Значение слова HAMILTON в Литературной энциклопедии

HAMILTON

1) ALEXANDER (1757-1804).-Statesman and political writer, _b._ in the West Indies, was one of the framers of the Constitution of the United States, and was the first Sec. of the national Treasury. He was one of the greatest of American statesmen, and has also a place in literature as the principal writer in the _Federalist_, a periodical founded to expound and defend the new Constitution, which was afterwards _pub._ as a permanent work. He contributed 51 of its 85 articles. 2) HAMILTON, ELIZABETH (1758-1816).-Wrote _The Cottagers of Glenburnie_, a tale which had much popularity in its day, and perhaps had some effect in the improvement of certain aspects of humble domestic life in Scotland. She also wrote _Letters on Education_, _Essays on the Human Mind_, and _The Hindoo Rajah_. 3) HAMILTON, THOMAS (1789-1842).-Novelist, brother of Sir William Hamilton (_q.v._), wrote a novel, _Cyril Thornton_ (1827), which was received with great favour. He was an officer in the army, and, on his retirement, settled in Edin., and became a contributor to _Blackwood_. He was also the author of _Annals of the Peninsular Campaign_ (1829), and _Men and Manners in America_ (1833). 4) HAMILTON, WILLIAM (OF BANGOUR) (1704-1754).-Poet, was _b._ at the family seat in Linlithgowshire. Cultivated and brilliant, he was a favourite of society, and began his literary career by contributing verses to Allan Ramsay's _Tea Table Miscellany_. He joined the Pretender in 1745, and celebrated the Battle of Prestonpans in _Gladsmuir_. After Culloden he wandered in the Highlands, where he wrote his _Soliloquy_, and escaped to France. His friends, however, succeeded in obtaining his pardon, and he returned to his native country. In 1750, on the death of his brother, he succeeded to the family estate, which, however, he did not long live to enjoy. He is best remembered for his fine ballad of _The Braes of Yarrow_. He also wrote _The Episode of the Thistle_. He _d._ at Lyons. 5) HAMILTON, WILLIAM (OF GILBERTFIELD) (1665?-1751).-Poet, served in the army, from which he retired with the rank of Lieutenant. He wrote poetical _Epistles_ to Allan Ramsay, and an abridgment in modern Scotch of Blind Harry's _Life of Sir William Wallace_. 6) HAMILTON, SIR WILLIAM (1788-1856).-Metaphysician, _b._ in Glasgow, in the Univ. of which his _f._ and grandfather successively filled the Chair of Anatomy and Botany, _ed._ there and at Balliol Coll., Oxf., was called to the Scottish Bar, at which he attained little practice, but was appointed Solicitor of Teinds. In 1816 he established his claim to the baronetcy of H. of Preston. On the death of Dr. Thomas Brown in 1820, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Chair of Moral Philosophy in Edin., but in the following year he was appointed Prof. of History. It was not until 1829 that he gave full proof of his remarkable powers and attainments as a philosopher in a famous article in the _Edinburgh Review_, a critique of Victor Cousin's doctrine of the Infinite. This paper carried his name over Europe, and won for him the homage of continental philosophers, including Cousin himself. After this H. continued to contribute to the _Review_, many of his papers being translated into French, German, and Italian. In 1852 they were _coll._ with notes and additions, and _pub._ as _Discussions in Philosophy and Literature_, _etc._ In 1836 H. was elected Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at Edinburgh, which office he held with great reputation until his death, after which the lectures he had delivered were edited and _pub._ by Prof. Mansel and Veitch. His _magnum opus_ was his edition of the _Works of Dr. Thomas Reid_, left unfinished, and completed by Mansel. H. was the last, and certainly the most learned and accomplished, of the Scottish school of philosophy, which he considered it his mission to develop and correlate to the systems of other times and countries. He also made various important contributions to the science of logic. During his later years he suffered from paralysis of one side, which, though it left his mind unaffected, impaired his powers of work. A Memoir of H. by Prof. Veitch appeared in 1869.

Литературная энциклопедия. 2012