Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 October 1900 — Unfortunate Beginning. [ARTICLE]

Unfortunate Beginning.

Sir William Rowan Hamilton, professor of astronomy in the Dublin University, used to speak with the strongest reverence of Bishop Brinkley, his predecessor. He had for him a filial affection, and used to recall, with a humorous melancholy, the time of their first meeting, when, said he, “I’m afraid I offended him.” I was a youth of 18, and sat next to him at some public luncheon. We did not speak, and I felt that good manners required me to break the silence. My eye happened to rest on a large map of Van Diemen’s Land, hanging on the wall. I turned to him. “My lord,” said I, “were you ever in Botany Bay?” The bishop turned to me with a look of severe displeasure. “Eat your soup, sir!” said- he; “eat your soup!” And then it occurred to me that he thought I was asking whether he had ever been “transported,” for at that time Botany Bay was where desperate criminals were sent for a punishment.