HAMERTON, PHILIP GILBERT (1834-1894).--Artist and writer on æsthetics, _s._ of a solicitor, was _b._ near Oldham. Originally intended for the Church, he decided for art and literature. After working as an artist in the Highlands with his wife, who was a Frenchwoman, he settled in France, and devoted himself to writing on art. Among his works are _Etching and Etchers, etc._ (1868), _Painting in France after the Decline of Classicism_ (1869), _The Intellectual Life_ (1873), _Human Intercourse_ (1884), _The Graphic Arts_ (1882), _Landscape_ (1885), some of which were magnificently illustrated. He also left an autobiography. His writings had a great influence upon artists, and also in stimulating and diffusing the love of art among the public. HAMILTON, 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. 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_. 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). 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. 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_.