HAMLET neighborhood, the demand grew up for a high- er institution, and Hamilton college was char- tered in 1812. Dr. Azel Backus, a Congrega- tional clergyman, distinguished in Connecticut as a preacher and scholar, was chosen the first president. He died in 1817, and his successor, Dr. Henry Davis, resigned in 1833. The third president, Dr. Sereno E. D wight, a son of Tim- othy Dwight, president of Yale college, held the office two years, and the fourth, Dr. Joseph Csnney, four years. Dr. Simeon North, a grad- te of Yale college, was chosen president in 39, after holding the classical professorship ten years. He was succeeded in 1858 by Dr. Samuel W. Fisher, also of Yale college. The seventh president, Dr. Samuel Gilman Brown, an alumnus of and for many years a professor in Dartmouth college, was elected in 1866. The course comprises four years, at the end of which the degree of bachelor of arts is con- ferred. The academic year is divided into terms of about 13 weeks each. Appli- ts for admission must be at least 15 years age, and must pass an examination in Greek, atin, mathematics, and the common Eng- lish branches. In 1873-'4 there were 10 pro- sors besides the president and college pas- and 152 students. There are between 700 and 1,800 names upon the triennial cata- The law department was endowed by lliamll. Maynard, and has recently been en- hed by the valuable law library bequeathed it by William Curtis Noyes. The agricultu- department was endowed by the late Silas . Childs of Utica. The Litchfield observa- ry, endowed by E. C. Litchfield of Brook- lyn, ET. Y., and under the charge of Prof. C. H. F. Peters, who has discovered 20 asteroids here, has an equatorial telescope with an ob- ject glass 13-5 inches in diameter and a focal length of nearly 16 feet. Geological and min- eral cabinets and collections in natural his- tory are connected with the college, embracing more than 17,000 specimens. There is also an extensive collection of North American plants made by the late Dr. H. P. Sartwell. The col- lege library contains more than 12,000 vol- umes. A new library building, capable of holding 60,000 volumes, has recently been erected at a cost of $45,000. Under the same roof is also a memorial hall and art gallery, to contain tablets, portraits, and other memorials of the friends of the college. The college grounds comprise 45 acres, on which are grouped three four-story stone buildings de- voted to lodging and recitation rooms, chapel, boarding house, hall for collections in natural history, gymnasium, chemical laboratory, ob- servatory, library hall, and president's house. The real estate and collections are valued at $300,000, and there are besides productive funds amounting to more than $250,000. HAMLET, or Amleth, a prince of Denmark, hose name occurs in the mediaeval histories, articularly that of Saxo Grammaticus, al- though nothing is known of the period when HAMLINE 425 he lived ; some place it as early as five centu- ries B. C., others as late as A. D. 700. Accord- ing to Saxo Grammaticus, in his Danorum Re- gum Heroumque Historia, published in 1514, Hamlet was the son of Horvendill, hereditary prince of Jutland, and of Gerutha, daughter of Roric, 15th king of Denmark after Danus. His story was republished with some modifica- tions by a French writer named Belleforest, whose work, translated into English with the title of "Historye of Hamblet," undoubtedly fell under the eye of Shakespeare, who made it the basis of his "Hamlet," though with many alterations and additions. According to some historians, Hamlet was king of Denmark for several years; but many modern authorities suppose that no such person ever existed. HAMLIN, an E. county of Dakota, recently formed and not included in the census of 1870 ; area, 720 sq. m. It is intersected by the Big Sioux river, and contains several lakes. The surface is mostly table land. HA9ILIN, Hannibal, an American statesman, born at Paris, Maine, Aug. 27, 1809. He was admitted to the bar in 1833, and continued to practise till 1848. In 1836 he was elected a member of the legislature, of which he was speaker from 1837 to 1840. In 1842 he was elected to congress as a democrat, and reflected in 1844; and in 1848 he was chosen to fill a vacancy in the United States senate, and in 1851 was elected for a full term of six years. In 1856 he withdrew from the democratic party, and was elected by the republicans gov- ernor of Maine ; but he resigned that office on being reflected senator. In 1860 he was elected vice president of the United States. In 1865 he was appointed collector of the port of Bos- ton, but soon resigned; and in 1869 he was again elected United States senator for the term expiring March 4, 1875. HAMLINE, Leonidas Lent, an American clergy- man, born in Burlington, Conn., May 10, 1797, died at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, March 23, 1865. He was educated for the ministry of the Pres- byterian church, but subsequently studied law, and was admitted to the bar at Lancaster, Ohio, in 1827. In 1830 he joined the Methodist Epis- copal church, entered the ministry, and in 1840 was elected by the general conference assistant editor of the " Western Christian Advocate " (Cincinnati) and first editor of the "Ladies 1 Repository." He was a delegate to the general conference of 1844, when the slavery agita- tions resulted in the division of the church. Mr. Hamline was one of the committee of paci- fication or conference, and also was appointed upon the committee of nine to whom was in- trusted the preparation of a plan of separation, and was himself the author of that plan. The argument which he then made on the right of the general conference to depose a bishop from office, for such good and sufficient reasons as it may determine, embodied the constitutional principles that have generally been accepted by the Methodist Episcopal church from that
