HAMILTON 421 Texas, and was on his way thither to seek in- demnification when he perished in a collision of steamboats. With his usual courtesy and generosity he yielded his own chance of safety to a lady among the passengers, to whom he was a stranger. At the time of his death he was United States senator elect from Texas. HAMILTON, Robert, a Scottish mathematician born in Edinburgh about 1742, died in Aber- deen, July 14, 1829. In 1766 he became so vorably known as a mathematician that, al- ugh but 23 years of age, he was induced to er himself as a candidate for the mathemati- professorship of Marischal college, Aber- i. He was unsuccessful in this instance, t three years later was appointed rector of e academy at Perth. In 1779 the chair of atural philosophy in Marischal college was presented to him, and the year after he ex-
- anged it for the professorship of mathemat-
His "Inquiry concerning the Rise and gress, the Redemption and Present State, d the Management of the National Debt of
- t Britain " (1813), was the first important
mpt to overthrow the sinking fund sys- which had for many years been con- ered an axiom in financial science. Hamil- 's views were subsequently adopted by the .inent political economists of the day. His aining works are: "Introduction to Mer- ndise " (2 vols. 8vo, Edinburgh 1777-'9) ; Arithmetic and Bookkeeping " (London, 8); "The Progress of Society," a posthu- ous work (1830); essays on "Peace and War," "Rent," &c. HAMILTON, William, a Scottish poet, born at Bangour, Ayrshire, in 1704, died in Lyons, France, March 25, 1754. He was living a life of literary leisure when the young pretender raised the standard of revolt in 1745. He at once joined the cause, and celebrated the vic- tory of Preston Pans in his stirring ode " Glads- .uir." After the battle of Culloden he fled to e highlands, and made his escape to France. s friends soon procured a royal pardon for and he returned to Scotland ; but he soon ent to southern France on account of his th, and for several years previous to his ath he resided at Lyons. His ballad of " The aes of Yarrow " is the best known of his sions. A pirated edition of his poems first peared in Glasgow (1748) ; after his death a mplete edition was printed from his own anuscripts (Edinburgh, 1760). HAMILTON. I. Sir William, a British anti- ary, born in Scotland in 1730, died in Lon- n, April 6, 1803. He was of good family, d a foster brother of George III., but poor, ginning life, as he said, with 1,000. In 755 he married a wealthy lady, and was en- " 'led to pursue his favorite studies in art, nat- 'al philosophy, and literature. In 1764 he as appointed English ambassador to Naples, id from his arrival in that country applied imself to collecting and illustrating the art lies with which it abounds. He was among the first of those to whom the British public are indebted for a comprehensive knowledge of Greek, and especially Etruscan antiquities, having made a large collection, which was pur- chased for the British museum. He lost his wife in 1782, and in 1784 made a voyage to England, to hinder his nephew from marrying Emma Harte; he himself, however, took her back to Italy and privately made her his wife, but did not publicly present her as such till 1791, in which year he was appointed privy councillor. In 1793 he effected a treaty of alliance between the courts of St. James's and Naples, but much of the political management at the latter court in those eventful times is at- tributed to the influence of his wife and Lord Nelson. He contributed largely toward aiding Father Piaggi in unrolling manuscripts found in Herculaneum. He was recalled to England in 1800, at which time he lost by shipwreck a large collection of antiques, of which however drawings were preserved and published. A claim of Sir William on the British govern- ment for special services was disallowed, and he died in comparative poverty. His works are : Antiquites etrusques, grecques et romaines, tirees du cabinet de M. Hamilton (4 vols. fol., Naples, 1766) ; " Observations on Mount Vesu- vius, Mount Etna," &c. (London, 1772) ; Campi PUegrcei (2 vols. fol., Naples, 1776-7, with supplement in 1779 giving an account of the eruption of Vesuvius); and Lettera sul Monte Volture (Naples, 1780). Ten of his papers upon various Italian subjects were published in the "Philosophical Transactions" (l767-'95). Many of the marbles of the Towneley gallery in the British museum were collected by him. II. Emma Lyon, alias HARTE, afterward Lady Hamilton, wife of the preceding, born accord- ing to some in Wales, according to others in Cheshire, about 1760, died near Calais, France, in 1815. She was the illegitimate child of a servant girl, and at the age of 13 was employed to take care of the children of a brother-in-law of the engraver Boydell. When 16 years old she was shop girl for a mercer in London, and afterward chambermaid to a lady of rank. She then became waiter in a tavern frequented by literary men, painters, actors, and artists. While here, learning that a young sailor, her cousin, had been pressed into the navy, Emma went to his captain, John Willett, to beg for his release. The captain let the cousin go, but kept the girl as his mistress. This illicit union continued for several years, during which time she acquired an excellent education. Willett, eventually becoming weary of the connection, gave her to a friend, who however quarrelled with her at the end of a month and left her in extreme poverty. A noted quack named Gra- ham had contrived a bed of Apollo, or " celes- tial bed," on which, in a delicately colored light, an exquisitely beautiful woman, nearly naked, was gradually unveiled to soft music as Hygiea, the goddess of health. Graham en- gaged Emma for the part of the goddess, in
