it. " This over perfume
of a heavy pleasure," etc., is admirable, and indeed it would be
tedious to praise all that pleases me.

'Shelley's Witch of Atlas I never saw, therefore the Stanza re-
ferring to Narcissus and her was read by me to some disadvantage.
One observation I am about to make will at least prove I am no
flatterer, and will, therefore, give a qualified value to my praise.

" There was nought there

But those three antient hills alone."

Here the word alone being used instead of onli/ makes an absurdity
like that noticed in the Spectator — Enter a king and three fiddlers,
solus.

' The Sonnet I liked very much, with no draw-back but what is,
in a great measure, personal to myself. I am so accustomed, in
my own practice, to pass one set of rhymes at least through the
first eight lines, that the want of that vein of sound takes from the
music something of its consistency — to my voice and ear. Fare-
well ! I shall at all times be glad to hear from you, and still
more to see you.'

From. Francis B. Edgeworth to Eliza Hamilton.

'Apriin, 1829.
I.

" 0 pleasant flower, wherefore smile on me

To whom you are not dear ?

Though through the wintry year
And leafless time thy look I sighed to see.

But now that thou art here,
My sadness is but sadder than before,
And there is nothing more ;

AETAT. 23-4.] Early Years at the Observatory. 329

This is all, these flowers

Freshly water'd with spring showers,

And these dark bowers,
And nothing more — •
0 would that life were o'er ! "

II.

" The air is heavy, and the songs of the birds,
Like a lover's faint words,

Falter and murmur ; the nightingale only

Has the passion and the power,
From the bush where she sits, dreaming and lonely,
To unburden the oppression of the hour ;
Out of her flowery croft,
Like summer lightning, flashing fast and soft."

* These two little songs are the only things of a sendable size
and form that I have written since I saw you, . . .

* The wind may be blowing freshly and fairly, but if our boat
is not made, and the sails set, and the helmsman practised and
ready, it is to us as though there were only calm. I most per-
fectly agree with you that the metre is created hy the tone of the
thought " uttering itself as much by sound as by intelligible lan-
guage." Indeed that is exactly what I meant to express in what
I said. But study, I think, is necessary, because we are in this
world — because our intellect, our genius, cannot speak but through
our talents, and we must train our talents, and make them light,
active, and graceful, as the god of study himself. Mercury, to bear
to the world the commands and messages of that which otherwise
could not, in the nature of things, approach into the world : a
medium being necessary, genius must become, as it were, incarnate
in the lower form, and go through all the toil and laborious life of
talent, that talent may become in the end inspired and divine — a
body originally of the earth, but glorified. For it seems to me
that all the fine arts are but expressions of one sentiment, only all
in different languages : one speaking to the eye, another to the
ear — architecture with stone, music building with sound its wide
extents and towering heights, its variety still struggling with its
sameness, in short, its beauty ; and poetry moulding a still more
delicate material, and one susceptible of much more of the divi-
nity ; but still language, thought, ideas, being only as the un-

330 Life of Sir William Roivan Hainilton. [1829.

formed sound, or stone, or the colours, or the block of marble.
Now, if this is the case, how can one understand any one of them,
though one could well feel the sentiment they all express, if one
will not learn the language tliey each are written in, and the laws
by which it is governed ? Colours, to understand a picture ; sound
and tones, music ; the language of Grreece, and the rhythm and the
forms of tlie metres, to understand Grreek poetry — and of England,
English poetry. I have been very prolix, I fear, but I feel very
strongly the use and the necessity of study; I know in myself how
much I have gained by it ; I know how often I have read over
and over, without a feeling or glimpse of the beauty, some passage
in a poet of fame and standard authority, till suddenly " meaning
on my mind Flashed, like strong inspiration." We must, I think,
begin with faith, in poetry also, patient faith, and submit ourselves,
by an act of the will, to the poet we are reading ; to understand
him, we must stand under him, to learn his manner, his language,
his method of expressing beauty. All those monstrous-looking
forms of fishes that one sees in books of prints appear monstrous to
us, because we don't understand them or their uses. Grod, the great
arch-poet, writes in many styles. I am probably wearying you
with what you know, or rather feel, for knowledge in these things
is feeling already. But yet, not ; it is not tiresome, I think, to
hear from another what one knows in these subjects already, but a
pleasure to find that another sympathises with one. I have very
little room, so a great deal I must leave unsaid which I would have
said. Male with a dash,* I think merely applies to youi* brother —
scientific men in general being so material. He only wishes that
all male lookers at the moon knew how to look at the moon to half
so much purpose ; but they look at the stars and fall into the pit.
I cannot but say, however little room there is, how much I agree
with the healthy, good, and pious tone of Wordsworth's poetry.
People will not see, in general, that poetry is not any one facult}-,
but the collective expression of the whole being.' f

* Referring to Wordsworth's letter, p. 327.

t F. B. E. must have been a most engaging boy and youth. In the Memoir
of Maria Edgeworth (printed for private circulation) are the following passages
from letters written by her : Vol. II. p. 201—' May 28, 1822. Besides the
pleasure we should have naturally taken in his conversation [that of Mr.
Eandolph, the American minister] we have been doubly pleased by his grati-

AETAT. 23-4.] Early Years at the Observatory. 331

From W. R. Hamilton to William Wordsworth.

* Obsehvatokt, May 14, 1829.

' The letter containing your remarks on the verses which I had
submitted to your perusal arrived in due course ; and my only re-
gret was that you could have felt any hesitation respecting the
forwarding of it through the Post-office, since your letters must
always be acceptable to me, and I may add, instructive. Your
criticisms on my friend's poetry I copied in a letter to him. His
name is Francis Edgeworth, and he is a brother of the well-known
authoress. He had been here for a week, about Christmas last,
and appeared to me to possess an amiable but uncommon mind ;
among studies, his favourite was metaphysics, and among meta-
physicians, Plato ; and though I am little acquainted with meta-
physical writers, I enjoyed highly my conversations with him on
the powers and nature of man. I trust that while he thus uu-
spheres the spirit of Plato to unfold the discoveries that have been
made by the light of ancient reason, he will not imitate some
modern Platonists in despising that better light which has since
risen on man, and which, though by the Grreeks deemed foolishness,
we know to be indeed the power and the wisdom of God.* Francis
Edgeworth was at Cambridge for some time, but quitted the Uni-
versity in disgust, being unable to reconcile himself to the study of
mathematical science, which he was accustomed to hear extolled

fying attention to ourselves and my dearest mother, still more by the manner
in which he distinguished your Francis, who was with us. Spring itice told us
that Mr. Abercromby, who had met him at Joanna Baillie's, told him he was
one of the finest and most promising boys he had ever seen.' Page 205 —
'August 7, liS22. A chaise with Francis in it, and here he is — one of the
most agreeable and happy boys I ever saw.' Page 207 — ' September 10, 1822.
"When Honora is on the sofa beside you, make her give you an account of
Francis's play, " Catiline," which he, and Fanny, and Harriet, and Sophy, and
Jane Moilliet and Pakenham got up without our being in the secret, and acted
the night before last, as it were impromptu, to our inexpressible surprise and
pleasure.' Details of the performance follow. The last reference to him is in
his mother's words : Vol. III. p. 249 — ' The long illness of my son Francis, and
his death, October 12, overwhelmed us all for the remainder of the year 1846.'
* A letter written near the close of his life, by Francis Edgeworth to Hamil-
ton, gives the information that he had exchanged Platonic Philosophy for
Christian Religion through reading the works of Schleiermaclier.

:;^^2 Life of Sir Williain Rowaji Ha7nilton. [1829.

chiefly as a handmaid to matter, and a minister to the comforts of
society ; but during his visit here he was induced to take a diffe-
rent view of the nature and end of mathematical study, and made,
even in that short time, a rapid progress in geometry and algebra,
the cultivation of which I believe he intends to pursue. As, how-
ever, he possesses a fortune of his own, which, although very small,
prevents him being obliged to adopt a profession, he proposed to
spend his life in Grermany, and to devote it to studies connected
with metaphysics and poetry. Circumstances have since occurred
to induce him to give up the German part of this design, but in
other respects I believe it remains unchanged. I know that I need
not apologise for giving you this slight sketch of his life and cha-
racter, though I have made it longer than I intended. However,
as I enclose some further extracts from the poems of my sister and
myself (of which my own at least are none of them very recent),
I do not choose to make this letter more bulky than it already is.
With the wish, therefore, to be remembered by your own family,
and by the other friends whom I met at Ambleside and Keswick,
I am, &c.

'I remember your once saying that you desired to postpone other
plans of travel until you could revisit Italy. I do not dispute
the propriety of this preference, but shall be glad if any unlooked-
for circumstance induce you first to see the sunrise from the roof
of the Observatory, or to visit our "happy garden, whose seclusion
deep Has been so friendly to industrious hours." '

From W. E. Hamilton to his Cousin Arthur.

'Dublin, June 1, 1829.

' I write a line to communicate to you without delay a sug-
gestion which has just been made to me, and which seems to de-
serve the most serious consideration. The suggestion was made
by Dr. Sadleir, during a short interview with him to-day in the
Librarian's room. He was speaking of the approaching Examina-
tions for Fellowships, and said that he wished I was a candidate.
He added that he knew some members of the Board considered the

AETAT. 23-4.] Eaj'ly Years at the Observatory. 333

stipulation by which I am excluded to be a very hard one, and that
there would probably be a majority in favour of releasing me from
it — to which he annexed some complimentary expressions of his
desire that I should be a member of their Body. A proposition
thus put, of combining Fellowship with the Observatory, appeared
to me so very different from the former question, of adopting one
or the other, that I did not think our former reasons decisive in the
present case, and therefore did not altogether reject the proposal ;
on the contrary, I expressed my sense of the kind and compli-
mentary dispositions which had led to that proposal, and remarked
that as my offering myself at the Examinations of next week was
out of the question, I thought it unnecessary, till after those Ex-
aminations, to trouble him with any discussion on the subject ;
adding that even then I should not only feel myself bound to
abstain from becoming a candidate for Fellowship without the ex-
press permission of the Board, but should even feel a delicacy and
a reluctance in applying for such permission. I lose no time, how-
ever, in communicating the circumstance to you, that you may
have the more leisure for turning the subject in your thoughts.'

From William Wordsworth to W. E. Hamilton.

< Rydal Mount, Juhj 24, 1829.

' I have been very long in your debt — an inflammation in my
eyes cut me off from writing and reading, so that I deem it still
prudent to employ an amanuensis ; but I had a more decisive rea-
son for putting off payment — nothing less than the hope that I
might discharge my debt in person. It seems better, however, to
consult you beforehand; I wish to make a tour in Ireland, and
perhaps, along with my daughter, but I am ignorant of so many
points, as where to begin — whether it be safe at this rioting period
— what is best worth seeing — what mode of travelling will furnish
the greatest advantages at the least expense. Dublin, of course,
the Wieklow Mountains, Killarney Lakes, and, I think, the ruins
not far from Limerick, would be among my objects, and return by
the North ; but I can form no conjecture as to the time requisite
for this, and whether it would be best to take the steam-boat from

334 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1829.

Liverpool to Cork, beginning there, or to go from Whiteliaven to
Dublin. To start from Whitehaven by steam to Dublin would suit
me, as being nearer this place and a shorter voyage; besides, my son
is settled near Whitehaven, and I could conveniently embark from
his abode. I have read with great pleasure the Sketches in Ireland
which Mr. Otway was kind enough to present to me; but many
interesting things he speaks of in the West will be quite out of
my reach ; in short, I am as unprepared with tourist's information
as any man can be ; and sensible as I am of the very great value of
your time, I cannot refrain from begging you to take pity upon
my ignorance, and to give me some information, keeping in mind
the possibility of my having a female companion.

' It is time to thank you for the verses you so obligingly sent
me ; your sister's have abundance of spirit and feeling ; all that
they want is what appears in itself of little moment, and yet is of
incalculably great, that is, workmanship — the art by which the
thoughts are made to melt into each other and to fall into light
and shadow, regulated by distinct preconception of the best general
effect they are capable of producing. This may seem very vague
to you, but by conversation I think I could make it appear other-
wise ; it is enough for the present to say that I was much grati-
fied, and beg you would thank your sister for favouring me with
the sight of compositions so distinctly marked with that quality
which is the subject of them.* Your own verses are to me very
interesting, and affect me much as evidences of high- and pure-
mindedness, from which humble-mindedness is inseparable. I like
to see and think of you among the stars and between death and
immortality, where three of these poems place you. The Dream of
Chivalry is also interesting in another way; but it would be in-
sincere not to say that something of a style more terse, and a
harmony more accurately balanced, must be acquired before the
bodily form of your verses will be quite worthy of their living souls.
You are probably aware of this, though perhaps not in an equal
degree with myself; nor is it desirable you should, for it might
tempt you to labour which would divert you from subjects of in-
finitely greater importance.

' Many thanks for your interesting account of Mr. Edgeworth.

* Genius.

. ABTAT. 23-4,] Early Years at the Observatory. 335

I heartily concur with you in the wish that neither Plato nor any
other profane author may lead him from the truths of the Gospel,
without which our existence is an insupportable mystery to the
thinking mind.

* Looking for a reply at your early convenience.'

From the Eev. Dr. Eobinson to W. R. Hamilton.

' Juhj 30, 1829.

* I have heard from Beaufort that South is renouncing astro-
nomy, and intends to sell his instruments. I have written to him
to tell me at what price he would dispose of his Equatorial (which
you know by the description of it in the paper on Double Stars) ;
and on getting his answer shall I write to the Provost to get it for
you ? The telescope is one of the best in the world, and the
machine also capital. It will perhaps come better from me than
you; as, though the Board are liberal enough, it may be well
that you should not seem to press too much on them. . . . '

From W. P. Hamilton to the Rev. Dr. Robinson.

* Observatory, August 3, 1829.

' . . . I am sorry to learn that South is renouncing astro-
nomy, but am much indebted to you for thinking of getting me
his Equatorial. However, as Sharpe has taken so much trouble
already in preparing his new Equatorial stand and clock-work
machinery for my dome telescope, I do not feel myself at liberty
to break off the arrangements with him, and therefore fear that I
must miss the opportunity, even if, which I do not think likely, the
Board would be willing to go to the expense. If, however, they
should ever provide me with a better telescope, I understand from
Sharpe that it can be adapted to his machine; but he is going im-
mediately to Armagh to show the model to yourself, being na-
turally desirous to submit it to your inspection. . . .

' Captain Everest, who has been superintending a great tri-
angulation in India, and is going out again for that purpose, was

336 Life of Sii^ William Roivan Haviilton. [1829.

in Dublin lately, and paid me a visit here. He was mucli delighted
with the eight-feet circle, which he assisted me in putting to some
more severe tests than I had myself done before. The little re-
peating circle did not please him equally on examination, since he
found, what I also had remarked, that the altitude screws commu-
nicate a motion in azimuth. I am in great hopes of receiving a
visit soon, which I shall enjoy still more though in a different
way, from Wordsworth, who is about to come to Ireland with his
daughter for a short tour. Francis Edgeworth, who is very fond
of poetry and metaphysics, and who, last Christmas, appeared to
be quite absorbed in them, has since taken a liking for mathematics,
and is now deep in the fifth book of Euclid, which, as he says him-
self, will do him a great deal of good. He has a very uncommon
mind, and I feel much interested in his welfare ; it was his poeti-
cal taste that brought him to my recollection at this moment, as I
had been speaking of Wordsworth. Being uncertain how soon the
latter may come, I cannot yet leave home, which, besides, I am un-
willing to do until the shutters are put up. . . .

' In the astronomical way, I am busy with old reductions, and
should like to revise any results that I have sent to you, before
their publication.'

From the Rev. Dr. Eobinson to W. R. Hamilton.

lAugust, 1829.]

' We are very glad to hear from you, and particularly on ac-
count of the arrangement which you mention. Lord Dunraven is an
acquaintance of Lady Campbell (whom you, I dare say, remember
here), and she speaks in the highest terms of him, and of the way
in which his son has been brought up. If he does not become a
distinguished man, he will have no right to blame anyone but him-
self. All here well, and all wishing to see you whenever you find
time for a run. Sharpe has shown me the model of the Equatorial ;
I am much pleased with it, and you know that I may venture to
call myself a competent judge of Equatorials. Some alterations I
have suggested, as to the number of verniers and the application of
levels, which will make it perfectly available as an instrument for
giving absolute measures. It will, I think, be a capital addition to

AETAT. 24,] Early Years at ihc Observatory. 337

your stock of instruments. My observations are printed merely for
distribution ; and when a parcel of them which has been sent from
London to Rarabaut reaches him, I have desired him to give you
one for the Observatory and another for yourself. I hope also, ere
long, to send you a memoir of mine on the longitude of Armagh
by moon-culminating transits, in which there are some novelties.'

From W. Wordsworth to W. R. Hamilton.

'Patterdale, August 'i, 1829.

* I am truly obliged by your prompt reply to my letter, and
3^our kind invitation, which certainly strengthens in no small degree
my wish to put my plan of visiting Ireland into execution. If I do,
depend upon it, my first object on reaching Dublin will be to find
out your hospitable abode. At present I am at Patterdale, on my
way to Lord Lonsdale's, where I shall stay till towards the conclu-
sion of the week, when I purpose to meet my wife and daughter on
their way to my son's at Whitehaven; and if I can muster courage
to cross the channel, and the weather be tolerable, I am not with-
out hope of embarking Friday after next. This is Monday,
August 4th ; I believe every Friday the steam-boat leaves White-
haven for the Isle of Man ; whether it proceeds directly to Dublin
I do not know, but probably it does. I do not think it very pro-
bable that my daughter will accompany me, yet she may do so ;
and I sincerely thank you, in her name and my own, for the offer
of your hospitalities, which, as we are utter strangers in Dublin,
could not but be still more prized by us. I say no more at present
than that if I do not start at the time mentioned above the season
will be too far advanced, and I must defer the pleasure to another
year. May I beg to be remembered to your sister ; and believe
me, my dear Mr. Hamilton, most sincerely your much obliged.'

From F. B. Edgeworth to W. R. Hamilton.

' Aw/ust 7, 1829.

' I am very glad to hear that Wordsworth is coming to Ireland.
I wish you would do us a good turn, and persuade him that Edge-

338 Life of Sir William Rowan Haniilto7i. [1829.

worthstown lies on the road to Killarney, if Killarney be liis object.
My sister Maria wishes very much to see him, though I doubt that
she would be half as much gratified as I should by his conversation.
When is he to come ? I was very much flattered by your remem-
bering our old argument about the ancient and modern methods of
considering Nature. But your last observation, though it appears to
me very subtle, does not, I think, bring the matter to an end. The
original beginning of all was this — considering the Modern and An-
cient Astronomy in relation, not to external truth and the realities
of the visible world, but to the mind, and the truth of beauty, I
held that the synthetical creation of the universe, as a work of art,
was a higher exercise of mind, and more allied to divinity, and the
original creative act of the Divine Intellect, than to search experi-
mentally among particulars for the hidden law, and, by patient
collecting and arranging, hunt out their sameness and difference.
A few careless observations supplied them with a sufficient wArj, and
then they applied to Intellect, not to Nature, and asked " What is
best ? " — not " What is ? " — As, for instance, they did not observe
the phenomena of the planets, but considered what figure was
simplest and best, and that they set down as the existing figure
used for the purpose by the Divine Intellect. Now to this you
answer — But by our experimentalizing we have discovered that
Nature has chosen, not the simplest figure for the orbits of the
planets, but the simplest law. To this might I not answer — Very
well ; but to us, in what is the simplest law better than the simplest
figui'e ? To Nature, who operates essentially and liviugly, it may
be most economical ; but to us, who cannot comprehend or wield a
living law, but who compose intellectually a creation of thoughts
which exist but do not live — may be are ((bore life — is not the an-
cient system more beautiful ? And may not that ancient Saturnian
universe of theirs (you know Saturn is the god of Pui-e Intellect)
be more true, on the whole, to the real universe, considered as a
whole", than our upstart Jovian world, that has dethroned those old
divinities, for these reasons — for is not everything we call beauti-
ful, statue, pictm-e, or poem, or the single verse of a poem, beautiful
only as a whole ? as finite ? — complete, and perfectly adapted to
the end ? Now the modern world is infinite, like a Gothic building;
the ancient is finite, complete, and total, like a Grecian temple.
But is it more adapted to its end than the ancient ? What is the

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at tJic Observatory. 339

<'nd or object of tlie universe ? If we don't know that, it is vain to
talk of the beauty of it, this way or that. If we do know the end,
it would seem that it can be no other than this, that the cause of
tlie existence of a material world is the progression of beings from
the first cause, which must end in something as it were infinitesi-
mal. As, for instance, if we resemble that great first principle to
a globe of light, there must be some extreme distance where the
irradiation of His glory is but just seen, and where the divine
light is no longer light, but rather " darkness visible " ; such
they conceived matter to be, and the end and ultimate desire of
matter, "withered and worn, shadow-delighted, unintellectual,
always clasping at an unreal body, always changing,"

av)(^ixu)v KoX pvTTowv, ctSwXoT^ap?;?, dvorjTO'S,
atet' vv/Jicjiev(j}V d^ave? 8ifxa<;, alev IXicrcrwi/,

her ultimate object is to attain to intellect, to creep nearer the
light; and consequently the material world desires to resemble
the intellectual world as much as possible: then, the more intel-
lectual and reasonable the world, the more beautiful. Now what
is the meaning of Gravity ? Is it like a tale told by an idiot:
full of sound and fury, signifying nothing? that is, not being
a symbol, or outward visible sign of some inward intellectual
being. Whereas, in the ancient system, all visible things are the
extreme progressions and last echoes, as it were, of divine things ;
as wine or the grape of inspiration, or Bacchus the elevating
god ; as war of Minerva, or the goddess of differences and distinc-
tions, which among us become hostilities, but among the gods are
merely distinctions. And so all the elements, etc., subsist in
various degrees of perfection, in different spheres, up to the gods
themselves, and the Grod of gods. Now this seems to me to be
likely to resemble the whole system of the world more than our
dead and dark arrangements of gravity and such things — though
this may be more true in one sense of the word; as a fly upon a
Corinthian pillar of St. Paul's might say that the real truth of St.
Paul's was not any regular whole, formed by definite reasons for
a certain end, as some poetical fly had taught, but that this was all
wrong, and that /le had, by actual ocular observations, discovered
that the true system was only certain hollows and prominences de-
termined by certain intervals, and nothing more. But suppose in

/. 2

340 Life of Sir William Rowan Haviilton. [1829.

the end, by constant observations, the fly should make out the
whole truth and symmetry of St. Paul's ? — very well, in the end ;
but in the meantime, it seems to me that the poetical fly would be
better employed in conceiving beautiful wholes, and this employ-
ment would be more like that of the architect himself; for just con-
sider this — we say such and such things are beautiful, that is, we
feel a kind of consciousness that we know what beauty is; yet
when we come to consider in ourselves what this beauty is, or how
we say more or less beautiful, we find ourselves quite abroad. The
only solution of these facts appears to be this, that we have known,
and that we do essentially know, what beauty is, but that at the
present this science is obscured within us. The object of life then
is to try and recover this knowledge of ideas, which we seem both
to possess and not to possess, for beauty itself must be infinitely
more than any or all beautiful things; and what more does the
mind desire, in anything, than beauty ? Now is oiu- knowledge of
the idea of beauty improved by knowing the real solar system?
How shall we know ? Thus — a man shows his acquaintance with
beauty only by producing beautiful works; nor have any of those arts
which depend upon beauty been improved by any of these experi-
mental discoveries. Do our poets, sculptors, or painters laugh to
scorn those ancient masters? If not, what have we gained? —
Great exercise and practice and improvement in mathematics?
Yery well, if so, so good ; then rest the merit of those pursuits on
that, and say they are good practice in mathematics, but do not
claim for them any sublimer title as studies of beauty. Why is
the study of beauty higher than that of mathematical truth ? That
is another question ; but they certainly appear distinct from each
other. You see, my dear Sir, what you have drawn upon your-
self by answering my former query. I am rather ashamed of hav-
ing taken up your time so long, but the subject was so entertaining
that I could not resist it. I like your propositions, but I have not
yet considered them suflficiently. I am very much obliged to you
for remembering them and sending them.'

AKTAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 341

Postscript by Mrs. Edgeworth to W. R. Hamilton.

' Edgeworthstown, August 6, 1829.

* Francis has allowed me this small space to express to you my
hopes that yoiir expected visit from Mr. Wordsworth may not cut
us off from the days you promised to us ; hut on the contrary en-
sure your coming, if you will be kind enough to offer Mr. and
Miss Edgeworth's compliments to him and Miss W., and assure
them that we shall consider a visit from them as an honour and
pleasure, and shall be as happy to show them the state of the
country and peasantry in this centre of Ireland as to give the
hearty welcome of our own little circle.'

From W. Wordsworth to W. E. Hamilton.

' Whitehatex, August 15, 1829.

' The steamboat has been driven ashore here, so that I could not
have gone in her to Dublin. But my plans had been previously
changed. My present intention is to start with Mr. Marshall,
M.P. for Yorkshire, who gives me a seat in his carriage, for Holy-
head, on the 24th inst. ; so that by the 27th or 28th we reckon upon
being in Dublin, when I shall make my way to the Observatory,
leaving him and his son to amuse themselves in the city, where he
purposes to stop three days ; which time, if convenient, I should be
happy to be your guest. We then proceed upon a tour of the
island by Cork, Bantry, Killarney, Limerick, etc., etc., up to the
Giants' Causeway, and return by Portpatrick. This arrangement
will prevent my profiting by Mrs., Mr., and Miss Edgeworth's most
obliging invitation ; for which mark of their esteem pray return
them my cordial thanks. Some other season I may be so fortunate
as to avail myself of their offer, when I shall hope to be favoured
with your company also. Though I sj)eak of designing at present
a tour of the island, it must be a rapid one ; and I doubt not it
will leave such recollections behind it as will tempt me to revisit
the land with my daughter or sister, if circumstances permit.'

;42 Life of Sir William Rowan Haviilton. [1829.

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sider Eliza.

* Edgeworthstowx, Septemher 2Zrd, 1829.

* I arrived here on Friday last about five o'clock, having travel-
led without accident, and with tolerably agreeable society — at least
with company which was not remarkably the reverse. One was a
Major, who borrowed during part of our journey the copy of The
Excursion which I had with me, and read it with pleasure and sur-
prise, thanking me when we parted for having introduced liim to
the works of an author whom he had not known before, and would
henceforth respect. Neither had Mr. Wordsworth's party arrived
at Edgeworthstown before me, nor had Francis Edgeworth yet re-
turned from a visit to his sister at Cluna ; but a messenger had
been despatched for Francis, who arrived here on the following
day ; and Mr. Wordsworth and his party breakfasted with us on
the morning of Sunday. They had intended to continue their
journey on Monday, but were prevailed on to stay till Tuesday
morning, a circumstance which gave us the pleasure of passing two
agreeable days together. All seemed to enjoy those days very
much, but especially Francis and I, who succeeded in engaging
Mr. Wordsworth in many very interesting conversations. Miss
Edgeworth has had for some time a somewhat serious illness,
which had for a few weeks prevented her from dining with her
family ; but she was able to join us at dinner on the day that I
arrived, and she exhibited in her conversations with Mr. Words-
worth a good deal of her usual brilliancy. She also engaged Mr.
Marshall in some long conversations upon Ireland ; and even Mr.
Marshall's son, whose talent for silence appears to be so very pro-
found, was thawed a little on Monday evening, and talked at din-
ner with the lady who sat beside him, and discussed with me after
tea the formation of the Solar System. Miss Edgeworth tells me
that she is at last employed in writing for the public, after a long
interval of interruption, but does not expect to have her work
soon ready for publication. Mr. Wordsworth desired to be remem-
bered to my sisters and my cousin ; he had also some conversation
with me on the subject of those poems which you had shown him.
He thinks that they evince sensibility, feeling, and genius, but that
they want much of perfection with respect to the art of composi-

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatoiy. 343

tion. In this view, lie continues to wish that you should direct
your poetical reading almost exclusively to the works of time-hal-
lowed poets, such as Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton ;
and he thinks that yoii might find it useful to write for some time
in the more regular and authorised metres, abandoning, of course,
this plan of composition if you should find on trial that it too
materially interfered with your habits of thought. He has pro-
mised to send me, after his return to Cumberland, an account of
those passages in your poems which appear to him to be the hap-
piest or the most unliappy, and I have mentioned to him an inten-
tion of taking you with me to visit him for some short time next
summer.

' I have had much discussion on various subjects with Francis
Edge worth.'

From Maria Edgeworth to Mrs. Ruxton.
[Memoir, Vol. III., p. 35.]

' Ebgeworthstown, Sept. 27, 1829.

'I enjoyed the snatches I was able to have of Wordsworth's
conversation, and I think I had quite as much as was good for
me.* He has a good philosophical bust ; a long, thin, gaunt face,
much wrinkled and weather-beaten ; of the Curvven style of figure
and face, but with a more cheerful and benevolent expression.

' . . . Mr. William Hamilton has been with us since the day
before Wordsworth came, and we continue to like him.'

Memorandum by W. E. Hamilton.

' Edgewoethstown, September^ 1829.

' Miss Edgeworth is much interested in the CoUeyians. She
considers the author as a talented though vulgar man. She com-
pares him to a Michael Angelo painting with charcoal, but still a
Michael Angelo. She says he is one who could paint the Devil so
powerfully that he would fall mad with looking at his own picture.

* She had been very ill just before ; see preceding letter.

344 Life of Sir William Rowan Hajuilton. [1829.

At first, before she had read the book, she requested me to give her
a sketch of the story, or at least to tell her what parts had inte-
rested me most ; but now that she has become interested in it her-
self, she will not allow me to tell her anything more of it. The
incidents seem to her to be well prepared for, and the conduct of
Hardress, though bad, yet not improbable. Yet she does not think
that she would herself have had the courage to represent a person,
good in other respects, falling into such snares and evils as he does
through want of courage to acquaint his mother with the single
fact of his marriage. She thinks that she would have spoiled the
whole by trying to avoid this ; while she acknowledges that in the
Collegians the thing is not out of drawing. The incident of Eily's
meeting the girl who refused to marry Luke Kennedy, because he
wished to persuade her to leave her poor old father, appears to
Miss E. to be almost unrivalled in pathos ; it reminds her of the
scene in Zeluco — where Zeluco meets and holds a conversation
with the good and innocent Bertram.'

From RicHAKD Napier to W. R. Hamilton.

'11, FrrzwiLLiAM Square, East,

' October 22, 1829.

' Since I had the pleasure of listening to your speculative
opinions, they have occupied my mind in some measure, . . . and
if I clearly comprehend your view, it is — that there are higher
motives (or a class of motives) than those included under the uni-
versal desire of haj)piness ; that they are not the deductions of
reasoning or calculation ; that these motives, or the germs of them,
exist in all minds, developed in various degrees, but not entirely
developed in any mind ; that by care in early education they may
be excited and rendered more frequently operative, though proba-
bly never so as to become the sole or constant motive of action in
this life ; that your belief in this capacity for higher motives is the
result rather of feeling and consciousness than of any process of
reasoning, and that you believe it to exist in others because you
perceive signs and symptoms in them which you recognise as analo-
gous to those in your own mind ; that this capacity is a quality or

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 345

property of our eternal nature, urging us on (as far as that nature
permits) to aid in forwarding and completing the great ends of crea-
tion, whatever they be (if, indeed, one can venture to speak of ends
in that which seems infinite both as to time and space) ; that these
motives do not originate in any calculations or intuitive percep-
tions of the happiness they will procure ; that their (jreat end and
object in not the happiness of the person who feels them, but that
at the same time that happiness is a constituent and certain col-
lateral consequence of our obedience to those motives. . . . '

Memorandum by W. R. Hamilton of a Conversation.

' Monday Evening, Xovemher 9, 1829.

' After being by myself for some hours in the study, I went to
the parlour, where Grace, Eliza, and Sydney were sitting, and en-
tered with them into conversation on the "Ancient Mariner,"
which they had been reading. Grrace complained that, though
there were many beautiful parts in the poem, she did not under-
stand it, and could not believe it to be true. I thought that the
moral of the story was the duty of loving all Grod's creatures, but
that the chief object of the poet was to show the natural in the
supernatural, by placing a human being under circumstances con-
trary to human experience, yet attributing to him. feelings which we
recognise as true ; that is, which we are conscious we should our-
selves have if we were placed under the circumstances supposed.
This truth of feeling I considered to be the highest truth of poeti-
cal composition : I thought that one of the chief advantages of
poetry consisted in making us acquainted with our own nature, by
exercising our understanding and consciousness in the discernment
of truth of this kind. Romances may have such truth, and by it
may give exquisite pleasure. Novels and ordinary poetic fiction
must combine with this truth the observance of that inferior kind
which consists in outward probability — the truth of cii'cumstances
and incidents, as well of character and feeling. A practised taste
comes to be offended by a violation of this outward probability in
a novel, but need not be so in a romance, or professedly supernatural
poem. Eliza thought that it could be of no use to imagine how we

346 Life of Sir Williavi Rowan Hamilton. [1820.

should feel or act in circumstances in which we can never be placed,
except so far as all imagination is in some degree useful to the
mind. I maintained that, in addition to this general use, there was
a special advantage resulting from the experimental knowledge
which we derive by putting ourselves in thought under remote and
even supernatural circumstances, and observing how we feel, or
how we believe that we should be affected. It appeared to me that,
as in science, mathematical or physical, we have often come to
understand better the near by aiming at the remote; so, in the
study of our own minds and feelings, we might improve our practi-
cal knowledge by not confining ourselves thereto ; might come to
know better how we should feel and act under real circumstances,
by sometimes placing ourselves in such as cannot be realised.'

From W. E. Hamilton to Francis Edgeworth.
[from a short-hand draft.]

' Obsekvatoky, Ocfoier 31, 1829.

* As I am again in town to-day to meet the Bishop of Cloyne,
and shall have no opportunity of leaving, either at Merrion-street
or at the Coach-office, the volumes of Wordsworth and the ex-
tracts that I mentioned before, I write to thank you for the letter
containing your criticisms on my Address to Poetry, many of which
I feel to be just, and for which I could not fail to be obliged even
if I thought them otherwise. I shall, however, trouble you with
some remarks, not as a defence of my verses, but as an explana-
tion of my opinions. You ask how I can separate Truth and
Beauty, and think that I mean by these two sisters the faculties of
Reason and Imagination, such as they are defined by Coleridge.
I do not now remember Coleridge's Aphorisms about these facul-
ties, but perhaps I can give some illustrations of my own meaning
from your cxauiple of the monkey. You say that the monkey is
not so well suited as the lion or gazelle to the similes or associa-
tions of a poet, yet is equally fitted to its place, equally self-con-
sistent. Now it is this self-consistency, or consistency with its
place in the universe, that comes properly under my head of Truth ;
its fitness or unfitness to excite sublime or tender emotions in the

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 347

liiiman mind, I refer to that of Beauty. The one may be said to
be perceived by the mind, the other by the heart, of man. I believe
that these two views of Nature have a mysterious and intimate con-
nexion, which, at the end of my verses, I express a deep desire to
have further unfolded to me ; but they do not seem to be identical
with each other, and I think that we may correctly say of the
scientific and (of) the poetical man, that, while each contemplates
both Truth and Beauty, yet the former habitually looks at things,
or thoughts, rather as true than as beautiful ; the latter as beauti-
ful rather than as true.

'As another matter of opinion, rather than of taste, in con-
nexion with the verses that I sent you, I may remark that I still
think it part of the office of a poet "to win the wild world by sweet
minstrelsy" ; to diffuse through minds less gifted than his own a
sense of tenderness and beauty and elevation, although the higher
part of his office may be the communing with those kindred spirits
who compose his "fit though few," and who are interested in his
esoteric mystery. Does not your opinion, that Christianity is no such
mystery, but represents itself as level in all its parts to all capaci-
ties, appear to contradict such passages as these : "Leaving, there-
fore, the principles of the doctrine of Christianity, let us go on
unto perfection" ; "But we speak wisdom among them that are
perfect, though not the wisdom of this world " ; the distinction
between "Milk for babes, and strong meat for men"; the descrip-
tion of the indefinite progress by contemplation, " Beholding, as in
a glass, the glory of the Lord, and being transformed into the same
image, from glory to glory " ; and the statement that the plan
of human redemption gives exercise to the meditation of angelic
natures, "which things the angels desire to look into"?

' I send at present only four volumes of Wordsworth, detaining
the " Excursion," of which you lately had a copy, as I have not yet
supplied myself with a set. Schlegel, which you were so good as
to speak in youi' last letter of sending, has not reached me, but
when it does I shall read it with interest.

' My sisters are all well, and hope that all your family are so..
With best regards to them, . . .'

348 Life of Si}' William Rowan Hamilton. [1829.

From the Same to the Same,
[from a short-hand draft.]

' Observatory, November 20, 1829.

*My last letter was written rather in haste, and it is very
likely that I may not have done justice either to my own
meaning or to your former remarks; however, with respect to
your last letter, I must say that I believe myself to find in
mathematics what you declare you do not — a formable matter
out of which to create Beauty also; and that, to my particular
constitution of mind, a mathematic theory presents even more of
"the intense unity of the energy of a living spirit" than the
work of a poet or of an artist. Even the " Principia " of
Newton, which is ordinarily perused as a model of inductive
philosophy, I consider as being rather a work, a fabric, an archi-
tectural edifice, the external results of which have been and will be
changed by the progress of experimental science, but which will
always be interesting to mathematicians as a structure of beauti-
ful thoughts. But if you are of a diiferent opinion, with respect
to the beauties of mathematics, I can no more hope to convince
you by argument than I would expect to argue another into the
love or admiration of poetry, which must be determined by his
own experience and consciousness. I believe that if I were not in-
ferior to you in poetical sensibility and power, I would feel more
than I do the comparative beauty of Art : its absolute beauty I
admit; and you, I think, would not so far degrade the compara-
tive beauty of mathematical science (in comparison, I mean, with
beauties of art and poetry) if you did not possess less natural or
acquired powers than I do in respect to mathematical thought,
and did not thereby find it a less plastic and formable material.
I find it difficult, certainly, to conceive a mind so different from
my own as to feel no beauty in mathematics after it has begun to
invent and create ; but if you feel your own mind, whether from
inferiority of power in this particular field of human thought, or
from the distraction of other and perhaps higher powers, as not
likely to attain, without an irksome expenditure of time and labour,
that facilit^^ of mathematical thought which must be acquired in

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 349

order to give its beauty a fair trial, I cannot blame you that you
should decide on abandoning- mathematical pursuits for others in
which you think that you will find more pleasure, excellence, and
beauty.

' Saturda// — I have just now received a parcel containing, with-
out any written composition, two copies of Wordsworth's letter to
a friend of Robert Burns, and two copies of his Description of the
" Scenery of the Lakes "; if you have not received one, I suppose that
one copy of these is for you, and I shall send them on your return.
I hope that you received and will accept a new set of Wordsworth's
works, which I sent to Edgeworthstown about a fortnight ago, in
place of the set that you had lent to me.

' Present my best regards to our common friends at Trim.'

Memorandum by W. R. Hamilton.

' The following is a copy from an old scrap containing notes of
what I intended to write to Francis B. Edge worth in answer to a
letter of his : —

* Physical Science includes Time as well as Space, to which you
do not seem to attend.

' You say we have, and we have not, the Idea of Beauty ; I
say the same of the Idea of Power.

* You say it is the business of life to attain or recover the Idea
of Beauty ; I say, that in whatever sense this is true of Beauty, it
is true of Power also.

* I do not pretend that the study of Physical Science is favour-
able to the cultivation of the sense or idea of Beauty ; I think it is
the contrary.

* Perhaps you may be right in your opinion that every beauti-
ful object is finite; but the higher orders of Beauty seem at least
to suggest infinity, and even, were Beauty always and altogether
finite, Power is otherwise.

*Nor can I admit that there is not a pleasure, and a very
intense one, in endeavouring to grasp infinity, or at least in medi-
tating on such things as most suggest it.

* Could I conceive the universe as a whole, I persuade myself
that I should feel dissatisfied, and ask, Is this all ? {Aestuat infdix
angtisfo limit e miindi).

350 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1829.

*You ask, What have we gained by knowing that Nature
operates by the simplest laws rather than in the simplest forms ?
I answer : We are, or may be, led by this knowledge to elevate
ourselves above the corporeal region of dead, though beautiful,
forms, into the more intellectual world of living spiritual energies.
The universal meaning which you Avould give to natural objects,
and which you rightly represent as necessary to the fullenjoj^ment
of them, is attained as well by showing (so far as it can be shown)
how the Deity continues to energise in each, as by exhibiting the
ai'chitectural arrangement of the universe, considered as a llnished
fabric.

'Yet the Newtonian, no less than the Platonic, Pliilosophy
appears to me to be a work, a fabric, an architectural edifice.

' It is in conformity with vulgar apprehension that Newton's
system is stated to be true.

' Here ended the scrap which I have now burned ; but I think
that in an old book I have a short-hand copy of the letter itself',
for writing which the foregoing notes were designed to prepare.'

From W. R. Hamilton to Viscount Adare.

' Obseevatoky, November 27, 1829.

*I am much engaged in college just now, in delivering a Course
of Lectures on Astronomy, but I must write to express to you the
pleasure which I feel at the arrangement which the Provost informs
me has been concluded, respecting your pursuing here your studies
for some time. You are aware that I had been reluctant to receive a
pupil, chiefly on account of feeling that the confidence which the
University had reposed in me deserved on my part as much con-
centrated exertion as I could give ; but since this objection has
been removed in the j)resent case by the approbation, and indeed
wish, of the Provost, while your love for Science entitles me to hope
that by your society I shall rather be stimulated than retarded in
my own scientific progress, I look forward with much satisfaction
to our pursuing our studies together. As I understand that you
are not likely to be here till the beginning of February, I think it

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at t lie Observatory. 351

might be worth your wliile to devote some of your reading hours
in the meantime to the perusal of the second edition of Francoeur's
Pure Mathematics, which commences with Arithmetic and ends
with the Calculus of Differences, and which you will find an excel-
lent text book ; you might either begin it or take it up at any
other part that you found interesting ; and if you felt yourself dis-
posed to employ in this way any portion of your Christmas holi-
days, might write to ask me any questions that occurred to you,
which I would endeavour to answer.

' Present my best respects to Lord and Lady Dunraven.'

From W. Wordsworth to W. R. Hamilton.

' Rtdal Mount,

'■December 2Z, 1829,

* Your letter would have received an immediate answer but for
the same reasons which prevented my writing before its arrival,
viz., numerous engagements, and a recurrence of inflammation in
my eyes, which compels me to employ an amanuensis.

' The pamphlets were intended for yourself and Mr. Edgeworth,
as you conjectured. The poem you were so kind as to enclose
gave me much pleasure, nor was it the less interesting for being
composed upon a subject you had touched before. The style in
this latter is more correct, and the versification more musical.
Where there is so much sincerity of fueling in a matter so dignified
as the renunciation of Poetry for Science, one feels that an apology
is necessaiy for verbal criticism. I will therefore content myself
with observing that joijing for joy or joyance is not to my taste —
indeed I object to such liberties upon principle. We should soon
have no language at all if the unscrupulous coinage of the present
day were allowed to pass, and become a precedent for the futm-e.
One of the first duties of a writer is to ask himself whether his
thought, feeling, or image cannot be expressed by existing words
or phrases, before he goes about creating new terms, even when
they are justified by the analogies of the language. " The cata-
ract's steep flow " is both harsh and inaccurate — " Thou liast seen
me bend over the cataract" would express one idea in simplicity,

2,^2 Life of Sir William Rowan HaniiltoJi. [1829.

and all that was required : had it been necessary to be more parti-
cular, steep flow are not the words that ought to have been used.
I remember Campbell says, in a composition that is overrun with
faulty language, "And dark as winter was the floto of Iser rolling-
rapidly " — that is, flowing rapidly ; the expression ought to have
been stream or current.

' Pray thank your excellent sister for the verses which she so
kindly entrusted to me. I have read them all three times over
with great care, and some of them oftener. They abound with
genuine sensibility, and do her much honour ; but, as I told you
before, your sister must practise her mind in severer logic than a
person so young can be expected to have cultivated — for example,
the first words of the first poem : " Thou most companionfess." In
strict logic being companionless is a positive condition, not admit-
ting of more or less, though in poetic feeling it is true that the
sense of it is deeper as to one object than to another, and the drn/
moon is an object eminently calculated for impressing certain
minds with that feeling ; therefore the expression is not faulty in
itself absolutely, but faulty in its position — coming without prepara-
tion, and therefore causing a shock between the common sense of
the words and the impassioned imagination of the speaker. This
may appear to you frigid criticism, but, depend upon it, no writ-
ings will live in which these rules are disregarded. In the next
line : " Walking the blue but foreign fields of day." The meaning
here is walking blue fields which, though common to thee in our
observation by night are not so by day, even to accurate observers.
Here, too, the thought is just ; but again there is an abruptness :
the distinction is too nice or refined for the second line of a
poem.

' " Weariness of that gold sphere." Silcer is frequently used as
an adjective by our poets : gold, I should suppose, very rarely,
unless it may be in dramatic poetry, where the same delicacies are
not indispensable. Gold watch, gold bracelet, etc., etc., are shop
language. Gold sphere is harsh in sound, particularly at the close
of a line. "Faint, as if weary of my golden sphere" would please
me better. " Greets thy raijP You do not greet the ray by day-
light', you greet the woo» ; there is no ray. "Daving flight" is
■wrong : the moon, under no mythology that I am acquainted with,
is represented with wings ; and though on a stormy night, when

AETAT. 24.] Early Yeai's at the Observatory. 353

clouds are driving rapidly along, tlie word might be applied to
her apparent motion ; it is not so here ; therefore flight is here used
for unusual or unexpected ascent: a sense, in my judgment, that
cannot be admitted. The slow motion by which this ascent is
gained is at variance with the word. The rest of this stanza is
venj pleasing, with the exception of one word — " thy nature's
hreasf^ — say "profane thy nature :" how much simpler and better.
Breast is a sacrifice to rhyme, and is harsh in expression. We
have had the brow and the eye of the moon before, both allowable :
but what have we reserved for human beings if their features and
organs, etc., are to be lavished on objects without feeling or
intelligence? You will, perhaps, think this observation comes with
an ill grace from one who is aware that he has tempted many of
his admirers into abuses of this kind ; yet, I assure you, I have
never given way to my own feelings in personifying natural
objects, or investing them with sensation, without bringing all that
I have said to a rigorous after-test of good sense — as far as I was
able to determine what good sense is. Your sister will judge, from
my being so minute, that I have been much interested in her poeti-
cal character : this very poem highly delighted me ; the sentiment
meets with my entire approbation, and it is feelingly and poeti-
cally treated. Female authorship is to be shunned as bringing in
its train more and heavier evils than have presented themselves to
your sister's ingenuous mind. No true friend, I am sure, will en-
deavour to shake her resolution to remain in her own quiet and
healthful obscurity. This is not said with a view to discourage
her from writing, nor have the remarks made above any aim of the
kind ; they are rather intended to assist her in writing with more
permanent satisfaction to herself. She will probably write less in
proportion as she subjects her feelings to logical forms, but the
range of her sensibilities, so far from being narrowed, will extend
as she improves in the habit of looking at things through a steady
light of words ; and, to speak a little metaphysically, words are
not a mere vehicle, but they are powers either to kill or to ani-
mate.

'I shall be truly happy to receive at your leisure the prose MSS.
which you promised me. I shall write to Mr. F. Edgeworth in a
few days. I cannot conclude without reminding you of your pro-
mise to bring your sister to see us next summer ; we will then talk

2 A

354 Life of Sir William Rowayi Hamilton. [1829.

over the poems at leisure, when I trust I shall be able to explain
myself to our mutual satisfaction.

' With kind regards to all your family, your cousin included,
I remain, &c.

* My sister, Miss Wordsworth, and Miss Hutchinson beg to be
kindly remembered to you.'

From W. R. Hamilton to Wordsworth.

' Observatoby, February 1, 1830.

' I send you so large a quantity of prose extracts from former
writings of my own, on subjects upon which we have conversed, that
I will not increase the bulk of this packet by writing a long letter
besides. But I must not neglect to thank you for your communi-
cation respecting my sister's verses, which we read with much
pleasure, and for which she would, perhaps, charge me with a
fuller acknowledgment but that she happens to be at present from
home. The criticisms she felt to be just, and your judgment
appeared to her, upon the whole, more favourable than she had
expected, I also was glad to receive your strictures on the
language of my own lines. Although you consider those lines as
containing a renunciation of poetry for science, you feel, I am sure,
that it is only the outward form which I can be contented to resign,
and not the inward influence. The prose manuscripts that accom-
pany this letter, and of which some are not of recent date, will
show that I have always aimed to infuse into my scientific pro-
gress something of the spirit of poetry, and felt that such infusion
is essential to intellectual perfection. From this aim chiefly,
and from this conviction, I have at various times yielded to the
impulse of poetical composition, though conscious of the many im-
perfections and the little merit of my verses. And, notwithstand-
ing that consciousness, I shall, perhaps, send to you occasionally
others of my metrical fragments, partly to derive instruction from
your criticisms, and partly to make you more fully acquainted
with my character. My sister and I look forward with much plea-
sure to the visit which you have invited us to pay next summer.
We shall, of course, give you ample notice, that we may be sure of

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 355

not interfering with any engagements of your own. In addition to
the usual business of the Observatory, I have lately undertaken
another responsibility by accepting the superintendence of the scien-
tific studies of Lord Adare (son of Lord Dunraven), a young man
of a very amiable character, respecting whom I think we had some
conversation at Edgeworthstown, and who wishes to reside with
me during the period of his University education. But as he will,
no doubt, spend part of the summer with his family, I shall be
able to make such arrangements for visiting England during his
absence as I shall have ascertained beforehand to suit your wishes
and convenience.

'You remember, probably, our walk through Mr. Ellis's
grounds, and our dining together at his table ; and your heart is
too full of exercised humanity not to feel some concern on being
told that Miss Ellis, who sat next me at dinner, and was even
then unwell, has since fallen into a decided decline, which leaves
little hope of her escaping a fate that has already bereaved her
parents of nearly all their children.

' With best regards to all your family, and to your fellow-
travellers in Ireland, I am, &c.

* My sisters and cousin were gratified by your remembrance.'

2 A 2

356 Life of Sir William Rowan Hajnilton. [1830.

CHAPTER X.

EARLY YEARS AT THE OBSERVATORY — Continued.

(1830.)

In the succeeding year, 1830, the salient incidents in Hamilton's
life were his reception in February of Lord Adare as his pupil at
the Observatory, his visit in March with his pupil to Dr. Robinson
and the Observatory at Armagh, his visit in company with his
sister Eliza at the end of July to Mr. Wordsworth at Rydal
Mount, and a short visit in September to Adare Manor, the seat
of the Earl of Dunraven. To these must be added the publica-
tion in July, in the sixteenth volume of the Transactions of the
Royal Irish Academy, of his First SiuppJemeni to his Essay oti
Systems of Rays, and his presentation to the Academy of the
Second Supplement in the month of October.

When the time of Lord Adare's going to reside at the Obser-
vatory approached, he wrote to Hamilton, asking what books he
should take with him. Hamilton's reply may be read with
interest, as showing the aims he had in view in conducting the
education of a pupil whose future life was to embrace the per-
formance of parliamentary duties, and whom he was entitled
to regard as a valuable recruit in the service of practical science :
for it appears that it was an early object of ambition with Lord
Adare to erect an Astronomical Observatory upon his paternal
estate.

From W. R. Hamilton to the Yiscount Adare.

' Obseevatort, February 4, 1830.

* ... In my interview with the Provost and with Mr. Groold
on the subject of our connexion, I mentioned that I could not

AT.TAT. 24.] Eaily Years at the Observatory. 357

formally undertake any tuition except in Science, because it
was in this only that I could hope to render any important
assistance. It was, however, understood that from the friendly
interest wJiich we shall feel in each other's pursuits, we were
likely to have frequent conversations on classical and literary
subjects. In these conversations, what I shall chiefly and almost
solely aim at will be to make your studies of other languages
improve your knowledge of your own ; an end which I shall
seek to attain by occasionally hearing you translate, and by
accustoming you to consider every translation of a classical
author as an exercise in English Composition. My wish is
that you should be able, when you take up any Greek or Latin
book, at least any in the Course of our University, to open at
any page and read it aloud as if it were an English one — an
attainment which Mr. Pitt is said to have possessed in an emi-
nent degree, and which must have contributed much to his sub-
sequent parliamentary success.'

He then gives directions as to books requisite for the Classical
Course in College, and continues —

* With respect to your Mathematical studies, which I am
principally anxious to assist you in, you will not need so many
books at first, since I shall endeavour to initiate you in every
branch by methods of my own.

* I do not know what your present state of classical prepara-
tion may be, but under almost any circumstances I should wish
you not to enter the University this year ; especially as I believe
that though you have read Euclid, you have not yet begun to study
Algebra. The advantage of an University education in the for-
mation of intellectual character is, I think, in a great measure
lost by entering so early as many do in Dublin ; and even if
there were any inconvenience to most students in a late entrance,
there could scarcely be any to you, since you can, if you choose,
employ your privilege as a filiu8 nohilis, to hasten the taking of
your Degree/

Immediately after his arrival at Dunsink, which took place on
the 10th of February, Lord Adare began to work in the meridian-

358 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

room ; and indeed his zeal in making transit- observations was in
excess of wliat was prudent, and before long told injuriously upon
his eyesight. Nothing, however, could be more satisfactory than
the footing which became established between him and his instruc-
tor : the one was athirst for knowledge, and the other was equally
ready to communicate it, and mutual esteem and affection ren-
dered delightful their whole intercourse. In the course of the
summer another pupil of distinction was, through Mr. Ellis of
Abbotstown, offered to Hamilton, young Monsell of Tervoe, the
present Lord Emly; but after full consideration Hamilton felt
bound to decline a proposal which had many attractions to re-
commend it.

In March, Dr. Eobinson came up to Dublin, but missed seeing
Hamilton at the Observatory : from the assistant, however, he
learned that Hamilton was again unduly risking his health by
night -work, and with the friendliness which marked all his
conduct he wrote to warn him.

. . . ' I have many things to talk to you about, but for the
present must only entreat you to take care of yourself. I hear
from Thomson that you sometimes sit up very late in the transit-
room ; now I can tell you from my own experience that no consti-
tution can stand much of that work. You see that at Grreenwich
they never observe after twelve, except in cases of absolute necessity,
But I will allow you to rise as early as you please. I see that the
C[ollege] are doing a good deal for you : you will be but the more
liable to catch cold for want of exercise in turning the dome.'

The two friends soon met at Armagh, whither Dr. Eobinson
invited Hamilton to come, bringing Lord Adare with him. In
addition to the pleasures of their own personal intercourse, he
wished to introduce Hamilton to the then Primate, Lord John
George Beresford — a man who had already displayed in connexion
with the Observatory of Armagh the munificence of his nature
and his interest in intellectual pursuits, as he did afterwards
towards the University of Dublin, of which he became Chancellor,

AETAT. 24.] Eaj^ly Years at the Observatory. 359

by the erection of the Campanile and the endowment of a Professor-
ship of Ecclesiastical History.

This visit proved to Lord Adare the commencement of a life-
long friendship with Dr. Robinson ; and with both Lord Adare
and Hamilton, it became the gratefully remembered era of
another friendship, not scientific indeed, but to both a source of
intellectual pleasure and moral benefit. I refer to Lady Campbell,
at that time with her husband and children residing near Armagh,
where Sir Guy Campbell held a military appointment. Lady
Campbell was both by descent and personal qualities a woman of
great distinction. Her father was Lord Edward Fitz Gerald,
whose rash and unfortunate career as an Irish patriot has always,
because of his bravery and sincerity, excited more of compassion
than blame, even among those who justly disappi'oved his acts :
her mother, from whom she derived her own Christian-name, was
Pamela, daughter, as it was supposed, of the Duke of Orleans, and
brought up by Madame de Genlis ; and thus there flowed in her
veins the Royal blood of France and the blood of the Irish Geral-
dines. But whatever she may have owed to her lineage, there
could be no question with those who knew her that she was in
herself a singularly noble woman. Her countenance bespoke this.
Hazel eyes, with long black lashes under broad dark eyebrows, gave
forth flashes of intelligence, or seemed to be quiet wells of thought
and affection. A frank openness of disposition, good sense, earnest-
ness, the brightest play of wit and feeling, were each justly
expressed by her harmonious features : but in all the exercise of
her varied powers, religious reason never for a moment abdicated
the throne ; and this was marked in the settled lines of her face.
Her nature, sympathetic and yet strong, both in intellect and
principle, made her the chosen friend and confidant of men and
women like herself great in mind and energy, and seeking from
her the support and calming influences which to such natures can
only be administered by those in whom they are sure of native
sympathy, of perfect sincerity, and of the wisdom that comes from

360 Life of Sir W^illiam Rowan Hamilton. 1830.

what Hamilton in one of his letters to Wordsworth finely calls a
'heart full of exercised humanity.' She was thus the friend of her
relative Sir William Napier, the historian, and of others of that dis-
tinguished family, and of the Earl of Carlisle, the Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland : and such a friend she became to Hamilton and his
young pujiil Lord Adare, who to the end of their lives regarded
her with equal reverence and affection. To have been admitted,
though rarely, to friendly converse with her, I consider to have
been one of the happiest circumstances of my own experience of
life, and I may therefore be permitted to bear my testimony that
I never met with any woman to whom could be more truly applied
the beautiful, though now rather hackneyed, saying of Steele,
that * to know her was a liberal education.' She was well versed
in poetry and philosophy, and she was a deeply believing Chris-
tian : but she was so wise, or so happy in natural temperament
and fine instinct for companionship, that her tastes, her knowledge,
and her convictions made their impression, not by dissertation and
argument, but in subtler and more vital ways ; by the really appro-
priate allusion started at the moment, showing how the best
thoughts of the poets dwelt with her ; by the elevating word, that
proved how she cared for the better part in those she conversed
with ; by simple expressions revealing the preciousness to her of
her Faith ; by the instantaneous manifestation of all noble feelings,
whether in the form of indignation at wrong, or earnest sympathy
with true heroism.

In Lady Campbell, Hamilton found at this particular juncture
a friend to whom he was indebted for the exercise upon him of
influence which contributed to save him from giving way to
morbid despondency. It happened that the lady to whom he
had been attached resided not far from Armagh, and he went
to call upon her ; he saw her then, and he never met her again,
except twice, or at the most three times, transiently in society,
until more than twenty years afterwards, when she lay upon her
death-bed. The visit produced in him a revival of pains that had

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 361

been in some degree dormant, and he gave expression to his feel-
ings in the following lines : —

' We two have met, and in her innocent eyes
A meek and tender sorrow I have seen ;
Ah ! then, the change which my glad light put out,
And threw a gloom over my once bright way.
Has not to her brought perfect happiness.
Has not been able wholly to repay
Her for the severing of those earlier ties,
The parting from that home she loved so well.

Though more than one fair child, about her knees,
Sports, or puts up his prayers, or fondly gazing
Soothes her to peace and joy ; and though a spell,
And witchery is round her, that constrains
Whoever sees her to admire and love ;
And though wealth is not wanting, nor the things
The many care for, j'et she seems to me
Far, oh how far ! less radiant with delight,
Less safe from sadness than when first we met.

And in another a deep change hath been :

I am not Avhat I was : I care not now

For what would once have like a trumpet roused me ;

The spirit-stirring banner of Renown

T gaze on with a cold and heavy eye ;

And Love with feeble and inconstant torch

Attempts again to fire me, but in vain ;

And high research itself and Science' light

I follow more in patience than in joy ;

Sadly contented, if I may endure

Life, and in gentle calm await the grave.

'March 26, 1830.'

His depression, it may be supposed, became visible, for the
sympathy of Lady Campbell attracted his confidence, and from
her he was unable to conceal its nature. He took pleasure in the
idea that Lady Campbell was likely to be the friend of one in
whom he could not cease to be interested, though forbidden by
circumstances to manifest that interest. This hope was not to be
fulfilled ; for Sir Guy Campbell was soon removed to Dublin. On

362 Life of Sir WUliain Roivaii Hamilton. [1830.

his own return to Dunsink, he wrote to Lady Campbell a letter, of
which he preserved the draft, and which will show the manly
truthfulness of his self- judgment, and the dutiful attitude of his
mind.

From W. R. Hamilton to Lady Campbell.

' Observatory, April 8, 1830.

' While I send you the number of the Connahmnce des Te/np/^y
which contains (at page 9 of the Additions) the Funeral Ora-
tion of Poisson on Laplace, I cannot resist the temptation of com-
plying with your invitation to send you a letter besides. Indeed,
though but an irregular and unfrequent letter-writer, I have too
much enjoyed my conversations with you at Armagh not to accept
with pleasure your permission of carrj'ing on an occasional corre-
spondence. My mind was indeed much soothed and comforted by
your kind and gentle expostulations, and I feel without regret that
you have divined some particulars of my history which I had care-
fully sought to conceal. I am even glad that you have been so
penetrating, since you allow me to hope that the person in whom
I am so deeply interested will become an object of your interest
also, and be favoured with your acquaintance and friendship — a
thought on which I dwell with a pleasure that I cannot express.
You will, however, conceive it if you have ever had an unexpected
opportunity of greatly serving a person that you loved or cared
for, but who had seemed to be for ever removed out of the reach
of your kind offices. My leading to your acquaintance with the
lady to whom we allude will to her be such a service, and so will
mitigate the desolateness that I felt in the thought of our utter
separation. You will be to us a connecting link, a bond of sym-
pathy, a being that we both shall love, and that shall have added
to the happiness of both. She indeed will not know that I have
had any part in procuring for her your friendshij), but the thought
that I have had so will cheer and soothe me not the less. Nor
shall I lightly efface the impression of your other consolations. It
would indeed be ungrateful if I were to forget the many aggrava-
tions with which my misfortune might have been, and was not,
attended, or the many outward and inward blessings with which

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 363

my cup lias been made to run over. It would be unmanly to turn
aside through grief from the high path in which I have been called
to move, or, because I have encountered hardship or disappointment,
to lie down in despair and die. It would be impious to murmur,
with obstinate reluctance, against the appointment or permission
of God, and refuse even the endeavour to give the heart to Him.
Yet all these thoughts have not produced in me their perfect fruit :
the mind is convinced and willing, but the heart still lingers and
is weak. But I will hope that whenever we meet again the victory
may be more complete, and I may be enabled to hold in sincerity
a wiser and firmer language. Meanwhile, with all good wishes to
your family, believe that I am, dear Lady C, very truly yours.'

Her reply was as follows : —

Fvoyn Lady Campbell to W. R. Hamilton.

'iltf«?/24, 1830.

* ... I often think of our long conversations, and do hope,
dear Mr. Hamilton, that you will soon return to us, for it is long
since I had had such true pleasure. I feel grateful to you for
allowing me to understand your feelings, and I do trust you will
find me worthy of your kind confidence. My favourite Dante
says

" Sta, come torre ferma, che non croUa."

I feel convinced you have exerted, and will exert, yourself to over-
come the languor which has crept over your mind. You have still
a prospect before you well worthy your exertions ; and you will not
vex your friends, vex those who know and love you, by turning
from those blessings, those best of blessings, the power of being
useful and doing good, because it has pleased God to try you by
one severe disappointment. You know you have privileged me
to preach. I return your book ; I admired the French eloge, but
I admired it still more in your English, and was disappointed on
reading it ; for the extract you had given me had left so much
more vivid an idea of it on my mind. Could you lend me Cole-

64 Life of Sir Wihiavi Rowan Harnilton. [1830.

ridge's Poems ? How goes on German ? Now, dear Mr. Hamil-
ton, show me you have forgiven my long silence by writing me a
good long letter.'

Thus was closed this chapter of the romance of his life. He
listened to the exhortations of his friend, seconding, as they did,
the dictates of his own conscience, and he turned with invigorated
resolution to the carrying on of his scientific researches, which ere
long were to reward him with a signal success. I add a letter of
pleasant description, soon afterwards addressed to Lady Campbell.

From W. R. Hamilton to Lady Campbell,
[from a short-hand copy.]

'Obseevatort, June 12, 1830.

'It is now about eleven o'clock at night ; and Lord Adare, who
has just come into my study from the supper-room which I had
deserted, and found a beautiful American edition of Laplace's
Mecanique Celeste (this was Bowditch's) on my table, has taken
leave of me, saying " good night, don't sit up all night reading
that book ; I wish Lady Campbell were here to make you go to
bed " ; I replied, " Indeed, I believe she would do so if anyone
could." So you see we sometimes think and speak of you ; it
would be more true to say that you are seldom long absent from
our thoughts. We had a delightful excursion on Tuesday last to
the Dargle, one of the parts of the County Wicklow nearest to
Dublin, and a beautiful spot ; we saw it to great advantage, for
we set out early and had a fine day, worthy of the description
which you showed me in Herbert —

" Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of the earth and sky."

Indeed some hours might have wanted the coolness here spoken of,
if we had not enjoyed the shelter of many trees, and the sight and
sound of the Dargle river, which, " where his fair course was not
hindered, did make sweet music with the enamelled stones, giving

AETAT. 24.] Early Ycm's at the Observatory. 365

a gentle kiss to every sedge he overtaketh in his pilgrimage, and
straying so by many winding nooks with willing sport to the wild
ocean." Although the rocks which stopped the current compelled
it more often to change its gentle murmur to impetuous rage.* In
one of these lovely spots where the calmness and the turbu-
lence of the stream were seen in closest contrast, where the sun
could only shine through a rich veil of leaves, and all was loveliness
and beauty, we met, after hours of roaming, in the course of
which we had lost sight of one another, and we drew from its
hiding-place a basket of bread and meat, which we had prepared
to refresh us after our wanderings. Nor did we fail to attack it
with " keen despatch of real hunger " as at the feast of Eve, nor
to drink of the brook with such eager enjoyment as Milton has
elsewhere described. While we were thus engaged, our spirits rose
to such a height, we joked and laughed so much, that we might
well have been suspected of deriving inspiration from some more
potent beverage. Some word of mine was mistaken by Lord
Adare for your name, and his fruitless attempt to prove a resem-
blance in letters if not in syllables did not hinder me from rally-
ing him for having had you at the time in his remembrance. I
could have made but a weak defence myself against a charge of
the same kind, since I had the moment before been fancying that
I saw your Edward's eyes looking into mine, with the same ex-
pression as when he told me that I was a real magician. We
agreed afterwards to pardon in each other what neither could
hope to amend, and we quaffed some more of the Dargle water
to a wish and a hope that we might yet meet you there. We
then followed the course of the stream along steep and difficult
banks, till at our descent from the last of its bounding rocks we
found ourselves in the private grounds of some adjacent cottage,
and amused ourselves by fancijing that we should close our ex-
cursion with an adventure. Nothing disagreeable, however, inter-
rupted the enjoyment of the day, and the evening brought us
home to renew it in pleasant dreams. And here while 1 have
been trying to describe it, I have nearly filled my sheet without
a single sentence of melancholy. But I must not end my letter
without mentioning that I have lately procured Coleridge's Poems,

* Shakespeare, 'I'lvo Gentlemen of Verona.

366 Life of Sir William Rowan Hainilton. [1830.

wliicli it will give me mucli pleasure to send you whenever and
however you wish. I have also borrowed Coleridge's Sketches of Jm
Literary Life and Opinions, in the hope of a similar pleasure. In
these Sketches, which form a work called Biorjraphia Literaria^
Coleridge has many interesting criticisms on Wordsworth and on
other poets, besides other valuable thoughts; and altogether I
much enjoyed the perusal of them, although I have not yet a
copy of my own. You will do me a favour if you will refer me
to some of the passages in Dante which you like most, or will
advise me to read first. I do not read Italian with sufficient
facility to venture on the whole poem, but I might be tempted
by knowing some of your favourite parts. And now, dear Lady
Campbell, believe me, &c.'

It must not be supposed, however, that he had remitted his
scientific labours. Manuscripts in my possession are almost daily
records of original mathematical work on various subjects carried
on throughout this year. Among these subjects I may name * Prin-
ciples of Theoretical Mechanics,' ' The general idea of Number,
and the different numerical Systems and Notations,' ' Algebraical
Triads,' ' Laplace's or Lagrange's Theorem,' ' Three Bodies in
one Plane,' 'Attraction of Spheroids little differing from Spheres,'
'Comparison of the mutual Attractions of two Concentric Spheres on
the Surfaces of each other,' ' Verifications of some important Equa-
tions respecting the Variations of the Elements of the Planetary
Orbits.' Some of these Papers were educational, composed for the
instruction of Lord Adare ; others what maybe called professional,
such as calculations of the perturbations of Halley's Comet,
entered on at the instigation of Dr. Robinson, some diversions
from his special line of research, some preparatory for the
Second Part of his Essay on Sijstems of Rays. This Second
Part, however, was never published, and it may be as well
here to repeat that the First Supplement to the First Part of
the Essay was printed in July, and that the Second Supplement,
or rather the Introduction to it, was read at the Royal Irish
Academy in October of this year. A Third Supplement was
to follow ; and in these latter Supplements were absorbed most of

A.ETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 367

tlie materials intended for the Second Part. An account of the
contents of the First Supplement is given by Hamilton in a letter
to Professor Airy, of the date of July 26, and of the Second Sup-
plement in a letter to Dr. Robinson, dated October 28 ; both these
letters will be found in the correspondence of this year. He also
contributed in 1830 to the Transactions of the same Body a Paper
* On an error in a received Principle of Analysis.' *

In the first half of this year he corresponded with Dr. Pobin-
son and Bishop Brinkley concerning an Equatorial proposed to be
erected at Dunsink by Mr. Sharpe ; and by Colonel, then Captain,
Everest, the distinguished Engineer, who had been superintending
the great work of arc-measurement in India, and who was now
returning there as Director-General, he was pressingly urged to
review, in conjunction with Prof essor Airy, his Report to the East
India Company of the portion of the work already accomplished.
Colonel Everest had been introduced to Hamilton in the previous
year by Captain Beaufort, and a friendship had arisen between
them : but the request was one which Hamilton wisely declined
to comply with. He had similarly to decline a request on the
part of his friend Mr. Johnston for a review of Bowditch's
edition of Laplace, and overtures from Dr. Lardner for con-
tributions to the Cabinet CydopaHiia. By Baron Foster (better
known as John Leslie Foster, Speaker of the last Irish House
of Commons), who was at that time erecting an Observatory at
Eathescar in the county of Meath, he is consulted about the choice
and fixing of his large telescope. In fact, it may be said that from
this time forward he is referred to on all hands as if he could
answer every scientific question, and undertake any scientific
work, however laborious.

With his friend Wordsworth his correspondence was carried
on with animation and increase of mutual confidence and affection.
Hamilton's letters contain characteristic passages on the subject,
which moved him so much, of his own relations to poetry and

• Transactions, Royal Irisli Academy, Vol. xvi.

368 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

science, and upon contemplation and action ; and the letters of
Wordsworth exhibit a pleasant freedom of style, approaching
playfulness, which is not usual with him, and which may be
taken as a proof of his special liking for his correspondent.
Pleasant letters also passed between Hamilton and Miss Edge-
worth and her brother; and the detention of Lord Adare at
home, caused by an accident, which gave him a fit of ' low spirits
at the thought of being reduced to live for some weeks without a
telescope,' led to the writing to him by Hamilton of valuable
letters on arithmetic and algebra; and such subjects were then and
afterwards mixed in his letters with others which bring out inter-
esting traits of Hamilton's character, and display the affectionate
nature of the intercourse between him and his pupil. One of
these traits is the habit which Hamilton had of carrying about
with him, wherever he went, a cargo of books : he must have, we
shall see, his Pontecoulant, his Wordsworth and his Coleridge, on
his trip to the Lakes ; but this was a minor instance of the habit ;
he would scarcely go a drive in his jaunting-car without half-
a-dozen books by his side ; and at the Observatory, as I well re-
member, he would at night carry up to his bedroom these beloved
companions under both arms, to be placed beside his pillow. I
may add that he was accustomed to rise at any hour of the
night either to continue his reading of some author who interested
him, or to work out some mathematical problem then engaging
his attention.

His summer visit to Wordsworth occupied about three weeks
from the end of July. It was one which gave to him and his
sister Eliza, in their intercourse with the poet and all the mem-
bers of his family, a pleasure often fondly reverted to by both.
Here too they met Mrs. Hemans, whom they were afterwards
to know as a familiar friend ; and from Rydal Hamilton was
taken by Wordsworth to Lowther Castle, the beautiful surround-
ings of which he saw under the guidance of Lady Lonsdale and
Lady Frederick Bentinck, with the latter of whom he subsequently
corresponded. He was again kindly received by Southey on his

AETAT. 24.] Early years at the Observatory. 36^

return journey nortliwards ; and from Whitehaven, whence he em-
barked for Dublin on the 20th of August, he sent to Wordsworth
the following farewell verses, recording the feelings which his visit
had excited. They cannot take rank as poetry, but they present a
pleasing picture of the companionship that had been enjoyed, and
the concluding lines express well the calming influence exerted by
the poet upon the still agitated breast of the student. The couplet
which precedes them refers to an evening view of the mountains
admirably described by Hamilton in a letter of July 30, addressed
to his sister Sydney.

FAREWELL VERSES TO WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

AT THE CLOSE OP A VISIT TO RYDAL MOUNT IN 1830.

' I bid thee now farewell, but with me bring
Many a remembrance as a treasured thing,
Many a fond thought and many a vision clear.
Of all the loveliness I've gazed on here,
In Beauty's very home, where all around
Seemed as her own peculiar sacred ground.
Nor shall the commune soon forgotten be,
Here in that sacred presence held with thee :
Whether my joy was heightened and refined
By impress of thy meditative mind.
Which, long to Beauty and to Nature vowed,
Not less could hear their still voice than their loud ;
Or I, who love to tread the sister-fane.
Where Science worships ■\\dth her solemn train,
Would tell how also there from little things
To the purged eye a sight of wonder springs ;
Or whether soared we, as these walks we trod,
From Beauty and from Science up to God.
And in the midnight or the lonely hour
Oft shall these thoughts put forth a sudden power,
With a too bright remembrance startling me,
And bidding all my custom'd musings flee.
Then shall the shadowy abstractions fade.
And give me back the valley, lake or glade :
Or I shall gaze again, with raptured eye,
On those ethereal hills, that evening sky.

2 B

370 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

And haply if some fluctuating aim
Disturb me, or some hope without a name,
'Twill vanish 'neath the steady light that flows
From the calm eminence of thy repose.'

' Rtdal Mottnx, August, 1830.'

After his return from England on the 22nd of August, Hamil-
ton was ' very busy with mathematical and optical things : ' a
paper written on board the Whitehaven steamer, on the attraction
of spheroids, was followed by other papers ' On the mutual attrac-
tions of spheres,' ' Spherical Trigonometry (infinite series, &c.) ' ;
and a paper on 'Elliptic Integrals' is headed ' Cumberland-street,
September 14, 1830 — disappointed of a seat to Adare — sitting
alone in the evening.' On the 16th of September, he started from
Dublin for Adare to make personal acquaintance with the parents
of his pupil. This long anticipated visit was to last only for a few
days, but that time was sufficient to establish a firm friendship
between Hamilton and both the Earl and Countess of Dunraven.
The latter indeed seemed from this time to identify him in her
regards with her own son, and to care with almost maternal soli-
citude for his health and happiness. It was during this visit that
Lord Dunraven requested him to sit to Kirk, the Dublin sculptor,
for a marble bust. The request was complied with before the end
of 1830 ; and one of Hamilton's letters intimates the fact that, as
part of the preparation for its execution, he had to submit to a
cast being taken from his head. The bust may, therefore, be sup-
posed faithfully to represent his cranial development, and in this
respect to possess a permanent value. In its representation, how-
ever, of the features of the face, it seems to me to be inferior as a
likeness to a miniature bust executed in 1833 by Mr. Terence
Farrell, father of the two Dublin sculptors now living. I have
therefore preferred to prefix as frontispiece to this volume an
autotype copy from a cast taken from the model of the latter.

An account of Hamilton's visit to Adare is given in a letter to

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 371

his sister Grace, dated September 17. After liis return from it lie
seems to have remained for the rest of the year at the Observatory.
The correspondence will show what pleasure it gave him to intro-
duce Lord Adare into the Royal Irish Academy, and to procure
through Mr. Herschel his admission into the Royal Astronomical
Society, and how warmly grateful was Lady Dunraven for these
exertions on behalf of her son.

The continuation of the correspondence with "Wordsworth,
which does not decline in interest, calls for no additional com-
ment.

His later letters to Lord Adare give some exposition of his
Berkleianism, and one to Herschel records the completion of his
Second Supplement to his essay on ' Systems of Rays.'

From the Rev. Dr. Robinson to "W. R. Hamilton.

' January 6, 1830.

' My booksellers have disappointed me about Encke's Ephemeris,
and on writing to London I find I am too late, as all are gone,
and I must wait till a fresh batch comes from Deutschland. Now
I can dispense with the rest of it for a while, but want a list of
stars for the 3 ; so will you make Thompson copy them from it for
this month and the next, and send them by post. Sad, cloudy
weather ! sat up last night for Aldebaran and saw nothing ! ! All
well here, and join me in wishing you many many new years, and
all as happy as man is permitted to have. I don't know what you
are about, but if idle what would you say to attacking Halley's
Comet ? it returns you know in '34, but the Grermans, as far as I
know, are overlooking it. There is some stiff work about its per-
turbations, however. In haste for the present.'

After a reference to the Ephemeris from which he sends the
desired list, Hamilton writes in reply: —

2 B 2

372 Life of Sir Williajn Roivan Hamilton. [1830.

From W. R. Hamilton to Eev. T. R. Robinson, D.D.

' Obseryatort, January 7, 1830.

' . . . I have learned since I saw you to read Grerman toler-
ably well with a dictionary. As to the German astronomers I do not
know whether they are doing anything about Halley's Comet, but
Damoiseau, in a memoir which I have not seen, but which has,
I understand, been crowned by the Academy of Turin, has an-
nounced its next perihelion passage for November 16, 1835. The
calculations of the perturbations must, as you say, be very labo-
rious, and from a specimen which I have seen of the prodigious
patience of Damoiseau in a " Memoir on the Moon," I am not at
all disposed to compete with him in that way at present.* How-
ever, I cannot charge myself with being idle ; but anything which
I am now doing can only be considered, at best, as preparation
for being useful hereafter. Tour observations arrived safely and
look very well. I sat up for the occultation of Aldebaran, but
clouds prevented me from getting anything but a good deal of
fatigue, which I felt the more from being out of the habit of
observing, because the workmen are still in the Meridian-room.
From a passage in one of your letters, I conjecture that Lady
Campbell is still in Armagh, and if so, I congratulate you and
Mrs. Robinson on having so agreeable a neighbour.'

It appears that notwithstanding his disclaimer of intention to
concern himself with making calculations respecting Halley's

* In a letter from Hamilton to his Uncle Willey, dated May 8, 1830, on
the subject of Halley's Comet, after remarks on Mr. Willey's calculations, he
says : — ' Since I began this letter I have received from London the first part of
the fourth volume of the 31emoirs of the Astrono?nical Society. I find it
there stated that M. de Pontecoulant has obtained a prize from the French
Academie des Sciences for his computation of the perturbations of Halley's
Comet ; the next perihelion pasage of which he fixes for November 2, 1835.
There is a comet now visible — We saw this comet here on May 14th, Grace
havinf first found it with a little hand telescope. "We have not had sufiiciently
fine weather to see it since.' I introduce this postcript on account of the record
it gives of the assistance rendered him by his eldest sister.

AioTAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 2>l'h

Comet, he did employ himself to some extent in the task, and one
of several sheets of computation concludes with the note —

* Thus by this approximation the comet, at its perihelion passage
in 1682, was more than twice as near to the earth, in linear dis-
tance, as in 1759 ; and I think we may conclude from the fore-
going calculations that it will be brighter in 1835 than in 1759,
although not so bright as in 1682.'

From W. R. Hamilton to his sister Sydney.

* Armagh Ojssebvatory,

' March 21, 1830.

* We arrived here yesterday evening. . . . Lord Adare seems to
enjoy his visit, while Dr. Robinson and his party appear to like
him in turn. We have just been calling on Lady Campbell, who
is an old acquaintance of Lord Adare's, and whom I also had met
before. She walked back with us aud is now in the drawing-room,
but I have run away to write to you, being partly induced to do
so by wanting you to do something for me. . . . Among those
papers you will find two of my writing . . . headed " Halley's
Comet "... these equations I want copied.'

From the Same to the Same.

' GosFOED, March 25, 1830.

* I received your letter yesterday, and it contained exactly what
I wanted. Lord Adare and I have enjoyed our visit very much
hitherto. On Monday Lady Campbell dined with us, and on
Tuesday we dined with her. She likes Wordsworth. Yesterday
we came here, to the seat of Lord Gosford, who has this morning
been showing us his new castle, not yet quite finished, but very
fine and extensive. The topmost tower, on which we were, is
about as high as the Yellow Steeple of Trim. To-day we return
to Armagh to dine with the Primate. We have not settled any-
thing about returning to Dublin, but hope to do so next week. . . .*

374 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

From "W. R. Hamilton to Cousin Arthur.

' Aemagh, Marcli 26, 1830.

' . . . We have dined out at some pleasant places since we
came here; at Lady Campbell's, Lord Gosford's, and the Primate's.
Indeed the Primate's party (yesterday) was stiff enough, but the
Primate himself is a very agreeable man. Lord Gosford is an
excessively good-humoured person. "We slept at his house on
Wednesday night, and he gave me this frank for you . . . Dr.
Robinson has being showing a great deal to Lord Adare, who
drinks it all eagerly in. . . .'

At this time he received a letter from his friend Miss Lawrence,
written from Lady Byron's residence at Hanger Hill, enclosing a
statement printed by Lady Byron in reference to Moore's Life of
her husband. In this letter Miss Lawrence offers to introduce
Hamilton to Lady Byron, but the offer does not seem to have
been acted on.

From George Everest, Captain E.E., to W. R. Hamilton.

' 8, Old Cavendish-steeet, February 25, 1830.

* The Honourable E. I. Company are intending, I believe, to
have printed the Report which I have given them of two Sections
of the Great Meridional Arc of India, forming a continuation of
Colonel Lambton's Arc, so that our entire Indian measurement
now amounts to 15° 57', etc.

' I have just delivered to them the manuscript copy ; and if they
print it, you may be quite assured that somehow or other you
shall have a copy at your disposal. Now the subject of this letter
is to beg that you will read it through , and if, when you have done
80, you think it merits such a favour, that you will write a full,
fair, and thoroughly impartial review of it, such as you, of all men
I know, are most able to write. In asking this favour I do not by
any means intend to avail myself of our private friendship and
the mutual esteem we bear each other, to shelter myself from
criticism; but I confess I shrink from seeing some scribbling^

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 375

charlatan, who cannot comprehend the subject sufficiently to
enable him to detect its merits or expose its errors, interfering
to assail me with absurdity and draw me into an unavailing
correspondence.

' I think I left my lead pencil with silver case at your Observa-
tory, and the want of it annoyed me much. Since I saw you the
E. I. Company have appointed me Surveyor- General of India,
Mr. W. Richardson (Second-Assistant to the Royal Observatory)
Astronomer, and a Mr. Barrow Mathematical Instrument-maker
to India. We all start in May or June ; and, as I shall most
likely not have the pleasure of seeing you again for some time,
I will beg you to keep my pencil until my return ; when some
day, should I ever shake you by the hand again, you shall give me
a newer one.'

From W. E. Hamilton to Captain Everest, R.E.

* Dublin Observatory, March 5, 1830.

* I have received your letter of the 25th of February, and
sincerely congratulate you on your appointment to the important
office of Surveyor- General of India ; in which office you will pro-
bably continue the great Meridional Measurement, already so far
advanced. I gladly accept your promise to send me a copy of
your Report, when printed, of the Arc already measured, and
am sure that in reading it I shall derive much pleasure and
instruction. But I cannot so far mistake the state of my own
attainments as to imagine that I could usefully perform the task
which your partiality would assign to me, of writing a review of
that report. A young person may possess natural talent, and
aptitude for scientific speculations ; but it is almost impossible
that a young man should have the degree of experience requisite for
deciding well on the merits of an extensive national work ; and I
feel sure that I am not an exception to this great practical theorem.
Whatever gratification I may feel at your having proposed the
task to me, my vanity must be very great indeed if it allowed nie
to suppose that you could find any difficulty in supplying my place
among your scientific friends in London. As I occasionally meet
with persons who are on their way to that city, I hope to be able

376 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

to send you the pencil which was forgotten by you here. We
shall be glad to see you here again whenever you return to
Ireland.'

From Captain Everest, R. E., to W. E.. Hamilton.

* 8, Old Cavendish- street, June 4, 1830.

' Accompanying is the copy of my work, of which I have to beg
your acceptance.

' I sail to-morrow for India on board the Cornwall, and shall
feel extremely obliged if you will do what in you lies to get my
bantling well served out, for if he sleeps he will assuredly die a
premature death.

'Mr. Airy has promised to take it in hand, as far as his multi-
farious occupations will permit, and he said that you and he
together might perhaps be able to concoct a review to be inserted
in the Quarterly. Accept my kind regards and sincere wishes for
your welfare.'

Early in this year Hamilton had expressed to Mr. Airy his thanks
for the first volume of the Professor's Cambridge Observations,
and his regret at not being able to co-operate with him in carrying
out his ' plan for determining the mass of the Moon by observations
on the Right Ascension of Venus near the next inferior conjunction,'
in consequence of the Dunsink instruments being boarded up whUe
workmen were repairing the roof of the Transit-room. Later on,
he received from Airy the second volume of Observations, accom-
panied by several mathematical tracts recently published by him,
and with these the following cordial invitation to visit the Cam-
bridge Observatory : —

'June 13, 1830.

... * I shall be very glad to hear from you what is going on at
Dublin. The information would be more valuable if you would
convey it personally. There are many persons at Cambridge who
would be glad to see you, and I should be most proud to offer you
the accommodations of my house. I intend to be at home the

ARTAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 377

greater part of the summer : but the best time for visiting Cam-
bridge is in some of the terms. When you think you can spare
a few days for this purpose, if you will favour me with a day's
notice, everything will be ready for you.'

Hamilton sent to Airy in return a copy of his Supplement^
adding a short synopsis of its contents, and in acknowledgement
of his invitation writes as follows : —

' July 25, 1830.

I have to thank you for your invitation to Cambridge,
and certainly look forward with pleasure to visiting hereafter that
great seat of Science ; but for the present summer my time is taken
up with other and less scientific arrangements, since I am about to
take one of my sisters to visit the lakes of Cumberland, and intend
afterwards to visit my pupil, a son of Lord Dunraven, at Adare :
I hope also to visit Cloyne. Captain Everest, before he sailed for
India, did me the honour to send me a copy of his work on the
Meridional Arc of India, with a request that I would review it in
conjunction with you. I am, however, aware that it is likely to
be better reviewed by yourself separately than in partnership, and
therefore decline to be connected with the undertaking.'

Frotn W. Wordsworth to W. R. Hamilton.

'June 15, 1830.

