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 412 HAMERLING charmed by his music, followed him into a cavern of the mountain, where they disap- peared and were never afterward heard from. For a long time the town dated its public docu- ments from this calamity. The legend is the subject of a poem by Robert Browning. liAilIERLING, Robert, a German poet, born at Kirchberg, Lower Austria, March 24, 1832. After having been a chorister, he studied med- icine, philosophy, and philology. From 1855 till about 1866 he was professor at the gymna- sium of Trieste, and has since resided near Gratz in the enjoyment of a pension from the govern- ment. His fame rests chiefly on his epic poems Ahasverus in Rom (Hamburg, 1866 ; 7th ed., 1871), Sinnen und Minnen (3d ed., 1870), and Der Konig von Sion (1868 ; 5th ed., 1872). A collection of his smaller poems appeared in Hamburg in 1871, and in the same year he pub- lished a drama, Danton und Robespierre. HAMERTON, Philip Gilbert, an English author, born in Manchester, Sept. 10, 1834. His moth- er died when he was a fortnight old, and his father when he was ten years old, leaving his early education to be superintended by a pater- nal aunt, who put him in school at Doncaster. He went afterward to Barnley school, where, principally as a private pupil, he was fitted for Oxford. Becoming interested in landscape painting, he studied that art in the studio of Mr. Pettill in London, and then went back to Lancashire, where he passed several years, de- voting himself to art and literature. He pub- lished anonymously many articles in periodi- cals, besides " Observations on Heraldry " (London, 1851), and "Isles of Loch Awe, and other Poems" (12mo, 1855). In 1855 he be- came a student of William Wyld in Paris, re- maining two or three years, when he returned home and entered upon a mode of life in Scot- land described in his " Painter's Camp in the Highlands, and Thoughts about Art " (2 vols. 8vo, 1862), since published as two separate works. For three years he was the art critic of the "Saturday Review," and his contribu- tions were sought by other publications. In 1859 he married a daughter of M. Frederic Gindriez, and after living for a while in Sens, where he painted some of his best pictures, he took up his residence in Autun, where he now lives (1874). He has invented a new method of etching, which he calls the positive process. (See ENGRAVING.) His later works, several of which have been republished in the United States, comprise " Etching and Etchers " (1866) ; "Contemporary French Painters" (1867); "The Etcher's Handbook" (1868); "Painting in France after the Decline of Classicism" (1868); " Wenderholme, a Story of Lancaster and York " (3 vols. 8vo, 1869) ; " The Unknown River " (1870) ; " Chapters on Animals " (1873) ; and " The Intellectual Life " (1873). Hamer- ton's paintings have been praised by some critics, but they are not popular. Among the best of his efforts are " Kilchurn Castle," " Sens from the Vineyards," and "The River Yonne." HAMILTON Mr. Hamerton's wife has published "Jeanne Laraguay," a novel (London, 1864). HAMILCAR BARCA, or Barcas, a Carthaginian general, born shortly before the beginning of the first Punic war, fell in a battle in Spain, 229 B. C. The name Barca, which he had in common with many distinguished Cartha- ginians, is supposed to signify lightning. He first appears in history as commander of a Car- thaginian army in the 18th year of the first Punic war, 247 B. C. The Romans then had the advantage. Sicily, the main scene of the war, was in their hands, with the exception of Drepanum and Lily baa um, on the W. coast, which they were blockading from the land side. Hamilcar seized the commanding position of Mount Ercte (now Monte Pellegrino), near Pa- normus (Palermo), where he encamped, while the bay sheltered the Carthaginian fleet. From this stronghold he made successful incursions into the interior of the island as far as the E. coast, and upon the S. coast of Italy, van- quished several Roman detachments, and took Eryx near the N. W. angle of Sicily (244). Holding this still more favorable position, he continued his incursions over the island and the peninsula. It was only the great defeat of the Carthaginian fleet under Hanno by the newly formed Roman squadron under Lutatius Catu- lus, near the ^Egates isles (241), which com- pelled him to give up the struggle. He was then commissioned to conclude a peace, and with his army embarked at Lilybseum and returned to Carthage. The scene of war was then transferred to Spain, whither Ha- milcar was eager to proceed ; but he was de- layed by a mutiny of some mercenary troops, which soon threatened the existence of the state. After the defeat of Hanno by the mer- cenaries, Hamilcar took the field against them, and finally succeeded in crushing the rebellion, which had raged for more than three years. He now entered upon his Spanish campaign, taking with him his young son Hannibal, whom before starting (238) he made to swear eternal enmity to Rome. The details of this new campaign are little known, but it is certain that he had conquered a part of Spain when he was overtaken by death. His conquests were continued by his son-in-law Hasdrubal, and afterward by Hannibal. He left two other sons, Hasdrubal and Mago, who both partook in the wars of their brother. HAMILTON, the name of nine counties in the United States. 1. A N. E. county of New York, drained by the head waters of Black, Hudson, Raquette, and Sacondaga rivers ; area, 1,711 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 2,960. The surface is high, hilly, and diversified with lakes; the soil is poor, and a large portion of the county, traversed by the Adirondack mountains, is still a wilderness. Timber and iron are abundant. The chief productions in 1870 were 5,781 bush- els of Indian corn, 21,980 of oats, 6,392 of buckwheat, 46,317 of potatoes, 78,312 Ibs. of butter, and 7,358 tons of hay. There were