Ebook Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton

The sound volume of this work is given to the public after an interval from the publication of the first longer than I had anticipated, although I was aware that a considerable amount of time and labour would have to be expended upon it. In explanation of the extent to which it is carried (for this volume will be followed by a third) the reader is asked to bear in mind that the work is not simply a record of the events of the life of Sir W. R. Hamilton, and of the series of his scientific productions, but, as may be inferred from its title-page, such a record incorporating in addition writings which express the opinions held by a man of powerful intellect and wide cultivation on metaphysics, on literature, and on matters of general concernment, and having as a main object to present adequately his moral nature and the various aspects of his character. It is plain, I think, that this latter object could not be attained by the mere testimony of a single friend, but could only be realised, in the case of one whose life was for the most part withdrawn from public haunt, by the publication of ample selections from correspondence with many friends, and of poems which reveal the inner movements of his affections.