* I will not waste time in apologies, for no adequate ones can be
offered for my deferring so long to thank you for your interesting
communications, which I have repeatedl}'' perused with much
pleasure. Summer is at hand, and I look forward with much
pleasure to the time when you are to fulfil your promise of bring-
ing your sister to this beautiful place. I am likely to be at liberty,
which I was not sure of till lately, for the whole of July and
August, and remainder of the present month ; with the exception
of one visit of a week or so. Therefore do not fail to come, and
I will show you a thousand beauties, and we will talk over a
hundred interesting things. During some part of September also
I shall probably be disengaged ; but, if possible, let me see you
earlier.

378 Life of Sir Williaiii Roivan Haviilton. [1830.

* Is Mr. Edgeworth gone to Italy ? About the same time that
brought your papers, I had a letter, a book and a MS. from him.
There are now lying in my desk a couple of pages of two several
letters which I have begun to him, and in both of which I was
unfortunately interrupted, and so they never came to a conclusion ;
if you are in correspondence with him, pray, in mercy to me, tell
him so, and if you come soon I will write to him with a hope that
you will add something to my letter, to make it acceptable. I
know not whether you can sympathize with me when I say that
it is a most painful effort of resolution to return to an unfinished
letter, which may have been commenced with warmth and spirit ;
there seems a strange and disheartening gap between the two
periods ; and if the handwriting be bad as mine always is, how
ugly does the sheet look ! I hope yourself and family have been
in good health since I last heard of you. In my own, I have had
much anxiety and uneasiness. My daughter is slowly recovering
from an attack of bilious fever, and my younger son, who has been
in Grermany during the winter, has suffered much from the severity
of the climate : he was at Bremen, and is now moving towards the
Rhine. Farewell ; pray accept the kind regards of this family, and
present them to your sisters, and believe me, my dear Mr. Hamil-
ton, with high admiration, sincerely yours.'

From the Same to the Same.

' Friday, June^ 1830.

' Yesterday I sent you a message of thanks by Mr. Johnston
for your very acceptable letter — and now I write to say that it is
exactly the term you name — the last week of July and the first of
August, that would suit us to have you with us. In the second
week of the latter month we expect my brother, the Master of
Trinity College, Cambridge, and an event important to our family,
which will involve us in many engagements, is speedily to follow —
I allude to the marriage of my eldest son, the clergyman. If the
weather prove favourable, I hope to be able to show you and your
sister the beauties of our neighbourhood, so as to recompense you
for the voyage ; most likely you will come by steam to Liverpool.
If you could so contrive as to cross the Lancaster sands to Ulver-
ston, you could approach the lakes to the best advantage up Conis-

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 379

ton Water and so to Rydal. A car might be hired at Ulverston,
and there is, I think, a daily coach from Lancaster to Ulverston ;
but in this point you would do well to be governed by time and
convenience.

* The lady whose death you deplore in your elegant verses, I
recollect most distinctly, and do sincerely condole with her parents
in their affliction. My only daughter, I am sorry to say, still con-
tinues weak, and unable to bear excitement, so that I fear she will
be unable to see much of any of our visitors during the summer.
At present Mrs. Hemans is with us, but she departs to-day, after
a fortnight's residence under our roof ; not, however, to quit the
country, as she purposes to take lodgings in this neighbourhood
for a few weeks. I therefore cherish the hope of having an oppor-
tunity to introduce yourself and sister to one in whom you cannot
fail to be much interested.

' It would give me much pleasure should Mr. Johnston succeed
in his Journal. I am too old to meddle with periodicals, having^
kept clear of them so long, otherwise I should willingly have com-
plied with his wish to send him a small contribution.'

The verses above referred to, on the death of Miss Ellis of
Abbotstown, are the following: —

EASTEK MORNING.

' It was the morning when we kept the feast,
The sacrifice of Christ our Passover ;
And many were assembled, and of joy
Thought only, tho' chastised by solemn awe ;
And youthful voices, in glad choral song.
Mingled. And now the harmony had paused :
A father and a brother entered ;
A gray-hair'd father, mournful yet serene.
But why the sudden thrill that all hearts felt ?
The eyes a moment bent, and then withdrawn ?
Alas, the majesty of tranquil sorrow !
Death had been in their house. The child was gone,
Who had so lately been their hope and joy.
Ah, dear and lovely ! I had known her long.
Few months had passed, since to her rustic throne,
In the rude bed of an unquiet river.

380 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

Where summer's heat left some rocks bare, although

The coolness of a foaming fall was nigh,

I led a poet of another land :

And sat next evening at her father's board

By her, and thought not it was the last time.

The work of Death was even then begun :

Decay had power even then to flush her cheeks.

And give unnatural lustre to her eyes.

But this I dreamed not of, and it was long

Before I would believe that she must die.

Her parents sooner knew the bitter truth,

The Spoiler had been in their halls before.

Oh, let me mourn the living, not the dead !

She keeps the Easter morn in heaven now.'

I am not able to give Hamilton's part in the correspondence,
tlie other part of which consists of the following letters of Maria
Edgeworth. The first of these is a postscript to a letter of inquiry
from her brother Francis, respecting the mechanical advantages of
a clock invented by his father, which he proceeds to describe, and
of which he asserts that it had ' been found to answer without
diminution of accuracy, and without wanting repair, for a period
of above forty years.' A peculiarity of construction was that a
fresh impulse was given to the pendulum only once in seven
minutes. Of Hamilton's reply I find the first page only of a
rough draft.

From Maria Edgeworth to "W. R. Hamilton.

' Edgeworthstown, January 21, 1830.

* I saw the length of pages which you had copied for me, with
a mixture of gratitude and shame and self-reproach and gratifica-
tion, in which, after all, the pleasurable and I am afraid selfish
feelings predominated. How could you be so kind to give so
much of your truly precious time to me— coj)ying too? but then
you would not have done so, I am certain, unless you had a real
and pretty high and deep regard. Thank you; I am quite satis-
fied every way, and quite convinced that you were right every
way. You have added to my stock of knowledge. Thank you
for that too, and I wish you would add more and more to it

AETAT. 24.] Eaj'ly Years at the Obscrvatoiy. 381

whenever you can, by your conversation. I hope Lord Adare is
an agreeable pupil, and knows something of tlie value of his
present advantages. Mrs. E. and Lucy and Pakenham are at
this moment in London at Fanny's,* and if she were quite well
would be perfectly happy, but the Antiquary hates of all words
that word hut. Pray lend me Dugald Stewart's last Essay ; send
it to Merrion-street . . . then I shall be your obliged as well as
affectionate,'

From the Same to the Same.

' Edgewoethstown, June 13, 1830.

* I hear glad tidings of your prospects of douhle happiness. I
hope what I hear is true. Few would rejoice more than I should
with you.

' Meantime give me leave to present to you two of my friends,
Mr. James Moilliet of Birmingham, and Baron Maurice a dene-
van gentleman who has been making a tour in Ireland with Mr.
Moilliet, and has been staying some time at Edgeworthstown.

' Baron Maurice, though a young man of fortune, and, as you
will see, of considerable personal recommendations, considers his
love of science as his best recommendation. He has been educated
as a military engineer, and passed his examination with credit at
Paris. He is now travelling to improve himself. Will you let
him see the Observatory, and yourself, and believe me to be with
sincere esteem and affection, yours truly.

All your friends here, including Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Butler
and Pakenham, who arrived yesterday, send affectionate regards
to you ; Mrs. E. ditto. Mrs. Wilson is better than we expected.' ^

From the Same to the Same.

'July 1830.

' I know not whether or not you owed me a letter. But I am
sure you have paid me more than any letter of mine could deserve.
I thank you very much indeed for procuring for me the melan-

* Mrs. "Wilson's, .supra, p. 236.

382 Life of Sir Willia77i Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

choly but great pleasure of reading the letter you inclosed.* One
of the greatest earthly consolations we can have in the loss of a
friend is, in the reflection that in life and in death all was in him
worthy of himself. Wollaston was in truth consistently great and
good, living and dying. Esteemed, beloved, admired, how rare
that union of sentiments for one object ! Yet I believe it was
a union felt towards Wollaston by all who knew him, whom he
ever admitted to his regard, who were ever near enough to appre-
ciate his character.

* The letter here referred to was written by Dr. Eobert J. Graves, son-in-
law of the Bishop of Cloyne, to Greorge Kiernan, Esq., a common friend of the
writer and Hamilton. It contains so interesting an account of the last days of
Dr. Wollaston, that I think myself warranted in giving it in a note, particularly
as I believe some of the details to be hitherto unrecorded. To account for the
substance of his gifts being particularised, it may be well to mention that Dr.
Wollaston was the discoverer of the metals rhodium and palladium in the ore
•of platinum.

[Fkom a Copy.] ' Cloyne, December 27, 1828.

' I little thought, when I last dined with you, and you were speaking so
much about Dr. Wollaston, that we should have had so soon to regret his loss.
The Bishop and Mrs. Brinkley are in great grief : this morning the news was
received ; he died on Monday last. This you will probably have heard before
you receive this. A few particulars, as communicated to the Bishop, of his ill-
ness and death will interest you. During the last year he had experienced a
partial and transient numbness in one side, which recurred at intervals, and
which he mentioned to his friends as the precursor of a paralytic affection.
They endeavoured to persuade him of the contrary, but in vain. In the com-
mencement of November, he was invited somewhere on a visit to a friend in
the country, and was at that period in a perfectly healthy state, to all appear-
ance^ but it is evident his own feelings told him of some evil about to happen.
For he sent an apology by letter, and told his brother in London, that he was
unwilling a second sudden death or illness should happen in his friend's house —
to understand which you must be informed that not many months before, a
mutual friend had suddenly died when on a visit to the same country seat.

* Not many days after he was attacked with paralysis of the left side, and
loss of sight of the right eye. His articulation remained. It now appeared
that his foresight had not been confined to mere speculation ; he had acted
under the full impression of what was about to happen, and had arranged
during the last months preceding the attack several papers and notes for
publication. These he gave directions about; a paper containing the secret
about the Platina manufactory was read at the Royal Society, and he trans-

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 383

' I think I showed you the platina pen directed to me with his
own hand, which he ordered to be sent to me at the same time
when he sent hers to Mrs, Brinkley. I consider it as an in-
valuable legacy. How kind and tender his heart was ! He con-
firms, if I had need of confirmation, the opinion I have always
held, that great talents are always connected with warm affections
— what is commonly called heart.

'Francis is enjoying his tour in Switzerland. He dated last

ferred to their name and his £2000, the interest to he emploj^ed for the
advancement of experimental science, with excellent observations on the best
method of employing it; £1000 for the same purposes to the Geological
Society. With all the coolness of a traveller (these are Litton' s words) about
to prepare and pack up for a long journey he made daily preparations,
•dictated various fugitive ideas and designs concerning trains of philoso-
phical experiments, &c., &c., which of course will be most valuable. His
weakness, unattended however by pain, increased apace; the sight of the
remaining eye went. His hearing, although impaired, was left, but the
ardour of his mind was undiminished, and he retained his intellectual faculties
to the last. He had long prepared little tokens of friendship for various per-
sons, among the rest for Mrs. Brinkley a Rhodium pen. This was packed up with
his peculiar neatness, contained directions, was sealed and addressed with his
own hand, which must, from the goodness of the handwriting, have been done
probably before the attack of paralysis. It was his wish to keep them until
as near his death as possible, in order to show his friends how long he thought
of them. And accordinglj^, long after he lost his speech, two days before his
death, he gave directions.^ with his pencil to have the pen sent to Mrs.
Brinkley ! It came in a frank, along with the post which brought the
account of his death ! He appeared anxious to keep a register of his intellect,
if possible, up to the time of his death. On the day before, his physician, con-
ceiving all his senses were destroyed and his intellect gone, observed in the
room that Dr. W. was dying, and could not understand. Wollaston when the
physician left the room, to the surprise of all, made a sign for his pencil, and
although quite blind, with some difficulty, but still with much of his usual
precision, wrote down the numbers from 500 to 520 in their regular order,
no doubt to show his memory and reflection were unimpaired. How like him ! I
suppose that he did not write from 1 to 20 lest it might be attributed to mere
habit, his beginning with 500 showed reflection. Two hours before his death
he wrote end — near — and between that and actual death he made several
attempts to write — the mind survived the body — for his hand failed to trace
the ideas ; and most unfortunately the last notes of this great philosopher are
illegible. It strikes me that he was endeavouring to convert his death into
a grand philosophical experiment, to give data for determining the influence
of the body on the mind, and to try whether it was possible for the latter
to remain until the very last.'

384 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

from Interlaken, where lie and his two travelling companions were
so happy that they purposed spending a month reading, and en-
joying the beauties of nature.

' I congratulate you upon having in view this summer a tour
with your sister to the Lakes and to Mr. Wordsworth — many real
pleasures combined. I will forward Mr. W.'s kind message to
Francis. But I don't think any balm was necessary, for I am
sure there was no wound. Francis is not of the irritable genus
either of authors or friends. "We have the delight of feeling that
his last months at home attached him more strongly to home, and
that ho will return with pleasure, whatever pleasures he may have
abroad. And we are not so selfish as to wish these limited or
lowered for the advantage of comparison. He has really excellent
taste for painting and sculpture, and will enjoy Italy. His jour-
nal-letters are excessively entertaining, from bearing the impress
of his uncommon mind, uncommon and unaffectedly so, and
uncommonly candid and open.

' I am glad, for his sake and yours, that you had opportunity of
showing kindness to that young beauty of Switzerland, Baron
Maurice. He and his travelling friend are now in Scotland, where
also are Harriet, Mr. Butler, and Pakenham, all as happy as
they can be.

' You will be glad to hear that Mr. Malthus wrote to us the most
satisfactory letter possible, about my brother Pakenham. When-
ever you come to see us I will show it you, but it would be too
vain to send it you — too vain even for your very affectionate *

The letters next in order are connected with Hamilton's second
visit to Rydal Mount, in company with his sister Eliza, and touch
incidentally on other topics.

From W. E. Hamilton to Yiscount Adare.

' Observatokt, Jidxj 20, 1830.

' My sister and I intend to start to-morrow for Liverpool, an
early day having been named, because all times of leaving home
are equally inconvenient to me. I was greatly puzzled to decide
what scientific books I should take (to enable me to enjoy the

AETAT. 24.] Early Years at the Observatory . 385

scenery), till, yesterday, I was so happy as to receive from Hodges
the beautiful treatise of Pontecoulant on the same subject as the
M^canique Celentc, which forms two comfortable octavos, and will
travel delightfully. But probably I shall bring also, by way of
interlude, a volume of Wordsworth or Coleridge. . . . When I had
written so far, I received a visit from a young gentleman whom I
had met the other day at Mr. Ellis's, and who is (I fancy) a tutor
to Mr. Ellis's sons. I showed him the Meridian-room, and in it
he resumed a conversation which we had begun at Abbotstown, on
the subject of the theories of Berkeley and Boscovich, or rather
on the odd compound of these theories which I am disposed to
adopt. We were greatly entertained — at least I was — as you may
guess from the eagerness with which you have sometimes seen me
defend and comment on my system, although I am not quite so
far gone as to pretend that I can prove it. But the last dinner-
bell now rings, and whether the table and things upon it be only
localised energies or quite unmental, I must go and pass through
certain states of sensation, which will be very agreeable ones,
inasmuch as I am very hungry.'

From W. E. Hamilton to his sister Sydney.

' Rydal MoxiNr, July 30, 1830.

' While we were sitting before dinner yesterday, in a beautiful
island on Windermere Lake, at the house of a descendant of Alfred
the Great, Mr. Curwen of Workington Hall, Eliza showed me
Grace's letter, which I read with great pleasure, except the part
that related to your illness. To-day a letter has come which seems
to be in your handwriting, and which therefore encourages me to
hope that you are quite well again, although I do not yet know its
contents, because it is addressed to Eliza, and she has been all the
morning with Wordsworth, shut up in a summer-house which
nobody dares to approach. It is rumoured that they are engaged
in critical discussion of her poems. The females of the family
appear to be very fond of her, and she of them. We have had a
very pleasant time here, and very favourable weather. The scenery
is beautiful — we have had several pleasant excursions already, and
will always remember the visit. Although I had been here before,

•2 c

386 Life of Sir Williain Roivan Hamilton. [1830.

yet I was then so much engaged with Wordsworth himself as to

pay little attention to the scenery — it is therefore almost new to

me. The most beautiful view, I think, which we have yet had,

was from a mountainous place that seems to have no name, but

that I intend to call " Wordsworth's Point." We went to it one

evening after tea, and reached it soon after sunset. There was

thus less glory in the sky than if we had come sooner, but we saw

the distant mountains with less distraction. They seemed scarce

earthly things, but rather half-celestial. Only their serrated outline,

which gives the name of Sierra to some similar ridge in Spain,

could be perceived, and some few of the grand divisions nearer the

base, but none of the ordinary details ; and they were so suffused

with an aerial light, that one might have fancied them transparent.

Gradually they became darker and more solid, and Wordsworth

said that if we had continued on the spot we should have seen

them grow blacker than the night. From the same eminence we

could see other objects, especially the distant lake of Windermere,

but we were almost engrossed by the appearance of those distant

mountains, which Wordsworth said he had himself scarcely ever

seen more beautiful. But I suppose Eliza gives you a full account

in her letters of the pleasures which we have thus had. We hope

to meet Mrs. Hemans before we go to Ireland ; indeed an invitation

came from her yesterday in which we were included, but as others

are concerned, I do not know how that matter will be arranged.

We think also of getting to Keswick for a day or two, but our

plans are not quite formed for next week. We have no intention

of extending our excursion to Scotland. I hope you will take care

of yourself, and that we shall not find you ill on our return. Has

Cousin Arthur gone on circuit ? How does the education of

Comet* proceed ? Has the hay been saved, and is the garden

looking well ? You cannot think how delightfully this house is

situated, among views of lakes and mountains. I think I hear

Wordsworth's voice, as if he had returned from the summer-house,

so I will go down and see him (I write in my bedroom). Grive

my love to Grace, Archianna, and Cousin Arthur.

' I have seen your letter to Eliza, and read it with great pleasure.
I write to Mr. Dalton by this post, and shall walk myself to Amble-

* A horse so named.

AETAT, 24.] Early Years at the Observatory. 387

side to put the two letters in the post-office. Eliza is quite well,
and Mrs. Hemans is coming here to tea this evening, so that I
shall have little time, for it is now after dinner.'

From W. R. Hamilton to Yiscount Adare.

' LowxHER Castle, August 7, 1830.

* . . . My sister and I have enjoyed our wanderings extremely.
We had a pleasant passage to Liverpool, from which place we pro-
ceeded to Kendal, and thence to Ambleside and to Mr. Words-
worth's house, beautifully situated, and surrounded by loveliness.
Mr. Wordsworth has taken us on many pleasant excursions, and
on the whole we have passed our time delightfully. On Thursday
morning (the day before yesterday) he came here with me, having
left my sister and Mrs. Wordsworth at Patterdale, near the lake of
Ulls water, as he wished to attend the election of his friends the
Lowthers. Lord and Lady Lonsdale are at home, and Lady
Lonsdale took me with her yesterday on a ride (on horseback)
about this beautiful demesne. The castle too is fine, and I am glad
that I have seen it. I hope, as you know, to visit Adare on my
return to Ireland, so that I shall have seen two new castles (new to
me) this summer. Have you kept up your mathematics at all
since you left the Observatory ? For my own part, I have been
wonderfuly abstinent, yet I withdraw every now and then to my
own room to enjoy them, whether at an inn or at a castle. . . .'

From the Same to the Same.

' Rydal Mount, August 10, 1830.

' I found your letter here last night, on my retiu-n from an
episode-excursion, which I had been making with my sister and with
Mr. and Mrs. Wordsworth. In the course of this episode, as I call
it, I had been at Lowther Castle, and there I wrote a letter to you,
which I suppose you have received. Yours gave me great pleasure.
If you do not feel yet any curiosity on the subject of Dugald
Stew^art's works, there is no reason why you should tire yourself
now with the thick quartos, though I tliink they will hereafter
interest you. I have not seen Gregory's Eco no mij of Nature, but

2 c 2

388 Life of Sir William Rozvau Hamilton. [1830.

if you have any fancy for it, read it by all means. It is useful
now and then to diversify one's reading and society, even if taste
or duty would lead one habitually to read but few books or mingle
with few persons. This is one reason of my being glad that your
regular studies with me are interrupted by occasional visits and
vacations. The studies must suffer a little, at least for a time, by
such interruptions, but your mind derives advantages of another
kind. I find it useful, as well as pleasant, to myself too, to break
sometimes the chain of my usual associations, and to submit my
mind for a while to new impressions. My present tour with my
sister has been so pleasant to us both, that we have consented to
prolong our visit to Mr. Wordsworth's family, by remaining here
this week. ... I was interrupted at this part, and Mrs. Hemans
the poetess has since come to spend the evening here. I have just
been teaching her Len Graces, and we have been playing a long
game, she sitting on a sofa and I on a chair, for it was too wet to
go out. But in the course of to-day I had some play in the open
air — I am called to tea.

' Saturda//. — We have been staying here longer than we had
intended, and we go on, next week, to Keswick, returning on
Saturday in a Whitehaven packet. This plan will leave me less
leisure after my return from Ireland, but I still expect to make
the visit to Adare, and to take some pleasant walks with you there.
In the meantime, I must continue to answer your letter. I do
not think that Dr. Eobinson would think it odd if you were to
write to him on the subjects to which you allude, but, on the con-
trary, am sure that he would gladly give you any information
in his power : and you know that on most, if not on all practical
subjects, he can give you much more than I could. With respect
to the Equatorial, I thought I had mentioned that though nothing
was ordered at the last visitation, the Provost assured me it would
be procured, which I told to Sharpe before I left Dublin. My
sister Sydney writes me word that Thompson has been rather
more diligent — so much so, that he had nearly illuminated the wires
in earnest, by using a bottle of turpentine. Tour description of
your melancholy on a fine night amuses me greatly. I am also
amused by the anecdote of the wet towels, which is another proof
that I know very little of my own history. Although I hope you
will never try such an experiment, or read so hard as to be tempted

AKTAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatojy. 389

to do so, yet I think you will find your powers of steady applica-
tion improve, and will read more, at the approach of examina-
tions, than you would now think likely or possible. The College
books which you mention may no doubt be procured now, as
usefully as at a future time. I think I shall resign to you the
examination of Mr. Abell's instruments : however, if I go to
Limerick, I suppose I must see them myself.'

From the Same to the Same.

* Obsekvatoet, Wednesday morning,
'August 25, 1830.

* I received your letter yesterday, and it gave me much
pleasure. You say that you received my letter, but I wrote two,
one from Lowther Castle, and the other from Mr. Words-
worth's house : I hope that neither has miscarried. I did not
forget Lady Dunraven's wish for some of Wordsworth's hand-
writing. He copied an epigram from Doddridge, " Live while
you live," which he said was a favourite of his, and which
I intend to present to her. You wish me to mention the
time when I think of going to Adare. At present I think of
starting next Monday. Perhaps you may be be able to write me
word whether this arrangement would suit you. On second
thoughts, I shall name Tuesday instead of Monday, since you
mention that you shall be on a visit during part of this week, and
may not be at home when this letter arrives. As I stayed in Eng-
land with my sister a week longer than we had intended, I must
abridge my wanderings in Ireland, and must, I fear, give up my
visit to Cloyne. I am glad you have had so much amusement in
your vacation : we, too, have had a great variety of pleasure,
which we shall long remember. For the present, we are improved
in our habits respecting walks and early rising. You see tlie em-
phatic date to this letter ; and I must tell you that since that date
was written I have taken a little walk with Eliza, and still it is
but eight o'clock. Yesterdaj^ morning Eliza and I walked before
breakfast to the forge at the cross-roads of Blanchardstown, It was
only on Sunday morning that we arrived here from our lake tour.
We were at the Observatory before nine, after u-alkuHj from the
Custom-house to Cumberland-street, and thence here. The weather

390 Life of Sir William Roivaii Ha?nilto?i. [isao.

had been very favourable to us : the beauty of the lakes and
mountains was great, and, we were told, unusually so ; and we
had a delightful passage from Whitehaven, touching at the Isle of
Man. Neither in going nor in returning were we sick, either of us,
but, on the contrary, dined with more than usual appetite. But
what we shall remember with the greatest pleasure is our inter-
course with Wordsworth and his family. We were received very
kindly by the Southeys, too, when we were at Keswick ; but you
know I admire Wordsworth more as a poet, and we preferred his
family too, although that of Mr. Southey is a very amiable one.
But the infection of early rising has seized my other sisters, for
I hear the bell for breakfast ring, and I am hungry enough to
obey its summons eagerly.

' I was indeed delighted by the news of Lady Campbell's com-
ing to Dublin, which I heard first from you.'

From the Same to the Same.

' Observatory, Septemher 8, 1830.

' I had great pleasure in receiving your letter from Killarney,
and I am glad you have been enjoying yourself so much. I have
been very busy with mathematical and optical things since I re-
turned from England ; and as our morning walks unfortunately
did not last more than about a week, I have taken very little
exercise, which system has not agreed with me. However, I am
but very slightly unwell, yet I do not wish to leave home this
week, but hope to pay you a visit next week, if you should then
be at home. I think of going on Tuesday. . . . Perhaps you
could return with me at the end of the week. . . .'

Ffom Viscount Adare to W. E. Hamilton.

' Adaee, September 10, 1830.

' . . . We shall all be delighted to see you. ... I am sorry
you are not well. If I had been at the Observatory, I would not
have let you read so hard without exercise. ... I was delighted
to see The Enthusiast [in the National Magazine']. By-the-by,
you need not bring your Wordsworths, as I have become so far

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at iJic Observatory. 391

concerted as to buy them. My friend Hartopp* will be in Dublin
the ^middle of next week. Perhaps you would ask Thompson to
show him the instruments, and if the day is fine he might have a
little observing, wliich would be a great treat to him, as he has
never had anything of the kind.'

Fro)n "VV. E.. Hamilton to his Sister Grace.

' LiMKRiCK, September 17, 1830.
' Adaee, September 18, 1830.

* . . . This place I reached quite safely, and without much
fatigue, in the evening, between half-past nine and ten. Before
I went to bed I read the Winter'' s Tate, and in one of the notes to
Autolycus's marvellous relations I found an account of a public
exhibition in London, in 1637, of two Italian boys (one of them
named Baptista) united like the Siamese twins. This amused me,
because I had been reading in the coach an account of the Sia-
mese boys by their medical attendant, Dr. Bolton, who writes the
account in the last number of the PhitosopJiical Transactions, and
who does not seem aware of the case of the Italian twins. On
Friday (yesterday morning) I was up before seven, and wandered
about in Limerick for nearly an hour, 'till a shower drove me in to
breakfast, which was very good, as I must remark I have found all
my inn meals this time, probably because I have had a good ap-
petite. Soon after breakfast, at least after reading and writing a
little, and beginning this letter to you, the Adare coach came to
the door and took me, in due time, to one of the gates of Lord
Dunraven's demesne, where Lord Adare met me. . . . When I
entered the house, who should be there but Hartopp, who stayed
to meet me here, and will not be able soon to visit the Observatory.
He walked out with Lord Adare and myself, to visit the ruins of
Abbey and Castle, which are beautiful, and we sat for some time
in a curious vault, besides climbing and soforth. But before this
I had seen Lady Dunraven, and sat with her for some time. She

* A companion of Lord Adare's at Eton, who had, like himself, a taste for
practical Science.

392 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

is a cliarming person, and deserves the fame which she has acquired
as such. I like Lord Dunraven too, who came in from his work-
men a little before the dinner-hour, which here is four o'clock. In
the evening I played two games of chess with Hartopp, who beat
me in both, but not 'till after some hard fighting. But I must tell
you that I had not been five minutes with Lady Dunraven before
Lord Adare brought in the Wordsworths, and engaged me in my
task of conversion. I read "Three years she grew mid sun and
shower," and " The Kitten and the Falling Leaves," both of
which poems Lady D. liked very well. She says she will now
begin to read Wordsworth, to comfort her after we are gone.
This evening I read the " Tintern Abbey " lines, and some of
the Sonnets, and she continued to listen with pleasure. To-
morrow I shall probably read her some of " The Excursion."
There are many beautiful paintings here, which she has shown
me, and lent me her glass to see — a great help to me towards
the study of the details of the pictures and the expressions of
the faces. This evening before tea, in the twilight, we had a
delightful boating on the river, along the ruined castle walls
which had belonged to the Earl of Desmond, and under arches
of a beautifully ivied bridge. Hartopp played the flute and Lady
Dunraven her little harp ; and a person followed us on the shore,
who played very well with the bugle, in the pauses of the other
music. You see I have enjoyed my visit. We intend to return to
Dublin in the coach which leaves Limerick on Tuesday morning —
Lord Adare and myself, but perhaps we may take the mail. With
love to all, I am &c.'

From W. WoRDSAvoRTH to W. R. Hamilton.

' Septetnher 9, 1830.

' I deferred writing 'till I could procure a frank from Mr. W.
Marshall, and this morning a party of ns were to have crossed
Kirkstone to spend two days in Patterdale, but the weather will
not allow us to stir from here. To-morrow I hope will jjrove more
favourable.

' We were much pleased to learn from Miss E. Hamilton that
your journey and voyage terminated so favourably — so that your
pleasurable remembrances will be unmixed with disagreeable ones.

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 393

' We have had my brother's company for a fortnight, and who
do you think dined with us yesterday but Professor Airy and his
hride ; for so I will call her still, though they were married last
March. The Professor had hoped to meet with you in this country,
which would have been highly gratifying to him. He looks for-
ward to the pleasure of seeing you some time or other at Cam-
bridge. His bride is very pretty, and an agreeable woman, and
their mode of seeing the country is judicious ; she rides a pony
and he walks by her side. A few days ago we had a letter from
my son William, the following is an extract: — "The book Mr.
Hamilton wishes for. Pastor Keck tells me, is exceedingly difh-
cult to be met with, and the ' Gedanken ' are not to be had singly,
being but a small part of a work published in three small volumes
printed at Leipsic. The bookseller here has written to Leipsic for
the book, which he promised me, if it were to be had there, should
be here in one month, or intelligence that it was not there : in the
latter case I shall look for it on my travels. If the book comes in
time for Mr. Hymers (his Cambridge friend) it shall be sent with
him." We have had a great deal of company since you left us.
Among others who have called was a fine old gentleman. Colonel
Coleridge, eldest brother of the celebrated Mr. C. He had his
only daughter and her husband, Mr. Patteson, a distinguished
lawyer, likely ere long to be a judge, along with him. The day
before yesterday I dined at Calgarth, Mrs. Watson's, where we
met Professor Wilson, and your Bishop of Down, Dr. Mant ; and
the Professor dined next day at Mr. Bolton's, Storrs, where my
brother and I met him and a large party. Miss Curwen is now
with us, as is her future husband. Yesterday we called at the
Barberini palace,* found it barricaded, and had to wait ten minutes
before admittance. After all, the Lord of the Palace could not be
seen ; he was in the higher grounds with Mr. Cooper, the clergy-
man of Hawkshead, recently come to the living, and with this
newly-arrived he seems to be in hot friendship. We live in a
strange sort of a way in this country at the present season. Pro-
fessor Wilson invited thirty persons to dine with him the other
day, though he had neither provisions nor cook. I have no doubt,
however, that all passed off well ; for contributions of eatables

* The cottage ornre of Mr. Barber at Grasmere.

394 Life of Sir William Rowan I laviiltou. [1830.

came from one neighbouring house, to my knowledge, and good
spirits, good humour, and good conversation, would make up for
many deficiencies. In another house, a cottage about a couple of
miles from the Professor's, were fifty guests — how lodged I leave
you to guess — only we were told the overflow, after all possible
cramming, was received in the ofiices, farm-houses, &c., adjoining.
All this looks more like what one has been told of Irish hospita-
lity than aught that the formal English are up to.

' I received duly your very friendly letter : be assured that I
shall be most happy to have letters from you at any time upon
the terms proposed. You will make, I doubt not, great allowances
for me ; my pen has little or no practice, and I have ever been a
poor epistolarian. With kindest regards to your sister, and to all
your family.'

From W. E. Hamilton to W. Wordsvi^orth.

'Observatory, Sejitemher 11, 1830.

' I have a great many things to say to you. In the first place,
■we have been longing to hear how you all are at Eydal Mount ;
and whether Miss Hutchinson and Miss Dora Wordsworth have
returned ; and whether they have had a safe and pleasant tour, and
are not too much tired ; and whether they accomplished what they
intended, and made all arrangements necessary for the new es-
tablishment at Whitehaven ; and whether the wedding remains
fixed for the same day ; and whether it will be at Rydal Mount or
on the Island ; and whether you have yourself had any return of
your tooth-ache ; and whether you have ever played the Graces since
we left you ; and whether Mrs. W. and Miss W. senior have made
any progress in that art ; and whether any of you have ever thought
of us. Besides, I want to know whether the dear pony that came
with us to Lowther is quite well ; and whether Miss Hutchinson's
pony has quite recovered from its slip ; and whether Mrs. Har-
rison has ever been frightened by her horse since we saw her.
Also I wish for a bulletin of the present state of Mr. Barber's
temper ; and I want to know whether Mrs. Hemans has determined
to settle in London or in Edinburgh ; and whether Mrs. Luff is at
home ; and how her big dog is, and yours ; and whether you have
had any visitors from Cambridge ; and whether they have written

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 395

anything new in Miss Cookson's or Miss Wordsworth's album ;
and whether Mr. Sharpe returned to Ambleside ; and whether you
heard any more of Miss Kinnaird's beautiful songs. You see —

I am not one who much or oft delight
To season my fireside with Personal talk.

You must know that ever since I returned to the Observatory I
have been quite absorbed in mathematical thought, except —

When some too bright remembrance startled me ;

or when I took some morning walk with Eliza, or read a \\ii\Q Homer,
or Plato, or JVordsworfh ; or pursued some of my trains of anxious
meditation upon duty, arising from my intense fondness for thought
and strong dislike to action. I adopt here the common distinction
of phrase between thought and action, and cannot quite avoid
being influenced by the common opinion, which prefers the latter
to the former, and condemns as even criminal the abandonment of
action for thought. But is not thought, in truth, the highest action ?
And if anyone, endeavouring to be impartial, conscientiously be-
lieves that he has power of original thought, that he can discover
new fountains, however small, at which the minds of men may drink
and be refreshed, does not that person, in devoting himself to such
a search, in following with entire submission the guidance of his
inward light, and seeking to accomplish the task assigned to him
from within, fulfil his highest duty, not to himself only, but to
other men ? To me — who do believe myself to possess original
power of mathematical thought, however small may be its degree,
and who have long been impressed with a deep and enthusiastic con-
viction that with this power are connected a duty and a destiny, a
task while I live, an influence after I am dead — the questions here
proposed are of great and anxious interest. And though, as re-
spects myself, my conscience has long since answered them, and
the answer is graved in distinct and luminous characters, it were a
lot too happy if the writing were never hid — if the inward voice
sounded never faint and dubious —

" But though yet feeble, I will follow still."

' I find that I have ended my letter more seriously than I began
it. Before I quite conclude, let me mention that my Dublin book-

396 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

seller, Hodges, has had a copy of my last printed Memoir bound
handsomely for you, and thinks that he can forward it to you
without expense : it is the same work which you saw at Rydal
Mount. I hope that you will accept it as that which it purports to
be, " a mark of respect and affection." Present my kindest regards
and those of my sister to all your family, and believe me, &c.'

From W. Wordsworth to W. E. Hamilton.

' LowTHER Castle, Sept. 26, 1830.

* I profit by the frank in which the letter for your sister will be
enclosed, to thank you for yours of the 11th, and the accompany-
ing spirited and elegant verses.* Tou ask many questions, kindly
testifying thereby the interest you take in us and our neighbour-
hood. Most probably some of these are answered in my daugh-
ter's letter to Miss E. H. I will, however, myself reply to one or
two, at the risk of repeating what she may have said : first, Mrs.
Hemans has not sent us any tidings of her movements and inten-
tions since she left us, so I am unable to tell you whether she
means to settle in Edinburgh or London. She said she would
write as soon as she could procure a frank ; that accommodation is,
I suppose, more rare in Scotland than at this season in our neigh-
bourhood. I assure you the weather has been so unfavourable to
out-door amusements since you left us (not but that we have had
a sprinkling of fine and bright days) that little or no progress has
been made in the game of the Graces, and I fear that amusement
must be deferred till next summer, if we or anybody else are to see
another. Mr. Barber has dined with us once, and my sister and
Mrs. Marshall of Halstead have seen his palace and grounds, but I
cannot report upon the general state of his temper. I believe he
continues to be enchanted, as far as deranged health will allow,
with a Mr. Cooper, a clergyman who has just come to the living of
Hawkshead (about five miles from Ambleside). Did I tell you
that Professor Wilson with his two sons and daughter have been,
and probably still are, at Elleray ? He heads the gaieties of the
neighbourhood, and has presided as Steward at two Regattas.

* Supra, p. 369.

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 397

Do these emploj^ments come under your notions of action as
opposed to contemplation ? Why should they not ? Whatever
the high moralists may say, the political economists will, I con-
clude, approve them as setting capital afloat and giving an impulse
to manufacture and handicrafts — not to speak of the improvement
which may come thence to navigation and nautical science. I have
dined twice along with my brother (who left us some time ago) in
the Professor's company, at Mrs. AVatson's, widow of the bishop,
Calgarth, and at Mr. Bolton's. Poor Mr. B., he must have been
greatly shocked at the fatal accident that put an end to his friend
Huskisson's earthly career. There is another acquaintance of mine
also recently gone — a person for whom I never had any love, but
with whom I had for a short time a good deal of intimacy — I mean
Hazlitt, whose death you may have seen announced in the papers.
He was a man of extraordinary acuteness, but perverse as Lord
Byron himself, whose Life by Gait I have been skimming since I
came here. Gait affects to be very profound, though he is in fact
a very shallow fellow, and perhaps the most illogical writer that
these illogical days have produced. His "buts" and his "there-
fores" are singularly misapplied — singularly even for this unthink-
ing age. He accuses Mr. Southey of pursuing Lord Byron with
rancour. I should like to reperuse what Mr. S. has written of
Lord B., to ascertain whether this charge be well founded. I trust
it is not, both from what I know of my friend, and from the aver-
sion which Mr. G. has expressed towards the Lakers, whom in the
plenitude of his ignorance he is pleased to speak of as a class or
school of poets.

' Now for a word on tlie serious part of your letter. Your
views of action and contemplation are, I think, just. If you can
lay your hand upon Mr. Coleridge's Friend, you will find some
remarks of mine upon a letter signed, if I recollect right, " Mathe-
sis," * which was written by Professor Wilson, in which, if I am
not mistaken, sentiments like yours are expressed ; at all events I
am sure that I have long retained those opinions, and have fre-
quently expressed them either by letter or otherwise. One
thing, however, is not to be forgotten concerning active life — that
a personal independence must be provided for — and in some cases

* This ought to be ' Mathotes.'

398 Life of Sir ]Villiam Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

more is required, ability to assist our friends, relations, and natu-
ral dependents. The party are at breakfast, so I must close this
wretched scrawl, which pray excuse. Ever faitlifully yours.

' Pray continue to write at your leisure. How could I have
forgot so long to thank you for your obliging present ? which I
shall value on every account.'

From W. R. Hamilton to William Worsdworth.

' Obsekvatoet, October 25, 1830.
' Monday Morning ? or Sunday Night ?

' You cannot think how I should chatter if I had you near me.
I must try to give you some idea of it by writing a letter of non-
sense and gossip, without a single sentence of melancholy. It will
comevery seasonably ? and very much in character ? to your present
employments and abode, which I suppose to be among the old
temples of science and learning. Don't think that / have no
literary people to talk of, although I take it for granted that you
have the advantage of me in that respect. For you must know
that I have so far transgressed my usual rules and habits of an
anchorite as to dine out on two successive days, last week or the
week before — once with Miss Edgeworth, who was on her way to
London, and once with Mrs. Hemans. Do you start ? Do you
not know that she is tired of Scotland, and has been for about a
fortnight in Dublin on a visit to an old acquaintance of mine, and
thinks of coming here again next spring? and must I tell you that
she has been playing the Graces at the Observatory, and that her
little Charles was with her, and that Mr. O'Sullivan, whom you met
here, and who gave me a pleasant breakfast yesterday, had dined
in company with her on the preceding day, and was charmed to
find her so perfectly unaffected, and would have had her to meet
me, but that she is far from well ? She sails, I hear, this week for
Liverpool, carrying back a pleasant recollection of the paintings
that she has seen in Dublin, for she has been visiting collections.
Miss Edgeworth enquired for you, and wished to know whether you
were likely to come again to Ireland : " Ah," said I, " I hope so."
So don't make my hope, and hers, end in nothing. We have a
beautiful Italian greyhound belonging to my eldest sister to show
you. He is very black and very graceful, and a great pet with us

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 399

all. Some kind neighbour told us lately that we were liable to be
fined twenty pounds for keeping him without paying license, three
guineas and a-half a-year. My sister says she will pay no license,
for he is not a sporting dog, but only a lap-dog. Imagine a lap-
dog who can put his feet on the ground and his paws on my
shoulders. For some time he was called, as an alliteration. The
Dog of Dunsink. Eliza improved on this by calling him by the title
of The Dark Dog of Dunsink. But I have put the climax, by
giving him the title of The Dear Dark Dog of Dunsink — a name
almost as long as his tail. For shortness he is called Smoke, and
he knows his name very well. I am sure you ought to know it
too, and everything else about him, after all that I have been
telling you. Every now and then I say, I wonder where is Mr.
Wordsworth now ; on which some one answers, " he is at Cam-
bridge, to be sure." But I am far too much of a philosopher to be
sure of anything. However, I shall take chance and direct this
letter to Cambridge. Tell me honestly, after you receive it,
whether you think me mad. We had a visit lately from an
astronomer whom some think to be mad, and who at least is so
on one point, for he is mad with Mr. South for anticipating him
in a recent purchase of a fine object-glass at Paris, which is about
a foot in diameter, and cost about a thousand pounds. You see a
telescope may be as expensive as a race-horse. He set me mad
too, for he is a Member of Parliament, and I intended to ask him
for a frank to you, but he so confounded me by his invective
against Mr. South that I forgot everything. But in the hope
that you may have Miss Dora W. with you, I must not forget to
mention a blunder that I made two years ago, on the very subject
of this very astronomer. He wrote to tell me that he had a Russian
friend with him, who had overthrown Sir Isaac Newton, and who
wished to be acquainted with me. I was then in the midst of
some observations on spots of the sun, and tearing open the letter
in haste I tore into fragments the date on the third page. A few
days afterwards, when I came to write my answer, in which I said
I should be glad to see my correspondent and his friend, I could
only find one fragment of the date, namely the name of Markree ;
and being accustomed to draw on my memory for my wit, and on
my invention for my facts, I supplied from my imagination the
address of Markree College, Cambridge, and, nothing doubting.

400 Life of Sir William Roivaii HamiltGU. [i83(),

despatched my letter by the post. For many months it flitted to
and fro, like some unhappy ghost ; at length in the dead-letter
office its doom was fixed, and it returned to me. Meanwhile, in
the bosom of my correspondent rose wrath and high displeasure,
but it disdained to vent itself in words, till lately a mutual friend,
who had heard the story, obtained from me the returned letter, which
told its tale of wanderings and produced a perfect reconciliation.
Have I not fulfilled my promise or threat of writing you a letter
of nonsense ? But it must not go without one more blunder, a
very trifling one indeed — only losing my way on parting from Mr.
O'Sullivan yesterday, who had walked with me from his house in
the Park to less than a mile from the Observatory. I took an
enormous round, as a short cut, but was repaid by a walk through
a fine archway of tall autumnal trees, with beautiful glimpses of the
Tolka river at some distance, and of its green uneven banks, with
the sun shining upon all. I hope it will be in beauty when you
come. A walk is so unusual a thing with me that I was rather
tired in the evening, and went to bed before nine. In consequence
I wakened and got up at two this morning, and after reading a
book of the " Excursion " have been working off my superfluous
spirits by writing this long crossed letter to you, when perhaps
you may have taken a vow against reading crossed letters at all.
Well, I hope I shall behave better another time. I have been
very busy lately, preparing a Second Supplement to my Essay,
and am to read it this evening at a meeting of the Royal Irish
Academy — that is, I am to read a few sentences of English at
the beginning. You may tell this to Professor Airy if you see
him, and ask him whether he received my former Supplement.
Did you receive your own copy ? for though you thanked me, it
might have been for the intention, and I want to be sure that my
bookseller was not remiss. I hope you give me credit for sympa-
thising enough in your concerns to feel a deep interest in the
health of the two Miss Wordsworths ; and I hope you will gra-
tify us all by sometimes writing to us about it. My sister looks
forward with great pleasure to carrying on the correspondence she
has begun. I hope a double letter reached you, which we sent un-
franked but post-paid to Amblesid. "When people send double
letters unfranked they may be permitted to post-pay them. You
see I have no room for congratulations on your son's wedding, or

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 40 1

for enquiries after our friends at Bydal Mount. Notwithstanding
all my nonsense, believe me, &c.

' I am told after all, that Smoke is not an Italian greyhound,
but of high blood in some old Irish family. I am told too that
you have seen him, but I assure you he is greatly improved.'

From W. Wordsworth to W. R. Hamilton.

* Trinixt Lodge, Cambeidge,

' November 26, 1830.

'I reached this place nine days ago, where I should have found
your letter of the 28th ult., but that it had been forwarded to
Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire, where we stopped a week on our
road. I am truly glad to find that your good spirits put you
upon writing what you call nonsense, and so much of it, but I
assure you it all passed with me for very agreeable sense, or
something better, and continues to do so even in this learned
spot ; which you will not be surprised to hear, when I tell you
that at a dinner-party the other day I heard the head of a house,
a clergyman also, gravely declare, that the rotten boroughs, as
they are called, should instantly be abolished without compensa-
tion to their owners ; that slavery should be destroyed, with like
disregard of the claims (for rights he would allow none) of the
proprietors ; and a multitude of extravagances of the same sort.
Therefore say I, vive la bagatelle : motley is your only wear.

' You tell me kindly that you have often asked yourself,
Where is Mr. Wordsworth? and the question has readily been
solved for you — " he is at Cambridge" — a great mistake ! So late
as the 5th of November I will tell you where I was ; a solitary
equestrian entering the romantic little town of Ashford-in-the-
Waters, on the edge of the wilds of Derbyshire, at the close of
day, when guns were beginning to be let off and squibs to be
fired on every side, so that I thought it prudent to dismount and
lead my horse through the place, and so on to Bakewell, two
miles farther. You must know how I happened to be riding
through these wild regions. It was my wish that Dora should
have the benefit of her pony while at Cambridge, and very
valiantly and economically I determined, unused as I am to

2 D

402 Life of Sir ]Villiavi Roivan Hamilton. [1830.

horsemansliip, to ride the creatiu'e myself. I sent James with
it to Lancaster; there mounted, stopped a day at Manchester,
a week at Coleorton, and so reached the end of my journey
safe and sound — not, however, without encountering two days
of tempestuous rain. Thirty-seven miles did I ride in one day
through the worst of these storms, and what was my resource ?
Guess again — writing verses — to the memory of my departed
friend Sir Greorge Beaumont, whose house I had left the day
before. While buffeting the other storm I composed a sonnet
on the splendid domain of Chatsworth, which I had seen in
the morning, as contrasted with the secluded habitations of the
narrow dells in the Peak ; and as I passed through the tame
and manufacture- disfigured country of Lancashire I was re-
minded by the faded leaves of spring, and threw off a few
stanzas of an ode to May. But too much of self and my own
performances upon my steed, a descendant no doubt of Pegasus,
though her owner and present rider knew nothing of it. Now
for a word about Professor Airy : I have seen him twice, but I
did not communicate your message; it was at dinner and at
an evening party, and I thought it best not to speak of it
till I saw him, which I mean to do, upon a morning call.
There is a great deal of intellectual activity within the walls
of this College, and in the University at large, but conversa-
tion turns mainly upon the state of the country and the late
change in the administration. The fires have extended to within
eight miles of this place, from which I saw one of the worst,
if not absolutely the worst, indicated by a redness in the sky,
a few nights ago.

' I am glad when I fall in with a Member of Parliament,
as it puts me upon writing to my friends, which I am always
disposed to defer without such a determining advantage. At
present we have two Members, Mr. Cavendish, one of the Re-
presentatives of the University, and Lord Morpeth, under the
Master's roof : we have also here Lady Blanche, wife of Mr.
Cavendish, and sister of Lord Morpeth. She is a great admirer
of Mrs. Hemans' poetry. There is an interesting person in
this University for a day or two, whom I have not yet seen.
Ken elm Digby, author of The Broad Stone of Honour, a book
of chivalry, which I think was put into your hands at Pydal

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 403

Mount. We have also a respectable show of blossom in poetry,
two brothers of the name of Tennyson, in particular one not
a little promising. Of Science I can give you no account;
though perhaps I may pick up something for a future letter,
which may be long in coming, for reasons before mentioned.
Mrs. W. and my daughter, of whom you inquire, are both well ;
the latter rides as often as weather and regard for the age of
her pony will allow. She has resumed her German labours,
and is not easily drawn from what she takes to; therefore I
hope Miss Hamilton will not find fault if she does not write
for some time, as she will readily conceive that with this passion
upon her, and many engagements, she will be rather averse
to writing. In fact she owes a long letter to her brother in
Germany, who, by-the-bye, tells us that he will not cease to
look out for the book of Kant you wished for. Farewell, with
a thousand kind remembrances to yourself and sister E. and the
rest of your amiable family, in which Mrs. W. and Dora join.
Believe me most faithfully yours.'

From W. R. Hamilton to W. Wordsworth.

* Obseevatoey, December 21, 1830.

' A volume of your poems, which has just been returned to me
by a friend to whom it had been lent, would have reminded me,
if I had forgotten it, that I owe you a letter. Indeed I do not
know in what place to think you are, but I shall take chance for
your being at home at this merry Christmas season. Let me hope
that your arrival may have been welcomed by some such lines as
those on The Mother's Return., which I have a moment ago been
reading with delight, and which I believe to be from the pen of
your sister. I was glad to find that you have been lately adding
to our stock of sonnets, and hope you will some time let me see
the new ones : though I am aware that you may have made some
rule which would prevent my enjoying that pleasure soon. We
have two copies of your poems, but, unluckily for ourselves, both
sets have been lent out piecemeal, and I have been almost starved,
having given away even my manuscript extracts, except a very
few. The volume indeed that I mentioned just now will serve to
keep body and soul together a little longer, but I believe it also is

2 D 2

404 Life of Sir JJl/Iiaui Rowan Hamilton. [1830,

promised to a neighbour, to wliom it must soon go. One of the
borrowers, who has a whole set to herself, is Lady Campbell, a
person whom I once mentioned to you, and whom I wish much
that you knew. She is a daughter of Lord Edward Fitzgerald,
and niece to the King of the French ; but whatever unfavourable
opinion you might form of her from these connexions would be com-
pletely removed if you knew her. I first met her at Armagh, where
her husband. Sir Guy Campbell, was quartered for some time ; he
is now promoted to be Quartermaster- Greneral in Dublin, and I
have opportunities therefore of seeing him and his lady more fre-
quently. Their children too I am very fond of, and we have
sometimes had them here on visits, which they seemed greatly to
enjoy. They have a Shetland pony, about their own size, with a
philosophical cast of countenance, and a great friend of mine. He
is called Jack by mortals, but by deities Othello. By-the-way
Lady Campbell has lent me Whatehfs Essay on Richard and Mac-
beth— a little book in which the characters of the two usurpers
are well contrasted. In return we have lent her part of SchlegeVs
Dramatic Literature — have you ever read it ? I have only a French
translation here, the one of which a part was lent to Lady Camp-
bell : it belongs to my pupil Lord Adare, and interests me much.
It is amusing to read the translator's preface, in which he describes
his doubt whether to publish opinions so heretical as those of
Schlegel against the French Dramatists, but comforts himself with
the thought that reputations so well established as theirs cannot
be injured by assault. When I say that I have only a translation,
you are not to infer that if I had the original German I could
read it with facility ; but we are all taking lessons at present from a
German master, with profit we think, as well as pleasure : and I am
glad to find from your letter that in this pursuit my sister Eliza is
accompanying a friend whom she so much loves and values as
your daughter. Let me hope that her health has been improved
by her late excursions, and that you have the pleasure of seeing
your family assembled round you, in health and happiness, at this
social season. If your son and his bride are of the number, my
sister and I request to be remembered to them, as well as to our
other friends at Rydal Mount, and in its neighbourhood. My
string of ichethers in a former letter you may imagine now to be
repeated, since I shall always be glad to hear any of the chit-chat

ARTAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 405

of Ambleside. Since I wrote last, I have been busy with an
annual Course of Lectures on Astronomy, which ended last Thurs-
day. This Course, not having been yet committed to paper, is a
fresh labour to me every year, though not of a disagreeable kind,
except so far as it takes me off from private study, to which I feel
an increasing devotion, including under study other things besides
reading. Your more social habits and joyous spirit would perhaps
condemn the degree of seclusion to which this devotion leads me,
and I shall not tease you at present by saying anything more
about it. But I must deliver a message from Mr. O'Sullivan,
a friend and neighbour of mine, whom you once met at breakfast
here, and who has met Mr. Southey in England. He breakfasted
here lately, and, knowing your connexion with Cambridge, he
wished me to learn from you the conditions on which he could
graduate there. He is a clergyman of some standing in our
Church, and a graduate of our University. He remembers with
great pleiasure his meeting you and Mr. Southey. My sister Eliza
and I, also, look back with great pleasure on the time we spent at
Keswick, and on the rest of our visit to England, which will be
heightened whenever we learn that there is any hope of our talk-
ing it over, here, with you. My other sisters also, and my cousin,
remember you with pleasure and affection. Be so good as to thank
Mr. Southey for his present of The Vision of Judgment^ which
reached me safely : and believe me, &c.'

From Lady Campbell to W. R. Hamilton.

' October 1, I80O.

* ... I send you Captain Sabine's answer to Mr. Babbage's
book, in case you may not have seen it. I of course am no judge
of its scientific merit, but I admire the moderate temper it shows.
And I do not exempt you Philosophers from moral resi^onsibility.
On the contrary, I think you are bound to show qualities of soul, as
well as light of mind, (/you have them ! that is a fearful if. . . .'

From T. li. Robinson to W. li. Hamilton.

' October 22, 1830.

' . . . I ran over to Edgeworthstown the other day, to have some
gossip with Captain Beaufort, who was there for a Aveek. Tliey

4o6 Life of Sir Williani Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

tell me wonderful things about Lord Oxmanstown's telescopes. I
hope he may succeed. The Nautical Almanac is, as I suppose you
have seen, proceeding swimmingly. Some of the proposed changes
are amusing enough, as, for example, the times of the shadows of
1^'s satellites passing his disc, which not one telescope in a hundred
can show ; but it will on the whole be a splendid thing. Has Lord
Adare entered yet ? Tell him of the warm interest that I have
about his progress : and how much I wish his example were con-
tagious among those of his rank. Babbage in his book remarks
how striking the gross ignorance of all [science ?] is which appears
in both Houses, and contrasts it with the superior information of the
statesmen in other countries. My observations for 1829 are printed ;
you shall soon have your copies. Struve was in England, and I
hear had to pull . . . down a little at the Nautical Almanac
Committee. With best regards to your sisters, I am yours ever,
etc'

From W. R. Hamilton to the Rev. Dr. Eobinson.

' Observatokt, October 28, 1830.

' . . . I have been writing a Second Supplement, containing
the integration of the partial differential equation

which my characteristic function V must satisfy, for systems of
ordinary light, fx being the index of refraction of the medium. As
an aj)]Dlication, I have considered specially the case of systems of
revolution, in which F"is a function of x- + // and s, xyz being
co-ordinates of a point of the system. The development of V for
this case, combined with the condition that at a reflecting or re-
fracting surface the function V of the new system is equal to that
of the old, conducts to some simple expressions of the known
theorems for central focus and spherical aberration, in systems of
reflected or refracted rays symmetric about an axis. I read the
introduction at a General Monthly Meeting of the Academy on
Monday evening, the Bishop of Cloyne in the Chair. He was
looking very well, and had dined with us at the Club, to which I
brought Lord Adare as a visitor. I intended to have consulted

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 407

the Bishop ahout proposing Lord Adare as a Member of tlie
Academy, but some other members, Mr. Kiernan especially, who
had heard me say so, hastened matters by preparing the usual
certificate, with the names of three seconders, and coming to me
for my signature. Lord Adare was then withdrawn by Mr.
Kiernan, and the Bishop read the proposal, remarking that the
Academy are authorised to ballot for a nobleman on the evening
on which he is proposed. Accordingly they proceeded to ballot,
and Lord Adare was unanimously elected : and I think they will
have no reason to repent their choice. He dined with me at
Merrion-street, the evening that Captain Beaufort and Miss
Edgeworth were there, on their way to London. Miss Edgeworth
says you read in short-hand. I had the pleasure yesterday of intro-
ducing Lady Campbell to Miss Beaufort. I had invited both
ladies to visit Mrs. Hemans with me ; and although we did not
find the poetess at home, they will thank me for having made them
acquainted with each other. Both yesterday and the day before,
I had the pleasure of walking with Lady Campbell. She has been
out twice to see us here, and one day Edward rode out on Othello
with a servant only, and we detained him (nothing loth) to sleep
and star-gaze. A little telescope was in my study, which I lent him
to amuse himself with for a few minutes, and he gave me a new
name for it, exclaiming, " oh, this is the Two-feet ! " Lady Camp-
bell having cleared Sabine, is now disprejudicing herself with
regard to Babbage, and has read his book with delight. I sat to
Kirk for a marble bust for Lord Dunraven on Tuesday, and the
worst part is over, namely the burying alive. I am to go again
on Saturday, after breakfasting with the Bishop of Cloyne, with
whom I dined on Tuesday. Can I do anything else, or get it
done, for you, in the observing way ? My ambition is now to get
Lord Adare into the Astronomical Society, to make amends to
them for my own inactivity : would you think it too unusual, on
account of his youth ? and if not, would you second or propose
him ? With best regards to your family, I am, &c.'

From the Countess of Dunraven to W. R. Hamilton.

' November Ith, 18;30.

* Your kind letter is quite a cordial — you must have imagina-
tion to diveinto the deep recesses of a doating mother's heart, or

4o8 Life of Sir William Rowan Hajtiilton. [1830.

you would never understand so well how to soothe and cheer her.
I accept the Supplement with pride, and long to see it. I am very
glad my dear boy has been introduced to the Bishop of Cloyne : he
begins life with bright prospects ; his residence with you must pave
the way to future honours. How admirably his election was con-
ducted ! the details of that day are invaluable ; they are, I must
say, his first public appearance. Accept all our thanks for your
arrangements and thought for him. What would I have given to
have heard your little speech ! Your letter has been often read, and
always with renewed feelings of thankfulness. I am commissioned
by all here to send their best regards. Ever most faithfully yours.'

From W. R. Hamilton to J. F. "W. Herschel.

' DuBLii^ Obseevatoky, December 3, 1830.

' It cannot but be a matter of regret to me, in common with
most lovers of Science, to learn from the newspapers that the recent
election of President of the Eoyal Society did not terminate in
your favour. This regret, however, is entirely of a public kind ;
for I am well aware that, though you might have been induced by
a regard for the interests of the Society to accept its Chair, yet you
are likely to enjoy more the quiet pursuit of Science at home, than
any such situation.

' With respect to my own employments, I feel that you have
a kind of right to hear occasionally what I am doing, since you
encouraged my first exertions by early and public commendation.
The only thing which I have published, since the First Part of
my Essay on Sijstonsof Rays (except a very short paper on another
subject), is a Supplement to that Essay, which I hope you have
received, the two first sheets having been forwarded to you by
Dr. Eobinson, and the remainder by Captain Beaufort. A second
Supplement was read to the Royal Irish Academy, about the end of
October, and is now in the press : I shall not fail to send it to you
when printed. If delays should occur at the printing-office, I
shall perhaps send you in writing a short account of its plan,
which, if you do not happen to be at present interested in the
subject, you can easily throw aside. In the meantime I may state

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 409

that it relates chiefly to the integration of the partial differential
equation

^dx J \dy J \dzj

which contains a general property of ordinary oj)tical systems, V
being the characteristic function, and fj. the refracting index.

' I cannot say much for my diligence in observing, but perhaps
may have a better account to give of this department after some
time ; though among other temptations to indolence, I have that
of always suffering in health when I attempt night work in the
transit-room. However I have an assistant who was trained for
several years by Dr. Brinkley ; and if anything occurs to you or
any of your friends, in which the co-operation of our instruments
can be useful, I shall take care to have that co-operation given.

' You, perhaps, remember my having introduced Lord Adare
to you by letter in the summer of last year, and his spending an
evening at Slough, which /le remembers with great pleasure, and
with a due sense of the privilege he then enjoyed. He has been
my pupil since the beginning of this year, and occupies, although
very agreeably, much of my time. He has a passion for astronomy,
and will, I hope, erect, some years hence, an observatory of
his own ; for the use of which he has had some training here,
having worked hard at transits, although he is now slackening in
that employment on account of the wish of his father, the Earl
of Dunraven, that he should prepare to pass through our Uni-
versity. He is in his nineteenth year, and at a late meeting of
the Eoyal Irish Academy he was proposed by me, and unani-
mously elected a Member. It is a great object of his ambition to
be a Member of the Astronomical Society also, but he is aware
that his youth, and his being so little known to the Members of the
Society, are likely to be fatal obstacles. However, I think it fair
to mention the thing to you, who can so much better judge than I
can, whether, in the opinion of the Society, these circumstances
may not be overbalanced by a decided passion and ability for
Science ; which, being combined with the opportunities afforded
by an ample fortune, give a reasonable hope of his hereafter
adding to astronomical knowledge, and showing himself worthy
of any confidence that may be now reposed in him. If your

4IO Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1830.

opinion should be favom-able, I think it likely that Captain
Beaufort and Dr. Robinson, who are both acquainted with Lord
Adare, would be willing to concur in proposing him. I also,
although myself a junior Member, would gladly join in such a
proposal, and think myself happy in assisting to introduce a per-
son whose zeal would, after some time, make amends for my own
inactivity. But if you should think the thing inexpedient at
present, both he and myself would at once submit to your
opinion. With best respects to Mrs. Herschel, I am, &c.'

From W. E. Hamilton to Viscount Adare.

' Obseevatoey, December 26, 1830.

' Since you left me, I have employed part of my time in reading
your Berkeley, and have enjoyed in a high degree the pleasure of
admiration. They may talk of the Silent Sister, but I should be
glad to see the English Universities send forth a Metaphysician
superior to Berkeley. I have long had a leaning to his theory ;
and now that I have had an opportunity of reading his own state-
ment of it, I am quite charmed, and (for the present) am a disciple
with the most cordial and delighted submission. Not that I assent
to every separate argument, for he seems sometimes to combat
sophistry with its own weapons : but I heartily embrace the grand
result, that our only knowledge of bodies is the practical knowledge
acquired by experience, that when we hear, feel, smell, and taste,
thus and thus, we may expect to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste in
such and such other manners, according as we do nothing, or act
in ways in which we have learned to act. The reality of this
practical knowledge Berkeley nowhere combats. He nowhere
advances any argument or opinion which, rightly understood,
would lead one to put one's finger in the fire, or to let one's self
fall down a precipice. He does not confound perception with
co>?ception, nor pretend that he can accept the challenge to

' — cloy the edge of hungry appetite
By bare imagination of a feast :
Or wallow naked in December snow
By thinking on fantastic summer's heat.

But he places the reality of external things in the regular con-
nexion, discovered by experience, between some sensations and

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 4 1 1

others, in consequence of which connexion we are warned, when
we perceive certain appearances, and feel certain pleasures and
pains, to expect certain others. The cause of these sensations we
necessarily believe to he some foreign being, somethhuj not ourselves^
by an instinct as irresistible as that by which we believe ourselves
to exist, and to perceive or feel those sensations : and Berkeley
does not attempt to contradict either of these instincts ; he only
attacks the doctrine that the cause of our sensations is something
quite tmlike ourselves, unlike all minds, inert, inactive, unthinking.
This doctrine he considers as not only destitute of all proof, but in
a high degree improbable : and I confess I think so too. And I
am well inclined to adopt the opinion which he substitutes, although
one might admit the former results, and yet reject or doubt of this :
that the immediate cause of all our sensations is the Supreme Spirit,
in Whom we live and move and have our being, acting on subordi-
nate minds according to rules which He has allowed them to discover.
Meanwhile, whatever the immediate cause may be, of all those ap-
pearances which we observe, and of all those pleasures and pains
which we call corporeal, the knowledge of the laws by which they
are connected, and of the manner in which they succeed one
another, and of the conditions under which we are allowed to
change in part their order, is useful in action, and pleasing in
contemplation. Astronomy, Mechanics, Optics, Chemistry, and all
the other natural sciences, are so many portions of this knowledge.
And though it may seem odd to those who have been accustomed
to hear of Berkeley as a mere dreamer, and as a man confounding
facts with fancies, I find myself, in all these sciences, becoming
more disposed to value facts, and more anxious to obtain an unhy-
pothetical statement of them, the more decidedly I regard them as
but passive states of our own being : and thus, in the school of my
great countryman, I seem to grow, at once, more practical and
more ideal.

' I know that you will smile at the enthusiasm of what I have
been writing, and I can join in your smile when I remember how
possible it is that I may think very differently next Christmas.
However, you know that I have long had a leaning to the ideal-
ism of Berkeley, though I was, till lately, acquainted only with
the works in which it was attacked or ridiculed. Now that I have
heard himself, this tendency has certainly grown stronger ; and I

412 Life of Sir VVilliam Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

have been delighted to find so many things confirmed and antici-
pated by him, which I had come to in my own speculations by
setting out from those former hints. Yet I can only regard my-
self as approaching a mighty edifice, of which hitherto I have but
seen the distant outline ; the spousal temple of man's mind and of
the universe : and who can tell whether, on a nearer view, it may
not suggest other thoughts than those which it had caused while
faintly beheld from afar ? I am, &c,

' A few days ago the thermometer was down to 16, the plumb-
line water froze, and the transit clock stopped. . . .'

[memorandum,]

' June 9, 1830.

' If you ask an intelligent person, who has not studied physi-
cal or metaphysical science, what he means when he says I see the
Sim, he will perhaps answer that he sees a bright thing which he
feels to warm him, and which he knows by universal testimony to
have the same effects on other men. A natural philosopher will add
to this reply a statement of other properties ; but his knowledge
of these properties is founded ultimately on experience and testi-
mony, and he must in the end admit (with Biot) that matter is
the unknown cause of known sensations. The Berkeleian admits
the existence of these sensations and the laws of their succession,
which the physical philosopher had discovered ; but he adds the
metaphysical theory that these sensations themselves are purely
mental states, although to us involuntary, and therefore produced
by some cause which may properly be called external ; and this
external cause he believes to be of a spiritual nature, perhaps the
Deity himself, acting according to rules or habits which human
minds are permitted to discover, that by this perceived regularity
they may be trained to prudence through experience, and to intelli-
gence through scientific meditation.'

I may here fitly insert a Memorandum of this autumn which I
have found in one of Hamilton's manuscript books, and another of
later date, giving a concise and able statement of a Berkeleian argu-
ment in reference to Revelation.

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at t lie Observatoiy. 413

[memorandum.]

' Septemher, 1830.

* All natural or physical philosophy consists of links heticeen
reason and experience. So long as any pretended part of natural
philosophy contains only observed facts, it may indeed be called
physical science or natural knowledge, but not philosophy nor
wisdom. On the other hand, the sciences which do not rest at all
on experience for their evidences, such as the purely mathematical
and logical [are there any other?],* may constitute a portion of
philosophy and science, and even an eminent portion, but not of
natural philosophy, and cannot fitly be called physical science.
For Physical Science treats of the causes 0/ facts; the rationale
of [observed^ apiyearances. It aims to discover laws of nature :
which are, to us, only laws of human thought, such that by submit-
ting to them we cslu foresee appearances, that is, correctly anticipate
and expect involuntary states of our existence. Among these laws of
nature or laws of thought, those which relate to force and motion
are eminent in utility and interest. Considered physically, the
experience on which they are founded is grand and important :
considered mathematically, the trains of thought to which they lead
are beautiful and profound.'

[memorandum.]

'June, 1831.

' We are conscious of sensations, and irresistibly attribute them
to some cause out of ourselves ; this conviction being as strong as
the consciousness of the sensations which it accompanies. But
Berkeley maintains that we have no proof nor analogy to make us
believe that the cause of our sensations is different in essence from
ourselves, from the beings on which it acts. Indeed this cause of
sensation[appears from all ordinary experience to act not only with-
out caprice, but with perfect and undeviating regularity according to
discoverable laws : and so far this cause or power seems diiferent
in kind from our wills. But the experience of miracles makes
visible the before unseen analogy of this power to will, by giving

* Tte words in this memorandum within square brackets are later insertions
by Hamilton.

414 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1830.

examples of an interruption in the usual connexion of phenomena
or sequence of sensations. Miracles do more ; they show that the
Being or power which the study of our sensations had led us to
acknowledge as the physical governor of the universe is also the
moral governor, the power which produces in us involuntary emo-
tions of remorse or peace, of blame or approbation ; and miracles
have shown that certain men were commissioned by the Grreat
Ruler to make known by words and books His ^\all and His inten-
tion to us, on many important subjects, on which we could not
otherwise have discovered that will and those intentions so clearly,
if we could at all have discovered them.'

From Viscount Adare to W. R. Hamilton.

' Adaee, Deeemher 26, 1830.

' I have just received a delightful letter from Herschel, and it
begins, to my no small astonishment : "It will give me very sincere
pleasure, or rather it has given me very sincere pleasui'e, to propose
you for admission to the Astronomical Society." What made him do
so ? Did you say anything in your letter to him about it ? His letter
is full of good-nature and simplicity, nebulse and double stars ; he
sends his best regards to you, and says, " I hope in the course of a
very few days to answer his obliging letter, and to thank him for
the communication he was so good as to make me by Captain
Beaufort of his capital Paper on Light." . . . Herschel does not
say a word about the Royal Society. Did you see by the paper
that the king had become the patron of the Ast. Society: and
henceforth it is to be called the Royal Astronomical Society ? . . .'

From W. R. Hamilton to Viscount Adare.

' Obseevatoet, Deeemher 29, 1830.

' I received your letter awhile ago, and it gave me great
pleasure. I was delighted to find from it that Herschel has
proposed you to the Astronomical Society, and glad to find
too that he continues to like my Papers. You were right in
guessing that I spoke to him about you and the Astronomical
Society, though I did not like to tell you before, lest it should
uselessly agitate you with hopes, for I knew your heart was in
the thing. A letter to you, directed in Captain Beaufort's

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 415

hand, came here a day or two ago, in an Admiralty frank, and
I sent it on to Adare . . . The frank contained a list of occul-
tations for 1831, and an account of the plan adopted for the
Nautical Almanac of 1834, which seems an excellent one. Mr.
Willey, my astronomical relative, who draws all the charts,
eclipses, &c., breakfasted here yesterday morning, having just
come to town. I got a half promise from him to make the
reductions of aberration, &c., by A. S. C* for our transits of
1828. My sisters have been examining the reductions of 1829,
and have found some mistakes. Grrace has copied you the baro-
meters, &e., that you asked for. I met lately a sketch of
Aristotle's works, drawn up by your friend Cuvier, who speaks
with great admiration of Aristotle's History of Animals, and
shows that the horror of racuuni which has so much amused
some of our modern wits and would-be philosophers was
neither absurd nor unphilosophical, but a faithful statement
of the facts known at the time, and not more figuratively
expressed than the present principle of attraction. So, you see,
poor Aristotle is not quite deserted, and perhaps you may now
have more respect for his analysis of syllogism than before.
But I suppose if you read anything at home, it will be your
Classics for entrance. Your question about the three mathe-
maticians I really cannot venture to answer now, and as to
Metaphysics I have given you enough of them in my last
letter. . . . Yet I must just show you a little diagram which
I made the other day, to represent the ascending scale of human
thought. I have not seen Lady C. Give my best regards to
all your family, and believe me, &c.'

Religion.

Metaphysics.

Mathematics and Poetry.

Physirs and Literature.

Froin J. F. W. Herschel to W. E. Hamilton.

' Slough, December 29, 1830.

' I have to thank you in the first place for your communi-
cation of your Paper, all but the two first sheets, which have

* Astronomical Society Catalogue.

4i6 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1830.

not yet reached me ; the rest was kindly forwarded by Captain
Beaufort. I am glad to see you continue this interesting but
difficult investigation, though hitherto I have been so forcibly
drawn aside from my optical studies that I have not been
able to devote a portion of my time to a regular perusal of
it, which, however, I mean to do when I return to the subject.
The truth is, that I have been more intent on my nebulae and
double stars for this last year or two than on any other subject.
I find it impossible to dwell for very long together on one
subject, and this renders my pursuit of any branch of Science
necessarily very desultory.

' I have proposed Lord Adare for a member of the Astro-
nomical Society, and, should it be necessary, will have his cer-
tificate forwarded to you and Dr. Robinson for signature ; but
as Captain Beaufort is on the spot, he will no doubt very
gladly put his name to it. I am very glad he has so decided
a penchant for astronomy, and I am sure that under your care
he will have the best opportunities to improve that penchant
into a fixed love for Science generally.

' I thank you for your obliging mention of the event of the
late Royal Society election. I had no personal interest in the
contest. Had my private wishes and sense of individual advan-
tage weighed with me in opposition to what (under the circum-
stances of the case) was an imperative duty, I should have
persisted in my refusal to be brought forward; but there are
situations where one has no choice, and such was mine.

' I saw your admirable friend Miss Edgeworth lately in
town ; she is a most warm admirer of yours, and praise such as
hers is what any man may be proud of.

' I wish there were any hope of seeing you here. Does not
some part of the year give you a respite from your duties in
which you could pass a while among us? I quite long to make
your personal acquaintance, in default of which believe me, &c.

' P. S. — Last autumn I got a satisfactory series of obser-
vations of two satellites of the Georgium Sidus ; their periods,
orbits, and inclinations to the ecliptic agree perfectly with my
father's statement. Professor Struve was with me when some
of the most decisive observations were made ; they are very
difficult to see.'

AKTAT. 25.] Early Years at tlic Observatory. 417

From W. R. Hamilton to J. F. W. Her.schel.

' Observatory, January 4, 1831.

' It gave me great pleasure to receive your letter. ... In
the meantime, if you have a leisure moment to read the first
half-sheet of this letter, it will give you a distinct idea of the
mode in which I conceive that my peculiar views may be
applied to practical questions ; for I have verified my general
theory by applying it to deduce your elegant formula for the
spherical aberration of an infinitely thin lens in vacuo. I am
well aware that your other avocations may not even leave you
leisure to examine this verification, and I have therefore put
it in a separate form, that you may the more easily throw
it aside. Indeed I can only be excused for proposing your
perusal of it by the desire which all ardent persons have for
sympathy, and the very little chance which there is of soon
or often obtaining this sympathy, when the object of ardent
love belongs to abstract Science. I look forward with great
pleasvire to visiting you at some future time ; but besides that
I have little leisure for leaving home, being bound to ten
months' residence in the course of the year, I have (I must
own) much moral vk uicrt'm, and it is very hard to put me
in motion. Lord Adare and I both feel much pleased and
obliged by your having proposed him as a Member of the
Astronomical Society : he is now spending his Christmas at
home. I have written to tell him of your observations on the
Georgian's satellites. . . . '

2 E

4i8 Life of Sir Williavi Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

CHAPTER XI.

EARLY YEARS AT THE OBSERVATORY — Continued.

(l831.)

Hamilton's storj in 1831 is supplied chiefly bj his correspond-
ence and his poems. His correspondence with Lord Adare shows
in a delightful manner the growth of mutual confidence and affec-
tion, as well as the diligence of the teacher in imparting scientific
principles, and the intelligent receptiveness of the pupil. The
letters of Lord Adare are very pleasing : it is with regret that
I feel myself debarred by the necessary limits of this work from
allowing the reader to enjoy their combination of good sense,
modesty, perfect naturalness, and affectionate admiration of his
master ; admiration which did not interfere with his freely giving
useful practical advice and information derived from a wider
knowledge of society ; in fact, from pupil he sprang rapidly into
friend. The first letter of the year is to Lord Adare : some of the
lighter parts are retrenched, but what is given may serve as a
proof of the interest in practical and theoretical Science which
Hamilton counted on in his pupil.

From W. R. Hamilton to Viscount Adare.

* Obseevatoet, Jatiuary^, 1831.

' I had a very friendly letter from Herschel yesterday. You will
be glad to see it when you return, in the meantime I shall copy some
of it. Of you, he says, "I have proposed Lord Adare, &c," * and now
I think I have given you the cream of his letter, so you need not

Supra, p. 416.

AETAT. 2,3.] Early Years at the Observatory. 419

hurry back to see it. That you may the better support the hard-
ship of being at home, I shall give you something about the triads
to amuse yourself with. It astonishes me that so simple and fer-
tile a conception as that of the similarity of triads does not seem
to have occurred to writers on Algebra. I have been trying an
experiment with our circle which I think has succeeded very well.
It is using the level instead of the plmnh-Une to ascertain whether
the axis is vertical, and how much it deviates. With the help of
two Nautical Almanacs (part of the lumber which you abhor) I con-
trived to place the transit level pretty steadily upon the lower
rectangle of the circle frame-work with its cross level right, and
then read off : then moved the circle round in azimuth, stopping at
every quadrant, and not touching the screw which adjusts the axis
of the circle : the level oscillated, that is, the bubble moved back
and forward during the azimuthal motion of the circle, but soon
settled, and I read it off in each quadrant of azimuth (face West,
South, East, North, West), ... it took the same position at the
end of the whole revolution as at the beginning, but varied by a
division when the half revolution had been performed, and I con-
cluded that the axis of rotation deviated about three-quarters of a
second from the zenith towards the south. The mode of observa-
tion seemed to me far more easy and satisfactory than the plumb-
line, and perhaps we shall adopt it as at least a check upon the
other. . . .

' P. S. — The poor triads, I had almost forgotten them. I
wished to show you how they include what used to seem a little
difficult to you, the theory of the equation of a straight line in the
plane of xy. Do you not see that if three points be in one straight

line and if we project them on any other • . • ' straight line, such

• • •

as the axis of x or y, the projected triad is similar to the original
triad ? and the projection on one axis is similar to that on the other?
The equation of a straight line may be considered as an expression
of this property. Try, with this hint, to solve the following pro-
blems. Find the y of the point which has its x = 10, and which is
on the straight line passing through these two given points : 1st,
.r' = 0 ; y' = 32 ; 2nd, x" = 100 ; /' = 212. Here, the triad {x' ; x" ; x)
must be similar to (//' ; //" ; //) : and I want a decimal value, accu-
rate or approximate, for //. Again, find the x of the point on the

2 E 2

420 lAfe of Sir Williajn Roivaji Haviiltoii. [1831.

same straight line wliich lias its y = 40. And find if possible a
general equation connecting every x of this straight line with the
corresponding ?/, or a general rule for passing from one to the
other. The triad (0 ; 1 ; .r) is similar to (/>;« + i ; ax + ^).'

Sending some moon-stars to Dr. Robinson on the 14th January,
Hamilton writes ' I am at the last sheet of the printing of a Second
Supplement,* which I shall send you when complete.' On the
7th March he presents a copy of it to the Rev. Humphrey Lloyd,
the late venerable Provost of Trinity College, at that time a Fellow
of the College, and before the end of the year Professor of Natural
Philosophy. The note which accompanied the Paper is a worthy
commencement of a friendship which continued without interrup-
tion between men who in the field of scientific research worked
together without jealousy, and with mutual help, and who were
faithful colleagues in the public promotion of Science and litera-
ture.

Fvom W. R. Hamtlton to the Rev. H. Lloyd, f.t.c.d.

' Observatoey, 3/arc/i 7, 1831.

' In sending you a copy of my Second Supplement, let me thank
you for the valuable present of your Optics,-\ which has reached
me safely and which I shall prize. I would also thank you for the
very handsome terms in which you have mentioned my Essay,
if I did not feel that though in forming your judgment you must
have been influenced by private partiality, yet in expressing your
opinion you could not have been induced by friendship to depart
from what you really thought.'

The following continuation of the correspondence with Words-
worth tells much of Hamilton's inner life, as w^ell as carries on his
outer history. It is interesting to note how freely he confides to
the stern moralist of Rydal his sense of his own defects : the fact
is significant of the greatness of both.

* To the Essay on the Theory of Systetns of Mays.
f A Treatise on Liyht and Vision, 1831.

A.ETAT. 2,5.] Early Years at the Observatory. 421

From W. R. Hamilton io W. Wordsworth.

'Observatory, January 6, 1831.

' I intend soon to pay a visit to Lord Anglesey, and hope to
get a frank from some of the grandees : so I shall even bore you
with another letter.

' And the Muses in chorus
Sing, Wrangham don't bore us,
Wrangham don't bore us.

Do you remember the morning on the mount, when Mr. Parkin-
son repeated that — poem shall I call it ? or ode or song ? or some
diviner name — and amused us all so much ? I wish I could be
serious at this moment, but do not know how to begin. Come
then, I shall talk of Corinne, who has been making me serious
and sad enough, and has haunted me even in dreams. Last night
I was on some delightful expedition with her, and was not quite
so capricious as Oswald. Before I went to bed, I had finished the
first volume, and had just seen them set out for Naples. I am
greatly alarmed by a hint that some one has given me, that the
end will be melancholy : if I were sure of it, I think I should not
have the courage to read the second volume. But I will hope against
hope. I count myself an old man, and it is said that old men do
not like to read tragedy, having doubtless had enough of it in life.
Be that as it may, I am quite in love with the heart of Cori)iuc, for
as to her acco»ip/i.s/i)nenfs I do not care so much about t//e))i. I
hope she will be happy. If Oswald deserts her, heaven may for-
give him, but I never will. I am the more angry with him because
in many things he reminds me of myself. Perhaps, all this while,
I may be talking without your having read the book, and you will
smile at its afi^ecting me so much. Did you ever hear of the sailor
in the pit, who swore to some distressed heroine on the stage, that
he liad just received his prize-money, and was ready to marry her
that moment, and make an honest woman of her ? If you apply
the story to me, I beg you will at least respect Corinne, although
she does show her aft'ection more plainly than our customs allo^\'.

' I do not feel as if I had been more than usually idle in the
mathematics since my pupil went to spend his Christmas at home :
yet I suppose I must have been so, for I have been reading several

42 2 Life of Sir Williajn Roivan Hamilton. [1S31.

other things. In metaphysics, Coleridge and Berkeley, the latter a
countryman of my own, and a predecessor of my predecessor, the
present Bishop of Cloyue. In story, besides Corinne, I have read
with great pleasure an early production of another of my illustrious
compatriots, the Belinda of Miss Edgeworth. Miss E. is now in
or near London, at least I had a very friendly letter from Herschel
a few days ago, in which he says that he lately met her there. The
Astronomical Society of which he is so distinguished a Member,
and to which I also belong, has now the prefix of Eoyal, by the
patronage of the present King. They have been arranging great
improvements in the national Nautical Almanac, in a committee
of which I have been a (very useless and idle) member. The loud
and frequent complaints of the decline of Science in England seem
at last to have attracted attention, and excited shame. A disposi-
tion to patronise Science was (I suppose) the cause of the Duke of
Sussex offering himself lately as President of the Royal Society :
but for my own part I am sorry that they did not elect Herschel
instead ; I would more gladly have seen the Chair of Newton filled
by a Mathematician and Astronomer, than by a Royal patron. But
I dare say the event is otherwise viewed by most of the gentlemen
of England.

' Januanj 11. — Herschel (who is a comfortable married man,
like all the Astronomers, Airy, South, &c.), renews in a very kind
manner the expression of a wish to become personally acquainted
with me, and to see me at his house. Of course I must, like all
the world, go some time or other to London, and I should think it
worth while to do so, if I were thereby to become acquainted with
Herschel and Coleridge. But I do not look forward with any
pleasui'e to mixing even for a short time in the miscellaneous
society of London, literary or scientific. In general, I have come
to dislike the excitement of society, except of persons whom I
respect or love. When unhallowed by love or respect, social ex-
citement seems to me, observing my own mind, to partake too
much of vanity. For though the greatest part of my vanity is
concentrated into the hope of leaving an immortal name, yet
enough remains, diffused over my character, to expose me to
danger in intercourse with ordinary strangers, and to prepare a
painful retrospect for the after- time of self-communion. And even
at the times when I have most freely mixed with general society.

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. ^2^

and most enjoyed the doing so, I felt at moments the startling
recollection of progress suspended, and duty unfulfilled ;

" The burning finger that will not depart,
The secret voice that passeth not away."

Mine is indeed a labour of love, a willing and glad devotion ; yet
this ideal bond, like the links of domestic life, is at once dear and
obligatory, and the breaking of it would be followed by not only
regret but remorse.

' Just as I was finishing this last sentence, Lord Anglesey
rode up to see us, and I took the opportunity to ask for scientific
franks for my Second Supplement, which he readily promised to
give. I trust that I shall now and then get a frank to you too,
from some of my old court acquaintances, though perhaps I ought
rather to desire a check than an encouragement to my loquacity.
However, if I write too many letters at one time, I shall, perhaps,
write too few at another time, so you can strike a balance. Since
I wrote the first sheet of this letter, Eliza and I had a pleasant
breakfast at Mr. O'Sullivan's house in the park. We went in a
little carriage of my eldest sister's, but walked part of the way
home, I undertaking to be the guide. You may guess how I
acquitted myself : when we came to cross a canal bridge, I turned
the wrong way, which, however, brought us home at last, after
only a round of a few miles. It was true we soon saw that we
were turning our backs on the Observatory : but I gave many
good reasons for believing that we were going right, though I
could not avoid feeling, myself, a little surprised, somewhat like
the morning when I looked at Lady Fleming's house and won-
dered what had become of your green creepers. My sister and I
unite in best regards and wishes towards all within that green
shelter of which we retain so pleasing a recollection. Especially
we wish and hope to hear that the winter has not retarded the re-
covery of your invalids. Did you return by Cheltenham and
Carlisle ?

' P.S. — I have finished Corinne.^

424 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton, [1831.

From William Wordsavorth to W. E,. Hamilton.

'BuxTED Rectory, near UcKFiEf.D, Sussex,
^Jamiary 24, 1831.

