Hamilton was in the habit, from time to time, of commencing the
keeping of a journal, but it does not appear to have been
systematically conducted. Whatever difficulties the biographer may
have experienced from its imperfections and irregularities, seem to
be amply compensated for by the practice which Hamilton had of
preserving copies of his letters, and even of comparatively
insignificant memoranda. In fact, the minuteness with which
apparently trivial matters were often noted down appears almost
whimsical. He frequently made a memorandum of the name of the person
who carried a letter to the post, and of the hour in which it was
despatched. On the other hand, the letters which he received were
also carefully preserved in a mighty mass of manuscripts, with which
his study was encumbered, and with which many other parts of the
house were not unfrequently invaded. If a letter was laid aside for
a few hours, it would become lost to view amid the seething mass of
papers, though occasionally, to use his own expression, it might be
seen "eddying" to the surface in some later disturbance.

The great volume of "Lectures on Quaternions" had been issued, and
the author had received the honours which the completion of such a
task would rightfully bring him. The publication of an immortal work
does not, however, necessarily provide the means for paying the
printer's bill. The printing of so robust a volume was necessarily
costly; and even if all the copies could be sold, which at the time
did not seem very likely, they would hardly have met the inevitable
expenses. The provision of the necessary funds was, therefore, a
matter for consideration. The Board of Trinity College had already
contributed 200 pounds to the printing, but yet another hundred was
required. Even the discoverer of Quaternions found this a source of
much anxiety. However, the board, urged by the representation of