In Mr. Graves' "Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton" a series of
letters will be found, in which Aunt Sydney details the progress of
the boy to his mother in Dublin. Probably there is no record of an
infant prodigy more extraordinary than that which these letters
contain. At three years old his aunt assured the mother that William
is "a hopeful blade," but at that time it was his physical vigour to
which she apparently referred; for the proofs of his capacity, which
she adduces, related to his prowess in making boys older than himself
fly before him. In the second letter, a month later, we hear that
William is brought in to read the Bible for the purpose of putting to
shame other boys double his age who could not read nearly so well.
Uncle James appears to have taken much pains with William's
schooling, but his aunt said that "how he picks up everything is
astonishing, for he never stops playing and jumping about." When he
was four years and three months old, we hear that he went out to dine
at the vicar's, and amused the company by reading for them equally
well whether the book was turned upside down or held in any other
fashion. His aunt assures the mother that "Willie is a most sensible
little creature, but at the same time has a great deal of roguery."
At four years and five months old he came up to pay his mother a
visit in town, and she writes to her sister a description of the
boy;--

"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 a 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."