* I am two letters in your debt, which I must pay poorly
enough with one. Yours followed me to London and to this
place, where we have been for some time under the roof of
my brother. ... I am glad to find from your letters that
you are in such high spirits. The lady [Lady Campbell]
you name is known to Mr. Rogers, who speaks of her in
terms of praise that accord with your own. I am sorry that
you are so ill supplied with my poems. Upon inquiring of
my publisher I find that there are still a hundred copies upon
hands : when these shall be somewhat reduced, I shall proceed
to a new edition with additions, and I shall then beg your
acceptance of a copy as a very inadequate mark of my affec-
tion and esteem. Here let me say that I found lying for
me at Mr. Moxon's, Bookseller, Bond-street, a copy splendidly
bound of your Mathematical Treatise. I forwarded it with
other books to Rydal, where I hope it is arrived by this time;
pray accept my thanks for it. In the Quarterly Review lately
was an article, a very foolish one I think, upon the decay of
Science in England, and ascribing it to the want of patronage
from the Grovernment — a poor compliment this to Science ! her
hill, it seems, in the opinion of the writer, cannot be ascended
unless the pilgrim be " stuck o'er with titles, and hung round
with strings," and have the pockets laden with cash ; besides,
a man of science must be a Minister of State or a Privy
Councillor, or at least a public functionary of importance,
Mr. Whewell, of Trin. Coll. Cambridge, has corrected the mis-
statements of the reviewer in an article printed in the British
Critic of January last, and vindicated his scientific country-
men. But your higher employments leave you little leisure to
take interest in these things. How came you not to say a word
about the disturbances of your unhappy country ? O'Connell and
his brother agitators I see are apprehended ; I fear nothing will
be made of it towards strengthening the Grovernment ; and if the
prosecution fails, it cannot but prove very mischievous. Are you

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 425

in the habit of seeing your cousin Hamilton ? "What does he
think of the aspect of affairs among you ? Are you not on
the brink of a civil war ? Pray God it be not so ! You are
interested about Mr. Coleridge ; I saw him several times lately,
and had long conversations with him. It grieves me to say
that his constitution seems much broken up. I have heard that
he has been worse since I saw him. His mind has lost none
of its vigour, but he is certainly in that state of bodily health
that no one who knows him could feel justified in holding out
the hope of even an introduction to him as an inducement for
your visiting London. Much do I regret this, for you may
pass your life without meeting a man of such commanding
faculties. I hope that my criticisms have not deterred your
sister from poetical composition. The world has indeed had
enough of it lately, such as it is ; but that is no reason why
a sensibility like hers should not give vent to itself in verse.

' Parliament is soon to meet, and the Reform question can-
not be deferred. The nearer we come to the discussion, the
more am I afraid of the consequences. 0 that the stars and
the Muses might furnish at least a few with a justification
for shutting their eyes and ears to political folly and mad-
ness, two relatives as near each other as sisters, or rather parent
^nd child. What misery they may speedily bring upon this
fair island I fear to calculate. But no more. I hear you are
going to be married, and I suspect there may be some founda-
tion for the report, as you talk in your letter of the comfortable
state of the great married astronomers. We had the report from a
countrywoman of yours, and a friend — you will guess whom, when
I add that she is a person of great literary distinction. It is high
time to stop, or write better. Farewell then, and believe me with
kindest regards to yourself and sisters, in which my wife and
daughter join. . . .'

From W. R. Hamilton to William Wordsworth.

' Observatoky, February 2, 1831.

* I wrote a few lines to you the day before yesterday, whicli
were to go by a frank from Lord Douro ; I hope tliey have
reached you, or will do so safely. Immediately after I had

426 Life of Sir Williavi Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

sent them, it began to snow, and we are now quite blocked
up. Yesterday morning it was with difficulty that Lord Adare
and I made our way into the garden to rescue an old pet rabbit
and some other creatures ; we had great fun trying to run after
each other, and falling every moment in the deep snow, while our
hair took the appearance of an old Welsh wig. I suppose it
would now be almost impossible for us to make our way through
the same places, for the snow has continued to fall and to drift.
I was to have dined with Lord Anglesey yesterday, but the car-
riage that was coming from town to take me in could not reach
us ; indeed we are told that the snow has quite buried the long
lane leading to this house, hedges and all. Happily, on holding
a council of war, we find that we have potatoes and pigs, not to
mention sheep and cows, so that we can hardly be starved. We
have also coals ; our only danger is that we may want the luxury
of bread, for the baker cannot approach us : but having so many
other things, we can dispense with that one, and consider the
whole affair as an entertaining adventure. At the worst, we hope
to derive great advantage from a suggestion contained in a late
work of Herschel's. He says that a mode has lately been dis-
covered of making sawdust bread, not qidte so palatable (he ad-
mits) as wheaten, but still very nutritious. Now we have a good
many pieces of o/d wood upstairs, which had belonged to a tempo-
rary platform in the Dome ; and I daresay we have a saw, and
who knows but by a skilful series of experiments we may come to
re-discover the secret of the sawdust, and supply ourselves with
loaves without end ? Besides, we have all heard that snow makes
excellent pancakes, and we have only to imagine that every day is
Shrove Tuesday. Are you put to any of these shifts and devices
by any similar blockade of snow at present in England ?

' Besides my dinner with Lord Anglesey yesterday, I shall lose
a breakfast with Mr. O'SulIivan to-morrow, which I expected to
enjoy, for he is an agreeable man himself, and makes up pleasant
parties.

'■February 19. — Since I began this letter, the snow has had
time to clear away, and I have had my breakfast with Mr.
O'SulIivan. Tou will think that I have grown quite a courtier,
when I tell you that I have attended a Levee and a Drawing-
room : but to protect my character for sobriety and gravity, I

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 427

intend to abstain from the Balls. I have amused my sisters by
my attempts to describe the Drawing-room and the ladies' dresses,
skylights of pearl upon the brow, and sunset trains upon the ground.
The chief pleasure that I had anticipated was in meeting Lady
Campbell, but in this I was disappointed, for she retired early
with Sir Gruy, while my cousin and I went rather late. But I
shall meet her to-day at dinner, notwithstanding my anchorite
habits or professions. You perhaps remember our walking to-
gether, when you were here, through Mr. Ellis's demesne of
Abbotstown, which is about a mile from the Observatory. My
sisters and I do not visit Abbotstown so often as its beauty
deserves, but we had a pleasant walk through it on Thursday
with my pupil's sister and with another friend of his, who had
slept here the night before, having come out to star-gaze. The
little Tolka river was swoln by the melting of the snows, and
tlie walks by its side were beautiful. I had taken a delightful
walk alone, through the same places, on the evening before, and
liad seen the sun set among the distant trees, and twilight pass
into the light of the crescent moon. You will guess, perhaps,
from my mentioning these things as events, that I am only too
often an indolent stay-at-home. I am very glad that you and
your party have had so much pleasant rambling in various parts
of England. On referring to your last letter, I fear that my
talent for blundering has made me misdirect the note which Lord
Douro franked for me, and that it has been wandering in a fruit-
less search for Wakefield instead of Uckfield, Sussex. If so, let
me repair the mistake, by repeating what I mentioned in that
note, that Miss Edgeworth's intelligence of my marriage or en-
gagement is erroneous. I wonder that she did not ask myself
whether it was true before she circulated it : perhaps she may
have thought she did so by sending me a note last summer in
which she said " My dear Professor, I hear glad tidings of your
double happiness : " I did not understand what she meant, until
I received your letter as a commentary, and answered at the time,
" It is very true, I am very happy with my pupil." But I intend
to undeceive her, as I hope soon to have an opportunity of sending
her a letter. You are surprised that I say nothing of Irish poli-
tics. In truth, though I sometimes amuse myself and others by
talking nonsense about them, I am too well aware that they re-

428 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

quire experience and meditation to pretend to have a fixed or
matured opinion on the subject. But those whom I have chiefly
talked with or listened to, my cousin (of whom you ask) in-
cluded, think that the measures of Lord Anglesey have been
both judicious and successful. At the worst, his union of courtesy
with firmness must be useful, by winning some and overawing
others. In allusion to him, a friend* lately quoted to me the ap-
plause bestowed on Ulysses in the second book of the Iliad, as
one who was not only a warrior and a senator, but had checked
the insolence of Thersites — the O'Connell of the day.'

From William Wordsworth io W. R. Hamilton.

'Rydal Mount, June 13, 1831.

' I prepared you for my not being much of a correspondent,
but I have been so unpardonably long silent, that I am almost
afraid to appear before you. My daughter has given, I see, an
account of our movements, and alluded to a subject which was in
no small degree the cause of my seeming to be unmindful of you
as well as my other friends. I know not at present where to look
for your last letter, but it is upon my conscience for putting off a
commission of Mr. O'Sullivan's with which it charged me. For
this I have no excuse, therefore my hope is that the business was
not urgent — at all events mention it, I pray, in your next, lest I
should not be able to find your letter, which may possibly be mis-
laid among the mass of my London papers : I saw little or no-
thing of Cambridge on my return — which was upon the eve of the
election — but I found that the Mathematicians of Trinity, Peacock,
Airy, Whewell, were taking what I thought the Avrong side : so
was that able man, the Greological Professor, Sedgwick. But
" what matter " ! was said to me by a lady — " these people know
nothing but about stars and stones ; " which is true, I own, of

* This friend was his uncle James, and the passage referred to is the

fulluwing :-

' £l ttSttoi, ■f) 5>; /un/Ji' 'OSutrtreiis ecrflAa eopye,
fiov\ds T i^apxtov ayadas, ir6\ifj.6v re KopvcrtrcoV
NTN Sfc rSSe fiey' apifTTOv iv Apyeioiffiv epe^fu,
&s Tov \u}^rjT?jpa iirea^oKov eo"x' ayopdiov.

LETAT. 2o.] Early Years at the Observatory. 429

some of them. Your XJiiiversity, I am proud to see, keep to
members that do it credit, and it was to me a great satisfaction
to find the opinions of the cultivated classes in England and
Ireland so decidedly pronounced through the organs of their
respective Universities against this rash and unprincipled measure
— you, I trust, will be glad also to hear that a large majority of
the yontli. both of Cambridge and Oxford disapprove the measure ;
and this proof of sound judgment in them I think the most hope-
ful sign of the times. ... Is your pupil Lord Adare still witli
you, and do you continue your observations together ? I wish I
could tell you that I had been busily employed in my own art ;
but I have scarcely written a hundred verses during the last
twelve months ; a sonnet, however, composed the day before yester-
day, shall be transcribed upon this sheet, by way of making nuj part
of it better worth postage. It was written at the request of the
Painter Haydon, and to benefit him — i.e., as he thought. But it
is no more than my sincere opinion of his excellent picture, of
which there is a very good print, which ought to find its way to
Ireland. By-the-bye, I was much pleased with your sister's poem,
pray tell her so : that the portrait is true, we have a striking proof
in one of our intimate friends, who might have sat for it. Have
your sisters any interest with schoolmasters or mistresses ? A selec-
tion from my poems has just been edited by a Dr. Hime for the
benefit chiefly of schools and young persons, and it is published by
Moxon, of Bond-street, an amiable yoimg man of my acquaintance,
whom I wish to befriend, and of course I wish the book to be cir-
culated, if it be found to answer his purpose ; 1500 copies have
been struck off. . . . The retail price (bound) is only 5s. 6d., and
the volume contains, I should suppose, at least 1100 verses. . . .
and it would be found a good travelling companion for those who
like my poetry.

[P.S. — By Miss Wordsworth, Sen.]

' As you, my dear friends, Mr. and Miss Hamilton, may have
discovered by the slight improvement in legibility of penmanship,
[other hands] have been employed to finish this letter, which has
been on the stocks half as long as a man-of-war. I cannot but add
from myself that Miss Hutchinson and I, by our solitary winter's
fireside, often remembered you — talked of "the Graces" — and all

430 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [isin.

pleasant forms and faces that flitted about before our windows
every sunny day of that gloomy summer. This very moment a
letter arrives — very complimentary — from the Master of St. John's
College, Cambridge (the place of my brother William's education),
requesting him to sit for his portrait to some eminent artist, as he
expresses it, "to be placed in the old House among their Wor-
thies." He writes in his own name, and that of several of the
Fellows. Of course my brother consents ; but the difficulty is to
fix on an artist. There never yet has been a good portrait of my
brother. The sketch by Haydon,* as you may remember, is a fine
drawing — but what a likeness ! all that there is of likeness makes
it to me the more disagreeable. Adieu ! believe me, my dear
friends, yours truly, &c.'

There is satisfaction in recording that the pleasure and excite-
ment of intercourse with persons of high rank, intellectually or
socially, had no power to estrange Hamilton from his own con-
nexions, or to make him neglectful of their welfare. Early in
February he wrote to Lord Anglesey, asking for preferment for
his uncle, of Trim ; later in the same month he enters on a
long correspondence, which he carries on into March, with his
uncle Mr. Willey, the subjects being eclipses of the sun and the
element of a comet's orbit — subjects on which Mr. Willey had con-
sulted him ; and in April, after a short visit to Trim, he brings
up with him to the Observatory his uncle's eldest daughter (called
Gracey, to distinguish her from Grace of the Observatory), in order
that she might receive instruction in drawing, for which she had
manifested remarkable talent. Of her, writing to Lord Adare (April
7, 1831), he speaks in the following terms : — " I have brought back
with me my little, or rather my young, cousin, for she is nearly
as tall as myself, though not much more than thirteen. She is a
delightful creature and very talented, especially in drawing. If

* This was a crayon sketch which used to hang in the dining-room at Rydal
Mount. It is not to be confounded with tlie portrait by Haydon ' Wordsworth
upon Helvellyn,' from the head of which a fine mezzotint engraving by Lupton
has been published.

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 43 1

she were six or seven years older I should be afraid of your losing
your heart ; but as it is, I am glad that you will see her, for I hope
that we shall have her with us for some weeks.'

In May he was agitated by a proposal that he should exchange
the Professorship of Astronomy for that of Mathematics, then held
by Dr. Sadleir. The proposal, it will be seen, met with a most
favourable reception from himself, and was warmly supported by
his friend Dr. Robinson, to whom he looked for advice. His
letter to Dr. Robinson and the answer of the latter put the case
fully before the reader.

From W. R. Hamilton to the Rev. Dr. Robinson.

'Observatory, May 12, 1831.

' I write to mention to you that I have some prospect of being
permitted to exchange the Professorship of Astronomy for that of
Mathematics, and some thought of availing myself of the permis-
sion. My duties would be to lecture twice a-week during two
terms ; to examine (as I now do) for Law's Mathematical Pre-
mium ; and (under a new arrangement) for Fellowships ; my
emolument, £600 a-year, with rooms and commons if I choose :
residence in College would not, however, be expected. There
would be £200 more of nominal salary, which would go to Dr:
Sadleir, the present Professor, as compensation for his resigning ;
it would revert to me, if I survived him, or if he should get pro-
motion. The Observatory would be given (it is expected) to
Harte. All this is only proposed, not settled, as yet ; I am to
make up my own mind on it before the end of next week, and to
communicate my wishes and intentions to the new Provost. In the
meantime, it would give me pleasure, and might assist in deciding
me, to be favoured with your opinion and advice on taking a step
which is to me so important. My tastes, as you know, are de-
cidedly mathematical rather than physical, and I dislike observing ;
which circumstance makes me rather unfit for holding an Observa-
tory as a contemporary and compatriot of you. Lord Adare would
accompany me, if I left the Observatory ; which, at all events, I
would not do during the present year. My only ground for liesi-

432 Life of Sir Willia}}i Rowan Haniiltou . [is.'ii.

tation at all is the regret that I feel in giving up a residence so
pleasant for my sisters ; and perhaps this may, in the end, out-
weigh the contrary reasons. At any rate, it will soon be decided.

' With best regards to Mrs. Robinson and to my other friends
near you, I remain, &c.

' I forgot to mention that the salary of the Observatory is likely
soon to be raised.'

From the Rev. Dr. Robinson to W. R. Hamilton.

' Obsekvatort, May 14, 1831.

' Your course appears to me so clear that there can be no
hesitation. As a Mathematician you will probably have no equal
in Britain, as an Astronomer some superiors ; for you certainly have
not the practical enthusiasm which is essential to make one sustain
the uniform progress of observing. I was well aware that you are
not very fond of observing, but you know you have that in com-
mon with Encke (who hates it), Airy, and Pond (now never observ-
ing). But at the same time it is not necessary for a man to
observe, himself; he may render, as Encke, most important services
to Science by his calculations, and make his assistants observe for
him. Schumacher observes very little himself, but is very accurate
in superintending his assistants. I mention this, that if any events
should make it necessary for you to remain as you are, you may
not imagine yourself useless because you are not much of an ob-
server, for, even so, you are likely to be invaluable as a calculator.
Bessel would be a first rate Professor of Astronomy, even though
he never put his eye to a telescope. But in the abstract you ought
to be Professor of Mathematics ; and the idea of putting you there
and making you examine for Fellowship is worthy of Lloyd, who,
as he first gave the impulse in this College, has I think devised an
effectual means for preventing it from being ever checked — (I wish
he would do the same thing about the Professorship of Natural
Philosophy) . As to emolument, that of course must be taken into
account, but unless the difference were very great indeed in favour
of the Observatory, it ought not, I think, to overweigh the peculiar
fitness of the other for your talents. I had hoped that Lord Anglesey
would have given you some of the Government benefices when you
were in orders (many of which you know are sinecures), but such

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 433

you can as well hold when Professor of Mathematics, You have my
opinion ; but were it my own case, I would consult the Bishop of
Oloyne, the best head and heart that I know ; but indeed I am
almost sure he will think as I do. Remember us to your sisters
and Lord Adare, whom as well as yourself we shall rejoice to see
when you can come.'

Lord Dunraven and Lord Adare set him at ease by declaring that
he should carry his pupil with him wherever he went ; and his friend
Lady Campbell, while sympathising in the loss which would be in-
curred by himself and his sisters in quitting that 'lovely place,' the
Observatory, strengthens him by telling of her delight at the pros-
pect 'of your devoting yourself to your pure mathematics.' Corre-
spondence on the subject was carried on with his class-fellow Bart.
Lloyd, through whom the proposal seems to have come, with Dr.
Sadleir, with Mr. Boyton, and with cousin Arthur, whose letters
are in every way worthy of his judgment and affection, and who
thus, at so early a stage of their intercourse, intimates his opinion
of the character of Lord Adare : ' Remember me most kindly to
Lord A. ; you have, I think, a valuable counsellor in him.' The
negotiation was in suspense through the summer : the Board saw
difficulties attending the disconnexion of the Professorship of
Mathematics from a Fellowship ; and at last, preferring that
Hamilton should remain where he was, and granting permission
to him to devote himself principally to Mathematics, they came
in November to a resolution by which his salary was raised to
a net amount of about £580 a-year, and he was bound to abstain
from taking pupils in the future. He thus writes to Dr. Robinson
on the 23rd of June : —

From W. R. Hamilton to the Rev. Dr. Robinson.

' June 23, 1831.

' . . . No change has occurred in my position with respect to
the College. I continue to leave it to the Board to decide whether
I shall be Professor of Astronomy or Mathematics, and they seem

2 F

434 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

still to prefer tlie former. My own preference of the abstract and
theoretical I have taken care to state, and that the only terms on
which I could like the Observatory would be the feeling myself at
perfect liberty to pursue mathematical investigation ; which liberty,
however, they appear desirous that I should have. "With respect to
my examining for Fellowships, without being a member of the Cor-
poration, in the event of their appointing me to the Mathematical
chair, great difficulties have, I hear, been lately raised by a Visitor.
With best regards to all, I am, &c.'

It is clear from this letter, and the fact should not be lost sight
of, that he honourably made it a condition of his continuing at the
Observatory, that he should be free to carry on as his first object
his mathematical researches, and that the responsibility for his so
continuing as a Mathematician rather than an Astronomer rested
with the University authorities. The following letter from the
Provost informed him of the ultimate decision :-r-

From the Rev. Dr. Bartholomew Lloyd, Provost of Trinity
College, Dublin, to W. R. Hamilto:n.

' Peovost's House,

' November 23, 1831.

' I succeeded only to a certain extent in carrying the Resolu-
tion respecting your Professorship.

* The Resolution passed unanimously in the following words : —

" That the stipend afforded for the support of the Professorship
of Astronomy, including the pay of Assistant [£100] and Grardener
[£20], shall be raised to the amount of £700 a-year, the Professor
engaging to lecture twice a- week during the whole of Michaelmas
Term, and not in future to take private pupils."

' I beg to congratulate you on this improvement, though short
of what I proposed.'

As belonging to the first half of this year, I insert two letters
to Herschel, with the acknowledgment of the latter.

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 435

From W. R. Hamilton to J. F. W. Herschel.

'March 1, 1831.

' I write a few lines in the hope of getting a Castle frank for
some copies of my Second Sujjpkment, one of which I request you
to accept. Along with it I send a little paper on a point of Ana-
lysis, and a complete copy of my First Supjilemeiitj as you seem to
have only received a fragment hitherto.

' I am continuing my investigations respecting optical systems,
and have some hope that in time they may be useful in the theory
of telescopes and other optical instruments : in the meanwhile,
they are at least interesting to myself, and an exercise in Algebra.
The last thing that I have been at, of this kind, is an analogy
which I find between ordinary rays emerging from a lens of revo-
lution to the axis of which they are slightly inclined, and normals
to an ellipsoid, of which two axes are nearly equal to each other
but sensibly different from the third. Lord Ad are continues to be
a diligent student and to give me great satisfaction. He and I,
and many of whom I know in Dublin, have been reading with
much interest your late work on the study of natural philosophy.
"With best respects to Mrs. Herschel, I remain, &c.'

' Although I sent in a former letter a half sheet with a kind of
extract from my Second Siipplenienty I did not intend thereby to
intrude on your time any farther than by leaving it in your hands
as a sort of condensed summary of the mode of applymg my prin-
ciples to problems of aberration, which, if you should chance to
take up the subject again, you might then rapidly glance at.'

From W. R. Hamilton to J. F. W. Herschel.

* Dublin Observatory,

' June 16, 1831.

* In meditating lately on a remarkable theorem of yours, for
the development of/(e'), namely,

/(^O = /(I) + x/(l + A) 0 + ^fil + A) 0^ + &c., {A)
I have been led to one which seems to me more general, and which

2 F 2

436 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [:83L

may be thus written,

vy^(0=/a + A)v'(^(o'))°- (J5)

' To explain and improve this theorem I observe, &c. . . .

* The elegance and importance of yonr theorem induce me to
hope that mathematicians will see with pleasm-e that it may be in-
cluded in one more general. I read a short paper on the subject
to the Council of the Royal Irish Academy on Monday last, and
am to read it again at a general meeting on the Monday after
next. In the meantime if any objections or other remarks occur
to you, and if you favour me by stating them, I shall receive them
with attention, and, I am sure, with profit.

'Lord Adare unites with me in best regards and respects to
yourself and Mrs. Herschel, and I remain, &c.'

From J. F. W. Herschel io W. R. Hamilton.

' SxoxiGH, June 24, 1831.

'Many thanks for the very elegant and general extension of
vay theorem you were so good as to send me. I am very glad
it has attracted your notice, for the fertihty of its transformations
and the variety of resources it offers to the numerical calculation
of CO- efficients of very great complexity, have long ago led me to
regard it as one day likely to come into more general notice
among analysts than it has hitherto done.

' I don^t know whether you have a copy of my appendix to
the translation of Lacroix's Differential and Integral Calculus ; if
not, I will send you one. I shall enclose with this a copy of a
little paper I sent to Brewster on the subject some time ago. . . .
I have been calculating orbits of double stars and measuring a
good many. . . . '

A similar acknowledgment of the receipt of the Essay from
Professor Airy is accompanied by a return in kind of papers by
the Professor, who expresses his regret at having missed Hamilton
in the Lake Country, where he visited Wordsworth only a fort-
night after Hamilton in the preceding summer. He adds a very
friendly invitation to him to come and see Cambridge in full Term.

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 437

I insert here a memorandum which I find, dated June, 1831.
It has here a special interest, because in a subsequent letter to
Lord Adare, Hamilton applies Coleridge' s distinction here in-
sisted on, between the reason and the understanding, to the esti-
mation of personal character. I add to it another comment on
Coleridge of a later date, and a paper in the domain of Natural
Philosophy.

'June, 1831.

* Coleridge in his preface to his Aida to Reflection announces
it to be one of his objects in that work, " to substantiate and set
forth at large the momentous distinction between J^Reason and Un-
derstanding."

' Perhaps, or rather certainly, many would say"" that it was
trifling to dwell at such length and with such earnestness on
such a distinction. Of what importance is it, they would ask,
whether we use the names correctly, when we know the things
themselves ? Do we not all know our own faculties, from neces-
sity of experience ? And whether we call the one Under-
standing, and the other Peason, or reverse the order of the
designations, does this affect the clearness or value of our
knowledge ?

'Coleridge would admit that when two things or thoughts
are perfectly distinct in our own knowledge, it is indifferent
in which order we determine to apply two arbitrary sounds
or other signs to recall them. But he would not admit that
to two such thoughts we may, without injury to ourselves
and violation of the laws of language, apply the two sounds
on one day in one order, and on the next day in another,
no warning of such interchange having been given. With
respect to the Reason and Understanding (in a note on their
difference in kind, page 226 of the second edition, among the
aphorisms on Spiritual Religion), he asks, " Is it expedient
or comformable to the laws and purposes of Language, to call
two so altogether disparate subjects by one and the same name ?
or having two names in our language, should we call each
of the two diverse subjects by both, that is by either name,
as caprice might dictate ? If not, then as we have the two
words Reason and Understanding (as indeed what language

43 8 Life of Sir Williavi Roivan Hamilton. [1831,

of cultivated man has not), what should prevent us from
appropriating the former to the power distinctive of humanity ?
-What should prevent us, I asked ; alas, that which has pre-
vented us. The cause of this confusion in the terms is only
too obvious : it is inattention to the momentous distinction in
the things, and (generally) to the habit and duty recommended
in a foregoing aphorism."

' The aphorism here referred to is as follows : — "As a fruit-
tree is more valuable than any one of its fruits singly, or
even than all its fruits of a single season, so the noblest object
of reflection is the mind itself, by which we reflect ; and as the
blossoms, the green and the ripe fruit, of an orange-tree are
more beautiful to behold when on the tree and seen as one
with it, tlian the same growth detached and seen successively,
after their importation into another country and different clime;
so it is with the manifold objects of reflection, when they are
considered principally in reference to the reflective power, and
as part and parcel of the same. No object, of whatever value
our passions may represent it, but becomes foreign to us, as
soon as it is altogether unconnected with our intellectual, moral,
and spiritual life. To be ours it must be referred to the mind,
either as motive or consequence, or symptom.'

5J >

'Observatory, September 22, 1831.

* What is the meaning of the assertion that water is a chemical
compound formed by the combination of Oxygen and Hydrogen ?
How far is the assertion true ? In what form of language can the
truth be best expressed ? How best may the phrase be made to
harmonize with the known theorems of mind, and to assist in the
discovery of theorems as yet unknown ?

' This search is plainly metaphysical, but in its course we may
and ought to endeavour correctly to state whatever physical facts
shall seem necessary to be stated at all. Correctness of this physi-
cal kind, in a metaphysical inquiry, is indeed of subordinate im-
portance ; but it has a value of its own, and the perceived want of
it offends like bad grammar in a poem.

' October 22, 1831. — In a note to a new edition of The Friend
(London, 1818), Yol. I., page 155, Coleridge says : — " Every Power
in Nature and in Spirit must evolve an opposite, as the sole means and

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 439

condition of its manifestation ; and all opposition is a tendency to
reunion. This is the universal Law of Polarity or essential Dualism,
first promulgated by Heraelitus ; 2000 years afterwards republished .
and made the foundation both of Logic, of Physics, and of Meta-
physics, by Giordano Bruno. The principle may thus be expressed :
The identity of Thesis and Antithesis is the substance of all Being ;
their opposition the condition of all Existence or Being manifested ;
and every Thing or Phsenomenon is the Exponent of a Synthesis,
as long as the opposite energies are retained in that Synthesis."
So far as I understand this principle, I would perhaps express it
thus: — Power can be manifested only by its effects, that is, by
overcoming Resistance, which is Contrary Power. Existence is
manifested by the struggle between two opposite tendencies [the
tendency to change and the tendency to continuance ?]. Each
particular Phenomenon, or individual Manifestation of Existence
is determined to be such as it is, and no other, by the kind and
degree of its producing Power, that is, by its own j)articular com-
bination or synthesis of two opposite tendencies. The thought of
Being or of Existence general [a new name, the propriety of which
may demand a special inquiry], as distinguished from phenomena,
that is, from individual manifestations of existence, arises in us
along with, and as a realization or externalization of, our belief in
a common ground, a hidden principle of unity, belonging to the
two opposite tendencies [of change and continuance ?] in any one
particular phenomenon ; our belief in somewhat permanent and
same, of which both these tendencies are pi-operties or affections :
nearly in the same way as the thought of Space seems to arise in
us along with, and as a realization or externalization of, our belief
in somewhat fixed and constant amid all those changes of position
which we call phenomena of Motion.

* Coleridge continues : — " Thus Water is neither Oxygen nor
Hydrogen, nor yet is it a commixture of both ; but the Synthesis
or Indifference of the two ; and as long as the copula endures, by
which it becomes Water, or rather which alone is Water, it is not
less a simple Body than either of the imaginary Elements improperly
called its Ingredients or Components. It is the object of the me-
chanical atomistic philosophy to confound Synthesis with syn(tv~
tests, or rather with mere juxtaposition of corpuscles separated by
invisible interspaces. I find it difficult to determine whether this

440 Life of Sir William Rowan Ha7mlton. [1831.

theory contradicts the Eeason or the Senses most ; for it is alike
inconceivable and unimaginable." I am doubtful whether I under-
stand fully the meaning of Coleridge in this place respecting the
essence of water. He says, " water is a copula, not a collection of
copulated things " ; and this I think true, and expressed in words
which I would adopt. But in what sense is Water the Indiffer-
ence of Oxygen and Hydrogen ? And with respect to the atomistic
philosophy, would it be absurd to suppose that certain juxtapositions
of corpuscles, discoverable by finer senses or longer observation
than any which we have applied, may be constant chronological
antecedents or accompaniments of those passive states of ourselves
which we call seeing, hearing, or otherwise perceiving Water ? It
•would indeed be an absurd and cruel mockery of that instinctive
desire by which we seek for causes, if one were to tell us, as
perhaps too many atomists do, that this juxtaposition of corpuscles
is the cau^e of these passive states of our own being ; for the
thought of the former does not involve the thought of the latter ;
and the pretended cause contains no power, but must be itself the
effect of some energy at which the professed explainers hint not.
But it seems not absurd to suppose that the believed phenomena
of juxtaposition and the perceived phenomena of water may be
joint effects of a common cause, or at least may be produced by
powers which have a constant chronological connexion.

' The foregoing remark respecting our idea of Space seems
to agree nearly with what Laplace says, at the beginning of the
Mecanique Celeste, namely, " that a body appears to move when
it changes situation relatively to a system of bodies which we judge
to be at rest; but that as all bodies, even those which seem to
us to enjoy rest the most perfect, may be in motion, we imagine a
space without bounds, immoveable and penetrable to matter ; and
to the parts of this real or ideal space we refer in thought the posi-
tion of bodies, and conceive them in motion when [we conceive
that?] they correspond successively to different parts of it." '

The portions between square brackets are so inserted by
Hamilton.

AETAT. 25.] Early Years at the Observatory. 44 1

'July 22, 1831.

' Bessy* asked me to-day to explain to lier the colours whicli
she saw so curiously accompany any object that she looked at
through a prism. I remarked that the only way in which we can
explain any appearance is to show some simpler or more familiar
appearance which it resembles or is connected with. In this case,
the three following facts might chiefly serve to explain the pheno-
menon she had remarked. Firsts there is an apparent displacement
of anything seen through an edge of glass : an object seen through
a prism's edge by one eye appears in a different place from the
same object seen without the prism by the other eye. Secondl//,
this apparent displacement is greater for blue tJuoi red objects : a
blue thing seen through a prism seems farther from that thing
seen by the nak^d eye than does a red one, placed where the blue
had been. Thirdly, the light from most objects, especially from
white ones, is found to partake of the properties of blue and red,
as if it had both those colours, and indeed others, at once : for
example, when white sunlight has passed through an edge of
glass, it tinges visibly with many colours, and among the rest
with blue and red, whatever it falls upon. A person who knew
these facts might, as I said to Bessy, expect that on looking at a
white object through a prism or edge of glass, he would see it
tinged with colours ; the object being in a manner both red and
blue, and the prism showing both these colours, by separating
them, namely, by displacing both, but the blue more than the red ;
and such accordingly is the observed appearance : an object is dis-
placed and colom'ed, the blue part being farther than the red from
the place where the object is seen without those colours by the
naked eye.'

Professor Airy and Hamilton soon met, not at Cambridge, as
had been hospitably desired by the former, but at the Observatory
at Dunsink, where Mr. Airy spent a few days in the middle of
August. The following letters refer to this visit. I had thought
of suppressing them, but the letter to Lord Adare is of considerable
value as bringing into full view the constant activity, perhaps it

* His cousin from Trim.

442 Life of Sir Williavi Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

might be said the predominance, of the metaphysical and imagina-
tive elements in the scientific faculty of Hamilton ; and the name of
Sir George Airy now stands so high, he has achieved so much in
his own sphere of practical Astronomy, that no injury can be
done to a reputation that rests immoveable on its own basis, by
giving to the public what was long ago written in confidence, and
which, after all, only accentuates a truth of fact for which the
world has reason to be grateful, that men of intellectual eminence
have differing characteristics, and are fitted for different kinds
of work. Hamilton, as we shall see, was in the habit of freely
acknowledging that, as a practical Astronomer, Airy was altogether
his superior.

The note to Mrs. Eathborne gives us the first extant mention
of the lady, Mrs. Eathborne's sister, who afterwards became Hamil-
ton's wife. The concerts referred to at the end were doubtless those
which were to constitute a Musical Festival, in which the leading
feature was to be the performance of that modern Orpheus,
Paganini. Lord Adare, who possessed musical taste, gave himself
credit for abstaining from leaving his studies at Adare for the
Festival at Dublin, but the close of the following letter suggests,
what I believe to be the fact, that by Hamilton no self-denial was
exerted when he turned his back upon Dublin just before the cele-
bration, and embarked in the Canal packet-boat on his way to
Adare. Music gave him pleasure, but his natural taste for it,
■whatever it may have been in amount, was never cultivated.

From W. E. Hamilton to Mrs. W. Eathborne.

' Obseevatoey, Saturday Night,
'Auffiist 20, 1831.

' As you all appeared to be interested in the poem of Coleridge
on Mont Blanc, I have copied one of Moore on the same subject,*
which I like much, though not so much as I do Coleridge's ; and I

* Rhymes on the Road, Extract I.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 443

beg that you will accept it. Professor Airy, who is one of the most
eminent scientific men of Cambridge, and of England, is to dine
with me to-morrow, as is also Mr. Larkin, au officer of the Trigo-
nometrical Survey, which Colonel Colby is conducting. I could
not have the conscience to ask you to dine here to meet them, as
you might then have rather too much of a good thing, in so many
hours of scientific conversation, and would perhaps grow tired of
us Professors, a result which I should greatly regret. But as Mr.
Airy is a lion, what would you think of coming here to tea, and
afterwards letting me show the moon and Jupiter to Mrs. and Miss
Bayly, if they will favour my sisters and myself by accompanying'
you? And perhaps Mr. Pathborne would dine with us at five.
My cousin, the Counsellor, will be here, which I know will be some
inducement to him. I write after a long and delightful moonlight
walk in your fields, which reminded me of the scene in the Mer-
chant of Venice^ "How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this
bank ! " and that scene reminded me of music, and I wished that
the concerts we were talking of could be held in the fields by
moonlight, for then I would go to hear them — at a distance.'

From W. P. Hamilton to Viscount Adare.

' Observatoey, August 23, 1831.

' I find that two of the Miss Edgeworths will attend the musi-
cal festival, and it is arranged that on their return my sisters
(Eliza and Sydney) are to accompany them. This leaves me free,
and I gladly resume the plan of going first to Adare.

' My cousin is not here to-day, but from what he told me yes-
terday of his own engagements, I venture to mention the begin-
ning of next week as the time when we will set out, unless we hear
in the meanwhile that your house is unexpectedly too full, and I
expect great pleasure in the opportunity of acquiring a more inti-
mate knowledge of Lord and Lady Dunraven.

' Were it not that you are now so happy with tliem, I should
regret that you were not here during the last few days, to have
met Professor Airy. He would have interested you much. To
myself his visit gave more pleasure than I had anticipated : he
likes the mountains of Cumberland, which he has already visited
five times, and hopes to visit five times more. But, on the whole,

444 Life of Sir Williaiu Roivan Hamilton. [1831.

his mind appeared to me an instance, painful to contemplate, of
the usurpation of the understanding over the reason, too general in
modern English Science. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
he said, playfully perhaps, but, I think, sincerely, he considered as
the highest achievement of man. Robinson has his faculties in
better balance ; Herschel better still. When shall we see an in-
carnation of metaphysical in physical science ! When shall the
imagination descend, to fill with its glory the shrine prepared for
it in the Universe, and the understanding minister there in lowly
subjection to Reason ! I am chilled by these recent visits of Leslie
and Airy, and could find it in my heart to renounce Science, in
deep despair of sympathy. But fear not that I shall renounce it,
whatever sad or impatient feelings I may have, when I look abroad
and nowhere see the realization of my earnest yearnings, the coming
of the king to fill the throne made ready in my heart.

' At most these bafiled efforts of instinctive loyalty, these strug-
glings to render a full allegiance, which they find none worthy to
receive — these doubts whether anywhere now that manifestation is
of Science upon earth which I long to behold and worship, will but
lead me to be waiting in the temple silently, but not in gloom,
hoping that even before I die I may see the happy advent.'

The account contained in letters to his sisters of Hamilton's
* voyage ' by canal, of his holiday enjoyments at Adare, and of
his first introduction to the family of Sir Aubrey De Vere at
Curragh Chase, is written in high spirits, and will impart to the
reader some of the amusement they record: but 'haec joca in seria
ducunt.'

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Grace.

' STE.4jvr Packet Cabin,
' Sejitemher 1, 1831.

' I begin this letter in the third vessel in which I have been
since I parted with you. So gently did the first one move, that I,
who had gone to the cabin to secure a seat there, and was reading
when the boat started, did not know for some moments that it had
done so. " AVe are moving ! " I exclaimed, and hastened to the
deck to watch our progress, and to take leave of Dublin, of which

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 445

I could long see something. I long continued to walk, and con-
trived gradually and gently to procure a reasonable space for
pacing, though the deck was narrower than any I had ever seen.
In this manner I saw a good deal of quiet beauty, and was well
disposed to be pleased with everything, both from being in good
health and spirits, and from the water and the deck reminding me
of my last year's sailing with Eliza. When dinner-time arrived,
my appetite again reminded me of those former sails, for it was
excellent : and I contrived to get many hours of sleep, not how-
ever till about twelve, by which time I had read much, especially
of Coleridge. If you see Mrs. Rathborne or Mrs. Bayly, you may
tell them that Coleridge has been quite a treasure to me in this
long voyage, both yesterday and to-day, which they will be glad
to hear, as they insisted, contrary to my own wish, that I should
take his Poems with me. A sailor would stare, no doubt, at my
calling this trip a voyage, and a long one ; but it is such to me,
though far from being a weary one : I greatly prefer it to coach
travelling. Where do you suppose I slept last night ? on the
floor — the most comfortable place in the cabin, even before I was
sure that none of my fellow passengers would walk over me, and
that my feet, which lay very near to a decaying fire, would not be
roasted and eaten before I should awake. I was wrapped up in
my cloak and had my great coat for a pillow, and seldom have
slept more pleasantly. Before I fell asleep I was greatly amused
by some anecdotes of military life, which a tall, fat, good-humoured
man, six feet six inches high and eighteen stone weight, was tell-
ing. When he was a very young man in the service, he happened
to go into a tavern or coffee-room in Cork, along with two brother
officers, and there overheard a military party talking loudly and
offensively of Ireland, after some copious potations in which they
had indulged ; one of his brother officers, older than himself, went
over and gently remonstrated ; on which high words arose, and a
confused quarrel; and my hero, seeing that he and his friends were
unarmed, while the others had swords and drew them, ran over to
the fireplace, from which he snatched a well-heated poker and re-
turned in fury to the combat. The enemies with equal fury,
snatched one after the other at the poker, and burned their hands
satisfactorily. Next morning, challenges; but they were put
under arrest, for a day or two, and it ended in the offending

446 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

party being obliged by the superior officer of the place to apolo-
gize for their conduct, on pain of dismissal from the army. Ima-
gine the glee with which the poker scene was recounted ! By-
the-way the hero of it happens at this moment to be at my elbow,
having accompanied me in all my shiftings from boat to boat, and
perhaps he may take it into his head to peep over my shoulder and
to read of his own exploits, so I shall say no more about them —
nor about anything else at present, for I want to go on deck, and
try whether we are yet in Lough Derg.'

' LiMEEICK, MoEIARIY's HoTEL,

* Thursday Night.

' After being in yet a fourth boat, I have at last arrived before
half-past eleven at tlie hotel from which the Adare coach will
start to-morrow morning : and while enjoying a cup of tea, I
resume my letter to you. I left off where I was about to go
on the deck of the third vessel, to try whether we were in Lough
Derg. I found that we were ; and the view gave me great plea-
sure, as lake scenery always does. But what was my astonishment
and delight, when my hero of the poker story, who soon was at
my side, pointed out a distant mountain towering above the nearer
hills, and told me it was the Keeper ! The Keeper you know
is Mrs. Bayly's mountain ; but though I had heard of it from
her and from Colonel Colby, I had never presumed to hope that I
should see it with my bodily eyes ; indeed I am not sure that
I distinctly believed it to have any place at all. It was to me a
name only, not a local habitation ; or if I at all connected it with
place, I believe I thought it was near the Giants' Causeway. My
astonishment would have amused Mrs. Bayly. You may tell her
of it if you see her. While I am on the subject of blunders, I
must give you two more, an optical and an astronomical, for the
benefit of Eliza's collection. While wandering on our steamer on
Lough Derg, in my frolics, on which I was very moderate, con-
tenting myself with climbing the slanting iron chains to near the
top of the chimney, and tapping there with my knuckles, and
other absurd but safe things, for the sake of exercise and amuse-
ment, I cast my eye on the nearest vessel of the chain which
we were towing after us, and read its number as 189. In truth
it was 681 ; but my eyes, accustomed to inverting telescopes, made

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 447

this my optical blunder. The astronomical was richer far : it was
no less than the apotheosis of a helmsman, and the forming of
a new constellation. For, on emerging half asleep from the cabin
of my fourth boat, in starry gloom upon the Shannon, while yet
my doubtful steps were on the narrow staircase, I looked into the
heavens and thought I saw Orion ; but perceiving that the dam on
which my eye had fixed had not the requisite arrangement, and
glancing suddenly on a human shape close by them, outlined upon
the sky, I exclaimed to myself. This is Orion, this is the starry
man ! The illusion of course did not last an instant, but I was
conscious of its lightning transit, and thought I would entertain
you with an account of it. If I do not write soon from Adare, you
will know at least that I have not been drowned on my way.'

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' Adake, September 5, 1831.

* ... I have had several pleasant rambles along the river, and
among the trees, and the ruins, by myself, since I came here ; and
I have been on two parties, one of them to a round tower, and
another to Beagh Castle. Beagh Castle is a ruin on the banks of the
Shannon, about ten miles (I am told) from Adare ; the river there
looks to me more like a sea, and reminds me of Dublin Bay as
seen from Clontarf . Indeed one can just see the opposite banks,
but they do not catch the eye so as much to suggest the idea of
bound. On this great river we rowed forth in a little boat, the
tossing of which alarmed Lady Dunraven, not with the fear of
being drowned, but of being ill : however she soon recovered, and
we were all at ease. Mr. W. O'Brien, son of Sir E. O'Brien, who
had been Member for Clare till he was supplanted by O'Connell,
was our first steersman, and appeared to be determined that we
should cross to the Clare side, where the house of his father is ;
and if we had done so, it seemed to be the general opinion that
the wind and tide would not have let us re-cross the Shannon, and
that we must have slept on the water or among the Terries ;* but at
last he yielded the helm to Lord Adare, who in an hour or two
succeeded in steering us back to Beagh Castle, and there we enjoyed

* Terri/alts, one of the names of agrarian conspirators.

448 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

a most hearty and merry luncheon, or rather dinner, on the grass,
which reminded some of us of Dunran, In an earlier part of the
day, Lady Dunraven, Mrs. Hanrner, Francis Groold, and myself,
had visited Mr. Waller of Castletown, a kind old gentleman with
a beautiful place, from which the Shannon seemed neither sea nor
river, but a lake, and reminded me strongly of some of the Cum-
berland views. At Beagh Castle our party was increased by Miss
Hanmer, of whom you must have heard Lord Adare speak ; and
among others, by Mademoiselle, my kind nurse of a former year,
who inquired most warmly after her patient, and congratulated
him on the improvement of his health. Miss Goold was not of
our party, nor was Lady Maria ; but they are both here, and have
made many inquiries after my sisters. The day that I arrived.
Miss De Vere made a visit to Adare, in the course of which Lord
Adare did not (I think) appear. Miss De Vera recognised me
with mucli cordiality, and pressed me to visit Curragh, which I
have some hope of doing. We almost instantly fell into a discus-
sion upon Christabel, which she does not like so well as I do ; and
though upon a former occasion I could not condescend to argue with
her metaphysical brother, who represented Christabel as flying or
rather jumping up the Castle stairs at a hop-step-and-leap, yet I
now felt interested in understanding why and how far I differed
from one whose love for poetry is so sincere, and whose taste is so
cultivated as Miss De Yere's. My love of the supernatural, ex-
ceeding that of most, is one cause, doubtless, of my singular fond-
ness for Christabel ; another is, that, incited perhaps and aided by
my general faith in things beyond the narrow limits of "this visi-
ble nature and this common world," I supply, as I read, a commen-
tary and a believing record of circumstances not told by the poet,
which makes the tale a more consistent whole to me than I have
reason to think it is to the majority of readers. This morning at
breakfast an interesting conversation and discussion arose, upon
the following question ; " If going as an emigrant you were
limited to bring but three books with you, what would those three
books be ? " At first the question was narrowed to two books, and
then all agreed that those should be the Bible and Shakespeare :
except indeed Lord Adare, who instead of Shakespeare would
bring some mathematical author. But what the third book
should be was a far more disputed question. For my own

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 449

part, though it went to my heart to leave Milton and Horace
behind, yet I fixed at first on Coleridge's Metaphysics as my
third subject of study in the desert ; reserving of course the
right of pursuing mathematical research to any extent to which
my past attainments and future meditations might enable me.
But the name of Plato being mentioned, I believe by Lord
Adare, I went over at once to him and substituted Plato for
Coleridge. What led to the conversation was our speaking of
Bogle Corbet, a tale of an emigrant, by Gait, which I am now
in the course of reading, and indeed with interest, although
I do not like Gait the better for my so doing, and though I
think the book the most vulgar in expression and sentiment
of any which I have seen from decidedly talented authors.
You perceive that I have had much pleasure here; but I must
tell you that the cholera continues. It will be a great ser-
vice to humanity if physicians can discover any method of
curing it by oxygen, in the way we were speaking of one
evening in Cousin Arthur's laboratory. The symptoms are very
dangerous and troublesome, and yet the suiferer has a fatal
pleasure in encouraging them. It will be a great ease and
comfort to the civilized world when the malady is entirely ex-
tirpated. With loves to all. . . .'

From W. E,. Hamilton to his Sister Grace.

'Adaee, September 8, 1831.

* Though you know that when I leave home I always give
myself up to the amusements of the place which I may visit, yet
you can scarcely have guessed the variety and oddity of those
which have engaged me since I came here : and Cousin Arthur,
since he arrived on Tuesday, appears to have enjoyed himself too.
At this moment they are asking us to go to the Coronation
review in Limerick ; he goes, but I stay at home to write
to you, and to have a quiet day. How naturally one falls
into saying at home ! Lord Adare, you know, used to talk of
the Observatory as home, and here am I talking of staying'
at home to-day. A few days ago, at dinner, I quite fancied
myself at the Observatory ; for Lady Maria sat between Cousin
Arthur and me, and on my other side was Francis Goold, while

2 G

450 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [183 1.

Miss Goold was opposite to me, and Lord Adare was not far
off. The same fancy occurred to Lady Maria, and we had a
long chat about the old Observatory times. She took the oppor-
tunity to do wliat she had promised her brother more than a
year ago, that is, to tell me how much he wished that I should
not call him Lord Adare. I told her with truth, that to the
formality of my nature it would require a special effort every
time, if I were to try to call him Adare ; but she quite earnestly
begged me to make the trial, and said she would fix on some
private sign to remind me when I went wrong. After all, I
have not yet brought myself to say Adare ; but at least I have
avoided the hated Lord, for I have not named him at all.
It is possible, you know, to be long in the same house with
a person with whom you are intimate, and yet never to address
that person by any name. My reluctance to call my pupil
and friend, whom I know so intimately and love so dearly,
by the name by which his other friends usually call him, is
scarcely a rational feeling, and, on my best efforts to analyse
it, appears to arise from an habitual pride. When I know that
another person is decidedly superior to me iu rank, and when
custom has established a certain form of acknowledgment of the
superiority, it seems to me that I had better persevere and
mark my real independence by using this form, than by omit-
ting it on the ground of intimacy. For while one's forms of
expression are no other than all may use, they cannot be affected
by any future coolness ; and no privilege having been accepted
on the one side, there is none which can be withdrawn on
the other. In waiving this proud guardedness in my' future
intercourse with my pupil, as I shall certainly endeavour to do,
I shall be compelled to do a violence to the secret but habitual
union of caution and haughtiness in my nature, that will une-
quivocally prove the strength of the confidence and affection
which I feel towards him, and which he has so well deserved
at my hands. . . . Does Mrs. Bayly continue much longer
at Scripplestown ? or has she already left it ? I must go out
now while it is fine, and take a walk among these beautiful
grounds, which however, after all, I do not prefer to the fields
near the Observatory. Whenever I see a very gently swelling
distant hill, with trees on its top, I imagine it is the Observatory,

AKTAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 45 1

and I look for tlie little iron gate, and sometimes fancy that
I see it too, for a moment. How beautifully Coleridge has
described the association of such yearnings with a deeper feel-
ing, in this stanza of the Solitary Date Tree : —

" For never touch of gladness stirs my heart,
But, timorously beginning to rejoice,
Like a blind Arab, that from sleep doth start
In lonesome tent, I listen for thy voice.
Beloved I tis not thine — thou art not there I
Then melts the bubble into idle air,
And wishing without hope, I restlessly despair."

' I find that, lest I should be late for the post on returning
from my walk, I had better close this letter now, and reserve
for another day the account of my frolics and vagaries.'

In comment upon Hamilton's analysis of the motives which
rendered him unwilling to drop in conversation the prefix of
his pupil's name, I cannot refrain from saying that it appears
to me to show an admirable insight into his own character.
I have called him profoundly modest, and so he was if modesty
be construed as a tendency to rate himself as lowly as he justly
could in comparison with others, and to cede to others the
priority when duty of some sort did not oblige him to .claim
it for himself: but with that modesty was joined a self-respect
as genuine, a sense of his own individuality and of his duty
to maintain it in the possession of all its inherent preroga-
tives : and so also it is true that while he was perfectly natural,
and ready impulsively to join in innocent freaks or caprices,
he was also habitually formal with a formality which sprang
from his deep value for law in all things: he loved order and
coordination and subordination and symmetry and complete-
ness ; and this love pervaded all his mathematical work. It
was this love of order that made him in politics a large-minded
Conservative, valuing liberty, but valuing also subordination
of ranks and supremacy of civil law; and that in matters of
religion led him to recognize the importance of adding to indi-

2 G 2

452 Life of Sir William Rowa7i Hamilton. [1831.

viduality the outward organization of an authoritatively con-
stituted and graduated ministry, and the links between body
and soul vouchsafed in sacraments: so that, not many years
after the time now arrived at, he welcomed the Oxford move-
ment as raising Church principles out of undue neglect, while
with characteristic tenacity he held fast the spiritual Gospel
truths, which to him were paramount, and was deeply pained
when that movement carried many of its originators and ad-
herents (and among them valued friends of his own) into what
he considered as extremes that involved superstition and enslaved
the individual reason. I may add also that it was this combi-
nation in him of modesty and firmness with love of justice
and order that made him at a subsequent time an exemplary
President of the Royal Irish Academy. But this is antici-
pating.

From the Same to the Same.

' Adaee, September 9, 1831.

' In my letter of yesterday I promised to give some account
of my frolics and vagaries here. The first vagary that occurs
to me is my keeping of an optico-poetico-mathematico-musical
diary, as a sample of which I extract the following sentence.
" The rays being refracted by a sphere, No non temer was played
beautifully on harp and piano in the drawing-room, while I
sat listening in the library of glass, having its centre at the
origin and its radius equal to unity." Another vagary was
my dancing in the old oak hall under the lamplight shadows
of enormous antlers, while Lady Dunraven sat playing in a
recess. The dance had many fits. First I led off Mademoi-
selle, my kind and lively nurse, in a waltz, the first that I
had performed since I exhibited with Sir Guy Campbell. Then
came a quadrille in which, between memory and invention, I
contrived to cause no great confusion. Our dancing party con-
sisted of Francis and Miss Goold, Mr. and Miss Hanmer, the
cousins whom Adare had hastened from the Observatory to meet,
Lady Maria and Adare (I am practising, as you see, my new vo-
cabulary), Mr. W. Smith O'Brien, son of Sir Edward O'Brien,

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at tJic Observatory. 453

who used to be Member for Clare, until he was defeated by
O'Connell, Captain Lawrenson of the Lancers, who was last
night recalled to his regiment by express, and, he believed, on
account of some expected disturbances (I am doubtful of tlie
spelling of his name), and finally of Mademoiselle and myself;
for Lady Dunraven, as I said before, was playing, and Lord
Dunraven and Mrs. Hanmer looked on. Mrs. Hanmer is a
very elegant lady, and Cousin Arthur admires her particularly.
Her son is a very gentlemanly young man, and with him and
Mr. O'Brien I had an amusing water vagary. I was rambling
through the grounds on Monday, when I happened to see a
little boat on the lovely little river, with those two gentlemen
in it; I drew near and they invited me to join them, which
I did, and we drifted down the stream, shooting in fine style
the falls of the weirs without yet falling in ourselves, though
we seemed at every moment on the point of being overset: so
small and light was the boat, and so unsteady were we three
in the standing posture in which we were trying to manage
it. Returning we had of course greater, and indeed great, diffi-
culty in forcing the boat up the little falls, yet we surmounted
three ; but soon after we had passed the third, in the remaining
unsteadiness produced by our recent efforts, Mr. O'Brien fell
over with a heavy splash ; into a shallow part, however, so that
we had only a laugh instead of alarm : and so much did I
envy his adventure that on coming to a deep pool I laid down
my hat in the boat, my coat being off already, and with all
my other clothes on deliberately leaped into the water, and
swam to a little island, from which I had again to swim to
overtake the boat. Imagine my extraordinary figure when I
presented myself soon after to Lady Dunraven, who immediately
ordered some excellent ginger cordial and other liqueurs for Mr.
O'Brien and me. I changed my clothes without delay, and
was not at all the worse — on the contrary, I have ascertained
by trial the possibility of swimming in my clothes, which ex-
perience may be useful to me hereafter.'

454 Lift of Sir Williavi Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

TO THE INFANT WYNDHAM, SON OF THE EARL OF DUNEAVEN.

* I may not gaze into the futxire years,
Nor tell how soon the inevitable tears
Which Passion wrings from all of human birth,
Must dim the lustre of thy lot on earth.
But, to the yearnings of my phantasy,
It seems a bright and soothing augury,
That on the beauty of this opening rose
Thy little eyes so lovingly repose ;
That with fond gesture, to which words were weak,
Its torn leaf thus thou pressest to thy cheek ;
And quiet now, and gently rapt, dost seem
Immersed in fragrance of some poet-dream.
Bathe in such fragrance long I and let the balm
Of Nature's beauty round thee breathe a calm.
Long, of such soothing yet inspiring power.
As fills thj' infant soul this sunny hour.
The twilight sky, the stars, the crescent moon,
Shall kindle up thy looks of rapture soon ;
And when thy feet in boyhood's freedom roam
O'er the possessions of this ancient home,
Methinks I see thee fix a pensive gaze
On ivied relics of departed days ;
Then turn to mark the winding river free,
Or mossy stone, or darkly spreading tree :
'Till to the inward eye, full fancy-fraught,
A lovelier world appear of poet-thought.
Oh, more than all that I can wish for thee
Will yet, dear Babe I thy happy portion be ;
Thy tender heart with Beauty's joy be fili'd,
Thy human griefs in Nature's lap be still'd I

'Adare, September %^ 1831.'

From the Same to the Same.

* Adare, September 14, 1831.

'I find that there is an opportunity of sending letters to
Dublin to-day, and therefore, before Cousin Arthur and I set out
for Limerick, we write to you. On the first page of this sheet, I
have copied some verses to Miss De Vere, which I wrote last night

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 455

after tlie excursion to Curragb, of whicli (I believe) Cousin Arthur
has given you an account. Since I came here, I have been going on
pretty vigorously with my missionary labours, in behalf of Coleridge
and Wordsworth ; but Miss De Yere has so much intensity of feel-
ing and so cultivated a taste in poetry, that wdth her I feel as a
learner rather than a teacher. It is being in another world to talk
with her on poetical subjects ; and I have been in this other world
for much of the two last days. But on my return from Curragh,
my companions, perceiving this, had the cruelty (Miss Gr., Lady M.,
and Cousin Arthur) to set themselves determinately to make me
laugh, and so completely succeeded that our cheeks were all wet
with merry tears, and our sides all thoroughly tired, before we
arrived at Adare. Has C. A. told you that I have had an invita-
tion from Sir James South, to go in a few weeks to London, to see
his great Equatorial put up by the Duke of Wellington, and that
Adare and I intend to do so ? I go, you know, to-morrow to
Edgeworthstown, or to the nearest place on the canal : but I
trust that I shall be at the Observatory before I go to London and
visit Coleridge and Herschel. How busy I must be when I return !
I suppose I shall shut myself up entirely.'

TO E. De V.

' 0 lovely one ! who o'er thy sire's domains
Glid'st, light and free, the Spirit of the place !
In thy sweet presence an enchantment reigns,
And all injurious bonds of Time and Space
Do I forget, when on thy mind-lit face
A momentarj- gaze I dare to rest ;
Bright thoughts and feelings round me throng apace,
Till, wholly by their inward power possest,
I, though i;pon the earth, yet as in heaven am blest.

Not that I dare to wish thee for my own :

Far more ethereal must his spirit be,

Far more of heaven be in his bosom's tone,

Who fitly with such wish may look on thee.

Thou art but as a radiant type to me

Of youthful Fancy's sweet and precious things ;

Thy innocent Beauty wakens holily

Only such pure though fond imaginings

As if I gazed from far on some fair Seraph's wings.

456 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

Not all unworthily with looks of thine

My looks may mingle, so, and only so ;

The earthly lost to me in the divine,

And Passion sullying not the virgin snow

Of Feeling ; and 'mid rapture's deepest flow,

While on to islands of the blest we seem

Together in thy Spirit-bark to go.

The current of that pure translucent stream

Made turbid unto me by no presumptuous dream.

* Adaee, Sejitemher 13, 1831.'

From Cousin Arthur to Grace Hamilton.

*Adare Manoe, September 14, 1831.

After describing some of the busts in the library he says : —
* A-propos of sculpture — I should not omit to tell you that
William's bust looks very well here ; it is placed in the library on
a column of scagliola, somewhat taller, I think, than the column
presented by Mrs. Rathborne at the Observatory; and has the
honour of being placed as a companion to the bust of Edmund
Burke. '

Pleasant letters from his sisters Eliza and Sydney conveyed an
m'gent request from Miss Edgeworth that he would join them at
Edgeworthstown before her own departure, which, in hope of
his doing so, she had deferred for a week. The letters show how
thoroughly the sisters were enjoying their visit, describe the
mutual kindness of the diversely mothered members of the house-
hold, under the excellent lady then receiving the affectionate
homage of them all ; their readings aloud from Irishmen and
Irishivomen, and Camilla (amiably submitted to by Francis,
notwithstanding that in the seclusion of his poetic and philoso-
phic spirit he cared little for such frivolities) ; and their laugh ;
"it does one's heart good," writes Sydney, "to hear them laugh;
they can all laugh so completely from theii* hearts, and they never
force a laugh at things not worth laughing at." For the sake of
seeing Miss Edgeworth, Hamilton shortened his visit to Adare,

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at tlic Observatory. 457

which place he left on the 14th of September, again taking water
conveyance by lake and canal. He thus describes his journey : —

From W. R. Hamilton to the Viscount Adare,

* Edgewoethstown, September 18, 1831.

' My dear Adare (you see that the Lectures of Lady Maria
and yourself have j)roduced their effect, and that your name is not
with me a biverh any longer) — Since I left you on Wednesday
evening I have had a very pleasant journey to this place, and a
pleasant time here. First we got to Limerick, the counsellor and
I, in about two hours and a-half, walked a little in the town, to
make inquiries about the canal boats ; slept at Moriarty's, and
started in a boat before six o'clock on Thursday morning ; passed
into two steamers afterwards and into another canal boat, and
arrived at Tullamore about eleven at night, having enjoyed our
day very much, especially the part which we had spent upon
Lough Derg. It was interesting to watch upon that lake, which
happened to be perfectly calm, the continual widening track left
by our iron vessel. I could not but look forward to the time when
men shall know the physical properties (at least some of them) and
the mathematical definition of the curve. Mr. Edward O'Brien,
who had once been at the Observatory, and had walked from it
(with you I think) to Abbotstown, was in the steamer with us,
and accompanied us to Tullamore. At Tullamore he went im-
mediately to bed, in a triple-bedded room, and I saw him no
more, but I had secured for my cousin and myself a double-
bedded room, in which, after I had intoxicated myself with a
teapot of strong tea, we continued laughing and talking about
physics, metaphysics, astronomy, poetry, and nonsense of every
kind, till three or four in the morning, and then slept for an houi'
or two. At six we rose, and at seven continued our journey in the
canal boat to Philipstown, which place I reached at nine (on Fri-
day morning) and parted there from my cousin, who borrowed
from me the Wallenstein of Coleridge to amuse him on his way to
Dublin. I then engaged a car to Mullingar, and, while waiting
for the horse saw Dr. Sadleir pass on a stage coach and had a
moment's chat with him. At Mullingar I procured another car
•which brought me at about half-past five to Edgeworthstown, after

458 Life of Sir William Rowan Haviilton. [1831.

the enjoyment of many hours in the open air, to which I added a
walk before dinner with Francis ; I found Miss Edgeworth here,
and her sister Mrs. Wilson, whose arrival has induced her to post-
pone her own departure. However, my sisters and I think of going
ourselves, on Wednesday ; if by any chance we should stay more
than a day longer, I will write to tell you so : but it is not lilcely
that we shall. So little do I expect it, that, thinking tliis letter
cannot reach you till Tuesday, I will not ask you to write to
Edgeworthstown after receiving it ; though if I were staying
longer here, I would make that request, for I wish much to know
what you have been doing since we left you, and whether Lady
Dunraven has been able (as she intended) to take the Coleridges to
Curragh, and whether you have any other news respecting the De
Veres. Perhaps you will write to me about all this, and direct
your letter to the Observatory. With respect to Sir James South,
they think here that he is always too sanguine about the speedy
execution of his projects, and that the erection of the Equatorial
may not take place for a good while yet. Of course while we are
in London we shall set aside some time for a visit to Herschel, who
is indeed my second object, as Coleridge is my first; and Miss
Edgeworth has made me promise to write to her from Slough — so
that I must at least begin a letter there. With Francis Edgeworth
I have had much metaphysical and poetical conversation, in walks
chiefly, for we are unwilling to bore or (as she calls it) to moider
Miss Edgeworth. Miss Beavifort is gone, which I regret. Miss
Edgeworth tells me that Herschel was pleased with a letter of
yours which he received about last Christmas, or at some other
time not long befoi-e she saw him. She regretted that you did not
accompany me to Edgeworthstown, but could easily conceive your
preferring to remain at home, and hopes you may be able to come
here at some future time. My sisters have enjoyed themselves
very much, and between them and the Miss E.'s an attachment
appears to have arisen.'

From the Same to the Same.

' Obseevatoey, Fridinj, Sejite^nber 23, 1831.

My dear Lord Adare — (You see at the very outset of my letter
the effect of old habits and of recent instructions) — I reached the

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 459

Observatory yesterday with Eliza and Sydney, and found, to my
great satisfaction, your letter arrived before me. I did indeed
envy your visit to Curragli, and did wish that it had been possible
to act on your generous imagination of exchange ; for such an oppor-
tunity of seeing and conversing with Miss De Vere would have been
very gratifying to me ! though perhaps if I had gone, I might have
only metaphysicised with Aubrey, or talked commonplace with
somebody else, so I must console myself as well I can. You will
say perhaps that I am an odd, inconsistent mortal (though I
persuade myself that I have method in my madness, and that I
have a theory which reconciles the apparently opposite phenomena)
when I tell you that whereas Professor Airy's visit had given me
as much dislike to Science as it was possible in my nature to enter-
tain, my interviews with Miss De Vere on the contrary have restored
the tone of my mind, and I now am fond, again, of even astronomy,
as fond at least as I have been for some years past, or as I can
expect ever to be. The dislike to Science which followed the visit
of Airy, temporary indeed, and felt at the moment to be only tem-
porary, arose from no dislike to him, but only from the repulsion of
my character to his, produced by his utter unimaginativeness. My
present return of respect and regard for astronomy — since the
mathematical spirit was too strong and habitual in me to be sub-
dued for more than a moment, arises certainly from no repulsive
tendency in the imaginative character of Miss De Yere, even if
imagination should be considered too powerful in her for the
perfect balance of her faculties ; but from finding that in astro-
nomy too, I can sympathise with a mind like hers, and thus throw
around the austere nakedness of the science the robe of a human
interest : more needed and more prized perhaps, because, though to
me astronomy had come to be chiefly an exercise of intellect, and
as such seemed superfluous, being so amply replaced by the reason-
ings of pure mathematics, yet to her, who is not a mathematician,
the reasonings of astronomy may be a useful mental discipline,
such as even the exercise of taste and discrimination in poetry
might not be able to supply. And though I have been speaking
of astronomy as if it were merely a science, yet I am well aware
that it is more, that it combines, in its perfection, feeling with
thought, and pervades not the mind merely, but the soul of
man.

460 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

' I have heard from Dr. B.obinson, who says that Sir James
South has promised him ample notice — I fear that this will not be
consolatory to you, unless the notice be very ample indeed. The
Provost,* I hear, is in England with his family, and is not expected
back till November : you are not likely, I suppose, to enter till he
comes. Meanwhile we must attack the Logic vigorously. I hear
a report that your friend Dr. Whately is to be our new Arch-
bishop of Dublin. Ivory has written me a long letter,! interesting
enough, on the subject of his late investigations respecting Attrac-
tions and Figures of Homogeneous Fluid Planets. I am meditat-
ing a Third Supplement on a new — about the twentieth — plan.
The old materials will be useful for other purposes. I wish
I knew whether there is anything that I or we could do to
assist Miss De Yere in accomplishing what seems to be at present
her desire of studying astronomy; but I fear you are not likely
to learn this before you return to the Observatory. Mind that
though I talk and think so much about her, I consider myself to
be quite heart-whole.'

The following extracts and memoranda were written out by
Hamilton at Adare, or soon after his return to Dublin. The
majority of them plainly refer to the lady in whose mind and
character he had become so deeply interested.

The family of the De Veres, to which this lady belonged,
had for several generations resided at Curragh Chase, a country
seat and demesne of wildly picturesque beauty, not far from Adare.
Her father was the second baronet of a line descended, through a
grand-daughter, from the nineteenth Earl of Oxford : her mother
was sister of Mr. Spring Rice, afterwards Lord Monteagle of
Brandon. Both her parents were highly cultivated in intellect
and taste. Of Sir Aubrey De Vere more than this is to be said.
He was a poet, as is now becoming recognised, of no ordinary
merit. His sonnets received, for their elevation of thought and

* Bartholomew Lloyd, D.D., Dr. Kyle having in the spring of this year been

promoted to the See of Cork.

t This letter is among the Hamilton Correspondence unpublished.

AEiAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 461

vigorous, unaffected expression, the rarely bestowed praise of
Wordsworth ; and the historical play of " Mary Tudor " proves
how well he was qualified for work of larger scope and more
varied material. The characters are forcibly drawn and discri-
minated, and power both in thought and feeling animates it
throughout, entitling it to maintain its place beside the more
recent " Queen Mary " of Tennyson, in which it may be, indeed,
that the figures stand out in bolder relief, but which falls short
of Sir Aubrey's work in largeness of historical survey and in the
considerate blending in its personages of the various elements of
human nature. The third son of Sir A. De Vere bears his father's
name, and has derived from him a heritage of genius which causes
that beautiful and historical name to continue to shine in the
poetical hemisphere with well-sustained lustre. It may be said
of him that he has been excelled by no poet of his time in pure
and high thought (like his father's, of deeply religious tone), in
the portrayal of noble ideals, and in exquisite expression. This
son was, at the time we have reached, a youth of seventeen. Lord
Adare writes of him to Hamilton as " very clever and metaphysi-
cal," tells of being engaged in interesting conversation with him
uninterruptedly from ten in the evening till one, and adds to these
mental traits that " he certainly has a most beautiful, fine open
countenance." There were other members of the family with
whom Hamilton became acquainted, an elder brother, Stephen,*
who also had manifested poetical talent, being one ; but it was
with the younger Aubrey, his parents, and his sister that Hamil-
ton formed in the year 1831 a link of intercourse, intellectual and
imaginative, which deeply penetrated his being, and influenced
his inner life.

[Extract from The Vampyre7\

'Adare, September, 1831.

" Miss Aubrey had not that winning grace which gains the
gaze and applause of the drawing-room assemblies. There was

* The present Baronet.

462 Life of Sir Williajii Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

none of that light brilliancy which only exists in the heated
atmosphere of a crowded apartment. Her blue eye was never lit
np by the levity of the mind beneath. There was a melancholy
charm about it, which did not seem to arise from misfortune, but
from some feeling within, that appeared to indicate a soul conscious
of a brighter realm. Her step was not that light footing which
strays where'er a butterfly or a colour may attract — it was sedate and
jDcnsive. When alone, her face was never brightened by the smile
of joy: but when her brother breathed to her his affection and
would in her presence forget those griefs she knew destroyed his
rest, who would have exchanged her smile for that of the volup-
tuary ? It seemed as if those eyes, that face, were then playing
in the light of their own native sphere."

From The VaUeij of La Roche, in the ^ Diihlin Literary Gazette^ of

May 29, 1830.

" She possessed a vivacity of disposition and a childlike pleasant-
ness of manner, which took from the awe with which one generally
approaches learned ladies. In her countenance, corresponding to
such a mind, one could trace sense without gloom or affectation,
and gaiety of heart without weakness of understanding : she loved
poetry, not for talk's sake, but for its own : nor did she regard
Milton, Shakspeare, and Wordsworth, merely as the fashionable
taskmasters of the day, whose writings are only iiseful in supply-
ing topics for ball-room tittle-tattle, when all native resources are
exhausted, but flew to them as the haven where the mind may
calm itself when the storms and vexations of life gather round
it."

Memoirs of Mary Balfour, afterwards Brunton, author of
' Discipline.^ By her husband Alexander Brunton.

'Adaee, Sejdemher, 1831.

" She repeatedly began, but as often relinquished, the study of
mathematics. Where the address to the intellect was direct and
pure, she was interested and successful. But a single demonstra-
tion by means of the reductio ad absurdum, or of applying one
figure to another in order to show their identity, never failed to
estrange her for a long time from the subject."

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 463

' What is the meauing of this statement of Mr. Brunton ? I
ask it not contemptuously. Is it a fault, or a merit, of my own
mind, that I have not the same dislike to tliese two modes of
•demonstration ? Is it that I feel less, or that I think more ? '

Memoirs of Victor Alfieri, written hy himself.

'Adare, Se2)temher, 1831.

" My relative Count Benedict was passionately attached to
architecture. This passion led him even to speak to me, who
was then a mere child, with the greatest enthusiasm, of the
divine Michael Angelo Buonarotti, whose name he never pro-
nounced without bowing his head or taking off his hat, with
a respect and devotion which can never be effaced from my
memory."

'Alfieri tells of himself (vol. I. page 81, London, 1810) the
story of throwing up into the air the peruke that had been the
object of ridicule at school. Miss Edge worth tells this story of
a school-boy, but I do not remember her naming Alfieri.'

Memorandum.

' Obsertatokt, October 1, 1831.
Friday morning.

' I wish I could remember some of my late conversations with
my pupil, or at least the heads of those conversations.

' Last night we talked for a long time respecting Wisdom. We
agreed that Wisdom, in propriety of language, means more than
knowledge or science ; and more, not by being made up of two
parts, of which one is knowledge and the other something else, but
by being different though connected, and by Wisdom bearing to
knowledge the relation, nearly, which the soul does to the body.
Wisdom is the informing spirit, which vitalises and humanises
knowledge. The mere pursuit of knowledge, when it quite
engrosses a man, renders the state of that man's mind like the
state of mind of a miser. The one avarice, indeed, is nobler
than the other, by having a nobler end, and nobler associa-
tions; but, abstracting from all accessory circumstances, the

464 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

avarice of knowledge is like, in kind, to the avarice of gold.
There is, in man, a principle of curiosity, which leads him to
desire knowledge, and to rejoice in the attainment thereof, with-
out expecting any other benefit than the gratification of his
curiosity; but the man degenerates into a miser when he suffers
himself to be actuated by this one principle to the exclusion of
every other. It is Wisdom which must prevent this exclusive
dominion of a single faculty, and harmonise all our principles
of action, transmuting all into itself.'

The two papers which follow are proof of the deep thought
with which Hamilton considered the problems of religious philo-
sophy. To neither of them is a date attached : but a long abstract
exists, in his handwriting, of an article on Channing's Works which
appeared in the October number of this year of the British Critic :
the article refers among other doctrines to that of the Incarnation ;
it is therefore not unnatural to suppose that it was about this time
that Hamilton wrote to Miss Lawrence the remarkable letter on
this subject which I print from a copy corrected by himself.

Metnorandum.

* I am disposed to believe :

* That there is some contradiction (though to us unknown)
between the free-agency of a moral universe and the entire absence
of sin.

Or rather :

'That for some reason, to us unknown, God could not have
prevented the existence of sin throughout a whole free universe.

' Because

* The difficulties of this belief seem to me less than the diffi-
culty of reconciling, on the contrary supposition, the existence and
eternal punishment [of sin] with the benevolence and justice of
God.'

Extract from a letter to a lady {Miss Lawrence) on Dr. Channing^s

Theology.

* You know that in our many conversations, remembered by
me with great pleasure, I always studiously avoided the usually

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 465

unprofitable topic of religious controversy, and you will not think
that I now wish to introduce it, but will consider me as only
anxious to guard against the possibility of being mistaken, if I
shortly express my opinion of Dr. Channing's theology. You
know that I have read with great delight and admiration many
of the non-controversial works of Dr. C, and that I consider him
as a good man and an eloquent writer. But in his anti-trinitarian
speculations — the term of courtesy " Unitarian " I cannot use as a
distinctive epithet, since it would imply that the members of ^ the
Church of England did not pray on the festival by which they intend
to express their belief of the Trinity, to be enabled " in the power
of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity" — in these Dr. C.
appears to me to have ventured beyond the region, I will not say
o f all philosophy, but of his own philosophical attainments. Others,
who have searched far more than he has done into the heights and
depths of thought, have been compelled to acknowledge mysteries
of reason which prepare for and harmonise with the mysteries
ascribed to religion by the great body of the Christian Church :
they have felt that the Incarnation and Passion are not incredible
to those who believe and meditate on the earlier mystery of Crea-
tion ; that the difficulties which beset the one are the same in
kind as the difficulties which beset the other ; that in the reo-ion
of philosophical thought an acting is a suiiering God, and that
whatever inclines a commencing inquirer to reject as absurd the
belief in a " Lamb slain before the foundations of the world," the
same principle, if pursued into its philosophical consequences,
would lead to rejecting the belief of any personal Grod at all. Far
be it from me to insinuate that the principle is so pursued in the
many amiable and honest minds in which it partially operates
and which it leads to the fond imagination of the possibility of an
unmysterious religion ! God forbid that I should confound an
anti-trinitarian with an atheist ! I speak only of the ultimate
tendency of the anti-mysterious principle, and not of the actual
working of this principle as obstructed by the happy inconsistency
of men, and checked by the countless impulses of love and adora-
tion. I speak only of the logical connexion between Dr. Chan-
ning's arguments against a Triune God and the arguments which
Dr. C. has never met, and which it has not entered into his ami-
able mind to imagine, against a God at all. But monstrous as it

2 H

466 Life of Sir William Roivaii Haniilton. [1S31.

would be to judge of a man by what I consider to be tlie ultimate
tendency and logical effect of his principles, how else in science
and philosophy can one judge of the principles themselves ? Is it
not fair to apply here the mathematical redudio ad absurdnm, and
to reject a supposition, however plausible it may seem at first, if
its consequences are found to be untenable ? And, without pre-
suming to form an estimate of my own literary attainments in
general, as compared with Dr. C, I feel myself bound by the
solemnity of the occasion to state honestly and plainly that, in the
region of abstract thought and philosophical and metaphysical
meditation, I account myself better qualified to investigate the
logical consequences of a principle, and better informed respecting
the arguments of religious and sceptical inquirers than I consider
him to be ; and with my own philosophical convictions I feel that
I must choose (though he may not) between atheism on the one
hand, and on the other the rejection of what I admit to be natural
prejudices against the possibility of a manifestation of God in the
flesh. But whether this philosophical possibility has been realised ;
and if so, when, and where, and with what result to us, these ques-
tions pliilosop/i// cannot answer, and I need not tell you the Record
in which I believe the answer to be contained. Do not think that
I want to draw you into any argument, in which indeed it is un-
likely we should have time to engage, although I thought it right
to say this much, lest my studious silence on the subject might be
misconstrued.'

To his friend Miss Edgeworth he thus reports of himself after
his visit to Adare : —

From W. R. Hamilton to Maria Edgeworth.

' Obsertatoey, October 25, 1831.

' The verses on the first half of this sheet* you are to consider
as presented to you, not by me, but by Lady Dunraven, who, as
the mother of the infant, was naturally pleased with them and
wished me to give a copy of them to you, as a mark of the gratifi-
cation which she received from your expressing a desire that her

Lines to the Infant Wyndliam Quin. Supra p. 454.

AETAT. 2().] Early Years ai the Observatory. 467

elder son, mj pupil, could have accompanied me on my recent
visit to Edgeworthstown. For my part, after all our late conver-
sations, I should be almost afraid to send you the verses in my
own name, lest you should think tliat I intended to desert my old
friend mathematics, and live entirely with poetry and metaphysics ;
whereas, notwithstanding my respect and regard for these, I have
filled many sheets, since I saw you, with .rs and ys, pluses
and minuses, and all strange characters of that kind. If I go to
London soon, as I still think of doing, I shall not forget your
advice of silence, and the story of St. Cecilia's Day. I forgot to
ask you, during our conversations on theory and practice at Edge-
worthstown, whether you still retained a theory Avhich I heard you
had adopted in the winter, namely, that I was going to be married,
perhaps for Francis's reason, employed by him in support of the
same theory, on the day when he came to the Observatory after
his late return from Italy, namely, that (in his opinion) there was
nothing to hinder me. Have you any wish to see a York paper
giving an account of the late scientific meeting at York ? if so, I
shall send one. I have been invited to become a member of the
Sub-Committee of the British Association which so met, and of
the Local Committee that is to be formed in Dublin ; and I have
thought it right to accept the invitation, though without mucli
hope that I shall be useful. I send a copy of the letter respecting
the death of Dr. WoUaston, and with best regards, in which my
sisters join, I am,' &c.

Illness prevented Miss Edge worth from acknowledging imme-
diately the foregoing letter ; her reply a month later contains some
points of interest.

[from a copy.]

From Maria Edoeworth to W. R. Hamilton.

' Edgkwoethstown, November 24, 1831.

' You would much sooner have received my thanks for your
kind letter, and so would your sister for the copy of that interest-
ing letter about Wollaston, but that I have been very ill and quite
unable to write. For ten days I was confined to my bed, and

2 H 2

468 Life of Sir William Rinvan ILnnilton. [issi.

tasted no food but barley-water and lemonade. The worst part of
it was that I was not allowed to think of anything, particularly of
anything interesting. Your verses and the account of Wollaston's
death were not read to me for many days after they arrived, and
there was I, tantalized with the knowledge that I possessed a
treasure within my reach, at least within my view, Ij'ing on the
table in my room, but that I must not touch it. When left alone
once, I was soon tempted to steal out of bed and help myself to
the forbidden. But I resisted and was rewarded in due time. The
verses (though I am not the mother of the child, who as you say
naturally likes them,) I like extremely ; they are really beautiful.

' I am glad to see it proved that the severe sciences do not
destroy the energy and grace of the imagination, but only chasten
and impart their philosophical influence. A-'propos, I have spent
four delightful days with that poet, philosopher and amiable friend,'
Dr. Robinson, and the only feeling not pleasurable I had while I
was at the Observatory at Armagh was that fear of forgetting
what I so much wished to remember of his conversation, so full of
various information, so instinct with life of soul and philosophic
genius.*

'Have you seen any number of The Tatler ? No. 36 and others
contain some specimens of a young tragedian's talent which might
interest you. The paper is published by Leigh Hunt. Probably
I am telling news a hundred years old to you.

' I must now stop, for the eyes of my guardian nurses are fixed
upon me, and I must lay down my pen and lie down myself.

* Compare Memoir of 3Iaria Edgeworth, vol. iii. p. 65 :

From Maria EDGEWoiiTn to Mrs. Edgewokth.

' RosTREVOR, October 2, 1831.

< , . . Dr. and Mrs. Robinson came in the evening : his conversation is ad-
mirable : such an affluence of ideas, so full of genius and master-thoughts.
He gave me an excellent disquisition on the effect which transcendental ma-
thematics produces on the mind, and traced up the history of mathematics
from Euclid, appealing to diagrams and resting on imag£s, to that higher sort
where they are put out of the question, where we reason by symbols as in
algebra, and work on in the dark till they get to the light, or till the light
comes out of the dark — sure that it will come out. He went over Newton, and
on through the history of modern times — Brinkley, Lagrange, Hamilton — just
giving to me, ignorant, a notion of what each had done. . . . '

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at t lie Observatory. 469

' Giving best tliauks to yourself for the copy of Dr. R. J.
Graves' letter, which I thought was your sister's handwriting, but
now that I am allowed to have it in my own hand, I see is your
own. How very good of you. Believe me,' &c.

Hamilton resumes his correspondence with Wordsworth in a
letter which adds some interesting particulars to those conveyed
to his sisters from Adare. In Wordsworth's reply the reader
may be amused to find the calm recluse of Rydal more capable
than was Hamilton himself at this time of sounding the depth
of the feeling which Miss De Vere had inspired : from that reply
I have found it impossible to disconnect the letter to Eliza
Hamilton from Dora Wordsworth which accompanied it. Not
many letters of the poet's daughter have reached the public,
and this may without objection appear in print. Telling of
the adventures of her father and herself in their short tour in
Scotland, and thus bringing to mind the earlier tour over Scottish
ground in which the poet's sister was his companion diarist, it
proves that Dora, the daughter, was no unworthy successor of
Dorothy, the sister, either as helpful fellow-traveller, or as able
with bright touches of the pen to record the incidents of the
way : and it contributes a few picturesque details to be added
to our mental portrait of her father.

Ft'om W. R. Hamilton to W. Wordsworth.

* Ojbseevatory, October 14, 1831.
' Friday Night.

' I seem to have so much to say to you that I must either
forget the half of it, or cross this sheet till it shall defy all human
patience. In truth, my mind has been in great excitement, of
many pleasant kinds, since I hurriedly concluded a letter at the
end of August, in which my sister also wrote. I was then leav-
ing home, on visits to Adare and Edgeworthstown : but I had
resolved, as I mentioned in my letter, that I would instantly
return to the Observatory, if you gave me any hope of your
revisiting Dublin during this (must I call it?) past summer. In

470 Life of Sir Will iaiii Roiva 11 Hamilton. [1831.

going to Adare, I chose the Shannon and Lough Derg as my
way, and was not disappointed in my hopes of beautiful scenery.
At Adare I made a delightful visit of about a fortnight to the
family of my pupil, and would perhaps have staid longer if I had
not heard from my sisters Eliza and Sydney, who were on a visit
at Edgeworthstown, that Miss Edgeworth intended soon to leave
home, and had deferred the doing so in hopes of seeing me.
Before I left Adare I renewed my acquaintance with Miss De
Yere, a young lady whom I had met two years ago in the neigh-
bourhood of the Observatory, at the house of Mr. Ellis. Miss De
Yere was a most intimate friend of Miss Ellis, the lady on whose
(jleath I wrote the verses entitled Easter Morning, and I think she
dined at Abbotstown (Mr. Ellis's place) the day that you did; but
this I am not sure of. Be that as it may, she is an enthusiastic
admirer of you ; and this circumstance, combined with her deep
affection for my departed friend, made me regard her as some-
thing more than a common acquaintance, when after an interval
of two years I met her lately at Adare. I saw her there, and at
the neighbouring seat of her father (Sir Aubrey De Yere), only
for two or three days indeed, but in those days we had long and
interesting conversations upon poetry, and I admired her mind
very much. But I should tire you, or any other friend, however
partial, if I were to allow myself to talk upon this subject :
although on the best analysis that I can make of my own feel-
ings, I think them quite platonio at present, and have no ex-
pectation of soon again endangering my philosophic calm. A
few evenings ago, as an interlude or episode to a lecture on
Logic with my pupil, I drew him a picture, which amused us
both very much, of the old bachelor state in which he would find
my study aud myself, if he came some twenty years hence to pay
me a visit, with a troop of children in his carriage, for some of
whom I was to have comfits and for others ponies, while to one I
would carry my indulgence so far as to let it even disturb my
gouty footstool. In the meantime I keep off the gout by keep-
ing the ponies to myself. I have lately got a mare whose coun-
tenance and character I like. I call it Planet, to distinguish it
from a far more eccentric creature. Comet, whom I have degra-
ded from the saddle to the car ; in revenge for which Comet broke
the shafts the other day. This morning Planet aud I turned some

AKTAT. 2().] Early Years a( the Observatory. 471

neighbouriug fields into au Ecliptic, and swept over enormous or-
bits, to the great amusement of some bystanders, who saw that
notwithstanding the glee of horse and man and our good-humour
with each other, I was far from being a skilful rider, and was
every now and then losing my stirrups in the race, although I was
fortunate enough to keep my seat. At Adare I went through
sundry frolics, such as jumping from a little boat with my clothes
on, and swimming in the deep part of the river, in envy of one of
my companions who had by accident enjoyed a similar plunge
some minutes before, though in a part so shallow that I had no
opportunity of romanticising with a good grace by plunging in to
save him. Before I left Adare, I wrote a few lines which I have
copied in this letter, some to the infant brother of my pupil, and
some to the lady of whom I have already spoken. I see it is near
morning, and I had better release you and rest myself. I hope we
thanked your sister for her addition to your last letter. With best
regards to her and to all your family, in which I know my sisters
join, I remain,' &c.

From DoKA Wordsworth to Eliza M. Hamilton.

