Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/443

 HAMPDEN 429 the best known are " The Maidens of Lesbos " (1861) and " The Muses at Pompeii " (1866). H1MPDEN, a S. W. county of Massachusetts, bordering on Connecticut, intersected by the Connecticut and drained by Westfield and Chic- opee rivers ; area, 670 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 78,- 409. It has a rough, hilly surface, and a fertile soil, the river valleys being particularly rich. Small steamboats navigate the Connecticut to Springfield, and the county is traversed by the Tew Haven, Hartford, and Springfield, the Con- 3ticut River, the New London Northern and Ware branch, the Athol and Enfield, the Tew Haven and Northampton and the Holyoke ich, and the Boston and Albany railroads, id by a canal which is not now in use. chief productions in 1870 were 2,045 ishels of wheat, 63,518 of rye, 145,728 of In- corn, 74,617 of oats, 11,484 of buckwheat, 57,762 of potatoes, 1,095,423 Ibs. of tobacco, 35,103 of maple sugar, 18,737 of wool, 716,979 ~ butter, 242,046 of cheese, and 51,859 tons 1 hay. There were 3,585 horses, 10,200 milch >ws, 2,718 working oxen, 9,023 other cattle, 3,751 sheep, and 4,210 swine. The county contained 687 manufacturing establishments, chiefly in Springfield, the county seat, and in Chicopee and Holyoke, having an aggregate ipital of $16,942,490, and an annual product $30,008,006. HAMPDEN, John, an English statesman, born London in 1594, died at Thame, Oxfordshire, Tune 24, 1643. He was the son of William lampden, a member of Queen Elizabeth's par- liament, and Elizabeth Cromwell, aunt of the protector. His father left him large estates, and after studying at Oxford he was admitted a student of the Inner Temple in 1613. In 1619 he married Elizabeth Symeon. For sev- eral years he freely engaged in field sports and other amusements, "from which," says Claren- don, "he suddenly retired to extraordinary so- briety and strictness, and to a more reserved and melancholy society." On Jan. 30, 1621, he took his seat in parliament as member for the borough of Grampound, Cornwall. In the first parliament of Charles I. he sat for Wen- do ver. He had not hitherto taken any promi- nent part in public affairs ; his attention had .been given mainly to the details of parliamentary business and to the local interests of his own country. But when the king, after the angry dissolution of two parliaments (1625 and 1627), attempted to raise money by a forced loan, ap- portioned among the people according to a previous rate of assessment, Hampden refused to lend a farthing, and was imprisoned. His example was followed by 76 other landed gen- "jmen, who were also arrested, while recu- its of a lower rank were pressed into the set or forced to serve in the army. A new irliament was summoned ; and Hampden, iving been liberated, was immediately reelect- ' for Wendover. The " Petition of Rights " id other important concessions having been ttorted from the king, and parliament having been again dissolved for protesting against his violation of them, Hampden retired to rural life, and devoted himself to literary pursuits. Eleven years passed without a parliament ; the royal promises were unscrupulously violated, and the Puritans were persecuted. Among other arbitrary measures, Charles resorted to "ship money," a tax which the maritime counties had sometimes paid in time of war instead* of furnishing ships for the navy, but which was now, in time of peace, demanded from the inland counties. Hampden, the first to resist the forced loan, was also one of the first to resist this unjustifiable proceeding, and resolved to bring to a solemn hearing the great controversy between the people and their op- pressor. Toward the close of the year 1636 the cause came on in the exchequer chamber before the twelve judges, seven of whom pro- nounced against the disputant. The only effect of the decision of this small majority was to exasperate the people. Strafford meanwhile declared that Hampden, and others like him, should be " well whipped into theif right senses ;" and so intense became the hatred of the king's counsellors, that the person of Hamp- den was scarcely safe. This decision of the exchequer chamber placed the property of every individual at the disposal of the crown. The persecuted party felt that there was no al- ternative but to seek their homes in other countries ; but an order was issued by Charles's council, prohibiting shipmasters from carrying passengers from the kingdom without special license. It has been said that Hampden and his cousin Oliver Cromwell had taken pas- sage in a ship ready to sail for America, and were actually on board when they were stop- ped by this decree ; seven other ships crowded with emigrants were stopped at the same time. The Scottish rebellion followed, and the ex- penses of the war rendered it imperative for the king to obtain larger supplies. A parlia- ment was summoned to meet in April, 1640; it was soon dissolved, and another, the long parliament, met in November. Hampden w T as at this time the most popular man in England, and by universal consent was the member who exercised a paramount influence alike over le- gislature and people. He was one of the com- mittee of twelve to conduct the memorable trial which led to Strafford's execution. He was one of the five members accused of trea- son, whose persons were demanded by Charles ; but he was not arrested, in spite of the most strenuous efforts of the king. Almost the en- tire people were ready to protect and con- ceal Hampden and his confederates. "From this moment," says Clarendon, "his nature and carriage seemed fiercer than before." He was made a member of the committee of public safety, and the power of the sword being at length asserted, he prepared to take the field as a soldier. The king raised his standard against the parliamentary troops at Notting- ham, Aug. 22, 1642. Hampden commanded a