May i, 1883] 



NA TURE 



many of her delightful notes and letters, and in them 

 cordial sympathy and wise counsel. Of Hamilton Maria 

 Edgeworth writes : " Mr. Butler came with young Mr. 

 Hamilton, an 'admirable Crichton ' of eighteen, a real 

 prodigy of talents, who, Dr. Brinkley says, may be a second 

 Newton." 



At the age of twenty-one came the turning-point in 

 Hamilton's career — his appointment to be Andrews Pro- 

 fessor of Astronomy in the University of Dublin, and 

 Royal Astronomer of Ireland. The vacancy arose from 

 the promotion of Brinkley in 1826 to be the Bishop of 

 Cloyne. The following incident of the occasion is 

 given by his biographer : — ■ 



" Candidates for the post came over from England, 

 among them Mr. Airy of Cambridge (already distin- 

 guished by his Senior Wranglership and by optical re- 

 searches), and some who had already 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 

 remember hearing that, in the scientific discussion 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." 



Hamilton seems to have felt that it would be presumptuous 

 for an inexperienced undergraduate to put himself forward 

 as a candidate ; he therefore retired to the country to 

 carry on quietly his work for the classical medal. It was 

 only a week before the appointment had to be made that 

 he received at Trim, from his tutor, Mr. Boyton, an 

 intimation that the Board were favourably disposed to- 

 wards him, and urging him to come up at once to take 

 the advice of his friends. That advice concurring with 

 the strong opinion of his zealous friend and tutor, he was 

 unanimously appointed on June 16, 1827. 



A few months later Hamilton paid a visit to Keswick, 

 and commenced his memorable friendship with Words- 

 worth. That the philosopher and the poet were mutually 

 interested is manifest from Hamilton's account written in 

 a letter to his sister Eliza : — 



" He (Wordsworth) walked back with our party as far 

 as their lodge, and then, on our bidding Mrs. Harrison 

 good night, I offered to walk back with him while my 

 party proceeded to the hotel. This offer he accepted, and 

 our conversation had become so interesting that when we 

 arrived at his home, a distance of about a mile, he pro- 

 posed to walk back with me on my way to Ambleside, a 

 proposal which you may be sure 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.'' 



Hamilton quickly followed up his introduction to 

 Wordsworth by sending him an original poem entitled 

 " It haunts me yet.'' Wordsworth replies : — 



" With a safe conscience I can assure you that in my 

 judgment your verses are animated with the poetic spirit, as 

 they are evidently the product of strong feeling. The sixth 

 and seventh stanzas affected me much, even tothedimming 

 of my eyes 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. ..." 



" My household desire 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." 



The biographer adds that Wordsworth has said in his 

 hearing that Coleridge and Hamilton were the two most 

 wonderful men, taking all their endowments together, 

 that he had ever met. 



At the commencement of his career at the Observatory 

 Hamilton entered with diligence into the practical work 

 of observing, but it would seem that the necessary ex- 

 posure told injuriously on his health. It does not appear 

 that he made any observations of importance. His tastes 

 pointed strongly in the direction of mathematical re- 

 search, and the development of his discoveries occupied 

 more and more of his time, until at length, with the full 

 consent of the authorities of the University, Hamilton 

 practically relinquished all observatory work and gave his 

 splendid mathematical genius full scope. Unquestion- 

 ably this was the best course for the credit of Hamilton 

 himself, best for the credit of his University, and best for 

 the interests of science. Hamilton could never have 

 made even a moderately successful practical astronomer. 

 He tells Dr. Robinson that he disliked observing ; he was 

 essentially a man of speculation rather than of action. 

 Like his friend De Morgan, Hamilton was not " a man of 

 brass, a micrometer-monger, a telescope-twiddler, a star- 

 stringer, a planet-poker, or a nebula-nabber " — he had 

 none of the qualifications necessary for a routine of ob- 

 servatory work. His workshop was his study, where he 

 sat immersed in what he calls his "mathematical trances" 

 and elaborated his great discoveries. 



The latter half of the volume describes his early life at 

 the Observatory. He was fortunate in obtaining as a 

 pupil Lord Adare, afterwards Earl of Dunraven, between 

 whom and Hamilton a lifelong friendship of the tenderest 

 character arose. Many other friendships are here copi- 

 ously illustrated by the letters which have been preserved. 

 The letters to and from Sir J. W. Herschel and Sir G. B. 

 Airy relate chiefly to the discussion of Hamilton's labours 

 on the systems of rays and other matters of purely scien- 

 tific interest ; but there are stores of other letters. The 

 voluminous correspondence between Hamilton and Words- 

 worth will itself possess a wide interest even in circles 

 where Hamilton's more serious labours are unknown. 

 There are letters to and from Coleridge, as well as many 

 others relating to purely literary matters. There is an 

 extensive correspondence with Dr. Robinson, in which 

 the Armagh astronomer gives kindly counsel to his 

 younger brother at Dunsink. There is the correspond- 

 ence with his friend, Aubrey de Vere. There are the 

 numerous letters to his lady correspondents, to his sisters, 

 to Maria Edgeworth, to Lady Dunraven, to Lady Camp- 

 bell, and to Miss Lawrence. Then there is the visit of 

 Hamilton to London, chiefly for the purpose of visiting 

 S. T. Coleridge, to whom he had an introduction from 

 Wordsworth ; and there are interesting accounts of the 

 visits of Wordsworth to the Observatory at Dunsink, where 

 a shady walk in the garden still bears the poet's name. 



A chapter towards the close (p. 623) gives a sketch of 

 the discovery of conical refraction made in the year 1832, 

 while the author was still only twenty-seven. The import- 

 ance of this discovery was speedily recognised, and the 

 biographer writes : "At the Cambridge meeting of the 