' Rydat. Mount, October 26, 1831.
' My Dear Miss Hamilton,

' A frank to the Observatory furnishes me with a good
excuse for recalling Rydal to your mind, and troubling you with
a report of its several inmates, who talk much and often of you,
and would be sorry to be forgotten by you. Father and I were
among the Highlands when your brother's last letter arrived — a
late season for touring, you may think — and so it was, but the
additional beauty given to the colouring of the woods by Octo-
ber's workmanship, and to the mountains by her mists and
vapours and rainbows, reflected again and again both in the
waters and on the clouds, more than compensated for shortened
days and broken weather. Father has called Scotland the " Land
of Bainbows." I who had never been in Scotland was more de-
lighted than words can tell ; but may-be I am not an unpreju-
diced judge. I could not look at Inversneyd, " The lake, the bay,
the waterfall," nor at that " Wild Relique ! beauteous as the
chosen spot In Nysa's isle, the embellished Grot," &c., with com-
mon eyes. Almost every spot of peculiar interest was interesting
to me for my father's sake, more so even than for its own. And

47- Life of Sir William Roivan Harnilton. [1831.

Yarrow too, and "Newark's towers; " and here I was introduced
not only by my father but by Sir Walter Scott, so one cannot
imagine a place seen under happier circumstances. Our main
object in leaving home was a visit to Abbotsford which had long
been promised ; and Sir Walter's state of health, and his great wish
to see my father, determined him to undertake the journey, late in
the year as it was, and bad as were his eyes, which were then
suffering from active inflammation of the lids. Then, when so
near Edinburgh, it was a pity to return without a peep at that
fine city ; and then, finding travelling agreed with his eyes, we
crept on into the Highlands and as far as Mull. Staffa was the
height of my travelling ambition, but that we could not accom-
plish ; the steam-boat had ceased to ply, and it was much too late
to trust our precious selves to an open boat. We travelled in a low
(open) four-wheeled carriage with our own horse ; I was charioteer,
and on entering Carlisle the little urchins ran after us exclaiming,
" see ye, there's a man wi' a veil, and a lass driving," — and odd
enough they thought us I dare say, — both forced upon us by his
poor eyes; but we cared not for the folks, and we wore the veil in
the modem Athens even ; soon after, it was cast off, and that was
a happy day; the eyes were well, comparatively speaking. Father,
who is writing, will probably speak of Sir Walter's health, so I
will only add a sonnet which was written a day or two after we
left Abbotsford, which was only the day before Sir Walter was to
quit it for Italy and for his health's sake.

' A trouble not of clouds, or weeping rain,
Nor of the setting sun's pathetic light
Engender'd, hangs o'er Eildon's triple height ;
Spirits of power, assembled there, complain
For kindred power departing from their sight ;
While Tweed, best pleased in chanting a blithe strain,
Saddens his voice again and yet again.
Lift up your hearts, ye mourners, for the might
Of the whole world's good wishes with him goes;
Blessings and prayers, in nobler retinue
Than sceptred king or laurelled conqiieror knows,
Follow this wondrous Potentate ! Be true.
Ye winds of ocean, and the midland sea.
Wafting your charge to soft Parthenope !

But I began by saying I would give you an account of Rydal
folks, and here I am at the foot of the third page, and not one word

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 473

concerning the place or the people. All are well, father, mother
and aunts, the first mentioned still prophesying ruin and desola-
tion to this hitherto flourishing spot of earth. The evil which he
foresees from this dreadful Eeform Bill quite weighs his spirit
down. Our tour was a happy event, for it gave fresh impulse to
his muse, and he has been able to drown his political thoughts and
feelings for a time in his poetical ones. We did not see a news-
paper for five weeks, and only heard by accident of the Bill being
kicked out — were we not to be envied ? but I have got to ice and
Scotland again.

* . . . We have at present with us a very dear and old friend
of my father's, Mr. Jones, his travelling companion in the pedes-
trian tour over the Alps. He lives in Wales, of which country, as
his name tells, he is a native. Wales calls to my mind Mrs. Hemaus,
who, I understand, is now in Dublin ; if you see her pray remem-
ber us very kindly. Father has long been talking of writing to
her ; a friend of hers, Mr. Hamilton (Cyril Thornton, &c.) has
taken the Ivy Cottage, from when or for when I cannot tell

* Mr. Southey and his family are well ; he has been again from
home, introducing his eldest daughter Edith to the father and
mother of the gentleman to whom she is engaged. She is now
with them. I hope when you have a little leisure you will treat
me again with one of your interesting letters : I know it is not fair
in me to ask for them, as I can in no way repay your kindness, but
the length of my stupid letter will sufficiently prove that the inll
is not wanting ; and if you would send us any verses which you
may have written, and which may be seen by vulgar eyes, you
would more than double the obligation. All unite with me in
kindest remembrances, and believe me always very sincerely your
faithful and affectionate friend, Dora Wordsw^orth.

' Neptune would send his respects if he could speak.'

From W. Wordsworth to W. R. Hamilton.

' Rydal Mount, October 27, 1831.

' A day oe two before my return from Scotland arrived your
letter and verses, for both of which I thank you — as they exhibit
your mind under those varied phases which I have great pleasure
in contemplating. My reply is earlier than it would have been.

474 Life of Sir William Rowan HaiJiiitoii. [1831.

but for the opportunity of a frank from one of the Members for the
University of Oxford — a friend of Mr. Southey's and mine* ; who
by way of recreating himself after the fatigues of the last session,
had taken a trip to see the Manchester railway, and kindly and
most unexpectedly came on to give a day a-piece to Southey
and me. He is, like myself, in poor heart at the aspect of public
affairs. In his opinion the ministers, when they brought in the Bill,
neither expected nor wished it to be carried ; all they wanted was
an opportunity of saying to the people, " behold what great things
we would have done for you, had it been in our power ; we must
now content ourselves with the best we can get." But to return
to your letter — to speak frankly, you appear to be at least three-
fourths gone in love ; therefore, think about the last quarter in the
journey. The picture you give of the lady makes one wish to see
her more familiarly than I had an opportunity of doing, were it
only to ascertain whether, as you astronomers have in your Obser-
vatories magnifying glasses for the stars, you do not carry about
with you also, when you descend to common life, coloured glasses
and Claude Lorraine mirrors for throwing upon objects, that
interest you enough for the purpose, such lights and hues as may
be most to the taste of the intellectual vision. In a former letter
you mention Francis Edgeworth ; he is a person not to be forgot-
ten ; if you be in communication with him, pray present him my
very kind respects, and say that he was not unfrequently in my
thoughts during my late poetic rambles ; and particularly when I
saw the objects which called forth a sonnet that I shall send you.
He was struck with my mention of a sound in the eagle's notes
much and frequently resembling the yelping and barking of a dog,
and quoted a passage in Aeschylus where the eagle is called the
flying hound of the air ; and he suggested that Aeschylus might
not only allude by that term to his being a bird of chase or prey,
but also to this barking voice, which I do not recollect ever hearing
noticed. The other day I was forcibly reminded of the circum-
stances under which the pair of eagles were seen that I described
in the letter to Mr. Edgeworth, his brother. It was [from ?] the
promontory of Fair-head on the coast of Antrim, and no spectacle
could be grander. At Dunolly Castle, a ruin seated at the tip of

* :>ir R. H. Inglis.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 475

one of the horns of the bay of Oban, I saw, the other day, one of
these noble creatures cooped up among the ruins, and was incited
to give vent to my feelings as you shall now see : —

' Dishonoured rock and ruin ! that, by law
Tyrannic, keep the Bird of Jove embarred
Like a lone criminal whose life is spared.
Vexed is he and screams loud. The last I saw
Was on the wins", and striick my soul with awe,
Now wheeling low, then with a consort paired,
From a bold headland their loved aery's guard, •

Flying above Atlantic waves, to draw
Light from the fountain of the setting sun.
yueh was this Prisoner once ; and, when his plumes
The sea blast ruffles as the storm conies on,
In spirit, for a moment, he resumes
His rank 'mong free-born creatures that live free,
His power, his beauty, and his majesty.*

' You will naturally wish to hear something of Sir Walter
Scott, and particularly of his health. I found him a good deal
changed within the last three or four years, in consequence of
some shocks of the apoplectic kind, but his friends say that he is
very much better ; and the last accounts, up to the time of his
going on board, were still more favourable. He himself thinks
his age much against him, but he has only completed his 60th
year — and a friend of mine was here the other day who has
rallied, and is himself again, after a much severer shock, and
at an age several years more advanced. So that I trust the
world and his friends may be hopeful with good reason, that
the life and faculties of this man, who has during the last six-
and-twenty years diifused more innocent pleasure than ever fell
to the lot of any human being to do in his own lifetime, may be
spared. Voltaire, no doubt, was full as extensively known ; and
filled a larger space, probably, in the eye of Europe — for he was
a great theatrical writer, which Scott has not proved himself to be,
and miscellaneous to that degree that there was something for all
classes of readers — but the pleasure afforded by his writings, witli
the exception of some of his tragedies and minor poems, was not

* Some changes, not all of them, I think, improvements, were afterwards
made in this tine sonnet.

476 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1831.

pure, and in this Scott is greatly his superior. As Dora has told
your sister, Sir W. was our guide to Yarrow ; the pleasure of that
day induced me to add a third to the two poems upon Yarrow —
Yarrow Revisited- — it is in the same measure and as much in the
same spirit as matter of fact would allow. You are artist enough
to know that it is next to impossible entirely to harmonize things
that rest upon their poetic credibility, and are idealized by distance
of time and space, with those that rest upon the evidence of the
hour and have about them the thorny points of actual life.

* I am interrupted by strangers, and a gleam of fine weather
reminds me also of taking advantage of it the moment I am at
liberty, for we have had nearly a week of incessant rain.'

From W. R. Hamilton to William Wordsworth.

'OssERVATORr, October 29, 1831.

' I come before you now in a new character, that of a trans-
lator: The Dignity of Women is a poem by Schiller, which is
a favourite of mine ; and the attempts which within the last few
days I have made to translate it, and a Grerman sonnet on Death,
by Augustus von Platen, have been chiefly intended to gratify the
friend to whom were addressed some recent verses of my own. It
is likely that in these attempts at translation I may have fallen
into faults of diction and versification even greater than in my
original compositions ; you know that if you think such faults
worth particularising, I shall receive your criticisms with atten-
tion ; and perhaps I could more profitably, because more calmly,
consider them, in a case of the present kind, than when the criti-
cised verses are records of feelings of my own, and so, by their
associations, disturb the serenity of reason. Your sonnets to the
Imprisoned Eagle, and to Sir Walter Scott, of which the one
arrived in your letter to me to-day, and of which Eliza allowed
me to see the other in Miss Wordsworth's letter to her, have given
me and my sisters great pleasure : and we shall look forward witL
much interest to some public or private opportunity of reading the
Yarroxo Reviaited. A few minutes ago, while I was at tea, my
sister Sydney (younger than Eliza) rushed into the room and ex-
claimed to me, " Here's Wordsworth himself ! " — on which I started
up, and in my surprise and delight and momentary belief of your

AETAT. 20.] Early Years at the Observatory. 477

literal and bodily arrival, could only utter about half of the first
sjdlable of your name, and stood for an instant rapt, till recalled
by my sister's laughter and triumph at having rivalled the effect
produced on me on a former occasion, which I shall presently
mention. The ground of her exclamation was the return of a
copy of the last edition of your poems, which had been lent to one
friend and which I wished to lend to another (we have two copies,
but whenever a new edition comes out, I will most gladly accept
the copy which you have so kindly promised). The anecdote of
my former mistake, which this late one rivalled, is as follows : I
had just set out to walk, on a day in last month, with a friend, of
an enthusiastic character, who has great feeling and taste in poetry,
and with whom I had been talking of Coleridge himself, as well as
of his works, and of one poem in particular : and this friend said,
as we began to walk, " I wish we had Coleridge with us " ; and (on
my cordially assenting to the wish, which I interpreted literally)
added "I will bring him ! " and suddenly turned and left me ; while
I, who had been a little rapt from the earth already by the con-
tagion of my friend's enthusiasm, was wholly seized for an instant
by sudden awe and wonder, expecting to behold the spirit or at
least the Eidolon of the bard — for a volume of whose works the com-
panion of my walk had gone. What made me the more susceptible
of this impression of momentary belief was, my having received
that morning an invitation to be present at an astronomical
ceremony in London, at that time expected to be soon per-
formed, and my feeling that, notwithstanding the number of
points of scientific and other interest connected with that great
metropolis, my highest hope and inducement in visiting it was
the prospect, or at least the chance, of seeing and listening to Cole-
ridge. From something which I have heard to-day, I have reason
to think that the astronomical ceremony (the placing on its sup-
ports, by the Duke of Wellington, of a great Equatorial in the
Observatory of Str James South, at Kensington) will take place
about the end of next month (November), and I still intend to be
present, and still feel it as my chief inducement that by then visit-
ing London I may have an opportunity of visiting Coleridge. I
am aware indeed that illness may prevent his seeing me, and know
that I have no other claim to the privilege and pleasure of an in-
terview than what he may concede to my deep love and reverence.

478 Life of Sir IVilliaiii Rowan HaDiillon. [1831.

and I may add, gratitude, for the aid which by his works he has
given me, in developing and strengthening the most important parts
of my being. Perhaps, nay certainly, my chance would be greater
than it is, if he knew of the intimacy with which you have favoured
me. At the very moment when I am thus feeling in a new way
the value of that intimacy, I must make a confession which will not
indeed endanger its existence, but will show that (unfortunately for
me) it does not at present extend to an entire agreement of opinion.
The confession is that I am a Reformer, though not from any con-
fidence in the present ministry of England, and though I have not
by any public act expressed my leaning — opinion I can hardly call
it, formed, as it has been, after so slight an attention to politics,
and avowed, as it now is to you who have made politics so much
your study : — avowed, not as if it were worthy of the slightest con-
sideration from you, but merely lest after the frequent allusions in
your letters to the subject, respectful silence on my part might seem,
to myself at least, like insincere assent. I have got Kant's Kritik
der Reinen Venuinff ; — was it at Rydal Mount that I subscribed to
an excellent German Manual in two volumes, by Klattowsky, and
if so, did I pay the money then ? do I owe it to you, or to whom ?
With best regards to all your family, in which my sisters join, I
remain, &c.

' October 31.

' P.S. — This is the witching eve, which precedes All Saints Day,
and I have been much interested by meeting an old poem of my
own, written nine years ago, on the Holy Eve of 1822. It has
suggested a few lines, which, along with the old poem, I enclose in

a separate sheet I saw a good deal of Francis Edgeworth

this summer, but he has now left Ireland, and is, I believe, on his
way back to Italy ; when I next write to him, I shall take care to
give him your message.'

SCHILLER'S DIGNITY OF WOMEN.

[teanslated by w. k. h.]

Honour women I it is they
Who along life's earthly way
Heavenly roses twine around us,
With Love's blissful band surround us :

AETAT. 2(;.] Early Years at tJie Obscrvafory. 479

It is they, with holy hand

Who within the chaste veil stand

Of the shrine of Grace, and there

With a watchful nursing care

Keep the everlasting light

Of feeling's beauty ever bright.

Still, 'gainst Truth's imprisoning bound
Man's wild force beats, roaming round ;
And his thoughts unsteadily
Drive and toss on passion's sea.
He grasps the distance ; never will
His unquiet heart be still,
Restlessly throixgh far stars chasing
Phantoms of his own dream's tracing.

But with soft enchanting chain
Draws the fugitive home again
Woman's eye ; and warns him back
To the living present's track.
She has borne to abide
At home, by timid custom's side,
In modest hut and mother's view.
Pious Nature's daughter true.

Man's striving is a foe-like strife ;
Goes the wild one on through life.
Without a rest, without a stay.
Crushing, violent, alway.
What he fashion'd, he destroys ;
What he wished for, that him cloys :
Like Hydra's heads, new wishes rise,
For ever, as an old one dies.

But happy with a stiller dower
Of quiet bliss, the tender flower
Of the moment Women bear.
And nurse it with a loving care ;
In their seeming bonds more free.
And more wealthy far than he.
In the range of wisdom's lore,
And in fiction's endless store.

Stern and haughty, self-depending.
With other's heart his heart unblending,
Love's godlike joy Man's cold breast knows not,
In tears dissolved Man's proud eye flows not,
Exchange of souls he knoweth never,
Life's struggles steel him harder ever.

480 Life of Sir WilliajJi Rowan Haiiiilf on. [I8:n.

But as some Eolian string
Gently touched by Zephyr's wing
Vibrates swiftly to and fro,
The feeling soul of Woman so.
At the thought of other's pain
Her loving bosom heaves again
In tender anguish ; and her eyes
Beam, while heavenly dew-pearls rise.

In the realm of Man is known
The fierce right of strength alone ;
Their swords the savage Scythians wave,
And polished Persia is their slave :
Lusts and passions, wild and rude.
Are self-warred-on, self-pursued ;
Grace and loveliness are fled.
Hoarse Discord lords it in their stead.

But with soft persuasive prayer
Custom's sceptre "Women bear ;
Strife's angry glow by them controll'd ;
And powers in lovely form they mould,
Each hating other, once, and fleeing.
Charmed at length, and now agreeing.

Ocioher 28, 1831.

PLATEN ON DEATH.

[translated by W. E. HAMILTON.]

Conqueror and Calmer, Death ! whom all men fear,

From me receiv'st thou loud triumphal hail :

How often have I agonised for thee.

And for thy slumber, whence is no awaking :

And you, ye sleepers ! covered by the earth.

And cradled with eternal lullabies,

"Waved ye, in joy and mirth, that cup of life

"Which, haply to me only, tastes like gall ?

Ye too, I fear, were by the world deceived.

Your best deeds baffled, fondest hopes destroyed ;

0 blest then all, whose prayers for death are granted,

The longing stilled, the supplication heard.

And every torn heart covered with a grave.

•■Octohei- 25, 1831.'

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 481

'ALL-HALLOW E'EN.

* SUGGESTED BY THE SIGHT OF THE POEM BEAKING THE SAME NAME, BUT

WRITTEN IN 1822.*

* Nine years have passed, since this autumnal night,
With its so many an antique magic rite,
This Hallow E'en, did last to iitterance win me,
Stirring the soul of poetry within me.
The heavenly guest of a too earthly fane.
And my young lips poured forth that simple strain.
Fondly I gaze upon the record, feeling
The thoughts of early boyhood o'er me stealing.
How many-hued my later life hath been !
How much of change, how much of sameness seen !
How many waves, since then, have tossed my soul,
Yet not o'erwhelmed it ! the divine control
Of inward beauty at the helm presiding,
Her fond faint worshipper through billows gxiiding
Of passion, and ambition, and grief, till
The tempest-shaken bark at length is still.
Yes, it is still, at length ; all soothed I am :
A long unwonted, deep, and blissful calm
Is spread around me like an atmosphere
Of some more lovely and more happy sphere.
And though, perhaps, this seeming calm may be
Only the torrent's hid intensity
Bearing me to some precipice of woe,
On will I drift, enjoying, as I go.
The beauty of the scene, the water's smoothest flow.

' October 31, 1831.'

The anticipation which is expressed in the following letter to
Herschel of the construction of a new Calculus will be of interest
to the mathematical reader.

From "W". R. Hamilton to Sir J. F. W. Herschel.

'Dublin Observatokt, October 19, 1831.

* I have a selfish reason for being glad to hear the report that
you have been lately knighted, since in congratulating you on the

* Supra, p. 120.
21

482 Life of Sir IVilliain Rowan Hamilton. [iss-l.

occasion, or rather in expressing the pleasure with which I hail
this mark of respect to Science, I have an opportunity and excuse
for writing, which before I had almost been ashamed to do, after
leaving so long unanswered your obliging letter of last June. That
you liked the theorem to which I had been led in meditating on
some theorems of yours (respecting development of exponential
functions, and differences of powers of zero), gave me great
pleasure, and I pursued the subject a little farther at the time,
finding great convenience in the use of your notations and results.
For example, among some transformations of definite integrals, I
think I arrived at this equation

'\Q^{^dt= A-'(l -0)-S-

but I copy this from a not very distinct recollection, and may
easily make some mistake, for I am sorry to say that I have almost
forgotten my results, having been engaged in other things since.
Another set of investigations in which I was employed during part
of the summer, and which also I have almost forgotten, related to
the development of the result of n functional changes, and more
generally, of n analytic operations, in a series proceeding according
to powers of the exponent n. I found that when such develop-
ment was possible, it proceeded in a manner analogous to Taylor's
series ; and as that series has been made the analytic foundation of
the Differential Calculus, it seemed to me that the series at which
I arrived, and the connexions which it suggested between analytic
symbols of change, were likely at some future time to assist in
constructing a Calculus of a more general kind. But if that shall
ever be, the pleasure and fame of the construction are likely to be
reserved for some one more industrious, at least more steady than
I am. However, I shall perhaps send you some sketch or specimen
of what I wrote upon the subject, when I can collect and examine
my papers. At present I am continuing my researches in mathe-
matical optics, and enlarging an immense mass of manuscript,
which I hope gradually to condense and arrange into a form fit
for publication. I look forward with great pleasure, and so does
my pupil Lord Adare (who desires me to thank you for your
letter) to the likelihood of seeing you in London or Slough when
we go (as we at present intend) to witness the erection of Sir

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 483

James South's Equatorial; and in the meantime, with best
respects to Lady Herschel, I am,' &c.

At this time Hamilton received from the Eev. W. Yernon
Ilarcourt, one of the founders of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science, a request that he would become a
member of the Sub-Committee for promoting Mathematical and
Physical Science at the meeting to be held in June, 1832, at
Oxford, and that he would consent to be, meanwhile, a member of
the Local Committee in Dublin and its Corresponding Secretary.
On the 19th of October he communicates to Mr. Vernon Harcourt
and to Dr. Lloyd, the Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, his cor-
dial adhesion to the Association and his consent to the particular
requests which have been mentioned, with the exception of that
asking him to be Corresponding Secretary, an office which was
undertaken by Professor Humphrey Lloyd. The Annual Meet-
ings of the British Association became from henceforth marking
events in his life. He soon after received from Mr. Harcourt a
second letter requesting, in the name of the Association, that he
would prepare for the Cambridge Meeting of 1833 a Report of
the progress of Mathematical Science during the year 1831-2.
The terms in which the request was conveyed were so honourable
to Hamilton that I give at length this portion of Mr. Harcourt's
letter.

From Eev. W. Vernon Harcourt to W. E. Hamilton.

'Wheldkake, York, Novetnber 9, 1831.

' One of the resolutions of the General Committee of our Asso-
ciation was to the following effect : " That the Vice-President of
the Association at Cambridge be requested to use his utmost efforts
to procure from some competent individual a Eeport on the pro-
gress of Mathematical Science during the year 1831-2, to be laid
before the next meeting." Having communicated this resolution
to Professor Whewell, I have just received his answer, wliich is,
that he does not know anyone so likely to execute a Eeport ou

212

484 Life of Sir William Rovoan Hamilton. [1831.

tlie recent progress of Mathematics well, or to give it authority
by his name, as Mr. Hamilton, if he will undertake it. I have
therefore to request of you to confer this favour on the Association.
It was felt by the Committee that such a report would be of the
greatest utility, since in Mathematics perhaps, above all, British
Science requires to be stimulated. If you Vidll undertake it, I
conceive that it rests with yourself to determine to what points it
shall extend. I suppose the first object of this Resolution to be
pure mathematics. Professor Airy has undertaken to draw up
a Eeport on Physical Astronomy. '

I am unable to present the words of Hamilton's reply, but it is
certain that he felt obliged to excuse himself from undertaking the
honourable task proposed to him.

Early in November, Hamilton received a cordial letter from Sir
James South reporting his disappointment at being obKged to
postpone indefinitely the erection of his large Equatorial, a cere-
monial which had been fixed for the 26th of the month, and at
which the Duke of Wellington was to preside. The postponement
had been rendered necessary by the imperfection of the dome-
shutters. Sir James added, that when the time should at last
arrive for placing the instrument on its piers he would again
" solicit the honour " of Hamilton's presence and that of Lord
Adare. This postponement, as it happened, was the reverse of
inconvenient both to Hamilton and his pupil : the former was
engaged in delivering his Course of Lectures on Astronomy, and
the latter was on the point of passing at Trinity College his
entrance examination. They were able in the ensuing spring
to combine the acceptance of Sir James South's invitation with
other objects not less interesting to them.

It was later on in the month that Hamilton, as I have already
stated, received from the Provost the intelligence that his salary,
which had been only £250, was to be more than doubled, so that
at this time his prospects, smiled upon by fame and fortune, seemed
externally without a cloud ; but these gifts, if gratefully, were not
presumptuously welcomed by Hamilton ; for besides the religious

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 485

spirit which he habitually called into action to check undue elation,
there were even now within his breast many misgivings as to his
future happiness, and before the end of the year these misgivings
gave place to a disappointment by which he was afflicted, though
not unmanned.

From W. E.. Hamilton to the Countess or Dunraven.

* Obseryatory, November 9, 1831.

* For a wonder I write without troubling you with any com-
mission. The reason may be that this time I have Stephen De
Vere by whom to send a packet of poetry. You are probably
surprised to hear that the London project is broken off, and that
I hear it with great resignation. However, I am really sorry that
Adare should lose the relaxation and variety which the visit would
have given him. For my own part I can dispense with that very
well, although just now I am busy enough, giving two public lec-
tures every second day. Yesterday I began, and had a brilliant
audience, poetry and science being present by their representatives,
that is, poetry by Mrs. Hemans and Stephen De Yere; and science
by Captain Sabine and Adare. But I have no expectation that
the following lectures will be so well attended, for they will of
course be more practical and technical. I always forget to say
that I sent, in your name, my " Infant Wyndham " verses to
Miss Edgeworth, with your message of pleasure at her wishing to
see my pupil. We try to amuse him by reading to him Classics
and Logics, but still his not being allowed to read himself is a
terrible privation, though I must say he bears it with admirable
fortitude. Believe me,' &c.

' Adare thinks, I believe, of consoling himself for not visiting
London, by visiting you after my Lectures.'

The second of the following letters to Wordsworth, enclosing a
copy of Hamilton's sonnet on " Shakespeare," supplies us with the
date of those beautiful and remarkable lines ; an effusion that is
not more an expression of Hamilton's conviction respecting
Shakespeare than of his sympathy with the feeling which he
attributes to the great dramatist. The sonnets which accom-

486 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [183K

panied it reveal the increasing bold upon his affections obtained
by the image of Miss De Vere.

From W. R. Hamilton to W. Wordsworth.

' Obseeyatokt, November 11, 1831.
[from a copy.]

' As Keats exclaimed, " 0 for ten years that I may overwhelm
myself in Poesy!" so you will perhaps exclaim — 0 for some
pause, that Mr. Hamilton may not overwhelm me with his verses !
Occiditque legendo. What makes the matter worse, and your case
more desperate, is that this is far from being my idlest time ; on
the contrary, it is my busiest, and I am in the midst of a course of
lectures, of which I am delivering two (a physical and a mathema-
tical) every second day, in our university.

' The only hope is that as I am rather perverse, and often go
by contraries, as soon as science shall leave me comparatively at
leisure I may cease to versify too. You -^ill not consider the
sonnet on the present page as a renunciation of science for poetry,
any more than the lines to the "Spirit of Beauty" (some years
ago) were in strictness a renimciation of poetry for science.

' The two poems on the foregoing page, are translations from
the same author and for the same friend, as the lines Conqueror
and Calmer, Death ! which I sent in my last letter. My London
project is broken off for the present, the erection of the equatorial
being postponed ; and though that erection was far from being the
principal pleasure which I expected, yet it was an external impulse
necessary to overcome my inertia, and make me break away from
home. I give up therefore, for the present, all hope of seeing
Coleridge. I wish to leave the second half of this sheet to Eliza,,
and therefore shall only say that I remain,' &c.

' TO POETRY.

* They tell me, loved and honoured poesy !
That from the lustre of thine eyes divine
I ought to turn away, and to resign
All lonelv blisses I have won from thee. '

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 487

'Twas not for dalliance with her, they cry,
Not for luxurious idlesse of her love,
That thoii wast early raised thy peers above.
Star-girt, and placed within a nation's eye.
But hollow, cold, and meaningless their words
Fall on mine ear ; I cannot seek abroad*
Myself, nor care for common fame's great gaud.
The inward light my soul herself aftbrds,
That must I follow, lead me where it may.
And thy dear presence smile upon my way.

'November 10, 1831.'

PLATEN'S PILGRIM.
[translated by w. e. h.]

' Tis night, and storms are singing away :
Ope, Spanish Monk ! the door, I pray ;
Let me rest here, till the bell's toll scare
My sleep, and warn me to Chapel and prayer.
Make me ready, what you can do ;
The Order's dress, an urn also :
Hallow me, grant me a little cell.
More than half of this world could tell,
I was its master once : this head
With many a crown was garlanded,
Which to the shears must now submit ;
These shoulders, which now the cowl must fit,
On them did Imperial Ermine sit,
I am wrecked, I am old, I gasp away ;
Ere I join the dead 1 am grown as they.

* November 4, 1831.'

PLATEN'S WARNING.

[translated bt w. e. h.]

* The path on which thou treadest so secure,
Gave way beneath thy heedless feet before ;
And wilt thou, 0 forgetful youth ! once more
Expose thee to the proved and fatal lure ?
Barest thou so firmly on thy own soul build ?
And dream' st to gaze with mind unmoved and clear
On those black eyes, which earthly stars appear,

* Nee te quaesiveris extra. Persius, I. 7.

488 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

Those meaning eyes witli deep-dark lustre fill'd ?
No ! rather break away at once, and leaving
The wound for scars hereafter to o'ergrow,
Resolve to shun the charmer, and to know
The pain and penury of that bereaving.
Even from thyself, 0 heart ! the treasures hide,
That in the fulness of thy love abide.

'November 5, 1831.'

From the Same to the Same.

' Obseevatoex, November 17, 1831.

' Til ursday 3Iorning.

' My letter having been delayed a few days for Eliza's addi-
tion, I have in the meanwhile added a few sonnets. In these
I have allowed myself to transgress a rule which seems to be
always observed by Milton and you and some other high autho-
rities, namely that of giving a common ending to four of the
first eight lines. In excuse I may plead that Shakespeare seems
never, or scarcely ever, to observe that rule. Looking lately into
Shakespeare's sonnets I was struck with the number of passages
in which he expresses an anticipation of enduring fame, for ex-
ample : —

' " Tour monument shall be my gentle verse,
"Which eyes not yet created shall o'er-read ;
And tongues to be, your being shall rehearse,
When aU the breathers of this world are dead."
* Again,

' " Excuse not silence so ; for it lies in thee
To make him much outlive a gilded tomb,
And to be praised of ages yet to be."

" Since spite of him, I'll Hve in this poor rhjTne,
While he insults o'er dull and speechless tribes :
And thou in this shalt find thy monument.
When tyrants' crests and tombs of brass are spent." *

I remember that you once ingeniously, but I think not seriously,
maintained the contrary opinion. At least, if you do seriously
and sincerely maintain it, you will easily believe that I thought
you did not, when I wrote the sonnet on the following page. I

* Sonnets, 81, 101, 107.

' Again,

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 489

must now go to prepare some of my facts and illustrations, &c. for
my lectures of to-day. In my first Lecture, wMch Mrs. Hemans
attended, I availed myself largely of your writings, to illustrate
the dangers and the advantages of science, according to the spirit
in which it is pursued. With best regards to all at Rydal Mount.
Believe me, &c.'

* Who says that Shakespeare did not know his lot,
But deem'd that in Time's manifold decay
His memory should die and pass away :
And that within the shrine of Human Thought
For him no Altar should be rear'd ? 0 hush !
0 veil thyself awhile in solemn awe !
Nor dream that all Man's mighty spirit-law
Thou know'st, how all the hidden fountains gush
Of the soul's silent prophesying power.
For, as deep Love, 'mid all its wayward pain,
Cannot believe but it is loved again,
Even so, strong Genius, with its ample dower
Of a world-grasping love, from that deep feeling
Wins of its own wide sway the clear revealing.

< November 16, 1831.'

ON HEARING OF THE ILLNESS OF E. DE V.

' Hast thou then wrapped us in thy shadow, Death !
Already in the very dawn of joy ?
And in cold triumph dreamest to destroy
The last and dearest hope which lingereth
Within my desolated heart ? to blast
The young unfolding bud ? and dash away,
As in some desert-demon's cruel play,
The cup my parch'd lips had begun to taste ?
0 Impotent! 0 very Phantom ! know.
Bounds are there to thy ravage even here ;
Sanctuaries inaccessible to fear
Are in the heart of man while yet below :
Love, not of sense, can wake such communings
As are among the Soul's eternal things.

* November 4, 1831.'

490 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

* Few sorrows yet upon her loving heart
Have fallen, those paternal halls among ;
From custom's thrall, and from the vexing throng
Of common things, and common minds, apart.
And must her soft feet tread the rugged ground.
Inevitable, of life's wilderness ?
Her young enthusiastic tenderness
Must rude shapes startle, tangling briars wound ?
0 that to her I might be as a guide
And guard, along that dark and thorny way !
Some spirits surely would the call obey
Of earnest Love, and thro' the charm'd air glide.
Won by my deep prayer, tiU our path were given
Almost the light and fearlessness of heaven.

' November 14, 1831.'

* Early within herself a solemn throne
My spirit builded, and did silently
Prepare allegiance, and deep sympathy,
And worship, for some King of Thought thereon.
And when, yet young, in this star-girded Dome
My country bade me minister, I said,
My brother-band shall show me now their head ;
To his prepared throne the King shall come.
O baffled Hope ! 0 Age ! Man's awful mind,
With all its Beauty, seem'd a worthless thing.
They cared not for. Pressed down with sorrowing.
Almost my faint heart sank, in lone pine blind ;
We met : thy sympathy breathed sudden power,
And joy arrayed me from thy poet-dower.

' Novemher 14, 1831.'

Note appended hy W. R. Hamilton to the copy of the above sent to

WordsiDorth*

'This sonnet and the one beginning "They tell me, loved and
honoured Poetry ! " I should not like to he shown to many, because
they might easily be mistaken as implying a disrespect which I do
not feel towards science and scientific men.'

* Compare letters to Lord Adare of August 22 and September 23.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 49 1

* Do I lament that I in youth did love,
And won no visible fruit, but rather pain
Bitter, and during woe, whose heavy chain
Tangled my feet, when in glad step to move
And early freeness they would oft assay,
forgetful for a moment ? 0, no, no !
Deep bliss, not dearly bought by that long woe, •
"Was mine, and is, love-won. And if to-day
I could behold, reveal'd in vision clear.
Some new cloud gathering o'er the firmament
Of thought, with as mu.ch gloom and beauty blent,
Of power to darken many a future year,
Yet with bright memory fraught of mingling soul,
I could not wish that it away should roll.

Novemher 16, 1831.'

TO E. DE V.

' Sometimes I wish that I might nothing do.
In this wide world, but only think of thee ;
All other business I would eschew,
And this my only business always be.
For when I roam abroad from star to star,
Or trace some chain of high and linked thought.
My soul her proper home seems leaving far,
And my heart's yearnings back to thee are brought.
And yet these yearnings, and this weak desire,
Thoy do the glory of thine Image wrong ;
The more my spirit soars, to heaven, or higher,
Tlie more that Image soars with it along :
And closer thy bright Presence wraps me round,
Suddenly in that seraph-region found.

'Novemher 19, 1831.'

From William Wordsworth to W. R. Hamilton.

' November 22, 1831.

' You send me showers of verses, whicli I receive witli much
pleasure, as do we all ; yet have we fears that this employment
may seduce you from the path of Science which you seem destined
to tread with so much honour to yourself and profit to others.
Again and again I must repeat, that the composition of verse is
infinitely more of an art than men are prepared to believe, and
absolute success in it depends upon innumerable minuticv, which

492 Life of Sir Willia7n Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

it grieves me you should stoop to acquire a knowledge of. Milton
talks of pouring " Easy his unpremeditated verse " — it would he
harsh, untrue and odious to say there is anything like cant in this,
but it is not true to the letter, and tends to mislead. I could point
out to you five hundred passages in Milton upon which labour has
been bestowed, and twice five hundred more to which additional
labour would have been serviceable : not that I regret the absence of
such labour, because no poem contains more proofs of skill acquired
by practice. These observations are not called out by any defects or
imperfections in your last pieces especially ; they are equal to the
former ones in effect, have many beauties, and are not inferior in
execution ; — but again I do venture to submit to your consideration,
whether the poetical parts of your nature would not find a field
more favourable to their exercise in the regions of prose : not
because those regions are humbler, but because they may be grace-
fully and profitably trod, with footsteps less careful and in measures
less elaborate. And now I have done with the subject, and have
only to add [the request] that when you write verses, you would
not fail from time to time to let me have a sight of them ; provided
you will allow me to defer criticism on your diction and versifica-
tion till we meet. My eyes are so often useless both for reading
and writing, that I cannot tax the eyes and pens of others with
writing down observations which to indifferent persons must be
tedious.

* Upon the whole, I am not sorry that your project of going to
London at present is dropped. It would have grieved me had you
been unfurnished with an introduction from me to Mr. Coleridge,
yet I know not how I could have given you one — he is often so
very unwell ; a few weeks ago he had had two attacks of cholera,
and appears to be so much broken down that, unless I were assured
he was something in his better way, I could not disturb him by the
introduction of anyone. His most intimate friend is Mr. Green —
a man of science and a distinguished surgeon ; if to him you could
procm-e an introduction, he would let you know the state of Cole-
ridge's health ; and to Mr. Green, whom I once saw, you might
use my name, with a view to further your wish, if it were at all
needful.

' Shakespeare's sonnets (excuse this leap) are not upon the
Italian model, which Milton's are; they are merely quatrains

ai;tat. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 493

with a couplet tacked to the end ; and if they depended much
upon the versification, they would unavoidably be heavy.

' One word upon Reform in Parliament — a subject to which
somewhat reluctantly you allude. You are a Reformer ! are you
an approver of the bill as rejected by the Lords — or, to use Lord
Grey's words, anything " as efficient " ? he means, if he means
anything, for producing change — then I earnestly exhort you to
devote hours and hours to the study of human nature, in books, in
life, and in your own mind, and beg and pray that you would
mix with society, not in Ireland and Scotland only, but in
England ; a Fount of Destiny, which if once poisoned, away goes
all hope of quiet progress in well-doing. The Constitution of
England, which seems about to be destroyed, offers to my mind
the sublimest contemplation which the history of society and
governments have ever presented to it ; and for this cause espe-
cially, that its principles have the character of preconceived ideas,
archetj'pes of the pure intellect, while they are in fact the results
of a humble-minded experience. Think about this, apply it to
what we are threatened with, and farewell.'

The paper which I next insert is interesting and valuable,
whether considered in reference to the point it discusses, or to the
idiosyncrasies of Hamilton's character. Written on the succeeding
day, a sonnet to his sister Eliza conveys to her a touching expres-
sion of his unaltered sympathy and affection.

' Memorandum.

'■November 21, 1S31.

' How far is it wrong or unwise to yield to impulses ?

' To some extent [in some sense] we must continually yield to
impulses ; for all our actions [perhaps] [this will require conside-
ration] [appear to] arise from motives, that is from impulses.

' The only important practical question respecting impulses is
(I think) how far we ought, how far we are bound by duty or
prudence, to form a plan of conduct and adhere to this plan,
resisting the motives or impulses to change it, which afterwards
present themselves.

' And this appears to me to be a difficult question ; for the

494 Z//c of Sir William Rowan Hainilto7i. [1S31.

resolute adherence to a plan of conduct, under circumstances
different from that in which the plan was formed, may expose
one to incur dangers which might be avoided and to lose advan-
tages which might be gained by altering the plan, that is, by yield-
ing to the impulse.

' Besides, by thus distributing our energy into two distinct
exertions, at two distinct times, the one in forming the plan, the
other in adhering to it, we do not exercise our faculties so much in
union with each other as when we endeavour continually not only
to act but to reason, and to change and adapt our conduct to
new and changing circumstances.

*Yet, perhaps, to attain any one outward end, it would be
found useful to fix on some one plan and steadily adhere to it,
regardless of all change of circumstances. For one loses more
time and more labour in looking for new paths than would
be expended in patiently pursuing a known though longer road.

' But it ought not (I think) to be the great endeavour of a
man to attain any one outward end, but to tend for ever
towards perfection ; towards the improvement of his own being,
and development of his own faculties, in an indefinite progress :
and having this view, I am constrained to conclude that the only
plan of conduct which one ought to form to oneself, as irrevocably
decreed, and not to be altered by circumstances, is the plan of
obedience to conscience, of acting according to our convictions ;
and so making our outward deeds correspond to and realise our
inward thoughts, so far as our power permits.

' It is, however, a great practical question respecting my own
conduct, which I have not yet resolved, to what extent I ought to
form a plan of study (including under study meditation), and in
what kind and number of instances I ought to allow myself to
depart from this plan, in compliance with impulses from social
feeling, under circumstances foreseen or imf oreseen ; or with im-
pulses from the beauty and interest of new subjects of study,
not thought of, or at least not adopted, in the plan.

' I think that if I should attempt to form a plan of study,
I ought to endeavour to foresee, or at least estimate, all the circum-
stances and impulses which might afterwards induce me to change
or infringe that plan ; and ought to try to estimate also, from
experience, my power of resistance to such impulses, and at least

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 495

abstain from resolving on what I knew I could not or would not
execute.

' [This, however, is an interesting question, whether we ought
never to resolve to do what from experience of our own weakness
we know we cannot or will not do.]

* Yet it may assist in afterwards doing what we now think it
would then he right or prudent to do, to meditate on probable
future circumstances, and by imagination to make the future
present. For by such present communing with future circum-
stances, we prepare ourselves to grapple with future temptations ;
we meet that temptation while yet it puts forth some, but not the
whole of its power, and while our antagonist convictions of duty or
prudence retain much of their present strength, and are but par-
tially weakened by our imperfect imagination of the future.

' The connexion, thus established, between the present and the
future, between present thought and future action, is a plan, a real
and valuable one ; or at least it is among the most useful elements
and preparatives in the constructing of a plan.

' And I fear, or think, that in this sense only shall I or cau I
form a plan of conduct : except, indeed, in that other sense already
mentioned of resolving independently of circumstances to try to
follow conscience.' *

TO HIS SISTER ELIZA.

' In early childhood, almost infancj^
"We wandered forth together vision-fraught ;
And old romance, and genie-story wrought
To our united gaze a canopy
Circling our earth with wonder, mystery,
Beauty and grace. Years roll'd, and other hours
Bow'd each apart 'neath Life's and Passion's powers,
Yet left us link'd in silent sympathy.
The Tempest pass'd. We rose, but parted not ;
And calm and firm we stood ; and hand in hand
We went forth o'er the devastated land,
To pluck some flowers which llnin had forgot.
Nor, if new Hope to some new garden guide,
Shall that or ought cur spirits now divide.

' Novemher 22, 1831.'

* The words between square brackets in the above memorandum wore so
added by Hamilton.

49^ Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

The 23rd of November, 1831, is notable as being the day on
"whicb Hamilton composed a sonnet which must ever, I think, hold
a very high place among his poems in the affections of those by
whom its author was loved and honoured ; and which will not
cease to be valued by all who find it, what it seems to me to be,
the worthily expressed prayer of a great soul, devout and humble,
for union with God, for power to serve His truth, and for unselfish
joy in the work of fellow-servers. I cannot deny myself the plea-
sure of connecting my own name, in such degree as Hamilton's
note to me permits, with this noble sonnet. Two days after it was
composed I received from him a copy of it, accompanied by the
following note : —

From W. E. Hamilton to Robert Perceval Gtraves.

* Obseryaxory, Novemher 25, 1831.

' The sonnet* on this sheet was composed the day after that on
which I last saw you, and it may interest you, perhaps, from its
connexion with the sentiments which I then endeavoured to ex-
press in conversation, and in which you seemed to concur. With
best regards I am,' &c.

' 0 brooding Spirit of Wisdom and of Love,
Whose mighty wings even now o'ersliadow me :
Absorb me in thine own immensity,
And raise me far my finite self above I
Purge vanity away, and the weak care
That name or fame of me should widely spread ;
And the deep wish keep burning in their stead
Thy blissful influence afar to bear,
Or see it borne ! Let no desire of ease,
No lack of courage, faith, or love, delay
My own steps in that high thought-paYcn way,
In which my soul her clear commission sees :
Yet with an equal joy let me behold
Thy chariot o'er that way by others roll'd !

' Novemher 23, 1831.'

* In the memoirs of that accomplished American, Mr. Ticknor, mention is
made in terms of great admiration of this sonnet, see Life, Letters, and Journals
of George Ticknor. 5th Edition ; Boston, vol. i. p. 425 : vol. ii. p. 47 1 . He was mis-
taken, however, as is proved by the author's note, which is still in my possession,
as to the date of its composition.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 497

The allusions in the foregoing letters to the lectiu'es delivered
by Hamilton as Professor of Astronomy suggest a few words on
his fulfilment of this duty. When he spoke as a Lecturer on the
great subject with which he had been so long conversant, it was
plain to see that he was absorbed by a reverential consideration of
the grandeur of Astronomy, as a science not more connected with
vastness in its material aspect than witli the ideas, so dear to him,
of intellectual and spiritual elevation, of actual and imaginative
beauty, of truth sublimely severe and comprehensive. As he
poured out in his sonorous tones his thoughts thus blending
Poetry and Science, he appeared, as I have said, absorbed in awed
and delighted contemplation of the truths he had the solemn privi-
lege of enouncing ; there was no apparent consciousness of his own
personality, he was a worshipper revealing the perfections of the
object of his worship ; and towards the youthful audience who
surrounded him he took the attitude not so much of a suiDcrior
authority and a teacher as of a worshipper desirous that other in-
telligent spirits should take fire from the flame of his devotion ; of
a fellow-student desirous to win those who heard him to be as
earnest students as himself. The reverence said by the Roman
poet to be due to boys was by him habitually paid to the young
disciples of Science who resorted to his lecture-room. The first
lecture in the annual series was usually employed by him in com-
municating comprehensive views of the relations of Astronomy to
Physical Science in general, to Metaphysics, and to all the regions
of thought which it touched or was associated with. In these in-
troductory lectures he was wont to indulge himself in refined and
eloquent disquisition, in poetic language, quotation and allusion, in
tracing the history of the development of the science, and in mark-
ing out the achievements of its great promoters, from its birth in
the far east, from Ptolemy and Hipparchus to Copernicus and Gali-
leo, to Kepler and Newton, to Laplace and Lagrange. They ac-
cordingly attracted crowded audiences, in which were to be seen not
alone his class of Undergraduates but Fellows and Professors and
literary men, with a sprinkling in addition of ladies, at that time

2 K

498 Life of Sir Willimn Roivan Hamilton. [1831.

a novelty in a College lecture-room. The subsequent lectures of
the course were altogether different in style, being rigorously ma-
thematical and demonstrative, either by instrument or diagram or
abstract calculation, while all were marked by his characteristic
procedure from simplest elements to results sometimes passing
beyond the mental ken of his hearers ; they were delivered with
an eager simplicity, in a voice often breaking into a high key,
strangely contrasting with the deep roll of his oratorical effusions,
and sought singly the instruction, in the largest method and upon
the soundest foundation, of the learners committed to him. It is
not to be denied, it may be frankly acknowledged, that only the
learners who had more than ordinary largeness of mind could take
in the full projfit of his teaching ; that for others a less comprehen-
sive, a more common-place teacher, would have given them know-
ledge which they could have more easily stored and carried away.
Still in a university it is of incalculable advantage that its highest
alumni should find in the professorial chair teachers able to meet
their most expansive thoughts : thus only, it may be said, are ade-
quate conceptions, whether in science or literature, likely to be-
come the established traditions of the institution : and we cannot
doubt that Trinity College owes not a little of its present reputa-
tion in Science to the high ideal which Hamilton's lectures as well
as his printed works contributed to set up.

The introductory lecture of the year 1832 was printed by him
in the Dublin University Review. I have thought that some speci-
mens of earlier lectures, which I have found in a fragmentary
form, would repay perusal. That dated 1830 recalls his discussions
with Francis Edgeworth on beauty and truth ; and in the opening
paragraphs of the lecture of 1831 may be caught a reflection of
personal interest, perhaps unconsciously betrayed, but which the
reader of his letters of the foregoing months can scarcely fail to
trace to its origin.

AETiT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 499

Extract from Introducionj Lecture on Astronomy delivered in 1830.

* If, however, there be no antagonism and no hostility between
truth and beauty, as I fully believe that there is none, yet in our
present bounded state in which we must divide in order to distin-
guish, and separate in order to understand, we are compelled to
consider these two great objects of admiration to the intellect and
heart of man as having connexion indeed and harmony, but not
identity. We must separate them, the one from the other, and fix
our mental gaze on one alone, and press forward to this one mark,
though we love the other not the less, and though its secret pre-
sence may attend and cheer us in our journey. And if we acknow-
ledge the necessity of such separation, of separation at least in form
and in appearance, we cannot doubt which of the two it is my office
here to prefer, and to which of the two I am bound to direct your
attention. In these halls of study and temples of science the in-
tellect must take precedence of the heart, and the throne of truth be
paramount. Elsewhere you may redress the wrong, if such it seem;
you may reverse the preference. At least you may, and should,
restore that integrity and wholeness to astronomical conception
which the limits of these lectures will for the most part compel
me to give up, by combining for yourselves the interest of fancy
and imagination with whatever useful but naked knowledge I may
here endeavour to implant or revive in your minds.'

Extracts from Introductory Lecture on Astronomy delivered in 1831.

' . . . I have cited this passage the more willingly because
it gives me an opportunity of making some remarks on Physical
Science which will show, if correct, that into such science gene-
rally, as eminently into Astronomy in particular, imagination enters
as an essential element, although sometimes its power may be over-
borne and its presence concealed by overmastering and absorbing
intellect ; and sometimes too by influences less high and worthy :
and therefore that those among my hearers who from their own
poetical tendencies are disposed to sympathise more deeply than
others with that great poet, that master-spirit of om- age, from
whom I have been quoting, need not fear what I believe, nay I
know, he did not intend to suggest, that in giving attention (0

2 K 2

500 Life of Sir WiUiain Roivan Hamilton. [1831.

such science they must do violence to those finer chords of their
own being which they justly value and love : an injurious error
that would deprive them of advantages and pleasures to which
nature admits and invites them. For though the full development
of the intellectual marvels 'of Science may call for higher faculties
than human, and though of what can be and has been attained by
man, the larger part must remain hid behind its veil of light to
all but the few, who by patient zeal and by courageous conti-
nuance in long and arduous endeavour, shall have approved their
fidelity and love, and won entrance to the inner shrine; yet
enough of beauty is easily and distinctly visible to repay, after
no long time, those who do but in earnest desire to behold it.
This intellectual beauty of Science, which becomes visible after
moderate exertion, these skirts at least of its glory, I wish that all
should behold, since all are framed to derive delight and elevation
from the view. Yet were I called on by a friend, to realise this
ideal, and to be myself his guide, should I not deeply feel a sense
of arduous responsibility when thus invited to direct the thoughts
and feelings and desires of a brother-man in their goings-forth
from earth to heaven ? and if this friend were not dear only, but
young and enthusiastic, one in whom imagination had been hitherto
the most powerful and most cherished principle and whose desire
for Science sprung now from

" The first virgin passion of a soul
Communing witli the glorious Universe,"

must not the very quality and strength of love which such enthu-
siasm excited, must not the very depth and tenderness of interest
with which I watched over this

"... dewdrop that the morn brought forth,
Ill-fitted to sustain unkindly shocks,
Or to be trailed along the soiling earth,"

inspire me with a reverential feeling and fill me with a holy awe,
lest rushing rudely, although bearing truth, into the sanctuary of
that friend's soul, I should tear some consecrated veil, or with
strange steps affright the delicate Spirit of the place? I trust
therefore that I shall be pardoned by the more experienced part
of my audience, who need no such precaution, if before I attempt,
myself, to point out the latent imagination which is involved in the

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 501

processes of Science, I oppose to my former quotation from Words-
worth another passage from the same poet, in which he expresses
his conception of the advantages to our moral being that may be
derived from Science when studied in a proper spirit,' [Here was
introduced the passage near the end of the Fourth Book of The
Excursion, beginning with the words " And further ; by contem-
plating these Forms," and ending with " Of love divine, our intel-
lectual soul."]

' The design of physical science in general is to record and ex-
plain appearances ; to classify and generalise facts ; to discover the
secret unity and constancy of nature, amid its seeming diversity
and mutability ; to construct, at least in part, a history of the out-
ward world, adapted to the understanding of man ; to account for
past and to foresee future phenomena ; to learn the language and
interpret the oracles of the universe. How well Astronomy has
answered this description it does not need to say. You know
the great and distant bodies with which it has established an
intellectual communication ; the long series of sublime and im-
pressive appearances which it has been able to explain and recon-
cile ; the predictions which it has so often dared to make, and
which have been so accurately and minutely fulfilled. No wonder
then that Astronomy has been selected by our University as the
part of physical science to which your attention should first be
directed, as a splendid specimen of the whole, and a favourable
introduction to the rest. I have said that in it, as in all other
physical science, we aim not only to record but to explain appear-
ances ; that is, we aim to assign links between reason and ex-
perience ; not merely by comparing some phenomena with others,
but by showing an analogy to the laws of those phenomena in our
own laws and forms of thought, "darting our being through earth,
sea, and air." And this appears to me to be essentially an imagi-
native process ; although I do not deny that it must be combined
with a diligent attention to the appearances themselves in their
most minute details, and with a rigorous reasoning on the hypo-
thesis which the scientific imagination has suggested. [Here
followed a passage reproduced in the lecture for 1832, begin-
ning with the words "For in order to derive from the phenomena
of nature," and ending with " revolt against its authority."] Yet
though by this continued agreement with fact, the Newtonian

502 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1831.

philosophy sustains so well its reputation as a piece of inductive
science, it seems to me in a greater degree than perhaps is gene-
rally admitted to belong to imagination also, and to bear analogy
to the productions of the arts. It is, like them, an imitation, not a
copy, of Nature. It is a creation of the mind, so framed as to re-
semble, in an immense number of particulars, what we know of the
external universe ; yet perhaps differing from its archetype in a
still greater number of things as yet unknown. Its truth is, in
strictness, ideal, and lies in its self-consistence ; but though so far
the work of man and the offspring of human genius, it gives, by its
agreement with known and varied phenomena, a pleasure analo-
gous to that with which we contemplate a beautiful representation
of nature in poetry, painting, or sculpture. We admire the artist
for having so well succeeded in new-creating his subject; for
having caught the ideal unity which binds its details together, and
for having made this unity more visible to us in art than in nature,
in the imitation than in the original. We thank him for having
removed the mist which had hid from us this meaning, this secret
unity ; for having enabled us to discern the inward and intellectual
under the veil of the outward and material. This is what New-
ton has done with respect to the Solar System. It lay under the
oppression of facts, material, unintellectual, disjointed ; the old
and beautifid array of circles and spheres of heaven had been
overturned by observation and driven from the creed of men \
simplicity of form was gone, and no other simplicity had yet been
enthroned in its stead ; it seemed as if astronomers must hence-
forth have been content to know without conceiving, to observe
without reasoning, to record without connecting, to seek ichat isy
rather than whi/ it is so ; to be passive rather than active ; to obey
matter, rather than to govern it. Then Newton came ; he felt
that power not less than beauty was an object of intellect, that the
unity of law, as well as that of form, could make the Infinite, One ;
he framed therefore a universe of energies ; or rather, as the mind
of an artist calls up many forms, he meditated on many laws and
caused many ideal worlds to pass before him : and when he chose
the law that bears his name, he seems to have been half determined
by its mathematical simplicity, and consequent intellectual beauty,
and only half by its agreement with the phenomena already ob-
served. While, therefore, I do not pretend that the Newtonian

AETAT, 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 503

philosophy is likely to make men better painters, or sculptors, or
poets, than if it never had been invented, I yet consider the struc-
ture of that philosophy as bearing much analogy to the productions
of painting, sculpture, and poetry, and as being not less than they
an intellectual and imaginative creation, having properly only an
ideal truth, though charming partly by resemblance. The world
which Newton constructed was like the outward world ; but had it
not been so, he might still have chosen to contemplate it. Yet
surely he cannot be blamed, before the most ideal tribunal, for
deriving an additional pleasure from the perception of the observed
conformity between the work of his finite intellect and the Creation
of the Eternal Mind ; nor can his followers be blamed if, while they
continue the task which he began of constructing an ideal world
out of multitudinous but imified energies, they compare the grow-
ing edifice with the existing fabric of the universe, and study the
proportions of this outward by the help of that inward frame. For
imagined possibility affects us otherwise than believed reality : the
interest of the hm been, the is, and the iviU he, differs from that of
the may and the might ; and both these interests are combined in
physical science in its perfection. By it, when pursued in the true
and religious spirit, we walk through the temple of Creation, awed
but not bewildered, with reverence but without confusion ; and stand
beside the altar of astronomy as by a pyramid of fire, composed
of earth's least earthly substance, and burning upward to heaven.'

' Astronomy is man's golden chain between the earth and the
visible heaven. It is a Science, but it is more than a Science, for
it is woven of feeling as well as of thought, and it pervades not
the mind only, but the soul. The elements of the astronomical
taste exist in all mankind : for all have faculties for the percep-
tion of beauty, power, and order : in all are contained the germs
of poetry, enthusiasm, and science ; and these faculties are exer-
cised, these germs unfolded, in astronomy ; unless that dear and
venerable name be degraded by arbitrary restriction, and ex-
cluded by tyrannical definition from regions which are its own
by nature.'

' For to me the wonder and sublimity of millions of miles or
millions of years is gone : thought has so far outstripped reality,
that all existing magnitude has dwindled to a point.'

504 Life of Sir Williavi Rowan Hainilto7i. [1831.

' My belief that there are hills and valleys in the moon is as
strong as my belief that there are such in Cumberland. I am as
sure that with my present body I could not breathe the difficult air
of her steep mountain-tops, or of her gentlest vales, as that my
life would fail on earth in the attenuated atmosphere of an air-
pump. I have heard a traveller tell of summer weeks upon an icy
isle, through whose long course, to the attentive watchings of his
crew, the sun went never down ; and I believed the tale : but not
more surely than that to dwellers in the moon (if such there be)
the sun habitually appears and habitually withdraws during such
alternate intervals as we call fortnightly here : not sending to
announce his approach those herald clouds of rosy hues which
on earth appear before him, nor rising red himself after the
gradual light of dawn, but sj)riuging forthat once from the bosom
of night with more keen clear golden lustre than that which at
mid-noon he sheds on the summit of some awful Alp ; nor throned,
as with us at evening, in many-coloured pavilion of cloud, nor
followed by twilight's solemn hour, but keeping his meridian
lustre to the last, and vanishing into sudden darkness.'

' One should frequently attack simple problems by the princi-
ples of a general method. Perhaps one will frequently meet with
unexpected difficulties. But these difficulties are thus brought
into view ; the modes of overcoming them discovered ; or at least
their precise nature seen, the elements of their classification esta-
blished, and out of the very obscurity which at first attends them
a clear and valuable theory raised.'

When his Lectures were drawing to a close, the friendship of
Lady Dunraven actively manifested itself. Her letters conveyed
in terms of emotion her gratitude to Hamilton for his interest in
her son's entrance into College, and for his considerate report to
her of the particulars, and to Grace Hamilton for her helpful care
of him, rendered necessary by the state of his eyes. After his
entrance-examination Lord Adare returned home, and now Lady
■ Dunraven warmly pressed Hamilton and his sister to join the
,party at Adare Manor, and thus gain the change and relaxation
which she was sure he needed. When his consent as to himself

AETAT. 26.] Ear/y Years at tlic Observatory. 505

was given, she speaks of being unable to express tlie delight which
it gave to her and to Lord Dunraven. She said that, as they were
alone, he would have time for mathematics ; time for cultivating
the muse ; and her letters show that she was cognisant of the
ardour of his admu'ation for her fair neighbour and that she
sympathised in his hopes. On the 30th of November, in a brief
letter to Lord Adare, Hamilton says : —

* I write a few lines in haste from Cumberland-street, to say
that I fully intend to start in the Limerick coach to-morrow
morning, if I can get a seat, and to be with you on Friday. I
have just come in for the purpose from the Observatory, where
Mrs. Hemans spent the morning. When dining with her, and
afterwards with the Provost, last week, I caught a cold of which
I am not quite rid yet : in the beginning of this week it confined
me to bed, but I mathematicised there at a surprising rate, and
am now bringing with me on my journey an immense mass of
papers, although, as you observe, there are some chances against
my using them. Thank Lady Dunraven for her kind half of
your letter. I am bringing your Logics and Catalogue.'

Not many days had passed after his arrival at Adare, when an
incident occurred which caused him to relinquish the hope which of
late it had been his happiness to cherish.

Miss De Yere came on a visit to Adare Manor, and in the
oourse of a conversation with Hamilton, whose hopes were on
the point of expression, she let fall the words that ' she could not
live happily anywhere but at Curragh.' The words were few,
and it is not unlikely that Hamilton assigned to them more of
meaning than was intended to be conveyed: he regarded them as
considerately designed to repress any formal suit for her affections
by a gentle intimation that it would not be successful. To under-
stand his allowing such words to be a final sentence, without urging
strongly against it all the pleas in his power, we have to bear several
things in mind: in the first place, his modesty; he possessed in
full measure that attribute of a noble and imaginative nature
which makes a man regard the object of his passion as indefinitely

5o6 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1831.

above his deserts ; and certainly in this case there was e very thing-
to confirm such an instinct : but, secondly, although he had reason
to believe that the parents of Miss De Vere regarded his preten-
sions with favour, he could not but recognise that her family were
above his own in social position, and thus his pride co-operated
with his modesty in making him feel that to him from her lips a
lightest word of repression ought to be a weighty word. He had
also the misgiving that to one so young, so poetical, and enthusi-
astic, he could not be her ideal, and that he was more fitted to be
the guardian and guide of her spirit and her intellect than her
lover. He learned afterwards, and certainly it was a consolation
to him to learn, that she entertained towards him unbounded
admiration and respect — every feeling, in short, that he could
desire, except love. By those who have known this lady in the
maturity of her character as the source to all around her of wise
counsel and elevating influence, and who were cognisant of the
history of Hamilton's regard for her, the thought must often
have occurred that, had he persisted in his suit and gained at last
her heart and hand, he would have found in her not only intellec-
tual sympathy, but all that could be given in human companion-
ship to uphold his moral being, to supplement his too subjective
nature, and to sustain in healthful order and beauty the course of
his daily life. Notwithstanding this incident, he accepted an
invitation to spend a few days at Curragh. He did this, as he
himself said in a letter to his sister, not altogether from any weak
desire to put off the time of parting, but still more from a wish to
give a pledge and instance of his fortitude, and so diminish to Miss
De Vere the pain of having been the involuntary instrument of
afflicting him. Of her, to the end of his life, he continued to think
as of one of two women in whom he had not seen a flaw : the
other was Dora Wordsworth.

The sonnets which follow express affectingly the course of his
feelings under the trial which he was undergoing.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 507

< TO E. DE V.

' ON HEE SAYING THAT SHE COULD NOT LPTE HAPPILY ANYWHEKE BUT AT

CXJEEAGH.

' A hope thou hast bid die, with gentleness ;
That gentleness shall not have been in vain :
Grief shall await the coming loneliness,
Nor this soft sunset time with gloom-cloud stain.
'Tis much that in the moments which remain
Before om- paths upon this earth divide,
Thought may meet thought, eye eye, and by thy side
llemember'd visions bless my gaze again.
Won back from other years. 'Tis much that I
That dear remembrance deeper may imprint,
Image that presence in more vivid tint,
"Which, while my spirit works her destiny.
Mournful but calm, with guardian wings shall move,
And purify, aud guide to heavenward love.

* Adaee, Deceinher 7, 1831.'

'TO E. DE V.

* Compassionately hast thou seen me swerve
From the high path begun. Thou thought'st, like me,
That the unselfish feeling, passion-free.
To which I soar'd at first, I could preserve ;
And every day do pleasant toils for thee,
And murmur thy name over, every hour,
And now again thy mind-fraught beauty see,
Yet 'scape of all these things the human power.
Mournfully now thy gentle heart perceives
The gushing forth of a new fount of woe
My spirit-land many a far tract o'erfiow.
When the hurrying hour of thee my sight bereaves
For ever. But this soothing sympathy
'Mid that bereavement shall remember'd be.

'CuRKAGH, Becemher 8, 1831.'

' Even now beneath its task strong self-control
At moments faints, and the inward energy,
Grown up in deep and long hostility
'Gainst grief and passion, starts to feel the whole
Of its firm fabric shaken in my soul,
At moments : tho' the hour of parting yet
Lingers, and the sharp shafts against me set

5o8 Life of Sir William Rowan Hainil ton. [1831.

Hang in cliarm'd pause till then, nor reach their goal.

0 how shall I confront that coming hour !

How thro' the darkness of the lonely years

Sternly rejDress the unavailing tears !

How wage a manful struggle with the power

Of ardour-crushing gloom, already tried,

And all the conflict from the cold world hide !

* CuRKAGH, December 9, 1831.'

* If my soul's fabric hath endured this blow,
Though to its base at moments it did rock ;
If I have stood upright against this shock,
Have borne to see this dearest hope laid low.
Coldness come over so intense a glow,
A vision so bright vanish utterly :
Can any trial now remain for me.
Can life take aught away, or aught bestow,
To disturb quite my being's central calm,
Ravage its inward home of peace and love,
"Whatever outward fortunes I may prove,
Honour or scorn of men, or praise or blame ?
But if indeed the fear of man be dead.
Fill me, 0 Father ! with Thy fear instead.

' Adaee, December 20, 1831.'

By the dates of these sonnets it will be seen that he returned
from Curragh to Adare, where he remained to the end of the year.
Manuscripts in my hands prove that he occupied himself at this
time with mathematics; but not, the following letter tells us, with
mathematics alone. On the 19th of December he wrote to his
sister EHza, in reply to one of sympathy from her, a letter of
which a portion is here given, because it exhibits in his own grave
and earnest language the union at this juncture attained by him
of the deep feeling which belongs to the j)oetic nature with manly
wisdom and religious principle.

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

* Adaee, Dece?nber 19, 1831.

' I quite agree with you that the having had an attachment
to a worthy object, and having met with a return of friendship,
though not of that intense and exclusive feeling which is called by

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 509

eminence love, is not to be regretted, wliatever grief it may occa-
sion. In a kind of mingled experience and fore-feeling of this, I
wrote the sonnet of my Lecture Series, " Do I lament that I in
youth did love," which I remember that you liked. In the present
case, I fully trust that the effect of my attachment, though unsuc-
cessful, will be deep and permanently useful. A solemn and not
unpleasing sadness seems to pervade my entire being, unmixed
with any bitterness. The present grief has moved all the depths
of my soul as fully (I think) as that which came upon me about
seven years ago, but the mighty waters have now an habitual sere-
nity. The building up of my moral nature has advanced since
then, and a fabric has been reared which, though it hears and feels
the storm, yet neither sinks nor reels beneath it. One outward
mark and manifestation of this progress is, that I have not now
been compelled, nor perhaps able, to take refuge from the grief of
the affections by absorbing myself in occupations which engage
the intellect alone ; the only shelter that I could find from the
sorrow of the former trial. Now, though I have engaged myself
a little in mathematical and metaphysical thought, yet I have
found myself capable of being interested still more in poetical and
religious subjects. The recollection of Miss De Vere will have, I
feel, an abiding influence on my character, even if my theoretical
preference of the married state should dispose my affections to
become engaged elsewhere sooner than I now expect. I think of
her (if I understand myself aright) as of a friend who had been
withdrawn from me by death : and the separation in outward and
visible things has put a holy and eternal seal upon our inward and
invisible union.

' Thou takest not away, 0 Death !
Thou strikest, absence perisheth,
Indifference is no more !

' With respect to the continuation of your correspondence with
her, that must of course depend on the feeling of you both. I
suppose the correspondence is likely to cease ; but if it should
continue, its doing so would not be painful to me, nor agitate me
more than mine with Aubrey. On the contrary, if it should give
pleasure to her and not be unpleasant to you, it would soothe me to
find that I had procured for her a friendship which she would

5IO Life of Sir Williavi Rowan Haniilton. [1831.

prize so mucli as yours. But I do not wish to influence you at all
upon this subject.'

With what tender care his noble hostess at Adare Manor
supported him in his disappointment, and guarded his health, is
proved by the beginning of his last letter of the year, and by a
sonnet addressed to Lady Dunraven on his departure for the
Observatory.

From the Same to the Same.

'Adare, December 27, 1831.

' The roads here are so much flooded that Lady Dunraven, who
says that when I am here I must consider her as a mother, insists
on my remaining some days longer, lest books, papers, and I,
should all be washed off together.'

' TO THE COUNTESS OF DUNRAVEN.

* Lady, who with a mother's tenderness,
And fond indulgent patience, nursingly,
Cherish'd this Hope in its frail infancy,
And wert not tired with all its waywardness.
Nor once deceived by all that deep disguise
Which from myself had power to hide it long,
Till it burst forth, in youthful beauty strong.
In courage panoplied for high emprize :
Whatever the insuperable bound
Which could its progress bar ; whate'er the spell.
Which could what seem'd invincible repel,
And stay what seem'd immortal ; thou hast found,
(A sister- spirit of that Hope divine),
Within my Memory a perpetual shrine.

Adaee, December 29, 1831.'

When at Curragh, Hamilton received from Francis Edgeworth
a letter announcing his approaching marriage, and containing a
poem of remarkable beauty, inspired by the young Spanish refugee
to whom he was to be united ; in forwarding a copy of it to his
sister Eliza, Hamilton says: —

* December 15. — I left that place [Curragh] on Monday, and it

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 5 1 1

will, I think, be very long before I visit it again. My visit was,
however, made as pleasant as Sir Aubrey and Lady De Vere could
make it, which is saying much, for they are eminently elegant,
affectionate, intellectual and imaginative persons. I enjoyed still
more the society of Aubrey De Vere, and have won something
from the wreck in contracting a friendship and agreeing on a
correspondence with him. He is indeed a very uncommon person.
He seems to me to be in talent equal and in judgment superior
to Francis Edge worth.'

This friendship with Aubrey De Vere, and the correspondence
to which it led, became to Hamilton at once a consolation to his
affections and a source for many years of intellectual companion-
ship and spiritual sympathy.

512 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

CHAPTER XII.

EARLY YEARS AT THE OBSERVATORY Continued.

(l832.)

At the beginning of 1832 Hamilton raises his thoughts to the
contemplation of the highest motives of exertion, and girds up him-
self for severe work in the field of Mathematical Optics. On the
2nd of January he composed a sonnet inspired hy the same reli-
gious feeling as animated his ' 0 brooding Spirit,' but it will be
seen in what follows that it was not possible for him to maintain
his spirit at a height above the fluctuations of pain and despon-
dence.

* 'Tis true I have out-felt and have out-thought,
If my own. feelings and own thoughts I know,
That ardour for renown, which long ago

So passionately in my young heart wrought
That all my being, with rich longing fraught,
Burn'd, keenly fragrant, in one precious glow.
Now would I only bend my spirit-bow
For the high mark beheld by lonely thought,
Heaven-eyed, and careless of the world's applause.
Yet dear the memory, and fresh the might,
Of fanes, where to the aw'd enthusiast's sight,
A brother's name from heaven a glory draws.
A holy hope, and powerful still, it were,
That I in such a fane should minister.

'Januarij 2, 1832.'

* ox SEEING A CHILD ASLEEP ON A COXJCH LN THE VICEEEGAL ROOMS AFTEK
DANCING AT A TWELFTH-NIGHT BALL.

* Slumber hath fallen then, fair boy! on thee.
And wraps thee here, sequester'd from the throng
Of high-born children, who in dance along
These halls of delegated Royalty

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Obsei'vatory. 513

Paced lately, 'neath the hero-ruler's eye

Indulgent, and the simidated smile

Of many a courtier, thine own looks the while

Gracefully calm, yet without apathy.

Over thee now many a gemm'd brow is bending,

Envying perhaps thy sweet and deep repose ;

But in my soiil the thought of Milton glows,

"Who slept, Italian influence descending,

"Within that beautiful and holy grove.

On his charm'd rest, from unseen eyes of love.

' January 7, 1832.'

Enclosing these two sonnets and ' 0 brooding Sj^irit,' he thus
writes to Mr. Wordsworth ; to this letter an extract from one to
Lady Dunraven is given as a sequel.

From W. R. Hamilton to W. Wordsworth.

' Obseevatoet, January 8, 1832.

' You were more penetrating than myself, with respect to my
feelings towards Miss De Vere. I long thought that they were
and would remain Platonic, but my admiration of her mind ripened
gradually into a desire of marriage. When therefore my income
from the Dublin University was doubled, as it lately was, and when
I was left free by having concluded my last annual course of lec-
tures, I went to Adare, where I was most kindly received by Lady
Dunraven, who had guessed my wishes, and who took a warm in-
terest in them. There, and at the neighbouring residence of her
own family, I passed some time with Miss De Yere, and found that
her parents would have approved of and desired the union, but that
there was in her own mind an obstacle which I was given reason
to believe insuperable. Under these circumstances, I thought it
necessary for my tranquillity and energy of mind that I should
withdraw from her society, although I continue to feel a most
affectionate interest in her welfare, untinged (I think) with any
bitterness of mortified vanity. This sketch of my recent history
will account for the greater part of that multitude of verses in my
present and late despatches, which a moment's reflection shows me
it is unreasonable to expect that you should criticise, and in which
therefore I shall not suppose that you perceive no faults if you

2 L

514 Life of Sir William Rowan Ha7nilton. [1832,

should point out none. The last of the sonnets was written yes-
terday, and was suggested by an incident which struck me at a
Viceregal party on the night before. At that party I met Lady
Campbell and several other pleasant persons ; but as it had been a
hardship to me to leave some mathematical investigations, in which
since my return to the Observatory I have been much absorbed, I
thought I would pay myself by asking for a frank to you, which
was accordingly promised, so that Eliza will have an oi)portunity
of sending a letter to Miss Wordsworth.

January 17. — I hope that none of my double letters cost you
postage, for that would have been very unreasonable, and I in-
tended to take care that they should not. This packet has been
lying by for about a week, during which time I have been leading
a most studious and hermit-like life, even to the point of letting
my beard grow frightfully long. You must not think that I have
raised or changed my estimate of my own poetry, or that I expect
more from it than consolation and refinement to myself, and sym-
pathy, not admiration, from others. "With best regards and wishes,
I remain, &c.'

' Francis Edgeworth has lately married a young Spanish refu-
gee, on whom he had written some beautiful verses just before.'

From W. R. Hamilton to the Countess of Dunraven.

* Observatory, January 17, 1832,
' Tuesday Night.

' ... In the meantime you may say (to Lord Adare) that I
have been very busy at my Optics, which will comfort him. But
he would be sorry, and so would you, if you knew what bad habits
I am sinking into in other respects; sitting up and getting up
later than ever, and grown so much of a hermit that unless I find
a pair of garden shears in some of my few visits to the garden, my
beard, which already defies razors, will rival the chins of the old
philosophers before he returns to the Observatory. I really have
not shaved since I was at a Twelfth-night party in the Park, which
I could not refuse to attend, especially as Lord Anglesey had made
me a visit here before I returned from Adare. An incident at this
party called forth one of the sonnets which I send. Notwithstand-
ing my hermit-beard and my bad hours, you must not think that

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 5 1 5

lam yielding to "ardour-crushing gloom; " on the contrary, I am
fighting very hard, and, as I said, am very busy in optical and
mathematical things, along with some religious Metaphysics. Hei"-
schel's Light, and Coleridge's Aich to Reflection, lie always under
my pillow, and I usually read them in bed for some hours in the
morning. In the daytime and in the night I write, and would
be well satisfied with the employment of my time if I could sup-
pose that the quality of my writings was at all proportioned to
their quantity.'

Of the date January 18, 1832, is the following poem, giving
an instance of how an external object, associated with earlier memo-
ries, may set flowing again the intervening emotions which were
supposed to have been quelled by painful exertion of thought and
resolution. In a letter of the same date to Aubrey De Yere he
writes : ' I have copied for you some verses which I composed
during a solitary walk this morning.'

'THE GRAVEN TREE.

* Thou hast preserved the trust, 0 faithful Tree !
And while in lonely languor, mournfully,
I listen'd to the murmuring water near,
In this wild mossy place, and lean'd me here
On thee, that graven bark hath made me start :
And all the kindred gravures of my heart
Grow visible anew, and echoes there
Suddenly waked fill all the troubled air,
From melancholy waters, as they roll
Through all the lonely places of my soul.
Oh that I could have but remained the same
As when the Tree received in trust the Name !
'Twas, I remember, on an autumn morn,
When only Spirit-Love as yet was bom ;
My Being full of Her, but the mild life
Of tenderest feeling with the stormy strife
Of passionate wishes not yet forced to cope.
And dure the fierj' stress of Fear and Hope.
If that fierce Hope had spared me, I might still
Have seen with gentle joy this mossy hill,
And without struggle met the writing here,
Not linked as now with pain, yet dear, most dear.

2 L 2

5i6 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

0 weak and idle thought ! the only thing
That an. untasted sorrow now can bring :
0 fool ! to dream it possible that long,
In Wisdom's guarded fortress, calm and strong,
Thou could' st the irresistible storm await,
Nor bow beneath the whelming waves of Fate.
No — sooner might the fascinated eye
The beautiful and doom'd destruction fly ;
Sooner the ship, its whirling course begun,
The fury of the northern eddy shun :
Imperious Grief had marked me for her prey —
Remains me now to bear, as bear I may.

'January 18, 1832.'

In the three letters which next follow I insert the effective
commencement of the correspondence between Hamilton and
Aubrey De Yere, which was continued through many years, to
the mutual delight and benefit of the writers ; results in which all
who read it will, I think, partake. Hamilton was at this time in
the twenty- seventh year of his age ; Aubrey De Vere was not yet
eighteen. There is something beautiful in the full recognition
by the matiu-e man of the nobility of nature of his boy-friend,
as making him worthy not only to be a companion in philosophy
and poetry, but a friend to whom he might confide every inward
struggle of the heart and the will. The reader will see how amply
the confidence was justified.

From W. R. Hamilton to Aubrey De Vere.

' Obseetatoky, January 6, 1882.

' My dear Aubrey, on New Year's Day I returned to the Obser-
vatory, of which the walks and rooms are full to me of remem-
bered thoughts and feelings. I have returned, I think, " a sadder
and a wiser man." It seemed very strange to find everything so
much the same — even the poor heliotrope, though chilled a little,
has several blossoms still. One great source of mental struggle
and unhappiness is cut off, by my sternly refusing to identify my
present knowledge with my past feelings, and so to accuse myself

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 517

of imprudence in having indulged wishes and hopes which have
been baffled, and in having made an attempt which I knew to be
hazardous, and which has turned out to be unsuccessful, I grieve
that circumstances were such ; not that, they being as they were,

I acted as I did The books which I brought from Cur-

ragh I left at Adare to be returned : those which I remember are
The Duke of Merc ia, Landor, Charles TenmjHon, a volume oi Spenser,
two volumes of Boccaccio; if there was any other, no doubt it will
be taken care of at Adare. Miss Edgeworth's poetry I left
at Curragh, and Arnott was with your consent lent to me by Mr.
Griffin, who also lent me another volume of the same work which
I have found very entertaining. The quiet and the local influences
of this "star-girded dome" have assisted me to absorb myself very
much in scientific pursuits since my return. I am writing a Third
Supplement to my Theory of Systems of Rays, and have been
engaged in it for the last few days to a most unearthly and
Egerian degree : a structure of piled equations rising like an
exhalation to my view. It required quite an effort to interrupt
myself, to write some little business-note a while ago ; but having
once broken the spell, I thought I would take advantage of my
momentary freedom to remind you that I shall be delighted to
hear from you whenever you may be disposed to write, although
if a letter should reach me when I am in one of my mathematical
trances, it may remain unanswered for a long time. Do not forget
that I am longing for an opportunity of reading your poem on
poetry. Believe me, my dear Aubrey, very truly yours.'

From A. De Yeke to W. R. Hamilton.

* February 3, 1832.

[After telling of a letter written some time before, and found
locked up in a writing-desk, he proceeds] : —

* . . . The account you gave me in your first letter about your
mathematical researches has given me very great pleasure indeed.
You talk of " the pile of theorems rising like an exhalation before
your eyes," with an enthusiasm which I should think more likely
than anything else to alleviate the pain which has so long afflicted
but not benumbed your feelings, far less impaired the energy of

5i8 Life of Sir Williaju Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

your intellect or your will. The more I have thought on the sub-
ject, the more have I felt the necessity of your opposing severity of
study to the intensity of your feelings. You may remember, in
some of our conversations on this subject, I was very anxious that
you should give your affections to another, even although a less
worthy object, but one with a mind so entirely unworldly and
disinterested as to please you at once by the power of contrast
and of harmony — of contrast with the rest of the world, and of
harmony with itself, and with those principles of beauty which
are the mediators of love. Such a character is, I think, sufficiently
excellent to excite the imagination and receive the innumerable
gifts and graces with which that most benevolent of the faculties
delights to endow its objects ; such a character, uniting so much
warmth of feeling with purity of heart and unity of nature, I
allowed was not easily to be found amongst those who have mixed
in that universal leveller, society, which the moralists have so long
called the '•' current of life," and which is, I am afraid, a petrifying
stream. How many do we find that are but the external and en-
crusted forms, the fossil remains, of what they were ! It is, I
believe, the seclusion in which my sister has lived, and the beauty
of the objects she has conversed with (those of Nature and of the
Imagination), which have made or preserved her what she is.

* Surely amongst the young, amongst the undefiled, the vision-
ary (as if that which is true to our aspirations were not in the
highest degree true) there are many such. I hope you will very
soon write to me on this subject, and at least let me hope something
from time, and even a 8hort time, if counted by the calendar ; since
to a man engagedin active life that may be a long time if counted
by his achievements, and to a philosopher if counted by his intel-
lectual actions. You, of all men, have the power of living the
longest time in the fewest hours. ... I shall hope to hear from
you very soon. Ever most sincerely and affectionately yours, &c.

' I shall write soon again and send you my poem.'

From W. R. Hamilton to Aubrey De Yere.

' Obseevatoet, February 9, 1831.

* Your letter, though it ought, perhaps, to have given me
only pleasure, and though it did give me pleasure in a high

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory, 5 1 9

degree, has yet left me, since I received it (which was a day
or two ago), under an overshadowing cloud of melancholy feel-
ing. I cannot justify this result, and can only refer it to the
circumstance that though in belief and opinion I had long ago
given up all reasonable prospect of success, yet the thought of
possibility had not, perhaps, been so entirely subdued before as
by the very kindness of your letter, combined with its absence of
encouragement. And in proportion as this present feeling (in ad-
dition to that former knowledge) of hopelessness descends upon me,
it reveals what otherwise I might longer have hidden from myself,
the insufficiency of study and meditation to constitute my happiness,
however much they may contribute thereto, and however useful
they may be to a recent wound, by aiding to sear and bind up.
Not that I would regard study and meditation as means rather
than ends : or if as means, yet as means to any other end, even to
happiness itself, rather than to intellectual and moral perfection.
But the more I dissent from the prevailing opinions respecting the
great use of those scientific meditations to which from habit and
reflection I am so much attached (such as the opinion that their
great use is to furnish what are called practical aiDplications, or to
assist us in remembering appearances), the more do I feel ih.e need
of human love, to soothe me under the sense of painful repulsion
from those with v/hom I long to sympathise. The sonnet " Early
within herself a solemn throne" gave no exaggerated expression
of this feeling, but rather a faint and inadequate one. I differ
from my great contemporaries, my " brother-band," not in transient
or accidental, but in essential and permanent things : in the whole
spirit and view with which I study Science. And if there were no
other reason for my continuing to desire

** The boon prefigured in my earliest wish,
The fair fulfilment of my Poesy,
When my young heart first yearn'd for sympathy,"

I do not dare to hope that in me, while unmarried, the yearning
shall ever be stilled for that kind and degree of sympathy from a
wife which I feel that I could give as a husband. . . .

' We agreed that habits of comparative seclusion were almost
(if not altogether) necessary, for preserving the youthful simplicity
and innocence of female character, and keeping it unhardened and

520 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

unspotted from the world. But it is little likely that the habits of
retirement which I have myself been gradually contracting, and
which seem to gain rather than to lose in strength, will admit of
my soon or often forming an intimate acquaintance with families
to whom I have not yet been introduced, and who are themselves
retired. Perhaps you may think that my so recent introduction
to your own family, followed as it has been by whatever feeling of
intimacy an affectionate interest on my part can give, ought to
make me distrust or change the expectation that I have thus ex-
pressed. But I cannot admit this recent case as a precedent,
because, to waive every other singularity, I cannot think myself
allowed, by either theory or experience, to expect that I shall ever
again meet in a character of so much delicacy as your sister's so
much innocence and frankness of manner ; overcoming at once my
own secret caution and reserve, and getting as it were within my

guard

' Do not cheat me of your letter in the writing-desk, and do not
forget your poem.'

The following letter to Dr. Robinson, from which I have
omitted the algebraical work, bears witness to the help afforded by
his sister Grace in the Observatory, and to the interest taken by
Hamilton in the application to telescopes of the principles of his
Optical Theory. A previous letter to Dr. Robinson, of which he
makes mention, has not come into my hands.

From W. R. Hamilton to the Rev. T. R. Robinson, d.d.

' Observatokt, January 19, 1832.

* I have got Thompson to supply me with the three preceding
nights of moon-stars, thinking that you may like to have them. I
hear good accounts of your circle, and it gives me much pleasure
to do so. My eldest sister has grown quite a diligent observer, and
she makes also a good many of the easier reductions herself. I
have, since I returned from Adare, been very busy in my optical
investigations, of which in a joint letter with my pupil I gave you
lately some account. My present researches bear a little more than
my former ones on the improvement, or at least the fuller under-

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 521

standing, of telescopes and other optical instruments. If a, /3, be
the small final, and a', /3' the small initial cosines of the angles
which a ray passing through an instrument of revolution makes
with any two fixed lines perpendicular to each other and to the
axis of the instrument (and, therefore, nearly perpendicular to the
ray), then a certain function which I call the Characteridic Function
of the instrument may in general be thus developed, by an equation

which may be called the Equation of the Instrument : In

order to apply this principle, which I believe to be new (and which
is a particular case of my more general principle of a Characteris-
tic Function for any combination of surfaces and media ordinary
or extraordinary), two things principally are to be done, in which
accordingly I am engaged : . . . My methods apply with great
facility (as it appears to me) to the questions which have been
so laboriously treated by Professor Airy in his memoir On the
Spherical Aberration of Eye-Tieces

' With best regards to all your house, I am, &c.

' Miss Edge worth was delighted with her visit to you.'

At this time the correspondence with Lord Adare was actively
kept up. In the letters of Hamilton he communicates particulars
of his work and his fluctuations of energy, intelligence respecting
common friends and the world of Science and things in general,
with a freedom which shows how entirely he reckoned on the con-
genial interest and the affection of his young friend; and the
reciprocal feelings of the latter and of his family are conveyed
throughout his portion of the correspondence in terms of which
the following passage, written when his eyes were under severe
medical treatment, is an example.

