- 
294 William Rowan Hamilton. 
spect, that at the age of seven he was examined in Hebrew by @ 
Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and that “the child passed 
a better examination in that language than many candidates for 
the fellowship.” For obvious reasons we hope there is some par- 
donable though very natural exaggeration in the statement. It 
is certain however that the attention of the Persian Ambassador, 
n on a visit to Dublin, was attracted by a letter of greeting 
written in Persian by young Hamilton at the age of fourteen. 
Whether or not any allowance is to be made for the shadow of 
the future overlapping the memory of the past, it is quite certain 
that the vast intellectual capacities of the boy were evinced and 
cultivated at a very early age, and what is of far greater conse- 
quence, this early mental activity did not prostrate or forestal 
the successful exertions of maturer life. It is quite possible that 
the literary turn thus given to his earlier pursuits may have hap- 
pily laid the foundation of that peculiar combination of meta- 
myer and poetry, which distinguished some of his mathemat- 
ical performances from those of most other men. For his early 
‘processes in the Mécanique Céleste. Meanwhile, and notwith- 
standing this very unusual advancement in mathematical knowl- 
edge, the main culture of his mind had been classical ; and that, 
not alone from natural predilection, but on account of the re- 
quirements of the collegiate course on which it was his intention 
to embark and to compete. 
It is almost needless to say that young Hamilton, with a mind 
thus disciplined and furnished, entered upon his course at Trin- 
ity College, Dublin, if not without able competitors, at all events 
without an equal, whether in literature or mathematics. As 
might be expected, he carried before him; and when we 
speak of success in his literary efforts, it must be understood 
