HAMILTON. 506 HAMITES. (Boston, 1859-60). A college edition of his writings was published in 1855, by O. V. Wight. HAMILTON, William Gerard (1729-96). An English statesman. Chancellor of the Ex- chequer in Ireland. Of Scotch family, but born in London, lie passed through Winchester Col- lege to Oriel, O.xford, though he did not graduate. Be entered liimself as a student at Lincoln's Inn (1744), but left the law for political life, and >ras a member of Parliament for both English and Irish boroughs. 'Single Speech Hamilton' was a misnomer, since Horace Walpole remarlvs upon the brilliance of his oratory on more than one occasion. Boswell mentions that he also charmed Dr. Johnson by his personality and conversation. He went to Ireland in 17G1, as chief secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, and his own secretary was Edmund Burke. Hamilton was Chancellor of the Irish E.xchequcr ( 1763- 84), and retired to England with a pension of £2000 a year. He was so notable a figure in his time that the Letters of Junius were ascribed to him, but he was more of a politician than a statesman. His puljlished writings were col- lected by Malone under the title of Parliamentary Logicl- "(1808). HAMILTON, Sir Willtam Rowan (1805- €5). A Scotch-Irish mathematician, bom at Dub- lin. His father, a solicitor, went to Dublin as a boy. William was remarkable as a child, hav- ing a good knowledge of Hebrew at the age of seven, and at twelve having studied not only Latin, Greek, and the leading modern languages of Europe, but also Syriac. Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, Hindustani, and Malay. This devotion to languages was encouraged by his father be- cause of the opportunities for service in the East India Company. During this same period his mathematical powers liegan to be manifest, and in his tenth year he entered a contest with the young American calculator (see Calculatoes, EEJirAKKABLE) Zerah Colburn, who was then visiting Dublin, and, although defeated, made a creditable record. Before he went to Trinity College, Dublin (1823), in his eighteenth year, he had not only mastered Euclid, Newton's Arith- metica Viiii:ersalis and the Principin, and La- place's Mccaiiigtie celeste, but he had discovered an important error in the last-named work, and had written an original memoir on osculation of certain curves of double curvature. His career at Trinity was one of remarkable brilliancy. W'hile only a second-year student he read before the Royal Irish Academy a "Memoir on Caus- tics," which attracted wide attention, and led Airy to assert that "it had made a new science of optics." While still an undergraduate (1827), Hamilton was ajipointed Andrews professor of astronomy and superintendent of the observatory, and soon after became Astronomer Royal for Ireland. He was twice honored with tiie gold medal of the Royal Society, first for his work on optics, and again for his contributions to d>mamics. He was knighted in 1835, and was subsequently made president of the Royal Irish Academy, and corresponding member of the Acad- emy of Saint Petersburg and of the AcadSnie des (Sciences of Paris. Hamilton is chiefly kno-svn for his discovery of quaternions (q.v.1. He announced the theory in 1844, and in 1848 began to lecture upon it at Trinity, His Lectures on Quaternions (1853) and Elements of Quaternions (posthumous, 1866; 2d ed, 1809) were not, however, written in a style to appeal to a large circle of mathematical readers, and it is owing chielly to the work of Professors Tait and Kelland that the theory has attracted the attention that it merits. Consult Graves, Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton (Dublin, 1SS2-89). HAMILTON COLLEGE. An institution of higher education, situated at Clinton, N, Y, It was founded in 1793 by the Rev, Samuel Kirk- land, a Congregational missionary among the Oneida Indians, for the education of the white and Indian population. The erection of a building, of which the corner-stone was laid by (ieneral Steuben in 1793, was brought to a standstill for lack of funds, and was only completed in 1797 through the untiring efforts of the founder. In that year the school was formally opened, and until 1812 was known as Hamilton Oneida Acad- emy, deriving its name from Alexander Hamil- ton, one of its benefactors and trustees. In 1812, the necessary $50,000 having been collected, the institution was chartered by the University of the State of New York as Hamilton College, It grew steadily for a while, but during President Davis's administration differences arose between him and the students, and the college suffered in consequence. Under President North's admin- istration, however, the institution developed into one of the best-known classical colleges in the United States, and has since maintained a nation- al reputation, especially in the departments nf rhetoric and oratory. It has made no effort to give 'university' or specialized training, but has consistently upheld high scholastic standards. The two courses offered are the classical and the Latin-scientific, both oft'ering numerous elec- tives. One fellowship, fifty-five scholarships, and a large number of prizes are available. The at- tendance in 1002 was 200., and the faculty num- bered 20. .4t the same time the endowment was $500,000, the gross income $400,000. and the value of real estate and collections was estimated at $500,000, The library contains 43.000 volumes. The campus, covering 95 acres, is notable as rep- resenting the contributions of a large number of individual graduates and college classes in buildings, grounds, and other college improve- ments. The presidents of the collesre have been : Azel Backus (1812-10) : Henrv Davis (1817-33) : Sereno Edwards Pwight (1833-35); .Joseph Renney (1835-39): Simeon North (1839-57): Samuel Ware Fisher (1858-60) : Samuel Gilnian Brown (1866-81): Henrv Darling (1881-91); Melancthon Woolsey Stryker (1892—). HAMILTON INLET. An indentation of the Labrador coast. North America, 150 miles long, with a maximum breadth of 30 miles (Map: Canada, T 6), It forms the estuary of the Grand or Hamilton River (q.v.). From the north it receives the waters of Grand Lake, HAMILTON BIVER. See Gra.'d River, HAMILTON SERIES, See Devonian Sts- TEir. HAMITES, or HAMITIC. Designations ap- plied to peoples and languages of the white or Caucasian branch of mankind settled from re- motest times in Northern and Northeastern' Afri- ca and the Canary Islands. Both in biological character and in speech, as well as in situation and activities, they are nearest to the Semites.