' I should like to fly over to the Observatory and see what you
are doing. Next time you write, tell me all the minutiae, whether
the table is well piled with papers, what you are engaged in now ;
everything about yourself is so interesting to us all here, and I
need not say to none more than myself. . . . Tell me what you
think of those two papers of Lubbock's in the 2nd Part of the
Tldl. Trans. : mind I will not repeat your opinion,' &c.

52 2 Life of Sir William Rowan Ha7nilton. [1832.

From W. E. Hamilton to Viscount Adare.

' Observatoey, January 20, 1832.

* ... I gave him [Cousin Arthur] a letter addressed to
" Francis Edgeworth, Esq., London," and I fear that he has sent
it in this state to the Post Office, instead of sending it to Miss
Beaufort's ; so that after wandering for months over the world, it
will return to me from the Dead Letter Office, like the one to
"Markree College, Cambridge." A-propos, I intend to propose
Mr. Cooper on Monday next (on which evening the Counsellor
will accompany me to the Club as a visitor, and he introduced to
the Academy as a Member), that he may be balloted for at the
next monthly meeting, as I have heard from Sharpe that he would
like to be a Member. The only good thing which I have to report
of myself is, that I have really been very busy at my Optics since
I returned to the Observatory, not having paid a single visit nor
dined out once, though, as I mentioned to Lady Dunraven, I went
one evening to a Viceregal party, at which I met Lady Campbell,
with whom I had some chat ; I also met the Provost, and talked
with him about you. He said, in answer to some expression of
mine (of a hope that your being forbidden to attend the approach-
ing examinations would not keep you longer in College than you
would otherwise have been kept) , that you were a privileged person,*
and might do what you liked ; saying, at the same time, that he
was sure you would not be disposed to abuse your privilege. So
you will have no difficulty in that quarter. The most remarkable
event in my recent history is my having shaved since I wrote to
Lady Dunraven, and having taken a fine gallop in the Park on
Planet, who is in great spirits ; anything that you have to say
about your own rides or walks, or other employments and amuse-
ments, will be received by me with interest, for I now remember
your home with greater affection than ever.'

Fmm the Same to the Same.

'Observatoey, January 31, 1832.

' I rode through the Park on Planet yesterday to Lady Camp-
bell's, and paid her a long and pleasant visit — the first opportunity

* As being a Filius Xabilis.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at tJie Observatory. 523

of talking to her, except tlie few minutes at Lord Anglesey's, wMeh
I had enjoyed for half a-year. We talked a great deal on many
subjects; one of them was your health, which we all regret much to
hear no better account of. I talked also to Lady C. of my recent
visit to Adare, but not of the cause of it. Poetry and science, too,
supplied us with abundant materials. I repeated some of my late
sonnets (not those which were expressly connected with Curragh),
and she read me some beautiful sonnets of Shakespeare with which
I was not familiar ; and she allowed me to take away her marked
copy of those sonnets, which, along with a Grerman Annual and some
other books, formed a thick and rather stiff padding for the breast
of my coat as I galloped home across the Park. She told me that
she had been much delighted by the first volume of Arnott's PJiysics,
which I had ventured to lend her, and I mentioned that I had
been almost entirely engaged, since my return to the Observatory,
in mathematical and particularly in optical things : not that I do
not intend to resume the metaphysics after some time, when I
finish my Third Supplement, nor that I have not been indulging
myself now and then by reading a little of Coleridge, whom I ad-
mire at least as much as ever. . . . Mademoiselle is an old

friend of mine, and I was glad to see her again, although she was
French enough to pronounce Shakespeare a " barbare " who had
however written " some pretty things." Lady Campbell says that
M™^ de Stael got her account of Kant, and indeed most of her infor-
mation on Grermany, from her friend Schlegel, which makes it the
more valuable. At the dinner, last Monday, of the Royal Irish
Academy club, to which I brought the Counsellor as a visitor, I
heard a young gentleman, who seemed to be a visitor also, say that
Mr. De Uuincey (the opium-eater) had told him that Wordsworth
had written an account of Kant's Philosophy in the Encyclopcedia
Metropolitana, which makes me very curious to see the article, and
to know whether it was really written by Wordsworth. I should
not, however, like to ask Wordsworth or anyone else whether he
had written a book or paper to which he had not put his name, for
such a question seems to me to be an unfair intrusion on the pri-
vacy of another person, and to deserve resentment, though not to
justify falsehood. But perhaps in this case, as in the case of many
other articles in the EncyclojHedia Metropolitana, there may be no
secret as to the name of the writer. Herschel's Light, at least the

524 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

first half of it, has been translated from that Encyclopcedia into
French, and looks very pretty in the translation, as in the original ;
but the glances which I have given do not dispose me to think
that it has been improved in the process, for some sentences near
the beginning appear in the French as unconnected truisms, which
in Herschel's English are very well combined with the remarks
that precede and follow. For example, I met the following French
sentence standing as it were in Coventry, or like a fool in the middle,
in all the solitary grandeur of a separate paragraph : " La Nature
nous ofEre une foule d'objets dont les uns echappent a nos sens par
leur extreme delicatesse, et les autres surpassent notre imagination
par leur grandeur." I rubbed my eyes, like the Sultan when he
saw the lovely palace that had sprung up suddenly where he never
expected to see it, and where he thought he reniembered something
else, and I turned to Herschel ; where I found the following words,
too religious perhaps for the translator to like or even to un-
derstand, but to me appearing suited to the subject, and lovingly
linked with their elder and younger brothers. "But as we proceed
in the inquiry we shall find inducements enough to pursue it, from
purely intellectual motives. A train of minute adaptation and won-
derful contrivance is disclosed to us, in which are blended the ut-
most grandeur and delicacy, the one overpowering, the other eluding
our conceptions." And thus Herschel passes from the obviously
practical applications of the laws of Light, of which he had before
been speaking, to the curious and profound speculations on pola-
rized Light that follow ; whereas the Frenchman leaves a dreary
chasm between, signalized, not adorned, by a barren generality about
Nature. Again the translators profess to have re-examined the cal-
culations, but I find at least some decided slips retained in the
French which I had detected in the English ; for example, in the
expressions for the foci of hemispheres and spherical segments. Not-
withstanding all this, I am very glad to see that Herschel is appre-
ciated abroad, and the book which I have borrowed from Sadleii' is
a pleasant one to have on one's table. At the Academy I proposed
Mr. Cooper, whose telescope after some late adjustments has turned
out, I am told, very well ; and I gave a verbal sketch of my recent
optical researches. I also took some part in a discussion on the re-
quest of the Greological Society for the temporary use of the large
room of the Academy ; and this request, among the supporters of

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 525

wliicli I was, was yielded to, but not without a strong opposition,
founded chiefly on precedents.'

Lord Adare was now ordered change of scene, with a view to
give him occupation of mind derived from other sources than
books, and determined to visit London in company with his
friend Francis Groold. He then wrote more than once urging
Hamilton to join them ; to these letters the following answer
was returned.

Fi'om the Same to the Same.

' Obseevatoet, March 6, 1832.

' I received with great pleasure a letter from you a week ago,
and another this morning, and I am very glad to find you are to
have so soon the enjoyment of a visit to London in company with
Francis Goold. As to my going, I could give you many fine
reasons against it ; but perhaps what most prevents me is that I am
lazy and not in spirits, lying in bed half the day, and in the worst
possible mood for making up my mind to set out on a journey to
a place where, whenever I visit it, I expect to meet so much ex-
citement of every kind. If I were not ashamed to apply to myself
a passage that talks of "profonde tristesse" when I have so many
reasons to be happy, I would say that the following sentence of
Corinne illustrates what I feel : " Enfin, le decouragement qui nait
d'une profonde tristesse fait aimer ce qui est dans I'ordre naturel,
ce qui va de soimemey et n'exige point de resolution nouvelle, ou de
decision contraire aux circonstances qui nous sont marquees par
le sort." But as all this is very indefensible, I hope to be in a
more active mood whenever you make your neM visit to London,
and then perhaps we may go together. ... I had gone to town to
attend the Academy and see the Bishop,* so I always call him.
Namque erit ille mihi semper Deus. Unluckily I did not meet
him at the Council, nor did I find him at home. Dr. Sadleir went
with me, and on our way we met some one who seemed to know
me, and who, like everybody else, attacked me for predicting the
snow. My uncle in Trim tells me that I had a narrow escape of

* Dr. Brinkley.

526 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

being Indicted as a nuisance by the Grand Jury of Meath, on the
principle I suppose that a prophet has no honour in his own country.
I am tired of protesting my innocence, and must count it a most
fortunate windfall that there actually did fall a little snow yester-
day here, for which I have the testimony of my sisters : though
perhaps it will be said that they are interested witnesses. The
Attorney- General questioned me about it at the Levee, so he per-
haps will come down on me with an ex-officio. I reminded Sadleir
of a very elegant geometrical proof of the fundamental properties
of the conic sections, deduced from consideration of spheres in-
scribed in the cones, which he had mentioned to me at the mathe-
matical examination in last July : and he told me that though the
relations between the spheres and the sections had been communi-
cated to him by a Cambridge friend, yet the proof of those rela-
tions was his own. I had been amusing myself by thinking of
those and other geometrical theorems, last week, to save my eyes,
which were rather uncomfortable, though I believe that arose en-
tirely from a little general ill-health, for I think they are quite
well to-day. The geometry answered very well my expectation
of its supplying me with subjects for mathematical meditation,
without requiring me to read or write : a comfort in the prospect
of which I had long ago treasured it up as a resource against the
time of my being blind, if ever that time should arrive. Not that
I had not also formed with the same view, and with equal success,
a habit of being able to carry on trains of algebraical reasoning
without the aid of pen and paper ; but I preferred the geometry
as being more of a relaxation by being a variety, and as not
tempting me so much to begin any investigation which, when a
little advanced, I might wish to note down and go on with in
writing. After all, I could not refrain entirely from reading and
writing, even when my eyes, or at least eyelids were annoying me ;
and I had before been busy enough. Indeed it is one of my best
reasons against going to London at present that I wish to compile
and arrange some of those unpublished optical investigations in
which I have been for some time engaged, and which I might
perhaps indefinitely postpone arranging if I were to make just
now so great a break in my studies. The Eoyal Irish Academy
have now under consideration a plan for beginning a new series of
their Transactions, to be printed in octavo. This form would, it is

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 527

said, be less expensive to both publishers and readers ; but what
seems to weigh most with those who advocate the plan is the ex-
pectation, very confidently entertained by the booksellers, that the
octavo volumes would have a much greater circulation than the
quarto. It is said also, that persons of experience have lately
advised the Geological Society of London to print their Transac-
tions in octavo, though the suggestion has not yet been adopted.
I hear too that the Bishop of Cloyne did not oppose the plan, on
its being lately stated to him, and thought that even the scientific
memoirs could be printed in octavo conveniently enough : which
is certainly exemplified in several late works, especially in Ponte-
coulant. For my own part, I should prefer the quarto for science,
but do not feel so strong a preference as to set myself against the
plan, especially as I am just now the person most interested on
the subject, and have (along with the Bishop) been treated as

such As to the Phil. Trans, and Mr. Lubbock's Papers

therein, I cannot say much, for Sharpe had the book till it went to
you. However I have this morning received the Papers separately
through Captain Beaufort, and it does appear to me, from the
glance that I have given, that they are an improvement on his
former ones, as showing equal industry and superior skill in
arrangement. It is a great thing to have at least a person in
England who is a diligent reader of Laplace, Lagrange, Ponte-
coulant, &c. Perhaps he has put me in a good humour by a com-
plimentary note in which, besides flourishes, he expresses a wish
to propose me as a member of the Royal Society. I believe it
would be rather rude to decline, though I should never have
applied for the honour. An interesting pamphlet has been sent
me by Mr. Harcourt from the British Association ; they meet in
June at Oxford. As to stability of our system, the proofs of it
given by Laplace, Lagrange, and Poisson, all neglect at least the
cubes of the planetary masses, and so are only approximations,
though perhaps good enough for millions of years. More when
we meet. Meanwhile, with best regards to all, I am,' &c.

The complimentary note referred to was couched in these
terms : —

528 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

From J. W. Lubbock to W. E,. Hamilton.

' 23, St. James's-place, February 29, 1832.

' I have to thank you for the present of your Paper on Systems
of Rays, for which I am much obliged. I now send you some
Papers of mine which I request you to favour me by accepting.

' I trust it will not be long before the Royal Society will enrol
so great a mathematician as Professor Hamilton among its mem-
bers. I should have particular pleasure at any time (being on
the spot) in preparing your certificate and procuring any signa-
tures you might wish, if the distance renders it inconvenient to
you to do this yourself.'

Urgent and affectionate pleadings from Lord Adare and Lady
Dunraven, who were much distressed by the account he gave of
himself, overcame the reluctance arising from his depression, and
he resolved to make the exertion to which he was so kindly sum-
moned. The following letter from Aubrey De Yere, referring
partly to this subject, and filled with high pure thoughts, did not
reach him till he had arrived in London.

From Aubrey De Vere to W. P. Hamilton.

[No date — between March 8 and 15.]

' I am very sorry you dislike the idea of going to London with
Adare : he told me he had written to ask you to accompany him
there, and I had great hopes the change of scene and occupation
would serve to deaden, though not destroy, the memory of your
late painful feelings. As for my mother's letter,* it contains
nothing of particular importance, so you can keep it as long as
you like. Perhaps you may soon go to London, and in that case
I think you would find pleasure in being acquainted with my

* A letter of introduction to her brother The Kight Hon. T. Spring Rice,
afterwards Lord Monteagle.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 529

uncle ; but why should you not go now ? The degree of continued
pain which you feel makes me even more anxious than before that
you should at least give yourself an opportunity of forming an
attachment deep enough and ideal enough to give your heart what
to most is a desire, to you a necessity, an object, a substantive
object, on which it may concentrate its loftiest and purest affec-
tions : a creature sufficiently like you to call out your sympathies,
and so unlike as to give you, by the right of love, all those other
qualities of mind and heart which the soul desires, but which it is
impossible for you to possess in your own person, without neutralis-
ing those other qualities which refuse to blend with the gentler per-
fections you seek in woman, I do not know why an insuperable
repulsion should exist between qualities so congenial, and which
attract each other so vehemently until they have arrived at a cer-
tain degree of propinquity : perhaps they are too analogous: perhaps,
if we were able to trace up those elementary principles of character,
we should find that they are too near akin to blend into one, and
as it were " within forbidden degrees ; " but I have always thought
that every man who is a definite character, and desires to maintain
the integrity of that character, must (unconsciously) sacrifice many
beautifid qualities, which have a tendency towards perfection, and
which he would willingly have drawn into his own, were it possible
to do so without unbalancing the unity of his soul : and thus arises
a perpetual inquietude, which can never be satisfied, until he has
met another and analogous character which is in many respects the
converse of his own. If I am right in this theory of love, it is
evident that love is not a want, far less a necessity, to anyone that
has not himself a character ; and also that every person that has, or
rather is, a character must always be restless and incomplete, until
he has found a kindred spirit which bears the same (converse) rela-
tion to his own that a seal bears to its own impression. And if it
be objected to this that it supposes the existence of motives in the
disposal of our affections of which we are not conscious, and that
all our knowledge of the internal world must be derived from
individual consciousness, I reply, that I admit the entire develop-
ment of our affections to be unconscious, as the system of our
bodies is being daily carried on without our knowledge. Nay,
in both instances our health is in proportion to our ignorance.
What healthy man ever felt the weight of his body ? what man of

2 M

530 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1832,

a balanced and serene mind ever felt the weight of his soul ? Meta-
physics, which principally consists in the analysis of our conscious-
ness, is my great passion ; but it shall have no place in my Utopia,
because like the science of medicine it is at once the sign and cure
of disease. But who has ever brought home to our consciousness
the principles of beauty (assuredly parts of the latent heat of our
minds, although no aerial thermometer has yet been invented
sufficiently delicate to extract them from our individual conscious-
ness), of sublimity, of harmony, or of virtue ? And if, as I believe,
all these are to be referred to one head, harmony, and the pleasure
we derive from all these consists in the conception (not perception)
of symmetry, what is the reason that unconnected theories of the
several arts are daily put forward ; that virtue is generally sup-
posed to consist merely in action ; that morality is almost always
supposed to be a contrivance, of which the purpose is utility, as if
utility could ever, even in the most comprehensive meaning of the
word, be more than a means ? Above all, what is the reason that,
to this day, the pleasure we receive from music is considered
sensuous ? I am not one of those who ridicule Aristotle's method
of accounting for the beauty of circles by an unconscious reference
to Infinity ; regarding this last as the positive idea of the mind,
both when mathematically and morally applied, and all our other
notions of Space and Time, as well as all imperfect conceptions of
moral and physical beauty, as but subtractions from this original
idea, and therefore as themselves merely negative; and I am inclined
to think that the beauty of a circle consists of its being an emblem
of Infinity in all its modes ; but apart from this, surely nothing
can be more absurd than the question, if it be so, " why do we not
all know it, and why have we not always felt it ? " The answer
seems to me to be this : why do you not know the method by which
you calculate distance ? why are you not aware of the intricate
process by which you ascertain the sizes of objects ? or, if you are
now aware of that process, why is it that you are not, and cannot
be, conscious of the same ? On the whole then, the more I think on
the subject, the more convinced I am that although we are not
conscious of the process of mind through which we pass, Love as
a principle is simply the love of perfection, or the Elder Eros of the
Greeks, whom Hesiod describes as being as old as the earth itself,
and therefore much older than our terrestrial existence ; and that

A.ETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 531

love as a passion is the same affection directed to an individual,
enlivened by doubt, concentrated and made intense by gratitude,
and fixed by permanent and exclusive possession. In this last state
the primitive affection or rather aspiration begins to lose its inte-
grity and unity. It was at first a central and centre-seeking prin-
ciple which drew everything into itself ; it has changed the mode
of its action ; radiating from a centre and infinitely extending its
circumference it embraces all things and transfigures all that it
embraces. Pervading our whole being, it gradually associates
itself, and at last by habit weds itself, to all our other sympathies,
with which it is originally and philosophically unconnected : it
grows first more human, next more earthly, less exalted, though
not less innocent, than in its original state ; more a part of the
soul, less a part of the spirit, the real self ; and becoming, like our
other affections, a complicated union of habit, convenience, associa-
tion, &c., it becomes subject to decay, like everything else, whether
physical or moral, that is not elementary and one. At this period
I am afraid that love would generally die, were it not, like our
other affections, purified by trial, by absence, by a sacred commu-
nity of sorrows, cemented by all the changes of the past and by an
unchanging future ; above all, were it not maintained by duty,
which like the leathern girdle we brace around our waists when
about to ascend a mountain, supports and invigorates us through
the up-hill journey of life. I therefore do think that love is
necessary for you ; but in your last letter you speak so coldly
on the subject that I am afraid it has now no permanent place in
your thoughts.

No doubt mere amiability would not be enough for you in a
woman. There must be a certain loftiness of habitual feeling, a
spiritual equability of soul. This is seldom to be found except
amongst tbe very young, or those the qualities of whose soul have
been allowed gradually, slowly, and tmconsciously, to develop them-
selves. I really think that one reason we so seldom meet with a
noble and complete character is, that parents do so much for their
children in early years, allowing them to do so little for them-
selves. In a warm atmosphere of affection, the human bud ought
to be allowed to put forth its petals " at its own sweet will " until
it has grown to its full form and stands out perfect and clear, as
the idea in the mind of the painter or mathematician, self-

2 M 2

532 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

developed and entire. Now tlie modern system of education,
particularly that of the Utilitarians, is a manufacture of character
— of that which has already heen a creation, conceived in the com-
prehensive imagination of the Deity, and proceeding perfect and
abstract out of that creative energy. Here, of course, I speak of
the spirit of the man, not of his soul, of the permanent and the
pure, not of the transitory and the fallen ; in a word, of man's
intense self, before it was connected with what is earthly and
human, and before matter and cii'cumstance, which are personified
by -i33schylus as " Force " and " Strength," have enchained Pro-
metheus. Young people are but formally directed to particular
actions and habits, instead of being shown the manner in which
the highest principles of right and wrong apply themselves to the
circumstances of the time .and place. Thus the understanding is
constantly cultivated, the reason hardly at all. Men are taught
thoughts, instead of being taught to think. Women are made to
understand moral principles, seldom trained to comprehend them ;
these are accordingly for the most part things outside our intelli-
gences, and thus we talk of " our souls " as if we tcere bodies. The
mind is turned into a muddy though useful channel, and the affec-
tions themselves become mixed, until even our good actions have
ceased to be disinterested. Thus we meet with the love of glory,
instead of the desire of perfection ; for pmity we find the negative
virtue of propriety ; for generosity we find good-nature, that slob-
bering virtue of the indolently selfish. In this wretched attempt
to make what can no more be made than a tree — a character — the
result is generally a bundle of fractional thoughts, feelings, preju-
dices, an " entertaining miscellany," but no character : for that
delicate thing has long since fallen to pieces, like a manuscript of
Herculaneum in the coarse hands of those who would have torn
open what they found sealed, for the purpose of deciphering that
which must for ever remain unknown. I think that women have
suffered even more than men in this demoralizing system. It is the
fashion to cry up women for a great many perfections ; I think you
would require one whom you could love for a few. A great many
are wholly inconsistent with an ideal character : what is wanting
in number should be made up in degree. I could not love any
woman who had not a perfectly open and generous disposition, in-
volving a kind of catholic piety ; and secondly a certain profound.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 533

unconscious sense of beauty, imparting a successive melody to all
her actions and harmony to all her thoughts ; a principle mani-
fested in everything, in her mode of thinking, acting, and feeling,
in her voice, gestures, and countenance. There is an instinctive
grace of mind, which can never be taught, but which, where it
exists, is everywhere visible ; principally in the ebbing and flowing
of the mind, a tide in which the thoughts are accustomed to flow,
when attracted by some remote but powerful influence unknown
to us, at least not named amongst our constellations. This ten-
dency of the thoughts, after the contemplative and imaginative
reason has been put into motion, is in woman what genius is in
man — an exquisite sensitiveness to all external and internal im-
pressions of beauty, analogous to what in music is called a fine
ear. . . . Do you not think that Herschel and Coleridge would at
least for a time make you forget the painful scenes through which
you have lately passed — passed I thoroughly believe for the better
— if you do not too much indulge in the voluptuousness of grief.
Believe me,' &c.

' P. S. — I have opened my letter to tell you I have just re-
ceived your letter to Lady Dunraven, in which you say you will
go. I am delighted at this, and shall direct to you through my
uncle. " You will see Coleridge, he who sits obscure. . . . " '

The first stage of his journey is thus related in a letter to his
sister Eliza.

From W. E.. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

' Mai^chester, Royal Hotel,
' 3Iarch 15, 1832.

' A few minutes after we arrived in Dawson-street, the coach
for Kingstown came and took us to the packet. . . • We landed
in Liverpool at a little after seven, having thus had a passage of
about fourteen hours, and we went to the King's Arms in Castle-
street, where I left Lord Adare and Francis Groold to breakfast
and amuse themselves, while I set out to walk to the Miss Law-
rences'. They could not at the hotel direct me to their house, so I
thought I would try the Post Office for information : and there,
though I was too early to find the ofiico open, I met a very civil

534 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

groom (as I tookliim to be), who was also waiting for the opening
of the office, and who knew where the Miss Lawrences lived, and
gave me some useful directions. He thought they were only about
three miles from Liverpool, which agreed with my faint recollec-
tion of the distance, and determined me to walk, though for this I
had perhaps a better reason in the cars not being yet on the stand.
However if you remind me of the hundred excuses for not ringing
the bells of a city in a royal progress, of which the first was that
they had no bells to ring, I shall answer that I might have waited
a little while, and probably would have done so, if I had known
that the distance was really six miles instead of three. As it was,
between many goings astray and disappointments as to the ex-
pected shortness of my walk, I grew at last quite ravenous, not
having eaten anything since my parting breakfast at the Obser-
vatory, except the fragment which I snatched up at Cumberland-
street. So I went into a shop for selling all things, at Wavertree,
a village about three miles from Liverpool, and having luckily a
sixpence in my pocket, I spent it to my great satisfaction on sun-
dry refreshments, including a draught of milk, and some bean-
shaped almonds, of which I reserved a part for the children at the
Grange, the nephews and nieces of the Miss Lawrences : forgetting
that four years and a-half must have made a great change in these
children, and that they would perhaps have disdained my almonds
if I had found them at home, which I did not happen to do. As
I went along, refreshed by my milk, and munching my almonds, I
passed some very large but smooth stones, and an odd thought came
into my head. It occurred to me, that some gigantic creatui'es
might find the same pleasure in munching the stones, which had
much the shape of my almonds, as I in my human confectionery.
Herschel, in his Discourse on the study of NatuyaJ Philosophy, re-
marks that a person who saw the effects of a boiler of a steam
engine without being allowed to examine its contents might guess,
and might maintain with great plausibility, that the boiler was the
den of some powerful unknown animal, which was nourished by
the carbon of the coals. I saw one of these monsters feeding, in
the same morning-walk of which I was speaking just now. For,
attracted by two tall pillars, of which one was sending forth steam,
and which seemed enclosed curiously within a large walled area, I
passed in at a little open gate and went down a little ladder, and

A.ETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 535

looked over a kind of precipice, where, at tlie foot, I saw to my
great astonishment a part of the celebrated railway, no part of
which I had seen before. But more of the railway just now. Let
me finish my visit to the Grange. I came to the gate at last, and
considering my unlocal memory I pride myself on remembering
the place when I reached it. Many associations came on me at
once, the proof sheets I had corrected in the walks, the poems I
had thought of, the diagrams I had drawn on the ground. I found
all the Miss Lawrences at home, and Miss Harriet wonderfully
better. Many inquiries were made for my sisters, for aunt or
rather cousin Mary and other Huttons, and for the Ellis family.
They told me that the Hamiltons of Sheep Hill had been very in-
timate with the Ellises, which lessens the pain that I had felt at
the thought of Abbotstown passing to a stranger. And I had the
pleasure of hearing many anecdotes of the early life of Coleridge,
and of getting, what I had not all expected, a letter of introduction
to him which may be very useful. It was from the eldest Miss
Lawrence, who had known him when a young man. Another
thing which gave me an unexpected pleasure was my hearing that
young Noakes,* the calculating boy, whom you may remember
seeing at the Observatory about four years ago, and whom I had
not heard of since, is now well placed, by subscription, at a school
in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, which we would have visited if
time had allowed. As it was, after a substantial luncheon, and
some Scotch ale which reminded me of Edinburgh and of Wallace
(not the hero, but the Professor), I returned to Liverpool in a car
with Miss Arabella Lawrence, and after visiting the Roscoes with
her, I joined my party at the hotel, and soon we were on the rail-
way, which I see I have no room to describe, though it is really
worthy of description. In coming from the railway to this hotel,
I was obliged by want of room to get on top of the luggage on the
roof of the omnibus ; and most lucky it was, for there I detected
my pillow-case of papers opening, and Laplace's Calculus of Pro^
bahiUties just beginning to put out its head. Though I am almost
sure that nothing was lost, yet look whether Kant is safe, and
believe me,' &c.

Supra, pp. 259, 252.

536 Life of Sir Williaiii Rcwin Hamilton. [1832.

The letters next given narrate Hamilton's proceedings in
London, and tell of the impression produced upon him by his
interviews with Coleridge.

From the Same to the Same.

' Btjrlington Hotel, Loudon,

March 21, 1832.

* I would have sooner written from this place, if I had not
written a long letter on my way from either Manchester or Bir-
mingham, which I hope you have received. We arrived here on
Saturday evening, and the next day I went to Highgate, and
found out the house of Mr. Grillman, with whom Coleridge has
long been living. Mrs. Gillman told me that Coleridge was not
well, and she feared that he could not see me, even during the
week which I expected to spend in London ; however she took to
his room my card and Miss Lawrence's letter, and she brought me
down word that he would see me on Tuesday at four o'clock. This
was quite as much as I had expected ; and my reason for going so
soon to Highgate was not so much any hope of immediately being
admitted to see Coleridge, as a wish to learn whether he might be
disposed to make any appointment by which I might regulate my
other arrangements. From Highgate I walked back by myself,
and on the whole I have succeeded better in finding my way
through this enormous city than I had any reason to expect. Lon-
don differs from my former idea of it, chiefly in being, or appear-
ing to me, more beautiful and less populous than I had thought.
We are in a very convenient part of it, not far from the prin-
cipal places, for example the House of Commons, at which I have
been for the two last nights, attending the debate on the third
reading of the Reform Bill. Mr. Spring Rice wrote to the
Speaker to have me put on the Speaker's list, so that I am
allowed to sit under the gallery, within a bench or two of the
Members, and in a good position for seeing and hearing. The
debates have delighted me, and I had no idea beforehand of the
effect of hearing spoken what in substance, and even in words,
differs little from the newspaper reports. In particular I enjoyed
the replies of Croker to Macaulay on Monday, and of Sir Thomas
Denman to Sir Charles Wetherell on Tuesday night. But the

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 537

most striking speech of all, and one the effect of which I shall not
easily forget, was that of Colonel Perceval last night. He rose
not far from me soon after twelve o'clock, and with a countenance
and gesture of such fervid and impassioned enthusiasm as one
might imagine in an inspired pythoness or prophet, he poured
forth, from one of the highest benches on the centre of the Opposi-
tion side, a torrent of awful denunciation upon the House, the
Ministry, and the Country. He told the House that they had
refused to humble themselves before that God in whose name
they sat there, but at the mention of whose name even then the
sneer and the titter went round. They had made the people their
Grod ; and whether with regard to the pestilence that was now
abroad, or to the new constitution which they were now seeking
to establish, had made no reference, or none but in obedience to
the people, to the only true Divinity. Their work, therefore, in
wliich they were now engaged in their own strength, would not
prosper : but the storm which was even now whistling about their
walls would descend and desolate the land. The pestilence, which
they had despised, would rage, and the sword would be let loose.
The Church would be swept away along with that State with
which it had formed an adulterous and unholy alliance. To the
Ministers he said that they were not faithful to their king : they
thought they had him in a net, but he would be delivered, for he
was the Lord's anointed. On all he called to humble themselves,
if perhaps they might yet find mercy. You are to imagine this
denunciation uttered, sometimes amid clamorous outcry above
which his voice rose triumphant, and throughout amid the most
marked and studied expressions, by voice and gesture, of im-
patience and contempt : and when you add to this picture the
wildness of his own action, face and eye, and the appropriateness
which some of his remarks derived from the recent discussions on
the probable or at least possible overthrow of aristocracy, church
and throne, and the certainty admitted by all, of great changes
effected and approaching : when also you remember that I am a
reformer chiefly because I prefer a gradual to a sudden revolu-
tion, you will not wonder that I was strongly and aw^fully re-
minded of him who ran for years about the devoted city of the
Jews, crying " Woe, Woe, to Jerusalem ! " The debate at length
was adjourned in confusion, and is to be resumed on Thursday, on

538 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

which night, however, I fear that I shall scarcely be able to attend,
as I dine with the Royal Society. On Saturday evening I am to
be at a scientific conversazione at Kensington Palace, being invited
by the Duke of Sussex. On the intermediate day I am to see Cole-
ridge again, having already had yesterday an interview with him of
an hour and a-half, which did not at all disappoint me. I have also
seen galleries and museums, and in short my companions think I
am more at home in London than they are. They are now wait-
ing for me to walk out with them, and I must go. Lord Adare's
eyes have been declared by Alexander to be in a perfectly safe
state. Next week we shall go, I suppose, to Slough.'

From W. R. Hamilton to Aubrey De Yere.

'London, Buelington Hotel,

' March 27, 1832.

' Your long letter forwarded to me by Mr. Rice (who has in
many other ways been very attentive and obliging) has given me
much pleasure, and in return I shall give you some sketch of my
proceedings since I left the Observatory. I was delighted to find
myself on board a packet again, and to feel the sea breeze and see
the waves, although I did not escape sea-sickness so well as on
some former occasions. The railway too amused and astonished
me, though I do not quite regard it as the greatest achievement of
the human intellect, which I have some faint recollection of hear-
ing it called by somebody. We arrived in London on a Saturday
night, and the next day I made my way to Coleridge, at least to
the house at which he has for some years lived, with a family who
seem to be attached to him, and far from commonplace them-
selves. Mrs. Gillman, the mistress of the house, told me that
Coleridge had been confined for some time to his room, and that
she feared he could not see me during my present visit to London ;
however, she took up my card and a letter of introduction, which
I had unexpectedly obtained at Liverpool, and she brought me
word that he would see me on Tuesday at four o'clock, at which
time I accordingly had an interview in his bedroom, and was not
at all disappointed. The interview lasted for an hour and a-half,
during the last five minutes of which time his dinner was on the

AKTAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 539

table. Another visit was fixed for Friday, and I saw him then
for two hours. Both interviews interested me very much, but I
shall not attempt to describe them, because I feel it almost an
injury to the sense of grandeur and infinity with which the u-hole
impressed me then, to try to recall the details now, even in my
own mind and silently, much more aloud and to others. My
scientific engagements having multiplied, and being more a matter
of business, I did not ask for any third appointment with Coleridge,
especially as after a visit to him I am too late for any dinner party ;
but I hope to see him once again before I return to Ireland. Adare
and I have seen many of our scientific acquaintances and other men
of science, especially at a great conversazione given by the Duke of
Sussex on Saturday evening last. We have met Sir John Herschel
and Sir James South, and are invited to visit both. I have seen
some fine paintings, and have heard some good speaking in Parlia-
ment ; being assisted in both by the kindness of Mr. Eice. On the
whole, you see that my visit to London, though made to gratify
Adare and his friends, has produced much pleasure to myself,
especially the opportunity of seeing Coleridge, and of procuring
the autograph which I have sent to Lady De Vere. But my visit
has failed to give me any new hope or wish or impulse, which I
can think likely to have an abiding influence. Yet, if ardour be
gone, it would be ungrateful and untrue to say that it has been
succeeded by utter gloom or mere stagnation. Pleasant rufflings
there are, of momentary hope, sometimes, and the ideas of the
Reason send down their holy light for ever. This light, indeed, I
love and feed upon : but that on such ethereal element I can feed
and live ; that without hope or wish, of any strength or per-
manency, except of drinking deeper at the Fountain of the Peason,
and holding a closer communion with eternal things, I can pre-
serve that vigour which others draw from ardour for some finite
aim, and can escape the gulf of bodily and mental indolence, I
dare not yet affirm. Very indolent, however, I must grow, before
I can think it troublesome to answer your letters, and greatly
changed before I can cease to be, dear Aubrey, most truly yours.'

Respecting the autograph of Coleridge sent to Lady De Vere,
I find copied out in a manuscript book a very full and interesting-
record headed ' Personal Notes about Coleridge." It does not

540 Life of Sir William Roivan HamiltoJi. [1832.

appear wlien these notes were made, but it is to be inferred that,
when they were first written, more than a year had elapsed from
the time spoken of.

' I remember that when I visited Coleridge at Highgate, near
London, as I did several times in the Spring of 1832, I had been
commissioned* by one of the De Yere family to procure in Cole-
ridge's handwriting, a copy of a short and juvenile poem of his,
an Elegy on an Infant, which had been printed in his works, and
ran (I think) nearly as follows : —

" Ere sin could blight, or sorrow fade,
Death came with friendly care ;
The opening bud to heaven conveyed.
And bade it blossom there."

Coleridge complied with the request, expressed through me, that
he would give a copy of those lines in his own hand, for that
friend of mine who wished to have it ; but he spoke, as I remem-
ber, slightingly of them, as crude and imperfect in their execution.
In particular he thought that the word 'conveyed' sounded too
like a carrier\ business. He extemporised an altered set of lines,
on the same subject, of which I have just found a pencilled note
in shorthand, and shall translate and transcribe it here : —

" This lovely bud, so young, so fair,
Called hence by early doom,
Just came to show how sweet a flower
In paradise would bloom."

I own that I do not see that the lines are much mended, if at all,
by that improvised alteration of which I have thus preserved a

* [Note by W. R. H.] ' This word commissioned is too strong. I am not
certain that I had even been requested by Miss De Vere to procure for her that
particular autograph of Coleridge's ; but remember perfectly well that she at
Curragh, in 1831, expressed a icish to have such an autograph of that one
short poem. On that wish I acted in 1832 : but it was not till last year (1855)
that I came by perusal of old letters, till then unread by me, though locked
up among the most precious papers of my own dear poet-sister, to understand
hoiv dee}) the vdsh must have been on the part of the survivor of another sister
who had been lost by drowning in her early girlhood, and whose " starlike love-
liness " is so beautifully and touchingly described in one of those letters that
I almost feel as if T had known her.— Obskrvatoey, March 2G, 1856. W. R. H.'

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 541

note. Mr. Coleridge was very ill at the time when the subject
was discussed or talked of between us, although he entered with
great vigour and warmth into conversation or into discourse during
every one of my visits. One day in particular, I remember that
Mrs. Gillman looked upon me, and upon him too, with no satisfied
eyes, when she found that he allowed his dinner to remain un-
touched for a considerable time after she had served it up, while
he continued talking to me, and would not let me go, which in
modesty I wished to do.

' While Coleridge spoke in a very depreciatory tone of that
elegy of his on an infant, he also spoke with comparative, and
indeed (I think) with positive satisfaction, of another very youth-
ful poem of his own, written at no long interval afterwards, and
entitled, " Time, Real and Imaginary," which is also among his
published works. He repeated this poem with some enthusiasm,
and spoke of it as proving a truly remarkable advance of his own
mind (and perhaps of his poetical powers) towards maturity, in
the year (or some such period) which had elapsed between the
dates of the two compositions.

' I remember that he also repeated those lines on Youth and
Age, in which (for instance) the couplet occurs: —

" I'll think it but a fond conceit,
It cannot be that thou art gone."

Not having the volume at hand, I quote at present from memory.
He repeated what had at that time been printed, and added a
stanza,* then unpublished, commencing with the lines

" Dew-drops are the gems of morning,
But the tears of mournful eve."

These he recited with much feeling, and I could long repeat
them, in consequence, before I had yet seen them in writing or
in print.

* This stanza was published with a preface in Blachwood'' s Magazine of June,
1830, and there called a ' sonnet.' "Writing to myself on the 14th of June, 1832,
Hamilton says : — ' I have seen Coleridge's sonnet, as he ironically calls it in
that extraordinary preface. The verses are very beautiful ; he repeated them
to me ; his recitation was very good.'

542 Life of Sb' William Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

* On tlie same scrap which contained my shorthand copy of the
altered elegy I find the following pencilled notes :

" Frere's Whistlecraft.
Gralt's Entail.
Later Fragments of Speusippus."

I remember Coleridge's mentioning the first of these works,
namely, Frere's Whistlecraft, to me, as somewhat similar to
Byron's Beppo, but as far superior in music and in delicate
touches [Beppo I believe is thought to have been suggested by
it). The other works I do not remember Coleridge speaking
of, but suppose that he did so.'

Three letters from Coleridge to Hamilton, written during the
stay of the latter in London, reflect light upon the subject-matter
of the conversations which passed at the interviews between the
two philosophers, and to these letters I add one from Coleridge
to Miss Lawrence, of immediately prior date, because linked with
them in subject as well as in time.

From, S. T. Coleridge to W. R. Hamilton.

'A2iril, 1832.

' I believe that the preceding pages contain the lines which
you did me the honour to wish to have transcribed in my own
hand. I wrote to dear Miss Lawrence in reply to the letter, to
which I owe the gratification of having seen you. I was affected,
not surprised, not disappointed, by her answer, but yet through
great affection could not wholly suppress the feeling of regret to
find her and her family still on that noiseless sand- shoal and wreck-
ing shallow of Infra-Socinianism, yclept most calumniously and
insolently, Unitarianism : as if a Tri-unitarian were not as neces-
sarily Unitarian as an apple-pie must be a pie. But you have
done me the honour of looking through my Aids to Refection ; and
you will therefore, perhaps, be aware that though I deem Uni-
tarian «sw« the very Nadir of Christianity, and far, very far worse
in relation either to the Affections, the Imagination, the Reason,
the Conscience, nay even to the Understanding, than several of the

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 543

forms of Atheism — ex. gr. than tlie Atheism of Spinoza — whose
pure spirit may it be my lot to meet, with St. John and St. Paul
smiling on him and loving him — yet I make an impassable chasm
between an and ism, and while I almost yield to the temptation
of despising Priestleyianism as the only sect that feels and ex-
presses contempt or slander of all that differ from them ; the
poison of hemlock for the old theological whiskey and its pug-
nacious effects ; yet I am persuaded that the Word works in
thousands, to whose ears the words never reached, and remained
in the portal at the unopened door. But more especially I hold
this of women. Man's heart must be in his head. Woman's
head must be in her heart. But how it is possible that a man
should entirely separate and exclude the mysteries — i.e. the philo-
sophy of Christianity — from the Traditions, as contained in the
three Gospels kutu aapKa^ and profess to believe the latter for their
sake, and on that ground alone to receive this nondescript " It " = 0,
or if it pretend to anything not as clearly delivered in the Old Tes-
tament and in the Greek moralists, a vain boast — and yet affect to
smile with contempt at the quack doctor's affidavits or oath before
the Lord Mayor — this would make me stare, if aught could excite
wonder in my mind at any folly manifested by knowing folks. Now
your tnale Unitarians are all of this class — they are knoiving fellows.
Never once have I met, or heard of, a philosopher, or a really
learned Priestleyian or Belshamite ; — Lardner, a dull man, but as
far as industry of itself can make a dull man a man of learning,
certainly a learned man, at all events a man of systematic reading,
seems to me to have oscillated between Sabellianism and Socinian-
ism ; — but mem — the Socini were Christians — though grievously
inconsistent in their logic. But it is not in the ways of logic
that we can be raised to heaven.' •

The following is a copy of the letter to Miss Lawrence referred
to in the foregoing letter to Hamilton. It is taken from a tran-
script in the handwriting of the latter.

From S. T. Coleridge to Miss La.wrence.

' Gkove, Highgate, Simclay, Ilarch, 1832.

' You, and dear dear, dear Mrs. Crompton, are among the few
sunshiny images that endear my past life to me — and I never

544 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

think of you (and often, very often do I think of you), without a
yearning of my better being towards you. I have been for more
than eighteen months on the brink of the grave, under sufferings
which have rendered the grave an object of my wishes, and only
not of my prayers, because I commit myself, poor dark creature, to
an Omniscient and All-merciful, in whom are the issues of Life and
Death — content, yea most thankful, if only His grace will preserve
in me the blessed faith that He u, and is a God that heaveth
prayer, abundant in forgiveness, and therefore to be feared — no fate,
no God as imagined by Unitarians ; a sort of, I know not what
Laic-giving Law of Gravitation, to whom prayer would be as idle
as to the law of gravity, if an undermined wall were falling upon
me ; but a God, that made the eye, and therefore shall He not see ?
who made the ear, and shall He not hear ? who made the heart of
man to love him, and shall He >jot love that creature, whose ultimate
end is to love Him ? A God who seeketh that which was lost, who
calleth back that which had gone astray — who calleth through his
own Name, Word, Son, from everlasting the Way, and the Truth,
and who became man that for poor fallen mankind He might be (not
merely announce but he) the Resurrection and the Life. Come
unto 7ne all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give
you rest ! 0 my dear Miss L. ! prize above all earthly blessings
the faith — I trust that no sophistry of shallow Infra-Socinians has
quenched it in you — that God is a God that heareth prayer. If
varied learning, if the assiduous cultivation of the reasoning Powers,
if an accurate and minute acquaintance with all the arguments of
controversial writers ; if an intimacy with the doctrines of the
Unitarians, which can only be obtained by one who for a year or
two in his early life had been a convert to them, yea a zealous and
by themselves deemed powerful supporter of their opinions ; lastly,
if the utter absence of any imaginable worldly interest that could
sway or warp the mind and affections ; if all these combined can
give any weight or authority to the opinion of a fellow-creature,
they will give weight to my adjuration, sent from my sick-bed to 3'ou,
in kind love — 0 trust, 0 trust, in your Redeemer ! in the co-eternal
Word, the only begotten, the living name of the Eternal i am,
Jehovah, Jesus !

' I shall endeavour to see Mr. Hamilton. I doubt not his
scientific attainments. I have the proofs of his taste and feeling

AJETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 545

as a poet — but believe me, my dear Miss L. ! that should the
cloud of distemper pass from over me, there needs no other pass-
port to a cordial welcome from me than a line from you, importing
that he or she possesses your esteem and regard, and that you wish
I should show attention to them. I cannot make out your address,
which I read " The Grange ; " but where that is, I know not,
and fear that the Post Office may be as ignorant as myself. I must
therefore delay the direction of my letter till I see Mr.- Hamilton :
but in all places, and independent of place, I am, my dear Miss L.,
with most affectionate recollections, your friend.'

From S. T. Coleridge to W. R. Hamilton.

'April, 4, 1832.

' Through bodily weakness and the multiplied professional
avocations of my young friend, Mr. Gillman's medical pupil, I
have not been able in the wilderness of my books, that for sixteen
years have always been intended to be catalogued and put into some
arrangement, I have not been able as yet to find the first volume
of Kant's Miscellaneous Essays. They are in five volumes, and for
the most part consist of the publications anterior to the famous
Critili of the Pure Reason.

' But — have you misunderstood me ? I have no translation,
and am aware of none — or are you a reader of the Grerman ? If
so, I trust that I shall, before you quit London, still succeed in
rummaging out the two lost volumes, one essay in Latin being an
excellent introduction to Kant's revival of the distinction between the
Noumenon = Nomen, Intelligibile, Numen — and the Phcenomenon
— hoth. potential Entities, that are only in and for the mind or the
sensation. With great respect, my dear sir, I remain your afflicted
but respectful,' «S:c.

From the Same to the Same.

lApril 6, 1832.]
Dear and respected Sir,

'I have little hope that this scrawl will reach you in time ; but
since the receipt of your kind letter, this morning, I cannot but
feel self-accused, if from any neglect on my part you should leave

2 N

546 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

England witliout having seen Mr. Green, 36 or 46, I forget which,
in Lincoln's- Inn Fields ; it is some five or six doors, Covent-
garden-ward, beyond the Royal College of Surgeons. You will be
pretty sure of finding him at home if it should be in your power
to call before 11 or 12 o'clock.

* I am much weaker than when you saw me : and have but
feeble hope of the accomplishment of your kind wishes. God's
will be done ! He knows that my first prayer is not to fall from
Him, and the faith that He is God, the I AM, the God that
heareth prayer — the Finite in the form of the Infinite = the Abso-
lute Will, the Good ; the Self-afiirmant, the Father, the I am, the
Personeity ; — the Supreme Mind, Reason, Being, the Pleroma, the
Infinite in the form of the Finite, the Unity in the form of the
Distinctity ; or lastly, in the synthesis of these, in the Life, the
Love, the Community, the Perichoresis, or Inter[cir]culation — and
that there is one only God ! And I believe in an apostasis, abso-
lutely necessary, as a posaihle event, from the absolute perfection of
Love and Goodness, and because Will is the only ground and ante-
cedent of all Being. And I believe in the descension and condescen-
sion of the Divine Spirit, Word, Father, and Incomprehensible
Ground of all — and that he is a God who seeheth that which was
lost, and that the whole world of Phsenomena is a revelation of
the Redemptive Process, of the Deus Pattens, or Deltas Ohjectiva
beginning in the separation of Life from Hades, which under the
control of the Law = Logos = Unity — becomes Nature, i.e., that
which never is but natura est, is to be, from the brute Multeity, and
Indistinction, and is to end with the union with God in the Pleroma.
I dare not hope ever to see you again in the flesh — scarcely ex-
pect to survive to the hearing of you. But be assured I have been
comforted by the fact you have given me, that there are men of
profound science who yet feel that Science, even in its most flourish-
ing state, needs a Baptism, a Regeneration in Philosophy — so call
it, if you refer to the subjective feeling — but if to the Object, then,
spite of all the contempt squandered on poor Jacob Boehmen and
Law — Theosophy. If your time should j)ermit, and your inclina-
tion impel you, to call on Mr. Green, you have only to tear off the
postscript, and send it to him.

* May God bless you, sir, and your afflicted but I trust resigned
well-wisher nay, fervent prayer, S. T. Coleridge.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 547

' [2nd.] P.S, — Should you have the opportunity, do not for-
get to remember me with love, and earnest good wishes to
Mr. Auster in Dublin. I feel confident that he is not infected
with the O'Connell palsying cholera morbus of his unhappy and
unhappy-making country. . . .'

In one of Hamilton's Manuscript Books (M. 1848, p. 101) I
find this memorandum : —

^ Nowmher 5, 1849 I shall copy here a scrap of paper

that was pencilled by me in the spring of 1832 as a memorandum
of a then recent conversation with S. T. Coleridge, on transcenden-
tal subjects, with a reference to the Idea of the Holy Trinity, in so
far as that Idea can be contemplated in Philosophy : —

Identity. ]

Distinctity in Unity.

Ipseity. Alterity
Community.

Will, Mind, Life.

Unity in Distinctity.

Kant makes ideas regulative, instead of constitutive..

' (Jan. 18th, 1850.)— See my long letter of April 19th, 1842,
to Lord Adare, on the development of this triadic distinction in
unity, between Will, Mind, and Life.'

It is to be regretted, I think, that Hamilton did not soon after
their occurrence write down his remembrances of these conversa-
tions : it will be seen that from a peculiar feeling, of which reve-
rence both for the subject and the authority formed a large portion,
he shrunk from doing so, but from my own remembrance of his
spoken reminiscences in relation to them, and from passages in the
correspondence with Mr. De Vere, I am certain that the doctrine
of the Logos, as part of the doctrine of the Trinity, was largely the
subject of Coleridge's exposition. And as Coleridge seems to have
spoken of a book on this special subject being still meditated by
him, I think it likely that Hamilton may have felt also precluded

2N2

548 Life of Sir Williavi Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

by honourable feeling from in any degree forestalKng tbe contents
of such a book. I feel it is a responsibility to report after a long
interval of time philosophical views on so high and mysterious a
subject, but having more than once heard them set forth by
Hamilton, and having from the first attached to them a value
which they still seem to me to possess, I think I am bound to the
best of my ability to convey them to the reader, asking him to
regard with indulgence the imperfections of my statement, and
acknowledging that I am not sufficiently master of the writings
and other remains of Coleridge to say how far its particulars may
be gathered from them, to this extent rendering my attempt
superfluous ; it will, however, I trust, be found in harmony with
his utterances on the subject, as it seems especially to accord with
the propositions contained in the letters which have just been
inserted.

The unity of God being adoj^ted as a paramount truth, the
supposition was made that the action of God might be regarded as
either mediate or immediate ; that the Second Person in the Holy
Trinity, the Son, the Logos, was God expressing Himself Inj external
means, that the Third Person, the Holy Spirit, was God acting im-
mediately upon every being susceptible of spiritual (or vital) influ-
ence ; that accordingly, in relation to man, while God the Father
was to be conceived of as the Supreme Source of all existence and
action and good, God the Son might be regarded as God address-
ing Himself to man, to his mind and through his mind to his spirit,
by every sensible means — through all the channels of sense that
put him in communication with external things, and that God the
Holy Ghost was God acting immediately upon the spirit of man.
In accordance with this view, it was pointed out, are the Scriptural
declarations that the Word was in the beginning with God, co-
eternal with Him, that without Him was not anything made that
was made, that by Him He made the worlds, and that He is the
Light of the world. And so it was represented that all Divine teach-
ing that comes to man through the works of Nature, through act or
language, entering the mind either by ear or eye or touch, is teach-

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 549

ing of the Son of Grod, the Divine Logos : that it is through the Son
of Grod that all manifestations of God in appearance or action, such
as are described in the Old Testament, are made, an interpreta-
tion remarkably in harmony with the current of Scriptural autho-
rity : finally, that the Incarnation of Grod in the person of Jesus
Christ was a part of this divine process, but its crowning example,
the supreme manifestation of Grod to man, Grod fully informing
and actuating a human being, and thus becoming the one Mediator
between Grod and man, the obtainer through action and suffering
of man's Redemption, the Representative of man as redeemed and
reconciled, the Divine man who through His life and death was to
draw all men to Himself and through Himself to the Father, the
Teacher of mankind by word and deed, the elder brother in whom
and through whom all were to obtain resurrection from the dead
and immortal life, and the eternal Intercessor for them at the right
hand of the Father as His only-begotten Son, and as the Son of
man, who knew through sympathy tlie infirmities of man : that
the Holy Spirit was God acting immediately upon the individual
spirit, quickening, elevating, comforting, but doing so mainly by
bringing home to that individual spirit the essence and power of
all external teaching, and specially of the teaching to the words*
the actions, the life and death, of the Son of God. It will have
been observed that in one of the above letters Sabellianism as well
as Socinianism is condemned by Coleridge ; and the considerate ex-
aminer of this view of the doctrine of the Trinity will see that it
avoids the imperfections of Sabellianism by afl&rming the co-eternity
with God of the Logos, and the combination of distinctness and
community in the action of the three Persons. This affirmation
accords with Coleridge's adoption of the terms ' perichoresis ' or
' intercirculation ' in one of the letters given above, see p. 546. In
reference to the metaphysical subdivision of Will, Mind, and Life,
to be found at the foot of the foregoing memorandum, it may be
stated, in anticipation of what is shadowed forth in the long letter of
1842 to Lord Adare, that ' Will ' is regarded as specially typical of
the Divine Father, 'Mind' of the Son, and 'Life' of the Holy Spirit.

550 Life of Sir William Rowmi Hamilton. [1832,

Soon after his last interview with Coleridge, and a pleasant
visit to Herschel at Slough — his first personal meeting with this
constant and congenial friend — Hamilton left London with Lord
Adare for Cambridge.* The letters which follow record the im-
pressions made upon him in a week of much social excitement.
Lord Adare then desiring to see his friends, the family of Sir
John Hanmer, at Shrewsbury (friends whom Hamilton had met
at Adare Manor), Hamilton accompanied him to their house,
where he spent a few quiet days, affording him leisure for mathe-
matical work ; from this resting-place the two fellow-travellers
proceeded to Holyhead, making a detour on foot to Carnarvon
and Llanberis. Hamilton was again at the Observatory on the
2nd of May, after an absence of about six weeks, benefited cer-
tainly by his excursion ; though it will be seen, from verses com-
posed upon his homeward journey, that his affections were then
disturbed by painful vicissitudes of emotion, hope having again
surged up within his breast, to sink again into despair. And it
appears that soon after his return he suffered an access of illness.

From W. E. Hamilton to Maria Edgeworth,

' Slough, March 29, 1832.

' I do not forget that I promised to write to you from this
place some account of my visit to Sir John Herschel, which visit
I have enjoyed very much. Lord Adare and I met him at the
party given by the Duke of Sussex on Saturday evening last,
where were also Captain Beaufort, Mr. Lubbock, Mr. Bail}', Mr.
Children, Professor Airy, Mr. Sheepshanks, and other remarkable
men of science, and persons eminent in other ways. We have also
been at other scientific assemblings ; we dined with Captain Beau-
fort on Monday and with Mr. Baily on Tuesday last, and walked
with Mr. Babbage yesterday to see his wonderful machine. After
returning from this walk we proceeded to Slough, and reached the
house of Sir John Herschel in a beautiful star-time, of which he

* This visit is referred to in Mr. Todliimter's ' Writings and Letters of Dr.
"Whewell,' vol. i. p. 59.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 551

allowed us to make great use by looking at Nebulae and double-
stars through his twenty-feet reflecting telescope. Some of these
objects were very curious, and all were novelties to us, at least as
seen through an instrument so large. Did you mount the ladder
to look into the twenty-feet ? It was great amusement to Lord
Adare and me to have so much climbing, with reflectors, equato-
rials, &c. We have just now been summoned to a " sweep " with
the twenty-feet from Lady Herschel's drawing-room, in which I
have been writing these few lines.

^ {BiirUnyton Hotel, April 3.) — Since I wrote the foregoing part
of this letter, we have been at Kensington and have seen Sir
James South's excellent observatory. We drank the health of the
Bishop of Cloyne and other scientiflc contemporaries, but parted
sober, whatever you may suspect to the contrary. Sir. J. South
has since taken us to see Mr. Ivory the mathematician, and the
optician Tulley. We have also breakfasted with Babbage, and we
propose to visit Greenwich on Thursday next, after which we shall
go to Cambridge, and then return to Dublin, having seen even
more than we expected of scientific men and things.

I have abstained wonderfully from talking of Coleridge, though
I have indulged myself by going more than once to see him, and
have not been at all disappointed. I have also had the pleasure of
seeing some good paintings and of hearing some of the debates
on the Reform Bill in both Houses of Parliament. At Captain
Beaufort's I met Mr. and Mrs. Wilson* which I was glad to do.
Mr. Spring Eice has been very obliging in many ways, and I hope
to send this letter through his ofiice. Present my best remem-
brances to Mrs. Edgeworth and to my other friends at Edge-
worthstown, and believe me,' &c.

From W. R. Hamilton to W. Wordsworth.

' Cambeidge, April 13, 1832.

* In my last letter forwarded througli Colonel Gossett, along
with one from my sister to Miss Wordsworth, I gave some account
of my unsuccessful attachment to Miss De Vere, and sent you
many verses. Those entitled The Graven Tree which are copied

♦ Supra, p. 236.

552 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

on this sheet, were, I think, written since. Although I could not
admit that these verses contain an exaggerated expression of feel-
ings, from the effects of which I have not yet fully recovered, I
should not like you to think that I have yielded myself up to wil-
ful gloom. From the time of my returning to the Dublin Obser-
vatory at the beginning of January, to that of my leaving it for
London with Lord Adare in March, I was diligently employed in
study, some results of which will perhaps appear in the next
volume of our Irish Tranmctions. And during the last month I
have been engaged, busily enough, in visiting London and Cam-
bridge with my pupil, and in becoming personally acquainted with
the most eminent of my scientific brethren. We enjoyed much the
time we spent at Slough with Sir John and Lady Herschel, star-
gazing by night, and talking by day. I took the opportunity of
my being near Highgate, while in London, to make several visits
to Coleridge, which did not disappoint my expectations. Mr. Cole-
ridge received me in his bedroom, and expressed himself as having
little hope of recovering, or indeed of living long ; but in other
respects he spoke with great animation, and, as you will easily
believe, great eloquence. It was a pleasure to me, of a high and
uncommon kind, to listen thus to the words of one from whose
writings I consider myself to have derived so much of impulse and
instruction. To visit him had been my first inducement in going
to London ; to visit Herschel my second : and I did not find
reason to change my estimate of them, whether as compared
among themselves, or with other great men of the metropolis.
Since I came to Cambridge with my pupil, we have been nomi-
nally at Professor Airy's Observatory, but really in a continual
round of breakfasts, dinners and evening parties at the Uni-
versity, especially in Trinity College. At these we met Mrs.
Somerville, a lady who has lately distinguished herself by publish-
ing a commentary on Laplace, and who happens to be now visit-
ing Cambridge. I have also had the pleasure of meeting your
nephew, Mr. John Wordsworth, which was to me a very agreeable
interview. He has promised to find some way of forwarding this
letter to you ; but, that I may not encroach too much on his kind-
ness, I will not make it any longer.'

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 553

From W. R. Hamilton to Cousin Arthur.

' Shrewsbury, April 18, 1832.

' . . . I shall perhaps stay a day or two with Lord Adare in
Wales on our way back, which he wishes me very much to do, and
which I am the more unwilling to refuse him because my opportu-
nities of being useful to him as a tutor are so greatly diminished
by his not being able to read. We had the pleasure of meeting in
Cambridge, as well as in London, many persons with whose names
we had been before familiar : among the eminent was Mrs. Somer-
ville, of whom perhaps you had heard as having lately published a
commentary on the Micaniqiie Celeste. Her visit to Cambridge
exactly fell in with ours, for she spent there the same week that
we did. The consequence was that we lived for that week in a
continual round of engagements, and found Cambridge so gay,
that Airy, who hates ladies' parties, complains that we shall have
gone away with quite a false and unjust notion of the University.
To correct this notion a little, he dined with us in Hall on Sunday
last ; that is, in the great diniug-room of Trinity College, among
the Fellows and Undergraduates. Into this Hall looks down an
old window of old times, which was shown to me in the evening
by Dr. Wordsworth, the brother of the poet, and the Master of
Trinity College, Cambridge, an office which, as you know, answers
to that of our Provost in Dublin. Besides the persons that I
have mentioned, we met Whewell, Sedgwick, Peacock, Murphy,
and other scientific men whom we were glad to see and talk with :
and on the whole you perceive that we have enjoyed our visit to
Cambridge.'

From W. R. Hamilton to Aubrey De Vere.

' Observatoet, May 7, 1832.

' You will be glad to hear that I have returned to the Obser-
vatory in a better state of health of body and mind than that in
which I left it, and in a mood more cheerful than that in which I
wrote to you from London. My continued personal intercourse
with the scientific men of England assisted certainly in producing
this result. Whatsoever may be my own opinion respecting their
habits of thought or of thoughtlessness on the subjects which in-

554 Zy^ of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

terest me most, I could not see without pleasure and deep joy so
many vigorous minds among my English fellow-countrymen en-
gaged in researches of Science, and winning to themselves man-
sions above the earth, though beneath the highest heaven. Nor
was it little to feel that I had provided myself against the hours of
mourning over obscured Philosophy, and of regret that the cham-
pions of Science are not her champions also, with recollections of
personal and friendly intercourse, of hands clasped in generous
trust, and of sitting at table together. In some indeed, at least in
Whewell at Cambridge, I thought with delight that I perceived a
philosophical spirit more deep and true than I had dared to hope
for. And among my personal gratifications, I could not but assign
a high place to the pleasure of introducing my pupil to so many
eminent persons, and of finding him so well received. After we
had left Cambridge we spent a week with the Hanmers, and
another in North Wales, where we saw much beautiful scenery,
and took much bodily exercise, which assisted, no doubt, to restore
me to vigour and cheerfulness. My heart even expanded to hope,
and some verses,* which I shall send you with this letter, were
written imder the influence of that feeling. You need not be at
pains to refute this hope, as if it were a logical deduction, and not
rather a transient struggle, a hectic bloom, a momentary life,
which, conscious of the absence of all outward aliment, and the
array of all antagonist probability, died soon away. I have not,
however, relapsed into that Trophonian state described in some
earlier lines,t which I shall also send you. But I am ashamed of
talking always of myself, instead of expressing my anxiety respect-
ing the preparations for your University career. . . . '

From Aubrey De Yere io W. R. Hamilton.

< May 20, 1832.

' I am delighted to see by your last letter that your spirits are
really improved by the variety of scenes through which you have
lately passed : indeed I had very strong hopes that the society of
the greatest men in England, for it is these with whom you have

* ' There was a frost about my heart,' infra, p. 560.

t ' Not with unchanged existence I emerge,' infra, p. 560.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 555

been mixing, wonld contribute to restore that healthful buoyancy
of spirit which you have so long been without. How very much
you must have eujoj-ed your intercourse with so many great men,
" an equal amongst mightiest energies." Even the want of sym-
pathy with you upon metaphysical subjects, which you observed in
all of them, could scarcely prevent this being a real pleasure ; in-
deed but for this great gulf between you, I think the nature of your
enjoyment would have been very different, you would have got
into an argument, and then your pleasure would have become the
certaminis (jaudium. Surely, however, you must have found some-
thing with which you could sympathise in Coleridge. I am sure
you enjoyed your interviews with him more than your conversa-
tions with any of the rest. I have been so much in the habit of
considering Coleridge rather as a prodigious faculty than a mind,
that I was afraid that the high expectations you had formed of
him would have been disappointed. There would have been some-
thing chilling in this ; indeed I have lately learned to think the
necessity of separating the ideal of a particular person, which is
so apt to grow up within our mind until it has grown into it, from
the object with which it has been long connected, one of the most
painful things that can befall us. If after this divorce we con-
tinue to enshrine the ideal within the penetralia of the heart, the
indulgence is ineffectual, because there remains nothing except
habit to prevent our sympathy for what is excellent from becoming
resolved into a vague though high aspiration; and even in the
physical world such a resolution of the concentrated into the aerial
is accompanied with a freezing coldness. If on the other hand we
tear up the ideal itself by the roots, we seem to rend away many
of the tendrils of the heart along with it — at all events we leave a
painful void within the soul, which we are often obliged to fill up
with an unwholesome aliment merely to appease nature's " ab-
horrence of a vacuum." But this can never apply to such feelings
as you entertain towards Coleridge. You seem to have been com-
pletely satisfied with him. You ought to write a poem entitled
" Coleridge visited," and then let me see it. Were the waters clear
enough to let you see the weeds at the bottom ? Above all, while
you stood on the bank could you hear the inner voice from be-
neath the superficial eddies ? You know Tennyson's exqviisite line,
" With an inner voice the river ran." I think every great man

556 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

has this under-current of thought, peculiarly his own, continually
flowing forward with a grave and perfect harmony; it is what
characterises him, what separates him from other great men ; it is a
certain tendency of his spirit which is often called his bias, or
his way of seeing things, although in truth a much more pro-
found principle. I have been trying this long time to get Shake-
speare's Sonnets, as you alluded to them in one of your letters, and
I have never seen them. Do you think that they are at Adare ?
I assure j^ou, you are very much mistaken if you think that my
University preparations can ever be nearly as interesting to me as
writing to you, and hearing from you — the last is the greatest
pleasure I have. As for my University course, I really care very
little about that at present. I should not be much gratified at get-
ting a few premiums, and I have been so long engaged in studying
English poetry and metaphysics, together with the more advanced
classics, that I think the effort and sacrifice of time would not be
at all repaid by the remote chance of getting high honours. I am
afraid you will laugh at the expression, English metaphysics, but
you must admit that we have many noble philosophical works
amongst the writings of our theologians. What do you say to
Taylor and Skelton ? I have a particular dislike to almost all the
University course. I cannot bear the idea of reading over again
Titjjre, til patulce or Jam satis terris. I hate Juvenal, never could
understand Persius, and indeed think very little of Latin poetry.
It was an imitative, not a creative art. People say what a poet
Lucretius was if he had not been an Epicurean : how could any
great man be an Epicurean ? I am not devoid of ambition, I must
confess; but mine has taken another direction. I am extremely
anxious at present to bring out a translation of Sophocles, and have
just finished my version of the Antigone. Will 3'ou let me send
you a stanza of the last chorus in the Grreek, for I have not made
up my mind as to the meaning, and should be very much obliged
to you for your assistance ? I was delighted with your last poem,
not only for the poetry of it, but also for the spirit in which it was
written. I cannot tell you how much obliged to you I should be
if you would send me more of your poetry. I think I told you
that I constantly read your poems with my Eolian harp in the
window ; the unison of sound and song has often brought back
scenes before my eyes with a strange distinctness.'

AETAx. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 557

From W. R. Hamilton to Aubrey De Vere.

[from a draft.]

' Obseevatoey, Maxj 28, 1832.

'You are quite right in thinking that I was completely satisfied
■with Coleridge. It is true that in your own words, which I remem-
ber to have heard Francis Edgeworth also use, Coleridge is rather to
be considered as a Faculty than as a Mind ; and I did so consider
him. I seemed rather to listen to an Oracular voice, to be circum-
fused in a Divine OjU^r), than, as in the presence of Wordsworth, to
hold commune with an exalted man. Yet had I human feelings
too, and yearnings of deep affection, as I sat in the sick chamber
and by the bed of the old and lonely Bard, the philosopher of
whom the age was not worthy, the " hooded eagle flagging wearily "
through darkness and despair, the perishing outward man whose in-
ward man was renewed day by day, and who, while feeding upon
heavenly manna, could count in his indulgent love the visits of
me among his "consolations." Since I returned to the Observa-
tory I have not yet resumed my own interrupted researches, though
perhaps I shall soon do so. But having been much alone, partly
from being slightly unwell, though little more so than served as an
excuse for bodily indolence, I have been studious enough, and
indeed have read more than I could say, with strict propriety of
language, that I had done for a long time before. For though I
had read much in Science, it had been nearly all in the way of
consultation ; inventing first, or from some slight hint proceeding,
and trying then what others on the same subject had done : so that
reading, as such, as learning the thoughts of others rather than
listening to echoes of my own, seems almost a new pleasure, which I
have but lately tasted, since the days at least when I first read Euclid
and Newton. And in this pleasure it appears to me that even one
indifferent to reputation may be more sure of the absence of vanity
than in carrying on researches of his own : and so the intellectual
delight to which he yields himself may be more free from the
alloy of self-distrust. Among the books that have most charmed
me lately is the Almagest of Ptolemy, the world's astronomical
bible for a thousand years, though banished now to the moon's
limbo, or beyond. I have been reading it in Greek, finding that

558 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton, [1832.

easier and more pleasant than a Frencli translation which I possess,
but which has resolved all the philosophy, true or false, and all the
dignity of stjde, into a heap of unconnected prettinesses of thoughts
and words. In reading the original I am much assisted by my
acquaintance with astronomical terms, of which, in European
languages, many are derived from Greek or formed by Greek
analogies : so that you must not give me credit for more classical
knowledge than I possess, or suppose that I shall be found a useful
assistant, however willing, in your Sophoclean inquiries. Indeed
my classical books are nearly all absent from me now, especially
my Lexicons, on the service of one friend or another, and I never
in my best times was so well acquainted with the Greek Dramatists
as I ought to have been. Perhaps I may be tempted to repair this
omission when a new opportunity and impulse shall be given to my-
self and others, by the appearance of your translations. In com-
pliance with your invitation, I send you some verses of my own,
along with which accept two sonnets of Shakespeare, and believe
me, dear Aubrey, most truly yours.

' (I hear that Francis Edge worth is very happy at Florence,
with his bride.)

' [The Poems which I sent with this letter were, of my own,
" Was it a Dream ? " and " On a wild Sea " ; and of Shakespeare,
the sonnets, *' When to the sessions of sweet, silent thought," and
" So am I as the rich."] ' *

From W. R. Hamilton to S. T. Coleridge.

[from a draft.]

' DuBLiif Obseevatokt,

' June 14, 1832.

' I am concerned to think that by my long silence I may have
appeared to set little value on that on which I really set much —
your letter to me when I was leaving London, in which you gave
me an introduction to Mr. Green. In consequence of that letter,
I went twice to the house of Mr. Green, and I was so fortunate as
to find him at home on the last day of my being in London. I

* Note by W. R. H.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 559

enjoyed my interview with him very much, both for his own sake
and on account of his being a friend of yours. My visits to your-
self I remember with still greater pleasure, and feel your kindness
in permitting me to see you at a time when you were so far from
well. May I hope that the progress of summer has somewhat
improved your health ? After I had left you, I spent a week in
Cambridge, where I met many eminent men, and one distinguished
woman, Mrs. Somerville, who has lately published a kind of Com-
mentary on Laplace, which shows high mathematical attainments.
In Cambridge I observed much scientific activity, though little
taste for metaphysics, or as I would prefer to call it, for philosophy.
Professor Whewell, a man of great variety of mind, appeared to me
to have more of the philosophical spirit than any other whom I met
there. But those whom I met were chiefly men of professed science ;
and with all my own devotion to scientific studies, I cannot but
perceive and acknowledge that they are too apt to absorb the mind,
and leave it little leisure or inclination for the profounder and
more important meditations of philosophy. In my own case,
though the inclination certainly exists, the leisure at least, and
perhaps the power, has always been wanting, and my philosophical
attainments are very low indeed. It was not therefore from any
belief of my own superior progress that I lately wrote respecting
my English scientific brethren the following sentences to a friend :
" Whatever may be my own opinion," &c.*

' I hope to see many of these scientific friends at Oxford next
week, at the second annual meeting of the British Association of
Science, which was formed at York last year. It is a subject of
great regret to me that my distance from London leaves me so
little opportunity of profiting by your conversation. There are
many philosophical questions on which I would much enjoy hear-
ing your opinions, though I can scarcely venture to ask you to
write to me upon them. If, however, you should at any time be
disposed to favour me with a letter, I shall set great value upon it.
The verses on the present sheetf are not sent as if they possessed
any poetical merit, but because they may possibly interest you,
partly as written by one whom you received so kindly, and partly

* Supra, p. 553. f What these were does not appear.

560 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

as containing an allusion to Mr. Wordsworth. Mr. Anster was
not in Dublin when I called at his house to give your message of
regard. With respectful remembrance to Mrs. Gillman, I am/ &c.

I now give the verses which have been referred to in previous
letters. A manuscript book into which the following lines were
copied states that they were composed ' during a very melancholy
as well as solitary walk along the banks of a gloomy lake, namely,
Llanberis, in Wales.'

* Not with unchanged existence I emerge
From that Trophonian cavern : not unchUl'd
Have breathed laboriously its dull, dank air,
Wrestled with shapes of pain and fear, and been
In mysteries of grief initiate.
Buried with hope all gentle wishes lie :
But oh, could Hope revive, how soon would they !

' April 30, 1832.'

The entry in the manuscript book continues : — ' Contrast with
the foregoing the All Hallow E'en lines of 1831,* written six months
sooner, of which it is after all a not unnatural consequence or corol-
lary. The unrestrained abandonment — not submission — of those
lines argued a frame of mind which was not unlikely to be suc-
ceeded after a while by disappointment, struggle and despondence.'

The succeeding verses were composed ' in (or 'on) the coach
from Bangor to the Menai Bridge, on the day after those last
given,' and Hamilton notes that he remembers reciting them to
himself while pacing the deck of the packet at night.

' There was a frost about my heart,
A cold and heavy chain.
But I have felt the frost depart,
And I am free again.

Free ! and anew Love's holy flame,
Hope-fed, about me plays :
Free ! and I mm-mur o'er her name,
As in the former days.

* Supra, p. 481.

AECAT. 2().J Early Years at the Observatory, 561

That name it was, which, murmured,
Though half unconsciously,
Recall'd, even now, fond feelings fled,
A gentle company.

0 joy ! for now the spirit-death.
The numbing trance, is o'er :

1 breathe a disenchanted breath,
Spell- bound from hope no more.

And where the hot Simoom had been,
Dews cool the arid land :
The seared leaves grow fresh and green,
The parched buds expand.

Begins anew sweet Fancy's reign ;
On absent eyes I gaze :
And murmur Ellen's name again,
As in the former days.

'May 1, 1832.'

A very beautiful and toucliing sonnet written after his return

to the Observatory, when a fortnight had elapsed, during which

he had been suffering from illness, reveals another stage of

feeling : —

* On a wild sea of passion, and of grief,
A long and fitful time, my soul hath been :
Dark days of storm, with hours of calm between ;
And bright uncurtainings of heaven, brief
But glorious as the lightning ; veiled anon
By deepest thunder- cloud, while waves without
Roared, and within rose mutiny of thought.
And the unhelmed ship went wandering ou.
Ah, why should Hope again my heart deceive,
And in the visions of the night present
Pity, and Love,. and old remembrance blent,
In eyes which I with fear-fed joy believe :
And at a reappearing shrine of youth.
Breathe a fond vow of dedicated truth !

' Maij 18, 1832.'

The following graceful lines link on with the poem written at
the beginning of the year, and entitled The Graven Tree. The
two friends commemorated are Miss Ellis of Abbotstown, whose

562 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

death prompted the memorial lines composed at Easter, 1830,*
and Miss De Yere.

' Was it a dream ? or in that cottage lone
Did one at twilight passionately stoop
Over a record of a former time,
An unforgotten gravure, and lay by
His stern and Stoic calm, and kiss a name ?
And feed on sweet and bitter thoughts, and call
Upon the Spirit of the spot to yield
From forth her treasure-cave of memory
Her guarded wealth ? The shadowy Past took shape :
And that autumnal evening rose before him,
When those lone cottage -walls, and such dusk hour,
And gleaming waterfall, and bending trees,
Were witnesses while he inscribed that name ;
A talisman to him already, though
By sorrow's potent signet not yet seal'd'
So deeply, for a sadness even then,
Won from the Past, hallow'd his pensive bliss ;
The sacredness of grief was in the air
And blended with the beauty of the place.
Not solitary only, but bereaved :
Bereaved of those two lovely ones, those friends,
Who had been wont upon their works of love,
Happy and happy -making, there to bring
To childhood (scarcely conscious of the boon,
Yet wrought upon by gradual influence,
And somewhat of their lustre slow imbibing),
Wisdom and kindness, and their innocent joy ;
Joy marr'd how soon, and friends how soon disparted I
One glorified, the other left to mourn !
And not that other only, — he too mourn'd,
Who graved the name of the surviving friend,
'Mid all the sweetness of that autumn eve.
Linking in thought the Living with the Dead,
And both with that bereaved loveliness.
And other moments rose, aU dear and holy.
There with the thoughtful Poet,t who hath wrought
And works high ministrj^ of passionless love,
Kindred of past and heir of future times,
(Though on the earth, a man 'mong brother-men,
In a sublime simplicity still dwelling).
He had held converse sweet, and his rapt soul
Had listen'd to that " old man eloquent."

* Sujn-a, p. 379. t Wordsworth.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 563

And there in many solitary moods

Of tender brooding o'er days long gone by,

Within the bower of those two friends he sat,

Before the one was taken from the earth,

Or he had known the other. Ah, perhaps,

If he had sooner known and earlier loved.

Her heart's tine tendrils might have twined round him.

0 known too late ! and yet not wholly so :

That twilight mourner wished not to forget.

' May 25, 1832.'

It seems that towards the close of May he was confined to his
room in consequence of a fall from horseback which he had met
with when riding in the Phoenix Park with his cousin Arthur.
I conjecture that it was when thus a prisoner to the house that
he composed two sonnets which were the last of which Miss De
Yere was the immediate subject. The first of them does honour
both to the composer and to his subject. It manifests his trust in
the nobility of her character, and a confidence in his right to an
honourable place in her memory, and in his power to earn the
perpetual remembrance of men.

' Sometimes I seem of her society
Not yet so desolate, so quite alone ;
Thrills through my heart some old remembered tone.
And in rapt mood again I murmur, We.
The paths of soul tee trod are trod by me ;
Is not her mingling spirit with me then ?
And if I pass into the minds of men,
If with my country's name mine blended be
In power and love, when the awful change is past.
Which makes immortal, will not, in her mind,
A tender, a peculiar joy, be twined
With memory of me ? Too sweet to last !
On the dear vision breaks the light of day,
And all the dream dissolves in air away.*

' June 3, 1832.'

* To the copy of the above sonnet in his manuscript book there is attached
by the composer a note dated January, 1850. ' Coleridge, in his " Blossoming
of the Solitary Date Tree," has the lines : —

" I listen for thy voice,
Beloved ! 'tis not thine ; thou art not there !
Then melts the bubble into idle air,
And wishing without hope I restlessly despair." '

2 0 2

564 Life of Sir William Roivan Hainilton. [1832.

One could wish that the poems prompted by this pure and high
attachment had concluded with the above sonnet ; but human nature
is weak ; and the following, composed under an access of morbid
imaginings, was the actual conclusion : —

' Methinks I am grown weaker than of old,
For weaker griefs prevail to trouble me.
In dream last night I lay beneath a tree,
And things around me many a half-tale told,
Which for a while I could interpret not,
And knew not where I was, until I heard
Approaching footsteps, and my heart was stirred
By power of Voice and Image unforgot.
Languid and faint I lay, and could not rise ;
She, when she saw me, cared not for my pain.
But passed on, with unregardful eyes.
0 that I were my former self again !
Might not the struggle of the Day suffice ?
Must Night add visions false of cold disdain ?

'June 7, 1832.'

In a letter to Aubrey De Vere written in 1856, Hamilton
refers to the two sonnets just given, and first speaking of those
old lines on The Graven Tree, he continues : —

' They are not quite so weak and morbid as that somewhat later

and very imperfect sonnet beginning with the words " Metliinks I

am grown weaker thao of old." In an Observatory we watch the

pole-star as it passes above, but also at its transit helow the pole.

The sonnet last referred to seems to mark the "lower culmination"

of my mind, in that sort of morbid gloom which overcast it about

the beginning of 1832, but from which I had perfectly rallied before

the close of that year, partly with the help of a little travelling,

but chiefly (under God) by means of a strenuous and continuous

exertion of the intellect, rewarded, among other ways, by the ^/?corf ^-

^ca/ discovery of the two kinds of cc»;M'cY//re/)'«c^'/o/^.. . . . That other

sonnet " Sometimes I seem of her society" aj)pears to myself to have

been cast in a manlier mould than the verses before alluded to in

this letter.'

It may be right here to state that in his waking hours, to the
end of his life, Hamilton never for one moment attributed to Miss

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory . 565

De Yere unfeeliugness or auy other fault in her conduct towards
him. He continued to regard her as of ideal excellence, and to
take a deep interest in her happiness. In a manuscript-book of
long subsequent date I find the following retrospect of his relation
towards her, which shows how able he was, when called upon for
judgment involving the actions of others, to go outside himself and
give weight to their distinct personality and circumstances. Per-
haps, however, it may also truly be said that when he penned this
restrospect it was in some degree coloured, or rather jaff/er/, as to his
relative age and personal attributes at the crisis referred to, by the
long lapse of intervening time and the many disturbing and wear-
ing experiences he had passed through.

[D. 1855, p. 347.] June 6, 1856. . . . ' I may mention that
I believe she thought of me merely as a scientific and poetical
person, who was liked and esteemed by her own family — and (I
fancy) as one immeasurably older than herself — a sort of lesser
Wordsworth ; and that she would almost as soon have fancied,
during the earlier part of our acquaintance, that "Wordsworth
himself would be likely to fall in love with her, as that I should.
It was (as I judged) with a sorrowful surprise, though not perhaps
without some human inter ed^^hdX she perceived at length the state
into which my feelings had (as it were) drifted.'

At the end of May, Lord Dunraven was obliged, by the advice
of the oculists consulted, to communicate to Hamilton that his son
must be withdrawn at least for six months from residence at the
Observatory, in order that by a life at home of perfect abstinence
from study he might give his eyes a chance of restored strength.
The decision was conveyed in a letter couched in most grateful and
gratifying terms ; and what were the feelings of Lord Adare on
the separation may be gathered from passages taken from letters
written by Lady Dunraven and by himself : the former writes : —

566 Life of Su' William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

From The Countess of Dunraven to W. R. Hamilton.

' Adabe, June 19, 1832.

* . . . Adare is still at Dunbrody with Lady Campbell, and so
happy and well that I am in no hurry for him to leave it. If you
could see the way he writes about you, and the affectionate regrets
he felt at leaving the Observatory as a home, you would indeed
love him. Poor fellow ! I trust the present obstacle may be re-
moved, and that he may again occupy his pretty room.'

Lord Adare somewhat later thus expresses himself : —

From the Viscount Adare to "W. R. Hamilton.

' Adare, July 8, 1832.

' . . . I hope, dear Mr. Hamilton, your mind is more calm
and settled since you returned. I wish you knew how anxious I
am for your welfare and happiness : it would be very odd, were I
not so, both from your own character, an equal to which in excel-
lence I hardly believe exists in the world, and from your being to
me the kindest and most affectionate friend I ever had.'

The departure of Lord Adare led Hamilton to seek a second
visit from Mr. Wordsworth. Several particulars of interest are
touched in his invitation and in the poet's reply ; the latter being
full of appreciating sympathy with his correspondent, and of an
affecting sadness in its contemplation of the decline of his sister
and of Coleridge, ' the two beings to whom my intellect (he says)
is most indebted.'

From W. R. Hamilton to "W. Wordsworth.

' Obseevatokt, Jxme 15, 1832.

' My last letter was written at Cambridge, and given to Mr.
John Wordsworth, your nephew, who kindly undertook to forward
it. After leaving Cambridge, our visit to which place we had en-
joyed very much, Lord Adare and I spent a few days in North

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 567

Wales among- very grand and beautiful scenery : so that between
London, Cambridge and Wales, we had seen a good deal before we
returned to the Observatory. Lord Adare has since left me, the
delicate state of his eyes and health not allowing him to study
much, and requiring, or at least making it desirable, that he should
spend some months with his family, who expressed a wish that
after some such interval he should return to me on the former
footing. Of this return, however, I am not very sanguine, though
I am sure that he wishes it himself, and indeed that his family do
so. But the temporary footing on which his absence has been put
gives me an excuse, of which I gladly avail myself, to remind you
that when you were in Ireland before, you gave us some faint hope
of your revisiting it, and to mention that we have now a very good
additional room thrown into our stock of accommodation for this
summer : so that we have two rooms perfectly to spare, and might
by contrivance make out a third. We do not forget that your
sister gave some hope of her crossing the Channel at some future
time, and you know how glad we shall be to receive her and any
others of your family. There are many besides ourselves in Ireland
who would much enjoy a visit from you. The Edgeworths you
already know, and you would find an equally glad reception from
Lord and Lady Dunraven, at Adare. Still more happy would be
Sir Aubrey De Vere and his family, at Curragh, in the neighbour-
hood of Adare, to receive one for whom they have long felt the
highest admiration. Sir Aubrey De Yere passed many years of
his boyhood in your neighbourhood, and well remembers your
lakes and mountains, and even some of your living friends, in par-
ticular Mrs. Luff, of whom I too retain a very pleasant recollection.
I am sure you would like Sir Aubrey, who, besides being a gentle-
man of very cultivated mind and a poet, is an anti-reformer. Do not
think I say this disrespectfully ; though I thought, especially last
year, that it would have been wise to concede reform, I do not
look with pleasm*e on the prospect, now too visible, of a gradual
or sudden progress to a Republic, in essence if not in form. To
return to the Curragh family, I know enough of them to feel sure
that they and you would mutually enjoy an interview, although
my own intercourse with them has been suspended, or rather broken
off, by what took place in last December. I have written many
verses lately, but the only ones with which I now trouble you are

568 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

some that relate to a beautiful cottage* to wLicli we walked together
from the Observatory, and which, with the river scenery about it,
appeared to please you at the time. To-morrow I set out for Ox-
ford, to attend there the second annual meeting of the British
Association of Science, which was formed last year at York. I do
not expect to be more than ten days away, but lest I should be
longer I shall leave this sheet with my sister, that she may fill and
send it.'

From W. WoRDsvroRTH io W. R. Hamilton.

' Moresby, June 25, 1832.

* Your former letter reached me in due time, your second from
Cambridge two or three days ago. I ought to have written to you
long since ; but really I have for some time, from private and public
causes of sorrow and apprehension, been in a great measure deprived
of those genial feelings which through life have not been so much
accompaniments of my character as vital principles of my exist-
ence. My dear sister has been languishing more than seven
months in a sick room, nor dare I or any of her friends entertain
a hope that her strength will ever be restored ; and the course of
public affairs, as I think I told you before, threatens, in my view,
destruction to the institutions of the country ; an event which, what-
ever may rise out of it hereafter, cannot but produce distress and
misery for two or three generations at least. In any times I am
but at best a poor and unpunctual correspondent, yet I am pretty
sure you would have heard from me but for this reason, therefore
let the statement pass for an apology as far as you think fit.

' The verses called forth by your love, and the disappointment
that followed, I have read with much pleasure, though grieved that
you should have suffered so much ; as poetry they derive an interest
from your philosophical pursuits which could not but recommend
the verses even to indifferent readers, and must give them in the
eyes of your friends a great charm. The style appears to me good,
and the general flow of the versification harmonious — but you deal
somewhat more in dactylic f endings and identical terminations than

Was it a dream, supra, p. 562. t Q"- double or feminine ?

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 569

I am aocustomed to think legitimate. Sincerely do I congratulate
you upon being able to continue your philosophical pursuits under
such a pressure of personal feeling.

