HAMATH. 498 HAMBTJBG. SeVeufid kingdoms. In the Asmonean period Jonathan, the Jiulean high priest, marched with an army into the eounlry of Hamatli lor the defense of Demetrius. Hamath submitted peace- ably to Abu L'baida, the Moslem leader, in ti3'J, and the Christian church was changed into a mosque. In the period of the Crusades the Is- mailians took possession of Hamath. Tanered conquered the city in llOS and massacred the Isniailians; but the Christians lost it to the Turk Togtckin in 1115. In 1178 the city passed into the hands of Saladin. A flourishing period tor Hamath was the reign of Abulfeda (1310- 31). In 1812 Burekhardt visited the city and saw the famous stones covered with Hittite in- scriptions, which have not yet been deciphered. (See HiTTiTES. ) For the modern town see Hama. Consult: Burekhardt, Travels in Syria and the Holy Land (London, 1822) ; Delitzsch, Wo lag das Paradiesf (Leipzig, 1881); Winck- ler. AlttcstamentUche TJntersuvhungcn (Leipzig, 1892) : Ed. ilever, Geschichte des Alterthums, vol. i. (Stuttgart, 1884). HAMBACH, hiim'baa. A village of Bavaria, situated in the Rhine Palatinate, 15 miles west of Speier. Population, in 1900. 2244. It has an old castle, and is famous chiefly on account of the Hambacher Fest, a revolutionary meeting which took place here on May 27, 1832, attended by about 30,000 persons. This gathering marked the beginning of an open republican movement in Germany, and was followed by a series of re- actionary measures on the part of the Bavarian Government. Most of the leaders of the gather- ing were compelled to seek safety abroad, and some were imprisoned. The fortieth anniversary of the Hambacher Fest was celebrated on May 27, 1872, with the approval of the Bavarian King. HAM-'BEETLE. A cosmopolitan beetle CSe- crohki nifiiies) of the family Cleridfe, also called 'red-legged ham-beetle,' which is particularly abundant in the Southern and Western United States, and occasionally ruins many hams in the . packing houses and storehouses. The injury is generally due to careless packing or to the acci- dental cutting or cracking, or even to a consider- able stretching or fraying of the canvas covering of the hams. It is a small, rather slender beetle of dark-bluish color, with reddish legs. Its lan'a is a slender grub, white at first, with a dark head and two small hooks at the end of the body. When full-grown it is grayish-white with a series of brown patches above. It trans- forms to pupa within a paper-like cocoon. There are several generations each year, and the winter is passed both in the larval stage and as an adult. HAM'BLET, PRINCE OF DENMARKE, Hystorie of. The probable source of Shake- speare's Hamlel. an English translation of one of Belleforest's Histoires trofiiques. which, in their turn, were copied from Bandello's tales. The French version was piililished in 1570, and was at once extremely pojiular in England ; the trans- lation was made liefore 1596, possibly by 1589. See Aiii.ETii. HAM'BLIN, .Joseph Eldridge (1828-70). An American soldier of the Civil War. born at Yar- mouth, !Mass. Long a member of the Seventh Regiment of the New York militia, he enlisted in 1861 as adjutant in Duryea's Zouaves, and served in Virginia under Butler, McClellan, Meade, Grant, and Sheridan in the Sixty-fifth New York. He especially distinguished himself at Cedar (.'reek, where he was wounded. He was brevetted brigadier-general, and in 18U5 pro- moted to full rank, with the brevet of major- general, for his gallantry at Sailor's Creek. After the war he was prominent in the New York Na- tional Guard. HAMBLIN, Thomas SowERBY (1800-53). An American actor, born in Pentonville, near Lon- don. As a member of the Sadler's Wells Theatre Company he won some success in London, espe- cially at Drury Lane (1820) ; but gained nmch more in New York City, whither he came ( 1H25) with his wife, Elizabeth Blanchard. In 1830, after extended American tours, he and James H. Hackett leased the Bowery Theatre in New York City, and soon after gained entire control of it. He lost heavily when this theatre was burned (1836) ; was not very successful in an English tour; and later became maiurgcr of the second and of the third Bowery Theatre. The Park Theatre was burned during the first year of his management (1848). 'Handsome Tom Hamblin* was an excellent actor, though somewhat uneven ; a liberal manager; an excellent business man; and a great favorite with tlie pul)lic. Haniblin's principal roles were Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, Rollo, and Pierre. HAMBURG, hani'boiJrK. A city-State and a city of the German Empire, with a gross area of 159 square miles, of which the city occupies .'>0 square miles (Map: Germany, D 2). The city-State embraces, in addition to the city, four contiguous districts, one of which 'oelongs also to Liibeck. It lies mostly in one body, around the city itself, on the north side of the Elbe, at the head of the river's estuary-like mouth, it is bordered by Schleswig-Holstein on the north and Hanover on the south. The city-State com- prises also small scattered districts, including Ritzebiittcl (with Cuxhavcn) and the island of Neuwerk, both at the mouth of the Elbe. Nearly one-half of the total area is in farms and gardens, and a rather large percentage is in meadow. Grain, vegetables, and hay are the chief crops. The fruit output is considerable, and is excellent. The live-stock holdings are heavy. The city of Hamburg is situated on the north bank of the Elbe, at the mouth of the Alster, in latitude 53° 33' N. and longitude 9° 59' E.. and w'ith its suburbs extends for over 5 miles along the river-front ; it is the largest port on the Continent of Europe, and the third largest in the world. Its climate is damp, mild in winter and cool in the summer. The mean annual temperature is over 46° F. ; rainfall, 28 inches. The city consists of two radically dif- ferent parts. The central part — since the dis- astrous fire of 1842 reconstructed according to modern ideas — by its broad, well-lighted, well- drained streets, and fine, lofty houses, offers a striking contrast to the remaining part, much of which is devoted to wholesale business, and is intersected by canals, along which goods are conveyed in lighters to and from the ware- houses. The ancient ramparts, converted into gardens and walks, now constitute an inner park-like girdle, separating the old city from the adjacent suburbs of St. Pauli. Altona (q.v.K Ottensen, Rotherbaum, St, Georg, Borgfclde,
