. .
as it were, `good soul, well meaning man,' who was able for all that
to shake to its centre the world of human thought, and to effect a
revolution among the early consequences of which was the growth of
Kant himself."
At several meetings of the British Association Hamilton was a very
conspicuous figure. Especially was this the case in 1835, when the
Association met in Dublin, and when Hamilton, though then but thirty
years old, had attained such celebrity that even among a very
brilliant gathering his name was perhaps the most renowned. A
banquet was given at Trinity College in honour of the meeting. The
distinguished visitors assembled in the Library of the University.
The Earl of Mulgrave, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, made this the
opportunity of conferring on Hamilton the honour of knighthood,
gracefully adding, as he did so: "I but set the royal, and therefore
the national mark, on a distinction already acquired by your genius
and labours."
The banquet followed, writes Mr. Graves. "It was no little addition
to the honour Hamilton had already received that, when Professor
Whewell returned thanks for the toast of the University of Cambridge,
he thought it appropriate to add the words, 'There was one point
which strongly pressed upon him at that moment: it was now one
hundred and thirty years since a great man in another Trinity College
knelt down before his sovereign, and rose up Sir Isaac Newton.
Pages:
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350