' It gives me much pleasure that you and Coleridge liave met,
and that you were not disappointed in the conversation of a man
from whose writings you had previously drawn so much delight
and improvement. He and my beloved sister are the two beings
to whom my intellect is most indebted, and they are now proceed-
ing as it y^QYQ pari pafinn along the path of sickness — I will not say
towards the grave, but I trust towards a blessed immortality.

' It was not my intention to write so seriously ; my heart is full
and you must excuse it. You do not tell me how you like Cam-
bridge as a place — nor what you thought of its buildings and other
works of art. Did you not see Oxford as well ? surely you would
not lose the opportunity ; it has greatly the advantage over Cam-
bridge in its happy intermixture of streets, churches, and collegiate
buildings.

' I hope you found time when in London to visit the British
Museum. A fortnight ago I came hither to my son and daughter,
who are living a gentle, happy, quiet, and useful life togetber. My
daughter Dora is also with us. On this day I should have returned,
but an inflammation in my ej^es makes it unsafe for me to venture
in an open carriage, the weather being exceedingly disturbed. A
week ago appeared here Mr.W. S. Landor the poet, and author of
the " Imaginary Conversations," which probably have fallen in
your way. We had never met before, though several letters had
passed between us, and as I had not heard that he was in England
my gratification in seeing him was heightened by surprise. We
passed a day together at the house of my friend Mr. Rawson, on
the banks of Wast- Water. His conversation is lively and original,
his learning great, though lie will not allow it, and his laugh the
heartiest I have heard for a long time. It is, I think, not much
less than twenty years since he left England for France and after-
wards Ital3', where he hopes to end his days, nay, has fixed near
Florence upon the spot where he wishes to be buried. Remember
me most kindly to your sisters and all. Dora begs her love and
tlianks to your sister Eliza for her last most interesting letter,
which she will answer when she can command a frank. Ever
faithfully yours.

570 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

' I have desired Messrs. Longman to put aside for you a copy
of the new edition of my poems compressed into four volumes. It
contains nothing but what has before seen the light, but several
pieces which were not in the last. Pray direct your Dublin pub-
lisher to apply for it.'

In accordance with the intimation at the end of his letter to
Wordsworth, Hamilton proceeded on the 16tli of June to Oxford,
for the meeting of the British Association. He read in the Sections
of the Association a paper of Mr. MacCullagh's, on the Attrac-
tions of Spheroids, one of Dr. AUman's, the Dublin Professor
of Botany, on Numeral Evolution, and one of his own on the diffe-
rences and differentials of Functions of Zero, to which he added a
sketch of his researches on Systems of Rays. Among his manu-
scripts is a copy of a speech delivered by him in returning thanks
on behalf of the Royal Irish Academy, at the dinner given to the
Association in New College on the 19th of June, 1882. It is
worthy of reproduction, as a graceful expression of the feelings
stirred in him by his peculiar position as the solitary and youthful
representative of Ireland on the occasion.

'Grentlemen, I have risen at your call ; but, when I look around
on this assembly, when I see so many eminent persons before whom
I stand a stranger though a fellow-countryman, I might well be
awed into silence, and sit down in confusion again, if this personal
diffidence were not lost in that large and national feeling with
which, before the Representatives of the Science of Grreat Britain
in solemn session met, I return thanks on behalf of the Academy
of my native country. I have spoken of Ireland as my country,
and have called myself a stranger. For, however intimate may be
the union between your island and mine, and intimate I trust that
it may ever be, with an intense and increasing unity, yet the laws
of nature and of the mind of man forbid us to expect that there
ever can be so perfect a fusion, an amalgamation so absolute, as to
leave no sense of distinction ; no rivalry, though it be the rivalry
of friends and brothers ; no peculiar thought of country asso-
ciated with the peculiar place of nativity ; no centre, other than
England, from which may radiate the heroic sentiment, " England

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 571

expects that every man will do his duty." But as the States of
Greece, amid their many rivalries, and different and often hostile
recollections, had yet their Amphictyonic Council, and their Olym-
pic Grames, at which Athenian and Spartan remembered that they
were children of one common Mother, speaking one common lan-
guage, inheritors in common of great historical achievements, de-
scendants of those who had together resisted Persia, and together
listened to recited works of Grenius, which Time had already
stamped immortal: so assuredly must the hearts of Britons and
Irishmen be more and more knit together in affection by the
fraternal intercourse of their minds in this intellectual and na-
tional assembly ; this silent sense of sympathy in zeal and love for
truth ; these mutual expressions of respect, which honour alike the
giver and the receiver. Though we in Ireland have an Academy
which (we think) has added something to Science; round which
Brinkley at least has cast the lustre of his name, and which has
other labourers, less powerful but as willing ; though we have an
University of Elizabethan date, which as dutiful children we love
and honour, and (if need be) are ready to defend ; can we other-
wise than with reverence approach these Halls of Oxford ; these
old abodes where learning dwelt and flourished, before the Tudors,
before the Plantagenets, before the Norman Conquest ; this ancient
and venerable University, which was founded, perhaps restored,
by Alfred ? And while we do not waive our claim to the remem-
brance and possession of Irishmen who have adorned their native
land and done the world some service, yet, in such a place as this,
and upon such an occasion, must we not perceive within ourselves
the working of the mighty heart of this united realm, and recog-
nise our kindred with the illustrious spirits, departed and living,
of England, and feel that we too are countrymen of Shakespeare,
Milton, and Newton ? Therefore it was that though an Irishman,
and so in part a stranger, I called myself your fellow-countryman ;
and for this moral influence of your Association, not less than for
the impulse which it may give to Science, I wish it all prosperity,
and rejoice to have been present at its assembling : and accept it
as an honour, for which I can return no adequate thanks, that you
have permitted me to express the pleasure which I have derived
from your remembrance of the Royal Irish Academy.'

572 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

A poetical expression of his more personal and inner feelings
will Le read with a deeper interest.

* He could remember when in his young dreams
Of fame and country, if that ancient hall,
That synod of immortals, and himself
Ambassador of Ireland he had seen,
Tho' but in far perspective, dubiously,
It would have fired and fevered him, and torn
His heart with pangs of joy too fierce to bear.
The discipline of sorrow not in vain
Upon that youthful turbulence had wrought,
Chastening it to a tender calm : and so,
If by surrounding things a moment rapt.
And wandering a little while abroad,
Yet, ere the applauses died, be was again
Within his spirit's silent sanctuary.
In serene light of her the dweller there.'

A cheerful letter of reminiscences of the incidents of the Oxford
Meeting, written a month later to Lord Adare, may be fitly in-
serted here : it contains also interesting particulars relative to
Hamilton's own feelings and work.

From W. R. Hamilton to the Viscount Adare.

* Observatory, July 20, 1832.

' I feel that my disquisition on music was no sufficient answer
to your two affectionate letters, written from Dunhrody and from
Adare. Besides I have told you scarcely anything about Oxford,
though this omission has, I hope, in part been repaired by Miss
Goold. She has told you, I suppose, of the jokes and mistakes,
accidental or designed, of our Diluvian President ;* his saying that
Whewell reminded him of his old friends the hysenas, — having, in
intellectual things, an omnivorous appetite and an omnipotent
digestion, that Sir Thomas Brisbane had provided for our being
received, in the opposite regions of the earth, by a kindred band of
philosophers, if ever the pursuits of Science, or the laws of the
realm, should transport us to Botany Bay, and his first pronouncing
a high and just eulogium on Professor Briukley, and then exclaim-

* Dr. Buckland.

AKTAT. 20.] Early Years at the Observatory. 573

ing, Oh gentlemen, I mean Professor Hamilton ! The newspapers
which I sent you to look at, and of which I want the first for the
Provost, Avill have given you some sketch of our proceedings, and
a volume is to be published, containing the reports on the various
branches of Science which were read by invitation at the Meeting.
Airy's on Astronomy will be among them, and I shall be very glad
to have an opportunity of reading it, for I listened to it with interest
at the time. He and Sir David and Lady Brewster (besides Lord
Ashley, who in our old Dublin reports was set down as pupil of
South), were guests with me at the Observatory: and there, one
morning at breakfast. Airy and Brewster got into a kind of argu-
ment as to the management and use of Observatories and soforth,
in which I was too much interested to take much part, for I pre-
ferred to remain a spectator, and watch the combatants quietly.
And it interested and pleased me, more than I could easily express,
to observe how Airy, without principles or general views, by the
mere force of honesty and vigour of mind, influenced too perhaps
in part by the German habits of thought, through the medium of
Grerman Astronomy, was rapidly tending to those general results
which appear to me the right ones : how far, at least, he was
advanced beyond his antagonist in the discussion, who could
not conceive how an astronomer should do anything but look at
double stars — they were so new! As to Brewster, though he audi
are as nearly opposite as two persons can well be, whom the world
would class togetlier, yet I found it a very tolerable, and even not
unpleasant thing, to spend a week in his society, especially as I had
the society of so many others at the same time. "All things are
less dreadful than they seem," and a human interest and kindness
can temper usefully the sense of philosophical difference. To my
interviews with him, and with some others at Oxford, I may apply
what I said to Aubrey on my return from London and Cambridge,
that it was not little to feel that I had provided mj^self against the
hours of mourning over obscured philosophy, and of regret that
the champions of Science are not her champions also, with recollec-
tions of personal and friendly intercourse, of hands clasped in
generous trust, and of sitting at table together. Many, indeed I
think all, of those whom we had met in London and Cambridge, ex-
pressed great regret that you were not able to attend the Oxford
Meeting. You would certainly have enjoyed it, and I was just

574 Z^ of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

about to say that I wondered you did not come, till I remembered
that you were with Lady Campbell ; and that accounts for every-
thing. Did I tell you that I had lately from her a very affection-
ate letter ? I find that Grrace, in the corner which she has secured,
mentions that she thought for a short time she had the cholera —
and I shall confess to you, in confidence, that I thought yesterday
morning, being then not quite well, that it was not unlikely I might
be about to take it — a fancy which remained long enough in my
mind to make me think very seriously of death, but did not, even
at the time, disquiet or distress me, for it seemed to me that I
could have no better time to die. Do not talk of this, for it would
make people think either that I have the cholera-phobia, or that I
am really ill ; whereas I have never yet thouglit of the cholera
with fear, or agitation ; and as to illness, nothing is the matter
with me, except that I have lately been working rather too hard.
I look back, with some wonder, on the self control which I exer-
cised, and the efforts which I made in January and in the early
part of February, recorded to me by my dated papers of that time,
the investigations of which papers I am now continuing. It seems
very strange to me that this whole year should pass away with-
out my being at Adare, so many scenes and moments connected
with which are vividly before me, and not those only when E. De Y.
was present. But I continue to consider the sacrifice wise, and
even necessary. I think as tenderly as ever of E. De V., in some
respects perhaps more tenderly, but I have even less hope than
when we walked towards Dublin together through the fields, on
the day of the transit of Mercury. . . . And as to my own wishes,
however deeply I should enjoy at the time her society under any
circumstances, I know too well the danger with which it would be
attended, or rather the certain injury to my peace and energy,
such as they are, to think that I shall ever, or at least for a very
long time, have voluntarily any interview with her, unless it be as
a suitor. Perhaps, next year, my admiration and regard continu-
ing as I am sure they will, I may have courage to expose myself
again to this latter risk ; but to meet E. De. V. again, on the foot-
ing of a common acquaintance, would give me a more exquisite
pain than even a new disappointment : and I should be in constant
fear of such a meeting if I were in Adare this year. As to the
line on which you remarked, I know it is odd enough, and if I

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 575

make no change in it you mnst not suppose that I am not glad to
hear from you and other friends what parts they dislike in my
poems. I have made but very few changes in consequence of
Wordsworth's many criticisms, though I set great value upon
them. I had many other things to say, but none of them of any
importance, and my paper is now exhausted. So, with best regards
to Lady Dunraven and all, believe me most truly yours.'

It will be seen by this letter that at Oxford Hamilton was the
guest of Professor Rigaud at the Observatory. This circumstance
led to a warm friendship between the two astronomers, which was
kept up by correspondence rather than personal intercourse.

The following three letters are connected with this meeting of
the British Association. In the letter to his sister, the wish, casually
introduced, of so strong a Trinitarian with respect to the Athana-
sian Creed, will not pass unnoticed by the reader : that to Professor
Lloyd, in addition to his dutiful relation to the University, exhibits
his cordial feelings towards his correspondent and his father, the
Provost, who were its distinguished ornaments ; and the congratu-
lation conveyed in the last to Mr. MaeCullagh, on his becoming a
Fellow, manifests the generous spirit in which he hailed the up-
ward progress, in close proximity to himself, of a great mathema-
tical genius. It may here be noted that two years previously he
had directed public attention in a review-article to two scientific
papers of MacCidlagh.*

From W. R. Hamilton to his Sister Eliza.

* The Gkange, near Livekpool,
June 25, 1832.

' ... In the evening I came out here with my bag, in the
hope, in which I was not disappointed, that the Miss Lawrences
might have a room to spare. My old friend Miss Arabella L. is
absent, but will return to-day, to set out however to-morrow on a
party to the Lakes of Cumberland. The eldest Miss L. has shown

* Yide The National 3Iaffazine, Dublin, August, 1830, p. 145. One paper
was on The Double Refraction of Lic/ht, the other on The Rectification of the
Conic Sections.

576 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [183^

me a very affectionate and interesting letter, cliieflj of a religious
nature, which was written to her by Coleridge while I was in
London.* . . . Among the books in this house, I observe a
prayer-book of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United
States. It differs very little from our own prayer-book, leaving
out of course the prayers for the King, but scarcely anything else
that I jDcrceive, except the Athanasian Creed, which will, I trust,
be left out on the next revision of our Liturgy. Did you ever
hear of the unsuccessful attachment of Coleridge, when a young
man, to a certain Mary, who loved him too, though he did not
know it ? He had not courage to speak, and she was persuaded
by friends to marry another, on hearing of which he ran away in
despair, and enlisted as a common soldier. "When the health of
the Manchester Philosophical Society was given at the Oxford
dinner, after thanks had been returned by the venerable chemist
Dalton, I could not resist the impulse to state xdj recollection that
among the early contributors to the Manchester Transactions was
" Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the Poet and the Philosopher, whom I
considered as among the liighest ornaments of this Island and of
this age." I thought at the time that I was speaking to the air,
but afterwards I found that some had listened. As to my speech
on behalf of the Poyal Irish Academy, it was received with great
a^Dplause. Babbage, in congratulating me, said that an Astrono-
mer had no business to be able to speak so well.'

From W. P. Hamilton to Professor Lloyd.

' Observatory, June 30, 1832.

'It was only the day before yesterday that I returned from
Oxford, and I intended to take an early opportunity of giving
some account of the Meeting to the Provost and you and my old
friend Bart [Lloyd] and others. Whatever might be thought of
the York Meeting last year, the Oxford one must, I think, be con-
sidered as having been completely successful : for I doubt whether
a single man eminent in Science in England or Scotland was
absent, except Herschel, who was on the Continent, and Dr. Traill
of Liverpool, who was detained by urgent private business. Ire-
laud indeed made but a poor muster for the occasion, since I

* This was the letter given above at p. 544.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 577

believe it sent no one but myself. At the great dinner given to
the Association by one of the Colleges of Oxford, the health of the
Eoyal Irish Academy was given, and my name was connected with
it, so that I had to return thanks, in doing which I took occasion
to allude to our University, although the health of none of the
Universities was expressly given. On the last day of the week,
when the Greneral Committee had decided on Cambridge for the
place of meeting for next year, I took the opportunity to press
them to come to Dublin for the year following, 1834. I said that
though not formally authorized to give any invitation, I was sure
they would be received with hospitality and enthusiasm, and that
the University in particular would endeavour to imitate the libe-
rality of Oxford, by giving every accommodation in its power ; and
I remarked that as it was the custom of the Association to elect
their annual president from the place of meeting for the year,
they would have, by coming to Dublin, the opportunity of electing
Dr. Lloyd, who had taken so early and lively an interest in their
success. No conclusion was come to, but at least we have secured
for Dublin the advantage of an early invitation ; and I trust that
your father and the other heads of our University will approve of
my acting as I did, under the responsibility and impulse of the
sioment. They are not pledged farther than they j)lease, for I
took care to state that I was only expressing my own opinion of
what they would do, not conveying any authorized message. I
send an Oxford paper which gives some account of the proceed-
ings, but wish to have it again on Monday, and will call for it at
the Provost's House when I am going to the Eoyal Irish Academy
on that day, if you will have it left for me there. The account is
brief enough and in some details inaccurate, such as in calling the
Eoyal Irish Academy the Eoyal Society of Ireland, but it gives
pretty fairly the spirit and substance of the proceedings of the
first few days. A Eeport is to be printed on a much larger scale,
along with those valuable memou'S on the recent progress of science
which were read by Aiiy and others. Lest I should not see the
Provost, will you show him this note, and mention that I gave his
letter to Mr. Yernon Harcourt, who desired his compliments and
thanks, but was prevented from writing in return by the extreme
hurry of the week. With best regards, I am,' &o.

578 Life of Sir William Rowan Hajnilloji. [1832.

From W. R. Hamilton to James MacOullagh, Fellow of Trinity

College, Dublin.

[from a draft.]

* Obseevatort, June 30, 1832.

' Allow me to express the pleasure witli which, while I was
attending the great scientific meeting that was held last week at
Oxford, I heard of our University having obtained you as one of
its Fellows. Before I had heard of this I had taken the liberty of
reading to the mathematical section an account of your Paper on
the attraction of spheroids, in which you have given so simple a
proof of a celebrated and contested theorem (at least for the case
to which it is natural to limit oneself, of the spheroid lying all at
one side of its tangent plane, and being met but once again by
each radius vector from the point of contact), and so elegant a
construction for the quantity neglected by Laplace.

I had asked permission to give such an account from the Coun-
cil of the Royal Irish Academy, and I would have asked your per-
mission also, if I had not been unwilling to disturb or divert your
thoughts, in any degree, while you were candidate for Fellowship.
For a similar reason I was more than once dissuaded by friends of
yom-s who held high rank in our University from doing what I
have long wished — I mean proposing you as a Member of the
Royal Irish Academy. As the reason which they urged does not
any longer apply, I shall take the first opportunity of fulfilling my
old intention, unless you desire me not ; and I look forward with
great pleasure to seeing among the members of our National Aca-
demy one who is so likely to continue to enrich its Transaetions.

* I hope you received a duplicate of a Paper of Ivory's which
I sent to you some months ago.'

From James Mac Cullagh, F.T.C.D. to W. R. Hamilton.

'JulyZ, 1832.

' I need not say that your note, which I received this morning,
gave me the greatest pleasure ; the tone of delicacy and good feel-
ing in which it was written was peculiarly gratifying.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 579

* I was never anxious to become a Member of the Royal Irish
Academy, but the honour of being proposed by you is too flatter-
ing to be rejected. However we shall talk over this and other
matters on Friday next, when I look forward to the pleasure of
meeting you at Mr. Lloyd's.

' It is rather late now to thank you for the copy of Mr. Ivory's
Paper which I received the day you left it. Excuse my negli-
gence, and believe me,' &c.

Of the following letter from Aubrey de Vere the reader will
concur with Hamilton in feeling that, though long, it is not too
long.

From Aubrey de Vere to W. R. Hamilton.

' June 22, 1832.

' I have been delighted with your poems, particularly that in
blank verse,* which seems to me to have been shaken from the
deepest and gravest string I have heard from your lyre. It has,
however, only made me the more anxious to read those poems of
yours which I have not yet seen : so I hope that your next letter
will bring me some more. I like those sonnets of Shakespeare
also, but I think not so well as Spenser's. Do you approve of the
metre of Spenser's sonnets ? I certainly do not, although their
author is as great a favourite with me as ever : indeed I do not
know any poet who possessed in so high a degree that imaginative
reason which, in contradistinction to pure imagination, is the great
master of philosophical poetry. I confess, however, that his works
are too purely allegorical even for me, who am one of his most vehe-
ment admirers : I wish that he had been more often content to
make his poetry merely si/mbolic, which last I believe all good
poetry must by necessity be ; poetry at least that paints character.
Indeed it is the great vice of all our modern literature that
character, and even scenery, is copied instead of being conceived.
Do you not think that this fault is to be found even in
Wordsworth, whom we both consider to have done the greatest
things of any poet of the age ? I mean, in one word, the want

* * Was it a dream ? ' p. 562.
2 P 2

580 Life of Sir William Rowan Ha7nilto7i. [1832.

of Ideality, and therefore of completeness : a want not so easily
discerned in his characters as in his scenery, and not so much
in either as in tlie structure of his pieces : indeed I can recollect
few of Wordsworth's poems which have the appearance of having
been originally conceived in the ardent and self-reflecting imagi-
nation, whole and perfect as Minerva issuing from the head of
Jove. Perhaps the Laodamia and Dion are exceptions to this
rule : but I think that in most of his odes (that glorious one to
Duty, for example) stanza seems to flow out of stanza, as proposi-
tion out of proposition ; they do not gush into the mind, with the
fulness and irresistible perfection of moral Truth. It is hardly
fair to flnd this fault in a poem so essentially spiritual, modern,
and northern as the " Intimations of Immortality," which I
believe to be the greatest poem he ever wrote, and yet observe the
wonderful completeness of Shelley's " Intellectual Beauty," a
subject surely not less intellectual than the former. All this,
however, together with his constantly accumulative, or (as Jeremy
Taylor would have said) agglomerative style is probably part of
the character of Wordsworth's genius, and of the essential spirit
of his writings ; and if so, it can hardly be objected to as a fault.
If his genius and his poetry are alike deficient in melody, it is
perhaps because they are both exquisite in harmony as full and
rich as my Eolian harp, which is at this moment in the window,
and to which I can add or from which substract any number of
strings I please without injuring its harmony. It may be said too
that Wordsworth is incomplete because he is infinite ; but when I
think of Shelley, and still more of Keats, I am inclined to think
this defence rather plausible than true. It will of course exculpate
any particular poem, but not the genius of the poet. Compare for
instance the exquisitely spiritual imagination displayed in the de-
scription of Coelus,

" My life is but the life of winds and tides,"

with the absolute beauty and perfection of Keat^'s Odes ! These
last indeed I think the most complete things in the language. On
the whole, I do not think that Wordsworth is as great a genius as
Shelley or Keats, though he has done a greater number of great
things. I have no patience with his minute descriptions of physi-
cal objects in detail ; they do not seem to me to evince either the

AETAT. 2G.] Early Years at the Observatory. 581

" power of a peculiar eye," or the " creative spirit," or tlie " pre-
dominance of thouglit " with which he is so often " oppressed ; "
they do not in any degree spiritualize the world of matter by con-
necting it with that of feeling, as Tennyson's description of the
oak-tree " thick-leaved, amhrosial,^^ or with that of mind, as
Shelley's description of enthusiasm,

" Hath not tlie whirlwind of our spirit driven
Truth's deathless germs to thought's remotest caves ? "

or with both together blended, as in his own sublime description
of the yew-trees hung " with unrejoicing berries." Neither (apart
from such transfiguration) do they delight the constructive imagi-
nation by stimulating its energy, as the descriptions in the Alastor
and Pamdise Lost. This indeed is what requires the " peculiar
eye " which observes at a glance, and paints by a happy chance
those peculiar and radical features of a scene on which all the rest
depend, and in harmony with which they are constructed. I con-
fess too I do not admire Wordsworth's pedlars and spades and id
genus omne. It is surely the duty of the poet to turn our thoughts
and feelings from the difference of degree to the difference of kind;
from the splendours of rank to the splendours of mind ; from the
voluptuousness of wealth to the emotions of the heart ; in a word,
from circumstance to that which is ideal ; from that which is with-
out us to that which is within; from that which is visionary to
that which is true — and thus poetry is philosophy ; — from that
which is transitory to that which is permanent, — and thus poetry
is religious : but if the difference relates but to things external,
I do not understand how the detail of low life is more interesting
or poetical than those courtly gauds and barbaric splendours "that
show most bravely by torch-light." If we agree in considering
Eomantic and Chivalrous poetry as inferior in purity and splendour
to Ideal Poetry, as the mist that enlarges is inferior to the radiance
that glorifies ; still I do not believe that it is easier to strip off the
meanness and selfishness of low life from the great qualities of
mind and heart, and from the supreme will struggling with diffi-
culties, than it is to strip off the meanness and selfishness of high
life. Are there not about equal pleasures and temptations in high
and low Kfe ? If then our poetry is to consist in exaggeration, are

582 Life of Sir WillTmn Roimn Hamilton. [1832.

not the wilder passions and more rapid fluctuations of higli life
more suitable to poetry ? If, on tlie other hand, our poetry is to
consist in stripping off all impertinent detail, is it not as easy to
pull off the robes of the monarch as the " waggoner's " frock of
the peasant ? The want of ideality of which I so much complain
in modern poetry, and in which the inferiority of our great masters
to the giants of the Elizabethan age consists, is perhaps yet more
evident where it has been attempted than where it has not : almost
all the ideal characters of the present age are mere abstractions ;
errant qualities, not knights errant, and jousting with faculties in
rest, instead of spears. Such for instance are all Miss Baillie's
plays, &c., and these qualities are not in the least more indepen-
dent of circumstance than the flesh and blood meni of Byron and
the exaggerators. I do not think that even if an ideal drama were
written now it would be read ; we are so sunk in circumstance and
habit that nothing can please us otherwise than selfishly, or in-
terest us except through our sympathies. How inestimably superior
in this respect are the Greek dramatists, particularly Sophocles, to
all modern poets ! I think it requires a peculiar ardour of genius
to give an individual interest to a generic character ; and it also
requires an exertion of creative power in the reader to appreciate
them. In this respect it seems to me that a reader of ideal poetry
must differ from a reader of romantic : instead of submitting his
mind passively to impressions of beauty, it must be as thoroughly
active as that of the poet himself : for a character which has been
conceived by the author must also be conceived by the reader, if
he would realize those few but radical traits, which have been
thrown out to his imagination, or combining power, in antithesis
to the merely connecting instinct. While perusing this species of
poetry, we are continually advancing in an intimate communion
with our own aspirations, and by an unconscious exercise of our
creative energies renewing Grod's image within us. You never told
me whether you have finished Kant ? Do you agree in principles with
the great German philosopher ? I say " German," notwithstand-
ing Dugald Stewart's notable attempt to prove him of a Scotch
family, and to show that his name ought to be spelled with a 0. I
suppose all this is to be taken subjectively ; but really the impu-
dence of those Scotch philosophers is too ridiculous. I remember
Brewster makes out Newton to have been of thistle-seed. I should

AUTAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 583

be very much obliged to you if you would give me your opinion
of Kant, as from my ignorance of Grerman I am as unable to read
the Critique of the Pure Reason as I should probably be to under-
stand it after I had read it. From what I know, however, of the
elementary principles of the book, I am inclined to think I should
admire it excessively. It seems to me that the manner in which
he distinguishes between the reason and understanding bears some
analogy to my old theory of the essential difference between the
spirit and the soul, which I remember once talking to you of, and
applying to Coleridge's Phantom or Fact. The spirit I considered
to be the only true and absolute self to which we attach the feel-
ing of Identity, and by which alone we are able to make an hypo-
thesis (that ascent of mutually dependent propositions each of
which rests upon the one beneath it) distinguished from a theory,
by which I mean a mere map of a subject in which the parts are
symmetrically arranged, and which ought to be the base of that
cone I call an hypothesis. The spirit I considered to contain within
itself all the truths with which we are conversant, while engaged in
reflection, and to be the great mine of Metaphysics, of Mathema-
tics, and of Ideal Poetry. I do not perceive to what purpose any-
one can reflect who denies Innate Ideas, for it is in the unfathom-
able spirit that all the enduring things, which occasionally rise into
the plane of our consciousness, exist. To the spirit also I referred
the sense of Beauty, which in abstract as well as moral science I
believed to constitute truth, and not prove it alone ; while at the
same time it gives the only value to material and human things.
To the spirit I attributed our love of perfection (as belonging to
Beauty), and therefore, in our present state, the sense of Incom-
pleteness and therefore Love. Above all I considered the spirit to
be One ; nay, immortal by right of its unity ; for all things seem
to begin and cease to be by the union or dissolution of their ele-
ments : and therefore everything I attributed to the spirit was a
form or condition of its acting, not a member or a faculty. The
will likewise I considered a power, not part of the spirit, some-
times directing, sometimes following it. Does any part of this
suit your views ? I will send you an extract from my transla-
tion of the Antigone.''

584 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

From W. E. Hamilton to Aubrey De Vere.

' Observatoet, July 3, 1832.

' I received your long, but not too long, letter on my return
from the great Oxford meeting. Many of the views in your
letter I cordially join in, and am no fonder than yourself of
the pedlars and spades and what Coleridge calls in his Biogra-
pMa the matter-of-fadness of Wordsworth. At the same time
I far more gladly and fully join Coleridge and you in the love,
admiration, and reverence, which, notwithstanding this and some
other faults, we all feel for that great poet, and great man. I
lately took a liberty for which however I am sure I shall be
pardoned, in making to him an offer of the hospitality of Curragh,
as an inducement to him to visit Ireland. After speaking in a
letter written before I went to Oxford, of the pleasure which my
sisters and myself would feel in receiving him at the Observatory,
I reminded him of Edgeworthstown, and said with respect to
Curragh that I remembered enough of Sir Aubrey De Yere to
feel sure that Wordsworth and he would enjoy the society of each
other. But I am very sorry to say that my letter was crossed on
its way by one which informs me that Miss Wordsworth, the
sister of the poet, and his beloved friend, has been for some
months confined to a sick room, without hope of recovery. Under
these circumstances, I can have no hope of his soon visiting
Ireland. He says that his sister and Coleridge are "the two
beings to whom his intellect is most indebted, and are now pro-
ceeding as it were 2^ari passu along the path of sickness^ he will not
say towards the grave, but he trusts towards a blessed immor-
tality."

' Thank you very much for the extract from your translation,
which I have read with great pleasure : do not forget to send me
the continuation. I was particularly glad that you liked my
sonnets less than the verses Was if a Dream ? for I had formed
very decidedly the same relative estimate, and was curious to know
whether others would as-ree with me. Did I ever mention that
Coleridge, after a very severe criticism on his own JSpifajJ/ on an
Infant, contrasted it with his Heal and Imaginary Time, written,
he said, only a year after the other? I wish I could answer
your question as to the Logos; how eagerly I should begin the

AETAT. 26.] Early Yems at the Observatory, 585

attempt to read it ! but it never will come out I fear till the
author is gone from among us, and this thought tempers my
impatience. As to the Recluse, it also, I fear, is destined to be
a posthumous work ; but I heard at Cambridge from a nephew of
Wordsworth, who is a fellow of Trinity, and who had spent much
of the winter at Rydal Mount, that Wordsworth was so much
occupied with it then as to forget his meals and even his politics.
I wish you could see a little work entitled An Apology for the
Moral and Literary Character of the 19th Century, which was
presented to me in Cambridge, and had been recited there in
Trinity College Chapel on Commemoration Day, 1830. Its author,
Mr. Spedding,* is a young man, but must, I think, possess uncom-
mon maturity of mind. Francis Edge worth is I believe in Italy,
very happy there with his bride. But as to Kant, it made, alas !
its escape from my unworthy hands, before I had even studied it
enough to be acquainted with its general plan. On the top of a
Birminghan omnibus in March, it evaporated from a bag of books
and papers, which had been too heedlessly closed. Had I not by
a curious accident been perched on the very top of the luggage, no
other seat being vacant, the Calculus of Prohahilities of Laplace
would have followed its example : but I caught the giant quarto
while it was in the very act of clumsily following its too slender
and mercurial companion, of the flight of which I still cherished
some soothing doubts until I returned to the Observatory.'

After his return from Oxford Hamilton wrote, in acknowledg-
ment of Mr. Wordsworth's reply to his invitation, a letter of which
I give an extract.

From W. R. Hamilton to W. Wordsworth.

' Obseevatokt, Jiihj 0, 1832.

' My letter, which on going to Oxford I left with Eliza to fill
up and to send, will have shown you that I was not so unreason-
able as to expect regular answers to my voluminous epistles. But
we fear, from that letter of yours which was crossed by ours on its
way, that ours must have seenjed harsh and of dissonant mood,
written as it was in ignorance of the afflicting illness of Miss

* Mr. James Spedding, afterwards Editor of Bacon's works.

586 Ltje of Sir William Rowan Ha^nilton. [1832.

Wordsworth, and containing as it did a somewhat playful though
very sincere expression of our wish to see her and you in Ireland.
We are, indeed, very much concerned to hear of the serious illness
of one whom we remember with so much regard, and who is so
dear to you. I am sanguine enough to hope that the summer may
work some improvement in the health of her and of Coleridge,
with whom you associate her.

' In your last letter you inquire whether I had not visited
Oxford. Very lately I have done so, and have admired the city
very much, though perhaps there is no one building in it so beau-
tiful and grand as the chapel of King's College, Cambridge. My
visit to Oxford was on the occasion of a great scientific meeting,
which I alluded to in my last letter, written before I went there.
Perhaps you may feel some interest in reading a copy, such as I
can give from recollection, of the speech which I made at the
public dinner, when the health had been proposed, and had been
received with much indulgence, of " The Royal Irish Academy and
Professor Hamilton " — at least I am more unwilling to trouble
you at present with any of the numerous verses which have been
called forth by my undiminished grief of a private kind. With
many thanks for the present of your new edition, and with best
regards to your family, I remain,' &c.

It is probable that the eulogiums pronounced by Coleridge on
Spinoza in one of the letters which have been inserted induced
Hamilton to enter upon an examination of his writings. The
spirit in which he did so is indicated in the following memoran-
dum, dated July 10, 1832 :—

' I have taken down Spinoza from its shelf, and have begun to
read his account of the Cartesian Philosophy.

' Why have I done so ? In what frame of mind ? Ought I
to continue this occupation ? If so, how best may I pursue it P

1. 'Why? partly to amuse myself: to employ some time
agreeably, and in a manner which may have the pleasure of
variety.

' Is this a right motive ? I think it is, as an occasional and
temporary cause of action : especially when one feels himself at
the time less able than usual to pursue with vigour his habitual
course of exertion, which is my case just now.

AETAT. 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 587

' But beside this temporary motive, inducing me to read
Spinoza on Des Cartes this morning, I have a permanent motive
for reading it, when other occupations allow me so to do : a
motive which may indeed be often rightly withstood, or rather
can be seldom yielded to, in the present stage of my intellectual
progress, because it must be subordinated to other motives, in kind
the same and higher in degree. This permanent motive is the
desire of advancing in wisdom, and of tending towards the un-
attainable but approachable point of mental perfection, by exercise
in metaphysical meditation.

2. * In what frame ? In one, I think, of admiration for both
Des Cartes and Spinoza, and yet of belief that both have erred in
some important things : and therefore of desire and intention to
read both with candour and with courage.

3. Shall I go on, and if so, on what plan ? For the present I
shall not go on, having sufficiently refreshed myself by the variety
of the reading and writing which I have thus indulged in, and
being now disposed to go on with my more habitual studies.'

A series of letters to Lord Adare carries on his personal history,
and gives some interesting particulars as to the preparation of his
Thu'd Supplement. In his counsels to Lord Adare respecting the
study of Coleridge they show that however reverently Hamilton
looked up to the Poet-Philosopher, he neither was himself nor
wished his pupil to be, the passive recipient of an ipm dixit. I
have added to this series the copy of a draft of a letter to
Coleridge written soon after this time, but never sent; it con-
tains an expression of the opinions then held by Hamilton on the
doctrine of atoms, and marks his willingness to discuss the sub-
ject with Coleridge himself as one who possibly differed from him
respecting it.

From W. E. Hamilton to Yiscount Adare.

' Obsertatoky, July 12, 1832.

' It is quite curious to think how I have been induced, by one
thing after another, to put off writing to you till now. The verses

588 Life of Sir William Rovoan Hamilton. [1832.

at the beginning of this page* were composed and written early on
Monday morning, at the country-place of Sergeant (I should say
Master) Goold ; and that morning I fully expected to have accom-
panied them with a letter to you, but I had to finish one to
Wordsworth, and to write one to Lady Campbell, from whom I
have this moment received an affectionate and interesting answer ;
and these occupations, along with some reading of Coleridge,
exhausted all my time before breakfast, after which I was deep
in music with Miss Coold, until I went to the Royal Irish Aca-
demy, to have my Third Supplement, and a little Paper that had
been read last year, ballotted for, and ordered to be printed. Now
that I speak of music, as Miss Groold will show you a mathematical
calculation of mine on that subject, I must remind her, and remark
to you, that my reasonings were founded entirely on the hypothe-
sis of the existence of some uniform and common ratio between the
time of vibration of any string in the piano and that of the fifth
above ; this ratio being assumed to be the same for each of the fol-
lowing pah's (^, E\ {B, F), {C, G), (A ^1, {^, B'), {F, C),
{G, D'), {A', E'), &c., in the series of strings A, B, C, C, D, E, F,
G, A\ B\ C, i)', E', &c. Admitting this hypothesis, and granting
also that the corresponding ratio, for each string compared with its
octave above is exactly two to one, I showed it to be mathemati-
cally impossible that the common ratio for each string compared with
its fifth above should be exactly three to two ; and, on the contrary,
found it to be mathematically necessary that this common ratio of
vibration of each string to its fifth above should be exactly the seventh
root of 2048 to two, this seventh root of 2048 being somewhat less
than three. . . . But the hypothesis itself, of a constant common
ratio, in a pianoforte for each string compared with its fifth above,
is, I believe, inaccurate, and requires to be modified by the conside-
ration of semitones, and by other considerations : so that you are
not to attach any physical value or attribute any musical correct-
ness to the resulting expression, the seventh root of 2048. . . .

' I intend, if I have time, to look into Herschel, and see what
he says on this subject, and then to send the book by Francis
Goold. Miss Goold explained to me that she had not wished me
not to write about Oxford, but only to leave something for her to

* On the Severing of Friends, see p. 611, where they are inserted in connex-
ion with the person specially referred to in them.

AETAT, 26.] Early Years at the Observatory. 589

tell. As it is, slie has tlie start of me, for I can say nothing more
by this day's jDOst. Believe me most truly yours,' &c.

The above letter was followed by that previously inserted
(p. 572), of the date July 20, in return for which there came from
his attached correspondent letters full of solicitude for his health,
and inquiries of many kinds. From one of them I extract a
few sentences to make the replies better understood.

From YiscouNT Adare io W. E. Hamilton.

' Adaee, July 31, 1832.

* . . . Wyndham Goold and I are to spend a few days at
Killarney. Tell me when next you write what degree of ele-
vation makes the barometer fall an inch, I want to measure the
heights of a few hills about here ; as I don't care about obtain-
ing great accuracy, I suppose that one simple allowance will be
sufficient to determine the height. . . .

' I hope, dear Mr. Hamilton, you have recovered your health
and strength and are not working too hard. You have no idea, I
am sure, what delight it gives me to hear you are pursuing mathe-
matics and meditating on those subjects by which it seems you are
destined to rear up an immortality of fame for yourself and honour
for your family and country. But pray do not work too much or
injure your health. . . . I suppose your Third Supplement is nearly
finished : do you remember the calculus that I am afraid I used to
tease you about, wanting you to continue it ? . . . Have you heard
how Coleridge is ? To turn to another great man, is it not inter-
esting to contemplate the universal sympathy entertained for Walter
Scott — to think of the millions of hours of pleasure he has given to
mankind ; how I do admire the combination of a great and good
mind ! . . .

' P.S. I am delighted you have found out a relationship between
us ; and the nearer it is, of course the prouder I should be.' *

* The common ancestor was Piers Moroney, Esq., whose daughter Catherine
married the great-grandfather of the first Earl of Diinraven, and of whom
another daughter married a Mr. Webher. A descendant of the latter was wife
of Robert Hutton, Esq., and maternal grandmother of Hamilton. Hamilton
was thus sixth cousin of his pupil. The authority for this statement is a memo-
randum by W. R. Hamilton, founded on information supplied to him by * old
Mr. Webber ' (b. 1847, p. 77).

590 Life of Sir William Rowan Ha7nilton. [1832.

From W. R. Hamilton to Yiscount Adare.

* Obsektatoey, August 15, 1832.

'Having long owed you answers to several letters and ques-
tions, I determined to-day to make a beginning with the question
about the barometer. So I went to my bookshelves to look for the
Systeme du Monde, that I might have the best authority for my
numbers. However I could not see the French, and then remem-
bered that you had taken it ; but I found the translation, which
the bookseller or binder, honest man, had labelled ^^HARTE^S
System of the WorkV : a grand title, which quite surprised me for a
moment, one day that I was indolently wandering over the out-
sides of my books. (August 17.) — I was interrupted by some-
thing before I had examined Laplace's, or as we are now to call
them, Harte's numbers ; but this morning, in bed, I amused myself
answering by a mental process your question, which as I stated it,
amused the Counsellor,* how much will a barometer sink by going
up a mile ? . . .'

From the Same to the Same.

< Obsekvatoet, August 23, 1832.

' At this moment I am sitting in the dining-parlour with the
Counsellor, who has come out late and is dining alone, except that
I am chatting with him, though at the same time writing to you.
What determined me to write just now was his saying that he
had to-day taken shelter, while riding Planet, at Callaghan's
workshop near the canal ; for this reminded me of the last and
perhaps only day of my taking shelter on horseback, I mean near
Llanberis, in the midst of that sublime scenery to which you,
perhaps justly, thought me very insensible, for you had set me off
in a career of argument about the subjective and objective. . . .
I am glad that you are about to read or hear a little of Coleridge,
for I am sure that you will avoid the two opposite faults, the
Scylla and Charybdis of study (not that I think the two equally

* Cousin Arthur. ' Counsellor ' was a title of respect given at that time in
Ireland by the lower classes to barristers.

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 591

dangerous), the fault of im2')licit belief, and that of arrogant criti-
cism. You will not, on the one hand, suppose that, because
Coleridge is a great and good man, he must therefore be right
in everything, and that his readers have nothing to do but to
adopt his conclusions, or perhaps to remember his words; nor,
on the other hand, will you imagine when you meet with expres-
sions which appear at first, or even after some little consideration,
to be false or obscure, that this first impression must necessarily
be correct, and that deeper and longer thought would in no case
justify the author. This latter fault, of contemptuous treatment
towards the writings of a great man, appears to me, as I have
already hinted, a far less natural fault in a young reader, and one
of far less happy omen, intellectually and morally, than the other
and opposite fault of a too implicit and confiding admiration.'

From the Same to the Same.

* Obseevatout, Septe^nher 12, 1832.

' ... As to your questions about my health and employments,
you need not fear that you have tired me by the repeated expres-
sions of your kindness. I have not been in town since my music
morning with Miss Goold, and have spent the greater part of the
time since in my optical studies, Grreat masses of my manuscripts I
have, after examining their contents, and sucking out their marrow,
condemned to the flames : and have written out for the press, in a
form which I really think I will let stand, with perhaps verbal
alterations, a large part of the tenth or twentieth copy of my
Third Supplement. The various delays and interruptions have
made this Supplement more complete, by giving me time to render
the subject more familiar to myself, and more of a whole : many
old and new separate investigations having gradually arranged
themselves better in subordination to my general view. If, as I
hope, I shall have given a pretty full and clear account of this
view, and of the general methods founded upon it, in my next
publication, I intend then in the fourth Supplement to apply
these methods more to practical or at least known problems than I
have hitherto done, in order to give them a better chance of being
attended to, and understood ; and partly in the hope of somewhat
improving the theory of optical instruments.'

592 Life of Sir Williavi Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

From "W. R. Hamilton to S. T. Coleridge.

[from a draft NOT SENT.]

' DlTBLIN ObSERVATOKT,

' Ocioher 3, 1832.

* I wrote to you in May or June, but had not mucli hope of
receiving an answer; for I knew that you are much oppressed by
sickness, and that for your intervals of health you have much im-
portant occupation. Neither do I now, in writing again, feel much
hope of an answer ; but an opportunity occurring of sending you
a letter without expense, I am unwilling to omit that opportunity
of assuring you that I have not forgotten my interviews with you
in London. I remember them and you with more interest than I
can express, although my studies have, for several months past,
been almost solely mathematical, and have consisted chiefly in the
prosecution of certain abstract optical researches which I began
many years ago, and of which I have published some account in
the memoirs of the Royal Irish Academy. I could not hope that
these researches would interest you at all, except perhaps by the
spirit and view with which they have been conducted. My aim
has been, not to discover new phenomena, nor to improve the con-
struction of optical instruments, but with the help of the Differ-
ential or Fluxional Calculus to remould the Geometry of Light,
by establishing one uniform method for the solution of all pro-
blems in that science, deduced from the contemplation of one
central or characteristic relation. The method which I thus de-
duce has already led me to some unexpected conclusions respect-
ing the images formed by crystals, and will (I think) in other
ways improve our knowledge of phenomena and instruments ; but
this I regard as only a secondary result, my chief desire and direct
aim being to introduce harmony and unity into the contempla-
tions and reasonings of Optics, considered as a portion of pure
Science. It has not even been necessary, for the formation of my
general method, that I should adopt any particular opinion re-
specting the nature of light. Yet the questions respecting this
natm^e cannot but be interesting to me, and I wish much that I
had the pleasm-e and advantage of hearing you speak upon the

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 593

subject. And now I am almost tempted to lay before yon, on this
subject, which differs wholly from that other of the Geometry of
Light, some thoughts and questions, wherein my professional
acquaintance, such as it is, with mathematical theorems and with
optical phenomena, can give me little assistance, or rather may
prejudice and obstruct, unless subordinated to those general views
and principles of metaphysical science with which none is more
familiar than yourself. It happens that of my copies of your
works, few are at this moment in my library, so that I am unable
at present to refer to them. Let this be my excuse, if I ask for
your opinion on any point on which I might discover it by a more
diligent perusal of youi- writings. In those writings I remember
that there were some passing reproaches against atomists, and I
wish to understand whether in that • degree and sense in which I
am myself an atomist I have the misfortune to differ from you :
the more, because the undulatory theory of light, on which chiefly
I desired to consult you, appears to be essentially atomistic. Do I
then at all express a possible view, or am I talking nonsense, when I
say that I regard a certain atomistic theory as having a subjective
truth, and as being a fit medium between our understanding and
certain phenomena : although objectively, and in the truth of
things, the powers attributed to atoms belong not to them but
to God ? The atomistic theory of which I speak is nearly that
of Boscovich, and consists in representing aU phenomena of
motion as produced by the action of localised energies of attrac-
tion or repulsion, each energy having a centre in space ; and this
centre, which is supposed to be a mathematical point, without any
figure or dimension, being called an atom instead of a point,
merely to mark its conceived possession of, or connexion with,
physical properties and relations.'

Hamilton continues to write long letters to Lord Adare during
the months of September and October, on the formulas to be used
in measming mountain-heights by the barometer, and on the pro-
cesses to be gone through in setting up a vertical sun-dial, another
application of practical science with which Lord Adare was occu-
pying himself. These letters are extant, but I do not consider it
desirable to print them. They are proofs of the unsparing labour

2 Q

594 Life of Sir Willimn Rowan Hamilto)i. [1832.

and thorougliuess of treatment which he bestowed on any subject
he took in hand, whether on his own account or another's. In
the course of the summer he is in communication with Sir James
South, who, disappointed as to his own equatorial, goes ofi to
Dorpat to inspect Struve's, which he hears is steady, and who is,
according to a note from Captain Beaufort, most flatteringly
received by the King at Copenhagen and the Emperor at St.
Petersburg, ' at both which places (he says) Science is patted on
the back/ From Airy and from Eobinson he has letters furnish-
ing other interesting information, and telling him that they search
in vain for Biela's comet, a faint apparition of which had been
descried by Herschel. Ivory also is again his correspondent,
sending him work of his own (on ElKptic Transcendents) and
criticising the work of others. And constant requisitions for
astronomical intelligence come to him from all quarters at home.
To all he gives considerate replies. It has been told by himself
how busy he was at this time with his Third Supplement ; never-
theless his poetic gift was not left wholly unexercised. I find
among his papers a metrical but unrhymed version of a German
poem ' My Fatherland,' * not sufficiently striking to justify its
insertion. But the verses entitled ' My Birth-day Eve,' written
on the 2nd August, though sad in tone, and in the retrospect they
give of disappointed self-confidence, express a beautiful humility
of spirit, a simple piety, which is the best omen of renewed
strength ; and, accordingly, the sonnet by which they are followed,
written on the 21st of September, and ' The Eydal Hours,' com-
posed a month later, breathe a happier tone of returning vigour,
yet still tempered with remembered suffering. The lines

' . . . hope "with me
Only abideth now as calm resolve,
And silent readiness for f utui*e pain,
And trust to feed upon ideal food
And heavenly . . .'

have always seemed to me not only affecting in relation to their

The original by Pauline von Bredow.

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 595

author, but admirably descriptive of a stage of feeling experienced
by all high minds in their recovery from agonising affliction.

The sonnet interposed between the poems last-mentioned,
because written at an intermediate date, shows how its author's
mind was oj)en to receive all healthful and strengthening in-
fluences, and how these came to him from the contemplation of
the example of a brother mathematician.

MY BIRTH-DAY EVE.

' Oh if from secret suffering, and tlie shame
To think how long and often it could tame
Those energies which in their youthful pride
On an imagined tamelessness relied,
Deeming themselves for some high task designed.
Some ministry to benefit mankind,
Some perilous quest in the obscure world of mind ;
And full of faith, that, to whatever foes,
They should a joyous battle-front oppose.
And more than conquerors be, and from life's surge,
However rough, exultingly emerge : —
If from the pang with which I now recall
That confidence, and thinlc how vain 'twas all.
How soon those powers from freedom sank away.
And, chained by grief, uneasy prisoners lay ;
So that I view a passion- wasted life,
Rapture, and agony, and stoic strife.
Where I had deemed all passion I could quell.
And fondly looked that only calm shoidd dwell : —
If from this pang of baffled confidence
In my own powers, and for their vain expense,
If from this shame o'er too much trusted Will
Found wanting, and the weakness lingering still,
I could indeed the appointed lesson learn.
And with full trust and humble heart could turn
To the unfailing Fount of power and peace.
The fever of the soul at length should cease :
With milder pain, and more of hope, to-day,
My seven-and-twentieth year should pass away.

' Observatory, August 2, 1832,'

* The Spirit of a Dream hath often given
Pinions to me, and I have sought the sky,
In haste my frail Icarian plumes to try

2 Q2

596 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

And soar abroad in the open light of heaven :
And all the more have passionately striven
To enjoy without delay my magic dower,
Because I knew it was a transient power,
And that to this bright day comes soon an even.
So, if Hope's sunshine, for a moment shed,
Brighten life's path, although not dark before,
— Oh heaped with blessings in abundant store !-
A path which yet unhoping on I tread.
My spirit springs to meet the transient boon,
A deep voice whispering, it will pass full soon.

' Sejitemher 21, 1832.'

TO THE MEMORY OF FOURIER.

[a PEOFOTJND mathematician, AITTHOE. of '■ LA THEOEIE DE LA CHALETJK.']

* Fourier ! with solemn and profound delight,
Joy born of awe, but kindling momently
To an intense and thrilling ecstasy,
I gaze upon thy glory and grow bright :
As if irradiate with beholden light ;
As if the immortal that remains of thee
Attuned me to thy Spirit's harmony,
Breathing serene resolve and tranquil might.
Revealed appear thy silent thoughts of youth,
As if to consciousness, and all that view
Prophetic, of the heritage of truth
To thy majestic years of manhood due :
Darkness and error fleeing far away.
And the pure mind enthroned in perfect day.

' October 1, 1832.'

THE RTDAL HOURS.

' To me already are those Rydal hours
Become a sacred and an antique time :
An unforgotten time, but far away.
Far, far withdrawn into the azure depths
Of holiest and most starry memory ;
And from the eternal fountains, not from earth.
Not from the present and the visible.
Kept fresh in Power and Beauty. I can wander
At will through that Elysian land, and taste
The freshness of those fountains, and the breeze
Fans me, and I become what then I was :

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 597

With hope still strong within me, and the spirit
Of joy, Antfeus-like, revived, and all things
Bright-winged ministers of hrief delight,
"Whose very mirth seems tender now and holy.
I can suspend remembrance, and yet feel,
Feel in the inner heart, but not in thought
Embodied, nor in consciousness distinct,
That Grief has since come down ; that Hope with me
Only abideth now as calm resolve,
And silent readiness for future pain,
And trust to feed upon ideal food
And heavenly : and that sadness also there,
"Where it had seemed that only joy should dwell,
. Joy from all delicate blossoms gathered,
Perennial flowers upon Hyblean heights
And by the murmuring rills of Helicon,
Has with an overshadowing power come down
In the ecUpse of one beloved brow
Patiently languishing. All this can I
Awhile forget, and, in the blue depth dwelling,
Feel that already are those Rydal hours
Become a sacred and an antique time.

* October 28, 1832.'

Sir Guy and Lady Campbell, wlio had for some time
been living at Dunbrody in the southern part of the county of
Wexford, had recently taken up their abode at Eiversdale, near
Palmerstown, on the banks of the Liffey, and so within riding
reach of Hamilton. Lady Campbell's announcement of the change
must have been deeply gratifying to him.

From Lady Campbell io W. E. Hamilton.

' RiVEESBALE, PaIMEESTOWN,

* October 5, 1832.

' I am a letter in your debt, but a visit will do much better ;
pray come and see me in my new mansion. I long to have a talk
with you. I know nothing of Adare or anyone. We are all well
and glad "to be in a place that is very nearly country. After the
wilderness I have just left, there is rather too much civilization

59^ Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

about us to allow of my calling it qxdte country, but still I am out
of the smoke and stir of that dim spot whicb men call Dublin. I
am so busy settling tbat I shall not be able to go to you for some
time, so just throw by all your work and come to see us, for I need
not tell you that every year has added to the afEectionate friendship
we feel for you. I must indeed think highly of your heart when
I tell you I never think of your talents but as second thoughts,
always bringing them in afterwards. Yours most truly,' &c.

A charming letter written by Lady Campbell to Hamilton
from Dunbrody in tlje previous July shows how many and how
various were the points of interest touched in their friendly inter-
course, and the reply of Hamilton notably blends his seriousness
and his playfulness.

From the Same to the Same.

* DUNBBODT, Co. WeXFOED,

'J%dy, 11, 1832.

' It was a kindly spirit that moved you to write to me, dear
Mr. Hamilton. I had been thinking much of you these fine
nights, though perhaps this was a professional association more
than a romantic recollection ; for though you live in the Obser-
vatory, I do not think you and I ever looked at the moon much
together, we always had so much to say on other subjects. I
cannot tell you how much heartfelt pleasure your letter has given
me ; for friendship has its rapture, and your letter affected me to
tears. I was so happy to think you. had received one of those
gleams of encouragement which brighten the rugged path you
tread ! The Meeting* must have been most interesting. I felt
gratified that you had been heard. I .supiDose we may be allowed
to indulge pride in our friends, and it is so congenial to our nature
that we certainly are glad to be allowed the indulgence on any
terms. I own I quite grudge the days you were so near spending
with us ; I should have so enjoyed seeing you just fresh from the
arena ! You would indeed enjoy this place, and as I find it occa-

* The meeting of the British. Association at Oxford.

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 599

sions me to think a great deal, doubtless we should have talked
most fluently. It combines cool, quiet, shady, retired scenery about
the house, which is as a nest bosomed, literally cradled, in trees,
with rocky cliff and coast scenery, sea and river, and we have not
one neighbour! I enjoyed Adare's visit very much, for I now
and then long for a philosophical talk, as I do not venture to
touch upon those subjects in general, lest folks should think me
mad. And now and then it is a great happiness to disburthen the
bosom of some of its ruminations. He had much to tell me of his
visit to London. We read some of Lord Byron's Life together,
and some of Coleridge's Biogrcq)hia, and I read some of Dryden's
Hind and Panther and Absalom to him, and some Shakespeare. I
like the Biographia much better than The Friend. The political
part of The Friend bores me. I have been reading Locke On the
Conduct of the Human Understanding ; very ;grofitable, very matter
of fact, prunes imagination too much, and really at last hodifies the
mind too much : however I have found a great many of my own
mental diseases very accurately described : whether I can cure them
remains to be proved. I think he is very good upon the pure love
of truth for its own sake.

' Your lines are very beautiful, and alas ! very true, on the
severing of friends. I have just heard of the death of a friend I
have loved sixteen years, Maria Porter; she was a person of the
warmest affections I almost ever knew, and of a very cultivated
mind. It is five years since we had met, and death has now closed
upon our separation, and all ice lived together I have lived over again
mourning ! the recollection now and then jarring upon some mood
of mirth which passed between us, and which ill assorts with
meditation on the dead. It is then I am inclined to say with the
Preacher " I said of laughter, it is mad, and of mirth, what doeth
it ? " And yet I have a great respect for cheerfulness, nay even for
laughter ; it is the only remains of childhood that stays by us and
often lightens the spirit. I have been meditating much upon
Lord Byron. He says he often laughed that he might not cry,
but he deceives himself ; he sneers, he could not laugh ; and the
sour sneer of the world is very different from the exhilarating
mirth of a pure mind. He was a man of great imagination, but
not a man of great mind. I am longing to read some of Shelley.
How I envy you seeing Coleridge ! If you feel inclined, write
and tell me what impression he made upon you. Adare told me

6oo Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

you thouglit him olbseure. Do you think he nnderstands himself?
or do you think his speculations at last drag his own mind out of
its sober certainty ?

'The children are exceedingly happy. I think this complete
country life will be of great service in the formation of their
minds ; it gives them an acquaintance with nature and an associa-
tion of ideas of happiness with the beauties she shows them, that
will last and recur, perhaps when the world withers around them ;
iheir minds expand; — mind you, I do not say they are learning
lessons of books; on the contrary, I think the book-learning is

rather at a stand, but I find them thinking a good deal

They often long for you to ^;/r/?/ with them. Pray write
to me and tell me when we are likely to have the pleasure of
seeing you. I look upon your having thought of coming as a
promise that you intend coming. As to leaving the Observatory,
you know you can study here as well as there. . . . Mind to be
so good as to remember your speech for me, that I may have the
delight of hearing you enact it ; and please to enumerate to me
distinctly the branches of mathematical science ; and go on and
prosper, and good luck have thou with thine honour! All the
children desire their love to you and to your sisters. And believe
me yours most sincerely,' &c.

From W. E. Hamilton to Lady Campbell,
[from a short-hand copy.]

* OBSEEVAiour, August 15, 1832.

' I make but a poor return for your friendly letter by writing
now after so long a time. But to whatever you attribute my delay>
let it not be to any indifference or want of enjoyment when yours
arrived ; nor yet refer it wholly to that state of deep depression
the existence of which you long since knew and to which the verses*
on the outer page allude. Your feelings of regard and esteem would
both be pained, if you thought that I was habitually overpowered
by gloom ; but happily it is not so. However, since that time when
your affectionate sympathy first manifested itself towards me, I

* ' My Birthday-eve,' supra, p. 595.

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 60 1

have had another affliction of the same kind and indeed of the
same degree, except that my mind had been a little better disci-
plined to receive it ; not very recent, not since I saw you last,
although I did not and do not choose to trouble you with the
details. But I find that I am even now indulging too much my
habit of dwelling upon painful recollections, instead of exerting
myself to the utmost to control them by other thoughts.

How delightful Shakespeare is ! this is a discovery, you know,
a paradox, a secret which one can only mention to a friend. But
really, though all the world knew it, it is not the less wonderful
and delightful, and I am sm-e you feel that fully now and then
as I do. I read The Tempest to-day, having taken it up for a
moment, and not being able to lay it down again : the edition is
one which has all the plays closely printed in a thick octavo ; and
I remember that in that very book I read that very Temped when
I was about twelve years old, lying in bed early on a summer's
morning, in a curious old house at Grlasnevin, where two kittens,
Eliza's and mine, were most delightfully playing about me. It
struck me to-day that the explanatory relations of Prospero to
Miranda and to Ariel were introduced very naturally, that is, with
much art ; but I suppose this is another discovery that all the
world are aware of. Your book of Shakespeare's Sonnets has been
very pleasant to me. They let one more into his own mind than
anything else that I know ; and a very amiable mind it was,
besides being so highly gifted ; a third discovery ! Really, you
will be too wise if I go on. I fear with you that Byron's laughs
were sneers : but my present admiration of Byron is scarcely up
to par, I mean compared with the general opinion. Wordsworth
interests and pleases me more and more, though I still dislike
what Coleridge calls his matter-of-factness in description, such as
" Spade with which Wilkinson," &c. : but, after all, this latter
oddity seems rather to have been adopted on system, than to
follow from his own nature : and though this thought is no excuse
for them, it makes me enjoy more highly those sublime and beau-
tiful yet often simple passages and poems in which, besides their
own merit, I imagine that I hear more distinctly the genuine voice
of Wordsworth. As to Coleridge and his obscurity in conversa-
tion, I assure you that whenever I thought him obscure I laid all
the blame on myself. One day in particular he seemed so, when

6o2 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

besides his being on the highest subjects which men can approach,
I had tired myself before by walking out from London. Even
then I did not behave like a puppy of a classical Archdeacon
(don't tell this to the man's acquaintance), who, I hear, visited
Coleridge ; but piquing himself on the clearness of his ideas,
and finding them grow somewhat confused, abruptly ran away.
Perhaps you may like to see what I wrote on these visits to a
poetical and metaphysical friend. I said " you were quite right
in thinking that I was comiDletely satisfied," &c. The " hooded
eagle " is Shelley's. . . . Believe me, dear Lady Campbell, most
truly yours,' &c.

Another woman of genius was at this time in not imfrequent
intercourse with Hamilton and his sisters, Mrs. Hemans the
poetess. Among the letters of this year I find the following
from her, with a copy of Hamilton's reply, and with it are notes
to his sisters, of later date, arranging their visits to her and invit-
ing herself for an evening to the Observatory, in order that,
besides the pleasure of conversation with them and their brother,
she might gratify a curiosity long felt to see the moon through a
telescope.

From Mrs. Hemans to W. E. Hamilton.

* Pembkoke-steeet, August 28.

'I send you a number of Blackwood, which was not in my
possession when I last visited the Observatory. It contains a
poem of my own, the Song of the Gifted, with which I shall
rejoice to know that you are pleased. I also send you another
Magazine for the sake of a paper on Coleridge's Philosophy,
which I thought might interest you, though the tcaxen wings of
my intellect melt from me entirely when I attempt to lift them
into such " upper air." I fear you will fancy, from this variety
of Magazines, that I am much devoted to this species of literature;
this, however, is far from being the case ; but the Editors of some
of the Periodical works have occasionally the politeness to send
me sets of numbers, which in truth I sometimes leave almost

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 603

unopened. ... I am going soon to employ myself upon a volume
of sacred poetry, upon which I shall earnestly desire to pour out
my whole heart and mind. I hope this enterprise will interest
you and my other friends. I must not forget to tell you that I
road over, on the evening we returned from the Observatory, all
the pieces of your own, which you had given us, in connexion
together, and with renewed delight.'

From "W". R. Hamilton to Mrs. Hemans,

' Obsekvatokt, September 2, 1832.

' When your kind note reached me, my sisters had gone to
town, and I detain the Blackwood of August a day or two longer
to make sure of their seeing your songs in it. They, or at least
my third sister Sydney, who is the most industrious reader of
German, have spoken to me with great interest of Korner, and
especially of his Fatherland. I regret that I have not yet had
time to avail myself of your kindness, by reading these poems
myself. We shall all look forward with great interest to your
work of sacred poetry. I congratulate pou, as well as your
readers, on your having engaged in it. Not to mention higher
motives, what a pleasure it is to one's self to be thoroughly in-
terested in anything ! and your expressions imply such an interest.
I like much and deeply sympathise in the earnest appeal of Grenius
to Love, expressed in the Song of the Gifted. ... I have as yet
only looked into the article on Coleridge enough to perceive that
it is written in the spirit of a disciple. It gives me much pleasure
that such a spuit should exist, not so much for his sake as for the
sake of others.'

From Mrs. Hemans to W. R. Hamilton.

' December 29, 1832.

'Having actually achieved two sonnets, which I would fain
hope are properly jagged, I cannot deny myself the pleasure of
sending them to you, as I believe it was a half envious admiration
of ?/our exploits in this department of poetry which urged me to
the undertaking. . . .'

6o4 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

Having with other memhers of my family often accompanied
Mrs. Hemans in her visits to the Observatory, I may be permitted
in this connexion to recall her image as it then presented itself to
her friends. Although even at this time in delicate health — she
died in 1835 — her form from its grace and animated movements
gave an impression of perfectly natural youthfulness, which was
quite in harmony with her intellectual quickness and her cheerful
spirit of enjoyment. Her face, indeed, had lost much of its early
beauty, for the preternatural brilliancy of her fair girlish complex-
ion had been changed and clouded, as is so often the case with
that complexion, by illness and sorrow ; and heart-malady had
caused an habitual nervous affection which by a momentary spasm
every now and then disturbed the symmetry of her mouth, but her
hazel eyes were of unimpaired brightness, and her curls of golden
brown hair were as soft and flowing as ever, and altogether her
countenance was singularly animated and pleasing. Her figure
was of the middle height and perfectly proportioned, and what
struck the observer at once was the beautiful form and setting of
her head : the brow was not high, but the whole head, neither too
large nor too small, was fully and harmoniously developed ; and
it moved upon the neck with the ease and airiness which we asso-
ciate with the movements of a fawn.* Playfulness and wit were
natural to her, and she was quick in the perception and enjoyment
of the ludicrous, but she was most at home when the conversation
turned to subjects which stirred the chivalry of her nature or its
instinct of warm admiration for what was elevated in thought or act.
With all her powers there was joined a delicacy, a native shyness,
like that of the sylvan creature I have named, which prevented

* Mr. W. M. Rossetti gives a very different idea of the figm-e of Mrs. Hemans
in the memoir of her which he has prefixed to an edition of her poems, and has
also included in his Lives of famous Poets (E. Moxon & Co., London, 1878,
p. 332). His idea is founded iipon the portrait by "West, of which the face has
some merit, though not of the highest kind, in point of likeness, but the draw-
ing of the figure has none : the marble by Angus Fletcher represents truly the
shape and carriage of the head and the form of the bust.

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Obsei^vatory. 605

her from showing herself fully in general society ; and though no
complaint or allusion to her domestic trial ever passed her lips, an
attentive companion might notice in her hearing that check upon
any occasional sally of mirth which is produced by habitual con-
verse with sad thoughts, and the indescribable air of gentleness
which betokens a chastened spirit. At the Observatory she found
a real pleasure in the genial simplicity and intellectual cultivation
of Hamilton and his sisters; and whether in the free air of its
upland garden, or beside its domestic hearth and tea-table, released
in either from the defensive cautions and the oppressive conven-
tionalisms of the town, she was her true self, enjoying and giving
enjoyment. Her remarkable memory and wide range of reading
in poetry and general literature supplied her with topics that stirred
into full activity the similar gifts of Hamilton ; and discussions of
passages and characters in poetry, romance, and history, often
brought out the critical judgments and the sympathetic feelings
of both with a freshness and spirit to which it was instructive as
well as delightful to listen.

I here resume the correspondence between Hamilton and
Aubrey He Vere by giving letters written from July to October.
I have found it hard to refrain from introducing all the poems
which accompanied the letters of the younger of the two friends,
whose muse at this time maintained a soaring indefatigable flight.
I confine myself to those to which Hamilton's comments refer.
And if at first sight it should be thought that I transgress the
rules by which a biographer is generally restricted in producing so
fully the letters themselves of Mr. De Vere, I trust that a perusal
of them will disarm the objection.

6o6 Life of Sir William Rowan Hainilton. [1832.

From Aubrey De Yere to W. E. Hamilton.

' July 20, 1832.

*■ I am very much obliged to you for sending me your Oxford
speecli,* which gave me a great deal of pleasure. I think your two
poems very beautiful, particularly the first, which seemed to me
more in Petrarch's style than anything else I have seen of yours,

*' Methinks I am grown weaker than of old."

Supra, p. 570. This speech was long afterwards thus referred to by
Aubrey De Vere.

From A. De Veee to W. R. Hamilton.

' CuKEAGH Chase, April 10, 1856.

' . . . I was much struck and interested by that speech of yours at Oxford
on re-reading it, especially by the view which it takes of Patriotism. After
having been all my life opposed to the Democratic party at this side of the
water, which contends for an exclusively Irish nationality, I have during the
last eight years found myself equally opposed to a certain party in England
who fancy that the integrity of the Empire can only be maintained by obliterat-
ing all Irish sentiment and recollections, and making Ireland simply " West
Britain." Both views seem to me equally inconsistent with fact, and equally
incompatible with sound moral feeling. Ireland does not possess, or admit of,
all the attributes of nationality : and I hope, both on political grounds and as a
Catholic, that her union with England, instead of being weakened, may be
strengthened and rendered more real. On the other hand, she does possess
many attributes that impart to her, even more than to Scotland and Wales, a
separate moral, though not political Integrity. She is entitled to a special love,
on the part of her sons ; and the more Jiistly they discharge their debt to her,
the more faithfully will they discharge that which they owe to the complete
body of the nation at large. There cannot, surely, be a narrower or falser view
of loyalty than that which fancies that you can get to the outer circles of
loyalty without passing through the inner, or which supposes that one form of
loyalty can ever be in real opposition to another, of which it is in fact a part or
the complement. It is thus that some politicians affect to despise all provin-
cial sentiment or love of neighbourhood ; that the Jacobins would have trampled
out patriotism itself in favour of a cosmopolitan philanthropy, and that some
Protestant statists have superficially pronounced Catholics incapable of being
loyal subjects ; in place of recognizing in that unshaken loyalty which, during
ages of persecution, they have maintained towards the head of the Ecclesiasti-
cal Order, tvithin his own sphere, the best guarantee for the same loyalty directed
to the State, in all matters included within the sphere of " Csesar." The view
of England and Ireland which you put forward in your Oxford speech of 1832
is that which directed me in writing my book JSnglish 3Iisriile and Irish 3Iis-
deeds, and is especially expressed in p. 258 and the next three.'

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 607

I have copied out the rest of my translation, and an original poem
for you, and if you will give me your real opinion of them, parti-
cularly the last, you shall have as many more as you like. Is this
an inducement or an ingenious manner of warding oif candid cri-
ticism ? '

The original poem here mentioned was the following imagina-
tive picture of Sophocles in the act of conceiving his Antigone.

THE ANTIGONE OF SOPHOCLES.

' I saw the Poet standing by himself
Within a deep green wood ; with long deep grass
And weed and wild-flower thick about his feet,
He pressed his forehead on a birch, one arm
Carelessly thrown around its silver stem.
At last he moved ; his head sunk slowly back.
Until the invisible air upon his brow
Rested serene : his eyelids faintly drooped
'Till their black lashes met with gentlest touch.
Thus he reclined like some clear- sculptured form.
Ere long a rapture thrill'd him and arose
Upward with gradual motion 'till its power
Increased upon his face with brightening gleam :
Silent he mused a moment : then arose
Bright as a god : around his temples wreathed
A light of sun-fed locks : — silent he stood ; —
It was his hour of immortality !
Even at the moment of that trance, he saw
A glorious vision ; from his own deep spirit
Emerged, distinct and clear, a perfect Form —
He saw — and cried aloud — Antigone !

A. DE V.

' Julj/ 1832.'

To the next letter were appended two fine Sonnets, devolution
and Sunrise, and with them two pieces not in sonnet form, of which
the first is an exhortation uttered by a votary of the Platonic phi-
losophy, and the second expresses the writer's estimate of the qua-
lities possessed by Hamilton himself.

6o8 Life of Sir Williavi Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

From Aubrey De Vere to W. R. Hamilton.

' July 26, 1832.

' I send you some more poems — enougli probably to satisfy your
appetite. I think you were frightened by my request that you
would candidly criticise my account of Antigone : indeed it is not
the easiest of all things to point out all the faults in my poetry.
Have you been writing lately yourself ? If so, I hope you will
give me your recent compositions ; you cannot conceive how much
pleasure they give me. I have got all your poems arranged in
order. How does F. Edge worth get on with the " Problem " ? I
suppose there will be some important corollaries soon ! '

AN EXHORTATION.

' Forget not thine own birth, the heavenly source
From which thy spii'it flows, thotigh now in sense
Immersed and bound upon the rolling Earth.
"Weep not amid the glorious winds, because
Thy sides are wingless. Power, and Strength, and Love
Are thine, and thou art theirs. What wouldst thou more ?
Beauty is round thee as the concave sky :
It sounds in every sound ; from cloud and flower
It gleams upon thee ; be what thou hast been.
Draw back thy fiery powers unto thine heart,
And thought shall flow from thee in arrowy rays
Piercing all space, and Majesty and Joy
Invest thee with a glory bright as his
Who sits in the centre of the sphered sun. '

A. DE V.

TO PROFESSOR HAMILTON.

' Shall I not gird thee with an eagle's wings,
And cry Grod speed thee in thy fiery flight,
And put a bow into thine hand, and thi-ee
Immortal arrows, wing'd and dipped in light.
And cry " Go forth, great archer ; lo ! the night
Even now grows pale before thee : she would flee,
And thou shalt slay her." But the Infinite
Hath given thee Power, to be thy bow for ever,
And winged thy soul with high Imaginings,
And placed three mighty arrows in thy quiver.
Beauty and Truth and Love: these are thy might.'

A. DE V.

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 609

From W. E. Hamilton io Aubrey De Vere.

* Obsekyatobt, July 27, 1832.

^ Your two letters, one received to-day and the other a few
days ago, together with the poems translated and original, have
given me a great deal of pleasure ; and I am very glad to find
that I am not to be so great a loser as I have been by your coy-
ness. However I must trust to your generosity alone, for I cannot
bribe you to communicativeness by any promise of impartial criti-
cism. I may perhaps criticise impartially the works of an author
whom I do not personally know, but not of one whom I do ; and
in your case affection must enter far too much into my thoughts
to suffer me to imagine myself to be discussing an abstract ques-
tion. Yet there is a degree in which, with all this consciousness of
bias, and knowledge of the likelihood of error, a man may judge
even himself, though society forbids the expression of such a judg-
ment : and in the same degree he may judge of those to whom he
is attached, though he cannot be sure that the world will agree
with him. And with respect to your verses, I can say, that they
appear to me to be written in a beautiful and noble style, remind-
ing me of the best parts of Wordsworth and Keats. To qualify
this, I must add that I think an ill-natured reviewer might say
they reminded one too much of those poets, and that you were an
imitator merely. But my judgment differs from this supposed
conclusion, and I feel sure that, retaining your correctness of taste,
you will more and more give manifestation of originality. I like
very much the " bound upon the rolling Earth," " the arrowy
rays of Thought piercing all space," and ih.Q ExJiortation altogether.
It is I think my favourite ; but you may be sure that my vanity
was rather more than satisfied by the verses to myself. Did you
receive a letter which I wrote about the beginning of this month
in answer to a long one of yours, which contained the dialogue
between Creon and Tiresias ? Some expressions in your last letter
lead me to fear that you did not receive it, and if so, I would,
perhaps, inquire at the Post Office, though indeed there was
notbing in it which would annoy me, if it were to pass into the
Dead-letter Ofiice, and the hands of the Postmaster-General, as it
may easily do if it imitate some of its elder brothers, for example

6io Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

a letter of mine to F. Edgeworth, wliicli I wrote in January and
sent to the Post Office, addressed to Francis Edgeworth, Esq.,
London — Francis Edgeworth of all people, who never continueth
in one place long enough to be of Almanac notoriety. Doubtless
that Edgeworth-letter will have strange tales to tell, if it can
describe its adventures when it returns : by that time the Corolla-
ries (which amused me so exceedingly) will some of them have
been published to the world. Am I to follow in fancy my Curragh
letter through such another series of adventures ? I send a trans-
lation of a German poem* of which the patriotic sentiments pleased
me; perhaps you will not be able to bear my metre, which is neither
blank verse nor rhyme. Patriotism reminds me of politics, but on
political things I look with no satisfaction, and try to put them
out of my head, and to mis not, even in thought, with " the per-
turbed world." t I am busy enough in mathematics, but indulge
myself with reading of poetry sometimes. This morning I finished
a recent reading of Julian,% which gave me great pleasure,
greater, I think, than it did when I first read it. I remember Sir
Aubrey De Vere with great affection ; and as it was after a fit of
thinking of him that I composed some verses in this letter on the
severing of friends, I should like you, if you thought they would
interest him at all, for the sentiments, though not for the versifica-
tion, which is probably below my average, to tear off the part and
give it to him. But I am far from wishing to trouble him with my
other verses. As to the letter, of the fate of which I inquired, you
may identify it, if it have reached you, by its containing some lines
beginning " He could remember." And now believe me, &c.

' Is it not pretty to have in German a single word, Frauemm-
schiild, to express what I have translated by Wonianh Innocence?
A hand has lately been stretched forth to me across the Atlantic ;
a diploma having been sent, with great pomp of broad-seal and so-
forth, to tell me that I have been elected Fellow of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences —

"Ueber Lander und Meer reicten sich. beide die Hand."
I am longing to see the whole of your Antigone.'

* Supra, p. 694.

t Quoted from a Sonnet by A. De Vere, entitled Revolidion.

X By Sir A. De Yere.

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 6ii

ON THE SEVERING OF FRIENDS.*

' "WTien between lis and some we deeply love,
A bar is placed, which we may scarce remove.
Strong, though invisible, — such bars have been, —
Opposing present intercourse, and e'en
Leaving small hope of future, how becomes
Precious the Past ! What weight and wealth it sums !
How jealously we call into review
All that we did, all that we failed to do :
And to the Living give, thus severed
In life, the awful honour of the Dead !

' July, 1832.'

From A. De Verb to W. R. Hamilton.

' Aiujust 21, 1832.

* We are all going to Mount Trenchard, my uncle's place, in
consequence of his coming over with all his family ... I showed
my father the lines that related to him : and need not tell you how
much obliged to you he was : the lines themselves he thought very
beautiful, and so did I, although, as you yourself remarked, the ver-
sification of them was not very smooth. Have you written anything
since ? If so, I hope you will let me see it. Are you as fond as ever
of the Sonnet ? There is a concentration of thought and energy
of diction about it, which is particularly favourable to that union
of thought and feeling which is conceived rather in the imagina-
tive reason than in the pure imagination. I am inclined to think
that Wordsworth rather over-calculated the power of the Sonnet
when he resolved to write a long poem (Duddon) in that form;
the Sonnet seems to me to suit a short philosophical poem particu-
larly well, a poem I mean that will fit into three or even six
sonnets, such as Tennyson's Love, but it is such a complete struc-
tural form that it only does for a subject that is divisible into a
succession of parts, each perfect in itself. It also does admirably
for a love-poem in which each sonnet is devoted to some new con-
jimcture of circumstances or some new feeling. How do you like
Spenser ? For my part, I consider Wordsworth by far the greatest

* See Letter to Lord Adare, of July 12, p. 587.
2 R 2

6i2 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

sonnet writer in the world, not even excepting Milton. I have
written three sonnets to Power, in which I have developed a kind
of theory of the subject, as far as is compatible with poetry. I
shall send them to you some time or other, on condition you give
me a more severe criticism than the last.'

With this letter were sent two noble sonnets on Milton visiting
Galileo blind and in prison.

From the Same to the Same.

* Moujstt Teenchaed,

' Sejotemher 23, 1832.

' It is such a long time since I have heard from you that I am
afraid you must have altogether forgotten that I am in the lower
world, while you were having your star-bridge from this little
"spot of earth" to the inaccessible heaven of poetko-metaphysical-
matliematka. Is not that last a magnificent word ? I am more
anxious than you can conceive to get a letter from you again, and
to hear about your employments and studies. Have you finished
your Greek mathematics ?* Have you been going on with your
Systems of Bays ? Have you written any poetry ? A-j^ropos of
poetry, how do you like the four sonnets I sent you in my last
letter ? My father has set the two addressed to Milton afloat in
the Literary Souvenir ; this is rather annoying to me, as I have
not much respect for those Annuals. I am constantly told that I
am a perfect visionary, and ought never to get anything more sub-
stantial for dinner than a Barmecide's feast ; and I shall believe
this imless you write to me soon, and tell me that it is actually
possible that objects of sense should be of a more visionary nature
than the truths of the reason. I will tell you a story that will
amuse you. I was riding to Curragh the other day, in company
with a Scotch friend, a vehement admirer of Dugald Stewart,
Reid, Smith, and in a word, of all sensible people, who preserve a
character for sense by never allowing anything like genius to
appear, and " get on " in the world not by the aid of great heads,
but by a much more useful help, viz., sharp elbows. We became

* Alluding to the study Hamilton was at this time carrying on of the
Alma ff est of Ptolemy.

AETAT. 27.] EaiHy Years at the Observatory. 613

engaged in a philosophical discussion, and I was declaiming about
" eternal truths," when the pony he was riding lost his footing, in
consequence of his master's forgetting to hold the reins, and after
staggering for about two minutes tumbled on his knees and depo-
sited his rider on the top of his head : he rolled over two or three
times, and then looking up at me, before he had time to rise, ex-
claimed, " this comes of your Eternal Truths ! " He then jumped
up, ran to the pony, who was lying flat on his back in the
middle of the road, raised him, mounted, gathered himself well in
the saddle, and said, "now listen, hang your Eternal Truths! and
thereanent we will have no more such-like gibberish ! as soon as
you are at home you may mystify yourself and me, and the
creature, as much as you like; but while I am on horseback I
will have no more conjuring. I thank God that I have not broken
my head." I have lately been reading a life of Shelley written
by his relation Captain Medwin for the AtJienmim ; it contains a
great many very interesting anecdotes about the " Pard," and
confirms the assertions of his admirers as to the goodness of his
disposition. What surprised me most was the intense labour
Shelley bestowed upon his compositions : he considered poetry as
an art in which no one could obtain success without the most
intense study and painful corrections ; his biographer asserts that
nobody could read his manuscripts. It seems that Shelley had a
very humble opinion of himself, indeed to a degree that is incom-
prehensible. He used to wish for " the fourth part of Byron's
genius," and declared that when he read Dante he despaired of
ever being able to make himself a great poet. Medwin too asserts
that both Shelley and Byron were poets more by education than
by nature, and that if one of them could have swallowed the
other, the result would have been a great poet. For my part, I
cannot understand a word of all this. I have seen Shakespeare's
Poems since I wrote to you last, and admire them very much,
particularly the sonnets ; although I do not think these last equal
to some of Daniel's and Drummond's. I have been reading some
beautiful poems of Raleigh, Sidney, and Lovelace, and am daily
more indignant at Johnson's selection. I hope you will send me
whatever poetry you may have written lately.'

6 14 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

From W. R. Hamilton to Aubrey De Yere.

' Obseeyatokt, September 24, 1832.

' I catch a moment of leisure and spirits, while I am laughing
at the recollection of my attempt to talk French for the last hour
or two to Signer Nobili, an eminent Italian Astronomer, to finish
a letter to you. I had never before attempted to say more than
a sentence or two in French, although I read the language with
sufficient ease ; and I just knew enough of conversational French
to be aware of the ludicrousness of my attempt, and to have a con-
tinued internal struggle to keep my own coimtenance, while I was
imagining the struggle that the polite Signer must have had in
keeping his. The pent up laugh came forth like a volcano when
he was gone, and has scarcely subsided yet. If it had not been
for the aid of the telescopes, and so-forth, which served in part as
interpreters, I could hardly have been sure that we were always
talking on a common subject. Once I ventured a little off the
safe ground, and said something about Petrarch ; but he told me
that for his part he had no taste for " les pleurs d'amour." Did I
ever tell you of an eminent scientific acquaintance who once talked
to me of Shelley in the following strain ? " Shelley is a capital
versifier ; there now is his Alastor; I read it for the sake of the
versification, from beginning to end, but ichat ifs about, Grod
knows ! " Mrs. Hemans has paid us several visits since I re-
turned from Oxford. She spent an evening here, and staid till a
pretty late hour, not long ago, professedly to look at the moon,
but of course we found many other things to interest us. Your
sonnets have given us great pleasure, and I shall be delighted
with the inundation of franked ones which you promise. You
must not suppose that either they, or your metaphysical remarks,
do not interest me, because I am often slow in thanking you for
them. The distinction between spirit and soul, which you deve-
loped in one of your letters, is very important, and it appears to
me to be confirmed by the authority of Coleridge and of other
great writers. Jeremy Taylor has given me great delight, during
the last few months. I remember that you praised his works, and
that they were mentioned to me by another person as worthy to
be selected for a desert island if one were doomed to live there

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 615

accompanied by but very few books. But the bulk of my employ-
ment has been mathematical, and I have many sheets ready for
the press.'

From A. De Vere to W. R. Hamilton.

' Octoher 3, 1832.'

' . . . The Poem* in couplets which you sent me last appears
to have been written in very bad spirits. I hope it does not ex-
press your ordinary feelings. I am sure there are very few men
of your time of life who can look back upon so much, not only
thought and spoken, but actually done. If, on the other hand,
you consider, as I believe Wordsworth asserts, that the principal
endeavour of a great man ought to be the building up of his own
moral being, who then has ever contributed more by deep and
original thought on religious and philosophical subjects to approach
the ideal imprinted in the human mind, that half obliterated image
of the Deity? I cannot bear that expression "passion-wasted life."
Is not passion the most essential means by which our souls are
purified and elevated? I think it is passion more than any-
thing else, I might say, even suffering, that gives unity to the
moral character ; without it, we should never have sufficiently
strongly imprinted on the mind the Idea of Duty ; and I believe
amiability and high intellect will always require such a principle,
for the purpose of effecting their union, in a degree proportioned
to the intensity of each. I liked the feeling of your sonnetf much
better.'

From the Same to the Same.

' October 6, 1832.

' . . . I have been discussing subjects of moral philosophy
lately with three gentlemen. I certainly was a good deal asto-
nished at the confidence with which they all asserted some pro-
positions which seem to me too revolting to our feelings to be
acknowledged easily, even if they were less opposed to reason.
The three gentlefolks differed in some respects, but agreed in

* ' My Birthday Eve,' p. 595.

t ' The Spirit of a dream hath often given,' p. 595.

6i6 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

tliese enliglitenecl principles of modern philosophy : — " there is no
natural, necessary, or eternal right or wrong; our impressions
on those subjects are only associations instilled into us during
childhood, for the good of society ; the human mind has no natu-
ral principles of beauty, much less Idea of beauty ; there is no such
thing as conscience ; morality is a mere name ; men have no social
or political rights but those which they can acquire and keep for
themselves by force ; or in a more advanced stage of society, those
which men have consecrated by common consent ; the only true
method of pursuing metaphysical subjects is experience : and
Bacon's Inductive philosophy is the key to all philosophy ; the
first desire of every man is and ought to be his own happiness ;
and all objects of affection are valuable in proportion as they con-
tribute to this ; it is impossible that there should be any other
than historical evidence for any religion; we are almost entirely
the creatures of association, and we come into the world with our
minds like white paper ; there are no eternal things except mathe-
matics ; all " visionary " things are those within the mind ; all
real things are without ; fiction, falsehood, imaginative, ima-
ginary, and ideal, are the same; so likewise are sensible, real,
and true ; and for the rest, Plato, Aristotle, and the great
Grerman philosophers, were ganders, whose only excuse is that
they lived before the only true method was understood — ." How
do you like all this ? It is hopeful, is it not ? These doctrines
are, I am afraid, terribly prevalent in these days : and if so,
what hope is to be entertained for a nation consisting of men who
believe them ? I cannot describe to you the ridicule with which
my assertions were met ; you would have thought that I was
bringing forward some perfectly new system of my own, when I
asserted the philosophy of ages of greatness and intellect ; they
assured me that I was a mere dreamer; and that my extreme
youth was my only excuse for entertaining opinions so perfectly
opposed to the practical benefit of the world : and the most pro-
voking matter was the assurance with which they insisted on it
that I should in time come round to the opinions of " all reason-
able people." I gave up at last, after having in vain quoted that
magnificent passage of Milton, " 0 Adam, one Almighty is," &c.
How is Coleridge's health now ? Is he at the Logos ? I am afraid
even that book will not be able to stem the torrent of corruption

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 617

that is flooding the country. How singular it seems that this
should be at once the declining age of feeling, philosophy, and
morals, and the brightest in great names and in men of a really
antique genius! Surely no single age, nor all the ages since
the Elizabethan, can compete with this in poetry! Even the
Elizabethan had nothing like the variety of this. When have we
had such classical writers as Landor, Leigh Hunt, Keats, and
Shelley ? Then in the romantic and philosophical we have Words-
worth, Coleridge, and (to do him justice) Southey. In the pas-
sionate school is not Byron as great as Eousseau, the boast of
French genius ? For majestic Eoman declamation are not Camp-
bell and Eogers equal to Goldsmith, Addison, Hayley, and such-
like great little men ? What a stirring up of the old chivalrous
minstrel style have we not had in Sir Walter Scott and the ex-
quisite poems of Tennyson ? So much for poetry ! In prose, have
we not the greatest novelist in the world, and the greatest English
metaphysician ? Are not Southey's prose works more thoroughly
English, both in thought and expression, than the writings of the
Queen Anne wits ? Then there is Landor, who can write in every
English style that ever was heard of. In mind he seems to me
the most Grecian, the most thoroughly accomplished and refined,
produced in any age of our literature. Then there is Hare ; above
all there is Kenelm Digby. I think The Broad-done of Honour
one of the very noblest works I have ever read. In the arts have
we not had Flaxman, the man of the highest imagination and the
most profound sense of beauty since the great Grecian masters ?
In painting, I believe that Turner and Martin are men of really
wonderful powers. In the senate, are not Canning, Brougham,
Plunket, Grey, Wellington, the names of really great men ? I will
not speak of Mackintosh or Bentham ; but even they have the same
merit as Moore, viz., they are the greatest men of their oicn school,
a school, by the way, a good deal older, I believe, than is generally
supposed. I do not understand the state of abstract science amongst
us ; but should I not be safe in saying that during the last twenty
years mathematics have been advancing much more rapidly than
for a very long previous period ? Then as for the experimental
sciences, is not this their Augustan age ? When was mechanical
science so much improved, above all so well applied, as of late
years ? I have now brought forward a bright collection of names ;

6i8 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

but this is not all: the great majority of those great men have
adopted the. philosophy of a really great age. Our great poets
began by throwing oif the yoke of the Roman or rather the French
despotism. Some of them recurred to the elementary inspiration
of the Greeks ; some to the romantic inspiration of our own early
poets ; some have frequently blended each of them with the pro-
found and spiritual philosophy of the new German school. Our
real philosophers and literary men have thrown the whole weight
of their genius into the declining scale ; they have repeatedly
denounced the selfishness, the vanity, the drivelling infidelity, the
materialism, that has been corrupting the principles and habits
of the people so rapidly ; all their great works have appealed to
feelings too high and too disinterested for the taste of the " read-
ing public : " and yet what has all this array of genius and learning
effected for the spirit of the age ? So far from having recommended
their philosophy to others, they have not been able to make them-
selves read. I believe that when a nation has once begun to decay,
it is as impossible to arrest its fate as to check the progress of
corruption in the human body. I fear it is too true that nations
have but one motion — that round their own axis ; and that
" wealth, vice, corruption, barbarism at last," is as much their
fate after Christianity, and after printing, as before. Each break-
ing wave may perhaps roll farther up the beach than the one
before, but each one must break. I confess the more I think
about politics, the more desponding I become. The greatness of
a people seems to me entirely a moral greatness ; and the feeling
of the present age is mean and selfish to an inconceivable degree.
If power be moral, must not the poet and philosopher exercise the
greatest power over the destinies of men ? If then the poets and
philosophers of the present day have signally failed in gaining
influence, what have we to expect from the politicians ? And if no
one can infuse a new influence into the minds of men, what is
there to be expected from the merely mechanical opposition with
which we must meet the spirit of Democracy and Innovation ? I
believe the future historian of England will have a very extraor-
dinary and melancholy tale to tell of the 19th century. What a
tale of wealth, glory, genius, and corruption, it will be ! Even the
wonderful discoveries in mechanics and political economy will then
be enumerated among the causes of our decline.'

AETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 619

To this letter was appended the exquisite sonnet known to
readers of Mr. De Yere's poetry : —

' There is a tranquil beauty in h.er face,
A lovely summer- calm of peace and prayer ;
And the most penetrating eye can trace
No sad distraction in her harmless air.
Peace rests upon her lips and forehead fair
And temples unadorned ; an unknown grace
Surrounds her like a crystal atmosphere,
And Love hath made her breast his dwelling-place.
An awful might abideth with the pure,
And theirs the only wisdom from above :
She seems to listen to a strain obscure
Of music in the upper ether wove ;
Or to await some more transcendent Power
From heaven descending on her " like a dove."

A. DE V.

' October 13, 1832.'

From W. E. Hamilton to Aubrey De Vere.

' Obseevatoey, October 13, 1832.

* You have made me quite rich in poems lately, which have
given me great delight, and also to my poet-sister, to whom I
have shown them. The sonnet that haunts me most is the one on
the tranquil beauty, who seems to listen to a strain obscure. I was
about to say that I should like to see her, but it might disturb the
picture. As to myself I have written nothing of the verse-kind,
since the sonnet to Fourier. . . . For some months now I have
been almost uninterruptedly engaged in my mathematical investi-
gations, and feel half glad, half sorry, when I think tliat I have
nearly finished for the press a Third Supplement, longer than either
of my two former ones. Glad, because I must not detain the prin-
ter and Academy too long, and have other business of my own
besides; sorry, because the labour of composition has been so
pleasant a resource. The contUmom exertion has indeed produced
an effect like that ascribed to bodily exercise, and I feel as if my
health of mind and even of body were greatly improved within
the last two months. In what you said of the good effects of
suffering, I fully and cordially agree. But when I think of my
having passed nearly eight years in a state of mental suffering,
with lucid intervals indeed, and at the worst times able to exert

620 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilto7i. [1832.

myself that I might not inflict too much upon the sympathy of
my friends, I cannot hide from myself the conclusion, that the
defect in the character of Coleridge which prevents me from
adopting it as an ideal exists in my own also, the excess of
■Kofyoq over T/^oc.'

Between the date of the preceding letter and of that which
follows, Aubrey De Yere came up to Dublin to enter the Univer-
sity. He was taken by Hamilton to the Eoyal Irish Academy
on the evening of the 22nd of October — the memorable evening
when the latter presented his Third Supplement, and announced
the discovery of Conical Refraction — and on the next day accom-
panied him to the Observatory. There the two friends spent
together a few days during which they enjoyed the fulfilment of
anticipations which had been expressed by both. Alluding to a
reference by A. De Yere to their last meeting at Adare, when
they had sat up till four o'clock in the morning, talking of all
things mundane and extra-mundane, and laughing as heartily as
they talked earnestly, Hamilton says, in his note of invitation,
" Doubtless we shall have many more intellectual laughs at men
and things, free from all bitterness of contempt, and walks and
arguments and reminiscences." Of this visit of his friend to the
Observatory Hamilton composed, two months afterwards, in sonnet
form the following record, full of meaning to those who have kept
pace with his vicissitudes of inward feeling.

' I wandered with a brother of my soul ;
Familiar loveliness we visited,
To me familiar, new to him : I led
His steps to where the Tolka's waters roU,
Gentle, but by the impotent control
Of stony barrier often angered
To foam and roar : 'till in the river-bed
I reached at last an old remembered goal.
It was a place I could not choose but know.
All twined with sweet and sad and solemn thought :
But of the bitter past we spoke not — no,
"We might have seem'd with mirthful fancies fraught ;
For once we laugh'd, laugh'd ! but the rocks around
Returned that laughter with a ghastly sound.

' Becemher 2\, 1832.'

4.ETAT. 27.] Early Years at the Observatory. 621

From W. E,. Hamilton to Aubrey De Vere.

' OBSERTATOiir, October 30, 1832.

' I intended to write to you this morning, but unluckily I can
scarce do anything but laugh, after the sea and tempest of laugh-
ing in which I was tossed last evening. The evening was a con-
trast certainly to some that we lately passed together, and the
contrast and the rapid transition were themselves felt at intervals
as adding to the ludicrousness of the whole. My old college ac-
quaintance and indeed old friend — I will not grudge him the
title, for he is a warm-hearted fellow — Driscoll, of whom you have
heard me sometimes talk, met me last week after a separation of
many years, and promised to dine with me yesterday. He came
accordingly, and we had much chat on old times, and some on
poetry, which I heard him long ago say he would love a cat or a
dog that was fond of. It was my rhyming a little that first won
his heart to me, I believe. And to prove that we were not quite
changed since then, we rhymed more than a little last night. Soon
after tea some extemporary couplet by one of us was taken as
a challenge by the other, and we pelted each other in the octo-
syllabic way for more than an hour, stopping only to take breath.
Then the metre changed, and I poured forth some blank-verse
romance of our having been friends in the ancient times when
Ireland was united to England, and England was supreme of the
world ; of my having trodden since the floors of Venetian palaces,
and wandered through recesses of the pyramids, and been suddenly
met and saved by him from a crocodile on the banks of the Nile ;
and of our having afterwards in China in some mysterious way
incensed the ancient empire, and been forced to fly apart, till now
we met as pilgrims old and gray in desolated Ireland. He replied
with spirit, and our improvisation lasted a long while. Before this
he had kept us all in roars of laughter at Irish songs and stories,
the legend of Clonmacnois, and " Saint Patrick was a jontleman."
He informed me that there had been a young man named Keats,
who wrote a poem called Endymion ; and added that this young
man poisoned himself because the poem was harshly reviewed. I
hope the truth of the last part is a match for the novelty of the
hrst. Believe me, dear Aubrey, your attached and ridiculous,' &c.

62 2 Life of Sir William Rowan Ha^nilton. [1832.

From the Same to the Same.

* Obseevatort, November 7, 1832.

' I am busy arranging materials for my opening Lecture to-
morrow, but cannot let Stephen go without a few lines to you.
You received, I hope, my letter with the Rydal Hours, and the
description of my evening with DriscoU. The next day he saw
some little poem of Shelley on the table, and straightway wrote an
extempore parody, clever enough ; but on my reading to him soon
after the dialogue between Earth and Moon, he called out " 0
stop, Hamilton! you'll not leave a particle of flesh on my bones! "
and immediately he rose in a rage, and tore his parody into frag-
ments, and threw it into the fire. He was dying to see Mrs. Hemans,
whom he said he could be content to marry blindfold for the sake
of her poetry alone. I gave him an introduction, and I believe he
has found her lodging ; I thought he was leaving Dublin sooner
than he did, or I would have asked him to meet her here at a
pleasant party soon after he was with me : but indeed I wished to
keep at any rate a bed for Stephen, who unluckily was not able to
come.

Since I wrote last, a dim perspective of possible marriage has
floated past me, within the last few days. If the thought had
been formed when you were here, I would have spoken of it then.
The person is not at all brilliant, but one whom I have long known
and respected and liked, although the thought of marriage is so
recent. However this new vision may trn^n out, whether the
thought shall ripen into purpose, and the purpose lead to success-
ful effort, or whether (which is at least as likely) the whole shall
vanish into air, I feel that the suffering of the present year has
not been useless or unprofitable. Affliction, besides its religious
uses, often strengthens and deepens the character ; and I persuade
myself that it has done so in my case, and that I have become " a
sadder and a wiser man " in the depths of the spirit, though laugh-
ter may sometimes rudely stir the surface, as in that evening with
DriscoU, and even in some hours with you.'

AETAT. 27.] Conical Refraction. 623

CHAPTER XIII.

CONICAL REFRACTION.
(l832.)

In one of Hamilton's letters to Lord Aclare he speaks of having
copied out his Third Supplement to his Theory of Systems of Rays
as many as ten times, in the endeavour to perfect it ; but this letter
does not record that, while thus giving final shape to his work, he
had arrived by means of his general method at an optical result of
a most remarkable nature. This, however, was the fact. He had
made the theoretical discovery of Conical Refraction. And when
he presented the concluding part of his Third Supplement to the
Royal Irish Academy on the 22nd of October, 1832, it contained
a statement of the discovery, which he then orally announced. Of
the position in optical science of this discovery, the unscientific
reader will gather a correct notion from the following passage
which I reproduce from the memoir published in the DnhUn Uni-
versity Magazine of January, 1842.

' The law of the reflexion of light at ordinary mirrors appears
to have been known to Euclid ; that of ordinary refraction at a
surface of water, glass, or other uncrystallized medium, was dis-
covered at a much later age by Snellius ; Huyghens discovered,
and Mains confirmed, the law of extraordinary refraction produced
by uniaxal crystals, such as Iceland spar ; and finally the law of
the extraordinary double refraction at the faces of biaxal crystals,
such as topaz or arragonite, was found in our own time by Fresnel.
But even in these cases of extraordinary or crystalline refraction,
no more than Uco refracted rays had ever been observed or even
suspected to exist, if we except a theory of Cauchy, that there
might possibly be a third ray, though probably imperceptible to

624 Life of Sir Williavi Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

our senses. Professor Hamilton, however, in investigating by his
general method the consequences of the law of Fresnel, was led to
conclude that there ought to be in certain cases, which he assigned,
not merely two, nor three, nor any finite number, but an infinite
number, or a cone of refracted rays within a biaxal crystal, corre-
sponding to and resulting from a single incident ray ; and that in
certain other cases, a single ray within such a crystal should give
rise to an infinite number of emergent rays, arranged in a certain
other cone. He was led, therefore, to anticipate from theory two
new laws of light, to which he gave the names of Internal and Ex-
ternal Conical Refraction.''

So sure was Hamilton's grasp of his mathematical results, and
of the necessary correspondence with them of physical phenomena
(the truth of the undulatory theory being supposed), that on the
day succeeding the above-mentioned meeting of the Royal Irish
Academy, he requested his friend Mr. Lloyd, afterwards Provost
of Trinity College, Dublin, and then Professor of Natural Philo-
sophy, to institute experiments for the purpose of verifying his
theoretical anticipations. The task was promptly undertaken, and
besides the letters between Hamilton and Lloyd which record its
progress, others from Hamilton to Airy and Herschel, with their
replies, are in existence, which are of great interest. Being full of
mathematical formulae, they are more suited for a collection of the
scientific correspondence of the subject of this memou', which I
hope may some day see the light, than for the present work.
Here it must suffice to give an outline of their contents, indicat-
ing the history of the discovery and its verification, and one or
two letters of general statement.

The earliest letter of the series which remains is Hamilton's
reply to Lloyd's inquiry respecting the angle of the cone, for
arragonite, in the case of external conical refraction. It com-
mences thus: —

^November 3, 1832, Saturday morning. — Mrs. Hemans and
some of the young Graveses came here yesterday evening, just
as I had finished my calculation respecting the arragonite, and

AEXAi. 27.] Conical Refraction. 625

I had only time to write as answer, "3^."* I showed the caba-
listic note to Mrs. Henians, and she admitted that we professors
had attained the perfection of letter- writing.'

He then enters upon a consideration of some of Lloj'd's obser-
vations in comparison with his own results of theoretical calcula-
tion, and prepares Lloyd for finding that the cone would not be
exactly cu-cular. On the following day he suggests to Lloyd an
easy experimental verification by means of a slit in a card.

On the 25th of October, Hamilton had written to Airy, offering
to propose him as an Honorary member of the Royal Irish Aca-
demy, and stated in general terms that he had arrived at some
new results from Fresnel's theory. On the 4th November Airy
replies —

' I am much obliged by your note of October 25. I should
highly value the honour of being a member of your Academy, and
I should esteem it much more because it originated with you. . . .
I shall be glad in time to hear of the new results of Fresnel's
theory which you allude to.'

On the 6th November, Lloyd reports some unsuccessful experi-
ments, and his intention to try another way of his own devising,
and also that suggested by Hamilton, but concludes by saying, ' I
almost despair of doing anything with so thin a plate [of arra-
gonitej.'

On the 10th of November Hamilton writes thus to Lloyd : —

' Just after the evening when I gave to the Eoyal Irish Aca-
demy an account of my last optical results, I wrote to Professor
Airy, and among other things I mentioned that I had arrived at
a new consequence from Fresnel's theory, without stating what
that consequence w^as. I now enclose a letter received from him
yesterday, in which he expresses a wish to be informed of it ; and

* This finally proved to be, quam 2}roxime, the angle ascoi'taiued by experi-
ment : see letter to Herschel, infra, p. 634.

2 s

626 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

if you should, as you seemed to think likely, be prevented by want
of apparatus or of leisure from making soon any decisive experi-
ment on the point, I believe it will be well to mention the theore-
tical result to Airy.'

To this letter Professor Lloyd sent the following reply. It is
impossible not to be struck by the pure unselfish zeal for science
which it displays.

' I fear it would be wholly impossible to obtain experimentally
any decisive result connected with your theoretical conclusion,
without better means than I have at present at my disposal. The
angle of divergence produced by diffraction in the minutest aper-
tures, when they are so close as they must be in my specimen, is
far greater than the angle we seek. The sj)eeimens I showed you
the other day are fine, but I find they belong to a form of crystal-
lization which the mineralogists term maded, that is, in fact, they
are composed of several distinct crystals crossing each other. They
would be therefore wholly unfit for the purpose. I am quite sure
your conclusion can be readily tested by anyone having access to
fair specimens ; but as that is not the case here, you had better
refer the matter to Airy, or some one else, as soon as possible.'

But happily the honour of bringing these experiments to a
successful termination was not to pass from Professor Lloyd.
Within a few days he had procured a better specimen of the re-
quired crystal, and he has the pleasure of thus writing to Hamilton :

'Trinity College, December 14. — Dear Hamilton, I write this
line to say that I have found the cone. At least I have almost no
doubt on the subject ; but must still verify it by different methods
of observation.

' I have no time to say more at present than that I observed it
in a fine specimen of arragonite which I received from DoUond in
London since I saw you last.'

On the 18th of December Hamilton communicated this verifica-
tion of his theoretical anticipation to both Airy and Herschel. I
give a transcript of his letter to the last ; it is an interesting though
not a full statement of the discovery and the verification.

AETAT. 27.] Conical Refraction. 627

From W. E. Hamilton to Sir J. F. W. Herschel.

* Dublin Observatoey, Becemler 18, 1832.

' You are aware that the fundamental principle of my optical
methods does not essentially require the adoption of either of the
two great theories of light in preference to the other. How-
ever I naturally feel an interest in applying my general methods
to Fresnel's theory of biaxal crystals ; and when in October I was
finishing my Third Supplement for the Eoyal Irish Academy, I
deduced, from such application, some results respecting the focal
lengths and aberrations of lenses formed of such crystals. In the
coui'se of these calculations I was led to transform in various ways
Fresnel's law of velocity, or, in other words, to study his curved
wave : and I found, what he seems to have not suspected, that the
wave has 1st, four cusps (at the ends of the optic axes) at each of
which the tangent planes are (not, as he thought, two, but) infinite
in number; and 2nd, /ozo* circles of plane contact, along each of
which the wave is touched, in the whole extent of the circle, by a
plane (parallel to one of the circular sections of the surface of elas-
ticity) ; somewhat as a plum can be laid down on a table so as to
touch and rest on the table in a whole circle of contact, and has,
in the interior of the circular space, a sort of conical cusp. Hence
I was led to expect that under certain circumstances, easily deduced
and assigned by me from these geometrical properties, a single in-
cident and unpolarized ray would undergo not double but conical
refraction. I announced this expectation to the Eoyal Irish Aca-
demy at their monthly meeting in October, when I was giving an
account of the results of my Third Supplement ; and I applied to
Professor Lloyd, son of our Provost here, to submit the matter to
experiment. For some time he could do nothing decisive, not
having any biaxal crystal of sufficient size and purity; but havino-
lately obtained from DoUond a fine piece of arragonite, and
having treated it according to my theoretical indications, he has
perceived a curious and beautiful set of new phenomena, which, so
far as they have yet been examined, appear to agree with the
theory, and at any rate are worthy of study. I thought this
intelligence would interest you, and I am,' &c.

2S2

62 8 Life of Sir Williavi Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

On the same day Lloyd writes to Hamilton as follows : —

' Tueulay, 3 d'docli; College. — I am happy to tell you that since
I saw you this morning I succeeded in projecting the cone on a
screen of roughened glass, and observing a section of it so large as
two inches in diameter ; you will easily conceive that the pheno-
menon is most striking. The appearance is exactly the same as
that we saw when looMiuj tlirougli the aperture. Its deviation from
an exact circle, however, is of course more distinctly seen. I traced
the boundary of this section on the screen, and then measvired the
distance as accurately as I could. Three such measurements gave
me for the angle of the cone 6° 24', 6° 22', 5= 56', which you see
are tolerably near. The mean (6° 14') corresponds pretty well with
the measurements of the extreme circle, taken yesterday. The differ-
ence between it and the theoretical result is probably the effect of
diffraction, and I must now try and correct for this pertiu-bation.
This mode of exhibiting the phenomenon is decisive as well as
beautiful, and I am sure you will be glad to see it when you next
come in to town.'

On the 23rd of December, Professor Airy writes : —

'I have duly received your letter concerning double refraction,
and that informing me of my election as Honorary Member of
the Eoyal Irish Academy (of which I had not received an official
notice). I beg you to say to the authorities of that Body that I
am very much gratified with the honour which they have done me,
and that I hope it may prove the cause of greater personal ac-
quaintance with many of its members than I at present possess,

'I am very much interested with your discovery of the circular
contact of the tangent plane with Fresnel's double wave surface.
I was well aware (a long time ago) that the point of the surfaces,
which in the principal section is the intersection of the circle and
the ellipse, is in the surfaces the meeting of two dimples (external
and internal), and that these dimples near their point of meeting
become ultimately two opposite cones ; the outer one diverging in
a sort of trumpet-mouth. But I had no idea that the mouth of
the trumpet could be touched by one plane. Now as to the con-
sequences of this I am extremely puzzled. . . . Arragonite is a
bad substance, I should imagine ; I should think topaz likely to

AETAT. 27.] Conical Refraction. 629

make a wider cone ; * perhaps your f ormulse will show you at once.
Let me beg you to communicate as soon as possible (if Professor
Lloyd does not object) the phenomena which he has observed. I
have to thank him for a copy of his excellent optical treatise.'

I regret that I have not been able to find the letter from
Professor Lloyd and its enclosure (presumably a note from
Mr. MacCuUagh, F.T.C.D.), to which the following important
letter is a reply.

From W. R. Hamilton to Professor Lloyd.

'Observatory, January 1, 1833.

' I have just received your letter and the enclosed note and
write in some haste. Mr. MacCullagh's last conclusion that the
conical refraction at emergence required the internal ray along
the optic axis to be unpolarized, or to be formed by the superposi-
tion of rays polarized in infinitely various planes, is exactly the
same with the conclusion which I had formed in October, and I
distinctly remember mentioning it to you in our interview on the
23rd of that month ; and it was for that reason I wished to have
the luminous point in contact with the crystal. But I have not
yet tried to determine the exact law connecting the internal plane
of polarization of an internal polarized ray with the position of the
corresponding emergent ray of the cone, though the determination
will not be difiicult, and the result probably very nearly the same
as in that other connected question! which we talked of the other
day, and which we had both resolved by different methods. What
has hindered me from setting about this little problem has been my
being much engaged and interested in Cauchy's theory of light.+
As to the finite magnitude of the emergent cone, for a single in-
ternal common ray, I certainly expect a finite magnitude, that is,
a finite angle (though the cone of rays is not of revolution nor
even of the second degree), but not a conical shell of finite thick-

* This I am informed is a mistake,
t In the case of external conical refraction.

X The correspondence on this snbject shows that Hamilton solved it the day
after he wrote this letter, viz., January 2.

630 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

ness, sucli as one may consider as approximately resulting from a
finite but thin internal cylinder of rays. As this last is nearly the
case of the experiment, there must no doubt be a thickness in the
cone of the order of the aperture besides the angular divergence; and
this may, as you say, account for part of what you observed, but I
scarcely think it will account for the whole. It is much for theory
to have predicted the/r/ci'.s of conical refraction, but I suspect that
the exact laws of it depend on things as yet unknown. You see
my pleasure at perceiving so great a confirmation of theory does
not make me sanguine enough to believe as yet the coincidence
absolute and rigorous. As to raj's inclined a little to the optic
axis all round, it was in fact from considering them and passing
to the limit that I first deduced my expectation of conical refrac-
tion. When you are drawing up your Paper I shall be glad if
your plan leads you (when you are speaking of my having re-
quested you to try experiments) to mention distinctly the follow-
ing facts, which constitute all my merit, such as it is, on the subject.

1. 'I announced to you on the 23rd of October last, having on
the preceding evening announced to a general meeting of the
Eoyal Irish Academy, that I had discovered tico new geometrical
properties of Fresnel's wave ; one property being the existence of
four conoidal cusps at the intersections of circle and ellipse in the
plane of the greatest and least axes ; and the other property being
the existence oifour finite circles of plane contact, each of the four
planes of these circles being parallel to one of the two circular sec-
tions of the surface of elasticity.

2. 'I announced to you on the same day, and had done so to
the Academy on the evening before, my expectation of a new kind
of refraction , namely conical refraction, "which ought to happen in
two distinct cases; one at emergence, when a single ray of light
from a point within a biaxal crystal proceeded along an optic axis
(from centre to cusp of Fresnel's wave) and then emerged; the
other, at entering when a single ray of common light from a point
toithout falls on a biaxal crystal and enters so that the plane wave
within, or the tangent plane to the curved wave within, is parallel
to either of the two circular sections of the sm^face of elasticity.

3. 'I requested you to try experiments to confirm or refute the
theoretical expectations which I had deduced from Fresnel's prin-
ciples.

AETAT. 27.] Conical Refraction. 631

'You intended I know to mention tlie third, but you might not
have thought of distinctly putting the two others on record, which
yet may save some controversy with others hereafter. I expect on
Thursday evening to leave the neighbourhood of Dublin for a few
days, but to return early next week.'

That Hamilton was ready to make known the work done by
MacCullagh in the same field with himself is proved by the follow-
ing passage in a letter of his to Professor Airy, written, as a short-
hand draft of it shows, a few days later, viz., January 4, 1833.

' I hear from Lloyd that MacCullagh (another of our young
Fellows, a Paper by whom I once showed you) has deduced the
same results by his geometrical methods, having however pre-
viously heard of my theory of conical refraction.' *

This letter to Airy communicated at length the results of
Professor Lloyd with respect to external conical refraction,
together with some views of Hamilton's own as to the 'vibra-
tions,' ' interference,' and ' polarization,' involved in the experi-
ment.

In Professor Airy's answer, after referring to polarization, he
expresses strongly his conviction that if the phenomenon of ex-
ternal conical refraction be true in fact, it has no connexion with
the theory of Hamilton. He then ably sketches what he considers
possible results, but shows that he has misconceived Hamilton's
statement.

To this letter Hamilton sent a reply on the 21st of January,
and, not hearing in return from Airy, another on the 1st of
February ; in these letters he modestly, and it may be in accord-
ance with the fact, supposes that some ambiguity in his own
expressions may have caused his correspondent's failure correctly
to appreciate the results arrived at by himself and Professor

* See Note in the Appendix.

632 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

Lloyd,* and after re-stating and explaining them lie quietly
adds, ' I believe that if you consider the thing you will come to
the same conclusion with me.' On the very day on which he had
despatched the second of these letters Hamilton received from
Professor Airy a letter dated January 28, which handsomely
acknowledged that he had been convinced by Hamilton's exj)la-
nation ; the following are its terms : —

From Professor Airy to W. E. Hamilton.

' Allow me to thank you for your last note, which is all com-
prehensible and all true ; and if I had not been very dull, I might
perhaps have guessed at some of it before. You had not mentioned
to me anything about the cusp-ray, and therefore there were parts
of the previous letter which were altogether mysterious to me, and
were likely to remain so, except I could divine or you explain.'

It will be seenf that, not long after. Professor Airy followed
up this private amende by a public testimony, still fuller, though
couched in fewer terms, to the character of Hamilton's discovery
as a scientific feat.

The following letter of this date to Herschel is so clear a
statement of almost everything connected with this discovery that
I feel I ought not to suppress it, though aware that its production
involves some repetition.

From W. R. Hamilton to Sir John Herschel.

' Obseryatoet, January 29, 1833.
' My dear Sir,

' Professor Lloyd read to the Royal Irish Academy, last
night, a paper "On the Phenomena presented by Light in its

* In a letter to another correspondent, dated January 22, 1832, Hamilton
writes, * Airy has just answered the letter that I wrote to him from Bayly
Farm; biit whether the fault was mine or his, he has quite mistaken what
I meant.'

t See p. 636.

AETAT, 27.] Conical Refraction. 633

Passage along the Axes of Biasal Crystals," in wliich he gave an
account of some recent additional experiments, confirming my
theoretical conclusions respecting Conical Refraction. Those con-
clusions were chiefly the following : — 1. A single plane wave within
a hiaxal crystal, parallel to a circular section of the surface of elas-
ticity, corresponds in general to an infinite number of internal ray-
directions ; in such a manner that a single incident ray in air will
give an internal cone of rays (of the 2nd degree), and will emerge
(from a plane face) as an external cylinder of rays, if the external
incident wave have that direction which corresponds to the fore-
going internal wave. In this kind of internal conical refraction one
refracted ray of the cone is determined by the ordinary law of

the sines, using the mean index 7 ; and the greatest angular devia-
tion in the cone, from this ray, is in the plane of the optic axes,
and is

for ray E in arragonite, if we use Rudberg's elements. Professor
Lloyd has lately observed an emergent cylinder corresponding to
this theory, from his measures upon which the angle of the cone
appeared to be 1° 52'. He used a fine piece of arragonite, pro-
cured from DoUond, thickness = 0*49 inch ; the incident ray was
of solar light, and it passed through two small holes, the first in a
screen at some distance from the crystal, the second in a thin
metallic plate, adjoining the first surface of the crystal; the emer-
gent cylinder of rays was received on silver paper, and produced
on the paper a small white annulus of which the size was the same
at different distances of the paper from the arragonite. The emer-
gent light was polarized according to a law which agrees with
Fresnel's principles. Great care was necessary in the adjustment
of the holes; when the adjustment was slightly disturbed, two
opposite quadrants of the circle appeared more faint than the two
others, and the two pairs were of complementary colours.

2. ' I conclude also, from Fresnel's principles, that a single
interior cusp-ray (often called an optic axis, but not normal to a
circular section of the surface of elasticity, and on the contrary
normal to a circular section of Fresnel's ellipsoid — one of those

634 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

two rays of wliicli each has but a single value for the velocity
of light along it — ) ought, on emerging into air, to undergo, not
bifurcation as Fresnel thought, but [external) conical refraction. If
the internal incidence be perpendicular, the equation in rectan-
gular co-ordinates of the emergent cone may be put under the
form

■ -4±4= , ■/ZH/.'EI = rin 2° 57'
xy a?' + 2/" + s" aoc

for ray E, with Rudberg's elements for arragonite; this cone
therefore is of the 4th degree (whereas the internal cone was of
the 2nd), but it does not differ much from a circular cone. In
Professor Lloyd's experiments the normal to the refracting face
was Fresnel's axis r/, bisecting the acute angle between the two
cusp-rays, and the internal incidence was about 10° ; which made
the theoretical angle of the emergent cone somewhat more than 3°
instead of 2° 57'. He has sent to the Annals of Philosophy* a
sketch of his experimental results which appear to agree suffi-
ciently with the theory, as to the position and magnitude and
polarization of the emergent cone, in this external conical refrac-
tion. More lately he has taken new measures which appear to
agree still better ; and he has made those experimental verifica-
tions, which I have attempted in this letter to describe, of the
other (the internal) kind of conical refraction. The appearances
in direct vision, or when the light is received on a screen, are
interesting enough, and vary prettily with the shape and size of
the aperture, in the phenomena of external conical refraction.
Figures will be given in the fuller memoir in the Transactions
of our Irish Academy.

' The experimental establishment of these new consequences
from Fresnel's j)rinciples must, I think, be considered as interest-
ing. My Third Supplement, in which, besides endeavouring in
other ways to perfect my optical methods, I treat of the connex-
ion of my mathematical view with the undulatory theory of light,
is in the press, but gets on very slowly. Whenever it is printed,
which can scarcely be in less than two or three months, I shall
present you with a copy. Meanwhile believe me,' &e.

* The Philosophical Magazine.

AETAT. 27.] Conical Refraction. 635

In the February and March numbers of the London and
Edinburgh PJiilosopJiical Magazine, pp. 112 and 207, were con-
tained two Papers giving Professor Lloyd's earliest published
account of his experiments, the first of them describing external,
the second, internal conical refraction. They prove that Hamilton
was fortunate in his coadjutor. The conduct of the experiments
called for much ingenuity in devising physical arrangements and
the utmost nicety of observation; and these Papers furnish full
evidence of the exercise of both by Professor Lloyd. They show
also that he was more than a mere verifier ; he took note of a
phenomenon that had not been predicted, and ascertained the law
to which it conformed. "When investigating the case of external
conical refraction, he discovered, by observation with a tourmaline
plate, that all the rays of the cone were polarized in different
planes, and detected the remarkable law that ' the angle between
the planes of polarization of any two rays of the cone is half the
angle contained by the planes passing through the rays themselves
and its axis': this law he also proved to be a. necessary conse-
quence of Fresnel's theory. Upon the phenomenon being com-
municated to Hamilton, he likewise, by means of his own methods,
deduced the same law from the theory, and subsequently predicted
the corresponding phenomenon in the case of internal conical re-
fraction together with its analogous law. In this latter case the
prediction of the phenomenon and its law received its experimen-
tal verification at the hands of Professor Lloyd : in the former
case, it has been seen, he had observed the unpredicted phenome-
non, and had preceded Hamilton in deducing its law from theory.
It has become necessary thus distinctly to put on record the
amount of credit due to Professor Lloyd in this particular,
because it has been overlooked by Professor Tait in the lucid
account of the discovery which is contained in his article on
Hamilton in the North British Review of September, 1866. The
omission arose very naturally from the circumstance that these
laws for polarization in both kinds of conical refraction are given
in Hamilton's Third Supplement, which was communicated to the

636 Life of Sir William Roivmi Hamilton. [1832.

Academy previously to Lloyd's researches, but wliicli remained
unpublished (as appears from the Introduction) for many subse-
quent months. The correspondence in my hands proves that the
part of the paper concerning polarization must have been inserted
at a date subsequent to the 2nd January, 1833. But that Hamil-
ton was willing to leave with Lloyd the credit of the priority
which has been here assigned to him is proved by the fact, which
I have received on the best authority, that he requested and
obtained permission to circulate the private copies of his friend's
paper (in which the above-mentioned facts are recorded) along
with those of his own memoir.

In the XYIIth volume of the Transactions of the Royal Irish
Academy, Part I., which was published in the summer of 1833,
may be found both Hamilton's Third Supplement, containing his
theoretical discovery of Conical Eefraction, and Professor Lloyd's
perfected account of the experimental manifestations of both
kinds of it, accompanied by plates of diagrams representing the
phenomena. To these Papers the scientific reader is referred for
full information on the subject. They link the names of Hamilton
and Lloyd in an enduring bond.

I may fitly conclude this statement by again borrowing a
passage from the memoir of Hamilton, published in the Dublin
University Magazine for January, 1842 : —

' This result excited at the time a very considerable sensation
among scientific men in England and on the Continent ; it was
thought a happy boldness to have thus seized and brought forth
into view, by dint of reasoning, a new class of phenomena, to
which nothing similar had been before observed, and which even
seemed, in the words used by an eminent English philosopher, to
be " in the teeth of all analogy." At the Cambridge meeting of
the British Association, in 1833, the attention of the mathematical
and physical section was largely given to the subject: and
Herschel, Airy, and others, spoke warmly in praise of the dis-
covery. In the introductory discourse with which the proceed-
ings of that meeting were opened, Professor Whewell made it a

AET.vT. 27.] Conical Refraction. 637

topic, and expressed himself in the following words : — " In the
way of such prophecies, few things have been more remarkable
than the prediction, that under particular circumstances a ray of
light must be refracted into a conical pencil, deduced from the
theory by Professor Hamilton, and afterwards verified experi-
mentally by Professsor Lloyd." * Previously, in the same year.
Professor Airy had publicly recorded his impression upon the
subject as follows : — " Perhaps the most remarkable prediction
that has ever been made is that lately made by Professor
Hamilton."! More lately, Professor Pliicker, of Bonn, in an
article on the general form of luminous waves, published in the
nineteenth volume of Creiys Journal, has used these words : —
"Aucune experience de physique a fait tant d'impression sur
mon esprit, que celle de la refraction conique. Un rayon de
lumiere unique entrant dans un crystal et en sortant sous I'aspeet
d'un cone + lumineux : c'etait une chose inouie et sans aucune
analogic. Mr. Hamilton I'annonca, en partant de la forme de
I'onde, qui avait ete deduite par des longs calculs d'une theorie
abstraite. J'avoue que j'aui'ois desespere de voir confirme par
I'experience un resultat si extraordinaire, predit par la seule
theorie que la genie de Fresnel avait nouvellement creee. Mais
Mr. Lloyd ayant demontre que les experiences etaient en parfaite
concordance avec les predictions de Mr. Hamilton, tout prejuge
contre une theorie si merveilleusement soutenue, a du disparaitre."
And it seems to be in part to this subject that reference is made
in a passage of the article, attributed to Sir John Herschel, on the
Inductive Sciences, in the number for last June [18-il] (p, 233) of
the Quarterly Review, where mention is made of "a sound induction
enabling us to predict, bearing not only stress, but torture : of
theory actually remanding back experiment to read her lesson
anew ; informing her of facts so strange, as to appear to her

* Report of third Meeting of the British Association, 1833.

t London tind Udinbio-f/h PIiihMopJncal Jlaffuzinc, June, 1833, p. 420.

X The interior cone emerges as a cylinder.

638 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

impossible, and showing her all the singularities she would ob-
serve in critical cases she never dreamed of trying." '

In the Bridgewater Treatise of Mr. Babbage the author not
only bears his testimony to the merits of Hamilton and Lloyd,
but manifests his appreciation of the remarkable character of the
discovery by weaving it as a typical example into the argument of
his book. It has more recently been characterized as in its own
sphere to be classed with that prediction of the existence of the
planet Neptune which has immortalized the names of Adams and
Le Yerrier. Yet it will be seen by his letter to Coleridge of
February 3, 1833, that Hamilton himself looked upon this and
all similar predictions as 'a subordinate and secondary result,'
when compared with the object he had in view, — ' to introduce
harmony and unity into the contemplations and reasonings of
optics, regarded as a branch of pure science,'

AETAT. 27.] Lectures on Astronomy. 639

CHAPTEE XIV.

LECTURES ON ASTRONOMY.
(l832.)

The history of Conical Refraction has carried the reader far into
the year 1833 ; it is necessary, however, to recall his attention to
the autumn of 1832, for that year, of which the previous months
had been to Hamilton so fraught with excitement, intellectual and
emotional, had still in store for him a very tumult of thouglit and
feeling, his mind being kept on the stretch by the preparation of
his University Lectures on Astronomy, by mathematical research,
and by the composition of verses filled with all the past expe-
riences of his heart as he gave utterance to the fluctuations of a
new passion, which was to conduct him to his marriage ; while his
spirit was throughout agitated and tried, in the inner sphere, by
hopes, and fears, and anxieties, and, in the outer, by the praises,
poured out in profuse libations, of admirers who little dreamed of
the inward troubles of the object of their homage.

On the 8th of November Hamilton delivered the Introductory
Lecture of his professorial course in the room over the vestibule
of the College Dining Hall. It was filled to overflowing, and the
audience had the gratification of listening to a discourse in which
the Lecturer gave free scope to his views on the philosophy of
Science, to his admiration of the great kings of thought, and to his
eloquent assertion of the kinship between Science and Poetrj^,
and which closed with a reverent homage to Religion. Of this
discourse, he was immediately pressed to contribute a copy for
insertion in the first number of a literary periodical then about to
be published under the editorship of men connected with the Uni-
versity, lie kindly complied with the request, although his lee-

640 Life of Sir William Rowan Haniilton. [1832.

tare required to be written out at full from imperfect notes ; and
it appeared accompanied by his Sonnets on Shakespeare and
Fourier, in the number for January, 1833, of the Duhlin Uni-
versiti/ Review. To this Review, which lived but for about two
years, he afterwards sent contributions both scientific and poeti-
cal; it is now scarcely to be met with; and on this account, as
well as because the lecture is in every way characteristic of its
author, I reproduce it here in its integrity.

Introductory Lecture on Astronomy.

' The time has returned when, according to the provisions of
this our University, we are to join our thoughts together, and
direct them in concert to astronomy — the parent of all the
sciences, and the most perfect and beautiful of all. And easily
and gladly could I now expatiate on the dignity and interest of
astronomy, but the very assurance of your complete and perfect
sympathy renders needless any attempt at excitement. I must
not and cannot suppose that any of those who are assembled here
this day are insensible to the inward impulses, and unconscious
of the high aspirations, by which the stars, from their thrones of
glory and of mystery, excite and win toward themselves the heart
of man ; that the golden chain has been let down in vain ; and
that celestial beauty and celestial power have offered themselves
in vain to human view. And if I could suppose that this were
so— that any here had been till now imtouched by the majesty
and loveliness with which astronomy communes — still less could I
persuade myself that in the mind of such a person my words could
do what the heavens had failed to effect. The heart, because it is
human — say rather because it is not wholly not divine — lifts itself
up in aspiration, and claims to mingle with the lights of heaven ;
and joyfully receives into itself the skyey influences, and feels that
it is no stranger in the courts of the moon and the stars. Though
between us and the nearest of those stars there be a great gulph
fixed, yet beyond that mighty gulph (oh, far beyond ! ) fly, on
illimitable pinions, the thoughts and affections of man, and tell us
that there, too, are beings, akin to us — members of one great
family — beings animated, thoughtful, loving — susceptible of joy

AETAT. 27.] Lectures on Astronomy. 641

and hope, of pain and fear — able to adore. Grod, or to rebel against
him — able to admire and speculate upon that goodly array of
worlds with which they also are surrounded. And often tliis deep
instinct of affection, to the wide family of being, to the children
of God thus scattered throughout all worlds, has stirred within
human bosoms ; often have men, tired of petty cares and petty
pleasures, fretting within this narrow world of ours, seeking for
other suns and ampler ether, gone forth as it were colonists from
earth, and become naturalized and denizens in heaven. Not of
one youthful enthusiast alone are the words of a great living poet
true, that,

" Thus, "before his eighteenth year was told,
Accumuhited feelings pressed his heart
With still increasing- weight ; he was o'erpower'd
By nature — by the turbulence subdued
Of his own mind — by mystery and hope,
And the first virgin passion of a soul
Communing with the glorious universe." *

' I must not and do not doubt, that many, let me rather say
that all, of those whom I now address, have, from time to time,
been stirred by such visitations, and been conscious of such aspir-
ings ; and that you need not me to inform you, that astronomy,
though a science, and an eminent one, is yet more than a science —
that it is a chain woven of feeling as well as thought — an influence
pervading not the mind only, but the soul of man. Thus much,
therefore, it may suffice to have indulged in the preliminary and
general expression of these our common aspirations ; and I now
may pass to the execution of my particular duty, my appointed
and pleasant task, and fulfil, so far as in me lies, the intentions and
wishes of the heads of our University ; who, in fixing the order of
your studies, directed first your attention to the sciences of the
pure reason — the logical, the metaphysical, and the mathematical —
and call you now to those in which the reason is combined with
experience ; and who have judged it expedient, among all the
physical sciences, to propose astronomy the first, as a favourable
introduction to the rest, and a specimen and type of the whole.

'It is, then, my office, this day, to present to you astronomy as

* Wordsworth.
2 T

642 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

itself a part, and as an introduction to the other parts, of physical
science in general, and thus to greet you at the first steps and
vestibule of that majestic edifice which patient intellect has been
rearing up through many a past generation ; and which, with
changes, doubtless, but such as rather improve than destroy
the unity of the whole, shall remain, as we trust, for the exercise,
the contemplation, and the delight, of many a generation yet un-
born. It were difficult for anyone, and it is impossible for me, to
do full justice to so vast a subject; but I shall hope for a renewal
of that indulgent attention with which I have more than once
before been favoured upon similar occasions, while, in pursuit
and illustration of the subject, I touch briefly, and as it were by
allusion only, on the following points : — the distinction between
the physical and the purely mathematical sciences — the end which
should be considered as proposed in physical science in general —
and the means which are to be employed for the attainment of
this end — the objections, utilitarian and metaphysical, which are
sometimes expressed, and perhaps oftener felt, against the study
of physical science — the existence of a scientific faculty analogous
to poetical imagination, and the analogies of other kinds between
the scientific and the poetical spirit.

'I have said that I design to speak briefly of the end proposed,
and the means employed, in the physical sciences on which you
are entering; and of the distinction between them and the pure
mathematics, in which you have lately been engaged. It seems
necessary, or at least useful, for this purpose, to remind you of the
nature and spirit of these your recent studies — the sciences of
geometry and algebra. In all the mathematical sciences we
consider and compare relations. The relations of geometry are
evidently those of space ; the relations of algebra resemble rather
those of time. For geometry is the science of figure and extent ;
algebra, of order and succession. The relations considered in geo-
metry are between points, and lines, and surfaces ; the relations of
algebra, at least those primary ones, from the comparison of which
others of higher kinds are obtained, are relations between succes-
sive thoughts, viewed as successive and related states of one more
general and regularly changing thought. Thus algebra, it appears,
is more refined, more general, than geometry ; and has its founda-
tion deeper in the very nature of man ; since the ideas of order

AETAT. 27.] Lectures on Astronomy. 643

and succession appear to be less foreign, less separable from us,
than those of figure and extent. But, partly from its very refine-
ment and generality, algebra is more easily and often miscon-
ceived; more easily and often degraded to a mere exercise of
memory — a mere application of rules — a mere legerdemain of
symbols : and thus, except in the hands of a very skilful and
philosophical teacher, it is likely to be a less instructive discipline
to the mind of a beginner in science.

' Motion, although its causes and effects belong to physical
science, yet furnishes, by its conception and by its properties, a
remarkable application of each of these two great divisions of the
pure mathematics : of geometry, by its connexion with space ; of
algebra, by its connexion with time. Indeed, the thought of
position, whether in space or time, as varied in the conception of
motion, is an eminent instance of that passage of one general and
regularly changing thought, through successive and related states,
which has been spoken of as suggesting to the mind the primary
relations of algebra. We may add, that this instance, motion, is
also a type of such passage ; and that the phrases which originally
belong to and betoken motion, are transferred by an expressive
figure to every other unbroken transition. For with time and
space we connect all continuous change ; and by symbols of time
and space we reason on and realise progression. Our marks of
temporal and local site, our then and tliere^ are at once signs and
instruments of that transformation by which thoughts become
things, and spirit puts on body, and the act and passion of mind
are clothed with an outward existence, and we behold ourselves
from afar.

' These purely mathematical sciences of algebra and geometry
are sciences of the pure reason, deriving no weight and no assist-
ance from experiment, and isolated, or at least isolable, from all
outward and accidental phenomena. The idea of order, with its
subordinate ideas of number and of figure, we must not indeed
call innate ideas, if that phrase be defined to imply that all men
must possess them with equal clearness and fulness; they are,
however, ideas which seem to be so far born with us, that the pos-
session of them, in any conceivable degree, appears to be only the
development of our original powers, the unfolding of our proper
humanity. Foreign, in so far that they touch not the will, nor

2T2

644 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

otherwise than indirectlj influence our moral being, tliey yet com-
pose the scenery of an inner world, which depends not for its exist-
ence on the fleeting things of sense, and in which the reason, and
even the afl'ections, may at times find a home and a refuge. The
mathematician, dwelling in that inner world, has hopes, and fears,
and vicissitudes of feeling of his own ; and even if he be not dis-
turbed by anxious yearnings for an immortality of fame, yet has
he often joy, and pain, and ardour : the ardour of successful re-
search, the pain of disappointed conjecture, and the joy that is
felt in the dawning of a new idea. And when, as on this earth of
ours must sometimes happen, he has sent forth his wishes and
hopes from that lonely ark, and they return to him, having found
no resting place : while he drifts along the turbulent current of
passion, and is tossed about by the storm and agony of giief, some
sunny bursts may visit him, some moments of delightful calm may
be his, when his old habits of thought recur, and the " charm
severe " of lines and numbers is felt at intervals again.

* It has been said, that in all the mathematical sciences we con-
sider and compare relations. But the relations of the pure mathe-
matics are relations between our own thoughts themselves ; while
the relations of mixed or applied mathematical science are rela-
tions between our thoughts and phenomena. To discover laws of
nature, which to us are links between reason and experience — to
explain appearances, not merely by comparing them with other
appearances, simpler or more familiar, but by showing an analogy
between them on the one hand, and our own laws and forms of
thought on the other, " darting our being through earth, sea, and
air " * — such seems to me the great design and otfice of genuine
physical science, in that highest and most philosophical view in
which also it is most imaginative. But, to fulfil this design — to
execute this ofiice — to discover the secret unity and constancy of
nature amid its seeming diversity and mutabihty — to construct, at
least in part, a history and a prophecy of the outward world
adapted to the understanding of man — to account for past, and
to predict future phenomena — new forms and new manifestations
of patience and of genius become requisite, for which no occasion
had been in the pm'suits of the pure mathematics. Induction must

* Shakespeare.

AETAT. 27.] Lectures on Astronomy. 645

be exercised ; probability must be weigbed. In tbe sphere of the
pure and inward reason, probability finds no place ; and if induc-
tion ever enter, it is but tolerated as a mode of accelerating and
assisting discovery, never rested in as the ground of belief, or
testimony of that truth, which yet it may have helped to suggest.
But in the physical sciences we can conclude nothing, can know
nothing without induction. Two elements there are in these, the
outward and the inward ; and if the latter, though higher in dig-
nity, usurp the place which of right pertains to the former, there
ensues only a specious show, a bare imagination, and not a genuine
product of the imaginative faculty, exerting itself in due manner
and measure on materials which nature supplies. Here, then, in
the use and need of induction and probability, we have a great
and cardinal distinction between the mixed and the pure mathe-
matics.

'Does any, then, demand what this induction is, which has
been called the groundwork of the physical sciences, the key to
the interpretation of nature ? To answer this demand, I must
resume my former statement of the main design and office of phy-
sical science in general. I said, that this design was to explain
and account for phenomena, by discovering links between reason
and experience. Now the essence of genuine induction appears to
me to consist in this, that in seeking for such links we allow to
experience its due influence, and to reason not more than its due —
that we guard against false impressions from the mechanism and
habits of our own understandings — and submit ourselves teachably
to facts ; not that we may ultimately abide in mere facts, and sen-
sations, and arranged recollections of sensation, but from the deep
and sublime conviction, that the author, and sustainer, and perpe-
tual mover of nature has provided in nature a school, in which the
human understanding may advance ever more and more, and dis-
cipline itself with continual improvement. We must not conclude
a law from facts too small in number, or observed with too little
care ; or if the scientific imagination, impatient of restraint, press
onward at once to the goal, and divine from the falling of an apple
the law of gravitation, and in the trivial and everyday changes
which are witnessed around us on this earth perceive the indica-
tions of a mighty power, extending through all space, and compel-

646 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

ling to their proper orbits the " planets struggling fierce towards
heaven's free wilderness " ; * yet must such divinations he long
received, even by the favoui^ed discoverer himself, if he be of the
true inductive school, with candid diffidence and philosophic
doubt, until they have been confirmed by new appeals to other,
and more remote, and more varied phenomena. If, as in this
case of gravitation, the law, concluded or anticipated from the
first few facts, admit of a mathematical enunciation, and conse-
quently can be made a basis of mathematical reasoning, then it
is consistent with, and required by, the spirit of induction, that
the law should be made such a basis. We may and ought to em-
ploy a priori reasoning here, and consider what consequences must
happen if the law supposed be a true one. These consequences
ought to be mathematically developed, and a detailed prediction
made of the yet unobserved phenomena which the law includes,
and with which it must stand or fall, the truth of the one and of
the other being connected by an indissoluble tie. New and more
careful observations must then be made, to render closer and more
firm the connexion between thoughts and things. For,t in order
to derive from phenomena the instruction which they are fitted to
afford, we must not content ourselves with the first vague percep-
tions, and obvious and common appearances. We must discrimi-
nate the similar from the same — must vary, must measm-e, must
combine — until, by the application of reason and of the scientific
imagination to carefully recorded facts, we ascend to an hypothe-
sis, a theory, a law, which includes the particular appearances, and
enables them' to be accounted for and foreseen. Then, when the
passive of our being has been so far made subject to the active,
and sensation absorbed or sublimed into reason, the philosopher
reverses the process, and asks how far the conceptions of his mind
are realised in the outward world. By the deductive process fol-

* "As the sun rules, even with a tyrant's gaze,
The unquiet republic of the maze
Of planets struggling fierce towards heaven's free wilderness."

Shelley.

t Some of the following remarks on physical science were published in the
DiilUn Literary Gazette in 1830.

AETAT. 27.] Lectures on Astronomy, - 647

lowing up induction, he seeks to make his theory more than a con-
cise expression of the facts on which it first was founded ; be seeks
to deduce from it some new appearances which ought to be ob-
served if the theory be co-extensive with nature. He then again
consults sensation and experience, and often their answer is favour-
able ; but often, too, they speak an unexpected language. Yet,
undismayed by the repulse, and emboldened by partial success, he
frames, upon the ruins of the former, some new and more general
theory, which equally with the former accounts for the old appear-
ances, while it includes within its ampler verge the results of more
recent observation. Nor can this struggle ever end between the
active and the passive of our being — between the imagination of
the theorist and the patience of the observer — until the time, if
such a time can ever come, when the mind of man shall grasp the
infinity of nature, and comprehend all the scope, and character,
and habits of those innumerable energies which to our understand-
ing compose the material universe. Meanwhile, this struggle, with
its alternate victories and defeats, its discoveries of laws and ex-
ceptions, forms an appointed discipline for the mind, and its history
is justly interesting. Nor can we see without admiring sympathy
the triumph of astronomy and Newton; Newton, who in astro-
nomy, by one great stride of thought, placed theory at once so far
in advance of observation, that the latter has not even yet over-
taken the former, nor has the law of gravitation, in all its wide
dominion, yet met with one rebellious fact in successful revolt
against its authority. Yet, haply, those are right who, seeing
that Newton himself had sat at the feet of another master, and
liad deeply drunk from the fountain of a still more comprehending
intellect, have thought it just to divide the glory, and award more
than half to Bacon. He, more than any other man, of ancient or
of modern times, appears to have been penetrated with the desire,
and to have conceived and shown the possibilit}^, of uniting the
mind to things, say rather of drawing things into the mind.
Deeply he felt, and eloquently and stirringly he spake. In far
prophetic vision he foresaw, and in language as of inspiration he
gave utterance to the vision, of the progress and triumphs of the
times then future — nay more, of times which even now we do but
look for. And thus, by highest suffrage, and almost unanimous
consent, the name of Bacon has been enrolled as eminent high-

648 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

priest in the spousal temple* of man's mind and of tlie universe.
And if, impressed with the greatness of his task and importance
of his office, and burning- to free mankind from those intellectual
fetters in which the injudicious manner of their admiration of the
philosophers of Grreece had bound them, he appears to have been
sometimes blind to the real merit of those great philosophers, and
uttered harsh words, and words seeming to imply a spirit which
(we will trust) was not the habitual spirit of Bacon; let us pardon
this weakness of our great intellectual parent, let us reverently
pardon, but let us not imitate it. For I cannot suppress my fear
that the signal success which, since the time, and in the country,
and by the method of Bacon, has attended the inductive research
into the phenomena of the material universe, has injuriously
drawn off the intellect from the study of itself and its own
nature ; and that while we know more than Plato did of the out-
ward and visible world, we know less, far less, of the inward and
ideal. But not now will I dwell on this high theme, fearing to
desecrate and degrade by feeble and unworthy utterance those
deep ideal truths which in the old Athenian days the eloquent
philosopher poured forth.

' I have now touched on some of the points which at the begin-
ning of this lecture I proposed. I have stated my view of the
great aim and design of physical science in general — the exj)lana-
tion of appearances, by linking of experience to reason ; an aim
which is itself subordinate to another higher end, but to an end
too high and too transcendent to come within the sphere of science,
till science shall attain its bright consummation in wisdom — the
end of restoring and preserving harmony between the various
elements of our own being ; a harmony which can be perfect only
when it includes reconciliation with our Grod. I have stated the
chief means which since the time of Bacon are generally admitted
as fit and necessary for the just explanation of appearances — the
alternate use of induction and deduction, and the judicious appre-
ciation of probabilities, and have shown how, by this use of induc-
tion and probabilit}', an essential difference is established between
the physical sciences — among which astronomy ranks so high —

* And thus, by the divine assistance, we shall have prepared and decked the
nuptial chamber of the mind and of the universe. — Bacox.

AETAT. 27.] Lectures on Astronomy. 649

and the sciences of the pure mathematics ; and, as an example of
successful induction, have referred you to the discovery of gravita-
tion. Many other examples will occur in the course of the subse-
quent lectures, in which I shall have occasion to speak of ancient
as well as of modern discoveries, and to show you from the Alma-
gest of Ptolemy what the state of astronomy was in his time and
the time of Hipparchus. You will, I think, accompany and share
the interest which I have felt in a review of the science of a time
so ancient. The contemplations, like the objects, of astronomy,
are not all of modern growth. Not to us first do Arcturus, and
Orion, and the Pleiades glide on in the still heaven. The Bear,
forbidden here and now to bathe in ocean, circled the Pole in that
unceasing round, three thousand years ago, and its portraiture was
imagined by Homer as an ornament for the shield of Achilles.
And if that old array of " cycle and epicycle, orb in orb," with
which the Greek astronomer had filled the planetary spaces, have
now departed with its principle of uniform and circular motion,
yet the memory of it will long remain, as of a mighty work of
mind, and (for the time) a good explanation of phenomena. The
principle itself has in a subtler form revived, and seems likely to
remain for ever, as a conviction that some discoverable unity
exists, some mathematical harmony in the frame of earth and
heaven. We live under no despotism of caprice, are tossed about
in no tempest and whirlwind of anarchy ; what is law and nature
in one age is not repealed and unnatural in the next ; the acquisi-
tions of former generations are not all obsolete and valueless in
ours, nor is ours to transmit nothing which the generations that
are to come shall prize : our life, the life of the human race, is no
life of perpetual disappointment and chaotic doubt, nor doomed to
end in blank despondence ; it is a life of hope and progress, of
building on foundations laid, and of laying the foundations for
other and yet greater buildings. And thus are distant generations
knit together in one celestial cliain, by one undying instinct :
while, yielding to kindred impulses, our fathers, ourselves, and
our children all seek and find, in the phenomenal and outward
world, the projection of our own inward being, of the image of
God within us. Astronomy is to man an old and ancestral posses-
sion. Through a long line of kings of mind, the sceptre of Astro-
nomy has come down, and its annals are enshrined among tlie

650 Life of Sh'- William Rowan Hamilton. [1832.

records of the royalty of genius. Its influence has passed, witli
silent but resistless progress, from simple shepherds watching their
flocks by night to the rulers of ancient empires and the giants of
modern thought. When we thus trace its history, and change of
habitation, from the first rude pastoral and patriarchal tents of
Asia to some old palace roof of Araby or Egypt, or to the courts
of that unforgotten king of China who, noting in his garden the
shadows of summer and of winter, left a record by which we
measure after three thousand years the changes that the seasons
have undergone ; and passing from these imperial abodes of the
East to dwellings not less worthy, when we see astronomy shrined
in the observatories and studies of Europe, and nation vying with
nation, and man with man, which shall produce the worthier
temple, and yield the more acceptable homage ; when we review
the long line of scientific ancestry, from Hipparchus and Ptolemy
to Copernicus and Gralileo, from Tycho and Kepler to Bradley,
Herschel, and Brinkley ; or call before us those astronomical
mathematicians, who, little provided with instruments and out-
ward means of observing, while they seemed in the silence of their
closets to have abandoned human affairs, and to live abstracted
and apart, have shown that genius in the very solitude of its me-
ditations is yet essentially sympathetic, and must rule the minds
of men by the instinct of its natural regality, and have filled the
intervals of the great succession, from Archimedes to Newton, from
Newton to Lagrange : when the imagination is crowded and pos-
sessed by all these old and recent associations, must we not then,
if self be not quite forgotten, if our own individuality be not all
merged in this extended and exalted sympathy, this wide and
high communion, yet long to bow for a while, and veil ourselves,
as before superior spirits, and think it were a lot too happy, if we
might but follow in the train, and serve under the direction of this
immortal band !

'In such a mood, can we discuss with patience, can we hear
without indignation, the utilitarian objection, " of what use is As-
tronomy?" meaning thereby, what money will it make? — what
sensual pleasure will it procure ?

' Against astronomy, indeed, the objection from utility is sin-
gularly infelicitous, and almost ludicrously inapplicable : astro-
nomy, which binding in so close connexion the earth with the

AETAT. 27.] Lectures on Astronomy. 65 1

visible heaven, and mapping the one in the other, has guided
through wastes, which else were trackless, the fleet and the cara-
van, and made a path over the desert and the deep. But suppose
it otherwise, or take some other science which has not yet been so
successfully applied. What then ; and is the whole of life to be
bound down to the exchange and the market-place ? Are there
no desires, no pleasures, but the sensual — no wants and no enjoy-
ments but of the outward and visible kind ? Are we placed here
only to eat, and drink, and die ? Some less magnificent stage,
methinks, might have sufficed for that. It was not needed, surely,
for such a race of sorry animals — so void themselves of power and
beauty within, so incapable and so undesigned for the contempla-
tion of power and beauty without — that they should have been
placed in this world of power and beauty ; and the ever-moving
universe commanded to roll before our view, " making days and
equal years, an all-sufficing harmony " ;* that the heavens should
declare the glory of Grod, and the firmament show His handywork.
I am almost ashamed to have dwelt so long here, amid these in-
fluences, and before such an audience, on objections of a class and
character so quite unworthy of your consideration. More impor-
tant is it that I should endeavour to answer another class of objec-
tions, founded on the misapprehension and misapplication of deep,
and iuward, and important truth, and of a nature fitted to capti-
vate and carry away the young a,nd ardent spirit.

' It is, then, sometimes said, and, perhaps, oftener felt, that
astronomy itself is too unrefined — too material a thing — that the
mind ought to dwell within its own sphere of reason and imagina-
tion, and not be drawn down into the world of phenomena and
experience. Now, with respect to the pure Reason, I will grant
that this objection would assume a force, which I cannot now con-
cede to it, if it were indeed possible for man on that etherial ele-
ment alone to feed and live. But if this be not so — if we must
quit at all the sphere of the pure reason, and descend at all into
the world of experience, as surely we must sometimes do — why
narrow our intercourse with experience to the smallest possible

* " And bade the ever-moving universe

Roll round us, making days and equal years,
An all-suflicing harmony."

From a 3fanuscrij)t Poem, by A. Do V.

652 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton. [1832.

range ? why tread, witli delicate step, this common earth of ours,
and not rather wander freely through all her heights and depths,
and gaze upon the wonders and beauties that are her own, and
store our minds and memories with truths of fact, were it only to
have them ready, as materials and implements, for the exercise of
that transforming and transmuting power, which is gradually to
draw those truths into its own high sphere, and to prepare them
for the ultimate beholding of pure and inward intuition ? And as
to the imagination, it results, I think, from the analj^sis which I
have offered of the design and nature of physical science, that into
such science generally, and eminently into astronomy, imagination
enters as an essential element : if that power be imagination,
which "darts our being through earth, sea, and air;" and if I
rightly transferred this profound line of our great dramatist to the
faculty which constructs dynamical and other physical theories, by
seeking for analogies in the laws of outward phenomena to our
own inward laws and forms of thought. Be not startled at this,
as if in truth there were no beauty, and in beauty no truth ; as if
these two great poles of love and contemplation were separated by
a diametral space, impassable to the mind of man, and no con-
necting influences could radiate from their common centre. Be
not surprised that there should exist an analogy, and that not
faint nor distant, between the workings of the poetical and of the
scientific imagination ; and that those are kindred thrones whereon
the spirits of Milton and Newton have been placed by the admira-
tion and gratitude of man. With all the real differences between
Poetry and Science, there exists, notwithstanding, a strong resem-
blance between them ; in the power which both possess to lift the
mind above the stir of earth, and win it from low-thoughted care ;
in the enthusiasm which both can inspire, and the fond aspirations
after fame which both have a tendency to enkindle ; in the magic
by winch each can transport her votaries into a world of her own
creating ; and perhaps, in the consequent unfitness for the bustle
and the turmoil of real life, which both have a disposition to en-
gender. Doubtless there are enthusiasts here this day, whom,,
^^•ithout knowing, I affectionately sympathize with : who bear
upon them that character of all good and genuine enthusiasm,
highly to conceive, intensely to admire, and ardently to aspire
after excellence. If any such have chosen poetry for its own sake,

AKTAT. 27.] Lectures on Astyonoiny. 653

and with a hope of adding to the literature of his country ; aware
of the greatness of the task and responsibility of the office, know-
ing that tlie poet should be no pander to sensual pleasure, no
trifler upon frivolous themes, but an interpreter between the heart
and beauty, an utterer of divine and of eternal oracles ; and if no
more imperious duty interfere, I do not seek to dissuade him : but
if he have only been repelled from science by its seeming to pos-
sess no power of similar excitement, I would not that, so far as in
me lay, he shoidd be unaware of the kindred enthusiasm. In
science, as in poetry, there are enthusiasts, who, fixing their gaze
upon the monuments which kindred genius has reared, press on to
those pyramids in the desert, forgetting the space between. And
when I think that among the new hearers whom a new year has
brought, it is likely that some, perhaps many, are conscious of
such as^airations ; that some may go forth from this room to-day,
whom after-times shall hail with love and reverence, as worthy
children and champions of their college and their country ; and
that I, in however small a degree, may have influenced and con-
firmed their purpose : I feel, I own, " a presence that disturbs me
with the joy of elevated thoughts,"* a sublime and kindling sense
of the unseen majesty of mind. Doubtless in that period of gene-
rous ardour to which in part the philosophic poetf alluded when,
mourning over the too frequent degeneracy that attends the cares
and temptations of manhood, the loss of enthusiasm without the
gain of wisdom, or with the acquisition only of " that half -wisdom
half-experience gives," he framed that magnificent stanza —

" Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God who is our home ;
Heaven lies about us in our infancy ;
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing boy,

But he beholds the light, and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy ;

The youth, who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is natui-e's priest,

Wordsworth. t Ibid,

654 Life of Sir William Rowan Haniilton. [1832.

And by the vision splendid

Is on his way attended ;

At length the man beholds it die away,

And fade into the light of common day" —

doubtless (I was about to say), in this period of youthful ardour,
there are raany vague and some determined aspirations after ex-
cellence among those whom I now address ; and some assuredly
there are, who, burning to consecrate themselves to the service of
truth and goodness, and ideal beauty, and wedding themselves in
imagination to the spirit of the human race, feed on the hope of
future and perpetual fame, and fondly look for that pure ideal re-
compense, and long to barter ease, and health, and life itself for
that influence surviving life, that power and sympathy, which has
been attained by the few, who, after long years of thought, produce
some immortal work, a Paradise Lost, or a Principia, and win their
sublime reward of praise and wonder;* who do not wholly die, but
through all time continue to influence the minds and hearts of
men ; who leave behind them some enduring monument, which,
while it shall be claimed as the honour of their age and nation,
bears also their own name engraven on it in imperishable characters,
like that of Phidias on the statue of Minerva. Of such emotions
I will not risk the weakening, by dwelling now on a conceivable
superior state, in which perfection should be sought for its own
sake, and as independent even of this fine unmercenary reward :
and the spirit, puriified even from this "last infirmity of noble
minds,"t feel, in the words of one who has attained the earthly
and (we will trust) the heavenly fame, the words of the immortal
Milton, that

" Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil,
Nor in the glistering foil
Set off to the world, nor in broad nimour lies ;
But lives, and spreads abroad, by those pure eyes,
And perfect witness of all- judging God :
As He pronounces lastly of each deed,
Of so much fame in Heaven expect thy meed." '

* "And win he knows not what sublime reward

Of praise and wonder." — Akexside.
t Milton.

AKTAT. 27.] Lectures on Astronomy. 655

Writing to Lord Adare, two days after the delivery of this
lecture, he gives some interesting particulars in connexion with a
quotation from it which he transcribes : —

From "W. E. Hamilton to Yiscount Adare.

* Obseryatoet, Novemher 10, 1832.

* The folios and quartos from your library, especially the
Plato and Bacon, have been a great comfort to me lately. It
would seem strange to many that while I was reading the
Almagest of Ptolemy with delight, I was also studying with deep
pleasure and admiration the works of Bacon. The latter (like
the former) I had before been only acqu.ainted with at second-
liand ; and it seldom, if ever, happens that a commentator, even
one so accomplished as Herschel, can give an adequate idea of the
spirit and genius of a master. Indeed it sets me mad to see the
way that Bacon speaks of the great men before him : but to show
you how much I came to admire himself, I shall extract a passage
from my opening Lecture of last Thursday. After speaking of
the end and means and progress of physical science, I said — [Then
follows a transcription of the passage in the Lecture beginning
with the words " Nor can we refuse our tribute," and ending with
" the eloquent Philosopher poured forth."]

'It is curious that having framed the passage about Bacon on
the morning of the day before my Lecture, I saw for the first time,
on the evening of that day, the following sentence in Bacon's
works : " And when this is explained, and the real nature of
Things and of the Mind set forth, we shall then, by the divine
assistance, have prepar'd and deck'd the nuptial chamber of the
Mind and of the Universe." '

Not a few ladies were among Hamilton's audience on this occa-
sion, and of these Mrs. Hemans, for the second time his auditor,
was one. The poetess was deeply impressed with the picture of
astronomical mathematicians in the silence of their closets, living
abstracted and apart, and yet in their solitude sympathetic, and
able to rule the minds of men. It prompted her to compose that

656 Life of Sir William Rowan Hainilton. [1832.

beautiful and liiglily finished poem, The prayer of the lonely Student,
which forms one of her Hymns of Life. She gracefully presented
an autograph copy of the poem to Hamilton, at the same time
acknowledging her obligation to him for the fine expression of
which she had made use, and which in the above letter he owns
to have been originally Bacon's, ' the spousal temple of the Mind
and Truth,' as applied to the Universe.*

Hamilton was also in this year beset by applications for contri-
butions to periodicals on the subject of comets, a subject which
then much occupied the minds not only of astronomers but of the
general public. A rumour not without foundation had gone abroad
that an expected comet was to cross the Earth's orbit, and this was
magnified so as to cause a widely-spread alarm. The Rev. Csesar

* Another beautiful poem by Mrs. Hemans is connected with the Observa-
tory. It is mistakenly entitled in her works Tlie Blue Anemone, The title as given
by herself was TAe Purple Anemone, and by a mistake for which the present
writer is accountable, suffered the unfortunate change on its way to the printer.
In the uncontaminated air and soil of the garden of the Observatory the Anemone
Coronaria, the Garland Anemone, put forth its flowers of many colours, all pure
and vivid, in great abundance and luxuriance, and from a gathered bunch of
them sent to Mrs. Hemans by her friends there she singled ou tone deep-cupped
flower of richest purple as her chosen emblem. It is the more necessary to make
this correction of the erroneous title, because in a printed selection which I have
seen of the Poetry of Flowers, a note by the naturalist editor declares the subject
of this piece to be the pretty light-blue Anemone AjJiiennina, a flower which is
also to be found at the Observatory in the shrubbery walk. There are two
lines in The Purple Anemone for which Mrs. Hemans is not responsible. She
had written in the fourth Stanza

' And all earth is like one scene
Glorified by rays serene ; '

She expressed her dissatisfaction with this couplet, and emboldened by this fact,
the writer in transmitting it to the Editor of Blackivood' s 3Iayazine substituted
for it

' And earth all glorified is seen,
As imaged in some lake serene ; '

the thought contained in which had jjleased her. For this over bold step he
received a deserved rebuke from the Poetess, wbo justly complained that the
change in the metre had spoiled the rhythm of the stanza. The poem was not
republished till after the death of its author, or the defect might have been re-
moved by herself. The following attempt has not the same fault as that which

AETAi. 27.] Lectures on Astronomy. 657

Otway,* whom in 1827 lie had met at Keswick, a man memorable
for genius and wit, was at this time editor of the Duhlin Penny Jour-
nal, and he succeeded in extracting from Hamilton two short com-
munications on The Comet, which were printed in the numbers of the
above periodical for December, 1832, p. 207, and for January, 1833,
p. 223. An agreeably written and for its time very instructive
article, with the above title, in the form of a review of Colonel
Gold's translation of Arago's tract on the same subject, was con-
tributed by Hamilton to the second number, that for April, 1833,
of the Dublin University Eevietv, where it may be found at p. 365.
The record of the year may well conclude with the following
interesting extract from the Lecture with which on the 11th of
December he wound up his course.

[from rough draft.]

' Great as this theory of Newton is — great in simplicity, in
extent, in success, it is yet possible that it may only be the dawn
of some greater theory to arise hereafter on mankind. For in ex-
plaining by attraction and projection the planetary motions no
explanation is given in it of projection itself, nor of the sujDposed
initial state and circumstances of such projection. Indeed the
great inventor of this theory referred projection to the immediate
act of Deity : regarding these two things, attraction and projec-
tion, as not only distinct but heterogeneous; attraction being,
according to him, either itself a primary property and law of
matter, or if produced by an additional modification, yet still a
result of a property and law of matter, given it indeed by God,

condemns the foregoing, and is therefore preferable, but perhaps only the poet
can mend the poet's work :

' And arrayed in liquid sbeen
Earth all glorified is seen ; '

I have also to confess a similar change for the worse in giving to one of the
Hymns of Life, as it passed through my hands, the title Antique Greek
Lament, in place of the original more individual title, The Lament of Alcyone.
* Author of Sketches of Lreland, and other works.

2 U

658 Life of Sir William Rowan Hainilton. [1832.

but given it once for all, while projection lie supposed to be, in an
essentially different way, an immediate impulse from the Omnipo-
tent arm. Newton then referred the first motion of the planets in
a sense special and peculiar and quite other than the continuance
of that motion by a law and its gradual alteration by attraction, to
an immediate and miraculous agency, differing only from the
Jewish and Christian miracles by not involving to our knowledge
any moral end, and in kind distinct from all that we are accus-
tomed to call the ordinary processes and results of the laws of
nature. But an intellectual instinct compels us to believe that
miracles themselves have their laws, laws not indeed physical
merely, but of a mixed physical and moral kind ; that they too
are regulated results of that uneapricious, although self-regulated,
agency which as foundation supports and as firmament includes
all other agency ; that they too can be with intelligence contem-
plated, and with probability foreseen, by intellects below Omni-
science, though higher than ours indeed, and far beyond our ken
removed among the hierarchies of heaven. And shall we then
attribute the tangential projection of the planets to the immediate
poM'er of Omnipotence in any special sense, in any sense which
does not equally apply to the attractions, to the continued mo-
tions, to the very continuance of existence of those planets ? On
this point, then, I differ, though with reverence, from Newton.
And I look forward to some future and more developed state, as
possible at least, of even human science, in which this, which
seems not by its essence to transcend the human intellect, shall be
brought within its sphere ; and the existing framework of nature
be traced to some simpler elements, some less arbitrary primordial
state than that, the view of which now bounds our backward re-
searches. But if this stage shall ever be attained, it seems as if it
must be done not by confining our view to our own system of sun
and planets, immense as that appears with its thousands of
millions of miles, but by grasping, if human thought can grasp,
the universe as a whole. And if it have required so great a
labour, so great expenditure of time and genius, to attain even
our present knowledge of our own solar system ; if in that system
itself, though so much has been already discovered, so large a
harvest of discovery remains ; if, even within its finite space, the
infinity of time possess a power as yet unknown, and, ignorant

AETAT. 27.] Lectures on Astronomy. 659

of its ultimate destination, we are ignorant also of the manner of
its birth, and the process by which it gradually rose out of dark-
ness beneath the brooding of the Spirit of God : what ages must
elapse, what an accumulation of thought there must be, what a
piling up of mountain after mountain of the products of intellect
and observation, before a probable theory can be formed of the
action and reaction of system upon system, of the workings of
that great dynamic universe in which harmonised repulsions and
attractions form an outward emblem of the play of the moral
world, of self-love and the love of others, controlled by a presid-
ing power into mysterious balance ; before we can understand
how stars from which the herald Light with all its unimaginable
velocity has not yet been able to arrive to announce to us their
very existence, form part with us of one connected scheme, of one
intelligible whole. . . .

' The [Grreek] {sic) geometers who feigned that old array of
spheres, " cycle and epicycle, orb in orb," to account for the celes-
tial motions, had, like the moderns, the merit of viewing nature in
a mathematical manner. But they appear to have regarded the
world, at least in the celestial spaces, as resembling a finished
work, a machine, in which the shapes and motions were regular
and unchangeable, rather than as a living and perpetually chang-
ing whole, in which the union of the parts consists in the continual
and mutual action of each upon the other, while the only perma-
nence that is to be found is the permanence of the powers of alter-
ation.'

2 II 2

APPENDIX.

Page 102.

NOTE ON A^IRGIL'S ^NEID, BOOK III., 506-517.

Br some mischance this paper has been destroyed or mislaid. Its
design was to determine on the data of the constellations mentioned, and
of the hour and place of the observation, the season of the year.

Page 103.

CORRECTION OF AN ERROR OF REASONING IN LAPLACE'S
KEGANIQTJE CELESTE.

* Laplace proves that when two forces act at right angles, the result-
ant is represented in quantity by the diagonal of the rectangle, and that
calling one force x, the resultant s, and the angle between them Q,
X - % . cos {kQ + p), K and p being constant but unknown quantities.

But if the other force (that is, y) vanish, x = z, and ^ = 0; .-. - = 1 = cos p ;
.•. cos(k^ + p) = cos{k9). JS'ow let y remain and x vanish, then 6 = -

Jit

and cos k^ = 0 ; .*. k is an odd number. (It might easily be shown to be
of the form 4w + 1). Laplace proceeds to say x will vanish as often as

0 = -^ — -, but 6 =\-!r- .-. 2w + 1 = 1, and w = 0, and k = 1.
2?» + 1

' Here it is plain he argues as if ^ = — ~—^— as often as x vanishes :

2n + I

Itt

which is neither fair reasoning nor true in fact. For if 6 = — or

2w + 1

, &c., &c., X will vanish (2w + 1 is supposed to be constant and = k).
In all these cases cos kO = 0, which is the condition.

662 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton.

' I would suggest this demonstration.

'While 6 is between 0 and 90°, neither of the forces can be either

nought or infinite. But if k be not unity, let Q be taken = - — ^, and

while X and y are rea^ quantities, the formula x = %. cos kQ will give ^ = 0,

which is absurd.

' William Hamilton.
'May 31, 1822.'

Page 143.

WAKING DREAM;

OR FRAGMENT OF A DIALOGUE BETWEEN PAPPUS AND EUCLID, IN THE MEADS OF

ASPHODEL.*

P. And now that we have discussed these more recent improvements
in that science of which you are held the inventor, permit me to inquire
how you were enabled to deduce consequences so remote from principles
so simple : inform me what it was that first suggested to your mind the
consideration of those Theorems which have come down under your name ?
Por so successful have you been in disguising the Analysis which you
pursued, that to this day even the learned are doubtful whether your
discoveries were made by a gradual process, like that which conducts to
truths the minds of other men : or whether they were imparted as an
immediate gift from Him who constructed for the Beef its wondrous
habitation — of whom it has been justly said, 'O ©eos yew/xerpei.

T^. It was not unintentionally that I adopted, as the medium of com-
municating to my contemporaries those results at which I arrived, a Syn-
thesis, which presented them under a form the best adapted to excite
astonishment, and to disguise the process of discovery. To exoterics the
science appeared more interesting as it was more mysterious : and for
myself — if the world had known all the fortuitous circumstances to
which I owed the perception of so many Theorems, would they have
reverenced as they did the Mathematician^ of Alexandria ?

* [The reader is asked to bear in. mind that the imaginary conversation here given
was -wi'itten by Hamilton when a youth of seventeen, and is therefore to be judged in
reference to this fact and substantively, rather than by its consistency Math the history
of the actual development of geometry. The notes not enclosed within brackets are by
himself.]

t Pappus is thought to have been the first who treated of the wonderful structure
of the Beehive, and the profound Geometry which it displays.

X It was by this title that Euclid was designated.

Appendix. 663

The inventor of a curious piece of mechanism does not expose his
artifice to the vulgar eye ; nor does an architect, when he has erected a
magnificent edifice, leave the scaffolding behind. Or think you that the
nest of the Phoenix, with its odorous flame, would be regarded with the
same veneration, were its place accessible to human foot ? Yet now, since
here no motive to disguise remains, I am willing, if such be your desire,
to reveal the entire process of discovery.

P. There is nothing which I have more often or more ardently de-
sired. And in the first place, I wish to know why you began with those
Definitions, Postulates, and Axioms, which are prefixed to your Elements :
by what intuition you selected a priori all that could be necessary or
useful, and nothing besides ?

E. You are not to suppose that they received at once, or as you have
expressed it, a priori, that form in which they now appear. The Defini-
tions arose, some out of the necessity of making my own ideas precise,
and of communicating them to others ; some I introduced that I might
from the statement of a simple property deduce by geometrical reasoning
properties less obvious and more remote ; some were suggested by
analogy, and others invented afterwards, to present under a more sys-
tematic form the introduction to the science. In a word, no part of the
Elements has received more alterations as I proceeded than the collection
of Definitions with which they commence.

The Postulates were at one time more numerous than they now are.
It was not at once that I perceived the smallest number of data that were
suflS.cient to resolve all geometrical problems, and effect all geometrical
constructions. But with respect both to them and tg the Axioms, I may
observe, that they were not formed, as you seemed to suppose, A priori,
but as occasion offered.

P. Since then you neither began by defining terms before you had
contemplated ideas, nor by assuming things easy to be done before you
had perceived the use of doing them, nor yet by asserting truths self-
evident indeed, but apparently barren and unproductive, I find it diffi-
cult, I confess, to conjecture how you did begin; or what, if I may use
the words of your great successor,*' what was the intellectual ground
which answered to your 80s irov (ttCo.

E. While yet a boy my imagination had been captivated by the

* Archimedes : 6bs irov <TrS>, Kal yi/v Kivfiffw. [The late Professor Donkin, in his
excellent Article on Archimedes, in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography,
quotes from Tzetzes what is probably the original form of this famous saying : eAe-ye
5e KoX SwpicTT], cpccpii l,vpaKOva-la, Uci fiw, Kal xap'O'T^wj't rav yav Kivriffw Tratrav.]

664 Life of Sir Williain Rowan Hamilton.

' Eternal and Immutable Ideas ' of my illustrious contemporary.'^ I
sought to discover what I could fancy to have been in the Divine mind
the archetype of Figure : something simple, perfect, and one. I found
it in the equilateral triangle ; and from the contemplation of this figure,
Geometry as a Science has arisen.

P. Was not the Circle at least equally simple ?

JE. You forget that those late discoveries on which our conversation
turned not long ago have shown the circle to be the limit of regular recti-
linear figures.! ^^ these the simplest is evidently the equilateral triangle.
Besides at the time I speak of, the equality of radii in the circle, a pro-
perty which appears so obvious, was not known. The idea indeed of the
circle had been familiar to the mind . of everyone who did but lift his
eyes to look upon the lights of Heaven. But the definition which I have
given, so easy and apparently self-evident, is due to me, or rather to the
contemplation of that simpler figure of which I have already spoken. I
might mention, as another reason for my attending in the first instance
rather to a rectilinear figure than to a curvilinear, the natural bias of
the human mind to consider a straight line as in some way emblematic of
rectitude, and a curve of the contrary ; a remark confirmed, I believe, by
the etymological analogy of all languages :J and which has had so
strong an influence on the ideas of those who have inquired into the
constitution of Nature, that every curve is thought to be a deviation from
a line, and it has been questioned whether curvilinear motion be possible
without some external and ever- acting force. §

If in searching for that archetype of Figure of which I spoke but now,
I rejected all of which the termini were curved, by still stronger reason
I omitted the consideration of those whose surface was curved. These I
conceived to be in their very essence imperfect, and accordingly my defi-
nition of rectilinear figure excluded all such by the term ' plane sur-
face.' The characteristic of simplicity obliged me to take the smallest
possible number of sides : and this I soon found to be three. Here, it was
that the 10th axiom first presented itself to my mind. Finally among
triangles, the last characteristic of imity led me to select the equilateral ;

* Plato.

t If you conceive an Equilateral Triangle, a Square, Pentagon, Hexagon, &c.,
inscribed successively in a Circle, you -will find that they go on approaching to it ; so
that some have called a Circle a Regular Figure of an infinite number of sides.

J ' Curvo dignoscere rectum, atque inter silvas Academi quserere verum.'

5 Newton's Law of Rectilinear Motion Avas suspected by some among the
ancients.

Appendix. 665

for with respect to other triangles the variety is infinite ; but of equi-
laterals the species is one, and they differ in magnitude alone.

Besides, the ideas -^hich I entertained of symmetry, and of the to
KaXoV, induced me to attend only to regular figures,^' regarding none
else as symmetric or beautiful.

"When I had sufficiently contemplated in idea the equilateral triangle,
I next attempted to define and to construct it, which I did in the 22nd
definition and first problem. You may easily perceive that from the 22nd
I was led back to the 21st and 20th definitions, and from them to the
first seven. It is more important that you should attend to my progress
in solving the first problem ; since to this I am indebted for a most fertile
field of discovery.

Let AB in this diagram represent the line which I assumed for the
base of the triangle. The problem reduced itself
to this — To find the vertex, that is, to find a ..• '
point C, such that its distance from A should
be equal to the base AB ; and at the same time,
that its distance from B should be equal to the
same base. At first certainly I thought that
one of these conditions might be sufficient to determine the point I
wanted, but soon I saw that an indefinite number of points, such as
a, ^, y, &c., would satisfy that condition, being every one at the given
distance (AB) from A. And on closer inspection I found that the
aggregate of those points, or to speak more accurately, their locus, was
the circumference of a circle, in the centre of which was the point A :
from which point the lines Aa, Ay8, Ay, &c., &c., appeared to emanate
as rays. Thus it was that I discovered the fundamental property of the
circle, equality of radii, and immediately formed the definitions 14, 15,
16, 18, to which were afterwards added those of the diameter and semi-
circle.

I returned to my problem. For the same reason that the vertex of the
equilateral triangle must be in the circumference of a circle having for
centre A, and for radius AB, it must be also in the circumference of
another circle, having for centre B, and for radius the same line AB. It
must therefore be the point common to both these circumferences. Hence
an easy construction, if you allowed me to be able to describe the circles
on the given conditions, and then to draw lines from their intersection so
as to complete the triangle. And thus I formed the postulates first and

A Regular Figure is one of whicli all the sides and all the angles are equal.

666 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton.

tlurcL The first axiom too was suggested by my observing tbat altbougb
there had been no express provision for the equality of AC and BC, yet
this necessarily followed from their being equal, each of them, to the
same line AB.*

P. From this history of your first problem, and of the definitions,
postulates, and axioms which it introduced, I can form some idea of the
others ; but you have not satisfied my curiosity on the subject of the
theorems. I cannot easily conjecture why you should have thought of
the 4th Proposition.

E. Although that celebrated theorem occurs the first in the synthetic
arrangement, it was not the first in the order of my thoughts. That
rank belongs to the 5th Proposition, or rather to a particular case of it,
namely, that the base angles of an equilateral triangle are equal.

P. And what suggested this ?

E. In the construction of the first problem, to which I shall have
frequent occasion to refer, I saw that the point C was symmetrically
placed with respect to the points A and B. I saw next that the lines
AC, BC, were symmetrically placed with respect to the line AB ; the in-
clination of each to that line being the same, but in opposite directions.
That inclination I named angle ; and indeed the definition of an angle
shows that, when it was formed, respect was had not to unequal but to
equal angles ; since, if the relation of greater and less between angular
quantities had originally suggested itself, in the first inception of the
idea, I would have defined them not the mutual inclination of two lines,
but the mutual divergence. It did not however appear worth my while
to alter the definition when I considered afterwards unequal angles ;
although in strictness the greater angle has the less inclination.

At first I was content to designate the several angles of the triangle
ABC by the single letters at the vertex of each : but when I observed
that the first problem admitted of a second solution (which I had not
previously expected), namely, the triangle ABD below the base AB, I
saw that three different angles might be confounded under the de-
signation A. I then introduced the fuller designation of the three
letters.

On considering those three angles, namely CAB, DAB, and CAD, I
observed that the two first appeared sharp, whereas the latter, like a

* It seems an admitted point that the process of the human mind with respect to
axioms is to argue in the first instance from particulars to generals, and afterwards
from generals to particulars.

Appendix.

667

-,0,--

powerless wedge, seemed blunted and obtuse. Hence a classification or
division of angles into acute and obtuse ; but they were not yet defined,
for I had not yet observed the right angle intermediate between them,
and which served afterwards as a standard.

I observed also that the angles DAB, DBA were equal, as well as the
angles CAB, CBA ; and consequently that the aggregate angles CAD,
CBD were equal. And generalizing this reasoning I formed the second
axiom. A disciple to whom I
showed the diagram of the 1st
Proposition expressed a doubt
whether, on one and the same base,
there could be two equilateral
triangles. To convince him by
ocular proof that the triangle below
the line AB was really equilateral,
I caused him to describe a circle,
having for centre the point D, and
for radius the line DA. When he
saw it pass through the point B he
allowed himself convinced ; but
his previous perverseness led me to a curious discovery. I saw that the
point F, in which this third circle intersected the second, was the vertex
of one of the equilateral triangles which could be described on the base
BD, A being the vertex of the other. I drew the lines FD, FB, and was
surprised to find that the latter was only a continuation of the line CB.
Immediately I formed the second postulate, and produced the line CA,
that I might see whether it would also intersect the circle of which it
was a radius, in the same point with the third circle, and I found that it
did ; namely, in E.

These lines CE, CF, I named diameters. And now I formed the defi-
nitions of a diameter and a semicircle. At the same time I added the word
rectilinear to the definition of angle, in order to distinguish those which
I considered from the angle which might be said to be made at E by
the two circles intersecting.

In the next place I drew the transverse lines AF, BE, and observed
that they were similarly placed with respect to the base AB ; and also
that the relative position of AF and AC was the same with that of BE
and BC. To speak in scientific language, I saw that the angles FAB,
EBA were equal, as also the angles FAC and EBC.

As yet you will observe that nothing had been proved with respect to
the equality of angles. All was intuition. But I saw that if it were

668 Life of Sir William Roivan Hainilton.

possible to prove the last couple of equalities (namely, FAC = EEC, and
FAB = EBA), I should be able thence to prove what I had long ago per-
ceived, the equality of the angles at the base of an equilateral triangle,
since those angles, CAB, CBA, would then be the differences of equals.
And then I formed for the occasion the third axiom.

P. I can now trace, if I am not mistaken, the process which led you
to that demonstration which is given in your Elements for the 5th Propo-
sition. Yet still I am somewhat at a loss to discover what led you first
to think of the superposition of triangles.

E. Few of my theorems were at first discovered in all that generality
which they now exhibit. Thus you have seen how the equality of the
base angles of an isosceles was originally perceived in the case of the
equilateral ; and the proof by superposition of triangles was at first
employed only for the particular triangles CBE, CAF ; and ABE, BAF.

F. I confess my slowness : but even with respect to these it puzzles
me to conjecture what induced you to think of it.

E. Chance. Having graved the diagram in this simple form upon a

transparent substance, I happened to turn it in such a manner that when
placed between my eye and the light, the uninscribed surface was next my
eye, and the diagram assumed the appearance here delineated.

You see that the lines themselves appear to preserve the same posi-
tion ; but that the letters are altered in such a manner that y8 and y,
S and €, have mutually changed places. Thus a^e, or rather (as it is
now become) iiB^a , has occupied the place that ayS possessed before ;
yySe is come into the place of ;Sy8, having assumed the form s^ : and if
we suppose the two diagrams in juxtaposition, it is evident that x>?\b (or
o./3e) may be conceived to cover ayS ; and that in like manner, the
triangle y/?e in its new form of ^^a luay be conceived applied to /5yS.

Thus you have been admitted to behold my discovery in its embryo
state. You will find no difficulty in perceiving how the idea of ap-
plying one triangle to another having been once suggested, I was led

Appendix.

669

by my love of generality, and the desire which I had to diminish the
labour of this demonstration by throwing some of it into a preparatory
theorem, to form the 4th Proposition, which was to me the more easy
I had been accustomed to observe the

POLE

motions of the fixed stars round the Pole,
revolving as they do in concentric circles,
and in such a manner, that if you select any
three bright stars a, fi, y, the distances ay,
ySy continue always the same, as also the
angle at y ; and, therefore, the triangle alters
not in reality, however differently it may be
placed to the eye. In demonstrating this
4th Proposition separately, the funda-
mental principle employed therein to prove
equality being conceived coincidence, I was in-
duced to form the eighth axiom, as also to
state the tenth in words, though I have
already mentioned that it occurred to my
mind on a former occasion.

P. You have not succeeded in completely explaining the process of
discovery. Difficulties still remain which I may mention at another time.
It is, however, much less mysterious than it was before. You have told
me how, by fortuitous circumstances, you were conducted to a construc-
tion and a proof in the case of the equilateral triangle ; and I can easily
conceive how you generalized that proof and that construction so as
extend it to isosceles triangles, and to the parts produced being equal to
each other, without being equal to the lines AB, AC.

U. This last step in the generalization was the one that I first made,
namely, that of cutting off by a circle having its centre in A equal dis-
tances AE, AF ; ABC being an
equilateral triangle. If at this
stage you describe a circle hav-
ing for its centre C, and for
radius CF, and then compare
the diagram with that which
belongs to the 2nd Proposi- '\,
tion, you will see what sug-
gested the construction there
employed. But I own that at
first I assumed that probkm and the next as postulates, nor was it till

670 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton.

after some time that I fouud this to be an unnecessary increase of the
number of first principles.

P. "When you had ascertained the truth of the 5th Proposition, I
suppose that you considered its converse the 6th. "When you had found
that equality of base angles was a property of all isosceles triangles, you
investigated whether it was a property of them alone.

E. You conjecture aright. And in proving this, not being able to
find a direct demonstration, I had recourse (as you know) to that species
of analysis which is called the argumentum ex ahsurdo. That absurd con-
sequence to which I reduced my opponent, being generalized, supplied
me with the ninth axiom.

P. Did you not introduce the 7th Proposition for the sake of the 8th ?

E. I did ; and in order to prove the second case of the 7th I
added the second part of the enunciation of the 5th. As to the 8th
itself it might almost have been assumed for an axiom, so obvious is it on
the least reflexion, and so well illustrated by the starry heavens. But I
was reluctant to multiply axioms without necessity, and therefore de-
monstrated this and some other theorems almost equally plain. If you
wish however to know what it was that suggested this and the next four
Propositions, 9, 10, 11, 12, you must return to the 1st Proposition. If
you connect the vertices of the equila-
teral triangles which have AB for their
common base by the line CD, you will
easily perceive that it bisects the base AB
and the angle C ; also that it is itself bi-
sected by the base AB, and that it bisects
the entire figure ACBD. All this follows
without difficulty from the 8th and the

4th Propositions. At the same time you 2 -'' ^^ 'B"

see how I got the idea of a right angle
and of a perpendicular, and why I defined them as I did. This defi-
nition enabled me to subjoin those of the acute and obtuse angles,
and suggested a new division of triangles according to the nature
of their angles. Perceiving that the relation of perpendicularity was
reciprocal, so that Ba was perpendicular to CD, as well as the latter line
to the former, I found the solution to the twelfth problem. Observing that
the acute was less and the obtuse greater than the right angle, I found
that when an acute and obtuse angle were put in juxtaposition, as ABC
and ABF, the defect of the former was exactly equal to the excess of the
latter, as compared with the right angle EBC, which is the mean between

Appendix. 67 1

them. Thus I formed the 13th Proposition. From this the transition to
the 15th is so easy and natural that I could not avoid making it.

P. Even for this brief and rapid sketch I thank you. Many however
of my most interesting questions remain behind. I wished to have in-
quired about the origin of several theorems more curious and less likely
to have been intuitively perceived ; the equality of the three angles of
every triangle to two right angles, and the 35th Proposition in particular.
But see, stalking yonder through the shades, the murderer of Archimedes !
Let us disperse in haste, and meet again by Lethe's banks. Bring with
you, if you find him, the Samian sage.

Page 154.
ELEGY ON A SCHOOLFELLOW, T. B.*

' And art thou then indeed no more ! and must

Thou never to thy native land return.
Save in the mockery of the lifeless bust,

Or in the sad and monumental urn ;
Though in that bosom once were wont to burn

All kindly feelings which make country dear,
Though wistfully and oft thy gaze did turn

Over the sea to friends and kindred here,

"While started at the thought the involuntary tear !

' Ah what availed to thee the anxious hours

Of study, stealing on the silent night ;
Ah what to thee availed the brightest flowers

That in the garden of the East uirite
To breathe a soft voluptuous delight :

Where Hafiz pours his sweetly plaintive lay,
Or proud Ferdusi sings of heroes' might

In nobler strain, and Iraun's conquering day

Seizes the kindling soul and hurries it away !

' Oh hadst thou never left the happy home

That saw us once in earliest boyhood here.
When 'twas our joy together link'd to roam

Thro' all the changes of the circling year ;
Whether thou bad'st me mark the Spring appear

In its fresh beauty ; or didst teach mine arm
To pail like thine the Summer water clear ;

While thou -wert by my side I feared no harm,

And sports, that please not now, could exquisitelj^ charm.

* I have been informed by Dr. Fitzpatrick {si(2mi, p. 68), that the name of this
schoolfellow was Byrne.

672 Life 0/ Sir Williain Rowan Ha7nilto7i,

' Thou ledd'st me to Autumnal trees afar,

Of various fruitage ; and when Winter frowned

Have we not oft engaged in mimic war,

Snatching our snowy armour from the ground ;

And while the artificial shower around

Fell fast and frequent, laughed we not to see

The dazzling bright artiUery rebound

Shatter'd with ineffectual force, whUe we
Forgot the passing hours in fulness of our glee !

' Those fields, those trees, are vocal of thy name,
'Tis whisper' d by those waters as they glide ;

And when the Spring retui-ns, altho' the same
Beauty which then she had be now denied,

StiU in her murmuriag gales thy name seems sighed,
StiU seems the melancholy sound to moiu'n

Our once indissoluble links untied,
Thee from these childhood scenes for ever torn.
And o'er th' unbounded waste of raging waters borne.

' Hast thou not turned thee to thy native West

From Oriental climates far away ;
And when the burning Sun had sunk to rest

Beheld the twilight- star with gentler ray
Lighting the passage of departing day :

While fondly gazing on that planet's beam,
The bitterness of grief did melt away,

And Hesper haply memory -fraught might seem

Of home, and happy hours, and youthful fancy's dream.

' And tender recollections would beguile

That twilight hour of softly f alKng dew ;
And Hope, it may be, with her angel-smile,

Pointed the brightning prospect to thy view,
And while her shifting shadows, ever new.

Chequer' d the distant scene with varying light,
Bade every object take a .heavenUer hue,

Joys of the futm-e in succession bright

Starting at her command to bless thy longing sight.

' Then would the enchantress vividly restore
All that had once been loved and left by thee ;

Her magic car transporting thee once more
To isles that lay beyond the Indian Sea,

She gave thee in delightful phantasy
To feel a sister's arm around thee thrown,

A brother's and a mother's ecstasy, —

When wealth and glory should be aU thine own.
Perhaps one finer bliss reserved for thee alone.

Appendix. 673

Ah ^\'lly should Hope such glorious visions form,

Deluding with unreal joy the mind ?
Like to the rainbow shining o'er the storm,

"Which vanishes and leaves all dark behind !
She but delights painfully close to bind

Ties which the grave so rudely severeth ;
She but distracts the soul almost resigned,

And earthward turns the last expiring breath,

Promising pleasures here ere the dark hour of Death.

But thine was not a soul of such a mould,

Thy hope was fixed on high and heavenly things ;
And when the waves of Death around thee rolled,

Above the surge thou soar'dst on Seraph wings.
O'er thee Avere heard no kindred's sorrowings,

And foreign friends the last sad rites bestowed ;
Yet peacefully thy parted Spirit springs ;

' The bosom of thy Father and thy God '
Is now thy place of rest, is now thy bright abode !

Page 154.

The limits of this yolume render it necessary to refrain from publish-
ing the Prize poem on the theme of The Ionian Isles, but that on the
famous incident of the Siege of Calais, Eustace cle St. Pierre, is here
given,

EUSTACE DE SAINT PIEERE.

PRIZE POEM.

' The Sun has set on Calais' walls.
The gloom is deepening thro' her halls ;
The flocks, the herds, are gone to rest.
The weary bird hath sought her nest :
But instead of evening bell,
Only the sound of sentinel
Whispering hoarse the passing word.
Near that beleaguer' d town is heard.
Far as the strained ken may spy,
Nought but armies meets the eye ;
All around her battlements,
Hosts on hosts, and tents on tents ;
Neighing war-steeds fiercely prancing,
Banners in- the twilight glancing :
Here and there frowns gloomily
The heavy dark artillery.

2 X

674 Life of Sir Willimn Rowan Hamilton.

' Eut lo ! what lightning from afar
Flashes thro' the ranks of war P
'Tis the volleyed fire, to greet
Some nohle guest with welcome meet ; —
Hark to the thunder of the drums
As the Stranger onward comes !
Mark the oheisance of the crowd,
How every lance is lowly howed,
How every helmed head is bare
In chivalrous devotion there !
For England's young heroic queen
In the pride of Beauty's seen
Mounted on steed of purest M'hite
Eiding along the ranks this night ;
Attended by her armed band
Of conquerors, from their native land :
Eeturning to her royal spouse,
The husband of her virgin vows.
Many a haughty Baron near
Essays to gain Philippa's ear ;
Tells his tale of tourneys high,
Tilts, and splendid pageantry :
How he broke his rival's lance,
How he won his Lady's glance, —
But she unlistening turns away
To where a woimded soldier lay,
Keglected in the general joy,
Save by an only orphan boy.
Whom he on Crecy's crimson field
Had covered with his pitying shield. .
His useless arms beside him lie, —
Dimmed is the lustre of his eye ;
But as the princess near him came
A moment flashed its wonted flame,
A moment rose his weary head.
Then sank for ever with the dead.

' I may not paint the joyous greeting
Of Edward and his consort's meeting.
Nor feeble song like mine express
The transport of her son's caress.
Nor will the Poet's pen portray
Those scenes of mirth which closed the day ;
That universal triumph when
Brothers in battle met again ; —
" And here it was that Philip fled "
(Thus the exulting soldier said)
" But yester-eve the eye was lost
In wandering o'er his countless host.
And setting sunbeams o'er the field
Flashed back from banner, spear, and shield :

Appendix. 675

When arose the morning-star
Fled was the whole array of war,
And on the cold morass alone
The Sun's returning lustre shone."
— Freshly remember' d Crecy's fight
"Was in their flowing bowls that night ;
Of the Black Prince, many a, tongue,
And of his early valour, rung ;
How well he earned the spurs he wore.
How deep he bathed his sword in gore :
How they themselves, beneath him led.
Trampled the dying and the dead.
— Their comrades, new-anived from far,
Had each his tale of Scottish War ;
Of proud incursions proudly quelled ;
The Bruce himself in fetters held :
Each raised to heaven Philippa's name.
Each took himself the second fame. —
To such carousals, late and deep.
Succeeded a Lethsean sleep ;
Died away the warriors' tramp
All throughout the English camp ;
Few and more few the arms that rang
With faint and intermitted clang :
And Silence spread her mantle o'er
That scene but now of wild uproar.

How different was the state within,
And what a contrast to the din
And roar of revelry, which round
That city's walls in mingled sound
Had risen, as tho' it would affright
The peaceful monarchy of Night !
Not there the banquet ■was displayed,
Not there the inspiring viol played ;
Nor maids and youths with many a round
In sprightly measure trod the ground —
Though if tradition tells aright.
It should have been a festal night,
When mirth was wont her reign begin ;
The vineyard's harvest gather' d in :
The sickle blithely then laid by
In rustic triumph hung on high ;
And, crowned with garlands on the green.
Two were chosen King and Queen,
Monarchs of the sports to be,
And wear their honours merrily :
And saddest hearts forgot to grieve.
Dancing tho live-long autumn eve.
Ah why should ever War presiime
To fling his misery and his gloom
2X2

676 Life of Sir William Rowan Ha7nilton.

Over the peaceful joys that seem

Born for the young heart's happy dream !

Cannot the Giant-monster go

To regions of eternal snow,

Erect his blood-huilt empire there

O'er the sea-beast and shaggy bear ;

Mid the rude incessant shock

Of the frozen ocean-rock,

In icy wastes for ever roam,

But spare the human hearth and home !

' Instead of mirth, instead of joy,
Now care and fear their hearts employ :
Famine begins his ghastly reign,
And Pestilence is in his train.
— It is the hour of Morn, but none
Regards the mist-embosomed Sun,
As, rising from his Ocean bed.
Slowly he heaves his rayless head ;
His shining shoulders veil'd in cloud,
Like to his own Apollo's shroud.
Yet here and there a purple streak
From those dense clouds is seen to break,
As if, whate'er theii- envy bid.
His glory could not aU be hid.
But not to see the morning rise
Now tiu'n the afflicted townsmen's eyes ;
Far other are the thoughts which now
Louj 'neath every troubled brow ;
Anxious they dread that town and tower
Which long have foiled aU England's power.
The city whose determined force
Has checked the conqueror's onward course
Shall now at length be taught to feel
The keenness of that conqueror's steel :
And desolation's floodgates burst
Let in a tide of all the worst.
Worst miseries that man below
Has ever yet been doomed to know.
In that extreme of sorrow sore.
The voice of Prayer was heard no more, —
No more the sad and solemn strain
Rose in the Virgin's holy fane :
Neglected lies Madonna's shrine.
And uninvoked her power divine.

' But hark ! a trump to parley calls ;
The warder answers from the walls :
A Knight and Herald at the gate
To bear the conqueror's message wait.
The hasty council thi'ong'd to hear.
Swayed minglingly by hope, by fear ;

Appendix. 677

But not a voice the silence broke,

Until at length the Herald spoke.—

Such was the pause at Athens, when

Attention hung on Theramen,

Sent in their deep distress to know

The pleasure of the Spartan foe ;

Such the suspense which fettered all

That wide assembly in its thrall. —

"From Edward, France and England's king.

This message I, his Herald, bring.

Tho' wasted time, and troops, and store.

Your rebellious town before ;

Altho' this city hath alone

Stood betwixt Edward and his throne ;

Yet Mercy's gentlest influence round

Our monarch's councils still is found :

And while his ire ye justly fear,

He curbs it in its mid career.

He bids your terrors all to cease,

He spares your lives, he gives you Peace.

He but demands that six be given

To appease his wrath and that of Heaven ;

"With halters on their necks let these.

The victims, bear the City's keys :

"With head uncovered, feet unshod.

Their weary way to death be trod.

If these conditions ye refuse, —

I bring you peace or war — now choose."

' The Herald ceased, and all were still ;
But there went at once a thrill
Thro' the wrung bosoms of the crowd,
Tho' not a murmur breathed aloud.
Oh how sublime it is, the sight,
"When ten thousand hearts unite ;
One feeling, unrestrained and strong,
Hurrying them in its course along !
Eesembling not the warring waves.
When the vexed water raves,
But the one swollen billow's motion
On the deep majestic Ocean !
— And like that billow's i;«!«se before
It dashes on the rocky shore,
"When it hangs, yet foamlessly.
Gathering all its energy,
For a moment ; biirsting then.
Flings its white spray, and roars again —
So brief, so terrible the pause,
"While every struggling bosom draws
As in the bitterness of death
Its closely pent and labouring breath.

678 Life of Sir Williavi Roivan Hamilton.

— Or as, in Alpine solitudes,

The coming Tempest bows the woods ;

Silent at first, and darkly going.

Scarce could ye tell the Storm was blowing

But soon the "Wanderer of the sky

Stoops from his pathless fields on high, —

Then, then, amid the lightning's flash,

Mid the rending forest's crash,

He walks in thunder ; sounds of fear

Strike the distant shepherd's ear : —

So still the multitude at first,

So suddenly the Tempest burst

Among them, while the general cry

Was, let us all together die !

' But who is he, whose lifted arm
Can all their wildest tumult charm ;
On whom attention seems to wait
As if he spoke the voice of fate ?
" And is there not one Patriot here,"
(Burst while he spake the indignant tear) ,
" And can there not (he cried) be found.
In this whole wide assembly round,
A single man, his life to give
For all that makes it worth to live ?
To lay the sacrifice divine
Upon his rescued country's shrine ;
To save her from the accursed hour
Of the bloody soldier's power,
"Who in the fury of the sack
Turned never yet for pity back,
The babe that knows not speech to spare,
The old, the feeble, or the fair P
"Who then the sacrifice will be,
Let him arise and follow me ! "
Oh doth it need to name the name
Of him that spake, the child of Fame,
The Eegulus of France, who stood
Self-offered for his country's good?
What though for him no mouldering scroll
"Would prove nobility of soul.
But all unancestor'd his blood
Eolled on its free heroic flood ;
Unswoln the glory of his name
By tribute-streams of others' fame ? —
The valley's gushing founts below
As purely and as brightly flow
As the torrent in its pride
Bushing down the mountain's side.

Appendix. 679

* Scarcely had Eustace spoken, when
Eose at his side an hundred men ;
And every one desired to share
His destiny tho' dark it were.
Soon was the number filled, but brief
The space allowed to parting grief ;
Tho' many a friend around them pressed,
Once more to fold them to his breast :
And tho' at length the passionate crowd
Fell on their necks, and wept aloud.
" Weep not for us," the Hero said,
<( "^iv'e go to join the mighty dead ;
We shall not see our native land
Wrung from us by the Stranger's hand:
And when the Oppressor's host no more
Darkens the mountain and the shore.
Then shall the tear-drop of the brave
Fall on our now unhonour'd grave ;
And oft the foot of Patriot come
As pilgrim to our lonely tomb,
And haply breathe a whisper' d prayer.
And strew his wreath of wild flowers there :
And all of glorious and sublime
Hallow our names to latest time ! "

' Through the besiegers' army lay
Those prisoners' melancholy way.
The soldiers, as they passed along,
Were stirr'd with mingled feelings strong ;
The toils, the hardships, which they bore
In that blockade were now no more
Eemember'd, or perchance might seem
Images of a distant dream.
They as the victims came in view
Admired — admiring, pitied too ;
The tidings of the high design
Spread rapidly along the line ;
All turn'd at once their wondering ej-es
On the self-destined sacrifice ;
From rank to rank the feeling ran,
And mutiny almost began.
The knight their guide. Sir Walter, read
The gathering storm ; but on he sped,
Undaimted with his charge till he
Had reached the Eoyal canopy.

' Not on that morning had the Queen
In Council, or in presence been ;
After the march of yesterday
Still on her purple couch she lay.

68o Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton.

Eeclining in fatigue : the Prince,

Her son, was telling all that, since

They parted on the English coast,

His Father's conquering arms could boast.

He told her of the bloody day

When slaughter'd kings at Crecy lay.

Neglected there and left to die,

"WTiile their sad steeds stood drooping by ;

Of many a valorous deed he told,

Achieved by Knight or Baron bold ;

The only glories he forgot

"Were those his own right hand had wi'ought.

"While yet the youthful wamor spoke,

Sir "Walter on their presence broke ;

First for himself, on bended knee.

Pardon he prayed ; then pleadingly.

And with a tremulous voice as if

His suit were for a dearest life.

He told her all ; — how he that morn

The message of his King had borne ;

How, when the gates were opened wide.

The multitude in mingled tide

Thronged to the place of council there.

Left their dwellings lone and bare ;

And, while according echoes fell

From the slowly-swinging beU,

Stood in fixed and settled gloom

To hear the sentence of their doom.

How the patriot citizen

Eose majestically then.

Seeming, as he towered above.

The angel of his eoimtry's love ;

Or like those patriot men of old

"Whose fame recording story told,

In Eoman days, or days of Greece,

"Who for their dearer country's peace

Life as a freewill offering gave,

And plunged into a glorious grave.

'And "shall," he said, " shall Edward's name
Bow before a bui'gher's fame ?
His willing death to latest age
Shall fill admiring history's page.

And while all mom-n his glorious fate
"Will they not curse the ruthless hate,

(So will they term it) which was shown

By him that sat on England's thi-one r "
" Oh say not so ! " the Queen replied ;

" Not ruthless he, tho' sometimes pride

(Infirmity of noble souls)

His generous purposes controls.

Appendix. 68 1

He will not, oh I know he Avill

Not let the prisoners die ;— j^et still

Forebodings of, I know not what,

Come darkly o'er my bosom, fraught

With images of Death — I know.

Against the haughty Gallic foe

Eesentment rankling in his mind

Hath deeply left its stings behind ;

Since that usurper's court beheld

Their rightful Prince a vassal held,

"When his reluctant homage was

Wrung fi'om him by the feudal laws ;

And now, I fear, the long delay

Before this rebel city may

Have roused his wrath and chafed his mood,

And call for sacrifice of blood."

" If danger then" (the Warrior said),

" So imminent, hangs o'er their head,

Oh linger not ! the fatal ^vord

Perhaps already hath been heard ;

And we may come too late to save

From their untimely tomb the brave ! "

' Ere they arrived where Edward sate,
He had confirm' d the prisoners' fate ;
Stood unrepeal'd his sovereign doom,
Altho' he marked the gathering gloom
And the dark murmurs of his train,
While openly durst none complain.
But when the Queen, whose magic power
Could rule his passions' angriest hour ;
When she appear' d, he rose to meet,
And lead her to the Royal seat :
And gaily asked why matin air
Should visit yet a cheek so fair ?
— " No Season this for jest or sport,
This day of shame to England's court !
My gracious Lord ! what time my sire
Our nuptial torch with Hymen's fire
Enkindled at the altar and
Enlinked in thine my trembling hand.
Thou gavest in fondly -whispered tone
A promise heard by me alone —
" If ever in thy secret breast
A wish awaken unconfest.
Oh do not o'er it darkly brood
In silence and in solitude,
But come to me, thy wedded lord ;
For thus I plight my royal word.
Though half the wealth my realms contain
It cost, thou shalt not ask in vain."

682 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton.

That promise do I no«^ demand,
Consign the prisoners to my hand ! "
And then, to urge the Queen's request.
The Black Prince too his father pressed,
With all that eloquence which flows
When warriors plead for noble foes.

Awhile irresolutely stood
The Monarch — but his altering mood,
And the hid tumult of his breast.
Were by his changing brow exprest.
At length, "Ye have prevailed," said ho ;
Go, Walter, set the prisoners free.
Convey them to Philippa's tent.
Let raiment and let gold be sent,
And whatsoe'er her bounty may
Desire, to cheer them on their way.
Yet would to Heaven, tho' deai- ye are.
Both, that ye had been distant far,
Far distant that ye both had been,
Nor England this my weakness seen ;
So should the rebel foes we've quelled
Fit retribution have beheld :
So had a worthy victim bled
To the manes of the dead ! ' '
" Oh do not grieve," Philippa cried,
"When Mercy sits by Valour's side.
Or when a Sovereign honour shows
To patriot virtue in his foes.
So shall thy pardon have the meed
Due to the great and generous deed ;
And while this Godlike act of theirs
Time on his fresh wave ever bears.
The memory of my Edward's crown
Go mingling ever, brightly down I " '

Page 269.

THE BOYS' SCHOOL.

BY ELIZA MARY HAMILTON.

And all this wild light-heartedness of youth,
Laughingly sparkling around lip and eye,

This mirth unmixed, that looks in very truth
Sunny and pure, as if it could not die !

Stirring the grave cheek with a smile to see

Boyhood again, what boyhood still will be.

Appendix. 683

This recklessness of sorro^r ! oli ! to think

That j-et (how surelj' ! ) sorrow is for these,
That some at least shall of her waters drink,

And sickening turn from all earth's witcheries ;
That a few years at best, and youth is gone,
And mists Avill gather over life's glad dawn !

To think of nature quenched, warmth chilled, hoM' soon I

Of all the paths to ruin and to wrong, —
All that like soft gleams from a treacherous moon

Will woo to evil, their whole path along.
Me it makes sad at heart, and yet be ye
As joyous still ; nor dream of ills to be !

Ambition will find many a martyr here ;

And Love some fervent hearts to blight and leave ;
Pleasure too victims, round whom, year by year,

Her poisoned web yet closer she will weave.
Nay, do not say that this so deep gloom-stain
Has but its being in my own dark brain !

Look on that proud brow, monarch-like, erect,
Its coal-black curls blown off its palest height,

That spirit, could it brook shame, scorn, neglect ?
"Would it not through the weary waking night,

"When passion's tide uncurbed grew madly strong,

Fervently for the grave's cold shelter long ?

And shall it then have learned to long in vain ?

The thought is dreadful ! when no single di'op
Of earthly hope can soothe the fevered brain, —

Should it in agony dash from it hope.
And rush down, down, where hope can never come.
Into the suicide's last fearful home !

The other changeful face, like April sky,

AH sweetness or all storminess by turns,
Expression inexpressible flits by

The eye, most strangely beautiful, that burns
With flashes of deep feeling or wild mirth :
Oh ! Genius, I should know thee, yes ! through the whole earth.

Yet fame, that now seems near thee as thy own,

Like lising sun ; should it in after days
Mock thee and sink — in bitterness, alone.

Haughtily hidden from the cold world's gaze.
How tears will gush from those dark, smiling eyes,
As one by one each glorious hope-dream dies !

684 Life of Sir William Roivan Hamilton.

That lip of gentle goodness, the cheek's glow,
Those slightly snn-browned locks of silky gold,

They might almost seem woman's ; and yet no !
The forehead, smooth albeit and fair, is hold ;

Man's lordliness of soul shines mildly there —

Young purity, untainted yet, beware !

Forth, modestly secure, I see thee come ;

What is thy spur to win applause's prize ?
Holy affection ; thoughts of happy home —

Of triumph in its bright and tender eyes :
Alas ! a harsher world awaiteth thee,
Severer judgment, colder sympathj^ !

Yonder dark cheek, like India's, fierce and stern,
The impetuous flush, the indignant lightning-frown,

All careless the world's love or hate to earn.
Yet at the voice of fondness softening down ;

Oh ! unrequited Love, alight not here !

Few his heart's idols, but intensely dear.

And thou, the graceful, warrior-like and tall !

"With merry glance, frank, open as the day,
The ruling star and favourite of all ;

Thou of the witching tones, and free step gay,
Like tread of hunter on his native hills —
Well knowing of thy spell, to ^vdn to thine all wills !

The gift of stirring eloquence is thine ;

And thine the dangerously doubtful art
To guide men's minds or creep into, and twine

Round every pulse of woman's trusting heart.
Should slow disease its fetters o'er thee fling.
How will it bow thee down, and tame thy fearless wing !

Yes, ardour's kindling fieriness is here.

And young enthusiasm's headlong heat,
Asph'ings high, suj^reme contempt of fear,

The generous burst, the passionate heart-beat.
Quick jealousy of honour's lightest stain,
Souls that will never stoop, but spurn all foreign rein.

And ]\Iind, its might yet slumbering unknown,
Like ocean's calmness ; all the dawning light

Of dazzling Intellect, whose glorious throne,
High as the everlasting stars of night.

Has homage from all nations, through all time,

Where'er the sons of men behold its blaze sublime :

Appendix. 685

This may lie here, enfolded in the hud ;

The mountain river has a silent rise,
Ere yet it pour along its giant-flood,

And send its voice of thunder to the skies ;
Yet sorrow is for thee, even thee, proud sou
Of immortality abeady won !

But fare ye well ! I will hope hetter things ;

I would not damp young happiness — oh ! no :
I would but warn you of the many stings

Which sin has made man's heritage of woe.
That in your hearts there might he shed abroad,
When all things fail, the perfect peace of God.

Page 631.
NOTE ON CONICAL EEFRACTION : HAMILTON AND MAC CULLAGH.

As I find that the relative positions of Hamilton and Professor
MacCullagh in regard to the discovery of Conical Eefraction are still,
from time to time, matter of discussion, I feel it necessary to add as a
note the following statement : —

To the August number of the Philosophical Magazine for 1833 (p. 114)
was communicated a Paper by Mr. Mac Cullagh entitled, ' Note on the
subject of Conical Refraction,' which commences with the following
paragraphs : —

* "When Professor Hamilton announced his discovery of Conical Ee-
fraction, he does not seem to have been aware that it is an obvious and
immediate consequence of the theorems published by me, three years ago,
in the Transactions of the Royal, Irish Academy, vol. xvi., part ii., p. 65,
&c. The indeterminate cases of my own theorems which, optically in-
terpreted,'mean conical refraction, of course occurred to me at the time,
but they had nothing to do with the subject of that Paper ; and the full
examination of them, along with the experiments they might suggest,
was reserved for a subsequent essay, which I expressed my intention of
writing. Business of a different nature, however, prevented me from
following up the inquiry.

' I shall suppose the reader to have studied the passage in pp. 75, 70,
of the volume referred to. He will see that when the section of either
of the two ellipsoids employed there is a circle, the semiaxes — answering
to OR, Or, and to OQ, Oq, in the general statement — are infinite in
iinmbcr, giving of course an infinite number of corresponding rays. And
this is conical refraction.''

686 Life of Sir William Roivan Haijiilton.

The note then gives geometrical deductions from his previously pub-
lished geometrical theorems "which correspond with the two cases of
conical refraction.

Hamilton was hurt by the terms in which the first of these paragraphs
was couched ; he meditated a reply to it, and informed Professor Lloyd
of his intention. From the latter, early in the month, he received the
following reply : —

From Peofessoe Lloyd to "W. E. H.

KiLLixEY, August 9, 1833.

' Shortly after I left you on Thursday last I met Mac CuUagh, and
thought it better to avail myself of the liberty you allowed me, and
mentioned that you were about to answer his note. I did not enter
further into the subject, but in the few words which followed he mentioned
that he had explicitly stated to you, at the time of his first publication,
his intention of writing a supplemental essay on Fresnel's Theory, and
that he had made a similar communication to my father.

' I took no further notice of this at the time, but on my return to the
country I thought it would save much embarrassment and recrimination
to make you aware of this fact, which probably has escaped your recol-
lection. I therefore wrote a short note to Mac Cullagh, yesterday morn-
ing, to inquire whether it was to this he referred in the passage in his
last note, on which you have dwelt so much in your reply, and to ask per-
mission, if it were so, to state the fact to you. I received last night his
distinct affirmation to both these points, and along with it some further
details which lead me to hope that the matter may be adjusted in a less
hostile manner. In this hope I now write to urge you to take no further
step in the matter until I see you. I shall be in town on Monday morn-
ing, when you will probably come in to attend the Academy, if not for
this business, which I cannot but regard as of much importance both to
you and Mac Cullagh. I trust I shall then be able to adjust the matter
to the satisfaction of both parties ; but if not, it will not be too late for
you to persevere in your present intention of a reply.'

To this note Hamilton briefly replies on the same day : —

From W. E. Hamilton to Peofessoe Lloyd.

' Oeseevatory, August 10, 1833.

' It is very friendly in you to take so much trouble about the matter,
and what you state in your last note is very important. It has quite

Appendix. 687

escaped luy recollection that MacCullagh mentioned to me any intention
of writing a supplemental essay on Fresnel ; but of course I do not doubt
his word. I still tliink I ought to state distinctly that I was (until very
lately) under the impression that he had not in any degree anticipated
me, and that he lately mentioned to me that he had suppressed his own
expectations. But certainly I am anxious not to appear nor to be hostile
to him ; and I fully intend to be at the Academy on Monday next, in the
hope of meeting you and him, if you think it well to do so.'

Later in the month, on the 22ndj Lord Adare writes to Hamilton as
follows : —

' Dear Professor, I hear MacCullagh has published in the I^liil. Mag.
a Paper in which he says he had arrived at Conical Refraction some time
ago. Of course this will not pass without some remarks from you.'

In answer, Hamilton gives his friend the following interesting account
of what had been passing : —

From "W. R. H. to Viscount Adaee.

* Observatory, August 29, 1833.

' When I saw MacCullagh's remarks in the Phil. Mag. for this month,
I was certainly a little offended, for they seemed to insinuate that I might
have got the hint from his Memoir ; and I amused myself writing an
answer in a somewhat satirical vein. But I took the precaution of show-
ing it to Professor Lloyd, who, on receiving it, immediately came here in
great alarm lest MacCullagh and I should get into an unpleasant contro-
versy. I asked Lloyd, but this of course is cntre nous, whether he really
thought from his long acquaintance that MacCullagh was an honest man ;
and he assured me that he had the highest opinion of his honour. He
said, too, that MacCullagh had lately brought some things to his recollec-
tion which agreed with MacCullagh's recent statements of his having
thought something odd would arise in connexion with the circular sec-
tions of the the two ellipsoids in the theory, though he did not communi-
cate his thoughts to others, nor develop them himself. In particular,
Lloyd remembers that MacCullagh complained to him some years ago,
that on his asking a Dublin optician for crystals, he was shown the
crystal of a watch. But MacCullagh did not then tell Lloyd what he
wanted the crystals for, nor (so far as I can learn) had he any distinct
expectation himself. However, Lloyd's assurances of his confidence in
MacCullagh's honour changed a good deal my state of feeling ; though I
still thought of writing to the Magazine, and indeed Lloyd himself said

688 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton.

that some unguarded expressions in Mac CuUagh's remarks required some
notice to be taken of them. Eut before the time expired within which
I should have written, if at all, Lloyd brought me a message from
Mac Cullagh that he was very sorry for having unintentionally offended
me ; that the obnoxious sentences were written in great haste, to save
the post and the month, and were sent later than the body of his little
Paper (though they are printed at the beginning), under the influence of
a friend who urged him to make some claim, which he had not at first
intended to do, but merely to deduce geometrically the two cases of
conical refraction from his own theorems and methods ; and finally that
he was willing to publish in the next number of the Magazine an expla-
nation, a copy of which was shown me, containing a statement that he
had not only not communicated his thoughts to others, but had not per-
fectly developed them himself ; until by hearing of my results he was
led to resume the inquiry, and to deduce the demonstrations which he
gave in the last number. You will easily suppose that I was quite
pacified by this, and thought it needless to indulge the world with the
spectacle of a battle between us, which would no doubt have furnished
rare entertainment.

' When all was over, I thanked Lloyd for the trouble he had taken, and
hinted that having reconciled us it would be well not to mention to
Mac Cullagh the doubts which I felt for a while with respect to his truth
and honour. He laughed at this, and said, tliat xooxdcl indeed he drawing
the line upon the crystal, in allusion to one of the blunders which he was
pleased to attribute at Cambridge to me and Metaphysics.'

The September number of the Philosophical Magazine accordingly
contains an ' Additional IS'ote on Conical Eefraction, by J. Mac Cullagh,
F.T.C.D.,' which I transcribe :—

' The introductory part of my note which appeared in your last
number was written in haste, and I have reason to think it may not be
rightly understood. You will therefore allow me to add a few observa-
tions that seem to be wanting.

' The principal thing pointed out in the Paper that I published some
time ago in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy is a very simple
relation between the tangent planes of Presnel's wave surface and the
sections of two reciprocal ellipsoids. Now this relation depends upon the
axes of the sections, and therefore naturally suggested to me the peculiar
cases of circular section in which every diameter is an axis. Thus a new
inquiry was opened to my mind. And accordingly, without caring just
then to obtain final results, which seemed to be an easy matter at any
time, I expressed in conversation my intention of returning to the subject

Appendix. 689

of Frcsnel's Theory in a supplementary Paper. The design was inter-
rupted, and I was prevented from attending to it again, until I was told
that Professor Hamilton had discovered cusps and circles of contact on
the wave surface. This reminded me of the cases of circular section, and
the details given in my last note were immediately deduced,'

Among Hamilton's papers I find the following note from Mac Cullagh : —

From J. Mac Cullagh to "W". K. Hamilton.

' TuAM, September 5, 1833.

' My dear Hamilton, I have not seen the last number of the Phil.
Mag., though I ordered it to be sent to me, and I am uneasy to know
whether the second Note has been published or not. I made it clearer
and inore precise by the alteration of a word or two in what regards
myself ; what relates to you was retained verhatim, and I hope you will
find it completely to your satisfaction. If you should think it necessary
to say anything yourself, perhaps you would defer doing so until we
meet, which may take place in three or four weeks. In the meantime I
am anxious to hear from you, as I suppose the Phil. Mag. has gone
astray.'

On the back of the above letter is the short-hand draft by Hamilton
of his reply : —

* My dear Mac Cullagh, I have just seen your " Additional N'ote" in
the Phil. Mag., and have no intention of troubling the editors with any
remarks of my own on the subject. They [will] know the rest from
some other Papers from you which have not yet been printed,' * Then
follows a generalisation by Hamilton ' of your curious theorem about a
refracting hyperboloid : f and he concludes, ' On going to the Academy
the last day that I saw you, I found they had broken up for the summer,
so that I was too late to propose the insertion of any note to my Third
Supplement, and the appearance of your own communications in the
Magazine seem to make it unnecessary. Believe me, &c.'

In his Introduction, however, to his Third Supplement, printed in
part i. of the xvii.th vol, of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy,

* This I suppose to refer to the Paper read by Mac CuUagli before the Eoyal Irish
Academy on the 24th June, 1833. Geometrical Properties, Sec, referred to below
as subsequently printed in the xvii.th vol., part ii., of the Koyal Irish Academy.

t See letter from W. R. Hamilton to Lloyd, dated September 2, 1833.

2 Y

690 Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton.

and dated June, 1833, Hamilton had thus put on record the researches
of Mac Cullagh in this part of Fresnel's Theory : —

'I am informed that James Mac Cullagh, Esq., F.T.C.D., who pub-
lished in the last preceding Tolume of these Transactions a series of ele-
gant Geometrical Illustrations of Fresnel's Theory, has, since he heard of
the experiments of Professor Lloyd, employed his own geometrical
methods to confirm my results respecting the existence of those conoidal
cusps and circles on Fresnel's wave from which I had been led to the
expectation of conical refraction. And on my lately mentioning to him
that I had connected these cusps and circles on Fresnel's wave with
circles and cusps of the same kind on a certain other surface discovered
by M. Cauchy, by a general theory of reciprocal surfaces, which I stated
last year at a general meeting of the Royal Irish Academy, Mr. Mac Cullagh
said that he had arrived independently at similar results, and put i^to my
hands a Paper on the siibject, which I have not yet been able to examine,
but which will I hope be soon presented to the Academy and published
in their Transactions?

To this I may add the acknowledgment, which immediately follows, of
the approximation made by Professor Airy to the result arrived at by
Hamilton : —

* I ought also to mention that on my writing in last I^ovember to
Professor Airy, and communicating to him my results respecting the
cusps and circles on Fresnel's wave, and my expectation of conical re-
fraction, which had not then been verified, Professor Airy replied that he
had long been aware of the existence of the conoidal cusps, which indeed
it is sui'prising that Fresnel did not perceive. Professor Airy, however,
had not perceived the existence of the circles of contact, nor had he drawn
from either cusps or circles any theory of conical refraction.'

The statements with which the Introduction concludes ought perhaps
here to be given to the reader ; in continuation with the paragraph last
quoted, it proceeds : —

* This latter theory was deduced by my general methods from the
hypothesis of transversal vibrations in a luminous ether, which hypothe-
sis seems ^to have been first proposed by Dr. Young, but to have been
independently framed and far more perfectly developed by Fresnel; and
from Fresnel's other principle of the existence of three rectangular axes
of elasticity within a biaxal crystallized medium. The verification there-
fore of this theory of conical refraction by the experiments of Professor

Appendix. 69 1

Lloyd must be considered as affording a new and important probability
in favour of Fresnel's views ; that is, a new encouragement to reason
from those views in combining and predicting appearances.

' The length to which the present Supplement has already extended
obliges me to reserve for a future communication many other results
deduced by me by my general methods from the principle of the charac-
teristic function ; and especially a general theory of the focal lengths
and aberrations of optical instruments of revolution.' *

In the Third Eeport of the Proceedings of the British Association for
the Advancement of Science, giving the proceedings of the Meeting at Cam-
bridge in June, 1833, but corrected up to the time of printing in 1834,
is to be found, at p. 360, a report of Professor Hamilton's oral statement
of ' Eesults of a view of a Characteristic Function in Optics.' This em-
braces some results relating to optical instruments of revolution, as well
as Conical Refraction ; and it concludes, at p. 369, with a reference to the
independent researches of Mac Cullagh and Cauchy. It is followed by a
similar report of Professor Lloyd's oral statement of his verifying experi-
ments.

At the close of an article,*" dated September, 1833, contributed by
Hamilton to the November Number of the Biihlin University Review for
1833, p. 823, Mr. MacCullagh's claim in this matter is also put on
record.

These statements of Hamilton with regard to Mac Cullagh's work are
all in perfect consistency with one another.

Finally, in the xvii.th volume of the Transactions of the Royal Irish
Academy, part ii., p. 248, Mr. Mac Cullagh put a satisfactory close to
his action in the matter, by appending to his Pap er entitled Geometrical
Propositions applied to the Wave Theory of Light {Read, June 24, 1832),
a note dated April 2, 1834, which is here transcribed : —

' The curves of contact on biaxal surfaces and the conical intersections
and nodes were lately discovered by Professor Hamilton, who deduced
from these properties a theory of conical refraction which has been verified
by the experiments of Professor Lloyd. See Transactions Royal Irish
Academy, vol. xvii., part i., and the present Paper, Art. 55-58.

* The indeterminate cases of circular section — at least the case of the

* On a General MetJiod of expressing the Paths of Light and of the Planets by the
Coefficients of a Characteristic Function.

692 Life of Sir William Rowan Haviilton.

nodes — had occurred to me long ago ; but haying neglected to examine
the matter attentively, I did not perceive the properties involved in it.'

I have now brought forward or referred to all the facts and contem-
porary records respecting this question of priority and mutual indepen-
dence which have come within my cognizance. The reader will see that
proceeding by different paths (Hamilton by that of his own Algebraical
method, Mac CuUagh by that of Geometry), Hamilton independently
completed his theoretical discovery and foresaw the corresponding
physical facts : Mac CuUagh, when working independently, advanced far
in the right direction, but stopped short of deducing all the connected
mathematical properties, and failed to anticipate the physical phenomena
to which his theorems might have conducted him.

It may be added with truth that by nothing was Hamilton more
distinguished, from the beginning to the end of his scientific career, than
by his scrupulous anxiety to award to all labourers in the same fields with
himself the shares to which they had a just title in the priority and inde-
pendence of discovery.

INDEX TO VOL. I.

[For this Index I am indebted to the kindness of a tVieud.]

AiiiiOTSTOwx, 314. 427.

Academy, Royal Irish, 177. 186. 227. 356.
366. 406. 436. 625. 570. 632.

Adare, Viscount. Proposed as pupil to
Hariiilton, 318. His eagerness in astro-
nomical study, 357. 368. Elected mem-
ber of the lioyal Irish Academy, 407.
Ilis 'passion' for astronomy, 409.
Proposed member of the Astronomical
Society by Herschel, 416. His mature
character, 433. Goes to London with
Hamilton, 528. Visits Herschel with
Hamilton; they visit Cambridge, 552.
Leaves the Observatory, 565. Ilis
opinion of Hamilton, 566.

JEneid, chronology of, 102.

Agnesi, Madame, 305.

Airy, Professor, 376. 436. 441. 443. 459.
553. 573. 625. 628. 631.

Airy, Mrs., 393.

Album (school), extracts from, 52. 54.

Alfieri, 463.

Algebra, Newton's, 148. ' On Algebra
as the Science of Pure Time,' 288.
302.

Almoritia, parish of, 24.

Arithmetic, Hamilton on, 102. 302.

Athanasian Creed, 576.

' Ancient Mariner,' Hamilton on, 345.

Anglesey, Marquess of, 287. 299. 307.
323. 428.

Astronomy, study of, 81. 90. 91, 96. 99.
118. Hamilton elected Professor of.
232. First course of Lectures on, 288.
E.xtracts from Lectures on, 497. In-
troductory Lecture, 18. 32. 639. Ex-
tract from concluding Lecture of the
course, 657.

Atomistic Theory, the, 593.

Authorship, Female, Wordsworth on, 353.

Babbage, Mr., 576. 638.
J^acon, Lord, Hamilton on, 565.

Baillie, Joanna, Aubrcj' de "N'erc on, 5S2.

Barbauld, Mrs., 204.

Barlow, Mrs., 71.

Bathurst, Mr., 19.

Bayly, Mrs. and Miss, 443.

Beagh Castle, pic-nic at, 447.

Beauty in Mathematics discussed by

Hamilton, 349.
Berkeley, 411.

Beresford, Lord John George, 358.
Birthday, kept on the 3rd and 4th of

August. 1.
Blood, Margaret, 3.
Bogle Corbet, 449.

Books, an emigrant's choice of three, 448.
Booterstown, Hamilton's stay at, 60.
Boscovich, 593.
Boyle, Miss Elizabeth, 26.
Boyton, Eev. Charles, 81. 108. 220. 238.
Brewster, Sir David, 573.
Brinkley, Dr., 103. 140. 156. 177. 220.

222. 239. 297. 324.
British Association, The, 483. 570.
Buckland, Dr., 572.
Busts, 370. 407. 456.
Butler, Rev. Mr., 155. 161. 163.
Byron, Lord, 96. 97. Byron on Modern

Orators, 207. Lady Campbell ou

Byron, 599. Aubrey de Vere on, 582.

617.
Byron, Lady, 374.

Campbell, Lady, 359. 373. 407. 522. 574.

597.
Carter, John, 288.
Catechetical E.xamination, 178.
Caustics, Paper on, 176. 186.
Channing, Letter on Theology of, 46].
' Christabel,' 448.
Classics, method of assisting Lord Adare

in, 356.
Colby, Tolonel, 287. 299. 303.
Colliiini. /crali, 77.

2 Z

694

Index.

Coleridge, S. T., 425. 437. 477.536. 538.
' Personal Notes of,' 540. Letters to
Hamilton, 542. 552. Wordsworth on,
569. Hamilton's advice to LordAdare
on the stndyof, 587. Draft of a letter
from Hamilton to Coleridge (not sent),
592. On his conversation, 601. His
early love affair, 576.

Collins, ' Ode to Evening,' 208.

Colours, in objects looked at through a
prism, 441.

Comet, Halley's, 372. ' The Comet,'
Papers on, 657.

Conical Eefraction, 620. 623. Note on,
685.

Conjugate Functions, Treatise on, 308.

'Collegians,' the, discussed by Maria
Edgeworth, 343.

Corinne, 421.

Cuvier on Aristotle, 415.

Dargle, the, 364.

Deny, Journey to, 52.

De Quincey, 523.

De Stael, Madame, 523.

' Developments,' 128.

De Vere, Sir Aubrey, 460. 567.

De Vere, Aubrey, 461. 511. 516. Letter

on Poetry, 579. ' The Antigone of

Sophocles',' 607. Sonnet, 618.
De Vere Family, the, 460.
De Vere, Miss, 448. 455. 459. 461. 470.

505. 540. 565. 574.
Dialogue between Pappus and Euclid, 662.
Digby, Kenelm, 402. 617.
Disney Family, the, 160. 170. 173. 182.

188.
Division, Hamilton on, 101.
Dominick-street, old house in, 86.
Driscoll, Mr., 621.
Drummond, Lieutenant, 288. 303.
Dublin University Magazine, Jan., 1842,

Extract from, 636.
Dublin University EevicAV, Jan., 1833,

640. 657.

Edgeworth, Francis Beaufort, offered as
Pupil to Hamilton, 287. 294. 309. 317.
327. 331. 336. 474. 510. 514.

Edgeworth, Fanny, 285. 292.

Edgeworth, Maria, 160. 162. 218. 235.
343. 380. 416. 467.

Edgeworih, William, 285. 291.

Edgeworthstown, 456.

Elliott, Eev. Mr., 33. 40.

' Epanodos, the,' 213.

Everest, Captain, 335. 374.

Favrell, Tercnie, bust by, 370.
Fitzpatrick, Thomas, 48". 81. 82. 88.

Flaxmau, 617.
j Foster, John Leslie, 367.

Gait, 'Life of Byron,' Wordsworth on,
I 397.
I Gait, Bogle Corbet, 449.

George IV., Visit to Dublin, 92.

Graves, J. T., 227. Essay on Logarithms,
288. 303. 307. 324.

'Greek Dialogue,' 143. 662.

Hamilton, Archibald (father of W. R.
Hamilton), 11. 26. 64.

Hamilton, Arthur (cousin of W. R.
Hamilton), 27.

Hamilton, Eliza (second sister of W. R.
Hamilton) — Her poetical genius, 110.
Invited by Hamilton to be his helper at
the Observator}-, 256. Wordsworth on
' The Boys' School,* 268. Her account
of Wordsworth's visit to the Observa-
tory, 311. Wordsworth's advice on the
cultivation of her genius, 342. His
criticism on her verses, 352. She visits
Words^^•orth at Eydal with her brother,
368. 'The Boys' School,' 682.

Hamilton, Mr. and Mrs. Gawen, 3. 11.

Hamilton, Grace (eldest sister of W. R.
Hamilton) — Her helpfulness at the Ob-
servatory, 520.

Hamilton, Grace (cousin of W. R.
Hamilton), 430.

Hamilton, Rev. James (uncle to W. R.
Hamilton), 24.

Hamilton, Jane Sydney (aunt of W. R.
Hamilton^ 26.

Hamilton, Kate (cousin of W. R. Hamil-
ton)—Her death, 99.

Hamilton, Sydney (third sister of W. R.
Hamilton) — Her eagerness in studying
astronomy, 286. Invited by Hamilton
to share his work at the Observatory,
305.

Hamilton, William (grandfather of W. R.
Hamilton), 3.

Hamilton, W. R. — Birth, Brothers and
sisters of, 1. Ancestors of, 2. Named
' Rowan' after his godfather, 11. Pla-
cidity of his temper in infancy, 29.
Sent to his uncle at Trim, 30. Reads
English, 31. Childish athletics, 32.
Childish wit, 34. His obedience, 35.
Reads Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, 36.
Learns to dance, 39. Progress in arith-
metic, 41. Translates Homer and
Virgil, 42. Reads French and Italian,
43. Declaims in Latin, 43. Learns to
swim, 44. Begins Sanskrit, 44. His
love for Oriental languages, 45. His
earliest letter, 46. His only recorded

Index.

695

mischief, 49. Attends Assizes, 49.
His Syriac Grammar, 51. Reads
Blackstone's Commentaries, 52. Jour-
ney to Derry, 52. His epitome of
algebra, 54. Learns short-hand, 55.
First love, 61. Honourable Society of
Four, 61. First visit to the Observa-
tory, 62. Sees Miss O'Neill, 62. His
theological studies, 65. Begins to write
poetry, 65. Studies astronomy, 66.
Death of his father, 71. Letter to the
Persian ambassador, 72. Fiagments of
journal, 76. Meets Zerah C'olburn, 77.
Attends Fellowship examination, 81.
Observes eclipses, 81. Uses the ' Yel-
low Steeple' as a sun-dial, 82. Studies
Newton's Prbicipia, 83. Visits his old
home in Dominick-street, 86. His
system of telegraphing, 87. Attends
Fellowship examination, 89. Is con-
firmed, 90. Mysteries in science, 92.
Sees George IV., 93. Eeads Bj^ron,
97. Studies Laplace, 103. Makes the
acquaintance of Mr. Boyton, 108.
Aspirations, 111. Progress in- science,
111. Discoveries, 114. Loveof Dub-
lin, 114. His college entrance post-
poned, 115. Thoughts instead of
adventures, 128. Enters college,
142. Science his natural bent,
152. Brilliant career in college, 154.
Visit to Dr. and Mrs. Brinkley, I06.
Visits Alexander Kno.x at Bellcvue,
159. Makes the acquaintance of the
Disney family, 160. The 'Stanley
Papers,' 160. Visits Edgeworthstown,
161. His two voices, 166. Habits in
his study, 166. His personal appear-
ance, 166. Visits to Summerhill, 167.
His paper On Cai'stics, 176, pre-
sented to R. I. Academy, 177. Ib6.
Classical certificate stopped, 180. Dis-
appointment, 182. Revisits Summer-
hill, 188. Makes the acquaintance of
the Misses Lawrince, 191. Hamilton
as a poet, 191. Illness, 195. His
weekly register, 198. HonoTirs in phy-
sics, 209. Social charaotenstics, 209.
Ambitious projects in literature, 223.
Presents to R. I. Academy his Essay
ON A Theory of Systems of Rays, 227.
Invited to Armagh, 233. Elected Pro-
fessor of Astronomy, 234. Made Fel-
low-Commoner, 234. Letter to Miss
Edgeworth, 236. As undergraduate
examines graduates, 237. Takes his
degree, 237. Visits Dr. Brinkley at
Cloyne, 241. Visits Dr. Robinson at
Armagh, 246. Tour through Limerick
and Killarnej', crosses to Clifton, and

visits a coal-mine at Dudley, 251.
Visits the English lakes, and ascends
Helvellyn, 262. Meets Wordsworth,
262. Their midnight walk, 264. Visits
Southey, 270. Urges the study of
astronomy on his sister Eliza a second
time, 271. Goes to reside at the Ob-
servatory, 273. His health affected by
astronomical study, 285. Visit to
Edgeworthstown, 285. His ' master-
passion,' 286. Receives Lords George
and Alfred Paget as pupils, 287.
Elected member of the Astronomical
Society, 287. Visits Dr. Robinson,
287. His first course of lectures, 288.
Riding with Lalouette, 293. Declines
to receive Francis Edgeworth as pupil,
294. Declines to become a candidate
for Fellowship, 333. Wordsworth's
visit to Ireland, 310. Impression made
bv Hamilton on young men, 317.
Hamilton in 1829, 320. Hamilton's
sisters, 320. Consents to receive Lord
Adare as pupil, 350. His aim to infuse
the spirit of poetry into science, 354.
Proposed mode of assisting Lord Adare
in his studies, 356. Makes the ac-
quaintance of Lady Campbell, 359.
Mathematical work, 366. Declines to
review Captain Everest's work on India,
367. Visits Wordsworth at Rydal, 368.
Sits to Kirk for his bust, 370. Invited
to Cambridge by Professor Airy, 376.
Visit to Adare Manor, 391. On Berke-
ley, 410. Attends the Levee, 426.
Reports of intended marriage, 427.
Interest in his own relations, 430. Pro-
posal to exchange his professorship for
that of mathematics, 431. Remains at
the Observatory with increased salary,
433. Extension of a theorem of
Herschel, 435. Hamilton's indifference
to music, 442. First mention of Miss
Bayly, 443. Canal journey to Lime-
rick, 444. Makes the acquaintance of
Miss De Vere, 448. His modesty and
self-respect, 451. His love of order,
452. A dance and vagaries by land and
water, 452. Journey to Edgeworths-
town, 457. Effect on him of unimagi-
native science, 459. Miss De Vere, 461 .
Becomes a member of the British
Association, 483. Declines to prepare
a report of the progress of matliematical
science for the year 1831-2, 484.
Hamilton as a lecturer, 497. Second
visit to. Adare Manor, 505. Second
disappointment, 505. Visits Curragh,
506. Friendship with Aubrey De Vere,
511. Correspondence with Aubrey

C96

Index.

De Vere, 51G. Urged to go to London
with Lord Adare, 525. Working at
geometry and algebra without pen and
paper, 526. Invited to become a mem-
ber of the Eoyal Society, 528. Con-
sents to go to London, 528. Visits
Coleridge, 538. Visits Herschel, at
Slough, 550. Eeturns to Dublin
through Wales, 550. Reads a Paper
of Mr. M'Cullagh's before the meeting
of the British Association at Oxford,
670. Speech on behalf of the Roj^al
Irish Academy, 577- His aim in opti-
cal research, 592. Elected Fellow of
the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, 610. Discovery of Conical
Refkaction, communicates it to R. I.
Academy, 623. Dim perspective of
marriage, 639. Introductory lecture
for 1832, 639.

Ilaydon, the Painter, 429. 430.

Hazlitt, Wordsworth on, 397-

Helvellyn, ascent of, 262. Ascent of, by
MacCullagh, 263.

Hemans, Mrs., 368. 379. 388. 398. 602.
622. 624. 655.

Herschel, Miss, 305.

Herschel, J. F. W., 277. 279. 287. 301.
408. 414. 481. 550. 552. 632.

Horner, Mr., 18. 19.

Howison, Mrs., 149.

Hutton, Miss Hannah, 36. 43. 92.

Ideal Poetry, Aubrey de Vere on, 581.
Ideality, want of in Wordsworth's poetry,

580.
'Impulses,' memorandum on, 493.
Ireland in 1831, 424.

Johnson, Dr., Hamilton on, 208.
Journal, fragments of, 76. 81. 83. 87.

222. 223.
Juvenal, Hamilton on, 117.

Kant, 582.

Keats, 580.

Kennedy, Rev. J., 178.

Killarney, 251.

Kirk (sculptor), 370. 407.

Knights in Ireland since the Union, 98.

Knox, Alexander, 155. 158. 163.

Lalouette, 293.

Lambton, Mr., 19.

Landor, W. S., 569. 617.

Laplace, correction of by Hamilton, 103.
His theorem demonstrated by Hamil-
ton, 227.

Lardner, Rev. D., 325.

Lardner, Natbaniel, Coleridge on, 543.
Lawrence, Miss, 191. 374. Letter to,

on the theology of Channing, 464. 535.

Letter to Miss Lawrence from S. T.

Coleridge, 543. 575.
Lepaute, Madame, 305.
Letter-writing, Wordsworth on, 378.
Lineage, to what extent Scotch, 5.
limerick, journey to, 251.
Liverpool, 259.
Lloyd, Rev. Humphrey, 520. 576. 624.

635. 686.
Locke, 'On Human Understanding,' Lady

Campbell on, 599.
Logos, doctrine of the, 548.
' lioves of the Angels,' defence of, 125.
Love, Aubrey de Vere on, 528.

MacCullagh, Professor, 570, 575. 578.

631. 685.
M'Ferrand, Mr. and Mrs., 3.
M'Ferrand, Grace, 3.
Mackintosh, Sir J., 19.
' Mandeville,' Godwin's, 96.
Materialism of the 19th century, 616.
Mathematical manuscripts, 124.
Maurice, Baron, 381.
Moon, eclipses of, 81. 127. 144.
Moore's Irish Melodies, 101.
Morality in the 19th century, 618.
Musical vibrations, Hamilton on, 588

Napier, Mr. Richard, 155. 161.

Nature, ancient and modem method of
considering, discussed, by F. B. Edge-
worth in a letter to Hamilton, 337.
Reply, 346.

Nimmo, Mr., 249. 251. 258. 263. 268.

Noakes, 282. 295. 535.

Nobili, Signer, 614.

Number, Hamilton on, 301.

Observatory, 62. 124. 142. 273.
Object-glass, Sir J. South's, 308.
O'Connell, Daniel, 424. 428. 547.
O'Eeirne, Mr., 211.
O'Biien, W. Smith, 453.
Old Testament, 179.
O'Neill, Miss, 62. _
Optics, Discovery in, 141.
0' Sullivan, Rev. S., 426.
Oxford Movement, Hamilton and the,
452.

Pappus and Euclid, Dialogue between,

662.
Pascal and Hamilton compared, 317.
Passion, Aubrey de Vere on, 615.

Index.

697

Patriotism, Aubrey de Vere on, 606.

Perceval, Dr., 288.

Perceval, Colonel, Speech on the Reform
Bill, 537.

Persian Ambassador, Hamilton's letter
to, 72.

Poems— To the Evening Star, 95 ; The
Dream, 103 ; On the Literature of
Rome, 105. 107; All Hallow E'en,
120; Verses on the Scenery and As-
sociations of Trim, 129 ; Trip to Mul-
lingar, 132 ; Birthday Lines (to Eliza),
139 ; Fragment on Memory, 143 ; Ode
to the Moon under total Eclipse, 145 ;
To the River Dargle, 147 ; On College
Ambition, 157; To Eliza, 168; To
Miss C. D., 174; The Enthusiast, 183;
A FareM-ell, 185 ; The Vision Cottage,
189; To my Sister Eliza, 196; At
]\Iidnight, 197 ; Peace be around thee
wherever thou goest, 215 ; The Purse,
224; To forgotten and fading flowers,
246 ; It haunts me yet, 264 ; To
Poetry, 316 ; We two have met, and
in her innocent eyes, 361 ; Farewell
Verses to William Wordsworth, 369 ;
Easter Morning, 379 ; To the infant
Wyndham, son of the Earl of Dun-
raven, 454 ; To E. de V., 455 ; Schil-
ler's Bignity of Women (translated),
478 ; Platen 0« Death (translated), 480 ;
All Hallow E'en, 481 ; To Poetry, 486 ;
Platen's Pilgrim (translated), 487 ;
Platen's Warning (translated), 487 ;
Who says that Shakspeare did not
know his lot, 489 ; On hearing of the
illness of E. de V., 489 ; Early within
herself a solemn throne, 490 ; Do I
lament that I in youth did love, 491 ;
To E. de v., 491 ; To his Sister Eliza,
495 ; 0 brooding Spirit of Wisdom and
of Love, 496 ; To E. de V., 507 ; To
E. de v., 507 ; Even now beneath its
task strong self-control, 507 ; If my
soul's fabric hath endured this blow,
508 ; To the Countess of Dunraven,
510 ; 'Tis true I have out -felt and
have out-thought, 512 ; On seeing a
child asleep on a couch in the Vice-
regal rooms, after dancing at a Twelfth-
Night Ball, 512; The Graven Tree,
615 ; Not with unchanged existence I
emerge, 550 ; There was a frost about
my heart, 560 ; On a wild sea of pas-
sion and of grief, 561 ; AVas it a
dream ? or in that cottage lone, 562 ;
Sometimes I seem of her society, 563 ;
Methinks I am grown weaker than of
old, 564 ; He could remember when in
his young dreams, 572 ; My Birthday

Eve, 595 ; The Spirit of a Dream hath
often given, 595 ; To the Memory of
Fourier, 596 ; The Rydal Hours, 596 ;
On the severing of Friends, 611; I
M'andered with a brother of my soul,
620 ; Elegy on a School-fellow, T. B.,
671 ; Eustace de Saint Pierre, 673.

Poetry, Hamilton on, 116. 192.

Porter, Maria, 599.

Problem in Mathematics solved by Hamil-
ton, 109.

Problem of Shortest Twilight, 199.

Prosody, Hamilton on, 98.

Rays, Theory of Systems of, 110. 115.
187. 227. 228. 231.287. (See 'Supple-
ments.')

Reading, weekly record of, 198.

Recluse, The, 585.

Reform Bill, 474. 478. Wordsworth on,
493. 536.

Rigaud, Professor, 575.

Robinson, Dr. Romney, 233. 245. 250.
277. 299. 431. 468. 520.

Rowan, Archibald Hamilton, 11.

Science in England, 422. Wordsworth

on alleged decay of, 424.
Scott, Sir Walter, 96. 97- 202. 205. 472.

475. 589. 617.
Senate of Four, 81.
Shakespeare's Sonnets, 488. 492. 523.

601. 613.
Shelley, 580. 613.
Short-hand, 52. 84.
' Smoke,' 399.
Society, Hamilton on, 422.
Somerville, Mrs., 553.
South, Sir J., 399, 551.
Southey, 223. 270. 283. 368. 390. 617.
Spedding, Mr., 588.
Spenser's Sonnets, A. de Vere on, 579.
Spirit, A. de Vere on, 588.
Spinoza, 543. 586.
'Stanley Papers,' the, 160. 211. 213.

216.
Stopford, Rev. James, 10.
Style, Wordsworth on, 327.
Sun-dial, 82.
Supplements to Essay on a Theory of

Systems of Rays, 356. 366. 623.
Swimming, 44.
Syriac, Grammar of, 51.

Tait, Professor, Article of, 5. 635.
Taylor, Jeremy, 614.
Tennyson, Alfred, 581. 617.
Tennyson, Brothers, 403.
Telegraphing, System of, 87.
Telescopes, 186. 201. 203. 324. 520.

698

Index.

Thought and Action, Hamilton on, 395.
' Thoughts instead of Adventures,' 128.
Thought, Ascending Scale of Human,

415.
Trim, in 1820, 84.

Trinity, The, S. T. Coleridge on, 547.
Truth and Beauty discussed by Hamilton

in a letter to F. B. Edgeworth, 346.

Unitaiianism, S. T. Coleridge on, 542.

Vansittart, Mr., 19.

' Value of -, with preliminary remarks

on Division,' 101.
' Vampyre, The,' Extract from, 461.

Walker, Jenny, 122.

Watson's ' Answer to Tom Paine,' 97-

Whitbread, Mr., 19.

Willey, Rev. John, 289.
Wilson, Professor, 393. 396.
WoUaston, Dr., 382.
Wordsworth, Dora, 471. 506.
Wordsworth, Dorothy, 429. 566. 068.

569.
Wordsworth's Point, 386.
Wordsworth, William, 260. 266. Visits

Ireland ,310. At the Ohserwatory , 311.

Discourages Hamilton from

writing

Poetry, 315. Letter on Hamilton's
Poetry and on that of Francis B. Edge-
worth, 327. 333. At Edgeworthstown,
342. His aj^pearance described by
Maria Edgeworth, 343. Wordsworth
on the Use of Words, 351. 377. His
equestrian journey to Cambridge; com-
poses verses to the memory of Sir
George Beaumont, and Sonnet on Chats-
worth, on the wa)', 402. On the Re-
form BiU, 493. 568.

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INDEX.

Abhey b' Overton's English Church History 14

Abney's Photography 10

Acton's Modern Cookery 20

Alpine Club Map of Switzerland 17

Guide (The) -l^

Amos' s jurisprudence 5

Primer of the Constitution 5

50 Years of English Constitution 5

Anderson s Strength of Materials 10

Armstrong' s Oxg'ssixc Q\\Q.Vii\s\XY 10

Arnold's (Dr.) Lectures on Modern History 2

Miscellaneous Works 6

Sermons 15

(T.) English Literature 6

Poetry and Prose ... 6

Amoft's Elements of Physics 9

Atelier (The) du Lys 18

Atherstone Priory .V. 18

Autumn Hn'^days of a Country Parson ... 7

Ayre'-" ry of Bible Knowledge 20

Bacon's Essays, by Whafcly 5

Life and Letters, by .^/(^(/(f/^'^ ... 5

Works 5

Bagehot's Biographical Studies 4

Economic Studies 21

Literary Studies 6

Bailey s Festus, a Poem 18

5iz/«'j James Mill and J. S. Mill 4

Mental and Moral Science 5

on the Senses and Intellect 5

WORKS published by LONGMANS

CO.

Bains Emotions and Will S

Baker's Two Works on Ceylon 17

^a//'i Alpine Guides 17

^(7//'j Elements of Astronomy 10

^airrj' on Railway Appliances 10

& Braimocllow Railways, &c 13

^tf//^;';;?(7A''j Mineralogy 10

Beaconsfield' s (Lord) Novels and Tales 17 & 18

Speeches i

Wit and Wisdom 6

Beckers Charicles and Gallus 7

Beeslys Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla 3

Biiighafii's Bonaparte MaiTiages 4

^/a<:^'j Treatise on Brewing 20

Blackleys German-English Dictionary 7

Bloxam's Metals 10

Bolland and Lang's Aristotle's Politics 5

Boultbee on 59 Articles 15

's History of the English Church... 14

Bourne's V/orks'on the Steam Engine 14

Bo-wdler's Family Shakespeare 19

Brabojirne s Fairy-Land 18

■ Higgledy-Piggledy 18

Bramley-Moore' s Six Sisters of the Valleys . 1 3

Brande's Diet. of Science, Literature, & Art 1 1

Brassey's British Navy 13

Sunshine and Storm in the East . 17

Voyage in the ' Sunbeam' 17

^r^y^ Elements of Morality 16

Browne's Exposition of the 39 Articles 15

5row?;//7/j Modern England 3

Buckles History of Civilisation 2

Buchton's Food and Home Cookery 21

Health in the House 12&21

BulTs Hints to Mothers 21

■■ Maternal Management of Children. 21

Burgomaster's Family (The) 18

Cabinet Lawyer 20

Calvert's Wife's Manual 16

Capes' s Age of the Antonines «... 3

' Early Roman Empire 3

Carlylc's Reminiscences 4

Gzto' J Biographical Dictionary 4

CiTj'/^yj Iliad of Homer 19

Changed Aspects of Unchanged Truths ... 7

Ckesney's Waterloo Campaign 2

Christ our Ideal 16

Church's Beginning of the Middle Ages ... 3

Colensds Pentateuch and Book of Joshua . 16

Commonplace Philosopher 7

C(7»2j?£'j Positive Polity 4

Conder's Handbook to the Bible 15

Cotiington' s Translation of Virgil's ^neid 19

. Prose Translation of Virgil's

Poems iS

Contanseau's Two French Dictionaries ... 7

Conybeare and Howson's St. Paul 15

Co/Az on Rocks, by Z,rt7c;rf«r£ 11

Counsel and Comfort from a City Pulpit... 7

Cox's (G. W.) Athenian Empire ' 3

— Crusades 3

ij Greeks and Persians 3

Creighfon's Age of Elizabeth 3

. England a Continental Power 3

Papacy during the Reformation 14

Shilling History of England ... 3

. Tudors and the Reformation 3

Cresy's Encyclopcedia of Civil Engineering 14

Critical Essays of a Country Parson 7

Culley's Handbook of Telegraphy 13

Curtcis's Macedonian Empire 3

Davidson's New Testament 14

Dead Shot (The) 19

De Caisne a.nd Le A/aoui's Boiany 11

De Tocqueville's Democracy in America..., 4

Dcwes's Life and Letters of St. Paul 15

Dixon's Rural Bird Life , 11&19

Dun's American Farming and Food 21

Irish Land Tenure 21

Eastlake's Hints on Household Taste 13

Edmonds's Elementary Botany n

£///co//'j Scripture Commentaries 15

Lectures on Life of Christ 15

Elsa and her Vulture 18

Epochs of Ancient History 3

English History 3

Modern History 3

EwaMs History of Israel 15

Antiquities of Israel 15

Fairbairn's Applications of Iron 13

Information for Engineers 13

Mills and Millwork 13

Farrars Language and Languages 7

Fitzxvygram on Horses 19

Francis's Fishing Book 19

Freeman's Historical Geography 2

Fronde's Ceesar 4

English in Ireland I

History of England i

Short Studies 6

Thomas Carlyle 4

Gairdner's Houses of Lancaster and York 3

Ganot's Elementaiy Physics 9

Natural Philosophy 9

Gardiner's Buckingham and Charles I. ... 2

Personal Government of Charles I. 2

Fall of ditto 2

Outline of English History ... 2

Puritan Resolution 3

Thirty Years' War 3

(Mrs.) French Revolution 3

Struggle against Absolute

Monarchy 3

Goethe's Faust, by Birds 18

bySelss 18

by Webb 18

Goodeve's Mechanics 10

Mechanism 13

Gore's Electro-Metallurgy 10

Gospel (The) for the Nineteenth Centmy . 16

Grant' s JLlhics of Aristotle 5

Graver Thoughts of a Country Parson 7

Greville' s]oum3.\ i

Griffin's Algebra and Trigonometry 10

Grove on Correlation of Physical Forces... 9

Gwili's Encyclopjedia of Architectm-e 13

Hales Fall of the Stuarts 3

Halli'cvell-Phillipps's Outlines of Shake-
speare's Life 4

WORKS published by LONGMAAS a- CO.

Hartwig's Works on Natural History,

&c 10 &n

HassaU's Climate of San Remo 17

Haughton' s Physical Geography 10

Hayward' s Selected Essays 6

Heer's Primeval World of Switzerland 11

Helniholtz s Scientific Lectures 9

Herschcl's Outlines of Astronomy 8

//i3/;4/«j'5 Christ the Consoler 16

Horses and Roads ig

//i)iii/V/''j- Visits to Remarkable Places 19

Hullalis History of Modern Music 11

Transition Period 11

Hume's Essays ,. 6

Treatise on Human Nature 6

/kne's Rome to its Capture by the Gauls... 3

History of Rome 2

Ingelozv's Poems 18

Jagds Inorganic Chemistry 12

yameson's Sacred and Legendary Art 12

yenkin's 'EAecXridiiy and Klagnetism 10

yerrold's Life of Napoleon i

yohiisoiis Normans in Europe 3

Patentee's Manual 21

yohnston s Geographical Dictionary 8

yukes's New Man 15

Second Death 16

Types of Genesis 15

jSa//jtA'j Bible Studies 15

Commentary on the Bible 15

Path and Goal 5

Keary s Outlines of Primitive Belief 6

Kellers Lake Dwellings of Switzerland.... 11

KerFs Metallurgy, by Crookes and Rohrig. 14

Landscapes, Churches, &c 7

Za//za?«'j English Dictionaries 7

Handbook of English Language 7

Lecky's History of England 1

European Morals 2

Rationalism 2

Leaders of Public Opinion 4

Leisure Hours in Town 7

Z,^j//e'i Political and Moral Philosophy ... 6

Lessons of Middle Age 7

Z^i^^'t'/^ History of Philosophy 2

Zezc/j on Authority 6

Liddellaxid Scott's Greek- English Lexicons 8

Lindky icad Moore' s Treasury of Botany ... 20

Lloyd's Magnetism 9

Wave-Theory of Light 9

Longman's (F. W.) Chess Openings 20

Frederic the Great 3

■' German Dictionary ... 7

— ( W. ) Edward the Third .. .'. 2

Lectures on History of England 2

' St. Paul's Cathedral 12

Lcudoti's Encyclopaedia of Agriculture ... 14

■" Gardening . . . 1 1 & 1 4

-■ Plants II

Lubbock's Origin of Civilisation 11

Ludloiu's American War of Independence 3

Lyra Germanica 16

Macalister s Vertebrate Animals 10

Macaulay's (Lord) Essays i

History of England ... i

Lays, Illus. Edits. ... 12 & 18

Cheap Edition... i8

Life and Letters 4

Miscellaneous Writings 6

Speeches 6

Works I

Writings, Selections from 6

MacCullagh' sTxTiXXs 9

McCarthy's Epoch of Reform 3

McCullocli s Dictionary of Commerce 8

Macfarren on Musical Harmony 12

Maclcod's Economical Philosophy 5

Economics for Beginners 21

Elements of Banking 21

Elements of Economics 21

Theory and Practice of Banking 21

Macnamara's Himalayan Districts 17

Mademaiselle Mori i3

Mahaffy's Classical Greek Literature 3

.^l/<rrj/^;/7i7«'j Life of Havelock 4

Martliieau s (Z\\x\s\\2ir). Life 16

Hours of Thought 16

— '■ Hymns i6

Maimder's Popular Treasuries 20

Maxwell s Theory of Heat 10

May's History of Democracy i

History of England i

Melville's (Whyte) Novels and Tales 18

Mendelssohn' s Letters 4

yl/(;r/i'ti'/e'.f Fall of the Roman Republic ... 2

General History of Rome 2

Roman Triumvirates 3

Romans under the Empire 2

Merrlfield! s Arithmetic and Mensuration... 10

Miles on Horse's Foot and Horse Shoeing 19

on Horse's Teeth and Stables 19

Mill (J.) on the Mind 4

Mills {^. S.) Autobiography 4

Dissertations & Discussions 5

Essays on Religion 15

Hamilton's Philosophy 5

Liberty 5

Pohtical Economy 5

Representative Government 4

Subjection of Women 5

System of Logic 5

; — Unsettled Questions 5

Utilitarianism 5

J////<?;-rf'j' Grammar of ElociUion 7

Miller's Elements of Chemistry 12

Inorganic Chemistry 10&12

Wintering in the Riviera 17

Milnc}-' s Country Pleasvu^es n

Mitchell's Manual of Assaying 14

xModern Novelist's Library 18

Monck's Logic 5

Monsell's Spiritual Songs 16

Moore's Irish Melodies, Illustrated Edition 12

Lalla Rookh, Illustrated Edition.. 12

Morris's Age of Anne 3

Mozlcy's Reminiscences of Oriel College... 3

Mailer's Chips from a German AVorkshop. 7

Hibbcrt Lectures on Religion ... xS

Science of Language 7

Science of Religion 16

Selected Essays 6

WORKS published by LONGMANS d- CO.

Nelson on the Moon 8

A^^z'zVtf'j Horses, and Riding 19

New Testament (The) Illustrated 12

Newman s Apologia pro Vita Sua 3

Nicols's Puzzle of Life 11

Northcott's Lathes & Turning 13

Oh'/i/hmfs In Trubt 17

Orsi's Fifty Years' Recollections 4

Our Little Life, by A. K. H. B 7

Overions 'L\{e, &c. oi Law 4

Owen's (R. ) Comparative Anatomy and

Physiology of Vertebrate Animals 10

Experimental Physiology ... 10

. (J.) Evenings with the Skeptics ... 6

Pcrry'j Greek and Roman Sculpture 12

Payen's Industrial Chemistry 13

Pewtner's Comprehensive Specifier 20

P/cj-Vj Art of Perfumery 14

Pole's Game of Whist 20

Powell's Early England 3

Preece & Slveivri^ht's Telegraphy 10

Present-Day Thoughts 7

Proctor's Astronomical 'Works S&9

Scientific Essays 11

PubUc Schools Atlases 8

^aw/iWJ'OM'j Ancient Egypt 2

Sassanians 2

Recreations of a Country Parson 7

Reeve's Cookery and Housekeeping 20

Reynolds' s Experimental Chemistry 12

/?/V/i'j Dictionary of Antiquities 7

Rivers' s Orchard House 11

• Rose Amateur's Guide 11

Rogers's Eclipse of Faith and its Defence 15

Roget's English Thesaurus 7

Ronalds' Fly-Fisher's Entomology 19

^ciw/(y'5 Rise of the People 3

Settlement of the Constitution ... 3

Rutley's Study of Rocks 10

Samuclson s Roumania 16

Sandars s '^VLsUms.n s Institutes 5

•Saw/i^j/'j' Sparta and Thebes 3

Seaside Musings 7

Scott's Farm Valuer 21

Rents and Purchases 21

Scebohm's Oxford Reformers of 1498 2

Protestant Revolution 3

Sennctt's Marine Steam Engine 13

Sewell's Passing Thoughts on Religion ... 16

Preparation for Communion 16

■ Private Devotions 16

Stories and Tales 18

Shelley's Workshop Appliances 10

Short's Church History 14

Smith's (Sydney) Wit and Wisdom 6

(Dr. R. A.) Air and Rain 8

(R. B.)Carthage& the Carthaginians 2

Rome and Carthage 3

(J.) Shipwreck of St. Paul 15

Southey's Poetical ^V'orks 19

er" Bowles's Correspondence 4

Stanley's Familiar History of Birds 11

5/^6'/ on Diseases of the Ox 19

5/<;//if«'j Ecclesiastical Biography 4

Stonehenge, Dog and Greyhound 19

Stubbs s Early Plantagenets 3

Sunday Afternoons, by A. K. H.B 7

Supernatural Religion "... 16

Swinburne's Picture Logic 5

Tancock's England during the Wars,

1765-1820 3

Taylor's History of India 2

Ancient and Modern History ... 3

(Jeremy) Works, edited by Eden 16

Text-Books of Science 10

Thomd's Botany 10

Thomson's Laws of Thought 6

Thorpe's Quantitative Analysis 10

Thorpe and Muir's Qualitative Analysis ... 10

Three in Norway 16

Th II d ichum' s Ann^Xs of Chemical Medicine 12

Tilden s Chemical Philosophy 10

Practical Chemistry 12

Todd on Parliamentary Government 2

Trench's Realities of Irish Life 6

Trevclyan's U\{e oiYox '. i

Trollope's Warden and Barchester Towers 18

Twiss's Law of Nations 5

TyndaiiS (Professor) Scientific Works... 9& 10

Unawares 18

Unwin's Machine Design 10

Ureshi\.s, Alanufactures, and Mines 14

Ville on Artificial Manures 14

Walker on Whist 20

Walpole's History of England i

Warburton s Edward the Third 3

Watson s Geometery 10

Watts' s Dictionary of Chemistry 12

Webb's Celestial Objects 8

I'Fi?/rf'j Sacred Palmlands 17

Wellington s Life, by Gleig 4

Whately's "EngW^hSynonyn-ies 7

Logic and Rhetoric 5

White's Four Gospels in Greek 15

and Riddle's Latin Dictionaries ... 8

Wilcocks's Sea-Fisherman 19

Willicrnis' s Ar\sio\.\es Ethics 5

Willich's Popular Tables 21

Wilson's Studies of Modern Mind 6

Wood'sV\[or'ks, on Natural History 10

Woodward' s Geology 11

Yonge's Enghsh-Greek Lexicons 8

Youatt on the Dog and Horse 19

Zdler's Greek Philosophy 3

S,'>oiiisu.'oode &^ Co. Printers, Xew-strc'ei SgunJv, London.

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Graves Robert Perceval.

Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilion km.

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Full text of "Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton, knt., LL. D., D. C. L., M. R. I. A., Andrews professor of astronomy in the University of Dublin, and royal astronomer of Ireland, etc. etc.: including selections from his poems, correspondence, and miscellaneous writings"

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